Real Coffee with Scott Adams - Episode 1231 Scott Adams： Merry Christmas and Pass the Pork. Trust Science and Pretend the Republic Still Exists

00:00:00.000 I'm dreaming of a whiteboard Christmas.

00:00:10.560 Yep, that's why I'm a cartoonist and not a famous singer.

00:00:15.460 Because you wouldn't want to hear any more of that, let me tell you.

00:00:18.820 Merry Christmas. Merry, Merry Christmas. Ho, ho, ho, ho.

00:00:23.320 How's everybody doing?

00:00:25.300 It's an awesome day today.

00:00:26.960 And if you would like to participate in the very special Christmas version,

00:00:34.700 all you need is a cup or mug or glass, a tank or chalice or stein, a canteen jug or flask, a vessel of any kind.

00:00:41.240 Today only, you can fill it with hot chocolate or eggnog.

00:00:45.900 But use your favorite beverage.

00:00:49.140 I still like coffee.

00:00:51.420 And join me now for the unparalleled pleasure, the dopamine hit of the day,

00:00:56.160 the holiday sensation.

00:00:58.340 It's called the Simultaneous Sip, and it happens now.

00:01:01.320 Go.

00:01:05.620 Ah.

00:01:08.600 Did you hear angels singing?

00:01:12.840 I feel like...

00:01:15.000 Try that again. Hold on.

00:01:16.700 Try it again.

00:01:17.600 One more sip.

00:01:18.240 Ah.

00:01:18.280 Yeah, I think I heard it.

00:01:28.960 Angels sing every time you take a sip.

00:01:31.780 Amazing, really.

00:01:33.600 Well, we got news today.

00:01:35.980 Joe Biden, he's got a new saying, which he broke out at one of his events,

00:01:43.180 in which a journalist shouted a question, and Joe Biden said, and I quote,

00:01:50.460 you're a one-horse pony.

00:01:53.080 So that's going to be my new catchphrase.

00:01:56.060 Oh, yeah?

00:01:57.140 Well, you're a one-horse pony.

00:02:00.820 So that's the leader of the free world.

00:02:03.840 You're a one-horse pony.

00:02:05.960 Nothing to worry about.

00:02:07.020 Well, I wouldn't be worried about that at all.

00:02:11.080 Shall we go to the whiteboard?

00:02:13.520 Would you like to go right to it?

00:02:15.380 I know that's why you're here.

00:02:17.140 Come on.

00:02:18.180 You didn't come here for me.

00:02:19.240 You came here for the whiteboard.

00:02:20.620 Just admit it.

00:02:21.820 I think I can handle it.

00:02:23.600 Well, I was listening to a YouTube video from...

00:02:27.780 in which Phil Kline, a former Arkansas AG,

00:02:31.740 was talking about the election.

00:02:32.760 And he explained the election in a way that I thought

00:02:37.760 I would like to, let's say, find some inspiration from it

00:02:43.020 and put my own spin on it.

00:02:45.700 Okay?

00:02:46.840 By the way, those of you who are asking,

00:02:49.380 yes, I do still have my wedding ring.

00:02:52.940 I take it off to work because it's sort of bulky,

00:02:55.940 and when I type, it sort of moves my fingers in the wrong direction.

00:02:59.080 But, let us go to the whiteboard.

00:03:04.160 Let me tell you what kind of a system we have here

00:03:06.960 in these United States.

00:03:09.800 Some of this might apply to you, non-United States people.

00:03:14.460 So, apparently I don't know how to spell the word democracy,

00:03:21.360 but if you could pretend that I had spelled that correctly,

00:03:25.140 it would be a much better presentation.

00:03:27.180 Watch me write it with my left hand,

00:03:29.940 because if I use my right hand, I'm going to rip my microphone out.

00:03:33.860 All right.

00:03:36.300 Damn it.

00:03:37.560 It's all falling apart.

00:03:39.020 It's all falling apart.

00:03:42.020 Democracy.

00:03:46.580 Left-handed writing.

00:03:47.880 Come on.

00:03:48.320 It's the best I can do.

00:03:50.160 So, if you ask people in these United States,

00:03:53.000 you walked up to an average citizen,

00:03:54.540 and you said, hey, average citizen.

00:03:56.200 And that citizen would say back to you,

00:03:58.700 why are you calling me average?

00:04:00.720 And you say, it doesn't matter.

00:04:02.720 This is just a story.

00:04:04.300 You're not even real.

00:04:05.680 And then the guy says, okay, what's your question?

00:04:08.400 You say, well, average citizen,

00:04:10.400 what kind of a political system do you live in in the United States?

00:04:13.920 And that person would say,

00:04:15.880 a democracy.

00:04:17.740 Well, of course, you're all smart enough to know

00:04:20.360 it's not exactly a democracy,

00:04:22.820 because we have a republic,

00:04:24.600 meaning we elect representatives to make decisions for us.

00:04:28.380 So, really, we're one level away from a pure democracy.

00:04:33.660 But our democracy, our republic,

00:04:35.920 is determined by the electoral college vote,

00:04:38.260 not a direct vote.

00:04:40.360 So, the vote goes to the electoral college.

00:04:43.060 But the vote isn't really in our current system.

00:04:47.720 It's not really about all of the votes.

00:04:50.820 If you're in California,

00:04:53.060 your vote may not matter that much.

00:04:56.380 But if you're in a swing state,

00:04:58.140 it probably matters a lot.

00:04:59.940 So, it's really about the swing state votes.

00:05:02.160 They're the only ones that end up making a difference.

00:05:04.040 And, of course, the swing state votes

00:05:06.940 are mostly driven by voter turnout.

00:05:11.260 It's not driven by policies or politics, per se.

00:05:17.080 I mean, those are all part of the mix.

00:05:19.280 But it's really driven by turnout.

00:05:21.180 How many people physically vote.

00:05:24.020 And turnout, it turns out, at least this year,

00:05:27.220 was determined by rules changes.

00:05:30.420 So, there were a whole bunch of rule changes

00:05:33.320 about who can vote, where the ballot boxes are,

00:05:36.780 satellite voting stations that had different rules

00:05:39.380 than regular voting stations,

00:05:41.460 deadlines about, you know,

00:05:43.180 when the votes could be counted,

00:05:45.260 ballot boxes, where they could be placed,

00:05:47.500 how people can observe.

00:05:49.500 All of those things were the subject

00:05:52.260 of a bunch of rules changes,

00:05:54.680 which everybody who looks into it,

00:05:56.740 I think, would agree,

00:05:58.160 drove turnout,

00:05:59.380 which drove the swing state votes,

00:06:01.260 which caused the electoral college

00:06:02.660 to go the way it did,

00:06:04.000 which caused our republic

00:06:05.120 to have a presumptive president-elect Biden.

00:06:11.880 But it turns out,

00:06:12.920 I didn't know about this part.

00:06:14.320 This is the part that Phil Kline filled in for me.

00:06:17.300 I didn't realize that Zuckerberg

00:06:18.680 had donated over $400 million

00:06:21.440 to a number of, you know,

00:06:24.400 non-profit entities

00:06:25.460 who were behind the voting rule changes.

00:06:28.180 Did you know this?

00:06:31.380 I found this out this morning.

00:06:34.080 Now, I knew all of the parts,

00:06:37.180 but I didn't see them pulled together

00:06:39.100 until just this morning.

00:06:41.040 So I knew that Zuckerberg

00:06:42.660 had donated a bunch of money

00:06:44.080 and it had something to do with,

00:06:45.480 you know, election integrity.

00:06:47.640 And of course, I knew all these other parts,

00:06:49.980 but I didn't quite know

00:06:51.420 that the only thing

00:06:53.420 that caused the rules changes

00:06:55.020 was Zuckerberg and his money.

00:06:58.640 And the only thing

00:06:59.700 that caused the turnout,

00:07:01.680 the way it was,

00:07:03.640 was the voting rule changes.

00:07:05.760 In other words,

00:07:06.500 turnout includes mischief, right?

00:07:10.200 Because it's the number of votes that matter

00:07:12.560 and some of that might be mischief.

00:07:14.660 We don't know if it's a trivial amount.

00:07:17.100 We don't know if it's a big amount.

00:07:18.620 But we know that turnout

00:07:19.700 was driven by things like that

00:07:21.860 and targeting certain inner-city voters, etc.

00:07:25.480 So a lot of it,

00:07:26.720 a lot of the turnout

00:07:27.680 wasn't just rules changes.

00:07:29.880 This was a very big part of it.

00:07:31.720 But it wasn't all of it.

00:07:32.960 Some of it was just this money

00:07:34.200 went toward getting the turnout

00:07:36.220 and did a good job.

00:07:38.560 Now,

00:07:40.020 as some smart people said to me

00:07:43.160 when I said something like this on Twitter,

00:07:46.220 they said,

00:07:47.680 well, what about 2016?

00:07:49.020 You know, really?

00:07:51.720 2016 was a turnout election.

00:07:55.000 The only reason that Trump won

00:07:56.920 is he got this turnout right.

00:07:59.580 And the only reason he got the turnout right was

00:08:02.300 probably the way he campaigned,

00:08:06.160 maybe the way they directed their advertisement,

00:08:10.260 perhaps had something to do with better data.

00:08:15.260 Where do you see anywhere on here

00:08:17.300 the will of the people?

00:08:19.560 Right?

00:08:20.000 So I'm not saying that

00:08:21.140 I'm not saying that the Trump election

00:08:23.560 was good, bad, legitimate, illegitimate,

00:08:26.380 or anything else.

00:08:27.780 I'm just saying that he was also

00:08:29.780 part of a similar system

00:08:32.280 in which we are

00:08:33.180 six to seven layers away from a democracy.

00:08:37.520 We are six to seven layers

00:08:39.840 away from a democracy.

00:08:41.320 We're not even in the ballpark

00:08:42.700 of being a democracy

00:08:44.700 or a republic.

00:08:47.400 You know, on paper we are.

00:08:48.560 But in reality,

00:08:50.140 our election is really driven by,

00:08:51.960 say, a Zuckerberg

00:08:53.840 or a billionaire, etc.

00:08:55.540 Now,

00:08:56.660 that's what the political system

00:08:59.080 looks like.

00:09:00.220 But should we worry about

00:09:02.140 the political system at all?

00:09:04.780 Because if you think about it,

00:09:06.360 our politics should be

00:09:08.560 driven by experts.

00:09:10.980 So our politicians

00:09:13.100 shouldn't be just independently

00:09:14.860 making decisions

00:09:16.020 without consulting people.

00:09:18.160 And a lot of our decisions

00:09:19.100 are based on economics

00:09:20.220 and based on science.

00:09:23.460 So it shouldn't matter too much

00:09:25.920 what kind of system

00:09:28.040 gets you to your elected leaders

00:09:30.360 so long as

00:09:32.100 those elected leaders

00:09:33.820 are transparently following science.

00:09:37.240 Wouldn't you agree?

00:09:38.820 Would it matter if you had a Democrat

00:09:40.320 who followed the science

00:09:41.600 or a Republican

00:09:42.380 who followed the science?

00:09:43.600 As long as it was the same science,

00:09:45.700 they'd have the same decisions.

00:09:47.260 Same with economics.

00:09:49.060 If they followed the experts,

00:09:50.640 wouldn't it be kind of similar?

00:09:53.000 No.

00:09:54.380 No.

00:09:55.440 Of course not.

00:09:58.440 No.

00:09:59.460 Here's why.

00:10:01.920 Let's say you wanted

00:10:03.020 to trust the science.

00:10:05.220 Everybody tells you

00:10:06.140 you should trust the science, right?

00:10:07.440 But how do you trust the science?

00:10:09.760 You didn't do any science.

00:10:11.240 How much science

00:10:11.960 did you do this year?

00:10:13.420 Do you remember that

00:10:14.300 randomized control study

00:10:16.180 you set up

00:10:16.900 and operated on your own?

00:10:19.020 No.

00:10:20.040 I didn't do any science this year.

00:10:21.980 You didn't do any science.

00:10:22.980 I didn't even directly observe any.

00:10:25.040 Did you watch any science experiments

00:10:27.220 being conducted?

00:10:28.900 I didn't.

00:10:30.140 I've never seen any science.

00:10:32.120 Indeed, I would say

00:10:33.160 I've never seen science in my life.

00:10:35.020 Except maybe, you know,

00:10:37.100 in a science class in school

00:10:38.720 or something.

00:10:40.160 No.

00:10:40.480 What we see

00:10:41.180 is what these scientists

00:10:42.740 tell us

00:10:44.600 happened

00:10:45.760 when they were doing science.

00:10:47.500 So here's your problem.

00:10:49.600 Scientists are,

00:10:50.560 and a lot of you don't know this,

00:10:51.960 but they're actually human beings.

00:10:54.320 And human beings

00:10:55.380 are...

00:10:57.600 Okay.

00:10:57.960 Here's a little quiz.

00:10:59.640 Fill in the blank.

00:11:01.880 Human beings are,

00:11:03.240 and your two choices are,

00:11:04.940 A,

00:11:05.600 reliable,

00:11:07.220 or B,

00:11:09.300 unreliable.

00:11:11.340 Right?

00:11:11.820 There's your test.

00:11:13.020 Human beings are

00:11:14.260 reliable,

00:11:16.780 or B,

00:11:18.160 unreliable.

00:11:19.960 Yeah,

00:11:20.320 most of you got the right answer.

00:11:21.960 That's right.

00:11:22.840 They're unreliable.

00:11:24.880 Because they have biases,

00:11:26.540 they can be bribed,

00:11:27.620 they might be paid by somebody,

00:11:29.080 they could just be wrong.

00:11:30.800 Right?

00:11:31.700 So,

00:11:32.700 trust science,

00:11:34.640 except that the only view

00:11:36.140 that we're getting of science

00:11:37.560 are from the scientists,

00:11:39.580 and they're unreliable.

00:11:43.100 That's kind of bad,

00:11:45.100 but it's worse than that,

00:11:47.380 because I don't usually hear

00:11:49.060 from the scientists.

00:11:50.800 I hear from the journalists

00:11:52.440 who talk to the scientists.

00:11:55.740 Now, remember,

00:11:56.240 the scientists are unreliable.

00:11:58.900 Because why?

00:12:00.340 Because why?

00:12:01.000 Does anybody remember?

00:12:02.560 Why are these scientists

00:12:03.800 unreliable?

00:12:05.480 That's right.

00:12:06.100 They're humans.

00:12:07.280 They're human beings.

00:12:08.540 And human beings,

00:12:09.660 all of them,

00:12:10.900 are unreliable.

00:12:12.780 Now,

00:12:13.400 what happens if you take

00:12:14.380 an unreliable scientist,

00:12:16.600 and he tells his story

00:12:17.620 to an unreliable journalist

00:12:19.520 who,

00:12:20.320 and again,

00:12:21.120 a lot of you don't know this,

00:12:22.240 but journalists,

00:12:24.120 human beings.

00:12:25.360 Yeah.

00:12:25.680 It doesn't look like it sometimes.

00:12:27.860 Lots of times you'll look

00:12:28.740 at journalists and pundits

00:12:29.940 and you'll say,

00:12:31.040 I don't think that's even human.

00:12:33.560 But they are,

00:12:34.480 surprisingly.

00:12:35.760 As far as I know,

00:12:36.940 every journalist

00:12:37.720 is actually a human being.

00:12:39.580 There are no demons

00:12:40.940 or monsters

00:12:41.720 or animals

00:12:42.720 who have ever done

00:12:44.040 this job successfully.

00:12:46.380 So human beings.

00:12:48.500 So now you're two levels

00:12:49.720 of absurdity

00:12:51.040 away from this thing

00:12:52.400 called science,

00:12:53.080 which is pretty good.

00:12:55.100 As a process,

00:12:56.800 as a system,

00:12:57.680 science is pretty good.

00:12:58.640 We all like it.

00:13:00.400 Now,

00:13:01.140 the other part

00:13:02.000 that I didn't put here

00:13:02.880 is that

00:13:03.460 when you read

00:13:04.360 the journalists,

00:13:05.760 there's a third problem.

00:13:08.680 Right?

00:13:09.460 You've got this

00:13:10.440 unreliable human being

00:13:12.340 who happens to be

00:13:13.260 in the job of a scientist.

00:13:14.860 You've got this

00:13:15.540 unreliable human being

00:13:16.720 who's translating that.

00:13:19.080 So now it's been

00:13:19.760 translated twice.

00:13:21.480 Translated by a scientist,

00:13:22.700 translated by a journalist,

00:13:24.720 are we done?

00:13:26.500 No.

00:13:27.520 It gets worse

00:13:28.520 than you read it.

00:13:32.760 That's three humans

00:13:34.000 in this system so far.

00:13:36.080 How reliable are you

00:13:37.940 at reading things

00:13:40.140 and understanding them?

00:13:44.480 You know, right?

00:13:47.380 How many of you

00:13:49.660 are human beings?

00:13:51.320 Are there any human beings

00:13:52.640 watching this today?

00:13:54.860 Yeah.

00:13:55.440 Most of you.

00:13:56.480 Probably human.

00:13:57.740 If you're a human being,

00:13:59.200 are you

00:13:59.600 A,

00:14:00.820 reliable,

00:14:02.400 or B,

00:14:04.540 unreliable?

00:14:06.780 It's B.

00:14:07.820 It's B.

00:14:08.840 Even you.

00:14:10.760 Even me.

00:14:11.820 Have I ever read

00:14:14.020 something and

00:14:14.820 misinterpreted it?

00:14:16.900 Three times this morning

00:14:18.340 so far?

00:14:20.560 I feel like I'm

00:14:21.920 reasonably good

00:14:22.660 at interpreting things,

00:14:23.840 and I've already had

00:14:24.660 two or three

00:14:25.160 misinterpretations

00:14:26.220 this morning.

00:14:28.640 So,

00:14:29.640 trust the science

00:14:30.840 as described to you

00:14:32.760 by unreliable scientists,

00:14:34.680 as reported by

00:14:35.580 unreliable journalists,

00:14:37.200 as read and understood

00:14:38.320 by unreliable readers.

00:14:39.920 Are we good so far?

00:14:42.440 So far,

00:14:42.920 it's a pretty good system,

00:14:43.740 isn't it?

00:14:44.760 But,

00:14:45.700 do the journalists

00:14:46.840 tell you

00:14:47.940 their own opinion

00:14:49.240 of stories?

00:14:50.740 Well,

00:14:51.300 they can,

00:14:52.960 under the

00:14:53.520 special condition

00:14:54.760 that their own

00:14:56.240 opinion

00:14:56.680 of the story

00:14:58.120 matches their

00:15:00.040 corporate media

00:15:01.100 overlords.

00:15:02.480 Can a journalist

00:15:03.220 write a story

00:15:04.100 that their boss

00:15:05.780 would fire them for?

00:15:07.900 Well,

00:15:08.460 they can write it.

00:15:09.280 But they can't

00:15:10.500 get it published.

00:15:11.760 So,

00:15:12.400 it's really not

00:15:12.960 about the journalist

00:15:13.760 or the scientist

00:15:15.520 or the science.

00:15:17.360 It's really about

00:15:18.260 what the corporate

00:15:18.880 media will allow.

00:15:21.420 And who runs

00:15:22.440 the corporate media?

00:15:24.160 Oh,

00:15:24.440 look,

00:15:24.720 it's billionaires again.

00:15:26.460 It's billionaires again.

00:15:27.940 It's your

00:15:28.540 heads of the media.

00:15:30.420 And,

00:15:31.020 of course,

00:15:31.280 it's advertisers.

00:15:32.160 I'll just put

00:15:32.620 Big Pharma in there

00:15:33.600 as a representative

00:15:35.260 advertiser

00:15:36.060 for a lot of stuff.

00:15:37.780 So,

00:15:39.660 this is our system.

00:15:42.820 And what the Democrats

00:15:43.760 tell you every day

00:15:44.700 is that you should

00:15:45.340 trust science.

00:15:47.720 Trusting science

00:15:48.540 might be the dumbest

00:15:49.500 thing that's ever

00:15:50.980 been said.

00:15:52.240 You've never seen

00:15:53.060 science.

00:15:53.860 You've only seen

00:15:54.680 unreliable people

00:15:56.320 talk to other

00:15:57.020 unreliable people

00:15:58.080 that you've then

00:15:58.880 unreliably filtered

00:16:00.660 through your own brain.

00:16:02.200 And even that's

00:16:03.200 not anything

00:16:03.780 because it came

00:16:04.400 from the corporate

00:16:04.980 media,

00:16:05.340 so you don't

00:16:05.900 even see

00:16:06.220 the whole story.

00:16:08.320 Right?

00:16:08.920 So,

00:16:09.380 that's your system.

00:16:11.220 Let us review.

00:16:13.260 We've got a

00:16:14.040 political system

00:16:14.980 in which the

00:16:16.300 will of the people

00:16:16.960 is completely

00:16:18.080 irrelevant.

00:16:20.280 In this

00:16:20.940 particular example,

00:16:22.180 Zuckerberg

00:16:22.840 probably was

00:16:24.060 the only one

00:16:24.580 who voted

00:16:25.000 this year.

00:16:26.720 Let me say

00:16:27.380 that again.

00:16:28.500 In all likelihood,

00:16:30.260 from a practical

00:16:31.180 perspective,

00:16:31.840 the only person

00:16:33.760 who voted

00:16:34.100 this year

00:16:34.440 was Zuckerberg.

00:16:36.700 Let that sink

00:16:37.540 in.

00:16:38.400 I don't even

00:16:39.060 think that's

00:16:39.620 an exaggeration.

00:16:41.020 Is it?

00:16:41.960 Because if you

00:16:42.720 took him out

00:16:43.200 of the system,

00:16:44.280 you wouldn't

00:16:44.780 have had the

00:16:45.240 funding for

00:16:45.740 the rules

00:16:46.140 changes,

00:16:46.720 you wouldn't

00:16:46.960 have had the

00:16:47.360 turnout,

00:16:47.880 the swing

00:16:48.200 states,

00:16:48.680 the votes,

00:16:49.400 the whole

00:16:49.940 thing.

00:16:50.920 There was

00:16:51.200 only one

00:16:51.580 vote this

00:16:52.020 year.

00:16:53.640 The richest

00:16:54.380 guy in

00:16:54.800 America,

00:16:55.580 he voted

00:16:56.300 for you.

00:16:57.220 Now,

00:16:58.300 what do you

00:16:58.820 make of the

00:16:59.340 fact that,

00:17:00.340 in effect,

00:17:00.800 it's kind

00:17:03.800 of a

00:17:04.300 dictatorship,

00:17:06.100 right?

00:17:06.880 Because one

00:17:07.720 person voted

00:17:08.460 effectively.

00:17:11.020 Well,

00:17:12.320 there's a

00:17:12.840 really weird

00:17:13.400 red sky out

00:17:14.220 there.

00:17:14.420 That's scary

00:17:14.840 looking.

00:17:15.640 All right,

00:17:15.880 let's not

00:17:16.220 talk about

00:17:16.620 that yet.

00:17:20.120 Is that

00:17:20.760 bad?

00:17:22.120 You know,

00:17:22.640 what's interesting

00:17:23.180 about this is

00:17:23.900 I couldn't

00:17:24.300 decide how

00:17:25.040 much I

00:17:25.420 cared.

00:17:27.180 You know,

00:17:27.480 if you told

00:17:27.960 me generically,

00:17:29.100 hey,

00:17:30.000 you know,

00:17:30.360 a billionaire

00:17:30.820 is running

00:17:31.300 the country,

00:17:32.040 your republic

00:17:32.740 and your

00:17:33.280 democratic system

00:17:34.460 are all just

00:17:35.200 illusions.

00:17:36.140 If you told

00:17:36.820 me that

00:17:37.300 generically,

00:17:38.520 I'd say,

00:17:38.860 oh,

00:17:39.020 that's bad.

00:17:40.340 That's really

00:17:40.780 bad.

00:17:41.700 Because you

00:17:42.360 don't want a

00:17:42.800 billionaire,

00:17:43.860 like in

00:17:44.240 control of

00:17:44.840 everything.

00:17:45.920 But what if

00:17:46.660 the billionaire

00:17:47.140 happens to

00:17:47.880 be Mark

00:17:48.500 Zuckerberg?

00:17:49.940 You have a

00:17:50.780 specific

00:17:51.180 billionaire.

00:17:52.540 He's not

00:17:52.960 every billionaire,

00:17:53.820 he's just

00:17:54.140 Mark Zuckerberg.

00:17:56.160 Here's the

00:17:56.800 interesting thing

00:17:57.520 about that.

00:17:58.080 If the

00:17:59.160 country of

00:17:59.960 the United

00:18:00.400 States were

00:18:02.000 managed and

00:18:02.960 led as well

00:18:03.860 as Facebook,

00:18:05.520 would we be

00:18:06.180 better off or

00:18:06.860 worse off?

00:18:09.440 We'd be

00:18:10.100 better off.

00:18:11.620 I'm not saying

00:18:12.600 we should turn

00:18:14.060 over the country

00:18:14.780 to Mark

00:18:15.960 Zuckerberg.

00:18:17.460 That feels like

00:18:18.560 a little dangerous

00:18:19.220 idea, right?

00:18:19.940 So I'm not

00:18:20.360 advocating it.

00:18:22.200 But the truth

00:18:22.940 is, if you're

00:18:23.740 being a little

00:18:24.300 bit objective

00:18:25.800 about it,

00:18:26.840 if you had a

00:18:27.680 choice of two

00:18:28.500 systems, one,

00:18:30.580 our current

00:18:31.220 messy system

00:18:32.260 with God

00:18:33.420 knows what

00:18:33.880 flaws, or

00:18:35.420 you say,

00:18:36.620 just for a

00:18:37.160 while, maybe

00:18:38.160 not permanently,

00:18:39.620 but for a

00:18:40.140 while, Mark,

00:18:42.320 you're pretty

00:18:42.920 good at running

00:18:43.480 big organizations,

00:18:44.940 you're super

00:18:45.520 smart, I feel

00:18:47.200 as if you care

00:18:47.980 about the

00:18:48.380 country, could

00:18:49.960 you just run

00:18:50.520 it for a

00:18:50.860 while?

00:18:51.060 Well, what

00:18:54.240 would happen?

00:18:55.480 I don't know

00:18:56.280 that you'd get

00:18:56.760 a worse result.

00:18:57.980 So I'm not

00:18:58.540 sure that we

00:18:59.000 should panic

00:18:59.560 over any of

00:19:00.160 this, because

00:19:01.080 Mark Zuckerberg's

00:19:01.980 actually a

00:19:02.920 smart guy who

00:19:03.980 knows how to

00:19:04.480 get stuff done,

00:19:05.900 and I don't

00:19:06.480 think he has

00:19:07.060 bad intentions,

00:19:08.080 do you?

00:19:10.340 I see

00:19:11.320 somebody saying

00:19:12.180 in the comments,

00:19:12.820 I was expecting

00:19:13.500 this, China

00:19:14.400 owns Zuckerberg,

00:19:16.220 because China

00:19:16.840 might have

00:19:17.360 something to do

00:19:17.940 with their

00:19:18.360 fortunes, and

00:19:20.080 he's married to

00:19:20.840 a Chinese

00:19:21.400 American woman,

00:19:23.100 etc., blah, blah,

00:19:23.940 blah, but here's

00:19:24.680 what I think.

00:19:25.900 I don't think

00:19:26.620 China owns

00:19:27.720 Zuckerberg, he's

00:19:28.640 too rich, and

00:19:30.220 he's too smart.

00:19:31.740 I feel as if

00:19:32.760 they might try

00:19:33.320 to own him, I

00:19:34.660 just don't think

00:19:35.200 they can.

00:19:36.180 What are they

00:19:36.700 going to do

00:19:37.020 to him?

00:19:37.960 Cut his

00:19:38.460 fortune from a

00:19:40.040 gazillion dollars

00:19:40.920 to 90% of a

00:19:42.460 gazillion dollars?

00:19:43.500 I mean, what

00:19:44.500 exactly can

00:19:45.380 China even do

00:19:46.980 to Zuckerberg that

00:19:48.680 would make him

00:19:49.240 any less happy

00:19:49.960 than he is now?

00:19:50.600 Probably nothing.

00:19:51.780 He's actually

00:19:52.320 somewhat invulnerable

00:19:53.920 to everything,

00:19:56.240 relative to

00:19:57.160 everybody else

00:19:57.860 in the world.

00:19:58.780 Would you

00:19:59.080 rather have a

00:19:59.780 Joe Biden

00:20:00.400 in office,

00:20:01.380 running everything,

00:20:03.200 and whatever

00:20:03.900 influence China

00:20:04.920 has on Joe

00:20:05.600 Biden, or a

00:20:07.920 Mark Zuckerberg

00:20:08.660 running everything,

00:20:09.660 sort of a shadow

00:20:10.380 government situation,

00:20:12.140 but it's Zuckerberg,

00:20:13.160 and China's still

00:20:13.840 trying to, let's

00:20:14.560 say, influence him

00:20:15.680 because they would

00:20:16.280 influence everybody,

00:20:17.320 right?

00:20:17.480 China wouldn't

00:20:18.220 not try to

00:20:18.900 influence, so

00:20:20.080 whoever is in

00:20:20.740 charge, they're

00:20:21.200 going to try to

00:20:21.560 influence.

00:20:22.760 And I feel as if

00:20:24.600 Zuckerberg would

00:20:25.340 have way more

00:20:26.640 ability to resist

00:20:29.320 Chinese influence

00:20:30.520 than Biden would.

00:20:31.860 I don't think it

00:20:32.420 would be even close.

00:20:33.660 Do you?

00:20:34.760 I don't even think

00:20:35.720 you could say those

00:20:36.400 are in the same

00:20:36.980 neighborhood of being

00:20:38.360 a good idea.

00:20:39.580 I would much

00:20:40.740 rather take the

00:20:41.540 billionaire, put him

00:20:43.080 in office.

00:20:43.820 Now, the big

00:20:44.880 problem, of course,

00:20:45.640 is you don't want

00:20:46.260 one person having

00:20:47.120 that much power,

00:20:48.100 they become a

00:20:48.640 dictator, power

00:20:49.620 corrupts, etc.

00:20:52.760 I don't know.

00:20:54.840 It's not any worse

00:20:56.020 than our current

00:20:56.560 system.

00:20:57.480 I'm not recommending

00:20:58.660 it, but objectively,

00:21:00.300 it's hard to find

00:21:01.100 out what's wrong

00:21:01.640 with it compared

00:21:02.100 to the current

00:21:02.580 system.

00:21:03.420 I would like to

00:21:04.000 do the most

00:21:04.460 Christmassy thing

00:21:05.520 you've ever seen

00:21:06.320 in your whole life.

00:21:09.220 I'm going to

00:21:09.880 defend Dr. Fauci.

00:21:13.640 Yes.

00:21:14.880 Now, I know some

00:21:15.740 of you are not

00:21:16.840 fans of Dr. Fauci.

00:21:19.080 I get it.

00:21:19.920 I get it.

00:21:20.540 I know all the

00:21:21.460 complaints.

00:21:22.020 I've heard them

00:21:22.440 all.

00:21:23.140 They're not wrong,

00:21:24.600 but I'm going to

00:21:25.240 defend him on this

00:21:26.000 particular thing.

00:21:27.860 Apparently, he is

00:21:28.840 somewhat admitted

00:21:29.920 that he is

00:21:31.560 suspected for

00:21:32.300 some time that

00:21:33.080 the number of

00:21:33.880 people who would

00:21:34.640 have to get the

00:21:35.220 vaccination to

00:21:36.660 make it really

00:21:37.220 work could be

00:21:39.020 a lot higher than

00:21:40.440 60 or 70% of

00:21:41.760 the public.

00:21:43.180 Now, Fauci is

00:21:44.160 saying it might

00:21:45.000 be as high as

00:21:45.780 90%.

00:21:46.760 You might need

00:21:47.920 to get 90%.

00:21:48.860 And he said that

00:21:50.020 when people were

00:21:50.940 afraid of the

00:21:51.920 vaccination, early

00:21:53.220 on people were

00:21:53.960 saying maybe they

00:21:54.880 wouldn't take it,

00:21:56.160 he was sort of

00:21:57.540 downplaying his

00:21:59.960 pessimism.

00:22:01.620 But now that

00:22:02.480 people are much

00:22:03.240 more likely to

00:22:04.320 say that they

00:22:04.860 would take the

00:22:05.420 vaccination, and I

00:22:07.360 think the early

00:22:07.940 people who take it

00:22:08.800 will probably show

00:22:10.620 it's safe enough

00:22:11.620 that the later

00:22:12.300 people will get

00:22:12.880 talked into it.

00:22:14.000 So now Fauci is

00:22:14.820 saying that he

00:22:15.980 can be a little

00:22:16.560 bit more forthcoming

00:22:17.740 with his concerns,

00:22:19.500 and now he's

00:22:20.340 willing to say it

00:22:21.060 might be 90%, but

00:22:22.960 we also could get

00:22:24.080 there.

00:22:25.940 And people are

00:22:26.760 saying, Dr.

00:22:28.040 Fauci, you

00:22:29.600 horrible person,

00:22:31.140 because why would

00:22:32.900 you say the

00:22:33.440 science is

00:22:34.160 different?

00:22:35.560 Did the science

00:22:36.960 change, Dr.

00:22:38.600 Fauci, or are

00:22:39.720 you just being

00:22:40.700 political?

00:22:41.640 Are you

00:22:42.000 manipulating us

00:22:42.980 with your

00:22:43.340 messages?

00:22:44.400 Are you trying

00:22:44.940 to manage our

00:22:45.720 public opinion

00:22:46.600 instead of just

00:22:47.340 doing science?

00:22:48.940 Dr. Fauci, we

00:22:50.760 want the science,

00:22:51.960 and you just

00:22:52.980 admitted you

00:22:53.720 kind of lied

00:22:54.620 about the

00:22:55.080 science, right?

00:22:57.220 Do you trust

00:22:58.180 somebody who

00:22:59.020 lies to you

00:23:00.140 about science?

00:23:03.200 In this case,

00:23:03.880 it would be his

00:23:04.400 opinion of science,

00:23:05.620 his opinion that

00:23:06.800 we might need

00:23:07.640 more herd

00:23:08.380 immunity from

00:23:09.760 the vaccinations.

00:23:11.200 Here is my

00:23:11.920 defense of

00:23:13.260 Dr. Fauci.

00:23:14.820 Dr. Fauci is

00:23:15.720 not just a

00:23:17.240 scientist.

00:23:18.980 He is a

00:23:19.860 scientist, but

00:23:21.080 if you were

00:23:21.440 judging him on

00:23:22.140 the basis of a

00:23:22.960 scientist, that's

00:23:24.560 pretty bad, right?

00:23:26.440 If all he were

00:23:27.720 was a scientist,

00:23:29.340 that's all he

00:23:30.040 is, an

00:23:30.540 independent

00:23:31.000 scientist working

00:23:32.460 in a private

00:23:33.020 company or for

00:23:33.800 himself, then

00:23:35.000 lying about his

00:23:36.120 opinion of

00:23:36.960 science would

00:23:38.200 be pretty bad.

00:23:39.800 Would we agree

00:23:40.440 on that?

00:23:41.540 Do we agree so

00:23:42.500 far that if he

00:23:44.040 were in private

00:23:45.060 anything, and he

00:23:46.600 had said something

00:23:47.860 that wasn't

00:23:48.620 scientifically his

00:23:49.700 actual opinion,

00:23:51.360 it's pretty bad.

00:23:54.000 But Dr. Fauci is

00:23:56.140 not just a

00:23:57.220 scientist.

00:23:58.000 He is a

00:23:58.760 government-paid

00:23:59.840 scientist.

00:24:00.960 He has two

00:24:01.860 responsibilities, and

00:24:03.200 they are both

00:24:03.820 really important.

00:24:05.300 Number one is

00:24:05.960 the science.

00:24:07.400 Number two, he

00:24:09.020 has to manage

00:24:09.620 public opinion.

00:24:11.040 You don't think

00:24:11.920 that's his job?

00:24:13.140 If you're paid by

00:24:14.400 the government, it

00:24:15.900 is your job.

00:24:17.260 It is your job.

00:24:18.220 If the government

00:24:19.140 gives you your

00:24:19.880 paycheck, managing

00:24:21.900 the public opinion,

00:24:24.380 that's your job, in

00:24:26.100 addition to whatever

00:24:26.940 your main duties

00:24:27.940 are.

00:24:28.680 So judging Dr.

00:24:30.200 Fauci by the

00:24:30.940 standards of a

00:24:31.740 generic scientist

00:24:32.720 who is not being

00:24:33.460 paid by the

00:24:34.020 government, not

00:24:35.240 fair.

00:24:36.260 Is it a good

00:24:38.500 thing that Dr.

00:24:39.700 Fauci managed our

00:24:41.180 opinion of the

00:24:42.280 virus the way he

00:24:43.240 did?

00:24:43.900 I would say it's

00:24:45.720 very likely that he

00:24:46.820 played it just

00:24:47.600 right, meaning that

00:24:49.200 the ultimate thing

00:24:50.380 we need to

00:24:50.860 accomplish is to

00:24:51.780 get a lot of

00:24:52.220 people vaccinated,

00:24:53.640 per Fauci.

00:24:55.280 And if the way he

00:24:56.900 managed our

00:24:57.760 opinions, which he

00:24:59.940 is completely

00:25:00.760 transparent about

00:25:01.660 now, he's

00:25:02.640 telling us, I

00:25:04.520 just managed your

00:25:05.940 opinion back

00:25:06.540 there, but I

00:25:07.620 did it for your

00:25:08.200 own benefit.

00:25:10.920 What do you

00:25:11.600 think of that?

00:25:12.340 He just told us

00:25:13.280 honestly and in

00:25:14.320 public, I was

00:25:15.460 managing your

00:25:16.260 opinion, that

00:25:17.000 wasn't my exact

00:25:17.960 opinion, I was

00:25:18.560 just managing the

00:25:19.360 public opinion,

00:25:20.540 and I think it

00:25:21.720 worked.

00:25:22.820 I think we got a

00:25:23.880 better result because

00:25:25.360 I managed your

00:25:26.120 opinion.

00:25:26.840 Is that bad?

00:25:27.540 I don't think it

00:25:29.500 is.

00:25:30.100 I don't think it

00:25:30.600 is.

00:25:31.080 I think that he

00:25:31.900 had two

00:25:32.420 responsibilities and

00:25:33.480 I think he

00:25:33.840 balanced them just

00:25:34.720 right.

00:25:35.600 So while I respect

00:25:37.020 your opinion that

00:25:37.860 you don't like

00:25:38.380 that, I'm going to

00:25:39.820 say my personal

00:25:40.780 opinion is I'm

00:25:41.840 backing Dr.

00:25:42.780 Fauci because he

00:25:44.160 has two roles,

00:25:45.040 not one, and I

00:25:45.900 think he merged

00:25:46.820 them as well as

00:25:47.800 you could.

00:25:48.500 Here's a

00:25:48.920 correction on

00:25:50.100 yesterday's live

00:25:52.400 stream.

00:25:53.300 I said that Sam

00:25:54.300 Harris had written

00:25:55.060 an article I was

00:25:55.840 talking about losing

00:25:56.700 trust and

00:25:57.240 institutions, but

00:25:58.180 he had just

00:25:59.340 retweeted it.

00:26:00.980 It was actually

00:26:01.460 written by Yasha

00:26:02.620 Mouk, M-O-U-N-K.

00:26:05.620 So credit where

00:26:06.500 credit is due, it's

00:26:07.320 a good article.

00:26:08.000 It's in my Twitter

00:26:08.700 feed from yesterday

00:26:09.440 if you're looking

00:26:09.880 for it.

00:26:13.980 Let's see.

00:26:16.820 So the House

00:26:18.220 Republicans have

00:26:19.100 apparently blocked

00:26:20.200 this bill, the

00:26:22.680 coronavirus bill, and

00:26:24.580 the reason they

00:26:25.260 blocked it is because

00:26:27.380 it had a bunch of

00:26:28.080 pork in it, primarily.

00:26:31.340 So let's talk about

00:26:33.060 that.

00:26:34.440 Now, on social

00:26:36.000 media, social media

00:26:37.260 is ablaze with

00:26:38.920 people saying, why

00:26:39.920 don't we just make a

00:26:41.240 clean bill without

00:26:42.800 pork?

00:26:44.180 Why do we have pork

00:26:45.680 in bills?

00:26:46.900 Why don't we get the

00:26:48.240 names of all those

00:26:49.060 people, the politicians

00:26:50.300 who insisted on the

00:26:51.460 pork?

00:26:51.780 pork, we'll make a

00:26:53.000 list of all those

00:26:53.820 bad pork people, and

00:26:55.620 then we'll vote them

00:26:56.260 out.

00:26:58.540 Or, why don't we

00:27:00.060 just give a clean

00:27:01.140 bill with none of

00:27:02.720 the pork?

00:27:03.900 All those things are

00:27:04.840 in social media,

00:27:07.340 right?

00:27:08.140 Now, here's the

00:27:09.580 problem that people

00:27:10.920 are not understanding

00:27:11.960 about the pork.

00:27:14.060 The pork is not a

00:27:15.900 flaw on top of a

00:27:18.400 good system.

00:27:20.980 Because if you think

00:27:21.940 it is, then you'd

00:27:23.160 say, hey, we've got

00:27:24.120 a good system, except

00:27:25.100 for this pork.

00:27:26.760 Why don't we take

00:27:27.380 the pork out and

00:27:29.060 leave the good

00:27:29.680 system?

00:27:30.800 Makes sense, right?

00:27:33.180 Right?

00:27:34.340 Keep all the good

00:27:35.540 stuff.

00:27:36.620 Nobody likes pork.

00:27:38.080 I've never even met

00:27:39.840 one person who was

00:27:41.480 in favor of pork put

00:27:43.720 into bills.

00:27:44.480 Pork being the

00:27:45.260 things not related

00:27:46.040 to the main thing.

00:27:46.740 And, here's the

00:27:49.120 problem.

00:27:50.040 People don't

00:27:50.600 understand that the

00:27:52.140 pork is not a

00:27:53.320 flaw on top of a

00:27:55.260 good system.

00:27:56.720 The pork is the

00:27:59.040 system.

00:28:00.160 You can't get rid

00:28:01.040 of the pork and

00:28:02.600 keep the rest of

00:28:03.280 the system, because

00:28:03.900 the pork is the

00:28:04.580 system.

00:28:05.480 And here's why.

00:28:06.620 If people were

00:28:07.660 just going to vote

00:28:08.740 without pork, a

00:28:11.500 lot of politicians

00:28:12.300 whose votes you

00:28:13.200 needed to get

00:28:14.020 something through

00:28:14.720 would say, no,

00:28:16.080 that won't help

00:28:16.800 me get re-elected.

00:28:19.000 Now, how can you

00:28:20.060 expect somebody to

00:28:21.000 vote for something

00:28:21.800 if it won't help

00:28:23.460 them get re-elected?

00:28:24.460 Our system requires

00:28:25.540 people to try to

00:28:26.520 get re-elected.

00:28:27.660 We want that.

00:28:29.080 So the politician

00:28:30.040 says, no, I'm not

00:28:30.780 going to vote for it

00:28:31.500 because it will

00:28:32.000 lower my chances of

00:28:33.060 getting re-elected.

00:28:34.460 Then nothing gets

00:28:35.200 through.

00:28:36.540 Because there aren't

00:28:37.720 enough Democrats,

00:28:38.680 there aren't enough

00:28:39.180 Republicans.

00:28:39.860 If there were a

00:28:40.740 super majority of

00:28:41.640 either one, you'd be

00:28:42.340 fine.

00:28:42.620 But as long as

00:28:43.660 it's close, which

00:28:45.460 it is, you need

00:28:47.800 to bribe people to

00:28:50.080 vote against their

00:28:51.260 own interests.

00:28:53.380 So you need to say

00:28:54.440 to somebody, all

00:28:55.280 right, if you're

00:28:55.900 going to vote for

00:28:56.420 this, we know

00:28:56.980 that's bad for you

00:28:57.820 for elections, but

00:28:59.540 we'll give you this

00:29:00.460 other thing with the

00:29:01.340 pork so your state

00:29:02.560 will come out

00:29:03.320 ahead.

00:29:04.000 So we're going to

00:29:04.800 bribe you with some

00:29:05.620 pork and say, all

00:29:06.780 right, we hate this

00:29:07.560 pork.

00:29:08.320 We hate that it's

00:29:09.040 only for one state.

00:29:10.120 It's, you know, just

00:29:11.720 for this one deal.

00:29:13.340 We're going to put

00:29:14.020 it in there.

00:29:15.720 Now, the foreign

00:29:17.720 pork are based on

00:29:20.000 individual arguments

00:29:21.300 about, does it make

00:29:22.380 sense, can we

00:29:23.260 effectively bribe

00:29:24.280 this government with

00:29:25.780 this foreign money?

00:29:28.420 We as citizens never

00:29:30.040 hear those arguments.

00:29:31.820 Have you ever heard

00:29:32.580 the argument for

00:29:33.900 funding, was it

00:29:35.920 gender studies in

00:29:37.700 Pakistan?

00:29:38.080 When you heard

00:29:40.000 that we were

00:29:40.600 funding gender

00:29:41.600 studies in Pakistan

00:29:42.860 in a United States

00:29:44.600 coronavirus bill, what

00:29:47.100 did your brain do?

00:29:48.340 Your brain just

00:29:49.160 caught on fire, right?

00:29:50.440 Ah, that's

00:29:51.780 completely unrelated.

00:29:53.080 Ah.

00:29:54.740 But, suppose if you

00:29:58.200 heard it, there was

00:29:59.340 a good argument for

00:30:00.260 it.

00:30:00.800 Suppose if the CIA,

00:30:02.600 I'm just picking a

00:30:03.660 random example here,

00:30:04.880 suppose if you could

00:30:06.020 ask the CIA, why do

00:30:07.560 you want this thing?

00:30:08.820 They might say

00:30:09.700 something like, well,

00:30:11.280 it's actually just a

00:30:12.220 way to launder money

00:30:13.300 for bribes for some

00:30:15.340 key people we want to

00:30:16.440 control in Pakistan's

00:30:17.720 government, or their

00:30:19.320 military or something.

00:30:20.720 Now, suppose you'd

00:30:21.420 actually heard that

00:30:22.120 argument, and it made

00:30:23.760 sense.

00:30:24.680 You said, uh, yeah,

00:30:27.400 bribing some key

00:30:28.600 people in Pakistan might

00:30:29.900 actually keep us safer.

00:30:31.340 It's actually not a bad

00:30:33.020 use for that amount of

00:30:34.080 money.

00:30:34.600 It's not that much

00:30:35.340 money.

00:30:36.240 Now, if you had heard

00:30:37.220 that argument, you

00:30:38.600 might say yes, but it's

00:30:39.580 not a kind of argument

00:30:40.520 necessarily that can be

00:30:42.200 presented to you.

00:30:44.040 If the real reason is

00:30:45.420 they're just laundering

00:30:46.520 bribes to Pakistan, that

00:30:47.900 might be it.

00:30:48.940 And I don't know if that's

00:30:50.000 it, I'm just saying that

00:30:50.740 would be an example of

00:30:51.660 why you couldn't hear the

00:30:52.800 pork argument.

00:30:54.260 But it might be a good

00:30:55.180 one.

00:30:55.680 Now, how do you get that

00:30:56.660 passed?

00:30:57.560 Could the CIA do a

00:30:59.020 separate bill?

00:31:00.700 It's called the Pork for

00:31:02.320 Pakistan Bill to help them

00:31:03.980 with gender studies.

00:31:05.740 Nobody would vote for

00:31:06.800 that thing.

00:31:08.120 So there you would have

00:31:09.240 a, just hypothetically,

00:31:11.520 a CIA requirement,

00:31:13.740 something very important

00:31:14.660 for the health of the

00:31:15.440 country, and there

00:31:16.400 wouldn't actually be any

00:31:17.600 legislative way, none,

00:31:20.480 to get it done.

00:31:22.500 And so, to compensate

00:31:24.460 for the fact that there's

00:31:25.480 no way to do a thing

00:31:26.580 like that, it gets

00:31:28.040 tacked on to these

00:31:29.140 larger bills for other

00:31:31.080 purposes, so that people

00:31:32.740 can't say no, because

00:31:34.520 they'd say, if I got the

00:31:35.660 vote on this one, I

00:31:37.100 would say no, but I

00:31:38.960 don't get to vote on it

00:31:39.860 and I don't want to, you

00:31:41.240 know, kill the whole

00:31:41.900 package, so I've got to

00:31:44.460 say yes.

00:31:45.300 Now, does that mean that

00:31:46.080 all the pork in it makes

00:31:47.360 sense?

00:31:47.740 No.

00:31:48.520 It's bribes.

00:31:50.080 Do bribes make sense?

00:31:51.960 Well, if you have to

00:31:53.140 bribe a politician to get

00:31:54.500 any kind of bill passed,

00:31:56.580 it's suboptimal, but it's

00:31:58.740 the best of the two

00:31:59.860 options, because the

00:32:00.860 other option is you

00:32:01.620 don't get anything done.

00:32:03.200 So, you have to

00:32:04.260 understand that you

00:32:05.660 can't remove the pork

00:32:07.280 from the system, because

00:32:09.560 if you did, it wouldn't

00:32:11.740 work.

00:32:12.940 The system doesn't work

00:32:14.400 without the pork.

00:32:15.460 That's why it's there.

00:32:16.680 You could replace all of

00:32:17.940 the people, and the new

00:32:19.680 people would just say,

00:32:21.040 uh, I don't want to vote

00:32:22.900 for this, and then

00:32:24.080 somebody says, how about

00:32:25.160 if we give you this bribe

00:32:26.420 in the form of pork for

00:32:28.240 your state, and then the

00:32:29.840 politician says, all right,

00:32:31.000 I'll vote against my

00:32:31.900 party.

00:32:32.920 You got me.

00:32:34.280 So, if you don't

00:32:35.080 understand that, you're

00:32:36.020 confused about this whole

00:32:37.140 pork business.

00:32:38.580 And here's my issue.

00:32:40.460 Of course, Democrats in

00:32:42.340 Congress know how the

00:32:44.260 pork thing works.

00:32:45.240 Of course, the

00:32:45.980 Republicans know how the

00:32:47.420 pork thing works.

00:32:48.600 They all complain about it

00:32:50.040 in public because the

00:32:51.300 regular public is not

00:32:53.540 educated enough to know

00:32:55.000 that you can't really get

00:32:56.800 rid of it without getting

00:32:58.480 rid of the whole system,

00:32:59.460 essentially.

00:33:01.800 And so, the argument I've

00:33:04.460 heard for the Republicans

00:33:05.900 rejecting this package at

00:33:08.140 the last minute that would

00:33:09.220 have included either $600

00:33:10.600 or ideally $2,000 for

00:33:13.720 individual payments for

00:33:15.300 people who really need it,

00:33:17.280 the argument for opposing

00:33:21.200 it was that there's so

00:33:24.400 much pork in it that you

00:33:25.920 have to draw the line

00:33:26.980 somewhere.

00:33:28.560 You have to draw the line.

00:33:30.200 Too much pork.

00:33:32.280 That is not real.

00:33:34.840 It's not real.

00:33:36.420 It's not a real argument

00:33:37.560 because you can't get rid

00:33:39.640 of the pork, number one.

00:33:41.640 And number two, they had,

00:33:43.680 what, nine months to get

00:33:45.240 rid of the pork.

00:33:46.420 If getting rid of the pork

00:33:47.900 were a real thing, they had

00:33:49.620 nine months to do it.

00:33:51.060 If what happened was that

00:33:52.760 the Republicans painted

00:33:54.040 themselves into a corner

00:33:55.460 and now they're saying,

00:33:57.500 oh no, we don't like being

00:33:58.620 in this corner,

00:34:00.000 it's their own freaking

00:34:01.600 fault.

00:34:03.040 Because they painted

00:34:04.100 themselves in this corner

00:34:05.320 over the last nine months

00:34:06.860 by entertaining pork.

00:34:10.120 Right?

00:34:10.680 They probably put their own

00:34:11.600 pork in there too.

00:34:12.340 So, Republicans get

00:34:14.560 no pass.

00:34:16.160 This was the biggest

00:34:17.320 screw-up I've ever seen.

00:34:19.980 Certainly in 2020,

00:34:21.020 it's the biggest

00:34:21.660 political mistake.

00:34:23.160 What should they have done?

00:34:24.900 I heard some people say

00:34:26.180 you can't respond

00:34:27.280 to blackmail.

00:34:28.800 So, some people are saying

00:34:29.960 that the pork is sort of

00:34:31.240 a blackmail part.

00:34:32.680 It's like, if you want

00:34:33.480 your checks,

00:34:35.000 you're going to have to

00:34:35.880 accept all this other

00:34:37.000 stuff you don't want.

00:34:38.060 So, we're kind of

00:34:38.480 blackmailing you.

00:34:40.100 And somebody said,

00:34:41.380 you should never pay

00:34:42.560 a blackmailer.

00:34:45.180 Do you agree with that?

00:34:46.920 Do you agree you should

00:34:47.900 never pay a blackmailer?

00:34:49.220 You probably shouldn't

00:34:52.160 negotiate with a terrorist.

00:34:54.380 But is it the same

00:34:55.320 with a blackmailer?

00:34:56.980 Same kind of concept?

00:34:58.540 What do you think?

00:34:59.700 Let's see in the comments.

00:35:01.040 Should you never pay

00:35:03.640 a blackmailer?

00:35:05.260 Let's see your comments.

00:35:08.440 Somebody says,

00:35:09.400 yes, they'll come back.

00:35:12.000 Never pay them.

00:35:13.000 They'll just come back.

00:35:14.040 Never pay them.

00:35:14.940 Depends.

00:35:16.020 Thank you.

00:35:17.340 One person got

00:35:18.340 the right answer.

00:35:20.040 Two so far.

00:35:21.060 Depends.

00:35:22.320 Here's when you do

00:35:23.760 pay a blackmailer.

00:35:25.940 If paying the blackmailer

00:35:27.620 gets you what you want,

00:35:28.760 let's say your family

00:35:29.760 member is released

00:35:30.780 or you get whatever

00:35:31.540 it is you want.

00:35:33.100 So, that's the first

00:35:33.860 good part.

00:35:34.540 You've paid them

00:35:35.120 and you've got

00:35:35.520 what you wanted.

00:35:37.240 If, under this

00:35:38.360 special condition,

00:35:40.160 paying them allows you

00:35:41.440 to figure out

00:35:42.040 who they are,

00:35:43.620 which could often

00:35:44.360 be the case, right?

00:35:45.420 Because you might need

00:35:46.100 to write a check

00:35:46.740 to somebody.

00:35:47.340 I mean, there might be

00:35:47.940 something in the process

00:35:48.960 where you learn

00:35:50.080 the identity

00:35:50.680 of the blackmailer

00:35:51.640 or where they live.

00:35:53.140 Now, if you put me

00:35:54.220 in a situation

00:35:54.880 where I'm being blackmailed

00:35:56.600 and in order to

00:35:58.400 pay the blackmailer,

00:35:59.840 I will necessarily

00:36:01.320 learn their identity,

00:36:02.700 do I need to say

00:36:05.180 the rest?

00:36:06.860 Do I need to finish

00:36:08.280 where this is going?

00:36:09.740 I have indeed

00:36:11.640 been blackmailed.

00:36:13.380 I have been blackmailed.

00:36:15.220 I paid the blackmailer.

00:36:17.580 In so doing,

00:36:18.740 I learned the identity

00:36:20.220 of the blackmailer

00:36:21.180 and that person

00:36:23.520 might take a while,

00:36:26.760 but they're going to hear

00:36:28.280 from me.

00:36:29.380 Might be this year.

00:36:31.140 Might be next year.

00:36:32.840 Could be five years

00:36:33.680 from now.

00:36:34.680 But there is a blackmailer

00:36:36.100 who's going to have

00:36:37.360 a really bad day.

00:36:39.560 Nothing illegal.

00:36:40.680 I don't do illegal things.

00:36:43.060 But suffice to say

00:36:44.200 that if you can get

00:36:46.100 the identity

00:36:46.720 of your blackmailer,

00:36:48.440 that might be worth it.

00:36:49.860 You know what I mean?

00:36:50.960 Might be worth it.

00:36:53.100 So I wouldn't take it

00:36:54.060 as a given

00:36:54.480 that you don't pay

00:36:55.060 the blackmailer.

00:36:55.980 And in this case,

00:36:56.700 I would say that

00:36:57.380 what we should have done,

00:36:58.500 the Republicans,

00:36:59.060 which would have been

00:37:00.120 the smart play,

00:37:01.440 this horrible package

00:37:03.460 they should have voted for

00:37:05.020 because they put themselves

00:37:06.780 in that position.

00:37:08.080 They should have voted for it

00:37:09.180 because it's better

00:37:10.040 than the alternative

00:37:10.940 and they should have voted for it

00:37:12.800 to out the blackmailers.

00:37:15.020 In other words,

00:37:15.540 they should have said,

00:37:16.160 look,

00:37:16.780 the Democrats put us

00:37:17.800 in this position.

00:37:19.220 We're going to vote for it

00:37:20.280 so you get your,

00:37:21.000 let's say,

00:37:21.460 your $2,000 payment,

00:37:23.180 but here are the names

00:37:24.720 of the pork people

00:37:27.680 who put you in this position.

00:37:29.500 Here are their names,

00:37:31.040 the ones who supported this pork.

00:37:33.260 But it won't make a difference

00:37:34.400 because the pork has to exist

00:37:35.900 for the system to exist.

00:37:37.560 But since the Republicans

00:37:38.840 were put in that position,

00:37:40.720 they had a terrible choice,

00:37:42.380 which was to say yes

00:37:43.480 to a blackmail package.

00:37:45.300 That's a terrible choice.

00:37:47.300 But it's better than

00:37:48.460 putting your boot on the poor

00:37:50.000 and saying,

00:37:51.060 hey, we're going to torture the poor

00:37:53.360 more than you will.

00:37:55.400 That's the game, right?

00:37:57.120 The game in Congress right now

00:37:58.900 is who can torture the poor

00:38:01.000 the most without giving up.

00:38:06.060 At the moment,

00:38:07.660 the Republicans said,

00:38:08.860 oh, Democrats,

00:38:10.380 you think you can torture the poor?

00:38:12.300 Watch this.

00:38:13.500 We'll veto the whole damn bill.

00:38:15.900 You'll not only not get $600,

00:38:17.980 they won't get anything.

00:38:19.580 How about that?

00:38:20.220 We can torture the poor

00:38:21.220 better than you can.

00:38:22.540 But here's the problem.

00:38:23.560 Well, it's Christmas.

00:38:27.320 Republicans,

00:38:28.200 in one of the most stunning

00:38:30.140 displays of incompetence

00:38:32.520 I've ever seen,

00:38:34.300 decided to stand on principle

00:38:36.140 on Christmas

00:38:37.760 when that principle requires

00:38:40.440 poor people to get screwed.

00:38:44.720 On Christmas.

00:38:46.320 On Christmas.

00:38:46.920 If they had done this

00:38:48.400 in February,

00:38:50.080 would I feel the same?

00:38:51.420 Not so much.

00:38:53.080 I mean,

00:38:53.400 it's still not good.

00:38:55.760 But if you can't read

00:38:57.340 the room well enough

00:38:58.260 that you do this

00:38:59.360 on Christmas,

00:39:00.440 this is the most

00:39:01.260 stunningly incompetent thing

00:39:02.920 I've ever seen in my life.

00:39:04.340 The Republicans should have

00:39:05.420 just grinned

00:39:08.160 and signed that thing

00:39:09.880 and then complained

00:39:10.720 about it after the fact.

00:39:12.180 It's all you can do.

00:39:13.100 All right.

00:39:18.360 How much difference

00:39:19.540 does $600 make

00:39:21.320 after 10 months?

00:39:22.800 You know,

00:39:23.240 there's a big mystery

00:39:24.560 in all of this

00:39:26.460 that I have not

00:39:27.560 heard an answer for.

00:39:30.380 And I don't know

00:39:30.920 if any economists

00:39:31.820 are figuring this out.

00:39:32.960 And it goes like this.

00:39:35.020 All of these people

00:39:36.220 who lost their jobs

00:39:37.400 for the coronavirus,

00:39:39.360 how are they staying alive?

00:39:41.260 I honestly don't know.

00:39:45.080 Because if you told me,

00:39:46.280 oh,

00:39:46.540 they're,

00:39:48.200 are they just not paying rent

00:39:50.000 and they're getting food

00:39:52.240 from food banks?

00:39:54.320 Is that the whole story?

00:39:56.240 Because it feels like

00:39:57.500 we couldn't possibly be as well,

00:40:00.500 doing as well as we are

00:40:01.940 under the circumstances.

00:40:03.300 There's a disconnect

00:40:04.520 between the news I'm hearing

00:40:06.120 and the economic outcomes,

00:40:08.820 you know,

00:40:08.960 the stock market doing well,

00:40:10.200 et cetera.

00:40:10.420 It's disconnected.

00:40:11.840 There's something missing

00:40:12.960 in the story.

00:40:15.260 And I wonder if,

00:40:16.460 if what's missing is this,

00:40:18.740 that the people

00:40:20.220 who had those jobs

00:40:21.180 as, say,

00:40:22.080 bussers and servers

00:40:23.820 and whatever,

00:40:25.060 it could be that

00:40:25.900 they earned

00:40:26.620 so little money

00:40:28.120 that it didn't make

00:40:30.540 that much difference

00:40:31.240 to the economy

00:40:32.100 that all of them

00:40:33.760 lost their jobs.

00:40:35.480 For example,

00:40:37.380 how many of them

00:40:38.320 were also,

00:40:39.220 had another supporter?

00:40:40.960 You know,

00:40:41.240 they're living at home

00:40:42.440 or they have a spouse

00:40:43.860 who has a job

00:40:44.700 so they can still eat,

00:40:45.760 they just can't go on vacation.

00:40:47.440 It could be that

00:40:48.340 because of the nature

00:40:49.920 of which kind of workers

00:40:51.640 were most affected,

00:40:53.280 they were the lowest income

00:40:54.700 types of workers,

00:40:56.640 that surprisingly,

00:40:58.420 they added so little

00:40:59.600 to the economy

00:41:00.300 that you could wipe out

00:41:01.380 their entire contribution

00:41:02.960 to the economy

00:41:03.660 and it didn't make

00:41:04.400 that much difference.

00:41:08.000 All right.

00:41:08.820 Somebody says,

00:41:09.600 essential workers

00:41:10.360 are still getting paid.

00:41:12.560 That's true.

00:41:13.840 But only if they're working.

00:41:15.340 I'm talking about

00:41:15.900 unemployed people.

00:41:19.820 There are two economies.

00:41:21.200 There's the poor,

00:41:22.160 yeah,

00:41:23.020 the poor invisible.

00:41:24.040 The poor are kind of invisible

00:41:25.100 and that's,

00:41:25.920 I think in a sense,

00:41:27.080 that's what I'm saying.

00:41:28.280 And I don't know

00:41:29.000 how much of this

00:41:29.580 is my isolation, right?

00:41:30.840 If you have a certain lifestyle,

00:41:32.300 you end up not talking

00:41:33.620 to people who are

00:41:34.500 living a different

00:41:35.600 kind of lifestyle.

00:41:36.760 So let me ask

00:41:37.880 in the comments,

00:41:39.460 do you know anybody

00:41:41.440 who lost their job

00:41:42.560 during coronavirus?

00:41:43.900 And let's say

00:41:44.360 it was a low-end job.

00:41:46.580 Low-end meaning

00:41:47.440 a server

00:41:48.280 or something

00:41:49.540 in that economic group.

00:41:51.980 How many of you

00:41:52.880 know somebody like that

00:41:54.040 who can't figure out

00:41:56.200 how to eat?

00:41:58.440 I feel like we did

00:41:59.740 a really good job

00:42:00.880 of taking care of people.

00:42:02.300 One way or the other.

00:42:04.740 You know,

00:42:04.940 there's also a,

00:42:05.980 there's a hidden,

00:42:08.340 and here's part

00:42:09.480 of what I suspect.

00:42:10.840 There is a hidden thing

00:42:12.400 going on

00:42:13.040 and I'm going to make a,

00:42:14.140 I'm just going to speculate

00:42:15.120 that this is what's going on.

00:42:17.620 When the country

00:42:18.560 looked like it was

00:42:19.360 falling apart

00:42:20.100 and our government

00:42:20.940 couldn't necessarily

00:42:22.200 help us

00:42:23.800 during the beginning

00:42:24.920 of the pandemic,

00:42:26.240 even if the government

00:42:27.240 did everything

00:42:27.840 the government can do,

00:42:29.280 it did feel as if

00:42:30.580 maybe it wouldn't be

00:42:31.660 enough in time,

00:42:32.740 right?

00:42:33.220 And there could be

00:42:34.020 some dire consequences.

00:42:35.600 Here's what I believe

00:42:36.880 may be happening

00:42:38.160 and did happen.

00:42:39.440 Just speculation,

00:42:40.860 right?

00:42:41.500 And I'm not even sure

00:42:42.660 what percentage of,

00:42:43.680 you know,

00:42:44.400 credibility I would put

00:42:45.600 on my own speculation,

00:42:46.860 but I'll put it out there.

00:42:47.740 And it goes like this.

00:42:49.700 The first thing

00:42:50.860 that people

00:42:51.540 who had money,

00:42:53.820 and I'll put myself

00:42:54.620 in that category,

00:42:55.440 did,

00:42:55.580 the first thing

00:42:56.800 I did was

00:42:57.660 I surveyed,

00:42:58.960 you know,

00:42:59.840 my circle of people

00:43:01.320 that I know

00:43:02.120 and have a relationship with.

00:43:05.940 Surveyed meaning

00:43:06.540 I made sure I knew

00:43:07.440 how everybody was doing.

00:43:08.940 And then I made sure

00:43:09.920 that if there was anybody

00:43:10.980 who wouldn't be able

00:43:11.760 to eat,

00:43:13.660 that I would handle it.

00:43:15.480 In other words,

00:43:16.820 and it turns out

00:43:17.820 I didn't have to do

00:43:18.760 very much.

00:43:19.860 You know,

00:43:19.980 I was helpful in,

00:43:21.760 I'm going to say,

00:43:22.600 non-specific ways,

00:43:23.780 which is the point

00:43:25.720 of my story

00:43:26.420 is that people like me

00:43:28.580 who independently

00:43:29.720 and privately

00:43:30.580 helped other people

00:43:32.500 don't want to talk about it.

00:43:35.640 Do you know why

00:43:36.100 we don't want to talk about it?

00:43:37.900 Because you'll ask me

00:43:38.820 for money.

00:43:40.020 I can help the people

00:43:41.160 that, you know,

00:43:41.840 I'm close to,

00:43:42.620 I know,

00:43:43.140 they're part of my circle,

00:43:44.240 I've worked with them,

00:43:45.580 I've got some ongoing

00:43:46.620 relationship,

00:43:47.400 whatever,

00:43:48.380 and I've got a feeling

00:43:49.660 that that may have happened

00:43:51.060 massively all over the country.

00:43:52.660 I have a feeling

00:43:54.220 that private individuals

00:43:55.740 just massively stepped up

00:43:58.200 completely confidentially

00:44:01.100 because you have to do it

00:44:02.780 confidentially.

00:44:04.420 When you're rich,

00:44:05.260 the first thing you figure out

00:44:06.280 is that if you do

00:44:06.940 any kind of charity,

00:44:08.280 then you get eaten alive.

00:44:10.320 Doing public charity

00:44:11.520 is just one of the worst

00:44:12.520 things you can do

00:44:13.420 if you want to control

00:44:14.820 the rest of your life

00:44:15.780 because you just get

00:44:17.240 bombarded with new requests.

00:44:19.600 So unless you're doing it

00:44:20.660 like a Bill Pulte

00:44:21.560 who is making it,

00:44:23.040 he's actually making

00:44:23.820 that sort of a mission

00:44:24.760 and a project

00:44:25.800 so that's worth doing

00:44:27.420 because he wants people

00:44:28.360 to interact.

00:44:30.280 But everybody else

00:44:31.160 needs to do it

00:44:31.840 way under the,

00:44:32.760 way under the,

00:44:34.140 you know,

00:44:34.880 the notice of everybody else.

00:44:36.720 So I'm just going

00:44:37.640 to put this out there.

00:44:39.060 There is some possibility,

00:44:40.940 and I don't know how likely,

00:44:42.700 that the,

00:44:43.540 one of the biggest

00:44:44.700 unreported forces

00:44:46.300 is the private charity

00:44:49.300 of regular Americans.

00:44:51.640 And I'm not talking

00:44:52.400 about the rich either.

00:44:53.520 I'm talking about

00:44:54.320 the parents who said,

00:44:56.260 you know,

00:44:57.540 hey,

00:44:58.360 my son is okay,

00:45:00.540 but my son's best friend

00:45:01.820 from childhood

00:45:02.500 is not okay.

00:45:03.820 You can stay here

00:45:04.500 for a while.

00:45:05.860 Right?

00:45:06.280 I'll bet you there's

00:45:07.140 all kinds of that

00:45:08.260 happening all over the country,

00:45:09.700 and just people

00:45:10.180 don't talk about it

00:45:11.200 because it wouldn't be wise

00:45:12.720 to talk about it.

00:45:13.560 Just guessing.

00:45:14.020 So that's your Christmas

00:45:15.520 good thought for the day.

00:45:17.580 I would like to believe,

00:45:18.820 at least today,

00:45:20.040 that I live in a country

00:45:21.040 in which those

00:45:22.080 who can give

00:45:23.160 do give.

00:45:25.380 And I think we are

00:45:26.400 in that country.

00:45:27.600 I think that

00:45:28.280 anything that I say

00:45:29.420 about our

00:45:30.020 political system

00:45:32.060 and our

00:45:32.820 economy

00:45:34.300 and all that,

00:45:35.520 it looks like

00:45:36.320 it's a mess

00:45:36.940 on paper.

00:45:38.240 Doesn't it?

00:45:39.060 If you were just

00:45:39.920 to draw it on paper,

00:45:40.880 it just looks like

00:45:41.500 a hot mess.

00:45:42.700 But there is something

00:45:43.960 about the goodness

00:45:44.800 of people.

00:45:46.360 Of course,

00:45:46.740 they have their bad side,

00:45:47.800 their selfish side.

00:45:48.620 We talk about that

00:45:49.340 more than the good side.

00:45:50.720 But since it's Christmas,

00:45:52.400 let's talk about

00:45:53.060 the good side.

00:45:54.440 There is

00:45:55.080 some kind of force,

00:45:57.560 and I talked about

00:45:58.240 this yesterday more,

00:45:59.580 there is some kind

00:46:00.600 of force

00:46:01.120 that holds us together

00:46:02.340 that we don't

00:46:04.380 quite understand.

00:46:06.340 And we think

00:46:07.360 it's all these things

00:46:08.160 like the Constitution

00:46:09.160 and our laws

00:46:10.220 and blah, blah, blah.

00:46:11.300 I don't think it's that.

00:46:12.360 I think it is

00:46:13.720 whatever caused,

00:46:15.200 and I think

00:46:15.680 this is true,

00:46:17.020 lots of individuals

00:46:18.680 to help other individuals,

00:46:20.660 I feel like

00:46:21.480 whatever that is,

00:46:23.420 is the larger force

00:46:25.880 that keeps us together.

00:46:27.340 Sure,

00:46:27.820 we fight little battles.

00:46:29.800 You know,

00:46:30.000 we like to fight

00:46:30.620 the little battles

00:46:31.420 because we're a competitive

00:46:33.260 kind of species.

00:46:34.660 But the big battle

00:46:35.900 about being a country,

00:46:38.020 I feel like

00:46:38.900 we're just all

00:46:40.500 on the same side

00:46:41.220 on that

00:46:41.680 for the most part.

00:46:43.720 All right.

00:46:45.160 So here's someone

00:46:46.040 in the comments

00:46:46.660 saying,

00:46:47.240 I paid my cleaning lady

00:46:48.700 even though she was

00:46:49.560 not cleaning my house.

00:46:53.380 You are not

00:46:54.140 the first person

00:46:55.060 who has said that.

00:46:57.440 All right?

00:46:58.160 Do you know

00:46:58.680 how many rich people

00:46:59.640 continued to pay

00:47:00.700 their people

00:47:02.500 that they couldn't

00:47:03.280 do any work?

00:47:04.900 I would guess most.

00:47:07.080 I'll bet you

00:47:07.660 most rich people

00:47:08.820 continue paying

00:47:10.580 everybody

00:47:11.100 that they had

00:47:11.820 paid before

00:47:12.400 and just didn't

00:47:13.740 talk about it.

00:47:14.700 Just didn't mention it.

00:47:17.020 Right?

00:47:17.760 So,

00:47:18.660 that's what I think

00:47:19.860 happened

00:47:20.180 and that will be

00:47:21.140 your positive thought

00:47:21.980 for the day.

00:47:22.800 I hope you're all

00:47:23.380 going to have

00:47:23.660 a terrific Christmas.

00:47:25.300 I'm planning to have

00:47:26.020 a terrific Christmas

00:47:26.820 myself.

00:47:28.420 And,

00:47:30.860 oh,

00:47:31.160 well,

00:47:31.520 I hope,

00:47:32.060 I'm seeing somebody

00:47:32.860 saying that

00:47:33.640 they were reminded

00:47:34.480 to do that

00:47:35.160 and I hope you do.

00:47:36.320 so be good

00:47:37.500 to each other

00:47:38.000 and I will talk

00:47:38.860 to you tomorrow.

Real Coffee with Scott Adams - December 25, 2020

Episode 1231 Scott Adams： Merry Christmas and Pass the Pork. Trust Science and Pretend the Republic Still Exists

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