American Neo-Feudalism and How to Escape It - Joel Kotkin

On episode 3 of Unbridled, Peter sits down with writer and demographer Joel Kotkin. Joel is one of the most incisive interpreters of America's social and economic fabric. He is also politically close to unclassifiable--equal parts old-time liberal and contemporary conservative. Joel and Peter talk immigration, automation, affordability and unaffordability, the decline of California and the Coasts, and the rise of Texas and the Heartland.   Timestamps 00:00:00 - Introduction 00:04:12 - The new aristocracy: consolidation of power in Big Tech 00:06:40 - The new clerisy: the educated managerial class 00:09:07 - The rest of us: the yeomanry and serf class 00:12:15 - Alienation driven by AI 00:15:05 - Counterarguments for Joel 00:19:55 - Does the gap between the poor and rich matter? 00:24:45 - Modern opportunities outside of large cities 00:30:55 - The oligarchy's response to Trumpism 00:36:44 - The change in the cultural zeitgeist despite Trump's narrow victory 00:42:07 - Red State vs. Blue State governance 00:48:44 - Young people dedicating themselves to their political inheritance 00:53:26 - Card game!   Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Host: Peter Robinson Peter Robinson Unbridled is a podcast of the Civitas Institute of the University of Texas at Austin Executive Producers:  Mat Hames Beth Hames Researcher: John Masko Producer: Laura Utt Editor: Josh Meyers Post Production: Jacob Estrada Camera: Josh Hardwick, Nathan Jennings Music by Brandon Shufflebarger