Brianna Wu / John Walker Flynt - "Biggest Victim of Gamergate," Failed Game Developer, Failed Congressional Candidate

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Richard Stabone said:
I wonder if she even bothers with the official site anymore. She seemed to get bored of it quickly and wasn't updating it at all. As long as the 3rd party payment site works she'll probably just abandon it.
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This is funny 'cause he made a point of informing everyone on TWiT that he not only owns briannawu2018.com but also briannawu2020.com (true) and briannawu2022.com (lie) as proof of his commitment to running for office n' junk.
 
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John Hadcock
 
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I went from the 14:00 is mark because it’s when the interviewer seems to stammer and stutter his way through the interview as if he can’t believe he’s having to do this shit, or he’s just this shit normally.

Highlights include:
Computers not being “fashionably up to date” in an already wealthy suburb of Dayton (where Bri intends to focus her ‘campaigning’ as it’s all within walking distance).

Invention of and firing a Harvard Educated Marketing Guy because he looked at her funny while changing the oil on her car. (Hallucogenic Headmate #3)

Two whole seconds of dead air as Bri rambles on for so long Peter and Adam zone out.

A Stress Sigh

“Something you know as a software engineer is engineering is all about compromising.”

Justice Democrat, The Young Turks shitshow, is supposedly in contact with Wu to help support all new candidates.

Peter & Adam confused by Wu’s answers.

Nanomachines to counter rising sea levels.

Peter saying Wu just wants pork barrel money, Wu enthusiastically agrees.

“This comes from my experience of Silicon Valley.”

Interviewer: The 8th congressional district is this most Irish-Catholic-


BW: Ya


Adam: district


Bri Wu:Ya


Adam: in the nation...And while Adam and I are fascinated with Gamergate.


Bri Wu: HAH, yeah.


Adam: My guess is that is going to be of limited utility, there’ll be some utility because of the whole issue of women’s rights will resonate. But how do you plan to make a cultural connection. What is ah, uh, um, by Massachusetts standards a conservative democrat disctrict. I mean by national standards that’s still probably close to socialism, but locally it’s still ah, uh a blue district tinged with red.


Wu: Can I thank you SO much for asking me this as no-one ever asks me this? Y’know, I grew up in Missisippi, which is the poorest state in America, and it is, ya know, when you’re talking about blue collar people go up to go to Union jobs where you go to do blue collar jobs, ya know. I grew up in that! So when I am out talking to voters in district 8 when I am talking to people they are my people.


Did you know I did this weekend? I have a classic car I’m working on repairing. I spent most of this weekend under my car trying to rewire my electrical system. That’s not something most people in congress are interested in doing.


So, yeah, what you do is you talk to them about the economics of what they’re dealing with in their lives which’re atrocious. You talk about the way, that vast parts of district 8 are completely left behind. Y’know, with education and the economic development and prosperity of Boston and Joyce. So you start talking to THEM and speaking to THEM about all the ECONOMIC growth that we need out there in district 8 and people’s eyes light up.


Adam: Now what...wh…. Wh…. what of the areas of district 8 th-that you think are most left behind? Now just keep this simple.


Wu: I think Dayton is an area I, I would focus on more than, THAT would be a bigger priority to me than JP, right? Uhmmm. I think it’s pretty much that eastern area of Massachusetts. Like you can go out there and it’s old homes, but yeah, there’s a school district the other day and I was looking at the computer systems they have out there. It’s the same computer systems I was using in the 90s when I was in High School. So yeah I think we’ve gotta really um, look at the economic structure out there in District 8 and ask why the tax base is so much less.


Adam: Alright, to my mind Dayton is a pretty affluent suburb.


Wu: Sure.


Adam: Right? So, uh, whether or not their computer hardware is oh, au courant... I’m a Massachusetts transplant I’ve lived here over 20 years now.


Pete: YOU’RE A PROFESSIONAL TRANSPLANT


Adam: Thanks.Highlight of my week! We should just shut it down right now! (Lol, call for help) My hunch is there’s going to be listeners who know the state better than I do, that’re going to say. “Wait a minute, Brianna Wu just said that Dayton is a community which is getting short shrift?”


Wu: I AM TALKING all out there in eastern Massachusetts Right? So…


Adam: Well can you be more specific?


Wu: Sure! Well we’re a congressional which needs a lot of help out there the other day for the uhm, uhm (Wu’s tapping the desk as she desperately searches for words) the democratic nash- the uh, democratic primary, like I was out there talking to voters. So, it’s, y’know there’s a lot of work out there that needs to be done.


Adam: You… were just talking about the way you can connect with voters-


Wu: I think so.


Adam: In the 8th congressional district,


Wu: Yup


Adam: and… maybe, I, listened because I wanted to ask some variant of the question I am about to ask.


Wu: Sure


Adam: You’re talking about how you’re connecting with them. It sounded me, like, what I heard Bernie Sanders say when I heard him speak at Burlington College a couple of days after Trump defeated Hillary Clinton, talking about this need to focus on the economic issues and economic inequities and to give and I’m paraphrasing here but I think it’s an accurate paraphrase, to give a secondary role-


Wu: Yep


Adam: A secondary importance to culture and Idenity-


Wu: Yuuuup.


Adam: But of course, I know that you’ve also criticised Stephen Lynch for saying that we should move away from Identity Politics, so-


Wu: ACTUALLY I ah, the Boston, uh, I had, uh, what was it? It was uhm, some Boston uhm, Journalist, Boston Commonwealth, he did a piece on a profile with Stephen Lynch asking if I disagreed with that quote I said I agreed with it to a certain point.


Adam: Oh, so, tell me more…


Wu: HEAR ME, hear me out here. Y’know. I supported Hillary Clinton. I was all in on Hillary Clinton for the election. I went out there and campaigned for her. I wrote op-eds for her, I worked with getting the message out there. I was all in on her. But what I realised in the aftermath of Trump is that the Hillary Clinton playbook is causing us to lose because we got our butts kicked nation-wide.


Adam: What do you mean by Hillary Clinton Playbook?


Wu: I mean… this kind of. I’m just really gonna be honest with ya here. We’re in Boston here right now, there were what? 106 colleges here in Boston? We’re a hyper-educated city. But if you get out there into the rest of the country… I think there is a… Hyper educated, elitist, almost snobbish uhm undercurrent to the Democratic Party. That I think is tremendously counter productive.


Now I’m not talking about not pushing back the racism, or sexism or homophobia when we see it. But I AM talking about looking down your nose at somebody because they say something about NASCAR, or they grew up in a trailer, or if their family happens to be blue collar workers.


There’s a certain sense within many in the democratic party that’s just not what we’re about. I’ll give you an example. There’s somebody I am working with in my company and I now am parting ways with them over this.


They’re harvard educated and background in marketing, they came over by my house and saw me under my car changing my own oil, and they looked at me with disgust in their eyes and they asked me “Why on EARTH are you doing that? You’re head of development at your studio, like why don’t you take that up a bit?” It’s like… everybody… this is pride for me to be able to do this. There’s this… technocratic, elitist strain to the democratic party that is really making us fail to connect with normal people out there. Just everyday voters, just everyday americans and we have got to get down and address their needs very directly.


Just one second, now the identity politics, with all respect to Bernie Sanders he is a white, straight man, and there’s a limit to how much he can understand this.


Adam: By the way, I should note as am I.


Wu: Yas, yas.


Adam: Point taken.


Wu: So as I say this with all respect. There’s a disconnect with white, straight men with what it’s like to be a queer person. With what it’s like to be a woman in this country. So by minimizing those issues you’re really telling women across the country that our concerns don’t matter. And when you see things like reproductive healthcare being dismantled, ah ya know, in this country I would probably stand up to that. So these two things are not mutually exclusive. We need to say, look, the lived in experience of women needs to be at the forefront of politics. Ya know, when I am in congress I am going to be able to speak about reproductive healthcare and advocate for that in a way that I think a straight white man cannot. At the same time we’ve really got to go out there and message with normal americans.


TWO WHOLE SECONDS OF DEAD AIR


Adam: L-let’s talk about infrastructure in Trump’s extremely modelled-


Wu: STRESS SIGH


Adam: I-I am moving this forward. Ah, do you think Democrats in Congress should work with the Trump administration on an infrastructure plan. Or do you think that, uhm, the people in congress should just, ah, oppose Trump at every issue.


Wu: No, of course not. Ah, something you know as a software engineer is engineering is all about compromising. So when I’m developing a piece of software you have certain things you say you cannot go with but it’s all about compromising. That’s what engineering is all about.


So with things like infrastructure, we desperately need infrastructure jobs out there in district 8, something the media, with all respect to you guys, does not talk about enough is climate change here in Boston. I’ve seen data recently which makes me fairly terrified that Boston could be underwater with rising sea levels in 100 years.


Adam: Well I’m not sure why we’re building the sea port the way we’re building it the way we are.


Wu: I agree, so we’re talking about infrastructure I would never fault a democrat for going out there to work to secure jobs and money for people in district 8. In fact that’s my idea, I want to start working with those industries out there so no. I’ve no issue with that.


Adam: One thing which you have suggested which, uh, I want to learn more about but it seems like it’d create tension when working with the Trump administration is this idea that we should show our resistance by withholding our federal tax contributions as a state because you make the point on your campaign website that we give more than we get back. And therefore we’re in a position of strength when it comes to negotiating. So… exactly what sort of negotiation could you see from us being a donor state and could you imagine, given the nature of this administration, some sort of retribution as a consequence of us withholding money and maybe the rest of the country gets this big shiny new rollout of infrastructure but we don’t because we decided to play hardball with out taxes.


Wu: So this is a great question, thank you, and...So this is where my lib perspective growing up in a poor state in america comes in. Let me tell you what it’s like in Mississippi, you have some real conservative extremist politicians that run that state and they refuse to pay taxes.


So they have this game I saw when I worked for the Republican Party where we would bring in all these federal dollars into our state to pay for the police departments, to pay for our roads, to pay for our schools. Ya know, Mississippi doesn’t pay for that, it’s the rest of the country that pays for that. Yet Mississippi is never going to get ahead until they start taxing their own citizens enough to build decent schools there because the schools in Mississippi are atrocious.


I think we’ve got to break this cycle where we have one rabid party that’s saying we’ve gotta slash all of our infrastructure, our education, our public radio, our roads, our, everything. And then its up to states like Massachusetts, like District 8. They’re out there, these are people who don’t need to be giving money to pay for the schools in Mississippi. They need to be rebuilding themselves.


Adam: But how could, how could that work in practise, I mean, what could Massachusetts do on a real fundamental structural level to keep more of our tax dollars here.


Pete: Yeah and not to gang up but more to add to an aspect of that question, the money is taken out of everyone’s paycheck every week. I mean, ya know I’m not talking about corporate taxes and things like that but yes you can adjust your withholdings and such but it, it, it just strikes me as a fantasy. I don’t see how you’d effect it.


Wu: That’s a great question. I would agree with you if it was just Brianna Wu running but listen to my messaging. I’m working with a brand new congress. I got an email from Justice Democrat, which is the Young Turks looking to run all new candidates there. So what we’re looking to do. I agree, so right now there’s a very limited amount to what we can get done. I probably shouldn’t say this on the air but the longer and more I get into running as a candidate for congress the more I see how the Democratic Party is part of this broken system, and there is this kind of short term gain and I think we’ve got to start working with bigger ideas there. So I do want to work with other representatives. I do want a new generation of congress people to get in there and be more aggressive on federal funding.


Adam: What’s the mechanism for making that goal a reality because I’m still confused.


Wu: Sure, look…


Pete: I by the way don’t buy it, but maybe you’ll convince me.


Wu: Y’know, so part of this is I am coming from an engineering background. Right? So I’m coming from the venture-capital world I’m from the world where you decide something? You get in there and get it done the right way. So I want to tell you as far as being a tehnocrat? A Washington insider that can sit down and really do this, uhm, that has a lot of experience at this? Maybe you’re right. Maybe I’ll go there and find out it absolutely cannot be done.


But I think that it’s very true that Massachetsuss is a donor state and I realise some of this is getting in the way of the appropriations committee work, so they get the master budget and they go through it and the way it goes out there, I could completely fail at this. But I want to say that this is my mission going in there is to negotiate harder.


Pete: Ok. I’m still a little confused but we should probably move on. As Adam said we all pay our taxes via our paychecks…


Wu: I’m talking about the budgeting process


Pete: Right... but you were talking about keeping our federal taxes here.


Wu: I’M TALKING ABOUT KEEPING THE GREATER PART… maybe this is why we’re not communicating.


Pete:Yeah cause I think we’re getting it…


Wu: I’m talking about getting… ok, one of the things I want to do in district 8 is...yeah you have a lot of union people that are under employed out there, right? I would like clean technology and energy and jobs that is MADE for Massachusetts, hyper educated workforce, we get it and you need like people to start building this infrastructure.I would like to fight and advocate for those jobs right here in Massachusetts.


So when we’re talking about technology to stop the sea level from rising and by the way some of the technology I’ve seen is from like everything from nano machines that could bit different chemicals out there to bathe the effects of global warming to, don’t just think giant cement walls to break up giant hurricanes going in land, this is a ton of infrastructure that we need. We’re talking about needing to rebuild the coastline because that’s where it’s going to be hit. We need more federal appropriated construction jobs.


Peter: So you’re talking about and this is not in a perjorative sense, getting more pork.


Wu: Yeah! Yeah!


Peter: Got it. Thanks for bearing with me.


Wu Can I just say as an engineer you always lead to the most complicated part of the solution in your brain, it’s just the way we think, so…


Peter: Did you want to ask a question?


Adam: y-yeah we need to keep an eye on the clock but, uh, wh-what’re the two ideas you and your fellow young turks.


Wu laughs.


Adam: That you would like to import into Washington? At least into the democratic side? Some radical ideas we’ve not talked about yet.


Wu: Well I think Universal basic income is something we’ve gotta talk about.


Adam: … ok. (He sounds so fucking done by this point)


Peter: That’s a…. Big one


Wu: I know this is something, this is an example of the two party system goes, they looks at it and goes “Can’t be done!” But this is, I gotta tell you guys this is coming from my experience of Silicon Valley. I go out there and I see the next wave of automation robots are coming, from friends who are developing this stuff. And guys? I want to tell you. You are going to be SHOCKED about where we are a decade from now. With delivery jobs, with food preparation jobs…


Peter: You’re right Mia.


Wu: I’m sorry?


Peter: Ah, uh, inside joke with Adam. I recently wrote a piece about joblessness, the silent scourge that’s inflicting america.


Wu: Yeah! It, it’s-


Peter: No one is right, so you’re saying it’s going to get a lot, lot worse?


Wu: Yeah, it’s going to get so much worse in the next decade guys. There’s obvious things like Uber, is working to automate their workforce with self driving cars, and I tell you. I dunno if a decade from now if delivery jobs are still going to be here.


Adam: So tell us how, the annual income would work. Briefly because that’s an idea I don’t think most people are aware of.


Wu: Sure, so, the idea’s a guaranteed universal basic income. So the idea I like is, uhm, let’s say Jane drives a truck for a living, ok? She’s in District 8 and a truck comes along and uh, they automate it, they put an automated system in there and Jane loses her job. The way I would start, uh, Im-im-implementing the UBI is I would Tax the robot that takes Jane’s job. I would start having that robot pay into social security and that automatically, have that start paying into the system.


That will do two things, LONG TERM, that will have as automation takes over more jobs we’ll have the tax base will also slow the onset of automation, and allow people a chance to move to other industries.


Adam: N-now… I know that’s an intellectually defensible idea.


Wu: Yes.


Adam: And… economically it’s not crazy. However, this is a political campaign. How would you respond to an attack ad that would come out at you and-


Wu: Laughs


Adam: That would say… “This woman’s idea of, of, of, helping the downtrodden is to tax robots.”


Wu: LAUGHS SOME MORE: That’s a problem you run into when you talk about big ideas and uh they find soundbites to go after you. Ah, I’ve no doubt that would happen. You know there’s something is that I’m going to be open and honest and not be hyper messaged and y’;know, like I would keep doing.


Adam: O-o-o-o-one more than, just to move us along.


Wu: Wait. I have to push back on you on that one-


Adam: Oh….


Wu: What am I supposed to do? Not talk about big ideas


Adam: NO NO NOOO I’m not! I I’m just trying to present a real life problem. But you mentioned guaranteed annual income. What would be your second big idea?


Wu: Second Big idea?


Adam; Ya


Wu: Well it’s gotta be renewable energy. We’ve gotta go all in on, right? This is an American security issue more than anything. Like, guys, you look at why we’ve been entangled in the middle east for far beyond I was alive, ya know the truth is, with climate change Oil is destroying this planet, and the thing is. I think people don’t understand this. In china? They’re all in on renewable energy. They are surpassing the United states at this at a very fast rate.


Peter: I seem to recall China up and grabbing a solar energy company from Massaschetssus.


Wu: Really? I didn’t know that.


Peter: If memory serves.


Adam: Well th-th-theeeee, the, the, Chinese Solar industry has basically eaten Americas. Y’know, stuff.


Wu: So, yeah on top of that we’ve got to start developing our own renewable energy technology, because oil is not going to last forever, and even if we did it would destroy the planet. So… There’s a lot of jobs and infrastructure that can be created with climate change. It’s scary, it’s terrifying, it’s out there, it’s looking at some of the research and developing some of my policy for this stuff, it scares me. It keeps me up at night some of the stuff I see. At the same time it’s a crisis but it’s also an opportunity. It’s an opportunity to really relink the economy, it’s a chance to build infrastructure it’s a chance for the united states to lead the world in clean energy jobs.


Peter: I’m hoping we can wrap up on another policy question. I know one of the things you’ve said you’d really like to tackle is the passage of an omnibus privacy-


Wu: OH! Thank you!


Peter: Bill. So, what would you like to see happen on that front?


Wu: So, this is one of those rare things where democrats and republicans completely agree. If they’re engineers. If they’re engineers. So what you’re going to see from me in the next few weeks is me putting together a group of engineers, to take over the technology subcommittee in the House. I want to get a lot of engineers to run for congress and to try and get on this committee to start working on things like cyber security, privacy, encyrption, ah, net neutrality.


This is stuff that is important. But I realise this isn’t going to drive people out in district 8 to the polls, but God it’s just so important, like, there’s a bill the republicans are trying to fast track through right now that will allow your internet provider to pass off everything that you surf for marketing purposes. Which is a huge violation of your privacy. This is not a problem that can be solved with the free market, because neither the buyer or the seller are incentivised to do this.


The buyer wants to spend as little as possible, the seller wants to collect as much data as possible, Government legislation is the only thing that can solve our privacy problem. Amazingly, Republicans and democrats. I know so many conservatives engineers and we are like peas in a pod on this.


Adam: I should note you’re holding up your fingers and crossing them as you’re making that quote.


Wu: yeah, I know, we have got to, our tech policy in the United States is so dumb guys, it is SO terrible in ways that I would lose your listeners getting into technical speak but it is we’re so vulnerable in cyber security


Adam: ...well thank you Brianna Wu


Wu: Yes.


Adam: Normally we don’t get this down in the dirt…


Wu: Yes.


Adam: With policy proposals I don’t think


Pete: I would say granular.


Wu: Thanks


Pete: So there we have Brianna Wu, software engineer, tech analyst and congressional candidate for District 8.
 
Ponderous Pillock said:
I went from the 14:00 is mark because it’s when the interviewer seems to stammer and stutter his way through the interview as if he can’t believe he’s having to do this shit, or he’s just this shit normally.

Highlights include:
Computers not being “fashionably up to date” in an already wealthy suburb of Dayton (where Bri intends to focus her ‘campaigning’ as it’s all within walking distance).

Invention of and firing a Harvard Educated Marketing Guy because he looked at her funny while changing the oil on her car. (Hallucogenic Headmate #3)

Two whole seconds of dead air as Bri rambles on for so long Peter and Adam zone out.

A Stress Sigh

“Something you know as a software engineer is engineering is all about compromising.”

Justice Democrat, The Young Turks shitshow, is supposedly in contact with Wu to help support all new candidates.

Peter & Adam confused by Wu’s answers.

Nanomachines to counter rising sea levels.

Peter saying Wu just wants pork barrel money, Wu enthusiastically agrees.

“This comes from my experience of Silicon Valley.”
Click to expand...

Semper Fi to you for typing that out. It's amazing. All the "as an engineer" and "growing up poor in Mississippi" soundbites almost sounded like a parody.
 
I liked the part where they mentioned moving away from identity politics and Wu essentially says "Well that's a good point but identity politics says moving away from identity politics would be bad, so..."
 
Ponderous Pillock said:
I went from the 14:00 is mark because it’s when the interviewer seems to stammer and stutter his way through the interview as if he can’t believe he’s having to do this shit, or he’s just this shit normally.

Highlights include:
Computers not being “fashionably up to date” in an already wealthy suburb of Dayton (where Bri intends to focus her ‘campaigning’ as it’s all within walking distance).

Invention of and firing a Harvard Educated Marketing Guy because he looked at her funny while changing the oil on her car. (Hallucogenic Headmate #3)

Two whole seconds of dead air as Bri rambles on for so long Peter and Adam zone out.

A Stress Sigh

“Something you know as a software engineer is engineering is all about compromising.”

Justice Democrat, The Young Turks shitshow, is supposedly in contact with Wu to help support all new candidates.

Peter & Adam confused by Wu’s answers.

Nanomachines to counter rising sea levels.

Peter saying Wu just wants pork barrel money, Wu enthusiastically agrees.

“This comes from my experience of Silicon Valley.”

Interviewer: The 8th congressional district is this most Irish-Catholic-


BW: Ya


Adam: district


Bri Wu:Ya


Adam: in the nation...And while Adam and I are fascinated with Gamergate.


Bri Wu: HAH, yeah.


Adam: My guess is that is going to be of limited utility, there’ll be some utility because of the whole issue of women’s rights will resonate. But how do you plan to make a cultural connection. What is ah, uh, um, by Massachusetts standards a conservative democrat disctrict. I mean by national standards that’s still probably close to socialism, but locally it’s still ah, uh a blue district tinged with red.


Wu: Can I thank you SO much for asking me this as no-one ever asks me this? Y’know, I grew up in Missisippi, which is the poorest state in America, and it is, ya know, when you’re talking about blue collar people go up to go to Union jobs where you go to do blue collar jobs, ya know. I grew up in that! So when I am out talking to voters in district 8 when I am talking to people they are my people.


Did you know I did this weekend? I have a classic car I’m working on repairing. I spent most of this weekend under my car trying to rewire my electrical system. That’s not something most people in congress are interested in doing.


So, yeah, what you do is you talk to them about the economics of what they’re dealing with in their lives which’re atrocious. You talk about the way, that vast parts of district 8 are completely left behind. Y’know, with education and the economic development and prosperity of Boston and Joyce. So you start talking to THEM and speaking to THEM about all the ECONOMIC growth that we need out there in district 8 and people’s eyes light up.


Adam: Now what...wh…. Wh…. what of the areas of district 8 th-that you think are most left behind? Now just keep this simple.


Wu: I think Dayton is an area I, I would focus on more than, THAT would be a bigger priority to me than JP, right? Uhmmm. I think it’s pretty much that eastern area of Massachusetts. Like you can go out there and it’s old homes, but yeah, there’s a school district the other day and I was looking at the computer systems they have out there. It’s the same computer systems I was using in the 90s when I was in High School. So yeah I think we’ve gotta really um, look at the economic structure out there in District 8 and ask why the tax base is so much less.


Adam: Alright, to my mind Dayton is a pretty affluent suburb.


Wu: Sure.


Adam: Right? So, uh, whether or not their computer hardware is oh, au courant... I’m a Massachusetts transplant I’ve lived here over 20 years now.


Pete: YOU’RE A PROFESSIONAL TRANSPLANT


Adam: Thanks.Highlight of my week! We should just shut it down right now! (Lol, call for help) My hunch is there’s going to be listeners who know the state better than I do, that’re going to say. “Wait a minute, Brianna Wu just said that Dayton is a community which is getting short shrift?”


Wu: I AM TALKING all out there in eastern Massachusetts Right? So…


Adam: Well can you be more specific?


Wu: Sure! Well we’re a congressional which needs a lot of help out there the other day for the uhm, uhm (Wu’s tapping the desk as she desperately searches for words) the democratic nash- the uh, democratic primary, like I was out there talking to voters. So, it’s, y’know there’s a lot of work out there that needs to be done.


Adam: You… were just talking about the way you can connect with voters-


Wu: I think so.


Adam: In the 8th congressional district,


Wu: Yup


Adam: and… maybe, I, listened because I wanted to ask some variant of the question I am about to ask.


Wu: Sure


Adam: You’re talking about how you’re connecting with them. It sounded me, like, what I heard Bernie Sanders say when I heard him speak at Burlington College a couple of days after Trump defeated Hillary Clinton, talking about this need to focus on the economic issues and economic inequities and to give and I’m paraphrasing here but I think it’s an accurate paraphrase, to give a secondary role-


Wu: Yep


Adam: A secondary importance to culture and Idenity-


Wu: Yuuuup.


Adam: But of course, I know that you’ve also criticised Stephen Lynch for saying that we should move away from Identity Politics, so-


Wu: ACTUALLY I ah, the Boston, uh, I had, uh, what was it? It was uhm, some Boston uhm, Journalist, Boston Commonwealth, he did a piece on a profile with Stephen Lynch asking if I disagreed with that quote I said I agreed with it to a certain point.


Adam: Oh, so, tell me more…


Wu: HEAR ME, hear me out here. Y’know. I supported Hillary Clinton. I was all in on Hillary Clinton for the election. I went out there and campaigned for her. I wrote op-eds for her, I worked with getting the message out there. I was all in on her. But what I realised in the aftermath of Trump is that the Hillary Clinton playbook is causing us to lose because we got our butts kicked nation-wide.


Adam: What do you mean by Hillary Clinton Playbook?


Wu: I mean… this kind of. I’m just really gonna be honest with ya here. We’re in Boston here right now, there were what? 106 colleges here in Boston? We’re a hyper-educated city. But if you get out there into the rest of the country… I think there is a… Hyper educated, elitist, almost snobbish uhm undercurrent to the Democratic Party. That I think is tremendously counter productive.


Now I’m not talking about not pushing back the racism, or sexism or homophobia when we see it. But I AM talking about looking down your nose at somebody because they say something about NASCAR, or they grew up in a trailer, or if their family happens to be blue collar workers.


There’s a certain sense within many in the democratic party that’s just not what we’re about. I’ll give you an example. There’s somebody I am working with in my company and I now am parting ways with them over this.


They’re harvard educated and background in marketing, they came over by my house and saw me under my car changing my own oil, and they looked at me with disgust in their eyes and they asked me “Why on EARTH are you doing that? You’re head of development at your studio, like why don’t you take that up a bit?” It’s like… everybody… this is pride for me to be able to do this. There’s this… technocratic, elitist strain to the democratic party that is really making us fail to connect with normal people out there. Just everyday voters, just everyday americans and we have got to get down and address their needs very directly.


Just one second, now the identity politics, with all respect to Bernie Sanders he is a white, straight man, and there’s a limit to how much he can understand this.


Adam: By the way, I should note as am I.


Wu: Yas, yas.


Adam: Point taken.


Wu: So as I say this with all respect. There’s a disconnect with white, straight men with what it’s like to be a queer person. With what it’s like to be a woman in this country. So by minimizing those issues you’re really telling women across the country that our concerns don’t matter. And when you see things like reproductive healthcare being dismantled, ah ya know, in this country I would probably stand up to that. So these two things are not mutually exclusive. We need to say, look, the lived in experience of women needs to be at the forefront of politics. Ya know, when I am in congress I am going to be able to speak about reproductive healthcare and advocate for that in a way that I think a straight white man cannot. At the same time we’ve really got to go out there and message with normal americans.


TWO WHOLE SECONDS OF DEAD AIR


Adam: L-let’s talk about infrastructure in Trump’s extremely modelled-


Wu: STRESS SIGH


Adam: I-I am moving this forward. Ah, do you think Democrats in Congress should work with the Trump administration on an infrastructure plan. Or do you think that, uhm, the people in congress should just, ah, oppose Trump at every issue.


Wu: No, of course not. Ah, something you know as a software engineer is engineering is all about compromising. So when I’m developing a piece of software you have certain things you say you cannot go with but it’s all about compromising. That’s what engineering is all about.


So with things like infrastructure, we desperately need infrastructure jobs out there in district 8, something the media, with all respect to you guys, does not talk about enough is climate change here in Boston. I’ve seen data recently which makes me fairly terrified that Boston could be underwater with rising sea levels in 100 years.


Adam: Well I’m not sure why we’re building the sea port the way we’re building it the way we are.


Wu: I agree, so we’re talking about infrastructure I would never fault a democrat for going out there to work to secure jobs and money for people in district 8. In fact that’s my idea, I want to start working with those industries out there so no. I’ve no issue with that.


Adam: One thing which you have suggested which, uh, I want to learn more about but it seems like it’d create tension when working with the Trump administration is this idea that we should show our resistance by withholding our federal tax contributions as a state because you make the point on your campaign website that we give more than we get back. And therefore we’re in a position of strength when it comes to negotiating. So… exactly what sort of negotiation could you see from us being a donor state and could you imagine, given the nature of this administration, some sort of retribution as a consequence of us withholding money and maybe the rest of the country gets this big shiny new rollout of infrastructure but we don’t because we decided to play hardball with out taxes.


Wu: So this is a great question, thank you, and...So this is where my lib perspective growing up in a poor state in america comes in. Let me tell you what it’s like in Mississippi, you have some real conservative extremist politicians that run that state and they refuse to pay taxes.


So they have this game I saw when I worked for the Republican Party where we would bring in all these federal dollars into our state to pay for the police departments, to pay for our roads, to pay for our schools. Ya know, Mississippi doesn’t pay for that, it’s the rest of the country that pays for that. Yet Mississippi is never going to get ahead until they start taxing their own citizens enough to build decent schools there because the schools in Mississippi are atrocious.


I think we’ve got to break this cycle where we have one rabid party that’s saying we’ve gotta slash all of our infrastructure, our education, our public radio, our roads, our, everything. And then its up to states like Massachusetts, like District 8. They’re out there, these are people who don’t need to be giving money to pay for the schools in Mississippi. They need to be rebuilding themselves.


Adam: But how could, how could that work in practise, I mean, what could Massachusetts do on a real fundamental structural level to keep more of our tax dollars here.


Pete: Yeah and not to gang up but more to add to an aspect of that question, the money is taken out of everyone’s paycheck every week. I mean, ya know I’m not talking about corporate taxes and things like that but yes you can adjust your withholdings and such but it, it, it just strikes me as a fantasy. I don’t see how you’d effect it.


Wu: That’s a great question. I would agree with you if it was just Brianna Wu running but listen to my messaging. I’m working with a brand new congress. I got an email from Justice Democrat, which is the Young Turks looking to run all new candidates there. So what we’re looking to do. I agree, so right now there’s a very limited amount to what we can get done. I probably shouldn’t say this on the air but the longer and more I get into running as a candidate for congress the more I see how the Democratic Party is part of this broken system, and there is this kind of short term gain and I think we’ve got to start working with bigger ideas there. So I do want to work with other representatives. I do want a new generation of congress people to get in there and be more aggressive on federal funding.


Adam: What’s the mechanism for making that goal a reality because I’m still confused.


Wu: Sure, look…


Pete: I by the way don’t buy it, but maybe you’ll convince me.


Wu: Y’know, so part of this is I am coming from an engineering background. Right? So I’m coming from the venture-capital world I’m from the world where you decide something? You get in there and get it done the right way. So I want to tell you as far as being a tehnocrat? A Washington insider that can sit down and really do this, uhm, that has a lot of experience at this? Maybe you’re right. Maybe I’ll go there and find out it absolutely cannot be done.


But I think that it’s very true that Massachetsuss is a donor state and I realise some of this is getting in the way of the appropriations committee work, so they get the master budget and they go through it and the way it goes out there, I could completely fail at this. But I want to say that this is my mission going in there is to negotiate harder.


Pete: Ok. I’m still a little confused but we should probably move on. As Adam said we all pay our taxes via our paychecks…


Wu: I’m talking about the budgeting process


Pete: Right... but you were talking about keeping our federal taxes here.


Wu: I’M TALKING ABOUT KEEPING THE GREATER PART… maybe this is why we’re not communicating.


Pete:Yeah cause I think we’re getting it…


Wu: I’m talking about getting… ok, one of the things I want to do in district 8 is...yeah you have a lot of union people that are under employed out there, right? I would like clean technology and energy and jobs that is MADE for Massachusetts, hyper educated workforce, we get it and you need like people to start building this infrastructure.I would like to fight and advocate for those jobs right here in Massachusetts.


So when we’re talking about technology to stop the sea level from rising and by the way some of the technology I’ve seen is from like everything from nano machines that could bit different chemicals out there to bathe the effects of global warming to, don’t just think giant cement walls to break up giant hurricanes going in land, this is a ton of infrastructure that we need. We’re talking about needing to rebuild the coastline because that’s where it’s going to be hit. We need more federal appropriated construction jobs.


Peter: So you’re talking about and this is not in a perjorative sense, getting more pork.


Wu: Yeah! Yeah!


Peter: Got it. Thanks for bearing with me.


Wu Can I just say as an engineer you always lead to the most complicated part of the solution in your brain, it’s just the way we think, so…


Peter: Did you want to ask a question?


Adam: y-yeah we need to keep an eye on the clock but, uh, wh-what’re the two ideas you and your fellow young turks.


Wu laughs.


Adam: That you would like to import into Washington? At least into the democratic side? Some radical ideas we’ve not talked about yet.


Wu: Well I think Universal basic income is something we’ve gotta talk about.


Adam: … ok. (He sounds so fucking done by this point)


Peter: That’s a…. Big one


Wu: I know this is something, this is an example of the two party system goes, they looks at it and goes “Can’t be done!” But this is, I gotta tell you guys this is coming from my experience of Silicon Valley. I go out there and I see the next wave of automation robots are coming, from friends who are developing this stuff. And guys? I want to tell you. You are going to be SHOCKED about where we are a decade from now. With delivery jobs, with food preparation jobs…


Peter: You’re right Mia.


Wu: I’m sorry?


Peter: Ah, uh, inside joke with Adam. I recently wrote a piece about joblessness, the silent scourge that’s inflicting america.


Wu: Yeah! It, it’s-


Peter: No one is right, so you’re saying it’s going to get a lot, lot worse?


Wu: Yeah, it’s going to get so much worse in the next decade guys. There’s obvious things like Uber, is working to automate their workforce with self driving cars, and I tell you. I dunno if a decade from now if delivery jobs are still going to be here.


Adam: So tell us how, the annual income would work. Briefly because that’s an idea I don’t think most people are aware of.


Wu: Sure, so, the idea’s a guaranteed universal basic income. So the idea I like is, uhm, let’s say Jane drives a truck for a living, ok? She’s in District 8 and a truck comes along and uh, they automate it, they put an automated system in there and Jane loses her job. The way I would start, uh, Im-im-implementing the UBI is I would Tax the robot that takes Jane’s job. I would start having that robot pay into social security and that automatically, have that start paying into the system.


That will do two things, LONG TERM, that will have as automation takes over more jobs we’ll have the tax base will also slow the onset of automation, and allow people a chance to move to other industries.


Adam: N-now… I know that’s an intellectually defensible idea.


Wu: Yes.


Adam: And… economically it’s not crazy. However, this is a political campaign. How would you respond to an attack ad that would come out at you and-


Wu: Laughs


Adam: That would say… “This woman’s idea of, of, of, helping the downtrodden is to tax robots.”


Wu: LAUGHS SOME MORE: That’s a problem you run into when you talk about big ideas and uh they find soundbites to go after you. Ah, I’ve no doubt that would happen. You know there’s something is that I’m going to be open and honest and not be hyper messaged and y’;know, like I would keep doing.


Adam: O-o-o-o-one more than, just to move us along.


Wu: Wait. I have to push back on you on that one-


Adam: Oh….


Wu: What am I supposed to do? Not talk about big ideas


Adam: NO NO NOOO I’m not! I I’m just trying to present a real life problem. But you mentioned guaranteed annual income. What would be your second big idea?


Wu: Second Big idea?


Adam; Ya


Wu: Well it’s gotta be renewable energy. We’ve gotta go all in on, right? This is an American security issue more than anything. Like, guys, you look at why we’ve been entangled in the middle east for far beyond I was alive, ya know the truth is, with climate change Oil is destroying this planet, and the thing is. I think people don’t understand this. In china? They’re all in on renewable energy. They are surpassing the United states at this at a very fast rate.


Peter: I seem to recall China up and grabbing a solar energy company from Massaschetssus.


Wu: Really? I didn’t know that.


Peter: If memory serves.


Adam: Well th-th-theeeee, the, the, Chinese Solar industry has basically eaten Americas. Y’know, stuff.


Wu: So, yeah on top of that we’ve got to start developing our own renewable energy technology, because oil is not going to last forever, and even if we did it would destroy the planet. So… There’s a lot of jobs and infrastructure that can be created with climate change. It’s scary, it’s terrifying, it’s out there, it’s looking at some of the research and developing some of my policy for this stuff, it scares me. It keeps me up at night some of the stuff I see. At the same time it’s a crisis but it’s also an opportunity. It’s an opportunity to really relink the economy, it’s a chance to build infrastructure it’s a chance for the united states to lead the world in clean energy jobs.


Peter: I’m hoping we can wrap up on another policy question. I know one of the things you’ve said you’d really like to tackle is the passage of an omnibus privacy-


Wu: OH! Thank you!


Peter: Bill. So, what would you like to see happen on that front?


Wu: So, this is one of those rare things where democrats and republicans completely agree. If they’re engineers. If they’re engineers. So what you’re going to see from me in the next few weeks is me putting together a group of engineers, to take over the technology subcommittee in the House. I want to get a lot of engineers to run for congress and to try and get on this committee to start working on things like cyber security, privacy, encyrption, ah, net neutrality.


This is stuff that is important. But I realise this isn’t going to drive people out in district 8 to the polls, but God it’s just so important, like, there’s a bill the republicans are trying to fast track through right now that will allow your internet provider to pass off everything that you surf for marketing purposes. Which is a huge violation of your privacy. This is not a problem that can be solved with the free market, because neither the buyer or the seller are incentivised to do this.


The buyer wants to spend as little as possible, the seller wants to collect as much data as possible, Government legislation is the only thing that can solve our privacy problem. Amazingly, Republicans and democrats. I know so many conservatives engineers and we are like peas in a pod on this.


Adam: I should note you’re holding up your fingers and crossing them as you’re making that quote.


Wu: yeah, I know, we have got to, our tech policy in the United States is so dumb guys, it is SO terrible in ways that I would lose your listeners getting into technical speak but it is we’re so vulnerable in cyber security


Adam: ...well thank you Brianna Wu


Wu: Yes.


Adam: Normally we don’t get this down in the dirt…


Wu: Yes.


Adam: With policy proposals I don’t think


Pete: I would say granular.


Wu: Thanks


Pete: So there we have Brianna Wu, software engineer, tech analyst and congressional candidate for District 8.
Click to expand...
Really should have given this a horrifying. That was...really something.

By 'Dayton', are they talking about 'Dedham'?
 
Ponderous Pillock said:
I went from the 14:00 is mark because it’s when the interviewer seems to stammer and stutter his way through the interview as if he can’t believe he’s having to do this shit, or he’s just this shit normally.

Highlights include:
Computers not being “fashionably up to date” in an already wealthy suburb of Dayton (where Bri intends to focus her ‘campaigning’ as it’s all within walking distance).

Invention of and firing a Harvard Educated Marketing Guy because he looked at her funny while changing the oil on her car. (Hallucogenic Headmate #3)

Two whole seconds of dead air as Bri rambles on for so long Peter and Adam zone out.

A Stress Sigh

“Something you know as a software engineer is engineering is all about compromising.”

Justice Democrat, The Young Turks shitshow, is supposedly in contact with Wu to help support all new candidates.

Peter & Adam confused by Wu’s answers.

Nanomachines to counter rising sea levels.

Peter saying Wu just wants pork barrel money, Wu enthusiastically agrees.

“This comes from my experience of Silicon Valley.”

Interviewer: The 8th congressional district is this most Irish-Catholic-


BW: Ya


Adam: district


Bri Wu:Ya


Adam: in the nation...And while Adam and I are fascinated with Gamergate.


Bri Wu: HAH, yeah.


Adam: My guess is that is going to be of limited utility, there’ll be some utility because of the whole issue of women’s rights will resonate. But how do you plan to make a cultural connection. What is ah, uh, um, by Massachusetts standards a conservative democrat disctrict. I mean by national standards that’s still probably close to socialism, but locally it’s still ah, uh a blue district tinged with red.


Wu: Can I thank you SO much for asking me this as no-one ever asks me this? Y’know, I grew up in Missisippi, which is the poorest state in America, and it is, ya know, when you’re talking about blue collar people go up to go to Union jobs where you go to do blue collar jobs, ya know. I grew up in that! So when I am out talking to voters in district 8 when I am talking to people they are my people.


Did you know I did this weekend? I have a classic car I’m working on repairing. I spent most of this weekend under my car trying to rewire my electrical system. That’s not something most people in congress are interested in doing.


So, yeah, what you do is you talk to them about the economics of what they’re dealing with in their lives which’re atrocious. You talk about the way, that vast parts of district 8 are completely left behind. Y’know, with education and the economic development and prosperity of Boston and Joyce. So you start talking to THEM and speaking to THEM about all the ECONOMIC growth that we need out there in district 8 and people’s eyes light up.


Adam: Now what...wh…. Wh…. what of the areas of district 8 th-that you think are most left behind? Now just keep this simple.


Wu: I think Dayton is an area I, I would focus on more than, THAT would be a bigger priority to me than JP, right? Uhmmm. I think it’s pretty much that eastern area of Massachusetts. Like you can go out there and it’s old homes, but yeah, there’s a school district the other day and I was looking at the computer systems they have out there. It’s the same computer systems I was using in the 90s when I was in High School. So yeah I think we’ve gotta really um, look at the economic structure out there in District 8 and ask why the tax base is so much less.


Adam: Alright, to my mind Dayton is a pretty affluent suburb.


Wu: Sure.


Adam: Right? So, uh, whether or not their computer hardware is oh, au courant... I’m a Massachusetts transplant I’ve lived here over 20 years now.


Pete: YOU’RE A PROFESSIONAL TRANSPLANT


Adam: Thanks.Highlight of my week! We should just shut it down right now! (Lol, call for help) My hunch is there’s going to be listeners who know the state better than I do, that’re going to say. “Wait a minute, Brianna Wu just said that Dayton is a community which is getting short shrift?”


Wu: I AM TALKING all out there in eastern Massachusetts Right? So…


Adam: Well can you be more specific?


Wu: Sure! Well we’re a congressional which needs a lot of help out there the other day for the uhm, uhm (Wu’s tapping the desk as she desperately searches for words) the democratic nash- the uh, democratic primary, like I was out there talking to voters. So, it’s, y’know there’s a lot of work out there that needs to be done.


Adam: You… were just talking about the way you can connect with voters-


Wu: I think so.


Adam: In the 8th congressional district,


Wu: Yup


Adam: and… maybe, I, listened because I wanted to ask some variant of the question I am about to ask.


Wu: Sure


Adam: You’re talking about how you’re connecting with them. It sounded me, like, what I heard Bernie Sanders say when I heard him speak at Burlington College a couple of days after Trump defeated Hillary Clinton, talking about this need to focus on the economic issues and economic inequities and to give and I’m paraphrasing here but I think it’s an accurate paraphrase, to give a secondary role-


Wu: Yep


Adam: A secondary importance to culture and Idenity-


Wu: Yuuuup.


Adam: But of course, I know that you’ve also criticised Stephen Lynch for saying that we should move away from Identity Politics, so-


Wu: ACTUALLY I ah, the Boston, uh, I had, uh, what was it? It was uhm, some Boston uhm, Journalist, Boston Commonwealth, he did a piece on a profile with Stephen Lynch asking if I disagreed with that quote I said I agreed with it to a certain point.


Adam: Oh, so, tell me more…


Wu: HEAR ME, hear me out here. Y’know. I supported Hillary Clinton. I was all in on Hillary Clinton for the election. I went out there and campaigned for her. I wrote op-eds for her, I worked with getting the message out there. I was all in on her. But what I realised in the aftermath of Trump is that the Hillary Clinton playbook is causing us to lose because we got our butts kicked nation-wide.


Adam: What do you mean by Hillary Clinton Playbook?


Wu: I mean… this kind of. I’m just really gonna be honest with ya here. We’re in Boston here right now, there were what? 106 colleges here in Boston? We’re a hyper-educated city. But if you get out there into the rest of the country… I think there is a… Hyper educated, elitist, almost snobbish uhm undercurrent to the Democratic Party. That I think is tremendously counter productive.


Now I’m not talking about not pushing back the racism, or sexism or homophobia when we see it. But I AM talking about looking down your nose at somebody because they say something about NASCAR, or they grew up in a trailer, or if their family happens to be blue collar workers.


There’s a certain sense within many in the democratic party that’s just not what we’re about. I’ll give you an example. There’s somebody I am working with in my company and I now am parting ways with them over this.


They’re harvard educated and background in marketing, they came over by my house and saw me under my car changing my own oil, and they looked at me with disgust in their eyes and they asked me “Why on EARTH are you doing that? You’re head of development at your studio, like why don’t you take that up a bit?” It’s like… everybody… this is pride for me to be able to do this. There’s this… technocratic, elitist strain to the democratic party that is really making us fail to connect with normal people out there. Just everyday voters, just everyday americans and we have got to get down and address their needs very directly.


Just one second, now the identity politics, with all respect to Bernie Sanders he is a white, straight man, and there’s a limit to how much he can understand this.


Adam: By the way, I should note as am I.


Wu: Yas, yas.


Adam: Point taken.


Wu: So as I say this with all respect. There’s a disconnect with white, straight men with what it’s like to be a queer person. With what it’s like to be a woman in this country. So by minimizing those issues you’re really telling women across the country that our concerns don’t matter. And when you see things like reproductive healthcare being dismantled, ah ya know, in this country I would probably stand up to that. So these two things are not mutually exclusive. We need to say, look, the lived in experience of women needs to be at the forefront of politics. Ya know, when I am in congress I am going to be able to speak about reproductive healthcare and advocate for that in a way that I think a straight white man cannot. At the same time we’ve really got to go out there and message with normal americans.


TWO WHOLE SECONDS OF DEAD AIR


Adam: L-let’s talk about infrastructure in Trump’s extremely modelled-


Wu: STRESS SIGH


Adam: I-I am moving this forward. Ah, do you think Democrats in Congress should work with the Trump administration on an infrastructure plan. Or do you think that, uhm, the people in congress should just, ah, oppose Trump at every issue.


Wu: No, of course not. Ah, something you know as a software engineer is engineering is all about compromising. So when I’m developing a piece of software you have certain things you say you cannot go with but it’s all about compromising. That’s what engineering is all about.


So with things like infrastructure, we desperately need infrastructure jobs out there in district 8, something the media, with all respect to you guys, does not talk about enough is climate change here in Boston. I’ve seen data recently which makes me fairly terrified that Boston could be underwater with rising sea levels in 100 years.


Adam: Well I’m not sure why we’re building the sea port the way we’re building it the way we are.


Wu: I agree, so we’re talking about infrastructure I would never fault a democrat for going out there to work to secure jobs and money for people in district 8. In fact that’s my idea, I want to start working with those industries out there so no. I’ve no issue with that.


Adam: One thing which you have suggested which, uh, I want to learn more about but it seems like it’d create tension when working with the Trump administration is this idea that we should show our resistance by withholding our federal tax contributions as a state because you make the point on your campaign website that we give more than we get back. And therefore we’re in a position of strength when it comes to negotiating. So… exactly what sort of negotiation could you see from us being a donor state and could you imagine, given the nature of this administration, some sort of retribution as a consequence of us withholding money and maybe the rest of the country gets this big shiny new rollout of infrastructure but we don’t because we decided to play hardball with out taxes.


Wu: So this is a great question, thank you, and...So this is where my lib perspective growing up in a poor state in america comes in. Let me tell you what it’s like in Mississippi, you have some real conservative extremist politicians that run that state and they refuse to pay taxes.


So they have this game I saw when I worked for the Republican Party where we would bring in all these federal dollars into our state to pay for the police departments, to pay for our roads, to pay for our schools. Ya know, Mississippi doesn’t pay for that, it’s the rest of the country that pays for that. Yet Mississippi is never going to get ahead until they start taxing their own citizens enough to build decent schools there because the schools in Mississippi are atrocious.


I think we’ve got to break this cycle where we have one rabid party that’s saying we’ve gotta slash all of our infrastructure, our education, our public radio, our roads, our, everything. And then its up to states like Massachusetts, like District 8. They’re out there, these are people who don’t need to be giving money to pay for the schools in Mississippi. They need to be rebuilding themselves.


Adam: But how could, how could that work in practise, I mean, what could Massachusetts do on a real fundamental structural level to keep more of our tax dollars here.


Pete: Yeah and not to gang up but more to add to an aspect of that question, the money is taken out of everyone’s paycheck every week. I mean, ya know I’m not talking about corporate taxes and things like that but yes you can adjust your withholdings and such but it, it, it just strikes me as a fantasy. I don’t see how you’d effect it.


Wu: That’s a great question. I would agree with you if it was just Brianna Wu running but listen to my messaging. I’m working with a brand new congress. I got an email from Justice Democrat, which is the Young Turks looking to run all new candidates there. So what we’re looking to do. I agree, so right now there’s a very limited amount to what we can get done. I probably shouldn’t say this on the air but the longer and more I get into running as a candidate for congress the more I see how the Democratic Party is part of this broken system, and there is this kind of short term gain and I think we’ve got to start working with bigger ideas there. So I do want to work with other representatives. I do want a new generation of congress people to get in there and be more aggressive on federal funding.


Adam: What’s the mechanism for making that goal a reality because I’m still confused.


Wu: Sure, look…


Pete: I by the way don’t buy it, but maybe you’ll convince me.


Wu: Y’know, so part of this is I am coming from an engineering background. Right? So I’m coming from the venture-capital world I’m from the world where you decide something? You get in there and get it done the right way. So I want to tell you as far as being a tehnocrat? A Washington insider that can sit down and really do this, uhm, that has a lot of experience at this? Maybe you’re right. Maybe I’ll go there and find out it absolutely cannot be done.


But I think that it’s very true that Massachetsuss is a donor state and I realise some of this is getting in the way of the appropriations committee work, so they get the master budget and they go through it and the way it goes out there, I could completely fail at this. But I want to say that this is my mission going in there is to negotiate harder.


Pete: Ok. I’m still a little confused but we should probably move on. As Adam said we all pay our taxes via our paychecks…


Wu: I’m talking about the budgeting process


Pete: Right... but you were talking about keeping our federal taxes here.


Wu: I’M TALKING ABOUT KEEPING THE GREATER PART… maybe this is why we’re not communicating.


Pete:Yeah cause I think we’re getting it…


Wu: I’m talking about getting… ok, one of the things I want to do in district 8 is...yeah you have a lot of union people that are under employed out there, right? I would like clean technology and energy and jobs that is MADE for Massachusetts, hyper educated workforce, we get it and you need like people to start building this infrastructure.I would like to fight and advocate for those jobs right here in Massachusetts.


So when we’re talking about technology to stop the sea level from rising and by the way some of the technology I’ve seen is from like everything from nano machines that could bit different chemicals out there to bathe the effects of global warming to, don’t just think giant cement walls to break up giant hurricanes going in land, this is a ton of infrastructure that we need. We’re talking about needing to rebuild the coastline because that’s where it’s going to be hit. We need more federal appropriated construction jobs.


Peter: So you’re talking about and this is not in a perjorative sense, getting more pork.


Wu: Yeah! Yeah!


Peter: Got it. Thanks for bearing with me.


Wu Can I just say as an engineer you always lead to the most complicated part of the solution in your brain, it’s just the way we think, so…


Peter: Did you want to ask a question?


Adam: y-yeah we need to keep an eye on the clock but, uh, wh-what’re the two ideas you and your fellow young turks.


Wu laughs.


Adam: That you would like to import into Washington? At least into the democratic side? Some radical ideas we’ve not talked about yet.


Wu: Well I think Universal basic income is something we’ve gotta talk about.


Adam: … ok. (He sounds so fucking done by this point)


Peter: That’s a…. Big one


Wu: I know this is something, this is an example of the two party system goes, they looks at it and goes “Can’t be done!” But this is, I gotta tell you guys this is coming from my experience of Silicon Valley. I go out there and I see the next wave of automation robots are coming, from friends who are developing this stuff. And guys? I want to tell you. You are going to be SHOCKED about where we are a decade from now. With delivery jobs, with food preparation jobs…


Peter: You’re right Mia.


Wu: I’m sorry?


Peter: Ah, uh, inside joke with Adam. I recently wrote a piece about joblessness, the silent scourge that’s inflicting america.


Wu: Yeah! It, it’s-


Peter: No one is right, so you’re saying it’s going to get a lot, lot worse?


Wu: Yeah, it’s going to get so much worse in the next decade guys. There’s obvious things like Uber, is working to automate their workforce with self driving cars, and I tell you. I dunno if a decade from now if delivery jobs are still going to be here.


Adam: So tell us how, the annual income would work. Briefly because that’s an idea I don’t think most people are aware of.


Wu: Sure, so, the idea’s a guaranteed universal basic income. So the idea I like is, uhm, let’s say Jane drives a truck for a living, ok? She’s in District 8 and a truck comes along and uh, they automate it, they put an automated system in there and Jane loses her job. The way I would start, uh, Im-im-implementing the UBI is I would Tax the robot that takes Jane’s job. I would start having that robot pay into social security and that automatically, have that start paying into the system.


That will do two things, LONG TERM, that will have as automation takes over more jobs we’ll have the tax base will also slow the onset of automation, and allow people a chance to move to other industries.


Adam: N-now… I know that’s an intellectually defensible idea.


Wu: Yes.


Adam: And… economically it’s not crazy. However, this is a political campaign. How would you respond to an attack ad that would come out at you and-


Wu: Laughs


Adam: That would say… “This woman’s idea of, of, of, helping the downtrodden is to tax robots.”


Wu: LAUGHS SOME MORE: That’s a problem you run into when you talk about big ideas and uh they find soundbites to go after you. Ah, I’ve no doubt that would happen. You know there’s something is that I’m going to be open and honest and not be hyper messaged and y’;know, like I would keep doing.


Adam: O-o-o-o-one more than, just to move us along.


Wu: Wait. I have to push back on you on that one-


Adam: Oh….


Wu: What am I supposed to do? Not talk about big ideas


Adam: NO NO NOOO I’m not! I I’m just trying to present a real life problem. But you mentioned guaranteed annual income. What would be your second big idea?


Wu: Second Big idea?


Adam; Ya


Wu: Well it’s gotta be renewable energy. We’ve gotta go all in on, right? This is an American security issue more than anything. Like, guys, you look at why we’ve been entangled in the middle east for far beyond I was alive, ya know the truth is, with climate change Oil is destroying this planet, and the thing is. I think people don’t understand this. In china? They’re all in on renewable energy. They are surpassing the United states at this at a very fast rate.


Peter: I seem to recall China up and grabbing a solar energy company from Massaschetssus.


Wu: Really? I didn’t know that.


Peter: If memory serves.


Adam: Well th-th-theeeee, the, the, Chinese Solar industry has basically eaten Americas. Y’know, stuff.


Wu: So, yeah on top of that we’ve got to start developing our own renewable energy technology, because oil is not going to last forever, and even if we did it would destroy the planet. So… There’s a lot of jobs and infrastructure that can be created with climate change. It’s scary, it’s terrifying, it’s out there, it’s looking at some of the research and developing some of my policy for this stuff, it scares me. It keeps me up at night some of the stuff I see. At the same time it’s a crisis but it’s also an opportunity. It’s an opportunity to really relink the economy, it’s a chance to build infrastructure it’s a chance for the united states to lead the world in clean energy jobs.


Peter: I’m hoping we can wrap up on another policy question. I know one of the things you’ve said you’d really like to tackle is the passage of an omnibus privacy-


Wu: OH! Thank you!


Peter: Bill. So, what would you like to see happen on that front?


Wu: So, this is one of those rare things where democrats and republicans completely agree. If they’re engineers. If they’re engineers. So what you’re going to see from me in the next few weeks is me putting together a group of engineers, to take over the technology subcommittee in the House. I want to get a lot of engineers to run for congress and to try and get on this committee to start working on things like cyber security, privacy, encyrption, ah, net neutrality.


This is stuff that is important. But I realise this isn’t going to drive people out in district 8 to the polls, but God it’s just so important, like, there’s a bill the republicans are trying to fast track through right now that will allow your internet provider to pass off everything that you surf for marketing purposes. Which is a huge violation of your privacy. This is not a problem that can be solved with the free market, because neither the buyer or the seller are incentivised to do this.


The buyer wants to spend as little as possible, the seller wants to collect as much data as possible, Government legislation is the only thing that can solve our privacy problem. Amazingly, Republicans and democrats. I know so many conservatives engineers and we are like peas in a pod on this.


Adam: I should note you’re holding up your fingers and crossing them as you’re making that quote.


Wu: yeah, I know, we have got to, our tech policy in the United States is so dumb guys, it is SO terrible in ways that I would lose your listeners getting into technical speak but it is we’re so vulnerable in cyber security


Adam: ...well thank you Brianna Wu


Wu: Yes.


Adam: Normally we don’t get this down in the dirt…


Wu: Yes.


Adam: With policy proposals I don’t think


Pete: I would say granular.


Wu: Thanks


Pete: So there we have Brianna Wu, software engineer, tech analyst and congressional candidate for District 8.
Click to expand...

The best part is where she says she’s qualified to talk about women’s issues such as reproductive healthcare whereas men are not.
 
It was hilarious listening to Wu trying to put a positive spin on having absolutely no idea what her own policy proposals mean, and eventually falling back on just saying she'll figure it out when she gets elected.

Wu can just about fumble her way through a 3 minute TV interview, but anyone who even scratches the surface of her political knowledge quickly figures out how shallow it is. Can you imagine how she'd cope with an actively hostile interview?
 
Richard Stabone said:
I wonder if she even bothers with the official site anymore. She seemed to get bored of it quickly and wasn't updating it at all. As long as the 3rd party payment site works she'll probably just abandon it.

One thing I love about these career cows is how they abandon things so fast. Remember when she was excited about VR? Or that commercial? Or the office? It's like a child. The website doesn't give her the endorphin rush anymore so it's down for good unless Frank wants to spend an evening after work figuring it out.
Click to expand...

It's literally a 10 second job to find out why it doesn't work. The error message is unique to www.akamai.com.

Copy and paste the message into Google and the top result explains it.

John's been so busy with "campaigning" he hasn't had time to press ctrl+c and ctrl+v.
 
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