Full Transcript for Why Your Utopian Dreams Will Destroy the Economy | Dr. Doug Cardell

was telling me how wonderful communism was, and I listened to her for 10 or 15 minutes, and I said, Well, that'll never work. 00:05:50.240 --> 00:05:52.160 And she said, What do you mean that'll never work? 00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:57.199 And I said, Well, you're expecting people to behave like saints, and they they won't do that. 00:05:57.360 --> 00:06:05.199 They aren't gonna work hard and do everything that they the right way, and then let everybody else take the benefit for it. 00:06:05.279 --> 00:06:15.839 It just every organism in in the world, every organism, not just people, yeah, has to pursue its self-interest in order to survive. 00:06:16.079 --> 00:06:20.560 If you don't, if you don't pursue your self-interest, uh you'll die. 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:27.360 And that's exactly what happened in Jamestown and and Plymouth, is that people started dying. 00:06:27.600 --> 00:06:35.279 And they were eating shoe leather, uh, rats, digging up corpses in some cases. 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:48.800 Um yeah, I mean, it got really, really bad uh until the governor said, okay, we're gonna stop this, we're gonna give everybody their own plot of land, and you just do it. 00:06:49.040 --> 00:06:50.959 And that turned everything around. 00:06:51.120 --> 00:07:01.439 Once there was private property, the people that worked hardest got the most crops, the people that would didn't want to work very hard got the least uh in the way of food and such. 00:07:02.319 --> 00:07:07.279 And so things eventually corrected themselves, and the colonies both survived. 00:07:07.360 --> 00:07:09.120 But it was a very close thing. 00:07:09.680 --> 00:07:14.800 Another month of that, and the the they probably would have been wiped out. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:17.839 Wow, that's crazy, yeah. 00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:20.959 Yeah, so human nature is uh always wins, right? 00:07:21.120 --> 00:07:22.639 Always That's right. 00:07:23.199 --> 00:07:25.040 And that's what we mean by evidence. 00:07:25.199 --> 00:07:38.000 I mean, the the people that uh promote socialism or communism or however we want to phrase it, um it's like John Lennon's song, Imagine. 00:07:38.959 --> 00:07:47.279 You know, imagine there's no heaven, imagine there's no borders, imagine there's no wars, and you can imagine all that stuff all you want to, and that's fine. 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:49.839 But he titled the song correctly. 00:07:49.920 --> 00:07:51.199 It's imaginary. 00:07:51.519 --> 00:08:00.879 And you can't use imaginary stuff to build an economy because you have to acknowledge that people are people and they're gonna keep doing what they do. 00:08:01.199 --> 00:08:08.079 Um, you know, like another one of the things in the Democratic Socialist America's platform is to do away with the police. 00:08:09.199 --> 00:08:13.600 You know, I don't know what world these people have been living in. 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:19.439 They believe that if there aren't any police, everyone will suddenly be good. 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:29.279 We have, you know, 15,000 years of recorded history that says the exact opposite is the truth, is the fact. 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:34.879 Yeah, there will always be people who will exploit other people at any cost. 00:08:35.600 --> 00:08:48.399 And how they can just ignore 15,000 years of history and say, well, if we if we do it differently this time, if we're just nice to these people, everything will work out okay. 00:08:48.639 --> 00:08:52.240 And that's the the same thing is true of their foreign policy. 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:55.039 They say we're gonna get rid of the military. 00:08:55.279 --> 00:08:55.840 Yep. 00:08:56.960 --> 00:09:02.879 If we were with the military, we wouldn't have a country in six months. 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:10.639 Because yeah, there are bad people out there, just bad governments out there, just like there are bad people out there. 00:09:11.039 --> 00:09:17.120 And the only thing that keeps them in line is the threat of force. 00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:20.320 And yes, do I wish the world weren't that way? 00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:22.960 Of course I do, but it is that way. 00:09:23.360 --> 00:09:27.279 And my wishing it to be some other way isn't going to change that. 00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:36.399 Um, I'm I was small for my age when I was growing up and had a problem early on with bullies. 00:09:36.639 --> 00:09:39.440 And I learned real quick what the answer was. 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:44.639 I took karate lessons, and after six months of that, people didn't bother me anymore. 00:09:44.799 --> 00:09:48.720 All I had to do was punch one or two, and the word got around. 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:51.360 Don't mess with him, he can hurt you. 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:59.360 And so, again, is that the is that the nice way things we'd like what we would like things to be? 00:09:59.519 --> 00:10:00.639 No, of course not. 00:10:00.799 --> 00:10:04.559 But it is what it is, and we've got to deal with the evidence. 00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:08.159 Yeah, interesting. 00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:19.679 I don't know where where people get these ideas is either childish or incompetence, or I don't know how to call it, because and many people support it, that's even more scary. 00:10:20.080 --> 00:10:20.720 Yeah. 00:10:21.519 --> 00:10:22.159 Yeah. 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:23.120 Yeah. 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:32.000 Doctor, let's uh talk a little bit about um why uh predicting uh economic predicting fails. 00:10:32.159 --> 00:10:40.799 So you studied 30 years of Federal Reserve data, and you found they are right only for 40, 46%? 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:41.840 Yeah, 46%. 00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:43.360 46% of the time. 00:10:43.679 --> 00:10:44.720 Yeah, of the time. 00:10:44.799 --> 00:10:48.080 Uh why is it impossible to predict an economy? 00:10:48.240 --> 00:10:52.320 And also, can you explain uh chaos bubbles and black swans? 00:10:52.879 --> 00:10:53.120 Sure. 00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:54.240 This question, yeah.

00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:57.919 Um well, there's there's three main reasons. 00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:00.320 One is that it's a chaotic system. 00:11:00.559 --> 00:11:00.879 Uh-huh. 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:04.080 Economics, by its nature, is a chaotic system. 00:11:04.799 --> 00:11:21.279 What that means, most people don't really have a good understanding of chaotic systems, but what makes a chaotic system chaotic is that in a non-chaotic system, you can look at independent variables anything. 00:11:21.519 --> 00:11:31.360 Time, money, pick something, and when you put it on a graph, it will lead to only one conclusion. 00:11:32.080 --> 00:11:40.320 In a chaotic system, the same event, the same time, the same amount of money could lead to 40 or 50 different conclusions. 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:45.039 And so picking one of those becomes impossible. 00:11:45.440 --> 00:11:58.720 And a guy named Lorenz, uh in 1972, was able to prove that the weather was a chaotic system, and that we would never be able to predict it more than a couple of weeks out. 00:11:59.519 --> 00:12:05.279 No amount of any any improvement in measuring or anything else could ever do it. 00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:18.720 And the reason that's true is because every system, chaotic systems, have tipping points, places where the tiniest little thing can push things one way or the other. 00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:25.519 And his famous quote was Can a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil precipitate a tornado in Texas? 00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:27.279 And the answer is yes. 00:12:27.600 --> 00:12:29.679 Because it's it sounds crazy. 00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:33.840 You say, well, how can a butterfly make that big a difference? 00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:36.799 And the question the thing is, is there's a tipping point. 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:45.360 There's there becomes a point when will there be a hurricane or will there not be a hurricane or a tornado or whatever? 00:12:45.679 --> 00:12:59.360 And all it takes is one more molecule going one direction or another, one more slight breath of air going one way or another for the system to fall hurricane or no hurricane. 00:12:59.919 --> 00:13:02.720 And that's that's what the butterfly's wings could do. 00:13:02.799 --> 00:13:05.519 And exactly the same thing is true in the economy. 00:13:05.679 --> 00:13:13.039 I could make a similar statement and say, can someone buying a pair of shoes in Peru trigger a depression in Poland? 00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:14.879 And the answer is yes. 00:13:15.200 --> 00:13:30.559 Because if there's a tipping point, if if a if Poland's economy at some point in time is such that just one tiny little push could turn it one way or the other, yes, someone buying that pair of shoes could do that. 00:13:32.480 --> 00:13:45.120 And so in any chaotic system, prediction bec becomes basically impossible because there are too many tiny, tiny inputs that can change everything overnight. 00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:53.600 And then you mentioned two other things that can cause problems with that, and that are first of all, asset bubbles. 00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:59.519 Asset bubbles are things like the 2007 housing crisis in the US. 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:05.840 Um people started buying houses in what are what's called flipping them. 00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:09.679 Uh and and pretty soon the system got out of hand. 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:14.080 Nobody predicted it, but we had a huge crash in in the economy. 00:14:14.639 --> 00:14:18.799 And it took four or five years to get over it. 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:23.840 And any kind of an asset bubble can do that. 00:14:23.919 --> 00:14:28.399 We did this saw the same thing with tech stocks in the uh year 2000. 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:35.279 Um and the first one was in Holland in the 1400s, the tulip bubble. 00:14:35.840 --> 00:14:42.320 People were buying tulips and flipping them and created an asset bubble where the price went up and up and up and then crashed. 00:14:42.559 --> 00:14:43.120 Boom. 00:14:43.759 --> 00:14:53.679 And so uh that's another thing that's you can't predict, and it can throw your your predictions way off. 00:14:53.840 --> 00:14:58.320 And finally, there's a thing economists refer to as black swans. 00:14:58.720 --> 00:15:04.720 These are events that are so rare that people don't really know they even exist. 00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:12.799 In fact, they're named after the idea that in Europe people always thought black swans were impossible. 00:15:13.200 --> 00:15:16.559 There it was it was like everybody knew that. 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:20.559 There was no such thing as a black swan until somebody found one. 00:15:20.799 --> 00:15:21.200 Yeah. 00:15:21.759 --> 00:15:26.080 And then suddenly everything had to be rewritten. 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:30.000 And black swans exist in the economy as well. 00:15:30.159 --> 00:15:39.919 Uh the pandemic in uh five or six years ago uh is an example of that. 00:15:40.080 --> 00:15:43.600 Nobody predicted that, but the economic consequences were dire. 00:15:44.879 --> 00:15:53.759 And and so those are three things that make it absolutely impossible for anybody to predict where the economy is gonna go. 00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:56.240 Now you might say, well, who cares about that? 00:15:56.480 --> 00:16:08.559 Well, the problem is that in socialism or communism or fascism, collectivism, all of those things are based on the idea that someone can plan the economy. 00:16:09.759 --> 00:16:18.320 And so if I can't predict, if I can't know what's happening, how can I possibly plan? 00:16:18.879 --> 00:16:19.200 Right. 00:16:19.440 --> 00:16:23.679 And so if if they were to start a socialist government here in the U.S. 00:16:23.840 --> 00:16:25.360 and come to me and say, okay, Dr. 00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:29.919 Doug, uh we're we're gonna hire you to plan the economy. 00:16:30.159 --> 00:16:35.360 We want you to tell us how many cell phones to make, how many cars to make, what kinds of cars to make.

00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:41.600 Tell us everything we need to buy, build, make, and then we'll go do it. 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:47.840 Well, the first problem is that many of those things have very, very long lead times. 00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:52.480 That is, it might take five years to gear up to make a new kind of a car. 00:16:53.039 --> 00:17:03.120 And that was why the Russians and the Chinese had five-year plans, because they understood that your plans have to be five years out. 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:08.319 And some things you can do a little faster than that, maybe a year or so out. 00:17:08.480 --> 00:17:08.799 Uh-huh. 00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:14.720 But here's the problem, and here's here's how you can easily picture a chaotic system. 00:17:15.839 --> 00:17:21.680 In order for me to plan, I have to know what nine billion people are planning to do. 00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:22.240 Yeah. 00:17:22.480 --> 00:17:27.759 And the reality is, I don't know what my wife is planning to buy tomorrow. 00:17:28.079 --> 00:17:28.559 That's right. 00:17:28.640 --> 00:17:28.880 Yeah. 00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:32.240 I don't know what I may have to buy next week. 00:17:32.559 --> 00:17:37.519 How can I possibly predict what nine billion people are going to want? 00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:42.559 And in fact, we see it happen all the time in a capitalist economy. 00:17:42.799 --> 00:17:47.279 Companies go out of business because they predicted wrong. 00:17:47.519 --> 00:17:52.880 The difference is, is when a government does it, they're betting the entire economy. 00:17:53.119 --> 00:18:04.240 In capitalism, the upside is if one company guesses wrong, predicts wrong, and they go out of business, all the other companies are still functioning. 00:18:05.119 --> 00:18:10.640 And so the economy itself doesn't crash, that one company crashes. 00:18:10.880 --> 00:18:22.000 And another company tries, another company tries, and about a third of the new companies go out of business fairly soon, a couple, three years. 00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:35.119 And so why do we want the government making those same kind of bets with our money and doing it on such a huge scale that one crash and the whole economy goes? 00:18:35.359 --> 00:18:37.119 It doesn't make any sense. 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:43.279 So that that's how um a free market organizes itself. 00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:47.119 That's why it organizes better than central planner, right? 00:18:47.440 --> 00:18:48.960 Yes, that's exactly right. 00:18:49.200 --> 00:19:06.079 Um you could sort of think of it like this if if you're driving an aircraft carrier at 30 knots and you want to turn left, that left turn is going to take two, three miles before you can actually execute that left turn. 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:13.519 Because you've got this giant aircraft carrier with huge momentum that is very, very hard to steer. 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:24.720 Now imagine that same mass, but built out of speedboats, and they're cruising along at 30 knots, they can turn on a dime. 00:19:25.599 --> 00:19:31.519 That's the difference between a government economy and a free market economy. 00:19:31.759 --> 00:19:37.599 All those little companies can react far more quickly than one giant government entity. 00:19:37.759 --> 00:19:38.720 And they do. 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:46.319 Some of them don't make it, some of them go out of business, but many of them adapt and adapt really, really quickly. 00:19:46.480 --> 00:19:48.880 Um, and you see it happening every day. 00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:54.160 How many times have you gone to buy something and found out that product was no longer available? 00:19:54.400 --> 00:20:01.440 How many times have you gone to buy something and found out there's a much better product now that just came out three days ago? 00:20:01.759 --> 00:20:15.599 And I'm actually I'm a musician, and I actually spent a lot of time today working with a new music program that just came out, and I found it's far better than the one I've been using for decades. 00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:18.400 And so I'm gonna switch over to that. 00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:29.279 And um, and so yeah, adapt being able to adapt to life is a critically, critically important thing. 00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:33.599 And it's it's it's true for individuals as well. 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:40.480 Um, a lot of the people that are out there struggling, and I know there are people out there struggling, and I it that's sad. 00:20:41.200 --> 00:20:47.119 I hate to see it, but a lot of the reason is is they have they have they're not adaptable. 00:20:47.759 --> 00:21:01.680 They've they've made fixed plans, and as things in life change, they are resistant to making the changes necessary to adapt their lives to a changing environment. 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:04.319 Um and we see that all the time. 00:21:04.480 --> 00:21:17.039 I mean, we hear a lot of talk about AI right now, and AI is definitely definitely gonna have to require that people make some adaptations. 00:21:17.200 --> 00:21:20.559 Now, I think in the long run, it's probably gonna be fine. 00:21:20.799 --> 00:21:24.240 And the people that adapt the quickest will do the best. 00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:43.759 The people that are the slowest to adapt will be the most hurt by it, and so one of the things we need to do when we educate people is to try and help them become very, very adaptable and not um set their lives on a path that is unchangeable. 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:46.640 Now, obviously, you have bought into that. 00:21:47.119 --> 00:21:52.799 You're doing a job right now as we're talking that didn't exist 10 years ago. 00:21:53.039 --> 00:21:53.839 Oh, yeah. 00:21:54.240 --> 00:21:59.440 And so there was no such thing as having a job as a podcast host 10 years ago. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:01.680 There weren't any podcasts. 00:22:01.920 --> 00:22:04.640 And now there's thousands of them. 00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:13.119 And um, and so you have shown that you can you you can

succeed by adapting to a changing world. 00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:20.880 And you know, I don't know what you came out of before this, but but obviously you've made changes, and that's what people have to. 00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:22.559 We have to train people to do that. 00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:29.119 We have to teach, educate them to see that the world is a dynamic place, it's changing constantly. 00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:36.880 And every organism, again, we're not just talking about people, every organism has to adapt to survive. 00:22:37.039 --> 00:22:39.119 That's what killed the dinosaurs. 00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:44.319 They were too big and slow to be able to change when the climate changed. 00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:55.279 And so the the kings of the world for 165 million years died off because they couldn't adapt. 00:22:56.319 --> 00:23:17.839 The other thing that troubles me about education uh with helping people do better in the world is the the the secret to success and what capitalism really wants people to do is a really simple thing, but most people don't get it. 00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:24.400 People start by thinking they should work for a living, and that's not true. 00:23:24.720 --> 00:23:27.599 They should create value for a living. 00:23:27.839 --> 00:23:28.319 Yep. 00:23:29.119 --> 00:23:38.160 Because, yeah, I mean, so the way I would like to teach people is first of all, find out your talents. 00:23:38.559 --> 00:23:41.519 Find out what you're really, really good at. 00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:44.799 And in in schools, we do a very poor job of that. 00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:47.039 We don't help people find what they're good at. 00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:51.599 In fact, we pass people along when we should be failing you in certain things. 00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:53.519 Failure is a good thing. 00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:56.960 Failure is a message that's telling you change direction. 00:23:57.680 --> 00:24:08.640 And in fact, most guided missiles uh you know that are going to shoot down an incoming missile, do that by a constant state of failure. 00:24:09.119 --> 00:24:13.920 They move along in one direction until they see that they're going the wrong direction. 00:24:14.079 --> 00:24:20.960 Then they course correct, and then they end up going wrong again because they go too far the other way. 00:24:21.039 --> 00:24:22.240 So they course correct. 00:24:22.319 --> 00:24:26.480 And so they're making this zigzaggy sort of pattern toward the target. 00:24:27.039 --> 00:24:31.359 That's the way life actually works for all organisms again. 00:24:31.599 --> 00:24:34.960 You start out doing something and you're gonna get off course. 00:24:35.200 --> 00:24:37.039 We call that failure. 00:24:37.359 --> 00:24:42.799 It's not, I wouldn't call it failure, it's it's an opportunity to learn. 00:24:43.119 --> 00:24:49.359 And if you show me somebody who's never failed, then I'll show you somebody who's never accomplished anything. 00:24:49.759 --> 00:24:58.960 Because the chances of you going through life, never having the course correct, are abysmally low. 00:24:59.440 --> 00:25:07.440 So, what we want people to do is find out their talents, find out what they're really good at, and then to find their bliss. 00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:18.240 Find out what they really love doing, and then take their talent and their bliss and put them together to create value for other people. 00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:24.960 That's the whole secret to success, and that's what capitalism wants for us. 00:25:25.359 --> 00:25:28.319 And in fact, you and I are doing that right now. 00:25:28.880 --> 00:25:35.039 When I got up this morning, I didn't go, oh, I've got to go to work this afternoon, I've got to go do this podcast. 00:25:35.279 --> 00:25:36.960 And I'll bet you didn't do that either. 00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:38.319 I got up, I was excited. 00:25:38.640 --> 00:25:46.799 All day I've been looking forward to coming on this podcast today because I knew that you and I were going to create value for our listeners. 00:25:47.279 --> 00:25:50.319 And that's what that's what this is all about. 00:25:50.559 --> 00:25:59.599 That's what capitalism wants us to do is to go out there and create value for others, help everybody succeed by creating value for them. 00:25:59.920 --> 00:26:05.279 And you know, some I some some folks I know actually call it blessing other people. 00:26:05.440 --> 00:26:07.920 And I can I can get behind that too. 00:26:08.160 --> 00:26:12.079 The idea here is what we're trying to do is help others. 00:26:12.400 --> 00:26:23.920 And people get upset about the ultra-wealthy, but man, most of those people got ultra wealthy by creating value for other people. 00:26:24.559 --> 00:26:33.599 Um, I'm on a PC right now, I don't know what you're on, and I live out in the middle of nowhere, and I'm on a satellite. 00:26:33.839 --> 00:26:39.200 And so I couldn't be talking to you right now if it weren't for Bill Gates and Elon Musk. 00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:48.559 So why should why in the world should I be upset with them for making money by making my life better? 00:26:49.039 --> 00:26:51.279 It's just fuzzy thinking. 00:26:51.440 --> 00:26:52.400 Yep, yep, yeah. 00:26:53.039 --> 00:27:01.920 And it turns out the 10 richest people in the world right now are all Americans, and every single one of them got rich by creating value for others. 00:27:02.079 --> 00:27:11.200 None of them were born rich, none of them got rich by hook or by crook, every single one of them got rich by helping others. 00:27:11.359 --> 00:27:15.759 And so Jeff Bezos is another good example, creator of Amazon. 00:27:16.079 --> 00:27:19.039 Um people complain he's just too rich. 00:27:19.759 --> 00:27:21.200 What does that mean? 00:27:21.440 --> 00:27:27.519 What he did was create a system that has made every American two to three thousand dollars a year richer. 00:27:29.839 --> 00:27:31.039 How is that possible? 00:27:31.200 --> 00:27:36.000 Yeah,

because now we can order stuff online, we save gas, we save time. 00:27:36.160 --> 00:27:39.920 Due to Amazon's buying power, we save a lot of money. 00:27:40.240 --> 00:27:47.200 And so we're two to three thousand dollars a year better off, and we're gonna be mad because he got rich. 00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:58.960 And if the socialists get their way, they will tax somebody like Bezos out of existence, and we'll lose that two to three thousand dollars a year. 00:27:59.519 --> 00:28:04.400 So these people are shooting themselves in the foot. 00:28:04.640 --> 00:28:24.079 You know, they're they're trying to put in place things that are really, really bad and are gonna cause all kinds of problems that are hard to they're like they're like Karl Marx, he believed the value comes only from hard work, right? 00:28:24.319 --> 00:28:30.400 Yeah, not and yeah, and and it's just crazy. 00:28:30.559 --> 00:28:35.759 I mean, he thought that the only value in anything came from labor, hard work. 00:28:36.240 --> 00:28:43.359 And what people don't understand about value is nothing has value. 00:28:44.240 --> 00:28:50.160 Value is not something that exists in things or in labor or in anything else. 00:28:50.480 --> 00:28:54.160 Value only exists in the mind of the consumer. 00:28:55.119 --> 00:28:57.440 And how do we know that's true? 00:28:57.599 --> 00:29:01.359 Well, you and I are dressed differently right now. 00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:04.240 That betrays our values. 00:29:05.359 --> 00:29:12.240 That says that we if if you and I valued exactly the same thing, we would look like clones right now. 00:29:12.720 --> 00:29:14.240 But we don't. 00:29:14.720 --> 00:29:28.079 And if you were if if our listeners right now think about their ten closest friends and family members, do you all drive the same kind of car? 00:29:29.359 --> 00:29:32.079 Do you all watch the same TV programs? 00:29:32.400 --> 00:29:34.880 Do you all listen to the same music? 00:29:35.359 --> 00:29:38.319 Do you all wear the same kinds of clothes? 00:29:38.640 --> 00:29:41.440 Do you all date the same kinds of people? 00:29:42.480 --> 00:29:45.039 Do you all go to the same church? 00:29:46.400 --> 00:29:54.720 Do you all anything you want to pick, and you will find out even the people you're closest to are nothing like you. 00:29:55.359 --> 00:30:07.279 Now, you may have some values in common, but if you look at all the different values you have, you'll find out that you are very, very dissimilar. 00:30:07.680 --> 00:30:15.359 And if the argument were true that things had value, we would all obviously then value the same things equally. 00:30:15.680 --> 00:30:16.319 Yeah. 00:30:17.039 --> 00:30:19.440 And clearly that's not true. 00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:28.720 So again, the people uh of a socialist mindset are just fuzzy thinkers. 00:30:28.880 --> 00:30:37.440 They they imagine stuff that isn't even remotely true and is ridiculously simple to disprove. 00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:40.880 But sadly, most of them stick to their guns. 00:30:41.119 --> 00:30:53.759 They're so convinced, they're so into their own head that their idea is the right one, that there's no amount of evidence that seems to be able to change a lot of their minds. 00:30:54.240 --> 00:30:54.880 Yeah. 00:30:58.160 --> 00:31:00.400 Yeah, yeah, I totally agree. 00:31:01.200 --> 00:31:03.839 So um another question. 00:31:04.079 --> 00:31:25.680 Um socialists, they uh often uh promise uh like many many politicians in in general, free health care, like student loan forgiveness, and many young people view this as a good thing. 00:31:26.000 --> 00:31:30.880 Is this uh also true socialism or something else in your in your opinion? 00:31:31.359 --> 00:31:33.039 Yeah, it's it's it's part of this. 00:31:33.279 --> 00:31:36.720 In fact, those things are in the Democratic Socialist Platform. 00:31:36.799 --> 00:31:45.839 Um, and in my latest series of articles, um I I'm actually going through the platform art item by item and disproving it. 00:31:46.079 --> 00:31:52.880 But yeah, first of all, the I what they're saying is first of all clearly not true. 00:31:53.039 --> 00:31:55.039 There's no such thing as free. 00:31:55.920 --> 00:31:59.119 So what is the hidden economic cost of these promises? 00:31:59.519 --> 00:32:00.880 Yeah, that exactly. 00:32:01.200 --> 00:32:02.559 Nothing is free. 00:32:02.720 --> 00:32:18.000 I mean, unless let's take health care, unless the hospitals and doctors and nurses and everybody running the show is willing to do that for no pay, then maybe you could somehow make it free. 00:32:18.319 --> 00:32:28.960 But these people have to be paid, rent has to be paid on buildings, you have to buy operating tables and MRI machines, all of that takes money. 00:32:29.119 --> 00:32:33.039 So the only question becomes who's paying the money? 00:32:33.279 --> 00:32:36.160 It's not free, somebody's got to pay for it. 00:32:36.480 --> 00:32:46.880 And that's one of the problems with the DSA's website, their platform, is they don't even hint at how they're gonna pay for this stuff. 00:32:46.960 --> 00:32:49.519 Yeah, they just say it's gonna be free. 00:32:50.160 --> 00:32:53.759 And and it's just impossible. 00:32:54.000 --> 00:33:05.680 Um, the the amount of money it would take to do what they want to do would take five or six times current GDP. 00:33:06.559 --> 00:33:15.599 In other words, if we took ever all of our production and and pushed it in that direction, it wouldn't be enough to pay for all the things they want. 00:33:19.440 --> 00:33:20.079 Yeah. 00:33:21.759 --> 00:33:22.400 Wow. 00:33:22.720 --> 00:33:30.240 So also uh anti-capitalism in uh education and uh and culture, it's also a big thing nowadays. 00:33:30.319 --> 00:33:43.759 So we see teachers unions uh passing like resolutions to dismantle capitalism and um they also blame capitalism for like even climate change and inequality. 00:33:43.920 --> 00:33:48.960 And uh why is it growing so much in schools

and universities nowadays? 00:33:49.440 --> 00:33:50.079 Yeah. 00:33:50.960 --> 00:33:58.319 Part of the problem is capitalism is is misunderstood. 00:33:58.720 --> 00:34:07.759 Uh most of the things that people don't like about capitalism are things that really have nothing to do with capitalism. 00:34:08.800 --> 00:34:10.719 Let's take a quick look at healthcare. 00:34:11.360 --> 00:34:15.679 Um my grandfather was a physician. 00:34:17.440 --> 00:34:30.079 And he had a house, I'm gonna guess it was probably fifteen, sixteen hundred square feet when I knew him uh before he passed away. 00:34:30.159 --> 00:34:31.519 He had a six-year-old car. 00:34:34.079 --> 00:34:36.639 Um n by no means rich. 00:34:36.719 --> 00:34:47.760 And he was a a repu reputable uh physician with a great reputation, actually helped work on uh tuberculosis uh research. 00:34:48.320 --> 00:34:51.039 Um but didn't get rich doing it. 00:34:51.519 --> 00:34:57.920 Um you know, it was upper middle class, maybe, uh but certainly not rich. 00:34:59.599 --> 00:35:01.360 Now what's happened with healthcare? 00:35:01.519 --> 00:35:08.800 Well, the government got involved and started uh encouraging insurance. 00:35:09.760 --> 00:35:19.760 Now people thought, well, insurance is a good idea, and it can be, but it can also be a problem, particularly when it's all done through your employer. 00:35:24.079 --> 00:35:25.679 Well, here's the problem. 00:35:26.239 --> 00:35:44.639 When whenever you do anything, insurance, government regulation, anything that separates the producer, the hospitals, the doctors, the nurses, from the consumer, the patient, bad things will happen. 00:35:46.000 --> 00:35:48.079 And here's an example. 00:35:49.199 --> 00:35:54.800 My wife is scheduled to have knee surgery, get a new knee, uh, in about a month. 00:35:55.840 --> 00:36:02.639 Now can I shop around and find the best deal for knee surgery? 00:36:04.159 --> 00:36:04.480 No. 00:36:05.840 --> 00:36:09.519 I have no idea what that knee surgery is gonna cost. 00:36:10.159 --> 00:36:17.519 And worse yet, after it's done, I won't even be able to find out how much it did cost. 00:36:19.280 --> 00:36:21.760 Because insurance just pays it. 00:36:25.599 --> 00:36:31.199 Because it means since I can't shop around, I'm not gonna look for the best deal. 00:36:31.360 --> 00:36:37.119 And if I can't look for the best deal, the healthcare providers can charge whatever they want. 00:36:37.519 --> 00:36:37.920 Right. 00:36:38.159 --> 00:36:41.039 Because they know I don't have a choice. 00:36:41.280 --> 00:36:44.400 I can't find out who who's offering the best deal. 00:36:44.559 --> 00:36:46.639 So, and so what do I do? 00:36:46.800 --> 00:36:51.119 My choice is find the very best knee surgeon I can find, and that's who I go to. 00:36:51.280 --> 00:36:54.400 Because I don't care how much it costs, I'm not paying for it. 00:36:55.440 --> 00:36:59.039 And you can't have an economic system that works that way. 00:36:59.119 --> 00:37:05.360 And so now, and I'm not slamming physicians or nurses, but they're making way more money than they used to. 00:37:06.880 --> 00:37:07.280 Yeah. 00:37:07.679 --> 00:37:12.480 And and people say, well, why does health care cost so much? 00:37:12.639 --> 00:37:15.360 And the answer is because government got involved. 00:37:15.840 --> 00:37:18.400 The other thing you mentioned was education. 00:37:18.719 --> 00:37:20.480 What happened with education? 00:37:20.800 --> 00:37:31.360 Well, back when I was in high school in college, um, I was able to get a part-time job and work my way through college. 00:37:32.000 --> 00:37:34.400 I didn't have to get student loans or anything, no problem. 00:37:34.559 --> 00:37:37.519 Then I went to a private school that wasn't cheap. 00:37:38.159 --> 00:37:40.320 Um but no problem. 00:37:40.480 --> 00:37:44.320 I was able to get through it just fine. 00:37:44.639 --> 00:37:49.039 And and a couple of scholarships, I should say, too. 00:37:49.199 --> 00:37:56.559 But but no, I didn't need to get a bunch of you know hot hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans. 00:37:56.800 --> 00:37:59.119 Well, then why do you have to today? 00:37:59.360 --> 00:38:04.320 Well, back in the set late 70s, the government decided everybody should go to college. 00:38:04.800 --> 00:38:08.159 And so they started implementing student loan programs. 00:38:09.039 --> 00:38:12.639 Now, what is a student people think, well, that's good, isn't it? 00:38:12.960 --> 00:38:18.719 No, it's not, because again, what we've done is we've separated the producer and the consumer. 00:38:18.960 --> 00:38:24.960 Now the colleges know that the consumer isn't paying. 00:38:25.199 --> 00:38:32.800 They can just get a loan, and they aren't going to think about the consequences, they're just gonna get that loan and pay the university. 00:38:33.039 --> 00:38:34.159 So what happens? 00:38:34.480 --> 00:38:39.920 Universities' prices went up eight times faster than inflation. 00:38:42.400 --> 00:38:43.519 Eight times. 00:38:43.760 --> 00:38:48.800 Now think of and what did we get for our money? 00:38:49.039 --> 00:38:50.880 The education is not better. 00:38:51.039 --> 00:38:56.960 In fact, there's actually evidence that less money is going to students now than it did before. 00:38:58.000 --> 00:38:59.519 Where does the money go? 00:38:59.760 --> 00:39:06.400 Well, administrative and professoral salaries are way higher than they used to be. 00:39:08.159 --> 00:39:12.480 And a huge amount of it goes into buildings. 00:39:12.960 --> 00:39:22.800 I mean, when I was in college, we had a you know, a student union with a like a few pool tables and that kind of stuff, you know. 00:39:23.039 --> 00:39:32.159 Now they every one of them's got climbing walls and ice waterfalls and all kinds of crazy stuff that has nothing to do with people learning. 00:39:32.239 --> 00:39:35.599 It only has to do with making fancy, fancy stuff. 00:39:35.920 -->

00:39:36.559 Yeah. 00:39:36.880 --> 00:39:46.400 And so because government got involved and separated the producer and the consumer, the prices went through the roof. 00:39:46.639 --> 00:39:53.519 And that's exactly what's going to happen to all of the stuff that the DSA wants to make free. 00:39:54.000 --> 00:39:57.599 Because when you make it free, it means the consumer's not paying. 00:39:57.840 --> 00:39:59.280 Somebody else is. 00:39:59.599 --> 00:40:07.440 And if the consumer isn't paying, the price is going to go up and up and up and up until nobody can afford anything. 00:40:07.760 --> 00:40:16.320 And I mean, I don't know what to tell these people except to look at the real world. 00:40:16.800 --> 00:40:17.119 Yeah. 00:40:17.519 --> 00:40:23.679 If if socialism was so great, why aren't they moving to North Korea? 00:40:24.239 --> 00:40:27.119 There's already socialist countries in the world. 00:40:27.360 --> 00:40:29.599 Why aren't they moving to Cuba? 00:40:30.079 --> 00:40:34.079 They there are socialist countries they can right now go to. 00:40:34.320 --> 00:40:40.480 In fact, if you if they wanted to move to North Korea, North Korea would probably pay their way. 00:40:42.079 --> 00:40:44.000 They'd probably love to have you. 00:40:45.840 --> 00:40:53.360 But the people in North Korea are risking their lives, and some of them are getting killed every day trying to escape. 00:40:53.679 --> 00:40:54.239 Escape, yeah. 00:40:54.480 --> 00:40:57.119 And the same thing applies to Cuba. 00:40:57.679 --> 00:41:07.599 There are people trying to swim or take tiny rafts from Cuba to the US in hopes of getting here and getting to have a better life. 00:41:08.000 --> 00:41:11.840 And so that's the real that's the evidence. 00:41:12.000 --> 00:41:13.679 That's the real world. 00:41:14.079 --> 00:41:15.280 Yeah, Doctor. 00:41:15.599 --> 00:41:20.159 So how should parents talk to their children about free markets? 00:41:21.039 --> 00:41:25.679 It probably comes from family from like from childhood, I guess. 00:41:25.920 --> 00:41:28.320 Or from student years. 00:41:28.960 --> 00:41:33.599 Yeah, I think well, I think the first thing is to help them with the education, like we've talked about. 00:41:33.920 --> 00:41:43.760 Help them understand that this idea of preparing to go out and get a job is not a great idea. 00:41:44.400 --> 00:41:47.599 You want to be preparing to go out and create value. 00:41:48.079 --> 00:41:52.239 And you want to be able to do it very adaptively. 00:41:52.800 --> 00:41:56.960 You know, again, back when I'm I'm 78 years old. 00:41:57.119 --> 00:42:12.239 Back when I was a kid in the dark ages, most people were able to plan a career where they would go out, get whatever credentials they needed, get a job, and they would stay there for the rest of their working life. 00:42:12.880 --> 00:42:15.199 Those days are pretty much done. 00:42:16.159 --> 00:42:19.840 That's really unlikely to happen for most people now. 00:42:20.400 --> 00:42:29.440 And so you want to find ways to create value using your talents and your bliss with an eye toward adaptive adaptivity. 00:42:29.760 --> 00:42:35.039 So, what are you going to do when what you were doing before doesn't work anymore? 00:42:35.440 --> 00:42:40.079 And so, 10 years from now, will you and I be able to be doing this? 00:42:40.320 --> 00:42:41.840 I have no idea. 00:42:42.480 --> 00:42:44.880 There may not be any podcasts. 00:42:53.280 --> 00:42:54.159 Who can guess? 00:42:54.320 --> 00:42:57.679 That's the whole point, is that we don't know what the future holds. 00:42:57.840 --> 00:43:01.280 And so we have to be adaptable. 00:43:01.519 --> 00:43:10.559 And um, it's a lot like being able to be in good physical condition. 00:43:10.800 --> 00:43:16.079 I run, I lift weights, and I do all those things because I want my body to be adaptable. 00:43:16.320 --> 00:43:20.880 I know that I, you know, I'm gonna face challenges, particularly as I get older. 00:43:21.199 --> 00:43:27.199 And as I do those things, I want my body in a position to be able to adapt. 00:43:27.360 --> 00:43:30.480 And I mentioned a minute ago, my wife was gonna get knee surgery. 00:43:30.559 --> 00:43:33.840 Happily, for my wife, she stayed in good condition. 00:43:34.000 --> 00:43:38.880 And so at her age, she can easily tolerate knee surgery. 00:43:39.440 --> 00:43:51.199 And and uh a lot of people our age are turned down for surgeries like that because we're they they aren't in good enough physical condition to be able to handle it. 00:43:51.599 --> 00:43:59.760 And so, in fact, I just was talking to somebody just yesterday because they were talking to my wife about knee surgery, and they said they were trying. 00:44:00.159 --> 00:44:09.199 Turned down for it because they they they weren't they w they would have to have a general anesthetic and they weren't healthy enough for a general anesthetic. 00:44:09.440 --> 00:44:10.000 Yep. 00:44:10.159 --> 00:44:10.480 Wow. 00:44:10.800 --> 00:44:18.480 And so in every aspect of life, parents need to teach their kids to be adaptable. 00:44:18.800 --> 00:44:25.760 And you know, part of that that it's kind of sad that kids today are never bored. 00:44:26.880 --> 00:44:34.320 I think it is would be really helpful for parents to ensure that kids spend some time being bored. 00:44:34.559 --> 00:44:36.480 Now that sounds crazy. 00:44:37.039 --> 00:44:40.800 But again, when I was a kid, we got bored a lot. 00:44:40.880 --> 00:44:43.199 And so we invented stuff. 00:44:43.920 --> 00:44:45.519 We used our imaginations. 00:44:45.679 --> 00:44:48.719 We did all kind we play we invented games. 00:44:49.280 --> 00:44:54.159 We played games with stuff that that it wasn't intended to do. 00:44:54.480 --> 00:45:00.880 We uh I it happened that we had a garage that my dad never used. 00:45:01.039 --> 00:45:03.679 I don't I don't even remember why he didn't, but he didn't. 00:45:03.920 --> 00:45:15.119 And as a result, we used

it like we we would put on shows, we have magic shows and plays and get neighborhood kids together and do all kinds of stuff like that. 00:45:15.360 --> 00:45:17.760 Um that's how I learned how to play guitar. 00:45:17.840 --> 00:45:18.719 I'm a musician. 00:45:18.880 --> 00:45:27.679 And uh when I was about five, I just thought it would be cool to fill the boredom by learning how to play something. 00:45:28.000 --> 00:45:41.280 And and too too many young people today, their time is constantly absorbed in in stuff that doesn't require them to think, to imagine, to dream. 00:45:41.840 --> 00:45:46.159 And those are the things that help adapt becoming adaptable. 00:45:46.400 --> 00:45:52.320 Is that when when you're forced to go, what am I going to do now? 00:45:52.400 --> 00:45:53.760 I'm kind of bored. 00:45:54.400 --> 00:45:59.199 You have to adapt and say, what have I got available that I can use to have fun with? 00:45:59.440 --> 00:46:03.360 What have I what have I got available that I can use to make myself better? 00:46:03.679 --> 00:46:06.320 And now I mentioned a minute ago lifting weights. 00:46:06.400 --> 00:46:13.599 One of the things you know, when I was a kid, weights were getting a weights that was way outside my family's budget. 00:46:14.239 --> 00:46:15.840 And so I built them. 00:46:16.559 --> 00:46:23.440 My first set of weights was a pipe and and two empty paint cans filled with concrete. 00:46:24.639 --> 00:46:28.000 And that's how that's what I started bench pressing with. 00:46:28.719 --> 00:46:32.079 And over time I I built heavier and heavier weights. 00:46:32.239 --> 00:46:43.840 And and so, yeah, we we want people to be adaptable, to change, to be able to confront new situations and and thrive in them. 00:46:45.920 --> 00:46:48.079 Yeah, yeah, totally agree. 00:46:48.239 --> 00:46:48.880 Yeah. 00:46:49.440 --> 00:46:53.920 So also, Doctor, in your book you criticize chronic capitalism. 00:46:54.000 --> 00:46:59.840 Uh you mentioned monopolies, uh, subsidies subsidies, and uh bad government rules, right? 00:47:00.079 --> 00:47:08.079 So how do how do we fix chronic chronic uh without giving power to socialist planners? 00:47:08.719 --> 00:47:13.440 Yeah, and and you asked earlier why people don't like communism. 00:47:13.840 --> 00:47:15.519 I mean capitalism, sorry. 00:47:15.679 --> 00:47:19.199 And a lot of the reason they don't is for the reasons you just mentioned. 00:47:19.440 --> 00:47:19.599 Yes. 00:47:20.159 --> 00:47:24.320 Um are there people who abuse capitalism? 00:47:24.639 --> 00:47:26.480 Are there bad capitalists? 00:47:26.639 --> 00:47:28.320 Are there greedy capitalists? 00:47:28.480 --> 00:47:29.440 Yes, of course. 00:47:29.599 --> 00:47:29.920 Yeah. 00:47:30.320 --> 00:47:33.199 There are bad people in every walk of life. 00:47:33.360 --> 00:47:41.119 There are bad doctors and lawyers and podcast hosts and and and bad writers. 00:47:41.280 --> 00:47:47.519 Uh and and so there are people who will exploit others at any price. 00:47:48.159 --> 00:47:53.920 And and it's the job of government to stop that. 00:47:54.960 --> 00:48:04.079 So the when people get upset with capitalism, in almost every case, it's really government's fault. 00:48:04.320 --> 00:48:06.719 Because government should be stopping that. 00:48:06.960 --> 00:48:28.400 The analogy I use in my book is if I'm sitting in my home and some burglars come and start stealing my stuff, and I call the police, and the police show up, and I get excited, okay, now it's gonna be cool, but the police start helping the burglar load stuff into his car. 00:48:28.639 --> 00:48:29.280 Yeah. 00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:32.159 Now, am I upset with the burglar? 00:48:32.320 --> 00:48:33.519 Yeah, sure. 00:48:33.840 --> 00:48:35.840 But I'm a lot more upset with the police. 00:48:36.239 --> 00:48:37.280 The police, yeah. 00:48:37.519 --> 00:48:40.159 Because they were the ones that were supposed to help me. 00:48:40.400 --> 00:48:45.039 And that analogy works really, really well with crony capitalism. 00:48:45.360 --> 00:49:00.079 If people are if capitalists are exploiting people, are doing bad stuff, if government doesn't intervene, or worse yet, government actually helps them, which they do. 00:49:00.159 --> 00:49:02.239 I mean, that's what a government bailout is. 00:49:02.320 --> 00:49:07.440 It's a company that's not going well, so the government steps in and says, Here I'll help you. 00:49:07.679 --> 00:49:08.800 That's nuts. 00:49:09.280 --> 00:49:16.719 That's the government doing stuff to make bad capitalists do okay. 00:49:17.119 --> 00:49:17.679 Yeah. 00:49:18.000 --> 00:49:21.119 There's nothing wrong with companies failing. 00:49:22.880 --> 00:49:23.360 Yeah. 00:49:23.519 --> 00:49:33.280 In fact, if you look back at history, all of the original Dow Jones 30 are no longer in the Dow Jones 30, and most of them are out of business. 00:49:34.400 --> 00:49:35.679 Things change. 00:49:36.159 --> 00:49:50.239 And there's companies that are the biggest in the stock market right now Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, Nvidia, Intel. 00:49:53.360 --> 00:49:56.639 Fifteen years ago, most of those companies didn't even exist. 00:49:57.039 --> 00:49:58.159 No, yeah, true. 00:49:59.760 --> 00:50:23.199 And so um what we wanted is is government uh in my previous series of articles before the the ones on the democratic socialists, I did one comparing the uh the uh economy to the environment and how the government's role should be the same in both. 00:50:23.679 --> 00:50:35.199 And over the last hundred years we learned that treating the environment as something the government could manage was a disaster. 00:50:36.320 --> 00:50:48.800 We made tons and tons of of interventions into the ecology, the environment of the world, and over and over again we made it far worse. 00:50:51.199 --> 00:50:58.480 What we've learned since then is the appropriate role for government in the environment is to guard it. 00:50:59.039

--> 00:51:06.159 Not try and manage it, not try and butt in, but to try and keep other people from messing it up. 00:51:07.119 --> 00:51:09.679 So is it good to have anti-pollution laws? 00:51:09.840 --> 00:51:10.480 Of course it is. 00:51:10.639 --> 00:51:11.199 That's great. 00:51:11.360 --> 00:51:13.519 That's exactly what the government should be doing. 00:51:13.679 --> 00:51:17.199 They should be keeping other people from messing with the environment. 00:51:18.559 --> 00:51:22.159 That's exactly what should happen in the economy. 00:51:22.480 --> 00:51:25.199 The government shouldn't be trying to fix stuff. 00:51:25.440 --> 00:51:26.960 They aren't good at that. 00:51:27.199 --> 00:51:31.440 What they should be doing is keeping other people from messing with it. 00:51:31.679 --> 00:51:41.199 The crony capitalists, the people, the men people that want to create monopolies, the people that want to control the market and keep other people out of it. 00:51:41.840 --> 00:51:55.599 And in my book, I uh, as you mentioned, I've got like a whole chapter on it where there's just lots and lots of examples of the bad stuff some capitalists have done to try and control the market for themselves. 00:51:55.920 --> 00:52:07.760 And again, there are bad people that will exploit things in any way of life you want to choose, and capitalism is no exception. 00:52:08.079 --> 00:52:14.800 The job of the government is to guard us from that, and the government fails at that miserably. 00:52:16.719 --> 00:52:18.079 Yeah, understood. 00:52:18.159 --> 00:52:19.679 Yeah, true, true. 00:52:20.639 --> 00:52:21.440 Uh, Dr. 00:52:21.599 --> 00:52:24.480 Cardell, next question about the flip tax. 00:52:25.679 --> 00:52:29.760 You propose a new tax called the flip tax, right? 00:52:29.840 --> 00:52:35.840 So, how how would this tax stop market bubbles and help long-term investors? 00:52:36.800 --> 00:52:44.159 Yeah, we I call it the flip tax, which stands for Federal Long-Term Investment Protection Tax. 00:52:44.559 --> 00:53:05.599 And what it does is it it's it's kind of like a capital gain gains tax, except it's on a sliding scale, so that if you buy an asset and try and flip it a day later, if you make any profit on that investment, the government will take all that profit. 00:53:05.920 --> 00:53:10.159 But they won't take back the original investment, just the profit. 00:53:10.719 --> 00:53:12.079 Now, why? 00:53:12.559 --> 00:53:16.719 Well, first of all, because flipping things creates bubbles. 00:53:16.800 --> 00:53:20.079 But second, it's what's really fair. 00:53:20.320 --> 00:53:28.159 Because if I buy something today and sell it for a higher price tomorrow, I didn't add any value. 00:53:30.000 --> 00:53:34.800 And I should only be getting value for creating value. 00:53:35.679 --> 00:53:41.360 Now, if I invest for the long term, I am creating value. 00:53:41.519 --> 00:53:49.599 I'm buying stock in companies, let's say, and keeping it in there and helping that company grow and create better and better products. 00:53:49.840 --> 00:53:54.559 So I'm part of that company's effort to create value for others. 00:53:55.199 --> 00:54:08.239 Now, what the flip tax does is over time, let's say now you buy something and you sell it a year later, well, now they'll still take a pretty good bite of that, maybe 80% of the profit. 00:54:08.400 --> 00:54:14.480 Again, not the not the the the initial investment. 00:54:15.039 --> 00:54:19.519 And if you add value, that doesn't count. 00:54:19.679 --> 00:54:37.760 So, in other words, if I buy a house, let's say, for$100,000 and add$50,000 of improvements and then sell it for$170,000, the only profit I'm taxed on is that 20%, that that$20,000. 00:54:38.000 --> 00:54:44.880 Because the$100 I paid for it and the$50,000 I use to improve it don't count. 00:54:45.199 --> 00:54:50.079 Because that's that's value I actually put into it. 00:54:50.880 --> 00:55:00.960 And so, but then on on the flip side, if I keep an investment, let's say a house, okay, like I've had my house for what uh almost 30 years now. 00:55:01.440 --> 00:55:09.360 And at 30 years, that would mean if I sell my house tomorrow, any profit I make on it would be tax-free. 00:55:09.599 --> 00:55:10.239 Yep. 00:55:10.960 --> 00:55:20.079 Because my investment has helped the housing market, and my keeping it for this length of time has helped the housing market. 00:55:20.239 --> 00:55:21.920 So I've created value. 00:55:22.159 --> 00:55:24.800 Of course, I've also put a lot of money into it. 00:55:25.760 --> 00:55:29.360 But and in fact, today I got to put some more money into it. 00:55:29.440 --> 00:55:37.280 I had to spend a lot of time today out with my tractor repairing a washed-out road or long driveway in. 00:55:40.800 --> 00:55:41.119 Yeah. 00:55:41.360 --> 00:55:41.679 Yeah. 00:55:41.840 --> 00:55:59.039 So to paraphrase the Beatles, one of the things that that people should use as a like a watchword for how to run life is, and in the end, the value you take should be equal to the value you make. 00:56:00.800 --> 00:56:08.159 That's what we want to be doing is creating value for others and then being fairly compensated for that. 00:56:08.400 --> 00:56:08.960 Yep, yeah. 00:56:09.119 --> 00:56:10.159 And yeah. 00:56:10.639 --> 00:56:16.960 So, and also we can say that taxing consumption is better than taxing income, right? 00:56:17.360 --> 00:56:18.320 Yes, of course. 00:56:18.400 --> 00:56:18.719 Yeah. 00:56:18.960 --> 00:56:30.559 Um a flat tax of some sort um is by far the best way to do things because whatever you tax is something you're punishing. 00:56:31.199 --> 00:56:34.960 You're making it so people don't want to do it as much. 00:56:35.280 --> 00:56:51.519 So when you tax income, you're making it so that people are more reluctant to progress because they they move up in tax brackets and they don't get as much out of each additional dollar as they got out of the last one. 00:56:51.920 --> 00:56:57.440 If you're taxing consumption, then you're taxing excess spending. 00:56:57.599 --> 00:57:10.000 And so the rich would still pay if they go out and buy a you know$500,000 Maserati, they're gonna have to pay a big hunk of tax on that. 00:57:10.400 --> 00:57:16.320 But you're not punishing them for making money, you're punishing them for spending money excessively. 00:57:16.559 --> 00:57:21.599 And so a flat tax is a far fairer way to go. 00:57:22.079 --> 00:57:25.679 And it punishes the right thing, it rewards the right thing. 00:57:25.840 --> 00:57:26.480 Yeah. 00:57:28.079 --> 00:57:28.719 Yeah. 00:57:29.679 --> 00:57:30.400 True. 00:57:30.639 --> 00:57:31.519 Thank you. 00:57:31.760 --> 00:57:34.159 And uh last question for today, Doctor. 00:57:34.559 --> 00:57:44.000 If a young person is listening and watching now and leaning towards socialism, what is one thing you want them to understand today? 00:57:44.639 --> 00:57:47.360 One message to young generation. 00:57:48.079 --> 00:57:50.559 Well, there's there's a lot. 00:57:50.719 --> 00:58:02.480 And so I guess not to put uh not to plug too much, but read my website, dogcardell.com, and you'll find a whole lot of arguments. 00:58:02.719 --> 00:58:03.119 Yep. 00:58:03.360 --> 00:58:06.960 Or buy my book, Why Socialism Struggles. 00:58:07.280 --> 00:58:14.000 Both of those things will give you tons of information that and evidence. 00:58:14.400 --> 00:58:16.559 It isn't just Dr. 00:58:16.800 --> 00:58:21.119 Doug's ideas or my imagination or anything like that. 00:58:21.280 --> 00:58:24.320 I provide lots and lots of evidence. 00:58:24.880 --> 00:58:41.440 And I guess among the most important things are if you're a young person, find out what your talents are, find out what your bliss is, and then go out there and use your talent and your bliss. 00:58:41.599 --> 00:58:48.000 Take what you're good at and what you love, and get out there and start creating value for other people. 00:58:48.480 --> 00:58:49.760 Yep, okay. 00:58:50.000 --> 00:58:51.280 Thank you, Doctor. 00:58:51.519 --> 00:59:01.599 Thank you again for uh being with me today, and thank you for my uh so much um for first of all for writing a book. 00:59:01.679 --> 00:59:05.440 It's really gives so so many answers. 00:59:05.840 --> 00:59:19.360 And to those who uh uh listening or um watching now, uh all the um uh link to the website and to the book will be down in the this in the description. 00:59:19.679 --> 00:59:21.840 And thank you for watching. 00:59:22.239 --> 00:59:23.360 Bye bye.