Transcription
You made reference a couple of times to good people in Washington. You said there are a couple of truth tellers in Washington who are under attack. Who are you referring to? Who are those people?
>> Well, the list is so short. I don't
>> Yes, it is.
>> I don't I don't like to pick out then because somebody else might be 95% of what I like. Some might be 80%. So, uh No, there there's only there's only a couple. Most people most people know that uh you know I'm very prejudiced and I very biased because I think my son's doing a pretty good job. Yes.
>> And uh I think he knows what's going on and I I think there are others that are doing that. But I think I don't think the answer is in Washington. I think the answer is recognizing why we have to get away from Washington and we have to get people to understand. So the educational system is good, but our educational system goes goes in the wrong direction. They're they for 100 years have gone completely away from the original intent of the constitution. So I see as an educational system. I never dreamed I'd ever go to Congress. I never dreamed I'd stay very long. I never dreamed that anybody would pay any attention. But people were starving. They're starving for somebody to talk straight with them. And that I think is I think that's there's some very good things going on, but we have to recognize the truth of what's happening. And I think it's ideological and and I I really deep down uh I see a lot of good things happening, but most important is that we recognize, you know, the good and the bad. And uh I I think that uh I sometimes I wonder how we did get some attention in the presidential races because young people I was so I got excited about young people would you know they they were so positive and excited and I I would ask a young person I said I just lectured to you for an hour. I said uh and uh uh I for 40 45 minutes all I did was tell you WHAT A MESS WE HAVE and you're here talking how wonderful it is. But I always wanted to finish with what the answer is. But uh you got to see the problem if you want to convince people to do something else. But when the educational system is all biased against liberty, against these principles of individual responsibility, it it's pretty tough. But in that area, I get I get optimistic with recognition of how dangerous it is because we still Republican or Democrat, the foreign policy is really very very dangerous. There's too many big weapons and I I think we need a better understanding. But most people do. Most people don't say you, you know, uh, I'd like to go to war. I want to, I want to carry a gun and shoot people. Most people worry about why are we doing this? And they're asking questions. But they've been able to win the psychological war because if if you object to it, you're unAmerican, you know. uh but I I think it's education is the most important thing that we do and understanding and some some moral basics that uh people should understand like uh if you if you and I can't go and steal uh why don't we let the government steal all the time take stuff from them it's not rightfully theirs and they and then they want to have all the power so uh the the the problems are complex and that's what delighted me when I would talk to young people they seem to understand it. It seems like yeah the uh the young people you know would respond even against all the propaganda of the college universities and all the media practically and the movies and everything else if you talk to him straightforward uh you know I would ask a student who was excited about what I was saying. I said, 'You know, but so and so just said that, too. You know, when we had our debates, I said, he he said the same thing. He says, yeah, but he wasn't telling the truth, you know, people can recognize it. So, I I come down as being an optimist with a lot of caution about what we have to go through to restore the principles that most people would endorse if you just offered to in principles. There's too much political power and money involved. But uh I I think that uh I think the number of people that I meet are very decent people and uh and yet we have nothing. Just think in my lifetime how many wars we've had, you know, and they're so unnecessary. So look looking at some of the basic principles of what a liberty society would do. Uh it's not that difficult and that's really what is in my heart and what I want to promote.
Well, I have to ask you about wars. So, you were born in 1935. You were 10 when the Second World War ended. So, you've seen all the wars, Second World War, Korea, Vietnam, everything since war on terror. Have any of those wars made life better for Americans, do you think?
Probably not. I can't argue the case. And uh it's it's this it's control of patriotism that if you don't do this, you're not a patriotic person. And and people people do that and and they're so easily convinced that I have to sacrifice something. You have to defend what you believe in, but you don't have to sacrifice any of your freedoms to get it. And they say, "Well, we have to do this to get along." People in Congress say, "Yeah, you're right, Ron, on this issue, but we can't get there." So this only give them half of this pie right now. So they see themselves as being being able to work it out with the problems we have. But uh I I don't I think that's wrong. And I think uh especially young people. I like to I talk to a lot of young people and even people that are a little bit older who have a younish type of an attitude, open-mindedness to what the country should be all about and what liberty is all about. So I think it's so fantastic, but I also recognize that the world is imperfect and uh we're not going to see a perfect society. You just have to sort of help guide it in certain directions. And the freer we are, I think, uh the better. The more tyranny we have, the worse off we are. But it takes uh it takes a moral understanding of what our relationship should be with the government. And that's where it gets touchy because people want to use it of the few want to own control the deep state. whoever they are, they they have they're the ones who, you know, controls the politician and the all the legislation and the spending. But that's coming to an end. We're broke and everybody's starting to know even though we knew it was broke and that was my discovery in that uh in in 1970 uh well uh when Brettton Woods broke down, you know, and 197 and when Nixon gave that speech. Uh I I I knew I knew that but took a long time. We were so wealthy. We were spoiled and we could defy the principles of liberty and and decency because we were so rich and still are rich. We're still consuming but we're not producing. I mean we we're we're we have a moral crisis. But that's where I'm optimistic because I think that number is growing and I think there are a lot of young people looking at it differently. Uh I think our technology is helpful. I think people who have interesting talk shows and get good views of and share some of these views makes it different. And I I think there's some very good things going on. And I also accept the idea that perfection is not achievable. But it is definitely available to us to go in a certain direction and we've been as a country going in the wrong direction for a long time.
Well, there's this very strange phenomenon we're watching right now where as the country becomes poorer. We're we're bankrupt, you said. I think everyone agree with that. We spend even more on foreign wars. We spend more now than we did 10 years ago and we're poor. Why? Why do you think that's happening?
Well, I think our effectiveness uh isn't uh being being pursued through intellectual means and philosophy because you know our universities are crowded by by this false illusion that it's the government's responsibility to do everything and uh that and and people don't uh I think they basically accept it but they have trouble you know challenging the university system. When I was in college, I was I was asking a lot of questions. Then it finally dawned on me I wasn't getting very many good answers. So, uh but I think that I also have a very favorable thought that everybody is born with a chance to come to a a right decision about nonviolence. You know, you know, no lie, cheating, stealing, and killing.
>> Yes.
>> That's pretty simple. And you don't need this many laws. You you just shouldn't beat people like that. And most people say, "Well, that sounds easy." Yeah, but the trouble is most of the individuals do. Oh, yeah. I don't lie, cheat, steal, or kill. But the government does. You have to apply those rules to the government and then we we get ahead. And uh that and some there are some there. But boy, I'll tell you what, just look at the people that hold the line for no lie, cheating, and stealing and take it to the government and and tell the government. They can't do it either. They get into big trouble. They might be the most libertarian, free, loving people in the world, and they will get the the rest of them, oh, but they're challenging our system and you don't want to ruin our system because we have to help people get along and solve our problem that we created. You know, it's it's such a force. But the the s the the good news is the system is coming to an end. The good news also is that there's an alternative. There's a good news is that more and more people are looking at at the freedom alternative. But the bad ide going to be a lot of havoc that goes through uh the country finding those people. But I I was so encouraged with um uh the with what went on in the presidential campaigns because uh you know the young people came out and I I I you know for the two times I did that was several years I would walk out there to the stadium and see where do they come from? What are they doing here? They said well they came here to hear what you have to say. I said, "But I don't have a speech, so I can talk about liberty." No, but there there's something going on. So, talking to young people, I excites me and uh I hope it keeps me young, too. See, I I want to benefit from it all.
Well, it it has so far.
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