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- [00:00]
Dave Smith
Foreign. What's up? What's up? Welcome to a brand new episode of Part of the Problem. I am Dave Smith. He is Robbie the Fire Bernstein. How you feeling today, Rob?
- [00:16]
Robbie Bernstein
I'm doing well, resting up, getting ready for this is. This is real porch season. I mean I got a wild amount of porches coming up. Four day weekends just go to portstore.com I already plugged them. Tennessee this weekend and then a run From Peckin, Indiana, St. Louis all the way up to Ohio. So Cincinnati, just go port store.com come visit a local porch.
- [00:36]
Dave Smith
Come visit. I mean I'd suggest going to the website and finding a porch where Rob's going to be. Don't just show up to random porches. I don't, I don't want to get spirit.
- [00:44]
Robbie Bernstein
I respect that. You know, at this last porch there was a team of four people in their lawn chairs and they were trying to beat their previous record of how many beers the four of them could drink at a porch door. And they had like a pretty solid a stock of cans going. I was like, you know what? I like this Porsche tour game. This is good.
- [01:06]
Dave Smith
What was it? Did they tell you what the record was that they were trying to be.
- [01:10]
Robbie Bernstein
You know, I was drinking too, so I don't remember all the details. I just remember enjoying that and taking a picture of it. But maybe I'll have to follow up with them and I can find out what the for the four man squad current record is for Morse. Beers consumed at the porch.
- [01:25]
Dave Smith
Dude, I remember doing stuff like that like in my teens and twenties or it'd be like things like of but just getting beer drunk, you know what I mean? Like having like 15 beers and it's just there's a. I can't even think about this anymore. Like it's not even like getting that level of drunk. It's just the amount of beer that you have to have. Like you have to fill your body with so much beer. It's. That's a young man's game in my opinion.
- [01:53]
Robbie Bernstein
That was one guy tailgated a porch. I respected that too. Anyways, I don't have to spend the.
- [01:57]
Dave Smith
Whole tailgating a porch is an interesting move anyway.
- [01:59]
Robbie Bernstein
Okay, yes, but the hell out of that. I mean you're not really going to laugh at any jokes, but if you want to be in the back with your little grill and cooking up your hot dogs and just watching the scene, I respect it.
- [02:11]
Dave Smith
Well, also I have. I mean the shows are all sold out, but I am getting excited for not this weekend but Next weekend will be my my weekend at the Mothership, which is just always like my favorite weekend of shows in the year. I mean, some of the other clubs, I will say this year Denver Comedy Works gives it a run for its money. Those are fun shows, but Comedy Mothership really is like just the best club in the country and really looking forward to that. So I hope to see some of the people out at those shows and then me and Rob are on the road. Bunch of dates coming up for the rest of the year. Comic Dave Smith.com for all of that stuff. Also for those of you who are, who are listening live, first of all, thank you for subscribing over@partoftheproblem.com if you listen to the show and you haven't yet subscribed, go on, check it out. You get the members only episode every Thursday. We do four shows a week. Only three go out. One is just for the people who sign up. So make sure you sign up and go enjoy that. We you also get to be in the live chat and we definitely will take some, some questions today. So if you have any questions for me or Rob or both of us, put them in the chat. Natalie will grab them and throw them in our chat and then we'll, we'll get to some of that. So there's, there's a few things that I, you know, you had sent some topics over, Rob, and a few of them I thought were interesting to talk about. It's a little bit of a, like a light day in terms of like, I don't have that much to rant about. We kind of talked about some of the major, well, the, the major things with Israel and Ukraine yesterday. But maybe we could because it kind of is an interesting conversation. But so one of the things you sent over was Donald Trump bringing in the National Guard. And I think from what I was reading also just some other like random federal agents, like there were de DEA agents. And I think I, I think I read ATF agents as well. Just kind of it's not exactly clear what he's having them do, like police work in D.C. evidently. Or what's what's your take on this?
- [04:23]
Robbie Bernstein
Oh, well, I mean, I'm agnostic on the move. I'll speak to the move more itself. I think there's something to be said for there's no we shouldn't have crime and homelessness in any of our cities. And so there's something to be said for being the president living in Washington, D.C. and actually being a good manager There was this old line I once heard at a job, you always know who the boss is by who's picking up the trash. And there is some truth to that, because that's the person that actually cares at a business, right? And so there is something to be said for being a good manager and just going, no, I'm cleaning this up. I'm not living in Washington, D.C. and having other nations show up here and having homelessness and crime in our city. That's like, that's ridiculous. We're cleaning this up. So there's something to be said for it. Like, I, you know, I don't really. I don't really fault him for wanting to clean up D.C. i think it's a good goal. I think none of our cities should have crime and homelessness. And maybe Trump figures out something in D.C. and then he extends it to other areas. So, like, you know, I don't really fault the move. What I can criticize is one, it's so Donald Trump that something just happens on the news and he goes, all right. And it's ADD where he goes, we're going to address this. Big balls, had to beat up, got beat up. Like, we can't be having that. But the actual statistics are the crime is down in D.C. this year, and it's not. I think it's 69th in the nation for crime. That doesn't mean that D.C. should have crime and homelessness, but it does mean that it's not really, like, you know what I mean? It's not, it's not lawlessness in D.C. it probably doesn't require this response. There's also something to be said for is the President. Does the president have the authority to nationalize troops in this way? And do we want, you know, a totalitarian president that just when he decides he wants something done, he doesn't actually go through the lawful means. I don't know the specifics on when the President can declare, you know, we're bringing the National Guard in. So, I mean, I don't really like, there's things that I really fault him for because I don't really even like the end goal of it, such as tariffs. And I don't really like more central planning on this specific one to want to have a show in force in D.C. to maybe motivate the cops to actually do their jobs that they don't have to deal with, like, you know, other law enforcement agencies butting into their business. It kind of makes sense. The specifics on it is, I know he wants to clean up the homelessness. I know he's brought in the National Guard, and I think he's also making use of the FBI for it.
- [06:44]
Dave Smith
Yeah. Yeah. Well, it's interesting. I mean, there's just a lot there. I guess I would. And I think I agree with pretty much everything you said. I mean, I think there's something about, like, even. Even to people who really like Donald Trump or, or really like what Donald Trump represents to them. And I guess I, I would count me and you in that group. I mean, there were certainly aspects to what Donald Trump represents that me and you liked and just things as. As simple as the fact that he was just kind of stood for being like, hey, the, the corporate media is. Are a bunch of liars. They're the enemy of the people, that Washington is profoundly corrupt. Our leadership is stupid. You know, like, there were just a lot of things we've. We've fought all these stupid wars we shouldn't fight. There were a lot of things that Donald Trump represented this kind of dissident figure and somebody who, you know, whatever was, drained the swamp. Even, even just take. It's like, fine, you could, you could be as hardcore a Trump supporter or as hardcore a right winger as you like to be, but that quality of just like, the erraticness of Donald Trump that he'll just. This isn't part of, like, a grand strategy. This isn't something that he's been thinking through and, you know, like, has. Is very well read and has a deep understanding. It's like you said, I mean, this Donald Trump, he sees something on TV and decides impulsively, we're gonna do this and that. I just find, like, it's just indefensible. Like, it's not. It has nothing to do with whether you're like a left winger or a right winger, whether you're pro war or anti war or whatever. It's just like, that is no way to lead. That's crazy. This is just a crazy way to act. So I completely agree with you on that. And then in terms of, like, you know, the, the substance of it, I mean, there's a lot of. It's. It's a major problem for the country, what's going on in cities across the country. And there are a few exceptions to this, but it's really a few. Almost every major city in America is dealing with these problems. And at least from. From my perspective, and, you know, I'm curious to get yours, Rob, because we're both, you know, we travel this country a lot, me and you Travel this country a lot more than the average person does. And so we go to cities all around. But from my perception, and I think this is backed up by the numbers, is just that obviously there were trends in place already. There were problems in big city America already, but Covid really just destroyed big cities. And from at least the way I see it, I don't think they ever truly recovered. They are better than they were like the worst of 2020 or 2021, but I don't think they've really recovered. There are some exceptions to this, but for the most part, I do think that you look at the crime, the absolute epidemic of homeless people on the streets. And, and because even like when you say like DC numbers are down, but they're down from when they peaked, you know what I mean?
- [10:11]
Robbie Bernstein
They're not down from like pre overall levels. I think I just looked at a study from last year. So. Yeah, you're right.
- [10:18]
Dave Smith
Well, you know, I know, I know in New York City, like, crime went starkly up in 2020 and 2021, and then I think was still high in 2022, and then it came down in 23 and 24, but not to pre Covid levels. It was still higher than it had been before. And that's. I think that's true for a lot of big cities. Double check me on that out there, people listening. But so I do just, you know, like, it is a, it is a real profound problem that we have. Like, well, I don't know exactly the number, but I think it's in the millions of people living outside in this country. And that's not like, you know, that's not a leftist issue. You know, like a leftist might have one diagnosis of this or whatever, but I'm not making the, like, you know, I'm not saying like, some people have so much and some people have so little. So we should tax the people who have much and give it to the people who have little. But it is a fair point that I think any, any non left winger can make also that just to be like, dude, we live in a society that's as rich and advanced as the United States of America in 2025, and we still got hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people who like, live outside in their own squalor and filth. And like, it's, it's just profoundly disturbing. And I don't think that federalizing the, the police action is the right move, but it is like a huge, huge problem that seems to be largely unaddressed. I mean, like, not unaddressed. I mean, I shouldn't say that because there's all types of rackets, like out in California where this guy's making 600 grand a year and this guy's making 800 grand a year and they're in charge and they've got, you know, a $50 million budget to spend on solving the homeless problem, but they're not doing anything about it. It's not being solved. And people seem almost like not content but accepting of the fact that like, yeah, that's just part of LA now, that's part of San Francisco, that's part of San Diego, that's just part of it. There's blocks filled with homeless people. And you know, I don't know, you know, we've talked about this over the years, but I just find it, I find it to be. It's a, I guess the thing that, that kind of in, in rages me the most is that it's like that. I just find it to be such an outrage that people tolerate that, particularly because I think it's so, you know, like there's, there's children who are being raised in these cities and like, I just think that's like profoundly damaging to have like, you know, it's part of the reason why I'm not in a city. I don't. The idea of having like your three or four year old just witnessing this level of like humanity is I think really bad. But then, you know, additionally there's, it's, I find it very strange that somehow anyone, anyone could spin allowing homeless encampments to take over cities as the humanitarian approach. Like, as if it's, it's wrong if you're saying no, we gotta, because like nobody, I don't, nobody's suggesting like round these people up and then like throw, throw them in an El Salvadorian prison or something like that. Like I'm assuming, yes, there'll be a facility or something that they're going to, but you're like, like, how is it the humane option to let some like these mentally ill drug addicts just live when they clearly, you know, like need help? I don't know, I just think it's like a crazy thing to just, you know, that we've allowed as a country. All right guys, let's take a moment and thank our sponsor for today's show, which is Prolon by El Nutra, the only patented fasting mimicking diet that combines the benefits of prolonged fasting with a science backed nutrition plan so you can hit your health and weight loss goals without actually having to give up all food. Prolon is a revolutionary plant based nutrition program that nourishes the body while making cells believe they're fasting. Researched and developed for decades at the University of Southern California's Longevity Institute and backed by leading US medical centers, Prolon helps promote healthy blood sugar, support cardiovascular health and reduces abdominal fat. But Prolon isn't a diet. Prolon is science. Science based on Nobel prize winning discoveries in medicine. And it all starts with Prolon's five day program. Snacks, soups and beverages, all designed to keep your body in a fasting state. It's unlike anything you have ever experienced. Many of you probably know these fasting diets are all the rage these days. But now essentially with Prolon, you can trick your body into getting all the benefits of that without having to give up food. So you definitely want to check this out. And right now Prolon is offering part of the problem. Listeners 15 off their five day nutrition program. Just go to prolonlife.com PotP for this special offer that's P R O L-O-N L I F E.com PotP all right, let's get back into the show.
- [15:35]
Robbie Bernstein
Yeah, it certainly sometimes has a flavor. And I think you've said this about maybe it was San Diego, which is otherwise a beautiful city, but it does have some weird feeling of just giving up. Like we're just not going to address this. We're just going to live with this and this is just going to be the way it is. And you know, I think it's more of a Tucker Carlson thing to talk about the beautiful buildings and architecture. This is not really my field of focus, but maybe there is something to be said for nicer cities and that that inspires people more. It's really just not a big topic on my radar or something that I'm overly concerned with. If I was ranking issues, the Federal Reserve is probably number one or is a close second. You know what I mean? So it's like it's just not high on my topic list. But I certainly understand having what I would just say is a better manager. I've worked at jobs with better and worse managers and sometimes a lot of what it comes down to is someone actually caring and just making sure everyone's doing what they're supposed to be doing as opposed to just having a flavor of giving up. And yet there is a bit of a flavor in cities that otherwise are just filthy or have homeless or rampant crime that at some point in time is just kind of giving up?
- [16:46]
Dave Smith
Well, yeah, absolutely. You know, I, I agree with you. Maybe I'll split the difference a little bit. Like I'm, I. It's also like, it's not bumping the Federal Reserve or war or economics or anything like that out of like my priorities list. But I do think Tucker Carlson is completely right about that stuff, and I do think it's really important. And I'll tell you, I never ever really thought about this. I've talked to Tucker actually about this, but I've never off air, but I never thought about this until I moved into my house that I live in now. Because it's, it's just. I grew up in New York City and where I live is. It's beautiful. I mean, like, you've been here a bunch of times, Rob. It's like, it's especially, I mean, like in the summertime, it's just beautiful. We're on a mountain in the country tree and it's like every. All around you are like beautiful trees and, you know, birds and it's, you know, I don't know, it's just like, it's. And I, when I moved here, I started just kind of noticing, like I was conscious of like, oh, I think that's kind of cool that I'm like raising my kids surrounded by beauty, you know, Like, I just think they're selling important. And the more I've lived here, I've just, like, I've, I've taken notice of the effect that it has on me. And I think it's a very, it's a very like, positive effect when you're around, like, beautiful surroundings and cities can be beautiful. I mean, I think like, New York City is a beautiful city in many ways, but I really do think that there's a, you know, there's like a, there's a, a damaging effect. There's a damaging effect to living like a slob. And like your space is, is just like, you know, trashed every day. There's a damaging effect to your city looking like trash to. They're being spray paint everywhere and homeless people on. There's something that's not good for your soul about that. And you know, when you were addressing my. What I was saying about San Diego back, I think was the first time we went out there a few years ago. I do think there, there is a connection between kind of like the, the attacks on masculinity and that, that dynamic, the giving up that I'm talking about. And I think that by the way, there's, and I do not. I'm not pretending to completely understand this, because I really don't. And there, there are probably people who have much, much, much deeper understanding of this than me. But have you read about Rob? Like, there is real science behind, like, testosterone. And like, sperm counts have plummeted amongst young men. Like the, the generation of young men are like, do not have as much testosterone as previous generations of men. And you can see it. You can see it all over them. I mean, I swear to God, I think like, I think like 80% of the left right divide amongst men is driven by testosterone. Like, when you, when you see Rob, you ever see like a left wing, you know, YouTuber or, you know, political commentator type person? It's. When do you ever see one of them who looks like, oh, that guy's like, high in testosterone? That's like a. You know, it's always like this. Like, you can see the get. You're like, oh, all the feminine men are lefties. And like, it's just. And there is something. And of course, this. I'm not, I'm not at all saying that the drop in testosterone is because of what's being taught on college campuses. I'm just saying they coincide. Like, they've both been happening. And when you have this kind of, you know, for. For years, very systemic, to borrow a leftist term, very systemic kind of demonizing of masculinity, even go. Going as far as calling it toxic, toxic masculinity and all this stuff, there is something where, as everybody on some level knows, there. You know, there are times in. For. For a society to be healthy or even survive. There's. There are times where you need that, like, hardcore masculinity, and it does that. Like, that's one of the things I just can't. You know, it was shocking to me, like, and maybe this is. It's partly because I'm getting older and like, I own property and have children and stuff now, but you start like walking around San Diego, it's like this beautiful city. I mean, it is a just. It's a strikingly beautiful city. Like the. You're right on the water. It's in California. It's just. Everything's beautiful. They have great restaurants and hotels and culture and like all. And then there's just like a block of people shitting right next to these, you know, and you're like, how. How are the men here putting up with this? Like, who allows? You go, like, no, I'm sorry. Like, we built this thing. We will protect it now. Like, that's what men do at their best. Build stuff and defend it. Like, that's the whole point. And so it is just, like, I just found it, like, I don't know. Like, it's shocking to me that you've gotten to this point. Like, you know, whatever narratives, you know, I know you're reading. You're reading your papy account and Rob. But, like, whatever narratives there are about World War II or whatever exact. The fact is that, like, what. I forget the exact numbers, but something like a million men in America voluntarily enlisted after Pearl Harbor. He was like, we got attack. Okay, we're going. Well, let's go. Well, we just got attacked. Okay, let's go protect our country. You know, like, there. And again, debates about the necessity of World War II aside. I'm just saying, like, having. Having that is important. Like, that's every household. You have to, like, the man of the house has to kind of, in his own mind, be prepared for, like, hey, if someone were to try to break in here and do harm to my family, I'm prepared to go attempt to stop them. And it just seemed like, I don't know, like, a profound betrayal of that basic, like, masculine role that you just sit there, like, how do you even, like, look at your chick in the face when you kind of walk down that street?
- [23:04]
Robbie Bernstein
I can't prove it, but I'm just gonna say it's socialism and liability laws, because if you decided with three of your friends that there was some homeless guy and he was shitting in front of your business, and so you picked him up and drove him outside of town and said, I don't want to see you in front of my business anymore. In a prior time period, that might have cleaned up that mess. And if you did that now, you probably make the local paper and possibly be in a lot of trouble.
- [23:30]
Dave Smith
Yeah, yeah. Well, there's. I mean, that's a huge aspect of it, for sure. But look, I mean, this is casino floors. Well, that's right. That's exactly right. And. And look, what is the difference? It's a. It's a public property issue. It's not a private property issue. None of these issues are happening on private property. I mean, to the extent that there are issues on private property, it's all, you know, the. The issue is always the government. And I mean, I'm not saying that to be like, I'm not trying to fit this back into my ideology or something like that. I'm just saying very objectively, like, if you look at the problems with like, shoplifting and robberies and why everybody's gotta, you know, like, every pharmacy has to have everything behind glass and stuff like that. In cities across the country, it's always because they're not allowed to have armed security. They're not allowed to physically stop people from doing it. And the government who has monopolized the, you know, the law enforcement, the crime and punishment wing of society are not enforcing law. Like, they're not arresting them. They're not, you know what I mean? They're letting them off. Who's in California? I think it was like 900 or less, and you got like a summons. So they just, like, give them a ticket and then they rip it up and they go back to it. So, like. But this is, this is one of the things that I was really trying to beat into the head of libertarians over the last few years, and it's why I got into so many of these debates about public property. But it is something that libertarians have to grapple with that when you have kind of this state monopolized or monopolized, but this, this state owned and maintained property, and then you have all types of, like, horrible things happening under it, on it, it is not. It's just something that's a little bit trickier for libertarians to talk about because it's not as simple as saying, oh, we want the government to get out of the business of doing this, which ultimately, sure, we probably do, but in the meantime, it sure would be better if they don't let old ladies get punched in the head on the street. You know, like, it's. And, and I think one of the things that's, that's interesting and kind of tragic about Trump, you know, this kind of releasing of the National Guard, is that, you know, people, people demand authoritarian solutions for these problems. And when you create these problems, this is part of the reason why governments grow so big, is that governments cause problems and then there's tremendous demand for a big government solution to that problem. Then that causes problems. Then you need a new government solution. I mean, you can watch this in real time. You could watch, like, if you're my age, it's not that hard to see, like, oh, Obama campaigned on overhauling the health insurance system. Then he did that. Then four years later, they're having a Medicare for all debate because it's like, oh, this caused all these problems. Now we need an even bigger government overhaul to come solve all those problems. And everything just gets worse and worse. But, you know, when you, when you have high Crime in high crime rates in cities. When you have mass, you know, like homelessness and instability, people are going to demand, you know, strongman, right wing, because that's, that's the simplest, you know, most obvious answer to most people is like, make this illegal and start cracking some skulls to get it to stop. But the, the answer that's actually best for curing the problem without causing many, many more is to just have the government stop up the situation to begin with. It is amazing. Like, how much. Who was it? To me, I was talking with some right where, you know, it might have been with Charlie Kirk, actually. I think. Was it him? And this is on a. When we were just talking backstage at the event that he was like. We started getting into, like, the, you know, like the cities that have legalized weed and this stuff and crime and homelessness and. And I was like. I think I said, or he said, but I was like, hey, what percentage of this do you think would be solved if we simply had, like, the Second Amendment enforced, like, concealed carry, you know, Castle doctrine, all that stuff? If we just had that in all these blue cities, how much of the problem. And he's like, probably like 80, 90% of it would be solved. And you're like, okay, all right. So then there, you know, we're together on policy here. Like, what? There's a pretty obvious correct policy that you don't have to go to these, like, authoritarian alternatives. You could just be like, oh, we're going to stop prosecuting people for protecting their property. This would clean up a huge, huge portion of it. And then look, I mean, the homeless thing is a little bit tougher. You know, the, the way. The way that America used to deal with the. This problem was they institutionalized people. It was like when you were crazy like that they would just force you into some, you know, insane asylum. And there were lots of abuses of that. There's a reason why that got shut down. There were lots of abuses, both politically and in terms of just the actual, like, facilities. But I gotta say this, to me, this seems worse. It seems worse to just let, like, even forget the fact that it ruins the cities and makes them unlivable and that there's decent people who, like, are doing the right thing and trying to raise kids. That is like, kind of my number one priority. But even forgetting that just for the people themselves, it seems like. It seems like the cruelest and most inhumane thing is to like, just let schizophrenic drug addicts who clearly need assisted living, you know, what I'm saying, like, like, I'm just saying, like, don't get me wrong, there's a part of the homeless class that are like, people who caught like a few bad breaks and fell behind and things like that. But, you know, like a much bigger portion of it is literally schizophrenic drug addicts who are incapable of living on their own and need serious help. And it doesn't seem like the humane thing is to just say, like, well, let's let them, let's let them live on fourth street covered in their own shit and piss like that. I don't know, it's just wild to me that, that anyone ever accepts that as a, as a place to end on.
- [30:07]
Robbie Bernstein
You know, there's really nice areas in this country with like beachfront properties or even public beaches that you cannot park your car in those areas without a permit. I don't know, I could be out in California next to the nicest beach in the entire world. That's, you know, a public beach and I can't access it because there's nowhere to park my car. I kind of feel like there's enough public land in this country that we could be making available places for those that are homeless that don't want to abide by any decorum of society that, you know, how do you remove someone's right to exist? And there's just enough public land, but the idea that it needs to be on Second Avenue, I don't know, like, at some point areas are just kind of wealthy enough for enough other people that there maybe should be a public decorum standard which is just not, you know, not being a risk or a nuisance to other people. Like, I don't know.
- [30:59]
Dave Smith
Yes. No, I think, I think that's right. And. And what? And ironically, or perhaps it's not ironic or there's some irony in it because ironically, you know, like, despite what young naive leftists think, it's like, as always, these progressive policies end up really creating, like really. Stratifying. Is that the word I'm looking for? But they really create like this kind of caste, almost based system. There's, you know, it's like where you see in, in places like California where it's like the most progressive, you know, like state in the Union, and they have the. I mean, go check the numbers on this. But the disparity between the rich and poor within California has got to be the biggest in the country. They have more poor people than any other state in the country. And I think maybe New York, because of Wall street is higher, but up there with the most amount of rich people. And it's like, what ends up happening with all of this stuff you. It's very easy to see is that, like, in places like New York City, you know, which, like, I know people. I know, like, I know, like, professionals who are making, like, half a million dollars a year, you know, in New York City. All of them. All of them just stop taking the subways and the buses since COVID They all Uber around now because it's just like. Yeah, it's just too. It's a little too dicey. And so. So they. So in other words, my. My point is just like, the people who are in the top, say, 2%, they can. They always just opt out of the government system now. Okay, they don't. They can't completely opt out of, like, walking down the street, but, you know, they can opt out of taking the subways and taking the buses and sending their kids to public schools and all these things. And it's just everybody else who's stuck it. You know, it's like it's everybody else in the working class who doesn't have the option to stop taking the bus just because the city decided that we're not gonna, you know, throw, you know, violent, you know, psychopaths off the bus or something like that. And, you know, I could tell you because I've spoken to a bunch of New Yorkers. That was, in a way, that's. That's people's biggest concern about Mom. Donnie's got, like, his make the buses free plan. And you're like, okay, but what does that do? What does it do to make them free? It means that there's going to be no policing of homeless people. Just using it and that, okay, who does that make life worse for? Is there. There is an irony that these, like, the socialists, as always, end up being the biggest enemy of the working class. In fact, I think if you looked at the 20th and 21st century, I don't think there's been a worse enemy of the working class than socialists. All right, here I'll read a few of these questions. What do Dave and Rob think about Fuentes drama crying about Candace and Tucker calling him out, plus Milo drama piling onto it all? Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I don't really know if I have any deep thoughts on the issue. Obviously. You know, I've talked about this a little bit. I think I talked about this on the Ron Paul's birthday podcast. You know, Candace and Tucker are My guys, and they've, they've just been great to me. I think their voices are enormously important. And so I'm biased, you know, in this I will concede. Look, they went at Nick on their show. And I do think in this, in this world, whatever it is, that kind of makes it fair game for him to fire back. I would say. More broadly speaking, I just, you know, I think it's just enormously, like, I can't overstate how important I think Tucker and Candace's voice are right now. Like, we're kind of living through a moment where the non interventionist foreign policy is winning out in the right wing in a way that for people like me who were like, like I was a Ron Paul Guy in 2008, you know, and the idea that we would just be dominating the right wing the way we are right now. And I mean in terms of the people, obviously, not in terms of the, you know, the rulers, but it was just, it was inconceivable, you know, like, it's truly amazing. And Tucker being like the biggest right wing political commentator in the country right now is like an enormous part of that. Candace owns millions of followers for, to a conservative, you know, who were all subscribed to a conservative person's point of view and now just, she's relent, relentlessly hearing like an anti war message from her. So I think that all that stuff is very, I think they're very valuable. At the same time, Nick Fuentes is, is the, you know, he's the blood sport king. And so when you go at him, it's, of course this is how he's gonna respond to that. So I don't know, I don't really know if I have much more deep thoughts on it than that. I think everybody involved is gonna be fine and we'll continue on and still have big audiences. So. I don't know any thoughts, Rob? I mean, work it in, work the joke in. Somehow.
- [36:37]
Robbie Bernstein
I pay close to zero attention to these squabbles or even to these individuals. But I just, I don't get Nick's whole thing. I mean, aside from being a gay Mexican, I just, I don't get it that like, so you're like, I don't know, you're a Christian who wants to rule over me and people like me shouldn't be allowed to exist. And what's the gray area of how you police that or what my rights are supposed to be if you're running society? I don't know, I just don't like the idea of anyone who. Instead, there's no.
- [37:09]
Dave Smith
It does sound. It does sound pretty good when you say it like that.
- [37:13]
Robbie Bernstein
I'm. I'm in the special group, and so people in my special group are supposed to rule over the other people who weren't born into the special group. So.
- [37:20]
Dave Smith
Yeah. What are you, a Jew?
- [37:22]
Robbie Bernstein
Yeah, exactly.
- [37:25]
Dave Smith
Well, listen, I get, I, I get your point.
- [37:28]
Robbie Bernstein
It's just crybaby shit. So these other people are.
- [37:30]
Dave Smith
Listen, I think.
- [37:31]
Robbie Bernstein
And now you're really.
- [37:32]
Dave Smith
I'm trying.
- [37:32]
Robbie Bernstein
Because you think that you're supposed to be the anti Israel voice. And I mean, it's because Israel's in the news now, so people are criticizing it more than they were then. And you're not really criticizing Israel. You're criticizing. From what? I don't pay that much attention, but he's criticizing Jews and that we're not more Christian white nationalists, I think, and that the society isn't doing enough for, like, white male achievement for white males to lord over other individuals. So it's. He's not even an Israel topic guy. He's a Christian. We're supposed to rule over you guy. And so that, then Israel's a subtopic of that. And his. To me, his major complaint is why are all these other people being more platformed on the Israel issue? They only talk about it now that it's more in the news. And so the news people are talking about the biggest issue while it's relevant. So I don't really get his complaint other than radio drama. And everyone's supposed to worship me because I'm, I'm, I was here first and I'm in the chosen group.
- [38:27]
Dave Smith
Well, look, I, I'm. If I'm trying to be charitable to him, I will say in this one, you know, Tucker and Candace. Well, Tucker and Candace went at him, and so I just think, like, when you go at him like that, it kind of, it gives him permission to respond. He, he has.
- [38:42]
Robbie Bernstein
Responding.
- [38:43]
Dave Smith
He has a right. Nick Fuendez has a right. Nick Fuentes has a right to defend himself, just like the state of Israel. But I will, you know, I try, you know, in general. And I'm not saying that, like, I'm, I'm better than anyone else. I've been caught up in Internet drama and stuff, but it's hard. I try to stay out of it, and I, I just don't have enough time and energy for, like, you know, some of the, more like, gossipy stuff. And as far as saying, like, Milo jumping in on it and stuff, it's just like, yeah, I mean, okay, it's just not my lane. That's not really what I'm interested in. In doing. I'm much more interested in like, you know, getting back to the policy. Let's get back to the idea like what, who's making what argument exactly and let you know that's just the what interests me and what I think is important in this. So anyway, that's about the, the thoughts on that. All right, guys, let's take a moment and thank our sponsor for today's show, which is Monetary Metals, a phenomenal company run by great people. If you're tired of paying storage fees and exorbitant and exorbitant premiums for your physical gold, all while it just sits there collecting dust, just know that there's a better way to own gold. With Monetary Metals, you can earn up to 5% annually on your gold paid in gold. For the last eight years, Monetary Metals has been paying clients between 2 to 5% on their physical gold and silver holdings, all while enjoying free storage and insurance. Their team is full of passionate champions of liberty combined with decades of investment and banking experience. Imagine your total golden silver ounces grow every month as you receive your interest payments from Monetary Metals. Check them out at monetary-metals.com to learn more about putting your precious metals to work today. Honestly, guys, if you're, if you own physical gold and you're paying storage fees for it, this is a no brainer. You drop the storage fees and you start getting paid to store your gold with Monetary Metals. Go check them out for sure. Monetary-metals.com all right, let's get back into the show. Next question is, want to hear your thoughts on Tulsi Gabbard showing up to the Ron Paul barbecue? Well, I actually, you know, it, weirdly, it made me really sad. It really had an effect on me. I was like, when I first saw, I saw she was going to be there like a day before the event and I, I texted Scott Horton about it and I was like, is Tulsi Gabbard coming? And he was like that, yeah, she's supposed to be. And, and I was like, dude, that's so crazy because like, you know, I've been pretty hard on old Tulsi. You know, I called her the colon Powell of Trump's administration. And you know, and, and, and you know, look, I'm, I'm angry at her about a lot of this stuff. But so anyway, so I see her, I saw her. So we, we first get there. No, I guess it was after I'd been there for. I went outside and I called home. Like, I called my wife, checking in on the kids and stuff. And then I just started walking back in, and I was, like, looking at my phone. And then just as I look up, I just looked up and locked eyes with Tulsi Gabbard. And she had, like. She had, like, security all around her. I don't know if it was Secret Service or whatever, but she had security all around her. And she literally. She parted her security and just walked up to me and gave me a hug. And it was a very weird moment. She had, like, a very somber look on her face, like there was no. We didn't smile at each other. She just saw me, came over with, like, a serious look, gave me a hug, walked back like her security was, like, checking me out. But then she hugged me. So it was like, I guess they're. They were like, okay, I guess he's cool. And then she walks back there, and then they, like, locked down the. Her portion of the building, and, like, she went in and she. She g her speech. And then I think she saw Ron Paul, but I didn't see her again after that. But literally. So I. So I get. I had to go do a podcast. So it was like, I saw her. She went in, they locked down the building. I went in, went into the podcast studio, and then I just sat there and I was, like, sad. I don't. I felt bad. I felt kind of guilty. Like, I felt like, oh, I was, you know, I didn't like, was I, like, being nice to her face, but then talking shit behind her back? Like, should I have just said it at the same time, I'm not going to say anything at Ron Paul's birthday party. I'm not going to make it weird with anyone. And then you're kind of. It was just kind of like, almost a bummer because you're like, I guess at least it's kind of cool that the Director of National Intelligence is coming to a Ron Paul event. And who the hell else if. If we got Tulsi out of there, who would come in there? Someone worse than her, I'm sure. So you're like, I guess it's good. But, man, is it just. You know, I'll never forgive her for saying. Saying that Iran is weeks away from a nuclear weapon right after Israel bombed Iran, totally contradicting your own annual threat assessment was, you know, as. To me, that's about. Is just. It's about as horrible a crime as a dni can commit. Because really Tulsi Gabbard's job is she's the boss of all the intelligence agencies, but she's not. I mean, okay, in theory at least, that doesn't mean you're dictating policy. Like even, you know, the Russiagate stuff, she unearthed some really good stuff there. She sends it over to the Justice Department because it's Pam Bondi's decision what to do with that. And she can make recommendations to the President, but it's hit, you know, but that is essentially the most important thing is that when like she sold the lie, she rubber stamped the lie to spark a war. Now the war, we'll see, you know, didn't end up turning into a catastrophe so far. But that's a crazy thing for Tulsi Gabbard to be there to just put her stamp on. Like, yes, as the dni, I'm on record, I back up that there is intelligence for this, but it's just not true. And she knows it's not true. She like lied us into a war. So anyway, that was my, my experience with it. I don't know, what are my feelings on it? I guess kind of what I said, I guess it's better that it's Tulsi and she's at least talking to Ron Paul than it not being her. I don't know. Okay, let's here, let's jump to do one more here. Dave. Have always been more interested in the foreign policy and the foreign policy aspects of libertarianism, but the Ron Paul talk as of late has gotten me into Austrian school of economics. Where do you recognize recommend someone get started getting caught up to speed with that specifically. All right, well, Paul, introduce.
- [45:40]
Robbie Bernstein
You start with in the Fed.
- [45:42]
Dave Smith
And the Fed is a phenomenal book. Yeah, that's a great one. As you go. You could go read that if you're looking, you know, if you're looking for like podcasts, Bob Murphy has a great podcast. Mises.org is like a phenomenal resource. Like every article Murray Rothbard ever wrote is up there and Ludwig von Mises is, you know, is the goat. I mean, so any of his stuff. But I would. If you're looking for books, and the Fed is a great one to start with. Bob Murphy's choice, which is like a distillation of human action by Ludwig von Mises, is, is excellent. And then, you know, I think, well, maybe not strictly Austrian or not an Austrian, but Thomas Sowell's Basic economics is a phenomenal book. The American Great Depression by Murray Rothbard's phenomenal book. And then, you know, if you want to get more deep and serious into it, there's Human Action by Ludwig von Mises and Man, Economy and State by Murray Rothbard, both incredible. And then I always do, even though it's a simple and, and fun read, but Economics in One Lesson by Henry Haslett is a great. That's, that's a great one to start with too, because it's just, I think it's like there's, it's, it's a, it's a red pill of a book. Like what Once you see, like you kind of can't unsee it once you see it. And it's just like a very good, it's a very good like, prism by which to look to understand economics. Okay, let's do, do another question and then maybe you can pick the next topic. Rob, question for Dave. Would you then say that prison is better than homelessness? Conditions in asylums have historically been worse than prisons, to be honest. And then some details of those. Yeah, seems to me that homelessness is bad, but that is far worse. Well, I mean, I guess if. Yes. If they're like. I don't know, I just, I, I don't know. I guess if there's really bad conditions.
- [48:04]
Robbie Bernstein
I just have a different like, framing in my mind for this, which is, and I, I mean, there's a degree of socialism to this. Have an area in which these people are allowed to be in areas that they're not allowed to be. And if they're gonna be in some areas, they gotta behave by a certain decorum. And if they're not able to abide by that decorum, they're not allowed to be there. They're not forced into a prison. But, you know, like that, that's the area that's relegated for them. And then if they want to come into the other areas and not by abide by the decorum, they can be brought back to those. And I'm not even talking about necessarily prison as much as maybe it's kind of like, I don't know, big warehouses and you can set up your tent in there and you're free to live at any time. But if you go into the city and decide to take off your shirt and spit on people, then you're brought back there. And then, I don't know, maybe you start having crimes for those types of things that you're actually relegated to periods of time that you have. But it's just like there doesn't really need to be a force element as much as just a, as a laws for kind of how you can operate. And they're all ones that we would abide by. Hey, I don't know, maybe there's a period of time that you're allowed to walk around with shit in your pants for because you shat your pants. And if you're over the five hour time clock of not wanting to address that, then you're not allowed to be in a downtown area.
- [49:21]
Dave Smith
It was really, it's not the craziest rule ever. But yeah, I mean, I do.
- [49:27]
Robbie Bernstein
On the street corner, you can't yell. I don't know, it's just like decorum laws or something.
- [49:33]
Dave Smith
Well, this is, look, this is kind of the essence of what, what property is all about, right? Is that like you, you have to have like somebody who's allowed to exclusively use something or somebody who's allowed to dictate the terms of what's allowed on this property. And you know, to your, you know, to your point earlier when you said how I forget who did you say said it, that you always know who the boss is because they're the ones.
- [50:03]
Robbie Bernstein
Cleaning up the trasher. Well, poison them to that.
- [50:07]
Dave Smith
Yes. But another, another way to say that is like who the property owner is, you know, and, and the, that's kind of the essence of the point there, right? Is that like nobody treats somebody else's property as good as you treat your own property. It's just like the, the way human beings work. And when you own something, you're incentivized to take care of the thing. Like I don't do, I'm not going to do something, you know, if you're. I remember I was renting a house before I bought this one and they had all types of water damage in like there was one area of the house where there was like real problem with water damage and that we had a leak. The leak got stopped, but there was still some, some water damage there. And I remember the landlord was like this old guy. I told him about it and he was like, well, is it bothering you? And I was like no. And he was like, all right then don't worry about it.
- [51:01]
Robbie Bernstein
It.
- [51:01]
Dave Smith
And that now that was because he was old or whatever and, and didn't feel like dealing with it. So I'm not saying you always take care of your property, but when I was a renter I was happy to just. I don't care, okay? It's like this is going to be some big problem in 10 years. It's not going to be My problem, I would never do that with the house I own because I know it's going to be my big problem in 10 years or if I try to sell the place or whatever. And then with government, you have this tragedy of the commons where everybody equally owns or doesn't own the property. And so you, it creates the situation where, like, there's no one. We have in all of these other. In private property, you have the property owner who gets to dictate and is incentivized to maintain the thing. With government property, you just have none of that. And so I think what you're saying is, like, well, somebody's got to institute some reasonable rules. And like, no, it is, is. It is not. Like, none of us feel that we have the right to sleep on public streets. None of us think we have the right to take off our clothes and get onto a bus and start scaring people and that nobody else ought to have that right either. And if you do that, there have to be some type of consequences for it. It's all, I think, very, very common sense, common sense stuff. All right, Rob, we got, we got a few minutes left in the show, and I told you, you get to pick the next, the next topic.
- [52:27]
Robbie Bernstein
Thinking I would get into Nvidia chips. I think it's interesting.
- [52:31]
Dave Smith
Oh, sure. So give your thoughts on that.
- [52:34]
Robbie Bernstein
Well, so essentially, you know, Donald Trump very excited. He worked out a deal with Nvidia, and I believe it was one other company that they are now allowed to sell to China, but they got to pay 15% basically to Donald Trump. And there's a lot of very interesting aspects to this. Firstly is, I'm not really sure what it accomplishes, because if the argument is that we can't be sending these items to China because it's a national security issue, so I don't know why Donald TRUMP Getting 15% of the profits helps. I also don't know where that money then goes to. There's a legality of whether or not you're allowed to have an export tax. And then there's even the, if we, if we think it's a national security issue for the United States to remain ahead in the AI race is taking 15% of profits away from the company that's making these technologies and handing it over to the government going to actually give us a better foothold in that race. So. And it's similar to what happened with the Japan plan, where Japan promised, I forget the number. It was $300 billion to some, you know, in payments back to Donald Trump for working out the trade deal. But, like, where does that money go to? I don't know. Maybe Donald Trump invested into cleaning up DC and we're all like, this is amazing. Look at the. But you know what I mean? It just seems like more central planning and more resources for Donald Trump taken away from the free market. So, you know, it was kind of like showcased as, look, this is incredible. He worked out a deal and the government's gonna get 15% of this money now. But I don't really see where the win is. It doesn't. I don't understand if there were security concerns, how Donald Trump getting 15% gets around that. And I don't understand how that's better for markets to hand money from Nvidia over. Like, that's money that would have gone to R and D or back to the investors. I'm not an investor in Nvidia, nor am I saying that that's a good company. I'm just saying is like a conceptual. I don't understand what this deal accomplishes.
- [54:26]
Dave Smith
One of the strangest things to me is watching Republicans celebrate the increased revenue to the federal government as if, like, it's just a bizarre thing. It reminds me of when not to pick on him for no reason. But when I, when I was debating Bobby Kennedy on Israel, and he said at one point, like, he brought up the talking point that Israel uses the money to buy weapons from our weapons companies. And so a lot of that money comes right back to the usa. And I was like, but, but wait, so now you're defending the military industrial complex, that this is good. Because he's been so critical and he had made that exact point about Ukraine. That. What a, you know, justification like that. And. But it's almost like that, like, now conservatives are out here being like, ooh, we brought in a little more revenue to the federal government, like, as if that's the issue. The issue is that they don't get enough revenue. The revenue that goes into the federal government has been going up my entire life. And all they do is leverage that to borrow more against it and spend three times more than that. It's like, what problem is going to be solved by revenue going in? And you really already stole. You know, what is the most important point that you made first, which is that you guys are saying this was a national security issue. If it's a national security issue, then what are you telling me here? We're sacrificing our national security for a little bit more revenue into the Fed? Listen, man, all the justifications for all of this stuff, this Donald Trump ad hoc economic policy is just. It's about as strong as the lefty socialist arguments are. All right, guys, let's take a moment to thank our sponsor for today's show, which is Crowd Health. What if you could get health care for under $100? You've heard me talk about crowd health a million times before. I love this company. But I want to tell you something that they've just introduced. You can finally rid yourself of the bureaucracy of the health care system and take agency over your own health, because Crowd Health has just introduced the Black Swan membership. It's the healthcare alternative for people who want autonomy over their care, their costs, and their lifestyle. They just need a little help with the Black Swan events that happen in life. Well, now for just 95amonth, you can get access to a team of health bill negotiators, low cost prescription and lab testing tools, and a database of low cost, high quality doctors vetted by Crowd Health. You stay in control without insurance and their networks dictating your care. And what if something major happens? You pay the first 15k and then the crowd steps in to help fund the rest. It feels like the options that we used to have before Obamacare messed everything up. And if you use the promo code POTP, it's only $80 for the first three months. Go to JoinCrowdHealth.com and use the promo code POTP. Crowd health is not insurance. Opt out. Take your power back. This is how we win. All right, let's get back into the show.
- [57:35]
Robbie Bernstein
Yeah, I guess the tariff revenue, it becomes like it's conceptual. Whereas, I guess, yes, if it offsets your income tax or if it actually reduces deficits, then I guess, then I guess it's good. But speaking to your point, what are the chances that we don't just use that so that we can borrow more money? And does Donald Trump actually look like he's trying to reduce deficits? It doesn't seem like it. I mean, he might tell you that there's a tariff plan for more money, but I mean, it's just, it's one of those things great if he does it, but I'll believe it when I see it.
- [58:08]
Dave Smith
Yep, it's, you know, you kind of know he's always going to kind of do this, this thing where he's on every side of an issue and says, we'll do it this way, then says, we'll do it this way. That makes extreme statements that drive the, the, you know, the, the News of the day.
- [58:27]
Robbie Bernstein
And then, and then he'll always just negotiating. That's it.
- [58:30]
Dave Smith
Yeah.
- [58:31]
Robbie Bernstein
40 chess. He's always dropping a heavy anchor. And so when he walks back or when he walks away from his 90 days, it's just, it's always negotiating. It's not that he's. It's not that he realized he was wrong. It's not that he didn't have the conviction. It's not that he's chickening out. There's always an excuse.
- [58:45]
Dave Smith
And even when it's like, incredibly obvious that the. But like, like it's incoherent even why, that would be the negotiating strategy. You know what I mean? But he'll still celebrate it at the end, no matter what. I mean, this is Donald Trump. Trump, he's still. Just the other day he was celebrating Operation Warp Speed and what an amazing accomplishment this was. It's like, dude, nobody believes this. No one in your base believes this is. It was a catastrophe. The whole thing, like, is absolute. Just, just a mess. And. But he's still. It doesn't matter. So at the end of it, he'll always celebrate it as a huge win. Some percentage of people will go along with that. But I mean, even, you know, things like, even like with the, the 12 day war, as it's being called now, where you're like, you're like, dude, they were at the negotiating table and then you just set an arbitrary deadline and then started a war and then back to like, it's. It's like all. None of this makes any sense. Why would that be the way to do it? Like, it's. And, and it's like this constantly where the, you know, it's just like. The much easier answer is just that he's impulsive and none of this really makes sense and that it's all incoherent.
- [60:03]
Robbie Bernstein
This is a little bit of a. It's a little bit like when Cheney was claiming, well, if we weren't doing what we're doing, there would be more terrorist attacks. So the statement making isn't, you know, you can't prove it. But even the Nvidia one, it's because it's a large company and he was able to get the ear of Donald Trump and explain why these exports are important. So he was able to get an adjustment just for him. I don't see the reporting on this. I can't prove it to be true. But I'm gonna guess that these tariff policies are what are gonna kill small businesses because the large companies are able to Get Donald Trump's ear, they're able to get these carve outs. It just happened with Apple as well. And you might go, yeah, well, Apple promised that they were gonna get blank amount of jobs here. They were gonna make this investment. But what about every small business that like, doesn't get Donald Trump's ear to make these kind of adjustments and figure out how to make arrangements so that this can work for their business and for everyone who's celebrating? Oh, look, it's not driving up prices or this policy's working. It's like nobody knows yet. The tariff delays keep happening when we get to the deadlines. I don't think anybody knows what the actual impact is yet on prices. I mean, I would venture to guess anyone who's making that claim is lying. I think it's too soon to tell. But my guess is that even if it's not that destructive, we're not going to know the actual impact on the people that we all claim that we care about, which is the small businesses, they can't lobby the government. And having a business environment that allows for competition and for new players to enter the market and create new products and services, my guess is those are the people that are getting creamed.
- [61:35]
Dave Smith
And look, in the most kind of fundamental sense, the major problems with the American economy are all completely unaddressed by Donald Trump. That's just a fact that none of it. It's like the major problems being that the entire US Economy is rigged on behalf of the powerful, on behalf of Wall street and giant corporations. It's all rigged in their favor through regulatory policy, through monetary policy, through fiscal policy. It's all rigged in favor of the powerful. And we're drowning under $37 trillion. And you know that like all the fundamental problems are all completely unaddressed. Donald Trump, like not even, not even pretending to tackle any of them. And this stuff. Yeah, I mean, I think you're exactly right that the, look, the idea, I think the idea that government putting taxes on imports is going to solve those problems for working class America is, is goofing. And there's absolutely no reason to believe it's true. All right, we're going to wrap up on that. Thank you guys very much. Catch you tomorrow with a brand new episode. Peace.
- [63:05]
C
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- [63:17]
Dave Smith
Thanks.
- [63:18]
C
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