WEBVTT - COVID Isn't Over 0:00:11.800 --> 0:00:14.319 Good morning, peeps, and welcome to WIKA f Daily with 0:00:14.480 --> 0:00:19.160 Meet your Girl Danielle Moody recording from the Home Bunker. Folks, 0:00:19.280 --> 0:00:24.119 You know, I remain really startled taken aback, if you will, 0:00:24.880 --> 0:00:30.120 by President Joe Biden's comments with regard to the COVID 0:00:30.240 --> 0:00:34.920 nineteen pandemic being over that. Don't you see people aren't 0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:39.279 wearing masks anymore, and they're you know, healthy, and you know, 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:43.000 everything is fine, and that. Yeah, we have some things 0:00:43.040 --> 0:00:45.720 that we need to do with regard to I don't know, 0:00:46.320 --> 0:00:50.720 maybe stopping or halting or minimizing the five hundred deaths 0:00:50.800 --> 0:00:53.760 that are still happening a day, which is resulting in 0:00:53.800 --> 0:00:59.000 about three thousand deaths per week to the COVID nineteen virus. 0:01:00.520 --> 0:01:05.600 To me, when we are no longer having a nine 0:01:05.640 --> 0:01:11.080 to eleven type catastrophe each and every week, that to 0:01:11.200 --> 0:01:14.959 me would signal that we are quote over the pandemic. 0:01:15.680 --> 0:01:19.559 If President Joe Biden had followed up his statement by saying, 0:01:19.600 --> 0:01:23.080 this is no longer a pandemic because COVID nineteen has 0:01:23.120 --> 0:01:27.480 become endemic to America because of the fact that we 0:01:27.600 --> 0:01:33.840 had governors and a president prior to him that called 0:01:33.959 --> 0:01:37.120 the COVID nineteen virus a hoax that didn't want to 0:01:37.240 --> 0:01:39.760 roll out vaccines, that made it seem as if it 0:01:39.840 --> 0:01:44.560 was a government conspiracy to get your DNA and data 0:01:44.640 --> 0:01:47.920 that maybe twenty five percent of the population wouldn't still 0:01:48.040 --> 0:01:52.320 be unvaccinated and people wouldn't still be dying. That if 0:01:52.360 --> 0:01:56.600 we had banded together right and made this the cause 0:01:57.560 --> 0:02:03.640 of this nation to have a healthy, robust health infrastructure, right, 0:02:04.280 --> 0:02:07.720 then we could then say to ourselves, oh, yeah, job 0:02:07.760 --> 0:02:11.920 well done, mission accomplished. But that's not where the fuck 0:02:11.960 --> 0:02:14.360 we are. And that's also not what the President of 0:02:14.400 --> 0:02:20.400 the United States said. Right now people are having to 0:02:21.320 --> 0:02:24.440 pay out of pocket once again if you don't have 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:27.760 insurance to be able to get the next round of 0:02:27.800 --> 0:02:31.679 booster shot. Why because all of the federal money that 0:02:31.880 --> 0:02:35.959 was put out for the COVID nineteen response has dried 0:02:36.080 --> 0:02:39.440 up and Republicans say they're not going to give people anymore. 0:02:42.000 --> 0:02:45.600 How do you turn around and make this some type 0:02:45.600 --> 0:02:48.920 of campaign when the President himself has just said that 0:02:48.960 --> 0:02:53.359 the pandemic is over and so any relief aid right 0:02:53.480 --> 0:02:57.400 that now, this White House, this administration was looking to get. 0:02:57.639 --> 0:02:59.560 How do they think that they are going to get 0:02:59.600 --> 0:03:03.480 that when they have gone on the record on national 0:03:03.520 --> 0:03:07.639 television and said all is well. That is, of course, 0:03:07.800 --> 0:03:12.400 until we head into yet another winter season under COVID, 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:15.800 where we know that that five hundred deaths that we 0:03:15.880 --> 0:03:21.600 have just become so okay with begins to spike once again, 0:03:21.880 --> 0:03:25.200 or as other scientists and doctors have been saying, but 0:03:25.320 --> 0:03:29.760 again haven't been publicized, that there is probably a new 0:03:29.840 --> 0:03:34.680 variant that is coming. This is not hyperbolic, folks. This 0:03:34.880 --> 0:03:42.480 is called follow the fucking pattern. Follow the pattern, right. 0:03:43.480 --> 0:03:47.440 So the fact is that we can spend over two 0:03:47.520 --> 0:03:52.920 goddamn weeks following a colonizer to her grave, but we 0:03:53.080 --> 0:03:56.840 can't spend any amount of time educating the public on 0:03:56.880 --> 0:03:59.560 the fact that, yeah, we are actually still in the 0:03:59.600 --> 0:04:02.920 midst of a national health crisis, and why that crisis 0:04:02.920 --> 0:04:05.800 has been exacerbated is because we have never had a 0:04:05.920 --> 0:04:10.200 strong fucking health infrastructure in this country to fucking begin with. 0:04:11.120 --> 0:04:13.720 That it has only been strong for those that have 0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:19.040 either worked for corporate overlords right or have been able 0:04:19.040 --> 0:04:22.000 to fund their own healthcare out of their pocket. Either way, 0:04:22.360 --> 0:04:25.520 that means that it has been money that has allowed 0:04:25.520 --> 0:04:29.520 you to have the healthcare that you have needed because 0:04:29.560 --> 0:04:34.040 remember when the black man, when the black president came 0:04:34.080 --> 0:04:36.800 out and said that he wanted to give Americans healthcare, 0:04:37.040 --> 0:04:44.120 they decided to protest him. I swear to god, you know, folks, 0:04:44.240 --> 0:04:48.280 there are days when I'm just like, this bullshit is 0:04:48.360 --> 0:04:54.720 just too fucking much, right, Like you understand the power 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:59.120 of messaging, the power of words. We know that we have. 0:04:59.400 --> 0:05:02.120 And what Nathan will tell us in a bit coming 0:05:02.240 --> 0:05:09.480 up in our conversation is that we have been fighting 0:05:09.760 --> 0:05:16.280 multiple wars in this country, the war of messaging with 0:05:16.320 --> 0:05:21.240 regard to COVID to get people to understand that how 0:05:21.440 --> 0:05:25.640 this virus was couched and presented by Republicans was a 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:32.039 fucking lie that cost hundreds of thousands of lives. That's right. 0:05:33.400 --> 0:05:38.280 It was the Trump administration, backed by the Republican Party 0:05:38.400 --> 0:05:42.800 that is the reason why hundreds of thousands of Americans 0:05:43.240 --> 0:05:47.239 died by the time that Joe Biden was sworn into office. 0:05:48.200 --> 0:05:51.320 Because if in fact, we had a president and a 0:05:51.560 --> 0:05:55.440 party that gave a fuck about the lives of people, 0:05:57.080 --> 0:05:59.599 we would never have gotten to the number of deaths 0:05:59.640 --> 0:06:05.760 that are now have exceeded the million mark. Ever, but 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:10.240 we don't talk about this anymore, and what Jonathan and 0:06:10.279 --> 0:06:13.040 I will talk about is not only the president's remarks, 0:06:13.120 --> 0:06:18.760 but Jonathan will talk and walk this fine line between capitalism, 0:06:18.839 --> 0:06:23.600 the poll of capitalism, and public health, which is where 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:28.000 we find ourselves because there is nothing more important than 0:06:28.040 --> 0:06:31.360 the almighty dollar, and there is nothing that is a 0:06:31.400 --> 0:06:34.640 bigger driving force in this country than the greed of 0:06:34.680 --> 0:06:41.880 the rich and the white. There are days, folks when 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:45.760 I'm like, oh, you know, things don't seem that bad, 0:06:47.240 --> 0:06:51.800 and then there are weeks when I'm like, God, this 0:06:51.920 --> 0:06:54.680 shit is just unrelenting and it's never going to end. 0:06:58.839 --> 0:07:02.440 As we had into mid terms, which are still pretty 0:07:02.520 --> 0:07:07.400 much a motherfucking toss up, right, Like, we honestly don't 0:07:07.480 --> 0:07:10.280 know where midterms are going to end up. And frankly, 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:13.720 you know how I feel about Poles. Right right now, 0:07:13.760 --> 0:07:16.080 Abbott is up in the polls in Texas, and I'm 0:07:16.120 --> 0:07:19.240 sure that those polls were taken before he'd started to 0:07:19.240 --> 0:07:23.680 start trafficking motherfuckers across the country, right, And maybe if 0:07:23.680 --> 0:07:27.680 the media actually referred to the heinous dehumanization that we 0:07:27.720 --> 0:07:32.640 are witnessing across our screens, maybe then those poll numbers 0:07:32.640 --> 0:07:35.000 for Republicans would go into the toilet but that's not 0:07:35.040 --> 0:07:38.800 what corporate media overlords want, right, These are the people 0:07:38.840 --> 0:07:41.080 that they want to bring on their air waves so 0:07:41.160 --> 0:07:47.560 that they can show both sides. It is up to us. 0:07:49.200 --> 0:07:53.960 It is up to us taking our health in our 0:07:54.000 --> 0:07:57.480 own hands. It is up to us to take the 0:07:57.560 --> 0:08:03.400 importance of our democracy into our own hands. Because folks, 0:08:03.400 --> 0:08:10.640 if you were sitting around and waiting on any leader 0:08:10.960 --> 0:08:13.160 to tell you what to do and how to do it, 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:16.480 at this stage, you're gonna be waiting a long time. 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:22.440 Because understand that people in power are motivated by different factors. 0:08:24.760 --> 0:08:29.000 Your motivation in order to keep yourself safe and healthy. 0:08:29.960 --> 0:08:33.480 It's about your health and safety. Your boss doesn't give 0:08:33.480 --> 0:08:35.600 a fuck about that. That's why they went to the 0:08:35.640 --> 0:08:41.359 CDC and they said, cut down, cut down that quarantine 0:08:41.679 --> 0:08:43.880 from ten days to five. People can come back to 0:08:43.880 --> 0:08:45.880 work in five days. Just wear a mask, doesn't matter 0:08:45.880 --> 0:08:47.840 if you're going to kill over or pass out you 0:08:47.880 --> 0:08:49.600 have a migraine that makes you feel like your brain 0:08:49.720 --> 0:08:52.040 is coming through your fucking skull. So long as you 0:08:52.080 --> 0:08:54.480 can remain in front of that computer or standing up 0:08:54.520 --> 0:08:59.400 at that cash register, no one is going to care 0:08:59.440 --> 0:09:03.240 about you more than you care about yourself. That's the 0:09:03.280 --> 0:09:08.680 message here. So if you care about your health and 0:09:08.800 --> 0:09:13.160 well being and productivity, then you need to make your 0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:17.240 health a priority. And it doesn't look like waiting around 0:09:17.600 --> 0:09:19.520 for those people to tell you what you need to 0:09:19.559 --> 0:09:22.240 do in order to stay safe and healthy. We know 0:09:22.360 --> 0:09:26.960 that masks work. We know that winter brings a darker 0:09:27.040 --> 0:09:33.000 time in the COVID nineteen pandemic. So folks, you make 0:09:33.080 --> 0:09:36.480 sure to keep yourself safe and those around you. We 0:09:36.600 --> 0:09:40.920 have all of the tools now, we don't need their 0:09:41.000 --> 0:09:43.640 rhetoric and bullshit to tell us what it is that 0:09:43.720 --> 0:09:47.240 we should and shouldn't be doing. Coming up next, my 0:09:47.360 --> 0:09:54.320 conversation with our very own doctor Jonathan Metzo. Hey there, 0:09:54.440 --> 0:09:56.640 I want to tell you about another podcast I think 0:09:56.640 --> 0:09:59.440 you'll love. The Brown Girl's Guide to Politics, hosted by 0:09:59.480 --> 0:10:03.080 a Shanty Gooler, the president of Emerge. BGG, is the 0:10:03.120 --> 0:10:05.280 one stop shop for women of color who want to 0:10:05.360 --> 0:10:07.760 hear and talk about the world of politics. Join a 0:10:07.840 --> 0:10:10.520 Shanty this season as she talks to incredible women of 0:10:10.520 --> 0:10:13.120 color who are changing the face of politics and tackling 0:10:13.160 --> 0:10:15.960 some of the most important issues basing the United States, 0:10:16.080 --> 0:10:19.480 from reproductive justice to voting rights, to climate change and more. 0:10:19.640 --> 0:10:23.600 Tune in every Tuesday wherever you get your podcasts, get 0:10:23.640 --> 0:10:26.160 a behind the scenes look at Comedy Central's The Daily 0:10:26.200 --> 0:10:29.040 Show On Beyond the Scenes, an original podcast from The 0:10:29.120 --> 0:10:31.840 Daily Show with Trevor Noah. Every week, host Roy Wood 0:10:31.880 --> 0:10:34.559 Junior goes deeper with the notable guests and experts from 0:10:34.559 --> 0:10:37.400 the Emmy Award winning series. Together, they use comedy to 0:10:37.440 --> 0:10:40.480 tackle current topics from gentrification to gun laws and take 0:10:40.480 --> 0:10:42.880 a closer look at how and why these topics matter. 0:10:43.040 --> 0:10:45.240 Listen to Beyond the Scenes from The Daily Show with 0:10:45.280 --> 0:10:48.560 Trevor Noah on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever 0:10:48.640 --> 0:10:55.599 you get your podcast New episodes every Tuesday. Folks, you 0:10:55.679 --> 0:10:57.880 know that whenever we have the opportunity to sit down 0:10:57.920 --> 0:11:01.600 with our in house doctor, doctor Jonathan Metzel, I am 0:11:01.640 --> 0:11:08.679 beyond thrilled, particularly when Jonathan over the weekend, President Biden 0:11:08.760 --> 0:11:13.720 joined sixty Minutes in Detroit for the first car show 0:11:13.800 --> 0:11:17.280 in three years since the pandemic. During the course of 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:21.200 that interview, he was asked if the pandemic was over 0:11:21.920 --> 0:11:27.320 and Joe Biden, our president who came into office as 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:31.320 tens of thousands of people were dying, as we did 0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:34.920 not have a vaccine, there were no shots in arms, 0:11:35.920 --> 0:11:40.320 hospitals were overwhelmed and collapsing. He pledged that he would 0:11:40.400 --> 0:11:46.199 fight this virus until it was eradicated. Well, we're not 0:11:46.360 --> 0:11:49.000 at the dire place that we were Jonathan in twenty 0:11:49.040 --> 0:11:52.240 twenty and in twenty twenty one when Joe Biden came 0:11:52.280 --> 0:11:56.640 into office. However, we are not clear as far as 0:11:56.679 --> 0:11:59.520 I can see, what cleared would be, as if we're 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:03.240 saying mission accomplished, the pandemic is over. So I want 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:09.280 to get your initial reactions to Biden's statement and what 0:12:09.400 --> 0:12:12.240 you were hearing from your friends in the medical community 0:12:12.280 --> 0:12:15.840 about that. Well, let me be clear, first, I don't 0:12:15.880 --> 0:12:17.880 know what when. I don't know what went on in 0:12:17.920 --> 0:12:19.640 that statement, And I don't know if it was just 0:12:20.440 --> 0:12:23.440 Biden learning something out or if that was part of 0:12:23.440 --> 0:12:26.720 a strategy. And so that would be something I would 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:28.400 want to know first of all, as kind of what 0:12:28.480 --> 0:12:30.440 was the impetus behind that. We're doing a big event 0:12:30.440 --> 0:12:33.760 at Vanderbilt today where we are actually having two pretty 0:12:33.760 --> 0:12:36.400 big time COVID doctors speak, and I'm going to ask 0:12:36.400 --> 0:12:41.000 that question in particular, and so I don't know, I 0:12:41.040 --> 0:12:45.080 don't know, and and so part of The issue, of course, 0:12:45.280 --> 0:12:50.240 is the pandemic of horse is not over. And not 0:12:50.280 --> 0:12:52.360 only is the pandemic not over, but our public health 0:12:52.440 --> 0:12:55.679 infrastructure is is failing. The lead story in the New 0:12:55.720 --> 0:12:58.440 York Times this morning was about how we're not tracking 0:12:58.480 --> 0:13:01.520 illness the way we should be, not tracking variants the 0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:03.719 way we should be. There's probably going to be a 0:13:03.800 --> 0:13:09.640 new variant at some point soon because we're vaccinating against 0:13:09.679 --> 0:13:13.520 the other variant, and so, you know, I think that 0:13:14.679 --> 0:13:17.239 part of the issue is and we're not tracking monkeypocks, 0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:20.400 we're not tracking polio. And the article in the Times 0:13:20.440 --> 0:13:22.840 this morning was about how, you know, decades of neglect 0:13:22.920 --> 0:13:25.720 about what should be a functioning public health system, and 0:13:25.800 --> 0:13:28.560 so part of the issue, of course, is just a 0:13:28.600 --> 0:13:30.960 statement of fact. The pandemic is in no way over. 0:13:31.040 --> 0:13:33.920 If you believe that, just talk to anybody who's suffering 0:13:33.960 --> 0:13:35.679 from COVID right now and they'll tell you that the 0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:38.680 thing isn't over. And so I think that is a 0:13:38.720 --> 0:13:42.320 statement of fact. But I do think it's it's important 0:13:42.320 --> 0:13:46.079 to think about what might have gone behind a shroment 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:48.840 like that. And I don't know the answer, except I 0:13:48.880 --> 0:13:52.840 will say that, like it's where I have this weird life. 0:13:52.840 --> 0:13:54.520 As you know, like I go back and forth between 0:13:54.559 --> 0:13:57.840 New York and Nashville, and so in my Nashville life, 0:13:57.840 --> 0:14:00.960 which is where I am now, the economy is booming. 0:14:01.280 --> 0:14:05.480 We've actually just reached skyscraper max here that you can't 0:14:05.920 --> 0:14:09.080 you can't put any more cranes in Nashville because there's 0:14:09.120 --> 0:14:11.839 so many cranes dotting all the things that are you know, 0:14:12.520 --> 0:14:15.680 every place is open, there's surplus of all all the stuff. 0:14:15.679 --> 0:14:19.200 So there's been a massive move of capital, of investment. 0:14:19.680 --> 0:14:21.680 A lot of New York firms are moving down here, 0:14:22.680 --> 0:14:25.360 and part of the issue here is like they were 0:14:25.400 --> 0:14:28.840 just much as people know, I'm in the South. We 0:14:29.600 --> 0:14:31.760 you know, it's like good for you on COVID. We're 0:14:31.760 --> 0:14:35.480 not showing our economy. We are not paying attention to 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:37.560 this in a way. We had a lot of death here, 0:14:37.640 --> 0:14:42.320 a lot of infection, a lot of resistance. But I 0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:45.640 can say that the economy is in part booming because 0:14:45.640 --> 0:14:49.640 of a lot of things, tax policy, some lack of foresight. 0:14:49.720 --> 0:14:52.040 I feel like on behalf of places like New York 0:14:52.080 --> 0:14:55.120 that pushed a lot of infrastructure to move down here. 0:14:56.640 --> 0:15:00.800 But I contrast that with my New York life, where 0:15:01.200 --> 0:15:04.480 Mayor Adams, for example, is practically begging people to come 0:15:04.480 --> 0:15:11.080 back to workplace. Midtown is kind of still very under capacity. 0:15:11.600 --> 0:15:16.760 Public transit is under capacity, and I think there's a 0:15:17.080 --> 0:15:20.680 kind of fiscal disaster looming for New York just about 0:15:20.840 --> 0:15:23.320 not having enough writers in the subway and not having 0:15:23.440 --> 0:15:27.440 enough taxpayers and not having enough people utilizing the services 0:15:27.480 --> 0:15:29.400 that were built for a lot of people. And so 0:15:29.480 --> 0:15:32.880 if there is a strategy, which again I have no idea, 0:15:32.960 --> 0:15:35.080 I do think that just in my mind, comparing what 0:15:35.120 --> 0:15:37.080 I see in Nashville every week with what I see 0:15:37.080 --> 0:15:39.760 in New York every week, New York really needs a 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:41.960 kind of boost in a way about just kind of 0:15:42.000 --> 0:15:46.520 getting people back into circulation. And so maybe it was 0:15:46.560 --> 0:15:50.800 an attempt economically to say, look, we know COVID is 0:15:50.840 --> 0:15:53.840 going to be with us, but it's also like Midtown's 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:56.640 going to collapse, and we're not going to have money 0:15:56.640 --> 0:15:59.320 to pay for structures, and we're going to be facing 0:15:59.320 --> 0:16:02.760 some pretty direct consequences if we don't, if we don't 0:16:02.760 --> 0:16:04.600 get kind of back to work in a way. And 0:16:04.640 --> 0:16:06.920 so that's my only guess about why he might have 0:16:06.960 --> 0:16:11.160 said that, and it's pretty stark. Yeah good, Yeah, I mean, 0:16:11.680 --> 0:16:15.720 here's the issue that I continually have and have had 0:16:15.760 --> 0:16:20.480 throughout this entire pandemic which is still happening, which is this, 0:16:20.840 --> 0:16:24.200 I don't want decisions about public health being made about 0:16:24.240 --> 0:16:28.200 through the lens of capitalism. I don't want public health 0:16:28.240 --> 0:16:31.440 decisions being made because we have a midterm election that 0:16:31.560 --> 0:16:34.920 is looming. And these are the things that we all 0:16:34.960 --> 0:16:38.720 said when Donald Trump was president, right, that the reason 0:16:38.760 --> 0:16:42.440 why Biden became president was because we wanted to be 0:16:42.480 --> 0:16:46.120 able to trust our institutions to be making decisions about 0:16:46.240 --> 0:16:49.920 our best interests through a lens of actually what our 0:16:49.960 --> 0:16:54.000 best interest is. And so the reality is what has 0:16:54.040 --> 0:16:57.760 happened in New York. And you're absolutely right, because I 0:16:57.800 --> 0:17:01.800 don't ride the subway anymore. Right, I do my work 0:17:02.040 --> 0:17:04.560 from home because I have the ability to do that. 0:17:04.640 --> 0:17:09.680 And even when I am in when I am in circulation, 0:17:09.760 --> 0:17:13.040 in population, I choose not to use the subway. Right, 0:17:13.200 --> 0:17:16.160 I either walk to where I'm going, or I will 0:17:16.840 --> 0:17:19.560 or I will grab a car, right because for me, 0:17:19.880 --> 0:17:22.440 I'm like, you know what the mask mandate has done. 0:17:22.520 --> 0:17:26.160 The subways were disgusting anyway, and frankly, like I don't 0:17:26.200 --> 0:17:28.960 feel like putting myself at risk in a city where 0:17:29.000 --> 0:17:33.360 you have, you know, Frankly, tons and tons of homeless 0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:35.960 people that have taken over the subways in a way 0:17:37.280 --> 0:17:40.240 on certain lines, I don't feel like I need to 0:17:40.280 --> 0:17:43.479 put myself in the mix there, right, and I know 0:17:43.520 --> 0:17:46.119 that I'm not the only one. Then you have the 0:17:46.200 --> 0:17:49.040 push here where a lot of people, a lot of 0:17:49.040 --> 0:17:52.359 office workers, had the privilege and the ability over the 0:17:52.440 --> 0:17:55.439 last three years to leave New York but still incurr 0:17:55.520 --> 0:17:58.919 in New York salary. So they have moved to places 0:17:58.960 --> 0:18:02.359 like Tennessee in North Carolina and South Carolina and to 0:18:02.480 --> 0:18:05.199 different places that have a lower cost of living, but 0:18:05.240 --> 0:18:08.680 they're still banking their New York salaries and are able 0:18:08.720 --> 0:18:12.480 to live a much fuller life and because their money 0:18:12.520 --> 0:18:17.040 goes further. That's a testament to the fact that New 0:18:17.119 --> 0:18:19.800 York does not push rent control in the way that 0:18:19.840 --> 0:18:22.960 it should. It does not push housing in the way 0:18:23.000 --> 0:18:25.600 that it should. For middle income people, it's either you 0:18:25.680 --> 0:18:28.439 need to be absolutely broke or you need to be 0:18:28.480 --> 0:18:31.200 a billionaire to be able to live in New York. Right. 0:18:32.040 --> 0:18:34.720 So I think that there are economic issues that have 0:18:34.880 --> 0:18:38.440 always been at play, but that for instance, Mayor Adams 0:18:38.440 --> 0:18:41.360 and the mayors that came before him, right, they were 0:18:41.400 --> 0:18:47.080 always keen on linking arms with those billionaires and millionaires 0:18:47.160 --> 0:18:50.840 and saying, oh, we'll just allow this gentrification, gentrification to 0:18:50.880 --> 0:18:53.280 come in until those people pick up their money and 0:18:53.320 --> 0:18:56.359 decide that they want it stretch somewhere else. So my 0:18:56.560 --> 0:19:02.440 issue with Biden and with this just apparent shrugging off 0:19:02.960 --> 0:19:06.840 as as we are preparing for yet another COVID winter 0:19:07.600 --> 0:19:11.280 is like, we clearly don't ever learn anything, right, and 0:19:11.359 --> 0:19:14.159 the assumption is that our memories are going to be 0:19:14.400 --> 0:19:16.880 short term. I mean, I am going to push back 0:19:16.880 --> 0:19:20.040 a little bit on the I mean, it's a different 0:19:20.040 --> 0:19:23.679 ballgame under the current administration than the previous one, just 0:19:23.720 --> 0:19:26.760 in terms of I mean, the Biden response and the 0:19:26.760 --> 0:19:29.960 Trump response to the pandemic are not are not the 0:19:30.040 --> 0:19:32.920 same in any way the same. You know, the grownups 0:19:32.920 --> 0:19:35.959 are kind of running the show right now. But again, 0:19:36.720 --> 0:19:41.879 there are there are issues here. And you know that 0:19:42.080 --> 0:19:45.320 Congress didn't pass any COVID funding, right and so and 0:19:45.359 --> 0:19:48.159 so people are going to have to pay for vaccines, 0:19:48.240 --> 0:19:53.040 for COVID tests for um uh. You know, there's just 0:19:53.080 --> 0:19:56.359 the economics of the pandemic and the public health of 0:19:56.400 --> 0:19:59.520 the pandemic locales are just going to have to put 0:19:59.600 --> 0:20:01.879 the bill. There's not the kind of federal money that 0:20:01.920 --> 0:20:06.680 there was before because of decisions made of the federal one. Again, 0:20:06.680 --> 0:20:10.639 I have no idea what wood Biden was thinking, but 0:20:10.640 --> 0:20:14.560 but I do think that I do think that we're 0:20:14.600 --> 0:20:18.760 just facing a reality right now with the pandemic. UM. 0:20:20.680 --> 0:20:22.800 I don't know, like the attitude down here in Nashville 0:20:22.920 --> 0:20:25.399 is like, we're just gonna have to live with this thing. 0:20:25.400 --> 0:20:27.720 We'll have to learn to live with this thing. And 0:20:28.400 --> 0:20:31.719 I can just say that it just doesn't feel like 0:20:31.800 --> 0:20:37.200 there's the shortage here in terms of um, in terms 0:20:37.240 --> 0:20:40.280 of like I drove to work this morning and they're 0:20:40.520 --> 0:20:42.800 like the entire skyline and this is a there are 0:20:42.840 --> 0:20:44.879 many things having to do here. But I would just 0:20:44.920 --> 0:20:47.200 say that the economy down here really never shut down. 0:20:47.280 --> 0:20:52.000 I mean it did in a way, but but it's 0:20:52.000 --> 0:20:53.800 not like there's any push to try to get people 0:20:53.840 --> 0:20:56.080 back to work here, because I mean some they are, 0:20:56.160 --> 0:20:59.159 but but you compare compare that with New York, and 0:20:59.160 --> 0:21:00.800 I keep I really I'm saying the same thing I 0:21:00.840 --> 0:21:04.840 just said. But but like in New York, if the 0:21:04.840 --> 0:21:07.520 subway collapses, because people like me and you don't take 0:21:07.520 --> 0:21:10.760 the subway. Who who gets hurt by that? Right? It's 0:21:11.200 --> 0:21:14.119 it's not me and you, right, it's people, low income 0:21:14.160 --> 0:21:16.360 people who need to get to work. In a way, 0:21:16.640 --> 0:21:19.960 So if public transit falls apart, new York falls apart 0:21:20.000 --> 0:21:22.480 in a way, because so many parts of the city 0:21:22.520 --> 0:21:26.680 are dependent on I mean the minute. The minute low 0:21:26.720 --> 0:21:30.040 income people have to pay thirty five dollars each way 0:21:30.040 --> 0:21:32.360 to get to work on an uber, there's no more 0:21:32.400 --> 0:21:35.160 New York. And so in a way, I just feel 0:21:35.160 --> 0:21:37.520 like New York. It's in part about housing, but it's 0:21:37.560 --> 0:21:42.639 also just there are there are many many fiscal holes 0:21:42.680 --> 0:21:44.840 that New York is in right now. I've just this 0:21:44.880 --> 0:21:46.560 has been on my mind so much. And this was 0:21:46.600 --> 0:21:50.000 true before the pandemic. I mean the twenty seventeen tax bill. 0:21:51.359 --> 0:21:55.639 The twenty seventeen tax bill, basically all the tax deductions 0:21:55.680 --> 0:21:58.240 that people could get for having their business in New 0:21:58.359 --> 0:22:01.200 York went out the window. It led to a massive 0:22:01.280 --> 0:22:04.880 move of businesses to places like Tennessee or Dallas or Miami, 0:22:05.240 --> 0:22:09.600 which had no state income tax. And so I understand, 0:22:09.760 --> 0:22:12.240 I mean to talk about the pandemic. I think it's 0:22:12.240 --> 0:22:14.840 super important, but I just think a place like New 0:22:14.920 --> 0:22:16.920 York is going to have to get creative again about 0:22:16.960 --> 0:22:19.600 how it can lure people back in a way that 0:22:19.640 --> 0:22:23.000 will let it build its tax base to support stuff again, 0:22:23.080 --> 0:22:25.200 because cities and states are going to have to pay 0:22:25.320 --> 0:22:29.359 for the pandemic and the absence of federal funding. And 0:22:29.400 --> 0:22:31.359 so I don't know. I'm really nervous about this, to 0:22:31.400 --> 0:22:34.520 be honest, and I hope I'm probably making no sense 0:22:34.600 --> 0:22:37.199 right now except to say that. I mean, I just 0:22:37.240 --> 0:22:39.520 think that right now the economy and the pandemic are 0:22:39.560 --> 0:22:41.800 so connected. Again, I have no idea if that's what 0:22:41.840 --> 0:22:44.639 Biden meant, but it's just been hard to see. I 0:22:44.760 --> 0:22:48.280 think that I think that what Biden meant is exactly 0:22:48.320 --> 0:22:52.320 what was said. That we have midterm elections coming in 0:22:52.760 --> 0:22:56.320 less than fifty days or something something around that number, 0:22:56.680 --> 0:23:01.560 and Democrats are in a good position because of how 0:23:01.640 --> 0:23:05.040 Republicans have been going after abortion. He's like, let me 0:23:05.080 --> 0:23:08.320 tip this over the edge and you know, allow people 0:23:08.359 --> 0:23:11.919 to feel like the pandemic is over. This is about money. 0:23:12.240 --> 0:23:15.000 It's about money, it's not about public health. And so 0:23:15.160 --> 0:23:18.600 my concern is not necessarily about the collapse of New York. 0:23:18.640 --> 0:23:21.320 I think that New York will continue to be New York. 0:23:21.400 --> 0:23:25.359 I think that each and every generation provides a different 0:23:25.400 --> 0:23:27.560 iteration of what this city looks like. When you talk 0:23:27.600 --> 0:23:29.560 to people that grew up in New York in the 0:23:29.600 --> 0:23:32.520 seventies and eighties, it doesn't look like that now, right. 0:23:32.560 --> 0:23:34.639 It looks far from it in a lot of ways, 0:23:34.720 --> 0:23:38.200 a thousand times better because of you, because of crime 0:23:38.200 --> 0:23:41.440 and better infrastructure and better investment in all of these things. 0:23:41.440 --> 0:23:44.399 And then in some areas really terrible because people of 0:23:44.440 --> 0:23:46.719 color have been pushed out because they can no longer 0:23:46.960 --> 0:23:50.600 afford to live here, right, And so I think that yes, 0:23:50.720 --> 0:23:53.720 there needed to be a push and pull and a balance. 0:23:53.880 --> 0:23:56.840 But what we also have to understand is that there 0:23:56.960 --> 0:24:00.760 is no I mean, I know that many operations are 0:24:00.800 --> 0:24:04.040 pushing their people back to work, that pushing them back 0:24:04.040 --> 0:24:07.880 into offices, but their reasoning for that is honestly bullshit. 0:24:08.320 --> 0:24:13.160 The reasoning really is because they are leasing buildings that 0:24:13.240 --> 0:24:16.800 are costing a ton of money that they have no 0:24:16.840 --> 0:24:19.719 one inside of. But to turn around and say that 0:24:19.760 --> 0:24:22.760 people need to be in the office is bullshit, because 0:24:23.000 --> 0:24:26.960 none of their businesses collapsed because people have been working remotely. 0:24:27.280 --> 0:24:31.240 And so they tell you this perpetual lie because capitalism 0:24:31.320 --> 0:24:33.159 forced us to believe that we needed to be in 0:24:33.200 --> 0:24:35.919 a cubicle for eight to ten hours a day in 0:24:36.000 --> 0:24:38.560 order for us to do our jobs. And now that people, 0:24:38.760 --> 0:24:41.320 particularly young people, are hip to the idea of no, 0:24:41.680 --> 0:24:44.359 I can actually do this job while I'm living my 0:24:44.440 --> 0:24:47.040 life and not the other way around, I don't want 0:24:47.080 --> 0:24:49.760 to go back to this place. So yeah, people need 0:24:49.800 --> 0:24:52.879