Martin Gurri: Political Chaos Brings Colossal Transformation

Former CIA analyst Martin Gurri discusses Donald Trump’s political arc, the rise of populism, and the incoming chaos and transformation we cannot foresee.

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Martin Gurri: Political Chaos Brings Colossal Transformation

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Today's guest is Martin Gurri, a former CIA analyst who is a visiting fellow at the Mercatus Center and a columnist for The Free Press. A decade ago, in the wake of the Arab Spring and various "color" revolutions around the world, Gurri published The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium, which analyzed how social media empowered ordinary people to resist control from above and anticipated the rise of Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Brexit.

Reason's Nick Gillespie spoke with Gurri shortly after the 2024 election at The Reason Speakeasy, a monthly, unscripted conversation in New York City with outspoken defenders of free thinking and heterodoxy in an age of intellectual conformity and groupthink. (Go here for information on Reason events.) They talked about why Gurri voted for Trump and why he's cautiously optimistic about the next four years.

 

0:00- Introduction

1:13- Why Gurri voted for Trump

4:46- Trump vs. Harris: Chaos vs. Control

8:40- Trump's first term 11:04- Trump's new coalition

14:33- Is authoritarianism coming to America?

19:00- Attention, Populism & Wild Hair

20:42- Colossal transformation awaits us

34:05- Creating communities of meaning in the digital age

36:22- The transformations enabled by the printing press

38:41- More chaos is coming 43:11- Lessons from Cuba

48:40- Arab Spring and the spark that overthrows a regime

50:37- Short term pessimistic, long term optimistic

Today's Sponsor:

• Reason Versus: "You Don't Have To Pick a Side in Politics": On Wednesday, December 18, you are invited to join Reason and our friends at The Bulwark for this new thought-provoking debate series in Washington D.C. at the Howard Theatre. Whether you've made up your mind about the necessity of choosing sides or are questioning the whole premise, this debate will challenge your assumptions and broaden your perspective.

• Video Editor: Ian Keyser

Comments

[Chumby]

Border Czar Harris certainly imposed chaos on the citizens of the nation.

[Gaear Grimsrud]

Really? The harvesting and processing of cats in Springfield has been completely orderly as far as the reporting indicates. The low inventories of grills at Home Depot just creates more high paying jobs.

[Don't look at me!]

Chaos brings opportunities.

[Peter Kreeft taught me LOGIC, BEWARE !!!!!!!]

Schumpeter's 'creative destruction" --- about as au courant as Ken dolls

[Gaear Grimsrud]

"Reason and our friends at The Bulwark". Hmm. Libertarians huh?

[shadydave]

Some recent missives from The Bulwark:

“The Curious Case of Tulsi Gabbard: Is She a Russian Asset or a Dupe?”

“I Served With Tulsi Gabbard and Yikes” by Adam Kinzinger. The guy who lacked the brainpower to figure out that Sam Hyde was not in fact “The Ghost of Kyiv.”

“Surviving a MAGA Thanksgiving”

“Trump’s Effort to Kill Off #MeToo—And the Women Who Help Him”

“Think Trump Can’t Run Again in 2028? Don’t Be So Sure.”

“We’re Already at War with Russia”

“Marc Caputo and Dan Goldman: Trump v. the United States”

"The Time to Resist Is Already Here"

[Gaear Grimsrud]

Hey buddy. Libertarianism is a big tent. Plenty of room for warmongers and (Ukrainian) Nazis.

[Peter Kreeft taught me LOGIC, BEWARE !!!!!!!]

Big enough to have no core.

[mad.casual]

The guy who lacked the brainpower to figure out that Sam Hyde was not in fact “The Ghost of Kyiv.”

One photo to tell you everything you need to know about Adam Kinzinger's (center in blue) martial prowess.

It's like a Highlights Magazine "Can you find everything wrong with this picture?" feature, except it's all real (one of the reporters was injured by shrapnel).

[Nobartium]

Given the intellectual lightweights writing for both, I don't see how either benefits from any kind of debate.

[shadydave]

More great stuff from The Bulwark. Here's The Bulwark's Tim Miller discussing with "the Queen" Ann Selzer the implications of her poll that showed Harris up by three in Iowa just before the election:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-ysKh_Gyd0

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

For most of the past century:
"Change is bad! Protect the establishment!"
- Most Conservatives

Suddenly:
"Change is bad! Protect the establishment!"
- Most Liberals

[mad.casual]

Because really:
"Change (back) is bad! Protect the (growth of the) establishment (leviathan)!"
– Most Liberals

[Peter Kreeft taught me LOGIC, BEWARE !!!!!!!]

IF you get to define who is conservative then all you are doing is proving how uneducated you are.

'A state without the means of some change is without the means of its conservation. ' ... EDMUND BURKE

[Peter Kreeft taught me LOGIC, BEWARE !!!!!!!]

I see here clearly the pyschologicl force at work. It is boudless egotism.
Notice: this person is superior to virtually everybody. all conservativea and all liberals and I'm sure it doens't stop there.

Actually conservatism was based on the opposite of what he says !!!
EDMUND BURKE
"The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse"

"A state without the means of some change is without the means of its conservation"

[TJJ2000]

Reason....
A Nation with Borders is "populism".
Transformation to a *Constitutional* Republic is BAD....

Reason has become so Leftarded.

[Kungpowderfinger]

It’s really just a symptom of the giant lurch left our entire western culture (let alone Reason) has taken in the last few years. College loan forgiveness, universal healthcare, UBI, emptytheprisons? All concepts that would’ve been laughed out of serious debate not even 20 years ago. I believe the tranny bullshit is what finally shook the silent majority awake to what the left has planned for this country.

The late Fred Thompson might have said it best:

https://youtu.be/YZuMe5RvxPQ

[Vernon Depner]

Yes, trannyism and DEI were the last straws.

[Quo Usque Tandem]

Did anyone actually listen to this podcast? If so, can you kindly provides notes so the rest of us don't have to?

[Don't look at me!]

There was a podcast?

[Peter Kreeft taught me LOGIC, BEWARE !!!!!!!]

I like that "The chaos we cannot foresee" -- sounds like Kant
There is noumena and phenomena and we can't khow the Noumena --- well then how did Kant know it ?????

THe chaos of riots didn't materialize but the hate generated by the statement there would be riots and the further hate from talking about them not materializing ---- Does anyone have a brain