Game Theory #10: The Law of Asymmetry

Transcript

We continue our discussion of the U.S.-Iran war that is happening right now., as, I made the prediction that the United States will lose this war. In last class, we did an overview of the military and strategic position. And today, we're going to provide some theoretical framework for how to understand how this war will progress and why ultimately I believe the United States will lose this war. Today, I present to you a very important idea in game theory. And once you understand this idea, you understand why things will turn out the way they do. It's called a law of asymmetry. Okay, law of asymmetry. And all this is saying is that the United States and Iran are not pairs. They're not equals. The United States is far stronger than Iran. And we should expect the United States to overwhelm and destroy Iran really easily. The law of asymmetry states that that's usually not the case. It's usually the underdog that has the advantage. And we see this from history all the time. Okay, so when the Persians in about 490 BC invaded mainland Greece against Athens and Sparta, Persia at that time was the first world empire. Infinite resources, infinite manpower, infinite wealth. And it lost to the Greeks not once but twice. And then the Macedonians under the Greek, and they were like a tribal army, not a very large army. They were able to go into Persia, and Persia at the time was most of Eurasia, and conquered it in about 10 years time. The Romans started off as a tribal people, which then built the Mediterranean Empire. Then you had the ex-tecs, you had the Vikings. So this happens a lot in human history. A people in the borderlands, a tribe, a small ethnicity, are able to conquer a great empire. And the law of asymmetry tells us why. Okay? So I'm going to go over very slowly in detail how this law of asymmetry works. Alright., let's look at an empire. And there are three major advantages to an empire. Alright, the first is mass. This just means that they have a lot of people. Okay? They almost have an infinite amount of people. So the United States has a population of about 350 million people. But remember, the United States can also draw on the populations of its allies, which includes the Five Eyes, the Anglosphere, but it also includes Europe. It also includes East Asia, South Korea, Japan. wherever the Americans have a military base. Alright? So most of the world are either allies of the United States or vassals of the United States. So the United States can draw on billions and billions of people for its wars. Okay? So it's mass. Second is the idea of organization. Organization just means a hierarchy of bureaucracy and elite that allows you to organize your resources and your people in order to generate wealth. Which is scientific technology. Okay? Science and technology. Which leads to the most advanced weaponry. Okay? So think about the United States, how they fight this war. They have these satellites that provide for precision targeting. They have these airplanes, these B-2 bombers, F-15s, that are the most advanced weaponry ever in human history. Okay? So organization. And the last great strength of the empire is the idea of death. Death is the idea that because your people are infinite, because your organization is so strong, because your resources are so vast, you can afford to lose many, many wars. Okay? It's not a big deal the United States loses this war in Iran. If they want to go back, they can go back with even more soldiers, even more weaponry. Because their wealth is infinite. Okay? So these are the three major advantages of an empire. And in theory, because of these advantages, an empire should be invincible and eternal. But we know for a fact that all empires fall. And they fall very, very hard. And quite honestly, they don't last a very long time. Maybe 28 years, maybe 28 years, for most empires. That's not a very long time. So we need to better understand what's going on. Okay? Why is it that an empire with these vast resources, they all fall in 28 years, 30 years? Okay? Alright., what we need to understand is that all these advantages are ultimately disadvantages in the long term. Alright? So let me explain what. Math, you have a lot of people. Okay? When you have a lot of people, you create a lot of inequality. Why? Because there's competition for resources. There's too many people. Okay? And this often leads to debt and slavery. And as a result, your people become complacent, lazy, indifferent. They're competing against each other. They really don't like the government. Okay? So they're not really that motivated to do anything. To work or to fight wars. But especially to fight wars. So this mask looks like an advantage in the beginning, over time it becomes a disadvantage. Alright? Organization. Means an elite. The problem with this is that over time, the elite become parasites. Why? Because the way they make their money is through rent seeking. Rent seeking just means that you have power and you seek to monetize your power by exploiting the mass. Alright? So landlords are a classic type of rent seeking elite. And so they don't really work, but they make a lot of money because they own the land, because they control all the resources, because they control all the capital. And that forces the mass to go into slavery, to go into debt, which is what's happening in America today. The problem with this is that everyone wants to be part of the elite, and there are too many elite over time. Okay? So even though the elite have many, many kids, the power is a zero sum game. It's a hierarchy. And so this leads to the idea of elite over production. Okay? Elite over production. This is a term coined by the historian Peter Turchin. Okay? And his theory is that you have turmoil, you have wars. For example, the French Revolution. For example, the Father Roman Republic. Because there's too many elite, and they start wars to commit power for themselves. Okay? So this organization, this elite, leads to factionalism. Or infighting. And that's what's happening in America today, where the Democrats and the Republicans, they hate each other. They refuse to get along. It leads to political polarization. Okay?, another saying this is that an empire over time becomes insular. They don't care about what happens outside the world. All they care about is what happens in Washington, D.C. And as a result, they make a lot of stupid mistakes. Okay? Alright. Now, the last thing is death. Okay, the problem with death is that if there are no consequences to your actions, you become arrogant. You become lazy. And you become incompetent. Okay? Because you don't care. It doesn't really matter. And this leads to the idea of hubris. Okay? Hubris is just blindness to your own arrogance. A violent arrogance that makes you make silly mistakes, but you don't recognize your mistakes, and you keep on repeating the same mistakes over and over again., yes, it seems like the empire is invincible, but if you actually think about it, the empire, its advantages becomes over time. Its disadvantages, which will lead ultimately to its downfall. Okay?, the mass leads to inequality, the organization leads to overproduction, which leads to factionalism, and death leads to hubris. That's why an empire must fall over time. But an empire cannot fall by itself. It needs an enemy that forces it to collapse. Okay? And, what happens is that an enemy will emerge that will overwhelm the empire because it is able to take advantage of the weaknesses of the empire. All And, what are the weaknesses of this empire? Well, the first major weakness of this empire is that the people aren't really motivated., if you as people are really motivated, you have a huge advantage. Okay? We call this energy. All Now, as an empire, you become insular. You refuse to omit your mistakes. You refuse to learn from others. Well, if you are willing to omit your mistakes, if you're willing to learn, if you're willing to promote the best and brightest, if you're willing to be meritocratic, you have a huge advantage. Okay? And, this idea of openness. Now, the last idea is this. An empire, it's fractured., if you're able to maintain cohesion, if people are able to remain united, if they're able to have a common purpose, they'll be strong. Okay?, if an enemy of the empire emerges with these three qualities, energy, openness, and cohesion, this enemy will defeat the empire. It doesn't make sense. Okay?, what I want you to focus on as you follow the news in this war between the United States and Iran is ask yourself a question. Will Iran become an energetic, open, and cohesive society? Because if it does, it will become invincible. The empire won't change because of hubris. It's too static. It's too stagnant. It's too bureaucratic., the empire won't change. The empire will not omit its own mistakes. And quite honestly, Iran, because it's still a country of 92 million people, it still separates from issues of mass, organization, and death. And, if it's able to transform itself into an energetic, open, and cohesive society, then it will triumph over America. That is the fundamental question in this war. Okay? Don't worry about America, its technology. Don't worry about the economy. Don't worry about these things. Okay? Just ask yourself one question. Is Iran transforming as a society? Are people becoming much more motivated? Are people in Iran learning from their mistakes and innovating and becoming resilient on the battlefield? Are the Iranians sticking together as a people? Okay? Because if the answer is yes to all three questions, then Iran will win and America will lose. Okay? Doesn't make sense. Alright., that's just a theory., let's now talk specifically about America and Iran. Okay?, America will have three major advantages in this war. Okay? These three advantages are, of course, technology, propaganda, and money, wealth. These are the three major strengths of the American empire. Technology is just what you see everyday, The satellites that are able to precision target these airplanes that are the greatest war machines in the world. Okay?, America is home to the greatest scientists, the most advanced weaponry. Okay? That's just technology. Propaganda means that America controls information space. It controls the internet. It controls the world's most powerful media, including the New York Times, CNN, BBC. It controls YouTube. It controls Google. It controls information landscape. America does not want you to know something. It can hide it from you. America can control the discourse. It can control how you think about the world. That's propaganda. The last thing is money. Okay? It's a very simple idea. The United States controls the US dollar, which is the reserve currency of the world. And the United States can print as much, as much US dollars as it needs in order to win this war. It has an infinite money printer. Okay? And then it can use this money to bribe people to fight this war. It can pay for mercenaries. It can bribe ethnic minorities to rebel against the government in Iran. It can bribe Iranian officials to betray the government. Okay?, looking at these three things, you would think that America is invisible. But again, we need to think about the law's asymmetry and recognize that these advantages are also disadvantages. Alright?, let's discuss this. Technology. Well,, if you have the most advanced weaponry in the world, you become lazy, arrogant, and dependent on the technology., the classic example, of course, is our school where you have access to chat GPT. And,, you become smarter because you have access to chat GPT? No, you become dumber because you become lazy. Same with technology. You would think that with the most advanced weaponry in the world, America would become invincible, but instead, people become, the American military becomes too dependent on the technology. It becomes too arrogant, too complacent. Okay? It's, well,, if we're in trouble, then we'll just send in the Air Force and blowing it up, okay?, it leads to dependency. And this actually hampers innovation and resilience in the battlefield. And this is what you need to win, okay? You need to be innovative and you need to be resilient on the battlefield, but be able to be able to do it. And, because of technology, you become too lazy to think for yourself. Alright?, that's one problem. Propaganda. You would think that, oh, America can control the debate, therefore, that's a huge advantage. It's actually not an advantage, guys. The reason why is that in order for innovation and resilience to happen, you need to have open information debate. You need people to voice dissenting opinions. But, if you control the information landscape, what you can do is censor. And that's what America is doing right now. It's telling people to shut up and obey. You're not allowed to point out that this war is stupid and America can't win this war. Otherwise, you'll be kicked out, okay?, this means that there's really a lack of rigorous debate within the American government, within the American military, within the American elite. Which, of course, will lead to hubris. It will lead to bad decision making. No one will point this out because they're too afraid of pissing off the president and his people., they'll shut up and America will keep on making the same mistakes over and over again, okay? We call this drinking your own cool weight, okay? Okay? They're getting high on their own supply is another phrase that we use. Alright. Money and wealth. You would think, okay, well, this is it, man. We just bribe everyone. We just bribe the entire world and we're good, The problem is this. The problem is that if you bribe people, they're not going to fight for you, Because all they want is your money., you bribe them, but they'll probably take your money and run away, okay? Or, they'll figure out how to get more money out of you by cheating you., right now, the Americans are going to fund these militias and ethnic minorities and opposition groups against Iran, okay? Guess what, guys? These guys are hustlers, They're not fighting because they want more freedom. They're fighting because they want to rip off the US government. And, this money issue can be a problem in the long term because the people you're bribing, you can't even trust. And they're not motivated to actually win this war for you. They're actually motivated to scam you as much as possible. And they could be actually a problem in the long term because you're putting so much resources into these hustlers, okay? Alright., what this means is that America has three major problems, okay? It has three major problems. The first major problem is the lack of political will. And all this is saying is that the American people don't want to fight this war. The American government doesn't even know why they're fighting this war. No one cares, okay? But for the Iranians, it's a struggle of life and death, If the Americans lose this war, they just go home and forget about it. But if the Iranians lose this war, they all get killed. Or they lose their country, they lose their society, they lose their civilization, they lose their identity. They cannot afford to lose this war, okay?, the first major problem that the Americans are facing is they don't have any political will to fight this war, but they're still fighting this war anyway. The question then, of course, is why? Why is this happening? This is actually the most important question and it's the most complicated., we'll save this for later, okay? Second is the idea of logistics and manufacturing., America is very good at fighting short wars, okay? The reason why is they have the most advanced weaponry, but they have manufacturing issues because, as we know, America shipped all its factories to China. America doesn't have that many factories., yes, it has the most advanced weaponry in the world, but this weapon doesn't do any good if you don't have any ammunitions, You don't have any munitions, bombs, bullets. And you need factories for that. America doesn't really have these factories. Now, I understand that America is trying to upgrade its manufacturing capacity, but it's slow. Alright?, maybe five years from now, it will have manufacturing capacity to fight this war, but right now it doesn't., that's another major issue, okay? And then the last issue, of course, is casualties. Alright. America, because it doesn't have the political will to fight this war, cannot afford to lose soldiers on the battlefield. Alright?, it wants to minimize the death, it wants to minimize battlefield losses. Because if,, a thousand, tens of thousands of American soldiers are going home to America dead in coffins, I guarantee you, because of lack of political will, the American people will revolt. Do you have protests, you will have a lot of violence in the streets. It will be like the Vietnam era again. Alright? Okay., yes, I understand that America has technology, propaganda, and money, but as we discussed, these aren't really advantages. And these disadvantages are huge. The lack of political will, the lack of manufacturing, and the lack of, America cannot afford to lose that many soldiers in the battlefield, okay? And, this situation now determines how America will fight this war. And we'll discuss this later on, okay? Alright, now let's talk about Iran. Okay., Iran has a lot of disadvantages, okay? But I want to discuss right now, there are three major advantages that they need to emphasize if they are to survive this war. Alright? The first is the idea of faith. Alright?, remember that the Iranians are Shia. Shia. And as such, it's a religion of martyrdom, of eschatology, of individual sacrifice for the greater good. The Shia are not afraid to die. And because their great religious leader, the Adatona Khamenei, was assassinated by the Americans and the Israelis, they are motivated to seek vengeance, to martyr themselves for the greater good, to seek eternal paradise, okay? Jihad. Alright? That's the first major advantage. The second major advantage is terrain. And all this means is that Iran is a mountainous country. And it's huge. It's three times the size of Iraq., it's very hard for America to invade the country. In fact, most analysts will say, will tell you, it is suicidal for the American military to invade Iran. It is a mountain fortress, okay? It's a fortress. And the last issue is, the last advantage is nationalism. Alright., the Oridians are Persians. And the Persians go back 5,000 years. It is one of the greatest civilizations in human history. And as we discussed last semester, in the ancient world, there were three great civilizations, The Jews, the Greeks, and the Persians. And the Persian culture, it's vast, it's beautiful, and it's deep. And that's what gives the Iranian people a lot of pride, okay?, when they're fighting, they're not just fighting for the religion, they're not just fighting for the homes, they're fighting for the entire civilization that goes back 5,000 years. Alright?, these are the three major advantages that the Iranians have, okay? Faith means that they're not afraid to die for what they believe in. Terrain means that the Americans will have a hard problem invading the country. Nationalism means that the people of Iran know what they're fighting for. Alright?, but again, remember, everything that seems like a advantage can be a disadvantage as well. Alright?, let's go over what the problems are. With faith, you might have an issue of blindness. Okay? Or zealotry. Where you're not afraid to die, but that means that you're not thinking strategically. Okay? Maybe you're going to waste too many soldiers on the battlefield. They're brave, but they're stupid as well. Alright?, you might have an issue where Iran is not using the optimal strategy because their soldiers are not afraid of death. And we're already seeing that where the Americans have already blown up and destroyed the Iranian Navy. Now, anyone could have told you that the first thing the Americans would do is go destroy the Iranian Navy., you should probably not use the Navy or hide the Navy or blow up the Navy yourself, okay? Because you want to avoid as many casualties as possible. But they didn't do that and the Americans have now destroyed the Iranian Navy., that's an issue of faith. Terrain, yeah, it's a fortress, but it can also be a prison, Where you're just stuck there. And because it's a mountainous region, it doesn't have that many resources., Americans can actually disrupt your water supply, disrupt your electricity, okay? And cause general poverty and hardship for your people. Okay? And then nationalism, yes, Persia is a great culture. But remember that Iran is an ethnically diverse country. In fact, only 50% of the population of Iran are Persians. Others are different minorities, okay? Alright?, you have then ethnic divisions, Okay? Okay?, looking at this, now, we know exactly what the American strategy will be., the strategy will be to inflict as many casualties as possible on the Iranians. Alright? To kill as many people as possible. To kill as many people, destroy the infrastructure of Iran so that the people don't have enough water, electricity, food to survive. Okay? And the third, of course, is to create as much ethnic tension in the country as possible by arming and encouraging and bribing ethnic groups to rebel against the central government in Tehran. Okay? Okay? Okay? But again, what the law of asymmetry tells us is that the empire ultimately is not as flexible and open and dynamic as its enemy. Okay? The weaker person is going to engage in much more self-reflection, self-debate, than the empire, okay? Because the empire will become arrogant. And, ultimately, Iran should triumph over America. And in fact, what's going to happen is that this strategy that America will use against the Iranians will lead to the Iranians becoming much more energetic, open, and cohesive. Okay?, let's look at the American strategy specifically. Alright., this is an ethnic map of Iran. Okay? Now, certain things that you will see is how divided the country is. Yeah, the Persians are in the center, but people you want to watch are the Kurds. Okay? The Kurds. And the Azaris. And the Boliks. Okay? These are the three major problem areas for Iran, and it's always been the case. Remember, the Persians are in the middle., the Boliks are, first of all, Sunni Muslims. And as we discussed last class, the Sunnis and the Shias have never really gotten along well together. They have different,, the same religion, Islam, but they have different belief systems. And that's led to a lot of conflicts in the past. It's almost like the Catholics and the Protestants. Okay? And, the Boliks have been trying to rebel against Iranians for a long time. I guarantee you that there are already Israeli and American Special Forces embedded in this area. Okay? The reason why is that they want to encourage as much civil conflict as possible, but they also want to prepare the possibility for a ground invasion of America. Okay?, they would need a forward operating base. And this area could be a very good place for a beginning of a land invasion. Then you over here, you have the Kurds. Okay? The Kurds are another minority that seeks national sovereignty. And right now, what's happening is that the Americans and Israelis are bombing this area heavily. And they're targeting police stations. Why? Because they're trying to reduce and eliminate opposition so that they can arm the Kurds and have them come into this area and threaten Iran. What's also happening is that in Iraq, there are these Sunni groups, okay? That the Americans are bribing and arming. And they're fanatics. Okay? They're ISIS. And what the Americans want to do is send them into Iran to cause as much problems as possible. Okay? Then over here, you have Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan, it is an independent country. What's really odd is that the majority of ethnic Azeris are actually in Iran. 60% are in the country. 40% are in the country of Azerbaijan. Which means that from the perspective of the Azerbaijani people, this war could be an opportunity to reunite the people, okay? And create a greater Azerbaijan. So these are the three problem areas that you have to watch as this war develops over the next few weeks, over the next few months. Okay? So we already know what the American strategy will be because we've seen it in Libya, in Syria, before. Okay, so what is the strategy? Right., again, the strategy is to both attack without, okay? From outside and inside as well. So what you're going to do is this. You're going to arm these people, embed special forces into these instrucing groups to lead them and provide air cover so they have a clear path into Iran and are able to limit opposition, okay? So now you're attacking from without. Attacking from move in means to cause as much pain and suffering in the interior of Iran as possible. And how do you do that? Well, you do that through decapitation. Okay, let's go over the strategies. Decapitation. Decapitation. Okay? And what you're doing is you're removing the elite, okay? Or what we call command and control. Okay? You're limiting the capacity of Iran to govern itself, to have a leadership, to have an elite. All Command and control. Okay? So that's the first strategy. Second strategy is aerial bombardment, okay? Aerial supremacy., again, America has the most advanced airplanes in the world. And the way that it's using its airplanes is to destroy as much military installation as possible. But it's also engaging in acts of sabotage, okay? So what they're doing is they're corporate bombing. Okay? So they're corporate bombing Tehran, okay? They're doing soft targeting. Soft targeting. Soft targeting means that instead of attacking military installations, you attack hospitals. Why? Because you're degrading the capacity, sorry, you're degrading the state's capacity to rejuvenate itself, to be resilient. Okay? Now, last thing is something called double tap. Double tap is this, okay? And it's really illegal or against, in actual law. What you do is this. You attack a place, You kill some people. And then people try to come and help the people who are injured. And it could be like doctors. It could be emergency personnel. It could be relatives, And then you strike again to create as many civilian casualties as possible. And the entire idea is to create as much fear and anxiety in people as possible. So that they lose the capacity to resist. And the last thing you do, and the last thing of course is to arm and bribe insurgents. Okay? So these are the three main pillars of the American strategy. And you will see this over the next few weeks. The problem with this is that when you do these three things, you're not actually hurting the Iranians. You're actually helping them. Because remember, the law of asymmetry states that whichever group is able to create energy, openness, and cohesion will win. And guess what guys? This American strategy is going to create a more energetic, more open, and more cohesive person's society. Alright? Let me show you how. Alright, the capitation. We just said that one major problem for America is elite overproduction. Well, with the capitation, what you're doing is you're solving this problem for the Iranians. Before the huge problem for the Iranians were you have too many leaders and they all have their own stupid opinion and they all want to lead this war. But by killing so many leaders, you allow for more mobility, for more meritocracy. You're solving the problem of elite overproduction for the Iranians. That's a huge, huge bonus guys. Okay?, the leadership will become much more lean, much more mean, much more determined, and much more strategic. Okay? That's number one. Number two, eric supremacy. Well, when you do this to people, when you carpet bomb Tehran, you're creating a more cohesive society. Why? Because the major conflict in Iran for many decades was the conflict between the urban areas and the rural areas. The rural areas were very religious, very poor, very backward. And the urban areas were educated, secular, and progressive. Okay? And so there's this huge conflict that led to a lot of riots, a lot of protests in Iran. But when you carpet bomb the cities, which are the main source of support for progressive Western policies, you make them united with the rural areas. Okay? Does that make sense? The rural areas no longer see themselves, each other, as enemies. They see the Americans, the Israelis, as enemies. You create a much more cohesive society, which are willing to fight together. And that's a problem. Okay? Alright. The last thing. Yes, you are arming the insurgents, the bollocks, the Kurds, the Zares. Okay, that's fine. The problem with this is that you are now activating, galvanizing Persian nationalism. For the longest time, the Persian national identity was suppressed by the theocracy. Because they want to create a more,, they want to create a grand religion that unites all ethnicities. When you turn the other minorities against the Iranians, then the Persian people have to come together and remember their history. Celebrate their identity. And this is the key. Okay? Once the Persian people are able to activate their long-lasting memories, go back in the past and remember their greatness, they come together as an energetic, open, and cohesive society. Okay?, yes, the Americans have this strategy that worked in Libya and Syria and other places, but it's not going to work in Iran. In fact, it's going to do the opposite in Iran. Okay? And then you're, well, why don't the Americans not do this? And I already told you because it's an empire, okay? It doesn't care about Iran. It cares about itself. And so it's stuck with this policy because remember, it's trying to win this war as quickly as possible because it doesn't have the manufacture capacity to fight this war for a long time. It's trying to reduce as many casualties among its soldiers as possible because the Americans don't have the political will to fight this war. America is trying to win this war cheaply and fast. If it doesn't, then America is in a lot of trouble. Okay? Does that make sense, guys? Alright, let me now conclude, oh sorry, let me now discuss the Iranian strategy, okay?, what the Americans are using is a classic strategy called siege warfare. Okay? And so what the Iranians are going to do is they're going to respond with a classic strategy called guerrilla warfare. Okay, and guerrilla warfare, guys, it's just simple. It's hide and seek. Alright? So you come bomb me with all, everything you have, I'll just hide in my mountains. And then when you leave, what am I going to do? I'm going to attack your GCC countries. I'm going to lob drones, rockets at you. I'm going to lob rockets at Israel, okay? I don't have to strike that hard. I just have to be a pain in the ass, okay? Because then, what happens is you're forced to come back and bomb the living hell out of me. But guess what? I'll just hide in my mountains again. It's hide and seek, okay? So Iran can do this for years and years and years. But again, remember, America is forced to win this war as fast as possible. Because there is no political will. They don't have manufacturing capacity. And they don't want that many casualties. And they can make damage, okay? Does that make sense, guys? Alright? So that's all Iran is going to do. Iran is going to be a pain in the ass, okay? A pain in the ass. It's trying to create as much economic damage as possible. It's trying to create as much fear as possible. Alright? Which will force America to attack. The grand question is this. Will America launch a ground invasion? Because if it does, then they've lost the war. Alright? Because look at Iran, okay? Mountains and mountains. Deserts. It is impossible to occupy this country. Alright? It's impossible to invade. And what the Iranians want to do is be such a pain in the ass to commit so much guerrilla warfare that America is forced to invade, okay? From over here and from over here and from over here and from over here. And then eventually... But the problem is that America doesn't have the resources, the political will, the manufacturing capacity to fight this war. Okay? Does it make sense? Alright. So now you're, okay, I understand all this. But why the hell is this war happening then? If I can tell you this, okay? I'm sure that their generals can tell them this as well. I'm sure that they know that this was the case. In fact, for years, America has been planning to invade Iran. And for years, the generals were, no, that's suicidal. Let's not do this, okay? So why is this happening? And unfortunately, we don't know. Because the administration is not telling us. At first, Trump is, oh, because the nuclear talks didn't go well. But we know for a fact that the Iranians were willing to agree to all terms of the Americans. And then, Marco Rubio, who's the Secretary of State, he came out yesterday, and you see, he said something really moronic. He said that, why did we attack Iran? Because we heard the Israelis were going to attack first. And the Iranians were going to respond by attacking both the Israelis and us, the Americans. And therefore, we have to preempt the Israelis by attacking first. And they're just retarded, okay? So they don't know why they're doing this. But there has to be a reason, Well, a clue is this. A clue is this. The soldiers are being asked, the American soldiers are being asked to fight this war. And again, no one knows why this war is happening. But there's reporting that the generals are telling the soldiers, this is a war for Jesus. This is a war to create the second coming of Jesus, okay? This is Jonathan Larson, and he's writing this on Substack, okay? U.S. troops were told Iran war is for Armageddon, the return of Jesus. What is this? What is this? Alright,, sorry., some soldiers who are not Christians were told that this is a war for Jesus, and, wait a minute, we're not Christians, we're Muslims, or we're atheists, why are we fighting this war? And so they filed a complaint about this speech, okay? And we're going to read a part of this email that the soldiers who were dissenting sent to some other people to complain about this, okay?, Ibride, could you read, please? Yes, sure. I am a NCO rank withheld in our unit. This morning, our commander opened up the combat readiness status briefing by urging us to not be afraid as to what is happening with our combat operations in Iran right now. Stop, okay, afraid. Wait, this word tells us they're losing the war, okay? Keep on going. He urged us to tell our troops that this was all part of God's divine plan, and he specifically referenced- Wait a minute here. Wait a minute. God's divine plan? God's not the one ordering them to fight this war. It's Trump or the American military, okay? This is weird. Keep on going. And he specifically referenced numerous citations out of the book of Revelation referring to Armageddon, and the imminent return of Jesus Christ. He said that President Trump has been anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to earth. Oh my God. President Trump. The fire in Iran. It's all part of a grand plan to destroy the world so that Jesus will return. What is this crap? Okay, keep on going. He had a big grin on his face when- Okay, he's happy about this, guys. The world is ending. Yeah! Come on going. When he said all of this, which made his message seem even more crazy, our commander would probably be described as a Christian-first supporter. He has been this way for a very long time, and makes it clear that he desires all of us under him to become just like him as a Christian. But what he did this morning was so toxic and over the line that it shocks many of us in attendance at the Ops Redenness breathing. Besides myself, I am reaching out to MRFF on behalf of 15 fellow troops. I know you asked me about the religious views of our group who has requested help from the MRFF. I can only tell you that I am Christian, and at least 10 of the others are also Christians. One of the others is Jewish and one is Muslim. I don't know the religious or non-religious status for the other three at this time. Okay, so what is happening is that there are some crazy Christians in the American military, in the American government, okay, that want to use this war to end the world, to force Jesus to return. That is why this war is happening. I am not saying that this is the reason why, but I am saying that this is a possibility, okay? This is Trump, and these are all religious leaders that support Trump because they see him as the Messiah. They see him as this great hero who will cause the triumph of Christianity and the return of Jesus. And that is a possibility as to why this war is being fought, okay? Because quite honestly, there is no other reason. It is hard for me to come up with another reason, okay? Alright, so this is something that we will look at as we go along. What is this crap? What is Christian Zionism? Why would they think that this war in the Middle East will cause the return of Jesus, okay? We will discuss this later on. But now, it leads us to another problem, which is our entire class is on game theory, Guys, this is weird because what this suggests is that religion is more important, okay?, what is the point of game theory if people don't play by game theory? If all, if they are just religious fanatics, alright? And the answer is this. And the answer is, it's still game theory. But the problem is that what you think, the game that you think they are playing is not the game they are playing. The reward that you think they want is not the reward that they want, okay? We think in terms of material things, okay?, money, resources, power. We think that the war is being fought over these things. And it's not, alright? The grand secret, the grand reveal of the semester, of course, is this. The real power, the real currency in the world is not money. It is human consciousness. Or attention. Okay? This is it, guys, okay? When you understand this idea, you understand everything. But this is a hard idea to understand, so I'll need some time to actually explain this, alright? This war is being fought to control the consciousness of the human race. Because it is our consciousness that creates reality itself. That's the source of all wealth and all power in this world. Okay? That's why this is happening. In other words, this is a war not just for Iran. This is a war not just for the Middle East. It is a war for the soul of humanity. This is what's happening, guys. Alright? This is what World War III is. World War III is meant to be the last and final war of all human history. Because whoever wins this war will control the very soul of human existence for all of eternity. Okay? That is the end game. And I know this is hard to understand, but as we go along, I will explain this to you. Okay? That is the grand secret behind the world. Everything that you believe, everything that you see today, it's all an illusion. The reality, the truth, is that consciousness is a source of all power of reality itself. And so this is a war for human consciousness. It's a war for the very soul of humanity. Okay? Any questions? Any questions? All right. I will see you guys next week.