The Global Bridge Foundation wants to do its part to turn the history of mankind on its head. It is time for the wealthiest country to acknowledge the poor and give them work opportunities. We mustn’t keep seeing them in inaccurate stereotypes as unmotivated, but giving them a chance to contribute and use their potential. As revealed through micro-finance in the world, the poor are very motivated to work, they just haven't been given realistic job opportunities. The wealthy simply becoming wealthier, and not reaching out to those that need it the most with job creation has created the infrastructure for pollution. By not serving the needs of the poor we have and will continue to divide societies throughout the world forever. When societies are divided, that is the perfect fertile ground for terrorism. So you see, it is much bigger than just bringing the bottom up. The work that Robert and Dave have been doing with The Global Bridge Foundation on the issue of homelessness in L.A. county has given them both great cautious optimism. Much more so than most of us realize, the homelessness crisis is solvable. 

In this episode, Robert will present a variety of options to serve the needs of the homeless in a holistic and long-term way. He highlights some of the organizations that are at the forefront of this progress toward bringing realistic hope to everyone in the streets and those of us that are heartbroken seeing our society's maladies right in front of us as we walk or drive by. This may seem like a  grandiose claim, but you will see how we can economically and humanely give job opportunities, and housing and help the environment all at the same time. Robert and Dave are excited to share their passion with you and bring forward a project just about to come to fruition. If you feel inspired by this episode we encourage you to continue the conversation at The Global Bridge Foundation.org  and to reach out to the media and your local politicians.

Read the transcription and listen to this episode on The Global Bridge Foundation website.

Homelessness is truly solvable. The fact that it is a pervasive problem is a failure of creativity and practicality. Robert and Dave have been at the frontlines of this human crisis and will share with you some of the innovative and cost-effective ways this issue can be handled humanely with respect for all, including the planet, within the next 5 years. The nonprofit work that Robert and Dave have done through The Global Bridge Foundation focuses on bringing the bottom of the economic population up through the vision of creating communities with low-cost housing with job training and purpose. 

This multi-faceted issue requires multifaceted solutions which Robert discusses on the podcast including, creating flexibility with agricultural zoning and land use. It is now well known that existing programs can use manufactured substantial modular housing and not just tiny homes at a fraction of the cost, and regenerative agriculture which the community will be trained on how to grow food sustainably. There are at least 10 different types of communities that can be created to optimize benefits by being able to specialize in specific needs such as vets, drug/alcohol addiction, single women, and families. If the same sector of the homeless community is housed together it creates much more affinity and support to those living there and is also more economical. This could be a permanent home for those that choose it, as long as they stay within the required structure of the given community. The tragedy and the blessing is that homelessness is quite solvable. It will require not just a change from our lawmakers but a societal understanding that like all of us, the homeless deserve a healing and safe environment with an opportunity to work. Through Robert’s extensive work with homeless populations and as a psychotherapist for over 40 years he explores the formula to eradicate homelessness with dignity.

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In this episode, Robert continues to explore the lessons from select TV shows to look beyond the entertainment and use their stories to depict unconscious areas of our life worthy of examination with potential great benefit. All of the shows that Robert and Dave present can support us to break free from what we were taught growing up and encourage us to have individual contemplation with new insight. This individual contemplation is crucial. We cannot afford to be carbon copies of prior generations because we are facing a very imperiled world in the 21st century. Many of us learn much better through the arts than we do from words alone. Join us as Robert and Dave unpack the hit series, Dexter and use it as a tool for self-reflection and awakening. 

At first glance, Dexter appears to be just another violent show. However,  as we are let into his inner thoughts and introduced to his alter ego, he turns out to be a very relatable and sympathetic character. We too are not perfectly innocent, and like Dexter have a dark side and an angry side. Most of us spend large amounts of energy managing how we are viewed by others. Being able to witness layers of ourselves, like Dexter observes his killer instinct, is a huge act of self-awareness. Where are you two or more people where you haven't admitted it yet? Dexter gives us the chance to witness his dark passenger without a negative attitude about it. This cultivated compassion in practice could play out when seeing a homeless person on the street and instead of being annoyed or assume they are unmotivated, perhaps a new curiosity about their story can occur. Before this show, Robert, like many of you, couldn't imagine rooting for a serial killer. It disorients us in order to push our capacity to think for ourselves beyond our conditioned ideas of morality. The series Dexter turns morality on its head and allows the possibility of falling in love with the unlovable, to relook at people in the world with greater compassion, and maybe just maybe fall in a deeper like with the unlovable parts of ourselves.

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This week, Robert and Dave switch gears back to the series focused on a few shows that bring meaning and potential benefit in the media. Specifically, television shows that possess themes crucial to wake us up from the dangers that we are facing, prejudices we have, and ideas that support survival on the planet. Highlighted today is The Americans. We cannot help but love the Russian family that is portrayed as spies planted in the United States in this show. Not only how the main characters love each other, but how they love their kids. These relationships humanize them in such a way as to melt the barrier between them and us watching in our living rooms. The upper echelons of the power of Putin are as corrupt as it gets, representing the most disturbed leaders like Hitler, Stalin, and the worst elements of Trump. These authoritarian influences guide us into black-and-white thinking that blocks many of us from seeing how similar all of our needs and desires are as people.

The Americans takes place during The Cold War, under the leadership of Gorbachev in Robert's eyes, more than any other leader in America or Russia, he spoke to world peace. Gorbachev declared an innocence and a common responsibility to negate nuclear war. The Americans, as a TV show, revealed common elements that allowed universal humanness and collective responsibility to be seen. The key is not to see each side as equal, but to be able to see the fragility and the massive contradictions on both sides. We need to teach our kids that we too have made our mistakes and that it is important for us to be humble as a country to try and create as much unity as possible when our country and world are so threatened.

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This week, Robert and Dave will wrap up this special political series with its 6th episode. American politics is infected where the truth no longer seems to matter. It doesn’t seem to matter that Republican judges saw that elections were fair. It doesn't matter that there was an attempted coup in The Capital and police officers were killed. It doesn't seem to matter that we may be losing our right to vote unless you get involved more than you are right now. The truth matters and is the antidote. Robert and Dave speak not from the viewpoint of a party, but as democracy advocates in an effort to energize you, the listener, and maybe even shake you away from the very understandable denial many of us are in.  

Robert takes great care to separate the rational Republicans from the election deniers that have gone along with clear and intentional deception. In addition to presenting the facts, using his training and experience as a psychotherapist, Robert explains the core psychology behind the current political climate. Unresolved anger is at a fever pitch. Our anger as a country derives from the frustration of our needs, most of which we’re not even aware of, which has led to the move toward tyrannical power which is appealing to many. Robert identifies with this anger because our politicians have often misrepresented us.  At the core of anger is an unrealized need to create a society that is truly caring for the people. If this psychology interests you, we strongly encourage you to check out the Awareness That Heals series. If we understand the core psychology, we can wake ourselves up. Instead of being controlled by fear, we increase our capacity for courage. Instead of being taken over by our anger, we develop ways to foster peace. Instead of denial, we develop understanding. Democracy in its best form is not only individual freedom but also includes collective responsibility. There are so many reasons to be upset, frustrated, and angry because greed, power, and corruption are weakening our democracy and its ideals. We need to face the truth of what is needed in moving toward the equal opportunity to be housed, fed, and given the opportunity to fulfill our potential. This is only going to happen if Democracy survives and we are on the possible precipice of this great loss. We mustn’t deny the truth of the benefits of real democracy and not be in denial of the danger we are facing. We need to revere the truth and convert our anger into a passion for justice. 

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Join Robert and Dave on the 5th installment of this special political series. Drawing from his knowledge and professional background as a psychotherapist, Robert illuminates ways in which it is both understandable and easy to be caught in denial in this crucial moment in US history. He offers a profound plea to shake free from the fear and anger that often unconsciously supports Trump and MAGA authoritarianism. We are in a new century where we must recognize that to be individuals in a free country, we need to get involved. Fast forward and see the implications if election fraud is normalized. Democracy is over for the world if we are not able to commit to this kind of fundamental truth to add up the number of votes in the country and honor the will of the majority of citizens. Fear and anger are the great distorter of history which we cannot afford to be in denial about it any longer. 

Robert reminds us that our country had a significant minority of people in the 1930s that were pro-Hitler. This includes representatives of Congress. This parallel may help break our denial to recognize that not only are we going through it now but it's been with us for 90 years, if not longer. This is a long-term fight for our lives and our freedom and our ability to lead the rest of the world and not be run by a series of endless dictators. MAGA Republicans are committed to denying the truth in a vast variety of ways. To be precise this isn't identifying Republicans in general but specifically the Republicans that are responding, creating, and supporting massive lies that have been found baseless time and time again in the courts. The lies are so fundamental and blinding that it puts us in the same place that Germany was in in the 1930s. If your emotional reaction tells you this is too much, then you are enabling this to occur in our country. MAGA Republicans are not just telling white lies but black lies that could be the death of democracy and the birth of tyranny.

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Welcome back to The Missing Conversation for the 4th installment of this Special Political Series. The election is just weeks away and the stakes have never been higher. If we do not attend to the deceptions, denial, and angry provocations that threaten our democracy, we very well could lose our fundamental way of life. Robert and Dave ask you to hear the call to action in their passion for passive Democrats, Republicans that are not in the MAGA group, and Independents to light a fire in your bellies and wake up from the denial of the reality of this crucial time. Violence, fear, anger, and denial have the power to condemn our world to devastation.

Robert points us to the past to illustrate what is happening currently and the potential outcome if Trump and his authoritarian agenda continue to increase in power. Mussolini simply had to threaten violence and the powers of Italy acquiesced to his demands. In essence, that is what is happening now. In the episode, Robert points out the many ways in which this has played out. Trump's agenda will not support you and your family. He will support wealth, domination, control, lies, elimination of truth, science, our country's protection, and ultimately,  democracy itself. The degree of intimidation is unthinkable and unspeakable. The Secret Service had to stop Trump on his way to join the insurrection even though he would be violating every aspect of democracy. Trump has a long history of encouraging violence as a staple of his political rallies. These ongoing threats have taken the place of disagreement and discussion. What was before simply passionate disagreement is now a death threat. Robert and Dave hope to motivate you to get out to vote and inspire others to do the same. If there are enough of us, this movement can be stopped before it can cause more harm and violence.

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In about a month, The US will have one of the most consequential elections of our lifetime aside from perhaps the rejection of Trump in 2020. There are so many close races that every vote matters. Approximately 60% of Americans are going to have a candidate on their ballot that is an election denier, embracing the big lie of our time. The potential fall of our democracy is very real if the authoritarian MAGA party infiltrates deeper into our institutions to further weaken and centralize them. Robert and Dave want to make clear the distinction between MAGA and the more classic definition of those identifying as Republican. It will take the action of us all, Republicans, Independents, and Democrats in this crucial time.

In this episode, Robert and Dave discuss this, as well as other key dangers facing our country. Robert uses his 45 years of psychotherapy experience to uncover the subtleties of the unconscious anger that is coming out in the rage and support of the Trump Republicans. Perhaps this can provide some understanding or compassion for how their anger is distorting their conscious mind but it cannot yet play out into forgiveness because we need to wake up and be the source of helping them wake up. The depth of fear to stand up against this authoritarian wave can be better understood in the context of the pressures of being a cult member. These overtly authoritarian views and tendencies that define Trumpism and the MAGA Republicans have managed to have a good part of our country beholden to them politically. A lot of the beholding to them is fear. Not only fear of not being reelected but fear of being utterly ostracized like Liz Cheney. It's so important that we understand that fear, anger, and denial are the roots of where we are and are the roots of dictatorship throughout the history of mankind. Don't let fear rule you. Let your passion and your wisdom rule you and guide you to the polls and beyond.

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Robert and Dave bring their passion to the second part of this special political series to hopefully spark the light in you, the listener, to overcome any obstacles in your way to get to the polls and vote for those who truly want to be elected to serve us, our world and our country and not just themselves. Robert continues to illuminate the many ways electing Trump and his followers will lead to catastrophic consequences, the likes of which are hard to imagine and convenient to deny. Trump's open admiration of Putin, Kim Jong Un, and neo-Nazis previews the total danger our democracy is in. The lies are obvious and examples numerous, many of which are reviewed in this episode. 

Are we going to be a country where one of our mainstream parties supports conspiracy theories, alienating our allies and NATO? The answer so far from the MAGA Republicans is yes. Robert and Dave are careful to differentiate the MAGA Republicans from the rest of the Republican party and see the goodwill as well as that of Independents and passive Democrats. This is a fight for Democracy and not just a fight for Democrats. Allow yourself to contemplate the implication of further expansion of Putin attacking other countries and the further dangers of China being given an incentive to do the same. Let it put a fire in your belly and then let it inspire you. Let it be part of what moves you from passivity into a passion not from anger, but sincerity.

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Join Robert and Dave on this special political series to help shake ourselves out of a state of denial and electrify ourselves into action to enable sane voices to prevail in this upcoming election. Most Americans are in a state of shock because of Trump and the MAGA faction proliferating corruption and lies. Robert and Dave make a clear distinction that MAGA Republicans are seemingly caught up in their unconscious anger or are simply supporting a dominating power grab. The vast majority of Republicans and Independents are good human beings and this podcast is in support of you and asking you to see what’s needed to support the quality of life for you and your children’s future. 

Many people have been misguided to operate from gut feelings that are frequently the source of denial. Robert too had a gut feeling early on about Trump. He wanted him to be someone that stirred up both the Democratic and Republican parties. However, he was rooting for somebody he wasn't. Looking at that gut feeling, he realized that what Trump was saying revealed a character disorder that was so severe it was Hitlerian. He was rooting for something that was a reflection of his stored frustration and anger throughout his life of wanting politics to be sane. These gut feelings misguide us in so many areas that it bears consideration to examine your own gut feelings and say, is this really true? It is so outrageous to imagine the US allying with Putin and North Korea but this is the reality we face if Trump and his supporters move into power. It is easy to want to tune out or withdraw. Alternatively, we need to get inspired, involved, vote, and donate because our very existence depends on it. This is not an election you can sit out.

Read the transcription and listen to this episode on The Global Bridge Foundation website.