This Machine Kills Patreon Preview – 442. The Empire of Blood and Oil
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Jan 28, 2026 They dissect a Davos clash between tech and finance elites and the ritual humiliation of a historian placed among officials. They debate claims that battery dependence equals subservience to China and mock arguments downplaying US green tech ambition. They slam an EPA rule change that could strip regulatory value from human life and riff on surveillance and market-enforcement ironies.
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Davos’ Humiliation Rituals
- Davos mixes business elites with left intellectuals as a staged humiliation ritual for dissenting views.
- Jathan Sadowski describes panels that pair powerful finance figures with Adam Tooze to showcase power dynamics.
Energy Choices Reshape Geopolitics
- Adam Tooze frames China as an 'electro state' and the U.S. as fossil-fuel driven, shaping geopolitics and finance.
- Edward Ongweso Jr. explains Tooze’s work on how energy choices reshape domestic coalitions and world order.
Lutnick’s Battery Rant
- Howard Lutnick ranted that U.S. will never prioritize green tech because it has abundant oil and shale.
- Jathan Sadowski and Edward Ongweso Jr. recount Lutnick’s arguments about batteries being a Chinese dependency.