WEBVTT 00:00:00.020 --> 00:00:04.240 Have you ever heard the phrase, the purpose of a system is what it does? 00:00:04.980 --> 00:00:08.500 Do you know the origin of this phrase? Do you know its meaning? 00:00:08.840 --> 00:00:12.120 And do you know how it can be used to explain current events? 00:00:12.680 --> 00:00:17.880 If so, great. Have a great day. I have nothing to teach you. If not, you're in luck. 00:00:18.340 --> 00:00:21.320 I'm going to tell you about this phrase, where it comes from, 00:00:21.460 --> 00:00:23.240 what it means, and how to use it. 00:00:23.360 --> 00:00:28.240 And by the end of today's episode, you're going to understand how the purpose 00:00:28.240 --> 00:00:34.540 of a system is what it does, can be used to explain current events, including the Iran War. 00:00:35.060 --> 00:00:37.060 Are you ready? Let's dig in. 00:01:01.140 --> 00:01:05.380 The important thing to realize about systems is how they are controlled. 00:01:05.820 --> 00:01:10.000 And we must get rid of any notion straight away that control is something imposed 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:12.960 on the system from outside. It has to be built into it. 00:01:13.400 --> 00:01:18.380 Now you saw me operate this governor just now and noticed how the engine slowed down. 00:01:18.840 --> 00:01:20.620 Let's see how the mechanism works. 00:01:21.660 --> 00:01:25.820 Suppose the engine is racing, then the governor flies open like that. 00:01:26.120 --> 00:01:29.880 You see it lifting here, transmitting the message along here, 00:01:30.360 --> 00:01:34.360 lifting that cam up here, and then shutting off a valve there. 00:01:34.920 --> 00:01:41.160 That is built into the system. It's called feedback, and feedback is ubiquitous in control systems. 00:01:42.380 --> 00:01:45.240 Welcome back, friends. Welcome back to another edition of the Corbett Report. 00:01:45.500 --> 00:01:48.920 I'm James Corbett of CorbettReport.com, coming to you, as always, 00:01:49.060 --> 00:01:54.620 from the sunny climes of western Japan, here in April of 2026 with episode 499 00:01:54.620 --> 00:02:00.020 of the Corbett Report podcast, The Purpose of a System is What It Does. 00:02:01.140 --> 00:02:05.380 So who was that man in that intriguing little clip that we just saw? 00:02:05.600 --> 00:02:09.860 Well, that was Stafford Beer. And I imagine there is probably some subsection 00:02:09.860 --> 00:02:13.200 of the audience who is already familiar with Stafford Beer and his work. 00:02:13.500 --> 00:02:19.640 But if not, I will simply intrigue you with the idea that Stafford Beer is certainly 00:02:19.640 --> 00:02:24.060 someone who would be deserving of his own podcast deep dive, 00:02:24.060 --> 00:02:29.820 and not because I think his life's work or thought is worthy of veneration, 00:02:30.100 --> 00:02:32.180 but because it is worthy of dissection. 00:02:32.980 --> 00:02:37.580 Namely, because Stafford Beer was a Malthusian limits to growth doomer, 00:02:37.880 --> 00:02:43.040 he was a technocrat, he was a socialist, more to the point he was a cybernetician, 00:02:43.040 --> 00:02:49.120 and his work provides a very interesting insight into the development of the 00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:53.300 technocratic idea, which hopefully my audience is familiar with and which started 00:02:53.300 --> 00:02:56.280 in the 1920s slash 1930s, 00:02:56.380 --> 00:03:00.680 but the development of that idea in the late 20th century and the form that 00:03:00.680 --> 00:03:02.360 it took to develop, well, 00:03:02.580 --> 00:03:08.000 cybernetics, which is probably something that is of relevance to all of us and 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:09.540 that we should all know more about. 00:03:09.540 --> 00:03:15.700 So as I say, I will leave my teaser introduction of Stafford Beer there with 00:03:15.700 --> 00:03:17.780 the promise that I think we will look 00:03:18.110 --> 00:03:23.670 further into him in the future. And just as one cookie crumb along the trail 00:03:23.670 --> 00:03:28.890 to get you interested in that, I will provide you in the spirit of the Solutions Watch on magic words. 00:03:28.890 --> 00:03:32.510 I will provide you the magic words that will unlock at least one intriguing 00:03:32.510 --> 00:03:36.910 part of the Stafford Beer story. That is Project Cybersyn. 00:03:37.250 --> 00:03:40.410 Cyber S-Y-N. Project Cybersyn. 00:03:40.610 --> 00:03:45.750 Just start by looking that up and seeing what you mind on that cookie crumb trail. 00:03:45.970 --> 00:03:49.770 But today we're not going to talk about Stafford Beer's life work. 00:03:49.930 --> 00:03:54.610 We're going to talk about one specific aphorism with which he is associated. 00:03:54.830 --> 00:03:58.630 And that aphorism, from what I understand, came from a number of works that 00:03:58.630 --> 00:04:02.130 he had written over the years and number of lectures that he has given over the years. 00:04:02.270 --> 00:04:06.310 But we'll take this from Diagnosing the System for Organizations, 00:04:06.310 --> 00:04:10.110 a book that you can get up on archive.org. 00:04:10.130 --> 00:04:15.670 It is there and available and was published by John Wiley & Sons, copyright 1985. 00:04:16.550 --> 00:04:20.510 And if you, well, I mean, read this book's to your heart content if you so desire, 00:04:20.670 --> 00:04:26.910 but let's cut to the chase and get down to page 99, on which the aphorism appears. 00:04:27.050 --> 00:04:33.610 So once we actually get to page 99, Brock, Jeopardy theme music, please. 00:04:39.290 --> 00:04:45.570 And here we are. Exactly. So on page 99 of this book, Stafford Beer writes, 00:04:45.770 --> 00:04:52.750 a good observer will impute the purpose of the system from its actions and thus 00:04:52.750 --> 00:04:54.110 from the resultant state. 00:04:54.490 --> 00:04:57.430 So what is a system? What does it do? 00:04:57.610 --> 00:05:01.410 Well, let's look at what it does and then what results from that. 00:05:01.510 --> 00:05:04.030 And that is what the system actually is about. 00:05:04.230 --> 00:05:09.130 So hence the key aphorism, the purpose of a system is what it does. 00:05:10.330 --> 00:05:13.190 And then that is followed up by this incredibly important point. 00:05:13.330 --> 00:05:18.570 There is, after all, no point in claiming that the purpose of a system is to 00:05:18.570 --> 00:05:21.790 do what it consistently fails to do. 00:05:22.430 --> 00:05:29.890 That seems so astoundingly obvious that it shouldn't need to be said, and yet it does. 00:05:30.110 --> 00:05:35.410 Why is that? It's because people are naturally inclined, or at any rate have 00:05:35.410 --> 00:05:42.590 certainly been taught, But to listen to rhetoric and explanation and excuses about, 00:05:43.050 --> 00:05:46.370 oh, this system has been designed to dot, dot, dot, 00:05:46.970 --> 00:05:48.790 but, oh, it kind of failed here. 00:05:48.910 --> 00:05:51.750 Oh, it didn't quite live up to that here. And this is what you get. 00:05:51.910 --> 00:05:57.050 And unfortunately, that is the way that so many systems tend to work, 00:05:57.070 --> 00:06:02.830 which is why, as he goes on to observe, this produces a lot of cognitive dissonance. 00:06:02.830 --> 00:06:06.210 When somebody is telling you the system is actually for this, 00:06:06.490 --> 00:06:08.570 and yet it produces that. 00:06:09.370 --> 00:06:14.890 What is going on here? This might be very abstract for those who are used to 00:06:14.890 --> 00:06:21.850 dealing with cybernetics and systems research and management of the businesses 00:06:21.850 --> 00:06:23.410 and humans and everything else. 00:06:23.570 --> 00:06:26.710 You might be already familiar with this language and what it means, 00:06:26.850 --> 00:06:29.250 but let's put it in something tangible. 00:06:29.650 --> 00:06:36.030 I have invented this doohickey, this complex doohickey system that when you 00:06:36.030 --> 00:06:39.730 press upon the lever so for, say, 10 minutes a day, 00:06:39.950 --> 00:06:48.070 you will balance your neural chakra and unfung your shui, 00:06:48.150 --> 00:06:52.850 and that will allow you to earn more money, 00:06:52.850 --> 00:07:00.370 have more power and influence, achieve your dreams and cure your toenail fungus, 00:07:00.370 --> 00:07:03.970 but only if you press it like this for 10 minutes a day every day. 00:07:06.310 --> 00:07:12.770 Sure, sold. How much? $10,000. And you can have this amazing doohickey that I've invented. 00:07:13.010 --> 00:07:17.490 Fast forward 10 years later, and what has this doohickey and pressing on it 00:07:17.490 --> 00:07:19.350 actually produced? Well, nothing. 00:07:19.490 --> 00:07:23.730 It has changed absolutely nothing in my daily life. I haven't been able to regrow 00:07:23.730 --> 00:07:28.270 my hair or any of the other things that the snake oil salesman who sold me that doohickey promised. 00:07:28.270 --> 00:07:35.010 So what was the actual purpose of this doohickey? What did it actually do? 00:07:35.210 --> 00:07:41.310 Well, it separated me from my money. And that was the actual purpose of the doohickey all along. 00:07:41.890 --> 00:07:45.470 The purpose of the system is what it does. 00:07:45.890 --> 00:07:52.870 And that is an incredibly simple yet incredibly powerful observation that we 00:07:52.870 --> 00:07:59.210 can use to help explain what is actually happening in reality and strip it from 00:07:59.210 --> 00:08:02.790 all of the rhetoric that surrounds the platitudes, 00:08:03.070 --> 00:08:09.270 the political platitudes and pieties that surround systems that are presented to us. 00:08:09.430 --> 00:08:13.350 Once again, I think this is probably best demonstrated through concrete examples. 00:08:13.350 --> 00:08:19.730 So let's turn from the doohickey example to a very real example with which we are all familiar. 00:08:19.970 --> 00:08:25.670 Of course, one of the things that the government claims to do for us is to provide 00:08:25.670 --> 00:08:27.910 us with an education system. 00:08:28.070 --> 00:08:30.950 In fact, so thoroughly has this been 00:08:30.950 --> 00:08:36.230 indoctrinated into the population that we need the education system provided 00:08:36.230 --> 00:08:42.130 by the state that it has become almost literally unthinkable for the average 00:08:42.130 --> 00:08:44.630 person to imagine a world before 00:08:44.630 --> 00:08:49.530 the government was providing such an education system to its citizens. 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:57.280 How could education function if it was not being provided to us in this wonderful education system? 00:08:57.660 --> 00:09:02.460 And of course, surrounding the education system, we have all of the wonderful 00:09:02.460 --> 00:09:07.560 rhetoric about how this is going to develop more responsible citizens and equip 00:09:07.560 --> 00:09:10.460 young adults for the world of tomorrow, etc. 00:09:10.580 --> 00:09:14.920 And all of the other things that we are told about the education system. 00:09:14.920 --> 00:09:18.340 But the purpose of a system is what it does. 00:09:18.780 --> 00:09:24.900 So what is the actual resultant state of the education system as it exists? 00:09:25.560 --> 00:09:30.480 A noticeable decline. Teachers sharing the everyday things students can't do 00:09:30.480 --> 00:09:31.420 for themselves anymore. 00:09:31.560 --> 00:09:34.060 They can't read, write, or spell and don't care. 00:09:34.260 --> 00:09:37.640 This is coming from BuzzFeed, who apparently posted up an article, 00:09:37.920 --> 00:09:41.760 25 teachers sharing the basic things students apparently can't do themselves 00:09:41.760 --> 00:09:46.540 anymore. And once that story hit, even more people started to pile on. 00:09:46.700 --> 00:09:50.080 In response to that, I teach 3K. 00:09:50.380 --> 00:09:55.040 These are three and four year olds, and most of our kids cannot put a jacket on at all. 00:09:55.200 --> 00:09:58.620 They won't even try. They start throwing tantrums before even attempting, 00:09:58.840 --> 00:10:00.340 saying they can't do it. It's too hard. 00:10:01.270 --> 00:10:04.710 The majority of students struggle to read a clock unless it's digital. 00:10:05.450 --> 00:10:08.630 Kids know they will pass no matter how unqualified, ill-equipped, 00:10:08.710 --> 00:10:10.910 and unprepared they are. They come to school with the attitude, 00:10:11.090 --> 00:10:13.310 I won't do the work, and you can't make me. 00:10:13.950 --> 00:10:17.030 Sad to say, we can't. That's why I quit teaching. 00:10:17.230 --> 00:10:22.650 Call me a coward. I blame it all. No child left behind. It's always those Republicans. 00:10:23.350 --> 00:10:27.070 I've been shocked by the number of second and third graders who can't tie their shoes. 00:10:27.330 --> 00:10:29.910 I also have fourth graders who can't write their first and last names. 00:10:29.910 --> 00:10:33.550 It's really scary to think a kid can get to fourth grade without anyone raising 00:10:33.550 --> 00:10:36.350 an alarm about their inability to write their full name. 00:10:36.710 --> 00:10:39.670 I've been teaching high school English for only seven years now, 00:10:39.810 --> 00:10:43.470 and the post-COVID lockdown emotional landscape is rough. 00:10:43.990 --> 00:10:48.030 Students are using AI to think for them, write for them, and summarize any readings 00:10:48.030 --> 00:10:49.630 for them that are longer than a paragraph. 00:10:49.910 --> 00:10:54.690 We've put technology in every classroom, but kids don't understand how to use it. 00:10:55.750 --> 00:11:02.650 Now that, as I hope my listeners are aware, was a clip from New World Next Week, episode 623. 00:11:03.030 --> 00:11:07.650 Ehrlich contributes to the depopulation agenda in which James Evan Pilato there 00:11:07.650 --> 00:11:13.390 in New Mexico is reporting on the failure of the American education system to 00:11:13.390 --> 00:11:15.990 actually educate children. But is it a failure? 00:11:16.450 --> 00:11:20.690 Think, for example, about the rationalization that, as Pilato, 00:11:20.790 --> 00:11:24.530 I think, rightly pointed out there, is given in this case. 00:11:24.690 --> 00:11:30.250 Oh, yes, the education system is, of course, meant to elevate and educate and 00:11:30.250 --> 00:11:36.150 enlighten and inspire children, but it's failing because, because why? 00:11:36.370 --> 00:11:41.250 Because of insufficient funding or insufficient resources or those resources 00:11:41.250 --> 00:11:44.530 have been misallocated or applied in the wrong way. 00:11:44.530 --> 00:11:50.190 No, what we need is better people with good intentions to come along and reform 00:11:50.190 --> 00:11:56.210 the system in the right way in order to produce the real desired results. 00:11:56.210 --> 00:12:01.210 Because as we all know, of course, the education system is about educating children. 00:12:02.180 --> 00:12:08.180 But let's use POSIWID. The purpose of a system is what it does. 00:12:08.560 --> 00:12:12.060 Sometimes referred to by its acronym, POSIWID. 00:12:12.280 --> 00:12:17.540 Well, in this case, well, let's strip it of the rhetoric. Let's strip it of the rationalization. 00:12:17.820 --> 00:12:23.100 Let's overcome our cognitive dissonance and let's look plainly at what the system does. 00:12:23.620 --> 00:12:25.900 It is dumbing down children. 00:12:26.620 --> 00:12:30.540 Therefore, the purpose of the education system, at least the American education 00:12:30.540 --> 00:12:34.300 system as it exists today, is to dumb down children. 00:12:34.600 --> 00:12:39.720 Now, this will not come as a surprise to those who have, for example, 00:12:40.220 --> 00:12:44.160 read Charlotte Izerbitz, the deliberate dumbing down of America, 00:12:44.600 --> 00:12:48.140 or John Taylor Gatto's Weapons of Mass Instruction, 00:12:48.400 --> 00:12:52.140 A School Teacher's Journey Through the Dark World of Compulsory Schooling, 00:12:52.220 --> 00:12:56.440 or for those Those who have seen how big oil conquered the world and learned 00:12:56.440 --> 00:13:01.860 the history of the Rockefeller funded modern American education system. 00:13:03.190 --> 00:13:06.850 That is the power and the genius of this POSIWID insight. 00:13:07.050 --> 00:13:11.550 It doesn't matter what the intentions of anyone in this system are. 00:13:11.750 --> 00:13:17.190 We can, and I have, pointed to the intentions of these people to deliberately 00:13:17.190 --> 00:13:21.250 dumb down children in this miseducation system. 00:13:21.550 --> 00:13:25.190 But there are those suffering from cognitive dissonance who will not be able 00:13:25.190 --> 00:13:30.750 to understand or accept that the purpose of the system is not what the designers 00:13:30.750 --> 00:13:33.870 say it is. So let's simply take that criterion. 00:13:34.190 --> 00:13:36.010 The purpose of a system is what it does. 00:13:36.350 --> 00:13:40.310 It is dumbing down children. Therefore, the purpose of the education system 00:13:40.310 --> 00:13:41.530 is to dumb down children. 00:13:42.370 --> 00:13:46.990 It's a very effective and powerful way of cutting through the BS and arriving 00:13:46.990 --> 00:13:48.130 at the reality underneath. 00:13:48.610 --> 00:13:52.210 I think this is kind of fun. So let's do it again. 00:13:52.410 --> 00:13:57.270 Let's take a look at a different example. In this case, any system will do. 00:13:57.430 --> 00:14:01.770 Let's take a look at the Norwegian Nobel Prize Committee. 00:14:01.990 --> 00:14:09.010 What is the purpose of the Norwegian Nobel Prize Committee? What is the purpose of that system? 00:14:09.550 --> 00:14:14.430 Well, let's look specifically at the Peace Prize. We are told that the Nobel 00:14:14.430 --> 00:14:19.690 Peace Prize is to be an award that is to be given to the person or persons responsible 00:14:19.690 --> 00:14:24.450 for having done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, 00:14:24.690 --> 00:14:29.770 the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses. 00:14:30.010 --> 00:14:36.550 And the implication is that the reason for awarding such a prize is to promote 00:14:36.550 --> 00:14:41.050 such peaceful activities and endeavors and promote peace in the world. 00:14:41.550 --> 00:14:50.570 But, pause you with. So let's ask, what is the real purpose of the Nobel Peace Prize? Oh. 00:14:53.300 --> 00:15:00.800 Hello. Hello. Yes. Yes. Am I talking to Maria Corina Machado? 00:15:02.120 --> 00:15:05.540 Yes, this is Maria Corina. Yes, Maria Corina. 00:15:07.220 --> 00:15:10.540 My name is Christian Bergarpyken. 00:15:10.820 --> 00:15:17.440 I am the secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo. 00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:25.660 And I'm calling to inform you that in a few minutes it shall be announced here 00:15:25.660 --> 00:15:33.320 at the Nobel Institute that you will be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2025. 00:15:36.520 --> 00:15:42.360 Oh, my God. The United States just attacked Venezuela's capital, 00:15:42.560 --> 00:15:44.860 hitting military facilities in the country. 00:15:45.140 --> 00:15:47.140 President Trump ordered this operation. 00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:51.600 There were multiple explosions in Caracas starting at around 2 a.m. 00:15:51.860 --> 00:15:56.960 Local time. You can see the video here coming in. It shows low-flying aircraft in the city. 00:15:57.180 --> 00:16:00.660 This is the first U.S. military attack within the country. 00:16:02.300 --> 00:16:05.380 . The purpose of a system is what it does. 00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:11.680 Ergo, the purpose of the Nobel Peace Prize is to give political cover to warmongers. 00:16:12.140 --> 00:16:16.820 Now, once again, this will not be news to people who are familiar with the history of this subject. 00:16:17.020 --> 00:16:23.180 People who, for example, remember my work on this subject, like episode 484 00:16:23.180 --> 00:16:29.180 of The Corbett Report podcast on the Nobel War Prize Strikes Again, in which I documented, 00:16:29.460 --> 00:16:35.680 for example, how last year's Nobel Peace Prize and the awarding of that to Maria 00:16:35.680 --> 00:16:44.120 Corina Machado was part of a campaign to consolidate public support amongst the peace-loving, 00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:52.160 EU neoliberal jet set for a campaign of demonization of the Maduro government 00:16:52.160 --> 00:17:00.060 that directly led to the military intervention or how it was used back in 2009, for example, 00:17:00.220 --> 00:17:06.560 when it was awarded to Barack Obama to give political cover to him for his campaign 00:17:06.560 --> 00:17:13.220 to not only continue the Bush era war of terror, but to greatly expand that campaign, 00:17:13.400 --> 00:17:16.920 expand the bombing campaign into nine different countries, 00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:23.500 expand the drone warfare that became an essential part of the War of Terror. 00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:27.320 Normalizing the concept of the presidential kill list, 00:17:28.070 --> 00:17:33.050 stripping Americans of their civil rights and protections, surging in Afghanistan, 00:17:33.710 --> 00:17:39.710 fomenting the rise of ISIS, etc., etc., and other historical examples like, 00:17:39.970 --> 00:17:44.550 for example, the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Henry Kissinger for a 00:17:44.550 --> 00:17:49.750 war that he did not end and that was still ongoing when the prize was awarded, etc. 00:17:50.450 --> 00:17:54.890 But again, as I say, this will not be news to people who have been paying attention to the subject. 00:17:54.890 --> 00:17:57.810 But even if you have not been paying attention to the subject, 00:17:57.830 --> 00:18:02.950 you do not have to think about the rhetoric that surrounds the Nobel Peace Prize 00:18:02.950 --> 00:18:09.430 and what it is designed to do or what its original creator or its current prize 00:18:09.430 --> 00:18:12.790 committee members say it is designed to do. 00:18:12.910 --> 00:18:16.530 No, we look at what it does and we reason from there. 00:18:17.410 --> 00:18:22.610 All right. Again, this is an incredibly valuable heuristic. And I think you 00:18:22.610 --> 00:18:25.970 understand now the power of POSIWID. 00:18:26.090 --> 00:18:31.570 So let's continue applying it. But now let's start to get into the pressing 00:18:31.570 --> 00:18:34.510 political matters of our day, 00:18:34.750 --> 00:18:39.630 things that pertain to systems that have been created in recent times in order 00:18:39.630 --> 00:18:42.530 to facilitate certain events that are ongoing. 00:18:42.770 --> 00:18:45.990 And let's ask a very interesting question. 00:18:46.350 --> 00:18:49.310 What is the purpose of MAGA? 00:18:50.690 --> 00:18:57.070 Because just take a look here, MAGA, GOP, view of Trump, approve 100%, 00:18:57.070 --> 00:19:03.610 100%. If you are a member of MAGA and the GOP, you approve of Donald John Trump. 00:19:04.010 --> 00:19:08.730 Zero percent say that they disapprove. You don't have to be a mathematical genius 00:19:08.730 --> 00:19:11.170 to know you can't go higher than 100%. 00:19:11.170 --> 00:19:16.790 He is the 1972 Miami Dolphins. Now, there are some Republicans who disapprove 00:19:16.790 --> 00:19:23.050 of Donald John Trump, but they are not members of the Make America Great Again movement. 00:19:23.270 --> 00:19:27.210 The bottom line is this. If you are a member of MAGA, you approve of Donald Trump. 00:19:28.010 --> 00:19:36.270 A short time ago, the United States military began major combat operations in Iran. 00:19:36.890 --> 00:19:43.150 Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats 00:19:43.150 --> 00:19:51.070 from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people. 00:19:52.430 --> 00:19:58.310 There are some people who are just waking up to reality, who are starting to 00:19:58.310 --> 00:20:02.330 ponder whether or not MAGA is failing. 00:20:02.590 --> 00:20:08.450 MAGA has not been successful, these people think, because I believed MAGA was 00:20:08.450 --> 00:20:11.270 this thing, but it has become this other thing. 00:20:11.690 --> 00:20:16.810 However, they have fallen into a trap. They believe that the purpose of a system 00:20:16.810 --> 00:20:23.210 is what it is called, or, at best, the purpose of a system is what its progenitor 00:20:23.210 --> 00:20:25.990 has said that that purpose is. 00:20:26.430 --> 00:20:33.430 Ergo, MAGA is make America great again, whatever one makes of that unwieldy phrase. 00:20:33.430 --> 00:20:38.230 Yes, I believe in making America great again, 00:20:38.230 --> 00:20:43.610 and I interpret that in my own way exactly as people in 2008 interpreted hope 00:20:43.610 --> 00:20:51.890 and change and have believed in it and wished it were so and are starting to wonder how that failed. 00:20:52.070 --> 00:20:58.690 But MAGA did not fail. In fact, it has been remarkably successful in doing what MAGA does. 00:20:58.850 --> 00:21:01.530 The purpose of a system is what it does. 00:21:02.050 --> 00:21:06.310 So what is the purpose of MAGA? It is to generate support for the war on Iran. 00:21:07.050 --> 00:21:12.430 Now, that is not the only purpose of this system, because MAGA has done many things. 00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:18.020 Generating support amongst a portion of the public who even a few months ago 00:21:18.020 --> 00:21:22.500 would have been vociferously opposed to the idea of foreign intervention and 00:21:22.500 --> 00:21:26.500 meddling in the Middle East is not something to sneeze at. 00:21:26.620 --> 00:21:30.820 So that is one of the purposes of MAGA. There are others. 00:21:31.040 --> 00:21:35.980 For example, another purpose of MAGA is demonstrably to cover up the Epstein files. 00:21:36.220 --> 00:21:41.040 Another purpose of MAGA is to expand American government involvement in the 00:21:41.040 --> 00:21:43.840 AI industry through things like Project Stargate. 00:21:44.040 --> 00:21:49.800 Another purpose of MAGA is to deploy more Pentagon PsyOps warriors on Twitter 00:21:49.800 --> 00:21:51.840 in order to sway public opinion. 00:21:52.120 --> 00:21:58.440 Another purpose of MAGA is to extend warrantless surveillance through the extension of the FISA Act. 00:21:58.740 --> 00:22:03.940 Another purpose of MAGA is to increase the military budget to record levels 00:22:03.940 --> 00:22:08.980 and in so doing to increase the fortunes of teal-connected military industrial 00:22:08.980 --> 00:22:12.540 contractors like Palantir and Anduril, etc, etc. 00:22:12.760 --> 00:22:17.160 There are a number of things that we could point to as purposes of the system 00:22:17.160 --> 00:22:21.740 that is MAGA, but it would be an incorrect assessment, given all of the foregoing, 00:22:21.840 --> 00:22:23.120 to say that MAGA is failing. 00:22:23.480 --> 00:22:28.620 No, MAGA is doing precisely what MAGA does. It is what it does, 00:22:28.640 --> 00:22:33.920 and it is generating support for these various things. So. 00:22:34.750 --> 00:22:40.650 Now that we have this very valuable heuristic, let's apply it to the pressing 00:22:40.650 --> 00:22:42.990 political question of the moment. 00:22:43.210 --> 00:22:50.370 The system that we are all seeing unfolding before our very eyes is the Iran war. 00:22:50.570 --> 00:22:56.030 Whatever that is and however it eventuated and whatever people are saying it 00:22:56.030 --> 00:22:59.270 is about, how about if we apply this heuristic? 00:22:59.490 --> 00:23:06.190 The purpose of a system is what it does, POSIWID. So, what is the purpose of the Iran war? 00:23:08.030 --> 00:23:11.470 It's being called the world's most dangerous toll booth. 00:23:11.730 --> 00:23:15.550 The only tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz are being forced into 00:23:15.550 --> 00:23:20.910 a new route controlled by Iran, with some charged millions of dollars to transit. 00:23:21.210 --> 00:23:25.750 It's sort of been dubbed the Tehran toll booth. That's according to data from 00:23:25.750 --> 00:23:29.950 Lloyd's List Intelligence, a maritime firm shared with NBC News. 00:23:29.950 --> 00:23:34.410 Before the war, around 110 ships passed the strait each day. 00:23:34.750 --> 00:23:36.530 Now, it's 10 ships or fewer. 00:23:38.010 --> 00:23:41.090 Now, I don't need to tell you, but I'll tell you anyway, that, 00:23:41.210 --> 00:23:45.790 of course, the events that are unfolding in the Strait of Hormuz are still unfolding 00:23:45.790 --> 00:23:47.550 and nothing has been decided yet. 00:23:47.770 --> 00:23:50.970 And undoubtedly, there will be twists and turns along the way. 00:23:51.210 --> 00:23:54.870 But if we were to take a look at the situation right now and ask, 00:23:54.990 --> 00:23:59.530 well, what is the system doing, the system of the Iran war? 00:23:59.530 --> 00:24:03.810 It is producing a toll or a blockade 00:24:03.810 --> 00:24:08.490 or a disruption of the passage of oil through the Strait of Hormuz. 00:24:08.650 --> 00:24:12.530 That is what it is doing right now. So we have gone from a state where there 00:24:12.530 --> 00:24:16.770 was a free flow of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to a state in which 00:24:16.770 --> 00:24:22.370 there is a trickle of traffic that is either being blockaded and or told in various ways. 00:24:22.810 --> 00:24:25.730 And so we can use POSIWID. 00:24:25.910 --> 00:24:30.630 Purpose of the system is what it does. The purpose of the Iran war is to create 00:24:30.630 --> 00:24:36.010 a toll of some sort or disruption of some sort on the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz. 00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:40.460 Now, once you have determined the actual purpose of a system, 00:24:40.660 --> 00:24:43.620 there are second order questions that you can then start to take a look at. 00:24:43.800 --> 00:24:45.580 You could ask the why question. 00:24:46.040 --> 00:24:52.600 Well, then why? Why would anyone design a system to impose blockades or tolls 00:24:52.600 --> 00:24:55.080 or otherwise disrupt traffic through the Strait of Hormuz? 00:24:55.320 --> 00:25:01.240 One might ask. It doesn't necessarily, of course, logically follow that because 00:25:01.240 --> 00:25:05.860 a system is doing that thing, that it was designed to do that thing. 00:25:05.860 --> 00:25:09.940 In fact, part of the beauty of POSIWID is that we can completely and totally 00:25:09.940 --> 00:25:16.040 take the intentions out of our analysis of a system because the intentions do 00:25:16.040 --> 00:25:18.180 not matter. The question is, what does it do? 00:25:18.820 --> 00:25:23.620 But in this case, I think that there is intentionality behind this situation. 00:25:23.620 --> 00:25:27.860 I think that the Iran war has been designed to create this disruption of traffic. 00:25:27.940 --> 00:25:32.140 And if you want to know why I think that and who stands to benefit from this 00:25:32.140 --> 00:25:36.200 disruption of traffic, I would exhort you to take a look at some of my recent work on this subject. 00:25:36.380 --> 00:25:44.220 For example, episode 495 of The Corbett Report podcast on this is the real endgame in Iran. 00:25:44.760 --> 00:25:50.580 And also a recent conversation that I had with Ryan Christian on the last American vagabond, 00:25:50.740 --> 00:25:53.980 where we talked about the great Iran reset and go 00:25:53.980 --> 00:25:56.960 into more of the question of 00:25:56.960 --> 00:26:03.280 why such a disruption would be in the interests of certain power players at 00:26:03.280 --> 00:26:07.860 the geopolitical table and those who are interested in starting a new world 00:26:07.860 --> 00:26:13.480 order predicated on a new monetary paradigm and the disruption and or the extension 00:26:13.480 --> 00:26:15.120 of the petrodollar, etc. 00:26:15.380 --> 00:26:20.220 Those are some very valuable questions to be asking and to be looking into right now. 00:26:20.340 --> 00:26:24.220 And I suggest that those two links, which will be in the transcript for today's 00:26:24.220 --> 00:26:27.560 episode, will start to send you along that path. 00:26:28.550 --> 00:26:32.610 But, like every good professor, this is the point at which I turn the lesson 00:26:32.610 --> 00:26:36.710 over to the students and invite your participation in this exercise. 00:26:38.110 --> 00:26:42.430 I think, I would like to think I have adequately demonstrated the utility of 00:26:42.430 --> 00:26:46.610 POSIWID as a heuristic for actually cutting through the BS, cutting through 00:26:46.610 --> 00:26:50.770 the propaganda, cutting through the rhetoric that surrounds every system. 00:26:50.910 --> 00:26:55.050 Oh, well, it's designed to do this and it should act this way and we intend 00:26:55.050 --> 00:26:57.690 for it to be like this. does not matter. 00:26:57.850 --> 00:27:02.250 No, the purpose of a system is what it does. So now we can evaluate what does 00:27:02.250 --> 00:27:06.990 the system do in order to understand the purpose of that system. 00:27:07.210 --> 00:27:10.790 The purpose of the system is predicated on the resultant state of that system. 00:27:10.950 --> 00:27:15.090 Again, a deceptively simple insight, but one that has power, 00:27:15.390 --> 00:27:20.110 genuine power, in being able to cut through all of the BS and get to reality underneath. 00:27:20.690 --> 00:27:28.070 So I can, off the top of my head, think of dozens of ways in which this POSIWID 00:27:28.070 --> 00:27:32.730 heuristic can be applied to various questions that might arise when we look 00:27:32.730 --> 00:27:35.870 at the world around us and start to contemplate the systems around us. 00:27:36.050 --> 00:27:40.470 You might ask, for example, what is the purpose of the war on drugs? 00:27:40.750 --> 00:27:44.310 Well, clearly the purpose of the war on drugs is to make more people addicted 00:27:44.310 --> 00:27:51.050 to drugs and to increase the prison incarceration rates and to ensure more people 00:27:51.050 --> 00:27:52.110 are in the prison system. 00:27:52.270 --> 00:27:54.750 That is what the system does. That is what it is for. 00:27:55.320 --> 00:27:59.300 All right. What is the purpose of AI and the chatbot takeover? 00:27:59.840 --> 00:28:04.860 Clearly, again, demonstrably, the purpose of this is to make people stupider, 00:28:05.320 --> 00:28:08.800 more intellectually lazy, and more dependent on their digital devices. 00:28:09.080 --> 00:28:13.600 That is happening. That is what it does. That is what it is for. 00:28:14.340 --> 00:28:21.040 What is the purpose of processed foods? It is demonstrably not to enrich in 00:28:21.040 --> 00:28:25.680 our lives, not to make us feel better or to make us healthier. 00:28:25.880 --> 00:28:30.040 No, it is precisely the opposite. The purpose of the processed food industry 00:28:30.040 --> 00:28:34.020 is to make people fatter, sicker, and lazier. 00:28:34.500 --> 00:28:40.100 So again, it is a great way of really seeing through all of the illusion and 00:28:40.100 --> 00:28:42.660 getting to the base reality of a thing. 00:28:42.720 --> 00:28:46.920 And I will invite the participation of all of those in the Corporate Report audience. 00:28:46.920 --> 00:28:52.200 What are some other ideas that occur to you of how you could apply POSIWID to 00:28:52.200 --> 00:28:56.360 understand what something is really for, not what people say it is for. 00:28:56.360 --> 00:29:00.000 I think it's an interesting and valuable intellectual exercise that I think 00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:03.360 will sharpen people's critical faculties, generally speaking. 00:29:03.500 --> 00:29:05.020 It is good to frame things in 00:29:05.020 --> 00:29:11.200 this way to gain a more penetrating insight into what things really are. 00:29:11.540 --> 00:29:15.220 But I'll leave you today on this particular note. 00:29:15.720 --> 00:29:20.500 This question, what is the purpose of the Corbett Report? 00:29:21.060 --> 00:29:26.300 Or alternatively, what is the purpose of any particular piece of media that you're consuming? 00:29:26.440 --> 00:29:29.180 But let's ask that in the context of the Corbett Report. 00:29:30.120 --> 00:29:34.200 What does the Corbett Report do? Does it inform you? 00:29:34.460 --> 00:29:40.120 Does it enrich your life in any way? Does it actually produce a better understanding 00:29:40.120 --> 00:29:44.540 of the world that you can use to better navigate yourself in that world or to 00:29:44.540 --> 00:29:46.220 understand various events? 00:29:46.380 --> 00:29:47.880 Does it teach you? Does it enlighten 00:29:47.880 --> 00:29:50.440 you? Does it inform you about things that you did not know about? 00:29:51.150 --> 00:29:55.430 If the answer is no, then the purpose of a system is what it does. 00:29:55.690 --> 00:29:59.090 I don't want any part of that. I would say that at that time, 00:29:59.230 --> 00:30:02.570 when you come to that conclusion, you should get rid of The Corbett Report 00:30:03.250 --> 00:30:07.430 or any other piece of media that is similarly not enlightening you, 00:30:07.570 --> 00:30:11.190 not empowering you, not motivating you, not inspiring you, not informing you, 00:30:11.370 --> 00:30:13.690 not improving your life in any measurable way. 00:30:14.330 --> 00:30:18.130 However, if the answer is yes, if The Corbett Report does teach you new things, 00:30:18.310 --> 00:30:22.810 if it does enlighten you in any way, if it does inform you, if it does empower 00:30:22.810 --> 00:30:24.670 you, motivate you, inspire you. 00:30:25.150 --> 00:30:30.530 Then I would say it is a very good thing, Posse would, because that is my intention 00:30:30.530 --> 00:30:31.830 for The Corbett Report. 00:30:31.930 --> 00:30:35.630 And it would be very gratifying to hear that that is what it is doing, 00:30:35.850 --> 00:30:40.250 because that is the purpose of a system, ultimately. 00:30:40.570 --> 00:30:45.070 So if The Corbett Report does in any way entertain, inform, 00:30:45.290 --> 00:30:52.590 enlighten, inspire, motivate, empower you, then I would humbly ask if you could support this work. 00:30:52.730 --> 00:30:55.750 It wouldn't exist without people out there supporting this work. 00:30:55.850 --> 00:30:59.810 So if you are not a Corbett Report member, I would ask if you could become one. 00:30:59.950 --> 00:31:04.470 I would very much appreciate that support. And if you can't afford to become 00:31:04.470 --> 00:31:12.730 one for $3 a month or more, then I would simply ask if you could spread this information to others. 00:31:12.770 --> 00:31:17.770 I think that would be a very, very productive way to use this information, 00:31:17.770 --> 00:31:20.790 and I hope that it is valuable to you. 00:31:21.030 --> 00:31:24.490 Now, having said all of that, I would like to thank you all for participating 00:31:24.490 --> 00:31:29.350 in today's exploration and hopefully, hopefully, learning something new or a 00:31:29.350 --> 00:31:30.910 different way of looking at the world. 00:31:31.170 --> 00:31:39.270 And as always, I'm very much interested in and hoping for your feedback at corbettreport.com/posiwid, 00:31:39.370 --> 00:31:41.010 P-O-S-I-W-I-D, 00:31:41.250 --> 00:31:44.130 where you will be able to not only access the full, complete, 00:31:44.290 --> 00:31:46.470 hyperlinked transcript of today's podcast, 00:31:46.650 --> 00:31:50.630 but also converse with others in The Corbett Report audience and share your 00:31:50.630 --> 00:31:56.670 insights into how the POSIWID heuristic can give you insight into various questions 00:31:56.670 --> 00:31:59.350 and the question of the purpose of various systems. 00:31:59.710 --> 00:32:03.330 But I think we will leave today's exploration there. Thank you for investing 00:32:03.330 --> 00:32:05.830 your mind time in today's episode. 00:32:06.330 --> 00:32:09.650 I'm James Corbett of corbettreport.com. Looking forward to talking to you 00:32:09.650 --> 00:32:11.370 again in the very near future. 00:32:13.620 --> 00:32:17.380 The Corbett Report is 100% listener-supported. 00:32:18.560 --> 00:32:23.500 Join the Corbett Report community to become a member and log into CorbettReport.com 00:32:23.500 --> 00:32:25.460 to read the subscriber newsletter, 00:32:26.240 --> 00:32:29.580 featuring my weekly editorial, recommended reading and viewing, 00:32:30.120 --> 00:32:36.040 discounts on Corbett Report merchandise, and, once a month, a subscriber-exclusive video. 00:32:38.060 --> 00:32:44.160 Sign up today at CorbettReport.com slash members and help support this independent medium.