2024 Will Rucker PODCAST Ole Kjörrefjord
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[00:00:00] Welcome to Compassionate Las Vegas, the podcast. I'm your host, Will Rucker, and I am excited that you joined for today's program. I'm in the hot seat today. Today, I'm actually just having a conversation, uh, really privileged to be joined by one of the members of the board for the Global Charter for Compassion.
And he's in town here for our retreat. And it said, Hey, I want to talk. And I said, can I capture this on film? And he was gracious enough to do so. So if you would just introduce yourself and we'll get back to talking.
Okay. Yep. I am Olle Fjørefjord. I am, I'm from Norway. I live in Sweden. I, um, have spent six years of my life in the U S and, um, I made a big transition in my life.
Um, seven years ago, uh, I had, um, in the [00:01:00] fall of 2016, uh, I, um, uh, I left many of my jobs. I was helping entrepreneurs to build companies, uh, for the last 20 years. And, uh, I, um, Had handed over, sold, left board position. So I only had, uh, one company left, which took about a couple of hours a week. So I had four and a half days a week that I had nothing to do.
And, uh, I had cancer in my throat, which I discovered in the summer of 2016. So that was, um. fall successfully, but it was a real wake up call that life is finite. I'm not 18 and have the whole life in front of me. It can end any time. So I became much more serious about my life and [00:02:00] every day is precious and I should live my life to the fullest every day.
And so when I was thinking about what to do with my spare time, I was considering to help to start more companies. Uh, but, um, I felt I had a more important role to, um, to do to make the world a better place. So I worked, uh, in management consulting in a company called McKinsey. I was senior partner. I've seen lots of big companies and lots of the world and big institutions.
So I. Know a lot about, um, how the world functions. Um, and I also have done a lot of startups where we started from nothing and created great companies. So, um, the skills I've brought to, um, to work for a better world. Um, I, um, met a woman named Barbara Marx Hubbard, uh, in [00:03:00] 2017, and she
brought fantastic perspectives that, um, I was very much attracted to. And, um,
Also clarified my mission. I thought that my mission was to, uh, take my business background and create responsible and respectable businesses. Uh, but, um, Barbara's vision was to create a compassionate world on all dimensions. And, uh, that was even more exciting.
And Ola, how do you define compassion? What does that mean to you?
But it really means that, uh, recognizing that, uh, we are all in this together, we are, uh, we are one with everything. So, I mean, if you think about quantum physics, we know that ultimately inside the atoms of our bodies there is [00:04:00] quarks, there's vibrations, it's just energy. So, it's atoms in this sofa. And that's energy.
And the mountains outside, there's atoms and there's just energy. So everything is energy. We're just manifesting in different shapes.
So before we started filming, we were talking about energy, drawing me to Las Vegas and me just feeling as though this is home. And I'm curious because you also mentioned that you're starting to see the wealth gap.
Increase in Sweden and this idea that we're in this together. I think there's a group of individuals of means that does believe that. And then there's a group of individuals with immense struggle that. Thinks you can't truly understand it because you don't have lack and so [00:05:00] I'm just curious as to how you reconcile Kind of the two worlds, you
know, there have been people Starving and suffering and being killed on this planet Uh, so there is going to be suffering and, uh, unfortunately, uh, especially I would say in the U S in the last, uh, decades, uh, there's been more and more separation.
So it's me versus you. It's, uh, America first it is, uh, um, and the income gap is increasing. Um, So, but this is, um,
this is just a global reality that we have had in the world forever. And it's, uh, I think that it's, uh, an [00:06:00] opportunity now to
recognize that, uh, we are in this together. It's, uh, I was at the presentation yesterday where people living in the tunnels in, uh, Las Vegas. And, uh, I, uh, couldn't believe that the, the community that were not supporting them because they were kind of less worth than the others. So, um, which was very sad. So it was, um, but it requires a, uh, kind of, a mental shift of humanity.
Uh, I am spending all of my time to, uh, support the transformation of this planet so that those [00:07:00] who have found ways to work together in harmony, uh, uh, Are supported and that we can learn from them. And, um, yeah, from this good examples that are popping up all over the planet, kind of, uh, connect them and create movements that will, uh, uh, shift the world's people of means, uh, Many of them are not very mature and they're, and they actually are not very happy either.
I learned this when I was 21 I moved to Manhattan and I was at a big party on Park Avenue with a boy my age or in the twenties had open house and there were more than a hundred people in the apartment and they were drinking and using drugs and dancing with loud music. And he was sitting in the corner being sad and lonely, even though he was [00:08:00] one of the richest kids in New York.
Wow. So there's no correlation between wealth and harmony.
Or happiness.
Which is, uh, harmony. It's kind of being in balance, being, just being cool, feeling good.
What makes you happy?
Oh, heart connections. I, um, Something that happened when in 2017, when I started to work for a better world, I also became a grandfather and, uh, so I have three grandchildren and, uh, the greatest joy is to be together with them in their space.
I call them my gurus, uh, because we can just be in the bubble. And, and play with whatever we're doing, and it doesn't matter what's happening anywhere else. And, um, [00:09:00] yeah, so that, that's what gives me the greatest joy, actually, my grandchildren.
Yeah, my grandparents often say, Something similar. And it's, it's amazing.
I was doing a talk earlier today about self compassion and to college students and mentioning that it's really our relationships that bring us true fulfillment. And I remember being an undergrad and going after business and trying to do all of that, thinking that it was the money that would make the difference or the status.
And I. What I have found from my experience is my favorite thing is conversations like this and connect and being of service, being, uh, being present, you know, sometimes I, I'm, I'm a worker. I enjoy getting things done, taking action and I'm finding more [00:10:00] joy. And simply being present now than even an accomplishment, whether it's a worthy cause or, you know, whatever, but just being able to, to not have an agenda to be open to experience.
Um, I love to learn. And I love to learn about other people because I learn more about myself as I talk with other people. So, um, I'm looking forward to the day I can say I have a grandkid.
Yeah, it is great. Uh, it's also a big responsibility because the children are, uh, molded, formed so much in the early years.
We can really hurt them for life. And many of us have been hurt for life in our early years, which has caused traumas that we have [00:11:00] needed to deal with as we get older. But to really see them for who they are and appreciate them and make them feel loved, gives them such strength, I think, for the rest of their lives.
So that is my most important job. to see my grandchildren and be there for them. And then it's the rest of the world. So, um, I picked up my grandson at the kindergarten on Tuesday and on Wednesday morning I flew here and I'll be landing on Monday night in Stockholm. And on Tuesday, I will go pick up my grandson again from the kindergarten.
I do that every Tuesday.
What would you say is the biggest lesson you've learned so far from your grandchild?
It is very warm love. Uh, my youngest grandson, uh, he, when I pick him up at the kindergarten, he, [00:12:00] as soon as he sees me coming out of the car, I say, granddad, and he comes running towards me and I lift him up and we, I hold him here and he is just, almost melting into me and our hearts are so connected.
So it's, um, um,
yeah, that is really feeling like we are one or you in unity. And, um, he just, yeah, we give each other so much love. Uh, so that is the, Greatest joy in my life is the times when I'm lifting up my grandson and he hugs me and I hold him.
I mean, I can feel that from you as you talk about it. One of the things that I do in meditation is called resourcing.
And you think of a person or place or [00:13:00] an experience that brings you exactly what you're talking about. And you recall that in moments of, you know, stress or just, just at the start of your day to, to kick you off on the right foot. So. That's a beautiful resource and it doesn't even have to be real like yours is a real experience But I think anyone through the story you just told can use that as a resource for themselves Now you said you wanted to get to know me a little bit I want to be , respectful of that and I'm actually quite honored I'm curious as to, , what, um, what you want to know.
Yeah. What are you doing now? What, how do you spend your week?
Oh, wow. So that's a big question. It, it really varies, like, so my nine to five, my day job, so to speak, is with one of our healthcare providers here in Las Vegas, and I'm the director of community health.
So what that means is the community is my patient. I'm not, , a licensed medical [00:14:00] professional or anything, married to a nurse. My uncle's a doctor. So we have those in the family. But for me, it's community health. And what does that look like? So social determinants of health, are people eating? Are they housed?
Is education happening? That sort of thing.
And so we work with, uh, volunteers in medicine. And we've done some funding for them and we've offered programming and things of that nature.
But it sounds like you're taking a very holistic perspective of, uh, the community health.
Absolutely. Yeah. And so, I mean, we have 67 clinics and a number of physicians and all of that in town. But my role really is that holistic piece and I kind of get in trouble for saying it sometimes, but my job is really to keep people out of the clinics because we want them healthy so that's, that's my day job. Um, and I love it.
And which is something I'm really honored and privileged to say, like, I don't have to [00:15:00] disconnect from work because it's something that truly brings me fulfillment and joy. And in addition to that, I get to work with Compassionate Las Vegas. And so I have a number of roles, the podcast, of course. Podcast being one, uh, but I also get to serve as a coach for our cohort.
And so Passion Las Vegas brings together 30 or so leaders in the community to provide really connection. We frame it as you're going to get professional development and leadership skills and all of that, and they get all of that. We do the programming. I think our workshops are second to none, and the real magic that happens is people that wouldn't ordinarily get to talk to each other, talk to each other, and you know, there's tension, there's disagreement, there's all that.
And then at the end of the day, they're like, wow, I connected with someone and we have a real authentic relationship now. So I get to do [00:16:00] that. I also am a wedding officiant. And so one of my dreams as a kid was to have a show on the Las Vegas strip. I still plan to do that, but until that happens right now, I actually get to do weddings on the pirate ship at Treasure Island.
So I have my own little show where people stop and see. It's the couple's wedding, but I'm the star, right? So that's a ton of fun. Um, I'm in school, so I'm working on my Ph. D. in public health. And my focus area is um, And I want to see how that actually improves health outcomes on a community level. What I've seen is our history is, is causing us to cause history to repeat itself.
, and what I mean by that is there's a level of distrust among medical professionals, particularly in minority communities, where they won't get the healthcare that they need because they're skeptical. Or because there's cultural difference. Who is
[00:17:00] skeptical? The
minority communities. The
community members, not the professionals.
Right. Well, you actually have some on both sides, which is interesting. It's fascinating to me, particularly around the vaccine that, was released for COVID. Um, uh, there was a lot of confusion around how vaccines work because medical professionals are trained in medicine, not necessarily in health promotion or prevention.
And so how a vaccine is developed isn't necessarily part of a medical doctor's training. Mm hmm. So there's confusion around that too. But yeah, so I get, I get to do the weddings. Um, what else do I do?
Okay. That's, that's cool. So yeah, you missed the big important part of our discussion today. Um, I have a vision which has been maturing for.[00:18:00]
Six years. Uh, I started working with Barbara Max Hubbard six years ago, uh, closely, uh, and she asked, she was a real visionary, uh, very great inspiration for lots of leading people, uh, also spiritual people. She started her mission in 1953 when she met with President Eisenhower. Um, yeah, she was born in 1939.
Is that right? No, 29, 1929. Yeah, she, she died 2019, uh, just before she was turning 90. Um, but, um, her father, uh, was an immigrant from, I think, Hungary, um, before the second world war. And, um, it was very successful and it was a sponsor of the presidential campaign for [00:19:00] Eisenhower. And the whole family were invited to the white house and Barbara, who then was, um, In her twenties asked Eisenhower, we're making so many powerful inventions as humanity, you know, the nuclear bomb and radar and all kinds of technological breakthroughs and, um, jet engine.
And so she asked, what is the, what is the benefit to humanity? What is, what is the good purpose of all of these inventions for humanity? Um, and Eisenhower couldn't answer that. He said, I don't know. This was mostly used for military purpose, you know, uh, and, uh, she said, uh, she was determined to find out why and she, she studied evolution.
She studied all religions and, uh, develop a fantastic, uh, Perspective, um, summarizing it as evolution ever since, uh, the beginning of times 13. [00:20:00] 8 billion years ago has been that we have evolved into greater units, more complex units. Uh, so it started with the energy of the quarks, which became atoms, atoms become molecules, molecules became, uh, organisms, uh, and eventually animals and eventually humans.
Um, but every kind of evolutionary stage reaches its peak where it's no longer functional. And then you need to take the next step. So, um, we call ourselves homo sapiens, which is the rational human, which is governed by the brain and looking after themselves. And their family and their clan. Uh, but we are killing this planet.
Uh, we are fighting each other, killing each other. Uh, even though [00:21:00] everybody on the planet want peace on earth, everybody wants an environment that's healthy for generations to come. And we don't make it, we don't figure it out. Because everybody looking after themselves and saying, I'm, I'm, I'll care about me and you care about you, but then everybody optimizing themselves.
We are not taking care of, we're not solving, we're not creating the society that we want. So therefore, she said, we are now evolving into the next generation. You know, we've gone from the Neanderthals and now we've come up to the homo sapiens. The next level is homo universalis, which is the connected human, connected to the universe, connected to each other, where we recognize that we are one humanity.
We need to think about, um, and act as, as, as one. And, um, uh, that is starting to happen [00:22:00] in. people who are,
uh, like guard what is doing for the volunteer medicals and what is doing in other philanthropy. Um,
he is creating a way to be together as humans that we want to be together as humans. Uh, and, uh, we need to, he's having circles of trust in the, in the charter schools. Uh, where the kids don't see the differences as, uh, reasons to bully somebody else, but to understand each other and see each other just as different and still being good people.
So, um, there are more and more, uh, examples all over the planets of, um, people live being together in new ways that is not focused on me versus you, but in [00:23:00] us together. And, uh, my mission is. To, um, make these local phenomena, uh, connected. So, uh, there is something called the Loving Classroom, uh, which had its origin in Israel, and now is in more African countries, a lot in South Africa, and also in the UK, where they, just like in the charter schools, for one hour a week, they, they talk about how is our group functioning, and what do we appreciate with the group, and
So it's like a circle of trust.
It's a circle of trust,
exactly. And they, uh, since they had so much racial violence and problems in South Africa, all schools are required to make statistics of productive behavior. So people are coming late to school. People are, uh, violent. People are swearing. People are disrupting classes. So. [00:24:00] They have, I think, a list of eight or ten different things that they're monitoring, and they have worked at scale, uh, in South Africa.
They've had 51, 000 students going through this loving classroom, and these schools have had a 90 percent drop in unproductive behavior. And the pass rates have increased for 14 percentage points. So, uh, so there are good things happening in Vegas, there's good things happening in Cape Town or Jansberg, and, uh, I'm sure there's good things happening in other places.
And if these people who are, are, uh, Seeing these insights can work together to kind of create some best practice and inspire each other and have some common learnings and then start to invite others who are intrigued about what they're doing. To [00:25:00] learn from them, we can take these new practices from local phenomena to become global movements in all dimensions of society.
So, which is, uh, kind of unifying humanity. Uh, that's, that's what they're doing. They're, they're not bullying the other students and they're not, uh, mistreating themselves either. They're kind of learning self compassion and they're losing compassion for others. So, there are many transformative practices that, uh, Starting to happen in the world and that's where we should go all the way to say We're all in this together, and we'll fix it together.
I'm really excited about what you just shared. When I began my church here in Vegas, it was one name. And through the experience I had with members, [00:26:00] the folks that came to volunteer, it disrupted my paradigm on what a ministry looked like. And so we changed our name to The Intersection. And we were the place where life meets.
Because that unified humanity is really what I was seeking to promote. And we were a very diverse congregation. We had very seasoned individuals, very young, every ethnicity, every gender and gender expression. And it was two hours a week where I felt like this is what the world could be like. And I still reflect on those times with awe because I wish the world could experience that because I think, and I don't want to discount differences because you and I are very different, right?
And we're so much more alike than our differences might suggest. And I think our [00:27:00] differences are what make us interesting. Versus what, what pulls us apart. And so just, I mean, everything you said lights up my heart because , I do see that happening. And I look at us as, I think we're more like bees and ants than we care to admit, uh, because we do have roles.
And when I even look at something, uh, like a hierarchy, I think a hierarchy is. Is a low level model of what it's trying to express what we really are Because our ears don't try to be our fingers right or we'd be pretty messed up Mm hmm, and I think that's what we have to start to appreciate is Everyone has a part to play sure and that part is absolutely as valuable as every other part.
I Could go on and on but I just wanted to share. I'm really really fascinated by that
I'll share when I was in the circle of trust. We just, we discovered [00:28:00] our own, um, method of circles of trust. We were 88 people. And, um, we, um, uh, started to say, so why are you on earth? What is, why are, what is the purpose of your life now?
So, uh, we spent an hour and a half with each person, uh, on zoom, uh, where the person talked about their backgrounds and what, what they had learned in their life and what they're, what they're excited about and which gifts they thought they had to give to offer to the world. And therefore what they want to pursue, uh, going forward as, as their gift to humanity or to the universe.
And, um, In my old career in the business world, uh, many of these people would have been very strange. One was educated typesetter and was designing [00:29:00] fonts. Uh, one came from Russia and was a specialist in all the Russian languages and Shakespeare. Uh, very strange. Strange girl in my own old view, and I wouldn't have spent much time with them.
Uh, but, uh, when I spent an hour and a half with them and they explained how they had their life had evolved and how they saw their mission, suddenly I could see the world through their eyes. So I became a much bigger person. I could see, uh, like another person next to me, see, see the world through their eyes.
And, and what I discovered is that everybody are, uh, deep inside beautiful people. So, uh, I, ever since we went through this process together, um, whenever I meet people on the streets or [00:30:00] in a bus or in the shop, in the supermarket, or people are tired, people don't make eye contact with me. I can see behind the people's eyes that there is a beautiful diamonds inside this.
Beautiful child, which has been beaten and beaten and disturbed through life and become a tired, frustrated person. But there is this heart energy in every person. And so when you say that you and I are different, yes we are. But there is the same diamond inside both of us, the same. Warm heart energy in both of us, in all of us, every person, even the, yeah, I think about Donald Trump as a very poor five year old boy who is still looking for love and, um, um, yeah, [00:31:00] and, and respect and being held by his mother.
And, but I don't think he ever got that kind of comfort. So he's still striving for the attention and the love of, of people.
My heart breaks. in so many ways for him. Uh, of course, I would not want him to be a leader of anything. No. You know, and with that being said, though, his humanity, I think, has been lost in kind of the show.
Of being Donald, you know, and, um, What I'm about to say, I don't mean it pridefully, but to the question you asked in that circle of like, what am I here for? My, my initial thought was, I'm here because I'm a gift. Just my presence. That's what I'm here for. , I know that at the intellectual level, I don't quite yet believe [00:32:00] it in, you know, in my day to day, but I think that if more people understood that simply being is enough, we'd have less people behaving like Donald Trump.
I went through a. And as have many, many, many of us, my age, I've gone through some deep, uh, insights, come through some deep insights in our lives. So I was, um, I think in Scandinavia talk about kind of the midlife crisis and you're kind of hitting the wall and run. I've
had three midlife crises already. So yeah.
So when
I was, um, Uh, 36 and 37. I had, uh, um, big epileptic strokes attacks, um, uh, once when I was, uh, 36 and once when I was 37. And [00:33:00] because I was, I had children that were, you know, four and six years old and, uh, no. two and four and, uh, so a lot of, um, attention needed at home and I had a job and a career which was taking all of my time.
So I didn't get enough sleep. I didn't get exercise. I didn't get to relax. Uh, I drank tons of coffee and slept, you know, four hours per night. And, and eventually the body said, Nope, stop. And, um, And then I recognized that, uh, I was conditioned to perform. I was conditioned to be somebody. Uh, so I was work, the career was so important that I could sacrifice almost everything to succeed in my career, uh, at McKinsey at that time.
So, um, I met a psychologist or, and, um, a sociologist and, We just talked [00:34:00] and he asked me, Why are you doing this?
Why aren't you just stepping out of it? But I can't do that. That's my whole reason for being, I thought. And why? That's the way I was brought up. So, uh, but then I recognized that this was just, I wasn't following my heart. I wasn't doing what I really wanted to do. I was trying to, uh, perform against my, what my father and, uh, his father again, uh, were expecting of, uh, of their son or grandson.
So, so I said, now I have to do what I want to do. So I quit my job and, uh, started to work with. A lot with, uh, well, leadership development first because I had grown as a person so I could try to help others. But then also, but much more fun was to help young entrepreneurs who had the great ideas, uh, lots of energy to be their mentor.
So [00:35:00] that's what I did for 20 years. Um, but, uh, back to Donald Trump. So I think, um, or everybody, it is to connect with our own dysfunctional behavior. And See what's behind that and stop doing. Just come. I think life is very much about peeling off layer and layer of conditioning and expectations that are put on us when we are children.
And come back to being children. Play. Be happy.
I'm looking forward to the day when we don't have to do that anymore too. I think that the world is shifting kind of this unified human you're talking about. I think that we collectively are starting to recognize that what we're doing isn't working. It's not sustainable.
And as I look at how I want to parent my future children, I, I think that I'm more. aware than my [00:36:00] parents were and more aware than their parents before them. So hopefully my kids will spend less on therapy than I have to. But I also wonder if, if we're going to, with the advent of AI and robotics becoming more human and being able to do more of the functions that we've typically only been able to do, If we will evolve to the place where people can truly follow their hearts or are we just going to end up in this dystopian world where you have the very few that are doing very, very well and then everyone else, it's like Hunger Games are just fighting each other and I was at McDonald's earlier and, um, I had to basically search for an employee because everything, you just click the menu and I couldn't figure out how to substitute what I wanted for my meal, so I had to find a human to do it.
And I [00:37:00] mean, that's the reality. I don't think we need 30 people working at McDonald's per shift anymore because we have technology that can take the orders. Here in Las Vegas, I don't think, I don't think I've seen a check in person in five years because there's an app. I just. It's checking my hotel on my app.
So a lot of this labor that we've worked so hard to create, I don't think is necessary. But I am deeply concerned. That our consciousness will not allow us to make the adaptations necessary for us to continue to at a minimum survive Let alone thrive in the new world. So I'm curious. Well,
that was Barbara's question to Eisenhower so are we using this technology to create a dystopian world or is it a blessing for all of humanity and
So how do you see it?
Which way do you see us heading, and how can we get to the way we want to go?
Well, we are at the tipping point, [00:38:00] and it's becoming more and more extreme on the one side. But on the other side, there's also more and more people who
grow as people, and connect with people, and work for a better way of being together. So, the two things are happening at the same time. And the scale can tip down on, on either side. I think that, uh, there is a risk that we will have World War III before people recognize that this is crazy. We don't want this anymore.
But, uh, there's also a good chance that we will not have it.
You're in Vegas. You're in Vegas right now. What are the odds? What are you betting?
I'll put all my money on that. We don't have World War Three.
But I think about the [00:39:00] Russia invading Ukraine and the recurring conflicts in Palestine. They are just The appetizers for something that's much bigger because the real power struggle is between the U. S. and China. We have had shifting global powers many, many times. And most recently, it was in the 20th century when the U.
S. Took over the global role from the British who had the Commonwealth and dominated the world. But the productivity and ingenuity and Uh, hardworking Americans, uh, created greater wealth and great renovations and became the dominant power, uh, after, especially after the Second World War. Um, but, uh, for the last, uh, 20 years or so, Americans have been living beyond their means.
They're printing [00:40:00] money and, uh, uh, giving the printed money to the world and they're getting imports from China that, uh, and, but at the same time accumulating a lot of debt. So, um, um, at some point, the world will not want to, um, uh, finance American budget deficits anymore, uh, which means that interest go up and come into recession.
That's kind of one part of it. But the other part is the Chinese and Japanese, they're, they're working long hours, Koreans and so. Um, with. Especially the Chinese, um, and, uh, have a GDP now that's at parity with the U. S., and they keep moving forward at a much greater pace than the Americans do, and, uh
What is the perspective on America from outside of America?
I can give you my perspective, and I think it's quite aligned with many Europeans that, um, So, I lived here in the 70s and [00:41:00] 80s, uh, for six years, and, uh, I loved America, very friendly, But, uh, at that time, you could still have bipartisan solutions. People would be rational and talk together. Um, but it's becoming more and more, yeah, corrupt.
The political system is corrupt. It's, it's benefiting politicians and it's benefiting industry.
So that's not a secret. Like, we haven't, Kept that in house.
And, uh, I mean, Donald Trump is, is seen by people outside the U. S. as a, uh, as a joke, uh, a sad joke. And, uh, but it's, uh, America gets the president it wants.
And there is so much frustration in this country with Washington. So he was going to drain the swamp in 2016, which he was able to do, and he's not competent for that. But, uh, out of frustration, people are voting for Trump, but it's [00:42:00] just an expression of frustration. It's not because he's appealing to people's hearts.
He's the one that is the least evil of the, of the alternatives. They think we'll see how it goes. Um, No, so America has been admired by the world, uh, up until year 2000, more or less. But, uh, it's a falling star.
I, I've sensed that, you know, and I've not left too many times, um, since the year 2000. Um, I did more international travel actually when I was a child than as an adult, but I, I was afraid you might say what you said.
Um, On our previous season, we had a political candidate by the name of Marianne Williamson. Oh,
you spoke with her?
Oh, yeah. She, she was our highest rated, um, program last season.
I can understand that. Yeah,
and she's phenomenal. And what I really, two things I admired, well, among many. [00:43:00] One, She's a love guru.
Sure. But she's not soft. Mm hmm. And She's not backing down. It's not like oh, well, I love you. So it's fine No, it wasn't that's like love is going to make some correction and provide some justice. So I really appreciated that about her And secondly, she was just so well studied on so many issues, I could throw anything at her and she had a well thought out, holistic response to it.
And with that said, she came in with, I think it was 3, 000 votes or something for our state. It was really sad. And I am baffled why we continue to choose individuals. Who are not at a level that can actually bring the change that we as people claim to want. I could see her polarizing us in a [00:44:00] very, um, positive way.
I could see her as kind of a catalyst for true transformation. Because she would have that platform as president, but she'll not get that. Nope. Because not enough people support it. Right. So I just wonder, kind of, your thoughts. Is that an international trend as well, or is that an American thing?
That you have Marianne Williamson who doesn't rise, or?
Yeah, that you have someone that is, is almost as if someone wrote them to be the answer to the prayer that we are praying. Mm. And then we reject
them. It is a very much an American situation because, uh, in In most democracies in the world, you have, uh, many more political parties, uh, which means that you have a gravity towards the center.
Uh, [00:45:00] although, uh, there is polarization going on as well, but that's, uh, I think more driven by commercial interests and business, uh, than the politics themselves, uh, because, uh, you, uh, it's not possible to, to buy politicians. like the way it is, it is here because you essentially only have two parties. And, um, also because it is, uh, a, um, a big, um, commercial, uh, game, the whole election, lots of money in advertising and commercials and campaigns, uh, it becomes, uh, the money that, uh, determines the outcome.
And Marianne Williamson doesn't get nearly the same funding as Biden and, uh, Trump. So
I'm not to go on my soapbox too much. I wonder if we spent the amount of money we spend on our elections, on our [00:46:00] healthcare system, how far along we would be, or on our education system, or on providing housing, or on providing loving schools, and the list goes on.
But it's, I ran a campaign, and what I raised campaign. I was like, well, if you all had been given this much to my church, we would have the whole city. Yeah. I just share that because it is, it's a frustration, the amount of money in our political system.
The ones who are putting up the money are getting return on the money.
Yeah. Which means that they are winning from this, this game. Uh, and which, and unfortunately, and the politicians are winning. But they're not serving their constituents. They're not serving the people who are there to serve. They're serving themselves. Um, [00:47:00] you mentioned the healthcare system. Roughly speaking, we have half the healthcare costs of the U.
S. per capita. But we have better health care per capita because there is so much commercial interest from, um, health care providers, from insurance companies, from pharmaceutical companies, from lawyers that are in, that are not delivering medical solutions. They're just parasites in the system that have been allowed by legislation.
Guard was telling me now over lunch that, um, his wife has been a midwife, uh, for, you know, uh, Decades. She needs approval before she can, uh, treat a patient or [00:48:00] help with a birth. Yeah.
Who is qualified to challenge her, the most experienced midwife in the country?
I hear that from Florence. I hear that from my uncle. Yeah. Um, my husband is a nurse and he talks about Some things that, like a wheelchair, like this person has no legs and the insurance company will deny them the wheelchair.
They're not, they don't need it. How does an insurance company tell someone they don't need a wheelchair? That's a real story.
Who has created the legislation to give them that power, which adds Negative value. Okay. I've
got one more question 'cause I, I think I've kept you long enough. , , you've talked about a lot of things that are really interesting for me and the Scandinavian countries I think get a lot of things right.
Mm-Hmm. , I don't know if you know [00:49:00] this, but I am black. Mm-Hmm. . And I wonder how I would do as a black person in your nation,
you would feel much safer than you would here . Uh, I think in terms of, uh, career, it would be, um. Assuming that you were speaking fluent Swedish, uh, it would be harder for you to get a job than for a white person.
So, uh, um, there is, uh, much less racial conflicts, uh, uh, and prejudices on that dimension. But, uh, I think in kind of in the work life, it's still for some, as it is for, for women. I mean, it's, uh, still some prejudices. I think, um, that's, that's kind of [00:50:00] just broad generalizations. Uh, I think you would, um, have a, um, much easier life, uh, than you have here.
So everybody, as I said, everybody has a good pension. Everybody has, um, basic needs looked after and you don't need to worry about medical insurance or being unemployed. It's free health care for everybody. There's a limit of up to 200 per year in medical costs. So once you've paid that yourself, then the rest is on the government.
It
doesn't
sound bad.
So my last question for you, if you had a magic wand and could make only one change, what change would you make in the world?
Magic wands, I could really do. You could do whatever. Miracles. Miracles. I would help all people on the planet to, uh, Peel off all their protective layers and [00:51:00] trust other people and love themselves.
Take away all of the dysfunctions that we have been conditioned and brought up to, um,
put on to defend ourselves and to function in society and be our true self, like children. I think we can
leave it there. This has been compassionate Las Vegas, the podcast. I'm your host will Rucker. And as I always remind you, you are not just a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop and what you do matters.
So live compassionately. I'll see you next time.
