Well, howdy there, Internet people, it's Bell again.

So today, we're going to talk about why Trump's economy can't be ignored,

bargains, and a misunderstanding of power.

I got a pretty interesting question that bears discussing,

because it calls into question whether the economic

coverage is important, and whether a daily recap of Trump's moves would be a better use of time.

Quote, Bell, I've watched the channel for years and years, and even followed before the channel,

long enough to have been in the crowd

with you in D.C. This channel has long opposed all kinds of authoritarianism in every country

on the planet. It seems like now would be a time to be talking about it a lot. But almost all

of your videos are about the economy. Look, it's important.

I get it. But I feel like we should be focusing more on how people in the U.S. and other places

are falling more and more into the habit of liking authoritarianism. I know people are scared economically, but the focus has to be creeping

authoritarianism. It's not the middle class that is truly at risk. I'm just going to accept this

question at face value, a genuine worry about authoritarianism. When you ask people how kings,

dictators, and authoritarianes in general stay in power, the normal answer is force of some

kind. But that isn't actually true. There's a bargain that gets made. An abstract from a seminar on authoritarianism from the

Center for Global Development in the pre-Trump days of 2006, says quote, the social contract

in dictatorships is commonly explained as an authoritarian bargain, between rulers citizens by which citizens relinquish political rights for economic security.

A paper over at the Stockholm School of Economics in 2007 says, quote,

dictatorships do not survive by repression alone.

Rather, dictatorial rule is often explained as an authoritarian bargain,

...