ouldn't handle the truth or to go further, democracy itself, it can't handle the truth. If you actually knew what was happening with your money, if you actually knew what the real data was, you probably would not be in a happy place.

So my take on the world is that there are functional lies, there's functional propaganda, and sometimes you need that to hold the country together. For example, is it good or bad for America if you spread the idea that Americans are better than other people, which is what I was raised to believe? Well, I don't think it's true that Americans are better than other people. But if you could convince me they were, would you get a better outcome? And the answer is maybe. Maybe.

So if you really drill down on all of our biggest issues, I think you'd find that there's a functional fiction for almost everything that works better than the truth. A functional fiction. So I could talk about that for a lot longer, but you could probably think of 10 examples yourself where you know something's not true, but it seems to hold people together, right? Think about it. That'll be your Christmas debate with your family. Do you want the truth or do you want a functional propaganda?

Well, I'll give you another example. So Trump is famously optimistic. He's kind of a salesperson. He uses hyperbole to try to push the country forward. So what would be better that every time Trump talked about the economy, he talked about what was wrong, but also what was right? Now compare that to what he actually does which is he always says things are going great country is really humming you know wait till next year it'll be even better. Which one of those is a functional propaganda versus the truth? The truth as close as you could come to it would be partly good partly bad but it wouldn't motivate you the same way. If you could convince the businesses that next year is going to be even if you don't know that to be true, it would convince them to invest. And then once they invest, it becomes true.

So I don't know how many examples I'd have to give you before I sell this to you, but optimism, which is not really always based on truth, is very functional, right? It's very functional. So I would argue that democracy and capitalism specifically require some kind of enlightened propaganda, meaning that you're doing it for people's best interests. You're not doing it for your selfishness, but you're doing it.

Well, let's talk about Venezuela and Maduro. Zero Hedge is reporting that Trump said that Maduro would be quote smart to get out. So he was asked about presumably asked about what next for Venezuela. I guess Russians are reportedly evacuating their diplomats. Do you think it's meaningful that Russia is evacuating their diplomats from Venezuela? Well, if you believe that Russia probably has some good sources in the United States, spies and otherwise, why would they be doing it now? If it's true, it might also be a fake report. But if they are getting rid of their diplomats, that would suggest that Russia expects some military action.

Now, here's what else Trump said about that. When asked about whether he should leave, Trump said that's his decision. But I think it would be smart for him to do that. It would be smart for him to do that. Maybe that's all Russia needed to hear because it sounds so warlike. Well, he doesn't have to, but be smart for him to do that. And then he says, Trump says, when asked about the possibility that the Venezuelan military might try to put up some resistance should the US military get more aggressive. Trump said, if he plays tough, it'll be the last time he's able to do so. So he's basically said if you resist us that he'll jail you or kill you. Now, he doesn't have to say it out loud, but that's what that means. Obviously, you know, it's the last time he'd be able to do it.

So what I'm wondering is, is the real strategy here that Trump is trying to scare Maduro into leaving? Do you think he can simply frighten him into leaving and never have to fire a shot? Probably not because I think Maduro would at the very least need to have someplace to go that would not be worse than putting up a stand. So we don't know if he has any place to go. But it does look like Trump would let him leave alive.

So here's the test. The test is this. Is Trump trying to win a war without firing a shot? And I would say the answer is yes. He's trying to win the war that ha