Transcription
I think a lot of people are questioning humanity at this point.
Yeah.
Wizard of Oz begins at Dorothy in Kansas, runs away from home. So, they get put to sleep in the poppy fields. Poppy fields. The good witch comes along and wakes them up. And it's on this journey where they get put to sleep that I have paused and gone, "Huh, I'm wondering if that happened to us. Did we get comfortable? Did we get complacent? Did we buy an illusion?" They get to the wizard and they pull back the curtain and what did they find?
Mass surveillance. Let's hear it. Okay, so I'm born and raised in Lawrence, Kansas. I loved The Wizard of Oz, the movie. I always wanted to be Dorothy, and I was always afraid of the Flying Monkeys, but I was fascinated with the film. But I became more fascinated with the book, the original book written by L. Frank Bomb, The Wizard of Oz, and that series of books that led to the film. Have you ever read the book?
I haven't.
Well, I hope you go do a big Google dive later today because there is an entire political allegory to the book The Wizard of Oz.
Is this the wicked series?
No, it's the original book, The Wizard of Oz. And it's been studied by many a great scholar on the political allegory. And I got hooked on this about 10 years ago. And I'm like, we are running a parallel. And this is the allegory. And here is the story. So Elf Frank Bomb wrote the book The Wizard of Oz at the preheight of the industrial revolution. preheight of the industrial revolution as a way to teach his children the power of individualism and thinking for oneself in a world that would increasingly begin to speak for you. That right there stopped me. I'm like teaching your children the power of individualism and thinking for oneself in a world that would increasingly begin to think and speak for you. That's fascinating to me.
Mhm.
So, but here is the whole political allegory that's been very well studied. So, Dorothy is all of us girls in America that have a dream. You know, I always wanted to run away and move to California, right? So, you know, I left home to go do that. So, Wizard of Oz begins at Dorothy in Kansas, runs away from home, and while she's run away, she runs into the kind of, you know, snake oil salesy kind of guy when a twister emerges. And the twister in the political allegory is a representation of disruption in Washington DC. And so, she runs back home. We know that she gets hit in the head and the house gets lifted up and she lands in Oz. I can't tell you how many times I have felt in my life. I'm like, Toto, we are not in Kansas anymore. It just goes through my head all the time. It's one of the first things that went through my head when I walked out in California. But um and so the house lands on the Munchkins who are representation of the mass citizens who are frustrated and thought Dorothy was there to save them. And so she wanted to get back home and they told her to follow the yellow brick road. Well, the yellow brick road is a representation of the gold standard. Follow the path of the money to the sitting wizard who can get you home. Follow the standard of the gold of the money. Follow the path. And so it goes on in this political allegory about uh the first person she meets is the tin man. And the tin man is a representation of industrial workers who will lose their heart. And the cowardly lion is a representation of Elrank Bomb's best friend. It's William Bryan's Jenning or Brian's is William Bryan's Jenning who was always running for populist president known for his fiery rhetoric but had no courage. And then the scarecrow who was a representation of the American farmer who at that time all the banks were buying his land. Therefore they thought the farmer had no brain. So this is the cast of the American people. the girl next door, industrial worker, the politician, and the farmer. So, off they go on the yellow brick road. So, we know the story there where the wicked witch comes along and puts them all to sleep. And the wicked witch in the political allegory is a representation of industry that doesn't want you to find out. So, they get put to sleep in the poppy fields. Poppy fields. So, we know the good witch comes along and wakes them up. And it's on this journey where they get put to sleep that I have paused and gone, "Huh, I'm wondering if that happened to us. Did we get comfortable? Did we get complacent? Did we buy an illusion? Did we listen to the bullshit?"
Now, as we woke up and I see what we were talking about a minute ago, are we waking up? There's a shift. It's happening. There's something really going on out there. But, as you know, they get to the wizard and they pull back the curtain and what did they find?
Mass surveillance.
Mass surveillance. Somebody back there pulling a lot of switches and levers and not really certain what the outcome would be either. But here's the thing for me that just I think about all the time. Um, the lesson that they learned in the end, we all watched it. See, you had a heart, you had a brain, and you had a courage. You had it all along to find your way back. And I'm watching that happening. I I I get firsthand view on the ground watching this come to life that we in this world of all this technology that's taking over for us I think have had a glitch and gone wait a minute wait a minute I know how to think I know how to feel and I I've lost and what's in that gut is that courage it will be up to us all of us to make the necessary changes as we move forward into a a world that I hope that we can leave and a legacy behind.
That is every element that we need to sustain life. Our our land, our farmers, our food, our health, our water, our air, because without it, it's game over.
Yeah.
And I I'm just feel this absolute It's bizarre for me sitting here with you calling Something's changing here and and and I don't know if it is the pressure of these data centers that are being built to feed this AI engine. And I've always said, you know, use AI for the good tool that that it is. It isn't be all end all know all everything. And and I don't take I don't listen to half the shit that AI says to me. you should see my thread if I jump on AI cuz I like to find out and run little queries what it's thinking and I'm just like this it's like that's inaccurate information that's bullshit bullshit off I mean it's a tool you have to use it appropriately but these data centers that are feeding it are going to zap all these necessary resources that I think is really squeezing the people, they they're concerned about their water. They they know what's going to happen if they lose their water. They're concerned about the destruction of all the forest and the woods and the creeks and the rivers and the wildlife. See, every one of that counts to the whole and it's just being destroyed. And it's become a push for them that I I wonder if they're questioning humanity at this point. And and if they're going to lose everything, I think they're going to stand up and fight for everything.
I think a lot of people are questioning humanity at this point.
Yep.
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And I I think you're going to watch him rise up. I really do. The stakes are too high.
I don't think anybody really knows what to do. I think I think maybe the the I mean I don't know where you're at, but I think voting is shit.
Yeah. you know, I mean, it's it's one of the same just different perspect I I don't I don't and people don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I mean,
I'm watching him. It starts at a local level. Um, it's kind of sad to see that there there appears to be a lot of local councils who, you know, are being bought off. Well, that's what I knew. We're going to get into this. My wife grew up in Boca Raton, Florida.
Mhm.
And uh used to be, according to her, I'd never saw it, but used to be a nice little beach town. Not anymore, man. I moved there. I was there for about 2 3 years. and she would tell me she would go to the to the city councils, you know, and when they do the votes and try to save like the little bitty, you know, no bigger than the size of this room, little green space that's left. Boom. Gone. you know, and and there would be hundreds, maybe I don't know, lots of people in these in these meetings, the citizens that are raising concerns and d and she would say, you know, it would just everybody in that room would be on the same page. No, we want to keep, you know, the the the old post office or we want to keep this, you know, little, you know, eighth of an acre park. Like, please don't build another high-rise here.
right? And all these citizens would voice their concerns and then they do the vote and all in favor of the new building say I I
like right in front of them,
right?
You know, and it's just it's just builders out there just paying off these
paying off the the city council and taking them on vacation. Hey, let's go let's go to Aspen. Let's have a little meeting in Aspen. Here you go.
You know, and it's it's just it's the greed, man. The greed.
Yeah. And it and and that is what's what's taken over and and
this shit's everywhere. It's down at the local level all the way up to the White House.
Yeah. And I used to always say, you know, it does it begins local. And especially for something with the data centers begins local because that's where you get your zoning and your permits and everybody's reporting to me as you were sharing about with your wife that they are showing up in huge numbers. But these were done in non-disclosure agreements. No matter where you're watching the Shawn Ryan Show from, if you get anything out of this at all, anything, please like, comment, and subscribe. And most importantly, share this everywhere you possibly can. And if you're feeling extra generous, head to Apple Podcast and Spotify and leave us a review.