WEBVTT - Putting Every Idiot...In Touch With Every Other Idiot. P.J. O'Rourke Talks to A&G

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<v Speaker 1>Ugly times, so ugly ugly times, and who better to

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<v Speaker 1>talk to about them then the great p J O'Rourke,

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<v Speaker 1>who is the author of many fine books through the years,

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<v Speaker 1>including one that I read in my formative years. This

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<v Speaker 1>is praise that makes a guy I feel old, Parliament

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<v Speaker 1>of Horrors, which is a great eye opener about the

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<v Speaker 1>nature of government. Pj's new book is None of My Business.

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<v Speaker 1>PJ explains money, banking, debt, equity, assets, liabilities, and why

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<v Speaker 1>he's not rich and neither of you here he is

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<v Speaker 1>PJ or rock. P J. How are you, sir? I'm well,

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<v Speaker 1>how are you terrific? Thank you? I love the description

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<v Speaker 1>of your career as you're filing stories for Rolling Stone

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<v Speaker 1>Atlantic Monthly weekly standard from countries and not the nice ones.

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<v Speaker 1>My job was basically to watch people try to kill

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<v Speaker 1>each other. Sounds like rewarding work. Oh yes, yeah, well

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<v Speaker 1>instructive work at the very least. And uh, it's how

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<v Speaker 1>I learned economics. I mean, some people study in college,

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<v Speaker 1>some people learn the School of Hard Knocks, some people

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<v Speaker 1>read it up on their own. I watched people kill

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<v Speaker 1>each other, always for economic reasons. Interesting, What did you

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<v Speaker 1>learn from that experience? Which would probably take in any situation,

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<v Speaker 1>and including some of the ugly political ones you were

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<v Speaker 1>just talking about. Who profits from this? Who profits from this?

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<v Speaker 1>And then always remember that the profit isn't necessarily calculated

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<v Speaker 1>in money like it is for us normal people. Sometimes

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<v Speaker 1>it's calculated in power. Sometimes it's calculated in fame. And

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<v Speaker 1>even the good, good people, the peacemakers and the aid workers,

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<v Speaker 1>they're piling up treasure in heaven, aren't they. Wo. Wow,

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<v Speaker 1>that's that's interesting. So do you think our culture, whether

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<v Speaker 1>you know individuals in the country or politics, are even

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<v Speaker 1>more focused on that than they were back when you

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<v Speaker 1>started writing about it. Oh? Uh, They've been debased in

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<v Speaker 1>pretty much every way. Uh. Yeah, you know, the the

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<v Speaker 1>wonders of the Internet have really lowered the tone. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>it's I look at this and I go, well, it

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<v Speaker 1>was bright idea? Was it to put every idiot in

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<v Speaker 1>the world in touch with every other idiot? Yeah, it's working.

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<v Speaker 1>I thought that the description you credit to your daughter

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<v Speaker 1>in the Book of the Internet and Social Media was priceless.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you do you have that in front of you

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<v Speaker 1>you recalling? Oh, yeah, so I'm I'm asking my millennial

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<v Speaker 1>daughter when she's still in high school. She's like twenty

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<v Speaker 1>nine in college, but she's still in high school. I'm saying,

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<v Speaker 1>how do you explain all this to me? Expecting some

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<v Speaker 1>sort of defense of of the internet. Uh, And she said, Dad,

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<v Speaker 1>it's horrible. You don't understand how horrible social media is.

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<v Speaker 1>It's like having a sleepover where everybody you know, whether

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<v Speaker 1>you like him or not, comes to the sleepover and

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<v Speaker 1>they won't go home. That's pretty good. Yeah. And and

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<v Speaker 1>the it's like the school debate team makes everybody from

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<v Speaker 1>everywhere is on it. Sure are Yeah, and the dumbest

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<v Speaker 1>kid is president. Yeah. Well do you think the democracy

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<v Speaker 1>can can can withstand this? I mean, will we get better?

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<v Speaker 1>Will the next generation be good at weeding out stuff

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<v Speaker 1>that actually is fake news crap stories and weed out

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<v Speaker 1>the idiots? And or won't we Oh? No, I think

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<v Speaker 1>we will. You know, I don't know if I'll live

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<v Speaker 1>to see it. You know, but in in all due time,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean when when? When? When? When print? When movable

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<v Speaker 1>print was invented and we got our first books, it

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<v Speaker 1>set off the thirty years War, you know between uh,

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<v Speaker 1>Bible reading Protestants and priest loving Catholics and all of

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<v Speaker 1>Europe was torn to bits, which is worse than what's

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<v Speaker 1>happening to us now, I think. And uh, but eventually

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<v Speaker 1>people began to sort out, you know, what in print

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<v Speaker 1>made some sense and what in print did not make

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<v Speaker 1>some sense. Um, but I mean we just barely re

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<v Speaker 1>covered from our addiction to television when along came the internet. Right.

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<v Speaker 1>You know that's both reassuring and horrifying. I mean reassuring

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<v Speaker 1>that we'll sort it out and horrifying that we're gonna

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<v Speaker 1>have to go through a really ugly period, which we're

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<v Speaker 1>doing apparently before we get that. Say so, yeah, I

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<v Speaker 1>mean I just consider staring into those screens to be

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<v Speaker 1>looking at the light coming out the devils behind. Wow. Wow,

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<v Speaker 1>that's a phrase worth memorizing. P J. O'Rourke is on

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<v Speaker 1>the line the new book is none of my business

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<v Speaker 1>about money, banking, debt, etcetera. Hey listen, and we've talked

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<v Speaker 1>a lot about money banking, debt, the real estate crash,

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<v Speaker 1>the Robert Baron's Wall Street, etcetera. Not to come off

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<v Speaker 1>as you know, Robin Hood, but um, what's your view

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<v Speaker 1>ten years down the line of all that ugliness back

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<v Speaker 1>in those seven or eight o nine, Well, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>We should have let the darn thing just crash, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean when when when when the Hindenburg catches fire,

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<v Speaker 1>you don't stand around pumping hydrogen into it, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>you get out of the way. It would have been unpleasant,

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<v Speaker 1>but it would have been brief. And one nice thing

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<v Speaker 1>actually about the two thousand and eight crash was at

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<v Speaker 1>least there were real assets were involved. Now, the houses

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<v Speaker 1>may have been wildly overvalue, the loans may have been worthless,

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<v Speaker 1>but there was a house. When the when the this

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<v Speaker 1>internet thing crashes, what will there be I mean, if

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<v Speaker 1>if Amazon crash today, what what would what? What would

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<v Speaker 1>there be left? You know, a list of phone numbers

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<v Speaker 1>for ups men. Well in a lot of inventory, I guess,

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<v Speaker 1>But but the whole you know. But I mean the

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<v Speaker 1>real trick to bezos is a real trick is not

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<v Speaker 1>to keep any inventory. Uh. I mean that is to

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<v Speaker 1>move so fast, and it's not really It's not like

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<v Speaker 1>Sears and Roebuck that I had warehouses and warehouses for

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<v Speaker 1>all this stuff. It goes pretty much from the people

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<v Speaker 1>who make this h or somewhere overseas, you know, to

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<v Speaker 1>the ups man flirting with my wife. Uh, you're the

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<v Speaker 1>subtitle of your book is why You're not rich? Neither

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<v Speaker 1>of my theg why aren't you rich? Well, stupidity and

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<v Speaker 1>sloth would be Wow, we can hang out aside. It's

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<v Speaker 1>just incredible if we can all riches in a very

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<v Speaker 1>modest way and say what we really all want is

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<v Speaker 1>to have the nice middle class life that say, I

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<v Speaker 1>grew up with in the nineteen fifties and the nineteen sixties,

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<v Speaker 1>when my old man made twelve thousand dollars a year.

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<v Speaker 1>And when you look at what it costs to replicate

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<v Speaker 1>that uh, four bedroom, to bath, to car, a week

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<v Speaker 1>at the lake, UH, good schools, safe neighborhoods. When you

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<v Speaker 1>look at what it costs inflation and justed dollars for

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<v Speaker 1>UH to to replicate that life today, you've got to

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<v Speaker 1>be rich. And all the more so if you insist

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<v Speaker 1>on having double that life. That is to say, you

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<v Speaker 1>get divorced and so you've got two families that you're

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<v Speaker 1>trying to provide this lifestyle for the cost is phenomenal,

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<v Speaker 1>way beyond the means of most of us. Yeah. P J.

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<v Speaker 1>Rourke is on the line of the new book is

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<v Speaker 1>is none of my business. At the same time, though

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<v Speaker 1>you know, I I grew up in a house that's

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<v Speaker 1>quite a bit smaller than the one I live in now,

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<v Speaker 1>and and are typical in a lot of neighborhoods, and

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<v Speaker 1>we seem to be quite happy. And I think we

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<v Speaker 1>we had one car for most of my youth and

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<v Speaker 1>then finally two and one was a pilot crap. But

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<v Speaker 1>I just think, well, you know, while it's simultaneously true

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<v Speaker 1>that the rich have a higher percentage of income than

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<v Speaker 1>they've had in many, many moons, um at the same time,

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<v Speaker 1>the poor are much more wealthy than the poor have

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<v Speaker 1>been in human history. Oh that's the truth. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>objectively considered American poverty UH is laughable by world historical standards.

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<v Speaker 1>And not only that, but the poverty level, the official

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<v Speaker 1>government poverty level, is equal to the median middle class income.

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<v Speaker 1>And if you adjusted for inflation in the nineteen twenties,

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<v Speaker 1>just in the nineteen twenties, you were middle class if

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<v Speaker 1>you were at what's now the poverty level. But it's

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<v Speaker 1>all perception. People don't people don't mind perceiving that the

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<v Speaker 1>that the economic system is difficult, but they do mind

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<v Speaker 1>when they feel that it's grossly unfair. And when you

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<v Speaker 1>sort when you look at the Zuckerberg billions, it's very

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<v Speaker 1>hard to keep You know that the Zuckerberg's billions don't

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<v Speaker 1>affect your come I mean, he's not taking it from you,

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<v Speaker 1>and yet there is his feeling, an angry feeling. You

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<v Speaker 1>realize he's the Antichrist, right, Well, yeah, I mean you

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<v Speaker 1>can tell by the way he dresses. Come on, ne tie,

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah exactly. P J. L. Rourke, I've been reading his

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<v Speaker 1>books for years, as as Jack, guarantee you'll enjoy it.

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<v Speaker 1>You'll probably learn something accidentally. The book is none of

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<v Speaker 1>my isn't this? PJ explains money, banking, debt, equity, assets, liabilities,

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<v Speaker 1>and why he's not rich and neither of you. Hey,

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<v Speaker 1>it's great to talk. I hope we can do it

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<v Speaker 1>again soon. Good luck with the book. All right, it's

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<v Speaker 1>been a pleasure. Got two l O L s out

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<v Speaker 1>of me. I'll tell you the reason he's not rich.

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<v Speaker 1>Stupidity and slop. That's a good one, and the internet

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<v Speaker 1>being whose idea was it to connect all the dumb

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<v Speaker 1>people together? Yeah? So you know Parliament of Horse, which

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<v Speaker 1>was my favorite PG orrock book and was number one

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<v Speaker 1>on the New York Best Times bestseller list for a

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<v Speaker 1>long time. It's still worth reading. The names have changed,

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<v Speaker 1>some of the names have changed, except in the Senate UM.

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<v Speaker 1>But it reminds me it's it's a much funnier version

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<v Speaker 1>of UM Rules for Dictators. Oh, the Dictator's Handbook, which

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<v Speaker 1>is a book I've been talking about for for a

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<v Speaker 1>long time now, UM. And and This Town by Mark Leibovitch.

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<v Speaker 1>It kind of those are like my troika of Oh,

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<v Speaker 1>that's what politics is, okay and absolutely worth reading. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>several people, including Jonah Goldberg and his recent book, have

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<v Speaker 1>made that reference to the Thirty Years War, that that

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<v Speaker 1>that occurred right after the printing press just all of

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<v Speaker 1>a sudden, this dissemination of information, but we weren't people

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<v Speaker 1>weren't equipped to handle it. I can't believe this is happening. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>it's not happening. Just because it's printed on paper doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>mean it's happening. Well now, just because it's on the

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<v Speaker 1>Internet doesn't mean it's happening. But it could take a

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<v Speaker 1>while to shake out, and it can be very ugly

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<v Speaker 1>in the meantime. In fact, you might need thirty years

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<v Speaker 1>wards about them right amount of time. You need a

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<v Speaker 1>couple of generations to have lived, to live with that

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<v Speaker 1>their entire lives, to figure out how to deal with it,