WEBVTT - You’re Never Going to Be a Billionaire… | MiniPod 0:00:00.600 --> 0:00:03.920 Nigga Lampod is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership with 0:00:04.040 --> 0:00:11.160 Reason Choice Media. Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome home, everybody. 0:00:11.240 --> 0:00:14.120 This is of course your family here over at Native Lampod. 0:00:14.320 --> 0:00:17.640 This is this week's mini pod, which I want to 0:00:18.120 --> 0:00:20.680 go ahead and kick over to my good co host 0:00:20.720 --> 0:00:23.440 and Fran Tiffany to I think pick up from some 0:00:23.480 --> 0:00:27.560 of the themes that we began at invest Fest. And 0:00:27.840 --> 0:00:30.520 there was one particular topic Tiffany, if you recalled it, 0:00:30.680 --> 0:00:33.159 you opened up that I don't know. 0:00:33.880 --> 0:00:36.640 Well, let me just first say thank you again to 0:00:36.720 --> 0:00:40.720 Troy and Rashid, who hosts invest Fest. I'm sure you 0:00:40.800 --> 0:00:43.720 guys may already follow them on social media. They had 0:00:43.760 --> 0:00:46.400 an amazing gathering with tens of thousands of people who 0:00:46.479 --> 0:00:51.520 came with financial literacy inquiry and it was a great 0:00:51.520 --> 0:00:54.600 networking opportunity and they were polite enough to extend us 0:00:54.680 --> 0:00:57.840 the stage and we were joined by amazing guests. So 0:00:57.840 --> 0:01:00.600 if you haven't checked out that episode, please be sure 0:01:01.120 --> 0:01:04.399 you can find that episode on all Native Land properties. 0:01:04.920 --> 0:01:08.840 During this conversation, we you know, were posing each other 0:01:08.959 --> 0:01:12.600 questions and Angela pulled the audience a few times, and 0:01:12.800 --> 0:01:15.360 I was sitting there or watching tens of thousands of 0:01:15.360 --> 0:01:18.839 people in the audience, and I started thinking, like, gosh, 0:01:18.920 --> 0:01:23.160 we're all sitting here trying to build wealth while democracy 0:01:23.319 --> 0:01:28.559 is falling around us, and we have this audience before us. 0:01:28.880 --> 0:01:31.600 How can we meet the moment to address some of 0:01:31.640 --> 0:01:34.200 these other things That's got me on this whole philosophical kick. 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:39.280 So I asked my fellow co host, the panelists, and 0:01:39.319 --> 0:01:43.119 the audience, just the plan a seed of thought that 0:01:43.360 --> 0:01:49.200 can black people thrive and survive in the very system 0:01:49.480 --> 0:01:54.080 of capitalism, which in America was born out of the plantation. 0:01:55.080 --> 0:01:58.560 So it was, you know, it was a lot of 0:01:58.600 --> 0:02:01.600 like cheers and yeah, but when I asked that question, 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:02.880 it was a little quiet. 0:02:03.080 --> 0:02:04.480 It was a little quiet. 0:02:05.080 --> 0:02:08.480 We're talking about entrepreneurship, and you touched on this so beautifully, 0:02:08.840 --> 0:02:13.680 Reverend Bryant, when you talked about chase your purpose and 0:02:13.720 --> 0:02:14.639 not your profit. 0:02:15.120 --> 0:02:15.680 And I'm just. 0:02:15.639 --> 0:02:19.960 Sitting here wondering because so many people in entrepreneurship, a 0:02:19.960 --> 0:02:21.840 lot of people want to become Their goal is to 0:02:21.960 --> 0:02:25.640 you know, make millions, And I just wonder, the system 0:02:25.680 --> 0:02:30.919 of capitalism originated on the plantation, and if we are 0:02:31.120 --> 0:02:36.560 trying to build empires and not community. Does this system 0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:39.760 of capitalism serve us? We may not be able to 0:02:39.760 --> 0:02:41.520 answer that on the panel, but I just want to 0:02:41.520 --> 0:02:43.560 throw that out to the audience to think about it 0:02:43.880 --> 0:02:47.560 as we're building businesses and hopefully building community, And if 0:02:47.639 --> 0:02:48.480 y'all had thoughts. 0:02:48.280 --> 0:02:49.360 On it, I would love to hear it. 0:02:51.400 --> 0:02:54.200 But I'm happy I posed it because it wasn't necessarily 0:02:54.240 --> 0:02:56.200 meant to be addressed then, but I wanted to at 0:02:56.280 --> 0:02:59.200 least plant that seed of thought because even that seems 0:02:59.240 --> 0:03:02.760 like their way of doing things. If we are, if 0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:05.760 we become individuals just trying to build our own empires, 0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:10.600 trying to build wealth, it seems like that adopts the 0:03:10.600 --> 0:03:15.520 whitest right way. Before we came to America, there were 0:03:15.600 --> 0:03:18.960 systems that there was no capitalism, you know, like we 0:03:19.040 --> 0:03:20.520 just didn't function that way. 0:03:20.680 --> 0:03:23.200 Are you talking bothering? Because because I think that's part 0:03:23.240 --> 0:03:25.240 of what I'd like to invite from you now that 0:03:25.240 --> 0:03:26.800 we've got a little bit of time on it. Yeah, 0:03:27.080 --> 0:03:30.760 is how you may I don't want you to describe 0:03:30.800 --> 0:03:33.400 the perfect system, but if you have that, you would 0:03:33.400 --> 0:03:37.680 describe that you would want to be in a system 0:03:36.120 --> 0:03:42.400 of the economy or replacing the current form of economy 0:03:42.400 --> 0:03:44.800 we have, Like, what are the elements? What are some 0:03:44.840 --> 0:03:47.480 of the elements you might want to be included there? 0:03:48.280 --> 0:03:50.600 Or what you might want to make sure we avoid. 0:03:51.320 --> 0:03:57.480 Yes, so to me, if our it poses the question, 0:03:57.560 --> 0:03:59.960 if our basic needs are met, what do we get 0:03:59.920 --> 0:04:00.600 to create? 0:04:00.640 --> 0:04:02.440 Who do we get to be? How do we get 0:04:02.440 --> 0:04:02.920 to function? 0:04:03.960 --> 0:04:06.880 So there are political systems and there are economic systems, 0:04:07.120 --> 0:04:11.040 and some would argue in capitalism, I think Ibram Kendy said, 0:04:11.520 --> 0:04:15.120 I think racism and capitalism are twin components. Forgive me, 0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:20.040 Ebrahm if I'm misquoting you, so for me, And I've 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:22.400 also read a few books about this. One I've referenced 0:04:22.640 --> 0:04:25.400 here is the work of fiction called Sky Full of Elephants. 0:04:26.120 --> 0:04:28.400 For me, I wonder like, if I'm just living in 0:04:28.440 --> 0:04:32.000 my space, growing in my garden and it's I can 0:04:32.120 --> 0:04:34.920 I can give to you? I have home, I have food, 0:04:35.000 --> 0:04:39.200 I have shelter. And if I'm growing greens and carrots 0:04:39.240 --> 0:04:43.880 and potatoes in my garden and you're growing turnips and 0:04:43.960 --> 0:04:48.359 strawberries and peaches in your garden, can we function that 0:04:48.440 --> 0:04:51.120 way in this black city? That the guest in our 0:04:51.120 --> 0:04:54.159 main episode this week post in this black city. 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:58.160 Is it possible, you know? And I don't know. 0:04:58.480 --> 0:05:01.400 I think it's worth having an action ual economists maybe 0:05:02.400 --> 0:05:05.279 address some of this, because I don't know what that 0:05:05.320 --> 0:05:07.080 looks like, but I at least want us to think 0:05:07.120 --> 0:05:07.560 about it. 0:05:07.960 --> 0:05:11.800 I wonder too, if we should be. 0:05:11.839 --> 0:05:16.000 Presuming that everybody wants the same things. Like part of 0:05:16.040 --> 0:05:19.960 what I heard you saying Tiff earlier was, you know, 0:05:20.000 --> 0:05:24.920 there's this idea that the convening that earn your leisure 0:05:25.000 --> 0:05:28.560 is the entity that puts on investmentst Is there something 0:05:28.640 --> 0:05:33.400 tone deaf about that right now? And there are people 0:05:33.680 --> 0:05:38.080 who are participating in those convenings, in those conferences, wanting 0:05:38.120 --> 0:05:41.160 to be a part of, you know, an investment group 0:05:41.560 --> 0:05:43.960 because they have always felt the way that some of 0:05:44.040 --> 0:05:47.279 us are feeling right now. Right They've always felt under attack, 0:05:47.360 --> 0:05:49.719 They've always felt like they don't have enough, they always 0:05:49.760 --> 0:05:53.919 feel like they're having to choose one basic necessity from another. 0:05:54.600 --> 0:05:57.400 And the thing that I'm kind of fascinated by in 0:05:57.440 --> 0:05:59.720 this conversation is like, yeah, I'm like I want to 0:05:59.720 --> 0:06:02.280 set up mutual aid networks and bartering systems and all 0:06:02.279 --> 0:06:04.440 these things. But there are a lot of people who 0:06:04.440 --> 0:06:07.239 are like, nah, I've been kind of doing some element 0:06:07.279 --> 0:06:11.760 of that, you know, Rob Peter to pay Paul, even 0:06:11.800 --> 0:06:13.799 though I would not put that stank spent on bartering. 0:06:13.800 --> 0:06:15.400 But just go at me for a second. 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:18.719 So the mentality is now shifted to what do I 0:06:18.800 --> 0:06:20.680 need to do to secure the bag. We hear that 0:06:20.760 --> 0:06:22.839 language a lot or back at the back in our day, 0:06:22.839 --> 0:06:25.039 it was you know, get that money made right, like 0:06:25.120 --> 0:06:28.200 all of these things where or get your hustle on 0:06:28.360 --> 0:06:31.880 or whatever. There is some right, there's a thing where 0:06:32.320 --> 0:06:35.640 there is something we're aspiring to. And I don't think 0:06:35.680 --> 0:06:39.240 that aspiration is rooted in basic needs. It isn't being 0:06:39.520 --> 0:06:41.960 you know, a real estate mogul where you have a 0:06:42.000 --> 0:06:45.520 ton of rental properties. It's being able to get that 0:06:45.640 --> 0:06:47.600 yacht and you set it off with your friends with 0:06:47.640 --> 0:06:50.919 the with asus spades. It's being able to get you know, 0:06:51.040 --> 0:06:54.560 a may back and you know cha Chase Rick Ross 0:06:54.560 --> 0:06:56.840 who found his dumb ass in the target the other day. 0:06:56.880 --> 0:06:58.360 By the way, but I did I digress. 0:06:58.839 --> 0:07:00.800 Uh, you know, there are all of these things, and 0:07:00.800 --> 0:07:02.680 I believe it's probably paid for it, like Hai Sanata, 0:07:02.760 --> 0:07:05.480 We'll do that another time. I think my point is 0:07:05.560 --> 0:07:07.960 that from our rap lyrics to. 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:11.680 You know, some of the people who we. 0:07:11.680 --> 0:07:15.440 Aspire for the fact that they're Yes, the small number 0:07:15.560 --> 0:07:18.600 of black billionaires that exist, there is a deep desire 0:07:19.040 --> 0:07:23.040 to increase that number. And so if that is the case, 0:07:23.680 --> 0:07:26.920 bartering is not what they're striving for. You are rightly 0:07:27.000 --> 0:07:30.080 talking about survival in this moment. But if I'm honest, 0:07:30.280 --> 0:07:33.160 that doesn't get me closer to you know, taking my 0:07:33.200 --> 0:07:34.440 parents to Africa for. 0:07:34.360 --> 0:07:37.800 A month, you know, Like I've been bawling on a budget. 0:07:37.840 --> 0:07:39.680 I would like to be off the budget, please. 0:07:40.080 --> 0:07:44.600 Any So, I don't know if that in and of 0:07:44.680 --> 0:07:48.560 itself is capitalism or if it's capitalism influence, But I 0:07:48.760 --> 0:07:52.120 just wonder if there is safe if there's space for 0:07:52.280 --> 0:07:55.360 two of those ideas to safely coexist. And I don't know, 0:07:55.880 --> 0:07:58.000 but I think that's that's what I'm wrestling with, Like, 0:07:58.080 --> 0:08:01.080 do we say that, you know, okay, we're a capitalist 0:08:01.160 --> 0:08:03.360 because we're a capitalist society. In order for us to 0:08:03.400 --> 0:08:05.880 ball not on a budget, we too have to be capitalist? 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:07.960 Or is there a way for us to still have 0:08:08.040 --> 0:08:10.040 abundance in a system that's. 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:12.360 Rooted in bartering and all that. Anyway, I'm in so well. 0:08:12.680 --> 0:08:16.040 We have abundance. Can everybody have abundance? And I don't 0:08:16.120 --> 0:08:18.680 I write that that's I don't know. And I don't 0:08:18.720 --> 0:08:22.920 want to sit here and perpetrate either. I to desire 0:08:23.160 --> 0:08:28.720 wealth like I work towards it. People you know, constantly 0:08:28.760 --> 0:08:33.720 call out my hypocrisy because I mean, look, I'll be honest. 0:08:33.760 --> 0:08:36.920 I'm probably not going to fly coach unless it's like 0:08:36.960 --> 0:08:40.600 some sort of thing. I know that sounds horrible, but 0:08:41.040 --> 0:08:43.360 I literally will forget because they're like, oh, your luggage 0:08:43.440 --> 0:08:44.880 is over. I'm like, no, it's not. And it's like, oh, 0:08:44.920 --> 0:08:46.920 I forget, Like if you're you know, you have a 0:08:46.960 --> 0:08:49.440 different luggage it is listen. I'm just being honest. It 0:08:49.520 --> 0:08:54.200 is a lifestyle that I aim for that and then 0:08:54.240 --> 0:08:57.720 when it shakes, you're like, oh, I am married to 0:08:57.800 --> 0:09:01.280 this system of capitalism. I was an argument with somebody 0:09:02.000 --> 0:09:05.559 and he's very successful, and I was arguing with him 0:09:05.679 --> 0:09:09.480 basically saying like, okay, but your success doesn't define you. 0:09:09.480 --> 0:09:12.559 You could be some little African American history professor somewhere 0:09:12.880 --> 0:09:13.959 and that's like a dupe thing. 0:09:13.960 --> 0:09:15.400 And he was like, do you hear yourself? 0:09:15.559 --> 0:09:20.160 You said some little African American history like there is 0:09:20.200 --> 0:09:27.000 a ranking, and grant car is one of my favorite people. 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:32.600 Like all, I put these people in the highest respect. 0:09:33.160 --> 0:09:36.280 But to be told to have my words reflected back 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:39.520 to me that way, I did actually wonder like, oh, 0:09:39.760 --> 0:09:43.520 I have some of this embedded in who I am, 0:09:43.559 --> 0:09:44.840 and that's not okay? 0:09:44.880 --> 0:09:46.319 How do I unlearn those things? 0:09:48.360 --> 0:09:50.719 The hierarchy part. I didn't like hearing that repeated back 0:09:50.720 --> 0:09:52.240 to me. I was like, oh, that is true, like 0:09:52.240 --> 0:09:53.959 when I say some little you know. 0:09:54.280 --> 0:09:55.959 I didn't like that. But why do you have to 0:09:56.000 --> 0:09:58.360 put a judgment, like a judgment value on whether or 0:09:58.400 --> 0:10:00.800 not you desire nice things and to fly? 0:10:01.080 --> 0:10:02.160 I don't know why. 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:07.040 No, get I get the hypocrisy. I'm just saying why 0:10:08.240 --> 0:10:12.520 from a value set? To me? All right, I guess 0:10:12.520 --> 0:10:16.199 I am. I'm absolutely in in the capitalist system as 0:10:16.240 --> 0:10:18.400 we are. If you live here in America, unless you're 0:10:18.400 --> 0:10:20.520 off the grid and you do your own thing, I 0:10:20.559 --> 0:10:24.560 would be. I'm more concerned with where you You sort 0:10:24.600 --> 0:10:27.480 of hinted that, which is, what about the basic of 0:10:27.679 --> 0:10:29.439 needs being established across? What? 0:10:29.440 --> 0:10:29.640 Why? 0:10:29.720 --> 0:10:33.720 What? Why can't our system of capitalism establish a universal 0:10:33.760 --> 0:10:37.560 floor by which from that floor you can go on 0:10:37.640 --> 0:10:39.720 to achieve all the things in the world that you 0:10:39.760 --> 0:10:42.080 may want to. But at a very basic level, you're 0:10:42.120 --> 0:10:43.240 going to have a house, You're. 0:10:43.120 --> 0:10:45.160 Gonna guarantee income or something like you. 0:10:45.240 --> 0:10:46.960 At a basic level, you're gonna have access to health 0:10:46.960 --> 0:10:49.280 care that doesn't break the bank and break you for 0:10:49.400 --> 0:10:52.640 going in you know, to see about a communicable disease 0:10:52.679 --> 0:10:55.360 that you can transfer to other people, or a cold 0:10:55.440 --> 0:10:57.360 or a cough again that you can transfer to other people. 0:10:57.360 --> 0:10:59.680 That could equal much more. But we have impact on 0:10:59.720 --> 0:11:03.360 them than you. But so I just I wish our 0:11:03.400 --> 0:11:07.840 system of capitalism made more room and put more emphasis 0:11:08.080 --> 0:11:10.000 on a floor that way, I'm not trying to cap 0:11:10.040 --> 0:11:11.720 your future. I'm not trying to put a cap on 0:11:11.800 --> 0:11:15.200 all the wonderful, amazing things you can earn and buy 0:11:15.320 --> 0:11:18.959 and create, which is what a lot of people fear 0:11:19.240 --> 0:11:22.480 when we have universal systems of anything, is that all 0:11:22.559 --> 0:11:24.880 you want to do is cap my income or cap 0:11:24.920 --> 0:11:28.880 my potential, cap my innovation, take it away if you regulate, 0:11:29.000 --> 0:11:31.719 or so on and so forth. So I don't want 0:11:31.720 --> 0:11:34.800 to attack that part, even though I do believe that 0:11:34.800 --> 0:11:37.640 that part ought to be taxed appropriately, that they ought 0:11:37.679 --> 0:11:40.080 to make the contributions back to society as much as 0:11:40.120 --> 0:11:44.920 their secretaries do, which doesn't exist in today's capitalist society 0:11:45.040 --> 0:11:48.080 and most forms. I believe the Donald Trump's of the world, 0:11:48.160 --> 0:11:51.360 and okay, maybe you're not him, but the most successful 0:11:51.400 --> 0:11:54.960 capitalists in this country largely believe that they shouldn't pay 0:11:55.000 --> 0:11:57.920 taxes because their contributions to the country is the fact 0:11:57.960 --> 0:12:00.360 that they create jobs for people here. I mean, I've 0:12:00.400 --> 0:12:04.000 heard wealthy people say that my contribution is is that 0:12:04.040 --> 0:12:06.720 I give other people a place to work. That's all fine. 0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:10.800 What I'm concerned about is your financial contribution back for 0:12:10.920 --> 0:12:14.680 all that you have taken from the country. Amazon. You 0:12:14.760 --> 0:12:16.960 may be Amazon and you're the wealthiest guy and this 0:12:17.080 --> 0:12:19.400 kind of thing, but you're you're relying on the roads 0:12:19.440 --> 0:12:22.360 that we pay for in our taxes to move across 0:12:22.480 --> 0:12:24.600 to get your goods and services to people. You're not 0:12:24.600 --> 0:12:27.920 paying for that. But I am so. I just I 0:12:27.960 --> 0:12:30.400 think that we deserve a conversation about what would a 0:12:30.520 --> 0:12:34.520 universal floor, a point by which everybody ought to start from. 0:12:34.840 --> 0:12:36.600 For black folks, at one point, it was the guarantee 0:12:36.600 --> 0:12:39.120 of forty acres and a mule for our service or 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:42.160 for our renders service extracted from us, with no payment 0:12:42.280 --> 0:12:47.040 system in place whatsoever. It's still none. So if I 0:12:47.080 --> 0:12:50.120 had it my way, it would be it would be 0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:54.760 a Roosevelt era Second New Deal of what people can 0:12:54.880 --> 0:12:58.520 expect at a base level in this economy to have 0:12:59.000 --> 0:13:02.880 to meet their basic needs, and anything above that basic 0:13:03.000 --> 0:13:05.200 need then you can work in Claw four. 0:13:07.000 --> 0:13:11.160 Okay, I can get with that. What do you call that? System? 0:13:11.640 --> 0:13:13.400 With democracy? But I don't know. 0:13:13.520 --> 0:13:16.760 Also overreliance on government, and I think this. 0:13:16.720 --> 0:13:19.480 Is the one no no, no, not an overreliance on government. 0:13:19.600 --> 0:13:22.880 That's if it's no, well, well I think it's mine. 0:13:22.920 --> 0:13:24.360 So this is my argument right now. 0:13:24.640 --> 0:13:27.080 Now, if Andrew was the president, i'd be with it, 0:13:27.080 --> 0:13:29.360 because I know it's about to happen, right and I 0:13:29.400 --> 0:13:32.200 think the reality is, not only do we are we 0:13:32.280 --> 0:13:34.760 not getting a New Deal twenty twenty five, we got 0:13:34.760 --> 0:13:37.559 Project twenty twenty five. And as a result of getting 0:13:37.600 --> 0:13:40.800 Project twenty twenty five, some of the basic things that 0:13:40.880 --> 0:13:43.679 we have relied upon for decades are now also not 0:13:43.760 --> 0:13:46.040 just at risk, but literally on the chopping block. And 0:13:46.040 --> 0:13:48.120 it any moment, folks will start to fill the real 0:13:48.640 --> 0:13:53.520 economic hardships from those things being pulled back. So one 0:13:53.559 --> 0:13:57.080 of the things that that I reference a lot is 0:13:57.120 --> 0:14:00.280 this comment from Congressman Rango Make God Rest his soul, 0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:02.880 who was one of the founders of the Congressional Black Caucus. 0:14:02.880 --> 0:14:06.080 When he was retiring, he said that he often wonders 0:14:06.200 --> 0:14:09.960 if we spend too much time focusing on social policy 0:14:10.200 --> 0:14:13.080 and not enough on economic policy. And I think his 0:14:13.200 --> 0:14:15.880 perspective on that was many of the things that we 0:14:15.960 --> 0:14:19.480 seek to change socially we could address if we had 0:14:19.520 --> 0:14:22.320 our own resource. But what we've done is we've set 0:14:22.400 --> 0:14:24.680 up a system where because we deserve it. Right, we're 0:14:24.720 --> 0:14:27.000 not saying we don't deserve it the government doesn't owe us, 0:14:27.160 --> 0:14:29.720 but because we deserve it, because the government owes us, 0:14:29.960 --> 0:14:32.040 we are going to hold them to account, to give 0:14:32.080 --> 0:14:34.760 them what they to give us what they owe. That's great, 0:14:35.000 --> 0:14:37.440 But at the same time, we were not building a 0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:41.240 simultaneous system for things that we should also receive. In 0:14:41.280 --> 0:14:44.360 all of the attempts that we've had historically, from the 0:14:44.400 --> 0:14:48.320 Freedman's Bank to Garrison Fraser and the special Order Special 0:14:48.400 --> 0:14:52.240 Order Number fifteen to now, you know, to every demand 0:14:52.240 --> 0:14:55.920 we've had, it is somehow still related back to what 0:14:55.960 --> 0:14:59.000 the government must do. I think that the place where 0:14:59.040 --> 0:15:02.560 we've missed is what we must also do just in 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:06.000 case the government does what the government does and does 0:15:06.040 --> 0:15:07.600 not do what there or give. 0:15:07.520 --> 0:15:08.400 Us what they owe us. 0:15:21.280 --> 0:15:24.480 Can I attract the mythology of the sure because I 0:15:24.480 --> 0:15:27.360 think it's just built on a myth. I think it 0:15:27.400 --> 0:15:30.680 is mythology. I want to hear it because whether you're black, white, 0:15:31.480 --> 0:15:35.240 or other, when those folks have gone gotten into places 0:15:35.240 --> 0:15:40.440 of wealth, those individuals have not necessarily taken those resources 0:15:41.360 --> 0:15:44.440 and put them back into building stronger society. They've largely 0:15:44.520 --> 0:15:48.480 concentrated them on themselves, in many cases, saving their own 0:15:48.560 --> 0:15:51.800 money and taking the government's money and using that money 0:15:51.840 --> 0:15:54.200 as it's leverage to build even more wealth. And if 0:15:54.240 --> 0:15:57.640 not the government's money directly the services provided by the government. 0:15:57.680 --> 0:15:59.960 I gave the example of Amazon driving on our road. 0:16:00.520 --> 0:16:03.560 But you know, to take it further, the people who 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:06.920 are in favor of abolishing the post office right and 0:16:06.960 --> 0:16:09.440 they're saying, you know, it is highly inefficient. This is that. 0:16:09.480 --> 0:16:11.680 And the third No, the post office and the government 0:16:11.840 --> 0:16:14.360 as its owner, and we as a taxpayers rather as 0:16:14.360 --> 0:16:16.800 this owner, have made a guarantee that no matter where 0:16:16.840 --> 0:16:19.800 you live at the edges of this earth on in 0:16:19.920 --> 0:16:24.760 the United States, you will get mail. Universally. Everybody if 0:16:24.760 --> 0:16:26.680 you put a post a stamp and you live within 0:16:26.720 --> 0:16:29.600 our you will get mail. Well, guess what. Amazon does 0:16:29.600 --> 0:16:33.720 not guarantee that anywhere you live, and in fact, where 0:16:33.720 --> 0:16:37.080 they do guarantee it, it is relying on the government 0:16:37.760 --> 0:16:40.680 and it's and it's suppostal service to get it the 0:16:40.840 --> 0:16:44.240 last mile to the client who asked for So. Even 0:16:44.800 --> 0:16:47.920 the private sector, which is you know, supposed to be 0:16:48.000 --> 0:16:49.960 so independent and pull yourself up by the boo strips 0:16:49.960 --> 0:16:54.440 and we did this by ourselves, are relying on us, 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:58.480 the tax paying people who fund the government, to actually 0:16:58.520 --> 0:17:02.000 make their business model work out. Most of the drug 0:17:02.080 --> 0:17:05.200 companies in this country, they're not spending the billions, if 0:17:05.240 --> 0:17:09.919 not trillions, and research required to take a theory about 0:17:09.960 --> 0:17:13.080 a drug that can solve a problem to market. They're 0:17:13.119 --> 0:17:17.399 relying on the government. It's research partner institutions, academic institutions 0:17:17.400 --> 0:17:20.600 both public and private, to do that work, and then 0:17:20.640 --> 0:17:23.640 they come in to monetize it and sell it back 0:17:23.680 --> 0:17:27.959 to us for you know, millions on the cost you know, 0:17:28.000 --> 0:17:32.320 to create it. And so even those institutions that we 0:17:32.359 --> 0:17:36.120 look at as being so successful didn't get there by themselves. 0:17:36.160 --> 0:17:38.880 In fact, their success would not be possible but for 0:17:39.119 --> 0:17:41.480 their reliance on the government's skirt. All I'm saying is, 0:17:41.680 --> 0:17:44.919 if the billionaires can rely on the government to have 0:17:45.000 --> 0:17:49.760 their wealth, then why can't everyday, average working people rely 0:17:49.840 --> 0:17:52.200 on the government for its own basic services. The government 0:17:52.200 --> 0:17:55.320 by which it funds, not that the billionaires fund, but 0:17:55.359 --> 0:17:59.600 that we, the working people of this country fund. Why 0:17:59.640 --> 0:18:03.880 can Andinavian countries that are all basically monolithic, because they're 0:18:03.920 --> 0:18:07.719 largely just, they're largely white. Why can Scandinavian countries provide 0:18:07.720 --> 0:18:11.159 these basic levels of services that are not considered, you know, 0:18:12.080 --> 0:18:15.119 a sucking on the government teat it is considered what 0:18:15.359 --> 0:18:19.000 is humane and what is That's what they're described as basic. 0:18:19.200 --> 0:18:23.119 That everybody needs food, everybody needs shelter, safety and security, 0:18:23.359 --> 0:18:25.200 and we're going to provide those things that are most 0:18:25.359 --> 0:18:30.560 basic in humanity. And then everything above that you go 0:18:30.640 --> 0:18:32.760 out and you earn for yourselves. Because the truth is 0:18:32.760 --> 0:18:34.640 is that for those of us who think we're going 0:18:34.640 --> 0:18:37.080 out and earn it for ourselves, who are working, breaking 0:18:37.160 --> 0:18:40.280 their backs to work, the system of capitalism as we 0:18:40.400 --> 0:18:42.439 understand it and know it and experience it. Hearing this 0:18:42.480 --> 0:18:44.800 country still doesn't pay me a wage that I can 0:18:44.840 --> 0:18:46.159 take care of myself and my family. 0:18:46.600 --> 0:18:49.720 It's a big part of the trauma for me because 0:18:49.760 --> 0:18:52.680 I hear what you're saying. I completely agree, and I'm 0:18:52.680 --> 0:18:55.359 still caught up in my own hypocrisy around it. I 0:18:55.400 --> 0:18:58.240 think it's so embedded in us, you know, that we'd 0:18:58.240 --> 0:19:00.600 have to spend so much time on learning it. Growing 0:19:00.680 --> 0:19:04.560 up without is a traumatic experience, you know, Like I 0:19:04.680 --> 0:19:09.160 still every single day, I do little stupid things that 0:19:09.680 --> 0:19:11.480 why don't want I'm trying to speak kinder to myself. 0:19:11.480 --> 0:19:13.239 I don't want to say it's stupid, but things that 0:19:13.320 --> 0:19:15.680 I have learned to do. So like when I go 0:19:15.840 --> 0:19:18.680 to get a paper towel, you know, maybe I need 0:19:18.680 --> 0:19:20.640 to wipe the counter down, I'm grabbing a paper towel. 0:19:21.119 --> 0:19:22.840 I will not pull a whole paper towel. 0:19:23.400 --> 0:19:25.359 I'm pulling a little piece of that paper, like as 0:19:25.440 --> 0:19:28.159 much as I think I need, because I'm trying to 0:19:28.960 --> 0:19:35.160 preserve if I have toothpaste, you know, like I'm. 0:19:35.000 --> 0:19:38.520 Taking it to the white meat, you know, like all. 0:19:40.280 --> 0:19:43.240 Right, And I can afford, Praise God, I can afford 0:19:43.240 --> 0:19:45.639 to go out and buy a new toothpast. I can 0:19:45.680 --> 0:19:49.600 afford to go buy new paper towels, whatever, But my 0:19:49.880 --> 0:19:55.800 mind is such that I remember, it's a scarcity mindset 0:19:56.200 --> 0:19:59.520 that whatever I have today I might not have tomorrow, 0:19:59.600 --> 0:20:04.000 so let me preserved. I'm like that with lotion, just everything, 0:20:04.040 --> 0:20:06.280 and so it is a constant and so that is 0:20:06.280 --> 0:20:09.399 a part of my desire for wealth. I'm always afraid 0:20:09.400 --> 0:20:12.359 that I'm going to go back. So even you know, 0:20:12.480 --> 0:20:15.520 on a flight, it's like, okay, maybe a code seat 0:20:15.560 --> 0:20:17.200 is the best way to take a two hour. 0:20:17.040 --> 0:20:18.760 Flight, you know, like just grab it. 0:20:18.800 --> 0:20:21.240 But in my mind it's like, once you accept that, 0:20:21.760 --> 0:20:23.920 then that is like you have taken a step back, 0:20:23.960 --> 0:20:27.040 you have shifted timelines, and now you're going back this way. 0:20:27.240 --> 0:20:31.840 And there is trauma around that. There's trauma around of course. Yeah, 0:20:32.080 --> 0:20:35.840 not having enough for sure, and in this time and 0:20:35.880 --> 0:20:39.680 a time such as this, clinging so desperately to what 0:20:39.720 --> 0:20:42.240 we have because we don't know what's coming tomorrow. 0:20:43.400 --> 0:20:45.480 That's real. And you're not doing stupid things. You're doing 0:20:45.520 --> 0:20:48.560 things that life has taught you. Yeah, your experience has 0:20:48.600 --> 0:20:50.280 taught you. And by the way, some of that stuff 0:20:50.280 --> 0:20:55.360 shouldn't be thrown off simply because we can afford more expensive. 0:20:56.720 --> 0:21:01.000 So it's getting a new Earth is new expensive as well. 0:21:02.119 --> 0:21:03.400 And good luck if you're trying. 0:21:03.240 --> 0:21:06.240 To reusable paper towels now that I refuse. 0:21:07.000 --> 0:21:09.800 Yeah, that is interesting. I can't wait to see you 0:21:09.800 --> 0:21:15.199 try that. I do think we have to unlearn a 0:21:15.240 --> 0:21:19.520 lot about what we are, what we have taught ourselves 0:21:19.560 --> 0:21:23.199 in what society has taught us, because we keep you know, 0:21:23.280 --> 0:21:26.920 we even talking point, you know, we regurgitate things that 0:21:27.480 --> 0:21:30.400 the culture has you know, of that time has sort 0:21:30.400 --> 0:21:34.440 of adopted and haven't even interrogated the truthfulness of it. Yeah, 0:21:34.480 --> 0:21:36.359 you know, people how to go out and get a 0:21:36.400 --> 0:21:38.800 job and earn for themselves. Well, yeah, guess what, I 0:21:38.840 --> 0:21:41.640