July 29, 2021 • 33 mins
Dramos talks about the impact of COVID-19 on the Latino community. He dives into the controversy surrounding the vaccine and how it's tearing through our community. He asks his followers why they decided to get vaccinated, or didn't, and urges listeners to get informed.
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
He said he lived in life as a gringo, where
you question when you fit in every time. You may
say you do this with not that. Yes, oh man,
we are back uh for another addition of life as
a gringo. Uh Man, this might be the most controversial
(00:34):
uh topic that I've covered thus far, and I also
want to preface it by saying it's probably the most
unnecessarily um controversial topic. But hey, here we are. And
of course that topic is vaccines. And I also don't
want to ignore the long history of vaccines when it
(00:55):
comes to people of color. Of course, that's what I'm
speaking to when it comes to this podcasts, and I'll
touch on all that kind of stuff. But man, I
felt it to be super necessary to touch on this
topic because I've been seeing so much kind of like
we all have the back and forth via social media. Um,
you know, the anti vaxers and the baxters. I don't know,
(01:16):
is there a word for the pro vac Are you
a pro vax or is that what they call you?
Whatever it is, there's been so much back and forth
about it, and it's been something that when you look
at the numbers, man, it has just hit our community
so fucking hard, and man, I just want to dive
into a lot of things and listen, you know, I'm
not an expert on this. I'm not a doctor. Um.
(01:39):
I'm just doing as much research as I possibly can
to make informed and educated observations and and give out
the information that I'm finding from the professionals and full disclosure,
you know, I got vaccinated pretty early on. As soon
as it's available to UH people with pre existing conditions,
I went and got it. My parents have gotten it,
my girlfriend has gotten it, and so far, so good.
(02:01):
So I mean, obviously that is going to impact my
point of view, but I'm also trying to be as
fair as possible when I talked about this, and just
so it's out there on the table. I'm not getting
paid to talk about this by any company, pharmaceutical company,
or whatever the case would be. I just thought it
was something that I wanted to kind of address and
dive deep into when it comes to our community and vaccines,
(02:22):
especially just because there seems to be so much back
and forth on it. Now, with that said, let's get
into the part of the show where I do a
little bit more of a deep dive into our current
topic of course, this one being vaccinations. UH. And this
is a segment we call for the people in the back,
the people in the back, back bay a lot for
(02:47):
the people in the people in the back, all right.
So I'll be real as I've been doing research on
this this topic, UM, specifically when it comes to vaccinations
and and COVID UH and the rates amongst the Latinos
and Blacks. There's definitely been some conflicting information I think
(03:10):
from what I gathered, UM, when the whole vaccination rollout started,
Blacks and Latinos were very slow to get on board
with it. UM. But very recently it's been reported in
cities like Philadelphia and in areas of Maryland that high
number of Latinos are getting vaccinated as of late UM,
(03:31):
even in Maryland, if not mistaken, I saw that uh,
the numbers for Latinos getting vaccinated was actually out numbering
white s getting vaccinated. So moving, I guess in the
in the right direction, depending on where you stand on
this particular topic. But like I said when I started
the show, I'm still seeing a lot of back and
forth when it comes to this topic. I'm still seeing
(03:51):
a lot of people pushing against it and and posting
different things to justify, you know, why they feel their
choice to not get vaccinated, did or get vaccinated is
the right one. And listen, you know, I do understand
the history of all of all of this, I mean,
and I'm going to dive into the history of it
a little bit more when we get into our ask
a Good Ango segment, because a couple of people did
(04:13):
bring that up when I put the question out there,
So don't worry, I'm gonna get into all that stuff.
But I do want to kind of tackle this right
now from the angle of just how much destruction COVID
has caused on the Latin community. I mean, it's no
secret that so many people in our community suffer from
pre existing conditions. I mean, things like asthma. I'm included
(04:34):
in that as well. UM, and these are things that
put us at high risk for you know, really having
a bad reaction or god forbid, even death, um, if
we were to contract COVID. And let's kind of dive
into some of the facts as well. So salute America. UM.
They did a really good job of gathering a whole
bunch of different information and statistics and keeping it updated,
(04:57):
actually updated this last week. A lot out of their
information is coming from CDC data, so it is, um,
you know, as factual as one could hope. It's not
some TikTok or fucking Facebook social media here say, um,
some internet troll doing a YouTube video thinking they're fucking scientists. Um.
You know, these are the people who get paid to
do this for a living. That some people might not
(05:19):
believe them, But at the end of the day, this
is kind of all we have right now, I kind
of get a full picture on this. Let's let's talk about, um,
the US population and latinos numbers. When it comes to
US population, So the US population recently rose to eighteen
point five percent latinos, so we make up eighteen point
five percent of the US population. Um. But the article
(05:43):
that I'm reading says that coronavirus is disproportionately sickening latinos.
So let's let's break down some more stats here. Latinos
currently comprised twenty eight point six percent of COVID nineteen
cases in the United States, only second to white to
our fifty point one percent. This is according to CDC
data from July one, so this last week. So even
(06:06):
though we only make up eighteen point five percent of
the entire population. We're actually responsible for twenty eight point
six percent of the COVID nineteen cases that are happening
in the US, which is absolutely fucking crazy. I mean,
it's just it's just terrible. I mean, it even breaks
it down by by states, like certain states are experiencing
really crazy disparities when it comes to COVID cases. So,
(06:29):
Utah is a fourteen percent Latino, but we make up
twenty point two percent of COVID nineteen cases. Oregon only
thirteen percent Latino, but we make up twenty three point
one percent of COVID cases. Washington is a thirteen percent
Latino but making up twenty nine percent of the COVID cases.
California thirty nine point three percent Latino, but makes up
(06:52):
fifty six percent of the COVID cases. Texas is also
having a similar disparity of Latinos make up thirty nine
point seven per cent of the state's population, and we
represent thirty five point eight of the COVID nineteen confirmed
cases and forty six point four percent of the COVID
nineteen confirmed deaths. Man, which is oh, man, that's so
(07:13):
sad to think. I mean, the families that have lost people.
And listen, I'm not trying to bump people out when
I say this, but when you start reading like these statistics,
these percentages, and you realize just how much our community
is really being affected by this, from deaths to cases,
I hope that it makes people really rethink some of
the decisions they are aren't making. I mean, let's just
(07:33):
look at this total deaths by by race, which is
obviously incredibly morbid statistic. But as of July, one hundred
and ten thousand Latinos have died due to COVID nineteen.
The only group that has a higher number of deaths
due to COVID are whites, who made up three hundred
(07:53):
and sixty five thousand, one hundred and eleven deaths. Keep
in mind, though we are only eighteen point five percent
of the population, yet we have the second most death
of any racial group. Now, even outside of of the
actual deaths, and and obviously that's the most important part,
let's just also break it down when it comes to
finances and what it's doing to our community in that aspect.
(08:15):
So I'm reading an NBC News article and obviously they're
recognizing that Latinos were disproportionately hit by covid um and
that our vaccination rates have lagged UH in comparison to
some other groups. They also mentioned that the pandemic has
reversed some economic gains that our community has made from
previous years. Now. They reference a really terrible UH and
(08:39):
and very sad article in Texas where covid basically just
took out an entire family. Right, a thirty five year
old man died. The virus also killed his aunt, his grandfather.
It's just basically ravage his entire family. And what this
means economically, Basically, what they're breaking down is that you know,
as is, the Latin community is already behind our white
(08:59):
counter hearts when it comes to finances and ownership and
our businesses and all these different things as a whole.
And now COVID having ravage our families through death and
and now putting many people into debt and all these
different things, it's just setting us back even further economically.
And listen, I get it. A lot of you guys
gonna be like, well, the history shows us nobody cares
about us, I get it, And why would they care
(09:20):
about us now? Right? Like, That's what you're gonna say,
and I understand it completely, and I'm gonna dive into
a lot of that stuff as a podcast goes on,
but I really just want you to, like, really fully
digest these statistics and these numbers that I'm showing you
right now, because for me, reading the man, it makes
me sick to my stomach, and I wish I could
do more, you know what I mean, Like for me,
the best I can do is just put this information
out there in a organized way that people can can
(09:43):
ingest it, you know. And again I'm not an expert,
but I'm just reading the statistics, I'm reading the stories
from people who have experiences firsthand, and I'm hoping that
maybe it'll have some sort of an impact on some
of you guys who may be holding out, you know.
And on the topic of people talk, you know, well,
it's my body, it's my choice, all that kind of stuff. Sure,
(10:03):
I get it, and you're absolutely right, but there also
is a bit of a problem that I have with
that argument, and that leads us into our next segment.
I'm gonna read a quote that I kind of feel
like kicks down the door for a lot of those
arguments that people have, or at least it should be
making people kind of look themselves in the mirror who
are taking the stance of, you know, their body, their choice,
(10:31):
all right. So for this this week's me hint their
segment where I kind of focus in on a person
who is usually doing good but might be just making
a lot of noise in a certain space depending on
the topic. UM. This week, I got to give it
up to D. L. Hugley who reposted UM this quote. Uh.
He reposted this quote from a professor of medicine and surgery,
Dr Jonathan Rayner UM and Dr Reyner said, if you
(10:54):
are not vaccinated right now in the United States, you
should not go into a bar, you should probably not
eat at a restaurant. And while this should be like yeah, sadly,
a lot of you motherfucker's are not following this simple
kind of guy line like listen, Like I said, it
is your body, your choice. I get that right, and
(11:14):
you truly do have the right to do with it
what you please, but you do not have the right
to unnecessarily put other people at risk in the process.
Like you don't want to get vaccinated, cool, stay the
fuck home. Then why are you in an area where
you're gonna be putting other people's lives at a risk.
And listen, I have people who are close to me
(11:35):
that I'm cool with, whatever it case to be, that
might be unvaccinated and are doing this, and I know
it might seem like I'm coming for your neck, but
let's be real here, Like if you choose to not
want to get vaccinated and you don't want to put
something you don't know in your body shore whatever it
is you want to say, but why go out in
a public place where you possibly contracted or be carrying
it and give it to other people. That's just extremely selfish.
(11:56):
Like you can't have your cake and eat it too.
You have to make a decision. And here you can say, listen,
I'm standing by my body or I'm standing by my
own uh feelings of the not trusting the government. Cool,
I understand all of that kind of stuff. But you
also can't at the same time be like, fuck it,
I'm also gonna be reckless and put myself and others
at risk while taking a stand for myself. Like now,
(12:16):
you can't have it both ways because a lot of
us have taken the proper precautions to be safe when
we're going out there to be safe for our families
and to not bring something home. But because you choose
to not get vaccinated and then also still want to
go grab a drink at a bar, now you're putting
us all at risk, and especially when you think about
people who work in these industries, right, Like, I mean,
(12:37):
I'm a DJ and I have been out and about
as much as I you know, used to be pre pandemic,
but I've DJ a few times and it's something that's
on my mind, like, man, is this gonna be the
one time that somebody got me? You know what I mean?
And I'm vaccinated, like I said earlier the show, but
it's still has a fear of mine and it's just unnecessary,
you know. I'm out there trying to work, just like
the bartenders are, just like the managers are, the bouncers,
(12:57):
all these people, and you're unnecessarily putting all these people
at risk because you're not ready to deal with the
reality of your decisions. Right Like, listen, it is your body,
it is your choice, and you're making a decision. But
every decision has a consequence. And this is sort of
a no brainer when it comes to the consequence of
your decision. You want to stand, you know, on your
(13:18):
on your high horse, on your island where you don't
want to get this vaccine you don't trust it. I
get it, But at the same time that means stay
you're asked on your islands. And if I'm coming across
a little harsh, I apologize. But man, when I'm seeing
all the statistics about death, you know, how many people
don't have their mother. I mean I have family who
I lost the COVID. You know, cousins who lost both
(13:39):
their father and mother, you know at the same time
because of COVID, because one of the young people in
the family brought it back home. And it's like, bro,
I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy being the reason
why your parents are no longer here, or why your
aunt is no longer here, why your cousin is no
longer here, or why somebody else's mother, father, aunt, cousin
isn't here anymore. So that's something we all have to
(14:00):
keep in mind. And with that, let's get to the
fun part of the show. Or today's show is probably
gonna be a bit more of a ship show just
because of like how opinionated a lot of people are
on this and rightfully, so we're all out to have
our opinions here. So this is the asked a gringo
segment of the show that we're gonna get into. Um
a lot of varying opinions here that I got from
my followers, um when I asked them if they were vaccinated,
(14:23):
why or why not? So we're gonna get into this
ship show. But before that, let's take a quick break
and we will be right back as alright, so let's
get into this ship show. That is these responses on
my Instagram right now. So my question again was are
(14:46):
you or are you not vaccinated? And why? So I
got a bunch of different ones. I'm gonna read a
few over here. Okay, So um, let's just start with
some logic right here. At j O j J said
vaccinated so that I can protect myself and others so
that we can finally get out of this thing. Yes,
I agree wholeheartedly on that one, right. I mean, the
(15:06):
sooner we all get to this place of vaccination, the
quicker we can stop with these fucking variants and we
can start getting back to normal life and not this
whole weird like one ft in one ft out thing
that's happening right now, and not to mention the terrible
deaths that we're seeing that are happening at Edgar Underscore,
Duh Underscore Car Underscore guy. He said recently VAX after
(15:28):
a year and a half, let's face it, COVID is
here to stay. It's better to stay safe, and I agree.
I mean, it obviously is not going anywhere. I mean,
it could be the media spinning these things, and I'm
not opposed to thinking that, but it just feels bad.
And it feels bad because it's like nobody seems to
be taking this ship seriously right now. It's like we're
all trying to get back to regular life, which I understand,
but man, that's what makes this whole thing scary is
(15:51):
that I feel like we're not realizing that this whole
thing is. It's here, and it's here to stay unless
we do something about it, all right, And we've got
the other side of things here, I mean at Nick
de la Basse, I'm sorry if I funked up your
Instagram handle over here. Um you said, still don't trust
them or it's we've been America's guinea pigs for far
too long and listen, you're a d percent right in
(16:15):
that commentary and that feeling. I mean, listen, we can
go back to history, right like nineteen thirty two of
the Tuskegee Experiment, you know, which was a study done
on black men purposely gave them syphilis and we're testing
the effects of symphilis on them without their approval and
without their knowledge. Now we can go to Puerto Ricans
(16:35):
and we're talking about the first birth control pill right
where one third of Puerto Rican women were sterilized, many
of them involuntarily. I mean they were preyed upon. They
preyed upon poor women from Puerto Rico who they knew
couldn't fight for themselves, and unknowingly, unknowingly to them, to
the women that were being given this pill, they were
being sterilized one third of them, which is just obviously
(16:59):
absolutely disgusting. So you're right, there is this long history
of these things happening. But with that said, I mean,
it's a vaccine that's available for everyone, right and to me,
while I understand your fear, and and some people might
even have the fear of them maybe switching the you know,
vaccine or something when they go there knowing that they
(17:19):
have a Latin last name. I'd much rather take that
risk than seeing the actual evidence we've seen in front
of us. I mean, like I just talked about the
beginning of the show, we are disproportionately being affected by
this as a community. Like the numbers don't lie, the
deaths don't lie. Like to me, when you look at
those numbers, it's like, Okay, well, the risk of people
dying from COVID is a very real thing. And this
(17:42):
idea of like a historical fear of the government using
us as their guinea pigs. While I understand it, the
odds aren't really in favor of that right now when
you just look at the sheer numbers of people that
are dying from this disease. And I got this was
an interesting one as well. Um at Brunch with Bad
Girls said, uh, the vaccination still isn't even FDA approved,
(18:05):
supposed to be used for emergency use only. And that
is true. It's it's only been approved for emergency use only. Um,
from what I've read about this, this is actually probably
one of the more confusing topics or confusing aspects of
this whole topic. I should say, when you research it
because nobody can really give you a clear reason as
to why it has not been approved. What they basically
(18:27):
say is that the FDA holds itself to like the
highest standards in the world um when it comes to
approval for vaccines, and they're refusing to rush it because
they feel like it might lower the goal standards they've
set for themselves. But with that said, the FDA has
even gone on record and said, although an authorization is
not an FDA approval, the FDA conducted a thorough scientific
(18:50):
evaluation of each of the authorized vaccines and can ensure
the public and medical community that the vaccines meet FDA's
rigorous standards for safety, of activeness, and manufacturing quality. So
while it's not fully approved, they're also saying it went
through all kinds of of of rigorous evaluation. It wasn't
like they just said, fuck it, we're gonna throw out
(19:11):
the first case out there and let's see what happens.
That's just not what happened. It's still had to go
through a process. Now it's still going through the long
process of full on FDA approval. But let's not pretend
like it hasn't gone through some sort of evaluation. All right,
now at m z E two said not vaccinated, I'd
(19:31):
rather be proactive and live healthy. Now, listen, I don't
know you personally. I'm sure you're an incredible person, but
this also just sounds like a really dumb response if
I'm keeping a hunter with you, because a we've seen
we've heard cases of people who are incredibly healthy getting
the virus and dying from it. Right, And let's also
just say, maybe you're a part of the percentage who
wouldn't die from this. Maybe you are so healthy that
(19:52):
your body would fight it off. What about everybody else
that you come into contact with? And I don't mean
to this singling you out like this. I'm sure you again,
you're a great person, but this is like that incredibly
selfish mindset that has gotten us to the place that
we're at right now, that has gotten us to a
hundred thousand people plus from our community dead right now,
(20:14):
not being able to go back to their families because
we thought, well, even if I get it, I can
fight it off. Yeah, but what about grandma? What about you?
What about that person who sat next to at the bar?
What about their family? There's so many things that we
just don't know, and to allow yourself to have a
bit of a selfish viewpoint on this that you're incredibly healthy,
so it's not something you're worried about. It's just detrimental
(20:36):
to us as people. And it really is just the
worst way for any of us to think about things
when it comes to this life. Um and again I
feel bad for kind of singling you out with their man.
We just gotta like take a step back and zoom
out for a second and just think about how a
lot of us and and myself including in different ways,
move in such selfish ways sometimes and and this whole pandemic,
(20:57):
this whole situation that we find ourselves in right now,
like now is is not the time to allow yourself
there to have a selfish mindset. You know, there's too
much at stake. There are too many lives at stake
right now. And I love you, by the way. I'm
sorry for for singing out like that. It just was
the you know, I don't know. I didn't like that
comment at n y seven Underscore said I did because
(21:19):
I heard so many sad stories of people dying. Get
the vaccine. Don't jeopardize your life. I mean, that's logic
right there, like and and I'll be real, I was
like on the fence when I started hearing about the
vaccine and all that kind of stuff. But at the
end of the day, it was like, what's the alternative? Man, Like,
do I want to be nervous about, you know, going
to see my parents or my parents being nervous about
me coming to see them? You know? Like I want
(21:41):
to take whatever precaution I can to protect those around
me and protect anyone that I come into contact with.
Man Like, this is a very real thing. Gold, Look
at the numbers, like people have died. A lot of
people have died. It's very sad at Louis Stavarro six
nine three. No, because I've been good through the drawing month.
I mean, you know, we've all been good until we're
(22:03):
not good, right, Like, we're all good until our numbers
up at the end of the day. Um, And I
would hate for your number to come up a lot
sooner than it has to write, or for unfortunately somebody
in your family, for something like that to happen, you know,
just because you've been good thus far, I don't know, man,
that's just not a smart reason. I challenge you to
kind of rethink your perspective on life a little bit.
(22:26):
At zach Helly, zach Um said, Nope, only two percent
of the population has been vaccinated in South Africa because
our government is crap, And that's something to to think
about as well. So Zach is out of South Africa
and we're so privileged here in the United States that
we can sit here and be like, I don't know
if I want to go to CVS right now and
get vaccinated. Meanwhile, people like him, only to percent the
(22:47):
population in his country have been able to get vaccine
at this point, and we're sitting here having arguments on
the Internet over like somebody's conspiracy TikTok video or whatever.
I'm It's just something to keep in mind. We're incredibly
privileged in this country and we don't even you know,
realize it a lot of times. Alright. So last one,
this was a question for me actually at swaggy Nova
Underscore Snacking asked should the media be trusted regarding vaccinations
(23:13):
information um or vaccine information in premit to day. But
that's a good question, and and listen, even as a
member of media, I still tell you don't believe everything
you see on fucking TV or everything you hear on
the radio or wherever you get your information from. I mean, Ship,
don't believe everything that's in this podcast, Like do your
own research at the end of the day. I mean,
(23:33):
I can tell you without spilling too much t I
worked on radio shows in the past, specifically a political
talk show where they definitely purposely left out other viewpoints
just to kind of fit their narrative. And no, I'm
not talking about the breakfast before people try to cause
up some sort of drama, not talking about breakstlubs before
I got to the breakfast Club. Um. And and they
(23:55):
definitely would purposely leave out information or they would talk
about things on the air, but like they didn't actually
believe it behind the scenes. You know, we've seen this
with Fox News. You know, we've heard so much anti
vaccine rhetoric coming from pretty much everybody on Fox News.
But we're finding out this information that actually Fox News
employees are required to be vaccinated to come back into
(24:16):
the office. So they're just telling people things that get
them ratings, that just get the right people tuning in,
but they actually don't believe that. Ship. So no, you
shouldn't believe everything you see in the media. I mean,
the reality is the unfortunate reality of the world that
we live in today. When it comes to information, you
should be looking in multiple sources to get your news right,
do a deep dive into different outlets. I mean, look
(24:37):
at actual statistics from real credible places like the c
d c UM, you know, actual doctors and ship. I mean,
if you're finding some sort of doubt research the doctor
itself that you're getting this quote from, and that's just
the God's honest truth. Like, no, you shouldn't be just
believed in media because let's be real, CNN, Fox News
doesn't matter if it's conservative or liberal. They're all making
money off of ratings. So the more that they there us,
(25:00):
the more that they have their little breaking news flashing
on there and they tell us what the world is ending,
and we all need to tune in to find out
how to you know, not die from whatever the hell
is going on that they're reporting. They thrive off of
that ship, like that's what they thrive off of them,
So they will blow things up and make them seem
bigger than they actually are just to get us to
stick to that TV screen for a longer period of time. So, um,
(25:21):
should you trust the media completely? No, but I mean
you you should be listening to what experts are telling us,
what doctors who have studied this kind of stuff for
their entire lives are telling us, and also what the
agencies who are in place to give us the proper
information are telling us, like the CDC or the FDA
when they're talking about these vaccines um and and their
(25:42):
effectiveness or their lack of approval and the reasons for that.
You know, these are people that their entire career is
staked upon this information, and that's who we have to trust,
you know, that's the best that we have. Are they
always right? Absolutely not. We've seen it throughout the course
of this whole thing that, just like us, they were
trying to fire out then what's going on too, So
you know, don't expect them to be right the entire time.
(26:03):
And I know it's easy to like, you know, especially
in meme culture, because like that Monique meme running around
right now about doctors and and the information we've been
getting with COVID over the last year. But this is
a new experiences and and they're trying to figure it
all out and get it under wraps. You know, in
real time, and I'll tell you what I'd much right
to listen to. People have uh you know, pledge their
(26:23):
entire life to studying this ship and are still trying
to figure it out. Then some random asshole on the
Internet who thinks because they watch one YouTube video, there
now some sort of like a uh an infectious disease expert.
I mean, let's be real, guys. So no, you probably
shouldn't trust the media completely, but do your own research.
The information is out there if you dig a little bit.
And thank you all so much for participating in that
(26:45):
part of the show where I put out the questions
I do on my Instagram at DJ Dramas. I do
it for every episode. So if you want to be
a part of the show, just sit me up on
there and I'll post it in my stories, uh the
question and I'll read some of your answers or your questions,
um live here on the podcast. Now as we kind
of get out of this episode right here, I know
(27:05):
I've thrown a lot of information at you. Um, I've
been a little bit more volatile, a little bit more
angry in some of my commentary than maybe in past episodes.
I'm gonna try and tie things up in a nice,
neat little bow and maybe a little bit more of
a calming presence. I'll try and bring that to the
podcast as we get into a segment we call conclusion, Stu.
But before that, let's take a quick break and we
(27:26):
will be right back time. All right, So, I know
I was a little bit harsh on certain people and
their commentary when it comes to the vaccine. At the
end of the day, I can never tell you what
you should or shouldn't feel comfortable with, and make sure
(27:47):
that I, you know, am very clear on that. But
what I will say is this, the numbers don't lie.
Our community is being torn apart by this, and you're
talking about a community that has already been the underdog. Right.
We are already statistically more at risk for health issues.
We already statistically don't make much money in comparison to
(28:09):
our white counterparts. We already don't have the savings to
bounce back from COVID, to bounce back from funerals, to
bounce back from whatever expenses come up in our lives.
We statistically speaking, are already at a disadvantage in this country.
So it's important for us to protect ourselves in any
way humanly possible. It's important for us to always give
(28:31):
ourselves a leg up in any way humanly possible, and
that means, in this case, possibly doing something you're not
comfortable with because it's better for the greater good. Because
here's the thing. While I understand your body, your choice, absolutely,
I can never judge you for that. What I do
have to point out what I can judge you for
(28:51):
is just remember you also have to answer for every
decision that you make, and that's a responsibility that we
all have to take on when making any this ission
in this life. We have to understand that there will
be a repercussion for whatever decision we made, whether it's
good or bad. There will be an end result, there
will be a reaction to whatever decision that we've decided
to do, or there will be a responsibility that comes
(29:12):
along with whatever decision we decided to make. And to that,
I say, you can choose to do things however you want,
but also don't be selfish while doing so. That's what
makes this whole experience so unique, is because we're all
so reliant on one another making the right decision in
order for things to get back under control. And that's
the scariest fucking thing about this is putting your own fate,
(29:34):
the fate of your family, in the hands of somebody
else and hoping that they make the right decision. And
this is where I have the problem, because you're making
a decision for yourself, which is beautiful, and you're allowed
to do that, but you're also selfishly not taking other
people into consideration. Because if everybody who decided to not
get the vaccine says I'm not getting the vaccine, but
that means I'm also not gonna leave my house and
interact with people unnecessarily, I'd be cool, no issue with
(29:57):
that whatsoever. But the problem is a lot of you
are still fucking going to the club's still going to
the bars, You're still going to the restaurants and acting
as if nothing happened. And the reality is you might
be healthy, but you might now pass along to somebody else.
You might now pass along to that person and they
pass along to their family ship, you might pass along
to your own loved ones, And that's where you're being selfish.
(30:19):
You're allowed to make a choice for yourself, but you
also can't put other people's health and their lives and
their families lives at risk in doing so, So just
keep that in mind. Also, this whole like talk about like, well,
I don't know what's in the vaccine and I don't
put anything in my body that I don't know. Shut
the funk up, Like y'all don't know what half the
things that are going in your body are. Like the
amount of people I've seen on Instagram who are sitting
(30:41):
there like blowing lines of coke and smoking all kinds
of fucking weird weed from random ass people and are
leaving the bar with some random ass person they just met, Like,
don't forget, I'm a DJ. I've seen some of the
people that y'all leave with at the end of the night,
and a lot of times it ain't pretty, and you
damn well don't know what the funk that person has
been before they got to your as that night. So
(31:01):
let's not sit here and pretend like we're all like
living our lives in this beautiful way where it's like, oh,
I only have natural fruits and berries and enter my
body and I don't do anything that I'm not sure
what's it. No toxins for me, It's all natural from
the from the earth for me, Like, stop, you don't
live life that way. Majority of people don't live life
that way. Majority of people aren't like that crusty granola
(31:21):
type of person who like, is you know, only eating
from the earth things that they planted. Like, unless you're
that person, you can't really say I don't put things
in my body, but I don't know what they are,
like stop using that as an excuse. And damn it,
I just broke my own rule of not getting too
fired up on this conclusions too. I was trying to
end on a com noo and I almost did. I
almost did. But ship, man, I'm just am tired of
(31:41):
seeing people hurting and I'm tired of seeing the demise
uh and so many people's lives just being destroyed for
something that could have been prevented and could be prevented.
If we just get our ship together and stop thinking
about ourselves for once, that's it. That's my own little
p s A. Feel free to disagree with me. We're
all out to have um our own opinion as long
(32:02):
as we're not putting other people's lives at risk in
doing so. Keep that in mind. And with that said, man,
thank you all so much for tuning into this episode
of the podcast. I promised a bit of a light
of episode next week when we air on Tuesday. We'll
mix it up a little bit. Man, We're able to
do a little bit of everything on this show. I'm
just trying to have real conversations. Sometimes those conversations gonna
(32:24):
be fun conversations. Other times, like this one, they might
be a bit heavy. But to me, I just want
to have real, honest conversations about ship that affects us
and in our community. So man, thank you all so
much for tuning in. Follow me on Instagram at dj
dramas Um to keep up with everything on the show
and to be a part of our Good Go section,
and man, I'll catch you on next week. Be safe, man,
(32:46):
make a make a smart decision. If you haven't already,
please pace Life as a Good Goal is a production
of The Michael Podcast Network and I Heart Radio.
He said he lived in life as a gringo, where
you question when you fit in every time. You may
say you do this with not that. Yes, oh man,
we are back uh for another addition of life as
a gringo. Uh Man, this might be the most controversial
(00:34):
uh topic that I've covered thus far, and I also
want to preface it by saying it's probably the most
unnecessarily um controversial topic. But hey, here we are. And
of course that topic is vaccines. And I also don't
want to ignore the long history of vaccines when it
(00:55):
comes to people of color. Of course, that's what I'm
speaking to when it comes to this podcasts, and I'll
touch on all that kind of stuff. But man, I
felt it to be super necessary to touch on this
topic because I've been seeing so much kind of like
we all have the back and forth via social media. Um,
you know, the anti vaxers and the baxters. I don't know,
(01:16):
is there a word for the pro vac Are you
a pro vax or is that what they call you?
Whatever it is, there's been so much back and forth
about it, and it's been something that when you look
at the numbers, man, it has just hit our community
so fucking hard, and man, I just want to dive
into a lot of things and listen, you know, I'm
not an expert on this. I'm not a doctor. Um.
(01:39):
I'm just doing as much research as I possibly can
to make informed and educated observations and and give out
the information that I'm finding from the professionals and full disclosure,
you know, I got vaccinated pretty early on. As soon
as it's available to UH people with pre existing conditions,
I went and got it. My parents have gotten it,
my girlfriend has gotten it, and so far, so good.
(02:01):
So I mean, obviously that is going to impact my
point of view, but I'm also trying to be as
fair as possible when I talked about this, and just
so it's out there on the table. I'm not getting
paid to talk about this by any company, pharmaceutical company,
or whatever the case would be. I just thought it
was something that I wanted to kind of address and
dive deep into when it comes to our community and vaccines,
(02:22):
especially just because there seems to be so much back
and forth on it. Now, with that said, let's get
into the part of the show where I do a
little bit more of a deep dive into our current
topic of course, this one being vaccinations. UH. And this
is a segment we call for the people in the back,
the people in the back, back bay a lot for
(02:47):
the people in the people in the back, all right.
So I'll be real as I've been doing research on
this this topic, UM, specifically when it comes to vaccinations
and and COVID UH and the rates amongst the Latinos
and Blacks. There's definitely been some conflicting information I think
(03:10):
from what I gathered, UM, when the whole vaccination rollout started,
Blacks and Latinos were very slow to get on board
with it. UM. But very recently it's been reported in
cities like Philadelphia and in areas of Maryland that high
number of Latinos are getting vaccinated as of late UM,
(03:31):
even in Maryland, if not mistaken, I saw that uh,
the numbers for Latinos getting vaccinated was actually out numbering
white s getting vaccinated. So moving, I guess in the
in the right direction, depending on where you stand on
this particular topic. But like I said when I started
the show, I'm still seeing a lot of back and
forth when it comes to this topic. I'm still seeing
(03:51):
a lot of people pushing against it and and posting
different things to justify, you know, why they feel their
choice to not get vaccinated, did or get vaccinated is
the right one. And listen, you know, I do understand
the history of all of all of this, I mean,
and I'm going to dive into the history of it
a little bit more when we get into our ask
a Good Ango segment, because a couple of people did
(04:13):
bring that up when I put the question out there,
So don't worry, I'm gonna get into all that stuff.
But I do want to kind of tackle this right
now from the angle of just how much destruction COVID
has caused on the Latin community. I mean, it's no
secret that so many people in our community suffer from
pre existing conditions. I mean, things like asthma. I'm included
(04:34):
in that as well. UM, and these are things that
put us at high risk for you know, really having
a bad reaction or god forbid, even death, um, if
we were to contract COVID. And let's kind of dive
into some of the facts as well. So salute America. UM.
They did a really good job of gathering a whole
bunch of different information and statistics and keeping it updated,
(04:57):
actually updated this last week. A lot out of their
information is coming from CDC data, so it is, um,
you know, as factual as one could hope. It's not
some TikTok or fucking Facebook social media here say, um,
some internet troll doing a YouTube video thinking they're fucking scientists. Um.
You know, these are the people who get paid to
do this for a living. That some people might not
(05:19):
believe them, But at the end of the day, this
is kind of all we have right now, I kind
of get a full picture on this. Let's let's talk about, um,
the US population and latinos numbers. When it comes to
US population, So the US population recently rose to eighteen
point five percent latinos, so we make up eighteen point
five percent of the US population. Um. But the article
(05:43):
that I'm reading says that coronavirus is disproportionately sickening latinos.
So let's let's break down some more stats here. Latinos
currently comprised twenty eight point six percent of COVID nineteen
cases in the United States, only second to white to
our fifty point one percent. This is according to CDC
data from July one, so this last week. So even
(06:06):
though we only make up eighteen point five percent of
the entire population. We're actually responsible for twenty eight point
six percent of the COVID nineteen cases that are happening
in the US, which is absolutely fucking crazy. I mean,
it's just it's just terrible. I mean, it even breaks
it down by by states, like certain states are experiencing
really crazy disparities when it comes to COVID cases. So,
(06:29):
Utah is a fourteen percent Latino, but we make up
twenty point two percent of COVID nineteen cases. Oregon only
thirteen percent Latino, but we make up twenty three point
one percent of COVID cases. Washington is a thirteen percent
Latino but making up twenty nine percent of the COVID cases.
California thirty nine point three percent Latino, but makes up
(06:52):
fifty six percent of the COVID cases. Texas is also
having a similar disparity of Latinos make up thirty nine
point seven per cent of the state's population, and we
represent thirty five point eight of the COVID nineteen confirmed
cases and forty six point four percent of the COVID
nineteen confirmed deaths. Man, which is oh, man, that's so
(07:13):
sad to think. I mean, the families that have lost people.
And listen, I'm not trying to bump people out when
I say this, but when you start reading like these statistics,
these percentages, and you realize just how much our community
is really being affected by this, from deaths to cases,
I hope that it makes people really rethink some of
the decisions they are aren't making. I mean, let's just
(07:33):
look at this total deaths by by race, which is
obviously incredibly morbid statistic. But as of July, one hundred
and ten thousand Latinos have died due to COVID nineteen.
The only group that has a higher number of deaths
due to COVID are whites, who made up three hundred
(07:53):
and sixty five thousand, one hundred and eleven deaths. Keep
in mind, though we are only eighteen point five percent
of the population, yet we have the second most death
of any racial group. Now, even outside of of the
actual deaths, and and obviously that's the most important part,
let's just also break it down when it comes to
finances and what it's doing to our community in that aspect.
(08:15):
So I'm reading an NBC News article and obviously they're
recognizing that Latinos were disproportionately hit by covid um and
that our vaccination rates have lagged UH in comparison to
some other groups. They also mentioned that the pandemic has
reversed some economic gains that our community has made from
previous years. Now. They reference a really terrible UH and
(08:39):
and very sad article in Texas where covid basically just
took out an entire family. Right, a thirty five year
old man died. The virus also killed his aunt, his grandfather.
It's just basically ravage his entire family. And what this
means economically, Basically, what they're breaking down is that you know,
as is, the Latin community is already behind our white
(08:59):
counter hearts when it comes to finances and ownership and
our businesses and all these different things as a whole.
And now COVID having ravage our families through death and
and now putting many people into debt and all these
different things, it's just setting us back even further economically.
And listen, I get it. A lot of you guys
gonna be like, well, the history shows us nobody cares
about us, I get it, And why would they care
(09:20):
about us now? Right? Like, That's what you're gonna say,
and I understand it completely, and I'm gonna dive into
a lot of that stuff as a podcast goes on,
but I really just want you to, like, really fully
digest these statistics and these numbers that I'm showing you
right now, because for me, reading the man, it makes
me sick to my stomach, and I wish I could
do more, you know what I mean, Like for me,
the best I can do is just put this information
out there in a organized way that people can can
(09:43):
ingest it, you know. And again I'm not an expert,
but I'm just reading the statistics, I'm reading the stories
from people who have experiences firsthand, and I'm hoping that
maybe it'll have some sort of an impact on some
of you guys who may be holding out, you know.
And on the topic of people talk, you know, well,
it's my body, it's my choice, all that kind of stuff. Sure,
(10:03):
I get it, and you're absolutely right, but there also
is a bit of a problem that I have with
that argument, and that leads us into our next segment.
I'm gonna read a quote that I kind of feel
like kicks down the door for a lot of those
arguments that people have, or at least it should be
making people kind of look themselves in the mirror who
are taking the stance of, you know, their body, their choice,
(10:31):
all right. So for this this week's me hint their
segment where I kind of focus in on a person
who is usually doing good but might be just making
a lot of noise in a certain space depending on
the topic. UM. This week, I got to give it
up to D. L. Hugley who reposted UM this quote. Uh.
He reposted this quote from a professor of medicine and surgery,
Dr Jonathan Rayner UM and Dr Reyner said, if you
(10:54):
are not vaccinated right now in the United States, you
should not go into a bar, you should probably not
eat at a restaurant. And while this should be like yeah, sadly,
a lot of you motherfucker's are not following this simple
kind of guy line like listen, Like I said, it
is your body, your choice. I get that right, and
(11:14):
you truly do have the right to do with it
what you please, but you do not have the right
to unnecessarily put other people at risk in the process.
Like you don't want to get vaccinated, cool, stay the
fuck home. Then why are you in an area where
you're gonna be putting other people's lives at a risk.
And listen, I have people who are close to me
(11:35):
that I'm cool with, whatever it case to be, that
might be unvaccinated and are doing this, and I know
it might seem like I'm coming for your neck, but
let's be real here, Like if you choose to not
want to get vaccinated and you don't want to put
something you don't know in your body shore whatever it
is you want to say, but why go out in
a public place where you possibly contracted or be carrying
it and give it to other people. That's just extremely selfish.
(11:56):
Like you can't have your cake and eat it too.
You have to make a decision. And here you can say, listen,
I'm standing by my body or I'm standing by my
own uh feelings of the not trusting the government. Cool,
I understand all of that kind of stuff. But you
also can't at the same time be like, fuck it,
I'm also gonna be reckless and put myself and others
at risk while taking a stand for myself. Like now,
(12:16):
you can't have it both ways because a lot of
us have taken the proper precautions to be safe when
we're going out there to be safe for our families
and to not bring something home. But because you choose
to not get vaccinated and then also still want to
go grab a drink at a bar, now you're putting
us all at risk, and especially when you think about
people who work in these industries, right, Like, I mean,
(12:37):
I'm a DJ and I have been out and about
as much as I you know, used to be pre pandemic,
but I've DJ a few times and it's something that's
on my mind, like, man, is this gonna be the
one time that somebody got me? You know what I mean?
And I'm vaccinated, like I said earlier the show, but
it's still has a fear of mine and it's just unnecessary,
you know. I'm out there trying to work, just like
the bartenders are, just like the managers are, the bouncers,
(12:57):
all these people, and you're unnecessarily putting all these people
at risk because you're not ready to deal with the
reality of your decisions. Right Like, listen, it is your body,
it is your choice, and you're making a decision. But
every decision has a consequence. And this is sort of
a no brainer when it comes to the consequence of
your decision. You want to stand, you know, on your
(13:18):
on your high horse, on your island where you don't
want to get this vaccine you don't trust it. I
get it, But at the same time that means stay
you're asked on your islands. And if I'm coming across
a little harsh, I apologize. But man, when I'm seeing
all the statistics about death, you know, how many people
don't have their mother. I mean I have family who
I lost the COVID. You know, cousins who lost both
(13:39):
their father and mother, you know at the same time
because of COVID, because one of the young people in
the family brought it back home. And it's like, bro,
I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy being the reason
why your parents are no longer here, or why your
aunt is no longer here, why your cousin is no
longer here, or why somebody else's mother, father, aunt, cousin
isn't here anymore. So that's something we all have to
(14:00):
keep in mind. And with that, let's get to the
fun part of the show. Or today's show is probably
gonna be a bit more of a ship show just
because of like how opinionated a lot of people are
on this and rightfully, so we're all out to have
our opinions here. So this is the asked a gringo
segment of the show that we're gonna get into. Um
a lot of varying opinions here that I got from
my followers, um when I asked them if they were vaccinated,
(14:23):
why or why not? So we're gonna get into this
ship show. But before that, let's take a quick break
and we will be right back as alright, so let's
get into this ship show. That is these responses on
my Instagram right now. So my question again was are
(14:46):
you or are you not vaccinated? And why? So I
got a bunch of different ones. I'm gonna read a
few over here. Okay, So um, let's just start with
some logic right here. At j O j J said
vaccinated so that I can protect myself and others so
that we can finally get out of this thing. Yes,
I agree wholeheartedly on that one, right. I mean, the
(15:06):
sooner we all get to this place of vaccination, the
quicker we can stop with these fucking variants and we
can start getting back to normal life and not this
whole weird like one ft in one ft out thing
that's happening right now, and not to mention the terrible
deaths that we're seeing that are happening at Edgar Underscore,
Duh Underscore Car Underscore guy. He said recently VAX after
(15:28):
a year and a half, let's face it, COVID is
here to stay. It's better to stay safe, and I agree.
I mean, it obviously is not going anywhere. I mean,
it could be the media spinning these things, and I'm
not opposed to thinking that, but it just feels bad.
And it feels bad because it's like nobody seems to
be taking this ship seriously right now. It's like we're
all trying to get back to regular life, which I understand,
but man, that's what makes this whole thing scary is
(15:51):
that I feel like we're not realizing that this whole
thing is. It's here, and it's here to stay unless
we do something about it, all right, And we've got
the other side of things here, I mean at Nick
de la Basse, I'm sorry if I funked up your
Instagram handle over here. Um you said, still don't trust
them or it's we've been America's guinea pigs for far
too long and listen, you're a d percent right in
(16:15):
that commentary and that feeling. I mean, listen, we can
go back to history, right like nineteen thirty two of
the Tuskegee Experiment, you know, which was a study done
on black men purposely gave them syphilis and we're testing
the effects of symphilis on them without their approval and
without their knowledge. Now we can go to Puerto Ricans
(16:35):
and we're talking about the first birth control pill right
where one third of Puerto Rican women were sterilized, many
of them involuntarily. I mean they were preyed upon. They
preyed upon poor women from Puerto Rico who they knew
couldn't fight for themselves, and unknowingly, unknowingly to them, to
the women that were being given this pill, they were
being sterilized one third of them, which is just obviously
(16:59):
absolutely disgusting. So you're right, there is this long history
of these things happening. But with that said, I mean,
it's a vaccine that's available for everyone, right and to me,
while I understand your fear, and and some people might
even have the fear of them maybe switching the you know,
vaccine or something when they go there knowing that they
(17:19):
have a Latin last name. I'd much rather take that
risk than seeing the actual evidence we've seen in front
of us. I mean, like I just talked about the
beginning of the show, we are disproportionately being affected by
this as a community. Like the numbers don't lie, the
deaths don't lie. Like to me, when you look at
those numbers, it's like, Okay, well, the risk of people
dying from COVID is a very real thing. And this
(17:42):
idea of like a historical fear of the government using
us as their guinea pigs. While I understand it, the
odds aren't really in favor of that right now when
you just look at the sheer numbers of people that
are dying from this disease. And I got this was
an interesting one as well. Um at Brunch with Bad
Girls said, uh, the vaccination still isn't even FDA approved,
(18:05):
supposed to be used for emergency use only. And that
is true. It's it's only been approved for emergency use only. Um,
from what I've read about this, this is actually probably
one of the more confusing topics or confusing aspects of
this whole topic. I should say, when you research it
because nobody can really give you a clear reason as
to why it has not been approved. What they basically
(18:27):
say is that the FDA holds itself to like the
highest standards in the world um when it comes to
approval for vaccines, and they're refusing to rush it because
they feel like it might lower the goal standards they've
set for themselves. But with that said, the FDA has
even gone on record and said, although an authorization is
not an FDA approval, the FDA conducted a thorough scientific
(18:50):
evaluation of each of the authorized vaccines and can ensure
the public and medical community that the vaccines meet FDA's
rigorous standards for safety, of activeness, and manufacturing quality. So
while it's not fully approved, they're also saying it went
through all kinds of of of rigorous evaluation. It wasn't
like they just said, fuck it, we're gonna throw out
(19:11):
the first case out there and let's see what happens.
That's just not what happened. It's still had to go
through a process. Now it's still going through the long
process of full on FDA approval. But let's not pretend
like it hasn't gone through some sort of evaluation. All right,
now at m z E two said not vaccinated, I'd
(19:31):
rather be proactive and live healthy. Now, listen, I don't
know you personally. I'm sure you're an incredible person, but
this also just sounds like a really dumb response if
I'm keeping a hunter with you, because a we've seen
we've heard cases of people who are incredibly healthy getting
the virus and dying from it. Right, And let's also
just say, maybe you're a part of the percentage who
wouldn't die from this. Maybe you are so healthy that
(19:52):
your body would fight it off. What about everybody else
that you come into contact with? And I don't mean
to this singling you out like this. I'm sure you again,
you're a great person, but this is like that incredibly
selfish mindset that has gotten us to the place that
we're at right now, that has gotten us to a
hundred thousand people plus from our community dead right now,
(20:14):
not being able to go back to their families because
we thought, well, even if I get it, I can
fight it off. Yeah, but what about grandma? What about you?
What about that person who sat next to at the bar?
What about their family? There's so many things that we
just don't know, and to allow yourself to have a
bit of a selfish viewpoint on this that you're incredibly healthy,
so it's not something you're worried about. It's just detrimental
(20:36):
to us as people. And it really is just the
worst way for any of us to think about things
when it comes to this life. Um and again I
feel bad for kind of singling you out with their man.
We just gotta like take a step back and zoom
out for a second and just think about how a
lot of us and and myself including in different ways,
move in such selfish ways sometimes and and this whole pandemic,
(20:57):
this whole situation that we find ourselves in right now,
like now is is not the time to allow yourself
there to have a selfish mindset. You know, there's too
much at stake. There are too many lives at stake
right now. And I love you, by the way. I'm
sorry for for singing out like that. It just was
the you know, I don't know. I didn't like that
comment at n y seven Underscore said I did because
(21:19):
I heard so many sad stories of people dying. Get
the vaccine. Don't jeopardize your life. I mean, that's logic
right there, like and and I'll be real, I was
like on the fence when I started hearing about the
vaccine and all that kind of stuff. But at the
end of the day, it was like, what's the alternative? Man, Like,
do I want to be nervous about, you know, going
to see my parents or my parents being nervous about
me coming to see them? You know? Like I want
(21:41):
to take whatever precaution I can to protect those around
me and protect anyone that I come into contact with.
Man Like, this is a very real thing. Gold, Look
at the numbers, like people have died. A lot of
people have died. It's very sad at Louis Stavarro six
nine three. No, because I've been good through the drawing month.
I mean, you know, we've all been good until we're
(22:03):
not good, right, Like, we're all good until our numbers
up at the end of the day. Um, And I
would hate for your number to come up a lot
sooner than it has to write, or for unfortunately somebody
in your family, for something like that to happen, you know,
just because you've been good thus far, I don't know, man,
that's just not a smart reason. I challenge you to
kind of rethink your perspective on life a little bit.
(22:26):
At zach Helly, zach Um said, Nope, only two percent
of the population has been vaccinated in South Africa because
our government is crap, And that's something to to think
about as well. So Zach is out of South Africa
and we're so privileged here in the United States that
we can sit here and be like, I don't know
if I want to go to CVS right now and
get vaccinated. Meanwhile, people like him, only to percent the
(22:47):
population in his country have been able to get vaccine
at this point, and we're sitting here having arguments on
the Internet over like somebody's conspiracy TikTok video or whatever.
I'm It's just something to keep in mind. We're incredibly
privileged in this country and we don't even you know,
realize it a lot of times. Alright. So last one,
this was a question for me actually at swaggy Nova
Underscore Snacking asked should the media be trusted regarding vaccinations
(23:13):
information um or vaccine information in premit to day. But
that's a good question, and and listen, even as a
member of media, I still tell you don't believe everything
you see on fucking TV or everything you hear on
the radio or wherever you get your information from. I mean, Ship,
don't believe everything that's in this podcast, Like do your
own research at the end of the day. I mean,
(23:33):
I can tell you without spilling too much t I
worked on radio shows in the past, specifically a political
talk show where they definitely purposely left out other viewpoints
just to kind of fit their narrative. And no, I'm
not talking about the breakfast before people try to cause
up some sort of drama, not talking about breakstlubs before
I got to the breakfast Club. Um. And and they
(23:55):
definitely would purposely leave out information or they would talk
about things on the air, but like they didn't actually
believe it behind the scenes. You know, we've seen this
with Fox News. You know, we've heard so much anti
vaccine rhetoric coming from pretty much everybody on Fox News.
But we're finding out this information that actually Fox News
employees are required to be vaccinated to come back into
(24:16):
the office. So they're just telling people things that get
them ratings, that just get the right people tuning in,
but they actually don't believe that. Ship. So no, you
shouldn't believe everything you see in the media. I mean,
the reality is the unfortunate reality of the world that
we live in today. When it comes to information, you
should be looking in multiple sources to get your news right,
do a deep dive into different outlets. I mean, look
(24:37):
at actual statistics from real credible places like the c
d c UM, you know, actual doctors and ship. I mean,
if you're finding some sort of doubt research the doctor
itself that you're getting this quote from, and that's just
the God's honest truth. Like, no, you shouldn't be just
believed in media because let's be real, CNN, Fox News
doesn't matter if it's conservative or liberal. They're all making
money off of ratings. So the more that they there us,
(25:00):
the more that they have their little breaking news flashing
on there and they tell us what the world is ending,
and we all need to tune in to find out
how to you know, not die from whatever the hell
is going on that they're reporting. They thrive off of
that ship, like that's what they thrive off of them,
So they will blow things up and make them seem
bigger than they actually are just to get us to
stick to that TV screen for a longer period of time. So, um,
(25:21):
should you trust the media completely? No, but I mean
you you should be listening to what experts are telling us,
what doctors who have studied this kind of stuff for
their entire lives are telling us, and also what the
agencies who are in place to give us the proper
information are telling us, like the CDC or the FDA
when they're talking about these vaccines um and and their
(25:42):
effectiveness or their lack of approval and the reasons for that.
You know, these are people that their entire career is
staked upon this information, and that's who we have to trust,
you know, that's the best that we have. Are they
always right? Absolutely not. We've seen it throughout the course
of this whole thing that, just like us, they were
trying to fire out then what's going on too, So
you know, don't expect them to be right the entire time.
(26:03):
And I know it's easy to like, you know, especially
in meme culture, because like that Monique meme running around
right now about doctors and and the information we've been
getting with COVID over the last year. But this is
a new experiences and and they're trying to figure it
all out and get it under wraps. You know, in
real time, and I'll tell you what I'd much right
to listen to. People have uh you know, pledge their
(26:23):
entire life to studying this ship and are still trying
to figure it out. Then some random asshole on the
Internet who thinks because they watch one YouTube video, there
now some sort of like a uh an infectious disease expert.
I mean, let's be real, guys. So no, you probably
shouldn't trust the media completely, but do your own research.
The information is out there if you dig a little bit.
And thank you all so much for participating in that
(26:45):
part of the show where I put out the questions
I do on my Instagram at DJ Dramas. I do
it for every episode. So if you want to be
a part of the show, just sit me up on
there and I'll post it in my stories, uh the
question and I'll read some of your answers or your questions,
um live here on the podcast. Now as we kind
of get out of this episode right here, I know
(27:05):
I've thrown a lot of information at you. Um, I've
been a little bit more volatile, a little bit more
angry in some of my commentary than maybe in past episodes.
I'm gonna try and tie things up in a nice,
neat little bow and maybe a little bit more of
a calming presence. I'll try and bring that to the
podcast as we get into a segment we call conclusion, Stu.
But before that, let's take a quick break and we
(27:26):
will be right back time. All right, So, I know
I was a little bit harsh on certain people and
their commentary when it comes to the vaccine. At the
end of the day, I can never tell you what
you should or shouldn't feel comfortable with, and make sure
(27:47):
that I, you know, am very clear on that. But
what I will say is this, the numbers don't lie.
Our community is being torn apart by this, and you're
talking about a community that has already been the underdog. Right.
We are already statistically more at risk for health issues.
We already statistically don't make much money in comparison to
(28:09):
our white counterparts. We already don't have the savings to
bounce back from COVID, to bounce back from funerals, to
bounce back from whatever expenses come up in our lives.
We statistically speaking, are already at a disadvantage in this country.
So it's important for us to protect ourselves in any
way humanly possible. It's important for us to always give
(28:31):
ourselves a leg up in any way humanly possible, and
that means, in this case, possibly doing something you're not
comfortable with because it's better for the greater good. Because
here's the thing. While I understand your body, your choice, absolutely,
I can never judge you for that. What I do
have to point out what I can judge you for
(28:51):
is just remember you also have to answer for every
decision that you make, and that's a responsibility that we
all have to take on when making any this ission
in this life. We have to understand that there will
be a repercussion for whatever decision we made, whether it's
good or bad. There will be an end result, there
will be a reaction to whatever decision that we've decided
to do, or there will be a responsibility that comes
(29:12):
along with whatever decision we decided to make. And to that,
I say, you can choose to do things however you want,
but also don't be selfish while doing so. That's what
makes this whole experience so unique, is because we're all
so reliant on one another making the right decision in
order for things to get back under control. And that's
the scariest fucking thing about this is putting your own fate,
(29:34):
the fate of your family, in the hands of somebody
else and hoping that they make the right decision. And
this is where I have the problem, because you're making
a decision for yourself, which is beautiful, and you're allowed
to do that, but you're also selfishly not taking other
people into consideration. Because if everybody who decided to not
get the vaccine says I'm not getting the vaccine, but
that means I'm also not gonna leave my house and
interact with people unnecessarily, I'd be cool, no issue with
(29:57):
that whatsoever. But the problem is a lot of you
are still fucking going to the club's still going to
the bars, You're still going to the restaurants and acting
as if nothing happened. And the reality is you might
be healthy, but you might now pass along to somebody else.
You might now pass along to that person and they
pass along to their family ship, you might pass along
to your own loved ones, And that's where you're being selfish.
(30:19):
You're allowed to make a choice for yourself, but you
also can't put other people's health and their lives and
their families lives at risk in doing so, So just
keep that in mind. Also, this whole like talk about like, well,
I don't know what's in the vaccine and I don't
put anything in my body that I don't know. Shut
the funk up, Like y'all don't know what half the
things that are going in your body are. Like the
amount of people I've seen on Instagram who are sitting
(30:41):
there like blowing lines of coke and smoking all kinds
of fucking weird weed from random ass people and are
leaving the bar with some random ass person they just met, Like,
don't forget, I'm a DJ. I've seen some of the
people that y'all leave with at the end of the night,
and a lot of times it ain't pretty, and you
damn well don't know what the funk that person has
been before they got to your as that night. So
(31:01):
let's not sit here and pretend like we're all like
living our lives in this beautiful way where it's like, oh,
I only have natural fruits and berries and enter my
body and I don't do anything that I'm not sure
what's it. No toxins for me, It's all natural from
the from the earth for me, Like, stop, you don't
live life that way. Majority of people don't live life
that way. Majority of people aren't like that crusty granola
(31:21):
type of person who like, is you know, only eating
from the earth things that they planted. Like, unless you're
that person, you can't really say I don't put things
in my body, but I don't know what they are,
like stop using that as an excuse. And damn it,
I just broke my own rule of not getting too
fired up on this conclusions too. I was trying to
end on a com noo and I almost did. I
almost did. But ship, man, I'm just am tired of
(31:41):
seeing people hurting and I'm tired of seeing the demise
uh and so many people's lives just being destroyed for
something that could have been prevented and could be prevented.
If we just get our ship together and stop thinking
about ourselves for once, that's it. That's my own little
p s A. Feel free to disagree with me. We're
all out to have um our own opinion as long
(32:02):
as we're not putting other people's lives at risk in
doing so. Keep that in mind. And with that said, man,
thank you all so much for tuning into this episode
of the podcast. I promised a bit of a light
of episode next week when we air on Tuesday. We'll
mix it up a little bit. Man, We're able to
do a little bit of everything on this show. I'm
just trying to have real conversations. Sometimes those conversations gonna
(32:24):
be fun conversations. Other times, like this one, they might
be a bit heavy. But to me, I just want
to have real, honest conversations about ship that affects us
and in our community. So man, thank you all so
much for tuning in. Follow me on Instagram at dj
dramas Um to keep up with everything on the show
and to be a part of our Good Go section,
and man, I'll catch you on next week. Be safe, man,
(32:46):
make a make a smart decision. If you haven't already,
please pace Life as a Good Goal is a production
of The Michael Podcast Network and I Heart Radio.
Host
DJ Dramos
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.