American Checklist™

As much as human beings have learned over the years, there are still extremely significant concepts that we have no explanation for. In this episode, Dan Sullivan, Mark Young, and their guest Perry Marshall discuss some of the biggest unanswered questions, the different kinds of intelligence, and more.

Unintelligent AI: Siri understands everything you say but has no idea what you mean.

Limited companies: The limitations of AI limit what companies like Facebook and Google can do.

Complete disconnect: A complete disconnect can be observed in what people are doing in medicine and biology, and what people are doing in technology.

Spark question: Nobody knows what the spark is that makes life what life is, or where it comes from, and even a partial answer to that question would transform everything.

Potential mistake: Humans have very little understanding of what biological intelligence is, and if we don't acknowledge that, a terrible mistake could be made.

Lacking tools: No system has the tools to fix itself.

In infancy: Some people think that science is a mature discipline, but it might be that it's just in its infancy.

Adaptable and cooperative: Business is the survival of the most adaptable and cooperative.

Generosity choice: Generosity can never be forced; it has to be chosen.

Transcendental mindset: Every human is born with a transcendental mindset, wanting to believe that there's something outside of ourselves.

Imagine possibilities: Something humans can do that machines can't is to imagine possibilities that no one has presented to them.

There are radically different ideas out there about the current president, and in this episode, Dan Sullivan and Mark Young discuss why that is, plus share predictions for the upcoming election.

Mostly wrong: Most pollsters made the wrong prediction about who would win the most recent presidential election.

Spending less: Donald Trump spent far less than Hillary Clinton on advertising during the presidential campaign.

All socialists: All of the people currently running on the democratic ticket are socialists, whether they call themselves that or not.

Creating war: If there's no world war to get people to abandon their rights, something else can be created that will do the same thing.

Good vs. evil: It can be argued that the upcoming federal election is a battle of good versus evil because socialism is evil.

Weaker media: Media no longer seems to have the power to damage the prospects of the American president.

In a liberal world: The average conservative understands liberals better than the average liberal understands conservatives.

The Democratic Party is showing signs of being divided, and in this episode, Dan Sullivan and Mark Young talk about why a Democratic candidate is unlikely to win the next election.

Two parties: The Democratic Party might actually split into two parties, and two candidates might come out of it in the fall.

Progressivism ending: One can see what's happening now not as the beginning of socialism in the U.S., but as the end of progressivism.

Only value: Nothing has any monetary value other than what is determined by the marketplace.

No seats: It's possible for a candidate to receive a large percentage of the popular vote in the U.S. without winning a single electoral seat.

Unlikely elimination: It's unlikely that the electoral college will be eliminated because that would require agreement from the very states that the electoral college protects.

The same mindsets that possessed people to come to America and expand its surveyed boundaries are alive and well in Americans today. In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Mark Young discuss how people who are philosophically American are motivated to create bigger and better futures rather than stick with the status quo.

Inherited wealth: In the U.S., inherited wealth isn't well respected, and it may even be seen as a sign of incompetence.

Comeback stories: Americans love comeback stories because reinvention is a central part of Americans' DNA.

Founding mindsets: There's a theory that American mindsets were founded by the millions of people who came to America because they were attracted by the possibilities and promises that were made about this "new land."

Establishment and frontier: There's always a tension between those who want to stay in established areas and those who want to expand the boundaries of what's been established.

Frontier mindsets: The characteristics of the people who expanded the American frontier are the same ones entrepreneurs possess today.

Many frontiers: From an entrepreneurial standpoint, there's no difference between a frontier of land and many other frontiers, including those of technology, medicine, and space.

How did the American people come by their individualism, ingenuity, and exceptionalism? In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Mark Young explain how the challenges faced by the first European settlers in America led to the formation of the philosophical characteristics of Americans.

Frontier mindsets: What was required to expand the frontier in America developed the eight American mindsets.

The next frontier: Following the end of the actual, physical frontier, the form that the frontier took was entrepreneurism.

Self-governing capability: For the first European settlers in America, it was crucial that they had the capability of self-government, quickly establishing rules and structures.

Transforming opposition: Anything we come up against can be transformed to be the way we want it.

Not conquering: America has never philosophically tried to conquer the world.

Orderly and systematic: No empire has ever been created in as orderly and systematic a fashion as the U.S.

Destroying innovation: Regulation is destructive to innovation, as bureaucracy is destructive to entrepreneurism.

No drop-off: The U.S. is the only prosperous, industrially and technologically developed country on the planet that hasn't experienced a downward curve in religious activity.

Bigger than you: When you're doing new things and you're not quite sure of yourself, you have to believe in things that are bigger than you.

No risks: If you grew up with socialist beliefs, it might be that you don't want to take risks.

While socialism can seem to be about compassion, it's really about a few people gaining power, and it's an anti-American concept. In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Mark Young talk about how the next presidential election will be a decision between the American ideal and its opposite.

Diametrically opposed: The next presidential election will feature two competing philosophies that are diametrically opposed: entrepreneurism and socialism.

Philosophically opposed: Every quality that's philosophically American is opposed to the Green New Deal.

Bringing back: Some Democratic candidates are proposing bringing back ideas that were the reason that some people left Europe for America in the first place.

Daily transactions: What changes society are the daily transactions of buying and selling things.

Constantly shifting: Marketplace-determined prices for products and services are constantly shifting, which defeats the notion of central planning.

Controlling power: Socialism is first and foremost about a very small number of people planning all of the transactions in society.

Other people's money: Socialism is great for some people, but it has to be paid for with other people's money.

No competing: Socialism is for people who don't want to have a measured result or to compete.

Voting socialist: Socialism is dictatorship that's been voted for.

For the philosophy: It might be that in the upcoming election, the philosophies will be so starkly opposed to each other that people will vote for a certain candidate even if they don't like the individual.

Many Americans are currently expressing a desire for socialism, but they don't seem to understand exactly what that means. In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Mark Young explain the definition and some of the history of socialism and why it goes against what it means to be American.

Voted in: The only difference between socialism and communism is that socialism is voted in.

European product: Socialism is a product of European intellectual development.

Against freedom: It could be thought of not as socialism versus capitalism, but as socialism versus individual freedom.

Individual ingenuity: Ingenuity can only happen at the individual level. There's no collective ingenuity.

Operating system: Capitalism isn't a belief system but an operating system that says if you organize your life a certain way and do certain things, you'll come out ahead from an economic standpoint.

Capitalist-based: The United States is the only country that was purely created as a capitalist-based country.

Financial literacy: Polls have shown that currently, 67% of Americans have what is, effectively, financial literacy.

Giving wealth: The end result of all socialistic policies and programs is to take the wealth that's created by the people who are good at creating wealth, and give it to the people who aren't good at creating wealth.

Some believe that a change to socialism would be for the greater good in America, but socialism actually isn't for the benefit of all. In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Mark Young explain why socialism can never happen in a voluntary state.

Governs government: The Constitution doesn't govern the American people; the Constitution governs the American government.

Three Ps: There are three "Ps" that actually create the economic world: the pricing mechanism of the marketplace, profit and loss, and personal property.

Subject to theory: Socialism doesn't embrace measurement or accountability that isn't subject to theory.

Not for all: It can be argued that socialism isn't for the benefit of all, but rather taking from some to give to others.

Never voluntary: Socialism has to be imposed, and it has to be coerced, so it can never happen in a voluntary state.

Immune to feedback: Some governmental structures have had problems in adjusting to the increase in the world's population because they're immune to feedback.

Creating scarcity: The system of socialism guarantees the creation of scarcity.

Self-development required: Capitalism requires the maximum self-development of individuals.

Threatening innovation: Socialism interferes with any innovation that's going to threaten the existing structure.

Effective action: Capitalism is a way to produce more effective action out in the world.

While collectivism seems to be on the rise in the United States, it's part of the cyclical flow that's always been present. In this episode, Dan Sullivan, Mark Young, and guest Perry Marshall talk about the different ways of looking at what's happening with technology and the benefits of using your freedom of individualism.

Two ideas: America has been described as a tension between two powerful ideas: equality and individualism.

Equally unequal: In America, there's equal opportunity to make yourself as unequal as you like.

Pendulum swings: Excessive individualism is unhealthy, and excessive collectivism is unhealthy, but it's inevitable that the pendulum swings back and forth from one to the other.

Always cyclical: Society can never get to where it's trying to go in a straight line; there will always be a cyclical nature to it.

Coming and going: Some people are afraid of the jobs that driverless cars and trucks will make obsolete, but they might not be thinking about the industries and activities that will come into existence as a result.

Faster internet: An entire industry can pop up on the internet in the time it takes to design a new car to get into production.

Negative freedom: If the expansion of your freedom diminishes someone else's freedom, then that's negative freedom.

Not global: We all essentially lead local lives, and our communication capabilities don't make us any more global.

Human intelligence: You can have all the computer power in the world, and you'll still have an intelligent human directing it.

Easier prediction: It's easier to predict what's not going to change than it is to predict what the future will be like decades into the future.

A new Gallup poll indicates that the majority of Democrats prefer socialism to capitalism. In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Mark Young discuss how socialism goes against the fundamental principles of the United States, and how the Democratic Party now has two voter bases.

Unhappy Americans: There's nothing about socialism that corresponds to the principles of the American experiment, so American socialists are unhappy Americans.

Democracies inside: The U.S. is a constitutionally limited republic but with 50 democracies inside of it.

Strong divide: The eight years under President Obama created a bifurcation between those who are totally for the American principles and those who hate those principles and want a different kind of America in the future.

Acceptable label: Unlike 20 years ago, socialist is now an acceptable label.

Governing government: America is a transformative process based on constitutional principles. America isn't governed by government; it has a constitution that governs government so that it doesn't get in the way of the dynamic principles of American society.