Behind the Bastards

It Could Happen Here Weekly 206

November 1, 2025

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  • The US campaign of drone strikes in the Caribbean, allegedly targeting 'narco-terrorism,' is politically destabilizing the region and is unlikely to be an effective counter-narcotics operation because it prevents the capture and interrogation of potential smugglers. 
  • The government of Trinidad and Tobago, led by the new administration, is aligning closely with US policy regarding the Caribbean strikes, despite two of its own citizens being killed in the attacks, causing internal political friction. 
  • The labor dispute at Chicago's Seminary Co-op is characterized by management employing attrition tactics, such as refusing to hire new staff and deliberately making working conditions miserable, while simultaneously paying high salaries to executive leadership. 
  • The union organizing effort at the Chicago bookstore is characterized by management's use of regressive bargaining tactics, refusal to provide necessary financial information, and the board's alleged history of union-busting, creating a chaotic negotiation environment. 
  • The bookstore workers are suffering from severe workplace health hazards, including mold and dust, which management has failed to remediate, illustrating a failure of basic employer responsibility. 
  • Discussions around population politics reveal a historical pattern where fears of overpopulation (Malthusianism) and subsequent anxieties about declining fertility rates are often weaponized to justify control over marginalized groups or mask systemic failures like wealth inequality and overconsumption. 
  • Concerns about population are shifting from overpopulation driven by elite consumption to fears of declining fertility rates threatening capitalist growth models, leading to panicking governments. 
  • The 'Occulture' conference highlighted William S. Burroughs' influence, particularly the cut-up method, as a form of magical resistance against control narratives, contrasting this with the perceived lack of genuine human agency in generative AI. 
  • The expiration of SNAP benefits, framed as a political football, is causing severe hardship, exemplified by the deployment of the National Guard to assist food banks, which itself raises concerns about intimidating vulnerable populations. 
  • The political viability of Maine Senate primary candidate Graham Plattner remains surprisingly resilient among young Democrats despite the revelation of his nearly two-decade-old Nazi tattoo, largely due to his combative, populist rhetoric. 
  • DHS leadership, including Secretary Mayorkas and advisor Corey Lewandowski, is actively restructuring ICE by replacing directors with Border Patrol officials like Greg Bovino to implement aggressive, large-sweep deportation tactics reminiscent of Border Patrol's paramilitary approach. 
  • Federal election monitoring in California, spearheaded by the Trump administration, is being framed by state officials like Governor Gavin Newsom and AG Rob Bonta as a direct attempt at voter intimidation and suppression, despite federal monitoring being a historical practice. 

Segments

US Caribbean Strikes Context
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(00:02:43)
  • Key Takeaway: The episode of It Could Happen Here compiles weekly content, starting with a roundtable on US drone strikes against Caribbean vessels.
  • Summary: Robert Evans introduces the compilation episode, noting it contains all weekly episodes in one file with fewer ads. The first segment focuses on the US campaign of drone strikes against small vessels in the Caribbean. These strikes have resulted in at least 32 deaths across several vessels, prompting political turmoil in the Western Hemisphere.
Analyzing Tren de Aragua
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(00:05:37)
  • Key Takeaway: Tren de Aragua is primarily a human trafficking and extortion gang following the Venezuelan diaspora, not a major international drug trafficking cartel moving large quantities of cocaine or fentanyl.
  • Summary: Michael Pahlberg clarifies that Tren de Aragua focuses on extorting Venezuelan migrants rather than large-scale international drug trafficking, as fentanyl precursors are not sourced from Venezuela. If the US strikes were targeting drug boats, the victims would likely not be members of Tren de Aragua, and if they were, the death toll suggests migrant smuggling rather than drug transport.
Colombian President Petro’s Stance
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(00:07:38)
  • Key Takeaway: Colombian President Petro, a former guerrilla member turned left-wing leader, is highly critical of the US War on Drugs approach, despite Colombia’s historical alliance with the US on security matters.
  • Summary: Petro has a long political history, starting in the M19 guerrilla movement before demobilizing and entering mainstream politics. His current administration has failed in its ’total peace’ platform, leading to a resurgence of armed insurgency in Colombia. The US accusation that Petro is a drug trafficker is considered ludicrous given his political history.
Trinidad and Tobago Government Alignment
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(00:12:12)
  • Key Takeaway: The current government of Trinidad and Tobago, led by Kamla Persad-Bissessar, has adopted a staunchly pro-Washington stance, openly supporting US military actions in the region despite two of its own citizens being killed by US strikes.
  • Summary: Two fishermen from Trinidad and Tobago were killed in the fifth US strike, yet the government has remained silent and offered no support to the families. The Prime Minister has actively alienated CARICOM’s call for a zone of peace by inviting US military basing operations and aligning with US policy violations of international law.
Regime Change Logic Critique
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(00:20:47)
  • Key Takeaway: The US strategy of using decapitation strikes or counter-narcotics operations as a pretext for regime change in Venezuela is fundamentally flawed because the Maduro regime is upheld by a militarized structure that would not collapse from such actions.
  • Summary: The US military deployment is too small for a full invasion of Venezuela, unlike the Panama analog where the US already had massive military infrastructure. Killing everyone on a boat prevents investigators from gathering evidence or flipping smugglers for intelligence against the regime’s leadership. Maduro’s security apparatus, deeply integrated into lucrative businesses, would not betray him for a $50 million bounty.
Venezuelan Election and Opposition
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(00:26:28)
  • Key Takeaway: The Maduro government stole the 2024 election, which opposition candidate Edmundo González (proxy for Nobel laureate Maria Corina Machado) was projected to win by a large margin, leading to the snapback of sanctions.
  • Summary: The Barbados Agreement, brokered by the Biden administration, failed because Maduro would not willingly relinquish power given the threat of prosecution if he left office. Maria Corina Machado, the hardline opposition leader, has gained mythic status partly due to her continued presence in the country despite the risk of arrest or death. The Nobel Prize may offer her temporary protection from assassination.
Solidarity and Leftist Complicity
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(00:36:20)
  • Key Takeaway: Solidarity efforts should focus on the Venezuelan people and civil society organizations critical of sanctions, rather than reflexively defending the Maduro regime due to its historical anti-US stance.
  • Summary: The American left’s tendency to defend authoritarian regimes like Maduro’s, often due to legacy support for Chavez, undermines its credibility, especially when those regimes murder their own citizens. Younger Latin American leaders are increasingly critical of Maduro, contrasting with older leaders and allies like Russia and China. The suffering caused by sanctions means that if democracy were restored, the country would likely turn rightward.
Media Coverage and Distraction
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(00:42:50)
  • Key Takeaway: US media coverage of the Caribbean crisis is often US-centric, failing to adequately cover the impact on nations like Trinidad and Tobago, and the timing of the first strike coincided with the release of redacted files related to the Jeffrey Epstein case, suggesting a possible distraction.
  • Summary: Listeners are encouraged to seek out local Caribbean news and progressive social media accounts for grassroots perspectives on the situation. Insight Crime is recommended for analysis of criminal groups like Tren de Aragua, questioning official narratives. The timing of the first strike suggests the confrontation might be used by the administration to divert attention from domestic issues.
Seminary Co-op Union Struggle
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(00:50:27)
  • Key Takeaway: The Seminary Co-op, despite being branded a ’not-for-profit bookstore’ and having progressive board members, is actively union-busting by deliberately creating an unlivable environment to force workers to quit.
  • Summary: The bookstore’s status as a ’not-for-profit’ is legally ambiguous, and management uses vague financial claims to justify low wages ($16.90/hour for a worker with a Master’s degree). The union bargaining unit has shrunk from 25 to 11 members due to attrition, as management refuses to hire replacements while paying the new Executive Director $160,000 annually. Direct actions, like work stoppages, are used to maintain solidarity against management’s strategy of deliberate terror and wearing down the workforce.
Bookstore Board Confusion
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(01:06:16)
  • Key Takeaway: The bookstore’s board of directors, including prominent progressives, is accused of actively engaging in union-busting efforts despite claiming minimal operational oversight.
  • Summary: Board members, some of whom are well-known progressives, are alleged to have written emails attempting to undermine the unionization effort. The board’s stated role is primarily to advise, supervise, and hire the executive director, not manage daily operations. Confusion persists over accountability regarding financial disclosures during bargaining sessions.
Bargaining Process Chaos
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(01:11:19)
  • Key Takeaway: The union’s bargaining process has been severely hampered by management’s failure to turn over requested financial information and shifting representation at the table.
  • Summary: Management initially sent the interim director and deputy director to negotiations, but the latter stepped down; the new structure involves the executive director and a board member, Tira Goldston. Management frequently deflected financial bargaining points to the board, only to ignore them when pressed to take action.
Regressive Bargaining Tactics
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(01:14:46)
  • Key Takeaway: Management issued a ‘best and final offer’ that unilaterally reduced the contract term from three years to two, eliminating the only year that contained meaningful wage increases, which constitutes illegal regressive bargaining.
  • Summary: Management required the union to draft the entire first collective bargaining agreement, a highly non-standard practice. The final offer reduced the contract length, effectively erasing the third year which held the only significant wage gains, a move explicitly defined as illegal regressive bargaining under the NLRA.
NLRB Delays and Status Quo Violations
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(01:17:22)
  • Key Takeaway: The union filed Unfair Labor Practice charges over management changing scheduling and discipline policies while bargaining was active, but NLRB processing is indefinitely paused due to the government shutdown and lack of quorum.
  • Summary: Management attempted to change established policies regarding scheduling and discipline mid-bargaining, which are status quo issues requiring negotiation. The NLRB is currently unable to process these charges because the government shutdown has halted operations and the board lacks a quorum following Trump’s alleged illegal firing of a member.
Structural Abuse and Solidarity
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(01:26:33)
  • Key Takeaway: The union’s lawyer, Jenny Goltz, has a history of defending institutions against sexual harassment claims and busting unions, illustrating a structural connection between management’s tactics and broader systems of abuse.
  • Summary: The lawyer hired by the board is known for union-busting at UChicago and defending Northwestern in a sexual harassment case, drawing parallels between management’s actions and abusive partnership dynamics. Solidarity from other unions, like the MSI and GSU, provided crucial support during visible actions.
Population Politics and Conspiracy
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(01:52:27)
  • Key Takeaway: Historical fears of overpopulation, exemplified by Malthus and Ehrlich, have often been used to justify harsh policies targeting women and minorities, while current fears focus on declining fertility rates in developed nations.
  • Summary: Global population growth accelerated rapidly after 1804 due to medical and agricultural improvements, leading to late 20th-century panic over resource scarcity. Conspiracy theories surrounding population control often involve blaming elites for sterilization via vaccines or 5G, ignoring the primary driver of ecological impact: the overconsumption of the global north.
Mold and Workplace Neglect
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(01:36:05)
  • Key Takeaway: Bookstore employees are actively being poisoned by mold and dust at the 57th Street location, a known issue for which remediation clauses were struck from the bargaining agreement.
  • Summary: Employees report being unable to breathe properly due to mold at one location and dust at the Seminary Co-op, requiring them to take allergy medication just to work. The employer is failing its basic responsibility to provide a safe workplace and is actively refusing to address the health hazards raised during negotiations.
Population Consumption vs. Headcount
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(02:11:18)
  • Key Takeaway: Reducing planetary impact requires addressing the lifestyles and systems of the rich minority, not just the total human headcount.
  • Summary: The focus for reducing environmental impact should be on the consumption patterns of billionaires flying private jets rather than simplistic arguments about the number of people. Believing population reduction is the solution is described as a cheap, cowardly excuse for the rich minority driving systemic crises. The speaker notes that the next episode will address those who advocate for population reduction.
Global Fertility Rate Decline
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(02:12:01)
  • Key Takeaway: Global fertility rates are steadily dropping due to development factors, causing governments to panic about future labor and consumer bases required by capitalism.
  • Summary: Fertility rates are lower in developed countries due to education, urbanization, and access to contraception, while they are higher where children are needed for labor and caregiving. The global average dropped to 2.3 children per woman in 2023, projected to fall below replacement level (2.1) to 1.8 by 2100. This decline creates fears that there will not be enough consumers or workers to support the growth predicated by capitalism.
Personal Reasons for Low Fertility
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(02:14:18)
  • Key Takeaway: Economic instability, high cost of living, and awareness of medical risks are major factors discouraging younger generations from having children, even in places like Trinidad and Tobago.
  • Summary: Anecdotally, many people the speaker knows do not want children or cannot afford them due to worsening housing and cost of living issues. Cultural shifts mean fewer people feel the need for children for fulfillment, and women are more educated about the physical risks of childbearing. Increased isolation due to the decline of extended families also makes raising children more difficult.
Governmental Panic and Policy Responses
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(02:17:38)
  • Key Takeaway: Governments are panicking over aging populations and labor shortages, leading to contradictory policies like China’s baby bonuses and the criminalization of child-free lifestyles.
  • Summary: China is desperately encouraging births after decades of a one-child policy, while other governments are raising retirement ages, sparking protests like those seen in France. Pro-natalist policies can include financial support or, more darkly, criminalizing ‘child-free propaganda’ and restricting reproductive rights. Population decline also fuels immigration concerns, which the far-right scapegoats to distract from systemic failures.
Occulture Conference Introduction
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(02:23:17)
  • Key Takeaway: The Occulture conference focuses on the intersection of occultism and culture, contrasting with US-based conferences by embracing academic styling and theoretical discussion.
  • Summary: Garrison Davis introduces a special spooky episode covering the bi-yearly Occulture conference in Germany, which examines how the occult bleeds into and is appropriated by wider culture. The term ‘occulture’ originated with Genesis P-Orridge to describe the dialogue between cultural forms and magical conclusions. Panelists include Delta, Ryan, and Elaine, who bring backgrounds in chaos magic, Greco-Egyptian practice, and Renaissance magic research, respectively.
Occulture Ritual and Philosophy
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(02:36:43)
  • Key Takeaway: The conference opening ritual emphasized the attendees’ ‘demiurgic capacity’ to create the reality of the event, mirroring the concept of the cosmic craftsman resisting relentless acceleration.
  • Summary: The opening ritual involved attendees placing intentions onto stones balanced on scales, setting a mood of dark theatricality and high effort. The booklet defined the craftsman/demiurge as embodying creation, transformation, and cosmic balance, resisting modern life’s acceleration through patience and ritual discipline. This contrasts with the commodification of the occult, where genuine exploration becomes marketable product.
Burroughsian Current and Cut-Up Method
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(02:41:26)
  • Key Takeaway: William S. Burroughs’ work, particularly the cut-up method, was the strongest current at the conference, viewed as a magical technology for disrupting linear control mechanisms like language.
  • Summary: Burroughs and Brion Gysin were argued to be closer to late Surrealists than Beat poets, focusing on the cut-up method to generate new meaning by forcing randomized word combinations. This technique aims to disrupt the ‘one God universe’ and the linear flow of culture and time, which is seen as a mechanism of control. The method is based on the idea that reality is made of words and images that can be edited for reprogramming purposes.
AI vs. Burroughsian Third Mind
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(02:59:35)
  • Key Takeaway: Generative AI is fundamentally different from Burroughs’ ‘Third Mind’ concept because LLMs operate on probabilistic people-pleasing, lacking the necessary second human intelligence to reveal inherent newness.
  • Summary: Panelists were annoyed by audience questions equating AI art generation with channeling or automatic writing. Burroughs’ Third Mind requires two collaborating minds to reveal something already present in their shared conditions. Interacting with an LLM only involves one human mind, as the machine operates purely on statistical prediction rather than dialectical creation.
SNAP Crisis and Political Hypocrisy
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(03:13:26)
  • Key Takeaway: The expiration of SNAP benefits, coinciding with Halloween, highlights the unreliability of the social safety net, which politicians weaponize for partisan fighting.
  • Summary: Approximately 40 million people lost SNAP benefits the day after Halloween due to political deadlock, prompting California’s Governor Newsom to deploy the National Guard to assist food banks. Some food banks refused the Guard’s help due to fears that the military presence would deter hungry people from seeking aid. Representative Clay Higgins falsely claimed SNAP recipients are irresponsible for not stockpiling a month’s worth of food on their meager annual benefits.
Graham Plattner’s Controversial Tattoo
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(03:19:32)
  • Key Takeaway: Maine congressional candidate Graham Plattner, who campaigned against billionaires while promoting social programs, lost support after it was revealed he kept a Nazi SS Totenkopf tattoo for decades.
  • Summary: Plattner initially gained traction by attacking the billionaire class and advocating for healthcare investment, presenting a blue-collar image. The controversy centers on his long-retained tattoo of the Death’s Head, the insignia of the SS unit guarding concentration camps. While Plattner claimed it was a dumb, drunken mistake made while joining the Marines, reports suggest he knew its meaning and joked about it, indicating questionable judgment rather than outright secret allegiance.
Graham Plattner Tattoo Scandal
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(03:23:05)
  • Key Takeaway: Graham Plattner’s support drops dramatically when voters are informed about his Nazi tattoo, though young Democrats remain largely supportive.
  • Summary: Plattner kept a Death’s Head tattoo from Croatia for years, reportedly joking about it being a ‘Totenkopf’ to people who knew him. His campaign response framed the revelation as an attack from Democratic enemies rather than issuing a simple apology. Polling shows his support plummets by 30 points when voters are informed of the tattoo, but young Democrats still back him due to his combative rhetoric.
Plattner’s Military Background
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(03:31:23)
  • Key Takeaway: Plattner’s service in Blackwater (Constellus) in 2018 and prior assignment guarding Abu Ghraib after the torture scandal raise significant concerns about his judgment.
  • Summary: Plattner deployed to Afghanistan for Blackwater in 2018, an experience he claims led to his political radicalization. He was also stationed guarding Abu Ghraib after the torture scandal, though he claims he only realized the wrongness of his actions a decade later. The hosts find his recent defense of his actions more disqualifying than the background itself.
Bovino’s Excessive Force Violations
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(03:38:35)
  • Key Takeaway: DHS Chief Greg Bovino is flagrantly violating a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) by using tear gas against children in a Halloween parade and refusing to wear required body cameras.
  • Summary: Border Patrol disrupted a Chicago children’s Halloween parade using tear gas and arresting citizens, violating a TRO that restricts crowd control munitions unless there is an immediate threat. Judge Sarah Ellis noted that children in costumes do not pose an immediate threat, yet Bovino admitted he had not received a body camera or training required by the order. Agents also pointed a real gun at a veteran protester, saying, ‘Bang, bang, you’re dead, liberal.’
ICE Leadership Restructuring
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(03:45:17)
  • Key Takeaway: The Trump administration is replacing nearly half of ICE field office directors with Border Patrol officials hand-picked by Greg Bovino to shift ICE tactics toward large, aggressive urban sweeps.
  • Summary: DHS Secretary Christy Noam and Corey Lewandowski are orchestrating the reassignment of directors in cities like Los Angeles and New York, favoring Border Patrol’s tactic of mass roundups over ICE’s traditional focus on targeted removal of known criminals. Bovino’s career history shows a preference for broad dragnet operations, such as raids on bus and train stations in Las Vegas in 2010. DHS is publicly praising Bovino, who curates social media content evoking SS imagery, as the face of the mass deportation push.
Public Lands and Border Security Bill
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(04:01:19)
  • Key Takeaway: Senator Mike Lee introduced legislation that would allow DHS to build roads on protected wilderness areas under the guise of border security and cartel control.
  • Summary: Mike Lee’s bill seeks to amend the 1964 Wilderness Act to allow the construction of roads within a 100-mile border zone, fundamentally changing wilderness areas. The bill claims this is necessary for border access and clearing fire fuels, but mechanized access for search and rescue already exists. It also prohibits housing migrants on federal lands unless it is in a prison.
Trump’s East Asia Tariff Negotiations
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(04:06:44)
  • Key Takeaway: President Trump secured a trade deal with China, reducing fentanyl tariffs to 10% and securing a pledge against rare earth restrictions, after being presented with an enormous golden crown by South Korean President Lee Jae-myung.
  • Summary: The South Korean president presented Trump with a massive gilded replica crown, after which tariff negotiations reportedly favored the US. The deal with China lowered the fentanyl tariff rate, and China pledged to halt rare earth mineral restrictions and buy US soybeans. Meanwhile, the Senate voted to end the state of emergency allowing Canada tariffs, but the House is currently non-functional, preventing legislative action.
Federal Election Monitoring in California
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(04:15:23)
  • Key Takeaway: California officials view the Trump administration’s deployment of federal election monitors to five counties as voter intimidation, prompting the state to assign its own monitors to observe the federal observers.
  • Summary: Governor Gavin Newsom explicitly called the federal monitoring ‘voter intimidation’ and ‘voter suppression,’ viewing it as part of a pattern alongside ICE and Border Patrol presence near polling places. Federal monitoring is not unprecedented, as the Biden administration deployed monitors in over 80 locations in 2024. California is responding by assigning state monitors to monitor the federal monitors.
Texas Sues Tylenol Over Autism Risk
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(04:18:27)
  • Key Takeaway: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing Johnson & Johnson, alleging Tylenol marketing to pregnant women failed to disclose a significantly increased risk of autism.
  • Summary: The lawsuit claims Tylenol marketing to pregnant women ignored risks associated with the drug, despite warnings typically advising consultation with a doctor. The hosts reference prior coverage noting the correlation versus causation debate stemming from a Swedish study linking Tylenol use during pregnancy to autism. The outcome of this case is seen as potentially affecting the broader Trump administration’s stance on Tylenol.