Lets find out as we start watching the whole. Whats going on in a city. Or so you. See the crisis you always still see a. Great city desolate systemic dissent says so which. So brings up as. Well going to watching the hierophant and i believe and joining us today to bring us some on the ground insights into this a store a collection in bolivia is the Latin American Campaign coordinator of code pink and bolivian election observer Leonardo Flotus leonardo thank you so much for coming on today. Thank you for having me on so 1st i want to ask you youre down in bolivia what are the people in bolivia saying about this huge win for luis obviously the former minister of economy and Public Finance under morales and what did you witness as an observer. So i think the people are incredibly relieved 1st of all that theres been no post electoral violence the fact that the mosse won with over 50 percent of the vote means that the you know the country is firmly supports it and prior to this week there was many scenarios in which would squeak out a victory and then we might have seen another coup happen or we might have seen electoral authorities try to know the results but since its a resoundingly victory i think bolivias say for now what i witnessed yesterday was a day of calm and peaceful voting i witnessed very few irregularities there were some isolated reports of people being disqualified for basically core purged from the voter rolls but there was nothing to suggest this is a tendency that the really the most a regular thing about the whole night was the fact that the results came in so late after midnight despite the fact that we were almost 8 oclock and so these are the results that we got on actually exit polls they were really pictures taken of the. Private companies and then compiled basically so these are these are unofficial results that are stronger than polls and that the electorate already is going to certify the results later this week while and leonardo how much of a role has u. S. Corporate interests played in bolivias politics and how does that affect the election and the interest there. Well the you. Through through usa do the u. S. Agency for International Development and your wiki leaks we basically know that for 20 years now even before this was elected president usaid you had an eye on the u. S. Embassy here wrote cables and warning that he was a power of warning that he was going to be popular and he was going to have the support of the bases so. 20 years ago 5 years before he even became president they started the strategy of trying to undermine him and part of what they did was they would finance these socalled civic organizations particularly in europe which has a strong separatist movement which is where they just represented where there are more kind of people of white european ancestry and so the santa cruz was very key in terms of carrying out this coup and a lot of the funding goes to not just for a number come out you whos from santacruz and who was one of the 3rd in the elections but really to everyone in the libyan opposition and you know liberals and like they receive funding from the u. S. And they have strong corporate ties of course and of course bolivia has vast lithium reserves and theres good reason to believe that methuen played a key role in this group of the im being what powers a lot of our Technology Today given the recent progress of weapons were seeing in new zealand and bolivia are we seeing a new trend towards more progressive and socialist leadership in the world. I mean it certainly looks that way right because it is in argentina we knew a liberal democracy last with within the last year and were going to see elections in ecuador in next year when its very likely that the socialist will come to power in ecuador but you know these are trends that are happening all over the world but at the same time you have fascist parties on the rise and in power say for example in brazil where you know salvador or some might argue in the u. S. Do you think that were i mean do you think that this kind of. Engagement and this really you know given the nature of whats going on with covert today given the nature of Climate Change given the nature of the being tremendously you know tremendous wealth gaps are we going to see more socialist trend in the United States kind of following the lead in bolivia and these other these other countries that you mentioned. Well i mean we saw a lot of excitement with Bernie Sanders campaign of course but he failed just like the field 4 years ago so i think its going to take a long time for socialism to really take root in the United States and the fact that there are so many young people interested in social lives of bodes well in that regard but. Listen to this discourse is so rampant in the u. S. And its so kind of built into the d. N. A. Of the country that i think it would be much more difficult if anything women were going to be mighty slightly more progressive policies certainly not because of say joe biden but pressure from below. And what would you say were the breakdown of the voters there i know here in america were looking at the trends between some of the Younger Voters many leaning more with the socialist trend versus those that are older women voters and things like that were breaking it down demographically what were some of the key demographics for the win that you got. I mean the main democratic demographic is basically race whether a person is indigenous or not so for example last night as i was observing the elections i ended my night in a straw in the stronghold for the opposition candidate for carlos mess that was in the old liberal and they have about 50 voting booths in that precinct of those 50 voting booths 48. 00 went to mesa and only 2 went for the mass candidate and then when i asked the people why they said that the voting booths are basically separated by the blast and and that those particular 2 voting booths they had indigenous last names voted there and so basically the indigenous so born in those 2 places whereas in the other 48 it was kind of more middle class upper middle class and of new. Mixter white heritage went for the neo liberal candidate and then when we see the rural vote command that is almost exclusively indigenous and that is where the most power bases and they won and believe in rural areas well you know i got to thank you very much for your service there and keeping an eye on the voting that took place there and thank you very much for coming on and educating or offer our audience on what took place in bolivia over the weekend its definitely interesting to follow where thats going and where those voting trends will take us into the future thank you so much for all your hard work. Absolutely thank you. Early voting has started and voting sites are already seeing long lines along with widespread growth in mail in ballots and various polls showing that the 2020 u. S. Election may be record setting r. T. Correspondent john hoodie has more. In Charlotte North Carolina voters waited in long lines many saying they would stand there as long as necessary to cast their vote it was a similar scene in other parts of the country as early voting has started the website elect project dot org shows that of the 42 states plus the district of columbia reporting the latest numbers more than 1500000 have already voted in North Carolina 3000000 people in california more than 4000000 people in texas and 2500000 in florida florida once again is a key battleground state as it was in 2016 most election experts agree President Trump needs to win the state like he did in 2016 to win the 2020 election of the more than 2500000 ballots in florida thus far 49 percent are democrats 30 percent are from registered republicans and 20 percent no Party AffiliationPresident Trump held rallies in florida and michigan last week and nevada over the Weekend Spending the final weeks of the campaign in states that were expected to vote red but are now close to flipping blue the latest polls show joe biden Still Holding a solid lead nationally leading in 10 of 12 swing states but president trip report of lee regained a slight lead in ohio and pennsylvania along with some gains in florida biden meanwhile returned to his wilmington delaware home and his Campaign Said he will not be holding any other Public Events until after thursday nights debate with President Trump its the 2nd and final debate and if its anything like the 1st one there will likely be fireworks once again the question is whether it will be a debate focusing on substance rather than insults between the 2 candidates and one thing that will be absent in this next debate Foreign Policy the debates. Mission announced that instead the debate will focus on the pandemic race in america Climate Change and National Security concerns about voting this election will likely be one of the topics discussed according to a recent Pew Research Center poll there are quote deep divisions in views of the election process and whether it will be clear who won and of the more than 11000. 00 registered voters surveyed while large majorities of voters think that the elections in their community will be run and administered very or somewhat well they are less confident in the administration of elections throughout the country according to the poll more than half of the trunk voters surveyed said they dont think the election will be administered in a fair way and that absentee ballots will not even be counted correctly for now though the votes are being counted and 2020 may be on track to be a record setting Election Year for watching the hocks john hardy. Artemy just looks like bolivia has free and clear brilliant elections while were we might we might be struggling on the road our actions are being held together with bubble gum at this point and its interesting because as john he just said were seeing right now this ramp up in people voting early i think thats a good thing part of that is driven by all of the electioneering and fear tactics that donald trump used about mail in voting but also people 9 you know responding to cope at 19 and saying that they were going to get out front of it so were seeing a lot of folks across multiple states a lot of young people a lot of diverse voters using early voting in a way that we havent seen them use it in this type of number in the past thats very true and one of the members of stood out to me when i was talking about the numbers early voters i believe it was in florida of the 20 percent of those were on register and thats a big number for early voting and i cant imagine thats going to fare well for the incumbent donald trump but youve got 20 percent of registered people coming in to vote this year very interesting stuff all right everybody as we go to break remember that you can also start watching the hawks on demand for the brand new portable t. V. Which is available on all platforms definitely took up portable t. V. Coming up weve built. With the myths and propaganda surrounding buying power here in the United States of america with professor jeremy ball you dont want to miss this conversation stay tuned to watch it well see. Americans love. This was a fundamental part of how our Political Leadership and our country at large understood the bargain you get a hope and then you know rebel right as the things you dont revolt if you have a stake in the system. Be really interesting to dial it back and think about the longer deeper history housings men in the United States not just that question of the American Dream but the bigger question of who the dream is and for. Is your media a reflection of reality. In a world transformed. What will make you feel safe. High salacious community. Are you going the right way or are you being led to. Direct. What is truly wants is faith. In the world corrupted you need to descend. To join us in the depths. Or remain in the shallows. The single greatest most important aspect of any functioning society is price discovery act or price discovery more so than any moral or aesthetic or ethical. Kind of set of rules because without sound money without some price discovery you dont have a society full stop. The economic condition of black families across america is persistently picked apart studied and drives advocacy for policy reforms and the controversial calls for reparations blacks have been property in america longer than weve been allowed to own it Home Ownership remains a key component of the American Dream and wealth building in the u. S. But for blacks Home Ownership has been greatly hampered due to redlining racism in limping and devaluation in Property Values even after a home was purchased but one thing we cant seem to get away from is the notion of black buying power c m b c published an article in july looking at black buying power growth and racial profiling by retailers news one a popular media outlet for black Community News has spoken many times on the phenomenon of black buying power in february an article titled black buying power by the numbers stated quote the wealth of black people in america in the gap between other racial groups has been well documented but that doesnt mean black folks dont have any money to spend even though the racial wealth gap is widening black people can spend money with the best of them statistics show. With nearly 50000000. 00 black people in the us black consumers spend more than one trillion dollars a year nielsen which provides analytical insights on Consumer Habits die of something drives deep with some of the discussion around black buying power with the release of its report its in the bag black consumers path to purchase that report found that africanamericans outpaced spending nationally. So which is it are blacks struggling economically or buying like theres no tomorrow and living their best the great gatsby lives. A new book the myth and propaganda of black buying power to answer that question and more in his book arthur jared ball demonstrates how the black buying power myth began the powers that be that drive the lie and why the media environment continues to perpetuate it in the book ball takes major and with the claim that black buying power makes black america economically equivalent to the National Economies of many countries by comparison g. D. P. Jerde ball author and professor of Communications Studies at Morgan State University joins us now welcome. Its a pleasure thanks for having me well your book is quite interesting fellow what inspired you to tackle this topic and what are some of the negative effects of the myth of black buying power being perpetuated today. Wolf again thanks for having me and i appreciate that introduction because you outline a lot of the problem there you know for me it started before at long before i became any kind of journalist or academic is just as an activist and anybody who has spent any time in any really black political public sphere will have heard a version of this myth. You know whether they consume media or just again read attend activist meetings and i just kept hearing this but as you lay out in the introduction any time you start to look at the numbers the data the actual economic analyses and of course just the broader analysis and history of this country those stats didnt make any sense so i just wanted to at the time i became a columnist and then also an academic of sorts i wanted to really dive into it and look into to its origins and blend the work that im interested in which is a combination of afrikaner and media studies and i want to ask you because it just seems a little ridiculous when you really think about where did this idea of the Gross Domestic Product the g. D. P. Of other nations and black buying power in the u. S. And that comparison even come from and most importantly how is that been debunked. Along and little bit of a complicated history that i try to summarize briefly in the book but an even shorter version would be that initially the concept of buying power was developed by the federal government in the Economic Business elite of the 19th and early 20th century and they were trying to basically keep labor activists from rebelling and workers from rebelling they wanted to find out how much could they exploit workers by reducing wages but paying them enough that they wouldnt rebel and also have enough to spend in the economy buying the products they were helping produce in the mid 20th century it was really the black commercial press which is. Sort of where your introduction leads to that weaponize this for the purposes of garnering ad revenue from white corporations in black commercial media spaces so there was sort of this symbiotic relationship that developed between again the government in the economic elite in this country and the black Business Community that what it basically wanted on the one hand to promote a post world war 2 wondrous potential for black people in the new you know singular hedge monic moment of the United States by promoting capitalism as something that anybody even the formally in slaves could could could use to better themselves and then the burgeoning black boos was the in that moment post world war 2 wanted to do the same thing by part by you know accommodating that mythology by saying yeah we have money to spend we dont really want to rebel we dont want to gauge in civil and human rights struggles we just want to be able to shop and be good middle class citizens so if you use your ad revenue in our commercial Media Outlets we will provide you with a Customer Base that can afford your products and out of that came a lot of misunderstandings a lot of bad journalism and a lot of mis reporting and misinterpretation that still unfortunately plagues us today because in the end the most pernicious virtue. Result of the myth is that it blames poor people in this case more people for being poor but the suggestion that if we were socalled better or more financially literate we would be far better off in this wonderous and open capitalist economy and thats part of what im arguing its without it and how do we hold it to your point how do you hold black media specifically accountable here because i noticed that during the George Floyd Protests black media kept going back to this over and over again until again to your point a lot of it i think was to drive more media ad buy specifically from white organizations to keep their businesses going but all in all it makes a lot harder for black people who are in these really suffering communities. Asking for assistance demanding things from their study of their states as well as the federal government how do we hold black media leaders to the fire when it comes to perpetuating this myth and what it does for the black community. We have to have i think this an honest. Conversation as much as possible even if it takes place off the record because we get it i understand the economic model in this country and the need for black commercial media to gain garner ad revenue but at the same time we have to be able enough and of course i appreciate the long history that black media have play need and continue to play in offering an outlet in a perspective that much much of the mainstream or allow but in this one area there does have to be some sort of confrontation lovingly polite is that can possibly be that says look to the constituency that you target you are wildly misrepresenting the Economic Situation and offering a set of interpretation and analysis that doesnt lead anywhere this is long black capitalism and black Business Development have long been debunked as models for attaining well for any community much less in oppressed socalled minorities such as black people white wasnt created this way so the idea that black people in this situation could do the same thing is again mr logical i think and that to me is were truly of the heart of this is that it is that kind of capitalism myth that is perpetuated here in the us the you know hate everyone can start from nothing and create an empire out of that you know what are some of the factors of just looking at that myth of the American Dream that really jump out to you that has been so used to oppress various people and cultures in this country. Again is that sort of outlined in my book a little bit there has been a specific targeting and a development of the use of propaganda in this country going after the 2nd world war specifically toward the concepts of democracy and capitalism together to create a writ large all can all citizens in this country as consumers politically disengaged to a large extent and largely seeing their Civic Engagement in their pain treat is and the. Lens of consumption and we know that the even before colvin and you know and certainly which is really the ravages which was the saying now that the economy has countries that are roughly 70 percent consumption banks so when people arent shopping when people arent spending in this case particularly black people. The economy will stall so when were being told that is black people and poor people are being told invest your money stay have your money be frugal dont spend irresponsibly thats actually contradicts how the economy works and that the ied for this economy for for consumers as were seeing right now when people cant spend money is that is that you are used to so what we are encouraged to disbelieve or move away from is the wall Public Policy plays in the creation of wealth definition of wealth and distribution of wealth and thats the thats the arena i think we need to be more active in in developing Public Policy that says it doesnt matter what role you play in the development of wealth where theres a consumer or an owner but all that wealth has to be more properly redistributed so when it comes to the question of g. D. P. Where g. D. P. Is a measurement of wealth trying to get by and for the entire economy and the wealth that accrues largely to those who only economy its not a measurement of inequality within an account so when you talk about the g. D. P. Of any country it doesnt you know the g. D. P. Of this country before covert was 20 trillion dollars that did not speak to the wild inequality that exists in this country and who gets that 20 true so thats what im arguing needs to be the focus and not who sets up a business and who is an entrepreneur and who saves their money thats thats should be irrelevant to the question of who is able to benefit from all the wealth and resources that we help generate in this country i couldnt agree with you more i think its a great book and ive been to do a great job really breaking that down and i cant i cant thank you enough for coming on the show today and talking about these issues because theyre important issues that should not be ignored whether in the Mainstream Press alternative media or in our home or in our conversations at home and around the dinner table thank you so much for your good work professor and keep keep it up and keep up the great work out there. Thank you very much anytime. And professor just breaking it down right a new clue im glad you took that out because that is a myth i have heard for the longest and wondered what the pieces of that puzzle where snow and a dangerous myth dangerous myth because like you pointed out that that was really great is that it reads in activism degrees of political in activism when you think that ok theres only one route to attain wealth art of what if that is our show for you today and remember of what in this world we are not told that we are loved and up so i tell you wall love you i am tired rover and im a nice across the pond watching all those hawks out there and have a great day and night everybody. You know when im going to be out there see i dont think about it at all many roman not new dorp or. I kind of were on the. Course if im not big now i think its higher than our. Members from africa mafias them safe and quick passage to europe but once they. Leave they are in sleeves they count speech util. Will not some of them leave your mom and i couldnt you know if this unit can get it out i mean. They sold the. Lady. Home court of the import of it because the persona that a kid even thought all. The world is driven by dream shaped by. The day or thinks. We fear him to ask. Is youll be a reflection of reality. In a world transformed. What will make you feel safe. Isolation community. Are you going the right way or are you being led. By the way. What is true what is faith. In the world corrupted you need to descend. To join us in the depths. Or a maybe in the shallows. The single greatest most important aspect of any functioning society is price discovery acar price discovery more so than any moral or aesthetic or ethical. Kind of set of rules because without sound money without some price discovery you dont have a society full stop. There is a saying in washington dont let the perfect be the enemy of the good this appropriately describes the Political Warfare over another stimulus package and to center of this standoff is who wins or loses just prior to the election in the meantime tens of millions are suffering with no end in site. To take on islamic radicalism after the horrific killing of a history teacher but on average muslims they will bear the brunt of the governments response. Without fear that you know i will have to be the be careful or fall for what the poorest of my freedom of speech as a human rights of talk to this is literally on the balance. Conned into. Ration issues elsewhere in europe a lebanese man is denied german citizenship over his refusal to shake hands with a woman discrimination or a justified request opinions differ. But was a clear signal that he still is here to totally different values to