Friendships, Fame & Latchkey Lessons: What Really Matters in the End? 🎙️🏠

Bruce Anthony: Digital relationships and while in as a kid in the nineties, we gonna get into it. Let's get it.

Welcome to Unsolicited Perspectives 🎙️🔥

Bruce Anthony: Welcome, first of all, welcome. This is Unsolicited Perspectives. I'm your host, Bruce Anthony. Here to lead the conversation in important events and topics that is shaping today's society. Join the conversation to follow us wherever you get your audio podcast. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for our video podcast, YouTube exclusive content and our YouTube membership rate review.

Like. Comment, share. Share with your friends, share with your family. Hell even share with your enemies. On today's episode,

 Latchkey Kids & the Lost Art of Friendship 🔑👫

Bruce Anthony: I'll be talking about digital friendships. I'll be talking about Lacky kids, and then me and my sisters gonna be dly ding a little bit in the third segment, but that's enough of the intro.

Let's get to [00:01:00] the show.

Bruce Anthony: Ladies and gentlemen, the first thing I want to do is apologize. Bruce is a little under the weather. I've been sick for about a week. That was not the reason why you guys haven't gotten any podcasts, uh, for the last week. The reason why you guys didn't get any podcasts for the last week Thanksgiving, like, we're gonna take holiday vacations the week of Christmas, also not gonna get podcasts.

We are going to take vacations when everybody else is vacationing. The good thing is, once again, I cannot stress enough. We have hundreds of hours of content on our YouTube, whether it's our YouTube exclusive, our after hours uncensored sneak peek clips, our After hours uncensored show, that's on our Patreon and YouTube membership.

Hundreds of hours. Literally. So if you're missing us, [00:02:00] go ahead and jump on that page, but please excuse me, my voice is starting to come back, but I'm not all the way there. There's gonna be a little bit of pauses because, uh, you know, trying to, trying to get myself back to being 100%. So this first segment, I'm gonna be talking about something that's near and dear to all of us, no matter how old you are.

We are all dealing and affected by this, and that's digital friendships. So I want to compare my growing up years, right? So I'm gonna go back to being a nineties kid, kid. I wasn't kids, I was just a single person, a nineties kid having friendships. And how does that compare to now? Because growing up in the nineties, 95 is when Windows 95 is when as the messenger started.

I remember getting it 95, 96, the internet was still very new. You know, I'm [00:03:00] of the analog and digital age. There are some kids that are just strictly digital age. So I wanted to give some context because I, I feel too often. Millennials, gen Xers and boomers are critiquing the younger generation and their friendships, and there are good and bad aspects of having digital or friendships in the digital age.

There's a good aspect of growing up in the digital age and developing friendships with it. There are also some bad aspects. I think people too often, the older generations, too often. Focus on the bad and not focus on the good, which we all participate in. So. Why friendships feel different now. Social media has expanded how we connect, but also added pressure, comparison and complexity to our [00:04:00] relationships.

In the nineties, friendships relied on face-to-face time, phone calls, shared real life experiences. They were fewer connections, but often deeper ones. Look, lemme tell you something. In the nineties, I remember this one story. I hope to God. That this person is not following the podcast or the story that I'm about to tell.

Now, granted, this story is literally from 32 years ago, maybe 31, but definitely around 31 or 32 years ago. I had a good friend that didn't live close, closest relative as a, as a teenager, right? A mile away is like 2 million states away. Back in the day, I don't know how far he lived. It was probably a good mile away.

And I go through my moods. I've always been this way where I don't feel like dealing with nobody. Like that's just like I get [00:05:00] not high and low. I get super personable and then drained. Right? And it wasn't like I was hanging out with a lot of friends. Maybe I was at a lot of basketball camps or some, something was going on on that particular day.

All I wanted to do was chill. Watch MTV Play with my wrestling man. Play video games. I didn't want no company. My friend didn't tell me that he was gonna stop by, and we lived in a house where I could see you coming up from the street. You would have to come up the driveway. And there were ways for us to look out in the windows without people being able to see that we were looking out from the windows.

So my friend walks up to my house. Rings the doorbell and I saw him coming up the driveway 'cause I could see out the window and I was like, you know what? I really don't feel like hanging out today. Really don't. And I didn't answer that door. It was hot as hell. And he turned

around and walked away. He didn't know that I [00:06:00] didn't open the door. I could have just not been home. It's not like I was an adult and the car was in the driveway. I just didn't feel like answering the phone. But the point I'm trying to make with this story is, is like our connections were a lot fewer back in the day, right?

Like you really had to plan in order to meet up and hang out with your friends. In order to talk to 'em, right? It was only one phone line in the house, and if that phone line was being taken up by the internet, which happened later on, then you couldn't even talk on the phone. So though our connections were fewer, they were deeper because they were through face-to-face phone calls and then just shared life experiences.

But social media has made. Friendships better in a lot of regards, and I think that the older generation gets it as far as them, [00:07:00] but they don't. They look down upon how the younger generations interact without recognizing the fact that we do the same shit here. Here's some examples. Staying connected anywhere, long distance friendships are easier to maintain.

Real time updates, keep people involved in each other's lives. Platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp lets you users organize reunions and communicate instantly with their childhood friends, which was much harder in the nineties. Look, if you called a house and your friend wasn't there, good luck finding them.

Right? Like that instantaneous connection we didn't have in the nineties. And if, if our friends went away for the summer, went to a summer camp and didn't have access for the phone, that just meant that we weren't talking to 'em for a whole summer days. That type of situation doesn't happen now [00:08:00] unless a person doesn't want to talk to you, right?

Like we have access to people all the time. It's good and bad, but in the aspect of maintaining relationships, friendships, what, what have you, social media. And the digital age is great at keeping us connected. Online communities. Also, along with group chats, help people meet others with shared interests who they had never went and encountered.

In the nineties and the nineties, our friends were who we went to school with, high school, middle school, and high school is where we started to click up, where we would have people that, you know, that had similar interests in us. But I was talking to a friend of mine the other day. And I was like, how many of your high school friends are still your friends?

And they were like none. Now I got two of my closest friends that I've known since high school, and they've known each other since elementary school. [00:09:00] That's extremely rare. Typically, when you go off as an adult. You find these groups where you have these shared interests because the pool of people that you can meet and talk to is larger.

The Good Side of Social Media Connections 🌐✨

Bruce Anthony: I'm talking about back in the day now through the digital age, social media, all that's at the palm of your hands, right? And you could connect with these people. Reddit is a prime example. I've been on Reddit so much. These subreddits. You meet so many people who have your similar interests, your similar ideas.

The world does not open up to you. So you could have more connections. You also have more emotional outlets. Some people find it easier to open up online and in digital spaces because they find the support is easier. It's less, it's more comfortable. It's not uncomfortable. It's more comfortable to do online as [00:10:00] opposed to that.

Uncomfortable feeling of doing things face to face. You know, we've grown up in the age of ghosting and it wasn't, ghosting was a new thing. Ghosting is became about because digital allowed us to ghost. I never ghosted no females. When I was dating back in the day, you couldn't ghost them. You went to school with 'em, you couldn't ghost.

Now you could straight up ghost people. And, and not just dating relationships. Not just in friendships. Yo, I'm learning in the corporate world, corporations are ghosting people and people are ghosting co corporations. You know why? Because it's extremely uncomfortable to deal with that type of personal, emotional interaction face to face.

Basically, people are scared and they're punks. And and I, I've been one of 'em, so I'm not calling anybody else out there for something that I haven't done, but that's what [00:11:00] the digital age gives you ghosting. But the opposite end of that, the ability to open up and be more open. I know for a fact as somebody who's done therapy, it is a lot easier for me to hire a therapist that has no personal connection to me.

Than it is for me to talk to somebody that I love. Now, that's my own issues, but it is easier for me to let down my guard to a stranger that I'm paying than it is for somebody that I love and, and it's more because whatever I tell the therapist, I don't care if they're affected by it emotionally. I do

Ghosting Culture: The Digital Escape Route 👻💔

Bruce Anthony: care if the people I love are affected by it. But that was some of the good stuff. There is some ways in which the digital age and social media have made relationships worse. And I know this is what a lot of the older generation is talking [00:12:00] about, and I say older generation. I include myself in it even, although I don't necessarily agree with the consensus from older generation that social media and digital relationships are horrible.

I don't agree with that. But I do agree that some of the next couple of things that I'm getting ready to talk about social media made worse as far as relationships. So number one. Shallow surface level bonds, you have more friends, but fewer close ones. Digital connections often lack emotional depth.

Research reveals that traditional offline friendships reach deeper emotional levels than digital only bonds, and that's absolutely true. Somebody once said to me, yo, there are some people listening to this show and they're gonna be disappointed. Sorry, I'm just being real. There's a lot of people out there that have a connection with me through social media and things of that nature, and we are friendly.[00:13:00]

We ain't friends. Not friends in the regard that I categorize people that would be friends. That's a special bond to me. I only got a few. I only got a few. And I've remained steadfast and I keep my title, my uh, uh, circle really tight. I keep it really small for a reason. I don't know, you know, I got trust issues or whatever.

It's really, really tight, really close knit circle. But there are people out there because they have access to my life, whatever I post online or doing this podcast that feel like they are absolutely my friend. And I say to them all the time. What do you know about me emotionally? You know, like how, how are we connected outside of what I present on social media, which is an almost not even surface level, right?

Like I, I [00:14:00] rarely put myself out there on social media. I'm not one of those type of people that you're gonna ever see crying on social media. I'm gonna keep that super private, so, yes. One of the problems with social media and the digital age is that you have more friends. They're just not close. It also creates a highlight.

Surface Level Bonds & The Comparison Trap 📸😔

Bruce Anthony: Real pressure. Seeing everyone's best moments creates comparison, jealousy and insecurity. They're not for me 'cause I'm a cheerleader. If I rock with you, I want you to do your absolute best. I'm not in comparison. Or in competition with nobody but myself. That's me personally. And I've kind of always been like that.

I've always kind of been my own man, but I understand how seeing other people and all of their best moments would cause some people to feel insecurity and jealousy. Like I get it. And that's kind of what the digital agent social [00:15:00] media does. 'cause people don't be putting out their bad moments. And, and those that do are, I always say, are seeking attention.

So it doesn't seem genuine, but that's also a problem in the social media and digital age, digital stress. Now, this was a new one for me, but as I explain it, you'll be like, oh yeah, that makes sense. Feeling obligated to respond, be present, and perform online. Disappointment or conflict arises with expectations aren't met.

Yo, I got so many dms and my Instagram the majority of the time, I just don't answer 'em. And now people kind of get that now. It, it took me a long time to train people. Like I'm not going to answer or respond to every dm. I'm gonna, it's a direct question or something like that. Something I need to respond to.

I respond to. If you send me a reel, I'm not gonna make a comment on every single one. I've got too many of my dms, right? Because a lot of people [00:16:00] communicate with me like that. I communicate with a lot of people like that. That's just the way it is. I'm not gonna allow that stress of seeing the notifications build up so much inside of me that it affects me.

Digital Stress: The Pressure to Always Respond 📲😰

Bruce Anthony: So I, I just don't, but I used to feel that way. I used to hate having notifications on my text messages or my emails, or my Instagram or on TikTok, or back in the day when I did use Twitter, I used to have to respond to it because I didn't like it and I didn't want people to feel like I was ignoring them.

Teens may feel hurt or excluded if a friend's online activity excludes them and it, and intensifies feelings of jealousy and loneliness. So this is all a part of digital stress. So these are reasons why digital relationships through social media can cause problems. Another one, miscommunication and conflict.

Lack of tone, context [00:17:00] and body language leads to friction that wasn't as common in the nineties. Look, me and my sister was talking about it not too long ago, having whole ass conversations, important conversations through text messages. Dead that too much miscommunication can be, can be read through words.

We need to talk and we need to have a face-to-face conversation. And also the last one, less and personal time online interaction replaces real world bonding that builds stronger relationships that can't be, you know, denied like we are not hanging out. Person to person anymore. I just, one of my friends stopped by the other day on Thanksgiving because they were here in my building.

I hadn't seen her in, I don't know, seven, eight months. And we were like, why has that been like, we're friends. Why have we not seen each other? [00:18:00] And she was like, you're busy. And I, and I am, very rarely do I have free time. I am busy. But also you gotta start making time for the people that matter to you. You can't fall victim to this text messaging, DMing and reels and things, and think that that's sufficient enough to maintain a friendship.

I've lost friendships because I don't have time for them, or I don't make time for them, and I'm not the only one out there. That does these type of things. So Bruce, you gave us the pros and the cons of friendships in the digital age. How do you build real friendships today? Number one, set boundaries with apps specifically to reduce comparison and stress. Prioritize face-to-face time, the strongest bonds [00:19:00] still form offline. You gotta make that time for those people that you care about.

Building Real Friendships in the Digital Age 🤝💪

Bruce Anthony: Like I said earlier. Practice emotional honesty and communication, whether you're online or in person. You gotta be emotionally honest. People out here being emotionally dishonest. People out here lying not only to the to others, but also to themselves. Gotta be emotionally honest. Avoid the comparison trap.

Remember, social media is curated. It's not real. Okay, that's not real life. And then lead with empathy. Assume good intentions. Check tone and clarify before reacting. That's important. If you're communicating through dms or text messages, just check in and be like, yo, did I, did I hear you correctly? Did I read this correctly?

Was this what you meant to say and not in a, what you say to me? Type check and tone. Just in a, [00:20:00] Hey, what'd you mean by this type of tone? These are all ways to build strong bonds and relationships and also realize that not every relationship that you have on social media is a true friendship technology for all those people out there.

For you boomers, you Gen X and some of you millennials out here that are blaming technology for the decline of, uh, friendships. And relationships. Technology didn't ruin friendships. It didn't ruin relationships. It just changed the rules. The goal today is balance. Use social media to connect, not replace genuine interaction.

And if you do that, the bonds that you've all been forming since the nineties, going to stay strong. Stop blaming the internet for everything. Start looking within, taking accountability. And make some [00:21:00] changes.

The Shocking 1992 Latchkey Kids Case 🏡😱

Bruce Anthony: I came across this article the other day and I was like, this is absolutely ridiculous. Don't get me wrong. In the nineties, we were latchkey kids, right? Key up under the doormat key, up under the, you know, whatever, go into the house. Don't open the door for nobody. And we were home all day until our parents got home.

We were out all day. When our parents were home outside playing, they didn't know what we were Half the time we was out here running the streets being wild. We wouldn't being that wild, but we were just out here. But this article that I, that I came across, it was just a, a revisited article on msn.com. And I was like, yeah, we was latch kick kids, but this shit is crazy.

Lemme explain to you what I'm talking about. So David and Sharon Shrew made headlines in [00:22:00] December, 1992 when they left their two daughters, Nicole, who was nine, and Diane, who were four alone for nine days in their St. Charles, Illinois home while vacationing in Mexico. Let me. I break that down for you. One more.

Again. Two parents, David and Sharon Shrew left there two single digit kids. Nicole, who was nine, Diane who was four, and the home by theirselves while David and Sharon went to Mexico on vacation. Their case shocked the nation and directly led to changes in the Illinois law on child aban abandonment and neglect.

There's more to the story, right? There's gotta be more to the story. So lemme break this down for this shoes departed without giving their daughters any way to contact them. [00:23:00] Instead, leaving frozen dinners, cereal, and a note, cautioning them to not overeat. The girls ran to a neighbor's house after smoke alarm went off, which led to police intervention.

I'll get to the police intervention in a minute, but for my millennials out there, gen X, hell, even boomers, but more so Gen X and millennials. Y'all remember coming home two a note. If you were fancy enough, you had a notepad by the phone. If not, then it was a piece of mail that had a note on. That your mom or dad had written of things for you to do and numbers to call if you needed to contact them?

Hell, we was calling our parents asking 'em if we could eat a eat a hostess cake or get some ice cream. We knew how to get in contact. With our parents, David and Sharon went to Mexico, left their [00:24:00] nine and 4-year-old kid frozen dinners, and a note not to overeat. No way to contact them. They by they self, for days after returning from Acapulco, the shoes were arrested at O'Hare airport and charged with child abandonment.

Neglect, endangerment and cruelty to children. Further investigation will avail additional acts of mistreatment, including locking the girls in the room for hours, beatings with belts and hair pulling the couple faced 64 criminal counts, but ultimately accepted a plea agreement. Pleading guilty to misdemeanor child neglect, their sentence included two years of probation and 200 hours of community service.

How One Case Changed Illinois Child Safety Laws ⚖️👶

Bruce Anthony: Avoiding jail time. The children were placed in foster care care, and according to later, court records were eventually adopted after their parents gave them up [00:25:00] voluntarily. The case exposed vague language and Illinois child neglect statutes. At the time, abandonment was not clearly defined. Lawmakers moved swiftly to change legislation in 1993.

Making it illegal to intentionally leave a child under the age of 14 alone for 24 hours or more A threshold inspired by this shrew, by the Shrew case, Illinois became one of the first states to set a specific minimum age for unsupervised children. Though critics argue that it has led excessively broad applications in in later years. Okay, why'd I bring this up? One, I thought it was a fascinating story. I never heard it before. I was in Illinois around this time. No, I was out. I was gonna Illinois, but shortly before I was still in in Illinois. So there was that personal connection. And then there was a connection of, yeah, my parents would [00:26:00] take off for a weekend, but I was literally in high school watching my brother and sister, like 15, 16 and watching them for the weekend.

And you know, it's a four year difference between me and my sister and five and a half year difference. So if I'm 16, my sister is 12, my brother is 10 and a half, sometimes he's 11, depending on what time of the year. Right. As long as I'm there to take the lead, that's fine. And it says unsupervised children under the age of 14.

But I think there might have been times where I'm not sure I would have to talk to my parents about that. But there were definitely times where, you know, I was the babysitter and my parents were gone for a day or something like that, leave us food and for a pizza and things like that, they you, you as a parent, like, you know, your kids, you know.

What you can allow them to do, what they are capable of and what they aren't. Why did I find the story fascinating? I found the [00:27:00] story fascinating because how the hell you gonna just go to Acapulco for a week, leave your kids there who are not even 10 and think that that's gonna be okay? And the story actually broke down.

This wasn't the first time, this was just the longest time that they had done that. And it's clear that they didn't even want the kids because they just gave them up voluntarily, right? Which is what they should have done in the first place. So that's the reason why this article interests me. But then the outcome of the case is what really, really interest, interested me.

Oftentimes when bad things happen, and this was bad, the girls ultimately were okay. Thank God for the neighbor, right? It could have been way worse. But when bad things happen, we as humans tend to overreact and to say [00:28:00] the age of 14, which is high school, is the age of which you can't leave kids unintended for a certain period of time.

I could tell you for a fact that I was 10 years old watching my brother and sister. We were just fine now. Now it, my parents might have gone out for the night. Right. Going out to dinner that night, having a little date night, and I watch 'em. My brother and sister, they came home that night, so maybe they'd be gone for three or four hours later in the evening and I would have to get my brother and sister to go to bed.

Obviously there are maturity, there's levels to maturity for children, but too often I see this throughout history too often I see something bad happens and then to fix that bad thing, there's an overreaction. Think about everything that's illegal right now. Remember Prohibition? I was just talking to somebody about this ear earlier.

When Good Intentions Lead to Overreactions 🚨⚠️

Bruce Anthony: Remember, prohibition? Prohibition was the outlawing of alcohol, [00:29:00] consumption of alcohol, right, and production of alcohol. They wanted to stop people from drinking so much. What happened? One, people didn't stop drinking. And an unintended consequence of what happened was these little gangs that had no type of organization actually gained organization through prohibition, creating organized crime, which stretched its tentacles all throughout American society that eventually cost average American citizens money.

'cause they had control of the garment districts. They had control of the poultry, they had control of everything and overreaction to fentanyl. Overdoses are illegally bombing boats that ya [00:30:00] say are drug boats, but you got no proof about it. An overreaction to a bad thing never leads to anything good. And so yeah, there are child abandonment laws and you know, I don't necessarily agree with beating your kids.

I joke all the time on here about beating your kids, right? And, and obviously it's a joke, right? But there, there are some times where a spanking is warranted. I'm not talking about a beating, right? I joke about a beating, but a smack on the butt, especially for a little kid. There are some times where that is warranted, where reasoning won't work, and they made that So it was illegal.

Now it became illegal because some parents were absolutely wilding, but it's an overreaction because I [00:31:00] would say the majority of parents were not out there wilding out. The crack epidemic explodes in the nineties. Their reaction, everybody's reaction, the sentencing fell on racial lines. But make no mistake about it, black folks in those communities were also co-signing the 1994 crime bill that just flooded the prisons. With simple possession charges, right? You get years for simple possession charges.

And did that stop people from smoking crack? Nope. People still smoke crack today. Today in 1994 was a long time ago. The point I'm trying to make is an overreaction to something that's bad or horrific. Never leads to anything good. I know it is tough to take [00:32:00] calm, take a deep breath, remain measured, and think logically about how to solve a problem.

What the shoes did absolutely was a problem, right? Like that is a simple fix. You don't leave your kids unattended for a certain period of time. The ages you might have to play with, but I think a simple line of you don't leave kids that are unable to maturely take care of themselves for an extended period of time.

I know it's kind of vague. I know it's very general. It's not throwing the hammer down, which everybody wants to do anytime something bad happens. But once again, when you do that, nothing good ever comes from it. The good thing that came from this [00:33:00] is child abandonment is an issue that needed to be addressed.

Did they go a little too far? I don't know, 14 years? Over 24 hours? I think 13 is a good time. What you gonna do with the 24 hours is a long time Also. I like, I don't know, parents out there, leave a comment in the comment section. Tell me what you think. How long would you leave your kids alone? Right? How?

How long would you trust them not to burn down the house? I don't know what that timeframe is, but the reason why this all interests me was because wow, some parents are out there wilding, and it's not always the way that you think it would be. Sometimes it's just bonafide neglect, nine and four. I would love to do a follow up to find out because they're, they're. A little bit younger than my brother, right? I would think, well, I would think that, uh, Nicole is my sister's age close to it, [00:34:00] and uh, Diane is a little bit younger than my brother.

So there are adults, they're getting ready to hit. They're in one is in their forties, one is getting ready to hit their forties. I would love to see how their life turned out. I would love to see or know how. You know, they felt affected by what their parents did. Nicole and Diane Shu. If any chance this hits you or you see this, would love to have you on the show.

Would love to ask you so many questions because I feel like this is a fascinating story, not just about how that early upbringing affected you in your adult years, not just about. How that neglect and the parents just saying, eh, we don't want anything to do with it. How you have felt by that, but also the case law that came after it.

I, I, I, I'm not a parent, but I'm somebody's child [00:35:00] and we were all by ourselves back in the home, back in the day, not for a whole week where our parents went in Acapulco. That never happened. But. Wow. To not even have their neighbors say, Hey look, we gonna be gone for a week. We're gonna leave the girls at the house.

Maybe you check in on 'em every day. That's, that's crazy to me. That's absolutely crazy time. But what's also crazy time is if you're not careful, and I can't stress this enough, is you're not careful. You can have an overreaction to something that can be horrific or is horrific. And it only causes more, more damage.

It's just something to think about. Right? That's all I'm doing. I'm just asking the question. All I'm saying is maybe just maybe before we react, [00:36:00] we take a step back, observe, and then move forward. Just take a breath. That's all we gotta do. If we wanna solve problems.

Marjorie Taylor Greene's Calculated Exit Strategy 🏛️💰

Bruce Anthony: All right, Jay, I got you on here for a special episode. One 'cause I'm a little under the weather and I need help to carry the show. And two, because there were some important stuff that happened that we took our little break on Thanksgiving and we couldn't addressed. One of them being Marjorie Taylor Green deciding to retire from Congress.

Jay Aundrea: Hmm.

Bruce Anthony: So Marjorie Taylor Green announced that she was leaving Count Congress in a way that is lets her qualify for federal pension under the same FER asked rules that apply to all members, which sparked criticism that she timed her retirement to lock in taxpayer funded benefits. So [00:37:00] we all know that she's been beefing with Trump.

She took about a week of, of Trump bashing her, which is just a week a OC, and Jasmine Crockett have been taking so much more and she decided to hang it up, but she decided to hang it up while also getting this pension and also still voting along Republican lines. So I know you were a little bit tiffed about all of this.

I want to let give you an opportunity to explain to the audience why you're annoyed by all of this.

Jay Aundrea: Yeah, I'm annoyed 'cause she's annoying. So she announced her retirement or that she was resigning from the US House of Representatives on November 21st via video she posted on social media and. The reasons that she gives for why she is resigning is like disillusionment with a toxic [00:38:00] partisanship and internal conflict within her party, and the public falling out with, trump, right? And she said she essentially didn't want her district to be subjected to a hurtful and hateful primary, right? So her resignation effective date is January 5th, 2026. That would be her final day in Congress. So here's why that's important. Okay. Why January 5th, 2026 is important because she began serving in Congress on January 3rd, 2021. Her resignation date gives her just over the five year minimum required to qualify for a congressional pension, right, the pension. Typically would amount to about mm, [00:39:00] 265,000 over her lifetime. It's like $8,700 a year. It is not a lot. Right. That's not really, it is extra money, but it, it's not that much.

Right. But like here's also what's important, right? Yeah, she qualifies for her pension, and that pension is minor relative to her net worth, which is about $25 million. And now you can say, make insider trading claims, da da. But the point is, sis has. Massively benefited from being in Congress. Her whole thing about like disillusionment and, oh, I, I wanted to drain the swamp, but it can't, you know, whatever. Like it's, it's bull. Like it's bull, right? So she gets. [00:40:00] She wanted to make sure she's gonna get that 2, 260 5,000, right? She gonna make sure she get that right. That's the much the benefit it'll pay, like over the lifetime, like with the typical life expectancy and not, don't, not to mention that she's made millions, 10 tens of millions right in this seat.

So it's. It's bull number one. Critics have argued that the timing of her resignation isn't an accident, that she timed it so she could secure her pension. And then among her constituents here in Georgia, it's pretty divided like, right? Some focus on her controversial. Legacy and you know, the desire for new leadership. Some, you know, see the resignation as a chance for change because they're tired of [00:41:00] like cost of living, healthcare, affordability, housing, affordability, things like that. But anyway, the point is she's full of crap. She wanted to make sure she secured that extra little bit of change in addition to the tens of millions that she made. She did nothing. Like, let's also be clear, she did nothing n put forth bills, ma, I think, but like none of them went anywhere because they were all rooted in just hate. So she came to Congress. She did nothing for her constituents. She made a buttload of money and she's going to get a pension on our dime.

The Distinguished Gentleman: Political Grifting 101 🎬💵

Jay Aundrea: So there you have it. Marjorie Taylor Green. Good riddance. You are a colossal waste of space, and I hope that you fade into obscurity Sarah [00:42:00] Palin.

Bruce Anthony: With all your millions. You know what she did was based what she did. We've seen this movie,

Jay Aundrea: Mm-hmm.

Bruce Anthony: Eddie Murphy. Did a movie about getting into Congress, scheming and plotting 'cause he was a con artist in the movie called Distinguished Gentleman, getting in, getting all this money, getting all these kickbacks and getting out also.

Well, he was from Florida, not Georgia, but the South. Y'all are

neighbors. And, and that's all she did was a grift. I, you know what?

Get your money, boo Boo. I, I, you know.

Jay Aundrea: Now,

Bruce Anthony: No. Get your money and like what? Whatever. Like that's what, that's the American way. The American way is to scam and get your money.

Jay Aundrea: now that's true. Scamming is 100% the American

Bruce Anthony: And scamming

Jay Aundrea: Yes.

Bruce Anthony: Georgia.

Jay Aundrea: Georgia. Lemme tell you something, scam capital of the world.

Bruce Anthony: I mean, they got a, Atlanta and Miami got a good run for their money as far as scam capital of the [00:43:00] world.

Jay Aundrea: Yeah.

But, uh, full scamming, you're like, how are people in luxury apartments with no job scams?

Bruce Anthony: All right.

I'm gonna do a little detour 'cause once again, ladies and gentlemen, nah, I don't feel too good. Y'all are getting the best that I could give to you right now. Speaking of Eddie Murphy, I watched the documentary,

Jay Aundrea: Mm-hmm.

Bruce Anthony: Eddie Murphy documentary on Netflix is really good. And what I learned is that Eddie Murphy is neurodivergent a DHD.

Jay Aundrea: Yes, you knew, I, I, you could tell that from movies like The Clumps where he's playing every character, it isn't because he thinks he's the only funny person in the world. It's because he's got a bunch of characters running around in his mind at all times, and he has to get it out. Like he has to.

Bruce Anthony: Did you, did you? Did you notice though? He was like, yeah, I, I remember I had OCD, you know, I would get up and check and make sure the stove was off and I would lay down [00:44:00] for about an hour and then get up and check the stove was off. And I remember watching the program and the program was like, oh, this is this is something.

And he was like, oh, this is something. And then he was like, mental health? Oh, hell no. I ain't gonna have no mental health issues. And then I just stopped. I was like, wait a minute, bro. That's not how that works. Okay.

Eddie Murphy: The Neurodivergent Comedy Genius 🎭🧠

Bruce Anthony: You don't

Jay Aundrea: it is for peop for, for black folks of that generation. Right? Like it is,

like they

Bruce Anthony: OCD

Jay Aundrea: their mental

Bruce Anthony: don't prioritize in mental health. He also said he used to make these little sounds. He might have a touch of theism as well.

Jay Aundrea: Yeah. Vocal stemming

Bruce Anthony: Yeah, he might. He can't, he can't just be quiet like the, like he's walking around the house doing stuff, making little jokes and stuff. I mean, but I do these, all these serious things.

That's, this is what I learned that Eddie Murphy. Is Neil Divergent, A DHD. He got it all. Little touch of the tism, all of

Jay Aundrea: And you, and you know it too, by the, by the amount of ad-libbing that he does, right? Like he can't be [00:45:00] quiet in a scene.

He gotta, when you think of like, that's not, that wasn't part of the scene. That wasn't in the script. That was just Roxanne Also, when he sang Roxanne not in the script. So like these are, but he can't be quiet,

right? He has to make noises. Yeah. Yeah. He's definitely on the spectrum for sure.

Bruce Anthony: Still great. You know, I forgot it. It

is

Jay Aundrea: of what makes him funny.

Bruce Anthony: right. And he's hilarious. It's interesting watching that documentary, and I heard this before when he was doing Harlem Nights and he was just like, oh, red Fox is the funniest person, just naturally funniest person that I've ever been around. You just be like, you just be hanging around Red Fox.

Red Fox is funny. And I feel like people say that about Eddie. You know when Chris Rock and Kevin Hart and they say that Dave Chappelle say they go to his house just to hang out. They was like, Eddie's just funny without ever trying to

Jay Aundrea: to be No, he's not meaning to be. Uh, you see it in his interviews too, [00:46:00] right? Like whenever he's on talk shows or any I loved his inside the actor studio. He can't help but, but say something funny and it was like, I, I think he was trying to be serious, but he, he just. And literally just seeing Eddie Murphy makes me start to giggle in anticipation of what he's going to say.

But even when he's just trying to say something in general, he it, he can't help it. It's gonna be something comical about it.

Bruce Anthony: I do not think that he could come back to stand up, not because he can't do it, just because no matter how great it is, it won't be great enough because I don't think you can live up to, it'd be like. It'd be like if you could pluck Michael Jordan in his prime, right. What he was that everybody gives his reverence to and put him in the league right now, he'd be great.

He'd be the best player in the league, but no matter what he did, it wouldn't be great enough. He like, he only dropped 40, why didn't he get [00:47:00] 45? Like, you're gonna be anticipating Eddie saying something funny.

Kinda like coming to America two. That's

Jay Aundrea: Yeah. Yeah.

Bruce Anthony: America two.

Jay Aundrea: run to that.

Bruce Anthony: I, you know what?

I

don't even remember. I don't even remember watching that,

Jay Aundrea: Exactly.

Bruce Anthony: but like coming to America, if it hadn't been called Coming to America too,

Jay Aundrea: Mm-hmm.

Bruce Anthony: that's a funny movie.

Jay Aundrea: Yeah.

Bruce Anthony: really funny movie, but.

Jay Aundrea: Yes. But in comparison.

Bruce Anthony: But if that's right. So I,

when he was like, yeah, you know, I get the itch and then, you know, maybe I'm like, don't do it brother.

Just don't do it. Don't do it. You, you haven't done

Jay Aundrea: Yeah. Let, let raw and delirious be what they are. There's, there's no need. We don't, we, I know there are people who talk about it, right? Who talk about him coming back, but honestly, we don't need it. You've given us more than enough. You've given us more than enough for a [00:48:00] lifetime for multiple lifetimes.

Like, just like retire to stand up on top.

Why Legends Should Stay Retired 🏆🚫

Jay Aundrea: Just leave it where it is, retire it on top like that. We are fine with that, but we're totally fine with that.

Am.

Bruce Anthony: yeah, I am, I don't need another standup. I, because I don't. Here's the crazy thing. When Michael Jordan came back and played for the Wizards, he was actually good.

Jay Aundrea: Yeah.

Bruce Anthony: He was actually good, but he wasn't Michael Jordan. Right. And, and so like Muhammad Ali's last fight, like Mike Tyson's last fight, like when we saw Mike Tyson take on Jake Paul, it was like, nah, I don't want to see that.

Jay Aundrea: Yeah.

Yes. That was a, that was also what immediately came to mind.

It's like it, honestly, for Jake Paul, you don't really get any points for that. You don't really get any cool points for that because this is like a 60-year-old man,[00:49:00]

Bruce Anthony: That I knew. As soon as he tripped on the entrance, I was like, oh, this ain't gonna be good.

Jay Aundrea: Yeah. Like that's not, you're not fighting Iron. Mike Tyson.

Bruce Anthony: and he would die. He would die

if he

Jay Aundrea: die.

Yeah, you would die. Yeah. You're not fighting Iron, Mike Tyson, you're fighting a grandfather. Right. And that's the kind of the same thing with Eddie Murphy. Like, we wouldn't be getting young Eddie Murphy, raw Eddie Murphy, delirious.

We'd be getting Eddie, the grandfather,

like it's a different ed. He's in a different phase of his life.

No.

Bruce Anthony: funny.

Jay Aundrea: No shade because we still want the movies, Eddie. Like we still want those. I don't know if you saw, it was just a small movie. I think I saw Netflix, the pickup,

Bruce Anthony: IW Kiki Palmer and uh, uh, the dude

from,

that's now Tommy, I wanna say Tommy Davidson. It is obviously not Tommy Davidson, but his name is, his [00:50:00] name is like David or Davidson,

something in

Jay Aundrea: Davidson, Pete. Davidson.

Bruce Anthony: Yeah. Pete

Jay Aundrea: Yes. That was funny. I thought it was funny. Like we still want the movies, Eddie, to, we don't want that to stop, but like, you know, the standup, you're in a different phase of life and so the standup that we would be expecting is not the one we're gonna get. Would it be funny? Of course it's Eddie Murphy. Yes, it would be funny, but. Still there's, there will be an expectation there that we, not, that we're just not gonna get the same thing, like I keep expecting killing him softly from Dave Chappelle and just have not been getting it from like the past

Bruce Anthony: Hold on.

Jay Aundrea: dozen.

Bruce Anthony: The reason why, the reason why you don't find Dave Chappelle funny is because of his continuous jokes on trans people.

Jay Aundrea: Even if we cut those, like

even if we

Bruce Anthony: If, if you cut

Jay Aundrea: I mute them. Nah,

I'm not, I'm not getting the sa I'm not getting that. Hey, baby. Like I'm not getting the same [00:51:00] uh uh, like post Chappelle show is a different Dave Chappelle. Hell

Bruce Anthony: you. You right it. It's a different day. Chappelle, I think he's actually. More brilliant aside from his trans jokes. Like when I watch his standups, it's just like he's got it. And even Eddie was like, yeah, when I think about the, the greatest standup right now, it, it'd be Chappelle, Chappelle will be in that era where, where I was or Richard Pryor.

'cause because he is,

but it goes to a another larger issue of when people do things great and then they take a long time off. I almost

The Pressure of Comeback Performances 🎤⏰

Jay Aundrea: Mm-hmm.

Bruce Anthony: be like, nah, don't.

Don't,

Jay Aundrea: don't need another Lauryn Hill album.

Don't, I know there's not one in the works. I know there's never gonna be one in the works, but miseducation, we don't need another. That,

Bruce Anthony: I wouldn't mind another outcast album. That's something that I wouldn't,

Jay Aundrea: yes, but. Yeah, but it has to be a, like really, there's no classic one like you could say [00:52:00] at Aliens was like their classic, but I even like when they started like venturing out into different things like, I even like, you know, Aquemini

and Stankonia. I,

Bruce Anthony: is my

Jay Aundrea: is my favorite.

album. Yeah, for sure. And Stankonia, when they're venturing out into different sounds, I just don't like, okay. I don't want the flute. Like I,

Bruce Anthony: I don't want

Jay Aundrea: I don't want the flute You know, if he's, if he's gonna team, if, if Andre 3000 is gonna team back up with Big Boy, you gotta. You gotta give us hip hop, like give us hip hop. It could be, you know, still like representative of where they are right now in their lives and things like that. But, but give us hip hop. Like, like I know that you both can absolutely do.

Bruce Anthony: Yeah. I mean, some people take a take a while off and I'm just like, I'm good. I'm like the only, the only person that took a while off. And then ca actually he didn't, I wanna say [00:53:00] Jay-Z. He took a while off from the rap that I liked.

He had a couple of albums after, after the Black album.

He did some other albums and it was like that grownup rap.

And I was like, I'm not

Jay Aundrea: Yeah, it should have honestly, like he, he, he marketed the black album. Like that was it, like that was

his

Bruce Anthony: to be, it was supposed to be,

Jay Aundrea: it should have been,

Bruce Anthony: Well, nope. 'cause then he came, he had some albums that I, I mean, he had some great songs like New York with Alicia Keys, great song. But like those albums, I'm not really feeling

Jay Aundrea: yeah.

Bruce Anthony: American gangster. When he went back, when he went back, when he took it back to his drug dealing Reasonable Doubt.

I love that album.

Jay Aundrea: That's a soundtrack.

Bruce Anthony: There is a soundtrack album, but he, he was inspired by watching the movie and went and did the whole album. They gave him like an early cut of the movie. He got an early scrutiny of the movie and he got so inspired by watching the movie Denzel and all that stuff that he [00:54:00] went out and made an album, American Gangster, but it's not the soundtrack to American Gangster.

There's an American gangster soundtrack, but there's an album, American Gangster, and it is

Jay Aundrea: No, go

Bruce Anthony: like, it's like it's reasonable doubt, blueprint. And then I almost have to throw American gangster in there. American gangster might be my third favorite. I I love that album.

Jay Aundrea: I don't think I've heard it. Actually.

Bruce Anthony: Yeah. You know. Hello, Brooklyn Rock Boys.

Jay Aundrea: Mm.

Doesn't ring a bell.

Bruce Anthony: you gotta listen to it today.

Jay Aundrea: Doesn't ring a bell, but I'll tell you, somebody who waited a really long time and came out with an amazing album got Rustam DeAngelo, so Voodoo came out in 2020 and then Black Messiah came out in 2024, I mean 2014. So it was like a

Bruce Anthony: You mean

Jay Aundrea: year.

Bruce Anthony: 2000

Jay Aundrea: Yes, voodoo came out in 2000, black Messiah came out in 2014.

Yes. So he took, [00:55:00] oh, top tier. I went to hear him live at this place called Tabernacle. So I'm very happy that I at least got to see DeAngelo in concert. He did like 89 encores. It was fantastic. My feet were killing me. It was wonderful. Yeah, great album,

When Artists Take Long Breaks & Return Strong 🎵🔥

Bruce Anthony: Hmm.

Jay Aundrea: 15 years.

15 year gap.

Bruce Anthony: Well if you, I guess if you, great, you can do it,

Jay Aundrea: Yeah.

Bruce Anthony: the most part.

Jay Aundrea: For the most part.

Like leave, leave, leave

it on top. Leave on top leave. And I get though, as an artist, still wanting to make work, like still wanting to create art. Like I get that. So I guess it's hard for us as a audience to be like, we're good. You did you made a masterpiece and that was enough.

Like, you know, we're good, but them also still being like, yeah, but I'm, I'm not dead yet. Like, I would like to keep creating.

Bruce Anthony: To me, you

are,[00:56:00]

Jay Aundrea: So yes, it's, it's tough. I don't know, come up with a new persona and change your name, be a different artist or Something like that.

Maybe just reinvent yourself or something. I don't know. Maybe that's the key to the longevity, right? Because Beyonce for every album is reinvented,

so like maybe that's the key.

Bruce Anthony: She doesn't take long breaks

Jay Aundrea: That's true.

Bruce Anthony: if you, if you doing it consistently, cool. I'm talking about those artists that take long breaks and whatever they do, right? Like only other person that's an actor that took a really long break and then came back and gave a masterpiece performance.

Joe

PEs, Joe PE.

Joe Pesci came back and the movie itself is a big lie, but the Irishman, his acting in the Irishman

Good guy. When you are in a movie with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro and it's a Martin Scorsese joint,

I don't know why I say it like it's spite Lee, but Martin [00:57:00] Scorsese joint. Joe Pesci is the best actor in that move and he is.

Jay Aundrea: yeah.

Bruce Anthony: Brilliant. So, but not

Jay Aundrea: He's an amazing actor. A lot of people, you know, he's, because he is done a lot of comedy in his career, people forget that he is actually an amazing, dramatic actor. Who else is like that? John C. Riley because he did a lot of work with like, oh my God, what's his name from, from Saturday Night Live.

They did stepbrothers

together. Will,

Ferrell. Yeah, because he did a lot of comedy. People forget that his early career and a, and a lot of it was dramatic acting.

Bruce Anthony: He played Dr. He played Dr. Jerry Bus in the HB OS series. Showtime

Jay Aundrea: mm-hmm.

Bruce Anthony: Brilliant. John C. Riley is one of my favorite actors. People forget that he was in Boogie Knights

and [00:58:00] Talladega Knights. Like he has this, he has this, he has this guy,

and. Whenever him and Will Ferrell are in a movie together, he's the funnier one to me.

He had one line in Guardians of the Galaxy. He had not, it was more than one line, but he had this line in Guardians of the Galaxy and they was like, something like, is he an an asshole? Is he a 100% asshole or a dick, or something like that? And John C. Riley was like, well, nobody is a all 100% dick all the time.

And it was just this one line that was just classic. He's. Fantastic.

Joe Pesci's Masterclass in The Irishman 🎬👔

Jay Aundrea: He's fantastic.

Bruce Anthony: he's always working. He doesn't take breaks. We were talking about

Jay Aundrea: Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. but

like, just people being underestimated. Yeah. But yeah, Joe Peshy, and I, I just think it's because he just retired prematurely. he just never lost it. I, I don't, I, there is a lot of old [00:59:00] folks out there still acting, I think Joe. Had more in him. We obviously see it in the Irishman, like I feel like there was still more there and so, but yeah.

Long break came back, killed it.

Loving the Art vs The Business of Fame 🎨💼

Bruce Anthony: I think some people confused just because people are good at something, that that's what they love to do.

Jay Aundrea: Yeah.

Bruce Anthony: There are a lot of athletes that that play professional sports, that are good at the sport. They don't necessarily love it.

Jay Aundrea: yeah. T And typically with the arts. You love the creation of it, you don't love the business of it.

Bruce Anthony: Mm-hmm.

Jay Aundrea: And so like I, I have a friend, excellent chef, will never open a restaurant 'cause she doesn't like the business of it.

She just likes creating and watching people enjoy what she makes. But like the business side of it. No interest in it. None.

So I, I get that the [01:00:00] business, I think becomes overwhelming and that's, this is why I'm saying specifically for the arts.

Typically people get into the arts. You ain't doing it for the money. Like you're, you're really not because

the chances are nine times out of 10,

you ain't gonna make no money outta it.

Yeah. It is very rare that you become a star, in music, in movies, television, whatever it is, writing it's art, you know, visual art, whatever. You very rarely become a star.

You know, how many Basquiats are there?

Bruce Anthony: I guess it's only one

Jay Aundrea: One.

You know, so I think you do it 'cause you love it, but the business can take a toll on you.

Bruce Anthony: here. All right, ladies and gentlemen, I want to. And y'all should thank my sister for coming on to helping me out her long-winded ass, Carrie, the whole segment. And I needed to help because I'm over here struggling. But ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank you for listening. I wanna thank you for watching, and until next [01:01:00] time, as always, I'll holler.

Thanks For Rocking With Us! 🙏🎙️

Bruce Anthony: Woo. That was a hell of a show. Thank you for rocking with us here on Unsolicited Perspectives with Bruce Anthony. Now, before you go, don't forget to follow, subscribe, like, comment, and share our podcast. Wherever you're listening or watching it to it, pass it along to your friends. If you enjoy it, that means the people that you rock, we'll enjoy it also.

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Uncensored is another show with my sister, and once again, the key word there is uncensored. Those are exclusively on our Patreon page. Jump onto our website@unsolicitedperspective.com for all things us. That's where you can get all of our audio video, our [01:02:00] blogs. And even buy our merch. And if you really feel generous and want to help us out, you can donate on our donations page.

Donations go strictly to improving our software and hardware so we can keep giving you guys good content that you can clearly listen to and that you can clearly see. So any donation would be appreciative. Most importantly, I wanna say thank you, thank you, thank you for listening and watching and supporting us, and I'll catch you next time.

Audi 5,000 Peace.