How do you feel about the election? Six Interviews with Democrats and Republicans
11/13/20 • 22 min
Twenty-four years ago, I was living in Washington D.C. while studying at the University of Maryland. I came back to America in August of 2016, this time with my family. It was just a few months before Trump's election. As I settled in the US and tried to understand why Trump got elected, I noticed how much the country had changed.
I believe that two major crises have determined the shape of what the country is today: the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and the subprime economic crisis in 2008.
Then came Trump. A man loved by half the country for being anti-elite, playing tough, and speaking his mind and hated by the other half for pretty much the same reasons. Trump has polarized America and the world at large, pushing what we thought was politically possible. Lies and mediocrity became the new normal.
For a year now, with this podcast, Back in America, I have been exploring and questioning America's culture, values, and identity. In every episode, I ask my guests “What is America?”. Quite often, they say that America is a story, an idea in the making.
By many standards, the 2020 election is historical and will once again help define what America is. The pandemic, the foreign interferences, the mistrust in the democratic voting process, and now the legal attacks against Biden's victory.
I have asked Americans what they thought of the outcome of the election.
Here they are:Jake Hoffman, the president of the Tampa Bay Young Republicans.
Mark Charles, an independent candidate who ran in the 2020 Presidential Election who holds dual citizenship to the United States and the Navajo Nation.
https://twitter.com/wirelesshogan
Previous episode https://pod.fo/e/a048d and https://pod.fo/e/a048e
Richard Heinberg, a Senior Fellow at the Post Carbon Institute, and one of the world’s foremost advocates for a shift away from our current reliance on fossil fuels.
https://twitter.com/richardheinberg
David Treibs, a Constitutionalist, Christian, and gun-rights activists from Fredericksburg, Texas.
Previous episode https://pod.fo/e/a2f78
Chivona Renee Newsome, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter chapter in Greater NY.
https://twitter.com/newyorkvonni
Majid Padellan, social justice warrior, social media expert, Twitter celebrity, an author, a digital designer, and a proud father of 5. His Twitter handle is BrooklynDad_Defiant.
https://twitter.com/mmpadellan
Previous episode https://pod.fo/e/9f4f2
Read the Transcript
Twenty-four years ago, I was living in Washington D.C. while studying at the University of Maryland. I came back to America in August of 2016, this time with my family. It was just a few months before Trump's election. As I settled in the US and tried to understand why Trump got elected, I noticed how much the country had changed.
I believe that two major crises have determined the shape of what the country is today: the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and the subprime economic crisis in 2008.
Then came Trump. A man loved by half the country for being anti-elite, playing tough, and speaking his mind and hated by the other half for pretty much the same reasons. Trump has polarized America and the world at large, pushing what we thought was politically possible. Lies and mediocrity became the new normal.
For a year now, with this podcast, Back in America, I have been exploring and questioning America's culture, values, and identity. In every episode, I ask my guests “What is America?”. Quite often, they say that America is a story, an idea in the making.
By many standards, the 2020 election is historical and will once again help define what America is. The pandemic, the foreign interferences, the mistrust in the democratic voting process, and now the legal attacks against Biden's victory.
I have asked Americans what they thought of the outcome of the election.
Here they are:Jake Hoffman, the president of the Tampa Bay Young Republicans.
Mark Charles, an independent candidate who ran in the 2020 Presidential Election who holds dual citizenship to the United States and the Navajo Nation.
https://twitter.com/wirelesshogan
Previous episode https://pod.fo/e/a048d and https://pod.fo/e/a048e
Richard Heinberg, a Senior Fellow at the Post Carbon Institute, and one of the world’s foremost advocates for a shift away from our current reliance on fossil fuels.
https://twitter.com/richardheinberg
David Treibs, a Constitutionalist, Christian, and gun-rights activists from Fredericksburg, Texas.
Previous episode https://pod.fo/e/a2f78
Chivona Renee Newsome, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter chapter in Greater NY.
https://twitter.com/newyorkvonni
Majid Padellan, social justice warrior, social media expert, Twitter celebrity, an author, a digital designer, and a proud father of 5. His Twitter handle is BrooklynDad_Defiant.
https://twitter.com/mmpadellan
Previous episode https://pod.fo/e/9f4f2
Read the Transcript
Previous Episode
Listen again: John Michael Greer an American Druid on Americans Individualism, Societal Collapse, and the Values of the Frontier Period
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I am publishing this episode once again for all of the listeners who might not have heard it yet.
I find it strangely prophetic and visionary which if you know my guest shouldn't be much of a surprise.
John Micheal Greer a widely respected author and blogger in the fields of nature spirituality and the future of industrial society.
He is the author of more than fifty books and his blog, Ecosophia. He lives in Rhode Island with his wife Sara.
John, a look at your Wikipedia page made me realize that you are a pretty complex person. The most striking aspect of your life for a layman is probably that you are a Druid. When I realized, thanks to you that Druids made their way from Europe to the US was a surprise and I want to learn more about it.
The reason for my reaching out to you, however, is that you’re one of the leading minds, in the US, behind the concept of societal collapse.
You were quoted on this topic back in 2008. In 2016, you wrote Dark Age America: Climate Change, Cultural Collapse, and the Hard Future Ahead. Since then you published 8 books and countless articles on collapse.
Collapse means that our fossil fuel-based civilization, cannot sustain itself and will fail.
As our world is going through an unprecedented pandemic and is bracing itself for recession I am delighted to get your view on the situation.
John’s blog can be found at https://www.ecosophia.net/
Here is a link to his books on Amazon https://amzn.to/3cANDom
Next Episode
Listen Again: Sheri Kurdakul CEO of VictimVoice tells her story of abuse that started when she was a toddler (with Nov. 2020 update)
Today is The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
In this episode, first published a year ago, I speak with Sheri Kurdakul the CEO and founder of VictimsVoice an app that provides a legally admissible way for victims to document abuse incidents.
Sheri speaks with Back in America about her father’s abuse that started when she was a toddler, her recovery from post-traumatic stress disorder PTSD and how she reclaimed her life to become who she is today.
Since I first interviewed Sheri Kurdakul the pandemic has struck and VictimsVoice experienced massive growth.
“The law enforcement officers that I've spoken with have said that while the number of reports has decreased, the severity of the incidents, by the time they do report, they are pretty much at the life or death stage,” says Sheri.
She adds, “You have people who probably have lost their jobs, money is tight, the Feeding America saw a double increased need in food distribution, for people needing food. You have people that normally are being watched all the time when their spouses or significant others are home. And now they're forced to be home all the time. So whereas an abuser may have gone to work, or, left the house for any length of time, that was an opportunity for a victim to be able to talk to a nonprofit and put together a safety plan to get out or be able to just have some downtime, where they're not being controlled and abused. They don't have that anymore. They don't have the luxury of having any downtime at all. And if the victim is also employed, now they must act professionally in a space where they're being abused."
Sheri says, “We saw six states between January and February. And then we compared it to March and April. We had six states in the US that had triple-digit percentage increases, Utah saw a 450% increase in usage. And we had over 30 states that had double-digit percentage increases as well. New Jersey is one of those.”
For more information about Victims Voice https://victimsvoice.app/
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