Was I Drunk...The Blog

The witless rantings of the team behind @wasidrunksp podcast. Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotifiy and Podbean. Suggestions for episodes can be left on our facebook, twitter or instagram @wasidrunksp.

[wasidrunksp]

Conservative White Noise

Here I go…It’s happening again…another rant from a crybaby snowflake who’s been triggered by the latest conservative effort to defend our nation and act as a bulwark against the forces of Pedo-Fascist Communism! I swear to God and sunny Jesus if I have to sit through one more manufactured controversy about some society ending emergency that has been conjured by the right in order to motivate voters I may just…..simply continue to not care. You know, I did get genuinely upset in the early 2000’s when liberals were being called un-American for not supporting the war in Iraq. Being mischaracterized as hating our troops when the truth was that we just didn’t want them in harms way to fight a war against a country that didn’t attack us on 9/11 was a little upsetting. Or maybe in 2008 when Obama was being called a Muslim, even though he isn’t, and every elected Republican in the country (sans McCain) was choosing to either pretend like they hadn’t heard anything about it or actively embraced it, sure that got my feathers ruffled. Don’t worry folks, it was Obama that brought back up this racism thing (you know, by existing and being elected). But people, I’ve heard this tune before and it is the same as it was last time, and time before that and the time before that. I’m simply too bored to care. Critical Race Theory is just the latest example of straight up lying to people to scare them, anger them and get them to check the box that says R next to, who cares as long as they have an R. Sure, lets keep embracing the worst qualities of ourselves to win elections, that’s not going to backfire anytime soon. It’s not like we’ve already got a large percentage of the population that doesn’t believe our elections are legitimate anymore (unless their guy wins), actively accuses the opposition of being pedophiles, reject objective reality and believe violence is a justifiable means to achieve political goals. These people are going to tear this country apart, all while believing it is THEY who are the true patriots. It is THEY who are protecting our constitution, just don’t ask them to explain anything that is in there or apply it to issues they disagree with. Critical Race Theory is not some boogeyman, it’s just one perspective based on people’s real experience. Guess what, that’s ok… It is ok to say that our nation has a very troubled racial history and that we are still grappling with that to this day. Through our institutions, through our societal discourse and through our laws. It is not being taught to children, it is not about making people “hate America”, it’s about being honest about our past so that we can try to be better in the future. At the end of the day though, the right has just screamed so loud and for so long about nonsense that it’s just become C.W.N. to me....Conservative White Noise. Find us on  Apple Podcasts, Spotifiy and Podbean. Suggestions for episodes can be  left on our facebook, twitter or instagram @wasidrunksp.

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#wasidrunkpodcast

#crt

#ghosted

#cocktails

#melonball

[wasidrunksp]

Is it time to take America’s awards shows out behind the shed?

We live to fight another day…

We have survived once again my friends. The onslaught of inflated ego’s and elevated importance has passed and those of us who have made it through one more year must feel relieved to be among the living.

While the memories of those we lost will forever haunt our dreams and sting our hearts we must remember that the only way we can survive the next awards season is to stay united and unafraid. 

Okay…so maybe that was a little melodramatic, but as the best of the thespians will tell you, sometimes a little flair and ironic exaggeration is just what the academy ordered. 

Awards shows are on the decline, viewership of the Academy Awards was up this year by 60% from last year, but it was still the second-worst in ratings history. The Grammy’s were only up by 1% from last years historic low. The Tony’s, Billboard Music Awards and Golden Globes are all in the same slowly sinking boat.

So why is this? Like most things, it’s not any one point that is driving the nail into the coffin of these once must-watch affairs. The declining popularity of broadcast television, the internet, alternative forms of entertainment, youtube commentary and political controversy all have had their part in this ever-evolving saga.

Why watch several hours of an awards show when you can catch the sound bites on social media or engage in a countless number of other entertainment activities that you now have at your fingertips, something Grandma and Grandpa didn’t have in 1983. Back then these awards shows were a window into an elite world of glamor and fame, a chance to gaze upon those who make the entertainment that you consumed. 

In the modern age that veil has been lifted, the glamor has been stripped away and we now are inundated with details, grotesque as they may be, of celebrity life. The mystery and mystique have been replaced with a sense of averageness and commonality that just doesn’t excite people the way it once did.

It’s similar to the way the advent of television demystified the American Presidency. Now there was the President, on your television screen in a way that made him seem less mighty than before. This has had the effect of giving people the impression that anyone can do that job, they can’t.

The constant inundation of news, gossip, pictures, and general information about celebrities has brought low what was once high. It has replaced our glimpse of a life more glamorous than our own with a more realistic perspective, celebrities are just people. They have bad hair days, they aren’t as perfect as their professional persona suggests, and yes even they have bad breath.

So why take time out of my evening to watch people receive awards for things when nearly every day my news feed is filled with their lives? I really can’t think of a reason. 

-Austin Cross

[wasidrunksp]

https://wasidrunksp.podbean.com

[wasidrunksp]

For what it’s worth...(Ep. 1 reflections)

We live in a world driven by ephemeral money. Living wages aren’t exactly wages upon which you can live. The cost of manufacturing goods and providing services are constantly rising, pushing the “cost of living” higher each year. Lumber prices have skyrocketed, copper prices are higher than ever, and hell, even drywall is ridiculously overpriced. And that’s just building materials. If we bring electronics into the conversation, holy hell...

Stretching our paychecks to achieve all that we desire (let alone need) seems to be an illusion that is ever-fading. So, when our monetary resources run short, what options do we have to fill our cupboards, closets, or coolers? Borrowed money, offered at a high interest rate, based upon a number supposedly determined by your risk-worthiness. Credit cards and personal loans provide an option for people to purchase both large and small items, from houses and cars to groceries and school supplies. In truth, these are necessary services for the vast majority of people to survive. The structure that these services use to determine your allowance is, however, seemingly stacked against the borrower.

While there are a great many videos, articles, and courses available to educate people about the credit system, our understanding of it is declining*. Critical information about credit scores (building/maintaining a good score, what actions impact changes, disputing/removing false claims) is often misunderstood or just not known. Even when an individual has a fairly decent understanding of credit and follows the rules of the game, it can be difficult to build and maintain a high score. Credit card accounts can be closed without notice. Utilizing more than half of your available credit can lower your score significantly. Even one late payment on any account can impact your score so much that it can take more than a year to get back to where you were. Meanwhile, growing a strong score can take years, with progress coming painfully slow.

The system is also built on the idea that money needs money: often you need money to prove that you can be responsible with borrowed money. What’s more, it often takes credit to qualify for credit, leading to a barrier of entry for many people. Possessing a low credit score can not only increase customer costs through higher interest rates, it can also prevent people from setting up basic utilities such as water, power, gas or internet.

For what it’s worth, I do believe the solutions that are provided by the credit industry are certainly necessary. Very few individuals have the capability of saving thousands of dollars to purchase a car or a house with cash. This system is an integral part of our economy and affords consumers significantly high buying power than they might otherwise have. I am just not so certain that the system we have in place is entirely fair to individuals, clear in it’s operating practices, or truly equitable to all of it’s users.

-Jenkins

*https://consumerfed.org/press_release/consumer-knowledge-about-credit-scores-has-steadily-declined-over-the-past-eight-years/

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Find us on  Apple Podcasts, Spotifiy and Podbean. Suggestions for episodes can be  left on our facebook, twitter or instagram @wasidrunksp.

https://wasidrunksp.podbean.com

[wasidrunksp]

Reflections on Ep. 0

As a potential future world with the promise of augmented/virtual reality approaches, so to does the promise of a truly visceral distraction from the real world’s stressors and failures. Who wouldn’t take advantage of an engaging, socially driven reality where you can be anyone you want to be?

A warrior with a sword and shield? Check

A cute cartoon cat? Check

A badass lady with a bow? Check

Cthulhu? Why the hell not

As much promise as this potential virtual landscape offers, it also has the probable impact of affecting it’s users in the very same way as the real world they may be attempting to escape.

Sexual assault is a tremendously ugly reality of the human experience. In fact, it’s an ugly reality within most of the animal/mammal population. So it’s unsurprising that this despicable trait would likely follow us to a digital realm. But, what legal actions would we have if such an event transpired? When do we classify these assaults as “real” within the definitions of law?

Precedence is, if not required, highly relied upon within our justice system. Creating new cannon upon which new law will rely is difficult. It is far more a simple task to tie relation to existing law. So I wonder if current law allows for a case to be brought to the courts where a prosecuting victim can claim sexual assault within a digital space. If not, do we in turn need either state laws or a federal law on the books to protect individuals before they are brought to the courtroom?

I don’t know that we answered any of these questions within this episode. But I am comfortable with the idea that we are, in some small part, contributing to the conversation.

-Jenkins

P.S.

Sports suck and are arbitrary; space exploration rocks and the WEBB is amazing :)

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Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotifiy and Podbean. Suggestions for episodes can be left on our facebook, twitter or instagram @wasidrunksp. https://wasidrunksp.podbean.com

[wasidrunksp]

We have to find a better way

When the FICO score was introduced by the Fair Isaac Corporation in 1989 it was created to help businesses make better lending decisions. Removing some of the subjectivity from the lending process was seen as being more fair and balanced.

However, in the 33 years since the introduction of the FICO score something very different has developed…the removal of humanity from the financial lending process. There used to be a human being who would sit across from you in a bank, a person who had more discretion than the automatic coldness of a computer. They would look at your history of debt, payments, assets, and income and make a decision on whether you could afford to take on the new debt you were seeking.

Was this system perfect? No, of course not. But is the current system perfect?

A computer or mathematical formula, no matter how cold and calculating it may be, does not discriminate based on race, gender, or sexual orientation. It also does not judge you based on the way you look or speak. But it also doesn’t have compassion or instinct. The “friendly” bankers of old were sure to do the things that human beings do, judge people, and fall victim to their own biases. 

“That beatnik doesn’t get a car loan, look at how his hair is cut”

“I don’t care for the color of that man’s skin”

“Women aren’t responsible enough for this kind of loan”

These are for certain all things you could have heard if you went into a bank in 1969 looking for a mortgage. But at the same time, you might have also heard…

“He seems like an honest guy”

“I like the way she carries herself”

“That young man has confidence, he’s going to make something of himself”

Make no mistake, the FICO score was not created to protect or benefit the consumer, it was made to help businesses make more money. It was made to fill the pockets of men who see themselves as your betters and it was made to keep you in your place.

Now how do we go back to that old "flawed" system but protect the consumer and eliminate bias…

Laws. That’s how...laws. Laws that protect the consumer. Laws that punish those who allow their bias to deny people a means for a better future. We create new, better laws. Laws that guarantee people who meet certain basic criteria access to the financial tools they need to succeed. Laws that protect people from unfair practices and discrimination. We build a better system that is not designed to “keep you in your place” but instead elevate you. 

Because let's face it folks, the country does better and the economy does better when we have an educated workforce with plenty of money in the hands of the lower and middle class. We feed the economy. We sustain the economy. We grow the economy. And sure that economy will continue to benefit those with more than those without, but maybe just maybe if we allow people to have the opportunity to have an opportunity then in the long run we can help even the playing field just a little.   -Austin Cross

[wasidrunksp]

Episode 1 is up on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Podbean. The drink is a Sidecar, the subject is credit scores and all the fantastic ways they mess with our lives. In Episode 1 we talk all about how we feel about our credit scores and the fairness of the system. Then we discuss "uncles on the internet" and the ways Internet cranks enrich our lives.

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