Marco Arment

And the whole American experiment is to try to design a system where that's harder to do, but people are constantly trying to find a way to break down that system, to break away all the things that are keeping us from becoming like a lawless, becoming from Mad Max, right? Like just a warlord state, right? And we've made progress. If you look at like, you know...

And the whole American experiment is to try to design a system where that's harder to do, but people are constantly trying to find a way to break down that system, to break away all the things that are keeping us from becoming like a lawless, becoming from Mad Max, right? Like just a warlord state, right? And we've made progress. If you look at like, you know...

Casey's reading the power broker and learn all about, uh, as a side effect, Tammany hall and all like the, the political corruption machines where politics was just a way of like, it was basically like street gangs essentially. And when you got elected, you gave money and jobs to the people who supported you and like, you know, graft and, and bribery. Like that was, that was, was the system.

Casey's reading the power broker and learn all about, uh, as a side effect, Tammany hall and all like the, the political corruption machines where politics was just a way of like, it was basically like street gangs essentially. And when you got elected, you gave money and jobs to the people who supported you and like, you know, graft and, and bribery. Like that was, that was, was the system.

And that was a bad system. And we had reformers who said, hey, this is no way to run a government because it lets like the people who are loyal to the political machine. It was like organized crime essentially, but that was the system of government. That's bad because the citizens suffer and it's the same reason having organized crime families battle each other is bad.

And that was a bad system. And we had reformers who said, hey, this is no way to run a government because it lets like the people who are loyal to the political machine. It was like organized crime essentially, but that was the system of government. That's bad because the citizens suffer and it's the same reason having organized crime families battle each other is bad.

Even if they're not killing each other in the street, they're hogging all the money and good stuff for a small number of people and everyone else suffers. Let's reform the system. Let's add laws and ethics and try to have a different way of governing ourselves. It doesn't involve patronage and graft. And that took years and years of reformers battling to try to make our system better.

Even if they're not killing each other in the street, they're hogging all the money and good stuff for a small number of people and everyone else suffers. Let's reform the system. Let's add laws and ethics and try to have a different way of governing ourselves. It doesn't involve patronage and graft. And that took years and years of reformers battling to try to make our system better.

That's the example off the top of my head because I'm listening to the Power Broker podcast too and I've read the book several times. But that's history, not just in America, but over the entire world. It's difficult to make a governing system better. that is resistant to people chipping it away.

That's the example off the top of my head because I'm listening to the Power Broker podcast too and I've read the book several times. But that's history, not just in America, but over the entire world. It's difficult to make a governing system better. that is resistant to people chipping it away.

And if you don't constantly resist that, you end up with a small number of very wealthy, very powerful people living really great lives and everyone else suffering. And... The American system is currently in a regression where we had all these things that we're trying to be sort of bulwarks against that terrible thing happening that are being eaten away slowly but surely.

And if you don't constantly resist that, you end up with a small number of very wealthy, very powerful people living really great lives and everyone else suffering. And... The American system is currently in a regression where we had all these things that we're trying to be sort of bulwarks against that terrible thing happening that are being eaten away slowly but surely.

Citizens United, all the Supreme Court justices letting the president do whatever he wants as long as it's part of his official duties, reversing Roe v. Wade, like... You know, installing judges who are loyal to Trump instead of the law. Like, all the checks and balances that we had are being chipped away in service of bringing us back to essentially Mad Max and Warlords.

Citizens United, all the Supreme Court justices letting the president do whatever he wants as long as it's part of his official duties, reversing Roe v. Wade, like... You know, installing judges who are loyal to Trump instead of the law. Like, all the checks and balances that we had are being chipped away in service of bringing us back to essentially Mad Max and Warlords.

Which, by the way, is not a good system of government for the general citizen. Right? It's that whole... thought experiment of like, pick a time in history that you want to travel. You have a time machine. You can travel back in time to any point in history. Pick a time in history. The only wrinkle is you don't get to pick what role you have in that society when you land in it.

Which, by the way, is not a good system of government for the general citizen. Right? It's that whole... thought experiment of like, pick a time in history that you want to travel. You have a time machine. You can travel back in time to any point in history. Pick a time in history. The only wrinkle is you don't get to pick what role you have in that society when you land in it.

So you say, I want to go back to Roman times and I'll be like Caesar. It's like, oh no, you don't get to pick to be Caesar. You are just like a Roman slave. Now do you want to go back to the Roman times? Everyone wants to be in whatever time in history they glorify, assuming they'll be at the top of the hierarchy, right?

So you say, I want to go back to Roman times and I'll be like Caesar. It's like, oh no, you don't get to pick to be Caesar. You are just like a Roman slave. Now do you want to go back to the Roman times? Everyone wants to be in whatever time in history they glorify, assuming they'll be at the top of the hierarchy, right?

An actual good functioning society is one where you would say, yes, I do want to travel in time to that society, and you can randomly place me anywhere in that society, and I'll be fine because there is not an underclass that is trod upon by the upper class. And in America, we are unfortunately going in the other direction where we are.

An actual good functioning society is one where you would say, yes, I do want to travel in time to that society, and you can randomly place me anywhere in that society, and I'll be fine because there is not an underclass that is trod upon by the upper class. And in America, we are unfortunately going in the other direction where we are.