WEBVTT - Buck Brief - Auron MacIntyre 0:00:11.697 --> 0:00:14.937 You're listening to the Buck Sexton Show podcast. Make sure 0:00:14.977 --> 0:00:17.977 you subscribe to the podcast on the iHeartRadio app or 0:00:18.017 --> 0:00:21.177 wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to the Buck Brief. 0:00:21.177 --> 0:00:24.857 Everybody on this episode our friend Oron McIntyre, host of 0:00:24.977 --> 0:00:27.977 the Orton McIntyre Show at the Blaze and now author 0:00:28.137 --> 0:00:32.777 of his latest book, The Total State. It is total 0:00:32.897 --> 0:00:34.297 and it is a state. He's gonna talk to us 0:00:34.297 --> 0:00:35.017 about it. What's going on? 0:00:35.137 --> 0:00:37.297 Oron? Hey man, thanks for having me. 0:00:38.857 --> 0:00:42.777 So total State? Walk me through this one feels like 0:00:42.977 --> 0:00:47.737 these days we talk about liberty and constitutional rights and 0:00:47.817 --> 0:00:50.457 the system in charge treats that all like it's a suggestion, 0:00:50.577 --> 0:00:52.497 if not a joke. What is the total State? 0:00:53.497 --> 0:00:55.897 Yeah? Exactly, man, I like you, I probably you know. 0:00:55.937 --> 0:00:58.697 I grew up listening to talk radio as kind of 0:00:58.737 --> 0:01:04.977 a standard issue talk radio Republican, and then twenty twenty 0:01:05.057 --> 0:01:08.057 happened and we all got locked in our houses. We 0:01:08.097 --> 0:01:10.657 couldn't go to church, we couldn't go to work, you 0:01:10.697 --> 0:01:16.017 couldn't go outside. And then everything happened with BLM, the riots, 0:01:16.417 --> 0:01:19.457 the election, and I just looked around and I was like, 0:01:19.857 --> 0:01:21.977 what happened all that liberty? Right? I was told the 0:01:21.977 --> 0:01:24.017 Constitution was going to stand in the way of all 0:01:24.057 --> 0:01:26.497 this stuff. We were going to have this separation of 0:01:26.537 --> 0:01:28.737 powers and everything that was going to stop the government. 0:01:28.737 --> 0:01:32.217 When tyranny came and nothing happened, and I was kind 0:01:32.217 --> 0:01:35.617 of blown away, And so the Total State the book 0:01:35.697 --> 0:01:39.417 is really my attempt to kind of document that crisis 0:01:39.577 --> 0:01:43.177 and my faith of like the Constitution, the American system, 0:01:43.337 --> 0:01:44.977 and what went on, like I think a lot of 0:01:44.977 --> 0:01:48.137 people had during that time. And so I walked through 0:01:48.217 --> 0:01:52.257 this journey of how liberal democracies around the world kind 0:01:52.257 --> 0:01:55.337 of randomly became tyrannys in the year twenty twenty. 0:01:56.897 --> 0:02:00.257 You know, there's that Fukuyama End of History essay, which 0:02:00.257 --> 0:02:02.817 I think started out as or it was an essay 0:02:02.817 --> 0:02:05.097 in Foreign Affairs. Is also a longer version of it 0:02:05.137 --> 0:02:08.457 that's sold the thinking book form, or maybe that maybe 0:02:08.497 --> 0:02:10.657 the essays just sold as was bo camera, but it's 0:02:10.657 --> 0:02:13.657 Fugiyama End of History. It's like democracy is basically one world. 0:02:14.337 --> 0:02:16.217 What if we're at the end of liberty, meaning what 0:02:16.537 --> 0:02:19.097 if we're at a place where, you know, America is 0:02:19.137 --> 0:02:21.257 the only country that I can think of where there's 0:02:21.417 --> 0:02:25.217 any real sense of get off my law and government, 0:02:25.297 --> 0:02:27.577 leave me alone. I'm going to keep my guns. And 0:02:28.657 --> 0:02:31.577 there are some lines you shall not cross. I think 0:02:31.697 --> 0:02:33.457 the I think some of those lines were crossed your 0:02:33.497 --> 0:02:36.297 point in twenty twenty and beyond during COVID pandemic. But 0:02:37.577 --> 0:02:40.497 we're the outlier. So if we're not really free, is 0:02:40.537 --> 0:02:43.537 anybody really free? As in, does everybody just want a 0:02:43.577 --> 0:02:45.817 total state now? And they don't know it yet. 0:02:46.497 --> 0:02:49.497 Yeah, the things that happened in America were egregious, but 0:02:49.577 --> 0:02:52.737 you're right that here we got off better than most places. 0:02:52.777 --> 0:02:56.297 It was even more insane in places like Canada and Australia. 0:02:56.817 --> 0:03:00.417 And Fukiyama's thesis in the end of history was that 0:03:00.697 --> 0:03:05.817 liberal democracy and capitalism had kind of solved the government question, right, 0:03:05.977 --> 0:03:10.737 the USSR had collapsed. All meaningful opposition to the ideas 0:03:10.777 --> 0:03:13.737 of America and the wider West was over, and so 0:03:14.097 --> 0:03:17.337 the only question was how much better would we get 0:03:17.377 --> 0:03:20.217 at democracy? How much better would we get at capitalism? 0:03:20.537 --> 0:03:23.257 History was over and now was just about perfecting the 0:03:23.297 --> 0:03:26.937 institutions that had proven to be the best. But what 0:03:26.977 --> 0:03:29.337 we saw, like you said in twenty twenty, was that 0:03:29.457 --> 0:03:32.697 actually that battle isn't over. In that many people who 0:03:32.737 --> 0:03:36.497 thought they lived under this system of freedom and rights 0:03:36.937 --> 0:03:40.697 actually found themselves snapping right into line when the jack 0:03:40.737 --> 0:03:43.577 boots came. And so, as you said, the question really 0:03:43.617 --> 0:03:47.297 becomes what is in charge if it isn't this liberal 0:03:47.297 --> 0:03:50.297 democracy that we believe in. And the answer I come 0:03:50.337 --> 0:03:53.577 to in the total state is that actually we've all 0:03:53.617 --> 0:03:59.297 been conquered by system called managerialism, and that managerialism manifested 0:03:59.337 --> 0:04:02.777 itself differently in say, communist Russia than it did in 0:04:02.777 --> 0:04:06.217 the United States, but it slowly come to dominate all 0:04:06.297 --> 0:04:08.617 of the governments in the modern world. 0:04:09.577 --> 0:04:12.177 Tell me more about managerialism. That's an interesting concept. 0:04:12.577 --> 0:04:17.257 I mean, yeah, sorry, yeah. James Burnham is a guy 0:04:17.337 --> 0:04:20.457 who many people might be familiar with. He's actually one 0:04:20.457 --> 0:04:22.817 of the people, along with William F. Buckley, who started 0:04:22.817 --> 0:04:26.617 the National Review, but many people forget that his most 0:04:26.657 --> 0:04:31.857 influential book was about the Managerial Revolution. His thesis was 0:04:31.977 --> 0:04:35.937 that while we looked at these different governments communism, fascism, 0:04:36.297 --> 0:04:40.577 liberal democracy, actually all of the governments in the modern 0:04:40.697 --> 0:04:42.977 world at the time he was writing, which was the 0:04:43.057 --> 0:04:46.497 nineteen forties, kind of fell under the same system, which 0:04:46.537 --> 0:04:50.017 was this idea of managerialism where the power of the 0:04:50.457 --> 0:04:54.257 democracy the people actually needed to be managed and needed 0:04:54.257 --> 0:04:58.217 to be channeled through experts, Experts who were good at 0:04:58.937 --> 0:05:05.857 mass consumption, mass production, transportation, communication, armed forces. Everything had 0:05:05.897 --> 0:05:09.777 to be funneled through these large managerial bureaucracies, and so 0:05:10.217 --> 0:05:14.177 we did have different flavors of managerialism. It came to 0:05:14.297 --> 0:05:18.017 dominate all of these different countries because if you wanted 0:05:18.017 --> 0:05:20.097 to become modern, if you wanted to be able to 0:05:20.177 --> 0:05:24.337 mass produce things, distribute things, scale up your society, and 0:05:24.457 --> 0:05:27.657 go ahead and create larger institutions, you needed to deploy 0:05:27.737 --> 0:05:32.297 the expertise of managers. And these managers created reliable systems 0:05:32.337 --> 0:05:35.297 that we depended on to deliver the food and the 0:05:35.417 --> 0:05:38.537 entertainment and everything else that we now think of is 0:05:38.617 --> 0:05:42.737 kind of ubiquitous in our society. And those forms have 0:05:42.857 --> 0:05:46.337 particular things that they produce, particular behaviors that they favor. 0:05:46.657 --> 0:05:50.097 And that's why even though you would think that communist 0:05:50.297 --> 0:05:53.097 China and I don't know, the government of the United 0:05:53.137 --> 0:05:56.777 States should have different goals. They say they have different 0:05:56.777 --> 0:06:00.937 ideological structures, but we're seeing that they're getting closer and 0:06:01.057 --> 0:06:04.537 closer together at every step. And the reason why is 0:06:04.577 --> 0:06:07.657 that they're both embracing this idea of managerialism. 0:06:09.297 --> 0:06:11.617 What freedoms do we really have still in this country? 0:06:11.657 --> 0:06:14.617 I mean, we we've run the experiment. We ran kind 0:06:14.617 --> 0:06:19.897 of the stress test with COVID where you don't actually 0:06:19.937 --> 0:06:22.617 have the freedom to worship right because you know, somebody 0:06:22.617 --> 0:06:25.737 could sneeze on you and then everyone dies because COVID h. 0:06:25.817 --> 0:06:27.937 So you didn't have the freedom to go to church 0:06:28.017 --> 0:06:32.537 in agog, mosque, wherever, you know, temple, whatever religion you are, 0:06:32.577 --> 0:06:35.017 You don't have the freedom of religion. Clearly don't have 0:06:35.057 --> 0:06:37.497 freedom of speech because we have the government colluding with 0:06:37.537 --> 0:06:41.537 big tech to shut people down these days. You know, 0:06:41.577 --> 0:06:44.657 whether they say it's hate speech or it's disinformation or 0:06:44.737 --> 0:06:48.537 just wrong think, they will use government and private sector 0:06:48.617 --> 0:06:51.497 mechanisms to shut you down and do those in conjunction 0:06:51.537 --> 0:06:55.377 and act like somehow that's not just using agency of 0:06:55.417 --> 0:06:59.577 the private sector for government means. And I mean I 0:06:59.697 --> 0:07:01.177 go down the list, right, I mean, the right to 0:07:01.217 --> 0:07:04.057 bear arms kind of sort of depends where you are, 0:07:04.257 --> 0:07:05.697 do you know what I'm saying? Like it feels these 0:07:05.737 --> 0:07:07.377 days that we talk about the Land of the Free, 0:07:07.417 --> 0:07:08.737 the home of the brave. Yeah, we got a lot 0:07:08.737 --> 0:07:11.657 of brave people still, But are we free. I don't know. 0:07:12.257 --> 0:07:15.497 I increasingly feel like we tell ourselves that we're free. 0:07:15.977 --> 0:07:17.897 And you can say that to yourself even if you, 0:07:17.977 --> 0:07:20.897 let's say, own your house outright, but you got to 0:07:20.937 --> 0:07:22.737 rent it from the government every year in pay taxes. 0:07:22.737 --> 0:07:25.137 Do you know what I'm saying? Like, what exactly can 0:07:25.217 --> 0:07:29.337 you do where you are actually free? 0:07:29.537 --> 0:07:32.217 Yeah? Not much anymore? Right, The state has grown again 0:07:32.297 --> 0:07:35.337 to this massive size and this level of intrusion that 0:07:35.417 --> 0:07:38.417 it feels like it controls every aspect. And you're right 0:07:38.457 --> 0:07:41.377 to point out the collusion between the public and the 0:07:41.417 --> 0:07:44.137 private sector. One of the things we tend to pride 0:07:44.137 --> 0:07:47.057 ourselves about in the United States is this idea of 0:07:47.217 --> 0:07:50.777 the division between the state and the private sector. And 0:07:50.817 --> 0:07:53.737 we know that the Bill of Rights and constitutional limitations 0:07:54.017 --> 0:07:58.097 primarily pertain to the government itself. That's where all of 0:07:58.137 --> 0:08:01.897 these careful restrictions that the founders built in are supposed 0:08:01.937 --> 0:08:05.697 to be applied. However, what the government has figured out 0:08:06.057 --> 0:08:08.257 is really that it can go ahead and collude with 0:08:08.297 --> 0:08:10.497 the private sector. And the private sector is happy to 0:08:10.617 --> 0:08:13.777 do this because it gives them additional power and influence. 0:08:13.977 --> 0:08:16.537 It tends to give them monopolies and the different areas 0:08:16.577 --> 0:08:18.537 that they run things. And so they go ahead and 0:08:18.657 --> 0:08:23.657 weave this pattern together of these different managerial bureaucracies and apparatuses. 0:08:23.857 --> 0:08:27.737 And this is why we see a revolving door between corporations, 0:08:27.897 --> 0:08:32.737 government entities, non government entities all working together. The same 0:08:32.817 --> 0:08:35.497 personnel tend to shift from one to the other. They're 0:08:35.537 --> 0:08:38.457 all connected, and the reason is that they're all working 0:08:38.497 --> 0:08:41.537 in a similar direction. I don't think there's one large 0:08:41.697 --> 0:08:45.857 over arching conspiracy between these people where they kind of 0:08:45.897 --> 0:08:51.257 hand down their orders from some kind of Buildeberg cheat sheet. However, 0:08:51.337 --> 0:08:54.897 I do think they all share the same value set, 0:08:54.897 --> 0:08:58.697 which is kind of the progressive morality that they got 0:08:58.737 --> 0:09:01.217 from the institutions that they all tended when they we 0:09:01.217 --> 0:09:03.737 were young, which was college. And this serves as kind 0:09:03.737 --> 0:09:07.977 of the church of the progressive total state, which gives 0:09:07.977 --> 0:09:11.177 them all kind of the marching orders, the moral basis 0:09:11.177 --> 0:09:13.417 on which they're going to make their depinion their decisions. 0:09:13.737 --> 0:09:15.737 And then when they start working, they kind of just 0:09:15.937 --> 0:09:19.217 naturally network and work together or as the same goal. Though, 0:09:19.257 --> 0:09:21.897 as we can see from things like the Twitter fires files, 0:09:22.057 --> 0:09:25.017 that collusion is getting more and more explicit in its nature. 0:09:25.497 --> 0:09:28.457 Word from our sponsor here American Financing, family owned mortgage 0:09:28.457 --> 0:09:32.417 company helping homeowners for over two dozen years. They helped me. 0:09:32.497 --> 0:09:35.177 I got my mortgage with American Financing. I trust these 0:09:35.177 --> 0:09:37.737 people right now, they're saving homeowners like you an average 0:09:37.737 --> 0:09:40.017 of eight hundred and fifty four dollars a month by 0:09:40.057 --> 0:09:42.497 tapping into your home equity to pay off high interest 0:09:42.537 --> 0:09:44.817 debt or their homes ecuty. Rather, if you have high 0:09:44.817 --> 0:09:46.857 interest debt on credit cards, for instance, it's a great 0:09:46.897 --> 0:09:49.737 way to reduce debt save money on each month. 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Everything, Oh my gosh, the debt's so bad, 0:10:39.817 --> 0:10:41.857 and Republicans will say, oh, the debts and it is right. 0:10:41.897 --> 0:10:44.377 I mean, just as a function of numbers, you look 0:10:44.417 --> 0:10:48.137 at what interest payments look like. It's effectively intergenerational theft 0:10:48.137 --> 0:10:50.617 that's going on. But put that aside for a second. 0:10:50.817 --> 0:10:52.817 Anytime you talk to Republican about this, you say yeah, 0:10:52.857 --> 0:10:54.657 they say it's terrible. I say, oh, I agree, it's terrible. 0:10:54.737 --> 0:10:58.217 They go, well, maybe we should do something about it. 0:10:58.577 --> 0:11:01.017 And then we say, let's cut something. And if you 0:11:01.057 --> 0:11:03.497 want to cut anything, that would be meaningful to the 0:11:03.577 --> 0:11:06.217 trillion dollars extra we're spending each year now give or take, 0:11:06.257 --> 0:11:08.297 to add to the thirty four trillion dollars we're already 0:11:08.297 --> 0:11:12.857 in debt. You know what happens, people scream and freak 0:11:12.937 --> 0:11:15.777 out at you on the right. So do we just 0:11:15.937 --> 0:11:17.657 do we all want a bigger government than we're willing 0:11:17.657 --> 0:11:19.617 to admit. Is that where things are now I start 0:11:19.657 --> 0:11:21.977 to get a little a little cynical about this. 0:11:23.017 --> 0:11:24.937 Well, I think what it is is really the incentive 0:11:24.937 --> 0:11:29.817 structure of democracy. In democracy, let's be really clear, vote 0:11:29.857 --> 0:11:33.697 buying is the most effective strategy. Nobody wants to vote 0:11:33.737 --> 0:11:37.417 for rosterity mode. Nobody wants to vote for fiscal responsibility. 0:11:37.577 --> 0:11:39.777 We all like it in theory. But as long as 0:11:39.777 --> 0:11:43.177 we can go ahead and hand that buck down to 0:11:43.217 --> 0:11:45.177 the next generation, like you said, we can go ahead 0:11:45.217 --> 0:11:49.017 and pass it down and do this intergenerational theft, then 0:11:49.057 --> 0:11:51.897 we don't really notice. The truth is that if people 0:11:51.937 --> 0:11:55.777 have the option to go ahead and choose whether to 0:11:56.897 --> 0:12:00.017 get the money now and worry about the consequences later, 0:12:00.137 --> 0:12:02.737 they're almost always going to do that, especially in a 0:12:02.777 --> 0:12:05.257 democracy where we kind of get to collectively hand that 0:12:05.297 --> 0:12:08.457 responsibility over. Maybe you wouldn't do that individually, maybe you 0:12:08.497 --> 0:12:11.577 wouldn't go ahead and get a payday loan as an individual, 0:12:12.017 --> 0:12:14.537 but as a massive people, yeah, we do that over 0:12:14.577 --> 0:12:18.377 and over again. And Alexis to Tokville warned us about 0:12:18.417 --> 0:12:21.537 this when he observed the beginnings of democracy in America 0:12:21.657 --> 0:12:23.737 He said that as soon as the people can go 0:12:23.777 --> 0:12:26.497 ahead and figure out that the convote themselves money, you're 0:12:26.537 --> 0:12:29.937 in a lot of problems because that will always be 0:12:30.017 --> 0:12:32.937 the way that people choose to go. Especially as we 0:12:32.977 --> 0:12:36.457 go ahead and remove that connection to the consequences, Fewer 0:12:36.497 --> 0:12:39.817 and fewer people in the United States effectively pay access, 0:12:40.137 --> 0:12:43.377 so they don't really feel that burden. It's spread across 0:12:43.377 --> 0:12:46.417 a smaller and smaller handful of property owners, and that 0:12:46.457 --> 0:12:49.017 has its own problems. It means that the individual is 0:12:49.137 --> 0:12:51.737 less invested in the country that they're supposed to be 0:12:51.737 --> 0:12:52.097 paying for. 0:12:53.297 --> 0:12:59.297 It just feels like the situation doesn't improve at all. Right, 0:12:59.337 --> 0:13:02.937 it continues to get like the state. We're always on 0:13:03.017 --> 0:13:05.897 defense against the encroachments of the state. So I assume 0:13:05.937 --> 0:13:07.897 in the book, which I have a copy of, and 0:13:07.897 --> 0:13:10.537 I will read, uh, you get in to some of 0:13:10.577 --> 0:13:13.257 the how do we at least start to you know, 0:13:13.297 --> 0:13:15.577 I always tell everybody if you're looking at a conservative 0:13:15.617 --> 0:13:19.817 political book, the last chapter is usually you know, how 0:13:19.857 --> 0:13:22.257 do we turn this around? Everybody get more involved, like 0:13:22.337 --> 0:13:25.537 get involved in your school board. Right, okay, fine, how 0:13:25.537 --> 0:13:27.577 do we start to turn the trajectory in the other direction? 0:13:27.857 --> 0:13:29.897 It's going to take out. There's a long term project. 0:13:29.937 --> 0:13:32.977 We've been getting our butts kicked on the right in 0:13:33.057 --> 0:13:35.417 terms of the encroachment of the state for a long time, 0:13:35.497 --> 0:13:38.177 in part because the left is doing it and we 0:13:38.217 --> 0:13:39.737 do it too. We just think we do it for 0:13:39.777 --> 0:13:41.097 better reasons. 0:13:42.177 --> 0:13:46.217 Yeah, I have a maybe a less hopeful last chapter 0:13:46.337 --> 0:13:48.577 on this one. I do think there are steps that 0:13:48.617 --> 0:13:50.297 we can take, but I think we are going through 0:13:50.297 --> 0:13:52.857 a process. I think that the things that are happening 0:13:52.897 --> 0:13:56.697 to us are actually part of a larger movement that's 0:13:56.737 --> 0:14:00.537 happening to all societies, which is the scaling up and massification. 0:14:00.977 --> 0:14:04.017 I don't think countries were meant to grow into these giant, 0:14:04.057 --> 0:14:07.817 world spanning empires. I don't think everything can be connected 0:14:07.857 --> 0:14:09.617 this way. I don't think that we can go ahead 0:14:09.657 --> 0:14:14.177 and spread out our responsibilities as individuals into a million 0:14:14.297 --> 0:14:18.257 different organizations and expect them to continue to function. The 0:14:18.337 --> 0:14:20.937 truth is that we embrace the total state because it 0:14:20.977 --> 0:14:24.497 took responsibility off of our shoulders. We no longer have 0:14:24.617 --> 0:14:26.657 to care for our parents, We no longer have to 0:14:26.777 --> 0:14:29.497 educate our children. We no longer have to take care 0:14:29.537 --> 0:14:31.857 of the person next to us. We don't have to 0:14:31.897 --> 0:14:34.657 care about our community because eventually we can go ahead 0:14:34.657 --> 0:14:37.097 and hand that power over to the state. And as 0:14:37.137 --> 0:14:40.817 much as we might whine about that as conservatives, really, 0:14:40.897 --> 0:14:42.937 in truth, most of us are not willing to take 0:14:42.937 --> 0:14:46.777 on that individual responsibility. John Adams told us who the 0:14:46.817 --> 0:14:49.097 Constitution was there to govern. It was there to govern 0:14:49.337 --> 0:14:52.057 a moral and religious people, and it was inadequate to 0:14:52.097 --> 0:14:55.337 govern any other. Well, now we're the other, and the 0:14:55.417 --> 0:14:58.337 Constitution is not governing us well because we are not 0:14:58.497 --> 0:15:01.937 virtuous enough to take on the responsibilities of the Constitution. 0:15:02.257 --> 0:15:04.497 So we're screwed. Basically. Good to know. I'm not the 0:15:04.497 --> 0:15:06.297 only one who thinks us. I mean, people keep asking 0:15:06.337 --> 0:15:08.017 me like, what's the and I always say, you know, 0:15:08.057 --> 0:15:10.297 in the long run, we're all dead. Got to enjoy 0:15:10.337 --> 0:15:11.817 your life as much as you can and do the 0:15:11.817 --> 0:15:14.657 best stuff you can. But if you're worried about the 0:15:14.697 --> 0:15:17.457 trajectory of the country, history is comforting. It's for me 0:15:17.497 --> 0:15:20.457 at least, like being somebody who enjoys reading history. It's 0:15:20.497 --> 0:15:22.617 comforting because you get to learn about what's happened before, 0:15:22.657 --> 0:15:24.977 and everyone's been through everything in some way or another, 0:15:25.177 --> 0:15:27.017 and people have been through much worse than any of us. 0:15:27.017 --> 0:15:30.177 But also everybody who's come before us has died, and 0:15:30.257 --> 0:15:32.297 nobody even really remembers or cares all that much at 0:15:32.297 --> 0:15:33.817 the end of the day, and then you start to 0:15:33.817 --> 0:15:37.217 feel a little nihilistic about things. So I feel like, 0:15:37.337 --> 0:15:39.977 if you're gonna worry about the American Empire and its future, 0:15:40.177 --> 0:15:42.577 you know, we'll do the best we can. But quite honestly, 0:15:42.937 --> 0:15:44.297 I don't know. I don't know how this thing is 0:15:44.297 --> 0:15:45.737 going to turn out at this point. You know, most 0:15:45.777 --> 0:15:47.977 great empires fall. Look a look at the show. Do 0:15:47.977 --> 0:15:48.937 you ever watch The Crown? 0:15:50.097 --> 0:15:50.977 I have not seen that one. 0:15:51.017 --> 0:15:53.857 Now, Oh, okay, it's funny because people love the show. 0:15:54.217 --> 0:15:58.777 It's really just a very well shot, like visually pleasing, 0:15:59.537 --> 0:16:03.057 long slow death of Great Britain. Like that's what sure 0:16:03.137 --> 0:16:05.817 from from the end of World War two to basically 0:16:06.377 --> 0:16:08.057 close to modern day or you know, maybe it stops. 0:16:08.057 --> 0:16:09.377 I don't know, I haven't finished it yet, but twenty 0:16:09.417 --> 0:16:12.297 years ago or something, think and you're just watching Great 0:16:12.297 --> 0:16:16.857 Britain become a second rate power that is becoming obsolete 0:16:17.497 --> 0:16:19.777 and like there's nothing anyone. It's kind of like, oh, well, 0:16:19.817 --> 0:16:22.457 here we are. It's getting just getting less wealthy and 0:16:22.497 --> 0:16:25.817 less influential every year. I feel like, Eh, it happens. 0:16:27.297 --> 0:16:30.417 Yeah. The one thing to remember is that every civilization 0:16:30.657 --> 0:16:35.217 does have its moments. It rises, it gains in greatness, 0:16:35.417 --> 0:16:38.257 and then eventually it does decline. Now, hopefully we're not 0:16:38.297 --> 0:16:41.537 in that situation. The Roman Republic did in but the 0:16:41.617 --> 0:16:44.497 Roman Empire rose to greatness and continued for a very 0:16:44.537 --> 0:16:47.417 long time. I don't want to say that's where we're at. 0:16:47.457 --> 0:16:51.297 I'm not sure exactly you know, how our history will unfold, 0:16:51.377 --> 0:16:54.577 what the morphology of our civilization will be. But I 0:16:54.617 --> 0:16:56.457 think we do need to recognize that we are in 0:16:56.577 --> 0:16:58.977 a turning point. We do have kind of an epochal 0:16:59.497 --> 0:17:02.657 change that is happening in society, and one thing we 0:17:02.737 --> 0:17:06.377 can do is to go ahead and assume personal responsibility 0:17:06.497 --> 0:17:09.577 in our own lives and our own communities that can 0:17:09.617 --> 0:17:12.617 at least sheltered to some extent from whatever comes next. See. 0:17:12.857 --> 0:17:14.577 I have a theory about this as well, about the 0:17:14.577 --> 0:17:16.097 personal part of that. I want to come back to 0:17:16.137 --> 0:17:18.377 it and throw it your way. Total State is the book, 0:17:18.777 --> 0:17:20.777 or as you can tell a super smart guy, so 0:17:20.937 --> 0:17:23.737 get your copy of it. But you know, I keep 0:17:23.737 --> 0:17:25.377 hearing about people that are like, oh, well, why should 0:17:25.377 --> 0:17:26.937 I have gold and silver. I have gold and silver 0:17:26.977 --> 0:17:30.377 at home. Gold and silver talking about history before over history, 0:17:30.377 --> 0:17:33.577 you see, it maintains value. It's store of value. And 0:17:33.617 --> 0:17:38.337 when things get really tough financially, when big changes come economically, 0:17:38.817 --> 0:17:41.937 precious metals do very well. Here's why you can have 0:17:41.977 --> 0:17:44.817 precious metal, to have tangible currency on hand. It's just 0:17:44.857 --> 0:17:48.457 part of a bug out plant or to whether the storm, 0:17:48.577 --> 0:17:54.417 so to speak of a real financial calamity, Portfolio diversification, 0:17:54.537 --> 0:17:59.537 hedge against inflation, store of value, gold increases over time. 0:17:59.817 --> 0:18:01.657 There's all these different reasons why you can have gold 0:18:01.657 --> 0:18:03.457 and silver on hand. I'm not saying, you know, pile 0:18:03.497 --> 0:18:06.217 everything you have into these things, that's crazy. It's have 0:18:06.497 --> 0:18:11.857 an appropriate amount on hand for your portfolio. Global events 0:18:11.937 --> 0:18:14.417 just show you how quickly instability can spiral out of control. 0:18:15.057 --> 0:18:17.417 But there are countries out there, countries, nation states that 0:18:17.457 --> 0:18:20.377 are hoarding gold and silver and buying more and more 0:18:20.417 --> 0:18:22.897 of it. So nobody can predict the future with any 0:18:22.937 --> 0:18:26.337 real accuracy, but you can take steps now to prepare 0:18:26.897 --> 0:18:30.417 for any uncertainty. The Oxford Gold Group, that's who I 0:18:30.457 --> 0:18:32.297 trust for my gold and silver. That's how you should 0:18:32.337 --> 0:18:35.177 go to. They make owning gold and silver simple and 0:18:35.337 --> 0:18:38.137 easy call the Oxford Gold Group. You might qualify for 0:18:38.217 --> 0:18:40.497 up to ten thousand dollars in free precious metals the 0:18:40.577 --> 0:18:44.097 numbers eight three three nine nine five gold eight three 0:18:44.177 --> 0:18:46.457 three nine nine to five g O l D eight 0:18:46.457 --> 0:18:50.217 three three nine nine to five gold or in. So, 0:18:50.297 --> 0:18:52.337 you know, people become all obsessed on the left with 0:18:52.457 --> 0:18:54.977 climate change. I mean, I've been given the right a 0:18:54.977 --> 0:18:57.017 hard time here, but at least the right lives in reality, right, 0:18:57.057 --> 0:18:58.857 I mean, you know, we all have our weaknesses, like 0:18:58.897 --> 0:19:01.137 I eat too much chocolate, Like people don't ever want 0:19:01.177 --> 0:19:04.017 to change medicare, Like I understand right like this, but 0:19:04.057 --> 0:19:06.657 that that's those are real things. The left will get 0:19:06.697 --> 0:19:09.057 all upset about climate change and they'll say I can't 0:19:09.097 --> 0:19:11.937 have kids because or I shouldn't have children because you know, 0:19:11.937 --> 0:19:14.297 climate change footprint and all this sort of stuff. But 0:19:14.377 --> 0:19:19.377 to me, people like that, people like to wallow in. Oh, 0:19:19.937 --> 0:19:23.337 massive events are going against me. Everything is falling apart, 0:19:23.777 --> 0:19:26.897 so therefore it doesn't matter that I'm personally a mess 0:19:26.937 --> 0:19:28.857 and like, don't take care of my people and don't 0:19:28.857 --> 0:19:31.097 take care of myself. And I feel like that's one 0:19:31.137 --> 0:19:34.017 of the root fallacies we have in America. These days. 0:19:33.777 --> 0:19:36.377 That's my thought for you. What do you make of it? 0:19:37.137 --> 0:19:40.217 No, that's absolutely right. Like I said, much of the 0:19:40.257 --> 0:19:41.897 power that we've given up to the government, A bunch 0:19:41.937 --> 0:19:43.697 of the reason that the government has been able to 0:19:43.857 --> 0:19:46.857 expand the way it has is that we have slowly 0:19:47.217 --> 0:19:50.257 given up on our ability to take care of our own, 0:19:50.337 --> 0:19:53.857 take care of our community, do the things that we're 0:19:54.057 --> 0:19:57.417 essential to our own liberty. And while I don't think 0:19:57.457 --> 0:20:00.097 we're going to suddenly retain all of that liberty or 0:20:00.097 --> 0:20:03.377 regain all that liberty simply because we go ahead and 0:20:03.617 --> 0:20:05.737 you know, take care of the guy next to us, 0:20:05.857 --> 0:20:08.497 or attend our church more, or you know, run for 0:20:08.497 --> 0:20:10.657 school board or anything. I do. I think that there 0:20:10.697 --> 0:20:13.857 are key steps that we can take when things come apart. 0:20:13.897 --> 0:20:17.697 We've noticed that it does matter who's in charge of localities. 0:20:17.737 --> 0:20:20.617 I mean, think about the COVID experience. Right, A lot 0:20:20.617 --> 0:20:23.377 of people put their eyes on Ron DeSantis and Florida. 0:20:23.457 --> 0:20:27.057 Many people move to my home state because they recognize 0:20:27.097 --> 0:20:30.057 that who was in charge mattered, And the fact that 0:20:30.457 --> 0:20:33.257 Florida was able to go ahead and take serious action 0:20:33.457 --> 0:20:36.017 on its own to protect its people during that time 0:20:36.377 --> 0:20:38.257 made a real difference in the way that they live 0:20:38.337 --> 0:20:41.057 their lives. It doesn't solve every problem. We're still subject 0:20:41.097 --> 0:20:43.817 to a lot of serious issues that have a more 0:20:43.937 --> 0:20:48.177 national character, like mass immigration. But the quality of life 0:20:48.177 --> 0:20:50.897