You're A Weak F-ing Act

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand – Episode: "You're A Weak F-ing Act" (Released April 1, 2025)

Hosted by Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty, the "Armstrong & Getty On Demand" podcast delves into contemporary societal issues with humor and critical insight. In the episode titled "You're A Weak F-ing Act," the hosts navigate through topics ranging from vandalism and political activism to demographic challenges in South Korea.

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1. Vandalism and Online Activism: The Swastika Incident

The episode kicks off with a discussion about a recent act of vandalism where an individual painted a swastika on a Tesla vehicle. This act is dissected to explore the motivations and repercussions of such actions.

• Jack Armstrong opens the conversation by highlighting the absurdity and over-the-top nature of the vandalism:
  "What a passive aggressive vandal activist he is." [02:21]

• Joe Getty emphasizes the performative aspect of online threats that often translate into real-life confrontations:
  "It's always sounds just like this guy here." [02:58]

• The hosts analyze the psychological traits behind such acts, suggesting a blend of anonymity and extreme reactions driving these behaviors:
  "It's a combination of a certain personality type in the whole Internet Anonymous, behind a keyboard thing." [03:55]

• Katie Greener contributes by providing context on how social media platforms like Facebook track down vandals, leading to real-world confrontations:
  "And the guy saw the owner of the Tesla, saw it on camera and put it up on Facebook." [01:11]

2. Elon Musk’s Stance on Judicial Activism

Transitioning from vandalism, Armstrong and Getty delve into Elon Musk’s concerns regarding judicial activism and its implications for political landscapes.

• Elon Musk is quoted discussing his apprehensions:
  "These judges are undermining faith in the legal system because they're supposed to be objective, but they're clearly not being objective. They're being just politicians." [13:22]

• Jack Armstrong reflects on the broader impact of judges who interpret the Constitution flexibly, potentially swaying legal outcomes to fit contemporary ideologies:
  "So you have plenty of judges who just see the job differently conceptually. They see the job as how do we get to the outcome we want." [14:45]

• Joe Getty highlights the political dynamics influencing judicial appointments and the potential long-term effects on governance:
  "Redistricting will really have an undue influence in future elections." [16:53]

3. South Korea’s Demographic Dilemma and Government Intervention

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to South Korea’s alarming low fertility rates and the government's attempts to counteract this trend through state-sponsored dating initiatives.

• Jack Armstrong introduces the issue by noting South Korea’s fertility rate has plummeted to 0.75 children per woman:
  "State sponsored dating has become a phenomenon in South Korea." [22:06]

• The hosts discuss various government strategies aimed at encouraging marriage and childbirth:
  "Bu Young Group, a construction firm in Seoul, pays its employees roughly 75 grand each time they have a baby." [23:24]

• Joe Getty critiques these measures, arguing that cultural and societal factors are not easily influenced by financial incentives:
  "I don't like the fact that my kids are scared to ride with me because they think somebody's gonna do something to us." [09:56]

• Katie Greener provides insights into the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of these programs, citing low participation and minimal success rates:
  "Among the 4,000 singles who participated, just 24 couples got married." [27:01]

4. Technology, Social Behavior, and Cultural Shifts

The conversation briefly touches upon how technology and modern lifestyles are influencing social interactions and traditional practices.

• Jack Armstrong shares an anecdote about observing a man impersonate disinterest while using a dating app:
  "He looked so bored, it looked like he had to finish a report for work." [23:02]

• The hosts ponder over the declining interest in traditional dating methods and the rise of digital interactions:
  "It's something weird that's never happened before." [24:55]

5. Final Thoughts and Contemporary Reflections

As the episode nears its conclusion, Armstrong and Getty offer their final perspectives on the discussed topics, interweaving humor with critical observations.

• Jack Armstrong makes a poignant remark on the absurdity of using hateful symbols for protest:
  "If you paint a swastika on somebody else's car, you're a brave protester or something. It's just so stupid." [33:56]

• Joe Getty underscores the societal implications of such actions, questioning the moral compass behind vandalism:
  "If I have a flag with a Nazi symbol on it, I'm bad person. Run out of the neighborhood." [34:28]

• The hosts encourage listener engagement, inviting them to contribute topics and share their thoughts, emphasizing the show's interactive nature:
  "Drop us a note if there's something we ought to be talking about." [34:51]

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Conclusion

In "You're A Weak F-ing Act," Armstrong and Getty navigate through a spectrum of issues reflecting modern societal tensions. From the extremes of political vandalism to the intricate challenges of demographic sustainability in South Korea, the hosts blend analytical discourse with their trademark humor. Notable quotes punctuate the conversation, providing listeners with memorable insights into the complexities of contemporary culture and politics.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln radio studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty. Armstrong and Getty. And now here's Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

And how about you pay for the repairs?

[Jack Armstrong]

I can wipe it off with a towel.

[Joe Getty]

It's not.

[Jack Armstrong]

It is a hate crime, sir. It is a hate crime. A suit.

[Joe Getty]

Did you write a swastika on there? I'm sorry you're upset. Did you write a swastika? It didn't even work. Have you looked at your car? Is there a key?

[Jack Armstrong]

Mark?

[Joe Getty]

I said I'm sorry.

[Jack Armstrong]

For what?

[Joe Getty]

And I apologize.

[Jack Armstrong]

For what?

[Joe Getty]

I have nothing against car and I have nothing against you.

[Jack Armstrong]

So why did you write a swastika on?

[Joe Getty]

Obviously, I have something against Elon Musk, but that's not the way he owns that car.

[Jack Armstrong]

Because it was so. It was bought and paid for a long time.

[Joe Getty]

That's why. It's misguided and obviously I did not intend so what is that, Katie?

[Katie Greener]

So that. That guy drew something on a Tesla swastika?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Katie Greener]

And the guy saw the owner of the Tesla, saw it on camera and put it up on Facebook. And Facebook was able to track this guy down, so he went and confronted him. The guy that did the swastika. Late 50s, early 60s. White guy.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, that's the. That's the crowd.

[Jack Armstrong]

You know that. It's so funny. I watched some news yesterday and I came to the conclusion it's amazing that all of these people look like retired government workers as we were chatting about. And then I heard a couple of other people make the point. It's. It's like. It's like your. Your contemporaries of Bernie Sanders have all come out on the streets and are screeching and line danc at one point about how Elon's a Nazi. I mean, what. Seriously, we used to be a serious country.

[Katie Greener]

I'm putting together a new Katie's Corner and I have the video of this guy on there, so you can see [e-mail].

[Jack Armstrong]

He'S.

[Katie Greener]

He's very sincere. He has his hand over his heart. I didn't. Not my intention.

[Joe Getty]

I'm. I like his apology. I'm sorry you're offended. Always a good. A good apology. I'm not sorry. I'm sorry you feel that way. Mean it. I'm sorry you feel that way.

[Jack Armstrong]

What a passive aggressive vandal activist he is.

[Joe Getty]

Well, first of all, just that whole over the top reaction to things mindset. We've run into that ourselves many times. If you threaten us online and people do now and then email, text or whatever. We pass it off the police and they track you down. We've done this multiple times anyway, whenever that happens, the response is, oh, I didn't mean that. I'm sorry, I didn't.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's usually off the handle, guys, I love the show. I don't know. Blah, blah, blah.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, it's always sounds just like this guy here. So what is that personality trait of the.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm going to paint a swastik on.

[Joe Getty]

Your car and then you get push up. I just, I was just expressing that I don't like the direction Elon's taking things.

[Jack Armstrong]

I think the tech. The technical term is you're a weak effing act or there's something. Or you're on him.

[Joe Getty]

I think it's the. The coin of the realm of. Of the Internet. You just have to do everything so over the top when your actual emotion is. I'm just expressing. I don't agree with you on this topic.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Joe Getty]

But you feel like the only way you can cut through is a swastika or a death threat.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. And then when somebody drags it back into IRL in real life, like this guy did, all of a sudden, the guy, it was like he was a stranger to his own actions. He was like, yeah, I just. I don't like Elon Musk. And so I. Look, it didn't even leave a mark.

[Joe Getty]

You did it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Why are you plastic on my car? Right, Exactly. Why are you now, like, arguing against you. What's happening here? Yeah, you're right. You're right. It's a combination of a certain personality type in the whole Internet Anonymous, behind a keyboard thing. And this guy felt like he was behind a keyboard because he didn't expect to be called on it.

[Joe Getty]

Right. I. A guy I know in the Secret Service used to respond to the Most of the people that make threats when they got to fly to, you know, Idaho and meet some guy in a shack is a. What they call keyboard warriors in the Secret Service business. You meet them and you realize right away they're like that, oh, no, no, I would never hurt a fly. It's just.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, it's just mad. Yeah, right.

[Joe Getty]

It's weird. I didn't like the guy feeling like he needed to say, this was bought and paid for a long time ago. Like, I bought the Tesla before Elon became Nazi.

[Jack Armstrong]

You should be relevant.

[Joe Getty]

You should be able to buy whatever car you want driving around without people painting swastikas on it. Whether you bought it yesterday or two. Years ago.

[Jack Armstrong]

I think there's a decent chance your car gets vandalized.

[Joe Getty]

I hope not.

[Jack Armstrong]

I hope not too. I'm certainly not rooting for it. I'm just. I'm thinking about the rather blue area that you live and the, the heated rhetoric and actions right now. I watched some of the lunatics.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, they're weird.

[Jack Armstrong]

Screaming and again, line dancing while waving swastikas. Is that the first incident of line dancing with swastikas in world history? We've set our historical research staff on answering that question, but you look at those people, they cannot be reasoned with.

[Joe Getty]

I've been checking the cameras, my live camera right there, looking from all different angles and it's recording, so.

[Jack Armstrong]

But we gotta get some crowbars around here in the studio. Just ready to go.

[Joe Getty]

Let's get. Let's get this on because it makes a point. Where's the Pam Bondi? I can't keep track of my lists today. The Pam Bondi. Okay, go ahead. I've made it clear if you take.

[Jack Armstrong]

Part in the wave of domestic terrorism against Tesla Properties, we will find you, arrest you, and put you behind bars.

[Joe Getty]

I'm going to be interested to see when what courts decide counts as domestic terrorism or not. As everybody I talked to about buying my most recent vehicle warned me. Oh boy, I don't know if that's a good idea. Like I should not buy it out of fear. So not making the second biggest purchase you ever make in your life out.

[Jack Armstrong]

Of fear because of political affiliation.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, how's that not domestic terrorism? My son doesn't want to ride in it. He didn't want to ride to the baseball game last night because he's afraid something's gonna happen to him.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh my Lord, that sucks. Yeah, it sucks. It'll vary judge to judge. As we know, there are very reasonable judges in America and just absolute ideological pieces of crap. Pardon me, that was uncharitable. I sounded like a keyboard warrior myself there, but they're pieces of crap anyway, so you're gonna see a lot of different outcomes. Cuz I could easily see some lefty judge saying, this is not political terrorism. This is a consumer activist who's unhappy about a product. It's a simple case of vandalism, right? Class C misdemeanor fine, $500 in restitution, bang. Get out of here.

[Joe Getty]

Even though the goal was entirely political and to frighten people out of buying a certain product.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah. To damage, at the very least, to damage the proprietor of said company for political reasons and therefore to Discourage anyone with any sort of high profile from affiliating with that political party. Right, you're right.

[Joe Getty]

Because that'll keep any other big company from ever wanting to have anything to say about politics out of fear, which is not good.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. If the guy from Ticketmaster, say, comes out and says, you know what? I think Trump's right. I think Doge is right. They're wasting a lot of taxpayer money. If consumers have lower taxes, they'll buy more concert tickets. So I'm down with Doge 2. Then all of a sudden, people start, you know, bear spraying. People who go to Ticketmaster events or something like that. Well, so vandalizing more to. To make it more comfortable. Vandalizing their cars while they're at the event.

[Joe Getty]

I don't believe this. But to throw out a different argument from the other side. So this is different than kid lining up Bud Light cans and shooting them with a rifle and videotaping it. Yeah.

[Katie Greener]

Those were his beers.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah. The Second Amendment. The right to bear arms and bear arms against beers. People usually don't read that last sentence.

[Joe Getty]

Very watery, domestic, laid beers.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay. Wow, that's an intriguing question. No, if you were, like, vandalizing people's beer, not your own, I mean. Cause if I torched my own Tesla, people would just think you're an effing moron.

[Joe Getty]

Well, was anybody scared to drink Bud Light? Maybe at a bar?

[Jack Armstrong]

Social pressure.

[Joe Getty]

You might have been scared to stand at a bar with a Bud Light in your hand. I don't know.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, but that was in response to a very specific ideology and an issue. No, it's an effort to intimidate other people into either doing or not doing various political acts. Whereas the Bud Light thing was not. I mean, nobody would, like, be holding a barbecue and somebody runs over and jabs their Bud Light cans full of holes and thinks, oh, my God, I better vote Democrat, or something like that, or. That's an interesting comparison. I'd really like to think about that for a while.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. I don't like the fact that my kids are scared to ride with me because they think somebody's gonna do something to us.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Joe Getty]

And not completely without reason. I mean, it's not. It's not a crazy reaction based on the things I've seen.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Oh, one of our beloved listeners sent us a video of what's rolling coal.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Is that what it. It's called. What do you.

[Joe Getty]

If you drive a diesel and you've got it tuned a certain way, you can gun the engine and black smoke.

[Jack Armstrong]

Will roll out of it.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, they call that rolling coal. And sometimes you do that to show off. Sometimes you do that like to. You're angry at somebody, you feel like they cut you off, so you get in front of them and roll coal on them. This guy did it to me as in a cyber truck the other day with the windows down. He pulled up next to me and rolled coal smoke.

[Jack Armstrong]

Black, thick black smoke went through my window. And you think he thought you were a lefty?

[Joe Getty]

I think this was a big diesel truck. Guy doesn't like electric vehicles. As opposed to the lefties who hate it for you. Really bringing a lot of hate upon myself. Just trying to get from A to B people.

[Jack Armstrong]

But anyway, so this beloved listener sent us the video of a friend of theirs who rode by an anti Tesla protest and did that to all the 65 plus white radical. Think they're still hippies types who are protesting against Elon Musk with their swastika signs.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

And he just absolutely blasted him with exhaust. And he had his buddy in a car behind him videotaping it and giggling while he videotaped it.

[Joe Getty]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

I certainly to cry and condemn completely the expressing of exhaust at people eventually. But I giggled a little too.

[Joe Getty]

Appalled.

[Jack Armstrong]

Appalled.

[Joe Getty]

You know what I was? Also appalling to me before I take a break is I remember people when I was younger who like, would drink Coors Light but not Bud Light or Bud Light but not Coors Light. Like, come to your house and if you had Coors Light, they couldn't drink it because they only drink Bud Light.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well. And thank you for excluding my people, you colonialist settler. I was a miller. Like, whichever.

[Joe Getty]

I don't care. I come to your house. You got any of those? I'm perfectly fine. Of course, I care more about inebriation than brand loyalty.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, that's just common sense.

[Joe Getty]

You really. You couldn't. You couldn't stand the taste of Bud Light. But you drink Coors Light or vice versa. I mean, what the hell is that? What is wrong with you?

[Jack Armstrong]

Princess and the pea, please.

[Joe Getty]

Kidding.

[Jack Armstrong]

Drink up.

[Joe Getty]

We got more on the way. Stay here.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

So they're electing a justice for. For the Wisconsin Supreme Court today. And Elon Musk believes the Democrat winning, which would keep their majority. Democrats having the majority in the Supreme Court there would allow them to draw the district lines in such a way that the Republicans could lose control of the House. Which he believes would mean losing some of the Doge recommendations that his group is gonna make in cutting costs. Which he believes will lead to the US going bankrupt, which will lead to the world falling apart.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Joe Getty]

And that's why he thinks this election today in Wisconsin is such a big deal. Here he is in an interview yesterday.

[Elon Musk]

But we've got this issue with judges that are activists. They're not judges, they're just pretending to be judges. They're just politicians wearing judges robes. And that's a huge. In fact, I think that's just generally a problem. It's not just a challenge with tomorrow's election in Wisconsin, but with the federal judges where it's like, hey, guys, you're really undermining faith. Like these judges are undermining faith in the legal system because they're supposed to be objective, but they're clearly not being objective. They're being just politicians. And this is not right. We should have an independence judicial system where it's not a matter of politics.

[Joe Getty]

Well, the problem with that, of course, being how do you know they're being political and they just don't see things differently than you?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, that is a problem, especially if you're trying to explain it to voters. But I was going to bring up one of the several, like, really clear memories I have of my college education, where I first really got into the stuff in depth was the description of the concept of the living Constitution and the idea that the Constitution is a restraint and not a good one. It's a problem to be overcome and worked around because it really is unfair and dumb.

[Joe Getty]

Times change.

[Jack Armstrong]

Exactly. The old timey constitution is not fit for today's world in which a boy can decide to become a girl, for instance. And so you have judges or the.

[Joe Getty]

Founding fathers didn't expect this level of income inequality.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right? Exactly. So you have plenty of judges who just see the job differently conceptually. They see the job as how do we get to the outcome we want? As opposed to, we gotta run through this through the filter of the Constitution and see whether it fits or not. And so it's different than just a couple of different outcomes being desired by the two sides. One side sees the job completely differently and they're dangerous to my mind. I mean, you look at the originalist, constitutionalist, judicial, restraining, Supreme Court, they've come out with several results that have really gladdened lefty hearts because they say, you know what? This squares with the Constitution. And I don't love the result, but it's not my job to overturn it. Next. You'll never see that out of a lefty judge.

[Joe Getty]

The Democrat judge is up by seven points. In a poll that came out yesterday, although polling in these kind of things is not that good. I did to hear some political expert explaining why Democrats tend to win all of these special elections or more of them in Republicans, because Democrats are. They've got more of a. An active base that's like super into this sort of stuff. And Republicans are more likely to just get out in the big elections.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Which just rings true.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

The whole activists control these little elections more than regular voters.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. In summary. Right. Yeah. And if your argument is they're evil Nazis who are going to, you know, eat out our souls, that tends to motivate activists more than this. Redistricting will really have an undue influence in future elections.

[Joe Getty]

Right. There is also reporting MSNBC claims this. I don't know if it's true that there are Republicans in D.C. who would love to see the Democrat win in Wisconsin just because it would diminish Elon's power and they feel like Elon's doing harm to the Republican brand. I don't know if that's true or not.

[Jack Armstrong]

I think there are plenty of Republicans who are part of the permanent DC beast for sure. Yeah. Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

I thought that Starbucks just rolled out a line of limited edition Peanuts inspired merchandise that features all the characters like Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Woodstock. Asked to comment, a Starbucks spokesman said, I thought Starbucks was gonna pare back all their choices. They thought that was killing him. And that's why they.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah. CEO.

[Joe Getty]

There's like 9,000 different coffee drinks you can order by that. It doesn't sound like that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Comparing back their food offerings and the rest of it. Yeah. So this is the world's least surprising headline, but the details are pretty interesting. Even a $14,000 government handout can't get South Korea's singles to marry. South Korea's fertility rate is now so low they have state sponsored. Apparently South Korea has states, regions, whatever. State sponsored dating has become a phenomenon. And they actually quote this One gal who's 31 years old in a barista. Apparently it's international, folks.

[Joe Getty]

And this is just for getting married, not just for having kid. Can you just get married?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, well, they figured, hey, you know, you build a fence from the bottom up, first we'll get them hitched. Interestingly, South Korea is a socially conservative country and fewer than 5% of births are outside of wedlock. Fewer than 5%? What's it in the U.S. 60% or something?

[Joe Getty]

That's a good question.

[Jack Armstrong]

Hey, Katie, do you have a second to grab that number I should have looked for that myself, but I didn't think of it.

[Joe Getty]

Percentage of birds out of wedlock in the United States. Bastards, if you will. No, that's. You don't know where your dad is.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, Lord.

[Joe Getty]

That's a different thing.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's kind of the same, isn't it? I think bastard is just a child born out of wedlock.

[Joe Getty]

Is it?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

I thought a bastard was. You didn't know who your dad was?

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know. Anyway, so it's kind of actually amusing, this 31 year old barista gal.

[Joe Getty]

You came up with it, Katie.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay.

[Katie Greener]

In the United States, approximately 40%.

[Jack Armstrong]

40%. Wow. Yeah, wow.

[Joe Getty]

Even though there are a lot of statistics attached to that that are not good.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Kid's gonna end up in jail or on the pole. Not really. It's more likely there will be a bad outcome, but far from certain, obviously friends. So this 31 year old barista is really worried her parents are gonna find out about all the cash handouts and dating services the government is offering. Because they'll make her apply. She says with a big sigh. State sponsored dating has become a phenomenon. There's the fertility rate is now 0.75 children per woman, which is a third of the figure. Just to keep the population stable.

[Joe Getty]

They're not gonna turn that around. I'm surprised they even try. You're not gonna change that. I would like to know what their divorce rate is in South Korea. I bet it's very low.

[Jack Armstrong]

I think it is. Yeah. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

If you can come up with that, Katie, that might not exist, but divorce rate in South Korea. But I'll bet it's very low. Otherwise I would think people would be getting the piece of paper, as people often say in the United States, just for the money. I could see a fake marriage for the money. If you have a kid because somebody's giving you a check. That is a terrible idea.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes. Oh, yeah, yeah. And honestly, seriously, folks, I realize housing prices are out of control and if you're living, you know, you live your life, you make your own decisions. But the whole. We're wait till we can afford a kid. You'll figure it out. You really will.

[Joe Getty]

Okay, next I'm going to have you get the average hype for women in Ghana. But what did you come up with on the divorce rate for South Korea?

[Katie Greener]

South Korea's divorce rate was 1.8 divorces per 1,000 people.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow, that's quite low.

[Joe Getty]

That's the United States in the early 1900s.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Yeah. So city governments have Launched matchmaking services and other incentives to boost the world's lowest birth rate. State sponsored dating has become a phenomenon in South Korea. For instance, Sahagu, a district in South Korea's second largest city of Busan, offers single zoo match at its events. Around 340 bucks to spend on dates. I'll tell you how the events work in a minute. But yeah, it's not even like they're not waiting to give you cash if you have a kid. They're like, hey, just go out to dinner. Who knows, Maybe you hit it off. It's like an old Jewish mother or something. But she's a nice girl. Take her out. Maybe you hit it off, maybe you don't.

[Joe Getty]

But this is a very prosperous society. It isn't the lack of cash that's keeping a dude from asking a chick out to dinner. It's I'm playing video games and perfectly happy the way I am with my cat.

[Jack Armstrong]

And looking at porn. Yeah. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

And looking at porn.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Let's see. Those who get married receive roughly $14,000 up front and are fetted with housing subsidies and more cash to cover pregnancy related expenses and international travel. No particip has yet claimed the prize for marriage.

[Joe Getty]

I'm surprised they're doing this because it's not. There's no way some major cultural event could change this. Depression, world war. But no government program is going to change this.

[Jack Armstrong]

No. Oh, that reminds me. I was sitting in an airplane the other day flying to Cal Unicornia, and guy in front of me that I could see between the seats was doing Bumble. Is that right? At the name of the app, the dating app.

[Joe Getty]

One of them. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, he was flipping. And the speed and casualness with which he was flipping.

[Joe Getty]

Like how quickly he'd determine. Yeah. No based on a picture.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Wow.

[Joe Getty]

I've never online dated, but I just, I've always been amazed by that.

[Jack Armstrong]

And a lot of the girls were really cute. I don't know if he was looking for something in particular.

[Joe Getty]

Huh.

[Jack Armstrong]

African American fellow. Maybe he preferred a black girl. I don't know.

[Joe Getty]

That's too much. That's too much pressure on the picture. I've got pictures where I look pretty good. I got pictures where I look pretty bad. I guess. You got a picture? Get the right picture on there.

[Jack Armstrong]

And occasionally he'd pause and text and then go back to it. And what was interesting is he looked so bored, it looked like he had to finish a report for work. Some idiotic requirement his boss had for him. And he was not engaged in the process at all. Anyway, back to this.

[Joe Getty]

I would like to know what the how. Hmm.

[Jack Armstrong]

So it's not just the gummen. Churches and companies are lending a hand. Bu Young Group, a construction firm in Seoul, pays its employees roughly 75 grand each time they have a baby. Yeouido Full Gospel Church, one of the world's largest congregations in the world. Never heard of it. Gives its members 1380 bucks for each childbirth.

[Joe Getty]

Man, the Korean Christian community is huge. Around where I live, those churches are packed every weekend when I go to the donut shop.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, Protestantism is huge in Korea. We accidentally went to a. Was it accident or we were.

[Joe Getty]

Accidentally went to a Korean church?

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, yeah, it was a Korean Presbyterian church years and years ago, so everybody was lovely. It was nice.

[Joe Getty]

Was it in English?

[Jack Armstrong]

As I recall, it was, yeah. A recent survey shows roughly 3/5 of working South Koreans think it's okay not to marry. Many say they don't feel the need. Rising living costs are a big disincentive, as are the punishingly long hours in South Korea's office culture.

[Joe Getty]

Well, we've talked about this so many times. People not feeling the need to date is not something you fix with a government program. There's something weird going on that's never happened before.

[Jack Armstrong]

Hormonal, instinctive. I remember my favorite theory because we've talked about how if like a population of whatever animal, it gets overpopulated in a given geographic district, they'll stop reproducing because they have an instinctive reaction that. Okay, fewer babies now. And likewise, Craig, the healthcare guru, sent us a fascinating article a long time ago about how coyotes, they're impossible to kill off because they have an incredibly sensitive trigger for that sort of thing. And if they sense a population decrease, they reproduce, produce like crazy.

[Joe Getty]

That was the problem I had with bees. Remember when I had to replace the roof of my house with the bees? If you kill a bunch of bees, they get the word repopulate and they just go into birthing mode like crazy.

[Jack Armstrong]

And I threw out one of my favorite alleged witticisms once about human beings. If you ever think we're overpopulated, drive across Nevada someday. And I think it was frequent correspondent Paolo. It might have been said, guys, the never ending stimulation of smartphones has replicated overpopulation. It's like we're living in a grossly overpopulated dystopia where you can never get a moment's peace.

[Joe Getty]

It's funny, I forgot that because I remember when I heard it the first time, I thought the same Thing I'm thinking now. That explains the whole thing. Yes, the whole thing.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes. So typically, men are more eager to participate in the government hookup programs than women. Shock. Smaller counties have had to cancel their matchmaking events. Matchmaking events when not enough women applied. In South Korea, around 42 districts launched these things between 2022 and 24. And among the 4,000 singles who participated, just 24 couples got married, according to a lawmaker.

[Joe Getty]

Like, you're going to start trying to get pregnant soon, Katie. Why are you doing it? Why do you want to have a kid? For the tax benefit. That's the only reason we all have kids.

[Jack Armstrong]

Duh. That is so hilariously ridiculous.

[Joe Getty]

I know.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I know.

[Joe Getty]

But.

[Jack Armstrong]

But you flip it on its head and say, all right, how will we induce people to reproduce more?

[Joe Getty]

I think they think they. And probably soon us, we're doing it in a different way because we have a border with countries where we can let people in. That's what we're gonna try to do. But outside of that, you just gotta figure out how you're gonna structure society to manage the decline of the population over time and make it the most comfortable for those of us who are still around.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Joe Getty]

That's the only thing you can do.

[Jack Armstrong]

Or suck in millions of foreigners. If you want racism, talk to Asian folks. Well, yeah. The notion that only white people can be racist is so stupid. If my dog espoused that, I would kick him.

[Joe Getty]

That's the. That's the Daniel Tosh thing. Always about the Chinese Olympic team. You know, look at them. They're all Chinese.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, Chinese. Yeah, yeah, Every single one. That's right. So anyway, Korea, like Japan, like China. They don't want foreigners immigrating.

[Joe Getty]

No.

[Jack Armstrong]

They'll deal with the downturn population and. Or cook up all sorts of ridiculous schemes to get their people to. To. To get it on.

[Joe Getty]

Well, I had a texting exchange with our friend Tim Sandifer about this not long ago, kind of. He enjoyed me saying something along the lines of, I don't care about people that haven't been born and won't be or something like that, because he is childless and has no plans to have children. Do you need to be concerned about things continuing if nobody's going to be here? I mean, it's a real. Kind of hurts my brain. Psychological problem.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Yes. Is the answer. I do worry about that some, because the insatiable need for economic growth to finance retirees in this country means the low birth rate means rampant immigration tolerated by both parties.

[Joe Getty]

But if you don't have kids.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Joe Getty]

You don't need to care. Unless. Unless you just care about humanity and think the humans that will be on the planet will have a better life, I guess. But, like, I have kids, you have kids. And they're going to have kids, probably so, you know, I don't want them to live in a dystopian hellhole.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, right. And. And I could see you thinking that there's a serious risk of Western civilization, classical liberalism, the rights of man, free speech, etcetera, Will go away if people steeped in that culture go away.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

And that's terrible for humanity. On the other hand, there are definitely moments I think. Well, good luck, y'all. Right.

[Joe Getty]

That's interesting. South Korea is the number one test case, right?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. I tell you about Shindong Wu. Can I tell you about Shindong Wu?

[Joe Getty]

Is that a person or the region? That's a person, yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

His story is. Is instructive.

[Joe Getty]

And that's coming up next.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's coming up next. Jack Wood. And you can take.

[Joe Getty]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

Stay with us.

[Joe Getty]

Wow. And does that come with a fortune cookie?

[Jack Armstrong]

That's. Oh. I will not comment.

[Joe Getty]

All right, that's on the way. Stay here.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

The food delivery service DoorDash has announced it's partnering with the finance firm Klarna to offer Buy Now, Pay later plans for meals. Previously, the only way to pay later was by ordering Chipotle. Buy Now, Pay Later. Every time I order food on DoorDash, which is pretty often they offer the payment plan. You're setting yourself up for disaster if you're doing a payment plan on your Panda Express meal.

[Jack Armstrong]

The single stupidest idea I've ever heard. Remember when, like, car equity loans.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Was kind of coming in?

[Joe Getty]

Yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

This makes that look like, you know, buy and hold the S and P index fund.

[Joe Getty]

Putting into your 401k.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. Oh, wow.

[Joe Getty]

That is the ultimate in short term thinking.

[Jack Armstrong]

So how much time do we have, Michael? Just got about a minute. Oh, my gosh. So this, this guy, Shin Du Wong, he's a South Korean. We'd been talking about their desperate attempts to have more kids in that country. So he's a pretty successful young attorney. So he's ready. Because in that country, you've got to have stable employment in a career to even think about marrying somebody. He hesitated signing up for one of these programs, but he filled out the paperwork to prove his identity, residence, employment, blah, blah, blah. So in a large room lined with painted canvases, each attendee had to lock eyes with everyone of the opposite sex for 10 seconds. Moving from person to person to test for chemistry.

[Joe Getty]

Interesting.

[Jack Armstrong]

Then came five minute chats with 15 people and dinner over bingo. Having to submit their top three choices.

[Joe Getty]

I'm nobody's choice.

[Jack Armstrong]

So he did that and met a gal and they got together and two weeks later they lost touch. And he's never seen her again after going through all that.

[Joe Getty]

The locking eyes is not a bad idea because there is something that goes on between humans that we don't understand.

[Jack Armstrong]

And it might be you're locking smells. Yeah, it's something like that. That, yeah, you see somebody who's your type, all of a sudden it's like, oh, yeah, there's something to that for sure.

[Joe Getty]

Check your clock.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's time to stop Jack and Joe, they've gotta go. And if they don't, you can. They'll be back tomorrow.

[Joe Getty]

I always picture that being sung by a cartoon bear in a straw hat. Here's your host for Final Thoughts, Joe Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

Hey, let's get a final thought from everybody on the crew. To wrap up the show, there is Michelangelo pressing the buttons in the control room. Michael, what's your final thoughts? I've been smiling all morning. I'm watching Kid Rock in the Oval Office with Trump and it's just. I can't believe it's actually happening. It's just, it's so strange. These are odd times. Yeah, no doubt. Katie Greener, esteemed newswoman, has a final thought. Katie?

[Katie Greener]

Oh, you can see Kid Rock in the Oval Office. You can see the guy talking about putting a swastika on the Tesla. All at katie's [e-mail].

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, Jack, a final thought for us.

[Joe Getty]

I wonder at what time at point car insurance companies say, hey, we're not going to cover your cybertrucks anymore because, I mean, we can't just keep, you know, fixing the Kings or the Slash tires or whatever. If you're going to buy something like that and be provocative, won't that happen?

[Jack Armstrong]

You'd think, yeah, they'll have some sort of carve out. Yeah. My final thought, related. If you paint a swastika on your own car, you're a Nazi. Yes. Paint a swastika on somebody else's car, you're a brave protester or something. It's just so stupid.

[Joe Getty]

Point.

[Jack Armstrong]

So stupid.

[Joe Getty]

If I haven't, if I have a flag with a Nazi symbol on it, I'm bad person.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes.

[Joe Getty]

Run out of the neighborhood. But if I plant a Nazi flag in your yard.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes.

[Joe Getty]

Huh? Armstrong and Getty wrapping up another grueling four hour workday.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm wearing this Klan robe as a protest against Klansmen. No, that doesn't, that doesn't work that way. So many people. Thanks. So little time. Go to armstrongygetty.com A lot of great hot links for you. Pick up some A and G swag. Drop us a note if there's something we ought to be talking about. [e-mail] Send us a link. That's fine.

[Joe Getty]

We're about to record the One More Thing podcast. If you haven't been checking that out on a daily basis, we'll see you tomorrow. God bless America.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'd be very nervous about Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

So what's different with you? Well, I would say this has alleged two strip nude. Get the hell out of here. I think unfortunately that's probably too good to be true.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's true.

[Joe Getty]

It's illegal. It's, it's, it's criminal. In fact, in virtually all states, including Wisconsin.

[Jack Armstrong]

Uh oh. Don't you think that's a little odd?

[Joe Getty]

It's 100 on the crazy meter. Yep, absolutely. I'm gonna call my lawyer.

[Jack Armstrong]

Gonna thank you all very much. Armstrong and Gettys.