1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:03,440 Speaker 1: Cable news is ripping us apart, dividing the nation, making 2 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:05,880 Speaker 1: it impossible to function as a society and to know 3 00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:08,720 Speaker 1: what is true and what is false. The good news 4 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:10,760 Speaker 1: is that they're failing and they know it. That is 5 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:14,840 Speaker 1: why we're building something new. Be part of creating a new, better, healthier, 6 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:17,920 Speaker 1: and more trustworthy mainstream by becoming a Breaking Points Premium 7 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:21,520 Speaker 1: member today at breakingpoints dot com. Your hard earned money 8 00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:23,360 Speaker 1: is going to help us build for the midterms and 9 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:27,360 Speaker 1: the upcoming presidential election so we can provide unparalleled coverage 10 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:28,600 Speaker 1: of what is sure to be one of the most 11 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:32,320 Speaker 1: pivotal moments in American history. So what are you waiting for? 12 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:36,120 Speaker 1: Go to Breakingpoints dot com to help us out. It's 13 00:00:36,159 --> 00:00:38,319 Speaker 1: more signs of societal decline. Let's go ahead and put 14 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:41,640 Speaker 1: this up there on the screen. American confidence in the 15 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 1: presidency and Supreme Court has suffered the greatest drop ever 16 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:48,400 Speaker 1: between twenty twenty one and twenty twenty two. So a 17 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:50,760 Speaker 1: lot of people Krystal were focusing on the US Supreme Court, 18 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:53,960 Speaker 1: which declined from thirty six percent great deal trust to 19 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:56,760 Speaker 1: twenty five percent. Obviously in light of the Roe versus 20 00:00:56,840 --> 00:00:59,600 Speaker 1: Wade decision. That's noteworthy, But how is nobody pointing to 21 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:02,880 Speaker 1: this fig The presidency has gone from having a thirty 22 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:05,759 Speaker 1: eight percent great deal slash quite a lot trust figure 23 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:11,319 Speaker 1: to twenty three percent. That is a colossal drop, the 24 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:14,960 Speaker 1: single biggest drop ever recorded, a fifteen percent drop in 25 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:17,720 Speaker 1: just one year. By the way, Biden was also president 26 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:21,000 Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one, so this isn't just Republicans who 27 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:24,000 Speaker 1: are turning on him. I mean this, this is a catastrophe. 28 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:26,080 Speaker 1: Like for a country to have only one fifth of 29 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:28,240 Speaker 1: the entire country think that they have a great deal 30 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:31,320 Speaker 1: of trust in the president is insane. That figure was 31 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:34,200 Speaker 1: in the high eighties when John F. Kennedy and Dwight D. 32 00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:38,720 Speaker 1: Eisenhower were president. Obviously, Nixon and LBJ and the lies 33 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:41,640 Speaker 1: and Vietnam and Carter and all that contributed to a 34 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:44,160 Speaker 1: significant decline, but it was still in the high fifties. 35 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:46,959 Speaker 1: You know, even whenever Rake, even Clinton. You know, Clinton 36 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:49,560 Speaker 1: has sixty one percent approval rating, even during the whole 37 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:53,480 Speaker 1: Lewinsky scandal. So to see this, I mean, this is catastrophic. 38 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:56,720 Speaker 1: And this is one hundred percent on Joe Biden. He 39 00:01:56,760 --> 00:01:59,960 Speaker 1: was president twenty twenty one, and he clearly has lost 40 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:03,280 Speaker 1: so much of the country with his confidence in the presence. Well, 41 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:07,240 Speaker 1: I mean, when all you do is go around all day, 42 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:11,799 Speaker 1: every day explaining how you can't do anything like making 43 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:14,320 Speaker 1: excuses for being having your hands tied, and why you 44 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:16,840 Speaker 1: totally can't act in any number to deal with any 45 00:02:16,919 --> 00:02:19,760 Speaker 1: number of the crises that we're facing. Yeah, that's going 46 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:22,320 Speaker 1: to cause people to have a lot less confidence in 47 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:25,480 Speaker 1: the institution of the president. So I don't think that's 48 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:28,520 Speaker 1: a surprise. You know, you look at all of these 49 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:32,640 Speaker 1: institutions that they list, Every single one of them saw 50 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:36,760 Speaker 1: a decline in confidence, except for one, which is organized labor. 51 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:40,520 Speaker 1: The numbers for organized labor are not great either, but 52 00:02:40,639 --> 00:02:42,640 Speaker 1: at least they're not on the decline, so at least 53 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:44,920 Speaker 1: that's something. But yeah, I mean you look at this 54 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:48,880 Speaker 1: as an overall picture of I think Americans are right 55 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:53,640 Speaker 1: to have little confidence in most of these institutions. I 56 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:56,480 Speaker 1: think they're right to look at our society and see 57 00:02:56,760 --> 00:03:01,200 Speaker 1: brokenness and decline and decay and in institutional rot and 58 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:04,919 Speaker 1: corruption and all of those things. So they're not wrong 59 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:08,080 Speaker 1: when they say, like you know, Congress, for example, has 60 00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:11,880 Speaker 1: seven percent have a great deal or quite a lot 61 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:15,760 Speaker 1: of confidence in Congress. Can you blame them like looking 62 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:19,520 Speaker 1: at their manifest inability to rise to the moment and 63 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:22,360 Speaker 1: deal with what we're facing as a nation. Yeah, they 64 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:27,280 Speaker 1: deserve that. So sign of the times, sign of just 65 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:29,600 Speaker 1: how sort of screwed we are as a society that 66 00:03:29,639 --> 00:03:32,960 Speaker 1: there is just no confidence and justifiably so, in any 67 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:36,240 Speaker 1: of these institutions to deal with the moment. Media also 68 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:38,800 Speaker 1: didn't point out the fact that newspapers went from twenty 69 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:42,320 Speaker 1: one to sixteen and TV news went from sixteen to eleven. Oh, 70 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 1: I screw you to you people who are in the 71 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:48,640 Speaker 1: media and don't want to ask yourself why exactly you're 72 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:52,720 Speaker 1: less popular than Biden to the entire country. That's a 73 00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:55,160 Speaker 1: total joke. I also think some of the other ones, 74 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:57,720 Speaker 1: as you said, organized labor saying it in net twenty 75 00:03:57,720 --> 00:03:59,720 Speaker 1: eight is interesting, But you know there were some other drops. 76 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:01,960 Speaker 1: Bang went from thirty three eight to twenty seven. That 77 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:04,200 Speaker 1: makes a lot of sense. The military dropped by five. 78 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:06,800 Speaker 1: Military has always remained one of the most trusted institutions 79 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:09,880 Speaker 1: in America. The police went down by six points, the 80 00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:12,520 Speaker 1: medical system went down by six That makes a lot 81 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:16,719 Speaker 1: of sense. Another here, church and organized religion dropped by six. 82 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:19,840 Speaker 1: Here's another bad one. Yeah, public school, big church scandal 83 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:22,480 Speaker 1: this year, it's right, Yeah, and public school dropped from 84 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 1: thirty two to twenty eight. Like I said Banks previously, 85 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:30,760 Speaker 1: the criminal justice system continues to decline, big business actually 86 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:33,960 Speaker 1: dropping a new all time low of fourteen percent. So 87 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:37,560 Speaker 1: basically nobody trusts anyone in this country except for the 88 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:40,400 Speaker 1: military and small business, which is kind of amazing. I mean, 89 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:43,599 Speaker 1: I don't know. Again, you do not want to be 90 00:04:43,839 --> 00:04:45,920 Speaker 1: in that type of situation. One of the hallmarks actually 91 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:48,279 Speaker 1: of third world countries is that the only institutions which 92 00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:51,440 Speaker 1: have any legitimacy whatsoever are the military, which leads to 93 00:04:51,680 --> 00:04:54,480 Speaker 1: a shift ton of military coups. So yeah, it's not 94 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:57,880 Speaker 1: a good landscape to be in. That's right. We've sent 95 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:01,160 Speaker 1: forty billion dollars over to Ukraine, but co to President Zelenski, 96 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 1: that is not nearly going to be enough, not just 97 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:05,159 Speaker 1: for the war effort, but in the long term. Let's 98 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:08,280 Speaker 1: throw this up there on the screen. The Prime Minister 99 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:11,120 Speaker 1: of Ukraine is now saying that he is going to 100 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:15,760 Speaker 1: need seven hundred and fifty billion dollars, so almost the 101 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:19,600 Speaker 1: cost of the entire Afghan War, in order to rebuild 102 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 1: that country, and you know, his price tag may not 103 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:27,080 Speaker 1: be off. However, what he's pointing to is that it 104 00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:31,200 Speaker 1: will predominantly be asked of by the European Union, by 105 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:33,840 Speaker 1: the United States, and by others who have already spent 106 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:37,120 Speaker 1: billions and billions and billions of dollars on this conflict 107 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:39,960 Speaker 1: in the immediate term. And it just does go to 108 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:43,320 Speaker 1: show you. Number One, economic damage to Ukraine has been 109 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:46,160 Speaker 1: a catastrophe. We talk here about Russia, you know, contracting 110 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:48,960 Speaker 1: eight percent, Ukraine shrank by thirty five percent, and they've 111 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:51,080 Speaker 1: lost control of some of their nuclear power plants. The 112 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:52,760 Speaker 1: eastern part of Ukraine. Part of the reason is so 113 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:55,000 Speaker 1: strategically important, that's where a lot of the grain comes from. 114 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:58,680 Speaker 1: They already had Crimea that's been gone. The Black Sea 115 00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:00,960 Speaker 1: has not been able to export a sheer amount of 116 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:03,680 Speaker 1: grain in order to for the world. That's been a 117 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:06,640 Speaker 1: big problem because the Russians are contesting that space. So 118 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:10,320 Speaker 1: in general, they're definitely in an economic catastrophe. But I 119 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:13,479 Speaker 1: think this does highlight also that there will probably be 120 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:16,919 Speaker 1: a major fight here in Washington. You know, if people 121 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:19,560 Speaker 1: do see seven hundred, who knows how many, how much 122 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 1: we're gonna have to spend there. I mean, already the 123 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:25,440 Speaker 1: bipartisan support for the war is sky high. Forty billion passed, 124 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:29,040 Speaker 1: no problem. I mean, we'll imagine the politics of sending 125 00:06:29,279 --> 00:06:31,559 Speaker 1: some two hundred and fifty three hundred, five hundred billion 126 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:35,200 Speaker 1: dollars over to Ukraine. Will our own politics remains yeah, agment. 127 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:38,040 Speaker 1: I can't imagine that world. I'm sorry, I can't imagine 128 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:41,040 Speaker 1: the people standing for that, but I can imagine that politically. Oh, 129 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:44,560 Speaker 1: I can imagine that being like supportinate by almost everyone 130 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:49,280 Speaker 1: in Washington, And I have no There's two things. Number One, 131 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:51,360 Speaker 1: the longer the war goes on, the higher thist price 132 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:53,960 Speaker 1: tag will be. I mean, seven hundred and fifty billion 133 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:57,120 Speaker 1: is as of today, this war is nowhere close to 134 00:06:57,160 --> 00:07:03,640 Speaker 1: being over. You know, Russia continued to shell and there 135 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:06,560 Speaker 1: is no hope or progress on the diplomatic front, in 136 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:09,520 Speaker 1: part because of our own unwillingness to push things in 137 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:12,720 Speaker 1: that direction and at times actively standing in the way 138 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:16,680 Speaker 1: of potentially fruitful diplomatic negotiations. So that's number one. Number Two, 139 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:20,000 Speaker 1: I have no issue with helping the Ukrainians rebuild whatsoever. 140 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:22,480 Speaker 1: What I take issue with is, as you said, that 141 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:26,400 Speaker 1: there would be such an outpouring of ready support and 142 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:29,400 Speaker 1: money for the Ukrainians, but the minute it's time to 143 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:31,600 Speaker 1: do anything for working class people, it's like, oh, we can't. 144 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:34,800 Speaker 1: The deficit, inflation, there's a million excuses why we can 145 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:38,360 Speaker 1: never help our own people and build in some of 146 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:40,800 Speaker 1: the areas that we desperately needed in this country. So 147 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 1: that's a part of it that will be very frustrating. 148 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:45,640 Speaker 1: I completely agree. Anyway, So be on the watch a 149 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:48,600 Speaker 1: lot more money that they're asking for over in Ukraine, 150 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:50,720 Speaker 1: and our political system is basically set up to cut 151 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:53,560 Speaker 1: the manicypit check that they could possibly want. So we'll see, 152 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:56,200 Speaker 1: we'll keep you guys updated. Our friends have read the 153 00:07:56,240 --> 00:07:58,560 Speaker 1: FBI have sent out a bit of a notable tweet 154 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:01,400 Speaker 1: some new technology that they've developed that we want to 155 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:03,280 Speaker 1: queue you in on, or clue you in on. That's 156 00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:05,720 Speaker 1: the expression, go ahead and put this up on the screen. 157 00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:12,080 Speaker 1: The FBI child id app, the first mobile application created 158 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:16,120 Speaker 1: by the bureau, provides a convenient place to electronically store 159 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:19,920 Speaker 1: photos and other vital information about your children, so that 160 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:22,920 Speaker 1: it's literally right at hand if you need it. Sager. 161 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:29,680 Speaker 1: This elicited many responses, many people advising don't download an 162 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:33,360 Speaker 1: app of any sort that Pops made, the fed's made, 163 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:38,240 Speaker 1: and certainly don't enter your children's vital information into that 164 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:41,319 Speaker 1: FED made app. The other thing that was funny is 165 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:44,959 Speaker 1: people pointed out, like, oh, finally, finally a way to 166 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:48,760 Speaker 1: store photos right on your phone, like what you already 167 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:51,520 Speaker 1: have that I find. So they really nailed both the 168 00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:56,360 Speaker 1: dystopian federal government surveillance state aspect and also the like 169 00:08:56,440 --> 00:09:00,360 Speaker 1: totally irrelevant nineteen nineties technology aspect. So they they did 170 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:01,880 Speaker 1: it all with this one. Yeah, that's right. And you know, 171 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:04,400 Speaker 1: as somebody says, I don't know who needs to hear this, 172 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:07,280 Speaker 1: please don't give your children's personal info to the effing 173 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:10,520 Speaker 1: FEDS that actively have covered up for pedophiles. Talking about 174 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:15,000 Speaker 1: Gallainne Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein, Larry Nasser. Now you know, Mikhayla 175 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:17,120 Speaker 1: Maroney and Simone Bile is actually suing them for over 176 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:19,320 Speaker 1: a billion dollars and I hope they win. We're going 177 00:09:19,400 --> 00:09:22,079 Speaker 1: to cover that if there's any major developments that are 178 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:23,840 Speaker 1: in the case. So yeah, look, I mean there's no 179 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:25,880 Speaker 1: reason that you should trust these people. Also, why is 180 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:28,719 Speaker 1: this iOS like fifteen years old? You know, like it 181 00:09:29,679 --> 00:09:32,440 Speaker 1: literally looks like iPhone one. What's happening here? Like, what 182 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:34,640 Speaker 1: do you can you do? There is still a button 183 00:09:34,679 --> 00:09:36,680 Speaker 1: on that iPhone? Like what year is it? I don't 184 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:40,560 Speaker 1: understand what's happening. Look at the very basic level, it 185 00:09:40,640 --> 00:09:42,679 Speaker 1: just shows you this is sad. But honestly, I probably 186 00:09:42,679 --> 00:09:44,480 Speaker 1: trust Apple more than I trust the FBI. Like what 187 00:09:44,559 --> 00:09:46,040 Speaker 1: kind of world does that you have to choose between 188 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:47,959 Speaker 1: them or the other. And then yeah, there's no one 189 00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:49,840 Speaker 1: to trust. Even if it's in your eyecloud. You basically 190 00:09:49,920 --> 00:09:51,280 Speaker 1: have to make peace with the fact that it could 191 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:53,000 Speaker 1: get hacked and it could get leaked. And that's just 192 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:55,199 Speaker 1: one of those things that people have made peace with 193 00:09:55,480 --> 00:09:57,000 Speaker 1: over the years. I'm not saying it's a good thing, 194 00:09:57,080 --> 00:09:59,360 Speaker 1: but you know, it's certain. I mean, that's one of 195 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:01,200 Speaker 1: the things that we started thinking through with the Roe 196 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:04,960 Speaker 1: versus Wade decision too, is all that the number one 197 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:07,120 Speaker 1: period tracker app just to go ahead and volunteer. We 198 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:08,960 Speaker 1: don't even need a warm We'll just turn over your data, 199 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:11,000 Speaker 1: no problem. If the cops asked, for sure, we'll do that. 200 00:10:11,559 --> 00:10:14,240 Speaker 1: So yeah, but you no need to cut out the 201 00:10:14,280 --> 00:10:16,520 Speaker 1: middleman and just give it straight to the FEDS. At 202 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:18,800 Speaker 1: least make them work for it a little bit. That's right, 203 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:21,440 Speaker 1: make them ask for a warr there was. I did 204 00:10:21,559 --> 00:10:24,280 Speaker 1: click through and read their little like synopsis of it, 205 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:26,400 Speaker 1: and it is funny because at the bottom they added this, 206 00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:28,360 Speaker 1: I wonder if this was added after the fact. After 207 00:10:28,400 --> 00:10:30,079 Speaker 1: the reaction to this, they said an important note, the 208 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:34,319 Speaker 1: FBI is not collecting or storing any photos or information 209 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:36,679 Speaker 1: that you enter in the app. All data resides solely 210 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:39,240 Speaker 1: on your mobile device unless you need to send it 211 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:42,199 Speaker 1: to authorities. Please read your mobile provider's terms of service 212 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:45,360 Speaker 1: blah blah blah, because you know, very trustworthy in these 213 00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:49,120 Speaker 1: regards of not overreaching and being straightforward with the public 214 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:51,880 Speaker 1: about what sort of data they're collecting and how they're using. 215 00:10:52,720 --> 00:10:54,920 Speaker 1: Very confidence inspiring. All right, we'll see you guys, are 216 00:10:54,960 --> 00:11:00,679 Speaker 1: see y'all. Well, friends, you'll remember the company Radio Shack. 217 00:11:00,800 --> 00:11:05,000 Speaker 1: In fact, Sager, do you remember Radio Shack? I remember, like, okay, 218 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:08,160 Speaker 1: we actually my family actually got our very first computer 219 00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:10,800 Speaker 1: from Radio Shack. It was just like Tandy. It was 220 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:13,599 Speaker 1: very exciting. It was like the maybe the end of 221 00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:16,560 Speaker 1: the eighties when we got that. Anyway, radio Shack has 222 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:20,439 Speaker 1: been on a long flow decline and they got bought 223 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:23,360 Speaker 1: up by a group that you know is turning around 224 00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:26,040 Speaker 1: the number of these distressed retailers that have basically been 225 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:29,400 Speaker 1: decimated by the Internet economy, and they have taken radio 226 00:11:29,480 --> 00:11:33,199 Speaker 1: Shack in a very unexpected directions. Let's go ahead and 227 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:35,720 Speaker 1: put this article up on the screen here, they say. 228 00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:38,040 Speaker 1: Remember radio Shack is from the Washing and Post. It's 229 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:43,199 Speaker 1: now a crypto company with wild tweets. They go on 230 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:46,320 Speaker 1: to talk about I'll read you by the way, this 231 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:48,160 Speaker 1: is not going to be a family friendly segment because 232 00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:50,079 Speaker 1: I am going to read you a few of these tweets. 233 00:11:50,280 --> 00:11:55,880 Speaker 1: But basically they've turned it into a decentralized crypto exchange 234 00:11:56,000 --> 00:11:58,760 Speaker 1: platform that allows users to swap coins or tokens. I 235 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:01,000 Speaker 1: don't really know what that means, but they say they're 236 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:04,800 Speaker 1: token called radio is worth about a penny, so that's 237 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:07,800 Speaker 1: what it actually is. And in order to drum up 238 00:12:07,880 --> 00:12:12,400 Speaker 1: interest in this crypto swap scheme thing that they're doing, 239 00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:17,520 Speaker 1: they've just turned their Twitter account into this like really bizarre, 240 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:21,679 Speaker 1: sort of like off the wall, explicit strange thing. They 241 00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:24,599 Speaker 1: even got banned from Twitter for a minute, but I 242 00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:27,120 Speaker 1: think they're back on the one. The tweet that got 243 00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:29,839 Speaker 1: them banned was just to give you a sense of 244 00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:31,680 Speaker 1: the type of content they're putting out into the world. 245 00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:33,880 Speaker 1: This is the tweet that got them banned. If you 246 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:40,320 Speaker 1: find a squirter, marry her smart yeah, and then then 247 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:42,280 Speaker 1: hold on just to get a little bit more of 248 00:12:42,280 --> 00:12:45,240 Speaker 1: a sense. Once they got the tweet, you know, reinstated 249 00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:48,560 Speaker 1: in their account back up, they said a thing about yesterday. 250 00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:51,920 Speaker 1: I see whole tits on TikTok daily and I got 251 00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:55,960 Speaker 1: put on Twitter parole for talking about marrying squirters. Elon 252 00:12:56,120 --> 00:12:59,280 Speaker 1: musk when we're making moves. Bam, the new generation of 253 00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:03,000 Speaker 1: Twitter is here, and I'm gonna champion TF on it 254 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:06,440 Speaker 1: for you. So anyway, that's what they're doing. If this 255 00:13:06,520 --> 00:13:09,400 Speaker 1: is what society has come to, maybe I don't know. Yeah, 256 00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:11,320 Speaker 1: I mean, if this is what society has come to, 257 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:13,240 Speaker 1: I really don't know. I think we should just pack 258 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:16,640 Speaker 1: it up, folks. One hundred years, hundred years ago, radio 259 00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:19,240 Speaker 1: shack was started. Now it's being sold as a decentralized 260 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:25,040 Speaker 1: token platform making funny like Bustin' gen Z level jokes. 261 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:27,920 Speaker 1: I really, I don't have a lot to say. It's 262 00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:30,920 Speaker 1: just shocking. It's funny though, because you know, it does 263 00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:35,679 Speaker 1: actually represent the fact that crypto it represents like the 264 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:39,400 Speaker 1: precipitous decline in crypto right now, because clearly this deal 265 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:41,400 Speaker 1: was done when prices were sky high and you know, 266 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:44,520 Speaker 1: seven hundred billion or so had not been erased, and 267 00:13:44,559 --> 00:13:47,040 Speaker 1: now this is really all they have left because all 268 00:13:47,080 --> 00:13:49,560 Speaker 1: of this talk of swapping tokens and all this just 269 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:53,440 Speaker 1: sounds like utter nonsense in the current moment, especially with 270 00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:55,520 Speaker 1: the prices where they are and with people having lost 271 00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:58,040 Speaker 1: so much money. So I guess all they really do 272 00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:01,880 Speaker 1: have left is edgy tweets short really not even funny, 273 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:05,160 Speaker 1: and it's a sad commentary also on the legacy of 274 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:07,920 Speaker 1: the US economy, because radio Shack was a great brand. 275 00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:11,080 Speaker 1: I mean, beyond the idea of the Internet economy. It 276 00:14:11,120 --> 00:14:14,000 Speaker 1: was like a centralized place for people to buy equipment, 277 00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:17,079 Speaker 1: and not just consumer electronics, but really harkens back to 278 00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:19,360 Speaker 1: when people would try and fix stuff themselves and less 279 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:22,760 Speaker 1: prepackaged things. It was a lot more of like the 280 00:14:22,800 --> 00:14:25,520 Speaker 1: American ethos of being able to fix your own stuff, 281 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:28,680 Speaker 1: about repairing things, about building things really at home, and 282 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:31,080 Speaker 1: we've moved completely away from that in the current consumer 283 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:34,760 Speaker 1: electronics market. Yeah, I think that's exactly right. It's a 284 00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:38,400 Speaker 1: perfect parable of like the decline of the American economy 285 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:42,040 Speaker 1: in general, from you know, something that was real and 286 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:46,840 Speaker 1: based on innovation and making things to something that is 287 00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:50,120 Speaker 1: just like how do I jump on the latest trend 288 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:54,800 Speaker 1: of financial rigging and engineering? And also a perfect parable 289 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:58,800 Speaker 1: of the crypto market and the crypto crash, because yeah, 290 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:01,240 Speaker 1: this is like a move on desperation to try to 291 00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:05,840 Speaker 1: jenump some interest in whatever they're weird crypto scheme thing is. 292 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:09,400 Speaker 1: So it is sad all the way around. Cringe, cringe 293 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:12,080 Speaker 1: all the way through. We have some new information from 294 00:15:12,120 --> 00:15:14,800 Speaker 1: the US government on the bullet that killed an American 295 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:18,080 Speaker 1: journalist who was reporting in Palestine and who was killed. 296 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:21,240 Speaker 1: Let's put this up there on the screen. So Sharin 297 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:24,560 Speaker 1: Abu Akle, she was reporting there for Al Jazeera, but 298 00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:27,840 Speaker 1: she was a US citizen, was killed while she was 299 00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:31,120 Speaker 1: covering an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank 300 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:34,880 Speaker 1: city of Jenet. She had a bulletproof vest that clearly 301 00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:37,880 Speaker 1: marked her as press. Now there's been some open source 302 00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:40,240 Speaker 1: reporting that points to the fact that the bullet that 303 00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:44,400 Speaker 1: might have killed her was killed was fired by Israeli forces. 304 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:47,720 Speaker 1: But the Biden administration is now saying that results from 305 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:52,880 Speaker 1: the ballistic tests are quote inconclusive. Now, all of this 306 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:57,160 Speaker 1: is being released ahead of President Biden's actual trip to 307 00:15:57,440 --> 00:16:01,640 Speaker 1: Israel next week on July fifteen. Think the Palestinian authority 308 00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:04,880 Speaker 1: actually gave the bullet up to the US, but the 309 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:09,240 Speaker 1: current indications say that Israeli fire is very likely the 310 00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:14,080 Speaker 1: result or Israeli fire is likely what killed Sharene abu Akley, 311 00:16:14,360 --> 00:16:17,640 Speaker 1: the US journalist who clearly had a US press or 312 00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:21,360 Speaker 1: had a press badge on her bullet proof veest. And 313 00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:24,280 Speaker 1: what a lot of people are saying in result crystal 314 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:27,320 Speaker 1: of this ballistic examination and more is that the US 315 00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:30,160 Speaker 1: government is basically too chicken to just say, yeah, it's 316 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:33,600 Speaker 1: pretty clear here that the IDF most likely killed you know, 317 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:37,720 Speaker 1: most likely killed this journalist. Instead of demanding answers and more, 318 00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:40,240 Speaker 1: they're just kind of putting it on the table ahead 319 00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:45,080 Speaker 1: of this upcoming visit by President Biden to Israel. Well, 320 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:48,120 Speaker 1: this is exactly why the Palestinians were extremely reluctant to 321 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:51,200 Speaker 1: turn over this bullet at all, because effectively what the 322 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:54,120 Speaker 1: US and Israel did is they made it all about 323 00:16:54,160 --> 00:16:56,600 Speaker 1: the bullet, which they could then say, oh, it's too 324 00:16:56,600 --> 00:16:59,160 Speaker 1: badly damaged. We just can't figure it out. Well, the 325 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:02,840 Speaker 1: idea the only armed ones in the area. You have 326 00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:06,360 Speaker 1: visual edited evidence, you have audio evidence, You have witness 327 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:09,960 Speaker 1: evidence that was sufficient for the Washington Post, the AP, 328 00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:13,919 Speaker 1: the New York Times, and the UN to all conclude 329 00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:18,600 Speaker 1: this came from the Israeli military. And yet they want 330 00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:21,120 Speaker 1: to focus on just this one thing where they could 331 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:23,560 Speaker 1: say out, yeah, we don't know. And yet at the 332 00:17:23,600 --> 00:17:27,040 Speaker 1: same time this really irritated me. This really angered me. 333 00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:31,440 Speaker 1: They ruled very definitively that oh, even if it did 334 00:17:31,480 --> 00:17:34,960 Speaker 1: company Israeli, she wasn't targeted. Well, how did you determine 335 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:37,840 Speaker 1: that with such certainty? But you can't seem to figure 336 00:17:37,840 --> 00:17:41,280 Speaker 1: out where this came from in spite of multiple witnesses 337 00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:44,960 Speaker 1: and audio evidence, visual evidence, and all of these news 338 00:17:45,080 --> 00:17:48,840 Speaker 1: organizations that were somehow able to figure it out. So, yeah, 339 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:53,199 Speaker 1: it's exactly the outcome that Sharene's family feared, that the 340 00:17:53,240 --> 00:17:58,240 Speaker 1: Palestinians feared. It's once again the US working with their 341 00:17:58,359 --> 00:18:01,560 Speaker 1: friends Israelis to you know, cover up the crimes and 342 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:04,440 Speaker 1: atrocities of the IDF. I don't know why they can't 343 00:18:04,480 --> 00:18:06,520 Speaker 1: just be honest about it and then demand answers. I mean, 344 00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:08,840 Speaker 1: she's a US citizen, she's a US journalist, and the 345 00:18:08,840 --> 00:18:10,920 Speaker 1: president is literally going there. I mean, at the very least, 346 00:18:10,960 --> 00:18:13,200 Speaker 1: you should say something about it while he's over there 347 00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:15,679 Speaker 1: and demand answers. I mean, as an American citizen, as 348 00:18:15,680 --> 00:18:17,159 Speaker 1: a member of the You again, you know, this is 349 00:18:17,160 --> 00:18:19,760 Speaker 1: an administration says they stand up for the press, all 350 00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:21,639 Speaker 1: of that, but you know, on this they're basically just 351 00:18:21,640 --> 00:18:24,400 Speaker 1: trying to bury it and hoping that nobody notices. It's 352 00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:27,440 Speaker 1: also not like the media, CNN and now others are 353 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:31,280 Speaker 1: reporting on this in any major fashion. So I do 354 00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:34,200 Speaker 1: think it's it's deeply hypocritical on their part, and it's 355 00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:36,199 Speaker 1: it's just a black mark on the Biden administration for 356 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:38,760 Speaker 1: doing it this way, completely ridiculous. I mean, the media 357 00:18:38,840 --> 00:18:40,959 Speaker 1: on this, they did a better job than certainly an 358 00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:44,639 Speaker 1: administration was, I mean, actually did do. They did do 359 00:18:44,720 --> 00:18:48,879 Speaker 1: an analysis. There were you know, multiple news organizations that 360 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:51,600 Speaker 1: went through and interviewed the wind that looked at where 361 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:54,400 Speaker 1: the bullet landed, it hit the tree and where everybody 362 00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:57,359 Speaker 1: was positioned, and dront maps of the area. There was 363 00:18:57,480 --> 00:19:01,280 Speaker 1: nowhere else it could have come from. And the Israeli 364 00:19:01,359 --> 00:19:05,320 Speaker 1: Defense Forces it's very clear, and yet they somehow found 365 00:19:05,359 --> 00:19:07,560 Speaker 1: a way to be like, ah, we could never know, 366 00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:10,800 Speaker 1: we will ever know. Oh, well, time, let's move forward. 367 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:14,440 Speaker 1: I think it's so important to understand that they threw 368 00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:19,400 Speaker 1: their own citizen, American citizen under the bus to try 369 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:23,960 Speaker 1: to cover up for the Israeli government. It's just absolutely despicable. Yeah, shameful. 370 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:28,800 Speaker 1: So there's a lot to say about just how terrible 371 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:31,600 Speaker 1: the airlines are. There's been a number of stories coming 372 00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:36,200 Speaker 1: out day after day, week after week showing that they're 373 00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:38,880 Speaker 1: falling apartment, they're straight up falling apart. So the Hill 374 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:41,880 Speaker 1: says more than three hundred flights canceled and three thousand 375 00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:43,840 Speaker 1: flights delayed at the start of the holiday weekend. This 376 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:47,200 Speaker 1: was on July first. Then we have this, thousands more 377 00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:52,440 Speaker 1: flights canceled or delayed. Wait for it, wait for it. 378 00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:55,199 Speaker 1: This was in the New York Post. Thousands more flights 379 00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:58,240 Speaker 1: canceled or delayed as fourth of July travel blitz continues. 380 00:19:58,480 --> 00:20:00,720 Speaker 1: So this is and this was on July third. So 381 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:04,840 Speaker 1: you're getting all these delays and all these flights being canceled, 382 00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:11,320 Speaker 1: and it's so bad that the more Perfect Union did 383 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:14,199 Speaker 1: like a detailed investigation of it and got to the 384 00:20:14,280 --> 00:20:15,919 Speaker 1: roots of it. And I have to show you this 385 00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:20,040 Speaker 1: because this is astonishing. I mean, they basically the airlines 386 00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:23,359 Speaker 1: basically committed fraud. So let's take a look. Taking a 387 00:20:23,359 --> 00:20:26,719 Speaker 1: flight in America has never been a worse experience. Travel 388 00:20:26,840 --> 00:20:29,600 Speaker 1: nightmare played out at airports across the country. Customers are 389 00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:32,399 Speaker 1: left frustrated by the cancelations and the delays. Thousands of 390 00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:36,560 Speaker 1: cancelations skywalketting ticket prices. It's called the misery Map. Tens 391 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:38,680 Speaker 1: of thousands of flights have been canceled at the last 392 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:42,080 Speaker 1: minute in recent months. Experts say they've never seen anything 393 00:20:42,119 --> 00:20:43,720 Speaker 1: like it. I don't see an end insight. This is 394 00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:46,359 Speaker 1: really unprecedented in terms of the number of cancelations that 395 00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:49,879 Speaker 1: occurring so close to departure come. Media reports have blamed 396 00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:52,679 Speaker 1: the airline chaos on weather problems and staff shortages, but 397 00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:55,520 Speaker 1: that misses the bigger picture. These cancelations are really a 398 00:20:55,560 --> 00:21:00,400 Speaker 1: scandal about corporate power, one that airline executives engineered. Here 399 00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:03,919 Speaker 1: is how it worked. During the pandemic, airlines secured one 400 00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:06,520 Speaker 1: of the biggest public bailouts of any industry, fifty four 401 00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:09,920 Speaker 1: billion dollars. The catch they couldn't lay off their workers. 402 00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:14,439 Speaker 1: But now look at this loophole they're about to describe 403 00:21:14,520 --> 00:21:17,639 Speaker 1: right now, This should infuriate you. The whole point of hey, 404 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:19,119 Speaker 1: we're going to bail them out is they're in trouble. 405 00:21:19,119 --> 00:21:22,680 Speaker 1: They're in real trouble because of COVID. But we'll give 406 00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:24,440 Speaker 1: you this bailout. But there are strings attached. You can't 407 00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:28,040 Speaker 1: lay off workers. Look at this, they found a loophole. 408 00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:31,320 Speaker 1: Delta was soon offer employees buyouts and early retirement opportunity. 409 00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:34,280 Speaker 1: October one furlough day for thirty thousand workers at United 410 00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:37,000 Speaker 1: in American Airlines. Instead of layoffs, airlines used furloughs and 411 00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:39,960 Speaker 1: early retirements to push out pilots and crew by fire. 412 00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:45,640 Speaker 1: How weasley, How sleazy is that? How disgusting is that 413 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:50,879 Speaker 1: they basically lied? They lied. Now, if you're a government 414 00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:54,200 Speaker 1: that's competent and looking out for the people, they would 415 00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:57,760 Speaker 1: pay for this. Oh, they would pay for this. But 416 00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:01,200 Speaker 1: you'll see I'll buy my tongue here. But you'll see 417 00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:04,640 Speaker 1: the official government response. It's something else. All of twenty 418 00:22:04,640 --> 00:22:07,720 Speaker 1: twenty one, they shrunk their workforce by fifty six thousand people. 419 00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:10,960 Speaker 1: Why airlines schedule their flights eleven months in advance. They 420 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:13,119 Speaker 1: know they don't have the pilots to service these flights, 421 00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:17,680 Speaker 1: so now passengers nice systems are paying the price. Airlines 422 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:21,399 Speaker 1: are essentially committing fraud, scheduling and selling thousands of flights 423 00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:24,080 Speaker 1: they know they can't service. They sold tickets to the 424 00:22:24,119 --> 00:22:26,720 Speaker 1: traveling public that they cannot live up to, and it's 425 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:30,159 Speaker 1: driving us pilots crazy. I hate seeing some of the 426 00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:32,520 Speaker 1: things that we're putting out about, specifically being fully staffed 427 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:34,760 Speaker 1: for this summer, so we're well staffed for the summer. 428 00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:36,959 Speaker 1: I know that that's not true. We're making these these 429 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:39,399 Speaker 1: empty promises that I'm already used to getting to the public. 430 00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:42,359 Speaker 1: Thirteen hundred pilots expected to demonstrate here outside the airport 431 00:22:42,359 --> 00:22:44,879 Speaker 1: this morning. They say they're overworked and understaffed and it's 432 00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:48,200 Speaker 1: leading to delays and cancelations. Airlines are rushing to rehire, 433 00:22:48,280 --> 00:22:51,080 Speaker 1: but staffing is still below pre pandemic levels. They know 434 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:53,360 Speaker 1: they don't have pilots to fly their scheduled flights. There 435 00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:55,280 Speaker 1: is pressure. We don't have the pounds that we need 436 00:22:55,320 --> 00:22:57,520 Speaker 1: to fly a full regional schedule. They're just refusing to 437 00:22:57,560 --> 00:23:03,320 Speaker 1: tell passengers in advance. That's incredible and also the pilot 438 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:06,320 Speaker 1: who are there are clearly super overworked. The staff that's 439 00:23:06,359 --> 00:23:11,000 Speaker 1: there is super overworked. Instead canceling flights at the last minute, 440 00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:13,080 Speaker 1: the industry acts like it can get away with this. 441 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:16,600 Speaker 1: They're just committing fraud. They know they don't have the staff, 442 00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:18,000 Speaker 1: they know they don't have the planes, they know they 443 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:19,800 Speaker 1: don't have these flights, and people show up to the 444 00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:21,760 Speaker 1: airport and it's like, oh, by the way, there is 445 00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:27,000 Speaker 1: no flight. What Because it usually does. A wave of 446 00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:29,920 Speaker 1: mergers has left just a handful of huge, powerful airlines. 447 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:33,240 Speaker 1: They charge higher prices for worse services, pileon fees, and 448 00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:36,520 Speaker 1: ignore regulations they don't like. In twenty twenty one, airlines 449 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:39,719 Speaker 1: refuse to return ten billion dollars to customers for canceled 450 00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:43,159 Speaker 1: flights despite rules requiring refunds. The finest air crews in 451 00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:46,320 Speaker 1: the world belong to the United States. It's the airline 452 00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:49,959 Speaker 1: personnel in the suites, the corporate suites. They don't give 453 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:52,840 Speaker 1: a fig about their customers. The FAA is supposed to 454 00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:55,560 Speaker 1: hold airlines accountable, but experts say it's one of the 455 00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:59,240 Speaker 1: agencies most captured by corporate power. For example, the FAA 456 00:23:59,280 --> 00:24:02,200 Speaker 1: has let airlines move most airplane maintenance to non certified 457 00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:05,320 Speaker 1: mechanics outside of the US. How does that make you 458 00:24:05,359 --> 00:24:08,359 Speaker 1: feel the cut costs. There's no transparency on the critical 459 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:11,440 Speaker 1: maintenance and repairs outsourced El Salvador, Brazil and China, often 460 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:14,000 Speaker 1: under far lest stringin oversight. The FAA also still allows 461 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:16,919 Speaker 1: airlines to charge pack Jesus Christ. That's terrible parents a 462 00:24:16,920 --> 00:24:19,919 Speaker 1: fee to be seated next to their young children. Transportation 463 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:22,880 Speaker 1: Secretary Pete budaj Edge, who oversees the FAA, has done 464 00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:26,040 Speaker 1: little to address these issues or the cancelations crisis. After 465 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:29,199 Speaker 1: advocates raised concerns, budhaj Edge decided to meet privately with 466 00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:32,040 Speaker 1: airline CEOs and politely told them to do better. I'll 467 00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:34,119 Speaker 1: let to know that this is a moment when we 468 00:24:34,119 --> 00:24:36,919 Speaker 1: were really counting on them to deliver reliably for the 469 00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:40,200 Speaker 1: traveling public. The very next day, his own flight was canceled. 470 00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:46,520 Speaker 1: Neoliberalism one oh one, corporatism one oh one. I went 471 00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:49,920 Speaker 1: and talked to these executives and I said, good sir, 472 00:24:51,040 --> 00:24:54,000 Speaker 1: please do a good job. I would really appreciate that. 473 00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:57,800 Speaker 1: Thank you. We're relying on you, We're depending on you. 474 00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:01,720 Speaker 1: We'll see you. That's it. That's all. You got. The 475 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:03,600 Speaker 1: answer is yes. It's just like that. Remember Hillary in 476 00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:06,800 Speaker 1: the debate famously twenty sixteen, I went to Wall Street 477 00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:09,320 Speaker 1: and I told them to cut it out. I was 478 00:25:09,359 --> 00:25:10,959 Speaker 1: right before the crash. It's like, okay, well, how did 479 00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:13,280 Speaker 1: that approach work? Maybe you needed to do something different 480 00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:15,200 Speaker 1: and use the force of law, because just saying caught 481 00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:20,320 Speaker 1: it out is not enough. The Biden administration has to 482 00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:23,120 Speaker 1: take action and show that government is working. It's been 483 00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:25,439 Speaker 1: done before, like in two thousand and nine, when airlines 484 00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:28,280 Speaker 1: were routinely keeping passengers stuck on the tarmac for hours. 485 00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:31,800 Speaker 1: The Transportation Department barred the practice, then hit American airlines 486 00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:34,040 Speaker 1: with a nine hundred thousand dollars fine for keeping over 487 00:25:34,119 --> 00:25:37,359 Speaker 1: six hundred passengers on a tarmac for over three hours long. 488 00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:41,120 Speaker 1: Tarmac delays have dropped dramatically since. Secretary Buddha Jedge could 489 00:25:41,119 --> 00:25:43,760 Speaker 1: similarly threaten to levy hundreds of thousands of dollars in 490 00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:47,360 Speaker 1: fines on airlines for every canceled flight they knew had 491 00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:50,600 Speaker 1: little chance of flying. This is fraud. Boda Jedge needs 492 00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:53,400 Speaker 1: to act in the public's interest immediately. The four Americans 493 00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:56,439 Speaker 1: travel plans are destroyed by the CREED of airline monopolies. 494 00:25:57,359 --> 00:25:59,480 Speaker 1: By the way, you know who released a detailed plan saying, Hey, 495 00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:01,720 Speaker 1: this is how we're gonna go after the airlines and 496 00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:04,919 Speaker 1: how we're gonna correct their behavior. Bernie. He released the 497 00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:08,120 Speaker 1: detailed plans. You find you're fined this much for this 498 00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:11,479 Speaker 1: and that much for that, and wrote it all up, 499 00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:16,360 Speaker 1: released it, and of course crickets in response, and Secretary 500 00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:20,879 Speaker 1: Pete is doing Dicky McGee's acts. So as per usual 501 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:23,639 Speaker 1: is unfolding just as we all thought it would in 502 00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:28,439 Speaker 1: a broken, rotten system. And just look at look at 503 00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:32,119 Speaker 1: the way it works, man, Like the airlines got this 504 00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:34,800 Speaker 1: giant bail out. There were strings attached, they just ignored 505 00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:37,000 Speaker 1: the strings attached, did what they wanted, and now they're 506 00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:39,159 Speaker 1: committing fraud to the general public as they're delivering a 507 00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:44,600 Speaker 1: worse product. The corporate stranglehold over this country is astonishing, 508 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:48,200 Speaker 1: and they have some fucking nerve. And what we need 509 00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:50,600 Speaker 1: is a new FDR to get them back in line 510 00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:52,240 Speaker 1: and to get them to do the job that they're 511 00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:55,240 Speaker 1: supposed to do, because right now, I've never seen anything 512 00:26:55,240 --> 00:27:01,760 Speaker 1: more egregious than this. Hi, Similian Alvarez, I'm the editor 513 00:27:01,760 --> 00:27:04,040 Speaker 1: in chief of the Real news network and host of 514 00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:07,560 Speaker 1: the podcast Working People and this is the art of 515 00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:11,800 Speaker 1: class war. On breaking points, We've been hearing the same 516 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:15,440 Speaker 1: phrase for some time now, No one wants to work anymore. 517 00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:20,480 Speaker 1: This time last year, mainstream media devoted breathless coverage and 518 00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:26,080 Speaker 1: endless airtime to a ghoulish conga line of business owners, 519 00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:31,560 Speaker 1: conservative politicians, and Chamber of commerce bootleckuers all coming to 520 00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:34,879 Speaker 1: make baseless claims about how millions of people had just 521 00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:39,160 Speaker 1: decided to be professional couch potatoes, and how workers today 522 00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:42,160 Speaker 1: just don't have that can do work ethic that they 523 00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:45,360 Speaker 1: did back in the good old days. The no one 524 00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:49,200 Speaker 1: wants to work narrative was an extremely lazy and convenient 525 00:27:49,280 --> 00:27:52,600 Speaker 1: one for the business class and politicians to push at 526 00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:55,879 Speaker 1: a time when workers who had already been battered by 527 00:27:55,920 --> 00:28:00,320 Speaker 1: a pandemic, a recession, and decades of stagnant wage in 528 00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:05,159 Speaker 1: sky high inequality were finally standing up for themselves, quitting 529 00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:10,720 Speaker 1: in record numbers, going on strike, unionizing, and just refusing 530 00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:13,879 Speaker 1: to take crappy jobs where they knew they would be 531 00:28:13,920 --> 00:28:19,680 Speaker 1: treated poorly. And that narrative was regurgitated in state legislatures 532 00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:24,960 Speaker 1: and used to justify terminating pandemic era social safety provisions 533 00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:29,120 Speaker 1: that had for a small, all too brief time, lifted 534 00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:33,199 Speaker 1: millions out of poverty. The order giving class could not 535 00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:37,440 Speaker 1: let that continue, so they worked overtime to kill it, 536 00:28:38,280 --> 00:28:41,720 Speaker 1: because for a moment, it revealed the dark truth at 537 00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:46,120 Speaker 1: the heart of the whole capitalist enterprise, that this system 538 00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:49,680 Speaker 1: needs an endless supply of workers who can be made 539 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:54,280 Speaker 1: desperate enough to be economically coerced into working at the 540 00:28:54,320 --> 00:28:59,880 Speaker 1: bare minimum of dignity and security. And it also revealed 541 00:28:59,880 --> 00:29:02,880 Speaker 1: that if working people do have a modicum of security 542 00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:07,160 Speaker 1: with necessary public aids supporting them, they're going to do 543 00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:11,000 Speaker 1: what they never felt they could when their survival depended 544 00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:15,080 Speaker 1: on them staying quiet. They're going to push back. And 545 00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:19,920 Speaker 1: that is exactly what workers did. We took one tiny 546 00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:23,280 Speaker 1: step in that direction and all of these rich dick 547 00:29:23,360 --> 00:29:27,720 Speaker 1: politicians and their business buddies started flipping out. So they 548 00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:32,320 Speaker 1: had to manufacture some sort of narrative to justify pushing 549 00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:37,160 Speaker 1: working people back into the sewers, ripping away public aid, 550 00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:43,880 Speaker 1: squashing the budding new unionization movement, jacking up prices on everything, 551 00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:48,600 Speaker 1: et cetera, et cetera. It was convenient for business owners 552 00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:53,280 Speaker 1: and corporate politicians to scapegoat workers as the problem, instead 553 00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:58,120 Speaker 1: of asking themselves why workers were refusing to accept their 554 00:29:58,160 --> 00:30:03,360 Speaker 1: low pay. They're degrading treatment, the unpredictable schedules, the lack 555 00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:07,680 Speaker 1: of opportunities for stability and advancement, and so on. It 556 00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:12,640 Speaker 1: was also easy to pathologize millions of workers and to 557 00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:16,320 Speaker 1: speak on their behalf when workers themselves were never in 558 00:30:16,400 --> 00:30:19,320 Speaker 1: the damn room and given a chance to talk back. 559 00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:23,520 Speaker 1: And we all know how the corporate media, much like 560 00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:28,040 Speaker 1: the elite political and business establishments, has no qualms about 561 00:30:28,120 --> 00:30:32,320 Speaker 1: shutting workers out. Rather than workers having an actual seat 562 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:36,120 Speaker 1: at the table, the union busters at Starbucks literally have 563 00:30:36,240 --> 00:30:39,680 Speaker 1: an empty chair at their corporate meetings that's supposed to 564 00:30:39,760 --> 00:30:44,520 Speaker 1: represent the baristas whose rights they are currently violating. You 565 00:30:44,600 --> 00:30:48,280 Speaker 1: really could not make up a better metaphor for how 566 00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:51,160 Speaker 1: the people at the top of our economic hierarchy see 567 00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:55,360 Speaker 1: the rest of us. And because workers are completely ignored 568 00:30:55,960 --> 00:31:00,440 Speaker 1: or at best reduced to tiny sound bites, it's easy 569 00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:04,800 Speaker 1: to take a diverse and infinitely complex working class and 570 00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:09,720 Speaker 1: boil it down to demeaning and offensive and untrue stereotypes. 571 00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:13,880 Speaker 1: But when you actually listen to workers, you see very 572 00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:17,360 Speaker 1: quickly that the reality in workplaces around the country looks 573 00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:21,800 Speaker 1: much different than what bosses and boss loving pundits depict 574 00:31:22,200 --> 00:31:26,960 Speaker 1: in their self serving op eds and media appearances. If you, 575 00:31:27,640 --> 00:31:32,000 Speaker 1: like me, have been relentlessly bombarded by these corporate media 576 00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:35,200 Speaker 1: reports that only tell the boss's side of the story, 577 00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:38,960 Speaker 1: you might reasonably think that the job market is just 578 00:31:39,200 --> 00:31:44,040 Speaker 1: a hopeless wasteland of unanswered help wanted signs, and lazy 579 00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:47,239 Speaker 1: good for nothings who don't appreciate the value of an 580 00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:51,680 Speaker 1: honest day's work. Of course, the most obvious problem with 581 00:31:51,720 --> 00:31:54,840 Speaker 1: this framing is it completely ignores the millions and millions 582 00:31:54,840 --> 00:31:58,320 Speaker 1: of people who are working and have been saying out 583 00:31:58,360 --> 00:32:01,760 Speaker 1: loud and clearly, or anyone who is willing to listen, 584 00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:07,320 Speaker 1: that the problem is coming from inside the house. For example, 585 00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:12,000 Speaker 1: as someone who interviews workers for a living, one of 586 00:32:12,040 --> 00:32:16,160 Speaker 1: the most consistent complaints that I've heard from workers across 587 00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:21,320 Speaker 1: sectors is that cost cutting, profit motivated decisions handed down 588 00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:26,560 Speaker 1: from management have created a crisis of deliberate understaffing and 589 00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:32,360 Speaker 1: unpredictable staffing that is running workers into the ground, prompting 590 00:32:32,360 --> 00:32:35,640 Speaker 1: many to leave, and making it harder for businesses to 591 00:32:35,760 --> 00:32:41,959 Speaker 1: recruit and retain new staff. Recently, on my podcast Working People, 592 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:46,080 Speaker 1: I spoke with Kenya Slaughter about the ridiculous conditions that 593 00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:50,520 Speaker 1: dollar store workers like herself labor under on a daily basis. 594 00:32:51,280 --> 00:32:55,400 Speaker 1: And as Kenya describes, during the pandemic and now with inflation, 595 00:32:56,160 --> 00:32:59,160 Speaker 1: people are obviously looking to save money wherever they can, 596 00:32:59,760 --> 00:33:03,600 Speaker 1: which which is why you've seen dollar stores like Dollar General, 597 00:33:04,080 --> 00:33:08,800 Speaker 1: Dollar Tree, and Family Dollar popping up everywhere. And these 598 00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:13,040 Speaker 1: companies know what they're doing. They are targeting food deserts 599 00:33:13,080 --> 00:33:16,720 Speaker 1: and low income areas where residents may have no other good, 600 00:33:17,320 --> 00:33:23,120 Speaker 1: close options for buying cheap groceries and household necessities. That 601 00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:25,160 Speaker 1: also means that a lot of the stores are in 602 00:33:25,280 --> 00:33:28,760 Speaker 1: areas with higher levels of crime. And this is why 603 00:33:28,800 --> 00:33:31,560 Speaker 1: it was so shocking for me to hear. Can you 604 00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:37,560 Speaker 1: describe Dollar General's corporate cost cutting strategy of deliberately understaffing 605 00:33:37,600 --> 00:33:44,280 Speaker 1: their stores, leaving workers overwhelmed, vulnerable, alone, and at risk. 606 00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:48,960 Speaker 1: Take a listen, Dollar General is still doing the same things. 607 00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:53,400 Speaker 1: People are still working alone. The store is in a 608 00:33:54,040 --> 00:33:58,560 Speaker 1: high valume, high crime area. They're strategically placed. They're always 609 00:33:58,560 --> 00:34:01,840 Speaker 1: in food deserts throughout the States. It's not just Louisiana. 610 00:34:01,840 --> 00:34:06,080 Speaker 1: It's all over so we all face the same problems 611 00:34:06,160 --> 00:34:11,399 Speaker 1: with the stores in the high crime areas, so there's 612 00:34:11,400 --> 00:34:13,879 Speaker 1: always the potential risk for someone, you know, to come 613 00:34:13,920 --> 00:34:17,600 Speaker 1: in and cut up. We have everything from an excuse me, 614 00:34:17,680 --> 00:34:19,600 Speaker 1: and if we need to take this part out, we can, 615 00:34:20,160 --> 00:34:23,160 Speaker 1: But we have everything from people coming in the store 616 00:34:23,440 --> 00:34:28,080 Speaker 1: actually using the restroom like number two in the store, 617 00:34:28,480 --> 00:34:30,879 Speaker 1: in the backstock room like that just happened a couple 618 00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:33,319 Speaker 1: of weeks ago. We got a guy on camera who 619 00:34:33,360 --> 00:34:36,200 Speaker 1: not only goes in our backstock room and does that, 620 00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:38,520 Speaker 1: but then he leaves the stock room and commenced to 621 00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:43,080 Speaker 1: stealing and leaves the store with several items. Now, during 622 00:34:43,120 --> 00:34:46,600 Speaker 1: this time, there were two employees in the store, which 623 00:34:46,640 --> 00:34:49,960 Speaker 1: is the norm, but one was stocking and one was 624 00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:52,680 Speaker 1: on the register with a line, so no one, you know, 625 00:34:52,840 --> 00:34:55,440 Speaker 1: sees him because we're trying to get so much done. 626 00:34:55,600 --> 00:34:58,319 Speaker 1: That's one of my main concerns with Dollar General. If 627 00:34:58,360 --> 00:35:01,560 Speaker 1: we could be a little bit better staffed. You know, 628 00:35:01,719 --> 00:35:04,400 Speaker 1: I'm not even going to stretch and say security security 629 00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:06,600 Speaker 1: is a stretch. They would have to pay them, and 630 00:35:06,800 --> 00:35:09,280 Speaker 1: payment seems to be an issue. But if you could 631 00:35:09,320 --> 00:35:12,759 Speaker 1: just pay more employees, give us more hours, so that 632 00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:17,520 Speaker 1: we could have four people on the floor three minimum 633 00:35:17,560 --> 00:35:19,719 Speaker 1: at all times. That way, no one ever has to 634 00:35:19,760 --> 00:35:22,600 Speaker 1: be on the register alone. They would always have back up. 635 00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:27,600 Speaker 1: Someone could always be constantly stocking, and then the third 636 00:35:27,640 --> 00:35:30,000 Speaker 1: person can float. They can help between backing up the 637 00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:33,040 Speaker 1: registers and helping stock and helping customers on the floor. 638 00:35:33,560 --> 00:35:35,880 Speaker 1: No one should ever have to be alone. Being alone 639 00:35:35,880 --> 00:35:38,240 Speaker 1: in the store is a hazard. I had my boss 640 00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:41,480 Speaker 1: fall out this year. She literally passed out in the 641 00:35:41,520 --> 00:35:44,360 Speaker 1: store and had to be taken from the ambulance. She 642 00:35:44,480 --> 00:35:46,560 Speaker 1: had some health issues and she was in the store 643 00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:52,399 Speaker 1: alone because we don't have the man hours to give 644 00:35:52,440 --> 00:35:55,320 Speaker 1: people the shifts that are required to run the store 645 00:35:55,400 --> 00:36:00,360 Speaker 1: smoothly quick math max. My store requires ninety one hours 646 00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:04,200 Speaker 1: to operate with just one person on the cast register 647 00:36:04,600 --> 00:36:07,640 Speaker 1: from Sunday to Sunday. Okay, So that's ninety one hours 648 00:36:07,680 --> 00:36:10,400 Speaker 1: just for somebody, anybody during any shift to be on 649 00:36:10,480 --> 00:36:13,839 Speaker 1: the register. If we're only allott at one hundred and 650 00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:17,799 Speaker 1: thirty five hours, one hundred and forty hours, somebody's going 651 00:36:17,880 --> 00:36:20,160 Speaker 1: to come up short somewhere. Someone's always going to be 652 00:36:20,200 --> 00:36:23,680 Speaker 1: alone at some point in time. The bare minimum should 653 00:36:23,719 --> 00:36:26,800 Speaker 1: be one hundred and eighty hours. That way, two people 654 00:36:26,920 --> 00:36:29,719 Speaker 1: can be in the store at all times. Think of 655 00:36:29,800 --> 00:36:32,520 Speaker 1: Kenya the next time you hear someone saying that no 656 00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:36,640 Speaker 1: one wants to work anymore these days. She and her 657 00:36:36,719 --> 00:36:40,600 Speaker 1: co workers are begging Dollar General for more hours and 658 00:36:40,680 --> 00:36:45,120 Speaker 1: more staff, which the billion dollar company can certainly afford. 659 00:36:46,080 --> 00:36:49,120 Speaker 1: But companies like Dollar General are run by people with 660 00:36:49,280 --> 00:36:55,240 Speaker 1: business degrees, sitting in air conditioned corporate headquarters somewhere, making 661 00:36:55,360 --> 00:36:59,040 Speaker 1: top down managerial decisions that look great on a spreadsheet, 662 00:36:59,120 --> 00:37:03,000 Speaker 1: but look very for the workers who make their business run. 663 00:37:04,120 --> 00:37:07,279 Speaker 1: Now that's just one example, but you know, in a 664 00:37:07,360 --> 00:37:11,840 Speaker 1: deeply unsettling way, I started to realize how familiar the 665 00:37:11,880 --> 00:37:17,080 Speaker 1: situation that Kenya was describing to me sounded. Here, for instance, 666 00:37:17,320 --> 00:37:19,080 Speaker 1: is a clip from an interview I did at The 667 00:37:19,120 --> 00:37:23,440 Speaker 1: Real News with Karen, an education support professional who has 668 00:37:23,520 --> 00:37:27,400 Speaker 1: worked in the Minneapolis school district for six years. In 669 00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:31,080 Speaker 1: March of this year, forty five hundred educators with the 670 00:37:31,080 --> 00:37:37,000 Speaker 1: Minneapolis Federation of Teachers went on strike, demanding smaller class sizes, 671 00:37:37,560 --> 00:37:42,200 Speaker 1: better pay and benefits, more mental health resources for students, 672 00:37:42,239 --> 00:37:46,840 Speaker 1: and increased workforce diversity. Listen to the first thing that 673 00:37:46,960 --> 00:37:50,040 Speaker 1: Karen notes when I asked her to describe the situation 674 00:37:50,239 --> 00:37:54,080 Speaker 1: she and her fellow educators have been facing during and 675 00:37:54,120 --> 00:37:58,319 Speaker 1: even before the pandemic. One thing that I've seen throughout 676 00:37:58,480 --> 00:38:02,479 Speaker 1: my six years here is that we're chronically understaffed. That's 677 00:38:02,520 --> 00:38:06,960 Speaker 1: been true the entire time I've been here. There are 678 00:38:07,320 --> 00:38:12,480 Speaker 1: hundreds of ESP openings where we've lost tons and tons 679 00:38:12,480 --> 00:38:15,279 Speaker 1: of teachers over the last two years, but there were 680 00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:21,120 Speaker 1: always openings. I was in a position I worked for 681 00:38:21,160 --> 00:38:27,759 Speaker 1: the EBD program, which is emotional behavioral So there were 682 00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:30,439 Speaker 1: supposed to be three of me and there was just one. 683 00:38:31,080 --> 00:38:35,799 Speaker 1: And that was just one part of our program at 684 00:38:35,800 --> 00:38:40,440 Speaker 1: that school, So that meant that I didn't have time 685 00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:44,560 Speaker 1: to address all of the kids that I was supposed 686 00:38:44,600 --> 00:38:48,920 Speaker 1: to be working with. I never knew what my schedule 687 00:38:49,040 --> 00:38:51,799 Speaker 1: was going to be on a daily basis because it 688 00:38:51,880 --> 00:38:55,120 Speaker 1: was just putting out fires, putting out fires, putting out fires, 689 00:38:55,760 --> 00:39:00,799 Speaker 1: and it created dangerous, actual dangerous conditions. I have a 690 00:39:00,800 --> 00:39:05,760 Speaker 1: little bit of PTSD from that job because at least 691 00:39:05,840 --> 00:39:10,359 Speaker 1: every two weeks I was put in situations where I 692 00:39:10,400 --> 00:39:14,640 Speaker 1: was breaking up fights where I could have gotten very hurt. 693 00:39:15,280 --> 00:39:19,800 Speaker 1: And I know other ESPs that have gotten very hurt 694 00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:25,200 Speaker 1: doing those jobs. If there were more ESPs, more seas 695 00:39:25,880 --> 00:39:29,040 Speaker 1: available to help do that work, we wouldn't have been 696 00:39:29,080 --> 00:39:32,360 Speaker 1: in those dangerous conditions. And that was before the pandemic. 697 00:39:33,120 --> 00:39:39,680 Speaker 1: And it saves the district money to have those positions 698 00:39:39,760 --> 00:39:43,480 Speaker 1: unfilled because that's a position that they don't have to 699 00:39:43,480 --> 00:39:48,040 Speaker 1: pay money for, so there's not a lot of incentive 700 00:39:48,120 --> 00:39:52,200 Speaker 1: for them to go out and recruit people. Now, let's 701 00:39:52,200 --> 00:39:56,440 Speaker 1: move over to healthcare. Last year, over seven hundred nurses 702 00:39:56,440 --> 00:40:00,920 Speaker 1: at Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcestern, Massachusetts, way the longest 703 00:40:01,040 --> 00:40:04,800 Speaker 1: nurses strike in the state's history, and they were striking 704 00:40:04,840 --> 00:40:09,400 Speaker 1: against Tenant Healthcare, the Dallas based investor own healthcare giant 705 00:40:09,760 --> 00:40:13,719 Speaker 1: that owns Saint Vincent Hospital. At the center of the 706 00:40:13,800 --> 00:40:19,280 Speaker 1: strike were workers concerns about working conditions and staffing, specifically 707 00:40:19,440 --> 00:40:23,880 Speaker 1: the unmanageable nurse to patient ratio that nurses represented by 708 00:40:23,920 --> 00:40:28,560 Speaker 1: the Massachusetts Nurses Association say make it difficult to provide 709 00:40:29,040 --> 00:40:32,960 Speaker 1: safe and sufficient care to every patient, which every nurse 710 00:40:33,040 --> 00:40:36,799 Speaker 1: wants to do. That is their job. And over at 711 00:40:36,800 --> 00:40:40,120 Speaker 1: the Real News, we recently published a really important oral 712 00:40:40,239 --> 00:40:43,400 Speaker 1: history of the strike told by the people who lived it. 713 00:40:44,360 --> 00:40:47,800 Speaker 1: Listen to this clip with Julie Pinkham, the executive director 714 00:40:47,880 --> 00:40:51,600 Speaker 1: for the Massachusetts Nurses Association, and see if what she 715 00:40:51,719 --> 00:40:55,120 Speaker 1: says sounds familiar. It's not just Massachusetts, it's not just 716 00:40:55,160 --> 00:40:57,720 Speaker 1: Saint Vincent. It's everywhere. We're hearing the issue of nurses 717 00:40:57,760 --> 00:41:01,160 Speaker 1: facing staffing issues. We have this justin I'm staffing, and 718 00:41:01,200 --> 00:41:04,680 Speaker 1: there's this casualization of the workforce where you want everybody 719 00:41:04,840 --> 00:41:08,239 Speaker 1: sort of part time or pretty so you can push 720 00:41:08,239 --> 00:41:10,000 Speaker 1: them into a slot as you need it, but not 721 00:41:10,080 --> 00:41:13,319 Speaker 1: otherwise there whereas previously you would have a lot more 722 00:41:13,360 --> 00:41:16,200 Speaker 1: full timers, which gave you the luxury of continuity at 723 00:41:16,200 --> 00:41:18,800 Speaker 1: the bedside. Generally, I always find that management tends to 724 00:41:18,880 --> 00:41:22,719 Speaker 1: use the word flexibility, and the converse of flexibility for 725 00:41:22,800 --> 00:41:26,920 Speaker 1: management usually is control. We want to the control of 726 00:41:27,000 --> 00:41:30,040 Speaker 1: determining when and if something happens. But ultimately, it's the 727 00:41:30,120 --> 00:41:32,160 Speaker 1: nurse that's taking care of the patient, and it's him 728 00:41:32,280 --> 00:41:35,160 Speaker 1: or her that's licenses on the line and their decision making, 729 00:41:35,840 --> 00:41:38,520 Speaker 1: and they really are the experts right there to know 730 00:41:38,560 --> 00:41:41,719 Speaker 1: whether or not they can achieve the outcomes that they 731 00:41:41,760 --> 00:41:44,319 Speaker 1: need to with the patient population based on how sick 732 00:41:44,360 --> 00:41:47,160 Speaker 1: they are and how much resources they need of each 733 00:41:47,200 --> 00:41:52,120 Speaker 1: other to make that happen. Management would like to make 734 00:41:52,160 --> 00:41:55,200 Speaker 1: it as slim and as they can because it's resources 735 00:41:55,280 --> 00:41:58,640 Speaker 1: means more pay Having people staffing, you know, is more 736 00:41:58,680 --> 00:42:01,200 Speaker 1: money out of their pocket. But at the end of 737 00:42:01,239 --> 00:42:04,279 Speaker 1: the day, it's the difference between patients doing well and 738 00:42:04,320 --> 00:42:09,120 Speaker 1: not doing well. Listen, this is not an isolated issue. 739 00:42:09,360 --> 00:42:14,480 Speaker 1: Understaffing and unpredictable staffing is a cost cutting, labor disciplining 740 00:42:14,600 --> 00:42:20,400 Speaker 1: plague that is affecting workers all over the country in retail, education, 741 00:42:21,040 --> 00:42:26,759 Speaker 1: service work, healthcare, and even in manufacturing and logistics. I mean, 742 00:42:26,760 --> 00:42:31,160 Speaker 1: we've been hearing constant reports about supply chain issues caused 743 00:42:31,480 --> 00:42:35,920 Speaker 1: by the war in Ukraine, the pandemic, extreme weather events 744 00:42:35,960 --> 00:42:40,520 Speaker 1: exacerbated by climate change, and of course these world events 745 00:42:40,560 --> 00:42:44,680 Speaker 1: have caused massive disruptions. But if you talk to folks 746 00:42:44,760 --> 00:42:49,320 Speaker 1: working on the railroads, for instance, particularly in the freight service, 747 00:42:50,120 --> 00:42:54,440 Speaker 1: you'll hear how corporate greed and cost cutting profit juicing 748 00:42:54,480 --> 00:42:58,560 Speaker 1: measures handed down from corporate executives like Katie Farmer and 749 00:42:58,680 --> 00:43:02,720 Speaker 1: warm Buffett have brought the railroads to a grinding halt. 750 00:43:03,920 --> 00:43:06,520 Speaker 1: That's the supply chain crisis that no one is talking 751 00:43:06,520 --> 00:43:09,439 Speaker 1: about right now, and a lot of it comes down 752 00:43:09,560 --> 00:43:14,759 Speaker 1: to deliberate and chronic understaffing. I mean, if you live 753 00:43:14,920 --> 00:43:18,040 Speaker 1: near a rail line, you may have noticed that the 754 00:43:18,080 --> 00:43:21,960 Speaker 1: freight trains have been getting longer and heavier over the years, 755 00:43:22,680 --> 00:43:25,960 Speaker 1: and that's not your imagination, they actually have. What you 756 00:43:26,080 --> 00:43:29,000 Speaker 1: may not know, though, is that those trains used to 757 00:43:29,040 --> 00:43:32,239 Speaker 1: have crews of like four or five people working them. 758 00:43:32,719 --> 00:43:37,279 Speaker 1: But over the years, long before the pandemic, companies like 759 00:43:37,360 --> 00:43:41,080 Speaker 1: BNSF Railway and Union Pacific have done the same thing 760 00:43:41,160 --> 00:43:45,799 Speaker 1: that hospitals and schools and dollar stores have done. They 761 00:43:45,960 --> 00:43:51,280 Speaker 1: piled more work onto fewer people, forcing workers to adhere 762 00:43:51,320 --> 00:43:57,839 Speaker 1: to impossibly brutal schedules, using draconian attendance policies, reducing those 763 00:43:57,920 --> 00:44:02,400 Speaker 1: train crews down to two workers, and as we speak, 764 00:44:02,880 --> 00:44:05,600 Speaker 1: they are trying to achieve their long desired goal of 765 00:44:05,680 --> 00:44:11,239 Speaker 1: having just one person operate those mile long trains. The 766 00:44:11,320 --> 00:44:15,200 Speaker 1: railroad employees and former employees that I talked to keep 767 00:44:15,239 --> 00:44:19,359 Speaker 1: telling me that workers are leaving in record numbers, that 768 00:44:19,400 --> 00:44:22,680 Speaker 1: the supply chain is a mess, and no one in 769 00:44:22,760 --> 00:44:26,120 Speaker 1: these companies is being held accountable, no one at the top. 770 00:44:26,160 --> 00:44:31,200 Speaker 1: At least. Here's Ron Caminco, an Amtrak engineer in Reno, 771 00:44:31,239 --> 00:44:35,840 Speaker 1: who is currently serving as General Secretary of Railroad Workers United. 772 00:44:36,360 --> 00:44:39,239 Speaker 1: In an interview we published at The Real News in May, 773 00:44:39,840 --> 00:44:43,920 Speaker 1: provement the railroads are having a hell of a time 774 00:44:44,960 --> 00:44:49,279 Speaker 1: recruiting new employees and retaining the ones they have. But 775 00:44:49,480 --> 00:44:53,239 Speaker 1: once again, what we see is the industry which is 776 00:44:53,280 --> 00:44:56,160 Speaker 1: basically saying, to hell with the unions. You're going to 777 00:44:56,200 --> 00:44:59,239 Speaker 1: pay bigger copays and deductibles in healthcare, We're going to 778 00:44:59,280 --> 00:45:02,200 Speaker 1: get rid of the doctor. We want massive changes in 779 00:45:02,320 --> 00:45:06,120 Speaker 1: work rules for all the different crafts. And so this 780 00:45:06,200 --> 00:45:11,759 Speaker 1: is hardly an industry that is serious about retaining and 781 00:45:11,840 --> 00:45:16,440 Speaker 1: recruiting if they're attempting to make our lives worse, and 782 00:45:16,680 --> 00:45:21,440 Speaker 1: anyone coming into the industry is getting this message. In 783 00:45:21,520 --> 00:45:25,200 Speaker 1: the old days, the way the railroads recruited was largely 784 00:45:25,360 --> 00:45:31,080 Speaker 1: through networks of existing employees, sons and daughters, brothers and 785 00:45:31,160 --> 00:45:34,880 Speaker 1: cousins and friends of theirs in the neighborhood and stuff. 786 00:45:35,440 --> 00:45:37,920 Speaker 1: That's how the word got out, and the railroad was 787 00:45:37,920 --> 00:45:40,960 Speaker 1: a good job, so they never really had problems retaining 788 00:45:40,960 --> 00:45:45,480 Speaker 1: and recruiting. Now that they do, they are actually making 789 00:45:45,520 --> 00:45:50,040 Speaker 1: it worse because this network is gone. People are not 790 00:45:50,160 --> 00:45:53,080 Speaker 1: advising their children to get jobs on the railroad. They're 791 00:45:53,080 --> 00:45:56,879 Speaker 1: not advising their friends and neighbors or others that they're 792 00:45:56,920 --> 00:46:01,640 Speaker 1: aware of who need a good job. Myself, in good conscience, 793 00:46:01,680 --> 00:46:04,839 Speaker 1: find it very, very difficult, and for years I advocated 794 00:46:04,920 --> 00:46:07,400 Speaker 1: people go to work on the railroad to take me 795 00:46:07,440 --> 00:46:11,920 Speaker 1: in the freight service. And now I can, in good conscience, 796 00:46:12,040 --> 00:46:16,000 Speaker 1: without the caveat that be prepared for this. This, this, 797 00:46:16,040 --> 00:46:19,160 Speaker 1: and this ad buys a railroad job to anybody, It's 798 00:46:19,160 --> 00:46:22,680 Speaker 1: so sad. Don't give me this. No one wants to 799 00:46:22,760 --> 00:46:26,080 Speaker 1: work crap. If you want people to come work at 800 00:46:26,120 --> 00:46:29,520 Speaker 1: your shitty company and devote their lives to making your 801 00:46:29,600 --> 00:46:34,400 Speaker 1: business run, then stop treating them like this. These are good, 802 00:46:34,880 --> 00:46:38,200 Speaker 1: hard working people trying to make a living for themselves 803 00:46:38,520 --> 00:46:43,239 Speaker 1: and their families. Any employers should count themselves lucky to 804 00:46:43,320 --> 00:46:48,600 Speaker 1: have employees like Kenya Slaughter, Karen Julie Pinkham, and Ron Camonco. 805 00:46:49,880 --> 00:46:54,680 Speaker 1: You are not entitled to our labor. You need us 806 00:46:54,920 --> 00:46:58,560 Speaker 1: to function, which is why you try to keep us 807 00:46:58,600 --> 00:47:02,760 Speaker 1: down and broken and disorganized so that we are forced 808 00:47:02,840 --> 00:47:06,120 Speaker 1: to work with you. And we know that you're scared 809 00:47:06,200 --> 00:47:10,279 Speaker 1: right now that people are waking up and fighting back 810 00:47:10,719 --> 00:47:16,480 Speaker 1: together and you know what you should be. Thank you 811 00:47:16,560 --> 00:47:19,399 Speaker 1: for watching this segment with breaking points, and be sure 812 00:47:19,440 --> 00:47:21,960 Speaker 1: to subscribe to my news outlet, The Real News with 813 00:47:22,080 --> 00:47:25,439 Speaker 1: links in the description. See y'all soon for the next 814 00:47:25,640 --> 00:47:29,480 Speaker 1: edition of the Art of Class War. Take care of yourselves, 815 00:47:29,920 --> 00:47:32,880 Speaker 1: take care of each other, and solidarity forever