Winter In Gaza, Black Friday Shopping, Third Party Politics

Summary

Up First from NPR - November 29, 2024

Host: Rob Schmitz
Guests: NPR International Correspondent Aya Batrawi, Ron Rudsen (NPR's Alina Selyuk), Stephen Fowler

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1. Winter Crisis in Gaza

As winter descends on Gaza, the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate despite a recent ceasefire. Aid groups are sounding alarms about the impending hardships that residents will face due to inadequate shelter and insufficient aid distribution.

Rob Schmitz opens the segment by highlighting the dire circumstances:
"Aid groups warn lives will be lost in Gaza as winter settles in and people don't have protection against harsh elements and seasonal illnesses. Too little aid is coming in. And of that aid, a fraction is really distributed." (00:03)

Aya Batrawi, NPR's international correspondent based in Dubai, provides an in-depth look into the crisis:

"Many people are hardly surviving. And aid groups warn that this winter will claim even more lives from things like malnutrition, hyperthermia, flu and other less visible consequences of this war." (02:37)

Batrawi narrates the harrowing experiences of families in Gaza, particularly those residing along the Mediterranean coastline due to widespread evacuations and military restrictions. She describes a scene where families are left with minimal possessions, struggling to protect themselves from the elements:

"Nidala Abdelqatti's tent was made out of used flour bags and some wooden sticks... his children erupted into screams around 2 in the morning. Waves had crashed into their tent, pulling their blankets and things out to sea."* (03:23)

The scarcity of adequate shelter is exacerbated by limited aid inflows. Jan Eggeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, reveals the bottlenecks in aid distribution:

"Too little aid is coming in and of that, a fraction is really distributed."* (04:12)

Eggeland emphasizes that despite Israel's claims of facilitating humanitarian aid, the actual distribution is insufficient and plagued by delays and theft:

"At the rate Israel is allowing intensive aid, it will take at least two years to get the supplies in needed just to cover people for this winter."* (04:21)

The situation is further strained by armed gangs looting aid convoys, leading to increased prices and scarcity of essential goods. Batrawi concludes by painting a bleak picture of Gaza’s humanitarian landscape:

"This was the biggest looting of UN Aid anywhere in the world... all this is happening while tents, flour, and blankets are sitting in warehouses and on trucks just outside Gaza."* (05:15)

2. Black Friday Shopping Trends

Transitioning to the U.S., the podcast delves into the bustling Black Friday shopping season, which promises to be the busiest yet despite economic challenges.

Rob Schmitz introduces the topic:
"We are officially in the busiest shopping season of the year. It is Black Friday, which can mean joy or chaos for shoppers and financial pressure and chaos for retailers." (05:56)

Ron Rudsen, speaking to NPR's Alina Selyuk, shares insights on consumer behavior and economic impacts:

"People are not feeling great about prices, but they are shopping, they are spending. We are likely in for another record holiday shopping season already so far just this month, online shoppers alone have spent almost 10% more this year compared to last year."* (06:20)

Despite rising prices, consumer spending remains robust, driven by the allure of discounts. Rudsen explains that retailers anticipate a high turnout and a willingness among shoppers to spend more, even as many are tightening their budgets:

"There is a growing group saying they plan to spend more this year than they did last year. Which, you know, how do you get more people shopping when more people say they're tightening their budgets? And the answer is deals."* (06:50)

However, the quality of deals is a concern for many shoppers. Rudsen notes a unique challenge this year:

"Thanksgiving this year is quite late in November, so there are actually five fewer shopping days till Christmas, which means less time for retailers to sell you what they want to sell you, which has some experts predicting maybe rolling sales, that stores might drop prices just to clear those shelves."* (07:22)

In terms of consumer preferences, classic gifts remain popular. Top items this year include Legos, Hot Wheels, Barbies, slime kits for adults, Dyson hair devices, fitness trackers, gaming consoles, and the emerging trend of pickleball paddles. Additionally, economic pressures are influencing buying habits:

"Almost two-thirds of shoppers saying that higher costs of food and bills, like insurance especially, has people changing how they shop. People are maybe buying fewer gifts, cheaper gifts, or buying off-brand stuff."* (08:40)

A notable shift is the increase in self-gifting, with consumers spending more on themselves compared to the previous year. This trend could be attributed to either greater disposable income among some shoppers or strategic purchasing driven by Black Friday deals:

"People plan to buy more gifts for themselves this year compared to last year. The sum on average is about $44 more."* (08:52)

3. Decline in Third-Party Political Support

The political landscape in the 2024 U.S. elections has seen a significant downturn for third-party candidates, with support dwindling to its lowest point during Donald Trump’s presidential campaigns.

Rob Schmitz sets the stage:
"Third-party presidential candidates got fewer votes than at any other point in the Trump era of presidential politics. This is despite widespread dissatisfaction with Republican and Democratic nominees for much of the campaign cycle." (09:32)

Stephen Fowler, covering third parties for NPR, explains the factors contributing to this decline:

"Out of about 154 million ballots cast, less than 2% went to someone not named Donald Trump or Kamala Harris. Green Party nominee Jill Stein did the best with just about 800,000 votes. Then came Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who actually removed his name from most every competitive swing state ballot, literally told people, do not vote for me. But he earned slightly fewer votes than that. The Libertarian Party nominee, Chase Oliver, earned just about 640,000 votes."* (10:02)

The sharp decline since 2016, when the Libertarian Party secured 3% of the vote, is attributed to internal party dynamics and the overshadowing presence of Donald Trump:

"None of this is actually surprising when you look under the hood at how Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and the Libertarian Party apparatus both shifted to support Trump and oppose Democrats the closer we got to the election."* (10:55)

Chase Oliver, Libertarian nominee, shares his perspective on the lack of support:

"I personally did not feel a lot of support from the national party. I felt like there was a lot of antagonism, particularly because a lot of want to just throw in our votes for Trump because he made a lot of promises to libertarians."* (11:47)

The interplay between third-party candidates and Trump’s influence has led to strategic shifts within these parties, often sidelining their core principles in favor of aligning with Trump's populist base. Despite this, there are moments of potential progress:

"The reality is Trump picking RFK Jr is a mark of loyalty for Kennedy, dropping out of the race and endorsing him. It's also an acknowledgment of the sizable overlap in the shared ideology between Trump's base and RFK's base around health."* (12:16)

Chase Oliver further critiques Trump's actions, emphasizing that they do not align with the Libertarian Party's anti-war and anti-interventionist stance:

"Based on his foreign policy picks and Cabinet picks so far, not paying out for the Libertarians, especially in terms of foreign policy. We are an anti-war, anti-interventionist party."* (12:27)

Nevertheless, the appointment of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services signifies a complex relationship between third-party movements and mainstream politics:

"It does validate the idea that it is possible to exist outside of the two-party system, have your voice be heard, and gain concessions from whoever ultimately ends up being in power."* (12:53)

Stephen Fowler concludes that while third parties face significant challenges, their presence continues to influence political discourse and policy decisions.

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Conclusion

In this episode of Up First, NPR delves into three critical areas shaping the current global and domestic landscape: the humanitarian crisis in Gaza amidst winter, the dynamics of Black Friday shopping during economic strain, and the declining support for third-party candidates in the U.S. elections. Through expert insights and firsthand accounts, the podcast provides a comprehensive overview of the pressing issues facing individuals and societies today.

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This summary captures the essential discussions, key points, and notable quotes from the NPR podcast episode "Winter In Gaza, Black Friday Shopping, Third Party Politics." For a deeper dive into these stories, subscribing to the Up First podcast is recommended.

Transcript

[Rob Schmitz]

Aid groups warn lives will be lost in Gaza as winter settles in and people don't have protection against harsh elements and seasonal illnesses. Too little aid is coming in. And of that aid, a fraction is really distributed. I'm Rob Schmitz and this is up first from NPR News. It's Black Friday as more people say they're tightening their budgets. This is expected to be a record breaking holiday shopping season. So what's motivating people to spend and who are they actually shopping for and support? Support for third parties declined in this year's election.

[Chase Oliver]

I personally did not feel a lot of support from the national Party. I felt like there was a lot of antagonism.

[Rob Schmitz]

What's next for people who want options beyond the two party system? Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day.

[Stephen Fowler]

This message comes from NPR sponsor Saatva. Founder and CEO Ron Rudsen shares the experience they hope to create in their viewing rooms. We want our customers to feel like they've walked into a luxury hotel. That's what Saatva has been inspired by from the day that we started. We take sleep very seriously. We believe it unlocks a superpower. If you get the right sleep on the right mattress, we believe we can provide that. Visitor.com NPR and save up to $600. This message comes from Schwab. It's easy to invest in ideas you believe in with Schwab, investing themes like online music and videos, artificial intelligence and electric vehicles. Choose from over 40 customizable themes.

[Alina Selyuk]

[e-mail] this message comes from NPR sponsor Oxfam. Oxfam operates in more than 75 countries around the world, providing life saving aid to people in times of crisis while fighting inequality for the long term this giving season. [e-mail] NPR Israel and Lebanon agreed on.

[Rob Schmitz]

A ceasefire this week to pause more than a year of fighting. But in Gaza, Israeli airstrikes continue to pound the territory where more than 40,000 people have been killed, most of them women and children, according to the Health ministry there. And now people in Gaza have this to contend with. Winter has arrived and most families don't have a home or shelter. Joining us to discuss the latest in Gaza is NPR's international correspondent E.A. batrawi, who's based in Dubai. Hayea.

[Aya Batrawi]

Hi, Rob.

[Rob Schmitz]

So, Aya, temperatures dropped into the 40s Fahrenheit at night in Gaza this week and it began to rain. How are people surviving?

[Aya Batrawi]

Well, Rob, many people are hardly surviving. And aid groups warn that this winter will claim even more lives from things like malnutrition, hyperthermia, flu and other less visible consequences of this war. Nine PR's producer Anas Bhabha met with families in Gaza who are on the very edge of survival. He went to a strip of coastline called Moessi after a night of of rain and he found families covered in seawater, the few things that they own. Some clothes, pots and pans were buried in the sand by lashing wind and rain. Now, for months, thousands of families were forced to live here, right at the edge of the Mediterranean Sea because most of Gaza is under Israeli military evacuation order, leaving just this stretch of coast, all that's left.

[Rob Schmitz]

That sounds terrible. I mean, what do people have to protect themselves with?

[Aya Batrawi]

Well, not very much. I mean, families were able to survive the grueling summer in flimsy tents, but winter is proving impossible. Nidala Abdelqatti's tent was made out of used flour bags and some wooden sticks and he tried to cover it with extra tarping to prepare for winter. But then this happened. So he tells Anas that his children erupted into screams around 2 in the morning. Waves had crashed into their tent, pulling their blankets and things out to sea. And he says his kids were being swallowed by the sea and being pulled by the tide too. And his three year old daughter was crying all through the night after he pulled her ashore. And with no idea where they can go next, he says, where are our human rights?

[Rob Schmitz]

So ea, why is it that people don't have proper shelter when aid groups have had months to prepare for winter?

[Aya Batrawi]

Well, I asked aid workers this question and here was the answer.

[Rob Schmitz]

Too little aid is coming in and of that 8, a fraction is really distributed.

[Aya Batrawi]

So that's Jan Eggeland, he's the Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council. Now this is the main group in Gaza in charge of shelters and tents. He was in Gaza this month and he says that the destruction from airstrikes has left the entire territory in ruins. Now Israel's military says it is facilitating a humanitarian response to prepare for winter in Gaza, that it has allowed tons of aid in. But Egelin says at the rate Israel is allowing intense and other aid, it will take at least two years to get the supplies in needed just to cover people for this winter. And Rob Eglin says of the few hundred tents they have been able to get into Gaza, many are damaged by the time they arrive or they end up stolen by armed gangs that have sprung up near Gaza's border with Israel. And these looters attacked a food aid convoy of around 100 UN trucks last week, taking everything.

[Rob Schmitz]

This just sounds like a completely dismal situation. What else do you know about the attack on the aid truck that you just mentioned?

[Aya Batrawi]

So these are this was the biggest looting of UN Aid anywhere in the world. And armed gangs are taking advantage of the chaos right now in Gaza to attack the these trucks. And what that's done is it's driven up prices at the same time that bakeries are shutting down because they don't have flour. People are selling their clothes, their winter jackets and shoes to buy food. And the World Food Program, which runs these bakeries, also had to suspend giving out parcels. And all this is happening while tents, flour and blankets are sitting in warehouses and on trucks just outside Gaza.

[Rob Schmitz]

That's NPR's Aya Batrawi. Ea, thank you so much for bringing this to us.

[Aya Batrawi]

Thanks, Rob.

[Rob Schmitz]

We are officially in the busiest shopping season of the year. It is Black Friday, which can mean joy or chaos for shoppers and financial pressure and chaos for retailers. What's in store for our budgets and the U.S. economy? NPR's Alina Selyuk is here to tell us. Alina, good morning.

[Ron Rudsen]

Hello. Hello.

[Rob Schmitz]

So let's start with the big picture. How are shoppers feeling about the economy and how holiday spending this year?

[Ron Rudsen]

Well, people are not feeling great about prices, but they are shopping, they are spending. We are likely in for another record holiday shopping season already so far just this month, online shoppers alone have spent almost 10% more this year compared to last year.

[Rob Schmitz]

That seems like a lot.

[Ron Rudsen]

It's a lot. And that's just as of Wednesday, according to Adobe analytics, which tracks online transactions.

[Rob Schmitz]

So is that because the prices are higher? So I mean, we're spending more but we're buying less?

[Ron Rudsen]

I think that's part of it. But there is more to the story for this Black Friday weekend, retailers are also expecting huge turnout, a record number of people shopping. And of those people, there's a growing group saying they plan to spend more this year than they did last year. Which, you know, how do you get more people shopping when more people say they're tightening their budgets? And the answer is deals, when people feel financially squeezed to have several days known for discounts is a big draw.

[Rob Schmitz]

So deals are these deals expected to be really good this year?

[Ron Rudsen]

You know, that's the perennial question. And the answer is always, it depends. Deals are not good enough for a lot of shoppers I talk to who say prices are too high to begin with and any discount is simply not Enough. But then you have this weird calendar thing. Thanksgiving this year is quite late in November, so there are actually five fewer shopping days till Christmas, which means less time for retailers to sell you what they want to sell you, which has some experts predicting maybe rolling sales, that stores might drop prices just to clear those shelves.

[Rob Schmitz]

So what are people actually buying? Alina, what are the most popular things this year?

[Ron Rudsen]

You know, it's a lot of classics. This year, top toys are expected to include Legos, Hot Wheels, Barbies, slime kits for adults, Dyson hair devices, fitness trackers, gaming consoles, and pickleball paddles, which is a new classic. And one thing came up in a survey by Circana, it's a market research firm. They found almost two thirds of shoppers saying that higher costs of food and bills, like insurance especially, it has people changing how they shop. People are maybe buying fewer gifts, cheaper gifts, or buying off brand stuff. And there's another curious element. There's one category that shifts depending on economic vibes.

[Rob Schmitz]

Okay, what is that?

[Ron Rudsen]

And that is whether or not you are buying presents for yourself. It's like that famous parks and rec scene.

[Rob Schmitz]

Three words for you.

[Aya Batrawi]

Treat yourself.

[Chase Oliver]

Clothes.

[Aya Batrawi]

Treat yourself.

[Stephen Fowler]

Fragrances.

[Aya Batrawi]

Treat yourself. Massages. Treat yourself.

[Ron Rudsen]

So there's this annual survey done by Deloitte that actually found people plan to buy more gifts for themselves this year compared to last year. The sum on average is about $44 more. And the reasons could be all kinds. This could be folks who are more well off, so maybe they're not really budgeting. Or it could be, you know, that oldest Black Friday trick in the book, which is, I gotta get it because it's on sale.

[Rob Schmitz]

Merry Christmas to me. That is NPR's Alina Selyuk. Alina, thank you.

[Ron Rudsen]

Thank you.

[Rob Schmitz]

President elect Donald Trump has run for president in the past three elections. And in 2024, third party presidential candidates got fewer votes than at any other point in the Trump era of presidential politics. This is despite widespread dissatisfaction with Republican and Democratic nominees for much of the campaign cycle. Npr, Stephen Fowler has been covering third parties this year for us, and he reports Donald Trump himself is actually a big reason for that decline. Good morning, Stephen.

[Stephen Fowler]

Good morning.

[Rob Schmitz]

So Trump won the popular vote, but did not clear 50%. How many votes did third party campaigns earn in this election cycle?

[Stephen Fowler]

So not that many, relatively speaking. Rob out of about 154 million ballots cast, less than 2% percent went to someone not named Donald Trump or Kamala Harris. Green Party nominee Jill Stein did the best with just about 800,000 votes. Then came Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Who actually removed his name from most every competitive swing state ballot, literally told people, do not vote for me. But he earned slightly fewer votes than that. The Libertarian Party nominee, Chase Oliver, earned just about 640,000 votes, which is notable considering the Libertarian parties the third largest political party and usually the most common alternative.

[Rob Schmitz]

Wow. So that's a sharp decline since 2016, when the Libertarian Party earned 3% of the vote. What happened there?

[Stephen Fowler]

Well, none of this is actually surprising when you look under the hood at how Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. And the libertarian Party apparatus both shifted to support Trump and oppose Democrats the closer we got to the election. At the Libertarian Party convention this summer, both RFK and Trump spoke. They tried to court the party's endorsement and favor the party instead nominated Chase Oliver, a gay anti war activist, more on the progressive end of the Libertarian spectrum. When I talked to Oliver earlier this month, he said Kennedy's decision to leave the race also took a lot of interest in third party candidates along with him. Plus, he had to deal with his own party's politics that took a hard right turn towards Trump.

[Chase Oliver]

I personally did not feel a lot of support from the national party. I felt like there was a lot of antagonism, particularly because a lot of want to just throw in our votes for Trump because he made a lot of promises to libertarians.

[Stephen Fowler]

And one of those promises, Rob, was to put a Libertarian in his Cabinet.

[Rob Schmitz]

Hmm. I mean, so far there are no Libertarians in Trump's next cabinet, but there is Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Who's been tapped to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Is his appointment a victory for voters interested in third party options moving forward?

[Stephen Fowler]

Well, some of the Libertarians call it a win, though RFK is not a Libertarian.

[Rob Schmitz]

Right.

[Stephen Fowler]

Beyond Kennedy, though, Chase Oliver says Trump's picks show his compatriots have been bamboozled.

[Chase Oliver]

I'm going to say right now, based on his foreign policy picks and Cabinet picks so far, not paying out for the Libertarians, especially in terms of foreign policy. We are an anti war, anti interventionist party.

[Stephen Fowler]

The reality is Trump picking RFK Jr is a mark of loyalty for Kennedy, dropping out of the race and endorsing him. It's also an acknowledgment of the sizable overlap in the shared ideology between Trump's base and RFK's base around health. But in some ways, it does validate the idea that it is possible to exist outside of the two party system, have your voice be heard, and gain concessions from whoever ultimately ends up being in power.

[Rob Schmitz]

That is NPR's Stephen Fowler in Atlanta. Stephen, thank you.

[Stephen Fowler]

Thank you.

[Rob Schmitz]

And that's up first for Friday, November 29th. I'm Rob Schmitz. And don't forget, up first airs on the weekend, too. Ayesha Roscoe and Scott Simon have the news. It'll be here in this feed or wherever you get your podcasts. Today's episode of up first was edited by Diedrich Schenke, Emily Kopp, Megan Pratz, Lisa Thompson and Mohammed Elbardisi. It was produced by Ziad Bach, Nia Dumas and Lalik Giros. Our executive producer is Erika Aguilar. We get engineering support from Arthur Laurent. And our technical director is Nisha Hynes. Join us again tomorrow.

[Alina Selyuk]

Want to hear this podcast without sponsor breaks? Amazon prime members can listen to Up First Sponsor free through Amazon Music, or you can also support NPR's vital journalism and get up first [e-mail] that's plus.NPR.org this message comes from NPR sponsor Shopify, the global commerce platform that helps you sell and show up exactly the way you want to customize your online store to your style. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at shopify.com NPR this message comes from NPR sponsor Mint Mobile. From the gas pump to the grocery store, inflation is everywhere, so Mint Mobile is offering premium wireless starting at just $15 a month. To get your new phone plan for just $15, go to mintmobile.com switch.