Idiocracy

Idiocracy

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This show is produced and hosted by Mark Webber.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
The show is sponsored by G three Aparo.

Speaker 3 (00:05):
The views expressed in.

Speaker 1 (00:06):
The following program are those of the sponsor and not
necessarily the opinion of seven ten wor or iHeartMedia. Who
is Mark Weber. He's a self made business executive here
to help you find your success from the New York
City projects to the Avenue Montaigne in Paris. His global
success story in the luxury world of fashion is inspirational.

(00:29):
He's gone from clerk to CEO twice. Mark his classic
proof that the American dream is alive and well, here's
your host of Always in Fashion, Mark Weber.

Speaker 4 (00:41):
Mark Weber, I coined a term on a recent show.
One of my friends wrote me and called it out
as hysterically accurate. The term the word ediocracy. It requires
no explanation, but allow me to make it abundantly clear.
Idiocrisy a perpetual state of being stupid. I've invented this term.

(01:04):
A group of individuals ruled and content to operate on
low intelligence levels. Always a society populated and governed by idiots.
Now ideocracy has risen to new levels. It's become a
perpetual party of people who lack the ability to think
for them. So they're sheep, they're followers, they're no smarts,

(01:27):
and their problem is they think they're smart. Sorry, I've
always had a problem with stupid people because you can't
reason with them, and you can't reason with people who
are of the idiocracy party. Welcome to the United States
of Ideocracy. We live in a world gone crazy, not

(01:47):
just crazy in politics. We have a country. You wonder
if we've gone crazy. We have a president with no fear,
willing to change everything in anything, and half the country
is against everything he does. He reminds me of me.
He might not always be right, but he's never wrong.

(02:08):
Style and approach, no question, he's off putting, he's an
acquired taste, but many of his policies are just brilliant.
I got to ask, why would anyone argue against fighting
crime in our streets? You don't like how he's going
about it. Well, see, I want to talk about that
in a little while. The idiocrats are so stupid they

(02:29):
won't acknowledge what clearly is a winning strategy in government today.
They'd rather suffer than applaud the president's success. They in turn,
look galctically stupid with everything they say. Don't get me started.
Trying to end wars is a bad thing. Trying to
set up international relations that work for our country is bad.

(02:52):
This president is never putting his head in the sand
avoiding problems. He's trying to solve them, always trying to
That's what America first. While he does is stop points
he could do better. But on the overall scheme of things,
the anti Trump, the hate Trump, the never Trump, adyocracy,
people that won't give this country a chance. It seems

(03:16):
where we are today, the democratic side on the left
would rather us fail than see this president win. I
get it. I understand competition. I hate losing more than
I love winning. But that's what's happening in the country.
You figure out who I'm talking about, Okay, you know
who you are. The world is crazy. We've lost our minds.

Speaker 3 (03:39):
One day, a scorpion looked around at the mountain where
he lived and decided that he wanted a change. So
he set out on a journey through the forests and
the hills. He climbed over rocks and under vines, and
kept going until he reached a river. The river was
wide and swift, and the scorpion stopped to reconsider the situation.

(04:00):
He couldn't see any way across, so he ran upriver
and then checked down river, all the while thinking that
he might have to turn back. Suddenly he saw a
frog sitting on the rushes by the bank of the stream,
on the other side of the river. He decided to
ask the frog for help getting across the stream. Hello,

(04:21):
mister frog, called the scorpion across the water. Would you
be so kind as to give me a ride on
your back across the river?

Speaker 4 (04:28):
Wow?

Speaker 5 (04:28):
Now, mister scorpion, how do I know that if I
try to help you, you won't try to kill me,
asked the frog, hesitantly, because the scorpion replied, if I
try to kill you, then I would die too, for
you see, I cannot swim.

Speaker 6 (04:43):
Now.

Speaker 3 (04:43):
This seemed to make sense to.

Speaker 5 (04:45):
The frog, but he asked, what about when I get
close to the bank, you could still try to kill
me and get back to the shore. This is true,
agreed the scorpion, But then I wouldn't be able to
get to the other side of the river. All right, then,
how do I know you just won't wait till we
get to the other side and then kill me, said

(05:05):
the frog.

Speaker 7 (05:06):
Ah crooned the scorpion, because you see, once you've taken
me to the other side of the river, I will
be so grateful for your help that it would hardly
be fair to reward you with death, now.

Speaker 3 (05:17):
Would it. So the frog agreed to take the scorpion
across the river. He swam over the bank and settled
himself near the mud to pick up his passenger. The
scorpion crawled onto the frog's back, his sharp claws prickling
into the frog's soft hide, and the frog slid into
the river. The muddy water swirled around them, but the
frog stayed near the surface so the scorpion would not drown.

(05:41):
He kicked strongly through the first half of the stream,
his flippers paddling wildly against the current. Halfway across the river,
the frog suddenly felt a sharp sting in his back,
and out of the corner of his eye saw the
scorpion remove his stinger from the frog's back. A deadening
numbness began to creep into his limbs. You fool, croaked

(06:01):
the frog. Now we shall both die. Why on earth
did you do that? The scorpion shrugged and did a
little jig on the drowning frog's back. I couldn't help myself.
It is my nature. Then they both sank into the
muddy waters of the swiftly flowing river, self destruction. It's
my nature, said the scorpion.

Speaker 4 (06:22):
It just goes to show you that we'd rather lose
than support this president. Now, moving aside, it's not just politics.
I've noticed I drive my car the scariest human sub pedestrian.
Then it'll look where they're going. They'll look where they're crossing.
They're too busy looking at their phones. I sit in restaurants.

(06:42):
I watched the other tables. It's easy for me. I
like to eat alone. Every one at these tables is
on their phone. No one's talking to one another, and
if they do, it's for a matter of moments, a
point in time, they go right back to it, reading
their phones. I belong to a supper club. I belong
to a luncheon club. I go to the pool. I
go it's summertime. I go to the bar. It's summertime.

(07:05):
I look at children. They don't want to swim, they
don't want to play for very long because they're longing
for their iPads the minute they're out of there. They're
on their iPads. What is going on? People are working.
They don't understand companies or company rules. It's always made
me nauseous when companies refer to themselves as family. That's

(07:26):
the thing. They're stupid people that will really get into
the grips of being your family. I'll never forget the
first time I heard Nordstrum as a retailer. I heard
it they said, we are responsible for our guests, and
our priorities is to make our guests comfortable and happy.
I'm not a guest in your store. I'm a consumer.

(07:47):
I'm a customer. If I was a guest, you'd serve
me a drink, you give me accounch to sit on.
I'm a customer. If in my company they would dare
to try and call it a family, I would go crazy.
Not my family. I don't invite you to my own
I don't call them with my problems. I don't share
with them my short Companies, companies or businesses are where

(08:09):
people work to support their real family. They're there to
make money. They're doing important jobs and some are doing
menial jobs. They're all important job. The worker is questioned.
The employee's question do they appreciate the jobs they have
in these companies? They want their companies to be successful.

(08:29):
More importantly, do they care? Do they care enough to
put their companies first so in turn they will do well? Hey, stupid,
the company does well, chances are you'll do well. The
workers or employees care if their companies are passing the grade.
Are they complementing their company doing what they need to

(08:49):
do for them to be successful. Are they trying to
set or accomplish colds. Are they representing their companies properly
in the best interest of the company. I've observed the opposite.
It's ediocracy and work. I have to wonder where do
companies find these apathetic workers. Can't you look harder for
people who are investing in you? How do you screen them? Hey? You, yes,

(09:14):
you do? You know the difference between your property and
the company's property. That's a whole other question. Theft can
take place in many ways. In my industry, it's called shrink.
In retail stores, it's called shrink. Most of the shrink.
Most of the theft comes from employees from within. They

(09:35):
steal merchandise, they steal time, they steal ideas. While I'm
on a rant, can companies survive without casual dressing? And
companies prosper without remote working. I've been in Soho house,
I've been in Dumbo House. During the day. I have
free time. I earned it. I write my show, I

(09:56):
deliver my show. I lived a life of work. My
goal was not work at all and earn money while
I'm sleeping. So therefore, with the exception of the show,
I've done it. I have the time to be in
these clubs and do nothing. But the entirety of these
clubs are filled with people, young people sitting on the computers.
Are they working? Are they all millionaires that they don't

(10:19):
have to work? If they are working, what kind of
companies allow so many people to work? Remoly, don't we
need to interlate to our fellow associates to get the
most out of what we're doing. What am I missing?
And then, of course you want to talk about idiocracy.
Everything you have to go to phones or computers to
get answers. Nothing gets done with one phone calling it.

(10:41):
No one seems able to answer all the questions when
you do get a human on the phone. Either a
convention is terrible because you're talking to India and the
accents are so difficult to understand. You're better off not
getting them on the phone. What we seem to be
good at right now is shopping online. We no longer
have to go to the store. They returning privileges are excellent.

(11:03):
Why do we have to do to interlate with people?
We live in a world of ideocracy. We're all idiots,
we all look like idiots. In fact, if an alien
species came down to this planet and they were to
watch us, what would they think? They think we were crazy?
They didn't know who's in charge. I think Jerry Seinfeld

(11:24):
said it. If you watch people walk their dogs. We
watched the humans from behind with bags to pick up
their poop. Who would these aliens think are in charge?
Humans are the dogs. I don't understand what we're doing. Tariffs.
They were supposed to protect our industry, provide jobs, and
it's gotten kidnapped into so many different reasons. It's hard

(11:47):
for me, an expert at this stase of the business,
to understand where we are and what's going on. So
much confusion, so much stuff, so much wrong has transpired
with something that is a smart move for the country,
but the execution is horrible. So tonight I want to
cover things that are leading me to believe we live

(12:09):
in a land of idiocracy. First stop on a journey
a perpetual state of being stupid. I'd like introduced my
co host, my lawyer, my son, Jesse Weber.

Speaker 6 (12:23):
I hope that's not an insult, but I haven't been
on the show in a few weeks, and that's how
you you connect me to Thank you. That's very kind
of you. Let me let me point something out about
remote work. First of all, you and I were talking
about it the other day. I host chose and I
would say ninety five percent of the interviews I do

(12:44):
are with remote guests. Right, They're not in studio with me.
They're over zoom or something like that. You do lose something,
there's a delay, you don't quite have the back and forth.
But that's the land we live in. I remember I
was talking about this the other night. Do you remember
when I had to do hits for certain networks and
if I was in Long Island, they would send a

(13:04):
car to pick me up, take me to the city
for literally a four minute hit. Those days are gone.
Now it's everybody just does things on zoom. You hate it,
You hate that.

Speaker 4 (13:15):
Oh, I hate it. First of all, it's not as
clear you're in the studio, you look crystal clear, you
look beautiful. They're all blurred out. You got these weird
backgrounds behind them. You know they're not in the studio,
they're in an office to some room in that And
it's just not as shop an interview when you're looking
at someone head to head and answering questions. I do
hate it, and I think it's sediotic to do it.

Speaker 6 (13:38):
Now I agree, I agree, but unfortunately for the majority
of guests who are not in the same state, not
in the same city.

Speaker 2 (13:44):
It's what you have to do.

Speaker 6 (13:45):
You want to get a good interview. That's who that's
the compromise. Now, something about remote work. Something about remote work.
There is an argument to be made that could you
be more productive remote What do I mean by the
time it takes to get ready in the morning, travel
to the office, come back from the office, you're losing
working time. You might be more productive. You just wake up,

(14:08):
you're on your computer, you're working, there's no distractions, you
come back.

Speaker 4 (14:11):
I mean no. So you think a person but would
get up at eight o'clock in the morning to get
to the work or travel for an hour to get
to the work of behind. It's going to work more
hours because they're not commuting.

Speaker 6 (14:24):
Maybe maybe now you don't think so.

Speaker 4 (14:28):
No, listen, this is all about COVID. What we just
talked about. COVID changed everything. You couldn't get interviews in
the office. You had to do them, and you couldn't
do them in the studios, So people did them remotely.
Working from home became a life force because of COVID.
It just never switched back. I think walking into someone's
office and looking at him in the eyes and asking

(14:49):
him a question, it's far better than doing it via
zoom or whatever. But you know what, maybe I'm a
miss sauce.

Speaker 6 (14:55):
Well, it does depend upon the industry, it does depend
upon the job.

Speaker 2 (14:59):
But you're ready for this.

Speaker 6 (15:01):
The two shows that I host for Law on Crime,
let's just focus on one Prime crime, this documentary show. Editors, producers,
every single member of my team is remote in different
states and cities. We have not all been together ever
once and we put on.

Speaker 2 (15:20):
A successful show. What does that tell you?

Speaker 4 (15:23):
As it works not works? You know what tonight, I'm
not here to debate remote work. I'm here if you
want a debate idiocracy because the world has gone stupid.
So let's talk about that. I'll talk about that. Well, okay,
here's what I'd like to ask you. You've been hosting
Cuomo this show entire week this week and it's primetime,

(15:45):
it's Cuomo's show. The other night you covered the issue
of Washington, d C And the management of crime. I
don't understand how anyone in this world could argue with
the National Guard coming into Washington, d City to help
police and reduce crime and make people feel safe. What's
the argument in this land of ideocracy.

Speaker 6 (16:08):
The argument is, uh, oh, you're creating a militarized state.
You're having the National Guard and federal officers conducting the
responsibilities the jobs of local law enforcement. They're not trained properly.
They're going to violate people's rights. It's not a good
precedent to set. Is the president going to have federal
authorities in every state usurping the power of the governors

(16:31):
and local authorities. My argument was, what if it works?
There was all this back and forth too about why DC.
Why now there's Well, there's been an argument that the
crime statistics in DC show that the level of crime
has decreased. I made the point nobody's looking at that
optics wise. People who live in DC, they feel the crime.

(16:52):
You ask people ten people on the street, majority of
them are going to say, I feel like DC's a
dangerous place to live.

Speaker 2 (16:59):
That's all that matters.

Speaker 6 (17:00):
And so if you put forward federal law enforcement and
it makes the city safer. And let me tell you something.
By the way, in the first night they had twenty
three arrests. If it works, is that a bad thing?
What happens if it works? That was the one thing
I was making. It was everybody was quick to jump
to assumptions that this is going to be.

Speaker 2 (17:19):
The worst thing.

Speaker 6 (17:20):
And I will tell you the DC mayor hasn't really
fought back that much. Now, some would say she doesn't
have the legal authority to push back Trump because DC
he has more authority to put forward federal officers. But
I also think she might be wondering is this a
good thing?

Speaker 4 (17:35):
Will it work?

Speaker 2 (17:36):
I don't know.

Speaker 6 (17:37):
I can't go into her mind. But that's the point
I was making. Why are we so quick to say
this is a disaster?

Speaker 4 (17:42):
Would you have people call in? What would they say?

Speaker 2 (17:44):
Not calling call in?

Speaker 6 (17:45):
I had guests I had a former former chief of
police from a blue state who basically said, this is dangerous.
The people's rights are going to be violated, that there's
other ways to deal with crime issues that are not
going to be addressed this way. We're not going to
see a reduction of crime. This is not going to work.
I push back, but she stood firm on that.

Speaker 4 (18:07):
You know, okay, then why haven't they done it?

Speaker 6 (18:10):
And I said, I said, she made the argument that
Trump is only going after certain mayors in certain blue states.
And I made the argument, well, okay, but if you
look at the crime levels in democratically run states where
you have a democratic mayor, they're high. Do you think

(18:30):
there's a problem in the programs? Doesn't there need to
be a change? And I also made the point because
I had a Republican guest on, a conservative guest on,
and I said, there's high crime levels in some red states.
Should the president, if this is successful, should he try
to do the same thing in red states?

Speaker 2 (18:44):
And you know what my.

Speaker 6 (18:44):
Guest said, maybe maybe, which I thought was good.

Speaker 4 (18:49):
Don't you think it's super intimidating to see the National Guard?
Don't you think it's a deterrent if I was a criminal,
I'd be scared out of my mind. We're dealing with
a different element.

Speaker 2 (18:58):
I would think so. And what have at the border?

Speaker 6 (19:01):
Border crossings are like zero right now. Now, don't you
think that the level of force plays an impact?

Speaker 4 (19:06):
Oh?

Speaker 2 (19:06):
Look, and look, by the way, like what's going on
with Mexico.

Speaker 6 (19:10):
They're talking about the presidents talking about using military force
in Mexico to stop the cartels. As soon as he
announced that Mexico sent us twenty six cartel members or
criminals for to be prosecuted here in the United States.

Speaker 2 (19:24):
A show of force has an effect.

Speaker 4 (19:26):
Yeah, well, I'm talking idiocracy. I think arguing against this
the idea of our civil rights being squandered in the
form of takeover by the federal government. It is our government.
They are here to protect us. I don't think that
Trump has any inclination whatsoever to try and take over
the country. I don't know what even means. It's just

(19:47):
that everything seems to be dumb. What else do you
think he'll be talking about this week? All right, it
seems like an old story, but how idiotic in the
world of indiocracy. Sydney Sweeney and Jeans hubdumbost.

Speaker 6 (20:02):
They're stretching that so much to say that that was
offensive and racist. I had to take a mental leap
to understand that. And the major if you look at
certain polls, the majority of people who are polled, not
not those on the extreme left, but just majority people
who are polled say this wasn't offensive.

Speaker 2 (20:23):
I actually think it was clever.

Speaker 6 (20:24):
And by the way, there are ads all in New
York City for it, and it's brought so much attention
to American Eagle. I don't know if they're even upset
about it.

Speaker 4 (20:33):
Did after they said they won't defend it. They ain't
done nothing wrong. Listen, I'm not a fan of cleavage.
I don't understand the concept when women show up with cleavage.
I've talked about that before. I really don't understand it.
I never will. What do you want me to do?
Look in your eyes, look at your chest, tell me
what the game is. I don't know how to behave.
But the bottom line is she was not wearing a

(20:53):
bra in most of the picks, just she was attempting
to be sexy. When did that go out of style?
I mean, isn't.

Speaker 2 (21:01):
That she's isn't it kind of reverse. It's like, oh,
she's a.

Speaker 6 (21:04):
Blonde haired, blue eyed young woman. That's a fence if
we shouldn't have her in the ads. That doesn't feel
right either, does it.

Speaker 4 (21:14):
I don't know what to think. I wish I was
six for two, twenty three years old than one and beautiful.
It'd be a great life. Don't listen to me, God,
I want to come back a guy. But the point
of the story is, you know that's what you're doing.
You're trying to sell product. When did that go out
of style? Listen, we've all gone crazy. We live in
the land of idiocracy. I want to pick up this

(21:36):
and take a break right now. We'll come back. Hang
in here, guys, We've got more to talk about.

Speaker 3 (21:41):
Always in fashion.

Speaker 8 (21:44):
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(22:07):
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Speaker 1 (25:59):
Welcome back, Always in Fashion.

Speaker 3 (26:01):
Here's your host, Mark Webber.

Speaker 4 (26:04):
I came up with a new term. You know, once
in my life, I wrote in my book, I was brilliant.
This time tonight, I think I was brilliant, and the
term was idiocracy. We live in a land and a
world of ideocracy, a perpetual state of being stupid, society
populated and governed by idiots. And that's what I'm talking

(26:24):
about tonight. Every time I visit a store or a
business service sector someone to fix my car, I always ask,
how's business. I'm curious to know what's going on a
sideline before I go there. I care about what I've done.
I care about everything I've ever done. I care about

(26:46):
the company that I work for. I'm always hoping that
they do well. I'm always hoping that companies that I
frequent are doing well. Jesse, the other day, one of
a favorite restaurants you wanted to have a birthday party, yeah,
is closing. What do you think about that?

Speaker 8 (27:02):
Uh?

Speaker 6 (27:03):
Yeah, it's so disappointing.

Speaker 2 (27:05):
I'm gonna name it. It's in the news.

Speaker 6 (27:07):
Yeah, Quarterhouse in the Time Warner Center. That honestly my
one of my favorite restaurants in the city. I think
it's probably the best steakhouse in the city in my opinion.
Been going there for years, such a great place, power place.
They say, right Time Warner Center, it's closing, closing after
twenty years, I think, and it's you and I had

(27:28):
a debate about whether we go back. I was like,
let's go back, you know, one more time. You are
the opinion, we had great memories there.

Speaker 2 (27:37):
We need to move on.

Speaker 4 (27:39):
Yeah, they didn't ask my amission to close. In the
fact that they're closing, I'm angry.

Speaker 6 (27:44):
Well, this isn't about it wasn't it's not a they
didn't consult you.

Speaker 4 (27:48):
Well, I'm en titled to an opinion. We you know
that's my opinion. The point I'm making, though, is when
you frequent an establishment, whether it's a retail store, restaurant,
or a gas station, you really want them to do
well so that they stay profitable and they stay in business.
And here's a great example. We have a restaurant we love.

(28:10):
Expensive is crazy. But whatever reason they're closing because they,
I guess, just not making the money they need to do.
I want these companies to do well. And I've always
given my best and tried to do my best no
matter what. And I said early in this show, you know,
we all work. Some of our jobs are super important,

(28:32):
and some of our jobs are menial tests, and we
need menial tests. You know. I don't want to downgrade
a gardener's job, but a gardener needs to cut the grass.
There are people who need to clean the office facilities.
You might call them menial, but they are important jobs
no matter what. And I applaud anyone who cares about

(28:54):
what they do and how they do it. There's no
reason in my world for not caring. If you don't,
you're idiotic, and you're part of this idiocracy. I recall
to mind a great story I've told before, John F. Kennedy,
former President of the United States, out of view that
he wanted to put a man in the milk. He
was going to do something that no one thought was possible.

(29:17):
I remember visiting an air and National Museum and meeting
one of the people who worked in the museum who
took you on the tour, and they talked about the capsule,
and they talked about the incredible ability.

Speaker 8 (29:31):
To put a man on the moon.

Speaker 4 (29:32):
And the year they did it, I think it was
nineteen sixty or sixty two. Do you know that computers
at that time didn't have the capacity of your iPhone
and they did it anyway? Do you know that Jesse
I didn't. How crazy is that?

Speaker 6 (29:47):
It's crazy how things have advanced, right, Like, what do
you think? What do you think it's going to be
like in twenty years with the phones?

Speaker 4 (29:53):
Oh, it's who knows? Do you know? That's how they
invented my law Milow is a fabric that was invented
to deflect the heat of the sun rays on the capsule.
It's amazing. If you ever get into the National Museum
in Washington, d C. It's safe now because the National
Guard is there, or if you go to the one
in Long Island. There's a very famous air and space

(30:15):
museum on Long Island because Grummand used to be based
in Long Island. Long Island has a big history on
air travel and development. It's an amazing thing. But anyway,
I recall a story John F. Kennedy during the period
went to NASA and he was going to do a
tour of NASA. While he was walking, he saw a
janitor who was sweeping the floor or mopping down one

(30:39):
of the tile floors. John F. Kennedy, as a good man,
a man of the people, walked over to him and
tuck out his hand, said Hi, I'm John F. Kennedy.
Who are you? And the guy told him his name,
and he asked the guy what is you're doing for NASA?
And he said, I'm helping put a man on the moon.
One of the great stories of all time. This janitor
took his work seriously. He's proud of what they do.

(31:03):
And there are many people all over the world and
I've seen that are proud of what they do. It
doesn't matter whether they're a cab driver or whether or
not they're sweeping the floor. They know they have a job,
they're getting paid, they appreciate it, and what have you.
The other day, I went into a store. Because my
sponsors may sell them, I may not mention the name

(31:26):
of the store, but I want to tell you. I
walked in and I asked for a particular product. The
guy had to go downstairs and get it, which he
was willing to do, and when he came to bring
it back a certain sense I went to take it.
Don't be handsy. You think that's just the hands.

Speaker 2 (31:45):
Usually that's in a bad context.

Speaker 4 (31:47):
Yeah, he said, I'm handsy. I wanted to take this, okay.
So right away I know this guy's a little peculiar,
but you know, so I tried to walk them down
off that cliff and I said, yeah, great, I'm glad
you have it. Now can I see it? He said, yeah, now,
I'll open it up and i'll show it to you
can see it. Okay, So I sent them house business.
I said to me, terrible. I said, I'm sorry to

(32:10):
hear that. And you know what he said, what makes
no difference to me. You have medical and dental. I
get the same paycheck, whether business is good or not.
I want to shoot myself as you're like, you're.

Speaker 2 (32:24):
Not that, You're not the janitor. You're not that janitor
I was hoping for.

Speaker 4 (32:28):
Yeah, I said, well what happens if they closed? It's
not finding another job. This is the workers that we
have on the floor right now. He's here for the benefits.
He doesn't care if they do well, We'll find another job.
Listen out there, you're being paid to do a job.
You're being paid a lot to do a job. Why
do I say a lot? If you're making minimum wage?

(32:51):
You're the one with's a job. There's plenty of people
lined up outside looking to get that job. You're in
an important position because you and buying space and time.
The company's paying you money, they're paying you benefits. They're
entitled to support. They're entitled for you to do everything
you can to make them successful, to make this country's successful.

(33:16):
This month, the job rate was lower than expected. There
should have been more jobs filled. It's a problem. When
I listen to this, I get really really upset, and
I just wanted to call it out on a world
of knights. When we're talking about idiotricy. Here's a thought.
You have a company ahead of the company is a

(33:37):
great designer, and that designer decides to retire. I have
a question for you and the fashion business, it's all
about design, designers, product, et cetera. How do you feel
a company would do when the main designer, the one
who's famous designing, has to step down. What do you
think we'll happen? Oh?

Speaker 6 (33:57):
Right, First of all, the public is going to freak out.
They're going to think the quality of the product is
going to change. They're going to think the direction of
the company is going to change. And you wonder, and
I think that the stock would plummet.

Speaker 4 (34:11):
Now, well, it's an interesting question, but I give you
some examples. For example, Louis Vuitton. At one time there
was a Louis Queton in eighteen something. He's not there.
The name stands and lens the test the time. We'll
stay in luxury. Hermez there was a Mez family there
no longer is that's all well and good? Right right?

(34:33):
And there was a Dior Christian Dior no longer there.
It becomes Coco Chanel. It becomes an institution. Because the
people that remain behind are extraordinary at what they do.
They understand the DNA of the company. They understand what
they're trying to achieve, and they understand what needs to

(34:56):
be done. Now, I got a great story from you know,
from my own example. When we're at PVH. We needed
to make a transforming transaction. We had a great company.
We're the largest shirt company in the world. We made
a fortune, but the problem was we weren't growing the
way we needed to grow. See you mentioned stock. If

(35:18):
you're on Wall Street, there's only one reason that you
have a public company to grow the company. Because nobody
buys a stock for the stock just to sit there.
I mean, it's safe money. You buy a stock, Jess,
you buy it to make money or just hold.

Speaker 2 (35:33):
It that I'd like to make money.

Speaker 6 (35:37):
I mean, otherwise I just put it in a Treasury
bill if I wanted to grow.

Speaker 4 (35:42):
Exactly So, we were a great company, we're making a fortune.
We made handover fist. I remember my boss one day
walking into me and say, Mark, we need a transforming transaction.
Our stock is languishing. We're a great company. If it's
you and my company, as we were private, you'd have
a jet. I'd have a jet, we'd have boats in
the Caribbean, we'd have the greatest life in the world

(36:04):
because we make that kind of money. But as a
public company, we're not growing. And if you don't grow,
the stock doesn't go up and the shareholders aren't happy.
And at the time our stock was very low. We
should have been higher, but our industry wasn't responding well
and we needed what was called the transforming transaction, something
that would come in to change the nature of the company.

(36:26):
And what did we do? After all intensive searches looking
for how to expand the company and internally or externally,
we came up with the idea, I bosst it to
buy Calvin Kline. Amazing idea. We ended up negotiating, we're
bidding war. We've worked the company Calvin clin. Now. The
interesting thing about it was nobody knew at the time

(36:50):
that Calvin really didn't want to sell the company. Partner
he grew up with Parish Schwartz. The two of them
took Calvin Client from a guide designing coats that never
heard of to one of the famous, most successful designer
companies in the world, Calvin Klein's Fragrance business you know
Eternity moment k one DKNY and Eternity was one of

(37:12):
the largest fragrant businesses in the world. That alone was
a huge business. Calvin Klein had one of the largest
jeans businesses in the world and today even still one
of the largest underwear businesses in the world, and from
a numbers point of view, it was extraordinary. At the
time we bought the company, we were a men'swear company.
Calvin Klein wasn't really in the men's wear business, so

(37:34):
right along we saw the opportunity to do a billion
dollars in men's wear that didn't really exist in sportswear,
and we would go and do it. And while Calvin
Klein had a huge luxury business, they had no women's
ready to wear at popular prices like they have today
to go out and do that business. So we had
billions of dollars worth of business that we could do
that didn't exist in the company. You call it sweat equity.

(37:56):
That's the term you buy a company for what they
currently have, but you don't pay for what you're going
to do with it. That's your hard work and sweat.
So you try and buy a company at a reasonable
price based on what they're doing and the reasonable price
at the time for Calvin Climb was based on their
underway the jeans in the Fragrant visit, we saw billions
of dollars worth of opportunity that we would generate and earn,

(38:18):
and that was the plan. So we went out, we
negotiated the business, and right after the deal was signed,
as we were preparing for the first Runway show, as
we were learning that Calvin and his partner Barry were
falling on difficult time. Barry wanted to sell, Calvin wanted
to hold on. Calvin decided that he no longer wanted

(38:40):
to work, that he would no longer have his face
associated with the Runway show when we were coming up
with a big Runway show on the lawn. Now, Calvin
Clin's contract specified the number of days he would really work,
and there weren't many, but he still was going to
be the face of the brand and was basically happening.
We had a young designer and names Francisco Costa. I

(39:02):
don't know where he is now, but he was a
very talented guy and he pictured himself as the head
of Calvin Klein. And as Calum started coming in on
his visits, Francisco was less inclined to take his direction
and Calvin made a decision then even no longer walked
the runway. And what I found in my mixed responsibilities

(39:25):
and my looking at it from both sides. On the
one hand, I was devastated. We just bought the company.
We have Calvin Klein there. I want him walking down
the runway. We don't want to show any change, certainly
not the first runway show. And he refused, and I
was angry and concerned as I possibly could be. On
the other hand, I had to respect him because if

(39:47):
it wasn't his work, he didn't want to stand up
and behave as if his work. And I really respected
his integrity for that. Now all these companies today, Ralph
Lauren eighty two years old, he's not involved as he
once was. It built a legacy, he built on Dynamo.
He has great people working for I don't know when
he goes in, I don't know when he comes in.

(40:09):
I do know that when he does show up, he
makes things better. Same thing when I work with Donna Karen.
She was a brilliant, brilliant woman who was incredibly gifted
and talented, but she didn't work the way she once worked.
She would come in and some things the collection for
Donna Karen. She was actively involved, but she had a
great design of working who presented many of the ideas

(40:31):
and she would come in as a whirling dervish during
the process and change and move and do and put
our special special sauce on the product as well. But
sometimes the designers leave and their institutions. You know the DNA,
you know what they're try and accomplish, you know what
the brand stands for, and you know where you're going
to be. However, in this instance, Calvin didn't want to.

(40:54):
He stepped aside and we managed it properly. And when
I look back to where we are today and where
Calvin is today is still an institution. They still have
great things. They still do wonderful things. American Eagle took
over that point in genes that they once had as
sexy being the thing. But I think about idiocracy and

(41:15):
what people spend their money on. I am am as
a man of the people willing to shop in Marshalls
or TJ Max. Why because they could find great stuff
at a price. One of the great places to buy
dress shirts is DJ Max. Why because they have all
the great brand names and designer names. You may not
find your size in the style or the color you want.

(41:35):
But if you have the ability to wear blue or gray,
or green or black, you might find the exact shirt
that you want. I also like shopping in VI tongue.
I like shopping in our mez. I like shopping luxury.
I am a Rob Lauren Purple label customer, and to me,
it doesn't matter whether the designer is there or not.

(41:57):
What matters to me is the integrity of the brand.
What matters to me is whether I pay for what
I believe I'm getting. See, I don't mind spending money.
I hate wasting money. If I walk in and I
buy a purple labeled shirt, a dress shirt for five
hundred dollars, I want a fabric made in Italy, and
I want it sown in Italy because the time and

(42:19):
attention to detail, not speed, takes place in Italy. If
I'm looking for a moderate price, sure, I have no
problem buying any other designer Michael Coles, Calvin Klein, Tommy
Hill figure fifty dollars versus five hundred, I'll do it,
and I understand what I'm getting. I expect fabric that
will perform nicely, that will tailor on the launder well

(42:40):
and I expect it to fit well. That is my world.
So ladies and gentlemen, in the world of ideocracy, you
have to understand who you are, what you're buying, and
love what you do. Take a break back in a minute.

Speaker 3 (42:54):
Always in fashion.

Speaker 8 (42:56):
Than a lifetime of my career building the van usen Brand,
and I am so pleased that they're back with us
now talking about suits. Men were dressing up again and
it's become cool to wear a suit. Suits can be
won on multiple occasions in multiple ways. You could wear
a suit formally to go out at night or to

(43:16):
an event, to wear a suit to the office with
or without a tie. If you look closely, now fashion trends,
suits are being worn with turtlenecks or mark next. The
choices are endless and every one of them looks right.
You could really really look the part. I believe that
in packaging yourself as important does the products you package,

(43:38):
and wearing a suit is one of those things that
make men look their best. Then, using invented a new idea.
It's called the cool flex suit. It's been engineered with
stretch technology, giving you the most comfortable fit and mobility
it's wrinkle resistant fabric, it's cool moisture WICKI it makes
it perfect for all occasions. As we discussed just now,

(44:00):
this new style of looking shop while feeling cool and
comfortable is amazing and I'm so excited that the van
Using company is involved in this new technology and is
embracing the whole idea of dressing up. Let's not forget
van Usen made its name with dress shirts. It's only
proper that the soup business follows strongly in its way.

(44:22):
You can find van Using Kolflex Men's stretch suits at
jcpenny are online at jcpenny dot com. Guys, they're great.
You should go look at them. My favorite brand has
always been Izod. My company at one time bought that brand.
The CEO of the company handed it to me and said,
you better make it work. And I put everything in

(44:42):
my career to make Eyesod work, and I fell in
love with that brand, and to this day it is
one of the most exciting endeavors I've ever got involved with.
Isod is an incredibly strong golf brand. If you play golf,
if you play tennis. For that, they make a great
polo shirts. I mean great, They're fit perfect. The material

(45:08):
is unique because it's a PK fabric that waffle leave,
you see, and it's made of a blend of cotton
and microfiber that allows you to stretch. And very often
they are treated with solar protection as well, so they stretch,
they're comfortable, and they breathe well. And one thing about

(45:28):
isa they always fit. They'll never tug on you. You
put it in your waist that they'll fit you great.
The colors, patterns are sensational. Now I will also tell
you ISAOD makes great shorts and great golf pants. You're
a golf friend. You want to look good. You don't
want to have to think about how do I look.
You want to think about how you play, not how
you feel. ISOD is the brand for you. I know

(45:50):
I was there when it was created. The strategy behind
that brand is brilliant. It's one of my favorite brands.
While I talk about it, I should tell you about
the man's sportswear. ISOD was enough being a golf brand.
It wasn't enough being just great polo shirts with logos,
without logos. Incredible brands and story and history. Isaad makes
salt weather programs. They have great printed woven shirts, short

(46:16):
sleeves that look excellent with colors, excellent with shorts, excellent
with cotton pants, of which they also make this whole
salt order relaxed line from Isaac, whether it be fleece,
cotton sweaters, knit polos, woven shirts and pants of a
range of colors and fabrics that are perfect for a

(46:37):
guy wants to go casually in the spring and summer
of this year.

Speaker 4 (46:41):
And here's the.

Speaker 8 (46:42):
Thing, ISOD is affordable. Everyone listening to me talk about
this brand can afford to buy it and know that
there are a lot of other brands that also have
a look like ISID. Although I don't believe it's fun is.

Speaker 4 (47:00):
The brand has a lot of energy in it, but
at the price points no one can compete. You can
find eyesa at You're leading retailers and online at ion
dot com. Talk to you, lady guys. I wish you
are very happy springing summer, and I help you by
telling you if you were eya on, You're gonna look great.

Speaker 1 (47:21):
Welcome back to it always in fashion. Here's your host,
Mark Webber.

Speaker 4 (47:26):
Can I, on the one hand, I'm very excited to
be talking about a new concept. I've come up with.
And I'm also a little frustrated the concept I've come
up with. If you're just tuning in, there's something cold
idiocrasy where idiots. It comes to. It's a perpetual state

(47:48):
of being stupid in politics. No matter what this president does,
there's a seventy million people that want him to fail,
and if he fails, they're failed, all be hurt. He
got a root for him. He gotta hope he knows
what he's doing. We're a society populating governed by idiots.
We have to get our act together. I'm so concerned

(48:09):
with it. I've been watching money and I wanted to
just talk a few minutes about money. I've done it before.
Those of you are hearing me for the first time,
those of you who stayed the course to listen to this.
I just want to help you with a couple of things. One,
no credit card debt. I seem to be talking about

(48:32):
this every week. Why because it's between twenty and thirty percent.
It doesn't make sense to build up credit card debt.
If by mistake, you have five, twenty thousand, whatever the
number is, credit card debt, you're paying twenty to thirty
percent interest it's insane. You'll never pay it off. The
credit card companies are happy. I give you a piece

(48:54):
of advice. Go to a bank and take out a
personal loan. You'll pay five percent interest, pay off the
debt of the credit cards, and be paying five percent
instead of twenty percent. Those of you who believe in
the stock market, the stock market is at record levels.
I think the stock market will continue to rise. But
you know what I know about the stock market. Nothing.

(49:15):
When I was the CEO of the company and I
was in charge of every single detail of the company's
earnings and profit, and I knew exactly where the company
would finish each given year, I had no idea how
walse you would treat my stock. So even though I
had all this information, I didn't know. The key with
stock is after you consider your broker each trade. Greatest

(49:39):
thing I ever read about stockbrokers. If they were so smart,
why are they're still working. You have to make your
own decisions. If you have an analyst, good luck to you.
But the truth is, here's what stock is. Stock is
like real estate. Real estate is the greatest investment if
you have time. If you are forced to sell real
estate because the neighborhood changed, you're going to lose money.

(50:00):
I'm seeing restaurants close in my neighborhood that will close
for ten years, and then all of a sudden, out
of the blue, an industrial park comes and fills in
all that. Real estate stock is like real estate. If
you're forced to sell, you're in trouble. If you can
afford to hold on and you buy good company, you're
going to be great. And most importantly, when it comes

(50:21):
to investing, who are you? Where are you? Back in
the day Wall Street, Michael Douglas Charlie Sheen, Charlie Sheen
was a young guy trying to make a name for himself.
He would call Michael Douglas's office every day trying to
get him on the phone, and eventually he got him
on the phone, and he became very successful until he wasn't.
I had guys calling me trying to jump on my bandwagon.

(50:41):
I was being written about their articles. I was big, seen,
I was well, I'm not important now I was then,
and all these guys would call me up and they
would want my business. Finally got to the point when
guy gets me on the phone and he says, you know, Mark,
I can make money out three stocks. You buy now,
you're gonna be happy, and from there we'll grow the business.
Wait a minute, here's a deal. I got an idea

(51:02):
for you, Jim, he said, I'll do. I'll give you
fifty thousand dollars to invest in stock for me. And
here's the deal. If you make money on that stock,
I'll give you fifty percent of the profits. If it loses,
you pay you're recommending, Oh no, I can't do it. Well,
first of all, he couldn't do it because you work
for company. But it's also against the law. If you're
investing money, you have to know what you could afford,

(51:24):
and you have to know how long you're going to
hold it. You want to buy stock, I can't give
you any advice. I buy only companies I know of that.
I think you're going to do right, but I know
nothing about what I'm talking about. You have to be
able to afford. It's like gambling. You sit down in
Las Vegas at the black Tac table. You'll only bring
to that table what you could afford to lose on

(51:45):
that period of time. Never extend yourself, don't go to
the cash machines, don't do any of that. No stock
is the same thing. Know what you could afford to invest,
and God forbid you lose. You know what you can
afford to lose. If you buy good companies, they're not
going out of business. If you're buying on whims, good
luck to you. I only can tell you don't be

(52:07):
idiotic and don't fall into the world of idiocracy. Having
said this, I hope you enjoyed tonight's show. The title
is idiocracy the land of perpetual stupidity. Maybe if you listen,
you work a little hard and not to be stupid.
Maybe you'll support the president because, after all, his success
is our success. You don't have to like him. You

(52:29):
don't have to admire him. You don't have to think
he's a good guy. You don't have to like his style,
you don't have to like anything. Which I have to
do is try and be successful, because if he's successful,
we'll all be successful. All our country will be stronger economically,
stronger in the world. Court will be a powerful country
that keeps us safe. Same thing in business, same thing

(52:51):
in your personal life. We want to be safe. I
hope you buy into this. I hope you enjoyed the show.
Talk to you next week,