Entrepreneur Brock Pierce ran for for president as an Independent in 2020. Pierce, who is also known for being a number of things like a former child actor and a Bitcoin Billionaire, discussed his energy platform and how innovation is impacting the oil and gas industry.
Pierce believes technology is impacting every industry, especially energy, and new leadership is needed in Washington. Big data and artificial intelligence are given as examples of something that can take on a whole new world, real fast.
According to Pierce the coal industry can be revived and saved through carbon capturing and introducing more innovation and less politicization.
He also believes we are currently in the 4th Industrial Revolution and new lifestyles and technologies will emerge, takeover and stick around. Pierce cited our transition from gold to coal to oil to data as a way to understand how commodities control economies which control societies.
Below is an Artificial Intelligence transcript of the interview.
Brock Pierce
Hi, this is Brock Pierce and I am running for president of the United States of America.
Jason Spiess
Thank you very much for joining the program here today, running for president of the United States of America. Thank you very much for joining the program. First of all, congratulations on throwing your hat in the ring. That is a feat in itself. Uh Are you under a particular party? Are you running as an independent, take this opportunity to, you know, go ahead and give yourself a, a platform to explain why you're running and how you're running, et cetera.
Brock Pierce
Yeah, I'm running as a, as an independent. I was endorsed by the Independence Party of New York. Um I was also endorsed by former us, Senator Dean Barkley who joined the team as the state director in Minnesota. And um and I've been an independent my whole life. And so why am I running? I'm deeply concerned about our collective future. I'm very, very worried about the state of the world. I think we're doomed. If we don't do something different, it's time to make some real, real big
changes, real upgrades. We need visionary leadership. I think that technology is probably the number one issue in the country right now. I mean, artificial intelligence is going to have a far bigger impact on our lives and our jobs and our country than automation ever did. And so we need visionary leadership that understands how to navigate the complicated but opportunistic road ahead
Jason Spiess
this program on the crude life. Obviously, we have a very heavy oil and gas audience. Um that's been in a in the public debate. In fact, last summer, I was going around to conferences trying to explain to the oil and gas industry that you have two presidential candidates, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. That's who they were back then. They're trying to openly ban fracking and the oil and gas industry.
Uh Where are you at with your energy policy? Are you all at, at that point where you want to get rid of the industry? Are you trying to advance it into a different area? I know that you're in the Bitcoin uh world. So we're gonna talk about Blockchain and Bitcoin in a, in a second, but talk to me a little bit about your energy policy. Where do you see it fitting in today's world?
Brock Pierce
Well, I think we need to keep on innovating. So, uh for example, you know, I look at our existing infrastructure, take a look at coal, for example, I've spent time now working with three different groups that have developed carbon capturing technology that they put into these coal plants so that you can continue to keep those jobs, keep that industry running and continue to produce necessary power, but do it in a way that is not releasing carbon.
I believe that to the same degree, I believe that innovators and entrepreneurs can solve every one of our many problems. And I believe that there are ways to bridge the old and the new to create a better future together.
Jason Spiess
The crude life is all about capitalism in its pure form in that you, you make money and you give back to your community and sounds a lot like what, what you're talking about there. I've always mentioned the oil and gas industry still has, it did at least a pretty free market and you could still have a lot of opportunity for some things where a rough neck could be working on a rig and notice how to vibrate a tube twice as fast and more efficient.
And pretty soon this guy that maybe has a half of an education as a president running his own country, that's our company with 15 employees a year later type of a thing. Technology kind of brings that, that entrepreneurship back a little bit. There, there are some, you know, some limitations because it is technology.
But at the same time, the sky is the limit. You start talking about carbon sequestering. We mentioned Bitcoin Blockchain. How is technology, whether it be from the artificial intelligence or big data or Blockchain if you will, how is that gonna work in the world of energy in the next five
Brock Pierce
years? Well, I mean, technology is impacting every, every industry, technology is impacting all of our lives and it's accelerating. Um And uh you know, like you said, the American dream is still very much alive. America is still the capital of innovation and I believe that we will innovate our way out of the many problems or challenges that we currently face.
Um And there's other, obviously Blockchain is creating a new tools to upgrade the existing financial system, to create faster settlements, more efficiency, less fraud, all sorts of stuff. For example, one of the things that I did is I digitized the US dollar years ago, that digital dollar is doing $10 trillion a year of transactional volume right now. And governments around the world have seen how technology can be used to enhance their currencies at a central banking level.
A bunch of countries running pilots. China in particular has used this framework that we created to create the digital wand um that you know, the US dollar World Reserve status contributes 20 to $30 trillion of value to our economy. Uh uh Again, technology is changing everything and I think that we need visionary leadership that understands how this stuff is working because it's coming fast,
Jason Spiess
big data is coming. I've been trying to say this for several years. The example I like to explain to people is in the world of hr human resources. So if you take a look at every single area in oil and gas and, and you can take this in any industry, but you take a look at what's going on. You know, your communications, well, big data has hit that, take a look at the, you know, your marketing department and, and your, your pre precision marketing and, and all the data mining that's being done
so people can hit exactly who they're looking for. So that's revolutionized that department. Take a look at human resources. You know, you can do a background check before the interview is done before. That used to take months, something as simple as that. Now I bring up those examples because those are easy for people to understand. You start talking about, you know, the emission management with the flaring and gas capturing carbon sequestering mixed in with some sort of
quantum physics that I know nothing about. We're gonna see some pretty remarkable things. So I know what you're talking about and that when it comes to the leadership and when it comes to that next generation of what's coming fast, I can I, I recall the Facebook hearing from four or five years ago and Mark Zuckerberg had to train these guys on how he made money. They actually asked him how he made money. He's like, well, we sell advertising.
I couldn't believe it. Like these leaders that are currently running. The show didn't even understand how Facebook made money and they're like one of the top countries companies in the on the planet. So I get what you're talking about, what we need to change in leadership. So um talk to me about how, you know, quickly this is coming and just a couple of examples to kind of give people an idea what, what, what, what's coming down the pipe.
Brock Pierce
Yeah, that I mean this is again why we need uh we need to have our finger on the pulse. Um The world is changing rapidly and we need to evolve with it. We're living through what I call the 4th Industrial Revolution. And are we going to be winners of this fourth industrial revolution or are we going to be losers? And that will be determined by the quality of the decisions we make?
Remember, technology is Amoral, it's a tool, it's not good or bad. It's how we use it is, you know, what will impact us. And so the future is going to happen to us or with us. And I believe that we can create a future we all want to live in. You talked about data. One other thing that I think is worth noting specifically for your audience, right? We had gold, oil became the new gold.
Data has kind of become the new oil as the most important commodity in the world. And what most of us don't realize is that we don't own our data. I'm a big advocate around, own your data. There's so much value being created by each and every one of us and we don't know where our data is going. We don't know who's selling our data.
And I'm a uh I'm a, I'm a big advocate for this own your data uh movement. Uh because people don't really understand it. It's this new thing that's invisible and, but you know, it's valuable and you should care about who has your data. Uh and, and, and one day you should be the beneficiary
Jason Spiess
of that. That's interesting. I, I never thought of it from that perspective. I've, you know, thought of the pictures and some of those things that people post on Facebook, you know, if you post a picture on Facebook, they can use it in an ad, they own it, that type of thing. I never thought of the, the actual data, data part of things. Uh Brock Pierce is the guest.
He is running for president of the United States in the 2020 election. I should mention too. He, he was a child actor. I'm looking at, you know, your background here and I see Mighty Ducks. Uh The first kid Mighty Ducks to so you, you've got a background in communications with an acting degree. Oh Little Big league. It looks like three wishes. So you, you have a pulse on that entertainment slash communication side of things you mentioned, the value of communication.
Uh We talked about Bitcoin. He's, by the way, folks, I should mention he's known as the Bitcoin billionaire is the, the nickname I was told. Uh Mr Brock Pierce has. I don't know if you're aware of that or not, if they say that to your face or behind your back, but that's what I was told. So, um, I, I apologize if that was offensive but, uh at any rate, I,
Brock Pierce
I, I, I, I, you, you can't run for president and be easily offended. OK. Good. Um Not, not, not, not the job for the uh the Saint of Heart. Um uh Yeah. No, it's uh uh it's wonderful. So I, I
Jason Spiess
did wanna, I did wanna just kind of conclude on the commu communication side of things because I brought up your acting background and, and some of your, I guess, publishing or roles you've had or not publishing but producing that sort of thing. I, I, I come from a publishing background so I got hit by the 2009 internet paradigm shift, you know, from the financial side of things and, and when you take a look at, you know, newspapers that had 100 year monopoly and within 10 years
they're filing bankrupt because the internet, this is a giant paradigm shift that has to do with communication and data and just the speed of our communication and content and reaction and all these different things. So uh I just wanted to give you an opportunity to kind of go with the communication side of things because it's really diverse, but you kind of have a different
perspective than I think the average person given your background with the digital entertainment network and your acting career. So uh talk to me about your communication vision.
Brock Pierce
Well, yeah, I'm on the the the forefront of, of innovation, right? Um I'm normally doing things that no one has ever done before, right? I'm not limited by reality in its current form of the status quo. I see beyond the box, you know, I operate pretty much entirely outside of the box. Um which is one of the things that I think could serve our country.
Well, I think that we need a lot more diversity in our government. We need more engineers, computer scientists, artists, entrepreneurs, business people, doctors, teachers, I think that we need more uh you know, up for by the people in our government. And so uh over the course of this next decade, I think, you know, the decisions we make are going to do not only determine the fate of our nation, but I think the decisions we make over the course of this decade will determine the fate
of humanity, you know, as a father of two kids, you know, I, I view it as my responsibility, right? It's my responsibility to do everything I can in my power to be a good custodian, a good steward and to try and pass, you know, create a world that not only they can survive in, but a world they can thrive in. Um my background in, in, in acting, I think is, uh and I do a lot of public speaking, I think, um, certainly assists me in uh in this mission.
It's a, it's a skill set that I think serves us well. And if you look historically too, at um you know, elections, uh charisma and public speaking capabilities are kind of important and relevant to this job.
Jason Spiess
How can people find out more about your platform about your candidacy or if they wanna, I imagine donate some money or even volunteer for the cause?
Brock Pierce
Yeah. Uh come to our website which is uh Brock, the R O C K dot Vote, the O T E, Brock dot Vote or Brock the vote. Uh and you can uh sign up uh to, to, to learn more, you can check out policy. We uh uh uh volunteer and, and contribute.
Jason Spiess
And one final question before we let you go and try to become the next president of the United States. And by the way, I, I love the fact that you're running for president. I'm so grateful that, you know, there's more than just the typical Republican democrat like I loved it when Gary Johnson threw his hat in there and was trying to make a go at it. So I I, I, I truly wish you luck. And if nothing else, we're getting the, some new conversations out there for people to have.
And, and, uh, anyway, so you're always welcome back on this program. But I did wanna ask you, what were you doing in North Dakota today? I understand you're out at, uh, uh, uh, a Native American, uh, reservation or something along those lines. Talk to me about your trip in North Dakota.
Brock Pierce
Yeah. So I'm from Minnesota and so always happy to, to visit the neighboring states. I met up with the uh the mayor of Bismarck, uh met up with some of the indigenous indigenous elders from standing rock, uh got a tour and remember, I'm 39 I turned 40 in November, you know, so time is on my side, you know, I'm going to be running again and again and I'm going to be supporting 100 independent thinkers, 100
independent candidates in 2022 up and down the ticket. And so I'm just grateful to be traveling around the country, connecting with people and seeing, you know, what everybody
Jason Spiess
needs. I was wondering if you were maybe doing something with the Bitcoin mining that they were doing. Uh We have a great American mining company. They're, they're the mining Bitcoin out in the and in a couple of their shale plays. They come on our program from time to time.
They're one of those uh big giant boxes out there that is, you know, capturing the natural gas and turning them into Bitcoins. Do, do you know much about that? Are you, is that anything you're involved in or? Yes, I,
Brock Pierce
I, I, I know all about it. Um, I was one of the, the, the first kind of major people doing that in the world. Uh, uh I, I, I'm in every aspect of the Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, you know, Blockchain industry. I've started many companies in that space. Uh, also co-founded the first venture capital firm in that space.
So funded tons and tons of businesses. Um, and, uh, uh, it's, it's very much connected to the energy industry, right? It's, it's all about that business. It's all about your cost per kilowatt hour and if you can produce cheap energy, you can be in the Bitcoin mining space.
Jason Spiess
All right. Well, I appreciate that. Uh, I did, like I said, I just wanted to find out what you were doing up in North Dakota. So, uh, good luck. And, uh, happy Trails to you, sir.
Brock Pierce
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Have a great day.
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The Crude Life Podcast: Bitcoin Billionaire and Former Presidential Candidate Brock Pierce