The Glenn Beck Program - July 06, 2026


Best of the Program | Guest: Jaco Booyens | 7⧸6⧸26


Episode Stats


Length

43 minutes

Words per minute

136.78

Word count

6,001

Sentence count

233

Harmful content

Misogyny

4

sentences flagged

Toxicity

27

sentences flagged

Hate speech

15

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

On today's show, Glenn Beck explains why the Blue States have the cheapest and most reliable electricity in the country, and why the rest of the country doesn't have it. Also, the patriots that came in with the masks and the flags and said they are patriots are white supremacists.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
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00:00:30.000 wow cnn is gonna come as a surprise cnn is wrong again cnn they believe america is 250 we are the
00:00:43.240 most politically divided uh you know than we've ever been well i'd say the civil war was a little
00:00:48.740 more divided but that's not the problem that's not why they're wrong um and i explain on today's
00:00:55.020 podcast. Also, blood and ink. The patriots that came in with the masks and the flags and said
00:01:06.680 they are patriots, they're an abomination. They're white supremacists and they're an abomination. 1.00
00:01:13.160 I denounce them strongly, but I take it a step further. And I want you to play it for your 1.00
00:01:23.040 friends who might be for some of the other uh you know black lives matter or palestinian i want you
00:01:31.240 to listen because we are under an illusion that these things are different and they're not also
00:01:37.040 sweden it's not socialist mom donnie that's not what we're headed for
00:01:43.160 a very eye-opening podcast today don't miss a second of it here it is
00:01:53.040 all right so your electricity bill has gone up okay and not because you know you ran the air
00:02:11.180 harder or you added another room or you bought a hot tub or something you did nothing different
00:02:16.020 you're living exactly the same way you've always you've run the same numbers you know for air
00:02:22.420 conditioning and heat and the number at the bottom of your bill just keeps climbing and nobody in
00:02:28.240 your state capital will look you in the eye and tell you why so let me look you in the eye and
00:02:33.460 tell you why there's a new study out if you live in a blue state and you're furious about what you
00:02:40.160 pay just to keep your lights on stop cursing the weather stop cursing the power companies hold
00:02:47.060 music. Here's the problem. Uh, it was a choice and that choice is not yours. Never has been
00:02:54.660 yours. Well, it used to be yours. It's not now hadn't been for a long time. There's a analysis
00:03:02.160 out now, always on energy research and the Institute for energy research. And they're
00:03:09.100 pulling right from, uh, from the government's own numbers and it lands on something. I mean,
00:03:16.620 something that's so clear, it's almost rude to say it out loud. Of the states paying more than
00:03:22.260 the national average for electricity, 86% of them voted for Democrats in the last two presidential
00:03:29.160 elections. Of the 10 cheapest states in the country, 80% voted for Republicans. Now, you could
00:03:38.180 wave that off as a coincidence if you'd like, but there is a pattern with a cause, and the cause
00:03:45.300 has a name and the name is net zero. Renewable mandates, zero emission targets, portfolio
00:03:55.700 standards. They order your utility to buy a certain amount of a certain kind of power by a certain
00:04:01.700 date, whether it's ready or not, whether it's cheaper or not, whether it keeps the lights on
00:04:06.580 in January or not, it doesn't matter. And your utility company is not fighting these mandates
00:04:12.560 It's because your utility gets richer by building them.
00:04:17.480 A power company makes its money spending money.
00:04:22.260 Every new wind farm, every new line, every grand green promise is another mountain of infrastructure that it's getting paid to build.
00:04:32.620 And reliability doesn't pad the profit.
00:04:35.500 Doesn't matter.
00:04:36.040 Affordability doesn't pad the profit.
00:04:37.800 Building the stuff does.
00:04:39.420 So the mandate and the monopoly shake hands over your bill and you're the one holding the check.
00:04:47.860 How does that make you feel?
00:04:49.260 Who is actually in charge of your life?
00:04:52.160 That is the thing that the whole Declaration of Independence was all about.
00:04:56.280 Who is in charge of your life?
00:04:58.600 You or a group of faceless people that you don't know?
00:05:05.000 Now, you look at these numbers and you go, wait a minute.
00:05:09.420 Here, Mr. Beck, Washington and Oregon seem to do pretty well.
00:05:15.160 Uh-huh.
00:05:16.200 They're both deep blue, both of them, and their power is cheap.
00:05:20.820 Yes, it is cheap.
00:05:23.020 Now, let's think that through.
00:05:25.980 Why is Oregon and Washington, why is their power so cheap?
00:05:32.140 Why? 0.82
00:05:33.780 It's called hydroelectric dams.
00:05:36.600 It works with water and gravity, the cheapest, most reliable electricity that God and engineering ever made together.
00:05:47.660 So there is the exception.
00:05:50.420 Blue states, cheap power, two of them, except here's what they've left off the postcard for you.
00:05:57.080 That same coalition, the governors, the tribes, the green lawyers, the whole apparatus, along with the last administration,
00:06:06.600 signing its name right there at the bottom is in federal court right now trying to rip
00:06:12.420 four of those dams out of the snake river four lower snake dams working hydroelectric dams
00:06:20.480 making clean cheap power for hundreds of thousands of homes sitting there doing the one thing
00:06:27.240 everybody claims they want and those those uh deep blue states want those gone they want them
00:06:34.680 blown apart breached they want to drain uh back into a river and they want to do it on purpose
00:06:40.440 but they've made a promise to you they no no no no seriously they've made this promise it's
00:06:46.180 dressed up in a thousand different costumes don't worry we'll replace it and we'll replace
00:06:51.220 the dam power with wind and solar and batteries and it'll be better and cheaper uh-huh we're
00:06:59.760 gonna replace the the barges with trains and we'll replace the water somehow trust the study
00:07:06.120 trust the model trust us i don't think i trust you guys no 30 billion dollars a decade of faith
00:07:14.400 to tear something out that already works that already makes free power every single day
00:07:21.940 because of a flowing river um i don't know i think that that pleases my bottom line you know
00:07:29.460 a cheap electric bill that that helps me an awful lot now here's a part that lands on my doorstep
00:07:37.260 maybe yours i live in idaho half the year i live in idaho idaho sits upstream of every one of those
00:07:43.600 dams and the very same fight that wants those gone has spent years now reaching past the state line
00:07:52.720 for our water the water held in our reservoirs to flush the system out for fish our stored water
00:08:01.420 the water a farmer in magic valley is already counted on to bring a crop in out of the dust
00:08:09.100 because remember without water it's all dust they'll spend all of that water on salmon and
00:08:15.240 call it science and then the man watching his field go brown gets told well your water was
00:08:21.600 needed some more, more virtuous than your field. So don't tell me the blue states have cracked the
00:08:27.280 code on cheap power, cheap water. They didn't crack anything except possibly the dam. They
00:08:33.060 inherited a river and the politics that run them is in court right now, trying to break the very
00:08:40.940 dams the rivers turn and, and, and reaching them into my water while they're at it.
00:08:47.140 anyway i just want to ask you who owns your stuff really honestly who is in charge of your life
00:08:54.760 you know cheap power exception is not proof that they were right it's the next thing on
00:09:01.620 their list to tear down and all the numbers underneath of it are ugly no matter what your
00:09:07.920 zip code is electricity prices in this country rose 27 from january 21 through january of 25
00:09:15.060 than another 11% in just the nine months after that.
00:09:19.240 And that's not a blip.
00:09:20.180 That's a direction.
00:09:21.960 Part of that is caused because green energy.
00:09:24.620 The other part of that is caused because now we need more power.
00:09:29.160 Ties into everything I said about the truck.
00:09:32.560 Under the Federal Power Act, the states, not Washington, not the weather,
00:09:37.740 the states have exclusive authority over what kind of power feeds their grid,
00:09:41.960 where it's built what you get charged for it exclusive which means when your bill climbs
00:09:48.720 it isn't fate it isn't bad luck it's a room full of people that you can name that you made the
00:09:56.720 decision to hire to elect people you can look up that reaches through your wall and into that one
00:10:05.360 outlet you thought was yours. Same exact hand. So when you're electing the socialists, this is
00:10:13.120 what you're going to get. The same hand that sealed the hood of my truck so I couldn't fix
00:10:17.420 the engine is the hand reaching into your wall to set the price of your own light and your own heat.
00:10:23.080 And the same hand again, reaching up to the river to drain the dam and take the water.
00:10:27.620 it's the same instinct every time that somewhere far beyond your kitchen a body of experts and
00:10:35.820 officials and activists know better than you know how to warm your house how how your what your
00:10:43.100 light should cost how long you should be able to run your lights and whose water gets spent on what
00:10:49.120 and they'll say the same thing it's the planet it's the salmon it's the future they'll call it
00:10:55.240 everything and anything but what it is is control just dressed up in a night suit for church
00:11:02.380 strip the robes off and it's the oldest question there is the only one that i really ask anymore
00:11:12.180 who owns the truck in your driveway you were the men who locked you out of it who owns the power
00:11:21.220 in your wall? Who pays for every watt? Is it you or the collective that priced it in a room you
00:11:28.500 weren't invited to? Who owns the water and the dam and the river and the people who live and farm
00:11:35.220 and raise their kids alongside of it? Or a distant few who've decided your whole way of life is just
00:11:40.520 a rounding error against their vision? Who actually runs your life? Who gave you the right?
00:11:48.940 do they have the right or do you have the right? This is where the Declaration of Independence
00:11:53.760 comes in. And you're not imagining the number at the bottom of that bill. You're not bad with
00:11:58.980 money. You're paying month after month for decisions made in your name that you were never
00:12:04.420 asked about. And some of the people making them are not finished yet. Be careful how you vote.
00:12:12.380 the water on your land was supposed to be yours it's always supposed to be they just forgot to
00:12:19.560 tell you that it i guess now it comes with a landlord a socialist one
00:12:23.220 you're listening to the best of the glenn beck program
00:12:29.460 you know can we ever find anyone on the other side that will speak honestly i mean cnn is so
00:12:41.440 wrong once again you know here we are 250th anniversary cnn says we're the most divided
00:12:49.260 we've ever been we've been divided before you think during the civil war you think yeah but
00:12:55.020 this one this one is really bad worse than the civil war really yeah you know why donald trump
00:13:02.080 whoa now you completely took you took me by surprise there cnn i didn't wait donald trump
00:13:08.500 what that's a whole new theory yeah Donald Trump because he um he makes things worse
00:13:16.520 because he's uniquely dangerous he's uniquely dangerous yeah yeah because he picks at people
00:13:29.300 he picks at scabs uh he uh he mocks people he is keeping political divisions uh wide open
00:13:38.380 Donald Trump is
00:13:40.160 Wow
00:13:41.720 Wow okay
00:13:44.280 Alright let me give you
00:13:46.420 CNN let me give you every bit
00:13:48.540 Of that I don't agree with that I think
00:13:50.480 Donald Trump has done some really
00:13:51.960 Divisive things yes
00:13:53.860 And that's
00:13:56.400 Unfortunately kind of the way he is
00:13:58.460 At times he gets pissed and he'll do things
00:14:00.480 Like that and I don't like it so I'm
00:14:02.500 Going to give you absolutely
00:14:03.960 Every bit of that I'll say Donald Trump
00:14:06.640 is really divisive will you give me that your side is saying exactly the same things
00:14:17.100 september 1st 2022 donald trump and mega republicans represent an extremism that threatens
00:14:23.820 the very foundations of our republic why because we don't like socialism why because we believe
00:14:29.840 in small government why because i believe in the constitution and the declaration of independence
00:14:35.880 Don't assign, you've made me, you've made me into a MAGA Republican.
00:14:42.400 I don't know what a MAGA Republican actually is, other than somebody who goes, yeah, I think Donald Trump is doing pretty good, and believes in the country.
00:14:50.120 That's all I know that that means, okay?
00:14:52.480 But now I'm a threat to democracy because I believe in the republic?
00:14:57.920 Wow. Okay. All right.
00:14:59.760 And he did that over and over again and said that MAGA Republicans are fascists.
00:15:06.940 I don't know, that seems a little divisive.
00:15:09.500 I mean, maybe it's just me, you know.
00:15:12.860 It's usually not done, you know, not said, you know, in polite company.
00:15:17.860 Hey, Bill. 0.99
00:15:19.200 Oh, man, good to see you, you fascist. 0.98
00:15:21.740 It's usually not a compliment. 0.96
00:15:23.720 It's usually a little divisive.
00:15:26.500 Hillary Clinton, quote, 0.96
00:15:28.580 You can put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables, racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, and Islamophobic. 0.56
00:15:40.000 Half of the people who voted the way that you didn't vote, half of them are all those things? 0.79
00:15:48.060 I don't know.
00:15:48.840 Sounds a little divisive.
00:15:50.720 A little bit.
00:15:51.380 A little bit.
00:15:53.120 Yeah, but you started it.
00:15:54.300 Hmm.
00:15:56.880 2008.
00:15:58.580 Small-town Americans cling to their guns or their religion or their antipathy to people who aren't like them.
00:16:13.640 What, I don't have a problem with that? I don't cling to my God and my guns? What?
00:16:20.380 by the way he was saying that as he was claiming that we engage in voter suppression
00:16:27.060 and attacks on democracy that's in 2008 by the way nancy pelosi said republicans are enemies of the
00:16:35.980 state chuck schumer warned uh gorsuch and kavanaugh you've released the whirlwind and you'll
00:16:42.960 pay the price kamala harris said pearl harbor in september 11th are just like january 6th you mean
00:16:50.200 the one you hyped up and had a bunch of
00:16:52.340 FBI that we now know
00:16:54.220 had all kinds of
00:16:56.120 government operatives at? You mean that
00:16:58.200 one?
00:17:01.620 Yes, but
00:17:02.320 he is suppressing free speech.
00:17:04.460 Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Donald Trump
00:17:06.060 suppressing.
00:17:07.840 Have you ever heard of the Twitter files?
00:17:11.200 Have you ever seen the litigation
00:17:12.500 that, you know, showed the communication
00:17:14.380 between the FBI,
00:17:16.300 the White House, and social media
00:17:18.160 companies just on the 2020 election that's not even that's just the beginning of it because that
00:17:23.860 went through the hunter biden laptop where we were called deplorables we were called crazy we were
00:17:29.900 called conspiracy theorists we were a danger to the republic the fbi said that we were in bed
00:17:36.440 with russia if we believed the hunter biden laptop stuff you mean that kind of stuff that
00:17:42.800 was so uniting or was it the covid stuff that was so uniting you know where we said hey i don't
00:17:50.420 think that we should rush into this covid vaccine and because we wouldn't we wouldn't take the
00:17:57.720 vaccine we were going to kill everybody every grandparent on earth that we shouldn't we shouldn't 0.94
00:18:03.760 have medical care because we were crazy and deplorable we were killers because we said hey 0.88
00:18:11.180 I think our own government, not the Republicans, Democrats, our own government was involved with the COVID vaccine, and we were called hate mongers for saying that, anti-government people.
00:18:27.280 Wait, what?
00:18:28.580 What?
00:18:29.500 Now that that's all proven, now do we get an apology?
00:18:33.360 No, nobody apologized.
00:18:34.640 Or for the masks that you told us was science, and we shouldn't question science, and we now find out.
00:18:39.220 No, that was arbitrary.
00:18:40.300 in fact it made things worse
00:18:42.800 or the vaccines
00:18:44.940 that we said maybe we shouldn't
00:18:47.160 rush and people lost their jobs
00:18:49.180 their livelihood were called
00:18:51.140 all kinds of names and now
00:18:53.340 it shows that
00:18:54.600 the vaccines
00:18:55.920 might be part of the problem
00:18:59.120 no this one
00:19:02.780 will make you don't
00:19:04.540 have any immunity
00:19:06.480 you have no natural immunity for the first
00:19:08.720 time in all of human existence you have no human no natural ability to fight this and create your
00:19:17.640 own defense against it your body has no really wow wow no no no you got to take it and you better
00:19:26.840 listen to those teachers unions you know those significant learning loss increased mental health
00:19:32.220 problems greater impact on lower income students but we were the hate mongers for saying it
00:19:37.020 oh and i haven't gotten into the russian collusion thing or the parents at the school
00:19:44.420 board meetings here in virginia that were monsters monsters i didn't even get into the censorship i
00:19:53.220 mean forget the 2020 censorship how about the censorship with the white house and the social
00:19:57.860 media companies on covid how about any of those i don't know cnn seems like you might be wrong
00:20:06.740 yet
00:20:08.320 again
00:20:09.200 may I suggest something
00:20:19.580 the answer is found
00:20:23.800 in our founding documents
00:20:25.380 what is this really all about 0.94
00:20:27.240 because I'm going to take on those dirtbag 0.75
00:20:29.240 patriot front 1.00
00:20:30.780 white supremacists
00:20:32.800 those guys that were down here 0.63
00:20:35.000 in Washington D.C.
00:20:36.740 Uh, over the weekend for 4th of July, dirtbags, all of them, dirtbags, dangerous dirtbags, 1.00
00:20:44.920 stupid, pathetic, dangerous dirtbags. I'm going to take them on because that's an embarrassment 1.00
00:20:52.440 to our nation. So give me a second before I get there, but I want you to think about something
00:21:00.180 all throughout the show today. I just want you to think about one thing.
00:21:03.840 what is the real problem what is the real problem well it's marxism okay what is marxism boil down
00:21:13.900 to the individual exists for the state or for the class okay it's one class against another
00:21:24.560 it's that class that is keeping you down so this class can wind up and the individual is for the
00:21:32.020 state. Fascism. Same kind of idea. The individual, there is nothing beyond the state and everything
00:21:41.540 is the state. So fascism is saying the same thing. The individual doesn't matter. Go get the Jews.
00:21:48.340 Go get the handicapped. Doesn't matter. It's for the collective good. White supremacy. 1.00
00:21:53.860 White supremacy. Go get the blacks. Go get the Jews. Go get the Hispanics. Go get anybody who's 1.00
00:22:00.020 different than you because whites are the real solution whites should have all the power 0.62
00:22:06.800 what's the difference between that and some of the extremists on BLM and DEI that are saying 0.87
00:22:14.060 whites are the problem blacks are the ones the minorities and what's the difference between that 0.99
00:22:21.740 and the Palestinian crazies that are saying you know the real problem is the Jews 1.00
00:22:27.980 do you notice all these have one thing in common collective they've all become about the collective 0.98
00:22:41.300 and who are the enemies who are the enemies the ones who believe
00:22:49.000 all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights who
00:22:54.640 actually believe that not playing the game who actually believe in the power of the individual
00:23:00.740 what is the other target the other target is those who believe god knows you by name
00:23:09.640 not some collective crazy not not barack obama's collective salvation
00:23:17.820 but actual salvation that jesus came for the individual you don't have you don't have the
00:23:24.960 crime of your father he doesn't take on your crimes you don't take on his crime you're judged
00:23:30.980 as an individual isn't it interesting that every group that we are seeing right now that is trying
00:23:39.740 to pit us apart they all have a different definition of the collective but they all
00:23:44.760 arrive at the very same conclusion. Your rights come from the group. Your value comes from the
00:23:51.600 group. Your duty is to the group. The American experiment says, no, your rights come from God.
00:23:58.360 Your dignity comes from your creator. The state exists to protect your liberty, not to define your
00:24:05.560 worth? You see, it's really not that hard. We're really only arguing one thing, and we're arguing
00:24:23.420 the same thing with the white supremacists that we're saying to the Palestinian crazies, 0.98
00:24:27.360 that we're saying to the BLM people, that we're saying to the fascists, that we're saying to the 0.97
00:24:31.700 communists, that we're saying to Zoran Mamdani, that we're saying to the Republican progressives, 0.95
00:24:39.380 that we're saying to the Democrat progressives, socialists, saying the same thing. It's the same
00:24:46.960 argument. I think we should get a little smarter and we should just boil it down.
00:24:54.040 I think we should be able to go, oh, we know your argument. You're just wearing a different uniform.
00:24:58.560 oh you're wearing the red white and blue with the black uniform in the mask and you're marching why 0.99
00:25:06.000 because oh whites are supreme yeah i put you in the same box as those people over there 1.00
00:25:12.240 who are marching and saying that the palestinians are supreme and we should wipe out all the jews 0.99
00:25:18.420 you two you actually have a lot in common 0.96
00:25:21.980 it's the same argument which then should lead you to why does everyone hate us
00:25:33.980 why is all why do all of these groups hate us what do we believe that we have in common
00:25:41.480 the founding documents that's what they're really after that man can rule himself that we don't need
00:25:53.680 an overlord that we don't need somebody telling us you can't fix your effing truck
00:26:00.420 that you have to follow religion my way that you have to keep your temperature at this
00:26:08.020 temperature because whatever it is it's always good for the collective what we have in common
00:26:15.440 on our side is we believe in the power of the individual and not in some irresponsible way
00:26:22.560 where we say screw everybody else we know because the american experiment proved it to be true
00:26:30.920 man can rule himself and he can change the world for good
00:26:38.360 more in a minute
00:26:41.420 this is the best of the glenbeck program and don't forget rate us on itunes
00:26:50.600 hello america you know we've been fighting every single day we push back against the lies the
00:26:58.960 censorship, the nonsense of the mainstream media that they're trying to feed you.
00:27:03.500 We work tirelessly to bring you the unfiltered truth because you deserve it.
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00:27:37.000 And thanks for standing with us. Now let's get to work.
00:27:40.760 I can't believe it's been four years since the overturn of Roe, but tragically, abortions have continued to rise.
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00:28:40.640 this is the best of the glenbeck program
00:28:45.120 so here's mom donnie uh on july 4th listen to this as we mark 250 years
00:28:54.640 What do we see?
00:28:56.440 We see a city of contradictions within a nation of contradictions.
00:29:01.020 We see the wealthiest country in the history of the world,
00:29:04.160 one where children go to sleep hungry while the world's first trillionaire hungers for more.
00:29:09.280 We see monopolies that dominate every industry and oligarchs who buy elections.
00:29:14.840 We see masked agents terrorizing our streets,
00:29:18.040 eating food cooked by our undocumented neighbors before spiriting them away in unmarked vans. 0.99
00:29:22.940 We see a nation whose immense wealth has been built by those with calloused, dirt-streaked hands, those who toil on factory floors and chisel into stone. 1.00
00:29:33.160 And we see a nation that has allowed so much of that wealth to be held instead in the soft hands of a precious few.
00:29:41.880 The soft hands of a precious few.
00:29:43.920 Let's just use Elon Musk.
00:29:47.880 Has he not earned his money?
00:29:49.320 I mean, I don't know how you earn a trillion dollars, quite honestly.
00:29:52.940 um you know but is he does he not deserve what he has brought to the world through speech and
00:30:04.540 technology on communications what he has done for the world where they can now communicate
00:30:10.860 freely in countries where you could not be free to speak he's got the satellite system up he's
00:30:19.020 reinvented the car and given all of the tech he didn't put a patent on it he gave the patents
00:30:24.600 away for free so anyone can use it he is transforming the idea of space he is building
00:30:34.120 a space a space economy which you won't understand for another five to ten years but
00:30:42.840 When that thing hits, you will understand.
00:30:48.680 He may have soft hands, but he's done the intellectual plowing of almost every field.
00:30:57.820 I don't want to get this.
00:30:59.200 You know, I'm just tired of socialism.
00:31:02.240 I'm tired.
00:31:03.460 I just wish we could have an honest conversation.
00:31:06.260 But we are dealing with so many people that are so uninformed.
00:31:09.840 yes there are great disparities in wealth yes and you say and while they're buying elections yes
00:31:17.760 like soros do you mean soros or is he exempt because i would like the money to get out of
00:31:23.520 politics as well but it's not an honest fight most people who are saying that's not honest
00:31:30.740 if you have a problem with all the money in politics good good so do i if you have a problem
00:31:40.380 with corrupt capitalism so do i but the answer is not bigger government
00:31:46.200 but socialism will work let me tell you america's been told a really simple story for a very long
00:31:58.360 time if america could only be more like denmark now we're not even talking about denmark or sweden
00:32:03.660 you know or norway anymore we're not talking about that they are talking about a different
00:32:07.580 kind of socialism now but let's just say they're talking about we just want to be like norway and
00:32:12.060 sweden it's it's it's the favorite exhibit in almost every debate about capitalism and government
00:32:18.880 the nordic countries they're proof socialism works but before you remodel your house after somebody
00:32:25.120 else's blueprint let's walk through the front door first okay because the story that almost
00:32:30.800 everyone tells you about scandinavian nations leaves out the part that actually made scandinavia
00:32:37.020 successful the leaders themselves reject the label socialist don't believe me look it up
00:32:46.420 the former danish prime minister andres rasmussen or something came to the united states and addressed
00:32:54.440 it directly he said americans associate denmark with socialism then he added and i'm quoting
00:33:01.260 denmark is far from a socialist planned economy denmark is a market economy
00:33:08.260 wow how come it how come where are the posters for that that's a remarkable statement imagine
00:33:14.380 somebody insisting texas is a communist state while the governor keeps coming out going we're
00:33:18.980 not we're not we're texas we're not communist and yet the myth survives somehow
00:33:24.840 so what's really happening the nordic countries have built generous welfare states that part is
00:33:34.500 absolutely true they provide universal health coverage college is subsidized heavily subsidized
00:33:42.080 or free. Parents receive paid leave. Safety nets are extensive, but those benefits sit on top of
00:33:50.340 economies that depend on capitalism every single day. Not just capitalism, competitive capitalism,
00:33:57.840 strong property rights, private ownership, entrepreneurship, open trade, innovation,
00:34:05.140 businesses that are expected to compete in the marketplace rather than survive on government
00:34:10.020 protection those days are long gone and this is the part that never makes it to a campaign speech
00:34:16.820 according to the index of economic freedom denmark has consistently ranked among the freest
00:34:24.000 economies in the entire world the country most often used to argue against capitalism
00:34:31.780 scores routinely as the world's freest capitalist economy wow does that make you curious at all
00:34:39.920 at all? I mean, should we look into that?
00:34:45.180 During the post-war decades, Sweden dramatically expanded government spending,
00:34:51.400 the taxes, the regulation. By the 1970s and into the 1980s, economic growth slowed way down.
00:34:59.540 Investments weakened. Entrepreneurs left. Some of Sweden's most successful companies and business
00:35:05.240 leaders moved they just moved out of the country ikea relocated ownership to the netherlands
00:35:12.240 tetrapak moved to switzerland sweden's relative standing among wealthy nations fell sharply for
00:35:21.220 two decades and then everybody turns away and doesn't say so what happened next sweden didn't
00:35:28.440 double down okay they didn't double down it reversed course governments from both the left
00:35:35.180 and the right reduced regulations they reformed the pensions these are things we're not doing
00:35:42.020 they introduce private competition into education that's that'll never happen right
00:35:48.000 today more than 800 independent schools operate with public funding private companies run a
00:35:55.260 substantial share of the Swedish primary health centers. Taxes were restructured. Markets were
00:36:01.960 liberalized. The reforms were not a rejection of the welfare state. They were an acknowledgement
00:36:08.020 that somebody first has to create the wealth to pay for it. It's really hard to redistribute
00:36:15.880 prosperity after you've regulated prosperity out of existence. And that's what New York is doing.
00:36:21.520 And here's another fact that surprises most Americans.
00:36:26.540 The Nordic countries, they don't finance their governments primarily on taxing billionaires.
00:36:33.280 Did you know that?
00:36:35.220 Nope.
00:36:37.000 They tax everyone.
00:36:39.980 The cashier, the plumber, the teacher, the nurse, the mechanic.
00:36:44.360 Not just the billionaire, everyone.
00:36:46.600 In Denmark and Sweden, value-added taxes of around 25% apply to everyday purchases.
00:36:54.220 So that means if you want this, your taxes are going to go up at the very bottom,
00:36:59.020 and you're going to get a 25% VAT tax.
00:37:02.180 You buy shoes, furniture, television, dinner at a restaurant,
00:37:05.440 a significant amount of that, 25% goes to the government.
00:37:10.420 Income taxes are broad.
00:37:12.980 Payroll taxes are broad.
00:37:15.340 Consumption taxes are broad, meaning everybody pays them.
00:37:21.060 And the system works there because almost everyone contributes.
00:37:26.360 Now, do you think Americans are going to accept that?
00:37:29.920 Because I don't.
00:37:33.580 Would you trade that?
00:37:36.360 Another myth deserves some attention here.
00:37:39.160 Many people believe Scandinavia punishes wealth more aggressively than America.
00:37:43.060 nope nope nope the reality is that several nordic countries actually have abolished their wealth
00:37:49.680 taxes because they don't work sweden get this one no longer has an inheritance tax
00:37:56.360 norway is debating reducing its wealth taxes because the high net worth individuals are
00:38:03.360 leaving the country that's what's happening in california where are they going they're leaving
00:38:08.640 new york to go to florida they're leaving california to go to texas if it was all countrywide
00:38:13.640 these extensive socialist taxes they'd leave america because the policymakers understand
00:38:21.100 something every country eventually discovers but we just don't capital moves entrepreneurs move
00:38:28.420 investments move governments compete as well and here's one of the biggest misunderstandings we
00:38:37.100 have it's it's on health care health care is free it's not free it's never free nothing's free
00:38:44.940 nordic health care systems are financed through the taxes that every remember i told you everybody
00:38:51.380 pays taxes citizens pay throughout their working lives many systems also include co-payments for
00:38:58.380 doctor visits prescription drugs or specialist care look at canada you're paying for private
00:39:03.720 insurance on top of it. Now, different countries use different arrangements. Some are good,
00:39:08.840 some are not. The point is, it's not that their systems are bad. The point is that they're paid
00:39:14.900 for by the taxpayer and not the billionaire. Somebody always has to pay. The bill doesn't
00:39:21.600 just go away. It just arrives in a different envelope. Let me give you this. This is even
00:39:28.120 more interesting nordic countries are filled with private companies filled with private companies
00:39:35.540 global companies innovative companies successful companies volvo ericsson lego spotify cone
00:39:44.800 they all compete around the world and their governments expect them to succeed because
00:39:52.380 those companies generate the tax revenue that supports the welfare system. Why do you hate
00:39:57.880 successful companies if they're expected to pay taxes? But our taxes, everything is so screwed
00:40:05.140 up here, we've made special exemptions for everybody. Everyone should pay taxes.
00:40:10.840 No successful business, no generous welfare state. It's that simple. You get rid of business,
00:40:17.500 you don't have the the welfare another ingredient that economists often point to and that is trust
00:40:24.300 something we don't have sweden denmark finland norway consistently are the highest trust
00:40:30.700 societies in the world people generally believe their neighbors will obey the rules now that's
00:40:36.780 changing because of the border situation government corruption is relatively low it's not here
00:40:42.940 institutions enjoy broad public confidence not here look at the fraud that's going on
00:40:48.920 that kind of social capital is incredibly valuable because it lowers the transaction cost
00:40:55.980 it simplifies regulation it allows systems to function with fewer layers of enforcement
00:41:01.740 trust you cannot legislate trust it develops over generations and once it's gone it's gone
00:41:10.680 And that's why culture matters, and institutions matter, and history matters.
00:41:17.820 I'm not selling the Nordic model down the river, and I'm not saying it's perfect.
00:41:23.200 It has its strengths, it has its weaknesses, like every system designed by human beings.
00:41:30.900 The real lesson here is not about socialism versus capitalism.
00:41:36.540 The real lesson here, I think, is about intellectual honesty.
00:41:40.680 If somebody proves or points to Denmark as proof that socialism works, now you have the information.
00:41:49.980 You have to say, would you acknowledge Denmark's commitment to private enterprise and taxes?
00:41:58.460 If somebody praises Sweden's welfare system, you want to mention Sweden's market reforms after 1990?
00:42:05.940 Well, Finland, their public services, we want to mention Finland's strong support for private
00:42:13.300 business and global competition. You know, good ideas don't travel alone. Neither do bad ones.
00:42:21.740 The danger comes when we import only the policies we like while ignoring the conditions that make
00:42:28.660 them possible. It's like pointing to a championship football team and deciding the secret to winning
00:42:34.320 is a fancy stadium no no no it's not yeah but look at the stadium it's visible yeah but the
00:42:40.900 years of practice i don't see that well but they may not be visible well it's it's really the
00:42:47.160 secret is the trophy no it's the discipline that you don't see in the in the case the welfare
00:42:53.160 benefits are visible but the productive economy underneath often isn't and every society eventually
00:43:01.220 faces the same question. How much can you distribute? The answer depends on the other
00:43:08.020 question that comes first. How much can you produce? That's the question that humbles
00:43:15.780 governments. History is filled with nations that become wealthy and then debate how to share the
00:43:21.340 prosperity. History is also filled with nations that try to distribute prosperity before they've
00:43:26.880 created it. And those stories always end the same way. The pie shrinks. Everybody receives
00:43:33.100 a smaller slice. The Nordic companies remind us something worth remembering. Markets create
00:43:39.600 wealth. Governments redistribute that wealth should you choose. But you can't redistribute
00:43:46.740 wealth that no longer exists. And that's what New York needs to learn.