Ep. 3: How Trump’s Housing Plan Could Destroy The Local Culture feat. Braxton McCoy

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show – Ep. 3: How Trump’s Housing Plan Could Destroy The Local Culture feat. Braxton McCoy

Introduction

In Episode 3 of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, hosted by Premiere Networks, Clay Travis and Buck Sexton delve into the contentious topic of former President Donald Trump’s proposed housing plan. The episode features guest Braxton McCoy, a former veteran and Purple Heart recipient, who provides a critical analysis of the plan’s potential repercussions on local cultures, particularly in Mountain West states. The conversation navigates through political strategies, economic implications, and cultural preservation, offering listeners a comprehensive understanding of the issue.

Overview of Trump’s Housing Plan

The episode kicks off with David Rutherford introducing the central topic: the Trump administration’s ambitious proposal to build 7 million new low-income housing units on federal lands. This initiative aims to alleviate the housing crisis by utilizing America’s vast federal land holdings.

Braxton McCoy’s Concerns

Braxton McCoy expresses significant reservations about the plan, emphasizing its potential to disrupt local environments and cultures. He states:

“I just don't want you to ruin the land, for one. And then to the culture here, I think a lot of people from other states don't realize how fragile these Mountain West states are.” [04:22]

McCoy highlights the risk of altering the demographic and cultural landscape of states like Wyoming, Utah, and Montana. He warns that introducing millions of new residents could “flip the electorate” and transform local communities beyond recognition.

Economic Implications

The discussion shifts to the economic aspects of the housing plan. McCoy challenges the validity of the purported housing shortage, suggesting it's exaggerated:

“I think the housing shortage is largely a myth. I think it's a joke.” [07:07]

He criticizes major investment firms like BlackRock and Blackstone for monopolizing the housing market, contributing to skyrocketing home prices and rental costs. McCoy points out that these corporations own vast numbers of single-family homes and apartment complexes, further intensifying the housing affordability crisis for ordinary Americans.

Political Strategy and Cultural Impact

Rutherford and McCoy explore the political motivations behind the housing plan, contemplating whether it serves as a strategy to influence electoral outcomes by altering the population makeup of key states. McCoy asserts:

“If you flip Idaho, Montana, Utah, Colorado's already gone. Arizona's... blue in the span of about 20 years. You flip all those, you can't win a national race again.” [15:58]

He underscores the deliberate effort to shift the political balance in traditionally conservative states by increasing their populations with new residents. This demographic engineering, according to McCoy, threatens the cultural integrity and voting patterns that have historically characterized these regions.

Cultural Erosion and Preservation

A significant portion of the conversation centers on the preservation of local cultures. McCoy passionately argues that the influx of new residents could erode the unique cultural heritage of Mountain West communities. He laments:

“I don't want my culture degraded or destroyed. And I particularly hate people... that spit on the history.” [13:01]

McCoy advocates for active participation in local politics to safeguard cultural norms and community values. He advises listeners to engage in primary elections and support local officials who prioritize cultural preservation over large-scale development.

Recommendations for Preservation and Political Engagement

Braxton McCoy offers actionable advice for listeners concerned about the housing plan’s impact:

1. Vote in Primaries: McCoy emphasizes the importance of participating in primary elections, where outcomes can be influenced by a small number of votes. He advises:

   “A lot of these primaries, especially at the local level, can be swung by 10 freaking votes.” [40:44]

2. Support Local Sheriffs: He highlights the critical role of county sheriffs in maintaining local autonomy and resisting federal overreach. McCoy notes:

   “Make friends with your county sheriff and you'll probably be fine.” [42:13]

3. Join Planning and Zoning Boards: McCoy urges locals to get involved in planning and zoning decisions to prevent unwanted developments:

   “Get on your planning and zoning board... be like, no, we just... we're not going to approve this.” [42:45]

4. Cultural Education: He stresses the need to educate younger generations about local history and cultural heroes to instill a sense of pride and resilience.

Economic Solutions Beyond Federal Housing

The conversation also touches on alternative solutions to the housing crisis, suggesting that addressing economic factors such as wage stagnation and job creation might be more effective than expanding federal housing projects. McCoy critiques the reliance on artificial growth driven by external investments and underscores the importance of sustainable, organic community development.

Conclusion

Episode 3 of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show provides a thorough examination of Donald Trump’s housing plan through the lens of Braxton McCoy. McCoy’s insights reveal deep concerns about the potential for large-scale housing initiatives to disrupt local cultures, inflate housing costs, and manipulate political landscapes. The episode underscores the necessity for proactive local political engagement and cultural preservation amidst national policy changes. Listeners gain a nuanced perspective on the intersection of housing policy, economic forces, and cultural integrity in the American West.

Notable Quotes:

• Braxton McCoy: “I think the housing shortage is largely a myth. I think it's a joke.” [07:07]
• Braxton McCoy: “If you flip Idaho, Montana, Utah, Colorado's already gone. Arizona's... blue in the span of about 20 years. You flip all those, you can't win a national race again.” [15:58]
• Braxton McCoy: “I don't want my culture degraded or destroyed. And I particularly hate people... that spit on the history.” [13:01]
• Braxton McCoy: “Make friends with your county sheriff and you'll probably be fine.” [42:13]

Transcript

[David Rutherford]

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[Braxton McCoy]

The early days of figuring it out to the later years of still figuring.

[David Rutherford]

It out for the place you've put down roots.

[Braxton McCoy]

Trust Amica Home Insurance Amica Empathy is.

[David Rutherford]

Our best policy within every new administration. They're always looking to do big things. This administration one of their big things they want to do create 7 million new low income housing for people that are struggling to find new homes. We have so much land and we want to put it to you so we're going to have land release and on that land we're going to build Housing. We're going to have housing built. Well, guess what? That might be a problem for the people in the areas that they want to put these homes. Today we welcome Braxton McCoy, former vet, Purple Heart recipient and authority who's going to talk about what that could look like to the local cultures. This is the David Rutherford Show. There's not many cats out on the Internet, the interwebs that are talking as much truth as our guests today. And if you know anything about them, if you've ever seen them on the Jocko Willing podcast or you've seen some of his great videos on YouTube, man, what I always recommend is just follow him on X. He's probably one of the guys that I follow most. Pay attention to what he's saying. Why? Because he talks from the heart and it's truthful. And also he's a gwot savage like I am. So, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Mr. Braxton McCoy. Braxton, man, thanks for coming on.

[Braxton McCoy]

Thanks for having me, man. This is, and particularly around this topic, this is a big deal for me. So I'm just glad. Anyone who will listen, I will holler at on this one.

[David Rutherford]

Well, this is, let's just get into it. I mean, so you know, the HUD secretary and another one of the Trump officials came out a little bit ago. They posted this crazy article in the Wall Street Journal where they were talking about wanting to build 7 million new homes on federal land. Why does that incent you as much as it does, brother?

[Braxton McCoy]

Well, there's a few, there's a few things at play here. For first of all, I just don't want you to ruin the land, for one. And then to the culture here, I think a lot of people from other states don't realize how fragile these Mountain west states are. I mean, they're, they're high land mass, low population density. Right? So, so let's take Wyoming for example. There's about five or six hundred thousand people in Wyoming. You move a hundred thousand people into that state and you can flip the electorate. And I don't mean, you know, just at the federal level locally too. You know, you turn like you turn Cheyenne into a tiny version of Denver and all of a sudden the, the locals in, in Wyoming there turn into, you know, it becomes Colorado essentially like ruled by executive fiat from, you know, this little population center. So that's, that's one and then two. Just culturally now. I mean, these are my people. I, I grew up here. I'm, if anything, I am a man of the Mountain West. I mean, it's been my life, you know, this place has been the only life I've ever known. I've. I've lived in two cities. Salt Lake City, when I was going to community college and Brimati, you know, so.

[David Rutherford]

That's awesome.

[Braxton McCoy]

I don't even know which one I hated worse, to be honest with you.

[David Rutherford]

I. I'm willing to bet it was Salt Lake, man. Not. No, no. Shame on anybody. Salt Lake. Got a good friend, Evan Hair, lives out there. I love going to visit him. But. But, you know, at least in Ramada, you know what you get every day, right?

[Braxton McCoy]

Yeah. You're at least having fun sometimes, you know.

[David Rutherford]

All right, man. I. So obviously, I think, in my opinion, a lot of this was politics. Yes, there is a housing crisis out there. I mean, you look at. Everybody wants to say Blackrock, Blackrock, Blackrock. But they don't directly own anything, but they own huge stakes in all of these companies that are out there gobbling up homes. You've got Blackstone that owns 60 some odd thousand homes in apartment complexes. It's created this crisis for regular folks and not being able to buy homes, not being able to start their family, not be able to get a taste of that American dream. Is there any aspect about that that you think is genuine and that we should evaluate in this kind of. The. The first part to kind of deconstruct this, this whole thing?

[Braxton McCoy]

I haven't verified this, but I've read that 80%, fully 80% of Utah's state legislature has direct ties to real estate and development. So I think if you want to know why this is happening, there's your answer. I think the housing shortage is largely a myth. I think it's a joke. Like I've jokingly said, other places, every boomer I know owns 14 homes. I think that's part of it. You. And then also, like, the thing you have to remember is that the west is young, right? So that's. That is true. The Apache war officially ended in, like, 1925. You know, this is a very young place. My great grandfather's first job title was Indian fighter. You know, dude, when you posted those.

[David Rutherford]

Patches, that whole thread right there in the comments, that was one of the coolest things I saw, man. Tell me about your grandfather. How. When was he out there first? And like, how long's your family been in the region?

[Braxton McCoy]

I mean, since the 1850s, 1840s.

[David Rutherford]

Wow.

[Braxton McCoy]

Yeah. I mean, well, my, my. My grandfather's grandfather come here from the Ozarks, so on that one side you know, there's one line that came here from Arkansas about, I don't know, 100 years ago or something. But the rest has been here since time immemorial. So long as this has been a place essentially. I mean, since Coulter carved it out of nothing for us, right? And then of course, Brigham Young, the pioneers. But, but the point here is so it is, it is a young place. But you have to remember that cities and developments happen either organically or artificially. And there's been at least 100 years worth of time for these places to grow. And they never grew without artificial inputs. Mike Lee trying to force, you know, I hate to keep picking on Mike Lee, but he is a driving force behind this. I, you know, I don't hate the guy. I think he's probably a decent guy. He's not from Utah. So there's, there's that, that kind of grinds my gears a little bit. Born in Arizona, but raised in, you know, D.C. private schools. And he's a very bright guy. It's just, he's not reflective of Utah's anyway, his, he, among others. Their silicon slopes project in Utah has been a disaster for the locals. Sure, the graph has gone up, you know, number go up, charts go up, whatever. Utah's GDP has grown. But now a home, a home in my hometown is $400,000. My hometown is 200 people. We were outnumbered by cows probably 800 to one. You know, no one can afford a $400,000 home. And this is happening because of, you know, like I say, these artificial inputs trying to turn, you know, Salt Lake, the Utah Valley essentially into Silicon Valley. I mean, this is fake, inorganic growth. They lobbied to get this data center put in that the NSA data center number go up. Great, wonderful. But you parked it on mule deer habitat and winter range. You know, it was straight on a corridor that used to keep winter mule deer who winter in the ochre mountain range alive, you know, and now it's, it's paved over with a data center. This kind of stuff matters to me. But back to the original point, they haven't grown organically, they've only grown artificially. And they're still, and that is still happening to this day. Take a town like Salmon, Idaho. It's a tourist town essentially. Now originally it was, you know, a ranching farm community. You know, that's where patron saint of Idaho Elmer Keith, you know, lived up there. All of that growth surrounding tourism is itself in many ways artificial. It's propped up by our bullshit economy. These people can have A tech job where they're working for, you know, whom, whomever. I don't pick on anybody. And then they get a remote job and they move to Salmon, Idaho. And the kid, whose family's been there for five generations now can't buy 20 acres to put his family on and raise some horses and cattle because it's over a freaking million dollars. You know that I believe, personally, I believe most of the growth in the west is artificial to begin with. The populations of Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, Montana and Colorado have all doubled since the year 2000. Which one of those places has gotten better for locals?

[David Rutherford]

Not one, right? Not one. You know, my thing is, when I was a kid, right, and I'm from South Florida, my thing was, all right, we're going out to Colorado. That was the big West. We're going skiing. And my parents loved it so much, they were able to buy a teeny little condo out in Snowmass. Well, for 20 years, it kind of stayed somewhat normal, and then it just shifted and it made it absolutely, completely crazy. And now I hear about, like, the other crazy is how much, you know, Boca Raton has repopulated Aspen, how much Boca Raton is out in Montana, how much Boca Raton. And it's all these. Either Southern California, east coast, Southern Florida. Exactly what you're saying. They're going out and they're kind of rebranding this place as their new mecca for extravagance without any inclination of the impact. And so you talked a little bit about the impact on natural habitats. You talked about economic opportunities for locals. What are some of the other bigger ideas that you see are going to be catastrophic for the people that are born and raised in these areas?

[Braxton McCoy]

Number one, I care about my culture, right? And so anything that damages my culture, I view as a bad thing. The reason Denver feels like it could be parked in New England, it feels like Massachusetts with mountains now when you go there. The reason it feels like that is because it's filled with people from Massachusetts, right? So I don't want my culture degraded or destroyed. And I particularly hate people despise. And I know I'm not supposed to as a Christian, but, man, do I despise people that come here and spit on the history. You know, the people who made it, like the Mormons or whatever. I'm not a Mormon myself, but a lot of my family is now and was then, and I think it's disgraceful to spin on them. So, number one, I don't want to see my culture erased. That's. And I know we're, you know, on the, the right wing side of politics. We're not supposed to give a shit about this kind of thing. It's just supposed to be graphical up numbers. This libertarianism is a cancer in my view, is what I would say.

[David Rutherford]

Ye, I care about my culture. Why libertarianism in particular?

[Braxton McCoy]

Because their number go up everything. The measure of a good and healthy society is a strong gdp if you're a libertarian, at least so far as I can glean from the outside. And I used to consider myself, regrettably, God forgive me, one of these people. So culture is big to me. I really care. I want my kids to grow up the way I did. In fact, a buddy of mine, we call him Cowboy Scott, he was over here last night. He's a hell of a guy, used to be a bronc rider. He's been cowboy in his whole life, right. And we were talking about how when I, in this, this man's, you know, mid-60s or early-60s, something like that. And we were talking about how when I was a kid, the, the thing people would, the thing that would often you'd hear at the bunk house or a Brandon pens, this kind of stuff was that's the last of the cowboys. You know, they point to somebody's grandpa or something. Cowboys are dead. It's over. And then, you know, I, I turned 40 and somehow we're still around doing this, right? However, it's getting damn close, you know, it's getting real close. I live in about as western a place as you could possibly live in. And every kid I've tried to hire to come ride colts for me has quit because it's too hard. Eventually they get bucked off one time and they're done. And so that culture is dying. It really is. And it is, it makes me very nervous because it's a, it's a powerful thing. But I would argue it more pragmatically when I was talking about flipping electorates. The, the Mountain west is basically a firewall, you know, or has been. You know, it's not a lot of electoral votes, but they're reliable. Well, you flip Idaho, Montana, Utah, Colorado's already gone. Arizona's, I mean, man, it went from red to purple to probably blue in the span of about 20 years. You flip all those, you can't win a national race again. Forget it, you know, it's over.

[David Rutherford]

And I, and if, I mean, I feel the same way, I think that's intentional. I think it's 100%. What the whole thing, I mean, you, you know, you talk, you listen to some of the statistics that Elon Musk is, has been using in a lot of the interviews he's doing. And you know, the whole pretense behind the immigration invasion is to do just that, right? First you target, you know, you put 60,000 Haitians out in Springfield, Ohio, you know, then you, you know, you put them in all these other, you know, what are they, the swing states. But what people aren't seeing is that they're absolutely going out those, those, those definitive, you know, western red states. They're, they're dumping people in there as well too. And I think that's what, that's what was so perplexing to me with this statement is like, oh, let's go out and build low income housing in these areas that were traditionally like our hotbed of like that we know that culture that carved out the west that really, in my opinion, you can argue probably three different timeframes around American history and certainly the exploration West. Head west, young man, right? And Horatio Alger, you know, that rugged individualism of Theodore Roosevelt, man, now we're like, that's part of America. And if you strip that away, man, it's almost like that's one of those hills that if they can defeat, if they can knock us off that hill, that creates this cataclysmic shift to reshape in what I think, and I don't think it's just like we're like a lot of people think, I don't think it's just Democrats or libertarians. I think there's a huge component of Republicans that see this as a financial hotbed of development. And you had talked a little bit about that in some of the posts you did recently. Like, these people don't give a shit what the political party. They just want to make money. So the question they're also.

[Braxton McCoy]

Sorry, I'm sorry to interrupt you. I want to make one point here. They're also lying their asses off when they tell you it's hundreds of trillions of dollars. They are l through their teeth. I sat down one day and calculated just for the hell of it, what the actual fair market value of all of the BLM and forest land in Idaho would go for. And it add actual fair market value, not pie in the sky made up numbers. I used about 3, 500 an acre as an average, if I'm recalling the, the formula that I use correctly, which is about what it would be, you know, because some people will say, oh well, look over in Teton Valley. It's about 25, 000 an acre. Yeah. Retard, that's irrigated seed potato land. That's not desert, you know. So if you use about 3, 500 an acre average, which is probably going to get you pretty damn close to an average, you run into about a hundred billion dollars. One hundred billion. So I don't know where in the hell these people are coming up with this. Hundreds of trillions of dollars. It's completely made up. It's not real. If you sold it all off at Fair Market, it would not come close to 100tr. And that's not to say anything. I'm getting fired up. I think I burst a vessel in my eyeball there.

[David Rutherford]

Don't do that, man. Don't do that. We don't want another 10 years of recovery. We need you just. We need you locked in the way you are. So slow down, man. I know that TBI is rattling around right now, but let's pull the brakes back on that sucker.

[Braxton McCoy]

Yeah, man, they're lying. And so you have to. It goes. Because I know they're lying. It's obvious to go do the math on your own. And that's not, that's not even to address who's going to buy this shit. Oh, and then another dumb ass thing, they'll always say, oh, it needs to be homesteaded. Okay. The second homestead act was 140 acres. All right? You know what you can do with 140 acres in most of this place? Maybe raise a couple of horned toads. You know, you might, you might be able to farm rattlesnakes. You ain't doing shit with 140 acres in this country. Some of these ranches in Nevada are 500,000 acres. And they're that way because they've got. They've got strays they haven't seen in 10 years, you know, because. Because it's, it's just. Man, it ain't nothing but damn. A little bit of great brace and rye crested wheat and you know, a bush or two here and there. It's not like Kentucky, you know.

[David Rutherford]

Right.

[Braxton McCoy]

The reason we run allotments that are 50, 100,000 acres a piece, some of them are bigger than that, is because that's all you. That's what it takes to put about 800 head of cattle on, you know.

[David Rutherford]

Wow.

[Braxton McCoy]

So it's. It's not. These people are just. They don't even know what the hell they're talking about. However, the politicians do. And this is where I would like to see okay, if you. And then there's a whole other issue here. I was talking about the culture. I'd like to hear how somebody like Senator Lee, again, I think he's a good guy. I'm not like, trying to say he's a terrible person. I'd like to hear how Senator Lee would feel if. If you could push a button, sell off all the land in Utah and double the population. But the people that came in were all Hindus from India. How do you feel about that? So Utah goes from about three and a half million to seven million. Is that a good thing? You know, now you've got 3 million people worshiping Vishnu in Utah. Do you think Utah's still Utah? You know what I mean?

[David Rutherford]

Well, I, I don't. I think, and this is the whole idea, I think that what needs to happen is there has to be a better context of the argument that's being presented to these people instead of. I mean, I know me having gone through with what we went through in the gwat and then what we watched from, what we realized from Iraq, what we've realized from Afghanistan, like, you know, I'm not a sucker anymore, you know, And I think that's what happens. You know, you go get shot at once or twice and you watch your buddies die. And that kind of wakes you up to the point where it's like, hey, man, you know, I believed it before, but I'm not going to believe it now. And so what are the things that are, what are the ways that these arguments need to take place? So, you know, if, if, if, if Senator Lee were to reach out to you, Braxton, and say, hey, what, what do you think we should do? What would be your suggestion? Thumbtack presents the ins and outs of caring for your home out procrastination, putting it off, kicking the can down the road in plans and guides that make it easy to get home projects done out carpet in the bathroom. Like, why? In knowing what to do, when to do it, and who to hire. Start caring for your home with confidence. Download thumbtack today. Ryan Seacrest here. When you have a busy schedule, it's important to maximize your downtime. One of the best ways to do that is by going to chumbacasino.com Chumba Casino has all your fun favorite social casino games like spin slots, bingo and solitaire that you can play for free for a chance to redeem some serious prizes. So hop on to chumbacasino.com now and live the Chumba life. Sponsored by Chumba Casino. No purchase necessary. VGW Group void. We're prohibited by law. 21 plus terms and conditions apply. Asking the right questions can greatly impact your future, especially when it comes to your finances. So if you're looking for a financial advisor you can trust, certified financial planner professionals are committed to acting in your your best interest. That's why it's gotta be a CFP. Find your CFP [e-mail] Hey, it's Amy Brown from the Bobby Bones Show. Join me in supporting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital for a chance to win a trip to meet Megan Maroney at the 2025 I Heart Country Festival in Austin, Texas on May 3rd. Hosted by Bobby Bones, we're going to hook you up with tickets, flights, hotel, food, credits, and a meet and greet with Megan Maroney. Take action now to support St. Jude and help cure childhood cancer. And you're going to be entered for a chance to win. Visit iheartcountrytrip.com to learn more at Ameca Insurance. We know it's more than just a car or a house. It's the four wheels that get you.

[Braxton McCoy]

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[David Rutherford]

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[Braxton McCoy]

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[David Rutherford]

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[Braxton McCoy]

I've spoke to him in his office in D.C. i don't think he likes me very much, but one of the things I would say is just stop touching it because I don't want you to touch it. And my, my. My culture and my land and my heritage is not an asset on a fucking balance sheet. So that's my starting point. That from his point of view, this is like nativist protectionism. You know, whatever words they want to throw at me that they think are pejorative, I will just proudly wear. Okay, so there's a starting point as far as, like, what to do with this housing problem. Well, in 2023-2024, the vast majority of population growth in Utah was driven by international migration. So there's a starting point. Cut that freaking shut that faucet off. Okay, yeah, let's start there. But he doesn't want to do that. He wants to pay off developers he's constantly talking about. And don't forget that this man originally tried to sell the Lands act in Utah, saying that it was to preserve the land.

[David Rutherford]

Right.

[Braxton McCoy]

Because they weren't going to sell it off, you know, And I was like, oh, you know, you've been trying to sell it from my whole freaking life. Well, and then as soon as that failed, he just flipped, and now it's selling it again. It's like, well, you were always trying to sell it. But. So anyway, start with cutting off international migration, both illegal and legal. I am. I am. So, again, I do not care what labels they pin on me anymore. I don't want one more damn immigrant in this country until we can figure out what in the hell is going on. And I would like Tom Home and Airways to get rid of about 50 million, you know. Oh, and on that, to that 2023, 2024 number. That wasn't just Utah, by the way. That was America as a whole.

[David Rutherford]

Wow.

[Braxton McCoy]

Yeah, dude. Our birth rate is in freefall right now.

[David Rutherford]

Yeah.

[Braxton McCoy]

So what they're arguing is, well, we're. Our country is going to die if we don't bring people in. And my argument would be, okay, so it either dies of, like, a civilizational suicide on one hand via birth rate, or it dies because you just turned it into India. That's right. What's the difference? It's dead. It's dead either way. And I would also argue that besides the hedonistic, again, I, you know, I make no, I hide nothing here. I'm a Christian. But I would argue that this hedonistic culture of, you know, 14 bodies by the time you're 25 years old, and all this stuff is part of the problem. It's a big part of the problem. But another thing that's driving this nihilism is because these kids are watching themselves be replaced. They're watching it happen, and they're being.

[David Rutherford]

Conditioned to believe it's a good thing. That's what kills me. That's what kills me is. Is like, wait, and again, it's real easy to go and point the finger. Well, this is going. This is going, and this is going. And I look at the way my kids are being taught, and I look at the way American history is being taught to them, too, and it's shocking to me. And so every time I said, all right, what are you studying in history? And they come back and the Chinese are responsible for building the railroads. And I'm like, oh, okay. Or, you know what? The American pilgrimage West, all that. All they're responsible for is killing Native Americans. I'm just like. You start to go, wait a minute. All right, so when's the part where. Oh, no, these people actually built the foundation not only of how to survive in these places. Right. But how to make it useful and how to contribute to the culture of what America became known as. Right. I mean, I don't give a damn. In my generation, when you're growing up, what do you want to do? You want to play army, man, or you want to play cowboys and Indians? Right? And I grew up in the most non, you know, tough place on the planet. So, like, it was even more meaningful for me to want to pretend that I was part of this, you know, this savage culture out there that grinded it out in the midst of the Wild west, man. I mean, that's what was inspiring to me. I mean, I think it was a major component for me wanting to serve, for me believing in America. How do you start. How do we re. Engage the next. This younger generation and get them to say that they do get knocked off that colt and to pick them up and say, all right, get back on, son. Like, what do you think? What do we do?

[Braxton McCoy]

You have to do it in your house first. But more broadly, I would say we need to just reinvigorate. We already have enough myths. We just need to reinvigorate them. Kids need to know about Daniel Boone and David Crockett, and they need to know about guys like Oliver Loving and Good Night. And I saw a grown man the other day, and I'm not picking on him, but he made a comment to me. He said, well, Idaho Falls in Montana, and from Idaho Falls became that way because of people like Gus and Woodrow from, you know, from the movie. Right. Or the book. That novel, really fantastic. But that was patterned off of Good Night and Loving, you know, and that was from South Texas to New Mexico through. Through Comanche and Apache country. Right. They didn't. That wasn't. They didn't go to Montana. That's a movie, man. You know, I'm not saying nobody did it, but.

[David Rutherford]

Right.

[Braxton McCoy]

That largely, the. The cattle industry was going for a while anyway, was going to railroads from. From the north southward and from the south northward. Right. The point of bringing that up is to say we've got grown men that don't know their myths, you know, and these people are real. John Coulter is a real guy, you know, I mean, he's neater in hell. He. He came out just to choose one. John Coulter, this guy signs up for the grand expedition with Meriwether Lewis and Company, right? They go out and have what could be argued one of the greatest adventures that any men have ever in history. I mean, it's an incredible story. He goes out, does that, gets back to St. Louis and goes, you know what? I'm going back over there, you know. So he gets one dude and goes up to Blackfoot country in Montana. And for anybody who's not from this area, the black feet were like our Comanches, they were killing SOBs, man. They were. They were not messing around. So he goes up there with one other dude and, you know, traps all these beavers. And he's coming back with their boats full of beavers. And these Black feet are standing on the side of the river and they say, hey, come over here, buddy. And. And Coulter decides to paddle in. And he's like, I'm dead if I stay out. They're going to kill me if I stay out, so I might as well go try to negotiate.

[David Rutherford]

Yeah.

[Braxton McCoy]

His buddy says, piss off. Piss up a rope. I'm gonna stay on my boat. And they kill him. So he watches his buddy die. And then they strip, put Colter naked. And they say, okay, here's your chance to get away. They pick, you know, how good can you run? And he's like, I can't run for. And they're like, well, run anyway. You know, he lied. He actually could run real good. But so he runs, takes off, you know, and he runs until his nose is bleeding. That's how exasperated he is. And then this Indian catches up to him, trips, breaks his lance. Coulter picks up the broken lance, kills the Indian that was trying to kill him naked. All this with his pecker flopping, you know. And then he jumps in the river and hides in a beaver dam, you know, he swims up into a beaver dam, hides. He can hear these black feet going around him all night, you know, circling, looking for him. Waits that out. Can you imagine how effing cold a freaking beaver dam would be holy, you know, so he hides in there and then he gets out and he hikes his ass to, you know, the nearest army outpost. And then, you know, is back in civilization this way. Then this crazy son of a goes to St. Louis and he rounds up 18 more guys and goes back. And then they all get killed. And he finally says, you know what? I've had enough.

[David Rutherford]

I need. I need to check myself. Yeah.

[Braxton McCoy]

So we, the myths are there. We just need to teach them to our kids. I would argue if you ask somebody in our generation to define, just in single words, define an American, they're going to use stuff like, you know, self reliance and, you know, Hard working. And this kind of, all of those parts of what we use to define American as were born out of the pioneers in the frontier. That's not the revolution. Not that the revolution wasn't important. It's. We defined ourselves out here and so we just need to teach this stuff to our kids. That's what, that's what we have to do. But you can't teach them to be proud of themselves when they go to the, in their ancestry when they go to kindergarten and some whale with green hair and a septum piercing is telling them that their grandpa was a racist who killed Indians.

[David Rutherford]

You know, you can't, that doesn't work, man. I think that the, the, that contradiction is just ripe for, for all kinds of conflict. But I, you know, the way I feel about it now is I'm, I'm, I'm about done with it though. Like I, I, my whole thing is, and even, man, even just the legends of our friends coming out of what we went through over the last 20, 20 plus years, even those have been almost muted and those have been erased or those have been throttled if you will, via online expression. Even just those. So guys like Jocko that have these great interviews about the macv SOG guys or you know, or the stuff that Sean Ryan's doing with bringing on dudes who, telling their life history about how they were inspired to, you know, allow that innate courage in them as men to come out and join these, these units and do go do this, have these adventures not in our lands but overseas now man, even, even that you can see like there's a gravitational pull from this young consciousness that's out there. They just don't know where to redirect it. They don't know, well, what do I do to go reinforce this? Do I join back in the military and go to some war in Ukraine or in Iran, whatever they're gonna flare up next or where do I go? So what do you tell Em Braxton? What do you tell the young men? You cross paths? Cause I know you're willing to do it and I know, you know, I've seen, you know, I've seen the way you talk online and almost as this trying to provoke those thoughts. So you know, where do you tell a 16 year old kid right now how to go man up?

[Braxton McCoy]

As far as the should I join the military Question, I'd say if you're, if you're even asking yourself whether you should or not. Probably not. Even when I, I didn't understand enlisting when there was no war to fight. I, you know, not that I'm picking on anybody, but that just my mindset was, I didn't know why you would join if there wasn't. You know, it's, it's to fight wars. That's why you sign up for the military, at least in my head. So if you're asking the question, then probably not. If you're in dire financial straits and you feel like this could do something, you know, good for you, then maybe so, Maybe so, you know, go. But if you do it, I would suggest, like, go through, you know, sign up on like an, an SF contract or a Ranger or something. Go all the way if you're gonna do it would be. And I wasn't one of those things, you know, and that's. I, I regret not signing up on a contract like that. I think about it all the time.

[David Rutherford]

So I think you got a fair dose anyways, bro.

[Braxton McCoy]

Well, I dabbled a little bit.

[David Rutherford]

You got her body, bro. I mean, you got like, you signed up and you got the full gambit, brother.

[Braxton McCoy]

Yeah, yeah, I got a little over there. But as far as, like, how to man up, I, I would say find a church that you like and that's not gay. Please, please, God, do not go to a Methodist church, for example. You know, if you see a woman preaching or damn rainbow on the sign, avoid that like the plague. I would say find a church and start thinking about family. And that's, that's the way to go. My grandfather was a marine, but his family is what mattered to him. And when I think of him as a man, I think of him as a grandpa. So what it means to be a man again, I make. I will not hide the fact that I'm a Christian. So what I see as a man is a guy who tries to raise a good family and is family oriented. So start doing those kind of things. If you're entrepreneurial, get after it, man. There's. There's some opportunity out there. And if, And I, I pick on the tech guys every once in a while, but I'm just doing it as a goof. I've got lots of friends in tech. If, if you're a smart kid with some idea for some damn widget or app or whatever it might be, do it, man. Go for it. Yeah, dude. I got a buddy who's invented this program. He's probably about to be filthy ass rich, you know, and he's a, like a blue collar guy. He's just really smart and he taught himself how to code and so, you know, if you're entrepreneurial, start looking into those kind of things. If you're more like me and you just can't get cowboy out of your blood, call me, because I need somebody to ride Colts. I'm too busted up at these point, this point, but I can teach you how to do it, you know, if you're more like me, seek out the adventure that you want. Go, go find it. But make sure family is the goal in the end, I would say.

[David Rutherford]

I love that. I love that.

[Braxton McCoy]

All right.

[David Rutherford]

Just to kind of close the chapter on, on the main reason we wanted to get you on. And man, I feel like I could sit down with you for days and talk, man. What, what, what can the locals, what can the people of Utah and New Mexico and Arizona and Nevada and Montana, Idaho, what can they do collectively to really kind of first and foremost, from a positive aspect, prop up their culture, prop up their manifest destiny, right? Of who they are, why they're there in the first place. And then what would you recommend them try and do politically?

[Braxton McCoy]

Man, it sucks because politics is boring and gay, but you have to get involved at the local level and primaries are the ticket in these places. I would almost, I've said this other, other places, but I would almost rather you vote in the primary and not in the general election than, than vice versa. A lot of these primaries, especially at the local level, can be swung by 10 freaking votes, man. So figure out who you want in there. And once that. If you live anywhere like I do, once there's an R next to the guy's name, he's winning, it ain't gonna matter, you know, right? 95 freaking percent of the district is going to vote for the R. So start voting in primaries, especially for your sheriff paste pay. If you live out here, pay very special attention to who your sheriff is. They have enormous power. Enormous power. Like the, the Bundy ranch thing that I don't even want to go too deep into it because there's so much there. But as the sheriff pertains to this, a county just to the north of them in Utah called Iron county, where Cedar City is. The Iron county sheriff come out while that was happening and he said, well, I can tell you one thing, this shit would not happen in my county because I wouldn't let the feds in, you know, at least not fed law enforcement. And they have those powers in these places. So pay very special attention to who your, your county sheriff is. If you like guns, make friends with your county sheriff and you'll probably be fine. You know, so we got a lot.

[David Rutherford]

Of that in Florida. Thank God, man. I mean, one thing about Florida, man, is he's got a piece on him, right? And. And our sheriffs are actively. What I love is they are actively promoting, you know, to stand your ground, if you know what I mean, and deliver to hate if. If you get crossed. And they're promoting that. And I think what you're seeing is you're seeing our crime rates drop dramatically as a result of that. And so I really love that advice. For sure.

[Braxton McCoy]

I got one more I got to say.

[David Rutherford]

Yeah, sorry.

[Braxton McCoy]

No, no, no. I'm sorry for interrupting you, but this one's really important for people in the West. If you can get on your planning and zoning board. Get on your fucking planning and zoning board, because if they want to put a damn microchip factory in Idaho Falls, the planning and zoning board has to approve that. So if you can get on there and be like, no, we just. We're not going to approve this because we don't want 25,000 people brought in here from California. So get on that if you can. Sorry, I didn't.

[David Rutherford]

No, that's. That's. That's absolutely genius right there, man. I just. I love. That's. That's sound advice. It's actionable advice, and it really is powerful. You know, I think. I think we kind of wrapped it up right here. Obviously, we're going to talk a little bit more for Patreon account after we hang up here, but where can people pay attention to you? Where can they obviously go get your book the Glass Factory, which. Man, I'm really looking forward to reading that. I'm downloading it as soon as we hop off here. Where can they find you, Braxton? And. And what do you got coming up that's. That's important for you and. And what your initiatives are, Braxton?

[Braxton McCoy]

McCoy.com is where you can get the book. I. I have a Instagram, but I don't really use it, so X is the easiest place to find me. But, you know, I might irritate you, so be forewarned.

[David Rutherford]

No, it. It. It's my. I'm telling you, it's in my top five accounts to follow, bro. It was crazy to. I don't know how I got linked to you, but it's like all of a sudden, I saw. And it's just like, you're spot on, man. And you do it and you don't have to go on these crazy thread or 25 threads, man. How Succinct you are. It's piercing, man, when you light people up there. For sure, dude.

[Braxton McCoy]

Thank you.

[David Rutherford]

It's such a privilege to have you on and I just really thank you a lot.

[Braxton McCoy]

Oh, no, thank you, man. And if you're in the Mountain west, we just stood up a mountain west new show, my buddy Patrick and I. So you can listen to that. It's called Rocky Mountain Radio. Wherever you get your podcasts. Sorry. Awesome.

[David Rutherford]

Rocky Mountain Radio and all you gotta do. Braxton McCoy Rocky Mountain Radio to file for sure, man. Awesome. Well, again, dude, thank you so much. And. And if I see the next issue pop up, man, I. I just would really love to have you come back on. I love your wisdom, I love the way you think, and most importantly, I love how proud you are of your culture. It's critical for us.

[Braxton McCoy]

Thanks, brother. Anytime.

[David Rutherford]

Thumbtack presents the ins and outs of caring for your home. Out procrastination, putting it off, kicking the can down the road in plans and guides that make it easy to get home. Projects done out carpet in the bathroom. Like why? In knowing what to do, when to do it and who to hire. Start caring for your home with confidence. Download Thumbtack today. Asking the right questions can greatly impact your future, especially when it comes to your finances. So if you're looking for a financial advisor you can trust, certified financial planner professionals are committed to acting in your best interest. That's why it's gotta be a CFP. Find your CFP [e-mail] Hey, it's Amy Brown from the Bobby Bones Show. Join me in supporting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital for a chance to win a trip to meet Megan Maroney at the 2025 I Heart Country Festival in Austin, Texas on May 3rd. Hosted by Bobby Bones. We're going to hook you up with tickets, flights, hotel, food, credits and a meet and greet with Megan Maroney. Take action now to support St. Jude and help cure childhood cancer. And you're going to be entered for a chance to win. Visit iheartcountrytrip.com to learn more at Ameca Insurance, we know it's more than just a car.

[Braxton McCoy]

It's the two door coupe that was there for your first drive.

[David Rutherford]

The hatchback that took you cross country.

[Braxton McCoy]

And back, and the minivan that tackles the weekly carpool for the cars you couldn't live without. Trust Ameca Auto Insurance Amica. Empathy is our best policy.

[David Rutherford]

This message comes from Greenlight. Ready to start talking to your kids about financial literacy? Meet Greenlight the debit card and money app that teaches kids and teens how to earn, save, spend wisely and invest. With your guardrails in place with Greenlight, you can send money to kids quickly, set up chores automate allowance and keep an eye on what your kids are spending with real time notifications. Join millions of parents and kids building healthy financial habits together on Greenlight. Get started risk [e-mail] iheart well, when you listen to Braxton McCoy, the reality is you hear a man that speaks from his heart. Regardless of whether or not you believe everything he says, regardless of not, you might be offended by anything he says. In his own worlds, he doesn't give a damn. He's gonna speak the truth. Why? Because he feels like his culture is under assault. He feels like the generations of his forefathers that have come before him that they're under assault. And quite frankly, there's a part of me that understands that, right? Probably not as deep as his, because my family's originally from Michigan, which is that originally from the East Coast. I have a tremendous amount of Rutherfords that are from the Appalachians and I live in South Florida. So for me, the intensity and the depth of that culture might not be as substantial as what he was expressing, but I definitely understand where he's coming from and I want to respect that as we should for most people in their cultures. Right? Because culture takes time to evolve. I think one of the grand things that we always think about in this world or we don't think enough about now, is the power of culture and how long it takes to build a good culture, to build a culture that. And no culture is perfect by any stretch, that's for sure. We all know that if you actually look at the real histories of cultures around the world. But what we do know is that without cultures, without these trials and tribulations, cultures fade away pretty rapidly. And if you look at the whole concept behind this federal lands approach to relieve the impact of how expensive housing is and how difficult it is for young people and people that don't particularly have the. The most marketable skill sets, how come they can't go into new homes? How can't they be homeowners? When we look at the last fiasco that took place under the political drive to make sure that everybody should own a home right back in Dodd Frank and where that got us into the housing crisis of the subprime fiasco, is this. Is this similar? Is this a political ploy? Is this a political idea in order to garner points, if you will, to drive People to get behind all the other initiatives themselves. Now again, I referenced this Wall Street Journal opinion page at the beginning of the interview with Braxton. And if you're not familiar with this, the title of this interview was called Federal Lands can be Home Sweet Home. Now this was authored by the U.S. department of Housing and Urban Development, the HUD Secretary Scott Turner, and the Department of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. It was published mid March in 2025. Now what it essentially assesses is that there's a 7 million million shortage in affordable homes from people. And then what it says is like the government is in charge of about 500 million acres, 28% of total US lands. So what's the big deal? Let's take, let's scratch out a couple of these places and let's build this low income housing and let's give these people a shot at the American dream, which is what? But home ownership is at its core. I think it always had. Well, maybe not always, but certainly since post Industrial Revolution and especially post World War II, right where we saw the explosion of suburbs initiate starting out in Long island and then really spreading across the country to be able to get out of these city centers, have a nice piece of land, build a home, buy a home and build this lifestyle to create what a beautiful local culture that's sustainable. And I think they're in every right to recognize this shortfall and I commend them for bringing out. But the problem is that you put something like that out and it sounds awesome and it sounds great, but there's a bunch of things that immediately pop up, right? Like what's the scale of the impact that it will have on federal lands. And you also gotta realize that a huge percentage of federal land is not around any city center, right? So now what you're doing is you're talking about commercial development. That's going to have to function in conjunction, right? And by the way, I did not intend that rhyme to be there. It just happened. That's going to have to function in conjunction with these homes. So you're going to have massive business development in all of these places too. Now don't get me wrong, I love business development, but I live in the land of strip malls. And how many more strip malls do we need next to what, the Devil's Plateau or whatever? That beautiful place that was out in, I think in Utah, Close Encounters is where it became famous. Right, but is that what you want? You want a strip mall right next to some of these immaculate lands. And, and I think one of the greatest decisions ever made in our country's history was Teddy Roosevelt and his conservationalism and establishing these beautiful places that we could keep pristine in order to really be able to reflect on the magnitude of what America is as a whole from just a visual perspective. And then also what you receive when you go to this. Like, like my earliest memory that I've ever had in my life was the memory of being in Yosemite park when I was like 4 years old. And I just remember these incredible hikes that my father ended up having me to put on his shoulders as I'm, you know, we're ascending to these tops of these peaks in these areas. And when you look out over the Yosemite Valley, you know, that was impactful. So you know, I don't want a strip mall near there. I don't want some big box store and I certainly don't want it to flood with, with, with people who maybe perhaps don't understand the importance of, of the cultures that support those lands. Right. The people that have been there for, for, for generations. Now the other aspect is, you know, what is the affordability of all these going to look like, right? Is this going to be a federal investment? Are they going to utilize our tax dollars or is it going to come from foreign investment? Some of the $7 trillion commitments, are they going to build a new superconductor or are they going to build some new factory in order to support the new houses that people, that they need jobs in these areas. So what does that look like too? Are we going to pay for this or is it going to be outside influence? And where's that coming from? I think the other aspect always is if you've ever built anything on federal or state property, the amount of regulatory or red tape that's involved is staggering. So what does that look like? You can guarantee that there's gonna be lawsuits out the wazoo about people coming in to protect the hook billed finch or the spotted salmon that's out there? Right. And is that gonna be gonna cause all other problems within that too? And, and don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not a climate alarmist in any way shape or form, but I am a thoughtful conservationalist. How is it going to affect local populations of elk or other species that provide a contributive factor to how those lands function and work? I think the also it's obvious that we need to dig in a little deeper. What is the feasibility reality behind this? Is it something, how long is this project gonna take? And so let's say it gets funded. Let's say the companies come in, they get behind it, they go through all the red tape. Well then how long is it gonna be take to enact it? So are they gonna start the project? And then let's say Trump's out of office after these four years, let's say JD Vance doesn't win the next election or whoever the Republican or MAGA party movement is gonna be. Well, who takes over that? Do they shut it down immediately and bring back us into the Paris climate accords? And then what happens to all those investors? These are real things that we need to think about before what this looks like. Now, obviously, again, this is all about political framing in terms of the golden age and what President Trump wants to bring. And I am all for that, 100%. In particular, I'm all behind this idea that we need to make more affordable housing. But does it necessarily have to be a component of going after federal lands? Now, what's interesting to me is I think, and this was what you really have to understand is that the total land area of the U.S. is about 2.27 billion acres, right? Roughly 9.2 million square kilometers. And as of 2022 protected areas covered approximately 477,000 square miles, or 1.2 million square kilometers. Equating to that 13% figure. Right. Now what's interesting is you have to be able to get down to the reality of what does the actual housing market look like? And why, why are we in this situation in the first place where they wanna propose this? Right? Is it solely because we have so many new people that have come into America? Which is definitely part of it. But what I also believe it's more indicative of the fact that GDP is rising at such a slow level. One, because we offshore Joe's, we just covered that with Bryce Gill and what that looks like in terms of the de industri. And hopefully, as he was very positive, bringing onshoring back jobs. So hopefully with this tariff and bringing industrialization back to the United States, those wages will go up in new jobs. Right now he also said that we're a 70% service industry. So is there space to grow there? I think there absolutely is giant space growing. You know, when you look at the numbers for job growth over the last four years, in the last administration, the overwhelming majority of that growth came from government jobs. And my personal favorite was if you looked at the people who were following those numbers intimately, right, they'd post these numbers and then a month and a half Or a month later, month, two months later, they'd come out and all of those numbers would be downsized considerably. And why were they doing that? My guess is for political reasons. And a lot of most of those numbers came from job growth within the government sector. And some of what we're finding out now is a lot of those jobs were given to illegal immigrants. And so that's another factor of this. Are these 7 million homes gonna be dedicated towards illegal immigrants? You know, I don't know. That creates this whole cultural issue and I'll touch on that in a little bit. So, you know, one of the things that, you know, when you start to be able to evaluate, you know, the cost of homes that are out there, you know, it's, you know, I want you to think about this. So this is an interesting statistic that I found. So the national association of home builders, the NAHB reported in early 2025 that a quarter point increase in mortgage rates example from 6.5, 6.75 prices out approximately 1.14 million households from affording a median price new home, which was around $425,000 nationwide at the time, with rates fluctuating near 7% in 2025, higher than 6.5 baseline percent baseline in their model. The number of effective household grows posts on x from early April 2025 suggests an even starker figure. One claims 94 million households that 70% of U.S. households can't afford a $400,000 home, which another estimates 76.4 million households, 57% can't afford a $300,000 home. Now, to give you a greater context on this, I'm going to tell you, all right, here is a list of some of those states where they're talking about federal new homes are going to be. All right, so this is medium house numbers for these states. All right, Wyoming $340,000. Right. Obviously rural areas are cheaper, but this is, you know, Jackson prices. Vermont. Vermont $380,000. Alaska $350,000. North Dakota $260,000. South Dakota 300,000. Delaware 400,000. Rhode Island 450 Montana 460,000. All right, Maine, 390,000. Idaho 440,000. New Mexico 300,000. Mississippi, 160,000. Iowa 230,000. Nevada 420,000. These houses are incredible. And I think for most young people out there that have this American dream, how are they going to achieve that? So before we get all fired up in building all this new federal, these new low income housing on federal lands, why don't we talk about maybe how we reduce some of those housing prices or how we increase people's wages? Now, the other little hidden secret behind all this, which I believe plays a massive role in all of this, is who owns the vast majority of inventory out there. Now, if you're like me and you're in my area, what you saw in Covid, pre Covid and then certainly post Covid is you saw this exorbitant explosion in what, Airbnbs. I have one on my street and there's a. Probably coming for another one here soon too. Right. We looked at Airbnb explosion all over the place. We also looked at low income housing and apartment complexes. Rents went up in all of those. So airbnbs drove rents, low income housing drove rents. Now, why? Well, it's easy. It's private equity. It's asset management firms like BlackRock sort of give you an idea about BlackRock and their stake in commercial and private real estate. Here you go. BlackRock does have indirect exposure to residential real estate market through its stakes and companies that own homes. For example, it owns a majority stake in American Homes for Rent, a real estate investment Trust, or an REIT. A REIT that owns approximately 59,000 single family homes. As of recent reports, BlackRock's ownership in this company is around 6.7%, which equates to indirect interest, and a fraction of those homes, roughly 3,953 homes based on that percentage. Additionally, BlackRock is a shareholder in Invitation Homes, the largest operator of single family rentals in the U.S. which owns about 80. Let me repeat that, 80,000 homes. All right, the other one you need to understand is Blackstone, and many times these two are conflated together. But you need to be able to just. The point I'm trying to make is that much of the inventory is not going from person to person or being passed down generation or, or people just building on available land. These are mega corporations that are controlling these markets to a high degree. So Blackstone, a different firm, often confused with BlackRock, has a more direct role in owning homes through subsidiaries like Invitation Homes, which it founded but later spun off and currently owns around 62,000 single family homes via its portfolio companies. All right, now what does all this mean to kind of drill it down for you? Right. We have a housing crisis. The new government wants to come in and try and solve that new crisis. Now, whether you think it's a political ploy or whether you think they're actually going to deliver on what they promise, that's up to you, that's yet to be seen because of all the things we talked about. But what I do know is I recognize that the two main aspects of my mind are, one, yeah, I don't know if there is such a shortfall, but what I really know is that people aren't earning enough in order to be able to afford these down payments on these homes. And that's why you've really locked out this massive group of young people, you know, the Gen Z's, whoever you want to talk about, which is actually a bigger portion of people in the United States than the baby boomers were. It's, in fact, going to be the greatest purchasing generation in human history. And so it's critical to understand in my mind, where are those people going to want to live and then how are we going to pay them more money? I believe it's going to be more along the lines of sparking the economy, creating new interests, onshoring, new jobs and new industries. I think AI is going to open and explode for the service industries in ways we can't imagine. So when you listen to Braxton, and hopefully you heard the genuineness of where he was coming from. You heard the pain in his heart, not because he's angry at people who need homes by any stretch of the measure, but what he was offering for you to hear him was the fact that through political initiatives, he believes his culture is under jeopardy. Now, I had talked kind of in the beginning of this, what I wanted, that I would talk about culture. And I also shared that, you know, because of my background and path that, you know, is the culture of where I'm from. Is it something that I really feel connected to? I do to a certain degree. Don't get me wrong. All my five, six, one homies out there, right? I love you guys. We grew up, but, man, this place has been around since, like, the 1980s, really, you know, so the depths. My kids dig it here, but it's not like they're willing to go to battle for our culture here. But people out in those places whose generations before them actually had to hack out of the savagery of what the west was and build from nothing in those brutal winters and to really. To really cut out an existence from the savagery of what it meant to live back in those days, man, we have to adhere to that. We have to acknowledge that. And I genuinely believe that culture is something that we want to protect in people. So that's all I have to say about it. I hope you understand where I'm coming from. I hope I've been succinct enough. I hope I've given it some common sense and a little bit of critical thinking to it. And I hope you'd enjoyed my little rant there. Thank you. Asking the right questions can greatly impact your future, especially when it comes to your finances. So if you're looking for a financial advisor you can trust, certified financial planner professionals are committed to acting in your best interest. That's why it's gotta be a CFP. Find your CFP professional at letsmakeaplan.org Clorox.

[Braxton McCoy]

Sentiva smells like grapefruit, cleans like Clorox, and feels like, yeah, okay, we could.

[David Rutherford]

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