Bring It Down

Dennis Prager here. Thanks for listening to the Daily Dennis Prager Podcast. To hear the entire 3 hours of my radio show commercial-free every single day, become a member of PragerTopia. You'll also get access to 15 years' worth of archives as well as the daily show prep. Subscribe at prageropia.com. Hello, I'm Dennis Prager. I thank you for being with me. I am reading Christopher Rufo's book, The Cultural Revolution in the United States, and it's truly a significant book because it gives you the history of how we got here. If you read that book, or if you listen to— have listened to the show for decades, And it's not just Rufo and Prager. Others realize this, but not enough people realize that the left wishes to destroy Western civilization. If you read that book, it'll be documented for you. What is being done is race is the implement. Marx wanted to bring down Western civilization. His war was in theory against capitalism, which is a euphemism really for Western civilization. What does it mean to bring down capitalism? That means that the state will run the economy. Do you understand how, A, that doesn't work, and B, it always leads to violence, and C, It will be the economic ruin of the society. Wealth is created by capitalism, by capital to be precise. But if what race is, is the way in which it is all being torn down. Marx used— this is how I got to Marx— Marx used class. The contemporary left uses race. His vehicle was the proletariat, and the left's vehicle today is the non-white, the non-Christian, the non-white, the non-male. We're living through a very very perilous time. And liberals continue to vote as if everything is normal and Republicans are the enemy. No matter what the left does, liberals keep voting left. Liberals are the problem because they are the ones who put the left in power. And how do they do that? How does the liberal vote for people who believe in black dormitories and black graduation exercises and in encouraging 8-year-olds to change their sex and to give them life-changing hormone blockers and then even by 18 to do horrifically grotesque surgeries on genitalia, and in the case of girls, breasts. How do they— how do they vote for these people? And the answer is they don't know. They don't want to know. And if they are ever told— because I know such people— if they are ever told, they say, oh, it's ridiculous. Not that it didn't happen. It's just ridiculous because it's— they acknowledge that's ridiculous. As if saying that's ridiculous gives them some green light to continue voting. That's what it does. That's ridiculous is an acknowledgment that it certainly is ridiculous. I mean, an 18-year-old girl— what is the age that you can get a tattoo without parental permission? Do you know the age, Sean? It is 18, right? So there you go. And 7— there is— there are kids under 18 that have had their breasts removed. The liberal is the weak, the weak of the three. Takes strength to be a conservative because You're hated. I'll give you examples of that in a moment. And it takes strength in a sense to be a leftist. Doesn't take as much strength, but you fight your— let's put it this way, you fight. Conservatives fight, leftists fight, and liberals don't. That's the, that's the tragedy of the time. I will read to you a segment from the book about what Portland schools teach their children, from what grade they teach them that this is a despicable society. I'm looking that up. I'll get it for you. To call this society despicable, evil, permanently racist, I mean, you understand it's all made up. The enormity of the left-wing lie is unique, I think, in history. Well, not unique because the communists lied like that. But it's unique in free societies. The whole left world is built on the lie of America being racist. The convoluted theories that result— every white is a racist, that it doesn't matter how you treat non-whites, you're still a racist. Can you give another example of it doesn't matter how you act, you are still bad? Can you give me any example of that in life? Yes, you act beautifully, but you're evil. I'm awaiting a possible response. I can't think of any. It's an astonishing thing because Your moral assessment is based on how you act. That is how we call people good. That is how we call people bad. The left doesn't do that. You are bad not because of how you act, but because of who you are. And this is taught to your children at vast numbers of schools in this country. This sick, perverse, pathological, psychopathic, evil doctrine. It is the antithesis of morality. It stands it on its head. It is upside-down morality. I've said this for years because you, when I say it now, you will remember hearing it from me. It's not that the left's moral compass is broken. It doesn't have one. That is, they don't think in moral terms. They think in what destroys what we have terms. It's as sick as it is evil. You are not your moral character. Your moral label is not determined by how you act, but by your skin color. A Black cannot be bad and a white cannot be good. I don't know how long it has been in the West since people were not measured by their behavior. 1-800-PRAGER-776. This, this is the greatest threat to the United States, because the United States is an idea. The idea is that the individual is of supreme importance. The fact that America violated it with regard to Blacks is well known, is a fact, but it doesn't in any way negate the idea, an idea that we have striven more than any other society to embrace. You matter. Only matter and your— only you matter But you are not your skin color. I mean, that's such a morally elementary principle. Your children are being taught to be bad by people with bad— I mean, morally bad, convoluted, rash, irrational ideas. That they would have the chutzpah to say that religious people have irrational beliefs. Maybe one normative Jewish or Christian, Catholic, Mormon belief that is as irrational as the belief that all whites are racist. We'll be back. I'm Dennis Prager. Get access to my show commercial-free with on-demand listening anytime you want. Sign up now at PragerTopia.com. Gold dealers are a dime a dozen. They're everywhere. What sets these companies apart, and whom can you really trust? This is Dennis Prager for AmFed Coin and Bullion, my choice for buying precious metals. When you buy precious metals, it's imperative that you buy from a trustworthy and transparent dealer that protects your best interests. So many companies use gimmicks to take advantage of inexperienced gold and silver buyers. Be cautious of brokers offering free gold and silver or brokers that want to sell you overpriced collectible coins claiming they appreciate more than gold and silver. What about hidden commissions and huge markups? Nick Grovich and his team at AMFED always have your back. I trust this man, that's why I mention him by name. Nick's been in this industry over 42 years and he's proud of providing transparency and fair pricing to build trusted relationships. If you're interested in buying or selling, call Nick Grovich and his team at AmFed Coin and Bullion, 800-221-7694, AmericanFederal.com, AmericanFederal.com. And I, I, I'm telling you, the, uh, the things that I have learned reading this book. I'd like to give you an idea of what kids in Portland are, are learning. I'm looking it up because you, you have to hear this using the, the words that they use. In, uh, in, in Portland. And, and what the early age at which they begin it, it's quite remarkable. A teacher, a whistleblower teacher there noted At one anti-racism session, this teacher was required to participate in a "line of oppression" exercise. The trainers lined up a group of educators and shouted out various injustices: racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. Then asked the teachers who would suffer from these harms to step forward. The room was then divided into the oppressors and the oppressed, with straight white men and women forced to reckon with their identity as oppressors. The objective, according to the teacher, was to consolidate ideological power and intimidate white teachers into submission through collective guilt and fear of being labeled racists. That's right. Imagine that. This actually was done in the United States of America. I read about these things when I studied communism, my field of study, and how common that was. That was the Cultural Revolution. In China. And that's why the title of this book is The American Cultural Revolution. What they would do is line up people in streets and start screaming at them, capitalist, roadrunner, imperialist, or whatever, because they— let's say they weren't an urban proletariat worker. It was the teachers that they picked on a great deal. The anti-racism program was the battering ram, but the ultimate goal, according to the teacher— that is, the teacher who whistleblowed— dismantling of Western culture. That's right, that's what it is. The beneficiaries of the greatest culture in history wish to dismantle it. If you ever doubt the question of human nature— is it basically good or not basically good— the American left is as good a proof as any. That it is not basically good. How do people living in perhaps the finest society ever made, for the vast majority of its inhabitants, how do they wish to destroy it? The Dismantling of Western Culture and the Ushering in of a New Left-Wing Utopia. 'I have no doubt that that's exactly what they want,' the teacher said. 'And dismantling means just picking it apart until there's nothing to hold it up anymore, and then they can replace it.' Today, the ideology of anti-racism has permeated every department in the district, talking about Portland, Oregon. Even the educators in the English as a Second Language program have begun teaching the principles of critical pedagogy to immigrants and refugees. According to internal documents, ESL (English Second Language) teachers are told to develop "counter-stories" to the dominant American culture and focus their instruction on advocacy for racial equity for emergent bilingual, multilingual students. As part of the curriculum, they are asked to teach immigrants that, quote, racism in the USA is pervasive and operates like the air we breathe, and civil rights gains for people of color should be interpreted with measured enthusiasm. So do you realize that? Do you realize that in Portland, Oregon People who have come to the United States and have found here a haven of tolerance, opportunity, affluence, freedom, are told that they have moved to a hate-filled, racist place that hates them because so many of them are not white. Imagine that. What do they think? I wonder what these immigrants think. Gee, it's so nice here in Portland. I don't, I don't have to worry about anything I worried about back in El Salvador or back in Eritrea, but really it hates me? The country that took me in? Well, Congresswoman Tlaib, the— these— these— our Somalian friend, these are, uh, these are ingrates. Massive ingrates. Uh, what is amazing is that a relatively small percentage of Americans, a minority— that's, that's the best way to put it— a minority of Americans understand what is happening. And I know why. Something I've said all of my life. Evil is not dark. Evil is so bright people cannot stare at it. That's why they don't confront the left. The Dennis Prager Show. On MyPillow's 20-year anniversary with over 80 million MyPillows sold, Mike Lindell at MyPillow wants to thank each and every one of you by giving you the lowest price in history on their MyPillows. You'll receive a queen-size MyPillow for $19.98. Regular price is $69.98 and just $10 more for a king-size. You'll receive deep discounts on all MyPillow products such as bed sheets, mattress toppers, pet beds, mattresses, MySlippers, and so much more. This is the time to try out some of their other amazing products you had your eyes on. Go to mypillow.com and click on the radio/podcast square and use promo code Prager to receive this amazing offer on the queen-size MyPillow for $19.98, or call 800-761-6302. This offer comes with a 10-year warranty and a 60-day money-back guarantee. It's time to start getting the quality sleep you deserve. So go to mypillow.com and use the promo code Prager, or call 800-761-6302 today. So I'm going to move now to another Orwellian world, the world of the economy. A group that I am a big fan of, Americans for Prosperity. I have the vice president Akash Shiguli. He, by the way, as it happens, he's made a terrific PragerU video on public unions, which in itself deserves time with Mr. Shiguli. So, Akash, welcome to the show.

Thank you for having me on today, Dennis. How are you?

Did I pronounce Your last name, the way you pronounce it?

Totally. You were very close.

Not on a close at the Dennis Prager Show. Close is like in horseshoes. It doesn't matter. What, how do you pronounce it?

Totally.

I wasn't even close.

I, I, Dennis, I have heard much, much.

I'm sure you were. Oh, of that I have no doubt, but I try to compare myself to the correct Not the worst. So, so, so, Chogoli.

Yep. You got it. There you go.

Okay, my friend, you're doing great work and you're going on a national tour, which we'll talk about in a moment. What is the actual, uh, inflation rate?

The actual inflation rate is now 3%, which is significantly better than it was a year ago. But again, a year ago it was at a 40-year high. 3% is still above what the government's target rate is, which is about 2%. So to put that simply, inflation is still a problem. Last month, for the first time since Biden took office, it finally grew slower than people's wages. But every month until last month, inflation— things were getting more expensive faster than people were getting raises, which means they were getting poorer every single month of this presidency until last month.

Okay, so, uh, explain the following to me. Why is my reality and the reality of anyone who enters a supermarket or restaurant way beyond 3%?

Great question. That is because specific items that we look for in the grocery store, inflation remains way higher than 3%. 3% is an overall figure certain foods, chicken, bread, eggs, milk, many, many of these household staple items. Inflation is still 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10% even, depending on what you are talking about. This is a major, major disconnect between the White House and their charts that their economists produce and their administration officials parading around the country trying to own Bidenomics versus the reality people are facing, which helps explain why 75% of the country thinks things are headed in the wrong direction and they blame President Biden's economic policies for it. Our national tour is about making sure people understand that, but also understand what good looks like, how we turn this around. And it's a pretty simple formula, right? It's energy abundance, controlling the reckless spending, and empowering workers instead of labor unions.

Wow. You have just described an economic utopia. It's really, it's unbelievable how basic your solution is and how far away it is.

You know, yes, I think we are very, very far away from it. And that's because this administration and how, just how extreme they are, how extreme the last Congress was. To put that into perspective, Dennis, you of course, and your audience remembers the fight over Obamacare. You'll remember it was several hundred billion, $700-800 billion. And it was, you know, people were going ballistic, rightfully so. This administration has spent an additional $6 trillion, with a T, $6 trillion compared to $800, $900 billion we were fighting over Obamacare. So the sheer scale of the reckless spending is really unfathomable. But I think one of the, you know, if you can call it a benefit, is that people are finally understanding the connection between reckless government spending and making their lives harder. By making things more expensive. People understand the problem. Now we want them to understand the solution. I think House Republicans have done, you know, a fairly admirable job at some of the stuff on energy. And, you know, that's, I think, kind of a big one where they have been constructive, but it's insufficient. And that's why we're taking it upon ourselves with 500 events across the country, a nationwide ad that's running in all 50 states. Called Broken Bidenomics, and people can learn more by visiting brokenbidenomics.com.

Brokenbidenomics.com. Okay, when we come back, I want to ask you what might be one of the $64,000 questions: what do you believe is the greatest single source of the inflation? We will be back in a moment. I have Vice President of Americans for Prosperity, Akash Shogali. We continue. Akash Shogali is the Vice President of Americans for Prosperity, and he has done a video for PragerU as well on the public unions. By the way, a word on public unions. That was created by John Kennedy, correct?

That is right. That problem started when Kennedy signed an executive order allowing federal employees to unionize, and it went wild at the state and local level from there. New York City at the city local level and the state of Wisconsin at the state level followed his model.

I think it is the single most damaging thing John Kennedy did as president.

I think it is arguably the single most damning thing that has ever happened in our government as it pertains to limited government, at least in the last, you know, I would say 60 years.

Wow.

And that was all for votes so that they would get more votes for the Democrats.

Yeah. Which I think honestly, Dennis, segues back into our conversation, which is, uh, what is Bidenomics and why is it making our lives so expensive and what's the single biggest driver? Here is how I would answer that question you left us with. What Bidenomics is, is the president and his administration using our tax dollars and the mechanisms of our government to reward their friends, their friends being the environmentalist movement, the labor unions, and the public and private sector. There is zero interest in that broad-based prosperity. What has driven up costs the most, I would argue, is actually regulation. Now, this administration is obviously not new in the space of regulation. The Obama administration, other administrations had a terrible track record on this front too, but this administration has been particularly egregious, particularly aggressive. And I would argue specifically within the area of energy, hamstringing our energy industry with more regulations and more restrictions that impact the food we eat, how we heat our homes, how we drive our cars, how we run our businesses, you name it. The downstream impacts of regulation on our energy industry have made every single element of our lives more difficult and more expensive. We need to not only roll back those specific regulations, Dennis, but this is what we're pushing, is completely reform the way in which our government can even create regulations and the oversight and accountability that exists over those federal agencies.

So is it regulation over business generally, or specifically over the energy industry?

I would say, I mean, all of the above. Energy, of course, is a form of business. I think energy regulation has been the most harmful of regulations on our businesses because—

Right.

Okay.

So when I say that the following green policy is the greatest driver of inflation, am I right or wrong?

Yes, I would say that is correct. And I think you have to specify because the number of ways in which it inhibits our energy industry and the number of things our energy industry impacts. It does not happen in a vacuum.

I'm just thinking about what you're saying. I, uh, it's— the calamity is so, is so great. So when he did it, I think it was one of his first acts, if not his first, shut down what even the State Department in review after review said was completely safe, the XL Pipeline from Canada. That was— was that ideological or payoff to the Greens?

To me, there is no difference between the two because the real motivator for this administration is politics. Now, whether that's coalition politics or ideology, what have you, there was no environmental benefit to doing that. And many of the decisions this administration has made in theory for the environment have had no benefit to the environment but have cost us dearly as far as our pocketbooks in the energy industry. I mean, think about this, Dennis. We've hamstrung the American energy industry. One, in doing so, not only have we also in many ways hamstrung green energy projects, right, through permitting and these other red tape barriers, but then this administration turns around and depletes our strategic petroleum reserves and then goes and begs Iran and Venezuela and Saudi Arabia for their oil and gas, which is not only still oil and gas, but it's oil and gas that's dirtier and more dangerous than what's produced here in our country. So we've done nothing for our environment and at the same time hamstrung our energy industry and taken money out of the pockets of hardworking families. All of what we're talking about are the connections that we want to make for the American people at the gas stations and grocery stores across the country where we're holding these events and telling them, look, here's how we turn this around. Here's what good energy policy looks like. And so that's why we're looking forward to talking to people face to face, because they're certainly not being told this when they turn on the news every night.

So where should people go to find out about your tour?

Absolutely. Online at brokenbydynamics.com. They can see our 60-second ad there that's running nationwide and see where we're holding more than 500 events over the next several months. And we'd love to see you and your whole audience come out and join us because folks, especially conservative folks, have got to know this stuff, at least the basics of it, so that when they talk to their friends and neighbors, over the next 16 months, people are making the connection of, hey, these are the policies that made my life so expensive and here's what's possible to get our country back on the right track and create some—

What does the average liberal who relies on the New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, CNN believe is the major cause of inflation?

I do not know the answer to that question. I do know the answer to that question, actually. The polls show that they incorrectly blame it on two things. One is the war in Ukraine. And two is so-called corporate greed. Those are both obviously foolish on their face because inflation was skyrocketing prior to the Russian invasion. And the second being that corporate greed doesn't seem to fluctuate the way that inflation fluctuates. Inflation has gone up and down. They never seem to say that corporate greed ever subsides. So there's no—

You're good. You know what? You are really, really, really good. I've interviewed thousands of people. You are one of the clearest. They— when they say the— I thought I knew the answer. I forgot the corporate greed one. But your answer is perfect. Corporate greed is permanent, so it can't explain current inflation.

Right.

When they say it's the war in Ukraine, what are they saying? We weren't buying Russian oil.

Yep, that's right. I mean, and again, Ukraine is a major producer of wheat, but guess what? So is the United States. There's a number of things, and obviously supply chains were disrupted, and no one argues— obviously the war in Ukraine did not help the cost of living in this country. But to pretend that it's the major driver of our inflation crisis when the government has spent $6 trillion, created thousands of regulations, is simply not true.

Okay, we're going to talk again. And folks, go to bydynamics.com—

broken bydynamics.com.

Broken, sorry. Thank you. Brokenbydynamics.com. All right, we'll talk again. Thank you for all you're doing.

Thank you.

There are some very clear-thinking people. Akash Shoguli, Vice President of Americans for Prosperity, is one of them. Rick in Portland, Oregon, hello.

Yeah, hello Dennis, can you hear me?

I can.

Okay, good. Hey, uh, the reason I'm phoning is I've listened to your show for a long time and I enjoy it. And I agree with a lot of your points, not all of them. Um, but it's your whole— your show is mostly about the left and the dangers of the left and the far left, which I'm not arguing with. I agree with most of your points. I never hear you talk about the right or if there's any dangers with the far right. So just quickly, if I may, the way I see it is you got the center, uh, center-left, left, far left. Center-right, right, far right. You got liberals and conservatives, which you can look those words up. They're pretty self-explanatory if you look them up in your fucking Wagner. And then you got the Democrats and the Republicans. But you know, in all that, you have the center, you have moderates, which are neither liberal or conservative, you know, they're a combination of them. And you have independent voters, which are the vast majority. Well, they're not the vast, but they are the majority of voters in this country. So you never talk about the right. Is it— because I see the far left as communism and the far right as, um, against fascism. So is, is that— do you agree with the way I see that, or am I getting something wrong in your opinion?

Well, it's not— in my view, if you're saying that it's symmetrical, we differ. The threat from the right pales in comparison right now. It might change, but it pales in comparison. Tell me one school district that the far right, whatever that is, runs. Tell me a major newspaper that the far right runs. Tell me a major sport that has a far right message on the on the football field or baseball field. They have everything. What is the far right, whatever that is, what does it own?

Uh, yeah, that's a good point. As far, you know, what you're saying, I, I don't disagree with that at all.

So you—

so basically you're saying because they don't have the power—

yes, power is everything. Yes, if you don't have power, you can't do much damage.

Then they're not— they're, they're, they're Benign compared to the—

Yes, that's correct. At this time, yes, that's right. I'm glad you asked because can you imagine if they were— what, whatever the far-right message would be? Pitchers' mounds had Black Lives Matter inscribed on, on, on the dirt. Any far-right slogans in any sport? This is the male— male-female hour on the Dennis Prager Show every Wednesday. I don't know, is it 15 years? If you have heard most of these, let alone all of them, the amount you would have learned about men and women— I believe, I believe, absolutely believe, I am certain that you would, you would understand men and women better than if you got a PhD in any arena of psychology having to do with the sexes. That's how much you would have learned. But of course, it's not much of a competition since getting a PhD in the non-sciences is not getting a PhD in wisdom or even often in knowledge. Be that as it may, it is the male-female hour, and we explore the sexes. There are only two sexes. Any other claim is entering the realm of the absurd and the dangerous. So one other thing that I note: I am not a man fan or a woman fan. There are good men and good women and bad men and bad women. It's so obvious that it shouldn't need to be said, but there are people who romanticize one sex or the other, more likely to romanticize women because of wishful thinking and whatever else contributes to opinions. Today's topic is one of the most often used terms in the English language in the United States, certainly. Patriarchy. Basically, I'm asking you a question. Most of my Male-female hours consist of me offering a view and you reacting or questioning. Sometimes I simply pose a question and then I react to you. Who is the head of your household? And I am presuming that household means children. A married couple with children, which is increasingly rare, tragically, catastrophically, it's worse than tragedy. And who was or is the head of your household? Or just as possible, is there no head? 1-800-PRAGER-776. When I grew up, there was, as I have mentioned on many occasions, a famous sitcom on television which is so amazing in comparison to what is said today. It's hard to believe it's the same country. And that televisions actually existed. It's not pre-TV. Father Knows Best.

Robert Young and Jane Wyck with Eleanor Donahue, Billy Gray, and Lauren Chapin in Father Knows best.

Wow, everything about that is of another era, almost another planet. The mockery of the idea that Father knows best. So I'm trying to think, and, and my parents' house, would I say— yeah, I would say that with all the power that my mother had, which was considerable, I mean household power, I would say that if you were to ask me, who's the head of your house, when I was, let's say, 12 I would have said my father. Now, interesting question: who would I say when I was raising kids was the head of my house? I would have hoped it was me, but you'd have to ask my kids what they perceived. It's largely a— it's not a black and white reality. It's in— it's more of a sense or an implication or even a wish. In the final analysis, with the strongest woman. Everybody is happier if the man of the house is strong. But I mean, when I think about it, everybody's happy if the woman of the house is strong too. Weak— a weak parent is not an asset. So may, you know, in reality, it may well be 50/50. Not in terms of duties. That doesn't work out. You vacuum, I'll, I'll wash the dishes. And keep to that scenario. I don't think that works out, but in terms of who runs the house or who is the head of the house, that's a different question. 1-800-PRAGER-776, 877-243-7776. So I, I'm asking, what was or is the case in your home? What was the case in the home you grew up in? And what do you believe is the ideal? I think that the, the, the, the best way, or one of the best ways to put it, is everybody benefits from a strong man in the house. Women sort of lose their, their bearing if they perceive that their husband is weak. And boys and girls, that is sons and daughters, don't do well either. And yet, oh, I, I just want to tell you what a fascinating show that I did, an hour that I did years ago. It really had an impact on me. I asked people— it was not a male-female hour— I asked people, if you didn't do drugs in high school, why didn't you? And almost everyone who called in said, because my mother would have killed me. And that's interesting, it was the mother. Interesting too, the Bible, the first 5 books, the most important ones, I believe there is a law I, I think it's in Exodus. Might be Deuteronomy. A person, or really a man, or a human being, should fear his mother and father. That's very interesting. The mother comes first, by the way, in that case. Honor the father came first. So I'm curious to hear from you in this regard. Who should run the house? Who did run your house when you were a child? And who has run it in your adulthood?

Anywhere I go, there you are.

This is the Male-Female Hour on the Dennis Prager Show. And the subject is, who was the head of your household when you grew up? Who was or is the head of your household with your children? Should there be a head of a household? We're told that there— we live in a patriarchy. That strikes me as nonsense. Our problem is not men being patriarchs. It is men not stepping up to the plate. I wish we had a patriarchy problem. That we don't. All right, Louisville, Kentucky. Corey, hello.

Hey, how you doing, Dennis?

Well, thank you.

Um, so in my house when I was growing up, I had— it was all matriarchs. I had one grandmother and I had one mother. I had a dad that was still married to my mom. They, they stayed married, but he was a real turd. Uh, everything that I learned about being a man, I learned not to do from him. Uh, so I had rougher childhood than what would be expected. But after I grew up, uh, became a man, um, in my household that I have, I have two boys, a 7-year-old and a 5-year-old. And my wife does things in the 50/50 aspect. We don't, like you said on your show, we don't split chores 50/50. Uh, I do masculine tasks. I take care of the yard. I take care of the cars.

I take care of the home.

She does the cooking, the cleaning, and things like that. And when it comes to the nurturing aspect, she takes care of the kids' schooling. She takes care of the kids, you know, things for them to do and things for them to play. And I take care of security. I teach my boys martial arts. I've taught them how to shoot, how to, you know, do all those types of things that a man should teach his sons. So I think my sons are getting the proper training. They don't see anyone dominating the household, but they see us working together as a team. They see dad does this, mom does this. And this is the way it should work. Um, and we've, we've had no issues other than my youngest son. Uh, I was in prison for a year and a half. Um, I don't know if you heard about the 2020 riots or not, but I was one of the officers from Louisville that got pinned for the federal stuff.

So, um, and wait, and how does that play out? When did that happen?

Uh, so in 2020, uh, I was, you know, charged by the federal the FBI, and I ended up going to prison for a year and a half. And during that year and a half, we started having problems with our sons. They, they developed behavioral issues and had a lot of problems, uh, with behavior growing up for that year and a half that I was gone. And my wife put them in therapy. Therapy helped, but it wasn't the, the solving thing. When I came home, they were out of therapy within 3 months. Uh, so me being home, uh, just my presence made a huge difference in their behavior.

So it's interesting. Had your wife been in prison for a year and a half, you think they would have had the same problems?

I think they would have had different problems. I don't think they would have had the same problems. I think behavioral-wise they'd have been fine, but they would have been less empathetic.

They would have—

they wouldn't have learned the things they would have learned from a woman.

You sound like a good man. I, I don't know why you were in prison. What— can you tell me in 30 seconds?

Yeah, I wrote a book about it, but I don't want to plug myself. It's Tragedy in America. If you want to look it up, I think you would be interested in reading it.

I probably would. Well, anyway, thank you. Until the prison part, it sounded like a really good household. I'm— and obviously you would agree that the prison part had a detrimental effect. I mean, that's a really interesting, very interesting proof, or anecdotal proof if you will, of the power of the father. Left for a year and a half, as it were. But it's also that he went to prison. I, I have to believe that that's a factor. The people rarely point this out, but I do somewhat frequently. A father in particular, a father's misdeeds— and I'm not saying he had misdeeds, I'm just using that as a jumping-off point. This is nothing, there's no commentary on that call. But a father who, who acts badly does more damage to a child than a child who does badly does to a parent. That's why Bernie Madoff's sons had such a terrible fate. One committed suicide and one died shortly thereafter of cancer. Can't prove it, but it's hard not to believe that what he went through did not affect his health. Okay, let's see. Matthew in Lanesville, Indiana.

Yes, sir.

How are you, Dennis Prager? Where's Lanesville?

Uh, 30 minutes from Louisville.

Wait, so you're— but you're in Indiana?

Yes, and you're across the border.

Oh, how interesting. So you— I'm going to embarrass myself if this is wrong— you're in southern Indiana?

Correct.

No embarrassment.

Very nice. Okay, thank you for calling.

Yes, sir.

Uh, well, growing up, my father was the head of the household, and in my house, uh, I'm also the head of head of the household, but the wife is the neck that turns the head many times.

So I love her dearly.

She's my queen. I respect her. I've never— I don't— I've never raised my voice at her, belittled her, called her any names. I love her. I treat her with absolute respect, and I respect everything she says, but my word is final. But, you know, like the last caller, the gentleman that— the police officer, she She takes care of the children. She keeps us all alive. So I don't, I don't mess with her when she tells me don't give them that to eat. I obey. So there's many areas where she's the boss, right?

But you're perceived, you're perceived as the head.

Yes, I am the head.

Yeah. Okay. I would love to talk to his wife, and I'd love to talk to the children. The— isn't it ironic, all these charges of patriarchy? Well, I don't even know what that means, but if it means that men are patriarchs, doesn't sound so bad to me. This is the male-female hour. I am a male. My preferred pronouns are not an issue. My only pronouns are he and him because the world is divided between he and she. That's why. That people are capable of believing otherwise shows you The ease with which people can be taught lies and believe in them. The subject is patriarchy on this male-female hour. So the subject is, did your household have a head, mom or dad, when you grew up? Does it or did it when you raise children? Should there even be one? Okay, so let's see. You have, as usual, thoughtful answers. Yarden, if that is the correct, or Yarden, which is Jordan in Hebrew, in Los Angeles. How do you pronounce your name?

It's Yarden.

So I was right. Okay, go ahead.

Um, so my father is the head of the household. He's the provider. Oh, excuse me. He's a provider and a homemaker, and my mother is the homemaker. And, um, I don't have a family of my own yet, but that's how I plan on it being when I do.

Well, so is he the head because he is the moneymaker, or is he the head because he's the man?

He's the head because he's the man. I, I do think it partly has to do with, uh, him being the provider as well, but that, that's kind of what I look at as the head of the household or the man of the house as the provider, you know.

So it is, and it is your hope to be the head of a household?

Yes, one day when I have a family of my own.

Well, thank you. How many men— he's 24— how many young men would say that? My ambition is to be the head of a household. How many 24-year-old women would like to meet such a man? I don't know the answer. This is a very interesting question. It's so rare. The, the antipathy to the patriarchy is so great, and yet ask women who are dating how many men aspire to marriage and family and to provide for one. Okay, Mike Cleveland. Hello, Mike of Cleveland.

Hey Dennis, how are you?

Real well.

You're a brilliant man, you know that? Brilliant.

Well, wait a minute there. Wait, wait, you asked if I know it. Okay, go ahead.

I like to preface anything I'm going to be asked, yeah, or anything I say by, uh, happy wife, happy life.

Okay.

And when I first got married, I was a breadwinner, and then I I was laid off and the wife climbed the corporate ladder and now she's the breadwinner. But I think that whoever, you know, whoever should be the head of the household is the person who not only is financially responsible— you don't have to be conservative or liberal, you have to be responsible— and socially responsible. The combination of the two. And I bring certain things to the table, you know, and my wife does. I have a couple of vices, you know, Harley, guitars and stuff like that, where, you know, boy, I like to have that guitar.

Those are great vices to have. Don't even call them vices. But in any event, do you have children?

I have two. They're, uh, grown and—

Okay, perfect. So let me ask you a question. If I asked them, did your house have a head, what would they say?

Um, I think they would say that, um, my, my, my dad— my dad was the head of the house, but he had to reassert it many times. You know, it didn't—

what would your wife say?

Heavy is the head that wears the crown, right? It doesn't come easy, or correct.

What would your wife say?

She, she'd probably say that, uh, she rules on some things and I rule on others.

That's right.

You know, if I'm, if I'm a rocket scientist, when I mix the formula for the rocket fuel, I'm in charge. If she's— you know what I'm saying?

Yes, totally.

Uh, you know, it all depends who—

yeah, I got you, I got you. You know, this has provoked another subject, and I will tell you what it is when we come back. Hi everybody, Dennis Prager here. Just had a great male-female hour in which I acknowledged the following: I really love my work. To get to talk with so many people from so many backgrounds— the only people who have that possibility are therapists and talk show hosts, right?

Yes. Well, therapists, they're only with a select few, though. Maybe over a long career, right? Spoken with many people, but they see the same clients. You get different callers every day.

Yes. And from every, every possible walk of life. And last hour was just a great example. Male, female. Hi, everybody. Dennis Prager here. That is Julie Hartman. We periodically— I periodically call on her on third hours to join me. So, Julie, the first hour I was reading from what is truly a significant book, Christopher Rufo's The American Cultural Revolution. I want to repeat something that I said then. I know about the Maoist Cultural Revolution. The term is, is very familiar to me because of my studies in communism. That was my field. They would have people come up and confess to sins against the Communist Party that they were totally made up. For example, if their parent owned land, they were landowners, they were by definition guilty. What we're having now is if you are white, you are by definition guilty. And I, and I, I want to repeat this as well. What the left has done to morality is a form of death. The notion that you are guilty by who you are rather than what you do. Is a brand new one in the West. The West fought against that. The Bible fought against it. Do not favor the poor in a courtroom. It is a law in the Torah, the first 5 books. You are guilty because of your color? So I'm going to read a little more from Christopher Rufo's book here. This is from Beaverton, Oregon. One family which had moved to Beaverton in part for the city's highly rated public schools collected a folder of lessons being taught to their third grade child. Third grade. The social studies module on race began innocently enough. The teacher asked the 8- and 9-year-old students to think about their culture and identity and join her in celebrating diversity. But that in and of itself, it is so vapid. You celebrate values, my friends. You don't celebrate race. What does diversity mean to the left? Different races. It's not inherently good. It's not inherently bad. If the various races do good things and have good values, it's wonderful. If they don't, it's awful. She said alongside pictures of a world map and cartoons of smiling children. The subsequent lessons, however, became more pointed. This is 3rd and 4th graders. The teacher explained to students that quote, quote, race is a social construct, quote unquote, created by white elites who use those categories, quote, to maintain power and control of one group over another.

This is where they're inconsistent though, because if race is a social construct, then why are they pro-affirmative action?

Go ahead. Why is that? And why is that self-negating?

Because affirmative action is about giving priority to certain races that have not had equal educational opportunities. But if race is a construct designed by white people, then shouldn't we just seek to eliminate that construct in every form than to give favor to those who possess elements of that construct? It's, it's very inconsistent.

So I have a I have— you're entirely right, and I have another take. It means nothing. The more I have read here, and of course over the last decade, all of my life, in the final analysis, none of it means anything. It is gobbledygook. We are trying to make sense of nonsense.

Yes, it's true. I'm actually going to do a show in a few weeks from now about how and why colleges and universities have become leftist. And I have a few suppositions, but I'll tell you one of them. As someone who just graduated from college, I know this all too well. Novelty and critique are rewarded in the classroom. Think about, well, I'm saying it to you like you were in school recently. Elsie's in the room, so I'm now saying it to her. Think about the kinds of essays that we get. Critique Nathaniel Hawthorne's use of imagery in The Scarlet Letter. Make an intervention about whether or not the United States should have dropped the atomic bomb. It's all about intervene, go against something, point out what's wrong. And it's also all about coming up with new lines of thought. Anyone who has sat in a history or an English class in college knows that if you want to get participation points, you've got to raise your hand and just come up with something new to quote unquote contribute to the conversation. And so if you look at the ingredients of leftism, that's what it is. It's novelty and critique. But as you just said, Dennis Prager, it amounts to this gobbledygook where we're pursuing novelty and we're pursuing critique for the sake of it and not actually to come up with something substantive. So no wonder their ideas don't make any sense.

Well, I'm asking my listeners, what does that mean? That race was created by white elites who use those categories to maintain power and control of one group over another. Here is the irony that neither of us pointed out. If race is a social construct, that means it doesn't really exist. It was created by whites. So then why is the statement, I want to be race blind, racist?

Right.

I want to be race blind should be the motto of leftism. If race is a construct constructed by whites to suppress Blacks, then ending race as a social construct is the solution.

Exactly. And they would be anti-affirmative action for those reasons.

Well, well, who are you affirming?

Right.

That's your point. Who?

Yes.

If it's a social construct by whites, you're affirming the white social construct.

Yes. But see, look at this right here. Race is a social construct. That is a new idea. And that is a critique of the past.

That's right.

New idea came straight out of a university.

That's all out of the universities. So I'm continuing with Christopher Rufo. This, the teacher said, is racism, which, quote, can determine real life experiences, inspire hate, and have a major negative impact on Black lives. So I, I realize something when I read the left. Was it Goebbels? They, they say if you repeat a lie enough, people will believe it. That, that's— we are living through that in the United States among the educated. These lies, meaningless lies ironically, are repeated so often people start to believe it. But that doesn't mean anything. The next module focused on systemic racism. This is to children in 5th grade now. The teacher told the students, maybe it's 3rd and 4th grade still, racism infects the very structures of our society including wealth, employment, education, criminal justice, housing, surveillance, and healthcare. Now here is another very important point. They make these assertions, but they never give examples. Never. How exactly does racism infect all of these things? How does it infect criminal justice? Because there are more blacks in prison proportionately than whites? That's because they commit violent crime proportionately more than whites do. But if a teacher said that in an Oregon school, they would be vilified as racist. It's a very, very big battle, my friends. They have Dennis spelled out, but I don't think I need to spell it out to anybody. Two ends, two ends. That's right, one N is the French way, and it's pronounced Denis. There, by the way, do you know that there is a Saint Dennis in France? Saint Denis. Wow, that's right.

Muzzles, muzzles.

Oh my God. Okay, that's a mixture of ethnicities. So very serious stuff here from Christopher Rufo's book, What They Are Actually Teaching 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th Graders in the, in the city of Beaverton, Oregon. And it's true for much of Oregon. So this is 3rd, 4th grade, systemic racism infects the very structure of our society, including wealth, employment, education, criminal justice, housing, surveillance, and healthcare. Unquote. To accompany the lesson, the teacher included a video presentation in which the speaker directly accuses the children. You hear that? The children. You kids are racist. It accuses the children of being racist themselves. Quote, our society speaks racism. It has spoken racism since we were born. Of course you are racist. The idea that somehow this blanket of ideas has fallen on everyone's head except Yours is magical thinking and it's useless.

Oh right, that's the magical thinking.

That's right, that's exactly right. See, they make these gigantic assertions, provide no evidence because there is no evidence. That's why they wouldn't debate. You think that the person who made this film would debate Larry Elder? I don't know what sum of money it would take. To get any of the people who teach this stuff to debate someone like Larry Elder. I don't think they would do it for $10,000 because they would lose all their credibility. He would destroy everything they're saying with facts. What they're doing to kids So that means that the Black kid looks at the white kid as an enemy, as a tormentor. How could they possibly be friends? Racial relations before the left poisoned them were quite good in the United States.

Well, you wonder what these leftist teachers really want, because anyone with a brain in their head would be able to see that you are— if you start fomenting these divisions, it's going to have a terrible effect on race relations. So they claim to want to improve race relations.

I'm not sure they do. That's interesting.

Well, that goes back to our discussion that we have on Dennis and Julie, and I'm sure we've had on this hour. Do they— are they genuine in what they claim to want?

Well, they're getting more genuine there. I think they're now more and more acknowledging they want it to destroy Western civilization. It sounded like a crazy charge a few years ago. I'm not sure they would deny it.

I agree with that. But the question is, do they want to destroy Western civilization in the name of improving race relations?

No, I don't. It's an interesting, very interesting question. They want to destroy Western civilization in the name of creating a left-wing utopia.

But what is— what does that look like to them?

Okay, you have now entered the realm of the irrational. What does utopia look like to anybody? I have not spent a minute of my life thinking about what utopia would— I give you my word, I've never thought, what would— what does utopia look like?

Right. But maybe, I mean, I don't think they've thought it through, but maybe some of them have. And what, what, what do they—

Where there's no racism, no sexism, no homophobia, there are— you don't have to work for a living. You could do what you want. You could write poetry all day. You could, you can kayak all day. That's— I have, I have no answer. Yeah.

Do they want Blacks and whites to be integrated and friends?

They don't seem to address that. And I— it seems that they would suggest that whiteness is inherently sinful, and that's impossible. Maybe in some very distant future. It's—

I think we need to press them more on this issue. You know, when you encounter a left, I think we need to ask them, what is it that you want by inculcating this in young children? What is your desired outcome here? Do you want your black students and white students to be friends? Do you think it's best that they stay separate and it's just impossible for them to reconcile? We really, we criticize their arguments all the time. But we don't press them and expose the holes.

I think that's true. If you press them, they will leave. I'm thinking of a Thanksgiving table. If you press them, they will leave, and/or they will never show up, or they will simply say you're racist. So Florida has now announced that it will be officially using PragerU materials in the classrooms of Florida. The barrage of lies about PragerU from the whole left, from Daily Kos and Daily Beast and others, including one of them said with a picture of me, Dennis Prager accused of being a white supremacist. As I said in my talk to the Arizona State Legislature last week, you can't make up a bigger lie than Dennis Prager is is a white supremacist. If you said Dennis Prager is a porcupine, it would be equally false, not more false. That's what they do. One day, when you get a red pill, you understand that the left is, is vile. And if you can't say that You're still, I guess, in the matrix. Back in a moment. Hi everybody, Dennis Prager. Whoa, hello, hello, hello. Julie Hartman's with me. Julie has her own broadcast, by the way. I want to tell everybody what it is?

Yes, it's called Timeless with Julie Hartman. I segment it into a news portion and then a militantly nonpolitical timeless portion because you and I, Dennis, actually enjoy talking about the nonpolitical sometimes more than the political. And of course, we have our show Dennis and Julie, which premieres every Monday on my YouTube channel. And you can download—

by the way, you could see it. I looked it up. You can now see Dennis and Julie at DennisPrager.com.

Excellent.

It is.

And you can watch us where it says videos and watch us.

Yes, that's very special, my friends. It's very, very special. I never co-hosted anything before I, I met this young woman. And young is very accurate.

I feel old.

Is that true?

I'm approaching 24, and I feel like once, once I hit 25, I mean, well, I'll tell you this.

I mean, seriously, do you know that I did an hour of radio on a theory, on a total wild theory of mine, that 29, the age of 29, is a big deal in a woman's life?

Yes. Especially if you're unmarried.

That's right.

What is— what's the equivalent in a male?

There is none. 87. If a guy's not married by 87, he starts wondering what happened.

By the way, I just want to tell the viewers, Dennis, you, you may not like that I'm doing this, but too late. Someone is about to celebrate a big birthday a week from today, actually, and we'll continue on the Dennis Prager Show. 25 times 3. In a week.

Thank you, thank you. I don't know what I'm— what am I thanking her about?

Well, you may get some cigars thanks to me.

Oh, okay, that's a big deal. Then, then it's totally worth it. Uh, you feel old and I feel young. I mean, and you know that's true. I, I feel exactly like I did at your age because I, I remember— you will be 24. When will that be?

October.

Okay, so I, for whatever reason, that is the birthday I best remember. I've told you this, and I remember thinking, I am so happy, I can't believe it. I was already doing public work, I was a speaker, I, I was going around the country speaking, I, uh, I had friends, I, I had health, I had vigor. So right now I go around the country speaking, I have health, I have vigor.

I know.

And I am better. I'm better today. I have two wonderful sons. I have a spectacular wife, as you well know. Yes, she's rare.

Oh, she is rare. And she's listening.

And she's listening. That's correct. That's part of her rarity.

Yes.

She has listened to every one of my shows. Oh, she's— she listened before we met. But even since we met, 20 years. Look, I am, I am beyond lucky. I pinch myself every day. But my friends, I will tell you that I'm worried about this country. Really, really worried. That's why I'm reading you from Christopher Rufo's book, which, which we just found out is number 11, which is amazing. You know, People don't realize how high that is because that includes everything: self-help, cookbooks, fiction. So it's probably, if it's number 11 overall, it's probably 3 in nonfiction.

Well, look, it's great news obviously because it means that people are reading it. Yeah, it shows that there's a silent majority.

Yeah, well, that's the question. That is an interesting question. It, you know, do you know silent majority was a phrase that was used in the Nixon era? Era? Yes. Oh, I love when you— Julie will never forget this. Julie's mind is a sponge. Okay, uh, let's continue about what, uh, what they're teaching third, fourth, fifth graders in Oregon. Okay, so the teacher tells third graders— this is documented— the teacher tells third graders, you are racist. And if you think you are not, that is magical thinking. The speaker then told the students that if they did not convert to the cause, they would, quote, affirm the status quo of certain bodies being allowed resources, access, opportunities, and other bodies being literally killed. Dennis Prager here. Thanks for listening to the Daily Dennis Prager Podcast. To hear the entire 3 hours of my radio show commercial-free every single day, become a member of Pragertopia. You'll also get access to 15 years' worth of archives, as well as the daily show prep. Subscribe at pragertopia.com.