October 7, 2022 • 41 mins
It is clear that people are feeling overwhelmed and frustrated with the current state of affairs. With the government and powerful institutions seemingly not doing enough to make a difference, many are feeling powerless and disconnected from their communities. It is easy to understand why so many people feel angry, sad, and confused when they don't see any real progress being made. Furthermore, the attitude of "shoot first, ask questions later" has been adopted by some individuals, creating an even scarier atmosphere. To combat this feeling of helplessness, people are taking time for self-care and having conversations with others that they would not have had before. This is a small step in creating community and a reminder that there is still power in voting and other forms of activism. However, some people feel that this isn't enough as long as powerful institutions continue to take advantage of their money through taxes and other means. It will take time to create real change but it is important to keep looking for a solution and not give up.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jennifer Wong (00:05):
Hello, and welcome to Our Podcast being
effing honest, I'm JenniferWong.
Charity Rodriguez (00:10):
And I'm Charity Rodriguez.
Jennifer Wong (00:12):
We invite you into our conversations about
everyday issues experienced byeveryday people. We share our
stories with honesty and humor,hoping to bring people together
in community by showing howvulnerability can deepen bonds
when done with kindness and nonjudgment. We know it's tough. So
we'll go ahead and go first.
(00:51):
Hello, and welcome to OurPodcast being enfin honest, I'm
Jennifer Juan.
Charity Rodriguez (00:56):
And I'm Charity Rodriguez.
Jennifer Wong (00:57):
And we invite you into our conversations of
everyday issues experienced byeveryday people with honesty,
humor, and authenticity. Ourhope is to bring people together
and community by creating safeenvironments of non judgement.
And we know this can be tough.
So we will go ahead and gofirst. Okay, morning, charity.
Charity Rodriguez (01:18):
Hello. Good morning, Jennifer. All right,
we'll just jump right into it.
But before we do, I do want tosay, I am glad that you
recommend a brief meditationbefore we get started. Because
I'm not really a meditativeperson. I don't like I'm like,
Oh, I can't stop. I can't thinkyou know, whatever. And then,
(01:41):
but I like you do it. And youknow, you say your thing. And
I'm like, okay, like, I findmyself being able to stop. And
actually just be in the moment,which I would have never thought
would have happened to me, but Ijust want to say thank you. Oh,
Jennifer Wong (02:01):
my pleasure. My pleasure. We'll have to do an
episode on that. Meditation.
Because it's hard. I
Charity Rodriguez (02:08):
know. I know.
It is hard. So that was like,Oh, I didn't, okay, like, yeah,
it would have been like, no, no,you go right out ahead. I'm,
like, I'm all good. But now it'slike, okay, and maybe it's like,
the weight of the world. That'sjust like, okay, yeah, fine.
Stop. Listening, I just try tobe in the moment because I can't
anymore
Jennifer Wong (02:29):
the weight of the world to us, right, which brings
us to our discussion today, youknow, having a check in and just
seeing where each of us is atand really feeling the weight of
all the things that are going onright now. You know, we had the
Roe vs. Wade, the draft overturnthat. We have the shooting in
(02:51):
Uvalde. Texas, the children?
Yeah. And, you know, I'm gonnalet you start because what I had
asked How are you feeling today?
It was a really good segue. Itwas raw, it was real. So you
know, with all that going on,how have you been feeling? How
you doing?
Charity Rodriguez (03:10):
I have not been feeling well. I've been
feeling very, very, veryfrustrated, very angry, very
sad, very confused, very, justnot knowing where I am, what I
am what is going on, I'mstanding in horror, everything
(03:33):
that is going on around us. Ican't believe that we are not
our country is not unified inits response, that we can have
such polarizing responses to thesituation. And it's like, did
you not see? Like, how are younot seeing what I'm seeing and
how you're not reacting? How I'mreacting? Like, is this not
(03:55):
hitting you at your core?
Because it is bringing me to myknees? And so it's too much yes,
Jennifer Wong (04:02):
is too much. It's like overwhelming, but how are
you feeling? Very, very similar.
And what's interesting, beingmore empathic, even though I
don't watch the news, I heareverything and when I see
something, then I'll look to getmore details. But I have to be
really careful with that.
Because I feel overwhelmed alot. And it does feel like it's
(04:24):
hitting this crescendo, youknow, like we are the music is
getting higher and higher andfaster and more intense in just
when you think you can't takeanother thing, boom, something
else happens. It's just like,
Charity Rodriguez (04:37):
Whoa,
Jennifer Wong (04:38):
how much more how much more and like you'd said,
what? When are we going tounify? When are we going to come
together for the greatest goodof all? When are we gonna see
like something has to change?
Like, for example, the shootingcolumbines over 20 years ago and
nothing has happened is it isn'tlike this is new. It isn't like
people have been laying down Andpeople have been protesting
(05:00):
people have been talking tolawmakers. Yeah, we'll have been
taking action for a long, longtime and still nothing changes.
And when I sit with that, Ithink, well, it's, it's all
usually because of money andpower, right, money and power,
money and power. And they're soingrained in the way our system
works, that I think it's evenbigger than that fear of losing
(05:23):
their money and power. I mean,it is so ingrained in so much of
our daily life now that it wouldbe a huge, like a, like in
Jenga, you know, it'd be thatfinal piece, that everything is
going to collapse from the wayit was. Yes. And then I asked
myself, well, even if thathappened, you know, there's
(05:43):
going to be massive change. Am Iprepared for that? Like, am I
prepared for that? Because I dobelieve we need reform in the
policies, I do believe it acrossthe board. And once that
happens, is it going to be thesalve? Is it going to be the
panacea? I don't know. I thinkit's going to take time. But I
haven't seen anything move inthat direction yet. Like, we
(06:07):
haven't even taken the firststep. You know,
Charity Rodriguez (06:11):
no, but and I know that you believe that
there's good changes coming. ButI don't think that a good change
is coming. I think, yes, thereis a group of people that
believe like, yeah, are right,finally, like, we're, like,
clearly, they're going to see,you know, the error of the ways,
(06:32):
right, and there's gonna it'sgoing to, but I don't know that
it's going to be in the favor ofwhat you might think or consider
would be the Justin commonsense. Reaction, I think people
are so kind of far gone now. Andthis thing, have the power and
the control, that they're losingsight of humanity, and people,
(06:56):
and feelings and emotions, andit's just, they're very willing
now to just kind of say, Screwyou, we are so disconnected from
each other from people from,we're so polarized, it's not a
like, you can look at things nowand just kind of go, Ah,
whatever, and keep going. Andyou said that you don't watch
(07:22):
the news. And I don't watch thenews either. But, you know, I
tried to keep up like, you know,I'll check it out here or
something, and I'll check intoto see like, what's going on.
But I was just telling myhusband's like, I can't even do
that, like, I want to completelydevoid myself, of, you know, the
news, like, I don't want to hearanything at all, because in
(07:42):
order for me to keep going tomove forward to put one foot in
front of the other. I can't hearthat nonsense. But then how is
that going to help? Right? I amnow also disconnecting myself
and pushing myself further andfurther away, just to get by
(08:05):
just to keep going, and what amI going for? What's the point,
right? To carve out my littlesecret corner of happiness, and
just like, wow, I don't knowabout anybody else. But I'm
happy here in my little corner.
They what? That's not living,we're not living,
Jennifer Wong (08:24):
you're not. And I totally agree with you, I hear
you completely. And I struggledwith that at the beginning of,
of the pandemic, because it wasjust this influx of information.
I couldn't tell what was real. Icouldn't tell it was true. I
couldn't tell it was accurate.
And I had to pull away. And I inthe beginning, I felt like,
gosh, I am just being so selfishand self centered. But what I
realized is also like, if you gointo surgery, and they cut open
(08:49):
your leg and you have 50stitches, you aren't running out
trying to fix things, you haveto take care of yourself first.
And I just feel like, right nowthat's a big thing. Because for
me personally, I thought I wasintrospective. But now that the
world is just crazy and insane.
I am really going even deeperinto what matters to me. And so
(09:13):
that my values are what I sharewith the world because honestly,
I know that we asked thisquestion like how can we be part
of the change? How can we takeaction that is going to be
helpful right now? And it feelsa little hopeless like well, I
vote and it doesn't seem to domuch I was the ballot I signed
(09:33):
ballots, I don't see anythingchange, you know. So it's hard
to find where to put that energywhere to take that action where
to be part of the change. Buthere's what I'm noticing, too,
is, you know, we came togetherto do this to build communities
and how do we do that? When wefeel like we're totally going
(09:56):
inward and being quote unquoteselfish by Taking care of
ourselves and just keeping ourfamily alive and ourselves
alive. But what happens is, whatI'm noticing, because I've been
doing that for over a year nowis I'm seeing myself having
conversations with others that Iwould not be having before. And
I also really believe in thisidea that if I try to control
(10:19):
things, I have no control over,I take on the energy of a
victim. And I don't like feelinglike a victim. I really don't.
And so what do I have powerover? You know, I have power
over taking care of myself, Ihave power over. Like Gandhi
said, being the change, I wantto be in the world, maybe I'm
not out there with a picket orknocking on legislatures doors,
(10:44):
you know, but I am having theseconversations with people and
doing these interactions thatare creating safe communities I
feel in my own community. So forexample, over the last week, I
mean, so much has happened overthe last week i i found a dead
hawk and I went and buried it.
And that's a whole nother story.
(11:06):
I was at my horsemanship classyesterday, and three horses got
out and we're running down abusy highway. And we had five,
six women just like boom, boom,boom, boom, boom, coming
together, and trying to catchthese horses. And it's not like
a dog, a dog goes a coupleblocks, these horses went a mile
(11:27):
in like, minutes, you know, andthey're running down busy
streets. And we're just like, wedon't want to see anybody dead,
or the horses dead. You know, Imean, they're huge roll size
horses. But what was beautifulabout even in that was, one
woman just went running afterhim to keep an eye on them. And
people kept picking her up, shegot into three cars with men
(11:51):
that were just helping her tokeep track of the horses. And
she goes, I would have neverjumped into a straight. She
says, I've never jumped into astranger's car my life before.
But what we realized, aftertalking about that was people
want to help people do I thinkinherently there are more people
than not that want to help. Andshe goes, I my, my faith in
(12:15):
humanity was restored today, youknow. So it's those little
things. And I thinkenergetically, they start to
shift things. I had twoconversations, I had a lunch and
a dinner in the same day, withtwo white males in their 50s.
And, okay, we talked the gamuton issues that were going on.
(12:37):
And I will say that theyprimarily stand on the other
side of the aisle from me, asfar as beliefs. But what we
found is we have very much thesame values. You know, we want
to create community, we want tocreate safety, we want to create
connection, we want to help eachother we want to be kind, you
(12:59):
know, and so when I get intothose things, I can see where
humans really do want that. Andand I guess that gives me the
hope that I need to keep goingis me being an action and
talking to people and likeactually asking people well, how
do you feel about this? Andlistening? You know, I mean,
(13:22):
sometimes I had to hear someresponses about gun control that
I did not like, you know, but Iget to hear their side of it.
And then I just keep bringing itback to but how do we keep our
children safe? You know, how dowe respect human law? You know,
how do we do these things? Youknow, and I don't think any of
us has the answer, but we dowant the same things.
Charity Rodriguez (13:46):
And, and I agree with that, that there are
a lot of people that want thesame thing. And but I believe
that it's our government that'scausing this fear and division
and victimization, instillingthis within the people to divide
(14:07):
and conquer and do whatever theywant to do. And, yeah, we can be
on this on different sides ofthe, you know, of the aisle,
that's not a problem. Peoplemake it out now to be a problem.
Because, you know, back in theday, he could be whatever and
stay with it. And it was likeokay, but then you still would
(14:28):
come together and go to work andyou know, go on about your
business, right? You can knowthat your neighbor was not of
the same philosophy and belief,but it was it was okay. Like, he
is still nobody was ready,right? Like, I don't know, like,
it just seemed like it was okay.
And maybe it was on the downloadthat it was okay, but it still
(14:49):
seemed like it was okay. Versusnow everything's been lifted and
unveiled and now people are justlike, whatever, I don't care and
if you're not on my site, thenyou You're part of the problem.
And I need to bulldoze rightthrough you. Versus we're all
have a common good, we believein, you know, a common good, but
(15:10):
our approaches may be different,you know, but whatever, I don't
know. So, and I forgot where Iwas going with a thought. But
I'm glad that you're having, youknow, conversations with people,
I guess I need to have moreconversations with people.
You're being inspired andmotivated to talk to people. And
(15:31):
I'm being inspired to retreatand not talk to people, because
people scare me now. I mean, thethings that are coming out of
their mouths, I'm like, Whoa, Iwas not expecting that. And to
see such staunch belief in thatscary to me. So yeah, you're
going towards and I'm pullingback. And I
Jennifer Wong (15:53):
also think that that has to do with our
environment. You live in Texas.
I live in California. And I dobelieve that that affects us,
right. Like our environment willaffect a lot of things. So I
mean, that's a big no, itdefinitely that's a big item, I
think needs to come to thesurface, you know, you are
hearing conversations that arejust very different. Possibly.
Charity Rodriguez (16:18):
Yeah, it is very different. And it Yeah, it
is. And I read or I heardsomething that said after the
shooting, the number of gunpurchases in both California and
Texas, rose like and I don'tknow, 200% or something so crazy
number like people just ran outand start buying all these guns,
(16:40):
like, right, you know, you'reangry about the shooting, and
now you may be packing he inyour car driving crazy, and
you're just angry. And you'regoing to you can shoot me. Like,
that's my thought, like, youcould just shoot me because that
day, you know, that's how you'regoing to express your anger.
(17:03):
Like, yeah, I'm angry too. But Ididn't go buy a gun and I'm not
ready to. I'm not like I'mfearful. Yes, I have to be
careful, because I don't knowwhere you're at on things. But
I'm not. I'm not packing heat.
Right. I'm willing to like, talkto you. But now people are a
little past the let's talk andthey're just like, shoot first.
(17:25):
And just whatever. Because, youknow, whatever. I
Jennifer Wong (17:30):
don't that's freakin scary. I don't know.
That is scary. It is scary. Itis scary. And I I can't imagine
being surrounded by that type ofmindset. You know, that would be
That's heavy. That's reallyheavy. Yeah.
Unknown (17:50):
And I don't know what to I don't know what to say or
what to do. And that level of
Charity Rodriguez (17:57):
anger. I mean, I see the level of anger
from the parent, you know, andlike you said, like, all of
these shooters, Columbine and,and stony
Jennifer Wong (18:08):
hollow, a sandy hook, Sandy
Charity Rodriguez (18:11):
Hook that this that Sandy Hook, and you
know, all this stuff. And it'slike, we're still here, we are
still. Here it is. And I get iton the level that you know what
the United States is so huge. Weare so big. We have 50 states
and trying to control all ofthose states and all of those
(18:33):
people in all of those fields.
That's a huge job, right? Thatis a really big, huge job. I
don't know what the answer isand how to do it. It's not easy
to just go well, this look atEurope and how they do it. Well,
they're different countries,it's small countries. And it is
easier to get everybody on boardon the same page. Because, you
(18:56):
know, you can all immediatelyaffects you. Then here were like
some that's happening out there.
And New York is kind of like,well, that's not happening here
in Texas, right? You know, onsome of this happening out in
Montana, like, well, that'sthose Montana people like, I
don't know, you know, that's nothappening here. But yet, we're
(19:16):
all supposed to be under thesame umbrella. And it's like,
well, that's kind of hard to do.
Yeah. So
Jennifer Wong (19:26):
I don't know, I know, we I don't think anybody
has an answer. And I think thatmakes it hard. It makes it
depressing. I feel hopeless. Youknow, sometimes I feel hopeless,
like well, what's the point?
What's the point?
Charity Rodriguez (19:41):
Okay, I think there are some answers. But the
goal is like the answer isthere. Whether you're trying to
go and take that or not, is awhole different thing. The you
know, that guy from thebasketball team, the coach that
came forward, did you see that?
I think I sent it to you He cameforward. And you know, he was
really angry when he wassupposed to be talking about the
(20:02):
basketball game. And he was justlike, No enough. This is
ridiculous. And I'm so angrywith our politicians, and
they're holding us hostage, youknow, 90% of the people want gun
control. And the Republicans areholding us hostage. They're not,
you know, voting on this, youknow, blah, blah, blah,
whatever. And I just thought,yeah, like, that's what it is.
(20:23):
They're holding us hostage, likethe answer is there, but they
want their power, and they'renot gonna give it up. So they
don't care what it is right orwrong, or whatever. They're just
like, we're gonna hold on tothis power. for dear life, we're
gonna look at loopholes, we'regonna lie, we're gonna cheat,
we're gonna do whatever smokeand mirrors to hold on to that
(20:44):
power. i That's all it is, for,you know, certain people. And
that's the first like, theanswers there that is like, you
gotta let go. These are peoplethat are supposed to be doing
what the people want, like youwere put into that, you know,
position to do represent yourpeople. And now it's not just
(21:09):
like the Republicans or theDemocrats, like no people, you
know, both sides are like, yeah,maybe we need to, like, now we
need to revisit this, let's talkabout let's change this, let's
all go and, you know, do gun lawreform, then maybe you should be
doing a check on people beforethey go get guns. Like, that's
(21:31):
just a basic, how about you dothat? Like, that's just a level,
right? But then it's beentwisted to that trying to take
away your guns. They're tryingto take away your rights.
They're trying? It's like, wait,what? We're not at that point
yet. Like, can we just agreethat, you know, 18 year olds and
people with mental illness and,you know, history again, should
(21:53):
not be owning guns, like theyshould not be able to buy it,
and so easily get to it, I can,like, I think that both sides
could agree on that. But theythat's not the narrative that's
being put forth. That's the partthat makes me angry. That's
what's like, they twist thingsaround. And it's like, we just
(22:15):
want to not, you know, befearful. I'm not trying to, I
have no problem with people, youknow, gun enthusiasts, and
they're out there hunting and,you know, doing their thing,
what? Go for it? Absolutely.
Like those people really, I'vetalked to a few, they know their
(22:36):
guns, they know gun safety, theytreat that with respect of you
know, how to handle it, and howto handle it, when you're around
others and how to handle it whenyou're doing your your stuff.
It's the people that are justlike, I'm angry, I'm going to
shoot somebody, I need toprotect myself, you know, like,
(22:58):
no, that's not why you need tobe having right. You're the last
person that needs to be having agood,
Jennifer Wong (23:04):
and why isn't anybody checking that? You know,
that's the part that makes mecrazy. Like, how are they not
doing background checks? Ithought you used to have to wait
14 days to buy a gun. Whathappened to that?
Charity Rodriguez (23:14):
No. Yes, exactly. And that's what they're
saying. That's what these groupsare, like, ignore that part,
like that was, you know,removed, and it's just now
they're trying to take away yourguns? No, you need to have a
process in place for people thatdid not have guns, right should
(23:35):
not be having such easy accessto it. And but it's it's not
that it's just and then money,the amount of money that they're
getting with false rhetoric isblowing my mind away. And that
is, I think they use that totheir advantage, see the
Kentucky guns away. So thenpeople donated this money to the
(23:57):
NRA, instead of like, and then,you know, you think that's so
much money, that's so much moneythat people had, I guess burning
a hole in the pockets, thatthey're willing to give over,
that you could have applied thatmoney to so many other issues,
so many other things that needyou know, money, hunger,
(24:18):
education, medical datasituation in, you know, the US
like people should have moreaccess, better access, less
expensive access to medicine,right.
Jennifer Wong (24:33):
And the medical system is a mess to care. I
mean, the medical system is acomplete mess, the insurance
companies, the drug companies,they keep the prices going you
can't get health care, really,you don't really get health
care. And it's just I mean, allof our systems I see are
breaking down I mean, in everysingle facet, they're all
breaking down. We have had itand I think sometimes like I
(24:56):
feel like all those systems arelike why wild animal that's in
the corner. It's going to justcut Yes, claw, snarl, it's going
to do everything it can to keepits power right now. Yes, it's
amazing how many people are insupport of those things. But
what I also think is I thinkpeople support the things that
(25:20):
work for them. You know,nobody's looking at the Grand
Well, I can't say nobody,because we are, but it's very
few people in power, that arelooking at the whole picture.
They're just looking at specialinterests, right? That's an even
in conversations with everydaypeople that I have. It depends
on what we're interested in, iswhat we get excited about. But I
(25:44):
feel like the universe is like,Well, I'm gonna make it so that
it hits everybody, right, likeCOVID hit everybody. It didn't
care what color you were, howmuch money you had, where you
lived. It affected everybody.
And then now we have Yes, theguns is getting to where it?
Well, if you have children, it'saffecting you. Now. You know,
(26:05):
like, how much more do we haveto endure? Before we realize
this is everybody, you know,like, oh, the thought of waiting
until everybody that has poweris affected? And I wonder if
they would be? You know, what,if one of these people in the
NRA their child was killed?
(26:25):
Would they feel differentlyabout this? I don't know.
Charity Rodriguez (26:29):
I don't, I don't I can't even I thought
about that, too. Like, wouldthey be affected by this? I
think yes, they would beaffected. But I don't think the
reaction would be what we, youknow, if it would happen to you,
you'd be like, Oh, my gosh, youknow, maybe I wouldn't be like,
Okay, that's it. I gave up like,that's it? No, I don't think
(26:52):
that I think the response mightbe to double down and really,
like now move from the guns tolike, we need some nuclear
weapons to deal with thissituation. And it's like, oh,
shoot, no, that's not what I'mtrying to go. That's not what we
wanted. So it's like, yeah, no,that's not even think about
that. Because our naturalresponse to be like, yeah, maybe
(27:15):
we need to stop this, take amoment here and, you know,
reevaluate. And maybe that'snot, but I think we're so far
gone, is moving so fast, thatpeople are just, and the people
that you surround yourself with,are going to put things in their
self interest into your hands,they're going to fuel your anger
for their purposes, versus, youknow, looking at the whole big
(27:39):
picture.
Jennifer Wong (27:40):
And I think that when you get so drawn into
power, you can justify anything.
Oh, absolutely,
Charity Rodriguez (27:45):
you can.
Absolutely you can. And I don'tknow if I've talked to you about
this before, but there was thisguy, who did this talk of at
Stanford University. And Ibelieve he was an alum from
Stanford, and he was one of the,you know, they're at the
beginning of Facebook. And hewas talking about, you know, his
(28:07):
time there at Facebook and whatit started off with and what it
became and how, you know, likehorrible Facebook is supposed to
be right now. And they asked,well, like, how do you feel
about, you know, yourcontribution to what Facebook
has become? And he dodged thatquestion by, oh, my team did a
really good job, we did somereally good work with what we
(28:31):
were tasked to do. But now Itook the money, and now I'm
doing all this good stuff out inthe world. Right? Okay. So
that's how I said that. Butthey're like, Well, what now?
You know, what's supposed tohappen now? How do we move
forward? And what are wesupposed to do? And he said, the
answer now is you need to getthe money. You need to be in
(28:53):
control of the money, becausethe people with the money are
the only people that matter ifyou have no money, you don't
matter, you are of no concern.
You are not of any consequence.
You have no say nobody careswhat you're saying. It's all
about the money. So what I sayto you alumni, you know, it'd be
as you go out into the world anddo your thing, get the money,
(29:15):
because then you control thenarrative and you control. You
know, that's how you can injectyour morality or you know, good
Ness. Like, no, do not. That isnot what is because everybody
thinks that what they do they dois the for the greater good,
(29:38):
right? Yeah, I'm just, you know,but it's like, no, you're just
now you think you're doing good,but you're part of the problem.
That outlook as part of theproblem, because everybody that
has money either can cause outand say, like, I really don't
(30:00):
care. You know, I'm trying to domy own thing. My I'm protecting
my family, and I make sure thatmy family and my group and the
people I care for that they aretaking care of them, and they
have what they need. And I can'tbe concerned with everybody
else. Or, you know, yeah, well,I think, you know, whatever,
(30:20):
whatever that rhetoric is thatthey're using to control people
and control things. But at theend of the day, it's all for the
people that have monies
Jennifer Wong (30:31):
like because we're in a capitalistic society.
But I mean, it's designed thatway. And we
Charity Rodriguez (30:36):
are, and it is, and I don't think that
everybody needs to be an effingmillionaire, like, that's not
that get us there are peoplethat are perfectly fine, just
going to work, they have a job,they get a paycheck, they're
able to pay their bills in atimely fashion, they have a roof
over their head, they have foodon their table, and they're not
(30:58):
wearing the latest labels,having 15 Lamborghinis and
traveling the world. It's abouttheir family, and, you know,
caring and loving and good andmeaningful conversations. And
why should they be penalized?
Why? Because that was theirambition. That was their goal.
They're being penalized becauseyou don't want to be the CEO,
(31:20):
you know, some company, youchose to live a nice modest
life, you get no health care,you don't get any education, and
you get, you know, no food. Ithink that's not right. It's not
Jennifer Wong (31:34):
right. It's not right. And I think that's why
there's so much division now.
Because it is not right.
Everything you say it is notright. I agree with you, 100%.
And we went, there was somethingyou said earlier about the
government, and we're waitingfor the government like what the
hell with our politicians. But Ithink what's going to happen is,
(31:58):
in my opinion, we need to createcommunities, so we're not
relying on the governmentanymore. So the people that are
running things are the peoplewith money and power. And if
they're just so screwed up, andthe people in the middle have to
come together and community ifwe quit relying on them, and we
quit buying into them, and wequit supporting them on a
financial level, because theyare getting money from US taxes
(32:21):
and other ways. And we aretaking care of ourselves. They
lose their power, as long as wekeep buying into the system, as
long as we keep purchasing thesystem, which right now there
doesn't seem to be analternative. And I even find
myself like, Oh, there I did itagain, right. Like, why don't I
not use Amazon? Why don't I notdo a lot of things where people,
(32:46):
and even though Amazon isn'tpolitical? I guarantee you. He's
got his interests in there. So,you know, how do we pull away
from those powers that be? Youknow, and I don't? That's what I
mean, when I say I don't have ananswer. Like, yeah, we know, gun
control is an answer. But how dowe get it implemented? I don't
(33:09):
have an answer for that. Like, Idon't, I don't see it happening.
I don't know. And that's where Ifeel the most uncertain. And
that's where I get hopeless andterrified and angry. Because I
don't see how we're gonna getfrom A to B. I don't see it. So
in the middle, I'm like, Well,what if we created enough
(33:31):
communities like way back in theold days where they took care of
each other? You know, is thatpossible? I don't see another
way right now. You know, like,when my neighbor can't find
housing, or my friend. And thisisn't something that I've said
it yet out loud, but I'vethought about it. And if they
have nowhere to go, I'm like, Igotta find a way to make it
(33:53):
happen here. Right? You know,cuz if maybe we're not all
making millions of dollars. Butif we're all making a little bit
and we pull it together, thatgives us power, right? So it's
not going to be individualizedanymore. That's for the one
percenters or whatever they areanymore. But what about the 99%
of us? Like, what can we do topool our resources and not put
(34:17):
them into the systems that arebroken? And that's what I just I
don't know. But I mean, that'swhat keeps coming to me. Like,
how can I do that? How can Iquit buying into the system
that's killing me and killingpeople? Like how do I stop that?
I mean, I don't even need tohave a second answer. Just how
do I stop buying into the systemthat is completely insane, like,
(34:41):
and we're so ingrained and theykept us so busy, they kept us so
busy working to make the moneyto keep our kids in mind that we
were watching. While all theselaws were being passed while
things were happening. I don'teven know I was talking to my
friend about the lies like Idon't even know the basics about
law because I've been busy. I'mtrying to put food on the table,
(35:02):
right? And I don't have a lot.
I'm like, I share a room with mykid for crying out loud. It's
not like I'm looking forextravagance, I just to meet my
basic needs, you know, I, right.
I'm not gonna go there. Becauseyes, I do have some extras that
a lot of people don't have. So Ijust want to put that out there.
But at any rate, I'm kept sobusy that I don't even know
(35:24):
what's going on, you know? Yeah,
Charity Rodriguez (35:27):
yeah. But that's all part of the master
plan. Keep us all busy. Keep usall divided. You think that
you're you're working towardsthe greater good, but then
they're manipulating things at ahigher level? And we have no
clue. We're just gonna like, oh,okay, I guess, I guess they know
what they're talking about.
Like, yeah, they're more studiedthan we are sure, okay, because
they're in power, okay. And, butwe're supposed to be happy with
(35:50):
the little bit of nuggets thatare coming our way. And that's
what they're counting on, tokeep you happy with as little as
possible. And that becomes partof your way of thinking. And if
you've been doing that for solong, it's kind of like mind
control. Now, a part of, oh,we'll just keep them at this
(36:15):
victim stage at this powerlessstage, and we're working on
their mind to don't do all thework themselves, we won't have
to do anything, we can juststand back and watch them devour
themselves, you know, killthemselves each other, you know,
don't do the work for us, ispretty much and that he's
Jennifer Wong (36:37):
like, when you look back through history, the
monarchies. Isn't that what theydid.
Charity Rodriguez (36:42):
That's exactly what they're doing. But
now, our people are noteducated. We don't do anything
to help educate our children,our, you know, youth are adults
to have a educated base so thatwe know what is going on. And
(37:02):
then it becomes so big thatdivide between, I really
shouldn't know that. But I don'tknow. And it's kind of too late
for me to know that and get backto that. And I can just deal
with what's in front of me rightnow. Like, I just got to keep
rolling. I just got some morethings I just kind of thrown at
us, and we just have to dealwith it. And we can't help
(37:23):
ourselves, protect ourselveseducate ourselves.
Jennifer Wong (37:26):
I just got to keep rolling. You know? Yes.
Charity Rodriguez (37:29):
You got to just keep rolling. But you said
how do I quit buying into thesystem? And now, I'm like, okay,
you know, what we need it, weneed to talk about that. Like, I
really want to have an episodewhere we just, we do our
research like that, when we willhave to do like some serious
research, and just come up withthree ways you think you, okay,
(37:53):
could quit buying into thesystem? Like, could you do it?
You know, there's the like,well, this is what we need to
do. But I don't think that Icould do it. This is what I need
to do. I think I could do thisone. This is what I need to do.
And this is what I'm gonna startdoing tomorrow. Yep. That, you
know, like the willie way outthere. What can we do? Because,
(38:17):
yeah, let's let's get that. Imean, I'm willing to entertain
that I'm willing to talk aboutthat. I'm not, you know, I'm
like, what exactly is that?
Like? Are we now saying we'retrying to secede from the
government from the country,like, start our own little out?
I don't know about that. If I'mwilling to go that far. I want
to fix the problem versus justthrowing my hands up and going
(38:40):
about here, I'm just going totake my ball and go play with
this quarter. I don't care whatyou you know, say, No, I want to
hold these people accountable. Iwant to reset the system. I
don't want someone that is notvery bright, but has learned
from the mistakes of others. Youknow, we had a person that
(39:05):
wasn't very bright, but theywere doing all sorts of
shenanigans every and everybodywas watching all this
shenanigans. Sorry. And, youknow, just like they use it to
their advantage, right. Theywere all these voices like they
were the puppet being, you know,they were being used, but
there's someone else that'sgoing to come that smarter,
brighter, and doesn't need otherpuppet strings. Like they'll be
(39:28):
able to manage themselves, anduse all the loopholes, all of
the, you know, all the thingsand there'll be very bright and
there'll be very powerful, andwe'll be in a whole whole whole
lot of trouble. So all right,there you go. There you go. And
(39:49):
that's it. That's all I'mgetting.
Jennifer Wong (39:52):
I love to leave on that note. Like what can we
do to quit buying into thissystem? You know what Yeah, what
can I do? Just what can we do?
And leave with that?
Charity Rodriguez (40:03):
Alright, so that's it. That's the next thing
quit buying it like you got tocome up with your
Jennifer Wong (40:08):
money is power.
How, where are we putting ourpower? Who are we giving it away
to? And how can we take it back?
Charity Rodriguez (40:16):
Yes. How can we get it back? How can we Okay,
you got it. All right.
Jennifer Wong (40:21):
Until next time.
All right.
Charity Rodriguez (40:23):
Until next time. Thank you. Bye. Bye. Yay.
Thank you for listening to beingeffing honest with your hosts,
Jennifer Wong and charityRodriguez. Subscribe to our show
wherever you listen to podcasts.
And if you have a suggestion,question or topic you want us to
talk about, connect with us atwww being effing honest.com And
until next time, we hope you'realways being effing honest.
(40:58):
Yay. Thank you for listening tobeing effing honest with your
hosts, Jennifer Wong and charityRodriguez. Subscribe to our show
wherever you listen to podcasts.
And if you have a suggestion,question or topic you want us to
talk about, connect with us atwww being effing honest.com And
until next time, we hope you'realways being effing honest
Hello, and welcome to Our Podcast being
effing honest, I'm JenniferWong.
Charity Rodriguez (00:10):
And I'm Charity Rodriguez.
Jennifer Wong (00:12):
We invite you into our conversations about
everyday issues experienced byeveryday people. We share our
stories with honesty and humor,hoping to bring people together
in community by showing howvulnerability can deepen bonds
when done with kindness and nonjudgment. We know it's tough. So
we'll go ahead and go first.
(00:51):
Hello, and welcome to OurPodcast being enfin honest, I'm
Jennifer Juan.
Charity Rodriguez (00:56):
And I'm Charity Rodriguez.
Jennifer Wong (00:57):
And we invite you into our conversations of
everyday issues experienced byeveryday people with honesty,
humor, and authenticity. Ourhope is to bring people together
and community by creating safeenvironments of non judgement.
And we know this can be tough.
So we will go ahead and gofirst. Okay, morning, charity.
Charity Rodriguez (01:18):
Hello. Good morning, Jennifer. All right,
we'll just jump right into it.
But before we do, I do want tosay, I am glad that you
recommend a brief meditationbefore we get started. Because
I'm not really a meditativeperson. I don't like I'm like,
Oh, I can't stop. I can't thinkyou know, whatever. And then,
(01:41):
but I like you do it. And youknow, you say your thing. And
I'm like, okay, like, I findmyself being able to stop. And
actually just be in the moment,which I would have never thought
would have happened to me, but Ijust want to say thank you. Oh,
Jennifer Wong (02:01):
my pleasure. My pleasure. We'll have to do an
episode on that. Meditation.
Because it's hard. I
Charity Rodriguez (02:08):
know. I know.
It is hard. So that was like,Oh, I didn't, okay, like, yeah,
it would have been like, no, no,you go right out ahead. I'm,
like, I'm all good. But now it'slike, okay, and maybe it's like,
the weight of the world. That'sjust like, okay, yeah, fine.
Stop. Listening, I just try tobe in the moment because I can't
anymore
Jennifer Wong (02:29):
the weight of the world to us, right, which brings
us to our discussion today, youknow, having a check in and just
seeing where each of us is atand really feeling the weight of
all the things that are going onright now. You know, we had the
Roe vs. Wade, the draft overturnthat. We have the shooting in
(02:51):
Uvalde. Texas, the children?
Yeah. And, you know, I'm gonnalet you start because what I had
asked How are you feeling today?
It was a really good segue. Itwas raw, it was real. So you
know, with all that going on,how have you been feeling? How
you doing?
Charity Rodriguez (03:10):
I have not been feeling well. I've been
feeling very, very, veryfrustrated, very angry, very
sad, very confused, very, justnot knowing where I am, what I
am what is going on, I'mstanding in horror, everything
(03:33):
that is going on around us. Ican't believe that we are not
our country is not unified inits response, that we can have
such polarizing responses to thesituation. And it's like, did
you not see? Like, how are younot seeing what I'm seeing and
how you're not reacting? How I'mreacting? Like, is this not
(03:55):
hitting you at your core?
Because it is bringing me to myknees? And so it's too much yes,
Jennifer Wong (04:02):
is too much. It's like overwhelming, but how are
you feeling? Very, very similar.
And what's interesting, beingmore empathic, even though I
don't watch the news, I heareverything and when I see
something, then I'll look to getmore details. But I have to be
really careful with that.
Because I feel overwhelmed alot. And it does feel like it's
(04:24):
hitting this crescendo, youknow, like we are the music is
getting higher and higher andfaster and more intense in just
when you think you can't takeanother thing, boom, something
else happens. It's just like,
Charity Rodriguez (04:37):
Whoa,
Jennifer Wong (04:38):
how much more how much more and like you'd said,
what? When are we going tounify? When are we going to come
together for the greatest goodof all? When are we gonna see
like something has to change?
Like, for example, the shootingcolumbines over 20 years ago and
nothing has happened is it isn'tlike this is new. It isn't like
people have been laying down Andpeople have been protesting
(05:00):
people have been talking tolawmakers. Yeah, we'll have been
taking action for a long, longtime and still nothing changes.
And when I sit with that, Ithink, well, it's, it's all
usually because of money andpower, right, money and power,
money and power. And they're soingrained in the way our system
works, that I think it's evenbigger than that fear of losing
(05:23):
their money and power. I mean,it is so ingrained in so much of
our daily life now that it wouldbe a huge, like a, like in
Jenga, you know, it'd be thatfinal piece, that everything is
going to collapse from the wayit was. Yes. And then I asked
myself, well, even if thathappened, you know, there's
(05:43):
going to be massive change. Am Iprepared for that? Like, am I
prepared for that? Because I dobelieve we need reform in the
policies, I do believe it acrossthe board. And once that
happens, is it going to be thesalve? Is it going to be the
panacea? I don't know. I thinkit's going to take time. But I
haven't seen anything move inthat direction yet. Like, we
(06:07):
haven't even taken the firststep. You know,
Charity Rodriguez (06:11):
no, but and I know that you believe that
there's good changes coming. ButI don't think that a good change
is coming. I think, yes, thereis a group of people that
believe like, yeah, are right,finally, like, we're, like,
clearly, they're going to see,you know, the error of the ways,
(06:32):
right, and there's gonna it'sgoing to, but I don't know that
it's going to be in the favor ofwhat you might think or consider
would be the Justin commonsense. Reaction, I think people
are so kind of far gone now. Andthis thing, have the power and
the control, that they're losingsight of humanity, and people,
(06:56):
and feelings and emotions, andit's just, they're very willing
now to just kind of say, Screwyou, we are so disconnected from
each other from people from,we're so polarized, it's not a
like, you can look at things nowand just kind of go, Ah,
whatever, and keep going. Andyou said that you don't watch
(07:22):
the news. And I don't watch thenews either. But, you know, I
tried to keep up like, you know,I'll check it out here or
something, and I'll check intoto see like, what's going on.
But I was just telling myhusband's like, I can't even do
that, like, I want to completelydevoid myself, of, you know, the
news, like, I don't want to hearanything at all, because in
(07:42):
order for me to keep going tomove forward to put one foot in
front of the other. I can't hearthat nonsense. But then how is
that going to help? Right? I amnow also disconnecting myself
and pushing myself further andfurther away, just to get by
(08:05):
just to keep going, and what amI going for? What's the point,
right? To carve out my littlesecret corner of happiness, and
just like, wow, I don't knowabout anybody else. But I'm
happy here in my little corner.
They what? That's not living,we're not living,
Jennifer Wong (08:24):
you're not. And I totally agree with you, I hear
you completely. And I struggledwith that at the beginning of,
of the pandemic, because it wasjust this influx of information.
I couldn't tell what was real. Icouldn't tell it was true. I
couldn't tell it was accurate.
And I had to pull away. And I inthe beginning, I felt like,
gosh, I am just being so selfishand self centered. But what I
realized is also like, if you gointo surgery, and they cut open
(08:49):
your leg and you have 50stitches, you aren't running out
trying to fix things, you haveto take care of yourself first.
And I just feel like, right nowthat's a big thing. Because for
me personally, I thought I wasintrospective. But now that the
world is just crazy and insane.
I am really going even deeperinto what matters to me. And so
(09:13):
that my values are what I sharewith the world because honestly,
I know that we asked thisquestion like how can we be part
of the change? How can we takeaction that is going to be
helpful right now? And it feelsa little hopeless like well, I
vote and it doesn't seem to domuch I was the ballot I signed
(09:33):
ballots, I don't see anythingchange, you know. So it's hard
to find where to put that energywhere to take that action where
to be part of the change. Buthere's what I'm noticing, too,
is, you know, we came togetherto do this to build communities
and how do we do that? When wefeel like we're totally going
(09:56):
inward and being quote unquoteselfish by Taking care of
ourselves and just keeping ourfamily alive and ourselves
alive. But what happens is, whatI'm noticing, because I've been
doing that for over a year nowis I'm seeing myself having
conversations with others that Iwould not be having before. And
I also really believe in thisidea that if I try to control
(10:19):
things, I have no control over,I take on the energy of a
victim. And I don't like feelinglike a victim. I really don't.
And so what do I have powerover? You know, I have power
over taking care of myself, Ihave power over. Like Gandhi
said, being the change, I wantto be in the world, maybe I'm
not out there with a picket orknocking on legislatures doors,
(10:44):
you know, but I am having theseconversations with people and
doing these interactions thatare creating safe communities I
feel in my own community. So forexample, over the last week, I
mean, so much has happened overthe last week i i found a dead
hawk and I went and buried it.
And that's a whole nother story.
(11:06):
I was at my horsemanship classyesterday, and three horses got
out and we're running down abusy highway. And we had five,
six women just like boom, boom,boom, boom, boom, coming
together, and trying to catchthese horses. And it's not like
a dog, a dog goes a coupleblocks, these horses went a mile
(11:27):
in like, minutes, you know, andthey're running down busy
streets. And we're just like, wedon't want to see anybody dead,
or the horses dead. You know, Imean, they're huge roll size
horses. But what was beautifulabout even in that was, one
woman just went running afterhim to keep an eye on them. And
people kept picking her up, shegot into three cars with men
(11:51):
that were just helping her tokeep track of the horses. And
she goes, I would have neverjumped into a straight. She
says, I've never jumped into astranger's car my life before.
But what we realized, aftertalking about that was people
want to help people do I thinkinherently there are more people
than not that want to help. Andshe goes, I my, my faith in
(12:15):
humanity was restored today, youknow. So it's those little
things. And I thinkenergetically, they start to
shift things. I had twoconversations, I had a lunch and
a dinner in the same day, withtwo white males in their 50s.
And, okay, we talked the gamuton issues that were going on.
(12:37):
And I will say that theyprimarily stand on the other
side of the aisle from me, asfar as beliefs. But what we
found is we have very much thesame values. You know, we want
to create community, we want tocreate safety, we want to create
connection, we want to help eachother we want to be kind, you
(12:59):
know, and so when I get intothose things, I can see where
humans really do want that. Andand I guess that gives me the
hope that I need to keep goingis me being an action and
talking to people and likeactually asking people well, how
do you feel about this? Andlistening? You know, I mean,
(13:22):
sometimes I had to hear someresponses about gun control that
I did not like, you know, but Iget to hear their side of it.
And then I just keep bringing itback to but how do we keep our
children safe? You know, how dowe respect human law? You know,
how do we do these things? Youknow, and I don't think any of
us has the answer, but we dowant the same things.
Charity Rodriguez (13:46):
And, and I agree with that, that there are
a lot of people that want thesame thing. And but I believe
that it's our government that'scausing this fear and division
and victimization, instillingthis within the people to divide
(14:07):
and conquer and do whatever theywant to do. And, yeah, we can be
on this on different sides ofthe, you know, of the aisle,
that's not a problem. Peoplemake it out now to be a problem.
Because, you know, back in theday, he could be whatever and
stay with it. And it was likeokay, but then you still would
(14:28):
come together and go to work andyou know, go on about your
business, right? You can knowthat your neighbor was not of
the same philosophy and belief,but it was it was okay. Like, he
is still nobody was ready,right? Like, I don't know, like,
it just seemed like it was okay.
And maybe it was on the downloadthat it was okay, but it still
(14:49):
seemed like it was okay. Versusnow everything's been lifted and
unveiled and now people are justlike, whatever, I don't care and
if you're not on my site, thenyou You're part of the problem.
And I need to bulldoze rightthrough you. Versus we're all
have a common good, we believein, you know, a common good, but
(15:10):
our approaches may be different,you know, but whatever, I don't
know. So, and I forgot where Iwas going with a thought. But
I'm glad that you're having, youknow, conversations with people,
I guess I need to have moreconversations with people.
You're being inspired andmotivated to talk to people. And
(15:31):
I'm being inspired to retreatand not talk to people, because
people scare me now. I mean, thethings that are coming out of
their mouths, I'm like, Whoa, Iwas not expecting that. And to
see such staunch belief in thatscary to me. So yeah, you're
going towards and I'm pullingback. And I
Jennifer Wong (15:53):
also think that that has to do with our
environment. You live in Texas.
I live in California. And I dobelieve that that affects us,
right. Like our environment willaffect a lot of things. So I
mean, that's a big no, itdefinitely that's a big item, I
think needs to come to thesurface, you know, you are
hearing conversations that arejust very different. Possibly.
Charity Rodriguez (16:18):
Yeah, it is very different. And it Yeah, it
is. And I read or I heardsomething that said after the
shooting, the number of gunpurchases in both California and
Texas, rose like and I don'tknow, 200% or something so crazy
number like people just ran outand start buying all these guns,
(16:40):
like, right, you know, you'reangry about the shooting, and
now you may be packing he inyour car driving crazy, and
you're just angry. And you'regoing to you can shoot me. Like,
that's my thought, like, youcould just shoot me because that
day, you know, that's how you'regoing to express your anger.
(17:03):
Like, yeah, I'm angry too. But Ididn't go buy a gun and I'm not
ready to. I'm not like I'mfearful. Yes, I have to be
careful, because I don't knowwhere you're at on things. But
I'm not. I'm not packing heat.
Right. I'm willing to like, talkto you. But now people are a
little past the let's talk andthey're just like, shoot first.
(17:25):
And just whatever. Because, youknow, whatever. I
Jennifer Wong (17:30):
don't that's freakin scary. I don't know.
That is scary. It is scary. Itis scary. And I I can't imagine
being surrounded by that type ofmindset. You know, that would be
That's heavy. That's reallyheavy. Yeah.
Unknown (17:50):
And I don't know what to I don't know what to say or
what to do. And that level of
Charity Rodriguez (17:57):
anger. I mean, I see the level of anger
from the parent, you know, andlike you said, like, all of
these shooters, Columbine and,and stony
Jennifer Wong (18:08):
hollow, a sandy hook, Sandy
Charity Rodriguez (18:11):
Hook that this that Sandy Hook, and you
know, all this stuff. And it'slike, we're still here, we are
still. Here it is. And I get iton the level that you know what
the United States is so huge. Weare so big. We have 50 states
and trying to control all ofthose states and all of those
(18:33):
people in all of those fields.
That's a huge job, right? Thatis a really big, huge job. I
don't know what the answer isand how to do it. It's not easy
to just go well, this look atEurope and how they do it. Well,
they're different countries,it's small countries. And it is
easier to get everybody on boardon the same page. Because, you
(18:56):
know, you can all immediatelyaffects you. Then here were like
some that's happening out there.
And New York is kind of like,well, that's not happening here
in Texas, right? You know, onsome of this happening out in
Montana, like, well, that'sthose Montana people like, I
don't know, you know, that's nothappening here. But yet, we're
(19:16):
all supposed to be under thesame umbrella. And it's like,
well, that's kind of hard to do.
Yeah. So
Jennifer Wong (19:26):
I don't know, I know, we I don't think anybody
has an answer. And I think thatmakes it hard. It makes it
depressing. I feel hopeless. Youknow, sometimes I feel hopeless,
like well, what's the point?
What's the point?
Charity Rodriguez (19:41):
Okay, I think there are some answers. But the
goal is like the answer isthere. Whether you're trying to
go and take that or not, is awhole different thing. The you
know, that guy from thebasketball team, the coach that
came forward, did you see that?
I think I sent it to you He cameforward. And you know, he was
really angry when he wassupposed to be talking about the
(20:02):
basketball game. And he was justlike, No enough. This is
ridiculous. And I'm so angrywith our politicians, and
they're holding us hostage, youknow, 90% of the people want gun
control. And the Republicans areholding us hostage. They're not,
you know, voting on this, youknow, blah, blah, blah,
whatever. And I just thought,yeah, like, that's what it is.
(20:23):
They're holding us hostage, likethe answer is there, but they
want their power, and they'renot gonna give it up. So they
don't care what it is right orwrong, or whatever. They're just
like, we're gonna hold on tothis power. for dear life, we're
gonna look at loopholes, we'regonna lie, we're gonna cheat,
we're gonna do whatever smokeand mirrors to hold on to that
(20:44):
power. i That's all it is, for,you know, certain people. And
that's the first like, theanswers there that is like, you
gotta let go. These are peoplethat are supposed to be doing
what the people want, like youwere put into that, you know,
position to do represent yourpeople. And now it's not just
(21:09):
like the Republicans or theDemocrats, like no people, you
know, both sides are like, yeah,maybe we need to, like, now we
need to revisit this, let's talkabout let's change this, let's
all go and, you know, do gun lawreform, then maybe you should be
doing a check on people beforethey go get guns. Like, that's
(21:31):
just a basic, how about you dothat? Like, that's just a level,
right? But then it's beentwisted to that trying to take
away your guns. They're tryingto take away your rights.
They're trying? It's like, wait,what? We're not at that point
yet. Like, can we just agreethat, you know, 18 year olds and
people with mental illness and,you know, history again, should
(21:53):
not be owning guns, like theyshould not be able to buy it,
and so easily get to it, I can,like, I think that both sides
could agree on that. But theythat's not the narrative that's
being put forth. That's the partthat makes me angry. That's
what's like, they twist thingsaround. And it's like, we just
(22:15):
want to not, you know, befearful. I'm not trying to, I
have no problem with people, youknow, gun enthusiasts, and
they're out there hunting and,you know, doing their thing,
what? Go for it? Absolutely.
Like those people really, I'vetalked to a few, they know their
(22:36):
guns, they know gun safety, theytreat that with respect of you
know, how to handle it, and howto handle it, when you're around
others and how to handle it whenyou're doing your your stuff.
It's the people that are justlike, I'm angry, I'm going to
shoot somebody, I need toprotect myself, you know, like,
(22:58):
no, that's not why you need tobe having right. You're the last
person that needs to be having agood,
Jennifer Wong (23:04):
and why isn't anybody checking that? You know,
that's the part that makes mecrazy. Like, how are they not
doing background checks? Ithought you used to have to wait
14 days to buy a gun. Whathappened to that?
Charity Rodriguez (23:14):
No. Yes, exactly. And that's what they're
saying. That's what these groupsare, like, ignore that part,
like that was, you know,removed, and it's just now
they're trying to take away yourguns? No, you need to have a
process in place for people thatdid not have guns, right should
(23:35):
not be having such easy accessto it. And but it's it's not
that it's just and then money,the amount of money that they're
getting with false rhetoric isblowing my mind away. And that
is, I think they use that totheir advantage, see the
Kentucky guns away. So thenpeople donated this money to the
(23:57):
NRA, instead of like, and then,you know, you think that's so
much money, that's so much moneythat people had, I guess burning
a hole in the pockets, thatthey're willing to give over,
that you could have applied thatmoney to so many other issues,
so many other things that needyou know, money, hunger,
(24:18):
education, medical datasituation in, you know, the US
like people should have moreaccess, better access, less
expensive access to medicine,right.
Jennifer Wong (24:33):
And the medical system is a mess to care. I
mean, the medical system is acomplete mess, the insurance
companies, the drug companies,they keep the prices going you
can't get health care, really,you don't really get health
care. And it's just I mean, allof our systems I see are
breaking down I mean, in everysingle facet, they're all
breaking down. We have had itand I think sometimes like I
(24:56):
feel like all those systems arelike why wild animal that's in
the corner. It's going to justcut Yes, claw, snarl, it's going
to do everything it can to keepits power right now. Yes, it's
amazing how many people are insupport of those things. But
what I also think is I thinkpeople support the things that
(25:20):
work for them. You know,nobody's looking at the Grand
Well, I can't say nobody,because we are, but it's very
few people in power, that arelooking at the whole picture.
They're just looking at specialinterests, right? That's an even
in conversations with everydaypeople that I have. It depends
on what we're interested in, iswhat we get excited about. But I
(25:44):
feel like the universe is like,Well, I'm gonna make it so that
it hits everybody, right, likeCOVID hit everybody. It didn't
care what color you were, howmuch money you had, where you
lived. It affected everybody.
And then now we have Yes, theguns is getting to where it?
Well, if you have children, it'saffecting you. Now. You know,
(26:05):
like, how much more do we haveto endure? Before we realize
this is everybody, you know,like, oh, the thought of waiting
until everybody that has poweris affected? And I wonder if
they would be? You know, what,if one of these people in the
NRA their child was killed?
(26:25):
Would they feel differentlyabout this? I don't know.
Charity Rodriguez (26:29):
I don't, I don't I can't even I thought
about that, too. Like, wouldthey be affected by this? I
think yes, they would beaffected. But I don't think the
reaction would be what we, youknow, if it would happen to you,
you'd be like, Oh, my gosh, youknow, maybe I wouldn't be like,
Okay, that's it. I gave up like,that's it? No, I don't think
(26:52):
that I think the response mightbe to double down and really,
like now move from the guns tolike, we need some nuclear
weapons to deal with thissituation. And it's like, oh,
shoot, no, that's not what I'mtrying to go. That's not what we
wanted. So it's like, yeah, no,that's not even think about
that. Because our naturalresponse to be like, yeah, maybe
(27:15):
we need to stop this, take amoment here and, you know,
reevaluate. And maybe that'snot, but I think we're so far
gone, is moving so fast, thatpeople are just, and the people
that you surround yourself with,are going to put things in their
self interest into your hands,they're going to fuel your anger
for their purposes, versus, youknow, looking at the whole big
(27:39):
picture.
Jennifer Wong (27:40):
And I think that when you get so drawn into
power, you can justify anything.
Oh, absolutely,
Charity Rodriguez (27:45):
you can.
Absolutely you can. And I don'tknow if I've talked to you about
this before, but there was thisguy, who did this talk of at
Stanford University. And Ibelieve he was an alum from
Stanford, and he was one of the,you know, they're at the
beginning of Facebook. And hewas talking about, you know, his
(28:07):
time there at Facebook and whatit started off with and what it
became and how, you know, likehorrible Facebook is supposed to
be right now. And they asked,well, like, how do you feel
about, you know, yourcontribution to what Facebook
has become? And he dodged thatquestion by, oh, my team did a
really good job, we did somereally good work with what we
(28:31):
were tasked to do. But now Itook the money, and now I'm
doing all this good stuff out inthe world. Right? Okay. So
that's how I said that. Butthey're like, Well, what now?
You know, what's supposed tohappen now? How do we move
forward? And what are wesupposed to do? And he said, the
answer now is you need to getthe money. You need to be in
(28:53):
control of the money, becausethe people with the money are
the only people that matter ifyou have no money, you don't
matter, you are of no concern.
You are not of any consequence.
You have no say nobody careswhat you're saying. It's all
about the money. So what I sayto you alumni, you know, it'd be
as you go out into the world anddo your thing, get the money,
(29:15):
because then you control thenarrative and you control. You
know, that's how you can injectyour morality or you know, good
Ness. Like, no, do not. That isnot what is because everybody
thinks that what they do they dois the for the greater good,
(29:38):
right? Yeah, I'm just, you know,but it's like, no, you're just
now you think you're doing good,but you're part of the problem.
That outlook as part of theproblem, because everybody that
has money either can cause outand say, like, I really don't
(30:00):
care. You know, I'm trying to domy own thing. My I'm protecting
my family, and I make sure thatmy family and my group and the
people I care for that they aretaking care of them, and they
have what they need. And I can'tbe concerned with everybody
else. Or, you know, yeah, well,I think, you know, whatever,
(30:20):
whatever that rhetoric is thatthey're using to control people
and control things. But at theend of the day, it's all for the
people that have monies
Jennifer Wong (30:31):
like because we're in a capitalistic society.
But I mean, it's designed thatway. And we
Charity Rodriguez (30:36):
are, and it is, and I don't think that
everybody needs to be an effingmillionaire, like, that's not
that get us there are peoplethat are perfectly fine, just
going to work, they have a job,they get a paycheck, they're
able to pay their bills in atimely fashion, they have a roof
over their head, they have foodon their table, and they're not
(30:58):
wearing the latest labels,having 15 Lamborghinis and
traveling the world. It's abouttheir family, and, you know,
caring and loving and good andmeaningful conversations. And
why should they be penalized?
Why? Because that was theirambition. That was their goal.
They're being penalized becauseyou don't want to be the CEO,
(31:20):
you know, some company, youchose to live a nice modest
life, you get no health care,you don't get any education, and
you get, you know, no food. Ithink that's not right. It's not
Jennifer Wong (31:34):
right. It's not right. And I think that's why
there's so much division now.
Because it is not right.
Everything you say it is notright. I agree with you, 100%.
And we went, there was somethingyou said earlier about the
government, and we're waitingfor the government like what the
hell with our politicians. But Ithink what's going to happen is,
(31:58):
in my opinion, we need to createcommunities, so we're not
relying on the governmentanymore. So the people that are
running things are the peoplewith money and power. And if
they're just so screwed up, andthe people in the middle have to
come together and community ifwe quit relying on them, and we
quit buying into them, and wequit supporting them on a
financial level, because theyare getting money from US taxes
(32:21):
and other ways. And we aretaking care of ourselves. They
lose their power, as long as wekeep buying into the system, as
long as we keep purchasing thesystem, which right now there
doesn't seem to be analternative. And I even find
myself like, Oh, there I did itagain, right. Like, why don't I
not use Amazon? Why don't I notdo a lot of things where people,
(32:46):
and even though Amazon isn'tpolitical? I guarantee you. He's
got his interests in there. So,you know, how do we pull away
from those powers that be? Youknow, and I don't? That's what I
mean, when I say I don't have ananswer. Like, yeah, we know, gun
control is an answer. But how dowe get it implemented? I don't
(33:09):
have an answer for that. Like, Idon't, I don't see it happening.
I don't know. And that's where Ifeel the most uncertain. And
that's where I get hopeless andterrified and angry. Because I
don't see how we're gonna getfrom A to B. I don't see it. So
in the middle, I'm like, Well,what if we created enough
(33:31):
communities like way back in theold days where they took care of
each other? You know, is thatpossible? I don't see another
way right now. You know, like,when my neighbor can't find
housing, or my friend. And thisisn't something that I've said
it yet out loud, but I'vethought about it. And if they
have nowhere to go, I'm like, Igotta find a way to make it
(33:53):
happen here. Right? You know,cuz if maybe we're not all
making millions of dollars. Butif we're all making a little bit
and we pull it together, thatgives us power, right? So it's
not going to be individualizedanymore. That's for the one
percenters or whatever they areanymore. But what about the 99%
of us? Like, what can we do topool our resources and not put
(34:17):
them into the systems that arebroken? And that's what I just I
don't know. But I mean, that'swhat keeps coming to me. Like,
how can I do that? How can Iquit buying into the system
that's killing me and killingpeople? Like how do I stop that?
I mean, I don't even need tohave a second answer. Just how
do I stop buying into the systemthat is completely insane, like,
(34:41):
and we're so ingrained and theykept us so busy, they kept us so
busy working to make the moneyto keep our kids in mind that we
were watching. While all theselaws were being passed while
things were happening. I don'teven know I was talking to my
friend about the lies like Idon't even know the basics about
law because I've been busy. I'mtrying to put food on the table,
(35:02):
right? And I don't have a lot.
I'm like, I share a room with mykid for crying out loud. It's
not like I'm looking forextravagance, I just to meet my
basic needs, you know, I, right.
I'm not gonna go there. Becauseyes, I do have some extras that
a lot of people don't have. So Ijust want to put that out there.
But at any rate, I'm kept sobusy that I don't even know
(35:24):
what's going on, you know? Yeah,
Charity Rodriguez (35:27):
yeah. But that's all part of the master
plan. Keep us all busy. Keep usall divided. You think that
you're you're working towardsthe greater good, but then
they're manipulating things at ahigher level? And we have no
clue. We're just gonna like, oh,okay, I guess, I guess they know
what they're talking about.
Like, yeah, they're more studiedthan we are sure, okay, because
they're in power, okay. And, butwe're supposed to be happy with
(35:50):
the little bit of nuggets thatare coming our way. And that's
what they're counting on, tokeep you happy with as little as
possible. And that becomes partof your way of thinking. And if
you've been doing that for solong, it's kind of like mind
control. Now, a part of, oh,we'll just keep them at this
(36:15):
victim stage at this powerlessstage, and we're working on
their mind to don't do all thework themselves, we won't have
to do anything, we can juststand back and watch them devour
themselves, you know, killthemselves each other, you know,
don't do the work for us, ispretty much and that he's
Jennifer Wong (36:37):
like, when you look back through history, the
monarchies. Isn't that what theydid.
Charity Rodriguez (36:42):
That's exactly what they're doing. But
now, our people are noteducated. We don't do anything
to help educate our children,our, you know, youth are adults
to have a educated base so thatwe know what is going on. And
(37:02):
then it becomes so big thatdivide between, I really
shouldn't know that. But I don'tknow. And it's kind of too late
for me to know that and get backto that. And I can just deal
with what's in front of me rightnow. Like, I just got to keep
rolling. I just got some morethings I just kind of thrown at
us, and we just have to dealwith it. And we can't help
(37:23):
ourselves, protect ourselveseducate ourselves.
Jennifer Wong (37:26):
I just got to keep rolling. You know? Yes.
Charity Rodriguez (37:29):
You got to just keep rolling. But you said
how do I quit buying into thesystem? And now, I'm like, okay,
you know, what we need it, weneed to talk about that. Like, I
really want to have an episodewhere we just, we do our
research like that, when we willhave to do like some serious
research, and just come up withthree ways you think you, okay,
(37:53):
could quit buying into thesystem? Like, could you do it?
You know, there's the like,well, this is what we need to
do. But I don't think that Icould do it. This is what I need
to do. I think I could do thisone. This is what I need to do.
And this is what I'm gonna startdoing tomorrow. Yep. That, you
know, like the willie way outthere. What can we do? Because,
(38:17):
yeah, let's let's get that. Imean, I'm willing to entertain
that I'm willing to talk aboutthat. I'm not, you know, I'm
like, what exactly is that?
Like? Are we now saying we'retrying to secede from the
government from the country,like, start our own little out?
I don't know about that. If I'mwilling to go that far. I want
to fix the problem versus justthrowing my hands up and going
(38:40):
about here, I'm just going totake my ball and go play with
this quarter. I don't care whatyou you know, say, No, I want to
hold these people accountable. Iwant to reset the system. I
don't want someone that is notvery bright, but has learned
from the mistakes of others. Youknow, we had a person that
(39:05):
wasn't very bright, but theywere doing all sorts of
shenanigans every and everybodywas watching all this
shenanigans. Sorry. And, youknow, just like they use it to
their advantage, right. Theywere all these voices like they
were the puppet being, you know,they were being used, but
there's someone else that'sgoing to come that smarter,
brighter, and doesn't need otherpuppet strings. Like they'll be
(39:28):
able to manage themselves, anduse all the loopholes, all of
the, you know, all the thingsand there'll be very bright and
there'll be very powerful, andwe'll be in a whole whole whole
lot of trouble. So all right,there you go. There you go. And
(39:49):
that's it. That's all I'mgetting.
Jennifer Wong (39:52):
I love to leave on that note. Like what can we
do to quit buying into thissystem? You know what Yeah, what
can I do? Just what can we do?
And leave with that?
Charity Rodriguez (40:03):
Alright, so that's it. That's the next thing
quit buying it like you got tocome up with your
Jennifer Wong (40:08):
money is power.
How, where are we putting ourpower? Who are we giving it away
to? And how can we take it back?
Charity Rodriguez (40:16):
Yes. How can we get it back? How can we Okay,
you got it. All right.
Jennifer Wong (40:21):
Until next time.
All right.
Charity Rodriguez (40:23):
Until next time. Thank you. Bye. Bye. Yay.
Thank you for listening to beingeffing honest with your hosts,
Jennifer Wong and charityRodriguez. Subscribe to our show
wherever you listen to podcasts.
And if you have a suggestion,question or topic you want us to
talk about, connect with us atwww being effing honest.com And
until next time, we hope you'realways being effing honest.
(40:58):
Yay. Thank you for listening tobeing effing honest with your
hosts, Jennifer Wong and charityRodriguez. Subscribe to our show
wherever you listen to podcasts.
And if you have a suggestion,question or topic you want us to
talk about, connect with us atwww being effing honest.com And
until next time, we hope you'realways being effing honest
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Ridiculous History
History is beautiful, brutal and, often, ridiculous. Join Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown as they dive into some of the weirdest stories from across the span of human civilization in Ridiculous History, a podcast by iHeartRadio.