You're listening to the fuck sexton show podcast make sure you subscribe to the podcast on the i heart radio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

The eight to 10 minutes at a time we got plenty of time with our folks and we're going to need it this week for sure.

Today we've got our friend bridge Colby with us. He is a principal at the marathon initiative. He served as the lead official in the development of the 2018 national defense strategy, which shifted the Pentagon's focus to China.

And is the author of a fantastic book strategy of denial American defense in an age of great power conflict. Wall Street Journal said one of the top 10 books of 2021 Mr bridge Colby who I have also known fun fact because we didn't talk about this in radio bridge and I used to do shots of Cuervo at the same bars in DC back when I was a cub CIA analyst and bridge was where you in Yale law school at the time you're doing something like that.

I don't know. So something you know one job or another, but gosh, you've you've you've sold us out here back. So I know now people know bridge and I go go way back. I'm talking like 20 years.

We're kind of old. We're going 20 years. I feel like we're looking alright. It could be worse. Right. Yeah.

Let's be honest. We kind of look like racquetball buddies or something. So you know, it makes sense that we go way back here. You know, we were we were a doubles partners on the grass courts.

So bridge, we're going to turn up. We'll go back to some fun stuff for the end here, but I got to start with this.

Look, I never want to make. I don't I'm not trying to make analysts fight with other analysts about these issues.

Did you hear the I think Peter Zaihan on the Rogan body chance? You know this guy who went on Rogan? I can give you a summary of what he says.

Because he wouldn't sense, but yeah. Yeah. Okay. So it's basically China's going to collapse. I'd get it right.

China's going to collapse. China's super weak. China imports all like not all, but you know, basically all of its food inputs.

Politically so sclerotic that she can get anything done. The population bomb is going to be there on doing and it's all going to fall apart.

Within the next 10 years in China, that's the basic thesis. I just want to give that to you to give your sense of it.

Because this guy's got a lot of obviously Rogan podcasts is huge. A lot of attention for this. What do you think?

I mean, look, he could be right. But I think the job of our strategy, I mean, calling yourself a strategist a little ridiculous.

But I mean, if you'll bear with me for a second, the job of the strategist is to figure out what's the in the best interest of the country.

And Peter Zaihan could be right. Personally, I'm skeptical. But again, I could be wrong.

But I think we need to cover prepare for the downside risk. And you know, if he's right and we've prepared as if the Chinese are not going to fall apart.

Well, then we'll have probably spent too much money and maybe been a little more regressive than we might have needed to have been.

But if he's wrong and we took his advice and we assume that that was going to happen, then we're in a world of hurt. So I just, I don't, I honestly, that's that argument is not

because okay. So like it's like if there was another China out there, let's say there was a USS are, you know, 1950.

...