← Unlearn16: Class is in Session
Loading summary
Transcript173 lines
- [00:03]
A
Classes in session. Hey, everybody. And welcome to Unlearn 16 classes in session. Guys, guys, this has been a month in the making, actually longer than that. We planned it. I got sick. We planned it. This man's taking care of his, his, his grandfather. We plan. All of this has been going on and every five seconds we're like, how about tonight? Oh, I can't. How about tonight and today. Today's it, guys. Welcome Brian Andrews, singer, activist. Brian, give. Give me a little bit of your background and who you are and how you got right here. And then I. I want us to jump into it because I love your. I love your energy. I love your heart.
- [00:47]
B
Yeah. So, you know, I'm from a real small town of about 3,500 people called Carrollton, Missouri. I still live in my hometown. And, you know, we. I grew up here, you know, had all my friends here and everything like that. And then I went to college for a couple years and actually went for music performance. And I hated school, so I ended up dropping out because all my buddies were working on the road, you know, welding and stuff at the time. So I was like, dang, I want to do something like that. And I was washing dishes for $8.50 an hour at the local bar in my college town. So I quit school and then went to Weldon School and then started working on the road. And I did that for about four and a half years and taught myself how to write songs while I was on the road, somewhat in college, but really when I was on the road and then started downloaded Tick tock in like 2019 and started posting my music on there and it kind of just blew up or whatever and. And, you know, I ended up quitting my job back in 2021 or 2020, end of 2020, and have been doing it full time ever since. So just writing songs and stuff like that. But to get into, like, the political stuff, I really didn't talk about politics for a long time. I. I wouldn't touch them, you know, until like, really late. 2024 is really when I started talking about stuff because it just started getting, you know, I saw the road we were going down and I just, I knew that it was going to be too loud to ignore and I was feeling passionately about it in my personal life. So I started writing it about or writing about it more, and I couldn't. It was just. I couldn't shut it off. So I decided to just lean into it and, you know, here we are. Now I'm trying to just make a Difference, because history is going to be told and it's going to be told through art. And I want to be a part of that.
- [02:36]
A
Absolutely, it will be. It's interesting when everybody talks about how artists and musicians and actors shouldn't have a voice and it's politics and just do your thing. And what those people fail to understand or what they're trying to manipulate is the absolute power of art, whether it be on the screen, whether it be in, in a, you know, in a painting, whether it be in a song. That's where it lies. When people talk about revolution, they talk about the songs, they talk about the art, they talk about the cultural shift, and that comes from individuals like you. And I have to say, when I first saw you, that's what, like, your music for me was secondary only because I saw you talking on TikTok. So your music ended up being second to the passion and the authenticity of your voice. And I think as we go through different, you know, incarnations of music and fads and trends and things like that, I think people right now are starved, are, are desperate for authenticity and, and whatever direction that that takes, I think that's what people are drawn to now. It's not without its weight. How do you so. So small town, 3,500 people.
- [03:53]
B
Yeah.
- [03:53]
A
For those who don't know, you know, about your music and about your stance, you are a left. Have you ever always been a left leaning guy or did you? Yeah, always.
- [04:04]
B
Yeah, I mean, ever since I was a kid. I mean, growing up in a small town, you have just in circles and just in the small town itself, you have tendencies that you got to like, address at some point in your life, you know what I'm saying? So like, you know, racist things that you learn pick up growing up, you know, stuff like that that you have to be able to unlearn. And for me, like that was around 15, 16 years old is when I started realizing, like, hey, some of this shit's not cool, you know. And both my parents are left leaning as well. So like, my grandpa was a Democrat. My mom grew up in a union household. So I mean, she has been leaning left her whole life. And they're both music teachers and my dad grew up on a farm with, you know, democrats for parents and grandparents and stuff like that, old school Democrats. And so they, they grew up being left leaning and then getting into teaching and stuff like that. They saw people and students from all walks of life, you know, kids that were just different and you know, some kids that were gay or you Know, whatever. And so that kind of for me I was always around that way of thinking. So that's just the way that I think I grew up, you know, and I just grew up open minded and, and grew up having to kind of recognize some of the things that I didn't agree with and be like, okay, that's kind of up, you know what I'm saying? And like just, you know. But I mean in a small town, like I think there's a lot more people that kind of think that way anyways. Like I. Because people are people whether you're race in the. Yeah. Like when you're raised in the, you know, ultra conservative MAGA household or not, you still are a person and, and a child grows up, you know, as a kid you grow up with empathy in your heart for it doesn't matter.
- [05:52]
A
That's right.
- [05:53]
B
So I mean at some point like all that is learned throughout your life, you know what I'm saying? So like for me it was just, it was easier for me because I had parents who were open minded and accepting of like everyone. So I definitely picked up things from them, you know. But you know, yeah, I've been left leaning my whole life because I mean of that and, and things that I hold personal to myself, you know, just. And I think the older I get, to be honest, the further left I get. Not in a like radical sense, but just in a sense of like, you know, there's things that, that I picked up, like I said through growing up in a small town that I was like, that was wrong of me to think, you know, and I've had to like have those moments and conversations with myself, with my own morality and be like, hey, that's wrong. Because the more I educate myself about it, the more I'm like, damn dude. Like, you know what I'm saying? And you know, consciously says it all the time. Education is elevation and it truly is. I mean because you're, you're faced with things that like you already had a preconceived opinion about and you're faced with actual research and facts that prove you otherwise. And you should be able like scientists when they do a, you know, when they practice the scientific method, they're trying to prove their hypothesis wrong.
- [07:14]
A
Yeah, right, right. Yeah. They're trying to find the holes, not supporting it. Yeah, yes.
- [07:19]
B
Because I mean, you know, it's all about what's like seeking truth basically. So for me that's what a big part of it was. But also like I said, the just became too loud for me to ignore, especially going into the 20, 20, 24 election. And I saw the writing on the wall because I didn't like Donald Trump the first time when he ran. And I was pretty outspoken in my circles, you know, when I was in college and stuff like that, about that specific time period. And I just saw it coming again, and I was like, I have to be able to speak about this, you know, And I, for a long time, like I said, didn't want to touch it because I knew I was a small artist. I was an independent artist at the time, really. And. And. And just didn't speak about it because it's not, you know, who. What I wanted at the forefront, but it became too loud for me to ignore. And when I honestly started, like, thinking about all the people that I listened to growing up, artists that I listened to growing up, and artists that I loved and artists that are considered some of the greatest artists of all time, they were all political. I mean, cash political, Woody Guthrie political, Tupac political, NWA Political, Rage against machine political. You know what I'm saying? And. And some. Some of the greatest artists of all time. So. And I was like, it. You just have a mo.
- [08:28]
A
Or.
- [08:28]
B
I just had a moment where it was like, who do I want to be as an artist? And I chose this path.
- [08:35]
A
Yeah, I guess you were. As an independent artist, as a baby artist. Right? You're like, if I. If I make a hard line about this, I'm gonna cut off an audience. I'm gonna cut off a group of people. A group of people's gonna decide they're not gonna listen to my. My music anymore, because I made this particular post, and at a certain point, I guess you got to a place where you're like, okay, because. Because the. The benefit and. And forget the benefit. I. I feel like you just got to a point where it wasn't even about negotiating who was going to listen. It was just saying what you needed to say.
- [09:14]
B
Yeah, it's. It's no different than like, when you said, you know, I knew you through, like, your message and your. Your voice, you know, and, like, the things you were saying and those music was a little bit secondary. That's on purpose, you know what I'm saying? Like, because the message to me is just as important as the music, and it's not just about the message or the music. It's about both of them and the movement behind it all. So, you know, when I see the people who are like, I'm gonna make a video about this today, actually, because I Was thinking about it yesterday, but people are always saying. And I'm starting to see, like, three or four videos a week, right, of people talking or, you know, saying they hate me or whatever. And they always say, you know, like, oh, guy only uses politics to push his music. Or he said. Or they say, well, he figured out he could pander to the left. Why the would I make all these videos to people who already know what I'm talking about? That's the thing. I ain't pandering to the left. I'm talking directly to you. And the only reason you don't like it is because I'm finally holding up a mirror to you.
- [10:10]
A
That's right. So that's right. And that's what a lot of people. Because a lot of people will say similar things to me. And what they're not understanding is not, am I. Not only am I troll trying to hold that mirror up, but I'm trying to do it in a way, because I know, just like you said at the beginning, there are a group of people that are horrible. I'm. I'm never reaching out. I'm never getting them over. I'm never having a good discussion. I think, and I believe that the vast majority of people are good.
- [10:39]
B
Yep.
- [10:40]
A
Lovely individuals that want the best for themselves, their families, their community, their country, the world. They want that. They want that. And I think their fear and their insecurity and their lack of education. I don't mean that in an, like, in a. In a stupid kind of way. I mean that just. We can't be educated about everything. Right. And people have weaponized that and really driven something home. And the only way we reach back out and make sure everybody is at least getting the information in their head to make their own choices is by keeping the door open. Yes, by keeping the conversation open. There's very few people that I wouldn't sit across from, you know, in order to have a debate, in order to have a discussion. Because I think that's where important conversation lie. And that's what music can do. Right. And that's what you so powerfully can do.
- [11:38]
B
Yeah, that's exactly right. Especially in country music. I say that all the time. Now that I do do this, you know, and I'm in these spaces, it's my burden to bear to be able to be knowledgeable about the things going on in the world so I can talk about them and have real conversations and start real conversations in the circles that I'm in, like small towns or like country music, you know, What I mean, because nobody else is gonna, right? So like, for me, that's where, like, it's not just a burden, but it's responsibility to be able to talk to these people about things that they otherwise may not learn about. And I tell this to friends all the time. It's just like you said, you know, like, in a perfect world, yeah, you should be able to have some kind of faith, level of faith in your government that they at least have your best interests at heart. But the truth is, right now they don't. So it is up to us. You know, like, people shouldn't have to go work 60, 70 hours a week and then get on their phone at night when they're trying to spend time with their families and have to look up headlines and like read articles and educate themselves on research and studies and like that. They shouldn't have to do that. But at this moment, I think it is important that you take a little bit of time, even as on an individual level, to be like, hey, is what I'm consuming or is what I'm. Is what I'm reading and seeing seeing true? And is it fact based or is it fear based?
- [12:55]
A
Yep. So I think, first of all, incredibly important. But I also think it's funny you say you don't know if it's, if it's our job to be doing that. And I'm thinking is exactly our job. I'm thinking that in a democracy, yeah. As, as a person, in a democracy, as a, as a parent, as a, as a citizen, that if you are not going to make an educated choice, an educated vote, an educated stand, you are not serving democracy. Democracy isn't something where you just go off and sign a ballot once every four years. Democracy is an active process. And if you're not going, if you're choosing, because I do think this is a reality in today's day and age, right, people can choose not to be educated. Those people I call stupid. That's a choice. You have chosen to remain stupid. Lots of people are ignorant of stuff. We go out, we learn about it, we get better, we then can make a decision. If you're choosing to be ignorant, if you're choosing to remain stupid, that's on you. Yeah, but everybody else, you do, I think, have an obligation because it's at your fingertips now. You don't have to go to university for four years. You don't have to output tons and tons of money. You don't have to go find an incredible academic library in order to have access to this Stuff, you turn on your damn phone or you turn on your computer and you can have. Now it's a matter of choice. Now it's a matter of choice. How educated do you want to be? Because I do think it's our responsibility. And I think sometimes we got this flipped up. Right. I think we look to the government way too much.
- [14:36]
B
Yeah.
- [14:36]
A
Because I've stood in the room with a lot of those people, hun, and I'm telling you right now, these aren't the people where you're like, they've got all the answers. Number one, they don't. Number two, their education levels, as we are clear, are not to the level at which you want to, you know, abdicate power to.
- [14:55]
B
Yeah.
- [14:56]
A
And they have their own personal interest at heart, as does everybody else. So in this democracy, in any democracy, it has to be your job. And now in the last, let's say 15 years, you have access. Like, yeah, you went to university for a couple years and then you. And then you dropped out. You finished. You did whatever you did because you're like, that's not for me. I don't like that form when it comes to my musical. Doesn't mean you stop getting educated.
- [15:22]
B
Yeah, no, and I think that's the thing. Like, I think the more educated I got and the more, like, personal responsibility I bear to seeking truth and finding answers, the harder it became for me to keep my mouth shut and not write about it and things like that. So, you know, I think I relate it back to, like, we use our ignorance as a shield to bury our heads in the sand and say, well, I didn't know that. Right. Because we didn't want to know. You're choosing to willfully not know things like, I mean, I. I think it's, you know, funny where we talk about, like, you know, I'll have personal conversations even with people in my personal life that disagree with me, and we'll talk about immigration and stuff. And I'll be like, you know what, the whole Alex Preddy situation, you know, they'll say something like, well, he didn't deserve to die. But, you know, he. He showed up looking for a fight, basically. I don't know why he would have done that. It's like, okay, if I took you and that mindset and put you back in 1955, when Medgar ever was shot or when Emmett Till was lynched, would you have just said, well, maybe Emmett Till shouldn't have went into the store that day. You had it coming. And, you know, that's the thing like the laws of the law. You said these people say, you know, comply and none of that stuff will happen. Right. So should. Rosa Parks gave up her seat because it was the law that she should have. You know, and that's what I'm saying. Like, sometimes things are. Laws are meant to be broken. One and two. I think that, you know, the, these things, if you just say, well, you know, they should have just went to the ballot box or something like that. Well, they weren't even allowed to go to the ballot box until the 19, late 1950s, early 1960s, you know what I'm saying? Like, some people weren't. So that's why women, for example, you know, weren't allowed to go. So were they supposed to just stay home and let the men finally decide? I can tell you, if that was the case, they wouldn't. They still today wouldn't be able to vote. You know how I know? Because it took until 2022 for the federal government to make lynching a federal crime. Four years ago.
- [17:27]
A
That's wild. That's wild.
- [17:29]
B
Four years ago. So that's what I'm saying. Like, if, if you're leaving these things to the government and you as a person don't bear any personal responsibility to bring change throughout your own communities in your own life, and then, you know, on a federal level, then you're choosing to bury your head in the sand and say, well, I just didn't know. Well, you should know, you know what I'm saying?
- [17:52]
A
Like, so I think a lot of people, yeah, I think a lot of people want. Want it to be easy. Like, and I constantly play devil's advocate with myself, right, about the, about the personal responsibility. And I, and I constantly think about a. Who's trying to take care of their family, struggling to meet ends meet, maybe working more than two jobs in order to make that happen, maybe somebody in their family had to go through some medical treatment in the United States and heaven forbid, like, what that looks like. And the idea of this person having to have the same sort of responsibility and accountability to then, you know, challenge when. When things aren't going right. I understand that, and I understand people being fearful of what's next, being fearful of the chaos that is about to ensue. But what I say then is that there's a bunch of people with a lot of privilege.
- [18:45]
B
Yes, exactly.
- [18:45]
A
I don't care. Lots of privilege.
- [18:48]
B
That, that is exactly the point. That being able to say, like, well, you know, I just didn't know about that is being able to say well, the system was built for me, and people say all the time, like, well, in the grand scheme of things, I just want to be left alone. Right. Well, yeah, of course. Everybody just wants to be left alone. But here's the thing. If being left alone comes at the. If the price of your being left alone comes at the expense of someone else's depression or oppression, then you're right. You don't get to be left alone. That's right.
- [19:17]
A
And I think we. Again, I. You know, I've done so many deep dives, a lot of them into. Into U.S. history. And we talk about what's going on right now as the. As though it's this major shift. And I think what's incredibly the reason why I do that isn't a lot of people think I'm just trying to bag on the United States. It's not really about that. It's really about understanding a pattern that's always existed and a pattern that we need to fight to rectify. Because prior to the last 15 or 20 years, gaining that information and gaining that knowledge was incredibly difficult. It was contingent upon the rooms you sat in and the money you had and the schools you could go to or not go to and the places you could travel. So everything has shifted. It doesn't mean that we negate history. It means, okay, let's look at the US Constitution and what it actually does and when it's actually failed. And what are the crevices or what are the cracks in the foundation of a document that was written in 1776. Well, 1783. Like, that's wild to think there aren't things we need to fix, not simply add ons. Right. Somebody does a joke in one of their comedy specials about, you know, Jefferson sitting around going, what? You haven't fixed it. You haven't done much of it, and you just added some stuff on. Y' all thought that was gonna be good forever. That doesn't make any. But now we have such incredible divides between the left and the right, such insane divides, that they can no longer sit together and decide, how do we take care of. How do we make this okay? What does this look like in order for a better future? Because they're trying to consistently jockey for power. It's, you know, Washington said, you're gonna have political parties. You're gonna mess up the whole system.
- [21:11]
B
Yeah, exactly. And I think that's where, like, the, you know, the divide is real. You know, when I think about that, like, because there's a lot of people, like, especially in My hometown that literally won't talk to me anymore because I'm a crazy radical leftist, right? And I'm like, dude, I'm not that much different than you, you know what I'm saying? But that's where I'm like, to me it's so much more a class war than it is right versus left. And we're seeing it in broad daylight with like, you know, like the Epstein files and everything like that. There's people from both political parties incriminated in that stuff. And that's where like, you know, I think the. That's almost where I think, like leftists are a little bit closer. Like the far left and not the far left, but just the left in general terms of like, who they support as candidates. They're a little bit closer than even, you know, liberals are and stuff like that. Because we like as, as the liberal party still has faith that the, the Democratic system or the Democratic party in place is better than the alternative. And I would agree that, yeah, it's like better in the sense that like a chicken salad that is two days old is better than eating dog food, but still dangerous. Yeah, it's still, still not very good. Yeah, you're still going to get sick from it. Right. So I mean, like, like, I get that, but that's where I'm saying like this, this movement is much more important, I think, because the older we get, I think the, the. And the more things like the Epstein stuff that we see, we have to move into supporting candidates that are for the people and that don't take billionaire money and that don't, you know, take a whole lot of things from a whole lot of like corporate lobbyists and things like that. And like, you know, but it's hard. It's.
- [23:04]
A
Wouldn't that be a great, you know, wouldn't that be a great defining characteristic? Now it's very hard. I constantly try to figure out ways to legislate our way around the pitfalls that you're describing. And every time I try to figure out a way to legislate around it, all I can think about. But if the system of capitalism is such. And everybody thinks I'm a communist when I say this, but if the system of capitalism is such, whereby we are now in a place of capitalism, which I believe is kind of post capitalism, because the competition. Real low.
- [23:39]
B
Yeah, that's what I'm saying. It's not free market. Yeah, it's not anymore.
- [23:44]
A
Yeah, right. But you have this, this huge graph of billionaires acquiring all of this money and wielding all of this power by the things they can purchase. And I say something to the effect of, well, now politicians who are running can't take money from billionaire. A, B, C and go on down the list. Let me be real clear. They're going to take money from them somehow. Yeah, they are there. There's going to be a, A, A agreement that's going on because of the power that they wield, because of the capital we've allowed them to accumulate.
- [24:19]
B
Yes.
- [24:19]
A
And what that capital means to how you can change the system. I read the other day that they're talking about AI and what AI is going to do. And somebody, heaven help me, it might even have been Musk saying something to the effect that you had an AI judge rather than the adversarial system in the courts. And I went, oh, okay, so, so on side A, you're taking away a person's ability to purchase and wield the economic structure. Because if I can afford 10, 10 lawyers and you can afford two, I'm going to potentially win in that battle. And if we just put everything in that sort of category and allowed somebody to look at the law, look at the law, and it's not personality, it's not skin color, it's not class, none of those factors get to play in. Then you start to go, oh, that would be amazing. And then you start to remember who sets AI.
- [25:22]
B
Yes.
- [25:22]
A
And wield AI.
- [25:24]
B
Yes.
- [25:25]
A
And then you're like, now what? Right. And I can't quite wrap my head around it, but if I'm constantly trying to figure out ways to get money out of this system, I don't see another way around it other than getting money out of the system.
- [25:41]
B
Yeah. Yeah, that's exactly my point is that like, you, you know, like, I would consider myself a democratic socialist, but like, people are so afraid of the word socialist that they don't understand, Right. That, that they don't understand that. Like, dude, I'm trying to help you out too. You know, like, everything I talk about mostly is in root of like someone who represents a working class part of the system. Right? So I mean, like, you know, people of color mostly represent working class families, you know, you know, people in small towns mostly represent working class families. So when I think of socialist programs like universal health care or, you know, you know, we have them now, even police departments, fire departments, things like that, I think that those are, those systems are to benefit us, not necessarily the billionaire class. And that's why I call myself a democratic socialist. Right. So I mean, like, and I'm not saying it's total redistribution of wealth. What I am saying though, is that a billionaire shouldn't get to not pay any taxes while people that I know work their ass off 80 hours a week should have, or have to pay 25% of their yearly salary. You know, it's like in that. And that's the world we live in in America, because they are able to do those things. And, and you know what, what astounds me so much is that in the 80s we figured out, or we tried trickle down economics with Ronald Reagan.
- [27:05]
A
Sure.
- [27:07]
B
Right. That's what I'm saying.
- [27:09]
A
That's the thing.
- [27:10]
B
Exactly. That's what I'm saying. We tried it and we said, hey, well, nobody's ever done this. Let's try it. We tried it and then for 50 years it's been crippling us. And you, they still play on the fear of like, oh, dude, if you don't give billionaires all your money, then they won't be able to pay you anything, you know, and they're going to leave.
- [27:29]
A
They're going to leave, right? They're going to, they're going to take. They're going to take. I was just talking about this with my students about, you know, where Amazon chooses to go in different towns. I'll tell you where they choose to go. Whatever municipality says you don't pay any property tax here. Come on, move in. You employ 15,000 people. That's amazing. That's all the tax base we're going to need. And no matter if you only employ those 15,000 people, let's say for the next 10 years, till everything's fully automated and you're making all the money and we have no mechanism to tax you or to hold you economically accountable for the oppression that you're then going to be instilling. Now we have a problem.
- [28:07]
B
Yeah.
- [28:08]
A
And nobody's willing. And this is the, I think this is the biggest problem. Nobody has a 50 year plan, right?
- [28:14]
B
Yeah.
- [28:15]
A
Nobody can have a rational future plan because you're in government for four years at a time. If you don't get it done in four years, or get something done in four years and impress somebody in four years, you're out. Now, whose fault is that? That is us. Yeah, that is us. Think you can fix the environment, you can fix human rights, you can fix immigration law, you can fix labor law, you can't do any of that in four years. The only thing I can do in four years is take away a little bit of taxes. So you have maybe an extra like Canadian government right now is saving families, let's say on the top end. $1,000 a year. Great. What is that costing us when it comes to the social programs and. Forget the social programs. If you're telling me you can give me back that thousand dollars and we, our roads are horrible, our infrastructure is horrible, our health care is deteriorating. All of, forget it. Put it into anything that's going to build. Say I was going to give you the thousand bucks back, but if I give you the thousand bucks that back, then I lose 200 billion. Do you want me to do something with 200 billion or do you want your money back?
- [29:25]
B
Right.
- [29:26]
A
But we have to trust that not just government A is going to do it, but they're going to follow through.
- [29:32]
B
Yeah.
- [29:32]
A
For the next.
- [29:34]
B
Right. And like that's the thing, like there is so much distrust, you know, like, especially in small towns. I see it all the time. You know, people come up to me and they'll be like, dude, you just want to give all your money to the government and stuff and the government hates you, blah, blah. And to their defense, like there is some level of discernment that I have for the, the federal government having my best interests at heart as well. It's just that I do think that Democrats have more, or at least the left side of the aisle has more of working families best interests than Republicans do. I think Republicans are really good at selling you on the idea that they do, but they actually don't give a shit. You know, so like that's, that's where like Donald Trump is the greatest con man to ever live.
- [30:18]
A
Very good at it.
- [30:19]
B
And, and like the way that he was able as a billionaire who's never stepped foot in a working class person's fuse shoes, the way he was able to con them into thinking that he was representing them should be studied for years. Yes. And like 100. My, my thing is, is like we have to be able to collectively see that for what it is. And until we get people on the left side of the aisle who are willing to say stand up and not just give them a bureaucratic answer to why Donald Trump is a bad person, but say fuck you, you're a piece of shit and I know you're lying, then we're going to be lost.
- [30:59]
A
So I think I remember the moment, I know Dave Chappelle speaks about this in his standup and you know, when he was running against Hillary and he stood up against Hillary and she's talking about his taxes and he doesn't pay Taxes. And he says something to the effect of, you want to change the tax law? Your husband was in power for eight years. He did the opposite, actually. And this is a hundred percent true. A lot of people blame the 2008 housing crisis on the deregulation of the Bill Clinton administration. He allowed all of this money to flow back and he allowed all of these loopholes for taxes again and again and again. You want to point out that I didn't pay my taxes. Yeah. I was playing by the game. You set?
- [31:36]
B
Yeah.
- [31:37]
A
Now here's the funny part. He called her out. He was right. It was true. But everybody inferred the second part that voted for him. Everybody inferred in their heads they made a leap that that meant he was going to fix it.
- [31:51]
B
Yeah.
- [31:52]
A
Let me be real clear. The man never said he was going to fix it. Yeah. He just said, this is bull crap. She is a hypocrite. All of which was true.
- [32:03]
B
Yeah.
- [32:04]
A
I think his base just assumed.
- [32:07]
B
Yeah. That he was gonna change it. And then he never. And then he never did, obviously. Because why would he, if he's the one benefiting from it, you know?
- [32:13]
A
Absolutely. You have no impetus to do that whatsoever.
- [32:17]
B
Right. And that's where like, like I said, for me, it's much more about, like, it's much more about like, like holding up a mirror to these people and saying, look, dude, this is what's happening, you know?
- [32:28]
A
Yeah.
- [32:29]
B
And like, you can either get on board with it or not, but here's the, here's the facts. These people hate you. And that's what I'm saying. You've got to start supporting candidates who finally give a. About working class families. And it's hard to do because, I mean, people, especially with the MAGA movement. That's why I say about Donald Trump, I think he's been detrimental because the mindset and mentality that he's given to people is, or at least brought out in people is very, very hard to unravel. I think you're starting to see MAGA kind of crumble. But that whole MAGA movement was, I mean, airtight for a long time, you know, or at least in political years. A long time. Right. So it's going to be hard to kind of break those walls down. And I think that Donald Trump himself is doing a good job of breaking down those walls at the moment, you know, with the, like I said, the Epstein thing. And then like, sue, you know, he just does that. Like, obviously a working class person who has any level of education can be like, what the. Are you doing? You know, I mean, like, suing the IRS for $10 billion. That's taxpayer money. Like, you can go on straight. And. And everybody's kind of starting to see that and be like, what the. You know what I mean? So I think that. You know what? I often.
- [33:41]
A
Yeah, no, go ahead. I. I often think of. Of. Thank God, you know, these. These people that are just like a Donald Trump guy that, by the way, is just plating out a playbook that's already been described and. And built over the course of the years. Anyways, I constantly think about, thank God he's not actually smart.
- [34:02]
B
Right.
- [34:02]
A
Thank God he's just really good at what he does, which is getting to where he was because. And, you know, Donald Trump and his. His boys probably not watching our podcast, however, so hopefully they don't take this as an idea.
- [34:16]
B
Yeah.
- [34:17]
A
You know what would have changed everything forever?
- [34:20]
B
What's up?
- [34:20]
A
Had he taken that Epstein list and blanket arrested people?
- [34:28]
B
Yeah.
- [34:29]
A
I mean, from both sides of the aisle. I mean, go right. That Lutnik standing right next to you, put him in handcuffs, go on TV and say, that's who I am. Because if you think for a second Donald Trump cares about any of these people. He doesn't.
- [34:44]
B
Yeah. The only.
- [34:46]
A
The only offset is what they know about him. But to be honest, I don't think it would matter. I don't. I. Unless it's. It's somebody has him on video. Unless, you know, it would have to be insurmountable for him to get on TV and said, I saw how many times he was in it. He's gone, he's arrested, and I'm instructing. And. And anybody who makes a mistake when it comes to this Cash Patel getting up there saying it was nothing. If Donald Trump had just taken a different line, he could have solidified himself.
- [35:21]
B
Yep.
- [35:22]
A
Solidify. Because then I really do worry about a third term.
- [35:26]
B
Yeah.
- [35:26]
A
Could you imagine if he actually created the mechanism to arrest. Fine, the Clintons, but also Letnick and also, you know, Gates and also Musk.
- [35:38]
B
I don't care.
- [35:38]
A
All of them.
- [35:39]
B
Yeah.
- [35:40]
A
Everybody in handcuffs, going down, being deposed. Put it all on tv, make it. That's the sign of a genius. Now, thank God he's not that smart.
- [35:49]
B
I. Yeah, I think it's probably right. I think it's probably a little bit that he's not that smart, but I also think it's probably that he's incriminated in them as well. So he's afraid, you know, if I go, if I just Think of how many things he's.
- [36:03]
A
Yeah. Think about what he's admitted to already.
- [36:06]
B
Right. And that's what I mean.
- [36:07]
A
Like, think about what he's already overcome.
- [36:11]
B
Yeah. That's why I think you're. You're seeing, like, the. The Epstein thing isn't as big to a lot of people as it seems, because. Especially in small towns, because they already knew he was a moral, morally corrupt.
- [36:27]
A
Person and they were good with it.
- [36:29]
B
Yeah.
- [36:30]
A
Yep.
- [36:30]
B
And that's what I'm saying. Like, they're like, even. Even to, you know, the extent that they think it's all. They. Either one, knew he was morally corrupt and they're okay with it, or two, they think it's all a weaponization against Donald Trump, and it's nothing more than that. Right, sure. So, like, the Eugene Carroll stuff, you know, like, when he got or found guilty by a jury, you know, of sexual assault and things like that, they said, well, that was just a targeted attack. That's a weaponization of the justice system. Right. And so, like, it's absolute crap.
- [37:02]
A
That's what I'm saying. He's on tape. Like, they're like, oh, well, that's fine. Boys being boys. I mean, you would think there's certain things that happen along the way. And. And I. And I. You go, oh, he's done now. No, no, no. His popularity gains.
- [37:18]
B
Yeah. I mean, the. The point in which, you know, I was 18 or 19 years old, I think. 19. But anyways, the. Like, I honestly didn't think that Donald Trump was, like, a bad idea until the Access Hollywood came out when I was, you know, in 20. 2015. And I was like, that kind of bus thing.
- [37:41]
A
That one.
- [37:41]
B
Yes. I was like, this cannot be president. You know what I'm saying?
- [37:44]
A
Yeah.
- [37:45]
B
Like, this is up. But nobody else thought that. And I was like, what are we. What are we doing? You know what I mean? Like, are we. Is this. Are we taking this serious anymore or not? And then obviously, here we are now. And so I'm like, you know, how. How it wasn't the last straw, how any of these things weren't the last straw for people is beyond me. But that's why I said, you know, like, I think that it was my responsibility to start being loud about it, because that's what I think. Like, maybe we just weren't. Maybe we didn't feel. Or we didn't make racists feel bad bad enough about themselves. And that's the point I'm at right now, because I can't stand them to Be honest with you. I mean, I think, like, I think we've been too tolerable of people saying ignorantly racist things. Even, you know, like people that don't know they're being racist when they say something or people that don't know they're being sexist when they say something, because I've done that too. But I. You have to have. You know, when I started changing, when I had people surrounded by me in my life that would say, hey, dude, that's racist.
- [38:51]
A
Yeah, hey, that's.
- [38:52]
B
You shouldn't say that. You know what I'm saying? And it doesn't happen overnight, but, you know, I'll be like, I didn't know that was racist. But that. You're right, that was racist of me to say. Right? You know, and so, like. Or homophobic or whatever it is, you know, like, things like that. And it's like, it's like. But these people aren't surrounded by people who would do that. So, like, that's where I'm saying, like, maybe it was on me that I. I live in these spaces with these people and I think this way and I didn't say for a long time, you know what I'm saying? So maybe now it's my. Or not. Maybe it is. It is my responsibility to be able to sit in these spaces and be like, hey, that's fucked up. And here's why. You know what I'm saying? Like, you should want to be a better person. Does it make you fucking. That's why I want to say to these people, does it make you fucking feel better to think that you're better than an immigrant? Because truthfully, that's how you feel. Like at this moment, you feel. It makes you feel like you were better because you were lucky enough to be born.
- [39:51]
A
Yes, it does. And I think what you talk about holding up a mirror and I think what this administration has done and, and has proven, and even when it comes down to the disgustingness of, of. And by the way, the, the whole. He's not the only one. He wasn't the first. This is a historical reality of abuse and ownership. And it's, it's. It's not just in this era, it's not just now, but I think holding up this mirror that you're talking about, for some people, when the mirror is held up, I think they want to feel what he's done is. He's make them. He's. Instead of belittling and making them feel smaller, for those he has big them up to say well, that's how I think. And I'm a billionaire.
- [40:41]
B
Yeah.
- [40:41]
A
So you can't be wrong that. That when we talk about these files and what we're ignoring and how nobody's really talking about it, nobody protected these women. Nobody listened to these women, I like to point out, as disgusting, as hard as this, to listen to what goes on in everybody's personal families.
- [40:58]
B
Yeah.
- [40:58]
A
How many uncles have been excommunicated from the family? But nobody took them to court, nobody put them on trial. How many times have we swept it under the rug? Because it's personal family business? And we're not going to talk about that. We're not going to. Nobody's going to go. Nobody's going to admit to that. Nobody's going to the police about that. We're going to pretend like it never happened, and then we're all pissed because I do think it's projection that this is going on in an elite level. Meanwhile, people have been protecting abusers forever.
- [41:31]
B
Yeah.
- [41:32]
A
Forever.
- [41:33]
B
Yeah.
- [41:33]
A
House in their community.
- [41:35]
B
Yeah. It's not new. You know what I'm saying? Like, like, and that's the thing. Like, that's why, like, I always say, you know, like, I bear some responsibility to not speaking up sooner, you know, because, I mean, there were. I mean, I'm young, but at some point in my life, there was a time where I was like, I'm not going to touch that.
- [41:58]
A
Right.
- [41:59]
B
You know, I'd see it and I know it's up, but I'd be like, ain't my business. Well, the truth is, it is our business. And, like, that's the thing. Like, people think I hate America when I'm starting to speak out about all these things, but I don't. Like, everything I say is en route for my love of the idea of America. Right. So, I mean, like, that's the thing. When this country was founded, America made a fucking deal with us. And I think me speaking out of the. On the injustices and the abuse and the things that we see is me holding America accountable to the deal she made and making sure she holds up her end of the bargain so well.
- [42:38]
A
In the end of that bargain, and this is what people. And I don't know if protest is the way to do it, to be perfectly honest, but, like, physically protesting. Because I. I feel as though in this particular context it's elevating tensions in order to elicit National Guard or a military response. To be. To be honest, however, I think that, you know, people need to understand that it has to be their job that when we say the deal that we've made, and I know I'm, I'm Canadian, but the same deal, the, the, the power that we've given has been given with consent under certain conditions. And if those conditions aren't being met, then it is our job, our responsibility, our constitutional right to hold them accountable, to hold it up to the light and to fight for that change. And if you're not doing it, if you're not doing your part, whatever that part is, and by the way, I think everybody's part gets to look different. I don't think that everybody needs to be writing country music. Nobody wants to hear me sing. Not everybody needs to be a teacher, not everybody needs to be a politician. Not everybody needs to be on the protest line. You have power in your world somehow. How are you wielding it? And the more people take that on, the more you realize that the beauty of a country is the people demanding justice for people, not being scared into demonizing a group to benefit the rest. That's fascism.
- [44:15]
B
That, exactly. That's the, that's the point I make to like, even, even my friends is that like, look, I can have conversations with you in these spaces and we can come to like disagreements that we, or agree to disagree on certain things without me conceding that human rights are a non fucking negotiable. That's right. You know, and like, that's the thing, like I can have those conversations with you and you can say, oh, well, you hate me just because I disagree with you. No, I don't hate you because I disagree with you. We're not disagreeing. I think morally you have an internal problem with you individually, you know what I'm saying? If you, if you view certain human beings as being less than because they were not born here, or that they don't deserve due process, which is a constitutional right, or for anyone on this land, or that they don't deserve to not have their door kicked in without a judicial warrant. Those are the things that are non negotiable to me. That where in these conversations, it's not me disagreeing with you and it's not me begging you to see it from my side. It's me telling you that if you don't, if you morally don't believe in that, then it's your problem, not mine, you know, So I think there's also a. No, go ahead, go ahead.
- [45:31]
A
Sorry.
- [45:32]
B
No, you're good.
- [45:33]
A
I think there's also a problem with the idea that my life's hard, my life sucks. Right now.
- [45:44]
B
Yeah.
- [45:44]
A
Can be a very significant trigger.
- [45:49]
B
Yes.
- [45:50]
A
People with significant problems. And if I can somehow say it's the guy. Yeah, it's the guy that snuck in to the country next door, he's the guy. I'm going to fix that for you. I got your back and I'll bring your jobs back and I'll uplift everybody. Just listen to me. It's not a bad person that necessarily believes that Historically we have always been the most fearful, the most damaging, the most aggressive towards new people in our worlds, in our hemisphere, in our community. That's always. We're always afraid of the things we don't know. Yeah, always. So if I, because I'm constantly trying to figure out, what do we do? What do we do next? Right. How do we do this next? Not necessarily who did the bad thing. I can't. We can't spend so much time there pointing fingers saying you're horrible. Forget it. What do we do next? And the next, to me is always about human beings coming together and getting to know each other.
- [46:54]
B
Yeah, for sure.
- [46:55]
A
Always. That is always what it's about. So instead of. And I. And I again, I. Protests have its own issue for me. I mean, I, I study the Vietnam War. Protest didn't end that friggin war. It's not what happened. Everything's the height of protest movements. It did nothing. What stopped that war was y' all were about to lose in 1975. Nixon says we're out. Yeah, we're out of the war. Right. So we have to develop programs. The Democrats want to do something. In my opinion. Start passing, start educating, start talking about who came from what country. Talk about asylum laws, talk about what due process looks like. Talk about how easy that is and talk about it so people can friggin understand you.
- [47:44]
B
Right.
- [47:44]
A
And so talk about it.
- [47:47]
B
No, you're, you're exactly right. The, the, the I, I say I'm gonna make a video about this too. But like I say all the time, I know things like systemic racism exists because for so much of my life as a white male, I didn't. Right. So like throughout my life I didn't even know who. I never in school once learned about who Emmett Till was. I did not know Emmett till existed until 2022 when they finally passed social media. I didn't know until I started really talking to, like getting outside of my hometown. When I went to college and had friends from city areas and urban areas that were people of color, I didn't know that people got pulled over in Rich neighborhoods for driving around them at night. Yeah. I didn't know that people of color were harassed and asked for their papers and their IDs for speaking Spanish in public while being brown. But those, those experiences do exist. And the reason that I didn't know them is because the system was built for me. Right. And so that's what I'm saying. Like, I know it exists because I didn't know about it. Right. But think about that as well. It took me until I was 20 years old to figure out that one of the most. To learn about one of the most famous, horrible, disgusting, vile lynchings of all time in American history took place. That is insane. That is insane that it took me that long to be educated about that specific person. In school systems, we are failing students because we, we continuously try to hide history. And you're seeing it now this why. Another reason I can't stand Donald Trump. You're. We are continuously trying to hide history from people to be educated about it so that way they can repeat it. Yeah, that's the thing. Everybody's like, oh, it's bad, bad. If you repeat history. It is. But the people in power want to be able to repeat history. It is exactly. Donald Trump is. So he can play on your fears. If he can. If he can convince you that illegal immigrants are trash and animals and coming for your way of life. You know what they said about black people in the 1960s, they're trash and animals and coming for your wildlife.
- [50:09]
A
Yes. So it's always. Yeah, it's always the minority that has all of this significant power. It's wild that 12 of the population we're talking about, African Americans has such incredible power over. Over your country. But what I will tell you about, what I will say is this. We don't need to educate the minorities. They know.
- [50:30]
B
They know. That's what I'm saying. Yes, you're exactly right. That's why I always say they're like, oh, he's pandering to the left. No, dog, I'm talking directly to you. I'm speaking. Yes. Do you think I need to. Do you think I need to come out here and speak to women about the importance of having. Or of women being able to have access to health care? No, they already know because they don't have access to it. I'm talking to you because you don't know because the system was built for you and you've never had to experience it.
- [50:57]
A
Absolutely. And I think that the more we. That's the. So when. When we are talking. It's not about allying people who already believe in me in what I have to say. It's about getting a. It's about seeping it in. Right. It's about getting it into people's heads. So at the very least they go home and they go, that one thing that Joanna said really pissed me off. And all of a sudden they're on their phone googling, looking it up. Yeah, that's it. I just need one thing to squeeze into your head. Even if, even if that one thing, you're, you're looking to prove me wrong. Go ahead, try to prove me wrong. Yes, I'm, I've been wrong lots. I'll be wrong lots in the future. Go ahead, try to prove me long wrong and then let's have a conversation about it. Because in the process it's going to squeeze in your head and you're not even going to know it got in there.
- [51:46]
B
Yeah.
- [51:47]
A
And all of a sudden you're going to look at things in a little bit of a different way.
- [51:51]
B
Yes.
- [51:51]
A
So when they change, it has to be educational.
- [51:55]
B
Yes.
- [51:56]
A
You want to pour money into anything. Education.
- [51:59]
B
Yes.
- [52:00]
A
And that's why, like all these institutions are left leaning. There's a reason.
- [52:05]
B
Yes.
- [52:05]
A
They got smarter.
- [52:07]
B
Yes.
- [52:07]
A
They could see a system for what it is. They're not looking to a cure and, and, and negotiate power. They're looking at the facts, not your feelings. Which I think is an hilarious spin on what, you know, an ultra religious movement now, which is hysterical. Poor real Christians out there with him rocking this. Like some beautiful Christian people now have to be associated with this guy who can't even read half the time.
- [52:37]
B
I've pretty much gotten to the point as a Christian where I stopped calling myself a Christian. I say I follow.
- [52:41]
A
That's, that's. And you know what? It's again, I'd like religion in general, obviously is, is when it's a personal faith, it's beautiful.
- [52:51]
B
Yes.
- [52:52]
A
When it's a weaponized policy, I don't care what religion it is, it should be banned. That's it. You. I have friends that are the most beautiful religious people and they talk to me about their faith and I think it's gorgeous. I don't share it, but I, I'm like, what a lovely thing. What a lovely thing to have in your heart. I'll tell you what they're not doing. They're not walking around trying to kick out immigrants. They' not using Bible verses in order to oppress and undervalue and take things away.
- [53:21]
B
Yes.
- [53:22]
A
They're not doing that with any religion. Right. Like whatever religion we could possibly be talking about.
- [53:27]
B
You know what the argument is to that in small towns and I can prove it in 30 seconds they'll sell or disprove it in 30 seconds they'll say, well, this country was founded on Christian values. False. The pledges. Pledge of Allegiance of the United States of America did not have under God in it until 1954 when the. And same thing within God we Trust on our currency. Yes. It did not happen until 1954 because they were trying to combat communism and the whole idea behind it was communist countries were godless nations. So we didn't want to become that. And we were so scared of becoming communists that we put God in everything because Christian nationalists told us that, hey, if you become a Christian then we'll never be communist.
- [54:15]
A
That's right. And it really is relying on something when you can't argue, and again, I'm not coming at anybody's faith, but when you can't argue fact, you use supranational ideas and belief systems that are about scaring you when you're not even on this planet anymore in order to wield and manipulate your current mechanism for the way in which you're going to treat people or the way in which your country is going to be run. If your primary, if your prime primary goal is to upload, uphold human rights. I don't know a single religion in its authenticity, in its roots, that, that isn't the first goal.
- [55:01]
B
Exactly.
- [55:01]
A
And as soon as it's not, I'm calling that religion a call. I'm saying that religion should be like, you know, get rid of.
- [55:10]
B
Yes.
- [55:10]
A
That's what I'm saying isn't to make people feel like they're protected and they're supported. Then that's. Then, then you're, that's not your job. That's not what you're doing.
- [55:20]
B
True Christianity, if Christianity has been hijacked by these Christian nationalists and it will be the destruction of the Christian religion. Because that's what I'm saying. Christianity throughout history has been corrupted by people who are ultra nationalist people, people. So like when people say like, you know, well, Christianity is just like my personal relationship or whatever, I agree with you. I think that's great. It's the same way for me.
- [55:44]
A
Beautiful.
- [55:44]
B
Here's the thing. Jesus our own Christian, or like I, when I talk to Christians, our own God and our own, our own savior, Jesus Christ tells us to feed the poor, heal the sick and treat the immigrant as Herself, Correct. That's right. And they're like, yes, in James. James, yeah. James 2, chapter 14:16 says, faith without works is dead. So if we as a Christian religion aren't doing anything to advocate to help feed the poor, heal the sick and stand up against injustice, then we are dead. Our faith is dead. And that's another thing people will be like, well, you don't follow the whole Bible. You just cherry pick it. Yeah, here's the thing. I cherry pick it from my side because I understand that the Bible's probably not 100% correct. One, it was written by man. Two, the, like, even, even the gospel, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were written 50 to 150 years after Christ was alive. Correct. So sure. That's where I'm saying if my entire, I'm not the one who bases my entire faith off of a book, you are. And you want me to tell you something? If your entire faith only comes from a book that can be easily disproven, like people living to be 600 years old or that the Earth is only 6,000 years old, if your religion and your faith is only contingent on that book that can be easily disproven, then your faith isn't strong at all.
- [57:04]
A
You got a problem. Yeah, you have some trouble. You have some actual trouble. And the funny part is I, I don't get into, because I know a lot of people say the Bible said this, the Bible and all very, very clearly say the. Any religious text when it did have a place in society is when we didn't have a way of living and an ethic and a morality that was outside of that because we didn't have the education and the awareness to do so. We lived in the land of superstition. As soon as we moved on from that, the idea of a secular democracy, because I don't think a democracy exists if you have a religion, top down, exerting force on it. And, and we've had that in this country, in Canada, the United States, for a very long time. If you can't live and you can't come up with what's moral and ethical for today, and your only judgment, your only reason for judging anything is what happens after you die. You're not moral and you're not ethical.
- [58:10]
B
Bingo, you're scared and you're being manipulated.
- [58:14]
A
Yes, that's it. And that is here.
- [58:17]
B
Someone can take advantage of it. That's where I'm saying that's what made me speak out. Because, dude, when I saw, like, when I saw that my own Fear of not speaking out was condoning and complicit and where the direction of which we saw the. The country going. I said that no more anymore. I cannot be fearful of not speaking and not at least educating to my best ability in my own spaces for fear of losing the things that I have gotten, material things that I have gotten. None of them are as important as being able to live in a society and a land that is free for everyone in it.
- [59:02]
A
Honey. On that note, I'm gonna say thank you so much, so much for finally sitting down with me. I'm so happy that we finally could make this work. I want you back anytime you want to come back. Can you tell everybody where to find you, what you have? Coming up next, all of those great things before we get off here?
- [59:19]
B
Yeah. So on March 6th, we're releasing a new single called Are we great yet? It's bangs. It's gonna be so good.
- [59:25]
A
Love it already.
- [59:26]
B
Yeah. And then launching a mer store and everything soon. But you can find me anywhere on socials at Brian Andrews music and then look me up on anywhere you stream music at Brian Andrews. And it's a little bit of country, a little bit of rock, and a whole lot of protests coming up.
- [59:41]
A
So I love it. I love it. Thank you so much for being authentically powerful and thank you so much for taking the power that you have and the awesome talent that you have and using it as a force in this world.
- [59:56]
B
Yeah.
- [59:57]
A
Thank you so much, sir. Thanks for having me and for everybody listening. Thank you for hanging out with us for this hour. And I'll see you next Tuesday, same bat time, same bat. Channel dismissed.