Dialogue with Cactus Brahmin
From the desert to DC.
Today I interview Cactus Brahmin:
https://rajeevram.substack.com/about
If you’d like me to have a follow-up conversation with Mr. Brahmin, please comment so I can see what level of viewer interest there is and prioritize according to your wishes.
Timestamps:
11:30 — Why do Christian missionaries build houses in Guatemala, not America?
19:20 — How can welfare coexist with immigration?
26:00 — Should we abolish citizenship?
40:00 — What states would benefit from de-federalization?
49:30 — How do we get past “our values” and achieve concrete objectives?
58:30 — Was George W. Bush the first “low church” Republican?
Here’s the Slab City Documentary I mentioned:
Another fantastic conversation. I really enjoyed this one. If you talk again, I'd love to hear thoughts on the Strong Towns movement.
A couple thoughts of my own that came up during the conversation: Federal housing funding has metrics for grantees that favor big block apartments over owner-occupied single family homes because impact is measured in number of units built. This actually seems to exacerbate the housing crisis by fostering a tenant class, and in addition disrupts the landscape of cities/neighborhoods negatively impacting local culture.
On the subject of vagrancy, I think the closure of the wilderness is overlooked. The option that existed for tens of thousands of years of just taking off to some unclaimed patch of land is gone. Civilization is mandatory. The grid is ubiquitous. We have removed the best option for individuals who self-select out of society. And so we have a transient population traveling on bikes with trailers and living in tents (instead of pilgrims with horse and wagon) forced into being a public nuisance while just trying to satisfy private necessities. No one is alarmed by the thought that people are camping peaceably according to posted rules in campgrounds all over the country. But you need to have met a certain threshold of civilation before access to that system is sustainably available.
Can you please upload an audio version along with your video version since I can’t click out of the page or app without closing the video, audio negates this. Thank you