#969 David Sacks The Return Of Capitalism & Critical Thinking

Does anyone at this point doubt that the reaction to COVID was more damaging to the country than COVID itself—both economically and also in terms of the restrictions that were imposed?

The lockdowns that we pursued during COVID—now everybody, I think, has sort of admitted that they're wrong. There's a video going around of Bill Gates, basically saying they didn't work. So, even the people who were advocating for them at the time now admit they were just tragically wrong. They basically cratered our economy, didn't stop the virus. Where's the comeuppance for the people who promoted those policies?

These people on this sort of far-left fringe... They do not want to have a debate. I think their views are very unpopular in the country, and that's why. So, they would rather censor the debate. They want to have the right to declare that the other side has engaged in disinformation.

It's ridiculous to somehow now blame this inflation on Putin... I don't think anyone's buying it. But it's not because of something Putin's doing over in Eastern Europe; it's because the Fed and Congress, the Administration, pumped $10 trillion.

The transformational part of Bitcoin is this idea that we could have non-fiat money ... There is a huge risk of currency debasement when the government is in control—and particularly when you have the world's reserve currency. There's just such an enormous temptation to print money to finance your budget.

If you disagree with whatever the current orthodoxy is, you get labeled as being this far-right lunatic. Rogan's in that camp, too. Rogan is an independent, curious guy. But again, if you dare to have a thought that's unconventional or interview the wrong person, then you're branded this way.

If you look at what the big political divide is in America, if you actually poll people about their political views, the number one predictor of where someone's going to fall in the political spectrum is whether they have a college degree or not.

The leadership of the country—not just the political leadership in Washington but really much more deeply across the board of all of our institutions—they have views that are out of step with most of the country. And I think how we resolve that tension is the—that's the political issue of our time.

You have this very intolerant movement on the far left that keeps, basically, kicking people out. I don't know how they're going to win many elections with this philosophy they have, but they're absolutely red pilling huge numbers of people.

I think the critical thinking problem is real, and I think it stems from the education system. And the reality is we've indulged too much of this nonsense that if you are required to encounter a view you don't like, that's somehow a threat to your safety.

What Bitcoin offers is a different kind of currency where it's not backed by a government; it's backed by math; it's backed by encryption. You don't have to trust the government that there will only be 21 million bitcoin; it's in the code.

It has to do with the economic model of this news media where they've kind of moved to this subscriber model. And so, the goal seems to be to give subscribers more of what they want, more of what sort of flatters their prejudices or the preconceptions, their biases—not to challenge the world view that the subscribers already have.