Speaker 1: Why don't we go next to where are we going next?
Let's go to Ellie from Seattle. Ellie, welcome. Speaker 4: Hi, David. Thanks
for taking my call. Speaker 1: My pleasure.
Speaker 4: So I feel like the outlook is pretty bleak here in the States between don't see gay
passing, banning mass textbooks because they have social emotional learning. You know, rose
probably on the line in the next few weeks and the midterms are definitely looking bad for us.
So that Thomas Summer Dixon article suggested we could be a right wing dictatorship by like
2030. Yes. And it feels like we're already well on our way there, especially if the right takes,
like, enough secretaries of state in November and either win or steal the presidency in 24.
Do you do you think it would actually take that long? Take until 2030?
Speaker 1: I do. I mean, I think that if Republicans take that,
I'm not going to deny that. If the Republicans take the House and Senate in November
and then Republicans take the presidency in 24, that by 2026, things could be looking a lot worse.
But I still think in blue states, they'll mostly be okay. And I don't think by then we would be a,
quote, right wing dictatorship. So I actually do think that it is more of
a 2030 thing and not have a next year thing. Speaker 4: Yeah. Okay. And my second question
was how bleak these things looked to anyone on the left who was paying attention. Yeah. How do you
not drown in the existential dread of it all? Speaker 1: Take some days off from the news.
That's what I do. You know, after I'm done with the Friday show, Friday, Saturday, Sunday,
I'm tuning it all out and just, you know, do I'm gardening, I'm running, I'm biking, etc.. I think
that that's absolutely, absolutely critical. Speaker 4: Yeah. Because it's I mean,
Trump's following is pretty dangerous. Oh, yeah. You know, in a country founded by angry,
rich white men failing upward, it's no wonder there's such a following.
The epitome of angry, rich white men. Yeah. Speaker 1: Where, you know, there's this concept
called the Peter Principle, and it's. The book is like 50, 60 years old. And the concept of the book
is that people get promoted up to their level of incompetence, and that's how you end up with
incompetent people. So, you know, the prototypical idea would be you take a teacher and you're like,
wow, this is the best first grade teacher. So let's promote this teacher to the person who
designs the curriculum for all first grade teachers. And then it's like,
well, they might be a good teacher, but not good at designing curriculum or This is my best
hamburger flipper, so we're going to put him in charge of being shift supervisor. But it's like
actually he's terrible at time management and he doesn't know how to keep people on track.
So you get promoted up until your level of incompetence. And I think that a celebrity
culture allows that to happen much more smoothly. Speaker 4: Absolutely. Well, thank you so
much for taking my call, David. Speaker 1: My pleasure. There is
Ellie from Seattle, and that's going to do it for calls. Today, we'll talk to more people
soon and we'll be back right after this short break.