Oz Veloshian

And at the end of the day, that still matters.

And it mattered even in a system like the Soviet system.

People understood.

They used to say, you know, we pretend to work, they pretend to pay us.

which is a very empowering thing to say in a dictatorship.

It's a very empowering thing to say in a place where what is truth is determined.

I mean, Zonyatin was out there for the Russians just like Orwell was in the West, but they were living that.

And I think that the Soviets damn well knew truth when they heard it.

And I think at the end of the day, so do Americans, so do people all over the world.

That to me is what drives optimism.

Yeah, I mean, oddly, one of the things that many people who support Trump say that they appreciate about Trump is this feeling of his authenticity.

And I suppose, you know, compared to how politicians tended to sound in the United States in the

latter part of the 20th century into the 21st, he does sound authentic, meaning he's not beholden to the same conventions and third rails or things you're supposed to say and not to say.

And there is, at least in a nominally democratic society, some degree of people kind of like that, right?

Put yourself through some hardships, and you will come out on the other side a happier, more fulfilled, healthier person.

Well, I think that Trump is authentically a bad person.

And I wish that weren't true, but I do.

He was raised badly.

I mean, if you've read any of the history, right?

I mean, like it was a very challenging and kind of emotionally abusive environment.