The Matt Walsh Show - Ep. 1295 - Dem-Controlled Cities Legalize Shoplifting, Shocked When Businesses Flee

00:00:00.000 Today on the Matt Wall Show, activists protest in Boston as Walgreens closes another location.

00:00:04.760 Businesses are being run out of cities because of crime and shoplifting.

00:00:09.040 But of course, the activists aren't protesting the crime or the shoplifting or the politicians who allow it.

00:00:13.340 Also, the Biden administration is using counterterrorism funds to disseminate self-described propaganda.

00:00:19.360 RuPaul defends Drag Queen Story Hour at the Emmys, which were apparently held this week.

00:00:23.860 And a bunch of Gen Zers say that the thought of making a phone call reduces them to tears.

00:00:27.780 This is a sign of crippling social anxiety rampant in the younger generation.

00:00:31.820 But do they also have a point in this case?

00:00:33.880 We'll talk about all that and more today on the Matt Wall Show.

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00:02:01.140 You know, it's easy to get the idea that the city of Boston has lost maybe its creative spark a little bit.

00:02:07.220 This is the place that once brought America a lot of firsts.

00:02:10.500 The first public park, the first subway system, the first tea party, the first massacre, and so on.

00:02:17.040 But now whenever you hear Boston in the news, it's usually pretty uninspiring stuff by comparison.

00:02:22.780 You're hearing about the mayor and how the mayor is banning white people from holiday parties,

00:02:27.680 or the fact that the president of Harvard has never had an original thought in her life,

00:02:31.880 or the decision by Mass General to bring back mask mandates, you know, stuff like that.

00:02:37.020 And despite all that, it would still be a mistake to say that Boston has given up on innovation.

00:02:44.360 You know, they're still doing pretty groundbreaking stuff up there, at least if you ask them.

00:02:48.440 So, for example, back in 2019, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, which includes the city of Boston,

00:02:54.360 embarked on a first-of-its-kind real-life social experiment.

00:02:58.680 Under the leadership of their new district attorney, Rachel Rollins, Suffolk County decided to stop prosecuting criminals

00:03:05.120 who were accused of most nonviolent misdemeanors, including disorderly conduct and shoplifting.

00:03:11.380 And the cops would, you know, arrest the shoplifters, and the prosecutors would just let them off the hook.

00:03:15.920 And this was a relatively new strategy for a major American city at the time,

00:03:20.620 because remember, this was before the racial reckoning of 2020, as they called it.

00:03:24.800 The theory was that, you know, these kinds of prosecutions did more harm than good,

00:03:29.060 and it's better to refer these criminals to, you know, counseling sessions instead of throwing them in prison.

00:03:36.360 Disincentives, the idea that a negative response to a certain behavior will result in less of that behavior,

00:03:43.440 is a basic rule of psychology and one of the most tried-and-true facts of life.

00:03:48.200 But the city of Boston decided to reject everything we knew about human psychology and human behavior

00:03:53.500 in favor of this new strategy.

00:03:57.280 Well, how did that work out?

00:03:58.480 A few years after that policy went into effect,

00:04:01.180 leading researchers at major universities, including Rutgers, Texas A&M, NYU,

00:04:06.380 published a lengthy paper declaring that, in fact, Boston's strategy had been a major success.

00:04:11.700 They found that, quote,

00:04:12.480 In other words, if you let criminals get away with shoplifting,

00:04:28.040 they're less likely to get in trouble with the law in the future.

00:04:31.820 And in left-wing circles, this is known as restorative justice.

00:04:35.900 And officials in Boston said it was proof that their idea had worked.

00:04:39.520 Success.

00:04:39.920 What no one seemed to grasp at these universities is that this is the exact result you would expect

00:04:45.660 when you legalize shoplifting, and it's not a good result.

00:04:49.300 Like, it's not surprising that shoplifters don't get in trouble with the law anymore

00:04:52.760 if you stop prosecuting them for petty crimes.

00:04:55.080 If you don't punish people for crimes, fewer people will be punished for crimes.

00:05:00.720 It's like if you stopped all cancer screenings,

00:05:03.420 then claimed that cancer had been cured because no one's getting diagnosed with it anymore.

00:05:08.180 The point is that Boston didn't stop people from shoplifting and committing petty crimes.

00:05:13.860 In fact, if anything, when you do this, it means people will be shoplifting a lot more.

00:05:18.380 Because why wouldn't they?

00:05:20.080 If they can get away with it, then more people will do it.

00:05:22.740 And indeed, they're going to shoplift so much that it becomes impossible for businesses to stay open,

00:05:27.420 which means that very quickly, so-called disadvantaged communities will lose access to convenience stores and pharmacies.

00:05:34.380 They'll become even more disadvantaged, which is supposedly the opposite of restorative justice.

00:05:39.120 You're not restoring anything whatsoever.

00:05:41.440 We don't have to speculate about this.

00:05:42.700 All we have to do is look at what's happening right now in Boston.

00:05:45.300 Walgreens has just announced that it's closing its fourth location in Boston in just the past year.

00:05:51.860 Four locations closed in just a year.

00:05:54.060 And every single time, it's been a low-income community, mostly black or Hispanic, that has been affected.

00:06:00.700 And this time, they're closing a store in the mostly black neighborhood of Roxbury.

00:06:05.260 Now, you might think that this development would prompt some reflection from the media in Boston

00:06:11.160 or from the politicians or from activists in the local community.

00:06:15.820 You might think that they'd ask whether allowing people to rob stores is, in fact, maybe a bad idea.

00:06:23.160 But that's not what's happening.

00:06:24.520 Instead, we're getting reports like this one from CBS Boston.

00:06:28.940 Listen.

00:06:29.540 The store shelves are empty and the signs are up,

00:06:32.140 alerting customers that this Roxbury Walgreens will be closed for good at the end of the month.

00:06:37.180 How are they supposed to go get their medicine?

00:06:39.520 It's sparking concern and outrage from residents who rely on the Warren Street Drugstore

00:06:44.600 in this predominantly black neighborhood.

00:06:46.660 What happens to our seniors and our single parents that have no way to get to a Walgreens

00:06:53.380 or another pharmacy anywhere near their home?

00:06:55.960 And so we think it's insensitive.

00:06:58.480 It's unjust.

00:06:59.300 Rev. Minniard Culpepper points to the senior housing developments just steps from the Walgreens

00:07:05.020 and questions how the elderly will get their medications,

00:07:08.300 especially after the pharmacy chain closed their stores in Hyde Park, Nubian Square,

00:07:13.180 and Mattapan about a year ago.

00:07:15.480 Walgreens says they're downsizing, but the Reverend calls it nothing short of corporate greed.

00:07:20.240 Why do you think they target black and brown communities?

00:07:22.820 I think because they get no pushback, but they're now getting pushback.

00:07:27.740 Protesting alongside dozens of other frustrated customers fighting to keep this Walgreens open.

00:07:33.320 Don't we need to have something in the community to help the black, the elderly, the sick, 1.00

00:07:38.620 you know what I'm saying?

00:07:40.000 They can't go far.

00:07:41.040 The problem boils down to accessibility, says former Boston NAACP president turned healthcare advocate Michael Curry.

00:07:48.900 The communities where they're closing these pharmacies are communities where people are disparately impacted by disease,

00:07:55.640 you know, two or three times higher rates in cancer, diabetes, heart disease,

00:07:59.260 where life expectancy can be 15, 20 years less.

00:08:02.820 While this isn't the only Walgreens or pharmacy chain set to close location in the coming weeks,

00:08:08.800 Curry says it begs this question.

00:08:11.360 What is your obligation?

00:08:13.840 What is your expectation as a corporate citizen to do what's right for those communities beyond what's right just for your bottom line?

00:08:21.860 Well, you know, that question is pretty easy to answer.

00:08:24.360 Walgreens, just like every other private business, has no obligation to lose money.

00:08:31.080 They don't have to stay open to provide any kind of service to the local community.

00:08:35.640 They're not soup kitchens.

00:08:37.300 These are not charitable organizations.

00:08:39.720 Their job is to make money.

00:08:40.780 That's not greed.

00:08:41.420 It's called economics.

00:08:42.480 It's called reality.

00:08:44.300 A business like Walgreens can't stay open if it's losing money.

00:08:47.640 It just can't.

00:08:48.320 That's why it's the government's job to make sure that there's law and order so that thugs don't just walk into Walgreens

00:08:53.880 and take everything and end up shutting these stores down. 0.91

00:08:56.300 But there's no sense anywhere in that entire segment that Boston's policy of encouraging shoplifting might be to blame.

00:09:02.440 You can go online and watch the whole clip if you want and see for yourself.

00:09:06.260 It's just not there.

00:09:06.880 They don't even mention it.

00:09:09.020 They essentially legalized shoplifting.

00:09:11.960 Convenience stores were summarily run out of town.

00:09:15.260 And the media doesn't even mention the connection between these two events.

00:09:19.140 There's also no sense that Boston's recent decision to defund its police department could be playing a role. 0.61

00:09:25.580 Instead, we're left with the implication that Walgreens just doesn't like black people.

00:09:30.920 The argument appears to be that Walgreens should keep its business open as a charity

00:09:35.720 where it keeps bleeding money in order to provide various services to the local community.

00:09:42.040 But if you do some digging, it's not hard to conclude why Walgreens is shutting down this Roxbury location.

00:09:49.040 Here, for example, is footage taken by a citizen journalist in Boston a couple of years ago.

00:09:52.900 He films as police finally arrest a woman.

00:09:56.920 They caught shoplifting three separate times in one day.

00:10:02.100 Now, watch this to get a sense of what it's like at these Walgreens locations in that area and what they're dealing with.

00:10:08.620 Here it is. 0.96

00:10:09.060 This is just ridiculous. 0.78

00:10:38.180 Shoplifting is a big thing over here, too, just so you guys know. 0.95

00:10:45.060 It's a big problem.

00:10:46.360 I know.

00:10:46.960 I see.

00:10:48.320 Especially when it's the same person.

00:10:49.760 I know.

00:10:50.160 Trust me.

00:10:50.600 I see it.

00:10:51.400 And then they won't have three times today.

00:10:52.980 Three times today.

00:10:54.300 I got two more reports that I wrote last week.

00:10:56.420 The same person three times?

00:10:58.180 Wow.

00:10:58.640 This ain't even the other people.

00:10:59.920 Right.

00:11:00.160 This is the same person.

00:11:00.780 She comes in here and tries to give her a good night to let her out. 1.00

00:11:02.600 Yeah, you try to be nice.

00:11:03.980 Yeah.

00:11:04.140 Well.

00:11:04.380 Three times in one day they're saying that she did this.

00:11:10.920 It's like, yeah, you know.

00:11:14.860 So that's the problem.

00:11:16.640 A lot of these businesses are losing a lot of revenue because of the shoplifting thing.

00:11:21.360 And a lot of people don't realize that.

00:11:23.020 If you go to some of these shelves, especially in the Roxbury area, some parts of Dorchester as well, a lot of shelves are becoming empty because of shoplifting.

00:11:31.680 I heard the AutoZone is having that same problem with people shoplifting in the stores.

00:11:37.640 So it's not like they're making it up.

00:11:39.440 It's definitely a problem.

00:11:41.360 This is right over at the Walgreens, right on Washington Street.

00:11:47.540 So this is how common shoplifting became in Roxbury and the surrounding areas after Boston's big push to legalize shoplifting.

00:11:55.060 The cops, you know, don't arrest the shoplifters anymore for the most part.

00:11:59.440 They released this woman several times before arresting her out of exasperation. 1.00

00:12:04.460 And when they finally feel compelled to make an arrest, everyone knows it doesn't matter.

00:12:07.640 The shoplifters know that they're not going to be prosecuted, so they keep on coming back.

00:12:10.440 That woman will be, you know, ripping off stores again probably within a few hours. 1.00

00:12:15.580 And that's why Walgreens is now shutting down all these stores in Boston.

00:12:18.560 This is a massive problem, as the cops say in that video.

00:12:21.940 According to one study, shoplifting in Boston is up roughly 40 percent since June of 2019 when the city's experiment began.

00:12:30.120 And that's in the city overall.

00:12:31.600 In neighborhoods like Roxbury, the figures are presumably a lot higher.

00:12:36.080 And it's not just shoplifting that's out of control.

00:12:37.800 Recently, the Boston Globe ran a story that was intended to portray Boston, rather portray Walgreens in a bad light

00:12:44.540 and make them seem like an evil, greedy megacorp foreclosing the Roxbury location.

00:12:50.140 But they included this information in their report, quote,

00:12:53.660 The generational impact is felt by Roxbury residents like Lucille Culpepper Jones.

00:12:58.180 She doesn't see herself visiting the Columbus Avenue drugstore a mile away because she doesn't feel safe walking there alone.

00:13:04.620 So this is a neighborhood that's so dangerous that elderly women don't want to go outside. 0.97

00:13:11.560 And yet we're expected to believe that businesses should stay open in these kinds of neighborhoods where their stores will get robbed,

00:13:19.200 their employees will get attacked, people aren't safe outside of the store or in it, it would seem.

00:13:25.340 And that's just an assumption that CBS and NAACP demand that you make.

00:13:30.720 So naturally, they're telling everybody to protest Walgreens instead of the politicians that CBS and NAACP support who have caused this problem.

00:13:38.760 Of course, protesting Walgreens' decision to pull out of this neighborhood, it's a bit like protesting the laws of gravity.

00:13:47.040 You can whine all you want, but basic economic principles still exist.

00:13:53.820 Businesses exist to make a profit, and when they can't make a profit, they have to close down, even if they don't want to.

00:13:59.960 And most businesses don't want to close locations.

00:14:02.280 It's not something that they celebrate doing.

00:14:04.240 But if they do it, it's probably because they had no choice.

00:14:07.820 And yet the other day, the residents of Roxbury decided to gather together to protest anyway.

00:14:14.500 And no, they were not protesting shoplifting.

00:14:16.300 They were not protesting the politicians who legalized it.

00:14:18.620 They were not protesting their own community members who are victimizing these businesses and running them out of town.

00:14:25.160 No, instead they were, of course, protesting Walgreens itself.

00:14:28.440 Watch.

00:14:29.280 So this Walgreens is critical, not just to this community, but the surrounding communities and the seniors.

00:14:35.800 Walgreens is downsizing nationwide, telling us, quote,

00:14:39.860 When faced with the difficult decision to close a location, several factors are taken into account,

00:14:45.300 including our existing footprint of stores, dynamics of the local market,

00:14:49.680 and changes in the buying habits of our patients and customers, among other reasons.

00:14:54.480 But after sitting in the parking lot observing for hours,

00:14:57.820 I can tell you this location has a consistent stream of customers and sits next to a dialysis center.

00:15:03.900 That's 300 people from Harvard Street Health Center that comes to this Walgreens in our community that's elderly, that's parents.

00:15:12.660 This group says they'll continue to rally until Walgreens changes their mind.

00:15:17.600 In Roxbury, I'm Tiffany Chan, WBZ News.

00:15:20.400 Now, we should point out, CVS also announced that it's closing pharmacies inside Target stores.

00:15:25.980 CVS says the closures will begin in February, so next month, and will be completed in April.

00:15:30.600 We do not have a list of those pharmacies yet, but we're told there will be dozens nationwide.

00:15:36.180 So, CBS does some investigative reporting in that segment,

00:15:40.140 by which I mean their reporter sat in the parking lot for a little while

00:15:44.000 and noticed a steady stream of customers at the Walgreens.

00:15:49.040 And we're apparently supposed to conclude from this that the store is doing fine and has no reason to close.

00:15:55.140 I mean, they saw people going in, and so that must mean everything.

00:15:59.100 I mean, how could a business be doing poorly if there are people going inside of it?

00:16:03.620 But the problem with, you know, shoplifting is that it's not that nobody goes in the store.

00:16:10.140 It's that too many people go in the store and then don't pay.

00:16:14.700 That's the issue.

00:16:15.880 You know, it's generally difficult to shoplift without physically entering the store.

00:16:20.860 I'm sure criminals are working on a solution to that problem. 0.70

00:16:23.420 I guess you could do, like, online scams and that sort of thing.

00:16:26.180 But generally speaking, like, if you want to shoplift an item that's on the rack at a certain store,

00:16:31.380 you have to go in and do it, or you have to send someone else.

00:16:34.560 It does require a physical presence in the store.

00:16:36.600 But the reporter cannot explore that avenue, so instead they just decide that it must be racist.

00:16:42.460 Never mind, of course, that the racism theory here makes no sense whatsoever.

00:16:47.240 I mean, leave aside everything we know about the shoplifting problem.

00:16:51.080 Like, what is the claim exactly?

00:16:52.760 That Walgreens is actually making money at that location and everything is fine, 0.97

00:16:57.420 but they're closing down anyway and choosing to lose money just to spite black people? 0.94

00:17:02.980 Like, is that actually what we're suggesting? 0.89

00:17:06.600 Did the Walgreens CEO at some corporate meeting say, shut down that location, Roxbury, shut it down?

00:17:13.400 And somebody on the executive team said, but sir, they're turning huge profits.

00:17:16.500 Their profits are up 25% in the last year.

00:17:18.440 I don't care. 0.99

00:17:19.240 I don't want black people in my store. 1.00

00:17:21.000 Shut it down. 1.00

00:17:22.520 Like, is that the theory?

00:17:25.160 Do you think that's what's happening? 0.82

00:17:27.440 The theory is that Walgreens would rather close down a store than provide services to black people?

00:17:32.180 If that's the case, you'll have to explain, I don't know, literally every other Walgreens location in the country

00:17:37.680 that's still open, considering they all provide services to large numbers of black people.

00:17:45.000 Which is why you might argue that of the two possible explanations, racism or shoplifting,

00:17:50.860 the shoplifting one makes a lot more sense.

00:17:52.540 But in fact, in their own statement, Walgreens itself couldn't really blame shoplifting either.

00:17:58.040 They had to give some coded language about marketing, market dynamics and so forth.

00:18:03.100 And that's a contrast to what we saw last year when Target shut down nine stores,

00:18:08.100 including its store on Folsom Street in San Francisco and one location in Harlem.

00:18:11.940 And in that instance, Target explicitly blamed, quote,

00:18:15.560 theft and organized retail crime which are threatening the safety of our team and guests

00:18:18.980 and contributing to unsustainable business performance.

00:18:22.540 Now, after Target made that decision, various left-wing publications, including CNBC, attacked Target.

00:18:28.080 They rushed to point out that Target was closing stores with relatively low reports of shoplifting

00:18:34.220 compared to stores that Target was leaving open.

00:18:37.140 And from this data point, we were supposed to conclude that Target was racist.

00:18:41.940 Now, I'm not one to defend Target, and I don't really care if the whole company is shut down.

00:18:48.060 And it should be, but for entirely different reasons, you know, 0.95

00:18:50.420 for the reasons of, like, sexualizing kids and all the degenerate, disgusting stuff that they sell. 0.96

00:18:54.840 But, you know, the racism charge, of course, is entirely absurd.

00:18:58.980 Like, one of the problems with this analysis is that stores where shoplifting is common don't report it.

00:19:06.300 So that led to a comical moment, for example, 2021,

00:19:09.200 when a single Target store decided to start reporting shoplifting incidents.

00:19:14.100 And that doubled the entire city's shoplifting rate in the month of, an entire month.

00:19:19.880 One day of reporting, or rather, one store reporting shoplifting incidents doubled the rate for the entire city,

00:19:28.360 which shows you that prior to this, they just weren't reporting it.

00:19:31.680 So, once again, the startling math works out the same.

00:19:35.940 If you don't report something, then you will end up with fewer reports about the stuff you are not reporting.

00:19:42.980 Imagine that.

00:19:45.080 Now, none of this is compatible with social justice narratives, though, so you never hear about it.

00:19:48.980 Now, stores like Walgreens have learned to just avoid mentioning organized theft entirely.

00:19:53.220 But that has not appeased activists.

00:19:55.900 They still want you to conclude that there is a vast conspiracy afoot among various pharmacies to pull out of black communities just to spite them.

00:20:04.860 You're supposed to believe that this is why, in just the past two years, you know, between Walgreens and Rite Aid and CBS,

00:20:10.600 more than 1,500 stores have closed. 0.87

00:20:13.680 They're all choosing to close profitable stores and lose money on purpose just out of their sheer hatred of their black customers.

00:20:21.360 This is the actual thing that is being claimed. 0.57

00:20:25.460 It's not, it's completely insane, but it's not just activists in Boston who are pushing this narrative.

00:20:30.440 We're seeing this denial of reality everywhere, including San Francisco.

00:20:33.420 And once again, the NAACP is involved.

00:20:36.540 Watch.

00:20:37.440 Ritico store.

00:20:38.700 This is like the store for all the elderly in the neighborhood that can walk over here.

00:20:42.720 There's no stairs.

00:20:44.260 Easy in, easy out. 0.97

00:20:46.080 It's not helping the black community. 0.82

00:20:47.460 It's not helping the homeless.

00:20:49.120 It's not helping us at all.

00:20:51.360 Tonight, it's the very real human cost of a neighborhood closure.

00:20:55.980 The Safeway in San Francisco's Fillmore District is set to shut down.

00:20:59.920 And the community says it's more than just a bag of groceries.

00:21:03.860 Neighbors in the Fillmore and Western Edition neighborhoods are still angry tonight,

00:21:08.420 saying if this plan goes through, it will have long-term negative implications on the city's black community.

00:21:14.260 The announced closure for that store in the heart of the city on Webster Street came late last week.

00:21:20.940 Tonight, ABC 7 News reporter J.R. Stone is hearing the calls from neighbors and community leaders and brings us this story.

00:21:28.020 In less than two months, this Safeway grocery store will close, according to executives.

00:21:35.480 You're gutting it.

00:21:37.080 You're just gutting the neighborhood.

00:21:38.900 Community members are outraged, saying seniors and handicapped individuals have been forgotten about.

00:21:45.220 Those with Safeway say they have entered into an agreement to sell a three-plus-acre site to a real estate company for a mixed-use development project to include housing and commercial retail space.

00:21:57.680 They need to really do things about taking things from the inner city that we need, and then you're developing housing.

00:22:05.420 Housing for who? The homeless? You need to do better than that.

00:22:09.080 It is the destruction of a community.

00:22:10.980 And those thoughts from Dr. Amos Brown of the NAACP are echoed by those that live in the Western Edition.

00:22:18.100 So they're going to get rid of the business and replace it with housing, probably because housing is a little tougher to steal, I guess.

00:22:24.700 But once again, in that news report, there's not even a suggestion that San Francisco's policies might be to blame.

00:22:32.540 And that's odd, given that San Francisco's policies mirror Boston's.

00:22:36.940 According to NBC, San Francisco, quote,

00:22:39.060 Under current state law, shoplifting merchandise valued under $950 is considered a misdemeanor and often not investigated.

00:22:45.900 Could that be the issue, perhaps?

00:22:48.220 Let's see.

00:22:48.760 Chicago is another city that stopped prosecuting shoplifters unless they steal more than $1,000 worth of goods.

00:22:56.360 And even then, cops aren't allowed to chase them.

00:23:00.560 How are things going there?

00:23:02.100 Well, last year, the mayor at the time, Lori Lightfoot, had to respond to Walmart's decision to pull out of the south side of Chicago.

00:23:09.460 And you'll never guess what she said.

00:23:11.980 Watch.

00:23:12.140 Walmart is moving out, closing half of its stores in Chicago, saying they haven't been profitable in 17 years and lose millions of dollars a year.

00:23:22.360 Mayor Lightfoot calls the decision disappointing.

00:23:25.060 In a statement released today, she wrote, in part, unceremoniously abandoning these neighborhoods will create barriers to basic needs for thousands of residents.

00:23:34.040 While near-term arrangements will be made for workers, I fear that many will find that their long-term opportunities have been significantly diminished.

00:23:42.800 And south side elected officials are also responding, issuing a joint statement.

00:23:46.900 And it reads, in part, closing four stores in five days is unethical, especially since Walmart claims these stores have not been profitable since 2006.

00:23:56.020 If Walmart cared about the community they belonged to for nearly two decades, they would have implemented strategies to combat their rising prices, the likely root cause of their decline in earnings.

00:24:07.600 The four stores being closed are the Chatham Supercenter Walmart and the neighborhood markets in Kenwood, Lakeview, and Little Village.

00:24:15.900 Each store is slated to be closed by this Sunday.

00:24:18.480 It's really amazing just how unified the messaging has been on this issue going back years.

00:24:24.000 This is nothing new.

00:24:25.780 And still, there is no self-reflection at all.

00:24:29.600 There's no accountability for the people who have actually made these communities into dead zones for businesses.

00:24:36.440 These communities are actively destroying themselves, actively making their own neighborhoods untenable for businesses,

00:24:43.240 unsafe for people to even walk down the street at night to go to a business, even if it is open.

00:24:49.800 And they will look anywhere but in the mirror for people to blame for it.

00:24:54.640 So the next time you hear complaints about food deserts or pharmacy deserts, keep in mind that this is what's causing the problem.

00:25:01.920 It's a systemic issue plaguing every city that's implemented the bold experiment that Boston launched back in 2019.

00:25:11.460 And they will also tell you it's a systemic issue, but what they're missing is that this is the systemic issue.

00:25:20.700 So now, one of two outcomes is possible.

00:25:23.740 Either this experiment can finally end and we can enforce the law and people living in these black communities can get their prescriptions and their groceries. 1.00

00:25:32.400 Or these residents can continue to vote for politicians who will only make the problem progressively worse, who are promising to make it worse.

00:25:39.320 And these communities can continue victimizing themselves by constantly pillaging and stealing from their own businesses.

00:25:47.800 Until elderly women are quite literally dying in the streets because they can't get their medication.

00:25:53.740 Those are the choices.

00:25:55.660 It's clear what the NAACP and corporate press want.

00:25:59.880 And unless these communities start taking some responsibility, that's exactly what they'll get.

00:26:06.200 Now let's get to our five headlines.

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00:27:00.520 Turn to Tax Network USA and find your path to financial peace of mind.

00:27:03.600 That's TNUSA.com slash Walsh.

00:27:05.900 Daily Wire has a really important report, some more original investigative reporting, which, by the way, the Daily Wire does quite a lot of that.

00:27:15.840 And it's all high quality.

00:27:17.080 So this is real journalism.

00:27:18.460 This is from Luke Rosiak, excellent journalist for the Daily Wire.

00:27:22.980 And the report says, and I'm not going to read the entire thing, but you can go in dailywire.com and read it.

00:27:26.700 The Department of Homeland Security paid an activist group $700,000 to create self-described propaganda that attacked conservatives, according to a new investigation.

00:27:38.620 And, again, this is self-described propaganda.

00:27:41.660 This is not like we are saying, oh, that's just propaganda.

00:27:44.880 They're saying this is propaganda.

00:27:47.120 DHS used a grant program intended to combat terrorists called the Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Program

00:27:53.080 to pay activists to write blog posts that criticized Donald Trump and other conservatives under the guise of media literacy,

00:28:00.240 according to the Media Research Center, which found this through public records requests.

00:28:05.240 In its funding application, the University of Rhode Island's Media Education Lab declared that propaganda and misinformation

00:28:11.080 concerning topics including immigration and racial justice have become disruptive.

00:28:15.780 It asked DHS for funding to run community-created counterpropaganda.

00:28:21.500 Counterpropaganda is what they're calling.

00:28:24.080 The grant application said propaganda can also be used for socially beneficial purposes.

00:28:29.040 Indeed, because the public has long been recognized as being suggestible,

00:28:32.060 the United States has long made use of beneficial propaganda during World War I, World War II, and the Cold War.

00:28:38.800 There's bad propaganda, but there's also benefits.

00:28:40.940 This is the good kind of propaganda, you see.

00:28:43.180 The findings position the University of Rhode Island's Media Education Lab

00:28:46.680 and a closely linked activist group, Media Literacy Now, at the center of a sprawling government-funded campaign

00:28:54.200 to run propaganda on Americans to create a mandate for increased censorship.

00:28:59.440 The Daily Wire reported last week that the same groups were also paid by the State Department,

00:29:04.060 which had them arrange for German anti-disinformation activists to train U.S. school teachers on the techniques used in that country,

00:29:10.900 which has some of the most anti-free speech policies in the West.

00:29:14.560 MRC said the grant shows that Congress must abolish all domestic censorship programs.

00:29:19.040 The DHS grant led to an entity known as Courageous R.I.,

00:29:22.800 held by University of Rhode Island professor and leftist activist Renee Hobbs,

00:29:28.200 which said that its program would use the funds to manipulate the public and policymakers

00:29:31.980 into demanding policies to crack down on misinformation.

00:29:35.120 Okay, so this is all under the guise of combating so-called disinformation.

00:29:42.140 We have the Biden administration weaponizing the government,

00:29:44.180 working with radical left-wing activists to suppress conservative speech and spread left-wing propaganda,

00:29:49.720 which, again, in this case, they actively or they openly refer to as propaganda.

00:29:54.440 And this is all being done by the Department of Homeland Security, which, by the way,

00:29:59.660 and I think this is probably not said enough,

00:30:03.260 but, you know, we can thank George Bush for a lot of this.

00:30:08.220 He's the one who created the Department of Homeland Security.

00:30:10.740 It's one of the many massive expansions of the federal government under Bush,

00:30:15.560 which happened supposedly in response to 9-11,

00:30:17.820 even though this department would not have done a single thing to prevent 9-11,

00:30:21.740 even if it had existed prior to it.

00:30:24.880 And the whole objection to this agency from the beginning is that it's not remotely needed.

00:30:30.280 It doesn't do anything that wasn't already being done, supposedly,

00:30:34.720 or supposed to have been done by a dozen other federal agencies.

00:30:38.240 And the fact that none of them are doing those things well or at all or effectively

00:30:42.120 isn't going to be helped by just adding more bureaucracy on top of it.

00:30:46.220 But that's what George Bush did, and he created this utterly useless agency,

00:30:50.060 which is supposedly in charge of securing the homeland, I guess.

00:30:55.800 Again, something that was already supposed to be done by countless other agencies and departments,

00:31:01.600 not to mention the military.

00:31:02.760 And since this agency exists and has no functional purpose whatsoever and nothing valid to do,

00:31:11.240 instead it simply becomes a political tool for the president.

00:31:14.440 Now, granted, these days every aspect of the federal government is used that way.

00:31:20.540 Every aspect is used as a political tool for the president.

00:31:25.040 But the point is that DHS really has no other purpose.

00:31:29.420 I mean, that's basically why it's there.

00:31:32.580 And how is Biden using it?

00:31:34.180 Well, he's using it to secure the homeland against misinformation.

00:31:40.720 And what is misinformation in his world?

00:31:42.640 Well, it's information, whether false or true,

00:31:46.280 that Biden's handlers don't want people to be exposed to.

00:31:50.140 And that's how they've decided to use it.

00:31:54.720 As I've tried to explain many times,

00:31:58.060 this whole idea that the federal government should be controlling the spread of information is completely wrong.

00:32:08.400 You know, this is, it obviously was never intended.

00:32:13.060 This is obviously not in the Constitution.

00:32:14.960 It was never intended by the founders of this country.

00:32:17.780 Now, back then, we didn't live in a country where you had this, you know,

00:32:25.260 where you had people being exposed every single day.

00:32:29.520 It's like thousands of bits of information, again, whether false or true.

00:32:35.220 We didn't live in the information age, and now we do.

00:32:38.160 So, it was a decision to be made about what is the government's role in the information that's being passed around.

00:32:49.280 And the decision that was made is that, well, they're going to decide.

00:32:52.120 They'll decide what information we can see and what we can't, which is totally wrong.

00:32:58.700 And it's not just that once the government takes up that role, it will become politicized.

00:33:08.180 It's that that role is fundamentally politicized from the very beginning.

00:33:12.980 I mean, there's no chance of it being done any other way than that.

00:33:17.400 And that's where we are now.

00:33:18.520 Post Millennial has this article.

00:33:23.680 During Monday's episode of ABC's The View, the co-host conversation about Martin Luther King Jr. Day

00:33:28.440 led to sparring over how learning about slavery and other human rights abuses in American history

00:33:33.380 should make white students feel.

00:33:35.940 While Anna Navarro argued that nobody should feel bad while being taught about the past

00:33:39.160 simply because of the color of their skin,

00:33:40.740 Sarah Haynes was adamant in her belief that white children must feel responsibility

00:33:45.660 for the actions of their forefathers.

00:33:48.620 Here's the clip.

00:33:49.900 I think there's more to it than that.

00:33:53.260 Look, I think what it is is that black history and other things,

00:33:58.680 banning books, has been weaponized for political purposes,

00:34:02.720 to drive people to the polls based on outrage

00:34:05.900 because my poor little white kid is feeling bad because he's learning about slavery. 1.00

00:34:10.700 That's ridiculous. 0.99

00:34:12.240 Learning about history should not make anybody feel bad. 0.85

00:34:14.880 We learn about history.

00:34:16.120 Oh, it should make you feel bad.

00:34:17.260 No.

00:34:17.640 But it's important that it makes you feel bad.

00:34:19.560 I don't think it should make you feel bad.

00:34:20.940 I mean, I don't think a white child that's had nothing to do with slavery should feel bad about slavery.

00:34:26.000 I think we need to learn history so that we don't repeat the same mistakes about history.

00:34:30.660 The thing that people are focusing on in that clip is the conversation about how white kids should feel.

00:34:36.200 But even before you get there, you know, just even the phrase poor little white kid.

00:34:41.020 Oh, you're a poor little white kid. 0.99

00:34:43.260 This is once again this total contempt and scorn being heaped on white people without hiding it, without covering it, 0.99

00:34:57.980 without feeling the need to hide it at all. 0.99

00:35:02.160 And all you have to do is imagine what it would sound like for someone to say, oh, you're a poor little black kid. 0.98

00:35:09.920 You're a poor little black kid. 0.99

00:35:11.640 Boo-hoo. 1.00

00:35:13.400 Like, you just, you can't imagine anyone on television using that phrase.

00:35:20.480 Like, in any context, you just can't imagine it.

00:35:23.000 It would never happen.

00:35:26.260 And yet there is, there's no compunction.

00:35:30.900 There's no, don't hesitate at all to use this kind of language when talking about white people.

00:35:37.020 And, you know, it can, it's not sustainable, I guess is the point.

00:35:43.200 And people like me have been warning this for a long time, and you can, you can reject the warnings.

00:35:49.880 But it is just not sustainable.

00:35:52.780 You cannot take one, and I think history has taught us this.

00:35:58.120 History has taught us this again and again and again.

00:36:03.660 It's maybe one of the primary lessons that history teaches us.

00:36:06.260 You cannot take a group of people and make them the villains, make them the bad guys,

00:36:14.620 and just heap nothing but scorn and contempt on them all the time,

00:36:19.180 and expect it to just continue that way without any blowback, without any pushback, and everything's going to be fine.

00:36:28.040 You can't expect that.

00:36:29.520 And it's really as simple as that. 0.98

00:36:36.340 Now, obviously, the stuff about slavery is completely ridiculous.

00:36:40.440 Now, if you mean that kids should feel bad in the same way that, you know,

00:36:45.940 you feel sad when you read about any bad thing that happened in history,

00:36:49.840 like if you read about the Titanic sinking, does that make you feel bad?

00:36:54.180 I mean, it doesn't make you feel good, right?

00:36:56.200 It's a sad thing, so you have feelings of sadness when you hear about a tragedy that occurred in history.

00:37:01.920 But feel bad usually means feeling responsible, feeling guilty.

00:37:08.660 It's like when you've done something, you say, I feel bad about that.

00:37:12.000 Which is why nobody would ever say, I feel bad about the Titanic's sinking.

00:37:16.600 I feel really bad about that.

00:37:18.700 Jeez, sorry about that.

00:37:19.940 I feel bad.

00:37:20.960 Because it makes it sound like you're holding yourself responsible for the sinking of the Titanic,

00:37:24.800 which, of course, makes no sense.

00:37:26.200 It equally makes no sense to say that about slavery.

00:37:29.560 You know, I feel bad about it.

00:37:30.600 What do you mean I feel bad?

00:37:31.280 I didn't have nothing to do with it.

00:37:34.120 So, no, in that sense, of course, white kids shouldn't feel bad about slavery 0.78

00:37:37.960 in the sense of feeling guilty and responsible, which is the sense that it was meant there.

00:37:41.780 But, of course, the whole premise of the conversation is totally false.

00:37:46.300 And we keep, you know, it's one false premise after another from the left.

00:37:51.160 This is maybe the most, among the most absurd of all of them is this, that there are people out there who are objecting to slavery being mentioned in a historical context at all, which is not happening.

00:38:06.620 Nobody objects to white kids or kids of any race learning about slavery in history class.

00:38:11.020 I've not heard one single person ever say that, which is really saying something, because you can take any idea, any, like, nutty, crazy idea, these days especially, you can probably find at least somebody who believes it.

00:38:25.160 But in this case, I have not heard this anywhere.

00:38:28.520 I have not heard one single person ever say that we shouldn't be teaching about slavery in school.

00:38:33.200 I've never heard that.

00:38:35.780 The point about slavery, aside from the one that I've made many times, which is that a real study of slavery should be far more expansive to include, you know, the fact that slavery was a global institution for millennia.

00:38:46.620 So, if anything, you know, my point about it is that, no, we shouldn't be saying less about slavery.

00:38:51.000 We should be saying more about it, actually.

00:38:52.440 I mean, it is one of the significant facts of the history of human civilization is that this institution existed for thousands of years.

00:39:04.720 And it's very interesting to think about why that was the case.

00:39:09.900 How did this come about in the first place?

00:39:13.200 How is it that for thousands of years, humanity took this for granted?

00:39:17.020 And for thousands of years, really, almost nobody even thought to object.

00:39:23.380 Like, honestly, for thousands of years, it really didn't even occur to anyone that there might be a problem here.

00:39:28.360 And that includes many, many of the great geniuses of history that didn't appear to have a fundamental issue with the institution of slavery all across the world.

00:39:40.460 That is, it's an interesting fact.

00:39:43.380 You know, it's also a tragedy.

00:39:45.400 It's terrible.

00:39:45.780 But it's like, it's interesting.

00:39:46.960 It's like, that's something you can try to figure out.

00:39:48.640 How is it?

00:39:49.540 How could you have this kind of global blind spot that so many people shared for thousands of years?

00:39:56.000 So, yeah, that should be a subject of historical investigation.

00:40:02.800 But it's not because when we talk about slavery, we only talk about it in the most limited way possible.

00:40:09.160 Because we are not allowed to admit that every other race of people are also guilty for this institution that existed for thousands of years. 0.92

00:40:16.840 But aside from all that, at a more fundamental level, the point about slavery is that it is a historical subject.

00:40:22.540 It is a matter of history, and it should be studied and viewed that way.

00:40:27.440 And so as far as I'm concerned, as long as we're doing that, it's a historical subject.

00:40:31.380 It's not something, at least in this country, that exists today or that people today are responsible for, at least in this country.

00:40:36.140 If they keep qualifying that way.

00:40:37.860 Because it does exist in other parts of the world, especially in non-white parts of the world. 0.84

00:40:42.280 So, and it was a much more expansive phenomenon than what we're told.

00:40:52.200 So, like, those are my two points about slavery.

00:40:54.080 And that's the point that most people make, if they have any objection at all to the way that it's taught.

00:41:01.620 Okay, this is not exactly a major headline, but I do need to address it.

00:41:04.840 I don't know if I need to, but I will.

00:41:09.400 Yesterday, the Babylon Bee posted an article with this headline.

00:41:13.660 Trump promises Vivek an administration position running the White House 7-Eleven.

00:41:19.060 And you can see the screenshot there with the picture, with the accompanying photo.

00:41:24.500 And the photo is what really sells it, I think.

00:41:26.360 That's what takes it over to the top.

00:41:27.640 And taken together, you know, you have to admit, like, it's kind of funny.

00:41:31.620 Now, I mean, it has to at least get a smirk out of you, right?

00:41:36.440 And yet, if you look at the comments under this post, you'll find that lots of people are offended by it.

00:41:43.900 And to be clear, the people offended are, for the most part, people on the right, conservatives.

00:41:49.760 Okay, a bunch of conservatives are, in fact, I think the Babylon Bee is trending right now.

00:41:54.400 Because a bunch of conservatives are complaining that this joke is racist and in bad taste.

00:41:59.580 And not ironically, I mean, there are some complaining ironically.

00:42:02.060 I did leave a comment saying I was reporting the Babylon Bee to the FBI for hate crimes. 0.68

00:42:05.700 But many of these comments are not ironic and not meant to be a joke.

00:42:09.720 So let me just read a few of the comments, just thousands of them, but let me just read a few. 1.00

00:42:15.920 I'm 100% Trump and think Babylon Bee is a national treasure, but this one is just stupid. 1.00

00:42:20.240 You can and should do better. 0.99

00:42:22.200 A public retraction seems appropriate here, but I'll still look forward to your stuff.

00:42:26.600 Someone else says, I like the Bee, but this was kind of in poor taste.

00:42:32.300 Low blow from the Babylon Bee.

00:42:35.020 Someone else says, so is the joke that Trump values him so poorly that he only sees him as a clerk at 7-Eleven?

00:42:40.700 Or that you think he's a clerk at 7-Eleven because of a tired stereotype about Indian people?

00:42:46.520 And then there's a bunch that say, not funny.

00:42:48.680 This is not funny.

00:42:51.300 And someone, I love this.

00:42:52.400 But these types of jokes aren't helpful.

00:42:56.700 Aren't helpful.

00:42:57.780 You know, because, you know, the most important thing about comedy is that it's helpful.

00:43:03.460 We've all been to like a stand-up show and then you leave and somebody asks you how it was and you go, oh, it was great.

00:43:10.100 It was super helpful.

00:43:11.320 So helpful.

00:43:12.560 I just love the comedy show because it was so helpful.

00:43:15.880 Anyway, lots of comments like that.

00:43:21.260 Echo, it's like this is the left's language.

00:43:23.680 You know, do better.

00:43:25.340 Do better.

00:43:26.240 This is how you define it.

00:43:28.480 This is like the number one way you can spot a left this many times is if they respond to a joke with that phrase specifically.

00:43:35.720 Do better.

00:43:36.980 Not funny.

00:43:37.860 Do better next time.

00:43:38.960 And, again, these are comments, for the most part, not from the left.

00:43:44.360 I mean, these are people on the right actually offended by this very tame joke.

00:43:49.260 So let me just clarify three things.

00:43:54.540 One, this is an old school, you know, ethnic stereotype joke.

00:44:00.520 It's like it's an oldie.

00:44:02.040 It is.

00:44:02.620 But old school ethnic stereotype jokes are almost always at least mildly amusing.

00:44:11.620 I don't think I've ever heard one that wasn't at least kind of amusing.

00:44:15.740 It's a classic.

00:44:17.700 Like these are classics for a reason.

00:44:20.060 And, you know, in fact, these dated ethnic stereotype jokes are only becoming funnier.

00:44:26.720 Like they're increasing in funniness.

00:44:28.200 So, you know, these old ethnic stereotype jokes have always been, like, kind of funny.

00:44:34.600 And then, you know, you could follow the trajectory.

00:44:38.820 And then they kind of did.

00:44:39.500 I'd say they were the least funny about 20 years ago because that was about 20 years ago.

00:44:43.840 It was like everybody was saying them.

00:44:45.280 And so they're not as funny anymore.

00:44:46.780 They're still pretty funny, but they're not as funny as everyone.

00:44:49.000 But now people are actually offended by them again.

00:44:51.680 And so that just makes them more funny.

00:44:53.180 Like the fact that nobody else would make that joke anymore, even The Simpsons has apologized, right?

00:45:00.620 That whole, what was that documentary?

00:45:04.500 The Problem with Apu.

00:45:06.420 And someone put out a documentary, talked about how, the whole documentary about how Apu, the Indian character, is problematic.

00:45:12.940 And so they, like, apologized.

00:45:14.680 And I think they took him out of the show or they, he doesn't run the 7-Eleven anymore.

00:45:19.400 I don't know.

00:45:19.700 I don't watch.

00:45:20.040 I stopped watching The Simpsons 25 years ago.

00:45:22.060 And so in that environment, it only becomes more funny again.

00:45:27.880 So that's the first thing.

00:45:30.180 And second is that most of the people offended by this joke are Vivek fans.

00:45:36.540 And you should know that Vivek Ramaswamy himself is not offended.

00:45:40.320 He put out a tweet laughing about it, as you would expect.

00:45:44.100 Like, you would not expect him.

00:45:46.160 I mean, if he had been offended, if he had tweeted himself saying, do better, guys.

00:45:51.800 This is not, this is too funny.

00:45:54.080 My opinion of him would have entirely changed.

00:45:56.180 I would go, that alone, this is, everything good I've said about him in that moment, I would say, never mind.

00:46:03.020 But he didn't say that.

00:46:05.400 As expected, he thought it was funny.

00:46:08.620 So you don't need to be his white knight galloping in on your gallant steed to defend him from the Babylon Bee headline.

00:46:16.120 And also, in general, being a supporter of a politician, this to me is the most important thing.

00:46:20.360 Being a supporter of a politician should not mean that you are offended by jokes about that politician.

00:46:28.040 All politicians should be mocked as a general principle.

00:46:32.620 And that is as American as it gets, even the ones you like. 0.90

00:46:36.980 And I like Vivek Ramaswamy.

00:46:38.820 I guess he's not technically a politician at the moment because he just dropped out.

00:46:41.520 But even so, this is, this is, what makes us America, what sets us apart or used to is that we are cynical towards our politicians and we love making fun of them.

00:46:57.200 If we like them, we make fun of them too.

00:46:59.980 And that's, and that is one of the things that's supposed to be uniquely American, right, in our approach.

00:47:05.740 And so, to me, it's almost like complaining when a politician is made fun of.

00:47:13.180 It's anti-American, in my mind.

00:47:17.880 Now, if the joke is not really even a joke, like a lot of the jokes, quote unquote, that you hear about Trump on late night shows and stuff, you can complain about those jokes.

00:47:26.700 Because, not because you're offended on Trump's behalf, but because they're actually not funny because they're not even really jokes.

00:47:30.940 There's no attempt to make a joke here.

00:47:32.360 They're like Jimmy Kimmel for the 50th time doing a monologue where it's supposed to be a joke, but it's just one long whine.

00:47:43.420 Yeah, that's just not funny.

00:47:45.000 That's actually not funny because there's no joke being told anywhere in it.

00:47:50.140 So, I couldn't laugh even if you wanted to.

00:47:52.140 That's one thing.

00:47:53.660 But this is, clearly, it's coming from the Babylon Bee.

00:47:55.740 You know, that's a friendly source.

00:47:56.960 Like, clearly, it's a joke.

00:47:58.580 That's what it's supposed to be.

00:47:59.680 And that's how it should be taken.

00:48:03.540 And the third thing is just, and this is, I admit, people reacting to a Babylon Bee headline, it's a pretty minor issue, all things considered.

00:48:12.540 But it is a small microcosm of something that worries me a lot, which is that some corners of the right are truly becoming as woke as the left.

00:48:23.240 And this is one little, another bit of evidence.

00:48:27.560 If you were worried about that, it's just one little, one small bit of evidence that would seem to confirm that very disturbing suspicion that this is happening.

00:48:41.340 So, on the right, there is this mentality.

00:48:46.880 And to me, it seems to be getting worse over time.

00:48:49.100 You've got some on the right who are, you know, they're kind of backing away from some of these cultural issues.

00:48:55.320 They don't want to talk about them anymore.

00:48:56.900 They're softening their stances.

00:48:58.220 They're, you know, they're getting offended or pretending to be offended by really tame ethnic jokes and that sort of thing. 0.61

00:49:09.140 So, that's something that we should watch out for.

00:49:15.960 It's very concerning.

00:49:17.300 Okay, two other quick things.

00:49:22.640 RuPaul's Drag Race won, so the Emmys happened, first of all, a couple days ago.

00:49:28.440 I legitimately had no idea that they even happened, but they did. 0.55

00:49:31.920 And RuPaul's Drag Race won an award for Best Horrible Piece of F*** Program or whatever the category was.

00:49:40.900 And here's what RuPaul had to say when accepting the award. 0.91

00:49:44.140 Listen.

00:49:44.740 If a drag queen wants to read you a story at a library, listen to her because knowledge is power. 1.00

00:49:55.960 And if someone tries to restrict your access to power, they are trying to scare you.

00:50:03.400 So, listen to a drag queen. 1.00

00:50:04.840 We love you.

00:50:05.400 Thank you.

00:50:06.880 Yeah, knowledge is power.

00:50:10.000 That's true.

00:50:12.040 Knowledge is power.

00:50:13.360 And listening to stories, listening to adults read stories as a young child is great.

00:50:20.260 I read to my kids all the time.

00:50:21.940 I am very much in favor of it.

00:50:23.640 But one of my favorite things to do is to read books to my kids.

00:50:30.840 But when it comes to the drag queen story hours, why does the adult need to be dressed like a woman to do it? 1.00

00:50:39.500 And what you need to do is explain that extra step.

00:50:45.840 And someone like RuPaul, he's never going to do that, does he?

00:50:49.060 He never does that.

00:50:49.600 He never explains the extra step.

00:50:53.640 But when talking about the value of drag queen story hour, all they really want to talk about is the value of story hour.

00:51:00.920 So the story hour part of it, they say, well, of course we should read it.

00:51:05.900 And if you object to it, they say, well, you have a problem with kids being, hearing stories?

00:51:11.960 No, it's not the story hour part.

00:51:13.340 It's the drag queen part. 1.00

00:51:14.640 That's the part we're having a conversation about, or we need to anyway.

00:51:17.360 But once again, I think on the right, we have approached this issue all wrong, only because we are on the defensive and we're constantly explaining why we are opposed to cross-dressing fetishists reading books to kids.

00:51:36.580 We feel the need to constantly explain that, as if it needs to be explained, as if anyone's actually confused, right?

00:51:45.680 But what we should be doing is saying to them, why do you need to cross-dress to read books to kids? 0.91

00:51:54.500 So you first.

00:51:55.600 I'm happy to tell you why I don't want a cross-dressing fetishist reading books to my kids. 1.00

00:52:02.300 Happy to explain that to you, if you really need to explain.

00:52:06.220 But given that you started this, given that you invented this whole thing, whether it's drag queen story hour or drag queens being, kids being exposed to drag queens in many other contexts, this is something that you decided to do.

00:52:21.540 Society was humming along fine.

00:52:23.700 Well, we had plenty of other problems unrelated to this, but things were moving along, and there were no drag queens reading stories to kids, and no drag queens really being around kids.

00:52:37.920 And that was the case forever, basically.

00:52:41.120 And that was not causing any problems.

00:52:42.960 Society had plenty of problems, but none of them could be traced to a lack of drag queens reading to kids, okay? 1.00

00:52:49.420 And so you came along and said, no, this is something we should start doing.

00:52:55.360 And since you have proposed this and enacted it and are doing it, the burden of proof is on you.

00:53:02.000 It's not on us.

00:53:03.200 You have to explain why this needs to be done.

00:53:06.320 Why is it that we had librarians who were reading stories to kids ever since libraries existed, right?

00:53:14.940 And it was fine.

00:53:18.560 And then you came along and said, no, no, no.

00:53:21.440 I think the person who's reading the story should be a man dressed like a woman. 0.66

00:53:26.080 Why?

00:53:27.340 Why that part?

00:53:29.440 Why are you adding that to this?

00:53:31.860 Can you explain that?

00:53:32.480 And if you're a drag queen who does Drag Race Story Hour, why do you need, okay, you like to read stories to kids. 0.91

00:53:38.920 That part is fine, on the surface anyway.

00:53:43.860 Why do you need to put on the drag first?

00:53:47.100 Why is that something that you feel compelled to do?

00:53:52.860 Explain your compulsion to putting on women's clothes to read books to kids. 0.91

00:53:59.540 Like, what joy do you find in that?

00:54:02.300 Why do you enjoy that so much?

00:54:03.560 Why is it so important to you?

00:54:09.080 And that, any conversation about this or anything related to it should begin and end with that question.

00:54:14.840 Like, you explain it.

00:54:16.820 Why do you need to do this?

00:54:17.920 Why do you need to cross-dress in front of kids? 0.98

00:54:20.780 And they can't.

00:54:23.340 Now, it's not that they can't answer that question.

00:54:25.320 It's that they will not answer it.

00:54:26.980 All of the answers are things that they do not want to say out loud, which is why the question should be posed.

00:54:34.580 Yeah, these people have reasons why they really feel strongly, why they have this strong desire to play out their fetish in front of kids.

00:54:43.620 They've got their reasons, but they don't want to explain those reasons.

00:54:46.680 And they should be forced to.

00:54:51.100 And any conversation, any debate about this should just be centered around forcing them.

00:54:58.380 Why do you need to do this?

00:54:59.520 What do you get out of this?

00:55:00.300 Why do you enjoy cross-dressing in front of kids so much?

00:55:03.600 Well, guys, this is a no-brainer.

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00:55:50.440 Now let's get to our daily cancellation.

00:55:58.320 Well, it's going to seem like this is shaping up to be another segment where I rip on Gen Z, but it's not.

00:56:04.000 Well, at first it will be, but not for the whole time.

00:56:07.280 And that's the best I can do.

00:56:08.460 So we begin with this article from New York Post, headline, Gen Z speaks out on the simple act that brings them to tears.

00:56:14.660 I would freak out, in quotes.

00:56:16.940 And the fun clickbait game we're supposed to play is to guess which simple everyday activity brings these young adults to tears.

00:56:24.060 And it's sort of a trick question, though, because literally any simple everyday activity has that potential.

00:56:31.760 But in this case, the activity is making a phone call.

00:56:36.000 So, reading.

00:56:37.120 The simple act of making a phone call has emerged as one of Gen Z's greatest weaknesses. 1.00

00:56:42.660 With phones being so easily accessible and attached to almost every young person's hand,

00:56:47.040 you might expect Gen Z to be able to perform one of the most mundane tasks, picking up the phone and dialing. 1.00

00:56:52.160 Unfortunately, the reality is, the very thought of making a call is often accompanied by a sense of dread and impending failure for some.

00:56:57.980 Most subject matter experts believe this apprehension to phone calls is associated with social anxiety.

00:57:03.860 Social anxiety stems from the fear of judgment or humiliation.

00:57:07.480 Texting and using apps such as Snapchat prevents mistakes from being made.

00:57:11.400 Texting allows Gen Z to proofread and keep track of their conversation. 0.86

00:57:16.820 Now, hang on one second.

00:57:18.380 If anyone of any generation is proofreading their text messages, or any other message that they post or send on the internet,

00:57:25.700 that's definitely news to me.

00:57:27.980 Because Gen Z very clearly is not proofreading anything. 0.85

00:57:31.560 Although, they're still better in that regard than baby boomers, 1.00

00:57:34.400 who are, for some reason, renowned for their spelling, syntax, and punctuation errors.

00:57:39.460 Not to mention their inordinate love of the ellipsis.

00:57:42.460 Which I don't quite understand, but that's neither here nor there.

00:57:45.920 Let's continue.

00:57:46.840 News.com.au spoke to high school and university students to explain their fear.

00:57:52.900 If I had to make a phone call, I would freak out, one said.

00:57:55.760 When I do make a call, I usually sit down and write potential responses to what I think they'll say to me, just so I'm prepared.

00:58:02.420 Another said that it was best just to stay away from phone calls.

00:58:05.020 It feels like I'm not reinforcing the statement, stranger danger, she said.

00:58:10.640 It's been a warning we've all grown up with.

00:58:12.800 Aaron McGovern, 21, told news.com.au that any thought of making a phone call is anxiety-inducing.

00:58:19.460 If I'm tasked with calling someone important, the prospect might bring me to tears, she said.

00:58:24.060 The sense of fear of failure contributes to my heightened sense of stress associated with phone calls.

00:58:29.920 Typically, I'll prepare by jotting down what I want to say on paper and imagine what the other person might say, she said.

00:58:36.220 If the other person doesn't respond how I imagined, my reaction and response becomes awkward.

00:58:40.620 We then hear from testimonials from various other people, including younger people, some kids who are also reduced to tears by the very thought of communicating through spoken language on a phone.

00:58:55.840 Tate Bevin, 16, said if he has to call someone, he'd be stressed out about how the conversation would play out.

00:59:01.640 I would be worried about what I'll say and what I need to say, he said.

00:59:04.700 I wouldn't want to miss anything.

00:59:05.680 Similarly, Georgia O'Grady, 16, said she'd also be worried.

00:59:09.880 I get very nervous when I make a call, she said.

00:59:12.300 I'd probably avoid doing something important if it meant I had to make a call.

00:59:16.480 Now, so you get the idea.

00:59:18.300 Very, very upset, reduced to tears by phone calls.

00:59:21.140 And it continues with more examples of young people who go to elaborate lengths to avoid phone calls or who prepare for a phone call like it's the MCATs or something.

00:59:31.720 And I'm not sure I've ever spoken on the phone to someone in Gen Z before for any, like, extended period of time.

00:59:40.900 But I'm sure I have.

00:59:42.620 But if I ever do again, now that I know that they're writing their responses ahead of time, like, it would be fun to throw some stuff at them that they didn't prepare for.

00:59:51.520 Or, you know, start the conversation like, hey, how's it going, by the way?

00:59:57.180 Did you know that a reindeer's eyeballs turn blue in winter?

01:00:01.440 You know, just a curveball.

01:00:02.460 Something they did.

01:00:03.000 Like, they don't have anything in their notes for that.

01:00:04.460 You can be pretty sure.

01:00:05.680 Have them scrambling and looking through their notes for a response.

01:00:09.020 Hang on.

01:00:10.000 Blue, you say?

01:00:12.400 Wow.

01:00:13.180 All right.

01:00:13.700 And then they just burst into tears.

01:00:16.280 And that's how I imagine the conversation going, which would be kind of funny.

01:00:18.920 Now, of course, as far as Gen Z is concerned, this all has very little to do with phone calls per se.

01:00:25.740 The problem is much bigger than that.

01:00:27.820 They are, and this is why I emphasize this all the time, because I think it's something that we still hasn't quite, it doesn't quite sink in for us.

01:00:35.100 They are the first generation of humans in world history to be raised in an environment where a majority of their communication is not done through spoken language.

01:00:49.060 Okay?

01:00:49.360 For every other generation of humans that has ever existed, almost all of the conversing that they did on a daily basis, almost all of the communicating they did on a daily basis was conducted, whether in person or by phone, through spoken communication.

01:01:04.000 But for Gen Z, most of them were in elementary school, and the rest weren't even born when the iPhone was introduced. 0.83

01:01:12.400 And so they've had smartphones since they were young children, a lot of them.

01:01:15.160 And so a majority of the conversation, interaction that they have on a daily basis, since they were small children, has happened through that device using visual communication.

01:01:28.160 Now, millennials are barely in a better position.

01:01:30.360 Smartphones took over our lives right around the time we graduated high school or college, depending on, you know, how old we are.

01:01:38.040 And so our adult lives have been dominated by these devices.

01:01:43.240 But for Gen Z, their entire lives have been consumed by them, which is to say they don't really know how to speak to people. 1.00

01:01:52.880 But they've been conditioned to, and it's not their fault, they've been conditioned to communicate through memes and GIFs and emojis and choppy internet slaying and run-on sentences.

01:02:04.020 And, again, communicating almost entirely visually.

01:02:08.140 It's not to say they don't talk to people around them.

01:02:10.620 But if you're on your phone 10, 12 hours a day, you're constantly communicating in one form or another with other people.

01:02:19.000 And, again, almost all of it is visual.

01:02:21.480 So it's like expecting a child raised by wolves in the forest to come back to civilization and hold a coherent conversation with you.

01:02:29.100 It's just not going to happen.

01:02:30.840 And that's the problem.

01:02:35.380 And then, like, how does this problem compound itself?

01:02:39.560 What does the exponential growth look like?

01:02:43.240 When you've got years from now, when you've got another generation who were also raised on the phones, almost all their communication visually, but they were raised by parents who themselves were raised that way.

01:03:00.320 It's just we are going to get to a point.

01:03:04.060 I think idiocracy, people say it's prophetic, but idiocracy, from what I remember, they went 500 years in the future and people, you know, the average IQ was like 70 or 60 or something.

01:03:18.080 I think they were very optimistic.

01:03:21.180 I think if something doesn't radically change in the next, like, 150 years, I think people are going to be communicating.

01:03:28.900 The verbal in-person communication will basically be grunts.

01:03:32.400 You'll basically be grunts and hand gesturing.

01:03:38.160 Like, there's going to be basically no coherent verbal communication at all.

01:03:42.800 That's where we're headed.

01:03:44.500 Now, with all that said, putting all that to the same, they are not wrong about phone calls, though.

01:03:51.140 Now, they may be wrong to cry about it, but it is true that there is very rarely a good reason for a phone call to be made or received.

01:03:59.180 And I was out ahead of this curve five years ago when I canceled phone calls on this show.

01:04:04.140 In fact, I think that was one of the very first things I canceled when we first started this segment.

01:04:08.960 Of all the things I could cancel, like, one of the first things I, the most important thing is I canceled phone calls.

01:04:13.440 Which means that for the last five years, none of you should have been making phone calls because they were already canceled.

01:04:17.080 You should know that.

01:04:17.760 And there's no need for me to rehash it because I'm going to assume that all of you have listened to every single episode for the past five years.

01:04:26.500 But on the off chance that a few of you have neglected your duties in consuming every piece of content that I have ever produced,

01:04:32.560 then I will just reiterate the basic point, which is, you know, I am an advocate of face-to-face human communication.

01:04:38.840 I'm not necessarily a fan of that either in every context, but from a personal and civilizational perspective,

01:04:43.740 it is the most worthwhile and productive form of communication.

01:04:48.980 But long-form writing, like writing books and letters, is second to that.

01:04:55.280 And then what you have online is distant behind it.

01:04:59.520 But if you're going to communicate with someone in a non-face-to-face format,

01:05:02.800 it can almost always be handled quicker and more efficiently with a text or email.

01:05:06.760 So, you know, we've all been in a situation where you send somebody a text with a simple question or statement

01:05:11.960 and horrifically they call you to respond to it.

01:05:16.840 Like you send them a text and then you look down and you see their number popping up on your phone.

01:05:20.840 And there are a few feelings worse than that.

01:05:23.860 Not feelings that you're going to cry, but just like a mixture of irritation and befuddlement.

01:05:29.080 It's just like, what are you, why are you doing this?

01:05:31.600 We're texting.

01:05:32.400 Why are you doing this?

01:05:33.020 And then the response ends up being something that could have been conveyed in one sentence via text.

01:05:39.700 Like even worse, you'll have someone text you to set up a phone call, to schedule a call.

01:05:45.500 I mean, I'll be honest, I have people in my phone right now that have been texting me for like months.

01:05:50.680 Hey, let's schedule a call.

01:05:51.920 It's like, for all this time, you just, whatever you want to say, just say it.

01:05:55.540 It's not, and then we schedule it and the day finally comes and we do our little call.

01:06:00.720 And it turns out that whatever needed to be said could have been said in the very text that were used to schedule the call in the first place.

01:06:10.040 So the problem is that most people really have no idea, and this goes back to a lack of spoken communication.

01:06:17.060 They have no idea how to end a conversation, especially one that's happening on the phone, because a lot of the verbal, a lot of the visual cues are not there.

01:06:26.500 So the discussion that should be, by all rights, 30 seconds long becomes five minutes or 30 minutes.

01:06:31.760 As the few sentences they needed to convey have already been conveyed, and now it has to be padded with like 50 pounds of small talk.

01:06:40.060 To the extent that Gen Z is objecting to all of that, they're actually fully justified, and I feel it's necessary to point that out. 1.00

01:06:48.000 In fact, you could make an argument that phone companies should be mandated to disable the phone function, like the actual phone function on the phone should be disabled,

01:06:56.400 because there's really no reason why anyone needs to use it for that purpose anymore.

01:06:59.340 Except for kids, it's the opposite.

01:07:03.640 Like if they do have phones, it should only be to make phone calls and not to do any of the internet stuff.

01:07:08.620 So you have to adjust the laws accordingly.

01:07:12.700 Better yet, I guess, I guess what it comes down to is probably we should all just toss our phones in the ocean and be done with the whole thing.

01:07:22.000 Might not be the healthiest for the fish, but it would be better for us.

01:07:24.960 But until that happens, I'm not going to judge Gen Z for their phone call aversion.

01:07:32.640 So who am I canceling?

01:07:35.600 I guess phones are canceled again.

01:07:39.340 Except the one you're using to listen to this right now.

01:07:41.260 That one is fine, but the rest can go.

01:07:44.020 The rest are canceled.

01:07:45.440 And that'll do it for the show today.

01:07:46.740 Thanks for watching.

01:07:47.260 Thanks for listening.

01:07:48.300 Talk to you tomorrow.

01:07:49.760 Have a great day.

01:07:50.980 Godspeed.

01:07:51.300 Godspeed.

01:07:58.440 Godspeed.

01:07:59.980 Godspeed.

01:08:00.320 Godspeed.

01:08:00.600 Godspeed.

01:08:00.660 Godspeed.

01:08:01.120 Godspeed.

01:08:01.500 Godspeed.

01:08:01.540 Godspeed.

01:08:02.360 Godspeed.

01:08:02.500 Godspeed.

01:08:03.080 Godspeed.

01:08:03.560 Godspeed.

01:08:03.620 Godspeed.

01:08:03.900 Godspeed.

01:08:04.540 Godspeed.

01:08:05.160 Godspeed.

01:08:05.180 Godspeed.

01:08:05.200 Godspeed.

01:08:05.480 Godspeed.

01:08:05.600 Godspeed.

01:08:19.300 Godspeed.

01:08:20.580 Thank you.

The Matt Walsh Show - January 17, 2024

Ep. 1295 - Dem-Controlled Cities Legalize Shoplifting, Shocked When Businesses Flee

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