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Welcome to The American Dream Factory, where we don’t sugarcoat reality — we design for it. In this spicy solo episode, Nick Smoot serves up a no-BS framework for building better systems, companies, communities, and lives by embracing one hard truth:

👉 Humans are selfish. Stop expecting otherwise.

Instead of hoping for good behavior, plan for predictable behavior. Create rules and incentives that make doing the right thing the easiest (and most rewarding) thing. Whether you’re leading a city or starting a side hustle, this episode will help you flip your mindset and win the game by designing it better.

📚 THE 4 BOOKS TO BUILD A SHARPER MINDSET:

1. The 48 Laws of Power — Robert Greene: Decode power moves. Learn how others might manipulate you — and how to build ethical defenses.
2. The Origins of Virtue — Matt Ridley: Virtue isn’t selfless. It’s strategic. Learn how cooperation really works in evolution and economics.
3. The Road to Character — David Brooks: People are messy. Character is built, not born. This book will give you grace and grit for the journey.
4. Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Master’s Insights : A master of systems thinking. Understand the power of incentives at the national (and personal) level.

💡 Key ideas in this episode:

• Why your systems are failing — and how to fix them
• What bacterial behavior can teach you about teamwork
• The dark side of ambition and the bright side of honesty
• Why the people you admire were often disasters behind the scenes
• How to design real-world incentives that actually work

🚀 Want to be part of a movement building real cities and actual impact?

Join us at buildjournal.club — tools, events, goals, and a community of creators who are worldbuilding offline.

Points, progress, podcasts, and purpose. We’re done playing video games. This is the real one.

Questions? Ideas? Want to argue about human nature? Hit up Nick. And if this hit home, send it to a fellow builder. Nick@buildcities.com

#EveryoneIsSelfish #BuildPodcast #TheAmericanDreamFactory #DesignTheGame #CityBuilders #IncentiveDesign #Economics