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 --> 00:00:22,600 go to vpetecleanershow 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 --> 00:00:31,280 your support. So, last hour I was talking about this guy, 10 00:00:31,359 --> 00:00:36,000 Graham Platner. Oh, there was one other, one other thing 11 00:00:36,039 --> 00:00:41,679 about this Democrat running for US Senate in Maine. There 12 00:00:41,719 --> 00:00:45,280 was one other thing that has now come out about him. 13 00:00:45,679 --> 00:00:51,759 There's just been this veritable poop storm or actually nor'easter 14 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:56,520 of oppo research getting dumped on this guy. And it 15 00:00:56,560 --> 00:00:59,759 all happened after Janet Mills entered the race. She's the 16 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:03,679 Democrat governor. There's a primary, and when she entered, all 17 00:01:03,799 --> 00:01:06,760 this stuff started coming out about Graham Platner, all these 18 00:01:06,799 --> 00:01:09,840 posts he made and the Nazi tattoo that he had 19 00:01:09,879 --> 00:01:12,599 on his chest, and like all of this bad stuff, right, 20 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:16,400 there was one other, one other thing that kind of 21 00:01:16,879 --> 00:01:20,400 this one might hurt. I think I think Democrats will 22 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:23,680 go along with the Nazi tattoo. They'll go along with 23 00:01:23,719 --> 00:01:26,200 the I mean because he's you know, talking to anti Israel, 24 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:28,079 so like, I think that's on brand. I think they'll 25 00:01:28,079 --> 00:01:30,359 go along with that. And he did make all those 26 00:01:30,439 --> 00:01:34,040 nasty comments about the LGBTQ plus two I A community 27 00:01:34,159 --> 00:01:36,120 and such, But I think they'll chalk that up to 28 00:01:36,239 --> 00:01:39,920 youthful indiscretions from low those many four years ago. I 29 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:42,599 think that they will. They'll look past all of this 30 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:46,439 other stuff because he's all about the fighting of the fascists. 31 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:49,640 They'll look past his time as a blackwater mercenary. They'll 32 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:55,760 they'll pass all of this stuff. But this one might sting. This, 33 00:01:55,760 --> 00:02:00,439 this might be a problem. Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner, 34 00:02:00,599 --> 00:02:07,079 the self described working class manor terrible name for anyway, 35 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:12,520 attended an elite boarding school in Connecticut that costs upwards 36 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:17,199 of seventy five thousand dollars a year. Quite the working 37 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:22,280 class dude, I'm kidding. Actually, this will not be disqualifying 38 00:02:22,439 --> 00:02:26,840 at all. He once described himself as a communist, described 39 00:02:26,919 --> 00:02:29,840 himself in his campaign launch video as a working class 40 00:02:29,879 --> 00:02:33,919 manor He does not appear to have lasted long at 41 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:41,000 the Hotchkiss School to very elite school he was. Then 42 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:44,759 in two thousand and two, there was a piece published 43 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:49,479 in the Ellsworth American that lists him as one of 44 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:52,840 four students in Sullivan, Maine who made a four hour 45 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:55,919 or sorry, made a one hour long commute to John 46 00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:59,599 Baptist Memorial High School in Bangor, Maine, a more cost 47 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:04,280 friendly private school. Platner is identified as a junior who's 48 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:06,759 accustomed to the commute after three years. He said, what 49 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:10,560 I like best is just the education. Being a private school, 50 00:03:10,759 --> 00:03:16,879 you get much more attention. The uh tuition there is 51 00:03:16,919 --> 00:03:22,319 about twelve thousand dollars per year in today's dollars. He 52 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:25,199 apparently made a mark at John Baptist, winning an award 53 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:30,879 for most likely to start a Revolution not a joke. 54 00:03:32,199 --> 00:03:36,080 A yearbook photo shows a young Platner holding a piece 55 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:43,479 of paper calling to free Chechnya, Kosovo and Palestine. Platner 56 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:46,439 also wrote an op ed for the Bangor Daily News 57 00:03:46,919 --> 00:03:50,960 that equated Post nine to eleven terrorist groups with freedom 58 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:55,479 fighters and lamented that every terrorist is portrayed as evil 59 00:03:55,680 --> 00:04:02,759 in the media. Um His enrollment there stands in start 60 00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:06,400 contrast to the mainstream media's working class portrayal of Platner, 61 00:04:06,639 --> 00:04:10,000 who before becoming an oyster farmer and he worked at 62 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:13,680 the State Department as a contractor in Afghanistan for Constellis, 63 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:17,600 formerly known as Blackwater. I thought they changed their name 64 00:04:17,759 --> 00:04:21,519 to G x E. Didn't they change their name to 65 00:04:21,759 --> 00:04:24,720 x E like G or something? But then I don't know, 66 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:26,680 maybe they had to change that because everybody was adopting 67 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:31,040 in as a pronoun Maybe he referred to himself at 68 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:41,560 one point as an Antifa soldier. Oh sorry, Antifa super soldier, 69 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:49,399 which was also as a communist. Now he he's also 70 00:04:49,399 --> 00:04:56,600 a theater kid, which is also on brand. Yeah, he 71 00:04:56,639 --> 00:05:01,000 apparently everybody loved them. In his role in Oliver Twist 72 00:05:01,079 --> 00:05:06,800 as the artful Dodger in Oliver, he also did Civil 73 00:05:06,839 --> 00:05:10,680 War re enacting and his mom hired a seamstress to 74 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:14,639 make his outfit. So there you go. No, I don't 75 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:17,160 think going to a private school is going to deter 76 00:05:17,319 --> 00:05:20,680 Democrats from voting for him. That is sort of what 77 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:24,240 they like. It's like, you know, we will condemn all 78 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:26,959 of these other people to public schools and will say 79 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:30,439 you hate children if you don't support the public schools. 80 00:05:30,439 --> 00:05:32,759 But we're not saying our kids to public schools. Right 81 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:41,279 over at Politico, Jonathan Martin had a piece headline, Democrats 82 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:46,519 keep falling for political fantasies? When will they learn? Will 83 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:51,240 Democrats ever learn to stop swooning? And I will answer 84 00:05:51,319 --> 00:05:54,879 this question and the answer is no, No, because the 85 00:05:54,959 --> 00:06:00,600 base is too emotions driven. Right. This goes back to 86 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:05,279 the old line that Bill Clinton said, Republicans fall in line, 87 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:09,040 Democrats fall in love. That's how you end up with 88 00:06:09,079 --> 00:06:14,000 people like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. We've seen this 89 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:17,959 play out with what's her face, Amy McGrath, right when 90 00:06:18,279 --> 00:06:20,319 she entered the race in Kentucky and they're like, she's 91 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:25,839 totally gonna beat Mitch McConnell or Stacy Abrams or Robert 92 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:31,680 Francis O'Rourke aka betto Right. There's another guy now down 93 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:35,759 in Texas, James Tallerico. That's another one. And this guy 94 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:40,759 in Maine Platner, is another example of it. He says, 95 00:06:40,759 --> 00:06:45,120 it goes something like this political outsider or mostly a 96 00:06:45,199 --> 00:06:49,319 new name, mounts a statewide campaign with online video that 97 00:06:49,439 --> 00:06:54,600 leans heavily on compelling by a biography or powerful oratory. 98 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:57,800 Out of state liberal hobbyists then quickly fall in love 99 00:06:57,839 --> 00:06:59,759 with this guy. Because they're out of state, they don't 100 00:06:59,759 --> 00:07:02,439 know who he is, but they've seen his TikTok videos 101 00:07:02,480 --> 00:07:06,920 like Baby Jesus aka Jeff Jackson here in North Carolina, 102 00:07:07,199 --> 00:07:09,199 and so then they just started pouring all this money 103 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:13,079 into this guy. Journalists then rushed to profile the latest 104 00:07:13,079 --> 00:07:17,680 heart throb before inevitable disappointment when the candidate loses or 105 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:25,160 becomes another John Fetterman. Once his Democratic rival Janet Mills 106 00:07:25,279 --> 00:07:29,399 entered the race, we saw all of this OPO research right, 107 00:07:30,639 --> 00:07:34,560 and there is more to come, says Jonathan Martin. He says, 108 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:37,439 I am told by sources very familiar with the Platiner 109 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:42,199 opposition file who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Some 110 00:07:42,279 --> 00:07:45,040 of it is going to be even more localized, which 111 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:48,600 will make for ready made targeted mailers and digital ads. 112 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:52,120 I have learned, for example, that in twenty twenty, Platner 113 00:07:52,199 --> 00:07:57,120 went online and called the Hancock County Sheriff's office a 114 00:07:57,639 --> 00:08:04,839 den of overweight pansy and said quote cops are opportunistic cowards. 115 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:12,879 That is not going to slow Platner's apologists, however, not 116 00:08:12,959 --> 00:08:16,800 going to happen the left wingers, so enamored with his 117 00:08:16,959 --> 00:08:20,439 politics have rushed to offer him the sort of grace 118 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:23,879 that they would never bestow on a more moderate candidate, 119 00:08:24,199 --> 00:08:30,000 let alone a Republican. Collins. Susan Collins running for reelection 120 00:08:31,079 --> 00:08:34,799 could be endangered. She could lose this race. She could 121 00:08:34,879 --> 00:08:39,000 lose it to Janet Mills or Graham Platner. He says. 122 00:08:39,039 --> 00:08:42,480 The eagerness of Democrats to oust her and the lack 123 00:08:42,519 --> 00:08:46,360 of enthusiasm from mega Republicans who stay home when there's 124 00:08:46,399 --> 00:08:49,519 no presidential race that has Donald Trump on the ballot 125 00:08:49,919 --> 00:08:53,480 may prove too much for the five term incumbent to overcome, 126 00:08:55,200 --> 00:08:57,679 But he says is it too much to ask though, 127 00:08:57,960 --> 00:09:02,240 for Democrats to be a little more clear about winning elections. 128 00:09:02,879 --> 00:09:06,159 The point is not to find a savior. It's to 129 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:09,320 get closer to fifty one votes in the US Senate. 130 00:09:10,399 --> 00:09:17,039 People need to act like discerning shoppers, not fanboys. This 131 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:19,879 is why I say, do not fall in love with 132 00:09:19,879 --> 00:09:24,279 the politician. Okay, they're human beings. They're going to let 133 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:26,679 you down, they are going to disappoint you in some way. 134 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:29,399 You know. Stories are powerful. They help us make sense 135 00:09:29,399 --> 00:09:33,159 of things, to understand experiences. Stories connect us to the people. 136 00:09:33,159 --> 00:09:36,480 Of our past while transcending generations. They help us process 137 00:09:36,519 --> 00:09:39,399 the meaning of life and art. Stories are told through 138 00:09:39,519 --> 00:09:43,840 images and videos. Preserve your stories with Creative Video started 139 00:09:43,879 --> 00:09:46,720 in nineteen ninety seven and Minhill, North Carolina. It was 140 00:09:46,759 --> 00:09:50,159 the first company to provide this valuable service, converting images, 141 00:09:50,360 --> 00:09:54,399 photos and videos into high quality produced slide shows, videos 142 00:09:54,399 --> 00:09:58,080 and albums. The trusted, talented and dedicated team at Creative 143 00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:00,120 Video will go over all of the details with with 144 00:10:00,159 --> 00:10:04,000 you to create a perfect project. Satisfaction guaranteed. Drop them 145 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:05,799 off in person or mail them. They'll be ready in 146 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:08,320 a week or two. Memorial videos for your loved ones, 147 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:13,600 videos for rehearsal, dinners, weddings, graduations, Christmas, family vacations, birthdays, 148 00:10:13,639 --> 00:10:17,480 or just your family stories, all told through images. That's 149 00:10:17,519 --> 00:10:20,759 what your photos and videos are. They are your life 150 00:10:20,879 --> 00:10:23,519 told through the eyes of everyone around you and all 151 00:10:23,559 --> 00:10:25,720 who came before you. And they will tell others to 152 00:10:25,759 --> 00:10:30,120 come who you are visit creative video dot com. All right, 153 00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:38,440 So Democrats just can't help falling in love with particular candidates. 154 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:41,919 They just can't help themselves. And I know what the 155 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:44,480 Democrats and the lefties that are listening to the show 156 00:10:44,519 --> 00:10:46,360 and they do listen to the show, and I thank 157 00:10:46,399 --> 00:10:49,000 you for listening to the show, but they will say 158 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:52,279 what about Trump? Because what about ism is the only 159 00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:56,279 thing that passes for argument. Nowadays. We don't talk principles, 160 00:10:56,279 --> 00:10:58,639 we talk what about ism? And when somebody throws out 161 00:10:58,679 --> 00:11:01,159 of what about ism, the other guy throws up another 162 00:11:01,159 --> 00:11:02,919 what about ism? And then you just yelled back and 163 00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:05,440 forth about what about? What about? What about? What about? Okay, 164 00:11:06,039 --> 00:11:08,120 so what about Donald Trump? Yeah? Hey, you know what 165 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:11,039 I said. I have been saying this for a decade 166 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:17,159 that people have fallen in love with Donald Trump. That 167 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:20,200 is a form of Trump derangement syndrome. I have been 168 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:22,279 saying this for a decade. There are people that think 169 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:24,799 Donald Trump can do no wrong, and they are just 170 00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:27,679 as bad in my mind as the people who think 171 00:11:27,679 --> 00:11:31,600 Trump can do no right. You've turned Trump into some 172 00:11:31,639 --> 00:11:35,360 sort of a caricature of a human being, a human 173 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:38,519 being who makes mistakes, is fallible, He's not perfect, right, 174 00:11:39,360 --> 00:11:42,519 And I noted the similarities when people on the left 175 00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:46,600 or even Republicans that didn't like Donald Trump, and they would, 176 00:11:47,519 --> 00:11:50,279 you know, criticize Donald Trump and say like, oh, this 177 00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:53,720 is some you know, unique phenomenon that we have never 178 00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:57,519 seen before. It's a cult of personality. And I would 179 00:11:57,519 --> 00:12:02,840 always point out Barack Obama, What about Barack Obama. I 180 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:07,120 noticed the same things going on when Democrats were chanting 181 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:14,000 in stadiums filled with seventy eighty thousand people Obama Obama, right, 182 00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:19,320 it's kind of unsettling. It was. I'm not going to 183 00:12:19,399 --> 00:12:25,720 draw a comparison here with Nazism, but when you get 184 00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:28,399 that many people screaming somebody's name in a chant like that, 185 00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:31,799 it's kind of hard to not think cult of personality, 186 00:12:32,039 --> 00:12:36,759 you know, so don't fall in love with politicians, but 187 00:12:36,799 --> 00:12:40,039 Democrats have a hard time with this, particularly the further 188 00:12:40,159 --> 00:12:43,759 left you get, you know, more centrist kind of leaning people, 189 00:12:43,799 --> 00:12:47,960 more moderate people on both parties, in both parties, they 190 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:51,399 tend not to fall in love with these elected leaders. 191 00:12:51,399 --> 00:12:54,440 But Democrats like this goes back to like JFK. Right, 192 00:12:55,679 --> 00:13:00,480 They just they elevate some of these candid it's to 193 00:13:00,639 --> 00:13:04,240 just ridiculous heights. And that's a lot of what we're 194 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:09,639 seeing with this uh socialist up in New York City. 195 00:13:10,759 --> 00:13:16,679 Zoron Mamdani Mamdani, Ma'm donny. This is from a piece 196 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:20,799 over at the Washington Examiner. And editorial talking about the 197 00:13:20,799 --> 00:13:25,440 socialist future of the Democrat Party. It's here, it is here. Okay, 198 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:29,240 you got Mam Donna, you got a Kazu Coatez, you 199 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:34,559 got Bernie Sanders, you got this guy Platiner up in Maine. Right, 200 00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:39,480 they are running Uh, they're not running away from the 201 00:13:39,559 --> 00:13:48,320 socialist tag. Right, The editors say, what these three Sanders, 202 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:51,639 A Kazu Cortez and Mamdani have recognized for years, and 203 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:55,720 what establishment Democrats are now starting to realize as well, 204 00:13:56,200 --> 00:13:58,480 is that if the Democrat Party is to have a future, 205 00:13:58,799 --> 00:14:02,919 it will be socialist. It is moving rapidly towards rejecting 206 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:07,360 markets and the free choices that are the lifeblood are 207 00:14:07,399 --> 00:14:11,240 their lifeblood, and instead embracing outright government control of the 208 00:14:11,279 --> 00:14:16,080 economy and much else. Poll results support this shift. According 209 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:20,519 to Gallup, sixty six percent of Democrats have a positive 210 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:24,639 view of socialism and a negative view of capitalism. That 211 00:14:24,759 --> 00:14:27,720 is an all time high. As recently as twenty ten, 212 00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:31,960 a majority of Democrats actually preferred capitalism to socialism, but 213 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:35,679 those days are gone. Other polling reveals that it is 214 00:14:35,679 --> 00:14:39,320 the youngest Democrats, those under thirty, who most support socialism. 215 00:14:39,399 --> 00:14:41,799 This is by the way, the result of the long 216 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:46,879 march through the institutions. One of those institutions K twelve education, 217 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:51,080 you know, and when people like me were pointing this 218 00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:53,960 stuff out, like what are we teaching these kids? We're 219 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:56,879 obviously not how to read and do arithmetic. No, we're 220 00:14:56,919 --> 00:14:59,120 teaching them to be activists. We're teaching them that their 221 00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:03,639 country is inherently terrible and everything needs to be torn 222 00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:08,360 down and rebuilt, give government more power. Neil Boortz, the 223 00:15:08,399 --> 00:15:10,840 libertarian talk show host, he used to talk about this 224 00:15:10,919 --> 00:15:13,240 thirty years ago. He would say, Look, if you went 225 00:15:13,279 --> 00:15:15,440 to a Catholic school, do you think you would be 226 00:15:15,519 --> 00:15:18,720 learning that Catholicism is terrible? Of course not. Well, if 227 00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:20,360 you go to a government school, what do you think 228 00:15:20,360 --> 00:15:25,240 you're learning there? The Democrat's future is socialist. There is 229 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:28,039 no denying it. At this point. The only question is 230 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:30,200 whether the party is going to finally fall into that 231 00:15:30,279 --> 00:15:34,480 pit of tyranny and wealth destruction, and judging by Mamdani's 232 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:37,799 primary win, along with the endorsements that he has picked 233 00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:42,440 up by guys like Chris van Holland, US Senator and 234 00:15:42,559 --> 00:15:48,200 Kathy Hockel, Governor of New York, like that future appears 235 00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:53,480 to be now Democrat elites have given up fighting against 236 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:57,799 their socialist base. The socialists are taking over, and we'll 237 00:15:57,799 --> 00:15:59,519 see how it works out for them, and of course 238 00:15:59,559 --> 00:16:02,360 the poor New Yorkers who look like they're about to 239 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:07,399 get socialism in the neck. Which brings me to a 240 00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:13,879 piece over at City Journal by Martin Gurry, a former 241 00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:17,879 CIA analyst and the author of a book called The 242 00:16:17,919 --> 00:16:22,600 Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in 243 00:16:22,639 --> 00:16:26,840 the New Millennium. And he walks through it's a very 244 00:16:26,919 --> 00:16:28,600 lengthy piece. I'm just going to give you some of 245 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:34,919 the highlights here, but he walks through a thought experiment, like, 246 00:16:35,679 --> 00:16:41,759 let's suppose that socialism comes to New York City, right, 247 00:16:42,279 --> 00:16:44,360 whether it's Mom, Donnie or not, but we can use 248 00:16:44,440 --> 00:16:48,679 him as the sort of thought experiment mayor here. So 249 00:16:48,679 --> 00:16:52,039 socialism arrives in New York City, and it's here for 250 00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:55,000 the long term. And if you know, the editors at 251 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:58,240 the Washington Examiner are correct, like this is now what 252 00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:01,480 the Democrat Party is. They will be the Democrats socialists. 253 00:17:01,799 --> 00:17:05,880 And so they the Democrats right now control New York City, 254 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:09,079 they control New York State. Right, So let's assume that 255 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:12,720 this is a long term thing. So what is life 256 00:17:12,839 --> 00:17:18,359 going to look like under a leadership that is totally 257 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:26,720 committed to this socialist vision? What follows in this thought 258 00:17:26,759 --> 00:17:29,640 experiment is a tale told in the future tense, an 259 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:35,039 attempt to imagine how the unconstrained vision of socialism might 260 00:17:35,079 --> 00:17:39,480 play out in an unconstrained New York. He says, this 261 00:17:39,559 --> 00:17:44,400 is not prophecy, right, it's speculative, it's fiction. No actual, 262 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:49,279 actual socialists were harmed in the making of this experiment either, Okay, 263 00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:55,079 So to start with the experiment, we have to define, 264 00:17:55,880 --> 00:18:02,880 like the basic question of what is socialism really? Okay, well, 265 00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:06,079 how about we look at the constitution of the Democratic 266 00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:10,599 Socialists of America. We'll use their definition. All right. If 267 00:18:10,599 --> 00:18:12,359 you're listening to this show, you know I try to 268 00:18:12,440 --> 00:18:14,240 keep up with all sorts of current events, and I 269 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:16,440 know you do too, And you've probably heard me say 270 00:18:16,599 --> 00:18:20,599 get your news from multiple sources. Why, Well, because it's 271 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:23,359 how you detect media bias, which is why I've been 272 00:18:23,359 --> 00:18:26,960 so impressed with ground News. It's an app and it's 273 00:18:27,039 --> 00:18:29,920 a website, and it combines news from around the world 274 00:18:29,920 --> 00:18:33,400 in one place, so you can compare coverage and verify information. 275 00:18:33,680 --> 00:18:36,960 You can check it out at check dot ground, dot 276 00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:40,119 news slash pete. I put the link in the podcast 277 00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:43,160 description too. I started using ground News a few months 278 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:45,799 ago and more recently chose to work with them as 279 00:18:45,799 --> 00:18:49,000 an affiliate because it lets me see clearly how stories 280 00:18:49,039 --> 00:18:52,279 get covered and by whom. The blind spot feature shows 281 00:18:52,319 --> 00:18:55,160 you which stories get ignored by the left and the right. 282 00:18:55,359 --> 00:19:00,000 See for yourself check dot ground, dot news, slash pete. 283 00:19:00,119 --> 00:19:02,799 Subscribe through that link and you'll get fifteen percent off 284 00:19:02,799 --> 00:19:06,079 any subscription. I use the Vantage plan to get unlimited 285 00:19:06,119 --> 00:19:09,400 access to every feature. Your subscription then not only helps 286 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:12,240 my podcast, but it also supports ground News as they 287 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:16,720 make the media landscape more transparent. Piece by Martin Gurry, 288 00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:20,440 former CIA analyst, author of The Revolt of the Public 289 00:19:20,839 --> 00:19:23,880 and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium. This 290 00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:27,720 is published at City Journal called Socialism with a New 291 00:19:27,799 --> 00:19:32,400 York Face, and it's a thought experiment of an unconstrained 292 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:38,400 socialist utopia that takes root in New York City. And 293 00:19:38,599 --> 00:19:41,599 the Democrats are you know, they would like to advance 294 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:43,799 this idea. We're going to give it a shot. I 295 00:19:43,799 --> 00:19:46,279 guess up in New York. So we'll see what happens. 296 00:19:46,319 --> 00:19:48,880 So let's walk through, Like, first off, what is socialism? 297 00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:52,759 So for purposes of this thought experiment, we'll go to 298 00:19:52,799 --> 00:19:58,119 the Democratic Socialists of America and their constitution. They define 299 00:19:58,119 --> 00:20:03,720 it as quote, a humane social order based on popular 300 00:20:03,799 --> 00:20:11,640 control of resources and production, economic planning, equitable distribution, feminism, 301 00:20:12,440 --> 00:20:20,319 racial equality, and non oppressive relationships. Okay, that's their definition 302 00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:26,480 of socialism. The weightiest words here are equitable in planning. See, 303 00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:30,200 every form of socialism known to history has fixated on 304 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:34,839 absolute equality as the political end as the goal. Right, 305 00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:40,200 it is achieved. So the thinking goes through scientific planning 306 00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:46,720 and enforced by the rational application of state power. A 307 00:20:46,799 --> 00:20:49,920 new planning body would have to be created, because they 308 00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:55,160 always are created, staffed by experts and technocrats and such. 309 00:20:56,519 --> 00:20:59,759 So let's give it a name like the Central Planning 310 00:20:59,759 --> 00:21:07,039 of Thing Already or CPA. Okay, So almost immediately we 311 00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:12,240 run into a contradiction here. See, socialism promises to place 312 00:21:12,359 --> 00:21:16,759 resources under popular control. That's what they say in their definition, 313 00:21:17,599 --> 00:21:22,119 a social order based on popular control of resources and production, 314 00:21:23,079 --> 00:21:28,319 as well as economic planning, equitable distribution, and then feminism, 315 00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:34,240 racial equality, non oppressive relationships. Okay, which is, look, we're 316 00:21:34,279 --> 00:21:36,160 just taking all of that at face value because I 317 00:21:36,160 --> 00:21:38,480 could play the rim shot on every single one of those. Okay, 318 00:21:38,519 --> 00:21:40,640 but like this is the point of the thought experiment. 319 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:44,359 We're gon we're going to follow their line of thinking. Okay, 320 00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:50,599 But the contradiction arises immediately because there's this promise to 321 00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:55,640 put the resources and production under quote unquote popular control, 322 00:21:56,160 --> 00:22:01,079 so that, for example, tenants rather than landlord wards, take 323 00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:07,200 charge of the buildings that they occupy. However, implementing a 324 00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:12,960 planned economy requires concentrating immen's power in the hands of 325 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:18,400 a small group of government specialists. That's the central planning 326 00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:24,079 authority of the CPA. These are the experts, the bureaucrats, technocrats, right, 327 00:22:24,079 --> 00:22:26,799 they got it all figured out, much like in the 328 00:22:26,799 --> 00:22:30,440 Soviet Union, where they would you know, issue their quotas 329 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:33,759 for production. It's a famous story about the production of 330 00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:38,119 nails and they sent, you know, sent out the quota 331 00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:40,400 this year, you got to produce this amount of nails, 332 00:22:41,640 --> 00:22:46,079 and the factories produced that number of nails, and they 333 00:22:46,119 --> 00:22:50,200 did it in like a month because the bureaucrat technocrat 334 00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:55,000 crowd didn't know actually how many nails would be needed. 335 00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:59,200 Whereas in a free market system, the demand for nails 336 00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:02,279 would send signal to the producers of the nails, we 337 00:23:02,319 --> 00:23:07,480 need to make more nails, right because a small cadre 338 00:23:07,599 --> 00:23:11,400 of technocrats far away in the capital are never going 339 00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:15,920 to be smarter than the free market. Because you and 340 00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:18,799 me and all of us together, we are all the 341 00:23:18,839 --> 00:23:22,720 free market. We are all making these decisions of what 342 00:23:22,759 --> 00:23:25,759 we want, how much we'll pay for it. Are we 343 00:23:25,759 --> 00:23:27,960 willing to delay the purchase or do we make the 344 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:31,599 purchase now? Like all of these factor into the decisions, 345 00:23:32,359 --> 00:23:38,440 trillions of factors in any given moment. There's no way 346 00:23:38,839 --> 00:23:45,559 a group of people in a central planning authority can 347 00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:49,759 replicate that. It's impossible. They cannot do it. It's a 348 00:23:49,799 --> 00:23:53,559 fatal flaw of socialism. Okay, So that in the nail story, 349 00:23:53,599 --> 00:23:55,839 when they made all of the nails and then they 350 00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:58,079 hit their quota and then they're just kind of lounged 351 00:23:58,079 --> 00:23:59,559 around for a long time, and then they went and 352 00:23:59,559 --> 00:24:02,519 built They made the biggest nail. They made like some 353 00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:05,480 I don't know, fourteen ton nail because they had nothing 354 00:24:05,519 --> 00:24:10,200 else to do. So it has made a really big nail. Anyway, 355 00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:18,000 The two approaches here are incompatible. The contradiction is an 356 00:24:18,039 --> 00:24:21,240 intellectual phantom that vanishes in a puff of smoke on 357 00:24:21,279 --> 00:24:25,079 first contact with reality. The public quote unquote is an 358 00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:30,599 amorphous entity. It is incapable of actually organizing anything. Okay. 359 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:35,359 Socialism has always been a top down system in which 360 00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:40,160 a you know, far seeing vanguard brain trust, acting on 361 00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:44,799 the public's behalf, commands the resources needed to achieve the 362 00:24:44,839 --> 00:24:49,559 proper degree of equality. We'll decide for you. We are 363 00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:53,480 smarter than you. Oh but it's popular control. Yeah, yeah, no, 364 00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:56,519 it's not really. You can yeah, sure, you want that 365 00:24:56,559 --> 00:24:59,079 little shop. You can run the shop, but we're gonna 366 00:24:59,079 --> 00:25:00,680 tell you what to sell and how much to sell 367 00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:05,319 it for. The mayor and his planners will embody this 368 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:08,880 new class of visionary leaders. Their mandates will fill the 369 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:13,440 vacuum left by the abolition of the private economy. Tenants 370 00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:16,039 who once dreamed of ownership will find that they have 371 00:25:16,119 --> 00:25:23,000 traded their landlord for a political commissar. The CPA will 372 00:25:23,119 --> 00:25:25,839 the Central Planning Authority, will set out to control the 373 00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:30,000 means of production. It's the first commandment of socialism, but 374 00:25:30,079 --> 00:25:34,400 the means will quickly overwhelm the ends. See, you can't 375 00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:39,599 control New York's material resources without also controlling the direction 376 00:25:40,519 --> 00:25:46,599 of people's private lives. This is why it's tyrannical. It 377 00:25:46,799 --> 00:25:51,279 is inherently counter to freedom. It is counter to human nature. 378 00:25:52,119 --> 00:25:58,000 Individual goals and plans must be suppressed. Individualism is hateful 379 00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:02,200 to the socialist because it breaths inequality. So if you 380 00:26:02,319 --> 00:26:05,039 dreamed of opening a little bodega in Washington Heights, the 381 00:26:05,079 --> 00:26:07,640 mayor will say no. Now, if you already own one, 382 00:26:08,279 --> 00:26:12,039 you'll be made essentially an employee of the authority. The 383 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:16,480 economic logic of socialism tends towards the dictatorship of the 384 00:26:16,559 --> 00:26:23,680 new class. That dictatorship, in turn rejects fixed rules, standards, 385 00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:26,559 and norms, because, after all, different people have to be 386 00:26:26,559 --> 00:26:31,720 treated differently in order to achieve the equal outcomes. Right 387 00:26:32,160 --> 00:26:38,359 freedom versus equality. That's the rub. Here's a great idea. 388 00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:41,240 How about making an escape to a really special and 389 00:26:41,279 --> 00:26:44,480 secluded getaway in western North Carolina. Just a quick drive 390 00:26:44,559 --> 00:26:47,319 up the mountain and cabins of Asheville is your connection. 391 00:26:47,559 --> 00:26:50,720 Whether you're celebrating an anniversary, a honeymoon, maybe you want 392 00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:53,279 to plan a memorable proposal, or get family and friends 393 00:26:53,279 --> 00:26:56,240 together for a big old reunion. Cabins of Ashville has 394 00:26:56,279 --> 00:26:59,039 the ideal spot for you where you can reconnect with 395 00:26:59,079 --> 00:27:02,279 your loved ones and the things that truly matter. Nestled 396 00:27:02,279 --> 00:27:05,240 within the breath taking fourteen thousand acres of the Pisga 397 00:27:05,319 --> 00:27:08,880 National Forest, their cabins offer a serene escape in the 398 00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:12,000 heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Centrally located between Asheville 399 00:27:12,039 --> 00:27:14,400 and the entrance of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. 400 00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:18,720 It's the perfect balance of seclusion and proximity to all 401 00:27:18,759 --> 00:27:23,480 the local attractions with hot tubs, fireplaces, air conditioning, smart TVs, 402 00:27:23,599 --> 00:27:27,240 Wi Fi, grills, outdoor tables and your own private covered porch. 403 00:27:27,519 --> 00:27:31,559 Choose from thirteen cabins, six cottages, two villas, and a 404 00:27:31,599 --> 00:27:35,680 great lodge with eleven king sized bedrooms. Cabins of Ashville 405 00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:38,960 has the ideal spot for you for any occasion, and 406 00:27:39,079 --> 00:27:43,240 they have pet friendly accommodations. Call or text eight two eight, three, six, 407 00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:46,279 seven seventy sixty eight or check out all there is 408 00:27:46,319 --> 00:27:49,640 to offer at Cabins offashville dot com and make memories 409 00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:53,519 that'll last a lifetime. Again. This is from City Journal 410 00:27:55,640 --> 00:28:01,160 by Martin Gurriy, talking about what New York City would 411 00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:05,079 look like if it went socialist right like and they 412 00:28:05,119 --> 00:28:09,759 were unconstrained in their unconstrained vision. It's a thought experiment. 413 00:28:10,519 --> 00:28:14,240 So he's talking about the economic illogic of socialism tends 414 00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:23,359 towards dictatorship. And he says socialists do love redistribution. But 415 00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:25,920 how in a planned economy is the wealth created to 416 00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:29,920 pay for all the free stuff? How do you create wealth? 417 00:28:31,599 --> 00:28:35,960 Socialists exhibit a remarkable indifference to the supply side of 418 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:40,240 the economy. Right, They're all in on the demand side. Oh, 419 00:28:40,279 --> 00:28:42,240 you want this, here you go, you want that, Here 420 00:28:42,279 --> 00:28:44,400 you go, you want that, here you go, never thinking 421 00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:47,359 how do we make this stuff to give to people? Right? 422 00:28:47,799 --> 00:28:51,279 They seem to assume also that production will continue as before, 423 00:28:51,440 --> 00:28:55,480 except even better. Right, workers will now be liberated from 424 00:28:55,599 --> 00:28:59,279 drudgery and placed in charge of their own shops. They 425 00:28:59,319 --> 00:29:02,599 will feel in fire to boost both the quantity and 426 00:29:02,759 --> 00:29:10,119 quality of their output, thereby growing the city's wealth. Except 427 00:29:10,279 --> 00:29:15,279 that assumption rests on a fallacy. Control of the economy 428 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:19,440 will not lie with the workers. It will lie with 429 00:29:19,519 --> 00:29:24,279 the planners, because that is always the case. So production 430 00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:29,119 quotas will be assigned by the CPA, much like teachers 431 00:29:29,119 --> 00:29:34,160 assign homework. So you end up with drudgery persisting, and 432 00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:39,920 when salaries are all equalized across the board, then productivity plummets. 433 00:29:40,839 --> 00:29:46,240 Every instance of socialism in practice has cannibalized the capitalist 434 00:29:46,319 --> 00:29:51,519 economy down to the bone until a crisis hits. Declining 435 00:29:51,559 --> 00:29:57,640 productivity means fewer goods and services on offer. Price controls 436 00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:01,880 then ensure that the entire population is chasing a shrinking 437 00:30:02,119 --> 00:30:06,759 supply of goods. So the question becomes how to plan 438 00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:11,200 for equality in an economy that is rapidly shrinking? What 439 00:30:11,279 --> 00:30:17,920 do socialists do well? We have historical examples from post 440 00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:23,039 war Britain to present day Cuba. The socialist answer to 441 00:30:23,359 --> 00:30:26,319 this question of how do you plan for equality in 442 00:30:26,319 --> 00:30:29,519 an economy that's rapidly shrinking? The answer is always the same. 443 00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:37,599 The ration card rations always the same. The attractive idealists, 444 00:30:37,599 --> 00:30:38,920 by the way, and then he goes through he talks 445 00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:41,240 about like violence occurring in all of that stuff. I'm 446 00:30:41,240 --> 00:30:43,839 gonna skip ahead in this thought experiment, though. He says, 447 00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:49,680 the attractive idealists who won power like Zoron Mamdani, they 448 00:30:49,720 --> 00:30:52,559 will be devoured by those who know how to wield 449 00:30:52,759 --> 00:30:57,960 the power. See, and that is also historically true, right, 450 00:30:58,119 --> 00:31:02,000 the idealists that you know, talk a good game or 451 00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:06,799 photogenic flash that smile at you, charismatic. Yeah, they get 452 00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:08,680 they get pushed to the side, and I pushed to 453 00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:11,759 the side, I mean, you know, imprisoned or murdered, and 454 00:31:11,799 --> 00:31:15,480 so they get kicked out. Once the power is consolidated, 455 00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:20,160 then the most ruthless, psychopathic types take over the city's 456 00:31:20,519 --> 00:31:26,599 information campaigns. Then will you know, discard the capitalist fetish 457 00:31:26,599 --> 00:31:30,200 that separates truth from falsehood? Which I thought was a 458 00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:34,039 fantastic line. It's one of those things. See, lies in 459 00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:40,599 a free market are surfaced and the liars are punished. 460 00:31:41,680 --> 00:31:45,880 That's what a free market does. People realize, oh my gosh, 461 00:31:45,920 --> 00:31:49,440 this product is crap. They leave reviews on Amazon, and 462 00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:53,039 then nobody buys their stuff because it's some knockoff or whatever. 463 00:31:53,079 --> 00:31:55,240 It doesn't work, and then that that product is no 464 00:31:55,319 --> 00:31:59,920 longer offered. See, but if you got the central plan 465 00:32:00,119 --> 00:32:04,599 authority dictating this stuff, you got limited supply. Well, now 466 00:32:04,599 --> 00:32:09,279 they're information campaigns. You can't communicate that you're making inferior 467 00:32:09,359 --> 00:32:14,880 quality things, so now you have to suppress truth. It's 468 00:32:14,880 --> 00:32:18,559 always a part of the socialist experiment as well, because 469 00:32:18,559 --> 00:32:22,920 their ideology has failed consistently in the past, socialists have 470 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:28,000 perfected the art of what have they perfected as signing blame. 471 00:32:29,079 --> 00:32:33,200 Even in a scarcity economy, they can produce an endless 472 00:32:33,240 --> 00:32:39,440 supply of scapegoats. It really is what socialists excel at, 473 00:32:39,680 --> 00:32:44,720 because when their plans don't work, they blame external actors, 474 00:32:44,839 --> 00:32:50,200 foreign saboteurs. And then when the plans don't work even 475 00:32:50,279 --> 00:32:52,359 more for a longer period of time, then they start 476 00:32:52,440 --> 00:32:56,519 blaming you. They start blaming their own people, and cruder, 477 00:32:56,599 --> 00:33:00,000 more easily hated stereotype is going to be needed to target. 478 00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:02,240 Of course, that could only mean the Jews. Of course, 479 00:33:02,279 --> 00:33:03,839 you got to go after the Jews, So that's probably 480 00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:06,839 going to be coming down the pike. Socialism has followed 481 00:33:06,880 --> 00:33:11,160 a predictable history, historical trajectory, and the pronouncements of the 482 00:33:11,160 --> 00:33:16,759 Democratic Socialists cling monotonly monotonously to those of the old 483 00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:20,920 time religion. That's what we're seeing. I don't think New 484 00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:22,400 Yorkers are going to be able to get off of 485 00:33:22,440 --> 00:33:26,920 this course. All right, that'll do it for this episode. 486 00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:29,000 Thank you so much for listening. I could not do 487 00:33:29,039 --> 00:33:31,200 the show without your support and the support of the 488 00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:34,279 businesses that advertise on the podcast. So if you'd like, 489 00:33:34,440 --> 00:33:36,519 please support them too and tell them you heard it here. 490 00:33:36,680 --> 00:33:39,160 You can also become a patron at my patreon page 491 00:33:39,319 --> 00:33:42,880 or go to thepetecleanershow dot com. Again, thank you so 492 00:33:42,960 --> 00:33:50,279 much for listening, and don't break anything while I'm gone.