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The Wrap with Amy Remeikis

If seeing the new world order sitting in the front row of Donald Trump’s inauguration didn’t send a chill down your spine then there may not be a lot of point reading beyond this line.

Much has been said about the oligarchy threatening America’s democracy.  But this is not an oligarchy we are facing.  It’s a plutocracy.

The difference is money.  An oligarchy is a small group of people who have amassed power, while a plutocracy is a small group of wealthy people who have amassed power.

And you might think it is just semantics, but in this case, it matters.

These plutocrats own the public square.  We carry around their devices in our pockets, they own our personal information, they know who we talk to, and who we listen to. We drive their cars, we fill our homes with their products, we shop on their platforms. American journalist Ken Klippenstein calls them the ‘appistocracy’ and they now have the ear of the ‘leader of the free world’ because their apps helped support his path to power.

Elon Musk has since turned his attention to UK politics, laying the groundwork through his ownership of one of the biggest social media platforms in the world to elevate his own beliefs and sew the seeds of discontent. No democracy is immune from the immense reach of the richest people on earth who are currently in a race to become the world’s first trillionaire, without care of who or what they crush to do it.

In states across the country, left-wing academics and major educational establishments are hijacking the review process for K-12 history and civics curricula. Educators and radicals, in league with one another, are conspiring to turn students against America’s traditional cultural and political institutions.

Now that Critical Race Theory (CRT) is being exposed as ahistorical indoctrination, a new permutation of neo-Marxist theory is gaining currency in our schools. It’s called postcolonialism. Its stated mission is to fight “settler colonialism,” a term used to describe any society supposedly built upon the oppression and genocide of indigenous people. Examples of “settler societies” include Israel, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Canada, and the United States. The recent student activism against Israel, which denied the country’s right to exist and celebrated terrorist attacks against it, demonstrated the true nature of postcolonialism and its power to inspire hatred on campus.

A transgender immigrant is suing over the mistreatment she suffered in a federal detention center, which includes being forced to undress in front of male prisoners.

Research from The Australia Institute has found the introduction of a government-funded cultural pass could revitalise Australia’s struggling live music sector.

The proposal, discussed in a recent inquiry into the challenges facing the Australian live music industry, aims to subsidise concert ticket costs for young people, encouraging greater participation in cultural events.

Key Findings:

• 80% of young Australians would attend more live music events if a $200 government-funded voucher were available.
• European countries (including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland) have successfully implemented similar initiatives, offering youth vouchers for cultural events.
• Evidence from France shows that 66% of pass holders discovered new cultural venues, which more than 55% revisited after their pass expired.
• The Australian live music industry is still recovering from the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with many venues and festivals facing ongoing financial challenges.
• Investing in cultural passes could provide a much-needed boost to the sector, supporting Australian artists and increasing access to live music for young Australians.

“The evidence from Europe shows that cultural passes are an effective way of getting young people to engage with the arts,” said Morgan Harrington, Research Manager at The Australia Institute.

“For a small investment, the Commonwealth could give live music a huge boost.

While it is state laws that impose these draconian penalties, the Federal Government could secure the freedom to protest by legislating federal protections for peaceful protest, in line with Australia’s obligations under international agreements.

Whether it is women’s suffrage, the eight-hour workday or saving the Franklin River from being dammed, protest movements have been responsible for some of Australia’s most significant advances in human rights and environmental protection.

However, in recent years, governments across Australia have responded to peaceful protests, such as blockades to protect native forests or to stop fossil fuel infrastructure damaging natural environments, Indigenous heritage and farmland, by rushing through draconian anti-protest laws.

Una inmigrante transgénero está demandando por el maltrato que sufrió en un centro de detención federal, que incluye ser obligada a desvestirse frente a prisioneros varones.

On this episode of Dollars & Sense, Greg and Elinor discuss fearful grandmas, angry farmers and the political fight over superannuation reforms.

This discussion was recorded on Thursday 23 January 2025 and things may have changed since recording.

Order What’s the Big Idea? 32 Big Ideas for a Better Australia now, via the Australia Institute website.

Host: Greg Jericho, Chief Economist, the Australia Institute and Centre for Future Work // @grogsgamut

Host: Elinor Johnston-Leek, Senior Content Producer, the Australia Institute // @elinorjohnstonleek

Show notes:

‘Misleading fear campaigns may kill Labor’s superannuation changes. But here are the real numbers’ by Greg Jericho, Guardian Australia (January 2025)

“Much-needed” super changes should pass, the Australia Institute (January 2025)

The American Mind’s ‘Editorial Roundtable’ podcast is a weekly conversation with Ryan Williams, Spencer Klavan, and Mike Sabo devoted to uncovering the ideas and principles that drive American political life. Stream here or download from your favorite podcast host.

The Arrakeen Restoration | The Roundtable Ep. 251

Introduction

Explore this case study of how a union campaign engaged with influencers on TikTok to amplify their message and build support.

These key insights are based on a presentation by Maddie Lucre, NSWNMA Campaigns and Communications Coordinator, at FWD+Organise, a conference held by Australian Progress in Narrm/Melbourne in December 2024.

The NSW Nurses and Midwives Association (NSWNMA) is campaigning to get fair and equal pay for nurses and midwives in NSW to be equivalent with other states around Australia. This campaign included two strikes and other protests and is still ongoing at the time of this piece being published. Find out more about the campaign.

Background

For 12 years, the Liberal-National Government in New South Wales, Australia enforced a restrictive industrial landscape for public sector workers. This was characterised by the implementation of a public sector wages cap, which was in place for 10-years between 2011 to 2022. This cap limited wage increases for public sector employees to 2.5% per year.

Join me tomorrow on my YouTube channel for a live Q&A at 4pm PT / 7pm ET. I will pull questions from the comments of this post, my X, and live on YouTube. We will discuss the future of Palestine under Trump. With the recent ceasefire and a new administration seemingly dedicated to the Zionist state, there is much context to be discussed and questions to answer. To post your questions here, you must be a paid subscriber to my Substack. Please attempt to keep your questions direct and relatively brief, as I cannot read entire paragraphs during the show.

Claremont Institute scholars, including me, Ed Erler, Tom West, John Marini, and Michael Anton, President Trump’s incoming Director of Policy Planning at the State Department, have been contending for years—decades, really—that the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause does not provide automatic citizenship for everyone born on U.S. soil, no matter the circumstances. Other prominent scholars, such as the late University of Texas law Professor Lino Graglia, University of Pennsylvania Professor Rogers Smith, and Yale Law Professor Emeritus Peter Schuck, have come to the same conclusion based on their own extensive scholarly research. 

On this episode of Follow the Money, Australia Institute Executive Director Richard Denniss joins Ebony Bennett to examine the year ahead in federal politics and how the Trump presidency could impact Australia.

This discussion was recorded on Tuesday 21 January 2025 and things may have changed since recording.

Order What’s the Big Idea? 32 Big Ideas for a Better Australia now, via the Australia Institute website.

Guest: Richard Denniss, Executive Director, the Australia Institute // @richarddenniss

Host: Ebony Bennett, Deputy Director, the Australia Institute // @ebonybennett

Show notes:

LA fires add to climate insurance crisis, the Australia Institute (January 2025)

Rate cut already overdue: RBA should meet in January, the Australia Institute (December 2025)

Theme music: Pulse and Thrum; additional music by Blue Dot Sessions

This interview is also available on podcast platforms and Rumble.

Mary Shelley, in the preface to the 1831 edition of Frankenstein, writes, “Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void, but out of chaos.” In the chaos of war and inequity, cartoonist Joe Sacco pioneered the first graphic illustration journalism. Sacco has covered some of the most devastating warzones such as in Bosnia, which gave birth to his book, “Safe Area Gorazde,” and Gaza, which inspired “Footnotes in Gaza,” a book host Chris Hedges calls, “A masterpiece… one of the finest books done on the Palestine-Israel conflict, hands down.”

Insiders say Pamela Paul is soon to be out of the New York Times’ Opinion section… so let’s talk about all of the awful stuff she wrote about trans people!

President Trump’s second term thrusts the question of birthright citizenship to the forefront of American politics: should the United States automatically grant citizenship to any child who happens to be born on U.S. soil? Neither the Declaration of Independence nor the Constitution requires doing such a thing. Yet defenders of birthright shut down any debate by framing opposition as cruel and racist—and obviously wrong as a legal matter.

But there is a strong constitutional and moral case for limiting birthright citizenship. It’s the argument that led the Trump Administration to issue an executive order that defines a new status quo: going forward, children of illegal aliens won’t receive recognition of their citizenship by the U.S. Department of State or any other executive agency.

Start with the Constitution. The question of birthright citizenship goes back to the 14th Amendment, one of the three ratified in the immediate wake of the Civil War. The relevant portion reads: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” The phrase at issue is “and subject to the jurisdiction thereof” (known as the jurisdiction clause). Proponents of birthright maintain that the phrase merely means subject to the laws and courts of the United States.

Applications received on a rolling basis. Ideal start-date July 1, 2025


More “Announcement
Job Announcement: Harvard’s Law and Political Economy Program is hiring an Executive Director”

If you’re taking flak, you’re over the target.

The old World War II idiom certainly appears to ring true regarding President Trump’s plan to begin the much needed process of refocusing America’s foreign engagements. The subsequent tranche of articles decrying the alleged return of “American isolationism” by defenders of the crumbling American-led liberal international order should therefore not come as a surprise.

They tell us that failing to maintain a sprawling military-industrial framework of permanent alliances, defense guarantees, and logistical entanglements is akin to weakness—appeasement even—that will undermine U.S. national security.

Senator Mitch McConnell makes this exact argument in the most recent issue of Foreign Affairs magazine. The Republican senator’s lengthy article, “The Price of American Retreat,” is thorough and well-written. It articulates current challenges to U.S. hegemony on the world stage and identifies economic, political, and doctrinal elements of the U.S. force posture that are inadequate to the task of meeting those challenges.

Please recommend an institutional subscription to your academic library or employer (details here)

The debt ceiling was unsuspended January 1st of this year which means the debt ceiling is back. According to now-former Treasury secretary Janet Yellen, they began using “extraordinary measures” to avoid hitting the debt ceiling as of today. As regular readers know, I’ve long commented on the absurd political economy of the debt ceiling. I’ve lodged successfully FOIAs and released multiple memos related to the topic. In fact, I’ve written so much about the debt ceiling. that I think it's worthwhile to simply provide a chronological list of all the previous pieces I’ve written in recent years. To start with, The Guardian piece is my most basic primer on the Debt Ceiling and the recurrent concerns about debt ceiling driven default. But all the pieces, especially my Politico Op Ed, are worth a look.

On this episode of After America, Allan Behm and Dr Emma Shortis discuss Trump’s inauguration, his radical agenda to reshape American life and the United States’ role in the world, and how Australia can respond.

This discussion was recorded on Tuesday 21 January 2025 and things may have changed since recording.

Get your tickets for the Australia Institute’s Climate Integrity Summit 2025 now.

Order What’s the Big Idea? 32 Big Ideas for a Better Australia now, via the Australia Institute website.

Guest: Allan Behm, Special Advisor in International & Security Affairs, the Australia Institute

Host: Emma Shortis, Director, International & Security Affairs, the Australia Institute // @EmmaShortis

Show notes:

‘Trump promises a second term focused on immigration and nationalism – as well as revenge and retribution’ by Emma Shortis, The Conversation (January 2025)