EP 779 Who is Kamala Harris?
She may be our next president as she heads into the August Democratic Convention with a full head of steam following President Joe Biden’s decision not to run again. And while she has a long career as a prosecutor, district attorney, Attorney General of California, U.S. Senator from the Golden State and Vice President, there are conflicting narratives about her. Is she tough on crime or not? Does she want Medicare for All or has she reversed that position? Is she liberal or more moderate? Finally, how effective a chief executive would she be? All of these questions will be answered in the course of a short campaign, less than one hundred days, but the question is who will define her in the eyes of the voters–the Republicans or her campaign? To discuss all of this with us is John(Jack)Pitney, a Claremont McKenna College politics professor, who has followed Harris’ career for decades.
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J. Ted Oakley, founder and managing partner, of Oxbow Advisors, has seen it all. That’s why he wrote his latest book “30 Million and Broke.” Yes, it happens to celebrities, athletes, and lottery winners who are given the wrong guidance, no guidance or are left to their own devices. Mr. Oakley has seen it happen to those who sell businesses and those who are born with money, who think it’s their birthright to have it forever. But many of the same lessons of careful financial management are important to those of us who have much fewer resources and must make them last a lifetime. We unlock the keys to doing that in this interesting conversation about money–a topic many of us spend little time paying attention to. This 30 minute investment of time may be well worth your while.
We know that liberal democracy in America has always contained contradictions–all men are created equal as slavery defines the economic order of the Revolutionary moment, as one example. And while we have had a noble, but abstract, commitment to freedom, justice, and equality, tragically, that has seldom been realized in practice. The fraught politics of this moment, perhaps, reflects the fact that we just may be too tired, depleted and divided culturally–meaning how we define this ongoing experiment and who should be able to participate in it–to reclaim the work to bend the arc of history toward the goal of progress in addressing those wrongs. It is a frightening notion that what you see on the surface–political polarization, disinformation and general rancor–may be something we no longer have the resources to deal with. Professor James Davison Hunter, of the University of Virginia, coined the term ‘culture wars’ back in the 1990’s. In his book “Democracy and Solidarity: On the Cultural Roots of America’s Political Crisis” he frames the argument powerfully that with compromise now a forbidden word in our political lexicon, we may be at a tipping point and have no other way to address it than by force. It is a disturbing thought from one of America’s per-eminent scholars.
The White House, as a place, conjures up much about our history as we envision the remarkable people and the momentous events that have comprised its remarkable story. We’ve watched Oval Office addresses, seen press briefings and events of State with major performers there. If you’re old enough to remember, then First Lady Jackie Kennedy invited us to view some new furnishings she wanted to bring to The White House, which acts as both a place of work and the living quarters for the President’s family. Destroyed and rebuilt, renovated after neglect and the site of key decisions about war and peace, it remains a symbol of continuity and stability to the American people. Corey Mead, in his book, “The Hidden History of The White House: Power Struggles, Scandals, and Defining Moments” shares stories we have not heard before about what has transpired there throughout time. We bring the story to this day as we take an aural tour that takes into account the changes in its uses during an era of growing importance as we have firmly established the Imperial Presidency.
Heat has a pretty ‘cool’ connotation–that song is hot, let’s getaway to a warm destination and that car is smokin’–but in the modern parlance of climate change– heat is anything but. In fact, it lies at the root of virtually all of the climate related calamities–wildfires, hurricanes and just suffocating heatwaves that may not show up as the cause on a death certificate, but often is. It not only kills more people directly than the storms and events emanating from it, but it is stealth. Looking out the window on a nice day, it is impossible to tell whether it’s 70 degrees or 105. And heat does unimaginable things to the body. When our internal temperatures hit 102 or 103, we can pass out. In that process our body is sending blood to the skin, abandoning internal organs, including the brain. According to Jeff Goodell, a prolific writer on climate issues and author of “The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet,” the old, sick and poor are more vulnerable to extreme heat, but the rest of us should not be complacent. The summer of 2023, the warmest on record, is a harbinger of what’s to come. And the heat is coming for all of us and will affect migration patterns, our food supply and all life on earth.
Many money matters are trending in our economy. Some, like softening, but stubborn, inflation still tops the list of what people sense about these economic times. And while recent price reductions at McDonald’s, Wal-Mart and grocery food chains, like Stop & Shop, suggest retailers are sensing that consumers have reached a tipping point and are pulling back, how much it continues to ebb may well predict the outcome of the November elections. Jared Dillian, the editor at Jared Dillian Money(jareddillianmoney.com) and the author of “No Worries: How to Live a Stress-Free, Financial Life” delves deeply with us on the hobby horse we have ridden on this podcast before and that is the excesses in the gargantuan private equity market. Its latest victim is the beloved Red Lobster chain. We also discuss other trends like price spikes in gold, copper, metals and commodities and this quiet moment when it comes to oil and gas prices.
Our guest, Alexandre Lefebvre, author of “Liberalism as a Way of Life”, poses a provocative question–where do our values and beliefs come from in a time when fewer of us claim to belong to a specific religion or follow it in any meaningful way? We might say from our parents, our friends, our experiences, or human nature, but, in fact, he argues that liberalism is where most of us gain our value structure in today’s democratic societies. And while liberalism is normally associated with a political philosophy, his definition is much broader. He posits that liberalism permeates all walks of our life from the home to the workplace and shapes our thinking about how to treat one another in a diverse society. His original thinking suggests that you do not need to be liberal, plus something else, like identifying with a religion, to be a good person, satisfied that you are living a purpose-driven life. He sees liberalism as intrinsically fulfilling and a fun way to be. It’s a concept you’ve likely not thought about before and we are glad to bring it forward on today’s podcast.