1 00:00:00,680 --> 00:00:02,840 Speaker 1: To night, Michael Brown joins me here, the former FEMA 2 00:00:02,880 --> 00:00:05,960 Speaker 1: director of talk show host Michael Brown. Brownie, no, Brownie, 3 00:00:05,960 --> 00:00:08,000 Speaker 1: You're doing a heck of a job the Weekend with 4 00:00:08,160 --> 00:00:11,920 Speaker 1: Michael Brown broadcasting Life from Denver, Colorado. You've tuned into 5 00:00:11,920 --> 00:00:13,680 Speaker 1: the Weekend with Michael Brown. I'm really glad to have 6 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:16,080 Speaker 1: you joining the program today. A couple of the rules 7 00:00:16,079 --> 00:00:18,320 Speaker 1: of engagement. If you want to tell me anything or 8 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:21,120 Speaker 1: ask me anything, you want to comment, you like something, 9 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:23,040 Speaker 1: you dislike something, or like in the last hour, I'm 10 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:26,239 Speaker 1: curious what you thought about my conclusion that I don't 11 00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:29,800 Speaker 1: think we should invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota right now. 12 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:32,120 Speaker 1: I'd be curious what you thought about that. The text 13 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:34,600 Speaker 1: line number is three three one zero three three three 14 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:38,000 Speaker 1: one zero three. Key word is Mike or Michael. Please 15 00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:41,960 Speaker 1: do me a favor, go follow me on social media Facebook, Instagram, X. 16 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:45,120 Speaker 1: They're all at Michael D. Brown. At Michael D. Brown. Yeah, 17 00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:48,199 Speaker 1: I finally got extra change mine. They had they had 18 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:50,919 Speaker 1: at Mike available. They went in money for that one, 19 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:53,280 Speaker 1: and I wasn't willing to pay for that, so I 20 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 1: got at Michael D. Brown. So ex Facebook, Instagram, they're 21 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: all at Michael d. Brown and then if you like, 22 00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:02,840 Speaker 1: I just want to remind you if you like what 23 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:05,840 Speaker 1: we do on Saturdays, yeah, I think you'd like what 24 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:08,680 Speaker 1: we do during the weekday also. And that's pretty easy 25 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:10,720 Speaker 1: to do if you're if you're listening to me now 26 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:14,320 Speaker 1: and one of the affiliates other than in Denver, if 27 00:01:14,319 --> 00:01:15,920 Speaker 1: you're listening on one of the affiliates, of course this 28 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:18,040 Speaker 1: applies for Denver too. You can do it either way. 29 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:21,760 Speaker 1: You can also stream the weekday program, so I air 30 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 1: Monday through Friday from nine to noon mountain time, and 31 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:30,679 Speaker 1: the station in Denver is KOA. KOA is the station 32 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:34,839 Speaker 1: that's it on a dial at eight fifty am ninety 33 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:38,280 Speaker 1: four to one FM, So on your iHeart app set 34 00:01:38,319 --> 00:01:41,160 Speaker 1: either eight fifty am or ninety four to one FM 35 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:44,200 Speaker 1: as a preset, and then you can listen and stream 36 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:47,640 Speaker 1: live from nine to noon mountain time, or you can 37 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:51,320 Speaker 1: always download the podcast. The podcast is The Situation with 38 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:54,760 Speaker 1: Michael Brown. Once you find that in your podcast app, 39 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:57,480 Speaker 1: hit that subscribe button, leave a five star review to 40 00:01:57,480 --> 00:01:59,919 Speaker 1: help us beat the algorithm, and then that will automate 41 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:04,000 Speaker 1: automatically download for you five days of the weekday program 42 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:08,160 Speaker 1: and the weekend program. This hour, I want to get 43 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:15,720 Speaker 1: fairly general about something the United States of America. I'm 44 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:19,240 Speaker 1: very lucky to have been born in this country. And 45 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:24,680 Speaker 1: everybody has positive and negative thoughts about the time that 46 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:28,560 Speaker 1: we live in. There are things that I like about 47 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:32,919 Speaker 1: this period of time that fascinate me in a positive 48 00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:37,040 Speaker 1: way and fascinate me in a negative way. I'm happy 49 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:39,280 Speaker 1: to be living in this period of time, even with 50 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:43,320 Speaker 1: all of the nuances and all of the things that 51 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:47,519 Speaker 1: could go horribly wrong or they could go horribly right. 52 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:52,560 Speaker 1: But considering all of that, there's no other place I'd 53 00:02:52,639 --> 00:02:56,480 Speaker 1: rather be than in this country. And that's because and 54 00:02:56,560 --> 00:03:01,440 Speaker 1: I know that I am a product of both my environment, 55 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:05,760 Speaker 1: how is how I was raised by my parents, the 56 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:10,760 Speaker 1: education that I got, both you know, secondary and higher education. 57 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:15,960 Speaker 1: I'm an influence of the genes the DNA that I 58 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:19,000 Speaker 1: got from my grandparents and great grandparents, and they're all 59 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:21,880 Speaker 1: my four bears get I get all of that, and 60 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:24,120 Speaker 1: so I consider myself to be a very lucky individual 61 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:28,320 Speaker 1: in that regard. And I find myself at you know, 62 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:31,519 Speaker 1: as as an okay boomer. I find myself as a 63 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:37,320 Speaker 1: boomer doing something that I absolutely love doing and cannot 64 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:40,760 Speaker 1: believe that everything both good and bad in my lifetime. 65 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:46,480 Speaker 1: I mean, I've had some incredibly wonderful experiences and I've 66 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:51,600 Speaker 1: had some very horrible experiences that I'm now doing this 67 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:54,880 Speaker 1: and when I look over my shoulder at everything, and 68 00:03:54,960 --> 00:03:58,520 Speaker 1: I've experienced all the way. I mean, even going back 69 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:04,240 Speaker 1: into great school, junior high, high school, college, being on 70 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:09,480 Speaker 1: the debate team in high school and in college. My 71 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:13,440 Speaker 1: political science professors that I had, some of whom were 72 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:17,040 Speaker 1: incredibly liberal. I did an awful lot of arguing him 73 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:20,640 Speaker 1: in political science classes, and some of them were really good. 74 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:23,599 Speaker 1: One of them, in particularly, became a mentor to me. 75 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:29,240 Speaker 1: He's now deceased, but Professor Hriman was amazing, and he 76 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:32,919 Speaker 1: was a pretty hardcore Democrat. But he and I really 77 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:34,880 Speaker 1: got along great and we really learned a lot from 78 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:38,760 Speaker 1: each other. And when I became the undersecretary, I remember 79 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:41,359 Speaker 1: him coming to DC to visit because he was so 80 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:43,640 Speaker 1: proud of the fact that I had risen to that 81 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:49,839 Speaker 1: level of authority or whatever in government and my spending 82 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:53,680 Speaker 1: almost six years with President Bush, and of course those 83 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:57,360 Speaker 1: were good times and bad times, but that all of 84 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: that practicing law, doing criminal law, everything led me to 85 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:04,400 Speaker 1: where I am today, and I think, as one of 86 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:07,440 Speaker 1: my best friends, Andy says, I'm exactly where I need 87 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:13,120 Speaker 1: to be, and I think this country for that. But 88 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:18,080 Speaker 1: there are a lot of people that don't believe in 89 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:23,039 Speaker 1: the good of America and they're making a case against America. 90 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:27,520 Speaker 1: And you see it at every level. I mean, there 91 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:30,560 Speaker 1: are members of the United States Congress that I question, 92 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:36,839 Speaker 1: who do you owe your loyalty to? There are people 93 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:39,880 Speaker 1: who aren't naturalized citizens, and they have a constitutional right 94 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:42,599 Speaker 1: to run for Congress, but I really do question their loyalty. 95 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:46,279 Speaker 1: Sometimes I hear what they say about this country, and 96 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:51,880 Speaker 1: I'm thinking, are you representing your home country? Because you're 97 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:56,640 Speaker 1: certainly not representing your constituents, and you're certainly not upholding 98 00:05:56,680 --> 00:06:00,520 Speaker 1: your oh to the Constitution that you swore to uphold. 99 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:03,880 Speaker 1: Or which constitution did you swear to uphold? I thought 100 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:06,520 Speaker 1: when you took that old you were swearing your allegiance 101 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:10,159 Speaker 1: to the US Constitution. And it's of all ages too, 102 00:06:10,279 --> 00:06:12,480 Speaker 1: And it really bothers me when I see young people 103 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:14,920 Speaker 1: who really want to say that this country is not 104 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:18,680 Speaker 1: the good force that it is. They think it's an 105 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:27,880 Speaker 1: evil force. Before the Soviet Union fell, the primary argument 106 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:29,800 Speaker 1: against this country, because I'm going to tell you what 107 00:06:29,839 --> 00:06:34,400 Speaker 1: their argument is against this country. It was truly based 108 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:41,080 Speaker 1: on Marxist materialism. Capitalist economies like ours were failing to 109 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:44,919 Speaker 1: make optimal use of resources to serve what they believed 110 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:48,080 Speaker 1: was the common good. That too much went to the 111 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:51,839 Speaker 1: owners of capital, too little went to labor. Now, Marx 112 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:55,560 Speaker 1: predicted that disaffected masses would eventually force the adoption of 113 00:06:55,600 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 1: increasingly socialist systems in order to increase the share of income. 114 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 1: I'm going to labor now that ultimately you and I 115 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:10,200 Speaker 1: know culminats in communism. What proponents of this country have 116 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:17,600 Speaker 1: failed to recognize is that our detractors have abandoned that argument. Now, 117 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:21,840 Speaker 1: why would they abandon the argument improving because there's improving 118 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:26,160 Speaker 1: conditions even among the poorest people. In Formally, communist nations 119 00:07:28,120 --> 00:07:33,120 Speaker 1: led to that argument falling on deaf fears. And I 120 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:37,400 Speaker 1: don't want poor people to remain poor, But relatively speaking, 121 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:40,840 Speaker 1: when you look at the poor in this country, they're 122 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:45,440 Speaker 1: so much better off than the poor in any other country. 123 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:49,600 Speaker 1: I don't care how socialists, how Marxist, how democratic, how 124 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:53,720 Speaker 1: how republican the government is, and I mean small or republican. 125 00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:56,840 Speaker 1: The poor in this country is still better off anybody 126 00:07:56,840 --> 00:07:59,320 Speaker 1: else in the world. Now, I know that there are 127 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:03,320 Speaker 1: truly indigent people, but usually when you find the truly 128 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:06,920 Speaker 1: indigent incapable of doing anything for themselves, you'll usually find 129 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:12,520 Speaker 1: some other you know, comorbidity, if you will, a mental illness, 130 00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:15,800 Speaker 1: or a drug addiction or something. But Pew did Orice 131 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:19,920 Speaker 1: did a study back in twenty nineteen, and that survey 132 00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:25,080 Speaker 1: showed widespread belief among those living in formerly communist countries 133 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:29,240 Speaker 1: that their life satisfaction had improved dramatically over the last 134 00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:33,439 Speaker 1: thirty years. In short, the detractors were switching gears. He 135 00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:38,120 Speaker 1: began making a direct moral case against this country. And 136 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:40,760 Speaker 1: it was a case that did not depend on Marxist 137 00:08:40,800 --> 00:08:45,280 Speaker 1: materialism and did not depend on class warfare. Now, don't 138 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:49,360 Speaker 1: get me wrong, that still exists as an argument. They 139 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:52,440 Speaker 1: still think, and they still weren't class warfare because they 140 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:55,959 Speaker 1: think that will bring about their socialist utopia. AOC and 141 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:59,240 Speaker 1: the squad. Bernie Sanders, Mom, Donnie, I'm all looking. I'm 142 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:03,160 Speaker 1: looking at you. But it becomes much more nuanced now, 143 00:09:04,920 --> 00:09:08,480 Speaker 1: and they have another argument, and I'll explain that argument, 144 00:09:09,240 --> 00:09:19,040 Speaker 1: their case against America. Come again next don't go away. 145 00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:21,400 Speaker 1: Welcome back to the weekend with Michael Brown. Glad to 146 00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:22,920 Speaker 1: have you with me. I appreciate you tuning in. I 147 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:25,560 Speaker 1: was just looking at a text messages tech line. Text line, 148 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:28,360 Speaker 1: of course, is always open three three one zero three 149 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:32,800 Speaker 1: three three one zero three. Keyword Mike or Michael. Great texts, 150 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:35,600 Speaker 1: great texts. Well, I'm gonna finish this topic. I don't 151 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:37,640 Speaker 1: know how long it'll take me to do it. We're 152 00:09:37,679 --> 00:09:46,280 Speaker 1: talking about this undertow of these and again it's the squad. 153 00:09:46,559 --> 00:09:52,160 Speaker 1: It's truthfully, I'm not gonna lie. I think it's the 154 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:57,280 Speaker 1: Democrat Party in general. They've they've swung so far to 155 00:09:57,320 --> 00:10:00,600 Speaker 1: the left that it's pretty easy to just lumped them 156 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:04,079 Speaker 1: all together. Now. I know there's still a few moderates, 157 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:10,040 Speaker 1: but they they remain quiet, they don't say anything. And 158 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:15,240 Speaker 1: this group, all of these Marxist socialist communists. I mean, 159 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:21,480 Speaker 1: for example, our stupid governor says it's last year in 160 00:10:21,559 --> 00:10:26,920 Speaker 1: office and he's term limited. He gave a state of 161 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:30,960 Speaker 1: the state speech yesterday or day before. I forget because 162 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:34,480 Speaker 1: I don't really pay much attention to it. One line 163 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:39,840 Speaker 1: did catch my attention. Here's a guy, a Democrat, comes 164 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:43,040 Speaker 1: from a billionaire family. Yeah, I mean, he didn't really 165 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:47,720 Speaker 1: build the business his family did. But he's made his 166 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:50,400 Speaker 1: way up through being on the state Board of Education 167 00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:53,720 Speaker 1: to being a US congressman and now a governor. And 168 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:55,680 Speaker 1: I'm sure he wants to go on and be you know, 169 00:10:55,920 --> 00:10:59,800 Speaker 1: president or senator or something. But he called the Republicans 170 00:10:59,840 --> 00:11:06,720 Speaker 1: the socialists when the Democrats, following his lead, have turned 171 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:13,839 Speaker 1: this into a socialist hellhole. We're broke, we have horrible infrastructure, 172 00:11:14,559 --> 00:11:22,959 Speaker 1: the economy is not that great. The immigration and in 173 00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:26,800 Speaker 1: migration and net migration is pretty close to even. It 174 00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:30,079 Speaker 1: bounces back and forth a little bit. It's just we're 175 00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:35,599 Speaker 1: not the great state that we once were. They continue 176 00:11:35,679 --> 00:11:41,199 Speaker 1: to push this agenda of doing everything possible for everybody. 177 00:11:41,679 --> 00:11:44,640 Speaker 1: Government is the answer to everything. And part of that 178 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:50,160 Speaker 1: stems from and I mean this sincerely, government is their god, 179 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:52,959 Speaker 1: and they think that government can solve all solutions in 180 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:59,920 Speaker 1: the private sector is the problem, Well, when did you try? 181 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:03,720 Speaker 1: Actors of this country switched gears and started making a 182 00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:07,840 Speaker 1: direct moral case against this country. They did so that 183 00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:12,839 Speaker 1: didn't necessarily depend on Marxism or class warfare, because they 184 00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:16,400 Speaker 1: now argue that even if this country provides ample material 185 00:12:16,480 --> 00:12:22,040 Speaker 1: resources for everybody. We're still immoral, and this is because 186 00:12:22,040 --> 00:12:26,320 Speaker 1: it was built on their belief that this country was 187 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:30,920 Speaker 1: built on an immoral foundation slavery, which is of course 188 00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:34,960 Speaker 1: the epitome of oppression, and that it still operates in 189 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:39,520 Speaker 1: an immoral way because they argue that there's ongoing oppression 190 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:46,200 Speaker 1: through systemic racism, sexism, homophobia, islamophobia, every kind of horrible 191 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:48,760 Speaker 1: thing you can think of. They still believe that that 192 00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:53,320 Speaker 1: is the basic tenet of this country. Now, when you 193 00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:58,000 Speaker 1: think about it, oppression was a central component of traditional 194 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:02,560 Speaker 1: Marxism that as an explanation of the drivers of growing 195 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:08,360 Speaker 1: class division. But the detractors of this country today focus 196 00:13:08,400 --> 00:13:13,680 Speaker 1: on the immorality of oppression per se. It's the very 197 00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:19,240 Speaker 1: essence of oppression. It is oppression and of itself. Now 198 00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:23,440 Speaker 1: that approach, you need to understand that that approach has 199 00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:27,199 Speaker 1: an advantage of not requiring the endorsement of any particular 200 00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:30,960 Speaker 1: conception of utopia or a view of how history might 201 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:34,839 Speaker 1: unfold if we continue down their Marxist path. It only 202 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:40,760 Speaker 1: requires the belief that just rectifying past sins and combating 203 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:44,920 Speaker 1: present oppression is morally necessary, and we've got to do that, 204 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:50,200 Speaker 1: and there's the sole focus more if I'm against oppression 205 00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:55,720 Speaker 1: wherever it exists. But do you get what they're really doing. 206 00:13:56,920 --> 00:13:58,680 Speaker 1: They're really trying to make an argument that you can't 207 00:13:58,720 --> 00:14:07,440 Speaker 1: disagree with. They get you to focus on the wrong thing, slavery, racism, sexism, homophobia, 208 00:14:07,559 --> 00:14:11,040 Speaker 1: is Lamophobia, all of those things. Wait a minute, that 209 00:14:11,559 --> 00:14:15,760 Speaker 1: necessarily means that they look upon you and me as 210 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:21,760 Speaker 1: being racist sexists. That were anti gay, We're anti Islamist, 211 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:27,560 Speaker 1: We're anti we're anti Semites, we're anti everything. They put 212 00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:34,320 Speaker 1: their beliefs unto me, and I refuse to accept that. Now, 213 00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:37,680 Speaker 1: the switch in that strategy, it's all rhetorical, but the 214 00:14:37,720 --> 00:14:41,400 Speaker 1: switch and the strategy, unfortunately, it has been working, I think. 215 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:48,520 Speaker 1: But that should not be surprising because morality usually trumps everything. Right, 216 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:51,120 Speaker 1: no pun intended. Can't he use the word trump anymore? 217 00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:57,680 Speaker 1: Trump something? The crux of that moral case against this 218 00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:02,280 Speaker 1: country is I from what some authors have called the 219 00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:06,800 Speaker 1: oppression thesis, and it contends that the rise of the West, 220 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:10,360 Speaker 1: Western civilization, and in particular, the rise of the United States, 221 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:13,440 Speaker 1: is largely the story of the strong getting even better 222 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:16,920 Speaker 1: at oppressing the weak. So this country is immoral because 223 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:22,040 Speaker 1: oppressing people is immoral. So virtually all anti Americanism today 224 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:25,920 Speaker 1: comparts with the oppression thesis. It is simply that it's 225 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:29,480 Speaker 1: very capricious, harmonious at the same time. Because of this, 226 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:33,400 Speaker 1: that poses a rhetorical elegance that is really appealing to 227 00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:37,960 Speaker 1: young minds that don't know any better, and certainly if 228 00:15:37,960 --> 00:15:41,000 Speaker 1: they're in government schools, are not being taught to critically 229 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:44,880 Speaker 1: think because the division between the oppressed and the oppressors 230 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:50,920 Speaker 1: aligns with the US versus them mentality of just absolute tribalism. 231 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:56,960 Speaker 1: It's just tribalism now, since our genes predispose us to 232 00:15:57,000 --> 00:16:02,160 Speaker 1: think in tribal terms, the oppression thesis seems plausible just 233 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:04,880 Speaker 1: at face value. But here's the good news. The good 234 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:08,080 Speaker 1: news is the oppressors and the innocence who benefit from 235 00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:12,720 Speaker 1: past oppression can atone and virtue signals simultaneously by simply 236 00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:19,200 Speaker 1: proclaiming that their support for redistributive justice redistribution of justice. 237 00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:24,920 Speaker 1: So those many that really should know better can't resist 238 00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:29,520 Speaker 1: the temptation to obtain social approval by I'm going to 239 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:34,400 Speaker 1: join that, and as more start to join in, those 240 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:38,120 Speaker 1: left on the sideline start to look even more callous. 241 00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:41,280 Speaker 1: To those who are marching down the street of the 242 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:46,240 Speaker 1: whole thing about oppression, and that induces even more people 243 00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:51,280 Speaker 1: to jump in, and that makes the oppression thesis start 244 00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:54,440 Speaker 1: to make common sense to those who don't understand our 245 00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:58,560 Speaker 1: history or who are susceptible to Oh, I don't I 246 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:00,640 Speaker 1: don't want to be called racist. Well, nobody wants to 247 00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:03,600 Speaker 1: be called racist. Nobody wants to be an oppressor unless 248 00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:05,399 Speaker 1: you are an oppressor. But I don't want to be 249 00:17:05,480 --> 00:17:09,440 Speaker 1: considered to be an oppressor. Whine because I'm successful, Whine 250 00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:12,359 Speaker 1: because I'm articulate, Why because I got an IQ above 251 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:18,720 Speaker 1: room temperature. Why These detractors of this country are right, 252 00:17:18,840 --> 00:17:22,639 Speaker 1: of course to call attention to oppression, and oppression is 253 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:28,320 Speaker 1: part of our history. But it's not possible to use 254 00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:32,879 Speaker 1: oppression to explain the rise of this country. That's just 255 00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:36,800 Speaker 1: not possible. The poor lived better today than ever before 256 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:40,560 Speaker 1: in almost every corner of the world. So what's the 257 00:17:40,600 --> 00:17:44,760 Speaker 1: moral case for this country? Then? If oppression is the 258 00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:55,760 Speaker 1: case against it, that's next. Don't go away to night. 259 00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:58,080 Speaker 1: Michael Brown joins me here, the former FEMA director of 260 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:01,280 Speaker 1: talk show host Michael Brown. Now you're doing a heck 261 00:18:01,320 --> 00:18:04,680 Speaker 1: of a job. The Weekend with Michael Brown. Hey, welcome 262 00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:06,320 Speaker 1: back to the Weekend with Michael Brown. Glad have you 263 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:09,160 Speaker 1: with me. I appreciate you tuning in reading through text messages. 264 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:13,199 Speaker 1: I must have hit a nerve today. I appreciate all 265 00:18:13,240 --> 00:18:15,879 Speaker 1: of the comments. Be sure and follow me in all 266 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:18,920 Speaker 1: the social media platforms. They're all whether it's ex Facebook 267 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:22,199 Speaker 1: or Instagram, it's at Michael D. Brown. So get that go, 268 00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:25,239 Speaker 1: get that done right now. Text line always open three three, 269 00:18:25,359 --> 00:18:29,399 Speaker 1: one zero three, keyword Mica or Michael. So what about 270 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:33,119 Speaker 1: the case for a moral United States? Because I think 271 00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:36,040 Speaker 1: we are a moral country, all right. Do we have 272 00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:39,800 Speaker 1: moral problems in this country? Of course we do. But 273 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:42,680 Speaker 1: I'm not talking about down here at the naedy, gritty level. 274 00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:47,080 Speaker 1: I'm talking about as a nation, as Western civilization. I 275 00:18:47,119 --> 00:18:52,040 Speaker 1: think that Western civil civilization is very moral. And the 276 00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:55,560 Speaker 1: reason for that is and I think I can't take 277 00:18:55,600 --> 00:19:02,159 Speaker 1: credit for this. This is something called the cooperation force, 278 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:07,040 Speaker 1: the cooperation thesis. It comes from a book written back 279 00:19:07,080 --> 00:19:11,560 Speaker 1: in twenty twelve called The Righteous Mind. The author says this, 280 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:14,919 Speaker 1: the most powerful force ever known on this planet is 281 00:19:15,040 --> 00:19:21,240 Speaker 1: human cooperation, a force for construction and destruction. And I 282 00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:25,480 Speaker 1: think that's the moral case for this country. We cooperate 283 00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:31,119 Speaker 1: with each other by working with each other because doing so, 284 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:34,239 Speaker 1: when we cooperate and work with each other in a 285 00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:39,080 Speaker 1: free market, capitalist society, we produce value that is greater 286 00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:44,080 Speaker 1: than the some of us each individually. I always talk 287 00:19:44,119 --> 00:19:49,120 Speaker 1: about widgets. If I work alone, maybe I can make 288 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:53,840 Speaker 1: ten widgets, so I make ten. But if you and 289 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:57,360 Speaker 1: I work together, maybe we can make twenty six widgets. 290 00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:02,000 Speaker 1: We make thirteen each, that's, you know, instead of ten 291 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:07,119 Speaker 1: by myself, ten by yourself. But when we work together 292 00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:11,840 Speaker 1: we can make twenty six. Those six additional widgets are 293 00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:17,640 Speaker 1: a surplus, a cooperative surplus, and that's what induces us 294 00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:21,280 Speaker 1: to freely choose to cooperate, because it makes it possible 295 00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:24,360 Speaker 1: for both of us to end up with more at 296 00:20:24,359 --> 00:20:34,040 Speaker 1: the same time. If you, cooperation is the first step 297 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:39,879 Speaker 1: to increasing output per capital and therefore achieving mass flourishing 298 00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:44,040 Speaker 1: because as we all cooperate, as we all pursue our 299 00:20:44,119 --> 00:20:48,400 Speaker 1: own self interest. You know, for example, in this building, 300 00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:57,400 Speaker 1: we cooperate at its most naked level. What I do 301 00:20:58,359 --> 00:21:01,639 Speaker 1: is I In fact, I was talking to my program 302 00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:06,560 Speaker 1: director about this yesterday. I perform. I perform by coming 303 00:21:06,600 --> 00:21:09,879 Speaker 1: in here and talking about things that interest me in 304 00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:13,720 Speaker 1: a way that I hope people find informity, sometimes funny, 305 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:20,879 Speaker 1: sometimes serious, different ways. But I do this program, this show, 306 00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:24,480 Speaker 1: whatever you want to call it, because what am I 307 00:21:24,560 --> 00:21:29,040 Speaker 1: really doing well, I'm attracting him. Rush Limball used to 308 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:32,120 Speaker 1: describe it this way. His job was to attract as 309 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:35,920 Speaker 1: large of an audience as possible so that he could 310 00:21:36,119 --> 00:21:41,879 Speaker 1: charge confiscatory rates for advertising, so that then those advertisers 311 00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:47,960 Speaker 1: could sell their products to his audience, all wrapped in 312 00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:52,960 Speaker 1: what we enjoy doing, talking about things that interest us, 313 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:59,199 Speaker 1: and we come together cooperative in this building. Because I 314 00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:02,200 Speaker 1: don't have the time, or for that matter, I don't 315 00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:05,400 Speaker 1: have the skills, the knowledge, the skills and the ability 316 00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:10,640 Speaker 1: to go sell this time. Somebody else does that because 317 00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:13,240 Speaker 1: they've got the time and the energy, and that's their job. 318 00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:18,119 Speaker 1: But we cooperate because when they find a lead, then 319 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:22,280 Speaker 1: I go meet those people for that company or the individual, 320 00:22:22,359 --> 00:22:24,680 Speaker 1: whatever it might be, and I talk about what I do, 321 00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:27,520 Speaker 1: how I do it, and I tell them stories about 322 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:30,560 Speaker 1: what I do, and they like or don't like it, 323 00:22:31,040 --> 00:22:33,960 Speaker 1: and they decide to advertise or not advertise, and then 324 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:36,800 Speaker 1: we all benefit from it. They sell more widgets. I 325 00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:39,879 Speaker 1: have more income, so does the salesperson, and then the 326 00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:42,520 Speaker 1: company does, and then the shareholders make more money, and 327 00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:44,680 Speaker 1: the shareholders take that money and they use that money 328 00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:48,159 Speaker 1: to invest or do other things, and everything grows and 329 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:52,879 Speaker 1: then everybody benefits. It's all a cooperation, all enveloped in 330 00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:59,760 Speaker 1: capitalism in a free market. That's that cooperation thesis. The 331 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:04,439 Speaker 1: ruck of making a moral case for this country is 332 00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:08,960 Speaker 1: derived from that cooperation thesis, and that contends that the 333 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:12,160 Speaker 1: rise of the West, Western civilization and the United States 334 00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:15,920 Speaker 1: is really a story of people just getting even better 335 00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:21,200 Speaker 1: at cooperating in a larger and larger context. Our free 336 00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:26,600 Speaker 1: market economy and combined with a constitutional republic, has turned 337 00:23:26,640 --> 00:23:29,800 Speaker 1: out to be the most effective system of cooperation ever 338 00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:33,920 Speaker 1: to exist in the history of mankind. So we are 339 00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:40,280 Speaker 1: an exceptionally moral country because cooperation between ethical guardrails is 340 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:44,679 Speaker 1: inherently a moral activity. So why are we so good 341 00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:49,439 Speaker 1: at cooperation? I think most humans are pretty good at 342 00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:54,240 Speaker 1: cooperating in a very small group. I'm really good at 343 00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:58,040 Speaker 1: a small group. I you know, maybe it's because I 344 00:23:58,080 --> 00:24:02,800 Speaker 1: just have those kinds of instincts group. But then we evolve, 345 00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:07,880 Speaker 1: and we saw we start cooperating in larger and larger groups. 346 00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:12,919 Speaker 1: Pretty soon in this entire country, operating within the guardrails 347 00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:15,560 Speaker 1: of the constitution and the laws and the rules and 348 00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:18,160 Speaker 1: the regulations and the policies that we make, we all 349 00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:23,080 Speaker 1: cooperate and we pull off a very large group group cooperation. 350 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:35,720 Speaker 1: This shows Adam Smith was right cooperating by dividing tasks 351 00:24:36,160 --> 00:24:38,760 Speaker 1: to unleast the power of specialization. That's the key to 352 00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:42,919 Speaker 1: producing more per person. If you've read Adam Smith, you 353 00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:47,240 Speaker 1: know his famous pen factory example, based on actual data, 354 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:54,880 Speaker 1: revealed a twenty increase in productivity achieved by producing pins 355 00:24:55,080 --> 00:25:00,200 Speaker 1: through cooperation, specifically through an organized division of labor. Now, 356 00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:03,160 Speaker 1: some people say he overstated the effect. Okay, well that's fine, 357 00:25:03,359 --> 00:25:06,240 Speaker 1: because even if Adam Smith was off by an order 358 00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:09,800 Speaker 1: of magnitude instead of twenty three nine hundred percent increase 359 00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:12,800 Speaker 1: in productivity, that would still be a twenty three hundred 360 00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:17,480 Speaker 1: and ninety percent increase in productivity. Put that in context, 361 00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:21,440 Speaker 1: if you are of roughly normal height, but it went 362 00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:24,560 Speaker 1: up by one hundred percent, you'd be the tallest human 363 00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:30,239 Speaker 1: being to ever live. Adam Smith then explained why this 364 00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:34,200 Speaker 1: effect increases dramatically as the number of people over whom 365 00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:39,320 Speaker 1: to divide tasks is increased, so as the number of 366 00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:44,400 Speaker 1: people that you can assign to task increases. In order 367 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:47,280 Speaker 1: to get the most out of cooperation, we need to 368 00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:52,080 Speaker 1: be able to collaborate cooperate in larger groups. This benefit 369 00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:56,560 Speaker 1: of scale is the crux of his argument for free trade, 370 00:25:56,680 --> 00:25:59,760 Speaker 1: and our capacity to cooperate effectively in a large group 371 00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:03,080 Speaker 1: depends on our trust in strangers and in the system. 372 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:09,919 Speaker 1: I don't know anything about the people that make the 373 00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:13,600 Speaker 1: diet coke that I'm drinking, or for that matter, even 374 00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:15,400 Speaker 1: the company that sells me the diet coke that I'm 375 00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:21,399 Speaker 1: drinking right now. But I've got trust in them, and 376 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:24,480 Speaker 1: I have trusted them for a whole host of reasons. One, 377 00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:27,200 Speaker 1: they're part of the free market, and if they sell 378 00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:32,040 Speaker 1: allow the product a contaminated product, that trust will erode 379 00:26:32,160 --> 00:26:36,400 Speaker 1: and pretty soon they'll go out of business. Our genes 380 00:26:36,440 --> 00:26:40,560 Speaker 1: have no reason to equip us for this, because we've always, 381 00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:44,120 Speaker 1: up until modern times, we live in really small groups 382 00:26:45,480 --> 00:26:53,240 Speaker 1: within our extraordinary capacity for language to communicate allowed some 383 00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:58,320 Speaker 1: groups to develop cultural and institutional work around that increase 384 00:26:58,359 --> 00:27:02,040 Speaker 1: the size of the groups within which we could cooperate 385 00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:07,040 Speaker 1: and the societies that did this best became more productive, 386 00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:11,800 Speaker 1: and they pulled ahead farther and farther than any other country. 387 00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:19,760 Speaker 1: And that's us because we learned to cooperate. Interestingly, those 388 00:27:19,800 --> 00:27:23,479 Speaker 1: who keep telling us how bad this country is because 389 00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:26,720 Speaker 1: of racism, sexism and all the phobias, what are they 390 00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:31,280 Speaker 1: actually trying to do? They're trying to destroy the cooperative 391 00:27:31,359 --> 00:27:36,080 Speaker 1: basis upon which we all operate. They tell me that 392 00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:39,560 Speaker 1: I'm bad, that I'm wrong. You know, even today I 393 00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:42,240 Speaker 1: get you know, I get a couple of nasty emails 394 00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:45,280 Speaker 1: about you know, I'm just No, they're not going to 395 00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:49,439 Speaker 1: cooperate with me because I refuse to see their side. No, 396 00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:52,160 Speaker 1: I see their side. In fact, I take great, great 397 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:54,800 Speaker 1: pride in seeing their side of the argument, because that 398 00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:57,080 Speaker 1: gives me the opportunity to tear down that argument, to 399 00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:04,000 Speaker 1: tell you why they gets wrong. In our colonial period, 400 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:09,160 Speaker 1: our culture and institutions co evolved to produce two things 401 00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:13,600 Speaker 1: that turned out to be the catalyst for this gigantic 402 00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:17,399 Speaker 1: cooperative effort that we're now engaged in. Two very simple things. 403 00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:21,840 Speaker 1: It goes back to that diet coke, my freedom of choice, 404 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:26,680 Speaker 1: freedom in general, and trust. Without either one of those 405 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:29,920 Speaker 1: they can't sell the diet coke and I won't buy 406 00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:35,359 Speaker 1: the diet cope. Freedom and trust is the moral case 407 00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:45,160 Speaker 1: for this country. I'll be right back. Welcome back to the 408 00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:46,720 Speaker 1: Weekend with Michael Brown. Glad to have you with me. 409 00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:49,000 Speaker 1: I appreciate you tuning in as always, I want to 410 00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:51,240 Speaker 1: make sure I thank the audience for tuning in on 411 00:28:51,280 --> 00:28:55,480 Speaker 1: the weekend or whether you listen live delayed podcast, however 412 00:28:55,480 --> 00:28:58,080 Speaker 1: you listen, I really do appreciate this audience. You have 413 00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:00,240 Speaker 1: other things to do, and you're doing this. I think 414 00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:13,160 Speaker 1: it's great cooperation thesis free people. You know, our forefathers, 415 00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:19,160 Speaker 1: the founding fathers and the colonists were under the thumb 416 00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:24,600 Speaker 1: of King George, but being distant and then having that 417 00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:30,160 Speaker 1: those oppressive laws imposed upon the colonists, they learned to 418 00:29:30,280 --> 00:29:33,240 Speaker 1: cooperate among themselves in a small group, and they learned 419 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:35,920 Speaker 1: to govern themselves in a small group. And they learned 420 00:29:35,960 --> 00:29:40,320 Speaker 1: that by cooperating among themselves that they could actually produce 421 00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:43,880 Speaker 1: more and that governings set themselves, they could be much 422 00:29:43,880 --> 00:29:50,320 Speaker 1: more prosperous. So free people started searching for potential cooperative 423 00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:54,920 Speaker 1: partners for the best terms under freedom. If there is 424 00:29:54,960 --> 00:29:58,760 Speaker 1: a social convention of splitting the surplus equally, then maximizing 425 00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:01,200 Speaker 1: the size of the surplus becomes the only way to 426 00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:05,360 Speaker 1: increase one's payoff, and that's what we do. We try 427 00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:10,520 Speaker 1: to maximize what we produce, and we do that through cooperation. 428 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:16,720 Speaker 1: Over time, competition among potential cooperative partners drives everybody to 429 00:30:16,760 --> 00:30:19,480 Speaker 1: choose partners who will not demand more than an equal 430 00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:23,160 Speaker 1: split of the surplus, and in the fear of being excluded, 431 00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:28,520 Speaker 1: induces others to propose an equal split from the outset. Now, 432 00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:35,680 Speaker 1: there's always differences in bargaining power. My company cooperates with me, 433 00:30:35,720 --> 00:30:38,600 Speaker 1: and I cooperate with my company to produce a product, 434 00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:41,120 Speaker 1: and they pay me for that product, and there is 435 00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:44,880 Speaker 1: an unequal bargaining power. But I get certain trade offs 436 00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:47,560 Speaker 1: that I'm willing to accept. Maybe I don't get paid 437 00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:50,520 Speaker 1: as much as I want, but I get to do 438 00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:53,640 Speaker 1: what I want, and that's a pretty important trade off 439 00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:59,400 Speaker 1: for me. But contrast that with coerced cooperation. Somebody say 440 00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:02,080 Speaker 1: on the text line and it's actually voluntary cooperation. Well, 441 00:31:02,120 --> 00:31:04,080 Speaker 1: I think that's plain semantics. And the reason I think 442 00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:08,800 Speaker 1: it's semantics is because involuntary, involuntary cooperation is not really 443 00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:12,880 Speaker 1: cooperation at all. That's tyrannical. That's dictatorship. And we see 444 00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:15,800 Speaker 1: how that works out. You don't get to share in 445 00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:18,280 Speaker 1: the fruits of your labor. So you know, they you know, 446 00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:20,960 Speaker 1: joking communism. They pretend to pay you and you pretend 447 00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:25,320 Speaker 1: to work, and the output is pretty much zilch. So 448 00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:31,600 Speaker 1: that's coerced cooperation. And in those cases cooperations going to 449 00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:34,480 Speaker 1: be is going to be directed toward maximizing the payoff 450 00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:37,760 Speaker 1: of the coercial, even if that makes everybody else worse off, 451 00:31:38,120 --> 00:31:40,160 Speaker 1: because now there's no need for the coercial to share 452 00:31:40,160 --> 00:31:43,800 Speaker 1: the cooperative surplus or to even cover the opportunity cost 453 00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:47,600 Speaker 1: of the coerced since the courst aren't free to opt out. 454 00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:52,840 Speaker 1: Cooperation in this country did not require anyone to be 455 00:31:52,920 --> 00:31:56,880 Speaker 1: in charge of society to direct what would be produced 456 00:31:56,880 --> 00:32:00,600 Speaker 1: through cooperation, or who would cooperate with who, or what 457 00:32:00,680 --> 00:32:06,920 Speaker 1: the terms would be. So what happens a general prosperity 458 00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:10,240 Speaker 1: that did not depend on the wisdom of some sort 459 00:32:10,240 --> 00:32:14,600 Speaker 1: of central planning committee or some dictator smart or not smart, 460 00:32:14,600 --> 00:32:21,120 Speaker 1: but just a dictator. This generated skepticism about promises to 461 00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:25,160 Speaker 1: improve society by trading a small degree of liberty for 462 00:32:25,240 --> 00:32:30,240 Speaker 1: greater security. We don't believe that, although too many people 463 00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:34,920 Speaker 1: today would trade a lot of security or trade a 464 00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:38,560 Speaker 1: lot of liberty for more security. But don't forget the 465 00:32:38,600 --> 00:32:45,040 Speaker 1: other element of trust. A culture of freedom helps cultivate 466 00:32:45,080 --> 00:32:49,960 Speaker 1: a high trust society. In europe peasants had to cooperate 467 00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:52,239 Speaker 1: with others on the same estate whether they wanted to 468 00:32:52,360 --> 00:32:56,440 Speaker 1: cooperate with them or not in a feudal society. But 469 00:32:56,640 --> 00:33:00,880 Speaker 1: American parents knew that their children's contemporaries would be free 470 00:33:00,960 --> 00:33:03,800 Speaker 1: to avoid cooperating with them if they couldn't trust them, 471 00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:07,600 Speaker 1: thereby cutting them off from the benefits of cooperation. Parents 472 00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:11,440 Speaker 1: therefore worried about as much about making their children trustworthy 473 00:33:11,640 --> 00:33:15,120 Speaker 1: as they did teaching them practical skills. This fostered a 474 00:33:15,360 --> 00:33:20,200 Speaker 1: norm of trustworthiness, making it rational for citizens to trust 475 00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:23,240 Speaker 1: one another. And since those in early American government were 476 00:33:23,320 --> 00:33:27,360 Speaker 1: drawn from a sample of highly trustworthy people, there was 477 00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:31,920 Speaker 1: a good deal of trust in this system. With a 478 00:33:32,040 --> 00:33:38,200 Speaker 1: rare exception, citizens could trust those in power to fairly 479 00:33:38,320 --> 00:33:43,400 Speaker 1: enforce contracts, to guarantee property rights, to abide by the 480 00:33:43,480 --> 00:33:48,240 Speaker 1: rule of law, and in other political sciences like me 481 00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:51,800 Speaker 1: put that the word we attach to that is legitimacy, 482 00:33:52,880 --> 00:33:57,240 Speaker 1: and that legitimacy increased the expected returns to cooperation by 483 00:33:57,360 --> 00:34:00,760 Speaker 1: ensuring that all citizens could keep what they had earned. 484 00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:05,200 Speaker 1: Now I know government is breaking down that trust. They 485 00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:07,680 Speaker 1: take too much of what I earn, and they waste it, 486 00:34:08,840 --> 00:34:10,439 Speaker 1: and they certainly spend it on things that I don't 487 00:34:10,440 --> 00:34:12,560 Speaker 1: want them to spend it on things that I think 488 00:34:12,560 --> 00:34:16,960 Speaker 1: are actually counterproductive. So it follows that societies that raise 489 00:34:17,040 --> 00:34:19,680 Speaker 1: their children to be honest will be wealthier than those 490 00:34:19,719 --> 00:34:23,960 Speaker 1: that do not, because greater cooperative surpluses can then accumulate 491 00:34:24,120 --> 00:34:27,759 Speaker 1: to those individuals. And because Adam Smith was right about 492 00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:32,200 Speaker 1: the power of large scale cooperation, then societies like ours 493 00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:35,160 Speaker 1: that raise their children to be honest, even with strangers, 494 00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:39,160 Speaker 1: they'll be the best of all. That's the morality of cooperation. 495 00:34:40,480 --> 00:34:45,120 Speaker 1: It involves behavior that is consistent with everybody respecting everybody 496 00:34:45,120 --> 00:34:49,600 Speaker 1: else's freedom. When we fail to respect other's freedom, their 497 00:34:49,640 --> 00:34:53,160 Speaker 1: dignity and trust risks their choosing to avoid you in 498 00:34:53,200 --> 00:34:56,320 Speaker 1: the future. And if you can't, if you're avoiding everybody, 499 00:34:56,320 --> 00:35:04,040 Speaker 1: there's no cooperation. We cooperate honestly, we create more output 500 00:35:04,280 --> 00:35:07,680 Speaker 1: per capital, and at the same time respect the rights 501 00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:11,440 Speaker 1: of others, otherwise they will choose not to cooperate with 502 00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:16,440 Speaker 1: us in the future. Americans are the most generous people 503 00:35:16,440 --> 00:35:20,800 Speaker 1: in the world, and while this is no doubt influenced 504 00:35:20,840 --> 00:35:25,160 Speaker 1: by our generosity of spirit, that kind of generosity would 505 00:35:25,200 --> 00:35:29,640 Speaker 1: be moot in the absence of sufficient resources. Cooperation is 506 00:35:29,680 --> 00:35:33,160 Speaker 1: how societies become truly richer, and the richer society is 507 00:35:33,200 --> 00:35:37,200 Speaker 1: the more resources citizens have to pay for both public 508 00:35:37,280 --> 00:35:44,600 Speaker 1: goods roads, bridges and highways, firehouses, but also private charity, 509 00:35:46,360 --> 00:35:50,760 Speaker 1: which leads me to what I've always said, those who 510 00:35:50,880 --> 00:35:54,960 Speaker 1: drive America and think that we're awful. They see their 511 00:35:55,040 --> 00:35:58,880 Speaker 1: government as the God. They see their government as their religion, 512 00:35:59,360 --> 00:36:06,320 Speaker 1: and so they obliterate private charity in favor of public charity, 513 00:36:07,200 --> 00:36:10,880 Speaker 1: or really government charity. And that's the worst charity of 514 00:36:10,920 --> 00:36:15,560 Speaker 1: all because it's not compassionate, it's not caring, and it's 515 00:36:15,800 --> 00:36:19,840 Speaker 1: really ineffective. The War on Poverty has been going on 516 00:36:19,880 --> 00:36:25,440 Speaker 1: for almost my entire lifetime, yet poverty still exists, and 517 00:36:25,480 --> 00:36:31,520 Speaker 1: we have actually enslaved people into poverty by what a 518 00:36:31,560 --> 00:36:36,840 Speaker 1: failure of cooperation and trust. America is good because we 519 00:36:36,960 --> 00:36:41,319 Speaker 1: cooperate and we trust, and that produces a society that 520 00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:44,839 Speaker 1: is full of free will and trust and makes us 521 00:36:44,920 --> 00:36:48,000 Speaker 1: much more prosperous. Everybody, have a great weekend. I'll see 522 00:36:48,040 --> 00:36:50,600 Speaker 1: you next weekend.