The Privilege of Silence and A Discussion on Americans Moving Abroad.

Vanisha R. Dailey shares her experiences starting grad school and reflects on the challenges of balancing academic demands with personal life. She discusses the impact of noise and privilege, drawing parallels to the experiences of those living in war zones. The conversation shifts to the current political climate, exploring themes of authoritarianism and activism. Vanisha also addresses the complexities of relocating abroad, financial realities, and the importance of travel preparedness. The episode concludes with a call to action for listeners to support the podcast and take care of their mental health.

Links and Information Featured

Yani "The Mirakle Messenger"- Instagram @YaniMeansPeace

https://www.instagram.com/yanimeanspeace/?hl=en

Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) Clip

https://x.com/african_stream/status/1747947315954864370?s=46 

The Cutting Room Floor Episode featuring Yasiin Bey (Mos Def)

https://www.patreon.com/posts/96233372?collection=365502

Poverty Study

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-many-are-in-need-in-the-us-the-poverty-rate-is-the-tip-of-the-iceberg/

Economics

https://econofact.org/factbrief/is-there-a-consensus-that-a-majority-of-americans-are-living-paycheck-to-paycheck#:~:text=No,%2C%20who%2C%20where%2C%20why?

https://www.marketwatch.com/financial-guides/banking/paycheck-to-paycheck-statistics/#:~:text=Paycheck%20to%20Paycheck%20by%20Generation&text=Seventy%2Dtwo%20percent%20of%20Gen,likely%20to%20say%20they%20do.

War Zone Study

Click Here For My Discount!

https://staygoldenhi.com/?snowball=VANISHA55980&utm_source=snowball&utm_medium=all-tier-0-30&utm_campaign=VANISHA55980

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction and Personal Updates
• 2:16 Reflections on Noise and Privilege
• 5:57 The Impact of War on Mental/Physical Health
• 6:41 Political Climate and Authoritarianism
• 11:27 Discussion on Relocating Abroad
• 15:30 Financial Realities of Moving
• 15:43 Travel Preparedness and Accessibility
• 24:47 Conclusion and Call to Action

Transcript

Speaker 01: 0:01

You are now tuned into Vanisha R Dailey. Please say the Dailey. Ha ha ha. Hey, hey y'all. Welcome back to another episode of Please Say the Daily. I am your host, Vanisha R. Daile y, and this is episode 10. Cheers to me for hitting a new milestone on Buzzsprout. It's a good day. I've had quite a busy week. I've officially started grad school. First week down, two more years to go. But listen, I am still processing just how much socializing I've been doing over the past Because for starters, my orientation was a four-hour Zoom meeting, camera's on by the way, with my entire cohort, the director of the program, as well as all of the professors that are a part of the humanities and sciences. The workload is honestly so wild already because I also have a total of six hours a week between two out of three of my classes where I am on Zoom with my entire cohort. with my entire class, but that's not including the endless amounts of reading, studying, and homework. As a grad student for this university, we will be expected to read, listen very closely, about 200 pages or a scholarly book per class per week. So when y'all see me disappear here and there on Instagram, that's likely the reason my head will be buried in readings. Let's switch gears though, because I have to give y'all a content warning on this first part of the episode because we will get into some current political events. So let's get into it. A little story time to get things started. A few weeks ago, we had people working on our roof all day long. They were out there from seven something in the morning till about 6 p.m. when they were cleaning up. And even though I appreciated the roofers and their hard work in the moment, I really felt irritated having to deal with all of that noise literally reverberating throughout my entire body all day long. Our kitchen light flickered as they worked, and there were even moments where it seemed like they were about to fall through the roof. It was so loud. I felt confined to our home for most of the day because they had the entire front area and walkway covered with a tarp and lots of debris on it. There was even a truck parked on the lawn so that they could easily load up the debris. This inconvenienced the entire household for most of the day. Even our dog was anxiously terrified the entire time. While I do give space for my very valid feelings about this, these are totally first-world problems. So after they left, I started drafting out these exact words that you're currently hearing, because the silence that followed their departure prompted me to shift my perspective. I was thankful for having access to my noise-canceling earphones. My daughter had her Bluey headphones to help block out some of the loud hammering and scraping sounds happening just above our heads. I thought about how privileged we are in my neighborhood. The fact that my neighbor was able to go outside in the community seating area with his friends, drinking and playing his music to get away from the disturbances. Or in my case, how I was already thinking about going to the beach the next day if they planned on working on the roof again so that I could be out of the house for most of the day in a blissful space that I enjoy. All of these things made me think of how appreciative I should be, because there are people in multiple places of the world where they don't have the ability to turn off the chaos of the world. From Sudan, Ukraine, Congo, Palestine, the list goes on. There is no place to hide when bombs are continuously being dropped in neighborhoods decimating entire cities and its people. I am thinking about all of the videos that I've seen of Palestinian people who don't even have roofs over As I sat there decompressing from feeling on edge all day, literally with my eyelid continuously twitching, which is likely a response to high stress, this reminded me that being unindated with loud noises in such intensity can have severe, lasting effects on a person's mental health. and physical health. What could those disturbances do to someone's nervous system over an elongated period of time, especially those living in war zones? In a study conducted by the Institute for Nursing Faculty of Health Studies at Oslo Metropolitan University in Norway, entitled Consequences of War-Related Traumatic Stress Among Palestinian Young People in the Gaza Strip, a Scoping Review, they reported a multitude of issues that young children who reside in war zones experience. Everything from witnessing death of family members and people within their communities, physical harm, structural damage, and some have even lost consciousness from hearing the sounds of explosions in close proximity. The lasting impacts? A large portion of these children will experience a wide range of physical, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral reactions This is just a few from the very long list. In a previous episode of mine regarding political discussions, I mentioned that I'm trying to be mindful of how much I speak on these events that are currently happening in the states, only because we've seen countless examples of these events. examples at this point of that same information being weaponized and used against us by the people in power. But I have to admit, just with where we are currently, it is very difficult to even tiptoe around some of these political topics because they are such a major focal point in American society right now. And as a sociologist, these topics come up all the time because everything is political, as I always say. We are are witnessing the textbook example and definition of how authoritarian regimes gain momentum and how they inflict fear amongst the population. They basically punish them for speaking out in opposition of them. Or if the person says something that does not align with their mission, they'll take an adverse action route, in the simplest terms, retaliation. When other citizens from those places see people from their communities being mistreated by those in power for simply calling out problematic actions and behavior, it will oftentimes make citizens fearful of speaking out because they've seen what happens to the people that do speak out. And this is one of the many ways in which a population of people are slowly silenced and controlled through fear tactics. So please understand that when you draw attention to these issues in society, it is a form of radical activism, which is almost always present and surely necessary during major historical political events. You know it's heartbreaking. You should be heartbroken. That means your heart is working. If you're heartbroken and it's distressing, that means that you are sane. You are a functioning individual. If you are uncomfortable and you're maladjusted to a sick society, it means that you are healthy. I am mourning for all of us, but also I can't embrace despair, even though it's it sometimes feels very attractive and sensible to do so. Wow. Thank you to The Cutting Room Floor for capturing Yasiin Bey, formerly known as Mos Def, in that clip, reminding us all that we are not insane for feeling such immense emotions during these times. Because if you're anything like me, processing this stuff feels like we're caught in the twilight zone. So let's be gentle with ourselves. On threads a while back, Username, @Where Violet's Whisper posted, I keep reading about Americans who are leaving to live in other countries. Can I ask how is this possible? How are people able to do this? Is it just about having loads of money? I didn't think it was that easy to decide to live in another country. A lot of people in the comments had similar questions because they're also trying to understand the logistics behind moving abruptly to a different country when, as many explained, they don't have the funds to achieve it. Moreover, a lot of people have responsibilities that do not give them the ease of flexibility to move somewhere else. For example, maybe these people aren't by themselves and have to consider their partners or children's needs and desires. Or maybe they have their own health issues and would need access to a certain health care specialist in order for moving abroad to be a viable option to entertain. And that's not including jobs, pets, assets, and material items, which all would require strategic planning before moving forward. But then there were also comments where people were basically like, it may seem difficult to move to a different country, but anyone can do it. Then they went on to mention how they have ties to said country through a lover or family members. They're selling their houses and cars for extra financial support or they're dipping into their savings that they've been able to accumulate over time to achieve said goals and keep their families afloat during the transition of moving. And of course, my sociological brain ignited. It's basically my spidey senses at this point. Because if you legitimately believe that moving to a And this is a perfect moment to share this amazing post that one of my friends, Yani, posted on social media. So let me share this with y'all. I want to write about the privilege of not being privy to issues that impact a large portion of our population in America. Privileged poor, a term I came up with while matriculating through higher ed, praying to eat each day. Those folks with degrees out the wazoo, but still one check away from homelessness. The folks in higher education, but student loans and debt acquisition is the only way they can make it. What some might call the educated or the elite of society who can't find work and aligned opportunities. The brilliant ones who can't quite figure capital out. The talented geniuses that have way too many housemates. The ones that must succumb to triple vocational living just to eat, provide for their families, and keep their lights on. The people that did the college thing but will never get their quarter of an acre and a putt-putt car because inflation is a... The folks that aspire for generational wealth but debt and or credit leaves you When I saw that post, I instantly fell in love with it. And I thought, how relevant is it to this episode right now? It's extremely relatable to so many of us in society. And let me speak for myself. It's very relatable to so many of us in society. in many ways. In an article named Fact Check, is there a consensus that a majority of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck? Written by Kashav Srikant of Tufts University, who studies quantitative economics and mathematics. He mentioned a survey that was conducted by the Lending Club that determined roughly 60% of Americans were in fact living paycheck to paycheck, and only 54% had about three months' worth of savings in their account to cover emergency expenses. The people who said that they only have about two or three paychecks worth of flexibility also expressed that if a major emergency were to occur, they would be worried about the financial burden because, quite frankly, they don't have a large savings to pull from. The Economic Policy Institute, EPI, conducted a study based on family budgets that cover basic necessities—food, housing, health care, child care, transportation, taxes, etc.—for families across the country and found that, quote, Aside from the obvious recognition of systemic racism playing a part in why those numbers are much higher amongst Black and Hispanic families, the truth of the matter is a disproportionate amount of American people do not have access to basic resources. Not everyone has a savings account and makes a livable wage, and not everyone has access to food and housing. Heck, some people don't even have money for a passport. Speaking of, for those of you that don't know, I used to work for an airline. So here's some random information and things to consider if you're on a mission to go live in a different country or travel abroad in the future. Many moons ago, when I worked for an airline, anytime I would be checking in passengers for a flight, I would be faced with irate passengers that were completely unprepared for their travels overseas. If you are a person planning to to fly to a different country, and I'm specifically using the word fly because there are some different rules if you are traveling by car or ship, like a cruise. But if you are flying to a different country, you have to have a passport. Even newborn babies have to have passports. It is your responsibility as a traveler to do your due diligence on what types of documentation you'll need for the specific country that you're going to. No two countries are alike when it comes to their rules and regulations pertaining to travelers and different rules and regulations apply to different kinds of travelers depending on their nationality, which is their citizenship. Y'all know we covered this in one of my previous episodes. So if I were to be checking in an American citizen for their flight to, let's say, Nigeria, I am checking for their passport and the expiration date to make sure that the expiration date is up to standards for Nigeria. What exactly do I mean by that? Well, some countries require you to travel with a passport that is not close to the expiration date. And in this case, if you're traveling to Nigeria and your passport expires in three months, they will not let you into the country with that passport until you renew it because your passport must be valid for at least six months before the expiration date for them to allow you in. Also, I I will check to see if you have a visa because a lot of places require a visa for entry. Some other things that travelers often forget about when they're traveling. The fact that you can absolutely be denied from your flight if you are too pregnant. Vaccination records. You don't always need them, but many places require specific vaccinations. Pet policies. We know so many of y'all love traveling with pets. Some countries don't even allow foreign pets. Some do. And And others will actually have a quarantine policy, meaning that your pet has to be quarantined for a certain amount of days or weeks before they can enter. They do this to lower the possibility of foreign diseases entering their countries and affecting their wildlife animals or even domesticated animals in the area. Okay, I know that was all a lot. It was a mouthful. But I say all that to say, make sure you do your research. I'm not sharing this information to overwhelm or discourage anyone from wanting to move to another country, because trust and believe, I have been doing my research as well. And I've also been having plenty of conversations about this with family and friends who do live in other countries. Because if there's one thing I do know, with what we are dealing with right now in American society, I would not want to be unprepared by any means if you catch my drift. But I am sharing this information And that goes for pretty much anything in this world. This episode started off a bit heavy, but it was necessary to help bring awareness to the current times that we're living in. I would not be standing authentically in my purpose if I didn't take a moment to discuss these issues on my platform. So if you enjoyed this episode and would like me to continue making more like it, consider becoming a sponsor for this podcast. I'll even give you a shout out for your contribution if you'd like. Check out the description box for the support this podcast I want to give a very special thanks to my friend Yani, a.k.a. Mirakle the Messenger, the Peace Prez, for allowing me to include that great piece that she wrote about the privileged poor. I'll add in her Instagram account below. She graduated from Spelman, by the way. And lastly, thank you all for tuning in to yet another episode of Please Say the Dailey. Make sure you comment and rate this podcast on whatever platform you're streaming on. And share it with your friends. share it with a friend i would greatly appreciate it please take care of yourselves and your mental health until next time