Pastime | Episode
Pastime

#1808 Billionaires vs. Democracy: They're Not Coming For Your Job, They're Coming For Your Government (And The Entire Economy)

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy | Jul 11 2026 | 04:19:44

Air Date: 7/10/2026 Today we look at what it means to live in an economy that has quietly split in two with a soaring stock market driven by AI on one side, a collapsing job market on the other, and the subtle shift in the right to own things, from your music and movies to your car's software, which all underlie the slide toward technofeudalism. Full Show Notes Transcript Be part of the show! Leave a voice message, message us on Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01, or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our links to shop Bookshop.org and Libro.fm for a non-evil book and audiobook purchasing experience! Join our Discord community! TOP TAKES KP 1: America Is Entering a New Socialist Era — and It Might Stick - The Recount - Air Date 6-30-26 KP 2: America's Job Market Is Collapsing - Max Fisher - Air Date 4-10-26 KP 3: The Richest Country Is Pretty Mid Now Part 1 - Benn Jordan - Air Date 6-28-26 KP 4: We Uncovered The Master Plan That Peter Thiel Doesn't Want You To See - More Perfect Union - Air Date 6-29-26 KP 5: The End Of Capitalism Is Here. - Second Thought - Air Date 6-5-26 (01:06:28) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR Humanity Is About to Be Optimized Out of Existence for the Sake of Profit My commentaries on YouTube - Share them! DEEPER DIVES (01:06:46) SECTION A: THE RISING LEFT A1: Trump's Speech At America 250 BACKFIRES, Sony Ends PHYSICAL MEDIA | Zaid Talks Part 1 - Zaid Tabani - Air Date 7-5-26 A2: Do Democrats F*ck Now? How Democratic Socialists Are Taking Over The Party - Some Some More News Clips and Some More News - Air Date 7-5-26 A3: How the Democratic Party Captures and Subverts Revolutionary Energy (with Kshama Sawant) - The Chris Hedges YouTube Channel - Air Date 6-29-26 A4: AI Is Losing and the Left Is Winning, with Brennan Lee Mulligan and Ed Zitron - Factually! with Adam Conover - Air Date 6-26-26 A5: Democrats Don't Know What "Affordability" Actually Means, with Dino Guastella - Factually! with Adam Conover - Air Date 6-24-26 (01:49:40) SECTION B: EVERYDAY EXTRACTION B1: The American Economy Is Broken—Here's Why - Established Context Part 1 - Air Date 4-13-26 B2: Why Owning Nothing Is So Expensive - Business Insider and Insider - Air Date 1-24-26 B3: NEW WARNING: Your Vehicle Can't Be FIXED After 2026 - Motor Feed - Air Date 6-28-26 B4: Trump's Speech At America 250 BACKFIRES, Sony Ends PHYSICAL MEDIA | Zaid Talks Part 2 - Zaid Tabani - Air Date 7-5-26 B5: Content Dot Mp4 - Thought Slime - Air Date 6-29-26 B6: Why American Airlines Stopped Making Money - Wendover Productions - Air Date 10-28-25 (02:51:16) SECTION C: THE RIGGED MACHINE C1: If the World Is F*cked... Why Are Stocks At Record Highs? - Lock Stock Finance - Air Date 6-18-26 C2: The Anti-Life or How Capitalism Will Die (with Math) - Literate Machine - Air Date 5-26-26 C3: The Richest Country Is Pretty Mid Now Part 2 - Benn Jordan - Air Date 6-28-26 C4: The American Economy Is Broken—Here's Why - Established Context Part 2 - Air Date 4-13-26 C5: Huge Polymarket Scandal - Voidzilla - Air Date 6-24-26 (03:36:27) SECTION D: THE RULING CLASS WORLDVIEW D1: The Real A.I. Problem No One Is Talking About (Who Buys Your Stuff, Robots_) - Josh Allan Dykstra - Air Date 1-13-26 D2: AI Is a Mass Psychotic Delusion - Science Fiction with Damien Walter - Air Date 6-20-26 D3: The Ruling Class Think Everything Is Disposable (Including the Planet) - Our Changing Climate - Air Date 7-3-26 D4: Stop Blaming Human Nature for Capitalism - Revolutionaryth0t - Air Date 1-28-26   Produced by Jay! Tomlinson Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Listen Anywhere! BestOfTheLeft.com/Listen Follow BotL: Bluesky | Mastodon | Threads | X Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com