The Truth About 'It's A Wonderful Life'
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Summary
It's a Wonderful Life serves as a modern day parable about the fight between the soul of the nation and the individualistic, profit-driven forces that could threaten that. In political terms, this film warns against the loss of community values in favor of a society where money, power, and personal gain reign supreme. It's a reminder of what could be lost if we forget the importance of looking after one another.
Transcript
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This is what happens when the fourth turning meets fifth generation warfare.
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A commentator, international social media sensation, and former Navy intelligence veteran.
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This is Human Events with your host, Jack Poso.
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Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down.
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I'm not a praying man, but if you're up there and you can hear me, show me the way.
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Teacher says every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.
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Well, ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard to today's special episode of Human Events Daily
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We're going to dive into the classic tale, It's a Wonderful Life, and see how its narrative
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Now, I want you to imagine their town, Bedford Falls, as the heartland of America, a place
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where family values, community spirit, and social prosperity thrive.
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This is the world George Bailey, our protagonist, fights to maintain.
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Bedford Falls, in our allegory, mirrors the ideals of MAGA.
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Small businesses flourish, and there's a sense of belonging, much like the vision of a united,
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prosperous America where the community comes first.
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Where everyone knows your name, where the local bank run by George symbolizes trust and
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mutual support rather than profit motive alone.
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Now, you contrast that with Pottersville, the dark, dystopian, alternative reality where
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Here, we see the consequences of unchecked greed, rampant crime, and moral decay.
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Pottersville is an image of what America could turn into, and was turning into, if left to
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the devices of those who prioritize personal gain over that community good.
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Under this lens, Pottersville represents the fears that some may have about the direction
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that America was heading under, under President Biden.
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Where they saw an increase in crime, economic disparity, and social fragmentation.
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Here, Mr. Potter, the antagonist, embodies the epitome of greed, controlling everything with
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an iron fist, much like how critics view the policies and economic strategies of the left.
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So, It's a Wonderful Life serves as a modern-day parable for America.
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It's a story about the fight between the soul of the nation and the individualistic, profit-driven
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George Bailey's journey through this nightmare alternate reality, without his influence, shows
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us the value of every individual's contribution to community.
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It's about recognizing that each person, no matter how small their role might seem, is vital
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In political terms, this film warns against the loss of community values in favor of a
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society where money, power, and personal gain reign supreme.
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It is a reminder of what could be lost if we forget the importance of looking after one
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another, of the dangers of allowing the few to control the many for their benefit.
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It's a call to action to restore and preserve that sense of community, that American dream
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where everyone has a chance to thrive, not just the Mr. Potters of the world.
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So, as we approach another Christmas, let's ask ourselves, are we living in Bedford Falls or
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And more importantly, what can we each do to ensure we remain in or return to a place where
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community, values, and shared family prosperity are not just ideals, but realities in America?
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This, my friends, is why It's a Wonderful Life isn't just a Christmas movie, it's a political
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statement, a reminder of what America could be, should we, and in many ways still yearns to
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And tonight, on this episode, we're going to be joined by none other than Glenn Jacobs,
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By the way, I am not, you know, I'm not one of those guys who says we have to do the black
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I think it's all good because I just love the story.
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Ladies and gentlemen, you know him from the WWE, but you also know him because of the role
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he played in 2024, not just in the presidential election, but his role in really helping so
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many people that were hit in Tennessee, not just Knox County, but all across Tennessee
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It is Glenn Jacobs, the mayor of Knox County, Tennessee, joins us now.
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So I happen to see you had tweeted something the other day and you had said you were talking
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about, we were, and yeah, I sort of everybody does it this kind of Twitter this time of
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year when X they'll say, what are your favorite Christmas movies?
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And I had said, two of mine are it's a wonderful life and a Christmas story.
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And then I also saw that you had thrown down the exact same thing.
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So let's go into it's, it's a wonderful life a little bit.
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What, what is it about this film for you that, that just puts it so high up there?
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And obviously you have George Bailey, who's done so many wonderful things in his life and
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you know, has sacrificed in many cases, his own personal ambitions for whether it's family
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or community or whatever, you know, he stays at home to run the savings loan after his
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father passes away, which is the bedrock of the community.
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Um, you know, and, and everybody else runs off and they're chasing their dreams and his
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And, uh, Oh gosh, what's his name that the, uh, e-haw guys out, you know, with plastics
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It was like his, it was like his, it was like classmate or something.
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So George passes up all these opportunities, um, to, you know, serve, uh, his family and
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And you think, Oh, you know, what, what a great guy.
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Uh, but then obviously for those that don't know the story, what happens is, uh, there's,
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there's kind of some embezzlement, not his fault.
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Actually it's criminal on the other side, Mr. Potter, who is the antagonist, uh, George's
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uncle, uh, tends to hit the bottle a little bit.
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And, uh, he goes to make a deposit at Mr. Potter's bank.
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Uh, and when he does, he forgets to actually make the deposit and just hands Mr. Potter
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like five grand, which is a heck of a lot of money back, you know, back, this is before
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This is a heck of a lot of money back, uh, in the 1930s when this is set.
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Um, and then Mr. Potter just, you know, just keeps it hoping he's going to run George
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And, you know, George, uh, basically freaks out and becomes depressed and is feeling sorry.
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Sorry for himself, wants to jump off the bridge.
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And a little beknownst to him, there's a dude named Clarence who's actually an angel that
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And basically then the story is about what the world would look like and what Bedford
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Falls would look like if it hadn't been for George Bailey.
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And, you know, I think that'd be actually a great gift for a lot of people, uh, to see
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what the world would look like if, if we didn't exist or had never lived.
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And in George's case, yeah, it has monumental impacts on the community that he lives in and
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By the way, I just wanted to fact check something that, uh, you mentioned that it was, it was
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And so when you're watching these old movies and was it, was it, was it five Jack?
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I forget the exact, let's just say five, let's say five.
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So $5,000 in 1940 in purchasing power equivalents.
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So in give or take the 80 some years since that movie has come out, five grand is now
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Boy, that sounds like something that would happen in Pottersville.
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You know, Pottersville is a place, um, yeah, it's literally centrally controlled.
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Uh, and the whole idea is that, uh, folks pay rent and they're kind of stuck there.
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Um, and that's how Mr. Potter makes his money is basically by keeping people in his shanty
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town and they never get an opportunity to improve their own lives.
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Uh, so as you said, you know, it's a great illustration of, um, you know, of really centralized
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Uh, and, uh, when the elites take over and decide what's good for you, uh, as opposed
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And to me, that's also a pretty big part of the story actually.
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And it's big too, because my, uh, and you know, I didn't even mean to mention this here,
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but here we are when, when you're watching some of these films and there's so many great
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movies from this era, holiday affair, uh, bells of St. Mary's, just so many great Christmas,
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the movie white Christmas itself with Bing Crosby, you know, so many great films from
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this era, but people will say, you know, in holiday fair, there's a whole plot about,
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you know, the boy wants to take train back cause he wants to get the money.
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And it was an $80 train and you know, $80 is a little bit of money today, but it's not
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something that's this huge outpouring of money so much that it becomes this major plot
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So I almost feel like we might have to get, uh, the Glenn Jacobs inflation calculator for
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classic movies so that people can add it to their film.
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So every year when, when someone mentions $5,000, you can see what that is in 20, $4.
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That's, I mean, this is, it's incredible amount.
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It's almost so $2,000 for, you know, a toy train obviously becomes, uh, would become something
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that becomes a plot point because I, you know, I can't accept this gift.
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Anyway, totally separate movie, but man, we really, we really have to explain this to
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Yeah, man, your, your point is well taken in the fact that, uh, inflation has accomplished
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what Pottersville did, you know, for so many people, they're working so hard, uh, just to
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keep their heads above water, uh, because everything's gotten so expensive now, you know, so it's hard
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Uh, it's hard to save, uh, when, you know, when, when things are, have become this expensive.
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So, uh, unfortunately I know this Christmas season, we're being a bit of grinches here,
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but nevertheless, yeah, those are really important issues.
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Well, and I think that, that gets into the heart of the movie as well.
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And, and of course the film is it's a savings and loan.
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And so, because he's been trying so hard to make good on these loans and put the loans
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out and say, throw some money here, throw some money there.
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And it's, it's actually a good financial tale as well, which is funny because, you know, it's,
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you know, it's, you don't expect to get your financial literacy from, uh, from Christmas
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films, but it does have a great scene at the very end.
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I said, well, you don't, your money's not here in the savings and loan.
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It's in your house and it's in your house and it's your garage because that money goes
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That's the way those systems are supposed to work.
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Uh, you know, and then it's funny just getting on banking for a second.
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One of the issues that has happened now is, you know, it used to be that you had time
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deposits, which would be like CDs and that's actually what banks would loan out.
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Then you would have your savings account when those that did not bear interest.
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In fact, sometimes you actually had to pay because that was kept at the bank.
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And now basically the bank, everything is loanable.
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So you get into the whole thing about fractional reserve banking.
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And, you know, that's part of what causes inflation.
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When, when the fed creates money and it goes out to the banks and then they only keep a
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little bit of it, but most of it actually goes out into circulation through loans.
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Uh, yeah, that's a great example of how things have gone awry.
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You know, back then people understood you were not going to go to the bank and get your money
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out that day because it was being used loan to someone else, which is how you got interest
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Banks make a lot of money and then you get a little bit through interest, but that's about
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But yeah, if you go to your bank and say, Hey, I've got, I don't know, $10,000 or let's say
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If you walk out there and say, I want, you know, I want to pull this all out.
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But to your point as well about how the feds been working, this is where you get that inflation
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that has the inflation calculator that comes in because suddenly it's like, wait a minute.
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Why doesn't my dollar go as much as it used to?
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Why is it that, you know, it's wonderful life in, in it's a long time ago, but it's
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So why is it the $5,000 in that film could almost, you know, would be the equivalent of,
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I mean, I guess you couldn't buy a house now, but you could buy a car.
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You buy a pretty decent car or for that amount of money now.
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But suddenly, you know, that's just a couple grand back then.
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And that gets to what you're speaking of because it reduces the value of our money because
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And one of the most important things for young people is debt and how, you know, debt can be
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Obviously, you know, buying a house or these long term things that you can't buy up front.
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However, you can also end up being a slave to debt.
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You know, with Mr. Potter, you're never going to get out of debt.
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With George, you're eventually going to pay that loan off and own your house.
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Mr. Potter's whole deal is to keep you there so you can keep on making money off.
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We're coming up on our break, but I want to get into that in the next segment because
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this gets into how this movie is, by the way, a Christmas movie because it has the very core of the Christian spirit at its heart.
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Jack Posobiec, Glenn Jacobs, The Truth About It's A Wonderful Life.
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Dear Father in Heaven, I'm not a praying man, but if you're up there and you can hear me, show me the way.
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Oh God, I'm not a praying man, but if you're up there and you can hear me, show me the way.
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Human Events Daily, The Truth About It's a Wonderful Life,
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and we're on with Glenn Jacobs, the mayor of Moxley County, Tennessee.
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And, by the way, that scene just there with Jimmy Stewart,
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that when this film was made, it was actually after the war,
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So Jimmy Stewart himself, World War II veteran,
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who actually had, now at the time they would have called it shell shock,
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And this is something that people have referred to
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as basically his actual emotions and his actual experiences in the war
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and trying to re-ingratiate himself with normalcy,
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and that's a huge issue with our veteran community even today.
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By the way, incredibly progressive for its time,
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like true progressive, not the false political progressive,
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but the fact that they talk about it at the fact that suicides do go up
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at Christmas Eve, and you're talking about a film like this
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that comes out in the 1940s, not really the type.
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And the fact that it gets into the individual out of the spirit,
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being stripped away from the individual through taxation,
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getting taken away by the state with Mr. Potter.
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you have to put them in the context of what not only the audience
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but what the people who made it were going through.
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And I did not know that, actually, that Capra was a veteran,
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and I actually didn't know that about Jimmy Stewart either.
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some of these celebrities back then, Jimmy Stewart, Ted Williams,
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who lost a couple years because he served in World War II as an aviator.
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And we'll never know how great a baseball player Ted Williams
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really would have been because he lost two years of his prime doing that.
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and that's one of the things that you can see in the movie, too.
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You know, just the importance of family, of community,
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if that's why the movie maybe doesn't resonate with some folks nowadays
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is because some of these values, frankly, have been lost
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And by the way, you know, when we talk about community,
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we're not doing so in sort of the false communist, collectivist ideal of,
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oh, yes, the government must come in and be the arbiter of the state,
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When I talk about community, I mean, no, I mean just an actual town
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and, oh, by the way, wants to provide for basic public services
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or things like fentanyl homeless zombies stomping around.
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Kensington Avenue used to be a place where you could go shopping
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Nowadays, that's all it is, is druggies and homeless
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The quality of life has gone so far down in our cities
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And we sit back and say, oh, don't worry about it.
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Here's a new government program that'll take care of you.
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And so these values, and we keep getting told again and again,
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and by the way, from some people on the right as well,
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I should say, and I'm not going to leave them out,
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So much of the 2024 election was about these very issues.
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we're just talking about taking care of one another
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And it's not, no, the government coming in again.
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you know, he's going to take care of everything
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with our government now, so many things are really-
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I mean, so many things now are just encouraging people,
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You're promoting mediocrity by saying, you know,
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and you're never going to know what your life can really be.
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and just go, to go out and take life by the horns.
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I think so many of those things are really a result
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of government getting way too involved in our lives,
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So yeah, you know, you can do these destructive behaviors
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someone's going to come in and clean up your mess.
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You know, we have to be responsible for our actions.
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And one of the biggest things the government actually does,
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you know, you also have to be held accountable.
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And actually, that's what the movie does as well.
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And he realizes that, yeah, he's got some problems,
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And there's sometimes you actually have to ask for help too.
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And you see it with what happens at the end of the movie
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when all these folks basically open their hearts
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But again, you know, it's not like anyone comes along
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And, you know, God helps those who help themselves.
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But what you just said about how you can make everyone dependent
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or you can make everyone personally independent
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which, by the way, doesn't necessarily mean rich.
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You know, Dave Ramsey talks about this kind of stuff.
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And it's what you just said before about freedom
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it's like having Glenn Jacobs on your back every day.
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But meanwhile, it's why we put those lights on our homes
00:27:23.260
You know, and it was interesting you brought up
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You know, our monetary system is based on debt.
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I mean, you know, if all the debt in our system
00:27:34.860
were eliminated, all the dollars would go away.
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and really discourages folks from acquiring assets.
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And it's literally like our entire culture now,
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which is a result of what the government has done
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and what the Federal Reserve has done, frankly.
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And that's just no way for human beings to live.
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Hey, you got your, you know, you got your last,
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I guess back then it would be like your last five bucks
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And I think you made a great point during the intro
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And hopefully with the second Trump administration,
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because there's a lot of stuff that gets in the way.
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Have it on while you're wrapping presents, right?
00:30:23.860
on this special Christmas edition of Human Events Daily.
00:30:36.800
I've been looking all over town trying to find you.
00:31:30.140
It's happening everywhere in the United States.
00:31:50.280
and outgoing signals so no one can get their hands
00:32:07.000
Take advantage of their end-of-year warehouse sale
00:32:40.300
about that sense of things towards the end there
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because it's ultimately, and it's a wonderful life,
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which came out, you know, a century prior there
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And, you know, Scrooge is a different character
00:33:04.080
he's visited by the Christmas ghosts versus an angel,
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but he's given these visions of what life was like
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we all have our dreams, and then we have reality.
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And it's like George, he has this, I can't get over it,
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And it's like, I just want Clarence to go up to him
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Actually, the hardest part for me to watch in that film
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And she's playing a beautiful Christmas song for them.
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And of course, we understand debt is a huge driver of this,
00:34:27.720
is that it's a giant magnifier of whatever we're feeling.
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If we're feeling life is good, then Christmas is great.
00:34:35.180
If we're feeling life is terrible, Christmas can be really, really bad.
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And it really is, I think, a message of the movie
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You've got to reframe and realize that, in fact,
00:34:51.920
I think George's issue is he's looking at everyone else, right?
00:35:04.000
if we were to make another It's a Wonderful Life,
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In the end, you know, the whole story is about,
00:35:55.160
I guess, a psychological or a mental slapping around
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and saying, George, dude, get your head on straight.
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You know, this is what everything would look like
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And you need to quit feeling sorry for yourself.
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you know, you feel really sympathetic towards George.
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just quit feeling sorry for yourself, you know,
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you know, if you do have religion in your life,
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Glenn Jacobs on your back carrying it by yourself.
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And then knowing what you know happens to Christ