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Fiat currency is not the problem it's made out to be, but there is a real problem with the Federal Reserve Bank of the US Support this channel at https://patreon.com/ericrosenfield for early, ad-free episodes, exclusive author's notes and more Text version: https://literatemachine.com/2026/11/05/fiat-currency-is-not-the-problem-with-the-fed/ Bibliography: https://literatemachine.com/2026/11/05/fiat-currency-is-not-the-problem-with-the-fed/#bibliography Video version: https://youtu.be/JA6JcgAr5mQ

Lanterns is a superhero TV show that's really about the US war in Iraq and US imperial policy Get Your Copy of The Book: The Ultimate Guide to Rebuilding a Civilization! Order now at https://mdsh.io/gxywsbjxoy and use code LITERATE10 for a 10% discount. This episode is sponsored by Hungry Minds. Support this project at https://patreon.com/ericrosenfield for early, ad-free episodes, exclusive author's notes, and more for only $1. Text: https://literatemachine.com/2026/10/23/lanterns-is-a-show-about-us-imperialism/ Bibliography: https://literatemachine.com/2026/10/23/lanterns-is-a-show-about-us-imperialism/#bibliography

What if they were already giving us the tools we need to beat them? Support this project at https://patreon.com/ericrosenfield where you can get early, ad-free episodes, exclusive author's notes, and more for only $1/mo Video version: https://youtu.be/QaDtAOWgKdQ Text version: https://literatemachine.com/2026/10/08/the-technofeudal-roadmap-to-socialism/ Bibliography: https://literatemachine.com/2026/10/08/the-technofeudal-roadmap-to-socialism/#bibliography

I hit 50k subs! Here's some questions and answers! Join my Discord server: https://discord.gg/sfHRjccnt9 Support this channel at https://patreon.com/ericrosenfield for early, ad-free episodes, exclusive author's notes, bonus essays, and more for only $1/mo. Bibliography: Video about the problems with DeleteMe and Incogni: https://youtu.be/iX3JT6q3AxA Video about the problems with VPNs: https://youtu.be/mIwfNw5UaHA?si=oi065lcla5vGw_0Y How Meta used a VPN to spy on people: https://twinsilos.substack.com/p/zuckerbergs-120m-spy-app-how-meta How the advantage of centrism on "electability" has disappeared: https://www.ms.now/opinion/study-moderate-progressive-turn-out-abdul-el-sayed-mike-rogers Megastudy about how undocumented immigrants don't increase crime rates: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02542-0 How immigrants increase economic activity: https://govfacts.org/immigration/the-economic-case-for-immigration-what-the-data-shows-about-americas-workforce/ Police don't solve crimes: https://theconversation.com/police-solve-just-2-of-all-major-crimes-143878 Prisons increase recidivism back making the transition back to society difficult: https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev.soc.29.010202.095931 Trump wants to skip FDA inspections for meat: https://newrepublic.com/post/214909/trump-beef-fda-inspections-america-sick

With the economy getting more technofeudal, work is getting more medieval. What if this could play into the hands of creating a more cooperative economy that's better for everyone and not just the rich? Text version: https://literatemachine.com/2026/09/07/the-medievalization-of-work-and-the-cooperative-cure/ Bibliography: https://literatemachine.com/2026/09/07/the-medievalization-of-work-and-the-cooperative-cure/#bibliography  Audio version on your favorite podcast app. Support this project at https://patreon.com/ericrosenfield for early, ad-free videos, exclusive authors notes, and bonus material for only $1/mo.    Apologies for the sound quality: I normally don't do hand-held and the mic is usually farther from my mouth, so I forgot to turn the gain down before recording and as a result there's more distortion/clipping in the sound than I would like. I used a bunch of filters and even overdubbed some bits to mitigate the problem, but it's not perfect.

There's some evidence this was done on purpose Text: https://literatemachine.com/2026/08/16/is-ground-news-a-right-wing-psy-op/ Bibliography: https://literatemachine.com/2026/08/16/is-ground-news-a-right-wing-psy-op/#bibliography Support this project at https://patreon.com/ericrosenfield for early, ad-free episodes, exclusive authors notes, and bonus material for only $1 a month Discord: https://discord.gg/sfHRjccnt9

Ground News bills itself as a way to evaluate bias in the news, but the way it does so plays into the hands of those who have a reason to make you think all news bias falls into a simple left-right spectrum Bibliography: https://literatemachine.com/2026/07/29/ground-news-and-the-war-on-reality/#bibliography  Text version: https://literatemachine.com/2026/07/29/ground-news-and-the-war-on-reality/ Support this channel at https://patreon.com/ericrosenfield and get early, ad-free episodes and more for only $1, including the bonus chapter to this episode about Walter Lippmann ("The Manufacture of the Manufacture of Consent"): https://www.patreon.com/ericrosenfield/posts/manufacture-of-164895857 Thanks to all my patrons! Support some journalism coops: * 404 Media: https://www.404media.co/ * Defector: https://defector.com/ * Aftermath: https://aftermath.site/ * RANGE Media: https://www.rangemedia.co/ * Hell Gate: https://hellgatenyc.com/ * Flaming Hydra: https://flaminghydra.com/

Here's the 25k subscriber Q&A! Passion Project vs. Ambition, Democratic Socialism vs. Market Socialism, Predictions for 2028, 3 Crises that worry me, and the story of the channel. Relevant links: How Can I Save You? Gravity's Rainbow Over Palestine Mooks Clip of Hasan Piker saying Fox News is making the DSA look good

Innovation and the stars will not be enough to give us infinite growth in a capitalist economy and all you have to do to know why is look at the evidence Support this project at https://patreon.com/ericrosenfield and get early, ad free episodes, exclusive author's notes, and more for only $1. Support via one-time donation at: https://ko-fi.com/literatemachine Text Version: https://literatemachine.com/2026/06/21/no-infinite-growth-is-not-possible/ YouTube version: https://youtu.be/MLhhlgB59mY  Bibliography: https://literatemachine.com/2026/06/21/no-infinite-growth-is-not-possible/#bibliography

It seems like the entire economy is being sucked up into the realm of the ultra-rich. Let's explore why this looks like the beginning of the end. Support this project on Patreon at https://patreon.com/ericrosenfield and get early, ad-free episodes, exclusive author's notes, and other extras for only $1. Text version: https://literatemachine.com/2026/05/26/anti-life-or-how-capitalism-will-die-with-math/ Video version: https://youtu.be/M-_W1qVE9Ks Bibliography: https://literatemachine.com/2026/05/26/anti-life-or-how-capitalism-will-die-with-math/#bibliography

Let me challenge your assumptions Support this project on Patreon at https://patreon.com/ericrosenfield where you can get early, ad-free episodes, exclusive author's notes, exclusive content and more for only $1.  Full text: https://literatemachine.com/2026/04/30/mooks/ Bibliography: https://literatemachine.com/2026/04/30/mooks/#bibliography

The book V for Vendetta posits a battle for the soul of the country between Anarchism and Fascism, freedom and oppression. But what if revolution doesn't happen the way we think it does? Bibliography: https://literatemachine.com/2026/03/24/anarchism-and-the-promise-of-revolution-v-for-vendetta/#bibliography

What does Superman tell us about the ethics of closed borders? Support this project on Patreon at https://patreon.com/ericrosenfield Especially since at this moment Warner Brothers did a copyright claim on this video to take all the revenue despite the fact that I only use small clips for the purposes of review and commentary which is definitionally fair use. I've disputed it, and we'll see how it goes, but I've never had such small clips mostly without sound get copyright striked in my videos before. Bibliography: https://literatemachine.com/2026/01/19/superman-and-the-case-for-open-borders/#bibliography  00:00 Superman 2025 and the rightwing backlash 03:26 Superman as an immigrant 06:28 The moral case for open borders 10:40 Immigration and crime 12:42 Immigration and social services 13:59 Immigration and labor 21:35 Immigration and space 23:55 Immigration and history 31:50 Immigration and racism 35:46 Right-wing obsession with birthrates 37:45 They're punking us, right? 45:50 It doesn't have to be this way 51:40 The problem with Superman (2025) 59:23 Politics is something we do, not something done to us

How the New Thought and Positive Thinking movements helped create Neil Gaiman and Donald Trump and undermined our economy and lives Support this project on Patreon at https://patreon.com/ericrosenfield Thanks to all my Patrons!  Full bibliography at: https://literatemachine.com/2025/09/20/gaiman-trump-and-the-new-thought-behind-the-abuse/#bibliography Other formats, text, and more information at https://literatemachine.com

There's a worst case scenario looming here, isn't there? Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, Curtis Yarvin, Freedom Cities, "Anarcho-Capitalism", and the Neofeudal Order Still to Come Special thanks to my Patrons Support this project at https://patreon.com/ericrosenfield for exclusive author's notes, deleted material, and other goodies Blog version: https://literatemachine.com/2025/04/13/our-coming-cyberpunk-dictatorship-snow-crash Bibliography: https://literatemachine.com/2025/04/13/our-coming-cyberpunk-dictatorship-snow-crash#bibliography Music: "What Shall We Do Now?" written by Roger Waters, performed by me Lossless audio version now up on Patreon