Transcript of Episode 3

LaMondre Pough: Welcome to 3DVU one conversation, three different perspectives. I’m LaMondre Pough.

David Pérez:  I am David Perez

Richard Streitz: And I´m Richard Streitz thank you for joining us.

LaMondre Pough: Amidst the rapid change that’s happening, throughout, not only the United States, but really throughout the world. There’s something else that’s emerging as well. And that’s diversity in politics. And what’s really interesting about that, and this is, I don’t think there’s anything that makes that more evident than presumptive democratic nominee for president Joe Biden, choosing Kamala Harris as his running mate.

Now, for those of you who are not familiar with Kamala Harris, she is an African American woman who is a Senator from California and she used to serve as, she was once California’s attorney general. And, um, she really is an interesting choice for vice president. I think she’s an incredible a person, but this choice is obviously going to be met with some resistance, but also a ton of enthusiasm. So what we’re going to talk about today is just that diversity in the political system and what that means for democracy. So David and Richard, you guys ready to go?

Richard Streitz: Let’s do it.

LaMondre Pough: Let’s talk about it then. So Kamala Harris as the choice for the vice presidential running mate, what do you guys think about this choice, bold move or error?

Richard Streitz: Well, uh, you know, I, I think it’s, it’s definitely a bold move and I think it, it is an interesting choice, you know, as you said, uh, there are certainly going to be individuals which um, may question that only because of some of her track record as the, um, as the attorney general in California and her record with some of the decisions she’s made there.

Um, but you know, she’s, she’s tough. She’s extremely smart. Just a very, you know, she’s certainly very capable of not only doing the VP position, but, uh, but being able to step into the presidential position, if that’s necessary. I certainly have no doubt that she’s extremely capable of handling that.

But, um, but I think, you know, getting up to that, you know, the, the road to that has been very, very tough. It’s not an easy path to get oneself into the position of being a contender for those, either of those roles. Uh, and, and so she’s, she’s shown that she has the ability to be able to withstand the, the pressures that are required and the, um, and the organization that’s required in order to get her to that position.

Um, so, so she’s, a, she’s a good choice. She’s also not necessarily a Washington hound, uh, which, you know, some other of the choices sort of have been, um, you know, they they’re, they’re more familiar and more typical of roaming the halls in Washington. And so in that regard, she sort of a fresh face coming in, which I think is really, really important.

Um, and, and, uh, to, to a lot of the, uh, of the people in the country right now, um, uh, you know, as opposed to Joe who has been in the White House and, and been roaming around Washington for, for decades. Um, and so he, and he always consideres himself and reversed himself as that transitional, um, uh, candidate.

So I think it’s important that a, that he’s picked an individual, um, that, uh, that shows diversity because I think that’s really, really important in, in, you know, now in this period of time, she’s someone who is certainly very, very capable. It is a bold, bold move. Um, she is UpToDate she’s relevant.

Um, she is, uh, she’s up to speed with, uh, social media and being able to leverage and utilize that, um, in her, in her political machine, in her, in her wheelhouse. So, um, so she’s very, which again, isn’t, Joe’s strong point. He has people that do that, but he himself has really sort of, not necessarily as connected with all of that, where she is just front and center and understands how all that works, you know, personally herself and the realities and importance of that.

So, um, so yeah, bold, bold candidate, um, uh, to do, you know, it’s, it’s certainly going to raise eyebrows, I think, but I think everyone’s going to warm up to her in seeing how she’s transitioned. I mean, she was the attorney general in California at a period of time where some tough decisions had to be made and not necessarily popular decisions, but tough decisions.

And, and, uh, and you know, whether you agree with it or not, she, she, she stood by them and made those decisions, um, and not being swayed necessarily by political powers around or public opinion. And so I think that’s really important in a leader, um, that we have somebody who makes those tough decisions.

LaMondre Pough: And that’s the job.

The job is to make tough decisions. That’s what it’s about. David?

David Pérez: Yeah, no, that, that, of course being a vice president, it’s not an easy job and you have to be prepared for it. And I think that, that she has proven with her track record, that she is very well positioned to do that. One interesting thing that, that, that I found astonishing is that it’s going to be the first woman vice president in the US, so that means there has never been another woman.

That has…

Richard Streitz: There’s been other candidates that have run.

David Pérez: Occupied that office, right? Yeah. But it, I hope I have that, that hope that she’s going to win and she’s going to be the first one to have made the office.

Richard Streitz: Agreed.

David Pérez: And Costa Rica had a woman president, I think two terms ago. Yeah. About two terms ago.

Richard Streitz: Actually when I was living there, she was president.

David Pérez: Yeah. And, and of course that, that was a big shock and, for, for the most, most of the population.

And we were one of the first countries in Latin America to actually have a woman president. But what I see in that is, is doors being opened more than anything else. It is showing that there, diversity can actually be the norm instead of just be something that you add up on the white guys.

Right. Because. It opens, it opens so so much, so many doors for so many people. Her, her, her heritage also shows a lot of, of the US, right.

She has an Indian mother and a Jamaican father. She is basically born from immigrants. She, she is America. She is what I understand America is, a lot of diversity in itself.

So I think it was the right choice, mostly because of that. I think America wanted someone that represented them, not only the white American population.

LaMondre Pough: Right. I think I, I, you know, you, you guys both bring up very interesting points, but there are a couple of things that I want to kind of kind of look at, you know, you said that in Costa Rica, maybe, uh, two terms ago, it was a woman president?

David Pérez: Yeah, it has been eight years ago.

LaMondre Pough: Yeah, eight years ago. So there was a woman president Richard said it was during the time that he lived there. So when I think back on on America’s political, um, history, I think about Shirley Chisholm being the first woman, uh, to run for president. Then we had Geraldine, Geraldine Ferraro, uh, who ran as the vice presidential candidate with Walter Mondale.

Then after that we’ve had, um, Hillary Clinton, uh, who was the candidate for the presidency. And now we have Kamala as a VP, um, nomination. So when we look at this, you know, w with those, what that was four, um, four, four, four women, um, you would think that a country like America, that puports um, equality and, and representation and all of that, that it would be a much deeper history than that, but that’s about what we have.

That’s about what we have, and I may have missed one in there, but, um, but, but I know it’s not, it’s not a whole lot more than that. What do you think the significants is going to be for America with this choice? What is the real significance in terms of, um, in terms of how, how we see ourselves as a country and what it represents to the rest of the world?

Richard Streitz: Yeah. You know, um, I think, you know, as, as David you mentioned, um, having an individual that represents more, I think, uh, a larger part of population of the, of the U S that for the most part has been sidelined or not necessarily front and center. Um, I, I think that’s really important. It’s certainly a much better, um, cross section of who we are as a diverse population.

Um, and, and I think we are going to see much, much more of that, um, of, of individuals, uh, creeping into, uh, the various positions, senators, assemblymen, congressmen, um, or congresspersons, people I should say. Um, again, old habit, uh, um, you know, w w it’s it’s we have a really diverse, uh, assembly in DC, um, and it’s, and every term it seems to get more and more, which is, which is fantastic.

I see, you know, as you said, it’s, it, it hasn’t happened necessarily overnight. Um, but I think it’s exciting to see that as young people, um, are going through, uh, through university and coming out, they’re getting interested in politics. They see the need for, for that involvement and, and a diverse population of, of youths that are getting involved. Um, and that’s, that’s the future. Um, you know, we have some, um, we have some very young, uh, um, Congress people in, in, in current administration that, uh, in the current sessions there that, uh, um, that, that are young and diverse and, and, uh, And, and they didn’t get there overnight.

You know, it takes a lot of hard work and it’s exciting to see, um, that population, um, All, all of those individuals see that there is the ability for them to be able to make that. And I think it’s the, um, it’s those individuals that you mentioned that were before, um, that provide that, that, uh, that light ahead of them that said, ‘Hey, you know what, if they can do it, I can do it’.

Um, and the more we see are that it becomes exponential as, as, as we see larger and larger groups of different people represented, um, which is the way it should be. Um, yeah so it’s been slow roll. It’s been a very slow, too slow, uh, for us to get to this point. But, um, but it’s, it’s a genie that has come out of the bottle and it’s not going back and it’s only become, going to be get more and more diverse.

So I think it’s a good thing.

David Pérez: It was bound to happen right?

LaMondre Pough: Absolutely. Absolutely. And I’ll tell you, man, the a 116th Congress, it was really the most diverse Congress that we’ve ever had. Now having said that it’s still woefully unrepresentative of the population of the U S but it’s more diverse than it had ever been before.

Richard Streitz: Yeah, very true.

LaMondre Pough: And, uh, and, and so we still have a long way to go, but yeah, it’s amazing. And I would even, I would even dare to say that much of that is because of the current administration. That people, you know, that because people were not satisfied with the way that things were going. We had, you know, the, the, the, the rising of the ‘me too’ movement, uh, then the, the, the divisiveness of, of racial tensions, i.e. Charlottesville, Virginia, um, and, and the things that happened, uh, around those times.

And so it inspired and encouraged, um, diverse populations to really get involved. And what’s funny is that it happened across all levels. It wasn’t just like a push for Congress, but even in local situations, people really began, became active. And that wave is still riding. We’re still moving forward in that.

So it’s really been interesting to see how the face of politics is changing, um, because people are tired and they feel like if anybody can make a change, I can make a change. And I think that that’s absolutely wonderful.

David Pérez: Yeah. And that’s a testament to democracy itself, right? The fact that people are taking to actually getting involved into politics and making sure that their voices are heard is, is a testament that democracy works in one way or another to at least make your voice heard, right. To, to try to make a dent into the system. And that’s why I was saying that Kamala opens doors, because she’s going to be very, very visual. Everyone’s going to know about her, right? There’s no way that you’re not going to know about a vice president of the U S even if you, right now, I can bet you that most of the world doesn’t care about the Congress in the U S they don’t really know about anyone, but they know about Trump. And they know about Mike Pence and they knew about Obama. And they knew about, about Joe Joe Biden, right?

Because the U S are leaders. Even if they don’t do the right thing always, they are leaders.

And a lot of countries around here do what the U S is doing.

Richard Streitz: They follow suit.

David Pérez: So being able to see that diversity in politics upfront in the U S I think is going to bring a lot of good changes across the board, because we have to remember, there’s a lot of diversity in the world, and there’s a lot of diversity in the U S that’s not being represented.

And if those, those voices are not being represented, they’re probably not being heard. And if they are not being heard, their needs are not being attended. And that is what creates inequality. And the biggest problem that we have right now with COVID is inequality. And I think that being able to see yourself and believe in the system is going to bring a lot of people, a lot of drive to get those changes.

LaMondre Pough: Yeah. Yeah.

Richard Streitz: Yeah.

LaMondre Pough: I would definitely agree with that. And I guess that, that leads me to my next round of questioning in terms of, as, you said two terms ago in Costa Rica, there was a, uh, a woman president, what, during that election cycle and, and all that happened, what was the general mood and feeling of the country in itself as, as, once they realized, okay.

During the race or during the election period, but then especially after she won.

Richard Streitz: Oh, very, well, that’s a very interesting, you know, so I was not there at the actual election. So when I moved there, she was already president and I can, I can give you some what I experienced, so David, I’m interested to hear what that election cycle was like, and I can give you, some, what I experienced, um, at the time I was there, I was doing, dealing with a lot of, of construction work, a lot of the general, the major general contractors and, and architect firms in Costa Rica.

So I’ll give you a perspective of, of their feelings and the feedback I got from that. But anyway, I want to hear what the election cycles.

David Pérez: Okay. So that election cycle was pretty fun. Right before her candidacy was announced. She was actually vice-president. She was in government with Óscar Arias.

Óscar Arias was one president that we had that was reelected in, for that term, but he was president for the first time in 1986, I think. And he’s actually a Nobel Prize winner, uh, Peace Nobel Prize winner. So he had all the support and a political machinery doing the work to get him elected. And of course he wanted his policies and programs to continue. In Costa Rica we only have four year terms and he wanted someone that he could trust that he could have do the things that he wanted to do. And he thought about Laura, Laura Chinchilla, and her candidacy was supported by one of the biggest political figures in Costa Rica.

So it was not a normal candidacy. It was almost a given that she had won.

Even before it started. And even though it was a given because of the party and her, her background, it was a hard battle with, with PAC, Partido Acción Ciudadana, which is now in government. And why was that fight big? Because she was a woman. People were not sure that a government, that a woman would be a good president

She had everything to win.

And even though, it was a very, very hard battle, but the election cycle went, came and went and she won, very well, very well won election. And she did a good, a good job as president. I can’t say that she did not do a good job as president, but I don’t see a woman getting elected again. People have that, that much resentment towards governments in Costa Rica that they think it was all because she was a woman, nothing, everything bad that happened is because she was a woman. So they had, they decided to translate it.

LaMondre Pough: Yeah. So it wasn’t about policy. It wasn’t about economic conditions. It wasn’t about any of those things. It was purely because of her gender.

David Pérez: It was purely because of her gender and it is sad to realize that that can happen as well. Right? That if the government doesn’t go perfectly, you’re gonna probably gonna get blamed just because you’re a woman. But that’s what happens in business as well, right?

LaMondre Pough: Oh, absolutely.

David Pérez: If, if a woman is manager and something goes wrong, you’re immediately fired and we have to bring someone else in to fix the, what you did.

If a white man messes it up, we’re probably going to give you another chance because, things happen, right? The world’s a mess right now.

LaMondre Pough: Definitely going to give him another chance to screw it up again. All right. It’s this kind of, that’s kind of the positioning and I’ll tell you what’s interesting about this.

I was thinking about, um, about the double standards, uh, that, that, that we put out there and we play in not just based on gender either. There, there are multiple double standards that are, that are at play. Um, I, I started thinking about, you know, Kamala is a very strong, um, sharp person, period, take gender out of it.

She’s a very strong, very sharp person. And every time you see that, particularly, particularly in American politics. Uh, those who oppose usually, well, they, they, they, they use the term ‘a very nasty woman’. It was said about Hillary Clinton. Uh, it was said about, uh, and, and now it’s being said about Kamala. Um, when the VP choice was selected, one of the first things that came out was, ‘well, I don’t know if she’s really an American citizen. I don’t know if she really qualifies for that’. Where did we hear that same rhetoric before? We heard that same rivalry with, um, the president Barack Obama and, and here’s, here’s the thing, the thing that Barack Obama and Kamala, Kamala Harris have in common is that they’re both African American.

So we hear those double standards being presented out there. And what’s interesting. I don’t recall, no one ever taken seriously, any of the other presidential candidates who were primarily white men, they never questioned their background. They never, and when I say background in term, in terms of, are they American citizens or not?

I’ve never heard that the only person that I really heard that was, uh, uh, Ted Cruz and people were saying, ‘wait a minute, he’s Canadian, right? What is this?’ You know.

Those Canadians.

You know, so it was, it was. And then, but, but even in that, it wasn’t taken seriously. No one put in the effort, there was no investigation. There was no one screaming for a law enforced birth certificate.

There was none of that, but again, she’s an African American woman. So now you have ‘is she really an American?, number one, and number two, that she’s a ‘nasty woman’ and… wow.

Richard Streitz: Yeah. You know, what’s interesting about that and, uh, is, is that it comes down to intimidation, right? I, I think, um, many, uh, um, or typical, uh, individuals, um, men would be intimidated by coming across a, a woman who is, uh, more intelligent, uh, um, powerful, well connected, um, educated.

Um, and, and I think the, the knee-jerk reaction to that is, is intimidation. And with intimidation comes, you know, this double standard that gets created as a result of finding anything, to be able to try to, um, bring down or, or, um, or erode that, uh, um, the prominence of that, of the individual. And so, you know, and, and I saw that when I was in Costa Rica with, Laura Chinchilla and she, it was the, exactly the same thing with the contractors and so forth that I was with.

Um, You know, they did nothing but bad mouth when I was in meetings with them, you know, they would bad mouth her about this policy and that policy, even though the policy itself wasn’t really bad, but it was the fact that it was created by a woman that was creating these issues that they had to now conform to.

And that was something that was very difficult for them to, to stomach. And, and, and these are all old, old school, um, you know, the, the heads of these, of these contracting firms, these are major large contracting firms and architectural firms, um, that are run by, you know, 75, 80 year old plus guys.

Uh, um, and, uh, and you know, they’re old school, all that old school type, uh, good, good old boy thinking, uh, which really has no place in the world anymore. That’s, that’s a, that’s the old way of doing business, the old way of thinking. And,

Yeah, it shouldn’t.  And that’s

sort of what, we’re, what we’re, it should never have existed to begin with.

Uh, you know, certainly, but I think that’s the transition that we’re seeing and we’re seeing that now happen here in the, in the U S and with the choice of Kamala Harris moving into the positions that she is, and, and we see what’s happening with, uh, with the senators and mayors and governors and, and assembly men and, uh, assembly persons.

Um, we, you know, we see this transition of that, where that old school, that old mentality of thinking that’s creating, that, that creates that sort of double standard. You’re talking about, you were talking about, um, you know, that’s changing and it’s shifting, and I think that’s one of the things that’s so exciting about this period of time.

David Pérez: Yeah. Having, having more representation is of course going to change that, but we can’t deny the fact that just by being African American or by being a woman, you have to fight more to get what you, what you’re looking to get.

Richard Streitz: Right. Right now.

David Pérez: Your race is uphill. It’s a battle uphill all the way from the moment you start to, and you can’t rest.

There’s no, nothing you can do that’s wrong because they’re gonna point at you and they’re going to try and get you down just because you are not the standard politician and representation is going to help get, get us to where we want to be. And of course that’s exciting being able to be living in in the time where that’s actually happening and it’s just not just re, rhetoric, but we need to, we need to be aware that they are gonna have a hard time.

Because of their skin color and because of their gender.

LaMondre Pough: Absolutely. Absolutely. I, you know, I often say that when president Barack Obama decided that he was going to run. He literally had to run an almost spotless campaign. Uh, and he did, he did, now don’t get me wrong. There were, there were things that happened and there were some blinders, but truthfully in comparison to other comparable, I don’t even, I can’t even say comparable campaigns because there was nothing that came close to that.

Nothing, but, if you looked at other campaigns, there were so many more Follies. There were so many more mess ups. There were so many more skeletons that came out of the closet that, had that happened during his campaign. He would have completely derailed it, but they weathered the storm. And even as president of the United States in going through the things that they went through, his biggest or one of it, I shouldn’t say his biggest, but one of his biggest scandals was the fact that he wore a tan suit one time.

And it was a thing. It literally became a thing. Or he had his feet upon the presidential desk where the truth is, all of them did that. Every single one of them, and there are photos of it. But it was not an issue. His wife wore a sleeveless dress and it became a thing. You know, how many times was Hillary Clinton dragged before Congress?

Looking at, uh, uh, I forgot the name of the, of the scandal, but, uh, of the, Benghazi looking  at the Benhgazi situation. How many times was she dragged before Congress? Over and over and over and over again with no new evidence, no new anything, but it was still done. I mean so, you’re right. It’s, it’s, it’s, it’s almost as if, and I’ve said this before. That the majority, um, population can do about 75% and get kudos and acknowledgement and promotion, but then you let someone from the minority come in that position and perform at a hundred percent. They’ll be criticized and ostracized. You literally have to do 150%, above and beyond excellence all the time in order to get 80% recognition that you deserve.

So it is an uphill battle, but I honestly believe that, and again, I’m, I’m an optimist. I honestly believe that things are changing. Yes, it’s still very much an uphill battle, but I believe we’re in for the fight. I really do.

Richard Streitz: Well, we’re transitioning right. And transitions are never easy. Um, and, and they can be painful.

Um, but the good news is, is that. There’s always, everything’s always better on the other side, once we go through and work through the, uh, the pains and challenges, history has shown us that time and time again, um, you know, change is never graceful. It, it seems. Um, when it comes to politics or, or, or, uh, changes in regimes or, or changes in operational modes, um, you know, it’s, it can be, it can be very messy, but, um. But it’s always better on the other side.

And that’s, that’s what, uh, is exciting about moving forward and, and, uh, and pushing through this.

David Pérez: Yeah. And there’s always something to learn even in the bad things, right. I don’t think that the U S is, is going to be the same ever again, that it was before Trump’s presidency.

Richard Streitz: Very true.

David Pérez: With whatever happens in November.

I know that things are going to be better because people are, people are more aware of their choices. People are more aware of what can happen, if things go wrong and what can happen if we simply decide to not do anything, because we’re not happy with the system, the only way to change the system is to be part of the system.

And I think that we’re going to get a more inclusive and better society out of this. I am sure of it. But we need to do the work, right? We need to be out there saying the things and making noise as much as possible because there are still people, as Richard was saying here in Costa Rica, and I am sure across the world that do not think that a black person or a woman are able to govern a country.

And that simply needs to change.

LaMondre Pough: Yeah. Yeah. And I’ll tell you, even if the evidence suggest different that that information is not true. I mean, you look at what president Obama did during one of the worst economic times in America. Honestly, the prosperity that we experienced, um, is a direct result of his administration because as we know, turning an economy is like turning a ship.

Is it is not like, ‘Oh, you turn the wheel. And it just turns’, no, it takes years. It takes, it takes policies. It takes things that are put in place and you will see the results a few years down the road. And that’s what we experienced with the stock market boom, that happened, uh, during the beginning of Trump’s presidency.

And yes, there was a Trump bump, but the truth is those huge gains. That was a direct result of the Obama administration. And honestly, the divisiveness that now permeates, uh, American politics is a direct result of the views that people have had of president Obama and the amplification of that by president Trump.

Um, and so now what I’m hoping is that with the diversity that we see now that not only will this momentum continue in, uh, in, in, in the U S but that it also echoes all around the world. As we’ve seen, when I was talking about evidence, I was thinking about what the German chancellor has done and how Germany uh really has been a real example now of, of strong leadership and what it means, you know, when you think of what Angela Merkel has been able to do. Did I say that name right? I  think I did.

David Pérez: Angela Merkel, that’s how we say, I’m not sure how it says, it’s

Richard Streitz: said in

David Pérez: German.

Richard Streitz: Well, you know, I think Europe, uh, has, has and other countries have shown leadership in um, in having female, strong female  leaders, uh, throughout them, you know, uh, let’s not forget, uh, Margaret Thatcher, the prime minister in the UK.

Um, uh, and , you know, and there’s countless examples of that in many countries. So, I mean, there’s no questions. The U S is really behind the curve on this. It’s, it’s certainly nothing new and unique to many other parts of the world in regard to female leaders. But, um, um, but, but it certainly raises raises eyebrow that the U S is finally coming to itself in, in, in realizing that, ‘Hey, you know what, that’s okay. And it’s more than, okay. It’s actually a very good thing and it, and it’s something we should have done a long time ago’. Um, and so that’s one of the, you know, again, I think that’s, that’s one of the great things with the choice of Kamala Harris as VP, because it really sort of becomes a very strong, visible symbol, uh, like, uh, um, LaMondre, like you mentioned earlier to the world that we are sort of coming of age and becoming a more, mature enough country. Um, we are let’s face it. We’re still considered a baby country. Um, yeah. Uh, you know, that we’re, we’re finally reaching that level of maturity, um, to join the rest of the world in regard to our understanding and the realization of, of how diversity and, and equal representation is really important in a government.

LaMondre Pough: Yeah. I really believe that much of what the pain and the transition that we’re experiencing is just that it’s growing pains. And, um, when we were thinking about the hope and change of, um, the Obama campaign and, and, and administration, the thing that I realized is that, is that all of it. Is an evolution.

All of it is growth. And sometimes in growth, there is pain. As I said, um, you know, change can be costly and it can be painful, but this is a part of it. And I believe that much of what we’ve seen has been necessary for us to grow and move to the next level. Even some of the divisiveness. Uh, that we’ve experienced has been necessary in order to route some of that stuff out and make people see that now this is real.

And as we’re winding down, the show today, I want, if you guys wouldn’t mind, I’d like to hear, what is your hope for tomorrow in terms of, in terms of the diversity that’s represented and what does that mean to the rest of the world?

Richard Streitz: Hmm. Well, you know, I think. Equal representation of the diversity of a country is just so absolutely critical to be able to have strong, good policies that’s sustainable.

You can’t create policies in a vacuum for a small segment of the population when you have a very diverse and mixed population and pretend that that’s going to be sustainable. And I think one of the huge cause and effects of that, uh, of the lack of that, is what we’re going through as the growth pains that we’re going through right now. Is sort of that bubble bursting in regard to, uh, enough is enough with, um, the minority dictating and creating policies that aren’t sustainable with, uh, uh, an immensely, um, diverse and vocal population.

And so I think. That’s what I, I believe and know that the future will hold is that as we have even more, um, larger diversity representation that equates to the, uh, the diversity of the population of the, of the country itself, that we’re going to have much better, stronger, sustainable policies that, uh, and that will become, I think, an example and, and, uh, sort of a proof to the rest of the world that even though we.

We’re we’re stumbling a little bit now as we go through these growing pains, um, that we’ll get our act together and we can move forward and pick up and be better than we were.

David Pérez: Absolutely, now. And I agree with you, Richard. And I think that one extra thing that I can hope for is that it becomes easy to be diverse.

Yeah. Instead of having to fight for it, I really want for organizations, for governments, for countries, for the UN, for every single entity that exists to be diverse, effortlessly to understand that we are all individuals that think and do things differently and that it doesn’t matter. We are just individuals and we need to work together to make society a better place for all of us.

So that’s my hope.

LaMondre Pough: Beautiful. You know, my hope is that with the increase of diversity, um, that we recognize that this is really about making it better for our world, creating a world where, where people matter, where all people actually matter, and I’m not talking about just some cliché thing, but know where the interests and the aspirations of all people are considered important, equally important.

Where we make decisions that’s good for the planet. That’s good for peace. That’s good for life. That’s good for mankind. Um, and where we realize that we do have a voice. And the last part of my hope is really a challenge. And that challenge is even you watching 3DVU right now, or, or listening to 3DVU right now, that you realize that you can make the difference and that your voice and your efforts are important.

That you’re spurned enough to get involved and that, that involvement could be as simple as participating in the electorial process in terms of voting or supporting certain campaigns. But no, I really, really, really want to see you run for office. I want to see you get involved in your local politics in your state, regional, whatever it is, get involved.

And make a difference because ultimately this whole thing is about us. It’s about us as the human race. So just know that you make a difference and you can make a difference and you should make a difference. That’s all the time we have for 3DVU, it has been a great conversation. I hope you’re encouraged and inspired.

To get out there and make something happen. Thank you for listening.

Richard Streitz: Go out and vote. Thank you

David: Thanks for joining us this week on 3DVU. Make sure to visit our website ruhglobal.com/3DVU. That’s ruhglobal.com/3DVU where you can subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts or join our YouTube channel. So you will never miss a show while you’re at it, if you find value in the show, we appreciate it if you would like or comment or simply tell a friend about the show, that would really help us a lot, too. If you would like to join our conversations, you can join our Facebook community 3DVU: three perspectives, one conversation.