The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast - 309. Oil, Inflation, and the Way Forward ｜ Congressman Mike Johnson

00:00:00.960 Hey everyone, real quick before you skip, I want to talk to you about something serious and important.

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00:00:57.420 Hello everyone. I have the great honor and privilege and opportunity to speak today with Mike Johnson,

00:01:14.620 who is one of America's leading figures on the federal conservative front.

00:01:20.340 Representative Mike Johnson is, in his third term, representing the 4th Congressional District of Louisiana.

00:01:27.800 He represents nearly three-quarters of a million residents of 15 parishes in the northwest and western regions of the state.

00:01:36.460 Mike was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives on December 10, 2016,

00:01:43.380 by the largest margin of victory in his region in more than 50 years, and is currently serving his third term.

00:01:50.540 He earned his undergraduate degree in business administration from Louisiana State University in 1995,

00:01:57.580 and then his Juris Doctorate from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University in 1998.

00:02:06.620 Before joining Congress, Johnson was a partner in the Kitchens Law Firm and a senior attorney and national media spokesman for the Alliance Defense Fund,

00:02:16.300 now known as Alliance Defending Freedom.

00:02:19.980 He serves in a very important position in Washington as the vice chairman of the House Republican Conference,

00:02:26.680 the number four ranked Republican in Congress,

00:02:29.400 is a leader on the Judiciary and Armed Services Committees,

00:02:33.180 and serves as an assistant whip for House Republicans.

00:02:36.560 Last Congress, he served as chairman of the Republican Study Committee,

00:02:43.420 known as the intellectual arsenal and the largest caucus of conservatives in Congress.

00:02:48.720 Prior to becoming elected to the U.S. Congress,

00:02:53.180 Johnson served as a constitutional law litigator for nearly 20 years.

00:02:57.920 We're going to talk today about his political career, about his philosophical views.

00:03:01.900 He's also writing a book that's going to be coming out in the next while,

00:03:05.320 Seven Core Principles of American Conservatism,

00:03:07.820 and we're going to discuss his vision for a renewal of the conservative viewpoint in the United States and perhaps more broadly.

00:03:17.040 So, welcome to all of you who are watching and listening.

00:03:20.940 Well, hello, Congressman Johnson.

00:03:22.400 Thank you very much for agreeing to talk to me today.

00:03:25.120 Hey, Jordan. It's my great honor. I'm a big fan, as you know.

00:03:28.160 Well, thank you. Thank you very much.

00:03:29.800 So, tell me, let's start by talking about what the Republicans are going to do with their newfound position.

00:03:38.880 Well, you and I are recording this just on the eve of the election,

00:03:42.560 so we're not sure exactly how large our majority will be,

00:03:46.500 but I'll tell you and tell those that are listening and watching that we do anticipate here on Tuesday

00:03:53.180 that we'll have a sizable majority in the House

00:03:55.920 and that we'll have a majority of some sort in the Senate.

00:03:59.040 Now, we're projecting at least a one- to two-seat majority for the Republican Party

00:04:03.720 and a large majority in the House,

00:04:05.140 which means that the entire direction of the country is going to change pretty dramatically.

00:04:09.300 What we've had, as you know, for the last two years is what we refer to in our old civics classes

00:04:16.400 and here in this country as unified government,

00:04:19.280 which means you've got the same party, the Democrats in this case,

00:04:22.160 in charge of the White House in both houses of Congress.

00:04:24.580 And so that is why, in our view, chaos has ensued.

00:04:27.880 You have had really a radical, progressive, radical leftist agenda

00:04:32.420 that's been hoisted upon the country,

00:04:34.520 and we've had no way to stop it because we didn't have the votes.

00:04:37.840 But that's all about to change.

00:04:39.080 So even though the Democrats obviously will still have the White House for another two years,

00:04:44.100 the hands of power in Congress are going to change.

00:04:47.700 It's long overdue, and you're going to see a new day in this country.

00:04:51.200 So what do you think has been, from the Republican perspective,

00:04:55.440 what do you think has been the most chaotic element or divisive element

00:04:59.700 or counterproductive element, let's say, of the Biden administration?

00:05:02.940 And what does your party presume to do about it?

00:05:08.060 And what do you think is actually practically possible?

00:05:10.720 Those are all excellent questions.

00:05:12.260 You know, I've been on the campaign trail now practically for the last year.

00:05:16.520 I ran unopposed, amazingly enough, for re-election for what will be my fourth term in Congress.

00:05:23.040 But most of our seats were hotly contested, as you know, around the country.

00:05:26.900 And we have felt this, what we refer to as the red wave, we felt it building now for some time

00:05:32.560 because there's so much unrest and concern around the country.

00:05:38.280 There was a poll that just came out really over the, I think it was the last two days or so,

00:05:44.160 where it is estimated, the American Psychological Association, which is of interest to you,

00:05:48.400 they estimate that three-fourths of Americans are so deeply concerned about the future of their country

00:05:53.740 that it is causing them daily stress.

00:05:56.020 And that's a real statistic, according to them.

00:05:57.800 So there is a lot of concern.

00:06:00.060 And the reason is because these are the results, the completely foreseeable results of policy choices

00:06:06.580 that have been made by those who control all these levers of power.

00:06:10.240 And so the results have been disastrous.

00:06:12.300 There is quite literally a crisis on every front.

00:06:16.120 Every front, every issue of policy is a disaster.

00:06:19.640 President Biden has presided over that.

00:06:21.240 The Democrats in Congress have engineered it.

00:06:23.060 And we are living through the results.

00:06:24.420 And so to summarize it easily on the campaign trail, to me, I've been saying for the last year

00:06:30.240 that it will come down to, and I think it has, to what I call the three I's.

00:06:35.160 It's inflation, illegal immigration, and general incompetence.

00:06:39.700 And the polling bears that out, that those two top issues, of course,

00:06:43.640 the economy is in a disastrous state right now.

00:06:46.820 The cost of living is unmanageable for most Americans.

00:06:49.660 And the illegal immigration problem is just an unspeakable disaster, catastrophe. 1.00

00:06:55.800 And the incompetence is something that has spread throughout everything they've touched.

00:07:00.680 The crime is soaring in the country and all of our major cities and around the nation.

00:07:05.720 I mean, every single area, energy policy, you know, we have a fentanyl crisis.

00:07:12.520 We have, we have a, for crying out loud, we have a baby formula shortage crisis.

00:07:17.180 We have military recruitment crises.

00:07:18.920 I mean, it's just every area.

00:07:20.780 And so the American people are looking for a change.

00:07:23.980 They're going to give us that opportunity.

00:07:25.100 And I believe we're going to deliver on it.

00:07:26.400 And so what do you think the true rate of inflation is at the moment in the U.S.?

00:07:31.700 And what do you think that inflation is doing to ordinary people?

00:07:36.680 Well, we know by any objective measure that inflation in the U.S. is at at least a 40-year high.

00:07:42.200 When it actually boils down to real people, real families, they're feeling real pain.

00:07:48.280 You know, the cost of groceries, the cost of gasoline.

00:07:50.580 And again, all of this is the result of these policy decisions.

00:07:55.780 You know, take energy policy, for example.

00:07:57.580 In the U.S., at least 30 percent of our nation's economy is tied in some way to our energy policy.

00:08:04.600 And you and I have talked about this all offline amongst our friends and groups that we're involved in.

00:08:10.040 It is just really an insane series of decisions that Biden and the far left in this country have made.

00:08:16.500 We were energy, not just energy independent, but energy dominant when President Trump left the White House because we pushed those policies.

00:08:25.940 And instinctively, almost reflexively, Joe Biden took office.

00:08:29.920 And within the first few days, quite literally, through executive orders, he reversed the policies that had given us those great gains and achievements.

00:08:40.020 And so because of that, we've seen, we've reaped what that has sown.

00:08:45.120 And so now, not only did they, you know, as you know, of course, infamously cancel the Keystone Pipeline, green-lighted Nord Stream 2 for Russia and Putin, which, of course, fueled his war machine to go after Ukraine.

00:08:59.740 He put a moratorium on federal production and exploration of federal lands here in the U.S., offshore as well, which has been a disaster for my state of Louisiana, a big energy state.

00:09:10.240 It effectively turned off the spigots.

00:09:13.460 But in order to meet our demand, we then had to go hat in hand to OPEC.

00:09:17.440 We had to go beg, you know, Saudi Arabia.

00:09:20.380 We had to go and beg these other nations to help us supply our need.

00:09:23.780 It's just unconscionable.

00:09:25.560 And, of course, the energy that's produced in those other countries is not anywhere near as clean and efficient as that which is produced here because of the way they do it.

00:09:34.640 So, ironically, they did more damage to the fire.

00:09:38.120 What do you think the justification is for that?

00:09:40.780 I mean, to cut off production but not cut off demand seems like a pretty counterproductive way both to deal with the economy and with the environment,

00:09:50.440 assuming that you buy the story that fossil fuel use per se is driving the crisis that we should all be attending to,

00:09:58.280 which isn't something that I'm really on board with in any way at all.

00:10:02.700 I mean, it seems pretty obvious, especially given what's been happening in Europe lately with regard to their energy crunch,

00:10:09.200 that the policies that were pursued by the United States, especially with regards to fracking, turned out to be, well, fortuitously farsighted.

00:10:17.360 It made the United States energy independent, as you said, but while actually able to export,

00:10:22.660 while simultaneously cutting carbon output, which is important to those people to whom it's important,

00:10:28.460 but it's at least notable on every front.

00:10:31.880 America was looking pretty good on the energy front, especially in contrast to Europe.

00:10:37.080 And so, what do you think the rationale is for simultaneously cutting production and making it extraordinarily difficult to provide abundant energy,

00:10:47.520 while also pursuing a policy of going around the globe and asking for excess energy resources,

00:10:53.700 obviously from producers who are not necessarily reliable, let's say like Venezuela, or desirable,

00:11:00.120 and also who don't abide by the same standards of environmental purity that govern the situation in the United States?

00:11:06.000 Like, I don't understand how that policy can be constructed and pursued.

00:11:13.820 What's the rationale for it?

00:11:15.740 Is it that, I mean, we had a deputy prime minister in Canada who said famously something like,

00:11:21.200 well, it's good that energy prices are much higher because when Canadians pay more at the pump,

00:11:26.800 they're all reminded constantly of just how severe the environmental crisis is,

00:11:31.900 which I think is an utterly appalling way to behave.

00:11:35.020 And I also think it's counterproductive on the environmental front,

00:11:38.600 because making people poor does not make the planet healthier.

00:11:42.400 There's no evidence for that.

00:11:44.580 So what do you think, why do you think the Democrats pursued this policy?

00:11:48.720 This is an excellent question, Jordan, and I agree with you 100% on your position on this,

00:11:53.220 and as we've discussed in the past,

00:11:55.900 that it's difficult to provide a rational explanation for it,

00:12:00.220 because there really is none.

00:12:01.680 I don't think they apply rational thought to these decisions at all.

00:12:05.120 To me, the best way I can explain it, and I get asked this same question all the time,

00:12:09.040 certainly when I'm around in my district, the 4th Congressional District in Louisiana,

00:12:13.800 go to town halls, we have lots of big open public events where everyone is welcomed,

00:12:18.060 and take questions from the audience.

00:12:19.680 And this is always one of the most common questions.

00:12:22.000 And in my explanation, the answer that I've come up with is the best way I know to explain it,

00:12:28.760 and that is that this is not a rational decision on the part of these folks.

00:12:33.600 They regard the climate agenda as part of their religion.

00:12:38.120 I don't know any other way to explain it.

00:12:39.980 They pursue it with religious zeal,

00:12:41.860 and they care not, apparently,

00:12:44.960 what type of pain these policies inflict upon the people that they are supposed to be serving,

00:12:51.300 because they're not serving the people, they're serving the planet.

00:12:55.140 And they use this terminology now openly, as you know,

00:12:58.480 to our great amazement and frustration.

00:13:00.540 And it's as if, put it in very parochial terms,

00:13:04.040 when I'm in Louisiana, I try to explain to our folks that,

00:13:07.280 listen, they have effectively replaced Father God with Mother Earth.

00:13:10.780 I mean, not to oversimplify it, but that's the best way to...

00:13:13.960 So that is how you look at it.

00:13:14.780 That's how I see it.

00:13:15.640 And so they believe we owe fealty to Mother Earth,

00:13:18.040 that we're created by the Earth, they believe.

00:13:20.680 So we owe everything to the Earth itself,

00:13:24.060 and we have to serve that cause above all else,

00:13:26.260 and it matters not who they are.

00:13:27.900 The problem I have with that is that the policies themselves

00:13:31.500 don't seem to result in the consequences that are hypothetically desired.

00:13:35.740 Like, I've spent a lot of time looking over the environmental crisis

00:13:40.740 literature, and one of the things that seemed to me...

00:13:43.260 Well, two things appeared to me to be quite obvious

00:13:45.900 as a consequence of pouring over it.

00:13:47.660 And the first is, we don't have one environmental-slash-economic crisis

00:13:53.140 confronting us.

00:13:54.280 We have many.

00:13:55.960 And so, for example, Bjorn Lomberg and I wrote an article

00:13:58.480 for The Telegraph last week,

00:13:59.840 and I believe one of the things he pointed out in there,

00:14:01.980 we pointed out in there,

00:14:03.880 was that 23 million people a year around the world

00:14:07.440 die from indoor air pollution,

00:14:09.360 mostly from burning dung and wood.

00:14:11.520 23 million people.

00:14:12.940 A huge number of people.

00:14:14.800 And obviously, that's polluting, 0.65

00:14:16.700 and it's not good for the environment.

00:14:18.480 And to replace that with inexpensive,

00:14:21.560 well, it would be fossil fuel replacement

00:14:23.140 if it was replaced most efficiently,

00:14:24.880 would save tens of millions of people

00:14:27.080 and also be good for the planet.

00:14:29.560 And that's completely off the agenda.

00:14:31.080 No one pays any attention to that whatsoever,

00:14:33.040 even though, as I said,

00:14:34.600 the lives of 20 million people,

00:14:36.480 a lot of them children, depend on it.

00:14:37.960 There's these multiple issues as well on the environmental front,

00:14:42.860 and Lomberg has done a better job than anyone else

00:14:45.460 in rank ordering these things.

00:14:46.960 And so, the thing that I find so perplexing

00:14:49.340 is that even if your goal was,

00:14:51.260 in some sense, to serve the planet,

00:14:53.720 it's by no means obvious in any sense whatsoever

00:14:56.840 that raising energy prices

00:14:58.920 and impoverishing poor people

00:15:00.780 will do anything but hurt the planet.

00:15:03.160 So, I don't even buy the internal rationale.

00:15:06.200 It's like, well, we're supposed to be serving the planet.

00:15:08.480 It's like, well, none of our policies seem to be doing that.

00:15:10.960 Lomberg, I think, estimated in the same article

00:15:13.340 that the net consequence

00:15:15.540 of all the global climate spending since 2005

00:15:20.500 will be a one ten-thousandth of a degree reduction

00:15:24.140 in temperature by the year 2100,

00:15:27.940 insofar as it can be calculated

00:15:29.540 by the UN's own climate models.

00:15:33.440 And so, I don't get it.

00:15:36.200 We've had 30 years of this nonsense.

00:15:38.380 All we seem to do is make the energy grid

00:15:40.560 much more ineffective.

00:15:42.100 And the only place that's really made an advance

00:15:44.120 in terms of reducing carbon output

00:15:47.380 has been the United States.

00:15:48.800 And they did that through fracking.

00:15:51.180 And every environmentalist on the planet hates fracking

00:15:54.060 because, you know, they claim erroneously

00:15:55.860 that it does such things as cause earthquakes.

00:15:58.960 And so, we're in a situation

00:16:01.640 where the planet is clearly no better off

00:16:03.740 and, in fact, by many measures worse off

00:16:05.980 than it would have been

00:16:06.600 if it would have just left it to hell alone.

00:16:08.640 And energy costs are spiraling out of control

00:16:11.680 and people are being plunged into poverty

00:16:13.880 as winter approaches.

00:16:15.440 And, like, there's no positive outcome of that whatsoever.

00:16:18.260 And yet, the leaders are all gathered at COP27,

00:16:21.240 again, I believe this weekend,

00:16:22.860 to do exactly the same thing.

00:16:25.140 And so, even by their own standards,

00:16:26.940 the standards of the environmentalists themselves,

00:16:29.940 why wouldn't they support natural gas

00:16:32.400 if they're actually concerned about improving the planet?

00:16:34.620 Or nuclear power, for that matter?

00:16:36.700 It's just, there's something more nefarious going on

00:16:40.920 at the narrative level.

00:16:43.260 Even then, we owe fealty to the planet.

00:16:45.880 It's something like, it's something like

00:16:48.260 we have to destroy capitalism at all costs,

00:16:50.900 even if that means compromising the planet.

00:16:53.480 It's worse than the nature worship hypothesis.

00:16:58.800 I think that's right.

00:16:59.660 They're consistently irrational

00:17:01.420 at a sort of a local or regional level.

00:17:04.500 Here in the U.S., for example,

00:17:05.900 I think that a religious zeal argument

00:17:08.260 sort of explanation makes some sense.

00:17:10.980 But I do think that on the international level,

00:17:13.420 I think that the persons who are ultimately responsible

00:17:16.000 for this, those who are pushing the agenda,

00:17:18.680 the elites at the top of the food chain, so to speak,

00:17:22.060 there is a more sinister agenda.

00:17:23.980 Ultimately, you and I, I think, agree,

00:17:26.180 this is about government control.

00:17:28.360 And they will pursue that with religious fervor,

00:17:32.100 of course, as well.

00:17:33.200 And they seem to have gotten the entire,

00:17:34.840 you know, civilized world bought in on,

00:17:37.600 at least the leaders of many of these nations

00:17:39.620 bought in on this idea

00:17:40.720 that we have to pursue this agenda at any cost.

00:17:43.280 And so we're going to continue

00:17:44.660 to see the results of that.

00:17:45.980 You know, I, look.

00:17:48.000 It seems a bit too convenient

00:17:49.680 that the solution always is,

00:17:51.540 well, there's a terrible crisis besetting us.

00:17:54.240 And what that means is

00:17:55.260 you have to deliver all the power

00:17:56.760 to a handful of centralizers

00:17:58.960 who are then allowed to use compulsion

00:18:00.920 to implement their desired policies.

00:18:03.500 It's like if your solution means

00:18:05.120 you're handed all the centralized power

00:18:07.640 and I have to abide by your dictates,

00:18:09.760 then I think it's legitimate of me

00:18:11.860 to question your motives.

00:18:13.820 That's exactly right.

00:18:15.980 And the solution to that,

00:18:17.760 the antidote,

00:18:18.560 is to educate and inform more people,

00:18:21.020 to remind them that

00:18:22.040 going along with this agenda

00:18:24.260 requires them to sacrifice their freedom

00:18:26.780 and their safety, their comfort.

00:18:28.800 I mean, we've seen the projections

00:18:31.100 that this may be a very harsh Europe,

00:18:33.900 a winter in Europe,

00:18:34.880 and that's because they don't have

00:18:36.900 enough energy units

00:18:37.740 to even heat the homes

00:18:38.660 of the persons who need this the most.

00:18:41.260 And so I fear that there's going to be

00:18:43.940 real and continuing pain

00:18:45.940 until sort of the world wakes up.

00:18:48.040 And so hopefully we can continue

00:18:49.420 to be the voices crying in the wilderness

00:18:51.660 to remind everyone

00:18:52.720 of what the true facts are here.

00:18:56.100 And so what do you think

00:18:57.080 the Republicans will do

00:18:58.200 about the energy situation?

00:19:01.220 Obviously, you don't have the presidency,

00:19:02.960 and so there's going to be limitations

00:19:05.040 on what's possible.

00:19:07.660 But what do you think

00:19:08.400 the right way forward is

00:19:09.800 in relationship to the provision of

00:19:12.740 or the development of an energy policy

00:19:14.580 that would ensure to those

00:19:17.280 who are going to be doing the exploration

00:19:18.860 that they're not going to be cut off

00:19:20.000 at the knees again?

00:19:21.620 Right, that's key.

00:19:22.940 And I do have some hope

00:19:24.660 that after this election,

00:19:27.140 I do believe there will be

00:19:28.340 the feeling of a mandate.

00:19:30.040 I think it's going to be

00:19:30.880 an overwhelming vote.

00:19:32.980 And I believe that we will have

00:19:34.900 some people who are rightly thinking,

00:19:38.380 even among the Democrats,

00:19:39.700 who will wake up and recognize

00:19:41.600 that we've got to turn this around.

00:19:44.000 We saw some hopeful signs of that.

00:19:45.600 Just a few days out from our election,

00:19:47.580 you saw Senator Joe Manchin

00:19:49.560 of West Virginia came out

00:19:51.120 with just some really strong language

00:19:54.880 calling out President Biden

00:19:56.620 for his really insane policies.

00:19:59.140 I mean, he effectively called

00:20:00.520 three days out from the election.

00:20:01.820 He was at a rally,

00:20:03.120 I think, in Pennsylvania

00:20:04.160 and called, President Biden

00:20:05.860 called for the end of the coal industry

00:20:08.240 and effectively just took a real swipe

00:20:12.520 at the oil and gas industry,

00:20:13.700 fossil fuels in general.

00:20:15.180 Not a good look.

00:20:16.040 I mean, Pennsylvania is an energy state.

00:20:18.720 And so Joe Manchin responded immediately,

00:20:21.600 very strong language.

00:20:23.120 Look, I think that we may have a new day

00:20:25.740 and a new opportunity

00:20:26.480 to turn some of this around.

00:20:27.580 I think the American people

00:20:28.540 are going to demand it.

00:20:29.700 They cannot afford just simple fuel,

00:20:32.260 simple energy now.

00:20:33.680 And we've got to get back

00:20:35.260 to some of the policies

00:20:36.080 that allowed us to be

00:20:37.680 in the great position we were in

00:20:38.960 before Joe Biden took office.

00:20:40.460 If you rewind in your mind

00:20:42.500 to February of 2020,

00:20:44.500 right before COVID hit our shores here,

00:20:47.860 we had achieved the greatest economy

00:20:49.540 in the history of the planet.

00:20:51.300 Not just the greatest economy of the U.S.,

00:20:53.360 but the greatest economy ever.

00:20:54.820 We had, by every measurable metric and category,

00:20:58.360 everyone was doing better in the U.S.

00:21:00.460 Our economy was thriving.

00:21:02.300 Jobs were being created.

00:21:04.220 More opportunity was available

00:21:06.180 for more people in every demographic.

00:21:09.020 We were widening the pathway out of poverty

00:21:10.920 for more people.

00:21:11.800 And the reason we were in that position

00:21:13.300 is because we advanced

00:21:14.860 limited government principles.

00:21:16.640 We reduced taxes,

00:21:18.280 we reduced regulations,

00:21:19.480 and we allowed American entrepreneurship to thrive.

00:21:23.400 We were allowed the free market to thrive.

00:21:25.020 We've got to get back to that

00:21:26.140 because that's the solution.

00:21:27.260 And it begins with energy policy,

00:21:28.920 and it should translate to every area

00:21:30.740 of what we do with our economic agenda.

00:21:33.500 Well, you know, one of the things

00:21:35.080 that I think that conservatives

00:21:36.940 are often rightly or effectively,

00:21:41.000 let's say, criticized for

00:21:42.800 by those on the left

00:21:44.800 is over-reliance on the kind of policies

00:21:49.600 that you just described,

00:21:50.880 the cutting policies, right?

00:21:52.280 The restriction of government overreach.

00:21:56.460 And I believe that restricting

00:21:58.140 government overreach is important,

00:21:59.460 but it's not a very compelling narrative

00:22:01.340 in some sense, right?

00:22:02.760 Now, you've been working on a book

00:22:04.500 associated with core principles

00:22:08.620 of conservatism.

00:22:11.080 And so you've been thinking this through

00:22:12.520 philosophically as well.

00:22:13.840 And it seems to me that

00:22:15.220 for the conservative types

00:22:16.840 to mount an effective,

00:22:20.380 to develop an effective counter-strategy

00:22:23.400 to the false messianic narrative

00:22:26.540 of the radical left,

00:22:28.460 that something like a coherent philosophy

00:22:31.760 that's compelling on the narrative front

00:22:33.700 has to be put forward.

00:22:34.900 And you've been working on this book,

00:22:36.540 and the book is called

00:22:37.460 Seven Core Principles of...

00:22:39.840 Of American conservatism, that's right.

00:22:42.360 And let me give you a little background

00:22:45.020 of how that came about.

00:22:46.760 It was birthed out of necessity.

00:22:48.920 Jordan, in the last Congress,

00:22:51.140 in the 116th Congress,

00:22:52.720 I served as chairman

00:22:53.760 of the Republican Study Committee,

00:22:55.080 and you've come and visited

00:22:55.920 our group on Capitol Hill.

00:22:57.620 That's the largest...

00:22:58.420 RSC is the largest caucus in Congress,

00:23:01.540 certainly the largest caucus

00:23:02.620 of conservatives.

00:23:03.960 And it's known as the intellectual arsenal

00:23:06.180 of conservatism on the Hill.

00:23:08.260 It's over 50-year history now.

00:23:09.940 Now, we have the largest group,

00:23:12.480 and so when I was chairman,

00:23:13.520 there was 148 members of that group.

00:23:15.920 Anyone who self-identifies, 0.76

00:23:17.880 self-describes as a conservative

00:23:19.000 in the House is a part of this organization.

00:23:21.960 And it is intended,

00:23:22.800 and was in its origin,

00:23:24.380 to be the policy shop

00:23:25.480 where our conservative philosophy

00:23:27.220 makes its way onto paper.

00:23:29.720 It informs our debates

00:23:31.440 and our arguments on the Hill,

00:23:33.480 and that's how we create our policy,

00:23:35.540 legislative text, et cetera.

00:23:36.620 So when I took the helm of that organization,

00:23:39.600 it was an interesting time

00:23:41.200 in American politics

00:23:42.080 because we were two years

00:23:45.120 into the Trump administration,

00:23:46.520 about halfway through.

00:23:47.960 We were in uncharted water,

00:23:50.880 so to speak, as a nation.

00:23:52.180 Lots of things were very dynamic

00:23:53.940 and changing and different

00:23:55.040 than they had been before.

00:23:56.420 And what I sensed was

00:23:57.520 that a lot of my colleagues

00:23:59.280 and certainly a lot of friends

00:24:00.940 and associates and constituents

00:24:02.600 back at home

00:24:03.640 who identified

00:24:04.920 and probably many of them

00:24:06.120 always had as conservatives

00:24:07.440 and Republicans

00:24:08.280 were having a difficult time

00:24:10.500 articulating,

00:24:11.980 summarizing exactly what that was,

00:24:14.420 what it meant.

00:24:15.480 And so I determined

00:24:16.880 that as chair of this group,

00:24:18.380 we wanted to make very good use

00:24:19.960 of the two years ahead of us.

00:24:21.200 We had just been put

00:24:22.600 into the minority in the House.

00:24:25.420 And so I thought

00:24:26.600 instead of wandering

00:24:27.340 in the wilderness for 40 years,

00:24:28.740 we should roll our sleeves up

00:24:29.760 and make it a very productive time.

00:24:31.080 So in order to do that,

00:24:32.880 it's always a good idea

00:24:35.000 if you're going to craft policy,

00:24:36.480 if you're going to advance an agenda

00:24:37.560 to know exactly what you believe

00:24:39.580 and what the objectives are.

00:24:40.780 So I put a pen to paper.

00:24:42.480 I did a lot of thought,

00:24:43.320 study, and prayer.

00:24:44.100 And my background's

00:24:45.420 in constitutional law.

00:24:46.760 And so these are things

00:24:47.980 that I've studied my whole life.

00:24:49.300 And so I thought

00:24:50.880 if you had just a couple of moments

00:24:53.220 with a millennial

00:24:54.700 who self-identified as a progressive,

00:24:57.500 how would you present

00:24:59.280 what it is that we believe?

00:25:00.940 And I pose this question

00:25:02.160 rhetorically to all my colleagues

00:25:03.680 in a big meeting of the RSC.

00:25:05.340 And I said,

00:25:06.260 how are we going to explain

00:25:08.420 and advance our position?

00:25:10.300 And so what would you say

00:25:11.880 it means to be

00:25:12.740 an American conservative?

00:25:13.700 So I posited this

00:25:15.200 and I suggested this

00:25:16.520 to my colleagues at that time.

00:25:17.780 I said, listen, to me,

00:25:19.600 if you had to boil down

00:25:21.120 volumes of conservative writing,

00:25:24.180 if you had to boil down

00:25:25.980 the Republican Party platform,

00:25:27.940 everything that we say

00:25:29.220 that we're for,

00:25:30.080 all of the, you know,

00:25:30.680 from Edmund Burke to today,

00:25:33.440 what would that be summarized

00:25:35.460 for in our time,

00:25:36.680 in our place?

00:25:37.160 And I said, to me,

00:25:37.980 it boils down to

00:25:38.640 what I'm going to call

00:25:39.360 the seven core principles

00:25:40.700 of American conservatism.

00:25:42.340 And it's quite simply

00:25:43.160 individual freedom,

00:25:44.800 limited government,

00:25:45.740 the rule of law,

00:25:46.880 peace through strength,

00:25:48.060 fiscal responsibility,

00:25:49.420 free markets,

00:25:50.140 and human dignity.

00:25:51.320 Not in any necessary order,

00:25:53.240 but those are the things

00:25:54.180 that all conservatives

00:25:56.080 should profess to believe.

00:25:57.640 And I said,

00:25:58.000 there's nothing magic

00:25:58.580 about that list

00:25:59.300 and anyone could create

00:26:00.220 their own or add to it

00:26:01.160 or delete.

00:26:01.680 But to me,

00:26:02.620 that's what I'm going to posit

00:26:03.520 for us to be our guardrails

00:26:05.480 for the next two years

00:26:06.320 as we go forward

00:26:07.260 to make our arguments

00:26:08.120 on the House floor,

00:26:09.140 to create the policy,

00:26:10.860 to put our plans together.

00:26:12.700 And it is the foundation

00:26:14.140 upon which we will build.

00:26:15.380 Everybody agreed with that.

00:26:16.700 We amended the bylaws

00:26:17.860 of the Republican Study Committee

00:26:19.060 for the first time in 15 years

00:26:20.500 to add those in.

00:26:21.600 And we began to work

00:26:22.580 with those parameters.

00:26:23.340 And so it was a very successful effort.

00:26:25.220 At the end of that two years,

00:26:26.260 we published over 400 pages

00:26:28.460 of policy prescriptions.

00:26:29.740 We called it

00:26:30.080 the conservative playbook

00:26:31.520 for a Republican-led majority.

00:26:33.520 And in those publications

00:26:35.060 are answers to all

00:26:36.040 the greatest challenges

00:26:36.660 facing the country.

00:26:37.920 And because we got momentum

00:26:38.800 doing that,

00:26:39.900 I began to hear

00:26:41.200 from conservative legislators

00:26:42.960 at the local and state level

00:26:44.100 around the country

00:26:44.780 and Republican groups

00:26:46.280 in this state and that,

00:26:47.580 people calling to say,

00:26:48.580 hey, could we adopt

00:26:49.440 something similar?

00:26:50.960 Could we use

00:26:51.380 the seven core principles?

00:26:52.400 And I said, absolutely.

00:26:53.280 I have no pride

00:26:53.700 of authorship about it.

00:26:54.620 So all of that

00:26:55.920 has been building

00:26:56.820 and that's why

00:26:57.980 it's making its way

00:26:59.280 into the pages of a book now

00:27:00.280 so we can spread it out

00:27:01.240 even further.

00:27:01.940 It's not rocket science,

00:27:03.680 but it's a good way

00:27:04.560 to summarize what it is

00:27:05.640 we believe.

00:27:06.520 And I think that's important.

00:27:08.280 Yeah, well,

00:27:08.660 I've been thinking

00:27:09.900 through the idea

00:27:11.740 of identity

00:27:12.500 from the political perspective.

00:27:15.040 And there is part of me

00:27:17.000 that's attracted

00:27:19.660 to classic liberal ideas

00:27:21.080 because I believe

00:27:21.940 the right unit

00:27:22.700 of analysis

00:27:23.360 in the most fundamental sense

00:27:26.140 is the individual.

00:27:27.620 And I think

00:27:28.100 the classic liberals

00:27:29.020 did a good job

00:27:29.760 of putting that point forward.

00:27:31.880 But I think

00:27:32.940 that an overemphasis

00:27:34.400 on the individual

00:27:35.360 atomizes people

00:27:37.060 and I think that

00:27:37.940 and the consequence

00:27:39.380 of atomized individuals

00:27:40.660 is tyrannical government

00:27:42.200 as far as I can tell

00:27:43.680 is that if everybody

00:27:44.980 becomes an island

00:27:45.780 unto themselves,

00:27:46.700 all of the necessary relationships

00:27:50.620 that bind people together

00:27:52.200 are vacuumed up

00:27:55.220 in some sense

00:27:55.860 are subsumed

00:27:56.640 under a centralized authority.

00:27:58.300 And I've also been thinking

00:27:59.840 through the idea

00:28:00.680 of identity

00:28:01.480 from the perspective

00:28:03.000 of mental health.

00:28:03.980 So what does it mean

00:28:04.780 to have a healthy identity?

00:28:08.400 So you might ask

00:28:09.240 what it means

00:28:09.600 to have an identity period.

00:28:10.820 And it certainly

00:28:11.700 isn't something

00:28:12.440 that you only define subjectively.

00:28:14.480 And so my clinical experience

00:28:16.640 and I think

00:28:17.940 the most sophisticated

00:28:20.000 psychological theories

00:28:21.120 bear this out

00:28:21.880 is that you can't have

00:28:23.780 properly functioning individuals

00:28:25.560 who are atomized.

00:28:27.680 And the reason for that

00:28:28.720 is that in the most

00:28:29.700 fundamental sense

00:28:30.800 emotional and motivational

00:28:32.300 regulation

00:28:33.100 which is what

00:28:34.300 mental health depends on

00:28:36.060 or even consists of

00:28:37.240 in some sense

00:28:38.060 has to be experienced

00:28:40.380 in relationship

00:28:41.080 to other people.

00:28:42.460 And so one of the things

00:28:43.260 I've noticed

00:28:43.740 when I've been lecturing

00:28:44.680 to young people

00:28:45.380 and this is relevant

00:28:46.140 to the issue

00:28:46.780 of what conservatives

00:28:47.600 have to offer

00:28:48.360 to young people

00:28:48.980 is that the meaning

00:28:51.540 that people need

00:28:53.100 to rely on

00:28:53.940 that sustains them

00:28:55.000 through tragic times

00:28:56.340 isn't to be found

00:28:57.680 in pursuit of self-interest

00:29:00.760 even if it's

00:29:01.580 enlightened self-interest.

00:29:02.700 Not in the narrow

00:29:03.420 hedonic sense, right?

00:29:05.380 Not in the sense

00:29:06.080 where I get exactly

00:29:07.000 what I want

00:29:07.640 right now

00:29:08.280 all the time.

00:29:09.760 What seems to provide

00:29:11.520 people with

00:29:12.300 stabilization

00:29:13.340 in their life

00:29:14.260 and hope

00:29:14.780 is the fostering

00:29:16.200 of a hierarchical

00:29:17.960 network

00:29:18.400 of social

00:29:19.100 interactions

00:29:20.180 so that

00:29:20.800 it's pretty hard

00:29:21.840 to be sane

00:29:23.620 and to have

00:29:25.380 a functional identity

00:29:26.340 without being

00:29:27.880 married

00:29:29.420 or the equivalent

00:29:30.420 if you're an adult.

00:29:31.560 You need someone

00:29:32.580 who's a long-term

00:29:34.240 partner

00:29:34.700 because otherwise

00:29:35.520 your life is a mess

00:29:36.620 of loneliness

00:29:37.380 or short-term

00:29:38.420 chaotic relationships

00:29:39.600 and it's very difficult

00:29:40.940 to be sane

00:29:41.660 and happy

00:29:42.140 when that's happening.

00:29:43.440 It's very hard

00:29:44.460 to maintain

00:29:45.180 your equilibrium

00:29:46.040 unless you have

00:29:47.580 at least

00:29:48.600 some family

00:29:49.760 right?

00:29:50.200 Some siblings

00:29:50.860 parents

00:29:51.540 that you have

00:29:52.560 a bonded relationship

00:29:53.620 with

00:29:54.040 that you're in

00:29:54.580 interaction with

00:29:55.400 that you have

00:29:55.760 joint projects with

00:29:56.840 you have to have

00:29:58.120 friends

00:29:58.600 you should be involved

00:29:59.880 in a network

00:30:00.500 of economic exchange

00:30:01.820 you should be

00:30:02.780 pursuing some

00:30:03.520 civic responsibility

00:30:04.520 maybe you have

00:30:05.600 a religious

00:30:06.140 obligation

00:30:07.060 that's

00:30:07.600 and that's

00:30:09.480 a different way

00:30:09.960 of thinking

00:30:10.340 about it

00:30:10.820 than a religious

00:30:11.940 faith

00:30:12.580 right?

00:30:12.960 Is that

00:30:13.280 you have an

00:30:14.620 obligation

00:30:15.140 to pursue

00:30:16.460 and participate

00:30:17.480 in some

00:30:19.240 spiritual tradition

00:30:20.880 and it has to be

00:30:22.280 a tradition too

00:30:22.980 because otherwise

00:30:23.520 it just spirals off

00:30:24.580 into a kind of

00:30:25.240 new age insanity

00:30:26.120 and it isn't

00:30:27.380 obvious to me

00:30:28.320 that people

00:30:29.760 can live

00:30:30.440 happy lives

00:30:31.820 because people

00:30:32.280 say they want

00:30:32.820 to be happy

00:30:33.360 which I don't

00:30:34.060 really think

00:30:34.480 is also true

00:30:35.200 I think people

00:30:35.840 want to have

00:30:36.280 an adventure

00:30:36.780 and they don't

00:30:37.280 want to be

00:30:37.640 miserable 0.58

00:30:37.980 and that's

00:30:38.520 not exactly

00:30:39.100 the same

00:30:39.560 as being

00:30:39.940 happy

00:30:40.300 but I don't

00:30:41.160 think that you

00:30:41.680 can pursue

00:30:42.180 any of that

00:30:42.940 stably

00:30:44.000 without being

00:30:44.720 embedded in

00:30:45.480 that multitude

00:30:46.680 of hierarchical

00:30:47.600 social relationships

00:30:48.640 and that's all

00:30:49.700 dependent on

00:30:50.360 responsibility

00:30:51.080 not on

00:30:52.580 short-term

00:30:53.880 self-gratification

00:30:55.040 and a kind of

00:30:56.000 atomistic hedonism

00:30:57.080 and if you

00:30:57.940 explain that to

00:30:58.800 young people

00:30:59.340 they figure it

00:30:59.860 out right away

00:31:00.500 especially if you

00:31:01.840 ally that with

00:31:02.740 the idea of

00:31:03.560 developing

00:31:04.520 the kind of

00:31:05.620 embeddedness

00:31:06.340 in the social

00:31:06.900 community

00:31:07.320 that helps

00:31:07.880 sustain you

00:31:08.460 in the face

00:31:08.940 of tragedy

00:31:09.580 because what

00:31:10.260 do you have

00:31:10.700 when things

00:31:11.100 go wrong

00:31:11.660 you've got

00:31:12.420 the people

00:31:12.800 you love

00:31:13.280 and who

00:31:13.520 love you

00:31:13.960 you've got

00:31:14.380 your friends

00:31:14.940 you've got

00:31:15.880 hopefully your

00:31:16.580 career and maybe

00:31:17.280 your creative

00:31:17.840 your creative

00:31:18.740 endeavors

00:31:19.120 you have

00:31:19.700 the service

00:31:21.060 you can provide

00:31:21.760 to others

00:31:22.140 at the level

00:31:22.700 of civic

00:31:23.120 responsibility

00:31:23.780 and all of

00:31:24.760 that

00:31:24.980 none of that's

00:31:26.000 been discussed

00:31:26.600 in some real

00:31:27.240 sense for about

00:31:27.980 60 years

00:31:28.820 and all of

00:31:29.720 that's core

00:31:30.340 to the kind

00:31:31.760 of identity

00:31:32.300 that stops

00:31:32.840 people from

00:31:33.400 being absolutely

00:31:34.340 anxiety ridden

00:31:35.260 and hopeless

00:31:35.780 and conservatives

00:31:36.540 really have all

00:31:37.440 that within

00:31:38.500 their grasp

00:31:39.300 if they wanted

00:31:39.940 to take it

00:31:40.540 and it sounds

00:31:41.060 like that's

00:31:41.600 the sort of

00:31:42.080 thing that

00:31:42.420 you're working

00:31:42.940 on pursuing

00:31:43.620 that's exactly

00:31:44.640 right and I

00:31:45.320 think we do

00:31:45.720 need to take

00:31:46.300 it and I

00:31:46.660 think that

00:31:46.960 there's a

00:31:47.340 vacuum

00:31:47.700 created and

00:31:49.020 it should be

00:31:49.780 filled with

00:31:50.700 what I regard

00:31:51.300 to be very

00:31:52.020 simple truths

00:31:52.860 I mean I

00:31:53.340 think the

00:31:53.800 simple truths

00:31:54.960 are the most

00:31:55.400 profound

00:31:55.880 and what you

00:31:56.740 just articulated

00:31:57.440 there is

00:31:58.360 exactly right

00:31:59.440 I believe it's

00:32:00.400 impossible by the

00:32:01.760 way to divorce

00:32:02.600 it from a

00:32:03.900 religious worldview

00:32:04.620 let's say

00:32:05.180 the Judeo-Christian

00:32:06.280 worldview for

00:32:06.940 example because

00:32:07.820 that is where

00:32:09.020 we find our

00:32:09.700 meaning and I

00:32:10.100 think what you

00:32:10.460 just described

00:32:11.220 is God's

00:32:12.180 created order

00:32:12.920 for things

00:32:13.480 for the

00:32:13.800 individual

00:32:14.220 for the

00:32:14.640 family

00:32:14.980 for society

00:32:15.760 I think

00:32:16.960 we are made

00:32:18.160 in the image

00:32:18.540 of God

00:32:18.820 the founders

00:32:19.240 of this

00:32:19.540 country

00:32:19.840 believe that

00:32:20.680 and in fact

00:32:21.680 indeed in our

00:32:22.500 declaration they

00:32:23.600 proclaimed it to

00:32:24.220 be a self-evident

00:32:25.180 truth something

00:32:25.880 that you cannot

00:32:26.820 not know

00:32:27.500 that God is the

00:32:28.680 one that created

00:32:29.660 us and he gives

00:32:30.340 us all the same

00:32:31.240 rights

00:32:31.620 and God

00:32:33.400 created us

00:32:34.240 to serve

00:32:35.960 we find our

00:32:36.720 greatest meaning

00:32:37.600 I mean that the

00:32:38.260 Bible is filled

00:32:38.980 with this admonition

00:32:39.840 that if you are

00:32:40.940 to be great

00:32:41.540 you are to serve

00:32:42.400 and the greatest

00:32:43.020 is the greatest

00:32:43.700 servant

00:32:44.060 and so that's

00:32:44.720 where you find

00:32:45.180 your value

00:32:45.760 he intended

00:32:47.440 the family

00:32:48.100 to be for

00:32:48.980 obvious reasons

00:32:49.900 the first unit

00:32:51.800 of community

00:32:53.720 and upon that

00:32:55.240 we build a

00:32:55.920 healthy and

00:32:56.520 vibrant society

00:32:57.380 you know I

00:32:58.040 listed human

00:32:58.860 dignity as the

00:32:59.960 seventh of the

00:33:00.580 core principles

00:33:01.200 but I say in the

00:33:02.420 book that I'm

00:33:03.000 finishing up

00:33:03.500 that that really

00:33:04.620 could be the

00:33:05.400 first it is the

00:33:06.240 foundation of it

00:33:06.960 all because it

00:33:07.540 goes back to the

00:33:08.140 beginning that we

00:33:09.900 really are of

00:33:11.220 individual value

00:33:12.220 and worth and

00:33:13.600 that is because

00:33:14.420 God gave us that

00:33:15.900 worth and by the

00:33:17.400 way your value is

00:33:18.440 completely unrelated

00:33:20.380 in any way to the

00:33:21.340 color of your skin

00:33:22.120 or what zip code

00:33:22.980 you live in or

00:33:23.640 where you went to

00:33:24.120 school or where

00:33:24.600 your talents are

00:33:25.300 your value is

00:33:26.140 inherent because it's

00:33:27.160 given to you by

00:33:28.080 your creator

00:33:28.720 you know G.K.

00:33:29.760 Chesterton

00:33:29.900 sorry go ahead

00:33:31.740 well I was just

00:33:32.840 going to say

00:33:33.140 Chesterton you know

00:33:33.960 famously said that

00:33:34.760 America is the

00:33:35.280 only nation in the

00:33:35.920 world that was

00:33:36.300 founded upon a

00:33:36.960 creed and it's

00:33:38.040 listed with almost

00:33:38.780 theological lucidity

00:33:39.860 in the declaration

00:33:40.700 of independence and

00:33:41.560 that is our creed

00:33:42.860 in short summary

00:33:44.140 it's the second

00:33:44.740 paragraph of the

00:33:45.340 declaration and

00:33:46.120 that our nation was

00:33:47.420 built upon that

00:33:48.420 idea as you note

00:33:50.260 rightly we began to

00:33:51.280 deviate from that

00:33:52.200 idea about 50 or

00:33:53.880 60 years ago or so

00:33:55.400 a little bit longer

00:33:56.140 and that is why

00:33:57.820 we're at the

00:33:58.360 hopeless result that

00:33:59.320 we are so I

00:34:00.060 believe we have to

00:34:00.540 get back to those

00:34:01.200 founding principles

00:34:02.020 because it's good

00:34:03.020 for everyone

00:34:03.220 I also think that

00:34:03.880 conservatives have

00:34:05.880 done a pretty poor

00:34:07.560 job of defending

00:34:09.000 that so you see

00:34:10.500 this vitriolic

00:34:11.780 accusation arising

00:34:13.600 from the radical

00:34:14.500 left that the

00:34:16.980 West in general

00:34:18.620 and the United

00:34:19.460 States perhaps in

00:34:20.840 particular was

00:34:22.880 founded fundamentally

00:34:24.400 on a doctrine that

00:34:25.700 was akin to the

00:34:26.900 promotion of

00:34:27.560 something like

00:34:28.120 oppression and

00:34:28.740 slavery and now

00:34:29.400 that's a typical

00:34:30.120 leftist trope

00:34:31.060 because the

00:34:31.540 leftists think

00:34:32.460 every form of

00:34:33.460 social organization

00:34:34.300 is founded on

00:34:35.860 nothing but

00:34:36.340 exploitation and

00:34:38.120 but what disturbs

00:34:40.220 me about that

00:34:41.140 is that it's

00:34:42.920 also counterproductive

00:34:44.500 in relationship

00:34:45.300 even to the

00:34:46.300 stated goals of

00:34:47.160 the leftists

00:34:47.880 because the way

00:34:48.740 I look at things

00:34:49.520 and I can't see

00:34:50.520 how this is wrong

00:34:51.540 is that the

00:34:52.900 careless self

00:34:56.560 axiom

00:34:57.160 the careless

00:34:58.860 self-evident

00:35:00.040 axiom of

00:35:01.500 human social

00:35:02.260 interaction is

00:35:04.100 something like

00:35:04.880 if I can force

00:35:06.280 you to do

00:35:06.860 something I have

00:35:08.040 the right to do

00:35:08.840 it which is

00:35:09.940 well if I'm more

00:35:10.740 powerful than you

00:35:11.560 and I can

00:35:12.180 compel you to do

00:35:13.300 my bidding 0.98

00:35:13.840 why the hell

00:35:14.960 shouldn't I

00:35:15.680 and that means

00:35:18.160 that as Hobbes

00:35:19.240 pointed out

00:35:19.900 let's say the

00:35:20.500 philosopher Thomas

00:35:21.320 Hobbes rather

00:35:21.880 than Jean-Jacques

00:35:22.620 Rousseau

00:35:23.080 that that

00:35:24.680 vision is

00:35:25.680 predicated on

00:35:26.700 an idea that

00:35:27.520 in the state

00:35:28.640 of nature

00:35:29.220 human beings

00:35:30.300 aren't noble

00:35:30.880 savages

00:35:31.440 it's more like

00:35:32.280 life is nasty

00:35:33.380 brutish and short

00:35:34.380 and you know

00:35:35.780 I don't believe

00:35:36.500 that Hobbes

00:35:36.980 was 100% right

00:35:38.200 nor do I believe

00:35:39.060 that Jean-Jacques

00:35:39.700 Rousseau was

00:35:40.320 100% right

00:35:41.440 I think we have

00:35:42.140 an implicit

00:35:42.620 capacity for evil

00:35:43.740 and an implicit

00:35:44.400 capacity for good

00:35:45.540 and that we're

00:35:46.480 battling between

00:35:47.160 that all the time

00:35:48.020 but I cannot

00:35:49.100 read

00:35:49.840 the history

00:35:50.800 of the West

00:35:51.940 Great Britain

00:35:52.820 in particular

00:35:53.360 and then the US

00:35:54.440 emerging out of

00:35:55.280 that context

00:35:56.000 as anything

00:35:57.180 but the struggle

00:35:58.340 of the idea

00:35:59.420 that all men

00:36:00.660 have intrinsic

00:36:01.480 all human beings

00:36:03.280 as you said

00:36:04.520 regardless of

00:36:05.240 creed or color

00:36:05.980 or ethnicity

00:36:07.260 or intelligence

00:36:09.420 or any

00:36:10.140 local attribute

00:36:11.980 whatsoever

00:36:12.580 that because of

00:36:14.240 that intrinsic

00:36:14.900 dignity

00:36:15.540 the

00:36:16.440 anything that

00:36:18.080 smacks of

00:36:18.820 slavery and

00:36:19.440 compulsion

00:36:19.860 is in fact

00:36:20.500 fundamentally

00:36:21.200 ethically wrong

00:36:22.160 and you know

00:36:22.900 atheistic types

00:36:24.020 who go after

00:36:24.640 the idea

00:36:25.280 that the

00:36:27.300 dignity of

00:36:28.340 human beings

00:36:29.060 is predicated

00:36:31.040 on something

00:36:31.540 like their

00:36:31.920 formation

00:36:32.420 in the image

00:36:33.020 of God

00:36:33.460 still have

00:36:34.380 the problem

00:36:34.860 of trying

00:36:35.300 to sort

00:36:36.460 out then

00:36:37.100 what is it

00:36:38.120 that gives

00:36:38.620 people that

00:36:39.740 intrinsic dignity

00:36:40.680 and worth

00:36:41.540 because if you

00:36:42.220 abandon that

00:36:43.140 as a self-evident

00:36:44.000 principle

00:36:44.560 so that

00:36:45.780 would be

00:36:46.060 as a

00:36:46.440 fundamental

00:36:47.020 religious

00:36:47.660 or sacred

00:36:48.400 principle

00:36:48.980 that's in

00:36:49.780 some sense

00:36:50.260 independent

00:36:50.740 even of your

00:36:51.360 religious belief

00:36:52.060 it's still a

00:36:52.660 deep and

00:36:53.460 foundational

00:36:53.940 principle

00:36:54.580 that

00:36:54.940 presumption

00:36:55.980 of intrinsic

00:36:56.700 value

00:36:57.280 that fights

00:36:58.400 against the

00:36:59.040 very institution

00:36:59.840 of slavery

00:37:00.440 and as far

00:37:01.160 as I can

00:37:01.560 tell

00:37:01.800 that's exactly

00:37:03.020 the reason

00:37:03.520 why slavery

00:37:04.180 was eradicated

00:37:05.260 despite

00:37:05.820 essentially

00:37:06.680 despite its

00:37:08.020 unbelievable

00:37:08.880 prevalence

00:37:09.680 throughout the

00:37:10.240 entire course

00:37:10.840 of human

00:37:11.200 history

00:37:11.540 so the

00:37:12.280 leftists

00:37:12.940 in some

00:37:14.020 sense

00:37:14.440 decry

00:37:15.660 the use

00:37:16.540 of power

00:37:16.960 and corruption

00:37:17.480 and claim

00:37:18.680 that the

00:37:19.240 West and

00:37:19.800 the United

00:37:20.120 States

00:37:20.540 are fundamentally

00:37:21.920 slave

00:37:23.140 predicated

00:37:23.840 oppressive

00:37:24.340 states

00:37:24.900 but what

00:37:25.760 they fail

00:37:26.320 to contend

00:37:27.480 with

00:37:27.840 and what

00:37:28.260 conservatives

00:37:28.720 haven't done

00:37:29.300 a good job

00:37:29.900 of defending

00:37:30.400 is that

00:37:30.800 that's not

00:37:31.280 only a lie

00:37:32.340 it's the

00:37:33.180 opposite of

00:37:33.880 the truth

00:37:34.380 is that

00:37:34.780 these are

00:37:35.580 these western

00:37:36.840 democracies

00:37:37.620 that privilege

00:37:38.640 human dignity

00:37:39.540 are the only

00:37:40.700 societies

00:37:41.340 in the entire

00:37:42.020 history of

00:37:42.640 humanity

00:37:43.100 that have

00:37:43.900 ever managed

00:37:44.700 to make

00:37:45.540 a moral

00:37:45.960 case

00:37:46.440 against

00:37:46.940 the principle

00:37:47.640 that might

00:37:48.200 makes right

00:37:48.880 that is

00:37:49.780 precisely right

00:37:51.080 and it is

00:37:52.560 that belief

00:37:53.180 and the

00:37:53.520 inestimable

00:37:54.520 dignity

00:37:54.900 and value

00:37:55.360 of every

00:37:55.680 person

00:37:56.140 because of

00:37:57.260 the belief

00:37:57.840 the underlying

00:37:58.380 belief

00:37:58.720 that they are

00:37:59.240 made in

00:38:00.780 the image

00:38:01.260 and as a

00:38:01.920 creator

00:38:02.280 creation of

00:38:02.920 God himself

00:38:03.500 that has

00:38:04.660 been the

00:38:05.080 guiding principle

00:38:05.740 that is why

00:38:06.640 that belief

00:38:08.040 is why

00:38:08.780 slavery has

00:38:09.600 been eradicated

00:38:10.420 and child

00:38:11.200 labor laws

00:38:11.960 have been

00:38:12.320 revised

00:38:12.940 and all

00:38:13.700 of the

00:38:13.940 ills in

00:38:14.460 society

00:38:14.980 have been

00:38:15.440 attacked

00:38:15.860 it's been

00:38:16.240 persons

00:38:16.660 motivated

00:38:17.240 by that

00:38:17.880 belief

00:38:18.280 that you

00:38:18.960 have to

00:38:19.460 do that

00:38:19.920 for the

00:38:20.600 individual

00:38:21.060 because of

00:38:21.600 their value

00:38:22.520 and their

00:38:22.860 dignity

00:38:23.180 and you know

00:38:24.020 our country

00:38:24.840 the United

00:38:25.260 States

00:38:25.640 was founded

00:38:26.480 upon that

00:38:27.060 premise

00:38:27.420 it was not

00:38:28.320 perfect at its

00:38:29.000 origin

00:38:29.300 of course

00:38:29.800 we still had

00:38:30.380 slavery to

00:38:30.860 contend with

00:38:31.480 and we all

00:38:32.340 know that

00:38:32.720 it's the

00:38:32.980 great stain

00:38:33.560 on our

00:38:33.900 history

00:38:34.200 but it was

00:38:34.620 acknowledged

00:38:35.120 by leaders

00:38:36.300 at the time

00:38:36.960 the principled

00:38:37.960 men who were

00:38:38.820 called to put

00:38:39.360 all this

00:38:39.640 together

00:38:40.080 and it was

00:38:40.640 acknowledged

00:38:40.960 by later

00:38:41.380 generations

00:38:41.880 as well

00:38:42.400 Martin Luther

00:38:42.860 King Jr.

00:38:43.880 famously said

00:38:44.680 in his

00:38:45.080 I Have a Dream

00:38:45.800 speech

00:38:46.180 that the

00:38:46.840 declaration

00:38:47.200 of independence

00:38:48.020 was a promissory

00:38:49.080 note to future

00:38:49.840 generations

00:38:50.420 that we're in

00:38:51.080 the process

00:38:51.640 of making

00:38:52.120 a more

00:38:52.380 perfect union

00:38:53.080 and that

00:38:54.280 we've not

00:38:54.920 achieved

00:38:55.460 everything that

00:38:56.300 we should

00:38:56.680 yet

00:38:56.880 but it's

00:38:57.940 built upon

00:38:58.500 this foundational

00:38:59.160 premise

00:38:59.600 and so

00:39:00.100 our first

00:39:00.920 president

00:39:01.520 George Washington

00:39:02.600 famously in his

00:39:03.360 farewell address

00:39:04.000 he said

00:39:04.380 he gave us

00:39:05.720 his prescription

00:39:06.260 on how we

00:39:06.800 could keep

00:39:07.220 this republic

00:39:07.880 this grand

00:39:08.660 experiment

00:39:09.120 in self

00:39:09.500 governance

00:39:09.860 and he said

00:39:10.500 watch your

00:39:11.560 federal debt

00:39:12.700 watch your

00:39:13.300 foreign alliances

00:39:14.060 he gave some

00:39:14.640 very practical

00:39:15.200 advice

00:39:15.620 but he also

00:39:16.140 said

00:39:16.540 watch out

00:39:17.440 for the

00:39:17.720 evil and

00:39:18.480 poison

00:39:18.800 of political

00:39:19.280 parties

00:39:19.700 etc

00:39:20.020 but he also

00:39:20.660 said

00:39:21.000 of all the

00:39:22.120 dispositions

00:39:22.660 and habits

00:39:23.220 which lead

00:39:23.960 to political

00:39:24.320 prosperity

00:39:24.980 religion

00:39:25.800 and morality

00:39:26.440 are indispensable

00:39:27.400 supports

00:39:28.100 and then

00:39:28.400 John Adams

00:39:28.880 comes next

00:39:29.400 and he says

00:39:29.840 look our

00:39:30.200 constitution

00:39:30.780 is made

00:39:31.220 only for

00:39:31.740 a moral

00:39:32.120 and religious

00:39:32.560 people

00:39:32.900 that is

00:39:33.160 wholly

00:39:33.760 inadequate

00:39:34.240 to the

00:39:34.540 government

00:39:34.720 of any

00:39:35.020 other

00:39:35.220 they did

00:39:36.000 not want

00:39:36.640 to legislate

00:39:37.720 that every

00:39:38.220 person had

00:39:38.880 to adopt

00:39:39.420 a certain

00:39:39.820 religion

00:39:40.260 but the

00:39:40.720 point was

00:39:41.420 that you

00:39:42.040 had to have

00:39:42.880 this fundamental

00:39:44.060 premise

00:39:44.760 you had to

00:39:45.640 have virtue

00:39:46.300 if you're going

00:39:47.100 to have a

00:39:47.420 government

00:39:47.700 of by and

00:39:48.460 for the

00:39:48.740 people

00:39:49.120 there had

00:39:50.020 to be a

00:39:50.380 foundation

00:39:50.840 of virtue

00:39:51.380 and they

00:39:51.780 saw that

00:39:52.240 the seedbed

00:39:53.240 of virtue

00:39:53.680 was in

00:39:54.160 religion

00:39:54.460 and morality

00:39:55.000 and that's

00:39:55.660 why it should

00:39:56.060 be supported

00:39:56.960 it seems

00:39:58.240 it seems

00:39:58.260 to me

00:39:58.700 that

00:39:59.000 even

00:39:59.960 the

00:40:00.480 principles

00:40:01.400 that the

00:40:02.020 classic

00:40:02.480 liberal

00:40:03.060 individualists

00:40:04.200 rely on

00:40:05.180 presume

00:40:06.200 the self

00:40:06.780 evidence

00:40:07.100 of those

00:40:07.660 moral

00:40:08.040 virtues

00:40:08.520 they're

00:40:09.040 given

00:40:09.420 and the

00:40:10.280 problem

00:40:10.600 is

00:40:10.920 that

00:40:11.280 they're

00:40:12.320 only

00:40:12.560 a given

00:40:12.980 when they're

00:40:13.460 active

00:40:13.860 and when

00:40:14.980 they become

00:40:15.500 inactive

00:40:16.020 or when they

00:40:16.560 become actively

00:40:17.240 subverted

00:40:17.800 then the

00:40:18.260 self evidence

00:40:18.820 starts to

00:40:19.400 decay

00:40:19.860 and then

00:40:20.820 the whole

00:40:21.240 enterprise

00:40:21.660 has the

00:40:22.280 possibility

00:40:22.780 of falling

00:40:23.300 apart

00:40:23.740 you know

00:40:25.160 I was

00:40:25.580 I was

00:40:26.100 I was

00:40:27.160 just

00:40:27.420 in Jerusalem

00:40:28.280 and I

00:40:28.940 walked down

00:40:29.680 the Via Dolorosa

00:40:30.880 with a friend

00:40:31.660 of mine

00:40:32.020 Jonathan Pagiot

00:40:32.900 we're doing

00:40:33.340 a documentary

00:40:33.980 about that

00:40:34.660 and I was

00:40:35.040 thinking about

00:40:35.680 the idea

00:40:36.860 of the

00:40:37.280 passion

00:40:37.660 we ended

00:40:38.080 up in the

00:40:38.480 church

00:40:38.700 of the

00:40:38.940 holy

00:40:39.120 sepulcher

00:40:39.620 which

00:40:39.920 at least

00:40:40.580 in principle

00:40:41.100 is founded

00:40:41.620 on the

00:40:42.040 site

00:40:42.240 where Christ

00:40:42.720 was crucified

00:40:43.360 and I

00:40:44.140 was thinking

00:40:44.520 about this

00:40:45.120 psychologically

00:40:45.720 and I

00:40:46.780 think this

00:40:47.160 is something

00:40:47.560 that is

00:40:48.160 worth delving

00:40:48.760 into

00:40:49.120 although it's

00:40:50.160 way down

00:40:50.680 at the

00:40:50.960 bottom of

00:40:51.380 things

00:40:51.720 you know

00:40:52.040 I've

00:40:52.800 wondered for

00:40:53.240 a long

00:40:53.580 time

00:40:53.880 exactly

00:40:54.380 what the

00:40:54.780 western

00:40:55.080 world

00:40:55.480 has been

00:40:55.920 doing

00:40:56.300 psychologically

00:40:57.600 let's say

00:40:58.420 gazing at

00:40:59.460 the crucifix

00:41:00.200 for the

00:41:00.520 last

00:41:00.740 2,000

00:41:01.280 years

00:41:01.760 and why

00:41:03.060 that's

00:41:03.440 associated

00:41:03.940 with the

00:41:04.420 image

00:41:04.660 of God

00:41:05.220 and I'm

00:41:06.020 again

00:41:06.340 I'm

00:41:06.640 thinking

00:41:06.820 about this

00:41:07.280 psychologically

00:41:07.860 not

00:41:08.260 theologically

00:41:08.940 and one

00:41:10.960 of the

00:41:11.180 things

00:41:11.440 that

00:41:11.640 psychotherapists

00:41:12.920 have realized

00:41:13.600 in the

00:41:13.940 last 60

00:41:14.880 years or

00:41:15.440 so

00:41:15.660 is that

00:41:16.080 if you

00:41:17.000 can get

00:41:17.420 people

00:41:17.800 to

00:41:18.060 voluntarily

00:41:18.640 confront

00:41:19.400 the things

00:41:20.080 that disturb

00:41:21.100 them

00:41:21.400 and compel

00:41:22.120 them

00:41:22.400 into

00:41:23.300 paralysis

00:41:23.880 and avoidance

00:41:24.900 and possibly

00:41:25.720 even tyranny

00:41:26.600 right

00:41:27.620 those are the

00:41:28.240 things people

00:41:28.720 would like to

00:41:29.240 avoid if they

00:41:29.880 could but

00:41:30.360 often can't

00:41:31.740 because they're

00:41:32.400 the harsh

00:41:32.780 realities of

00:41:33.420 life let's

00:41:34.000 say

00:41:34.160 the more

00:41:35.180 you can get

00:41:35.740 people to

00:41:36.420 expose

00:41:37.140 themselves to

00:41:37.860 the things

00:41:38.320 they're afraid

00:41:38.960 of and

00:41:39.700 disturbed by

00:41:40.560 voluntarily

00:41:42.040 the braver

00:41:43.560 and more

00:41:44.380 healthy they

00:41:44.960 become

00:41:45.480 then I

00:41:47.020 was just

00:41:47.640 in this

00:41:48.160 monastery

00:41:49.620 in

00:41:50.220 northern

00:41:51.040 California

00:41:51.780 and an

00:41:52.720 artist

00:41:53.040 had

00:41:53.320 they're

00:41:54.300 putting

00:41:54.540 literally

00:41:55.520 a hundred

00:41:56.780 and a half

00:41:57.260 million dollars

00:41:57.980 into this

00:41:58.620 into the

00:41:59.380 artwork

00:41:59.760 and the

00:42:00.520 cathedral

00:42:00.900 that's

00:42:01.240 associated

00:42:01.640 with this

00:42:02.060 monastery

00:42:02.460 and there

00:42:02.820 was an

00:42:03.080 image of

00:42:03.580 Christ

00:42:04.680 crucified

00:42:05.400 underneath

00:42:06.040 Mary

00:42:06.700 and then

00:42:07.600 behind the

00:42:08.300 crucifixion

00:42:09.060 was an

00:42:09.940 image of a

00:42:10.800 cross that

00:42:11.260 represented the

00:42:11.920 resurrection

00:42:12.380 and when I

00:42:13.600 look at that

00:42:14.240 I think

00:42:14.780 well it's

00:42:15.880 the benevolence

00:42:17.000 of the

00:42:17.320 mother that

00:42:17.800 gives rise

00:42:18.520 to the

00:42:19.180 heroic

00:42:19.820 individual

00:42:20.500 let's say

00:42:21.060 and what's

00:42:22.040 in the

00:42:22.360 central nature

00:42:22.980 of the

00:42:23.260 heroic

00:42:23.520 individual

00:42:24.000 and the

00:42:24.480 answer to

00:42:24.900 that is

00:42:25.220 something like

00:42:25.820 the courage

00:42:27.780 to confront

00:42:28.620 the catastrophe

00:42:29.480 of mortality

00:42:30.380 itself

00:42:31.180 voluntarily

00:42:32.120 and also

00:42:33.920 the willingness

00:42:34.480 to confront

00:42:35.120 the reality

00:42:35.740 of hell

00:42:36.300 and both

00:42:37.140 of those

00:42:37.440 are embedded

00:42:37.980 in the

00:42:38.480 passion

00:42:39.040 narrative

00:42:39.460 because Christ

00:42:40.300 of course

00:42:40.720 goes to

00:42:41.240 an ignominious

00:42:42.080 and undeserved

00:42:43.180 death

00:42:43.700 which is

00:42:44.120 the most

00:42:44.480 tragic thing

00:42:45.100 that can

00:42:45.420 happen to

00:42:45.860 anyone

00:42:46.100 in some

00:42:46.540 sense

00:42:46.880 but that's

00:42:47.720 not enough

00:42:48.220 because he

00:42:48.720 has to 0.89

00:42:49.040 harrow hell 0.84

00:42:49.540 itself 0.98

00:42:49.980 and you

00:42:50.860 might say

00:42:51.340 well what

00:42:51.720 does that

00:42:52.080 mean

00:42:52.320 psychologically

00:42:52.920 and I

00:42:53.360 would say

00:42:53.720 well we

00:42:54.080 don't only

00:42:54.540 have to

00:42:55.000 contend as

00:42:55.560 human beings

00:42:56.240 with the

00:42:57.060 reality of

00:42:57.760 suffering

00:42:58.180 and death

00:42:58.760 we have

00:42:59.660 to contend

00:43:00.780 with the

00:43:01.120 reality of

00:43:01.660 suffering

00:43:02.100 death

00:43:02.580 and malevolence

00:43:03.940 of a deep

00:43:04.940 kind

00:43:05.440 and if we

00:43:06.820 turn away

00:43:07.300 from that

00:43:07.820 then we

00:43:08.240 cannot

00:43:08.720 rise to

00:43:09.800 the occasion

00:43:10.420 and the

00:43:11.460 image that's

00:43:12.860 embedded in

00:43:13.460 the Judeo-Christian

00:43:14.240 tradition

00:43:14.800 especially in

00:43:16.300 relationship to

00:43:17.720 the crucifixion

00:43:18.460 and resurrection

00:43:19.040 is something

00:43:19.700 like the

00:43:20.220 notion that

00:43:20.760 if you gaze

00:43:21.540 upon that

00:43:22.260 which terrifies

00:43:23.280 you

00:43:23.700 long enough

00:43:26.460 and hard

00:43:26.900 enough and

00:43:27.420 with enough

00:43:27.940 diligence

00:43:28.420 you don't

00:43:29.660 see death

00:43:30.800 and destruction

00:43:31.380 you see the

00:43:32.140 possibility of

00:43:32.940 renewal and

00:43:33.540 rebirth

00:43:34.000 because that's

00:43:35.600 the spirit

00:43:36.120 that is called

00:43:36.980 out of you

00:43:37.520 if you're

00:43:37.940 courageous enough

00:43:38.620 to confront

00:43:39.200 the terrible

00:43:40.040 realities of

00:43:40.820 life

00:43:41.180 and as far

00:43:42.080 as I can

00:43:42.500 tell

00:43:42.820 that's

00:43:43.860 psychologically

00:43:44.460 true

00:43:45.260 and that's

00:43:46.440 what

00:43:46.600 and so

00:43:47.040 and then you

00:43:47.500 might say

00:43:48.000 because you

00:43:48.340 could take

00:43:48.640 that further

00:43:49.120 and you

00:43:49.380 could say

00:43:49.680 well what

00:43:50.440 does that

00:43:50.820 have to

00:43:51.240 do with

00:43:51.680 with God

00:43:52.900 and the

00:43:53.740 answer is

00:43:54.300 well that's

00:43:54.720 a very

00:43:54.960 difficult

00:43:55.320 question to

00:43:56.080 sort out

00:43:56.520 that's for

00:43:57.040 sure

00:43:57.260 but you

00:43:58.820 could say

00:43:59.960 more prosaically

00:44:01.040 that if the

00:44:02.840 spirit that

00:44:03.460 guides us

00:44:04.120 most

00:44:04.680 compellingly

00:44:06.380 and

00:44:06.740 and

00:44:08.080 and

00:44:08.720 and

00:44:09.320 profoundly

00:44:10.080 through life

00:44:11.040 is the

00:44:12.360 spirit that

00:44:13.020 calls us

00:44:13.580 to confront

00:44:14.440 the

00:44:15.320 catastrophic

00:44:16.160 our

00:44:18.100 catastrophic

00:44:18.780 fragility

00:44:19.480 and our

00:44:19.880 subjugation

00:44:20.520 to malevolence

00:44:21.280 if we have

00:44:21.780 to confront

00:44:22.260 that voluntarily

00:44:23.020 and that

00:44:23.820 is the

00:44:24.280 spirit that

00:44:24.940 strengthens

00:44:26.080 us and

00:44:26.500 revives us

00:44:27.220 how could

00:44:28.340 we possibly

00:44:29.060 regard that

00:44:29.860 as anything

00:44:30.360 other than

00:44:31.020 technically

00:44:32.060 profound

00:44:33.400 and divine

00:44:34.120 because it's

00:44:34.940 fundamental

00:44:35.560 and and I

00:44:36.860 think you

00:44:37.200 can you

00:44:37.540 can have a

00:44:38.020 fair bit

00:44:38.340 of that

00:44:38.560 discussion

00:44:38.960 outside the

00:44:39.840 theological

00:44:40.300 domain

00:44:40.840 like which

00:44:41.900 I'd rather

00:44:42.320 do most

00:44:42.920 of the

00:44:43.200 time right

00:44:43.740 because you

00:44:44.500 think you

00:44:44.960 should speak

00:44:45.540 of theological

00:44:46.100 matters at

00:44:46.780 your peril

00:44:47.300 but at the

00:44:48.180 very least

00:44:48.920 and so then

00:44:49.880 you think

00:44:50.280 well what

00:44:50.700 gives people

00:44:51.440 intrinsic worth

00:44:53.020 and dignity

00:44:53.580 and the fact

00:44:54.260 is that

00:44:54.760 they're capable

00:44:55.640 of bearing

00:44:56.460 up voluntarily

00:44:57.280 under the

00:44:57.880 brute force

00:44:58.980 load of

00:44:59.620 existence

00:45:00.540 and malevolence

00:45:01.380 and deserve

00:45:02.000 respect and

00:45:03.120 due credit

00:45:04.240 as a consequence

00:45:05.000 of that

00:45:05.460 strength

00:45:05.940 and if

00:45:06.460 your society

00:45:07.000 isn't predicated

00:45:07.680 on that

00:45:08.120 then it will

00:45:08.920 fall apart

00:45:09.600 and as far

00:45:10.820 as I can

00:45:11.220 tell that's

00:45:12.320 all just

00:45:12.800 true

00:45:13.300 I think

00:45:14.260 those are

00:45:14.600 simple truths

00:45:15.320 I think

00:45:15.780 that's exactly

00:45:16.480 right

00:45:16.960 I think

00:45:17.220 that's what

00:45:17.580 animated

00:45:18.200 previous

00:45:19.180 generations

00:45:19.820 of Americans

00:45:21.180 you know

00:45:21.600 we did have

00:45:22.760 a very strong

00:45:23.660 Christian culture

00:45:25.280 and the early

00:45:26.180 origins of the

00:45:27.380 country

00:45:27.740 and the Judeo-Christian

00:45:28.740 worldview was prevalent

00:45:29.980 until recent

00:45:31.380 generations

00:45:31.960 almost everyone

00:45:32.840 agreed

00:45:33.260 that's what

00:45:33.700 the studies

00:45:34.180 would show

00:45:34.720 and what

00:45:35.740 our common

00:45:36.100 experience

00:45:36.640 bears out 0.98

00:45:37.640 and so

00:45:38.040 they believed

00:45:39.100 in those

00:45:39.440 simple truths

00:45:39.940 that are

00:45:40.300 articulated

00:45:40.820 in the Bible

00:45:41.380 you could

00:45:41.700 talk about

00:45:42.140 it from

00:45:42.420 a psychological

00:45:43.220 perspective

00:45:43.820 but it's

00:45:45.320 difficult to

00:45:46.000 divorce the

00:45:46.500 faith aspect

00:45:47.120 from it

00:45:47.660 as having

00:45:48.280 guided and

00:45:48.840 encouraged

00:45:49.180 the people

00:45:49.620 the Bible

00:45:49.980 speaks clearly

00:45:50.700 to suffering

00:45:52.000 and trials

00:45:52.980 and how

00:45:53.320 that going

00:45:53.940 through that

00:45:54.480 produces

00:45:55.100 perseverance

00:45:55.720 perseverance

00:45:56.420 then produces

00:45:56.980 character

00:45:57.560 character

00:45:58.100 then produces

00:45:58.980 hope

00:45:59.420 and hope

00:46:00.020 is essential

00:46:00.520 I think

00:46:01.000 of the passages

00:46:01.560 in 1 Peter 5

00:46:02.580 Peter is writing

00:46:03.580 to the early

00:46:04.080 church

00:46:04.440 in those days

00:46:05.820 and he

00:46:06.240 says how

00:46:07.300 evil itself

00:46:08.500 evil incarnate

00:46:09.300 the devil

00:46:09.980 prowls around

00:46:11.000 like a roaring

00:46:11.740 lion

00:46:12.160 seeking whom

00:46:12.820 he may devour

00:46:13.600 talk about

00:46:14.100 malevolence

00:46:14.700 but the passage

00:46:15.900 of scripture

00:46:16.600 right before that

00:46:17.680 it says

00:46:18.560 do not worry

00:46:19.500 cast your worries

00:46:20.720 on God

00:46:21.480 because he cares

00:46:22.320 for you

00:46:22.780 so in the context

00:46:24.480 of all that

00:46:25.100 we understand

00:46:25.700 that sure

00:46:26.560 human nature

00:46:27.300 is evil

00:46:28.220 and capable

00:46:28.720 of all sorts

00:46:29.680 of malevolence

00:46:30.480 and evil

00:46:30.880 but God

00:46:32.020 is greater

00:46:32.420 than that

00:46:32.920 and that

00:46:33.340 belief

00:46:33.980 and that

00:46:34.280 animated

00:46:34.660 principle

00:46:35.140 is what

00:46:35.700 truly guided

00:46:36.680 our nation

00:46:37.120 through some

00:46:37.820 very dark

00:46:38.380 days

00:46:38.780 and I think

00:46:39.220 it can guide

00:46:39.620 us again

00:46:39.980 well we could

00:46:41.100 talk about

00:46:41.600 the necessity

00:46:42.200 of faith

00:46:42.780 in that regard

00:46:43.580 too

00:46:43.800 because

00:46:44.120 the more

00:46:46.040 scientific

00:46:46.980 oriented

00:46:48.520 rationalists

00:46:49.400 that are

00:46:50.480 opposed to

00:46:51.700 such views

00:46:53.040 presume

00:46:55.080 that

00:46:55.600 faith

00:46:57.180 is something

00:46:57.740 like the

00:46:58.200 willingness

00:46:58.500 to believe

00:46:59.220 things

00:46:59.680 that are

00:47:00.000 so preposterous

00:47:00.940 that no one

00:47:01.500 would believe

00:47:02.040 them

00:47:02.320 but that

00:47:03.240 as far as I

00:47:04.200 can tell

00:47:04.560 that isn't

00:47:05.060 what religious

00:47:05.640 faith means

00:47:06.480 religious faith

00:47:07.440 which would be

00:47:08.420 deep faith

00:47:09.220 because

00:47:09.740 the religious

00:47:11.180 is the

00:47:12.260 domain of

00:47:13.080 the profound

00:47:13.740 and the deep

00:47:14.420 religious faith

00:47:15.840 is something

00:47:16.380 like the

00:47:17.780 precondition

00:47:18.660 for action

00:47:19.320 in the face

00:47:20.040 of the unknown

00:47:20.700 so a couple

00:47:22.940 of examples

00:47:23.480 of that

00:47:23.960 one would be

00:47:24.880 well

00:47:25.180 why would

00:47:26.520 you tell

00:47:27.400 the truth

00:47:27.960 because you

00:47:29.400 don't have

00:47:29.880 any evidence

00:47:30.500 beforehand

00:47:31.100 that if you

00:47:32.340 tell the truth

00:47:32.940 things will

00:47:33.520 work out in

00:47:34.160 the best

00:47:34.440 possible way

00:47:35.040 for you

00:47:35.420 you have to

00:47:35.920 tell the truth

00:47:36.520 and then see

00:47:37.300 what happens

00:47:37.900 and that means

00:47:38.540 that in order

00:47:39.060 to do that

00:47:39.660 you have to

00:47:40.520 have faith

00:47:40.980 in the truth

00:47:41.600 and then you

00:47:42.680 might say

00:47:43.100 well why

00:47:43.500 would you

00:47:43.780 get married

00:47:44.340 and the answer

00:47:44.980 can't be

00:47:45.480 because you

00:47:46.060 know you'll

00:47:46.800 live happily

00:47:47.360 ever after

00:47:48.080 the answer

00:47:49.180 has to be

00:47:49.800 that you'll

00:47:50.220 take the

00:47:50.660 hand of your

00:47:51.180 wife and

00:47:51.680 jump into

00:47:52.260 the unknown

00:47:52.860 together

00:47:53.400 on the

00:47:54.500 basis of

00:47:55.100 faith that

00:47:55.800 if you

00:47:56.160 keep faith

00:47:57.100 with each

00:47:57.580 other and

00:47:58.340 you engage

00:47:58.940 in the

00:47:59.940 redemptive

00:48:00.820 dialogue that's

00:48:01.800 part of the

00:48:02.360 process of

00:48:03.000 the exchange

00:48:03.640 of the logos

00:48:04.340 that you'll

00:48:05.000 be able to

00:48:05.680 maneuver through

00:48:07.240 the catastrophes

00:48:08.540 of life more

00:48:09.180 effectively

00:48:09.720 and then if

00:48:12.440 you confront

00:48:13.100 a challenge

00:48:14.560 by definition

00:48:16.560 in some sense

00:48:17.300 a challenge

00:48:17.820 is a situation

00:48:19.020 that you don't

00:48:19.780 know if you

00:48:20.260 can master

00:48:20.940 and your

00:48:21.920 willingness to

00:48:22.660 confront that

00:48:23.340 can't be

00:48:24.020 based on the

00:48:24.680 evidence that

00:48:25.440 you'll win

00:48:26.700 and overcome

00:48:28.280 the challenge

00:48:28.900 because you

00:48:29.340 don't know

00:48:29.940 it has to be

00:48:30.920 a leap of

00:48:31.780 faith

00:48:32.160 and so

00:48:32.860 then the

00:48:33.700 question arises

00:48:34.400 well what

00:48:35.400 not do you

00:48:36.760 need faith

00:48:37.520 or should we

00:48:38.340 abandon faith

00:48:39.060 because I

00:48:39.440 don't think

00:48:39.760 that's possible

00:48:40.480 in the absence

00:48:41.400 of omniscience

00:48:42.340 and omnipresence

00:48:44.020 and omnipotence

00:48:44.860 what you have

00:48:46.160 to contend

00:48:46.820 with that

00:48:47.300 which is

00:48:47.700 beyond you

00:48:48.280 is faith

00:48:48.960 I can't see

00:48:50.280 how it can be

00:48:50.780 any other way

00:48:51.460 and then the

00:48:51.980 question this is

00:48:52.700 something conservatives

00:48:53.400 should be addressing

00:48:54.120 well faith in

00:48:55.540 what and the

00:48:56.680 inviolable dignity

00:48:57.600 of the human

00:48:58.260 individual that

00:48:59.220 might be a good

00:48:59.820 place to start

00:49:00.800 and then

00:49:02.460 conservatives can

00:49:03.200 talk about

00:49:03.720 responsibility too

00:49:04.940 because you

00:49:06.280 know I think

00:49:06.800 part of the

00:49:07.380 part of the

00:49:08.400 attraction that

00:49:09.260 the leftists

00:49:09.980 have for young

00:49:10.680 people is the

00:49:11.420 leftists say

00:49:12.000 well we'll

00:49:12.980 take care of

00:49:13.780 everyone

00:49:14.200 and the

00:49:15.460 conservatives

00:49:16.180 can say

00:49:16.800 you don't

00:49:18.040 exactly want

00:49:18.820 to take care

00:49:19.380 of everyone

00:49:19.840 because that

00:49:20.440 infantilizes them

00:49:21.620 you want to

00:49:22.120 give them a

00:49:22.860 domain where

00:49:24.400 they have the

00:49:25.540 option

00:49:26.560 the opportunity

00:49:28.660 to take care

00:49:30.920 of themselves

00:49:31.520 and the people

00:49:32.600 around them

00:49:33.140 and you want to

00:49:33.560 distribute that

00:49:34.140 as widely as

00:49:34.840 possible

00:49:35.300 and that's a

00:49:36.240 much more noble

00:49:36.900 vision I think

00:49:37.740 and it gives

00:49:38.260 people something

00:49:39.020 it isn't that it

00:49:40.440 gives people

00:49:40.980 something to do

00:49:41.660 it restores to

00:49:44.460 them the true

00:49:46.440 responsibility of

00:49:47.720 their life and

00:49:48.520 if the meaning

00:49:49.480 of their life is

00:49:50.380 dependent on

00:49:52.120 the adoption of

00:49:53.880 that responsibility

00:49:54.680 then it restores

00:49:55.620 the meaning to

00:49:56.240 their life

00:49:56.800 and I do think

00:49:58.220 young people

00:49:58.740 understand that

00:49:59.580 if you explain

00:50:00.580 it to them and

00:50:01.160 that they're dying

00:50:01.860 to hear that

00:50:02.580 you've been doing

00:50:04.660 a fantastic

00:50:05.260 work at that

00:50:07.240 and your writing

00:50:08.720 has inspired a

00:50:09.700 lot of young

00:50:10.280 men I know

00:50:10.920 and I've

00:50:12.180 walked with

00:50:12.640 you in the

00:50:13.240 halls of the

00:50:14.020 U.S.

00:50:14.340 Capitol and

00:50:14.900 seen young

00:50:16.060 men come up

00:50:16.940 and tell you

00:50:17.460 what a profound

00:50:18.060 effect that has

00:50:18.760 had because I

00:50:19.540 think you're

00:50:19.960 drawing them

00:50:21.500 to this again

00:50:22.480 what I regard

00:50:23.160 to be a simple

00:50:23.760 truth we find

00:50:24.560 responsibility in

00:50:26.300 our contribution

00:50:27.000 we find

00:50:27.660 responsibility in

00:50:28.580 our selfless

00:50:29.320 our value

00:50:29.980 and our

00:50:30.240 selflessness

00:50:30.780 we find

00:50:31.840 dignity in

00:50:32.440 our work

00:50:33.060 again because

00:50:33.860 that's how

00:50:34.520 their creator

00:50:35.000 made us

00:50:35.740 and when

00:50:36.600 you explore

00:50:37.760 that when

00:50:38.200 you pursue

00:50:38.680 it that

00:50:39.860 is the

00:50:40.700 pursuit

00:50:41.140 ultimately I

00:50:42.060 think of

00:50:42.540 happiness and

00:50:43.680 fulfillment

00:50:44.220 and you're

00:50:45.020 right

00:50:45.160 happiness in

00:50:46.740 that more

00:50:47.180 profound sense

00:50:48.280 that the

00:50:48.740 founders meant

00:50:49.460 because that's

00:50:50.120 not short-term

00:50:50.840 hedonism and

00:50:51.500 I think the way

00:50:52.360 it lays itself

00:50:53.060 out practically

00:50:53.880 and people can

00:50:54.940 think this through

00:50:55.520 for themselves

00:50:56.100 is that the

00:50:57.540 more you're

00:50:58.600 of service

00:50:59.220 and I don't

00:50:59.760 mean the

00:51:00.160 self I don't

00:51:00.920 mean resentful

00:51:02.100 martyrdom in

00:51:03.580 relationship to

00:51:04.280 other people I

00:51:05.000 mean balanced

00:51:06.120 service but the

00:51:07.500 more you offer

00:51:08.260 others the

00:51:09.840 more is returned

00:51:10.820 to you that's

00:51:11.860 obvious and you

00:51:13.620 know you want to

00:51:14.400 be around people

00:51:15.220 who are productive

00:51:16.120 and generous and

00:51:17.560 maybe they err on

00:51:18.580 the side of

00:51:19.100 productivity and

00:51:19.860 generosity to

00:51:20.600 some degree right

00:51:21.460 to just leave that

00:51:22.520 little margin of

00:51:23.320 error but it's

00:51:24.500 given that there

00:51:25.640 are so many other

00:51:26.380 people and just

00:51:27.100 one of you

00:51:27.800 obviously the more

00:51:29.240 you deliver to

00:51:29.980 other people you

00:51:31.240 know there's going

00:51:31.680 to be people who

00:51:32.240 take advantage of

00:51:33.040 that but that's

00:51:33.620 not the point

00:51:34.300 but on the

00:51:36.960 whole the more

00:51:38.160 you deliver to

00:51:38.900 other people

00:51:39.520 in faith the

00:51:41.800 more is going to

00:51:42.420 come back to you

00:51:43.100 especially over the

00:51:44.020 medium and long

00:51:45.140 run I mean how

00:51:46.200 could it be anywhere

00:51:46.980 anyway else because

00:51:47.980 obviously if all you

00:51:49.000 do is take people

00:51:50.660 figure that out very

00:51:51.680 rapidly and then

00:51:52.500 they stop wanting to

00:51:53.320 have anything to do

00:51:53.960 with you and so I

00:51:55.440 think there's again

00:51:56.500 it's a simple truth

00:51:57.420 because it's a

00:51:58.040 practical it's a

00:51:59.480 metaphysical reality

00:52:00.580 that meaning is to be

00:52:02.100 found in the service

00:52:02.800 of others and that

00:52:03.660 sovereignty might in

00:52:04.940 the highest sense

00:52:05.480 might be defined as

00:52:06.840 the broadest possible

00:52:08.020 service which is a

00:52:09.040 revolution in thinking

00:52:10.400 that was engendered in

00:52:11.880 large part by the

00:52:12.680 biblical writings but

00:52:13.940 I think that it's just

00:52:15.260 a practical truth you

00:52:16.380 can try this is a

00:52:18.140 clinical exercise

00:52:19.020 people who are 0.62

00:52:20.620 narcissistic and

00:52:21.880 disagreeable can be

00:52:23.740 led to do something

00:52:26.640 like something as

00:52:27.520 simple as well try

00:52:28.300 doing one thing

00:52:29.640 every day just for

00:52:31.660 someone else and see

00:52:32.940 what happens and what

00:52:33.980 generally happens is

00:52:34.960 their temperaments

00:52:36.860 improve and their

00:52:37.600 lives improve and I

00:52:39.140 don't think that's a

00:52:39.880 mystery once it's

00:52:40.820 laid out well of

00:52:41.660 course that's what's

00:52:42.360 going to happen if

00:52:43.100 you if you're you

00:52:44.480 know I think it's if

00:52:46.360 you if you work 10%

00:52:48.940 longer hours you make

00:52:50.520 40% more money and

00:52:53.900 so right and you can

00:52:55.620 see why that would be

00:52:56.460 right because if you

00:52:57.260 had 10 employees and

00:52:59.460 one of them is there

00:53:00.280 20 minutes early and

00:53:01.640 stays 20 minutes late

00:53:02.720 every day and you

00:53:04.820 notice that and then

00:53:05.860 an opportunity emerges

00:53:07.020 well who's going to

00:53:08.700 get the opportunity

00:53:09.480 it's self-evident in

00:53:12.620 that fundamental sense

00:53:14.320 and I love when when

00:53:16.060 human experience bears

00:53:17.580 out principles from

00:53:19.860 from the Bible you

00:53:20.780 know and it is a

00:53:21.420 biblical principle by

00:53:22.360 the way that the

00:53:23.460 greater the degree of

00:53:25.220 your self-sacrifice the

00:53:26.540 greater the reward in

00:53:27.700 terms of service to

00:53:28.860 others and to the

00:53:30.340 kingdom of God as it

00:53:31.240 were in that context

00:53:32.100 you know the the

00:53:33.640 widow's might when 0.98

00:53:35.040 when she gives what

00:53:36.700 little she has there's

00:53:37.700 a tremendous reward

00:53:38.700 whereas if the

00:53:39.500 millionaire donates

00:53:40.360 ten dollars maybe he

00:53:42.200 did it out of a

00:53:42.900 cheerful heart but

00:53:44.080 there's not a great

00:53:44.660 reward that comes with

00:53:45.520 that and so you know

00:53:46.440 that idea that belief I

00:53:48.180 think again to tie it

00:53:49.380 back to the to the

00:53:50.480 greatness of of

00:53:52.080 America the country

00:53:53.180 that I revere so so

00:53:54.740 much is that that

00:53:56.000 belief is what guided

00:53:57.080 us it's what developed

00:53:58.280 the extraordinary

00:53:59.120 economy and culture and

00:54:00.620 society that we had

00:54:01.720 here because persons

00:54:02.920 were guided by that

00:54:04.260 principle and it it

00:54:05.340 drove them to work

00:54:06.160 hard it drove them to

00:54:07.120 be entrepreneurs it

00:54:08.620 drove them to be job

00:54:09.960 creators to create more

00:54:11.660 opportunities for more

00:54:12.560 people it also helped

00:54:14.000 them fight against the

00:54:15.700 terrible attraction of

00:54:16.900 envy you know one of

00:54:18.120 the things that I've

00:54:18.900 seen that characterizes

00:54:20.180 the excesses of the

00:54:23.900 radicals on the left

00:54:25.160 is the proposition that

00:54:26.680 anybody who has any

00:54:28.720 more than I have

00:54:30.060 acquired that as a

00:54:31.760 consequence of

00:54:32.700 oppression and theft

00:54:34.100 and I think the

00:54:35.500 fundamental problem with

00:54:36.560 that is that if no one

00:54:39.360 is allowed to have any

00:54:40.700 more than anyone else

00:54:42.340 ever then no one ever

00:54:44.820 gets to have anything at

00:54:45.840 all and so I think part of

00:54:48.420 the biblical insistence

00:54:50.760 that envy covetousness

00:54:52.400 is a fundamental sin

00:54:54.540 which means to miss the

00:54:55.860 mark is that if some

00:54:58.660 people can't be richer

00:54:59.980 than others some of the

00:55:01.460 time no one can have any

00:55:03.280 wealth at all and you

00:55:04.760 know there's a big

00:55:05.380 anthropological mystery

00:55:06.800 which is that from from

00:55:11.020 the period of time about

00:55:12.060 350,000 years ago to

00:55:13.980 about 50,000 years ago

00:55:15.460 there doesn't seem to have

00:55:16.480 been much of an increment

00:55:17.600 in human well-being on

00:55:20.100 the material front and

00:55:21.780 no one can really figure

00:55:22.740 that out because

00:55:23.600 genetically speaking we're

00:55:25.720 not that much different

00:55:26.740 from our ancestors that

00:55:28.020 long ago and so what

00:55:30.120 changed and who knows

00:55:32.280 the answer to that but

00:55:33.700 one possible answer is

00:55:35.260 that well we were caught

00:55:36.360 in something like a

00:55:38.900 self-defeating spiral of

00:55:42.000 envy such that and

00:55:43.180 there's good

00:55:43.520 anthropological evidence for

00:55:44.800 this so that in most

00:55:45.740 societies anyone who had

00:55:47.880 any more than anyone

00:55:48.920 else immediately became a

00:55:50.700 target for thugs and

00:55:52.440 predators who just killed 0.99

00:55:54.560 them and took what they

00:55:55.540 had and that just stops

00:55:57.620 all economic growth

00:55:58.920 whatsoever and so if

00:56:00.000 there's no tolerance for

00:56:01.200 if there's no tolerance for

00:56:03.340 inequality it's possible

00:56:04.560 that there's no way of

00:56:05.840 generating wealth because

00:56:07.060 wealth has to start

00:56:08.120 somewhere and then be

00:56:09.040 distributed it can't be

00:56:10.480 everywhere at once

00:56:11.360 instantly and so that's

00:56:14.580 right and the the the

00:56:16.700 belief that you've just

00:56:17.980 described is what has

00:56:19.160 driven in our times the

00:56:21.480 radical left to grow this

00:56:23.820 massive controlling

00:56:25.220 government the the state

00:56:27.060 that is going to be the

00:56:28.540 great leveler that is

00:56:29.580 going to you know equalize

00:56:31.040 everything and redistribute

00:56:32.380 the wealth and all these

00:56:33.660 other policies they produce

00:56:34.700 because what they're doing

00:56:37.300 really is institutionalizing

00:56:39.600 envy and division and

00:56:42.140 and hatred for that

00:56:43.120 matter it's uh you know

00:56:44.220 class envy and it's how 0.98

00:56:45.400 they divide it's the

00:56:46.200 Marxist principle really to

00:56:47.480 turn the population against

00:56:49.160 one another but they've had

00:56:50.680 some success with that and

00:56:51.720 so again back to what

00:56:53.200 conservatives should be

00:56:54.060 doing right now we have to

00:56:55.060 push back against that we

00:56:56.320 have to explain to people

00:56:58.000 what the origin of these

00:56:59.040 crazy policies is and what

00:57:01.240 the antidote is and I think

00:57:02.740 again that the solutions are

00:57:04.800 the guiding principles I

00:57:06.280 think what guided our

00:57:07.220 country from its origin is

00:57:08.760 what needs to guide us

00:57:09.720 again and uh it's it's not

00:57:12.080 a difficult argument to

00:57:13.080 make if you have enough

00:57:14.700 time to lay these

00:57:15.720 principles out how do you

00:57:17.520 see that being translated

00:57:19.120 into the principles that

00:57:22.420 you were discussing how do

00:57:23.880 you see that making it how

00:57:26.160 do you see those principles

00:57:27.160 making themselves manifest in

00:57:29.240 the short to medium term on

00:57:30.940 the policy front in the

00:57:32.800 United States in the

00:57:33.620 foreseeable future what's

00:57:34.820 your hope what's your hope

00:57:36.400 for transformation in a

00:57:38.100 more detailed manner

00:57:39.040 because we've been

00:57:39.560 speaking at a high and

00:57:41.480 broad level let's say one

00:57:44.040 of the advantages to be in

00:57:45.080 the political arena like

00:57:46.260 you are is that well at

00:57:47.640 least in principle these

00:57:48.680 principles can be

00:57:49.540 transformed into policy and

00:57:51.060 that's a tricky thing to

00:57:52.140 manage and so what are you

00:57:53.680 excited about in on the

00:57:56.260 visionary front let's say on

00:57:57.560 the conservative side well a

00:57:59.640 lot I think we have a

00:58:01.400 tremendous and I believe an

00:58:03.060 historic opportunity in the

00:58:04.780 days ahead we have a lot to

00:58:06.640 repair and restore in this

00:58:08.420 country and and I'm excited

00:58:09.880 because I genuinely believe

00:58:11.300 that as conservatives we

00:58:13.220 have the answers to all the

00:58:14.380 great challenges facing the

00:58:15.500 country part of the reason

00:58:17.260 I'm excited and I know that

00:58:18.580 this can and will work is

00:58:20.380 that we we sort of have had a

00:58:21.840 trial run at this already

00:58:23.420 you know the first two years

00:58:25.000 of the Trump administration we

00:58:26.280 achieved some amazing things

00:58:28.080 for the economy for national

00:58:30.140 security for the stability of

00:58:31.780 all persons the opportunity

00:58:33.220 that they had and that is

00:58:35.080 because we implemented some

00:58:36.920 of these policies some of

00:58:38.720 this philosophy that we've

00:58:39.820 been talking about for

00:58:41.640 generations we actually did

00:58:43.160 it Trump being that the bull

00:58:45.580 in the arena so to speak was

00:58:47.660 was bold enough to advance

00:58:48.940 them and that's why we had

00:58:49.920 the great results that we did

00:58:52.140 and then when we shifted in I

00:58:53.680 mentioned in the the following

00:58:54.920 Congress in the 116th

00:58:56.400 Congress the one before this

00:58:57.420 one when we had the Republican

00:58:59.020 Study Committee working in the

00:59:00.280 minority we knew we could not 1.00

00:59:01.500 advance legislation to the

00:59:02.680 floor because Nancy Pelosi the 0.99

00:59:04.160 speaker would not allow it but

00:59:05.860 we generated what we did was

00:59:07.640 got all the conservatives to

00:59:08.680 work together we we divided

00:59:09.900 everyone into task forces and

00:59:11.460 working groups in their areas

00:59:12.740 of expertise and interest and

00:59:14.260 the things that animated them

00:59:15.280 and and we created policies in

00:59:17.480 all these various arenas model

00:59:19.980 legislation things that we have

00:59:21.860 prepared and ready and when we

00:59:23.580 were doing that Jordan we we

00:59:25.020 worked with and consulted with

00:59:26.760 groups along the conservative

00:59:28.620 spectrum these interest groups

00:59:30.340 and think tanks and public

00:59:31.820 interest groups that they came

00:59:32.940 together with us in work

00:59:34.040 sessions and there was a lot of

00:59:35.440 brainstorming and collaboration

00:59:36.640 that went into this and there

00:59:38.260 was a real esprit de corps and a

00:59:39.820 real encouragement that

00:59:40.840 developed amongst the members

00:59:42.240 and and these other persons on

00:59:44.600 the outside because they saw

00:59:46.240 that this could come together

00:59:47.280 and we could formulate a real

00:59:48.420 plan so you know we published

00:59:49.860 that that document I told you

00:59:51.380 about the conservative playbook

00:59:52.840 for a Republican led majority and

00:59:54.820 that playbook is an example of

00:59:56.620 the things that we will advance

00:59:57.920 you know we've run in this

00:59:59.000 election cycle on what we call

01:00:00.720 the commitment to America and

01:00:02.540 that is sort of a our current

01:00:04.400 take on what Newt Gingrich and

01:00:06.980 the Republicans did back in the

01:00:08.780 mid 90s when they took control

01:00:10.220 for the Republicans for the

01:00:11.420 House first time in 40 years

01:00:12.660 the contract with America but

01:00:13.920 that commitment says to the

01:00:15.420 people we these are the things

01:00:17.240 we believe in this is what we're

01:00:18.440 going towards and going to work

01:00:20.520 for and we're going to be

01:00:21.340 presenting that to the American

01:00:22.280 people over the next two years

01:00:23.520 they're going to see a stark

01:00:25.060 contrast between our philosophy

01:00:27.240 and what that produces and and

01:00:29.760 the opposing philosophy of the

01:00:30.800 radical left now is President

01:00:32.340 Biden going to sign all this

01:00:33.320 into law that's a big question

01:00:34.520 that no one can answer except

01:00:35.560 him remember and this is

01:00:37.060 important to point out

01:00:37.820 historically when the

01:00:39.220 conservatives retook the

01:00:40.200 majority under Newt Gingrich and

01:00:41.640 the team back in the 90s Bill

01:00:43.340 Clinton was the president he

01:00:44.880 never saw the light but he felt

01:00:47.000 the heat and he moderated and he

01:00:49.040 he decided to work with them and

01:00:50.640 so they were able to do some

01:00:51.820 meaningful things on welfare

01:00:53.220 reform and they checked off the

01:00:54.800 boxes on the contract with

01:00:56.240 America the question is would

01:00:57.720 Joe Biden does he have it

01:00:59.000 within him to do that to

01:01:00.620 revert to his previous form to

01:01:02.140 be more moderate to work with

01:01:03.520 this Congress and get some

01:01:04.740 things done for the people

01:01:05.720 he's the only person who can

01:01:07.180 answer that question and it's a

01:01:08.360 real challenge it's a rhetorical

01:01:10.040 question but it's a big one

01:01:11.020 right now yeah well the United

01:01:13.060 States you know looking at it

01:01:14.440 from the perspective of an

01:01:15.720 outsider to some degree I mean

01:01:17.220 your country is remarkably

01:01:19.040 functional and generally you guys

01:01:21.900 muddled through uphill and so

01:01:24.620 maybe there's reason well and

01:01:26.220 that that's how it looks I mean

01:01:27.420 so maybe there's reason for

01:01:28.800 optimism on that front if there

01:01:30.320 was intelligent policies that

01:01:32.300 were productive that were be put

01:01:33.600 being put forth by the

01:01:34.740 conservatives and there was

01:01:35.920 compelling practical reasons to

01:01:39.060 abide by that it's possible that

01:01:40.780 Biden would be someone that could

01:01:42.280 be worked with and part of that's

01:01:44.820 obviously dependent on who has

01:01:46.760 the power granted to them as a

01:01:48.560 consequence of the elections and

01:01:49.920 that does look like that's going

01:01:51.100 to switch what do you see like if

01:01:53.460 you could see what you wanted to

01:01:56.200 have happen let's say on the

01:01:57.560 energy front over the next five

01:01:59.140 to ten years what would you

01:02:00.320 what would you envision because

01:02:01.780 energy has become a real issue not

01:02:03.560 only in the United States but

01:02:06.040 obviously globally and so what do

01:02:08.260 you see what would you like to see

01:02:09.500 happen what do you think what do

01:02:11.200 you think is possible on the

01:02:12.200 energy front well energy is is

01:02:14.360 actually pretty simple we need to

01:02:16.240 do exactly the opposite of what the

01:02:17.820 administration has advanced and and we

01:02:21.240 have the the test case because we

01:02:23.440 can revert to two years earlier and

01:02:25.800 see what the Trump administration

01:02:27.120 did the reason that we were leading

01:02:29.740 the world and McCain became energy

01:02:31.600 dominant at that time and we're a net

01:02:33.520 exporter is because we unleashed

01:02:35.960 American energy we allowed for the 0.98

01:02:38.520 vigorous exploration we allowed for

01:02:40.600 production we were working to complete

01:02:42.740 the keystone pipeline and and make the

01:02:44.600 channels of distribution easier you

01:02:46.940 know there's a great demand for

01:02:48.760 example for liquefied natural gas LNG

01:02:51.100 which is a big export product of my

01:02:53.280 state around the world I was just over

01:02:55.560 on a congressional trip not long ago in

01:02:58.300 southern Europe we went to Portugal

01:03:00.100 Spain and Greece and Croatia there is a

01:03:03.420 huge desire and need for that to be

01:03:06.000 transported there but you know this

01:03:07.900 president turned off our spigots

01:03:09.720 inexplicably I mean it's it's it's just

01:03:13.160 a terribly destructive set of policies

01:03:14.880 so we will go in and reverse it yeah

01:03:17.620 well we should point out too for those

01:03:20.140 of you who are listening who are of a

01:03:21.920 more liberal or progressive bent is that

01:03:23.960 if you really want to serve the poor

01:03:26.280 there isn't anything you can do that's

01:03:30.060 better for the poor than to make energy

01:03:33.120 plentiful and cheap because energy is

01:03:35.760 equivalent to work and so what you're

01:03:38.540 doing by making energy cheap is expanding

01:03:41.620 the degree to which poor people can work

01:03:44.440 productively there's no difference

01:03:46.300 between cheap energy and work we we want

01:03:48.440 energy because it does work essentially

01:03:50.260 and so this is another thing that

01:03:52.780 disturbs me and puzzles me so much about

01:03:55.100 what's happened on the left you know I

01:03:57.020 used to when I was a kid a teenager I

01:04:00.240 worked with the socialists in Canada and

01:04:02.020 most of them at that point especially in

01:04:04.260 the leadership were old labor leaders and

01:04:07.320 a lot of these people really were on the

01:04:08.860 side of the working class and and so when

01:04:12.060 push came to shove they were trying to

01:04:13.980 serve the working class now you could 0.70

01:04:15.480 debate the utility of the policies they

01:04:17.740 use that's not the point but when I see

01:04:20.280 the radical progressive types who claim

01:04:22.780 to stand for the oppressed simultaneously

01:04:24.960 insist that the only way toward

01:04:27.460 planetary salvation is to crank energy

01:04:29.560 prices up I think well you just have to do a

01:04:32.320 rudimentary economic analysis to

01:04:34.100 understand that if you make energy more

01:04:35.740 expensive you put those who are marginal

01:04:38.140 into absolute poverty that's what

01:04:40.520 happens and and there's a lot of people

01:04:43.000 like that so it's not that you just

01:04:44.440 affect a tiny proportion of people and

01:04:46.800 hypothetically you're dooming and

01:04:48.780 devastating the very people that your

01:04:50.920 compassion is leading you to serve and

01:04:53.420 so that's a great mystery to me I don't

01:04:55.720 it's very very stunning to me that when

01:04:59.700 push comes to shove the left will

01:05:01.400 sacrifice the poor to appease the 0.99

01:05:03.980 hypothetical good interests of the

01:05:05.660 planet and then of course that doesn't

01:05:07.260 even work because the other thing I

01:05:08.720 learned when I was pursuing the

01:05:11.300 environmental studies that I pursued was

01:05:13.760 that if you get people past a certain

01:05:16.100 threshold of wealth would look which

01:05:17.820 looks like about five thousand dollars a

01:05:19.540 year on the GDP front they immediately

01:05:21.740 start taking a longer term view because

01:05:24.940 they're not scrabbling in the dirt

01:05:27.040 literally to conjure up their next meal and

01:05:30.260 so they can start being concerned with what

01:05:32.620 really issues of medium to long-term

01:05:34.880 sustainability which in principle is

01:05:36.760 exactly what the environmentalists want

01:05:38.400 so I read all that I thought wow you know

01:05:40.740 we could have our cake and eat it too it

01:05:42.320 looks like the best way forward to a

01:05:45.640 sustainable natural world is by eradicating

01:05:50.780 absolute poverty well what a good deal

01:05:52.960 that is there's no people who are

01:05:54.480 absolutely poor anymore and the natural

01:05:57.320 world is going to thrive in a more

01:05:58.920 sustainable manner who could possibly be

01:06:01.280 opposed to that and the answer seems to

01:06:03.500 be people who are so antithetically

01:06:06.300 opposed to capitalism that they would

01:06:08.520 destroy abundance and the planet itself

01:06:10.980 just to do in those they deem as evil on

01:06:14.580 the capitalistic front it's just it's

01:06:18.100 just it's breathtaking and and that that

01:06:22.960 does open up an opportunity for

01:06:24.720 conservatives and so hopefully they'll be

01:06:27.760 there to take the opportunity so well

01:06:30.680 that's right and and I think we we have

01:06:32.660 to part of the way we take that

01:06:33.940 opportunity is we articulate clearly

01:06:35.760 what it is we're about and what it is

01:06:38.000 we're trying to achieve and I think that

01:06:39.800 you know what we have to ask the

01:06:41.680 question what what is the goal of our

01:06:43.560 economic policy what is the goal of tax

01:06:45.840 policy why are we doing this well we want

01:06:48.760 all boats to rise we want more people to

01:06:51.340 do better we want to broaden the path we

01:06:53.080 out of poverty for more people and the way

01:06:55.580 you do that is to allow that economy to

01:06:58.300 thrive you get the all-controlling centralized

01:07:00.480 governmental power out of the way and you

01:07:03.100 allow entrepreneurship to thrive again

01:07:05.280 that's what built the U.S. economy and

01:07:06.960 that's that's what we've deviated from at

01:07:09.220 our peril and and I think the people that

01:07:10.940 are hurt the worst as you say are lower

01:07:13.060 income persons or on that that that lower

01:07:17.000 the lower levels of the economy because

01:07:18.460 they have less offer less opportunity and

01:07:21.220 and and that that breeds hopelessness and

01:07:23.840 all these other things we're talking about you

01:07:25.520 find dignity and work and you find greater

01:07:28.200 dignity and harder work that's been our

01:07:30.420 common experience that's what life tells

01:07:32.140 you and so we need to get out of the way a

01:07:34.020 lot of people do that and adventure yeah

01:07:35.460 well that's the thing is is that that

01:07:37.260 that that eradicating obstacles on the

01:07:40.180 entrepreneurial and and and business front

01:07:42.820 let's say that isn't merely a matter of

01:07:45.140 economic utility it's that that means that

01:07:48.040 you clear out the obstacles to people

01:07:50.860 adopting responsibility and being productive

01:07:53.600 and generous in their own personal domains and

01:07:56.460 that is where the meaning in life is

01:07:58.440 situated most fundamentally and so it's not

01:08:01.320 merely an economic issue it's an existential

01:08:03.240 issue and a and a psychological issue and

01:08:06.460 possibly a theological issue as well and

01:08:09.200 and that definitely needs to be

01:08:11.100 communicated to young people and I think

01:08:12.820 it can be effectively I want to I want I

01:08:14.860 know we're pressed for time today and and

01:08:17.940 I wanted to close maybe with something also

01:08:20.160 practical that one of the things I've been

01:08:22.980 doing as I've been going around lecturing is

01:08:24.760 suggesting to my audiences that they try to

01:08:26.860 find something that's civically responsible

01:08:29.800 to do and that would be joining a club of

01:08:33.800 some sort or a church or some some

01:08:35.640 organization beyond the family let's say

01:08:38.020 that's not immediately self-serving that's

01:08:40.080 it's oriented to to a common goal and so one

01:08:43.920 thing that might be useful for people who are

01:08:46.120 listening to hear is what do you think young

01:08:47.980 people can do if they want to get involved

01:08:50.620 on the political front because people often

01:08:54.020 just don't know what to do so practically

01:08:56.060 speaking what steps could they take if they

01:08:58.040 wanted to do if they wanted to start working

01:08:59.900 on the political front yeah there's a lot of

01:09:02.340 opportunities for that and I'm glad you asked

01:09:04.200 it I'm often asked by young people how to get

01:09:06.600 involved how do I get from where I am now to

01:09:09.260 where you are and I you know it's it's hard

01:09:12.020 work you have to feel called to it to a

01:09:15.280 certain degree we could talk about that unpack

01:09:17.340 that as well but the the way to find out if

01:09:20.160 you have an aptitude for it is to is to go

01:09:22.020 and volunteer and and there are lots of

01:09:23.960 opportunities in every community across our

01:09:26.240 country to do that you have local you know for

01:09:28.900 example Republican clubs in almost every

01:09:30.880 county in America and they're always looking

01:09:32.840 for volunteers and certainly young people who

01:09:35.060 are anxious to get involved and they'll put

01:09:36.960 your right to work working on a campaign

01:09:38.460 so let's talk about that really practically so

01:09:41.820 you go sure you go you take your phone and you

01:09:45.100 look up Republican what what would you google

01:09:48.300 and and are you looking for a phone number

01:09:50.180 an email address how do you offer your

01:09:52.060 services you could begin at the state party

01:09:54.480 level every state in the United States has

01:09:57.020 its own Republican Party look them up online

01:09:59.960 and call them up and say hey I'm a young

01:10:02.220 person and in this particular community and I

01:10:04.440 want to get involved who should I talk with

01:10:06.300 and they'll connect you with the local

01:10:08.200 leaders if you don't know who those local

01:10:09.760 leaders are of the local Republican club

01:10:12.360 often they'll there'll be weekly luncheons

01:10:14.720 and in these communities where you can go and

01:10:17.040 listen and and learn and and become a part of

01:10:19.680 it look there's a great need a great desire

01:10:22.860 for young people to be involved and and when

01:10:25.260 when they do show that interest that excites

01:10:29.000 the older folks who are involved and they'll

01:10:31.680 they'll certainly find a place I know a lot of

01:10:34.180 I could give you a lot of examples of young

01:10:35.540 people who started exactly that way and now

01:10:38.120 they're chiefs of staff on Capitol Hill and

01:10:40.680 they're they're running you know large

01:10:42.260 organizations it does not take long to move

01:10:46.100 up in these arenas if you really show an

01:10:48.500 interest and an aptitude and again if you're

01:10:50.260 willing to work hard so we certainly encourage

01:10:52.320 it okay so so that's worth laying out so to

01:10:55.060 all of those to all of you who are listening

01:10:57.660 who are wondering what to do so make that

01:11:00.140 phone call or go on to Google and do the

01:11:02.480 search and make some contact and maybe be

01:11:04.820 persistent enough to do it two or three times

01:11:07.180 don't just quit if it doesn't happen

01:11:08.800 immediately it's going to take a while

01:11:10.660 perhaps to be connected to the right people

01:11:12.660 and then the next thing to realize is that

01:11:15.080 if you show up and you're reliable and you do

01:11:18.260 the work that's assigned to you you'll be

01:11:21.000 amazed at how rapidly doors will open to

01:11:23.340 you because all of these organizations are

01:11:25.200 perennially desperate for help there's always

01:11:29.120 more work than they can do and so if you go

01:11:31.640 there and you do the work and you're reasonable

01:11:34.880 and reliable and you're able to learn and

01:11:36.820 willing to learn then what will happen is

01:11:38.760 there'll be more opportunities than you know

01:11:40.620 what to do with and so I see so many young

01:11:43.320 people I think they're cynical often because 0.96

01:11:45.660 they're ignorant in some real sense they 0.76

01:11:47.980 don't understand that if they knocked on the 1.00

01:11:50.700 door let's say in this particular situation

01:11:52.700 it would open and how quickly that would happen

01:11:55.900 and so if you if you would rather do something

01:11:59.520 other than be bitter and cynical about the

01:12:01.460 current political situation and you're young

01:12:03.320 well you could try getting involved because

01:12:05.340 you'll find out that actually works way way

01:12:08.100 faster than you think and so that's worth

01:12:11.420 knowing and it's worth trying and it would

01:12:13.740 be lovely to see a revival of civic

01:12:15.540 responsibility on the local front and the

01:12:18.140 other thing I might say about that too for

01:12:20.020 everybody who's listening it's something to

01:12:21.560 think about is that there are always people

01:12:24.000 who are looking for power and you know that's

01:12:25.980 one of the things the leftists point out

01:12:27.520 although they attribute everything to the

01:12:29.280 power motive and that's not reasonable

01:12:31.000 but here's a here's a rule all the

01:12:34.620 responsibility you don't take for your own

01:12:36.980 governance will be vacuumed up by tyrants

01:12:39.200 that's the rule and and so if you don't

01:12:43.740 shoulder your civic duty then someone

01:12:47.080 tyrannical will take that responsibility and 0.71

01:12:49.900 turn it into their power and then they will

01:12:51.960 compel you that's what will absolutely

01:12:54.500 happen and so not only should you do this

01:12:57.140 because it might be a great adventure and

01:12:59.640 because you could get involved deeply in the

01:13:01.500 political world and much faster than you

01:13:03.140 think and that's the carrot let's say but the

01:13:05.720 stick is if you don't do it someone else will

01:13:08.520 do it for you and it won't be someone you want

01:13:10.960 so that's how tyranny arises out of individual

01:13:14.600 atomization and the abdication of responsibility

01:13:17.260 it's so well said and one of the presuppositions of

01:13:19.920 our grand experiment and self-governance here in

01:13:22.020 the u.s. is that we'll have an informed and engaged

01:13:25.100 electorate and you have a duty as a citizen to get

01:13:29.240 involved you have a duty and and to tie it back to the

01:13:32.060 biblical admonition you also have a responsibility if

01:13:34.900 you're a if you're a christian let's say to to be

01:13:37.920 engaged to be salt and light in your community and by the

01:13:40.780 way what what you said just a moment ago is also a

01:13:43.000 biblical principle if you're faithful and little

01:13:44.920 you'll soon be trusted with more i mean these are just

01:13:47.800 principles that bear out with common experience and you

01:13:50.780 gotta give it a try if you haven't that's the

01:13:52.660 encouragement yeah well one of the things that happens

01:13:54.860 in universities that i think so pathological is that

01:13:57.660 young people who are actually looking to shoulder some

01:14:01.240 proper civic responsibility let's say because they feel

01:14:04.260 called to bear some collective responsibility are

01:14:10.260 immediately enticed into political activism and that

01:14:14.260 stands for political action and the truth of the matter is

01:14:17.700 it's not very effective it's also morally self-righteous often

01:14:21.020 in an appalling way and it leads to demonization and

01:14:23.700 polarization and an easy sense of moral superiority and

01:14:27.900 instead instead and what could happen instead is that young

01:14:31.620 people could be invited to join the political party of their

01:14:35.580 choice in exactly the manner that you just described and

01:14:38.680 actually partake in the process itself and that's actually

01:14:41.900 more sustaining and more effective than pretending everything's so

01:14:46.580 corrupt that nothing can possibly be changed and waving placards at

01:14:50.500 those you think are agents of satan so

01:14:53.820 exactly and if you go ahead jordan sorry

01:14:58.420 oh well so we're we're coming to the end of this session

01:15:01.900 um i'm going to talk to congressman johnson for another half an

01:15:07.200 hour on the daily wire plus platform about the development of his

01:15:10.160 particular political career and that'll enable us to delve more

01:15:13.120 deeply into how these things might unfold and so if you want to hear the that

01:15:18.080 part of the conversation then i would invite you to go over to the daily

01:15:21.760 wire plus platform the daily wire plus people are making these

01:15:24.620 podcasts professionally podcast professionally produced podcasts

01:15:28.960 available to everyone uh free of charge as they always have been and so

01:15:33.620 thank you to them for that but we have this additional opportunity to

01:15:38.000 delve into the biographical details of congressman johnson's stellar career and

01:15:43.040 that should be extraordinarily interesting so

01:15:44.920 to all of you who have been watching and listening

01:15:47.320 thank you for your time and attention and um i would say

01:15:51.580 think through the things we talked about today

01:15:54.020 carefully you know you are uh a sovereign citizen in some real sense right

01:15:59.280 with all the rights and the responsibilities that go along with that and

01:16:02.880 it's definitely the case that you could find the meaningful adventure of your

01:16:07.360 life in the bearing of that citizenship responsibility and i don't

01:16:12.360 think there's any reason to be so cynical about the current state of

01:16:15.600 of affairs in the west and particularly in the u.s to throw up your hands and say

01:16:20.020 well what can i do about it's like join a political party and volunteer your

01:16:24.520 services and find out how radically your life will be transformed over like a

01:16:28.720 three-year period because it will definitely happen if you're in there and

01:16:31.760 you're committed and you show up and you pay attention and you're reliable

01:16:36.120 doors will open like you can't imagine and then you can go change the world in

01:16:40.720 the way that it might be might need to be changed and you won't be wondering what

01:16:44.260 you should do with your life and so that's a call to civic responsibility

01:16:48.960 thank you very much congressman johnson it was very good talking with you and i'm

01:16:52.820 looking forward to continuing our conversation on the daily wire plus

01:16:55.860 platform i've enjoyed it thanks so much

01:16:58.660 hello everyone i would encourage you to continue listening to my conversation

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The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast - November 28, 2022

309. Oil, Inflation, and the Way Forward ｜ Congressman Mike Johnson

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