A Rare Victory in San Francisco, Putin is Firehosing the West & the EU in Africa!

In this episode, Alex discusses a recent and surprising victory against unreasonable progressivism in San Fransisco. Then he goes over a tactic called the “firehose of falsehood” and why he thinks Putin is using it to cow confusion that could lead the world to a conflict in Ukraine. Finally, the EU is investing in Africa to combat China’s problematic Belt and Road Initiative. 

 

First, according to Politico, “San Francisco voters have recalled three school board members who spurred a parental backlash for pursuing the renaming of schools and other progressive policy changes as classrooms remained empty during the coronavirus pandemic.” Alex discusses how while San Fransisco kids were doing remote learning longer than most other areas, school board members were making ridiculous arguments to change the names of schools, get rid of merit programs, and they even attacked anyone who disagreed with them. These types of policies are fueling the right and probably led to Glenn Younkin’s victory in Virginia.

 

Second, Alex reviews the tactic known as the “firehose of falsehood.” It is a propaganda tactic, mainly used in Russia, in which a large number of messages are “broadcast rapidly, repetitively, and continuously over multiple channels.” Basically, a country’s social media and news are fled with so much disinformation and half-truths, that the populace doesn’t know what to believe and they become complacent. Putin has become infamous for using this strategy to sow discord and Alex worries he is doing the same about the Ukraine crisis. He worries this could lead to conflict because even NATO allies are unsure about what to believe is happening and Putin is just waiting for someone to act.

 

Finally, according to reports from the Economist, “The EU announced a €150bn fund to invest in African infrastructure. The money is intended to offer an alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).” Alex goes over his paper/own views on the BRI and why it is a disingenuous attempt for the Chinese government to get its foot in the door into the African continent. The BRI is basically a “Chinese Marshall Plan” that has given loans to build infrastructure in many African countries. However, the promise to stimulate the economy hasn’t happened because the program has used Chinese labor and has may put many countries into a debt trap cycle. The EU is providing an alternative.