E14: Balaji Srinivasan on the Fiat Crisis, Russia, and China.

In this episode, Erik sits down with Balaji Srinivasan to discuss the Fiat Crisis, geopolitics, conspiracies, and the signs of decline for a hyperpower. Balaji is an angel investor, tech founder, philosopher, and author of The Network State. He was formerly the CTO of Coinbase. This riveting conversation is, in many aspects, a follow-up to his appearance on Moment of Zen (see links below). If you’re looking for an ERP platform, check out our sponsor, NetSuite: http://netsuite.com/UPSTREAM Upstream is part of the Turpentine podcast network. To learn about sponsorships, email [email protected] or head to www.turpentine.co -- We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incubating. He's hiring a Chief of Staff, EA, Head of Special Projects, Investment Associate, and more. For a list of JDs, check out: eriktorenberg.com. ICYMI: Moment of Zen w/ Balaji Srinivasan: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6tk6DbkVhBlDp1hh8wzIEM?si=NA-oZU6NT7iNTKhX1ixoCQ TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Episode Preview (01:40) What is happening with the Fiat Crisis? (08:52) Balaji’s equivalent premises (11:07) God, State, Network (12:45) Irrational adherence to principles (15:12) Sponsors: Secureframe (16:16) Hyperpower wars 1991-2021 (20:05) Economic conclusions (23:12) Blue America is at war with the world (28:30) Cancellation is a weak form of warfare (32:35) Red vs Blue vs Grey America  (38:00) Make America states again (39:47) America and India parallels in reverse (43:10) Can America turn around after the next election? (44:25) America and China and Russia | Microsoft and Facebook and Google (46:55) How people react to Balaji’s China stance (52:00) History between Russia and Japan (57:25) Conspiracies (01:04:35) Balaji’s predictions for 2024 & the Fed (01:11:41) Replacing the Dollar network TWITTER: Balaji’s Twitter: @balajis Erik’s Twitter: @eriktorenberg Upstream : @upstream__pod SPONSOR: Please support our sponsors: Beehiiv | Shopify | Secureframe  Head to Beehiiv, the newsletter platform built for growth, to power your own. Connect with premium brands, scale your audience, and deliver a beautiful UX that stands out in an inbox. 🐝to https://Beehiiv.com and use code "UPSTREAM" for 20% off your first three months. Shopify: https://shopify.com/torenberg for a $1/month trial period Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business. Shopify powers 10% of all ecommerce in the US. And Shopify's the global force behind Allbirds, Rothy's, and Brooklinen, and 1,000,000s of other entrepreneurs across 175 countries. From their all-in-one ecommerce platform, to their in-person POS system – wherever and whatever you're selling, Shopify's got you covered. Sign up for $1/month trial period: https://shopify.com/torenberg. Secureframe https://secureframe.com/ Secureframe is the leading all-in-one platform for security and privacy compliance. Get SOC-2 audit ready in weeks, not months. I believe in Secureframe so much that I invested in it, and I recommend it to all my portfolio companies. Sign up for a free demo and mention UPSTREAM during your demo to get 20% off your first year. Secureframe has just released Secureframe Trust, a new product that lets you showcase your organization's security posture to build customer trust.