From RM re “My Plot for a Science Fiction Movie” in the Aug. 19  issue: 

“Your plot is interesting….

“All it takes is one! One corporate behemoth to slip by the concerned masses and become too big and too powerful. A genie whose authority eclipses the authority of the authorities… and who cannot be placed back in any bottle. So, the land of Meta will have its capital at its corporate HQ but will have territories or colonies around the world.

“We are already seeing some of these corporations create schools and towns for workers….”

My Response: After I published that piece, I realized that there were other parts of my plot that I hadn’t mentioned. For example…

I believe the digital nation-states never wanted to be integrated into the physical nations because their form of government gave them all the benefits that physical nations could offer but with better payoffs and fewer hassles. They had all the money they needed (through their form of voluntary taxation – i.e. subscription revenues) and much greater power than the physical nations in terms of influencing the thoughts and even controlling the behavior of their citizens.

Instead of using a range of forceful penalties for bad behavior that ultimately necessitates guns and prisons, the digital nation-states get their citizens to obey their laws (laws they can make up without the cost and hassle of a legislature) by the non-violent, non-force-based mechanism of issuing temporary to permanent ostracization.

And leaders of the digital nation-states can get a lot richer a lot faster than leaders of physical nations because they own their states and can take from the collective treasury whatever they want in terms of personal compensation, without answering to anybody.

Even if political leaders of physical nations are willing to enrich themselves unethically or illegally by trading on private financial information, taking bribes for “consulting” work, and making promises to their citizens that they can’t keep, they can’t get as rich as Bezos or Musk.

That’s why I believe the US-based digital nation-states were more than happy to simply pay their taxes and be left alone.

From SL re my advice to The Donald in the Aug. 23  issue:

“Enjoying your engaging, witty writing, as usual.

“But do you think Trump understands what ad hominem attacks are? Even if he does, they are his stock-in-trade. Asking him to desist from personal insults is like asking a rooster not to crow at sunrise.

“Will the winner be the contestant who does a better job of staying on script? If so, it looks like Kamala to me.”

My Response: Kamala could certainly win if she stays on script. She did a great job in her closing speech at the DNC. She was confident and, dare I say, presidential. Most impressive of all was how she made her six major misleading and outright false statements sound believable.

She won’t do as well if she debates Trump. He can think on his feet. She cannot. If Trump does what I “told” him to do – avoids the ad hominem attacks and hammers away with the facts – he has a better-than-even chance to win.

Dems are feeling a lot of joy and strength now. (Interesting aside: Did you know that Kraft durch Freude – “Strength Through Joy” – was a Nazi slogan in the 1930s?) But the race, as we know, will be decided by the undecided voters in the swing states, and we will see how that looks as the next few weeks pass.

Obviously, I believe a Harris presidency would be a disaster for the US. (Her proposal to levy a 25% wealth tax would destroy our economy all by itself.) However, although a Trump win would be net positive for the US economy in the short-term, his demonstrated commitment to trillion-dollar deficits will lead to a deep recession or hyperinflation, either of which will make the productive population of the US poorer. Possibly much poorer.

In offering my advice to Harris and Trump, I haven’t been thinking of what will be best for the US during what remains of my lifetime, but what will be better for my children and grandchildren. And when I think honestly about that, I have to accept the fact that my DNA gifts to the future of the US and the world will suffer regardless of who wins in November. The insane spending of both candidates and both parties will doom them equally. The only important difference being that Harris is more likely to get us into WWIII.