1 hello world & what's next for the GOP?

hello world!

hi, is this working? can you hear us? oh, this isn’t a podcast? ok great, we don’t know any influencers to interview anyways.

welcome to the weekly rundown, a sunday morning newsletter. our goal is to briefly put the previous week’s political & business news into context, helping you better understand why they matter. we'll explain big ideas, emerging trends, and overlooked stories in t̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶a̶m̶e̶ ̶s̶t̶y̶l̶e̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶'̶v̶e̶ ̶s̶e̶e̶n̶ ̶a̶l̶l̶ ̶w̶e̶e̶k̶ an engaging, irreverent style.

we’ve set internal metrics for success, which we’ll revisit each quarter - so as long as you’re happy and we’re growing, we’ll keep chugging along.

we’re excited to have you along for the ride.

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big idea: what’s next for the GOP?

1. the senate voted to acquit Donald. with 70% of republicans believing that Donald won the election, 56% believing QAnon is at least partly true, and 39% believing political violence is justified, the GOP has become the party of conspiracists, not conservatives.

2. while some think the GOP is on a death march or will splinter into a third party, the republican fever is unlikely to break soon, or be fatal. what is likely is the disintegration of their coalition, leaving only anti-establishment types (who are more likely to believe in conspiracies) to support them.

3. these shifts will result in republicans keeping portions of their base, but losing ground in suburbs. they’ll be relegated to minority status in the house (like after WWI, they were in the minority for basically 62 years straight). they’ll do well in the senate (given the number of rural states) and in local races (because of gerrymandering and a weak democratic machine in pink areas).

4. this is not the first time in ‘murican history that a party has been defined by conspiracies or open rebellion, and it won’t be the last. like Richard Nixon, Donald will be rehabilitated into the mainstream of the GOP (such as it is) and will hasten the shrinking of its base.

story to watch: Florida water treatment plant hacked

1. what happened? a water treatment plant’s computers were hacked late last week, raising the amount of lye in the water to a toxic level (about 100x safe amounts). a plant worker actually saw in real time the hacker gaining access to his computer and raising the chemical level, but able to quickly reverse the change.

2. whodunit? the FBI is investigating, with suspects ranging from a foreign nation to a bored teenager to a disgruntled employee (which would probably be the most Florida man story ever).

3. so what? experts have been warning for years that critical local infrastructure (power plants, refineries, transportation) is overly exposed to simplistic hacks. the US, having led cyberwarfare for decades, is falling behind in cyberdefense, with massive hacks of governmental agencies recently. if the feds can get hacked so easily, what chance do underfunded local governments, which typically run critical infrastructure, have?

4. what’s next? it’s time for the NSA to immediately disclose software vulnerabilities so they can be patched, for the US to prohibit former government employees from working for foreigners, and for a cyber Geneva Convention. also, maybe uhhh change your password from your company name.

this week’s image: running of the bears

• (Reuters) kurdish animal lovers run after releasing a bear into the wild in iraq

this week’s number: $16 trillion lost due to racism since 2000

1. a report from Citi calculates that the US economy lost $16 trillion in growth because of anti-Black racism over the past 20 years (for perspective, the 2020 GDP was $21 trillion). the report was mentioned recently by Susan Rice, Joe’s top domestic advisor.

2. Citi cites gaps between Blacks and Whites in wages, investment (lending), education, and housing, with the latter two worsening since the ‘60s. if these gaps were closed tomorrow, we could add $5 trillion to the GDP in five years. 

3. many ‘muricans forget that MLK’s march on washington wasn’t simply about rights - it was about jobs and a $2 federal minimum wage (or $17.42 in 2020)

4. what’s to be done? companies with diverse workforces earn more than their peers and innovate better. individuals can support justice reform, reparations, school funding changes, and an inflation-adjusted minimum wage.

what we’re reading: “Money”

1. a 225-page read by the co-host of one of our favorite podcasts, covering the history of money (perhaps the strangest of all inventions)

2. ever wonder who started the whole paper money fad? (hint: Kublai Khan wasn’t nearly as genocidal as his grand-daddy)

3. still don’t understand why the entire economy collapsed when the housing bubble popped in 2008? (it involves a new form of money run by corporations, not the people)

and, in case you missed it:

• a high school principal won south carolina’s highest honor after working overnight walmart shifts to pay for his students’ food, supplies, and bills

• cuba is liberalizing its economy, allowing private businesses to operate legally in virtually every sector for the first time #vivalarevolucion

• schools across the nation are considering lengthening their year to make up for lost time from ‘rona. students everywhere are rejoicing.

the weekly rundown is produced by Ahmed, Faisal, and Yunus.  please email us your comments, suggestions, and questions!