u/astrosheep88

I'm really struggling with this. When I first listened to the pod he seemed to discuss his walks and retreats and even his big idea of turning the London Greenbelt into a national park (or forest maybe?) which gave this idea that he was someone who deeply cared.

Recently though, he seems so focused on potential threats that he's willing to rip up everything else. The most recent episode with Caroline Lucas, Rory kept saying 'we have to build data centres' but wouldn't say how and it just sounded like a desperate cry more than a plan. And I suspect that he knows there isn't an environmentally friendly way to do it (environmental to a degree I know it's never going to be perfect and all buildings will have an impact) and doesn't want to say that.

I'm not totally against Rory (though I am sick of the line the sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow) but to me he is coming across as dismissive of these issues over what he feels is important, or is this he plays devil's advocate and pushes back on 'leftist' ideas?

Rory has "challenged" the listeners to allow Dan Neidle to be interviewed. Again using quite aggressive language when it comes to arguement about wealth taxes (and I think it is arguement not debate when it comes to this because Rory disengages and dismisses rather than debates the point)

Whilst I would listen there are a few things that I feel need to happen to make this an equal balanced arguement that Rory seems to suggest it would be.

First, attack Dan's ideas. Rory continually attacked Zucmans ideas and dismissed many of them. Will he argue against Dan and use the same "what about" rhetoric?

Look dismissive and appealed all the time. The awful body language that Rory has during the interview was so upsetting to see from a "centrist". Will Dan be subject to the same sort of hostility or will Rory fan boy over him?

Alistair needs to be pushing back. Rory won't so who will ask the hard questions?

Force him to debate rather than dismiss the ideas. The few interviews I've seen of Dan I find him so arrogant and he just says ignore that and listen to me. Zucman gave reasons for why he came to his ideas and why he thinks other ideas won't work, Dan has to as well.

Bring up how the ultra rich dodge Capital Gains Tax. It's well discussed how centimillionaires and billionaires use loans against their wealth and never actually pay this. Why is it never debated? Dan says we can bring CGT in line with Income Tax, but if CGT isn't paid how does that help?

And if Billionaires leave, so what? We say they don't pay tax so that's not going to make a difference and if they take all their jobs then maybe there will be space for small and medium business and better working conditions. If inequality is so broken and our standard of living is so poor, what benefit are we getting right now? How much worse will it be when they leave?