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00:00Senators held a weekend session as the government shutdown stretched into its 40th day today,
00:05but there were little signs of any progress.
00:08Senate Majority Leader John Thune says we're only a handful of votes away from reopening the government.
00:14Democratic leaders are pushing for an extension of subsidies under the Affordable Care Act
00:18as a condition to end the shutdown.
00:20President Trump said on Truth Social that Obamacare is the worst health care for the highest price.
00:26He also urged Republicans to redirect federal money that currently goes to health insurance companies
00:31under the Affordable Care Act and send it directly to individuals.
00:36Regarding tariffs, he also posted on Truth Social that people that are against tariffs are fools,
00:42adding that a dividend of at least $2,000 a person could be paid to Americans.
00:47A late-night decision on Friday from the Supreme Court on food stamps.
00:52It allowed the federal government to put a pause on fully funding SNAP in November.
00:56The court's decision pauses a lower court's order that forced the Trump administration
01:01to fully fund the food stamps program for November.
01:04The Trump administration had already committed to partially funding SNAP.
01:08Justice Ketanji Brown-Jackson issued the pause to give an appeals court more time
01:13to make a judgment on this government's appeal.
01:16She is assigned to handle emergency appeals from the First Circuit Court.
01:19The Supreme Court has not weighed in on the merits of the case.
01:22More than 2,500 flights were canceled this weekend as the FAA cut air traffic.
01:28This left travelers across the U.S. facing widespread disruptions amid the ongoing government shutdown.
01:34Officials warned the situation could worsen into the Thanksgiving holidays if the shutdown continues.
01:40According to FlightAware, the cancellations escalated yesterday,
01:43with more than 1,500 flights called off following more than 1,000 the previous day.
01:48Major airports in Atlanta, Chicago, Charlotte, and Newark were among those seeing the heaviest disruptions.
01:56Staffing shortages at radar centers and control towers are worsening the situation.
02:00Many air traffic controllers who have gone without paychecks for nearly a month
02:04are working mandatory overtime six days a week.
02:08According to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association,
02:11some have even taken second jobs to make ends meet.
02:16U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that if the shutdown continues,
02:21even more flight reductions could be necessary.
02:25Experts say the impact isn't limited to passengers.
02:27Higher shipping costs and disruptions to tourism, manufacturing,
02:31and local economies could ripple across the country.
02:35Next, nationwide flight cancellations continuing for the third day
02:39amid the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
02:43More than 1,700 flights were canceled today,
02:45according to flight tracking website FlightAware.
02:48The FAA announced initial cuts Friday as traffic control staff shortages continue.
02:54Here to discuss all things air travel amid the shutdown is travel blogger Jen Ruiz.
03:00Thank you so much for joining us, Jen.
03:01What is the state of the travel industry under the shutdown and with these flight cuts now?
03:05It is really challenging, particularly air travel.
03:12You still have the alternative of taking a train, of driving somewhere,
03:16if you're traveling domestically or somewhere that can be reached that way.
03:20But air travel is really chaotic right now just because we're at about 5% flight cancellations today
03:27and we're expected to hit 10% by Friday.
03:30Yeah, and we're talking about this 10%.
03:32So what impact could that have with that escalation?
03:38A lot.
03:39So first, we have a lot of delayed and canceled flights,
03:43and that has a domino effect, particularly as the day goes on.
03:47So right now, the very first thing that airlines are encouraging people to do
03:51is to check to see if they're able to cancel their own flights
03:54or reschedule their own flights preemptively.
03:56Practically every airline has instituted a flexible cancellation program or policy
04:02so that you wouldn't get charged in order to make those changes.
04:06And it's uncertain whether or not this will be resolved by Thanksgiving.
04:10Kayak.com put out a study that that Monday is actually the best day to travel,
04:15but I would absolutely advise trying to avoid air travel on those days,
04:21on or around Thanksgiving, wherever possible.
04:23Yeah, and hopefully this won't even be an issue around Thanksgiving.
04:26We are hearing inklings of talk on Capitol Hill about the potential of this shutdown ending soon,
04:33but it is a historically long shutdown.
04:36So how can air travelers prepare for this year's holiday season
04:39if indeed these cancellations and delays spread and perhaps go even beyond 10%?
04:46Absolutely, so you mentioned FlightAware, which is a great site because in addition to showing you
04:53where your actual plane is, you can actually search to see the number of cancellations per airport.
04:58It is the kind of major airports being affected now as opposed to the smaller regional airports
05:05and definitely still traveling first thing in the morning is your best bet because the plane is usually already there
05:11and is not delayed coming from someplace else.
05:14Something new that we're seeing people do now is actually schedule what they call backup flights.
05:19So there may be scheduling two or three flights, hoping that one of them takes off.
05:23If you're able to make this work with the new flexible cancellation policies that are temporarily in place,
05:29absolutely take advantage of that.
05:31Otherwise, you can use points and miles as a way to book perhaps an alternate backup flight
05:36that you can cancel without penalties and just get those points reinstated to your account for any reason.
05:43So it is definitely a challenging time right now, but if you anticipate these delays,
05:48I would also recommend making sure that you have your information up to date on your app
05:53for the airline that you're flying with because that's how you'll be the first to know
05:57when there is a cancellation or that there is something wrong so that you can hurry to rebook
06:02because time is of the essence.
06:05You're going to be trying to rebook with everyone else on your plane that is trying to do the same
06:09and there's only going to be a limited amount of open spots on any alternative flights that are still going.
06:14So making sure your information is up to date and that you act quickly,
06:17the minute that you get a notification is going to be of the essence.
06:21Now you mentioned, I want to go back, you mentioned how it's possible to say book multiple flights
06:27because of these flexible cancellation policies.
06:29So my concern with that, though, is that what if people, you know, a few maybe unscrupulous people
06:36book five flights, six flights just in case to have a backup for the backup
06:40and then, you know, the people who are trying to get places, they can't get a flight because of that.
06:45And that is truly the unprecedented, pardon me, that is the unprecedented issue
06:52that we are dealing with right now, particularly because this hasn't really happened before.
06:57And so you are seeing that and that is a possible consequence.
07:02And so I can't really speak as to whether or not that's going to be taking up spots for other people.
07:07It is going to be a natural consequence of kind of the chaos that we're in right now.
07:10Yeah, but I guess, you know, you got to do what you got to do.
07:13Do you have any tips for staying comfortable in an airport if you're waiting for a connecting flight?
07:17I mean, I had to spend the night in an airport earlier this year.
07:21It was not comfortable.
07:25Absolutely.
07:25I completely agree.
07:27And so I would recommend Priority Pass.
07:30You can get one for as low as $99 a year.
07:33And it gives you lounge access to different lounges around the world.
07:38So even if you don't have a credit card or other airline status or way to access these lounges,
07:42you as a normal traveler or passenger can get access and have more of a place to relax,
07:48especially if you have long delays.
07:50I love the minute suites.
07:52They're under the Priority Pass program.
07:54And they're basically these rooms that you can rent out where you have a place where you can lay down.
07:58You have a television, you have snacks, and most importantly, you're away from the chaos of the airport.
08:04Also, for anybody who is autistic or just feels very overwhelmed by being around a lot of people at the airport,
08:13a lot of airports are now having sensory rooms, sensory deprivation rooms,
08:18where you can go in and have a quiet space.
08:22They're usually gated, so you have to enter a code and not everybody can have access to them.
08:26And that's a great way for people who are feeling very overwhelmed by the stress of the airport
08:31to utilize those amenities provided.
08:33That sounds like a nice place that we could have here at NTD
08:36because things get a little stressful sometimes, as you might imagine.
08:40How have you been personally affected by this?
08:42I mean, I imagine you have some trips planned.
08:44What are you doing?
08:47I personally am looking wherever possible to see what the alternatives are
08:51and if I can keep my travel domestic and if I can drive or take a train instead, which is sad.
08:57I actually travel quite often for my birthday, which is during the holidays.
09:00But even if things are restored relatively quickly, like we're hoping they would be,
09:05we don't know what the effects will be long-term on the industry.
09:09And so I'm not really 100% sure that the industry and that the air travel in general
09:13is going to reboot by the holidays and by New Year.
09:16So I'm trying to find alternatives wherever possible and plan trips that maybe are not as far
09:24or as I would have wanted to go, but that are still exciting here locally.
09:29Well, let's hope this shutdown ends and everyone can get their holiday travel
09:32in somewhat of a reasonable shape because it's crazy enough as it is.
09:36Travel blogger Jen Ruiz, thank you so much.
09:39Joining me now to discuss the U.S.-Hungary energy deal is Rod Martin,
09:43founder and CEO of Martin Capital, and Kervin Okwin,
09:46a former intelligence professional with direct experience in U.S.-Russia relations.
09:51During the first Trump administration, he participated in an overt anti-Russia campaign
09:55and now hosts the geopolitical intelligence podcast, This Week Explained.
10:01Gentlemen, welcome back to the show.
10:03Kervin, the U.S. says its waiver for Hungary will last one year,
10:06but Budapest says it's indefinite. Help us make sense of this.
10:10Yeah, well, thank you so much for having me on.
10:15Very important discussion for the people of Hungary, I would say.
10:20So, so far right now, if you trust the reporting and the reporting and the analysis that I trust
10:26is that this is for one year with a supplemental flow for the future.
10:33So, as of right now, we're looking at a one-year reprieve from sanctions.
10:38It's very important because Orban is going through an election season, right?
10:43So, we've got April elections coming up in Hungary,
10:46and this is something that was very important to the Hungarian people
10:50and that Orban needed to get from the Trump administration.
10:54And really, it's going to save the Hungarian people a ton of money,
10:58but it's also going to protect them through this winter season as well.
11:03And staying with that, Rod, how important is Russian oil and gas to the landlocked nation of Hungary?
11:11Well, you just hit it on the head.
11:13They're a landlocked country in the middle.
11:16They really don't have any good options for the time being.
11:20We can't just go in and build an LNG terminal in a place that doesn't have ocean access.
11:25Now, could we build one in Croatia and pipe LNG up to Hungary?
11:31Yes, and there is an existing pipeline through there that is useful as a supplemental source of supply,
11:38but certainly not to cover all the needs of the country.
11:42So, Hungary really needs this in the same way that Slovakia needs this, perhaps a bit more.
11:48And so, this is the right thing to do to help keep them on side, help keep them in the right direction.
11:54And you'll notice the rest of the deal is that the president got them to commit to some pretty significant purchases
12:00from the United States, including a bunch of small modular reactors.
12:06That puts money and jobs in the United States.
12:10It also lessens Hungary's dependency.
12:14Kirvan, what signal does this deal send to neighboring Russia and Ukraine and the rest of Europe, for that matter?
12:20Well, I think what the rest of Europe is saying is that this is a bad deal.
12:28But look, the rest of Europe has been doing this as well.
12:32They've been bypassing sanctions in a few ways, purchasing Russian oil.
12:37Other nations are doing this.
12:40Look, this is a diplomatic win for President Trump.
12:42And I think a lot of people, especially some within other media sources, do not like when Trump gets a victory here.
12:50The Hungarian people needed this.
12:52My partner on the other side there was astute in his analysis of this situation.
12:58But what does this mean for Ukraine specifically?
13:02I don't see that this means much for Ukraine.
13:06Ukraine is still getting support from the United States.
13:08Trump is still putting pressure on Russia.
13:11This is a moment to protect the Hungarian people.
13:15And what does this signal to Russia?
13:18It is that if you come to a deal with U.S. President Trump and it is a deal in good faith, you are going to get support.
13:26And so this might be a trigger to Russian President Vladimir Putin that comes to the negotiating table,
13:32signals a signing of a deal for a ceasefire, and maybe you can get some sanctions relief.
13:39And at the same time, you know, Russia does indeed benefit from this.
13:44They have another buyer of oil that they might not have otherwise.
13:47So, Rod, you know, Hungary is one of Europe's largest buyers of Russian oil.
13:51What relief do you think this waiver will give to the Russian economy?
13:54How significant is this?
13:55Not that significant.
13:58If we are able to dislodge India and at least in part China, and I'd guess that China is a lot tougher nut to crack on that than India.
14:10The Russian economy is just getting trashed.
14:13And that's on two sides.
14:16First, you have very, very limited purchases of Russian energy now, and that's only going to shrink.
14:22Second, they're getting it, they're selling it at about $35 a barrel, which is about half global market price.
14:30And it's certainly a lot less than they need to run the Russian government.
14:34The government is highly dependent on these oil and gas sales, much more so than the Russian economy as a whole.
14:40So, this is a drop in the bucket for Russia, but it's essential for Hungary.
14:46And especially, as I said, moving them more toward nuclear lessens their dependency on Russia or anybody else outside going forward.
14:56And that's going to matter, too.
14:58So, we're talking about the economic impacts of this move on Russia.
15:01But what does it mean, Kervin, politically and militarily?
15:08Yeah, I said that.
15:09Politically and militarily.
15:12Sorry, Kervin.
15:13I'm sorry.
15:13Go ahead.
15:15No, no worries.
15:16Yeah, I'd start politically.
15:18Politically, like I said, this means that if you come to the negotiating table with President Trump in good faith, there are going to be deals that are going to be struck.
15:28Militarily, look, Russia is in a military economy.
15:32The purchasing of gas at 35 percent, you know, $35 or 35 cents on the dollar, that's not going to do anything.
15:41The reason Vladimir Putin will not come to the negotiating table and will not accept a ceasefire is twofold.
15:46One, he wants all of Ukraine.
15:48And two, or at least every part of Ukraine that Russia has now controlled militarily.
15:55And the second part is because this is a wartime economy.
16:00In a wartime economy, as soon as the war ends, the economy will collapse.
16:03Russia will be forced to pay certain aspects of this to rebuilding Ukraine, whether they win or not.
16:12That is going to collapse the Russian government.
16:14This is a war of attrition.
16:16Putin thinks he can win a war of attrition.
16:18And that is what he's going to try to do.
16:21Ron, how are these oil sanctions playing out, not just for Russia, like we discussed, but for the rest of the world?
16:27Well, the European Union has spoken with forked tongue on this for years.
16:34They're finally getting their act together.
16:36And there are a few stragglers, like Hungary, like Slovakia, that actually have to have their own special carve-out.
16:42But in general, what is true is that the European Union has sent twice as much money to Moscow in energy purchases since the beginning of the war
16:52as they've sent to Kiev in aid, which is just absurd.
16:56That is finally ending.
16:58So that's actually a really big deal.
17:01The other thing that's a really big deal that must not be missed is that Ukraine is very self-consciously targeting Russian oil production.
17:10They had taken 17% of Russian refinery capacity offline as of the beginning of October.
17:18They're continuing those strikes.
17:19That could reach as much as 30%, 35% in reasonably rapid order.
17:24That actually puts the Russian economy in a situation where it can't supply domestic need.
17:31It certainly can't sell enough to keep the war machine going.
17:35So Russia really needs, they haven't decided to do it yet, but they ultimately need a deal with the United States that involves a lot of Western investment back into Russia.
17:45They're going to have to pay for that.
17:46And so, you know, we're talking about the impacts on Russia.
17:51Kervin, you know, during this meeting with President Trump on Friday at the cabinet, with the cabinet, Viktor Orban said that essentially it's almost inevitable for victory with, for Ukrainian victory, or at least for peace between these two parties, Ukraine and Russia.
18:11But it depends on whether or not the West can unify.
18:15And he stated that the rest of Europe has a sort of different approach to how to end this war.
18:20They think that, he said they think that, you know, Ukraine should be able to push Russia back and win militarily.
18:28And he said basically, it's possible, but so are miracles.
18:32So, you know, what do you make of his statements?
18:35Do you think that, that the West is so ununified on this?
18:41Yeah, I think some parts of the West are a little ununified now.
18:46I think, look, we want an end to this war.
18:48We meaning the globe, right?
18:51I'm not talking about the global West or the global South.
18:53They all want an end to this war.
18:55And so, who's going to agree to what?
18:58What does a Ukrainian victory look like?
19:01I think, you know, early on in the discussions of this conflict, a Ukrainian defeat entirely was, was seen as possible.
19:11There were assessments that that was, was likely, if not highly likely, that Ukraine would, would lose all of its sovereignty.
19:18We're not seeing that right now.
19:20Can Ukraine, to its people, send back a message that says, look, we, I know we lost eastern parts of the, of our borders, but we won this war.
19:31We took on the big bear that is the, the Russian Federation and the Russian military.
19:36And without the complete support of Western nations, we really did win this war.
19:43That's the miracle here.
19:45Does Ukraine have to push back Russia?
19:47I don't think so.
19:48I think we, we can come to a deal here, unfortunately, having to give up eastern parts.
19:53That's, that's funny for me to say as someone who's not in Ukraine and who's not a Ukrainian.
19:58But I do think that's just the reality on the ground right now.
20:02Rod, final thoughts?
20:05Look, a Ukrainian breakout is possible.
20:08Maybe they can take back some territory.
20:10Maybe they can take back all of it.
20:12But I agree that that's in the miracle category.
20:15But at the same time, Russia has lost this war.
20:18Russia was seeking regime change in Kiev, which they were going to bring about by quickly capturing the country.
20:25That fell apart on them in the first couple weeks.
20:28So, ultimately, you've got to get to some kind of negotiated settlement.
20:33Putin's problem is that he promised his oligarchs things that he cannot deliver.
20:38And he is personally endangered if he makes peace and makes that a permanent, concrete fact.
20:44So, he's going to fight as long as he thinks he can get away with it.
20:49But the truth is, Russia's position is, is weakening every single day.
20:53And it's not just on the battleground.
20:56All right.
20:57Rod Martin and Curvin Oakwin, thank you both so much for joining us.
21:00A speeding car evading the police crashed into a crowded bar early Saturday.
21:05Four people were killed and 11 injured in a district in Tampa, Florida, known for its nightlife and tourism.
21:12In a statement, the Tampa Police Department said an air patrol unit spotted the silver sedan driving recklessly on a freeway at about 12.40 a.m.
21:22That's after it was seen street racing in another neighborhood.
21:25Highway patrol officers disengaged as the vehicle sped toward historic Ybor City near downtown.
21:32The driver lost control and hit more than a dozen people outside the bar.
21:37Bradley's on 7th.
21:38Three people died at the scene and a fourth died at a hospital.
21:42As of Saturday afternoon, two people were hospitalized in critical condition.
21:47Seven were listed as stable and two had been treated and discharged, police said.
21:52On Saturday, authorities announced that federal and state health officials are investigating 13 cases of infant botulism in 10 states.
22:01This is linked to baby formula that was being recalled.
22:04By Heart Inc. agreed to begin recalling two lots of the company's whole nutrition infant formula.
22:12All 13 infants were hospitalized after consuming the formula from two lots.
22:16The cases occurred in Arizona, California, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, and Washington.
22:25No deaths were reported.
22:27The FDA said it was investigating how the contamination happened and whether it affected any other products.
22:33Available online and through major retailers, the product accounted for an estimated 1% of national formula sales, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
22:44Democratic Socialist Zoran Mamdani has won the New York City mayoral race.
22:49What does his policy mean for the future of the city?
22:52NTD's Don Ma tapped Joshua Phillip, senior investigator, reporter for the Epoch Times, and host of Crossroads on Epoch TV for Insight.
23:04So let's talk about socialism, democratic socialism specifically.
23:09In your view, how do you feel about whether this has become more popular, more mainstream, or more widely accepted?
23:17Well, you know, the Democrats right now are kind of in a difficult position.
23:20The Democratic Socialists of America is technically a third party.
23:25But they really tried to integrate themselves into the main line of the Democratic Party because they can't win elections.
23:31So what they've done over the years, they've infiltrated the Democratic Party.
23:34They run under the Democrat ticket.
23:36They put their candidates as Democrats.
23:39And the Democrats, they haven't really wanted to split their party on behalf of them.
23:42The DSA, Democratic Socialist of America, elements, though, they represent the more extreme kind of progressive, some might call it, parts of the party.
23:51The things representing more outright socialism.
23:54The things representing, you know, gender politics, race politics.
23:57These are DSA issues.
23:59Whereas the old school Democrats used to be more like the big tent.
24:03If you go back to, you know, 90s, 2000s, look where the Democrats were, like Trump used to be a Democrat.
24:10RFK Jr., you could, maybe he's still a Democrat.
24:13Guys like Joe Rogan used to be Democrats.
24:16And so you do have kind of this big tent, 80% in the middle, that represents what the Democratic Party used to be.
24:22And some argue that the extreme positions of the DSA, they might work in local elections, but it might be a real gamble for Democrats to run with.
24:30Okay, so how would you classify Zora Mandani's policies?
24:34Zora Mandani is going for more, I think, legit socialism.
24:39But the reality is he can only do it so much under the existing system.
24:43If you want to have real socialism, like pure socialism, you need to dominate everything.
24:48Which is one of the reasons why socialists often say, well, it wasn't real socialism or it wasn't real communism.
24:54Just doing it in New York City, he won't have the ability to fully implement pure socialism.
24:59And he's walked back a lot of his statements.
25:02He said, for example, that he's not again, that he's not for like defunding the police.
25:06People pull up old posts for him.
25:07He very often talked about defunding the police.
25:09There are some mixed reports over his, you know, government-run, again, I call them food halls or grocery stores.
25:19A lot of media have actually falsely quoted him saying he wants to give free food.
25:23Maybe that's part of it because, you know, you could say food stamps are part of that.
25:27But what he's talking about are government-run, government-run grocery stores that would offer lower prices.
25:32The reality is when you do this, it's never sustainable because it messes up the entire free market.
25:38What you're likely to have is the lack of the insight into the free market from supply and demand.
25:44And you run into the same problems you have in every socialist country, which is the things in demand fly off the shelves.
25:50People buy it. People resell it.
25:53If he makes it too low of a cost, what's going to happen?
25:56You're going to have people, if, for example, it's more expensive in New Jersey, driving into New York, buying it in New York, and reselling it in New Jersey.
26:04It's going to upset the entire free market, and you're going to end up with shortages.
26:08So can you give us some examples, real-world examples, where his policies are similar to his policies that have been implemented elsewhere, and what has happened?
26:18Yeah.
26:19So in the United States, there actually have been experiments with, you call them, like, government-run grocery stores, or usually they're run by, like, non-profits.
26:27And what results in it is basically poorly run play.
26:32They close down very quickly, typically.
26:34You end up with large amounts of theft, especially if they say they're not going to prosecute or go after crime.
26:39People just steal it, because why not?
26:42You can look at California, where they're experimenting with light on crime policies as it related to, like, storefronts.
26:48And what happened?
26:49Right?
26:49Anything under, like, $900 is a misdemeanor.
26:53What happens?
26:53People go in, and they steal everything they want, because there's no punishment for it.
26:57You end up with resellers.
26:59This is one of the issues, for example, that New York has dealt with, with, like, cigarette taxes.
27:03It creates a massive black market, where people just buy it in one place and sell it in another, because you have the free market functioning outside the system.
27:11The other thing you have, of course, is just badly run systems, where, you know, the issue you have with government-run systems, as opposed to privately run, if you want to have something work in the private market, you have to have a few things.
27:25You have to have it so it's sustainable.
27:27People want to buy from it.
27:28You need to have good service, so people want to go there and don't go to your competitors.
27:31When you make it government-run, you remove all of the information that educates what is demanded by the free market, quality of service and price.
27:42I mean, what are the core fundamental principles of socialism?
27:46Is it just free stuff for those of us that is not so well-versed in the subject?
27:51There are different degrees of socialism.
27:53So, you know, on the lighter end of it, there's, like, state capitalism.
27:56Technically, the Nazis, the National Socialist Party, the Nazis in Germany, they were technically, like, lighter socialism, which was a mixed-model economy.
28:06They still had some free market principles, but a lot of socialist policies.
28:10And the way the Nazis worked is actually closer to the type of socialism light you see a lot of people trying to put in place in the United States.
28:18And what was it?
28:19Under the Nazis, of course, you had the mixed-model economies, what they call state interventionism.
28:23And so you'd have, for example, businesses where the government would assign people to run the businesses, and you'd have a partially private, partially public system.
28:33That is light socialism.
28:35And so, actually, again, I'm not talking about the race policies of the Nazis, but the economic policies.
28:41A lot of these socialists in America, in terms of economic policy, are closer to the Nazi party.
28:47But if you go to, like, real heavy socialism, that's when you get closer to actual communism.
28:51And so heavier socialism is when you get to, like, Stalinist-type policies, breadline-type policies.
28:57And if you get to that end of it, what is really socialism?
29:01Socialism is when you put government, is when you put communism into government.
29:05Communism is technically the negation of systems.
29:08It is not technically a government program, but you can implement communist policies within it.
29:14There are different extents of it.
29:16More extreme policies will have things for, like, social divisions.
29:20More extreme policies will have things on, you know, again, gender policies, agitation policies, where you try to view one person as your enemy, one person as your ally.
29:29We have seen this in the United States with gender policies and race policies.
29:33Every communist country has some kind of narrative with that, whether it's the evil billionaires or the evil kulaks, like they had, of course, of the wealthy peasants in Soviet Russia.
29:44Whether it's the Jews, like the Nazis had, who are deemed the enemies.
29:47Whether it's the educated class, for example, in Cambodia.
29:50Whether it's even in the United States, where they called, you know, the cis white male the enemy of the people.
29:55Or whether now they talked about the evil billionaires as being the enemies of, you know, the markets.
30:01So how do you know when socialism has changed into communism?
30:05How do you know when communism is here?
30:08Well, so this is where a lot of people get confused between socialism and communism.
30:13Socialism is the form communism takes when implemented into government.
30:18But true communism is only achieved with the negation of systems.
30:21So in order to achieve, quote unquote, real communism, the communist, the socialist state would need to basically implode.
30:30You would need to basically destroy all the existing institutions to, quote unquote, achieve communism.
30:36And so communism is not designed to work.
30:38It's designed to destroy.
30:40When a government becomes communist, they become a socialist government.
30:45You could say they're educated or inspired by a communist type, you know, ideology or principle.
30:50But it will always be socialism when put into practice.
30:55And again, there are different degrees.
30:56And I'm not saying Mondami is going to make New York City fool on communist.
31:00He's only going to be able to do it to a certain extent.
31:03So you gave examples earlier of how socialism leads to problems, right?
31:08And history has shown that over and over.
31:09So why do we keep trying it?
31:11Well, you'd think people would learn by now.
31:15That's my question.
31:16You know, I would say the reason is because socialism claims to offer the solution to human suffering.
31:24And, you know, when you're told that, hey, people are starving, the solution is to give them free food.
31:30People are suffering.
31:32The solution is to kill or eliminate the people causing the suffering.
31:36There are people who, you know, view this as being like the compassionate thing to do.
31:40But what they don't really understand is that it does not work.
31:44You don't create wealth by targeting the wealthy.
31:48You create wealth by creating incentives or helping the poor build themselves up.
31:53You don't create wealth by tearing things down.
31:56You create wealth by building things.
31:58And so socialism is just based on redistribution of what is already there.
32:02Socialism really can't create wealth unless it feeds on the wealthy.
32:06But as soon as you, you know, feed on the wealthy, you remove the incentive, people stop bothering to do it, and it flattens society.
32:15Socialism is for the downward trend.
32:17And so, you know, you could argue that there are problems within capitalism.
32:21A lot of people, including myself, would argue the problems that people point to in capitalism are usually from state interventionist policies.
32:27The reason, for example, why housing costs are so high, mostly because of red tape on new construction.
32:33If you want to fix the housing problem where people can't afford rent, remove these state interventionist policies, which stem from socialism, that prevent us from building new homes or allow monopolies to form.
32:46If you let the free market function, it means that when there's demand, you create supply, not that you restrict supply, increase demand, and then strangle society through it.
32:55So socialism always does not work because it can only work as long as you can feed on the capitalist.
33:01Okay, just one last question, Josh.
33:04Do you think there will be a big impact, or maybe you don't think there will be a big impact, if Mondani, in fact, wins this race and becomes the next mayor for New York City?
33:14There will be a big impact if Mondani wins.
33:16I don't think the impact will be that heavy in New York.
33:20And it will be.
33:21I mean, it will be to an extent.
33:23It's not going to be a whole lot worse than New York was, I think, under COVID, to be honest.
33:27Because he's going to be stopped from doing a lot of things because of the risk of losing government funding from the federal level.
33:32Trump is probably going to put his foot on the brakes and say, hey, you can't do that.
33:36It's probably not going to be a whole lot worse than California, to be honest, where they have a lot of these policies he's talking about already in place.
33:43And the other reality, too, is the city council in New York is already very far left.
33:48They already practice a lot of these policies.
33:51But the bigger impact is actually going to be more for what it means on the midterms and the future of the Democratic Party.
33:57Because right now, what do you have?
33:58You have really the Democratic Party looking for its new leadership.
34:01And you have been looking at AOC and Bernie Sanders, both of whom have been more on the Democratic Socialists of America side.
34:08This is really a battle, I think, for the future of the Democratic Party and the types of candidates who they choose as their frontrunners,
34:15which is why Cuomo is pushing back against Mondami, which is why Nancy Pelosi is pushing back against Mondami.
34:21The Democrats, I think, understand that, yeah, you might have a socialist win in a local election, but it's not going to work for the big ones.
34:28And the Democrats, if they go too far to the extreme, which is what the risk is here, they're going to lose the middle.
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