“This is not the beginning of a new right-wing revanche fascist era; this is the end of something. But the problem is we can’t get to the new world because the new world is too filled with problems.” — Jonathan Taplin
Trump fantasizes about himself as a king. But he’s actually just an interregnum, at least according to Jon Taplin — author of Move Fast and Break Things, Hollywood insider, and old friend. In a “terrifying” new piece in Rolling Stone, Taplin draws an unusual historical parallel: Trump as Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell cut off the king’s head, slaughtered Catholics in Ireland (his Lebanon), tried to install his son as successor, and ended up with his head on a pike outside Parliament. MAGA is not the future, Taplin suggests. It’s the Gramsci-style death rattle of something that was already dying.
The real question is what’s being born. Jon Taplin calls it the digital military-industrial complex — managed by Thiel, Musk, Andreessen, and a “real piece of work” drone entrepreneur unluckily named Palmer Luckey. In the Fifties, Eisenhower warned America about the dangers of a military industrial complex made up of 40 or 50 defense contractors. Now there are five, and — in Thielian Zero to One fashion — Silicon Valley wants to shrink them down to a techno-oligarchy.
Today’s Iranian war, Taplin says, is the sneak preview of this. In Iran, AI is now, so to speak, calling the ethical shots. Palantir’s targeting system used old intelligence and identified a former military base. Thus the 175 dead children in a school next to a munitions factory. AI is only as good or evil as the information you feed it. Move fast and break things, Taplin appropriated Zuckerberg’s dictum to describe Silicon Valley’s impact on America. But Zuckerberg was only referring to domestic things — technology, society, democracy. Now it’s the world.
But there may be hope. Anthropic is resisting the administration. The midterms are coming. Republican unity is cracking. But there’s also Taplin’s Taco Tuesday (TTT) — “Trump Always Chickens Out” — especially, for some reason, on a Tuesday. Taplin predicts Trump will declare victory in Iran and withdraw. The alternative — invoking the Insurrection Act to cancel the midterms — would have sounded insane a year ago. But, of course, nothing sounds insane in our interregnum times. Cromwell’s head ended up on a pike. Jon Taplin’s Hollywood cronies are, no doubt, licking their lips in anticipation of history repeating itself. First as tragedy, then as farce.
Five Takeaways
• Trump Is Cromwell, Not the Future: This is the end of something, not the beginning. Gramsci’s interregnum. MAGA is not a movement—it’s a morbid symptom.
• The Digital Military-Industrial Complex: Eisenhower warned about 50 contractors. Now there are five. Silicon Valley wants to replace them. The US spends more than the next ten countries combined.
• AI Targeted a School: Palantir’s system used old intelligence. 175 children dead. AI is only as good as the data you feed it.
• Altman Threw Amodei Under the Bus: Supported Anthropic on Tuesday, signed with the Department of War on Friday. The administration is trying to kill Anthropic.
• Taco Tuesday: Trump Always Chickens Out. Taplin predicts Trump will declare victory and withdraw. The alternative—the Insurrection Act—is no longer unthinkable.
About the Guest
Jonathan Taplin is Director Emeritus of the Annenberg Innovation Lab at USC and the author of Move Fast and Break Things, The Magic Years, and The End of Reality. He was tour manager for Bob Dylan and The Band. He lives in Los Angeles.
References
The Terrifying New Era of American Imperialism (Rolling Stone): https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/trump-america-military-industrial-iran-war-1235524970/
Move Fast and Break Things by Jonathan Taplin: https://www.amazon.com/Move-Fast-Break-Things-Undermined/dp/0316275778
About Keen On America
Website: https://keenon.tv/ Substack: https://keenon.substack.com/ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@KeenOnShow
Chapters:
00:00:00 Introduction: Move fast and break the world
00:02:44 AI targeted a school with 175 children
00:05:07 The Cromwell parallel: Trump as interregnum dictator
00:08:02 This is the end of something, not the beginning
00:09:22 Eisenhower’s warning and the digital military-industrial complex
00:11:51 Follow the money: the Last Supper and the collapse of defense R&D
00:15:23 Monopoly capitalism from Silicon Valley to the Pentagon
00:16:59 The US spends more than the next ten countries combined
00:19:04 American fascism as permanent imperial management
00:23:01 Bobby Kennedy tried to kill Castro. Now his namesake threatens the son
00:24:19 Anthropic vs. the administration: is Amodei the resistance?
00:26:56 Can the government kill a $500 billion company?
00:28:34 The midterms, the Insurrection Act, and Taco Tuesday
00:33:14 Is David Ellison the new Murdoch? The $79 billion house of cards
00:36:51 Oscar picks: the counter-culture still lives