Everything in Life Is a Choice | Sunday Fireside Chat

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Hey there, this is Marissa Streit. I am the CEO of PragerU, and you are about to listen to a special edition of Fireside Chat with Dennis Prager. Those of us here at PragerU are continuing to do the very important work that we've been doing with him for over 10 years. We are educating millions of young people online. We have state partnerships to bring our content into schools and so much more. You can head over to prageru.com to see the progress that we've been making. Also, I'd love to invite you to support our mission by donating to our 501. It is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible donation will go to an institution of higher learning that actually shares your values. So enjoy your podcast and thank you so much for all your support.

Hi everybody, Dennis Prager, and welcome to the Fireside Chat number 209.

Yes. Wow.

I don't usually get it right. I usually ask Megan the arm. And she gives me the answer. Great to be with you. Otto's here, though increasingly he leaves at the half-hour mark because we only pay him for a half hour. And I'm not, I'm not even annoyed with him, but that's now been his general modus operandi. And I don't know if you see, but Snoopy, a very rare moment, Snoopy is right Aside my legs here, between my legs on the ground. So you got 2 for the price of one. Welcome to the fireside chat where I talk completely spontaneously about things on my mind and then take your questions from literally around the world. A thought first about what is happening. I have here, the reason I'm holding the tablet. Is I'm looking at the list of things you can't say with regard to COVID or medicines or a whole host of things that YouTube will remove you if you do say them. And I, I just need you to understand what the word misinformation has come to mean. There is such a thing as misinformation. One cannot deny that. However, I'll give you an example. It was declared misinformation less than a year ago if you said that COVID-19 began at a Chinese laboratory in Wuhan, China. That was called misinformation. People were removed from the, uh, from Google or from YouTube or from Instagram or from Twitter. Now it's not misinformation. So it's a very difficult thing to deal with when honest dissent is labeled misinformation, even if it has a great deal of information. It says here, if you differ with the World Health Organization or health authorities, Then it's misinformation. This is the first time in the history of medicine that that is the case. You know, people laugh at the medieval church for persecuting Galileo because, well, the church said that what Galileo said was about the Earth going around the sun was misinformation. And and now we have a new church. That's the interesting thing. We have a secular church. Which is even less tolerant than the medieval church in many ways. Misinformation is anything that the left differs with. That is it. That's what they do. They just declare it misinformation, like they did the claim that the virus began at a laboratory. This is very dangerous. You have to allow people, especially Scientists to dissent without just declaring it misinformation. So you realize what's happening to free speech in the United States. If if you differ with the left on a scientific issue, it's misinformation. If you differ with the left on an issue concerning race, just even declaring that the United States. Is not systemically racist, or that colorblind is a good thing, then you are shut down because you are called racist. You're not sufficiently anti-racist. The number of areas where dissent is no longer allowed, meaning dissent from the left, or in the case of the United States, dissent from the state. Because the state is run by the left. This is very scary and unprecedented in American history. So I want you to understand very serious, very honest, very truth-oriented people are dissenting and not misinforming necessarily. Misinformation exists, but it exists all over the spectrum. There's a tremendous amount of left-wing Misinformation. For 2 years, we were misinformed about collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. That was 100% misinformation, and it took up the— it sucked out the oxygen from the national conversation for 2 years. Turned out to be a gigantic lie. So you should— you just need to be aware of that. The bombardment of misinformation, misinformation, misinformation charges is just a way to stifle dissent in this country. Okay, I'd like to talk to you for a moment about another subject that is precious to me, dear to me. I am asked all the time, how does one become courageous? This issue is raised because I say that, and I'm not the only one, obviously, but without courage, evil wins. It's as simple as that. Good people need to have courage or evil wins. There was no exception to that. And I have an answer for you, a quick answer that will sound so simple as to be Almost hard to imagine that that's the answer. It's it sounds too simple, but I've devoted so much time to thinking about it that I am convinced it's it's accurate. It's not the only answer, but it's the first answer, and that is you're courageous or you become courageous. If you want to be courageous, that's it. Because, and this is huge, this is life-changing stuff, and I try to infuse every fireside chat with life-changing stuff. Basically, we are what we want to be. It's one of these incredibly simple thoughts that is very, very true and very important. We are what we want to be as a general rule. And I will give you a few examples. Courage is the first. You become courageous if you want to be courageous. Most people don't want to be courageous because there's a price. Courage exacts a price. You could lose your friends, you could lose relatives, you could lose your job. This is true. So there's a reason people don't want to be courageous, because it's tough. Give you another one that I have mentioned in passing on many occasions. It is the basis of my entire attitude toward happiness. You choose to be happy just as you choose to be courageous. So here is the other major thought for the day, although I may— I can't say that. There may be more major thoughts. I haven't yet gotten to the questions, but everything is a choice, and people don't realize that. You choose to be courageous. You choose to be happy. If it were easy to be happy, everybody would be happy. There are a whole host of reasons for everyone looking at me right now, watching me right now. There's a whole host of valid reasons for you not to be happy. You were mistreated by your parents. You were mistreated by your spouse, mistreated by your children, mistreated by your friends, mistreated by your employer, mistreated by customers at, at your retail operation. You have lousy health. You have, uh, you're, you're, you have bad financial problems. I mean, the number of reasons to be unhappy, and they're legit. I, I'm not mocking any one of the things I just said. They're big deals. And yet, with obvious certain exceptions that I won't, I won't deal with, although it's hard for me to come up with an exception. Yes, I can. Horrible, uncontrollable pain. That, that I would say that's an exception. I know a man who killed himself because he was not allowed to have drug drugs that would kill his pain after a horrific accident falling off a roof onto onto the ladder's steps, which went into his stomach. Horrible pain, not given the appropriate medications because. Doctors are afraid to prescribe painkillers, as if it's better. See, in my view, it is better to be addicted to painkillers than have the pain. I'm not speaking from personal experience. I've never had such pain, and I'm I I I I may have been taking two painkillers in my life. So I I'm not speaking from personal experience except this experience that I know. I acknowledge there could be exceptions to my rule. For 99% of humanity, happiness is a choice. Courage is a choice. And the happiness one was the woman sitting in the chair next to me in this room, Yeonmi Park, a North Korean who escaped the hell of North Korea into China and was immediately trafficked as a sex slave at the age of 13. It is not possible for me to imagine what that is like. A, I'm not a woman, and B, I just can't imagine such suffering. And she saw her mother raped and her father was tortured nearly to death. Back in North Korea, and she was happy. You saw her. If you missed that that fireside chat, it's life-changing. And I asked her, "How could you be happy?" She said, "I chose to be." She never heard me speak on happiness. Said, and basically she put it in the way I have always put it: What's my choice? To be miserable? To go through life miserable? If she could choose to be happy after being trafficked at 13, watching her mother raped and her father having been tortured, I think most of you can make that choice. Same with courage. Here's another example of a choice. People don't think it's a choice. You choose whether or not to lead a religious life. There are 2 choices: secular life or religious life. People think that to be religious, you have to sort of just— either you believe or you don't believe. Well, since we don't have proof that God exists, and we certainly don't have proof that God doesn't exist, basically, you have to make a choice. Will you live as if God exists or as if God doesn't exist? If you're an agnostic, why would you live as an atheist? Why not live a religious life? In other words, religious community, regular house of prayer, church, synagogue, studying the Bible. I know this sounds so foreign to so many of you because you went through the secular brainwash known as a Western education. Which basically taught you that this is all silly. It's the most profound stuff ever written. Written this stuff. It's not silly. The deepest people I know have overwhelmingly been religious. Overwhelmingly. There are a lot of religious dummies, but the most profound people I've ever met have 99% been religious or come from a religious background. That's a choice. God never appeared to me. I chose at a very early age to lead a religious life, a God-centered life, because I knew it would be a better life. And I was right. It's one of the greatest choices of my life. You choose. You don't wait for God to appear to you. He probably won't. That's the way it works. It's all a choice. You choose whether to get married. You choose whether to have children. I ask young people, so would you like to get married? Oh, you know, the right person comes along. I'm working on my career. You're not going to get married. You got to choose to be married. You don't say that about a career. Well, if a career comes along, I'll work. People make a choice for working, right? Make a choice for career. Got to make a choice for marriage. Got to make a choice for children. Best choices you can make. Even if the marriage ends in a divorce, it's the best choice you can make because marriage makes you grow up. New study from Pew shows that the unmarried make so much less money than the married, which we have a whole video on at PragerU, by the way, just giving the data on that fact. You just mature when you get married, and if you don't believe me, Ask anyone in your life, anyone divorced or still married, did marriage mature you? Just ask them that. Did you grow up more after you got married? Every single one will say yes. Even as I said, if it ended in divorce, everything in life is a choice except what happens to you. You don't choose that. Hit by a drunk driver, you didn't choose it. Get cancer. You didn't choose it. I acknowledge that. But everything else is a choice. Okidok, time for your question now. Megan tells me that I should. I usually see the question in advance. I acknowledge that. But she wants me to see this one without having seen it. So this is the first time in 209 episodes of the fireside chat. That I have not seen. She wants me to react spontaneously, so I will either love or hate Megan after watching this video. Here we go.

Hi, Dennis. Hi, Otto. I just wanted to tell a little story. A while back, I was watching the fireside chats, and I was watching the episode where you, Dennis, gave the. Or, or say that there's not really any downside to using online dating apps. And I just moved to a new town, and so I decided to give it a try. And I downloaded this online dating app specifically for Mormons, and I started swiping and met a ton of people. And after a little bit, I ended up meeting this person, and we really hit it off. We became super good friends. We started dating. And we really bonded over shared values and over religion and things like that. And we fell in love. And recently, a couple of days ago, I got engaged. So I just want to say thank you. Thank you for your wisdom. And thank you for, in essence, changing my life. I appreciate it.

I was expecting her to say the opposite. I was expecting You said there's no downside, and that I was expecting— I met the guy and he turned out to be a criminal. This really shocked me. I expected a real challenge here because she said, you said there's no downside, so I expected a but, right? Oh, that's funny. Well, I am so happy I changed her life. Yes, that is true. Yes, that's exactly right. Well, that's what I want to do. I am, I am truly thrilled for you. Look at that. I have the chills. I'm so happy for her. So, you know, I sit here in my house. People around the world are watching. It's not quite real. It's a certain surreal thing, right? It's my house. And then I know that she didn't say where she's from, right? So we don't know. Originally from Arizona.

Originally Arizona?

But in LA area. Oh, she's in California now? Poor thing. But, uh, but it doesn't matter. Worked out in terms— so she met her husband. I'm thrilled. So I'm— I, I don't know how many people take these words seriously. I guess a lot, thank God. Otherwise you wouldn't be watching. I, I mean, let me say a word about this. If I'm very, very rational, I'm in love with reason, okay? And I, I hate irrationality. So I don't know of a rational argument against Going on online dating. I don't know of a rational reason. There are hundreds of thousands of people or millions online. How many are there in your life? 5? I mean, how are you going to meet a husband or wife without an online app? Friends will introduce you. How many single people do your friends know? that would qualify? How many? Seriously? 2, 3? You're a relative. Well, you're not going to marry a relative, so that ends that. Maybe a relative will know somebody. I mean, even if you go to a church and you think, oh, well, that's a perfect— and it is, it could be a wonderful place. But how many people, how many young singles are there at church for you to choose from compared to online? She obviously, if she's a Mormon in good standing, I mean, she attends Uh, services, church-like services, uh, regularly. Did she meet somebody there? No, she met somebody, she met a Mormon online. I don't, I don't know, what is the argument? You might meet a jerk? Well, you might not meet a jerk anywhere where you'll meet anybody. Your friends will not introduce you to somebody who might turn out to be a jerk. Anyway, you can pretty much figure it out. Do some, you could do a bunch of Zoom calls with the person before you ever meet for a coffee. Right? Now, it's true, could somebody act? Somebody could act in person, correct? There's no guarantees in life, but there is this guarantee: you have a much bigger choice online than not online. Okay, here we go. I married for 18 years and love my dogs. Also, I want to be 100%— wait. Do you want to read that one? Yeah, I do very much. I'm just thinking—

Oh, he—

remember when you, um, talked about your— uh, Sue's love for Otto, right, versus your love for— Oh, he's commenting on that. That's fair. Yes, you love your dogs. No, no, I'm joking. I have no issue with men loving their dogs. However, I think it's fair to say as a rule At least with couples, the woman might love the dogs a bit more.

I—

my wife loves them more. I admit it. That doesn't mean I don't love them. It just means she loves them more. That's all. Like, I love Beethoven more than my wife loves Beethoven, but she loves Beethoven too. Did I get out of that one?

Yes.

Okay. Also, I want to be 100% honest on your question about who would rescue a persecuted group Like, like the Jews in, in, in Eastern— in Europe during the Nazi regimes. I want to be 100% honest on your question. When I was a young single man, I have no doubt that I would have hidden a Jew. As an older man who has a wife and 3 children, I don't know that I would put my family at risk to help a stranger. I know this makes me a lesser person, and I am ashamed, but must be honest with myself. Well, You don't have to be ashamed, okay? It's impressive that you're ashamed. It shows what a decent man you are that you would even be ashamed. Most people wouldn't be. They'd say, what, are you kidding? I'm going to put my wife and, or my husband and children risk their lives to save a stranger? I totally get that. But that wasn't the purpose of my article. My, my article wasn't a quiz. My article was what type of person will risk their lives more readily. And that was why it was an important piece. And it was also about people who follow orders that are irrational are less likely to risk their lives under a regime that gives irrational orders to kill people. That was one of my major points of that piece. You should see the article though, upon which it's based. It's, it's at dennisprager.com, townhall.com, americangreatness.com, dailywire.com, jewishworldreview.com. It's all over the place. And it is about who would rescue a Jew. And it's not about Jews as such. It is about What type of person does that sort of thing? Tracy, 56 years old, Crownsville, Maryland. Hi, Dennis, Otto, Megan, and Snoopy. Megan, you're really making it. I'm telling you, it's pretty, uh, it's not uncommon now. Used to be the arm, now it's your name.

Yeah.

Yeah. With our ideologies, by the way, you see, you are now after Otto, which is totally understandable, but before Snoopy. Also completely understandable. Yeah, the order was important. With our ideology so vastly different and our country rapidly declining, what are your thoughts about secession? I don't know of any other time in my life where things are so radically different with no end and coming together. The Republicans with power are doing nothing to fight for us besides praying. How will we survive as one United States? Sincerely, Tracy. We may not survive. There is no guarantee. That's, that's— I spoke about choice in the beginning here. We will choose whether to be the United States of America and keep holding the values of the founders or reject them. The left rejects them. So we're not the United States of America. America is the only country that's an idea. It's not an ethnicity, right? If I said, Draw me a picture of a Swede. You'd pretty much be able to draw the picture. Draw me a picture of a Ugandan. You'd be able to draw me the picture. Draw me a picture of a Korean. You'd be able to draw me the picture. Draw a picture of an American. Anything you drew would be accurate. If you drew a Ugandan, a Korean, a Swede, you'd be correct, right? That's the whole point. We're not an ethnicity. We're not a race. We're an idea. No idea, no America. The idea is liberty. In God we trust, liberty e pluribus unum, from many one. That's the idea. It's on every coin. I didn't make it up. It's the American Trinity, as I've called it for decades. So yes, we're losing that idea. It's under assault. That is correct. Very, very little people hate giants. Midgets hate giants. Sorry for using the term midget, not referring to people physically. Moral midgets hate moral giants. People who hate the founders are moral midgets. Those were giants. They founded a country, and I'm not sure we can keep it. As Benjamin Franklin said, "It's a republic if you can keep it." Not sure we can keep it. And yes, so there might be secession. It's very sad if it would happen, but. Personally, I would, I would live in a state governed by Judeo-Christian values versus one that governed by left-wing values. And in 100 years, let's see who prospers. Will, 20 years old, St. Louis, Missouri. Hello, Dennis, Otto, Snoopy, and Megan's arm. Ooh, it's Megan now. Okay, folks. Megan's arm has had its day. Thanks for all you do, Dennis. You have greatly impacted me in so many ways. I am delighted to hear that. I'm a college student on track to be certified as a high school history teacher. I am passionate about helping American students learn history. However, I am deeply concerned about the left's control of education and the fake history they promote through curricula such as the 1619 Project. Do you recommend I teach at public school in an attempt to have an impact on my students, or should I just teach at a classic classical private school? Thank you. P.S. I will never join the teachers union. That's good. Well, I have no answer because they're all good choices. However, I'm I I don't live in a fantasy world. I live in the real world. In the real world. In certainly in urban centers, a public school in a more rural setting is different, probably, although not necessarily. And you will be so ostracized with your views that you, and you may not even be able to offer them. They may kick you out. They kick out teachers who have dissenting views from the left. That's, the left has always done that. They don't, They don't accept dissent. So I the answer may become clear to you as you try to teach truth in any setting. But I wish you I wish you good luck because we obviously need you. Okay, keep sending in the questions to Prager U, and I always remind you, so I'll do it again. If you threw a dart at any number between 1 and 209, any number it would hit would be worthy of watching that number of the fireside chat. 57, 104, doesn't matter. Everyone, if, if I didn't say something that touches your life or many things that did, that was a failed fireside chat. So it's worth looking at previous ones, certainly if you didn't see them. And even if you did, there's a lot of stuff that goes on in this half hour. So on behalf of Otto, Snoopy, and Megan, and Nathan, the Nathan whose arm is not well known. But thanks to whom you're actually seeing me. It's, uh, it's my, my honor and privilege to do this every week. See you next week. Tomorrow on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. My wife and I kind of have a little disagreement, and it's nothing serious or intense, but, uh, I drink a bottle of wine a night, which adds up to about 2.5 to 3 glasses of wine, I think. Yes. And she thinks that I'm an alcoholic, and I disagree. And, you know, it's all mostly said in fun, you know, but I was just wondering your opinion. Join us tomorrow to hear more on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. Visit DennisPrager.com for thousands of hours of Dennis' lectures, courses, and classic radio programs, and to purchase Dennis Prager's Rational Bibles. We want to take just a second to thank the team at Life Audio for their partnership with us on the podcast. Go to lifeaudio.com to find dozens of other faith-centered podcasts in their network, including shows about prayer, Bible study, parenting, and more.