Ep. 84
Joshua went to Japan for his 10th anniversary and came home with a lot to say.
It starts at a basement gate at LAX. From there it goes places you won’t see coming: a parking meter deal in Chicago, a toll road in Norman named after a man who fought it, a city council job that pays less than you’d guess, a tax decision older than most of the people listening, a generation of lonely young men, a 150-year-old Japanese habit, the question of who owns AI, and what historians say happens when nothing changes.
It’s all connected. You’ll see how by the end.
William sat this one out. He wanted plausible deniability.
MENTIONED Unf*cking the Republic, “5NN: This Is How We Win” https://omny.fm/shows/unf-cking-the-republic/5nn-this-is-how-we-win-the-5-non-negotiables-of-the-left
SOURCES KGOU: https://www.kgou.org/politics-and-government/2022-05-23/norman-area-residents-allege-open-meetings-act-violations-in-lawsuit-against-oklahoma-turnpike-authority KFOR: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/norman-residents-upset-turnpike-named-040052152.html OU Daily: https://www.oudaily.com/news/norman-voters-approve-6-norman-city-council-charter-changes-reject-3/article_9f795438-2311-11ed-8786-8fd150cdb05a.html Nippon.com: https://www.nippon.com/en/currents/d00391/ NBC News poll (via Press Enterprise): https://www.pressenterpriseonline.com/node/1297763 Gallup: https://news.gallup.com/poll/690788/younger-men-among-loneliest-west.aspx KFF 2025: https://www.kff.org/health-costs/report/2025-employer-health-benefits-survey/ AAA 2026: https://www.fingerlakes1.com/2026/09/15/aaa-estimates-new-vehicle-ownership-costs-at-12863-a-year/ Peterson-KFF: https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/health-spending-u-s-compare-countries/ OECD 2025: https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/health-at-a-glance-2025_15a55280-en/japan_319bfc39-en.html Sen. Warren: https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/senator-warren-unveils-proposal-to-tax-wealth-of-ultra-rich-americans WBEZ: https://www.wbez.org/politics/2023/06/21/parking-meter-deal-keeps-on-giving-for-private-investors-not-chicago-taxpayers International Railway Journal: https://www.railjournal.com/passenger/high-speed/spanish-high-speed-competition-drives-passenger-numbers-up-by-a-third/ Japan Cabinet Office: https://www8.cao.go.jp/cstp/stmain/20260619ai/aiplan_2601_draft_en.pdf
BOOKS AND RESEARCH Walter Scheidel, The Great Leveler (2017) Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan, Why Civil Resistance Works (2011) Barbara F. Walter, How Civil Wars Start (2022) Peter Turchin, End Times (2023) Raj Chetty et al., Opportunity Insights Alesina, Stantcheva, and Teso, American Economic Review (2018)