The Fabulous Gift Of Fudge

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: The Fabulous Gift Of Fudge

Date: November 4, 2025
Hosts: Jack Armstrong & Joe Getty
Podcast: iHeartPodcasts

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Armstrong & Getty dive deep into the ongoing debate between free market capitalism and socialism, using the New York City mayoral race as a jumping-off point. The conversation is peppered with sharp commentary on economic systems, generational attitudes, and cultural events—including a harrowing amusement park story, the Dodgers’ World Series win, and the merits of fudge. The hosts also discuss recent shifts in global climate policy, reflect on the repercussions of past political and environmental orthodoxy, and poke fun at themselves and each other throughout.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. New York City Marathon, Cuomo, and Election Jokes

• [00:27] Opens with a quip about finishing between Bernie Sanders and Mitch McConnell in the marathon and a dig at Andrew Cuomo's campaign style ("a grimace disguised as a smile").
• Sets the stage for a broader discussion of New York politics and the upcoming election.

2. Socialism In Focus: Zohran Mamdani’s Candidacy

• [00:49 – 05:14]
• Joe and Jack discuss Zohran Mamdani, running for mayor of NYC, framing him as a "straight up communist" due to his platform of free groceries, buses, and rent freezes.
• George Will’s Satire of Socialism [02:00]:
  • A notable Bill Maher/George Will clip is played, highlighting the cycle of "conspicuous, confined experiments with socialism" and referencing the famous slogan:

    "The new socialist slogan is: Trust us, this time it won’t be a mess." – George Will [02:00]

• Jack uses an analogy about grade sharing in school to demonstrate incentives under socialism.

3. Youth and Socialism: The Power of Aspiration

• [05:25 – 08:15]
• Jack quotes Sidney Hook, reflecting on why socialism appeals to young people:

  "I was guilty of judging capitalism by its operations and socialism by its hopes and aspirations, capitalism by its works and socialism by its literature." – Sidney Hook (quoted by Jack Armstrong) [07:23]

• Discussion on why critiquing socialism on its economic flaws doesn't seem to dent its popularity, especially among youth.

4. Capitalism, the Free Market, and Public Perception

• [08:15 – 11:26]
• Polling data discussed: Only two-thirds of Republicans, under half of independents, and a quarter of Democrats have a positive view of capitalism.
• Jack muses about dividing the country for a ten-year experiment—reflecting the growing polarization of economic ideals.

5. Inequality, Economic Realities, and Human Nature

• [09:27 – 12:16]
• Referencing Russ Roberts' "EconTalk," they discuss the inevitability and necessity of economic inequality:

  "If you can’t get equality in a single family, how are you going to do it across society?" – Jack Armstrong [10:13]

• Both hosts empathize with the feelings of displacement caused by rapid economic change, but argue any fix would only make things worse.

6. Listener Feedback & Free Market Critiques

• [21:03 – 22:56]
• Texter raises points about the "rigged system"—CEO pay, boards, unions, and the lack of a truly free market.
• Joe agrees the perception of a rigged system fuels Trump and Bernie Sanders’ popularity.
• Jack distinguishes between his support for the free market versus opposition to crony capitalism and notes:

  "The more power the government has, the more it responds only to the powerful. That's another seductive lie of socialism." – Jack Armstrong [23:14]

7. CEO Pay and the "Fudgy" Answer

• [23:36 – 26:59]
• Discussion of skyrocketing CEO-to-worker pay ratios.
• Jack gives his signature "fudgy answer":

  "Some of it is legitimate market forces, and some of it is the whole back-scratching boards of directors...both legitimate and illegitimate. So I apologize if you don’t like fudge or fudgy answers." – Jack Armstrong [25:52]

• Leads into nostalgic and humorous banter about fudge shops, anniversaries, and the so-called "fabulous gift of fudge".

8. Harrowing Amusement Park Incident

• [13:36 – 17:43]
• Story of a Missouri couple saving a girl whose safety bar failed on a roller coaster.
• Jack jokes about sending "a Christmas ham every year for the rest of their lives" to the rescuers [16:33].
• Reflections on thrill rides, the psychology behind them, and contrasting personal attitudes toward risk.

9. Dodgers’ World Series Win and Public Figures

• [19:18 – 21:03]
• Dodgers’ victory parade highlighted; playful commentary on players’ appearances.
• Humorous ribbing about "publicly displaying your body": "If you display your body to the public, the public gets to comment on it." – Joe Getty [31:33].

10. Global Turn Against Climate Dogma

• [29:12 – 37:51]
• Focused discussion of Bill Gates and other global leaders reversing their climate change stances to more pragmatic positions.
• Hosts note that past critics of aggressive climate policies were punished professionally.

  "Careers were crushed...for saying the very things the left is now saying." – Jack Armstrong [37:11]

• Skepticism towards climate doomsday predictions, especially comparing them to failed doomsday cult predictions.
• Joe:

  "Climate change activists ran into the problem of a lot of doomsday cults—the world doesn’t end and it ruins your credibility." [37:54]

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Memorable Quotes

• "The new socialist slogan is: Trust us, this time it won’t be a mess."
  – George Will [02:00]

• "I was guilty of judging capitalism by its operations and socialism by its hopes and aspirations, capitalism by its works and socialism by its literature."
  – Sidney Hook (quoted by Jack Armstrong) [07:23]

• "If you can’t get equality in a single family, how are you going to do it across society?"
  – Jack Armstrong [10:13]

• "The more power the government has, the more it responds only to the powerful. That's another seductive lie of socialism."
  – Jack Armstrong [23:14]

• "Some of it is legitimate market forces at work, and some of it is the whole back-scratching boards of directors...both legitimate and illegitimate. So I apologize if you don’t like fudge or fudgy answers."
  – Jack Armstrong [25:52]

• “Careers were crushed...for saying the very things the left is now saying.”
  – Jack Armstrong [37:11]

• "Climate change activists ran into the problem of a lot of doomsday cults—the world doesn’t end and it ruins your credibility."
  – Joe Getty [37:54]

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Notable Segments

• [00:49 – 05:14]: Satirical discussion of socialism’s appeal and pitfalls.
• [07:23]: The Sidney Hook passage that encapsulates the main critique.
• [13:36 – 17:43]: Dramatic recounting of the Worlds of Fun roller coaster incident.
• [29:12 – 37:51]: Analysis of the shift in global climate policy rhetoric.
• [25:06]: "Fabulous gift of fudge" origin story—a humorous interlude.

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Tone and Style

Armstrong & Getty maintain their trademark blend of skepticism, wit, and casual banter. They tackle big ideological debates with humor and relatable analogies, freely mixing serious commentary with lighthearted stories and asides. The podcast appeals to listeners who enjoy spirited, nuanced takes on current events without losing sight of the absurdities of both politics and daily life.

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Conclusion

This episode offers a whirlwind tour through the ongoing capitalism vs. socialism debate, the changing winds of climate policy, and characteristically irreverent personal stories. With sharp quotes, memorable analogies, and a conversational tone, Armstrong & Getty balance critique with humor, making complex topics accessible and engaging for their audience.

Transcript

[Announcer]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Jack Armstrong]

Broadcasting live.

[Joe Getty]

From the Abraham Lincoln radio studio at.

[Jack Armstrong]

The George Washington Broadcast Center.

[Announcer]

Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.

[Guest or Co-host (possibly Armstrong or Getty)]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

And now here's Armstrong and Getty.

[Guest or Contributor]

But yesterday in New York City was the New York City Marathon. Once again, I finished between Bernie Sanders and Mitch McConnell. Of course, after the race, some people felt dizzy, lightheaded and nauseous. It's the same way Andrew Cuomo might feel after his race.

[Jack Armstrong]

What?

[Joe Getty]

So speaking of election day, this and Mamdani in particular, the socialist going to be mayor of New York City. This clip has been getting a lot of attention.

[Jack Armstrong]

George Will. I'm sorry, before we get to that, his the little joke there, it reminds me, I saw video both of them campaigning yesterday. Mum, Donnie, he was looking like mum, Donnie. And Cuomo was like just hitting the streets like crazy with a grimace disguised as a smile on his face at every moment. He could not hide his dislike of what he was doing and his contempt for the people he was doing it with. Ronnie, he is just an awful, awful.

[Joe Getty]

Candidate and he looks and sounds 90, so that doesn't help him.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. Anyway, back to your stunning introduction of a stunning clip.

[Joe Getty]

So I'm a big fan of George. Willie's a columnist for the Washington Post. He used to be on ABC this week. I've been watching him, reading him since I was in my twenties. I've read his books. We've had him on the air many times. He likes our friend Tim Sandifer. He mentioned Tim and his column again the other day in the Washington Post.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh really?

[Joe Getty]

Tim reposted that. He called our friend Tim Sander for a national treasure, which I agree. Anyway, George Will was on Real Time with Bill Maher talking about this whole political time we're in the other day and it went like this.

[Guest or Co-host (possibly Armstrong or Getty)]

And on the other side you have the guy running in New York, Mandami. Right, okay. Who's like a straight up communist. I mean he is. He talks about, you know, the things that communists say. I mean he wants free grocery stores, free buses. I want him to win. You want him to win? Yeah, I think every 20 years or so. Wait, we need every 20 years or so. We need a conspicuous confined experiment with socialism so we can crack it up again. Socialist slogan used to be workers of the world, unite. You have nothing to lose but your chains. The new socialist slogan is trust us, this time it won't be a mess. So when the post war labor government in Britain was about to get started, one of their leading lights was a socialist named Anurian Bevan. He said, what could go wrong? He said, we have a nation bedded on coal, surrounded by fish. It would take an organizational genius to have a shortage of either. In three years, they had a shortage of both. That's socialism.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow, that's good stuff, that is.

[Joe Getty]

And somebody. You never know what's real or what's not on the Internet. I don't know if this actually is a tweet, but, Mum, Donnie had tweeted out in 2020 the classic communist socialist phrase from each according to their abilities, to each according to their needs, or.

[Jack Armstrong]

Whatever the hell that is.

[Joe Getty]

Which I don't understand how that doesn't doom socialism right there, where you don't with any logic whatsoever, think, well, I'm gonna claim my needs so I don't have to go to work every day. I mean, like, a whole bunch of us are gonna say, you know what? There are people out there that need my help. I'm just gonna go out there and I'm gonna work my ass off today and let them have the food and shelter and everything that I've provided. And I'm gonna work until I'm old. And I'm not gonna at any point think, why am I not sitting around like that guy?

[Jack Armstrong]

And I will trust that 100% of those people are completely sincere in their pleading helplessness.

[Joe Getty]

How do you possibly. You know, what helps is the fact.

[Jack Armstrong]

That you've never had a job.

[Joe Getty]

The fact that you've. So many socialists, including Karl Marx and Mandani, have never had a job. So it's. It's easier for them to believe that a person might go to work every day just to support mankind because they. They've never had a job, so they don't know what it feels like.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm reminded of the near 100% conversion rate of talking to kids about, okay, let's talk about your school. You know, some people get A's, some get B's, some get C's, et cetera. Although these days, mostly A's. But do you say, all right, what happens if we just give everybody a C? A B, rather. That's socialism. Everybody gets a B. Do you think the kids who get A's are going to continue to work as hard as they did to get A's? Why would they bother? And do you think the kids who are doing poorly will step up their efforts to move from Cs to Bs? Why would they bother? That is socialism. Well, we're done here. And again, it's got a near 100%, you know, convincing, right?

[Guest or Co-host (possibly Armstrong or Getty)]

Well, yeah.

[Joe Getty]

And when you present it as those of you who got A's, you now have a B, we're taking one of your letter grades away and we're going to give it to the Cs. They revolt the way people do.

[Jack Armstrong]

They get pissed off. Hello, winner. Anyway. Owen 2. All right, so which brings us to Bill McGirt's column in the Wall Street Journal. And it's mostly quoting somebody else, but he mentions that New York of all places, from the skyline to the stock exchange embodies. It's an incredible representative of the creative power of capitalism. The free market, I prefer. But, and, and, but you got. Never really worked at jobs or in mumdani, running as a proud socialist and winning. And he mentions that economically his list of proposals is practically a Saturday Night Live skit. Freeze the rent, city owned grocery stores, fast fair, free buses, no child, no cost childcare, on and on and on. And McGirt jokes, how about free cheeseburgers for the elderly? But he mentions that it's working and one response to the Prospect of Merrimam Donnie is to point out the economic flaws with socialism and why it is doomed to fail. I've done that over and over again. The critiques are all thoughtful and correct. Thank you, Bill. But they don't seem to be denting his popularity. Why? Sidney Hook knew the answer. Sidney Hook was a philosopher at New York University. He lived from 1902 to 1989. He started out as a Marxist, but later became a leading critic of communism. And he wrote in his 1987 biography the following. I was guilty of judging capitalism by its operations and socialism by its hopes and aspirations, capitalism by its works and socialism by its literature. To this day, this error and its disaster, disastrous consequences are observable in the judgment and behavior of some impassioned individuals, mostly young.

[Joe Getty]

That reminds me of the tendency we all have to judge ourselves by our intentions, but other people by the things.

[Jack Armstrong]

They actually do and usually the worst of their actions. Yeah, yeah. I think that is so good. That is one of the clearest. I've actually copied it, pasted it, and I'm going to put it up in the studio. I was guilty of judging capitalism by its operations and socialism by its hopes and aspirations, capitalism by its works and socialism by its literature. To this day, this error and its disastrous consequences, and they are, are observable in the judgment and behavior of some impassioned individuals, mostly young. And McGirt writes, almost 40 years later, those words help explain why the Mamdani campaign holds such appeal, especially among young people who have no experience with how socialism actually works. It starts with happy talk about free things. But that means taking wealth from those who have earned it or an A from those who have earned it and giving it to those who haven't. Or forcing people to spe their money in ways they don't want.

[Joe Getty]

How about lifelong liberal Democrat Bill Maher calling Mumdani a communist?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

On his show.

[Jack Armstrong]

Because Bill seen socialism tried and fail miserably over and over again. He's old enough to know that's wild.

[Joe Getty]

This will be quite the fun ride then.

[Jack Armstrong]

Now listen to this, would you? Two thirds of Republicans view capitalism positively. Two thirds? It's 44% of independents, less than half, which just sucks. And 25% of Democrats, just 12% of Republicans view capitalism negatively compared to 28% of independents. So independents are just kind of wishy washy overall. But 45% of Democrats view the free market negatively. I'm back to wanting to divide the country into two countries. We can decide how to do that. Exactly. Running a 10 year experiment and then getting together to compare notes. I can't wait. And then people point out it's kind of happening with people self separating, you know, fleeing Cal Unicornia for instance, to the Tennessee's of the world.

[Joe Getty]

I don't know if you've ever listened to. It's one of the best podcasts that ever existed. He got into podcasting early so he has one of the biggest podcasts in the world, Russ Roberts Econ Talk, which he started like before anybody ever heard of a podcast. Anyway, he's brilliant and I was listening to him on somebody else's podcast talking about how you know all the, all the problems that free market capitalism has and creative destruction and ups and downs of the economy and people getting laid off. You know, there's a lot of, lot of unfair, using finger quotes, bad things that happen in that system and you end up with inequality and all kinds of different things. But there is no fix to that. That wouldn't make it worse.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right, right. People don't like uncertainty and I get that. And the free market has uncertainty. That's how it works so beautifully is it's an exchange of millions, trillions of bits of information all the time and change happens. But the very fact that we and folks, tell me if I'm wrong, we had a bit of a negative reaction to the word inequality because we've all been taught that inequality is bad. Right. And in some ways, like in terms of enforcement of Civil rights, it is bad. But economic inequality, you explain to me the system that brings about economic equality. To paraphrase Thomas Sowell, I raised three children, same parents, same household, same principles, same discipline, save every same everything. And we are going to have three wildly different economic outcomes. You explain to me, if you can't get equality, quote unquote, in a single family, how are you going to do it again across society? What sort of extreme dictatorial powers must you hold to even hope to do that? It's ridiculous. Inequality exists. It will always exist. It must always exist economically.

[Joe Getty]

Well, if you're, you're young especially, you could buy the idea that there's got to be a better way than. So you dedicate your life to be becoming really good at something and you go to work for a company and you do really well. Then all of a sudden a new technology comes along and that thing that you know how to do is irrelevant. And all of a sudden you're 28, 38, 58 years old, and your skill is not needed by anyone anywhere. It's worthless all of a sudden. Seems like that can't be the best system. But it is come up with, especially given the.

[Jack Armstrong]

Especially given the pace of that sort of change in the modern world. I'm not without sympathy. No getting back to what you said. Any system that seeks to quote unquote, correct, that is going to be far worse. Always, every time it's tried.

[Joe Getty]

Well, that's.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's a tough thing to accept. Sure, I get that.

[Joe Getty]

I get it too.

[Jack Armstrong]

Mum.

[Joe Getty]

Donnie.

[Jack Armstrong]

Dewy eyed youngsters can't accept it.

[Joe Getty]

Mamdani's got a different idea and he's going to win tonight. We got more on the list.

[Jack Armstrong]

Zoran Mandani. That's not actually right.

[Joe Getty]

Zahran.

[Jack Armstrong]

Zahran.

[Joe Getty]

Zahran will win. Maybe we'll all learn how to say his name.

[Jack Armstrong]

Stay here. Armstrong and Getty.

[Announcer]

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[Joe Getty]

Katie, we didn't do the story the other day. Some horrible story about a roller coaster. Something went wrong.

[Guest or Contributor]

Oh, it was, it was a Ferris wheel at a fair.

[Joe Getty]

Ferris wheel.

[Guest or Contributor]

Two girls fell out of.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh. Oh Lord.

[Guest or Co-host (possibly Armstrong or Getty)]

Horrible, horrible.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Was it a problem? Something the girls did like climbed out of their seats that they shouldn't have done?

[Guest or Contributor]

No.

[Joe Getty]

Was there a problem with the Ferris wheel?

[Guest or Contributor]

It was a problem with the Ferris wheel. It was one of those ones where they're in the buckets and they swing as the Ferris wheel goes around and the bucket swung back and it caught on one of the wires of the ride.

[Joe Getty]

Oh my God.

[Guest or Contributor]

And yeah.

[Joe Getty]

So we have a good version of one of those stories that happened at Kansas City's Worlds of Fun, which is first amusement park I ever went to in my life. I've been there many, many, many times. Gladys, if you could play the harp. First time I ever went there, I was 14 years old. When I was 14, I looked like I was 8. I was a very late bloomer and I was a. I don't know why I qualified to ride the ride, but I rode the roller coaster that went upside down at Worlds of Fun and everything like that and it beat the crap out. I mean, my head was just banging around on the thing. It's supposed to go over your shoulders, but I was too little and it was just bashing the crap out of my head. I was in so much pain and so frightened. It was horrible. When that thing ended, I was traumatized. Anyway, at Worlds of Fun over the weekend, a Missouri couple probably saves the life of a young girl behind them. They're riding a roller coaster at Worlds of Fun. They hear a blood curdling scream that seemed different than your normal scream of kind of joy slash fear, right? And she screamed, my seat belt broke. They, they feel behind them and the young girl who's in the seat behind them, the lap bar just broke. It wasn't down and connected. Their season ticket holders know the roller coaster well. Knew where the dips, twists and turns were that like cause you to raise out of your seat. Dad and mom reached behind them and were able to like grab the girl and like press down really hard on her on the points where you would fly out of your seat and kept her from flying out of her seat the whole time.

[Jack Armstrong]

Get much leverage reaching behind you like that?

[Guest or Co-host (possibly Armstrong or Getty)]

No.

[Joe Getty]

They were terrified themselves that they wouldn't be able to hold on to her. And they managed to keep her in her seat the whole time. 75 miles an hour, some of those turns, and she survived. And they're being hailed as heroes. And.

[Guest or Co-host (possibly Armstrong or Getty)]

And.

[Joe Getty]

And the dad said, what if somebody else had been in that seat that either didn't hear the scream or didn't have. Or didn't have long enough arms or were kids or whatever? Yeah, she would have died. It just is horrifying to think about.

[Guest or Contributor]

Oh, my gosh. And what if that ride went upside down?

[Joe Getty]

They also mentioned that the picture that they give you at the end showed a terrified girl being held down. You didn't charge her 20 bucks, did you? For the. You nearly died. And for $25, we'll give you this picture of you looking like you're about to die.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm that girl's parents. I'm sending those folks a Christmas ham every year for the rest of their lives or something.

[Guest or Co-host (possibly Armstrong or Getty)]

Hol.

[Jack Armstrong]

Holy crap. Hi, Karama. Can you. Can you imagine the fear in their hearts? The desperation to hold on to that poor kid?

[Joe Getty]

Every time I rolled a rod, a roller coaster in my life. As you're doing the click, click, click up the thing, I always think, why did I do this?

[Jack Armstrong]

What am I?

[Joe Getty]

What is the point of this? Yeah, because what you're literally doing is you're trying to trick your brain into. Well, your brain is believing the input it's getting that you're doing something very dangerous and scary and you might die until your death, giving you the adrenaline rush that would come with almost dying. But you don't die. And then I guess you're thrilled that you tricked yourself or something. I've never quite understood thrill rides the way a lot of people do. I've done plenty of them. I've done lots of them with my kids, and my kids aren't into them, thank God, because I don't have to write anymore. Every time I was going click, click, click, I think, why did I agree to do this? And it was always because I didn't want to be the guy who said, you grind. I'm too big of a puss.

[Jack Armstrong]

Thank you for that. I don't ride those because I would pass out anyway. But I appreciate your dark description of it. But, like, going super fast on a motorcycle is a little different. Isn't it? Or is that like, I don't know why you're defying death too?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, that's. That's a very, very good point. Why do I enjoy. Why do I enjoy that? Because then that one can actually die. I'm not protected, so I don't know. It doesn't make any sense. I would always think, why in the world did I do this again? Every time. I hate it.

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[Jack Armstrong]

Thank you, my teammates, my coaches, our amazing staff and all the pants. We. We did it together. I love that. I love Los Angeles.

[Joe Getty]

What's our.

[Jack Armstrong]

This English is better in my Japanese. Thank you. Thank you very much.

[Joe Getty]

That's true. That's Yamamoto, the difference making pitcher for the Dodgers at the big parade yesterday. I was just looking up at the tv. They were showing some of the parade stuff. I like the fact that. What's the long blonde haired pitcher who retired? Kershaw. Kershaw. Kershaw was wearing a sleeveless tank top, looking pretty redneck with his hat on backwards and his long hair. Good luck. Liked it. Liked it a lot.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Joe Getty]

He's done. He retired. What are you gonna do? What do you want from me? I'm done. Anson said.

[Jack Armstrong]

And his moobs.

[Joe Getty]

He has moves. Kershaw has moves. Yeah, apparently.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, well, all right. Wow.

[Joe Getty]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

Suburban dad Mocks Body of Trillionaire Professional Athlete that's beneath you, Hanson. Beneath you.

[Joe Getty]

I like it all the way around.

[Jack Armstrong]

Look at him, he's. He's not in shape.

[Joe Getty]

I like Hanson's comment. I like Your comment, angry reaction to it. The whole thing is good. Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

Hey, Ants is a Padres fan.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Oh, that's it.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's personal animosity. Right. Okay.

[Joe Getty]

All right.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's a sports fan thing. Okay. Fair enough. So all is fair in that world.

[Joe Getty]

So this is going to be a conversation for the next coming weeks, months and years, I guess. Free Market versus Socialism with Zohran Mandami, mom Danny winning today as the mayor again.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's a cycle. We gotta go through this every couple decades, apparently.

[Joe Getty]

We got this text though. I thought we'd get it on to represent this point of view. We don't have a free market. Most people feel it's rigged. That's one reason Trump won.

[Jack Armstrong]

It is.

[Joe Getty]

Sanders is popular. True. We have a system where the rich and influential can get laws passed in favor of their business or status. It's not a free market when the thumb is on the scale against unions. It's not a free market when CEOs make a hundred to a thousand times that of their workers. It's not a free market when corporate boards are made up of business owners rewarding each other for cutting jobs.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow. That's absolutely good stuff. It would take a college class to untangle that. I almost want to go sentence by sentence.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, some of that I agree with, some that I don't. The part that I definitely agree with it is. Is that a lot why Trump and Bernie Sanders have the popularity that they have is people believing the system is rigged.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, I would say this to you, my friend, I actually agree with you in principle that free market fans like, I'll just speak for myself, like myself think the crony capitalism part of our law and society and government has grown way too big. Way too big. But the Bernie's of the world want to go way further down that road with the government picking more winners and losers. Yeah, that's the problem. I want to go backward.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, that is the interesting part. Always in any free market capitalism, there's going to be some rigging of the system, great or small. Just it's. Man, it's hard to avoid. But if you go down the road of socialism, then. Then everything is rigged. Every single aspect of everything is rigged all the time.

[Jack Armstrong]

So, friend, I would ask you this. When the government is in charge of everything, whose ear or who's going to have that ultra powerful government's ear? The common man. Hilarious. That's another one of the seductive lies of socialism.

[Joe Getty]

Please.

[Jack Armstrong]

The more power the government has, the more it responds only to the powerful. Second Note. And again, you know, I'd love to pick apart that email, including the parts I agree with. The idea that the deck is stacked against the unions is one of the funniest things I have ever heard in my life. I congratulate you on your exquisite comedy styling.

[Joe Getty]

I have long been interested in this question of why CEOs used to make like 15 times the average worker and then it became a thousand times the average worker in their company. I've. I've never quite understood what changed there. Is it economics or cultural? Was the change like.

[Jack Armstrong]

And it does have to do with the boards of directors as well.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, yeah. But that whole relationship, what changed there? Did it just inch up little by little and people said, wow, look what he's getting away with. Let's see how far I can go.

[Jack Armstrong]

Or what would it take to lure the high performers? I mean, but it. Baseball players salaries have skyrocketed as well. Why? Because there's tons more revenue, Right?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. I don't know. I don't know.

[Guest or Co-host (possibly Armstrong or Getty)]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, you know, this is a very fudgy answer, but I do enjoy fudge. I don't.

[Joe Getty]

I find fudge too much.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, really?

[Joe Getty]

I love a brownie. Brownies. I eat a pan of brownies all day long.

[Jack Armstrong]

Fudge. Ah, just too rich for air. Too rich, perhaps. Eat less of it. I don't know. How much fudge do you eat? Half pound sitting. Oh, that's reasonable. Judy and I almost went into a fudge shop the other day. We were in a touristy area, a fudge shop. The last time we went into a fudge shop, it was near closing. And I told this story on the air. I think that the. The plucky youngster behind the counter, he said, so what brings you folks to town? We said, well, we're celebrating our anniversary. I think it was our 38th.

[Joe Getty]

38Th. The traditional gift is fudge, right?

[Jack Armstrong]

Clearly. And he said, oh, my gosh, that's great. Congratulations. I love seeing that here. I tell you what, you paid for £1, whatever it is. 2. And he said, you know what? £2 of fudge. We're almost at closing time. Which one do you want to try that way? I said, well, that looks good. And we walked out of there with like four or five pounds of fudge. That's a lot of fudge. Just the two of us. We couldn't eat that in a decade.

[Joe Getty]

So much younger. As a couple, you had walked out of a hospital with a baby that weighed roughly the same.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Sweet kid, though. It was kind of nice that he responded to a long term stable marriage with that, that sort of, you know.

[Joe Getty]

And to encourage more long term marriages, the, the dangling. The reward of fudge.

[Jack Armstrong]

The fabulous gift of fudge. Yes. Oh, that's right. I was gonna give you my fudgy answer. I, I would love to dig further into that question about the CEO salaries. How it's gone from 10 times the salary of the lowest level worker or whatever, 15 to you know, 20,000 or whatever the hell it is. But from what I've read so far, and this is the fudge delicious fudgy answer. Some of it is legitimate market forces at work and some of it is the whole back scratching boards of directors who all know each other and it's a, you know, limited cabal of the super rich who take care of each other. It's, it's, you know, both legitimate and the illegitimate. So I apologize if you don't like fudge or fudgy answers but a lot of the, a lot of that stuff, again that the short story long is you're complaining about moving away from the free market so saying we don't have a free market now. Yeah, I know, I know and I don't like it. But going further down your road would be an insane solution.

[Joe Getty]

So rig that'd be like eating more.

[Jack Armstrong]

Fudge to cure obesity. To return to our theme. Wow. And actually fudge is not that terrible for you. It's got sugar but it's, it's better for you than like milk chocolate and that sort of.

[Joe Getty]

Is it really?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Maybe I should get on the fudge train. Oh.

[Jack Armstrong]

Come on. Anyway, where were we? Oh, I knew there was something else we wanted to talk about. Oh, you know, we could take a break semi on time and talk about this next segment. I want to point out how caramel.

[Joe Getty]

Apples is that our topic.

[Jack Armstrong]

Another delicious treat. If I wasn't allergic to apples, I would have a caramel apple every single week anyway. Oh yeah, weekly caramel apple keeps the doctor away and keeps the dentist busy. The fact that like the U.S. like Bill Gates, many countries around the world are turning away from the cult like climate change sacrifice your economy to green energy just fantasy thing. So more on that to come after a word from our friends at webroot.

[Joe Getty]

I get worried about being hacked practically every day when I'm getting emails or texts and like is this legit from a company where I got a bill with them that I don't remember? I can't click on it. Then I try to, you know that whole thing Is this a phishing scam? Webroot makes me feel a lot more comfortable. Webroot Total Protection blocks threats before they reach you, protects your passwords, even monitors the dark web for your info to try to fight against phishing ransomware. All the problems that are out there.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yep. Plus Webroot is cheaper than the competition. It installs in minutes, uses way less space on your computer, no price gouging, no nonsense and come on, secure VPN for up to 10 devices. That's great. Protect yourself today get 60% off Webroot total [e-mail] Armstrong that's 60% off, but only at that link. Protect yourself and your loved ones. Go to webroot.comarmstrong now. Don't miss out one more time it's webroot.com armstrong stay stay sty cyber stay what? Stay cyber safe 60% off webroot.com armstrong I'm sorry, I would like it for reading and talking at the same time. I apologize deeply and humbly.

[Joe Getty]

I would like to know what piece of information got to Bill Gates that made him change his mind in the whole climate change threat. Was there a specific study? Did a guy he respects say hey Bill, the whole climate change thing here, let me tell you something about that.

[Jack Armstrong]

I wonder what changed around the dominant theory the other day. It's just money maybe, right? That that AI which is the future of tech consumes so much energy. If if there was no chance before that the windmills and solar panels were going to power the world now it's hilarious to even propose that. Could be because AI is such an energy suck.

[Joe Getty]

Could be it's AI is really undoable. If you're going to have windmills, well.

[Jack Armstrong]

The world is turning away from that. We'll tell you about that. Plus a book so bad it shattered liberals faith in DEI. A review of KGP's independent A Look Inside a Broken White House outside the party lines.

[Joe Getty]

It's had some pretty bad reviews already, so lots on the way. Stay here.

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[Guest or Contributor]

Hey, I want to say congrats to the LA Dodgers who won the World Series this weekend in a thrilling Game seven. If you're in la, get ready to meet a whole bunch of babies named Shohei in exactly nine months.

[Joe Getty]

What? Okay, so I didn't realize that a shirtless Clayton Kershaw joined the post game show after the Dodgers won the World Series. And he is thick with two C's. So I, I've, I've long curvy. I've long had this standard. As you know, if you display your body to the public, the public gets to comment on it. I mean if that's just the way.

[Jack Armstrong]

It works, I don't think that's unfair.

[Guest or Contributor]

Solid a cup right there.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, if you don't want people to come. And I don't walk shirtless. He's completely shirtless as a 40 year old dude walking up to the post game show. That's pretty funny. Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow. So there are a couple of topics. Climate cultism is one and gender cultism is another. Where the tide is finally starting to turn. Although I would argue we've got a hell of a long road to go before sanity's really install restored. And we've got a gender bending madness update coming up next hour. But on the climate thing, Bill Gates made a lot of headlines this week when he said essentially, yeah, maybe like doing everything we can possibly do to reduce emissions at the cost of our economies and standards of living, et cetera, is maybe not the right strategy. Why don't we just deal with maybe some of the discomfort slight climate changes might cause and look after people being able to feed themselves and not die of diseases and stuff like that instead of, you know, putting all of our eggs in the climate basket. Why he made that change, Maybe he just woke up to reality in my opinion. Or whether he's motivated by AI's voracious need for electricity. I don't know.

[Joe Getty]

Well, his just his flat statement of mankind is not going to come to its end because of climate change. Well, it's the flat out opposite of what he's been saying for 20 years right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, and also the idea that we in particular the Western world, because the other parts of the world don't give a crap, that we can make these enormous sacrifices and it will turn the tide has never been true.

[Guest or Co-host (possibly Armstrong or Getty)]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

It was demonstrably false for years. And he's finally woken up to it. Anyway, I thought this was interesting headline, the world turns to energy pragmatism happens to be in the Dispatch energy section sponsored by Pacific Legal foundation, good friends of the Armstrong and Getty Show. And, uh, let's see. Roger Pilkey is writing about the fact that you've got leaders all around the world saying similar things, like Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. A decade ago, he warned that remaining fossil fuel reserves may become unburnable if the world wants to avoid a climate catastrophe. Uh, in recent months, he's fast tracked approval of new liquefied natural gas export terminals in British Columbia.

[Guest or Co-host (possibly Armstrong or Getty)]

Perfect.

[Jack Armstrong]

Promising quote to transform our country into an energy superpower. Okay. The UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, who needs to get out of office as soon as possible, must soon decide whether to relax aggressive climate targets that have crippled Britain's economy. A government insider recently told the Guardian. Quote, if it comes to a choice between hitting the climate target and overpaying or missing it and keeping costs down, we're going to miss it.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, Britain went net zero and just destroyed their economy. I was listening to a podcast about that a couple of weeks ago, and it was shocking that I wasn't more aware of this. The damage they did to their own economy over this. Thank God we didn't.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, yeah, yeah, you got your. German chancellor Freddie Mertz recently acknowledged the competing economic objectives that accompany an ambitious climate agenda. Quote, none of us are questioning the goal of climate protection. All of us are of the opinion we must combine this with the competitiveness of Europe, industry. All the people who've had their economic prospects crushed over the last 15 years are probably saying, oh, great way to wait to wake up now, Fred. But it actually, more than that, like your Greek Prime Minister, unpronounceable writing for the Financial Times, argued in favor of a more pragmatic energy transmission transition. Quote, if we must accept some emissions for a bit longer to save our industries or to maintain social cohesion, so be it. We have to have these debates. Honestly, we cannot begin with climate neutrality reality and hope everything else falls into place.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, a lot of us have been saying that for a long time.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Practically word for word. One or two more. And then more on that theme. Chris Coons of Delaware, a Highly partisan Democrat recently told Politico that climate is not a top three issue right now.

[Joe Getty]

Wow, I didn't know that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii. It's a pretty name. Went even further.

[Joe Getty]

Or arguing that unfortunate event. Yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

At a New York Times event last month. That costs need to be front and center when talking about energy. Quote. You could talk about the planetary emergency and mitigation and adaptation. You could throw in some environmental justice rhetoric. But by the time you're done talking, people don't think you care about them. The way to victory is to talk about price. Okay, welcome. Glad to have you at the party. Thanks, chef. We're just cleaning up and washing the dishes. You know what? Yes. You've. You've been having shats on the American people for too long with your climate cultism. So the one bitter note about people finally coming correct. Careers were crushed. People run out of science and academia for saying these very things. People were like, canceled on Twitter and Facebook for saying the very things the left is now saying.

[Joe Getty]

God, I hope we don't do that. Have we learned something from COVID or climate and the trans craziness that, that you got to let people have their opinions out there?

[Jack Armstrong]

Probably for a while we have. And then those lessons get fuzzier over time and you, you repeat them. History doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes, as they say.

[Joe Getty]

Still laughing over your juvenile joke.

[Jack Armstrong]

How dare you.

[Joe Getty]

I agree.

[Jack Armstrong]

Shut up.

[Joe Getty]

This time I agree with you.

[Jack Armstrong]

Shut up, you. Yeah, she's a poor autistic kid who got exploited by adults who made millions of dollars off the climate scam. I shouldn't be mean to her. I mean, she's an adult now, but.

[Joe Getty]

Please, I should be back in school.

[Jack Armstrong]

You know, you're right. I agree with you.

[Joe Getty]

They ran into the problem, the climate change activists of, like, a lot of doomsday cults, like, you know, the world is gonna end on 2019, and then 2019 comes and the world doesn't end. It kinda ruins your credibility. And that's what happened with a lot of your climate change stuff. I mean, you go back and look at some of Al Gore claimed was gonna happen by 20 years ago.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah, well, and then the claims of the effect that their policies would have are completely fanciful. You haven't changed the output of, you know, crap, globally speaking, nearly enough to crap. That's a nice technical term. You know, the fossil fuels and carbon and the rest of it. You haven't changed it nearly enough to matter. So quit wasting our time in economies on your cult. And again, how often do you see this pattern? There are people making billions and billions of dollars off of selling climate fear. And then you've got the good hearted, soft headed Greta Thunbergs of the world and the college kids on the campuses who believe it with 100% sincerity. And they're the army that marches for the activists.

[Joe Getty]

I think in honor of Dick Cheney's passing, we should waterboard Bill Gates to find out made him change his mind.

[Jack Armstrong]

I love that idea. Loving tribute to the great Dick Cheney next hour as well. Stay with us.

[Joe Getty]

Okay, lots on the way. If you missing, it's podcast Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast.