Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Tariffs Hit Shein, Crime Stats Lie & Family Drama Explodes
0 Playsin 2 hours
The price of your favorite Shein and Temu hauls is about to skyrocket! Why? New tariffs on China, Mexico, and Canada are shaking up online shopping, and the real cost of imports is about to hit YOUR wallet. But is this really about trade, or is the government using tariffs as a political smokescreen?
Plus, we’re exposing the truth about crime statistics. The media and politicians push fear-driven narratives about crime being out of control, but the FBI’s own data tells a different story. So, who’s lying? And why?
Then, we dive into a wild Reddit family drama—when religion crosses the line, is it ever okay to cut off family? Boundaries, beliefs, and parenting choices collide in this heated debate!
If you’re tired of media manipulation, government deception, and social double standards, this episode of Unsolicited Perspectives with Bruce Anthony is for YOU. #TariffsExplained #CrimeMyths #shein #MediaManipulation #familydrama #podcast #unsolicitedperspectives
🔔 Hit that subscribe and notification button for weekly content that bridges the past to the future with passion and perspective. Thumbs up if we’re hitting the right notes! Let’s get the conversation rolling—drop a comment and let’s chat about today’s topics.
For the real deal, uncensored and all, swing by our Patreon at patreon.com/unsolicitedperspectives for exclusive episodes and more.
Thank you for tuning into Unsolicited Perspectives with Bruce Anthony. Let's continue the conversation in the comments and remember, stay engaged, stay informed, and always keep an open mind. See you in the next episode!
Chapters:
00:00 Welcome to Unsolicited Perspectives 🎙️🔥💥
01:13 Why Your Shein Haul is About to Get Expensive: Tariffs Explained 🛍️💸
02:33 The $800 Loophole: What You Need to Know About De Minimis Exemptions 🕳️📦
05:27 War on Drugs: Lessons from the Past That We’re Ignoring 🚨📜
07:25 Legalize It? The Bold Debate on Drugs and Society 🌿⚖️
18:30 Crime Rates vs. Reality: Is Fear Selling Us Lies? 🕵️📊
21:17 Fear Sells: How Media and Politicians Shape Our View of Crime 📰🎭
26:36 The 1994 Crime Bill: A Legacy of Harsher Penalties ⛓️📜
27:47 Sensationalism vs. Reality: The Truth About Crime 🎥🤔
28:54 Living in a Police State: Would You Trade Freedom for Safety? 🚓⚖️
32:39 Confirmation Bias: Are You Believing What You Want to Believe? 🧠🎯
35:41 The Real Solution to Crime: Investing in People, Not Prisons 💡❤️
40:02 When Family Crosses the Line: Religion, Boundaries, and Kids 🙏🚫👶
54:50 Final Thoughts: Cutting Ties and Moving Forward ✂️🚶♂️
Follow the Audio Podcast:
Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unsolicited-perspectives/id1653664166?mt=2&ls=1
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/32BCYx7YltZYsW9gTe9dtd
www.unsolictedperspectives.com
Beat Provided By https://freebeats.io
Produced By White Hot
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Episode Preview
00:00:10
Speaker
Welcome. First of all, welcome. This is Unsolicited Perspectives. I'm your host, Bruce Anthony, here to lead the conversation in important events and topics that are shaping today's society. Join the conversation and follow us wherever you get your audio podcasts.
00:00:24
Speaker
Subscribe to our YouTube channel for our video podcasts and YouTube exclusive content. Rate, review, like, comment, share, share it with your friends, share with your family, hell, even share with your enemies.
00:00:36
Speaker
On today's episode, we're going be talking in tariffs, crime, and a man that's just absolutely fed up with his sister-in-law. But that's enough of the intro.
00:00:49
Speaker
Let's get to the show.
00:00:57
Speaker
So I hope you're ready. I hope you're ready.
Impact of New Tariffs on Consumer Goods
00:01:00
Speaker
Because if you've been buying Shein stuff, I told y'all in a couple of last but podcast episodes ago that I bought some clothes from Shein. My sister talks about it all the time. I bought some stuff from Timu.
00:01:11
Speaker
I mean, you know, it's hit or miss. But all that stuff that you think, all those cheap, cheap discounts, even the stuff that you get off of Amazon that's from China, The price of the brick, to quote Marlowe Stanfield from The Wire, is about to go up because these tariffs that the current administration are going to impose on China,
00:01:32
Speaker
Mexico and Canada are about to make our goods go up. I was agitated yesterday because a friend of mine texted me and said, hey, you know that tequila that you like? i was like, hell yeah, I know that tequila like that I like.
00:01:44
Speaker
They said, it's about to go up because of these tariffs. And I'm like, damn it. And you don't know how much that we import and consume in this country. that are are going to be affected by these tariffs. So let's specifically talk about the tariffs that are placed on China.
00:02:03
Speaker
Okay. And how it's going to affect my clothes shopping for the spring. Cause I got to buy a new wardrobe and she in is the spot. So if I can't go through she in, what am I supposed to do? Fashion Nova.
00:02:15
Speaker
I mean, yeah, like fashion over too, but she ain't got them better prices. I got to go where the brick is cheaper. All right. So the USPS, All right. That's the United States Postal Service halted inbound China and Hong Kong packages due to new tariffs and the elimination of de minimis exemptions.
00:02:34
Speaker
Now, I'm only going to say that one time. I'm just going to say it from here on out. The exemptions is de minimis. OK, that's what it's called. It's a de minimis exemption.
00:02:44
Speaker
And what is a de minimis exemption? Now, I did say I was going to go say it one time and I just said it three times. But what what it is, is it's allowed duty free entry for packages under eight hundred dollars.
00:02:55
Speaker
It's removal aim to enforce tariffs, but risk disrupting cross border trade. Now, what does that mean? So every time that you order from Shein and Timu, if you spend in over eight hundred dollars, i don't know what you buy. Are you buying everything?
00:03:10
Speaker
Are you buying all the things? Because there is no reason to be spending over $800 on Shein and Timu in one purchase because things is just so cheap. But if anything is $800 or less, it's duty free, which means it goes through customs relatively easily because that's what this exemption is, the de minimis exemption. See, I said it multiple times and I didn't mess up.
00:03:33
Speaker
So with these tariffs, this exemption is going to be over with. That's how our products from Shein and Timu, and I'm just specifically naming them. There's loads of other companies that send over products that are fall under this exemption.
00:03:51
Speaker
I'm just pointing out these two because, you know, I've talked about it before and these are, you know, kind of the most popular to me. But now, It's going to be tougher for these packages to get through, which is going to stall you receiving your package packages. And what's ultimately going to happen is these tariffs are going to get passed on us because that's how tariffs work, ladies and gentlemen, are going passed on to us.
00:04:14
Speaker
So these great savings that we're getting from Timu and Xi'an or whatever that you get from Amazon that but that's that's sent from China or Hong Kong, the price of the brick, like i said, is about to go up.
00:04:27
Speaker
And now the administration is saying that they're putting these tariffs into place, not just in Canada and Mexico, but also China and Hong Kong.
Tariffs and the War on Drugs
00:04:35
Speaker
Okay. Because they want to stop the the flow of drugs, specifically fentanyl.
00:04:41
Speaker
And everybody keeps focusing on fentanyl. Fentanyl is dangerous, but you know, I mean, all of a sudden stopping the flow of drugs into America is a really big issue. And that's because the fentanyl is affecting certain communities that, uh,
00:04:56
Speaker
Typically, cocaine and heroin didn't affect. And now it's kind of a big deal. Also, fentanyl is potent. People be dying over fentanyl. People die of all drugs, but people really, really be dying over fentanyl.
00:05:10
Speaker
So they want to stop the flow of drugs into this country. Now, I'm going to take a quick aside and just put my own unsolicited perspective, which isn't unsolicited because y'all are listening to the show. So it's solicited.
00:05:24
Speaker
Everybody has looked on the war on drugs wrong. So I remember I was doing a fitness class. It was bootcamp. And when I was teaching classes or training or everything, I talk.
00:05:36
Speaker
I talk a lot. It's the reason why I can do this podcast. I talk by myself for an hour. I talk to take ah the clients or the participants in the class's mind off of what they're actually doing.
00:05:48
Speaker
So I'm engaging in conversation, cracking jokes, very much doing the podcast, right? Like I was doing a podcast before doing a podcast in these classes. And one time, it had to be in 2009, 10 maybe, I brought up, they should just legalize drugs. And the whole class, now you have to remember, the class is made up of Washington, D.C.
00:06:12
Speaker
people, Washington, D.C. people have a stick up their ass. ah They think that they're alpha, but it's a lot of A-type personalities, very, very stick up their butt type people.
00:06:23
Speaker
And they were yelling and screaming, like, how could you say that and blah, blah, blah. And I simply said, hey, look, if you decriminalize and make legal drugs, I'm You can start to help the people who are using the drugs because people that are using the drugs are using the drugs for a reason.
00:06:43
Speaker
Sometimes, hey, I really like this feeling. A lot of times it's I'm trying to escape from something. There's a lot of mental health issues that's associated with the use of drugs, with it any really with any addiction.
00:06:56
Speaker
Right. Alcohol. Eating, video games, TV, porn. There's a mental health factor that's affecting this, that's causing this addiction. So I would say, look, let's just legalize drugs.
00:07:10
Speaker
That way we can control drugs, make them so that they're not so dangerous where people are ODing, and then give opportunity through social programs that help the people that want to get help.
00:07:25
Speaker
been saying this for years the idea that
Broader Implications of Tariffs
00:07:28
Speaker
you're going to stop the flow of drugs into this country is ridiculous you're never going to stop drugs they've been trying since i've been alive and i've been alive for 44 years i went through the whole dare program they have been trying they have never been able to stop drugs and even when they think that they've stopped jobs when they shut down a cartel and they thought it was done with pablo escapade and the cali cartel came out then they shut down the cali cartel the north cali cartel came out And then they started they shut down North Cali cartel and then cartels popped up in Mexico. You had the Juarez cartel. Then you had the Sinaloa cartel.
00:08:01
Speaker
You know, you get people going to get these drugs. They're going to get the drugs. We've done a made a great step and decriminalize in drugs, but we need to make another step. Just legalize them, legalize them. And if we're manufacturing the drug.
00:08:18
Speaker
We can make it less potent. Well, I mean, theoretically you could, because have y'all ever listened to all the side effects, all these medications that people could take for various things?
00:08:30
Speaker
And it's like, I got, i'm taking this because I got, you know, heart palpitations. Why am I getting anal linkage? Why is this medication going cause me to be impotent?
00:08:42
Speaker
Why is this medication going cause me to grow to grow a third leg and lose an eyeball? Like, I don't know what's up with these side effects. So theoretically, if we were the ones that were producing the drugs, we could make it less potent. We could at least cut down on overdoses.
00:08:57
Speaker
That should be the way that we do things. Instead, this current administration is deciding that they're going to put tariffs on not only Canada and Mexico, but also China and Hong Kong.
00:09:07
Speaker
And because of that, because of these tariffs, The price of the brick is going to go up. Everything that we import that we use on a daily basis. And ladies and gentlemen, just go into your cabinets and look at containers and look at casings of whatever it is that you're using on a regular basis and see where it's made from.
00:09:32
Speaker
It's there. A lot of stuff that you're getting is from Mexico and China and some stuff from Canada as well. So we're all going to be affected and it's not going to stop the the flow of drugs.
00:09:45
Speaker
OK, it's not going to do it. And so, yeah, this is what this administration is is doing. And China is fighting back. China is saying, look, this is a WTO violation, World Trade Organization.
00:09:58
Speaker
This is a World Trade Organization violation that you can't do this. This is argues against the terrorist breach date, the WTO o rules, which is harming mutual interest, which is going to be causing they if the U.S. continues to do this this, is going to cause a trade war, which is going to upset allies. Because, I mean, that's kind of what we're doing right now. We're just upsetting allies.
00:10:19
Speaker
Right. And cause like some real. geopolitical issues because we can't handle our problems. And that's really what it comes down to, right?
00:10:31
Speaker
We can't handle our problems. It's like the parent that has a bad-ass kid and sends that bad-ass kid to school, okay? And at school, that kid is bad.
00:10:45
Speaker
So the school calls the parent and the parent says, well, what are you doing to correct his behavior? and and and and and No, no, no, no, no. It's not the school's responsibility to correct the behavior.
00:10:57
Speaker
You knew he was bad when you sent him to the school. You correct the behavior. It's your responsibility. It's your child. We are America's citizens. These are our problems.
00:11:09
Speaker
We're only consuming what we want to consume. Nobody is forcing anything on us. I used to love it when they were when we were in the D.A.R.E. program. And it used to be like the drug dealer was coming to the school, pushing drugs on kids.
00:11:22
Speaker
Hey, look, I grew up in the communities that drugs were being pushed. I've gone, walked down the street and seen a drug corner and people open air drug markets.
00:11:34
Speaker
um I've been there. Nobody is pushing drugs on you. Nobody is saying, hey man, you want to try some of this crack cocaine? You don't have to push drugs on people.
00:11:45
Speaker
Drugs sells themselves. I hate the idea that people call drug dealers salesmen. They're not salesmen. They're not salesmen. They're providers. That's all they do. They don't have to sell.
00:11:56
Speaker
All they got to let you know is, hey, I got some crack cocaine. I don't know why. I'm fixated on crack cocaine. I just like saying crack cocaine. But like there's never been a dude selling weed just being like, hey, man, have you ever tried weed? You should try You would like it.
00:12:13
Speaker
No, that that's never happened. These are myths. And only people that a those type that say those things are true have never been in in those type of environments, have never even been approached to to offer drugs.
00:12:26
Speaker
What drug dealers will do is say, hey, I got that if you want it. But they're not going they not going to the playgrounds and and pushing it to kids. That was never the case. This is an American issue.
00:12:38
Speaker
It's an American citizen issue. America should fix the issue. But instead, we're trying to push the blame on somebody else. It's China's fault. It's Canada's fault. It's Mexico's
Crime Rates: Perception vs Reality
00:12:48
Speaker
fault for not closing the borders and allowing this in, as opposed to it being the American citizens' fault, who are actually the ones using the drugs,
00:12:57
Speaker
Why don't we, I don't know, really try to put a lot of money into social programs to help these people get off drugs? If you help people get off drugs, you'll have less people consuming drugs.
00:13:11
Speaker
And then the the people that are supplying the drugs to America will be like, hey. America look like he's a dried up market. Let's go somewhere else. Because that's what happens with drug dealing. If they go to a spot and the spot is dry, they don't keep selling drugs there.
00:13:26
Speaker
They try to go to a spot where the spot is hot, where people is just falling over themselves to get the drugs. So, If you help solve the social ills of America, you'll reduce drug consumption. Will you eradicate it? No, that's ridiculous.
00:13:44
Speaker
They've tried eradicating smoking. And i I know the numbers are down. Less people are smoking through through each generation, right? Boomers, y'all act like smoking was it.
00:13:56
Speaker
Like a lot of boomers were smoking. Gen X, too. Millennials, we started getting a little different. We was like, yo, man, your breath stinks. I get up out my face with that smoke breath, man. don't dig that. Hey, man, don't like the way my mouth feels the next morning.
00:14:10
Speaker
Yo, smoking gives you cavities. I don't want my teeth to fall out. I spend a lot of money. Well, my parents spent a lot of money on these braces. You know I don't want my teeth to fall out. Plus, being snaggletooth ain't cool.
00:14:21
Speaker
I don't want that in my life. So I don't want to smoke. Right. And I don't know if Gen Z is is actually smoking. They're vaping. A lot of these kids are vaping, but that's because it's got little fruity flavors.
00:14:32
Speaker
You know, look, if you put some cereal in my face and it is regular old Cheerios and then you got Fruity Pebbles right next to it, I'm going to go for the Fruity Pebbles.
00:14:45
Speaker
So, of course, the kids are vaping because it's got all those fruity flavors. But that still is not as bad as that. You know, there's some arguments, but still not as bad as that nicotine that's coming out of that cigarette.
00:14:56
Speaker
So people are smoking less and less. My point is. Generations move down and people start to do things less and less because the stigma surrounding them is is not as cool as it was in previous generations.
00:15:11
Speaker
Everybody smokes weed because now, you know, we're finding out that the weed and marijuana has really good mental health factors. But we kind of always knew that and physical factors are helping you improve your health.
00:15:25
Speaker
Weed isn't really a problem. Cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines, fentanyl. Okay. But the people that are using these things, they need help.
00:15:38
Speaker
They need real help. There are mental health issues that are going on with it. Also, you know what else you get when you legalize, when you decriminalize and then legalize the cellar drugs? Less violence.
00:15:51
Speaker
Because drug dealers aren't fighting over territory. I mean, we've seen this before. know i get on my soapbox because I'm a historian and I've seen these things before.
00:16:03
Speaker
The story repeats itself over and over and over and over again. You know how I know this? Because you know how I know that I'm right? Because we've seen this before. When did we see this? During Prohibition.
00:16:15
Speaker
We saw it during Prohibition. We tried to outlaw the sale of alcohol. That didn't stop people from drinking. It just gave rise to a criminal organization known as the mafia.
00:16:29
Speaker
That's how the mafia, the mafia, the organized crime existed, but that's how the mafia made its money. Every, every mobster has said that, look, if it wasn't for prohibition, we wouldn't have been where we were in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 90s.
00:16:45
Speaker
Like it would not have happened. That jumpstarted criminal organizations. So what are we? and And there was a lot of violence. There was a tremendous amount of violence.
00:16:55
Speaker
What happens when you legalize liquor again? Ain't no more violence. If it is, it's just violence because people getting drunk, like the old normal violence of people, you know, just drinking and being drunk, but not people shooting over territory, trying to get the the the warehouse to produce their bathtub alcohol or their beer.
00:17:17
Speaker
You eliminate crimes. not eliminate, but you eliminate the violent aspect of this crime by legalizing drugs.
00:17:26
Speaker
Yes, this conversation was about tariffs because I want my She-Anne stuff, okay? But it's also about what why these tariffs are being put in place.
00:17:37
Speaker
These tariffs are being and put in place stop to stop the flow of fentanyl into this country. And in order to stop the flow of fentanyl into this country, Why doesn't the current administration focus on fixing the issue of the people that are using fentanyl as opposed to making my clothes become more expensive?
00:18:07
Speaker
Speaking of crime. If you watch the news, if you hear the current administration, crime is a big deal. it's crime all over the place. Man, if you if if you listen to the news in the current administration, it's like the purge outside, right? Like everybody's out there getting it.
00:18:23
Speaker
And there is a rise in certain areas But there
Media and Political Influence on Crime Perception
00:18:30
Speaker
isn't. So what are we talking about here? Because how is there a decrease in crime rates, but an increase in public perception that crime is higher?
00:18:45
Speaker
Well, let's first get into the statistics of it all. The official data, the FBI reports, and oh, by the way, when we talk about the FBI, there's a certain segment of the population that distrust the FBI now.
00:18:58
Speaker
Which is funny because another segment of the population has been telling you for decades that the FBI has been crooked going all the way back to Hoover and some of his illegal dealings. It's a lot of people assassinated in the sixties.
00:19:10
Speaker
They were only trying to uplift people. You celebrate Martin Luther King now, but at the time, He was labeled a socialist, criminist, commie, bad guy, criminal.
00:19:22
Speaker
That's what they go back and look at the news reports and newspapers. i That's what they labeled a mass. OK, so it's funny now that people are starting to say the FBI is crooked.
00:19:34
Speaker
When it affects you, however, The FBI as an organization is not crooked completely. Deals with whoever the director is. It's about to get crooked with this new director.
00:19:46
Speaker
But anyway, so there were some official data from FBI reports showing decline in crime rates. Yet the public perception often contradicts this. For example, 77% of Americans in a 2023 Gallup poll believe crime was worsening despite statistics indicating otherwise. And there's been a historical trend in in this.
00:20:07
Speaker
In 23 of the 27 Gallup surveys since 1993, more than 60% of the U.S. adults claimed crime rose nationally, even during periods of steady decline.
00:20:19
Speaker
So what is the reason for this disconnect? Well, there's FBI um lag in data, right? So data released in 2015 is it typically received until 2016. So it's you're not getting the data real time.
00:20:37
Speaker
But more importantly, the most important thing is media influence. Sensationalized coverage of violent crimes despite property crimes being more common, right?
00:20:49
Speaker
Property crimes are more common than violent crimes. Statistically, it's not even close, okay? So let's just put that in perspective, okay?
00:21:02
Speaker
So despite all of this, your local news typically amplifies fear. And then may mean world syndrome, right?
00:21:13
Speaker
Heavy media consumptors, falsers believe that the world is more dangerous than it actually is. And then political rhetoric, right? Campaigns of policymakers often highlight crime to sway public opinion, regardless of actual trends.
00:21:27
Speaker
We just saw this. We see, look, I just spoke about the stopping of flow of fentanyl into this country.
00:21:39
Speaker
They are saying that the the leading of fentanyl coming into this country is leading to violence and crime. And people that use drugs, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:21:51
Speaker
They be committing crimes. All right. they They do.
00:21:56
Speaker
People that are drunk, they be committing crimes. Anytime that you are using a substance that is... causing you not to think clearly. Your inhibitions go down. You might do something reckless that you might not normally would do.
00:22:12
Speaker
This is true. And then you talk about immigration and what are they saying about it? You know, and for some strange reason, the current president still thinks that people are getting are coming into this country from a sane asylums.
00:22:26
Speaker
Like, that's not the case, okay? There was a time where Fidel Castro emptied out the insane asylums and the prison prisons, put them on a boat, and then they came into this country.
00:22:40
Speaker
Right. And then in 19, late 1970s, 1980s, and especially in Miami, Florida, you saw an increase in crime because, yes, Castro did do that.
00:22:51
Speaker
OK, but that's not happening right now. But what does it do? It causes fear. Half the time, people can't point to me many cases where there have been migrants that have had to cause major violence. And when there is a case, when there is a case, they highlight the hell out of it like it all of a sudden is an epidemic when you got one case to prove your point.
00:23:18
Speaker
Cessationalism. Because fear sells. If they scare you, To the point, you'll give up your civil liberties because you'll do whatever it takes to be safe.
00:23:30
Speaker
You'll live under police occupation to be safe. You'll do whatever it takes to be safe. And the people in power know that.
00:23:42
Speaker
The people in power know fear sells. Fear, especially fear of the other. How often do we hear these arguments against drag queen drag queens or people of the LGBTQ plus community as if they're harming kids?
00:24:00
Speaker
Why? Why is it that we don't hear this about? I don't know. or Preachers, people in the church that have harmed kids for generations.
00:24:12
Speaker
There have been police officers that have harmed kids. lawyers, doctors, all these different people that are harming kids at a much, much, much higher rate than anybody in the LGBTQ plus community.
00:24:34
Speaker
Right? Like it's not a thing, but... They need you to fear that. And when you fear that, you'll say, well, those people are different. They're not human. I don't have to look at them as human. So they shouldn't have the rights that normal human beings like I have because they're not like me.
00:24:53
Speaker
Based off of fear. So this idea that crime is going up and therefore you must put certain people in office because they're law and order.
00:25:08
Speaker
is the reason why this perception is that crime is going up. It's not actually the truth. The root causes of this growing emphasis of things that are happening as far as them putting pressure and saying that crime is going up is so they can make stricter laws.
00:25:28
Speaker
And they are because public pressure pushes for these people to make stricter laws. Because the assumption is crime is going up when it isn't.
00:25:40
Speaker
It's sensationalism by the media and it's lying politicians. But despite failing crime rates, states like Florida enact harsher penalties. Crime is by undocumented immigrants.
00:25:53
Speaker
They're going up the penalties, not the actual crimes. not the actual committing of the crimes. The penalty, harsher penalties are going up.
00:26:06
Speaker
And it's all due to high profile incidents. Let there be a carjacking or a retail theft. Let it let it let an immigrant do something like that.
00:26:17
Speaker
All of a sudden, we need to put harsher penalties. We saw this in the 1994 crime bill. talking about legalizing drugs. So in 1994 crime bill, me and my sister have talked about that. I'm just going to give people out there who didn't listen to that episode of quick refresh, right?
00:26:34
Speaker
Crack cocaine hit the streets and it was a terror. Crack cocaine was a legitimate terror. There was an increase in violence in the areas that crack cocaine was being distributed and used.
00:26:49
Speaker
It scared the hell out of people because you saw well-to-do people turn into zombies within a week or two weeks, right? Like crack hit, you got addicted.
00:27:01
Speaker
It was over for you, okay? And so you had these zombie lands going around and and and there was high crime in these zombie areas. So in order to try and end this, they made harsher penalties for drug dealers.
00:27:18
Speaker
which only led to a boom in the prison population and not a decrease of drug users, not a decrease of violence, just harsher penalties.
00:27:30
Speaker
So these harsher penalties from sensationalism from news are not doing anything. It's not stopping real crime. Not fake sensationalized crime, but real crime. And don't get me wrong, a carjacking is a real crime.
00:27:45
Speaker
But if the local news decides to show you two carjackings and completely ignore the fact that John Smith and Mary Smith just killed each other and their kids, because we need to work on carjackings, but because those carjackings were done by people that were here illegally.
00:28:06
Speaker
You see where things could be distorted? As I said earlier, property crime is higher than violent crimes.
00:28:19
Speaker
Some states are stiffening retail theft charges, recriminalizing drugs, and limiting bail, rolling back progressive reforms, all due to the perception that crime is higher.
00:28:36
Speaker
Do you remember when I said people will do anything to feel safe, that they'll even live in a police state, in an occupied police state, just in order to feel safe?
00:28:51
Speaker
They'll give up their own civil liberties in order to feel safe. And theoretically, when you're in real danger, that kind of makes sense. Right.
00:29:03
Speaker
If a country declared war in the U.S. and was actually trying to come to this land and fight on the U.S. soil, which we haven't had a war on U.S. soil in 175 years, 180 years when the Civil War ended.
00:29:19
Speaker
Right. So we haven't had we had Pearl Harbor. but that was an attack. It wasn't actually, ah the war was not fought on U.S. soil. And then we had 9-11, but once again, that was an attack. It wasn't a war fought on U.S. soil.
00:29:34
Speaker
But let's just say country declared world ah war on against the U.S. and wanted to fight on U.S. soil. Well, that's a little different.
00:29:45
Speaker
In order to feel safe, you will allow yourself to be in a occupied police state because we're literally at war. That's when you're literally, when you're truly at war, not a fictitious war of sensationalized high crime rates, which are lies, led by media and politicians in order to gain control, create harsher penalties that you think won't affect you.
00:30:18
Speaker
Until they do. Either directly or somebody close to you. And then you cry the blues. Why is the penalty so stiff? Because you believed at a certain point in time that the crime rates were so high that we needed to have those penalties to deter a crime.
00:30:36
Speaker
Let me give you ah little, you know, update on criminals. I've known a few in my lifetime. um Some of them ah are still in jail.
00:30:49
Speaker
Some of them got out, you know, but but more the the general premise of a criminal mind is just about the same.
00:31:01
Speaker
As they're committing the crime, they're not thinking about doing the time. They either know, hey, one day I'm going to get caught and that is what it is, or they're not thinking about it.
00:31:14
Speaker
The thought of harsher penalties does not cross a criminal's mind as they are doing the act. So harsher penalties, and this isn't just me talking.
00:31:24
Speaker
There have been numerous studies that prove what I'm about to say to be fact, not opinion, to be fact. Harsher penalties do not deter crime.
00:31:37
Speaker
does It doesn't. Just like creating tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China, that's not going to stop the flow of drugs.
Social Programs vs Harsher Penalties for Crime
00:31:46
Speaker
These things that have been sensationalized don't actually fix the problem.
00:31:56
Speaker
It's a Band-Aid on a bullet wound.
00:32:02
Speaker
When's the last time you put a Band-Aid on a bullet wound? I mean, you don't, you know, I'm like, you know, get that bad boy stitched up, get some staples, this was, you know, some stitches or something like that. After you've had surgery, you don't put bandaid on a bullet, but that's what we're trying to do.
00:32:19
Speaker
It doesn't work. And moreover, y'all out here, not everybody, not everybody, but a large portion of you are out here fearing the unknown.
00:32:33
Speaker
To quote Allie Boy from The Sopranos, you can't go into the unknown not knowing. That's the stupidest thing that I think I've ever heard. OK, and the reason why I say that stupid is because you got to go into the unknown to understand the unknown.
00:32:50
Speaker
A lot of people are out here saying that the border is a mess. Never been down there to the border. have not been down there to the border. The only way they know what's going on at the border is what the news is reporting.
00:33:04
Speaker
Unless you actually live there, but those people who are not near the border don't have a clue, but you hear them talking about it, the border is a mess. God, people are so stupid. Really are.
00:33:16
Speaker
Really are. You take your information from the information that you want to get it from. That's the key point there. You take information from and from from places that you want to get it from.
00:33:28
Speaker
confirmation bias that backs up what you believe. That's what confirmation bias is, right? So you believe a certain thing. So you'll go search out sources that back up what you believe.
00:33:41
Speaker
Confirmation bias. lot of people do it. Look, I've got friends that try to argue with me in debates and things like that. OK, and they will go look up something and be like, here, see, see, this is what was talking about.
00:33:54
Speaker
I'm where did you get that? Where did you get that? Like, what's your source? Joe Swo on Twitter? That's your source? That's who you believe? ah Because I got all these other people over here that are documented, that are official, saying that what you're saying is not the truth.
00:34:13
Speaker
I don't know if the border is a mess or not. I haven't been to the border. I do not believe that the border is as messy as it is, as they say on Fox News. But I also don't believe the border is as pristine as they say on MSNBC.
00:34:29
Speaker
The truth is always somewhere in between. The fact of the matter is, are there criminals coming across the border? Sure. Of course. The truth is,
00:34:42
Speaker
The majority of people coming across the border are not criminals, but you want to focus on the people that are small population confirmation bias.
00:34:54
Speaker
And that's what's that's what's fueling this idea that crime rates are going up. We're being lied to by politicians and we're being force fed sensationalism by the media.
00:35:06
Speaker
And in turn, they're creating harsher penalties that don't stop anything. Because there is crime. There's going to always be crime. I'm not saying don't try to deter a crime. You got to try and, you know, deter a crime.
00:35:20
Speaker
The way you do it is the same thing that I said in the first segment when you're combating the flow of fentanyl that's going on in this country. Social programs. How so?
00:35:32
Speaker
Here's how so. Public support. for preventative innovations can help deter crime. Growing emphasis on mental health and substance abuse treatment is leading to a reduction of crime.
00:35:48
Speaker
Studies show that low-income men with mental health issues faced higher incarceration rates after losing healthcare care access. Listen to that. I had to sit up in my chair a little bit.
00:36:00
Speaker
Low income men with mental health issues face higher incarceration of rates after losing healthcare access.
00:36:14
Speaker
Causation. If you take away somebody's healthcare, when they're trying to address their mental health issues and their mental health issues are no longer being addressed because you took away their healthcare,
00:36:28
Speaker
Yeah, they might go go commit some crimes.
00:36:33
Speaker
Yeah, that might happen. Here's another kicker. Here's the one that's going really kick y'all in nose, right? For every $1 invested in Medicaid. So you got Medicare and Medicaid. Medicaid is for poor folks. Poor folks.
00:36:46
Speaker
um Goodness gracious. Poor folks. Medicare is for older folks. You could be on Medicaid as well if you're older and poor, but but Medicaid is typically for poor folks.
00:36:57
Speaker
So for every $1 invested in Medicaid, society, U.S. society recoups $2 in benefits through reduced costs from fewer violent property and drug-related crimes.
00:37:18
Speaker
I don't think y'all are hearing me. So let me repeat that again. For every $1 invested in the Medicaid society, the U.S. society recoups $2 in benefits to reduce costs from fewer violent property and drug related crimes. let me Let me make it simple for you guys.
00:37:44
Speaker
It's kind of like If you take care of your body and you eat right, you can live a little bit longer and you'll save money on.
00:37:56
Speaker
Health care benefits later on because you've taken care of yourself. Maybe you might not have that stroke or a heart attack. So you spend money now on, let's say, you know, eating right.
00:38:08
Speaker
on a gym or a personal trainer, you're spending money now. It's going save you money in the long run. So for every dollar that we spend on Medicaid, we're getting $2. We're recouping $2. That's a hell of a deal.
00:38:20
Speaker
And on top of that, is you there's a reduction in crime, the very thing that you're afraid of.
00:38:28
Speaker
The very thing that you're afraid of.
00:38:32
Speaker
Or so you think. Because as I stated earlier, it's perception. really The reality is crime rates are down.
00:38:42
Speaker
Your perception is that crime is up. And even if that was the case. It seems like the answer. And answer is always invest in helping people get help.
00:38:58
Speaker
That reduces all of this stuff. I don't know. Think about it. I know I'm not wrong. You know I'm not wrong. And you just got to want to admit it to yourself. But some people want to lay in that and be fearful.
00:39:13
Speaker
You can, but you're fearing something that doesn't truly exist.
00:39:29
Speaker
Okay.
Family Disputes and Respecting Boundaries
00:39:30
Speaker
So in this last segment, went on Reddit, my favorite thing, and I found an interesting, am I overreacting?
00:39:40
Speaker
And this is about a man that's had it with his sister-in-law. So I'm going just play this for you guys, let you listen to it, and then going talk about it.
00:39:51
Speaker
It's a doozy, so strap in. But this has caused major riff in our family, and I need to know if I'm crazy. Recently, we had a very tragic death in the family. During this time, all of the family gathered nearby and stayed collectively in an Airbnb.
00:40:08
Speaker
On the first day of arrival, my sister-in-law Samantha mentioned how religious she had become and she was really looking forward to praying over the grieving widow and asked if I knew if they were religious.
00:40:20
Speaker
I told her from everything I know they are not religious, so they may not appreciate that. I told her we are not religious either and I wouldn't appreciate someone unsolicited praying over me, especially less than 48 hours after my spouse tragically passed and I told her maybe just praying in private for them was best for now.
00:40:41
Speaker
After spending five to six days at this Airbnb, my 12-year-old son Ethan opened up to me and his dad about something he said made him very uncomfortable.
00:40:52
Speaker
He told us that one night after we'd just arrived, my sister-in-law Samantha came down to the living room where he was staying that week on the couch. He had been up going to the bathroom, so maybe she heard him up and came down to check?
00:41:06
Speaker
Either way, she proceeded to sit on the couch and ask him if he wanted to talk. He mentioned he was sad about his aunt passing, and she asked if she could pray over him. She then proceeded to go get her Bible and read to him from it.
00:41:20
Speaker
Keep in mind, my child said this all happened around 2 a.m. She proceeded to tell him Jesus would fill the emptiness in his heart, that Jesus didn't want his aunt to die, and that was the work of the devil.
00:41:33
Speaker
She told him they could pray together or talk privately anytime he wanted, and they should make a code word so she knows to pull him aside. She told him to just say, i want a cupcake, and that could be their secret code word, and they could pray or talk anytime.
00:41:51
Speaker
She told my son she knows his parents are really busy right now and may not have time to talk to him, but she will always have time for him, and he will always be special to her. My child doesn't have a cell phone but does have an iPad with iMessage that we monitor closely.
00:42:07
Speaker
She asked for his iPad and proceeded to put her phone number in it and send herself a text so she would have his contact information so they could talk. She texted herself, Ethan, nephew, Cupcake.
00:42:19
Speaker
She told him she wanted to call him Cupcake too. My middle school age boy. Keep in mind we do not live in the same state as sister-in-law and she's had minimal interaction with my child before this.
00:42:32
Speaker
At this point, I was shocked. It took almost an hour for Ethan to fully admit, divulge all of these details. He said he deleted that text she sent herself from his iPad because he was uncomfortable and knew only his parents could add new contacts.
00:42:48
Speaker
We went into the iPad deleted messages and were able to recover it, just like he said at 2 a.m. He said she proceeded to call him Cupcake the rest of the stay and hugged and kissed him on the head that night and several times after.
00:43:01
Speaker
I was feeling so disgusted. Not only that, someone would go behind our back to push their religious beliefs on my child. The same day I reiterated to them that we are not religious, but the code word, texting, private convos,
00:43:16
Speaker
It all felt so slimy and not right. We immediately confronted Samantha about the situation and she didn't deny any of it. She said she had pure intentions and left it at that.
00:43:30
Speaker
I was sick to my stomach. The whole family was supposed to come to our house for a meal and we told her we weren't comfortable having her in our home, especially because our child was now uncomfortable even being near her.
00:43:43
Speaker
to the point he debated not even attending the funeral because he didn't want to have to see her. Her husband has defended her and said if we continue to treat her like this, we will be effectively ruining any relationship with them.
00:43:56
Speaker
But I feel like they should be more concerned with her behavior than I feel is borderline predatory. I don't know. Am I overreacting? All right. Thanks, Alex, for reading that.
00:44:08
Speaker
want to thank. yeah I got. Look, I get tired of reading the y'all sometimes. So I had Alex read. What what is my opinion on this? OK, I got several different opinions.
00:44:19
Speaker
We want to talk about protecting the kids. Right. So let's talk about that first. How do we protect the kids? I think it's inappropriate. For the sister in law, Samantha, to be reaching out to the kid.
00:44:33
Speaker
To push her religious views on him. When the father and the uncle have already said, we're not really that religious and, you know, it's it's cool and all you can do your thing, but we're not really that religious.
00:44:50
Speaker
She was wrong in that. How do I feel about people pushing their religion on other people? Now, there are some people that say that it is their duty in their religion to spread the word.
00:45:02
Speaker
And I'm conflicted on that because I'm somebody who is very spiritual, not super religious, but very spiritual.
00:45:13
Speaker
I don't ever push my beliefs on anybody else. You guys listen and watch the show. If you've been here since the beginning, this is like episode 208 or 209. I don't know. We're getting up there.
00:45:25
Speaker
Okay. I very rarely talk about religion. It's just, it's not my place to talk about religion. and And I'm going to give my opinions and ideas about a variety of topics, but what I will never do, i never do this.
00:45:43
Speaker
I never say, think like me. I always ask, would you like to think? That's it. Would you like to take things into consideration? And so I think that's how people should really use religion as well.
00:45:58
Speaker
If somebody I get approached because I live in Washington, DC by people in the Mormon church all the time, they're, they're all over here. Cause one of the big churches is here in Washington, DC.
00:46:09
Speaker
And that's their, there that's their mission is to get people to, to, to join their church. Now, Because long time ago, they didn't want no black people in their church. But but now, you know, some things have changed in LDS. So some, you know, things have changed.
00:46:25
Speaker
um And I politely tell them, no, thank you. And most of the time, most of the time they say, OK, well, thank you. Or I'll say I don't go to church, which is true.
00:46:36
Speaker
I don't go to church, but I grew up in the church. didn't go. I didn't spend a lifetime in church. But like I said, I'm spiritual, not super religious. Then you have some people that just, well, you should go, should come on, come to church.
00:46:48
Speaker
I know I had a kickboxing instructor who was Mormon that that that worked with us. You know, I'm her boss. And she was like, you want to go to church with me? And I said, no, I don't want to go to church with you.
00:47:00
Speaker
And, you know, I've often said, well, I don't like the history of the LDS. And also, you know, I feel like, you know, what y'all believe is kind of problematic. But all religion is kind of problematic, right? It's it's about faith.
00:47:15
Speaker
And so I'm like, no, you know, no, thank you. and And she kept asking. i was like, hey, look, you don't seem to understand. You're actually causing discomfort in the company.
00:47:29
Speaker
I'm going to have to ask you to stop trying to push your religion on everybody else. And after that, she said, you know, OK, I understand. But to go behind the parents back.
00:47:45
Speaker
to push their religion. If she went to the child and she said, hey, you know, I'm your aunt. I want you to feel comfortable around me. know your parents are really busy. If there ever any time that you want to talk, just talk.
00:48:01
Speaker
Here's my phone number. You can contact me anytime. That would have been okay. Give the child the phone number. Don't go into the iPad and text yourself so you had the child's phone number and then give this young man who's 12. He's about to hit puberty. He got some public hairs on him.
00:48:21
Speaker
If y'all don't get that joke, that's just a, you know, mic ups joke. No, I think it was mic ups. Anyway, it's a joke. Public hairs, public hairs. Okay. ah This is this a young man. You don't call no young man cupcake.
00:48:33
Speaker
You don't. So, yes, he's not overreacting for being upset. To bar her from the house, I actually agree with because if you explain to her, hey, look, we don't like what you just did.
00:48:53
Speaker
It's one thing to say, hey, I'm here if you ever need to talk. It's another thing to be praying over him, nicknaming him Cupcake, you know,
00:49:05
Speaker
saying it all weekend, two o'clock in the morning, sending text messages. That's weird. And I don't like to call things weird often, but when it comes to kids, I'll say it.
00:49:17
Speaker
That's weird. And we done told you, we're not really that religious. Stop trying to push your religion on us. No, you can't come into my house no more. And then her husband being like, it's going cause a problem. It's going cause a problem because you didn't tell your wife to respect our house.
00:49:33
Speaker
That's what we're talking about. Respect boundaries. She's not respecting boundaries. The boundary is don't push your religion on our child.
00:49:45
Speaker
And don't be calling them cupcake. Now, The dude also said, you know, is it grooming? and I don't know. Right. Like, I don't know.
00:49:56
Speaker
That's.
00:49:59
Speaker
Look, maybe. Maybe. And I want to say, no, she just trying to spread the word. But also. It's a lot of grooming in the church. So maybe.
00:50:11
Speaker
Just maybe. I don't know. I will say, regardless. Completely out of line. And the fact that there she's not respecting the wishes of the parent trying to raise their child.
00:50:26
Speaker
That's ish that's clear enough case in and of itself to be like, you're not allowed in my home no more. And actually, don't rock with you because I told you I don't like this and you're ignoring it.
00:50:39
Speaker
You're going to do whatever the hell you want to do, despite my objections to it. OK, then guess what? You ain't welcome in my home no more. You can't come through.
00:50:51
Speaker
So thank you, Alex, for reading that. And no, I don't think this dude is overreacting. I think he is reacting appropriately. I support him. And I'm glad that y'all went through and deleted all them text messages and deleted the phone number. You should block her.
00:51:06
Speaker
You should block her from the iPad. Matter of fact, you should go into her phone, snatch her phone out of her hand and then delete Little man's number, iPad number about her phone.
00:51:19
Speaker
Crazy lady. See, this is the reason why people look. Hey, said I was going to say something. I'm say it. I'm not going say it because sometimes, you know, I say things and I take it out of wrong context. But sometimes, you know, I'm saying this the reason why people don't want to go to church.
00:51:33
Speaker
Not not all the time. There's a lot of good churches out there where people don't push their views. But hey, look, let me give you our prime example let me give you a prime example. prime example. A reason why I don't go to church. The priest that buried me is my homie.
00:51:47
Speaker
Was my homie. haven't talked to him since the pandemic. I probably should reach out to him. Is my homie. When I got divorced, I was going to him for counseling to help me through my divorce. ah We became very, very close, almost to the point where I was like, I can't come to you for counseling anymore because we're friends now.
00:52:05
Speaker
And now feels weird. So I need to go to somebody else for counseling because I don't want to talk to somebody that I actually know. I want to give advice from a stranger.
00:52:15
Speaker
I feel more comfortable talking to a stranger. But ah also, used make me go to church. He used to guilt me into going to church. And I was like, you know I don't like going to church.
00:52:27
Speaker
I was like, very spiritual. I love the Lord. I don't like going to church. Why are you making me go to church? I don't like it.
00:52:39
Speaker
My dad used to make me go to church. That's the reason why it like going to church, because I was forced. If it was my choice, maybe I would have gone to choice but since ah church. But since I was forced all my life, don't want to go to church no more. Plus, it's law. It's law.
00:52:52
Speaker
You know, but somebody mentioned it to me that, you know, I can watch church on TV when it comes to my own home. And I said, I forgot about that. So I might start doing that.
00:53:04
Speaker
But if I do do that, I'm not going to come on here making... trying to make y'all believe what I believe. You can believe whatever you want to believe.
00:53:16
Speaker
It is your journey in life. Nobody else can tell you what's right and wrong. They can suggest to you. They can give their perspective.
00:53:28
Speaker
They can tell you what's right or wrong. Most of the time, you know, when your heart was right or wrong and you know what's moral and what's not moral. So that's just my two cents.
00:53:40
Speaker
So you're not overreacting. You're acting appropriately. Matter of fact, you might be underreacting because I would have whooped her husband's ass.
00:53:52
Speaker
ah for defending her and not being like, look, she's wrong here for disrespecting our home. Well, the Airbnb and our boundaries with my nephew and their son.
00:54:03
Speaker
She's in the wrong. Y'all got to go. And if that means it jeopardizes our relationship, so what? Because sometimes you got to cut people off. I do it almost every day. I cut people off because I don't care.
00:54:15
Speaker
You ain't got to be in my life. It's a privilege for me to be in your life and it's a privilege for you to be in my life. Privilege, not a right. You can get the hell out. And that's what I would tell a homeboy and her.
00:54:27
Speaker
Y'all can get the hell out. And that's what I feel about it.
Conclusion and Call to Action
00:54:31
Speaker
And on that note, ladies and gentlemen, thank you, thank you, thank you for all the support that you've been giving us. All of the streams for the audio, just absolutely amazing.
00:54:42
Speaker
Want to thank you for that. We want to thank you for listening. We want to thank you for watching. And until next time, as always, I'll holler.
00:54:55
Speaker
That was a hell of a show. Thank you for rocking with us here on Unsolicited Perspectives with Bruce Anthony. Now, before you go, don't forget to follow, subscribe, like, comment, and share our podcast wherever you're listening or watching it to it. Pass it along to your friends. If you enjoy it, that means the people that you rock will will enjoy it also.
00:55:14
Speaker
So share the wealth, share the knowledge, share the noise. And for all those people that say, well, I don't have a YouTube. If you have a Gmail account, you have a YouTube. Subscribe to our YouTube channel where you can actually watch our video podcast and YouTube exclusive content.
00:55:29
Speaker
But the real party is on our Patreon page. After Hours Uncensored and Talking Straight-ish. After Hours Uncensored is another show with my sister. And once again, the key word there is uncensored. Those are exclusively on our Patreon page.
00:55:42
Speaker
Jump onto our website at unsolicitedperspective.com. dot com for all things us that's where you can get all of our audio video our blogs and even buy our merch and if you really feel ingenuous and want to help us out you can donate on our donations page donations go strictly to improving our software and hardware so we can keep giving you guys good content that you can clearly listen to and that you can clearly see so any donation would be appreciative most importantly i want to say thank you thank you thank you
00:56:14
Speaker
for listening and watching and supporting us. And I'll catch you next time. Audi 5000. Peace.