229- Countering Tribalism: Promoting Respectful Political Conversations

What if one's political affiliation wasn't dictated by the color of their skin? Join me, Elias, and our multifaceted guest, Philip Blackett, as we explore the intricate connections between political diversity and personal responsibility. With Philip's rich background—from Southern roots and Wall Street experiences to corporate America and a return to Memphis—our discussion spans politics, technology, and spirituality. We bust harmful stereotypes that link race to political affiliation, emphasizing the importance of individual maturity in managing emotions and fostering respectful debates.

The role of fatherhood in shaping society takes center stage as we delve into its profound impact on a child’s identity and stability. Reflecting on my own journey from cynicism to optimism, I share lessons from my book, "Disagree Without Disrespect," offering insights on navigating political and social disagreements without losing mutual respect. Our conversation also examines the decline of two-parent households and the toxic nature of online debates, stressing the necessity of addressing beliefs without attacking individuals.

Finally, we tackle misconceptions about the political leanings of Black and Hispanic communities, providing strategies for the Republican Party to attract more non-white voters. By fostering a sense of community based on shared values and addressing universal concerns, we discuss how to counteract tribalism in today’s polarized landscape. With Philip's invaluable insights and my personal political journey, we aim to promote unity through respectful debate and effective communication, advocating for a more engaged and thoughtful society.

Follow Philip Blackett at ...

His Website

https://www.philipblackett.com/

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/philip.blackett/

YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/@PhilipBlackett

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https://www.instagram.com/philipblackett/

Twitter

https://x.com/PhilipBlackett

LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/philipblackett/

TikTok

https://www.tiktok.com/@pblackett

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Chapters

• 0:12 Political Diversity and Personal Responsibility
• 4:51 Impact of Fatherhood on Society
• 18:59 Disagree Without Disrespect
• 31:27 Effective Communication in Political Discussions
• 35:16 Navigating Political Beliefs and Values
• 44:42 Navigating Political Strategy and Diversity
• 49:06 Promoting Unity Through Respectful Debate

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:12

welcome everyone to politically high tech with your host, elias. I have a guest here and I'm going to say this before I even introduce them Do not put any race in a monolith. They are all black people, democrats, all Latino Democrats. You'll be surprised how many of them are actually in the opposite party and for American context, that's the Republican Party, ok, and while Asians they're almost in their monolith, I think there's a lot less Asians in the Republican Party, based on the last statistics I checked. But just that's the thing I want to say. Just because you check the skin color, it doesn't always tell you what political party you're in, and that's kind of racist. Right, you want to talk about racism? That's racist. Don't worry, I'm not going to cancel you, but I just will call you out on that. You know I have my first amendment rights. Okay, let's try to respect that. So just say oh, I want to cancel this guy because he makes me feel uncomfortable. That's more for you problem you got. You got issues that you need professional help or or, most importantly, go back, go to God. Yeah, I'm going to throw god in here. Go to god, okay, yeah, okay. So that's all I'm gonna say.

Speaker 1: 1:27

Um, if I sound a little frustrated is because I kind of am, so I'm a little more interested than usual. But don't worry, I do not attack the guests. Cns called personal responsibility. I'm gonna say, oh damn it, philip, why are you here? Right, I could just, can I be that immature and petty and stupid? Yes, but it's called being mature, it's called being a real man. Know what you have to do with your emotions. Learn how to deal with it. Understand why you're frustrated. So this is more raw, me being frustrated, as usual, mostly because things are just falling apart right now. But it'll get better, it'll get better. But as a native New Yorker, as I said multiple times, I am impatient. We get impatient pretty quickly. We use that hustle and bustle fast life. It's been a little slower than usual, so my anxiety is a little crazy. Just being transparent, if you want to talk and make fun of it for content, go right ahead, but I express it out.

Speaker 1: 2:30

So, without me going to my little emotional monologue here, let's welcome Phil Blackett. He's going to share us some stuff, okay, and one of them is in direct alignment with this podcast. And you know this has no partisan loyalty. I don't care if you're Democrat, republican, independent, green, libertarian or even Communist Party. Yeah, I even throw something there, even though I will totally disagree or be initially turned off by it. I don't know why you want communism in America. I don't get it. You don't study a lot of history or you study the wrong history or something.

Speaker 1: 3:08

Okay, so with all that, I'm going to have him introduce himself. And, trust me, he cannot be put in one box. He's one of the few guests. Depending on where we go, I could put him in any bucket. It's very rare, very rare, very, very rare. I could put them in the political bucket, tech bucket, development bucket, which includes spirituality in religion, christianity. It could be any bucket. I like that because that gives me flexibility to where I could put this. So thank you, philip, for actually being my relief today. So you see, he's going to be my relief today. He probably didn't realize that, but then again I'm assuming here so he could correct me once he introduces himself. So go right ahead, go introduce yourself.

Speaker 2: 3:54

Thank you so much, elias. I appreciate it. So for everyone listening and watching, my name is Philip Blackett and it's really tough to kind of compress like 39 years into like a one two minute intro, but I'll try my best here. So I was born and raised in the South, so that makes me a lover of all things barbecue, chick-fil-a and sweet tea related. Went to school in North Carolina, went up to New York for a few years, worked on Wall Street for a little bit, worked in corporate America, done some entrepreneur things. Went back home to Memphis that's where I'm from. Later came back up to the northeast for school and business school in Boston, met my wife up there, got married the day after graduation, had twin daughters the year after we got married and basically at this point in time I've been an employee, I've been an employer.

Speaker 2: 4:51

I'm an author of a few books this year. One of them that's getting a lot of attention is called Disagree Without Disrespect how to respectfully debate with those who think, believe and vote differently from you. And so I think at this point you know whether it's dealing with politics, how to disagree with people that you like artificial intelligence, you know, or even why. I went to seminary during the pandemic. There's a number of things I could talk about here. I'm just glad to be here, and so I definitely am excited about the, the conversation about the half year.

Speaker 1: 5:24

Oh yeah, I am happy. That's right, you know, maybe a little funky in an emotional sense, and but you know that's not to do with you, thank goodness.

Speaker 2: 5:36

Hopefully some of the happiness rubs off from me to you.

Speaker 1: 5:39

Yeah, the good thing is, if you'll talk to me 15 years ago, I'm pretty sure it will not happen, cause I was like almost hardcore negative, cynical person. So I I almost turn every solution or bright thing into something very negative and use my so-called logic to defend the living life out of it. You know, you know that I could tell I grow, so I'm easier now on that. On that front, I try to see, see things the way it is and try to do better from there.

Speaker 2: 6:06

So yeah, all in all, it's a perfect reason why we can't give up on each other. You never know how we're going to turn out If you give us time and instruction and love.

Speaker 1: 6:16

Now you hear that Listeners especially those of you who got venom In your texts, venom in your heart, most importantly, because that's the origin of all of this Listen to that. I mean, I need that sometimes too, because I'm not the most patient person in the world. Sometimes an hour could feel like years to me. I'm so used to things going quick, getting things my way. That's something that I need to personally work on. I'm just being really honest. So when things go right, when but they seem perfectly in alignment like boom boom, boom, boom I said, oh, my goodness, I'm in control. But when things go wrong okay, one thing's okay, fine. Second thing. And the third thing is like what the hell, man? What's going on here? Is the world against me or something? And then I, I personally lose it. But uh, I need to take that too hard, and so do you listeners, not just, that's just you, me too, me too, I'm being honest, me too. So, before I derail this whole thing uh, I always accuse myself of doing that ends up not being derailed, it just goes to a long detour sometimes, at worst Best case scenario, just go straight ahead.

Speaker 1: 7:26

That's one thing I want to ask about, because I think a lot of these problems could even stand for a lack of fatherhood. There's plenty of single mothers. There's even some single fathers. There they are. I don't think it's definitely not as common as single mothers. You said fatherhood is, I think, one of the biggest crises of I just paraphrase it to society. I think it's definitely more than political, it's even cultural and just human nature. And I mean why do you think that besides, especially, I mean me. I'm going to just answer a little bit. I think, especially for young boys, I don't see a good father figure. They're confused and lost sometimes. I'm sure there's more insightful things you can bring up. I'm just going to start from there. Is it because of that? And then more.

Speaker 2: 8:10

Yeah. So I think one way to look at it, elias, is that you know you talked about father figures. Father figure, if I broke that down, is somebody that's like a father, right, well, would a father figure really be needed if you had a father in the home present with you? So I think one of the things that comes off here. I do think that fatherlessness is, I would argue, the biggest problem in our society that we do not talk about, because I think a good part of it is, especially when you have people that are growing up.

Speaker 2: 8:47

We often want to find a sense of who we are, what's our identity, why are we here? What's our purpose? How do we relate to one another? And oftentimes you're going to go to somebody for those answers and call me old fashioned if you want, but the first pillar of people you go to for those answers should be your parents, your mother and your father, not just your mother, your mother and your father, because both of them contributed to you being in this world. You are part of your mom and part of your dad. So if your dad is not available, if your dad is not around, then that's half of who you are. That's not present, and I don't care how tough you try to be or come off, you're going to miss that.

Speaker 2: 9:47

And if you don't have your father around whether, as you know a father's love, a father's instruction, a father's wisdom, a father just spending quality time with you on the regular, you're going to seek that out elsewhere from somebody else. Regular. You're going to seek that out elsewhere from somebody else, whether that's friends that could lead into a gang, whether it's to people of the opposite sex, which could lead to promiscuity, which can lead to a number of different things that could be bad decisions, because you don't have somebody that's with you, that's instructing and helping you on how to make the right decisions and help give you that sense of stability that you are loved, that you're cared for and that somebody is proud of you because you're a part of who they are. I'll just stop and pause right there, but if nothing else, even if I went on a spiritual realm too, elias, the thought is, if you can't just imagine what life would be like without an earthly father for a lot of people that believe in God, imagine what life would be like without a heavenly father.

Speaker 2: 10:58

Now, for those who do believe in a God. That's very hard to imagine. That's where a lot of people think chaos comes into play Anarchy, lack of order. I have no sense of who I am. That's truthful. So just imagine what that would be like in the physical, earthly realm. In your own home. You need a sense of identity. You need a sense of order, a sense of unconditional love and connection to who you are and what makes you who you are. That's in the home and not necessarily dictated or influenced on you by the world around you.

Speaker 1: 11:40

Yeah, no, that's great. And also, just when I just want a little thing, it even impacts the daughters too, because you used to race that pre-discuity. I'll just lead you to that that. You know, some don't even know what a proper relationship with a man is. Well, with the exception of his dysfunctional parent, which is a whole other beast altogether. Both of them are constantly fighting, arguing, throwing pots or whatever household appliance you could think of. You know even daughters, even packs, daughters too, not just um, of course, and you know, I just wanted to say that and this is why I think you know they to your point. They're going elsewhere to find that and that creates chaos because it hasn't been visualized or even caught at home. And you know I ain't even done so much, so I'm going to quote him again.

Speaker 1: 12:29

It all starts at home. A lot of dysfunctions, and if you think I'm crazy, I think you are mentally ill to the 10th power. Okay, it makes sense and it is not old-fashioned. All I want to say is it is true wisdom. I know some of you that wants alternative lifestyle unit. They got my right wing. I don't care Certain issues I am. I think family, I mean a little more to the right on that issue. That's why I raise this as a community One up service at church, community Very important. Yeah, I tend to agree with the writer on those issues Because they've been tested and true and you know you do need, naturally speaking, you need a he and a she to merge. A child is born. Just try to keep it as clean as possible. Okay, so you could go to the gutter with your own mind. I'm not going to do it in here. I already done that in my older podcast.

Speaker 1: 13:25

I was a little more edgier and controversial. That's why I said I only want adults. I don't need kids listening to this stuff. They hack it. Like I said, it's your fault, parent, for not paying attention. Your fault, my mind. Don't cancel me because you can't handle your kid. All right, that's all I'm going to say about that. I'm not going to linger too long, but a lot of things she says. It may sound old school. It may sound corny to you. It's like oh my God, why are you sounding like a boomer? It's not boomer. I'm going to replace it with another B word that you kids use based.

Speaker 2: 13:55

It's based on truth. Why would I repeat something unless it worked in the past? I think that's kind of what makes it traditional or conservative. It's like you want to conserve something that you believe worked beforehand, that you believe is going to work now, because otherwise, if you don't conserve what was happening before, you are essentially trying to reinvent the wheel or redefine what families or parenthood should be like. And good luck with that. You know, I, just like I said, I tend to believe that. You know, hey, communities are based of numerous families, and families should have parents, mothers and fathers in the home with their children. That's how God intended it to be. The first family is not the first family. That's in the White House. The first family was a mother and a father and two kids. If God had intended it any other way, then he would have.

Speaker 1: 15:00

So if that's how God created it to be, I'm not going to argue with him and trust me, sadly, we humans have tried so many times and it may be me too been guilty of it a couple of times especially when I just think he seems irrational and just call myself out. So I can't just God, just I don't know alter our DNA to allow all this fun stuff to happen. I know he could do that right, and that used to be my thinking when I was younger, of course, right, and that used to be my, my, my thinking when I was younger, of course. But you know, god designs things the way it's intended, and I'm sure he could have made humans produce asexually if he wanted to. You just create a kid on their own. But he didn't do that because he wants us as a form of relationship and a unity between two different sexes. He wants to be together as a species and that's why humanity survived. I mean, we would have been stuck in our own little world during ancient times. The wild animals would have had free food every single day, to the point of extinction. Okay, so, yeah, let me throw some ancient history in there. It is well documented.

Speaker 1: 16:10

You want to argue against facts? Establishment, yeah, I'm going to say establishment, go cringy, yeah, they're well established. I want to say I don't know, mickey Mouse did Fantasia and he made a bunch of people and they could just I don't know merge with each other and then they get what they want magically. I could say that, but I'll be lying to you. I'm trying to stay away from enabling certain fantasies. But, hey, I do respect you even though I don't disagree with you. I could disagree with your lifestyle, but it doesn't mean I hate you or want you purged or eliminated from existence of earth. And that's a little alluding to his book, and I think you know what. Let's transition to that book.

Speaker 1: 16:58

I think that's where we're going to be going because you know, hey, lgbtq plus couples, you want to do your thing, you go right ahead. You know, just like straight and everybody else, you have to be responsible for your own decisions and consequences. Don't just play a victim and say, oh, it's Elias' fault because he said something that just triggered me. I could just say a little thing that may sound offensive but it's not hateful. Phillip is definitely not hating and so far, even if you take little clips of him, I think you're making him popular Based on every single sentence right here.

Speaker 1: 17:38

I'm thinking as a YouTube creator if I were to take something out of me and spit it out in context, think about wacko. That's fine, but you know, at the end of the day, just be responsible for your choices and stop being a victim all the time. I know victim is popular and attractive. I used to be one of them. Okay, I used to suffer from depression. Believe the world? It was never my fault, okay.

Speaker 1: 17:59

So with that, I think we're ready to establish on why fallacy is such a major crisis and and before, I think prior to that, these issues weren't so big like they were today. Let's go back to pre-1960s, where even Black majority of Latinos had a strong family structure. Prior to the 70s, you can see a decline from there. Don't take my word for it. There's a lot of statistics on this. Like I said, this is well-established. I'm not just saying this just to pat myself on the back or be a hater, but these are just established facts. If you don't like it, I don't like some of the facts either. I don't. But it's there, oh well, it's going to stay there, unless you want to try to alter it, which I will go against that. So now let's get to that book. Is there anything you want to add before I transition to the book.

Speaker 2: 18:54

No, I think that you hit a lot of the good points there.

Speaker 2: 18:59

I think that the big thing that comes off to my mind is that, yeah, like pre-1970s, like yeah, whether it was Black or Hispanic, like the family structure, whether you call it the nuclear family or traditional family of that sort, you had a lot more two parent households than you do now.

Speaker 2: 19:16

And so the question that comes off my mind is one why is that the case? There's more, there's fewer two parent households now in 2024 than there were, let's say, 50 years ago, fifty, six years ago, 50, 60 years ago, and then two do you honestly believe that it is a good thing for us to have fewer two-parent households now than we did 50 years ago? And so that should be an honest question for us to ask ourselves. And if it's not a good thing, the question that comes up, at least for me, is how do we get back to where it was? If, if you want more two parent households, we have to value fathers being in the home and figure out how we can have more of our fathers being active and present in the homes for the kids that they desire?

Speaker 1: 20:13

Yep, and I'm just going to go on the wacky ladder and, if you think it's a good thing, bring your documents, bring your links, get ready to debate, because people who are thinking rationally are going to strongly disagree and we have a lot of evidence on our side. So for those of you who think this is a good thing, get ready for a debate, just get ready. Get ready, bring your receipts. That's a cool kids call it. You're for for the traditional people, the ones that are called boomers as an insult, which is kind of ageist. Documents, evidence, that's what the kids mean by receipts. You kind of get the slang. They're not that creative sometimes. I was more creative at my age, but you know, let me not flex my little experience on these youngins, all right, let me not pick on the Gen Z people. Y'all cool in your own way, but some of y'all funny, all right.

Speaker 1: 21:13

So I'm going to transition to this book because I think disagreement without being disrespectful is so important and it's lacking. It's lacking in a major scale. I can't even be hyperbolic about this, I can't. You could check on Twitter. I refuse to call it X, x the alphabet. I could use X for many things Twitter, facebook, instagram, whatever social media TikTok, all you're going to see is the very left, the far left and the far right. You may think I'm dyslexic. It's probably mirror. Okay, that's my excuse, it's mirror mode. All right For those of you who are going to be hypercritical, there's just so much attacking each other.

Speaker 1: 21:57

Oh, so you want to take us back to 1980? No, forget 1980s, 1800s. Oh, you're wacky. You want to always touch children. I mean they go to these wars below the belt for the jugular attacks I see on the internet and some get I'm going to use a very slang jump, I mean. Or the updated term is ratioed where I mean so many people disagree, don't get insulted at one person because they have a different point of view. So I think your book should. I mean it's pretty timely, I would say, to have that kind of book and I encourage people to get it. I know we're going to plug in the middle of the episode, but I'll link it because people need this book. People need it and I mean how can someone learn how to disagree without being disrespectful, cause we see the opposite almost all the time? Just for just a little bit. I know you're not going to spoil, I know the whole book is going to be spoiled. I don't want that to happen. I'm a capitalist. Find out more if you want to get everything.

Speaker 2: 23:06

So I'll do a little sprinkle. So I think the first thing you have to think about is one. I'll do a little sprinkle. So I think the first thing you have to think about is one.

Speaker 2: 23:18

We have to do a better job of separating the idea or belief from the identity of the believer. So what do I mean by that? Depending on the issue, the person you talk to, that idea or belief might be so intertwined with the person you're talking to that it essentially becomes who he or she is. And the challenge with that is that when you're talking to that, it essentially becomes who he or she is. And the challenge with that is that when you're trying to debate that idea of belief, that person can take it personally and think that you're debating who they are as a person. If I criticize that idea of belief now, they think I'm hating on them or criticizing who they are as a person, which is just as easily likely to get them on the defensive. Be more aggressive towards you, build up a wall, not really listen to what you have to say, and can very quickly devolve into name calling, which at that point there's no debate to be had at that point, because nothing really good comes out of calling people names at that point.

Speaker 1: 24:13

Oh, yeah, you hear that. You hear that listeners, especially those of you who like to engage in debates and arguments, separate the identity of the person delivering a message to the idea, and I think that's spot on. I think that's just the root of I'll say 99, if not 99, 100%. I think that's just the root cause. Talk about premium sprinkle here you get the root, the core of everything. Why do these debates fall apart in terms of a shouty match? And I'm going to just use me for examples oh, you know, he's black, but he supports white supremacy. He's a white supremacy sympathizer. He said literally nothing that supports white supremacy. If he were to cheer for the Charlottesville's riot, okay, maybe there's some there, but there is no connection. Or I'm going to use me when I talk about why I criticize LGBTQ+. Oh, I'm a transphobe or homophobe just because I criticize some of their parade. I'm just criticizing the parade, not the community. I didn't say you should be killed, but you all are. The F word that rhymes with maggot. Okay, I didn't say any of those things. But yeah, you call me transphobe with all that because you can't debate and you feel like I'm attacking you personally. So what you say right there, I hope you really gain those listeners. I'll be really serious. I hope you really get this, because this is just spot on diagnosis right here. I mean this is, I would say this even surpasses AI. I don't say that very lightly. Ai is great, but it's not perfected yet and I don't think it's ever going to be perfected as long as that's human origins of it. But who knows? Give it five or ten years. So disagree without disrespect. I think that's just the root. That is the root of just all of them. You know, because once we take it personally, we feel like we have to fight, even if that person didn't really do anything rational to justify that aggressive response. If the other person do it to you, sadly, fine, but just get yourself out of the situation because at the end of the day, I think, just for Mark Twain if you argue with an idiot, you become an idiot and the observers on the outside, they won't be able to tell the difference. It's a two nut jobs argument. So just keep that in mind, keep that in mind. And you know, just because you have a different idea doesn't mean they hate. You Just got an idea that I think is worth talking about, exploring.

Speaker 1: 27:13

You know and look overall my politics. I'm a moderate, I lean to the left on some of the issues and I probably lean to the right on some of the issues. I don't think he's a bad guy. You just have different ideas that separate the ideas from the person. I think that's spot on. That's spot on. I could not come up with a better response. No, I'm serious. Yeah, I really couldn't. So this is really spot on. If I'm complimenting you, that means you're like top 1% response. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 27:45

So that's all I'm going to say about that.

Speaker 1: 27:47

And it doesn't matter what skin color comes from, just get the idea, the idea, okay. And for those of you who are, oh, melanin people yes, he has melanin. Okay, that's an extra, that's an extra. But me, I'm bringing diversity in a more organic and positive way. And guess what? Not all of them are Democrat at the end. Not all of them are Okay. So let's just drop that idiocy. And Democrats, I'm going to criticize you more. Stop acting entitled to every single non-white vote. You need to work for it. You need to work for it, okay. That's all I'm going to say about that. Any little thing you want to add, any little extra sprinkle you want to give for the book?

Speaker 2: 28:36

I'll add one more sprinkle to it. Once you get a sense of being able to separate the idea or belief from the identity of the believer, the next step I would say, even before you get involved with a debate altogether, would be essentially being able to say listen, we're going to talk about an issue. I can still disagree with the issue at hand between you and me and I can still respect and love you as a person Because essentially what goes on there is the thought that my respect and love for you is not contingent on whether or not I agree with you, and if we can better understand that and have that as a part of our friendships and our relationships and our family structure and that sort of thing, we'll be a lot better. Just off of that alone and I've been married for eight years that if it was absolutely incumbent for my wife and I to agree on everything for us to stay married, we wouldn't have made it past the honeymoon stage. We probably wouldn't have made it past the wedding planning stage, because you have to make decisions on what type of wedding you want and we didn't always agree on it.

Speaker 2: 29:50

So the thought that comes to my mind is many marriages that last 5, 10, 20, 40, 50 years. That involves two people that have grown over the years and have not agreed on everything, but yet they still love each other and are still committed to one another in the most intimate of relationships. And I would imagine there's a lot we can learn from that, because, essentially, what I'm sharing with you is their love for one another supersedes whether or not they agree with one another, because they're not going to agree with each other on everything. It's just not going to happen. So, with that being said, can we take that same takeaway to our friendships, to our work colleagues, the people we are associated with on social media, and say listen, you and I may disagree on this, but, elias, you and I are still going to be friends even if we disagree.

Speaker 2: 30:48

It's fine, it's okay. I'm anticipating we're going to disagree. If you and I got to know each other for 24 hours straight, I can guarantee you two things You're going to find out some things that you say, philip, you are a brother to me, we are of the same mindset and I also guarantee you there are going to be some things that you say, philip, I have no idea why would you even think that's the right way to go. I completely disagree with you. But yet and still, we can still be friends. Yet and still we can still talk to one another, work with one another, break bread with one another. It is possible, and I think that more people should understand that it is possible for them too.

Speaker 1: 31:33

Yeah, no, absolutely. And we got to be just grown, we got to be really mature mentally and spiritually about it. But biological maturity is the easiest part. Okay, People that's biologically mature, still acting like stupid children no offense to you that have children I'm aiming at 20, 30, 40, 60. I become a little more sympathetic if you have a condition, but between 20 to 50, if you start acting like a child, I think there's something really, really wrong.

Speaker 1: 32:08

You don't know how to deal with confrontation, and me, I would have had this problem, but I didn't know how to confront my issues in my teens. Well, I had to confront some of it in my mid-teens, to like early 20s and even mid-20s actually, to learn how to develop this thick skin and learn how to separate idea from the person. Because before I you know Philip I'm sure he's not going to agree with this let's just say he's a communist. I said oh, I don't know why you would believe in communism. Do you know how many people was killed? Are you crazy, man? Are you just stupid and mentally ill? See what I did there. That was a criticism idea.

Speaker 2: 32:46

I tied this identity to it.

Speaker 1: 32:48

And I already name called. He don't believe in communism, by the way, but that's a hypothetical. In the ultimate reality I'm sure that's true and I'm probably a Caucasian lady, I don't know. Let's use a more of a multi-universe. Maybe I'm a far-right crazy. He's involved with multi-universe, okay, maybe I'm a far-right crazy white woman, I don't know. Or you know a fellow who's, I don't know, a multiracial communist, whatever. Okay, maybe we're planning to kill each other in that multi-universe.

Speaker 1: 33:14

But that's besides the point. We need to separate idea from the person and I think that's the most profound thing. And he already said the marriage thing, which is much more higher stakes than debates and friendships and all of that. That's the only difference and I think that's very important for that. But there's also a point for those lower stake contexts like friendships or just debates or even talking to a stranger out there. Generally, generally speaking, they're lower stakes.

Speaker 1: 33:42

So, yeah, I can be applied for multiple things, not just political debates. So that's the thing I want to emphasize. I mean, I'll just focus on that because that's the topic of realm that I'm more comfortable, have a great amount of expertise in and I understand multiple sides of the issue really well, which I think that's also important for a debater. Not just oh, I'm a lefty, I'm going to pay attention to everything, lefty or righty. Oh, no, I'm going to pay attention to everything Trump says, because Trump can never be wrong.

Speaker 1: 34:05

No, that's very problematic and that's why you have these shouting matches. They call people libtard or right-wing, stupid or racist. That's just a right-wing racist, that's a common one. So we got to get past that and, at the end of the day, people want something good. The debate is more on the how we get there, how we get to the better outcome. That's a lot of these debates come from and, generally speaking, so anything else you want to add. Before I go in a more political thing, especially attacking the, not attacking Republicans how can Republicans get more non-white votes?

Speaker 2: 34:47

Yeah. So to answer that question, I think this you know we're doing this in 2024. There's an election here and I argue that this is probably one of the biggest opportunities that Republican Party can have to grab more Black and Hispanic voters back into the Republican Party. Because I think that you know there's a number of things that are coming off. One to your point the Black community as well as the Hispanic community, they're not a monolith. It's wrong for you to think that everyone that is of a certain skin color thinks the same. It's wrong, it's not accurate, it's not true.

Speaker 2: 35:36

So I think three ways that come up top of mind for me, where it's just like there's clearly open territory, so to speak, if you want to call it that, for more Black and Hispanic runners to come to the Republican Party. One is we have to be able to feel like we have a community, not based on what we look like, but because of shared values. If I feel like this party is inclusive for someone like me, not so much because I check off a quota box right or I look a certain way where you can say, oh, that's diversity or that's affirmative action based on what I look like, but more so in the sense that we have shared values, shared beliefs, shared principles. That's what unites us together. In that you can have a community of people that look like a melting pot, but what unites us together is the fact that we all stand for something. We may still have our disagreements on minor things or certain practical things, but there's something that's bringing us all together. That's one.

Speaker 2: 36:41

Two is the sense of debunking the sense that the Republican Party is racist. So I can actually trust the Republican Party. Let's be honest about the history of both parties. To be fair, ever since the Reconstruction period after the Civil War, you can't necessarily say the Democratic Party is spotless when it comes to any sort of allegations of one being racist or not. So let's just put that on the table here and say, hey, there's mud on both sides. Let's just dismiss this whole notion that one particular party, a group of people, is all of a sudden racist. It's not true. And especially if you're getting flack from friends and family that vote a certain way, that's okay because you're going off of principles rather than just, you know, just because you look a certain way or just because you're from a certain family or community structure and that sort. So having that trust that you know there's good people in the Republican Party too that you can align with.

Speaker 2: 37:50

But I think the most important part of the three deals with the values and policies itself. What's the platform? Because, I would argue, a Democrat in 2024 is very different from a Democrat in 1994, right, 30 years makes a huge difference. The Democratic Party, I would say, is much more liberal than it was 30 years ago, and so you have a lot of people that were saying to themselves I was with you 30 years ago, 20 years ago, maybe even 10 years ago.

Speaker 2: 38:22

Now, some of the things that the party is bringing up to the forefront of attention, some of the issues that they think are most important, more so than others, you have a lot of people saying that's not me, that's not what's most important to me, that's not what's impacting myself and my family more than others, that's not the most important priority we should be talking about.

Speaker 2: 38:48

And if you have another party saying these are the policies and values that we are standing for, this is our platform and you can see how it can benefit you and your family and your community, whether it deals with economics, education, healthcare, immigration, inflation, a number of different things that go beyond social issues, right, things that are going to impact you day to day safety of your neighborhoods, jobs, safety of your neighborhoods, jobs, um what you can afford house or car or eggs, um, these certain things and sharing a policy or a way of doing it.

Speaker 2: 39:36

Where things can be better for you, then you make a decision based off of that which one is better, which party is better, which candidate is better on issues that are important to you. And I think that that's one that's going to be far more appealing for people considering Republican versus Democrat. And I think if we just stick to the issue at hand rather than sidetracked on name calling or making certain social issues more prominent than others, then that's where you have a lot of people saying, yeah, I'm open for discussion, I want to learn about the issues, where do you stand on this? And I'm going to try to be as objective and as fair-minded as possible, and it could mean I stick with the Democrats or it could mean I change teams.

Speaker 1: 40:19

I mean to your point and I can use myself as a perfect example 2008 to 2014,. I was a very moderate Democrat because there was a decent amount of issues that I had to stand for. But by the time I did the switching platform and I know there's big changes I said I'm leaving. This is definitely not for me. You can do your thing, but I'm going to give the Republican Party a try. I only gave them to 2016. But I'm going to give the Republican Party a try. I only gave them until 2016.

Speaker 1: 40:45

Then I saw that MAGA stuff and ever since then I've been independent, Nearly lifelong independent, Registered as independent. I've been to multiple Journeys of switching political parties. I'm not going to get into it. Go pay attention to my older episodes about that. That's all you need to know About that. That's the breakdown For 2016.

Speaker 1: 41:07

To present, I'm still independent because I'm more like a fair-minded person. I see the good, the bad, the ugly, the interesting, the weird on both parties and I'm a mix back politically when it comes to marijuana. I will side with the left more on that issue. Abortion I think I'm in the center of that issue. I think some restrictions are needed. That just gives me some of my positions. Education I agree with the right more with school choice. I think choice for school will have a better chance for parents to improve the child's academic success. When it comes to religious rights, I'm definitely right wing on that issue. I'm like almost like pure on that one, probably your rats to the point. That's nearly irrational. But I see what the left is doing. Religion and I'm not with it, not with it, not with it at all, and I think it's just disrespectful in my personal opinion. Not saying Democrats are heathens Some of them are, Some of them I reject guys. That's not for me and those are the only things.

Speaker 1: 42:17

Immigration I'm definitely in the center. I think we should definitely need some restrictions to make sure the bad immigrants are not coming to this country and let the good ones come in. I mean, these are just simplified bullet points. I'm a censor when it comes to immigration. We do need immigrants, but I'm not opening the door for every single criminal that's going to come in and destroy America. That one I agree kind of the right end. Destroy America, then I want to agree kind of on the right end, but at the same time I don't want to close off to a point that we've got to be an isolationist nation, An isolated nation. I wonder why I'm struggling with that. I don't want to become such an isolated nation, you know, be the xenophobic nation either. I think there's a balance that needs to be struck there. That's my take on that. So I'm a mixed bag, in other words.

Speaker 2: 43:09

I think one of the things you highlight, though, elias, is I would imagine you're very much representative of a lot of people in our country that it's not necessarily straight line red or blue on everything.

Speaker 2: 43:28

There's a lot of nuance. There's a lot of things where it's like, hey, I'm kind of more left here, more right here, more center here, and that's fine, right. That's what makes us unique. What I would say on top of that is that's all the more reason for us to have conversations and debates on the topics and issues at hand, to be able to do it respectfully, so we can explore this of being cursed out or embarrassed publicly.

Speaker 2: 44:08

Then you're not going to have that type of conversation, you're not going to engage with somebody, you're not going to try to explore and try to understand for yourself what is important to you or, at the very least, share that with somebody else. But we have to set the groundwork, the setting, so people can explore these issues, talk about it openly, honestly and vulnerably, and help people make their own adult, educated decisions about it. And even after you make the decision, you're still open to ongoing conversation about it. You're still open to being friends with people, even if they disagree with you. I think that more people would agree with that sort of setting that we need and, compared to the status quo we got right now, yep, no that's exactly right and I'm actually well, thank god, we're just like sure.

Speaker 1: 44:55

I think it's symbolic that I'm more optimistic about that because, yeah, I mean I'm really beginning. That's true. I mean, if I would use my old cynical has, I know a lot of people too stupid. They're either vote blue, no matter who, or vote red, or you're dead. You know those two. I mean, I made that up for the Republicans, you know, if you're going to attack me, I'm open to it. I'm a New Yorker, I'm not afraid of a debate, but before I get to confrontation mode with the listeners, before I get that confrontational mode, yeah, because I know we've got to land this plane.

Speaker 2: 45:34

Yeah, at this point. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 45:36

Yeah, I'm going to land, yeah, we got land here, because this pilot here is about to be dehydrated.

Speaker 2: 45:43

So I'm caring for you, elias. Yeah okay, so I'm gonna keep you on here longer than necessary. So, hey, as we conclude, no, thanks a lot.

Speaker 1: 45:54

You see, this is why god sent phil. You know, I don't understand everything god does. If I did, I think I would have been in heaven already. Um, I'd probably be one of the archangels. But, um, you know, there's a reason why you're here, particularly this time of the moment, because God already saw something in me and I wanted to deny it. Try to be tough, try and toughen out like I normally do. But he said you know what, you need someone. So God bless Philip here for actually somewhat co-hosting this. Yeah, I could say that Somewhat co-hosting this. Yeah, I could say that Somewhat co-hosting this thing. So he's my co-pilot here. Really, really metaphorically speaking. Of course, don't take it literal. Take it literal, and God help you. You have low IQ. Okay, let me land this plane down.

Speaker 1: 46:39

So the main points we need more fathers. Okay, to correct a lot of society's major problems. Is this still going to be perfect? No, but I'm sure we could improve. And then, of course, the book Learn how to disagree without disrespect, because tribalism is at an all-time high. And then there's precedent to this, unfortunately I've got to mention this the Civil War. We don't need another Civil War, and that's the direction it's going, especially in social media, even on TV, with some of these major cable networks with their propagandist, divisive talking points that they think everyone's going to agree with and get into one against each other. So there's lots played in there. Get in one against each other so there's lots played in there. But people need to take responsibility of questioning things, being critical, understand where the person's coming from, separate identity and ideas, instead of just lumping the two together and just shoot them all down or burn them down, okay.

Speaker 1: 47:38

And then the final point. So about the bread and butter issues that affects everyone economy, grocery prices, gas and, believe it or not, though, immigration in there, because more there's more reason for saying that Latino people are actually are becoming less open to open borders. They are saying, no, we need to control that border. Okay, so that's significant and that's potential votes for Republicans to this little insight there. Listen to me or not, that's up to you, okay, so. So, republicans, you got, I gotta say, a very good opportunity here. I say you had a decent opportunity in 2020, but I think the time is now Strike while the iron is hot to grab more non-white voters, the Hispanic, the Black, and, I'm going to add, asian, I know you probably felt excluded. Asians my apologies for that one and Asians too, and multiracial people all of them. You probably felt excluded as excluded.

Speaker 1: 48:45

So about the issues that affects everybody, and I think that's the way that they could win, instead of just trying to appease every single little marginalized group. That's what Democrats are doing is kind of chewing themselves to the foot. Good example of that is the LGBTQ pride parade plus the pro-possessive parade clashing with each other. Those are both supported by Democrats. I got a mess there. I know I sound like a very pro-Republican, but I'm pointing out how incoherent that idea is. I think we all should be united, and if you can manage to get LGBTQ and pro-Palestinian people together, wow, that's a miracle. The Democrats are geniuses. You pulled something that's miraculous, but so far I haven't been able to do that. So let me shut up. The plane's officially landed. Let's see if Phil wants to add anything before I wrap this up.

Speaker 2: 49:34

No, I think the big thing is for anyone who's interested in reading my book Disagree Without Disrespect how to respectfully debate with those who think, believe and vote differently from you. It's available on Amazon. Whether you read ebook or paperback, just look it up by the title or my name Philip Blackett, p-h-i-l-i-p-b-l-a-c-k-e-t-t. So you see that book, along with a few others I've written, and hopefully there's one that has your interest and you want to read. Definitely encourage you to do so, because I think that that type of book is well needed in our communities today.

Speaker 1: 50:07

Yeah, it could have come sooner. It couldn't come sooner and I'm going to put all that that you mentioned in like a description so you can find it All right. I'm going to put the book and his website the Rule.

Speaker 2: 50:22

Thank you so much.