How Luxury Beliefs are Ruining Society, with Rob Henderson

Garry Tan
18 Mar 202447:08

Summary

TLDR在这段对话中,Rob Henderson分享了他的新书《Troubled》的核心观点,探讨了精英阶层与社会大众之间的脱节,以及这种脱节如何影响社会政策和教育制度。他通过个人经历,包括在洛杉矶的贫困生活、寄养系统的经历,以及在耶鲁大学的学习,揭示了社会不平等和精英统治的问题。Henderson强调了社会对所有人的责任,以及为了实现更好的社会结果,需要对抗错误决策和意识形态的挑战。

Takeaways

  • 📚 罗布·亨德森的书《麻煩》探讨了精英阶层与社会其他阶层之间的脱节,以及这种脱节如何影响社会政策和普通人的生活。
  • 🧐 亨德森通过自己的经历,包括在洛杉矶的贫困生活、寄养系统的经历,以及在耶鲁大学的学习,揭示了社会不平等的不同面貌。
  • 🏆 尽管《麻煩》一书符合《纽约时报》畅销书榜的标准,但并未上榜,作者和出版社正在调查原因,这可能与书中挑战主流观点有关。
  • 🤔 亨德森讨论了奢侈品信仰的概念,即精英阶层持有与现实脱节的信念,这些信念可能导致对边缘化和弱势群体不利的政策。
  • 👨‍👩‍👧 家庭背景和成长经历对个人价值观和信仰的形成有重大影响,亨德森的亚洲母亲和墨西哥父亲的混合血统背景为他提供了独特的视角。
  • 🎓 教育系统的变化,如在旧金山公立学校推迟教授代数,可能会对低收入学生产生不利影响,限制了他们未来的学术和职业发展。
  • 🚔 警察资金削减运动和对执法态度的变化导致了犯罪率的上升,亨德森通过数据和个人观察强调了这一点。
  • 🏫 标准化考试和择优录取对于低收入和少数族裔学生来说是重要的社会流动工具,但这些概念近年来受到了质疑和攻击。
  • 🤝 社会对每个人都有责任,亨德森认为政府应该为所有公民服务,提供有效的政府、学校和其他机构。
  • 💡 亨德森强调了言论自由和学术自由的重要性,并认为这些自由不是自然而然就会存在的,需要社会成员不断地维护和争取。
  • 🌐 社会需要更多有影响力的人勇敢地发表意见,诚实地讨论问题,而不是屈服于当前的政治正确或舆论压力。

Q & A

  • Rob Henderson的书《Troubled》主要探讨了哪些问题?

    -Rob Henderson的书《Troubled》主要探讨了精英阶层与社会其他阶层之间的鸿沟,以及这种鸿沟如何影响社会政策和普通人的生活。书中还讨论了奢侈品信仰的概念,以及这些信仰如何导致社会基本层面的破裂,比如公共安全和刑事司法改革。

  • Rob Henderson的个人背景对他的观点有何影响?

    -Rob Henderson的个人背景对他的世界观和观点有着深远的影响。他的成长经历,包括在洛杉矶的贫民窟生活、在寄养系统中的经历、以及后来被一个工薪家庭收养,都让他对社会的不平等和结构性问题有了深刻的理解和同情。这些经历使他对精英阶层的观点和决策持有批判态度,并在书中进行了深入探讨。

  • Rob Henderson如何看待标准化测试和择优录取?

    -Rob Henderson支持标准化测试和择优录取。他认为这些制度能够帮助来自非传统背景的人获得提升的机会。他通过个人经历和研究数据来支持他的观点,认为标准化测试特别是对低收入和代表性不足的群体有利。他还批评了当前教育系统中取消这些制度的趋势,认为这会加剧社会的不平等。

  • Rob Henderson在书中提到了哪些社会问题?

    -Rob Henderson在书中提到了多种社会问题,包括精英阶层的奢侈品信仰、社会基本层面的破裂、公共安全和刑事司法改革、教育系统中的不平等、以及社会对贫困和犯罪的态度等。他批评了精英阶层制定的政策往往与普通民众的需求和经验脱节,导致了社会的混乱和不公。

  • Rob Henderson对于精英阶层的看法是什么?

    -Rob Henderson认为精英阶层在塑造社会话语和决策方面拥有巨大的影响力,但他们的观点和决策往往与社会的大多数人脱节。他指出精英阶层倾向于制定出一些听起来很好,但实际上对弱势群体有害的政策。他还提到精英阶层对于自己的地位和孩子的未来感到焦虑,这种焦虑可能导致他们在教育和职业机会上采取有利于自己孩子的措施。

  • Rob Henderson的书《Troubled》为何没有出现在《纽约时报》畅销书榜上?

    -尽管Rob Henderson的书《Troubled》销售情况良好,达到了《纽约时报》畅销书榜的标准,但它并未出现在榜单上。Rob和他的出版商正在调查这一情况,这可能与书中挑战精英阶层观点的内容有关,这些观点可能不受某些有影响力的人群欢迎。

  • Rob Henderson如何看待警察和刑事司法改革?

    -Rob Henderson认为警察和刑事司法改革是必要的,但他反对完全废除警察和刑事司法系统。他指出,暴力犯罪的增加与警察资金的削减有关,而且这种增加的犯罪对贫困社区的影响尤其严重。他主张应该有更多的对话和辩论,以找到既能保护人民安全,又能纠正行为的平衡点。

  • Rob Henderson对于教育系统的看法是什么?

    -Rob Henderson对教育系统持有批判态度,特别是对于公立学校系统。他认为,教育系统未能为所有学生提供平等的机会,特别是在旧金山这样的城市,精英阶层更倾向于将孩子送入私立学校。他还批评了教育系统中取消标准化测试和择优录取的趋势,认为这些措施对低收入和代表性不足的学生不利。

  • Rob Henderson在书中提到的“奢侈品信仰”是什么?

    -Rob Henderson在书中提到的“奢侈品信仰”是指那些听起来很高尚但实际上对普通人有害的信念。这些信仰往往由精英阶层提出,并在社会上广泛传播,但它们往往与普通人的实际经验脱节,导致了社会政策的失误和不公。

  • Rob Henderson对于社会不平等的看法是什么?

    -Rob Henderson认为社会不平等是一个严重的问题,它不仅体现在经济上,还体现在教育、司法和安全等多个方面。他指出,精英阶层的政策往往加剧了这种不平等,而不是缓解它。他主张社会应该提供更多的机会和资源,以帮助弱势群体提升自己的地位。

  • Rob Henderson对于精英大学的看法是什么?

    -Rob Henderson认为精英大学在提供教育和社会流动性方面发挥了重要作用,但他也指出了这些大学存在的问题,包括对精英阶层的子女过度倾斜的招生政策,以及学生和教职工中普遍存在的地位焦虑。他提倡应该有更多的对话和辩论,以确保这些机构能够更好地服务于社会的所有成员。

Outlines

00:00

🌟 与作家Rob Henderson的对话

主持人与作家Rob Henderson就其著作《Troubled》进行深入对话。Rob讨论了政治、社会问题,特别是加州和旧金山的政治现象,以及精英阶层如何因日常经验与普罗大众脱节而做出看似有道德信号却可能适得其反的决策。Rob的成长背景和经历也在对话中被提及,他的书籍因为挑战了精英阶层的观点而可能未被列入《纽约时报》畅销书榜,尽管销量极佳。

05:04

📚 Rob Henderson的个人历程

Rob Henderson分享了他的个人成长经历,包括他的韩裔母亲和墨西哥裔父亲的背景,以及他在洛杉矶的贫困和无家可归的生活。他提到了自己在寄养系统中的经历,以及后来被一个工人阶级家庭收养,并在加州北部的Red Bluff长大。Rob讨论了他与父母的关系,以及他如何在学术和个人生活中克服困难。

10:06

🛫 从贫困到精英教育的跨越

Rob讲述了他如何从贫困和不稳定的家庭环境进入Yale大学,并在空军服役期间的经历。他讨论了结构和权威对他个人成长的影响,以及如何在权威和自我放逐之间找到平衡。Rob还分享了他对于教育的看法,包括他对标准化测试的支持,以及他认为这些测试对于低收入和少数族裔学生的重要性。

15:07

🚨 社会问题与精英阶层的脱节

对话中,Rob和主持人探讨了社会问题,特别是犯罪、警察资金削减和教育改革等议题。他们讨论了精英阶层如何与普通民众的生活经验脱节,以及这种脱节如何导致政策制定的失误和社会问题的加剧。Rob强调了对于犯罪受害者的关注,以及社会对于不同社会阶层犯罪行为的不同反应。

20:09

📈 书籍成功与媒体的关注

Rob讨论了他的书籍《Troubled》的成功,尽管销量表明应该进入《纽约时报》畅销书榜,但却未被列入。他和出版商正在调查原因,怀疑可能与书中挑战精英阶层观点有关。Rob还讨论了公立学校教育的重要性,以及他对当前教育改革的一些看法,特别是关于标准化测试和择优录取的观点。

25:09

🎓 教育与社会流动性

Rob分享了他个人的教育经历,包括他在高中的表现和后来如何通过SAT考试和社区学院的课程提高自己的大学申请资料。他强调了标准化测试对于低收入和少数族裔学生的重要性,并举例说明了标准化测试如何帮助这些学生获得更好的教育机会。Rob批评了当前教育政策的一些趋势,如取消标准化测试和择优录取,他认为这些政策忽视了帮助弱势群体提升社会地位的重要性。

30:11

🌐 当前社会与意识形态的挑战

Rob和主持人讨论了当前社会中意识形态如何影响政策和决策,特别是关于种族和经济不平等的讨论。Rob提出了对于当前教育和社会政策的批评,认为这些政策往往忽视了实际效果,而更多地受到意识形态的驱动。他还讨论了精英阶层的地位焦虑,以及这种焦虑如何影响他们对子女教育的态度和对社会政策的看法。

35:12

🗣️ 知识分子的责任与挑战

在对话的最后,Rob强调了知识分子和有影响力的人应该承担起社会责任,勇于发表自己的观点,即使这些观点可能与主流意识形态相悖。他讨论了言论自由和学术自由的重要性,以及这些自由在历史上的罕见性和脆弱性。Rob呼吁人们珍惜并捍卫这些自由,对抗任何可能限制言论和思想的势力。

Mindmap

Keywords

💡精英阶层

精英阶层指的是社会中处于顶端的一小部分人,他们通常拥有较高的社会地位、教育水平和财富。在视频中,提到精英阶层有时会因为与大众脱节而做出一些看似有益实则有害社会的决策。例如,他们可能支持减少警察资金,但这样的政策实际上可能会导致犯罪率上升,影响社会秩序。

💡奢侈品信念

奢侈品信念是指那些被社会精英阶层所持有,但与普通人生活实际脱节的信念或价值观。这些信念往往在社会上被广泛传播,但可能并不符合大多数人的实际利益。在视频中,作者通过自己的书籍《Troubled》探讨了这种现象,并指出这种信念可能导致社会问题。

💡社会断裂

社会断裂指的是社会中不同群体之间出现的隔阂和分裂,这通常是由于经济、教育、文化等方面的不平等造成的。在视频中,作者通过自己的经历和观察,指出社会断裂的存在,并认为这是当前社会面临的一个重要问题。

💡教育公平

教育公平是指在教育机会和教育资源分配上,所有人都能够获得平等的待遇,不受社会经济地位、种族、性别等因素的影响。视频中讨论了教育公平的问题,特别是在精英阶层如何影响教育政策,以及这些政策对不同社会群体的实际影响。

💡标准化测试

标准化测试是一种统一的考试方式,用于评估学生在特定学科或能力上的水平。这种测试通常具有固定的形式和评分标准,旨在提供一个公平的评估平台。视频中讨论了标准化测试的重要性,尤其是在为低收入和少数族裔学生提供教育机会方面。

💡意识形态

意识形态是指一系列关于政治、社会、经济等方面的观念和信仰,它影响着个人或群体的价值观和行为。在视频中,提到了精英阶层可能利用意识形态来推动符合自己利益的政策,而忽视了这些政策对大多数人的实际影响。

💡社会正义

社会正义是指在社会中追求公平、平等和人权的理念,旨在消除不公正现象,如歧视、贫困和不平等现象。视频中讨论了社会正义的概念,以及它如何被一些精英阶层用来推动特定的政策或议程,有时这可能导致与实际社会需求脱节。

💡个人奋斗

个人奋斗指的是个人通过自己的努力和坚持,克服困难和挑战,以实现个人目标和梦想的过程。在视频中,作者分享了自己的个人奋斗故事,从一个贫困和不稳定的家庭背景中奋斗出来,最终获得了教育和成功。

💡社会责任感

社会责任感是指个人或集体对社会福祉的关注和承担的义务感。在视频中,作者强调了精英阶层应该具有的社会责任感,即不仅要关注自己的利益,还要考虑他们的决策如何影响整个社会,特别是那些处于不利地位的群体。

💡意识形态偏差

意识形态偏差是指个人或集体在处理信息和做决策时,受到其信仰和价值观的影响,从而偏离客观事实和理性判断的现象。在视频中,作者讨论了意识形态偏差如何导致精英阶层在政策制定和社会问题上做出与大众利益不符的决策。

Highlights

Rob Henderson讨论了他的新书《Troubled》以及书中探讨的精英阶层的虚伪和双重标准。

讨论了加州和旧金山政治中的问题,特别是精英们做出的脱离民众的决策。

Rob的个人背景,包括他的亚洲裔美国人身份和成长过程中的挑战。

Rob的三重名字背后的故事,以及它们如何反映了他复杂的家庭历史。

讨论了美国社会对于童年创伤的处理不足,以及这种创伤如何在成年后表现出来。

Rob在洛杉矶和红崖(Red Bluff)的不同生活经历,以及这些经历如何塑造了他对美国社会不同阶层的理解。

Rob在空军的经历,以及这种结构化环境如何对他产生了积极影响。

讨论了权威与权威主义在教育和育儿中的区别,以及找到平衡的重要性。

探讨了精英阶层如何通过媒体和政策制定影响社会叙事,但往往与普通民众的现实脱节。

讨论了精英阶层对警察改革和公共安全的态度,以及这些态度如何与他们自身的经验不符。

Transcripts

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hey everyone today I'm sitting down with

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the author Rob Henderson I got to know

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him on X because he started writing

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about a lot of the things that I was

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seeing and worried about in politics in

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California and San Francisco ultimately

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you have a group of people who are

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making virtue signaling decisions about

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the most important things in our society

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and they're operating off of a

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day-to-day lived experience that is

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basically disconnected from the people

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that they aim to try to help they say

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they're helping but the outcomes seem

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like they're the opposite Rob

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Henderson's book troubled is a really

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important one because it talks exactly

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about why that happens and how that

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happens how do people acquire luxury

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beliefs I had a great conversation with

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him and he's got a book that is selling

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so well well it should be on the New

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York Times bestseller list but someone

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is holding the finger down on the scale

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why because this idea of luxury beliefs

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is so important it endangers the very

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being of a lot of people who are the

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Elite who actually decide who goes on

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that list who gets that headline and

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sometimes who gets that funding from the

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government so let's get

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started

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[Applause]

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[Music]

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Rob thanks a lot for coming on the

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channel uh really big fan of you from

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the internet and then it's always uh a

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treat to be able to spend time with you

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know a kindred spirit your book really

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really spoke to me and thanks for being

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here yeah thanks Gary yeah it's it's

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great to be here yeah I'm honored uh

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that you're taking the time to to speak

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with me today I guess there's a lot in

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your story that really resonates for me

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I remember you know it's a little

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different in that I did have both my

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parents on the other hand you know my

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father struggled with alcoholism and you

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know it really subjected me and my

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brother to a lot and frankly my mom to a

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ton of trauma that as asian-americans

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often we just sort of go into American

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society assuming you know what like I'm

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normal I'm fine and then it came out in

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lots of really strange ways your book

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sort of talks about that at length I

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wonder where to start you sort of even

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start the preface right off the bat with

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you know sort of your three names I

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wonder if you could talk about that yeah

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I opened the book this way just to give

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the reader a sense of you know what the

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story is and who the author of This Book

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Is So my full name is Robert Kim

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Henderson and each of my three names was

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taken from a different adult my first

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name Robert is the supposed name of my

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biological father so I was born into

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poverty my mother and I we were homeless

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for a short while we lived in a car we

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eventually settled in a slum apartment

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in LA and you know later when I was put

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in the foster care system some social

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workers and forensic psychologists asked

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my mom and where's this boy's father

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because you're not in a position to care

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for him and she said she really didn't

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know she had some vague sense that his

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name was Robert but she didn't have any

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memory of him or where he was or what he

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did my mother she came to the US from

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Soul South Korea as a young woman to

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study and then she started partying and

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doing a lot of drugs and that's you know

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kind of where her life went and why I

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was put into care and my father I

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actually had no information about him

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other than his name supposedly but I

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took a 23 in me test last year and

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learned that I'm half Hispanic on my

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father's side so I'm half Mexican half

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Korean and my middle name Kim that's my

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birth mother's name you know Common

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Korean surname and my last name

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Henderson comes from My adoptive father

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so when I was taken from my birth mother

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I was placed into the Los Angeles County

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foster care system spent the next just

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shy of five years in seven different

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homes around

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La then I was adopted by this

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workingclass family and we settled in

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this kind of Dusty bluecollar town in

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northern California called called Red

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Bluff way up North about 2 hours north

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of Sacramento it's a part of California

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most people aren't familiar with but

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it's a very kind of rundown poor kind of

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kind of rural area and My adoptive

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parents you know they experienced kind

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of what a lot of families are

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experiencing across the country sort of

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working class and lower middle class

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families the

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deterioration and the instability and

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the separation I mean they so they

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divorced about 18 months after adopting

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me My adoptive father was upset with My

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adoptive mother for leaving him and he

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retaliated by cutting off contact with

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me because he figured this

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would you know this would inflict some

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pain on my mother which it did and so

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from there I was raised by a single mom

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for a time and and there were other sort

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of family transitions after the fact

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there but those were the names that were

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given to me and each of those three

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names were taken from adults that

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I no longer speak with and have you know

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essentially either neglected or

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abandoned me during my

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childhood one of the crazy things about

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American society is I think really

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doesn't give people who experience

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things like that Trauma from childhood

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like we just they just it doesn't get

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very much space it's like not something

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that people talk about if anything when

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we go off into polite Society we spend a

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lot of time pretending we you know fit

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in and none of that stuff happened my

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freshman year at Stanford I had a uh

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academic residential adviser who you

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know explicitly the the goal of that

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person is to be a resource or someone to

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like help you get used to you know

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University life and then I remember

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sending them emails about you know sort

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of the stuff I was dealing with around

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like verbal abuse from my parents and

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like sort of really really intense

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familial obligations and there's just no

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engagement there's like a long stretch

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of the book where you sort of talk about

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like your high school years but you did

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end up also at Yale so you know that's

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sort of like the two ends of the

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spectrum right both of us experiencing

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quite a bit of trauma early and then you

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know joining polite Society in some way

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and like realizing oh you know we really

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don't quite fit in there is actually a

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lot of difference between our experience

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and like the normal Elite experience at

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top schools yeah it's uh it's

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interesting right like I when I started

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writing this book this lingering concern

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I had was like would anyone relate any

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of this because I had such an unusual

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upbringing at one point I took this uh

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this childhood instability scale that I

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came across in a developmental

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psychology paper and AC score then right

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it's it's so this is separate from the

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AC it's very similar it's very similar

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to the ace scores the adverse childhood

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experiences score and you know I did the

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you know the basic statistics and found

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that I scored in the top 1% of most

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unstable childhoods in the US and I'm

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like man this is like you know people

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are going to read this and be like this

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is such an alien experience to me but

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what I've been surprised by is just how

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many people have connected with this

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story and not even people who grew up

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you know working class are poor the way

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that I did for long stretches of my

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upbringing but even people who had kind

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of more middle class upbringings but you

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know they had they experienced family

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instability or someone in their family

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suffered from addiction or a lot of

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people's parents have had their own

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issues that they were dealing with and

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took it out on their kids or their

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spouse and you're right it's it's

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something that's that's under discussed

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and people either don't speak about it

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at all or if they do they use they speak

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about it indirectly in the language of

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like poverty or

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inequality but you know there are people

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who don't necessarily lack in terms of

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material resources but they're acting

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out the

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emotional difficulties and experiences

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they had early in their lives the

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instability and the self-defeating

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choices and all those things and then

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when they have fam as you see they take

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it out on their kids and or they don't

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they just uh you know take it out of

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their kids by not speaking to the kids

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right that by abandoning them or

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neglecting them and that's sort of how

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they're acting out I saw kind of every

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angle of that not just from my own

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experience growing up in LA and then in

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Red Bluff but also my my friends you

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know I talk about my experiences in the

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foster homes and divorces and

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separations and being raised by a single

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mom and all that stuff but I had five

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close friends growing up in Red Bluff

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and they also had very difficult

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experiences you know raised by single

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moms or abusive stepparents or or I had

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one friend who was raised by his

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grandmother because his mom was on drugs

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his dad was in prison actually I had two

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friends whose dads were kind of in and

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out of prison all throughout our

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childhood so I write about those

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experiences too about how this is

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actually more common than a lot of

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people think especially people in that

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sort of tippy top you know at or near

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the elite segments of society and I kind

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of came to realize this vast sort of

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Chasm between Elites and everyone else

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when I got to Yale and to came too to

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sort of see I sort of Step by Step the

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foster homes this workingclass community

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then I was in the Air Force then I went

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off to Yale and I kind of saw like

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different strata of American society all

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along the way and so yeah the book

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covers a lot of a lot of what I saw and

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what I learned yeah your time in the Air

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Force sounds really interesting in that

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it's structure and then I guess in my

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own experience I found that I really

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like situations that are sort of like

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high Love Low structure that that was

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sort of what I craved but it was a

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surprise to me uh entering into like the

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workforce and becoming a manager and

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trying to run companies and realizing

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that actually that's not normal like

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basically what people seem to love is

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high love High structure people actually

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really want structure whereas a deep

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part of me is like sort of angst against

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uh Authority because of my own

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upbringing so I just didn't want anyone

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to tell me what to do or control me and

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how much that made me who I am in a lot

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of ways yeah I had this kind of LoveHate

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relationship with authority I had this

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kind of instinctive mistrust of adults

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just from being in the system so long

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from you know each time I moved to a

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different foster home it did feel like

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this sense of betrayal especially once I

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grew old enough to understand what was

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happening to me and just the sort of

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fleeting connections that I had where

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I'd go to one home one family then the

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next family and then yeah later when I

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was adopted was in contact with my

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adopted father and so you know by the

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time I you know was in Middle School or

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high school and teachers would ask me to

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do homework or do these things I was

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just very skeptical of this whole

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Enterprise anytime an adult said this

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was important I would think I have this

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line in the book about how for a lot of

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kids if adults repeatedly let you down

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you eventually learn to let yourself

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down and that's what happened with me

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it's what happened with a lot of my

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friends that if you're a young child and

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you know your parents are the adult

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people in your life those they're your

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whole world and they don't put your

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priorities first then as you kind of

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come online and enter the world you stop

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really prioritizing your own needs um at

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least long-term needs maybe short-term

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hedonistic gratification just the

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pursuit of short-term pleasure to forget

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about your circumstances and to forget

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about all the things going on around you

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and so yeah this was uh yeah something

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something that we we dealt with and you

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know took took a while to to overcome

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some of it I mean it was interesting

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like the Air Force when I initially

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joined I hated it actually um I wasn't

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actually expecting it to be quite that

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rigid and quite that intense I joined at

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a unique time too I mean I left I was 17

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years old uh when I enlisted I had to

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have my adoptive mom sign a permission

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slip because I was underage and this was

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2007 so this was like the height of the

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war on terror Iraq and Afghanistan and

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so like the Air Force had revamped their

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training regimen and it was like it was

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more intense than I expected and I

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didn't like it but I have this story the

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book where I talked to my friend Tyler

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who he served 12 months in San Quinton

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state in prison in California and he he

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had just got out of prison I'm telling

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the story and I I you know I visit him I

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was you know one or two years into my

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enlistment and we both were describing

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our respective experiences he was

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talking about prison I was talking about

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the military and we both kind of

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realized like oh like we had very

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similar experiences where like every

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aspect of your life is tightly

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controlled from what time the lights

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come on to like you know like where

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you're supposed to be and who you report

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to and every every little thing and we

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both came to this agreement that we both

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really hated it at first but gradually

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we came to actually appreciate the

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structure and the stability that we had

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lacked when we were growing up and he

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liked it so much he actually went back

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to

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prison and I liked it so much I actually

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reenlisted so I served eight years in

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total I did four two four year

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enlistments thanks for your service no

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thank you yeah thanks man yeah and so it

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it's like you know when you grow up in

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like with a complete lack of norms like

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no parents really I mean we had Parents

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around but they were kind of halfway

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checked out that on some level we were I

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think craving that stability that

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structure in our lives and even if we

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kind of rebelled against it and pushed

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against it at first we gradually grew to

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appreciate that there was something

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comforting about it too uh so yeah it's

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it's h it's not straightforward right it

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was like oh structure how how fun and

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how great and everything it was more

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like I really hate this but then as you

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sort of live through it it's like oh has

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actually been good for me on some level

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at least in our experience you know not

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it doesn't work for everyone I

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definitely don't recommend like everyone

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join the military or go to prison or

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anything like that but for certain kinds

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of people I think limits can be useful

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yeah it's interesting I mean for folks

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who have like sort of super stable

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households Andor I mean being a parent

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now I realize to what degree I actually

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have to learn how to be a parent totally

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from first principles in a lot of ways

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and that's been really hard I think the

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the thing I struggled the most with

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now is sort is is sort of knowing how to

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actually be authoritative instead of

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authoritarian or self abandoning right

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and then in parenting that's like one of

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the primary issues some people have

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parents who are way too permissive some

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people or not present right or you have

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parents who are way extremely

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overbearing and have their own issues

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and then really good parenting is sort

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of someplace in the middle and then

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being a really good manager is like

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someplace in the the middle as well yeah

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that's that's yeah I remember taking a

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developmental psychology course and like

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probably every parent knows this or

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everyone who sort of flipped through a

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parenting book they have that like the

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three kind of basic categories of

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parenting like there yeah there was the

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authoritarian parenting which is just as

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yeah very overbearing abusive or

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borderline abusive and then yeah

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authoritative which is you know having

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boundaries and limits but not going

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overboard and then yeah that sort of Laz

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Fair complete hands-off style and I

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think like when I when I speak to a lot

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of especially kind of like more upper

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upper middle class parents they are

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concerned about that boundary between

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authoritarian and authoritative where if

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you behave in an authoritative way I

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think a lot of parents worry that

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they're being authoritarian when they're

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not and so trying to find that that lie

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I'm not a parent so I don't know but I I

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I think I have like some understanding

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just from speaking that that can be a

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very kind of difficult tight rope what's

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funny is it's fractal right we spent a

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lot of time with AI and in artificial

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intelligence you spend a lot of time

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thinking about training and training run

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like parenting is basically training a

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human intelligence and it takes its own

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like you know more than 20,000 hours of

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really intense back-to-back attention

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and you know of course the outcomes are

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going to be radically different based on

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what training you subject the human

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intelligence to actually it's uh very

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very strong non-stop reinforcement

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learning you know and then it's fractal

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because you know I I think one of the my

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favorite things from your substack and

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some of the ideas that you've been

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putting out on the internet I that

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really resonate with me are really about

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this idea of luxury beliefs and there's

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sort of this link between people's

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attitudes towards parenting to actually

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discipline of children to actually all

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the way over to Public Safety and you

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know Criminal Justice Reform what is the

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role of the state in protecting people

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or correcting Behavior or diverting them

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from path a versus path B I think that

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that debate actually really needs to

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happen because right now they seem very

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disconnected and I feel like that's

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where the luxury beliefs sort of come

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from if you have an elite that defines

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the narrative that sets the rules sets

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the boundaries for society and then has

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no connection to your experience or my

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experience or you know the experience of

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actually a large percentage of the

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population then the policies do not

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serve the people and then people are

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confused and surprised

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Andor invoke a lot of the sort of

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invective that they do around calling

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someone carceral or and It's tricky

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because obviously we want a police that

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is you know they do their jobs right we

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don't want an abusive police structure

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but we also want one that like keeps

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people safe and then you know even at

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the level of school like in San

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Francisco we have this crazy problem of

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middle schools that are very violent

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actually and then even if you wanted to

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achieve in those environments the

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environments are so disruptive and so

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not conducive to learning that you know

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guess what like the test scores are bad

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and you know it's not possible and we

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sort of allow it right and so there's a

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deep connection between luxury beliefs

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and like a breakdown in society at these

play18:17

sort of fundamental levels for our

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children and for our elders and for

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ourselves in blue cities having some

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limits some boundaries some consequences

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for misbehavior I mean this is like sort

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of basic Behavioral Science that people

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respond to incentives and if you sort of

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remove all penalties for every possible

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form of misconduct like some small

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percentage of the population will start

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to essentially abuse or manipulate

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people around them and you know we can I

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think we can kind of see that yeah in in

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the wake of the sort of defund the

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police movement and I mean it's so funny

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like I I talk about this in the book I I

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report the statistics around defund the

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police there was this really large scale

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survey representative survey from yugov

play19:03

in 2020 which found that and when they

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broke down the responses by income

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category the highest income Americans

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were the most in support of defunding

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the police there were kind of smaller

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surveys done in specific cities during

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that period uh New York City Detroit I

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think Minneapolis too and they found

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that the group that was the most in

play19:22

support of defunding the police were

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white Democrats and that Black and

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Hispanic residents of these cities were

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the least in favor of it and yet you

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know the people the activists and you

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know people who uh take on the manole of

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being representatives for these

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marginalized and disadvantaged groups

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they hold the opposite view where

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actually what's happening is you need to

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reduce resources to the police and

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cultivate an attitude toward suspicion

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toward law enforcement and you know then

play19:52

we saw what happened in the wake of that

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that violent crime spiked homicides

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rates increased between 2020 and 2022

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and it was like you know I remember

play20:00

reading like I'd open the pages of the

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Wall Street Journal in like 2022 and it

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would say you know year-over-year

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homicides increased x% over the last two

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years and you know these would be folded

play20:11

into these aggregate snapshot statistics

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but then over the last I don't know year

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or so there were these high-profile

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murders of like there was one I think

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there was there was a tech executive in

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San Francisco I don't recall the

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specifics of that case but he got

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stabbed in in San Francisco that one

play20:27

turned out to be a uh Crime of Passion

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apparently oh interesting okay and um

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but there are very horrible examples of

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actually totally random violence Sheria

play20:38

mcoa was a upen grad moved to San

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Francisco to follow his dreams had a new

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newborn uh and he got run over and

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killed on the west side of the city by a

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repeat offender who was just totally out

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of his mind on drugs and if you don't

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have yeah if you literally just don't

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have consequences for people who have a

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wrap sheet that is a mile long then in

play21:05

exchange for The Virtue signal of

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politicians you have random deaths

play21:09

dozens to hundreds of random deaths and

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Mings and you know these are sort of

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things that actually break down Society

play21:15

in that way because a child being raised

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by a single father or mother who gets

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killed well that's an orphan right

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that's another person who enters the

play21:23

Foster system like there's you know a

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real breakdown here that you know

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Society needs to look out for each other

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and it's not happening and it's you know

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not happening largely because the elites

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who sort of set the narrative and write

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the headlines you know all of the things

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that you're talking about are more or

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less foreign to them yeah and they don't

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seem to recognize sort of their own

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class biases you know so so you

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mentioned this person this upen graduate

play21:50

there were those two high-profile cases

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of journalists being killed in the last

play21:53

few months and those people get

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identified by name in the media you know

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they have articles WR about them we

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learned their names and you know I was

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reading these reports and I'm thinking

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okay if you're you know if you're just a

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poor person in a low-income neighborhood

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and you get shot or stabbed or attacked

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you know you just get folded into this

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the statistics but if you're a member of

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the modern aristocracy and you're a

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college graduate and you're a journalist

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or you graduate from an elite school

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even if you know even if and when these

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policies do catch up and occasionally

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involve or you know victimize one of

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these people you know they get Tre

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treated very differently they get these

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you know entire articles written about

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them and it's like they get honored as

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like you know what a member of the

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nobility was killed and they get like an

play22:36

entire piece written about them and

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meanwhile like dozens of ordinary people

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are being victimized too and they're not

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sort of described in the same way or or

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sort of venerated in the media in the

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same terms and you know it's funny like

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that I'm curious about like just you

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know because I study psychology and I'm

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interested in how these things work from

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a sort of psychological perspective of

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my impression is that at least for a

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large segment of cultural Elites that

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when a police officer kills someone like

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that's seen as somehow more egregious

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than if sort of one low-income person

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with like a rap sheet a mile long kills

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some other poor person in both cases a

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life is still lost but if an officer

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does it in the line of duty this is seen

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as extremely egregious but if one poor

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person kills another it's just kind of

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like oh you know like that's you know

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that's just a consequence of freedom I

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guess or I'm not sure like what the

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mindset is there but it's just like in

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the aggregate if there's 1% of the

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population that is disproportionately

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unlawful and a disproportionate

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percentage of that 1% happens to be

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people from marginalized or dispossessed

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groups the thinking seems to be well we

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just won't enforce laws anymore but

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they're victimizing people around them

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and the people they're victimizing also

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tend to be disproportionately poor from

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marginalized backgrounds as well you

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know other I cite these stats in the

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book too about how compared to Americans

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who earn more than $75,000 a year the

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lowest income Americans are seven times

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more likely to be victims of aggravated

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assault seven times more likely to be

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victims of robbery 20 times more likely

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to be victims of sexual assault and

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homicide and essentially like every

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crime you can think of the poor are the

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most likely to be victimized by it and

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people are much more likely to be

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victimized by crime than perpetrators

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but we focus so much on the perpetrators

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of crime and how they come from is you

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know marginalized and deprived

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backgrounds but we don't think that much

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about their victims and what happens

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with them they don't get the same amount

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of attention I think which is a shame I

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mean if there's a criminal who commits

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an act I think we should spend more time

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on the victim and their circumstances

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rather than the perpetrator yeah I agree

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100% I mean a lot of this is ultimately

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sort of a breakdown in both state

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capacity and media capacity I think

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there's sort of epistemic capture at the

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med level where you know things that do

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not match the dominant current thing

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narrative are squelched and one of the

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reasons why I'm excited to sort of

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showcase you on my YouTube channel is

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hearing recently that troubled actually

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hit all of the metrics necessary to be

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on the New York Times bestseller list

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probably by a wide margin and and yet

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you know what's going on

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there yeah that's a good question we are

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you know we're investigating that so

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last year you know my agent and you know

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the team from my my publisher we all sat

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down and thought about doing a kind of a

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mini book tour kind of go to some

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bookstores do some signings maybe do uh

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talks and none of the bookstores we

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reached out to and reached out to a lot

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uh were willing to host me and then um

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more recently the book's been out now

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for a little over a week and it sold

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extremely well it hit the USA Today

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bestseller list and it was number one on

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a bunch of categories on Amazon it was

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number one this week on Bookshop uh this

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sort of aggregate sort of independent

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book seller list so it's doing very well

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you know my my publisher contacted me

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saying yeah we should have hit the New

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York Times bestseller list but somehow

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we didn't and they're inquiring and

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we're trying to get to the bottom of why

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this oversight if it is an oversight

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occurred but you know it's it's possible

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just like with the bookstores being

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unwilling to host me for my tour this

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issue with the bestseller list may just

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be another example I think of the m of

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my book maybe unwelcome you know this

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idea of luxury beliefs of you know I

play26:32

describe kind of the hypocrisy and the

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duplicity of people who are at or near

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the top of society who wield the most

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cultural and political influence who

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kind of do the most in terms of shaping

play26:44

the discourse and raising the issues

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that we as a society should be caring

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about and what goals we should be

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aspiring to and I challenge some of

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their perspectives like you and I have

play26:55

been talking about defund the police but

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I talk about other issues around family

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and about other kinds of issues that are

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plaguing marginalized and dispossessed

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communities across the US and I think

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they're just the people who get wind of

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my book and the message and you know

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they're not you know 100% supportive of

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the things I'm I'm I'm communicating

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which I think is you know it's a shame

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it's a shame that this is the book I

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think should be uncontroversial but

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somehow it is uh seen by some as

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provocative the people who need to hear

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it the most are the ones who might be

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most resistant to the message and then

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one of the reasons why it really

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resonated with me is that I've seen it

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firsthand as a resident of San Francisco

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you know one of the more shocking things

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for me growing up in the Bay Area was

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hearing that if you live in San

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Francisco and you have children who are

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in junior high school and you can't

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afford very very expensive private

play27:50

schools s you know San Francisco is has

play27:52

some of the highest rates of the elites

play27:54

sending their children to private school

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basically like if you can you do in San

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Francisco if that were expanded over all

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of America like that wouldn't be a good

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thing like I deeply believe that my

play28:05

public school education helped me a lot

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part of the reason why I was able to get

play28:09

into Stanford and study computer science

play28:11

was being able to take algebra in

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seventh and eth grade and here in San

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Francisco you cannot take it until n9th

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grade and the argument was that it would

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help black and brown kids with equity

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and you know the result was exactly the

play28:26

opposite of that that that it hurt

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everyone at every level it watered down

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the schools it reduced State capacity it

play28:35

was an abdication of Duty to the people

play28:38

which you could argue is the same thing

play28:40

that we saw around a breakdown in the

play28:43

criminal justice system one thing that

play28:45

you talk a lot about is you know

play28:47

standardized tests actually really help

play28:49

testing and good education merit-based

play28:52

schools these are things that clearly

play28:54

allow people from non-traditional

play28:57

backgrounds get a leg up and yet why are

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these things being sort of torn down

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it's yeah it's it's ridiculous I've

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written multiple pieces in defense of

play29:08

standardized testing most recently I

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wrote an opit in the Boston Globe you

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know both drawing on the data uh which

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are crystal clear that standardized

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testing is beneficial especially for

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low-income kids and kids from

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underrepresented groups you know and

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then I also draw my own personal

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experience with with testing I mean I

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was kind of a my own academic record was

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very kind of unstable I graduated high

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school kind of barely crossed the Finish

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Line with a 2.2 GPA and I never really

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had this conception of myself as like a

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good student or smart or anything like

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that but I took the ASVAB the armed

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services vocational aptitude battery

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which is a military standardized test

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and there there been a lot of

play29:45

interesting research on that test and

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it's highly correlated with SAT scores

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with cognitive ability all these kinds

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of things and I took this test and did

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really well on it and that was the first

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time that I realized you know my my

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recruiter minor Force recruiter showed

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me how to convert those scores into sat

play30:01

results and he was like yeah this is

play30:03

really good score and then later when I

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was applying to college you know people

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ask me like how did you get into a with

play30:08

a 2.2 GPA in high school and one reason

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was because I took the SAT uh later and

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I got a really good score and I I had

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taken some night classes at a community

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college and kind of did some other

play30:19

things too to kind of you know bolster

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my my application but uh the SAT score

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was really a thing that helped my

play30:26

application shine through and and let

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some of these colleges that I applied to

play30:30

uh yeah they were willing to take a risk

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on me despite my shoddy high school

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performance one of my favorite studies

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around this there was a study from 2016

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led by The Economist David

play30:40

card and he and his co-authors they ran

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this study some School District in

play30:46

Chicago where apparently the gifted

play30:48

program at this District initially the

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only way you could get into a gifted

play30:51

program as a kid is if you either had a

play30:54

a teacher recommendation it had to be

play30:56

parent and teacher recommendation so it

play30:58

was based on this kind of subjective

play31:00

decision uh by these adults and what

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David card and his co-authors did was

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essentially uh administer tests to all

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of these kids standardized tests to

play31:08

every kid in the school district and

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this actually increased the number of

play31:13

Black and Hispanic and low-income

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kidsing uh to qualify for this gifted

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program essentially these kids were

play31:19

being overlooked and they deserve this

play31:21

gifted status but because of you know

play31:23

whatever personal bias or misconceptions

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about what a gifted child is supposed to

play31:27

to look like these kids were being

play31:29

overlooked by teachers by parents by

play31:30

everyone else I mean part of it is that

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if you're a parent and you're you know

play31:35

you're you're you're not aware of like

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how the system works or maybe you're not

play31:37

even familiar with gifted programs even

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if you have a smart kid it may not even

play31:41

occur to you to tell the teacher hey I

play31:43

think my kid is smart should we get them

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into a gifted program but if every kid

play31:47

is required to take a test and

play31:49

automatically if you score above a

play31:50

certain cuto you're just automatically

play31:52

enrolled you can get a lot more kids who

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ordinarily wouldn't go to these programs

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and I just think yeah this is like the

play31:59

test revealed something about these kids

play32:02

that you you know that that uh personal

play32:04

subjective evaluations alone can't uh

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can't necessarily do yeah I mean I think

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it's very interesting to watch people

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talk about Merit as a racist idea it's

play32:16

very upsetting actually to see that sort

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of invective being used against these

play32:21

Concepts that actually really really

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help people get ahead in society and

play32:27

it's sort of like

play32:28

believing that you can ban and destroy

play32:31

all thermometers and no children will

play32:33

ever have a fever ever again it's like

play32:36

that's not how it works like the

play32:39

underlying construct still exists right

play32:41

like the thing that you care about and

play32:44

that predicts success academically and

play32:47

professionally and everywhere else even

play32:49

if you don't test it it's still going to

play32:50

shine through and actually if you don't

play32:52

teach kids to read and you don't teach

play32:53

kids basic numeracy and all of the kind

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of skills that you should equip them

play32:57

with then they're they're going to fall

play32:59

even further behind I mean we've seen

play33:00

this over the last few years with

play33:02

whatever woke kindergarten and shutting

play33:04

down the schools and you know I I

play33:07

remember there was the story of back in

play33:09

LA county uh where I grew up at least

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for part of my childhood where you know

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the school district just decided to give

play33:16

10,000 iPads to the kids and didn't

play33:20

really monitor how closely these kids

play33:22

were using these tablets to do well in

play33:25

school they were supposed to improve

play33:26

learning outcomes but instead these kids

play33:28

were just playing games and it kind of

play33:30

allowed the teachers to take this

play33:31

hands-off approach of oh go on the iPad

play33:33

and do XYZ and instead the kids would

play33:35

just play games and you know that

play33:37

probably made someone feel good about

play33:39

themselves that they were doing

play33:40

something but in the end it just ended

play33:42

up backfiring and you know like a lot of

play33:44

these policies are backfiring that we

play33:47

you know I think a lot of these people

play33:48

have good intentions and they want to

play33:49

help these kids but unfortunately like

play33:52

what makes you feel good and what

play33:54

actually leads to improved outcomes for

play33:57

disadvantaged kids those aren't always

play33:58

the same thing and sometimes you have to

play34:00

feel you know this is something that i'

play34:02

I've started to learn through speaking

play34:04

with teachers at charter schools and

play34:06

parents and people who like a little bit

play34:09

of tough love can be okay sometimes that

play34:10

even if a kid in the moment doesn't like

play34:12

you if you're telling them to do their

play34:14

homework or you're telling them they

play34:15

need to study or hit the books or

play34:17

whatever it happens to be that even if

play34:19

in the moment they're mad at you and you

play34:22

feel bad and all those things like in

play34:24

the end in the long term this is good

play34:25

for them right like it's good to learn

play34:27

to read it's good to learn to do math

play34:29

and learn basic science and all those

play34:30

things even if in the moment the kid is

play34:32

upset with you and you'd much rather

play34:33

just hand them an iPad and mentally

play34:36

clock out but that doesn't help them

play34:38

yeah I've often thought about that

play34:40

phenomenon as um everyone could use a

play34:42

little bit of an Asian parent maybe not

play34:44

all the way maybe not the extreme that I

play34:46

got but just a little bit just a little

play34:48

encouragement a little bit of negative

play34:50

motivation around you know oh you didn't

play34:53

make it there like a little bit of Shame

play34:55

not a lot of Shame not like traumatic

play34:57

level of shame but a little bit like

play34:59

just enough and a little bit goes a long

play35:02

way on a lot of that stuff which is kind

play35:03

of funny yeah I think yeah just like a

play35:05

little bit of tiger parenting a little

play35:07

bit of standards and expectations and

play35:10

discipline and yeah you don't have to go

play35:12

overboard with it but it's you know

play35:14

having a little bit of that is much

play35:15

better than just you know doing what

play35:17

feels good and neglecting your

play35:20

responsibilities to the kids for how are

play35:22

they going to succeed in the world I

play35:24

mean I had a lot of that kind of neglect

play35:26

when I was a kid of I had to teach

play35:27

myself how to read like once I learned

play35:29

how important reading was I started to

play35:31

do it but you know I there was this

play35:34

story I tell in the book about how you

play35:35

know I was in second grade I didn't know

play35:37

how to read and the teacher asked me

play35:38

what I wanted to be when I grew up and I

play35:40

said I wanted to be a scientist and

play35:42

she's like if you want to be a scientist

play35:43

you have to learn to read and but I I

play35:45

also thought like what else could I do

play35:46

that doesn't require reading and then I

play35:49

learned actually every job requires

play35:51

reading essentially and more and more

play35:53

now right like you have to have some

play35:55

basic level of competence to do

play35:57

basically any job in the modern economy

play35:59

but at that time I I was just a kid kind

play36:02

of lost and uh and gradually taught

play36:03

myself but that was just you know a

play36:05

bunch of adults abdicating their

play36:07

responsibilities and that's not a great

play36:09

thing to do we need we need to be

play36:10

focusing more on how to how to help more

play36:12

kids and you know even if not every kid

play36:14

does go off to attend some expensive

play36:17

Elite University that having basic

play36:20

skills that's uh that's critical you

play36:22

know it's important I think that that is

play36:24

one of the scarier things that you know

play36:26

I've come to realize over the course of

play36:28

years even going to Stanford I didn't

play36:30

really realize to what degree how much

play36:32

of an advantage that was and then now of

play36:34

course I'm like oh I got to work at a

play36:37

Peter heel startup very early it was a

play36:40

lot easier to raise money there's all

play36:42

these biases about the elite sort of

play36:44

helps its own and being able to join the

play36:47

elite was a big deal and then of course

play36:49

that feeds into the staus anxiety that

play36:52

the elite feels for its own children and

play36:55

then somewhere along the way that status

play36:57

anxiety became toxic you know we somehow

play37:01

disconnected the things that result in

play37:04

good outcomes and we sort of like

play37:06

covered it in ideology when did that

play37:08

happen like I just don't I I feel like

play37:10

that wasn't a thing when we were young

play37:13

and when we were children and when we

play37:15

were teenagers and then at some point in

play37:17

the last 20 to 30 years there was sort

play37:20

of a merging of specifically race-based

play37:24

ideology and what really should be is a

play37:27

system that serves the people and has

play37:29

good outcomes and not only that the

play37:31

recurring thing here is that if you

play37:34

point out that there's a disconnect from

play37:37

the outcomes you are attacked for

play37:39

lacking the correct

play37:41

ideology yeah I mean it's interesting

play37:43

that timeline you mentioned the 20 to 30

play37:45

years I mean

play37:46

the like some version of meritocracy it

play37:49

hasn't been perfect but it was kind of

play37:51

it started in the 1960s with the SAT

play37:54

where prior to the SAT and and sort of

play37:57

widescale adoption of standardized

play37:59

testing the elite schools it was

play38:01

essentially you know this gentleman's

play38:03

agreement that as long as you came from

play38:04

the right wasp family or the right you

play38:07

know whatever like you were a man of

play38:08

character that you were able to go to

play38:11

places like Harvard and Stanford and

play38:12

Yale and uh and then yeah starting the

play38:14

1960s it was more about sort of

play38:16

merit-based uh admissions but I I do

play38:19

wonder if once those people started to

play38:22

have children I think meritocracy in

play38:24

general and I know we don't have a

play38:25

perfect meritocracy but we have as close

play38:28

as any society has to like achieving it

play38:32

and because it's uncomfortable and

play38:34

because you know if you've made it in

play38:36

that kind of system but you have kids

play38:37

and you're worried about their future it

play38:39

can be useful I think to adopt fuzzier

play38:42

standards for admission and to expunge

play38:47

the SAT and instead rely more on

play38:50

recommendations and grades and

play38:52

extracurriculars and if you have the

play38:53

resources to send your kid to some

play38:55

foreign country and have an adventure

play38:56

that they can write about in their

play38:57

personal statement so it does seem like

play39:00

there's this kind of alliance between

play39:02

you know very wealthy families and then

play39:05

they're using the kind of they they're

play39:07

they're sort of disguising their

play39:07

self-interest in the language and the

play39:09

ideology of our time around social

play39:11

justice and identity politics and they

play39:13

get to feel good about themselves while

play39:14

simultaneously kind of giving their own

play39:16

kids a leg up I mean I just saw this

play39:19

article in New York Magazine that kids

play39:21

from the top 1% of the income scale

play39:23

applicants College applicants from the

play39:25

top 1% of the income scale are 3 4% more

play39:28

likely to be admitted to an elite

play39:29

University than an average applicant

play39:32

with the same test score that Advantage

play39:33

is built in and it's only going to

play39:35

magnify if the test is eliminated I mean

play39:38

the test is imperfect and so on but

play39:41

without it the disparities grow even

play39:44

larger so yeah I think that the status

play39:46

anxiety is interesting too I mean I I

play39:48

saw that you know I had this perspective

play39:50

you know I set foot on campus at Yale

play39:53

after the foster homes and the military

play39:55

and all you know this kind of unusual

play39:56

background

play39:57

and I remember thinking like wow I have

play39:59

it made I can't believe I'm at Yale like

play40:01

I can't believe I'm at college first of

play40:02

all just like the fact that you know I'm

play40:04

actually studying at a university but

play40:06

then it's Yale no one goes to a place

play40:08

like this and then ends up you know

play40:10

unable to pay their bills or living on

play40:12

the streets like I know that my future

play40:14

by this point is as secure as it had

play40:15

ever been And yet when I would speak

play40:17

with the other students or with you know

play40:19

recent graduates or you know the law

play40:22

school student like you know basically

play40:24

anyone with an affiliation professors

play40:26

too honestly there was this underlying

play40:28

feeling of like this constant you know

play40:31

whatever Rat Race like running in that

play40:33

hamster wheel of I'm not doing enough

play40:35

you know there's that next Milestone

play40:36

that next accomplishment that next thing

play40:38

I need to do without any moment of just

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sort of stepping back and saying wow I'm

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like I'm here and I'm okay and I've you

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know sort of entered these uh IV walls

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and this special place but it wasn't

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like that it was more so it was the most

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status anxiety i' ever seen before and I

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saw this study I've seen two studies

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sense that on the same issue that people

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who are at or near the top in terms of

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socioeconomic status and wealth they

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report the highest levels of Need for

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status and wealth in other words these

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studies and these researchers collected

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objective measures of wealth and status

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on the participants levels of income

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education occupational Prestige and

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found that people who are at or near the

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top on those metrics were the most

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likely to agree with statements like uh

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it would please me to be in a position

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of power over others I enjoy having

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influence over those around me uh you

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know I enjoy being recognized when I

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walk into a room like those kinds of

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things that it's actually people who are

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doing very well objectively speaking who

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also have this longing this this desire

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for distinction and once I read those

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studies I'm like yeah that that makes

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sense there's something there that sort

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of clicked into place for me what's the

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path out of this are we getting better

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is the discourse sort of turning you

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know what's your feeling as of right now

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I'm sure you're familiar and a lot of

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your listeners you people have been

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talking about a Vibe shift or we've

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reached Peak woke or you know various

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there variations of those ideas I think

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that's probably right that where things

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seem to slowly you know we always

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overcorrect we can never just have a

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nuanced and moderate response to

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anything it seem seems like we always

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have to swing back and forth and I'm

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hoping we are sort of gradually coming

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to our senses I hope we don't

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overcorrect too far the other direction

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but the very least kind of Step Back

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From Where we've been over the last few

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years but uh I think it takes it takes

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conversations like this I think it takes

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more you know and and I hope I

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communicate this message at least in an

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implicit way in my book that part of the

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way we kind of overcome this

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self-censorship this you know new wave

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of political correctness or whatever you

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want to call it that it just takes more

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people with influence kind of speaking

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out and being open and being honest and

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conversations like this right of people

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who have some kind of platform to just

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kind of call out nonsense that actually

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you know it's good for kids to learn

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it's you know it's not it's not a great

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idea to dismantle law enforcement or

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what have you just very kind of Common

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Sense ideas but there was a period in

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2020 and 2021 where a lot of people

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abdicated their responsibility to tell

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the truth despite their wide platform

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and large audience that they just kind

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of went along and were afraid for

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reputational reasons and on some level I

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understood that I saw people lose their

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jobs you know in Academia especially I

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mean I was in the middle of my PhD

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program and I was seeing a lot of the

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behind the scenes people getting

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pressured to resign or outright fired I

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just think yeah could have this kind of

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Return of I to say this term no bless

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obl of just if you've been endowed with

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certain advantages and privileges in

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your life uh which I have undoubtedly

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that uh yeah there's some duty to to

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speak out a bit and to call out

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misguided decision-making when you see

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it that sounds like you know maybe one

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of the themes of the book in some ways

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that it's not just that the elites don't

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see this side of society it's actually

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that the

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elites should see it and sort of

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actually have a duty to steer Society to

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create State capacity that creates good

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outcomes the interesting thing is like

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you know I'm still a moderate classic

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liberal in that I actually really deeply

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believe that Society does have a duty to

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all its citizens like I mean it's I

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don't think that that's that

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revolutionary you know we want to a

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government that actually works we want

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schools that work we want life liberty

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in the pursuit of Happy

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and then that doesn't come for free and

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we've got to fight for it yeah it's

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funny like every this is something I've

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only just now realized or you know sort

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of adopted this view that you know I

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used to think it was ridiculous like you

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know again I've been in kind of higher

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ed in these Elite universities the last

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few years and I used to think it was

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ridiculous all the debates about

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academic freedom freedom of expression

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you know the pursuit of Truth all of

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this and like why is this a debate of

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course we should have the these things

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like how is this an argument in the

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first place that we need to have but

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gradually I'm realizing that it's not I

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don't think it comes naturally you know

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if you look at history freedom of speech

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is like a very novel and strange

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peculiar idea that it's only recently

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taken hold in kind of the post

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Enlightenment era and only in a select

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few societies and it doesn't come

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naturally I think and so it's like a tax

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you have to pay to live in a free

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society that you constantly have to

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battle for it because there will always

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be reasons to curtail people's freedoms

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right and so you constantly have to take

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some time aside and actually speak your

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mind or whatever it is sign petition or

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show support and solidarity for someone

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who may be undergoing the slings and

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arrows of some cancel culture mob or

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whatever it is like I think of it as

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like a social tax or something that uh

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you just have to undergo it and and

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realize yeah that um as absurd as some

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of the arguments are they're actually

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not atypical historically speaking that

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that kind of We're the weird one for

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believing in in all the you know the

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life liberty and pursuit of happiness

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and all that stuff like we're the kind

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of atypical ones for supporting it in in

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the scheme of things so that's kind of

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how I've been thinking about it at least

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in the last year or so and it's been

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helping me to understand what's been

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happening well we're going to keep

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fighting Rob thank you so much for this

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book everyone who's watching right now

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go to Amazon your links in the

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description to uh Rob's website I think

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it's even a little bit better if you buy

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it from buy it direct is that right or I

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think yeah if you go to like the Simon

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and chuster website or buy it from um

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Bookshop or something or or you know

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even better like a brick and morar

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bookstore but uh you know however you

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get your books as long as you get it

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that sounds right so Rob thanks a lot

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for coming on and sharing your wisdom

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with us and uh we'll catch you on

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Twitter thanks Gary this has been

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[Music]

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great

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[Music]

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