Social issue

But we're at a point now where both parties have an opportunity to redefine themself, and whichever party does it the best and does it honestly and tells voters that the country's broken, like we're, we're a broken country right now, and is honest about how we go about fixing it, I think that's gonna be the party that's-

Well, so, or, or, or do you think that it's going to just lead to continuing partisan entrenchment? Because I think you're, like, yeah, sure, maybe the honest pitch could work, but the way I see it is I see Vance's answer the other n- uh, just two, a couple nights ago about what socialism was as sort of, right, where he said, "I don't really know what it means anymore, but to me in America, socialism means that they want, you know, the government to run everything, and they want to put boys in girls' sports." I do, I feel like Republicans, in order to get that kind of down-ballot attention from people who aren't really party affiliated, you see Republicans leaning way more into the social issues.

For sure.

And Democrats leaning way more into the, "We're gonna make everything free-"

[laughs]

Um, but it's interesting, uh, you know, these differences between Democrats and Republicans because Meredith, you wrote a piece this week talking about the difference between Democratic and Republican campaigning in this election cycle so far, uh, about the role of social issues.

Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Yeah.

So social issues are not the front and center for either side.

Obviously, we know that property taxes, affordability, data centers, all those things are every- on everyone's list.

But- The right, the right, Republicans have not shied away from mixing in and including social issues.

It can be something simple like a, a comment of someone being woke or something, or it can be a, a very pointed, um, ad about, uh, things like bathrooms, uh, s- women's, uh, men and women's sports, uh, transgender issues, like those kind of things, reminding people of past votes by their Democratic opponents.

Yet she and her teammate Sophie Cunningham are the bane of many of their fellow professional women's basketball players, coaches in the league, and a lot of the social activists around the country who see this not as competition for women, but an opportunity to interject politics into sports.

Where news, sports, politics, and social issues intersect, you find The Bill Mick Podcast.

There was one former NBAer who is now a journalist and activist.

His name's Ethan Thomas.

A link to them at the bottom of our website at billmick.com. And you don't have to do the paperwork I did as a policeman, so think about that.

This is the Bill Mick Podcast, and we pick it up in just moments here on billmick.com.

Living at the intersection of news, sports, politics, and social issues, the Bill Mick Podcast continues on this Wednesday, the 7th of October, 2026.

321-788-6425, 321-788-MICK.

[laughs] That they didn't fight back against this.

If our society had no social problems at all, the leftists would have to invent problems in order to provide themselves with an excuse for making a fuss.

I'm ... [laughs]

Yeah.

That sounds familiar.

[laughs] He seems to be socially liberal and fiscally conservative.

[laughs] All right, so next one is sources of social problems.

Any of the four symptoms can occur in any society.

Carl says, I've had a soft spot for Malcolm Hulk stories.

I liked how he brought emerging social issues into a sci-fi setting.

Well, that's what sci-fi is great for, is like you can make comment without it looking like you're doing a dramatic story of the week about something.

Because that's, you know, my story that is in the independent fantasy and science fiction magazine this month is about a certain type of work relationship.

And how unfair it is? Anyway.

Carl says, I liked how he brought emerging social issues into a sci-fi setting.

At the time, I also enjoyed seeing the Doctor and Joe get away from Earth to another Welsh quarry.

Serves those IMC miners right for their disdain for the original inhabitants.

A knowledge of their fathers and grandfathers is in these days the wisdom of the minority.

the realities of life rest at present chiefly with the middle and lower classes the moral force the mass of wealth and the preponderance of hard strong matter-of-fact knowledge lies with them theirs is the very antipodes of beautified exotic drawing-room existence labour is not beautiful in its aspect never has been beautiful it is stern rugged difficult presenting no affinities with the refined and delicate influences of life amongst the higher classes and yet it is absolutely necessary for the well-being of the men belonging to both that the two classes should be reconciled in their sympathies this is the grand social problem that has yet to be solved the men belonging to the mercantile and industrial orders rise every morning with a definite task before them for the day work that imperatively requires to be done which takes their whole time and tasks their whole energies their whole time and energy is absorbed in the management of concerns larger or smaller as the case may be but which often involve the well-being of an immense number of persons the men employed by them are so many machines but the lowest porter in the establishment is separated from the head of it only by the accident of position and by no inherent disability if he have capacity he may attain anything masters and men form one large class together but there is yet a class who are virtually a lower order still below that we have named they are becoming every day of more importance, because they are every day growing more aware of their own individuality, and feel less reverence for those above them.

They are linked with the wealth and civilisation of the country, though they themselves are neither wealthy nor civilised.

They are the people who benefit the least by their emancipation from serfdom, They have the full right to manage themselves and their own affairs, but they have neither the wisdom nor the means of guiding themselves.

Their wisdom is of the kind designated by St. James, as earthly, sensual, devilish.

it is a vulpine egoistic fear of being taken in in good times when all goes smoothly and trade prospers there is little danger from them they are not incited to discontent but an outbreak from the mass lying at the very bottom of society would be very terrible and fatal to all who have established any stake for themselves in the world they are altogether unfit and unable to guide themselves, and are capable of being very dangerous under any extraordinary pressure or excitement.

at first sight one would be tempted to consider a mild slavery to enlightened masters the most compendious way of providing for this semi-rational mass so that they might be taken care of and provided for like domestic animals and redeemed from their sordid misery to a life of reasonable comfort that is not the solution of the difficulty nor the manner in which any class would be justified in dealing with a social problem task is far more difficult they must be taught and educated and civilized ready-made animal comforts provided for men without any thought or foresight of their own enervates them destroys the root of all energy and manliness within them degrades them to the rank of cattle but though those above them are not bound to conduct their worldly affairs for them they are bound to see that they have instruction and means of acquiring the necessary practical skill for themselves what is everybody's business is nobody's business says the proverb and what is left to the optional and voluntary efforts of those who may feel their conscience moved will not be adequately done to civilize a mass like the lowest orders in this country requires a well digested and imperative system to educate and civilize an entire class effectively to raise them to the rank of rational beings cannot be done by the efforts of amateur benevolence and never will get done by those means a government ought to be the focus of the enlightenment and wisdom of a country it has the unlimited command of all needful means for the best mode of instructing and civilising those who have no means of getting instruction for themselves who are too brutishly ignorant to know whether there be such a thing as education however desirable it may be that the other classes should cooperate for the benefit of their ignorant brethren.

Still, the responsibility of seeing that the work is done rests entirely on a government, and no theory can transfer the burthen to others.

We did something in April called the Boney Blythe Mini-Con, which we were panelists at.

We did some social issues there.

We talked about AI.

Angela and I were both there.

So she takes too many Xanax and ends up in a hospital.

So I do touch on self-abuse of suicide attempts.

There are some social issues there.

And of course, there's...