1 00:00:03,400 --> 00:00:06,040 Speaker 1: Hey, everybody is spill Courtney with an army of normal folks, 2 00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:10,160 Speaker 1: and this is Shop talking number fourteen. Alex, I'm not 3 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:13,200 Speaker 1: allowed to say, can you believe it? Right? Nope, you can't. Okay. 4 00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:15,120 Speaker 1: I'm just glad we're going to be separating for a month. 5 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:19,400 Speaker 1: Alex is going to do something and I'm going to 6 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:21,720 Speaker 1: do something. And we worked hard for a week recording 7 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:23,239 Speaker 1: stuff for a month, and he and I are not 8 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:26,680 Speaker 1: going to be together for fourteen days or for about 9 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:28,560 Speaker 1: a month, and it's going to be wonderful. And I 10 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:30,800 Speaker 1: don't have to listen to him gripe at me about stuff. 11 00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:36,519 Speaker 1: But that's not what Shop talks about. Nathan Seal. I 12 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:39,600 Speaker 1: hope you're listening. I hope you're out there. Back in May, 13 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:45,680 Speaker 1: he wrote me a really thoughtful email, and I took 14 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:47,680 Speaker 1: the time to respond to him, because, like I say 15 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:50,360 Speaker 1: all the time, if you email me, I will respond. 16 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:55,160 Speaker 1: But I thought more and more about what he said. 17 00:00:56,080 --> 00:01:00,720 Speaker 1: And today we're going to venture off into politics. But 18 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:05,040 Speaker 1: I'm not going to venture off into Republicans first, Democrats. 19 00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:09,720 Speaker 1: I'm going to venture off into us as an army 20 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:13,600 Speaker 1: of normal folks and why politics matter. I'm not going 21 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:19,080 Speaker 1: to take sides, but I am going to challenge you 22 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:23,640 Speaker 1: a little bit. So Nathan Seal, thanks for writing on 23 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:27,120 Speaker 1: my chain a little bit. Get me think about shop 24 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:32,160 Speaker 1: Talk number fourteen politics right after these brief messages from 25 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:52,920 Speaker 1: our general sponsors. Okay, everybody, welcome back shop Talk number 26 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:58,280 Speaker 1: fourteen politics. So let me start by saying this. I 27 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:03,360 Speaker 1: have two of my four kids, Lisa and I had 28 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:06,320 Speaker 1: our number two kid a number three kid, are living 29 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:09,760 Speaker 1: and working in DC in the political world. One is 30 00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:13,640 Speaker 1: in fundraising and the other is actually the chief of 31 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:22,040 Speaker 1: staff or sitting congressman. So full disclosure. I have family 32 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:28,480 Speaker 1: involved in the political world on a federal level. So 33 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:35,640 Speaker 1: that's the preface. I don't care if it's the school 34 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:39,720 Speaker 1: board in your community for your school district, or the 35 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:44,280 Speaker 1: city council or city commissioners, whatever y'all call it, mayor 36 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:50,799 Speaker 1: state house seat, state Senate seat, governor, all the way 37 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:55,519 Speaker 1: up to federal government. There are politics surrounding us everywhere 38 00:02:56,360 --> 00:02:59,400 Speaker 1: that create policy and make decision that affect our lives 39 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:03,799 Speaker 1: every day. That is just the fact. And there are 40 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:06,320 Speaker 1: people on one side of the isle that believe in big, 41 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:08,519 Speaker 1: massive government. There's people on the other side of the 42 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:13,079 Speaker 1: Aisle believe in small, limited government in the middle. There's 43 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:17,800 Speaker 1: a group of combination that to you, but everybody agrees 44 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 1: regardless of the size of government, we've got to have government. 45 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:28,880 Speaker 1: You've got to have somebody to make reasonable laws, enforce 46 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:32,919 Speaker 1: reasonable laws, and hold the citizenry accountable to those laws. 47 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:36,720 Speaker 1: You've got to have somebody to run your military. You've 48 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:40,400 Speaker 1: got to have somebody run your school board. Every parent 49 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:42,680 Speaker 1: has a job to go to every day, and you 50 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:44,520 Speaker 1: want your kids to go to good schools, so you've 51 00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:49,680 Speaker 1: got to have a good school board. Somebody has to 52 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:53,080 Speaker 1: get the paperwork done so that we have our cars 53 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:58,960 Speaker 1: registered and properly licensed. Somebody's got to run our municipal 54 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:04,240 Speaker 1: our department paramedics, and police department. We wouldn't have energy 55 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:11,520 Speaker 1: without the Army Corps of engineers in many places. We've 56 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:14,600 Speaker 1: got to have government. But what we got to have 57 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:19,560 Speaker 1: is effective government. And that's where politics come in. Because see, 58 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:24,799 Speaker 1: as you all know, we have this awesome opportunity every 59 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:30,080 Speaker 1: cycle to decide who we're going to allow to run 60 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:34,320 Speaker 1: this government, whether it's large or small. But this government 61 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:38,120 Speaker 1: that we have to need, that we need, that we 62 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:41,400 Speaker 1: have to have. We all get to participate in deciding 63 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:45,440 Speaker 1: who we're going to put in charge of that government. 64 00:04:45,560 --> 00:04:48,080 Speaker 1: That is, whether we like it or not, vital in 65 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:53,680 Speaker 1: our lives. At the same time, we are becoming more 66 00:04:53,680 --> 00:05:00,080 Speaker 1: and more polarized. And what that polarization has done is 67 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:04,440 Speaker 1: is it's starting to turn us off of politics. It's 68 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:07,680 Speaker 1: starting to turn us off of people that run in government. 69 00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:14,919 Speaker 1: I think the latest approval ratings of Congress were in 70 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:19,719 Speaker 1: the teens, meaning less than one than one of five 71 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:25,280 Speaker 1: of us actually approve of what Congress does. Presidential ratings 72 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:30,640 Speaker 1: are rarely above mid forties, and I think President Biden's 73 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:33,640 Speaker 1: right now are in the high thirties to low forties, 74 00:05:33,839 --> 00:05:38,320 Speaker 1: meaning more people disapprove of what's going on in the 75 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:42,880 Speaker 1: White House than approve. And by the way, before all 76 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:45,280 Speaker 1: the people on the right start jumping on that with Biden, 77 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:49,479 Speaker 1: the same was true for Trump. So it really doesn't 78 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:51,839 Speaker 1: matter which parties in the White House or which party 79 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:57,640 Speaker 1: controls Congress, we don't like them. Ultimately, we don't like them. 80 00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:02,320 Speaker 1: The Supreme Court, for the first time in our history, 81 00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:06,279 Speaker 1: has lower or has had polling lower than a fifty 82 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:13,480 Speaker 1: percent approval rating, which is scary all of it. I 83 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:16,039 Speaker 1: do believe not all of it, but a lot of 84 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:19,160 Speaker 1: it I do believe comes from our media, our social media, 85 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:25,680 Speaker 1: and our propensity now to gather into clicks, to clan up. 86 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:31,240 Speaker 1: So I'm not taking a swipe at the right or 87 00:06:31,279 --> 00:06:34,400 Speaker 1: the left. I'm just trying to kind of recount what 88 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:38,760 Speaker 1: I really believe is going on in our political theater today. 89 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:48,080 Speaker 1: One of the side issues that has come up as 90 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:57,680 Speaker 1: a result of this this really vilifying, demonizing political atmosphere 91 00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:04,120 Speaker 1: we have right now is that we're having fewer and 92 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:08,159 Speaker 1: fewer qualified, really good people even willing to run for office. 93 00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:12,440 Speaker 1: And that is the most scary part of it to me. 94 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:18,080 Speaker 1: And God forbid, somebody said something God forbid a sixty 95 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:20,560 Speaker 1: five year old or a sixty year old man or 96 00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:23,520 Speaker 1: woman said something in college or wrote something in college 97 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:26,960 Speaker 1: forty years prior that may not agree with the day's 98 00:07:27,920 --> 00:07:32,320 Speaker 1: popular cultural narrative. We will dig that out, put it 99 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:36,040 Speaker 1: in the paper, and hammer them over it. And so 100 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:40,720 Speaker 1: as a result, there are plenty of really good quality 101 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:44,960 Speaker 1: people out there that could be great service to our communities, 102 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:48,480 Speaker 1: to our municipalities, to our states, and to our federal government. 103 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:51,480 Speaker 1: They're just like life's too short. I don't want to 104 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:53,880 Speaker 1: go through all that crop, and I sure don't want 105 00:07:53,880 --> 00:07:57,200 Speaker 1: to put my spouse and children through it. And so 106 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:02,120 Speaker 1: the pool of qualified people to engage in our political 107 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:10,680 Speaker 1: discourse is shrinking, is shrinking, and therefore the numbers of 108 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:14,000 Speaker 1: qualified people we have to choose to run our government 109 00:08:14,080 --> 00:08:22,800 Speaker 1: that we have to have is becoming diluted. And that's scary, y'all. 110 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:30,400 Speaker 1: That is really scary. Also because of the bickering and 111 00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:34,600 Speaker 1: the infighting and the constant mashing on Fox and CNN 112 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:37,960 Speaker 1: and social media, more and important people are just getting 113 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:41,840 Speaker 1: disgusted with the whole political discourse in and of itself. 114 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:46,120 Speaker 1: And y'all, do you realize that, like in Memphis's most 115 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:49,880 Speaker 1: recent mayor election, only thirty four percent of the electric voted, 116 00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:54,640 Speaker 1: I think barely more than fifty percent of the electric 117 00:08:54,840 --> 00:08:58,600 Speaker 1: votes even in the presidential election somewhere around fifty five percent. 118 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:02,800 Speaker 1: We're twenty six in the world in voting. Huh, We're 119 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:05,760 Speaker 1: twenty six than the world in voting. Alex just said, 120 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:09,079 Speaker 1: we're twenty six in the world in voting, meaning our 121 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:14,320 Speaker 1: participation rate and elections is there are twenty five other 122 00:09:14,440 --> 00:09:18,079 Speaker 1: countries that have greater participation in their elections than they 123 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:22,720 Speaker 1: do in the United States. It's terrible, and more and 124 00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:25,480 Speaker 1: more we become to get more and more disgusted with it, 125 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:28,200 Speaker 1: and we just walk away from it, decide I'm not voting, 126 00:09:28,320 --> 00:09:32,120 Speaker 1: i don't want to run, I'm not interested. Well, here's 127 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:37,440 Speaker 1: the thing, y'all, I have proof that this is not 128 00:09:37,679 --> 00:09:42,880 Speaker 1: a new phenomenon. When was Plato alive of alex BC 129 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:48,319 Speaker 1: or something. I'm he's definite. Plato was around a whole 130 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:50,640 Speaker 1: long time ago. We can at least say two thousand 131 00:09:50,679 --> 00:09:52,200 Speaker 1: years or more, but I do think it was like 132 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:57,080 Speaker 1: three or two hundred BC or something, So it was 133 00:09:57,160 --> 00:10:04,360 Speaker 1: around four hundred BC. So Plato is around four hundred BC. 134 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:10,880 Speaker 1: That's twenty four hundred years ago, So twenty four years ago. 135 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:16,440 Speaker 1: Plato said this, One of the penalties for refusing to 136 00:10:16,480 --> 00:10:20,400 Speaker 1: participate in politics is that you end up getting governed 137 00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:25,760 Speaker 1: by your inferiors. I'm going to say it again, one 138 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:28,880 Speaker 1: of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is 139 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:33,720 Speaker 1: that you end up being governed by your inferiors. Y'all. 140 00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:38,800 Speaker 1: Politics is a full contact sport, and I get it, 141 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:42,120 Speaker 1: and it is not for the weak hearted or the 142 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:47,079 Speaker 1: feeble or faith. But politics is not just running for office. 143 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:51,640 Speaker 1: Politics is voting. Politics is engaging and supporting people you 144 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:54,680 Speaker 1: believe in. Politics is taking the time to actually find 145 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:58,200 Speaker 1: out the truth about people running for office and not 146 00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:00,719 Speaker 1: really caring if they have an R, AN, I, or 147 00:11:00,840 --> 00:11:03,880 Speaker 1: D by their name, but examining who they are as 148 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:08,400 Speaker 1: people and what their true belief sets are. Politics has 149 00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:11,200 Speaker 1: taking the time to research to vote. Politics has taking 150 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:13,120 Speaker 1: time to get off your butt and actually go the 151 00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:17,600 Speaker 1: polls and open. Politics may be getting involved on the 152 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:23,240 Speaker 1: staff or committees to help people get elected. Politics is 153 00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:27,040 Speaker 1: running for office if you're so inclined. Politics is being 154 00:11:27,080 --> 00:11:30,520 Speaker 1: on the staff of people running to help them be effective. 155 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:35,800 Speaker 1: Politics takes all manner and walks of life. But if 156 00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:40,840 Speaker 1: we don't exercise the freedoms that people have fought and 157 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:45,199 Speaker 1: died for for us to be involved in politics, Plato 158 00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:48,280 Speaker 1: told us twenty four hundred years ago, and it remains 159 00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:52,719 Speaker 1: equally true today that if you don't involve yourself in politics, 160 00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:59,360 Speaker 1: you end up being governed by your inferiors. Y'all, it's 161 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:04,319 Speaker 1: an army of normal folks that can change our country. 162 00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:10,560 Speaker 1: But that army has a power in politics. That army 163 00:12:10,679 --> 00:12:14,840 Speaker 1: has a power in its ability to make sure that 164 00:12:14,920 --> 00:12:17,559 Speaker 1: We are not governed by in fears because we do 165 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:21,400 Speaker 1: the work to make sure qualified people feel comfortable running, 166 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:27,240 Speaker 1: feel supported running, and get involved to make policy and 167 00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:31,240 Speaker 1: procedures that positively affect our lives. Because whether you're like 168 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:33,080 Speaker 1: a big one or a small one, we got to 169 00:12:33,080 --> 00:12:36,000 Speaker 1: have government. But government is only as good as the 170 00:12:36,040 --> 00:12:39,160 Speaker 1: people running it. And if the people running it are 171 00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:42,920 Speaker 1: inferiors because we refuse to get involved in the process, 172 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:48,839 Speaker 1: then shame on us. Plato warned us twenty four years ago. 173 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:52,240 Speaker 1: One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics 174 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:54,360 Speaker 1: and you end up being governed by in fears. If 175 00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:56,880 Speaker 1: you think the people governing us today in your fears, 176 00:12:56,960 --> 00:13:01,800 Speaker 1: do something about it. Get involved, be a part of 177 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:05,880 Speaker 1: an army of normal folks exacting measure of change, and 178 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:11,679 Speaker 1: that army can affect change everywhere. I'm Bill Courtney. That's 179 00:13:11,679 --> 00:13:15,080 Speaker 1: shop talk number fourteen. Get involved in politics, one way 180 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:16,920 Speaker 1: or another. I'll see you next week.