OPACITY. OPACITY. OPACITY. (Steve Ballmer voice) OPACITY. Today we are talking complicated financial instruments, the Fundamental Unknowableness Of Things, Mamdani, complexity, propaganda, and so much more. INCREDIBLY thankful to David for appearing on the show, PLEASE GO BUY HIS BOOK:

As Public as Possible: Radical Finance for America's Public Schools

and he can be found here on all socials, DEFINITELY as well go follow him since his content is amazing:

https://linktr.ee/davidibacker

https://davidbacker.com/

https://www.tiktok.com/@schooldaves

and that incredible Baffler Mag article is here:

https://thebaffler.com/latest/paying-for-it-backer

Keywords

David Backer, bond market, education finance, public schools, social movements, municipal bonds, financial opacity, HyperNormalization, Saragossa Manuscript, political economy, software usage, financial jargon, opacity, class struggle, public education, political structures, ideology, solutions, municipal bonds, public finance

Chapters

00:00:00 Introduction to David Backer and His Work

00:03:25 Understanding the Bond Market and Its Implications

00:06:30 The Role of Social Movements in Education

00:09:35 Exploring the Financial Mechanisms Behind School Funding

00:12:41 The Complexity of Capital Expenditures

00:15:36 The Nature of Bonds vs. Loans

00:18:32 The Opacity of Financial Systems

00:21:45 Cinematic Reflections on Finance

00:24:24 The Saragossa Manuscript and Its Parallels to Finance

00:26:24 Philosophical Insights from Film and Finance

00:35:20 Understanding Complexity Through the Feynman Method

00:36:17 The Insanity of Modern Society and Politics

00:38:28 The Challenges of Entering Power

00:41:16 The Mechanics of Municipal Bonds

00:44:06 The Infinite Complexity of Public Finance

00:46:33 The Role of Experts in Understanding Finance

00:49:20 The Opaqueness of Private Equity

00:51:55 The Language of Finance and Its Implications

00:53:42 The Deliberate Opacity in Financial Systems

00:57:57 The Class Struggle and Financial Opacity

01:01:15 The Need for a New Approach to Power

01:03:53 Philosophical Reflections on Causality

01:06:48 The Complexity of Political Structures

01:10:01 Art and Propaganda: The Role of Surkov

01:12:06 Hypernormalization vs. Kayfabe: A Dialectical Contrast

01:18:37 Public Education: Challenges and Solutions

01:25:01 Making Education Truly Public