History and Critical Analysis

Capitalism Unmasked 1 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 1: The Myth of the Free Market 2 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 2: The Shareholder Value Myth 3 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 3: The Trickle-Down Delusion 4 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 4: The Myth of the Lazy Poor 5 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 5: The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of Distrust 6 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 6: The Education Myth 7 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 7: The Myth of Natural Inequality 8 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 8: The Myth of Capital Flight 9 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 9: The Myth of the Rational Consumer 10 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 10: The Hidden Costs of 'Free' Markets 11 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 11: The Myth of the Self-Made Man 12 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 12: The Myth of Efficient Financial Markets 13 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 13: The Myth of Corporate Social Responsibility 14 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 14: The Myth of Growth 15 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 15: Development Institutions - Help or Hindrance? 16 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 16: The Myth of Immigration Harm 17 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 17: The Myth of Flexible Labor Markets 18 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 18: The Myth of Shareholder Primacy 19 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 19: The Myth of Technological Unemployment 20 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 20: The Privatization Illusion 21 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 21: The Myth of Patent Protection 22 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 22: The Myth of Government Debt Crisis 23 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 23: Finance - Economy's Brain or Parasite? ← Series Home What They Tell You The IMF and World Bank help developing countries. They provide expertise and resources that poor countries lack. Their conditions ensure that aid is used well. They promote good policies: free markets, fiscal discipline, trade openness. Without them, developing countries would make costly mistakes. ...

The Invisible Army ← Series Home Key Takeaways Distance defines everything: 8,000 miles from home, with no bases en route except Ascension Island (3,400 miles out), Britain had to bring everything or do without. Improvisation was survival: Ships were loaded by hand in days, not weeks. Stores were "cross-decked" at sea. Civilian vessels became warships. Nothing went according to peacetime plans. Time compressed decisions: Winter was coming. Every day of preparation was a day closer to impossible conditions. Speed trumped optimization. Just enough was enough: Britain didn't have comfortable margins. They had barely sufficient supplies to win—and knew that any major loss could be fatal. The Shock of War On April 2, 1982, Argentine forces invaded the Falkland Islands—a British territory 8,000 miles from London, home to 1,800 people and several hundred thousand sheep. ...

The Kinetic Chain 1 Part 1: Alexander's Invisible Army 2 Part 2: Napoleon's Fatal Calculation 3 Part 3: The Railroad Revolution 4 Part 4: The Crimean Catastrophe 5 Part 5: Barbarossa and the Battle of the Gauges 6 Part 6: The Battle of the Bulge and the Tyranny of Fuel 7 Part 7: Wholesale Distribution and the American Way of 8 Part 8: The Pacific Logistics Challenge 9 Part 9: Victory Through Logistics 10 Part 10: Vietnam and the Tyranny of Terrain 11 Part 11: Giap's Bicycle Brigades 12 Part 12: The Ho Chi Minh Trail 13 Part 13: American Largesse in Vietnam 14 Part 14: The M16 Debacle and Logistics Failure 15 Part 15: The Falklands Logistics Miracle 16 Part 16: Desert Storm and the Logistics Miracle 17 Part 17: The Future of Contested Logistics ← Series Home Key Takeaways Distance defines everything: 8,000 miles from home, with no bases en route except Ascension Island (3,400 miles out), Britain had to bring everything or do without. Improvisation was survival: Ships were loaded by hand in days, not weeks. Stores were "cross-decked" at sea. Civilian vessels became warships. Nothing went according to peacetime plans. Time compressed decisions: Winter was coming. Every day of preparation was a day closer to impossible conditions. Speed trumped optimization. Just enough was enough: Britain didn't have comfortable margins. They had barely sufficient supplies to win—and knew that any major loss could be fatal. The Shock of War On April 2, 1982, Argentine forces invaded the Falkland Islands—a British territory 8,000 miles from London, home to 1,800 people and several hundred thousand sheep. ...

Key Takeaways Automation is uneven: Some jobs are easily automated; others resist it. Strawberry picking requires dexterity and judgment that robots still can't match—but that could change. Technology creates and destroys jobs: New technologies eliminate some jobs while creating others. The net effect depends on policy, not just technology. Wages are a policy choice: In economies with strong labor power, automation raises wages. In economies with weak labor, it creates precarity. The question isn't technology—it's distribution: If productivity gains go to workers, automation is a blessing. If they go to capital, it's a curse. This is political, not technical. The Robot’s Limit Strawberries are delicate. They bruise easily. They ripen at different rates on the same plant. They hide under leaves. ...

Capitalism Unmasked 1 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 1: The Myth of the Free Market 2 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 2: The Shareholder Value Myth 3 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 3: The Trickle-Down Delusion 4 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 4: The Myth of the Lazy Poor 5 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 5: The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of Distrust 6 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 6: The Education Myth 7 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 7: The Myth of Natural Inequality 8 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 8: The Myth of Capital Flight 9 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 9: The Myth of the Rational Consumer 10 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 10: The Hidden Costs of 'Free' Markets 11 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 11: The Myth of the Self-Made Man 12 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 12: The Myth of Efficient Financial Markets 13 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 13: The Myth of Corporate Social Responsibility 14 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 14: The Myth of Growth 15 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 15: Development Institutions - Help or Hindrance? 16 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 16: The Myth of Immigration Harm 17 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 17: The Myth of Flexible Labor Markets 18 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 18: The Myth of Shareholder Primacy 19 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 19: The Myth of Technological Unemployment 20 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 20: The Privatization Illusion 21 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 21: The Myth of Patent Protection 22 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 22: The Myth of Government Debt Crisis 23 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 23: Finance - Economy's Brain or Parasite? ← Series Home What They Tell You Immigrants take jobs from native workers. They drive down wages by increasing labor supply. They burden public services and welfare systems. They don’t integrate and create social problems. Immigration should be restricted to protect domestic workers and fiscal balance. ...

The Invisible Army ← Series Home Key Takeaways Lead time matters: Six months of buildup before combat operations allowed logistics infrastructure to match the force. The Falklands' rushed deployment was not repeated. Modern warfare consumes more: VII Corps alone required 5 million gallons of fuel per day during the ground offensive. The scale of consumption would have staggered WWII logisticians. Host nation support is critical: Saudi infrastructure�ports, roads, airfields�made the deployment possible. Without it, the timeline would have doubled or tripled. Logistics enables maneuver: The "Left Hook" that destroyed Iraqi forces was possible because Pagonis built the supply infrastructure to support a corps-sized movement through empty desert. The Challenge On August 2, 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. Within days, Iraqi forces were positioned on the Saudi Arabian border, threatening the world’s largest oil reserves. ...

The Kinetic Chain 1 Part 1: Alexander's Invisible Army 2 Part 2: Napoleon's Fatal Calculation 3 Part 3: The Railroad Revolution 4 Part 4: The Crimean Catastrophe 5 Part 5: Barbarossa and the Battle of the Gauges 6 Part 6: The Battle of the Bulge and the Tyranny of Fuel 7 Part 7: Wholesale Distribution and the American Way of 8 Part 8: The Pacific Logistics Challenge 9 Part 9: Victory Through Logistics 10 Part 10: Vietnam and the Tyranny of Terrain 11 Part 11: Giap's Bicycle Brigades 12 Part 12: The Ho Chi Minh Trail 13 Part 13: American Largesse in Vietnam 14 Part 14: The M16 Debacle and Logistics Failure 15 Part 15: The Falklands Logistics Miracle 16 Part 16: Desert Storm and the Logistics Miracle 17 Part 17: The Future of Contested Logistics ← Series Home Key Takeaways Lead time matters: Six months of buildup before combat operations allowed logistics infrastructure to match the force. The Falklands' rushed deployment was not repeated. Modern warfare consumes more: VII Corps alone required 5 million gallons of fuel per day during the ground offensive. The scale of consumption would have staggered WWII logisticians. Host nation support is critical: Saudi infrastructure—ports, roads, airfields—made the deployment possible. Without it, the timeline would have doubled or tripled. Logistics enables maneuver: The "Left Hook" that destroyed Iraqi forces was possible because Pagonis built the supply infrastructure to support a corps-sized movement through empty desert. The Challenge On August 2, 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. Within days, Iraqi forces were positioned on the Saudi Arabian border, threatening the world’s largest oil reserves. ...

Key Takeaways Economies evolve through stages: From agriculture to manufacturing to services to... something new. Each transition creates winners and losers. We're past material scarcity: Rich countries can produce more stuff than they need. The frontier is experience, meaning, and sustainability—not more things. Artisanal is a preview: The craft chocolate movement shows where value creation is heading—toward authenticity, story, and quality over quantity. The transition isn't automatic: Post-industrial abundance could mean leisure and meaning for all, or precarity and meaninglessness for many. The outcome is political. From Medicine to Magic Chocolate began as a bitter drink—consumed by Aztec elites for energy and ritual. Spanish colonizers brought it to Europe, where it remained a luxury medicine. ...

Capitalism Unmasked 1 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 1: The Myth of the Free Market 2 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 2: The Shareholder Value Myth 3 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 3: The Trickle-Down Delusion 4 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 4: The Myth of the Lazy Poor 5 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 5: The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of Distrust 6 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 6: The Education Myth 7 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 7: The Myth of Natural Inequality 8 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 8: The Myth of Capital Flight 9 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 9: The Myth of the Rational Consumer 10 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 10: The Hidden Costs of 'Free' Markets 11 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 11: The Myth of the Self-Made Man 12 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 12: The Myth of Efficient Financial Markets 13 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 13: The Myth of Corporate Social Responsibility 14 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 14: The Myth of Growth 15 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 15: Development Institutions - Help or Hindrance? 16 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 16: The Myth of Immigration Harm 17 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 17: The Myth of Flexible Labor Markets 18 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 18: The Myth of Shareholder Primacy 19 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 19: The Myth of Technological Unemployment 20 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 20: The Privatization Illusion 21 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 21: The Myth of Patent Protection 22 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 22: The Myth of Government Debt Crisis 23 Capitalism Unmasked - Part 23: Finance - Economy's Brain or Parasite? ← Series Home What They Tell You Labor markets should be flexible. Regulations that protect workers (minimum wages, job security laws, collective bargaining) reduce employment by making it too expensive to hire. Countries with rigid labor markets suffer higher unemployment. “Flexibility” helps everyone by making markets work better. ...

The Invisible Army ← Series Home Key Takeaways Sanctuary is ending: Since WWII, American logistics operated in sanctuary—ports weren't bombed, ships weren't sunk in quantity. A peer adversary will attack the supply chain directly. Dependence is vulnerability: The global supply chains that enable modern logistics also expose them. Critical components from adversary nations, single-source dependencies, long vulnerable routes. Industrial base has atrophied: America builds few ships, produces little ammunition in peacetime. Surging production for a major war would take years that may not be available. The doctrine is changing: "Contested logistics" and "expeditionary advance base operations" acknowledge that future supply will be neither safe nor guaranteed. The End of Sanctuary For eighty years—from 1945 to today—American military logistics has operated in conditions of relative sanctuary: ...