We're ALL Overthinking EVERYTHING | Ep 053

Tired of experts making everything complicated? Meet the guy who implies we're all overthinking it. From gun violence to climate change, Mitch Francis has solutions that will either make you ponder the possibility or make you think 'holy crap, why aren't we doing this?

➡️  Meet the Guest: Buckle up for a mind-bending ride with Mitch Francis, author of "Badass Solutions for Today's Big Ass Problems."

In this no-holds-barred conversation, we dive into solutions that ignore the usual "but we can't because..." excuses. Whether it's his controversial take on gun control that might actually work, or an environmental solution that caused Stacey to say, 'Why aren't we??!!', Mitch's ideas will make you wonder why we haven't tried them yet.

One thing's certain: you won't hear these ideas from the usual talking heads.

Discover:

💫 Why rising ocean levels might be easier to fix than you think
💫  A solution to mass shootings that doesn't involve the usual political circus
💫 The surprising math behind solving homelessness that you haven't heard
💫 A solution to the abortion debate that could make both sides... happy?

➡️ Chapters
(00:01) Everything's Broken? Here's Why That's Good News
(12:04) The Solution to Gun Violence & Why No One's Tried It
(17:54) Sacred Cows Get Slaughtered: Bold Takes on Hot Topics
(26:48) Solutions That Could Make Both Sides Mad (And Why That's Perfect)

➡️ Highlights
(00:17) Meet the Guy Who Says We're All Overthinking Everything (74s)
(06:41) "Just Add Ice?" - A Wild Solution to Rising Ocean Levels (95s)
(12:04) Why Global Problems Might Be Easier to Fix Than We Think (66s)
(15:47) The Gun Control Solution That Actually Makes Sense (57s)
(25:52) When Business Thinking Meets Social Problems (56s)
(33:21) "Why I'm Not Running for Office" (50s)

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Connect with our Hosts:
Stacey: https://www.instagram.com/staceymgrant/
Mark: https://www.instagram.com/mark_lubragge_onair/

➡️ More about the guest:  
Website: https://bad-asssolutions.com/
Book: Bad- Ass Solutions to Todays Big-Ass Problems - https://bad-asssolutions.com/books/bad-ass-solutions/

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➡️ Thanks for watching:
#Solutions, #BigProblems, #MitchFrancis, #BadassSolutions, #Business, #CommercialRealEstate, #Homelessness, #NationalDebt, #GunControl, #EnvironmentalChallenges, #GovernmentBuybackPrograms, #LegislativeAction, #SocialIssues, #Abortion, #CellPhoneUse, #GangViolence, #Compromise, #Pro-Choice, #Pro-Life, #DrugLegality, #TransformativeSolutions, #Society, #PoliticalLines, #FinancialLimitations, #Education, #Housing, #Healthcare, #ArtificialIntelligence, #Immigration, #JobCreation, #PublicSchools, #PrivateSchools, #EqualOpportunity, #FoundingFathers, #HomelessIndividuals, #JobCreation, #HumanTrafficking, #Violence, #CommonGround, #innovativesolutions

Transcript

00:01 - Stacey (Host)
So, Mark, what did you think of all of these solutions to these big-ass problems? 

00:09 - Mark (Host)
I like that you called them big-ass problems. 

00:10 - Stacey (Host)
That's the name of his guest's book. Wait, no, they're big-ass problems, no they're big-ass. 

00:13 - Mark (Host)
He has badass solutions to big-ass problems. Today's guest, mitch Francis. I loved it. Look, whether you like the solutions or not, and you're going to hear a bunch of them in this episode. You're going to hear the big problems and his ideas on the way to solve these problems. I love the way this guy thinks Ultimately it's like you just got to any problem can be solved if you motivate the people to solve it. 

00:38 - Stacey (Host)
If people are motivated to solve it, no matter how big it is, yeah, but I think what was interesting about this episode is that you and I got in debates we got in debates with him Like this book, I think will cause people to kind of think about are there solutions to these big ass problems? What would be something that would need to happen so that we could get some of these things solved? And is it as easy and simple as Mitch Francis says? It is. 

01:02
And maybe it is and if it is, why aren't we doing it? 

01:05 - Mark (Host)
Yeah, because they're really big, Because even at one point I say like some of these seem unfixable. 

01:11 - Stacey (Host)
But he has a fix for homelessness. He has a fix for private schools not being or public schools, public schools not being as good as private schools. He has a fix for. 

01:21 - Mark (Host)
Rising ocean levels To say you have a fix for that is that's why I love his thinking. I love the way he thinks. 

01:27 - Stacey (Host)
And I think his fix for rising ocean levels is doable. 

01:32 - Mark (Host)
Yeah, well look, I'd love to hear what our listeners think. 

01:36 - Stacey (Host)
Would you guys tell us what you think? 

01:37 - Mark (Host)
Yeah, because, look, we came down on different sides, off mic and off camera, we had more conversation about it. 

01:45 - Stacey (Host)
We're talking about abortion. 

01:48 - Mark (Host)
We're talking about they're very polarizing issues, and they're massive issues that it's hard to say. I wrote a chapter in a book that here's the solution, but the solutions he laid out don't seem that unreasonable for some, yeah, but for some reason we argued about it like semi-automatic rifles. 

02:04 - Stacey (Host)
Right Right, it's a hot topic. 

02:07 - Mark (Host)
It's a civil war topic, yeah. 

02:08 - Stacey (Host)
For sure, civil war, civil war. It's another one. 

02:11 - Mark (Host)
Abortion. They're like some massive topics. 

02:13 - Stacey (Host)
Anyway, you guys have to listen. This is a good one. 

02:18 - Mark (Host)
I think this is a really good one, yeah, and I think it's you'd be fascinated the whole way, just from top to top. 

02:23 - Stacey (Host)
This is like a panel. We should get a panel. 

02:25 - Mark (Host)
That's what we should do. Yeah, look at that, all right, in the meantime enjoy Mitch Francis. 

02:32 - Stacey (Host)
Hi, I'm Stacey. 

02:33 - Mark (Host)
And I am Mark, and this is the Gurus and Game Changers podcast. So welcome everybody. I think we can all agree that the world has a significant number of big problems right If you can solve any one of them. That's quite the accomplishment. Well today's guest, mitch Francis, has solutions for many of them, and we're talking big problems. In fact, he wrote a book called Badass Solutions for Today's Big Ass Problems. And these are some big ass problems. We're talking homelessness, immigration, mass killings, how to pay off the national debt, make public schools work fix health care. 

03:08
I'm just going on and on. Stop the rising oceans. These are not small things, but this man claims to have the solutions. We're thrilled to have this conversation with him, mitch. Welcome to the show, buddy. Thanks for joining us. 

03:22 - Mitch Francis (Host)
Thanks so much for having me, guys. It's great to be here. 

03:24 - Stacey (Host)
So we're going to discuss some big-ass problems and try to solve them in a second, because that's what you do, but first, how did you learn how to solve problems like this? 

03:32 - Mitch Francis (Host)
Well, I have a very extensive business background. I was the founder and CEO of several public companies and private companies. I developed commercial real estate, still owned and managed commercial real estate all over the country. So I developed problem-solving skills. You know, anybody in business has got to have very good problem-solving skills. There are roadblocks thrown at you no matter what you want to do, just like daily, and if you can't figure out how to get over around them through them, you're just not going to make it. So I do have these, these skills and I applied them to our big ass problems today and it really was. It was not much different and and I was kind of excited by what I was able to come up with. 

04:20 - Stacey (Host)
Is there a system that you use? 

04:21 - Mitch Francis (Host)
Like is there? Do you do something methodical or do you just look at the problem and solve it? You know, I kind of equate problem solving with the skills of negotiating or even sales. You have an objective, you know. You clearly define what your objective is. I want to stop, you know, the ocean levels from rising. Well, that sounds incredibly daunting. And then you start asking questions Well, how much water is going in to the oceans? How much water is melting from the polar ice caps? And then it starts this exploration of statistics about all these different areas that you're going to need to come up with a solution. And then you start well, what if? What if we did this? What if we did that? And God, that was dumb, but you know. 

05:13 - Stacey (Host)
Let's try something else. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

05:15 - Mitch Francis (Host)
Keep going with what, if and when you, you know, along with negotiating or selling, and you know when you can make everybody happy, you probably have a solution that's going to work. 

05:26 - Mark (Host)
Yeah, well, what are some of the what ifs for the rising oceans, since you brought that up? 

05:33 - Mitch Francis (Host)
Well, that was pretty. That was a fascinating journey actually, but it's just, you know, an incredibly big problem. Yeah, Last summer you know just ended a few days ago was the hottest summer in recorded history on the whole planet. Really, yeah, yeah, it was the entire planet. We're headed toward a socioeconomic catastrophe of unheralded size, and the global warming is causing the polar ice caps to melt, and one of those great statistics I found is that it's melting at a rate that would fill 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools every second. That's a lot of water. 

06:21 - Stacey (Host)
Wait, say that again 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools Every second, every second, that's a lot of water, yeah. 

06:28 - Mitch Francis (Host)
By the end of this century, all coastal cities and islands are going to be flooded and guys, nobody's doing anything about this. But we can Along that path. I was able to find several of the what-ifs and we actually can stop the ocean levels from rising and at the same time, use all that fresh water for the billions of people living in the most parched areas of our planet. So it's just a huge win. And delving into this, I found that as huge as that number is the melting of the polar ice caps, filling 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools every second. It's actually just a small fraction of the water that's going into our oceans from just our 20 largest rivers. That was shocking to me. Shocking to me, and I realized that if we channel just 7% of the water from our 20 largest rivers and move that water to the arid lands, we can actually stop the ocean levels from rising and also stop hunger and thirst on our planet. And it's very viable. 

07:44
It's kind of interesting. We actually have a model for this. For decades already, there's been an organization called the Central Arizona Project and they've been handling water from the Colorado River 336 miles to Phoenix and Tucson to serve water, fresh water, to 5 million people. And it's just this incredible success story. It's already been done. We can do this on a global level. So it's kind of rare that you you know you not just solve a problem. This would solve the ocean levels from rising and save all the coastlines, all the islands. It's pretty incalculable. But we can also cure thirst and hunger. That's pretty big stuff. 

08:35 - Stacey (Host)
It seems like a no-brainer. So what has to be done to get someone to say, okay, go. 

08:42 - Mitch Francis (Host)
Well, I'm taking kind of a grassroots approach. I wrote the book and I'm doing everything I can to get you know, to get the word out. I've had a very, very good response about the book and I'm hoping that people talk about it. People, you know, get excited about one or more of the solutions and get involved, and it's as easy to get involved as telling other people, writing a letter to your representatives, joining organizations that are concerned with whatever cause you're interested in here it's global warming or the ocean levels rising there are millions of organizations that desperately need help and you can get involved. One of my favorite things about the book is this trying to get people involved, so it's not just the politicians. I'm not just waiting for Biden to call, but get involved and we can all make a difference. There was a fantastic quote and I'm real big into quotes. There was a fantastic quote by Mahatma Gandhi, who said when the people lead, the leaders will follow. 

09:57 - Stacey (Host)
That's kind of what I'm hoping for, yeah, yeah. So what do you think they? What's the chink that they can throw in your armor there? Money, money. 

10:06 - Mark (Host)
For something like that right. We don't have the resources and money to do something like that Budgets. 

10:11 - Mitch Francis (Host)
To redirect rivers. It might be couches, couches. Get your ass off the couch and do it. 

10:19 - Mark (Host)
I love that. It's great. 

10:21 - Stacey (Host)
When you find out that answer? Do you then give it to the government or sell it to the government, Say, look, do you want to know? Well, come on, I mean he's got the answer that no one's been able to get it's in his book. 

10:31 - Mark (Host)
They can get the answer pretty. 

10:33 - Mitch Francis (Host)
That's why I wrote a book, because, you know, it's funny, I kind of started out with an outline, an outline. I had no intention of writing a book and I started out with an outline because I have, you know, a lot of I. Just, you know, I'm kind of a news hound and you know I'm interested in current events and things going on and very often I'll say, well, why don't they just do that? You know, I know doing that. So you know, I I again, you know, took stock of myself and said you know, I really have ideas for many, many of these big problems. And I wrote down an outline and there were 20 really big ass problems and I had at least the beginnings of some ideas of solutions. And I went this is a book, and that's two years ago, and that's where we are. 

11:20 - Stacey (Host)
That's amazing, but also you talk, talk about. So my question is, like, have political leaders like reached out to you and said, okay, I see you have this idea, let's do it, like especially for the polar ice caps? And I know you've said you know, people can't really figure out, are you left, are you right like, and no one should you know, you, you don't. You don't want to say like I am conservative, I am liberal. You just want to say, like I am conservative, I am liberal, you just want to say look, here is the solution. 

11:45
I mean, most of us are in the middle. Let's just face it. Like you know, not everybody is left or right Like most of us stand somewhere in the middle. So what's your theory on that? 

11:55 - Mitch Francis (Host)
Oh no, I couldn't agree more. You know it's interesting and I try very hard, you know, to keep this balance, not to be political on this, not to be partisan on this. I just wanted solutions. I had no constraints of political parties, I had no constraints of money, even I don't care what's it going to take to solve this. And it led me to, I think, really doable, viable solutions. And yeah, a lot of them are going to cost an awful lot of money, but even with stopping the ocean levels from rising, there's a return that is probably greater than the cost, and I mean like a financial return. 

12:37 - Stacey (Host)
Listen, listen people, listen politicians. Let's go Wait a minute. 

12:43 - Mitch Francis (Host)
Oh my God, you got a call. I come with props. I's go Wait a minute. How's everybody? Oh my God, you got a call I come with props. 

12:48 - Mark (Host)
I love it. I love it. What's probably one of the easier solutions? I mean, that's very grand scale right, that's rechanneling rivers right to arid lands. What's an easier one, a more attainable? 

12:59 - Stacey (Host)
quicker one. This is big-ass problems, though, Mark. 

13:01 - Mark (Host)
I know, but there's got to be levels to big-ass problems right. 

13:06 - Mitch Francis (Host)
Yeah, there are, but it also takes will and commitment. Sure, you asked about assault rifles. We had a family catastrophe two years ago, where you may recall, there was a mass killing during a Fourth of July parade in a suburb of Chicago and my brother-in-law's brother was one of the seven people who were killed. Sorry yeah, thank you by this crazed young man with assault rifles. And you know, needless to say, the family was just devastated and I left. You know, besides being devastated, I left pissed. 

13:46 - Stacey (Host)
Yeah. 

13:47 - Mitch Francis (Host)
This is ridiculous. Already. You know there are two mass shootings every single day in the United States. This is like beyond crazy. And you know, if we agree that we don't need assault rifles, you know we're not invading Canada. There's no reason for it. There are literally 20 million assault rifles in the United States. 

14:10 - Stacey (Host)
I'm with you on this. 

14:13 - Mitch Francis (Host)
It's horrifying, so who's stopping that? 

14:16 - Stacey (Host)
It's got to be the NRA who is saying we should own you. You own a gun. What do you think? 

14:24 - Mark (Host)
Sorry, I know I'm interrupting you, but no, it's it is a big ass problem right for america that we have assault rifles in so many people's hands. 

14:31 - Stacey (Host)
Why do we need them? 

14:32 - Mark (Host)
it is in the second amendment you're allowed to write. 

14:36 - Mitch Francis (Host)
Assault rifles aren't in the second amendment, amendment the arms. But it doesn't say can you have a bazooka bazookas? 

14:45 - Mark (Host)
no, I don't think so. Grenades, I would love a bazooka. See, this is the issue. Is this why these problems aren't being solved? Who would love a? 

14:52 - Mitch Francis (Host)
bazooka, this is it my chapter is entitled a bazooka for a high school graduation present for this. How do we solve this? Mitch Zuka for a high school graduation present, nice, wow For this. 

15:03 - Stacey (Host)
So yeah, it's got me. Okay, how do we solve this Mitch? 

15:06 - Mitch Francis (Host)
So it's tough because you know you have guys like Mark who don't want to give up their assault rifle. 

15:12 - Stacey (Host)
You haven't said really yet in assault rifle. I do not currently own an assault rifle. 

15:18 - Mitch Francis (Host)
But it's going to take us to say we don't need this. You know, nobody's got to take us to say we don't need this. Nobody's got to shoot a deer 500 times in 13 seconds. You don't need an assault rifle for that. You don't need to defend your house with an assault rifle or go to the grocery store in case somebody starts shooting. You just don't need that. But they are grossly misused. They're a military weapon that really don't belong in the hands of civilians. 

15:47
So if we actually just get this consensus we want to stop this. Well, we're kind of lucky. We have a nation that we have the ability to create laws and we have the ability to enforce laws, and I believe that we can be hard ass. So you know, badass, big ass and hard ass we can have our Congress actually pass a law that says you got 30 days to turn in an assault rifle. You know, we know where they all are. You know probably 99.9% of them were purchased legally. They're registered, they were bought by a gun store. They know, they know who has them turn in. You got 30 days. The government will completely refund your money. You know, we bite that bullet. That's okay, but that's a that's a bad analogy. You turn in your assault rifles and guess what? If you don't, you're going to jail for a year yeah I mean it's definitely a politically heated issue. 

16:44 - Stacey (Host)
For sure it's a slippery slope in the eyes of the other side. Why is it a slippery slope? 

16:48 - Mark (Host)
If the other side the I guess conservative or the gun owner side is that it's a slippery slope. 

16:54 - Stacey (Host)
You're taking away the AKs and you can take away the shotguns. 

16:56 - Mark (Host)
Then you can redefine something else as a semi-automatic is now an assault rifle. I, as a semi-automatic, is now an assault rifle. I'm just saying. That's why it is a big-ass problem. I mean it sounds great on paper, but I think the problem is people don't trust the government, end of story, and if you give them an inch they're going to take a mile. That's the vibe that you have nowadays in the government and whatever, we don't need necessarily to get political. 

17:19 - Stacey (Host)
I am with Mitch Bye, and that is the end of that topic. 

17:21 - Mark (Host)
No, it's fine. No, it's fine. Let's actually move on to another one, because I want to. There's so many, there's so many I'd love to uh homeless to cover. Oh, that's a good one, want that one. How do you? I would love to hear how you fix that. 

17:33 - Stacey (Host)
Yeah, mitch, how do we fix our homeless? 

17:35 - Mark (Host)
so many of your big ass problems I look at and say it's unfixable. It's too big to be fixed. Tell me why I'm wrong. Well, like the homeless With that attitude, I think your perspective that's fair. 

17:54 - Mitch Francis (Host)
I think your perspective may be giving you some roadblocks For sure. And I'm not being critical at all. I'm just saying you, like many of us say us, say jesus crap. You know we can't do this, you know we're not going to trust the government and you know the government's going to overreach, so let's not do anything yeah so it's not going to happen. 

18:16
But if we have a will for things to happen, they'll happen. I mean, it was enough of a will, they can happen. It's like that gandhi quote of we can lead the politicians right. Let's, you know, get a groundswell. Um, you know there are all kinds of really great solutions if we, you know, if we put our mind to it, you know I, we can make, we can make public schools better than private schools, and we need you know it's going to take, you know, a hard ass movement to make that happen, but we need to. 

18:52 - Mark (Host)
Hey guys, thanks for listening. If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review, Give us a follow, subscribe, subscribe all those things, all those things. We love it because we read each and every comment and it helps shape the show, so we would appreciate it. 

19:05 - Stacey (Host)
Please, and back to the show. 

19:08 - Mitch Francis (Host)
My idea for public schools is you know is very doable. 

19:15
So in my view, this is one of the biggest problems we have in our country. This chasm between the wealthy and the poor is, in my view, you know this perpetuates because of the inequity of education that the people who are wealthy and care the most. Maybe that's not quite right, but the people who are wealthy enough to send their kids to private schools do that. And a private school education, you know, for the most part is really going to beat out a public school education. You go out for jobs and somebody who's had, you know, been at a college prep, you know who's. That costs $30,000 to $50,000 a year, you know, and gets them like a college education before you know education before they graduate 12th grade is going to be miles ahead. 

20:08
99% of public school kids. And there are some great public schools and there are parents who really care about public schools. But what we've done by having private schools is we've taken the people with the resources and the interest in education completely out of the public school system. So you want to talk badass, make it illegal to have private schools? Can't happen, can't happen. 

20:33 - Mark (Host)
That is a big one, I'll tell you something. 

20:36 - Mitch Francis (Host)
It's very doable. The founding fathers of our country put such an incredible importance on equal opportunity. Yeah, that was the idea that was to make our country and ultimately even capitalism and democracy. The idea was we all start at the same starting line and the founding fathers, and it was actually led. This movement of this was actually led by John Adams. He said it's the public schools that are the insurance policy for the success of this country and the equal opportunity for all people. Now he said all men. Sorry when they said all people, but now we expand that definition. But if everybody, all of us, has that kind of opportunity in education and there are no private schools for the rich to perpetuate a landed aristocracy we have that today then our country is going to be so much better off. 

21:41 - Stacey (Host)
That's interesting, that's kind of controversial yeah, that's a bold yeah, I love that that's big. 

21:47 - Mark (Host)
I'm not talking about the merit and the merit of it, but the the fact that you went there and said let's just ban them, that's a that is, yeah, it is now. 

21:53 - Stacey (Host)
This is like. I like the thinking. That's different thinking. I love that. So what about homelessness? 

21:57 - Mark (Host)
but yeah, how do we, how do you solve? What's your badass solution for homelessness? 

22:02 - Mitch Francis (Host)
again in in, in kind of examining the problem. It's like you know what's the scale here, what's the size here. There are right now roughly half a million homeless people in the United States. Half a million people sounds like it like an enormous number, and we're a country now of 335 million people. So it's fascinating. When you really put that homeless number in perspective, it becomes 17% of 1% of the US population is homeless on the streets. 

22:40 - Stacey (Host)
It's a tiny number Sounds as big as you thought it was, Mark. 

22:44 - Mitch Francis (Host)
Relative to 335 million people. Sure, we don't think of it that way, but that's the number. You can do the math. Anyway, we said we're this great society and we need to help people who need help. These people are on the street. They're often mentally ill, they're often drug addicted, they're even veterans who don't have a place to go. They're handicapped people. It's people who really need help and I found that. Well, how much is that going to take? You know, if we house people, get them the mental health, the educational health, get them possibly trained into being, you know, a participant in society. So, education, you know, all of this structural help that they need how much is that going to cost? Is it $25,000 per person a year? Well, that number is $14 billion. $14 billion is a rounding error on our government. The government's spending that in like six hours a day. So even if we made it twice that number 50,000, 75,000, we have that money. We can put that to work to really help people and create this infrastructure of helping people, of housing, of education, of food, of medical care, of re-education, all of that. 

24:25
And throughout my book there's an interesting thread, I think, of all of these people who need to work. You know that artificial intelligence is going to be putting people out of work. We have immigrants who are here and not working. You have all kinds of people who really need to work. Here's an amazing idea to facilitate jobs, to help all those homeless people now be housed and fed and taken care of. It's a big solution and it's one that I think is a great country. We need to do it. Maybe the homeless people are trained to do the job where they live, to do the gardening, to wash dishes, to serve food, whatever it is. But get everybody productive if they can, and helping it's a pie in the sky. 

25:24 - Mark (Host)
Everybody productive if they can and helping. Yeah, I mean, you have to ask. 

25:26 - Mitch Francis (Host)
It's a pie in the sky, but, but when you talk about needing a solution, there's a. There is a solution. 

25:32 - Mark (Host)
And that solution has been discussed, right. Why are we sending tens of billions of dollars to support wars when a fraction of that can end homelessness, for instance? So why is that happening? If it is, that's a relatively easy solution from a dollar standpoint, right? So what stops it? Is it the politics? Is it corporate greed? 

25:52 - Mitch Francis (Host)
Well, I think the administration of it is enormous. The operations of anything is the most difficult in any business. Listen, ideas are easy and I always told people who worked with me in listen, ideas are easy and I always told people you know who worked with me in companies ideas are easy. We can come up with those all day long, but it's the operations that are difficult. Running the business, making sure that everything is done properly and servicing whoever or whatever you need to serve that's the tough part. So, yeah, here's this great idea. Yeah, we can throw money at this problem and really take care of it, but then it gets down to the administration. The operational effort of making that happen is enormous and I don't want to minimize it, but it's going to take a lot of commitment from a big portion of our government to do this yeah. 

26:42 - Stacey (Host)
We have time for one more yeah. 

26:44 - Mark (Host)
Oh, we have time. 

26:45 - Stacey (Host)
I have a couple I want to ask. No, go ahead, Go you go. 

26:48 - Mark (Host)
So this is a hotly debated topic, but I like the way you phrased it. You have a solution. I believe you phrased it. We have a you have a big ass solution for abortion that appeals will appease and appeal to both sides. 

27:04 - Stacey (Host)
Wow, that sounds impossible, yeah. 

27:05 - Mark (Host)
Because it's such a polarizing issue. 

27:08 - Stacey (Host)
What is your? 

27:08 - Mitch Francis (Host)
badass solution? It's really not. Oh, I love it. We've effectively been in a civil war in our country over this issue for 50 years. Yep, we've been in a civil war in our country over this issue for 50 years. 

27:20
And I discovered, you know, along with my methodology for finding solutions, I discovered an incredible statistic that was issued by the Centers for Disease Control, our CDC of the US government, and that statistic was that 94% of all abortions in the United States occur in the first 15 weeks of gestation. Really, so it just so happens that 15 weeks and I did a lot of research on this is pretty much accepted by both sides as well. You know, a woman could probably find out she's pregnant and wait what she needs to do for her family and her life and decide if she needs an abortion in that time and get an abortion, and the pro-life side says, yeah, it's really not a viable life until then. And you know, if we had to you know to use that awful word compromise, you know, we could probably get there. We have this civil war going on over less than 6% of all abortions. 

28:37 - Mark (Host)
Wow. 

28:39 - Mitch Francis (Host)
Yeah, we could solve this by saying abortions are okay within the first 15 weeks of gestation and that the remaining 6% and that also includes rape and incest so let's let 6% of abortions fall outside this compromise. 

28:58 - Mark (Host)
If you can get the compromise. 

29:00 - Mitch Francis (Host)
In my career I've hardly ever seen I don't think I've ever seen a business compromise, or I mean any kind of compromise where you're going to satisfy 94%. It's stunning and we can do that. 

29:17 - Mark (Host)
I think it's a zero-sum game for both sides, though right. It's a woman's right to choose versus the protection of her life, and the life is no less valuable at 14 weeks than it was at 15 weeks or 13 weeks, so I don't know that you'll ever get an agreement. It's an ideological civil war. 

29:33 - Mitch Francis (Host)
We never get there Right. So either we agree that there's a compromise, that all of us have to bend over a bit and solve 96 percent of the demand for abortion. Yeah, how could that not be reasonable? 

29:53 - Mark (Host)
What's the hottest issue right now? Is it the Israeli-Palestine war? Is that too hot? 

29:57 - Stacey (Host)
to talk about Cell phones in school. I hear that all the time now. Cell phones in high school. They're trying to ban them and kids are going bananas. 

30:05 - Mark (Host)
That's crazy. You can't ban cell phones. 

30:06 - Stacey (Host)
Yes, you can. You can have them in class. 

30:08 - Mark (Host)
Here now solve this problem, because she believes one side, I believe the other. 

30:11 - Stacey (Host)
No, you do not have cell phones in class. What do they need them for? Who are they calling? They're calling DoorDash and having it delivered to the school. 

30:24 - Mark (Host)
They have to eat lunch. 

30:26 - Stacey (Host)
So how are they even able to call DoorDash? Because they have cell phones in their pockets. No, cell phones. 

30:30 - Mark (Host)
Several of my son's teachers collect phones when they walk in. Others say you must put it in your bag and others they don't care. I think it should be left to the schools. 

30:39 - Stacey (Host)
This sounds like a brilliant issue. No, let me talk to Mitch, because Mitch has solutions. Go, mitch. 

30:43 - Mark (Host)
Go Mitch. 

30:45 - Mitch Francis (Host)
Listen, I have to tell you I don't do solutions off the cuff. I actually research, you know try to figure something out. 

30:52 - Stacey (Host)
Come on, you're smart, you can figure it out. 

30:54 - Mitch Francis (Host)
I don't want to wink out on this, but you know I really do some effort, you know come up with a solution. 

31:05 - Stacey (Host)
That's fine. Who are you leaning more towards though? Me or Mark? 

31:08 - Mark (Host)
I think there's so many factors. 

31:10 - Stacey (Host)
Oh look, he's going to be right in the middle. 

31:11 - Mark (Host)
No, it's fine, let's go with something that is really hard. How do you stop gangs in America, gang violence, gang wars? 

31:27 - Mitch Francis (Host)
Well, that's a very long answer. What's? 

31:32 - Mark (Host)
your outline. 

31:37 - Mitch Francis (Host)
Let me kind of throw something to you. 

31:39 - Mark (Host)
Yeah. 

31:40 - Mitch Francis (Host)
What is the business of gangs in the United States right now? 

31:43 - Mark (Host)
Human trafficking, drugs and human trafficking. 

31:45 - Stacey (Host)
Yeah, what is the business of gangs in the United States? Right? 

31:48 - Mitch Francis (Host)
now Human trafficking and drugs and human trafficking, yeah, all right. What would happen if, tonight, drugs are illegal? We fought a 50 year war on drugs Right and never went to war. 

31:59 - Mark (Host)
Right and it didn't work. It didn't work. 

32:01 - Mitch Francis (Host)
We spent a trillion dollars literally and it didn't work. So you've got, you've got. You know. It's kind of like how prohibition was they couldn't stop alcohol during prohibition. They haven't stopped drugs, right, you know drugs are illegal, but you know any. Any eighth grader can go get any drugs he wants on any street corner in the United States. So the fact that they're illegal is not stopping their use. If anything, it's increasing their use because you have a pusher, you have people whose business it is to continue to sell that kid drugs. So if you make drugs illegal, there's a much bigger answer. Okay, but you know, in the interest of time, if you take the main business of gangs and stop that ability for them to be in that business, you've done an awful lot to cripple the gangs and the crime that comes with gangs, and then you can go to work stopping the gangs and rounding them up and moving them out. Got it? Until you get rid of the profit motive from drugs, not going to happen. 

33:21 - Stacey (Host)
I like your point. I think that's really good. Yeah, I mean definitely so much food for thought here. There are hard answers. 

33:26 - Mitch Francis (Host)
okay, there are hard answers, but there are answers. 

33:28 - Mark (Host)
Yeah, yeah, that's what makes reading the books so interesting you might not want to do it. 

33:31 - Mitch Francis (Host)
Yeah, you might not want to punish your kid by taking away their cell phone for a week, but it might be the right thing to do it's more punishment for the parents, sometimes amen to that wow, are you gonna run for office? Or something like maybe you should run for office, come on, no way. 

33:51 - Stacey (Host)
People who solve problems should be in office. That is a challenge it's never happened before. 

33:57 - Mitch Francis (Host)
Yeah, uh no I absolutely no political ambition now I would I would turn it down in a heartbeat. 

34:04 - Mark (Host)
Yeah, Okay fine. But I like the position you serve. 

34:08 - Stacey (Host)
Go do this. Get this done and spend your money. 

34:11 - Mark (Host)
Yeah, yeah. 

34:12 - Stacey (Host)
What's next for you? 

34:13 - Mitch Francis (Host)
Well, I've got topics for another book, nice, okay, but I'd really like to see if this can reach some critical mass. Okay, I'd really like to see you know if this can reach, you know, some critical mass, and if not, then you know it's it's just, you know, a waste of time, I think. But but I'm, I'm very hopeful, I, you know. I hope people you know read it and talk about it and tell other people you know, at least there's something to think about here. 

34:39 - Mark (Host)
Yeah. 

34:39 - Mitch Francis (Host)
Yeah. 

34:40 - Mark (Host)
Well, your book was the number one bestseller, right and top release, because it's a fascinating one that was great. 

34:48 - Stacey (Host)
So how can people find you reach you? How can we get people on the movement? You know, obviously they have to buy your book, so we have to go to your website. What else? 

34:58 - Mitch Francis (Host)
Well, things go to Amazon, or you know any bookseller and it's Badass Solutions, it's Mitch Francis and they'll find it. Help make some change that we really need. 

35:09 - Stacey (Host)
When we read these solutions, then we should contact our political office. How can we make these? 

35:15 - Mark (Host)
happen Call. 

35:15 - Stacey (Host)
Mitch. 

35:17 - Mitch Francis (Host)
He doesn't want to run for office. I already asked him. Actually, the final chapter is how do you get involved? 

35:23 - Stacey (Host)
Amazing. I love that. The final chapter so now what? 

35:27 - Mitch Francis (Host)
yes and and and I I think I I put forth some ideas for how people really can get involved. Get off the goddamn couch, can? 

35:36 - Mark (Host)
we say that yes and do something yeah I love it we've had a lot of guests who have written a lot of books, and this is definitely one that matters yes, a lot, so definitely thank you for this, thank you for solving the world's problems for us yeah, that's so nice of you, thank you. 

35:52 - Mitch Francis (Host)
I really enjoyed this. 

35:53 - Mark (Host)
Thank you for sure for being here and thank you, and thank you guys, we'll see you very soon you're still here. 

36:03 - Stacey (Host)
You're still listening. Thanks for listening to the Gurus and Game Changers podcast While you're here. If you enjoyed it, please take a minute to rate this episode and leave us a quick review. We want to know what you thought of the show and what you took from it and how it might have helped you. We read and appreciate every comment. Thanks, See you next week.