[00:00:00] Welcome to Unsolicited Perspectives 🎙️🔥💥

[00:00:00] Bruce Anthony: Y'all better get ready. The price of She ain and Timo about to go up also is crime down? Are they lying to us? And a man has simply had it with his sister-in-law. Let's get it. Welcome, first of all, welcome. This is Unsolicited Perspectives. I'm your host, Bruce Anthony. Here to lead the conversation in important [00:00:30] events and topics that are shaping today's society. Join the conversation and follow us wherever you get your audio podcast. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for our video podcast and YouTube exclusive content rate review like.

[00:00:42] Bruce Anthony: Comment, share. Share with your friends, share with your family. Hell even share with your enemies. On today's episode, we're gonna be talking tariffs, crime, and a man that's just absolutely fed up with his sister-in-law. But that's enough [00:01:00] of the intro. Let's get to the show. 

[00:01:09] Bruce Anthony: So I hope y'all ready. I hope you're ready. 'cause if you've been buying

[00:01:13] Why Your Shein Haul is About to Get Expensive: Tariffs Explained 🛍️💸

[00:01:13] Bruce Anthony: Shein stuff, I told y'all on one of the couple of last PO podcast episodes ago that I bought some clothes from Sheen. My sister talks about all the time. I bought some stuff from Temu. I mean, you know, it's hit or miss, but all that stuff that you think, all those cheap, cheap discounts, even the [00:01:30] stuff that you get off of Amazon that is from China.

[00:01:32] Bruce Anthony: The price of the brick to quote Marlowe Stanfield from The Wire is about to go up because these tariffs that the current administration are going to impose on China, Mexico, and Canada are about to make our goods go up. I was agitated yesterday because a friend of mine texted me and said, Hey, you know that tequila that you like?

[00:01:53] Bruce Anthony: I was like, hell yeah. I know that Tequila like that. I like they said. It's about to go up 'cause of these [00:02:00] tariffs. And I'm like, dammit. And you don't know how much that we import and consume in this country that are, are gonna be affected by these tariffs. So let's specifically talk about the tariffs that are placed on China, okay?

[00:02:16] Bruce Anthony: And how it's going to affect my clothes shopping for the spring. 'cause I got to buy a new wardrobe and sheen is the spot. So if I can't go through Sheen, what am I supposed to do? Fashion Nova. I mean, yeah, I like Fashion Nova too, but [00:02:30] she ain't got them better prices. I got to go where the brick is cheaper.

[00:02:33] The $800 Loophole: What You Need to Know About De Minimis Exemptions 🕳️📦

[00:02:33] Bruce Anthony: Alright, so the USPS. That's the United States Postal Service halted, inbound, China and Hong Kong packages due to new tariffs and the elimination of de minimus exemptions. Now, I'm only gonna say that one time. I'm just going to say it from here on out. The exemptions is de minimus. It's, that's what it's called.

[00:02:55] Bruce Anthony: It's a de minimus exemption. And what is a de minimus exemption? Now, I did say I was only gonna say it [00:03:00] one time, and I just said it three times. But what, what it is, is it's allowed duty free entry for packages under $800. It's removal, aim to enforce tariffs, but risk disrupting cross border trade. Now what does that mean?

[00:03:13] Bruce Anthony: So every time that you order from she and oo, I, if you spending over $800, I, I don't know what you're buying. Are you buying everything? Are you buying all the things? Because there's no reason to be spending over $800 on she and Timo in one purchase. [00:03:30] 'cause things is just so cheap. But if anything is $800 or less, it's duty free, which means it goes through customs relatively easily because that's what this exemption is, the de minimus exemption.

[00:03:42] Bruce Anthony: See, I said it multiple times and I didn't mess up. So with these tariffs, this exemption is gonna be over with. That's how. Our products from Shein and Temu, and I'm just specifically naming them, there's loads of other companies that send over [00:04:00] products that are fall under this exemption. I'm just pointing out these two because, you know, I've talked about it before and these are, you know, kind of the most popular to me.

[00:04:11] Bruce Anthony: But now. It's gonna be tougher for these packages to get through, which is going to stall you receiving your P packages. And what's ultimately gonna happen is these tariffs are gonna get passed on us. 'cause that's how tariffs work, ladies and gentlemen, are gonna get passed on to us. So these great savings that we're getting [00:04:30] from team and Shein or whatever that you get from Amazon that's bought, that's sit from China or Hong Kong, the price of the brick, like I said, is about to go up.

[00:04:41] Bruce Anthony: And now the administration is saying that they're putting these tariffs into place, not just in Canada and Mexico, but also China and Hong Kong. Okay. Because they wanna stop the, the flow of drugs, specifically fentanyl. And everybody keeps focusing on fentanyl. Fentanyl is dangerous, but you know, I [00:05:00] mean, all of a sudden stopping the flow of drugs into America is a really big issue.

[00:05:05] Bruce Anthony: And that's because of Fentanyl is affecting certain communities that, uh. Typically cocaine and heroin didn't affect and now it's kind of a big deal. Also, fentanyl is, is potent. Like people, you, people be dying over fentanyl. People die of all drugs, but people really, really be dying over fentanyl, so they wanna stop the flow of drugs into this country.

[00:05:27] War on Drugs: Lessons from the Past That We’re Ignoring 🚨📜

[00:05:27] Bruce Anthony: Now I'm gonna take a quick aside and [00:05:30] just put my own unsolicited perspective, which isn't unsolicited because y'all are listening to the show, so it's solicited. Everybody has looked on the war on drugs wrong. So I remember I was doing a fitness class. It was a bootcamp, and when I was teaching classes or training or everything, I talk, I talk a lot.

[00:05:51] Bruce Anthony: It's the reason why I can do this podcast. I talk by myself for an hour. I talk to take, uh, the clients or the participants in the [00:06:00] classes mind off of what they're actually doing. So I'm engaging in conversation, cracking jokes, very much doing the podcast, right? Like I was doing the podcast before doing the podcast in these classes.

[00:06:12] Bruce Anthony: And one time it had to be in 2009, 10 maybe I brought up, they should just legalize drugs and the whole class. Now you have to remember the class is made up of. Washington, d dc people, Washington, dc people have a stick up their ass. [00:06:30] Uh uh, they think that they're alpha, but it's a lot of a type personalities.

[00:06:33] Bruce Anthony: Very, very stick up their butt type people. And they were yelling and screaming like, how could you say that? And blah, blah, blah. And I simply said, Hey, look, if you. Decriminalize and make legal drugs, you could start to help the people who are using the drugs because people that are using the drugs are using the drugs for a reason.

[00:06:57] Bruce Anthony: Sometimes a, I really like [00:07:00] this feeling. A lot of times it's, I'm trying to escape from something. There's a lot of mental health issues that's associated with the use of drug with any, really, with any addiction. Right. Alcohol eating, uh, video games, TV, porn, there's a mental health factor that's affecting this that's causing this addiction.

[00:07:21] Bruce Anthony: So I was say, look, let's just legalize drugs.

[00:07:25] Legalize It? The Bold Debate on Drugs and Society 🌿⚖️

[00:07:25] Bruce Anthony: That way we can control drugs making so that they're not so [00:07:30] dangerous where people are ODing. And then give opportunity through social programs that help the people that want to get help. Been saying this for years, the idea that you're going to stop the flow of drugs into this country.

[00:07:45] Bruce Anthony: It is ridiculous. You're never gonna stop drugs. They've been trying since I've been alive and I've been alive for 44 years. I went through the whole DARE program. They have been trying, they have never been able to stop drugs, and even when they think that they've stopped drugs, when they shut [00:08:00] down a cartel and they thought it was done with Pablo Espar and the Cali Cartel came out.

[00:08:04] Bruce Anthony: Then they shut down the Cali cartel. Then North Cali Cartel came out, and then they started, they shut down North Cali cartel and then cartels popped up In Mexico. You had the Juarez cartel, then you had the S Loa cartel. Hell, you know, you, you people going to get these drugs. They gonna get the drugs.

[00:08:21] Bruce Anthony: We've done a, we made a great step in decriminalizing drugs, but we need to make another step. Just legalize them. Legalize 'em, and [00:08:30] if we're manufacturing the drug, we can make it less potent. Well, I mean, theoretically you could, because have y'all ever listened to all the side effects, all these medications that people could take for various things And it's like I got, I'm taking this 'cause I got you know, heart palpitations.

[00:08:51] Bruce Anthony: Why am I getting annual linkage? Why is this medication going to cause me to be impotent? Why is this medication gonna cause me to, uh, to grow [00:09:00] a third leg? Lose an eyeball, like I, I don't know what's up with these side effects. So theoretically, if we were the ones that were producing the drugs, we could make it less potent.

[00:09:10] Bruce Anthony: We could at least cut down on overdoses. That should be the way that we do things. Instead, this current administration is deciding that they're gonna put tariffs on not only Canada and Mexico, but also China and Hong Kong. And because of that. Because of these tariffs, the price of the brick is gonna go up everything that we import, [00:09:30] that we use on a daily basis.

[00:09:32] Bruce Anthony: And ladies and gentlemen, just go into your cabinets and look at containers and look at, uh, casings of whatever it is that you're using on a regular basis and see where it's made from. Odds are a lot of stuff that you're getting is from Mexico and China. And some stuff from Canada as well. So we're all going to be affected and it's not gonna stop the, the flow [00:10:00] of drugs.

[00:10:00] Bruce Anthony: Okay? It is not gonna do it. And so, yeah, this is what this administration is, is doing, and China is fighting back. China is saying, look, this is a WTO violation World Trade Organization. This is a world trade, uh, organization violation that you can't do this. This is argues against the terrorist breach of the eight, uh.

[00:10:20] Bruce Anthony: The WTO rules, which is harming mutual interest, which is gonna be causing they, if the US continues to do this, this is gonna cause a trade war, which is [00:10:30] going to upset allies. 'cause I mean, that's kind of what we're doing right now. We're just upsetting allies, right. And cause like some real geopolitical issues because we can't handle our problems and that's really what it comes down to.

[00:10:46] Bruce Anthony: Right. We can't handle our problems. It's like the parent that has a badass kid and sends that badass kid to school, okay? And at school, that kid [00:11:00] is bad. So the school calls the parent, and the parent says, well, what are you doing to correct his behavior? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. It's not the school's responsibility to correct the behavior.

[00:11:13] Bruce Anthony: You knew he was bad when you was sent him to the school. You correct the behavior. It's your responsibility. It's your child. We are America's citizens. These are our problems. We are only consuming what we want to consume. Nobody is forcing anything [00:11:30] on us. I used to love it when they were, when we were in the DARE program, and it used to be like the drug dealer was coming to the school pushing drugs on kids.

[00:11:38] Bruce Anthony: Hey, look, I grew up in the communities that drugs were being pushed. I've gone, walked down the street and seen a drug corner and people open air drug markets. I, I've been there. Nobody is pushing drugs on you. Nobody has said, Hey man, you want to try some of this crack cocaine? You don't have to [00:12:00] push drugs on people.

[00:12:01] Bruce Anthony: Drug sales themselves. I hate the idea that people call drug dealers salesmen. They're not salesmen. They're not salesmen, they're providers. That's all they do. They don't have to sell. All they gotta let you know is, Hey, I got some crack cocaine. I don't know why I'm fixated on crack cocaine. I just like saying crack cocaine.

[00:12:21] Bruce Anthony: But like, there's never been, there's never been a dude selling weed. Just being like, Hey man, have you ever tried weed? You should try it. You would like it? No, [00:12:30] that, that's never happened. These are myths and only people that say those type, that say those things are true, have never been in, in those type of environments, have never even been approached to, to offer drugs.

[00:12:42] Bruce Anthony: What drug dealers will do is say, Hey, I got that if you want it. They're not going to, they're not going to the playgrounds and, and, and pushing it to kids. That was never the case. This is an American issue. It's an American citizen issue. America should fix the issue, but instead we're trying to push the [00:13:00] blame on somebody else.

[00:13:01] Bruce Anthony: It's China's fault. It's Canada's fault. It's Mexico's fault for not closing the borders and allowing this in as opposed to it being the American citizens' fault, who are actually the ones using the drugs. Why don't we, I don't know. Really try to put a lot of money into social programs to help these people get off drugs.

[00:13:22] Bruce Anthony: If you help people get off drugs, you'll have less people consuming drugs. And then the, the people that are supplying the [00:13:30] drugs to America will be like, Hey, America, look like it's a dried up market. Let's go somewhere else. 'cause that's what happens with drug dealing. If they go to a spot and a spot is dry.

[00:13:40] Bruce Anthony: They don't keep selling drugs there. They try to go to a spot where the spot is hot, where people is just just falling over themselves to get to drugs. So if you help solve the social ills of America, you'll reduce drug consumption. Will you eradicate it? No. [00:14:00] That's ridiculous. They've tried to eradicate in smoking.

[00:14:03] Bruce Anthony: And I, I know the numbers are down, less people are smoking through, through each generation, right? Boomers, y'all acted like smoking. Was it? Uh, like a lot of boomers were smoking Gen X two millennials, we started getting a little different. We was like, yo, man, your breath stink. I get up out my face with that smoke breath, man.

[00:14:22] Bruce Anthony: I don't, I don't dig that. Hey man, I don't like the way my mouth feels The next morning, yo smoking gives you cavities. I don't want my teeth to [00:14:30] fall out. I spend a lot of money. Well, my parents spend a lot of money on these braces. You know, I don't want my teeth to fall out. Plus being snaggle tooth ain't cool.

[00:14:38] Bruce Anthony: I don't want that in my life, so I don't wanna smoke. Right. And I don't know if Gen Z is, is actually smoking, they're vaping. I. A lot of these kids are vaping, but that's 'cause it's got the little fruity flavors. You know, look, if you put some cereal in my face and it is regular old Cheerios, and then you got Fruity Pebbles right next to it, I'm [00:15:00] gonna go for the Fruity Pebbles.

[00:15:01] Bruce Anthony: So, of course the kids are vaping 'cause it's got all those fruity flavors, but it, that still is not as bad as they, you know, there's some arguments but it's still not as bad as that nicotine that's coming outta that cigarette. So people are smoking less and less. My point is, generations move down and people start to do things less and less.

[00:15:21] Bruce Anthony: 'cause the stigma surrounding them is, is not as cool as it was in previous generations. Everybody smokes weed because now you [00:15:30] know, we are finding out that the, the weed and marijuana has really good mental health factors, but we kinda always knew that. And physical factors are helping you improve your health.

[00:15:41] Bruce Anthony: Weed isn't, isn't really a problem. Cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines, fentanyl. Okay? But the people that are using these things, they need help. They need real help. There are mental health issues that are going on with it. Also, you know what else you get [00:16:00] when you legalize? When you decriminalize and then legalize the sell of drugs.

[00:16:04] Bruce Anthony: Less violence because drug dealers aren't fighting over territory. I mean, we've seen this before. Know I, I get on my soapbox. Because I'm a historian and I've seen these things before, the story repeats itself over and over and over and over again. You know how I know this? Because you know how I know that I'm right because we've seen this before.

[00:16:28] Bruce Anthony: When did we see this? During [00:16:30] prohibition, we saw it during prohibition, we tried to outlaw the cell of alcohol that didn't stop people from drinking. It just gave rise to a criminal organization known as the mafia. How the ma, the mafia, the organized crime existed. But that's how the mafia made its money.

[00:16:51] Bruce Anthony: Every, every mobster has said that, look, if it wasn't for prohibition, we wouldn't have been where we were in the fifties, sixties, [00:17:00] seventies, eighties, and nineties. Like it would not have happened that jumpstarted criminal organizations. So what did we, and, and there was a lot of violence. There was a tremendous amount of violence.

[00:17:11] Bruce Anthony: What happens when you legalize liquor again? Ain't no more violence. If it is. It's just violence. 'cause people getting drunk, like the old normal violence of people, you know, just drinking and being drunk, but not people shooting over territory, trying to get the, the, the warehouse to produce their [00:17:30] bathtub, alcohol or their beer.

[00:17:33] Bruce Anthony: You eliminate crime. Not eliminate, but you eliminate the violent aspect of this crime by legalizing drugs. Yes. This conversation was about tariffs because I want my sheen stuff. Okay. But it's also about what, why these tariffs are being put in place. These tariffs are being put in place to stop the flow of fentanyl into this country, and [00:18:00] in order to stop the flow of fentanyl into this country.

[00:18:03] Bruce Anthony: Why doesn't the current administration focus on fixing the issue of the people that are using fentanyl as opposed to making my clothes become more expensive?   

[00:18:22] Bruce Anthony: Speaking of crime, if you watch the news or if you hear the current administration, crime is a big deal, crime all [00:18:30] over the place, man.

[00:18:30] Crime Rates vs. Reality: Is Fear Selling Us Lies? 🕵️📊

[00:18:30] Bruce Anthony: If you, if, if you listen to the news and the current administration, it's like the purge outside. Right. Like everybody's out there getting it and there is a rise in certain areas, but there isn't.

[00:18:45] Bruce Anthony: So what are we talking about here? Because how is there a decrease in crime rates, but an increase in public perception that crime is [00:19:00] higher? Well. Let's first get into the statistics of it all. The official data, the FBI reports, and oh, by the way, when we talk about the FBI, there's a certain segment of the population that distrusts the FBI now, which is funny because another segment of the population has been telling you for decades that the FBI has been crooked going all the way back to Hoover and some of his illegal dealings.

[00:19:23] Bruce Anthony: There's a lot of people assassinated in the sixties that were only trying to uplift people. You celebrate Martin Luther King [00:19:30] now, but at the time. He was labeled a socialist criminalist com bad guy criminal. That's what they go back and look at the news reports and newspapers. That's, that's what they labeled him as.

[00:19:43] Bruce Anthony: Okay. So it's funny now that people are starting to say the FBI is crooked. I. When it affects you. However, the FBI as an organization is not crooked, completely deals with whoever the director is, is about to get [00:20:00] crooked with this new director. But anyway, so there were some official data from FBI reports showing decline in crime rates.

[00:20:08] Bruce Anthony: Yet the public perception often contradicts this. For example, 77% of Americas in a 2023 Gallup poll believe crime was worsening. Despite statistics indicating otherwise, and there's been a historical trend in in this in 23 of the 27 Gallup surveys since 1993, more than 60% of the [00:20:30] US adults claim crime rose nationally, even during periods of steady decline.

[00:20:35] Bruce Anthony: So what is the reason for this disconnect? Well, there's a FBI, lag in data, right? So data released in 2015. Is it typically received until 2016? So it's, you're not getting the data in real time. But more importantly, the most important thing is media influence sensationalized coverage of [00:21:00] violent crimes despite property crimes being more common, right?

[00:21:04] Bruce Anthony: Property crimes are more common. Then violent crimes, statistically it's not even close. Okay, so let's just put that in perspective. Okay?

[00:21:17] Fear Sells: How Media and Politicians Shape Our View of Crime 📰🎭

[00:21:17] Bruce Anthony: So despite all of this, your local news typically amplifies fear, and then man mean world syndrome, right? Heavy [00:21:30] media consumptions fosters belief that the world is more dangerous than it actually is.

[00:21:34] Bruce Anthony: And then political rhetoric, right? Campaigns of policy makers often highlight crime to sway public opinion regardless of actual trends. We just saw this. We see, look, I just spoke about the stopping of flow of fentanyl into this country. They are saying that the, the leading of fentanyl coming into this [00:22:00] country is leading to violence and crime and people that use drugs.

[00:22:04] Bruce Anthony: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. They, they be committing crimes. All right. They, they do like it, it people that are drunk, they be cri, they be committing crimes Anytime that you are using a substance that is causing you not to think clearly. Inhibitions go down. You might do something reckless that you might not normally would do.

[00:22:28] Bruce Anthony: This is true. [00:22:30] And then you talk about immigration and what are they saying about it? You know, for some strange reason the current president still thinks that people are get, are coming into this country from a sane asylum, like that's not the case. Okay. There was a time where Fidel Castro. Emptied out the insane asylums and the PRIs prisons put 'em on a boat, and then they came into this country.

[00:22:55] Bruce Anthony: Right? And then in 19, late 1970s, 1980s, and especially in [00:23:00] Miami, Florida, you saw an increase in crime because yes, Castro did do that. Okay, but that's not happening right now. What does it do? It causes fear. Half the time. People can't point to me, many cases where there have been migrants that have had to cause major violence, and when there is a case, when there is a case, they highlight the hell out of it.

[00:23:26] Bruce Anthony: Like it all of a sudden is an epidemic. When you got [00:23:30] one case to prove your point, sensationalism because fear sells. If they scare you. To the point you'll give up your civil liberties 'cause you'll do whatever it takes to be safe. You'll live under, police occupation to be safe. You'll do whatever it takes to be safe.

[00:23:56] Bruce Anthony: And the people in power know that the people in power know [00:24:00] fear cells, fear, especially fear of the other. How often do we hear these arguments against drag queen, drag queens or people of the LGBTQ plus community, as if they're harming kids. Why? Why is it that we don't hear this about, I don't know, um, priests or preachers?

[00:24:23] Bruce Anthony: People in the church that have harmed kids for generations. There [00:24:30] have been police officers that have harmed kids. Lawyers, doctors, all these different people that are harming kids at a much, much, much higher rate than anybody in the LGBTQ plus community.

[00:24:51] Bruce Anthony: Right. Like it's, it's not a thing, but they need you to fear that. And when you fear that, you'll say, well, those [00:25:00] people are different. They're not human. I don't have to look at them as human. So they shouldn't have the rights that normal human beings like I have because they're not like me based off of fear.

[00:25:13] Bruce Anthony: So this idea that crime is going up. Therefore you must put certain people in office because they're law and order is the reason why this perception is that crime is going up. It's not [00:25:30] actually the truth. The root causes of this growing emphasis of things that are happening as far as them putting pressure.

[00:25:42] Bruce Anthony: Saying that crime is going up is so they can make stricter laws, and they are because public pressure pushes for these people to make stricter laws because the assumption is crime is going up when it isn't, and sensationalism by the media [00:26:00] and it's lying politicians. But despite failing crime rates, states like Florida enact harsher penalties.

[00:26:08] Bruce Anthony: Crime is by undocumented immigrants. They're going up, the penalties, not the actual crimes, not the actual committing of the crimes, the penalty, harsher penalties are going up, and it's all due to high profile incidents. Let there be a carjacking or a retail theft. Let [00:26:30] it, let it, let an immigrant do something like that.

[00:26:34] Bruce Anthony: All of a sudden, we need to put harsher penalties.

[00:26:36] The 1994 Crime Bill: A Legacy of Harsher Penalties ⛓️📜

[00:26:36] Bruce Anthony: We saw this in the 1994 crime bill. I was talking about legalizing drugs. So in 1994, crime bill, me and my sister have talked about that, but I'm just gonna give people out there who, who didn't listen to that episode. A quick refresh, right? Crack cocaine, hit the streets, and it was a terror.

[00:26:57] Bruce Anthony: Crack cocaine was a legitimate terror. There [00:27:00] was an increase in violence in the areas that crack cocaine was being distributed and used it scared the hell outta people because you saw well to two people turn into zombies within a week or two weeks. Right? Like crack hit, you got addicted, it was over for you.

[00:27:19] Bruce Anthony: Okay? And so you had these zombie lands going around and, and, and there was high crime in these zombie areas. So in order to [00:27:30] try and end this, they made harsher penalties for drug dealers, which only led to a boom in the prison population, and not a decrease of drug users, not a decrease of violence. Just harsher penalties.

[00:27:47] Sensationalism vs. Reality: The Truth About Crime 🎥🤔

[00:27:47] Bruce Anthony: So these harsher penalties from sensationalism from news are not doing anything. It's not stopping real crime. Not fake sensationalized crime, but [00:28:00] real crime. And don't get me wrong, a carjacking is a real crime. But if the local news decides to show you two carjackings and completely ignore the fact that.

[00:28:12] Bruce Anthony: John Smith and Mary Smith just killed each other and their kids 'cause we need to work on Carjackings. But because those carjackings were done by people that were here illegally, you see where things could be distorted. As I said earlier, [00:28:30] property crime is higher than violent crimes. Some states. Are stiffening retail theft charges, criminalizing drugs, and limiting bell rolling back progressive reforms, all due to the perception that crime is higher.

[00:28:53] Bruce Anthony: Do.

[00:28:54] Living in a Police State: Would You Trade Freedom for Safety? 🚓⚖️

[00:28:54] Bruce Anthony: Do you remember when I said people will do anything to feel safe, [00:29:00] that they'll even live in a police state, in an occupied police state, just in order to feel safe? They'll give up their own civil liberties in order to feel safe. And theoretically when you're in real danger, that kind of makes sense, right?

[00:29:20] Bruce Anthony: If a country declared war in the US and was actually trying to come to this land and fight on the US soil, which we haven't had a war on [00:29:30] US soil in a hundred and hmm. 75 years, 180 years when the Civil War ended, right? So we haven't had, we had Pearl Harbor, but that was an attack. It wasn't actually, uh, the war was not fought on US soil.

[00:29:46] Bruce Anthony: And then we had nine 11. But once again, that was an attack. It wasn't a war fought on US soil, but let's just say a country declared war, uh, war on against the US and wanted to fight on US soil. [00:30:00] Well, that's a little different. In order to feel safe, you will allow yourself to be in a occupied police state because we're literally at war.

[00:30:14] Bruce Anthony: That's when you're literally, when you're truly at war, not a fictitious war of sensationalized high crime rates, which are lies. Led by media and politicians in order to [00:30:30] gain control, create harsher penalties that you think won't affect you until they do either directly or somebody close to you, and then you cry the blues.

[00:30:42] Bruce Anthony: Why is the penalty so stiff? Because you believed at a certain point in time that the crime rates were so high that we needed to have those penalties to deter crime. Let me give you a, a little, you know, update on criminals. Uh, [00:31:00] I, I've known a few in my lifetime. Um, some of 'em, um, are, are still in jail.

[00:31:06] Bruce Anthony: Some of them got out, you know, but, but more the, the general premise of a criminal mind is just about the same as they're committing the crime. They're not thinking about doing the time. They either know, Hey, one day I'm gonna get caught, and that is what it is. Or they're not [00:31:30] thinking about it. The thought of harsher penalties does not cross a criminal's mind as they are doing the act.

[00:31:38] Bruce Anthony: So harsher penalties, and this isn't just me talking, there have been numerous studies that prove what I'm about to say, to be fact, not opinion, to be fact. Harsher penalties do not deter crime. It doesn't just like creating tariffs on [00:32:00] Canada, Mexico, and China, that's not gonna stop the flow of drugs. These things that have been sensationalized don't actually fix the problem.

[00:32:14] Bruce Anthony: It's a bandaid on a bullet wound. When's the last time you put a bandaid on a bullet wound? I mean, you don't, you normally, you know, get that bad boy stitched up, get some staples. This was, you know, some stitches or something like that after [00:32:30] you've had surgery. You don't put bandaid on a bullet, but that's what we're trying to do.

[00:32:37] Bruce Anthony: It doesn't work.

[00:32:39] Confirmation Bias: Are You Believing What You Want to Believe? 🧠🎯

[00:32:39] Bruce Anthony: And moreover, y'all out here, not everybody, not everybody, but a large portion of you are out here fearing. Unknown to quote Alley boy from the Sopranos. You can't go into the unknown not knowing. That's the stupidest thing that I think I've ever heard. [00:33:00] Okay. And the reason why I say that stupid is because you gotta go into the unknown to understand the unknown.

[00:33:08] Bruce Anthony: A lot of people are out here saying that the border is a mess. Never been down there to the border, have not been down there to the border. The only way they know what's going on in the border is what the news is reporting, unless you actually live there. But those people who are not near the border don't have a clue, but you hear them talking about it.

[00:33:28] Bruce Anthony: The border is a mess. [00:33:30] God, people are so stupid. Really are, really are you take your information from the information that you wanna get it from. That's the key point there. You take information from infor, from places that you wanna get it from. Confirmation bias that backs up what you believe. That's what confirmation bias is, right?

[00:33:52] Bruce Anthony: So you believe a certain thing. So you'll go search out sources that back up what you believe. Confirmation bias. [00:34:00] A lot of people do it. I look, I've got friends that try to argue with me and debates and things like that. Okay. And they will go look up something and be like, here, see? See, this is what I was talking about.

[00:34:12] Bruce Anthony: I'm like, where did you get that? Where did you get that source? Like what's your source? Joe Sw on Twitter. That's your source. That's who you believe. Uh, because I got all these other people over here that are documented, that are official, saying that what you're saying is not the truth. [00:34:30] I don't know if the borders are mess or not.

[00:34:32] Bruce Anthony: I haven't been to the border. I do not believe that the border is as messy as it is, as they say on Fox News, but I also don't believe the border is as pristine as they say on M-S-N-B-C. The truth is always somewhere in between. The fact of the matter is are there criminals coming across the border? Sure, of course.

[00:34:58] Bruce Anthony: The truth is [00:35:00] the majority of the people coming across the border are not criminals. You want to focus on the people that are small population confirmation bias, and that's what's, that's what's fueling this idea that crime rates are going up, we're being lied to by politicians and we're being force fed sensationalism by the media.

[00:35:24] Bruce Anthony: And in turn they're creating harsher penalties that don't stop anything because there is [00:35:30] crime. There's gonna always be crime. I'm not saying don't try to deter crime. You gotta try and, you know, deter crime the way you do it is the same thing that I said in the first segment.

[00:35:41] The Real Solution to Crime: Investing in People, Not Prisons 💡❤️

[00:35:41] Bruce Anthony: When you're combating the flow of fentanyl that's going in this country, social programs, how, so here's how So.

[00:35:51] Bruce Anthony: Public support. For preventative innovations can help deter crime. Growing emphasis on mental [00:36:00] health and substance abuse treatment is leading to a reduction of crime. Studies show that low income men with mental health issues faced higher incarceration rates after losing healthcare access. Listen to that.

[00:36:15] Bruce Anthony: I had to sit up in my chair a little bit. Low income men. With mental health issues faced higher incarceration rates after losing healthcare access.[00:36:30]

[00:36:32] Bruce Anthony: Causation. If you take away somebody's healthcare when they're trying to address their mental health issues and their mental health issues are no longer being addressed because you took away their healthcare, yeah, they might go commit some crimes. Yeah, that might happen. Here's another kicker. His, his, his one's going to really kick y'all in the nose, right?

[00:36:56] Bruce Anthony: For every $1 invested in Medicaid, so [00:37:00] you got Medicare and Medicaid. Medicaid is for poor folks, poor folk. Boom, goodness gracious. Poor folks. Medicare is for older folks. You could be on Medicaid as well if you're older and poor, but, but Medicaid is typically for poor folks. So for every $1 invested in Medicaid society, US society recoup $2 in benefits through reduced costs from fewer [00:37:30] violent property and drug related crimes.

[00:37:36] Bruce Anthony: Yeah, I don't think y'all are hearing me, so let me repeat that again. For every $1 invested in the Medicaid society, the US society recoup $2 in benefits through reduced costs from fewer violent property and drug related crimes. Let me, let me make it [00:38:00] simple for you guys. It's kind. If you take care of your body and you eat right, you can live a little bit longer and you'll save money on healthcare benefits later on because you've taken care of yourself.

[00:38:17] Bruce Anthony: Maybe you might not have that stroke or that heart attack. So you spend money now on, let's say, you know, eat and write on a gym or a personal trainer. You're spending money now, but it's gonna save you money in [00:38:30] the long run. So for every dollar that we spend on Medicaid, we're getting $2. We're recouping $2.

[00:38:36] Bruce Anthony: That's a hell of a deal. And on top of that is you, there's a reduction in crime. The very thing that you're afraid of, the very thing that you're afraid of or so you think, because as I stated earlier, it's perception. The real, the reality is crime rates are down. [00:39:00] Your perception is that crime is up, and even if that was the case, it seems like the answer and answer is always invest in helping people get help.

[00:39:14] Bruce Anthony: That reduces all of this stuff. I don't know. Think about it. I know I'm not wrong. You know, I'm not wrong. You just gotta want to admit it to yourself. But some people want to lay in that [00:39:30] and be fearful. You can, but you're fearing something that doesn't truly exist. 

[00:39:45] Bruce Anthony: Okay, so in this last segment went on Reddit. My favorite thing. And I found an interesting am I overreacting? And this is about a man that's had it [00:40:00] with his sister-in-law.

[00:40:02] When Family Crosses the Line: Religion, Boundaries, and Kids 🙏🚫👶

[00:40:02] Bruce Anthony: So I'm gonna just play this for you guys, let you listen to it, and then I'm gonna talk about it. [00:40:30]

[00:40:57] Bruce Anthony: [00:41:00] [00:41:30] [00:42:00] My child doesn't matter.[00:42:30]

[00:42:52] Bruce Anthony: Almost an [00:43:00] hour. [00:43:30] [00:44:00]

[00:44:23] Bruce Anthony: Alright, thanks Alex for reading that. I wanna thank I I got, look, I get tired of reading to y'all sometimes. So I had Alex [00:44:30] read what is, what is my opinion on this? Okay, I got several different opinions. We want to talk about protecting the kids, right? So let's talk about that first. How do we protect the kids?

[00:44:42] Bruce Anthony: I think it's inappropriate for the sister-in-law, Samantha, to be reaching out to the kid. To push her religious views on him. When the father and the uncle have already said, we not [00:45:00] really that religious and you know, it's, it's cool and all you can do your thing, but we not really that religious. She was wrong in that, how do I feel about people pushing their religion on other people?

[00:45:11] Bruce Anthony: Now there are some people that say that it is their duty in their religion to spread the word. And I'm conflicted on that because I'm somebody who is very spiritual, not super religious, but very spiritual. I [00:45:30] don't ever push my beliefs on anybody else. You guys listen and watch the show. If you've been here since the beginning, this is like episode 2 0 8 or 2 0 9.

[00:45:40] Bruce Anthony: I, I don't know, we getting up there. Okay. I, I very rarely talk about religion. It just, it's not my place to talk about religion and, and I'm gonna give my opinions and ideas about a variety of topics. But what I will never do, I never do this, I [00:46:00] never say, think like me. Always ask, would you like to think that's it?

[00:46:05] Bruce Anthony: Would you like to take things into consideration? And so I think that's how people should really. Use religion as well. If somebody, I get approached because I live in Washington, DC by people in the Mormon church all the time. They're, they're all over here. 'cause one of the big churches is here in Washington, DC and that's their, their, their, that's their mission [00:46:30] is to get people to, to, to join their church now.

[00:46:34] Bruce Anthony: Because a long time ago, they didn't want no black people in their church. But, but now, you know, some things have changed in the LDS, so some, you know, things have changed. And I politely tell them, no thank you. And most of the time, most of the time they say, okay, well thank you. Or I'll say, I don't go to church, which is true.

[00:46:53] Bruce Anthony: I don't go to church. But I grew up in the church. I didn't go, I haven't spent a lifetime in church. But like I said, I'm spiritual, [00:47:00] not super religious. Then you have some people that just, well, you should go, should come on, should come to church. I know I had a kickboxing instructor who was Mormon, that, that, that, that worked with us.

[00:47:11] Bruce Anthony: You know, I'm her boss and she was like, you wanna go to church with me? And I said, no, I don't wanna go to church with you. And you know, I've often said, well, I don't like the history of the LDS and also, you know. I feel like, you know, what y'all believe is kind of problematic, but all religion is kind of [00:47:30] problematic, right?

[00:47:30] Bruce Anthony: It's it's about faith. And so I'm like, no, you know, no thank you. And, and she kept asking. I was like, Hey, look, you don't seem to understand. You're actually causing discomfort in the company. I'm gonna have to ask you to stop trying to push your religion on everybody else. And after that she said, you know, okay, I, I understand, but to go behind the parents' [00:48:00] back

[00:48:03] Bruce Anthony: to push their religion, if she went to the child and she said, Hey, you know, I'm your aunt, I want you to feel comfortable around me. I know your parents are really busy. Is there ever any time that you want to talk? Just talk. Here's my phone number. You can contact me anytime. That would've been okay.

[00:48:25] Bruce Anthony: Give the child the phone number. Don't go into the iPad and text [00:48:30] yourself so you have the child's phone number. And then give this young man who's 12, he's about to hit puberty. He got some public hairs on him. If y'all don't get that joke, that's just a, you know, Mike, uh, joke? No. Uh, I think it was Mike Epps.

[00:48:44] Bruce Anthony: Anyway, it's a joke. Public hairs, pubic hairs. Okay. Uh, this is, this is a young man. You don't call no young man cupcake. You don't. So yes, he's not overreacting for being upset [00:49:00] to bar her from the house I actually agree with because if you explain to her, Hey, look, we don't like what you just did. It's one thing to say, Hey.

[00:49:15] Bruce Anthony: I'm here if you ever need to talk. It's another thing to be praying over him. Nicknaming him, cupcake. You know, saying it all weekend, two o'clock in the morning, sending text [00:49:30] messages. That's weird. And I don't like to call things weird often, but when it come to kids, I'll say it. That's weird. And we done told you.

[00:49:39] Bruce Anthony: We not really that religious stop trying to push your religion on us. No, you can't come into my house no more. And then her husband being like, well, it's gonna cause a problem. It's gonna cause a problem. 'cause you didn't tell your wife to respect our house. That's what we're talking about. Respect, boundaries.

[00:49:56] Bruce Anthony: She's not respecting boundaries. The boundary is [00:50:00] don't push your religion on our child, and don't be calling 'em cupcake now. The dude also said, you know, is it grooming? I, I don't know. Right? Like, I don't know. That's look, maybe, maybe. And I wanna say no, she's just trying to spread the word. But also it's a lot of grooming in the church.

[00:50:28] Bruce Anthony: So maybe [00:50:30] just maybe, I don't know. I will say regardless, completely outta line. And the fact that there, she's not respecting the wishes of the parent trying to raise their child. That's is, that's clear enough case in and of itself to be like, you not allowed in my home no more. And actually, I don't rock with you because I told you I don't like this and you're ignoring it.

[00:50:58] Bruce Anthony: You're gonna do whatever the hell you want to [00:51:00] do, despite my objections to it. Okay, then guess what? You ain't welcome in my home no more. You can't come through. So thank you, Alex, for reading that and no, I don't think this dude is overreacting. I think he's reacting appropriately. I support him and I'm glad that y'all went through and deleted all them text messages and deleted the phone number.

[00:51:23] Bruce Anthony: You should block her. You should block her from the iPad. Matter of fact, you should go into her phone, snatch her [00:51:30] phone outta her hand, and then delete little man's number, iPad number about her phone. Crazy lady. See, this is the reason why people look a, you see, I was gonna say something. I ain't gonna say it.

[00:51:42] Bruce Anthony: I'm not gonna say it. 'cause sometimes, you know, I say things and I taking it outta the wrong context. But sometimes, you know what I'm saying? This is the reason why people don't wanna go church. Not, not all the time. There's a lot of good churches out there where people don't push their views. But hey, look, lemme give y'all a prime example.

[00:51:59] Bruce Anthony: Lemme [00:52:00] give you a prime example. A reason why I don't go to church. The priest that buried me is my homie was my homie. I haven't talked to him since the pandemic. I probably should reach out to him as my homie. When I got divorced, I was going to him for counseling to help me through my divorce. Uh, we became very, very close, almost to the point where I was like, I can't come to you for counseling anymore because we're friends now, and now it feels weird.

[00:52:26] Bruce Anthony: So I need to go to somebody else for counseling because I don't want to talk [00:52:30] to somebody that I actually know. I want to give advice from a stranger. I feel more comfortable talking to a stranger, but also he used to make me go to church. He used to guilt me into going to church and I was like, you know, I don't like going to church.

[00:52:47] Bruce Anthony: I was like, I, I'm very spiritual. I love the Lord. I don't like going to church. Why are you making me go to church? I don't like it. My dad [00:53:00] used to make me go to church. That's the reason why I don't like going to church. 'cause I was forced. If it was my choice, maybe I would've gone to choice. But since church, but since I was forced all my life, I don't wanna go to church no more.

[00:53:08] Bruce Anthony: Plus it's long, it's long. But, uh, somebody mentioned it to me that, you know, I can watch church on TV and it comes to my own home, and, uh, I said I forgot about that. So I might start doing that. But if I do do that, I'm not gonna come on here making, trying to make y'all [00:53:30] believe what I believe you can believe.

[00:53:32] Bruce Anthony: Whatever you wanna believe, it is your journey in life. Nobody else can tell you. What's right and wrong. They can suggest to you, they can give their perspective, they can tell you what's right or wrong. Most of the time, you know in your heart what's right or wrong and you know what's moral and what's not moral.

[00:53:57] Bruce Anthony: Um, so that's just my 2 cents. [00:54:00] So you're not overreacting, you're acting appropriately. Matter of fact, you might be underreacting 'cause I would've whooped her husband's. Ass, uh, for defending her and not being like, look, she's wrong here for disrespecting our home. Well, the Airbnb and our boundaries with my nephew and their son, she's in the wrong.

[00:54:24] Bruce Anthony: Y'all got to go. And if that means, it jeopardizes our relationship. So what? 'cause sometimes you gotta cut people off. [00:54:30] I do it almost every day. I cut people off. 'cause I don't care. You ain't got to be in my life. It's a privilege for me to be in your life and it's a privilege for you to be in my life.

[00:54:41] Bruce Anthony: Privilege, not a right. You can get the hell out and that's what I would tell, uh, homeboy and her, y'all can get the hell out and that's what I feel about it.

[00:54:50] Final Thoughts: Cutting Ties and Moving Forward ✂️🚶‍♂️

[00:54:50] Bruce Anthony: And on that note, ladies and gentlemen, thank you, thank you, thank you for all the support that you've been giving us. All of the streams for the audio, [00:55:00] just absolutely amazing.

[00:55:02] Bruce Anthony: Wanna thank you for that. We wanna thank you for listening. We wanna thank you for watching, and until next time, as always, I'll holler.

[00:55:13] Bruce Anthony: Whew. That was a hell of a show. Thank you for rocking with us here on Unsolicited Perspectives with Bruce Anthony. Now, before you go, don't forget to follow, subscribe, like. Comment and share our podcast. Wherever you're listening or watching it to it, pass it along to your [00:55:30] friends. If you enjoy it, that means the people that you rock, we will enjoy it also.

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[00:55:53] Bruce Anthony: Uncensored is another show with my sister, and once again, the key word there is uncensored. Those are exclusively [00:56:00] on our Patreon page. Jump onto our website@unsolicitedperspective.com for all things us. That's where you can get all of our audio video, our blogs. Even buy our merch, and if you're really feeling ingenuous and want to help us out, you can donate on our donations page.

[00:56:16] Bruce Anthony: Donations go strictly to improving our software and hardware so we can keep giving you guys good content that you can clearly listen to and that you can clearly see. So any donation would be appreciative. Most importantly, I wanna [00:56:30] say thank you, thank you, thank you for listening and watching and supporting us, and I'll catch you next time.

[00:56:37] Bruce Anthony: Audi 5,000 Peace.