November4, 2025. Dodgers Beat Blue Jays in World Series

The Dodgers Beat Blue Jays in World Series. More on this story on today's podcast.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Still broadcasting from the Civic Cipher Studios. This is the
QR code where we share perspectives, seek understanding, and shape outcomes.
The man you are about to hear from is a
pure paragon of a man. He is the Q in
the QR code. He goes by the name of q War.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
The voice that you just heard us is tricky words
like that, and then I have to put out the
source to figure out how he just described me. I
don't know if that was a compliment. I don't know left,
so it's always a compliment Ram has just said about me.
But he is the R on the QR code. He
does go by the name Rams' job and be sure
to stick around a little.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
Later on the show, we're talking about the Dodgers win
over the Blue Jays in the World Series, and uh,
since we've been following some other stories that relate to that,
we're going to inject some culture into that entertainment segment. Also,
we're going to be talking about how to talk to
Republicans about liberal policies. But right now, as always, it
is time for Qward's clapback as he discs why the

(01:01):
black contrarian denies racism.

Speaker 2 (01:05):
Qute you know, rams, we are in an interesting period
in our kind of social commentary timeline where contrarianism is
being mistaken for consciousness, and plainly contrarian ain't conscious. Critical

(01:26):
thinking liberates, informs, educates, performative. Contrarianism just entertains the oppressor.
And today, I think we really need to talk about
a very specific cultural moment that's happening within our community,

(01:46):
especially online. A wave of young Black voices framing themselves
as independent thinkers right, anti victimhood or realist are really
just operating like ossplay contrarians, thinking that disagreeing with the

(02:10):
masses automatically makes them more enlightened. I'll echo this as
much as I can. Critical thinking is powerful. Contrarianism is
just some veiled, thin personal branding. Luckily, some folks know

(02:30):
the difference. The trouble is too many, don't. We're seeing
black content creators proudly declaring racism doesn't matter, the government
isn't harming us. Systemic inequality is a myth. Being anti
vax is empowering and framing oppression or the acknowledgment of

(02:58):
oppression as weakness in the name of not being a victim.
I call it intellectual peacocking. You know, loud, confident, well produced,
but very little in the way of fact checking and
homework and doing any type of investigative research. We have

(03:21):
a generation raised in an algorithm driven contrarian culture that
are confusing reaction with reason and provocation with power. So,
speaking to the psychology behind it, let's be compassionate for
a second. This is what happens, because this didn't come

(03:43):
out of nowhere, ramses. This is what happens when a
community is tired of carrying generational trauma. Young men especially
are terrified of appearing weak or scared or von't. Trauma
is repackaged. That's toughness. Individualism gets mistaken for liberation, and

(04:11):
the Internet God bless Beyonce's Internet rewards hot takes almost
instantly instead of our truths because those are our truths
again require time, research, vetting. For some, they don't even
understand the betrayal. It's kind of a coping mechanism. Coping, however,

(04:37):
is not the same as confronting, which is what we
need to do. Denial pretending something is not happening, does
not free you from it. It more like presses pause
on the reality that we're living through. So to scream
or say, or you know, raise your fitst proudly and
declare I am not a victim. You know all the

(05:00):
attempt at empowerment, but let me tell you why that's dangerous.
Empowerment that refuses to acknowledge reality is not strength, it's delusion.
As you pretend to be disciplined, here's the trick. Deny racism,

(05:22):
Deny history, deny exploitation, deny systemic power. You think you
look strong, Nope, you're just uninformed and unarmed. While you're
performing I'm above oppression. The system that you refuse to
name and call out, they work over time on your

(05:45):
life too, your health, to your community, and your future.
So the swag that you're performing on your camera or
on your social media does not replace what we actually need,
which is some strategy to overcome these things. And trust me,
this is from an old playbook. Understand this. This performance

(06:10):
did not arise organically. Systems love a compliant dissenter. For centuries,
the most effective form of control has been getting the
oppressed to police their own pain, mock their own suffering,
punched down, deny their own history, and stand with power,

(06:31):
hoping that power will stand with them once again. This
is not enlightenment, internalized propaganda and unfortunately everybody has a
podcast mic. Divide and Conquer got an upgrade. Now it
comes with HD cameras and ring lights. Real critical thinking

(06:56):
isn't rejecting the mainstream. Its interrogating everyone, including yourself. Real
strength isn't pretending that racism disappeared. It's dismantling the structure
that depends on your silence. Real sovereignty is not stating
I don't need anybody. It's joining forces so nobody can

(07:16):
deny you anything. Being unbothered isn't liberation. It just proves
that you're uninformed. We don't need more I don't see
race or I don't see color. Profits. We need solutions, architects, coalitions, builders,
and people like Rams's Jah truth tellers. If your independent

(07:38):
thinking always magically supports systems that harm you and your people,
you're not rebelling, you're recruiting for them. Critical thinking will
free us. Contrarian cosplay just entertains the oppressor.

Speaker 1 (07:56):
One day, you're going to tell me how you do that? Man,
I love it. It's like I'm gonna get you a
pullpit or something. Man. You just crush it every time.
All Right, Mom is the mom is the pastor bro.
You're right, You're right, that's fact. Okay, well you got
it honestly. Then all right, how do I talk to

(08:16):
Republicans about liberal policies? Okay? Over the years, what do
you say?

Speaker 2 (08:21):
Good?

Speaker 1 (08:22):
Good luck? Ye? Well, how about this? Over the years,
we've kind of had to ask this question of ourselves.
We've been asked this question on our shows and in
person around the country as we you know, travel and uh,
you know, confer with groups here and there, and you know,

(08:45):
I've espoused philosophies ranging from you know, black people to
you know, uh, everybody deserves some forgiveness and everything in between,
you know, And it's all depending on circumstances and what

(09:06):
you're trying to accomplish and what you're up against and
all that sort of stuff. But suffice it to say
that everything is on the menu right now. So Q
and I are going to come to this conversation. I'll
speak for me because you know, but I think that
Q and I will both come to this conversation and
we're trying to we'll try to make sure that we're

(09:26):
starting at zero here. Okay, So if you're talking to
a Republican not necessarily conservative, but a Republican, like a
proud Republican is proud of the party and what's going
on right now in the country. You want to talk
to this person about liberal policies and why they make
sense in the real world. How do you communicate with

(09:47):
this person? So we have to assume that this person
that you're talking to, this Republican individual, is a decent person,
well intentioned. They don't consider themselves racist. They might be,
but they don't consider themselves that. In other words, they
would push back if you were to call them that.
They are reasonably intelligent and they're perhaps they have one

(10:14):
or two things that are just that stand out to
them about Republican doctrine, and or they may have grown
up in that, you know, in a household that was conservative,
and you know, that's just all that they know. Okay.
But we're going to assume that these are decent people, okay,
and they have all of the talking points that have

(10:36):
been beat into their heads since they were old enough
to listen to an adult conversation all the way up
to now and Fox News, and you are approaching this
person talking about liberal policies.

Speaker 2 (10:48):
So I'll start.

Speaker 1 (10:52):
Now. You can pick a thing that you want to
share with them. It could be about trans people, it
can be about climate change, it can be about snap benefits,
it can be about out anything else that's woke. But
one of the things that you might want to do
initially is kind of set the stage. Okay, so you know,

(11:12):
maybe choose the right time and place, you know, make
sure that the conversation happens when everybody's calm, nobody's stressed,
nobody's in a rush.

Speaker 2 (11:19):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (11:19):
You know, you might want to avoid doing it on
social media. It just it's hard to get a point
across on social media. You know, do it one on
one with a person where there's no audience looking, or
if there is, you know, make sure that everybody is
comfortable with that setting. Okay. Make sure you state your intentions,

(11:40):
be very clear about what you want to Make sure
you're clear that you want to understand their perspective first
of all, and you want to share theirs or you
want them to share share theirs and you want to
share yours, but not that you want to change their mind,
because I think that that automatic gets people's defenses up.

(12:03):
You got to make sure that there's some ground rules,
you know, you agree on sort of the basic rules.
Everyone has the same amount of time to speak, or
let's not make it personal, or let's keep it focused
on this issue because a lot of times people will
jump around, and you know it's hard to keep track
of all that. So make sure you have your ground
rules established, okay, And then this is something that I've
gotten good at. Acknowledge your own perspective, maybe your own biases, right,

(12:29):
I My biases are very much, you know, I believe
in the live and let live philosophy. I think that
we were better together. I think that we that loving
people and sharing with people is the happiest that we
can be, and the fact that there's scientific arguments to
that end, and and and so forth. And I think
that if a government is going to step in and

(12:49):
do something for the people, it should be consistent with
human nature, which is fellowship and you know, protection, and
you know, making sure that we're all okay. You know,
human beings to me includes homo sapien sapiens and doesn't
matter how they prayer, who they love, or what color
they are or anything superficial like that. Those are my biases, right,

(13:13):
You acknowledge your own You start by saying, you know,
generally speaking, what your political stance is, what perspective you're
coming from, you know, et cetera. So that everyone knows
and you're not snacking, sneak attacking, and they can't use
it against you.

Speaker 2 (13:26):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (13:27):
Now, once you're talking, you want to try to establish
and focus on some things that you share with this person.
Q's really good at this. Okay, So what do we
agree on? Right? And once you have an agreement on
some things that you both feel are important to a society,

(13:49):
you're feeling more important or important to you as a
person or whatever. If you if you identify something that's
not working, not accomplishing that goal, you recognize and respect
the fact that you might have different approaches to how
to fix it, how to remedy it. But it's always
easier when you both identify that the goal is the same.

(14:14):
Another thing you do is make sure you're engaged. Ask questions.
This is a great way to diffuse people who have
an opinion that they cannot substantiate. You know, you can
diffuse any anger, any tension, anything like that without attacking them. Right,
you ask them questions, why do you feel that way.

(14:34):
Are you aware of this? Are you unaware of that?
You know or whatever?

Speaker 2 (14:38):
You know?

Speaker 1 (14:39):
Can you tell me more about this? Where does this
come from? Who sponsored this? You know, that sort of thing.
And as people dig deeper and deeper, you know, they
might find some things that may be consistent with how
they feel and recognize that it's actually ugly, or they
what's more likely, if indeed this is a decent person
you're talking to, they might find some things that are
inconsistent with how they feel. But you can get them

(15:02):
to find their own way there by simply asking them questions.
You know, how did you come to this conclusion? Why
was that important to you? What are you trying to accomplish?
Or what do you think this will accomplish? And here's
actually what will accomplished. Did you know that? Have you
seen this data from the past? This is more of
the same, that sort of thing. One of the things

(15:23):
that we wrote down here we have written down here
paraphrase to confirm understanding, So that means just basically repeat
back things that you've heard. It shows them that you're listening,
and it also helps you to make sure you're understanding
what they're saying. So it keeps conversations from becoming more
tense than they need to be. Another one, we have

(15:44):
used eye statements. In other words, frame your views using
personal experience rather than a definitive truth. Now you're not
going to get away from that. You're going to have
to share truth and data. It's inevitable. But recognize that
they're working with data too, and the data might be
biased over there, but it might be biased over here.

(16:05):
It might it might be right. These things are not impossible. Right,
But when you frame the language around me, this is
what I've lived through, this is what I've seen, this
is why I feel this way, blah blah blah, it
helps kind of to sell it a bit. It's another

(16:26):
thing you might want to do is reframe arguments to
their values. Again, when explaining your views, you can try
to connect them to values that Republicans typically hold, for example,
framing an environmental policy in terms of preserving natural resources
for future generations.

Speaker 2 (16:43):
That's sort of a thing.

Speaker 1 (16:45):
Again. Make sure to avoid labels, avoid personal attacks. Don't
want to use inflammatory language, you know, don't call them
anti immigrant or Bible thumper that sort of thing, you know,
Focus on who they are, not how to describe them,
make sure you stay on top of your emotions, that
sort of thing. If you can humanize the other person. Again,

(17:07):
we're giving a lot of grace he because I know
it's frustrating. We know more than anybody. But make sure
you remember you're talking to your human again. If you
meet them as your brother, your sister, fellow, homo sapien,
safiy and however you choose to identify this person, Recognize
that humans are gullible. Ramses is gullible too, I'll speak
for myself. Humans can be trick Ramses can be tricked too.

(17:27):
I know this. Humans can be lied to. Humans can
think they're doing the right thing and it be the wrong thing. Okay,
so these are humans that you're talking to. If it
can happen to me, it can happen to them, it
can happen to you too. Focus on the issues, and
most importantly, be very patient because it's a lot for
people to let go of long held beliefs. Even in

(17:50):
a moment where they're being challenged, they might fight back
saying some crazy stuff, but just know it's a process
and it takes time. Have patience. I hope that helped.
Before we move on here, anything to shoehorn in there.

Speaker 2 (18:08):
No, man, I just I hope, like everything that you
said makes complete sense. I think in any dialogue where
there's dissenters, any dialogue with the people that disagree, I
think all those strategies make sense. Again, you are like

(18:28):
the moral Hope north Star for this program. I think
it'd be a fool's errand to try to have an
intellectual conversation with people who are proudly right wing at
this point. Right now, they kind of made up their minds.
There's enough evidence without you ever having to say anything

(18:51):
that what they're doing and how they think is more
objectively but they're very, very committed to it and will
find a way to to justify it. So again, good luck.

Speaker 1 (19:03):
Yeah, all right, let's talk about some entertainment news. The
Dodgers beat the Blue Jays in the World Series. Okay,
full disclosure. I didn't even know that these teams were
playing sports until I saw my sister put a social
media post and it said that the Dodgers were playing

(19:26):
like the last game of the Championship Series, and my
nephew was watching it and he's won, and he makes
me really happy. So I'm like, oh, man, cool, so
then I caught the last game, and then I got
enthralled by this whole thing. I'm like, oh my gosh,
this guy's been playing game or this baseball game for
however long, and Drake's been there and all this sort

(19:47):
of stuff, right, and then it started to come together, like,
oh yeah, Toronto Blue Jays, I know that team. And
then of course the LA Dodgers. That's like one of
the biggest sports teams ever in history. So you know,
I'm from LA, so you know, I got a bunch
of Dodgers jerseys in my with Dodger blue Dodger jerseys
in my closet for folks that know me, No, that's
a that's probably the only blue thing I have in

(20:09):
my closet. But but yeah, man, uh LA is up
right now, and I kind of love it, you know
what I mean, Like I'm from LA and you know whatever.
But that's not the only reason I wanted to talk
about this. It's fitting because Qu's back. You know, he
took some time to you know, be with family and

(20:31):
take care of some business. But and I don't like
to have any sports conversations with him because I feel
like I sound stupid every time I talk about sports,
and he always has something really cool and compelling to share.
But I will share this because everybody knows this. Now,
this from Yahoo Sports. There has never been a game
in MLB history like Game seven of the twenty twenty
five World Series. That's what I wanted to say, World Series.

(20:53):
Right after eleven innings of back and forth drama, the
Los Angeles Dodgers emerge from a series that potentially shows
and lifespans in both LA and Toronto as the first
repeat champions IN'LB has seen in twenty five years. The
Dodgers didn't lead until the eleventh inning, after taking multiple
punches from a Blue Jays team ready to end a

(21:14):
series in which Toronto mostly outplayed Los Angeles. It was
an absurd game. It was baseball and its finest and
its worst. Okay, these are things that you already know,
so I'm not breaking any news here, of course. Any
did you see this game?

Speaker 2 (21:31):
First of all, so I played baseball when I was younger.

Speaker 1 (21:38):
That's right, you did.

Speaker 2 (21:39):
A huge baseball fan. My nephew is actually a part
of the Dodgers farm system. Okay, and yeah, like life
imitating art, the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Toronto Blue
Jays in the wake of this whole Kendrick Lamar and
Drake thing, and shout out to all the networks, all

(22:01):
the teams, all the leagues, all the sponsors for also
leaning into that part of the narrative. The Dodgers and
Nike dropped a commercial immediately after the game where it's
scored by Squabble up by Kendrick Lamar. The network televising
the game puts out Kendrick driving off and the GNX

(22:24):
leaving Drake behind him, with they not like Us captioned
like this cultural moment, this literal and metaphorical home run
for La and for Kendrick Lamar. It's not hyperbole to
say we've never seen anything like this, Like it's just

(22:48):
pardon the pun, poetic justice that Kendrick Lamar with a
song called Dodger Blue on the latest album Proudly La,
Proudly West Coast, Proudly California, and the Dodgers just leaning

(23:08):
all into it their posts. They still not like us
was what they say, Like, Wow, but let's talk about
the game. This might be in again. Forgive prisoner of
the moment hyperbole, but this might be the best world
series ever. Really, this last game played out literally like
a movie, right the Superstar show. Hel Tani for the

(23:34):
Dodgers comes out and doesn't play his best game, and
suddenly the Dodgers are down I think three to nothing.
There's no way they're going to win. All hope is lost.
You know, the young men they paid over three hundred
million dollars two seasons ago before he'd ever even pitched
in Major League Baseball, starts Game six and then closes
Game seven Like that type of turnaround does not happen,

(23:57):
especially to the success of being the MVP of the
entire World Series. These two young men from Japan come
to LA and help the Dodgers win back to back
World Series. Mookie Betts with his fourth i think fourth
World Series ring in six years or something crazy like that. Like,
it's just all these storylines, the likelihood of them winning

(24:20):
this game, and the way that they wonted. Dodgers' outfielders
crashing into each other but still making the catch, you know,
the Dodgers wieling them themselves back. I think going to
the eighth inning they were still down for this thing
to go to eleven innings and they win. Shohalo, tiny
throughout these playoffs. I think played one of the best
games any players ever played, where he had ten strikeouts

(24:41):
and three home runs or two home runs and reached
base for like nine times in the same game, like
some ridiculous stat line that only Babe Ruth would have
ever even entertained, but only Shohal Tani actually pulled off.
It's just like all the things, all the stories, culturally, musically, athletically,

(25:03):
you know, the game seven of a World Series by
itself as exciting, the first back to back champions in
twenty five years, the first team to win two World
Series on the opponent's field in over fifty years, or
I think in exactly fifty years. So it's just like
every storyline ever played out, and it played out like

(25:26):
a movie where the person that wrote the movie knew
the Dodger were going to win the whole time, but
had to give the audience suspense. And it was stressful
because I don't typically, you know, sad to say, I'm
a Detroit sports fan, I don't typically have a passionate,
rooting interest in championship games, so I'm able to watch

(25:48):
them and enjoy them. Well, like I said at the
top of this my nephew got drafted by the Dodgers
last year. So now I'm watching a championship game where
I have a passionate, fervent room voting interests, which makes
it really difficult to watch because you don't get to
enjoy it. It's a very stressful endeavor. And as you
can imagine, man, the WhatsApp and the text messages and

(26:10):
the dms between the family going crazy as we're watching
this game all over the world. You know, the nephew
was in the dr training in the Dodgers farm system.
His dad is in Mexico. You know, I'm in Californiatia
is in Arizona. That we're all over the place. Everybody
in the group message enjoying this historic game. But this

(26:34):
is Ramsay's John Q wardon man in this hip hop.
Of course I immediately go on to see, okay, what's
the what's the Drake's discourse like? And immediately, without any
of us having to ask, Nike and the Dodgers and
the networks and everybody else, went right into Kendrick Lamar.

(26:58):
They not like us. Everywhere, they not like us. Captions,
rams I see you chopping at the bit. Give me something, well,
so so.

Speaker 1 (27:06):
The one thing I want to say is that in
l A. You know, my heart broke when Nipsey passed.
You and me we found out Kobe passed the same time.
We're doing hashtag Greg together. My heart broke. L A
had been through some stuff and this run that Kendrick's

(27:27):
been on now kind of continued by the Dodgers. I
think that I'm really happy for Los Angeles and I think,
you know, it doesn't it doesn't make up for the hurt,
but it does show the resilience and you know, long

(27:48):
live l A, you know what I mean. So, uh,
it's it's it's a good it's good vibes in the air.
So yeah, not and not to beat up on Drake,
but he kind of did it to himself. You know.
He's like appealing the dismissal of his defamation lawsuit against UMG,
so he's he's not handling as well.

Speaker 2 (28:08):
There are his friends like where's his ramses?

Speaker 1 (28:11):
Man?

Speaker 2 (28:11):
Look, I just tell him to just hey man, why
don't you just sit down?

Speaker 1 (28:17):
All right? Well, that's going to do it for us
here on the QR CODE Today Show, as always, was
produced by the Great Chris Thompson. If you haven't thought
you'd like to share. Please do us favor and use
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And while you're there, be sure to hit subscribe and
download all of our episodes. Also, be sure to check
us out on all social media at Civic Cipher that
is c iv I c c I p h e R.

(28:37):
Subscribe to our YouTube again at Civic Cipher. I've been
your host. You can find me on all social media
at ramses ja.

Speaker 2 (28:44):
I am q Ward is how you find me on
all social media as well.

Speaker 1 (28:48):
And do us a paper and join us next time
as we share our news with our voice from our
perspective right here on the QR code piece