November 12, 2025 • 18 mins
The Wednesday November 12, 2025 edition of The Armstrong & Getty One More Thing Podcast. features...
- Should we take a second look at our cultural revolution?
Stupid Should Hurt: https://www.armstrongandgetty.com/
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Wow, what a cool song. I want to get drunk
(00:01):
and have sex. It's one more thing. I'm strong and getty.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
One more thing is that two thoughts or one like
longer thoughts all it's all one thought, one thought forever
the whole country starting in nineteen fifty six.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
After this, you've got a great all star show going
along with him. But right now, singing Medley some of
the songs that you enjoyed to the extent of boosting
them over the million mark, here is Elvis.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
As soon as people going nut? So why am I
plain this thinking about this? That's good, Michael. I'm reading
Bruce Spings Springsteen's memoir actually listening to it, which he
reads himself, and he talked about he's talking about his
childhood and everything like that, and he's a high school
(00:57):
kid and he sees Elvis on the Ed Sullivan Show
and how everything in his life changed for him and
everybody who was young and American and everything like that.
And he talks about the same similar thing happening like
to an even a greater degree when the Beatles went.
Speaker 4 (01:12):
On Ed Sullivan.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
So this is well trod ground, right, But what is
not well and trod? And I don't understand. Why is
how it's been presented since I was a kid as
obviously a good thing that all of a sudden, all
young people decided my parents are stupid. Everything they've ever done,
the way they dressed, the music they listen to, the
(01:32):
things they care about are all awful, and we're gonna
do something new.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Why has it always been presented that way my whole life?
Speaker 5 (01:39):
Now?
Speaker 1 (01:39):
When I was younger, I bought that because I felt
the same way, because I agreed old people are stupid.
The things they do, the way they dress, the music
they listen to, the way they think is all stupid
and horrible. But it's clearly, in my opinion, been bad
for the country ever since that night in nineteen fifty
six that we went a different direction culturally. Now, Bruce
(02:03):
presents it as what kind of the way I just
described as finally we didn't have to live under the
old rules. Finally we got to blah blah blah, the
sexual revolution. Okay, So has a sexual of a live
revolution helped anybody? Women, especially families, kids, society. Is anything
good come out of this? The only examples I could
come up with would be women being able to work
(02:25):
in the workplace and in a rise to whatever level
your talents will take you. Obviously a good thing. And
civil rights movement obviously a good thing. But did we
need to have all the other stuff to achieve those things?
And is it at some point should we take a good,
long second look at the cultural revolution and whether or
not that was a good idea.
Speaker 4 (02:46):
Yeah, a couple of things.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
The culture in Chinese cultural Revolution where they're dragging people
in the streets.
Speaker 4 (02:51):
And beyond very different.
Speaker 5 (02:53):
Yeah, a couple of things. Number One, who was presenting
that idea to you through the hippies generally the media and.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Education people that grew up in that era. Hippies mostly
they mean teachers who like all my my teacher, I
tell my kids this all the time. When I had
music classes in school, we were singing Bob Dylan songs
and protest songs in fourth grade because they were all
hippies at the time. And yeah, you know, in the sixties.
Speaker 5 (03:20):
And but they were all people of the left who
were in charge of popular culture and education. And it's
even further today, so it's not surprising that they would
have an unmitigatedly positive view of that. Second thing is
and this is this is funny. We've discussed this on
and off through the years, how if you have, and
(03:41):
it's kind of an outdated reference now, but especially you
know a decade or two ago, if something crazy was happening,
you know, like pornographic you know, the sexually explicit stuff
in schools, or or you know some performer, you know,
what's their name, Miley Cyrus is practically bare ass naked,
(04:03):
rubbing or privates on stage and you said, hey, that's.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
That's not good.
Speaker 5 (04:08):
People will say, oh, yeah, just like when Elvis shook
his hips on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
That's too much for you, old man.
Speaker 5 (04:15):
Oh come on the notion that if two steps in
one direction are okay, eleven steps in that direction must
be okay too. Clearly, Well, I'm here in that chapter,
and what part of your life have you discovered that
to be true.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
I'm questioning the first step, and I never did when
I was younger. It always seems stupid and repressive and
blah blah blah. What's the advantage of having young Elvis
Presley shaking his hips suggestively on television? What's the upside?
Speaker 4 (04:44):
What were we trying to see?
Speaker 1 (04:46):
What were we trying to accomplish. I don't understand what
the upside is of all of this different stuff, the
throwing off, the no more listening to the man, and
blah blah blah. I don't feel like it's done.
Speaker 4 (04:56):
Us any good. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (04:59):
Yeah. My only caveat, it's not a disagreement exactly, is
that a lot of that stuff doesn't lead the culture
as much as they claim it does. It reflects it.
It's like, uh, you know, Trump didn't create these times.
These times created Trump and the you couldn't keep Elvis
(05:19):
off the TV anymore was the reality?
Speaker 4 (05:23):
Right?
Speaker 1 (05:23):
So I want to go back further because I'm getting
more and more convert because they.
Speaker 5 (05:28):
Had such enormous support, and the people who thought that
was too much were an increasingly small percentage society.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
Socide.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
I'm getting That's what I would suggest, much more conservative
as I get older, as a lot of people do.
And I just think the I think I first heard
it from God. Who's the guy from Commentary magazine, does
a podcast and longtime writer. His dad was a big
deal rights for The New York Post. However, you say
(05:55):
his name, John pod Horitz, Yes, Harvey, you say his
name first. He says the cultural decline in this country
for the last half century. I heard him talking about
that and I thought, wow, is that really that is?
Speaker 4 (06:07):
That sounds about?
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Yeah, and there has been a tremendous cultural decline in
this country for sixty seventy years now.
Speaker 5 (06:17):
Maybe it wasn't bicultural decline. If people are not hip
to this idea.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
I'm not exactly sure. I would have to define it
for myself. What's that Morals? Definitely morals, no doubt that
family structure going along with it. You know, it's the
idea that you could leave your door unlocked and nobody's
going to go in the house, in her house and
steal stuff. I think when that changes to the fact
(06:42):
that you got to have iron bars on your house,
there's been a cultural decline of some sort. I don't
know how. You definitely nail it down, and I don't
know exactly how it ties in with long hair and
you know, free sex, but it goes together somehow. Now
it's inches your notion of which led which that maybe Elvis,
(07:04):
the Beatles, tube tops were all a reflection of something
that was coming anyway. So is that the end of
people caring about the church? I don't know, but it's
all my whole life been presented as thank God that happened,
what a good thing, and I don't see the evidence
of it.
Speaker 4 (07:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (07:23):
I remember being really intrigued in college by the difference
between liberty and license, and there's subtlety to it. I
you know, a liberty is essentially like Thomas Jefferson's If
what you do doesn't steal my money or break my arm,
it's none of my business. License is much further than that.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
That.
Speaker 5 (07:46):
Everybody has to put up with a lot more ugliness
than most of us would agree we want, because any
limitation of liberty is just horrible on its face. And
I've done a poor job of explaining it, but we
got halfway there any but.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
Part of it.
Speaker 5 (08:02):
And this is so politically incorrect, and we almost got
run out of our careers for saying it years and
years ago. Diversity is great and cool and fun in
a lot of ways. And there's nothing I love more
than the story of an immigrant who comes to the
United States and loves this country and achieves their dreams
and talks about this is the line of opportunity and
teaches their kids to be patriots and stuff like that
(08:24):
that warms my heart.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
I absolutely love it.
Speaker 5 (08:27):
But diversity is a real challenge because if you have
shared cultural values, you can have conversations about is this
too far? Elvis shaking his hips was okay, Miley cyrus,
rubin or crotch in front of teenagers?
Speaker 4 (08:46):
Not okay?
Speaker 5 (08:48):
If you have no or very fit everywhere, oh porn, Yeah,
including in elementary schools. And if you try to take
those books off the shelves, you're called a censor anyway.
But if you have incredibly watered down common cultural values
such that you really don't have them anymore, it becomes
(09:09):
impossible to have that discussion in a productive way. And
so what you end up is with is we don't
have any standards at all. Anything goes because I can't
agree with my Mexican guy who escaped the cartel in
his town on what good governance is. Not to mention
the Russian Emma Gray who's ripping off the you know,
(09:30):
social services or whatever, not to generalize there are plenty
of Russian folks of Russian extraction or wonderful people, but
all of those different cultural values. How do I convince
all those different constituencies that wait, no, no, no, no, no,
we don't let.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
Porn in schools.
Speaker 5 (09:48):
See.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
I think if I could go back in time, I
think if not showing Elvis being suggestive dancing would keep
porn from being everywhere, I'd be for keeping Elvis off
the deep.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
But yeah, but your.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Point, and I don't know if I've ever thought about
this before, heard he may say it. Those kids went
crazy screaming for it. They wanted that, why did they
want to? And that arriving I'm guessing thirty years earlier,
in twenty six instead of fifty six, crowd wouldn't have
gone crazy like that.
Speaker 5 (10:20):
Uh yeah, but it was. It was something similar but different,
if you know what I mean in that era. You
have to look at it in the historical context too,
all of the self deprivation and sacrifice and unity, including
uniformity of the World War two era, because we in
the Western world were fighting an existential battle against you know,
(10:43):
the Nazis, the Axis Powers and then later in the
Cold War against the Communists, and then you've got to
get in line, you got to act more like a
soldier in a situation like that. But as those threats receded, kids,
especially young people especially, were like, I'm sick of acting
like a soldier. I don't want to act like a soldier.
I want to grow my hair, and I want to
listen to loud music. And so that it was inevitable
(11:08):
that an Elvis would be gyrating on TV and the
Beatles would have long hair and the rest of it.
But again, two steps does not justify eleven steps in
a particular direction.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Yeah, I'm not sure you can stop it once it starts,
that's why.
Speaker 5 (11:23):
Not unless you have a consistent culture. It's like, we've
talked about this a long time. You know why socialism
a form of socialism social democracies worked in the Scandinavian
countries because they were ethnically, religiously and practically to the family, homogeneous.
Everybody knew everybody, everybody was the same, had the same
(11:46):
cultural values. They could all get together and say this
much socialism is okay, but if you exploit the system,
we're going to kick you out.
Speaker 4 (11:53):
Okay, we agree.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
Well, just like on the sexual stuff, So you start
in nineteen fifty six where they didn't show Elvis below
the waist because it was too suggestive for America to
handle it. Now, porn is everywhere, absolutely everywhere, all the time,
everybody's seen it at every age. M Is there any reasons,
(12:15):
including acts that aren't ever done in the bedroom only
by circus performers. Anyway, you really have to have really
strong calves to be able to pull that off. I'm
what you're talking depending what you're picturing. Is there any
reason to think we won't have in my lifetime? Assuming
I live thirty more years, that's ninety twenty more years.
(12:36):
That's only eighty twenty five more years, um, predicting my lifespan.
Is there any reason to think that we won't have
a woman performing oral sex on a dude on stage
at a concert and that people cheering it could happen, Katie,
(12:56):
any reason to think that won't happen? I mean, if
you look at the from can't show elvis below the
waist to hear it's quite a change, man. I'm sure
it's not out of the question. I don't see what's
going to arrest the direction we're on right right, And
plenty of you'd say, what's the harm if people who
are you know, if it's adults and people you know
(13:18):
paid the ticket? Be and look at Pride in San Francisco.
That happens every year good point, very good.
Speaker 4 (13:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (13:24):
Actually yeah, well, and I've been to a live sex
show in Amsterdam, which I have made clear through the
years was about the least sexy thing I've ever seen.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Right, Why was that? How many? First of all, okay,
set the stage, as they say in the stage setting business.
Speaker 4 (13:42):
What people?
Speaker 1 (13:44):
How many people are in this club?
Speaker 4 (13:47):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (13:48):
God?
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Crowded crowd?
Speaker 4 (13:50):
Remember it?
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Seedy place? Nice place?
Speaker 4 (13:54):
No, it's fairly nice.
Speaker 5 (13:55):
My recollection was there were a couple, two, three dozen, okay,
And and it was kind of like stadiumish seating.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Okay, So it's like it's like we're at a okay,
at a storing event.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
Yeah, yeah, we were. It was in a way.
Speaker 5 (14:13):
And then a man and woman come out on stage,
or they came. They walk out in robes looking completely bored. Dude,
I remember this.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
Pardon me?
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Are you clapping? Is there music?
Speaker 4 (14:24):
I don't remember? I really don't remember. Yeah, I'm sure
there was music.
Speaker 5 (14:29):
Yeah, but both of them walk out like they're walking
out of shift the bus tables at you know, your
local chili's or whatever.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
They got robes on. They doff the robes.
Speaker 5 (14:38):
They they go to it, the you know, switching positions
every so often is chomping gum?
Speaker 1 (14:45):
What is there a bed or are they on the stage.
Speaker 5 (14:49):
It was some sort of platform, some sort of reasonably
comfortable platform, as I recall, but nude. Seriously the looks,
oh yeah, totally naked, and dude was quite well equipped
for the job. But they both had looks on their
faces like they were working a shift at the drive
through at a not very good fast food place. And
(15:10):
he's chewing his gum, looking like I can't wait till
this is over, and she's like got a blank look
on her face, like she's being used like a sheep.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
And it was like, what are we doing here.
Speaker 5 (15:23):
Getting the touristas to give up a few shekels to
come with take in what sounds like a great idea
and is absolutely not.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Wonder what that paid for the performers obviously not enough
if they looked like that while they were doing it, Yeah,
you can at least tend to look like.
Speaker 4 (15:42):
The news today.
Speaker 5 (15:44):
Target right is telling their their employees, Hey, if customer's
near you, smile at him, give them a pleasant look,
don't look like you're in an Amsterdam sex show.
Speaker 4 (15:53):
Used like a piece of meat.
Speaker 6 (15:54):
Was there like a bell and then they would switch
positions or you know, like Dan there, pros Michael.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
They didn't need to be tall.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Yeah, and how long did you sit there? And did.
Speaker 5 (16:06):
Not terribly long because they would come out and like
do their their hijinks for a few minutes and then
they'd you know, tip their non existent cap to the
crowd or whatever. All right, that's great, super and then
you know people would leave. I get as I recall
this was a number of years ago, like.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
That witally, you see what we do next act the
point I get you to buy drinks, probably keep you
around and have you by.
Speaker 5 (16:30):
Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, if you like that. No, I
actually didn't. And I'm a big fan of the Beast
with two backs. But no, that was terrible. That reminded
me of how dehumanizing quote unquote sex work is.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
That's what it did.
Speaker 5 (16:46):
I was there with my coworkers too, which is kind
of funny men and women.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
As I recall, did you put that? Did you put
that on the expense card?
Speaker 4 (16:56):
I don't think so.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Did the company pay for that? This company know what
they may have team building building?
Speaker 5 (17:03):
It was team building because we were all like, what
the f was that? That was back in the day
when you liked your coworkers and had inside jokes and
a couple watch strangers forticate on a stage. Those were
better times.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
Sorry, jack, am I undermining your point here.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
You should have heckled act like you enjoy it, Good Lord,
not tonight.
Speaker 4 (17:28):
I have a headache. Just say that if you don't
want to do this, this sucks. Boo. You call yourself
a forticator Boooo.
Speaker 6 (17:42):
All right, I have a theory. The decline happened when
we got color TV. Because it made life seem more exciting.
People went out. They started doing drugs and non sexual positions.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
So that so blame color TV. Well, I guess that's it.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
Boo.
Wow, what a cool song. I want to get drunk
(00:01):
and have sex. It's one more thing. I'm strong and getty.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
One more thing is that two thoughts or one like
longer thoughts all it's all one thought, one thought forever
the whole country starting in nineteen fifty six.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
After this, you've got a great all star show going
along with him. But right now, singing Medley some of
the songs that you enjoyed to the extent of boosting
them over the million mark, here is Elvis.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
As soon as people going nut? So why am I
plain this thinking about this? That's good, Michael. I'm reading
Bruce Spings Springsteen's memoir actually listening to it, which he
reads himself, and he talked about he's talking about his
childhood and everything like that, and he's a high school
(00:57):
kid and he sees Elvis on the Ed Sullivan Show
and how everything in his life changed for him and
everybody who was young and American and everything like that.
And he talks about the same similar thing happening like
to an even a greater degree when the Beatles went.
Speaker 4 (01:12):
On Ed Sullivan.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
So this is well trod ground, right, But what is
not well and trod? And I don't understand. Why is
how it's been presented since I was a kid as
obviously a good thing that all of a sudden, all
young people decided my parents are stupid. Everything they've ever done,
the way they dressed, the music they listen to, the
(01:32):
things they care about are all awful, and we're gonna
do something new.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Why has it always been presented that way my whole life?
Speaker 5 (01:39):
Now?
Speaker 1 (01:39):
When I was younger, I bought that because I felt
the same way, because I agreed old people are stupid.
The things they do, the way they dress, the music
they listen to, the way they think is all stupid
and horrible. But it's clearly, in my opinion, been bad
for the country ever since that night in nineteen fifty
six that we went a different direction culturally. Now, Bruce
(02:03):
presents it as what kind of the way I just
described as finally we didn't have to live under the
old rules. Finally we got to blah blah blah, the
sexual revolution. Okay, So has a sexual of a live
revolution helped anybody? Women, especially families, kids, society. Is anything
good come out of this? The only examples I could
come up with would be women being able to work
(02:25):
in the workplace and in a rise to whatever level
your talents will take you. Obviously a good thing. And
civil rights movement obviously a good thing. But did we
need to have all the other stuff to achieve those things?
And is it at some point should we take a good,
long second look at the cultural revolution and whether or
not that was a good idea.
Speaker 4 (02:46):
Yeah, a couple of things.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
The culture in Chinese cultural Revolution where they're dragging people
in the streets.
Speaker 4 (02:51):
And beyond very different.
Speaker 5 (02:53):
Yeah, a couple of things. Number One, who was presenting
that idea to you through the hippies generally the media and.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Education people that grew up in that era. Hippies mostly
they mean teachers who like all my my teacher, I
tell my kids this all the time. When I had
music classes in school, we were singing Bob Dylan songs
and protest songs in fourth grade because they were all
hippies at the time. And yeah, you know, in the sixties.
Speaker 5 (03:20):
And but they were all people of the left who
were in charge of popular culture and education. And it's
even further today, so it's not surprising that they would
have an unmitigatedly positive view of that. Second thing is
and this is this is funny. We've discussed this on
and off through the years, how if you have, and
(03:41):
it's kind of an outdated reference now, but especially you
know a decade or two ago, if something crazy was happening,
you know, like pornographic you know, the sexually explicit stuff
in schools, or or you know some performer, you know,
what's their name, Miley Cyrus is practically bare ass naked,
(04:03):
rubbing or privates on stage and you said, hey, that's.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
That's not good.
Speaker 5 (04:08):
People will say, oh, yeah, just like when Elvis shook
his hips on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
That's too much for you, old man.
Speaker 5 (04:15):
Oh come on the notion that if two steps in
one direction are okay, eleven steps in that direction must
be okay too. Clearly, Well, I'm here in that chapter,
and what part of your life have you discovered that
to be true.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
I'm questioning the first step, and I never did when
I was younger. It always seems stupid and repressive and
blah blah blah. What's the advantage of having young Elvis
Presley shaking his hips suggestively on television? What's the upside?
Speaker 4 (04:44):
What were we trying to see?
Speaker 1 (04:46):
What were we trying to accomplish. I don't understand what
the upside is of all of this different stuff, the
throwing off, the no more listening to the man, and
blah blah blah. I don't feel like it's done.
Speaker 4 (04:56):
Us any good. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (04:59):
Yeah. My only caveat, it's not a disagreement exactly, is
that a lot of that stuff doesn't lead the culture
as much as they claim it does. It reflects it.
It's like, uh, you know, Trump didn't create these times.
These times created Trump and the you couldn't keep Elvis
(05:19):
off the TV anymore was the reality?
Speaker 4 (05:23):
Right?
Speaker 1 (05:23):
So I want to go back further because I'm getting
more and more convert because they.
Speaker 5 (05:28):
Had such enormous support, and the people who thought that
was too much were an increasingly small percentage society.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
Socide.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
I'm getting That's what I would suggest, much more conservative
as I get older, as a lot of people do.
And I just think the I think I first heard
it from God. Who's the guy from Commentary magazine, does
a podcast and longtime writer. His dad was a big
deal rights for The New York Post. However, you say
(05:55):
his name, John pod Horitz, Yes, Harvey, you say his
name first. He says the cultural decline in this country
for the last half century. I heard him talking about
that and I thought, wow, is that really that is?
Speaker 4 (06:07):
That sounds about?
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Yeah, and there has been a tremendous cultural decline in
this country for sixty seventy years now.
Speaker 5 (06:17):
Maybe it wasn't bicultural decline. If people are not hip
to this idea.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
I'm not exactly sure. I would have to define it
for myself. What's that Morals? Definitely morals, no doubt that
family structure going along with it. You know, it's the
idea that you could leave your door unlocked and nobody's
going to go in the house, in her house and
steal stuff. I think when that changes to the fact
(06:42):
that you got to have iron bars on your house,
there's been a cultural decline of some sort. I don't
know how. You definitely nail it down, and I don't
know exactly how it ties in with long hair and
you know, free sex, but it goes together somehow. Now
it's inches your notion of which led which that maybe Elvis,
(07:04):
the Beatles, tube tops were all a reflection of something
that was coming anyway. So is that the end of
people caring about the church? I don't know, but it's
all my whole life been presented as thank God that happened,
what a good thing, and I don't see the evidence
of it.
Speaker 4 (07:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (07:23):
I remember being really intrigued in college by the difference
between liberty and license, and there's subtlety to it. I
you know, a liberty is essentially like Thomas Jefferson's If
what you do doesn't steal my money or break my arm,
it's none of my business. License is much further than that.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
That.
Speaker 5 (07:46):
Everybody has to put up with a lot more ugliness
than most of us would agree we want, because any
limitation of liberty is just horrible on its face. And
I've done a poor job of explaining it, but we
got halfway there any but.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
Part of it.
Speaker 5 (08:02):
And this is so politically incorrect, and we almost got
run out of our careers for saying it years and
years ago. Diversity is great and cool and fun in
a lot of ways. And there's nothing I love more
than the story of an immigrant who comes to the
United States and loves this country and achieves their dreams
and talks about this is the line of opportunity and
teaches their kids to be patriots and stuff like that
(08:24):
that warms my heart.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
I absolutely love it.
Speaker 5 (08:27):
But diversity is a real challenge because if you have
shared cultural values, you can have conversations about is this
too far? Elvis shaking his hips was okay, Miley cyrus,
rubin or crotch in front of teenagers?
Speaker 4 (08:46):
Not okay?
Speaker 5 (08:48):
If you have no or very fit everywhere, oh porn, Yeah,
including in elementary schools. And if you try to take
those books off the shelves, you're called a censor anyway.
But if you have incredibly watered down common cultural values
such that you really don't have them anymore, it becomes
(09:09):
impossible to have that discussion in a productive way. And
so what you end up is with is we don't
have any standards at all. Anything goes because I can't
agree with my Mexican guy who escaped the cartel in
his town on what good governance is. Not to mention
the Russian Emma Gray who's ripping off the you know,
(09:30):
social services or whatever, not to generalize there are plenty
of Russian folks of Russian extraction or wonderful people, but
all of those different cultural values. How do I convince
all those different constituencies that wait, no, no, no, no, no,
we don't let.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
Porn in schools.
Speaker 5 (09:48):
See.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
I think if I could go back in time, I
think if not showing Elvis being suggestive dancing would keep
porn from being everywhere, I'd be for keeping Elvis off
the deep.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
But yeah, but your.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Point, and I don't know if I've ever thought about
this before, heard he may say it. Those kids went
crazy screaming for it. They wanted that, why did they
want to? And that arriving I'm guessing thirty years earlier,
in twenty six instead of fifty six, crowd wouldn't have
gone crazy like that.
Speaker 5 (10:20):
Uh yeah, but it was. It was something similar but different,
if you know what I mean in that era. You
have to look at it in the historical context too,
all of the self deprivation and sacrifice and unity, including
uniformity of the World War two era, because we in
the Western world were fighting an existential battle against you know,
(10:43):
the Nazis, the Axis Powers and then later in the
Cold War against the Communists, and then you've got to
get in line, you got to act more like a
soldier in a situation like that. But as those threats receded, kids,
especially young people especially, were like, I'm sick of acting
like a soldier. I don't want to act like a soldier.
I want to grow my hair, and I want to
listen to loud music. And so that it was inevitable
(11:08):
that an Elvis would be gyrating on TV and the
Beatles would have long hair and the rest of it.
But again, two steps does not justify eleven steps in
a particular direction.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Yeah, I'm not sure you can stop it once it starts,
that's why.
Speaker 5 (11:23):
Not unless you have a consistent culture. It's like, we've
talked about this a long time. You know why socialism
a form of socialism social democracies worked in the Scandinavian
countries because they were ethnically, religiously and practically to the family, homogeneous.
Everybody knew everybody, everybody was the same, had the same
(11:46):
cultural values. They could all get together and say this
much socialism is okay, but if you exploit the system,
we're going to kick you out.
Speaker 4 (11:53):
Okay, we agree.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
Well, just like on the sexual stuff, So you start
in nineteen fifty six where they didn't show Elvis below
the waist because it was too suggestive for America to
handle it. Now, porn is everywhere, absolutely everywhere, all the time,
everybody's seen it at every age. M Is there any reasons,
(12:15):
including acts that aren't ever done in the bedroom only
by circus performers. Anyway, you really have to have really
strong calves to be able to pull that off. I'm
what you're talking depending what you're picturing. Is there any
reason to think we won't have in my lifetime? Assuming
I live thirty more years, that's ninety twenty more years.
(12:36):
That's only eighty twenty five more years, um, predicting my lifespan.
Is there any reason to think that we won't have
a woman performing oral sex on a dude on stage
at a concert and that people cheering it could happen, Katie,
(12:56):
any reason to think that won't happen? I mean, if
you look at the from can't show elvis below the
waist to hear it's quite a change, man. I'm sure
it's not out of the question. I don't see what's
going to arrest the direction we're on right right, And
plenty of you'd say, what's the harm if people who
are you know, if it's adults and people you know
(13:18):
paid the ticket? Be and look at Pride in San Francisco.
That happens every year good point, very good.
Speaker 4 (13:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (13:24):
Actually yeah, well, and I've been to a live sex
show in Amsterdam, which I have made clear through the
years was about the least sexy thing I've ever seen.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Right, Why was that? How many? First of all, okay,
set the stage, as they say in the stage setting business.
Speaker 4 (13:42):
What people?
Speaker 1 (13:44):
How many people are in this club?
Speaker 4 (13:47):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (13:48):
God?
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Crowded crowd?
Speaker 4 (13:50):
Remember it?
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Seedy place? Nice place?
Speaker 4 (13:54):
No, it's fairly nice.
Speaker 5 (13:55):
My recollection was there were a couple, two, three dozen, okay,
And and it was kind of like stadiumish seating.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Okay, So it's like it's like we're at a okay,
at a storing event.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
Yeah, yeah, we were. It was in a way.
Speaker 5 (14:13):
And then a man and woman come out on stage,
or they came. They walk out in robes looking completely bored. Dude,
I remember this.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
Pardon me?
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Are you clapping? Is there music?
Speaker 4 (14:24):
I don't remember? I really don't remember. Yeah, I'm sure
there was music.
Speaker 5 (14:29):
Yeah, but both of them walk out like they're walking
out of shift the bus tables at you know, your
local chili's or whatever.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
They got robes on. They doff the robes.
Speaker 5 (14:38):
They they go to it, the you know, switching positions
every so often is chomping gum?
Speaker 1 (14:45):
What is there a bed or are they on the stage.
Speaker 5 (14:49):
It was some sort of platform, some sort of reasonably
comfortable platform, as I recall, but nude. Seriously the looks,
oh yeah, totally naked, and dude was quite well equipped
for the job. But they both had looks on their
faces like they were working a shift at the drive
through at a not very good fast food place. And
(15:10):
he's chewing his gum, looking like I can't wait till
this is over, and she's like got a blank look
on her face, like she's being used like a sheep.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
And it was like, what are we doing here.
Speaker 5 (15:23):
Getting the touristas to give up a few shekels to
come with take in what sounds like a great idea
and is absolutely not.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Wonder what that paid for the performers obviously not enough
if they looked like that while they were doing it, Yeah,
you can at least tend to look like.
Speaker 4 (15:42):
The news today.
Speaker 5 (15:44):
Target right is telling their their employees, Hey, if customer's
near you, smile at him, give them a pleasant look,
don't look like you're in an Amsterdam sex show.
Speaker 4 (15:53):
Used like a piece of meat.
Speaker 6 (15:54):
Was there like a bell and then they would switch
positions or you know, like Dan there, pros Michael.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
They didn't need to be tall.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Yeah, and how long did you sit there? And did.
Speaker 5 (16:06):
Not terribly long because they would come out and like
do their their hijinks for a few minutes and then
they'd you know, tip their non existent cap to the
crowd or whatever. All right, that's great, super and then
you know people would leave. I get as I recall
this was a number of years ago, like.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
That witally, you see what we do next act the
point I get you to buy drinks, probably keep you
around and have you by.
Speaker 5 (16:30):
Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, if you like that. No, I
actually didn't. And I'm a big fan of the Beast
with two backs. But no, that was terrible. That reminded
me of how dehumanizing quote unquote sex work is.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
That's what it did.
Speaker 5 (16:46):
I was there with my coworkers too, which is kind
of funny men and women.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
As I recall, did you put that? Did you put
that on the expense card?
Speaker 4 (16:56):
I don't think so.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Did the company pay for that? This company know what
they may have team building building?
Speaker 5 (17:03):
It was team building because we were all like, what
the f was that? That was back in the day
when you liked your coworkers and had inside jokes and
a couple watch strangers forticate on a stage. Those were
better times.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
Sorry, jack, am I undermining your point here.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
You should have heckled act like you enjoy it, Good Lord,
not tonight.
Speaker 4 (17:28):
I have a headache. Just say that if you don't
want to do this, this sucks. Boo. You call yourself
a forticator Boooo.
Speaker 6 (17:42):
All right, I have a theory. The decline happened when
we got color TV. Because it made life seem more exciting.
People went out. They started doing drugs and non sexual positions.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
So that so blame color TV. Well, I guess that's it.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
Boo.
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Jack Armstrong
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