When Did Decency Become "Socialism"? | CC Ep. 43

When did basic human decency become labeled as "far-left"? In this episode of Culture and Consequence, Carmen and Andrea unpack the weaponization of political buzzwords like "socialism" and "communism," and how they're used to distract from everyday issues that actually help working people.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The High Cost of Ignored Advice: Waking up to six-figure mistakes when clients refuse to listen.
• Mayor Zohran Mamdani & Foreign Policy: Bold statements, political pushback, and standing up for human rights.
• Political Hypocrisy: Unpacking government spending, double standards in Congress, and how working-class voters get manipulated.
• Pop Culture Check-In: Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, movie theater ticket prices, and Elon Musk’s AI shenanigans.

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Music By Geovane Bruno, Moments, 3481
Editing by Team A-J
Host, Carmen Lezeth


DISCLAIMER:  As always, please do your own research and understand that the opinions in this podcast and livestream are meant for entertainment purposes only. States and other areas may have different rules and regulations governing certain aspects discussed in this podcast.  Nothing in our podcast or livestream is meant to be medical or legal advice. Please use common sense, and when in doubt, ask a professional for advice, assistance, help and guidance. 

Transcript

[00:00:16] Carmen: in a bad mood, so I need to get out of... I've been trying. I've been trying all morning to get out of a bad mood, but I don't think it's happening. How are you?

[00:00:24] Andrea: I'm great

[00:00:26] Carmen: Oh, my God. It's so lame. Oh, my God. Are you in a bad mood too?

[00:00:32] Andrea: You know, actually I'm, I'm, I'm not. Um, not yet. Give me time.

[00:00:37] Carmen: So you haven't been updated on the news this morning? No, I'm just kidding. I... Can I tell you, I'm in a bad mood because I, and you, you may have experienced this at some point, You know when you have a client and you tell them, "You know what?

[00:00:51] Carmen: Be careful 'cause you may not wanna do A, because here's the consequences of A, and if you do B, here's the other consequence. I would go with C." And they completely dismiss you because, "I

[00:01:04] Andrea: Right. They're like, "I like egg."

[00:01:06] Carmen: like A." And so this morning I woke up to an email where clearly A has now contributed to the consequence of A, and it's like hundreds of thousands of dollars consequence.

[00:01:19] Carmen: And now there's all this scrambling about calling lawyers or whatever, and I'm like... So the email I wrote was like, "I'm out." I'm like, "I'm out." Like, you guys do what you... You didn't listen to me. Like, what... I can't contribute anymore. I got nothing. But watching people get screwed over is just not cool. You know what I mean?

[00:01:41] Carmen: And so yeah, I, I woke up to that and, and I can't shake it. I don't know why. I'm frustrated. Like, why don't you listen to me?

[00:01:53] Andrea: Yeah, I, people don't listen. People don't listen. It's a rare person that listens, really. And you think about it, like, you know, and I think about my clients, like, that's the smallest percentage of them that really listen.

[00:02:10] Carmen: Mm-hmm.

[00:02:12] Andrea: Which, I mean,

[00:02:13] Carmen: I mean

[00:02:14] Andrea: that's how I stay employed, right?

[00:02:19] Carmen: So you... Okay, tell me how you feel about this, 'cause this actually is what's bothering me. You just threw away about $50,000, okay? I don't take bonuses. I don't take gifts from my clients. Uh, there is a real definite reason why. Part of it is 'cause it takes away from my authority, but the other part of it is 'cause I've already learnt that motherfucking lesson.

[00:02:40] Carmen: Because if that client dies, and they got children, they gonna come after your ass because they're angry that their mama or their daddy gave you money. Do you know what I mean? Like, for whatever. I've already been down that road. I do not play this game. And so I've sto- That is so funny 'cause it didn't look like a cat.

[00:02:59] Carmen: It looked like

[00:03:00] Andrea: Well, it's the dog. That's why

[00:03:02] Carmen: Is that the dog?

[00:03:03] Andrea: it's the dog. It ju- it shouldn't look like a cat. Come here, Wolf.

[00:03:09] Carmen: Is that the dog? Oh my God, that was so funny

[00:03:12] Andrea: Come here, buddy. Come here. Come here. He's like, he's like, "I just wanna sleep." But he doesn't... He, he's camera shy. He doesn't wanna

[00:03:17] Carmen: Oh, is he camera shy, right? Uh, so anyways, what bothers me is when I see them do this and throw away money that I've refused. You know what I mean? Like, I've refused bonuses or whatever, and I'm like, "Okay, you know what?" Like, yeah. So that's where I'm at right now. I'm

[00:03:33] Andrea: Yeah. I mean, I'm generally not dealing with people's money, so there's that. But I am dealing with their people and their, you know, decision-making around people and things like

[00:03:44] Carmen: is what's happening with their money. That's the whole

[00:03:46] Carmen: point 

[00:03:47] Andrea: yeah, exactly, right? It's like, it's not as in your face, I guess, as like the dollars and cents, but it's, yeah. You know what I mean?

[00:03:56] Andrea: It's something, it, it still is costing money in, in one way or another. And it's like, well, if, if you had done this thing that I recommended, that person maybe might still be here, may not have left, and therefore, you know, you, you wouldn't need to do recruiting and training and onboarding, you know, all of that stuff again, which is costing you money, right?

[00:04:19] Carmen: Yeah, it's crazy. I don't know. So I just, I'm just tired of waking up and still thinking about work, even if I'm not supposed to be... 

[00:04:28] Carmen: so I sent you a list of stuff. I don't know if you wanna talk about any of it. I am, uh... I love, I love Mayor Mamdani. I love people writing that, he's my mayor and I live in Canada. Like, I love when people are writing stuff like that, you know? And people are like, "Mamdani's my mayor, I live in Kansas."

[00:04:50] Carmen: You know? It's really funny. but yeah, he-- I think I sent you the link. I don't know if you got to saw, see it, but, he basically called out Bibi Netanyahu and said that he's not welcomed in New York, and people are... I mean, politicians are all up in arms. People are all up- upset about it. And here's the thing, I think the reason why he did it, be- besides the fact that I think he's right, but he did it because people kept asking him, "What are you gonna do if Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, comes to New York?"

[00:05:25] Carmen: Um, and he had--

[00:05:27] Andrea: for UN meetings,

[00:05:28] Carmen: For the UN meeting, right. And so he had to answer the question. I don't think he's, like, out there being like, "You know what? Let me just, for no reason-"

[00:05:36] Andrea: up this morning and decided to let you know how I feel about this

[00:05:40] Carmen: Right. And so, um, I, I thought the speech was... Again, lookit, I, I think he's incredibly, it's not even just talented, he's just so smart. Um, and I don't think he's wrong, and I think he did the right thing, but my God, people are upset. I don't know if you got to see it, so

[00:05:59] Andrea: Yeah, I did see it. I mean, I, and I didn't see any of the reaction, but I c- could imagine what it would be, right? And I think, I think, you know, he's right. You're right that he's right. and he is, he is talented, he is smart, he has great political instincts, and I think, I think you said in your email it was bold, right?

[00:06:18] Andrea: It was really bold. And, I also think that it's kind of... There's not much he can do about it, right? Like, let's be honest, there's not much he can do about it. But it is drawing a line in the sand about we need to talk about this honestly, right? We need to say the truth and, you know, yeah, there's not, you know, he can't go and send NYPD to arrest this guy.

[00:06:46] Andrea: I mean, I suppose he could. That would be a whole thing, but right? They're probably not going to. Um, but, you know, we need to call things out when we see them, right? If we're going to allow someone into our country, our city, um, who has and continues to commit crimes against humanity, and I believe is, like, you know, a, an actual criminal in his own country, I think.

[00:07:11] Andrea: Um, you know, I don't know all the ins and outs of that, but, you know, we need to be honest about what we're doing and just say it. And I think there's value in that.

[00:07:21] Carmen: yeah, and I think, um, you know, people who don't know what's going on with Israel and, uh, the Palestinians and Gaza, I... Y- you shouldn't even be listening to our show. I can't... I, I don't even know what to

[00:07:35] Andrea: Yeah, I don't think people would be watching that or, or this if they have no idea, but maybe, I don't know

[00:07:39] Carmen: if you have no idea, just, you know, go, it's fine.

[00:07:43] Andrea: Yep.

[00:07:44] Carmen: Like, I, I, I, I am done with trying to explain basics. Lookit, the problem isn't... But the problem is what's happening in that part of the world right now, but it's also about our morality. Like, at some point, we're mad at Mayor Mamdani for doing what he said he was going to do, and speaking what he believes is factual and what his belief system is.

[00:08:15] Carmen: And the problem I'm having right now, and I'm trying to really calm down about it, is, and I've said this, we've talked about this already, but you're listening to buzzwords. We are not a communist country. Mayor Mamdani is not a communist for doing what he said he was going to do as mayor, for following through, and for caring about people dying in another country.

[00:08:47] Carmen: Like, that is not communism. That is not socialism. Like, so, like, like anything now that's far left is just about being decent. Have you noticed that? Like, decency now is far left. Like, anything that you deem decent morality clauses, everyone is telling you is communist or socialist and making it like a boogeyman.

[00:09:10] Carmen: How do you not see what they're trying to do to all of us? Like, so I'm just... That's what I'm more upset about. I don't care so much about what he said, but it's like the, the buzzwords. And you know what? Tommy

[00:09:26] Carmen: Tuberville 

[00:09:26] Andrea: care about other people, you're woke or you're lived

[00:09:30] Carmen: Far

[00:09:30] Andrea: whatever, you 

[00:09:30] Carmen: or you're a libtard or, right

[00:09:34] Andrea: I mean, okay. That's the way I feel about it. Okay

[00:09:37] Carmen: would think would be the whole Christian Jesus thing. Like, so it, but they, but it's kind of like they don't even see. They don't want to see that. Instead... So look it, there is a great, it's an hour-long podcast with Jon Stewart and Mayor Mumtaz, and had I seen it prior to sending the email, I would've sent it to you 'cause it's so good.

[00:09:59] Carmen: But, like, and he's so giggly. Like, like, like he's very giggly and funny. But they have this whole conversation about like, "Yeah, you know, I, I thought what would be great was to come out as a Muslim social democrat because then that would really scare everybody. That was my whole point." And like Jon Stewart like jumps into it, you know, "Yeah, and you wanna talk about everything regarding transportation?"

[00:10:25] Carmen: You know what I mean? Like they really have this great conversation and it's just, it's these two men, and for the people who don't know, Jon Stewart is also Jewish. You know what I mean? Like they, it's this great conversation that they have and I just wish more people would know the definitions that we keep trying to tell you you don't know.

[00:10:44] Carmen: Stop listening to Fox News and people telling you that everything that helps each other, that helps us as people is communist It's just disheartening. I, it's just, I believe people are smarter than this, and then I'm being shown that they're not. You know what I mean?

[00:11:07] Andrea: Yeah. Because I also want to believe, like, you know, I, I'm never gonna be like, "The American people are smarter than that." I mean, no they're

[00:11:16] Carmen: me either, and that's a big

[00:11:17] Andrea: not, right? But, but some are, right? And, and we have the, the ability to be. I don't know. I, I, you know, like, uh, ultimately I, I am, or at least was an optimist.

[00:11:35] Andrea: Um, and I, I wanna believe that people can kind of get, you know, pull themselves up and out of things, but I'm just, ugh, I'm not seeing it in the, in the, in the numbers that I would like to see it.

[00:11:50] Carmen: And the numbers I'd like to see. Well, it was kinda interesting to see Trump's speech the other night, which I know you watched.

[00:11:57] Carmen: You 

[00:11:57] Andrea: what, which spe-- what are we talking about?

[00:11:59] Carmen: did. I didn't watch it. Yeah, I didn't watch it either. It was a, a 20-minute speech he was on, uh, the other day. All the, and the networks didn't show it. So like it was, and

[00:12:07] Andrea: was the one about... W- uh, what was it about?

[00:12:11] Carmen: I don't even know.

[00:12:12] Andrea: It doesn't matter. Oh, the election. The election.

[00:12:15] Carmen: was it about the election?

[00:12:17] Andrea: 2020 election

[00:12:18] Carmen: Oh, right, the election. The election,

[00:12:20] Andrea: See? We don't even care anymore. It doesn't even matter

[00:12:23] Carmen: we don't even care. And also, he put out evidence that actually backed that they were going after Joe Biden. Like, he, it, it, the in- You know, here's the thing that's really interesting, the incompetence of this administration, like even that, right?

[00:12:38] Carmen: He came out to talk about election fraud again. By the way, for people who don't know, um, the reason why he's doing this is 'cause he wants you to feel defeated. He wants you to think that elections don't matter. He wants you to think that elections are all stolen because he knows in November he's going to lose.

[00:12:58] Carmen: He's going to lose the House and the Senate probably, hopefully, crossing our fingers, and if that happens, different ballgame for him. He's gonna be held accountable. Well, we hope. I don't, I don't even, I don't even trust that anymore.

[00:13:13] Andrea: Right.

[00:13:14] Carmen: So that's what that's all about. But what I thought was interesting was that a lot of the networks didn't show it, um, which was interesting, and which was worthy because it was w- w- it was the same crap that he's been saying all along.

[00:13:28] Carmen: Yeah.

[00:13:30] Andrea: why they should show it, I

[00:13:32] Carmen: My hair looks really bad today. Hold on a second. Let me see if I can fix it. I'll go back in and prop myself so that it looks It's so hot here. I'm dying. I need air conditioning.

[00:13:45] Andrea: there?

[00:13:46] Carmen: Oh my God, Andrea, what do you mean? It must be hot where you are.

[00:13:50] Andrea: I mean,

[00:13:50] Carmen: Or you have air

[00:13:51] Andrea: it always is. Well, yes, I have AC, but it's not any hot... It's, in fact, it may be actually not as hot as it usually is out here. I mean, we usually have multiple days that are like 110, 113, and it's like

[00:14:06] Carmen: I know, but if it's 80 here, it's hot everywhere.

[00:14:09] Andrea: Oh.

[00:14:10] Carmen: Ooh. you know what? You're from California. I can't believe you're doing that to another Californian, okay? I don't have AC, okay? That was cold-blooded. That was

[00:14:19] Andrea: I'm just messing with you. Oh, I live two blocks from the beach and I only have AC. Shut the fuck up.

[00:14:28] Carmen: Wow. Wow. That's from my own people. She's from California. She lives here. I expect that from, you know, people from other states. Wow. Wow. Okay. I don't have AC though, 'cause I don't live in a suburbia, fantastic area, whatever. It's not... I would never live where she lives. Nice

[00:14:56] Andrea: So

[00:14:57] Carmen: It's very nice. It is. It has a good school system, that's why you

[00:15:03] Andrea: has a good school system, and I do have a pool, so there's that.

[00:15:09] Carmen: Whoa. Yeah, you're right. I do live by the beach. Let me just make sure my hair looks good. Okay, cool, cool, cool. We're back. Okay, we're back. Um,

[00:15:17] Andrea: the beach. Back to our regularly scheduled program.

[00:15:19] Carmen: Yeah, what were we talking about? I don't know. I forgot. Trump's speech.

[00:15:22] Andrea: yeah, Trump. Yeah.

[00:15:24] Carmen: I don't know. I don't wanna

[00:15:25] Andrea: you- thank God they're all as stupid as they are, right? Thank God they're all incompetent.

[00:15:32] Carmen: I know, but then, but then Pete Hegseth is over there asking for $97 billion, right? Was that how much he asked for? I'm sorry, 67 billion. My apologies. $67 billion more, uh, dollars for a war that we've won since February, 30 times at least more. How is that possible? How have we won the

[00:15:55] Andrea: throwing money at this man hand over fist, and what the fuck are they spending it on? Someday we'll know. You and I might be dead, but someday we'll know.

[00:16:10] Carmen: I don't, I, you know what? I feel... Okay, let's talk about how this gets fixed. How do you think this is gonna get fixed?

[00:16:19] Andrea: My utopia is prosecutions from the bottom to the top. Bottom to the top. I... Like, if you were a paper pusher and you didn't make any decisions, but you executed, boom, you're out, if it was illegal, right? Like, like, uh, to me, I feel like, m- I can't believe I'm gonna say this, but, like, we need to establish the fucking rule of law.

[00:16:42] Andrea: Like, they are just, y- you know, running over all... Y- it's like it doesn't, there are no laws, right? There are laws on the books to deal with what they're doing, and then there are things that should be on the books to deal with what they're doing. Uh, all of

[00:17:01] Carmen: know what's happening right now is people are saying, "Well, it must be okay because they're getting away with it." They're getting away with it because the Republicans who are in charge of the House and the Senate are allowing it. The Republicans are just as corrupt. The Republicans in your state who are in the House, who represent you in the county and represent your entire state, the Senate, those people are corrupt as well.

[00:17:27] Carmen: That's why we keep telling you to vote blue, because what they're doing is allowing this to continue. Any other, any other administration would've been stopped by now,

[00:17:40] Andrea: Yeah, I mean, when they go, when someone like Pig- Pete Hegseth goes and sits in front of Congress, like, they are his boss, right? Like, he needs to report, "This is what I am doing." But he needs to answer their questions about how he's spending the money, where it's going, why we've won the war 30 times but we're still fighting, why Iran's military has been decimated and destroyed, but they're still, you know, shooting missiles and, and killing American soldiers, right?

[00:18:11] Andrea: Like, he needs to answer for all that, and if his answers are not satisfactory, which they are not, you don't give him any more money. As a b- as, you know, Congress, you have the right to control the purse strings of the nation. You stop funding it. When he goes and says, "I want $67 billion," you say, "No."

[00:18:35] Carmen: I know, but you know, before that, you don't allow someone to take a position in this administration to be the Secretary of Defense who is not qualified. But the reason why he was pushed through is because the House and the Senate were able to allow him to become whatever, right? Was he... He's not somebody, he has to be okayed by the

[00:19:00] Andrea: Yeah, he had to be confirmed. A, a lot of these folks have to be confirmed, and they have no experience, no qualifications. I think he was in the reserves at one point. You know what I mean? Like which, which doesn't, you know, he doesn't necessarily have to be military, but like have some understanding

[00:19:20] Carmen: Can we not, let's not do that. I don't care if he was in the reserves, the motherfucker was a talk show host. Stop

[00:19:26] Andrea: He has, uh, yeah, that's what I'm saying. He has no qualifications to run anything. He has no qualifications to run a fucking 7-Eleven, much less the dep- you know, the largest department of defense on the planet

[00:19:41] Carmen: I'm sorry, Andrea, you're calling it the wrong name. It is going to be officially... That's gonna cost a lot of money too. They're trying to push that through Congress to officially change it to the Department of War. What kind of country are we?

[00:19:56] Andrea: Well, yeah. Think about the difference there. Think about the difference there between those two words. Defense means we're here to protect people. War means we're here to go on offense

[00:20:11] Carmen: Mm-hmm.

[00:20:12] Andrea: go out into the world and start wars, as we have done in Iran, you know, which is another thing, right?

[00:20:19] Andrea: There's no reason that anyone has presented at any point that tells us why we needed to be in this. Why did we do this? There is no need for it. Nothing significant changed on the ground there. Just decided to do it because Bibi wanted to and because Trump wanted to blow stuff up

[00:20:40] Carmen: And because let's not forget the more important reason, Barack Obama had made a deal with Iran, and Trump's fucking obsession with trying to undo everything about Barack Obama is an incredible, weird, childlike obsession. It's weird, right? He is obsessed with that man. It's crazy

[00:21:06] Andrea: his whatever, inner pain from that, you know, his feelings of deficiency, uh, related to Barack Obama has caused so much damage around, globally, global damage because he feels like a small little man next to an actual man

[00:21:31] Carmen: Yeah, and then also, I'm sorry, but it was also, like, people like to always pinpoint when Barack Obama made fun of him at the, what is that called? The, the White House Correspondents' Dinner, and that was what made him so... Uh, stop. Like, that shows you how thin-skinned he is that he couldn't even have fun at his own expense.

[00:21:54] Carmen: Like, he couldn't even deal with that. But it's kind of, um, like, in a way it makes me mad because I still blame Mitch McConnell for everything that has to do with

[00:22:05] Andrea: The ghost of Mitch McConnell.

[00:22:07] Carmen: those... That motherfucker's dead. I don't care what anybody says. I think he's dead. There's no way. If he was alive, why wouldn't he just do a video

[00:22:18] Andrea: think that he is brain dead and

[00:22:21] Carmen: on life sup- but that's dead dead. But that's dead.

[00:22:24] Andrea: Yeah. Well, I know, but I'm just saying he's not, like, officially dead, but he's... So they don't have to say he's dead, but he's not, he is no longer with us.

[00:22:36] Carmen: When, when, um, what's that guy's name who died recently? What was his name?

[00:22:40] Andrea: Lindsey Graham

[00:22:41] Carmen: Right, when Lindsey Gra- That was real quick. I already

[00:22:44] Andrea: In and out.

[00:22:46] Carmen: In and out.

[00:22:46] Andrea: moved on

[00:22:47] Carmen: Graham died, somebody wrote, um, I could not... And I, you know, look it, I try to be as sensitive as possible, but it was so funny. They were like, "Uh, you wrote Mitch McConnell wrong." I was like, "That is so wrong." But I

[00:23:02] Andrea: we'll take it. It's fine, but

[00:23:04] Carmen: will take it. But Mitch McConnell, uh, you know, to this day, I, I will never forget it because I remember thinking he's gonna be the reason why President Barack Obama is assassinated. The first words out of Mitch McConnell's mouth was, "The only thing we're gonna do is make sure he does not get reelected, or whatever it was he said. And of course, Barack Obama, President Barack Obama got reelected. Um, but I blame Mitch McConnell. I blame Mitch McConnell for everything that has happened, the Supreme Court.

[00:23:34] Carmen: And look it, people are like, "That's his legacy." Mm-hmm. It is. That is his legacy. Yes, it is.

[00:23:41] Andrea: enough.

[00:23:41] Carmen: You know, tomato, tomato. But I'm just saying, that's not a legacy I would want. He has harmed so many people. and so if he is in that ca- catatonic brain dead space, I hope it's all nightmares. I don't know. Whatever happens, like, but they're also...

[00:23:57] Carmen: Like even that, even that is weird. Can you imagine if we had a Democrat that was on, like not showing themselves for three months or whatever it is, and-

[00:24:05] Andrea: just last night saw something, it was just a, like a quick post of a woman who, I don't even remember her name. She was a congresswoman and she had just given birth, and she was breastfeeding, whatever, and Mike Johnson wouldn't let her vote like v- like, uh, virtually. So she had to fly across the country with her newborn, like three weeks after giving birth to come and like show up to vote.

[00:24:33] Andrea: Yet somehow

[00:24:36] Carmen: Mm-hmm

[00:24:36] Andrea: Mitch, Mitch McConnell can be like a freaking vegetable for a month and nobody cares.

[00:24:41] Carmen: Right. And so, and you're right, different houses, different rules, right? So the Senate is one thing and the Congress is another. But, you know, let's talk about Mike Dickhead Johnson, 'cause that's what he is. I honestly have never seen such a hypocritical Christian in all my life in that much power. He is the epitome of what you don't wanna be as a fucking Christian.

[00:25:07] Carmen: I don't know why anybody would wanna be associated with Mike Johnson. He is, like, the opposite of what a Christian should be. He is lying. He's manipulative.

[00:25:19] Carmen: He does wrong to his neighbors, and when I say neighbors, I mean the Democratic Party. He is not honest, and he is... He doesn't care about you. All he does is self-interest. It's just all he does. I, and I, he is such a weasel. Oh my goodness. Like, I just, mm. I don't know how we gonna fix it. I really do wanna, I, I, you know, I keep thinking about all the people that can be president, but even if, when we take over, it's, it's so much work.

[00:25:54] Carmen: It's so much work to undo what has happened, and the biggest problem is the Supreme Court

[00:25:59] Andrea: like rebuilding after a war, right? Like think about, uh, you know, Germany, like the Marshall Plan or whatever. It's like, I mean, it truly is going to have to be this massive effort that someone like a Mamdani, not Mamdani, but someone like that with, with the character and the courage and the charisma to, you know, to say like, "This is what we're doing.

[00:26:31] Andrea: Get on the train 'cause this is where we're headed or get off, but we're s- we're still going." Right? Um, and I don't know if we have that. I don't know if we have that. And, you 

[00:26:42] Carmen: we have that, but I'm not gonna bring up, I'm not gonna bring up his name because she gonna get upset, so I don't know. Uh, look, I,

[00:26:49] Andrea: He is not gonna do that. Uh, but 

[00:26:52] Carmen: think, yes,

[00:26:52] Andrea: needs to start with the Supreme Court. Like, it, it, noth- nothing can happen without changes to the Supreme Court

[00:26:58] Carmen: Supreme Court, we need to have 13. We need to just

[00:27:00] Carmen: up it. 

[00:27:01] Carmen: What I wish we would be working on is figuring out a way in which we could put time limits, term limits on everybody in Congress and everybody in the Supreme Court.

[00:27:13] Carmen: That's what I want us to work on. I would be happy to spend money and say, "After two terms of anything, you're out." You know what I mean? I don't care how great you are. I don't care if you're a Mum Donny. I don't care, you know what I mean? Like, um, or Barack Obama, whatever. Term

[00:27:27] Carmen: limits 

[00:27:28] Andrea: there's plenty of opportunity out there. Go find another way to serve

[00:27:31] Carmen: Yeah. 

[00:27:31] Andrea: Well, th- okay, so another thing that I wanna say about how we fix this, I do not ever, ever, ever wanna hear how are you gonna pay for that again. We can fucking pay for it. If we can pay for the corruption, if we can pay for the fucking reflecting pool, and the plane, and the ballroom, and, you know, the grift to Trump's children, and God knows who, who else, and the wars, uh, we can pay for all of the things that we actually need to build this country back.

[00:28:06] Carmen: Yeah, but you, you know we've always had the money. They, corporate America has always kept the money so that we don't,

[00:28:13] Carmen: and the 

[00:28:13] Andrea: why they always bring up the like, "Where, how are you gonna pay for it?" To scare people off. Like they're gonna have to pay for it out of their, you know, pocket change. Like, oh, am I gonna buy, you know, some chicken this week? Or, you know, is Susie, my neighbor's kid, gonna go to preschool?

[00:28:30] Andrea: It's like, that's not where the-- You know what I mean? Like, let's just get serious about where the money's coming from.

[00:28:35] Carmen: Yeah, but I don't think people want to believe that. People want to believe whatever it is they're told because that's easier. So- Oh, yeah ... and then also they keep, it's communist, right? That's the buzzword they're using now. So anything that has to do with social services to help regular people is communism or socialism, but anything that keeps money in the hands of corporate America and the titans over there, you know what I mean?

[00:29:01] Carmen: Like the Donald Trumps and all the corporate America, that's okay. And wars, wars that we don't need to be in, that's okay. And it's like, how do they not see the contradiction? I don't understand, you know?

[00:29:14] Andrea: I don't either

[00:29:14] Carmen: I don't know. Did you go see, um, the movie, uh... Oh my God, I already forgot what I was gonna say. I was gonna say, um, Disclosure Day, but we, that's not the one.

[00:29:26] Carmen: Um, The Odyssey. Were you able to see it?

[00:29:28] Andrea: Uh, no, I haven't seen it because there's controversy in my own home

[00:29:33] Carmen: Oh, really? I already saw it. I already saw it

[00:29:37] Andrea: how we're going to see it.

[00:29:39] Carmen: Oh

[00:29:40] Andrea: Should we see it in the IMAX 70 millimeter as intended? Is it classist for us to go see it that way? I don't even know. Don't ask me. Or, uh, should we go see it in 4D, which I believe is where, like, the seats move and the water sp- sp- you know, spritzes at you.

[00:30:02] Andrea: I would never. Um, and then there's another where, like, it's IMAX, but it comes up around you. Like, I'm out. I'm gonna wait till it comes on streaming and where I can watch it in the privacy of my own home. Fuck this. I

[00:30:16] Carmen: Oh my God. Okay, I, I will, okay, wait, wait, wait. There's another option. You can all go at different times separately. You know what I mean? Like... Okay, I just, okay, I, I, I'm against the 4D bullshittery. I think that's a bullshit way. That's not the way it was ever intended to be seen. I don't know about this classes thing.

[00:30:36] Carmen: I think you guys are way too deep. Just go see the fucking movie. Just go by yourself and go see it. It's fucking amazing. Anyway, no, no, no, what, what you should wait for, this is why I'm bringing it up, what you should wait for, Andrea, is that Elon Fuck, that's his new name for me, Elon Musk has decided that he is going to have his Grok AI turn around and create a full feature the way it was intended, historically correct Odyssey.

[00:30:57] Carmen: He is

[00:31:04] Andrea: It's, it's a story, right? It's not, it's not a, like- Yeah. It is. There's like gods and sirens and whatever. It's not history. I mean, I guess the people who are, well, you know, I won't go into that, but like

[00:31:18] Carmen: What he means is a white version. Let's just, let's just cut to the motherfucking chase, 'cause that's what he means.

[00:31:24] Andrea: 'Cause the ancient Greeks were

[00:31:26] Andrea: white. 

[00:31:27] Carmen: Huh?

[00:31:27] Andrea: 'Cause the ancient Greeks were white.

[00:31:30] Carmen: just like Jesus. Just like Jesus was with blue eyes, of course.

[00:31:35] Andrea: like Jesus

[00:31:37] Carmen: Like, uh, yeah. So that you might wanna... Why don't you wait for

[00:31:40] Andrea: Maybe I'll wait for, uh, Grok. Yeah

[00:31:44] Carmen: Yeah. Can you imagine this man who claims

[00:31:48] Carmen: to 

[00:31:48] Andrea: are people gonna watch it on Twitter? Like, where

[00:31:50] Carmen: I fucking don't know, they're all idiots. But here's the thing, this is the man who claims to have created and founded Tesla. This is the man who-- And he did not. Fucking Google search, people.

[00:32:04] Andrea: And SpaceX

[00:32:06] Carmen: Yeah, and SpaceX, like he's out there, like I just... The hoodwinked people of this country need to wake the fuck up.

[00:32:14] Carmen: You need to be woke. Woke needs to be part of who you is on the planet because you're so fucking asleep.

[00:32:22] Andrea: in. Check in. Check

[00:32:25] Andrea: in to your local library and read some books

[00:32:27] Carmen: Check into your local library. He has this whole persona that he, you know, struggled in his life and that he created all the... Yeah. Hmm.

[00:32:37] Andrea: That, really?

[00:32:38] Carmen: Yes.

[00:32:39] Carmen: Well, this is what the people believe.

[00:32:41] Carmen: He's done so much. He's done so

[00:32:43] Andrea: nepo baby. His father owned emerald mines for

[00:32:46] Carmen: Emerald mines. Yeah. Yeah. Do you know what I could do if somebody just gave me, I don't know, $250,000? Do you know what I could do with that? But imagine being born into a family where no matter what you do, there's a safety net. This is what people don't understand. So for all you people out there that are still supporting him, who are working your paycheck to paycheck and trying to collect your EBT, but pretending you don't, and, uh, seriously, all of the, all the people that claim to not get social services and bitch about it unless it's for you, you know what I mean?

[00:33:23] Carmen: Imagine what you could do with your life and who you are on the planet if you always knew you had a home to go to, you always had food on the table, you didn't have to worry about bills because they would be paid. Imagine who you could be on the planet with that kind of security. I have never

[00:33:45] Andrea: fail, someone is there to pick you up

[00:33:48] Carmen: And not just pick you

[00:33:49] Andrea: refund your life.

[00:33:52] Carmen: refund you. Refund you. Can you imagine? You and I have never had that. We have never had that sense of security, and I would guess most people watching this have never lived that life

[00:34:04] Carmen: where- 

[00:34:04] Andrea: 98, 99.9% of people in the world have never had that

[00:34:10] Carmen: Right. Where you just wake up in the morning and you're like, "You know what? I think I wanna buy a

[00:34:14] Andrea: And there, like, like you said, there's freedom in that. Like, like, in this situation it's ki- you know, like it's gotten out of hand, but like imagine what you could think of, how, what you, you know, the passions and the interests that you could follow, the good that you could do in the world, right? All of these people who always complain about, you know, people getting degrees in social workers or, you know, whatever, like these things, or teachers, whatever it might be, where these jobs don't make any money, right?

[00:34:47] Andrea: It's like you could go and do the thing that doesn't make any money because you know that you have safety and security behind you

[00:34:55] Carmen: And I'm sorry, you can't see the sweat. It's like coming down my back. I kinda put my hair up. No, I mean, look it, I, I wish I could explain to more people about how unfair it is, and I know we live in the United States, and that should be something we're grateful for, and we are. Like, that's not the conversation.

[00:35:19] Carmen: But if you could understand that the people that actually own this country, not all of them started out poor. Not all of them built something from nothing. Not all... Most of them did not. But they give you the story that that's what they've done. And because it's peppered with people who have done that, right?

[00:35:41] Carmen: There are, there, there's the peppering of it, the Mark Zuckerbergs, the Oprah Winfreys, the Beyon- whatever, right? We can go down the... There are, there is the peppering of those people. That's not the majority of most people. We don't have that. Most

[00:35:57] Carmen: people are, are 

[00:35:58] Andrea: sold as a failing if you can't do it, right? It's like you are, you are somehow failing, not working hard enough, et cetera, if you aren't able to do that. That's what, that's what it's sold as. Look at, look at, you know, everyone's got the same 24 hours in the day, right? Like that ki- no, they actually don't.

[00:36:20] Andrea: They actually don't.

[00:36:21] Carmen: Everyone knows I love Gary Vee, but I disagree on Gary Vee on so many things, and one of them is this idea, like, where he's like... And, and this is no diss to Gary Vee. I think everyone should listen to him 'cause he has some great insight and he's one of the better influencers out there. But it's one of those things where he's like, "You're just not hustling hard enough.

[00:36:40] Carmen: I used to go to garage sales all the time, and I used to d-..." Yeah, your parents had a business. Your... But, but like, just to put this in perspective like

[00:36:49] Andrea: Yeah, you have inherited your parents' already successful business and made it more successful and done other things.

[00:36:56] Carmen: Right.

[00:36:56] Carmen: Right. But you always had a home to go to. You always had something to comfort you. You always had somebody that no matter... And that's what you want, right? Andrea, you have kids. You want your kids to be okay. You'll do whatever it takes. But most people don't have that

[00:37:13] Andrea: And maybe his parents were the ones who, you know, hustled and, you know, I don't know what their, what his grandparents' situation was. I have

[00:37:20] Carmen: But also, but wait, but also taught him the skills. Like, that's the other part of it too. Like, you also learn skills when you are part of a family dynamic that already has a business. And look it, I'm not trying to be like, "Woe, woe is me." Bitch, I have done... I, I had no bootstraps, okay? I'm good. You know what I mean?

[00:37:41] Carmen: But what I'm saying is, is that's a very different conversation, what we've gone through, what we... And, and you're right. Every time you don't ha- like if, if one more person says to me, "T- do you have a retirement? You, you have your retirement, right?" Are you out of your fucking mind? Like, why would I have a retirement?

[00:38:00] Andrea: That's my favorite

[00:38:02] Carmen: Like, I just used everything in my savings, like, to just get by the past four months. Like, peop- that's what I'm talking about.

[00:38:07] Carmen: We don't 

[00:38:08] Andrea: to live today. I'm trying to live today to survive

[00:38:12] Carmen: Right. What can I do today, like, to get by, and what can happen tomorrow? And it's like, I think most people in the United States, we're living... When we talk about paycheck to paycheck, that's what we're talking about. Or credit card to credit card.

[00:38:30] Andrea: Whatever.

[00:38:30] Carmen: know? Just throwing that out there, you know what

[00:38:32] Andrea: Yeah.

[00:38:33] Carmen: But it's true. It's like, I wish people, especially people that are Trump supporters or still leaning that way or s- equivocating, like, they have been lying to you forever. And

[00:38:48] Andrea: They

[00:38:49] Andrea: use this idea of, you know, what it looks like to, to work hard and earn your own way and all of those kinds of things against you, right? It's like they, they paint themselves as people who have done that when they really haven't, and then they use it against you, and they use it to, uh, get you to be against other people who are just like you, trying to survive

[00:39:18] Carmen: Right. And I've talked about this before, and I, I don't care, I wanna share this. You know, a- again, it goes back to I work for, or, and I have worked for people who make millions and millions of dollars. They make a lot of money, and I have helped them fix their horrible credit ratings, uh, because they have the money to do it.

[00:39:34] Carmen: It's really easy to fix your credit rating if you have money to just pay the bills and negotiate and call a lawyer to have them... Like, it's really easy to do. And then turn around and help them get millions of dollars in loans, and they use those loans to pay off other loans. Like, we've already- we've had this conversation too about it's a shell game, right?

[00:39:51] Carmen: So, but yet when I, good, decent person who's worked hard, who makes my little living or whatever, and I have a good income and, you know, whatever, I go in and try to get a loan from the bank, the bank's like, "Oh, yeah, no. Can't. You, you don't have, uh, property or collateral or all the networks or the last name, and you're Black."

[00:40:12] Carmen: I'm not saying they say that, but that's kind of all of it, you know? And you're a woman. Like, all of that is the problem. Like, so then I feel, I don't, but I'm... I get, I get angry. But there was a time when I'd be like, "What am I doing wrong? What? Oh my God, my, my credit rating isn't at 800. That must be what it is.

[00:40:35] Carmen: It's only at 760. What?" You know what I

[00:40:38] Andrea: And when you're in that s- when a person, not you, when a person is in that space of feeling like, "I, I'm trying to do everything right. What did I do wrong?" Right there is where they pop in and try to manipulate you. It's not you. It's not you. It's those brown people who are coming and taking the jobs and getting the loans and the healthcare and the whatever

[00:41:03] Carmen: Right. Yes, that's exactly what happens. That is what happens. They, that's when they're able to come to you and make you, like in your vulnerable moment, find somebody else to blame other than the banks and the formulas they're using to not give you a loan. And I, I wanna be really clear here, I'm not...

[00:41:25] Carmen: This isn't an exaggeration. My credit rating, my income, my... Brilliant, perfect. There's no reason why I should have not gotten the loan. You know what I mean? So it, it's, it's an interesting dynamic, but you're right. That's when they come in and they try to make you be angry, not at the system that they've developed to keep you down, but blame somebody else who is taking away from you in some way, shape, or form who has less than you

[00:41:54] Andrea: Right. Who is more vulnerable, who is, you know, in many ways very similar to you, trying to survive, trying to do well for their family, trying to, you know, move themselves forward. But you blame them instead of looking up at who is actually causing the problem

[00:42:12] Carmen: Right. And the thing with Mamdani I want people to really understand is, and again, understanding that you are ingrained with racism is part of the problem. Pretend that he is a white man with blue eyes and just listen to what he's saying. He is talking about regular things that help all of us. Fixing the streets.

[00:42:37] Carmen: He, he paved or put I don't know how many thousands of potholes in New York, like within his first six months. He created, um, daycare for children in the first six months. Those, those are not socialist ideas. Those are like regular things. That's what we want our government to do. But we've been so conditioned to believe that that is something socialist, communist, and bad.

[00:43:07] Carmen: It's so-

[00:43:08] Andrea: It's, it's communist to have good smooth roads, 

[00:43:12] Carmen: Yeah. Yeah. Or, or medical help. Yeah. Or, or, yeah, any normal, regular thing. And there are countries out there that we all envy, but we don't see, right? We... I, I don't know. I always get confused 'cause I haven't been to them, that's the problem. But it's like Norway, Sweden, right? They all have these types of... They have capitalism.

[00:43:15] Carmen: You can still make millions of dollars, you know, 'cause everyone thinks they're one

[00:43:19] Andrea: Great.

[00:43:37] Carmen: or two paychecks away or opportunities away from becoming a millionaire.

[00:43:42] Andrea: You can still, you can still go for it

[00:43:44] Carmen: you can still go for it in those countries, but you still take care of your people, and isn't that what we want our taxes to do? Isn't that what we want?

[00:43:53] Andrea: my taxes to do, much more so than paying for bombs You know?

[00:44:00] Carmen: It's gonna be... It's, yeah, I, you know, somehow I feel better, I don't know why, from when we first started. I don't know why, 'cause it's still depressing. What?

[00:44:10] Andrea: I said you're welcome.

[00:44:12] Carmen: Oh, God. Maybe it's 'cause I put my hair up 'cause I was sweating over here trying to look cute. Okay, that's probably what it was. Well, yeah, it's always you. Yeah. Um, I think you should see The Odyssey in the theater. Uh,

[00:44:27] Andrea: Yeah, I mean, we probably will. Also, it's expensive, right? It's gonna be like

[00:44:31] Carmen: Oh my God.

[00:44:32] Andrea: for all of us.

[00:44:34] Carmen: How much is it for all of you?

[00:44:36] Andrea: nightmare. It's gonna be like $100.

[00:44:37] Carmen: Oh yeah, that's crazy. Yeah.

[00:44:38] Carmen: Yeah 

[00:44:39] Andrea: I gotta have my Red Vines, so there's that, 

[00:44:41] Carmen: Oh, well that's, 

[00:44:42] Andrea: people gotta have a soda

[00:44:43] Carmen: Well, I was mad because I went, uh, there was four of us that went and, uh, my ticket was like $21. Oh, I'm over there trying to do the senior ticket like I don't give a fuck. They were like, "You will need to show ID." I'm like, "Okay, maybe not yet." But like 

[00:45:00] Andrea: Like soon enough, damn it

[00:45:02] Carmen: well, you know what? Even the, the, uh, I don't give a fuck.

[00:45:05] Carmen: Uh, if, if I got a AARP card, I had that since I was 40. Do you know what I mean? Like I don't care. Get my motherfucking discounts. But I'm being serious, like I- it's so expensive. But what was worse, $30 in the parking lot

[00:45:20] Andrea: No

[00:45:21] Carmen: Yeah. Yeah. Well, we went out

[00:45:23] Andrea: Where did you go?

[00:45:24] Carmen: Okay, wait, we went at 7:00 in the morning. I know.

[00:45:29] Carmen: I know. We went, 'cause we went during opening weekend. I know, people are crazy. So we went to, um, Century City, and we got out at 7:00 in the morning, and then we went afterwards and had breakfast, and it was, it was kinda cool to have the conversation afterwards with some friends or whatever. But if you stay, you do get a validation, but if you stay longer than it's...

[00:45:49] Carmen: And it was like $30 for the parking. I'm like, "This is, it's too expensive to go to the movies nowadays."

[00:45:57] Andrea: It is. It is. It, and I like, I don't want the bells and whistles, right? Like, if I go to the movie theater, I just, show me the movie,

[00:46:05] Carmen: Yeah

[00:46:06] Andrea: give me a seat, give me my Red Vines, that's all I want.

[00:46:09] Carmen: Yeah. There are those options. I'm just... Look it, I'm, I'm curious to think what you think of the film. That's why I want you to go see it. But I think, um, you know, I think it was a good film. I think it should be seen on the big screen. I never need to see it again

[00:46:25] Andrea: Yeah. 

[00:46:26] Carmen: but it's still so 

[00:46:27] Andrea: I have a lot of films like that where I'm like, "I really, really enjoyed it. I'm never gonna watch it again."

[00:46:31] Carmen: Yeah, it was just too gory for me. It was too much. It was too violent and too, too gory, but it was really good, so. And Chris Nolan, you gotta give him a shout-out. I mean, he's one of the great directors of our time, so, but yeah. All right. Well, as always, thank you, Andrea. I appreciate you so much doing this.

[00:46:50] Carmen: Um, and remember everyone to catch our other shows, "Carmen Talk," Culture... Oh, no, this is Culture and Consequence. Friday night lives, everyone is invited to come and hang out on Friday night, 6:00 PM Pacific, 9:00 PM Eastern. And, uh, the private lounge, which we have a great conversation with, uh, Maynard, who, uh, just booked a Netflix movie, so I'm so excited for him, or a series.

[00:47:12] Carmen: I know, it's so cool. So check that out, check out that interview. And remember, at the end of the day, it really is all about the joy. Bye everyone. Bye.

[00:47:20] Andrea: Bye