JHK’s Three-Act Play
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Dmitry Orlov, the author of “Reinventing Collapse,” moved to the USA as a boy when his dissident parents managed to get out of the Soviet Union. He spent most of his life here, went through school and college, but ventured back to Russia for a while in the 1990s out of curiosity after the fall of the USSR. He returned to the USA where he worked in IT and eventually moved onto a boat in Boston Harbor. He’s published many other books, including “The Five Stages of Collapse,” “Shrinking the Technosphere,” “The Pitfalls of English,” and has put out the Club Orlov Blog for more than a decade. I’m a big fan of his writings.
After the Great Financial Fiasco of 2009, Dmitry divided his time between Boston and wintering on the boat in Central America. For several years after he started a family, he sojourned in the waters off Beaufort, South Carolina. Finally, before the Covid Melodrama, he up and resettled in St. Petersburg, Russia, where he is establishing a new phase of his literary career writing in the Russian Language. He continues to blog in English. He is a keen observer of the political and technological scene.
The KunstlerCast theme music is the beautiful Two Rivers Waltz written and performed by Larry Unger.
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Oh Goodie!
I relish good ol’ Dimitri!!
This podcast ought to be a classic.
I am very disappointed that Jim brought up the coordinated response to C-19 around the World and then when Dimitry sort of didn’t comment on it, let it go and moved on to Ukraine.
The astoundingly coordinated governmental actions which abrogated their citizens’ civil rights, should lead one into the very Heart of Darkness of that conspiracy. But it was a dumb note in the discussion.
This is a subject that gets short shrift on many platforms. I wonder why?
For Mr. Orlov
As Jim knows, I am often commenting on USA demolition and unfilled need to replace the branch line rain matrix. Particularly, railway famine hedge food distribution component needed as the “cutting edge” Automated Trucking presents itself to inevitable EMP hacking.as the several dictatorships work their magic…
China has notable railway projects domestically as well as the world over. China helped America build railways and carried on the engineering worldwide- America did what it often does- hollow out the railways and fatten the shareholders!
Latest ecological disaster in Ohio with burning chemicals is exemplar of overlength undermaintained plant, overworked employees and rolling stock.
Thank you for the interview.
Re: Peak oil, Russia NATO War
This is a natural resourse war. Look at a map of
Russia. Russia has the most abundant Mollisol and Alfisol on the planet. (p. 211 Stephen Marshak) Food Security. Russia has the most abundant shale oil and gas on the planet. (p. 550 Stephen Marshak) Energy Security.
A powerful military is being shown on the battlefield. Note: President Putin,” we have only begun the battle.”
Most of NATO are has been colonial powers that have lost their colonies and their free lunch. Resource Poor!
Reference: Earth
Portrait of a Planet
Peter Pomialowski
Prospector (Au, Ag, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu)
Always a great interview.
Dimitri rules. Always look forward to you two getting together.
Orlov is incorrect about the Sputnik V jab.
Sputnik V is an adenovirus vector type that is very similar to the AstraZeneca that was withdrawn for the typical jab issues.
A 10-second web search will confirm my comments. The official Sputnik V site should be one of the top results.
Always fascinating to hear mr.Orlov speak.
I usually try to find my way through all the propaganda from all sides thinking there must be a middle ground somewhere.
But then Dmitry comes along and pulls the rug from underneath me.
Do we all here in the west live in a complete fantasy world? A matrix like hall of mirrors?
As he says he has no reason to lie. Oh well.
I hope next year or whenever mr.Kunstler has another conversation with him some of the fog will have been lifted and some light of truth will be shining of our perceived western reality. Interesting times.
I love Orlov. The Meat Generation, Putin’s Ukrainian Judo, etc. all excellent. I can’t wait for this war to be over so I can go to St. Petersburg, Gostinyy Dvor, the Palace Embankment, then on to Moscow and maybe I could even make it to Sochi. I might never come back if I met the right Russian.
I like Dmitry – but – what arrogance, I invite him to come to Greece and find out just how feckless, spoiled and unable to fight our own battles we are.
NOT.
Trapped, looted and doubly militarily occupied is one thing.
But not forever.
Dmitry is always interesting to listen to, even as his propaganda approaches a “state approved” level.
I thought Jim handled the Solzhenitzen comment extremely well. I found Dmitry’s attack on him rather shocking, too.
Other than that, I’m sure things in Russia are far better than the western media portrays it, and Russia may be the last country standing in the post-woke-apocalyptic world.
I’ve read Orlov disparaging Solzhenitzen before, but don’t know the story. I gather it is almost all in Russian which, sadly, I neither speak nor read. And yes, much of what Orlov says might approach “state approved” status. Nevertheless, he’s a valuable voice. Can’t trust anyone 100 percent, but with Kunstler and Orlov, it’s pretty darn close. Good comment, thanks.
Always was a big fan of Orlov but I was unaware of the criticism of Solzhenitsyn. Now, I’m afraid to listen but I can imagine what his point of view might be given his recent approach to ‘all things Russian good’ over the last few years.
Jimbo and Dmitry are 2 Renaissance men who interview well together. I hope they will get together for another chat after the results of the 2024 election are known. And would love to hear more from Mr. O on “Shrinking the Technosphere”.
Holy fucking shit Jim! This is possibly the absolute best and most important news you have ever brought us! Angles and interpretations aside, hearing the viewpoint of a respectable person living in Russia at this point in time is priceless!
I have heard nothing that would counter Dimitri’s depiction of how the Russians got through the Plandemic, and it was actually a message of hope that they did NOT buy into the mRNA gene modifying kill shots and have continued to resist the bullshit that we in the West have so foolishly embraced.
I am seriously impressed with this particular work, and my Patreon contributions have reflected my thanks for what you do. God bless!
Before you decide to move to Russia, be aware that Putin does not tolerate rich oligarchs who challenge his authority. Read the story of Mikhail Khodorkovsky (“The Russian Conundrum”), who was once one of the richest people in the world, then lost his fortune and spent years in prison for trying to organize political opposition to Putin.
I would agree with Orlov that the US is going through a cultural and
financial decline. Maybe we are destined to go through our own version of Germany’s Weimar Republic (1919-1933), which was followed by the Third Reich (1933-1945). But at my age (a little older than JHK), I am not planning any big moves. In any event, life is still quite pleasant in many American upscale suburbs, my own included.
As an aside, I got all 5 of the Moderna Covid vaccines that were offered to the public and I am still very much alive and kicking.
Orlov presents an interesting perspective with regard to collapse. However, much of his world view needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Reason being he unquestionably has a super bias against the U.S. Perhaps he was bullied as a teenager while living in the U.S.? Additionally, if you listen really closely, you can almost hear him singing the Soviet national anthem. He blusters on like a modern day Kruschev wind-up doll.
True nb, but anyone who give half a rat’s ass about democracy and freedom should have a bias against the government of the US which has already turned America into a criminal enterprise and is quickly hustling to remove all of our freedoms and enslave US(A)ll
Good point Walter.
Things are beginning to happen in the background in Russia, civil war is brewing and groups are positioning themselves for the redistribution of wealth. Putin is about to be Nicolae Ceau?escu’ed. he made a fatal mistake that is both historic and unbelievable to me. reminds me of 89 when everything with the mighty soviets was good until suddenly it was ungood. what many people don’t get is that there has always been one super power in modern times and its never been or will be Russian or Chinese.
As the US smolders in ruin, the Neocons are doing their best Judah Benjamin impression and loading their boat with gold for escape to The Bahamas.
Great listening to you two, but I always have issues with the smoldering arrogance that lies just behind many of Dmitry’s comments. I can’t completely trust his point of view. A good perspective though.
Hilarious example of confirmation bias.
Dmitry Orlov’s analysis of the state of the US & the West is generally spot on. The feckless elites governing the West today are beyond contempt. He is correct too, that in the end, Putin will in all likelihood get everything he wants in Ukraine, although he clearly misjudged Ukraine’s capacity for resistance and overestimated the Russian Army.
My bigger problem is with Mr Orlov himself. Having been raised in the West and now rejecting most of what it used to stand for, Mr Orlov appears to require an alternative belief system and seems to have latched on to a particularly chauvinist brand of Russian nationalism as a lifebelt. This is not uncommon with “self-isolated” intellectuals. The writer V.S. Naipul, for example, raised in the Carribean, domiciled in the UK, and subsequently lauded as a great chronicler of the West and its decline, ended up supporting rabid Hindu nationalists in India.
In this podcast Mr Orlov explodes at the mention of Solzhenitsyn, claiming he was “a liar”. It’s wonderfully ironic given that one of Solzhenitsyn’s most famous quotes was “Live Not By Lies”.
The truth is that Solzhenitsyn, for all his personal faults, exposed the true nature of the Bolshevik regime & especially the Gulag – which Soviet propaganda had for decades denied even existed – with particular thoroughness. The Bolshevik state Solzhenitsyn grew up in, served and was eventually imprisoned by, was without doubt an example of one of the most complete totalitarian states the world has ever seen. From day one, ruthless repression of dissent, persecution of everyone from clergy to peasantry, show trials with preposterously trumped up charges and social engineering on a hitherto unheard of scale were all the order of the day. All of this was accompanied by ceaseless propaganda & a perpetual falsification of history.
This was a regime which killed more people than Nazi Germany: some 70 million of it’s own people for starters, plus many millions more in territories and countries annexed before and occupied after the 2nd World War. It was also a country which did deals with Hitler in 1939 and lied for 50 years about the secret protocol which “allowed” the Soviet Union to annex the Baltic states as well as half of Poland and parts of Finland and Romania. It lied about everything else too: collectivization, the terminally failing economy, the Holodomor, the Katyn wood massacre, vast Allied material assistance in the 2nd world war, Chernobyl; the list is endless!
If Mr Orlov is allergic to lies he would know this history. And he might be a little more circumspect in his analysis. But he has clearly been exposed for too long to the non-stop, one-sided propaganda of the Putin regime which has as one of its chief aims the promotion of Russian culture (laudable) but also, less palatably, the absolute blank denial of so much of its appallingly brutal history, especially in the 20th century.
The arrogance of Mr Orlov’s claims that “Russia will take what it wants” & his sneering remarks about the Poles & other countries bordering Russia is nauseating. It also betrays his ignorance as to one of the reasons why so many Ukrainians ARE resisting, notwithstanding other factors such as Western intervention. I live in Europe. and have many friends and colleagues from Eastern Europe and the Baltic states in my wider circle. These people hail from all walks of life. And without exception they all loath Russia, citing Russian brutality and barbarism and pointing to the carnage it has wreaked on their countries – and often their families too – in years gone by.
The unpleasant traits of the Russian chauvinism which Dmitry Orlov has adopted so enthusiastically are well documented and verifiable: a people paranoid about “encirclement”, who exhibit excessive self-pity when weakened but act with appalling brutality & cruelty at great scale when things are going their way. It’s not surprising that these traits are still present in Russia today. Putin is a child of the Bolshevik regime and the Russia he presides over has adopted virtually all of the Leninist state’s most unpleasant characteristics: ruthless crushing of any opposing political views, falsification of history, a general lawlessness and denials of unpleasant truths (or consequences) when they arise. The only difference is that the old Marxist ideology has now been fully substituted by extreme Russian chauvinism.
We have one great advantage in the west: we can say, for example, that our leader is a geriatric moron who is leading our country to utter ruin, seemingly deliberately, while enriching himself in the process. I challenge Mr Orlov to try saying something similar – and truthful – about any of the people governing Russia today.
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