Latest / World Ablaze with George Fontes / Guest On AM Coffee with Royce D'Orazio
Transcript
- 0:00Good morning, everybody. Welcome to an AM Coffee.
- 0:04I am here with George Fontes, World of Blaze, which it continues to be.
- 0:11How are you, sir?
- 0:13Man, I'm good. Appreciate you having me on.
- 0:16I actually tune into your Sunday mornings, even though I'm on the West Coast,
- 0:20because I'm such an early bird. I can barely sleep half the time.
- 0:22So you're one of the few that are on live that I would listen to,
- 0:26because I respect you, and we've chatted a few times.
- 0:28So I'm like, yeah, I'll tune in and have the opportunity to be on the show with you this morning.
- 0:34It works out great and happy to be here, man.
- 0:37Yeah, thank you. I'm in the field, but we'll do a proper video sit down next time.
- 0:42Yeah, no worries. I'm good.
- 0:44So tell me, what's on your mind? We were kind of just talking a little AI before we went.
- 0:47Yeah, I brought that up because when we've always conversated, you bring up AI and where things are going.
- 0:56and I had an interesting
- 0:58AI related experience
- 1:00when it came to
- 1:02the Google AI.
- 1:04So when you could do searches and it says
- 1:06go deep with AI, you have a little tab up there
- 1:08to the left. And the reason
- 1:10this happened is I just had a guest on yesterday.
- 1:13He's an intelligence analyst
- 1:15and we're talking about many different topics.
- 1:17And while I'm trying to edit the show,
- 1:19I was like, oh, I think he changed his logo.
- 1:21So I was like, I just did a search for his new logo,
- 1:23downloaded it, I was going to put it into the video
- 1:25and then all of a sudden I'm like,
- 1:27I see all these explanations about him and his podcast.
- 1:30And I was like, all right,
- 1:30well, let me go down this AI rabbit hole,
- 1:32see what it says and see how accurate it is.
- 1:35So it gives a summary
- 1:36and we're going through this whole thing.
- 1:38Me and AI are going back and forth.
- 1:39I'm clicking all the links.
- 1:40I'm like, all right, let me see what it says about me.
- 1:42Cause I was like, I've never done this before.
- 1:44And it had a summary that was pulled from my description.
- 1:47Right.
- 1:48And there's these links that go deeper
- 1:50and it starts to put me in this box
- 1:55or categorize me as someone who is pro-Israel, pro-war, wants to take over Gaza, and I support
- 2:03everything Trump does. Now, that being said, you know I lean right, so I am a bit conservative,
- 2:08but it doesn't mean I agree with everything Trump does. So I start clicking these links,
- 2:12and I'm like, well, okay, it says for further information, click here on, for example,
- 2:17what I feel about Trump's policy. What did I say about Hamas? What did I say about Gaza?
- 2:20And the more I go down this rabbit hole, it starts to literally frame me as a right-wing, pro-Israel, pro-war, anti-Palestine person.
- 2:32I'm like, wow.
- 2:33And so I finally tell AI, I said, hey, this is George Fonts.
- 2:37I was like, where are you getting this information?
- 2:39And it's responding, well, based on things that you have said and posted and this and that.
- 2:44I'm like, huh.
- 2:45So I responded saying, well, you took everything I said adequately.
- 2:50context, I said, I still challenge where you got your information. And it eventually admitted to me
- 2:55and it actually apologized and said, well, I got your information based on titles of my podcast
- 3:02and descriptions. And I was like, oh, so you're just gleaming like descriptions and titles and
- 3:10assuming that is everything that I am personally saying and standing behind.
- 3:14It's taking the metadata and profiling.
- 3:17Yeah.
- 3:17And I was like, wait a minute.
- 3:18So when I saw this, I was like, well, how is that translating to people out there searching for people like me or you or anybody when you get this AI summary of you that is taken out of context and doesn't really relate to what you're actually saying or what you believe in?
- 3:35I thought I shared that because I was like, wow, that was eye-opening.
- 3:38You know, it's stating where we're at.
- 3:40Yeah, well, it's kind of like the algorithm as a whole
- 3:42where it takes what you're looking at
- 3:44and feeds it to you because it's, you know,
- 3:46it feeds you more of it
- 3:47because it thinks that's your interest.
- 3:49So if you stop, if you're scrolling on TikTok
- 3:51and you stop too long on a video,
- 3:54it is saying you like it.
- 3:56Yeah, absolutely.
- 3:57There's no nuance there.
- 3:58So the idea that you are being judged
- 4:00based off of headlines is,
- 4:03I mean, obviously that is surface level.
- 4:04It's not going granular.
- 4:06It's not getting into the conversation.
- 4:08I would wonder, do you do transcriptions in your show?
- 4:12I think my host does it automatically,
- 4:17but I don't outright click the link to do it or anything.
- 4:22Maybe I should. I don't know.
- 4:24I'm just wondering if it would actually use that data.
- 4:27If there was that much metadata, would that start to alter?
- 4:30Would it be nuanced enough to look at the conversation as a whole
- 4:33and make an opinion?
- 4:34Yeah, you're right.
- 4:35And to me, this also revealed the limitations because everybody thinks that AI is so advanced.
- 4:42Everyone thinks, oh, they're listening, right?
- 4:46That it's like listening to everything you're saying.
- 4:51Well, it's obviously not scanning podcast episodes or anything on YouTube and actually listening to the audio and then summarizing what is going on.
- 4:59It's just reading text right now.
- 5:01but I find it revealing because we can always be categorized or be surmised to be something we're
- 5:08not, which can actually hurt us out there in the world in terms of what we're trying to say and
- 5:14represent. So I thought you would find that interesting. I thought I'd share that with you
- 5:19because I was like, wow, I didn't know this is what they thought of me out there as far as
- 5:24Google or AI anyway. So that was very interesting. It's the spread of information too fast because
- 5:30in the age of Nielsen ratings,
- 5:33you were still generalized.
- 5:35A Nielsen box would categorize
- 5:37and put you in a,
- 5:39no pun intended,
- 5:40literally put you in a box, right?
- 5:42Yeah, absolutely.
- 5:43This is just it happening faster.
- 5:46Right.
- 5:47And there's no way to put Pandora
- 5:50back in the box, if you will.
- 5:52I mean, I would like to think
- 5:55that if you did what we just discussed
- 5:56with the metadata,
- 5:58that that would alter things.
- 5:59I don't think they're going that deep, and I don't think they're going to waste compute power in the name of accuracy.
- 6:05I agree. And this whole surface level view of who people are is really, I think, it's really hurting society, in my opinion, because there's too much gleaming of skimming the top but not going any deeper.
- 6:20and everyone just walks away with this misrepresentation
- 6:25of what's really happening in terms of conflicts,
- 6:28geopolitical events, et cetera,
- 6:30and even just who you or I are as a person.
- 6:33And it's like, how do we fight that?
- 6:35I mean, yeah, like you said,
- 6:37maybe transcriptions, more metadata, et cetera,
- 6:39but I'm not sure it's really ready or prepared to go that deep
- 6:42or even if it wants to,
- 6:44or whoever's pulling the strings wants to go that deep.
- 6:46No, I think AI is biased, obviously.
- 6:48So, and look, I've gotten in full on arguments with AI about, I've asked AI for its advice on something, something that I'm well-versed in.
- 6:58I can't even remember what the conversation was all the time.
- 7:00And it was wrong.
- 7:02And I was like, no, you're wrong.
- 7:04And it was like, no, no, I'm right.
- 7:05I'm like, no, you're, oh, it was arcade.
- 7:06It was arcade repair.
- 7:07Okay.
- 7:08So I'm like very well-versed in arcade repair.
- 7:10And it starts telling me about Nintendo PCBs and logic boards and the serial number assignments.
- 7:15And I'm like, no, that's not right.
- 7:17Like, that's wrong.
- 7:17Like that's wrong.
- 7:20And to the extent that I started doubting what I know I know.
- 7:25And I went off of AI and kind of went back to my old resources.
- 7:30And of course, I was correct.
- 7:34But all it's doing is glorify Google search.
- 7:39It is.
- 7:41It's literally just an aggregator of info.
- 7:44and then it's just trying to collect it
- 7:46and then come up with its own
- 7:47summarization of what it is.
- 7:50I had the same experience that you had
- 7:52when I was arguing with Grok, to be honest.
- 7:54And I won't say specifically
- 7:56what the argument was about,
- 7:57but it did have to do with a geopolitical event.
- 8:00And so another political commentator,
- 8:03by the way, people can't say this
- 8:04if I'm doing air quotes,
- 8:06made a statement about a conflict
- 8:08that was going on at the time.
- 8:10And I pushed back on the guy
- 8:11because I know my history of the region.
- 8:13and one of his supporters
- 8:16used Grok to try to debunk me.
- 8:18So I was like, oh, really?
- 8:19Okay, well, Grok's wrong.
- 8:21So I went down this rabbit hole with Grok
- 8:23and Grok eventually got backed into a corner
- 8:25and admitted that I was right.
- 8:27I was like, what?
- 8:29Yeah, no, I remember,
- 8:32oh God, when I first started messing with ChatGPT,
- 8:35so it had been a year and a half ago.
- 8:38And I was like, so who?
- 8:40You know, I do the Disney live streams
- 8:42and I've been doing that about 10 years.
- 8:43So I'm like, who do you think would make a good CEO,
- 8:49successor to Bob Iger?
- 8:51Huh.
- 8:51And I said, give me your top five.
- 8:54And one of the people that gave me was an executive,
- 8:57a former Google executive.
- 8:59But she passed away six months before I hit that search.
- 9:03Wow.
- 9:04And it recommended her.
- 9:06And I said, Susan has passed away.
- 9:08She passed away from cancer.
- 9:10and AI said,
- 9:12my search do not show anything
- 9:14related to her.
- 9:16That's crazy.
- 9:18And they kept endorsing her.
- 9:19And I said, no, no, no, no, no.
- 9:21It took me pushing back
- 9:23three, maybe four times
- 9:25before it decided to go deeper
- 9:28and said upon further research,
- 9:30she went for it.
- 9:32Well, okay, a couple more things
- 9:33since we're on AI.
- 9:36One, the study or report
- 9:38that came out that
- 9:39admitted that AI right now
- 9:41is not reliable
- 9:43in terms of implementing safety
- 9:45features with robots.
- 9:47I don't know if you read that or if you saw that headline.
- 9:50Okay, so...
- 9:51But you had me at AI is not
- 9:53reliable.
- 9:55Right?
- 9:57Yeah.
- 9:57I think Sam Altman
- 10:01also was in the news
- 10:02where... I think it was Sam Altman. I got to double
- 10:05check. I have the news
- 10:06the report saved, but you can
- 10:09fact check me on this, but I believe with Sam Altman,
- 10:13they just invested about 30, I think it was a million or billion, let's just say a million,
- 10:17into genetic embryo
- 10:20manipulation, basically. Genetic coding, which I found interesting
- 10:25as well. Someone who's at the forefront of AI wants to
- 10:29get involved in manipulating the human genome.
- 10:33Interesting.
- 10:34uh yeah well look i mean sam altman is a is a slippery character i think most of these guys
- 10:41are we talked about elon i think the last time we chatted yeah we did these these guys uh not only
- 10:47do they not have any any ethic or more more ethical or moral compass um i don't i don't think
- 10:54they have the discipline to lead us into the future with ai now scott who i work with who i
- 11:00think it just jumped in here um made a comment when i had him on the podcast a couple weeks ago
- 11:06that we may hit the bubble before we we actually get where we're going and i first and i'm excited
- 11:12to believe that's true yeah i i think i agree with that statement i do absolutely yeah um so
- 11:20outside of that i mean you know the world right now is crazy um again i i just had that conversation
- 11:28with Kervin Oakwin.
- 11:29He's an ex-Army intelligence analyst
- 11:32and he's actually still in the intelligence community.
- 11:35So, you know, some stuff we talk about,
- 11:37he can't reveal exact things
- 11:40for reasons I don't really have to explain, I'm sure.
- 11:43But live right now.
- 11:44Yeah.
- 11:45Thank you so much.
- 11:48Excuse me.
- 11:49What did I tell you, George?
- 11:51Oh, I don't know.
- 11:53No, no, no.
- 11:54What I told you before.
- 11:55Anyway, go on.
- 11:56Oh, I'm sorry.
- 11:57I apologize.
- 11:58Go continue.
- 12:00I'm sorry.
- 12:00I didn't hear you.
- 12:01So the conversation, first off, we talked about Venezuela.
- 12:06And I don't want to get too deep into that.
- 12:09I'll just say that there's a lot going on that we don't understand with that situation.
- 12:14And a lot of it can be a strategic move by the United States.
- 12:19Other things may be to, you know, basically what Maduro is doing is to try to gain favor with the people because of the, you know, they're not really aligned right now.
- 12:27the government and the people there.
- 12:29But as far as like the Gerald Ford going over to that giant,
- 12:32you know,
- 12:32warship,
- 12:32the biggest one we have was actually rerouted there because it was already
- 12:37done.
- 12:37What was going on over in the middle East.
- 12:39So it wasn't like it was a intentional move for,
- 12:44for example,
- 12:44but it was something that they had to do where we start talking about China's
- 12:47involvement over there with the Panama canal and their other,
- 12:51their other investments that they're trying to make to control that area.
- 12:54And so the more the more we talked it like this operation that was just announced And the thing about these operations that he explained from his military background was like look just because there an operation announced doesn mean we actually doing anything
- 13:09He said a lot of times they have to say that there's an operation, for example, for funding because the military is very bureaucratic.
- 13:16And so this just sets things up for them to get funding for the operation, to try to get personnel in line.
- 13:22but it doesn't mean we're actually taking military action,
- 13:25even though Venezuela is taking it that way.
- 13:27But we did talk about, well, I kind of pushed back.
- 13:30It was like, well, what's going on in your mind
- 13:32or what you think?
- 13:33Because what about what's going on
- 13:35with the narco-terrorists, right?
- 13:37Why are we just blowing these people up?
- 13:40And we can argue about due process and all that.
- 13:42But the reality is, you know,
- 13:44these narco organizations were designated as terrorists.
- 13:47So there's a fine line there
- 13:50where the military could take action or not.
- 13:52But at the same time, I told Kerwin, I was like, and he agreed with me.
- 13:55It's like with all the training our military has and how proficient we are, why are we not, if this is who we know to be narcos, for example, why are we not just taking these boats over and arresting these people instead of just blasting them?
- 14:07I get you can take the whole anti-terrorist side, but at the same time, you know, these operations when it comes to narcos from everyone I've talked to that is like ex-DEA agents and FBI is they already know what's going on.
- 14:20They know the trade route.
- 14:21They know exactly what's happening.
- 14:23They know who the players are.
- 14:24And they don't engage military, for example, or Coast Guard until they know.
- 14:32They always work jointly.
- 14:33And a lot of the information in intel is based on what the DEA is providing.
- 14:38So these operations, these investigations are in effect.
- 14:41And so there's that side of it that a lot of us aren't told.
- 14:44but at the same time,
- 14:47it's like,
- 14:48should we be like shooting and destroying before we actually,
- 14:52you know,
- 14:53get these people and interrogate them and find out what's really happening.
- 14:56It was a very interesting conversation.
- 14:59And it still leaves me asking questions.
- 15:01Let's just put it that way.
- 15:03And,
- 15:04you know,
- 15:04there's that possibility of like,
- 15:05well,
- 15:05are we setting ourselves up for regime,
- 15:07regime change in Venezuela?
- 15:09Well,
- 15:09maybe I'm not really sure,
- 15:11but it was,
- 15:12it was an interesting conversation for sure.
- 15:13and again I walked away with probably more questions than I have answers for
- 15:18but at least I can say that everyone who thinks that there's
- 15:22actual military action like of course Trump mobilizing 16,000
- 15:26troops well that's already part of what's going on with
- 15:30Southcom or the southern area of responsibility like the commanding
- 15:34military position out there it's not that we're mobilizing troops to invade
- 15:38so again I thought that was a bit eye opening I thought I'd share that
- 15:42with everyone as well?
- 15:44Yeah, look, I'm
- 15:46still of the mindset
- 15:47and I know there's like a
- 15:50broad point, but
- 15:52when it comes to anything we're doing abroad,
- 15:54I'm looking at it and I'm going, where
- 15:56is America first? I didn't
- 15:58vote for this guy
- 16:00and I'm curious how you feel, but I'm
- 16:02like, where is America first?
- 16:04We're just now getting out of this government shutdown.
- 16:07Where
- 16:07are our leaders prioritizing
- 16:11our problem?
- 16:12I can go on about what's going on around the world.
- 16:16I had my opinions on how to handle terrorism.
- 16:19I had my opinions on us imposing regime change.
- 16:23But when it all comes down to it,
- 16:24it should all be second fiddle
- 16:27to taking care of the American people.
- 16:31And I don't know how you as someone that supports
- 16:33this admin reconciles.
- 16:36And it's also getting very noisy around politics.
- 16:38No, it's all right.
- 16:40I just feel like I'm sitting down having coffee
- 16:42with you at a restaurant, which is really cool. I'll be honest, man. I am not necessarily in favor
- 16:50of regime change for the reason that who is next in line is not always the better option.
- 16:59And I think that geopolitics, a lot of people don't understand. There's a lot of nuance.
- 17:03And I think a lot of people, not to offend anybody, by the way, I'm not offending anybody,
- 17:07but a lot of people are naive to how geopolitics works. It's literally about power and control.
- 17:11It's asserting your global position to be the leader of the world or the authority.
- 17:18Now, we can disagree with everything the U.S. does.
- 17:21Example, I'm with you.
- 17:22You've said it before.
- 17:23I don't believe we need to be funding as many people as we do.
- 17:26Like, we literally fund, I think it was last time, 220 or 240 countries and territories around the entire globe.
- 17:34And the first thing everybody thinks about is how much money are we sending to Israel?
- 17:37Yes, we send them, honestly, in my opinion, too much money.
- 17:40but at the same time,
- 17:42they're not the only people we're funding.
- 17:44We're not.
- 17:45And so what you got to look at
- 17:46is from this perspective
- 17:47is a lot of this funding,
- 17:48this aid,
- 17:50is a way of the United States
- 17:53creating inroads to relationships.
- 17:55And in some cases,
- 17:57people may disagree with this,
- 17:58which is fine,
- 17:59but the reality is
- 18:00it's also where we're positioning ourselves
- 18:02to have leverage.
- 18:04Okay?
- 18:05So it's a dirty game.
- 18:08It really is.
- 18:09I don't agree with everything
- 18:10that we do whatsoever.
- 18:12But if we step out
- 18:13and create that vacuum,
- 18:14are we ready for China
- 18:15to take up the mantle?
- 18:17Are we ready for Putin
- 18:18to take up the mantle,
- 18:19for example?
- 18:20Both of those guys
- 18:22are standing off to the side
- 18:24just waiting to pound.
- 18:25Absolutely.
- 18:26Yeah, you're right.
- 18:27You're absolutely right.
- 18:28And so, anyway,
- 18:29that's just my opinion.
- 18:30And I'm not saying
- 18:32that I'm right.
- 18:33My opinion is not necessarily
- 18:34the end-all be-all
- 18:35in that situation.
- 18:35But when it comes to geopolitics,
- 18:36it is dirty.
- 18:37There is a reason
- 18:38these things are done.
- 18:39and no, I don't agree with it all.
- 18:41As far as America first, yes,
- 18:43agree with you. I think for way
- 18:45too long, we've put our interests
- 18:47to the side for the interests
- 18:49of others, but
- 18:51I don't believe in America
- 18:53only. We can't be
- 18:55this island nation either.
- 18:57I agree, but when you
- 18:58sell something like that on the campaign
- 19:01trail. Oh yeah, you're talking about
- 19:03Trump. Yeah, and then
- 19:04all you're doing is focusing on what's
- 19:07abroad, and I understand, particularly with Israel.
- 19:08I mean, the strategic relationship has always been about having a foothold in the region.
- 19:16It's always been about oil.
- 19:18Yeah, well, yeah.
- 19:20Most of the least is absolutely about that.
- 19:22I always get shredded when I say this, but it's the one thing that the right and the left in Congress support unequivocally is Israel.
- 19:30And I say that as a Jewish American, and I get a lot of pushback for them.
- 19:34But it's the truth.
- 19:35I'm like, you got to question that the one thing that they all agree on unequivocally.
- 19:38And I'm not anti, I support Israel.
- 19:41I support the people of the region.
- 19:45I don't support the leaders of either government.
- 19:49That's an important distinction though.
- 19:50You know, a lot of people don't get,
- 19:53it's like criticizing the nation state or government Israel
- 19:56is different than criticizing the Jewish people.
- 19:59For example, it's the same as saying
- 20:02everything Trump does represents every American.
- 20:05It just doesn't equate.
- 20:07It's not the same.
- 20:07No, well, it does on the global stage, but that's just because that's...
- 20:11Well, understood, but then the argument is also that Netanyahu represents all Jews.
- 20:17No, he represents all Israeli people.
- 20:19Not everyone is real Jewish.
- 20:20That's a huge distinction.
- 20:21That's a very different...
- 20:22One's a nationality, one's a religion.
- 20:25Right, just saying.
- 20:25That's a level of nuance.
- 20:27Oh, understood.
- 20:28Netanyahu's actions represent, based on what you're theorizing,
- 20:32that now that one who's actioned represent the israeli people not the jewish people
- 20:38and that's where alchemism gets brought to the state side here domestically and that gets
- 20:43consulated with israel's policy but israel is not judaism they are very well yeah true but there
- 20:50i mean we as a jew as someone who's jewish you i mean you got you have to all submit there's only
- 20:55one jewish state oh i have issues with that but this is very separate from the reality that
- 21:01Israel may be a Jewish state,
- 21:04but the Israeli people are a mixed bag.
- 21:06There are Muslims, there are Christians,
- 21:08there are Jews. I mean, you go to Israel for Christmas,
- 21:10there's Christmas trees up in the mall.
- 21:12Of course, and I am not saying
- 21:14it's not diverse. No, no, no, but I'm saying
- 21:15we live in
- 21:17a very black and white world,
- 21:20even though it's, let me just
- 21:21phrase that, people live in a very black
- 21:23and white world. Yeah, it's gray.
- 21:26And so there's a level of nuance
- 21:27there that doesn't get really broken
- 21:29down, and then I think that means
- 21:31anti-Semitism.
- 21:34I'm not disagreeing with you.
- 21:35That's why I have a problem with Netanyahu,
- 21:38by the way. I can't stand Netanyahu.
- 21:39Yeah, we see it pretty
- 21:41much the same way, man.
- 21:43I think people are conflating
- 21:46the government of Israel and their
- 21:47actions with what
- 21:50the people of Israel really want.
- 21:52And I guess that's
- 21:54the better way to say this.
- 21:56I think the people of Israel,
- 21:57I mean, I talked to Mark Stillman a couple times here
- 21:59on Substack. I think the people of Israel want stability
- 22:01in the region. I think generally speaking,
- 22:03that's not coming from Netanyahu.
- 22:07And I think
- 22:07most people also support the
- 22:09Palestinian people.
- 22:09Most people in that region support the Palestinian
- 22:12people.
- 22:13Are we to say then
- 22:15that the Israeli people,
- 22:18I mean, I don't think Netanyahu
- 22:19is, after this going on,
- 22:21I don't know if he's going to be voted back in
- 22:24or continue his reign here.
- 22:25Well, if he does, it'll be through corruption. It won't be
- 22:27through anything legitimate.
- 22:28true i agree with that well yeah i can't stand beating that yeah i agree but listen i i this is
- 22:38getting really noisy here and i want to give you my full attention and i feel like i'm being inundated
- 22:42by people and what i was saying to you earlier someone just came up to me and started talking
- 22:45to me and i was like i'm live right now and she's like oh i don't care i just want to talk to you
- 22:49i'm like no i i do i do i'm talking to george right now no you're it's it's all fine all i hear
- 22:57chat in the background it's okay same same same uh but look look so what i want to do maybe maybe
- 23:04even next sunday if you're up for it i don't i don't know what your schedule looks like maybe
- 23:08we sit down i can do a proper chat face to face um i feel like uh we get more mileage out of those
- 23:13chats doing it that way well i mean there's it's um there's there's a lot lost when you can't see
- 23:18people's faces and reactions for sure yes but you know that that being that being said i mean look
- 23:25I think this is
- 23:28I still like this opportunity with you
- 23:30appreciate it
- 23:32but
- 23:33you know
- 23:35it's just that
- 23:36what we're talking about
- 23:38earlier with geopolitics
- 23:41you know for example
- 23:42AI
- 23:43it's just
- 23:44let's just change this a bit
- 23:47it's just so crazy
- 23:48how the world's become
- 23:50and I think a lot of
- 23:51what's going on too
- 23:52outside of like
- 23:53what's really
- 23:53what the governments
- 23:54of these nations are really doing,
- 23:56how the information space,
- 23:58this information warfare has become what it is today
- 24:02and how people are led by likes, clicks,
- 24:05and the number of followers.
- 24:07And that's another conversation I had recently.
- 24:09And I know that you and I talked about this
- 24:11before a little bit,
- 24:12but it seems like it's been ramping up.
- 24:14Can we not attribute a lot of this anti-Semitism,
- 24:17for example,
- 24:19to just what's being stirred up on social media?
- 24:23yeah excellent excellent yeah and and with that being said it's it's like i think a lot of people
- 24:30like look we use social media everybody that's listening around here right now is using social
- 24:35media i don't have a problem with it whatsoever but i think a lot of people need to understand
- 24:39this isn't the real world because soon as you i mean more more to the point x for example that
- 24:44that place is i i can't even i have to step away many times because it's so convoluted with i'm
- 24:49barely on it these days. I've taken a huge break
- 24:52because it's just such negative energy.
- 24:54It's the intent
- 24:55behind the algorithm is so negative.
- 24:58Right. Well,
- 24:59where I'm going with this is when I'm getting back to these
- 25:01political commentators, I'm not going to name anyone
- 25:03out. I do it on my show, but I won't do it on yours.
- 25:05I'll name whoever you want. What do I do?
- 25:07All right. Well, okay. So when we're talking
- 25:09about, let me just throw someone out.
- 25:12Let's say like Dave Smith. I don't know. I have a thing
- 25:13with him lately for whatever reason.
- 25:15But this is just for example's
- 25:17sake, everybody. I'm not
- 25:18I'm not necessarily bashing him, but this is what I'm going to tell everybody, is a lot of these people think they're extremely relevant on the big stage, for example.
- 25:28They believe that their political reach and what they have to say is accepted and backed by everybody.
- 25:35When I was doing the numbers, I realized there was like 300, I think it was 346 or 42 million people in the United States.
- 25:42So of those people, 111 million are actually on X.
- 25:47So it's less than half, right?
- 25:48And then if you take that number and apply it to how many voter people there are in the USA there only 284 million voter persons So less than half of those voter persons are using X Also only 59 of X users actually use it and engage
- 26:08for political reasons. So people like Dave Smith, for example, and myself too, I mean,
- 26:14I'll include myself, we're only actually talking to maybe 30% of the voter-aged people of the
- 26:22United States of America?
- 26:23And I mean,
- 26:24you're not even looking
- 26:24at the numbers
- 26:25that disenfranchised,
- 26:26right?
- 26:26All the people
- 26:26that don't even vote.
- 26:27So yeah,
- 26:28you have a very small amount
- 26:29of loud people
- 26:30driving the narrative.
- 26:31Exactly.
- 26:32Even in quote-unquote
- 26:33alternative media.
- 26:35Which is crazy.
- 26:36Oh, I agree.
- 26:38I'm just hoping
- 26:39that one day,
- 26:40you know,
- 26:41people will question more
- 26:42and I get it
- 26:43because we don't have the time.
- 26:44Like,
- 26:45you know,
- 26:46myself included,
- 26:46like,
- 26:47we have our routines,
- 26:48we have everything we're doing
- 26:49throughout the day
- 26:49and,
- 26:50you know,
- 26:51you're busy,
- 26:52you're taking the kids, let's say, to soccer or whatever you're doing, right? You have all these
- 26:56schedules, your work, your job, and you see a headline pop up. You're like, oh, wow, that's
- 26:59what's happening. And you don't necessarily have the time to do a deeper dive. So I get it.
- 27:04I wish people would stop just taking the headline or just gleaming the surface and taking it for
- 27:09face value. I want to, at some point, see more people question and do their own research.
- 27:14I think that's another issue that we're having. Same thing that happened to me with the AI search,
- 27:19right? That's exactly it. That's the problem,
- 27:21George, because
- 27:22there are two types of people. They're going to be the people
- 27:25that trust everything that AI says to them,
- 27:27and it's going to dumb them down because they're going to
- 27:28accept all the erroneous
- 27:31results as facts.
- 27:33And then there's the type of people that are going to
- 27:35understand that it's just there to optimize
- 27:37and that you can't just use
- 27:39it without stat checking it. You can't have
- 27:41it right for you without rereading
- 27:43it. You can't have it.
- 27:44It's a multiplier. It's not a
- 27:47replacement to it. So I think it's
- 27:49going to do great for guys like us that recognize that and are willing to do the diligence but i
- 27:52think the mass population is going to wind up getting swept up in the the fact that they will
- 27:58no longer be able to tell what's real and that's what um important you know what royce i just saw
- 28:04this pop up ronald is trumpism a cult um you know what that's that's funny because i was going to
- 28:11actually segue a little bit with you into what you yourself have you know your opinion on this
- 28:17MAGA conservative infighting is.
- 28:20But as far as
- 28:22is Trumpism a cult,
- 28:24I think that
- 28:26MAGA right now,
- 28:28since that's
- 28:30the hot topic these days,
- 28:32I think a lot of people are cult-like.
- 28:35But I don't think
- 28:36it's just limited to MAGA. Let me just clarify
- 28:38that. But I think it transcends
- 28:40politics. I think it's social media as a whole.
- 28:43Yeah, yeah.
- 28:44But when it does come to politics,
- 28:45there is a lot of cultism in,
- 28:48or cult-like behavior in politics in general.
- 28:51That's extreme, isn't it?
- 28:52Correct.
- 28:53Yeah, absolutely.
- 28:54And to answer you, Ronald,
- 28:55I think there is a lot of that going on.
- 28:57I'm not going to say that there isn't.
- 29:00I think some people are just riding this Trump train
- 29:03and without question,
- 29:05and I will say,
- 29:06and I'm going to say this, guys,
- 29:08I'm going to say this,
- 29:08I did vote for him,
- 29:09and you can hate me for that, it's fine.
- 29:11I just didn't like the alternative.
- 29:13Everyone has their opinions,
- 29:14but it doesn't mean I'm bought in.
- 29:16I mean, if you ever listen to my show,
- 29:17if anyone does,
- 29:18I am critical of him too.
- 29:19I don't, I'm not saying everything he does
- 29:21makes sense whatsoever
- 29:22because it doesn't.
- 29:24Where I'm at right now is,
- 29:25I fear,
- 29:27is this cult-like behavior
- 29:30that Ronald asked about,
- 29:32is it going to continue
- 29:34and carry over to the next president
- 29:37if they happen to be Republican?
- 29:39A lot of people are looking at J.D. Vance.
- 29:40I've got to be honest.
- 29:42I'm not sure he's going to be the guy.
- 29:43I think a lot of what Trump is doing is hurting J.D. Vance right now, and I don't think it's going to be able to push him.
- 29:48He's got the tech money, though.
- 29:50If they want him, they'll get him.
- 29:51The question is, what's going to be the alternative?
- 29:53There is that.
- 29:55Yeah, yeah, there is that.
- 29:56There is that.
- 29:57You're right.
- 29:57Money does move the world.
- 29:59He's got by Peter Thiel.
- 30:02But is that enough to convince people?
- 30:05Because here's the thing.
- 30:06If we're looking at, for example.
- 30:07You don't need to convince people, George.
- 30:08You know that.
- 30:09All you have to do is sow this information.
- 30:11We've already talked about this.
- 30:12No, I know, I know.
- 30:14But this goes right back to the AI conversation.
- 30:16Because now when people don't know what's true anymore,
- 30:19they're forming their opinions off of misinformation.
- 30:21They are doing that with social media.
- 30:23Now you add AI to it,
- 30:25it's going to be very, very easy to manipulate elections in the future.
- 30:31Whether we're talking about deep states,
- 30:32we're just talking about AI telling you that your candidate has this, that,
- 30:37and the other opinion like they did with you,
- 30:38and then they don't.
- 30:40Okay, hold on.
- 30:42You are absolutely correct in that, but let me push back a little on this.
- 30:50It's going to be hard to weed through, as you said, the disinformation when it comes to our next election, right?
- 30:58But this is where I was going to go with this.
- 31:01If you're monitoring what's going on around the world, the Gen Z uprising right now, okay?
- 31:04So there was Peru, Nepal, what's going on in Africa.
- 31:07Right now, you had the protests in Mexico.
- 31:09I think a lot of the younger generation
- 31:13are seeing past the bullshit
- 31:16there's already been two governments overthrown by these Gen Z uprisings
- 31:20now a lot of it has to do with resources
- 31:24for example if we're talking about Africa
- 31:26their governments can't even provide running water, electricity, food
- 31:30there's a lot of things going on there that cause this
- 31:33their governments are not trustworthy
- 31:36In America, we don't have that disparity, right?
- 31:38We're not an emerging economy or a third world, as some people say.
- 31:42But there's a lot of opportunity in our system that a lot of the youth feel are not there for them anymore.
- 31:48And even for people of my age or your age, it seems like it's getting harder and harder to push through that barrier or that wall to get to the next level.
- 31:57So I wonder how long it is since already in Mexico, it's happening.
- 32:02It just happened, right?
- 32:03They overran the police.
- 32:05They overran the palace.
- 32:08How much longer is it going to be before the youth in America start to do the same thing?
- 32:15I don't know if the next election that the disinformation is going to be enough because I think a lot of people are already seeing through the BS.
- 32:21I don't know.
- 32:22I don't know if there will be.
- 32:23You look at past sort of quote-unquote uprisings, whether it was BLM, whether it was Occupy Wall Street.
- 32:30Right.
- 32:30I even point to this no-kings thing that just happened.
- 32:34And I go, okay, so there's really no leadership.
- 32:37And it doesn't correlate to getting up the vote.
- 32:39This whole no-kings rally, it looks good from a social media perspective.
- 32:45But if you can only get those people out when they're PO'd and not when it's time to vote, then it's all for naught.
- 32:50So where's the organization?
- 32:53As far as those examples, yes.
- 32:56But when it comes to this Gen Z uprising,
- 32:58I mean, we're looking at two actual governments
- 32:59that were toppled.
- 33:01We're talking about physically fighting the government.
- 33:03But they're not Americans.
- 33:04They're not Americans.
- 33:05No, not.
- 33:06Exactly.
- 33:06American is conditioned.
- 33:08And I just, I question if the drive is there
- 33:12and I question if the leadership is there.
- 33:14You look at Occupy Wall Street,
- 33:15I always point back to that.
- 33:16That was the most ineffective thing
- 33:18I've ever seen from a protest perspective.
- 33:20It made a lot of noise.
- 33:22But it had no call to action.
- 33:25It had no mission.
- 33:26no real direction yeah correct so so are we due for it yes are we equipped for it i don't know
- 33:33that is the question and that that's the question i'm i'm i'm bringing also it's like
- 33:38could it maybe i mean we we do we have seen a lot of uh youth a lot more vocal than they used to be
- 33:45um anyway i'm just throwing that out there it's just something to keep an eye on because
- 33:49it's become a global movement.
- 33:53Yeah.
- 33:54And they're communicating with each other
- 33:56through decentralized communication via social media.
- 33:59And again, I mean,
- 34:00when you also look at what's ripe
- 34:02with what's happening with America,
- 34:03you see the disenfranchised youth
- 34:05following Nick Fuentes,
- 34:07the Pied Piper of...
- 34:08I was going to say that, yeah.
- 34:09Yeah, driving the wedge in America.
- 34:12He's got no substance.
- 34:13He's a troll.
- 34:14Oh, he's a troll.
- 34:15Big time.
- 34:15I don't...
- 34:16Damn it.
- 34:17He's entertaining.
- 34:18He is entertaining.
- 34:19And Royce, listen, man, how can these, again, like a Dave Smith guy, how can these social media political commentators or podcasters, comedians, whatever, how can they take a position of America first, looking out for those that are less than, that have needs, to switching to backing Nick Fuentes, who has been a blatant racist, who admires Hitler, admires Stalin,
- 34:48even said it on Tucker Carlson's interview, for example,
- 34:50and Tucker said nothing.
- 34:52And he has this, if you read between the lines,
- 34:56because I actually watched a few of his episodes.
- 34:58I want to make this very clear.
- 34:59A lot of people always push back and say,
- 35:00you're taking him out of context.
- 35:01Well, for the sake of not taking Nick out of context,
- 35:04I watched about five of his episodes front to back
- 35:06just to see how he is.
- 35:08So sorry.
- 35:09Right?
- 35:10And the guy is literally wanting a utopian Nazi America.
- 35:15Like, literally.
- 35:16He doesn't believe what he says.
- 35:17I think it's just like Candace.
- 35:19He says whatever he wants to say to get clicks and to disrupt.
- 35:22Well, true.
- 35:24Well, let me say that may be true.
- 35:26A moderate-day shock job.
- 35:27That may be true.
- 35:28So at what point, if what you're saying is true, Royce, at what point, as you've discussed with me before,
- 35:35do we start holding these people accountable for not self-censoring or self-moderating themselves?
- 35:41So that's where we get to the nitty-gritty because I suggest that Congress is the one that needs to start regulating content.
- 35:49And people could say, well, do you really want to put all that power in the hands of Congress?
- 35:53And I say, well, the people can't regulate themselves.
- 35:56And the platforms aren't doing it.
- 35:57So our leaders need to legislate.
- 35:59And they're failing us.
- 36:01But I want to kind of pivot to answer Ronald's question.
- 36:04I'm sure I've voted for Trump three times, and I never voted for Trump.
- 36:07But I can answer the question.
- 36:08most people in this country
- 36:10feel completely disenfranchised.
- 36:12They feel like that they were born
- 36:13without any opportunity to succeed.
- 36:16Okay?
- 36:16And despite the fact that Donald Trump
- 36:19was born with a silver spoon in his mouth,
- 36:21he always spoke to working class people.
- 36:24He always spoke unfiltered.
- 36:27And he was ingrained in our culture
- 36:29from the 80s forward.
- 36:31I mean, his name is mentioned
- 36:32in countless vats.
- 36:33So he was ingrained in our culture,
- 36:35which means people knew him.
- 36:37So when you put up anybody
- 36:38that looks less than authentic against a guy like that,
- 36:41people will vote for him because they see him for who he is
- 36:44even if they do not like him.
- 36:46He brings agenda.
- 36:48And that's a hard pill for people to swallow.
- 36:50I mean, he knew his base.
- 36:52He knew his audience for sure.
- 36:54And that's exactly what we're seeing with people like Nick Fuentes, for example.
- 36:57Going back to Nick.
- 36:58He knows how to target people's frustrations.
- 37:05He is...
- 37:05He's in a desperate soul.
- 37:07Absolutely.
- 37:07he's playing the great sympathizer. I can lead
- 37:10you to a better way. Come on board.
- 37:12And he can't because
- 37:13he's a turd in plain English. And I know
- 37:15that's not an eloquent way of saying it, but he's
- 37:17a turd.
- 37:19These people around me are driving me up a wall.
- 37:22Right. Just by their presence.
- 37:24Just by their presence. Between you and I,
- 37:26they can't hear me. There's a driver.
- 37:27Are they closing in on you?
- 37:29They're closing in on me and like, I don't
- 37:32relate to the humans generally.
- 37:34So, there's a lot for me.
- 37:36There's a lot. That's funny.
- 37:37Yeah. But look, I think this is why guys like you and I should keep talking because I can sit here and answer Ronald's question in a way that maybe I hope will make more sense than if it comes from a guy like you who voted for him.
- 37:53And I'm not suggesting, Ronald, you are the person, but some people have that wall up. And I understand that people want a disruptor. I've always wanted a disruptor. Since my college days, Ralph Nader running, I was at MSG. I've always wanted a disruptor.
- 38:06Donald Trump had my boat at the top of the escalator
- 38:09and he lost it at the moment.
- 38:11Yeah, you know, and people do want to shake things up.
- 38:14And the problem is,
- 38:18we're never going to have an honest politician ever.
- 38:22I hope that is not the case in the future.
- 38:25But, you know, I got to think that
- 38:28people got to understand you're being lied to every day.
- 38:31It doesn't matter if it's Democrat.
- 38:33It doesn't matter if it's Republican.
- 38:34It doesn't matter if it's independent.
- 38:36everybody's going to say what you want to hear
- 38:39to get the votes.
- 38:41Who they are is always revealed
- 38:43once they're in office, right?
- 38:44I mean, how many of our elected officials,
- 38:47for example, let's talk about Congress,
- 38:49are actually doing what you voted them in to do?
- 38:52Are they really representing you?
- 38:54None of them Listen and the clown show is Congress okay You can look at the executive branch The consistent failure in our country is and will always be Congress
- 39:05These are the guys that have been there forever.
- 39:06The Schumers, the Pelosi's, the McConnell's.
- 39:10So I don't really buy into...
- 39:13Because with proper checks and balances, then you wouldn't have to constantly...
- 39:18You wouldn't have to constantly point the finger at the admin.
- 39:21With proper checks and balances, they'd be able to check the admin.
- 39:25And then you wouldn't have to deal with some of this nonsense.
- 39:27But what Trump is doing so effectively, he's moving so fast.
- 39:30He knows that they're not pushing back.
- 39:31The courts aren't pushing back quick enough.
- 39:32The system is too slow.
- 39:34And he learned that from Roy Tung.
- 39:36Okay, so what he's doing is pushing as much and out there
- 39:39onto the system as possible and essentially overloading it.
- 39:45And that's, I don't even, where are we at with the tariffs?
- 39:48You know, we're supposed to pay none of that.
- 39:50I don't know.
- 39:51I don't know what's happening with that.
- 39:52Look, I'm watching it.
- 39:54I think T-shirt runs wrong.
- 39:58I'm serious.
- 39:59This guy looks like a leader.
- 40:01We were a tariff nation at one point in our history.
- 40:05But here's my thing with tariffs.
- 40:08They're not going away.
- 40:10The absurdity of how they're being used as a weapon is the problem.
- 40:15What happens if we have to hand all that money back?
- 40:19Well, exactly.
- 40:20Now bank us up like a Trump casino.
- 40:21know.
- 40:24I'm asking.
- 40:26Well, no, look, let me just say this here.
- 40:28Tariffs are going away.
- 40:29Americans just have a small.
- 40:33Tariffs are, the way tariffs were, the way Trump was, okay, this is how it was explained
- 40:39in the beginning that Trump was supposed to use this, right?
- 40:42It was just supposed to be leverage, a way to renegotiate and make things more even.
- 40:47But he got away from that.
- 40:49He never stuck to that plan.
- 40:50And now he's just using it as a weapon to get other people to bend.
- 40:55But I mean, it's proven that other countries are not necessarily going to bend the knee to Trump.
- 41:00So are you surprised?
- 41:01Are you surprised that instead of using it strategically, he's using it like a blunt fool?
- 41:05No, no, I'm not that surprised whatsoever.
- 41:08But what Trump is doing, what he doesn't realize is like tariffs are a road to isolationism.
- 41:13And you can't isolate America because the economy is global.
- 41:17It's been global for many, many years.
- 41:19we can't get away from this global economy
- 41:22we're too dependent
- 41:23you can't manufacture your way out of it
- 41:25no exactly
- 41:26I was literally just going to say that
- 41:28we're too dependent on other nations
- 41:32for their expertise
- 41:33for their resources
- 41:35we don't have it all in our own backyard
- 41:38it's just not going to happen
- 41:38we have to work with everybody period
- 41:40China takes all of our
- 41:44business all of our manufacturing business
- 41:46right and not only do they
- 41:48take that business
- 41:49Then they turn around and they steal the intellectual property
- 41:52from the people they're doing business with.
- 41:54And then they trade, yes, they do.
- 41:55They trade loans and they overflow the marketplace.
- 41:58So we have to figure out that dance.
- 42:02I've had enough conversations now doing this with people where
- 42:04I used to think, oh, we're at war with China.
- 42:07We got to win the war.
- 42:09And I've kind of been talked off that ledge
- 42:10by having these types of conversations.
- 42:12I will admit that.
- 42:13And I think that we just need to dance better with them.
- 42:16But I think we need to be more aggressive.
- 42:18well we can't we can't we can't ignore china's um economic prowess in the world whatsoever but
- 42:25we also got to realize that china is not western culture they don't see it the way we do
- 42:29you know and and these companies are like well we have patents on this they shouldn't be sealing
- 42:33we're going to sue them well good luck china doesn't have to comply you know how are you
- 42:37going to force another nation to comply it's not going to happen i i was privy to this a long time
- 42:41ago because i'm i'm in the events industry right so i literally provide staging lighting um sound
- 42:46I do the whole concert thing.
- 42:48I do corporate events.
- 42:49I do arena tours.
- 42:50And in my particular industry,
- 42:53we're talking about lighting
- 42:54and we'll talk about brands
- 42:55like Martin, Alation, Chave.
- 42:57If anyone who's listening
- 42:57knows what I'm talking about.
- 42:58I love Chave.
- 43:00Yeah, they've been battling this for years
- 43:02and where they'll come up
- 43:05with a certain design,
- 43:07certain technology,
- 43:07and they have these plants in China.
- 43:10And then all of a sudden
- 43:10you see these clones
- 43:11and we see other people
- 43:13using these clones out there
- 43:14of these lighting.
- 43:14So they're trying to meet
- 43:15what's called a tour rider
- 43:16For anyone who doesn't know, it's basically an artist sends you a writer and a part of that's a tech writer.
- 43:22So what will happen is to say, well, for an artist to perform, I need this console brand, for example, which is like a mixing board.
- 43:27All right.
- 43:28I need this type of lighting in the grid because my guy designed the lighting based on these fixtures.
- 43:33And so what happened is you started seeing people buying these knockoffs and trying to push them off as the actual brand.
- 43:39It's been going on for many years.
- 43:41And then you go to use them and the profiles don't match.
- 43:43Like there's always something off.
- 43:45so when this started happening
- 43:47people like Chauvet and Martin
- 43:49for example are losing money
- 43:50they're trying to push back and the same thing happened with
- 43:53I mean let's just talk about cell phones with Apple right
- 43:54with any cell phone that
- 43:57is Android
- 43:59based and
- 44:00this has been going on a long time I think it's just coming
- 44:03to light now because of the tariff situation
- 44:05where people are paying more attention
- 44:07but this is something China's always
- 44:09done this isn't new this is not new
- 44:11news for example
- 44:13I think people just never really realized it was happening.
- 44:19No, I know.
- 44:20I remember dealing with this with Pangolin,
- 44:22Pangolin lasers and the dongles.
- 44:24And you could get the unofficial dongles
- 44:26so you could start,
- 44:27you need like a certain license for a laser.
- 44:30And I was like, well, this is a safety issue
- 44:32that now our market's being flooded
- 44:34with like fake laser authentication
- 44:37and fake certification and all this.
- 44:39So I remember that with the dongles.
- 44:41They're like the $400 dongles.
- 44:42and you'd be getting cheaper.
- 44:43Now, you didn't have official certification
- 44:47to use the laser,
- 44:47but you had the Chinese certification.
- 44:49And a lot of people were trusting off of that.
- 44:51Which was, it's a safety issue.
- 44:53Because if somebody in that crowd
- 44:54gets hit wide with a laser,
- 44:55they'll get blinded.
- 44:57Right.
- 44:58Absolutely.
- 44:59You have to regulate that.
- 45:01Absolutely.
- 45:01But that's,
- 45:02these are the real issues
- 45:04that nobody talks about
- 45:05with knock-off products,
- 45:06especially in the tech industry.
- 45:09Well,
- 45:11I don't deal with that.
- 45:12you can't deal with it.
- 45:15That's the reality.
- 45:16We can't police China
- 45:18and tell them you can't produce this
- 45:21or produce that.
- 45:22The only way we can regulate it is,
- 45:26let's say in the United States,
- 45:27for example,
- 45:27like when you're talking about
- 45:28quality and safety,
- 45:31that has to be stopped
- 45:32when those goods are coming in.
- 45:35They have to be,
- 45:36I think what needs to happen
- 45:37is some of these goods
- 45:37need to come in,
- 45:38be inspected for safety
- 45:39and verify that they're safe
- 45:41for operation.
- 45:42before they're actually accepted and then flooded into our market.
- 45:45But you can't also stop the black market either.
- 45:50So can we get ahead of it?
- 45:52I think we could do a lot if we're actually taking those products.
- 45:55If there was another office set up here to QC these products that are coming in that are supposed to be ready.
- 46:01That requires legislation and that requires Congress to do their job.
- 46:05And I know I'm a broken record with that.
- 46:07No, you're not.
- 46:07It all starts there, man.
- 46:09No, you're not a broken record.
- 46:11all these ideas are fantastic but without effective leaders that we don't get and now
- 46:16we're dying on the vine with ai we're dying on the vine onset moderation we bypass net neutrality
- 46:21yep you know well let's talk about congress again so congress if you i did a deep i forgot which
- 46:28episode i did so and if anyone hears me i may be off on some of my recall to be quite honest
- 46:33it's been a while but congress if you look at congress historically it was supposed to be a
- 46:38service, right? Sometime around the, and it was never supposed to be a long-term career whatsoever.
- 46:44So sometime around, I think it was the late sixties, early seventies, I believe I got to,
- 46:49I got to go back, but it's somewhere around that period is when Congress actually voted to instill
- 46:56and up their salary. And I think at that point it was either bumped to about 60 to 70 something
- 47:01thousand dollars a year or something like that. Ever since then, they have voted to up their
- 47:07salary and their benefits. Right now we're at what, 175 or 170 something thousand a year
- 47:12is the salary for Congress. And it was never supposed to be a career.
- 47:19And now we see these people serving long-term. I mean, they get in in their 30s or 40s and
- 47:24they go until they either are medically incapable to serve or basically have to be forced out.
- 47:31so
- 47:32the way we fix this is we got to
- 47:36really instill term limits regardless
- 47:38I think who's going to lead
- 47:40that charge I mean you're really going to need
- 47:41you're really going to need
- 47:43I hate to say it you're going to need a tyrannical
- 47:46executive
- 47:48officer to come
- 47:50in and do that and then people are going to call
- 47:52him a dictator and all these things
- 47:54but it's going to take a little tyranny
- 47:56to reboot the system
- 47:57so
- 47:58So, but here's the thing, though.
- 48:02Do the people not have a responsibility?
- 48:04Do we not care enough to hold our government accountable?
- 48:07Because we really don't do that.
- 48:08We do, but most of the country doesn't show up to vote.
- 48:12Exactly.
- 48:12So, if we really wanted to use technology as a weapon, we could organize effectively, and we could vote all of these guys out.
- 48:20But the willpower has to be there.
- 48:21And I think part of the problem, George, is most people are stuck trying to get by every damn week, every damn day.
- 48:27That's exactly the truth.
- 48:28to worry about these things.
- 48:29So they get stuck in the system.
- 48:30They get stuck in their nine-to-five job,
- 48:32the recursive loop,
- 48:33the medical system,
- 48:34trying to afford the kids in education,
- 48:36all of these things.
- 48:37And there's no time to worry about government.
- 48:40Well, I guess worrying about government
- 48:41could solve their problems.
- 48:43But when they see it's broken,
- 48:44they become disenfranchised.
- 48:46Very true.
- 48:47And I guess we could blame Henry Ford
- 48:49for the five-day work week.
- 48:51But the thing is,
- 48:53what you're saying is exactly what I believe
- 48:55and what I say.
- 48:57People are too busy.
- 48:58They keep their heads down.
- 48:59It's not necessarily their fault.
- 49:01We've created this society to where we become overwhelmed and feel the pressure to be involved in all this crap that in the grand scheme of things means nothing.
- 49:13We're not paying attention to our government.
- 49:16We're not holding them accountable whatsoever.
- 49:19If we did, there would be the change that you're talking about.
- 49:22Do we need a dictator to make that work?
- 49:24Yeah.
- 49:26I think two things could be true.
- 49:28A tyrant.
- 49:29A tyrant.
- 49:30Okay, a tyrant.
- 49:30The problem is people call that a dictator.
- 49:33Oh, okay.
- 49:33Sorry, I misheard you.
- 49:36But more than one thing could be true at the same time, right?
- 49:39Absolutely.
- 49:41Congress needs to be overhauled.
- 49:44I believe you're correct.
- 49:45It needs to be overhauled.
- 49:46We need term limits.
- 49:48You shouldn't be able to serve until you're 80.
- 49:50Like, look, 65, whatever the retirement age,
- 49:53I mean, get them out.
- 49:54I think at some point...
- 49:56When I do that, take away their paychecks.
- 49:58If it's a volunteer.
- 50:00Absolutely.
- 50:02And that could be one way to put the squeeze on them, right?
- 50:04If you're going to close down, you don't get paid.
- 50:06If you're not showing up to work, you don't get paid.
- 50:08I mean, it's like us.
- 50:10If we have a full-time job, you have so much vacation pay, so much sick time, whatever the hell it is.
- 50:14You don't get to bleed the system dry and the taxpayers dry by continuing to make your exorbitant salaries because you choose to not go to work.
- 50:24But that's the 1%.
- 50:25and you're only going to change it by storming the
- 50:27spiel. And I know that's controversial,
- 50:29especially after what has gone on
- 50:31in the last few years.
- 50:33It's the truth, man.
- 50:35You got to be a disruptor.
- 50:37I don't support this guy. You know that.
- 50:39But I understand why people do.
- 50:41It doesn't mean I like it.
- 50:44But as somebody that
- 50:45stands in the middle consistently,
- 50:47I can look at it and I can understand it.
- 50:49And I just wish that
- 50:51there were better options
- 50:53on the table because I think
- 50:55if you go back to
- 50:57that 2016 election
- 50:59and you look at Kasich and you look
- 51:01at Cruz and you look at Rebio and you realize
- 51:03the primary reason Trump won is because none of those
- 51:05guys would check their ego
- 51:06and he won by a margin, a
- 51:09slim margin, you realize
- 51:11that people didn't vote for Trump.
- 51:14Okay, they voted for themselves.
- 51:16Hmm.
- 51:18Good point.
- 51:19Good point. I want to wrap this up though
- 51:21if you don't mind.
- 51:22No, no, no.
- 51:23Oh, good.
- 51:26No, I agree.
- 51:26Disruption is fine.
- 51:28Listen, that's the nuance of it.
- 51:29Disruption is fine.
- 51:31Not fine.
- 51:31It's disruption.
- 51:33Yeah, we do have to shake stuff up for sure.
- 51:37Well, I mean, yeah, if you want to wrap this up, I'm fine with that.
- 51:40I'm about, yeah, I'm mostly through my cigar right now.
- 51:43I took the opportunity to sit outside since we're doing audio only.
- 51:46So, didn't want to wake my wife up either.
- 51:49Fair, fair.
- 51:50I'm having a hard time focusing, to be honest with you.
- 51:53Oh, no worries, man.
- 51:54Listen, do what you got to do.
- 51:57Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- 51:57No, do what you got to do.
- 51:58I'd be happy to come back.
- 51:59Any other.
- 52:00time. And at the same time, I would love to have you back on my show too. I think there's a lot
- 52:03that we can catch up on, discuss for sure. Absolutely.
- 52:07He just crossed the surface too. So George, thank you.
- 52:10And let's, again, I don't know. I don't even think we have anybody on Sunday. So if you want to,
- 52:14even if you want to do another one or you want to wait a week or two, you let me know.
- 52:17Oh, no, I'm gamed. Do me a favor. Just reach back out.
- 52:21Have Keanu reach back out to me and I'll see if I can make that happen.
- 52:26Thank you, sir. All right. Thank you, Royce. Appreciate it.
- 52:29Thank you. Everybody, thank you for listening, and we'll see you next time.
- 52:32George Fontes, World of Blade.
- 52:34All right. Bye, everybody.
- 52:35Thank you.