Jerry DeVries

Healthcare investor, earnest dad/husband, faulty but improving Christian, LSU Tiger fan, struggling follower of Stoicism, loves great beers. Grateful.

[The All-In Podcast @theallinpod]

it’s makers vs takers

[Seth Cohen @OverReactor1776]

Now that I’m out of government, I can finally respond for myself: Get bent, soyboy. We didn’t do this for “Silicon Valley . . . companies.” We did this for you, for your family, your community, your state, your nation, and your species.

Nuclear energy provides the safest, highest density, reliable power available on our planet. My career colleagues at DOE and NRC inspired me to think about nuclear as a way to forge American steel and electrolyze aluminum without releasing particulate matter, to desalinate water in the Middle East and save humanity from resource wars. By rejecting the false narratives and Cold War hysteria, we can secure the next American century while raising whole countries out of poverty.

Do you really think I left an incredible career at Kirkland, paid out of pocket for an apartment in DC and dozens of cross-country trips, and left my family on the west coast because I wanted to enrich people I never met before taking this job? I came to D.C. to do something that mattered, to satisfy a driving curiosity (more on that later), and, most importantly, to serve.

As I learned more about nuclear energy and its history, I developed a conviction that one nuclear’s biggest issues was a culture of cynicism: nothing new or exciting could happen because it would end in disappointment, and that militated against rocking the boat even a tiny bit. The career staff in government and their industry counterparts lived through dark winters before and stopped believing that warm springs could bloom into summers.

I have two core philosophies. First, I believe in ruthless optimism. Rational decision making requires detached risk analysis. But we also cannot win if we believe we can lose. Merging the two requires orienting teams around driving missions. That way, when a real opportunity presents itself, you can take a huge swing.

If I take credit for anything—honestly, almost all of the success belongs to the incredible and dedicated people at @ENERGY and @NRCgov—it’s countering the cultural rot and morass that risked forfeiting American excellence. My colleagues and I gave cover to the scientists and engineers, which freed them up to focus on delivering safe power. And, as success materialized, they started to dream again. That’s why the pilot program succeeded, and why I feel confident about the future of NLICs and NRC reform. Nobody needs me anymore because they can innovate on their own.

My second core philosophy is to assume positive intent. Avi, I know that you heard about my real motivations from multiple people you interviewed when preparing your hit piece on me. Rather than telling that story, one which could help inspire another generation of people to use their talents for the greater good, you ignored them. Instead, you implied that Peter Thiel recruited me for nefarious purposes. (I’ve never met him, but, @peterthiel, if you’re reading this, I’m a huge fan!)

Nuclear regulation starts and ends with safety. I promised everyone I worked with that I would resign before doing or pushing for anything that could compromise public safety. But I also distinguished between real safety and performative bullshit. That’s what the careers came to embrace, too. We love nuclear, why would we do anything that could risk threatening its future?

America faces a crossroads. We can either trod a road of cultural decay or hike our way back to the peak of global innovation. Join me on the latter path. Correct the fear mongering and conspiracies and tell the story of America’s great reindustrialization. Tell the story of our public servants, our great entrepreneurs, our scientific dominance. Tell the real story about how DOGE went nuclear.

[jay plemons @jayplemons]

The great lie is that society is divided between rich and poor.
The great truth, as David Friedberg puts it, is makers vs takers.

Makers build, create, and deliver real value: houses, software, art, businesses, and everything that moves civilization forward.

Takers watch, criticize, analyze, and politic. They push the lie that the rich hoard unfairly so the poor must seize it… all while positioning themselves to rule the chaos.

As @friedberg tells his kids: “At the end of the day, if you made something and someone else valued it, you were a maker. That was an amazing achievement. That is a great day.”

Takers thrive on division. Makers drive progress.

Time to choose your side.

[Jerry DeVries @jerrydevriesLSU]

@RolandForTexas I don’t know you, Roland.
But you’re an idiot.
Stop being a leech - and do anything to build, be helpful or add value.

[Jerry DeVries @jerrydevriesLSU]

This guy grew up in Austin - he used to be called, Steve-O. Now...he is clearly COACH SABINS!
Ya gotta love great coaches; he's one of em!
Amazing run for the Mountaineers, loved watching.
Just another reason to follow College Baseball!!

[College Baseball Insiders @Theinsiders]

“I’m just really lucky, I got an opportunity when I was 27 years old, had no recruiting experience, I had been to West Virginia once and Coach Mazey took a shot on me as a young guy with energy…”

West Virginia HC Steve Sabins talks about what this season has meant to him and his career at West Virginia and the state as a whole

Question asked via Taylor Kennedy [Charleston Gazette-Mail)

[Jerry DeVries @jerrydevriesLSU]

Free speech - so vitally important to the fabric of America - was almost lost. It's scary and sobering to hear this story. And it turns out, he was RIGHT - and those trying to silence him were VERY WRONG.
Of course, no apologies?! Either we learn from history or we are doomed to repeat it.

[RedWave Press @RedWavePress]

SHOCKING: Joe Rogan on Speaking Out During COVID: “I can’t even talk about it but there was presidents involved and former presidents involved that were contacting Spotify [during COVID]. Oh yeah. Trying to get me removed for vaccine misinformation. Yeah. And it turned out to be right. All of it. Not a single [person] f*cking apologized... I lost a lot of sponsors. I lost a lot during those days. It was interesting… There was a time it was working... There was a lot of coordination.”

“It’s pretty deep. It was nuts, but it didn’t work. But they tried. They spent a lot of money, a loooot of money.”

“Thank God I was on Spotify and thank God Spotify is not an American company. And also it helped that I was number one in, like, 90 countries and not number 90 in one country, you know? That helped. That helped a lot.”

[Jerry DeVries @jerrydevriesLSU]

@SenBillCassidy You're wrong.
You know it.

[Jerry DeVries @jerrydevriesLSU]

Gotta love Mike!

[DiscussingFilm @DiscussingFilm]

Bob Odenkirk has returned as Saul Goodman in a new video celebrating 250 years of America.

[Jerry DeVries @jerrydevriesLSU]

@PEoperator You tweet a lot of wisdom.
But this is particularly wise....

[Jerry DeVries @jerrydevriesLSU]

@pmarca Well, the good news is the new-and-improved @60Minutes has a solid story to investigate and report on! Can't wait....

[Jerry DeVries @jerrydevriesLSU]

Freaking amazing!
Completely, totally inspiring!!!!!

[a16z @a16z]

Against all odds.

Congrats @elonmusk and @SpaceX.

[Jerry DeVries @jerrydevriesLSU]

@ways2wellX I use Ways2Well - I love it! If you do their blood work (it's twice a year) AND get a DNA test... jeez?! Dump all of that into your AI and get amazing insights.
Even after that - I did get a consult with one of their folks and it was worth it!

[Jerry DeVries @jerrydevriesLSU]

@APompliano Enjoy every minute of this, Anthony! I'm a Cajun boy...when the Saint finally won the Superbowl, I went all out!! BTW, thank you to Drew Brees and Sean Payton! And... geaux Tigers!

[The Rabbit Hole @TheRabbitHole]

“Tax the rich”
We already do.

“Make the rich pay their fair share.”
They already do.

These slogans are catchy but inaccurate. They reveal that someone is misinformed on taxation in the United States.

[Jerry DeVries @jerrydevriesLSU]

@statesman Because…of course!

[Jerry DeVries @jerrydevriesLSU]

@DNIGabbard Well, at least now @60Minutes has a really strong story they can follow up on! Absolutely crazy info - ya almost can’t believe this?!

[Jeffrey A Tucker @jeffreytucker]

The revelations six years later are pouring out so quickly that it is impossible to keep up much less mentally process all this:

* The Director of National Intelligence has documented 120 US-funded/owned biolabs in 30 countries many of which are manufacturing and manipulating infectious diseases.

* Senator Rand Paul's committee has released the receipts concerning US funding/backing of the manufactured SARS-CoV-2 virus/vaccine as part of this program.

* Senator Johnson has produced definitive evidence that US public health agencies knew of the grave dangers of the shot to everyone but said nothing.

* Many officials are privately admitting/proving that the whole point of lockdowns was to preserve population immunity for the shot and block other avenues toward wellness.

* Hardly any of this makes the national news and one wonders if the public mind has any awareness at all.

[X Freeze @XFreeze]

Protesters are standing outside JPMorgan Chase in New York this weekend, holding giant banners that say “STOP ELON • NO TRILLIONAIRES” and “ELON IS STEALING YOUR PENSION”

These people are protesting the greatest success story in modern history. Let’s look at the actual reality:

• Elon has already paid more in taxes than almost anyone alive
• Tesla and SpaceX employ well over 100,000 people and actively push humanity forward.
• Through DOGE, he already helped cut billions in wasteful government spending. That saved taxpayers hundreds of billions.....meaning he actually helped secure grandmas' pensions by slashing bureaucracy, not the other way around.
• Friday's historic SpaceX IPO didn't "steal" from anyone. It created massive value, turned everyday workers into millionaires, and rightfully made him the world’s first trillionaire

He didn’t steal anything. He built it from the ground up

His companies have created massive job growth, accelerated sustainable energy, and are literally building the infrastructure to make humanity multi-planetary

Rather than celebrating excellence, demanding the government punish it is pure evil

[Jerry DeVries @jerrydevriesLSU]

@tetsuoai Yes to all of that. AND - he saved some astronauts for the US, too.
Funny how that didn’t get a lot of press?
He’s a builder.
People who can’t build want to take away or tear down things builders build?!?

[Jerry DeVries @jerrydevriesLSU]

@EricJorgenson Eric, I have praised you and this book previously in replies. It is AMAZING!
Almost everyone who builds - or wants to - should consider it a reference manual.
Get this book, folks!!