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Sept. 5, 2018 - The Joe Rogan Experience
02:10:55
Joe Rogan Experience #1167 - Larry Sharpe
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joe rogan
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larry sharpe
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Speaker Time Text
joe rogan
Ready?
Five, four, three, two, one.
Larry Sharp.
How are you, sir?
larry sharpe
I am doing great.
Thanks for having me.
joe rogan
Before we get started, I like you.
larry sharpe
Oh, that's good.
joe rogan
I like you a lot.
I like what you're saying, man.
I'm just telling you right now, up front, I've been listening to a lot of your interviews, watching a lot of your interviews.
You make sense.
Oh, my God.
It's almost like you know you can't win, so you're talking so logically.
You might win.
larry sharpe
Yeah.
The hope is the people who actually have given up who think it's so stupid, they don't bother voting, right?
So the hope is I say something that makes sense and they go, oh, maybe I should vote.
Oh my God, maybe I should vote.
If those people vote.
joe rogan
You win.
larry sharpe
I win.
joe rogan
Yeah, there's an untapped resource of unmotivated people who are too fucked.
How do we fix that?
Is it a matter of getting people...
I believe firmly that if we could get people to register and vote online, especially with their phones, it changes the world.
larry sharpe
Yes.
joe rogan
I really, really, really believe that.
And I think that this is also a concern of the people that are in the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, and I don't think they want that.
larry sharpe
100%.
Look, they're relying on voter apathy.
unidentified
Yes.
joe rogan
They're also relying on people who are committed to their parties and who are politically active, which is not the majority of the people.
larry sharpe
It's the establishment, right?
I mean, look, you asked how we fixed this.
Bernie and Trump actually taught us this in 2016. They taught us two things.
Number one, if you can get people to an event, you can get them to the polling station.
Number one, that's why they did a lot of events.
I do over 30 events every month.
I'm always doing events, getting people to show up because if I can get them to show up to my event, I can get them to a polling booth, right?
Because to come to hear me speak, you have a lot of choices out there.
You could be on Netflix.
You can be hanging out with your family and friends.
You could be playing a video game.
You choose to come hear me speak, you'll come to the polling station.
That's number one.
But how do I get into care in the first place?
It's hope.
The average person who votes often, right?
If you vote often, you usually vote because of fear.
The two-party system installs fear, right?
I don't really care about my guy or gal, but I'm so afraid of the other guy, I'll go out and support my guy or gal, even though I don't even know his name.
I just know I don't like the red team, so I vote blue, or I don't like the blue team, so I vote red.
But to get someone who doesn't vote, and New York State's really bad.
New York State, about 70% of New Yorkers don't vote.
It's a huge chunk.
Over 7 million New Yorkers don't vote.
joe rogan
70%.
larry sharpe
Yes, 70%.
Last election, I think it was 67%.
So it hovers around 70. To get those people out, you have to give them hope.
Bernie gave the left hope.
Trump gave the right hope.
If the Democratic Party wasn't so broken as a party, Bernie would have been their nominee.
It would have been hope against hope.
It was hope against establishment.
Hope won.
That's how it works.
I'm hope.
The other two guys who are running in my election, they're totally establishment.
joe rogan
Well, you say some really logical things.
One of the things that you said that nobody wants to touch, you were talking about...
Gun violence.
And you were talking about these mass shootings.
And you said there's two things that they have in common.
One of them, they don't have relationships.
They don't have girlfriends.
They don't have boyfriends.
Well, it's almost always a guy that does it.
Yeah, usually it is.
larry sharpe
Boys tend to be more violent.
People get mad at me being sexist, but I'm just doing stats.
Statistically, males tend to outwardly strike.
Women tend to inwardly strike.
It's a general rule, statistically.
There's exceptions, obviously.
joe rogan
The only other...
The other factor is psychotropic drugs.
And these are two things that no one wants to talk about.
And they're both real.
And they're both facts.
And why is it that you think that these are obvious facts that people want to ignore?
larry sharpe
Because they don't actually want to fix the problem.
If you fix the problem, then you don't have controversy.
If you don't have controversy, you don't have a left versus right paradigm.
joe rogan
Do you really think that's what it is?
larry sharpe
Yes.
First off, they don't want to fix the problem.
If you want to fix the problem of school shootings, there's two things to remember.
As you've heard me say before, the school shooting, while it is a murder, at its core, it's actually a public suicide.
And people understand that at its core, most mass shootings are public suicides.
They would understand that.
It's true.
It's like death by cop, right?
It's public suicide.
So you have to make sure you have happier people, right?
But then why do they choose schools?
Several reasons.
One, because that's where their assumed enemies are, right?
The incels think that the bad guys and the bad girls are there.
But something else, they're soft targets.
The other thing you remember from all these school shootings is they're planned.
And that's a critical aspect.
You want to stop school shooting?
In New York State, you don't have to pass one extra law at all.
You have to do one minor thing and one thing only.
And that is say, if you're licensed and you have a permit to carry a firearm, if you want to in school, you may.
If you're a teacher or an administrator.
If you want to, you may.
That's it.
You don't have to force a teacher to carry.
You don't need a resource officer.
Why?
Because if you have a resource officer, which is what most Republicans will say, put an officer there, they'll just shoot him first.
If you allow Democrats, no guns.
They'll shoot everybody.
So if you instead say, well, I don't know who's armed.
Is it an administrator?
Is it a teacher?
Is it everybody?
Is it nobody?
The planning goes away.
Once there's no planning available, the school is no longer a soft target.
They stop choosing the school.
joe rogan
Okay, let me back...
Let's unpack this.
So you're saying that if you have an officer on the school that carries a gun, and this person knows that officer has a gun, they will shoot him first.
larry sharpe
Correct.
joe rogan
And that if just teachers are carrying guns, there's no way this person knows, and so they're less likely to shoot people.
larry sharpe
There's two things.
Here's the core of it.
What's killing our children?
It's not firearms.
One of the – I think it was a Texas shooting.
I think it was.
Before he stole the guns, he had put together and set up pipe bombs and pressure cooker bombs in case he couldn't steal the guns.
So if he couldn't get guns, he was going to kill people anyway.
The key thing here is what's killing these kids?
Lack of community, lack of purpose, and loneliness.
That's what's killing our kids.
Those three things.
Take those three things away.
Kids don't do that.
You give a kid who's 16, 17, 18 purpose, he can't go off and kill people.
He has something to do.
He has a reason to live.
Remember, this is a public suicide.
If you have a reason to live and you think the right answer is to go do something, you don't kill yourself.
If you don't kill yourself, there's no public suicide.
Mass shootings all of a sudden are tremendously reduced.
It's just how it works.
It's human nature.
You have to understand that.
But if you do that, then there's no extra law.
Then there's no one to point a finger at.
You can't restrict guns.
What I'm saying just makes actual sense.
joe rogan
This is where you and I break company because I don't agree with that.
I don't think that anyone is trying to keep these school shootings in the same state they are now.
I think that there's two things.
One, no one wants to demonize psychotropic drugs, especially politicians.
They have a really hard time with that.
unidentified
Sure.
joe rogan
Because they don't want to tell people who are on psychotropic drugs that they're either suspects or suspicious or potential mass shooters.
larry sharpe
New York State's showing you it's incorrect.
We made the SAFE Act, and the SAFE Act literally says if you go on these drugs, you lose your firearms.
So that's absolutely not true in New York State.
It may be true in California.
I don't know your laws here.
But in New York State, the opposite is true.
We've already done that.
We have made our medical personnel part of our secret state police.
Which means if you go in and say, you know, I'm feeling depressed.
I need some drugs.
I'm thinking about suicide.
The state police might come by and take your firearms.
That's already happening in New York State.
And they now want to create red flag laws, which means a teacher can now do it.
So now a teacher says, oh, there's a student who I see drew a firearm, drew a gun, cops and robbers.
Maybe a red flag.
Let me go to a judge and see if I can have the cops go and take his father's firearms.
joe rogan
I definitely want to talk about this, but I want to bring it back to what you said earlier.
You don't think they want to fix the problem.
I don't think that's true.
I just don't think they have a viable solution that they think is politically viable.
larry sharpe
Perhaps, but I think my solution seems politically viable.
Everyone I say this to, they go, oh, wow, you're right.
joe rogan
Well, you are definitely right that they're lonely, sad people that are lashing out, and I think you're definitely right that in many instances it's a public suicide.
And I think you're definitely right that the vast majority of them are on psychotropic drugs, which do have a disassociative aspect to them where they're not even sure they're aware of what they're doing.
Well, I'm not sure that's true of that.
Well, people that have been on these things, things don't mean anything anymore.
Like a car accident in front of them doesn't mean anything.
People have various reactions to various SSRIs and antidepressants, but one thing that happens is you lose the highs and lows and everything is just flat.
larry sharpe
You become numb.
joe rogan
Yes, and you become numb to almost anything that happens.
And again, it varies depending upon the individual that's on these things.
Part of that would allow someone to do something horrific, which they wouldn't be able to before.
larry sharpe
Well, there's two things to remember here.
One, I'm not concerned with being righteous.
I'm concerned with happy New Yorkers and happy people.
That's what I want.
Righteousness is very low on my priority of things.
So if that doesn't sound – if what I'm saying sounds bad, I'm okay.
I want to fix the problem.
The second thing is I'm not a politician, which means I don't have a career I have to protect.
I don't have interests I have to serve.
The average donor is $75, right?
So I don't have a bunch of people who write me huge checks.
So I don't have that concern either.
So maybe in four years I'll be corrupt and you can beat me up on the show.
joe rogan
No, I don't think you're corrupt.
I mean, I'm not saying that at all.
I don't even think they're corrupt.
I mean, I'm sure many of them are.
unidentified
Sure.
joe rogan
But I think that there's things they don't feel like they can discuss politically.
And I think one of those things is in any way demonizing people who are on antidepressants.
larry sharpe
Because a lot of people are.
joe rogan
There's a giant percentage of people on antidepressants in this country.
larry sharpe
Yes, absolutely.
Our opioid crisis is heavily based upon the idea that when you have pain of any type, physical, mental, the answer is not dealing with that pain, but the answer is a once a day pill.
unidentified
Right.
larry sharpe
Right, medication.
Yes, that is the answer for all of our pain.
And because of that, you have a lot of people who are on drugs.
And you probably noticed that about 80% of all the people who are currently heroin addicts somehow started on someone's, not even always theirs, but someone's prescription legal drug.
I mean, that was prescribed for you, the pain medication or something like that.
Usually pain medication.
But other things too.
You're totally correct.
This is a problem.
But what I'm saying is this is what I talk about often.
People say, Larry, you know, why should I vote for you?
Why should I support you?
Here's the reason why.
Whether you believe I can win or not, it's actually irrelevant.
If you think I can win, awesome.
I can win.
And to be forward with you, if I win in New York as a libertarian, the entire nation changes overnight.
And that's not exaggeration.
The entire nation changes overnight.
This is the most impactful election, hands down, the entire nation, 2018. Why?
joe rogan
Because it's New York and it's not New Mexico like when Gary Johnson won.
larry sharpe
Yes.
If I would...
New York State was ranked 50th by Cato when it comes to freedom.
It is – we have the most people leaving, over 100,000 people leaving every single year, more than any other state.
We also – on top of that, we were ranked the least friendly to retirees.
All of a sudden, Larry Sharp, libertarian, becomes governor?
I mean, it's insane.
The advantage is it's a five-way race.
In a five-way race, 30% could win.
This is actually a winnable race.
joe rogan
How is it a five-way race?
larry sharpe
It's going to be His Majesty, who our current king, he will run.
There'll be a Republican second.
joe rogan
Cuomo?
larry sharpe
Yes, correct.
There'll be a Republican.
joe rogan
Why do you call me His Majesty?
larry sharpe
Because he thinks he's a king and he is a king.
That's the reason.
When I'm in front of him, I'll call him your grace.
But to you, I'll just say your majesty.
I met him one time in 2014. Was he a dick?
Yes, he was.
unidentified
Yes, he was.
larry sharpe
He was very dismissive.
Yes, he was.
I was actually with the libertarian candidate then in 2014. So yes, he was dismissive.
So his majesty will run.
There'll be a Republican sacrificial lamb placeholder who knows he'll come in second, probably third to me.
joe rogan
Because New York has basically always been a left-wing state.
larry sharpe
Not always, no.
The last 16 years.
The last 16 years in New York State, the same thing happens in a statewide election.
Blue team comes in first.
Red team comes in second.
Nothing changes.
joe rogan
Nothing changes.
larry sharpe
That's been the last 16 years.
But prior to that, Republicans did win.
It did happen, but the state's too blue.
joe rogan
And Cynthia Nixon, what is she running as?
larry sharpe
She won't be running in about a week or so.
joe rogan
No?
unidentified
She'll be finished.
larry sharpe
Yeah, she'll be finished.
Really?
Yeah.
joe rogan
How do you know?
larry sharpe
Let me give you the five people that I'll cover her.
unidentified
Okay, go ahead.
larry sharpe
Those two.
Then Stephanie Miner will run.
She's an independent who runs out of Syracuse.
There'll be a Green Party Communist who'll run, Howie Hawkins.
joe rogan
Communist?
larry sharpe
Yes.
joe rogan
Legit Communist?
larry sharpe
Yeah.
He wouldn't be unhappy if I called him that.
joe rogan
Really?
larry sharpe
Yeah, yeah.
joe rogan
He would nod his head?
larry sharpe
He'd be like, yeah, probably.
Close.
Yeah.
joe rogan
Wow.
larry sharpe
He'd be okay with that.
So him and then myself.
So five people running.
With five people running, New York State's a plurality state.
So 30% in theory could actually win this thing.
With people who know who I am, I already poll at 25%.
This is both the Quinnipiac poll and Gravis Marketing poll.
Both polls.
I poll about 25% who know who I am.
My problem is name recognition.
If more people get to know who I am, then that number obviously will go even higher.
joe rogan
And how much time do we have here?
larry sharpe
Two months.
Here's the reality.
I get $2 million.
I win.
joe rogan
Two million dollars is all it takes.
larry sharpe
Because I just need to get my name out.
I already have infrastructure.
I already have the message.
All I need is to get my name out.
What it takes is advertisements on local stations to get my name out.
That happens.
I win.
That's not an exaggeration.
joe rogan
How important are the debates?
larry sharpe
Debates are important.
If I don't get that money, I'll have to win in debates.
I'll have to do a Jesse Ventura.
Jesse Ventura in Minnesota when he had debates.
He won.
He handily won in debates and that really gave him That gave him the election.
That will give me the election.
joe rogan
People were a big fan of that movie Predator.
larry sharpe
Yes, because he didn't have time to bleed.
That's exactly right, Joe, yes.
joe rogan
Those are slack-jawed faggots.
larry sharpe
For those of you who are old enough to remember that movie, yes.
Jesse didn't have time to bleed.
So yes, that's what I'm saying.
With that, we make that happen.
We can actually win and change everything because all I need is my name to get out.
But you asked about Cynthia Nixon.
Cynthia Nixon made an error.
Cynthia Nixon is not a politician and doesn't know politics, and she thought that her celebrity would get her past the Democratic machine which is run by Cuomo in our state.
So she ran as Democrat.
Stephanie Miner is also a Democrat, but she chose not to run as Democrat because she knew that if she ran as that, Cuomo would crush her as Cuomo's crushing Nixon.
joe rogan
How is he crushing Nixon?
larry sharpe
In the Democratic Convention, if you are able to get 5% of the vote from delegates, you get to speak on stage.
Cuomo controlled those delegates with an iron fist so much, he made sure Cynthia Nixon did not even get 5%.
She couldn't even get on the stage to speak.
Now, let me be clear.
Cynthia Nixon is a popular actor who lives in New York City.
There is no way there weren't enough people who would have, if they wanted to hear her speak, would have voted.
5%, of course, he made sure it didn't happen.
She had to submit 65,000 signatures to get on the actual ballot so she could be in the primary.
There is no way that he allows her to win.
She doesn't win.
He debated her because he thought, let me just show people that I don't care.
I can just dismiss her.
And that's why he debated her.
And he's going to win.
And she's going to lose.
And when she loses, I don't think she's going to stay in.
I doubt she will.
If she does, better for me because it'll be a six-way race.
But I doubt she will.
She'll probably drop out in some way, shape or form.
My odds are she'll run for Congress or something like that in the Working Families Party.
She'll do something like that.
joe rogan
The Working Families Party?
unidentified
Yes.
joe rogan
That's another party?
larry sharpe
It's another party in New York State, yes.
How New York State runs, New York State is a fusion state, which means you can run as multiple parties if you want to.
You can have three or four or five lines if you want to.
So what often happens is the big two parties, they use it as a way to have issue-based voters.
So they'll literally create parties.
So they'll create a party that says, I'm the Working Families Party.
And then people go, oh, well, it's not Democrat.
I'm a working family.
And they'll click that.
And it's the same guy.
Cuomo will be on four or five lines.
It happens often.
The Republican's on three lines, and the Democrat, I think, will be on probably four lines.
joe rogan
It's a very complicated process.
unidentified
It is.
joe rogan
Now, is there any effort made, or is there any discussion whatsoever about potentially moving voting to online?
Is that something that you would...
larry sharpe
No, not New York State right now.
No, I'm unsure.
joe rogan
You're unsure of it?
larry sharpe
I love the concept completely.
I do.
The only thing I don't know is I don't know the technology behind it.
I don't know how safe it is.
I just don't know.
joe rogan
But what about banking?
If you can bank online, that's where all your money goes.
larry sharpe
No, I love the idea.
I don't want to commit without knowing the technology.
New York State is a problem because New York State throws out everything that is new.
We've thrown out blockchain.
We don't want to do any open source.
We threw out hemp and marijuana.
We're trying to destroy the vaping industry.
I mean, anything that's new in New York State, we try to get rid of.
We hit with a stick.
We're beating up Uber now.
We're taxing Uber to pay for the MTA. That would be just horrible.
joe rogan
Corruption by established bodies that are...
larry sharpe
100%.
joe rogan
Yeah.
larry sharpe
New York State likes old money.
We're really happy with old money.
We do not like new money at all, which is another reason why the youth is leaving.
joe rogan
We had the hardest time getting the UFC into New York because of corruption.
We had to wait until that one politician was arrested.
What was that one guy that went to jail?
larry sharpe
New York State, there's so many at you.
joe rogan
Yeah, I forget who it was, but he was corrupt.
He was one of the main reasons that they were trying to make it illegal.
Absolutely.
larry sharpe
It's new, which means by default, hit it with a stick.
That's how New York thinks.
It's new.
Hit it with a stick.
Don't like it.
It's new.
We want old stuff.
joe rogan
How ironic for a place called New York.
larry sharpe
Yes, which is why my slogan is, a new New York.
That's the reason why my slogan is that, because we are right now in old New York, and it's not helping at all.
The worst part is with the old New York, speaking of the people who are older, people who are retiring, they can't stay in New York State.
joe rogan
Because it's too expensive.
larry sharpe
Too expensive.
They pack up and go to North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida.
joe rogan
Is it taxes?
Is it real estate?
larry sharpe
It's both.
It's taxes and it's no opportunity.
It's both of those two things, right?
So they decide to head on down to North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee.
They actually have a name for us in the Carolinas.
They call us halfbacks.
We went to Florida and halfway back.
unidentified
That's true.
larry sharpe
They call us halfbacks.
That's how many New Yorkers go there.
But here's the worst part.
joe rogan
Well, most people who go to Florida go, ah, this is a mistake.
larry sharpe
There we go.
unidentified
See?
larry sharpe
Well, the sad part here is though, Florida actually has more people than we have and half of our budget.
And Scott actually, the Governor Scott actually thanked Cuomo for sending all the people down there because 15% of New York State's budget is actually pensions.
And so many people who have pensions are actually leaving New York State and going someplace else.
So New York State people are paying for the pensions and then they're being spent in other states.
It's a terrible idea.
The state is broken.
It is so broken.
And people are talking about – if you're a Democrat, you're saying everything is still great.
If you're a Republican, you're saying we'll tweak this or tweak that.
I'm saying rebuild from scratch.
There are things you have to change.
You have to change the root so you can make the branches actually die.
We keep clipping branches.
The weeds keep growing.
joe rogan
Now, we got way off track with this school shooting thing, and I wanted to get back to it because I think it's a very complex issue.
It is.
I don't know what the answer would be.
larry sharpe
There is no one answer.
joe rogan
I think you've found problems, and these problems that you're willing to discuss that very few people are, are that these people are lonely and sad, that it's public suicide, and that they're on psychotropic drugs.
larry sharpe
Absolutely.
joe rogan
I don't know why you don't think that other people want to fix it.
I just don't think that they have a solution that they can discuss that is not so controversial that it overwhelms the rest of their messages.
What could be done?
larry sharpe
Sure.
I have a couple of answers.
The issue is this is an issue that's been going on literally for decades.
So there is no do this and it's done.
There are several things.
One of them is fixing education.
The other one is fixing family courts.
joe rogan
Okay, let's start slow.
How do you fix education?
larry sharpe
Absolutely.
It is a complete reboot.
Right now, the first thing you want to do for education is you want to make sure there is no standardized testing until high school.
None whatsoever.
Standardized testing is bad for several reasons.
Number one, it's an unfair way of grading teachers.
Teachers are now graded by how their students do in a standardized test, which is silly.
That doesn't mean you're a good or bad teacher.
Next, it makes a bunch of kids who are 10, 11, 12, 13 years old feel stupid because they're not good test takers.
And you create now a secondary class of student for absolutely no reason.
Because the next reason is standardized testing is no indication of success in life.
You could be a great test taker at 12 or 13 or a terrible test taker, and it does not mean you'll be successful or not successful in life.
Last is how New York State often will decide how to fund schools.
So it's a way of funding schools that's also unfair.
There's no advantage to standardized testing, except it means the federal government now begins to control our schools more.
joe rogan
So when you say that standardized testing, there's an effect on funding, does that mean that if a school does really well, they get more money?
larry sharpe
Yep, often they do.
It's part of a very complex algorithm that New York State has that almost no one can actually find.
joe rogan
That seems like it should almost be the opposite.
That if a school does poorly, that they should put more resources into that school because it's not being effective.
larry sharpe
In theory, that's true.
I'm not sure that's accurate either.
We throw about $22,000 per student per year at New York State, more even than California, and it doesn't work.
We have mediocre results at best.
Dollars isn't the answer.
It's revamping the system, right?
Funding is not the answer.
joe rogan
So how do you revamp the system?
larry sharpe
There's more parts than that.
The first one was just getting rid of that.
The second thing is we shouldn't even have K-12.
K-12 is an anachronism and shouldn't exist.
joe rogan
Why is that?
larry sharpe
Because the last two years, it should be K-10.
The last two years of high school for a huge chunk of people.
Study hall, video games, and probably smoking weed.
Just nothing but bad for too many students just sitting around doing nothing.
They have no purpose.
They have no community.
They have no reason to do anything.
They're unhappy, right?
Another reason why they're unhappy.
joe rogan
Isn't that a gross generalization that they're unhappy and they're not doing anything?
I mean, there's probably a lot of kids listening to this that are 16 and 17. They're working their ass off right now.
unidentified
Absolutely.
larry sharpe
And I have a solution for them.
joe rogan
Preparing for their future.
larry sharpe
And I have a solution for them that's even better.
I have a solution.
Again, let me keep moving.
joe rogan
Okay, go ahead.
larry sharpe
Right.
First thing is, how do I know what I just said is true?
You just asked that question.
K through 10. I'll tell you why what I just said, why I know it's true.
Because for the vast majority of students going to college now, the first year of college is 13th grade because they're not ready for school.
Because the last two years didn't prepare them for a college.
If it did, we wouldn't require 13th grade.
How do I know it's 13th grade?
The average student now takes six years to graduate college.
So the results show me that I'm correct, right?
The results of what's happening.
And here's the worst part.
Now we shift these kids off to college who many of them don't even want to go to college.
So we send them anyway, takes them six years to graduate, they're 24 years old, with at least 50K in debt, if not more, minimum 50K, some 100K, some 200K, depending on what it is, and now there's no job for what they want to do, and now they're working at Starbucks.
Wow, what a disaster that is.
We wonder why our kid's coming back home.
So how about this instead?
At 10th grade, take a test.
You pass a test, you get a diploma.
Whether you were homeschooled, private school, public school, diploma is yours.
Awesome.
Now you have five choices.
And this is exactly to your point.
You have five choices.
Choice number one, you're a kid who's hardcore.
You think that college is your answer.
Good.
Go to two-year prep school.
Imagine that kid who right now you just said is busting his ass.
He could be in a prep school of his choice.
And the people in that prep school are all kids who want to be in that prep school.
It would change his entire situation.
No more knuckleheads who don't want to be there, who are forced to be there, who are cut in class.
The kids who will be there are those who want to be there.
The teachers, no disciplinary issues.
They want kids who want to be there.
Better for them.
They can hustle better.
Now they're ready for college when they get there.
They take advantage of incubators, of internships, maybe even graduate in three years.
Now they're rocking and rolling.
Less debt, better off, life is good.
Better services, better everything for less money.
I'm not done.
You're not that kid.
You're the kid who's super smart.
You want to become a scientist.
You want to get a PhD.
Awesome.
Go right to an associate's degree.
Start right away.
16, 17, 18. Get to your degree because you're that good.
Take your SATs.
You're that smart.
You're Einstein.
Awesome.
Go do that.
You don't want any of those things.
No worries.
Go to trade school.
Become a plumber, a carpenter, a mason, whatever the case may be.
Go do it.
New York State desperately needs tradesmen.
Desperately.
The average tradesperson in New York State is about 50 years old.
Too old for an average.
Should be 30-something for an average.
35 maybe for an average.
It's too high, which means we have a lot of trades jobs that are not filled and a lot of foreign labor that has to come to New York State.
New York kids aren't doing it.
Why?
We've been told a lie.
And that lie is the only way to success.
The only way Is to do well in high school, get a great four-year degree, and go get a job and sit behind a computer all day.
That's a lie.
That is a way to success.
It is not the only way to success.
There are a lot of kids now, and I'm sure you know people like this, who they spent the first five, ten years of their life trying to make it that way, struggling through school.
Then at 28 years old, they go, I just want to build houses, man.
Then they go build a house.
I just want to be a computer guy.
They just make apps.
Let's go do something they want to do.
They should have been doing that at 18. I'm still not done.
joe rogan
For most people, though, they don't know what they want to do.
larry sharpe
That's a big part of the problem.
I get that all the time.
joe rogan
They don't have a passion.
They don't have a direction, and they're confused.
larry sharpe
Yes.
This is one of my biggest complaints I got about this plan, right?
Because the two ideas are just go get a job.
Just go work.
Or start a business.
And what you just said, that's what I get all the time.
But Larry, they're 16. That's what they're doing.
Good.
Make your mistake at 16, not 26. We're making mistakes at 26. We have people who are lost at 26. We have a generation now.
If you ask the people in their 20s right now across this nation, you say, do you feel like an adult?
Over half will say no.
Over half will say no.
joe rogan
40-year-olds will say that.
larry sharpe
Not as much, but yes, but not as much.
No, it probably will be over half.
It won't be over half.
You go to 20-somethings, over half will say, no, I don't feel like an adult, right?
Because they're making the same mistakes that many people made at 18, 19, 16. They're now making it 25, 26, 28. Well, there's also not a rites of passage.
Bingo.
joe rogan
There's not something that actually happens to them.
larry sharpe
This would actually be that.
They'd have to make that choice at 16. But here's the issue.
How do I pay for it?
And this covers the entire issue that we were just talking about.
That's the next question I get.
How do you pay for it?
New York State says I have to pay for a full 12 years of school.
Have to pay for it.
State has to pay for it.
No worries.
I was a Marine.
When I got a Marine Corps, I got a GI Bill.
I think it was $100,000.
I forgot what it was back then.
This is in the 90s.
I think I got $100,000, like 10 years to use it.
We're going to give all of our kids $20,000 and five years to use it.
They don't get the physical check, but the state will pay a check to whatever school they want to go to for $20,000.
They have five years to use it.
What does that mean?
You can, at 16, start experimenting.
You can say, you know what?
I know college is for me.
I'm going to go to prep school.
Here's what I promise you.
I promise you this.
I'll pay any amount of money you want.
Promise you this.
As soon as this comes into play, you will find tons of all of a sudden prep schools and trade schools that pop up.
And guess how much they're going to cost for two years?
$20,000.
That's going to be the tuition.
You might say, well, wow, Larry, that's a lot of money.
It isn't.
We're paying $44,000 now for each of those kids.
We're saving $24,000 per kid and giving them better schooling, more accurate, actual choices.
They can learn something.
They make their mistakes at $16,000, $17,000, which is way better than $26,000 or $27,000, and maybe they figure out what they want to do.
joe rogan
Well, why is it so cheap?
Why are you going to be able to do that for $20,000 when it costs so much more now?
What's going to be different?
larry sharpe
People are going to be choosing.
joe rogan
Right.
But the people that are educating these people, how are they going to get paid?
Where's the money going to come from?
larry sharpe
Great question.
Now, a couple things to remember.
Teachers ask me all the time.
They say, Larry, how are you going to help us?
Here's what I tell you.
I'm going to get rid of a bunch of your administrators.
In New York State, we actually have school districts that have more administrators than teachers.
joe rogan
What?
larry sharpe
Yes, that's correct.
joe rogan
What's the value of having administrators?
larry sharpe
Because you have to check boxes for government.
You have to check boxes for government.
Did you do X? Did you do Y? Did you do Z? These administrators are required.
joe rogan
That's what's going on?
larry sharpe
That's correct.
There's about $60 billion in our budget in New York State for education, give or take.
About $4 billion comes from the federal government.
About $35 billion comes from the state and about $20 billion comes locally, give or take.
These are round numbers and they change yearly depending on who you talk to, but it's about that.
Once we get rid of the federal government being involved in New York State, $4 billion goes away.
People get afraid.
Oh my God, we lose that money.
Good.
unidentified
Good.
larry sharpe
Let it go away.
Because all of the administrators go away also.
If you can get rid of three, four, five, six administrators for every one or two teachers, oh my god, what could you do?
joe rogan
I'm not a professional educator, but I would imagine that if I was, I would be upset at this.
I would say that there's a reason why those administrators are there, and we need them to take some of the administrative weight off of the teachers.
The teachers are stressed out enough by teaching students.
They don't have the time to be taking care of all the formalities and the things that these administrators do.
larry sharpe
I have never heard that ever.
Because that's not true.
You are the first person to ever say that to me ever in over a year of me doing this.
So every teacher would agree with you?
No, no, no, no.
Not every teacher.
As I said, I never heard it.
joe rogan
You never heard it.
larry sharpe
I'm not saying a teacher.
joe rogan
But you've talked to a lot of teachers?
larry sharpe
Lots of them.
Dozens of them.
joe rogan
Okay.
larry sharpe
Dozens of them.
unidentified
And what do they say?
larry sharpe
And what do they say about administrators?
Fuck those punks?
Not in those words, but yes.
Because most of those administrators are actually administering teachers.
They're telling them how to teach, what to teach, when to teach, grading them.
joe rogan
Okay, but if they don't, who will?
larry sharpe
The parents will.
joe rogan
The parents will.
larry sharpe
Yes.
joe rogan
Do you think the parents have the time or the understanding of what an education should comprise of to be able to direct not just their student, what their child needs, but a group of 50 or however large the class is?
Teachers do.
larry sharpe
Yes.
joe rogan
So they're going to self-police?
larry sharpe
There'll be some administrators.
You're assuming that I'm going to get rid of all administrators?
joe rogan
No, no.
larry sharpe
I'm not saying that.
joe rogan
I'm not saying that.
But you're definitely saying that administrators...
larry sharpe
You went to school, though.
Hold on.
You went to school.
Do you remember how many vice principals there were at any of your schools?
Do you remember?
joe rogan
No, I don't.
larry sharpe
Probably two or three.
That was normal in most schools.
When I was in school, often it was two or three.
joe rogan
I don't remember.
larry sharpe
Now there's 12. 12?
10. And why?
joe rogan
Why is that?
larry sharpe
Because they're administrators.
And they're making sure other things – they're making sure boxes are checked.
So here's your alternative.
Your alternative is keep funding a broken system and be afraid, which is what you're saying.
joe rogan
No, I'm not saying be afraid.
larry sharpe
You're saying teachers will be afraid because – Afraid.
Yeah, because then who will educate our kids?
joe rogan
No, no.
Overwhelmed.
larry sharpe
Overwhelmed.
Okay.
Fear of being overwhelmed.
joe rogan
Yes.
Not just that, but also – Like having a mandate, like having a very strict curriculum that they have to teach these children.
larry sharpe
And that is nothing but a bad thing.
I'm going to give you, real fast if you don't mind, I'm going to give you a list of all the time centralized control has worked.
joe rogan
Okay.
larry sharpe
Finished.
joe rogan
Centralized control in education meaning what?
larry sharpe
In anything.
When does centralized control make things all of a sudden better?
joe rogan
Define centralized control.
larry sharpe
A strict mandate from Albany.
A strict mandate from D.C. I'll ask you a question.
I'm assuming you're old enough that you were in school at one point at 1980 or older.
joe rogan
Yes.
larry sharpe
Or before.
I was.
joe rogan
Yes.
larry sharpe
Prior to 1980, basically the Department of Education didn't really exist as it does now.
It did exist, but it was basically just a repository for information.
It didn't really do anything.
It didn't have any power.
Since 1980, it began to have power.
Do this, and we'll give you money.
Don't do this, we don't give you money.
Here are your rules.
Follow them or we punish you.
That's what they are now.
You learned to read and write.
You learned to function in society.
So did I. Somehow, every American prior to 1980 went to school, learned how to read and write, learned how to function in society.
Somehow it worked.
Do I trust the administrator or a teacher?
I would rather trust a teacher.
Now, does that mean there will be no administrators?
Of course not.
There will be administrators.
Of course there will be.
There will be still principals and things of that sort.
Of course.
But the difference is an administrator cares about checking a box.
Check a box.
Your students aren't better off because boxes are checked.
Your students are better off because your students are getting better and because the parents are happier.
joe rogan
Right, but when you're saying boxes being checked, that means things being covered that they feel are significant.
larry sharpe
Yes, for a standardized test.
Yes.
You said that they feel significant.
That's correct.
Yes.
joe rogan
Well, that someone...
I mean, I don't know how curriculums are set up, but I would imagine that people get together and they decide that children need to have a certain amount of ability with grammar, a certain amount of understanding of mathematics.
larry sharpe
Yes.
I'd agree.
joe rogan
So who's going to do that?
larry sharpe
How about teachers and the local administrators?
And how about the local PTA? What's wrong with that?
joe rogan
So less administrators, but not an elimination of administrators.
larry sharpe
I never said that.
joe rogan
I didn't say you did.
But how do we decide how many administrators are necessary and how many can you cut out?
How much money can you save?
larry sharpe
And this is even better.
You're going to love my libertarian ways on this one.
joe rogan
Okay.
larry sharpe
Right now, what happens is there is a convoluted way of deciding how- A what?
A convoluted way.
joe rogan
Oh, I thought you said com-loaded.
Did you hear that?
larry sharpe
It could be, but no, I don't think it is.
joe rogan
Convoluted.
larry sharpe
Convoluted way.
joe rogan
I'm like, this is a new word, and I don't think it should be used.
larry sharpe
Is that new?
joe rogan
I don't think so.
No, not convoluted, the other one.
Convoluted?
larry sharpe
I'm sure there's a fetish there somewhere.
I'm sure there is.
joe rogan
I just haven't heard it.
larry sharpe
Me either.
See?
You're ready to go now.
So there's a convoluted way of actually funding these schools.
I don't want that.
I want to be very simple.
I want a flat fee to come from the state, here district, depending on how many kids you have, here's your money.
What does that mean?
Well, the reality of it is there are about, if I'm not mistaken, about 700 school districts in New York State.
A lot.
A lot.
joe rogan
That's a lot.
larry sharpe
It is a lot.
And so what happens now is there's your money.
Most of them are going to make no changes because they're going to be afraid.
But it's like anything else.
They'll be early adopters.
And early adopters are going to say, wait a minute.
So the federal government isn't telling us to do this.
The state government isn't telling us to do that.
So we can change some things here.
joe rogan
So when you say, here's your money, they're going to get less money than they're getting now?
larry sharpe
It depends on the school district.
Some will, some won't.
joe rogan
It's not like you'll have less jobs there.
They're going to have to decide whether or not they have less administrators?
larry sharpe
You got it.
Exactly right.
Yes.
And you're saying, oh my god, that's scary.
Some of our school districts will fail.
Yes.
But in New York State, they're all failing now, so why do I care?
We're failing en masse right now.
I'm okay.
Let me finish.
I don't want government to be What you always hear, which is elections have consequences.
So I win.
I now get to impose my will upon all of you because I won.
So what I say goes, I'm supposed to know everything, be everything, create boards and make things happen.
I instead want to be the guy who, when you have trouble, I can help.
So as school districts begin to have trouble, I will without question try to help them.
Of course I will.
joe rogan
But there's 700 districts.
unidentified
That's correct.
joe rogan
How would you have time to do that?
larry sharpe
I won't personally.
I'll have people who would do that right now.
There's already an infrastructure to handle that already.
I don't have to create a new one.
It already exists.
But right now it's just – it's making up reasons to punish people.
I don't want it to make up reasons to punish people.
I want it instead to say, okay, this school district is lost.
How do we help?
I only have one string attached to the money I give.
Only one.
And that is transparency.
As I told you before, I'm a business guy.
And here's what I know.
This is an actual equation that works every single time.
Very simple.
Simple equation.
Personal freedom plus transparency plus accountability equals innovation.
If we do that, the early adopters will come on.
They will find great ways of making things work.
They will get rid of some administrators.
They will get rid of some teachers.
They will hire new ones.
They will decide which ones should be given raises.
That will happen.
joe rogan
Okay, can I stop you there?
larry sharpe
Please, go ahead.
joe rogan
Because what you're saying may work in the world of business, because people have incentive to succeed in business, and that incentive is monetary success.
larry sharpe
Not always monetary, but yes.
joe rogan
Okay.
Not always, but for the most part.
unidentified
Yep.
larry sharpe
Sure.
joe rogan
When you're talking about a school and you cut the funding for the school and say, hey, figure it out.
You guys decide how many administrators you want to keep.
Aren't the administrators essentially the bosses?
Aren't they the ones who are in control?
I mean, they're not going to get rid of their own jobs.
So what are they going to do?
Are they going to pay the teachers less?
Are they going to get inferior teachers?
larry sharpe
It's a great question.
joe rogan
And ramp up their control of the cash flow because they realize that there's less of it?
larry sharpe
It's a great question.
And here's the issue.
It's not going to happen overnight.
It's not like I went in November and go, great, all the money is gone.
It's not how it works.
I went in November.
People know what the plan is.
We start talking about it already.
We start bringing parents on board.
We start coming up with plans already.
The plans, it's like any other organization.
You're saying business.
This works in military.
This works in business.
It doesn't matter.
It works in everything.
It works in your family.
It doesn't matter.
If you knew that six months from now, you were going to have a significant decrease in your income, You wouldn't start to make change, particularly if there was someone above you saying, hey, Joe, you're going to have a decrease in your income.
How do we make this work?
What can we do?
If someone's there to guide you and you already have an infrastructure there, you'll begin to fix it.
joe rogan
My fear would be that they would have less teachers and they would have larger classes.
larry sharpe
Totally possible.
joe rogan
And the administrators, because they're in control, people don't like to give up control.
larry sharpe
But the administrators are actually in control.
Well, who's actually in control is the PTA, right?
The Parenting Association can have a lot.
joe rogan
So do you think the PTA would decide?
larry sharpe
The school boards would decide.
joe rogan
But they would have to agree with you that they want to get rid of administrators.
unidentified
Absolutely.
joe rogan
And if they didn't universally, if they didn't universally cross the board, then this fails miserably, and then classes get larger, and then kids get less attention, and then the already piss-poor education system, Sinks further into the abyss.
larry sharpe
And we have two choices.
Number one, we can be afraid of that and stay a hostage to a terrible system that's not working and failing our kids and making us unhappy and destroying the state.
That's option one.
Or option two, do that and just watch over it, right?
Understanding that that could happen.
joe rogan
Because those aren't the only two options.
larry sharpe
What's the other option?
joe rogan
Fund it more?
Yes, fund it more.
unidentified
Boo!
larry sharpe
Fund a bad system?
Boo!
No!
Why is that bad?
joe rogan
What's wrong with the system?
Let's go over that first.
larry sharpe
I just told you already.
joe rogan
But I mean in terms of like how much money are they making, right?
And what would increasing that amount of money enhance?
larry sharpe
Okay.
Two things to remember.
The first thing is there's no way in the world that a governor should be deciding what every teacher makes in a state.
That's just philosophically wrong.
So I'm never going to do that.
That is simply philosophically wrong.
It's against who I am.
Centralized control is a bad idea.
Localized control is always a better idea.
So that premise, I'm never going to even touch that.
What I'm trying to achieve here is to make change.
I know that locally there will be people who do it right because that always happens.
That's just how it works.
You will see out of 700 districts, some will decide to get together and mix districts together.
Some will decide not to.
Some will do different things.
You'll see it happen.
My point is this is a major overhaul.
I get it.
The businesses do it all the time.
Families do it all the time.
If you're able to watch it, I don't want to be the mother or the father.
Democrats want to be your mother.
They want to give you everything.
Republicans want to be your father and protect you from everything.
I want to be your brother.
I want to be the guy that you love.
You don't want to live with him, but you love him.
And when you need a ride to the airport, he's there for you.
I want to be the firefighter, the guy who comes to help when you need me.
Now, you're saying, but Larry's school district will fail.
Yes, some will.
joe rogan
No, that's not what I'm saying.
larry sharpe
Well, okay, some might fail.
That's what you're saying.
joe rogan
I'm not even saying they might fail.
What I'm saying is that you're going to put them in a compromised situation.
unidentified
Yes.
joe rogan
You're going to give them less money, and you're going to say, figure it out.
larry sharpe
Yes, but not just...
See, you're assuming that it's just, here's money, good luck.
joe rogan
No, here's less money.
larry sharpe
Yes.
joe rogan
Here's less money, and I think you have too many administrators.
larry sharpe
Yep.
And let's talk this out over a series of several months.
joe rogan
When you talk to professional educators, do they agree that they have too many administrators and that they can do well with less money?
larry sharpe
The teachers always do.
Yes.
So far, every teacher I've met.
Everyone.
joe rogan
But they agree they do well with less money?
larry sharpe
If they didn't have administrators, yes.
joe rogan
And how much less money are you talking about?
larry sharpe
I'm unsure to be far with you.
Not sure yet.
joe rogan
But you feel like the way to fix the education system is to cut funding.
That would, like, for people like me who are on the outside, you hear that and you go, ooh, I already feel like teachers are underappreciated and probably because of that unmotivated.
larry sharpe
Because you decided to say the answer is cut funding.
It's not what I said.
joe rogan
No, no, no, no.
larry sharpe
It's not what I said.
joe rogan
Regardless of what you're saying.
larry sharpe
Yep.
joe rogan
Regardless of what you're saying.
larry sharpe
Yep.
joe rogan
What I'm saying is, currently, even in California, forget about New York, I feel like teachers are underappreciated.
larry sharpe
I would agree with that.
joe rogan
And I feel like it's a noble profession that's incredibly valuable, and the people should be able to make a decent living.
larry sharpe
Agreed.
joe rogan
I don't know how the solution to that is to give less money to the school.
larry sharpe
You're missing a very important point.
If you ask most teachers why they're underappreciated, most of them, they're not going to say that people like you and I don't appreciate them.
They're going to say, the system doesn't appreciate me.
That's why they're always fighting the system.
Oklahoma, they fought the system.
They're always fighting the system.
What I'm saying is fix the system.
The system is heavily controlled in many cases by the federal government, $4 billion worth.
So we have to lose $4 billion unless we want to keep the federal government in our system.
I don't want that.
joe rogan
Your fix is to let them figure it out.
Get the federal government out and let them figure it out with less money.
larry sharpe
I have to push back here.
joe rogan
Okay.
larry sharpe
You keep saying, let them figure it out.
As if I'm just going to walk away and say, oh, well, good luck.
I'm going to go off and hang out in Puerto Rico for a while.
No.
I'm saying I'm going to facilitate it because you know what I do?
I trust teachers more than I trust administrators.
I trust the local people that if I give them the right tools, they'll do the right thing.
But more importantly, they'll show others as long as they're transparent.
What's going to happen is they're going to figure out the right way to deal with teachers.
Should school district one hire more Spanish teachers versus school district two?
I don't know.
I'm not supposed to know that, but they do.
And if they make a mistake, then they'll fix it.
joe rogan
When you say they, are you talking about the teachers themselves or are you talking about these administrators who you want to eliminate in the first place?
larry sharpe
I'm talking about the school boards.
joe rogan
The school boards.
larry sharpe
The school boards are going to be the ones with the PTA. If we make this work the right way.
It will be everyone talking together.
It will be school boards talking to administrators, talking with teachers, talking with parents.
I don't want schools graded by standardized tests.
We've been doing that for years and we have very, very unhappy people, unhappy students, unhappy parents.
I want parents to be happier.
I want students to be happier.
And you might say, but then Larry, they won't learn certain things.
Is that a horrible thing?
I'd rather them be happy than learn AP chemistry.
unidentified
Yes.
larry sharpe
If that means one school district decides that AP chemistry isn't that important in their school district, it's fine.
Those kids will learn it in the prep school and some kids won't learn AP chemistry.
If that makes your school district happy, I'm okay with that because it goes to the next level, which of course becomes kids with special needs.
You have a special needs kid, how do you make that kid happy?
How do you decide whether that kid is successful or not?
The standardized testing doesn't work.
What do you do?
You start doing checkboxes.
Does that work?
Of course not.
That's why you literally have hundreds of parents every single year suing New York State because they weren't happy with their kids getting services but not getting better.
I want your kid getting better.
You're assuming that because the federal government puts these standards in that that makes them good or bad.
It doesn't.
If anything, it makes them worse.
joe rogan
I'm not assuming that.
larry sharpe
If my kids are happy, that's what I want.
Happy New Yorkers means they stay in New York.
Happy New Yorkers means they grow their businesses in New York, keep their families in New York.
joe rogan
I get that, but saying happy and saying the solution and the key to happiness is funding them less and getting rid of administrators by letting them figure it out.
larry sharpe
Oh my God, you're such a Democrat, Joe.
unidentified
I'm not?
larry sharpe
You're such a Democrat.
Yes, you are.
unidentified
I'm definitely not.
larry sharpe
You are so a Democrat.
joe rogan
How am I a Democrat?
larry sharpe
Less funding means the world's ending.
Less funding means the world's ending.
You're a Democrat.
joe rogan
For a lot of people, they hear that you're going to take money away from schools.
larry sharpe
The person who only hears that, if the person says all he's going to do is get rid of money from schools, that person is never going to vote for me.
That person is probably a Democrat.
That person is going to vote for Cuomo.
And that's fine.
I'm not going to win everybody.
I can't win everybody.
But I'm going to change a system that is completely broken.
If you say this, what you're talking about, people talk about the MTA also in New York City, the MTA. You got to keep fun of the MTA. I'm not going to be hostage to a shit system, period.
I don't care.
I'm not gonna be hostage to a shit system.
This is a terrible system that is failing New Yorkers, that is failing people in New York City when it comes to the MTA.
That's failing our state.
joe rogan
And for people who don't know what that is, that's mass transit.
larry sharpe
I'm sorry, yes, those of you who are not in New York.
It's a bad system.
I'm not gonna be a hostage because of fear.
No, I will fight my jailer.
Period.
And my jailer is a system that is broken that says, "You better give me more money, otherwise this will happen.
You better give me more money, otherwise this will happen." No, I'm going to fix that system.
I'm going to help facilitate fixing that system.
I'm not just going to let them go away.
I'm not saying that.
What I'm saying is I'm going to help facilitate that system.
And to do that, we're going to lose $4 billion.
And we'll get over that.
We'll fix that.
We'll make it happen.
We'll make it work.
And if you get more people into this state, and this is the most important piece.
You can raise money through other ways than just raising taxes on people.
And this is the most critical piece.
When we hear funding, and this is why I was teasing you and calling you a Democrat, because when you talk about funding, you're talking about more taxes.
I'm not talking about that.
If you get more people to stay in New York State, you raise your revenue without having to raise taxes on anybody.
joe rogan
But if you raise your revenue, you're going to put more revenue into the schools?
larry sharpe
Of course!
There'll be more people in the schools, more revenue.
Yes!
unidentified
Absolutely!
joe rogan
So you'll spend more money in the schools?
larry sharpe
There'll be more people in the schools and more taxes.
Of course we would!
Of course we would!
Of course!
New York State has a $170 billion budget with about a $4 billion deficit and $300 billion in debt.
And the answer for every Democrat and Republican is more funding.
There's going to be nothing left.
This state's going to go defund.
It's going to go under in 10 years.
joe rogan
So how do you get more people to come to the state?
larry sharpe
All right.
First thing by having a really super cool education system I just talked about.
joe rogan
Super cool education system.
larry sharpe
That'll get people to come back.
joe rogan
Are you going to hire someone to create this super cool education system?
Or are you going to let these teachers figure it out on their own?
Hey, teachers, build me a super cool education system so that we get more funding.
larry sharpe
I already have the infrastructure for the super cool system I just told you.
I've already told you what the infrastructure is.
The concept of the skeleton is already there.
Now, once I win in November, we begin to build it out.
And yes, it'll be me and other people.
Be clear.
It's not like New York doesn't have enough – New York doesn't have enough workers.
We have tons of workers that we can absolutely use to make this happen.
Tons of them.
If I'm not mistaken, New York State has the most by percentage government employees I think in the nation.
I know we're the most unionized, but I think we're the most government employees by percentage.
joe rogan
So you're going to move their jobs to different jobs?
larry sharpe
Love it.
Sure.
Yes, let's do that.
Love the idea.
You're asking details that are simple to fix when the time comes.
Simple to fix.
joe rogan
So you're going to take people out of what professions and move them into fixing these things?
larry sharpe
Do you think I actually have decided for every person in New York State what they're going to do?
joe rogan
I don't know, that's why I'm asking you.
Of course not!
You're doing like a show now.
larry sharpe
I'm not doing a show!
unidentified
Do you?
joe rogan
You're a Democrat!
Look at you, you're a Democrat!
unidentified
You are a Democrat!
joe rogan
I'm not.
I'm just asking you real, clean questions here.
larry sharpe
You four times said you're gonna take money away from schools.
joe rogan
But you are, right?
larry sharpe
Yes.
You've said like four times.
joe rogan
Right.
Because you keep going on about these other things.
larry sharpe
Which is what matters more than losing $4 billion from education.
joe rogan
Right, but I just want to be clear about what you're saying, about what the actual plan is.
larry sharpe
I'm going to fix this system by creating a good skeleton off the bat that people are going to enjoy and like.
And then once that went in November, we're going to fill that skeleton up.
To make an amazing school system that people are going to be proud of.
They're going to want to bring their people.
They're going to come back from North Carolina.
They're going to come back from Tennessee.
They're going to move from Pennsylvania and Massachusetts and want to be part of this system.
They're going to see schools that actually work well.
They're going to see prep schools get kids into college.
They're going to see colleges that actually educate kids and get them into jobs.
When they see that happen, they'll all start coming.
That's going to happen.
It doesn't happen by me saying, how do I fund this?
It doesn't happen by me saying, being afraid of making a step.
You don't have to have the perfect plan to move forward.
No plan is perfect anyway.
You want a good, solid plan with motivated people.
If you have motivated people to take up a plan, it'll wind up being successful.
Again, it's how it works.
joe rogan
So this grandiose plan is that you're going to get rid of the last two years of high school, and you're going to offer potential prep school for children, and you're going to, for other kids, offer them trade schools.
unidentified
Sure.
joe rogan
You're going to get rid of $4 billion in federal funding.
You're going to let the schools figure out how many administrators they should have.
With help.
And what's the help?
Who are you going to hire to oversee this whole thing?
larry sharpe
We'll figure it out.
joe rogan
You figure that out.
Yeah.
larry sharpe
Look, I'm two months from the election, away from the election, and then at least six months from implementation.
joe rogan
Right.
larry sharpe
At least.
That's probably low, probably more like nine.
Plenty of time.
This can't come into play until next September, at earliest.
The earliest it can come into play is next September.
I hope it's that fast.
That'd be amazing.
I hope it is that fast.
But it isn't five minutes.
I'm not doing this so I can become king.
We already have a king, and that's why we're in trouble.
I want to give localized control many more options.
I'm the crazy guy who actually means what he says when I say, let teachers teach.
I actually mean that.
Most people say it, and their response then becomes, give more administrators.
joe rogan
So you think what's stopping them now is standardized tests and administrators?
And then funding that's based on the success of the tests in these school districts.
larry sharpe
That's correct.
The answer is always more funding.
The answer is always more funding.
And it isn't.
It is not that.
People always say, we have to fund, fund, fund.
That is not the answer.
There are better answers out there.
Of course there are.
Let me go to another piece on how to raise money.
joe rogan
Okay.
larry sharpe
The first thing is, of course, as I mentioned, get more people.
If more people show up to the state.
New York State could, in theory, and this is theory, easily hold 30 million people.
joe rogan
The state.
larry sharpe
The state could.
It's possible.
joe rogan
How many is in the city?
Seven?
larry sharpe
There's about eight and a half in the city right now.
About eight and a half in the city right now.
joe rogan
Ooh, that's a lot.
larry sharpe
It is a lot.
It's the largest city in the country by far.
It's over double Los Angeles.
Los Angeles is about, what, three and a half?
Am I mistaken?
joe rogan
Well, sort of.
LA, there's no end to it.
larry sharpe
Yes, well, if you look at the metro area of New York City, it's actually 16 million.
Metro area is 16 million.
The actual city itself is eight and a half.
So it's by far the largest city in the nation.
So yes.
So it could, in theory, take 30 million people.
It's possible.
If we get that amount of people, oh my god, the tax revenue would be insane.
joe rogan
It would be great.
But how would you get people to move to New York State?
larry sharpe
By having a better state.
And one of the things I mentioned was education.
But there are several other things you can do.
First off, why aren't we supporting small businesses?
And we don't in New York State.
We punish them.
We punish them.
But with licensing, we punish them.
In New York State, there's actually a license to braid hair.
There's a license to walk a dog.
There's all kinds of licenses like that.
joe rogan
You have to get a license to walk a dog?
unidentified
That's correct.
larry sharpe
Yes.
joe rogan
What's involved in that?
larry sharpe
I don't know.
I'm not a dog walker.
unidentified
I don't know.
larry sharpe
There should be none.
Here's my rule in licensing.
I got a nice, good general rule.
Would you ask your friend to do it?
If you were a woman who had lots of long hair, would you ask your friend to braid your hair?
You probably would, wouldn't you?
joe rogan
Probably.
larry sharpe
Yep, you probably would.
If you had a dog, I don't know if you have a dog, but assuming you have a dog, would you ask your friend to walk your dog?
joe rogan
Sure.
larry sharpe
Sure, of course you would.
Why is there a license for that?
Would you ask your friend to remove your appendix?
joe rogan
Well, I think the idea would be that you wouldn't want someone to screw it up, so you'd want to make sure someone has insurance so that the consumer doesn't get ripped off.
larry sharpe
Yes, but the appendix thing, you wouldn't let someone...
joe rogan
No.
larry sharpe
Yeah, get a license for that, I'm fine.
unidentified
Right.
larry sharpe
Get a license for that.
But your point's a valid one.
How about instead, there's a difference between licensing and what you just said, which is insurance.
There's a difference.
Right.
Licensing says the government decides if you can or can't do it and if you don't, the government will fine you and or jail you.
That's a license.
joe rogan
So you don't have to have hair braiding insurance or dog walker insurance.
larry sharpe
You might want to have insurance.
I didn't say that.
I said license.
There is a difference.
The assumption is – and you've made it by Make That Step.
You made the assumption which is licensing is for safety.
It is not.
It is for control.
That's all it's for.
An example I'll give you is vaping.
In New York State, many counties, you have to have a license for vaping.
So what does a license entail?
joe rogan
A license to sell?
larry sharpe
Yes, to sell, to have a vaping store.
Yes, to have a vaping store, you have to have a license to have a vaping store.
Similar to that of having a tobacco store.
Similar.
joe rogan
Right.
larry sharpe
Right?
They do that.
So you might say, well, vaping, a license, it's great.
It's for safety, right?
Well, does the person who has done the vaping store, maybe, I don't know, learn CPR or understand the effects of nicotine on the body?
No!
They have to write a check and fill out a form.
That's it.
There's no safety involved in the license.
joe rogan
And they have to be approved for a license.
larry sharpe
That's correct.
joe rogan
Meaning they can't be a felon with a history of fraud.
larry sharpe
I'm not sure if that's even the case in the vaping.
I don't think that's true.
I think in vaping that's not true.
In certain cases there are.
That's true.
In certain.
joe rogan
Isn't it a tobacco controlled substance?
larry sharpe
It is.
joe rogan
So I would assume that they do have to have a license based on not being a felon.
larry sharpe
For tobacco, perhaps.
Talk about vaping.
Vaping is not controlled.
Vaping is tobacco.
No, it is not.
joe rogan
It's not?
larry sharpe
No, not at all.
But it's nicotine, right?
Some is, some is not.
No.
Vaping is basically a...
joe rogan
That is, though.
Isn't that a controlled substance?
larry sharpe
No, not at all.
joe rogan
Nicotine?
larry sharpe
I don't think it is.
I don't think it is.
joe rogan
Hmm.
larry sharpe
Tobacco is, I know.
joe rogan
That's hilarious.
If tobacco itself is and the active ingredient isn't.
larry sharpe
The point...
Of all of this is why is any of it controlled?
And why is vaping controlled?
If you're talking about safety, and let me go to safety.
I'm glad you brought this up.
Safety.
Everyone will tell me, well, licensing is for safety.
Regulations are for safety.
They're not.
And I'll give you the best example I can give you.
Health food stores.
The healthiest people you know shop at health food stores.
joe rogan
What is a health food store?
larry sharpe
It's a store where you might go and buy vitamins that's not GNC. A store where you might go and purchase organic things that's not a regular...
joe rogan
Like Whole Foods?
larry sharpe
Whole Foods is similar, but the mom and pop health food store, which generally speaking, is usually privately owned.
joe rogan
It's kind of a thing from the past, isn't it?
Health food store?
larry sharpe
Yeah.
I say that because most people understand what I mean when I say that.
But if you didn't, I apologize.
Most people do understand when I say health.
I mean basically a local store that will sell things like vitamins and it will sell things like supplements.
It's like a GNC. Often it's a mix of like a GNC and grocery store, usually owned by an individual but not always our family.
But that kind of store.
Those stores are almost not regulated at all.
I mean… Probably 90% of their products have no FDA approval.
joe rogan
Right, because there's no FDA approval for supplements.
larry sharpe
That's correct.
So there's just a stamp that says not approved by FDA, right?
Most of their products are.
Most of their products are just out there.
Where are all the deaths from healthful stores?
There aren't.
What health food stores have are standards.
Lots of standards.
Tons of standards.
Now, some people buy certain products because they believe in them.
Some people buy certain products because they believe in the brand name.
Up to them.
Some people go to certain stores.
They trust those stores.
It's fine.
It happens all the time.
It's a standard.
What would happen if, say, there was a health food store or even a GNC or any place like that, there was a supplement, that if you took that supplement and most people who took it would get addicted and do crazy things?
And that came out to the news.
Look, here it is.
If you take XYZ product, you'll probably go crazy or do something nuts or whatever.
joe rogan
Well, they've had that happen.
They've removed them.
Yes, that's correct.
Ripped fuel.
larry sharpe
It goes away.
Yes.
That's exactly my point.
joe rogan
They kill you.
larry sharpe
Thank you.
It goes away.
There's actual repercussions and it goes away, right?
And maybe there's a lawsuit, maybe not, but it goes away.
What if it's FDA approved?
Nothing happens.
80% of all of our addicts, FDA approved drugs.
Nothing happens.
When it's a government monopoly run by a government regulatory body, there's no percussions.
It just keeps killing us.
joe rogan
Well, that's certainly true for the pharmaceutical industry.
unidentified
Yes, absolutely.
larry sharpe
It just keeps killing us.
On and on and on and on.
If you want things to be safe, then let's focus on safety, not focus on control.
So I want products to be safe, not controlled.
Controlled is useless.
joe rogan
So how do you make sure that they're safe?
larry sharpe
I'll use a health list of examples.
For example, how about competing standards?
Standards that are competing.
I don't have a problem with the government saying, these are the standards we believe are the appropriate standards to be safe.
They should do that, absolutely.
A product has a choice.
Take the stamp or not.
The only exception is, why are they punishing you if you choose not to?
joe rogan
So you're saying you don't have a problem with government stamps.
larry sharpe
Not at all.
joe rogan
But it has to be something that is voluntary.
unidentified
That's correct.
joe rogan
By the person who owns the store.
larry sharpe
And by the consumer.
Now, my example I gave is this water probably has it.
Yes, it does.
It has that Circle U. The Circle U. Do you know what that means?
joe rogan
No.
larry sharpe
It's the Orthodox Union, right?
I live in New York City.
It's a very high Jewish population in New York City.
I have many Jewish friends.
And the Orthodox Union means it's a kosher product.
joe rogan
Oh, so that water's kosher?
larry sharpe
This water's kosher, yes.
joe rogan
How does it become kosher?
Do they have to bless it?
larry sharpe
There's the issue.
I don't know.
They circle you on it.
joe rogan
Do you know?
larry sharpe
So if you're Jewish and you care about keeping a kosher household, you would buy this product because you trust the circle you.
Is this kosher?
I don't know.
But the person who buys it believes it and buys it.
And what if they found out this water was not kosher?
Then there'd be a problem.
There'd be some kind of backlash.
joe rogan
Well, as a person who is a partner in a supplement company and also someone who works for the UFC, the UFC has giant issues with people taking tainted supplements, there's third-party independent verification, third-party independent testing.
larry sharpe
Absolutely.
joe rogan
Really good supplement companies like Onnit and many others use where you can find out that you don't have tainted supplements.
larry sharpe
Absolutely.
I'd rather have that.
Then how about we have those stamps on products?
joe rogan
I like that.
larry sharpe
Yes, have the stamps.
And if you want to have a government stamp, have that.
And guess what?
Maybe you want four stamps.
Maybe you want the government stamp plus third-party stamp plus the Orthodox Union stamp.
joe rogan
Well, what I like about it also is it creates business.
larry sharpe
Yes, it does.
unidentified
It creates business.
joe rogan
It's a third-party independent company.
larry sharpe
Absolutely.
joe rogan
It has their own personal standards, and when they're a really good company, you can rely upon them.
Yes.
larry sharpe
And if you don't, you can have competing standards in multiple companies because you trust one company more than the other, or you want both to have that standard.
joe rogan
Is that a possible solution for education, a third-party independent verification of the education system?
larry sharpe
We've been here for, what, about an hour or so, and you already gave a good idea.
Yes.
unidentified
Yes.
larry sharpe
Exactly my point.
joe rogan
That seems like a good idea to me.
larry sharpe
There we go.
joe rogan
Yeah.
That there should be some effective school system that works and then you take the people that run that effective school system and they have a curriculum and a way of doing things that they could perhaps teach other school systems.
larry sharpe
That's the idea of transparency and accountability.
That's the whole point.
joe rogan
So this is the deal with people that are libertarian, right?
The idea is that you are a free market person and that you believe in the free market and you believe in less government.
larry sharpe
I believe in the consumer.
I believe in the consumer because it's a general rule when things are consumer-driven.
And this is not 100% rule.
Look, government isn't always wrong.
It's often wrong, but not always.
And the consumer isn't always right, but often right.
So as a general rule, consumers tend to drive things better, like, as I said, kosher water, like supplements.
If you don't allow the consumer to decide, you by default stifle innovation.
You just stifle innovation.
You stifle everything new because if it can't get through the FDA, then it almost can't be done.
joe rogan
And you have centralized control that's very difficult to get past.
larry sharpe
You got it.
Exactly right.
joe rogan
And they're not really motivated to improve or to innovate.
unidentified
No.
larry sharpe
And the opposite.
They're actually incentivized to make sure nothing goes wrong.
So always err on the side of no, no.
It becomes the rule of no one, meaning everything is about no.
There's no one's job to make it work.
This is my point on the education system.
The job – there has to be someone who says, we have to make this thing work.
I'm the guy who says that.
I want to make it work.
Let's make this thing work.
Let's just not make sure things go bad.
Let's make sure that things actually work.
joe rogan
Now, you obviously know far more about New York politics than I do.
I know very little about it.
But one thing that I do know is it's almost universally regarded as being insanely corrupt.
larry sharpe
True.
joe rogan
You get to a position where you become the governor.
larry sharpe
Yep.
joe rogan
How do you clean up that fucking hornet's door?
larry sharpe
Yes.
The one thing people always say is, Larry, you got to clean it up, like you just said.
It's funny.
You say a lot of things I hear all the time.
You got to get these guys in jail.
You got to punish them, whatever.
I rarely talk about that.
And the reason is, okay, you put some guy in jail, you punish him, whatever the case may be.
Great!
Whose family came back from North Carolina?
Whose kid got a better education?
Who got a better job?
Whose taxes went down?
Who's happier?
Whose business didn't go under?
No one's helped by people going to jail.
We feel righteous, and then we pack up and move to North Carolina.
I mean, this is not the right answer.
joe rogan
North Carolina is beautiful.
larry sharpe
It is.
joe rogan
That's part of the problem.
larry sharpe
It is.
joe rogan
You go there, it's all green.
There's less people.
larry sharpe
It's great.
joe rogan
People have a little twang to the way they talk.
Barbecue is pretty fucking good.
larry sharpe
I'm trying to make sure a bunch of New Yorkers don't go there and ruin it.
See?
joe rogan
I understand.
I understand.
larry sharpe
Let's keep it in New York.
Keep it in New York.
I want to keep them all in New York.
So my point being, I forgot my point now.
joe rogan
I don't know your point.
larry sharpe
I don't know my point, Adam.
joe rogan
Corruption, getting rid of people, putting them in jail.
larry sharpe
The goal is not to just put people in jail.
The goal is to make a better system.
joe rogan
Right.
Well, I'm not really even interested in putting them in jail.
What I'm interested in is figuring out a way to stop corruption.
unidentified
Yes.
larry sharpe
Several things.
The first thing.
First of all, you can't stop corruption.
You can absolutely lessen it and you can catch it fast.
That you can do.
You can make less corruption and catch it fast.
The thing to remember is the average person who is about to do something which may or may not be unethical or may be corrupt isn't thinking, "I wonder if I'll get five years or ten years." They're just thinking, "Will I get caught?" That's all they're thinking about.
Will I get caught and will my career be over?
So several things.
Number one, I want less opportunity for someone to be caught.
What does that mean?
In New York State, less money coming from Albany, which is our capital.
The less money the governor has to give out, the less chance that there will be corruption.
That's number one.
But on top of that, New York State is filled with boards and committees and authorities and things that the governor creates to make other things happen.
We'll create this authority to make this happen and this commission to make that happen.
And then he appoints all of his cronies, all of his buddies onto these On to these commissions and boards and such.
Now, he now is one step away, but he has raised over $800,000 for his campaign for people he's put on boards.
So he gets lots of money from these people, rewards them by putting them on boards, and then they become corrupt.
If you've noticed in New York politics, many people have been indicted, arrested, convicted.
Almost every one of them is either on a board or a commission or authority.
Trashing those is a huge part of getting rid of corruption.
Getting rid of what we have in New York State, we have regional economic development corporations.
These are basically where the government decides where the money goes to develop areas.
Yes, the government decides where to develop areas.
joe rogan
You mean you're talking about real estate development?
larry sharpe
Any kind of development, yes.
Yes.
Where are we going to put money into?
Whether it's going to be infrastructure, building a hospital, putting a new downtown in, all these types of things.
joe rogan
So who would decide then?
larry sharpe
How about the local government?
joe rogan
The local people.
larry sharpe
Yes, let them decide.
joe rogan
The local government.
The mayor.
larry sharpe
Absolutely.
Why not?
joe rogan
Okay.
So instead of it being the government, you have it be the local.
larry sharpe
Local and less tax.
Add something else.
How about just like bankers who want to invest in things?
Businessmen who think this is a good idea.
How about the local woman who thinks this is a great place for an open-up home new business?
How about the guy or gal who thinks this is a great place for a new school?
joe rogan
As opposed to what it is now, which is...
larry sharpe
We all petition to the government.
I'm not joking.
We think we should.
The government then agrees, blesses it, gives us a certificate of need, and then says, here's government money to build this thing.
That is completely the wrong answer.
joe rogan
Right.
But there's got to be some regulation.
Like, you don't really want a nightclub opening up right next to a school.
larry sharpe
There we go.
There's got to be some regulation.
joe rogan
Do you think that there should be?
larry sharpe
Of course.
At what point did I say destroy everything?
joe rogan
Well, I'm not saying you did.
larry sharpe
I never said that.
joe rogan
But I'm asking you if there should be some regulation.
larry sharpe
Based upon safety, not control.
joe rogan
You're saying as if I'm arguing against you and I'm not.
larry sharpe
Based upon safety, not control.
joe rogan
Safety.
larry sharpe
If it's based upon safety, I'm in.
joe rogan
Right.
Like a school will be right next to a strip club.
larry sharpe
Is that safety?
joe rogan
Right.
larry sharpe
Is it?
joe rogan
Yeah, I would think so.
larry sharpe
Then I'm okay with it.
I'm not sure that's true.
I don't know enough about that.
But if that's safety, I'm okay with that.
joe rogan
It's not safe for those kids.
larry sharpe
Then there we go.
joe rogan
Some of those girls.
larry sharpe
Then I'm fine with that.
I don't have a problem if it's based upon safety.
But just because I decide I don't like this thing here.
joe rogan
Right.
larry sharpe
If someone wants to build it there, they'll build it there.
If the community doesn't want it there, as a general rule, the community doesn't support it.
joe rogan
What's the main argument against libertarian philosophy when you- Fear.
Fear.
Fear of change.
larry sharpe
Fear of not having big brother in control.
Remember something in New York, I mean New York, in America in general.
As a general rule in America, the government does not just take our rights.
As a general rule, we eagerly vote them away because we're afraid.
I'm afraid, take my rights.
I'm afraid, take my rights.
That's what usually happens.
Fear is a problem, which is why, as you've said, will there be no regulation?
There are a lot of libertarians who probably heard that and went, yeah, Larry, say no regulation.
I'm not going to.
And here's the reason why.
If I decide to pull the rug out from people, they will be afraid.
People who are afraid make bad decisions all the time.
The word that I need to use more here, and maybe it's not landing, maybe this is my error for not making this land better, is facilitate.
I want to facilitate better options.
I want to facilitate better answers.
I'm not just going to go to the school system and say, take away the money, go away.
That would create fear and bad decisions.
joe rogan
What would you do?
larry sharpe
Instead, I would say, in X number of months, the federal government regulations and the federal government dollars are going to go away, which means by this time, we're not going to have it, which means not only do you not have the money, but also you don't have these restrictions.
How can we fix this system so you don't have these restrictions anymore?
What can you make to be better, stronger, faster?
How can we do this now?
Let's talk this thing out.
Some people will fight me, of course.
Some people will not make a change, of course.
But some will go, oh my God, thank you so much, yes.
I would much rather not spend the money here, but I'd rather spend it here.
Okay, let's try that.
Let's do that.
And before, others will follow.
And then others will follow.
And that might take a year or two.
It might take three years.
But what will happen?
We'll have a much better, effective system.
unidentified
Hopefully.
larry sharpe
And when one fails...
joe rogan
But hopefully.
unidentified
Why hopefully?
joe rogan
It hasn't been done yet.
Because it hasn't been done before.
larry sharpe
Okay.
It's been done in everything.
I'll give you the best example I can give you.
joe rogan
With education?
larry sharpe
I'll give you the best example I can give you.
joe rogan
Okay.
unidentified
Google.
larry sharpe
Google, yes.
Google had a program, and I think they still have it.
I'm sure someone will let me know if they don't, but I believe they do, to where you had an employee could choose to take 20% of their work time and do it on any project they wanted to.
Any project.
Whatever they want to do, you just work on if they wanted to.
It was voluntary.
You didn't have to.
You just do your regular workload if you wanted to.
But if you wanted to, you can take 20% and work on anything you want, whatever you think is appropriate.
The only rule was you have to be transparent and you're accountable to your team for what you did.
Again, freedom plus transparency plus accountability, right?
Boom.
That was it.
Many of the people who did things wound up doing things that didn't really work very well.
But when they did it, they said, hey, Joe, I went and tried this thing.
It didn't work.
You might have tried it too.
You learned something, figured things out, made it better.
But a bunch of their most profitable things, profitable applications, came from this.
Now, what actually wound up happening also is some people did 20%.
Some people worked even more.
They just got more work out of some people.
They got more innovation out of people because they were doing stuff they wanted to do.
Now, did everyone take it?
No.
Some people just did their own work and were happy with their own work, got their salary, and moved on.
But what happened is you got innovation and other people learned from it and it became better and better and better.
That happens all the time.
All the time.
joe rogan
That is a very different system than talking about the education system.
When you're talking about Google, you're talking about people that are hired to make money for a mega corporation that makes billions and billions of dollars.
larry sharpe
Yep.
joe rogan
And you give them a chance because they're engineers and techies.
unidentified
Yep.
joe rogan
You give them a chance to innovate.
larry sharpe
Yep.
joe rogan
They innovate, but their financial incentive is massive.
larry sharpe
The financial incentive hasn't changed.
joe rogan
I have a friend who's a big executive at Google.
They make a shitload of money.
larry sharpe
Absolutely.
joe rogan
The people that work underneath them have the potential to move up that corporate ladder.
None of this financial incentive in the school systems.
Not only that, you're limiting their amount of money.
You're not just offering them the possibility to exchange creative ideas.
You're saying, we're going to give you less money and we're going to have the administrators who are still going to be in the position of power.
Everyone's going to have to figure this out.
This is not a parallel situation.
larry sharpe
It absolutely is.
Let me tell you why it is.
joe rogan
How is it a parallel situation?
larry sharpe
I'll tell you why it is.
The first thing is, the people who get into teaching They don't get in because, my God, I'll make millions of dollars.
They don't do that.
joe rogan
They get into it because they think it's a viable career path for them.
They have skill at it.
They enjoy doing it.
unidentified
Yes.
joe rogan
And they want to make a difference.
larry sharpe
All those things.
Yes.
That's correct.
joe rogan
If you're lucky.
If everyone's lucky, that's what they do it for.
larry sharpe
Well, the same thing with Google, right?
Does everyone go there because they want to make tons of money?
No.
joe rogan
A lot of them do.
unidentified
Sure.
larry sharpe
And a lot of teachers go there because they want to make a difference.
Yes.
joe rogan
I don't think anybody's going to Google because they want to make a difference.
larry sharpe
No, no.
Teachers.
joe rogan
Teachers.
larry sharpe
Yes.
Okay.
joe rogan
So how are they parallel?
larry sharpe
Some people go to Google.
joe rogan
Because one of them is a giant business.
One of the biggest businesses in the world.
larry sharpe
And the New York State school system is a $60 billion business.
Still a bunch of money.
joe rogan
It's not profitable.
larry sharpe
That's for sure.
joe rogan
It's not the same thing.
larry sharpe
I agree.
joe rogan
It's not the same thing by any stretch of the imagination.
And it's certainly not profitable for the individuals that are involved in this innovation that you seek.
larry sharpe
And I think you are wrong in many ways.
joe rogan
How am I wrong that it's not profitable for the individuals that you're asking to innovate?
larry sharpe
You are assuming because we lose $4 billion, your assumption is that means teachers don't get more money.
That's your assumption.
joe rogan
How are the teachers going to get more money if you're giving them less money?
larry sharpe
I'm not giving teachers less money.
joe rogan
You're giving the school less money.
larry sharpe
That's correct.
The school district less money.
joe rogan
So how are the teachers not going to get less money if the schools get less money?
larry sharpe
Well, what if you got rid of, I don't know, a bunch of administrators?
What if you got rid of...
joe rogan
But you would have to...
Who would decide that these administrators are removed?
larry sharpe
I don't know how many times I've got to say this.
joe rogan
But you never said anything clear.
That's why I'm asking you over and over and over again.
larry sharpe
Yes.
joe rogan
This is not clear.
You're saying it's going to work itself out.
larry sharpe
Yes, we're going to facilitate it.
joe rogan
But then you're comparing this to Google when you're giving people who are making a fantastic salary the ability to innovate for 20% of their time.
larry sharpe
Sure, absolutely.
joe rogan
I don't think these are valid comparisons.
larry sharpe
Humans are humans.
We want to have purpose.
We want to do better at whatever we're doing.
We want to have accolades from those we respect.
That's what humans want.
joe rogan
Okay, I agree with that.
larry sharpe
Period.
No matter what, humans want that.
joe rogan
Right.
larry sharpe
If you're a teacher, you want accolades from those you respect.
You want to be good at what you do.
joe rogan
You also want to be able to feed your family.
You also want to be able to make a living.
larry sharpe
So...
joe rogan
And most of them make piss poor money.
larry sharpe
All right.
This isn't Oklahoma.
It's New York State.
unidentified
Right.
larry sharpe
So...
Most of them are doing well enough to not starve to death.
That's not true.
I'm not sure how much a teacher makes.
joe rogan
Didn't you just get done saying how expensive it is to live in New York?
larry sharpe
It is expensive, yes.
joe rogan
Taxes are outrageous.
Real estate's outrageous.
unidentified
Absolutely.
joe rogan
People are moving out in droves.
larry sharpe
It's true.
joe rogan
And then there's gonna be less money for people that already get paid less than they should.
larry sharpe
I'm not saying that's true.
You're saying that's true.
joe rogan
But there's gonna be less money that goes to the school.
larry sharpe
That goes to a school district, yes.
joe rogan
So how is that not going to translate into less money that goes to the teachers unless...
larry sharpe
I will try it again.
joe rogan
No, no, no.
You've never said it.
larry sharpe
Tell me what you want me to say.
joe rogan
No one has decided how this is going to somehow or another benefit the teachers.
Yes.
You're not firing these administrators.
You're making everybody figured out on their own.
unidentified
No, no.
larry sharpe
The administrators will wind up being fired.
They will.
joe rogan
By who?
larry sharpe
By what?
The PTA. I'm sorry, PTA. The school boards.
They will begin to.
It's going to happen.
We're going to facilitate the way out.
It's going to happen.
If you want me to say, there are 700 school districts, and I'm going to fire that guy, that guy, that guy, that guy, that guy, and I'm literally two months out from the election, and then at least nine months from implementing it, you're simply asking too much of me.
Just asking too much of me.
The skeleton is built.
The idea is good.
It will work.
Will we fill in?
Of course we will.
Absolutely.
How am I going to know which guy to fire and I'm a year out from doing this?
You simply ask too much of me.
It's an unfair question.
It's an unfair question.
joe rogan
I'm not asking you which particular human being to fire.
I'm asking you how you're going to facilitate...
Paying less money to these school districts and somehow or another having them organize the right way to make the school system run smoother and more efficiently while you're comparing it to people who work at a multi-billion dollar tech company where you're allowing engineers who get paid substantial amounts of money to innovate for 20% of their time.
And I'm saying that this is not a valid comparison.
larry sharpe
And I'm saying you're incorrect because they're both human.
Humans want to be good at what they want to be.
The reality of it is, as I said earlier, a lot of school districts won't do much different at all.
But there will always be early adopters.
That happens in everything.
There will always be early adopters.
And some people will jump in and go, this is a wonderful idea.
Let's start working on this now.
And some will.
Some school districts will do absolutely nothing.
And they will think Larry's going to fail.
Who cares?
Let's change nothing.
Of course.
And probably most will do absolutely nothing once I'm elected.
Nothing.
But a bunch are going to say, oh my god, what an awesome thing this is.
And they'll begin making changes right away.
And as they do, we'll start watching.
Oh, what are you proposing?
What's the right way?
That sounds great.
What do you think?
What do you think?
As I said, I'm a business guy.
I go in, I've been an officer in a public company for a short period of time twice.
And in both cases when I went in, I didn't go in going, you, you, you, you, that's TV show stuff.
That's not how it works.
How it works is you walk in, you talk to people, you begin to figure out what's going on, you try new things until the right thing works.
That's how you fix a business.
And if you know anyone who does it, they'll tell you that's how you do it.
You don't walk in and go, I know everything.
That's how it works.
joe rogan
Well, let me come at you from a position of fear.
larry sharpe
Please.
joe rogan
Let's pretend that I'm a parent, and I'm hearing this plan, and I'm thinking, this is not a plan.
You're eliminating money.
What if my school system doesn't figure out a way to innovate?
What if they cut funding?
What if the kids' classes get bigger?
What if there's just a mass panic throughout the organization because you essentially gutted their infrastructure?
larry sharpe
Wow, I gutted their infrastructure.
I really hope they don't believe that.
But they might.
You're right.
joe rogan
They might.
That would be a valid argument.
If I was your opponent, that's absolutely what I would argue.
larry sharpe
Sure.
And I guess you could argue that if you wanted to.
Here's my response.
Okay.
Keep the same system.
Keep paying your same taxes.
Keep your kids unhappy.
Sue the state.
And you can pack up and move to South Carolina this time instead of North Carolina or Tennessee instead of North Carolina or Florida.
You can pack up and move if you want to.
That is an option for you.
joe rogan
If I was your opponent, I would say that is a ridiculous proposition.
So you're saying either we keep the current system...
Or we adopt your system.
These are the only two options.
We either leave or we take your option.
And your opponent would say, why don't you throw more money at these teachers, give them more incentive to succeed, figure out a way to take money away from something else and apply it to education because we believe that it is the least appreciated thing that is the most important.
larry sharpe
Because we've been doing that for 20 years and failing.
That's why.
unidentified
They happen?
larry sharpe
Yes.
joe rogan
They've been paying teachers more for 20 years?
larry sharpe
No, but they've been throwing more money at the system.
For 20 years.
joe rogan
In regard to hiring administrators.
larry sharpe
Yes, they've been throwing money.
We've been doing it for 20 years.
It hasn't worked yet.
When are you going to stop?
That's my response.
We've been doing it for 20 years at least.
We spend more money per kid than California does and we have worse results.
If you're happy with that system, awesome!
Vote Cuomo.
You'll get it.
You'll keep it.
No worries.
But if you actually want change, if you're unhappy with the system, you got to change it.
Have you debated the system with people?
All the time.
What I'm doing right now, I do the same thing.
joe rogan
Yeah, but I haven't even prepared and I'm finding all these problems with it.
larry sharpe
You haven't given me one problem at all.
joe rogan
I haven't given you any problem?
What have you heard me say?
larry sharpe
Not one.
You just said, I'm afraid, I'm afraid, I'm afraid.
joe rogan
That's not what I said.
larry sharpe
That's what I heard.
joe rogan
I haven't said I'm afraid.
Never said that once.
larry sharpe
You said, but what if, but what if, but what if, but what if, but what if, but what if.
joe rogan
Because I'm asking you questions.
That's not saying I'm afraid.
larry sharpe
Which says I'm afraid, I'm afraid, I'm afraid.
That's what I hear.
joe rogan
But what if is asking you to define how your system is going to succeed.
It's not saying I'm afraid.
That's hyperbole.
larry sharpe
Didn't you just say, maybe I didn't hear you correctly, but didn't you just say, but what if this bad thing happens?
What if it's my school district?
unidentified
No, no, no.
joe rogan
What I did there is I had an exercise where I played a parent who was scared.
I didn't say that's me.
And I'm telling you, as a person who's not debating you, I'm just asking you questions about this.
unidentified
Please.
joe rogan
I'm curious, but I see massive flaws in the logic behind allowing these systems to figure out how to eliminate administrators in order to stay alive with less money.
larry sharpe
I'll try it again.
I'm facilitating this to make it happen.
I'm going to oversee it, of course.
There's already administrators at Albany who can help to facilitate these.
joe rogan
I understand.
I understand what you've said, and you can repeat it ad nauseum.
I'm curious about it, but it seems very loosely defined, and it's very confusing.
larry sharpe
I would agree with you.
I don't think it's confusing at all.
Loosely defined as true, it's a skeleton, and it's a good skeleton.
joe rogan
Well, it's confusing in the fact that you have these administrators, and they're in this position where you're going to eliminate some of them, but you don't know how many or which way or how to do that, and you're going to allow the PTA and the teachers' unions to figure this out.
Or not the teachers unions, but whoever it would be.
larry sharpe
The unions will be part of it too, of course.
Look, unions will be part of it.
PTAs will be part of it.
School boards will be part of it.
Of course.
Albany's administrators will be part of it.
Of course.
You can't do a long-term solution for any problem by just dictating what is right and what is wrong.
joe rogan
I agree with you.
But the people that are worried about the short-term consequences are the ones that are going to vote for you.
Or not vote for you?
larry sharpe
Probably not vote for me.
My assumption is not vote for me.
I'm with you.
I think most people who are afraid of that, who think the way you're presenting to me, most of them are not going to vote for me.
joe rogan
But you've got to play devil's advocate with yourself when you're going over these things.
unidentified
Of course!
larry sharpe
And here's what I know for sure.
There are a bunch of people who are not going to vote for me.
I'm okay with that.
I'm still right.
It's the right answer.
Whether I win, lose, or draw, everything I'm saying is true and right.
And there is no better alternative in New York State, period.
Every other person who's running is saying, we have to fund more, fund more, fund more.
That's not going to work.
That I'm sure of.
And anyone who knows the system also knows that.
joe rogan
Is it impossible that funding more is going to work?
larry sharpe
That's correct.
joe rogan
Why is that?
larry sharpe
Because you're not changing the system itself.
You still just have a bunch of teachers being told your goal is high test scores in standardized testing.
That's your goal.
That's how you're funded.
That's how you're judged.
That's how you decide if you're going to stay a teacher or not.
That's everything.
That's the current system.
joe rogan
And there's no opposition to that other than you?
larry sharpe
That is correct.
Yes.
joe rogan
So everyone else wants the people that are doing the best to get more money.
larry sharpe
The people that are doing the best.
joe rogan
The school systems.
larry sharpe
No, no, no.
They judge them by standardized testing.
joe rogan
Right.
But they're doing the best.
larry sharpe
No, they're not.
They have the best tests.
joe rogan
But whoever's doing the best, whoever's getting the best scores, those are the ones that are getting the most money.
unidentified
That's correct.
joe rogan
The people that are doing the best.
Yes.
larry sharpe
No, not doing the best.
Best scores.
The scores don't mean anything.
joe rogan
Well, they mean something.
You take a test.
larry sharpe
So?
joe rogan
I mean, it means something.
larry sharpe
It means you're a good test taker.
joe rogan
It means you're better at the test.
larry sharpe
That's true.
joe rogan
You're better at tests.
larry sharpe
That's correct.
joe rogan
Yeah.
larry sharpe
But standardized test taking.
Is no indication of success.
joe rogan
What is a good indication of success?
larry sharpe
Emotional intelligence, but you can't measure that.
joe rogan
Emotional intelligence?
larry sharpe
Yes.
But that's not going to work for schools.
joe rogan
Right.
But if you're teaching kids, how do you judge whether or not you're doing a good job?
Other than tests.
larry sharpe
How would you judge, as an example, how do you judge things when they're hard to judge?
And I bring this up in my business often.
When it's not easy to find a win, if I don't know what a win is, how do I figure out what a win is?
Sometimes it can be challenging.
Right?
If you own a supplement company, you might judge it on sales, which is a lot easier.
But you might not.
You might judge it on something like how many of your competitors, how many of your customers are professional athletes.
You might judge it on something like that.
You could find another way of judging it if you felt appropriate, depending upon what you thought was a win or valuable.
The same thing could happen in schools.
You could judge it by simply how many parents are happy.
And you could judge them by how many show up.
You could judge them by having an actual rating system similar to how Google rates things or Yelp rates things.
There's many ways you could judge it.
joe rogan
A rating system to how well the kids are doing?
larry sharpe
You could in theory, sure.
It's another option, of course.
joe rogan
But how would you be able to figure it out?
Like, spell this out for me.
larry sharpe
Well, I don't...
What's your question?
joe rogan
You're saying a rating system for kids.
larry sharpe
Yeah, you could create a rating system.
Could be parents judge the school.
What could that be?
Could be the teachers do a 360 on themselves, right?
Many businesses will do a 360. I don't know if you know what that means.
I'm sorry.
joe rogan
No, I don't.
larry sharpe
It's a business thing.
Sometimes what will happen is in a business, how you judge the individual is you do what's called a 360. And people who are around that person will judge them usually anonymously.
So the person maybe has seven juniors, seven peers, and three or four seniors.
They'll pick a couple of juniors, a couple of peers, and a couple of seniors who will then grade this person.
It's called a 360. And now that person gets graded every six months or every year or depending upon the company every quarter.
And now you know how the person is doing because everyone around them is judging him or her.
joe rogan
So the teachers are judging each other.
larry sharpe
They could do that too.
unidentified
Sure.
larry sharpe
You're asking me for a specific plan?
Could be.
I think these are all viable plans.
joe rogan
Well, what I'm saying is what would be a viable alternative to testing to find out how well children are doing?
larry sharpe
Could be graduation rate.
How about graduation rate?
I like that too.
Graduation rate could work.
It's a great way.
joe rogan
But by what standard are they graduating if they're not taking tests?
larry sharpe
I didn't say not taking tests.
They're not taking standardized tests.
joe rogan
They're not taking standardized tests.
larry sharpe
That's what I said.
joe rogan
So they're taking some tests.
larry sharpe
Of course.
joe rogan
So you're judging them by these tests.
larry sharpe
That's correct.
joe rogan
But not standardized tests.
larry sharpe
That is correct.
joe rogan
That's why I said- What is the difference between the tests that you would judge them on and standardized tests?
larry sharpe
Sure.
A standardized test is usually given by federal or state authorities.
It's usually written someplace out of state.
It's usually decided based upon the company that bids the right bid.
And it doesn't necessarily decide what's important to the local kids or to the parents.
joe rogan
So what would be the difference in the test that you would give these kids?
larry sharpe
The teachers would have their own tests.
joe rogan
So there would be no standard that the state would enforce?
They would all be up to the community?
unidentified
Sure.
larry sharpe
Love the idea.
I love the idea.
Let the school districts create their own tests and the odds are they'll wind up copying each other most of the time anyway.
It's fine.
We'll see what works.
The issue is you're assuming that a standardized test has value.
I don't.
joe rogan
I'm not assuming a standardized test has value.
I'm just asking you what would the alternative to a standardized test would be.
larry sharpe
Is a district-wide test.
joe rogan
District-wide.
unidentified
Yeah.
larry sharpe
What's wrong with that?
That's a great idea.
joe rogan
So it's standardized for the district?
larry sharpe
For the district.
I'll take that.
Sure.
Much better.
joe rogan
Why would that be better than for the state?
larry sharpe
Because each school district is different because each county in New York State is different.
Each region is different.
unidentified
How are they different?
larry sharpe
They're just physically, socially, they're different regions.
joe rogan
So they should have different standards?
unidentified
Sure.
joe rogan
In terms of how they graduate and what an A is and what's a pass?
How you get through school and with that, would it be even across the board?
I mean, would you have schools that would be better?
Would you have schools that would be worse and they would all have the same grades?
larry sharpe
Look, if you wanted to, I think you could easily create a system to where at the end of the day, meaning at the end, meaning 16 in this case, right?
I'm talking K through 10. At a K-10 where there is one statewide standardized test, which is why I said no standardized testing until high school, right?
So prior to high school, I don't want standardized testing.
At high school, I'm fine with it.
At that point, the kids are a bit more mature.
The kids kind of know where they're going.
The standardized testing will have more value for them in that regard because they'll know, wait a minute, I'm doing standardized testing because I'm thinking, do I want to go to college?
Do I want to go to prep school?
Do I want to go to trade school?
joe rogan
Okay, so you're okay with standardized testing in high school.
larry sharpe
That's what I said.
joe rogan
Okay, so for 14 to 16, basically just two years.
larry sharpe
That's correct.
Yes.
In those areas, I'm totally happy with that because at that point, the kids are deciding where they want to go.
And being a good test taker in those years might make you think, you know what?
Maybe I'm good for sciences.
Maybe I'm good for math.
Maybe I should be a plumber.
Maybe I should be a truck driver.
Maybe I should be an insert thing here.
Maybe I should be a teacher.
So I'm totally happy in high school.
That's why I said until high school.
Doing it in the youth doesn't do anything except make things bad.
So once we get to the high school level, yeah, there's standardized testing at that point.
But I'm saying before that.
But before that is when the kids are building up who they are.
Right?
Before that is when the kids are building up who they are as students, as who they think they are in their life.
joe rogan
Are you familiar with other types of teaching, like Waldorf or some of the other alternative forms of education?
Have you ever looked at those models?
I have not.
No?
larry sharpe
I have not.
I'm not a teacher.
joe rogan
Yeah.
larry sharpe
I have not.
But I'm happy to look at those too.
I'm happy to look at them.
If those are models that would give our kids an upper hand and a better chance of success, I would happily take them.
If they are, I'm happy to do that.
To be forward with you, as I'm trying to tell you, everything you're saying right now, in the conversation we've had in the past hour and a half, you've already come up with some different ideas and such.
Already you have.
Can you imagine what teachers would do once they had this?
The concepts and ideas they would come up with.
We could facilitate things actually working.
Maybe even by region.
Maybe even by county.
Maybe even counties that would test.
Maybe even test schools.
Schools that would test things out for a year.
Can you imagine even that?
joe rogan
Any teachers have the kind of freedom to innovate in any foreseeable future like that.
Yes.
And decide.
Decide some of the things that we've talked about now.
Have third-party certifications and trying to figure out.
larry sharpe
Absolutely, yes.
What you're hearing me say, which is why so many people get afraid – I'm not saying you, but many people do – is I'm talking about an actual revamp or reboot of our education system.
joe rogan
We're talking about change, radical change.
larry sharpe
Because my state is collapsing.
And I understand that.
Radical change.
Yes!
joe rogan
Do you think it's collapsing or do you think the current numbers are just unsustainable?
larry sharpe
Is there a difference?
joe rogan
Yeah.
The difference is it'll still maintain, but there'll be less people.
It's not collapsing.
I don't see that.
Collapsing to me seems like it's falling apart.
larry sharpe
Yes, that's what I see.
joe rogan
I think there's a lot of people that are in New York that are like, holy shit, this is too much.
I've got to get out of here.
larry sharpe
Which in my eyes tells me that it's collapsing because you have a situation where you have counties that are one-third of Medicaid, one-third of Medicare, I don't see it stopping.
I just see larger chunks of Medicaid, Medicare.
And at one point when it's Medicare, even they pack up and head to Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, right?
Families are keeping people in New York State more than anything.
joe rogan
Because their relatives are close by.
larry sharpe
Yes.
joe rogan
So now if they're not – So I see it's collapsing.
Let's take education out of the equation.
So if we've got education cured, how do you make it more – It'd be amazing.
It'd be amazing.
How do you make it more attractive for people to stay in New York that don't have children?
How do you make it more attractive to businesses?
larry sharpe
Absolutely.
Several things.
Number one, as I said before, we have to raise money through ways other than taxation, right?
We can still raise money.
We can find ways to fill gaps.
And if we have to fill a gap, say the $4 billion from the federal government, if we have to fill the gap, if we find that the first six months of discussion There's no way we can do this without the $4 billion from the federal government.
Let's say I'm wrong.
Let's say I'm wrong.
And the $4 billion I want to get rid of from the federal government is, no, we have to have it.
The plans we've come up with that we think will work require that money.
Okay, deal.
I got it.
We can still raise it some other way.
Now, in the past, we've done things very poorly in New York State.
We've done things like, let's have a lottery, and the lottery will pay for education.
Then it goes off to the general fund and goes away.
What we can do is say something like this.
I talk often about using our infrastructure in New York State as a way of raising money.
We have bridges and tunnels and throughways and the Erie Canal, which is over 500 miles and about three dozen locks and lots of stuff like that, right?
Why in the world do we have a bridge right now in New York State that's named after one of our previous governors called the Mario Cuomo Bridge?
That's embarrassing.
We literally have an imperial bridge named after our royal family.
That bridge should not be named that.
The bridge should be the Staples bridge, the Verizon bridge, the 3M bridge, the Kellogg's bridge, the Apple bridge, whatever.
We should be leasing the naming rights out.
I'm a business guy.
I want to retain the asset.
We don't lose the asset.
Leasing naming rights out, right?
These are companies that pay billions of dollars every year in marketing, all the time.
They drop $20 million for a stadium that gets used on the weekends.
Instead, we have them pay $100 million for a bridge that's crossed by hundreds of thousands of cars every single day.
joe rogan
So you call it the Verizon Bridge or something?
larry sharpe
The Verizon Bridge.
Love it.
Perfect.
And it's mentioned hundreds of times every single day during rush hour in a 16 million person metro area.
But here are the next pieces on top of that.
Once he gets the money, they're also responsible for the maintenance.
We will still inspect the bridge, right?
joe rogan
People say, but Larry- That is correct.
larry sharpe
That's part of it.
Yes.
joe rogan
So they have to pay you and they have to fix the bridge?
larry sharpe
Bingo.
Yes.
joe rogan
Who the fuck is going to sign up for that?
larry sharpe
All I know is I already have bankers already asking me about how long is the lease?
What are we going to do?
They already love it.
Yes.
joe rogan
Really?
larry sharpe
People already told me about it.
joe rogan
And they know that you want them to fix it too?
larry sharpe
That's correct.
Yes.
Absolutely.
unidentified
Holy shit.
larry sharpe
But that'd be part of the contract.
Again, I don't have to, and this is a common theme that you'll find that people don't like, and you don't seem to like it either, which is I don't have the answer for exactly what the contract is.
joe rogan
I'm not saying I don't like it.
I'm just saying, man, if I was Verizon, I'd be like, shit.
larry sharpe
Yeah.
joe rogan
I'm paying you guys just to put my name on it.
Now I got to fix this thing?
unidentified
Yes.
larry sharpe
Then maybe, you know what?
If you don't want to, maybe we negotiate and you pay a little bit less.
Pay 90 million instead and fix the bridge.
But I want you fixing the bridge.
joe rogan
Okay.
larry sharpe
And there's a reason I want you fixing the bridge.
Right now across our country, bridges collapse.
joe rogan
Concrete cancer.
larry sharpe
They cut all the time, right?
And why?
Because the government has to run it, and the government runs out of money, or bureaucracy fails.
But in this case, we would actually have someone who has to fix it.
So we could actually check the bridge, and say it's at a B, and a D is the lowest it can get to, as an example, right?
It's at a B. Verizon refuses to fix it, goes to C. Verizon fixed it now, or you lose the contract.
And I guess now it's going to be the Sprint Bridge.
joe rogan
Right.
larry sharpe
They have to fix it.
The bridges will actually get fixed.
joe rogan
That makes sense too.
larry sharpe
I might even know about that.
joe rogan
I like this idea.
larry sharpe
So yeah, that's one, right?
So immediately at that point, we're getting money.
The bridge is actually getting fixed.
And here's the best part, the need for tolls.
If you've been through New York State, you know we are the toll monsters.
I mean we are horrible.
joe rogan
It's brutal.
unidentified
Yes.
joe rogan
Didn't they establish those tolls under the false premise of once the bridge was paid off?
larry sharpe
You got it.
joe rogan
Yeah.
larry sharpe
That's correct.
joe rogan
Once they got addicted to that money, they said, well, we're never paying this bitch off.
larry sharpe
That is correct.
Yes.
So instead, now no tolls.
joe rogan
That is so creepy.
larry sharpe
Which means now those truckers that are paying $100 every time they cross that bridge, they pay by the axle, those go away.
joe rogan
Is it $100 every time they cross the bridge?
larry sharpe
For a big truck, a trailer?
Yeah.
Because they pay per axle.
unidentified
That is dirty.
larry sharpe
Yes, it's horrible.
joe rogan
That is so dirty.
larry sharpe
They're paying tons of money every time they cross that bridge.
joe rogan
That goes away.
And just if you could do that, you would win the governor.
larry sharpe
I would hope so.
joe rogan
If you could figure out how to do that, you would become governor.
larry sharpe
The idea's not crazy.
joe rogan
Has anybody ever brought this up besides you?
larry sharpe
Never.
We already have Adopt the Highway.
joe rogan
Just fuck your education system.
This shit would work.
larry sharpe
See that?
I got you on that one, Elise.
This one would work, man.
We'll work on this one instead.
But here's a better part.
I'm not even done yet.
Not only are they paying for maintenance, which means we have lower spending because we're not paying for maintenance.
And here's the even better part.
The less money I have to give out for these contracts, less corruption.
Because I'm not giving out the contracts anymore.
Verizon's giving out contracts.
joe rogan
How much money do they get, though, in the tolls every year?
I would imagine it'd be bigger than $100 million.
larry sharpe
No, it isn't.
joe rogan
It's not?
larry sharpe
No.
Yes, it is.
I'm sorry, yes.
The tolls, I'm sorry, I'm thinking about billions.
Yes, because the New York State budget, I always think of billions.
I apologize.
Yes, it's not $100 billion.
But yes, several billion.
I think just New York City, if I'm not mistaken, is over $2 billion.
joe rogan
Two billion a year in tolls.
That is so dirty.
larry sharpe
That may include MTA. That's all stealing from people.
joe rogan
You can't drive unless you give us money.
You want to cross this line, pay a tax, pay a tariff.
larry sharpe
Yes.
joe rogan
Oof, that's so gross.
larry sharpe
So it's tons of money.
joe rogan
We're so lucky here in California.
larry sharpe
So we could raise that money.
See, I'll make your education happy.
I'll take four billion off of that.
I'll put it back in the teachers and the money's the same.
joe rogan
But if you're taking the money away...
I did not love you.
I was just finding holes in your game.
Now, when you're talking about...
unidentified
No holes.
joe rogan
Don't be silly.
larry sharpe
No holes.
joe rogan
Don't be silly.
There's some holes there.
unidentified
None.
joe rogan
Come on.
unidentified
None.
joe rogan
So, when you take away all that money that people are paying on the tolls, $2 billion a year, how do you replace that?
If they're paying $2 billion a year in tolls.
larry sharpe
If we're getting $100 million just from one bridge.
That's just one bridge.
joe rogan
Okay, how many bridges you got?
larry sharpe
There's over a dozen just in New York City, just in the MTA. And I didn't even count the Erie Canal that has 36 locks.
We can name each lock, repair the entire Erie Canal, make it commercially viable without paying any taxpayer dollars whatsoever.
And we have McDonald's could own one.
They put McDonald's on every single lock.
joe rogan
And the lock, these are for commercial boats?
larry sharpe
Yeah, we can make whatever we want.
Right now, the area canal is run by the Parks and Recs, which it costs us about $100 million every year, including capital projects, to maintain the area canal.
We make less than $5 million.
joe rogan
Have you crunched all the numbers on putting different advertising sponsors in all these different places?
larry sharpe
You can't.
In theory, you will absolutely raise billions.
That I'm sure.
joe rogan
In theory.
larry sharpe
You will raise billions.
The problem is you don't know which one goes first, which one is more valuable.
You don't know how long negotiations will take.
You also don't know will they take the thruways also, what bridges they'll take.
Some bridges may not be viable to be taken.
So I don't know each one.
Some tunnels they may not want to take and then how fast we'll catch on.
joe rogan
Right, so you could do this with tunnels.
You could do this with roadways.
I mean, nobody gives a shit what the parkway is called, the Verrazano Parkway.
It's not making anybody any money by calling it the Verrazano Parkway, right?
larry sharpe
There's another idea.
There's an I-81 in upstate New York, which is falling apart.
So my idea for that is, they're saying, how are we going to fund this interstate?
joe rogan
U-Porn.
U-Porn Highway.
What if they're willing to give you the most money?
larry sharpe
What I'd rather do with a highway is have instead make it a Google road.
joe rogan
A Google road?
Jesus.
You're going to give those fucking people a grip on your state?
larry sharpe
Oh, yeah.
Well, look, if they want to give me a road, here is how it works.
They get their own road.
joe rogan
They get their own road.
larry sharpe
And they can make it a driverless car road, whatever they want.
The rent for that is maintenance of the regular road.
joe rogan
Okay.
larry sharpe
That's the rent.
joe rogan
That's it.
larry sharpe
You maintain the regular road for free.
joe rogan
I like it.
larry sharpe
Right?
You get to keep the next to it Google road.
Now, people don't have an option.
You want to drive into driverless cars they come up with or driverless buses or whatever they come up with.
I don't care what they come up with.
You take it if you want to.
If you don't, drive the regular road.
If Google says, I don't want to pay for it anymore, they lose the Google road.
Someone else buys it.
Now it becomes an Amazon road or a, I don't care, whatever road.
It becomes an Apple road.
Whatever it is.
joe rogan
Whoever's willing.
See, that makes sense to me and I like that because nobody really gives a shit what a road is called.
larry sharpe
That's correct.
Which is why you don't name the road.
You give them a road next to it.
joe rogan
Right.
larry sharpe
Right?
They can use the road they want to just to transfer their goods for Amazon.
It could be an Amazon hub that just moves Amazon products.
Fine.
I don't care as long as you maintain the regular road.
Do what you want with the other road.
joe rogan
What other road is this again?
larry sharpe
It could be an Amazon road.
The only thing is it's a hub to move Amazon products back and forth.
It's fine.
Again, I don't have to know what this is.
It's not required.
They will figure it out on what works for them.
joe rogan
That's an innovative way to generate income.
larry sharpe
Absolutely.
joe rogan
The bridges, the roads.
larry sharpe
Not even done.
The MTA and the subway, right?
The subway plan right now, the answer is the same thing.
Just give them more money.
No, I'm not going to be a hostage to the MTA either.
joe rogan
The T-Mobile subway.
larry sharpe
No, not that.
Instead, because I don't think anybody would care about that anyway.
The issue is, this is all the rail lines.
There are rail lines.
The MTA crosses about 11, I think, or maybe even 12 different counties.
I think it's 11 different counties.
So it's all over.
And a lot of these lines at night aren't used.
So why aren't they freight lines?
Let Amazon move its product from upstate New York into Manhattan on a freight line that's not being used at night.
What's the fee for that?
Fix the lines.
Fix the lines.
Fix them and maintain them.
joe rogan
Is that a viable alternative?
larry sharpe
Yes, absolutely.
joe rogan
If you run this by people, would that make sense for them?
unidentified
Of course.
larry sharpe
People already like the idea.
Of course, yes.
I live in New York City, right?
I live in Queens.
I work in Manhattan.
I know lots of bankers and I ask them these questions and they all say, yeah, nice idea.
Sometimes they say no to some stuff I say, but these they say, they actually asked how long the lease would be on the bridge.
They went that far.
That's how much they like the Bridgette.
You like the Bridgette too, obviously.
joe rogan
It's a good idea.
larry sharpe
It's a good idea.
They like it very much.
joe rogan
Is this all your idea?
larry sharpe
Of course.
joe rogan
She's going to lock that shit down.
larry sharpe
Why?
joe rogan
She's going to steal it.
Cynthia Nixon.
larry sharpe
Let them.
Joe, you just came up with the reason why this is so important.
Because win, lose, or draw, everything I'm talking about stays and will fix my state.
People say all the time, what happens if everyone takes all your ideas?
Good, I'll go home and go back to work.
I can stop doing this.
I hope they steal all my stuff.
joe rogan
The only reason why you're doing this is just because you want to affect change in New York?
larry sharpe
I don't.
There are three reasons why.
Number one, I don't want to leave New York.
Do you ever go to North Carolina?
I have.
unidentified
Beautiful.
larry sharpe
I know.
I know.
joe rogan
You want to try that barbecue?
larry sharpe
I get it, and I don't want to go.
So yes, stop teasing me.
So yes, I don't want to go.
joe rogan
Ever.
larry sharpe
The number one reason is I want to stay in New York.
joe rogan
Okay.
larry sharpe
Number one.
But also, I want to change the state for better, but even more, I can change the nation for better.
New York can be the place where people look and go, wow, you know what?
We can start doing these things.
I'm not even done.
joe rogan
Okay.
larry sharpe
Talking about small business, right?
Wyoming has a law right now that says if you're a small farmer and you agree to not sell outside of Wyoming, that you're immune from federal regulatory bodies.
Helps the small farmers to get a leg up.
I'll do the same thing in New York.
But why can't I do it just for every business?
Every small business.
If you agree you will only sell locally, why are you being bothered by the federal government?
How does the commerce clause come into effect here?
It doesn't.
So how about we make that happen?
joe rogan
So that applies to all restaurants, of course.
unidentified
Absolutely.
larry sharpe
Because they're local.
But unless some border restaurants actually deliver across the border.
joe rogan
Okay.
larry sharpe
So if you deliver across the border, no.
joe rogan
That won't work if you deliver.
unidentified
That's correct.
larry sharpe
If you deliver across the border, it doesn't work.
If you don't deliver...
Or don't cross the border, you're fine.
joe rogan
What about if you use one of those third-party delivery services, you know, where they use an app and they order something?
larry sharpe
The app would be, the people who are actually doing delivery would be responsible, you would not.
joe rogan
Okay.
larry sharpe
As long as that company is based in New York State.
joe rogan
So this keeps all the money in New York State.
larry sharpe
No, it doesn't keep all the money in New York State.
joe rogan
A good amount of it.
larry sharpe
It gives the small business owner a shot at competing against larger businesses, which almost always cross borders.
joe rogan
And it gives farmers a much greater incentive.
unidentified
Yes, to be more farm-to-table, all that stuff.
larry sharpe
Now, I've got to help my farmers out.
My New York State farmers are hurting badly.
That's one idea.
But the second thing is you want to treat farmers like small businesses, and they're not.
Which means they don't get the SBA loans.
They don't get help.
They don't get treated that way.
It does not work when you treat them like small businesses.
But next, I want to completely legalize hemp and cannabis.
joe rogan
Now you're talking.
larry sharpe
And I want to regulate them like onions.
unidentified
Onions?
larry sharpe
Like onions.
I'm not joking.
Like onions.
joe rogan
Why onions?
larry sharpe
Here's the reason why.
A lot of onions come out of New York.
unidentified
That's why.
larry sharpe
Yes.
joe rogan
And you can grow your own onions and no one gets it.
Who cares?
larry sharpe
Bingo.
Exactly correct.
And here's the issue.
There are three reasons why I want to utilize hemp and cannabis.
And most people think, you want to get high.
No.
The only drug I use is cannabis.
I mean, it's cannabis.
Is caffeine.
joe rogan
Oh, busted.
larry sharpe
Look at you, Freud.
I like that.
That's about cannabis.
No, but if I use cannabis, I would happily tell you.
joe rogan
Right.
larry sharpe
So I don't have anything to hide.
joe rogan
Okay.
larry sharpe
I would happily tell you.
joe rogan
You ever use it?
larry sharpe
Not my thing.
joe rogan
Do you get paranoid and worry about the school system when you get high?
larry sharpe
I think I talk even more.
I don't want to talk even more, do I? You might not, man.
joe rogan
You might be introspective.
You might sit back and go, God, I talk too much.
larry sharpe
Yeah, maybe.
joe rogan
Have you ever done mushrooms?
larry sharpe
That's what happens.
I've never done mushrooms.
joe rogan
Yeah, when I do mushrooms, I feel like I talk too much.
larry sharpe
So maybe.
Maybe I should try them one day.
joe rogan
You've never done mushrooms?
larry sharpe
Never done mushrooms.
joe rogan
That makes me uncomfortable.
larry sharpe
Yes.
Yeah, I'm very square.
joe rogan
But you're my age, right?
How old are you?
larry sharpe
I'm 50. Yeah, I'm 51. There we go.
joe rogan
You've never done mushrooms?
larry sharpe
Never.
joe rogan
So somebody came up to you and go, Larry, you want to do some mushrooms?
And you're like, no, man.
One day I want to be governor.
larry sharpe
That's what I was thinking.
I was seven, and I thought, gotta be governor one day.
joe rogan
Jesus, who's bringing mushrooms to a fucking seven-year-old?
larry sharpe
No, that's what I was thinking.
joe rogan
What kind of psycho are you hanging around with?
larry sharpe
You don't understand where I grew up.
I get it.
Where I grew up.
No, I grew up in South Bronx.
joe rogan
Oh, even more crazy.
larry sharpe
It was crazy.
joe rogan
Do you know Tim Dog?
larry sharpe
I don't know who Tim Dog is.
Sorry.
I haven't been in the Bronx in many years.
joe rogan
South Bronx.
unidentified
Sorry.
larry sharpe
I haven't been in the Bronx in many years.
Apologize.
But anyway.
joe rogan
It's a very obscure reference.
Mushrooms and marijuana.
larry sharpe
Yes, thank you.
joe rogan
And you've never smoked pot?
larry sharpe
I have not.
No.
joe rogan
Never?
larry sharpe
Never have.
joe rogan
What the fuck?
I can't get behind you, bro.
larry sharpe
Sorry.
Never have.
joe rogan
What kind of square are you, dude?
larry sharpe
I'm square.
joe rogan
No pot, no mushrooms.
larry sharpe
I don't even drink alcohol.
joe rogan
You haven't done acid?
larry sharpe
Nope.
joe rogan
Do you want to try it?
larry sharpe
Maybe one day.
joe rogan
What about right now?
larry sharpe
No.
Not now?
No, no, no, no.
I'm running a campaign, my friend.
joe rogan
Oh.
larry sharpe
Maybe it'll help you.
joe rogan
Maybe it'll help you.
larry sharpe
Odds are no.
Talk to me November 7th.
joe rogan
Okay.
larry sharpe
November 7th.
joe rogan
Okay, November 7th.
larry sharpe
To be forward, I'm not against any of these things.
It's your body, you own your body.
joe rogan
Okay.
larry sharpe
So if I smoke cannabis- No, I don't drink either.
joe rogan
You don't ever drink?
Not even a beer?
larry sharpe
Once in a while?
joe rogan
A glass of wine with dinner?
larry sharpe
If people are around drinking, I'll drink.
unidentified
Right.
larry sharpe
But I don't have any alcohol in my house.
I don't drink unless others are drinking.
joe rogan
Okay.
larry sharpe
I'll socially drink.
Again, I don't have any problem with it.
joe rogan
So your focus for most of your life has been what?
Business?
larry sharpe
First it was military.
I was a Marine for seven years.
joe rogan
And then?
larry sharpe
And then it was business.
Yes.
joe rogan
So you're just a keep your nose to the grindstone kind of guy.
Yes.
Get things done.
larry sharpe
How else could I do this?
Have you seen my campaign?
The last three gubernatorial campaigns in New York State combined didn't raise $10,000.
Combined.
I raised over a quarter million already.
The last three gubernatorial candidates combined didn't do anywhere near the amount of stops I've made, and I still have two months left.
joe rogan
How much does Cynthia Nixon raise?
larry sharpe
1.7, I think, million?
joe rogan
That is crazy.
larry sharpe
I think 1.7.
joe rogan
How many people are getting behind sex in the city?
larry sharpe
A lot.
joe rogan
There's a lot of that menopause money out there, bro.
larry sharpe
I need some of that, I guess.
I don't know.
joe rogan
It's floating around.
larry sharpe
My point being, yes, nose to the grindstone.
I'm doing this, of course.
joe rogan
Okay, I believe you.
larry sharpe
Absolutely.
joe rogan
No mushrooms, though, huh?
larry sharpe
No mushrooms.
joe rogan
Nothing.
larry sharpe
Maybe later.
unidentified
Not now.
larry sharpe
Wait till November 7th.
joe rogan
And then once you hit?
larry sharpe
Then maybe.
unidentified
We'll see.
joe rogan
Then maybe you party with me?
larry sharpe
Maybe.
If I win, I can't do it while I'm governor.
That would be not cool.
joe rogan
But marijuana, isn't it legal in New York State?
No, still not.
You have to have serious diseases, right?
That's correct.
Can you fix that?
larry sharpe
Of course.
That's the point.
joe rogan
Yeah, that seems really preposterous.
larry sharpe
Look, my whole point on cannabis and hemp is heavily because of farmers also, right?
unidentified
Right.
larry sharpe
The small farmers right now— Particularly hemp.
Yes, particularly hemp, yes.
joe rogan
Because it's totally uncontroversial and it's a fantastic commodity.
larry sharpe
It's good for the soil.
It's good for the environment.
And the best thing is if you treat small farmers like small businesses, they can now specialize.
Meaning they can specialize in hemp and then also create products on their farm.
They want specialized hemp products.
They can do that and create niche industries.
And we see that in New York State with both coffee and breweries.
We see everybody happening in New York State.
joe rogan
And you would have the same sort of incentives for them to sell in New York.
larry sharpe
Absolutely.
Yes.
joe rogan
Particularly hemp, which would be incredibly beneficial with zero controversy.
larry sharpe
That's correct.
joe rogan
Yes.
unidentified
In terms of like psychoactive effects, it doesn't have- People would be very happy to do that, right?
larry sharpe
But cannabis too, because I want you to be able to create cannabis products.
But there's something else, and that is there are a lot of people in this country, but I'll talk about New York State specifically, who have chronic pain.
And right now they have three choices.
One, an opioid, maybe get addicted.
Two, suffer, which I don't accept.
Or three, what people tell me, and for some reason, again, it's only been women who've told me this.
They walk up to me and say, you know, Larry, I hope you can legalize marijuana because I smoke a little at night so I can go to sleep.
joe rogan
What about CBD? CBD is legal in your state?
larry sharpe
No, I don't think so.
joe rogan
It's not.
larry sharpe
I don't think it is.
Fucking A. You know, it's a good question.
I don't think it is.
joe rogan
That's crazy.
larry sharpe
It's probably medicinal.
I'm sorry.
It's probably medicinal.
CBD? Probably.
That'd be my assumption.
joe rogan
But CBD has no psychoactive effects, no side effects.
larry sharpe
No, I know.
But it comes with cannabis.
joe rogan
Right.
unidentified
So I think it is- Well, Jamie's going to look it up real quick.
larry sharpe
I think it's medical in New York State.
joe rogan
So you have to have some sort of a doctor's prescription to get CBD. Yes.
larry sharpe
So my point is if it's onions, you can grow it in your backyard.
joe rogan
Right.
larry sharpe
Grain medicine in your backyard.
Right.
Carrots, tomatoes.
unidentified
Yes.
larry sharpe
Big business wins.
Small business loses.
Guaranteed.
It'll become big business cronyism.
The small farmers collapse.
It's the wrong answer.
So we need to make that happen.
And people are already smoking it.
Maybe you don't want to smoke it.
Why don't you have an edible?
Why don't you have liquid?
Why don't you have whatever's your thing?
You don't have to smoke it.
If you want to smoke it, please smoke it.
But there's many ways of taking advantage of both THC and CBD, which you prefer.
And look, it's your body, not mine.
And why in the world would I want you to have to live with chronic pain if you don't have to?
joe rogan
I said it again, I'm not about being righteous.
Because CBD, again, is not psychoactive.
Is it legal?
Yeah, okay, it is legal in New York.
It's pretty legal everywhere, CBD, because of the fact that it doesn't have any psychoactive effects.
And it's fantastic for people with arthritis.
And so a lot of older folks are, I mean, shit, I got Ted Nugent taking it.
larry sharpe
How about that?
joe rogan
He's never even touched anything marijuana related.
Does he?
larry sharpe
Yeah, he likes my Facebook stuff.
joe rogan
Well, one of the things that Ted likes is that you're a Second Amendment proponent.
larry sharpe
I am.
Very true.
joe rogan
Yes.
You know, there's an issue that I have with people demonizing the National Rifle Association.
And one big issue is they always point to these school shootings.
And I'm like, God damn it, not a single NRA member has ever committed one of these mass shootings.
This is not NRA members.
So you guys are going after people that are fighting for the right for people to have arms when there's people that are taking these arms and they're using them completely illegally and none of them are in the NRA. It doesn't make any sense.
larry sharpe
Yep.
Well, you find a boogeyman.
joe rogan
Right, but that boogeyman is culturally accepted.
larry sharpe
Yes.
joe rogan
And it's really confusing.
And then it's not helped by the fact that a lot of people that are NRA proponents get, you know, they dig their heels in the sand.
unidentified
Yes.
joe rogan
And they fight hard, and very much emotionally so, against people who are against the NRA, and then it becomes this...
Tribal thing.
larry sharpe
It does.
And the tribal issue is the biggest issue.
I totally agree.
It's a point where you're not even listening to each other.
This is why I say the third party is the way.
Look, people ask, Larry, can you win this thing?
And I hear it all the time.
Critique I get is, you can't win, man.
What are you doing you can't win?
joe rogan
Who's saying that to you?
larry sharpe
Particularly right now, Republicans, but some Democrats too.
They're heavily saying, you can't win.
You can't win.
You can't win.
But two answers.
joe rogan
They're hopeful you can't win.
larry sharpe
Yeah, a lot of them are.
Some aren't.
Some aren't.
But there's two things to remember, though.
The first thing is, I can win.
And here's the reason why.
The Republican cannot win because there's only about two and a half million Republicans in New York State and about six and a half million Democrats in New York State, give or take.
The tribalism we have now, if you're a Democrat, you're not going to vote for a Republican.
If you're a Republican, you're not going to vote for a Democrat.
But you might vote for a Libertarian.
You might vote for somebody who's not the other evil guy.
So I have the option of getting the other things.
I can get the other guys.
And I can get the 70% of New Yorkers who don't vote.
I can get those.
So there's a chance to win.
And on top of that, a five-way race only needing 30% to win.
This is a winnable race.
This can be done.
But let's say I'm wrong.
I've been wrong.
Maybe all my ideas are wrong.
Maybe every hole you found is a real hole and it can't be done.
And maybe they all destroy me and they beat me up and I can't win.
joe rogan
Get rid of those polls and you win, bro.
Get those fucking polls out.
Get those tolls.
Not polls, rather.
larry sharpe
Tolls.
joe rogan
Get those tolls gone and you can win the whole thing.
larry sharpe
But say I'm wrong and I can't win.
Great.
If I just come in second, I beat the Republican only.
Imagine what it does for the state.
The first thing it does is it shows them that a third party can actually have impact in New York State, which means the entire nation off the bat.
People at third parties will start thinking, wait a minute, we can do something.
joe rogan
In a big state.
larry sharpe
Yes.
And something else.
It will make better Republicans and better Democrats because right now neither of them does anything for anybody.
They don't care if nothing gets done.
But when there's a third party, I become the referee.
I'm the one who says, Democrats, you're supposed to be about civil liberties.
You're not.
What's wrong?
Republicans are supposed to be about less government and Second Amendment and small business.
You're not.
What's wrong?
And now the media hears me.
Now people hear me.
They have to become better because if they're not, they'll come to me instead and they'll see it.
And out of fear, they'll begin to change.
joe rogan
Now, what do you think about this move toward democratic socialism?
And you're seeing this a lot in young kids in particular.
They seem to be abandoning this old system and trying to adopt a much more radical left-wing system.
unidentified
Yes.
joe rogan
And apparently there's some real problems with that lady who won.
larry sharpe
She's literally my congresswoman.
She won my congresswoman.
unidentified
Yes.
larry sharpe
AOC. Alexandria Ocasio.
Alexandria Cortez.
joe rogan
Was that true?
Are they smearing her or is it true that she used to be a Republican anti-abortion person?
I have no idea.
And that she's really from Florida.
larry sharpe
I don't know.
joe rogan
I don't know.
People are so terrified of her and attacking her and she's made some missteps too on her own.
larry sharpe
What we have to realize is socialism for most Americans today, particularly young ones, is just the newest ideology of rebellion.
joe rogan
Right.
larry sharpe
That's all it is.
Most of them don't know.
Most of the people, the youngsters particularly, who actually supported Bernie, Couldn't tell you any of his policies.
They just knew he wasn't the establishment.
The same with Trump, though.
There were a lot of people who were Trump who couldn't tell you one policy.
joe rogan
But there's things that he says that Bernie says that resonate with people.
And one of them is that there's income inequality in this country.
larry sharpe
Very true.
joe rogan
That's a big one.
unidentified
Yes.
joe rogan
And so people say, oh, well, the game is rigged and Bernie's going to fix it.
larry sharpe
Yes.
Well, the game is rigged.
That's true.
And inequality is happening.
That's true.
But it's rigged because of corruption because of the two-party system.
Right.
It's rigged because of corny capitalism.
joe rogan
Right.
larry sharpe
That's why it's rigged, but it is rigged.
The problem is you have a system where people keep saying it's the free market, right?
This happened with Obamacare, by the way.
With Obamacare, they said, well, we have markets, right?
We have the marketplace where you can go buy insurance.
unidentified
Mm-hmm.
larry sharpe
And what people then heard was, oh, it's a free market.
It's not a free market, but that's what they heard.
It was a free market.
So then when Obamacare fails in certain states, what do they say?
The market didn't work.
See?
We need single payer.
The market didn't work.
We need single payer.
That's how it spun.
And single payer is, oh, single payer is the right answer.
It's Medicare for all.
Well, that sounds amazing, but it won't be.
What it will be is VA for all.
And the VA is a disaster.
unidentified
Right?
larry sharpe
It'll be a two-tiered system, and it's a disaster.
And what most people don't realize is socialism actually equals a two-tiered system.
The reason why so many people who are wealthy will be fine with Obamacare or socialism is because they're not going to use it.
They're not using it.
I see it in Manhattan.
Where I'm in Manhattan, it's already happening.
Because of how New York State works and how bad the system is, you have less and less options for insurers.
There's only like one or two insurers now left in New York State.
They're leaving.
They're walking away.
They can't make any money.
So what's happening now is all the best doctors – I shouldn't say all.
Most of the best doctors don't take insurance anymore.
joe rogan
Really?
larry sharpe
Don't take it.
Just don't take it.
joe rogan
Really?
larry sharpe
Yes.
So what do you have?
joe rogan
The best doctors have enough patients that are wealthy that want the best medical care.
They can go, look, you're going to have to pay me.
unidentified
Yes.
larry sharpe
And it's actually a better...
I know, because in my own family, right?
joe rogan
That's crazy.
larry sharpe
I'm a business owner, so I have to pay for my own Obamacare, right?
But my wife won't go on Obamacare.
So my wife takes private doctors and I take Obamacare doctors.
That's how it works in my actual family.
So when we go to a doctor's office, you can see a difference, right?
If a doctor takes insurance, two doctors in a doctor's office, five people who are administrators, and they care more about photocopying your documents than you – You're in the way.
The room's bad.
No one cares.
Whatever.
Your appointment's at 2 o'clock.
You get seen at 345. Now change it.
Now it's a doctor who does not take insurance.
Well, that's five doctors in that office.
Two administrators.
You show up.
They're like, hey, how are you?
What's going on?
Please have a seat.
Whatever.
They take your credit card or your check.
Whatever.
Boom.
You're good to go.
Your appointment's at 2 o'clock.
joe rogan
You get seen at 205. Well, the comparison, a valid comparison is Canada's healthcare system versus America's.
I have friends from Canada that come to America to get healthcare.
larry sharpe
Yes.
joe rogan
Because the healthcare system over there, although it's free, it's not as good in many aspects.
That's correct.
And the waiting lists are massive.
larry sharpe
And the wealthy come someplace else, a two-tiered system.
Exactly correct, right?
joe rogan
Right.
larry sharpe
They literally have a thing now where you go on vacation to get your stuff done, right?
Yes.
I mean, it's horrible, right?
But let me finish the last piece.
joe rogan
Okay.
larry sharpe
He'll talk to you for maybe 5, 10, 15 minutes at most, and it will always end with one of two things, a prescription or a procedure.
That's how they get paid.
They bill Medicare, right?
They bill Medicaid.
They bill your insurance company.
Prescription or procedure.
They're always doing this.
They make money.
Private, the person talks for 20 minutes, 30 minutes.
Ask you things that matter like how are you eating?
How are you sleeping?
What's your stress level?
Things that actually matter when it comes to your health.
They ask those questions.
What's going on?
All those things.
They begin to ask these questions to see if it works.
Then it doesn't always end with that.
It ends with whatever's appropriate because you're writing them a check anyway.
joe rogan
Right.
larry sharpe
They're getting their 300 bucks for one visit, no matter what.
You're renting them a check or you're swapping your credit card.
joe rogan
And there's an incentive for you to talk about what a good doctor they are.
unidentified
That's correct.
joe rogan
So they get more business that pays them the same way you're paying them.
larry sharpe
That is exactly correct.
joe rogan
And they don't have to go through all the bullshit paperwork.
larry sharpe
Because you are the customer.
joe rogan
Right.
larry sharpe
Right?
When it comes to anyone who takes insurance, the insurance company is the customer.
joe rogan
Right.
Now, people that are listening to this that don't have enough money to pay for that are saying, well, I want that kind of care.
unidentified
Yep.
joe rogan
And I want it to be federally funded.
unidentified
Yep.
joe rogan
Is that possible?
larry sharpe
The combination?
No.
Can you get good care?
Yes.
And how do I know this?
Again, anything I'm saying is based on something, right?
And the best example I can give you is non-emergency or non-critical care.
Things like LASIK eye surgery, things like cosmetic dentistry, all types of things, right?
Getting breast enhancements, things of that sort.
Any type of enhancement.
Yes, any of those things, right?
If you remember years ago, you're as old as I am, so you know.
When LASIK first came out, they used to charge you per eye.
Because it was so expensive.
It was so expensive.
It was per eye.
Now you get both done for less than a thousand bucks.
Right?
Sometimes a couple hundred bucks, depending on where you go.
So what's happened in every instance, service level's gone up, price has gone down, technology has gone up.
In every case, that's happened.
So why don't we follow the same model in this?
And can it work?
It's sort of happening.
The Oklahoma Surgery Center right now, right, is doing it right now.
They list all their pricing.
unidentified
Right?
larry sharpe
So you can actually figure, oh, okay, I can get this.
I know what it costs.
joe rogan
It's cheaper than anything else.
And they do this outside of insurance?
unidentified
Correct.
larry sharpe
No insurance.
Yes.
There's a model that's popping up in certain areas now, doctors that are coming out of it.
joe rogan
And this is in Oklahoma only?
larry sharpe
That I know of.
There may be others, but that one I know of.
joe rogan
Interesting.
larry sharpe
So I think it's actually called the Oklahoma Center for Surgery or something like surgery center, something like that.
joe rogan
And so the ideal situation would be that would be available for people that can afford it.
And for people that can't afford it, there's always going to be catastrophic healthcare.
You break your leg, you're going to be taken care of.
larry sharpe
Well, here's the issue.
joe rogan
You get the flu, you're going to be taken care of.
larry sharpe
There's a bigger issue here.
And the bigger issue is we in this country have confused healthcare with healthcare insurance.
They are two totally separate things.
I don't talk much about healthcare insurance that much because I care more about the healthcare system itself.
The system itself is broken.
It's a cartel system.
So it's literally people in a room get together and go, hey, what do you think?
Aspirin, 85 bucks?
What do you think?
Yeah?
85 bucks it is for aspirin.
joe rogan
And it's not based on how much it costs to make aspirin?
larry sharpe
No, not at all.
Not at all.
It is literally a cartel system.
joe rogan
So is that like that Martin, what is that little twat's name that wound up going to jail?
The kid on the Wu-Tang Clan album?
larry sharpe
Perfect example.
joe rogan
Who jacked up the price of some medication in a horrific way?
larry sharpe
Perfect example.
Yes, that of course is an extreme example.
But that's actually happening.
If you've ever gone to a hospital or gone to a doctor's office and you see the – they give you the bill, right?
Aspirin, 85 bucks.
In a bed for five minutes, $3,000.
I mean they do that, right?
And that's a problem in itself and one of the reasons is this.
Right now healthcare system – it's the current healthcare system.
All right, Joe, you decide you want to get a new job and you want to get some new clothes for your job.
So you come to me, the clother, Larry, and you say, hey, I need some new clothes.
I go, great.
Here's some new clothes and I show you what you're going to do and I give you your hat and clothes and everything you got.
It's awesome.
You go, thanks, Larry.
It's perfect.
Awesome.
How much does it cost?
And I say, I don't know.
You say, wait a minute.
I came to your store.
You gave me the perfect outfit for my new job.
You don't know how much it costs?
That's correct.
It's perfect.
I don't know how much it costs.
Here's what we're going to do.
You go home.
Take the clothes.
It's great for you.
You're going to get a bill in the mail about a week or so.
Whatever the bill is, I don't know what it is.
You have to pay.
That's our current healthcare system.
joe rogan
Wow.
That is true.
larry sharpe
Yes, that's how it works.
joe rogan
That is true.
larry sharpe
It's only in our system.
joe rogan
Right.
larry sharpe
You don't do that for a car or clothes or computers.
joe rogan
For anything else.
larry sharpe
Nothing else.
Only that.
joe rogan
It's true.
larry sharpe
But here's the worst part.
All right.
You decide you want to buy this water from me.
unidentified
Right?
larry sharpe
I'm sorry.
Jamie.
Jamie.
So Jamie decides he wants to buy this water from you.
joe rogan
You can call him Young Jamie if you want to be able to.
larry sharpe
Young Jamie.
Young Jamie wants to buy this water from you.
And you agree you want to sell to him for a dollar.
He agrees he's going to buy it for a dollar.
I step in.
I'm insurance.
Nope.
You cannot have this.
I have deemed as the insurance company that this actually is worth 50 cents.
I've decided so.
So I give him the water.
joe rogan
So I'm trying to sell the water for a dollar.
The insurance company says, fuck you, it's 50 cents.
larry sharpe
That's correct.
And gives you 50 cents.
Done.
joe rogan
Yeah, that's a real problem with doctors.
larry sharpe
Yes, absolutely.
So here comes next piece though.
Now, this guy over here, and he wants to buy the water too.
He doesn't have insurance.
I can't get involved.
Well, you want to sell the water to him.
How much do you want to sell the water to him now?
A buck fifty now.
You're going to make up 50 cents for him.
So he's paying three times as much he's paying.
joe rogan
How do you fix that?
larry sharpe
That's the current system.
joe rogan
How would you fix that?
larry sharpe
Transparency, transparency, transparency.
Number one thing, transparency.
joe rogan
You go to the doctor's office, you broke your foot.
You say, a broken foot costs this.
It costs $50 an hour for that.
It costs 15 cents per pill for this.
larry sharpe
That kind of shit.
That would be amazing.
But just doing one thing, just saying, in New York State, just saying this.
If you sell medical services like any other service, you must be transparent.
Right?
That's it.
That's it.
joe rogan
So you can't just give someone a bill.
You have to show them why it costs what it costs.
larry sharpe
Yes.
joe rogan
And you have to have a standard.
larry sharpe
Absolutely.
joe rogan
That's very reasonable.
larry sharpe
Yes.
It's like a car, right?
You don't always know how much it costs to fix the car.
They give an estimate.
joe rogan
So you feel like this system has just been in place for a long time, and they've taken advantage of it, and they have power, and so they're just leaving it the way it is.
larry sharpe
There's also a bunch of fear.
And this isn't enough, right?
This concept of transparency is not enough.
All these problems that we have, people often say, well, Larry, what's the answer?
It's not one thing.
It's many things.
Transparency is a huge piece.
But you also have to facilitate more things.
As an example, you want to facilitate an environment to where if a Okay.
The current system people are starting to use now is what I call the Costco model, which is basically a membership model, right?
So the doctor's office has all of us as customers.
All of us decide to pay or they agree whatever the payment is.
It's $400 a month or you have a kid so you're $800 a month or you're singles, whatever the price is.
We all pay.
We now can go to that doctor's office whenever we need to.
And whoever's in the office, whatever they have, we have access to.
It costs five bucks.
Five bucks per day, that's all.
They try this at zero, just doing it free, but senior citizens would show up every day.
So they charge instead $5, $5.
Show up at $5 anytime you need to.
What's the goal of the doctor's office?
The goal of the doctor's office is for you to be healthy, for you to never show up.
Just pay your $400 every month and to never show up.
That would be awesome, right?
unidentified
Right.
larry sharpe
Now, that's happening already, right?
The advantage is whatever they have, we get to use.
So if they start making more money, they will bring on more doctors.
They will bring on more everything so that you will get more of your family and friends to come and pay them the monthly fee, like a gym membership.
Same thing, right?
As long as you're healthy, you're fine.
unidentified
Right.
larry sharpe
What will happen is, as long as they can help you, they help you.
If they can't, two things.
You have catastrophic insurance.
And they would have some type of agreement with another facility, like a hospital or something like that, so that they would get a lower price because you're going to them, they're sending patients to you, right?
So if you had a bigger issue they couldn't handle, they have an agreement with other facilities, so you get a lower price anyway.
But you'd have insurance for that, catastrophic insurance, of course.
And we already have something like that.
We have long-term care insurance, right?
Which is insurance that when you get something that will last a long time, there are insurances that will help to pay along, but also...
But more importantly than that, with that in mind, we have to take care of our people who are very poor.
So what can we do?
We can have a system to where you have the option to take insurance normally if you want to or this system and here's an incentive.
If you decide to say, as an example, and I'm making this up as an example only, you know, 10% of your people you will bring on for free.
And based upon how we decide that they're poor, I'm making this up as an idea, so they are eligible for free school lunch in New York State.
That's how we as New York State will define poor, for the sake of argument.
If they're eligible for that, you take those people, then we will give you a break on this tax or this fee or this thing if you do this.
Many of the smaller doctors, the break probably won't be enough and they probably won't take it.
But large organizations probably will.
So larger companies will take on people who can't afford to pay anything.
This is another idea or concept.
You start making this happen and facilitating this and you will see healthcare will get cheaper.
And when healthcare gets cheaper, now insurance gets cheaper.
unidentified
Sure.
larry sharpe
Now you have more people who want to get into the insurance business.
You'll have more options and choices for insurance.
You'll have people who just get emergency room insurance.
Some people who just get long-term care insurance.
Some people who just get X, Y, and Z insurance.
joe rogan
How could you reduce the number, the amount of money, rather, that pharmaceutical drugs cost?
Because that would be a big issue, right?
larry sharpe
It would be, absolutely.
Now, there's several things.
One, of course, is the FDA. The FDA stifles so much.
I mean, the FDA has to be completely rebooted.
I can't really do that in New York State.
That's the thing the state government really can't do much of.
All I can do is force them to be transparent so that people see how bad it is.
As a general rule, and this isn't 100% rule, but a general rule is when you shine a light on bad behavior, almost always you can make the bad behavior less.
So when it has to be transparent and when you actually see each pill costs all this money, enough people go, dude, what are you doing?
Enough go, what are you doing?
I'm not doing this.
And it will force the system to change.
But that's a long-term solution that is really a federal issue.
joe rogan
Well, listen, Larry, you got some really good ideas.
They're very revolutionary.
You're a bold motherfucker.
unidentified
That's the goal.
joe rogan
You're taking some chances.
larry sharpe
Absolutely.
joe rogan
I like the fact that you're sticking your neck out there with a lot of these things, and I hope you really do well.
larry sharpe
Let me wrap the last piece up here.
joe rogan
Please do.
larry sharpe
If I don't win.
joe rogan
If you don't win.
larry sharpe
If I win, it changes this nation overnight.
100%.
Because all the ideas pop up.
Things will change.
You will see people who are independent step up.
joe rogan
What do you have to do to get them to be in the debates?
larry sharpe
Just be popular.
joe rogan
That's it?
larry sharpe
That's it.
joe rogan
How much do you have to be popular?
What has to be decided?
larry sharpe
They just decide.
joe rogan
Who decides?
Is there a state committee for what the presidential thing is?
larry sharpe
Cuomo decides if he wants to show up or not.
joe rogan
That's it?
larry sharpe
Yes.
And what he does is he says, follow my rules and I'll show up.
joe rogan
What is his rules?
larry sharpe
Whatever he feels is appropriate.
unidentified
Really?
joe rogan
He can do that?
larry sharpe
Yeah.
Oh, he won't show.
He did it with Nixon.
He said it has to be sit down, must be here, must be there.
She said yes, he showed up.
So he'll have his rules.
I'll say yes, and I'll show up.
joe rogan
Will he do that with you?
larry sharpe
I don't know.
I think he will.
In the last two times, he did it.
All four people showed up.
joe rogan
Well, good for him.
larry sharpe
So yes, last time he did it.
So he probably will.
joe rogan
When would this possibly happen?
larry sharpe
October.
joe rogan
October.
Yes.
And we could promote that.
unidentified
Of course.
joe rogan
We could tell people about it.
Absolutely.
What would be the key things that you and him would butt heads on?
larry sharpe
Wow, so much.
As a general rule, the biggest thing is the state's collapsing, and he doesn't say that.
He says the state's awesome because we have great gun control.
It's literally what he says.
He's worried about fighting Trump.
He thinks fighting Trump is everything because he's running for president in 2020. So his entire campaign is, I'm the only one who can beat Trump.
I'm the only one who can protect New York State from Trump.
joe rogan
And if he loses the governorship...
He's fucked running for president.
larry sharpe
I don't know.
Depends on how Democrats think.
I mean, you know, depends.
Some Democrats...
Depends on who wants to fight Trump in 2020. If Trump is very popular, a lot of Democrats won't want to fight him, and Cuomo will.
joe rogan
Who else is going to run?
larry sharpe
What do you mean for 2020?
joe rogan
For president as a Democrat.
Is Hillary running again?
larry sharpe
I don't know.
joe rogan
It seems like she is, right?
larry sharpe
Maybe.
joe rogan
It seems like Bernie might run again.
larry sharpe
He might.
Yeah.
I don't know.
joe rogan
There's a lot of mights.
larry sharpe
So, I don't really know.
His loss might mean that he doesn't run, but...
joe rogan
But if you win...
larry sharpe
Changes the entire nation.
Not just that, you will find people who are liberty-leaning all of a sudden running a libertarian banner because I'm right now the most popular guy running who has an L by his name.
There are some libertarians who are running who don't have L's by their name.
They're running in non-partisan races.
I'm running boldly with an L by my name, right?
So I'm trying to change the brand so it's a decent brand is what I'm doing.
I put libertarian on my stuff.
I'm always libertarian.
So I'm trying to build the brand out to be a better brand.
So if I win, the brand's better.
People will do that.
We'll raise There'll be a real third party.
I mean, there'll be a third party in the United States which will make better Democrats and better Republicans.
We'll literally be a better nation.
A better politic will be better in America if I actually win this damn thing.
But let's say I lose.
Say I'm wrong.
My things, my ideas are wrong.
Whatever people don't agree, I lose.
It doesn't matter.
The bold ideas are still out there.
What you heard, what your audience heard is still there.
Someone's going to pick this up.
Someone's going to talk about it.
And you're fine with that?
100%.
Yes, please.
I want to fix things.
I'm not concerned with who gets the credit for it.
Let's fix it.
I want a better place to live.
This country is in trouble.
New York is a perfect example of where we're going.
I don't want that to be the rest of this nation.
We can fix...
Steal all my stuff, please.
Steal it all.
Awesome.
I hope you steal it.
I hope California copies me and does everything I said.
It'd be amazing.
Please do that.
It'd be awesome.
But if people don't hear me...
If I don't get out there, if I don't get on the debate stage and I don't come in second or third, then no one's going to hear me because I'm going to be forgotten.
But if I come in second or a tight third, there will be a microphone in my face for the next two years.
And every time it's out there, I'll be saying stuff just like this again and again and again.
And maybe my education isn't perfect.
But guess what?
Someone will figure out the right one.
It won't be just keep giving it money.
It won't be that.
It'll be something that'll actually work.
It'll be something brand new and exciting and get people to come back to our state.
What I don't want is what's happening now is kids get educated, they leave, they don't come back, or they get educated someplace else and never come back.
It's the wrong answer.
joe rogan
Good luck to you, Larry.
Thank you very much for being here.
Larry Sharp, ladies and gentlemen.
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