1 00:00:04,879 --> 00:00:07,160 Speaker 1: What's going on. Thank you so much for listening to 2 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:09,640 this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon 3 00:00:09,679 --> 00:00:12,480 to three on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you 4 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:16,719 want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, 5 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:19,239 my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, 6 00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:22,640 go to dpetecleanershow dot com. Make sure you hit the 7 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:25,160 subscribe button. Get every episode for free right to your 8 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:27,719 smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for 9 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:30,879 your support. On the text line, I got a message 10 00:00:30,879 --> 00:00:34,119 from Carol who says, please explain to me how a 11 00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:39,280 man who has never had a job got the mayorship 12 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:42,640 of New York City. Shouldn't there be some qualification that 13 00:00:42,719 --> 00:00:44,920 you have to have to run a city, especially like 14 00:00:45,039 --> 00:00:51,719 New York City. No, apparently not. There's no qualification. It's 15 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:55,399 just did you win enough votes? So that's it. So, 16 00:00:56,520 --> 00:00:59,560 but this is gonna this is going to allow me 17 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:02,840 to segue into this next topic, which is related to 18 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:06,359 Mam Donnie's victory. If you look at the exit polling, 19 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:09,480 and I've seen some of the data, went over some 20 00:01:09,519 --> 00:01:12,400 of it last night on a live stream. But the 21 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:17,560 the the exit polling shows you which groups of voters 22 00:01:17,799 --> 00:01:25,920 broke for which candidates, and the massive ones were young women. 23 00:01:26,599 --> 00:01:31,040 There's a massive gender divide between male and female. Now, 24 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:34,079 part of that could be attributable to you know, Andrew 25 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:39,760 Cuomo with his sexual harassment scandal, sure, but that's part 26 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:43,599 of it. Ben Shapiro was on Fox News and he 27 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:47,480 was talking about how you know, mom, Donnie just kept 28 00:01:47,719 --> 00:01:52,319 saying affordability, affordability, affordability, affordability, and just kept saying the word, 29 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:57,120 but offers up no actual real solutions that could work. 30 00:01:57,480 --> 00:02:00,560 It's just you know, socialism. And what he says, like 31 00:02:00,599 --> 00:02:04,799 that is apparently irrelevant. The solutions don't matter. The only 32 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:10,520 thing that matters is this this hammering of the word affordability. 33 00:02:11,439 --> 00:02:15,199 And when he said that, I started thinking, well, you know, 34 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:17,599 that does make a bit of sense when you look 35 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:26,360 at the demographics of the support around Mamdani, which was younger, female, 36 00:02:26,879 --> 00:02:34,280 college educated, affluent. Right, this is an over production of 37 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:39,199 elite's problem where people go to college. They're told you 38 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:41,159 go to college, you get to be part of the 39 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:46,159 quote elite category with this college degree, and you'll be successful. 40 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:49,759 You'll have all of the American dream at your fingertips 41 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:52,159 because you went to college. And then these kids come 42 00:02:52,199 --> 00:02:54,719 out of college and they realize and by the way, 43 00:02:54,759 --> 00:02:56,479 this is not just on the left, this is on 44 00:02:56,560 --> 00:02:59,680 the right. This is an entire generation. They've been told this. 45 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:04,319 I was told this, right. The boomers, the Baby Boom generation, 46 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:08,599 have been telling us this for fifty years. Go to 47 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:15,360 college and then you'll have a more successful career. Right, 48 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:17,280 you'll make more money, you'll be able to afford more 49 00:03:17,319 --> 00:03:19,879 things and go on the trips and better lifestyle and 50 00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:25,800 all of that. Well, that was true, and it's now 51 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:29,879 not so much. And that's the problem that the younger 52 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:34,560 generations are running up against, from the millennials to the 53 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:40,479 Gen zs, they're running into this where they're not making 54 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:42,319 a lot of money, they're saddled with a ton of 55 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:45,599 college debt, they can't afford any of the housing, and 56 00:03:45,759 --> 00:03:48,280 they're looking around and saying, if this is the capitalist system, 57 00:03:48,319 --> 00:03:49,919 it has failed me, and so why would I be 58 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:50,599 a capitalist? 59 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:51,439 Speaker 2: Right? 60 00:03:51,919 --> 00:03:55,120 Speaker 1: I understand this argument, and it all falls under this 61 00:03:55,199 --> 00:04:01,439 category of affordability. So here comes this you know, photogenic, telligenic, slick, 62 00:04:02,479 --> 00:04:06,080 young guy comes from a life of privilege, but acts 63 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:11,159 like he's a third worlder, and he promises you that 64 00:04:12,039 --> 00:04:15,000 he'll get somebody else to pay for all your stuff. Now, 65 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:19,879 keep in mind also that the more affluent female younger 66 00:04:19,959 --> 00:04:25,319 voters that supported Mom Donnie, they are affluent, they come 67 00:04:25,399 --> 00:04:31,720 from money, so they have a personal experience with this 68 00:04:31,879 --> 00:04:38,560 kind of lifestyle which they themselves now cannot afford. And 69 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:41,000 there are many reasons for that. I've gone over these 70 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:44,000 reasons over the years. One is that you know, you're 71 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:46,480 used to living in a five thousand square foot house 72 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:50,959 because that's what your mom and your dad, you know, 73 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:56,959 being married and having jobs and working for a couple decades, 74 00:04:57,240 --> 00:04:59,600 that's what now they're able to afford. They've built up 75 00:04:59,639 --> 00:05:02,519 this way health You grew up in that wealth, and 76 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:04,279 you think that's the norm. And so when you go 77 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:08,000 looking for your house, you're not looking at a nine 78 00:05:08,079 --> 00:05:11,839 hundred square foot home in a you know, kind of 79 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:15,720 blighty part of town. You don't want to live there, 80 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:18,519 as that's what I bought when I bought my first house, 81 00:05:19,519 --> 00:05:23,759 very small, run down, bad neighborhood. But that's what you 82 00:05:23,839 --> 00:05:27,519 do when you start out. You don't but a lot 83 00:05:27,519 --> 00:05:29,560 of people don't want to do that. They don't want 84 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:36,240 to start out like that. Their expectation is too high 85 00:05:36,759 --> 00:05:40,120 for their skills and abilities, right, so, and that is 86 00:05:40,199 --> 00:05:42,720 part of it as well, But it is also an 87 00:05:42,759 --> 00:05:46,839 affordability issue, to be sure. So Shapiro says, you just 88 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:49,759 keep saying affordability, affordability, but you don't offer any kind 89 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:54,600 of real solutions. And I hear that, and I see 90 00:05:54,639 --> 00:05:58,560 the exit polling, and I say, well, that kind of 91 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:02,680 makes sense. Then why this message just hammering away one word, 92 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:07,519 one you know, one slogan. Why that might resonate more 93 00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:09,800 so with a young female audience. And this has to 94 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:13,399 do with the thesis that I've talked about for years 95 00:06:13,399 --> 00:06:15,399 also on the show, which is the men are from 96 00:06:15,439 --> 00:06:19,000 Mars and women are from Venus. Men and women communicate differently, 97 00:06:20,439 --> 00:06:23,519 and anybody in a relationship with a member of the 98 00:06:23,519 --> 00:06:27,920 opposite sex has encountered a discussion of some kind that 99 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:32,240 turns into an argument for no reason, no discernible reason, 100 00:06:32,959 --> 00:06:37,560 which is the you know, wife comes home from work 101 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:40,399 wants to talk about, you know, some jerk at work. 102 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:41,000 Speaker 2: And. 103 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:44,600 Speaker 1: Husband's like, well, you know what, this is what you 104 00:06:44,639 --> 00:06:47,560 do to solve that problem? And the wife keeps talking 105 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:49,959 about it. Husband says, well, to how you solve the problem? 106 00:06:50,839 --> 00:06:53,240 Wife keeps talking about it. Now they start getting frustrated 107 00:06:53,279 --> 00:06:56,959 because she is in the conversation for support and he 108 00:06:57,040 --> 00:07:01,360 is in the conversation for solutions. Men and women are different. 109 00:07:02,439 --> 00:07:04,839 Not all women in all conversations do this, and not 110 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:08,279 all men in all conversations do it, but generally speaking 111 00:07:09,079 --> 00:07:12,120 like this tends to be the case. Right, Women want 112 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:14,920 to talk about the issue, talk about the problem. They 113 00:07:14,959 --> 00:07:17,680 know the solution that they are going to employ, but 114 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:22,279 they get satisfaction by talking it out. Guys do not. 115 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:25,759 Guys want Okay, here's the problem, here's the solution. Boom boom, 116 00:07:25,839 --> 00:07:29,439 done so, and then you start talking past each other. 117 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:32,439 Each one feels like they're not being heard because they're 118 00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:38,680 just having a different conversation. Basically, So that might actually 119 00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:48,319 be something that Republican candidates should start doing. Seriously, Like 120 00:07:48,839 --> 00:07:51,519 if you don't have to offer solutions and you just 121 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:53,959 get to say stuff, just hammer away at a word, 122 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:56,959 and people who are complaining about affordability and they hear 123 00:07:57,040 --> 00:08:02,120 you say affordability, like that might actually resonate with half 124 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:03,959 of the voters, the female voter, or a lot of 125 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:08,319 the particularly the younger female voters. Right, that might work. 126 00:08:10,439 --> 00:08:14,680 This also gets to a thing that Rob Henderson writes 127 00:08:14,720 --> 00:08:20,040 about Rob Henderson. He is with the I think it's 128 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:23,600 the Manhattan Institute, I want to say, but he has 129 00:08:23,639 --> 00:08:29,079 a website, Robkhenderson dot com. And this was actually he 130 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:32,720 made these comments at a speech that he recently delivered, 131 00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:39,039 called luxury beliefs are status symbols. Right, So keep in 132 00:08:39,039 --> 00:08:41,480 mind the demographic that I mentioned that went for Mom Donnie, 133 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:45,120 because the working class people, they voted for Cuomo, the 134 00:08:45,159 --> 00:08:48,200 people that Mom Donnie like highlights and says, these are 135 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:50,159 the people that we care about. These are the people 136 00:08:50,159 --> 00:08:52,720 that are going to get all of this help, right, 137 00:08:53,519 --> 00:08:57,600 the taxi drivers and the bicyclists that are delivering food 138 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:02,159 and stuff. Right though, those folks they did not vote 139 00:09:02,159 --> 00:09:06,279 for him because they usually have a good BS detector. 140 00:09:07,879 --> 00:09:15,600 But these are luxury beliefs, and in particular the defund 141 00:09:15,600 --> 00:09:19,320 the police. This is a sort of classic example of 142 00:09:19,639 --> 00:09:24,960 luxury beliefs. And he says that luxury beliefs have to 143 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:30,600 a large extent replaced luxury goods. Luxury beliefs are ideas 144 00:09:30,799 --> 00:09:36,159 and opinions that confer status on the upper class while 145 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:42,720 often inflicting costs on the lower classes. Right, they get 146 00:09:42,799 --> 00:09:47,399 status by saying these things for themselves because they don't 147 00:09:47,399 --> 00:09:50,039 pay the price. You know, stories are powerful. They help 148 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:53,840 us make sense of things, to understand experiences. Stories connect 149 00:09:53,919 --> 00:09:56,799 us to the people of our past while transcending generations. 150 00:09:56,840 --> 00:09:59,279 They help us process the meaning of life and our 151 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:03,559 stories are told through images and videos. Preserve your stories 152 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:06,799 with Creative Video. Started in nineteen ninety seven in Minhill, 153 00:10:06,879 --> 00:10:09,519 North Carolina. It was the first company to provide this 154 00:10:09,639 --> 00:10:13,879 valuable service, converting images, photos and videos into high quality 155 00:10:13,919 --> 00:10:17,919 produced slide shows, videos and albums. 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From 166 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:57,240 the WBT text line, Mike says Bernie Sanders first time, 167 00:10:57,559 --> 00:11:00,480 first full time job was mayor of Burlington, Vermont, and 168 00:11:00,480 --> 00:11:04,639 look how that turned out. That's that that is actually 169 00:11:04,679 --> 00:11:07,840 my fear is that that this is just the first 170 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:12,080 of many electoral victories. Mamdannie will secure working his way up. 171 00:11:12,120 --> 00:11:15,279 Now he can't be president, but you know, he can 172 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:18,279 run for all of these other offices. You know, I 173 00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:21,480 think he'll probably make a run for governor if he 174 00:11:21,519 --> 00:11:24,679 has you know, if he makes it eight years, as mayor, 175 00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:34,480 Dana says in his defense, in his defense, Trump does 176 00:11:34,519 --> 00:11:38,240 the same thing. He has consistently said he has a 177 00:11:38,279 --> 00:11:41,279 plan for health care, but no inclination to the slightest no, 178 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:43,039 I think he said he had a concept of a plan. 179 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:45,600 He doesn't even have a plan. But yeah, this is 180 00:11:45,639 --> 00:11:48,360 and this is why Ben Sapiro was talking about the 181 00:11:48,519 --> 00:11:53,559 use of affordability. Affordability but no actual solutions, no plans 182 00:11:53,559 --> 00:11:55,440 that get implement it. And he says, that's why you're 183 00:11:55,480 --> 00:11:59,000 seeing these swings right to left, right to left, because 184 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:03,720 people come along with populist rhetoric but don't actually have 185 00:12:03,799 --> 00:12:08,320 any way to get the things done. And I think 186 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:12,559 he's I think he's largely correct on that. And yeah, 187 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:15,960 Trump is on the right. He harnessed the populism on 188 00:12:16,039 --> 00:12:19,440 the right make America great Again, which is a recognition 189 00:12:19,519 --> 00:12:22,759 that you aren't where you should be, right, that things 190 00:12:22,799 --> 00:12:28,960 are sacked against you, and we can make it better. 191 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:29,440 Speaker 2: Right. 192 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:34,320 Speaker 1: So it's an acknowledgment of your pain. So yeah, absolutely, 193 00:12:34,759 --> 00:12:36,960 like this is why, honestly, I think like the next 194 00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:41,240 versions of MAGA, if there are going to be any 195 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:45,360 if the movement doesn't just completely implode, it's going to 196 00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:49,399 be somebody who can strike a populist chord but also 197 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:54,759 knows how to get stuff done. This was asked of 198 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:56,639 us at the News and Bruce event, and I said 199 00:12:56,639 --> 00:12:58,480 it at News and Bruce, which is that's why I 200 00:12:58,519 --> 00:13:02,080 like Ron DeSantis, because the guy I keeps racking up 201 00:13:02,559 --> 00:13:10,120 wins in Florida that are things that conservatives and populists like. 202 00:13:10,879 --> 00:13:15,120 So eight oh three Numbers says, it's not so much 203 00:13:15,120 --> 00:13:17,840 about the college degree that'll give you success, it's about 204 00:13:17,879 --> 00:13:21,559 the kind of degree. During the last forty years I worked, 205 00:13:21,639 --> 00:13:23,919 I saw that these degrees people were getting did not 206 00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:26,039 prepare them for the jobs that they could get that 207 00:13:26,159 --> 00:13:27,000 pay the most money. 208 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:27,240 Speaker 2: Right. 209 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:31,240 Speaker 1: Yes, obviously, if you are getting a degree in some 210 00:13:31,399 --> 00:13:34,799 of the hard sciences and such, those are more likely 211 00:13:34,879 --> 00:13:38,039 to pay off. I'm talking about the quote unquote elites. 212 00:13:38,159 --> 00:13:42,759 This is this is framed in this way under the 213 00:13:42,799 --> 00:13:47,399 heading of an overproduction of elites. I call them foe elites. 214 00:13:47,559 --> 00:13:50,679 Of course they're not actually elite, right, But they take 215 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:54,519 these college classes, they get these degrees that are in 216 00:13:55,200 --> 00:13:58,679 you know, political science or something, and they think that 217 00:13:58,799 --> 00:14:02,000 this is going to you know, put them on the 218 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:06,840 path to get them into the governing class, and then 219 00:14:06,879 --> 00:14:09,080 they'll be in control. They'll be in power. They'll have 220 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:11,559 a high flying job as a single twenty four year 221 00:14:11,559 --> 00:14:14,000 old in New York City working for a marketing firm 222 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:17,879 or something, and they've been sold a lie. 223 00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:18,039 Speaker 2: It. 224 00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:23,200 Speaker 1: It's actually very difficult because there are so many people 225 00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:27,919 getting all of those degrees that that and so the 226 00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:31,919 market will pay you less because there's an overproduction of 227 00:14:31,960 --> 00:14:38,519 the supply. Do do do? That's a very lengthy text. 228 00:14:38,519 --> 00:14:40,639 I will get back to that. So well, yeah, let 229 00:14:40,679 --> 00:14:43,360 me get Ralph on first. Hello, Ralph, welcome to the show. 230 00:14:45,159 --> 00:14:49,360 Speaker 2: Well, you know, Pete, I think the Republicans candidate can 231 00:14:49,399 --> 00:14:54,360 relate more if they would speak to the ladies and 232 00:14:54,879 --> 00:14:58,679 the ladies telling them what they need in the In 233 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:02,120 the real world, they can say I feel your pain 234 00:15:02,720 --> 00:15:07,039 and then, like Chuck Schumer, either make a fake constituent 235 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:11,840 or either a fake situation to help soothe her and 236 00:15:11,919 --> 00:15:13,080 win her vote. 237 00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:16,799 Speaker 1: Like Bill Clinton, did I feel your pain? Yeah, Like 238 00:15:16,840 --> 00:15:19,519 that's why they say those things. That's yeah, I mean, 239 00:15:19,519 --> 00:15:22,120 it's just it's messaging. Ralph, I appreciate the call. It's 240 00:15:22,440 --> 00:15:26,120 finding out what is motivating voters and then saying that thing. 241 00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:28,080 And you don't even need The point of that is 242 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:29,840 not that men and women are different in the message 243 00:15:29,879 --> 00:15:31,840 has to cater to a woman or a man or whatever. 244 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:36,279 It's that you don't need a plan. You could just 245 00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:39,159 say the thing and that oh he really connects with me. 246 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:44,559 Oh he really understands my pain. That's it. So in 247 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:52,000 eighteen ninety nine, the economist and sociologist Thorstein Veblen household name, 248 00:15:52,080 --> 00:15:55,000 I'm sure he published a book called The Theory of 249 00:15:55,080 --> 00:16:02,799 the Leisure Class, drawing on observations about social class in 250 00:16:02,840 --> 00:16:09,200 the late nineteenth century. Veblin's key idea is that because 251 00:16:09,240 --> 00:16:12,200 we can't be certain about the financial status of other people, 252 00:16:12,679 --> 00:16:15,720 that a good way to size up their wealth is 253 00:16:15,799 --> 00:16:20,240 to see whether they can afford expensive goods and leisurely activities. 254 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:24,759 We used to say keeping up with the Joneses, Right, 255 00:16:25,039 --> 00:16:27,639 the neighbor they got a new car. It's an outward 256 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:33,399 display of wealth. But now like they're like people have 257 00:16:33,919 --> 00:16:37,200 nice cars all over the place, right, Like a new 258 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:40,279 nice car. Used to be something in like my neighborhood. 259 00:16:40,279 --> 00:16:41,759 If somebody came home with a new car, like all 260 00:16:41,799 --> 00:16:43,759 the neighbors would gather around, like, oh, look at this 261 00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:46,879 new car and all that. But people, I don't think 262 00:16:46,879 --> 00:16:48,840 people do that anymore, unless it's like a like a 263 00:16:48,879 --> 00:16:54,120 hot rod or something. But he says, this is why 264 00:16:54,159 --> 00:16:57,919 status symbols are so difficult to obtain and costly to purchase. 265 00:16:58,080 --> 00:17:01,000 That's the key, right, It's an hour or display that 266 00:17:01,159 --> 00:17:04,880 I have the means and also as important, I have 267 00:17:05,559 --> 00:17:10,279 the leisure time to just fritter away because I just 268 00:17:10,359 --> 00:17:13,960 have nothing to do. I have all this extra time 269 00:17:14,039 --> 00:17:20,359 to do these activities. In Veblen's day, people exhibited their 270 00:17:20,359 --> 00:17:25,640 status with delicate and restrictive clothing like tuxedos, top hats, 271 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:29,640 and evening gowns, or by partaking in time consuming activities 272 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:33,400 like beagling. I don't know what that is. I think 273 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:36,920 it has to do with dogs or activities like golf, 274 00:17:39,319 --> 00:17:41,920 But now anybody can play golf. I mean, look, George, 275 00:17:42,319 --> 00:17:44,079 he just came right off the links over here. Here's 276 00:17:44,119 --> 00:17:46,680 a great idea. How about making an escape to a 277 00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:50,240 really special and secluded getaway in western North Carolina. Just 278 00:17:50,279 --> 00:17:52,839 a quick drive up the mountain and Cabins of Asheville 279 00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:56,720 is your connection. 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Call or 295 00:18:48,079 --> 00:18:51,400 text eight two eight, three six seven seventy sixty eight 296 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:53,839 or check out all there is to offer at Cabins 297 00:18:53,839 --> 00:18:57,400 Offashville dot com and make memories that'll last a lifetime. 298 00:18:57,880 --> 00:19:03,160 Regarding luxury beliefs asatus symbols, the idea here is that 299 00:19:05,039 --> 00:19:13,319 economic capital money is converted into cultural capital. Right he 300 00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:18,039 talked about Rob Henderson talked about in this speech about 301 00:19:18,079 --> 00:19:21,279 Thorstein veblin his book The Theory of the Leisure Class 302 00:19:21,319 --> 00:19:24,799 from eighteen ninety nine. His findings were later echoed by 303 00:19:24,839 --> 00:19:31,319 renowned French sociologist Pierre Bardieu in his nineteen seventy nine 304 00:19:31,319 --> 00:19:38,319 book called Distinction. In his work Bordeaux, Bordeaux described how 305 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:44,559 distance from necessity characterized the affluent classes. Distance from necessity, 306 00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:48,759 in other words, you don't need that. It's just a 307 00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:55,640 display of opulence, and that's what characterizes the affluent class. 308 00:19:55,680 --> 00:19:59,160 In fact, he's the one who coined the term cultural capital. 309 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:04,200 Animals do it as well. He cites another study about 310 00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:08,440 African gazelles and how the strong, healthy ones jump up 311 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:11,279 in the air when they see a lion, and they 312 00:20:11,279 --> 00:20:13,119 don't do it to warn the other gazelles. They do 313 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:15,319 it to show the lion that I'm strong. Go get 314 00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:21,880 somebody else. So humans and animals adopt costly means of 315 00:20:21,920 --> 00:20:27,440 expressing themselves in order to obtain distinction from the masses. Right, 316 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:31,079 I want to show everybody that I'm not like them. 317 00:20:31,599 --> 00:20:36,160 Affluent humans often do this economically and culturally with their 318 00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:41,839 status symbols. A difference, though, between animals and humans is 319 00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:46,079 that the human signals often trickle out into the rest 320 00:20:46,119 --> 00:20:51,440 of society, which weakens the power of the signal. And 321 00:20:51,559 --> 00:20:55,640 once a signal is adopted by the masses, the affluent 322 00:20:55,960 --> 00:21:00,240 abandon it. They no longer care about this thing. Used 323 00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:03,039 to be they dressed nice, and then when a lot 324 00:21:03,079 --> 00:21:06,519 of people could afford suits and such, then the affluent 325 00:21:06,599 --> 00:21:10,079 do what. Now They're gonna dress like swabs. You notice 326 00:21:10,119 --> 00:21:15,039 nobody wears a tie anymore. There are other historical examples 327 00:21:15,079 --> 00:21:20,319 of this. He talks about spices that they used to 328 00:21:20,319 --> 00:21:23,640 be a sign of wealth and affluents, but then when 329 00:21:23,759 --> 00:21:28,480 Europeans colonized India and the Americas, the cost of spices dropped, 330 00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:31,240 and now the masses were able to get their hands 331 00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:35,720 on some oregano, and they were like the French actually 332 00:21:35,799 --> 00:21:41,200 banned spices. They were like, no more spices. Louis the 333 00:21:41,240 --> 00:21:45,200 fourteenth the court chefs banned sugar and spice from all 334 00:21:45,279 --> 00:21:47,920 their meals except for desserts, because they're not, you know, 335 00:21:48,079 --> 00:21:54,920 monsters dueling. That's another one. They would duel. And then 336 00:21:55,079 --> 00:21:58,279 when the masses got their hands on guns and they 337 00:21:58,319 --> 00:22:00,680 could duel too, then the affluent we're like, well, we're 338 00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:04,599 not doing that anymore. The yearning for distinction is the 339 00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:08,160 key motive, right, and in order to convert economic capital 340 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:13,079 into cultural capital, it has to be publicly visible. But 341 00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:17,039 distinction encompasses not just clothing or food or rituals. It 342 00:22:17,079 --> 00:22:22,359 also extends to ideas and beliefs and causes. In the past, 343 00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:24,839 people displayed their membership in the upper class with their 344 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:30,559 material accouterment. But today material goods have become cheaper, right 345 00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:35,160 more accessible. So the affluent have decoupled social status from goods, 346 00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:41,640 and they've reattached it to beliefs. The upper class craves distinction. 347 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:46,920 High status people desire wealth and status more than anybody else, 348 00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:51,079 according to studies. So what do top hats have in 349 00:22:51,119 --> 00:22:56,160 common with defunding the police? Well, who were the most 350 00:22:56,279 --> 00:23:00,400 ardent supporters of the fashionable at the time defund the police? 351 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:03,880 Cause of Five years ago, a survey from Yuga found 352 00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:06,799 Americans in the highest income category were by far the 353 00:23:06,799 --> 00:23:10,839 most supportive of defunding the police because they can afford 354 00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:14,759 to hold that position because they already live in safe, 355 00:23:15,759 --> 00:23:20,799 oftentimes gated communities. They can afford to hire private security. Right, 356 00:23:20,880 --> 00:23:24,400 it doesn't affect them now, it's really going to affect 357 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:29,880 the masses. Expressing a luxury belief is a manifestation of 358 00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:36,519 cultural capital, a signal of one's fortunate economic circumstances. He says. 359 00:23:36,519 --> 00:23:40,920 There are other examples of luxury beliefs as well. Another 360 00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:45,839 one would be the downplaying of individual agency in shaping 361 00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:52,480 life outcomes. In other words, you're being held back. The 362 00:23:52,519 --> 00:23:56,000 affluent will tell people this, this is woke, that there 363 00:23:56,079 --> 00:23:58,799 is a they that's out there. In fact, here this 364 00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:03,119 is James Lindsay talking about it on the Winston Marshall podcast. 365 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:06,960 Speaker 3: When we understand, well, why isn't that playing that's so odd. 366 00:24:07,759 --> 00:24:12,400 Once again, it's not let's see here, plug that in there. 367 00:24:12,519 --> 00:24:14,720 Let's see maybe this will play. 368 00:24:14,559 --> 00:24:17,640 Speaker 4: Now when we understand woke this way as having woken 369 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:22,599 up to a structure of the world where they control everything. 370 00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:26,279 There's some they. Who are they? That's abstract at this point. 371 00:24:26,319 --> 00:24:28,319 It doesn't matter who they are. There is a they. 372 00:24:28,799 --> 00:24:33,240 They control everything, and they've controlled everything such that you're 373 00:24:33,319 --> 00:24:36,160 not allowed to say or think certain things, so that 374 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:38,960 you're kept in a false consciousness about how the world 375 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:43,079 really is. And this is why Tucker Carlson, in my opinion, 376 00:24:43,119 --> 00:24:43,839 is woke, right. 377 00:24:44,079 --> 00:24:45,880 Speaker 1: And then he goes on to Tucker Carlson stuff. But 378 00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:50,839 the key there is woke. This is a luxury belief 379 00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:53,279 because at the core of it is that you are 380 00:24:53,319 --> 00:24:58,359 repressed by some they that's out there. A twenty nineteen 381 00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:01,480 study led by Joseph Daniels at Marquette University was published 382 00:25:01,519 --> 00:25:04,519 in the Journal of Applied Economics Letters. They found that 383 00:25:04,559 --> 00:25:08,200 individuals with higher income or higher social status were most 384 00:25:08,319 --> 00:25:12,440 likely to say that success results from luck and connections 385 00:25:12,759 --> 00:25:16,920 rather than hard work, while low income individuals were more 386 00:25:17,079 --> 00:25:21,359 likely to say success comes from hard work and individual effort, 387 00:25:23,279 --> 00:25:27,880 believing that you are responsible for your life's direction rather 388 00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:32,559 than external forces appears to be beneficial, right. The studies 389 00:25:32,559 --> 00:25:36,480 show this. If you take responsibility for yourself and you 390 00:25:36,559 --> 00:25:41,039 work hard right, you improve yourself, you will be better 391 00:25:41,119 --> 00:25:45,279 off rather than going down the path of a victimhood mindset. 392 00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:48,759 But what do the affluent actually tell their kids? 393 00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:49,720 Speaker 2: All Right? 394 00:25:49,759 --> 00:25:51,599 Speaker 1: If you're listening to this show, you know I try 395 00:25:51,599 --> 00:25:53,359 to keep up with all sorts of current events, and 396 00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:55,480 I know you do too, And you've probably heard me 397 00:25:55,519 --> 00:25:59,680 say get your news from multiple sources. Why well, because 398 00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:02,440 it's how you detect media bias, which is why I've 399 00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:05,799 been so impressed with ground News. It's an app and 400 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:08,920 it's a website and it combines news from around the 401 00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:11,640 world in one place so you can compare coverage and 402 00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:15,559 verify information. You can check it out at check dot ground, 403 00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:18,920 dot news slash Pete. I put the link in the 404 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:22,160 podcast description too. I started using ground News a few 405 00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:24,880 months ago and more recently chose to work with them 406 00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:27,680 as an affiliate because it lets me see clearly how 407 00:26:27,799 --> 00:26:31,240 stories get covered and by whom. The blind spot feature 408 00:26:31,279 --> 00:26:33,920 shows you which stories get ignored by the left and 409 00:26:34,039 --> 00:26:38,039 the right. See for yourself, check dot ground, dot news 410 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:41,519 slash pete. Subscribe through that link and you'll get fifteen 411 00:26:41,519 --> 00:26:44,640 percent off any subscription. I use the Vantage plan to 412 00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:48,079 get unlimited access to every feature. Your subscription then not 413 00:26:48,119 --> 00:26:51,119 only helps my podcast, but it also supports Ground News 414 00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:54,079 as they make the media landscape more transparent. All right, 415 00:26:54,119 --> 00:26:56,440 so back to this Rob Henderson piece, and again you 416 00:26:56,480 --> 00:26:58,720 can read the entire speech. I'm just giving you the highlights. 417 00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:04,480 It's very lengthy. Robkahenderson dot com is the website, and 418 00:27:05,039 --> 00:27:12,119 he's talking about these luxury beliefs and expressing a luxury 419 00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:15,559 belief like defunding the police. It's a signal that you 420 00:27:15,839 --> 00:27:21,519 are more wealthy than somebody else because it doesn't affect you. 421 00:27:21,519 --> 00:27:24,039 You can say this stuff and it has no impact 422 00:27:24,079 --> 00:27:27,720 on you. These are luxury beliefs. You can you can 423 00:27:27,799 --> 00:27:30,240 deal with their not being cops outside of your nice 424 00:27:30,279 --> 00:27:33,599 neighborhood with you know, with all your security that you're 425 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:40,039 able to hire yourself. Then there was this idea of 426 00:27:40,079 --> 00:27:44,319 you know, work hard and you know, take control and 427 00:27:44,359 --> 00:27:47,200 responsibility of over your own decisions and your life, and 428 00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:50,359 that's the path to success. But the luxury belief tells 429 00:27:50,359 --> 00:27:55,960 you no, it's actually luck and connections. Right, So again 430 00:27:56,039 --> 00:28:00,720 there's somebody else preventing you from getting ahead. This is 431 00:28:00,759 --> 00:28:05,559 a luxury belief that the affluent tell other people. But 432 00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:09,559 get this, they don't tell their own children that. So 433 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:13,440 while the surveys show that the more affluent people talk 434 00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:16,680 about luck and connections to other people, that's what they 435 00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:20,799 say is a greater determining factor in success than hard work, 436 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:25,400 and lower income people say, no, it's hard work. Stanford 437 00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:30,240 psychology professor Albert Bendura his research showed that belief in 438 00:28:30,279 --> 00:28:36,000 personal agency has powerful positive effects on life's outcomes. But 439 00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:39,799 it's he says, you see what affluent people tell their kids, 440 00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:42,240 and what seems to happen is that the affluent people 441 00:28:42,279 --> 00:28:45,240 often broadcast how they owe their success to luck, but 442 00:28:45,319 --> 00:28:47,359 then they tell their own children about the importance of 443 00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:51,680 hard work and individual effort. And then there's the vocabulary. 444 00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:55,000 He says, when I was growing up in foster homes, 445 00:28:55,079 --> 00:28:57,640 or making minimum wage as a dishwasher, or serving in 446 00:28:57,640 --> 00:29:01,400 the military, I never heard words like cultural appropriation or 447 00:29:01,759 --> 00:29:06,839 gendered or heteronormative. Working class people could not tell you 448 00:29:06,880 --> 00:29:10,519 what these terms mean. But if you visit an elite university, 449 00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:14,400 you'll find plenty of affluent people who will eagerly explain 450 00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:18,920 them to you. When people express unusual beliefs that are 451 00:29:18,920 --> 00:29:23,000 at odds with conventional opinion, like defunding the police, downplaying 452 00:29:23,039 --> 00:29:28,680 hard work, or using odd vocabulary, often what they are 453 00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:33,480 really saying they are communicating their signaling. I was educated 454 00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:37,359 at a top university. I have the means and time 455 00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:43,160 to acquire these esoteric ideas. I can explain to you 456 00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:48,799 why a man can give birth. Only the affluent can 457 00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:52,000 learn these things, because ordinary people have real problems to 458 00:29:52,039 --> 00:29:57,279 worry about. The chief purpose, he says, of luxury beliefs, 459 00:29:57,839 --> 00:30:02,759 is to indicate evidence of the believers social class and education. 460 00:30:03,519 --> 00:30:08,680 It's signaling. Members of the luxury belief class promote these 461 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:15,279 ideas because it advances their social standing, and because they 462 00:30:15,319 --> 00:30:18,119 know that the adoption of these policies or beliefs will 463 00:30:18,119 --> 00:30:23,640 cost them less than others. It doesn't matter to them, right. 464 00:30:24,559 --> 00:30:27,200 This is why what was her name? Robin DiAngelo can 465 00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:29,960 write the book White Fragility and then go out and 466 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:36,680 post pictures of her fancy mountain estate with her You know, 467 00:30:36,759 --> 00:30:39,079 thirty people in attendance, and every single one of them 468 00:30:39,079 --> 00:30:44,240 are white. She pays no cost. Right, she injects this 469 00:30:44,279 --> 00:30:50,480 stuff into the general public as a signal. Why are 470 00:30:50,559 --> 00:30:56,640 affluent people more susceptible to luxury beliefs? Well, because they 471 00:30:56,680 --> 00:31:01,799 can afford it, and they care the most about status. 472 00:31:03,039 --> 00:31:06,480 They care the most about it. In short, luxury beliefs 473 00:31:06,519 --> 00:31:09,960 are the new status symbols. This is why you see 474 00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:13,799 a lot of a lot of the ranks of the 475 00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:17,319 quote woke. The people that have these luxury beliefs and 476 00:31:17,359 --> 00:31:24,200 are constantly advancing this stuff. They're not usually like the billionaires. 477 00:31:24,640 --> 00:31:27,480 I mean, there are some, to be sure, but it's 478 00:31:27,559 --> 00:31:30,599 usually the people that are just below that economic tier. 479 00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:36,319 You're talking upper middle class, right, they would be considered rich, 480 00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:40,680 I guess yes, But they're not like the uber uber rich. 481 00:31:42,119 --> 00:31:47,039 There's this educated class. They go to the finest schools, right, 482 00:31:47,079 --> 00:31:49,400 they get the credentials, and then they're going to come 483 00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:53,480 up with all these theories because I have taken the time, 484 00:31:53,599 --> 00:31:56,720 I have the ability to take the time to study 485 00:31:56,759 --> 00:32:01,359 all of this stuff and then in jail into the mainstream. 486 00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:05,240 And just as many luxury goods often start with the 487 00:32:05,359 --> 00:32:08,440 rich but eventually become available to everyone, so it is 488 00:32:08,480 --> 00:32:12,920 with luxury beliefs, but Unlike luxury goods, luxury beliefs can 489 00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:17,279 have long term detrimental effects for the poor and working class. 490 00:32:17,759 --> 00:32:21,920 This is the Murphy Brown syndrome. Remember I don't need 491 00:32:21,920 --> 00:32:24,279 a man to have the baby. And Vice President Dan 492 00:32:24,359 --> 00:32:26,880 Quayle called this out like CBS should be ashamed of 493 00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:29,680 putting this show on TV and sending this signal. And 494 00:32:29,720 --> 00:32:32,240 then the signal goes out like you can just be 495 00:32:32,319 --> 00:32:34,880 a single mom and you get a donor and have 496 00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:37,359 a baby and do it all yourself and all that. Yeah, 497 00:32:37,359 --> 00:32:40,000 that's a luxury belief because that's really really hard to 498 00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:44,160 do if you are just a regular person. However costly 499 00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:46,960 these beliefs are for the rich, they often inflict greater 500 00:32:47,079 --> 00:32:52,839 costs on everybody else. All right, that'll do it for 501 00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:55,519 this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could 502 00:32:55,559 --> 00:32:57,839 not do the show without your support and the support 503 00:32:57,839 --> 00:33:00,720 of the businesses that advertise on the podcast, So if 504 00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:02,759 you'd like, please support them too and tell them you 505 00:33:02,799 --> 00:33:04,880 heard it here. You can also become a patron at 506 00:33:04,880 --> 00:33:08,960 my Patreon page or go to dpetecalanarshow dot com. Again, 507 00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:11,759 thank you so much for listening, and don't break anything 508 00:33:11,759 --> 00:33:16,359 while I'm gone.