1 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:05,760 Speaker 1: The first several episodes of this podcast have gotten a 2 00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:09,040 Speaker 1: more enthusiastic reaction than I could have ever guessed. I'm 3 00:00:09,119 --> 00:00:11,799 Speaker 1: very grateful for that. My motivation for doing the show 4 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:14,080 Speaker 1: comes out of a very deep fear I feel towards 5 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:16,440 Speaker 1: where this country is headed and what might happen if 6 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:19,680 Speaker 1: our present destructive course is not somehow arrested and averted. 7 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:22,320 Speaker 1: So I'm glad that this has gone the podcast equivalent 8 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:24,279 Speaker 1: of viral. I'm proud that so many people have reached 9 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:26,760 Speaker 1: out to tell me the impact it's had on them. 10 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:29,440 Speaker 1: But I'm also troubled by some things, and I hope 11 00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:31,960 Speaker 1: you'll indulge me in a little bit of creative narcissism 12 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:34,680 Speaker 1: as I analyze my own work, because the success thus 13 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:36,640 Speaker 1: far of it could happen here has also given me 14 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:40,040 Speaker 1: a very clear understanding of some of its flaws. For 15 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:41,960 Speaker 1: one thing, it's become very clear to me that this 16 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:45,200 Speaker 1: show has terrified an awful lot of people. To some extent. 17 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:47,560 Speaker 1: That was my goal from the beginning. I've been scared 18 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:49,559 Speaker 1: about this for a long time, and I wanted political 19 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:52,440 Speaker 1: moderates and liberals to see the dangers I see. But 20 00:00:52,479 --> 00:00:54,000 Speaker 1: a number of people have reached out to me and 21 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:56,840 Speaker 1: expressed feelings of hopelessness and an ear panicked feeling that 22 00:00:56,880 --> 00:01:00,200 Speaker 1: there is nothing they can do to stop This was 23 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:02,440 Speaker 1: my plan to build to an episode about, you know, 24 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:05,560 Speaker 1: things people could do to help make the Second American 25 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:07,800 Speaker 1: Civil War less likely and in this series on an 26 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:10,720 Speaker 1: optimistic note. Uh, there's certainly more than a little bit 27 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:13,920 Speaker 1: of narcissism in that as well. But from a storytelling standpoint, 28 00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:16,039 Speaker 1: it makes sense to keep building tension right up until 29 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:18,920 Speaker 1: the end and then close out on a hopeful note. However, 30 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:21,640 Speaker 1: this is not just an exercise in storytelling. It's a 31 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:24,399 Speaker 1: work of journalism, and given the kind of emotional impact 32 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:26,399 Speaker 1: podcasts have on their listeners, I think it would be 33 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:29,760 Speaker 1: irresponsible to go that long without providing some suggestions for 34 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: how folks might stop all of this. There's more darkness 35 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:34,880 Speaker 1: to come in this series, I will promise you that, 36 00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:37,640 Speaker 1: but I've decided this little mini episode should act as 37 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:40,120 Speaker 1: an intermission to provide some practical advice on how to 38 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:42,480 Speaker 1: make everything I've talked about so far a little bit 39 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:45,679 Speaker 1: less likely to happen. Now. The key to that is this, 40 00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:48,920 Speaker 1: we have to get better at building solidarity across our 41 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:51,520 Speaker 1: political divide. I want to make a couple of things 42 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:53,640 Speaker 1: clear before we get deeper into this. There is a 43 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:56,320 Speaker 1: right way and a wrong way to foster communication between 44 00:01:56,320 --> 00:01:59,760 Speaker 1: the right and the left. Many primetime television journalistic hats 45 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:01,240 Speaker 1: than the way to do this is to provide a 46 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:05,240 Speaker 1: platform to hate mongering nationalists like Candice Owens. Others think 47 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:08,080 Speaker 1: debate is the sav for all of our wounds. NPR 48 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:11,120 Speaker 1: recently published an article titled keeping it Civil. How to 49 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:15,120 Speaker 1: talk politics without letting things turn ugly now. NPR shared 50 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:17,440 Speaker 1: this article on Twitter, and the first response was from 51 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:21,359 Speaker 1: my friend Molly. She said, simply, no others shared the 52 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:23,920 Speaker 1: same sentiment. Molly is a fan of my work, as 53 00:02:23,919 --> 00:02:26,000 Speaker 1: I am a fan of her activism, and I understand 54 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:29,400 Speaker 1: her reaction. She was deeply intimately impacted by the violence 55 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:31,760 Speaker 1: at the Unite the Right rally in two thousand seventeen, 56 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:34,160 Speaker 1: and she has literal Nazis threatened to kill her on 57 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:36,520 Speaker 1: a near daily basis. She's one of the people I 58 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 1: was talking about in the first episode of this series 59 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:40,919 Speaker 1: when I mentioned that for some of us, the Second 60 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:44,440 Speaker 1: American Civil War has already started. So I want to 61 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:46,640 Speaker 1: make it clear that I'm not saying The solution to 62 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:48,760 Speaker 1: all of this is for us to have polite debates 63 00:02:48,760 --> 00:02:51,800 Speaker 1: with people we disagree with. I think debate is useless. 64 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:54,720 Speaker 1: That's why assholes like Stephen Crowder and Ben Shapiro spend 65 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:57,240 Speaker 1: their lives trying to have public debates where they can 66 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:00,360 Speaker 1: destroy people they disagree with and of course sell more 67 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:03,520 Speaker 1: leftist tears mugs. In fact, I think some of the 68 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:06,160 Speaker 1: most dangerous people in our society right now, the people 69 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:09,480 Speaker 1: lurching us ever closer to bloody, bullet riddled calamity, are 70 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:12,120 Speaker 1: fools with large platforms who provide a bullhorn for the 71 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:14,760 Speaker 1: most hateful among us and justify it by saying that 72 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:19,160 Speaker 1: they're just having conversations. Joe Rogan and Logan Paul come 73 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:22,800 Speaker 1: most immediately to mind. Both men recently hosted Alex Jones 74 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:26,960 Speaker 1: on their popular podcast and YouTube channel, respectively. Rogan has 75 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:29,920 Speaker 1: continued to platform Jones after the latter repeatedly threatened to 76 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:32,640 Speaker 1: expose and destroy him in a series of Unhinged Info 77 00:03:32,639 --> 00:03:36,000 Speaker 1: Wars rants. Joe Rogan does this because he considers Alex 78 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:38,200 Speaker 1: Jones a friend and because he has built a career 79 00:03:38,280 --> 00:03:41,960 Speaker 1: off of hosting unhinged conspiracy theorists. Rogan paints himself is 80 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:45,040 Speaker 1: just a simple, open minded guy willing to listen to anyone. 81 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:47,440 Speaker 1: I think if he were here right now, he'd say 82 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:49,440 Speaker 1: he doesn't see the harm and just talking to someone 83 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:53,280 Speaker 1: with different opinions. Logan Paul would probably admit, if pressed, 84 00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:55,280 Speaker 1: that he hosted Alex Jones because he thought it was 85 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:58,440 Speaker 1: funny and because he saw how incredibly popular Rogan's recent 86 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:01,600 Speaker 1: five hour podcast with Alex Jones was. As of the 87 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:04,640 Speaker 1: writing of this episode, that podcast has been watched nearly 88 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:08,960 Speaker 1: thirteen million times on YouTube alone. Thankfully, Paul's platforming of 89 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:11,840 Speaker 1: Jones was less productive. That YouTube video was at around 90 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:14,720 Speaker 1: four hundred and fifty three thousand views right now, but 91 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:18,080 Speaker 1: it still helped introduce Alex Jones to a much younger demographic, 92 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:20,479 Speaker 1: some of whom will follow him back to in full Wars. 93 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:23,560 Speaker 1: Speaking of infull Wars, Within a couple of days of 94 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:26,400 Speaker 1: that Logan Paul appearance, Alex Jones dedicated the better part 95 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:28,880 Speaker 1: of an episode of his show to an unhinged rant 96 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:31,960 Speaker 1: against the drag Queen's Story Hour. Now. This is an 97 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:35,000 Speaker 1: advocacy organization all over the US and in several other 98 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:37,760 Speaker 1: countries based around having drag queens read story books to 99 00:04:37,839 --> 00:04:40,920 Speaker 1: kids at local libraries. The goal is to introduce these 100 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:43,160 Speaker 1: kids to the idea that queer people exist in the 101 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:46,000 Speaker 1: world and are members of their communities too, like anyone else. 102 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:49,839 Speaker 1: At least that's how most sane people interpret it. To 103 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:52,800 Speaker 1: Alex Jones, it's part of a violent conspiracy to rape 104 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:55,600 Speaker 1: and murder children. These drag queens stand ins for all 105 00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:57,920 Speaker 1: queer people are just trying to get children used to 106 00:04:57,960 --> 00:04:59,960 Speaker 1: their presence so they don't fight back when they're abduct 107 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:06,239 Speaker 1: it and ritually murdered. That's an inductee right there. That's 108 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:12,039 Speaker 1: rim Field, a demon posing as a woman, a woman 109 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:15,279 Speaker 1: that gives life, that nurtures babies, And these poor babies. 110 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:18,880 Speaker 1: The last thing they see when the inner hell is 111 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:23,880 Speaker 1: men dressed as women. The last thing they see is 112 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:26,599 Speaker 1: they're hacked up and torn into pieces, and as their 113 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:33,800 Speaker 1: blood is slobbingly delict into the mouths, and no men 114 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:37,680 Speaker 1: will stand against them. And unless we convince ourselves that, 115 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:40,000 Speaker 1: no one really listens to Alex Jones when he says 116 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:42,680 Speaker 1: this crazy ship. Here's a clip from later in the episode, 117 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:45,400 Speaker 1: when a caller who identifies himself as a cop talks 118 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:48,800 Speaker 1: about his desire to murder drag queens without consequence. One 119 00:05:48,839 --> 00:05:50,400 Speaker 1: thing you say that I like is you don't need 120 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:55,119 Speaker 1: orders from headquarters, well as of the civilian, a parent 121 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:58,360 Speaker 1: or a legal guardian doesn't need the police. In my eyes, 122 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:00,880 Speaker 1: I've being the cop to go to school and grab 123 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:03,599 Speaker 1: that drag queen and drag him out the parking lot 124 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:06,600 Speaker 1: and dispose of them. If you're in that school and 125 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:08,960 Speaker 1: you're in kids, and somebody's not stopping it, I should 126 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:11,040 Speaker 1: have the legal right to go in and and put 127 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:14,320 Speaker 1: you down. And we're already percussions. Thanks to Dan from 128 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:17,000 Speaker 1: the Knowledge Fight podcast for both of those clips. So 129 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:18,599 Speaker 1: I think I've made it clear at this point that 130 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:21,359 Speaker 1: there is absolutely a wrong way to talk to the 131 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:23,680 Speaker 1: other side of the aisle. We do not need to 132 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:27,760 Speaker 1: talk to Alex Jones or Miloianopolis or Richard Spencer or 133 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:31,120 Speaker 1: Candice Owens. Ben Shapiro does not need to be debated 134 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:33,840 Speaker 1: about his racist claim that eight hundred million Muslims are 135 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:37,280 Speaker 1: dangerous radicals. None of these people deserve to be platformed 136 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:40,599 Speaker 1: or debated. They need to be ignored. The people we 137 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:43,400 Speaker 1: need to talk to the people. We cannot ignore our 138 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:46,320 Speaker 1: fellow citizens. They are people who may have fallen under 139 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:49,040 Speaker 1: the spells of some of these demagogues or of Trump himself, 140 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:52,359 Speaker 1: but many of them are fundamentally decent human beings acting 141 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:55,960 Speaker 1: based on their imperfect knowledge of the world. In episode 142 00:06:55,960 --> 00:06:58,080 Speaker 1: two of this series, I talked about the revenge of 143 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:01,200 Speaker 1: rural America. I tried and perfectly, I'm sure, to make 144 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:04,640 Speaker 1: the point that these people have legitimate grievances before detailing 145 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:06,720 Speaker 1: how they could bring this country to its knees if 146 00:07:06,760 --> 00:07:09,680 Speaker 1: pushed far enough. I think it's important for liberals to 147 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:12,000 Speaker 1: understand this because a lot of the rhetoric I've seen 148 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:16,440 Speaker 1: from scorn Clinton supporters towards conservative America is extremely dangerous. 149 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:19,800 Speaker 1: Here's one example. In March of two thousand nineteen, the 150 00:07:19,840 --> 00:07:22,600 Speaker 1: news dropped that an Ohio g implant was shutting down 151 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:25,160 Speaker 1: Trumpet campaign in the area on the promise that he 152 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:28,800 Speaker 1: would keep this factory open. Many liberals reacted jubilantly at 153 00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:31,800 Speaker 1: seeing their political enemies take a hit. The first comment 154 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:34,880 Speaker 1: I found on one article about the story read quote 155 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:37,640 Speaker 1: to all of the union members that placed an X 156 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:41,240 Speaker 1: beside that nazi bastard's name, you got what you deserved. 157 00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:44,720 Speaker 1: Since Trump's upset victory, there's been a lot of talk 158 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:47,760 Speaker 1: on the left about eliminating the electoral College. Now, I'm 159 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:50,679 Speaker 1: not going to defend that institution because it's just super dumb, 160 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:53,040 Speaker 1: But I don't think people who urge its destruction really 161 00:07:53,080 --> 00:07:56,040 Speaker 1: think about the implications of what they're suggesting. Yes, it 162 00:07:56,200 --> 00:07:58,760 Speaker 1: is unjust that three million more people voted for Hillary 163 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:01,600 Speaker 1: Clinton and she's still laws, But it's also unjust to 164 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:04,240 Speaker 1: say fuck it, we enlightened city dwellers should get to 165 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:07,280 Speaker 1: decide everything for rural Americans and funk what they want 166 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:10,520 Speaker 1: if they disagree with us. That impulse right there will 167 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:14,800 Speaker 1: lead us to a civil war as surely as anything else. Now, 168 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:17,640 Speaker 1: the good news is that the vast, vast majority of 169 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:21,280 Speaker 1: rural Americans don't want to become violent insurgents. They don't 170 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:23,680 Speaker 1: want to kill you. They do want their world to 171 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:26,640 Speaker 1: stop falling apart. They want to stop being ignored and 172 00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:29,120 Speaker 1: written off as hicks by people in the cities. More 173 00:08:29,160 --> 00:08:31,520 Speaker 1: than anything, they want to have hope for the future. 174 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:34,839 Speaker 1: There are many committed, bone deep Trump supporters out in 175 00:08:34,920 --> 00:08:37,520 Speaker 1: rural America, but those people are outnumbered by the folks 176 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:39,760 Speaker 1: who just voted for him because they saw no hope 177 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:42,400 Speaker 1: for politics as usual. To deal with the crippling opioid 178 00:08:42,440 --> 00:08:45,640 Speaker 1: problems in their communities, the collapse of rural infrastructure, and 179 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:47,600 Speaker 1: the utter lack of hope they see on the faces 180 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:50,480 Speaker 1: of their children. That sense of terror at what comes 181 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:52,840 Speaker 1: next is actually one area where we can all find 182 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:55,240 Speaker 1: common ground. I know this because I've seen it on 183 00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:57,800 Speaker 1: the faces of many urban liberals and leftists as we 184 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:00,719 Speaker 1: digest the latest heart wrenching story about climate change or 185 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:03,199 Speaker 1: read about the concentration camps our government has built in 186 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:06,440 Speaker 1: El Paso. Once we start talking, we may find that 187 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:08,520 Speaker 1: we have more points we can agree on than we thought. 188 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:10,960 Speaker 1: We should not be debating each other. We should be 189 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:13,480 Speaker 1: focusing on finding solutions to the problems that we can 190 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:16,800 Speaker 1: all see. Climate change is actually a good example. Eight 191 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:19,560 Speaker 1: and ten Americans believe the climate is changing, bringing with 192 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:22,800 Speaker 1: it more extreme weather conditions. This includes more than sixty 193 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:27,480 Speaker 1: percent of Republicans. A healthy majority of Americans consider climate 194 00:09:27,559 --> 00:09:31,439 Speaker 1: change a serious problem. Just this spring, South Dakota, Nebraska, 195 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:36,240 Speaker 1: and southern Minnesota experienced apocalyptic mud slides after unprecedented spring rains. 196 00:09:36,559 --> 00:09:39,280 Speaker 1: The mud did billions of dollars in damage and obliterated 197 00:09:39,280 --> 00:09:42,560 Speaker 1: many local economies. These mud slides in the north and Midwest, 198 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:46,559 Speaker 1: echo equally apocalyptic mud slides experienced by Californians in early 199 00:09:46,559 --> 00:09:50,400 Speaker 1: two thousand eighteen. Solidarity is a word with a long 200 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:54,920 Speaker 1: and confusing ideological pedigree. It crept into popular political discourse 201 00:09:54,960 --> 00:09:57,559 Speaker 1: in the eighteen forties, as socialism began to take off 202 00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:00,800 Speaker 1: around the world and utopian experiments where launched throughout the West. 203 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:04,320 Speaker 1: By nine hundred, the concept of solidarity was so widely 204 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:06,160 Speaker 1: understood that it would be fair to call it the 205 00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:10,120 Speaker 1: global cornerstone of progressive politics. Around the turn of the century, 206 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:14,360 Speaker 1: the great sociologist Emil Durkheim explained, quote, the sense of 207 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:17,800 Speaker 1: solidarity is the foundation of morality, since it is necessary 208 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:19,760 Speaker 1: to show the young that human beings are by no 209 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:23,000 Speaker 1: means isolated within themselves, but are part of a totality 210 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:25,840 Speaker 1: from which they cannot be separated other than in their thoughts, 211 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:29,200 Speaker 1: that society lives and operates in them and represents the 212 00:10:29,240 --> 00:10:44,200 Speaker 1: best aspect of their own. Nature. Of fascist political success 213 00:10:44,280 --> 00:10:47,360 Speaker 1: relies wholly on separation. The people who want to raise 214 00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:50,440 Speaker 1: the temperature in our society and provoke open, bloody violence 215 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:53,000 Speaker 1: between left and right thrive when the rest of us 216 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:57,360 Speaker 1: isolate ourselves. Their ideas metastasized when rural Americans hide on 217 00:10:57,400 --> 00:11:00,000 Speaker 1: their farms and in their small towns, and urban Americans 218 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:03,240 Speaker 1: preached to each other from the safety of their ideological bubbles. 219 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:06,520 Speaker 1: A two thousand fourteen Pew survey found that thirty one 220 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:09,840 Speaker 1: percent of consistent conservatives and forty four percent of consistent 221 00:11:09,880 --> 00:11:13,560 Speaker 1: liberals have muted or unfriended a follower based on political disagreements. 222 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:16,680 Speaker 1: During the two thousand sixteen election, seventy five percent of 223 00:11:16,679 --> 00:11:19,040 Speaker 1: Clinton voters did not have a single Trump supporter in 224 00:11:19,080 --> 00:11:21,960 Speaker 1: their network. More than half of Trump and Clinton voters 225 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:26,280 Speaker 1: reported not regularly discussing politics with someone who disagreed with them. 226 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:28,920 Speaker 1: Only about twenty percent of voters on either side had 227 00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:32,520 Speaker 1: truly mixed social networks and discussed politics regularly with people 228 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:35,080 Speaker 1: they didn't agree with. When we don't talk to each 229 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:38,160 Speaker 1: other at all, we miss opportunities for solidarity. I've been 230 00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:40,080 Speaker 1: fortunate enough to spend a lot of my life as 231 00:11:40,080 --> 00:11:42,600 Speaker 1: a leftist in deeply read territory, so I'd like to 232 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:46,000 Speaker 1: expand on another opportunity for solidarity. The end of the 233 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:51,400 Speaker 1: billionaire Class. Dan Riffle, Alexandria Accacio Cortes's senior policy adviser 234 00:11:51,640 --> 00:11:53,839 Speaker 1: made the news recently when he changed his Twitter name 235 00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:57,240 Speaker 1: to every billionaire is a policy failure. Now, this is 236 00:11:57,240 --> 00:11:59,520 Speaker 1: not a statement you're likely to get most conservatives on 237 00:11:59,559 --> 00:12:01,959 Speaker 1: board with if you phrase it that way, But when 238 00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:04,040 Speaker 1: you get into the meat of what Accassio, Cortes and 239 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:07,680 Speaker 1: other Democrats suggest in order to reduce income inequality, there's 240 00:12:07,679 --> 00:12:11,000 Speaker 1: actually less daylight between right and left than you might suspect. 241 00:12:11,800 --> 00:12:15,400 Speaker 1: Seventy six percent of registered voters want the wealthiest Americans 242 00:12:15,480 --> 00:12:18,200 Speaker 1: to pay more in taxes. Sixty one percent of us 243 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:21,320 Speaker 1: support the sort of wealth tax proposed by Elizabeth Warren, 244 00:12:21,520 --> 00:12:23,920 Speaker 1: which boosts the taxes on those with a net worth 245 00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:27,280 Speaker 1: of over fifty million dollars. Forty five percent of Americans 246 00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:31,520 Speaker 1: support Alexandria Acasio Cortes's seventy percent top marginal tax rate 247 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:34,280 Speaker 1: on people who make more than ten million dollars. Across 248 00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:37,839 Speaker 1: the political spectrum, Americans increasingly agree that the rich are 249 00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:40,040 Speaker 1: not paying their fair share and that they ought to. 250 00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:43,280 Speaker 1: Hammer and simple flags and talk of guillotines will not 251 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:46,680 Speaker 1: convert anyone to supporting a higher marginal tax rate, but 252 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:49,120 Speaker 1: you might see some success in talking to them about 253 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:52,600 Speaker 1: the Sackler family. The Sacklers are the billionaire clan behind 254 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:55,920 Speaker 1: Perdue Pharmaceuticals. Starting in nineteen ninety five and running right 255 00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:59,120 Speaker 1: up until the present day, they conducted a fraudulent advertising 256 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:03,120 Speaker 1: campaign to hide the addictiveness of their most profitable product, OxyContin, 257 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:05,440 Speaker 1: and get it into the bodies of as many Americans 258 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:08,640 Speaker 1: as possible. Because of the Sacklers, opiate pain killers went 259 00:13:08,679 --> 00:13:11,600 Speaker 1: from something only the seriously ill were prescribed to something 260 00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:14,000 Speaker 1: commonly handed out for the kind of chronic pain they 261 00:13:14,040 --> 00:13:16,719 Speaker 1: do not help with. As a result, more than two 262 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:20,199 Speaker 1: hundred thousand Americans have died of prescription pain killer overdoses. 263 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:23,320 Speaker 1: Whole towns in rural America have been decimated, in some 264 00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:26,360 Speaker 1: cases nearly wiped out by a plague of addiction. And 265 00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:28,960 Speaker 1: while small town Americans have died in their thousands, the 266 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:31,520 Speaker 1: Sacklers have increased their net worth from tens of millions 267 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:35,200 Speaker 1: of dollars to around fourteen billion dollars. They've spent a 268 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:37,720 Speaker 1: tidy chunk of that Monday funding a number of radical 269 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:42,440 Speaker 1: anti Muslim organizations dedicated to stoking right wing fears of Islam. 270 00:13:42,640 --> 00:13:44,680 Speaker 1: I don't know about you, but I like the idea 271 00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:47,160 Speaker 1: of fighting a war against the billionaires through the ballot 272 00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:50,040 Speaker 1: box alongside conservatives more than I like the idea of 273 00:13:50,040 --> 00:13:52,640 Speaker 1: fighting conservatives with bullets while the Sacklers and their ilk 274 00:13:52,679 --> 00:13:56,160 Speaker 1: fleeted compounds in New Zealand. There are other opportunities for 275 00:13:56,200 --> 00:13:58,720 Speaker 1: cross political solidarity. Some of them are nestled in the 276 00:13:58,760 --> 00:14:01,560 Speaker 1: things that seem most frightening about our current political climate. 277 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:04,480 Speaker 1: In episode one, I talked about the increased prevalence of 278 00:14:04,559 --> 00:14:07,440 Speaker 1: left wing gun advocacy groups. This can be seen as 279 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:10,600 Speaker 1: a proto insurgency situation, something that leads to more fear 280 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:13,360 Speaker 1: and division and eventually violence, but it could also be 281 00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:16,640 Speaker 1: another opportunity to find common ground. I've spent a lot 282 00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:18,720 Speaker 1: of time in Los Angeles gun stores. There's some of 283 00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:20,880 Speaker 1: the only places in this city where you're regularly run 284 00:14:20,920 --> 00:14:23,680 Speaker 1: into vocal Republicans. I also recently went out to a 285 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:26,120 Speaker 1: shooting range with a John Brown Gun Club, a leftist 286 00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:29,400 Speaker 1: gun organization. In both places and surrounded by both groups 287 00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:31,240 Speaker 1: of people, I heard a lot of the same complaints 288 00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:35,120 Speaker 1: about California's confusing and often unproductive gun laws. In the 289 00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:37,960 Speaker 1: weeks since the first episode of this podcast launch, dozens 290 00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:40,640 Speaker 1: upon dozens of liberals and leftists have reached out to 291 00:14:40,640 --> 00:14:43,240 Speaker 1: me asking if they should buy firearms. Many told me 292 00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:45,800 Speaker 1: they were already in the process of buying their first guns. 293 00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:48,400 Speaker 1: I realized that these people on the left were starting 294 00:14:48,440 --> 00:14:50,280 Speaker 1: to feel something that many on the right have felt 295 00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:52,440 Speaker 1: for a while, the desire to arm up in the 296 00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:55,200 Speaker 1: face of an uncertain future. I do worry that all 297 00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:58,280 Speaker 1: these guns might wind up being used in violence, absolutely 298 00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:00,520 Speaker 1: I do. But I also have hope at the presence 299 00:15:00,520 --> 00:15:03,119 Speaker 1: of a left wing gun culture might foster some productive 300 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:07,800 Speaker 1: conversations across the political chasm, because the current conversations we're 301 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:10,880 Speaker 1: having about guns in this country are not productive. This 302 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:13,720 Speaker 1: is embodied well by a message Eric Swawell, a Democratic 303 00:15:13,760 --> 00:15:17,560 Speaker 1: representative from California, recently received from a furious gun nuts. 304 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:23,720 Speaker 1: Eric's all, well, here's a little duty for you. Thirty 305 00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:27,600 Speaker 1: round clip. You're all gonna drop and I'll give up anymore. 306 00:15:27,640 --> 00:15:30,680 Speaker 1: Your mother, I think you've got some new young motherfucker 307 00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:35,120 Speaker 1: going to take over the constitution. You want to go 308 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:38,320 Speaker 1: to war, We're going to war, and you're going to 309 00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:43,880 Speaker 1: be a mother. Now. That's obviously terrifying and fucked up, 310 00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:47,080 Speaker 1: and I'm afraid that reperative. Swallow's response only made it worse. 311 00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:50,560 Speaker 1: Immediately after playing that audio, he played this text on screen. 312 00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:53,760 Speaker 1: We recently passed background check bills in the House. We 313 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:57,120 Speaker 1: must ban and buy back assault weapons next. Now, this 314 00:15:57,160 --> 00:15:59,120 Speaker 1: probably sounds reasonable to many of you, and I'm not 315 00:15:59,160 --> 00:16:01,320 Speaker 1: trying to talk you out of whatever your views on 316 00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:04,359 Speaker 1: this issue are. But I also see it as another escalation, 317 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:07,160 Speaker 1: taking this nuts violent rhetoric and giving him exactly what 318 00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:10,040 Speaker 1: he wants, a left wing boogeyman coming for his guns. 319 00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:13,680 Speaker 1: Of American households own a gun, and the A R 320 00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:16,440 Speaker 1: fifteen is by far the most common single firearm in 321 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:19,640 Speaker 1: this nation. Gun ownership in America is on a significant 322 00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:22,440 Speaker 1: upward trend. After dropping form much of the nineteen nineties, 323 00:16:22,480 --> 00:16:25,640 Speaker 1: it's ticked steadily higher in the twenty first century. Drawing 324 00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:28,200 Speaker 1: a hard political line by saying fuck you, We're going 325 00:16:28,240 --> 00:16:30,640 Speaker 1: to take your weapons is not nearly as bad as 326 00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:33,560 Speaker 1: threatening murder, obviously, and I'm not trying to equate the two, 327 00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:36,640 Speaker 1: but it is not a productive step forward either, because 328 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:39,040 Speaker 1: most gun owners are not literal madman like the guy 329 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:43,320 Speaker 1: who threatened. Representative Swallow of n r A members support 330 00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:47,080 Speaker 1: comprehensive background checks. Not only is that number nice, it 331 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:50,760 Speaker 1: shows widespread support for an into unregulated face to face sales, 332 00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:53,360 Speaker 1: what some pundits referred to as the gun show loophole. 333 00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:56,200 Speaker 1: Seventy eight percent of non n r A gun owners 334 00:16:56,240 --> 00:16:59,960 Speaker 1: like myself support universal background checks. Now when we tell 335 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:03,000 Speaker 1: about other gun control measures like gun violence restraining orders, 336 00:17:03,080 --> 00:17:06,000 Speaker 1: raising the age required to purchase firearms, and implementing waiting 337 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:09,399 Speaker 1: periods in more states, things get more controversial. But still 338 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:13,680 Speaker 1: half of American gun owners support a national firearms Purchased database. 339 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:17,080 Speaker 1: There is clearly room for conversation and for real progress 340 00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:19,879 Speaker 1: on these issues. The n r A and certain politicians 341 00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:23,119 Speaker 1: stand the most extreme versions of their respective policies, but 342 00:17:23,240 --> 00:17:26,760 Speaker 1: most American voters, including gun owning voters, can be convinced 343 00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:29,480 Speaker 1: to support more nuanced policies that still have a real 344 00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:32,680 Speaker 1: impact on gun violence. I've been shooting since I was 345 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:34,880 Speaker 1: seven years old, and I own what most people would 346 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:37,400 Speaker 1: describe as a funkload of firearms, and I can tell 347 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:39,920 Speaker 1: you that much of the frustration rational gun owners feel 348 00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:42,840 Speaker 1: towards politicians like Representative Swallow comes from the fact that 349 00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:45,240 Speaker 1: most gun control laws are written by people who don't 350 00:17:45,320 --> 00:17:49,159 Speaker 1: understand firearms. Some laws make objective sense to me, waiting 351 00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:51,600 Speaker 1: periods are sane and sensible. I can get behind banning 352 00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:54,960 Speaker 1: people under twenty one from purching semi automatic weapons, But 353 00:17:55,040 --> 00:17:58,600 Speaker 1: then there's California's assault weapons ban. Most liberals probably think 354 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:00,680 Speaker 1: it means I can't own air fifteens or a K 355 00:18:00,840 --> 00:18:03,080 Speaker 1: forty sevens, but I own both in the city of 356 00:18:03,119 --> 00:18:05,640 Speaker 1: Los Angeles. The largest means that I've had to stick 357 00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:08,600 Speaker 1: as silly and very easily removable plastic flipper on the 358 00:18:08,600 --> 00:18:11,160 Speaker 1: pistol grip of my rifle, so it doesn't technically count 359 00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:13,800 Speaker 1: as a pistol grip. This is part of why I 360 00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:16,320 Speaker 1: think more firearms ownership among the left could lead to 361 00:18:16,359 --> 00:18:19,200 Speaker 1: more effective gun control if the people writing those laws 362 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:21,240 Speaker 1: know what they're talking about, and if gun owners on 363 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:24,080 Speaker 1: the right see broad support for a reasonable interpretation of 364 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:26,200 Speaker 1: the Second Amendment. If they see a lot of people 365 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:28,520 Speaker 1: on the other side of the aisle also own firearms 366 00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:31,119 Speaker 1: and are trying to take their guns, they might be 367 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:34,240 Speaker 1: more open to talking about common sense gun control policies. 368 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:37,320 Speaker 1: I think one of Barack Obama's biggest mistakes during his 369 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:40,560 Speaker 1: first presidential campaign was referring to rural Americans as people 370 00:18:40,560 --> 00:18:42,800 Speaker 1: who cling to their guns and Bibles. If you live 371 00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:45,320 Speaker 1: in a major urban area, don't regularly go to church, 372 00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:48,359 Speaker 1: and have never fired a gun. Obama's words probably rang true. 373 00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:51,679 Speaker 1: They jelled with what you believed, especially about rural Americans. 374 00:18:52,119 --> 00:18:54,080 Speaker 1: But think about how those words would feel from the 375 00:18:54,119 --> 00:18:56,760 Speaker 1: perspective of someone whose town has an unemployment rate more 376 00:18:56,760 --> 00:18:59,600 Speaker 1: than double the national average. Someone who has lost multiple 377 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:02,560 Speaker 1: friends and family members to opiate addiction. Someone for whom 378 00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:04,960 Speaker 1: the center of their social life is church on Sunday. 379 00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:07,360 Speaker 1: Someone from whom access to a firearm is the best 380 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:10,040 Speaker 1: way to get affordable meat. Someone who's best memories of 381 00:19:10,080 --> 00:19:13,000 Speaker 1: their granddad, father, or uncle involved learning how to shoot. 382 00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:16,040 Speaker 1: To that person, Barack Obama's words sounded less like an 383 00:19:16,040 --> 00:19:18,440 Speaker 1: apt diagnosis and more like a slap to the face. 384 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:32,080 Speaker 1: We don't all right. None of this is an apologia 385 00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:34,520 Speaker 1: for the literal Nazis among the right wing people like 386 00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:37,119 Speaker 1: that gang of fascists arrested in Florida with a rocket 387 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:40,800 Speaker 1: launcher earlier this year. Fuck those people. But most conservatives 388 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:42,679 Speaker 1: are not those people. And if we can reach out 389 00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:45,320 Speaker 1: to them in solidarity over the problems we share, if 390 00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:47,399 Speaker 1: they can be shown they have cause and pain in 391 00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:50,399 Speaker 1: common with poor people, in inner city America. If they 392 00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:53,240 Speaker 1: can see that the socialists yelling about billionaires are pissed 393 00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:56,560 Speaker 1: at the same people whose poison pills killed their mom, well, 394 00:19:56,560 --> 00:19:59,200 Speaker 1: that presents a path forward, and to be honest, it's 395 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:01,760 Speaker 1: the only path I can see that isn't drenched in blood. 396 00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:04,920 Speaker 1: So this brings us to the question of what you, 397 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:07,520 Speaker 1: the listener, can start doing right now to help with this. 398 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:11,960 Speaker 1: The bad actors in our society, people like doctor Jordan Peterson, 399 00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:15,280 Speaker 1: don't want you to do anything. Dr Peterson, who was 400 00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:19,040 Speaker 1: also platformed into the mainstream by Joe Rogan, says this quote. 401 00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:21,800 Speaker 1: The proper way to fix the world isn't to fix 402 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:24,080 Speaker 1: the world. There's no reason to assume that you're even 403 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:26,960 Speaker 1: up to such a task. But you can fix yourself. 404 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:28,840 Speaker 1: You'll do no one any harm by doing so, and 405 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:30,639 Speaker 1: in that matter, at least you will make the world 406 00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:34,119 Speaker 1: a better place. I think that's horseship. Self improvement is 407 00:20:34,119 --> 00:20:35,800 Speaker 1: all well and good, but we are heading towards a 408 00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:38,679 Speaker 1: gaping precipice of murder right now. The world and the 409 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:40,760 Speaker 1: country needs you to get out there and try to 410 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:43,040 Speaker 1: unfunck this nation more than it needs you to clean 411 00:20:43,080 --> 00:20:46,000 Speaker 1: your room and do sit ups. Martin Luther King Junior 412 00:20:46,080 --> 00:20:48,679 Speaker 1: cheated on his wife. Mahatma Gandhi was a racist with 413 00:20:48,680 --> 00:20:51,639 Speaker 1: a terrible temper. Both men made the world a measurably 414 00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:54,640 Speaker 1: better through their activism. You don't have to be perfect 415 00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:58,119 Speaker 1: to help build a more perfect world. So what do 416 00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:01,359 Speaker 1: I recommend? What can you do right now? If you 417 00:21:01,359 --> 00:21:04,040 Speaker 1: live in Oregon, I'd suggest volunteering and donating to the 418 00:21:04,119 --> 00:21:07,119 Speaker 1: Rural Organizing Project. The r o P evolved out of 419 00:21:07,119 --> 00:21:10,080 Speaker 1: a fight against a rural far right political insurgency based 420 00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:13,320 Speaker 1: around anti gay politics and turned into an aggressive counter 421 00:21:13,359 --> 00:21:17,080 Speaker 1: messaging campaign aimed at de radicalizing rural conservatives and helping 422 00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:20,359 Speaker 1: to show them areas like environmental protection and an opposition 423 00:21:20,359 --> 00:21:23,760 Speaker 1: to foreign wars where they agree with their progressive urban cousins. 424 00:21:24,359 --> 00:21:27,320 Speaker 1: Another group you might consider donating to or volunteering with 425 00:21:27,560 --> 00:21:31,080 Speaker 1: is Light upon Light. They focus on de radicalizing extremists 426 00:21:31,119 --> 00:21:33,320 Speaker 1: of all types. They currently have a go fund me 427 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:35,720 Speaker 1: set up that is badly in need of support. In 428 00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:38,720 Speaker 1: episode two, I talked about the role literal neo Nazis 429 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:41,600 Speaker 1: and other such violent criminals play in raising the temperature 430 00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:44,360 Speaker 1: high enough to allow for a civil war. Light upon 431 00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:47,560 Speaker 1: Light in other groups with similar missions, like Life After Hate, 432 00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:51,560 Speaker 1: dedicate themselves to lowering that temperature. Their work is important. 433 00:21:51,680 --> 00:21:53,480 Speaker 1: It buys all of us more time to fix the 434 00:21:53,560 --> 00:21:56,840 Speaker 1: underlying causes of this budding civil war. If you have 435 00:21:56,880 --> 00:22:00,160 Speaker 1: emergency medical experience, you might consider volunteering your time time 436 00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:03,320 Speaker 1: with Remote Area Medical. This is a volunteer medical charity 437 00:22:03,359 --> 00:22:07,480 Speaker 1: that provides healthcare options to people in impoverished, underserved rural communities. 438 00:22:07,760 --> 00:22:09,800 Speaker 1: They are not a political group, but the work they 439 00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:12,720 Speaker 1: do is invaluable, and letting rural Americans know they aren't 440 00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:16,040 Speaker 1: forgotten or abandoned by the rest of us, that too, 441 00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:19,760 Speaker 1: lowers the temperature. Another important way to lower the temperature 442 00:22:19,800 --> 00:22:23,040 Speaker 1: is education, connecting people to good information about the world 443 00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:25,439 Speaker 1: to push back against the bullshit pedled by the Alex 444 00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:29,240 Speaker 1: Joneses and Joe's Rogan of the world. Many small, impoverished 445 00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:34,320 Speaker 1: rural towns lack convenient access to libraries. Of rural Americans 446 00:22:34,359 --> 00:22:36,200 Speaker 1: say they have not read a book in the last year, 447 00:22:36,359 --> 00:22:40,200 Speaker 1: compared to twenty three percent of city dwellers. Bookmobiles exist 448 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:42,720 Speaker 1: to fight back against this problem. Now, the number of 449 00:22:42,760 --> 00:22:46,159 Speaker 1: active bookmobiles has declined in recent years, but that trend 450 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:48,040 Speaker 1: seems to be changing, and you can be a part 451 00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:50,720 Speaker 1: of that by donating money or by volunteering your time 452 00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:54,000 Speaker 1: to create a book mobile of your own. Mutual Aid 453 00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:58,400 Speaker 1: Disaster Relief is a nationwide volunteer organization geared towards supporting 454 00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:01,520 Speaker 1: disaster survivors in the immediate term with food and medical aid, 455 00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:04,520 Speaker 1: and in the long term through education on things like permaculture. 456 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:08,800 Speaker 1: Their motto is solidarity not charity, and they represent a 457 00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:12,080 Speaker 1: method of spreading leftist principles and building class consciousness through 458 00:23:12,119 --> 00:23:13,760 Speaker 1: something that works a hell of a lot better than 459 00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:18,080 Speaker 1: handing out pamphlets direct action. Thanks to climate change, nightmarish 460 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:20,560 Speaker 1: natural disasters are only going to grow more common in 461 00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:23,120 Speaker 1: the coming years. If you are someone who has been 462 00:23:23,119 --> 00:23:25,800 Speaker 1: deeply worried by the things I've talked about on this podcast, 463 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:29,280 Speaker 1: you should really consider volunteering with Mutual Aid Disaster Relief. 464 00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:31,520 Speaker 1: Not only can the actions of a group like this 465 00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:34,080 Speaker 1: help to de radicalize and lower the temperature in parts 466 00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:36,600 Speaker 1: of the country, but if fighting does spark off, it 467 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:38,800 Speaker 1: will be handy to already be in contact with a 468 00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:42,640 Speaker 1: group of activists who have practical experience dealing with calamity. 469 00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:45,280 Speaker 1: And then, of course there's political action. I don't think 470 00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:48,000 Speaker 1: it's hyperbolic to say that the election will be the 471 00:23:48,040 --> 00:23:50,720 Speaker 1: most important election of our lifetimes, and may in fact 472 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:54,000 Speaker 1: be the most important election in this nation's history. Even 473 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:56,920 Speaker 1: a narrow Democratic victory could be disastrous, as it would 474 00:23:56,960 --> 00:23:59,840 Speaker 1: give President Trump an opportunity to deny the legitimacy of 475 00:23:59,880 --> 00:24:02,840 Speaker 1: his defeat. We will not insure a healthy margin of 476 00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:05,600 Speaker 1: victory and reduce the odds of a violent right wing 477 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:08,439 Speaker 1: insurgency just by preaching to our bubbles about how much 478 00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:10,760 Speaker 1: we hate Trump. We need to get out in rural 479 00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:13,920 Speaker 1: communities and talk to these people, like Leslie Cockburn did. 480 00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:17,639 Speaker 1: In two thousand eighteen, Leslie was the Democratic candidate in 481 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:20,399 Speaker 1: Virginia's fifth district. She did much of her campaigning in 482 00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:23,680 Speaker 1: rural and small town Virginia, talking to conservatives whose minds 483 00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:27,440 Speaker 1: were not closed to the possibility of voting for a Democrat. Now, 484 00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:30,240 Speaker 1: Leslie did not win her election, but that doesn't mean 485 00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:32,720 Speaker 1: her outreach and the outreach of her campaign's workers and 486 00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:37,679 Speaker 1: volunteers was useless. She lost by under seven points. For comparison, 487 00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:40,960 Speaker 1: the Democratic candidate in two thousand sixteen in Virginia's fifth 488 00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:45,080 Speaker 1: district lost by seventeen points. Leslie's defeat is evidence of 489 00:24:45,119 --> 00:24:48,280 Speaker 1: serious progress. While she was campaigning, she said this to 490 00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:51,520 Speaker 1: the Intercept quote, if you talk to people in these 491 00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:53,760 Speaker 1: rural areas, you find out that there are a huge 492 00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:57,520 Speaker 1: number of very what I call just mainstream, old fashioned Democrats. 493 00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:00,320 Speaker 1: It's simple basic. They believe in a living way age, 494 00:25:00,359 --> 00:25:03,240 Speaker 1: they believe in collective bargaining. They believe in decent health 495 00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:06,520 Speaker 1: care for everyone. I think a lot of people listening 496 00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:08,840 Speaker 1: to this episode we're probably surprised by the fact that 497 00:25:08,920 --> 00:25:12,360 Speaker 1: most conservatives now accept the reality of climate change finally, 498 00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:16,120 Speaker 1: and that most gun owners actually support more gun control regulations. 499 00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:19,000 Speaker 1: In the same way, many Republicans are shocked to realize 500 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:22,399 Speaker 1: how many liberals and leftists are devoutly religious, own firearms, 501 00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:25,480 Speaker 1: or agree that raising taxes on gasoline and middle income 502 00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:28,600 Speaker 1: Americans is a dumb idea. There's quite a lot of 503 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:31,840 Speaker 1: evidence that Democrats and Republicans are very, very bad at 504 00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:34,280 Speaker 1: understanding what the other people on the other side of 505 00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:37,159 Speaker 1: the aisle, not the politicians, but the people look like 506 00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:40,680 Speaker 1: and believe. A few research center Pole last year backs 507 00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:43,960 Speaker 1: this up. It found that Republicans estimated LGBT people made 508 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:46,760 Speaker 1: up thirty eight percent of the Democratic Party actual number 509 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:49,840 Speaker 1: six percent, and that Democrats estimated forty four percent of 510 00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:52,200 Speaker 1: Republicans made more than a quarter of a million dollars 511 00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:55,800 Speaker 1: a year actual number two percent. Five thirty eight summarized 512 00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:58,399 Speaker 1: the research by saying, in short, the parties in our 513 00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:02,040 Speaker 1: heads are not the parties in real life. The question 514 00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:04,760 Speaker 1: everyone hearing this should ask is this, if we're getting 515 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:07,399 Speaker 1: all this basic stuff wrong about the other side, what 516 00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:10,159 Speaker 1: else might we be missing. Is it possible that a 517 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:12,800 Speaker 1: lot of this division, which seems to be inching inexorably 518 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:15,399 Speaker 1: closer to violence, is the result of bad actors in 519 00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:19,520 Speaker 1: the media and shiphead politicians rather than truly insurmountable visions 520 00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:21,840 Speaker 1: of the world. I want to be clear here. I'm 521 00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:25,320 Speaker 1: not saying that, say, racism and anti LGBT bigotry on 522 00:26:25,359 --> 00:26:27,520 Speaker 1: the right is not a problem. Nor am I saying 523 00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:29,800 Speaker 1: that there aren't political disagreements in our country where there 524 00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:32,520 Speaker 1: isn't room for compromise. But there are things we can 525 00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:34,879 Speaker 1: agree on and other things we can compromise on, And 526 00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:37,480 Speaker 1: if we work on those things without compromising things like 527 00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:40,600 Speaker 1: trans rights, racial justice, or abortion, we might be able 528 00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:43,440 Speaker 1: to build enough goodwill to reduce some of this pressure. 529 00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:46,960 Speaker 1: Working together to say, tax billionaires and fight the opiate 530 00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:49,919 Speaker 1: crisis and reduce the impact of climate change doesn't just 531 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:52,800 Speaker 1: help with those problems. It helps to quench the hatreds 532 00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:55,239 Speaker 1: that have been building for years. It might stop us 533 00:26:55,320 --> 00:26:58,080 Speaker 1: from going over the edge. I think it's worth a shop, 534 00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:04,720 Speaker 1: and I know it's better than shooting h I'm Robert 535 00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:07,159 Speaker 1: Evans and I'm just exhausted from reading all of that. 536 00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:09,480 Speaker 1: You can find me on Twitter at I right, okay. 537 00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:13,160 Speaker 1: You can find this show on Twitter at happen here pod, 538 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:15,640 Speaker 1: and you can find the show online at it could 539 00:27:15,680 --> 00:27:19,639 Speaker 1: happen here pod dot com. Our music, as always, is 540 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:20,520 Speaker 1: from Four Fists