The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Facing American Poverty and Global Supply Chain Issues
Episode Date: July 24, 2024Protestant minister, social activist, and Yale Divinity School professor, Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, joins Jon Stewart to explain the misrepresented statistics of poverty in America and his latest... book, “White Poverty: How Exposing Myths About Race and Class Can Reconstruct American Democracy.” Also, New York Times global economics correspondent and author of "How the World Ran Out of Everything: Inside the Global Supply Chain," Peter S. Goodman, sits with Michael Kosta to explain American dependence on an unstable supply chain.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, the weekly show.
It's going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting. You'll be saying to yourself, TGID.
Thank God it's Thursday. We're going to be talking about all the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me.
The election. Economics. Earnings calls. What are
they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient
to bread ratio on sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance it's probably second.
I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go,
but how many of them come out on Thursday?
I mean, talk about innovative.
Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart,
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Hello, everybody in the Daily Show, my guest tonight, he is a Protestant minister, social
activist Yale Divinity School Professor, whose latest book is called White Poverty.
How exposing myths about race and class can reconstruct American democracy.
Please welcome to the show Reverend Dr. William Barber.
Sir.
A pleasure. A pleasure.
The book is going white poverty. I'm holding it up.
I don't know what you can say.
White poverty.
You, sir, are famously not white.
So why write white poverty?
Well, actually, I come from Caucasian, black, and Tuscaro and descended.
Oh, wow.
So, and my people are free people in eastern North Carolina. There are a lot of those communities.
And so in some ways this book is me.
And so to deny any part of my reality would be to deny myself.
But here's the problem I'm concerned about.
The way we measure poverty in this country is not only a lie, but I can say on this
show, it's a damn lie. Sir, you can do more than that if you want.
Oh, okay, okay.
Okay.
We got plenty more room.
Got plenty room for that.
I only use the ones that are approved by the Bible.
Okay.
You're reverent, you're reverent.
So, but we year, you're not poor. If you make about $13,000 a year, you're not poor.
You're kind of in the lower, lower middle class.
When was the last time they adjusted?
Well, it's been since the 60s, really, in some ways.
And so what happens with that is we marginalize poverty.
And then we racialize it.
we have it. In the news, in political arenas, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, th., thi, thi, thi, thi, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, thi, thi, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, th, tho, th, th, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho.e.e.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a. Wea.a.a, thi.a, thi.a, thi In the news, in political arenas, we put up a black woman on welfare, which racializes
it and demeans black people, but then it dismisses tens of millions of white poor people.
You write this 66 million.
Of the 135 million poor and low wage people in this country, 60% of black people are
poor and low well. That's 26 million, 30% of white, but that's 66 million, 40 million
more. This book says we need to face all of our poor and recognize that we have
something what Desmond, there's an author out of Princeton called poverty by America, not
the poverty in America, but the particular
kind of poverty by America that's unnecessary and abolishable because it makes no sense in
the richest nation in the world. We have over 135 million poor and low wage people over 41% of our
population and over 50% of our children and it's unnecessary. So white poverty says we're not
playing the game anymore. Let's not look at this through the prism of race. Let's look at it
through class. And do you think that that division was a purposeful one? I think
so. And and and and to expand race, you have to deal with race in America.
But what you cannot allow someone to do for something this serious where
295,000 people are dying a year from poverty and low wage? How many?
295,800 people a day are dying. Are dying? Are dying?
From what they would consider poverty? Poverty is the fourth leading cause of death in the country.
Higher than respiratory disease.
Higher than gun violence. It even impacts respiratory disease because if you're low wage and you're living in an area, chances are the pollution and the toxin, it's probably higher where you live.
All of those things.
And so here we have something that's
a fourth leading cause of death, 800 people a day.
When seven people died from vaping,
it was a congressional hearing.
It was presidential level, right?
Imagine if 800 politicians were dying a day. Oh, I have. Well, well, well, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thu th, th, th, th, thus th, thus thi, th, th, th, th, th, th, thus that, that, tho, tho, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right. And, right, right, right. And, right. And, right, right. And, th. And, th. And, th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, there, th. And, there, thi. And, th. And, Well I can't do that. But my point is how everybody would be just
up and out or 800 middle class people. 800 we're talking about 100,000 people. That's clearly
epidemic. Right. You just talked about crime. That's a crime. That's a form of part
and especially when it's unnecessary. It does not have to be. And entrenched.
It seems in a lot of communities, it just, it's a cloud that never lifts.
Well, the thing about it is, John, it's in every community.
See, that's the point we're making in the book.
Whether it's Appalachia, where I met women in West Virginia, who have to sell tacos on Tuesday so they have a community fund to help
women deal with their monthly issues, or whether it's out in eastern Kentucky where I met
black and white coal miners who watched the mines be taken over by multinational companies
that move the union rights out of it, or whether it's in the delta, it's everywhere. There's not a county in this country now where a person making 725. That's
what the minimum wage is, federal minimum wage is 725. It's been like that for 14
years, John. It hasn't been raised for 14 years. When they try and raise it to even 15, I mean the
fight is everywhere you go. There's a huge fight about trying to bring it to 15 and it's going to kill all the jobs as well.
Which is a lie. You know three three Nobel Peace Prize economists said it wouldn't kill jobs.
It would put more money in the economy and it would actually expand jobs. But here's the thing.
We had 15 in a union proposed in 2020. Eight Democrats and every Republican stood against 55 million people.
55 million people who make, 52 million people who make less than a living wage of $15.
Now here's the thing, in 63, the March on Washington to 60s out of $1.
Now here's the thinne.
the March on Washington, 63, the March of Washington, 63 was title for jobs and justice. It wasn't just about black civil rights. It was the in inf. the in inf. the in inflation. the in inflation. the in inflation. the in inflation. the in inflation. the inflation, the inflation, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. 50, thi. thi. thi. thi, thi, 50, 50, 50, 50, 50, 50, 50, 50, 50, 50, 50, 50, 50, 50. thi. thi. thi. thi, 50, 50, 50, 50, 50, 50, 50, 50, 50, 50, 50, 50, 50, 50, 50, 50, 50, 50, 50. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. Washington in 63 was titled for jobs and justice.
It wasn't just about black civil rights. It was about a broad inclusive, just field democracy.
Right. And so here we are in this reality and people are hurting everywhere. There's not
a county where you can work a minimum wage job and before the basic two-bedroom apartment.
And waiters and waitresses on minimum wage.
On minimum wage.
Not a county in the country.
Not a county in the country.
Not a coun't in the country.
Not a minimum wage job, there's not a county in this country where you could afford it.
Not a federal, no, you couldn't.
And this is the working poor. It's an entitlement mentality. That's why there's a certain character flaw that keeps you there.
These are people that are working.
Yeah, the entitlement is and then the politicians that keep raising their wages and giving corporations
tax breaks but they won't help the working people.
That's the entitlement.
Great?
We're going to have a problem.
So, so, and we're talking about during COVID, COVID did not exacerbate poverty, it exposed it.
And what we did a study called the death during COVID,
and we found that whether you were in a poor county
in West Virginia or poor county in the Delta,
poor people died at the rate three to five times higher
because of their poverty, not because the germ somehow discriminated, but we did.
Access to good health care. Well discriminated, but we did.
Access to good health care.
Well, 350,000 people died during COVID so far.
One study said from the lack of health care.
And if you don't face this, John, this is the point of the book.
We have to face this. We have to look at it.
We had 15 presidential debates in the last election.
40% of adult population in poverty,
800 people dying a day.
Not one debate was focused on it.
We've not had an over office discussion.
Why don't politicians value what is an incredibly large population in many different,
I'm sure, in swing states.
So why don't they, do poor people need better lobbyists?
What is it that can be done to get a politician to listen?
Well I think that what we're saying now is we just had a study, I asked it to be done
as a part of our movement, waking the sleeping giant.
And this is what we found out,
that all of these numbers also tell us
that poor and low wage people now represent
30% of the electorate in the country.
30%.
And over 40% in states where the marginal victory
was less than 3%.
And in Texas where it's less than 5%.
So what we're saying to poor and low wage peopleage people of every race is time to mobilize your
vote.
There's not a state where 20% of poor and low-wage voters that didn't vote, 57 million voted,
30 million didn't in the last election.
But if 20% that didn't vote moved, they could change every election.
And in most states, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida, it's less than 4%.
So what we're doing is organizing a massive movement.
In fact, on June 29th in Washington, D.C., there's going to be a massive poor people, low-wage
workers assembly and Marlmarch on D.C. and to the polls, saying that poor and low-wage
people have to find themselves, white, black, brown, Asian- Asian, native, and unite around attacking what we
call five interlocking injustice, systemic racism, systemic poverty, ecological devastation,
denial of health care, the war economy, and the false, modernist, religious nationalism.
And John, you know, in our agenda, we're saying to Carlton, if you want these votes,
bring them in at the top level.
President Biden bring a group of poor low-wage folk and religious leaders to
the White House. Do people even listen to them? Do they even hear them? What has
the response been? What has the response been? What has the response been? Wants? W Well, because we've been lied to so much, you know, at first they said, well it's not th.... their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. toe. toe. toeck. their. toease. toease. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. their. their. to so much. At first, they said, well, it's not that big. And then we proved that it's actually 135, 104 minutes.
And then they don't expect that people
are going to organize.
You know, in a democracy, you have to engage in agitation,
legislation, litigation, and voter participation.
So what we're saying to poor and low wage folks, let's use this power.
And so we're having this gathering before the conventions, we're going to touch 15 million
poor and low wage voters with the facts on where people stay in a nonpartisan, where they
stand on the issues and say let's mobilize.
And we, because that's the true swing vote. So Linda Lake, who's a major poster, says,
the truest, most powerful, biggest swing vote right now
is poor and low-wage people.
And you know, John, folk often asked me,
and you and I've talked about this,
is does our current society require that things be like this,
this was the real crux of the issue.
And what this book says book says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says says. this. this. this book says is, well, it's kind of like putting your hand in an electric
socket that's connected, it requires that you get shocked because you put your finger
there. You don't have to do it. But if you keep doing things the way you are doing it, you're
going to get shot. So if you keep paying less than a living wage, if you keep denying
people health care, if you keep giving greedy, wealthy, wealthy folk
trillion, two trillion dollar tax cuts, but you won't even spend the money to fully fund
public education.
If we keep doing what we're doing, we're going to keep having the level of poverty that
we're having, and we don't have to do it.
It is actually, I believe, criminal, a form of policy violence to continue down the road.
And doesn't it weaken the system as a whole?
You know, you could almost make the case that if the system is requiring a permanent entrenched
underclass, then it makes itself ripe for instability.
And I'm wondering, is there a way to change the mindset?
Because the mindset in America is there is a moucher class.
These poor people are mucers.
And they're taking resources for me.
I work hard.
They get, poor people get health care.
They get food.
They get whatever they need.
I don't get it.
Is there a way to change the mentality to view things not as entitlements but investments. And maybe to get labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor labor investments. Yeah. And maybe to get labor not to
be viewed as shareholders. That corporations have to view labor not as a
means to an ends but as shareholders in that and and cannot change the
dynamic. It can. But one of the first things that we believe we have to do
and we talk about moral fusion organizing is first of all we should be examining, not by the first things that we believe we have to do, and we talk about moral fusion organizing, is first of all, we should be examining every policy, not by the color
of a president's hair or how many porn stars he touched, or how the, or what's the gate
of his walk.
Does the policy you propose, do they line up with establishing justice?
Do they line up with providing for the common defense and promoting the
general welfare? Do they line up with our deepest moral religious values? Secondly, we must
expose the level of death that's happening because this is not benign. Thirdly, we must make
sure that folks see it all, that it's not one group of people. We've been lied to so much
about this is an anomaly. This is just a small group. We cannot allow this to so much about this is an anomaly, this is just a small group, we cannot allow us to be marginalized anymore, and then we must have massive organization of poor and low-wage people
of every place, every geographic and every race.
And in doing that, we can put poverty and low-wages at the center of our political discourse.
And then, yes, we have to show that, isn't that America First?
Isn't that making America Great again?
Like, if you hollow out a country,
how can you expect it to be strong?
Wouldn't that be the absolute acme of strengthening a country
from the bottom up as opposed to the top down?
You would think it would be, but if you've got people that are still living
when they first wrote the Constitution and said even poor white men that didn't own jobs or they didn't own land couldn't vote.
If you have people with that kind of mentality that this should be an exclusive democracy
that are than an inclusive.
But listen, the numbers tell us though, they're more of us.
The thing is you can't be lazy in a democracy.
You've got to fight like heaven.
And what we're trying to show people,
the numbers are there.
Right.
I mean, you're, I mean, you, and what we're trying to show people, the numbers are
there. Right.
Listen, Wisconsin, marginal victory, 20,000 vote, number of poor low-wage voters didn't
vote over a million.
Didn't vote.
Michigan, 10,000 votes.
The number poor low-wage vote, a million.
Pennsylvania, 40,000 votes determined the president.
Number poor low-wage voted, about 2 million.
North Carolina, 160,000 over a million.
So it's not a big lift.
And the number one reason though,
we did a study called Waking the Sleeping Giant,
their poor and low-wage people didn't vote,
nobody talks to them.
Politicians don't go in those communities.
I've gone in communities and people literally cry and say,
Red Barber, nobody comes back here. And so what I say to to to to say to to to to to to to to thema, thema, thema, thema, thema, thema, thuili, thuili, thuili, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, the their, tho, tho, tho, tho, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, the their, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thu.. I, tho, thi, thi, thin, thin, tooomorrow, tooomorrow, tooomorrow, tooomorrow, tooomorrow, tooomorrow, tooomorrow, to so what I say to them is, we're back here now,
but let's mobilize to make sure
they never forget you again,
that they never forget you ever again.
White Poverty, available now.
Hey, everybody, John Stewart here.
I am here to tell you about my new everybody, John Stewart here.
I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show, it's going to be coming
out every Thursday.
So exciting, you'll be saying to yourself, TGID, thank God it's Thursday we're going
to be talking about.
All the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me. The election. Economics. Earnings calls. What are the the the the the the the their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their their their their the th. the the the th. th. th. th. tho. tho. tho. tho. the tho. tho. tho. thoe. thoe. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the weekly. the weekly. the the the the the the the the the the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. tho. tho. tho. tho. the. the. the. the. the. the. new. new. new. new. new. new. new. new. thoooooooooo. the the the the tho. th. th.. All the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me. The election. Economics. Earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings
calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. And I know
that I listed that fourth, but in importance, it's probably second.
I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go,
but how many of them come out on Thursday?
I mean, talk about innovative.
Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. Welcome back to the Daily Show.
My guest tonight is a global economics correspondent for the New York Times and author of
the new book, How the World Ran Out of Everything inside the global supply chain.
Please welcome Peter Goodman.
So, how the world ran out of everything.
During COVID, we ran out of the-
the world ran out of toilet paper.
Yes. All right. So, how the world ran out of everything.
During COVID, we ran out of toilet paper.
We sure did. Baby formula, computer chips. We had cars that were ready to run but
no computer chips. What the fuck happened? And did we fix it? We've not fixed it.
Yeah. I'm sorry to say, the vulnerabilities are still there. What happened was a reveal
a reveal of something that had been there for decades.
We are dependent upon this really improvised ad hoc, rickety supply chain.
It's really a bunch of supply chains.
We've been devoted to this kind of reckless, ruthless form of deregulation.
And during the pandemic, just as we were in our darkest hour of need, it buckled, and yeah,
we ran out a lot of stuff. When I
was reading your book I kept asking myself the same question which was why
don't we just make this shit here? Yeah. Why aren't we making all of the
shit here? Well but you you answer that but explain it explain to me again.
We could make more things here and there's a movement We could make more things here, and there's a movement
to make more things here, and that's helpful.
It's in the margins, but we're not going back
to self-sufficiency.
Look, if there was no trade, you and me
wouldn't be having this conversation.
We'd be out trying in the wind last night in my rooftop garden.
But good luck with that.
Yeah.
Yeah, I don't want to try to feed my family through my own labor.
So we have trade and we've got a lot of jobs in the country that are dependent
upon a global supply chain. And it's been a consumer bonanza. We've just done a very poor job cushioning the people who've lost jobs.
We don't need to throw out globalization.
We need to reconfigure it.
We need sensible regulations.
We need working people to get more of a piece of the action.
So we have a more reliable supply chain.
You tell the story in the book about one company that is trying to make to make to make to make to make to make to make to make to make to make to make to make to make to make to make the the to make the the the the the the to the the to to to to to to to to to rying to make these glow in the dark toys,
even has a contract with Sesame Street,
and he wants to actually use American manufacturing,
but can't find American manufacturers to do it.
Right, I mean, calls around, these are these, I follow this one container
from a factory in China to the west coast of the United States,
and then across the continent to Starkville, Mississippi where his warehouse is based.
He couldn't find somebody to make the molds for these products unless he paid 12 times as
much as the price in China.
He tried to get somebody to make a kind of children's pop-up book style package for his
product.
And he was told this is just too complicated, go make this to make this this the the their You follow this container ship from China all the way to Mississippi and literally this is
this is the path it takes. I mean it is it's a harrowing journey. And as an
American that buys a lot of stuff. Yeah. I'm going holy shit. I didn't know that all this happened. I just press click and then it shows up. Yeah well then it worked. Do I do I need to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the the to the the to the the the to the the to the the the the the the the the the the. the the. the the the the the the. the the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the it shows up. Yeah, well then it worked. Yeah. Do I, do we need to buy less dumb shit?
I know that's like not the most intellectual question.
Do we need to buy less dumb shit?
It's a legitimate question.
Look, I rode for three days with a long haul truck driver
from Kansas City to Dallas and back to try to understand.
That sounds like my worst nightmare. It's everyone's worst nightmare which is why we don't have enough truck drivers. And the best part of that moment we're somewhere in Oklahoma
and this truck driver looks at the window and he says people just buy too much
the word you just used. Right. And yeah we could we could do well thinking more
carefully about what we buy and what we need but let's face it like we're gonna
keep making stuff. The question is are are we going to have a more resilient supply chain
or one that's just optimized for basically big box retailers and investors?
Because that's what we've had now for decades.
I had, before reading your book, I had always kind of seen China as this aggressor
that has taken American jobs and manufacturing. And do you feel that's the case case the case the case the case the case that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that has taken American jobs and manufacturing and do you feel that's
the case? Is that an accurate portrayal of China? I think what you painted
the picture so well in here was that it's American business executives that are
saying we can make more money. It's not the American worker that's saying
this. It's the executives. Why did factory jobs move to China? Yeah.
Because publicly traded corporations governed by the imperative to lower
their costs and produce lower-priced products but fattened their margins as well.
They sent production to China. They were encouraged to go there by the investor class and it worked out really well for them.
And look this is an old story, right? Chinese labor was brought in to build the investor class and it worked out really well for them. And look, this is an old story, right?
Chinese labor was brought in to build the railroads in the United States.
Yeah, and Walmart, going to the People's Republic of China,
that's just a continuation of the old story of basically undercutting American labor unions,
undercutting American working people.
These are decisions, you know, the hollowing out of our factory towns that are not made in Beijing. These are decisions made in boardrooms in New York and Seattle and Congress.
It's not always portrayed that way.
You know, it's portrayed as there's China taking our economy.
Right. But what we have a big debate coming up Thursday night.
Right. Trump, and correct me if I'm wrong, but Trump puts some tariffs on China and Biden has kept a lot of those tariffs?
That's right, has advanced them, actually.
What can we expect when this question comes up Thursday night, where do they stand on this?
You know, I don't know how much nuance there will be in that debate.
But let's face it, there are very few things. There are not many things that garner agreement in American politics, but one of them,
unfortunately, is the sort of cartoonish depiction of China as this job-killing
juggernaut without any of the details that we've already discussed here. I mean, I
think in terms of the differences between these two candidates,
Donald Trump is a threat to the global supply chain. He's proud to be a threat to the global supply chain.
He likes the photo op of slapping tariffs on steel
and mugging for the cameras with steel workers going back to work.
Never mind that there are six to eight times as many people
who go to work at factories in America that buys steel
as there are people who make steel.
Those are thii. steel. So those companies are less competitive. Now, Biden is also bashing China.
There's, this is a bipartisan initiative, but it's a much more nuanced kind of
industrial policy. It's less about containing China's rise. I mean, Trump is really about let's have a
cold war with China. Biden is more about let's embrace industrial policy, let's try to make
electric vehicles in the US. These are some significant differences.
I was in Vermont this weekend performing.
I eat a lot of ice cream in my life.
I wanted to go see the Ben and Jerry's ice cream in the factory where it all started.
These were two men in 1978 who started making ice cream out of a gas station.
And then as I kind of dug into it, I was also reading your book. It's kind of a perfect tie-in.
I realized, oh, they sold the company to Unilever in year 2000.
And all of a sudden, these two men who really care
about keeping things local, who really cared about social issues,
it felt like the big evil corporation was constantly pushing back against them and was constantly looking at profit margins.
Is there something that I can feel optimistic about?
Is capitalism always just defeat us and these two little Ben and Jerry men scooping fiscal?
I don't think it's capitalism.
I mean, you know, the people who benefit from the status quo would have us believe
that regulating and taxing and enforcing antitrust laws. We might as well, you know, be advocating Venezuela style,
you know.
I mean, it's just nonsensical, right?
Capitalism needs markets.
Markets need regulation.
They can't function with that.
But in terms of what we can do, you know, consumers are not going to save us from
the vulnerabilities in the global economy.
We're busy dealing with our kids. I can keep buying plastic shit for my tha. tha. tha. tha. tha, tha, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thiiiiolk, th. th. thiolk, th. thiolk, th. thiolk, th. thiololk, thiolk, thiolk, th. thiolk, th. thiolk, thiolk, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, t t t toooooooooooooooooooooooo. And, t t thaa. And, four-year-old daughter on Amazon. I'm not turning you in.
I mean, it's going to take any trust enforcement, labor mobilization, so that working people
get a piece of the action.
So they're less likely to quit their jobs in the middle of a pandemic.
I mean, you know, he said explicitly as he raised wages
for workers in 2014 and was called a communist by some reason,
I just want to make things reliably, any business
that's premised on low-wage labor is inherently unstable.
Right, and that's where we're at right now.
It feels like.
I mean, normalcy is built on this idea that huge numbers of people have to do dangerous
jobs away from their families with little control or understanding about their schedules.
And they just have to suck that up for the benefit of our sort of just in time, ruthlessly
efficient that turns out not to be so efficient, global economy.
You personally, that I can steal from you. What can I do, what do you do, what any habits of yours
that have changed since researching and writing this?
Yeah, I mean, I try to give my business
to people who are actually in control of their businesses.
I mean, if you're mostly transacting
with big companies that are answerable to Wall Street,
then you're ultimately transacting with entities
that are thinking about shareholder interests above all. They can't afford to be kind to their workers necessarily
because their competitors aren't.
They can't afford to think about keeping production local.
They can't think about the highest quality ingredients
and they can't think beyond the next quarter.
So certainly local, small production.
But again, consumers are not going to save us from the vulnerability in the global supply chain. It's going to take regulation. It's going to take labor mobilization.
But it helps to know that my $14 strawberries at the farmers market
is probably going to better use than the $9 strawberries at the Amazon.
You need to shop somewhere else.
Exactly.
These are the celebrity prices that I get.
Look, how the world ran out of everything is available now. Peter. Peter. Peter. Peter. Peter. the the the the the the the the to to to to to to to to thi Peter. to thi. to thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. to thi. to to to thi. th celebrity prices that I get. Look, how the world ran out of everything is available now.
Peter Goodman, everybody.
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We're going to be talking about all the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way
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We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches.
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I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on
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I mean, talk about innovative.
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