The Matt Walsh Show - July 26, 2018


Ep 70 - Inventing Another Fake Environmental Crisis


Episode Stats


Length

18 minutes

Words per minute

159.91815

Word count

2,970

Sentence count

189

Harmful content

Misogyny

5

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Straws are the latest doomsday prophecy of environmentalists. They have found a new villain to fight a new cancer to treat, and that villain is straws. Plastic straws are destroying mankind, and we have to get rid of them.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
00:00:00.000 So you've heard presumably about the latest doomsday prophecy of environmentalists.
00:00:04.680 They have found a new villain to fight a new cancer to treat, and that is straws.
00:00:12.340 Plastic straws.
00:00:13.760 Plastic straws are destroying mankind, and we have to get rid of them.
00:00:18.240 San Francisco is the most recent city, I believe, to ban straws.
00:00:23.400 They will now be straw-free.
00:00:24.960 They are a safe haven from the tyranny of straws, so you don't have to worry.
00:00:32.100 If you're in San Francisco, you don't have to worry about walking down the street and
00:00:36.560 tripping over a straw and becoming paralyzed, which is, you know, that's happened to at
00:00:42.020 least three or four people that I know.
00:00:43.520 It's very common.
00:00:44.920 Now, if you're in San Francisco, you still have to worry about walking down the street
00:00:48.580 and stepping on a used heroin needle or slipping in a puddle of human feces, but at least you're
00:00:54.940 don't have to worry about straws.
00:00:57.100 Other cities are also banning straws.
00:00:59.540 Seattle's banned straws. 0.96
00:01:01.540 Santa Barbara is coming down very hard, and what they're saying is that if you are caught
00:01:07.900 being a straw dealer, you could get six months in jail per straw that you hand out.
00:01:14.820 So if you are a waitress at Denny's and you make the mistake of handing out a straw to
00:01:22.940 one person, you get six months.
00:01:24.140 Now, if there's, say, a birthday party at Denny's, which is a great location for a birthday
00:01:29.640 party, then, and you hand out straws to everybody, you go rogue and you just start handing out
00:01:34.880 straws left and right, you could be looking at 20 or 30 years in prison when all is said
00:01:40.860 done.
00:01:42.420 I mean, you could, if rather than handing out straws, if you had just, if it was like
00:01:47.720 a toddler birthday party and you had just poured shots of absinthe for all the toddlers,
00:01:52.880 you would get less prison time than if you were to hand out straws to them.
00:01:58.280 Now, if you gave them straws to drink the absinthe, then I think you've really got a problem.
00:02:03.200 That would actually be execution, I believe.
00:02:05.300 That's the rule.
00:02:06.340 So celebrities have gotten in on the act as well.
00:02:09.280 They're recording PSAs, they're starting campaigns, they're raising awareness about
00:02:14.100 straws.
00:02:14.620 So now everybody is aware of straws.
00:02:17.520 And it is just, it is turned into hysteria as per usual.
00:02:22.220 We have a crisis because everything has to be a crisis.
00:02:25.780 So we can't just have a problem or we can't just discuss an issue.
00:02:31.280 It has to be a crisis.
00:02:32.880 It has to be, oh my gosh, we're all going to die.
00:02:34.760 That's what it has to be.
00:02:36.060 So that's what it's become with straws.
00:02:37.940 Now, you may have heard that these anti-straw measures are necessary because our straw consumption
00:02:44.040 habits are so out of control.
00:02:46.740 We become straw addicts.
00:02:48.880 And the only way to stop our straw obsession is to just go cold turkey.
00:02:53.860 According to the figures that you hear in the media, Americans use 500 million straws
00:03:01.560 a day per person.
00:03:05.440 I don't think it's per person.
00:03:06.160 I think it's collectively.
00:03:07.680 Okay.
00:03:07.880 So collectively, Americans use 500 million straws a day.
00:03:12.780 That's more than 3 billion a week.
00:03:15.420 That means if you connected all the straws that we use in a year and you connected them just
00:03:25.080 and you line them all up, they would stretch four light years into space and actually touch
00:03:33.920 our neighboring star and then be burned up.
00:03:37.060 And then you would have this towering inferno of straws that would fall down to the earth
00:03:43.800 and engulf us all and engulf the earth in flames.
00:03:48.060 Okay.
00:03:48.640 That's how many straws we use.
00:03:54.420 If the statistics that I just cited sound made up, it's because they are.
00:04:00.600 The bit about connecting them into space, I made that up, although who knows, maybe that
00:04:06.940 would be true.
00:04:08.240 The 500 million bit was made up by a nine-year-old child.
00:04:14.500 And his made-up statistic is actually being used by the media and by journalists and by
00:04:21.000 politicians who are passing laws.
00:04:23.560 Politicians passing laws are citing this statistic that was invented by a fourth grader.
00:04:29.340 However, a nine-year-old, this is how he did it.
00:04:31.500 Okay.
00:04:31.660 Nine-year-old child, I think back in 2011, was concerned about straws, which I mean, it's
00:04:36.940 great.
00:04:37.200 He's environmentally conscious.
00:04:39.140 And I know this is not a criticism of the nine-year-old child, but he is nine years old.
00:04:45.980 So what he did was he got on the phone and he conducted an informal phone survey with a
00:04:50.880 few straw manufacturers.
00:04:52.760 And based on his conversation with them, he guessed that we probably use 500 million straws
00:04:59.660 a day.
00:05:00.180 And now that guess by a nine-year-old six years ago is being cited as fact.
00:05:08.200 Not even like reportedly we use 500 million straws a day or allegedly we use straws, or it's
00:05:18.080 estimated that maybe perhaps we use 500 million a day.
00:05:21.180 No, if you read media reports, it's we use 500 million straws a day.
00:05:29.020 Is it true?
00:05:30.860 I mean, do we actually use 500 million straws a day?
00:05:34.840 I have no idea.
00:05:36.940 Probably not.
00:05:38.200 Seems a little high, but nobody's bothered to check it.
00:05:41.540 Everybody's just running with it.
00:05:42.860 I don't know how to check that statistic, but just because you don't know how to check
00:05:46.480 it doesn't mean you could just use it.
00:05:48.140 And if you can't confirm it at all, if it can't be confirmed, then that means you just
00:05:52.560 can't use it.
00:05:55.500 But this is how it goes.
00:05:56.940 You see, once a stat, even a made-up statistic with no evidence to support it, once it becomes
00:06:03.520 attached to a movement, it is now carved in stone and you're not allowed to question it.
00:06:10.320 Once the movement adopts it, you're not allowed to question it anymore.
00:06:14.980 So for another example, think of the statistic that claims that 20% of all women in college 0.84
00:06:20.500 are raped.
00:06:21.320 You've heard that statistic before.
00:06:23.740 20% are raped.
00:06:26.840 20%.
00:06:27.280 I mean, that is an incredible statistic.
00:06:29.760 If it were actually true.
00:06:31.160 You think about 20.
00:06:31.840 So you're telling me, if I send my daughter to college, there's a 20% chance of this happening?
00:06:40.000 Why would anyone ever send their daughter to college again in that case?
00:06:43.620 I mean, why would any woman ever go to college again if there's a 20% chance of being raped? 1.00
00:06:49.800 I mean, it's horrific.
00:06:54.620 It's also invented.
00:06:55.960 That's an invented statistic.
00:06:57.300 It is not grounded in reality.
00:07:00.540 There is no factual basis for it at all.
00:07:03.400 It is just invented.
00:07:05.600 But feminists use it knowing that it's false, most of them, at least the ones that are leading 1.00
00:07:10.880 the movement.
00:07:11.800 They know that this statistic is total BS.
00:07:14.240 They use it anyway because they figure that their aims are noble and so it doesn't really
00:07:18.940 matter if they lie along the way.
00:07:20.500 So same for environmentalists.
00:07:22.740 Environmentalists are notorious for doing this.
00:07:24.940 Environmentalists and feminists, I would say, together, those two movements are the most 0.75
00:07:29.580 inclined to just use fabricated lies to advance their cause because they think that their aim
00:07:38.380 is just so noble and so good that it gives them a pass, an ethical kind of hallway pass
00:07:47.180 to use whatever measures they think are necessary.
00:07:51.240 Here's the problem, though, with using made-up statistics.
00:07:56.640 First of all, they're not true, so you're lying.
00:07:59.960 If that doesn't bother you, then how about this?
00:08:03.480 You're hurting your own case when you use made-up statistics.
00:08:08.960 Because here's what happens.
00:08:10.400 You come in with this crazy statistic and, first of all, you've given people a reason
00:08:17.660 to discount not just this statistic but your entire case.
00:08:24.520 And then if somebody corrects the stat and the real number is lower than what you said
00:08:29.280 but still pretty bad, the only thing people will focus on is the fact that you were wrong.
00:08:34.640 So, for instance, if you go, if you're very concerned about drunk driving, let's say,
00:08:42.620 and it is something we should be concerned about.
00:08:45.180 So, you go and you say, a thousand people die every day from drunk driving in America.
00:08:52.160 At first, you're going to think that your ridiculously inflated and dishonest statistic is working
00:08:57.680 because a lot of people will hear that and say, oh, my gosh, a thousand people?
00:09:04.420 I mean, that's really?
00:09:05.700 That's so high.
00:09:06.600 We have to do something.
00:09:07.720 A thousand people.
00:09:09.360 Most people, when they hear a statistic, if it is cited authoritatively, especially in a news article,
00:09:16.740 they'll just take it at face value.
00:09:19.880 They won't question.
00:09:21.000 That's how most people react.
00:09:22.660 So, it is, at first, you're going to find that using made-up statistics is a very effective measure
00:09:29.580 because most people just don't think about that.
00:09:32.620 They don't think about much at all, really.
00:09:34.720 And so, if you tell them something, they'll go, oh, okay.
00:09:37.140 Well, all right then.
00:09:38.420 That must be true because somebody said it to me.
00:09:41.120 But, invariably, some jerk who cares about pesky little things like truth will come along and say,
00:09:53.360 well, no.
00:09:55.880 Actually, it's not a thousand people die a day.
00:09:59.020 It's about 30 a day who die.
00:10:00.680 And then people, everybody else, the unthinking masses, who had 1,000 a day in mind, they're going to hear that,
00:10:10.940 and they're going to go, oh, well, that's not so bad at all in comparison.
00:10:13.880 I guess drunk driving isn't a problem.
00:10:16.200 It's not a problem at all.
00:10:17.060 I mean, I thought it was a thousand.
00:10:18.580 We just went from 1,000 down to 30.
00:10:20.500 Well, it's like nothing.
00:10:21.580 So, you had this thing that is certainly a problem, and now people won't see it as a problem anymore
00:10:28.860 because of the way that you chose to approach it.
00:10:32.240 If you had just been reasonable and honest and told the truth, maybe you could have made a difference,
00:10:36.780 but instead you ruined your whole campaign by basing it on nonsense.
00:10:41.240 So, environmentalists really need to get this through their heads.
00:10:44.600 Yes, it is a worthy goal to try to reduce our use of plastic.
00:10:48.600 And, yeah, straws are kind of wasteful, and I don't think that we use 500 million a day,
00:10:55.160 but we probably use a lot.
00:10:57.160 I mean, maybe we use 100 million, maybe we use 200 million.
00:10:59.760 I really don't think it's 500 million because that would require every man, woman, child, and infant,
00:11:06.820 on average, to use almost two straws a day, every day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
00:11:13.760 And I just, considering there, now me, I rarely ever use straws.
00:11:17.980 I think I use a straw maybe once a month.
00:11:19.480 I'm on, like, a once-a-month straw habit.
00:11:23.680 And that's the case for pretty much everyone in my family.
00:11:26.720 We don't have, we don't use, there's not a lot of straw usage going on in my family.
00:11:30.500 And I think there are a lot of people like me who just don't use straws at all.
00:11:33.620 So, it actually would require, considering there are people who don't use straws at all,
00:11:37.240 that means that there must be people out there using, like, 10 or 15 straws a day.
00:11:41.240 But, and considering the fact that hardly anyone uses a straw unless they're eating out,
00:11:46.280 like, you're going to a fast food restaurant, you're going to, you're going to a sit-down
00:11:50.680 restaurant, that's, for most people, that's the only time straws ever come up.
00:11:53.540 So, that would require there to be a lot of people who are eating out, like, four or five
00:11:59.420 times a day and getting straws.
00:12:02.820 Maybe there are some people who do that.
00:12:04.300 I don't think it's enough to get you up to 500 million.
00:12:08.540 So, whatever the statistic is, let's say it's 100 million, 200 million, I don't know what it is.
00:12:13.000 Even if it's 50 million, it's still a lot.
00:12:16.240 It's still a lot.
00:12:17.200 So, just drop the hysterics, drop the theatrics, drop the propaganda, drop the lies,
00:12:23.740 stop trying to force the issue through laws and regulations, and just instead make your point
00:12:29.040 and encourage people to moderate themselves a little bit.
00:12:31.800 That's all.
00:12:32.300 So, you could just say, look, you know, there's, look at, there's 300 plus million people in America.
00:12:39.800 We do eat out, we tend to eat out a lot, get a lot of fast food.
00:12:44.000 So, that means that there's a lot of straws being used.
00:12:46.280 It's maybe not 500 million a day, but it's still a lot.
00:12:49.240 It's kind of a wasteful thing.
00:12:51.540 So, maybe we should, let's just moderate that.
00:12:53.540 And maybe if you go to McDonald's and you get a soda, unless you really need the straw, maybe tell them, you know, I don't need the straw.
00:13:04.320 You could just encourage people to take measures like that, and it's fine.
00:13:07.480 And so, people are moderating a little bit.
00:13:09.720 It's not hysteria.
00:13:10.880 It's just kind of a reasonable thing.
00:13:12.380 But when everything has to be a crisis, when everything is leading to the annihilation of life on Earth,
00:13:19.240 and when you start using these overly emotional appeals and saying, somebody said to me on Twitter yesterday,
00:13:25.000 they said, well, aren't you concerned about your straw ending up lodged in the nose of a sea turtle?
00:13:34.580 Aren't you concerned about that?
00:13:36.640 And I had to say, no, not really.
00:13:38.320 I mean, I have to be honest.
00:13:40.360 That does not make my, if I'm going to list the top 100 things in life that I'm worried about,
00:13:47.180 I don't think the nasal passages of sea turtles really makes the list at all.
00:13:53.420 And also, I think the chances of the straw that I'm, you know, using to drink my soda with,
00:14:00.300 the chances of that ending up in the nose of a sea turtle, the chances are vanishingly small.
00:14:06.480 Even if I were to take the straw and go to the ocean myself and chuck it into the ocean and say,
00:14:13.520 take that sea turtles, even if I did that, there's almost no chance that that particular straw ends up lodged in the nose of a sea turtle.
00:14:22.700 So drop all that stuff and just be honest.
00:14:27.920 Of course, if you were honest, you'd have to admit that plastic straws,
00:14:36.280 while they're, maybe it's a worthy thing to try to, you know, just through our own efforts to moderate a little bit,
00:14:45.040 still, when it comes down to it, plastic straws really aren't that big of a deal in the grand scheme.
00:14:51.720 Here are some facts for you, okay?
00:14:54.360 Here's some actual statistics.
00:14:55.740 If we're going to talk about plastic waste ending up in the ocean,
00:15:02.080 which this straw conversation all seems to be centered around that,
00:15:05.600 this idea that all the supposed 500 million straws a day that we use,
00:15:10.540 it's all ending up in the ocean, and it's creating this huge raft of straws
00:15:16.620 that is just floating through the Pacific and will eventually crash into Asia
00:15:22.060 and then maybe move the continent of Asia, shift it over, which will shift up,
00:15:27.460 and then all the continents will come together again.
00:15:32.520 And which actually maybe wouldn't be such a bad thing.
00:15:34.400 Maybe we could have, it will finally be all one world.
00:15:37.440 Isn't that what the liberals want?
00:15:38.320 So, rather than painting scenarios like that,
00:15:43.340 if you were to actually face the facts and be honest about it,
00:15:49.580 you would have to admit that 95%, 95% of the plastic in the ocean
00:15:57.840 comes from 10 rivers in Asia and Africa.
00:16:01.780 So, we could stop using plastic altogether.
00:16:06.740 It would make little difference.
00:16:08.760 60% of all the plastic waste in the ocean comes from China, Thailand,
00:16:13.160 Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
00:16:15.740 So, again, plastic from the United States is hardly a problem at all.
00:16:21.900 Comparatively, in terms of percentages, it's hardly a problem.
00:16:27.560 So, think about it, 95%, 95% of the plastic in the ocean comes from Asia and Africa.
00:16:35.920 That leaves 5% of plastic to be split between the entire continent of Europe,
00:16:42.320 North America, South America, and Australia.
00:16:44.800 That means we all have 5% of plastic to split.
00:16:48.440 And so, if you're to divvy it down, how much of that belongs to the United States,
00:16:52.960 I don't know, but it's significantly less than 5%.
00:16:56.280 And then, of our small percent, let's say it's even, I don't know, 1%.
00:17:01.920 Although, it's probably less than that.
00:17:05.540 Let's say it's 1%.
00:17:06.580 How much of that small percentage is due to straws?
00:17:12.100 So, it's just such a tiny, tiny percent that the United States, in fact, the entire Western world,
00:17:21.560 could stop using plastic altogether, and it would make almost no difference to the ocean.
00:17:29.880 Because at least 95% of the plastic would still be there.
00:17:38.000 That's the reality.
00:17:39.020 Does that mean that we should make no effort at all to curb our plastic consumption?
00:17:43.880 No, I'm not saying that.
00:17:45.280 Sure, we should make, you know, yeah.
00:17:47.040 Like I said, it's a worthy goal, I guess.
00:17:50.560 It's, even if we're not worried about it ending up in the ocean,
00:17:54.760 it's just a matter of general wastefulness.
00:17:58.820 You know, there's no reason to use things you don't need,
00:18:01.660 and there's no reason.
00:18:05.600 A lot of times, if you're at a fast food restaurant,
00:18:07.480 maybe they'll give you a straw, you don't even use it,
00:18:09.340 so it just sounds like it's wasteful.
00:18:10.700 So, yeah, we could moderate a bit, and that's it.
00:18:13.660 And that's all you have to say.
00:18:15.400 Forget the laws, forget the campaigns, the PSAs,
00:18:17.860 forget the lies and the made-up statistics and hysteria.
00:18:21.720 Just be honest a little bit, tell people the truth,
00:18:24.560 and then we can respond reasonably,
00:18:26.500 and everything we find in will just live our lives.
00:18:28.500 That's all.
00:18:29.040 That's my proposal.
00:18:30.560 Thanks for watching, everybody.
00:18:33.140 Thanks for listening.
00:18:33.960 Godspeed.