The Capitalist Investor - Episode 118 Maybe Tom Brady tried to fill up his 2015 Rolls Royce Ghost last week and that’s why he came out of retirement. Joking. But it’s time to confront gas prices or the narrative around them for that matter. This week, Mark, Derek and Luke tackle a slew of topics that in one way or another, relate to public relations and marketing tactics. From the White House drafting TikTok stars to control political narratives, all the way to Tom Brady’s unretirement. Everything’s been attached to a narrative the last couple of years and this episode of “The Capitalist Investor” breaks down a few.Outline of this Episode:[1:30] White House TikTokers[11:35] NATO defense requirements[16:30] Mike Tyson’s come back[18:15] Tom Brady’s early UN-retirementThe Biden administration’s newest draft of TikTok starsA few days ago, the White House held a press briefing with around 30 different TikTokers to help spread messaging on inflation and gas prices.Stars like Ellie Zeiler took to the social media platform and began posting videos that were quite different from their average TikToks. Not only were they talking about gas and inflation, but they were spreading a narrative that shifted the blame for rising gas and oil costs on Putin. And for Zeiler at least, it soared among her 10 million plus followers.But if we start spreading messages blaming Putin for rising costs and inflation, then are we going to thank him when they go down again? We sure hope not –– he’s an evil person.It’s horrible messaging with poor logic. It targets teenagers and young adults with a narrative that is scapegoating the problem.The administration is unable to take responsibility or confront the issues. Instead, they are using young people to tell other young people that rising gas costs are not Biden’s fault but Russia’s. It’s blatant propaganda and does nothing to confront the crisis, it only distracts from it and warps young minds.Why Is the US paying more of the fair share?There are 30 separate countries in NATO and each one of them is required to allocate two percent of their GDP towards defense spending.Back in 2014, only about three or four countries total were fulfilling that requirement and the US is the one that is carrying the load. We’re allocating about 3.2 percent of our GDP towards defense spending but almost all others are not paying their fair share.Why do we always have to be the ones to fight the bullies? From a humanitarian standpoint, it’s obviously the right thing to do, we’ve been the global police power since the second World War. But economically, can we afford it? How much can we afford to do?Maybe Tom Brady never really intended on retirementTom Brady retired from the NFL about six weeks ago. He caught our attention, our eyes, and ears, and we were all feeling emotional one way or another about the quarterback’s departure.But he just couldn’t stay away and now he’s caught our attention again when he announced he was unretiring.Was this his plan all along? Did he ever want to retire or was it a social media and marketing ploy for his growing businesses?No matter the logic, he was one of the best quarterbacks in the league last season and still has the skills to flex.If he fully stuck to retirement, we would’ve always wondered about how much longer he actually had as a quarterback. And now we get the chance to see. Brady is setting the bar, or the timeline really, on how long quarterbacks can last in the league. We’re looking forward to seeing his skills live up to his legacy.Maybe he changed his mind, maybe it was all a marketing scheme to capture everyone’s attention.Or maybe –– just maybe –– Brady decided to take a spin from his vast car collection and caught a glimpse of the gas prices and that’s what drove him to go back to work.Connect With Mark TepperTwitter: @MarkTepperSWPFollow Mark on LinkedInSend Mark a message hereThe SWP Connect YouTube ChannelConnect with Derek GabrielsenTwitter: @DerekGabrielsenFollow Derek on LinkedInSend Derek a message hereCheck out Derek’s YouTube channel!Connect With Luke LloydTwitter: @LloydBoyLukeFollow Luke on LinkedInSend Luke a message hereThe SWP Connect YouTube ChannelSend your questions and comments to us at info@SWPConnect.comSubscribe to The Capitalist Investor
