00:00:00: This is episode two hundred eighty seven.

00:00:03: A few people have asked me what the atmosphere's like in a country after midterm elections, so I figured i'd better ask someone who first of all is American and second knows a thing or two about american politics!

00:00:19: And with that...a warm welcome to Cory Funk.

00:00:32: I found somebody who wants to talk about the midterm, but not at a university.

00:00:38: But in politics!

00:00:40: Kori you're working with me here in an apartment can maybe say one sentence so that they get a little picture of you?

00:00:50: Certainly, my name is Corey Funk.

00:00:51: I am the department administrator which means that i do data entry for the Department and not faculty but staff.

00:00:59: My job generally is student facing.

00:01:01: I help students out But also help faculty with their data such as programming classes Which students then take

00:01:07: later.

00:01:08: And you're helping me view this podcast?

00:01:11: Glad to Do!

00:01:13: Love it.

00:01:14: I thought let's talk about politics and you told me like your wife knows a lot About politics so you should know a lot about politics?

00:01:21: Yes, I've been married for twenty five years.

00:01:24: We've been together from more than thirty years.

00:01:26: we met in college.

00:01:28: My wife holds a political science degree at the undergraduate level And at the graduate levels So she is very politically involved and if that was also not my general leaning... ...we would not have been married this long!

00:01:43: So the few days must have been so exciting for you both.

00:01:47: You got a lot to talk about, can you tell us a little bit about your experience and what was it for you go voting?

00:01:53: To wait for the result then see the results.

00:01:57: Certainly now I am going to reveal a certain bias on my side in that.

00:02:01: I'm extremely Minnesota.

00:02:04: For those of you who are not local, Minnesota is a very political state.

00:02:08: our voter turnout Is one of the highest in the nation?

00:02:12: You can think of the United States as fifty small countries and we are number one or number two when voter turnout Consistently have been for decades.

00:02:21: so it is important to know that when we talk about politics, Minnesota's really into it.

00:02:26: We have the Democratic Farm Labor, DFL Party which is homegrown to Minnesota.

00:02:33: We are not like a lot of other states.

00:02:36: we're deeply rooted in politics In terms what that looks like in Minnesota.

00:02:43: our early voter turnout was also very high.

00:02:46: it's record breaking this time.

00:02:48: so my wife and I voted two-and-a half weeks ago.

00:02:51: roughly uh...we take advantage.

00:02:54: Part of that is A, convenience and B. it's much harder to interfere with election ballots that have been cast early.

00:03:04: It has a safety mechanism.

00:03:06: so we engage in that love-early voting.

00:03:08: I had been voting since i was eighteen literally the year i turned eighteen uh...i've been voting every election including very small elections school board city officials.

00:03:20: since i'm nineteen.

00:03:21: there are no Civic engagement that I take more seriously than voting.

00:03:26: I love it.

00:03:26: That just needed to say something because in Austria when we are going through the voting poll We have to bring our passport.

00:03:34: So they're really like you can't just go there and see like hey, my name is Silvana.

00:03:38: i want To vote.

00:03:39: this is not possible in austria but i know in america It IS possible?

00:03:43: That Is partially true.

00:03:45: so This is another interesting fact about The US Voting rules and regulations vary quite widely by state.

00:03:53: Minnesota is very aggressive in what's called franchising voters, making sure that people are able to vote.

00:04:02: so In minnesota if you have not registered to vote You can register to vote on the same day.

00:04:08: So If you show up with a valid photo ID And let say A utility bill To prove That thats where you live And someone who will vouch for you Same day, you can register.

00:04:21: Many places in the United States are not like that.

00:04:24: I am of a very strong opinion That if there were stronger rules that allowed voting as such As it is in Minnesota There would be stronger voter participation across

00:04:37: country.

00:04:38: Makes total sense.

00:04:39: So I was in class when the day of voting took place, so many people were running around with their stickers and I voted...I guess you had a lot of stickers too!

00:04:49: And how was this day for you?

00:04:51: How was waiting for your

00:04:53: result?!

00:04:54: Great question, I will again reveal a certain bias.

00:04:57: I am a liberal voter.

00:05:00: in the United States The Liberal Party is called Democrats and the Conservative party's called Republicans?

00:05:05: I want to make a note that In the US when we say liberal We really mean centrist as compared to a lot of parts of the world.

00:05:12: That's an important note.

00:05:14: When we said liberal we could be more liberal.

00:05:17: Minnesota is a more liberal state than most, so to reveal my bias for people who are listening I have been wildly unhappy in a way that it's difficult describe with the behavior of my nation.

00:05:30: four years.

00:05:32: think people can figure out what they means on their own terms.

00:05:36: minnesota has demonstrated across over last year with immigration enforcement that Minnesotans do not put up this well.

00:05:44: Part of being Minnesotan is that we watch out for our neighbors.

00:05:47: We don't have to be friends, but eventually you will probably need help getting unstuck from a snow bank and You help your neighbors out whether you agree with them or not?

00:05:56: You are civil.

00:05:57: there's this thing called Minnesota nice Which is we will give you directions anywhere except to our house.

00:06:03: We are nice up To a certain point.

00:06:05: We're also guarded right and what we do Not put up as well.

00:06:10: people thinking they understand us when They Don't.

00:06:13: The political moment that came with the immigration enforcement over last year has inflamed Minnesotans to a point I have never seen in my life.

00:06:31: who have never done this before.

00:06:44: That was very much that attitude and passion reflected in voter turnout.

00:06:50: There are certain indicators, yes there are polls or things like that but other indicators.

00:06:55: if you're an online person such as a shopping website The sponsored ads will tell something about what people were looking for.

00:07:04: Over the last few weeks those sponsored ads moved away from conservative leaning to liberal leaning.

00:07:12: That is a strong indicator because this comes from way back, you'll have to do little political research.

00:07:17: It's the economy stupid—it was a flash point in presidential election decades ago.

00:07:23: but it is the economy with tariffs —you start trade war and lose or trade war has driven up costs across the board for people.

00:07:32: that's what Americans care about In certain ways.

00:07:36: yes we care about social pieces But they can't afford groceries and it has been irritating people for a long time when that passion came through in the polls.

00:07:46: It was...a heartening moment, uh..in a way that is difficult to describe-it feels like a sea change!

00:07:54: In a way which is difficult.

00:07:56: if you haven't lived though Worrying about essentially a Gestapo showing up and kicking your neighbors out of the country what that feels like it is A strong Strong turn back Of those values.

00:08:11: I'm very pleased for

00:08:14: especially here in Minnesota when we had so many things about ice The last years, and he was crazy.

00:08:19: how was this face-of-your-life?

00:08:23: How has this moment been?

00:08:26: It's important to know that Minnesota is roughly the size of United Kingdom, just for a sense of land scale.

00:08:34: Three-quarters of the population that live in Minnesota lives—in these seven counties what we call metro area so surrounding Minneapolis and St.

00:08:42: Paul right?

00:08:44: Three quarters I think it's…the population of this state now has roughly four million people —so three million people in close proximity—and intensity which Minnesotans who kind of keep to themselves, right?

00:09:00: Your rights end.

00:09:01: where your neighbor's nose begins is how we live our lives.

00:09:04: It's not you're business stay out it To be so aggressively active and watching for their neighbors.

00:09:13: Minnesota is an immigrant place.

00:09:16: Everyone who here there a strong native presence And the native peoples in minnesota were pushed-out.

00:09:23: That was sin that nation has deal with.

00:09:28: But it's immigrants.

00:09:28: It's immigrants, everybody who came here is immigrants.

00:09:31: My relatives were immigrants.

00:09:33: They came over after a while to work too Norwegian German Right?

00:09:37: Like this.

00:09:37: as part of that I took German in elementary school.

00:09:41: Everybody did.

00:09:42: We knew In the nineteen seventies That we where A place of immigrants.

00:09:47: We have continued To be a place Of immigrants.

00:09:50: The first Mung Immigrants to the nation Settled Here in Minnesota.

00:09:56: Fortune-Five Hundred companies, that's because we have immigrants coming.

00:10:01: We don't have what is called brain drain—we aren't losing people or gaining people.

00:10:05: and do so by the idea of like you're welcome here right?

00:10:09: Don't get me wrong!

00:10:11: Minnesota has highly segregated.

00:10:13: I want to be very clear…We have work to do….

00:10:16: By some measures we are the forty seventh out fifty most segregated state but in our own pockets there.

00:10:25: good But to see people go, nope I don't care what you look like.

00:10:29: You're my neighbor!

00:10:31: You might not be from here but you were a Minnesotan.

00:10:33: We do not grant that to you lightly...you have kind of been there for ten years before we'll invite you into our house.

00:10:40: That's true.

00:10:42: There is a joke if want make friends in Minnesota In Minnesota?

00:10:46: You've got to go to kindergarten with somebody And so To see People who are generally quite reserved and keeping their own will say Nope They're my neighbors, so I don't care where they are from.

00:10:58: There My Neighbors affects me very deeply.

00:11:02: It is a value we hold here and to know that it's not the thing We say its' A Thing We Do To see people i Know in their seventies And Their Eighties Getting Arrested People i Know getting arrested To stand up for immigrants Is Powerful and Meaningful.

00:11:25: They Put Their Bodies on The Line sort of defies words

00:11:33: for me.

00:11:35: You make me so emotional, I'm sorry!

00:11:37: i can see how emotional this topic is to you and also now for me because... ...I did not realize before how much this must have meant for your guys And..to see the result from.

00:11:50: it's just amazing.

00:11:53: How was that night when you saw that finally everything is changing hopefully better?

00:12:02: prone to swearing.

00:12:03: I like swearing, i think swearing is part of the language.

00:12:06: there's a time and place for it .I will avoid that now.

00:12:09: but its all happy swears.

00:12:11: um...i have been avoiding news coverage.

00:12:17: uh.. i'm gen- i spent my time on the internet For many years.

00:12:22: ,i've sort of tuned out social media over last few years ..i had better things do with them ...i can go walk in woods do arts and crafts, many things to occupy my time.

00:12:36: And I looked at every new site that I would generally follow and over-and-over was like yeah take that!

00:12:44: Um...I'm sure your listeners know the word shot in Florida?

00:12:48: That's what it is.

00:12:49: It Is Consequences.

00:12:52: There are consequences for your actions good or bad.

00:12:58: I do not bide.

00:13:05: And so yeah, get the hell out and to know that The Swing is at a knife's edge.

00:13:11: Democrats did not win by narrow margins.

00:13:14: They won by fifteen twenty thirty points in places That they traditionally have had very little luck.

00:13:21: So we're talking A deep generational change.

00:13:26: Man it does my heart good

00:13:29: Especially when I saw like Texas is blue.

00:13:32: I mean,

00:13:32: are you sorry?

00:13:33: But what is this your shadow boxing?

00:13:36: Yeah because it's actually a combat sports podcast.

00:13:38: So

00:13:40: yes To hmmm...I believe people It doesn't matter where you are human beings Are Have a difficult time admitting when they have been fooled or tricked why people get scammed out of money and don't say anything.

00:13:58: Shame is a powerful thing, sunlight as the best disinfectant.

00:14:01: it's got to come to the surface to be able to get rid of that shame.

00:14:05: I believe that human beings across the spectrum ,across time...across space believe certain things they have not learned them.

00:14:14: They've been told them And they believed them falsely.

00:14:17: You can't reason someone out of position.

00:14:23: people who engage in civics vote against their own interests, because they have a proximity to power that they want to preserve.

00:14:33: It's called privilege.

00:14:34: Texas has been making choices that confuse me —because I come from different time and place—a different atmosphere... A milieu as they say here in Minnesota….

00:14:45: But to see Texas which –in my lifetime–has never been this blue has been this liberal—blue being liberal, red being conservative in our nation is difficult to get my mind around.

00:15:02: The same with the southern United States for those... Your listeners may or not know that US Civil War was fought over slavery.

00:15:11: we call it the Mason-Dixon line and essentially split the eastern part of our nation.

00:15:15: north half was anti-slavery, South has.

00:15:19: It's pro.

00:15:19: slavery is the original sin of our country that we've never really reckoned with and racism runs deep.

00:15:27: It's called the Southern Strategy.

00:15:29: You can feel free to look that up.

00:15:30: if you are really into politics, Look Up The Southern Strategy in the nineteen sixties.

00:15:35: it has been going on for a long time To keep the South conservative and have people vote against their own interests...to see places like South Carolina which was a slave-holding state.

00:15:47: It enslaved human beings!

00:15:50: ...To now Have African American People of Color In Positions Of Power is something that honestly, there are things you're not sure you will see in your lifetime.

00:16:04: And when they come to pass all you can do a sort of stand-there and appreciate the reflected glow?

00:16:11: That's what it is!

00:16:12: So amazing...and I can't imagine how many Republicans must have actually went there and voted for Democrats.

00:16:19: this must be for them as well.

00:16:22: Must have been crazy to go in there and vote for blue instead of red.

00:16:27: I don't know what to tell you, we call it the US.

00:16:31: as a swing voter someone who may vote for either political party And i dont get that.

00:16:40: I mean, I vote on my values.

00:16:42: That's pretty straight ahead.

00:16:44: sometimes you have to sort of pick between two candidates.

00:16:47: It's it's never-you're not going out a date with these people.

00:16:49: You're making chess moves right?

00:16:51: And so it's always making moves too.

00:16:53: try and get a better position On the board.

00:16:55: It's not...You're not picking a life mate.

00:16:57: don't be confused.

00:16:58: There is no purity test in politics.

00:17:01: Don't understand swing voters.

00:17:03: I don't know that was so much swing voters as it was participation.

00:17:07: enough People went.

00:17:09: I need to get out and vote because i can't afford the basics.

00:17:13: So,I've got to do something about it.

00:17:17: Um...i also think that you get results organized for.

00:17:21: And i think democrats have been organizing an awful lot better over last couple of years.

00:17:26: so those are my guesses!

00:17:28: Im not a political pundit uh..im just guy who tries pay attention

00:17:32: tries to pay his things that he has to get, like gas.

00:17:36: What prices went up for you?

00:17:38: That would say I need to go and protest because this is not normal

00:17:41: anymore?".

00:17:43: I don't protest over prices.

00:17:45: Political systems and economic systems are linked in extremely complicated ways.

00:17:53: There are many things a country may try do right-to drive down prices And it might or may not work.

00:18:00: It's just really complicated.

00:18:02: Gas in the U.S is sold by the gallon, not the leader right?

00:18:06: So our prices are different.

00:18:07: so remember this is priced by gallon!

00:18:09: The price of gas has gone up by thirty percent over the last year.

00:18:13: Gas currently sits at roughly four dollars and thirty five cents per gallon.

00:18:19: feel free to do math as what that means in leaders.

00:18:21: it painfully expensive...the US is a remarkably rich nation staggeringly so In ways, it's hard to get your mind around.

00:18:30: My parents for example grew up farming.

00:18:32: they both worked in food production industries and my dad said this To me when I was about ten years old And i've had a hard time getting my mind around.

00:18:41: whatever sense but its true Hunger is not a matter of production It's a matter Of politics.

00:18:47: people are hungry because of political decisions or Political Decisions that have made groceries expensive.

00:18:54: we as A nation produce more food than we can possibly consume, but stupid political decisions have now made that food expensive for people.

00:19:04: And if you have to choose between rent and food... You're gonna pick food and people have been put in that position time-and-time again.

00:19:14: So it's also things like education versus food, right?

00:19:17: There are so many things clothing vs.

00:19:20: Food.

00:19:20: It's hard to really convey how much prices Have gone up across the spectrum for groceries.

00:19:30: essentially My understanding is its roughly between ten and twenty percent.

00:19:35: Unilaterally, meat is way more expensive than it used to be.

00:19:38: Dairy's slightly more expensive eggs are slightly cheaper.

00:19:41: It all bounces out but everything has gone up by ten percent.

00:19:45: Well if your grocery bill is a hundred bucks a week and then suddenly its a hundred-and-ten.

00:19:52: And you're already little thin on that hundred dollars.

00:19:56: You having make choices?

00:19:57: Usually those choices lead to worse health outcomes.

00:20:00: Its more expensive in

00:20:01: the long run.

00:20:02: Do think It might change now for the better.

00:20:06: Yes, but there is always an asterisk.

00:20:09: so elections are magical.

00:20:11: it's still people and still people having to make decisions having to work together And having two legislate.

00:20:17: you have to govern one of the major problems with the Republicans over last couple of years as they have failed to govern.

00:20:24: They've just put their hands up and gone, well I guess there's a war.

00:20:27: what can we do?

00:20:28: You started that war.

00:20:28: you can stop it.

00:20:30: uh...you start at a trade war- you could stop back too.

00:20:33: It is about big ship little rudder.

00:20:37: its very large country Its complicated economic systems are tied together across globe.

00:20:43: The prices will change but..they'll change slowly And people generally impatient.

00:20:51: And so they go, well you didn't bring prices down fast enough.

00:20:53: Yeah Well took years to drive them up.

00:20:55: takes yours to drive him down.

00:20:56: So I do believe that it'll be a change but You have to temper that.

00:21:01: with how long?

00:21:02: That

00:21:02: takes But at least a change in a direction we hope to be better.

00:21:08: yes absolutely Absolutely!

00:21:10: So when you came here to the campus their first day after the vote How was it for you?

00:21:15: did your fear different air?

00:21:19: That's a complicated question.

00:21:22: My job, I'm a good employee.

00:21:25: You know my poor community member?

00:21:27: Uh...I come here because they pay me to come here.

00:21:31: Uh..I am very open about that.

00:21:32: Um....Velid!

00:21:34: Yes look I believe in work as negative space.

00:21:38: i can tell you the things, that don't want to do and then after That it doesn't really matter.

00:21:41: this is my fourth work life?

00:21:43: I like This job because It does not overly complicated for me.

00:21:46: i'm very quick at it.

00:21:48: i care between The hours of eight a.m.. And four p.m.

00:21:51: Strictly and After that forget it.

00:21:54: so

00:21:54: hope You're Not looking At the watch Because we are over four p m.

00:21:58: sorry You are totally fine.

00:22:00: I get paid by the hour so it doesn't really matter, uh...I will punch my clock for four o'clock!

00:22:04: No worries- I'm glad to chat but within that context It has not served me well To be a political being at work.

00:22:16: i am of different generation..i have a landline At home?

00:22:20: I believe in having a phone on the wall.

00:22:22: Uh....I don't give people My cell phone number because You get a different version of me.

00:22:27: A very different version than you do at work and I'm not overly interested in sharing that with people unless they're really ready for it.

00:22:33: It was such as sea change, right?

00:22:36: That there wasn't a lot celebration on campus...I think that enough People knew what's coming so just kept their heads down can only be considered incidences of hate crimes and racism.

00:23:00: And so we did not see that, which is nice.

00:23:05: but there also weren't people out high-fiving each other or things like that because it's not where the work gets done right you know?

00:23:13: So I felt great!

00:23:16: I was buoyant and exuberant um...and so whatever was outside.

00:23:22: Oh man, I

00:23:26: was happy for you guys.

00:23:28: This is amazing.

00:23:28: what's happening here!

00:23:30: I will tell you this...I understand most Americans don't believe that they are world citizens which i find to be wild and baffling to me..i have many friends in Canada.

00:23:45: we share a common language.

00:23:46: that makes it easier.

00:23:47: Minnesota is very close to being Canadian.

00:23:50: We also have the little piece of lake of woods that even pokes up into canada.

00:23:54: It's like we're having a little affair on the border.

00:23:57: Our accents are even similar, right?

00:24:00: We have a place called Little Canada here in the Twin Cities and my Canadian friends always want to talk politics.

00:24:07: Yes!

00:24:08: My British friends were like hey what is going on?

00:24:11: To know that there are people out there who understand that citizens aren't their government?

00:24:19: And this isn't certainly... I didn't vote for Trump.

00:24:23: I've voted Republican exactly once, which was in a primary.

00:24:28: And when you vote on the primary of United States—you have to pick one party and so you could vote in opposite parties to eliminate candidates that you don't like.

00:24:37: That is fair voting strategy!

00:24:40: So know that citizens care about their fellow-citizens including you.

00:24:56: Thank you so much for your time and I learned so much.

00:24:59: You should be a professor for this!

00:25:02: I did college radio for four years, i have been on the radio multiple times...I don't have a ton of vocal tics.

00:25:13: speaking well the first time counts?

00:25:16: That's just luck.

00:25:16: I would be a terrible professor, i hate grading...I don't really want to stand in front of people!

00:25:22: I just wanna hear the sound on my own voice which I love and just talk-talk-talk.

00:25:27: that's totally different thing.

00:25:29: My pedagogy would be awful.

00:25:31: no one would.

00:25:32: you get an early class with me and fall asleep?

00:25:35: it'd be terrible.

00:25:37: I think we are completely the same.

00:25:39: My pedagogy is really bad, so...I'm good at talking but the rest of it's shit!

00:25:44: So thank you very much and i appreciate that and am happy for your

00:25:50: guys.