On 3 April, Tim had Tiffany Cianci, once more, as the guest.
Elad & Phil were the co-hosts.
Clip Collection:
-Tiffany & Tim get into it over free speech absolutism. Elad argues the benefits of deporting anti-Israel protestors & organisers, as well as advocating mask bans at protests. Tiffany argues that is unjust, & says "It's my job to scream louder" to drown out speech she opposes, not the government's to do. Elad asks about slander, which Tiffany argues can be addressed by civil suits. Tim asks if signs & standing in public spaces count as free speech. Tiffany hedges this by stating permits are needed to avoid loitering charges. Tim brings up TikTok being censorious, because Tiffany uses that platform, & she disagrees. Tim vents his spleen about being
banned,
repeatedly, from TikTok for a bit. Then then beanie boy then weaves back to the signage question:
Tim asks about someone describing graphic sexual content to children, in a playground. Tiffany says her job is to out-voice that person, & "chase them out of there", figuratively. Tim tries a gotcha by an escalating questionnaire that crescendos with a naked image of the Monopoly Man on a sign, around children. Tiffany says if it is legal, then she has no issue with it, but it may run afoul of copyright. The beanie boy takes the stance that the person should be arrested. This sees Tim ask about having "
This Book Is Gay" accessible to students, in public libraries, with Tiffany responding that it is her job to oversee what her children are doing, not the government's. However, Tiffany does say that teachers do not have the same free speech rights when they are working, as it is under an employer, which may impose limits. She argues that parents must be prepared to relocate their children into more acceptable environments, or push for changing curriculums, if they add things like that book. Tiffany contends that "there has never been ANY government, in the history of the world, that was on the right side of history when they censored their people". Tim asks if the United States was on the right side of history in World War II, to which she responds yes but mistakes were made. Tiffany argues a right forfeited cannot be regained, even if it may have been after World War II, & Tim claims that it does not mean you would not. Tiffany argues that the 1st Amendment was set, foremost, as it is the first defence of all other rights. Tim tries to finesse this, by bringing up
the failed amendments, which preceded the 1st, & the existence of blasphemy laws which oppose the spirit of Tiffany's interpretation. Tiffany says progress was made to overturn these, over the decades. Tim argues that was only recently, & is in direct contravention of the Founders' intent, which ruled for hundreds of years. This is a strange tack for mixed-race Tim to take, as it was
less than 60 year ago when anti-miscegenation statutes were ruled unconstitutional. Tim makes another pivot to claiming how the Bill of Rights is not honoured, now, & "the 9th & 10th Amendment do not exist". Tiffany pushes back, claiming there are Supreme Court cases moving along that may change that:
-Tim claims that Social Security "evaporates", in the near future, & people need to start caring for their elderly relatives. He claims that all people need to do is have 10 children, which shall band together & fund the end of life care for both parents. Elad & Phil discuss the excess burden on the budget from entitlements, while Tiffany brings up how the current economic landscape has two generations unable to care for themselves, financially, let alone elderly parents. Elad asks how she wants to fix this income inequality, which Tiffany says needs to be companies being allowed to prioritise employees over shareholders, again. She cites this shareholder focus beginning with
Dodge v. Ford. Along with this, she argues for expanding access to capital for small businesses, & penalising off-shoring. Elad questions adding more regulations, which Tiffany argues are needed to prevent crony capitalism benefiting large corporations over small businesses:
Tiffany argues capitalism is "an economic math problem", & when unregulated, "is trying to get as close to slavery, as it can". Elad objects to this, interrupting & misrepresenting Tiffany. When Elad questions why a company should pay someone more, if it hurts the company, Tim interjects to explain that legally companies must work towards shareholder benefit, not community/company/employee benefit. This means a race to the bottom for salaries. Elad tries to argue regulators should not do that, Tim & Tiffany have to repeat that it is shareholders making these demands, to maximise their returns. Tiffany uses the example of Apple & Microsoft, being monopolistic companies walling out competitors. Tim has to explain how Apple products are overpriced, & use Unix, but are pushed on universities. Elad claims Tiffany wants "regulators" to control the market:
Tiffany brings up how some people working at think tanks sign away their intellectual property, & these are funded by large corporations which benefit from controlling potentially disruptive innovations. Elad continues to interrupt, while she brings up Google's anti-competitive practices. Tim pulls another escalating questionnaire with Elad, which ends with him stating that deception can be used to sell a product. Apropos of nothing, Elad is Jewish. Elad claims that fraud still happens, despite the Federal Trade Commission existing, to which Tim asks if he opposes police, because crime still happens. Elad ends up stating "Fraud's in the eye of the beholder", & claims people call Tim deceptive, all the time. Elad argues people as "savvy" & capable of sussing out fraud, but has to admit it often only comes after
regulators call it out:
Elad decides to draw the line at "pharmaceuticals", which require regulations, but he cannot define what a drug is. Tiffany claims
anti-trust laws are one of the few ways to bring criminal cases without the state's help, & when Elad keeps demanding specifics on what she wants, Tiffany says updating
the Federal Arbitration Act. Elad does not know what this is, so Tiffany has to explain it. But Elad continues to cut her off. Tiffany manages to push back enough to talk about her experiences with arbitration.
This included being forced to abort her stillborn child, rather than let it naturally pass out of her, because the company she was in arbitration with did not want to wait to depose her:
Tiffany has to explain why Elad had not heard about this, when he claims ignorance. It was due to a gag order & Tiffany was only released from this due to a successful defamation suit against the company. Tim steps in to say Elad's position "makes no sense", due to having requirements for some products to be regulated while similar ones are not. Elad says to sic DOGE on the FTC, so they only cover medications. Tim tries to pin down Elad's line on what to regulate, or not. Elad hems & haws on this. Tiffany brings up another example of the market not addressing issues, when
a child fell from an indoor zipline. Her parents waived any right to sue, speak out, or disparage the company, after signing her into the park. The waivers were buried under the sign-in form, & the parents were unaware any waivers were included, as it would not be an expectation of theirs. Internal documents allegedly show the company was aware of the risks of accidents, but refused to take precautions. Tiffany argues that without some guardrails, it allows people to suffer & companies that should suffer consequences to avoid them. It is very funny seeing this very libertarian take from
the same man that advocated for taxing the rich:
-During super-chats, the topic of pizza toppings comes up. Elad says he likes "change" on his pizza. Phil jokingly asks if that means quarters. Phil has a good giggle over it, while Elad is humorously getting ready to call the ADL. Also, Elad tries to claim olives on pizza are uncommon in the U.S., as compared to Israel, but Tim disagrees. & of course, Tim cites frozen pizzas, instead of how most restaurants offer olives as a topping:
