Common Sense Over Theories: The Truth They Don’t Want You to See!

Rough Transcript

Alright, let’s get this right. Here’s your podcast script with the proper tone, structure, and emphasis on common sense, skepticism, and practical application across different fields.

Let’s talk about common sense. The problem is, too many so-called experts—academics, researchers, institutional investors, politicians—ignore it. They get so wrapped up in their theories, models, and self-importance that they miss what’s right in front of them. And the worst part? Most people just go along with whatever they say, assuming they must be right because they’ve got a title or a degree.

We saw it with COVID. The government, health agencies, the media—everyone was so sure of themselves. Then, little by little, the “facts” unraveled. At first, they said masks didn’t work. Then they did. Then they didn’t. The virus came from a wet market—except, no, maybe it was a lab. They locked people down, destroyed businesses, and then walked it all back. But if you were paying attention early on, if you used basic common sense, you saw the contradictions. You saw that things didn’t add up. And yet, the people questioning the narrative were called conspiracy theorists—until they were proven right.

Now, apply that same thinking to archaeology, to history, to science, to finance. How much of what we’re told is the absolute truth is really just a well-crafted assumption?

Take the Ark of the Covenant. There’s a church in Ethiopia that claims to have it, but nobody’s allowed to see it. The priests who guard it supposedly suffer from radiation poisoning, going blind and dying young. And yet, no serious investigation is allowed. Why? If it’s real, why not prove it? If it’s not, why keep up the charade? And here’s the real kicker—if it is radioactive, that means it’s not just some old wooden box. That means it has a power source. That means the people who built it knew something we don’t. And that opens up a whole different conversation.

But no, the experts scoff. They dismiss it out of hand. Just like they dismiss anything that doesn’t fit neatly into their established theories.

Look at the pyramids. We’re supposed to believe that 4,500 years ago, people with copper tools built structures so precise, with stones so massive, that we still don’t fully understand how they did it. We can’t even replicate it today. But instead of saying, “Hey, maybe we don’t know everything,” modern archaeologists double down. They’ll tell you it was all done with ramps, ropes, and a whole lot of manpower. Never mind that no one’s actually demonstrated how that would work on the scale necessary. Never mind that the Great Pyramid is aligned with extraordinary precision to true north or that its dimensions encode mathematical constants. Just ignore all that. Trust the experts.

And it’s not just the pyramids. We see it everywhere.

In Alaska, they’ve uncovered a six-acre site filled with thousands of woolly mammoth bones. What’s the official explanation? Well, there are a few. One theory says ancient humans corralled them into one spot and slaughtered them all at once. Another claims early humans were burning so much land that the animals panicked and ran into a pond, drowning themselves. And yet another suggests a massive flood swept them into this area. But the one theory that’s never given serious consideration? That maybe—just maybe—something far bigger happened. Maybe an asteroid hit, like we’ve seen happen throughout Earth’s history, wiping out entire species in an instant.

Because here’s the thing—humans love to think we’re at the center of everything. That we control the world. That every major shift in history happened because of us. But history says otherwise. The Earth has been reshaped over and over by massive, cataclysmic events—volcanic eruptions, ice ages, asteroid impacts. And yet, every time something unexplained comes up, the experts default to human causes. It’s the same arrogance that fuels bad science, bad history, and bad economics.

And speaking of bad economics, look at Wall Street. They push complex investment strategies, exotic financial instruments, and fancy theories that sound brilliant in a boardroom but fail in the real world. They sell the idea of endless growth, of chasing returns, of squeezing every last dollar out of the market. But when things go south, who’s left holding the bag? The individual investor. The retiree. The person who just wanted steady, reliable income.

Because at the end of the day, reality doesn’t care about theories. It cares about results. It’s about money in hand, not hypothetical gains on paper. It’s about making sure you have income when you need it, not gambling on some new “cutting-edge” strategy that hasn’t been tested outside of a spreadsheet.

That’s why I talk about Camelot—Common sense Advice, Management, Education, and Encouragement with Logic, Organization, and Technology. Because common sense is what cuts through the noise. It’s what separates the real from the ridiculous.

The problem is, common sense isn’t rewarded. In academia, in finance, in politics—it’s all about going along with the accepted narrative. Question it, and you’re an outsider. Push back, and you’re ridiculed. But the truth has a funny way of surfacing. The people who were laughed at for questioning COVID policies? They turned out to be right. The people who doubted the official stories on history? They’re finding more evidence every day.

So what does this mean for you? It means you can’t just take what you hear at face value. It means you have to think critically. Ask questions. Look for what makes sense, not just what sounds official.

Because at the end of the day, the experts don’t always know best. And sometimes, the simple truth is staring us right in the face.

Let’s go back in time—early 1990s. Digital communication is just starting to take hold, and the promise of a fully connected world is on the horizon. Enter Global Crossing, a company with big dreams of wiring the entire country with fiber optics. Sounded revolutionary. It was. Until it wasn’t. The company went belly-up, taking billions in investor money with it.

And they weren’t alone. When the dot-com bubble burst in 1999 and 2000, we saw a parade of companies—each one promising to revolutionize the internet—collapse into nothing. Pets.com burned through millions selling dog food online before anyone figured out people weren’t ready to pay shipping costs for a bag of kibble. Webvan promised grocery delivery before logistics could support it. eToys, Boo.com, Excite@Home—the list goes on. These were companies that, in theory, were right. The world was going online. The problem? People don’t change that fast.

That’s the real lesson. It’s not that the vision was wrong—it was just early. It took decades for technology, infrastructure, and, most importantly, human behavior to catch up. And here we are, 25 years later, only now fully seeing what the dot-com prophets were preaching. Digital isn’t just a convenience—it’s a necessity. But it’s not only digital. It’s both—digital and analog, online and offline, the power in your hand to do more than ever.

And yet, even with all this progress, we still have people who never adopted it. Some still use landline phones—no answering machine, no voicemail, never touched a fax machine. If you think I’m making this up, I’ve got clients in their 90s who live exactly like that. Time, real change—it takes longer than the tech wizards and Wall Street analysts like to admit.

And this isn’t just about the dot-com bust. Look at the 2007–2009 housing disaster. The rule used to be, “You never lose money in real estate.” Until people did. Banks handed out mortgages like candy—if you could fog a mirror, you could buy a house. Everyone made their payments… until they didn’t. Then came the exotic mortgages, the government-backed guarantees, the elimination of local banking control, and suddenly, the entire system was propped up by algorithms and financial engineering. Sound familiar? It should.

Every bubble is built on the same illusion—“This time is different.” No, it’s not. It’s never different.

And the same nonsense happens in finance every day. Just look at how investment products get sold. People push fixed financial products with exaggerated returns, growth-based portfolios stuffed with things retirees should never be in, and investments designed for 30-year-olds, pitched to people who need income, not rollercoaster returns. But the real kicker? The people selling this stuff—many of them are kids.

Some 25-year-old “financial planner” fresh out of college with a degree in basket weaving, whose last job was selling used cars, is now managing your retirement. The ink on their driver’s license is still wet, but sure, trust them with your life savings. Sound like a good plan? Didn’t think so.

Because here’s the thing—real financial management isn’t about chasing the latest trend, betting on untested ideas, or believing the hype. It’s about understanding reality. And reality is this: as you get older, things change. You face your mortality. You deal with physical, emotional, and intellectual shifts. Relationships evolve. Income becomes paramount. Avoiding unnecessary risk isn’t just smart—it’s survival.

You have to be able to get up after you take a hit. And that means managing your money in a way that keeps you standing. Not gambling on what might work, but securing what does work.

So here’s the bottom line: People love to say, “The future is here.” But it’s never really here until enough time has passed for it to actually work. The internet didn’t take over the world in 2000. Real estate didn’t stay bulletproof. And the next “big thing” isn’t always as close as they say.

The key isn’t to follow every trend. It’s to recognize that common sense—real, grounded thinking—beats hype every time.

And if that offends some of the so-called experts? Good. Maybe it’s time they started listening to the kid who points out the emperor has no clothes.

Maybe it’s time they started listening to the kid who points out that the emperor has no clothes.

Maybe it’s time they started listening to the kid who points out that drug cartels aren’t just an inconvenience—they’re full-scale terrorist organizations, running billion-dollar operations with more power and influence than some small nations. They control the border, traffic people like cattle, and pump deadly fentanyl into our communities, killing more Americans every year than most wars. But sure, let’s keep pretending they’re just a law enforcement problem instead of an existential national security threat.

Maybe it’s time they started listening to the kid who points out that our children know less today than they did 50 years ago, despite an astronomical increase in education spending. We’re dumping record amounts of money into schools, but test scores are down, critical thinking is disappearing, and young adults are entering the workforce with degrees that prepare them for absolutely nothing. We’ve replaced real-world skills with participation trophies and “safe spaces,” and now we’re surprised when they can’t function in the real world.

Maybe it’s time they started listening to the kid who points out that Americans are less fit than ever, even with all the so-called “advancements” in healthcare, nutrition, and pharmaceuticals. Go to any beach today and compare it to photos from the 1950s and 60s. Back then, being overweight was an exception. Today, it’s the norm. And it’s not just about looks—it’s about health, longevity, and quality of life. Somehow, we’ve turned “body positivity” into an excuse for ignoring a nationwide health crisis while spending billions on drugs that treat problems we used to prevent with basic exercise and common sense eating.

Maybe it’s time they started listening to the kid who points out that we used to know our neighbors, and kids used to learn responsibility by actually working. Babysitting, mowing lawns, shoveling snow—teenagers made their own spending money, and parents didn’t worry about leaving their children with the neighborhood babysitter. Now, it’s daycare centers, long waitlists, and a world where people barely wave to the person next door. We’ve lost the sense of community that once made neighborhoods safe, connected, and self-sufficient.

Maybe it’s time they started listening to the kid who points out that we used to know who was a law-abiding, taxpaying citizen, because we actually enforced immigration laws. We didn’t have endless waves of illegal immigrants flooding our cities, overwhelming social services, and straining local budgets. There was near-zero tolerance for violent crime, and if you broke the law, there were consequences. Now? We have entire cities refusing to cooperate with federal law enforcement, and the idea of protecting your own borders is somehow controversial.

Maybe it’s time they started listening to the kid who points out that crime has skyrocketed, not because we don’t have enough laws, but because we refuse to enforce the ones we have. Smash-and-grab robberies, open drug use, random assaults—things that would have been unthinkable a few decades ago are now just “part of city life.” And instead of cracking down, we have politicians who make excuses, activists who blame the victims, and prosecutors who let violent offenders walk free over and over again.

Maybe it’s time they started listening to the kid who points out that America doesn’t make anything anymore. We used to be the manufacturing powerhouse of the world, where “Made in the USA” actually meant something. Now? We’ve outsourced entire industries to foreign countries, leaving ourselves vulnerable to supply chain collapses, economic blackmail, and national security risks. The push for a “service-based economy” sounded great in theory—until we realized you can’t run a country on TikTok influencers and food delivery apps.

Maybe it’s time they started listening to the kid who points out that we’ve traded independence for dependency. Once upon a time, self-sufficiency was a core American value. You worked hard, saved money, took care of your own. Today? We’ve built an entire culture around victimhood, entitlement, and government handouts. More people than ever are reliant on welfare, subsidies, and government programs that were supposed to be temporary safety nets, not permanent lifestyles.

And maybe—just maybe—it’s time we all started paying attention. Because pretending the emperor is wearing clothes doesn’t change the fact that he’s walking around naked for the whole world to see.

Maybe it’s time they started listening to the kid who was always a little different—the one who, as a young man, co-founded a company called PayPal, then went on to revolutionize the auto industry with Tesla, redefined space travel with SpaceX, and is now pushing the boundaries of AI, brain-computer interfaces, and satellite communications. A guy who surrounds himself with brilliant young minds, who doesn’t just talk about innovation but creates it. A guy who, despite being worth hundreds of billions of dollars, still gets genuinely excited about building something new, solving real problems, and taking humanity forward.

Maybe it’s time they started listening to him—because he’s out there saying what too many people in power refuse to admit: the system is broken. The government is a black hole of wasted money, bureaucracy, and inefficiency. We’re being taxed into oblivion, while politicians shuffle trillions of dollars into programs that accomplish nothing except growing government itself. He’s warning us—loudly—that this path leads to disaster.

And yet, instead of listening, the media mocks him, regulators attack him, and the establishment tries to shut him down. Why? Because he threatens the status quo. Because he isn’t afraid to call it like it is. Because he puts his own money on the line, risking everything to prove that things can be done better, faster, and smarter.

Maybe it’s time we stopped listening to career bureaucrats who’ve never built anything, politicians who don’t understand the industries they regulate, and talking heads who get paid to push whatever narrative keeps the system running. Maybe it’s time we started listening to the little boy who still has a zeal for life, who still believes in possibility, and who has repeatedly shown that when you combine intelligence, vision, and actual execution, you can change the world.

Because the people running the show right now? They aren’t getting it done. And maybe—just maybe—it’s time we started paying attention to someone who is.

Recent studies have shown something we all know to be true—people are talking less. A lot less. Since 2005, the average person is speaking about 3,000 fewer words per day. Why? Because texting, social media, and digital communication have taken over.

And while that may seem convenient, there’s a cost. Human connection is built through real conversation, not just a string of emojis or a thumbs-up reaction. Social interaction—face-to-face discussion—has been linked to better mental and physical health, much like exercise and sleep. It’s no wonder 55+ communities with vibrant social calendars are thriving. People want real relationships. They want to meet others, to engage in meaningful conversation, to share ideas in real time. And that’s exactly why I do what I do the way I do it.

At Truesdell Wealth, we offer online, on-demand presentations because we know flexibility matters. But what we don’t do—at least not right now—is live webinars. Why? Because they just don’t work the same way. People want interaction, not another screen to stare at. They want to ask questions, get real-time responses, and engage in discussions that actually matter to them.

That’s why our in-person Casual Cocktail Conversations have become such a success. There’s something fundamentally different about sitting in a room with real people, having real discussions. It’s engaging. It’s dynamic. And it’s tailored to what you want to talk about.

Think of it like The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. He’d start with a monologue—current events, sharp insights, and topics of the day. Then he’d sit down and have conversations. That’s exactly what we do. I start off with about 15 to 20 minutes covering the key issues—economics, investing, politics, the things you actually care about. Then we open up the discussion. You don’t have to participate, but if you’ve got a question, we address it. And if something isn’t covered? We dive into it right then and there. No scripts, no rigid formats—just real conversation that makes sense.

Now, why does this work so well? Because, whether you’re 25 or 85, communication matters. And when it comes to your finances, your future, and your peace of mind, you need to have real conversations. This isn’t about one-size-fits-all answers. It’s about finding solutions that work for you.

That’s why we’ve built a communication system designed to meet each and every client where they are. We take the time to understand your concerns, your goals, and your situation—then we communicate in a way that makes sense for you.

Because at the end of the day, everything we do requires people working together. The financial world is complicated, but it doesn’t have to be confusing. When you see how we approach things—when you experience the depth of knowledge and clarity we bring to the table—you’ll have that “wow” moment. Because it is amazing. It’s real, it’s effective, and most importantly—it works.

So, if you’re ready for a real conversation, visit TruesdellWealth.com, check out the Events section, and see for yourself. Because sometimes, the simplest way forward is just sitting down and having a talk.

If you’re interested in engaging discussions on current events and financial insights, I invite you to visit truesdellwealth.com and check out the ‘Events’ section. We regularly host Casual Cocktail Conversations—informal gatherings where we delve into topics that matter to you.

To join us, simply make a reservation through the contact form or by calling the number provided on the website. When you reserve, you’ll have the opportunity to submit questions or topics you’re curious about. I incorporate these into a 15 to 20-minute monologue, much like Johnny Carson’s approach on The Tonight Show. Afterward, we open the floor for a casual conversation, addressing any additional questions or interests you may have.

I pride myself on making complex ideas accessible, avoiding jargon in favor of clear, straightforward language. This skill has been honed over five decades, allowing me to discuss any topic in a way that’s understandable and relevant.

Please note that event details may change, so for the most current information, visit truesdellwealth.com/events. I look forward to the opportunity to engage with you in these enriching discussions.