WEBVTT - Eight Godawful Months 0:00:12.200 --> 0:00:14.960 Good morning, peeps, and welcome to woka F Daily with 0:00:15.120 --> 0:00:18.759 Meet your Girl Danielle Moody, recording live from our podstream 0:00:18.800 --> 0:00:25.160 studios in Times Square. You know, folks, at the beginning 0:00:25.160 --> 0:00:29.680 of every week, I really try and kind of work 0:00:29.800 --> 0:00:34.880 myself up a bit, right to really produce endorphins, to really, 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:39.080 you know, get some positive energy moving, because I know 0:00:39.159 --> 0:00:42.200 that by the time that we get through yet another 0:00:42.280 --> 0:00:46.400 week in this fuck show we call America, you're exhausted, depleted, 0:00:46.720 --> 0:00:52.880 and are outdone. Over the weekend, I did MSNBC with 0:00:52.920 --> 0:00:58.360 Aimon Mohadeen and I shared the link on Facebook's woka 0:00:58.440 --> 0:01:01.720 F Nation and on Twitter, and one of the questions 0:01:01.720 --> 0:01:05.840 that I was asked was, didil do you think that 0:01:06.080 --> 0:01:09.840 Democrats are going to work on expanding the court? And I, 0:01:10.520 --> 0:01:12.920 you know, I wanted to laugh, not because I thought 0:01:12.920 --> 0:01:15.840 that the question was bad, but because do I think 0:01:15.840 --> 0:01:18.840 that Democrats are going to do anything? Full stop? Should 0:01:18.880 --> 0:01:22.440 just be the question, and my answer is no, They're 0:01:22.520 --> 0:01:26.039 not what we've seen over the past. I don't know. 0:01:26.120 --> 0:01:30.000 Eight god awful months, right, It's been eight months, folks 0:01:30.000 --> 0:01:34.000 since the Biden administration came into office. And I got 0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:36.039 to tell you, I know that I asked this question, 0:01:36.959 --> 0:01:40.480 you know, earlier in the week, But I really do 0:01:40.560 --> 0:01:44.440 not feel better off. And what does that say for 0:01:44.520 --> 0:01:48.840 a person like myself, whose job is politics, whose job 0:01:49.080 --> 0:01:52.160 is media, and to be in the no, what does 0:01:52.200 --> 0:01:55.360 it say that for so many years I have spent 0:01:56.160 --> 0:02:03.000 countless hours right working on advancing you know, anti discrimination policies, 0:02:03.200 --> 0:02:06.520 lobbying on the hill, being on radio, being on TV. 0:02:06.880 --> 0:02:10.040 Because I believe that America can be better than it is. 0:02:10.120 --> 0:02:13.600 I believe in the responsibility of each generation to do 0:02:13.720 --> 0:02:18.119 more to move the boulder of equality up the fucking mountain, right. 0:02:19.080 --> 0:02:24.120 But I gotta tell you that the images, the images 0:02:24.360 --> 0:02:28.360 that we are seeing, whether it is you know, half 0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:32.000 the state of California under on fire or underwater, whether 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:38.920 it's you know, the hurricanes that have gone through Louisiana, Mississippi, 0:02:38.960 --> 0:02:42.640 whether it is the flooding that happened in Philadelphia and 0:02:42.760 --> 0:02:46.120 New York and New Jersey, you know, whether it's now 0:02:46.639 --> 0:02:50.440 what is troubling me so much this goddamn week is 0:02:50.440 --> 0:02:52.799 the fact that we're not going to get a three 0:02:52.840 --> 0:02:57.399 point five billion dollar infrastructure bill. And you know why 0:02:57.440 --> 0:02:59.400 we're not going to get that three point five billion 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:04.840 dollar Structure Bill because Kirsten Cinema and Joe Mansion, the 0:03:04.960 --> 0:03:09.600 two bullshit Democrats in the Senate, think that the you know, 0:03:10.080 --> 0:03:13.880 the price tag is too big, right, They didn't seem 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:16.440 to think that there was anything wrong with the price 0:03:16.480 --> 0:03:19.080 tag to give to the Pentagon. They don't seem to 0:03:19.080 --> 0:03:21.560 think that there's anything wrong with the seven hundred and 0:03:21.600 --> 0:03:26.160 twenty billion dollars budget that the Pentagon has. Right. But 0:03:26.240 --> 0:03:31.880 whenever we're asking, whenever we are demanding that our tax 0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:35.840 dollars be used to strengthen our social safety nets, to 0:03:35.960 --> 0:03:40.720 strengthen our own communities, we always receive pushback. I don't 0:03:40.760 --> 0:03:46.960 know how many more storms and fires, crumbling bridges, subway 0:03:47.000 --> 0:03:50.640 stations turning into full geysers that we need to see 0:03:50.720 --> 0:03:54.400 on the news on repeat for us to recognize that 0:03:54.560 --> 0:03:57.320 something needs to be done. I don't you know. I 0:03:57.360 --> 0:04:02.680 read an article over the weekend about childcare workers and 0:04:02.760 --> 0:04:07.400 how childcare workers who make minimum wage, and depending on 0:04:07.560 --> 0:04:10.480 what state you are in, that minimum wage could be 0:04:10.640 --> 0:04:13.480 as high and I use that in air quotes as 0:04:13.560 --> 0:04:16.440 high as fifteen dollars an hour or as low as 0:04:16.520 --> 0:04:21.560 seven dollars and twenty five cents an hour and childcare 0:04:21.600 --> 0:04:25.919 workers are quitting in mass There is a deficit of 0:04:25.960 --> 0:04:30.320 one hundred and twenty six thousand childcare workers. So what 0:04:30.400 --> 0:04:35.559 does that mean for working families, working parents. It means 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:38.080 that you are going to struggle to be able to 0:04:38.120 --> 0:04:42.840 find childcare for your children, which is going to prevent 0:04:42.960 --> 0:04:46.240 who from having to leave the workforce in order to 0:04:46.279 --> 0:04:50.680 be able to rear your children at home. Women. Everything 0:04:50.760 --> 0:04:54.279 always falls back on the backs and the shoulders of women. 0:04:55.120 --> 0:04:59.800 And what economists are saying about this shortage of childcare 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:04.799 workers is that let this be a first of red 0:05:04.839 --> 0:05:09.479 flags and sirens about how unstable our economy is about 0:05:09.520 --> 0:05:14.360 to be. Because again, if people don't have childcare work right, 0:05:14.400 --> 0:05:17.839 they don't have childcare workers. That means that families will 0:05:17.920 --> 0:05:21.480 have to leave the workforce, which means that then they 0:05:21.480 --> 0:05:25.080 are not contributing to our economy in the ways that 0:05:25.160 --> 0:05:28.680 need to be contributed to. These people childcare workers are 0:05:28.760 --> 0:05:32.520 leaving in mass Why because the pay sucks and they're 0:05:32.560 --> 0:05:36.320 going to get jobs as bank tellers or assistants or 0:05:36.360 --> 0:05:40.400 anywhere frankly that's going to pay them a living goddamn wage. 0:05:40.800 --> 0:05:44.680 Staying on this tip, listen to this, I guess the 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:48.320 happiest place on Earth. Actually isn't the happiest fucking place 0:05:48.400 --> 0:05:53.720 on earth looking at you, Disneyland. So evidently twenty five 0:05:54.240 --> 0:06:00.440 thousand Disneyland employees are suing right in a class action 0:06:00.560 --> 0:06:05.120 lawsuit because they don't have living wages. Listen to this 0:06:05.240 --> 0:06:09.920 report that was done by Occidental and let me tell 0:06:09.920 --> 0:06:13.640 you something I gotta tell you, but done by Occidental College. 0:06:13.680 --> 0:06:17.159 So this is a survey of five thousand what Disneyland 0:06:17.200 --> 0:06:20.480 refers to their workers as cast members. I guess that 0:06:20.520 --> 0:06:23.400 makes you feel great that you can't afford to pay 0:06:23.440 --> 0:06:26.159 any of your bills if you are called the cast 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:28.960 members opposed to a worker or a staff or whatever 0:06:28.960 --> 0:06:33.560 the fuck. But listen to this. So in this report, 0:06:33.640 --> 0:06:37.080 in this study called Working for the Mouse, a study 0:06:37.160 --> 0:06:40.760 by Occidental College and the Economic Roundtable published back in 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:46.200 February twenty eighteen, found that eleven percent of Disneyland employees 0:06:46.279 --> 0:06:53.200 reported experiencing homelessness. Can you imagine working for a multi 0:06:53.440 --> 0:06:57.039 billion dollar company? I want you to understand what the 0:06:57.080 --> 0:07:02.960 fuck Disney owns? Like everything? Right, They own networks, they 0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:08.320 own amusement parks, they own media platforms. You have Disney plus, 0:07:08.360 --> 0:07:11.280 you have all of these things that Disney owns, and 0:07:11.440 --> 0:07:14.960 eleven percent of the people that are working at Disneyland, 0:07:15.040 --> 0:07:18.960 according to this Occidental College report from twenty eighteen, and 0:07:19.040 --> 0:07:23.680 mind you, twenty twenty fucked us all right, So numbers 0:07:23.760 --> 0:07:27.800 did not look better in twenty twenty. They actually looked worse. 0:07:28.120 --> 0:07:31.360 So eleven percent of employees. This means people that are 0:07:31.480 --> 0:07:37.440 working were homeless. Okay, sixty eight percent of the five 0:07:37.480 --> 0:07:42.440 thousand people that were studied were food insecure, meaning that 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:46.119 they did not know where their next meals were coming from, 0:07:46.720 --> 0:07:50.200 and seventy three percent said that they do not earn 0:07:50.360 --> 0:07:56.480 enough for basic living expenses. Folks, how can we justify 0:07:56.720 --> 0:08:01.720 multibillion dollar corporations who who have made their riches on 0:08:01.760 --> 0:08:05.840 the backs of their lowest paid workers, and justify the 0:08:05.880 --> 0:08:09.600 fact that you are working forty hours a week and 0:08:09.720 --> 0:08:12.520 that is not enough to put food on the table 0:08:12.600 --> 0:08:15.760 for three meals a day. It is not enough to 0:08:15.800 --> 0:08:18.920 pay all of your bills. At the same time, it 0:08:19.080 --> 0:08:22.040 is not enough for you to have a roof over 0:08:22.120 --> 0:08:26.040 your head, and you So here's the myth that Republicans 0:08:26.120 --> 0:08:28.800 always like to push, right, is that, like, we don't 0:08:28.840 --> 0:08:31.240 need to raise the minimum wage because it's just kids 0:08:31.280 --> 0:08:34.880 that have these jobs. No, the fuck, it's not right. 0:08:35.040 --> 0:08:40.679 It is actually adults, adults with families, right, who cannot 0:08:40.720 --> 0:08:46.400 afford to live. They can't afford to live. How do 0:08:46.440 --> 0:08:49.680 you tell people to work forty hours a week? And 0:08:49.720 --> 0:08:54.280 the assumption that Republicans make is that, oh, those that 0:08:54.320 --> 0:08:57.440 are on minimum wage are lazy? Are you fucking kidding me? 0:08:58.000 --> 0:09:01.360 These people are busting their asses in jobs and in 0:09:01.400 --> 0:09:05.320 places that those members of Congress would never even step 0:09:05.400 --> 0:09:09.320 fucking foot in. Right. I remember back in the day 0:09:09.640 --> 0:09:13.320 that Senator Corey Booker had set up a challenge, and 0:09:13.360 --> 0:09:16.120 I think that he might have been the only member 0:09:16.160 --> 0:09:18.600 of the Senate that took it up, but he decided 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:23.720 for a month to try and live on minimum wage. Right. 0:09:24.360 --> 0:09:28.360 So Corey Booker took up this challenge so that he 0:09:28.400 --> 0:09:32.199 could understand exactly what he was fighting for and why 0:09:32.200 --> 0:09:35.320 these policy changes needed to be made so that people 0:09:35.360 --> 0:09:39.000 could have a living wage. Right? What does it mean 0:09:39.040 --> 0:09:41.680 to have a living wage that you can pay rent, 0:09:42.000 --> 0:09:46.480 pay for groceries, pay your utilities, right, and still maybe 0:09:46.640 --> 0:09:49.439 just maybe have a little bit left over so that 0:09:49.520 --> 0:09:51.720 I don't know, you could see a movie, you could 0:09:51.760 --> 0:09:56.720 do something because you see, Republicans also believe right that 0:09:57.000 --> 0:10:01.080 you are undeserving. So we don't want to give you welfare, 0:10:01.160 --> 0:10:04.520 We don't want to give you any help or assistance whatsoever, 0:10:04.600 --> 0:10:08.440 because you know that discourages work. So when Corey Booker 0:10:08.480 --> 0:10:11.760 did this experiment, right, and he offered it up to 0:10:11.840 --> 0:10:14.480 other members, but of course they didn't take him up 0:10:14.840 --> 0:10:17.480 on that, with their six figures that they make out 0:10:17.480 --> 0:10:20.679 a taxpayer dollars, not to mention the millions that they 0:10:20.720 --> 0:10:23.160 make with their fucking insider trading and all of the 0:10:23.200 --> 0:10:25.560 other hot shit that they do on a regular basis 0:10:26.520 --> 0:10:29.880 that they mind. You don't get caught for, right, like 0:10:30.320 --> 0:10:33.400 nobody says anything about it. They get tips and they 0:10:33.600 --> 0:10:35.720 decide what they're going to invest in and what they're 0:10:35.760 --> 0:10:37.439 not and what they're going to pull their money out of. 0:10:37.520 --> 0:10:41.319 But that's all considered okay and above fucking board, because 0:10:41.360 --> 0:10:46.600 those are white collar crimes for white people. Nonetheless, when 0:10:46.640 --> 0:10:54.720 I'm looking at this horrible situation in Disneyland where workers 0:10:54.720 --> 0:11:00.440 have been there for some fifteen years, right making Hennis 0:11:01.440 --> 0:11:05.880 and in one circumstance, this gentleman who I this is 0:11:06.120 --> 0:11:11.600 a story from the San Francisco dot Com But this man. 0:11:12.040 --> 0:11:14.560 I have to tell you, I was reading this story 0:11:14.640 --> 0:11:20.800 and I always have to stop myself because oftentimes I 0:11:20.840 --> 0:11:23.640 have to check my own privilege, which I think is 0:11:23.720 --> 0:11:28.600 really important to do. Because the person that is interviewed 0:11:28.600 --> 0:11:32.160 in here has been working for Disneyland for fifteen years, 0:11:32.559 --> 0:11:37.160 and according to the article let Me read Saraceno has 0:11:37.200 --> 0:11:40.199 worked at Disneyland Hotel for fifteen years as a valet, 0:11:40.800 --> 0:11:44.520 parking cars and assisting guests with their luggage. For all 0:11:44.600 --> 0:11:48.760 of those fifteen years, he's earned minimum wage from Disney 0:11:48.800 --> 0:11:53.000 and supplemented his income with tips, but a recent decision 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:57.839 from leadership that prevents valets from handling luggage has cut 0:11:57.880 --> 0:12:01.760 substantially into his earnings. He's now one of the twenty 0:12:01.760 --> 0:12:05.800 five thousand cast members as Disneyland calls its employees who 0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:09.480 are participating in a class action lawsuit against Disneyland that 0:12:09.559 --> 0:12:13.520 alleges the company is legally obligated to pay a living wage. 0:12:14.200 --> 0:12:17.360 He says this, I couldn't make it on minimum wage, 0:12:17.640 --> 0:12:20.719 which is how much they pay me. If they are 0:12:20.760 --> 0:12:24.000 going to make changes where I have less opportunity for tips, 0:12:24.360 --> 0:12:27.720 then that's half my income is gone. I hope to 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:30.880 some day buy a house that extra money, I should 0:12:30.920 --> 0:12:33.679 be able to invest in my community and my children 0:12:33.720 --> 0:12:38.000 have an edge. He considers himself fortunate that his wife 0:12:38.000 --> 0:12:41.200 and two children are getting by in affordable housing, but 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:44.439 not every cast member at Disneyland can claim the same. 0:12:45.840 --> 0:12:48.920 So here's where I have to check my privilege, because 0:12:48.960 --> 0:12:53.600 when I initially read the article, I said, how could 0:12:53.640 --> 0:13:01.280 anybody work anywhere for fifteen years for minimum wage? How 0:13:01.280 --> 0:13:06.199 do you not go after getting a certificate or a 0:13:06.240 --> 0:13:10.079 degree or something that is going to move you out 0:13:10.200 --> 0:13:16.440 of this kind of cyclical poverty? And then I was 0:13:16.600 --> 0:13:20.719 checked and it was just like, well, how can you 0:13:20.800 --> 0:13:24.520 even entertain other ideas of how to move up, of 0:13:24.600 --> 0:13:28.160 how to expand when your basic needs are not met, 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:32.880 when you are living paycheck to paycheck? You see, dreaming 0:13:33.480 --> 0:13:36.520 right and innovating and creating and having the time in 0:13:36.559 --> 0:13:39.880 the bandwidth to do so is in fact a privilege. 0:13:40.360 --> 0:13:44.200 It's a privilege for middle income folks like myself. It's 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:48.000 a privilege for those that are clearly upper middle class 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:53.760 and upper class right to have that kind of luxury 0:13:54.200 --> 0:13:58.079 dream time, right to be able to think to yourself, 0:13:58.360 --> 0:14:02.839 what is next, what their opportunities? Can I go after right, 0:14:03.400 --> 0:14:06.600 but that those are things that you can do when 0:14:06.880 --> 0:14:10.400 your basic needs are met, when you know where your 0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:13.560 next meal is coming from, when you have clothing right 0:14:13.640 --> 0:14:16.800 that doesn't have holes in it. Right that you have 0:14:17.280 --> 0:14:21.080 like a transportation or the access to transportation to get 0:14:21.080 --> 0:14:23.760 to work, right, that your rent is paid, that your 0:14:23.880 --> 0:14:27.760 utilities are paid, right, that your kids are taken care of, 0:14:27.960 --> 0:14:31.440 that you have healthcare. You see, when you start to 0:14:31.560 --> 0:14:34.840 check all of those boxes, that then provides you with 0:14:34.840 --> 0:14:38.920 a certain level of privilege. And regardless of whether or 0:14:39.000 --> 0:14:42.000 not you look at me and you say, well, I'm black, 0:14:42.040 --> 0:14:44.000 and I'm queer, and I'm a woman. So there are 0:14:44.000 --> 0:14:48.080 a lot of things that are against me. Sure, But economically, 0:14:48.400 --> 0:14:50.880 I have never known what it's like to have to 0:14:51.000 --> 0:14:54.760 juggle between paying one bill and not paying another. I've 0:14:54.800 --> 0:14:57.560 never had to wonder about where I was going to 0:14:57.600 --> 0:14:59.960 sleep or if I was going to be able to 0:15:00.080 --> 0:15:05.040 pay rent, right, I have never had that challenge. And 0:15:05.120 --> 0:15:10.200 so when thinking about this gentleman and him having been 0:15:10.520 --> 0:15:15.160 in this company for fifteen years making seven dollars in 0:15:15.200 --> 0:15:18.360 twenty five cents an hour, where they have raised the 0:15:18.400 --> 0:15:22.400 minimum wage right in parts of Californy, in California to 0:15:22.520 --> 0:15:26.520 fourteen dollars. What you think about that? Folks think about 0:15:26.600 --> 0:15:31.560 how much right because of COVID, how much the cost 0:15:31.640 --> 0:15:35.600 of things has increased. Right? The other day, I was 0:15:35.640 --> 0:15:38.760 home on Long Island with my family, and because I 0:15:38.760 --> 0:15:40.760 don't have a car, I don't ever pay attention to 0:15:40.800 --> 0:15:44.880 gas prices, and I'm driving around in my mother's car, 0:15:45.400 --> 0:15:48.000 and I'm like passing gas stations and I look up 0:15:48.040 --> 0:15:51.720 and I'm like, holy shit, gas is three nineteen. That 0:15:51.880 --> 0:15:56.680 seems really fucking expensive. Right, But again, these are things 0:15:56.680 --> 0:16:01.320 that I don't have to think about, And so I 0:16:01.560 --> 0:16:05.560 offer that tidbit to say that when you read or 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:09.360 you see news reports about people who are low income 0:16:09.800 --> 0:16:13.880 and about the struggles that they have, I really want us, right, 0:16:14.000 --> 0:16:18.560 those of us who live not paycheck to paycheck, Those 0:16:18.600 --> 0:16:21.440 of us who have some means, even if it's not 0:16:21.480 --> 0:16:24.960 a lot, but have more right than folks that are 0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:28.560 making minimum wage, think about what it's like to live 0:16:29.040 --> 0:16:33.480 in their shoes. Think about what it's like to wonder 0:16:33.880 --> 0:16:36.960 and pray that no one in your family falls ill 0:16:37.040 --> 0:16:39.720 because you don't have any fucking healthcare, and that could 0:16:39.920 --> 0:16:47.160 very well send you literally into the poorhouse. Disneyland, and 0:16:47.280 --> 0:16:52.000 the company Disney makes so much fucking money that it 0:16:52.200 --> 0:16:57.000 is disgraceful the twenty five thousand of their employees have 0:16:57.080 --> 0:17:00.360 to put together a class action lawsuit just to get 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:06.760 a living god damn wage. What is wrong with this country? Right? 0:17:07.160 --> 0:17:10.880 And what I keep saying is that, you know, capitalism 0:17:12.119 --> 0:17:17.000 is really some fuck shit. And I say that because 0:17:17.480 --> 0:17:21.680 I recognize that a lot of our problems, right if 0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:26.080 we just follow the money or follow who has the money, 0:17:26.240 --> 0:17:31.360 we realize that capitalism causes more problems than itselves. Right 0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:34.520 that when you know we were in if you can 0:17:34.600 --> 0:17:39.480 remember back to the Democratic primary, and you had folks 0:17:39.560 --> 0:17:45.040 talking about a basic you know, basic income, right, universal 0:17:45.119 --> 0:17:53.200 basic income which many countries have, which provides your basic needs. Again, 0:17:53.600 --> 0:17:57.720 I've said this before. What would happen if your basic 0:17:57.840 --> 0:18:02.360 needs were met? If every America we're receiving right that 0:18:02.640 --> 0:18:05.840 had a certain you know, I'm not talking about the 0:18:05.880 --> 0:18:09.080 bezos and you know those that are in the one percent. No, 0:18:09.600 --> 0:18:13.760 I'm talking about what if every American who needed, right, 0:18:13.920 --> 0:18:20.200 middle class and down, received twenty five hundred dollars a month, 0:18:21.160 --> 0:18:28.280 right just to cover basic things, right, your utilities, groceries, whatever, 0:18:28.720 --> 0:18:33.040 you could spend it. However, right we're looking at what 0:18:33.640 --> 0:18:37.520 you know, close to thirty thousand dollars a year, and 0:18:37.760 --> 0:18:42.560 that would be what the federal government would pay, so 0:18:42.600 --> 0:18:46.480 that at the bare minimum, people are not housing insecure, 0:18:46.760 --> 0:18:52.600 they're not food insecure, and maybe they can pursue degrees 0:18:52.840 --> 0:18:56.359 and certificates that will allow them to make more money, 0:18:56.359 --> 0:18:59.120 but we also know that that's a lie as well. 0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:04.000 How many fucking people right now are saddled with six 0:19:04.119 --> 0:19:08.520 figure student loan debt, many of which didn't even complete 0:19:08.520 --> 0:19:10.960 their degrees and are in debt because they had to 0:19:11.040 --> 0:19:14.080 drop out because they couldn't fucking afford the school. That 0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:19.000 is a lot of black and brown people right who 0:19:19.119 --> 0:19:24.439 midway through are like, yo, I can't afford this, and 0:19:24.560 --> 0:19:27.000 I can't afford the payback, and then you get looped 0:19:27.000 --> 0:19:29.600 into low paying jobs just so that you can pay 0:19:29.800 --> 0:19:34.840 the minimum of your student loan debt back. This cycle 0:19:35.160 --> 0:19:40.840 is so vicious and it's so strategic because it is purposeful. 0:19:41.359 --> 0:19:45.080 For capitalism to work, you have got to have people 0:19:45.160 --> 0:19:51.080 that are consistently on the bottom, so there's no incentive 0:19:51.160 --> 0:19:56.240 to change anything. And it's the greed of the one 0:19:56.320 --> 0:20:00.640 percent that is driving all of this with court from 0:20:00.720 --> 0:20:06.360 both fucking parties, Because the only difference I see when 0:20:06.400 --> 0:20:10.440 we talk about capitalism, when we talk about investment, frankly, 0:20:10.640 --> 0:20:14.360 between the Republicans and Democrats, is the slogans that they use. 0:20:15.359 --> 0:20:18.040 Democrats want to say, oh, let's tax the rich and 0:20:18.359 --> 0:20:20.600 let's offer this, that and the other thing. Knowing good, 0:20:20.640 --> 0:20:23.520 goddamn well, they don't have the numbers to even be 0:20:23.600 --> 0:20:25.959 able to bring up something like that for a vote 0:20:27.480 --> 0:20:31.439 because too many of them are receiving funds from the 0:20:31.480 --> 0:20:35.960 fucking rich. So are you gonna cut off your nose 0:20:36.040 --> 0:20:38.280 to spite your face? Are you going to bite the 0:20:38.320 --> 0:20:43.760 hand that feeds you? No, you're not. But you see, 0:20:44.359 --> 0:20:47.760 we set this up, and by we I mean the 0:20:47.880 --> 0:20:52.200 United States Supreme Court set this up. You see, when 0:20:52.240 --> 0:20:56.439 they allowed for companies and corporations to act as people 0:20:56.760 --> 0:20:59.200 and give as much money and flood as much money 0:20:59.240 --> 0:21:04.080 into election, they turn politicians into two bit hookers, right, 0:21:04.320 --> 0:21:07.920 doing a trick for whoever is going to put money 0:21:08.000 --> 0:21:10.639 into their pockets. So if that means, oh, I'm going 0:21:10.720 --> 0:21:13.320 to talk out of both sides of my mouth, oh yeah, 0:21:13.440 --> 0:21:16.000 tax the rich, but the riches, what is affording me 0:21:16.119 --> 0:21:19.960 my lifestyle? As a senator or as a member of Congress, 0:21:20.040 --> 0:21:25.320 then I'm gonna go easy on them, because God forbid, 0:21:25.400 --> 0:21:28.719 these fucking people pay their fair share. And that's again 0:21:29.040 --> 0:21:32.680 another line of rhetoric that we hear, oh, folks need 0:21:32.720 --> 0:21:37.080 to pay their fair share? Really do they? Clearly they 0:21:37.119 --> 0:21:40.840 don't because they never have and they never will because 0:21:40.880 --> 0:21:44.280 that's how the system is set up. If you can 0:21:44.320 --> 0:21:48.000 afford the lawyers and the tax people to maneuver around 0:21:48.040 --> 0:21:52.439 all of these loopholes, then you are golden. But for 0:21:52.480 --> 0:21:55.760 the rest of us, you're pretty much fucked because you 0:21:55.800 --> 0:21:57.960 don't even know the rules of the game that you're 0:21:57.960 --> 0:22:01.080 being forced to play that shift depending on the year, 0:22:01.200 --> 0:22:05.119 depending on who's in office. You have no idea because 0:22:05.160 --> 0:22:07.640 once you start to get a hold of things, they 0:22:07.680 --> 0:22:10.680 come in flip the fucking table over like Tiffany Guidise 0:22:11.080 --> 0:22:15.880 in The Real Housewives, and you're over. You're done. Starting 0:22:15.880 --> 0:22:22.359 back from zero, I gotta tell you you know this story, 0:22:22.520 --> 0:22:26.840 among so many other stories about how our economy is 0:22:27.119 --> 0:22:30.639 essentially collapsing. A couple of weeks ago, I reported on 0:22:30.680 --> 0:22:32.720 the fact that eleven and a half million people have 0:22:32.880 --> 0:22:36.760 left the workforce, right that finally we are setting up 0:22:36.760 --> 0:22:39.639 in a way where you have some companies like the 0:22:39.680 --> 0:22:42.720 Amazons of the world, which we talk about, who have 0:22:42.960 --> 0:22:45.560 mass production quotas that they need to set up so 0:22:45.640 --> 0:22:48.000 much so that people aren't allowed to go to the bathroom. 0:22:48.400 --> 0:22:51.520 They are now having to compete for workers because people 0:22:51.560 --> 0:22:54.040 are quitting in mass because why the fuck am I 0:22:54.119 --> 0:22:58.560 doing this? So hopefully we are moving towards a place 0:22:58.600 --> 0:23:02.400 where workers right get to be the ones that are 0:23:02.400 --> 0:23:05.240 in charge and get to dictate the terms of how 0:23:05.280 --> 0:23:08.800 they work. But to me, that's like a pipe dream 0:23:10.200 --> 0:23:13.600 because it's always those that can write the checks that 0:23:13.680 --> 0:23:15.719 are going to be the ones that are in power, 0:23:16.800 --> 0:23:24.399 and it makes me fucking sick. I will leave you 0:23:24.440 --> 0:23:29.480 with this, folks. Times are getting tougher. The days are 0:23:29.480 --> 0:23:33.800 going to start to get shorter because we're headed into 0:23:34.640 --> 0:23:37.760 the fall and winter months, and I think that depression 0:23:37.800 --> 0:23:40.240 and anxiety are going to continue to be at an 0:23:40.280 --> 0:23:44.840 all time high. You must make your mental health, your 0:23:44.880 --> 0:23:49.600 emotional well being, your physical wellbeing a priority because as 0:23:49.640 --> 0:23:53.720 things get darker and harder, you're going to need to 0:23:53.920 --> 0:23:59.000 dig deeper in order to keep yourself buoyed above the toxicity, 0:23:59.080 --> 0:24:03.640 above the fray. So please do stay well, and be well. 0:24:05.960 --> 0:24:08.840 That's it for today's Woke AF Daily Podcast. To hear 0:24:08.920 --> 0:24:12.040 more from me, including five full hour long shows every 0:24:12.080 --> 0:24:15.440 single week, exclusive guest interviews, and more, support me on 0:24:15.560 --> 0:24:19.480 Patreon at patreon dot com slash woke AF. Power to 0:24:19.560 --> 0:24:22.119 the people and to all the people power, get woke 0:24:22.160 --> 0:24:23.560 and stay woke as fuck.