#9 SPECTACLE STATE

Trump, Saudi Money and the Selling of AdelaideWhat do Donald Trump, Saudi sovereign wealth, LIV Golf, and the destruction of Adelaide’s public parklands have in common?According to Max Marten, far more than most people are willing to admit.In this explosive episode of Max Marten Chats, Max pulls apart the political spectacle surrounding LIV Golf, the South Australian Government’s obsession with global prestige, and the deeper international influence networks sitting underneath the entire project.This isn’t really about golf.It’s about:Saudi soft power,Trump-era prestige politics,sportswashing,foreign influence,civic identity,ecological destruction,and the transformation of governments into performance machines obsessed with image over stewardship.As the financial foundations beneath LIV Golf begin crashing internationally, Max asks the question nobody in Australian politics seems willing to confront honestly:Why are public lands, sacred spaces, mature ecosystems and civic trust being sacrificed for a prestige model that may not even survive long term?Raised by Latvian refugee parents who escaped Soviet occupation, Max brings a deeply personal perspective to the politics of spectacle, influence, and the destruction of continuity in modern democracies.This episode explores:LIV Golf and Saudi moneyDonald Trump’s relationship with golf and the elite influence cultureAdelaide Park Lands controversyPeter Malinauskas and “world-class city” politicsSportswashing and authoritarian soft powerThe collapse of civic custodianshipPublic land vs prestige economicsWhy Formula One and other global events eventually left AdelaideThe rise of what Max calls “The Performance State”This isn't Left vs Right.It’s custodianship vs spectacle.Memory vs branding.Place vs performance.And once governments begin treating everything sacred as negotiable infrastructure, citizens eventually stop trusting them entirely.#LIVGolf#SaudiArabia#DonaldTrump#Adelaide#Sportswashing#PoliticalCommentary#MaxMartenChats#SouthAustralia🎙️ Unfiltered. Unafraid. Unbought.Subscribe, listen, and join the conversation on Max Marten Chats — because silence is the last victory of every tyrant.Thirty minutes. One issue. No spin.I'm Max Marten & You're Not! Be Glad About That, You Don't Want to Be in My Head!Find Max on:YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@maxmartenchats Stay loud. Stay awake. Stay dangerous. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.