American Checklist™

Dan Sullivan and Mark Young discuss ten reasons why Americans can be confident about the future of their country. They emphasize the unique strengths of the U.S., starting with its economic power, and the resilience of the U.S. economy. This sets the stage for a deeper discussion on the other strengths that make the U.S. a beacon of hope and innovation.

• The U.S. boasts the world's largest economy by nominal GDP, providing a strong foundation for future growth and prosperity. 

• U.S. debt is substantial at around $31 trillion, it is predominantly owned by Americans, with China holding less than 2.5% of it.

• The U.S. continues to lead in technological advancements, with Silicon Valley and other tech hubs driving innovation across various industries. 

• The United States is rich in natural resources, including energy reserves and arable land. This abundance contributes to economic stability and independence.

• The United States is home to 50 of the top 100 universities in the world

• The culture of entrepreneurship in the U.S. encourages innovation and business creation

• The soft power of American culture, from Hollywood films to music, shapes perceptions and trends worldwide. 

• These elements and many others provide a solid foundation for growth but also position the U.S. as a leader in the global landscape.

Americans' happiness is deeply tied to teamwork, a trait that has been essential in shaping the country's history. From the Atlantic to the Pacific, Americans worked together to build a nation, showcasing exceptional teamwork that drove civilization westward. Dan and Mark dive into how teamwork, growth, and transformation play pivotal roles in shaping the American spirit—and the evolving state of the nation.  

In This Episode:

It took enormous amounts of teamwork to create the United States.

Teamwork is a social construct, and it was disrupted by the pandemic.

Lack of teamwork has a greater impact on anxiety in the U.S. than lack of social contact.

Not only do Americans love being in teamwork, they love watching teamwork.

There are three rules for staying cool and calm: everything human is made up, no one’s in charge, and life’s not fair.

When you have teamwork, the rules are in charge.

If things progress to 2030 the way they're currently trending, Democratic states are going to lose 13 electoral seats.

Part of the American dream is for the next generation to do better than the last one.

There’s now a clear division in America between growth states and non-growth states.

Where there’s hatred of America, there’s no growth and no teamwork.

If you see a city that's been in decline for decades, it's because the only governing party for those decades was the Democratic Party.

Resources:

Podcast: Blunt Force Truth

Book: Geometry of Staying Cool and Calm by Dan Sullivan

Plenty of people living in the United States claim to be unhappy. Meanwhile, plenty of people living in other countries yearn for the unique freedoms the United States offers. In this episode, the second in a two-part series, Dan Sullivan and Mark Young share three mindsets that anyone—even non-Americans—could adopt to feel better about their lives.

In This Episode:

Unhappy Americans are dominating the narrative.

The left feel negatively about America’s present and past.

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is entirely geared to individuals.

Happiness has to be worked at and earned.

The United States is exceptional in how it encourages and rewards innovations of useful knowledge, skills, and techniques.

America is the only country geared to encourage individual success and achievement.

The United States is not a convincing argument. It’s a compelling offer.

There's a segment of the population that occupies the ranks of higher education and it’s all about argument.

Entrepreneurism is the most highly rewarded activity in the United States.

Confident people don't shout.

Resources:

Visual Capitalist

Dan Sullivan and Mark Young discuss the U.S. Constitution and its connection to happiness. They share perspectives on the importance of individualism, ingenuity, and exceptionalism in American culture. They delve into the unique nature of the Constitution, highlighting the emphasis on individual rights and the power of the people. 

In This Episode:

The U.S. is exceptional due to its focus on individualism, ingenuity, and exceptionalism.

Many government employees consider themselves to be part of a ruling class.

The last three years have been the fastest growing industrial years in history.

The Constitution was designed to limit government authority over individuals and prioritize individual rights.

The Electoral College ensures representation from all parts of the country.

The Democrats have fully embraced Marxist ideologies which don’t appeal to the overwhelming majority of Americans.

Dozens of statements that were dismissed as conspiracy theories over the past few years have turned out to be true.

The United States is approaching a federal election, and many voters are being subjected to psychological manipulation. Dan Sullivan and Mark Young explain how concepts like capitalism are being misrepresented and misinterpreted.

In This Episode:

The way the U.S. was formed and the way it formalized its growth into a document makes it exceptional.

The United States is not a democracy. It’s a constitutionally limited republic.

The word “democracy” isn’t used once in the Declaration of Independence or in the U.S. Constitution.

Democracy is a method for representation. It's a way of voting.

Starting 70 years ago, we've had an encroachment on the part of European thinking, which totally clashes with the individualism guaranteed by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

The craziest people on both ends have the loudest voices.

Dan Sullivan and Mark Young discuss the rise of progressivism and the impact it had on American politics. Dan shares his personal experience growing up in a blue-collar Democratic family. The episode explores the Democrats’ singular focus on highly “educated” professionals, and what this means for the future of work.

In This Episode:

The GI Bill probably was and probably still is the biggest social legislation that ever happened in the United States.

After the baby boom, going to university became the expected norm for everybody.

Progressivism was really introduced by Woodrow Wilson.

You can earn about $150,000 a year as a truck driver, or you can graduate with a four-year degree and earn $40,000 working in an office.

Government workers are about input, not outcome. Entrepreneurs don't care about input. They only care about outcome. They care about results.

Intellectuals see entrepreneurs as their enemy.

While the Democrats keep repeating the same rehearsed talking points, President Trump is telling the truth. He has every audience he’s in front of right where he wants them, and that’s always been his way. In this second episode of a two-part series, Dan Sullivan and Mark Young share the ways in which President Trump is different from anyone we’ve ever seen before, and how he has the skills to put an audience in a trance.

In This Episode:

President Trump has the skill to wander away from what’s written on a teleprompter.

Entrepreneurs look for problems because they find problems to be opportunities.

When the Democrats share a talking point, it’s highly coordinated on every social media platform.

President Trump understands neurolinguistics programming and how to use language, cadence, and timing.

You hold an incredible advantage when you understand the entertainment model of modern American society.

Links: 

Envy: A Theory of Social Behaviour by Helmut Schoeck

Mark Young and Dan Sullivan discuss media biases, and the search for truth. They shed light on why it’s critical to develop your own philosophy in the face of external noise. Discover why President Trump’s political philosophy was always to challenge the mainstream, and to unravel the trances that dominate US perceptions.

In This Episode:

People have every right to say what they want, and you have every right to not hire them if they’re not a good fit for your organization.

What moves some entrepreneurs from left wing to right wing is their first payroll.

Think of your conscious mind as a spam filter preventing information from passing into the subconscious mind.

If you don’t hold your own philosophy, the world will never stop trying to craft one for you.

All humans are going from hypnotic trance to hypnotic trance.

Television news has always been entertainment because it has to compete with everything else on television.

Media knows that putting you in a trance is more important than the information they give you.

Even if he intends to run, President Biden is not in a good position to get re-elected. Meanwhile, President Trump should have never been counted out. Americans are ready for a change. In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Mark Young discuss why a big change is due, and what we can expect to shift over the coming years.

In This Episode:

Forty years of college graduates have been found wanting in the eyes of the average American people.

The Republicans winning the house has turned out to be much more momentous than anyone thought.

Investigations into the Biden family will go back to when he was senator of Delaware.

Lifetime bureaucrats have never created anything.

At some point, there will be consensus in the Democratic Party to get Biden out of there.

The percentage of the American economy that’s involved in foreign trade is 12% of the GDP.

The Democrats fall into the Great Society model, which states that there are only a few gifted people in the world who have the intelligence to make decisions.

All the economic flow will go to people who actually know how to do things.

No blue-collar jobs are endangered by ChatGPT.

Resources:

The Storm Before the Calm by George Friedman

The End of the World Is Just the Beginning: Mapping the Collapse of Globalization by Peter Zeihan

Visual Capitalist

Blunt Force Truth podcast

Plenty of people are confused as to why President Trump acts the way he does. That might be because Trump was the first entrepreneur in the White House. Dan Sullivan and Mark Young share how Trump’s mindsets line up with those of the most successful entrepreneurs, how he differs from Democrats and career politicians, and why bureaucrats misunderstand the approach he takes.

In This Episode:

Entrepreneurs see problems as opportunities.

In 20 years, all new combat airplanes will be drones.

There’s a wisdom and skill that come from doing presidential campaigns.

Trump knows that U.S. domestic policy is a form of entertainment.

Democrats have only one type of fuel in their tank, and that’s power.

Trump isn’t an ideologue; he’s a problem solver.

The left doesn’t understand that the more they attack Trump, the more they feed him.

You have to take extra steps as your chronological age moves forward.

No matter what you’ve done up until now, your future has to be bigger than your past.

The closest historical precedent to how Trump thinks about developing the economy is the Whig Party.