February 7, 2024 • 41 mins
Once hopeful of entering the political arena, my journey led instead to a front-row seat to the spectacle of division that has engulfed American politics. In our latest conversation, I peel back the layers of this conflict-ridden landscape, revealing how the battle for power has eclipsed the noble mission to serve the common good. We tackle the troubling polarization that now characterizes our national dialogue, the erosion of civil liberties, and the desperate need to safeguard the representative democracy at the core of our identity. Join me as we confront the stark realities threatening the very fabric of our society, dissecting the mechanisms that have left the average American feeling disconnected from the political process.
As we navigate the tangled web of Congress and government transparency—or the lack thereof—we're forced to confront the discomforting realities. Do our elected officials truly have the best interests of their constituents at heart, or have they become ensnared in a system that caters more to personal gain than public service? We scrutinize everything from the influence of corporate money in politics to the problem of lifetime tenure for politicians, questioning whether it's time for a constitutional renaissance to meet the pressing challenges of our era. This episode is an invitation to explore the possibility of creating a more equitable society, where leaders are held to account and the voices of the people authentically resonate in the halls of power.
As we round out our thought-provoking dialogue, the focus shifts to accountability and the stark concerns for America's future. Through the lens of Chicago's urban crisis and the absence of consequences for deceit and corruption, we underscore the imperative role of civic engagement and the power of the vote. I share poignant reflections on the generational shifts in financial security and the vital importance of reviving practical education to rebuild the middle class. Tune in to this deep-dive exploration and envision with us a society where prosperity is matched by fairness and freedom, and where the actions we take today craft a legacy of stability and opportunity for the generations to come.
As we navigate the tangled web of Congress and government transparency—or the lack thereof—we're forced to confront the discomforting realities. Do our elected officials truly have the best interests of their constituents at heart, or have they become ensnared in a system that caters more to personal gain than public service? We scrutinize everything from the influence of corporate money in politics to the problem of lifetime tenure for politicians, questioning whether it's time for a constitutional renaissance to meet the pressing challenges of our era. This episode is an invitation to explore the possibility of creating a more equitable society, where leaders are held to account and the voices of the people authentically resonate in the halls of power.
As we round out our thought-provoking dialogue, the focus shifts to accountability and the stark concerns for America's future. Through the lens of Chicago's urban crisis and the absence of consequences for deceit and corruption, we underscore the imperative role of civic engagement and the power of the vote. I share poignant reflections on the generational shifts in financial security and the vital importance of reviving practical education to rebuild the middle class. Tune in to this deep-dive exploration and envision with us a society where prosperity is matched by fairness and freedom, and where the actions we take today craft a legacy of stability and opportunity for the generations to come.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Take a breath, let's dive in.
Let's talk about politics.
What is politics today in theUnited States and the rest of
(00:24):
the world?
What does politics mean to youand does it dictate your
everyday dealings?
Where you shop, where you eatwe hang out with?
How does politics affect yoursocial circle?
I must say that in recent yearsI've become quite despondent
(00:45):
when thinking about politics.
Growing up, I thought that Iwanted to be a politician and or
a statesman, and I just my eyeswould just gleam with joy just
thinking about the prospect ofbeing a senator or a governor or
a mayor.
I knew that when I came to theUnited States I couldn't be
(01:08):
president because I was not bornhere.
I would have had to take theArnold Schwarzenegger route, in
that the highest I could climbwould be a senator or a governor
, and I was okay with that.
That was also a different time,and in today's world, politics
has changed and evolved intosomething that I don't even know
(01:30):
if I can classify it aspolitics.
It seems like reality TV.
It seems like something that'sout of the mind of.
I don't need some dystopianbook of some sort.
Politics has evolved into somany things that they used to be
(01:51):
the driving mechanisms thatfueled my goals.
And now, when I look atpoliticians today and how
they're destroying this amazingcountry and dividing people I
mean family members don't speakto each other.
You know, school teachers andprincipals are at odds with each
(02:14):
other.
College professors and theirstudents are at odds with each
other over things that arefundamentally their right the
right to freedom of speech, theright of self expression, the
right to simply exist.
And now we live in thispolarized world where you're
(02:34):
either left or you're right, andif you're not, you get left
behind or trampled on.
What is this?
What is this world?
The world in which we no longerembody true community and our
differences are not celebrated.
Regardless of what's marketedto us, the thing that we see
(02:59):
every day is division.
We see sound bites andcorruption.
Meanwhile, we get bombardedwith so much information that we
don't know what the facts are,because we're so distracted by
all of the kaka-may-may nonsensethat's put in front of us.
(03:21):
The circus is what it really is,and tonight I would like to
dissect and dive into whatpolitics means to me at this
current juncture and how I planto proceed forward, moving
forward and really just givingmy all to analyze my true
(03:44):
feelings as a lover of politicsin general and as a concerned
citizen of this great nation.
Things are only great becausepeople make them great, and if
we take our democracy forgranted, if we take our
(04:09):
liberties, our civil libertiesfor granted, we may wake up one
day not having those things thatthe Constitution as entitled us
to have.
Then so many people have foughtfor us to have you look at the
world around you today.
(04:29):
Can you truly say that it's asafer place when there's wars
here and wars there?
Conflicts are constantlyspringing up and America of
today does not have a standing,as it did years ago, in which,
(04:50):
when America spoke, the worldlistened and America could
command a force to bring aboutpeace.
That America has gone somewhere, and is that our new normal, or
is that something that we canget back?
This nation is lost until wedecide that it's time to give up
(05:15):
.
I would like for my neighbor'schildren to grow up in a world
that is beautiful and clean, aworld that is prosperous and
fear.
I would like for my children togrow up in a world in which
they have endless possibilities.
I want them to see the polarice caps.
(05:36):
I also want them to see whatfreedom of expression truly is
to be able to express yourselfand not have to worry about
censorship or being canceled.
And both parties.
My goal, my wish, is that bothparties can realize that this
(05:56):
idea of manipulation and causingfear mongering of both sides,
in which the only people thattruly are harmed by this are the
American people, but above thatall, the part that really
(06:22):
shakes me to my core is that thecitizens of this country that
get to vote don't understand thereality in which they stand.
America is often referred to asa democracy, and that's half
(06:45):
true, because America is arepublic and a republic is a
type of democracy.
It is classified as an indirectdemocracy because we have
representative bodies that makedecisions for us based on our
vote, and each representative isin control of a constituent,
(07:08):
and those constituents are whatcome together to form things.
That mechanisms, I should say,form mechanisms.
So we live in a representativedemocracy and the representative
democracy elects our governingbodies.
(07:29):
For example, the president ischosen by the electoral college,
meaning that if we vote, ourpopular vote doesn't count for
anything.
What our popular vote does saysthat hey person that I voted
for, all of us agree that thisperson should be elected and
(07:50):
that person would cast the voteon our behalf.
In that understanding as well,I would say to many people that
how can democracy truly workwhen we don't hold politicians
(08:10):
accountable?
And in some ways, the game isrigged because we have delegates
, delegates or representatives.
We have things such as pledgedelegates, and I would often say
to myself well, how does?
What is the difference betweena delegate and a pledge delegate
?
A delegate is a person thatrepresents a body of people and
(08:36):
they have not chosen who they'regoing to vote for, whereas a
pledge delegate has said I'mgoing to vote for this candidate
, and I would always look atthat as corruption, because how
can an individual be a pledgedelegate when I haven't even
casted my vote yet, and thingsof that nature slowly began to
(09:03):
make me lose faith in ourgoverning body.
The second component to why I'mat a crossroad is our Congress.
Our Congress gets a score atapproval rating the same as the
president.
(09:23):
Our Congress, by all means, isa failure.
But who holds Congressaccountable?
I don't, and neither do you.
When Congress passed bills thatare not in line with my view,
(09:45):
well, what do I do about it?
What do you do about it Nothing.
A Congress, our Congressspecifically gets to vote on
paid cases.
I mean, can you imagine, as anAmerican person, you go to work
one day and you tell your boss Ithink I'm going to give myself
(10:08):
a race today?
How would that go over withyour boss?
And in this indirect democracyin which we should be the boss,
how is it that we're letting thepeople who are supposed to work
for us, the people who aresupposed to represent our ideals
they're not doing a very goodjob and they get to vote on
(10:30):
giving themselves a pay raiseand their pay gets adjusted for
inflation?
Last I checked.
American citizens and people wholive here in general do not get
to decide that they are goingto get paid.
The rate of inflation Doesn'thappen.
(10:51):
If that was the case, everysingle person living here would
be able to afford every singlething.
They would never have to worrybecause you're getting paid the
rate of inflation.
Inflation goes up, yourpaycheck goes up.
That does not happen.
So how can a governing body dothat when our educational system
(11:14):
is broken, conflicts arespringing up all over and they
get to choose to get a payincrease, but they're not doing
a very good job?
What is their approval rating?
I'm not going to say it.
I would like for you, thelistener, to do your research,
to see what it is, to see whythis is so scary that a
(11:40):
governing body that is failingcan choose to have private jets
by them to and from work on ourdime, when we know that poverty
exists.
There's a disconnect there.
The fact that lobbying can be athing is despicable.
(12:06):
To know that our politicians,whether Democrat or Republican,
are for sale is despicable.
That should never be the case.
The fact that the church andstate are in bed together now,
that is despicable.
There's supposed to be aseparation.
I don't care if you're Democrator if you're Republican.
(12:28):
The church and the state haveno place together.
There's supposed to be aseparation.
For a reason there should be aseparation.
Too many lines are being blurredHeads of corporations that are
(12:54):
in positions in politics andgovernment.
That should not be a thing,because corruption is in the air
.
How can you work for a weaponsmanufacturing company and then
(13:15):
become a politician?
You're a politician that'sassociated with a war.
Those are things that we haveto look at.
That's not even the tip of theiceberg.
I honestly don't even careabout that as much.
What I do care about is whereis this country headed?
What dreams are our childrenallowed to have?
(13:38):
What's available to them?
So many things are making theAmerican dream a little less of
a reality and making it more ofexactly what it is a dream.
We need to figure out togetherhow we can mend this great
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divide that we're living inevery single day.
There's a lack of term limitsand the absence of term limits
for elected officials.
That also contributes to thepower struggles that exist today
.
You have a lot of conflictingviews of people because they've
(14:22):
been there in government toolong.
If you're a career politician,that's exactly what you are.
You're a career politician.
You are not a state's man or astate's woman.
You are a politician.
You are no longer for yourpeople, you are for yourself.
If you're, the longer you're inthere.
They say that power corrupts,but absolute power corrupts
(14:46):
absolutely, and the longeryou're attached to that power,
the more and more the divide ofthe politician and the
connection between theirconstituencies.
There's a gap that cannot befilled.
(15:09):
It's kind of like the analogyof an individual that they
weren't born rich but theybecame rich and after a certain
point they will live to be richlonger than they have been poor
and when that threshold has beenmet, you can no longer connect
(15:31):
to being poor because you'vebeen rich for most of your life.
You can no longer identify withthose who have everyday
problems such as how am I goingto pay for my child's college
education?
How am I going to put food onthe table?
How am I going to pay thesedoctor bills?
How am I going to find thefunds to pay for my cancer
(15:58):
treatment?
Those are not your realityanymore and I think the moment
that someone's reality, that'sthe moment they should be in
that job because it is called.
They're called civil servantsfor a reason.
They're servants and they're nolonger serving.
(16:19):
There's a lack of transparencyin government and it's crucial
in maintaining trust andaccountability.
And if we don't know what'struly going on or whatever
secret negotiations are beingmade and with our limited access
to information, how can thepublic truly trust the
(16:41):
government?
We don't have a trustrelationship.
We have a relationship that'sbased on speculation.
I'm thinking, I'm hoping andI'm praying that you're going to
do the right thing, and I don'teven know if you are.
I don't even know like.
(17:01):
Why am I trying to wrap my headaround this concept of politics
today.
I don't, like, I can't.
I see it as a circus I reallydo and both sides are just
absolutely corrupt.
It's absolutely corrupt.
(17:23):
I think that this is going to bea very unpopular idea, but I
think maybe it's time that ourconstitution gets updated.
I think if all the things thatare around us have updated and
modernized, then ourconstitution should do so
accordingly.
And, yes, we can make theargument that it's what makes us
(17:45):
who we are, but it's notworking.
It is not working.
Where in the commonconstitution does it talk about
special interest groups?
Where in the constitution doesit talk about lobbying?
Where we have amendments?
(18:05):
Where in the corporate and inthe constitution does it talk
about, you know, big tech andbig pharma?
These are terms that did notexist then.
So, of course, I do think thatwe should modernize our
constitution to create a morefair world.
When I say fair, I don't meanthat when I'm talking about
(18:27):
handouts or things of thatnature.
When I say fair, it's aboutpeople doing the right thing.
That is fair, that is right andthat is just.
And that is why we vote,because things need to be right
and just and justice has to beparamount.
Be paramount.
It has to be at the forefrontof every decision that someone
(18:48):
makes.
Is what I'm doing just?
And if it is just, it is forthe greater good Not for me, but
for the greater good.
And that's the differencebetween being a leader and a
servant leader.
A leader can lead in theself-serving.
The servant leader leads byserving, and through serving
(19:11):
they bring about change.
Serving they allow people tobuy in what it is that they're
selling, and when they have thatbuy in, they bring about change
.
I can't think of any politiciantoday that I would truly
advocate and say that thisperson is 100% good.
(19:33):
I don't believe in that.
I don't think there's agovernment or an institution in
the world that is 100% good.
However, each government thathas a constitution can put
things in there to make peopledo good.
Sometimes we can't do goodsimply because people tell us to
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do good.
Why do we have laws?
We have laws because it's whatcreates anarchy from happening.
We have law because it gives usstability.
That's why we have law.
So the laws need to change.
Why is it that term limits arenot something that has changed?
Why are the American people notvoting on term limits?
(20:20):
Who's deciding that isn't theAmerican people or isn't the
people that we elected.
That's deciding that they wantto stay in power forever and we
don't get a say in that.
So should we not have a lot tomake us have a say in that,
since our rights are beingstripped away right in front of
(20:40):
our eyes?
I would like for this to becohesive and flow, but I'm so
despondent it's like I don'teven care.
Truly see the light of good inpolitics in America.
(21:03):
I see the light and good in theAmerican people, because they
will be the ones to bring aboutchange.
Not the politicians, but yourneighbor.
Those are the individuals thatbring about change.
We have to be that change.
Our politicians are on Twitter.
(21:24):
Our politicians are on Facebook.
Our politicians are on TikTok.
We have to let them know how wefeel on those platforms, not
just the junk that they throwdown our our throats all the
time.
They're not the informationthat they feed us to appease us.
We have to decide that it'stime for better.
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We deserve better.
Our vote has to count, not, not, not the things that are
marketed to us, but look aroundand ask yourself what has
changed, what has been done?
Are things getting better?
Are things getting worse.
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And if a person is the type ofhuman being that said that, has
to point the finger and say, hey, things are bad because of that
person, they're not solvinganything, they're just creating
a disruption.
Any time an individual points afinger, that means they're
doing nothing.
A person that's solving asolution says this is a problem,
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here's what we're doing to fixit, not this person messed up.
And that person did do this.
This is what I'm doing, becausethis is what I was elected to
do Is to fix problems when apolitician does not follow
through to the ultimatecountable.
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And what does thataccountability look like?
I can tell you what thataccountability looks like.
Growing up, I was always a fanof philosophy.
(23:15):
I loved Greek philosophy, Iloved learning about the Romans
and I was always captivated byhow just brilliant these ancient
civilizations were.
And yet the Romans, the Greeks,fell because the Greeks were
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divided and there's politicalcorruption.
The Romans fell because theywere divided and there was
political corruption.
And now history is simplyrepeating itself.
There is corruption.
Many people may not haveclassified America as an empire,
(24:03):
but we are an empire and itjust so happens that the empire
is collapsing.
The empire is collapsingbecause we've lost a sense of
who we are.
Most of us are too busy tryingto just live life, trying to be
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parents, trying to be collegestudents, trying to be a person
that contributes to society,trying to simply just exist and
survive.
We're busy being angry.
We're busy being lost.
We're busy with depression andmental health.
We're busy with our physicalhealth and well-being.
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We're busy taking care offamilies.
We're busy simply trying toexist.
And when you throw in the othercomponents of all we hear and
see in the media is negative.
This about the other politicalside.
All we're being fed isnegativity and all we're being
(25:16):
fed is problems andnon-solutions.
I get it.
Inflation's high, okay.
What are you doing, as theelective body of this great
country, to fix it?
Not that this is a problem, butwhat are you doing to counter
(25:36):
these issues?
Does Flint Michigan still haveclean water?
Do they even have clean water?
There was a group of electiveofficials that knew that the
(25:56):
water was a problem and no onetook care of it.
That gets.
Flint Michigan is on no one'sradar anymore.
That got lost in translation.
Who's being held accountablefor that?
There was a Democrat in office.
(26:20):
There was a Republican inoffice, then there was a
Democrat in office again and aRepublican in office again and
Flint Michigan didn't have cleanwater in America.
And which politicians were heldaccountable?
Children are dying.
Children are dying in Chicago.
(26:44):
Chicago's called Chirac.
It's a war going on in Chicagowith gangs.
That's not in the media.
What are the politicians doingthere?
It's a problem when yourcitizens are dying.
(27:06):
That's a problem in what'sbeing done there with the
American tax dollars.
If we can afford to allow thesepoliticians to have private
jets to fly to and from work,why isn't that money being used
(27:26):
to build up the infrastructureof Chicago, to educate those
people?
Poor resources, where it shouldgo.
And we don't have a problemwith that right.
We don't have a problem whenthe media lies and no one the
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government doesn't do anythingabout it because maybe there's a
special group, special interestgroup, that tells them not to
when there is misinformation,who holds the media companies
accountable for thatmisinformation?
(28:12):
Harvey Weinstein supposedlykilled himself in prison or in a
holding area.
What's going on with that?
Harvey Weinstein existed for avery long time.
Harvey Weinstein, I'm sorry Imisquoted too many perverts out
(28:41):
there.
I'm sorry, jeff Epstein.
Harvey Weinstein, jeff Epstein,both of her perverts, the fact
of the matter is that, eitherway, both these individuals have
existed and they've caused harmto a great many people, and
nothing was ever done about that.
Jeff Epstein has been seen withmany former politicians and
(29:02):
current politicians, but he didwhat he did and somehow he wound
up dead in a cell by suicide,and no one knows how it happened
.
And what are we doing about that?
Are we voting?
(29:24):
And who are we holdingaccountable for that?
No one.
No one's being held accountablefor any of that.
So wake up, america.
(29:45):
What are we doing?
There's a lot of problems thatare out there, a lot of problem
that needs to be solved and, yes, it's going to be an arduous
task to fix it.
But this is the same Americathat stood up to Hitler and this
(30:08):
is the same America that hasdone a great many good, as well
as bad, in the world.
But this is an America that cando anything.
America's greatest resourceisn't our financial capital,
it's our people.
It's our greatest resource.
(30:30):
We all bring something to thetable, and now we have to bring
change to the table to makethings better for the next
generation.
And it's not, it's not going tobe easy.
(30:51):
It also requires us to lookwithin and say, hey, am I being
led by fear and lies?
Am I being lied to?
Am I just going with the flow?
Am I just believing what's toldto me constantly, or am I
researching and fact checkingall of the information?
(31:15):
Am I vetting the informationthat's being fed to me?
And if the answer is no, thenyou have some work to do and
whenever you come to aconclusion, you now have to hold
those accountable that are notperforming how they're supposed
to be performing and they thinkthat simply by pointing the
(31:39):
finger at the other side or theperson that was there before
them is the solution.
If they're not doing a good job, if we're not doing a good job,
we get replaced.
And what's any different?
If they're not doing a good job, they should be replaced to
someone that's more qualified orhas more energy to do the right
thing.
But we have to put the effortthere.
(32:08):
The baby boomers are retiringwith pensions and social
security.
Where are the millennials goingto retire with 401Ks that are
not a guarantee?
How many?
What's the percentage of babyboomers that have retired with
student loans?
What's going to be thepercentage of millennials that
(32:31):
are going to retire with studentloans?
Where?
What's the percentage ofmillennials that actually own a
home versus the boomers thathave a home?
How did that come to be?
Where did all the pensions gofor my generation?
Who changed those laws?
We act like nothing's changed.
(32:55):
A lot has changed, but did youvote on those things that were
changed?
Don't you want a pension and a401K too?
You want your guarantee, and Isure as hell want a guarantee as
well.
Like many other Americans, Iwork too hard not to have a
(33:16):
guarantee.
I work too hard for my familynot to have a future.
What's our future when we turn65?
What's our future when we turn50?
Healthcare costs are going up,the cost of food is going up All
(33:38):
these things and what is beingdone to counteract these
problems?
Are we combating these issues?
What's going to happen when allthe baby boomers retire in
America?
What are we going to do withthat aging population?
What's going to happen whenthere's more old people alive
(34:01):
than there's young people?
What is that going to do withthe structure and the fabric of
this nation?
No one's asking these questions, but that problem's around the
corner.
It is.
Who are we going to holdaccountable for not having an
infrastructure that's ready forthat.
(34:22):
What's going to happen when wehave a shortage of workers and
all the fields that build up ourinfrastructure, a shortage of
plumbers, a shortage ofelectricians those trades that
were taken out of the highschools to give kids a purpose,
to give college what's not madefor everyone?
You can still make six figuresas an electrician.
(34:45):
You can make six figures as aplumber, minus the student loans
.
Why is that not being pushed?
Why?
Because colleges arecorporations and it's a
corporation that if you don'tlike the service, you can't get
a refund.
Who voted to take?
(35:06):
To take the trades out of thehigh school, to give families
hope, to give that generationthat never owned anything, to
give them the means to do sothrough education?
Who voted on that?
To rob an entire generation ofa future, a chance?
(35:30):
The boomers got a chance.
They had the trades.
How do we get that back and howdo we create a world in which
(35:51):
the things that benefit ourpeople are there and, instead of
these things beingsystematically stripped out of
our educational system, we getthem to be put back in?
(36:14):
Last time I checked, if morepeople were making money, the
better the economy is, but nowit's almost as if the government
wants us all to be in debt andbe owned by the banks.
The who's really winning is theAmerican people or the, the
people who donate to theircampaigns, the big donors, the
(36:35):
special interest groups, thepeople who lobby the banks.
We're a country that in 2008,doing the great recession, we
paid bankers to To retirehundreds of million dollars of
(36:56):
dollars of taxpayers that wepaid them After they failed.
We paid people, we gave themretirement packages for failure
and destroying this country'seconomy.
Who was held accountable forthat?
For that stock market crash,for giving out loans that people
(37:19):
couldn't pay back, the housingbubble that also popped at the
same time, too big to fail?
The only people that failed andgot burned in the end were the
American people.
They were failed.
And now what's happening todayis history repeating itself.
(37:39):
Is there economic growth?
Are people losing their homes?
Is this a recession?
Gas prices are high.
The price of food is high.
Rent is ridiculous.
Owning a home is ridiculous.
History is repeating itselfagain.
And who are we holdingaccountable?
(37:59):
Just because we don't throwterminologies out there does not
mean the problems don't exist.
Wake up.
We have to wake up.
We have to call us.
If it's a spade, it's a spadeand if we're failing it we're
failing.
But a part of of fixing aproblem Is identifying who's
(38:23):
causing the problem and whateverthose obstacles are, we remove
those obstacles out of the way,and I'm not saying that's gonna
be easy, but we do have thisthing called a vote.
We have to make that vote count.
I can't advocate for eitherpolitical party because both are
corrupt, but I can't advocatefor change, change we so
(39:00):
desperately need.
And what I can say is that,regardless of who the party who
the representative is is uh isbeing backed by, they have a
track record.
We need to look into theirtrack record.
But they're Democrat orRepublican, I don't care.
(39:21):
Are they good human beings thattruly believe in serving the
American people and we need tohold them accountable for that
track record.
If it's a track record offailure, then hey, they need to
get out.
If they are successful and theyhave truly benefited the
American people, then theyshould be in.
It is that simple Either this isfailing or this is working.
(39:47):
If it's working, then let'skeep it going.
If it's failing, we need to dosomething different.
We have a lot of work to do andeverything that we do Should
not just be a benefit to us inthe present, but it should also
benefit us in the future.
We're not always going to be 25.
We're always going to be 30.
We're not.
(40:11):
We're going to get old one day,hopefully and we need to know
that there are certain thingsthat are going to be in place
for when we get there.
Because we've worked too hard,each generation has a different
way of life.
Because we've worked too hard,each generation has built the
next generation, but somewherealong the line we've lost that
(40:36):
that we do what we do for thenext generation.
The greater good must comefirst.
If you enjoyed today's content,please like and subscribe for
(40:57):
more.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Take a breath, let's dive in.
Let's talk about politics.
What is politics today in theUnited States and the rest of
(00:24):
the world?
What does politics mean to youand does it dictate your
everyday dealings?
Where you shop, where you eatwe hang out with?
How does politics affect yoursocial circle?
I must say that in recent yearsI've become quite despondent
(00:45):
when thinking about politics.
Growing up, I thought that Iwanted to be a politician and or
a statesman, and I just my eyeswould just gleam with joy just
thinking about the prospect ofbeing a senator or a governor or
a mayor.
I knew that when I came to theUnited States I couldn't be
(01:08):
president because I was not bornhere.
I would have had to take theArnold Schwarzenegger route, in
that the highest I could climbwould be a senator or a governor
, and I was okay with that.
That was also a different time,and in today's world, politics
has changed and evolved intosomething that I don't even know
(01:30):
if I can classify it aspolitics.
It seems like reality TV.
It seems like something that'sout of the mind of.
I don't need some dystopianbook of some sort.
Politics has evolved into somany things that they used to be
(01:51):
the driving mechanisms thatfueled my goals.
And now, when I look atpoliticians today and how
they're destroying this amazingcountry and dividing people I
mean family members don't speakto each other.
You know, school teachers andprincipals are at odds with each
(02:14):
other.
College professors and theirstudents are at odds with each
other over things that arefundamentally their right the
right to freedom of speech, theright of self expression, the
right to simply exist.
And now we live in thispolarized world where you're
(02:34):
either left or you're right, andif you're not, you get left
behind or trampled on.
What is this?
What is this world?
The world in which we no longerembody true community and our
differences are not celebrated.
Regardless of what's marketedto us, the thing that we see
(02:59):
every day is division.
We see sound bites andcorruption.
Meanwhile, we get bombardedwith so much information that we
don't know what the facts are,because we're so distracted by
all of the kaka-may-may nonsensethat's put in front of us.
(03:21):
The circus is what it really is,and tonight I would like to
dissect and dive into whatpolitics means to me at this
current juncture and how I planto proceed forward, moving
forward and really just givingmy all to analyze my true
(03:44):
feelings as a lover of politicsin general and as a concerned
citizen of this great nation.
Things are only great becausepeople make them great, and if
we take our democracy forgranted, if we take our
(04:09):
liberties, our civil libertiesfor granted, we may wake up one
day not having those things thatthe Constitution as entitled us
to have.
Then so many people have foughtfor us to have you look at the
world around you today.
(04:29):
Can you truly say that it's asafer place when there's wars
here and wars there?
Conflicts are constantlyspringing up and America of
today does not have a standing,as it did years ago, in which,
(04:50):
when America spoke, the worldlistened and America could
command a force to bring aboutpeace.
That America has gone somewhere, and is that our new normal, or
is that something that we canget back?
This nation is lost until wedecide that it's time to give up
(05:15):
.
I would like for my neighbor'schildren to grow up in a world
that is beautiful and clean, aworld that is prosperous and
fear.
I would like for my children togrow up in a world in which
they have endless possibilities.
I want them to see the polarice caps.
(05:36):
I also want them to see whatfreedom of expression truly is
to be able to express yourselfand not have to worry about
censorship or being canceled.
And both parties.
My goal, my wish, is that bothparties can realize that this
(05:56):
idea of manipulation and causingfear mongering of both sides,
in which the only people thattruly are harmed by this are the
American people, but above thatall, the part that really
(06:22):
shakes me to my core is that thecitizens of this country that
get to vote don't understand thereality in which they stand.
America is often referred to asa democracy, and that's half
(06:45):
true, because America is arepublic and a republic is a
type of democracy.
It is classified as an indirectdemocracy because we have
representative bodies that makedecisions for us based on our
vote, and each representative isin control of a constituent,
(07:08):
and those constituents are whatcome together to form things.
That mechanisms, I should say,form mechanisms.
So we live in a representativedemocracy and the representative
democracy elects our governingbodies.
(07:29):
For example, the president ischosen by the electoral college,
meaning that if we vote, ourpopular vote doesn't count for
anything.
What our popular vote does saysthat hey person that I voted
for, all of us agree that thisperson should be elected and
(07:50):
that person would cast the voteon our behalf.
In that understanding as well,I would say to many people that
how can democracy truly workwhen we don't hold politicians
(08:10):
accountable?
And in some ways, the game isrigged because we have delegates
, delegates or representatives.
We have things such as pledgedelegates, and I would often say
to myself well, how does?
What is the difference betweena delegate and a pledge delegate
?
A delegate is a person thatrepresents a body of people and
(08:36):
they have not chosen who they'regoing to vote for, whereas a
pledge delegate has said I'mgoing to vote for this candidate
, and I would always look atthat as corruption, because how
can an individual be a pledgedelegate when I haven't even
casted my vote yet, and thingsof that nature slowly began to
(09:03):
make me lose faith in ourgoverning body.
The second component to why I'mat a crossroad is our Congress.
Our Congress gets a score atapproval rating the same as the
president.
(09:23):
Our Congress, by all means, isa failure.
But who holds Congressaccountable?
I don't, and neither do you.
When Congress passed bills thatare not in line with my view,
(09:45):
well, what do I do about it?
What do you do about it Nothing.
A Congress, our Congressspecifically gets to vote on
paid cases.
I mean, can you imagine, as anAmerican person, you go to work
one day and you tell your boss Ithink I'm going to give myself
(10:08):
a race today?
How would that go over withyour boss?
And in this indirect democracyin which we should be the boss,
how is it that we're letting thepeople who are supposed to work
for us, the people who aresupposed to represent our ideals
they're not doing a very goodjob and they get to vote on
(10:30):
giving themselves a pay raiseand their pay gets adjusted for
inflation?
Last I checked.
American citizens and people wholive here in general do not get
to decide that they are goingto get paid.
The rate of inflation Doesn'thappen.
(10:51):
If that was the case, everysingle person living here would
be able to afford every singlething.
They would never have to worrybecause you're getting paid the
rate of inflation.
Inflation goes up, yourpaycheck goes up.
That does not happen.
So how can a governing body dothat when our educational system
(11:14):
is broken, conflicts arespringing up all over and they
get to choose to get a payincrease, but they're not doing
a very good job?
What is their approval rating?
I'm not going to say it.
I would like for you, thelistener, to do your research,
to see what it is, to see whythis is so scary that a
(11:40):
governing body that is failingcan choose to have private jets
by them to and from work on ourdime, when we know that poverty
exists.
There's a disconnect there.
The fact that lobbying can be athing is despicable.
(12:06):
To know that our politicians,whether Democrat or Republican,
are for sale is despicable.
That should never be the case.
The fact that the church andstate are in bed together now,
that is despicable.
There's supposed to be aseparation.
I don't care if you're Democrator if you're Republican.
(12:28):
The church and the state haveno place together.
There's supposed to be aseparation.
For a reason there should be aseparation.
Too many lines are being blurredHeads of corporations that are
(12:54):
in positions in politics andgovernment.
That should not be a thing,because corruption is in the air
.
How can you work for a weaponsmanufacturing company and then
(13:15):
become a politician?
You're a politician that'sassociated with a war.
Those are things that we haveto look at.
That's not even the tip of theiceberg.
I honestly don't even careabout that as much.
What I do care about is whereis this country headed?
What dreams are our childrenallowed to have?
(13:38):
What's available to them?
So many things are making theAmerican dream a little less of
a reality and making it more ofexactly what it is a dream.
We need to figure out togetherhow we can mend this great
(13:59):
divide that we're living inevery single day.
There's a lack of term limitsand the absence of term limits
for elected officials.
That also contributes to thepower struggles that exist today
.
You have a lot of conflictingviews of people because they've
(14:22):
been there in government toolong.
If you're a career politician,that's exactly what you are.
You're a career politician.
You are not a state's man or astate's woman.
You are a politician.
You are no longer for yourpeople, you are for yourself.
If you're, the longer you're inthere.
They say that power corrupts,but absolute power corrupts
(14:46):
absolutely, and the longeryou're attached to that power,
the more and more the divide ofthe politician and the
connection between theirconstituencies.
There's a gap that cannot befilled.
(15:09):
It's kind of like the analogyof an individual that they
weren't born rich but theybecame rich and after a certain
point they will live to be richlonger than they have been poor
and when that threshold has beenmet, you can no longer connect
(15:31):
to being poor because you'vebeen rich for most of your life.
You can no longer identify withthose who have everyday
problems such as how am I goingto pay for my child's college
education?
How am I going to put food onthe table?
How am I going to pay thesedoctor bills?
How am I going to find thefunds to pay for my cancer
(15:58):
treatment?
Those are not your realityanymore and I think the moment
that someone's reality, that'sthe moment they should be in
that job because it is called.
They're called civil servantsfor a reason.
They're servants and they're nolonger serving.
(16:19):
There's a lack of transparencyin government and it's crucial
in maintaining trust andaccountability.
And if we don't know what'struly going on or whatever
secret negotiations are beingmade and with our limited access
to information, how can thepublic truly trust the
(16:41):
government?
We don't have a trustrelationship.
We have a relationship that'sbased on speculation.
I'm thinking, I'm hoping andI'm praying that you're going to
do the right thing, and I don'teven know if you are.
I don't even know like.
(17:01):
Why am I trying to wrap my headaround this concept of politics
today.
I don't, like, I can't.
I see it as a circus I reallydo and both sides are just
absolutely corrupt.
It's absolutely corrupt.
(17:23):
I think that this is going to bea very unpopular idea, but I
think maybe it's time that ourconstitution gets updated.
I think if all the things thatare around us have updated and
modernized, then ourconstitution should do so
accordingly.
And, yes, we can make theargument that it's what makes us
(17:45):
who we are, but it's notworking.
It is not working.
Where in the commonconstitution does it talk about
special interest groups?
Where in the constitution doesit talk about lobbying?
Where we have amendments?
(18:05):
Where in the corporate and inthe constitution does it talk
about, you know, big tech andbig pharma?
These are terms that did notexist then.
So, of course, I do think thatwe should modernize our
constitution to create a morefair world.
When I say fair, I don't meanthat when I'm talking about
(18:27):
handouts or things of thatnature.
When I say fair, it's aboutpeople doing the right thing.
That is fair, that is right andthat is just.
And that is why we vote,because things need to be right
and just and justice has to beparamount.
Be paramount.
It has to be at the forefrontof every decision that someone
(18:48):
makes.
Is what I'm doing just?
And if it is just, it is forthe greater good Not for me, but
for the greater good.
And that's the differencebetween being a leader and a
servant leader.
A leader can lead in theself-serving.
The servant leader leads byserving, and through serving
(19:11):
they bring about change.
Serving they allow people tobuy in what it is that they're
selling, and when they have thatbuy in, they bring about change
.
I can't think of any politiciantoday that I would truly
advocate and say that thisperson is 100% good.
(19:33):
I don't believe in that.
I don't think there's agovernment or an institution in
the world that is 100% good.
However, each government thathas a constitution can put
things in there to make peopledo good.
Sometimes we can't do goodsimply because people tell us to
(19:57):
do good.
Why do we have laws?
We have laws because it's whatcreates anarchy from happening.
We have law because it gives usstability.
That's why we have law.
So the laws need to change.
Why is it that term limits arenot something that has changed?
Why are the American people notvoting on term limits?
(20:20):
Who's deciding that isn't theAmerican people or isn't the
people that we elected.
That's deciding that they wantto stay in power forever and we
don't get a say in that.
So should we not have a lot tomake us have a say in that,
since our rights are beingstripped away right in front of
(20:40):
our eyes?
I would like for this to becohesive and flow, but I'm so
despondent it's like I don'teven care.
Truly see the light of good inpolitics in America.
(21:03):
I see the light and good in theAmerican people, because they
will be the ones to bring aboutchange.
Not the politicians, but yourneighbor.
Those are the individuals thatbring about change.
We have to be that change.
Our politicians are on Twitter.
(21:24):
Our politicians are on Facebook.
Our politicians are on TikTok.
We have to let them know how wefeel on those platforms, not
just the junk that they throwdown our our throats all the
time.
They're not the informationthat they feed us to appease us.
We have to decide that it'stime for better.
(21:45):
We deserve better.
Our vote has to count, not, not, not the things that are
marketed to us, but look aroundand ask yourself what has
changed, what has been done?
Are things getting better?
Are things getting worse.
(22:06):
And if a person is the type ofhuman being that said that, has
to point the finger and say, hey, things are bad because of that
person, they're not solvinganything, they're just creating
a disruption.
Any time an individual points afinger, that means they're
doing nothing.
A person that's solving asolution says this is a problem,
(22:30):
here's what we're doing to fixit, not this person messed up.
And that person did do this.
This is what I'm doing, becausethis is what I was elected to
do Is to fix problems when apolitician does not follow
through to the ultimatecountable.
(22:51):
And what does thataccountability look like?
I can tell you what thataccountability looks like.
Growing up, I was always a fanof philosophy.
(23:15):
I loved Greek philosophy, Iloved learning about the Romans
and I was always captivated byhow just brilliant these ancient
civilizations were.
And yet the Romans, the Greeks,fell because the Greeks were
(23:40):
divided and there's politicalcorruption.
The Romans fell because theywere divided and there was
political corruption.
And now history is simplyrepeating itself.
There is corruption.
Many people may not haveclassified America as an empire,
(24:03):
but we are an empire and itjust so happens that the empire
is collapsing.
The empire is collapsingbecause we've lost a sense of
who we are.
Most of us are too busy tryingto just live life, trying to be
(24:25):
parents, trying to be collegestudents, trying to be a person
that contributes to society,trying to simply just exist and
survive.
We're busy being angry.
We're busy being lost.
We're busy with depression andmental health.
We're busy with our physicalhealth and well-being.
(24:49):
We're busy taking care offamilies.
We're busy simply trying toexist.
And when you throw in the othercomponents of all we hear and
see in the media is negative.
This about the other politicalside.
All we're being fed isnegativity and all we're being
(25:16):
fed is problems andnon-solutions.
I get it.
Inflation's high, okay.
What are you doing, as theelective body of this great
country, to fix it?
Not that this is a problem, butwhat are you doing to counter
(25:36):
these issues?
Does Flint Michigan still haveclean water?
Do they even have clean water?
There was a group of electiveofficials that knew that the
(25:56):
water was a problem and no onetook care of it.
That gets.
Flint Michigan is on no one'sradar anymore.
That got lost in translation.
Who's being held accountablefor that?
There was a Democrat in office.
(26:20):
There was a Republican inoffice, then there was a
Democrat in office again and aRepublican in office again and
Flint Michigan didn't have cleanwater in America.
And which politicians were heldaccountable?
Children are dying.
Children are dying in Chicago.
(26:44):
Chicago's called Chirac.
It's a war going on in Chicagowith gangs.
That's not in the media.
What are the politicians doingthere?
It's a problem when yourcitizens are dying.
(27:06):
That's a problem in what'sbeing done there with the
American tax dollars.
If we can afford to allow thesepoliticians to have private
jets to fly to and from work,why isn't that money being used
(27:26):
to build up the infrastructureof Chicago, to educate those
people?
Poor resources, where it shouldgo.
And we don't have a problemwith that right.
We don't have a problem whenthe media lies and no one the
(27:52):
government doesn't do anythingabout it because maybe there's a
special group, special interestgroup, that tells them not to
when there is misinformation,who holds the media companies
accountable for thatmisinformation?
(28:12):
Harvey Weinstein supposedlykilled himself in prison or in a
holding area.
What's going on with that?
Harvey Weinstein existed for avery long time.
Harvey Weinstein, I'm sorry Imisquoted too many perverts out
(28:41):
there.
I'm sorry, jeff Epstein.
Harvey Weinstein, jeff Epstein,both of her perverts, the fact
of the matter is that, eitherway, both these individuals have
existed and they've caused harmto a great many people, and
nothing was ever done about that.
Jeff Epstein has been seen withmany former politicians and
(29:02):
current politicians, but he didwhat he did and somehow he wound
up dead in a cell by suicide,and no one knows how it happened
.
And what are we doing about that?
Are we voting?
(29:24):
And who are we holdingaccountable for that?
No one.
No one's being held accountablefor any of that.
So wake up, america.
(29:45):
What are we doing?
There's a lot of problems thatare out there, a lot of problem
that needs to be solved and, yes, it's going to be an arduous
task to fix it.
But this is the same Americathat stood up to Hitler and this
(30:08):
is the same America that hasdone a great many good, as well
as bad, in the world.
But this is an America that cando anything.
America's greatest resourceisn't our financial capital,
it's our people.
It's our greatest resource.
(30:30):
We all bring something to thetable, and now we have to bring
change to the table to makethings better for the next
generation.
And it's not, it's not going tobe easy.
(30:51):
It also requires us to lookwithin and say, hey, am I being
led by fear and lies?
Am I being lied to?
Am I just going with the flow?
Am I just believing what's toldto me constantly, or am I
researching and fact checkingall of the information?
(31:15):
Am I vetting the informationthat's being fed to me?
And if the answer is no, thenyou have some work to do and
whenever you come to aconclusion, you now have to hold
those accountable that are notperforming how they're supposed
to be performing and they thinkthat simply by pointing the
(31:39):
finger at the other side or theperson that was there before
them is the solution.
If they're not doing a good job, if we're not doing a good job,
we get replaced.
And what's any different?
If they're not doing a good job, they should be replaced to
someone that's more qualified orhas more energy to do the right
thing.
But we have to put the effortthere.
(32:08):
The baby boomers are retiringwith pensions and social
security.
Where are the millennials goingto retire with 401Ks that are
not a guarantee?
How many?
What's the percentage of babyboomers that have retired with
student loans?
What's going to be thepercentage of millennials that
(32:31):
are going to retire with studentloans?
Where?
What's the percentage ofmillennials that actually own a
home versus the boomers thathave a home?
How did that come to be?
Where did all the pensions gofor my generation?
Who changed those laws?
We act like nothing's changed.
(32:55):
A lot has changed, but did youvote on those things that were
changed?
Don't you want a pension and a401K too?
You want your guarantee, and Isure as hell want a guarantee as
well.
Like many other Americans, Iwork too hard not to have a
(33:16):
guarantee.
I work too hard for my familynot to have a future.
What's our future when we turn65?
What's our future when we turn50?
Healthcare costs are going up,the cost of food is going up All
(33:38):
these things and what is beingdone to counteract these
problems?
Are we combating these issues?
What's going to happen when allthe baby boomers retire in
America?
What are we going to do withthat aging population?
What's going to happen whenthere's more old people alive
(34:01):
than there's young people?
What is that going to do withthe structure and the fabric of
this nation?
No one's asking these questions, but that problem's around the
corner.
It is.
Who are we going to holdaccountable for not having an
infrastructure that's ready forthat.
(34:22):
What's going to happen when wehave a shortage of workers and
all the fields that build up ourinfrastructure, a shortage of
plumbers, a shortage ofelectricians those trades that
were taken out of the highschools to give kids a purpose,
to give college what's not madefor everyone?
You can still make six figuresas an electrician.
(34:45):
You can make six figures as aplumber, minus the student loans
.
Why is that not being pushed?
Why?
Because colleges arecorporations and it's a
corporation that if you don'tlike the service, you can't get
a refund.
Who voted to take?
(35:06):
To take the trades out of thehigh school, to give families
hope, to give that generationthat never owned anything, to
give them the means to do sothrough education?
Who voted on that?
To rob an entire generation ofa future, a chance?
(35:30):
The boomers got a chance.
They had the trades.
How do we get that back and howdo we create a world in which
(35:51):
the things that benefit ourpeople are there and, instead of
these things beingsystematically stripped out of
our educational system, we getthem to be put back in?
(36:14):
Last time I checked, if morepeople were making money, the
better the economy is, but nowit's almost as if the government
wants us all to be in debt andbe owned by the banks.
The who's really winning is theAmerican people or the, the
people who donate to theircampaigns, the big donors, the
(36:35):
special interest groups, thepeople who lobby the banks.
We're a country that in 2008,doing the great recession, we
paid bankers to To retirehundreds of million dollars of
(36:56):
dollars of taxpayers that wepaid them After they failed.
We paid people, we gave themretirement packages for failure
and destroying this country'seconomy.
Who was held accountable forthat?
For that stock market crash,for giving out loans that people
(37:19):
couldn't pay back, the housingbubble that also popped at the
same time, too big to fail?
The only people that failed andgot burned in the end were the
American people.
They were failed.
And now what's happening todayis history repeating itself.
(37:39):
Is there economic growth?
Are people losing their homes?
Is this a recession?
Gas prices are high.
The price of food is high.
Rent is ridiculous.
Owning a home is ridiculous.
History is repeating itselfagain.
And who are we holdingaccountable?
(37:59):
Just because we don't throwterminologies out there does not
mean the problems don't exist.
Wake up.
We have to wake up.
We have to call us.
If it's a spade, it's a spadeand if we're failing it we're
failing.
But a part of of fixing aproblem Is identifying who's
(38:23):
causing the problem and whateverthose obstacles are, we remove
those obstacles out of the way,and I'm not saying that's gonna
be easy, but we do have thisthing called a vote.
We have to make that vote count.
I can't advocate for eitherpolitical party because both are
corrupt, but I can't advocatefor change, change we so
(39:00):
desperately need.
And what I can say is that,regardless of who the party who
the representative is is uh isbeing backed by, they have a
track record.
We need to look into theirtrack record.
But they're Democrat orRepublican, I don't care.
(39:21):
Are they good human beings thattruly believe in serving the
American people and we need tohold them accountable for that
track record.
If it's a track record offailure, then hey, they need to
get out.
If they are successful and theyhave truly benefited the
American people, then theyshould be in.
It is that simple Either this isfailing or this is working.
(39:47):
If it's working, then let'skeep it going.
If it's failing, we need to dosomething different.
We have a lot of work to do andeverything that we do Should
not just be a benefit to us inthe present, but it should also
benefit us in the future.
We're not always going to be 25.
We're always going to be 30.
We're not.
(40:11):
We're going to get old one day,hopefully and we need to know
that there are certain thingsthat are going to be in place
for when we get there.
Because we've worked too hard,each generation has a different
way of life.
Because we've worked too hard,each generation has built the
next generation, but somewherealong the line we've lost that
(40:36):
that we do what we do for thenext generation.
The greater good must comefirst.
If you enjoyed today's content,please like and subscribe for
(40:57):
more.
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