Show notes
Get ready for today's episode, it's finally part 2 of black man vs. White man!
Follow Ryan "Debate" Moran and Billy Gene into a multitude of controversial rabbit holes and hear what Billy had to say that may have changed Ryan's mind on some subjects.
Key takeaways
Trump or Obama? [5:43] Billy and Ryan set the tone for this dialogue by going over drunken items from the last black man vs. white man debate — are people more divided than during the civil war? Are things better or worse for minorities? — and open up this year's conversation with a personal story from Billy.
Putting other things first [:] Ryan points out that his choice to support Trump, or not, would be driven by his upbringing and his choice of peers.
Billy rebutts that as a black man, it's hard to put other things — upbringing, peers, etc. — before race since so much of his experience of the world has been dictated by it.
One racist thing [13:35] Ryan asks if there is one thing about Trump that stands out as racist.
The tagline! Billy offers that Make American Great Again refers to a time past, but which? Maybe the one when people of color were segregated against and women overlooked — what about that could you possibly like as a black man. What the f**k does great again mean?
Representation [18:26] Billy notes that perception is key, and that we understand ourselves in the context of what we see, i.e. when he watches a 1920's film, he understands that he was the milkman. So building pride and making certain that strong black representation exist in every area of life is important to him, he's plated his Lambo "I'm black" — even if some white people take it personal!
Ryan concedes a point!
The opposite of racism? [21:40] Ryan asserts that he avoids making assumptions based on race and gender while Billy claims — as an advertiser — to be all about assumptions.
Billy thinks forcing hard conversations may be the one positive thing to stem from the Trump movement.
Privilege [24:38] Billy offers that privilege is the innate leg up that a white man may not realise he has in comparison to a black man. He also offers up the main opposing views of both sides which tend to generate disconnect:
1. Don't say you came from nothing because you don't know what nothing is.
2. Don't villainize me for being born with what I was born with.
The true leg up is having people like you, in your surroundings that were successful, that's when you believe it's possible.
The controversial voice of privilege [29:10] Ryan agrees, but counters that privilege is less of a factor in success than ever before. Billy acquiesces but adds the following caveat: it isn't gone and people are still not equal.
Empathy [31:33] In a "black man or white man succeeding" scenario, Ryan says he would bet on the person coming at a disadvantage. Billy immediately counters that this may be because Ryan doesn't really truly know what disadvantage is. And that is privilege, with a little bit of lack of empathy sprinkled in.
Billy shares his personal story of privilege and luck which took root in his parent's fight against disadvantage.
The key to moving forward with this whole debacle is empathy: for people who are privileged to be cognizant and humble about it and for the people who had none not to villainize.
Responsibility [36:40] Both Ryan and Billy agree that people who have privilege also have a responsibility to make other people's lives better, whether or not that privilege was given to them or if they worked hard for it. And people without have a responsibility to themselves.
But people with too much privilege or too long of a history of privilege tend to get soft…
Is Billy stumped?
Soft, soft privilege [40:00] Ryan argues that socialist government policies like raising welfare, social safety nets and etc. play a role in softening the masses. Billy offers a personal caveat.
What is the role of government? [45:40] Ryan and Billy discuss the role of government: should governments force the "benevolent responsibility" of successful people? Should there be a fee for becoming successful? And once a program is successful, should it not be cancelled?
Ryan offers that Federal Government should only exist to protect our borders, freedoms, rights and constitution and State Government should decide everything else.
Abortion [48:35] Ryan is of the mind that State Governement should decide their own abortion laws — even if he thinks Alabama's law is whack. The philosophical question that underpins the abortion debate revolves around when a fetus deserves equal protection under the law.
Billy debates whether men should even vote on it.
Marriage [54:33] Billy asks about the white entrepreneur's recent obsession with open couples. Ryan isn't even certain what he thinks about marriage but he does think that the recent spike in non-traditional narratives in the entrepreneurial community is driven by loneliness.
Entrepreneurship [1:00:40] Both Billy and Ryan believe that people have come to mistake entrepreneurship and freedom and it has created a fad around becoming an entrepreneur.
Instagram has created this idea that you can have the house, the car, the plane, the travel, the company and it's a mistake.
Freedom and money are not mutually exclusive.
Looking for a rabbit hole [1:04:58] Ryan and Billy shop for another rabbit hole to tumble into, they go from universal basic income to the next election to what freedom means.
Freedom [1:07:05] Defining what freedom means to you is usually a journey that starts with setting a goal. Humans are easily bored, so finding the problem you want to spend some blood sweat and tears fixing is key and once it's fixed, it changes!
It always changes and it's very personal, Ryan and Billy find a very real human common ground.
Rapid fire [1:10:40] Ryan asks Billy business questions:
1. Fear of loss? Losing will make the win look different.
2. Fear of change? Embrace change with grace is a core brand value.
3. Driver for scale? Simplification.
Billy shares the peace he found with letting go of Billygeneismarketing's reins — and the difficulties of letting the team make mistakes — having it become an asset that permits branching out into new ventures.
Ryan shares how trippy this is for him since Billy is describing the exact path he's been on for the past 2 years.
Million dollar studio [1:17:12] The financial driver behind Billy's business growth as well as his awesome studio and team was … *drumroll* … Ads! More specifically ads to video sales, that is the model.
Final controversy [1:19:00] Billy offers up the last piece of discussion: traditional therapy and medications. The typical person who commits suicide is the white male. Billy offers up that the "get bigger problems" might explain why minorities have have a different perspective and much lower suicide rates.
Ryan adds the "get soft and purposeless" as an aggravating factor to white male suicide rates. Two things make our lives feel fulfilled and happy:
1. Meaning
2. Community
Affluent people tend to lose both, especially if you don't do most of what Billy and Ryan have discussed in the last hour: redefine your goals and focus on social responsibility.
Ryan goes full circle and pick the disadvantaged person again because they will be less derailed by adversity than the one who had it made.
Race again [1:28:20] Billy uses a sports metaphor to illustrate that the idea that "we've come so far, let's double down" is a hard pill to swallow.
Also, if you want the women's soccer team to get a raise, watch the damn games.
Closing out [1:31:15] Having these types of conversations helps contextualize everyone's perspective, there is white privilege, there is black privilege.
But for people in the U.S. to have these dialogues, they need to be out of the "needs" category — you can't worry about other people's problems if you're not sure how you're going to eat.
In the meantime, Billy and Ryan share a hilariously awkward handshake.
Thanks for listening!
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