 Can I make 40 here? So I'm just thinking about identity, thick identity versus thin identity. So thick identity is something usually that's rooted in history where there are norms of behavior that are expected, right? That's a certain standard of behavior that's expected. So for example if you have an identity as an Orthodox Jew or as a Christian or as a parent, there are certain norms of behavior that go with that identity. Now on the other hand there are much more thin and transactional forms of identity. Usually identity that's around solving a problem and I'm thinking about things that are ephemeral like the rise and fall of the alt-right. That was a thin identity. It wasn't thick because it wasn't a sustainable way of life. It was a reaction in large part to the late Obama era collapse but it was not something you could build life on and it didn't really have norms of behavior that are expected from it. So if your primary identity is that of parent, that's an identity that I would expect would last a lifetime. If you identify as a parent now as a key part of your identity then that's gonna last you for the next 30, 40, 50, 60 years. Like even when you're 90 years old, it's again a strongly identify as a parent. Now in those intervening 60 years your desire for political activism may wax away. You may change careers like five times. You may change your geography a dozen times. So compared to an identity like Los Angelino or San Francisco, being a parent is much thicker. Being a parent there are far more things that are expected of you as opposed to being a resident of Los Angeles. There's not a lot of behavioral expectations that go with being a resident of Los Angeles. So about 11 years ago a lot of people got into the tea party identity and that became a center of great enthusiasm and activism. That was a thin identity. It largely died out and then transitioned into make America great again identity. And some people went around to Trump rallies as a way of life. But going to Trump rallies as a way of life that's a thin identity because Trump can betray you at any time. He may lose. It's not it's not a thick identity. So when you when you compare being a parent, right, to most other forms of identity, being a parent is so much thicker and stronger. I mean, for one, it lasts a lifetime. Two, there are a lot of behaviors that are then expected of you. There are moral norms of what's right and wrong to do as a parent. And it's likely going to outlast a lot of your political enthusiasm, your enthusiasm for your career, hobbies, your location, where you live. Now, most of my communal time is spent in Orthodox Judaism. So the primary framework for Orthodox Judaism is halakha Jewish law. It's legal. And about 90% of Orthodox Jews are observant. Like about 90% of the people identify as Orthodox Jews, at least publicly keep the Sabbath, at least publicly abide by Jewish law. You wouldn't catch the meeting in McDonald's dating or marrying a non Jew. There are all sorts of behavioral expectations for Orthodox Jews. So it's a very thick identity. Now, most Orthodox Jews that I've encountered are not God intoxicated. They're not intoxicated by the idea of the Mashiach, the Messiah. There's no there's no theology or or belief, generally speaking, that animates most Orthodox Jews, aside from the idea that it's a good idea for Jews to live the traditional way of life. So that's a thick identity. Now, some Orthodox Jews get very excited by the doctrine of the Mashiach of the Messiah. But in Jewish history, that's not usually worked out too well, right? Messianic fervor, not tended to work out real well for the Jews. So I'm sure there's a small number of Jews as the price goes up for being Jewish. They're looking for the Messiah. They're looking for God to intervene in this world, make things right. But for most Orthodox Jews, their belief in God, and their belief in the Messiah can essentially be summed up with the idea that God will eventually make things right. But there's no no specific expectation for any intervention in one's lifetime. So that's my that's my belief in the Messiah and my belief in God, that God will make things right. So I can go to sleep at night. And I believe that either in this world or in the next world, God's going to make things right. But I didn't expect that God's going to do any specific intervention in this world. Once read a book by Reformer Abba, there is no Mashiach and you're it. You can guess where that goes. Right. So even among Orthodox Jews, I don't recall having a serious conversation about the Mashiach like when he's going to come. And are we living in the messianic age? It's more it's more an incantation. It's something you say, because everyone else is saying it, there's some rabbis are very excited by the doctrine, but compared to say the thick identity of being a parent. I don't think there are many Orthodox Jews who are more invested in say the Mashiach than they are in their identity as being a parent. And I've rarely encountered Orthodox Jews who are more invested, say in their belief in God or their relationship with God than they are in being a parent. So coming with being a parent that identity, there's so many repercussions. So thick. It's such a way to bond with with other people. While a relationship with an unknowable, unseeable, untouchable, almighty God, a little abstract. Now, I knew a lot more Christians who seem to have this vibrant personal relationship with God. But I mean, I know that works with some people and I know works with some people in 12 step programs. But in Orthodox Judaism, I hear a fairly little conversation about the reality of God, God intervening in our daily lives. With the growth of the Jewish state of Israel, the modern state, there's been quite a bit of Jewish talk about this is the beginning of the redemption, meaning that this is the the transition to the messianic age or in the messianic age. But this is this is usually some some individual rabbis and Jewish activists, professional Jews who beating on the doctrine of Mashiach as a way to gin up enthusiasm. Right. So I grew up as a Adventist, and it's very much raised with the idea that the world's coming to an end. That is told that Jesus was going to come back any day now. And it's now more than 50 years on and of course that that hasn't happened. So for people who take that kind of talk seriously and get really revved up by this is the end of time messiah is coming. They're bound to get disappointed. And so those are the types of, I think, thin identities that people tend to burn out on. So having an identity like tea party or even Antifa or Black Lives Matter, I think that's going to provide the sustenance for for a long life, particularly when compared to identity of being a parent or being a Christian or being a Jew. Because when you're identified as a Christian or a Jew, you've got a community that binds you to other people, you'll participate in one particular community. So Los Angeles Orthodox Judaism is a particular culture. Right. So people from New York may find large parts of Los Angeles Orthodox Judaism, not congenial to them because it's so so influenced by California culture, which is more relaxed and has much more attaided ties of ethnicity, education, and religion. So many non Californians, many people from the east coast find that say Orthodox Judaism in California reminds them of conservative Judaism on the east coast. Conservative Judaism in California reminds them of more relaxed reformed Judaism on the east coast. So Orthodox Judaism is one identity, but it's tremendously affected by by the particular place that you're in. Different Orthodox synagogues have widely, widely different culture. Right. You embed with entirely different types of people, depending upon what Orthodox synagogue you attend. So even different Chabad synagogues or different modern Orthodox synagogues will have quite varied culture here in here in Los Angeles. So all identities are constructed and they're continually constructed and updated and changing, but some of them are much more transactional and thin and fleeting and leave no very little impact on you. And then others seize your soul. So having a particular belief about God in and of itself is not usually going to provide a thick identity. But if you connect to people in a particular community, meaning in a particular geographic area and then there'll be usually people of socioeconomic status and particularly if you then become a parent, then you're really embedded in a matrix where your identity is going to be thick and have so many layers because you all have the religious layer, even though Jews, traditional Jews don't really talk that much about religion. It's a it's a way of life, but you'll have that ostensible. So you're what what the non Jews will call religion, but you've got that that tribal tie. You've got rituals, but you've got a particular synagogue. And more than that, you've got a particular social circle. You've got bombs with people that may very well extend the lifetime. All right, there are a lot of Orthodox synagogues in Los Angeles, places like Young Israel Century City, where people grew up together, where they've known each other for 30, 40, 50, 60 years. And like they've worked for each other. They've done deals with each other. They've married each other. I mean, that is a thick identity where you are known, where your life is known, where they knew what you're like 40 years ago and 30 years ago and 20 years ago, and they've seen all your changes. And they know your kids, you know, their kids and you've each babysat and you've each hosted each other at each other's homes. And that's a thick identity. And that's an identity at the last. So I noticed with many Orthodox Jews from Australia, they identified first as Australians who just who are Orthodox Jews who just so happened to reside in Australia, but they can pick up and leave from Sydney or Melbourne to Los Angeles or New York or Israel. And their primary identity as traditional Jews just goes with them. It's not particularly changed. Went into a young Israel. Every man in the menu was over 70. Wow. So generally speaking, Haredi shawls tend to skew youngest, centrist Orthodox shawls. Next youngest, then modern Orthodox shawls are probably skewed the oldest of any of any branch of Orthodox Judaism, but still even modern Orthodox shawls, generally speaking, will skew younger than reform and conservative synagogues. So I spent a lot of time reform and conservative synagogues during my first seven years in Judaism. So I appreciate the friends I made there. It was it's sure beat being secular. It was a form of community, but it's not nearly as intense a form of community as when in an Orthodox shawl where everybody lives within walking distance. It was in a hood that the mass of Jews had left behind. Yeah, so that's never been my experience in modern Orthodox synagogues, but on the other hand, I have been to modern Orthodox synagogues that don't work. And I guess I just tend to just block them from my mind. Like I know in 12 step talk, we discuss, oh, this is the meeting that needs support. Well, a meeting or a shawl that needs support usually means it's on life support and it's dying. Because if you're organically meeting a need, then you're not going to need support. It'd be like me saying, Oh, this channel needs support. I need your support, bro. Right? That just just creeps you out and makes you best want to be a participant in this channel. So there are modern Orthodox synagogues that don't work very well. But there's still a very strong modern Orthodox life. But almost all modern Orthodox communities are becoming Haredi because the teachers in modern Orthodox day schools generally are Haredi when they're Jewish because they don't pay very well. So modern Orthodox is a very expensive way of life. And so very few modern Orthodox Jews want to become teachers. So because the Haredim, the dominant teachers in modern Orthodox day schools, if all the kids get tugged towards a more traditional Judaism, if they form attachments to their rabbis and you get enveloped in a family, how important is the rabbi to the success of a shawl? So generally speaking, in my experience, a rabbi is much more of a reflection of shawl than the dominant force behind it. That's not usually true in a Shawl. Usually the rabbi is the most important factor in the success of a Shawl. There are two types of Orthodox shawls. There are rabbi-led Orthodox shawls and there are board-led Orthodox shawls. So in some Orthodox shawls, the rabbi rules and the board just supports him. And then so that's most Orthodox shawls, like the rabbi leads. And then people either support the rabbi or they leave the shawl. Then you have what bureaucratic Orthodox shawls like, say, a Beth Jacob in Beverly Hills, where you have a board that rules the shawl and they hire and fire the rabbis. So I remember hearing one rabbi say during his son that we had chosen him to be a spiritual leader. And I think, what the heck? I didn't choose you to be my spiritual leader. This is just where my friend goes. The Rockstar rabbi, more important in a men's only Orthodox shawl and an Orthodox shawl, Rockstar rabbi. Well, rabbis are the Rockstars of Orthodox Judaism and the connections that many people form with their rabbi can be quite intense. And so, yeah, there are a lot of there are a lot of shawls that are primarily the reflection of one man, the rabbi. And then maybe his his children like take that take the post after him. So probably the probably the more traditional the shawl, the more likely it is that it's rabbi led and driven and a reflection of the rabbi. Then the more modern the shawl, more likely it is that it's a board that's got the power. It's the board that hires and fires. Now, I think the primary determinant where the people stay in a shawl is usually not going to be the rabbi. It's going to be the quality of their relationships within the shawl. So in a rabbi led shawl attracts on people what motivates people to go to reform synagogues. Well, the music, the music is often beautiful. And it's usually aesthetically more pleasing. The service is usually going to be more aesthetically pleasing. And traditionally, reform Jews earn more money than conservative and orthodox Jews. So it was a place where people would drive up in their Mercedes and their Beamer's like I went to Stephen S. Weiss Temple for my first four years in Los Angeles. And yeah, a lot of very, very rich people would drive up to shawl. Very nice cars, very successful people, people who worked in Hollywood and professors and the professions and successful businessman. So traditionally, it's been that the more successful people went to reform synagogue as opposed to conservative and orthodox. So usually the aesthetics are better in a reform temple. Like the building is nicer. The music is nicer. And it was just an ethos that seemed to fit in better with being an American or with being a German or with being English. And it didn't didn't make too many demands on you. So all forms of Judaism are ethnic clubs, in a sense. So reform Judaism is an ethnic club without mitzvah obligations, without commandments, without laws, very few. And a conservative synagogue is an ethnic club with a moderate amount of ritual requirements, Jewish law requirements. And I remember tremendous feeling of social solidarity in conservative synagogues, and the people were just happy you showed up. Also in reform, to an extent, in reform and conservative people just happy you showed up. And if you know something about the week's pasha, you're a rock star. So I remember when I would attend a reform temple, other people thought I was a rabbi, because I was like really passionate about my Judaism. So normally people are not passionate about their Judaism and reform and conservative synagogues. So which denominations has the best kid-ish? Not sure, but like the best music concerts, best music would definitely be be reform. I think I think the primary thing that determines where you go to school is where are your friends? All right. So wherever your friends go, that's, that's where you will go. And what the rabbi says is going to be very secondary to that or the type of dovening prayer service is going to be secondary to where your friends are, because friendships, where you're embedded in a matrix of friendships and relationships, that is thick identity. Like that, that will very well last a lifetime. And that will flow all through your life from your professional life to your, to your hobbies to, to business. You'll often find that reinforced, reflected and shaped and influenced and interpenetrated by, by your friendships. So people who went crazy for, for a thin type of identity, I think like MAGA or the Tea Party or the alt-right or Black Lives Matter or in Tifa, it's not going to be the cause of a thin life, but it'll often be a reflection of a thin life. Because the Tea Party has come and gone, MAGA has come and perhaps gone. The alt-right has come and gone. I think Tifa is unlikely to be a community that people participate in for the rest of their lives. I can kind of imagine parents with kids going to stay in Tifa or Black Lives Matter. So how many people strongly identify as white, all right? People identify as American, as Californian, as English, as Canadian, as Australian, as French, as German, as Norwegian, Swedish, Dane, all right, those much thicker identities. So what society says is appropriate to flaunt as your identity or to embrace as your identity is also going to play a big role. So being religious in a secular society like Australia, England, France, it's going to be more challenging. So in America it's totally core to be religious, generally speaking. So in a society where it's core to be religious, you're going to be encouraged to have that kind of thick, thick identity. Why are only 11% of Australians vaccinated? Okay, so that is only 11% of Australians are fully vaccinated. So about a third of Australians have had one dose and Australians are about three months behind the United States. So number one Australians were less hard hit by the virus than pretty much any other industrialized nation. So they did not feel the keen need for the virus to the Australian government placed think two major bets on a vaccine. So in America, the Trump administration spent billions and billions of dollars placing bets on all sorts of different vaccines. So not all of them worked out. But when one started working out, American government had abundant supply. So the Australian government bet in large part on a vaccine developed by the University of Queensland, which ended up giving people false HIV positive readings. So that didn't work out. Now, the other the other vaccine they bet on was AstraZeneca, because they bet on these two vaccines, because they could produce them in Australia. And so they bet on AstraZeneca. That was their second bet. And then there were these, I think in my understanding, overhyped dangers of AstraZeneca. So combining Australia's very low rate of COVID with shovel or tow of iron. I hope you are doing well. What what equipment are and do you use for your stroll streams? I like like the steady, like your steady stroll streams. How's the recovery from the stroke? So Australians had a low rate of COVID. They didn't feel the urgency that Americans felt. And then AstraZeneca got a ton of bad press. And so Australians were not exactly rushing to get the AstraZeneca shot. And that was all there was. So now now in retrospect, the Australian government obviously didn't bet on enough vaccines. So they only bet on two. One didn't work. University of Queensland project. And then the other one AstraZeneca got a ton of bad press. And now the Australian government is scrambling to get Pfizer. And also all the bad press that AstraZeneca got is discouraging people from getting the vaccine. And the low rates of COVID in Australia have meant that for most Australians, they just did not think of COVID as something particularly dangerous or threatening. Now, the downside of this is like Australia and New Zealand are about the worst among industrialised nations getting vaccinated. And Australians and New Zealanders, they can't leave the country. And by large, outsiders can't enter the country because most of the population is not vaccinated. Once you've got the majority of the population vaccinated, you can reduce the transmission rate. Yeah, how's the Madaffinil working out iron? So the first first day I felt somewhat dizzy on on Madaffinil. And then second and third days, maybe some light dizziness. But soon thereafter, it's just like an unalloyed benefit. Love my love my Madaffinil. Oh, the Red Me Note 10 cell phone. OK, so but I've got the name. What's the name for the device that holds a cell phone steady? I guess Red Me is the is the device that I'm using a ho-ham to hold up my cell phone to keep it steady. So I am reading a great book right now by Michael Lewis called The Premonition about people who are planning for a flu-like influenza pandemic like way ahead of COVID. And the people who saw the dangers of COVID. You just use your hand. You're not using any device to keep it steady. We do a really good job keeping it steady. You've got a strong hand, Aaron. Got to say that I was skeptical of this Michael Lewis book. I thought it just be kind of PC nonsense just holding up the conventional wisdom. And there may be indeed, you know, some PC nonsense. Yes, in it, but it's just a great read. It's a great compelling read. But a very important topic and even more important topic than the blind side on the importance of having a good left tackle. I think left tackle has become the highest paid position in the NFL after quarterback. The blind side left tackle protects the health of your quarterback. But The Premonition by Michael Lewis is just a great read. I'm only about a quarter way through the book, reading about Charity Dean. So she was the health officer in Santa Barbara County. And so health officers often have enormous power. They essentially have unlimited power to act. Yeah, this is a gimbal. That's what I got. A gimbal. Health officers have virtually unlimited power to stop pandemics or any threat to the public health. They can close businesses. They can close schools. So I had Andy Nuiqi on about 10 days ago who complained about the anti constitutional nature of lockdown. So while it's there in our legal system that you lasted two days. I'm a deaf and you still feel side effects five, five weeks later, five days later. That's that's weird. But I'm sure different people have different experiences. So now other people who did not like the experience of Madafinal and they they quit very quickly. So your mileage may vary. Different people have different experiences on it. So it's there in our constitutional system that public health officers and governments have enormous power in the face of an emergency pandemic and face of an emergency threat or the perceived threat to shut down schools to this taste of metal in my mouth. So I haven't experienced that. But your mileage may vary. So I would I just swallow the Madafinal. I don't I don't let it dissolve in my mouth. So when I do when it does get caught in my mouth before I can swallow it. Yeah, there's definitely a metallic metallic taste. But I find it quite temporary. I think I'm going to do a stream a little later talking in a more precise way about thick versus thin identity and how that applies to the success and failures of various political movements.