Follow Jason on Locals! _____ Here's a painful truth: the overwhelming majority of people are too stupid and incompetent to govern themselves. As HL Mencken said, "Most people in this world want security, not liberty." They don't want to accept responsibility for their own lives. They want a leader to follow or an expert to trust. So at the first sign of trouble, they're quick to surrender control over their own lives. And thus we wind up with the Patriot Act and COVID lockdowns. Because, as HL Mencken also said, "Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and they deserve to get it good and hard." Smart people have recognized this dynamic, and they've realized that real power lies in doing whatever the crowd isn't. Therefore, the world is run by people who know how to influence and persuade. Whether in politics or business or media (which is the business of politics, or the politics of business, depending on how you look at it), those who go against--and are smart about it--are the ones who ultimately control their own destinies. This is the true 1%. And the economy of the near future will be shaped by them. But first, we're gonna go through some rough times. This episode is brought to you by our sponsor: Helix Sleep