Diversity: The Gold Standard for a Stronger, More United World with Warren West

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Coming up on this episode of the
Healthy, Wealthy and Wise podcast.

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Let me, let me ask you another question.

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If you were advising young students, let's
say high school, maybe early college,

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um, and they say, um, you know, um, this
was, we, we, we want to get involved.

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We want to have an impact in life.

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We want to be leaders.

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What advice would you give them?

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Welcome to the Healthy, Wealthy
and Wise podcast with Dr.

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William T.

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Choctaw, MD, JD.

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This podcast will inform, educate,
and motivate you to live a more

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healthy, wealthy, and wise life.

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It's powered by the over 50 years
of medical experience of this Yale

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University Medical School trained
surgeon, who also received his Juris

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Doctorate from Western State Law School.

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He has executive experience as a
former mayor of Walnut, California,

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as a chairman of the nonprofit
Servants Arms, and as president of

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Choctaw Medical Group, Incorporated.

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You've got questions?

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It's amazing how sports is a metaphor
for a culture, for our culture.

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It's a reflection of that.

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I can remember, and I'm sure
you appreciate this too.

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I've always been, you
know, I followed sports.

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I was too short to play sports.

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And I remember it was so funny,
my high school coach, I had

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envisioned that I was going to be
a professional basketball player.

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Now, I'm five feet,
five inches tall, right?

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And so I would, I would go out
and I'd try to, cause the big guys

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just knocked me all over the place.

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And so then I said, well,
no, I'm going to red track.

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And I was pretty good.

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I could run a good 50.

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50 yards.

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I couldn't, I wasn't good at
the 100 because I beat them

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at 50, but then they catch me.

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By the time we 100 yard, they'd all win.

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So my coach said, you know, Mr.

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Choctaw, Mr.

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Choctaw, I, I realize that you want X,
Y, Z, but maybe you need to broaden,

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you need to broaden your interest.

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And I said, yes, sir.

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And I'd always been interested in
going to medical school for a number

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of reasons, but my point is, I
understood that, um, uh, that athletics

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was going to be recreational for me.

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It, it, it was not going to
be my, my, my life's work.

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But my point is it is a metaphor for life,
you know, teamwork, leadership, um, going

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through adversities, overcoming injuries,
et cetera, et cetera, being focused.

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You know that they, they, the Olympics
was a classic example of that.

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You know, you wait four years to get back
to do it in four years again, and maybe.

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Um, interestingly, one of the things
that I noticed during the Olympics

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that surprised me, I was amazed
at the diversity of the Olympic

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players throughout the world.

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Uh, you know, I've always been a believer
in diversity, obviously, but I hadn't

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seen it on an international level.

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You know, setting a platform and
it didn't matter what the country

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was, Sweden, South Africa, U.

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S., whatever, there were always
people of color or large percentage

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of people of color and I was, I was
really encouraged and inspired by that.

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I didn't know that quite honestly.

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Uh, the French.

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Yes.

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Yes.

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Especially the French.

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Dominantly black.

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Yes.

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Yes, they were.

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And I said, whoa, wait a second.

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You know, and, and my, my wife
and I were both watching and we

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were both going oohs and ahs.

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What that tells me is that
it is still moving forward.

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We may not always see it.

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Um, you know, but it's
still moving forward.

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You know, the, the Democratic nominee
for president who, who has been,

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on and on and on and on and on.

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All of us are probably
a little mixed race.

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I'm chalked off part, part chalked off in
him, but obviously African American also.

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But we all have that.

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And my point is, I think that's
the, that's the, the gold standard,

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not all being this and all being
that, and, and, and separating and

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dividing, you know, but it's, it's
that melting pot, quite honestly.

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Yeah.

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I guess that it's, it's amazing.

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I imagine, I wish I could live long
enough to see it, when the majorities

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take over the United States.

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Yes, yes, understood, understood.

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Well, I can tell you that's increasing,
those numbers are growing, which is why

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a lot of other people are upset about it.

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But they're definitely growing.

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Um, and I did not foresee.

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Um, um, a female being nominated for
president of the United States this year.

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I didn't see that coming.

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Not really, you know, um, but
I can remember in 2008 and

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I've always followed politics.

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I've just enjoyed it.

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I, you know, student council
president in high school, whatever.

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Um, and I remember the Obama stuff and
I said, okay, let's, let's, let's see.

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I said, if he can win one
primary outside of the U.

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S.

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Deep South, then I'll, I'll
pay more attention to him.

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And he won the Iowa Caucus.

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And I said, okay, okay, you,
you got my attention now.

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And of course, he's just
soared and still is.

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Um, and now there's Kamala, you know,
who represents an even broader diversity.

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I thought her, I thought maybe
before The president is, you

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know, said he wasn't going to run.

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Yes.

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Uh, that she was going to go.

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I mean, I, I just had that feeling.

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If you just stop and think
about it, she won the race.

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She did.

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She won the popular vote.

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She won the popular vote, you know?

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And like I said, To me, that's,
they should get rid of that.

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Of course.

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Of course.

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They should get rid of it.

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Yeah.

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No good now.

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It's no good now.

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Yeah.

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It's, it's, I think it's outdated now.

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Right.

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Cause we have communications of.

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The telephone, the all kind of stuff.

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Right, the internet, everything else.

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Yeah, we don't need it.

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We don't know.

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And we have to grow.

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But, but I can understand some
people who don't want to change it

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because they're afraid that they'll,
they'll lose more and more and more.

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But like, you know, change is inevitable.

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Change is inevitable.

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Whether we want it or
not, it's inevitable.

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Um, most people, you know, they
talk about Trump, but it's not

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Trump really, it's plain Trump.

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Yes, I agree.

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Because Trump is not smart
enough to do all this.

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No, no, no.

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Folks have always wanted to do it and
have figured out or believe that he's

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a vehicle that will get them there.

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Right.

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It's like, uh, Germany.

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Hitler fell in behind a guy
who set all this stuff up.

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Okay.

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Hitler wasn't the brains
behind being an authority.

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He just stepped in behind the guy
who was smart enough to do it.

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Got it.

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Got it.

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And this is the same thing with Trump.

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Yes.

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Trump has just fallen in behind
These, these money people.

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Yes.

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Yes.

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Yes.

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Yeah.

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Folks have mutual interests and they get
together and, and sort of move forward.

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Well, it's, it's going to be interesting,
um, to see how, how, how things develop.

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Let me, let me ask you another question.

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If you were advising young
students, uh, let's say high

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school, maybe early college.

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Um, and they say, um, you know, Ms.

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West, we, we, we want to get involved.

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We, we want to have an impact.

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We want to be leaders.

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Well, what advice would you give them?

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Well, First thing, get information, okay?

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Get educated, get information.

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Yes.

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The more information you
get, the smarter you are.

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I agree.

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I agree.

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Listen.

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Yes.

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Like it says, be swift to listen.

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And, uh, I can't think of the other one.

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Don't, don't talk too much.

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Right.

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Understood.

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And slow to anger.

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Yes.

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Yes.

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Oh, so those, those things you have to,

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for a young person, that's
the most intelligent thing

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you could tell a young person.

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Makes sense.

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Get information, get education and
slow to talk and slow to anger.

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No, I, I agree.

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I agree because a lot of times
people will try to push your

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buttons, make you lose control.

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Uh, and then they say, see, there, there
goes blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

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And we've always taught, and I bet you
were taught the same thing, that we not

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only had to be good, we had to be better
than everybody else, you know, because

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good wasn't enough for us, you know,
that, that the rules weren't equal.

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You know, that you had to be, you had
to get straight A's instead of an A

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and a B type thing, uh, to, to get the
same opportunity that other people had.

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And it worked.

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It worked for us.

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It worked.

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It started from my great grandfather.

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Is that right?

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Yeah, he's, he was in
World, uh, Civil War.

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Uh huh.

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Oh, okay.

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My grandfather was in
the Spanish American War.

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Oh my goodness.

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My dad didn't have to go to war.

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He was, he had too many
kids when it started.

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But anyway, the first thing they would
do is make sure you had an education.

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Yes, yes, yes.

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My, my grandfather had eight kids.

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Eight kids, uh huh.

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And he made sure all of them at least
got through high school, you know.

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Got, yes.

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Yes.

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And my grandfather on my
dad's side had 13 children.

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Um, and all through all 13
of them got an education.

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Yes.

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Education was a, was a,
you know, background.

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Yes.

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When I came out here, I started at, uh,
LA Junior High, um, uh, LA Junior College.

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Yes.

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I have four sons and, uh, Okay.

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One, one's, uh, ended up being a fireman.

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Okay.

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Being a captain.

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Okay, good.

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Leadership.

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And he's, he's retired.

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The other one is, is, he's, uh,
been on his job for, uh, What?

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44 years.

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Wow.

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Same job.

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Um, and uh, my youngest son, he's
been, uh, well, he went to SC.

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Okay.

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He's got his own company.

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Excellent.

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Small business person.

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There you go.

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The other one, he's retired now,
he's uh, lives in Vegas, so, like

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I said, they've all had their
chance to be educated, you know.

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Excellent, excellent.

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That is still the key.

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It was the key a hundred years
ago, and it's the key now.

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It's the key now.

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Um, um, you know, certainly
moving forward and everything.

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Thank you for listening to the Healthy,
wealthy, and Wise Podcast with Dr.

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William t Choctaw, MDJD.

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You can listen again to this and
any of the previous episodes.

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Leave a comment or pose questions to
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That's www.th wwp.com and you've got it.

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next episode of the Healthy,
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William T.

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Choctaw, MD, JD.

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