The Epstein Files Update and Total Boomer Luxury Communism

2 months ago

Tonight on this final show of the new year, Cameron talks about the latest releases in the Epstein files and the lack of exciting news on that front. We talk about people who saw Trump and his authoritarian tendencies for what they are and why they were ignored. We also talk about total boomer luxury communism and why it is a leading factor in America's decline (it costs too much damn money).

Transcript

00:02:59Hello, everyone. My name is Cameron Cowan.

00:03:02Welcome to the Cameron's NewsHour.

00:03:04This is the last one of 2025, everyone.

00:03:08We made it.

00:03:09Oh, my goodness.

00:03:11Oh, my goodness. What a year it has been.

00:03:14I have a handful of stories heading into the holiday, including the one about total boomer luxury communism that I didn't get to last week in the hubbub of everything.

00:03:25It's been a long year.

00:03:27It's been a long year.

00:03:29Obviously, inaugurate a new president in the new president.

00:03:31Obviously, he's been in the new president.

00:03:33Obviously, he's been in the new president.

00:03:35We're on like, you know, 11 months and three weeks, but January 20th will be the end of the first full year of Trump in office.

00:03:46And so much has happened.

00:03:48And so much has happened.

00:03:50The Epstein files were released on Friday, which is crazy.

00:03:55I talked about that in the newsletter.

00:03:59I might touch on that a little bit as well, mostly because so little so so little happened like we found so little from what we have so far.

00:04:16So but we might, you know, we might dash into that a little bit.

00:04:21But yeah, so it's just been a crazy, a crazy year.

00:04:25It has been it has been a lot of news stories.

00:04:33A lot of things have happened.

00:04:36Just a lot of, you know, a lot of everything has has happened in the last in the last year.

00:04:45And there's just so little, you know, to just I don't know, maybe take away from this year because it's been it's been so busy and so much has happened.

00:04:59But we don't necessarily feel like things have moved forward or that, you know, things have, you know, changed that much or whatever have you.

00:05:14Obviously, over the last year, we've gone through the tariffs we've gone through.

00:05:21We've gone through all sorts of.

00:05:25Of crazy, you know, things, changes in trade prices have come down on some things in some places, but not in others.

00:05:33There's been, you know, kind of, you know, so many moments over the past year and so many, you know, really great and fun and fun things.

00:05:42I might work on pulling together a little bit of a year in review.

00:05:46I want to remind everyone that we will be doing a New Year's Eve stream, not for the Cameron Journal, but for the living joke.

00:05:52Now, on New Year's Eve, I'm going to turn the stream on at four, which is our usual broadcast time on Wednesdays.

00:06:00We're going to turn the recording on at four.

00:06:02We're going to hang out.

00:06:03We're going to play games.

00:06:04There's been talk of a magic round.

00:06:06There's been a talk of some playing some video games on, like, Will and Connor's stream while we're still hanging out here.

00:06:12So.

00:06:14Come ring in the new year with us on the 31st, obviously, at 4 p.m.

00:06:18Um, if you're watching this now on whatever channel, whether you're watching on a Cameron Journal property or if you're with us from Suit Media, um, you're, you have the channel.

00:06:29You know where to go.

00:06:30Um, we'll be broadcasting on all, all things.

00:06:33So, it's going to be a lot of fun.

00:06:35It's going to be great.

00:06:36It's going to be a long stream, like, eight hours, you know, kind of, like, from 4 p.m. all the way to midnight East Coast.

00:06:42So, just come hang out with us.

00:06:43We're going to have a lot of fun.

00:06:43I might try to do a little year in review sort of thing.

00:06:47Um, and kind of talk about some of the big, the big stories of, of the year.

00:06:53Um, but yeah, it's just, 2020 has been a long year.

00:06:57Personally, professionally, economically, politically, a lot has, a lot has happened.

00:07:04So, it's important to just kind of take stock for a moment and think about the year that has passed.

00:07:08Um, very similarly to, um, oh, I lost my camera for some reason.

00:07:20Uh, very similarly, what did, um, Illumina is, um, the software behind my video camera is sometimes very annoying because it will die randomly for no good reason.

00:07:31There we go.

00:07:33Um, and then decide that it's just not going to cooperate.

00:07:36Anyway, um, so there's a lot, a lot going on in the headlines.

00:07:39Let's dive into those.

00:07:41Um, it's the last show and I'm just kind of here hanging out and we're doing this.

00:07:46And, um, oh, I was going to remind everybody there will be no newsletter until the new year.

00:07:50So, your Saturday newsletter, you would be due one this Saturday after Christmas.

00:07:54No one's reading.

00:07:55Like, no one's, I'm not going to be reading.

00:07:57I'm going to be hanging out and drinking.

00:07:59Like, no one's reading.

00:08:03Similarly, um, you know, we're also, uh, there's, so the next newsletter will be in January and we'll do kind of a big maybe end of year tatch up sort of, sort of thing.

00:08:13But, yeah, so basically we're black, after tonight the lights go dark and we are black out here at the Cameron Journal until the new year.

00:08:21We will see you in 2026.

00:08:23But, before we go, let's dive into a couple headlines.

00:08:26So, let me do this and this and let's get rid of that.

00:08:34But let's paste in this.

00:08:36There we go.

00:08:38And let's, uh, let's start with the Epstein files, you know.

00:08:42Um, let's change this graphic real quick and we'll start with the Epstein files.

00:08:51Here we go.

00:08:54Um, so I've been following, um, I've been following, uh, the release of the Epstein files and I've been loving the reporting from New York Times as a video.

00:09:08We can actually see what we're going on.

00:09:21So, they just released the first batch of the long-awaited Jiffy Epstein files on Friday.

00:09:25Yes, we know.

00:09:26More than 13,000 documents.

00:09:38And, as I said in the newsletter, that's clearly a narrative play.

00:09:42Um, yeah.

00:09:44Jiffy Epstein knew everybody, which is kind of crazy.

00:09:47Someone said on Twitter, he should have written a book about networking.

00:09:50Um, so, it's, uh, because he, he should have written a book on it because he knew everybody.

00:09:59Um, and, yeah, it is kind of of note that there was very little mention of President Trump.

00:10:07Um, and there were a lot of redactions.

00:10:10They do have to justify every one of those redactions.

00:10:12Um, and that will be interesting.

00:10:15Um, the victims, they just don't feel that they're redactions.

00:10:19Yeah.

00:10:19Put out the files and stop redacting names that don't need to be redacted.

00:10:24It's just, who are we trying to protect?

00:10:27Are we protecting the survivors?

00:10:29Are we protecting these elite men that need to be put out there?

00:10:34That is probably the most interesting detail of this whole thing, is the Justice Department

00:10:42was required by law to deliver the full release of the Epstein files Friday last, um, and they

00:10:48failed.

00:10:48Um, they said that there would be more document production and that the document production

00:10:52would finish at the end of the year.

00:10:56So, every day that they have not released all the files they have, they're technically in

00:11:02violation of the law every single day, including Saturday and Sunday and today.

00:11:09Um, I have not seen new files come out today, so I don't know where the rest of them are.

00:11:15Um, but it is, it is interesting.

00:11:18The work ahead, let's talk about the work ahead with this.

00:11:21So, now we've got a ton more information.

00:11:24What, what's the work ahead?

00:11:25The work ahead is to take the information from the House Oversight Committee.

00:11:32The information from the blue-black book that one reporter has, the emails Bloomberg has,

00:11:38and this information, and start to piece together a full timeline.

00:11:42There's a book in there for somebody, uh, not me, but there's a book in there for somebody

00:11:47that's several years' work.

00:11:49Um, there's a book in there for somebody.

00:11:50That's the, that's the next work, um, coming, coming forward, is to kind of put all the information

00:11:55together and maybe start to figure out who some of these people are.

00:11:57But let's read the latest, those updated yesterday.

00:12:02It says here the Justice Department came under intense scrutiny over the weekend for its

00:12:06initial release of files led to the investigations of Andrew Jeffrey Epstein, the financier, and

00:12:10convicted sex offender, even as it prepared to make public more material from the inquiries.

00:12:14Some victims and advocates criticized the badge posted by the Justice Department on Friday

00:12:17as heavily redacted and containing few revelations.

00:12:21Some lawmakers asserted that the Department's failure to meet a 30-day deadline to release all

00:12:24the files, as imposed by Congress last month, meant the Trump administration had failed

00:12:28to adhere to the law.

00:12:29True.

00:12:30After the initial release, the Department removed from the online collection a small number

00:12:33of photographs from inside Mr. Epstein's home.

00:12:36Among them were one showing a credenzial with a number of pictures, including at least one

00:12:39of Mr. Trump, raising questions about whether the administration was seeking to shield the

00:12:42president.

00:12:43That image was later reposted by the Department.

00:12:47The release of the files had been long awaited by those who believed the materials could shed light

00:12:51on Mr. Epstein's activities and its ties to prominent and powerful men.

00:12:54Mr. Epstein died in jail in 2019 while under indictment of federal charges of sex trafficking.

00:12:58The Justice Department said more documents would be released in the coming weeks as it

00:13:02sought to comply with a bipartisan law that required the entire investigative record, with

00:13:06few exceptions to have been made public by the end of last week.

00:13:09Here are key takeaways about the initial release.

00:13:11One, the Justice Department said it would not remove mentions of Trump.

00:13:14Todd Blanch, the Deputy Attorney General, said on Sunday that the Justice Department was

00:13:18trying to comply with the statute requiring the release of the files, but that it was a gargantuan

00:13:21task that had to be done carefully to protect victims.

00:13:24You're talking about a million or so pages of documents.

00:13:26Virtually all of them contain victim information.

00:13:28Mr. Blanch said on NBC's Meet the Press.

00:13:30He said the administration would not remove any mentions of Mr. Trump from the files as

00:13:33they continue to be released in the coming weeks.

00:13:36Quote,

00:13:36We are not redacting information around President Trump, Mr. Blanch said.

00:13:39Later on Sunday, the Justice Department republished the deleted image of the credenza

00:13:42in Mr. Epstein's home that held the picture of Mr. Trump.

00:13:45After the review, it was determined there is no evidence that any Epstein victims are depicted

00:13:48in the photograph and it has been reposted without any alteration or redaction.

00:13:52The Justice Department said in a statement on social media.

00:13:55Someone who has expressed frustration, Representative Tom Massey, the Kentucky Republican who helped

00:13:59write the Epstein files legislation, said administration officials were, quote,

00:14:02flouting the spirit and letter of the law in appearance on CBS's Face the Nation on Sunday.

00:14:07He cited the many redactions and administration's failure to release all the files on Friday.

00:14:10Speaking about Mr. Epstein's victims, Mr. Massey said he believed, quote,

00:14:13the most expeditious way to get justice for these victims is to bring inherent contempt against Pam Bondi,

00:14:18the Attorney General.

00:14:19Mr. Massey, one of the authors of the law compelling the Justice Department to release all of this material,

00:14:22and Mr. Epstein said he and the co-sponsor of his law, Resendor Ro Khanna,

00:14:26Democratic California, were in the process of drafting that resolution.

00:14:30Either congressional chamber can vote to hold a person or official in contempt by a simple majority vote.

00:14:36Mr. Massey said he and Mr. Khanna were drafting a resolution that would impose a fine on Bondi, quote,

00:14:40for every day that she's not releasing these documents, unquote.

00:14:44The release files, which included thousands of photographs and investigative documents,

00:14:48added little to the public's understanding of Mr. Epstein's conduct.

00:14:51The materials also did not provide much additional insight into Mr. Epstein's connections

00:14:54with wealthy and powerful businessmen and politicians who associated with him.

00:14:58The materials were mostly drawn from investigations into Mr. Epstein reaching back into an initial inquiry

00:15:02opened by the police in Palm Beach, Florida in 2005.

00:15:05There were also files from a subsequent investigation conducted by federal prosecutors in Florida

00:15:09that ended in 2008 with a plea deal on from a final inquiry by prosecutors in Manhattan in 2018

00:15:14that was never resolved after Mr. Epstein died in jail while the case was still proceeding

00:15:18in what the medical examiner ruled was a suicide.

00:15:21Many of the documents, which included phone records, travel logs, and what appeared to be case files

00:15:25with interviews with features of Epstein's female victims, were heavily redacted.

00:15:30The reaction from the right was muted.

00:15:31Mr. Trump's right-wing supporters have traditionally been among the most ardent advocates for releasing the Epstein files.

00:15:35They have long been convinced the documents would contain evidence of a cabal of prominent men

00:15:39in there telling mostly Democrats, had joined Mr. Epstein in abusing young women and covering up their crimes.

00:15:44But those supporters were largely silent as the files came out, perhaps in response to the dearth of new incriminating information.

00:15:50Mr. Trump on Friday and throughout the weekend conspicuously refrained from commenting on the release of the materials

00:15:54even though the case has haunted them politically.

00:15:58Whether those who have woven elaborate conspiracy theories around Mr. Epstein

00:16:02and the government's handling of the investigation will be satisfied by anything this department releases

00:16:06seems open to question.

00:16:09You know, there is something to that.

00:16:11The internet has had a long time, six years, to come up with its own story and its own narrative

00:16:20about what exactly has gone on here.

00:16:23The reality, as is so often the case, may be much more mundane than anyone thought it would be,

00:16:32thought it could be, or was interested in.

00:16:35And I think that's probably what makes this all so lackluster,

00:16:41is, you know, Twitter has come up with much more exciting narratives

00:16:44than necessarily they have maybe evidence for and all this type of thing.

00:16:48And here's the reality.

00:16:49A lot of the juiciest, best pieces of evidence may simply have never been collected.

00:16:53They just simply may not be in our possession.

00:16:56That's also a factor.

00:16:58It also says here,

00:16:59Bill Clinton was featured prominently, whether by design or by chance, I think design.

00:17:02Many of the photographs included in the files were of Mr. Trump's most prominent political adversaries,

00:17:06former President Bill Clinton.

00:17:08One image depicted Mr. Clinton reclining in a hot tub with a person whose face had been blacked out.

00:17:11In many of the photos of Mr. Clinton, he was the only person whose identity could be discerned.

00:17:15The files provided little or no context for the pictures.

00:17:17The photos of Mr. Clinton were made public after Mr. Trump ordered the Justice Department

00:17:20last month to investigate any ties between the former President and other Democrats to Mr. Epstein.

00:17:27Ms. Bondi immediately followed up on Mr. Trump's instructions by directing Jay Clayton,

00:17:30the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, to undertake the case.

00:17:32The White House on Friday sought to make political hay of the release of the photos of Mr. Clinton.

00:17:37We did see something, Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, wrote in a social media

00:17:40posted with the image of Mr. Clinton in a hot tub, just not what she wanted.

00:17:43A spokesman for Mr. Clinton suggested the White House had engineered the release of the photos

00:17:46to distract from Mr. Trump's own relationship with Mr. Epstein.

00:17:50Quote,

00:17:50The White House has been hiding these files for months, only to dump them late on a Friday

00:17:53to protect Bill Clinton, said the spokesman Angela Urena.

00:17:56This is about shielding themselves from what comes next or what they'll try to hide forever.

00:18:00There were a few mentions of Trump.

00:18:02For months, Mr. Trump actively fought the release of the Epstein files,

00:18:04calling them a Democratic hoax and threatening to punish members of Congress

00:18:07who voted to allow them to be made public.

00:18:09But his name was rarely mentioned in the materials released on Friday.

00:18:12It remained unclear, though, whether he would figure more into the release of the files

00:18:15to come, and whether the Justice Department selected the initial batch with politics in mind.

00:18:20Mr. Trump and Mr. Epstein were close friends for years,

00:18:22and the President's earlier reluctance to release the files prompted speculation

00:18:25about whether they prominently featured him.

00:18:27Most of the photos that Mr. Trump released on Friday had already been made public,

00:18:30including images of him and his wife Melania with Mr. Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell,

00:18:35who's serving in a federal prison sentence for helping Mr. Epstein traffic underage girls.

00:18:38Written references to Mr. Trump came up in Mr. Epstein's address book and flight logs,

00:18:42as well as a message book in which Mr. Epstein's assistants let him know about Ms. phone calls.

00:18:47Versions of those documents were already public.

00:18:48Mr. Trump's name also comes up in interviews with Ms. Maxwell,

00:18:52transcripts of the Justice Department that were previously made public and re-released on Friday.

00:18:57And then, of course, all the famous people.

00:18:59The files showed how Mr. Epstein attracted a remarkably broad spectrum of famous people into his orbit,

00:19:03from rock stars Michael Jackson and Mick Jagger to legendary newsman Walter Cronkite.

00:19:07While the materials bore no suggestion that these celebrities had any knowledge or involvement

00:19:11in Mr. Epstein's illicit activities,

00:19:12they stood nonetheless as a remarkable testament to his ability to attract attention from the rich and famous.

00:19:16Still, the documents and photos were largely silent about a roster of other well-known people

00:19:20who have long been associated with Mr. Epstein and his finances,

00:19:23including businessmen like Leon Black and Leslie Wexner.

00:19:27I thought it was a good wrap of what we've found so far.

00:19:34The New York Times has, you know, they were, you know, there Friday night,

00:19:39getting busy looking through things, and I thought it was very interesting

00:19:41how much there, there wasn't necessarily there.

00:19:44But also, and I think more importantly,

00:19:52the very clear narrative that's being created here.

00:19:56It'll be interesting to see what else

00:19:58comes out.

00:20:01It'll be interesting to see

00:20:02how they justify the redactions,

00:20:04because by law,

00:20:05they have to justify every

00:20:07single redaction

00:20:09and present to Congress

00:20:11why certain things are redacted.

00:20:14I've also seen in other reporting

00:20:15that of the amount,

00:20:17there's 500 pages that are completely redacted.

00:20:20And obviously photos

00:20:21and things like that are also

00:20:23redacted.

00:20:25The victims are a bit upset,

00:20:26as we saw in that video,

00:20:28that they're disappointed,

00:20:30frustrated,

00:20:30suspicious.

00:20:31Several of Jeffrey Epstein's victims

00:20:33said Friday that

00:20:34Justice Department had failed them

00:20:36with its partial release of files

00:20:38related to the federal investigations

00:20:39into Mr. Epstein's

00:20:40decades-long sexual abuse

00:20:41of teen girls and young women.

00:20:43They said the release

00:20:43of thousands of pages of photographs

00:20:44and heavily redacted documents

00:20:46did little to shed new light

00:20:47on the investigations

00:20:48in the scope of Mr. Epstein's

00:20:49crimes or conspiratories.

00:20:50They are proving everything

00:20:51they've been saying

00:20:52about corruption and delayed justice,

00:20:53said Jess Michaels,

00:20:54one of the earliest known victims

00:20:55of Mr. Epstein.

00:20:56What are they protecting?

00:20:57The cover-up continues.

00:20:58Ms. Michaels has said

00:20:59she was sexually assaulted

00:20:59by Mr. Epstein in 1981

00:21:01when she was 22 years old

00:21:02and training to be a dancer.

00:21:04She was among the victims

00:21:05who lobbied for the bipartisan law

00:21:06that directed the Justice Department

00:21:07to release virtually everything

00:21:09it had gathered

00:21:09during its sex traffic investigations

00:21:11of Mr. Epstein

00:21:11and one of his main enablers,

00:21:12Jillian Maxwell.

00:21:13But more than 13,000 files

00:21:15released on Friday

00:21:15were heavily redacted

00:21:16and not easily searchable.

00:21:18If everything is redacted,

00:21:21where's the transparency,

00:21:22said Marjit Chartouni,

00:21:27who said she was sexually abused

00:21:28by Mr. Epstein

00:21:28when she was 20 years old.

00:21:31Among the tens of thousands

00:21:32of pages,

00:21:33there was one document

00:21:33that did provide a long-slot window

00:21:34in the FBI's handling

00:21:35of Mr. Epstein's case.

00:21:37The file showed

00:21:37that Maria Farmer,

00:21:38another of Mr. Epstein's

00:21:39earliest victims,

00:21:40filed a federal child pornography

00:21:42complaint against him in 1996.

00:21:44But investigators did not begin

00:21:45to thoroughly scrutinize Mr. Epstein

00:21:47until about a decade later.

00:21:48Ms. Farmer,

00:21:49who fought for years

00:21:50to get the FBI

00:21:50to make public her complaint,

00:21:52said she felt vindicated

00:21:53to finally see the document

00:21:54but also was heartbroken

00:21:55with the knowledge

00:21:55the FBI did not act

00:21:56on her complaint.

00:21:58It is a tremendous relief

00:21:59that she doesn't have to continue

00:22:00to fight to prove her truth,

00:22:01said Ms. Farmer's sister,

00:22:02Annie Farmer.

00:22:03She noted, though,

00:22:04she was disappointed

00:22:05by the general lack

00:22:05of transparency

00:22:06with Friday's release.

00:22:07So many of the photos

00:22:08are irrelevant,

00:22:09said Marina Lacerda,

00:22:10who said Mr. Epstein

00:22:11sexually abused her

00:22:12when she was 14.

00:22:13She was an important witness

00:22:14in the 2019 federal investigation

00:22:15that led to the filing

00:22:16of sex trafficking charges

00:22:17against Mr. Epstein,

00:22:18but she only recently

00:22:19went public with her story.

00:22:21We've been let down,

00:22:22Ms. Lacerda said.

00:22:23We waited for the state

00:22:24to bring these other men

00:22:25who've been protected

00:22:25to justice.

00:22:27We haven't really heard

00:22:36a lot about it

00:22:36because there's not

00:22:36a whole lot to hear.

00:22:38That's kind of the funny part

00:22:39about it all

00:22:41is there's just not

00:22:42necessarily a whole lot

00:22:44to hear so far.

00:22:47As I told someone

00:22:48over the weekend,

00:22:49the redaction,

00:22:51the justified redactions

00:22:52will be very interesting.

00:22:53It'll be interesting

00:22:54to see what's in there

00:22:55and why.

00:22:56So I will be patiently

00:22:57waiting for that.

00:22:59It will also be interesting

00:23:00to see how,

00:23:01you know,

00:23:04how this all develops.

00:23:07The fact that some photos

00:23:09have been taken down

00:23:10and one reposted

00:23:11and all this type of thing

00:23:12is not an endorsement

00:23:15of the transparency

00:23:20of it all.

00:23:21So moving right along

00:23:24into other

00:23:26non-Epstein headlines,

00:23:27you may have heard

00:23:28a little birdie

00:23:29saying that President Trump

00:23:30signed an executive order

00:23:31rescheduling marijuana

00:23:32from a Schedule 1

00:23:32to a Schedule 3

00:23:33controlled substance.

00:23:35And here's the video

00:23:36of him doing it

00:23:37right now.

00:23:43That's a good one.

00:24:04Thank you very much.

00:24:05Yeah.

00:24:06So it's

00:24:09from no medical use

00:24:12to Schedule 3.

00:24:13It's a big rethink

00:24:15of marijuana,

00:24:16a history

00:24:17that in this country

00:24:18extends back

00:24:19to its arrival

00:24:21with Mexican immigrants

00:24:22in the early 20th century

00:24:23and its introduction

00:24:25and then the war on drugs

00:24:26and putting people

00:24:28in jail for 20 years

00:24:29for using it

00:24:30sort of thing.

00:24:31This is a big change.

00:24:32By the way,

00:24:33this does not decriminalize

00:24:35marijuana at the federal level.

00:24:36Let me make that clear.

00:24:37However,

00:24:38a couple governors

00:24:39in some states

00:24:40have said it's a lot easier

00:24:41to make the case

00:24:42for it to be legalized

00:24:43at the state level.

00:24:45I wrote the newsletter.

00:24:46Kentucky and Pennsylvania

00:24:47particularly

00:24:48are looking at

00:24:50legalizing it

00:24:53and opening dispensaries

00:24:54and things like that.

00:24:55So there's all of that

00:24:59in here as well.

00:25:00But being a Schedule 3

00:25:02controlled substance

00:25:02does open up

00:25:03a lot of new research opportunities.

00:25:05It also opens up

00:25:06other federal funding options,

00:25:08different things like that

00:25:08in order to continue

00:25:10to research it

00:25:11and find different uses for it.

00:25:14So it's definitely an opening.

00:25:16It's not insignificant.

00:25:17I did find this cool article

00:25:19from Marijuana Moment

00:25:20and it says here

00:25:22Trump's marijuana rescheduling move

00:25:23could boost

00:25:24state legalization efforts

00:25:26lawmakers in Pennsylvania

00:25:27and Tennessee say.

00:25:29It says here

00:25:29if marijuana rescheduling

00:25:31is finalized

00:25:31as President Donald Trump

00:25:32instructed on Thursday,

00:25:33the practical policy impact

00:25:34on the federal level

00:25:35will be somewhat limited

00:25:36as cannabis would remain illegal.

00:25:38But lawmakers in states

00:25:39like Pennsylvania

00:25:39and Tennessee

00:25:40say the political effect

00:25:41would ultimately prove

00:25:42more impactful

00:25:42as they work to enact

00:25:43local reforms

00:25:44in the next year.

00:25:45The executive order

00:25:46Trump signed

00:25:46directs the Attorney General

00:25:47to complete a process

00:25:48to move cannabis

00:25:49from Schedule 1

00:25:50to Schedule 3

00:25:50under the Controlled Substances Act,

00:25:52CSA,

00:25:53which would let cannabis business

00:25:54take federal tax deductions

00:25:55and lift certain research barriers.

00:25:57While it wouldn't legitimize

00:25:58state marijuana programs

00:25:59in the eyes of the federal government,

00:26:01the decision by a Republican president

00:26:02to loosen long-standing cannabis laws

00:26:04and recognize its medical benefits

00:26:05could embolden

00:26:06on-the-fence legislators

00:26:07at the state level.

00:26:08You may see it as a signal

00:26:09that the politics

00:26:10of the issue are shifting

00:26:11and there's a lower risk

00:26:12of federal enforcement action.

00:26:13In Pennsylvania, for example,

00:26:15bipartisan lawmakers

00:26:15who've been working

00:26:16to enact adult use legalization

00:26:17over recent sessions

00:26:18without success so far

00:26:19say Trump's rescheduling action

00:26:20could grease the wheels

00:26:21in the new year.

00:26:23Quote,

00:26:23I think having President Trump

00:26:24in particular

00:26:25sign this executive order

00:26:26really gives permission

00:26:27for a lot of Republican lawmakers

00:26:28who may have been reticent

00:26:30about actually admitting

00:26:30they support it.

00:26:31some cover

00:26:32to be able to actually

00:26:33support it, unquote.

00:26:35Representative Emily Kincaid,

00:26:37Democrat, said,

00:26:38I'm even more optimistic

00:26:39than I was

00:26:41that we're going to get

00:26:41legalization of recreational

00:26:42cannabis done

00:26:43in Pennsylvania in 2026.

00:26:45The executive action, quote,

00:26:46reflects the support

00:26:47that we see broadly

00:26:48in the nation

00:26:48that overwhelmingly people

00:26:49support legalization

00:26:50of marijuana

00:26:50and it's bipartisan,

00:26:52Kincaid told CBS Pittsburgh.

00:26:53There isn't much in which

00:26:54I agree with President Trump,

00:26:55but rescheduling cannabis

00:26:56is long overdue,

00:26:56she said separately

00:26:57in a press release.

00:26:58In 2026,

00:26:59Pennsylvania needs to join

00:27:00every other state

00:27:00in the Northeastern United States

00:27:01and legalize adult

00:27:02recreational use

00:27:03for revenue,

00:27:03for jobs,

00:27:04for justice.

00:27:05Representative Abby Major,

00:27:06Republican,

00:27:06who's sponsoring

00:27:07a legislation bill

00:27:07with Kincaid,

00:27:08said she works forward

00:27:10to building off

00:27:10the momentum of rescheduling

00:27:11by working with

00:27:12my colleagues

00:27:12in the House and Senate

00:27:13to deliver what 74%

00:27:14of Pennsylvanians want,

00:27:15adult-use cannabis.

00:27:16We've seen the clearest

00:27:19indication from the White House

00:27:20today that Republicans

00:27:21can lead on cannabis.

00:27:22It shouldn't be any different

00:27:22in Pennsylvania,

00:27:23she said on Thursday.

00:27:24Representative Dan Frankel,

00:27:25Democrat chair of the

00:27:26House Health Committee

00:27:26and another champion

00:27:27of reform in the legislature,

00:27:28also said rescheduling

00:27:29will bolster the existing

00:27:30medical marijuana marketplace.

00:27:32I think that's going to be

00:27:33a significant step

00:27:33in the right direction

00:27:34to get us to a point

00:27:35where we're not

00:27:35criminalizing marijuana,

00:27:36he said.

00:27:37It's a significant step

00:27:37to creating an environment

00:27:38where people can purchase

00:27:39at this point

00:27:40medical marijuana

00:27:41without worrying about

00:27:41potential federal

00:27:42criminal penalties.

00:27:43While there may be

00:27:44some disagreement

00:27:44among lawmakers

00:27:45about rescheduling

00:27:45more broader reform,

00:27:46Trump's executive order

00:27:47marks a step towards

00:27:48common-sense drug policy reform,

00:27:50said Dan Laughlin-Rehubikin.

00:27:53Said Dan Laughlin-Rehubikin.

00:27:55Quote,

00:27:55I know this is a topic

00:27:56that sparks strong opinions

00:27:57on both sides,

00:27:57but if you take an objective

00:27:58look at the guidelines,

00:28:00marijuana should have

00:28:00never been classified

00:28:01as a Schedule I drug.

00:28:02I support the Trump administration's

00:28:04decision to reclassify

00:28:05it as a Schedule III substance,

00:28:06which better reflects

00:28:07the scientific evidence

00:28:07and could help unlock

00:28:08more research,

00:28:09medical applications,

00:28:10and regulatory clarity.

00:28:12And then it goes

00:28:13into some back and forth

00:28:14about Pennsylvania and Tennessee

00:28:15and all this sort of thing.

00:28:16Or Kentucky, rather.

00:28:18So I wanted to note that

00:28:19and kind of show that video

00:28:20that marijuana rescheduling

00:28:22has finally occurred

00:28:23as someone who was standing

00:28:25outside a grocery store

00:28:26asking for signatures

00:28:28for legalization in Colorado

00:28:29way back in 2012.

00:28:34It's been a long time coming.

00:28:35It's been 13 years,

00:28:37you know,

00:28:37since all of that happened.

00:28:38And it's a really cool moment.

00:28:44So it's a powerful thing

00:28:46to kind of watch happen.

00:28:49And I think it is true.

00:28:50I mean, I think opinions have changed.

00:28:54The ideas about it have changed.

00:28:56People are in a different place

00:28:58with it than they used to be.

00:29:01And I think it's important

00:29:05to recognize that,

00:29:08you know,

00:29:08at least somewhat legally.

00:29:10I think eventually

00:29:11full decriminalization

00:29:12will be very important.

00:29:14I will be very interested

00:29:15to see how this affects

00:29:17Rand Paul's attempt

00:29:18to change THCA products

00:29:20into the hemp market.

00:29:22Because we've talked about that

00:29:23on the show.

00:29:24I wonder how much

00:29:25that will affect that.

00:29:26This may kill that.

00:29:28We'll see.

00:29:29Um, but it's very,

00:29:31uh, it's very interesting.

00:29:33It's very interesting.

00:29:35And, you know,

00:29:36exciting for some states

00:29:37and some people

00:29:38who may have been

00:29:38really reticent on it

00:29:39to finally go ahead

00:29:41and take,

00:29:42take the plunge,

00:29:44take the leap,

00:29:46and, uh,

00:29:47and go from there.

00:29:48And it says, uh,

00:29:49evidence,

00:29:50it is an evidence-based step

00:29:51that acknowledges

00:29:52what doctors have known

00:29:53for years.

00:29:54Cannabis doesn't belong

00:29:55in the same legal category

00:29:56as heroin.

00:29:57But it says,

00:29:58but this is only the first

00:29:59step rescission.

00:29:59Cannabis doesn't undo

00:30:00the harms of the past.

00:30:01He said,

00:30:02rural reform must include

00:30:03expungement,

00:30:03reinvesting resources

00:30:04in communities

00:30:05most affected by the war

00:30:06on drugs,

00:30:07especially black and brown

00:30:08communities,

00:30:10and a legal,

00:30:11regulated market

00:30:12that prioritizes

00:30:12public health,

00:30:13safety,

00:30:14and equity.

00:30:15and there are obviously

00:30:22some people

00:30:23who are still

00:30:23not necessarily

00:30:24on,

00:30:25on board,

00:30:27but,

00:30:28you know,

00:30:30we will see,

00:30:31we will see how things,

00:30:32how things go

00:30:33in Pennsylvania

00:30:35and Tennessee,

00:30:36and we will,

00:30:38we'll go from,

00:30:40we'll go from there.

00:30:41I want to dive

00:30:43into

00:30:44this story,

00:30:46and then we'll get

00:30:47into boomer told

00:30:47luxury communism.

00:30:49I was very inspired

00:30:51by this story,

00:30:53because I,

00:30:55I sometimes get

00:30:56called a Cassandra,

00:30:58you know,

00:31:01and,

00:31:03and sometimes

00:31:03I have predicted

00:31:04things happening

00:31:05years before they

00:31:06have happened,

00:31:07and so when this article

00:31:09came across

00:31:09from the New Republic,

00:31:10I was kind of like,

00:31:11well,

00:31:11interesting.

00:31:12The Americans saw

00:31:13this coming,

00:31:14but were ignored

00:31:14and maligned.

00:31:15Call them the Cassandras,

00:31:16the people,

00:31:17mostly not white and male,

00:31:18who smelled the fascism

00:31:19all over Trump

00:31:20from Jump Street.

00:31:21Why were they alarmist,

00:31:22and how did anti-alarmism

00:31:23become cool?

00:31:26It says here,

00:31:27imagine I sent you

00:31:28back in time

00:31:28to July 2015

00:31:29with the goal

00:31:30of saving liberal

00:31:32democracy in America.

00:31:33Donald Trump

00:31:34announced his candidacy

00:31:34a month ago,

00:31:35the polls were showing

00:31:36with a narrow lead,

00:31:37and the media,

00:31:38while noting his extreme rhetoric,

00:31:39are mostly saying

00:31:40this is a fun diversion.

00:31:41You can't prove

00:31:42you're from the future,

00:31:42you're limited

00:31:43to broadly legal means,

00:31:44can you persuade

00:31:45enough people

00:31:45to take it more seriously?

00:31:47After all,

00:31:47you know what's coming.

00:31:49January 6th,

00:31:50the overturning

00:31:50of Roe v. Wade,

00:31:51checks and balances failing,

00:31:52massive open corruption,

00:31:53troops on the streets,

00:31:54abductions by masked men,

00:31:56and concentration camps.

00:31:57But when you warn

00:31:58of these horrors,

00:31:58it sounds outlandish.

00:32:00People won't believe you,

00:32:00if you insist,

00:32:01you'll be dismissed

00:32:02as hysterical.

00:32:03Despite knowing the future,

00:32:04you won't be able

00:32:04to prevent it.

00:32:05This is not that far

00:32:06from the position

00:32:07many ordinary Americans

00:32:08found themselves

00:32:08in the heart

00:32:09of the Trump era.

00:32:10They weren't time travelers,

00:32:12but saw what was coming

00:32:12clearly enough.

00:32:13They called Trump's movement

00:32:14fascist from the very start,

00:32:16and often predicted

00:32:16specific milestones

00:32:17of our democratic decline

00:32:18well in advance.

00:32:19They were convinced

00:32:20that they were right,

00:32:21and often beside themselves

00:32:22with worry.

00:32:23Accordingly,

00:32:23they did everything

00:32:24they could to get

00:32:24others to listen.

00:32:25But not enough people did,

00:32:26and many attacked them,

00:32:27even as events

00:32:28proved them right

00:32:29again and again.

00:32:30As late as February 2025,

00:32:32respected legal commentator

00:32:33Noah Feldman

00:32:33was casually asserting

00:32:35our constitutional system

00:32:36was working fine,

00:32:37and John Stewart

00:32:37was scolding people

00:32:38who used the word fascist

00:32:39giving all they'd done

00:32:40over the last 10 years

00:32:41was cry wolf.

00:32:43There is an ancient

00:32:44archetype at work here.

00:32:47In Greek mythology,

00:32:49Cassandra was given

00:32:50the gift of prophecy

00:32:51of seeing the future,

00:32:52but cursed that she

00:32:53would never be believed.

00:32:54Her name is sometimes used

00:32:56as a pejorative

00:32:57for an overacting alarmist,

00:32:59which, appropriately enough,

00:33:00misses the point.

00:33:01Cassandra was, after all,

00:33:02right.

00:33:03When the Greek army

00:33:04seemingly abandoned

00:33:05the siege of Troy,

00:33:05leaving behind the Trojan horse,

00:33:07she pleaded with the Trojans

00:33:08not to bring it into the city.

00:33:09They did so anyway,

00:33:10and armed men

00:33:11burst out of it,

00:33:11dooming them all.

00:33:12Why did we see

00:33:14the story again?

00:33:15Why did someone

00:33:15immediately see

00:33:16America's dark future

00:33:17while others fought

00:33:18them so long and hard?

00:33:19As part of my research

00:33:20of this article,

00:33:20I interviewed 37 Americans

00:33:22who meet the profile

00:33:22of a letter de Cassandra.

00:33:24A descriptor

00:33:24that I do not attach

00:33:25any negative connotation to.

00:33:27While there are some

00:33:27Cassandras among

00:33:28professional commentators,

00:33:29my focus here

00:33:29is on those

00:33:30in the Democratic base.

00:33:31I spent around

00:33:32half an hour with each

00:33:32trying to get a sense

00:33:33of both their views

00:33:34and who they are as people.

00:33:35Many are quoted.

00:33:38Let's get down

00:33:39to some of the quotes,

00:33:40because that's interesting.

00:33:42I started by asking

00:33:43when they started

00:33:44feeling alarmed by Trump.

00:33:45Around the summer,

00:33:46maybe late spring 2015,

00:33:47Marsha,

00:33:4854-year-old Korean-American woman

00:33:49who works in software

00:33:50in Texas,

00:33:50told me,

00:33:51Yona,

00:33:52a pseudonym

00:33:52due to fears

00:33:53of violent retaliation.

00:33:54A white,

00:33:55non-binary 38-year-old

00:33:56in Texas echoed

00:33:57that from the beginning

00:33:58when he was

00:33:58in the Republican primary.

00:33:59Cassandras clocked

00:34:00that this movement

00:34:01was truly dangerous early.

00:34:02When he announced

00:34:03he was running for president,

00:34:04when he came down

00:34:04the escalator,

00:34:05we're holding on a Texan.

00:34:06Christian,

00:34:06a white,

00:34:0758-year-old college professor.

00:34:09What were they afraid of?

00:34:09Authoritarianism,

00:34:10political violence,

00:34:11racism,

00:34:11sexism,

00:34:12corruption,

00:34:12as well as

00:34:13the rest of bodily autonomy

00:34:14and the LGBT rights

00:34:15were common themes.

00:34:16Everyone mentioned

00:34:17at least one of those,

00:34:18and the vast majority

00:34:19mentioned multiple.

00:34:20Quote,

00:34:20all the implications

00:34:21that I knew the election

00:34:22would have all come true

00:34:23essentially, unquote.

00:34:24As Emily,

00:34:25a 38-year-old white female

00:34:26writer in Chicago put it,

00:34:27Cassandras are defined

00:34:28by seeing in MAGA

00:34:29not just policies

00:34:30they disagreed with,

00:34:31but with a loaded gun

00:34:32point at the heart

00:34:32of our politics and culture.

00:34:34It just felt to me

00:34:35like we were

00:34:35the Weimar Republic,

00:34:36the lying press,

00:34:37the way he was

00:34:37weaponizing American people,

00:34:39the othering of people,

00:34:39Hispanics that are rapists

00:34:41and all that,

00:34:41said Sonia,

00:34:42a 52-year-old white woman

00:34:43who works in marketing

00:34:44in Los Angeles.

00:34:45Why were they afraid of this

00:34:46or put better?

00:34:47How did they correctly

00:34:47see all this coming?

00:34:49Virtually all the Cassandras

00:34:50would make the same points.

00:34:51They used different examples

00:34:52and discussed them

00:34:52different ways,

00:34:53but the bones of the argument

00:34:54were the same.

00:34:56The experience for me

00:34:57as interviewer

00:34:59was like hearing

00:34:59the same song

00:35:00played by different musicians,

00:35:01once by a folk guitarist,

00:35:03then sung by an opera singer,

00:35:04then played by a heavy metal band,

00:35:05then a string quartet

00:35:06and so on.

00:35:07Very different styles,

00:35:08but clearly working

00:35:09from the same sheet music.

00:35:10I started to think of this

00:35:11as the Cassandra song.

00:35:12It plays as follows.

00:35:14One,

00:35:14Trump,

00:35:15or senior people

00:35:15in the movement,

00:35:16said,

00:35:16insert bad outcome

00:35:17or values.

00:35:18Two,

00:35:18we had good reasons

00:35:19to think he,

00:35:20they meant it.

00:35:20Three,

00:35:21we had good reasons

00:35:22to think his base

00:35:22wanted it.

00:35:23For any of the outcomes

00:35:24Cassandras feared,

00:35:25they could cite rhetoric

00:35:25from Trump.

00:35:26For example,

00:35:27Ryan,

00:35:27a 43-year-old white professor

00:35:28in Texas,

00:35:29mentioned,

00:35:29quote,

00:35:29his refusal to accept

00:35:30an election,

00:35:31if lost,

00:35:32that's a moment where,

00:35:32okay,

00:35:33this is someone

00:35:33who's anti-democratic,

00:35:34unquote.

00:35:35This had been clearly

00:35:36stated in both

00:35:36the 2016 primary

00:35:37and,

00:35:37quote,

00:35:37in the debates

00:35:38of Hillary,

00:35:38unquote.

00:35:39The common understanding

00:35:40at the time

00:35:41was that all this

00:35:41was just political theater

00:35:42or rhetorical excesses,

00:35:44that Trump had no

00:35:45real convictions.

00:35:46But Cassandras

00:35:46didn't see it like that.

00:35:49Quote,

00:35:49I kind of think

00:35:50people have it reversed.

00:35:51Joe,

00:35:51a white 30-year-old

00:35:52from upstate New York,

00:35:53who now cheats

00:35:54at a university

00:35:54in the UK,

00:35:55said,

00:35:55lots of people

00:35:56don't detect

00:35:56that he's lying

00:35:57about what has transpired,

00:35:59but they think

00:35:59he's full of hot air

00:36:01about what he wants.

00:36:01But in reality,

00:36:02he's a total liar

00:36:03about what has happened

00:36:04and he's deadly sincere

00:36:05about what he wants.

00:36:06Daniel,

00:36:07a 35-year-old

00:36:07black army veteran

00:36:08who's now a student

00:36:08in Michigan,

00:36:09recalled how Trump

00:36:10had led

00:36:10Republican primary polling

00:36:11as early as 2011

00:36:12based on his then

00:36:14recent embrace

00:36:15of birtherism,

00:36:16the claim that

00:36:16Barack Obama

00:36:17was not born

00:36:17in the United States.

00:36:18This was something

00:36:19that the Republican Party

00:36:20was open to racism

00:36:21as a fundamental part

00:36:21of the attitude

00:36:22and thinking of

00:36:22their leadership,

00:36:23Daniel said.

00:36:24But because the vehicle

00:36:25for that was such

00:36:25a ridiculous claim,

00:36:26to me that meant

00:36:27that the party

00:36:27was also open

00:36:28to ridiculous claims

00:36:28about other groups

00:36:29of people,

00:36:30about politics,

00:36:30essentially a non-reality

00:36:31based politics

00:36:32and that kind of politics

00:36:33is of course

00:36:34going to be authoritarian.

00:36:36All the Cassandras

00:36:37in their own way

00:36:38would lay out these elements,

00:36:39he says,

00:36:39he means it.

00:36:40The base will back it.

00:36:41They didn't condescend at all

00:36:42but clearly felt

00:36:43they were reviewing

00:36:43fairly obvious facts

00:36:44about the world

00:36:45and looking back,

00:36:46it was all obvious.

00:36:48The mythical Cassandra

00:36:49hardly needed divine gifts

00:36:51to sense the enemy army

00:36:52vanishing

00:36:52and leaving behind

00:36:53a giant horse statue

00:36:54was, to paraphrase

00:36:55ancient Greek sources,

00:36:56a bit sus.

00:36:57Her modern counterparts

00:36:58were not uncovering

00:36:59some carefully concealed secret

00:37:01but simply using

00:37:01their eyes,

00:37:02their ears,

00:37:03their basic reasoning.

00:37:04So why did so many

00:37:07fight them so hard?

00:37:09Americans associate,

00:37:11often subconsciously,

00:37:12our two main political tribes

00:37:13of gender stereotypes.

00:37:15Conservatism is presented

00:37:15and understood as male,

00:37:17liberalism as female.

00:37:18Republicans are the daddy party,

00:37:20Democrats are the mommy party.

00:37:21This affects how we hear

00:37:22the claims made by either side

00:37:24and how seriously we take them.

00:37:25We tend to discount

00:37:26or dismiss female fear and pain.

00:37:28Because women are seen

00:37:29as less rational

00:37:29and more emotional,

00:37:30we are more likely

00:37:31to assume they're exaggerating

00:37:32or dismiss them

00:37:33as acting crazy.

00:37:34I talked to Professor

00:37:35Yolanda Wilson

00:37:36of St. Louis University,

00:37:37an expert in bioethics

00:37:39and herself, Cassandra,

00:37:40who told me,

00:37:41there's good documented literature

00:37:42that women's pain

00:37:42is not regarded

00:37:43with the same level

00:37:44of seriousness as men's.

00:37:45We can see this

00:37:46in healthcare outcomes,

00:37:47such as doctors

00:37:47dismissing female pain

00:37:48or under-prescribing

00:37:49giving women

00:37:50over-the-counter pain

00:37:50to those prescription drugs.

00:37:53As someone

00:37:54who is socialized female,

00:37:55you do get told a lot

00:37:56that you're overreacting,

00:37:57that you're being ridiculous,

00:37:58that you can't take a joke,

00:37:59all those things,

00:38:00said Lars,

00:38:00a mixed-race,

00:38:01gender-fled 35-year-old

00:38:02from New York.

00:38:03Once you have the label

00:38:04of a woman or a girl

00:38:04or a female on you,

00:38:05people kind of discount

00:38:06what you say.

00:38:07That definitely was something

00:38:08I experienced in the time

00:38:09even as recently

00:38:09as last autumn.

00:38:11Consider the difference

00:38:11with how we talk about

00:38:12male-coded institutions

00:38:13and ideas.

00:38:14January 6th

00:38:15was the entraining

00:38:17of an election being lost,

00:38:18yet people traveled

00:38:19for miles

00:38:19to essentially throw a tantrum,

00:38:21and Republicans were not

00:38:22cast as hysterical,

00:38:23Yolanda observed.

00:38:24In fact,

00:38:24great media effort

00:38:25has gone into

00:38:26understanding the rights rage.

00:38:27That certainly doesn't

00:38:28happen with women.

00:38:29It doesn't happen

00:38:29to female-coded institutions.

00:38:31This is not to say

00:38:32no one in the media

00:38:33shared Cassandra's fears.

00:38:35During Trump's first run,

00:38:37opinion writers

00:38:37like Dana Milbing,

00:38:38Jamel Bowie,

00:38:39and TNR editor

00:38:40Michael Tomansky,

00:38:41writing in the New York

00:38:42Review of Books,

00:38:43called him a fascist

00:38:43or a neo-fascist.

00:38:44But the major newspapers

00:38:45and TV news providers

00:38:46seemed less convinced.

00:38:48They would pay lip service

00:38:48to concerns,

00:38:49but the focus

00:38:50in each of their coverage

00:38:51showed they didn't

00:38:52take them that seriously.

00:38:53And this is the part

00:38:54where we mention

00:38:54the $1 billion

00:38:55of free media

00:38:56Trump got in 2016.

00:38:58But.

00:38:59And then there were those

00:39:00who were openly angry

00:39:02with the Cassandras.

00:39:03Trump couldn't become

00:39:03a dictator,

00:39:04Zachary Careville

00:39:05told us in Politico

00:39:05before the 2016 election.

00:39:07We should think of

00:39:07all the checks and balances

00:39:08before we get too breathless

00:39:09about impending fascism

00:39:11and the end of America

00:39:12as we know it.

00:39:12Those who called

00:39:13Trump supporters racist

00:39:14should stop the

00:39:15hysterical moralizing,

00:39:16British journalist

00:39:17John Harris wrote.

00:39:19Even as we ended

00:39:19the Trump era proper,

00:39:20many could not shake

00:39:21the sense that the Cassandras

00:39:22were getting it wrong.

00:39:24Hysteria and sanctimony

00:39:25were proving to be

00:39:26a terrible strategy

00:39:26for dealing with

00:39:27Donald Trump,

00:39:27wrote William Watson

00:39:28in 2017.

00:39:29Simon Jenkins concurred

00:39:31in the Guardian,

00:39:31quote,

00:39:31with every sneer,

00:39:32liberals just make

00:39:33Trump stronger.

00:39:34The solution,

00:39:34according to Josh Burrow,

00:39:35was to just shut up.

00:39:36Liberals can win

00:39:37if they stop being

00:39:37so annoying.

00:39:39He's not wrong.

00:39:40Um, annoying,

00:39:42sneer, hysteria,

00:39:42hysterical,

00:39:43moralizing,

00:39:43breathless.

00:39:44I call commentators

00:39:45like this,

00:39:45who are not pro-Trump

00:39:46but very against

00:39:47the Cassandra read of him,

00:39:48anti-alarmist.

00:39:49They're encountering

00:39:50the Cassandra song

00:39:50as female,

00:39:51that annoys them

00:39:52and they dismiss it

00:39:53on that basis.

00:39:56Let's see,

00:39:56I want to go,

00:39:57I want to go down,

00:39:59uh,

00:40:00here we go.

00:40:00As always,

00:40:01the Cassandra's reasoning

00:40:02here is clear

00:40:02but not complex.

00:40:04Less pattern recognition

00:40:04and more recognizing

00:40:05there's a pattern.

00:40:06And then it goes on

00:40:07to say,

00:40:07likewise with race,

00:40:08non-white Americans

00:40:09prove more willing

00:40:09to connect the dots.

00:40:11Look,

00:40:11I'm a black woman

00:40:11from the South,

00:40:12Yolanda said.

00:40:13I've been black

00:40:14all my life.

00:40:16At this point,

00:40:1750 years.

00:40:17There are ways

00:40:18of having life experiences

00:40:19and navigating the world

00:40:19that sometimes,

00:40:20certainly if one

00:40:21is self-reflective,

00:40:22give you an insight

00:40:22into behavior

00:40:23and behavior

00:40:24to take seriously.

00:40:25Daniel also stressed

00:40:26the history of black people

00:40:27in America.

00:40:28You're constantly

00:40:28going over that history,

00:40:29constantly talking about it.

00:40:30As a result,

00:40:31you start to look for things

00:40:31that will lead

00:40:32or could lead

00:40:33to the suppression

00:40:33of others.

00:40:35Even if the others

00:40:36aren't targeted

00:40:37or aren't black.

00:40:38If there's a list

00:40:38and people are being

00:40:39put on the list,

00:40:40black people are on the list.

00:40:41Might not be at the top

00:40:42of the list,

00:40:43but we are always

00:40:43on the list.

00:40:46It's true.

00:40:48It's,

00:40:48it's very,

00:40:50it's very true.

00:40:53This is an important bit.

00:40:54How anti-Alarmism

00:40:55became cool and masculine.

00:40:57We might note

00:40:58how different

00:40:58actual Cassandras

00:40:59are from the picture

00:41:00painted with them

00:41:00by anti-Alarmists.

00:41:01A core tenet

00:41:02of whose world view

00:41:03is that progressives

00:41:04generally,

00:41:05and Cassandras in particular,

00:41:06simply haven't understood

00:41:07Trump voters.

00:41:08As is so often

00:41:09the case in heated

00:41:10political debates,

00:41:11this is projection.

00:41:12Here's a list

00:41:12of everyone I've quoted

00:41:13making anti-Alarmist arguments

00:41:15in this,

00:41:15another article on them.

00:41:16Ezra Klein,

00:41:17Matt Iglesias,

00:41:18Brett Stevens,

00:41:18Corey Robin,

00:41:19John Stewart,

00:41:19David Brooks,

00:41:20William Watson,

00:41:21John Harris,

00:41:21Simon Jenkins,

00:41:22Zachary Carabell,

00:41:23Josh Barrow,

00:41:24and Noah Feldman.

00:41:26Not an exhaustive list,

00:41:27but enough for a quick sketch.

00:41:29All of them grew up

00:41:30in variable areas

00:41:30either California,

00:41:31New York,

00:41:31or Massachusetts,

00:41:32excepting Watson,

00:41:33who's Canadian,

00:41:34and Harrison Jenkins,

00:41:35who are British.

00:41:35All have spent

00:41:36the vast majority

00:41:37of their careers

00:41:37working in media

00:41:38or academia

00:41:38in either big blue cities

00:41:40or college towns.

00:41:40All are college grads,

00:41:41many have an elite education,

00:41:43Yale, Harvard, Oxford,

00:41:44and so on.

00:41:45Many are the children

00:41:46of significant academics,

00:41:47all are men.

00:41:48I'm sure you can find exceptions,

00:41:49but this does not seem

00:41:50to be the basic profile

00:41:50of a mainstream media

00:41:52anti-Alarmist.

00:41:53To be clear,

00:41:54I don't think being

00:41:54an educated coastal elite

00:41:55makes you less

00:41:56of a real American.

00:41:57What's weird, however,

00:41:58is that they seem

00:41:59to think that?

00:42:00There's a desperate

00:42:00insecurity here,

00:42:01and I suspect it comes

00:42:02from our gendered politics.

00:42:03Because we think of men

00:42:04as more authentic,

00:42:05that quality of authenticity

00:42:06carries over to male-coded entities.

00:42:08There's this thing

00:42:09where Republicans

00:42:09are the real people,

00:42:10and we liberals

00:42:12are not real,

00:42:12as Megan,

00:42:14a 60-year-old white woman

00:42:15from Atlanta,

00:42:15put it.

00:42:16Men can be precious

00:42:17about gender identity.

00:42:18When challenged,

00:42:19they feel the need

00:42:19to prove their masculinity,

00:42:21often by lashing out

00:42:21at women.

00:42:22Media anti-Alarmists

00:42:23are uncomfortable

00:42:24being feminized.

00:42:24They want to show

00:42:25that, yes,

00:42:26they're anti-Trump,

00:42:26but they're not

00:42:27one of those

00:42:27sanctimonious,

00:42:28hysterical,

00:42:28annoying,

00:42:28cringe liberals.

00:42:30The result is

00:42:30a preposterous dynamic

00:42:31in which non-elite Cassandras

00:42:32who often live in red states

00:42:33and talk to magazines

00:42:34every day

00:42:35are lectured on

00:42:36understanding them

00:42:36by columnists

00:42:37who may have never

00:42:37talked to one

00:42:38on their own turf

00:42:39in their entire lives.

00:42:40The columnist's experience

00:42:41of the modern right

00:42:42is that of their sanitizers,

00:42:44of pseudo-intellectual apologists

00:42:45having Ross Duthat

00:42:46on their podcast.

00:42:47They have not had

00:42:48the fear of their lives

00:42:49coming out as gay or trans

00:42:50in a deep, dark, red community.

00:42:51They have not had

00:42:52the family stage intervention

00:42:53because they believe

00:42:54progressivism is literally demonic.

00:42:56British journalist

00:42:56John Harris quoted above

00:42:57felt confident

00:42:58to tell terrified liberals

00:42:59in the most condescending language

00:43:00they'd misunderstood MAGA

00:43:01after spending

00:43:02the best part

00:43:03of five days in the states.

00:43:05Cassandras make their arguments

00:43:06in simple,

00:43:07straightforward ways.

00:43:08They're earnest.

00:43:08They don't bury their politics

00:43:09in 12 layers of eye-rolling irony

00:43:11or pat it out with jargon

00:43:12or clever sounding praises.

00:43:13All this sincerity

00:43:14would become

00:43:14as negatively associated

00:43:15with femininity

00:43:16throughout the Trump era.

00:43:17There would be a trend

00:43:18towards considering

00:43:18earnestness cringe,

00:43:19to use Alex's words.

00:43:21She told me,

00:43:22I got a little sinking feeling

00:43:23when cringe became

00:43:23a common epithet.

00:43:24It's like,

00:43:25do we like the alternative?

00:43:29And, uh,

00:43:30yes.

00:43:33And then it gets into

00:43:34what Democrats

00:43:35need to do,

00:43:35can do,

00:43:36about fighting

00:43:37and not being alone.

00:43:39this bit at the end

00:43:41is quite good.

00:43:43We all like to think

00:43:44of ourselves

00:43:44as someone who will

00:43:46tell hard truths

00:43:46or go against

00:43:47our group's consensus,

00:43:48but it's much rarer

00:43:49than people imagine

00:43:49because it's much harder

00:43:50than people imagine.

00:43:51Humans are hardwired

00:43:52to look to others

00:43:53for a model to follow.

00:43:54Just look at the anti-alarmist.

00:43:55Being a critical thinker

00:43:56with the courage

00:43:57to say unpopular things

00:43:58is at the heart

00:43:58of the justifactory myth

00:44:00that we tell ourselves.

00:44:01But these are virtues

00:44:02they have spectacularly failed

00:44:03to demonstrate

00:44:03over the last decade.

00:44:04It's easy to be angry

00:44:05about this,

00:44:06but at the end of the day

00:44:06it's all too human

00:44:07taking the path

00:44:08of least resistance

00:44:08at every turn

00:44:09even if that road

00:44:10ultimately ends in disaster,

00:44:12especially that

00:44:13that everyone else

00:44:13in your tribe is doing.

00:44:14Going along,

00:44:15keeping your head down,

00:44:16is contagious.

00:44:17But so is courage.

00:44:19It's hard to say

00:44:19that other people

00:44:20don't want to hear

00:44:21to be looked at

00:44:21like you're crazy

00:44:22or to speak up

00:44:23in an environment

00:44:23where free speech

00:44:24can no longer

00:44:25be simply assumed.

00:44:26But it becomes

00:44:27so much easier

00:44:27when you have others

00:44:28with you.

00:44:29I'm very fortunate

00:44:30that some family members

00:44:31kind of took

00:44:31a similar journey.

00:44:32We've had each other

00:44:32and that's been

00:44:33exceedingly helpful,

00:44:34Ryan told me.

00:44:34We owe the Cassandras

00:44:35a great debt

00:44:36of being the first

00:44:36among us

00:44:37to raise their voices.

00:44:38It is largely

00:44:38because of them

00:44:39that we are not alone

00:44:40when we do

00:44:40and there remains

00:44:41a critical mass of people

00:44:42at all levels of society

00:44:43who are resolutely opposed

00:44:44to our authoritarian drift

00:44:46and army ready,

00:44:47eager even to fight.

00:44:48If liberalism's generals

00:44:49can only find it

00:44:50in themselves

00:44:50to actually lead it.

00:44:52It is because of them

00:44:53that there is hope.

00:44:57If you want to go

00:44:57read the whole thing,

00:44:59all the thing,

00:45:00because I skipped

00:45:01over some portions,

00:45:02it's on the New Republic,

00:45:03the Americans who saw

00:45:04all this coming

00:45:04but were ignored and maligned.

00:45:05So good.

00:45:07So true.

00:45:09I felt the same way.

00:45:11I've met other people

00:45:11who felt the same way.

00:45:13I definitely got a lot

00:45:16of pushback from people

00:45:18after the last election

00:45:20when I was talking about

00:45:25how afraid and concerned

00:45:29I was about a second Trump term.

00:45:35I was concerned the first time

00:45:36but doubly concerned

00:45:37the second time.

00:45:38And so I, yeah,

00:45:41I loved this article

00:45:42and I wanted to share it

00:45:44because I had so much identity

00:45:46with it.

00:45:46And I think it is true.

00:45:47If you are a person of color,

00:45:49especially if you're black,

00:45:50it's like, yeah,

00:45:51if things are going to go weird,

00:45:52we're always on the agenda

00:45:54at some point.

00:45:55You know,

00:45:55so like we're on

00:45:56kind of the lookout

00:45:56to be kind of like,

00:45:57oh, you know,

00:45:58what's happening?

00:45:58What's happening?

00:45:59You know,

00:45:59are things still safe outside?

00:46:01What's happening?

00:46:01You know,

00:46:02we're on the lookout

00:46:03for fuckery.

00:46:05Like we're on the lookout

00:46:06for crazy things happening.

00:46:08And I think a lot of people

00:46:11are more insulated.

00:46:12And that was my experience

00:46:13talking to people

00:46:13after the election.

00:46:15You know,

00:46:15when I said like,

00:46:16yeah,

00:46:16I'm worried about my social media

00:46:18presence being watched.

00:46:19Guess what happened?

00:46:20I'm worried about,

00:46:22you know,

00:46:22any sort of government crackdown

00:46:24on journalists

00:46:25or journalism.

00:46:26You know,

00:46:26I mean,

00:46:27and everyone told me,

00:46:28no, no, no,

00:46:29it'll be fine.

00:46:30You're freaking out.

00:46:31All this type of thing.

00:46:32And as time has gone on,

00:46:34I don't hear a lot of that anymore.

00:46:36Needless to say.

00:46:37And I think a lot of people

00:46:40are very insulated

00:46:41from a lot of the stuff

00:46:43and don't understand

00:46:44what some of the country is like,

00:46:47what some communities are like,

00:46:49and what it's like to be

00:46:51in an out group,

00:46:53you know,

00:46:53sort of thing.

00:46:55And when you're in the out group,

00:46:56you're very concerned

00:46:57with what's happening

00:46:58in the in group

00:46:58and how it's going to affect you.

00:46:59Because that's been

00:47:00your experience your whole life

00:47:01is when you're in the out group,

00:47:04things happen to you

00:47:05that you don't control.

00:47:07That you don't like,

00:47:08that you don't want,

00:47:09but it's going to happen to you

00:47:10because the in group

00:47:12gets to do that.

00:47:16And it gives you a perspective.

00:47:20You're anticipating

00:47:21the in group

00:47:23doing something to you

00:47:24in a way

00:47:25that members of the in group

00:47:27don't see

00:47:28because that sort of thing

00:47:30very rarely happens to them.

00:47:32And you kind of see this

00:47:35with the talk

00:47:35about George Floyd

00:47:36and BLM

00:47:37and the 1619 Project

00:47:39and all this type of thing.

00:47:40A lot of our conversation

00:47:41about race

00:47:42over the last decade

00:47:43has been

00:47:44out groups

00:47:45actively doing something

00:47:46to the in group

00:47:47and there's been backlash

00:47:48because it sucks.

00:47:51Surprise, surprise.

00:47:51Just the surprise

00:47:52of no one in an out group.

00:47:53It sucks

00:47:54and it's not fun.

00:47:56But I think

00:47:57that gives you

00:47:57a perspective

00:47:58to be kind of like,

00:47:59oh, I've seen this before.

00:48:00And just like the person said,

00:48:01in the black community,

00:48:02we lived under Jim Crow

00:48:03for 100 years

00:48:04and those stories persist.

00:48:07That history

00:48:07is talked about

00:48:08all the time.

00:48:09Anytime two or more

00:48:10black people are gathered,

00:48:11we're talking,

00:48:12and so everyone

00:48:13knows the story.

00:48:14Everyone knows

00:48:14the things that have happened.

00:48:16Everyone knows

00:48:16how bad it can get.

00:48:19Every family

00:48:20has a story.

00:48:21Somebody's land

00:48:22got stolen.

00:48:23Somebody got lynched.

00:48:24Somebody got killed.

00:48:25Something, something,

00:48:26something, something,

00:48:26something.

00:48:27Some of those

00:48:27are nationally known stories,

00:48:29you know,

00:48:29like Emmett Till.

00:48:31Others

00:48:32are,

00:48:33happen quietly.

00:48:34But the reality is

00:48:35within the black community,

00:48:36there's an oral tradition

00:48:37of this stuff.

00:48:38Not that there aren't books,

00:48:39but there's a strong

00:48:41oral tradition

00:48:41going as well.

00:48:43And that, I think,

00:48:44makes everyone

00:48:45quite alert.

00:48:46And over in the Hispanic community,

00:48:47you want to talk about

00:48:47immigration crackdowns?

00:48:49That's something

00:48:49they've been dealing with

00:48:50off and on

00:48:51for decades.

00:48:52You know,

00:48:53Obama,

00:48:53deported in shape.

00:48:54I mean,

00:48:54so the people

00:48:55are on the lookout.

00:48:56They're aware

00:48:56of these things.

00:48:57People are dumb,

00:48:58but they're not always stupid.

00:49:01And so,

00:49:02I thought

00:49:04this was very interesting

00:49:05to people who, like,

00:49:08said,

00:49:08yeah,

00:49:08I saw it coming.

00:49:10I know what's happening.

00:49:11And I think

00:49:11the lack of,

00:49:13I think the people

00:49:14in the media

00:49:14who have

00:49:15quietly justified it,

00:49:17gone along with it,

00:49:18said,

00:49:19everything's fine,

00:49:20and your day-to-day life

00:49:21is fine,

00:49:21all this type of thing,

00:49:23have provided

00:49:23their own quiet cover

00:49:25and given

00:49:26a lot of the

00:49:28non-politically

00:49:29or news junkie

00:49:30engaged people

00:49:31a cover to say,

00:49:33oh,

00:49:33yeah,

00:49:34I guess everything's okay.

00:49:36Some of that

00:49:37sounds worrying,

00:49:38but it's not worrying

00:49:39yet,

00:49:40is it?

00:49:41And that's how

00:49:42fascism wins,

00:49:45incidentally.

00:49:46All right,

00:49:46let's talk about

00:49:47boomer luxury communism

00:49:47and then we're

00:49:48going to get out of here.

00:49:51So,

00:49:51this was a great

00:49:52article

00:49:55from the Claremont Institute,

00:49:57The American Mind,

00:49:58about

00:49:59what is

00:50:00total boomer

00:50:01luxury communism.

00:50:03And

00:50:04I want to come back

00:50:05to some of the

00:50:06comments,

00:50:07but

00:50:08the article

00:50:09is here.

00:50:10Let's do some of the points.

00:50:12Americans are unaware

00:50:13of the harm

00:50:13this is inflicting

00:50:14on their wallets.

00:50:15And if we look

00:50:16at direct taxes

00:50:16and entitlements

00:50:17by age,

00:50:18you'll notice

00:50:19that as you get older,

00:50:20your tax burden

00:50:21decreases significantly

00:50:23and your wealth

00:50:25transfer increases

00:50:26dramatically

00:50:28over this time.

00:50:32And so,

00:50:33and this is,

00:50:35I mean,

00:50:35obviously kind of

00:50:36an area of difficulty

00:50:37financially for the country.

00:50:39It says here,

00:50:39Americans are unaware

00:50:40of the harm

00:50:41this is inflicting

00:50:41on their wallets.

00:50:4291% do not know

00:50:43that social security benefits

00:50:44can reach over

00:50:45$60,000 per person

00:50:47and that a senior

00:50:48household can collect

00:50:48nearly $117,000

00:50:50a year

00:50:51just from the program,

00:50:52let alone the fact

00:50:53that Medicare programs

00:50:54cover golf balls,

00:50:55greens fees,

00:50:56social clubs,

00:50:58ski trips,

00:50:58and horseback riding.

00:51:00Total boomer luxury

00:51:01communism is tingling

00:51:02the country

00:51:03in a web of contradictions.

00:51:05If we don't

00:51:05radically overhaul

00:51:06America's entitlement

00:51:07regime,

00:51:08our entire nation

00:51:09will become

00:51:10a naturally occurring

00:51:11retirement community.

00:51:17And so,

00:51:18I wanted to kind of

00:51:19wrap up on this.

00:51:20I don't know that

00:51:20we're going to read

00:51:21the whole thing

00:51:22because this is a lot,

00:51:23but let's just kind of

00:51:25get a flavor.

00:51:27The Invisible Driver

00:51:28of America's Decline.

00:51:30For half a decade,

00:51:31the right has debated

00:51:32free market fundamentalism.

00:51:34This phenomenon

00:51:34is known as

00:51:35zombie Reaganism,

00:51:36libertarian neoconservativism,

00:51:37and neoliberalism.

00:51:39Whatever you call it,

00:51:40it never happened.

00:51:41That is to say,

00:51:41the reduction in

00:51:42government expenditure

00:51:43and size that

00:51:43Reaganites promised

00:51:44and liberals feared

00:51:45turned out to be a mirage.

00:51:47What happened instead

00:51:48is that starting in the 1980s,

00:51:49both parties set the country

00:51:50on a course toward

00:51:51total boomer luxury

00:51:52communism,

00:51:53or TBLC.

00:51:55TBLC is driving

00:51:56every asset of

00:51:57American decline,

00:51:58from skyrocketing

00:51:59national debt

00:51:59and the erosion

00:52:00of our defense

00:52:00industrial base

00:52:01to the despair

00:52:02of young people.

00:52:04It's not the only reason

00:52:05for the decline,

00:52:06to be sure,

00:52:06but it's a major part

00:52:07of the problem.

00:52:08Yet TBLC has been

00:52:09entirely obscured

00:52:10from view.

00:52:11The essence of TBLC

00:52:12is that it redistributes

00:52:13wealth from younger families

00:52:14and workers to seniors,

00:52:15who are on average

00:52:16much richer.

00:52:17America has achieved

00:52:18the Marxist paradise

00:52:19of hunting in the morning,

00:52:20fishing in the afternoon,

00:52:21rearing cattle in the evening,

00:52:22and criticizing after dinner.

00:52:24Only it looks more like

00:52:25golf in the morning,

00:52:26horseback riding in the afternoon,

00:52:27drinks at the social club

00:52:28in the evening,

00:52:29and a restful night's sleep

00:52:30in a million dollar home.

00:52:31All thanks to the

00:52:32largesse of the U.S. government.

00:52:34It has been common

00:52:34for some time

00:52:35to see AI memes

00:52:36about how much easier

00:52:37the boomers had it.

00:52:39Quote,

00:52:40My dad lived in a

00:52:41four-bedroom house

00:52:41and a coal miner's salary,

00:52:43but I went to college

00:52:44and can't afford DoorDash.

00:52:45Unquote.

00:52:45The old right

00:52:46usually responds

00:52:47to these sorts of claims

00:52:47with some facts

00:52:48about economic growth

00:52:49and median income.

00:52:50They wonder,

00:52:50sometimes out loud,

00:52:51why don't these young people

00:52:52appreciate what

00:52:53the conservative movement

00:52:55conserved?

00:52:56There's a kernel of truth

00:52:57in this.

00:52:57Just look at Canada

00:52:58if you want a glimpse

00:52:58of an America

00:52:59without a conservative movement.

00:53:00Too often, though,

00:53:04defenders of the

00:53:05conservative movement

00:53:06take it for granted

00:53:06that America

00:53:07preserved a free market system

00:53:08and a constitutional government

00:53:10through the Cold War era.

00:53:11Typically,

00:53:12our situation is compared

00:53:13with the centralized control

00:53:14of the CCP.

00:53:15If this comparison

00:53:15is accurate,

00:53:16however,

00:53:16it's hard to see it

00:53:17in the data.

00:53:18In his book,

00:53:18Breakneck,

00:53:19Dan Wang observes,

00:53:19In fact,

00:53:37Wing's comparison

00:53:37understates how much more

00:53:38the American government

00:53:39redistributes wealth

00:53:39compared to China.

00:53:40America is three times

00:53:41as wealthy per person

00:53:42as China,

00:53:43so the U.S. spends

00:53:44at least six times

00:53:45as much per person

00:53:45on social programs

00:53:46as China,

00:53:47and most of that

00:53:48goes to seniors.

00:53:50There's six times

00:53:51as much wealth redistribution

00:53:52happening in America

00:53:53as in China.

00:53:54That's the communism,

00:53:55but only for boomers.

00:53:56The luxury part

00:53:57comes in how the government

00:53:58distributes these benefits.

00:54:00Perversely,

00:54:00retired millionaires

00:54:01have become

00:54:01the greatest recipients

00:54:02of government aid.

00:54:04Max social security benefits

00:54:05in the U.S.

00:54:05are three to four times

00:54:06what seniors

00:54:07can ever hope to achieve

00:54:08in other developed nations

00:54:09such as Britain,

00:54:09Canada,

00:54:10and New Zealand.

00:54:11These are allocated

00:54:11by lifetime income,

00:54:13so the greatest

00:54:13social security benefits

00:54:14go to wealthy individuals

00:54:15who need them the least.

00:54:16An individual can take in

00:54:17over $60,000 a year

00:54:19from social security alone.

00:54:20Meanwhile,

00:54:20Medicare programs

00:54:21are paying for golf balls,

00:54:22greens fees,

00:54:23social club memberships,

00:54:24first-pack writing lessons,

00:54:24and pet food.

00:54:25On average,

00:54:26retirees are much wealthier

00:54:27than younger generations.

00:54:29The metastatic growth

00:54:29of the American federal government

00:54:31took place largely

00:54:31in the absence

00:54:32of congressional deliberation

00:54:33or even public notice.

00:54:34For a brief period in 2013,

00:54:38centrists and center-left

00:54:39commentators

00:54:40in the mainstream media

00:54:40admitted that the entire

00:54:42federal budget

00:54:42was biased against young people.

00:54:44In the Trump era, though,

00:54:45this fact has been memory-hold,

00:54:47and progressives instead

00:54:47talk about increasing

00:54:49social security spending

00:54:49by tens of trillions.

00:54:51The facts on the ground

00:54:52about distribution

00:54:52and redistribution

00:54:53sit uneasily

00:54:54next to our popular perceptions

00:54:55of political polarization.

00:54:57Only three-quarters

00:54:58of U.S. federal spending

00:54:59goes on autopilot

00:55:00without congressional review.

00:55:02Commentators often limit

00:55:03how divided Americans supposedly are.

00:55:04But is this true?

00:55:06What percentage

00:55:07of the federal budget

00:55:07do the two parties

00:55:08actually fight over?

00:55:09Only around 15%,

00:55:11it seems.

00:55:12The last year

00:55:12in which a majority

00:55:13of the federal budget

00:55:14went to so-called

00:55:14discretionary programs,

00:55:16which Congress actually reviews,

00:55:17was 1974.

00:55:19In other words,

00:55:20Democrats and Republicans

00:55:21agree on at least 85%

00:55:22of federal spending,

00:55:23mostly because they both

00:55:24support a massive wealth transfer

00:55:25from young workers to seniors.

00:55:27There's no political debate

00:55:28in Congress or even online

00:55:29until recently

00:55:30about total boomer

00:55:32luxury communism.

00:55:35Europe's economies

00:55:36are less robust,

00:55:37so they've already had

00:55:38to confront these truths.

00:55:39Germany's chancellors

00:55:40declared that this

00:55:40welfare state, quote,

00:55:42can no longer be financed.

00:55:43France has been locked

00:55:44in an intense political fight

00:55:45over raising the retirement age,

00:55:46but in America,

00:55:47our politicians act

00:55:48as if we can finance

00:55:49an ever more generous

00:55:50retirement state

00:55:50despite our much higher

00:55:52military spending

00:55:52and aging population,

00:55:54plummeting fertility rates,

00:55:55stagnant economic growth,

00:55:56and $38 trillion

00:55:57in national debt.

00:55:59When you put it like that,

00:56:00the last major

00:56:01social security reform

00:56:02occurred when President

00:56:03Ronald Reagan signed

00:56:04the social security amendments

00:56:05in 1983.

00:56:06This legislation

00:56:07saved social security

00:56:08from an imminent insolvency

00:56:09by raising the retirement age,

00:56:10slowing benefit growth,

00:56:11and increasing taxes.

00:56:13Since then,

00:56:13American politicians

00:56:14have let social security

00:56:15grow on autopilot.

00:56:17New Zealand,

00:56:18Canada,

00:56:18Germany,

00:56:19and Sweden

00:56:20all reformed

00:56:20their versions

00:56:21of social security

00:56:22during this period.

00:56:23The U.S. did not.

00:56:24As summarized by Avery James,

00:56:26Reagan's successors

00:56:27failed to control

00:56:27the massive elevation

00:56:28of government payments

00:56:29to the elderly,

00:56:30creating a powerful

00:56:31gentry constituency

00:56:32to move the country's

00:56:33parties and politics

00:56:34away from debating

00:56:34smaller or larger government.

00:56:36The GOP did betray

00:56:37Reagan's legacy,

00:56:38but that process

00:56:38began a lot earlier

00:56:39than 2016.

00:56:40Much of the stale

00:56:41intra-right-wing debate

00:56:42referenced above

00:56:43completes Reagan

00:56:44in his epigenes.

00:56:46Today,

00:56:47most Americans

00:56:48have no idea

00:56:49how their tax dollars

00:56:49are spent.

00:56:50For example,

00:56:5191% do not know

00:56:52that social security

00:56:52benefits can reach

00:56:53over $60K per person.

00:56:54They have no idea

00:56:55that a senior household

00:56:56can collect

00:56:56nearly $117,000 a year

00:56:58just from social security.

00:56:59And if you tell people

00:57:00that Medicare programs

00:57:01cover golf balls,

00:57:02green streets,

00:57:02social clubs,

00:57:03ski trips,

00:57:04and horseback riding,

00:57:05they stare in disbelief.

00:57:06Zoomers and millennials

00:57:07may overlook America's

00:57:09massive social spending

00:57:10because they largely

00:57:11don't benefit from it.

00:57:12They just pay for it.

00:57:13As Chris Pope explains,

00:57:14the U.S. has increasingly

00:57:15costly entitlements

00:57:16for middle-class retirees

00:57:17result in substantial

00:57:18redistribution away

00:57:19from young workers.

00:57:20This generational injustice

00:57:22is compounded

00:57:22at least four times over.

00:57:24The government taxes

00:57:24the young and transfers

00:57:25their wealth to seniors.

00:57:26Government borrows even more

00:57:27to transfer more wealth

00:57:28to seniors.

00:57:29Government debt

00:57:29causes inflation

00:57:30and slows economic growth

00:57:31eating away at young people's

00:57:32incomes their entire lives.

00:57:33Government taxes young people

00:57:34again to pay for the debt

00:57:35incurred to pay

00:57:36for the senior entitlements.

00:57:37As Peter Thiel recently observed,

00:57:39boomers are strangely

00:57:40uncurious about how this

00:57:41is not really working

00:57:42for their kids.

00:57:42If all you can say

00:57:43is that Mamdani

00:57:44is a jihadist,

00:57:45communist,

00:57:45ridiculous young person.

00:57:46What that sounds like

00:57:47to me is that you still

00:57:48don't have any idea

00:57:48what to do about housing

00:57:49or student debt.

00:57:50If that's the best

00:57:51you can do,

00:57:51you're going to keep losing.

00:57:53To illustrate Thiel's point,

00:57:55which is one among

00:57:56many key examples,

00:57:57discussion of housing costs

00:57:58often completely

00:57:59ignores the cost

00:57:59of total boomer

00:58:00luxury communism,

00:58:01focusing exclusively

00:58:02on supply restrictions.

00:58:04Yes, it's true

00:58:05that when government

00:58:05regulations on zoning

00:58:06restrict the supply

00:58:07of housing

00:58:07and demand increases

00:58:08due to population influx,

00:58:09prices go up.

00:58:10But our nation's policies

00:58:11are heavily biased

00:58:12towards keeping seniors

00:58:13in homes that are

00:58:14more spacious

00:58:14and nearer to major

00:58:15employers than they

00:58:16would otherwise be.

00:58:17Take the housing market

00:58:18for young people in D.C.

00:58:19The median staff assistant

00:58:21in the U.S. House

00:58:21representatives

00:58:22earns $55,891 a year.

00:58:26Deputy press secretaries

00:58:27do a little bit better

00:58:28at $6,524,000.

00:58:31Meanwhile,

00:58:32the nation's capital

00:58:32is ranked as top

00:58:33as number 10

00:58:34on the list

00:58:34of the U.S.

00:58:35most expensive large cities,

00:58:36requiring over $78,000 a year

00:58:38just to afford

00:58:39basic necessities.

00:58:39It costs about twice

00:58:41that much

00:58:41to live a decent life.

00:58:42The average single-family

00:58:43home costs $799,000

00:58:45and many of the D.C.

00:58:46homes selling

00:58:47for under $1,000,000

00:58:47are located

00:58:48in high-crime areas,

00:58:49not suited for young

00:58:50people wishing

00:58:51to start a family.

00:58:52Ward 3 of the district,

00:58:53by contrast,

00:58:54is gorgeous

00:58:54and relatively safe

00:58:55as tree-lined streets

00:58:56and accommodating

00:58:56backyards

00:58:57give it a calm,

00:58:57suburban feel

00:58:58even though it's

00:58:59still close enough

00:58:59to a reasonable

00:59:00daily commute

00:59:00to the city's

00:59:01major employers.

00:59:02It has long been

00:59:03the official policy

00:59:03of the U.S. government,

00:59:04however,

00:59:04to help retirees

00:59:05stay in homes

00:59:06there as long as possible.

00:59:07For example,

00:59:07D.C. is home to N.O.R.C.s

00:59:09or Naturally Occurring

00:59:10Retirement Communities,

00:59:12also known as

00:59:12Senior Villages.

00:59:13We've turned

00:59:14prime real estate

00:59:14for young families

00:59:15into walkable

00:59:16nursing homes.

00:59:17In reality,

00:59:18N.O.R.C.s

00:59:18are anything

00:59:19but naturally occurring.

00:59:20Total boomer luxury

00:59:21communism helps

00:59:21these seniors

00:59:22stay in spacious homes

00:59:23far longer

00:59:25than they otherwise would.

00:59:26Like almost everyone

00:59:27else in the nation,

00:59:28D.C. offers special

00:59:28tax breaks

00:59:29for senior homeowners.

00:59:30This encourages them

00:59:31to stay in their homes

00:59:32despite their spare bedrooms

00:59:33instead of downsizing

00:59:34and selling

00:59:35to younger families.

00:59:36Nearly every state

00:59:37has special subsidies

00:59:37for senior homeowners

00:59:38from exemptions

00:59:39to freezes

00:59:40to deferrals

00:59:40to help them

00:59:41stay in place.

00:59:43It gets worse.

00:59:45Medicaid long-term care

00:59:46exempts home equity

00:59:47of up to $1,097,000

00:59:50from means testing

00:59:51and the Federal Housing

00:59:52Authority provides

00:59:53Americans age 62

00:59:54or older

00:59:54a special home equity

00:59:55conversion mortgage

00:59:56allowing them

00:59:57to turn home equity

00:59:58into cash

00:59:58without additional

01:00:00monthly payments.

01:00:01Often this transfers

01:00:02the burden to their heirs.

01:00:03If we don't radically

01:00:04overhaul America's

01:00:05entitlement regime

01:00:06our entire nation

01:00:07will become a naturally

01:00:08occurring retirement community.

01:00:10Total boomer luxury communism

01:00:11is tingling the country

01:00:12in a web of contradictions.

01:00:14America now depends

01:00:14on a steady flow

01:00:15of new workers

01:00:15to pay for seniors

01:00:16increasingly generous benefits

01:00:17but it also pays people

01:00:18not to work

01:00:19and discourages family formation.

01:00:21This system is at war

01:00:22with itself.

01:00:23America's entitlement system

01:00:24will change radically

01:00:25within a decade

01:00:26if not sooner.

01:00:27The money is running out.

01:00:28The only question is

01:00:29who will bear the burden.

01:00:30Each day that passes

01:00:31means Gen Z

01:00:31and Millennials

01:00:32pay more of the price

01:00:33for boomer irresponsibility.

01:00:35Aerosol reminds us

01:00:36that revolutions occur

01:00:36when there is an unjust

01:00:37distribution of the honors

01:00:38offices and privileges

01:00:40of citizenship.

01:00:41It is not time for revolution

01:00:42but for re-evaluation

01:00:44of how we as a nation

01:00:45distribute those burdens

01:00:46and privileges.

01:00:47We can only fix

01:00:48total boomer luxury communism

01:00:49once you recognize it

01:00:50for what it actually is.

01:00:56You know,

01:00:57and I wish I had put this

01:00:58in the book

01:00:58America's Lost Generation

01:00:59because

01:01:01this is just

01:01:03absolutely

01:01:04brilliant.

01:01:07Like,

01:01:071010 no notes.

01:01:09Like,

01:01:10one of the books

01:01:11I read

01:01:11is part of it

01:01:12is called

01:01:12Theft of a Decade

01:01:13and it gets into

01:01:14just the depressing

01:01:15financial future

01:01:17for people my age

01:01:19and younger

01:01:19and how

01:01:20we just

01:01:22can't afford

01:01:23to be paying

01:01:24for people's gym memberships

01:01:26and golf fees

01:01:27and all this type

01:01:28of thing.

01:01:28Like,

01:01:29we just

01:01:29simply

01:01:30can't

01:01:31afford it

01:01:33and

01:01:33that

01:01:37is

01:01:38total boomer

01:01:41luxury

01:01:42communism

01:01:43and that

01:01:45really

01:01:46is

01:01:46the center

01:01:48of

01:01:49a lot of

01:01:50problems

01:01:50and so

01:01:51the invisible

01:01:52driver of America's

01:01:52declined.

01:01:53Yeah,

01:01:54the boomers

01:01:55got a lot.

01:01:56There was

01:01:56a lack of

01:01:57reform

01:01:58on Social Security

01:02:00and Medicare

01:02:01and Medicaid

01:02:01and,

01:02:02I mean,

01:02:02this graph here

01:02:03is just

01:02:05stunning

01:02:06when you look

01:02:07at it this way.

01:02:08This is per person

01:02:09in 2021 dollars

01:02:10starting at

01:02:11zero,

01:02:115,000,

01:02:1210,000

01:02:12and age cohorts.

01:02:14So you're paying

01:02:14the most taxes

01:02:15at 45 to 54.

01:02:17You're starting

01:02:18to get a little bit

01:02:19of wealth transfer

01:02:19but the minute

01:02:20you hit 65,

01:02:22which is right

01:02:22about there,

01:02:24your tax burden

01:02:25decreases

01:02:25dramatically

01:02:26and the amount

01:02:28of money you get

01:02:28increases a lot.

01:02:29This cannot happen

01:02:30forever.

01:02:32We're going to have

01:02:32to reform these

01:02:33programs

01:02:34and that means

01:02:35old people

01:02:36of the future,

01:02:37that's me

01:02:38at this point,

01:02:40Gen X first

01:02:40but millennials

01:02:41after that,

01:02:42are going to be

01:02:43getting less.

01:02:44These programs

01:02:44are going to have

01:02:45to be brought

01:02:45to heel.

01:02:46People are going

01:02:46to have to be

01:02:47more responsible

01:02:47for themselves

01:02:48and do more

01:02:49means testing

01:02:49and slow stuff

01:02:51and slow down

01:02:52some of these payments

01:02:53and not shovel

01:02:54more money

01:02:54into the pockets

01:02:55of the wealthy.

01:02:57So this is

01:02:57on the American Mind

01:02:58with Claremont Institute

01:02:59if you want to

01:03:00check that out.

01:03:02Yeah,

01:03:03that's all

01:03:04for this week.

01:03:08My name is

01:03:09Cameron Cowan.

01:03:10This is the

01:03:11Cameron Journal News Hour.

01:03:12Thank you so much

01:03:13for coming with me

01:03:14on this journey.

01:03:14Thank you to everyone

01:03:15who's watching.

01:03:16It's been a great

01:03:182025.

01:03:19The show's grown

01:03:19so much this year.

01:03:21Thank you for being a fan.

01:03:23Please check me out

01:03:24on social media

01:03:25at Cameron Cowan

01:03:26on Instagram,

01:03:27TikTok,

01:03:29I'm sorry,

01:03:30Instagram,

01:03:31LinkedIn,

01:03:33and Facebook,

01:03:35and at Cameron Journal

01:03:36on TikTok.

01:03:37I thank you so much

01:03:38for watching.

01:03:39I really appreciate it.

01:03:40If you want to sign up

01:03:40for the newsletter,

01:03:41head over to

01:03:42CameronJournal.com

01:03:43slash newsletter

01:03:43or CameronJournal.substack.com

01:03:46either one

01:03:46is great

01:03:47and I will see you all

01:03:50on New Year's Eve

01:03:51for the living joke

01:03:52New Year's Eve

01:03:53stream

01:03:55and hang out

01:03:56and I will see you

01:03:57back at the news hour

01:03:57on January 5th,

01:04:00I think,

01:04:02is the first day.

01:04:03That's the first Monday,

01:04:04I think,

01:04:04and we'll try to pull together

01:04:05a news hour then.

01:04:06But I will see you

01:04:07in January.

01:04:08Thank you all so much.

01:04:09Have a wonderful night.

01:04:10Have a wonderful rest

01:04:11of the new year.

01:04:12Merry Christmas.

01:04:12Happy Holidays

01:04:13and Happy New Year.

01:04:15I'll see you in 2026.

01:04:16Bye-bye.

The Epstein Files Update and Total Boomer Luxury Communism

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