Freedomain Radio - Stefan Molyneux - I'm Good it SUCKS! CALL IN SHOW
Aired: 2026-03-02
Duration: 01:35:04


=== Why Being Moral Is Hard (07:45) ===

[00:00:00]  I don't see how being a moral person gets you ahead in life anymore.
[00:00:04]  I've been making all the good decisions and I've been listening to Free Domain since roughly 2018.
[00:00:09]  I've never used drugs.
[00:00:10]  I quit alcohol years ago and I work out regularly.
[00:00:14]  I've been fiscally conservative, bought a house in 2013.
[00:00:17]  I've gotten engaged and married and we want to raise children peacefully.
[00:00:21]  My relationship and physicality are great, but my career is dead in the water.
[00:00:25]  I quit the military to be a more moral person.
[00:00:28]  And so far, I think that has been a mistake.
[00:00:32]  If I want to learn how to help people at home, I run into all sorts of problems and I don't necessarily meet any DEI requirements.
[00:00:41]  As far as I'm concerned, being a moral person just gets you wrung out and exploited by the billionaire pedophiles giving away money to pedophiles on welfare.
[00:00:50]  They say money does not buy happiness, but having none makes me unable to start a family.
[00:00:55]  This has radicalized me to an extent I never held possible even a few weeks ago.
[00:01:00]  Buying a house means the local government is raising the wealth taxes on something that only exists on paper.
[00:01:06]  Working hard just means you pay more on income tax.
[00:01:10]  The more information comes out about Somali learing centers, the Epstein files, and all the other forms of fraud the government is involved in, the more I find myself having violent thoughts towards people, most of whom I know have never done anything wrong purposely.
[00:01:26]  I really don't see a way ahead anymore.
[00:01:28]  At this point, I'm rather hoping for a terrorist attack or something to kickstart the civil war and just get things over with.
[00:01:34]  Can you please help me find the way ahead and find hope for the future?
[00:01:38]  Thank you.
[00:01:39]  Well, listen, I certainly get where you're coming from, and I appreciate the honesty.
[00:01:43]  Is there more that you want to add?
[00:01:46]  No, no, that was what's in the email.
[00:01:49]  No, I know that's what's in the email.
[00:01:50]  You just read it.
[00:01:51]  But is there anything that you wanted to add outside of that?
[00:01:57]  Over the past few days, especially with all the normies finding out about the Epstein files, I found that I'm not the only one radicalized this much.
[00:02:08]  Most of my friends are younger, and the cynicism among young people, it's just ridiculous.
[00:02:19]  The idea that, oh, no, we're just paying taxes so pedophiles can become billionaires.
[00:02:26]  That's like normal now.
[00:02:28]  It was a complete insane conspiracy theory two weeks ago, and now it's normal.
[00:02:33]  Everyone knows.
[00:02:35]  Except boomers, obviously, but everyone else knows.
[00:02:38]  So is that good news?
[00:02:41]  I don't know.
[00:02:42]  I think so.
[00:02:45]  I don't know how to get ahead anymore.
[00:02:49]  Okay, so whatever is going to happen.
[00:02:51]  I'm sorry, say ahead.
[00:02:52]  No, no, no.
[00:02:54]  It's your show.
[00:02:55]  No, no, it's your call.
[00:02:57]  I mean, go ahead.
[00:02:59]  Whatever is going to happen in the next few weeks, I hope days, but it's probably going to be weeks or months, it's going to be insane.
[00:03:09]  We have been screaming about the ship sinking, the house being on fire for years, and people looked at the fire and told us we were crazy.
[00:03:18]  And some people still do, but for most people, it's out now.
[00:03:23]  They can no longer ignore the fact that it's all one big mess and everyone is in power.
[00:03:29]  Everyone in power is basically involved.
[00:03:31]  And whatever is going to happen, it's going to be bad.
[00:03:36]  Well, what do you think is going to happen?
[00:03:38]  I think it's going to be.
[00:03:39]  Let's quote Tim Poole on this.
[00:03:41]  I think it's going to be some form of civil war.
[00:03:44]  Why do you think that?
[00:03:47]  Because of the polarity between the two political sides.
[00:03:52]  And I don't think there's any way they can come back together.
[00:03:57]  You can see this both in Europe and in the United States.
[00:04:03]  And I was talking to a kid yesterday about why he joined the gym and what his fitness goals were.
[00:04:11]  And his fitness goals were, well, I got to get fit because we have to fight civil war.
[00:04:16]  That's what the kids are thinking now.
[00:04:18]  Or at least what this kid was thinking.
[00:04:20]  Okay.
[00:04:20]  Okay, so let's talk about that.
[00:04:23]  So what are the ingredients for, and this is all prescriptive.
[00:04:27]  Sorry, this is all descriptive, not prescriptive.
[00:04:29]  We're just describing what is, not what should be, right?
[00:04:32]  Okay, so what has to happen for there to be a civil war?
[00:04:35]  There'd have to be two armies, right?
[00:04:38]  Right?
[00:04:39]  Now, the government has the army.
[00:04:41]  So how does a civil war, and I'm obviously happy to be schooled on this, but how does a civil war come about if only the government has the army?
[00:04:50]  I have no idea, but I think there will be increasing public unrest about the government not doing anything in the US about the Epstein files.
[00:05:03]  Okay, okay, so let's say, hang on, sorry, let's take this a step at a time.
[00:05:06]  Okay, so let's say that there is an increasing unrest because people are recognizing that the government isn't going to do anything about the Epstein files.
[00:05:18]  And then what?
[00:05:20]  I think there will be a huge swing of the pendulum back towards the right.
[00:05:28]  In the UK, that would be voting reform.
[00:05:32]  In the US, that would be, I think, voting for Camp Trump or whoever is scheduled to replace him in, what is it, three years?
[00:05:44]  In other parts of Europe, I think people are going to vote for parties like the Alternative for Deutschlands or whatever their local equivalent is.
[00:05:55]  And people are going to vote for things like re-migration and more fiscally conservative policies.
[00:06:02]  No, I mean, I get all of that.
[00:06:05]  But I mean, this is a continual rug pull that people vote for smaller government and people vote for less immigration.
[00:06:13]  And what happens?
[00:06:15]  Absolutely nothing.
[00:06:17]  Oh, no.
[00:06:17]  Stuff happens.
[00:06:18]  You get bigger government and more.
[00:06:20]  In the other direction, yeah.
[00:06:22]  Things are just happened in countless countries.
[00:06:27]  85% of the population has been in favor for the last decade or more of reduced immigration, and you just get more immigration.
[00:06:36]  So, yeah, people will vote for stuff, but I mean, in a sense, so what?
[00:06:39]  There's almost no correlation between what people want and what politicians do.
[00:06:45]  And at some point, they're going to figure that out and try to find a different way, and it might kickstart a revolution.
[00:06:54]  Okay, so let's look at a time not too long ago when people in America suspected, or strongly suspected, that the 2020 election was largely significantly fraudulent.
[00:07:10]  I was not 100% fraudulent, but that there was, you know, people who went to bed with Trump ahead and then woke up with this big jump in the middle of the night with blacked out windows and all of that.
[00:07:22]  So people wanted to prevent the certification of what they thought might be a fraudulent election, and they wanted the courts to adjudicate or something like that, right?
[00:07:35]  And so there was a protest outside the Capitol.
[00:07:42]  People went into the Capitol.

=== Protesters in Solitary? (04:18) ===

[00:07:45]  Very little damage was done, and they were unarmed and so on.
[00:07:48]  Which, as far, I mean, it wasn't a revolution in the way that you and I would understand the term, and certainly not in the way that the founding fathers would understand the term.
[00:07:59]  As what was it, Norman O'Donnell said, you know, the one thing I liked about the violent revolutionaries in the Capitol on January the 6th was how they respected the velvet ropes, right?
[00:08:10]  So this was and that there was some violence and all of that, but I mean, a lot of the violence was made up and so on, right?
[00:08:20]  And so this was, as far as historical rebellions against government power, just about as mild a thing as could be imagined.
[00:08:30]  And what happened?
[00:08:33]  I'm not too sure because it happened in the U.S.
[00:08:36]  But I think, what's her name?
[00:08:40]  Ashley Babbitt.
[00:08:41]  I think she was killed.
[00:08:42]  Yes.
[00:08:43]  I think, yes.
[00:08:44]  I think three days later, one of the police officers involved died, but I'm not sure how.
[00:08:50]  No, no, I get all of that.
[00:08:52]  No, so no officers were killed there.
[00:08:54]  There was a guy who, I think he had a heart attack later or some sort of stress response.
[00:08:59]  And there was supposedly an attack with a fire extinguisher that nobody could verify.
[00:09:03]  But what I mean is that what was the government's response after January the 6th?
[00:09:08]  Oh, they put a whole bunch of people in jail that arguably did not deserve that.
[00:09:13]  Well, I mean, they hunted people down using every piece of technology.
[00:09:19]  I mean, it was an incredible thing to see just how efficient the government can be in the prosecution of crime, right?
[00:09:27]  Yeah, if they want to.
[00:09:28]  Right.
[00:09:29]  So people were just rounded up, right?
[00:09:34]  Yes.
[00:09:34]  And I'm not an expert on this, but my understanding is that a lot of them were kind of locked.
[00:09:42]  Yeah, so 1,500 people charged, 1,100 convicted, more than 600 people sentenced to some time in jail.
[00:09:54]  And some of them complained that they couldn't get access to lawyers.
[00:09:58]  Some of them complained that they were put in solitary confinement.
[00:10:00]  Some people were claiming that they were housed in inhuman conditions.
[00:10:06]  And it was pretty rough, right?
[00:10:09]  Yes.
[00:10:10]  Yes.
[00:10:10]  I've been arrested a few times for training, not for real.
[00:10:14]  And that was pretty rough.
[00:10:16]  So I can imagine what it's like to be arrested for real.
[00:10:19]  Well, and in this, right?
[00:10:21]  Yeah.
[00:10:22]  So some January 6th defendants said, and their lawyers claimed they were denied or faced restricted access to legal counsel, particularly while detained in D.C. jails.
[00:10:31]  Multiple defendants alleged difficulties in confidential attorney meetings, such as 14-day quarantines after visits, shared hygiene items, limiting preparation, and adequate facilities for private discussions.
[00:10:42]  In 2022, 34 inmates wrote to Attorney General Garland citing rights violations, including poor access to counsel amid harsh conditions.
[00:10:52]  So we won't sort of get into all of the details for these things, but it was a fairly brutal crackdown.
[00:11:04]  In October 2021, U.S. District Judge Royce Lambert held DC jail officials in contempt for repeatedly failing to provide medical records for defending Christopher Worrell amid broader complaints of poor conditions and access delays.
[00:11:17]  DOJ investigation referral, the Justice Department probed potential civil rights abuses against Gen 6 detainees, citing inadequate attorney communication and medical care.
[00:11:27]  U.S. Marshals inspected the DC jail in response, identifying issues like retaliation and substandard food.
[00:11:33]  City officials faced demands for outcomes.
[00:11:38]  So this was, I mean, if you compare this to a whole bunch of other things, this was a fairly swift and brutal crackdown with some, let's just say, potentially sketchy adherence to legal norms.
[00:11:58]  And this was about people who were protesting.
[00:12:01]  And, you know, you could say trespassing.

=== Protesting and Propaganda (08:20) ===

[00:12:03]  I get all of that.
[00:12:04]  But you could say that people were protesting and trying to save.
[00:12:10]  I mean, this was their perspective, right?
[00:12:12]  Again, I'm neither endorsing, I'm just saying that I would imagine that their perspective is that they wanted to save America from an unjust transfer of power if the election had been fraudulent or significantly fraudulent enough to swing the outcome.
[00:12:26]  And to be fair to them, some of the people were invited into, I think, the Capitol by the police there.
[00:12:35]  And I think on the other side of the Capitol, it was a little bit more violence and things were getting demolished.
[00:12:44]  That's the story as far as I know it.
[00:12:46]  Right.
[00:12:47]  No, I understand that for sure.
[00:12:49]  There was some property damage.
[00:12:52]  There was some violence.
[00:12:54]  But the other thing, of course, is that some of the people were masked and there's some indications that government agents were there.
[00:13:02]  And it's a whole vortex of questionable behavior and so on.
[00:13:09]  So this was, again, as far as historical anti-government action goes, this was pretty mild.
[00:13:18]  If you look in Canada, there were these truckerous protests against all the COVID stuff, the lockdowns and so on.
[00:13:28]  And the government suspended the Constitution.
[00:13:33]  And you had people's bank accounts being frozen with no due process.
[00:13:39]  I mean, it was wild.
[00:13:41]  And this has been repeatedly adjudicated by Canadian courts as unjust.
[00:13:47]  I mean, this was not just breaking a law.
[00:13:50]  This was breaking the entirety of law.
[00:13:55]  And this is over pretty peaceful protests with bouncy castles and stuff like that.
[00:14:01]  And the retaliation was fairly swift and brutal.
[00:14:05]  Sorry, go ahead.
[00:14:06]  And some conking of car horns, if I recall correctly.
[00:14:09]  Yeah.
[00:14:10]  Yeah.
[00:14:12]  So what sort of civil war would you anticipate?
[00:14:19]  Because I'm pretty sure the government can get a hold of any kind of communications they want.
[00:14:24]  I'm pretty sure that governments can infiltrate and unmask people online.
[00:14:33]  People meeting in person has become less common.
[00:14:37]  And again, I'm just from a sort of pragmatic or practical standpoint, without delving into the ethics of any of it.
[00:14:45]  Where's the Civil War?
[00:14:46]  I mean, if you look at America under Lincoln, there were northern armies and there were southern armies.
[00:14:53]  In the Spanish Civil War, there were the Republican forces and then there were the Communist forces.
[00:15:01]  In Vietnam, they were the communists and the non-anti-communists in Korea and so on.
[00:15:06]  So where is the other army that you talk about as being a necessary component to a civil war?
[00:15:15]  Where is it going to come from?
[00:15:17]  I think it's going to follow along racial lines, I think.
[00:15:22]  Okay, so even if we were to say that's the case, that still doesn't make it into an army that can challenge the surveillance and military power of the modern state.
[00:15:34]  On the other hand, I've been to Afghanistan and I know what a guy in flip-flops and a dress with a single assault rifle can do.
[00:15:43]  So I think it's, and you can see the same thing now in Minnesota, I think.
[00:15:52]  So I think it will be more along the lines of insurgencies.
[00:15:56]  And at some point, inevitably, the money is going to run out.
[00:16:03]  That will also, let's just say, create some chaos.
[00:16:10]  Now, how it's going to look eventually, I have no idea, but I know it's not going to be pretty.
[00:16:16]  Well, granted, I grant you all of that, of course, right?
[00:16:20]  But if you look at some place like Afghanistan, did the military-industrial complex want the war in Afghanistan to end?
[00:16:31]  I think not.
[00:16:32]  No, of course not, right?
[00:16:34]  Because that's where their profits are.
[00:16:36]  I mean, the leftists don't want it to end because it's largely Christian conservatives who end up serving in the military.
[00:16:42]  The military-industrial complex doesn't want it to end because that's where the profits are.
[00:16:47]  So if you look at these kinds of insurgencies, I mean, again, not to sort of vote for the morals of the situation, but insurgencies are relatively easy to deal with.
[00:17:00]  You just have to escalate force to very high levels.
[00:17:05]  Yes, I think you did a call with Price from Blackwater on that, somewhere two years after the war started.
[00:17:16]  Right.
[00:17:17]  So, yeah, there's no when you say there's a lot of damage that insurgents can do, that's true.
[00:17:25]  But not if the war is prosecuted to the maximum strength.
[00:17:32]  No, I completely agree.
[00:17:35]  The government has tremendous and awesome power.
[00:17:40]  On the other hand, I think people just want to be left alone and start families and hopefully raise them peacefully.
[00:17:47]  And I think that's going to be increasingly difficult for them.
[00:17:51]  And people are going to get very angry and very resentful.
[00:17:55]  And at some point, it's going to boil over.
[00:17:58]  And I don't know what it's going to look like, but it's going to be bad.
[00:18:01]  Of course, yeah, people are frustrated and people are frustrated and upset.
[00:18:05]  I get all of that.
[00:18:05]  So I'm not trying to disagree with any of that.
[00:18:08]  And nobody knows exactly what form it's going to take.
[00:18:13]  My guess would be more to do with electronic sabotage than anything else.
[00:18:19]  But the government has endless amounts of hyper-brutal power.
[00:18:27]  And in general, that power is restrained against those that the females have sympathy for.
[00:18:36]  Yes, agreed.
[00:18:38]  And, you know, there's been a lot of endless propaganda against the right-wingers, Hitler and Nazi and white supremacists and so on, to the point where, I mean, the women in America weren't crying and protesting over the harsh treatment of the J6 prisoners, right?
[00:18:55]  No, not exactly.
[00:18:57]  So that's the, I mean, that's the propaganda.
[00:18:59]  The propaganda has been to dehumanize people on the right so that women can't put them into the sympathy category.
[00:19:09]  So anyway, that's so so.
[00:19:12]  And the result of that is that truly brutal levels of violence can be used against people on the right and people are generally, women in general, are fine with it.
[00:19:26]  Yes, it's a good thing, right?
[00:19:28]  So when the government says that the trucker protesters are, you know, racists and various kinds of phobes and sexists and so on, right, that's a signal to say, well, we're going to do bad things for them and you don't have to trouble yourself with having any sympathy.
[00:19:47]  Yes, exactly.
[00:19:48]  Right.
[00:19:49]  So that's all been set up for, I mean, longer than I've been alive, which by now is quite a long time.
[00:19:56]  So I don't anticipate that any particular revolution is going to occur or civil war is going to occur because the dehumanization process of those who might be rebelling has advanced so far that almost any level of violence can be used against them without triggering any of women's protective instincts.
[00:20:19]  I think hope, I hope hope is a big world.

=== People Outraged and Helpless (03:41) ===

[00:20:23]  I think that might be changing with the release of the Epstein files and the British grooming gang, to put it mildly, inquiries.
[00:20:37]  I'm not sure if it will, but it might.
[00:20:40]  Well, again, I mean, sure, people are outraged, but people have been outraged about a whole bunch of things in the past.
[00:20:48]  Yes, that's true.
[00:20:50]  I mean, the grooming gang stuff has been going on since the 1950s.
[00:20:54]  So, yeah, so waiting for sort of a mass energetic social awakening.
[00:21:00]  You know, one of the things that, I mean, what found out what went on with JFK, found out about the truth about Nixon, found out the truth about McCarthy.
[00:21:10]  One of the things that the elites do, in my opinion, is they kind of enjoy people being outraged and helpless.
[00:21:18]  Yes, I mean, makes sense.
[00:21:20]  Yeah, from a sadistic standpoint, it's fun, right?
[00:21:23]  For that.
[00:21:24]  So, one of the things I'm concerned about with regards to the Epstein files is that, I mean, this is not anti-establishment.
[00:21:31]  This is kind of like, can you imagine?
[00:21:34]  Can you imagine what it would be like to have such a level of untouchability that half the planet could be calling for your head and you feel as safe as when you were in your mother's womb?
[00:21:48]  Psychopaths don't feel fair.
[00:21:50]  Well, it's a pretty delicious exercise of power to watch people be helpless in the face of your power.
[00:22:00]  That's one of the ways you measure your power is: are people helpless?
[00:22:04]  Are they really angry at you, but can't do it?
[00:22:07]  Like, if you have a sadistic boss and his employees don't like him and they're helpless and they're frustrated, I mean, that's a delight for him if he's cruel, right?
[00:22:17]  He enjoys that.
[00:22:18]  Yes.
[00:22:19]  So, part of the Epstein thing for me, part of the release of the Epstein files, is: I mean, look at everything we can do, and you can't do anything.
[00:22:30]  We can write about this shit in Gmail.
[00:22:33]  Yes.
[00:22:35]  I mean, you know, the podesta dump through WikiLeaks, Hillary Clinton's campaign manager, had some seriously dark stuff in there.
[00:22:43]  Yeah, or what was his name?
[00:22:44]  Gary Webb.
[00:22:45]  Yeah, he did some work on that.
[00:22:48]  No, I mean, and Maria, what's it, Maria Bromovich, did all the spirit cookie stuff.
[00:22:53]  I mean, they still wanted her to be a representative at Microsoft, if I remember rightly.
[00:22:57]  Like, people only remember or only get outraged at what the media tells them to.
[00:23:04]  Especially the boomers.
[00:23:06]  Yes.
[00:23:07]  So, yeah, people will be outraged.
[00:23:09]  And, of course, as you know, the spin control is already in effect.
[00:23:12]  You know, hey, he was just a sleazebag financier who just liked younger girls.
[00:23:17]  And yes, it was wrong, but blah, Right.
[00:23:20]  So, yeah, I mean, seeing this actual dark tentacles of power that rope above the human landscape, I think that they are quite enjoying their untouchability.
[00:23:32]  Yes, of course.
[00:23:33]  It makes total sense.
[00:23:35]  So, I wouldn't say that this is necessarily any kind of awakening.
[00:23:39]  This might be just part of a sadistic plan to enjoy people's helplessness.
[00:23:44]  I'm not sure that improves anything.
[00:23:47]  Well, no, I'm just trying to tell you the way that it is, because if you think that there's some mass social change or awakening coming down the pipe, that's going to interfere with your ambition.
[00:24:00]  Yes.
[00:24:02]  Well, sorta.

=== 30-Year Mortgage Rates? (14:30) ===

[00:24:05]  I'm still goggling ahead as always, trying to improve my career, working very hard at it.
[00:24:09]  But as I said, I don't exactly meet any DEI requirements.
[00:24:12]  So it's difficult.
[00:24:15]  And as is her good rights, my wife has been bothering me about it.
[00:24:22]  I want to have children.
[00:24:23]  I want you to get into a stable career and make some money so we can have children.
[00:24:27]  And she's totally right about it.
[00:24:29]  Well, how long have you been listening to what I do?
[00:24:33]  Since 2018.
[00:24:34]  Since 2018.
[00:24:36]  All right.
[00:24:36]  Roughly.
[00:24:38]  Okay.
[00:24:39]  So eight years, give or take, right?
[00:24:42]  Yeah.
[00:24:44]  All right.
[00:24:45]  So let me ask a question.
[00:24:48]  Not of you, but of AI.
[00:24:52]  Let's see if I can ask this for you.
[00:24:55]  You know what I'm going to ask, right?
[00:24:57]  Something about Bitcoin.
[00:24:58]  Yeah.
[00:24:59]  What was the price of Bitcoin in January of 2018?
[00:25:04]  What do we got here?
[00:25:06]  Come on, you can do it.
[00:25:07]  Don't be slow.
[00:25:09]  You chew up those video cards like nobody's business.
[00:25:14]  I like rock, but it can be a tad sluggish.
[00:25:17]  What do you need to think for?
[00:25:18]  Just look up something basic.
[00:25:22]  Can I take a guess before we get the answer?
[00:25:24]  5K?
[00:25:25]  No, it was 13K.
[00:25:29]  13.
[00:25:30]  Oh, I was lowballing it.
[00:25:33]  What was the lowest price of Bitcoin over the last eight years?
[00:25:38]  Now, of course, you know, everybody wants to buy low, sell high, blah, blah, blah.
[00:25:42]  You know, that wife Jack meme is like, well, why didn't you just sell at the top?
[00:25:46]  Like, everybody could do that, right?
[00:25:47]  Yeah, we recently had a small drop, I think.
[00:25:51]  Yeah, 20, 25%.
[00:25:53]  Yeah.
[00:25:53]  Nothing.
[00:25:54]  Maybe I may have bought a dip.
[00:25:55]  I may have bought a dip.
[00:25:57]  No, it wasn't 25%.
[00:25:59]  126 to roughly 59.
[00:26:02]  So that's 50% dip.
[00:26:04]  Well, no, sorry, 25% over the last month or two.
[00:26:07]  But yeah, if you look at the all-time high of October, yeah, for sure.
[00:26:11]  Yeah.
[00:26:12]  Yeah, I bought more.
[00:26:13]  Okay, so late 2018, you could get a Bitcoin for just over 3K.
[00:26:18]  Nice.
[00:26:20]  Okay.
[00:26:22]  So why are you broke?
[00:26:25]  I'm not broke.
[00:26:27]  I put all my money in Bitcoin.
[00:26:29]  Okay.
[00:26:29]  So why don't you have enough to have kids?
[00:26:33]  Do you want me to put out the number or the fraction is Bitcoin?
[00:26:37]  No, I have some Bitcoin.
[00:26:39]  It's just that it's not enough, not yet, anyway.
[00:26:42]  I'm kind of hoping for it to go to the moon, but we'll see.
[00:26:47]  Okay.
[00:26:49]  So don't give me any details, but if you crush down your spending, right?
[00:26:54]  If you do bare minimum spending.
[00:26:56]  Yes.
[00:26:57]  Right.
[00:26:58]  What is your bare minimum spend, US dollars per month?
[00:27:04]  Roughly 2.5K.
[00:27:10]  I just did away my car, so I could maybe get it down to 2K a month.
[00:27:15]  Okay.
[00:27:16]  And what percentage of that is rent, if you're renting?
[00:27:20]  I have a house with a mortgage and about 800 a month.
[00:27:28]  No, a little bit more because of gas and electricity.
[00:27:31]  So I'd say half of it is mortgage and anything I have to do for my house.
[00:27:38]  Okay, good.
[00:27:38]  I appreciate that.
[00:27:40]  So you can get yourself down to 2K a month, right?
[00:27:44]  Yes.
[00:27:46]  So how many months can you live on?
[00:27:50]  Let's just, I mean, let's magically pretend that you can just immediately convert Bitcoin to cash with no, like just, you know, but just make the math simple, right?
[00:28:00]  So how many months can you live on dividing 2K into your assets?
[00:28:08]  Shall I just tell you how much I have?
[00:28:10]  Because at this point, I think most listeners.
[00:28:12]  No, just all your assets, not just Bitcoin, because I mean, you have other assets, right?
[00:28:17]  Savings, assets, because, you know, whatever, right?
[00:28:20]  So how many months, and you don't have to give me an exact number, just, oh, you can say years.
[00:28:25]  How many years can you live on your assets at 2K a month?
[00:28:31]  I think if I'm really creative, I might even get it up to two years.
[00:28:38]  Right.
[00:28:39]  And what decade of life are you in?
[00:28:42]  I'm 35.
[00:28:43]  My wife is 27.
[00:28:45]  Okay.
[00:28:45]  So you're 35 and you have less than 50K in assets.
[00:28:50]  Yes.
[00:28:50]  Why?
[00:28:52]  Because Bitcoin is down.
[00:28:54]  No?
[00:28:54]  No, it's not just that.
[00:28:56]  No, no, because look, sorry, even if we double the price of Bitcoin, you go from two years to four.
[00:29:02]  No, if I subtract the mortgage from the value of my house, it's roughly 250K in US dollars.
[00:29:13]  But that's money that doesn't exist and I have to pay taxes over it.
[00:29:17]  You mean if you sell your house?
[00:29:19]  Yes, but then we'd be living in a box.
[00:29:22]  Okay, got it.
[00:29:23]  Now, okay, so let's, I mean, we cannot count the value of your house.
[00:29:28]  So at the age of 35, you've been in the workforce for 20 years?
[00:29:34]  No, I started with I really started when I turned 19.
[00:29:39]  So.
[00:29:40]  Wait, you didn't have a paper route or a job or anything before 19?
[00:29:44]  Yeah, but that paid next to nothing.
[00:29:47]  I didn't say how much you made.
[00:29:48]  I asked how long you've been in the workforce.
[00:29:51]  Oh, ever since I was 16.
[00:29:53]  So yeah, 20 years.
[00:29:55]  Okay, so you've been 20 years in the workforce, minus sometime, did you like do college or something like that?
[00:30:02]  I did not do college.
[00:30:04]  No, I'm doing college right now.
[00:30:06]  I'm going through a nursing degree.
[00:30:09]  Ah, okay.
[00:30:10]  All right.
[00:30:11]  So you have been 20 years in the workforce, right?
[00:30:16]  Yes.
[00:30:17]  Okay.
[00:30:17]  And you've got, let's say, 48,000 of savings, right?
[00:30:22]  So you saved 200 bucks a month for 20 years.
[00:30:28]  That math checks out, yes.
[00:30:30]  Okay.
[00:30:31]  So why on earth have you only saved $200 a month for 20 years?
[00:30:37]  And it's not a big critical question.
[00:30:38]  I'm genuinely curious.
[00:30:40]  I'm sure there are good answers, but having less than 50K at 35, less than 50K in assets is a little on the low side.
[00:30:49]  Because I took all my savings and put them into buying a house.
[00:30:53]  Okay, so rather than rent, you took 250K, put it into a house rather than buying Bitcoin.
[00:31:01]  Yes.
[00:31:02]  Because if you had taken your 250K and put it into Bitcoin, you'd have like a mil, mill and a half, whatever it is, right?
[00:31:12]  Yes, but I bought my house in 2013.
[00:31:16]  Okay, true, of course.
[00:31:17]  And we're just looking at sort of best case scenario.
[00:31:20]  If you'd sold your house and bought Bitcoin, you'd be a multi-millionaire.
[00:31:24]  Yes.
[00:31:25]  Okay.
[00:31:25]  When did you first, I mean, I'm not, obviously, I'm not the only path to Bitcoin.
[00:31:28]  So when did you first hear about Bitcoin?
[00:31:31]  I think on one of your shows late somewhere in 2018.
[00:31:37]  And I think I started buying Bitcoin in 2019.
[00:31:41]  Okay.
[00:31:42]  And how much has the value of your house increased over the past 13 years?
[00:31:47]  It roughly tripled.
[00:31:49]  Okay, so you have 250K in assets in your house, but it started 80K and change, right?
[00:31:57]  No, a little bit.
[00:31:59]  I bought my house for $120.
[00:32:02]  There's still $85 on the mortgage, and my house is now roughly $300, $350K.
[00:32:11]  Hang on.
[00:32:12]  So you bought your house for $120,000 and in 13 years you've paid off 40K?
[00:32:18]  Yes, that's the way the mortgage is designed.
[00:32:21]  What?
[00:32:22]  You're not allowed to overpay?
[00:32:25]  Some, and I put some additional money into the mortgage, but then COVID hit and everything went shit.
[00:32:34]  You mean like in terms of your income?
[00:32:38]  Not in terms of my wife's income at the time.
[00:32:42]  I mean...
[00:32:43]  She wasn't my wife, just my girlfriend back then, but yeah.
[00:32:46]  I mean, how long is the mortgage?
[00:32:48]  30 years.
[00:32:49]  So you took out a 30-year mortgage?
[00:32:51]  Okay.
[00:32:52]  Yes.
[00:32:52]  That's not super smart, right?
[00:32:54]  But you have variable rates or fixed rate?
[00:32:57]  Fixed rate.
[00:32:58]  Okay.
[00:32:59]  And it's the only type that is allowed for young people here.
[00:33:03]  Okay, but are you allowed a shorter window than 30 years?
[00:33:08]  Yes.
[00:33:10]  Okay.
[00:33:10]  And you took 30 years because it was cheaper in the short run, but of course you end up paying crushing amounts of interest, right?
[00:33:18]  No, the mortgage is always 30 years, but you set the time period for the interest.
[00:33:26]  So every few years, you get to readjust the interest, but the period for the entire mortgage, that's always 30 years, non-negotiable.
[00:33:35]  Oh, so where you live, it's illegal to have a mortgage that's not 30 years.
[00:33:40]  Yes, correct.
[00:33:41]  Wow.
[00:33:42]  I've never heard of such a thing.
[00:33:43]  Okay.
[00:33:44]  So you can only have a 30-year mortgage, and it is variable rate, because you said you renegotiate the interest every couple of years, right?
[00:33:50]  Because I mean, very few banks are going to give you, unless they charge a lot of premium, very few places are going to give you fixed mortgage rates for 30 years.
[00:33:57]  There's too much variability, right?
[00:33:59]  Yeah.
[00:33:59]  So what basically happens is the more years you choose, the lower the interest is going to be.
[00:34:04]  So let's say you choose two years, then they might charge five or six, but if you choose 10 years, it might be three or four or even lower.
[00:34:15]  Wait, what?
[00:34:16]  Sorry, I don't follow that.
[00:34:17]  You mean in terms of how long it takes, like how long between renegotiating mortgages?
[00:34:22]  Yes.
[00:34:23]  And the longer the period, the lower the interest.
[00:34:26]  But why would you not want 10 years at 3% rather than 3 years at 5%?
[00:34:32]  Because you sort of take a guess on where you are in the economical cycle.
[00:34:38]  And if you want to renegotiate in a period where the mortgage interest is very low, and if you're lucky, you can sort of guess where you'll be, take an interest for that period.
[00:34:53]  So you can renegotiate for the moment that the interest is really low.
[00:34:57]  No, but normally, sorry if I'm missing something, and I'm certainly not a financial expert.
[00:35:02]  But normally, if you're going variable rate, you get lower rates in the short run.
[00:35:08]  And the longer you want to push out your fixed rate timeframe, the higher the interest rate tends to be because they have to take into account future variability.
[00:35:18]  So you might be able to get a two-year mortgage at 4%, but if you want a 10-year mortgage, it's 6 or 7% or even higher because they don't know what the interest rates are going to be in the long run because they don't get to renegotiate.
[00:35:28]  So they have to buffer for variability.
[00:35:31]  There's a little less here.
[00:35:33]  Here, it tends to be the longer you set your period, the lower your interest is going to be.
[00:35:40]  Okay.
[00:35:41]  I still don't know why anyone would take shorter rates, unless they thought maybe it would go to 1% or 2% in the future.
[00:35:46]  Yes, exactly.
[00:35:47]  So then you more or less take a gamble, take a short period rate.
[00:35:54]  And then when the interest drops, you can renegotiate and set it at the rate, which is at that moment might be 1 or maybe 2%.
[00:36:03]  Okay, got it.
[00:36:05]  That's just the way it works.
[00:36:08]  Oh, man.
[00:36:10]  I just said, and sorry, nowhere is it generally illegal to write a mortgage contract that is not for 30 years.
[00:36:17]  The 30-year term is a policy benchmark in some systems, not a universal legal mandate.
[00:36:23]  So you can't go longer.
[00:36:26]  There does not appear to be a jurisdiction anywhere in the world where it's outright illegal to have a mortgage that is not exactly 30 years.
[00:36:32]  So maybe you can get a shorter mortgage, because otherwise, like nobody who's 50 or 60 would ever buy any place.
[00:36:39]  Because if you're 60 and you have, you can only get a 30-year mortgage, then nobody would buy anything because, I mean, you're not going to be alive at 90 statistically, right?
[00:36:48]  No, and for older people, there's different systems involved.
[00:36:52]  So older people have to, I don't know exactly what the English terms for this are.
[00:36:57]  I did a basic course on accounting, but for older people, they don't have to pay off as much of the mortgage as young people have to.
[00:37:04]  So I, as a young person, have to pay off the full mortgage, all of it, including interest, while my parents, for example, they only have to pay interest, not the mortgage itself.
[00:37:16]  Okay, got it.
[00:37:19]  All right.
[00:37:20]  So you only, so you have less than 50K of liquid assets at 35, and that's because when you were in your early 20s, you bought $120,000 place that you've paid off only a third in 13 years, because I guess the point is it's a 30-year mortgage, right?
[00:37:41]  Correct.
[00:37:42]  Yes.
[00:37:42]  Are you allowed to overpay your mortgage?
[00:37:48]  Yes.
[00:37:48]  Okay.
[00:37:49]  And have you done any of that?
[00:37:52]  Yes.
[00:37:53]  When my, at that time, girlfriend came to live with me, we started taking both of our monies and we started putting it into the mortgage.
[00:38:02]  Yeah, the prince called it it.
[00:38:04]  Yes.
[00:38:05]  And then she lost her income.
[00:38:07]  So I had to pay for the both of us for three years almost.
[00:38:13]  Okay, so you, but you had 10 years of overpaying your mortgage, right?
[00:38:18]  Yes, but because I had a house and because I had a mortgage, I didn't have much excess money left at the end of the month.
[00:38:24]  Yeah, just, I mean, it's wild to me that after 13 years, you've only paid off 40K if you're overpaying.
[00:38:29]  I'm sorry to be an annoying guy, and I'm sure that this could be.
[00:38:32]  No, no, that's fine.
[00:38:33]  That's fine.
[00:38:34]  Yes, I can explain.

=== Income Stability Challenges (15:23) ===

[00:38:36]  When I, I think it was 2017, yes, 2017, there was a whole thing in the Netherlands about our version of the IRS making mistakes with income tax.
[00:38:52]  So when I bought my house, I put 40K in savings and I put that into a savings account that I could only use for things pertaining to the house.
[00:39:05]  And the IRS falsely attributed that to my income.
[00:39:11]  So in 2015, I got a letter from the IRS saying I had two weeks to pay roughly 16K or they would forcibly sell my house.
[00:39:21]  And then I managed to find 16K in two weeks.
[00:39:25]  Don't ask me how, because I don't remember anymore.
[00:39:29]  And then after that, I applied, yo, guys, you made a mistake.
[00:39:33]  And then two years later, I got a super apology and they sent me some of that money back.
[00:39:42]  And then I had to pay all the people that helped me get the money in the first place.
[00:39:46]  So and then I could finally start having savings again.
[00:39:52]  Right.
[00:39:53]  Okay.
[00:39:54]  Right.
[00:39:54]  Okay.
[00:39:56]  So what has been your maximum income in any given year and just sort of roughly US dollars.
[00:40:03]  You again, you don't have to give me exact amounts.
[00:40:06]  Just mine or my wife's as well, combined.
[00:40:08]  Let's say both of you, sure.
[00:40:12]  I think I have to do the math there, but I think roughly just under 40K to both of us.
[00:40:19]  Okay, got it.
[00:40:21]  All right.
[00:40:22]  And why do you think that your income has been relatively low, given your intelligence?
[00:40:28]  I mean, I put everyone in this show in the top 1% or so.
[00:40:32]  So why do you think your income has been so low?
[00:40:35]  Because I was in the military first.
[00:40:38]  That wasn't a very high-income job.
[00:40:41]  Because wages in Western Europe tend to be lower in general.
[00:40:46]  And what's the third reason?
[00:40:50]  And because whatever income we did have, I had to make sure I was providing for my wife during COVID when her income's all away.
[00:41:01]  Okay, got it.
[00:41:02]  So nominally.
[00:41:06]  Sorry, two and a half.
[00:41:07]  Sorry, go ahead.
[00:41:08]  Nominal income in my part of the world for about my age.
[00:41:14]  Most of my friends, everyone makes two and a half K roughly.
[00:41:20]  Okay.
[00:41:21]  All right.
[00:41:22]  And of course, you're a woman.
[00:41:24]  Sorry, go ahead.
[00:41:26]  That's the wonders of socialism.
[00:41:28]  And mostly because millennials can get up the ladder in any way.
[00:41:33]  Well, I get that for sure.
[00:41:35]  But I mean, you also don't have to bake in separate healthcare costs.
[00:41:38]  So there are some financial benefits for these sorts of things as well.
[00:41:42]  Oh, yes.
[00:41:43]  Yes.
[00:41:43]  We don't get wiped out when we get sick.
[00:41:47]  Right.
[00:41:47]  Seriously, sick.
[00:41:48]  Right.
[00:41:50]  And what is your current income?
[00:41:56]  Roughly the same, 2.5K a year.
[00:42:00]  Two and a half.
[00:42:01]  Two and a half K a month.
[00:42:03]  A month.
[00:42:03]  Two and a half K a month.
[00:42:05]  Right.
[00:42:07]  And that's you and your wife combined.
[00:42:11]  Is that right?
[00:42:13]  My wife makes roughly just under that.
[00:42:18]  My wife makes about 2K a month.
[00:42:21]  Yeah, 2K a month.
[00:42:22]  So 4.5K a month.
[00:42:24]  Yes.
[00:42:25]  So if, sorry, to be baffled, if you can get your expenses down to 2K a month, and I know that there's taxes and all of that, right?
[00:42:34]  So if you can get your tax, but I also know I assume that the interest payments on your house, which are very high, are tax deductible.
[00:42:42]  Is that right?
[00:42:44]  No.
[00:42:45]  No, I don't know exactly how the math goes, but maybe this year it might be better.
[00:42:54]  We'll find out somewhere in April.
[00:42:56]  But in the Netherlands, we have three boxes, which basically means that the more the government inflates the currency and the higher the value of my house is on paper, the more I pay in wealth tax.
[00:43:10]  Sure, sure.
[00:43:11]  Okay.
[00:43:11]  Like property taxes?
[00:43:12]  Is that what you mean?
[00:43:13]  Yes.
[00:43:14]  Okay, got it.
[00:43:16]  All right.
[00:43:17]  So every time I make a little bit extra money, the taxes go up.
[00:43:21]  And then I find some way to make more money and the taxes go up.
[00:43:25]  Oh, no.
[00:43:26]  I've been caught in that cycle for sure.
[00:43:28]  I know what that means.
[00:43:29]  Yes, I'm sure you know.
[00:43:30]  Okay.
[00:43:31]  All right.
[00:43:32]  So if your income is 4.5K, but your expenses are 2K, how can you get it?
[00:43:38]  I can get it low as 2K.
[00:43:40]  I'm not saying it is 2K.
[00:43:41]  I can get it that way.
[00:43:42]  But I mean, everybody has to make sacrifices to have kids, right?
[00:43:46]  Yes.
[00:43:47]  But okay, so, and even if we, right?
[00:43:49]  So the 4.5K, that's gross, right?
[00:43:52]  That's before taxes and all of that?
[00:43:54]  No, that's after taxes.
[00:43:56]  We pay our taxes directly immediately.
[00:43:58]  So the government just takes it away from your paycheck from your employer.
[00:44:02]  And then at the end of the year, you file and then they take even more, gives you leave.
[00:44:07]  Okay.
[00:44:08]  All right.
[00:44:08]  So you've got 4.5K income and 2K expenses, even if we say you can do 2.5K expenses.
[00:44:19]  So if you have $2,000, give or take, again, I know that there's surprises and taxes and so on at the end of the year, but if you have almost double your expenses in income, how could you not afford children?
[00:44:37]  Because there's no stability.
[00:44:40]  Everything is short-term.
[00:44:42]  All the contracts are short-term.
[00:44:43]  Nobody gets everyone gets hired for half a year or a year maximum.
[00:44:50]  There's no stability anymore.
[00:44:53]  Okay, so you've been doing, for how long has this been gig work?
[00:45:00]  When did COVID finish?
[00:45:01]  2022, 2023, stuff like that.
[00:45:05]  Okay, so is the 4.5K assuming full employment or does that take into account, is it an average based upon there's some period of unemployment?
[00:45:16]  Yeah, it's an average.
[00:45:18]  There's months that are way higher and there are months that are more difficult.
[00:45:22]  Okay, so if that's an average and, you know, you've, you've been, how long have you and your wife been working in the fields that you work in?
[00:45:30]  My wife's since 20, about a year after COVID, so 2023, maybe 24.
[00:45:39]  And I have been doing this since also just after COVID 24, I think.
[00:45:46]  So, oh, so you're very new.
[00:45:48]  And before you got into these fields, were you making much less?
[00:45:52]  No, I was making about the same.
[00:45:55]  Okay.
[00:45:56]  So for how long have you been making the two two and a half K a month?
[00:46:01]  Ever since I was 20 and joined the military.
[00:46:04]  Okay, got it.
[00:46:06]  And do you have any kind of pension for the military?
[00:46:09]  Yes, but I don't get that paid yet until I'm 65.
[00:46:13]  Okay, got it.
[00:46:15]  All right.
[00:46:16]  So your income has been averaged out relatively stable for 15 years?
[00:46:22]  Yes.
[00:46:23]  Okay, so then why can't you have kids?
[00:46:26]  You say, well, it's because of the variability, but you've been dealing with the variability that's averaged out to 2.5K a month for 15 years.
[00:46:33]  Yes, because everything gets more expensive and more expensive as we go.
[00:46:37]  So as you can see.
[00:46:39]  Bro, bro, come on.
[00:46:40]  Yes.
[00:46:40]  You don't have to tell me basic things like this.
[00:46:43]  Okay.
[00:46:44]  You don't have to tell me that there's inflation.
[00:46:46]  Let's try and get to a higher level.
[00:46:47]  You're not talking to an NPC or a normie, okay?
[00:46:51]  Let's try to come on.
[00:46:52]  Please don't fucking tell me that things go up in price.
[00:46:55]  I've had the same donation levels for 20 years.
[00:46:57]  I get that it buys me a lot less now.
[00:46:59]  I get that.
[00:47:01]  Okay.
[00:47:01]  Oh, I'm actually sorry to hear that.
[00:47:03]  No, because I mean, but I'm not going to tell you that the value of the currency has gone down over 20 years because I know you're a smart man, so we don't need to operate at that level.
[00:47:12]  Well, I hope so.
[00:47:13]  Okay, so you've got 15 years of predicting variability, so that's a lot of data, right?
[00:47:20]  So you can't say, well, I can't make big decisions because of variability when you've got 15 years' worth of data on variability and you know how it averages out, right?
[00:47:30]  Yes.
[00:47:31]  And even, I mean, obviously, physically, we can have children, but we also both understand that it's a big responsibility and that we have to make financial adjustments and get shit in gear.
[00:47:47]  So what I was hoping to do is put all my extra assets into Bitcoin with the hope that it would improve.
[00:47:58]  Sorry to interrupt.
[00:47:59]  I still don't understand why you take home 4.5K, you can spend 2 to 2.5K and you can't afford kids.
[00:48:06]  You say, well, variability.
[00:48:07]  And it's like, okay, I get that.
[00:48:09]  But you've also had 15 years of variability that average out to 2.5K a month.
[00:48:14]  And everyone has variability.
[00:48:16]  Are you going to say to our ancestors, well, you shouldn't have kids because sometimes you get a really wet summer and there's way less crops?
[00:48:26]  At least I don't have to fight off cake bears.
[00:48:28]  No, I think we can totally do it.
[00:48:32]  Okay, just physically.
[00:48:34]  Okay, so you can totally have the kids.
[00:48:36]  Yes.
[00:48:37]  Okay, so why haven't you had the kids if you can totally have the kids?
[00:48:41]  Because it's scary as hell.
[00:48:43]  Okay, I get that.
[00:48:45]  Okay, I get that.
[00:48:47]  But then why did we do 40 minutes on finances if it comes down to fear?
[00:48:52]  I'm just going to blame you because you asked me about it.
[00:48:57]  But why did I ask you?
[00:48:59]  You said, I'm too broke to have kids.
[00:49:01]  So we started talking about money.
[00:49:03]  Yes, we did.
[00:49:05]  Okay, so, I mean, certainly it's my fault that we talked about money because I could have just ignored your comment, but that seemed kind of rude, right?
[00:49:15]  Yes.
[00:49:15]  I mean, if you say to your doctor, my left hip is killing me, and then he starts talking about your right elbow, he's not a very good doctor, is he?
[00:49:23]  No, I suspect not.
[00:49:24]  All right.
[00:49:25]  So you can't control what the government does.
[00:49:29]  You can't control revolutions.
[00:49:31]  You can't control civil wars.
[00:49:32]  I don't think those things are going to happen because the government has successfully dehumanized the people who might resist to the point where they can do just about anyone to them.
[00:49:40]  And the blood-soaked women who cheered on the French Revolution will be more than happy to watch that gladiatorial combat.
[00:49:47]  So you can't control any of that.
[00:49:49]  You can't control the DEI stuff.
[00:49:50]  You can't control being whiter than a snowman.
[00:49:53]  You can't control any of that stuff.
[00:49:55]  But you have enough money to have children.
[00:49:58]  Whiter than a snowman.
[00:49:59]  That's funny.
[00:50:01]  Yes, I can get my ass in gear and make enough money and start.
[00:50:09]  Also, you don't want to be too, you're already getting old to be a dad.
[00:50:13]  I am still super fit.
[00:50:15]  I don't care.
[00:50:16]  You're still getting old.
[00:50:17]  It doesn't make you bulletproof.
[00:50:18]  It doesn't make you immune to aging.
[00:50:21]  No, it doesn't.
[00:50:22]  Right?
[00:50:23]  You have a kid now.
[00:50:27]  You're pretty old.
[00:50:29]  Right?
[00:50:29]  By the time she's an adult, you're in your mid-50s.
[00:50:33]  Yeah.
[00:50:34]  Every day that you delay having children is just one day less that you get to spend with your kids and your grandkids.
[00:50:41]  Agreed.
[00:50:41]  Yes.
[00:50:43]  So, listen, and I don't mean to say that you don't have any concerns or everything's made up.
[00:50:49]  You have absolutely real and valid concerns, as did all of your ancestors.
[00:50:53]  And in fact, all of his ancestors at it way fucking harder than you and I. Way harder.
[00:50:59]  You got any black death going on?
[00:51:00]  Nope.
[00:51:02]  Cholera?
[00:51:02]  Nope.
[00:51:03]  Smallpox?
[00:51:04]  Nope.
[00:51:05]  Not yet, anyway.
[00:51:06]  Come on, man.
[00:51:07]  Don't be that.
[00:51:08]  Don't be like that.
[00:51:11]  Don't be overly.
[00:51:13]  Come on, man.
[00:51:14]  Come on.
[00:51:16]  Come on, man.
[00:51:17]  Right?
[00:51:18]  Do you have it infinitely better than your ancestors?
[00:51:21]  Yes, yes, sir.
[00:51:22]  Yes.
[00:51:23]  So they had kids.
[00:51:25]  Why aren't you?
[00:51:27]  There's a reason.
[00:51:28]  And the reason doesn't have to do with circumstances.
[00:51:32]  Our ancestors gave birth to children without anesthetic in grass huts with warlords pillaging back and forth and famine and plague roaming the landscape.
[00:51:47]  And you're like, I don't have quite enough Bitcoin.
[00:51:50]  I mean, what would they say?
[00:51:51]  I do think about this, right?
[00:51:53]  What would my ancestors say?
[00:51:54]  My ancestors who went through the Black Death and went through mass starvations and war and the Industrial Revolution, the First World War, the Second World War.
[00:52:06]  What would they say if I'm like, well, my house isn't quite big enough.
[00:52:11]  I don't have quite enough savings.
[00:52:14]  You know, life finds a way, right?
[00:52:16]  I think what they would say rhymes with the Juzer.
[00:52:20]  Yes.
[00:52:21]  Yes.
[00:52:22]  Come on, you idiot.
[00:52:23]  Have children.
[00:52:24]  Are you concerned that, say, your people are not having enough babies?
[00:52:31]  Yes, I am.
[00:52:32]  Huh?
[00:52:33]  Isn't that interesting?
[00:52:35]  If only there was something you could do with your hot 27-year-old wife that might solve that.
[00:52:42]  I can think of a few things.
[00:52:44]  Right.
[00:52:46]  So, and I say this, you know, obviously we're joking a little bit, but I say this with great seriousness, which is What is, I mean, my wife and I, three months after we got married, we're trying, trying, trying.
[00:53:01]  And yes, things were uncertain back then for sure.
[00:53:05]  I mean, when my wife met me, I was unemployed and burning up my savings to write books.
[00:53:10]  So, yeah, there's uncertainty.
[00:53:11]  I get that.
[00:53:13]  So, what is the delay?
[00:53:16]  How long have you been together with your wife?
[00:53:21]  Just over seven years.
[00:53:23]  Bro, bro.
[00:53:25]  What are you doing?
[00:53:27]  You met her when she was 19 or 20?
[00:53:32]  Just turned 20, yes.
[00:53:33]  Okay.
[00:53:34]  Does she want to have kids?
[00:53:36]  Yes.
[00:53:37]  For how long has she wanted to have children?
[00:53:40]  Ever since I met her.
[00:53:42]  Okay.
[00:53:42]  So why have you not decided to have children?
[00:53:46]  Look, what's the worst case scenario?
[00:53:48]  Worst case scenario, you both lose your jobs, you lose your house, and you go on welfare.
[00:53:53]  I don't really consider that an option.
[00:53:56]  Sorry, why is that not an option?
[00:53:58]  I don't know.

=== Forced Pay and Welfare (15:29) ===

[00:53:59]  I don't want to be on welfare.
[00:54:01]  I just.
[00:54:01]  I don't care.
[00:54:02]  Why is that not an option?
[00:54:04]  I mean, if you look around, it's entirely conceivable that there's one or two immigrant families or migrant families or refugee families that seem to be relatively content having children on welfare.
[00:54:18]  You've paid into the system.
[00:54:20]  What's wrong with taking out?
[00:54:21]  And I'm not saying you would pursue this, but if you do happen to lose your job, you apply for unemployment insurance.
[00:54:27]  If that runs out, you apply for welfare.
[00:54:29]  And you have so you have an absolute cushion.
[00:54:32]  You're not going to end up homeless.
[00:54:34]  You live in a social welfare state.
[00:54:36]  You pay into it, so you have that security.
[00:54:40]  So again, help me understand.
[00:54:42]  Help me understand why you can't have kids for seven years.
[00:54:45]  I would consider it immoral to do that.
[00:54:48]  So I'll try to avoid it.
[00:54:50]  But yes.
[00:54:51]  Hang on, hang on.
[00:54:51]  Hang on.
[00:54:52]  Hang on.
[00:54:53]  Why?
[00:54:54]  Have you paid into the system?
[00:54:56]  Yes, I have.
[00:54:57]  Okay.
[00:54:57]  Not voluntarily, but I have.
[00:54:59]  But that makes it even more justifiable.
[00:55:03]  If someone steals your bike, is it immoral to take it back?
[00:55:07]  No, it's not.
[00:55:08]  Okay, so you have been forced to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars into this system.
[00:55:12]  Are you saying, well, it's immoral to take money out of a bank account because I've been forced to put money into a bank account?
[00:55:21]  No, it's not.
[00:55:22]  It wouldn't be.
[00:55:24]  Is it immoral for me if I've been forced to pay into a retirement scheme?
[00:55:29]  Is it immoral for me to take money back out of that retirement scheme?
[00:55:34]  It is not.
[00:55:35]  So help me understand.
[00:55:37]  And again, I'm not saying I'm right, but help me understand.
[00:55:43]  No, I think it is the Western European work your ass off so you don't go on welfare mentality.
[00:55:52]  And listen, I'm not saying that you should voluntarily quit your job and just start, but if you do lose your job, no, no, if you lose your job or if something happens or whatever it is, right?
[00:56:05]  And you have to take welfare, I'm struggling to find the immorality in it.
[00:56:11]  Well, you're the moral philosopher, so I can't do that.
[00:56:13]  No, no, that doesn't mean I'm right.
[00:56:16]  Right?
[00:56:17]  Because if you're forced to pay into an insurance scheme, right?
[00:56:24]  So you said you got rid of your car recently.
[00:56:26]  I'm sure it's the same way you are as most places and certainly where I am.
[00:56:30]  You have to have insurance, right?
[00:56:32]  Yes, correct.
[00:56:33]  Okay.
[00:56:34]  So you're forced to pay.
[00:56:36]  And I don't actually particularly mind that.
[00:56:38]  I wish it wasn't coercive like the state.
[00:56:40]  It would be better to be run privately, but whatever, right?
[00:56:42]  I think you should have insurance if you drive.
[00:56:45]  Yes, so you're forced to have insurance.
[00:56:48]  And where you are, is there fault or no fault collisions?
[00:56:53]  Like, do they try and figure out who's at fault and charge that person or do they just basically both people pay because it's too complicated to figure out?
[00:56:59]  No, they definitely try to find if there's a person at fault.
[00:57:02]  And then typically the insurance person at fault pays and then his premium goes up.
[00:57:08]  Okay, got it.
[00:57:08]  Got it.
[00:57:09]  All right.
[00:57:10]  So a lot of places there's no fault insurance, but okay, so if you're forced to pay into an insurance system and through no fault of your own, you get hit, is it then wrong to take the payment from the insurance company to get your car fixed or replaced or if you need rehab or something like that?
[00:57:28]  No, no, it is not.
[00:57:30]  Why not?
[00:57:31]  Because, well, first of all, you were forced to pay in.
[00:57:34]  So you can reasonably expect to be granted a certain amount of money to be given out.
[00:57:41]  Well, you're not courting it.
[00:57:42]  The whole point of insurance is you don't want to have to collect, right?
[00:57:46]  You don't want to get into a car accident, right?
[00:57:48]  And you don't want to go on welfare.
[00:57:49]  But if circumstances occur, like you do a good job and, you know, you're not a drunk or a drug addict or, you know, grabbing everyone's boobs in the office, including your own, whatever it is, right?
[00:57:59]  Let's say you do reasonable work, you're conscientious, and you do a good job.
[00:58:04]  But for some reason, for some reason, you can't make any money for a while.
[00:58:09]  So that's what welfare is a form of employment insurance.
[00:58:15]  It's forced savings.
[00:58:16]  And of course, all the money you were forced to pay into the welfare state, you didn't have available to go to Bitcoin, right?
[00:58:23]  Yes, agreed.
[00:58:24]  Okay, so you were forced to pay into this insurance scheme, and then you say things are too risky.
[00:58:30]  But the whole point is you have a cushion.
[00:58:33]  You have an insurance scheme.
[00:58:36]  So again, These are all excuses because if you desperately wanted to have children, but you were concerned about maybe going taking advantage of the welfare state you've been forced to pay into, if you desperately, desperately wanted to have children and the only barrier was the welfare state, what would you have done?
[00:58:59]  Yeah, probably just have children.
[00:59:01]  That's what some other people do.
[00:59:05]  Well, and of course, what you might have done is you might have said, gee, the only barrier to me is the welfare state utilization.
[00:59:15]  And Steph, the moralist, is finger wagging me in the bottom of my brain saying, you'll be evil if you do it.
[00:59:20]  And so let me call him up to clarify or let me send him an email or something like that, right?
[00:59:26]  And then I could have made this case either in a show, which would have been great, or I could have written you an email.
[00:59:33]  You said, is it immoral to take benefits from the welfare state if you end up poor by accident?
[00:59:39]  It's like, well, no.
[00:59:40]  I mean, I take care of my health.
[00:59:43]  If I have a health issue, is it wrong for me to use the Canadian healthcare system?
[00:59:49]  You, well, you could fly to the U.S. as you did, but basically you have no other choice, so no.
[00:59:56]  Well, yeah, I mean, I go see Canadian doctors if I need help.
[01:00:01]  Now, I mean, because I couldn't get diagnosis, blah, blah, blah.
[01:00:04]  So I flew to the States.
[01:00:05]  That was kind of a one-time thing, though, right?
[01:00:08]  Yes.
[01:00:08]  So I am forced to pay into the system.
[01:00:11]  I don't agree with the system.
[01:00:13]  Does that mean I can't see a doctor?
[01:00:15]  No.
[01:00:16]  I'm forced to buy car insurance.
[01:00:18]  Does that mean if I have an accident, I can't utilize it?
[01:00:20]  Well, of course I can.
[01:00:21]  And you pay into a welfare system.
[01:00:23]  And if you are conscientious in your work and do the right thing and blah, blah, blah.
[01:00:29]  And then for some reason, sort of outside of your control, you end up without any income, then you get welfare because that's what you paid into and that's what it's for.
[01:00:41]  So you didn't, you haven't avoided having children because of your moral qualms about the welfare state because that could have been solved.
[01:00:51]  And I don't know if you've ever heard me make this case before, but when people say, well, Ayn Rand was a capitalist, but she took Social Security, it's like, well, yeah, she paid into it.
[01:01:02]  I probably heard that before, but I don't exactly remember it.
[01:01:05]  That's fine.
[01:01:06]  It makes sense, yes.
[01:01:07]  Okay, so this is not.
[01:01:08]  So where there's a will, there's a way.
[01:01:11]  It's a cheap but effective statement.
[01:01:15]  So if you fundamentally are avoiding children for whatever reason, avoiding having children, then you will make up reasons.
[01:01:22]  And you won't try and solve those reasons because there's an underlying don't want to have kids thing that the reasons are made up to cover up.
[01:01:33]  Like if you If you are going on a very important job interview, let's say you still had your car, right?
[01:01:43]  And your car breaks down on your way to the job interview, what do you do?
[01:01:49]  Call a cab.
[01:01:52]  You find some way to get to the job interview, right?
[01:01:53]  Uber cab, you'll hitchhike, you'll run, like whatever it is, right?
[01:01:57]  Yes.
[01:01:58]  I mean, I remember when I had a job and the buses just weren't running.
[01:02:04]  Like there were just no buses.
[01:02:05]  And I ended up having to run for about an hour to get to my job.
[01:02:10]  Because, and I showed up an hour late or a half an hour late or whatever it was, but and I said there were no buses.
[01:02:15]  I ran the whole way and blah, blah, blah, right?
[01:02:18]  So where there's a will, there's a way.
[01:02:20]  Now, let's say that you've got some social gathering you really don't want to go to.
[01:02:29]  People are loud.
[01:02:29]  They drink too much.
[01:02:30]  They're obnoxious.
[01:02:31]  They play terrible names.
[01:02:32]  No, I'm Dutch.
[01:02:33]  I just wouldn't go.
[01:02:34]  Well, okay, but let's say that there was some obligation, right?
[01:02:37]  Let's say it was some family obligation and you'd sort of promised you would go or something like that, right?
[01:02:42]  So if your car breaks down on the way to some gathering you don't really want to go to, but you're kind of obligated to go to, what do you do?
[01:02:52]  Again, call a cab.
[01:02:54]  Well, but you'd be less likely to call a cab because you have an excuse now, right?
[01:02:58]  Yes.
[01:02:59]  Oh, my car broke down.
[01:03:01]  I have to stay with it.
[01:03:02]  It's going to get towed, blah, blah, blah.
[01:03:04]  You would have it and people would say, oh, okay, that's fine, right?
[01:03:07]  So if you don't want to go somewhere and your car breaks down, you're probably not going to go because you have a good excuse.
[01:03:13]  If you do desperately want to go somewhere and your car breaks down, you'll just find a way to get there.
[01:03:17]  Does that make sense?
[01:03:18]  Yes, agreed.
[01:03:20]  So if you desperately want children, you will remove every obstacle in your way.
[01:03:26]  If you kind of don't want to have kids for whatever reason, then you will say, well, you know, Bitcoin's down and, you know, we don't have quite stable enough of an income and all of this sort of stuff, right?
[01:03:39]  And I would never take the welfare state because I enjoy having money taken from me and never getting it back or something like that, right?
[01:03:48]  Right.
[01:03:49]  So these are, or, or, well, you know, there's DEI and civil war and race wars or, you know, insurrections or like.
[01:04:03]  But these, and I sort of hate to say cope because, you know, this is pretty, pretty deep stuff.
[01:04:09]  But there's something that's going on that's kid avoidant for which these are just excuses.
[01:04:18]  I agree.
[01:04:19]  He said with trepidation.
[01:04:21]  Okay, so what's kid avoidant?
[01:04:25]  What's difficult or challenging or really upsetting about having kids?
[01:04:28]  Sorry, go ahead.
[01:04:30]  I'm going to fog up here and say I don't know.
[01:04:33]  You may not know.
[01:04:34]  That's fine.
[01:04:35]  I just want you to be honest, right?
[01:04:36]  Don't make something up, right?
[01:04:37]  But there's something I'm thinking, you might see the steam from all the way over there.
[01:04:48]  I think that because my mother-in-law made some bad decisions pertaining to her kids, my wife wants stability before she has children with me.
[01:05:00]  So I would also say that that's a bit of a cope.
[01:05:04]  Because if she's not sure, if she wanted to have children, she would find a way to do it and not tread water for seven years, even if that meant dumping your ass and going to some stable guy.
[01:05:16]  Is she a good-looking woman?
[01:05:19]  Yes, I think so.
[01:05:20]  Okay, so she's a good-looking woman.
[01:05:22]  So can she get a guy more stable and with a higher income than you?
[01:05:27]  Probably, yes.
[01:05:28]  Yeah, so that's what she would have done if she really wanted to have kids.
[01:05:32]  So if she's choosing a guy who won't give her kids, it's because she's ambivalent about having children.
[01:05:40]  That makes sense.
[01:05:42]  So, I mean, I'm sure you're a great guy.
[01:05:44]  Don't get me wrong.
[01:05:45]  I'm sure that you have wonderful, wonderful virtues and so on.
[01:05:50]  But if she really wanted children, she wouldn't choose a guy who was highly ambivalent about having children and made up excuses to not have children.
[01:06:00]  Because she'd say, we need to solve these problems, or you need to find a way to get over these concerns, or we don't need that much money, or something like that, right?
[01:06:10]  I don't necessarily agree with the way you're phrasing it, but I do agree we have not been as assertive as we could have been in tackling these problems and just having children.
[01:06:21]  Does she know of the existence of me?
[01:06:25]  She does.
[01:06:25]  She does.
[01:06:26]  Okay.
[01:06:26]  You're the Bob.
[01:06:27]  Yes, you're the Bob guy from the internet.
[01:06:29]  Okay, got it.
[01:06:30]  So she knows the existence of me.
[01:06:32]  She knows that I have some vague levels of credibility with you, I'm sure.
[01:06:37]  So if she wants to have kids and she doesn't agree with your reasons, what would she tell you to do?
[01:06:43]  Give you a call.
[01:06:45]  Yeah.
[01:06:45]  Wait, this guy does this shit for free?
[01:06:48]  We've been together for seven years?
[01:06:53]  As long as you've known this guy, he's been like for seven years, this guy would give you an hour or two for free to break our way forward till we could have kids.
[01:07:01]  She'd tell you to do that, right?
[01:07:03]  And don't forget, you will embarrass me in front of the world.
[01:07:07]  Not necessarily.
[01:07:08]  I've been doing private calls for years.
[01:07:11]  Oh, no, I prefer this.
[01:07:14]  Okay, but then it's not embarrassing, right?
[01:07:16]  Because again, nobody knows.
[01:07:17]  Just a little bit.
[01:07:18]  It's fine.
[01:07:19]  Just fine.
[01:07:20]  Lay it on me.
[01:07:21]  Right.
[01:07:21]  Okay.
[01:07:22]  But if mild embarrassment is more important than actually having children, that's another avoidance thing, right?
[01:07:30]  It's most definitely not, which is why I'm here.
[01:07:34]  Okay, so why do you guys not have the kids?
[01:07:39]  Are you still in touch with your family of origin?
[01:07:43]  She sounds like she's still in touch with her family of origin, right?
[01:07:46]  Her mother, yes.
[01:07:47]  Her father, no.
[01:07:48]  He's been out of the picture for a very long time.
[01:07:51]  Okay, so, and what about your family of origin?
[01:07:54]  My parents are the most booming boomers that have ever boomed, but yes, I'm still in touch with them.
[01:07:59]  Fantastic.
[01:08:00]  So you have even more cushion.
[01:08:03]  Because if worse comes to worse, you could move in with your parents.
[01:08:07]  I would really rather that not happen.
[01:08:10]  I get that.
[01:08:11]  I get that.
[01:08:11]  But not to the point where you wouldn't even bother having children, though you're in your mid-30s.
[01:08:16]  So I'm just saying that you have cushion.
[01:08:19]  You have resources.
[01:08:20]  They will help, right?
[01:08:24]  Well, they're boomers, so I'm not 100% sure, but yes, yes, they're helping me.
[01:08:28]  They would help.
[01:08:29]  My mom will help.
[01:08:30]  Yeah, your mom will help, right?
[01:08:31]  Okay, so you, because, you know, it's one thing if people have deep food, then they don't have access to that kind of cushion or support or network or help or anything like that, right?
[01:08:40]  Okay, so.
[01:08:41]  Yeah.
[01:08:42]  Yeah.
[01:08:42]  My parents were not that bad.
[01:08:44]  Okay, so you have access to all of that kind of good stuff.
[01:08:47]  You have a social safety net.
[01:08:50]  You have some savings.
[01:08:51]  And you have an income that's twice your expenses.
[01:08:55]  Yes.
[01:08:56]  So why have you not had kids?
[01:09:00]  We delayed getting married because of COVID, and we wanted to get married first, then have kids, do it the right way.
[01:09:08]  So now that I am married, I'm running out of excuses.
[01:09:13]  Okay.
[01:09:14]  How long were you together?
[01:09:16]  You were together two years pre-COVID?
[01:09:21]  Roughly, yes.
[01:09:22]  Okay.
[01:09:23]  I don't know exactly, I don't remember exactly when COVID hit.
[01:09:26]  I think it was March 2020.

=== Deciding to Marry (03:21) ===

[01:09:29]  Yeah, it's like whatever, five plus years ago, right?
[01:09:33]  Okay, so you were together for two years before COVID.
[01:09:36]  So why didn't you get married in those two years?
[01:09:38]  Because I wanted to ask her in a very nice place and we were not allowed to travel.
[01:09:44]  Before COVID?
[01:09:47]  Because before COVID, I wasn't 100% sure yet.
[01:09:51]  Okay.
[01:09:52]  And then during COVID, you said you wanted to ask her in a very nice place, but you weren't married?
[01:09:58]  Sorry, you weren't allowed to travel, right?
[01:10:00]  Yes, correct.
[01:10:01]  That's the stuff you say, bro.
[01:10:03]  I'm sorry.
[01:10:04]  I don't mean to embarrass you.
[01:10:06]  The fuck are you talking about?
[01:10:08]  You put off getting married for years because of COVID?
[01:10:11]  Because you couldn't ask her in just the right place?
[01:10:15]  Yes, yes, I did.
[01:10:16]  Why?
[01:10:17]  Did she say, don't marry me unless we're at the bottom of a waterfall in Tahiti?
[01:10:24]  Don't even ask, bro.
[01:10:26]  No, no, it was.
[01:10:27]  I even remember the moment when I was sure I was going to marry her.
[01:10:33]  Okay, how long ago was it that you were sure you were going to marry her?
[01:10:37]  When did the COVID vaccine stuff came along?
[01:10:39]  And I was very carefully telling her, like, oh, I'm not too sure about this.
[01:10:44]  Maybe we should not get them.
[01:10:46]  And her reply was, well, if you're getting them, I'm never having sex with you again.
[01:10:51]  So.
[01:10:53]  Right.
[01:10:53]  If you take the injection, you can't give the injection.
[01:10:56]  Okay, got it.
[01:10:56]  Got it.
[01:10:57]  Yes.
[01:10:57]  Yes, pretty much.
[01:10:59]  Okay.
[01:10:59]  So it's been years.
[01:11:02]  And then how long between you deciding that you wanted to marry her to actually marrying her?
[01:11:11]  That was.
[01:11:14]  Oh, God.
[01:11:14]  I need to do the math here.
[01:11:16]  A year and a half ago, I asked her and we got married half a year ago.
[01:11:21]  So that was three years.
[01:11:24]  Yes, I think it was three years, maybe three and a half.
[01:11:28]  Okay, so late 2020 was when the COVID vaccines came out, or when they were talking about and just starting to come out.
[01:11:34]  This is sort of the emergency use stuff as a whole, right?
[01:11:36]  So late 2020.
[01:11:39]  And you got married when?
[01:11:42]  Half a year ago, last summer.
[01:11:44]  Jesus Christ, man.
[01:11:46]  Okay, so late 2020.
[01:11:48]  So let's say 2021, you got married in 2005 summer, right?
[01:11:55]  Yes.
[01:11:56]  So four and a half years it took you to get married after you decided to marry her.
[01:12:00]  Yes.
[01:12:01]  What are you doing, bro?
[01:12:02]  Do you think you're immortal?
[01:12:03]  Are you a vampire?
[01:12:04]  Help me understand this fucking time frame.
[01:12:07]  Unfortunately, I'm not.
[01:12:10]  No, I'm wasting time.
[01:12:12]  You're what?
[01:12:13]  You're wasting time.
[01:12:13]  Okay, so help me.
[01:12:14]  Like, why?
[01:12:15]  What are you doing?
[01:12:16]  And how the hell did she not put your balls in the fire and say, what are you doing?
[01:12:21]  Half a decade from deciding to marry me to marry me?
[01:12:25]  Oh, she did.
[01:12:26]  And until I told her what I had, well, I didn't exactly tell her, but until I told her that I had things planned out and bought the ring and was going to ask her in a nice place.
[01:12:35]  Okay, so she wants stuff in a reasonable time frame and you stretch it out to eternity.
[01:12:41]  So why don't you listen to her?
[01:12:44]  When she says, I just want to get married, like, I don't know what all this delay is, why don't you say, you know, you're right.

=== Why You're Drawn to Doom (04:47) ===

[01:12:50]  There is not much point.
[01:12:51]  Like, why are you so much in control?
[01:12:53]  I mean, other than being ex-military, like, why, like, she says she wants stuff, and you're just like, nope.
[01:12:59]  And she's what, like, okay with that?
[01:13:01]  Well, she technically outranks me in the military now, but I don't know.
[01:13:05]  I don't know why I delay.
[01:13:08]  It's something I see in most of my friends.
[01:13:12]  Most of them don't even want kids.
[01:13:16]  But I think I just have to stop whining.
[01:13:20]  No, you are, sorry to interrupt.
[01:13:22]  You are demoralized, right, in the sort of Marxist sense.
[01:13:27]  You have too much to spare for the future to bring children into it.
[01:13:31]  You are demoralized, which is sort of the purpose of the Marxist argument.
[01:13:35]  Oh, come on.
[01:13:36]  We haven't even started about global warming yet.
[01:13:39]  So I agree.
[01:13:41]  So this is the way that the intelligent long-range thinkers are the enemies of Marxists.
[01:13:49]  Because we say, okay, so the government controls everything, then what?
[01:13:52]  Right.
[01:13:52]  So how does this play out?
[01:13:53]  How does this work?
[01:13:54]  Whereas everyone else is just like, woohoo, free shit from the government.
[01:13:57]  I'm in.
[01:13:58]  Right.
[01:13:58]  So the long-term planners are the natural enemies of the totalitarians.
[01:14:05]  Right.
[01:14:06]  Because that's why.
[01:14:07]  I mean, the whole foundation of economics is forget about all the short-term benefits.
[01:14:10]  What are the long-term costs?
[01:14:12]  Right.
[01:14:13]  So when people say, well, we're going to freeze your rent, people are like, woohoo, I never have to pay more rent.
[01:14:17]  And people say, the smart people say, well, what are the long-term consequences of that?
[01:14:20]  It's going to be a giant rental shortage and all this sort of stuff.
[01:14:23]  Right.
[01:14:24]  So the long-term planners are the natural enemies of the totalitarians.
[01:14:29]  So what the totalitarians, let me finish.
[01:14:32]  What the totalitarians constantly do is fill your head with doom and gloom so that you're too full of doom and gloom to have children.
[01:14:42]  And they're succeeding.
[01:14:44]  Well, and you're not just getting it from the left, you're getting it from the right.
[01:14:49]  Yes.
[01:14:51]  But you are drawn.
[01:14:52]  I mean, I've been pro-natalist for decades.
[01:14:56]  And you don't really care about that.
[01:14:58]  You listen to the doom and gloom civil war, insurrection, and all of this sort of stuff.
[01:15:03]  And this is why I was sort of challenging because you're, you know, a smart guy, critical thinker.
[01:15:07]  I've seen you on the forums for years, and you have great stuff to say.
[01:15:11]  So I know this, for those who don't know this, but some background on this.
[01:15:14]  And I've always really appreciated your contribution.
[01:15:16]  So you're a very smart guy.
[01:15:18]  So if you're drawn to doom and gloom, it's why.
[01:15:22]  Why are you drawn to doom and gloom?
[01:15:24]  Because you can look and say, this is the greatest time ever to be alive, which it is.
[01:15:32]  Certainly for me, it's the greatest time to be alive.
[01:15:36]  Yes, we have antibiotics.
[01:15:38]  Well, we have everything.
[01:15:39]  I mean, dentistry and plumbing.
[01:15:43]  And, you know, I have international eternal carved my thoughts into the substructure of the universe, right?
[01:15:51]  So to me, as far as like communications, philosophy, it's the greatest time ever.
[01:15:57]  There's never been a better time, and there never will be a better time to be a philosopher.
[01:16:00]  So you can view all the negatives.
[01:16:04]  And of course, I'm not going to disagree with you about the negatives or say that, oh, you're making it all up.
[01:16:09]  Yeah, there's problems.
[01:16:10]  I mean, the dads I know, sometimes they say, you know, boy, I have a son, man.
[01:16:15]  It's going to be tough if he's white.
[01:16:17]  Right.
[01:16:18]  So I get all of that.
[01:16:19]  And no question.
[01:16:21]  No question.
[01:16:23]  But it's still better than history.
[01:16:27]  the totalitarians, they don't ban you from having children.
[01:16:33]  They give you excuses to avoid growing up.
[01:16:37]  They give you excuses to tread water.
[01:16:39]  They give you excuses to procrastinate, to postpone, to defer, all that kind of stuff.
[01:16:45]  You know, it's like the people who hand out these SSRI pills, right?
[01:16:51]  They're giving you an excuse to say, okay, I don't have to confront my family.
[01:16:56]  I don't have to judge my morals.
[01:16:58]  I don't have to judge the morals of the people around me.
[01:17:03]  I just take a pill.
[01:17:04]  So they're selling avoidance and excuses, and people grab at those pills with relief because it's like, oh, thanks.
[01:17:11]  It's like insulin for diabetes, right?
[01:17:13]  I can't solve it with therapy.
[01:17:15]  I can't solve it with virtue or self-knowledge or confrontation or honesty or directness.
[01:17:19]  I just take a pill, right?
[01:17:20]  So people want to avoid those conversations with their families of origin or whoever the problems are with.
[01:17:25]  So they just take a pill.
[01:17:27]  And they're not saying it is illegal for you to speak honestly to your family about your childhoods.
[01:17:32]  They don't say that.
[01:17:33]  They say, oh, yeah, no, it's here's a pill.
[01:17:36]  Then you don't have to do it.
[01:17:36]  And it's not even on the table.

=== Finding Stability After Blacklist (08:37) ===

[01:17:38]  It would be crazy to do it.
[01:17:39]  And people are like, woohoo, great.
[01:17:40]  I don't have to do the difficult thing.
[01:17:43]  So I'll take the pill.
[01:17:44]  Right.
[01:17:44]  So you're drawn to this doom and gloom shit for some reason around avoidance, for some reason around, like it's hypnotic to you for a reason.
[01:17:56]  It seduces you for a reason.
[01:17:57]  I don't know what that reason is, but it seems important.
[01:18:01]  Yes, like a hot vampire mistress.
[01:18:04]  Yeah, yeah.
[01:18:05]  I'm not gonna.
[01:18:06]  I'm just trying to sink, but nothing comes up at the moment.
[01:18:12]  Well, what's the story with your loots of friends?
[01:18:15]  Oh, they don't want to have kids.
[01:18:16]  Oh, they're anxious about this.
[01:18:18]  They don't even bother.
[01:18:19]  What are you hanging around with these dipshits for?
[01:18:22]  Because things are very difficult in the economy, and we help each other get businesses started, build houses, move when we have to.
[01:18:32]  Okay, so why don't you talk to them about having kids and getting off their asses?
[01:18:37]  Because out of all the guys, I'm actually the one who's furthest ahead.
[01:18:42]  Well, but that's kind of circular, right?
[01:18:46]  Yes.
[01:18:47]  If you say to yourself, like you got a bunch of fat friends and you're fat and you diet like crazy, but never talk to them about dieting and you say, well, because I'm the one who's dieted the most, it's like, that's because you haven't said anything to them about dieting.
[01:18:59]  We actually do talk about having kids and getting our career started.
[01:19:03]  And I think the idea is that once we have stability, that's when we can finally have kids.
[01:19:09]  And we are trying to help each other and stuff like that.
[01:19:13]  But it's just, it's very difficult.
[01:19:16]  No, I get that.
[01:19:17]  I get that if you're in your early 20s.
[01:19:19]  Bro, you're 35 years old.
[01:19:21]  What are you talking about?
[01:19:21]  Getting your career started and trying to find stability.
[01:19:24]  You've been 20 years in the workforce.
[01:19:26]  You are where you are.
[01:19:28]  You have the information that you have.
[01:19:30]  There's not some magical place down the road.
[01:19:33]  I mean, geez, you know, I had an income.
[01:19:35]  I got deplatformed.
[01:19:37]  You fucking roll with it.
[01:19:38]  You dodge it.
[01:19:39]  You figure out how to make it work.
[01:19:42]  You're nimble, right?
[01:19:44]  I mean, do you think that my career has been stable?
[01:19:50]  No, I don't think so.
[01:19:53]  Right.
[01:19:54]  So you have anxiety about having kids.
[01:19:58]  I understand that.
[01:20:00]  It's a huge responsibility.
[01:20:01]  It's amazing to me.
[01:20:03]  Like, I remember when I came home with my wife and daughter, it's like, they just let you go home with this precious life that you've never had before.
[01:20:12]  And you've got to keep it alive, healthy, and happy.
[01:20:16]  Yes, go figure it out.
[01:20:17]  Bye-bye.
[01:20:19]  And of course, we didn't have any particular contact with our families of origin, so we didn't have experienced mothers and fathers around.
[01:20:25]  So, yeah, it's wild.
[01:20:27]  And your life is never the same.
[01:20:29]  And everything revolves around what your kids want.
[01:20:31]  And there's something that you're resisting about that process.
[01:20:35]  Is it hedonism?
[01:20:36]  Is it like your life is better?
[01:20:38]  You have a good time.
[01:20:39]  You enjoy things.
[01:20:40]  You like being able to pick up and go at a moment's notice or, you know, nap in the afternoon?
[01:20:46]  Is it something like hedonism?
[01:20:48]  I don't think so.
[01:20:51]  And why is your wife putting up with the seven years, no kids stuff?
[01:20:55]  Well, she is kind of pressuring me, which is what prompted the call in.
[01:20:59]  Okay.
[01:21:02]  I think her expectation is that very soon I'll find some stability and then we can have kids and are their expectations.
[01:21:12]  But you are putting your decisions on the world, bro.
[01:21:18]  Yes, that's not very masculine.
[01:21:19]  When the world allows me to have children, I will have children.
[01:21:27]  When I feel comfortable enough, when I feel secure enough.
[01:21:31]  Oh, wait, they just did an.
[01:21:32]  Oh, the taxes are up.
[01:21:33]  Oh, you know, there's more this, there's less that.
[01:21:36]  Oh, there's more DEI.
[01:21:37]  Oh, guess I can't have kids.
[01:21:39]  That's passive.
[01:21:41]  Do you have kids?
[01:21:42]  You figure it out.
[01:21:43]  Did your parents go through some big financial crisis or collapse?
[01:21:53]  I don't remember details, but short, yes.
[01:21:56]  My dad switched careers roughly the same age I did, and he developed a drinking problem during that, if I recall correctly, when I was about three, maybe four.
[01:22:10]  Okay.
[01:22:10]  So your dad had some instability and decided to drink because he was an idiot.
[01:22:18]  Yes.
[01:22:18]  And because he was selfish.
[01:22:20]  Yeah, okay.
[01:22:21]  So, I mean, when I got the platform, my income went to like zero.
[01:22:26]  And you did not drink.
[01:22:27]  I did not drink.
[01:22:29]  And I had expenses, bro.
[01:22:33]  Undoubtedly.
[01:22:35]  And our ancestors had to deal with, oh, there's no animals around anymore.
[01:22:40]  We're all hunted out and there's bad rains and there's too many birds.
[01:22:43]  There's no crops.
[01:22:44]  And, right?
[01:22:44]  Yeah.
[01:22:45]  Life is a roller coaster.
[01:22:46]  Life is highly variable.
[01:22:48]  So what?
[01:22:48]  Yes.
[01:22:49]  Our ancestors had to deal with climate change as well.
[01:22:53]  Yeah.
[01:22:53]  So, yeah, the fucking ice ages, right?
[01:22:55]  So yes, life is variable.
[01:22:57]  So what?
[01:22:59]  Where is this anxiety and paralysis?
[01:23:01]  That's what I'm trying to like.
[01:23:02]  Where's the anxiety and paralysis coming from?
[01:23:06]  How long until you're a nurse?
[01:23:09]  Two years, maybe a little bit more.
[01:23:12]  Jesus.
[01:23:13]  And when did you start?
[01:23:14]  Last year?
[01:23:16]  Yes, last year.
[01:23:18]  Now, did your wife say, we're not going to have kids for three plus years?
[01:23:26]  Because you got to finish a degree.
[01:23:28]  I assume there's some on-the-job training and right, then you got to get a job.
[01:23:32]  And like, did she say, yeah, it's four plus years last year?
[01:23:35]  Did she say, well, it's four plus years till we can have kids because you're going back to education?
[01:23:41]  Yes, there was after COVID.
[01:23:44]  I already started a slightly different nursing career, but I was targeted by a psychopath.
[01:23:49]  So that didn't go exactly as planned.
[01:23:52]  And then it's like another nursing career that was targeted by psychopaths.
[01:23:56]  Okay, I don't want to get off on a side quest, but okay.
[01:23:58]  All right.
[01:23:59]  So that didn't pan out.
[01:24:00]  And then you're trying this one?
[01:24:02]  No.
[01:24:02]  What basically happened is a doctor made a mistake and I put a request for an investigation into the system, which of course, as a student, put a target on my back and somebody used that to, because I was in a vulnerable place, somebody took advantage of that, which delayed my career another three to four years.
[01:24:28]  So I did make it into the papers.
[01:24:31]  That was interesting.
[01:24:32]  Sorry, how did it delay it by three to four years?
[01:24:37]  Because I had to restart my education.
[01:24:40]  Oh, because you were blacklisted from that specialty?
[01:24:43]  Not necessarily blacklisted.
[01:24:45]  I was blacklisted at first.
[01:24:46]  And after the internal investigation, I was exonerated.
[01:24:52]  But by then, because that woman had sent a whole bunch of emails to different hospitals about lying about what happened, not technically lying, but changing the facts about what happened.
[01:25:08]  They could not in good conscience hire me to continue my education.
[01:25:14]  So I had to restart my nursing degree.
[01:25:17]  Oh, gosh.
[01:25:18]  I'm sorry about that.
[01:25:19]  I'm sorry about that.
[01:25:20]  Yeah.
[01:25:22]  Okay.
[01:25:23]  All right.
[01:25:24]  So did your wife said, okay, no problem.
[01:25:28]  We'll wait another.
[01:25:29]  So why is she pressuring you now if she already agreed that you were going to delay having kids to restart your education?
[01:25:35]  Oh, no, she was, she was pressuring me then as well.
[01:25:38]  Just get this shit figured out because I want kids.
[01:25:42]  Okay.
[01:25:43]  Now, do you get paid to go to school?
[01:25:46]  Very little, but yes.
[01:25:48]  Okay.
[01:25:49]  All right.
[01:25:51]  Okay.
[01:25:51]  So, I mean, I don't know what the answer is, but there's some answer as to why you are delaying having kids and why you have delayed having kids for years and years and years.
[01:26:03]  Now, I guess, you know, there's chaos.
[01:26:05]  There's chaos going on.
[01:26:06]  I get all of that for sure.
[01:26:08]  I mean, there was chaos going on when I was having kids, attacks in the newspapers.

=== Anger At The Boomers (04:08) ===

[01:26:15]  And yeah, life finds a way, unless it doesn't.
[01:26:21]  So you have been given excuses.
[01:26:25]  My, you know, admittedly, somewhat harsh analysis would be that you have been offered up excuses and you have rather greedily taken them.
[01:26:35]  Said, well, I can't now because of this.
[01:26:37]  Well, I can't now because of that.
[01:26:38]  Well, there's DEI and civil war and blah, right?
[01:26:41]  Yes.
[01:26:42]  And I don't believe them.
[01:26:46]  Very good.
[01:26:48]  Now, as to why you want these excuses or why these excuses are important to you, I don't know.
[01:26:53]  I don't know.
[01:26:54]  I don't have the answer to that.
[01:26:56]  But there is an answer to it.
[01:26:58]  Yeah, we have roughly half an hour left.
[01:27:03]  I don't think we're going to get there.
[01:27:04]  I think that's too foggy.
[01:27:05]  But yeah, I get that sense too.
[01:27:10]  I don't know what the reasons are why it's so compelling to you to have these excuses.
[01:27:19]  I agree.
[01:27:20]  I don't think we'll get there.
[01:27:22]  But the important thing is to have the issue.
[01:27:24]  You know, delineating the problem is most of the solution, if that makes sense.
[01:27:29]  Yes.
[01:27:29]  And interesting side note: none of my brothers and sisters are having kids or a stable career either.
[01:27:39]  Yeah, so a lot of times that has to do with anger at the parents, like real hostility towards the parents to the point where it's like, we hate you guys so much, we're going to end the bloodline.
[01:27:53]  I don't think it's that bad.
[01:27:57]  My parents weren't that bad, which is what everyone says.
[01:28:01]  Sorry, it may cliche.
[01:28:03]  Yeah.
[01:28:03]  No, and it may not be anger against your parents in particular.
[01:28:07]  What it could be is anger as a whole against your parents, like you said over and over again, like the boomers, the boomers, the boomers, like with this sort of kind of contempt.
[01:28:18]  And I'm not disagreeing with any of that, but what I am saying is that it could be the case that you're just so angry at the boomers as a whole that you want to end the bloodline for that reason, if that makes sense.
[01:28:29]  Yeah, so on a larger scale, the image that comes up immediately is the, I posted it a few days ago, the Sydney Sweeney snare, the way she looked at the reporter, like, who the hell are you to tell me?
[01:28:44]  Yeah.
[01:28:46]  You could probably write an essay on that facial expression alone.
[01:28:50]  I think that is how, and then we come back full circle.
[01:28:54]  I think that is how young people feel about the social contracts and boomers and the you got us into this mess and everything's burning and you're not even looking at a solution.
[01:29:07]  You're just sitting behind the television, basically.
[01:29:10]  Yeah.
[01:29:12]  Well, it's something that I've certainly thought of, which is that I say, oh, the West, the West, the West.
[01:29:18]  And it's like, well, what is the West?
[01:29:19]  The boomers?
[01:29:20]  Fuck no.
[01:29:21]  Right?
[01:29:21]  Like, I say, oh, I got to save the West.
[01:29:23]  Got to save the West.
[01:29:23]  Okay, well, what is the West?
[01:29:24]  What is it referring to?
[01:29:27]  Is it the Boomers?
[01:29:28]  No, the Boomers are like mystics of media, right?
[01:29:30]  They just believe whatever bullshit CNN is throwing at them.
[01:29:34]  And the boomers are like, they're complete toddlers.
[01:29:36]  Like they can't handle any particular facts at all, right?
[01:29:40]  It's embarrassing.
[01:29:41]  Like every time they just petulant and pouty and all of that sort of stuff.
[01:29:45]  So yeah, I mean, I certainly understand all of that.
[01:29:48]  But, you know, the solution to the boomer issue is not to just like you don't punish your children for what your elders have done, right?
[01:29:56]  No, that would be insane.
[01:29:58]  Right.
[01:29:59]  So, yeah, I mean, to not get consumed with sort of this anti-boomer sentiment is pretty important.
[01:30:07]  Yes, I agree.
[01:30:09]  That's, you know, it's the old saying, like cutting off your nose to spite your face kind of thing.
[01:30:14]  So, you know, maybe, you know, have you ever talked with your parents about what you disliked about their generation or how they raised you or anything like that?

=== Dad's Alcohol Admission (04:40) ===

[01:30:24]  Yes, yes, I have.
[01:30:25]  And what was their response?
[01:30:29]  We even were at parts of peaceful parenting together, and it's been pretty brutal on them.
[01:30:36]  My dad did admit to having, I didn't know that at the time, but my dad did admit to having an alcohol problem.
[01:30:41]  And it was probably what they would now call a depression.
[01:30:46]  And when you switched careers, and my mom got away mostly scot-free, but I don't know if she, it was probably, if it was anything, it was neglect.
[01:31:02]  My parents didn't hit me.
[01:31:04]  I think my dad hit me once.
[01:31:07]  What they did do when I was about 11 was they adopted a neglected kid, who's now my brother, um into our house.
[01:31:20]  Um wait, I know i've made uh notes about which episode that is.
[01:31:28]  That is episode five five six five, overworked um, where I explained that situation and um, But that situation, after that call, I had a student conversation with my brother and we mostly resolved that.
[01:31:44]  He was one of the best men at my at my wedding.
[01:31:47]  So that is slowly improving.
[01:31:50]  You don't have to necessarily defoo your parents.
[01:31:53]  You can talk to them and things will improve.
[01:31:55]  The relationship will improve.
[01:31:56]  I'm just saying it will be very difficult.
[01:32:00]  Sure.
[01:32:01]  So, yeah, so thanks for that.
[01:32:03]  As in, thank you for improving your relationship with my parents and helping me.
[01:32:07]  Yeah, I guess that's what I'm saying.
[01:32:08]  Well, except it hasn't improved to the point where you are going to have kids no matter what.
[01:32:14]  Not yet, no.
[01:32:15]  Well, not yet, bro.
[01:32:18]  Again, this is like your funky time frame.
[01:32:21]  Like, what do you mean, not yet?
[01:32:23]  You're 35.
[01:32:25]  And you have no immediate plans to have children.
[01:32:28]  Yes.
[01:32:29]  So the not yet stuff is kind of funny, right?
[01:32:32]  Compared to what, right?
[01:32:34]  Yeah, this in a very cynical way.
[01:32:36]  Right.
[01:32:37]  And Lexington, I can hear that cynicism or despair.
[01:32:41]  It's really kind of despair or anger in your tone as a whole.
[01:32:45]  And some of this, you know, this lecturing stuff, you know, well, Steph, you know, the value of money does go down, you know?
[01:32:53]  Really?
[01:32:54]  Thank you.
[01:32:55]  Yes.
[01:32:55]  Like all the people who are saying to me, oh, like, as I said, like, one of the issues with Jeffrey Epstein's conviction is this Jim Acostas terrible plea deal, right?
[01:33:08]  And people are like, well, but Jelaine Maxwell, you know, Jelene Maxwell got convicted.
[01:33:11]  It's like, yeah, I know.
[01:33:12]  I did entire shows on that.
[01:33:13]  I'm aware.
[01:33:14]  Right.
[01:33:15]  So this some of that sort of stuff.
[01:33:16]  And, you know, and when you listen back to it, right?
[01:33:18]  What I would sort of suggest is listen back to these excuses, right?
[01:33:22]  These excuses that you make.
[01:33:24]  Oh, yes, I will.
[01:33:25]  And I first owe my wife an apology, you know.
[01:33:28]  Go on.
[01:33:29]  I first owe my wife an apology.
[01:33:31]  No, but what do you mean?
[01:33:32]  Oh, over the kid thing?
[01:33:34]  Oh, yes, definitely.
[01:33:36]  Well, especially because you're older, right?
[01:33:39]  Yes.
[01:33:39]  So as the older guy, you have a greater responsibility because you did choose a woman who's significantly younger than you, right?
[01:33:49]  And so as a result of that, you have more ownership in the direction of the relationship as a whole because you have more authority just from being older.
[01:33:59]  I'm not sure if you'll agree with me having more authority, but I'll try.
[01:34:03]  No, no, she is because otherwise she would have said a long time ago, you know, sort this shit out.
[01:34:10]  Like whatever stuff you've got in the way of having kids, you just need to deal with it.
[01:34:14]  Like I'm having kids.
[01:34:16]  I hope it's with you, but I'm having kids one way or the other.
[01:34:20]  Like either you give me kids or I'm finding a guy who will, but I'm not doing this like gnaw our fingers and wait around forever.
[01:34:26]  Yes, yeah.
[01:34:28]  Before you hit the sun cost fellasy thing.
[01:34:31]  Right.
[01:34:32]  All right.
[01:34:33]  Is there anything else that you wanted to mention?
[01:34:36]  Because again, I know you've got some stuff to think about and all of that, but that would be something like that.
[01:34:42]  No, no, I just want to thank you at the moment for taking the time from me.
[01:34:46]  You're very welcome.
[01:34:46]  It's also a great pleasure to chat, and I hope you'll keep me posted about how things are going.
[01:34:50]  Hopefully send you some baby pictures soon.
[01:34:52]  Oh, that would be lovely.
[01:34:54]  That would be absolutely lovely.
[01:34:57]  Yes.
[01:34:58]  All right.
[01:34:58]  Well, thanks, Amel Brother, and keep me posted.
[01:35:00]  I really appreciate the call today.
[01:35:02]  Yes, you're very welcome.
[01:35:03]  Thank you.
[01:35:03]  Thank you.
[01:35:04]  Bye-bye.