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00:00:01
Cut All Social Safety Nets???
29 Plays4 months ago
Political frustration leads to a doom narrative by Lance. Matt pretends he doesn't care but somehow he has a lot to say. These "Pieces" are inching towards thoughtful dialogue but as long as they keep referring to themselves as "Pieces of Sh%$" how can anyone hold them accountable for what they say?
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Transcript
Elimination of Social Safety Nets
00:00:00
Speaker
Consider the following social experiment. Suppose we eliminate every single American Social Safety Net program. There are many, so let me increase the playback speed as I read them.
00:00:11
Speaker
TANF, SSI, EITC, CTC, SNAP, WIC, NSLP, TFAP, Section 8, LIHEAP, Public Housing, Homeless Assistance, Medicaid, CHIP, ACA Subsidies, Unemployment Insurance, WIOA, Social Security, SSDI, CCDF, Head Start, and Medicare.
00:00:30
Speaker
Yes, we all pay into Medicare, but do you think elderly and disabled people could avoid financial ruin without it? So yes, it's a safety net. Let's cut all those programs.
00:00:42
Speaker
What would happen?
00:00:44
Speaker
Historians and economists believe cutting all American social safety net programs would lead to the following. Extreme poverty would go through the roof. Hospitals would collapse due to skyrocketing emergency room visits.
00:00:56
Speaker
Many seniors would face bankruptcy paying for healthcare care out of pocket. The economy would plummet into a depression alongside a dramatic decrease in consumer spending. Charities and churches would burst at the seams and turn people away.
00:01:08
Speaker
The infant mortality rate would jump to something absurd. Child poverty would be a common occurrence. Life expectancy would plummet. Political and social upheaval would yield dramatic increases in crime and violence.
00:01:19
Speaker
It would most likely be hell on earth.
Compassion Through Suffering
00:01:23
Speaker
However, now brace yourself for this ill-advised contrarian take. Once our populace starts witnessing and experiencing widespread suffering and death every day in every state, county, city, and town, we might begin to inspire a new collective compassion.
00:01:42
Speaker
We might return to religion, return to our humanity, and perhaps our fixation on individual success falls to the wayside. And maybe building healthy communities becomes our primary purpose.
00:01:55
Speaker
Today, we can easily insulate ourselves from the lives of the disadvantaged, but if suffering were right in your face, so widespread that you couldn't hide, how might you change?
00:02:06
Speaker
How might we change? Would we actually devote our time and resources to helping others? Perhaps we would redefine the basic rights of American citizenship. I don't know.
00:02:18
Speaker
I'm just a piece of shit.
00:02:23
Speaker
I'm a piece of shit. I'm
00:02:28
Speaker
piece of shit.
00:02:32
Speaker
All right, dude. So there's been a lot of talk lately about government bloat, government inefficiency. So I teed it up for this episode that what if we got rid of every social safety net program? Anything that we provide to help people who maybe can't help themselves, either temporarily or long term, what would happen?
Capitalism's Failures and Societal Change
00:02:49
Speaker
And I found myself recently with all the chaos, more interested in seeing shit kind of burn down. and And I think I felt this at various points, regardless of who's in office.
00:03:00
Speaker
of like, let's just let's just see some widespread suffering. Let's see people misery and hopefully we get to some positive change out of that. But also like I have my own individual version of it where Like I want, I've been getting way more giddy and this is over the last 10 years when the stock market is really getting the shit beat out of it.
00:03:22
Speaker
I get real giddy. I'm like, yeah, okay, there you go. You pussies. I just like widespread greed, widespread individualism. All these things I think are pulling at me to root for failure. I don't know if it's failure of capitalism, failure of society to some degree,
00:03:39
Speaker
Certainly failure of whatever shenanigans and bullshit they're doing in Washington right now. But anyway, I was curious if you felt that way. And I want to get into the experiment of getting rid of all social safety net too, but I'm just curious about your overall feeling about letting it burn.
00:03:56
Speaker
i I mean, I get that way too. i want I want both sides to fail. like I mean, there's just so much hypocrisy in everything that people say. oh You talked about shenanigans going on in Washington.
00:04:10
Speaker
There are probably people that are like, i I think we should clean up the fentanyl crisis on the streets of America. And I think that they're anti-narco or something, but they might not agree with the message of Trump's idiot.
00:04:22
Speaker
crew of people trying to implement tariffs to get Mexico to do something about their, their narco problem. So it was like hypocrisy on both sides of that a little bit. It's like, well, we all agree that like, Oh, we don't want rampant fentanyl and drugs come. It's like where are they coming from?
00:04:36
Speaker
It's really hard to digest any, any comments coming from anyone that lives in the U S I would say. What way? Cause they're fake or they're, they're selling something or what? They're fake. They're uninformed. They're there's hypocrisy.
00:04:51
Speaker
But that's not what we're talking about here today, right? I think what you're kind of you're kind of wondering if, let's just say what what sort of what Musk and Trump are doing and sort of this this sort of drive to the right, all sorts of stuff is happening, right? Even like the the woke movement, anti-woke movement, if it works, let's just say it works. you have So the positive is like maybe our economy is better, maybe we're a safer country, who knows what? Maybe there's more jobs in the U.S. s But then you have to go, oh, this, this worked because these idiots implemented this. And kind it's like, it's almost like you don't want that, right?
00:05:28
Speaker
ah You don't want that. You don't want this to be the right way to run a country. Right.
Political Hypocrisy and Capitalism's Impact
00:05:33
Speaker
That's good point. You'd rather have it fail than have them be right. Is there a little bit of that? Yeah, I'm not so attached to what they're doing because in concept like cutting government expenditures on things that are ineffective ah makes sense to me. I just don't think they're doing that. I think they're just going after what they view as wokeness stuff. And they're really not going to get at anything meaningful in the budget unless they go after social safety nets, the big ones, Medicare, Social Security.
00:06:03
Speaker
Yeah, that's a little bit of a hypocrisy that I think like there's a big show what they're doing and shit. But are they gonna I mean, are they gonna do anything like that? Probably not. so They realize they can't politically, right? So we're cutting Social Security.
00:06:15
Speaker
Right. It's going to have to be done. Like it if there's there's a shortfall. So I go to the wall. Well, if you're going to do this, you're going to go through this exercise. Let's let's test your theories. Supply side economics, nutbags.
00:06:29
Speaker
Let's test your Republican theories of pull yourself up by your bootstraps and we'll cut all this shit. And let's see who votes for you. Let's cut it all. Yeah, just everybody who's over 70, figure out your health care. They'll probably charge you $8,000 a month. Let the market solve it all.
00:06:45
Speaker
Let the market solve it. And it's going to be a mess and it's going to be a collapse. And I kind of want to see it. Zero regulation. Zero social program. Yep. We'll have the the rivers on fire again and we'll have people in bankruptcy over basic health care.
00:07:02
Speaker
Fine. Let's see it. Let's do it. Fucking ass wipes. What do you think? Would that matter? any issue right now youre just blame it on the previous administration right it's like uh cleaning up cleaning up what what biden did or or just cleaning up what bush did or cleaning up what obama did clean up what trump did that's that's the way that's like um i guess what i'm saying is if it just crashed and burned right now nobody nobody would be accountable So it's like, I don't know if it's worth it.
00:07:33
Speaker
Maybe the voters. I think our biggest problem is we putting faith in these people who. No, but who? Nobody's doing that, is there? e Well, why is there so much fervor and money spent and and like people attending rallies, political rallies, if you weren't putting faith in these people to make positive changes in your life?
00:07:55
Speaker
ah To some extent, Trump just appeals to people's anger. I think the individual itself, and this is why I wanted to burn a little bit, is because the individuals have become, their attention spans are so low, so pathetic, so easily susceptible to capitalism's capitalism's pitch to buy everything possible and be addicted to everything they put out.
00:08:22
Speaker
they' such We're
Narcissism and Society's Values
00:08:23
Speaker
such pathetic people. pieces of shit that there's got to be a wake-up call and widespread suffering even though it'd be disproportionate could be what we need and so maybe watching trump because he's so erratic and so fucking stupid blow shit up is what we need for folks to coalesce around something more meaningful like some moral framework or some community or something that makes sense It's interesting that I think you you were adamant for for how long we've been doing this now? Maybe a year and a half?
00:08:58
Speaker
Yeah. little more than year and a half. And you were you were really like, I don't want to make it political. But what's going on now is really driving you crazy. You can't help it. I guess talking about social safety nets is inherently political because those are created by a government.
00:09:15
Speaker
Well, I guess maybe you're kind of, you have Trump, but then you kind of have this DOGE, don't even know how they pronounce it, but this Elon Musk crap. Is that what's kind of bothering you, that thing?
00:09:26
Speaker
And do you know anybody who's been affected by it? ah Yeah, I have, quite a few people. But i would I would say it's mostly the idea of oligarchy and rich people hijacking democracy.
00:09:42
Speaker
Right. is it's basically Bernie Sanders' boring fucking message that he's been spouting for the last 15 years. The billionaires, the billionaires. So at this point, i'm i'm I'm frustrated that people are so susceptible to not only the worship of people who've made money, but just the companies that are dishing out the same shit over and over.
00:10:03
Speaker
And I'm just like, well, let's see how bad it can get. And maybe we come back together in a local... community way and take care of each other and, you know, have friends again and not want to be influencers and not want to do all of these so what I view as destructive things in society and be fucking addicted and have 17 vices and need therapy. And i mean, and it just like, yeah, let's just fuck. This is fucking such a train wreck.
00:10:30
Speaker
The schools are miserable. ah Now that this, again, this is like disillusioned Lance ranting, but like it does feel that way. There's a compulsion to be like, yeah, let's just get so much suffering out here. Let's go to war with Canada. We'll do all kinds of crazy shit.
00:10:44
Speaker
And maybe people will fucking get their heads back on Maybe you'll be able to read a book again. I'm not sure. Maybe it's Canada. Fucking take their maple syrup.
00:10:56
Speaker
It's just, I don't know. It's weird. Like what people believe, like the influencers. and I've seen some stuff where most those people are renting out shit. You know, like, I don't know. they might They're renting like a fake cockpit of a jet, like like a private jet. that's like It's just in a studio.
00:11:15
Speaker
to to like embellish like so they look cool uh oh yeah it's just it's crazy what people believe right now like i was just talking my parents and my dad's been staunchly republican his whole life but i was like they live at least their mail says aurora colorado i was just fucking with him yesterday or sunday was like have you been attacked by any venezuelans in your neighborhood No, there's no issue in Aurora with Venezuelan gangs.
00:11:44
Speaker
like but But I'm sure you know people that actually believe that, that like Denver and Aurora being taken over by MS-13 and all this. It's like what people believe is...
00:11:55
Speaker
is in my I have family members that believe that the that the quality of their life has been completely degraded because of immigrants in their area and crime. And,
Media and Political Critique
00:12:05
Speaker
you know, you hear the sirens going off and you hear all the chaos and the sirens. And OK, it's cool if they're in Coors Field playing for the Rockies, turning double plays and hitting bombs, but not living down the street.
00:12:19
Speaker
Mm-mm. Salon fentanyl. There's a lot of that going on, and I don't know how to decipher the different sources of information. We're all sort of slaves to our own algorithm.
00:12:30
Speaker
I only will seek out front anything I really digest. Digest is like long form, but... I'm not the problem, Matt. Everyone else is the problem. So I'm just frustrated with this idea that people are so programmable, so programmable in all sorts of ways to your point of like, they'll believe anything.
00:12:48
Speaker
If you haven't figured out by this point that what you hear on TikTok is extremely biased, and then right right now, here cue the right winger. CNN is the most, NPR, NPR is the most biased thing I've ever, NPR, okay, i just listen qualitatively to the two, but like, dude, if you think TikTok and fucking, and Facebook are not terrible sources of information at this point, and I can't help you, so let's just let you suffer, we'll take your social security away, because we'll get government out of your life, we'll take it away, we'll take your Medicare away, and then let's see, see you think, gotta think, how about a return to civics,
00:13:27
Speaker
Return to understanding how the world works. It's just too much stupidity, bud. I'm just just angry at the populace. There you go. That's it. And so you're still in it. so One way or another, you're still being you're still like being affected by it.
00:13:40
Speaker
and Is it better to be affected by it and try to try to drive some change? Or is it better to do what I've done,
Corporate Manipulation and Identity Politics
00:13:45
Speaker
which is... Stay completely outside like don't listen to any of that crap be completely unaware what's going on but also not be Not be pissed off. Just I'm just assuming that most people are idiots like I don't even mean that in a bad way like they're they're dumb I just mean like if you if you if you're plugged in the all the modern forms of entertainment, you're just getting Piles and piles of bullshit.
00:14:10
Speaker
It's like I just thought I'm unplugging Yeah, but you talk about it as in terms of like, eh, it won't matter. And now, like I think you would probably admit that the stakes are higher now in terms of like the things that have been put in place or the the developments in the American political system. Well, are you on the the democracy might fall side of things? People are like, the end of democracy that's happening in um Am I on that side? i mean, I'm ah logically sifting through actions now. So Trump was a lot of talk.
00:14:44
Speaker
That whole administration, the first time was a lot of talk and everybody was up in arms about what he said. And I was less compelled by that. I was less compelled by the wokeness craze. Wokeness has taken on a whole new life in terms of how it's defined, but whatever.
00:14:57
Speaker
I wasn't compelled by that. And now there's actions being taken that go against our political norms and what you would define as democracy. And we can hear from other people in this world who have been through it and they go, this is exactly what happened in our country. This is exactly how it started to take shape.
00:15:17
Speaker
So there's that for sure. That's a piece of it. You're saying you don't need to unplug. You're not plugged in. I am digesting it now. What I'm challenging you to consider is like, I'm digesting it now because it's concerning.
00:15:33
Speaker
It's not like, oh look at those bumpkins in the red states, fucking idiots or or whatever. I'm not like shaming or say I'm actually going, oh man, there's some real risk here for everyone.
00:15:44
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I even, you mentioned Bernie, like Bernie's probably somebody would have pushed whether you like it or not, actually would have pushed something in a different direction and his own people. Sold them out and fucking... They totally sold them out.
00:15:57
Speaker
and And just where I got two words. So you can't you can't trust those people. what What's the um the stuff that people have talked about later? Like the inclusion programs? What's that? Is it DEI?
00:16:08
Speaker
Whatever? Yeah. Diversity, equity, inclusion. Yeah. And when you see when you see companies... act like they're representing. It might be like a woke movement. And then how quickly they bail if like their numbers change. or it's like um It's really hard to even think about how you... I want to take a side just so you know that stuff. It's such a joke.
00:16:29
Speaker
like I don't know. Look at Budweiser. They had like a they put a trans person as a There was spokesman and immediately freaked out because of Mark, which is just like, what are you thinking? It's Budweiser.
00:16:41
Speaker
It's so stupid. Don't you know who you are? And Target did the same. And we've talked about this previously. They go to the gay pride parades and be like, oh, we love everyone in here buy this gay person, we said we support you. And and and then they then they pull their DEI stuff or they or they they lower it. And it's a huge backlash because people thought Target was more progressive than that. People thought it was a real feeling, not ah not ah not a financial decision. But but the the thing about it is like, what's worse?
00:17:16
Speaker
and When you realize these people are just doing it either to check a box, either like for regulation or because because they're getting too much pressure. But then when they don't have to do it or it doesn't tie financially, they stop. You're immediately like, well, that's a joke. i mean, that's how i feel about the Democratic Party of Bernie.
00:17:31
Speaker
It's like they're worried that they might lose the middle. And it's like, fuck it fuck you, Bernie. You're out on your own Bernie Island. And and we're going to back this other guy who went to high school with Cain and Abel. Come on.
00:17:42
Speaker
Yes. And you if you really want to be cynical, the political motivations as an individual to be remain in office are are probably more financial than we want to believe.
00:17:53
Speaker
It's power and it's finance. But like let me say this, dude. like The corporations, we know, right? They'll shift on a dime to continue to profit. Which is all right. It's okay.
00:18:04
Speaker
I love when they market themselves as the most inclusive and green. Stop all that shit. I mean, stop it all. So there's a CEO from Coinbase, which I don't believe in crypto and all that. But ah he. Another day.
00:18:17
Speaker
In 2020, I want to say at the height of all of this. you know He was getting a lot of backlash for like from his app employees, like saying, why don't you you need to implement all this stuff, you know go this heavy DEI route.
00:18:31
Speaker
And he eventually concluded that's not going to work for us because like politics is not what our business is about. So he said no politics in the company. Now, that comes across as very right-winged.
00:18:43
Speaker
In that moment, it comes across as very right-winged. But that's super logical. no that's We're not about identity politics or any politics in this organization. And if you are, fucking stick with it.
00:18:55
Speaker
Stick with it through the ups and downs. but Stick with it. That's the fucking key. yeah but but if But if you're not, then don't pretend that you are just because you don't want to look bad. And this guy, to the detriment of at least publicly his reputation, took a lot of hit.
00:19:11
Speaker
And now come back around like nobody even cares. And he's like... somebody that looks super principled. So what we lack now is are principled people starting at the individual level.
00:19:22
Speaker
Like what do you support on an individual level? We just don't have enough thinkers on an individual level to have any sort of activism in terms of the choices we make. And that's what I want more of.
00:19:34
Speaker
i can't I don't expect the corporations to fucking get ideals and principles and that will serve society. I expect them to serve themselves 100%. one hundred percent But at an individual level, can we change? If not, why don't we just burn it all down, take away all your bullshit and let you suffer and stop talking. And then maybe we come together because we're all in pain.
00:19:57
Speaker
That's all I can think of. That's the sad part. What's a what's a collapse? What's an adequate collapse for you that where you go? Okay. That's good. Like, do you, um what you want, I don't know, is it ah is it a market thing? The Dow Jones is back down to like 8,000, like after 9-11 where it lost 80% of its value? Or is it more like people out in the street all addicted to crack and and wandering around? do you want true anarchy?
00:20:24
Speaker
Like just a war zone? ah pop ah pop apocalyptic and in nature. okay I don't want any of it. And this is, again, is rational Lance talking. But like, yeah what I would like for people to see, it's sort of what's the Christmas carol where he has the dreams and the ghosts visit him.
00:20:43
Speaker
I'd like people to see life without the government. And I'd like to see an environment with no regulation and watch corporations and businesses run wild.
00:20:54
Speaker
Watch them run wild doing things to the detriment of citizens. How about then a view of like, let's take away all your social safety nets. let's Let's watch the suffering that we see.
00:21:07
Speaker
ah Your mom and dad have to move in with you because now they don't have the income to live. All these types of things. Is this what you want? ah So let's be clear about what we actually value in society.
00:21:20
Speaker
All I think we value is like this individual success. Yeah, the the the rampant nature of narcissism right now across the board is...
Capitalism versus Individual Resistance
00:21:30
Speaker
is And that that's really when I talk about, well, I'm not that interested. I'm i'm interested. I like, I'm trying to start a business. I'm, I need, I need some positive energy going on the economy, at least stability, but right I really shy. This is actually like one of the, besides my logistics and my relationship, my family and stuff, like one of the things where I kind of backed away from standup, just like this endless narcissism and self-promotion.
00:21:56
Speaker
That is the number one issue I have with like, the government right now. I don't mind like some of the shit that people are worried about the tariffs and I mean, I think there's some, every once a while you have to fight some bullshit going on out there. Maybe Mexico needs a clean, like, I was watching a show on HBO down here. i don't know if it's up there. Those, what was the chapitos or like Chapo, Joaquin Guzman's kids were like, they're the ones that really started, like once he went to jail, the, you know, that narco guy, his kids were, one of his kids had the idea, like he he realized that there's so much margin in fentanyl and they're the reason why there's so much fentanyl epidemic and in the U.S., not just from pharmacies, but
00:22:33
Speaker
but But these guys have like, related they had relationship with the Mexican president for like years. It's like so obvious. And it's like, you know, all these countries down here in Latin America, it's fucking ridiculous.
00:22:47
Speaker
Like the the basic principle, like Trump is like, these people need to take, like clean up their own yard. It's like, and that's probably true, right? They're like, some of these principles are true. There probably is a trade gap with buying shit in China. People want labor back in the US. Something something has to change.
00:23:02
Speaker
sure But what I don't like about what's going on with him, Andy, is just the narcissism. And that's like what I'm sort of tapping out from. And like, and you see that on both sides. I don't need to get into the woke, the woke side of narcissism and how I need to define myself and all this crap. And not only do I need to define myself, but you need to, I need to do it in the, i need to be able to do it in the workplace and you need to do it all that stuff. It's like,
00:23:27
Speaker
what are you guys talking about? ah Just like the narcissism is what I can't digest in our society. It's intense. Like Ted Cruz is a great example of somebody that's done literally nothing. A great guy. Oh, okay. Nevermind. Nothing legislatively, but obstruct. His whole career is obstructing progress.
00:23:47
Speaker
And he's such a piece of shit. He's like a little gargoyle that you want to fucking kick across the room. And like that kind of guy. But he just seems like a true politician. Just a snaky piece, slimy piece of shit. looks like the, he he reminds me of something you might see in ancient Greece where it's like he's standing next to Socrates as one of the politicians. And he's got like two little boys that follow him around and feed him fruit.
00:24:14
Speaker
And he's also preaching about righteousness and pies. So like that a guy like that, I mean, I think probably everyone's just like, oh, there's politicians or idiots would agree that he probably is. But like some of the people you said there that are digesting the message right now, like maybe that Venezuelans are taking over Aurora or whatever, would they would they look at someone like Ted Cruz and be like, all right, I have to draw a line in the sand. This guy's ridiculous. They're like, no, he makes sense.
00:24:42
Speaker
Like how deep is the blindness to this stuff, you know? That's the million-dollar question is I don't – I truly don't know how to reach the level of stupidity that we've gotten to. and This isn't a ah left or right thing. Like, oh, left out people. We're elitists.
00:24:59
Speaker
The narcissism is not a left or right thing at all. No, no, but it's not even like this. It's political. It's political. Yeah, the idea that we're we're not interested in details of of what's happening.
00:25:11
Speaker
That's a so whole society thing. You can see that on both sides. Like the right has lots of good points. like this They have lots of good points, and the left does as well.
00:25:23
Speaker
And the fact that there is no reasonable debate um makes me feel like let's just let it all fall apart. And the fact that our citizens can't have a conversation, can't process information,
00:25:36
Speaker
There's so few people anymore. I mean, I know they're there. I hear them on at least the podcast that I listen to call in, and they're smart. But there are just so many more surface-level idiots, and I think it's unacceptable. And those are the people that, quite frankly, I want to see suffer so that they step up. No, because they need to step up, and they to understand how things work.
00:25:59
Speaker
And stop ranting about shit and putting things in your your Facebook feed. I have family members that they suck on the teat of the government more than anybody I know.
00:26:10
Speaker
And, you know, taking unemployment and other things. And they fucking talk as if... They're free market people. They talk as if... Other people are fucking us over, not them, right? right Right. So those that group of people, which I'm estimating now is 40% to 50% of the entire country on both sides...
00:26:30
Speaker
Just hypocritical. Let's let them suffer. And the people that have figured some stuff out and will move towards the right things hopefully help ah bring it all back together. That's cruel.
00:26:41
Speaker
That's a cruel way to think of things. I know that. But that's all I can come up with, dude. Failure. Well, that's dark, dude. that's dark dude Yeah, it is dark.
00:26:54
Speaker
and desire for a clean slate. It's like apocalypse, bro. ah you're But you're also, you know, you're taking some action. Because I think people think their fucking Facebook posts are actually relevant, meaningful.
00:27:08
Speaker
yeah You're actually doing something and they're not, but like, what, uh, what are you going to do You mentioned something that you were going stop, going change some of your buying habits, shopping, shopping. Right. Right. like How can you rant like this and then not have any idea of what you are? But I will tell you the lens that I see things through and we're all different, but I, the lens that I see society and the function of society through is economics.
00:27:31
Speaker
I will say that most of our sinister criminal behavior stems from poverty And I look at the future with AI, with advancements in robotics, and I worry greatly about the value proposition of a human being in this society in terms of their ability to have a productive work life and connect with other human beings.
00:27:58
Speaker
So those two things are happening quickly. What I'm mad about is how big business has hijacked community and even the moral framework of our society.
00:28:10
Speaker
We worship capitalism and individual success more than anything anymore. So to that end, you can see sort of like the right wing moral framework, at least the old school version of it makes sense. But like, what am I doing is more of now my activism and my thoughts and and my actions now are are sort of beginning to be anti big business.
00:28:33
Speaker
especially big business that doesn't have principles. And so I cut Amazon, which, dude, it hurts. So convenient. Did you do one last order, bro? No, I won't do it.
00:28:45
Speaker
ah We're going to go to this local market for groceries for the most part. And we will because we still think Costco is a principal company. We'll go there for some major bulk items.
00:28:57
Speaker
But those are a couple examples. I'm also just like, you know, put your money where your mouth is. where You talking want to talk a lot of shit about climate change? Well, we've spent the money to get solar. Yeah.
00:29:09
Speaker
fucking i have an e-bike we have two gas cars though the kid that my son and my wife i want to fix that is one a priesa uh my daughter has that yeah okay gave her that one anyway the the but but for me it's really i guess in alignment with bernie it means my stocks would go down in order for our society to be better and more equitable and I think I'm willing to accept that. I'm willing to actually like divest in some of these companies. I love that Tesla's crashed.
00:29:42
Speaker
I love that Tesla's crashed because people have said, no, billionaire, get the fuck out of the government, run your business. and we're And if you're not going to do that, we're going to like... crash I think it's gone down like 50%, bud, since he started fucking with Doge.
00:29:57
Speaker
People have been protesting all across the world, dude, at his dealerships. I've that. Check it out. I don't know how much. Last last I checked, it was pretty far down. Is that warranted? Is that just like the hatred of Trump? Or you think it's...
00:30:09
Speaker
What do you think? it I mean, that because it is the electric car company. It's an electric car company, but here he is having developed this car company off the tits, the milk tits of the government with the federal credits for buying electric cars, which his business wouldn't have succeeded.
00:30:27
Speaker
And then he's out here telling the world what should be cut out of the government. it's The symbolism is ironic. And I think people don't like it. And I agree with them. And I love that they're out protesting the business side of it. This is where I think we need to step up.
00:30:44
Speaker
The only power we have, again, is what we spend money on. What we give attention to as well. weird That's a weird one. Yeah. like the Because what's the right thing there?
00:30:58
Speaker
I think you punish billionaires who are trying to buy elections. Dude is literally trying to buy a federal ah district court judge election in Wisconsin. He's put $20 million into it.
00:31:09
Speaker
No, I get that. But then you go, so what do you how do you fight Are you going to go out and buy a gas car? Because that doesn't like serve your initiative either. Well, here's the great thing about capitalism. There's other options.
00:31:20
Speaker
Yes, indeed, my friend. Yes, indeed. this is where I want people to be tougher, more stoic. Like, oh okay, so the insurance companies are jacking insurance to extreme levels. Well, i'm going to figure out how not to be a driver anymore. So go for Co-legal alien style, dude.
00:31:35
Speaker
No insurance. I'll drive uninsured and the people who are insured will pay more. They'll fucking pay more because I'm not insured. And then when I get an accident, you'll you'll end up having to pay more. And every that's what actually happens.
00:31:49
Speaker
Fuck you. Yeah. Same with medical procedures, right? but Yeah. The hospitals get flooded and then your your hospital services go up. you're you're You're doing it. you're a man of principle and you're actually trying to follow through on it besides just posting shit on fucking Facebook and talking about it or through your iPhone, which we all have. But like, I look that that's always the, the great ironic hypocrisy of people bitching about stuff like labor and, and, uh, the environment and they're posting it through their, their phones.
00:32:20
Speaker
and somebody's going to have to get me a real reason to get on Facebook and Instagram or TikTok. I don't have any of those. I don't plan on getting any of those ever. I think they're horrible.
00:32:31
Speaker
I had to, I had to, had to go on these things a little bit lately because, uh, like trying to get our business going. It's, it's miserable it's pretty quickly. Like it's just fun. I mean, it's, it's kind of crazy. I mean, some of the shit on Instagram while I'm there, like looking for stuff for work, it's like, I'm getting surf shit and stuff, but it's, it's just bizarre how quickly they're like,
00:32:50
Speaker
There's some ass pounding you. Yeah. I haven't found anyone who likes to show off their bodies on Instagram yet. i don't know if i have a bad algorithm or what, but like, you got to search a little bit and get girls. No girls will get slutty on Instagram. It seems like it's really bizarre, but, uh,
00:33:07
Speaker
what a Yeah, it's just it's really fucking weird. I mean, it's it's like you could get really into it and make it some sort of sci-fi thing about how they're stealing our minds. But it is crazy how, like, i might even get this conversation if I had, like, I don't know, Google or Instagram open, I might start getting feeds immediately just from, like, our voices being recorded, like, related to this. Like, it's pretty crazy the way those things are, like...
00:33:35
Speaker
analyzing you in rapid time and pounding you and stuff to get you like addicted. Are they doing that? Dude, it's so obvious. They're recording our voice. It's so obvious, dude.
00:33:46
Speaker
I'm not quite there and believing it. I've had a few things where i was like, how do they know that? You know? They do anticipate well. They do. I don't know how they do it. They might be doing that. But I think that Instagram, Facebook, all of it ruined society, ruined our youth.
00:34:01
Speaker
And it just pumps ads. All it does is pump ads, targeted ads into your fucking face, hijacking your attention for your whole life. Like think about your whole life for many of these kids is going to be watching bullshit on YouTube and TikTok and What a miserable fucking life. Too bad.
00:34:19
Speaker
But yeah, let's i want those cop I want people to resist companies like that. I want them to say, nope, I'm done with this shit. I like the RFK, not the way he thinks in totality because he's kind of a freak.
00:34:33
Speaker
But the idea that like, I don't give a fuck if you're a major corporation and you can lobby. If you are pumping out unhealthy food, ah go fuck yourself. it We shouldn't make it easy. I love that. That's great.
00:34:47
Speaker
I love that stuff. I love this. i I just like pushing back on. ah Now, of course, Trump is deregulating gambling, which is going to be terrible for people. The young men are so. he just reminded me of something.
00:35:01
Speaker
Yeah. Keep going. and he's And he's hawking crypto, which also is another fucking casino. Yeah. of total gambling nonsense. du This is all your, all your rants in one.
00:35:14
Speaker
You start, you'd like, do not, you're not happy with the direction of society, huh? It's the meta rant. Yeah. I just wonder, you know, we're talking about this collapse of society. i guess I don't, maybe, i maybe I don't, I mean, I have issues with a lot of stuff you're talking about. I, maybe I don't see them as but like, i can't tie it to like the world collapse.
00:35:34
Speaker
Okay, well, let let me throw them out to you and you tell me well and see if you have a problem with it. Do you think the Trump administration going after law firms who previously took cases that were their role was to prosecute Trump or Trump adjacent people for potential crimes?
00:35:52
Speaker
Seems like an attack on democracy. Yeah. How about shutting down media? Do you find that to be problematic? How about talking about, I'm going to have a third term and go against the 22nd Amendment and the Constitution.
00:36:05
Speaker
All these sort of weird things are really new and potentially concerning. And there are many, many more, including rounding up people that you assumed were part of a Venezuelan gang.
00:36:19
Speaker
And many, at least five of them were, Just because they had a tattoo, have never had a criminal record, or shipped off to some fucking hellhole in El salvad el Salvador.
00:36:31
Speaker
Completely, like a total lack of due process, right? That's just like, think of that as like your kid. Your kid was walking around and he had a tattoo and he's he's kind of brown. Ship has asked the El Salvador.
00:36:44
Speaker
Right. that's That's some scary shit. That's like some, you know, World War II. By the way, there's ah the World Surf League is the next event in El Salvador starts tomorrow.
00:36:55
Speaker
Oh, shit. i I even think that's funny, though. like they're Clearly, you don't want to be in an El Salvadorian prison. Yeah, yeah. But I think a lot of people in the U.S. are such idiots.
00:37:07
Speaker
and The whole country's not terrible, right? Yeah, they just assume El Salvador. Oh, my God.
Complacency in American Society
00:37:12
Speaker
Or it's like, fucking send me, man. It's like a cheap, it's cheaper in Costa Rica. Well, and Mexico, too. Like, you know, like there's so many great places in Mexico, including Mexico City.
00:37:24
Speaker
um yeah Yeah, no, it's just kind of funny. I mean, i just think, you know, I think that one of the big problems is like, and this is only, it's only natural, dude. Like, the success of the U.S.,
00:37:37
Speaker
and Just how easy life is mean whether we're gonna admit it or not like life is everything's there man. It's pretty easy So people have just so much free time And any any great civilization, like just through their own success, they're going to fail because people are just not hungry. It's like the kids of rich people never have, a lot of times, don't have the motivation, except for El Chapo's kids, apparently, were driven to succeed.
00:37:59
Speaker
But you just don't have the motivation that your hungry, fucking starving father mom or somebody just arrived on a boat Ellis Island. You just don't have that drive. And I think...
00:38:12
Speaker
you know, people are generally just dumb in the U S like they might be, they might get 1600s on their SATs, but they're like, I mean, even trying to set up shit like WhatsApp or something with ah somebody from the U S it's like, well, we use, we use, uh, iPhone texts. I don't, what is this app? What's it called?
00:38:30
Speaker
It's like, so foreigners are just so much more savvy in so many ways. I think that's just the complacency of life in the U S. So what's going to happen? All the bullshit you guys are being fed is just naturally,
00:38:42
Speaker
you're susceptible to it because we're just kind of fat and lazy. And it's just the way it is, dude. So you might get your collapse. Well, shit, I'd love to disagree with you. Complacency has taken hold.
00:38:55
Speaker
Most of us care about really trivial individual pursuits. And at times, including myself, like stacking up stock wealth, trivial individual pursuit.
00:39:06
Speaker
Yeah. But you're holding yourself accountable. Yeah, maybe. Because there's a way to do both to have this great American life and be true to your values. And like, like when it went in the history of time of we've been had the time to be susceptible to something like angry Facebook messages. Never.
00:39:24
Speaker
Not even in our life. I mean, probably only in the last 15, 20 years. i mean, work is so automated. I don't think anybody knows, though, what a great American life is, though. What a great life is anymore.
00:39:35
Speaker
If it means material success alone and like you have popularity within your community or beyond, that's success. That's not enough.
00:39:46
Speaker
And I don't think it'll sustain us. But to your point about students who are achievement mongers, got 1600s on the s SAT, but they can no longer read a book because they're fucking addicted to TikTok or whatever.
00:39:59
Speaker
it's just ah It's just a weird... It does feel we're on like we're on the verge of a dystopian society, especially as you interject AI and this this this really corporate profit-worshipping mindset in the country, venture capital mindset.
00:40:14
Speaker
Like a lot of people are following venture capitalists and and investors and people who have been successful in capitalism like they're gurus of the world. It's sad.
00:40:25
Speaker
It's a sad state that those are our idols. And I just worry about that as we introduce AI. like how quickly will society become disconnected because we're using AI to supplant human damn well human connection. yeah Well, AI though will get even worse.
00:40:44
Speaker
And then when you know they don't they have purpose now in their work, but their relationships are starting to get severed. Like people are too pussy now, work on a relationship to go and date.
00:40:55
Speaker
And it needs to be some fantasy version. You just start to see, How sad it is. And so I guess to your point, can we go back to a state where you don't have time for any of this? Because you need to fucking go find some food for the eight people who are living in your house who all have no job and have no safety net.
00:41:14
Speaker
Do you need some mass scale suffering to reconnect with what it means to be a human? I'm to say no. I've seen, i just think there'll be, there'll be a shit. I mean, I think people, have you seen anyone that's just heard like I shut down on my social media or even my daughter's 13, very susceptible stuff.
00:41:34
Speaker
It's kind of like, yeah, and'm I'm going to, I'm kind of checked back on some of this stuff. Like sometimes people have to go through the it's not like on a world level or nation level. Someone just has to be like, what am I doing?
00:41:46
Speaker
If you're right, and it's like, that's not even possible. We're too captured. Then that's really sad. But I think you're you're I think people probably will start to make some of some of those decisions.
00:41:57
Speaker
you Like you don't hear anyone go, I love it, man. Everybody is like, i don't I don't know. I don't look at Instagram that much. No, not really. and I'm not addicted. like no Everyone denies it and then is also kind of looking at their phone while they're telling their kids not to look at their phones.
00:42:12
Speaker
like andov it They did a survey, I think, with Gen Z maybe. And they were like, do you wish TikTok it wasn't ever invented? And they're all like, yes, I hate it. Yeah, but I'm on it six hours a day.
00:42:24
Speaker
Well, yeah, because they they miss out socially. They miss out like in terms of the social the connection piece, they feel. yeah But it's a sad world, dude. like I'm encouraged, though, when people stand up and protest for things that make sense.
00:42:40
Speaker
And we've all looked for boogeymen. like We looked for the racist cop boogeymen, and we talked about that last week in the George Floyd stuff, and the police are the problem, and blah, blah, blah. And we look for all these boogeymen. They're like rally cries. Yeah.
00:42:55
Speaker
yeah The boogeyman, in my opinion, is where you spend your money and where you spend your time. And right now, the masses are doing an injustice to themselves and to society as a whole.
00:43:08
Speaker
Mic drop. Just kidding. I'm not going to say anything. I think there's a there is a bit of a correction coming. It's already happening. I mean, the the right the Trump administration, they they harness that.
00:43:22
Speaker
They actually did it. They did it right. And now there's got to be another like kind of counterbalance. The only target, though, to me is income inequality. I think you go after unprincipled, gang-raping big business and their political influence, their lobbying, all of their bullshit.
00:43:42
Speaker
I just wonder, though, As long as we have most of our time is free time, um things are going to change. I don't know how to. The only people that seem to come to terms with this are people that fill their time with like insane shit, whether it's like.
00:43:56
Speaker
Well, who has free time though? i don't what i don't I don't know if I agree with that, man. Everybody has free time. They're just filling it with nonsense. but Well, but you're saying people in our category of work were multitasking with their bullshit social media apps and other dumb shit.
00:44:12
Speaker
Everyone. But also just work itself is not like, ah it's not like, it's not actually that much time anymore. And maybe it doesn't even captivate our minds like it used to. It's sort of like I'm doing it to means to an end.
00:44:26
Speaker
i just don't think we and in even the the concept of an eight hour workday, which nobody does. But like, yeah, that's not even that much. But that's a segment of society. Do there are a lot of people in the service side that are on their feet fucking grinding all the time.
00:44:39
Speaker
Yeah, there's that. But even like those rules, they can only work eight hours a day. They're probably smoking. What was a work day at the turn of the century? The last turn the century is like 16 hours a day, six days a week, something like that. 12 to 16. Yeah. Little kids were doing it too. It's great. It's like we just have a lot of free time and now we have the tools to fill it with like endless fake gratification, dopamine hits. I don't disagree.
00:45:04
Speaker
So let's let's burn it down, man. You'd have to sacrifice your interests. So slabs would struggle. Well, about this? Investments would struggle. Would that be okay?
00:45:15
Speaker
I would say this. So I can see what you're doing, like ah from a house, managing my house level, you're trying to get more green, you're making buying decisions. What could I, I'm starting a small business and we're kind of like, well, we're slaved to the process. Now we have to, we have to do advertising on these plates, on these sites.
00:45:31
Speaker
What are what am my, what are my options? To not be part of the enemy. Or if you built more community around the business in the St. Louis area and let go of like this sort of Amazon online thing as an option.
00:45:42
Speaker
that That would be one. That's the goal. Yeah. It's like a community where like, oh, this place is so cool. And like, it's fun to come here. It's eventually and they have a showroom and they're in They're doing events and people love that wood.
00:45:59
Speaker
No, no, that's the goal. I just like, how do you even to do it that, that, mean, we are going to have that, that, I mean, the Amazon would be a small piece for business, but like, how do you do that right in this day and age without kind of using, I mean, maybe you could say that's, that would be a good use of social media.
00:46:12
Speaker
If you can encourage just like community events or no, you think it's all bad. I don't know, man. I don't know that. I think that you'll have to, there's no all or nothing. I want some advice. God damn it.
00:46:25
Speaker
How do we not be part of the problem? Well, I think you to for you to not be a part of the problem is for you to say, regardless of whether you're social media or Amazon, but mostly you could ditch the Amazon approach. But like you, it's to say, we want to be a part of the local community.
00:46:42
Speaker
And you could spread, if you want to grow, you could spread that mindset to other cities. But it's not just about, oh I want to sit at home, sell as many fucking pieces I possibly can through Amazon.
00:46:55
Speaker
I mean, I think that's our goal. think that's our goal. I think everybody would enjoy that a little bit more. but So we have to let go, though, of like, and which is why the Amazon thing is tricky.
00:47:07
Speaker
It's so useful. And I just said, ah fuck it. I'm not going to do it. I'm going to a store here where I have to go talk to somebody about some stupid little part that I might need.
00:47:19
Speaker
And they'll probably tell me to go on Amazon, at which point I'll say, Or they're ordered from Amazon and sell to you for five bucks more or something like that. At least I talked to somebody. At least I talked to somebody.
00:47:33
Speaker
That is true, dude. You're like, wow, i talked to a human. i'm ah I'm a martyr. To just have a conversation in society. Do you remember those? Remember those, buddy? Oh, they're the worst.
00:47:45
Speaker
The worst. Talking to people. That's how people feel. like who Everybody says they're an introvert now. Everybody's a fucking introvert. No, you're not. I got damn introvert. You've just been trained your brain now to like isolate.
00:47:58
Speaker
It is kind of funny though. When you have a conversation like that, you feel like, wow, it's like some amazing thing connection. Yeah. Well, so anyway, let's close this shit up. dude It's enough. All right.
00:48:12
Speaker
You are, you're making changes. You, uh, you would, you would like to see, see society crash to a point where at least it wakes people up.
00:48:24
Speaker
ah yeah Yeah. Not to start a new thread, but it feels like we just had that. with with covet and it only only pushed people in the wrong direction dude it did worse dude it got more crazy yeah the more fucking crazy what you wish for huh so i don't know dude there's this idea that i would escape to costa rica and you'll tell me that ain't gonna do shit for you um but there's this feeling of i think you just sometimes you just need change you need to kind of walk away that'll happen you'll get that
00:48:55
Speaker
ah Life is like that, but that's how it feels right now. I think the society in general overall needs some significant change and politicians aren't going to deliver it. Trump is certainly not going to deliver it.
00:49:07
Speaker
he's He's so erratic and self-interested. So it's it's it's more we're going start with people. He can't deliver it if the people following him are blind. Like if you want to go, i just think that, I mean, I have a problem with that on both sides. Like people that won't acknowledge If something, if he does something good, I mean, you're acknowledging that maybe the ah RFK, ah RFK appointment was actually a nice thing to shake things up, whether he's crazy or not.
00:49:31
Speaker
You, you can do that. There are people that can't acknowledge anything on either side and that's not helpful. Trump, he's a fucking president. All presidents do some good things just by the nature of being the president of the United States.
00:49:45
Speaker
He'll probably do something good. If nobody can acknowledge that, that just pushes people further apart. you know it just push the people further apart and And you saw that a lot with Obama. People that were like, nope, economy's not good.
00:49:58
Speaker
Things are bad. Everything's bad. It's like, it's fine, dude. Fucking or Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton did a lot of great shit. He seems like a sleazy fucking yeah real sleazeball. But like, there was some good stuff going on there.
00:50:12
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, but he's he's good. He's a good politician. And he did some some smart stuff. Yeah, he talks about actual policy stuff. He did talked talked about policy stuff really efficiently. Anyway.
00:50:23
Speaker
It's like I have to start acknowledging that some African Americans are pretty good at basketball. Until I can do that, you can't you can you can't take my my passion for Cooper Flagg as real until I can acknowledge that some of these other guys are actually pretty good basketball players.
00:50:40
Speaker
But... I'm not there yet.
00:50:46
Speaker
I'm piece of shit.
00:50:51
Speaker
Ooh, I'm piece of shit.