ideas – Explainer for Boomers

money laundering

i can’t remember what conversation we were having before i sent this, but i want to remember that i thought that podcast was something he might be able to listen to and consider, and that it was worth trying to share it.

hi!

i just listened to this podcast about money laundering and it was super interesting! it feels related to a part of our conversation the other day, too – this story shows how money laundering hurts normal people and has created a sort of “extra-national” group of super wealthy people who got there because of corruption and the systems they exploit for crime.

this is one of the reasons i like Warren so much, and also why i don’t worry so much about “how we’ll pay for it” – there is so much money. and maybe not everything she wants will pass, that’s fine. but the most important part to me is someone who has a zero tolerance approach to corruption – and i think that in itself will also free up money to be serving real people – and a “works for real people” priority on whatever policies do pass.

i have no tears for international criminals who are laundering buckets of money losing it, and i have no problem with “legal” super wealthy people also paying high taxes – it has always been the responsibility of wealthy to provide hospitals and orphanages and whatever. if i get that wealthy i’ll happily pay my share too. actually, right now i’m paying more than my share of it, because wealthy people don’t pay as much in taxes.

but anyway, my actual point here was that – i found this report on laundering really good, and also encouraging because even though it’s hard, it’s good to hear there are people working on prosecuting these crimes!

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/power-corrupts/id1458750622?i=1000444191473

love you!

he didn’t reply, so i don’t know if he listened to it, but probably not. still, i’m keeping it because maybe i will listen to it again and turn parts of it into conversation.

start here.

My dad is not a bad guy. We have some issues, but we have a lot of good stuff too. He was born in 1949. He’s been a Republican all his life, and he voted for Trump. He lives in a swing state.

I was born in 1974. I’m progressive. In order for my dad and i to have an effective conversation about the direction this country should go in, i realize, we need to build some common ground. We can’t be effective talking about college debt or homebuying or whatever until he has some real understanding about how it’s different today than how it was for him.

I think that the only way we’re going to bridge these divides is with education. I’m also tired, and the task feels overwhelming. It’s hard to have conversations today, because a lot of our tools for conversation have been weaponized: it’s difficult to say, even politely, that some particular statement is inaccurate, because there isn’t a common ground of understanding. “Well, my news network says your opinion is inaccurate.” We don’t have a common basis of facts – even things that are provable are called opinions so that it’s easier to discredit them.

Without some common ground, i don’t know how we move forward. But i also see that common ground isn’t going to make itself: we have to build it. So i have started writing emails to my dad, trying to talk about some things. This blog will share those emails, and resources that i find handy, in case they might be helpful for you in talking with your parents, with friends, with people in your community.

This blog is called “Explainer For Boomers” because my dad is a boomer, but honestly, it could be for anyone. If any of it is useful for you, i’m happy for you to have it.

I also welcome your comments. We’re stronger together, and you know things i don’t, so if you have ideas, i invite you to share them and we can all benefit. All comments are moderated; i have a really intense day job but i will get to them as fast as i can.

The purpose of this project is to build bridges, which requires some mutual respect. It requires a positive focus. That’s not easy – sometimes i don’t want to be positive. Sometimes it’s hard to find a point of respect. If you leave comments here, i ask that you keep them respectful and reasonably positive; those which are not will be deleted.