#74 – Why Are We Voting Against Our Best Interests? Angela Chavez on Manipulation and Political Power

[00:00] Paulette: Buen día, mi gente, and welcome to La Vida Más Chévere de Childfree Latinas, the only Spanglish podcast for childfree Latinas y Latines, helping us liberate ourselves from the toxic cultural brainwashing we all grew up with so that we can design our best lives instead. I’m your host and resident childfree Latina, Paulette Erato.

[00:24] Paulette: The toxic cultural brainwashing we’re examining today is how we vote against our own best interests, regularly, without even realizing it. Because it’s that time of year. I already made an episode on what childless cat ladies have to do in November, and today I have another childless cat lady, or dog lady, as she called herself, to talk about it.

[00:47] Paulette: Because not only is she one of us, she literally works in this field. Before I introduce her, though, note that this is a long episode with lots of claims, all of which are backed by links to the show notes. So if in doubt, check those out. Angela Chavez is the Director of Communications and Public Affairs at Courage California, and also the founding director of Chicas Latinas de Sacramento, which she ran from 2009 to 2024.

[01:14] Paulette: She just recently stepped down. She oversees the strategic communications for Courage California’s 501c4, 501c3, and PACS on progressive, statewide, and regional legislation, electoral, and issue based campaigns. She has a BA in journalism and was a reporter in the Central Valley for a bit. When this episode airs, we’ll be mere days away from the ballots dropping for the 2024 election.

[01:40] Paulette: Courage California will have endorsed candidates and propositions, and will be launching their statewide and customizable voter guide. We’re at the end of the legislative calendar, and they’ve been paying attention to who the bad actors were in the legislature this year, so they could update their Annual Courage Score for next year.

[01:58] Paulette: But users can look at it now to see how our legislators voted last year when filling out their ballot now. Her organization works to educate via their C3, which provides tools to help voters vote their values and help Californians hold their representatives accountable via their Courage Score. In addition to all this fun stuff, Angela will be paying close attention to different issues in both the legislative and election spaces, including public safety, abortion access, campaign finance, voter suppression, and mis / disinformation and AI.

[02:31] Paulette: If anyone can explain to us why we vote against our own best interests, it’s Angela. Because she sees it every day, the way that propaganda so easily manipulates people by telling them a story they want to hear. It’s basic marketing 101. It’s basic psychology 101. A problem is presented, a solution is offered, and all you have to do is this one thing.

[02:56] Paulette: Which in this case, is vote a certain way. What motivates us, people like me and Angela, is that we see this so clearly and want that for you as well. Angela told me she wants the Gen Z and Gen Alpha kids who she sees in her social media feeds, drowning in despair about the bankrupt futures that they can’t even vote on yet, to have hope.

[03:19] Paulette: So while this is a very frank discussion, we’re also being realistic. We’re gonna talk statistics that matter and how they prove that the ads we’re being served up are just scaremongering tactics. It’s revolting. And Angela is going to explain to us how and why it’s come to this. And even though we’re focused on what’s happening here in California, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t apply to you if you don’t live here.

[03:42] Paulette: I guarantee this is happening where you are too. And there are resources and organizations just like Angela’s where you live, so please seek them out. When we’re done here, I hope that you too start to see the clear agenda and are even more fired up to vote to not only protect yourself, but your community.

[04:03] Paulette: Show us the true meaning of family values. Okay, let’s hang up our cynicism for a moment and go talk to Angela. Oh wait, real quick. A trigger warning. This interview took place the same week as the shooting in Georgia. We mention it very quickly, but I did want to give you the heads up that it’s in there.

[04:24] Paulette: Angela, hi, how are you today?

[04:26] Angela: I’m doing okay.

[04:28] Paulette: As we said before we started recording, this is going to be an episode full of legislative truths, truth about how elections happen in this country, but we want people to walk away with hope more than anything.

[04:44] Angela: Absolutely.

[04:45] Paulette: Since we’re both childless cat ladies, we got a lot at stake here too, despite what the narrative would have you believe. Let’s just jump in. What are we doing? How can we win this election?

[04:57] Angela: Winning is a weird word, I would say. Like, I’m just noting the weird words here. We’re not in a winning time. We are in a moving the needle time. So, when you mentioned having hope, there is hope. We just need to kind of look at our timeline as a nation, as a state, as moving the needle.

[05:22] Angela: Passing the baton generation to generation to generation. Looking at the bigger picture and knowing that things have gotten progressively better. Labor, housing, so many spaces, women’s rights, and it took fights and we’re still fighting and that fight isn’t over. We’re still a very new state. We’re still a very new country.

[05:46] Angela: We are working through some growing pains, if you will. But we’re just passing the baton. So we’re doing what we have to do now for the next generation and so on and so forth. So just remember that this isn’t over and history has taught us that we can fight and we can push for progress. So it may not be a clear out win in all the ways you want it, we may not wake up next year and have like this magical nation that we’ve been dreaming of.

[06:15] Angela: Little wins are still wins. Little movements are still movements. So we just need to acknowledge that as we go into this election season.

[06:25] Paulette: So as the person in charge of communications and public affairs for Courage California, what is your organization’s mission for Californians? Let’s start there.

[06:35] Angela: We’re really here to provide tools to voters, mainly Californians, but a lot of our tools can be used outside of our state as well.

[06:42] Angela: They’re tools so that Californians can vote, vote their values, vote down ballot. Understand the way processes work and also take action to help move progressive values forward. So we are an organization that unites Californians with tools to push for a more equitable and just state and nation. So we work on a lot of different progressive issues.

[07:08] Angela: We go legislative here in the state. We go electoral. We’ve endorsed for a presidential candidate this year, which is the first time we’ve ever went to the federal level. We have endorsed for Congress members. We take on ballot propositions. We take on issues throughout this state that we’ve worked for progress for that may not have a piece of legislation up, but we’re still pushing that issue forward in hopes that there will be change.

[07:35] Angela: So we take action, bring people together. And we also work to hold our electeds accountable. So we have a lot of tools that work to hold them accountable because the first thing is understanding how the process works, making your voice heard in that process, but then making sure that what we are voting for, who we are voting for, is held to account.

[07:55] Angela: And that is not easy for any voter, any state. Our process is so complicated. Our ballots are so complicated. So we try our best to make sure that Californians have the tools that we need so that they can vote their conscience, vote their values, and hold their representatives accountable.

[08:15] Paulette: Have you, in your time there, seen a candidate receive consequences for not adhering to the values that they were elected for?

[08:26] Angela: Oh, sure. We work, as I said, like there’s federal, there’s congressional, there’s state, there’s regional candidates, and there’s also county city elect. We get down to the nitty gritty. So there have been a lot of DAs, you know, district attorneys. There’s been a lot of city council members, mayors, state legislature is full of folks that need to be held to account.

[08:52] Angela: And I would say one of the best tools that we have in our organization is called CourageScore. So CourageScore. org. And you can go, put in your zip code, you can put in the legislator’s name. You can enter that and it will show you how your legislator scored. Whether the Senate, the Assembly, you can see their score.

[09:16] Angela: You can see their votes, how they voted in the last year’s legislative cycle. So you can see on different issue areas how they vote. You can also see where their campaign money comes from, what industries are basically funding them. So, it’s a really helpful tool, and it has been instrumental in holding these members accountable.

[09:38] Angela: And it’s multi issue, so if there’s one issue you care about, you can see how they vote. You can see their no votes, their yes votes, and you can see, if they’ve been in the legislature for a while, you can see their history of all their votes throughout history, and how it has changed since they’ve been serving.

[09:54] Angela: So it’s a really wonderful tool and there’s also a space there where you can contact your legislator directly and say, Hey, I saw you voted this way last year. I really need you to improve this year. I’m a resident in your community and I’m holding you to account. I’m watching you.

[10:10] Paulette: This is such an awesome tool and I, until you mentioned it, wasn’t aware.

[10:16] Paulette: And I’ve been voting since I was 18, so that’s nearly 30 years. So, the fact that this exists, at least for Californians, and I’m sure, as you were saying, there’s tools like this for all states. I just clicked over to the website and there’s a hall of shame. People with F scores. There’s a lot of Ds under the parties here.

[10:39] Angela: Oh, absolutely.

[10:40] Paulette: There’s a lot of Democrats. You know, everybody who listens to this show knows I prefer the progressive policies. I’m never gonna vote for someone who wants to take away my rights as a woman and the rights of people who come after me. So that’s really eye opening, but also shouldn’t be surprising at all because there’s, like the kids say, there’s bad actors on both sides.

[11:03] Paulette: And that’s 100 percent true. I love that you are holding all of these people accountable. And there is a long, long list. I’ll have a link in the show notes for people listening to go check this out. That’s incredible. Because when you feel like a voter, like you are completely powerless because it comes down to candidate A versus candidate B.

[11:22] Paulette: And it’s more like holding your nose to vote for the less bad one, but you can see that there are other ways to look at each individual office. Not just, not just the presidential office, which I’ve talked about before, gets all of the media attention. But what really affects us is, as you were saying, down ballot, The nitty gritty, the state level, at the city level.

[11:48] Paulette: I live in LA County, but I don’t live in LA City. We have our own mayor and our own city council that we have to contend with.

[11:57] Angela: Oh yeah, oh yeah.

[11:59] Paulette: And they’re not great at what they do either. So what else? What else can we do? There’s those progressive voting cards that will come out in the next month or so.

[12:08] Paulette: I’m sure Courage California is going to put one out as well, where you’re like, this is who our choice is. This is who we’re endorsing. These are the people who are going to move the needle forward for at least the next four to six years. There’s still an overwhelming sense of, is that enough?

[12:24] Angela: It’s enough for the moment. It’s enough to help us vote down ballot. It’s enough to feel like we’re somewhat supported. Because as I mentioned, voting in California is hard. It’s hard to stay informed. It’s hard to stay on top of the news. It’s impossible to research everything. It’s impossible to see where all the funding’s coming for these different propositions, these different candidates.

[12:50] Angela: So having organizations that you trust, whether it be multi issue, single issue organizations that can put out these voter guides, they help just giving you a trusted source for something you care about. And, you know, there may be people on there that you don’t necessarily agree with. But if it’s a single issue one, they’re saying this person can at least move the needle for us.

[13:16] Angela: This person will at least get us to the next generation so that we can make better change. So just using them is so important and it’s such a great resource. So, if you have multiple issues, regardless of what state you’re in, you can find any organizations that work on issues that you care about deeply, and likely they’ll put out some type of voter guide to help move those particular issues forward.

[13:41] Angela: So, if it’s housing, if it’s wages, worker rights, you can find those organizations, they’ll likely put out voter guides, and they’ll help kind of guide you on how to vote. And you can have multiple issues you care about, and they might not look the same, and that’s kind of where you need to figure out, do a little bit of research on your own to see which one you really see as the person that can move the greater good forward.

[14:05] Angela: Use them as a resource. If you’re able to research everything and make your own voter guide, go for it, that’s awesome! But at the same time, take advantage of what those organizations are putting out, because they are fighting against money. They’re providing scorecards and voter guides to the people, and those are their resources.

[14:29] Angela: They don’t have the resources to shove ads in front of your face every five minutes on YouTube. They don’t have the resources, you know, to have billboards and TV ads and just tell you whatever sounds good. All they have are these guides and they’re trying to get them out and they’re trying to get them through the communities.

[14:49] Angela: So, do utilize them. I would say they’re definitely going to be more trusted than those ads that you’re seeing. I know California gets bombarded with ads around the election time, especially around the propositions, and those are just a hot mess. So, I would say, ignore the ads fully.

[15:07] Paulette: Ooh, yeah.

[15:08] Angela: Oh, yeah, because those ads are so misleading. The mailers you get. So misleading. It’s ridiculous. And if you actually look back and like do the research to see who’s funding them, you’ll find out all these “crimes is horrible” ads, but they’re paid for by like real estate and land developers. Like it’s not even police are saying that.

[15:31] Paulette: I love that you brought that up because my next point was going to be that we have to see where the money’s going, right? Where it’s coming from. And like you mentioned way early is that that can be obfuscated. It’s very easy to hide where the money’s coming from, but all of those mailers and all of those ads have to have that little fine print that will zip by on the TV or on the podcast or whatever, but it’s there, legally required to be there.

[15:56] Paulette: Remember Prop 22 from 2020?

[15:59] Angela: Oh, yeah. How could we forget it?

[16:01] Paulette: To bring everyone up to speed, the state of California had a proposition about gig workers. So the Uber drivers, the DoorDash drivers, all of those people. Millions of dollars were spent in convincing people that they were better off not being W-2 employees because that would cost the companies more money than the millions and millions of dollars they spent fighting against it.

[16:24] Paulette: So they took alleged gig workers, like an Uber driver, in their car, driving saying, “Oh no, I prefer it this way, this is better for me,” which were outright lies. They were outright lies, and if you watched to the end of those ads, you saw who was paying for them. Uber, Lyft, all of those companies that supposedly started in order to fill a gap in our economy.

[16:47] Paulette: But now they’re big fat pigs who want to continue to hoard their wealth and not give it to the people who’ve earned it.

[16:55] Angela: Yeah. And now there’s a big movement by those gig workers to push back and reverse it because it was so horrible. And we fought against it, but the resources we had versus the resources they had, it was incomparable.

[17:09] Paulette: Oh yeah.

[17:10] Angela: We could not fight against that no matter what we put out. It was just everywhere, and the misinformation, disinformation that was put out by those that were pushing it was just too loud, too much.

[17:23] Paulette: It was. When we look back at history and are thinking, how can people vote against their own best interests? This is how. This right here is what happened. People were convinced that they were better off in this situation than what could have been. I mean, let’s look at what’s happening with the overturn of Roe versus Wade. People were convinced that this was going to be better for women and babies and yet we have all of these women dying because their doctor’s medical decisions are being questioned at every turn and they’re not sure if things that are medically necessary are legal.

[17:58] Paulette: That’s one. And two, I read this week that babies are being abandoned. A lot of babies have been abandoned in one specific county in Texas because the people who gave birth to them couldn’t care for them. So that is the effect of overturning Roe versus Wade. We had people telling us from the very beginning, this is a likely outcome.

[18:20] Paulette: And other people were like, la, la, la, la, not listening. No, it sounds better. These guys told me this. And look at what happens. So again, we vote against our own best interests because we are duped by the people with money. So back to your point about those ads drowning out all of the other correct information.

[18:40] Paulette: I want the listener to take all of those ads with a grain of salt. But also use those ads as awareness. We may not know all of the ballot issues that are going to be on our state ballots. Right?

[18:51] Angela: There’s so many.

[18:52] Paulette: There’s so many. And we’re just talking about California here because those are the ones we know intimately. But

[18:57] Angela: Mm-Hmm.

[18:57] Paulette: all states across the nation will have a similar situation. So when those ads run in the middle of Sunday football, when they run in the middle of Krapopolis or whatever you’re watching on Hulu with ads, take it all with a grain of salt and make sure that you are aware that that ballot issue exists.

[19:16] Paulette: But then go find out whether or not it’s actually worth it for you. Because I watched many, many, many of those ads during that election cycle, during football season saying, I love being a gig worker. Or, you know, that wasn’t the exact commercial, obviously, but that effect that people were being paid to lie to all of us.

[19:39] Paulette: And maybe that individual did enjoy being a gig worker. Maybe they did, maybe they don’t want to be tied down by a W-2, but for the vast majority of people in that situation, they would have benefited more from that change.

[19:53] Angela: Oh yeah, and it affected so much. It even affected Amazon drivers, because they were separate contractors, like the warehouses, the drivers, they contracted them out, so they weren’t Amazon employees. So they didn’t get Amazon benefits.

[20:09] Angela: They were contract drivers that worked out of this warehouse company.

[20:12] Paulette: Whoo.

[20:13] Angela: But guess what? Believe was the last year or the year before in Palmdale, Amazon workers started striking. They got unions. Unions are coming up all over the country now. And Yeah. Fight back. Absolutely. Prop 22 was wrong.

[20:30] Paulette: Prop 22 was wrong and it did light the fire for more unification, unioni-

[20:34] Angela: It really did.

[20:35] Paulette: How do I say that? Unification? Unionizing. It lit the fire for unionizing.

[20:41] Angela: Yeah, it did.

[20:41] Paulette: Which we need.

[20:42] Angela: Which we need.

[20:44] Paulette: Let’s talk about unions for a second. Despite what you may have heard, because we’re all surrounded by propaganda all the time, unions are a net good for society. Without them, we wouldn’t have weekends for crying out loud.

[20:57] Paulette: But not every organization that calls itself a union actually is. Angela and I started talking about unions and I used the police unions as an example of what happens when corrupt humans start running organizations. Oh my god, it’s even worse than I realized. Here, Angela schools is on the history of police unions.

[21:17] Paulette: It’s appalling and also not surprising given the current state of affairs. While according to the article I’ll post in the show notes from the LA Times saying that there’s no legal difference between unions and associations, there is a distinction. It comes down to what activities a professional association can and cannot engage in, like collective bargaining.

[21:38] Paulette: So let’s hear more about the police.

[21:41] Angela: The fun part about police unions are not all of them are unions. So they started as the Fraternal Order of the Brothers, like back in the day when policing was blatantly used for racist purposes. So it was a fraternity of brothers and a lot progressed into becoming associations and are not technically unions. But yet they have tons and tons of money. So, yeah, that’s the first thing about unions.

[22:14] Paulette: Alright, I want to tread this one carefully because just because you have money doesn’t make you an evil person, it’s how you use the money. Money is a tool.

[22:21] Angela: Money is influence in politics, 100%. Money is donating to candidates, getting them elected to push your agenda. It is putting propositions on the ballot. It is influencing the voters. It is freedom to influence. And the only thing we, the voters, have to combat that is literally our vote. Because I promise you, every person in the legislature, every candidate is hearing from unions, associations, chambers. All the different big industries, big corporations, they’re hearing from them all the time, I promise you, and they’re hearing from their checkbooks, too.

[23:08] Angela: The only thing we have to combat that is to make sure that we are showing up to vote. Because if they know their constituents are paying attention, if they know their constituents also have the power to put them in or keep them out of office, that’s when they start listening to constituents. They start listening to the voters, but if you don’t vote, if your community doesn’t vote, why would they listen to you?

[23:33] Paulette: Right.

[23:34] Angela: You’re not going to do anything for their career.

[23:36] Paulette: Apathy is the best tool that has ever been used against the will of the people. Well, it’s not going to make a difference, but that doesn’t mean you stop.

[23:48] Paulette: After we were done recording, Angela sent me the correct numbers for California Prop 36 that she’s going to tell us about now.

[23:54] Paulette: According to the Legislative Analyst’s Office’s Fiscal Impact Estimate Statement, Prop 36 will cost taxpayers more than 26 billion, with a B, 26 billion in prison costs over the next decade. The biggest prison spending increase in California history. Prop 36 also cuts 850 million in the next decade from dedicated funding for the mental health, drug treatment, victim services, re-entry, and crime prevention programs.

[24:30] Paulette: So keep those figures in mind going into this next part. And if you’re not in California, don’t skip this because I bet dollars to donuts that something similar to this is happening in your own state. And you should be aware of that too. We do after all have a federal prison system that also relies on private prisons and those might be in your state too.

[24:51] Paulette: Let’s change gears a little bit. Is there anything coming up on the California ballot or any state’s ballots, that we should be aware of? Or is there like any surprise that we might encounter come November?

[25:05] Angela: I think the biggest thing that we as Californians are going to be combating is going to be a lot of the propositions.

[25:13] Angela: There’s a lot of money behind some of them that are really bad for California. A lot of the organizers throughout the state, whether they’re regional, statewide, they’re really working together to push back and strategize. And fundraise against campaigns that are running billion dollar campaigns. So these like non profit organizations are collecting 5 donations here and there, right?

[25:41] Angela: So they have maybe a few thousand dollars in their budget, whereas they’re going up against some big funded propositions that are just so bad. And the one that comes top of mind was Prop 36. And that’s the one that is looking to overturn pieces of Prop 47. If you don’t remember, Prop 47 was passed in 2014, and that was the one that was put on the ballot to help reduce over incarceration and overcrowding in prisons.

[26:12] Angela: Because California’s prison system, people were on top of each other. There was the three strikes, there was the low threshold for, like, theft. It was tough on crime, 100 percent. Since COVID and just the way our economy, housing is, homelessness is, fentanyl, all these pieces coming together, there’s been this big push to kind of convince Californians that crime is up, but in reality it’s still like the lowest it’s been in decades.

[26:42] Angela: It just might look a little different due to COVID. We’re actually returning to pre COVID numbers of crime, like violent crime has been down this whole time. It never increased. But yet, you look on the news, or it’s just, crime is up, crime is up, how to keep your family safe. And it was all because of Prop 47.

[27:02] Angela: Prop 47 has just been drilled into the public’s head for over a year now. It’s been blamed because they knew they were going to put this on the ballot. So Prop 36 reverses pieces of Prop 47. So Prop 47, because we reduced the overpopulation, those funds for used, I think it was like 800 million.

[27:27] Paulette: Oh my god.

[27:28] Angela: It was huge. It was used to fund programs that help with mental health services, rehabilitation, homelessness. Like there were so many pieces that Prop 47 funded. All that money saved was put into resources that actually do keep communities safe. And those programs were successful. The recidivism rate for those programs were so much lower than all other California places that didn’t have it.

[27:59] Angela: So much lower than the nation. That worked. Our population went down and people were getting the services they needed and it was successful. Drug treatment, all that. If you look at the numbers, it was so successful and it’s only been implemented for 10 years. What’s going to happen with Prop 36, is they’re going to lower the threshold for retail theft.

[28:22] Angela: So it’s now will be instead of 900, it would be like 900 over three years of felony charge.

[28:31] Paulette: So they’re trying to stop these mob retail thefts at malls and stuff, right?

[28:35] Angela: Right. So it would be over three years. So if someone steals enough over three years and hits that 900, felon. You’re getting locked up. Because we’re locking up more people, cause there’s also like fentanyl charges on there. There’s a lot more charges. So we’re going back to over incarceration. We’re going back to filling up the jails and the prisons. That’s essentially what it does. You know, getting criminals off the street because it’s just big crime wave. But what that’s going to do is going to take away that prop 47 funding from those programs and put it back into our prison systems.

[29:09] Angela: So we’re losing that funding because now we’re putting that money back into prisons. And at the end of the day, that program, the LOB, the legislative office, the budget office, estimated it’s going to cost taxpayers an extra 26 million over 10 years. So not only does it take away funding from services that actually keep us safe, it’s going to cost taxpayers additionally to bring back the over policing, bring back the over incarceration, because it costs more to incarcerate.

[29:42] Angela: But you know who’s behind the funding for this?

[29:45] Paulette: I think we can all guess.

[29:46] Angela: California Corrections.

[29:49] Paulette: Of course it is. Which is a private group, right?

[29:51] Angela: Yes.

[29:52] Paulette: We have private prisons.

[29:54] Angela: Yes. It’s a business. It’s a business.

[29:57] Paulette: Which is gross.

[29:59] Angela: It’s super gross.

[30:00] Paulette: The entire concept of a for profit prison is disgusting. I think that’s one of, not the worst, but it is one of the worst concepts we as people have ever come up with.

[30:13] Paulette: We as human beings.

[30:15] Angela: Oh yeah. It’s so disgusting. And I’ll also mention it’s also funded by, I’m going to say names of names, Home Depot, Target, Walmart.

[30:26] Paulette: That’s going to hit us where it hurts, because how many of us don’t shop at Target? You choose Target over Walmart.

[30:34] Angela: Absolutely. But now, yeah, so they’re funding it and really what this comes down to is brick and mortar.

[30:42] Angela: These shops have been losing money. It’s not just retail theft. Like that isn’t even as big as the amount that they’re losing because of online spaces such as Amazon. That’s why they’re losing so much money. They can’t take on that, but they can take on this.

[31:00] Paulette: So, let’s recap here. A false narrative was created about the level of crime we are experiencing because crime is actually down.

[31:12] Paulette: But for the last several years, a disinformation campaign has been ongoing to convince us just people who live here, that crime is up. So in order to take back control of all of this crime— which isn’t true, crime is happening, but not to the levels that we are being led to believe they are— we’re going to remove the programs that work to avoid recidivism, to avoid crime, period, to end crime and the overpopulation problem, in order for prisons that make profits to allow them to make more profits. Am I getting that right?

[31:55] Angela: Yeah, so they’re essentially saying, don’t you want to walk down the street and feel safe? Let’s get those criminals off the street. Throw them in. Let’s not help them. Let’s not do things for the community and for the people in those communities that actually bring safer communities.

[32:10] Angela: Let’s just toss them. Let’s make money off of them. Let’s put them in the system.

[32:14] Paulette: Yikes. That actually just turned my stomach. The realization that this is what’s happening.

[32:21] Angela: Yeah.

[32:21] Paulette: Again, I am 46 years old. I have voted in every single election since 1998. I misspoke. I’m at 1996. That’s when I graduated from high school, 1996.

[32:32] Paulette: And I am now coming to grips with the fact that this is how it’s done. This is how we vote against our own best interests.

[32:41] Angela: Oh, yeah. And it’s very misleading. And it’s so hard to push back against that narrative because a lot of this narrative is being pushed by media. And I wouldn’t say like it’s media’s fault.

[32:54] Angela: I would say those type of stories sell. Those type of stories get eyeballs.

[33:01] Paulette: Media is also a business.

[33:03] Angela: It’s a business. And now with social media, anyone can record anything that’s happening and put it on. Look what’s happening. Look at this. Look at that. And the things spread. We had phones back in our days, when we were like younger, the amount of crime we could have put up.

[33:21] Paulette: Yeah. But you know what? At the end of the day, does that help? We all watched Rodney King get beaten.

[33:28] Angela: Oh yeah.

[33:29] Paulette: And then we all watched those people walk away scot free. And that’s something we’re talking about from the 90s.

[33:35] Angela: Yeah. It goes back to the people that have the power to create the narrative.

[33:40] Paulette: Right.

[33:41] Angela: And unfortunately, perception is reality. I mean, you can put out the statistics, you can put out the actual numbers, you can put out the budgets and say, look at this. But if they perceive that their world is unsafe, if our communities perceive that, if that’s what they’re being fed, that is their reality.

[34:02] Angela: That’s what they carry because that’s what they’re digesting. So I mean, you could put whatever statistics you want about any issue But if that’s not what they see as their reality, it’s, no, it’s wrong. It’s hard to push back against that.

[34:15] Paulette: And yet you show up every day and do it.

[34:18] Angela: Every freaking day.

[34:20] Paulette: You and all of your colleagues across the country doing this work, you’re still doing it. So much applause to you and your organizations for picking up this fight for us. For us, right? Taxpayers don’t pay your salary, right? No, you have grant funding.

[34:36] Angela: Mm hmm. We work for our funding.

[34:38] Paulette: Yeah.

[34:40] Angela: Yeah. No, no Home Depot and Walmart wants to fund us. I’ll tell you that much.

[34:45] Paulette: Man. Once again, I want to remind you to be careful what you consume.

[34:51] Paulette: Make informed choices about where you’re getting your news and don’t rely solely on social media. Because the algorithms are built on outrage. We’ve seen what has happened with some stupid post a woman made on Facebook about Haitians eating your pets. Again, they’re built on outrage. That’s what gets traction.

[35:11] Paulette: So that’s what gets served up to you. We should all be outraged that the prison systems that are working are ready to be dismantled so that Target and Walmart can eke out a few extra bucks that they lost to Amazon. Not theft. Amazon. That’s what Prop 36 is about. Not keeping you safer. But so that the fat pigs that own retail corporations and for profit prisons can rake in even more money.

[35:37] Paulette: That’s not the only proposition on our ballots that will confuse you about their real intentions. And if you want to know more about how media, all media, social and traditional, creates and trades in harmful stereotypes, check out the episode lists in the show notes. I have a few. Alright, the big takeaway here is to follow the money.

[35:56] Angela: Oh, absolutely.

[35:57] Paulette: Because that reveals what the real agenda is. So, it’s funny that earlier you brought up real estate developers. So much money comes from real estate developers for things that are against the better interests of all of us as a whole, right? Like, for example Palos Verdes is falling into the water. And yet developers decided, no, we can sell this to people, knowing full well that a landslide was, like, it was eventually going to happen.

[36:30] Paulette: And it’s happening. Now it is happening. So the utilities have pulled out. And people can’t leave because they have nowhere to go. And these aren’t necessarily rich people living on the oceanfront. They were just regular schmoes like us and now their, their homes are valued at millions of dollars or they were until about a week ago, or by the time this airs, until about a month ago, and yet they’re stuck.

[36:53] Paulette: So this entire scenario was created because someone thought they could dupe a buck out of someone. And they were passing that responsibility off to a future generation. So what Angela and I are here talking about is how we can pass on a better generation. How we can, instead of looking to win, move the needle in the right direction.

[37:19] Paulette: And that’s incremental. Every election is another attempt at this, right? It’s never ending. That’s what I think you were saying about we’re not winning a fight because it’s constant. We have to stay vigilant. We have to continue to look at what we’re being fed, what our, our consumption is on the medias, the social media, the TV media, the print media.

[37:43] Paulette: What are we being fed to believe? Are we being duped? Where is the money coming from? Who profits from things changing in this way? I’m really glad that you educated us on Prop 36 because that’s huge. That is really huge.

[38:00] Angela: And it’s heartbreaking and it’s scary to think that it might really pass. Just because of the billions of dollars that’s behind that campaign and the amount of time they’ve been working on it. We didn’t really get to work on it until it became official on the ballot, which was like a month ago. So, the time, the runway we have is much shorter than the runway they’ve been working on because this has been their plan all along. Similarly to Roe v. Wade, that’s been a long runway that folks have been working on since Once the decision came out, there was already people working to push back and get it reversed, and that was a long runway.

[38:42] Angela: So by the time we saw it coming, we had a short runway to combat that, but the pieces were already in place. The Supreme Court was already built. There was like very little we could do with that, and now we’re fighting back.

[38:56] Paulette: Let’s suppose I’m a new voter. I am 18 years old. This is the first election I get to vote in. I’m super excited. You know, the, the apathy of years of doing this hasn’t hit yet. There’s still enthusiasm there. I still believe I can change the world, which by the way, you should never let go of. You can still change the world. Even if your world isn’t as large as you originally thought, we can change it.

[39:18] Paulette: Okay. What are we trying to tell the brand new voter? And maybe the voter that’s coming right behind them, the 14 year old right now, the 10 year old. What do we want them to take away so that when it’s their turn, hopefully we’ve laid a foundation where the Supreme Court looks different. We’ve now given them a runway that’s a little bit more optimistic.

[39:41] Angela: I would tell them to find those organizations that are doing the work that they care about. Use them to learn, because likely they will be pushing for legislation. Likely they will be pushing for federal level candidates. Likely they’ll be pushing for certain ballot measures. And likely they’re also going to be the ones to bring to light the money. Because they are the ones that are going to do the research to find out what’s really the motive here and where the money is coming from.

[40:15] Angela: So find those organizations that are doing the work that you care about. Organizations that you trust. Go start in your community. There are regional organizations. Find out what organizations are working to pass good policy at the city level, at the state level. Learn from them. And if you’re ready, go to the state level, go to the congressional level, and just start paying attention.

[40:40] Angela: Because even though this is a presidential election, the president can only do so much with the Congress they’re given. And the Congress we have right now, this particular week, we just saw a lot of congressional members not say anything about gun violence, gun regulation. Silence. We’re back to the thoughts and prayers conversation.

[41:05] Paulette: Those do nothing.

[41:08] Angela: Absolutely nothing.

[41:09] Paulette: They do less than nothing.

[41:10] Angela: They do less than nothing.

[41:12] Paulette: I think they do damage. I don’t want your thoughts and prayers. I want action.

[41:15] Angela: So pay attention to those that are going in Congress because they’re the ones representing you when they go to the White House. Those are your congressional members.

[41:25] Angela: And remember that even if you send them to the White House, they have in district offices that you can go to. You can make appointments and visit your state legislature. They have in district offices probably down the street from you, you don’t even know it. You can make appointments, you can call them, you can ask them what they’re doing.

[41:44] Angela: You can go tell them like, Hey, what’s happening here? I voted for you. What’s happening here? Sit with your city council. City council is even more accessible. You can get right in front of the person and be like, I’m going to come in your office. I’d like to meet with my council member.

[42:00] Paulette: You know what? What I’m realizing as we’re talking, the thing that I really wish that I had recognized when I was the new voter, when I was 18 and, you know, Bill Clinton came to my school. That’s how long ago we’re talking about kids.

[42:12] Angela: He was cool. He had a saxophone.

[42:13] Paulette: Right? Oh, life was…different then. What I wish I had recognized was that I hadn’t gotten wrapped up in the media circus, because this is what we’re being sold again, of the federal level elections. Because what makes the most impact is who’s mayor, like you were saying, who’s city council, who’s representing your district, the one that you live in every day.

[42:39] Paulette: And the culture that shapes that district, your neighborhood, all of these offices are even more important than who’s president, because that has a direct impact on your day to day. And so I, that’s what I would want new voters to take away that yes, who’s president is important. It is sexy to talk about and debate, and we can go round and round and round on the president.

[43:04] Paulette: But what affects your life directly, is everything down ballot in your city, in your neighborhood, in your county. And those aren’t sexy. We don’t talk about them. We don’t talk about them around the dinner table because the media isn’t paying attention. And so it’s our job as citizens to pay attention.

[43:24] Angela: Yeah.

[43:24] Paulette: And to find that info. And that’s the reason that organizations like Courage California exists to make us aware.

[43:30] Angela: And give you the resources like Courage Score, like voter guides. We’re going to have our voter guide that’s going to come out. So we even have our Courage California Institute, which is our C3, so it doesn’t push legislation, it only educates, which has breakdowns of all the different counties in California, how to vote in those counties.

[43:49] Angela: It has breakdowns of like the Supreme Court, campaign money, council meetings, like everything. All the different stuff you need to know. Or if you want to know, if you’re a nerd like me, about how our country works and how people can actually make change with this system that we’ve inherited. So, the C3 exists, Courage California Institute, but then if you actually, like, if you want to be in the action and push for progressive values, that’s Courage California, and those are where we have more resources to really help move that needle.

[44:23] Angela: So, we have the resources, the organizations that are in your community have resources. They want to support you, they want to help you, they want new voters to come out. And just make sure you find the ones that you trust, and that are pushing the things you care about, and that are being transparent about where they’re getting their information from.

[44:46] Angela: It’s so important because we are being fed propaganda from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to bed. 100%. And it is so hard to navigate elections with or without propaganda. So, yes. Find those trusted messengers that you can rely on.

[45:04] Paulette: It’s very clear in this election what we’re fighting against in the presidential campaign.

[45:09] Paulette: You know, it’s, it’s very clear, it’s very clear where the money’s going. The Elon Musks of the world are endorsing one candidate and the rest of us are endorsing another one. Great. So we see that money. That, that transparency is there because again, the media circus, the media turned it into a circus and just covers it 24 7.

[45:24] Paulette: But like Angela is saying, the stuff that directly affects you, the stuff that tomorrow you’re going to have to deal with, that is either going to make your life better or worse, that’s not getting the coverage. And you have to seek it out and it’s our job, again, as citizens of where we live, to do that for ourselves and for the betterment of our families and our spheres of influence and everybody around us.

[45:52] Paulette: And so it’s great that everybody is wearing their pearls and their Chucks, I call them lifting shoes because that’s what they are for me. That’s wonderful. But at the end of the day, what’s happening in your own backyard? So the organizations like Courage California are transparent about stuff like that.

[46:09] Paulette: So the transparency needs to be more obvious and like we were talking about, Prop 22, four years ago. Prop 36, this election cycle. The money behind them isn’t necessarily obvious like it is for the presidential campaign. So when we get down to the nitty gritty level where we live, us people who aren’t billionaires, and are being shoved information from the people who are billionaires, it will only better their lives if we vote this way. We have to be very aware. And it sucks. It sucks to have to do more homework, but

[46:43] Angela: It sucks.

[46:45] Paulette: You know, the school of hard knocks has taught us that if we don’t do this homework, we get screwed.

[46:51] Angela: Yes, it is hard and you just have to remind yourself that those who are in power want to keep power. The ones that have been in power for decades, they are clinging on to that power and they’re going to cling on as hard as they can and they’re going to do what they can. For this generation, probably even next generation, it’s going to take a few generations.

[47:15] Paulette: Yeah, yeah.

[47:16] Angela: That’s why the fight is so important. That’s why we still show up. As disillusioned and as exhausted as we all are, we still show up. And we trust. And we work for the betterment of the future. We work for the next generations. Cause, you know, I know this is a childless cat lady show. I’m a childless dog lady.

[47:39] Angela: So I don’t have a lot of stake in this next generation. But I’ll tell you what. I love my state. I love my community. I want to see it thrive. I want to see that my neighbor’s kids have a path to success. I want to see justice in my community. I want to see equity in my community. Because I live here regardless if I have kids, regardless if I have stake, this is my community.

[48:02] Angela: I want to see it healthy. I want to see it strive. I want to see it have access to parks, clean air, clean water. I want to see actual family values.

[48:14] Angela: I do.

[48:14] Paulette: No, I’m only laughing because that is such a buzzword for the other side.

[48:19] Angela: Yeah.

[48:20] Paulette: They claim to be the side of family values when no, everything they do, including creating prisons for profit, are diametrically opposed to true family values.

[48:31] Angela: Yeah, I want the black maternity mortality rate to go down. I want people to be able to afford to go to the doctor. I want people to be able to afford child care, to have healthy meals, to have healthy meals in school. I don’t want our kids being fed shit and having diabetes later in life. That is only gonna benefit the diabetes industry.

[48:53] Angela: Like, come on.

[48:54] Paulette: Again, it all comes down to money. I don’t want kids going to school where the only fruit they get is the tomato sauce on the pizza. That’s not a vegetable. It’s not. It’s sugar. I’m not saying pizza isn’t good. Pizza is fantastic. Just like, we want kids to have fiber and nutrients. And again, we don’t have kids, Angela and I.

[49:14] Paulette: And the whole childless cat lady trope that’s very, very popular right now, we’re going to lean into because fine, if that’s how you want to see us, but the truth of the matter is, we do care. about other people’s kids.

[49:26] Angela: Oh, absolutely.

[49:26] Paulette: Because we have something that is apparently in very short supply in certain circles in this country, and that’s called empathy. So we are very much aware that even though we don’t have kids, what we do matters after we’re gone.

[49:41] Angela: I say, I’m too busy mothering my community, mothering the future. I care, I invest, and I’m putting my all in this because I really do want to see the next generation thrive. I want to see my people thrive. We deserve to, as much as anybody else, but we’ve had a long fight, and I say we as a Mexican American. California, it was Mexico.

[50:07] Angela: We don’t have the same history as the East Coast, we have a very different history. I see this as our land. I see this as our resources that was taken from us. That were in this system that we need to push back every day. Because this is our land, our future generations deserve to be on this land and thrive.

[50:28] Angela: And I believe that 100%.

[50:31] Paulette: We’re here to be stewards of the land and the people and better, better for people who come after us. Just better. One of the ways to do that is to get out there and vote for our interests, not against them. The way we can do that is to rely on organizations like Courage California and people like Angela who are doing the work for us.

[50:49] Paulette: They are doing the homework. It’s a group project, y’all.

[50:52] Angela: It is a group project.

[50:54] Paulette: So let’s reap the benefits of their work and all get an A+

[50:58] Angela: Yes. You’re not alone in this. It is very hard. It is very messy. There are so many levels to understand, but just know there are organizations that are out there.

[51:07] Angela: There’s people that are out there and we’re doing the good work. We’re putting in the good fight. So seek those people out. Find the helpers.

[51:17] Paulette: Find the helpers. Yes, Mr. Rogers was a gift to humanity.

[51:21] Angela: Yeah.

[51:22] Paulette: All right, Angela, we have, I think we’ve made our point. We will have to repeat this point over and over and over. Obviously once isn’t enough. But is there anything else that you would like people to know either about this election or about Angela herself?

[51:37] Angela: I founded a non profit here in my hometown in 2009. Ran it for 15 years. And our organization really worked to funnel Latinas into volunteering in our communities and civic engagement, civic involvement.

[51:54] Angela: Our community, we’re not a big volunteering community. I’m just going to put that out there. But there’s a lot of people who want to volunteer and want to give. And I just felt like I needed to create this space for Latinas to come together. Cause I’ve always been a big volunteer and I’ve always been involved with a lot of different organizations that serve our people and they just didn’t have the ability to serve cultures adequately. Regardless of language, just understanding different cultures.

[52:21] Angela: And a lot of the population they were serving were the Latinx community here in my County. It’s a huge population, but the services themselves, the organizations, it was very staffed by white people. The volunteers, white people. So to adequately reach and serve, really help the people that were going there for help, there needed to be folks that had the know how. Who spoke the same language, not just in terms of like linguistics, but in culture, in history and understanding.

[52:55] Angela: So I brought in these volunteers and it went from having 15 members to 400 members within like a few years. And we were serving in all different facets. Some people like to volunteer with puppies, awesome. Some people like to volunteer with kids, great. We had volunteers doing so many things, but what that really did was become a pathway for civic engagement. Because we were volunteering in a lot of these organizations and over 15 years, a lot can change in those organizations.

[53:28] Angela: A lot of funding can change in those organizations. One moment, we’re serving victims of human trafficking. The next year, that program is cut. The federal government cut funds, which trickled down all the way to our county and our ability to serve victims of human trafficking. And that’s when volunteering led to questions. Led to, how did this happen?

[53:56] Angela: Led to more civic engagement, civic involvement. Volunteering was really a pathway to civic engagement. Just understanding how these programs don’t just live on their own.

[54:09] Paulette: Right.

[54:09] Angela: They’re impacted at so many levels. Those federal dollars go that we don’t even realize all the time that we don’t even question a lot of the time and how the resources we sometimes take for granted and just assume they will always be there, but they won’t.

[54:25] Paulette: That’s true.

[54:26] Angela: So whether you get involved by volunteering, whether you get involved by just going to your school board meetings, go to a school board meeting, pay attention to that. Start small and just be willing to learn. You don’t gotta know it all.

[54:42] Paulette: So your pipeline to civic engagement started with volunteering?

[54:46] Angela: Yeah. Well, I started volunteering when I was a kid.

[54:48] Paulette: So this is always going to be your path?

[54:50] Angela: Yeah.

[54:51] Paulette: Well, Angela, thank you so much for your time today, for the good work that you’re doing every day, even when I’m sure it’s just overwhelming. And I really, really hope that everybody listening can take some hope away from this, but also the directive to get involved, even in the smallest ways, because this does impact us directly.

[55:15] Angela: Yes, we need you. Get involved. I need you. I need you to show up for me. You don’t want to show up for yourself? Fine, show up for me, please.

[55:22] Paulette: Find your empathy and show up, damn it. All right, will you wrap us up, please, Angela?

[55:27] Angela: That’s a burrito.

[55:28] Paulette: Hey, mira, if this episode made you feel some kind of way, dígame. Dm me on Instagram.

[55:36] Paulette: Or, send me a text. You can do that right from your phone. If you want to be a guest on the show and put your story out there too, check out the guest form on my website at pauletterato. com slash guest. Yep, just my name. PauletteErato. com slash guest. Y no se te olvide que hay más perks when you join the newsletter.[55:57] Paulette: Todos estos links están en los show notes. Muchísimas gracias for your support y hasta la próxima vez, cuídate bien.