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00:00:01
What's On Your Mind Buddy?
26 Plays3 months ago
The "Pieces" have a free flowing conversation like they used to do on the pod. Lance turns it serious and dark. Matt says, "Chill L, all I want to do is surf."
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Transcript
Casual Banter and Grocery Talk
00:00:05
Speaker
POS, am POS, I am POS, POS.
00:00:18
Speaker
Going to shoot the shit just watching you eat right now. We're just going to free flow a little bit today. We're going to shoot the shit. I feel like you might think that eating is a sign of lack of professionalism, but it's like, hey, I'm just having having a meal with my friend.
00:00:33
Speaker
That's how I feel. The chomping will come off. I feel like you eat with your hands a lot. Do they not have forks there? Or is it just all... have a fork. I'm trying to shove my face as fast as possible so you don't bitch at me about it.
00:00:47
Speaker
So I'm trying to like eat everything I have in front of me at once. Well, I put off starting this meeting a little bit because I was eating some steel-cut oatmeal and some raspberries and blueberries and honey.
00:01:00
Speaker
That's a quiet meal. It's quiet on the belly, too. where'dgie Where'd you get those, dude? And we got those combination of the local market. Ooh. Costco for the oats.
00:01:12
Speaker
So the local market strawberries are what? $93 of a, don't know, an ounce? How do they sell that shit by the ounce? I don't know. Blueberries? Yeah, I'm not sure. I'm not sure how much they were.
Basketball Parenting Insights
00:01:25
Speaker
But yeah, dude. So let's talk about life today. I don't have an intro. Did you have a nice weekend? I did pretty good. Weather was good here. Now it's like 40 again.
00:01:37
Speaker
Weather was good. Went to some basketball stuff and that was that dog. Is your life for the next like four months just just probably 600 basketball games? Yes, because then you've you've got the club basketball that he plays plus the ah high school summer program.
00:01:54
Speaker
So it ends up being just a lot, but it's all good. It's enjoyable. You're on the home stretch, dude. You got to enjoy it. Right. Yeah. Appreciating it more. And he's just getting better and doing a lot of fun stuff out there on that court.
00:02:08
Speaker
You're like, ah what are you, 14 months away from the pledge that you were going to calm down at the games? how How are you as this? Now you're like kids a little older. Are you like this mature guy on the bench where you're just like, hey, on the on the in the stands, you still get fired up? Or is it does it get more intense? Because he as he gets into like more competitive leagues and stuff.
00:02:28
Speaker
Well, I shifted pretty hard in the, I'd say about the, after the first third of the season, I was up at the top at the bleachers pacing around being the usual like head case that I had been for a few years off and on at least.
00:02:43
Speaker
And then I transitioned to like, I'm just going to, I'm going to cheer. going to cheer in a positive way or like, and I'm going to stand up and, you know, throw, flash the three sign and like, for all the kids. And that really was a huge transition. And I haven't looked back from that.
00:02:58
Speaker
I may make a few complaints here, like, but basic stuff like, oh no, bad call. I mean, but nothing yelling or no criticism of my kid or any of that stuff. how about the refs?
00:03:10
Speaker
A little bit, like I just said, a little bit, but not nothing that or nothing that would make me look like a psycho parent. are you Are you alone in that? do you have i don't know if you want to talk about it, but is there a lot of psycho parents in these club teams? Or are these people pretty grounded because their kids are good and things are going well?
00:03:27
Speaker
find that like with talent comes a more chill parent or more intense? Well, at this level, you know, there's personalities that are different, but like everybody knows what's what and like all the kids are talented.
00:03:39
Speaker
So there's ah some parents that are more intense for sure, but nothing that I would call psycho. The middle school timeframe brings out a lot of psycho. And I think people get chased out of it or the kids move on. But by the time you're and playing in the top pools of these tournaments and every kid is huge and or fast and skilled um or both, it's like, what's the point?
Financial Realities of Youth Sports
00:04:05
Speaker
You're not going to... a helicopter dad your way into a little faster faster off the dribble or anything no and you're not your influence now at at kids at this talent level you know I give my son a few things here and there but like not anywhere near the kind of advice that you might be giving your kid so it's just a totally different dynamic he's got a he's got a fantastic club coach who's they got it covered dude if you If you got invited to one of these club teams, I mean, there's like, I hear a lot of people come, not bitching, but like it's, people are like, wow, this has really gotten out of control. But you also, I assume when you get there, like shit, like parents bitching about playing time and stuff is not an issue because they're kind of like hand selected, right?
00:04:46
Speaker
there's like a rotation and that kind of stuff. Yeah. And I think he's pretty honest with kids. about where they're at and what they would need to do to play more. And it's just, I think he's, I've talked to him and he's just like, they're just like, honest, like, dude, if you guys want to play college, you're going to be battling against juniors and seniors.
00:05:02
Speaker
You know, going have constant competition and it just is what it is. So you're happy with that decision, the investment? ah Yeah, I think it's good fit for him. He's been doing good and having a good time. It's just a solid culture. It's the first time we've had like a really good culture experience.
00:05:19
Speaker
Coach is very reasonable for what they're trying to accomplish. And then the pro the kids are all locked in and you know good to each other. what do they like how do you so this guy is essentially like, an a I don't know, an elite club coach. what what is What's his background? like How do you get into that?
00:05:35
Speaker
Could you do that? I think this program is run by D1 guy that has owns it all, and then they all have played college basketball. Some of them have played international and some D2, D1.
00:05:48
Speaker
They make money? Yeah, they get paid. They get paid and they get all their travel covered, and a lot of them just love that love the game. That's what was getting that is at. Is that the point? Is this like, I just want to be involved in the game, or is it like a career?
00:06:00
Speaker
ah You can make it a career for sure. Mostly the people that run these clubs make a living, but you can get in a club and mbd get some decent pay, not just as a coach. You'd have to do some of the other business development stuff or camps or things like that, but that's my take.
00:06:16
Speaker
I guess my interrogation is, would you you want to go down this path? Because you're in the coaching that you want to get to that level? Nah, no, not at all I'm not interested in the club. In fact, it's just such a fiat.
00:06:27
Speaker
It's such a fiasco in terms of the the capitalistic extraction that's happening. Like as an example, just entry fees. If I calculate that for the season, just for my wife and I to go watch, you're looking about 900 bucks, maybe a thousand just to go watch.
00:06:44
Speaker
I looked at, I was looking, I slipped online. Social media because I was doing something with slabs and I and the first thing popped up was a it was like on. It's so fucking weird how these algorithms work. It's like it just popped up and it was like someone listing all the expenses and it's like club club shit's gone out. It's gotten out of control.
00:07:03
Speaker
they They were listing exactly that. Like the cost to get in, they were listing like a Gatorade was five bucks or something like that or four bucks. It was crazy. It was like the price before the game starts or some shit like that. And it was like hundreds and hundreds of dollars to get into the place, everything.
00:07:21
Speaker
but wasn't even a great gym. Yeah, and I can walk you through it. It'll take me like one minute and I think it's eye-opening. I won't name the club, but this club is one of the best.
00:07:34
Speaker
Like one of the best in terms of like what they provide. And it's still obscene. So it's $150 for a uniform. It's $335 a month for the coaching.
00:07:45
Speaker
Let's see, but not to break it down, but a uniform, like they have a bunch of uniforms. Like they got practice, home, away, that kind of shit. That's probably one of the more reasonable costs. And then it's probably another hunt hundred for wearing their, or 50 for wearing their standard undershirts because they don't want people to look weird.
00:08:04
Speaker
And then you've got 335, I said, for coaching each month. That goes for one, two, three, four, five months minimum. And then you've got the travel package for the coaches. So the coaches...
00:08:17
Speaker
whatever it costs for them to get out there. So then that, depending upon the trip, it's like probably 150 to 200 per player. Per player. Yeah. And then hotel meals, flight.
00:08:28
Speaker
Yep. And then you get killed with the trip. If y'all want to go, it's probably minimum two grand when you talk about flights, hotel, all the food the for one of these weekends. So two grand times five out of state tournaments. There's 10.
00:08:42
Speaker
are you sending Are you sending your son with money to buy food or is it all part of it? it's like team meals and shit like that. Well, we'll go. We'll go. Since this is last year, we go to all of them. So no team meals. It's it's just like, that's why i say it's a minimum of two grand for the family to get out there.
00:08:58
Speaker
Minimum. So we'll be generous and say it's 10 grand plus the $335 a month I just mentioned and the other costs. And then the real killer that really just frustrates every parent, especially the ones that have multiple kids playing club, is this new escalation of ent entry fees.
00:09:14
Speaker
Oh, yeah. That was part of that thing. It was like ridiculous. Yeah. They've just gotten more absurd ah year after year. It used to be i would squawk at 10 bucks to get in. They used to kind of be free.
00:09:26
Speaker
Maybe the older kids was always higher, but this is like 65 bucks per for the weekend. And then we depending on where you end up, what kind of venue, Then parking. So we had $25 of parking to go to one game downtown. 25 bucks?
00:09:42
Speaker
To park, yeah. That's a fucking Rockies game or something. Well, it was event parking because it was downtown during a Nuggets game. So that so as you just start adding up these costs and for families that don't have the money or just are looking to support their kids in a healthy activity.
00:09:59
Speaker
They can't go. This club experience ends up being what? fifteen $15,000 plus, $15,000 to play some boops. It's funny because a lot of people are probably, especially at the level your son's at, are like thinking scholarship, but you're basically paying a year at university for the club team.
00:10:18
Speaker
So you can get a scholarship or something like that. Maybe maybe not now, maybe people will be like, oh, 15,000 is semester. but But yeah. But this club is one of the best and the what the best that we've been involved with. And the competition they're playing and the level that they're playing, it's very entertaining on a relative basis. It's like, Jesus, these kids are all good. All the opponents, skill, size, it's pretty fun to watch. So that I appreciate. And that's why what I keep telling myself as I eat these obscene entry fees.
00:10:50
Speaker
Well, that's that's good, I mean, sitting through Little League games and ah like and any sport can be kind of painful. So it's nice that it's like good basketball to watch if you're going to spend all that money.
00:11:02
Speaker
Well, and then we're going to just, I'm about to go to the summer program for his high school. And I'm pretty sure that'll be about 900 to 1,000 because of all the little camps they do. And they're going to do like one sleep away.
00:11:15
Speaker
So you add that and it just, there's, and then somebody's going to reach out about fall ball and be like, Hey, that's going to I'm going to do these tournaments, probably about 80 bucks a weekend. I mean, it just never stops with this.
00:11:27
Speaker
And all along the way, you just see these business models. Like they've made us get these bracelets. You have to wear them all weekend because but they don't want people to pass them around. And so you just feel like a little child, a little asshole, because they're like, and i said can I put this on my car keys? Oh, no, sir.
00:11:44
Speaker
Got to put on the wrist. Oh, yeah. And we're all 50, right? who We've paid a ton of money for our kids to play the sport. Like, we're going to cheat the tournament. Maybe people should. Maybe that's what what needs to happen.
00:11:56
Speaker
People are like, fuck it. Yeah. But that that world is pretty insane. I think it's one of those things where you're like, well, everyone just resides the fact that I only got a year or two in it. So by the time you could probably come up, like fight the power, so to speak, then you're like, it's like buying diapers where you get all worried about if they're green.
00:12:15
Speaker
And then after you kids grow out you're like, I don't fucking care.
Sports Motivation and Child Development
00:12:19
Speaker
It's like that, right? It's like a year of pain financially. And then you're like, I'm not going to fight the power on this club shit. You need somebody like, you need like to rally a bunch of parents, but after a couple of years, they don't care.
00:12:30
Speaker
Yeah, I see some families will go and put a team together, and that has its issues because these tournaments obviously give preference to clubs that are bringing multiple teams.
00:12:42
Speaker
They're putting a team together to kind of buck the system, like, well, we're going to it ourselves and try to make it more financially digestible something that. part, in part. They're putting a team together because their kid didn't get on a club they wanted, but they're still talented. Oh, yeah.
00:12:55
Speaker
Or also they don't want to pay all that money. But every parent then like, yeah, but we're supplementing with private training. And like I sometimes you just have to go like, does your kid have the dog in him? And does the kid have the athleticism and size? And that's just the facts right there. And like for many years, my son did not. And we just accepted his role. And then all of a sudden he grew.
00:13:15
Speaker
But like you just stop with the personal trainer stuff. I just really stop with it. It's. It's not helping your kid because if they don't desire it themselves, I truly believe it it can be harmful because the personal trainer just floats their boat.
00:13:30
Speaker
Maybe they'll work hard and learn some skills. I'm ah i'm cool with that. They might. if they If they came with a real goal, like, hey, co hey personal trainer coach, I really need to like i need to work on getting downhill. And then you use that guy for two weeks and then what? You just go work on that shit.
00:13:43
Speaker
But what parents are willing to do, is my point, is quite interesting. I like that. Even here, even like other shit, like skateboarding. It's like, you don't I don't need to see you all the time.
00:13:55
Speaker
It's like once every while, give give the kids something to do or think about and then go. let Then they go get their thousand reps in by themselves because that also identify if they have the dog or the the work ethic, you know.
00:14:08
Speaker
And my kids don't, man. They don't do anything on their own. They look for these structured settings to put work in. And I'm just like, that's not going to deliver. Yeah, I think it's like maybe get the kid's right. Like we look at his work ethic, but it's like the kid's playing basketball and he knows he's not going to do anything with it.
00:14:27
Speaker
Sports, exercise, the kid's like, ah yeah, I don't don't need to be fucking driven like Kobe Bryant. It's like I woke up, I got my first workout from 5 to 7 a.m., second one from 9 to 11. It's like, nope, I don't need to do that.
00:14:40
Speaker
I mean, they're kids that I know that are barely hanging on. Even at the, like in this club thing, or you mean more like the high school level? I assume what's going on at that club team, people are pretty self-reliant and all that kind of Yeah, these are these are all grinders for the most part. But like, no, I mean, hanging on, like they're not going to have a prominent role in a varsity setting. Yeah.
00:15:03
Speaker
They're getting the private training. Oh, yeah. And fine. I guess fine. If you can do it as a parent, I just think we put our resource and our time into things that is ah sometimes illogical. And then they'll justify and well'll a lot of us will justify, well, that's a healthy outlet.
00:15:18
Speaker
And i want I want to keep them engaged in a healthy outlet. But like you can't do once you realize you can't do that, they either have it or are interested in it or not, it's it's kind of life-changing as a parent.
00:15:31
Speaker
When you kind of give up in a good way. When you give up control, yeah. When yeah you you you stop taking the wheel and you let them figure out what they're about. And I can tell you right now, and having coached now for many years, if your kid doesn't go out and and get it done without you, don't don't waste your time, man. Don't work harder than they are.
00:15:51
Speaker
It's kind of me in the middle little bit. Yeah, man. Encourage healthy stuff. So I don't know. does that resonate with you with a younger kid or... No, it's a battle because you have that that thing of like, well, I don't... I mean, the battle of 11-year-old boy is like, do something. Just fucking do something. Don't sit there and play Fortnite.
00:16:09
Speaker
Don't fucking sit there and look at TikTok. That's the first battle. And then there's like, all right. mean, right now, my son's not really playing basketball. He goes like a training at a... and athletic club once a week but he just doesn't like it anymore and uh but he's it is his thing like talent wise i see him play other things he actually has a you it's really weird because i consider basketball maybe the hardest sport besides what we both agreed on baseball as god's sport uh but like he's good at like he's not that good at other other sports he's actually pretty good skateboarding i'll say but uh
00:16:46
Speaker
But he's just ah he's just not into it. And so I'm in that zone of like, do you force it? Do you not force it? you let it happen organically? you mention it? you know do you Do you let him know that like it could go good in another setting?
00:17:00
Speaker
so I'm trying to fit. I'm just i'm just kind of like, all right. I'm trying to not even talk about it. But the only thing I try to make him do is like he doesn't want to go to the trainings on Thursdays at the at this athletic club. And then he ends up, he always has a good time, comes out happy. But it's sometimes have to push him to go.
00:17:16
Speaker
And then I'm like, maybe i shouldn't push him to go, but I'm like, what are you going to do on Thursday then? Nothing. You know? So I'm in that battle. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think you're going to get them to do what do they don't want to do. You might have a a family rule or house rule.
00:17:33
Speaker
Well, you might have a house rule that you have to do some sort of physical activity, some organized sport. We believe as a family that that will help you socially. It'll also help you with your physical health.
00:17:44
Speaker
We'll do that. But then he's going to probably end up playing soccer. Fine. That's not acceptable. Yeah. So ah he is playing soccer. but Oh, he's not as good at it.
00:17:56
Speaker
Well, so what? Jesus. It's not about you, Matt. Jesus. Well, if I put if the only it's a little older, but like if if your son was just like, dude, I'm just burnt out. I don't wanna play basketball anymore and gave up on his senior season.
00:18:09
Speaker
would you would would you probably encourage him to think about that decision, right? i would like, all right, dude, it's your game. I think i would see I would see it falling apart a little bit well before that kind of grand announcement. If he just came right now,
00:18:24
Speaker
and and and had that kind of announcement. fucking paid $335 a month. Well, if he should give him the financial aid. No, no. I would actually think he had like a schizophrenic break or some shit because. Yeah, he'd be like, there's something serious going on here.
00:18:36
Speaker
Yeah, it wouldn't match with anything he'd just done over the last month. So, yeah, but I just, you let him go. But like, no, if he said like, I don't want to play college. and want to play basketball in college.
00:18:47
Speaker
I'd say, cool, man. Punch you a hole through the wall. He legit looks like he could at this point. mean. I think you could, dude. But what do I know? Yeah, so.
00:18:59
Speaker
Yeah, I don't. That's a lot of people have that. I have that the battle. i mean. But it's funny, you look at a lot of the people that their parents really pushed them that are like super successful and they all had some sort of mental breakdown later in life, like Tiger Woods.
00:19:17
Speaker
they they They obviously had a hard time later. and Or even people that really had a lot of a lot of success at a young age, you got a lot of pressure on them. That's why i so far, i like people that talk a lot of shit about LeBron, I mean, being on the cover of Sports Illustrated when you're what, 16?
00:19:35
Speaker
and bearing that load for 30 years, it's like, or 25 years, it's like, nobody respects that. But the fact that he hasn't gone fucking ape shit, like so many other people, child actors and Tiger Woods and all these people, you're like, uh, it's, that's commendable, you know? Oh my gosh. Yeah.
00:19:54
Speaker
But I heard there's a surfer, I, I, John, John Florence, he won the, he won the, uh, He won the championship last year, and this year he's taking a year off. But he talks about he's talked about a lot how he'd be like, I don't feel like going out today. When he was like really young, he was already like identified as a talent Hawaii. And his mom would be like, nope, got to get out there.
00:20:12
Speaker
got to go. Got to go to pipe. And he now he looks back on it as like a good thing. But maybe she had a good way of doing it. But and that's where I'm like, I don't, hey I always wonder about that balance where it's like, no, you got to go.
00:20:24
Speaker
So I try to go, hey, you should go. You should go today. It's an hour. You like it. But then I'm like, maybe I should just give up. Like I go with these phases where I'm just like, you guys can do whatever you want. I don't care. I'm not to tell you to do anything.
00:20:36
Speaker
Your homework, not practice, not just, you can do whatever you want. I don't care. And then they usually go, all right, we'll go. But. Yeah. I don't know, dude. The ah looking at these exceptional people that I think inherently in anything exceptional like that, you're going to be off balance in terms of like the whole person.
Success, Balance, and Personal Joy
00:20:57
Speaker
So to be a professional. like a singular focus that takes yeah takes other areas your life, like drop a little bit. And when that guy has reached a – perhaps a pinnacle of success, and then now can find some balance in in that success because he's being paid probably pretty good to do some of this stuff.
00:21:15
Speaker
It's a different reflection than on the way up where you have to truly be singular about it. um And it's it can be unhealthy, whether you're starting a company or you're a professional athlete or anything like that. It's like you're so off balance.
00:21:31
Speaker
Catches up to you, dude. I don't know that it's that it's a great life. I think we all, at some point in our life, like we're we think that that's what we need. Doesn't it feel like everybody is shooting for some star?
00:21:43
Speaker
Not recognizing, though, that the life to be led in pursuit of that is probably pretty unhealthy or pretty hard. Yeah. Well, I have i've read a book about parenting by Joe Jackson. Joe Jackson, Michael Jackson's dad.
00:21:58
Speaker
And that's kind of my basis for... for all parenting um because a billion albums doesn't fucking lie you know so no i don't know it's um yeah it's it's tough i mean the other thing is like is is it important ah to actually compete like you know i look at surfing my daughter's a good surfer but she's not competing and it's like is it just and even basketball you know like i know that What's awesome for my son is he'll be able to go anywhere in the world and there'll be a Mahanga, like a pickup basketball game, playground game, YMCA game.
00:22:33
Speaker
He's not going to make an ass out of himself. He'll go ball ah little enough to like fit in and probably make some friends, you know, and be respected. I'm like, is that enough? That's pretty nice.
00:22:44
Speaker
Cause at the end of the day, that's what we really want. It's like, they're going to show up. Your son for the rest of his life is probably going to show up anywhere and be the best player there. Like assuming he's not in some, uh, you know, club game. But if he goes down to Wash Park or goes to the Y, he's going to be balling.
00:22:59
Speaker
It's pretty – or at college, intramural league, he's going to be like a stud if he doesn't end up playing somewhere. That's pretty good. Well, sure, sure. To have ah have a skill. Yeah, is that worth, though, the private trainer or any of this club stuff? No, but. Yeah, it is, dude.
00:23:15
Speaker
To Jack Wash Park. yeah Yeah, no, that, but but the, yeah yeah, like my daughter, right now, my wife is taking my kids down to this place in the very southern tip of Costa Rica called Matapalo, and it's actually where this girl, Brisa Hennessy, who's on the pro tour, like grew up.
00:23:31
Speaker
She competes for Costa Rica, but she's like as gringo as you. Like her, both her parents are fucking gringo, but she was born down there. But she has like a hotel. So my daughter's super pumped to go down there. It has nothing to do with like competition or anything like that. She's going to go surf these awesome like rights in the middle of this beautiful jungle. It's like the last, last untouched place on earth.
00:23:53
Speaker
And It's like she'll always have that for the rest of her life because she learned to surf at a young age. And she's she's plugged in like Instagram. Like there was a big contest in Costa Rica this weekend, Federation of Federación de Surf de Costa Rica.
00:24:08
Speaker
And she sees some of her friends or people she knows in that. I'm like, I don't know if it's like she should be doing that or not. Does it really matter? Like why why what's the deal with competition, you know?
00:24:19
Speaker
Well, I think that as parents, we're looking for success and exceptionalism is like very addictive and sort of achievements addictive. But like the fact that you're encouraging healthy activities is it. That's really should be the game. Like, you know, let's do this. Like whether she was, she might, what if she was in into, I don't know, something in a lot like debate or chess or even like she liked to rock climb, like what would it matter?
00:24:43
Speaker
It's all about us. Like when you, if you ask that question, it's all like what the parent thinks is cool. You're like, ah, fuck, you're doing modern dance. This is the most embarrassing thing I've ever. Yeah. ah you're You're in the spoken word.
00:24:59
Speaker
Kill me. but But that's that's just such a contradiction to reality, right? Like at the base, it's like, oh, I'm happy they're doing something healthy. But then it's like, ooh, a private coach told me he she could be pretty good or whatever.
00:25:14
Speaker
You know, like there's a lot of pressure, not pressure, but there's a lot of people when you go the beach that know us like friends down there. They're like, shit why isn't she competing? She should compete. And then I'm like, why? But then in my head, yeah, I'm like, oh, you know what? she pi I see some of the other surfers. I'm like, dude, she would crush these girls if she had a little more time at the beach.
00:25:29
Speaker
But why? But why? Right. And a lot of times I found myself doing this as a parent, like when my kid was good at something, you could do that for a living. yeah And all that. And um it's just silliness.
00:25:41
Speaker
there But it is a competitive world. So there is a balance. And I'm looking at this world economy and all this tariff madness and looking how much money people have. I fucking got you for 30 minutes, dude.
00:25:52
Speaker
I got you off of it. I know, yeah I know. but people But people will be struggling, I think, as a result of all this a little bit more. And and I still don't think they'll give up their investments in sports.
00:26:03
Speaker
was going to say, you think that'll give the balance? Because people like, I can't drop 10 grand on a... I think they might go further because that's the only healthy outlet for the family. It's better than fucking sitting there bitching about the world.
00:26:16
Speaker
But... Yeah, I think that's that's what happens, dude. Like, even even like when you... you work a job or you have kind of a life, maybe even a marriage that you're not, you don't like that. That only pushes you into this crap more like funneling energy into your kids, pushing them to do like, ah, fuck this job, but I'm going to do it because I'm going to take my kid to Orlando for a shuffleboard contest. Cause he's dope at shuffleboard. That's another thing we get into is like these fringe sports.
00:26:44
Speaker
Like, yeah like you could, you could put, get your kid in the Rubik's cube speed contest or something immediately that you'd be like addicted to it. Right. He'd be like, oh, he's at a national level. I don't know. i'm I'm just hearing myself talk. I'm like, I should encourage no competition like in a way. Maybe it'll just bear itself out whether they choose competition.
00:27:07
Speaker
Well, they're gonna have to, right? That's what I was gonna get at before you made the joke. it like I was like, I got worried. You started talking about terrorists. Well, yeah, but it's a competitive world. yeah Competitive world and now add on a recession and things like that. Just in terms of just the a here and now, not necessarily what will happen when your kids are of adult age. but There is is a competitive world. We're competing for jobs. We're competing for resources.
00:27:30
Speaker
You do need to like somehow rise above. And I think to some degree, childhood has transitioned to like training, like the using sports and these activities to train your kids to be competitive, to be able to deal with not winning.
00:27:45
Speaker
or not getting what they want and to get back up and keep fighting because that's in a lot of our minds, what life is. Yeah. And what they're going to have to do to get a job, what they're going to have to do to keep their family together.
00:27:56
Speaker
So maybe that's it. And and given the state of things right now, shit, I can get them grinding. Well, back to the surfing thing. Let's see what you think about this. So I think my daughter now is at a, she's at a place where she's like, I want to be, you go to some of these beach towns down here, like this kind of surf yoga towns where like, you you know, it'll be a girl, young girl in her twenties ripped has like an ATV or something or bike rolls around electric bike, maybe rolls around town, does yoga, surfs, but he treats her well.
00:28:30
Speaker
looks pretty great. My daughter's kind saying the other day, I want to do that. I want to go this place that's like paradise, Teresa and, and chill and surf every day. and And I'm like, that's fucking awesome. But then I'm like, but that, but a lot of people be like, Oh, just gonna waste your life away. Huh?
00:28:47
Speaker
But how is the question she, you know like work at a restaurant and do that. I don't know. I mean, I wouldn't, I wouldn't, Unless there's something else really pressing, I would always encourage everyone to do what I did. Like when I went and lived up in Bale for a few years, unless you have something else going on. Like you could argue that maybe I should have started, I should have been focused on standup at that time, but I didn't even know it. So, but, uh, like if she did something like that, you know, you like after college, you go kick it somewhere cool for a couple of years as you get your shit together before you really want to dive into the workforce.
00:29:18
Speaker
Like, uh, I think that's great. Sure. You can do it. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Teach her how to make pizza and and her a brother can open up a pizzeria or something like that out there and make some money and serve.
00:29:29
Speaker
Fucking great. But yeah, sure. It's all, but it's all part of that thing. I like success and our, what's success in our, in this structure and,
00:29:39
Speaker
if you really get away from that, like what we consider success, it's all financial, then your, the possibilities are endless. If you just look at money as a way to solve problems, like already get you to some, then it can seem a little selfish, but at the same time, it's probably like ah it's, it's like a ah real flip. It like starts with sports and competitiveness almost. And it's like, and then you talk about grades and success and getting a job.
00:30:05
Speaker
If you flip that and you just go, that's not the point. And then, It's a whole different ball game. You know? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, in terms of your your your options. um I'm taking them out. I've decided all competitive sports and we're doing homeschooling.
00:30:20
Speaker
That's it, dude. What about that, dude? We never talk about that. It's pretty funny. But like the competitive side of grades, even that is like, I'm sure if if you're talking about, actually, I don't even know in the US. I bet you athle athletics trump education for a lot. Like we talk about investment and private coaches and shit.
00:30:39
Speaker
I think a lot of people way more in that we'd much rather have their kid be like starting in varsity than crushing AP classes. I'd say depending on the demographic, there's both that go on now where they're both, they're very dialed into a sport and academics.
00:30:54
Speaker
I've seen that a lot, but like the academic thing is across our country is, is bigger. It's like, there's, Oh my gosh. I've never heard of so many kids who have 4.0s or above 4.0s because of the taken,
00:31:07
Speaker
So many AP classes. And I've never heard until recently of people who have all these college coaches who help them. I guess they know what they want already. And they've got a college coach to help them get into the program that they want to go into. College coach?
00:31:22
Speaker
yeah got Like a tutor? No, they're more of like help them navigate what school to select. um But there then you already know of the tutors for SAT prep, ACT prep.
00:31:33
Speaker
That's going on for while. Yeah, it's there's a whole market for getting people to be as competitive as possible around this. And you know, that a lot of schools will have a like a requirement or or at least a tacit requirement that you're like top of your class or top 2% or something ridiculous.
00:31:49
Speaker
It's all interesting. And it's hard to argue against too when you think of the competitive forces of of the market. But what I see too is so many ah more off-balanced people and people that are just unappealing to be around.
00:32:02
Speaker
I prefer to hang with somebody that spent time surfing for a while and maybe owns a pizzeria. I'd prefer to talk to that person. than some of these like people that feel really strategic.
00:32:13
Speaker
They feel really strategic. They have a hard time being happy for other people. And ah they have a hard time escaping the linear path of their financial goal or their career goal.
00:32:24
Speaker
And they're not great people to talk to. Yeah, like pragmatic. Pragmatic people often aren't that entertaining. I mean, I even found that in comedy, dude. like I mean, a lot of the people that made it are are figured out sort of the business side of it I mean, they're all they gotta be funny and talented, but a lot of people, like, the crazy fucking people that that weren't gonna make it because they were in their way all the time were often, like, the funniest people to talk to, but they're just not functioning well in society, you know?
00:32:54
Speaker
Well, maybe that's it. Maybe that's it is we need a few more people who sit outside this ah achievement, climb Mount Everest mindset.
00:33:05
Speaker
And they their definition of a good life isn't about how much they've achieved, but just how centered and balanced they are and and friends they have. We just need a few more people like that, I guess. Maybe. Yeah. I mean, that's that's actually, I'm glad you said that because um And part of me is like, did my daughter already figure it out?
00:33:25
Speaker
Actually, you know, like she's 13. She's starting to her. She's not saying shit like I want to be fucking movie star. I want to be. I don't know who's a great female footballista or Brisa Hennessy, the Costa Rican service. She's just like, I want to be that girl who's enjoying life and relaxing and and and has a ton of friends.
00:33:45
Speaker
And I'm like, oh, shit. you You're naturally as a parent. You're like, I'm like i don't encourage that. You're like, no. but it's It's hard because she, I, you know, I always felt like I wasn't one of those people who like were like, or like doors opened up for me, which is like, whatever. Shut up, Matt. Fucking pussy.
00:34:03
Speaker
You got to make, but like, I don't know. You see when you start to get into, I mean, always look through the eyes of what I saw in standup. and And generally, talent will rise. You see that. But you'll just see people that, like, you don't know why. Like, things went, they just certain moments that went well.
00:34:19
Speaker
And then that opened a door that opened, that it wasn't, like, tangible in that second, but they put them on a different path. But you see, like, people react to someone. They always get this reaction where they're, like, i mean, have you ever seen people that can, like, talk the airlines into, like, changing their seat or fucking getting a flight change? And and they're just, like, I think,
00:34:38
Speaker
you should give me that. And they're just like, oh, okay. We'll change your flight for free. You're like, what the fuck? um That's not me. But I see my daughter has some of that, like people react to her and i she probably could pick something and probably be great at it.
00:34:53
Speaker
my like Like athletically, she's always, always like dominant. But she's so mentally fragile when she's playing where she's just like, you're not, what are you doing? You're not running or something. Then she'll she'll give it some effort. sudden she'll be dominating. But Anyways, so but I'm naturally like, as a parent, you got that. You were gifted. You're like so smart and you're so athletic and youre and people like you. And I'm like, you got to harness that.
00:35:19
Speaker
But I should be like, harness it for what? Fuck all that shit. Just because you're fucking run a 4-3-40 trilingual and and probably got a 1600 on your SAT, t it's okay if you want to go be a surfer out there and exactly because of that well i don't i think we get fixated on lifelong careers too and it just doesn't ever pan out that way well do you think there's a it's a sin so to speak like not a sin but you know it's like a waste of a life to not max out like we we think that it's almost a waste of life if you're given a talent you don't max it out do you feel that way
00:35:57
Speaker
I don't. and Not anymore. I might have at one point, but I don't. I think that where you will do best for the world where you're finding joy. So that's why POS is my dream job.
00:36:09
Speaker
Well, that right i just raises more questions. but did you hear how Do you know how much I giggled after? like I spent 10 minutes making that tariff song. So dumb. So childish and adolescent.
00:36:21
Speaker
But I just spent im probably good 10 minutes giggling about how stupid it was. I like the thanks, Donald. uh and uh thank you donald and i'm just like that's that's just some good joy but uh you could you could find a way to monetize some of the stuff i'm doing or i could have but i don't know you just want to find joy and then you do need to make a living but let's not complicate it is this enough like if you go oh i am good at entertaining people and Fucking podcasting, is it enough to do what we're doing? That's the next level. iss like all you found like Same with the surfing. She just likes it. She's good at it. She doesn't have to compete. Okay, we're doing a podcast. We're kind of doing it for ah a small group of people that shower us with the private messages.
00:37:04
Speaker
Both of them. like that joke because I think one of our like real early episodes, someone someone gave you advice like don't be so self-deprecating about your listeners. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. Yeah, no, it's definitely enough and we've mentioned this before. You think it's enough?
00:37:20
Speaker
To like not, to like just enjoy what you're doing? Yeah, I mean I think some people, now we we actually have maybe close to 100 episodes. Yeah. Look, when I get really existential about life, it isn't just this hardcore plow mentality, reach a goal.
00:37:38
Speaker
Once I make 100 G, I'm to be great. I just don't see that working very often. And some people get lucky. And then like the super successful people, this is what we don't often see. We don't see how maniacal and absurd they were on their rise up.
00:37:53
Speaker
Sometimes we'll get a glimpse of a Netflix special that shows like us. There was one on Uber, the guy who started Uber. But we we end up consuming the self-reflective balanced version of them post success.
00:38:06
Speaker
And we hear all of their great advice. But they also like, yeah, I was miserable. i was crazy. And we're like, whatever. We just brush over it, right? None of them used that advice along the way. And so like, yeah they're just absurd people.
00:38:20
Speaker
So do I want that for my kid? No. ah Very few people will will have those levels of success. But like, I would prefer more of like, yeah, balanced, centered life where they do just good enough. And I can teach them some ways to like, maybe game things financially.
00:38:37
Speaker
But no, I'm not, like I'm over that at this point. Like if they want to be successful at something, they'll, they'll choose it. I'm i'm not going to instigate that dude. So take that Matt.
00:38:49
Speaker
Hmm. Yeah. Interesting. I think, uh, it is what it is. It's their life. You know, that's my life as well. But I like today,
00:39:02
Speaker
I mean, I don't know. I just feel like a child. Like, I'm like, I went surfing on Saturday. i got my ass kicked. I think you mentioned you checked. I appreciate that too, dude. As my co-host here, he checking out swells and making sure everything's all right.
00:39:15
Speaker
Big swell came through, like, the whole goddamn world, I think. But there's, like, giant waves from, like, Chile. I haven't looked north of, like, Mexico, but, like, big. And if we got pounded.
00:39:26
Speaker
And I was like, oh, it's going to be great. And I just got destroyed for like, three hours. I know it's still going to be good. this All I can think about is should I go back today and tomorrow and Wednesday? By the end of the week, like most of Costa Rica is off, so it'll be like crazy busy on the highways and at the beach.
00:39:42
Speaker
But I'm like, man, that's not the model for success as an adult. It's taking off and surfing Monday afternoon, but that's like all I can think about. I know. i'm not I'm very similar with the hiking and biking. It's like yeah every day I'm like, what how do I get out there? And it's different, obviously, as an activity. but Yeah, I'm always trying to justify it.
00:40:04
Speaker
I just don't want to do anything serious. And is that a midlife crisis? I think it's sort of like a ex deent existential rebirth.
00:40:14
Speaker
Maybe this is what finding Jesus means. I feel better. I feel better than other people by doing this. Like, I feel like I'm so, so righteous. Well, yeah, you've transcended. Yeah. I'm not chasing.
00:40:27
Speaker
Yeah. I'm not chasing anything. I'm just living, man. And like, you can go get your job, but I'm going go get some waves. and And the whole thing, like, I'm like, it's healthy. I suck at it.
00:40:39
Speaker
So it all makes sense. I get like tired. I'm relaxed. let's like It's like, it all makes sense, but it's, it doesn't serve any other purpose. I mean, even like today, I won't be with my kids. It'll just be me by myself.
00:40:51
Speaker
Well, let's talk about that, though, in the context of you and your business. Because, like, you have to do that business. know. I mean, I woke up today and I started working, started sending messages out to people. I started, I'm trying to check some boxes and make sure that that's still on.
00:41:07
Speaker
Like I'm kind of right now where we ship, we shipped a couple of weeks ago, waiting for it land in St. Louis. I've ordered what I need to order. like I'm kind of like, all right, I'm just kind of in, in between.
00:41:19
Speaker
course my coworkers up there like receiving shit and trying to get the office ready. And he probably would be happy if someone was up there to help him. But I think there's going be more work after our product gets up there. So I'd like to go then, you know, and if I had to stay for a while, it's better that our product's there.
00:41:33
Speaker
But I'm just kind of sitting here waiting and I'm like justifying my head that way. And I'm like, I should serve as much as I can because life's about to change. And yeah, but it's it is like it gets that simple. weird it should It could get that simple. You're just like, I got something I like as long as everything else is somewhat in order, family, financials.
00:41:56
Speaker
that's That's it, dude. Right. Doesn't have to be more complicated. It's hard to succeed in the other world if you're not like, well, i could send out a billion emails to every fucking person in St. Louis with right now, like to two which I did yesterday. i sent five messages to interior designers to let us know that our product's coming.
00:42:16
Speaker
I'm like, I'm just trying, I'm like, i want to live on the edge of like useful, but but yeah in my own zone, you know? that's That's a good point where it's like, there's a lot of permission for you to like pursue the success piece. Like I was talking to you about discussion groups and I have an idea to like start a nonprofit for mostly retired people to come and be a part of a discussion group and talk about things that interest them.
00:42:39
Speaker
I mentioned a few people, they thought that was a good idea. ah Yeah. And like my initial thought is like for a second there, I was like trying to like figure out how to tell people how big it could be. And then I'm like, what are you doing?
00:42:51
Speaker
You may only want to like facilitate a few of these and maybe just keep it to yourself. Like its it's, it's, that's what I'm talking. It's like you're in the same mindset, right? You think it's justified because it's a group, but you're in the same, like make it bigger, grow it, make it successful. You're like, ah, I'm doing the same thing.
00:43:07
Speaker
It's almost like I should just be like them and and make some money because I almost have the same. It's hard to get out of that mindset. It is hard. and And there are also competitive forces that force you at least get to the level that your competitors are at. And that's the sad thing is we keep investing in that, out-competing each other. And we need more people to just opt out of some things so that the base level of of grind lowers and people can spend more time surfing or doing things that make them healthier. But we've gotten to, least in the US, a place of burnout in almost every facet of life.
00:43:41
Speaker
Even our travel plans feel like burnout. want to make a list of the 10 places I want to visit in the next. It's just settle the fuck down, man. You might just enjoy. We're in the list, dude. We're in the list. Yeah, you might just enjoy like ah riding your bike around different neighborhoods in your city and and checking them out.
00:43:58
Speaker
Fuck that, dude. that's pussy. That's just. $12,000 road bike. If I like to ride bikes and I'm going to do a tour of Ireland and then I'm going to do a bike tour of Italy, and you did just that's but it's just constant escalation of goals and and achievement. And i ah I'm starting to resist that.
00:44:16
Speaker
But I think in part, we should check ourselves, dude, because... We both have opted out of grind and we we are in a phase of justifying as well. You could justify on the flip that people are contributing to society in a a much more meaningful way by like running a primary care practice or and they're really busy or whatever.
00:44:37
Speaker
Yeah. So it isn't an all or nothing. I think, though, on balance, a few more people who are willing to kind of kick back and not define themselves by those goals, couple guys a couple more people like us, be okay to balance that out a little bit.
00:44:53
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, yeah, the the reality, that's the other thing. Uh, the reality is those things are needed. So like if everyone just checked out, maybe it's a phase. I mean, i like when things go well, the other side of it too, is like if whatever we've but achieved so far at the slab business with things go well, there is some sense of gratification in that as well.
00:45:15
Speaker
Sure. Like, even though it's, it's kind of a a money thing, there is a sense of like success. And that feels good too. But there there is just like this, ah I don't know, this weird drive to surf. And right now it's surf. It could have been something else, but that's like, it's got a hold of me.
00:45:38
Speaker
and But I have it 100% justified. i don't feel any like guilt about it or anything. It's good, man. It's better than alcohol. It's better than prostitution. You know? you In hot go, you can get all of it.
00:45:51
Speaker
Yeah, if you need to. But let's ah let's talk about fear for a second because I want to get this out too. With what's what's going on the world or just say just in general? i just It could be a other factors in your life that cause fear, but I think I'm more talking about we've reached a new era of global politics, world economic restructuring that just it's like it just causes fear in a lot of different people.
00:46:16
Speaker
if not everyone, except for maybe the far right MAGA fucks that can't see Trump for anything but the second coming of Jesus. Is tangible, like in your community?
00:46:28
Speaker
I ask that again? Second coming of Jesus. I know you're going to keep going. Yeah. I said cut you off and you're a hit and you were hittting hitting some lumber. no got what No, like do you feel it?
00:46:40
Speaker
Do you feel that in your community or in your, like, do you feel the fear right now? Are people like, what the fuck's going on? ah most most people just like, ah, No. This is just bullshit. I mean, obviously, I'm in a more of a circle of people that would be more concerned with what this administration is doing. But no, I think there's unprecedented, I would say, logical viewpoints saying we've reached a point of no return in some of this stuff.
00:47:07
Speaker
For example, today, I listened to ah former Treasury Secretary just say, this is really damaging. Do you really think that other countries are not going to start partnering with each other?
00:47:19
Speaker
And so as somebody somebody who thinks logically about the economic world, do I start to say, well, is the U.S. truly going to be a ah failing power? And what do I do about that?
00:47:30
Speaker
How do I hold that fear? There just seems to be more concrete information, I think, It's not just hyperbole. There's more concrete information to suggest that maybe you need to think about something you need to do to protect yourself.
00:47:44
Speaker
And that fear, that's just hard to hold, man.
00:47:51
Speaker
Look at this, dude. here's um i'm like I'm back on CNN. here's Here's the main headline. So first so you have Trump meets with El Salvador's president amid deportation showdown, right? there's all this shit about Trump.
00:48:03
Speaker
Next thing next to it, it's it's a video of Katy Perry coming out of a spacecraft. big It's as big as the Trump thing. Katy Perry says she'll write a song about her space flight experience.
00:48:16
Speaker
Wow. That's what we need, dude. This, this like that literally just sealed the deal on my surf trip for the day um of how ridiculous things are going. Then you have the breakfast club stars reunite for the first time in 40 years.
00:48:30
Speaker
Riveting. All right. Trump calls, and then below the Katy Perry thing, Trump calls Sumi missile strike a mistake. It's some fucked up, bombed out place in Ukraine. But Russia's war seems to be raging on exactly to Putin's plan.
00:48:45
Speaker
Fuck that. Let me scroll back up to Katy Perry kissing the ground like she's fucking Buzz Aldrich or something. Sad state of affairs. So your fear is like, I don't i don't know.
00:48:58
Speaker
like Like there's so many shiny objects out there. like good that that Maybe that's why your shiny object could be like a disconnect plan like mine, or it could just be like people are like, oh my God, Katy Perry's.
00:49:10
Speaker
I don't know what you're saying. I think you might be saying like, there's no way to get a real handle on what's happening. And maybe you need to tune out. I just think it's all it's all ridiculous. I mean, I think you look at the tariff stuff too, and it's like, oh, it's like, all right. ah I mean, i have I have some Apple stock. I was watching Apple.
00:49:30
Speaker
It's like, oh my God. I'm fucked. I just lost all our money. Oh wait, no, I'm rich. Awesome. it's It's just like, this is all not, it's like headline, these head it's like a headline type of world.
00:49:43
Speaker
It's a headline world until like you see your small business in your neighborhood closed down where you see your friends don't have a job. Like in 2008, man, I had friends, lots of friends who lost lost their job and lost their ass on housing and just things happened. So the gutting of the government alongside this tariff stuff really creates some friction, man.
00:50:06
Speaker
That's where my fear goes. But where I where i cope is, which is sad. Okay, so I think I'm going to allocate ah they' want to allocate a little more U.S. stock to international stock. Because right now, I'm really not believing in the U.S. And so I just talk like that to myself over and over.
00:50:26
Speaker
And that's the saddest piece is I don't do anything. Well, Yellen says Trump's policy is eroding trust in U.S. dollar assets. Yeah. That's pushing you to invest overseas, right?
00:50:37
Speaker
Is it, but is some of your fear because of the, it's like you beat the system and now the system might completely fuck you and and not allow for your plans to like come to fruition? It's not necessarily that because I think if that were to happen, then we'd be looking at some really cataclysmic life ah circumstances in the U.S. But I think you think that might could get there.
00:50:58
Speaker
Yes, I do. Actually, sadly, I think we could be moving towards more of a South American dictator type regime. and And we think that's not possible in our country.
00:51:12
Speaker
And it's starting to look like, well, maybe, dude. And that's that that's a lot to hold and you don't know what to do. But like if I think the least of my worries would be my assets dropping.
00:51:23
Speaker
Like what what do your kids do in this environment? Right. You beat it, dude. No, but what if there's like real conflict, like armed conflict? I just think a lot of things can spiral.
00:51:35
Speaker
we have a draft again or something like that? I just think a lot of things can spiral when you lead with chaos. So we'll see, buddy. We'll see, huh? I'll just get my surf in. No, I'm kidding.
00:51:46
Speaker
What if one of your kids marries a Latino and then they get deported? That's a risk. It is. It happens, actually. I know that we know somebody or the husband's really at risk.
00:51:57
Speaker
Because of what? Exactly what you said. and know, but is he a legal alien or is it is it just like a racial... Profiling or is it? I don't know what they're, where they're drawing the line. If you got married and how long ago.
00:52:13
Speaker
Yeah. I don't know where they draw the line on that. Yeah. So whatever happened to the last like five since we did the last episode, you're not, nothing has eased your, your stress level about, about what's going on. Has it made it worse? Like, cause we mentioned it off air. I think you said like the head, like just the random headlines coming out of the white house is crazy.
00:52:34
Speaker
And people are trading on that making money. Like does that, when you go, Oh, he, he just eased on electronics, for example, so that smartphones and some of the semiconductor components are, not going to be tariff does that make you feel better does it make it almost seem more ridiculous that these are just like shooting from the hip It seems more ridiculous. I guess I could phrase it all like this. You know, when you've read about history and you contemplate, well, what would that feel like?
00:52:59
Speaker
What would it mean to really have 30% unemployment during the Great Depression? or what was it really like in World War II when, you know your family members and a lot of the men went off to war and so forth?
00:53:11
Speaker
And you read about that and you're like, huh, wow, that's crazy. I feel like we're a part of history. I know that sounds silly. Like we're always going to be a part of history, but... this will be potentially ah moment we'll look back on and go, what in the fuck happened there? What would have been like to be in that? I'm not trying to like get you all riled up as you embark on slabs, but like there's enough seismic change and and disruption for forces to to shift a different direction in a very dramatic way for us to to really have to second guess our current life framing, our current life circumstances.
00:53:48
Speaker
um I'm putting the slabs in the middle of a sort of a, I would say more right, more right community. I think they're going to buy slabs to come back because ah in support of what's going on, they kind of got to like keep toeing the line, consuming, you know?
00:54:04
Speaker
So I'm hoping that they're like, we're going to buy the biggest fucking table ever because or the woke has won. That's the idea of it.
00:54:15
Speaker
Well, yeah, but I mean, even your your idea, i guess I go like 2008 was so kind of catastrophic. And I was, but I'm like, it didn't, it didn't matter. Like even for your friends or like nobody died. They all just like picked up and probably reorganized their lives or like some, I don't know if there was any really real tragedy came out of it. I'm sure there there was. People lost their house. and But like, yeah.
00:54:39
Speaker
But also we were buying all these fucked up loans and stuff. Like people are getting houses they shouldn't have got. It was like a learning lesson too. Well, I know, but people went, well, I know, filed for bankruptcy and it's haunted them ever since.
00:54:51
Speaker
And things like that happen. I'm i just saying I don't want any of that in my life. I mean, but I do worry about people who live a little more on the the edge and the fringe. But it's what you preach. Maybe it's the learn the lesson they need.
00:55:05
Speaker
One doesn't have to like get too imaginative to see ah scenario where economic fortunes of people have... plummeted and diminished and conflict rises, not even not not just locally, but you know the US, because of its deteriorating relationships, feels like it's got to use its military might to gain back power.
00:55:27
Speaker
That isn't that imaginative. Really? ive Over the last few conversations, like your real fear is that this is going escalate into a a conflict, not just a trade war, an actual war. You think that's a possibility, which is fucking scary if that's true.
00:55:44
Speaker
i agree. I'm not there yet. If you follow high tariffs in history, you see war. You also already have a pretty messy world right now from a conflict perspective.
00:55:55
Speaker
is it Is it worse now than ever? Like was last time we had a time in history where there was no, no conflict somewhere? Sure. There's always some, something going on, dude. But like, I try to listen to older people.
00:56:08
Speaker
Well, there's your problem, dude. It's so unprecedented that turning away from it, from it to me seems sort of irresponsible. Right.
00:56:18
Speaker
Dude, it's, uh, I don't know. I hope you're wrong, but you never know. Well, I don't want to be wrong about not having enough international stock. Just kidding.
00:56:31
Speaker
It's important, dude, that you're... Diversified. Yeah. During a war, what a lot of people think about like getting food and shit, but what they forget is that their investments need to be diversified. That's what I'm worried about, is people who just let their... you know Get hyper-focused one area of investment, real estate. and It's all cool. A bomb hits your real estate investment, you're fucked.
00:56:55
Speaker
You know? Like... But once once the war machine cranks up, don't don't they start issuing war bonds, which are always a solid investment? Oh, yeah. You know, what I'm really analyzing right now, Matt, is like, what's going to happen to the price of oil?
00:57:08
Speaker
Because I have this commodity fund that has ah about 20% of it it is in energy. And and I think during war, is going to go up. And so I'll be sitting pretty. Is it weird you're kind of fucking yourself with that electric bike?
00:57:21
Speaker
Or is that your hedge? That's your hedge, right? Oh, yeah, that's my hedge. But where will you get electricity? I'm going to have to get one of those solar panels. Gas generator? Oh, yeah, solar. Solar. Solar is how you beat the system, bro.
00:57:35
Speaker
Yeah, but my solar is hooked up to go back to the the energy grid of of Excel energy. and not i I don't know how to access it. I could probably look online. If there isn't online. Dude.
00:57:48
Speaker
That's an interesting thing, but what if in this day and age, the have you ever gone a few hours that internet? You're like, what don do we do? it like Everything is shut down. Only when I choose to like go hike or whatever, yeah. that's like Shit like that could could throw the world into a tizzy.
00:58:06
Speaker
Well, power too. Yeah. power Power, water, connectivity. Those three things could could bring us down. It does seem like our the speed at which people make choices financially.
00:58:20
Speaker
you just look at how dramatic the markets seem to be. I don't know if it's a new. i guess the market went down insanely in 1987. But I'm just saying information travels fast and ah you get a little worried about panicking people doing crazy stuff.
00:58:34
Speaker
That's where I mean, but that's where I'm like, do we need to work? Like, like exactly. We just, yeah, the market went down in 87 and no way. And in 2001, October, 2001 or 9, 11, like, and nothing happened. It just went down. Then it went back up.
00:58:49
Speaker
Is it just, we're just another thing like that. It's like, oh, blow to the chin, but life goes on. Is that the right way to look at it? I think the market's the least of my concerns, although that is where try exert control and cope.
00:59:02
Speaker
I think some of the other things that are happening, ah first and foremost, what I hear about other countries starting to make ah make plans to partner away from the U.S. to divest in U.S. assets.
00:59:15
Speaker
When I hear things like that, I start to go, oh, that's weird. And then I hear, well, and then you see the gutting of the government and and pretty beneficial positions. Like millions of people are predicted to perish.
00:59:28
Speaker
without USAID funding, dude. you know and And that's not liberal hyperbole. I'm sorry. yeah People who have relied on HIV drugs that the U.S. has provided, food aid, other things, we're going to struggle, dude, and die.
00:59:44
Speaker
When does that happen? When do we start to see that? Yeah, your guess is good as mine, dude. I don't know. It's funny, though. I was thinking about that, too. like The argument like that the war the rest of the world is going to be like, screw you.
00:59:57
Speaker
I think most a lot of people on the right or a lot of Americans would be like, great. They'd be like, good. like people people a lot of people haven't haven't been out there that much or just like, yeah, and the rest of the world sucks, I think.
01:00:10
Speaker
I mean, i'm not I don't agree with them. I think the world the world economy is too tied to have that attitude, to but I think that's the attitude for a lot of people. It's kind of like, well, fuck them. Let's take all international travelers out of Disney World and the beaches of Eastern Florida. Fucking go to Space Mountain doesn't take six hours.
01:00:29
Speaker
Right. Let's just take it all out. Watch how many jobs get cut. And all of the Canadians that are no longer coming over to the border towns and and doing some of the U.S. s stuff that they like to do. Let's let's see. The Japs in Honolulu.
01:00:44
Speaker
All right, there you go. Gone. Uh-huh. You just want to say jabs. Dude, yeah. So, like, there'll be real consequences. I think they're coming. But don't you agree? That's like that. i Like, I guess what I'm saying is one of the arguments is, like, this isolation politics is bad, and I think a lot of people are like, great.
01:01:02
Speaker
Maybe not processing like what you're saying, how we are actually like sort of a ah economical melting pot. Like we actually need, we always think of ourselves as like going other places, going to Mexico on vacation.
01:01:13
Speaker
But the reality is U.S. now is like, ah is where a lot of people invest their time and money from around the world to to help our economy. they They do, yeah. And they buy a lot of U.S. s investments. I think that could be catastrophic if they pull out, especially China pulls out of our treasuries.
01:01:29
Speaker
But yeah, dude, I think what you're saying is this this America first ideal lacks intelligence and that people potentially think that by severing contacts with the world or relationships with the world and and making threats, we are strong America.
01:01:44
Speaker
And we're going to weaken ourselves. like Trump will weaken this country. ah Most power starts with, at least in the modern world, I think, with with some level of respect and some certainty.
01:01:55
Speaker
I mean, nobody controls everything anymore, right? you're You're not going to get your way with these this tantrums and threats, dude. I think China will come out on top, buddy. I think they will come out on top. When Japan wants to sit down with China and make a trade deal, we're all fucked.
01:02:11
Speaker
It's just a different, no, it's a different paradigm. So that's why i said, get some international stock, bro. Let it ride. All right. I'm going now. I'm going to my E-Trade account.
01:02:23
Speaker
I haven't, I don't have the fear yet. Maybe I'm completely naive. I don't have the fear because I feel like it's just these cycles, large cycles. And sometimes you need to trim the herd.
01:02:34
Speaker
But how is this a cycle? This is ah a self-imposed, based on chaotic... Actually, that's what my brother said. Psychotic behavior. This isn't a cycle. Like, a so a recession cycle would be like, oh, dude, buy more stock.
01:02:47
Speaker
Oh, man, let's ah give some more money to charity to help people who have lost their job. Yeah, that's like... Dude, this is some... oh Moe Shea This is what ah new heavy metal bands will base the next 10 years of of songs on um On the tariffs?
01:03:07
Speaker
No, not the tariffs, but just on the collapsing of US exceptionalism Yeah, but it's not even you, it's just this guy Yeah It's guys right I don't want to get into it anymore, buddy I'm depressed I know, I tried to steer you into youth sports little bit.
01:03:28
Speaker
that's That's what I think. I think you're right on everything. What I think you should avoid is tying it to your like mental well-being. This is kind of hard to do. like We all agree there's issues out there and these trade wars could affect people and ah the economy, but you got you got to find a way to separate it from your mental well-being.
01:03:48
Speaker
I agree. And I've actually been better at that this time than ever. It is though a day-to-day challenge. I mean, my wife comes home every day with her clients in panic.
01:04:00
Speaker
Because of the state of the world. Yeah. I mean, just different things that are happening. And then- This is going to be a hard time to be a therapist, I would think. Yeah, absolutely. And then you, and COVID was equally hard.
01:04:11
Speaker
And there's a protest every fucking day, dude. In every city, I feel like. Yeah. It's just funny. That, yeah, like I, I mean, I don't know. I know you should we should be engaged, what's going on, but that stuff, i don't I'm not aware of any of that going on and I'm not gonna try to be, regardless of whether I should be worried about the world ending if my kids are gonna be in nuclear holocaust.
01:04:33
Speaker
i can't i can't I can't deal with that crap. Yeah, you just want to worry about the price of gold. Which is poppin', right? Poppin', huh? Pumping, pumping and popping.
01:04:45
Speaker
So funny. I sold ah a gold coin or two gold coins that were like at the time, like 1900 bucks, 1950 bucks. I was like, damn, I'm getting this out at the top, bro. This was like years ago.
01:04:57
Speaker
Cause it had gone up significantly. Little did I know that got du you Donald and inflation would push gold to the moon. I mean, what do you think about people?
01:05:10
Speaker
before we go that are just strictly looking at it that way. Like it doesn't matter who's doing what. They're like, all right gold's popping. Like there's always a trade, right? Regardless of what's happening and they're on the you just get on the right side of it. And do you think that's the way to do it as well?
01:05:26
Speaker
Like it's got some mixture of my checking out, but then just checking out of the sort of the emotional reality for some people and the detriment. And they're just like, there's gotta be a way to make money in this market.
01:05:37
Speaker
I think they're probably less healthy. approaches so but is that like a healthy response to just like be focused on your money and that's to be honest what i'll move towards sometimes uh just to like calm or or just have some action to take even though they're really no action is probably the best but like if they're grifters about it no what's that mean Like they're just scumbags, scumbag like manipulators who are you know just trying to get as much as they possibly can.
01:06:11
Speaker
i don't and i don't know that I like that, but like, yeah, if that was a healthy way to cope is say like, look, I'll just try to figure out ways to stay more sturdy financially given this and and take advantage where I can, fine, because you know the alternative could be some sort of vice like alcohol or gambling or youth sports.
01:06:30
Speaker
Or just like the sort of net net zero sum game approach. Like there's always a winner and a loser and i'm going to find a way to win regardless. Whether it's I'm going to invest in and people making F-16s because there's a war coming or whatever. You know, people are strictly real
The World of Cryptocurrency
01:06:47
Speaker
hard. I guess that would be sort of real hardcore capitalism in this.
01:06:50
Speaker
Oh, it is. That's happening right now. What's interesting to me, probably the most interesting dynamic financially speaking is crypto right now because there's so much chaos in the world. It has been a longstanding extreme risk asset that...
01:07:06
Speaker
would drop more than the stock market and rise more and just had- Volatile. Volatility. Tons of volatility. But what it's starting to look like, it's starting to look like it's going to morph into more of a store of value, safe haven asset, at least Bitcoin. Like gold or something? Yeah, we'll see. But like people- are relentless at wanting to hold it. And as the government does weird things and the dollar looks to be less stable and bonds look to be more risky, it might very well work out that way where fucking Bitcoin, stupid fucking Bitcoin is a place to park your money all across the world.
01:07:46
Speaker
Well, it's always like, ah I mean, now it has a momentum. I'm like, well, I don't want to be the one who doesn't have any. So people are throwing some money at it for that reason. I did. Well, that was how where it started.
01:07:57
Speaker
yeah Yeah. And now I think people are back there, don't think? Well, there's some of that, but I so i i think now there's a just there's probably a stronger justification that there's so much uncertainty in the world. We need ah basically a decentralized currency to park our money, a place where we somewhere we can trust.
01:08:16
Speaker
84,000 today. and Rather than a government. That might be good, especially for a night sayers like yourself. Like if people are looking at Bitcoin or even any of these not, it's like, oh, I'm going to throw some 300 bucks at Shibu Ewu or whatever fuck it, because I might, it might be $10 million because of some fucked up Reddit rally or something like,
01:08:34
Speaker
Maybe it's good if it stabilizes and people are looking at it as ah as a place of stability than just this crazy fluctuating nonsense that has no real value. But like Bitcoin, people actually use at least.
01:08:47
Speaker
I think it's more of an investment vehicle at this point. i don't I think, yes, it might be used for some transactions, but it's not yeah it's not central to its purpose is to like help people like exchange money in an easy way.
01:09:00
Speaker
It's now more of an investment. But what i worry about is like the uncertainty in the world grows. And now if it instead of it being viewed as a high-risk asset that's going to tank, it's going to be viewed as ah a stable place that people will park their money instead of in some volatile...
01:09:17
Speaker
ah country currency.
Coping with Financial Uncertainty
01:09:18
Speaker
The reason is that reason that's a worry is because I think it's it's a more destabilizing thing long term to move away from the US dollar as a reserve currency for people to look at Bitcoin as a place to park.
01:09:31
Speaker
That could be a problem. but i You have some fucking and intense worries. It's not, it's, sad it I'm on a roller coaster. It's, I'm not sitting, I'm not sitting here. Like my, I have no anxiety talking about this.
01:09:44
Speaker
I have no like heart palpitations. I just, these are interesting things. It's probably more, more what it is. It's interesting to see, dude. I think as you check out on your surfboard, bro, like, I think these are some new cataclysmic shifts.
01:09:58
Speaker
Well, then I, then I'm kind of like, where would, where would I want to be? Where would I want to be there on the surfboard or fighting fighting these these huge, almost unmanageable forces of destruction?
01:10:11
Speaker
i would probably go back to that. Yeah. Right. I mean, for me to be aware of it and to actually think about it as an exercise, I find valuable what to do with it. The coping after, uh, kind of consuming information like this is what I don't know is like, what's the most healthy way to do that.
01:10:28
Speaker
Yeah. I know people, but you should be worried. You should be if those things are potentially risks and you should be doing everything you can to like protect your family from it. It's probably what people would say. Surfing doesn't do that, but. But the truth is you can't predict any of it.
01:10:41
Speaker
That's the thing. Like, a you know, it can sound logical about what might happen. People have been trying to predict these things for millennia and it's just not possible. So perhaps the right answer is to like create some security in your life to the best of your ability and then go kick it.
01:10:57
Speaker
I'm trying to do that. Like yeah I got the podcast on. I did a couple hours of work, contacted a few people this morning, trying to do that. I can't be like, I'm not going to serve because the crypto market might fuck us and five years or something
01:11:19
Speaker
crypto is for pussies crypto is for pussies i invest in puke human cute collected in a bucket gonna make the duck gets the world runs on puke the world runs on puke crypto is for pussies crypto whisper