Politics, Caregiving and Prosperity with New York Assemblyman Ron Kim

In this episode, Cherri Jacobs Pruitt interviews New York Assemblyman Ron Kim on how he uses Riane Eisler’s partnership-domination cultural lens and caring economics as transformational tools for tackling some of societies most challenging issues. Assemblyman Kim provides a compelling case for our nation to re-imagine our caring infrastructure and to rethink care work as a critical and core function of our government. This deep-dive conversation with Ron will help you envision a politics of partnership where trust and compassion are foundational and essential components. 

Ron Kim - Assemblyman

Ain’t I A Woman Campaign

Flushing Workers Center

The Real Wealth of Nation, Riane Eisler

The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future, Riane Eisler

The Power of Partnership: Seven Relationships that will Change Your Life, Riane Eisler

Center for Partnership Systems

center@partnershipway.org

Resilience, Rising Appalachia

Chapters

• 0:09 Building a Partnership-Based Political Agenda
• 13:31 Building Partnerships for Political Change

Transcript

00;00;20;21 - 00;00;23;59
Welcome
to the Power of Partnership podcast.

00;00;24;04 - 00;00;29;34
I’m Riane Eisler, President of the Center
for Partnerships Systems.

00;00;29;39 - 00;00;35;52
This podcast brings you
the voices from the partnership movement,

00;00;35;57 - 00;00;38;38
people using partnership

00;00;38;38 - 00;00;44;08
practices
to build a world that values caring

00;00;44;13 - 00;00;48;02
nature and shared prosperity.

00;00;48;07 - 00;00;50;45
The Power of Partnership podcast

00;00;50;45 - 00;00;54;47
is hosted by Cherri Jacobs Pruitt,

00;00;54;52 - 00;00;58;26
a Health Policy and Partnerships scholar.

00;00;58;31 - 00;01;03;56
Today, Cherri interviews Ron Kim,

00;01;04;01 - 00;01;07;06
six term New York Assemblyman,

00;01;07;11 - 00;01;12;18
on his vision for a partnership
based political agenda

00;01;12;23 - 00;01;18;26
to build a world that values caring,
nature and shared prosperity.

00;01;18;35 - 00;01;22;36
And now on to the POP podcast.

00;01;36;48 - 00;01;40;06
Welcome,
Ron, and thank you so much for joining us

00;01;40;06 - 00;01;43;44
for the Power of Partnership podcast.

00;01;43;49 - 00;01;47;33
So you have been serving
as a New York assemblyman

00;01;47;33 - 00;01;51;51
since 2012 in the same district
where you grew up

00;01;51;56 - 00;01;55;36
at the time you were elected, you
by the people in your community.

00;01;55;37 - 00;01;59;31
You were the first Korean-American
assemblyman in the New York state

00;01;59;31 - 00;02;01;32
legislature.

00;02;01;32 - 00;02;05;22
Can you share a bit about your life
as an assemblyman

00;02;05;33 - 00;02;09;00
and what it looks like in
any given week in terms of

00;02;09;00 - 00;02;12;30
what are the issues that you are dealing
with?

00;02;12;35 - 00;02;15;10
Yeah, thank you so much
for having me on this podcast.

00;02;15;10 - 00;02;19;56
I've been in the state service
for the last 11 years,

00;02;19;57 - 00;02;23;57
like you said, going on my sixth term.
When I first was elected,

00;02;23;57 - 00;02;27;24
I was not only the first Korean-American,
I was the only person

00;02;27;24 - 00;02;31;27
of Asian-American descent
to serve in the legislature. But

00;02;31;32 - 00;02;33;50
in the course of last

00;02;33;50 - 00;02;36;41
11 years,
we have a number of other Asian-American

00;02;36;41 - 00;02;42;16
elected officials, more women
than ever, to serve in Albany and beyond.

00;02;42;17 - 00;02;44;36
So I'm very happy about that.

00;02;44;36 - 00;02;49;14
But my everyday fluctuates,
you know, almost every single day.

00;02;49;19 - 00;02;53;06
There seems to be a crisis
these days, every single moment.

00;02;53;11 - 00;02;58;03
Unfortunately, coming out of COVID,
we have a crisis around homelessness

00;02;58;04 - 00;03;02;37
in urban places like New York City
and other urban cities around the country.

00;03;02;42 - 00;03;04;10
We have mental health crises.

00;03;04;10 - 00;03;07;04
We have crime
that's on that's on the rise.

00;03;07;04 - 00;03;10;04
And people are feeling unsafe

00;03;10;15 - 00;03;14;38
both physically
and economically all around us.

00;03;14;43 - 00;03;18;08
And so can you share how you first learned

00;03;18;08 - 00;03;22;15
about Riane Eisler's
partnership-domination social lens,

00;03;22;20 - 00;03;28;10
and how that helps you address
some of these challenges and issues?

00;03;28;15 - 00;03;31;47
I met her at a conference, before Covid

00;03;31;47 - 00;03;36;53
about four years ago at a conference
called Bretton Woods Conference.

00;03;36;53 - 00;03;40;27
This was the 75th year
where we were celebrating

00;03;40;27 - 00;03;44;49
because some of the new economic
philosophies that we should be looking at

00;03;44;53 - 00;03;48;55
after 75 years ago, when we

00;03;49;00 - 00;03;50;10
made the U.S.

00;03;50;10 - 00;03;55;45
dollar the main currency
and the reserve currency of the world.

00;03;55;45 - 00;03;57;59
A lot of things have changed

00;03;57;59 - 00;04;01;47
and a lot of people have been left behind
in some of the economies.

00;04;01;51 - 00;04;05;45
And more people should be focused on
how do we really create

00;04;05;45 - 00;04;09;25
a caring infrastructure
that could focus on

00;04;09;35 - 00;04;12;48
caring in our communities
and people around us.

00;04;12;53 - 00;04;17;18
But we haven't got enough of the framework
and groundwork to get that done.

00;04;17;30 - 00;04;20;34
And she spoke beautifully
at this conference

00;04;20;34 - 00;04;22;32
and I automatically became a fan.

00;04;22;32 - 00;04;25;32
And started reading some of her books.

00;04;25;46 - 00;04;28;34
And I reached out to her
about some of the proposals

00;04;28;34 - 00;04;32;21
that we're working on
that was aligned with her vision.

00;04;32;26 - 00;04;35;11
And we've been in touch
with the partnership

00;04;35;11 - 00;04;39;14
for several years now,
and I look forward to continuing to learn

00;04;39;19 - 00;04;42;47
and understand what it will take to

00;04;42;51 - 00;04;45;37
solve some of society's biggest problems.

00;04;45;37 - 00;04;46;57
Mm hmm.

00;04;47;01 - 00;04;50;17
Can you think of an example to share
with our listeners

00;04;50;17 - 00;04;53;17
who may be new to Riane's 

00;04;53;17 - 00;04;59;12
partnership-domination continuum
and her caring economics philosophies

00;04;59;17 - 00;05;04;37
in terms of what
some of that shift would look like

00;05;04;37 - 00;05;08;35
in your community in dealing with
some of these issues that you're facing.

00;05;08;40 - 00;05;11;09
Yeah. You know, as a

00;05;11;09 - 00;05;16;19
whistle blower in Covid that called out
some of the failing policies

00;05;16;19 - 00;05;20;38
around long term care in New York State,
including

00;05;20;43 - 00;05;23;06
the governor of New York for lying to us

00;05;23;06 - 00;05;26;29
and hiding valuable information

00;05;26;34 - 00;05;27;57
to the public and lawmakers.

00;05;27;57 - 00;05;31;27
Where we needed that data
to make sound judgment to protect

00;05;31;29 - 00;05;35;20
older adults in long term care facilities.

00;05;35;25 - 00;05;39;41
If it wasn't for Riane's

00;05;39;45 - 00;05;44;43
analysis of how she saw the world
in terms of people who do things

00;05;44;47 - 00;05;49;59
from a dominating lens
instead of a true partnership lens,

00;05;50;04 - 00;05;54;07
I would have had a hard time
navigating some of those difficult times

00;05;54;12 - 00;05;57;05
when I felt
the whole world was against me.

00;05;57;05 - 00;05;59;11
And there were
I mean, a lot of people in my own

00;05;59;11 - 00;06;03;01
party wanted to reduce me
and get rid of me because nobody wants

00;06;03;01 - 00;06;07;20
someone who's not willing to just take it
and just stay quiet

00;06;07;20 - 00;06;13;02
because there's so much money, power
that was already in line to

00;06;13;07 - 00;06;13;39
prop up

00;06;13;39 - 00;06;17;25
the bad policies that
some of these politicians were backing.

00;06;17;30 - 00;06;20;22
But at that time when I had clarity

00;06;20;22 - 00;06;25;57
on some of the toxic predatory behavior
that we see we have seen so much of

00;06;25;57 - 00;06;29;28
in politics when it's dominated by

00;06;29;33 - 00;06;34;12
some of the outdated mindset of mostly

00;06;34;17 - 00;06;36;24
men who see, you know,

00;06;36;24 - 00;06;42;10
public service as a game of domination,
a win lose situation where

00;06;42;10 - 00;06;45;38
I have to climb to the top by invalidating

00;06;45;38 - 00;06;48;49
or destroying other people's careers.

00;06;48;49 - 00;06;55;11
And that is not the model
that I believe in And that's one example

00;06;55;16 - 00;07;00;52
of how we changed the course of politics
in places like New York.

00;07;00;57 - 00;07;04;04
And that's how we overcame
and change the narrative.

00;07;04;04 - 00;07;08;36
Built the wider coalition
that led to a larger movement around

00;07;08;41 - 00;07;11;25
health care and long term care.

00;07;11;30 - 00;07;12;37
And it was really

00;07;12;37 - 00;07;16;59
because we were able to center the truth
and solutions

00;07;17;00 - 00;07;20;10
around the people on the ground
that were impacted the most.

00;07;20;15 - 00;07;25;15
The end recipients of care
that were left behind and their families.

00;07;25;15 - 00;07;28;43
And all of a sudden we had coalitions

00;07;28;48 - 00;07;33;11
from all sections of the politics,
both left, right, middle,

00;07;33;16 - 00;07;37;05
because we all care about our parents,
we all care about our families.

00;07;37;09 - 00;07;41;16
We want to make sure that our grandparents
and everyone else in between

00;07;41;27 - 00;07;44;41
have the ability to retire with dignity.

00;07;44;52 - 00;07;49;34
And if they're sent to a facility
that those facilities

00;07;49;34 - 00;07;53;35
do their job
in making sure that they keep them safe

00;07;53;40 - 00;07;55;36
in those places.

00;07;55;36 - 00;07;59;32
Can you talk about the economic
considerations

00;07;59;37 - 00;08;04;02
in the work you're doing,
because, you know, Riane’s caring economics

00;08;04;02 - 00;08;09;13
is really about valuing each other
the planet on which we live.

00;08;09;13 - 00;08;14;33
And some of that work is really looking
at longer returns, you know,

00;08;14;33 - 00;08;17;56
as opposed to the immediate impact of,

00;08;18;09 - 00;08;21;03
for instance, running a nursing home.

00;08;21;03 - 00;08;24;31
You know, how can you increase
the revenues as quickly as possible

00;08;24;36 - 00;08;27;47
versus how can you improve quality of life

00;08;27;52 - 00;08;30;32
for that individual
and their entire family,

00;08;30;32 - 00;08;35;55
which sometimes is a little harder
economically to quantify?

00;08;36;00 - 00;08;37;18
Yeah.

00;08;37;23 - 00;08;41;55
It's not just the patient

00;08;42;00 - 00;08;45;21
that's suffering in a long term
care facility or someone

00;08;45;21 - 00;08;49;19
who is not getting the proper home
care service that they deserve.

00;08;49;24 - 00;08;53;39
But it's the entire family structure
around that individual

00;08;53;54 - 00;08;57;55
that impacts the local
and state economy.

00;08;58;00 - 00;09;02;04
So when a child

00;09;02;09 - 00;09;04;59
or a next generation

00;09;04;59 - 00;09;09;06
of caretakers have to sacrifice

00;09;09;11 - 00;09;14;03
their careers, their small businesses, to
now take care of older adults

00;09;14;03 - 00;09;18;08
because the government or the state
is not filling those gaps for them,

00;09;18;12 - 00;09;22;50
that has a direct impact on our economy
and our state

00;09;22;55 - 00;09;28;48
in all things that could be fixed
if we just raise the wages

00;09;28;53 - 00;09;32;49
for the workers
that take care of older adults and other

00;09;32;54 - 00;09;36;37
disabled
Americans in this country.

00;09;36;42 - 00;09;42;10
But we don't do it
because we fundamentally don't believe

00;09;42;15 - 00;09;44;24
in paying for care

00;09;44;24 - 00;09;47;24
at the same rate,
as Riane often refers to it,

00;09;47;27 - 00;09;53;42
as we pay for an electrician or a plumber
or even a police officer or fireman.

00;09;53;47 - 00;09;57;10
We've normalized the devaluing,

00;09;57;10 - 00;10;01;08
un-valuing of care work so much

00;10;01;22 - 00;10;04;42
that it's taking us years to even increase

00;10;04;43 - 00;10;08;07
a few dollars for care workers.

00;10;08;12 - 00;10;12;58
And that's where I think, you know,
we still need a lot of work.

00;10;13;03 - 00;10;14;56
But on top of that,

00;10;14;56 - 00;10;18;22
we also kind of normalize

00;10;18;27 - 00;10;21;43
this outsourcing of care

00;10;21;48 - 00;10;26;02
to third parties, meaning
no one wants to be blamed.

00;10;26;07 - 00;10;28;44
So we contract out everything.

00;10;28;44 - 00;10;32;38
You know, there's in the last 11 years,

00;10;32;43 - 00;10;36;07
the state of New York alone
have sold dozens of

00;10;36;11 - 00;10;39;54
county and state run facilities
and privatized them

00;10;39;56 - 00;10;44;09
because no one wants to take
responsibility of care. And

00;10;44;13 - 00;10;47;50
I love
the nonprofits that take these roles,

00;10;47;55 - 00;10;51;29
but it's not
they can't fix the care economy alone.

00;10;51;34 - 00;10;56;29
We need a government,
an administrative capacity

00;10;56;41 - 00;11;01;12
to care for people
as if it's a public duty.

00;11;01;17 - 00;11;04;39
And the more we outsource,
the more we contract things out.

00;11;04;39 - 00;11;07;22
We’re
just setting ourselves up for failure.

00;11;07;22 - 00;11;09;12
And so we can blame each other.

00;11;09;12 - 00;11;12;37
And that is not building partnership
because that's just scapegoating people

00;11;12;47 - 00;11;15;58
when things fail and this country

00;11;15;58 - 00;11;19;18
used to be amazing

00;11;19;23 - 00;11;23;23
100 years ago
when the Woodrow Wilsons and FDRs

00;11;23;28 - 00;11;26;55
saw a need,
when the private markets were failing

00;11;27;00 - 00;11;31;27
to build bridges and build tunnels,
and we created some of the most

00;11;31;28 - 00;11;35;22
amazing public agencies
the world has ever seen.

00;11;35;27 - 00;11;38;27
In New York alone, we have what
we call the Port Authority of New York,

00;11;38;27 - 00;11;41;28
New Jersey, the first bi-state government

00;11;41;28 - 00;11;45;37
that manages all the airports
and the bridges.

00;11;45;42 - 00;11;48;58
We have the MTA,
we have the power authority.

00;11;49;03 - 00;11;53;19
FDR when he was the president oversaw
the free corporation,

00;11;53;19 - 00;11;56;31
the Commerce Department, all these things
we used to be good at doing and building.

00;11;56;45 - 00;12;00;13
But if we apply the same level of passion
and dedication

00;12;00;13 - 00;12;03;12
for the care infrastructure as we built

00;12;03;21 - 00;12;07;48
bridges and tunnels 100 years ago,
we would get this right in a minute.

00;12;07;53 - 00;12;12;53
And that's the level of leadership
and partnership combined that we need

00;12;12;53 - 00;12;17;49
in this country to really finance care
and build an infrastructure

00;12;17;54 - 00;12;23;25
to not just punt it
to third parties, to set them up, to fail.

00;12;23;30 - 00;12;26;57
So how do you think we get there?

00;12;27;02 - 00;12;31;25
We have to get government to get back
into the business of caring for people.

00;12;31;30 - 00;12;34;17
And that's the way
that I've been framing it,

00;12;34;17 - 00;12;37;17
because oftentimes when government
gets involved, there's this

00;12;37;24 - 00;12;40;18
scary word, you know, called socialism.

00;12;40;18 - 00;12;41;48
Oh, it's a public takeover.

00;12;41;48 - 00;12;45;19
You don't want any more
public involvement.

00;12;45;24 - 00;12;46;38
It's not socialism.

00;12;46;38 - 00;12;48;51
It's not public takeover.

00;12;48;51 - 00;12;51;07
It's public it's private public balance.

00;12;51;07 - 00;12;53;26
Right now there's no balance.

00;12;53;26 - 00;12;55;50
Everything has been privatized

00;12;55;50 - 00;12;59;42
where the government,
all we're doing is punting our duty.

00;12;59;47 - 00;13;02;54
And it's one giant procurement office

00;13;03;09 - 00;13;06;37
where we're just outsourcing our duty
to care for each other

00;13;06;48 - 00;13;08;06
to third parties.

00;13;08;06 - 00;13;14;18
So I think we need to elect the right people in executive positions to take on the

00;13;14;23 - 00;13;15;33
hard task,

00;13;15;33 - 00;13;20;08
just like FDR and Wilson and others
have done in the past and treat this

00;13;20;08 - 00;13;23;25
like real infrastructure,
because I know that Riane and many others

00;13;23;30 - 00;13;27;07
on her board talked about that,
the caring infrastructure.

00;13;27;22 - 00;13;28;48
But what does that mean?

00;13;28;48 - 00;13;31;50
It can't be just about waiting around
for the federal government

00;13;31;50 - 00;13;37;39
to give us grants, we have to put
a ground financing mechanism

00;13;37;44 - 00;13;42;24
to publicly pay for care
from the ground up

00;13;42;24 - 00;13;46;12
and not just wait for the White House
to get their act together.

00;13;46;16 - 00;13;50;09
And what would you like to say to

00;13;50;14 - 00;13;53;55
not only the residents of the community

00;13;53;55 - 00;13;58;12
you serve, but to all of the residents

00;13;58;12 - 00;14;02;12
across our nation in terms
and the world, really,

00;14;02;17 - 00;14;06;22
in terms of our political system,
what would you want to say to them

00;14;06;22 - 00;14;12;24
about the partnership-domination
social lens continuum

00;14;12;28 - 00;14;16;40
and caring economics
to help them play a role

00;14;16;40 - 00;14;21;32
in getting those elected officials
into seats to make a difference?

00;14;21;36 - 00;14;29;20
It is more critical now than ever

00;14;29;24 - 00;14;31;54
in light of the toxic politics

00;14;31;54 - 00;14;35;26
that we see
every time we turn on social media.

00;14;35;31 - 00;14;38;37
All we're seeing is people
trying to dominate each other

00;14;38;45 - 00;14;44;04
and subjugate others and part of that,

00;14;44;09 - 00;14;46;42
I understand where it's coming from
and how we got here.

00;14;46;42 - 00;14;49;31
But many people have different thesis.

00;14;49;31 - 00;14;52;56
But we are a nation with deep traumas

00;14;53;09 - 00;14;58;33
and deep histories that quite frankly,

00;14;58;38 - 00;15;02;16
may not have been honest about
and we might not have taught properly

00;15;02;16 - 00;15;07;30
growing up and confronted from young ages
what our shortfalls and shortcomings

00;15;07;30 - 00;15;11;15
have been as a nation,
and to deal with that kind of trauma,

00;15;11;15 - 00;15;16;00
we are overcompensating
with dominating personalities

00;15;16;05 - 00;15;20;31
and instead of moderating,
instead of rationalizing and building,

00;15;20;36 - 00;15;23;36
compromising partnerships and beyond,

00;15;23;50 - 00;15;27;03
that's a harder path to take to really.

00;15;27;03 - 00;15;28;26
And it takes a lot of work.

00;15;28;26 - 00;15;32;32
It takes a lot of trust conversations.

00;15;32;37 - 00;15;36;39
And less social media knee jerk reactions

00;15;36;44 - 00;15;41;18
to people
to build a human to human trust again

00;15;41;22 - 00;15;43;12
and that's what we need to heal.

00;15;43;12 - 00;15;48;09
And we haven't had that level
of healing as a nation

00;15;48;14 - 00;15;50;11
for a long time, if not ever. You know?

00;15;50;11 - 00;15;55;20
And I just think that's what Riane’s work
and what you're doing on this podcast

00;15;55;20 - 00;16;00;23
and all the dedicated people around,
around you and Riane is so important

00;16;00;23 - 00;16;04;58
because without understanding
how we got here

00;16;05;09 - 00;16;09;32
and intellectualizing
what partnership truly means,

00;16;09;37 - 00;16;12;24
we will never be able to overcome

00;16;12;24 - 00;16;15;24
the deep traumas of our past.

00;16;15;27 - 00;16;21;04
And we'll continue to go back
to our bad habits of fighting, dominating,

00;16;21;09 - 00;16;26;42
and seeing every interaction with humans
as a validation or invalidation of me.

00;16;26;47 - 00;16;29;47
And that's not
how anyone should be living.

00;16;29;47 - 00;16;33;10
So, Ron, do you have are you seeing areas

00;16;33;10 - 00;16;37;53
where there is bipartisan agreement
that you're able to build upon?

00;16;37;57 - 00;16;41;21
And there you know, are you seeing spots
where there's a willingness

00;16;41;21 - 00;16;45;34
to find partnership based solutions
that are really outside the box?

00;16;45;34 - 00;16;51;27
You know, Riane often quotes Einstein,
as so many others do, as saying

00;16;51;27 - 00;16;57;38
insanity is doing the same thing over
and over and expecting different results.

00;16;57;42 - 00;16;58;43
Yeah, I've been

00;16;58;43 - 00;17;04;46
very successful working with my colleagues
on the other side of the aisle

00;17;04;51 - 00;17;08;16
around care, around long term care.

00;17;08;25 - 00;17;13;02
And if you take away all the ideologies
and all the pandering and politics

00;17;13;02 - 00;17;17;48
and focus on the constituents
in our backyards and everyone

00;17;17;48 - 00;17;21;51
understands that we have a crisis around
long term care,

00;17;21;56 - 00;17;25;37
we have a aging, older adult crisis

00;17;25;37 - 00;17;29;55
in this country and globally,
and we don't have an answer for.

00;17;30;00 - 00;17;33;30
So that's something that we're
continuously trying to put together

00;17;33;35 - 00;17;36;24
coalitions and surprisingly,

00;17;36;24 - 00;17;39;40
there are truth seekers
on both sides of the aisle.

00;17;39;45 - 00;17;43;35
They don't care about what
their politics or machine

00;17;43;39 - 00;17;46;30
clubs are telling them to say,

00;17;46;30 - 00;17;50;08
but they genuinely care
about the people that they serve.

00;17;50;12 - 00;17;53;37
I think it's the right language
that we use where we don't

00;17;53;43 - 00;17;57;59
and then it's a lot of it's
a partnerism language

00;17;58;04 - 00;18;01;56
to create a safe space
where I don't invalidate

00;18;02;01 - 00;18;07;07
anyone and accepting and listening
first to where they're coming from

00;18;07;12 - 00;18;11;19
And when you do that,
I think there's a lot of truth seekers

00;18;11;19 - 00;18;15;53
in politics
that are eager to show their constituents

00;18;15;58 - 00;18;18;42
that there's
something systemically broken,

00;18;18;42 - 00;18;22;56
and I'm willing to step out of the
line and build partnerships

00;18;23;01 - 00;18;23;38
in all

00;18;23;38 - 00;18;26;38
circles to get to the truth
for this country.

00;18;26;41 - 00;18;27;58
And sometimes people surprise you.

00;18;27;58 - 00;18;30;58
Sometimes people

00;18;30;59 - 00;18;33;16
you make assumptions about certain groups.

00;18;33;16 - 00;18;36;42
But that's why you have to take the time
to show up and listen.

00;18;36;46 - 00;18;40;32
Because at the end of the day,
whether you're, you know,

00;18;40;37 - 00;18;45;15
big businessman
or a fighting for workers on the ground,

00;18;45;19 - 00;18;48;36
like I think we care about the same

00;18;48;40 - 00;18;51;26
human level,

00;18;51;26 - 00;18;53;51
you know, interactions
and we care about each other

00;18;53;51 - 00;18;57;10
the same way, that we

00;18;57;15 - 00;18;58;49
forget sometimes.

00;18;58;49 - 00;19;02;45
But I think the biggest challenge
is administering

00;19;02;45 - 00;19;07;21
and executing on partnerships,
because when you're on the ground

00;19;07;21 - 00;19;12;45
there's a conflict,
when you're feeling emotional

00;19;12;50 - 00;19;17;09
about a certain event and or other people

00;19;17;09 - 00;19;21;51
that may not be aligned with you,
some of your worst instincts

00;19;21;51 - 00;19;23;17
take over, right?

00;19;23;17 - 00;19;28;25
And you become naturally combative
when it becomes fight or flight

00;19;28;25 - 00;19;32;57
kind of a moment and the worst outcomes
come out of those moments.

00;19;33;02 - 00;19;37;03
I think it's important
in those moments that we

00;19;37;08 - 00;19;39;50
stop reacting to the moment

00;19;39;50 - 00;19;43;33
because we have become a nation,
politically also, a

00;19;43;38 - 00;19;48;12
nation with so much knee jerk
reactions to conflicts.

00;19;48;17 - 00;19;52;02
We need to respond better as a community.

00;19;52;02 - 00;19;56;50
And sometimes you need to take a step back
and figure out

00;19;56;55 - 00;20;01;54
what is the right path out of this
that's going to resolve this problem.

00;20;01;59 - 00;20;04;59
And I think that's the one piece

00;20;04;59 - 00;20;09;17
that as a practitioner
that we need to figure out

00;20;09;17 - 00;20;14;42
how to execute the partnerships
at the very local level, better

00;20;14;47 - 00;20;18;56
because these days,
especially in urban environments.

00;20;19;01 - 00;20;22;33
Cherri, I tell you, it's
people are very triggered.

00;20;22;38 - 00;20;26;59
You bump into the person
the wrong way at a subway.

00;20;27;04 - 00;20;28;52
You never know
what you're walking in to.

00;20;28;52 - 00;20;30;25
And I don't blame them.

00;20;30;25 - 00;20;36;00
If you understand where
that person just came from, you know, from

00;20;36;05 - 00;20;41;20
working two, you know, two jobs
and being in debt can't pay their rent.

00;20;41;25 - 00;20;46;01
You know, it's 98 degrees outside and
the air conditioners broke in the subway.

00;20;46;06 - 00;20;51;11
One little bump,
one little conflict will cause a fire.

00;20;51;24 - 00;20;55;54
And I think we see that all around us

00;20;55;59 - 00;20;56;51
everywhere.

00;20;56;51 - 00;21;00;08
And instead of reacting,
we need to figure out

00;21;00;08 - 00;21;03;35
how to pause and respond
better to situations.

00;21;03;40 - 00;21;07;47
So are there resources

00;21;07;52 - 00;21;11;48
or organization
that you would recommend our listeners

00;21;11;48 - 00;21;16;57
explore to learn more
about the politics of partnership?

00;21;17;02 - 00;21;19;40
Well, I would start with Riane’s books.

00;21;19;40 - 00;21;23;15
I share her readings and

00;21;23;20 - 00;21;27;14
talk about what she has done

00;21;27;19 - 00;21;30;04
and the work
that she's trying to put forward.

00;21;30;04 - 00;21;33;04
But locally, I work

00;21;33;06 - 00;21;37;18
closely with organizations that

00;21;37;23 - 00;21;42;04
deal with the care workers
that are left behind.

00;21;42;09 - 00;21;44;20
So in New York,

00;21;44;20 - 00;21;48;16
there's a group called
Ain't I a Woman Campaign.

00;21;48;16 - 00;21;53;13
AIW and Flushing Workers Center,

00;21;53;18 - 00;21;56;36
a local nonprofit group in my district.

00;21;56;50 - 00;22;01;08
And they've been representing the home
care workers that have suffered

00;22;01;13 - 00;22;03;17
from years of wage theft.

00;22;03;17 - 00;22;05;03
In New York State.

00;22;05;03 - 00;22;09;22
There's a total of as an industry,
about $6 billion

00;22;09;37 - 00;22;14;20
in the last 12 years
that they're owed in back wage.

00;22;14;24 - 00;22;18;29
And these are now workers
that are getting older themselves.

00;22;18;29 - 00;22;22;10
And some of them unfortunately have
passed, you know, fighting the good fight.

00;22;22;23 - 00;22;27;09
And, you know,
for me to see what they've done

00;22;27;09 - 00;22;31;48
and what they're
going through, even with all

00;22;31;53 - 00;22;34;53
the government agencies and

00;22;34;53 - 00;22;37;20
the lawyers and everyone have told them
that they don't have a shot

00;22;37;20 - 00;22;39;46
at getting the money back,
they have persisted.

00;22;39;46 - 00;22;40;59
They're not giving up.

00;22;40;59 - 00;22;45;41
They're continuing to try to build
more coalitions around their cause.

00;22;45;45 - 00;22;49;21
And we're still
I'm still learning with them it's

00;22;49;21 - 00;22;53;06
been about a two year fight,
but we're still continuously

00;22;53;11 - 00;22;56;11
working with them
because if you can't get it right.

00;22;56;21 - 00;22;59;00
And if you can't build the very foundation

00;22;59;00 - 00;23;02;51
of how we build the home care sector,

00;23;02;56 - 00;23;05;25
the entire ecosystem of care
could be ruined.

00;23;05;25 - 00;23;09;08
And that's why, you know, we're
very passionate about getting this right,

00;23;09;10 - 00;23;09;58
telling the truth.

00;23;09;58 - 00;23;13;45
We might not get every dollar that’s owed,
but at least not gaslight these

00;23;13;45 - 00;23;16;07
workers into thinking that,

00;23;16;12 - 00;23;16;43
you know,

00;23;16;43 - 00;23;19;37
they're the ones that did something wrong,
like let's tell the truth

00;23;19;37 - 00;23;21;50
so we don't repeat these mistakes
moving forward.

00;23;21;50 - 00;23;26;40
And these are mostly workers
that are paid through Medicaid.

00;23;26;40 - 00;23;29;13
So they serve low income communities.

00;23;29;13 - 00;23;35;02
And it's also symbolic of a state,

00;23;35;07 - 00;23;40;01
unlike some other states
that in-source care work in California.

00;23;40;05 - 00;23;43;49
Every county, for example, has a long term
care authority

00;23;43;54 - 00;23;47;21
that actually pays for homecare workers.

00;23;47;28 - 00;23;53;10
So it's a quasi government model
where homecare workers are viewed

00;23;53;15 - 00;23;56;49
and seen and treated as public servants,
doing public duty.

00;23;56;54 - 00;23;59;52
But in New York,
we've made a choice to outsource

00;23;59;52 - 00;24;04;19
that work to third parties
since the 1980s.

00;24;04;24 - 00;24;06;50
So no one took responsibility

00;24;06;50 - 00;24;08;58
nor wanted to take responsibility.

00;24;08;58 - 00;24;15;16
And, you know, ten, 15 years later, now we're dealing with billions of waste theft,

00;24;15;21 - 00;24;16;38
mostly targeting

00;24;16;38 - 00;24;19;30
immigrant women and women of color

00;24;19;30 - 00;24;22;18
that desperately needed this money.

00;24;22;18 - 00;24;25;18
And they were promised this money
when they got into the industry,

00;24;25;21 - 00;24;29;46
but they were just left behind
because, again, we have a long history

00;24;29;51 - 00;24;33;29
where people do not care about care.

00;24;33;34 - 00;24;36;34
We devalue and un-value care work.

00;24;36;37 - 00;24;40;24
And there isn't a clearer example
of that than this.

00;24;40;24 - 00;24;44;00
And that's why, based on Riane's
philosophy of the care economy

00;24;44;00 - 00;24;49;11
and building partnerships, I find myself
in this middle, middle of this conflict

00;24;49;12 - 00;24;53;18
and trying to apply her

00;24;53;22 - 00;24;57;17
philosophies
to fixing this very complicated problem.

00;24;57;22 - 00;24;58;34
Nice.

00;24;58;34 - 00;25;02;26
Well, for our listeners,
I will say that we will include links

00;25;02;26 - 00;25;06;38
to those organizations
in the show notes for today's episode,

00;25;06;43 - 00;25;11;28
as well as Riane's
The Real Wealth of Nations book.

00;25;11;33 - 00;25;15;23
Also in Riane Eisler's
Power of Partnership book,

00;25;15;23 - 00;25;18;41
she has a whole section in the back about

00;25;18;41 - 00;25;22;01
how to promote a partnership

00;25;22;01 - 00;25;23;52
political agenda.

00;25;23;52 - 00;25;28;29
So it includes resources
that really help us understand

00;25;28;29 - 00;25;30;48
the language that is used

00;25;30;48 - 00;25;33;32
and helps us develop the tools

00;25;33;32 - 00;25;38;36
to reclaim emotionally charged words
such as family

00;25;38;36 - 00;25;40;54
values and tradition,
which really can be embedding domination

00;25;40;54 - 00;25;44;32
values and tradition,
which really can be embedding domination

00;25;44;36 - 00;25;48;45
narratives versus
more of a partnership ethos.

00;25;48;45 - 00;25;52;01
So those will also be in the show notes
as well as the link

00;25;52;01 - 00;25;53;33
So those will also be in the show notes
as well as the link

00;25;53;33 - 00;25;59;03
for the centerforpartnership.org ,
where you are always welcome.

00;25;59;03 - 00;26;04;18
And we invite you to take
any of the courses to learn more about

00;26;04;30 - 00;26;09;38
Riane's cultural transformation theory,
the partnership-domination continuum

00;26;09;38 - 00;26;12;52
in everything we've spoken about today.

00;26;12;57 - 00;26;17;43
So, Assemblyman Kim, I'm wondering
if you have any final thoughts

00;26;17;43 - 00;26;22;12
that you would like to share
with our listeners today?

00;26;22;16 - 00;26;25;33
Every time I engage with Riane's

00;26;25;38 - 00;26;29;21
network and circle, it's very timely.

00;26;29;21 - 00;26;33;32
It's always timely
because in the world of politics,

00;26;33;32 - 00;26;38;18
you have a lot of demoralizing moments
where even though

00;26;38;18 - 00;26;43;55
deep inside you seek
and want this type of partnership,

00;26;44;00 - 00;26;44;45
you're often find

00;26;44;45 - 00;26;47;45
yourself surrounded by people who

00;26;47;54 - 00;26;50;43
all want something else,
who all want to win

00;26;50;43 - 00;26;57;21
and climb to the top of power
and while punching down at others.

00;26;57;26 - 00;27;00;30
That's what American politics have become.

00;27;00;33 - 00;27;04;35
It's never about,
you know, punching up to build coalitions

00;27;04;35 - 00;27;08;31
beneath to change the world,
but it's about climbing up

00;27;08;31 - 00;27;10;23
and punching down on people.

00;27;10;23 - 00;27;13;03
And I hope

00;27;13;03 - 00;27;15;38
and I feel grateful, extremely grateful

00;27;15;38 - 00;27;19;25
that when I have these opportunities,

00;27;19;30 - 00;27;23;47
I feel like I can reset
and I can refocus on

00;27;23;52 - 00;27;26;28
why we're here in the first place.

00;27;26;28 - 00;27;30;44
So I'm inspired again, once again
by Riane.

00;27;30;44 - 00;27;33;47
And I hope that others who follow her work

00;27;33;47 - 00;27;36;47
will feel the same way moving forward.

00;27;37;00 - 00;27;41;46
Thank you so much for sharing your journey
and wisdom with us today.

00;27;41;51 - 00;27;44;40
And a huge thank you for all the work
you're doing

00;27;44;40 - 00;27;47;06
for the communities you serve.

00;27;47;06 - 00;27;48;16
Thank you so much for your time.