[00:00:00] Foreign. [00:00:05] You're listening to casual talk radio where common sense is still the norm whether you're a new or long time listener. We appreciate you joining us today. Visit [email protected] and now here's your host. Ler. [00:00:21] I'm not going to spend too much time talking about a silly topic, but I think it's worth addressing it and I think I'm qualified to address it. [00:00:33] And I'll piss some people off. That's great. I'm fine with that. [00:00:38] I did an episode a while back about DEI and the problems of dei. [00:00:46] I saw I was reading something online. I think it was an email that I got from a newsletter or something. I got an email message it was talking about out in Minnesota. [00:00:57] Apparently the sentiment is turned negative because of the demise of DEI and the headline. Essentially it was Star Tribune. That's what it was. And they were making it seem as though black Americans were in trouble, struggling because of the demise of dei. [00:01:22] And there may be people who don't know what DEI is. [00:01:26] Chances are you know what it is. You might not realize how deep the rabbit hole goes, but you at least know diversity, equity and inclusion. [00:01:35] I'm going to tell you, as a black American myself, it straight up offends me to hear black Americans say that they are essentially endangered or trapped or stuck or, you know, all sorts of other words that really don't have any basis in any fact around DEI and its demise. [00:02:01] Because think of what that's doing. Think of what you're saying. Think of the message you are communicating to our young folks when you do that. [00:02:10] What you're saying is that you can't get ahead without a handout. That's, that's basically what it is. Bottom line. You're saying unless you have some sort of advantage. And then when I say advantage, they'll get offended because they'll say, no, we're trying to level the playing field. We're trying to make it fair. [00:02:27] Let, let me level set. [00:02:30] Do I think that the deck is stacked against people? Yes, but I don't. Do not think that has anything to do with, with being a black American or a Haitian or other. [00:02:46] I think the system itself, regardless of race, is stacked against individuals. [00:02:53] And the analogy I drew, think of the credit system. So what stops you from buying a home is going to be the credit system. What stops you from buying or leasing a car is going to be the credit system. Okay. What stops you from possibly getting an apartment is the credit system. [00:03:09] It might surprise you. And I worked at a Credit agency. That's why I'm giving you the dirt. Might surprise you to understand that the credit, the whole system of credit, its intent was to try to make it fair because everybody has a credit score. [00:03:25] Here's what you don't know, here's what they don't tell you. [00:03:28] Depending on where you live, it will be significantly harder for you to increase your credit than versus other areas. [00:03:37] That's fact. It, it is provable fact. [00:03:42] My credit was never better until I went to Washington State. [00:03:48] I damn sure wasn't getting better credit in California. It was not going to happen. [00:03:53] I got somewhat better credit in Nevada than the pandemic happened. [00:03:58] I did not get better credit in Oregon. [00:04:02] I'm somewhat getting better credit where I am now, but nowhere close to what Washington state gave me. [00:04:09] I'm assuring you, you can talk to multiple people who would say the same thing, that the moment they moved out of certain risk areas, all of a sudden it seemed like it was easier to improve the credit. But the whole system of credit in of itself is discriminatory, not because of your race, but simply because of the assumptions that it makes. [00:04:32] In the old days, you would have a relationship with your local bank or you would create one. It was not computerized. You would walk into the bank with your paperwork wearing a suit and you would talk to the banker and you would explain what it is you're trying to do and they would qualify you based on their merit. Now, in the past, there were certainly situations, racism driven, where you were blocked from getting access to this money. [00:05:02] So the credit system ostensibly was to get away from that bias, the idea that everybody should be able to do it. [00:05:09] But it's true, it's harder in certain areas to increase your credit. And as an individual, your credit is at risk all the time through no fault of your own. [00:05:24] Any company can damage your credit, in many cases irreparably. [00:05:29] The system allows them to do that. Mind you, you just saw if you're watching the news, that our credit Fitch, our or moody, rather our credit rating got dropped because of a risk or concern. We're not going to be able to pay back our debts. [00:05:46] Fiscal irresponsibility. But that drop of a rating is not in of itself like, okay, we're going to block you to have access to this or you're completely blocked out of that. That's not the way it works on the business side and on the government side. The rating is symbolic. [00:06:02] We're not talking the same type of damage that they can do on an individual. Consider in many cases, you're not going to be able to rent a place. If your credit's a certain level of damage, you're not going to be able to rent or purchase a car. [00:06:15] Rather, if your credit's a certain level of damage, you won't be able to get a credit card, you won't be able to get a regular loan, you might not be able to attend school, depending on how much it costs the system. Everything blocks you out of participation. [00:06:30] If you don't make a significant amount of money and you have damaged credit, why ever you have damaged credit, the scam continues by basically being what's referred to as predatory. [00:06:44] When you're young, when you turn 18, 19, 20, even before you have a job, those credit card companies will happily send you pre approval letters in the mail. [00:06:55] Banks will happily pre approve you for cars you can't afford because they know getting at you early, your credit's not yet damaged. So they're all too happy to give you that because your credit's not damaged. [00:07:09] Now, you could buy cars, so that's loans, right? And pay them off. [00:07:14] Well, paying them off. We all know the price of cars is skyrocketing. It's hard to get that much money. But let's say you do. Your credit's not going to significantly increase by paying off car loans. [00:07:24] Your credit will significantly increase by paying credit card debt. [00:07:29] Credit card debt is expensive. There's an APR and it's usually high. Most credit cards have high aprs these days. It is what it is. [00:07:37] If you mortgage a home, whether it's a condo, townhome, house, it doesn't matter, you know, mobile home. If you mortgage a home, your credit will improve faster than not purchasing a home because the system is slanted towards getting you to buy a home as well as having a diverse amount of types of credit that you're paying against. And then the amount of debt that banks have been willing to lend you and your ability to pay those back over a span of time creates this artificial score which is then used to judge you. [00:08:15] None of that has anything to do with racism. It's all computerized, it's all computer generated and there are laws. And all this other garbage DEI has nothing to do with anything I described. That is not a DEI situation. That's just the nature of credit and we cannot get away from it. But that's where the system is against you. It's credit. It's the entire credit system. [00:08:38] The second thing that's against you is salaries. Employers, Employers are not increasing salaries commensurate with the cost of living and commensurate with inflation levels. [00:08:51] Currently, inflation levels are actually low. They're back down to their 20, 21, so pandemic levels. However, you do not feel the benefits of this because every other company has raised their prices to take advantage of a challenging situation. [00:09:08] The employers are not significantly increasing salaries. I saw a supervisor position posted with my client and the maximum that they'll pay is 60 bucks an hour. Now you might think, well, 60 bucks an hour is not chump change. It's shortly over 130, something,000 dollars, if I recall, per year. So it's not chump change. [00:09:30] However, you have to put that 130, let's say it's 140. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. You have to put that in perspective. In the grand scheme of everything else going on, a person who's making 130,000 per year, you're going to be roughly in about 35% tax bracket on that business. [00:09:50] So you figure, okay, roughly, let's say 40 grand is taken straight off the top. [00:09:57] Ish, 40 grand off the top. So you're down to about $100,000. [00:10:02] Let's assume that you're not able to buy a car fresh out because used cars are egregiously expensive. [00:10:10] So you're gonna have to, you know, take out a car loan on a car. So you're gonna need to pay, make monthly payments. [00:10:17] Most people's monthly payments are gonna be at least 300 bucks a month these days, usually higher. [00:10:23] Let's say $400 a month just to have a round number. [00:10:27] So $400 a month. So right there to pay that car. If you're paying the minimum, mind you, it's another 5,000 bucks that you're going to be paying every single year for the next however many years, let's say seven years, depends on the rate. [00:10:46] You've also got electric bills, which in some cases are like 300 bucks a month because they rip you off on electricity because they know they can. You got gas bills and depending on your area, they may rip you off on gas, food expenses. Food, of course, is skyrocketing as it is. If you have kids, they cost money. So this 100,000 that you got left over after taxes doesn't really go that far, does it? [00:11:12] Many people who have worked for fast food or something else and make like five figures for the most of their life would still salivate at the idea of six figures. But the six figures doesn't really go that far? You might think it should. It doesn't these days because of the cost of everything else going on and because the whole system assumes a dual income family as a single person. Such is not the simple case. [00:11:39] So the big picture of the system, the problem with the system is that it has nothing to do with race. It has everything to do with the financial system is slanted to set you up to fail to where you have to make more than you should in order to get ahead. Because unfortunately inflation is a bear on everybody and employers not paying what they should based on the cost of living. This is just the fact of the matter. [00:12:06] What can we all do about it? [00:12:07] The first thing that I would recommend, and it's only a recommendation because I can't know your specific situation. [00:12:14] I've always said there are so many people that refuse to move and I'll never understand that. I've relocated multiple times. It sucks. But it's necessary sometimes because you have to keep up and keep up the demands of everything that's going on. You have to keep a pace with everything that's happening around you. You can't just sit on your merits and hope everything will go away. It doesn't really work that way. You have to keep a pace with these things. And part of the flaw I think of people is that they don't fully understand what that means and how that works. But it works out. [00:12:50] If there's an opportunity in a different location, you take it. [00:12:53] Ideally it's a work from home, but not all are and a lot of them are resisting that now, which is stupid. [00:13:00] But if there's an opportunity, you go there. That was the whole idea of the gold rush and everything else is they went where the opportunity was. And for whatever reason we got into this groove of getting too comfortable. [00:13:11] I have people all the time complaining about the cost of things in California, yet refused to leave. I had a girl that I wanted to elope with me. I'm not kidding. I wanted it. I didn't think she would, but I wanted it. And she just. Her big thing was she didn't want to leave California. She didn't tell me no to my, you know, my desire. She just didn't want to leave California. And I was not staying in California. That was not going to be an option. [00:13:36] So it is what it is. Well, she's having a rough time of it. I chatted with her a little while ago. [00:13:41] She's having a rough time of it. Well, it's California. Of course she are. [00:13:45] Meanwhile, I'm you know, I wouldn't say that I'm out, fully out of the woods, but I'm absolutely not concerned or worried. You know, my clients renewed the contract. We got another year, minimum of solid amounts of money. I make a really good amount of money. [00:14:03] So I wanted her to again, I wanted her to elope with me. I'm not kidding at the time. [00:14:08] And I knew she would have been happier elsewhere. It's just that she could not let go of California. Well, then you can't complain if you choose to stay in that condition. You are choosing to stay there. [00:14:19] In the Minnesota situation, these are people who are choosing to stay there and they don't want to be chased out of their place. And I get it. But you cannot blame the demise of DEI for your choice. Your choice is to stay in a challenging situation. [00:14:35] And that starts with acknowledging that the challenge has little to do with your race and everything to do with an acknowledgement that the system is slanted against you and you have to do what you can to get around it. Not everybody's going to be able to do that. That's, you know, because it depends on your skill sets. Are they in demand? Are there opportunities? [00:14:53] Are the employers willing to take a risk? Because a lot of them aren't. We went through cycles where employers were refusing to hire people that didn't have a bachelor's degree, which is a flat out joke. I do not have a bachelor's degree. I didn't need it. I've been working in my same craft for over 21 years now. [00:15:10] I'm, you know, and so I've got the skills. Heads down in the trenches now. My, the unfortunate truth is that the vast majority of that work experience, the people that I worked with, you know, I'm not going to be able to have reference ability because they either passed away or retired or the company shut down. You know, it just is what we're talking, 20 something years. That's the, that's the gift and curse of having niche experience. [00:15:37] You're not going to be able to fall back on what every company falls back on, which is the reference ability and all these things. [00:15:45] It takes more of a person to get to, to that level. [00:15:50] And all you can rely on is the chance to prove, which most people would say, I just need the chance to prove myself. And I'll show you that I can do the work. And many employers aren't willing to do that. That has nothing to do with your race and everything to do with the system. It is slanted against you you have to figure out how to navigate those waters. But it's not about what color your skin is. [00:16:14] How you act might play a part. If you act ghetto, if you act like you ain't worth nothing, if you don't know how to communicate, if you don't how to carry yourself, and I say these things and people will get offended. You can't. [00:16:26] Because the way that you carry yourself in a business spot is going to resonate with those people, either to the positive or to the negative. You have to understand there are things expected of you that are not acceptable outside of the workplace. They're acceptable in the workplace. They're not acceptable. And you have to learn to work that line. That doesn't make somebody a coon or anything else that's in the workplace. There's a way you are expected to behave and you will do it or you won't. If you don't, that's not a racist thing. That's you are refusing to follow the rules that have been laid out. [00:17:02] The rules that somebody should have taught you. That, that I just said is the gap. [00:17:08] A lot of these people who are complaining about the lack of DEI were never taught the rules of the game. It's all a game. I was taught the rules of the game in 2003. [00:17:18] Technically, 2004 is when it really started, but 2003 is when I took the opportunity. 2004 and onward, all the way up to 2007 is when I was battle hardened because I had the toughest boss anybody would ever deal with. Many of these people complaining would run out of the building yelling and screaming and crying. If they ever had to deal with her, the person I call, the director, they couldn't hang with her. I don't care how gangsta they think they are, she'd run them over. She would literally run them over and have them cry in the corner because that's how tough she was. And I accepted that's what I needed. I needed somebody not only to tell me what the truth is about, okay, I don't understand this whole work thing. I worked call center. I was good at it, best at it. But now I'm in a whole different arena. Now I'm dealing with contracts, now I'm dealing with legal agreements, now I'm dealing with technology. I'm dealing with server building and code writing and all these things. Nobody taught me the right way to do it or the best way to do it, or how to navigate the. The people dynamics and the politics. Nobody taught me that until I got to her and she forced it on me. I had to learn it. The benefit we had is there was no real social media at the time. [00:18:32] So although it was a thing, nobody was heavily using it or relying on it. Everybody's relying on email. Blackberries, the golden age, you know. [00:18:40] And yes, it was not uncommon to be called on the BlackBerry at, you know, 11 at night or midnight or 1am about some stupid contract that was due the next day. That's how she worked. Some of those things, people, they're gonna be like, no, I'm not doing that. Cool. Then you don't have a job. [00:18:58] That's. That was her culture, that was her mindset. And it stuck with me. Now fast forward and I have to impose those same principles on other people because it gets stuff done. I just take a different swag on it. I say, I'm not going to treat you like the military, but I'm gonna let you know the truth, which is the work's not gonna wait for you. It needs to get done. And if you're collecting a check, I'm gonna hold you to this. And if you don't show up, you're not gonna get a check. [00:19:25] That has nothing to do with race. It has nothing to do with gender. It has little to do with age. [00:19:32] Some people were never taught, in many cases in a fear based method. They were never taught about the real the way things are. And this is how it is. You can talk about what should change when you're in charge. You can talk about changes until you're in charge, assuming you ever get there, fine. But for right now, you are following orders. You are not giving orders. You will follow the instructions and do it or you don't get a check. And you do not have the right to accuse people of racism because they're not going to hire somebody who's got their pants sagging down and talks like they don't have any common damn sense and is talking back to the boss and is not getting the work done on to boot. [00:20:20] You do not. You're not worth a check because you're not showing up. That's what we lost. [00:20:25] Which is why these people are falling back on the DEI excuse. DEI is not the reason you lost your check. The reason you lost your check is because you don't want to earn that money. [00:20:36] It is not an entitlement. You're not entitled to a job. Nobody's entitled to a job. Everybody has to work for what they want. And the harder you work, the more you should make. [00:20:46] It doesn't always work that way, which is why you have to find a niche, something that is in demand that you're capable and willing to learn. And guess what? It might suck. There are people right now that are working hands in the trenches, getting dirty, hurting themselves because it's the best money to make, because nobody else wants to do that work. [00:21:07] That's what you have to do. That's what you have to do until you get to a leadership position because you're going to get promoted. If you do enough of a good job, then you can start infecting change. [00:21:18] Once you get to that point, if you're not willing to do that, you could drive Uber, you could drive whatever. I just talked to a guy Uber driver when I went to get my car and he said he was going to get out of it because it doesn't make enough money for the wear and tear on the car. [00:21:32] It's not very exciting. Yes, you make your own hours. You work when you choose to so that freedom's there. But freedom is not what pays the bills. What pays the bills is hard work working your ass off, that's what pays the bills. If you're not willing to do it, you're not willing to get paid. Like, it's that simple. None of this entitlement nonsense. None of this reparations nonsense. None of this Doge dividend garbage. None of it. It's hard work. [00:22:01] You show up when you're told to. The dress code is what it is. If I tell you to cover up your tats, you will cover up your tats. You If I tell you to remove extra piercing, you will remove extra piercing. You will learn how to communicate in the workplace. You will put your phone away for eight hours, accept all your legally mandated lunches and breaks. You will learn to do email, you will learn to do it correctly. Email etiquette, you will learn all of these things. If you don't know how to do it, you ask and say, I need to learn how to do it and I'm willing to do it, then we'll help you figure it out. [00:22:35] It is not about your skin. Your skin has jack all to do with it. It's all about the energy you put into the work. [00:22:42] Because think about it. You falling back on this excuse of DEI is a slap in the face to all these executives that are black Americans, that are Asian Americans, that are Hispanic Americans, business owners all over the nation who worked and put the work in to create something. [00:23:03] You're a slap in the face to those people as a slap in the face to those people. Why should they want to hire you? Because you don't share their values. They're not going to want to hire you. All you're doing is turning them off. That's not about fair. There's no such thing as fair in the workplace. You have to show up and work and you have to sometimes do things you don't want to do to make sure the bills get paid. [00:23:26] Your goal should be to make sure the bills get paid. Your goal should make sure that there's a roof over your head. Your goal is to make sure your kids are taken care of. That's it. Not what feels good. And that's the disconnect. They're trying to do what feels good? I feel good. I feel like we have these advantages. I feel like we're getting free money. [00:23:47] No, there's no such thing. [00:23:50] And doing that just burdens everybody else at why? Why? Why would we do this? What logic is there to do that? [00:24:00] Society has to come back to reality. No more coddling people. [00:24:04] Get back to the basics of what it is. It's hard work. Sometimes you do it when you don't want to do it. Because the goal is to make sure everything's taken care of, whether you have two incomes or not. [00:24:15] Because somebody could get injured, disabled, have some debt, die. Right. You cannot rely on two incomes all the time. It's not guaranteed. Nothing's guaranteed. So you have to hustle. [00:24:28] Do what you need to do. Stop trying to use DEI as an excuse. [00:24:32] You either with it or you're not. If you're not, you don't deserve to get paid.