I put together an AI video from various books on the political drama of recent history in the United States. It’s far from perfect due to the constraints of AI, on top of that–adding layers from different perspectives, competing narratives, and is confusing overall. One book I wished I had added, but only recently remembered, was Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right by American investigative journalist Jane Mayer. It is not a secret that lobbying and outside political forces like billionaires, organizations, industry, and institutions play a role in money in politics, and Mayer tackles the billionaire side of political influence.
Another thing I’ll add, I focused on the former CEO of Patrick Byrne, and his spiral into politics. I think this has caused him more harm than good, as he has been in the hospitals several times due to bad health conditions he battled early on in his life. His lack of peace of mind is a reflection of the stress he puts himself in, and getting involved in politics only exacerbates his health, in my opinion.
I have nothing against Patrick Byrne, in fact, I learned a great deal from him with his battle with Wall Street, and how his company was targeted by predatory short sellers, and the use of naked short selling. Early on he was mentored by the great Warren Buffett (who his father was picked by Buffett to run Geico), has a philosophy background, and became CEO of a company, so there’s no slouch there. Yet, he can go down a pretty dark path and get caught up in shady business such as the honeypot Russian women he was with, the Russian collusion scandal, and election fraud theories. I don’t know the truth of that situation in depth, this is an area he was knee deep in. Election fraud is a huge claim, which requires extraordinary evidence. I don’t want to get involved in that discussion and it’s probably wiser to stay out of it.
However, Byrne did play a key role in shedding light into the shady practices of Wall Street: The hedge fund industry, brokers, and so forth. He was early in sounding the alarm of the 2008 financial crisis, getting on a network like FOX talking about a coming collapse that will rival the Great Depression. He was vindicated in the end. Yet, it doesn’t mean he is right in everything, and he should be challenged to get his facts straight and one should be skeptical of anyone’s claims without thorough investigation.
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