By playing, you agree to uListen's Terms and Privacy Policy and YouTube's Terms of Service.

The War On The Young with professor Scott Galloway | A Bit of Optimism Podcast

Building wealth is an unequal pursuit. Scott Galloway believes no one is getting more screwed financially than young people.

Scott GallowayguestGreat Minds Simon SinekhostGreat Minds

Jun 19, 20241h 2mWatch on YouTube

Summaries, chapters, transcripts, and FAQs on this page are made by uListen, not YouTube.

Great conversations run long. Their best ideas don't have to.

uListen is free on iPhone, iPad, Android, Chrome, and Claude.

See how

Transcript

70 min read · 13,970 words

0:00 – 23:50
The War on the Young
1. SGScott Galloway
  To be rich in America is to be loved, full stop. It's a violent, rapacious place if you don't have money. It's a loving, generous place if you do have money. Once you hit your number, there's no reason to be a hoarder, 'cause this is what makes you happy. Spend it. I spend so much fucking money, and it's amazing. And then you know what I do? I give it away. And so what I would say to anyone else who has a lot of money, why do you need to be a billionaire? It's not gonna get you anything. Here's what you do. You do amazing things with friends and family. You take care of your parents. You fly your friends to Aspen to hang out with you, and then anything above that, you give it away. And there's so many amazing causes and people, and overpay the people who work with you. Throw money around like you're a fucking gangster in the '50s diagnosed with ass cancer.
2. SSSimon Sinek
  [laughs]
3. SGScott Galloway
  Just live it up. And you know what? You're gonna love life. Don't do it because you're noble. Don't do it 'cause you're praying to some god or whatever it is. I can tell you firsthand, it feels amazing. [upbeat music]
4. SSSimon Sinek
  Thanks for joining. It's really good to see you.
5. SGScott Galloway
  It's always good to see you.
6. SSSimon Sinek
  Um, and congratulations on, on the TED Talk, the new book. Lots of busy things happening.
7. SGScott Galloway
  Thanks, Simon.
8. SSSimon Sinek
  Um, w- when you got invited to do the TED Talk-
9. SGScott Galloway
  Yeah
10. SSSimon Sinek
  ... did they ask you to do a particular subject, or did they s- did you just... Did you say to them, "This is what I wanna talk about"?
11. SGScott Galloway
  No, I, I had lunch with Chris Anderson, who I've known for 20, 30 years in London, and he said, "We're thinking about having you at TED," as if I'd, you know, been crowned.
12. SSSimon Sinek
  [laughs]
13. SGScott Galloway
  He didn't, he didn't commit to giving me a, a speaking spot. He said, "We're thinking about it." And I said, "Well, first off, thanks. That's, that's exciting." And he said, "What, what's your vision, uh, for a talk?" He said, "If you were to do a talk, what would it be?" He didn't even offer me the slot yet.
14. SSSimon Sinek
  Hmm.
15. SGScott Galloway
  And I said, "I think that the thing that people aren't talking enough about is I believe that almost every economic policy is nothing but a thinly veiled transfer of wealth-
16. SSSimon Sinek
  Mm-hmm
17. SGScott Galloway
  ... from the entrants to the incumbents, and more loosely, from young to old."
18. SSSimon Sinek
  Mm-hmm.
19. SGScott Galloway
  And he said, "Okay, so how would you brand it?" I'm like, "Well, I've been thinking about this. I think there's a war on the young."
20. SSSimon Sinek
  Hmm.
21. SGScott Galloway
  He said, "That's the talk, and we wanna have you." And I wasn't sold myself, 'cause Vancouver from London is a real haul.
22. SSSimon Sinek
  Mm-hmm.
23. SGScott Galloway
  And I, I'm trying to be more... [smacks lips] Someone said, I love this saying, "Be generous with everything except your time."
24. SSSimon Sinek
  Hmm.
25. SGScott Galloway
  I'm pretty cheap with my time now. And anyways, so I did it, and then I thought, this is something I feel passionate about, so I g- I rallied the team, and I get a lot of nice feedback around, wow, that's so much data. It's, you know, greatness is in the agency of others. I probably spent eight hours on that talk, but I bet there was 800 hours that went into it.
26. SSSimon Sinek
  Mm-hmm.
27. SGScott Galloway
  And so my team immediately started pulling together data and, you know, it's 110 slides.
28. SSSimon Sinek
  It was, um, chilling-
29. SGScott Galloway
  Mm-hmm
30. SSSimon Sinek
  ... I would say is a good word, um, how stark your conclusions were, your, your, your insights were.
23:50 – 31:33
The loss of idealism
1. SSSimon Sinek
  You're touching right on something that, um, I- That, that's the thing that I'm sort of lamenting these days.
2. SGScott Galloway
  Mm-hmm.
3. SSSimon Sinek
  And it, and it is the leadership, it is that leadership conversation, which is it seems that there's been a total loss of idealism.
4. SGScott Galloway
  I, I agree.
5. SSSimon Sinek
  And you go back to Ronald Reagan or, or, or John F. Kennedy, so I don't care what your politics are-
6. SGScott Galloway
  Mm-hmm, mm-hmm
7. SSSimon Sinek
  ... they literally use the terms peace on earth-
8. SGScott Galloway
  Mm-hmm
9. SSSimon Sinek
  ... world peace in their inaugurations as a driving motivation-
10. SGScott Galloway
  Mm-hmm
11. SSSimon Sinek
  ... which is an incredibly appealing thing to bring people together and be willing to bear any burden and pay any price-
12. SGScott Galloway
  Mm-hmm
13. SSSimon Sinek
  ... for the greater good. And talking about world peace now literally in this artificial context-
14. SGScott Galloway
  Mm-hmm
15. SSSimon Sinek
  ... sounds completely cheesy-
16. SGScott Galloway
  Mm-hmm
17. SSSimon Sinek
  ... to say the world, "I'm doing it for world peace." And I don't see it in politics, I don't even see it in business.
18. SGScott Galloway
  Mm-hmm.
19. SSSimon Sinek
  The, the, the total loss of idealism, and I think idealism is the thing because idealism exists on a level above everything we're talking about.
20. SGScott Galloway
  Yep.
21. SSSimon Sinek
  It is the thing that we can actually see the forest for the trees and say, "Well, I am willing to give up some-
22. SGScott Galloway
  Mm-hmm
23. SSSimon Sinek
  ... because I believe in that." And some could be money-
24. SGScott Galloway
  Mm-hmm
25. SSSimon Sinek
  ... it could be an effort, it could be some sort of sacrifice.
26. SGScott Galloway
  Mm-hmm.
27. SSSimon Sinek
  And so I wonder if this is solvable with good leadership. Now-
28. SGScott Galloway
  Mm-hmm
29. SSSimon Sinek
  ... I'm also not so foolhardy to think, oh, well, you just make leaders.
30. SGScott Galloway
  Mm-hmm.
31:33 – 52:46
“Moral” capitalism and political extremists
1. SSSimon Sinek
  You and I are giving each other a lot of dense sandwiches to unpack. So the capitalism that you're defending-
2. SGScott Galloway
  Yep
3. SSSimon Sinek
  ... or at least pointing to-
4. SGScott Galloway
  Yep
5. SSSimon Sinek
  ... that Sam Altman who comes in with these idealistic notions and all of a sudden they disappear when money gets involved-
6. SGScott Galloway
  Yeah
7. SSSimon Sinek
  ... um, is a relatively modern conception of capitalism. It's, it's, it's Milton Friedman capitalism.
8. SGScott Galloway
  Right.
9. SSSimon Sinek
  Um, popularized by fuckers like Jack Welch.
10. SGScott Galloway
  Right.
11. SSSimon Sinek
  Um, but it's not Adam Smith capitalism. It's not the capitalism that made America great.
12. SGScott Galloway
  Yeah, it's not true capitalism.
13. SSSimon Sinek
  It's not true capitalism. And so we've conflated-
14. SGScott Galloway
  Right
15. SSSimon Sinek
  ... the bastardized version of capitalism we have now with the capitalism that has, has-
16. SGScott Galloway
  That's right
17. SSSimon Sinek
  ... contributed to the world for over 200 years. [clears throat] And my fear is that we're gonna throw the baby out with the bathwater because, because we've so conflated them, and I think there should be a return to a kind of capitalism where there is m- m- and I'll use the term moral obligation-
18. SGScott Galloway
  That's right
19. SSSimon Sinek
  ... that we have moral obligation. So, so just out of curiosity-
20. SGScott Galloway
  Yeah
21. SSSimon Sinek
  ... I did this just the other day. Just out of curiosity, I was curious why rich people gave to taxes in, like, the Victorian era, right?
22. SGScott Galloway
  Mm-hmm.
23. SSSimon Sinek
  So 19th century. 'Cause the Carnegies, the Rockefellers-
24. SGScott Galloway
  Right
25. SSSimon Sinek
  ... and, and, and, and the British wealthy-
26. SGScott Galloway
  Mm-hmm
27. SSSimon Sinek
  ... they gave shit tons-
28. SGScott Galloway
  Mm
29. SSSimon Sinek
  ... to charity, and they built-
30. SGScott Galloway
  Mm
52:46 – 1:02:53
Friends, Love and Money
1. SSSimon Sinek
  than the causes themselves.
2. SGScott Galloway
  So I, I like that. I think that's part of it. But you know how I say I love you to people now? I give them money.
3. SSSimon Sinek
  That's not love.
4. SGScott Galloway
  Oh, it's better. The kids who work for me don't want my love, they want money.
5. SSSimon Sinek
  Your friends. I'm not talking about your, I'm not talking about your employees.
6. SGScott Galloway
  Okay, friends. Fine. My friends-
7. SSSimon Sinek
  I'm not talking about your employees
8. SGScott Galloway
  ... okay, but that's how I make the biggest impact.
9. SSSimon Sinek
  Okay.
10. SGScott Galloway
  I have a group of friends, we share affection with each other. I'm seeing like three fraternity brothers in Aspen in two weeks. I invite my friends to a bunch of shit. I think they feel loved, and I know they love me.
11. SSSimon Sinek
  But that's generous.
12. SGScott Galloway
  But in terms of moving society forward, here's how I was the first 40 years of my life. Anyone that walked into one of my companies had two bubbles. One bubble was how much money they made, one bubble was how much value they were adding. And if the left bubble got bigger than the right, I warned them, and if it didn't get fixed fast, I fired them. I was a pure, unadulterated capitalist. And now you know what I do? I overpay people. My job as someone who has a lot of money is to stuff as much money into the pockets of people who are working with me who do a great job. It's almost like a self-imposed-
13. SSSimon Sinek
  Okay. Wonderful. I love that. Keep doing it.
14. SGScott Galloway
  Yeah.
15. SSSimon Sinek
  Great. Love it.
16. SGScott Galloway
  Yep.
17. SSSimon Sinek
  Okay? But your friends that you're generous with, and you'll pay for the trip and you'll pay for the hotels and the-
18. SGScott Galloway
  Not talking about that
19. SSSimon Sinek
  ... like, I'm talking about like y- like here, let's take two scenarios, right?
20. SGScott Galloway
  Yeah.
21. SSSimon Sinek
  A friend of yours is moving house.
22. SGScott Galloway
  Yep.
23. SSSimon Sinek
  And you, you go, "You're, you're such a great friend, I'm paying for the moving van. Here's five grand." Right?
24. SGScott Galloway
  Yeah. You wanted to go over and actually-
25. SSSimon Sinek
  Right
26. SGScott Galloway
  ... help him move, right?
27. SSSimon Sinek
  And, and, and versus the friend-
28. SGScott Galloway
  No fucking way No fucking way
29. SSSimon Sinek
  Okay, so-
30. SGScott Galloway
  I'll be getting drunk with someone or I'll be at the Hotel du Cap, "But by the way, here's the money. No need to thank me. I got it." Money is the transfer of work and time. It is the best way to express love

Episode duration: 1:02:54

In the uListen app, the transcript lights up word by word as you listen. Get uListen

Transcript of episode _K_Xc8NrSCE

Get more out of YouTube videos.

Read along on your phone, search it beside the video, or ask your favorite AI app what was said.

iOS

The War on the Young

The loss of idealism

“Moral” capitalism and political extremists

Friends, Love and Money

Get more out of YouTube videos.