Newspeak

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 Prager Utopia. You'll also get access to 15 years' worth of archives as well as the daily show prep. Subscribe at pragertopia.com. Hello everybody. I'm Dennis Prager. The bill just passed, an ode to Orwellian Newspeak called the Inflation Reduction Act. We spent 3/4 of a trillion dollars and it will reduce inflation. What percentage of Americans know that that is a complete lie? Is complete lie, by the way, redundant? Are there partial lies? I guess there are. It's like when they say on the airplane, this plane is completely full, and I always thought What does the completely do that full doesn't do? But that's the way I think, and I don't think that I am in the majority in that particular regard. One of the things of this horrific, corrupt bill of hundreds of billions of dollars to enrich people who work on electric cars which are— the more I know, the more I am opposed to electric cars. The damage done by the lithium battery alone, by mining for lithium, is reason for moral people to oppose electric cars. I never did before. Never did. I thought that they were a marvel. I didn't want one. For whatever reason, but I thought that they are a marvel, and they are a marvel. They are a technological marvel. But don't delude yourself into thinking that you're helping the world by driving one. Anyway, saying don't delude yourself to half of the United States and half of the world is, as the Hungarians say, like peeing in the ocean. And for those of you who don't see the analogy, Peeing in the ocean does not affect the ocean. That's the point. Part of this horrific corrupt bill passed by one vote, and not even a vote of a senator, but a vote of the Vice President of the United States, all because of Georgia, two runoffs that went over to the Democrats. I begged. We can play. I'd like to find some tapes of that show. Shows, not show. Shows in which I begged President Trump, former, then former President Trump, please, please. Was he then former President Trump? I don't recall. Please go to Georgia. Please make it your priority to get the vote out so that at least one of those two seats goes Republican. This country will be damaged perhaps beyond repair, certainly in the foreseeable future, if they get control of the Senate thanks to the vice president being a Democrat. And He didn't. He was preoccupied with his anger over believing that he was cheated out of an election. He may have been. But I knew then that the priority of his— of him, who was so influential, had to be Georgia. The priority of every Republican had to be Georgia. That's by losing the two seats. We have this horrific bill. 87,000 people will be hired for the IRS. In the New York Sun, a site you should be aware of, David Harsanyi has a very important piece. Beware the IRS hiring spree. Adding 87,000 new employees is the biggest expansion of the police state in American history. That's what it is, it's a police state. There is no Democrat in office. Well, that's not true. Maybe Cinema and Manchin. 99% of Democrats in elected office have no problem with the police state so long as the police are working— the police state is working for them. Which, who else are they going to work for? Conservatives? I think conservatives are interested in a conservative police state. That's just the lies of the people who want a left-wing police state. 87,000 people What will they do? According to the most dishonest man to hold the presidency of America, there is no close second, not even Donald Trump. They will be hired in order to go after cheating billionaires and millionaires. Won't affect you. And people who are not billionaires or millionaires actually believe that. As David Harsanyi makes clear in his article, though, there aren't enough billionaires and millionaires to give these people full-time work. So what are they going to do? Play video games at work? I wish they would, actually. It would be a good thing, actually. It's like if your kid is inebriated in college, as much as I loathe alcohol, it might be better if they don't become an alcoholic, that they be inebriated than listen to what their teachers tell them. I would rather them be on video games, as much as I'm not a fan of constant video games. The federal government already collects $4,100,000,000,000 in taxes. I speak before you as one of the citizens who between California state tax and federal tax, I pay half of all the money I earn. To the government. I work for the United States government from January 1st to June 30th every year. Every penny I earn in the first half of the year goes to the state. To the state. The greatest author of evil in history has been big government. There, there is no century that rivals the 20th century in barbarity, bloodshed, enslavement, torture. And it was all done by big governments. Nobody points this out to your children. Nobody points this out to anyone, basically, as governments expand and expand and expand and expand, and people are okay with it. On the left, people think their danger is Christians. Christians are the big danger. White Christians in particular. White male Christians, really. White cisgender heterosexual Christian males. Ah, the worst. Not big government. No, not big government. The Christians. In the lying world of the left, there is no term for Christian hatred. There is for Jewish hatred, there is for Muslim hatred, there is for alleged trans hatred, but the biggest hatred in the world today— Christian hatred. More Christians are being killed for being Christian than any other group I know of being killed for being that group, with the possible exception of the Muslim Uyghurs in China, which bothers the left as much as the pimple on my elbow does. Only a statist could believe that a federal government which already collects $4 trillion a year, $12,300 for every citizen, supposedly needs 80 battalions of new IRS Corps, the greatest expansion of the domestic police state in American history. The average American, he writes, has less reason to be concerned about cops with guns, though the IRS is looking for special agents who can, quote, carry a firearm and be willing to use deadly force if necessary. Than they do bureaucrats armed with pens who are authorized to sift through their lives. What, what is going to happen with these people? The greatest calamity, the election of Joe Biden, and, and even worse perhaps, the Democrat-controlled Congress. Rising interest rates, stock volatility, out-of-control inflation. People are concerned about what the future holds financially. This is Dennis Prager for AmFed Coin and Bullion. There's no better time than the present to move a portion of your IRA into precious metals. Gold and silver IRAs are more popular than ever, and dealers are advertising heavily for your business. You should know there's a right and a wrong way to set up your precious metals IRA. Mistakes could cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars in IRS minds. Nick Grovich, man I completely trust, owner of AmFed Coin and Bullion, has agreed to send you a concise report about how to set up your IRA and how to get the best bang for your buck. Nick and his team will be happy to help you set up your precious metals IRA or review your current account. Call AmFed Coin and Bullion, 800-221-7694, for your free IRA report and all your precious metals needs. AmericanFederal.com. That's AmericanFederal.com. It is an ode to the distorted understanding of the world that people don't fear big government, the indispensable agency of evil on Earth. If you don't have big governments, you don't have genocide. 20th century saw overwhelmingly among genocides communist, then Nazi, and then the Ottoman Empire vis-à-vis the Armenians. And the only non-governmental, non-big government mass killing genocide-like were the Hutus' massacre of the Tutsis in Was it Rwanda? An unbelievable evil with the United Nations playing its usual role of helping murder. United Nations is another wasteland. Big, because it's big. People love big. Sounds great. United Nations. Do you ever know of any— have you ever encountered a misnomer of that grandiosity in your life? What is united about the United States and communist China? Well, the truth is, under Democrats, there is a model there. The lockdowns were the proof. Reading Naomi Wolf's book on this, just verifying what I said from the beginning. Within a month But the lockdowns were preparation for a police state, a rehearsal for a police state. Please understand, at least half of America does not fear a police state and in fact welcomes it. This is the saddest thing I can tell you because my belief in my fellow American has been shaken. And at the same time, it is my fellow American, more than any other group of people on Earth, that is fighting back. But the damage done to the American spirit by the left, the crushing of the American spirit, the acceptance of the police state Nobody would have predicted a generation ago. Sweet land of liberty, that's how we regarded ourselves. To give you an idea of how pervasive the left destruction is, I have a story here from the New York Post that would have shocked people. Shocked. Won't shock one of you. Well, didn't shock me. It's disorienting, but it's not shocking. Fargo— that's Fargo, North Dakota. Okay, can't get more heartland than Fargo. School board drops Pledge of Allegiance over Under God phrase. A North Dakota school board has nixed reciting the Pledge of Allegiance before each meeting, deciding it didn't align with the district's values. Gives you an idea of what power there is in the conquering of school boards. I wonder if the average voter in Fargo agrees with this. The Fargo school board voted 7 to 2 on Tuesday to drop the pledge from the start of its biweekly meetings because members didn't feel it was inclusive. Wasn't inclusive. Wow. Taking issue with the phrase "under God," according to North Dakota newspaper Inforum. Board member Seth Holden said that because the word God in the text of the Pledge of Allegiance is capitalized, the text is clearly referring to the Judeo-Christian God, and therefore it does not include any other faith such as Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, all of which are practiced by our staff and students. Yes, indeed. And I think about it, how did I miss that? The number of Hindus in Fargo. You gotta believe it's, it's a real issue. By the way, I know something about Hindus and Hinduism. Been to India 4 times. I don't know why a Hindu would object to God capitalized. Hindus don't believe in, in a God of the universe. And Muslims, Muslims don't believe in God. Their whole point is to translate Allah as God. Right? Allahu Akbar is always translated not as Allah is the greatest— by the way, it's the greatest. I know some Arabic grammar. It's not kabir, which is great. It's akbar, which is greatest. But anyway, just for the record, they don't translate even that part right. It's Allah is the greatest. But it's always translated by the same crowd that wants to drop the pledge as God is the great, as God is great. Muslims don't capitalize God. These people lie. Aside from destroy America, they lie in doing so. Now it's true Buddhists don't believe in God with the capital G. I used to have Buddhists on my show, my first show in radio 40 years ago, for 10 years. Spoke to members of every faith on a panel. I would invite people of every religion on Earth. We had every religion on Earth of which I am aware, except Jehovah's Witnesses, who just didn't respond to requests. I'm not blaming them. It maybe was bureaucratic, but I had everybody. And it's hard for me to think that a Buddhist would object to Americans saying God with a capital G. Fargo, North Dakota. Towels just don't seem to dry you anymore. They feel soft and lotiony in the store, but you get them home and they don't absorb. Well, Mike Lindell at MyPillow found that out around 2006, and towels changed forever. He found the best towel company right here in the USA. They have proprietary technology to create towels that feel soft but actually work. And that happens to be true. I use them. They are all made with USA cotton and they come with the MyPillow 60-day money-back guarantee. 6-piece set, 2 bath, 2 hand towels, 2 washcloths. Regularly $109.99, now $39.99. Just go to mypillow.com and click on the new radio listener specials and get deep discounts on all MyPillow products, including the towels, by entering the promo code PRAGER or call 800-761-6302 for these great radio specials. mypillow.com, promo code PRAGER. Hey there, all. Dennis Prager here, 1-800-PRAGER-776. Listen, you want to help the country, help PragerU. Prager University has over a billion views a year. It is mostly young people. 60 or 65% are under the age of 35. It's always a little tough for me because PragerU and I share the same last name. So, I'm— drop self-conscious, which I shouldn't be, it's a little stupid. It wasn't founded in order to help me. It was founded to help this country and it is, indeed many countries. We have 20,000 young people. We are influencing people profoundly. The left hates us because we're very sophisticated. And very calmly set forth the case for Judeo-Christian values, American values, liberty, capitalism, smaller government, all the moral things that work. We believe in the ideal of the nuclear family, of a married mother and father and children. We don't have a word against others, not a word. We have gay presenters, we have straight presenters, we have presenters of, I think, every race. But we are all united by a shared belief that this country's founding ideals are the best ideals ever. This ends the week of a matching gift. In other words, if you give anything, it will be doubled. Donors have agreed to do that. I don't care if it's a small gift, but please give something. You have to help the fighters, and we're fighters. PragerU.com. 833 PragerU. I think what stops people is not— especially this audience, which are really the founders of PragerU. PragerU started 10 years ago thanks to my listeners. I think it's really just inertia. It's tough to pick up the phone or Go to the website. It's not tough at all, obviously, but it's tougher than doing nothing. Please don't do nothing. PragerU.com, 833-PRAGER-U. So I was reading to you about Fargo, North Dakota, the school board dropping the Pledge of Allegiance, which they had been saying because it says "Under God," and it doesn't include, according to them, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, all of which are practiced by our staff and students. Wow. If I were in a Buddhist country— is Thailand— I think Thailand is a Buddhist country, and their pledge was in keeping with the Buddha's great principles. Would I object to it if I were a non-Buddhist citizen? Of course not. Unless the majority culture is evil, I want the majority culture to have its culture. These inclusivity fascists, do they hold this for other countries? Do they object to having the Muslim crescent on many Muslim countries' flags? Holden said— this is the board member Seth Holden in Fargo— it excluded— that is, One Nation Under God— it excluded those in Fargo schools who don't believe in God. Oh, well, they don't have to say the words, and that would solve that. Why does a country founded on the principle that it is the Creator who gives us our inalienable rights— it's in the Declaration of Independence— Why does that country have to drop that fact or that belief? Because there are people who don't believe it. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. What if you don't believe in flags? I'm not being cute. The fools, the well-educated fools, even in Fargo. Be happy, happy, happy hour. Yes, it is. It's the happy, happy, the second hour of my show every Friday, come hell or high water. Frogs, lice, vermin, smiting of the firstborn. We still have the happiness hour. It's precisely most needed when there's crisis. So join me. It's the happy, happy, happy, happy hour. Yes, it is, my friends. Since 1999, the 20th century, The century after the 19th. Think about it. This show began in the century following the century in which the Civil War took place. That is how long-standing the Happiness Hour is. If you could see my technical director's face, and engineer Sean, you would see a face that radiates being impressed. This dazzled him. My friends, happiness is a moral virtue, and you're obligated to act happy even if you don't feel it. You cannot inflict bad moods on the innocent. Yeah, I usually say on other people, but I like that— on the innocent. Yeah, yeah. My wife has an interesting theory. In most instances, you're lucky if you're married to a predictable person. Now, I don't mean— she doesn't mean predictably bad, predictably moody, but predictable. That you pretty much can expect today what you've had in the past and that you've liked. Obviously, that's a good one because we think it's exciting when something isn't predictable. That's not correct. It's not exciting. It's walking on eggshells. When you can't predict how a person will react, you're walking on eggshells. Today's subject is my long-standing thesis on the difference between religious and secular education, except I will not be talking about the moral. I will be talking about happiness. Wherein in regular schools you are taught that your problems emanate from society, from capitalism to racism, and in a religious school, at least a good Christian or Jewish school, many of them stink, You will be taught that the greatest obstacle in life, the thing you must fight, is you. So today's happiness theme is precisely that: you can't be happy if you don't fight you. How many people have told you that? Probably close to zero, maybe zero. How many people teach that to kids? People ask me, uh, they've called and said, Dennis, we're having a child, any recommendation? And I always have the same. Yes, stress self-control over self-esteem. Then you will have a better human being and a happier human being. How highly you esteem yourself is not quite as important as conquering your nature. Happiness is a battle. All good things are battles. If you fight your nature, you'll be a happier human being. That you will be a better human being is one of the most essential elements to my teaching about morality. But this is not the morality hour, this is the happiness hour. I think happiness and morality are related, but that's beside the point. Were you taught to fight your nature? Did you teach your children to fight their natures? I doubt it. We have more unhappy people according to everything that I have read on the subject. More— a greater percentage of young Americans are depressed than ever before, especially young women. There are many reasons for that. The biggest is feminism. And that's a different subject for another time. Probably a worthy happiness subject. Does feminism make women happier? Good one. I like that. I got to put that down. Sean, would you put that down, please? Does feminism make women happier? I think we should schedule that for sometime in January. We're booked. We're booked solid till then. Actually, we're not, but it was— it tends to work out that way. So many depressed people, so many unhappy people, and so many people who have not been taught to battle their natures. On the contrary, What, what are people taught is to follow their natures, like follow your heart. In general, I think follow your heart is about as awful a recommendation for either goodness or happiness that I could give. Follow your heart. Now, there are times you should follow your heart. If your heart craves Italian food tonight, by golly, if you're gonna go out anyway or order in, make it Italian, or even cook your own. I have no problem in letting your heart determine what culinary nationality you will choose. Or, well, actually, that might be cultural appropriation. Among the stupidest notions in a world of stupid notions, cultural appropriation. I can't think of anything nicer, actually. People wanting to take elements of another culture, isn't that beautiful? But we live in a world where beauty is ugly and ugly is beautiful. Follow your heart is about as bad a piece of advice with regard to happiness as it is with regard to decency. Really, follow your heart. It's— I always love it. And I'm being a bit tongue-in-cheek here. However, that notion developed tongue-in-cheek when a Hollywood, usually an actress, who wins the Academy Award will get up in the days before the left killed the Academy Awards, when they actually spoke about themselves and not the country as a cesspool. And it would be a typical statement, you know, I was a little girl in, in, you know, name it, Frankfort, Kentucky, the outskirts of Frankfort, Kentucky. And I dreamed a dream, and that dream is what got me here today. You follow your dreams. But of course, if you follow your dreams, the odds still remain very, very remote that you will win an Academy Award. And I'll tell you why. Only one actress, if they still have the term, can win an Academy Award a year. Given that 165 million Americans are female— I do believe in the binary definition of the human species, sexually speaking— given that 165 million Americans are female and one of them will win Best Actress, and if you include Supporting Actress 2. So the chances are 2 out of 165 million that you will be giving an Academy Award speech. So the, the, the winner saying to young women, to girls, you just follow your dream, is not a practical piece of advice. Just is. Just isn't. Better advice to 99% of young women is find a good man. Who's gonna say that at college or an Academy Award winner's address? Marry a good man. 1-800-PRAGER-776. Fight your nature. Hi everybody. Happiness Hour subject is a biggie. They're usually biggies. If you don't fight your nature, you can't be happy. Nobody comes into this world with a ready-made nature. For a happy and productive life. You have elements of it. Everybody's a mixed bag. Well, almost everybody. So there are parts of your nature which you don't have to battle. Some people are naturally hard workers, so they don't have to battle laziness. I did. I've had to battle laziness. Part of the reason I'm so productive. Because I'm so aware of the ease with which I could lapse into just having fun. I don't mean parties. I never found parties fun, to be honest, or drugs. But the fun of my hobbies, for example, just the fun of hanging out with people, watching movies. I mean, there's an endless supply of things that are fun. So if you're lazy, you can truly fulfill it. How many people have to battle their, their eating habits or any addiction? Addiction is part of nature. 12-step people know that the route to happiness is battling their nature. Have you— were you taught this by your parents, by the way? Did you teach this to your children? You want to be a happy and/or productive human being, you have to battle your nature. 1-800-PRAGER-776. Do you battle your nature? Do you ever think about it? 877-243-7776. Most interested in hearing from your experience. I've learned an immense amount in my 40 years of broadcasting. 40 years this month, hard to believe. 40 years ago doesn't seem that long ago. 40 years from now seems like an eternity, right? Isn't that the way it works? When you think future, it's much longer. I have talked about the battle against one's nature, or with one's nature, as a major, if not the major theme in terms of making a moral individual and a moral world. But I have not addressed the issue directly as a theme for a Happiness Hour. It's probably for many, especially younger people, let's say people under 40 or 50 even, it just might be a different vocabulary than they're used to. I have to fight my nature? What does that mean? It means that if you give into your nature, you won't be productive or happy. And we all have a nature. Some kids are born sweeter than others, right? Some kids are born more altruistic than others. Some kids are born with, as I said just before, their natural workers. Boy, are we born with natures. Oh my God. And by the way, there can be very positive elements to your nature. It's not just bad stuff, but it's the bad stuff that we have to fight. Male nature is not monogamous. To have a happier life, he has to be faithful to his spouse. Women's nature is generally to let emotions dominate. They, they won't be happy if they let their emotions dominate. If you let your nature dominate you You're not— your chances of being happy are reduced significantly. Okay, let's see here. Good. Colleen in Pittsburgh, hello. Do we have the phone lines on, Sean?

Hello?

Ah, now I hear you. Hello.

Hi, great to talk to you.

Thank you.

So growing up, my siblings and I— there were 4 of us— we fought a lot, and it was, it was almost to the border of, um, just almost abuse. And my parents just kind of allowed it. And so when I had kids, I decided that that was not going to happen with my kids. I wanted them to be close and affectionate and love each other. So when they would fight, I would make them hug each other, and I would set the microwave timer for 5 minutes and They would have to stand there or sit there and hug each other until it got silly. Actually, they would start tickling each other and have fun. But the point is that it, it definitely reprogrammed them and made them become friends. And now they're 25, 27, and 22 and are the best of friends. And I think that deliberately doing that was really important.

Well, you know, that's in— that's very Not only interesting, it's, it's really commendable because a lot of people repeat the errors of their childhood and you undid them.

Yes, intentionally. Absolutely.

Do you have siblings?

Yes.

Oh yeah, of course you do. They're the ones who— they're the ones who you fought with. Did they, did they learn the same lesson from your childhood as they did, as you did?

Um, I would say my, my older brother, which— who I was the most antagonistic from, um, did not. His two daughters definitely fought a lot. My, my sister unfortunately couldn't have kids, and my brother has six boys, and they are very close.

Very interesting. Well, thank you so much. Very good call. And that's a good example of, of having kids fight their nature. They— the amount of teasing, which is not good-natured always, in sibling rivalry is, is an example. I knew a woman many, many years ago. She worked for me. And we were quite close aside from working for me, not at a company, just, just personally. And one day I said to her— she was wearing a skirt, not a particularly short skirt, just a skirt— and I, and I just wanted to say something kind about her looks to her, and I said You know, you really have nice legs. Something you could say at that time and not be arrested. And she started to cry. I'll tell you why when we return. The Dennis Prager Show. Thinks with gladness. So I was telling you a story based on the last call. It's the Happiness Hour and Dennis Prager. The last caller spoke about how she fought with her siblings, brothers it seems. Well, there was also a sister when she grew up, and the subject is controlling your nature, battling your natures. Essential to being happy, to having a happy life. And when I think about siblings teasing siblings and the damage it can do, I think of this story. So this woman who worked with me many years ago, when you could actually be human in the best sense of the word, I said to her when She was— it was privately. I said to her she was wearing a skirt, and I told her she had good legs or nice legs, because I knew that, and I was right, that in her case she needed to have some bolstering of her self-esteem with regard to her looks, which were fine. But that doesn't mean anything to a lot of women. Anyway, I said that to her and she started to cry. I wish I had no idea why. I said, I'm sorry, did that bother you? No, she said, the opposite. The reason, the reason it so affected me was my older brothers used to always say my legs were like tree stumps. And that is how I continue to regard my legs. So when you said they were nice legs, I just was just so taken aback. It hits such a sensitive spot in me. And the only reason I tell you folks that story is to point out that the last caller was right in not having her kids fight each other or mistreat each other. I have often believed that the law in the Bible, love the stranger, begins in the family. For all intents and purposes, most people live with strangers when they are living with family. Friends are not strangers. Family members are often strangers. We choose friends based on their similarity to us. I don't mean personality-wise, but how they think and, and how we get along with them. But family members are given, not chosen. And so that's really the stranger in your midst— your brother or sister, or perhaps parent, or perhaps child. 1-800-PRAGER-776. This is part of another thesis of mine, that you have to pursue happiness to be happy. A lot of happiness writers are against the notion of pursuing happiness. I don't know what the hell they're talking about. They say that happiness is a byproduct of other things. You can't pursue it directly, so you pursue it indirectly. What's the difference? People have thoughts that are not very convincing to me. All righty, everybody. Jay in Irvine, California. Hello.

Hey, Dennis, can you hear me?

I can.

Wonderful. You know, the thing that strikes me about this, though, It can be a little misleading, I think, to say to people, "Never follow your nature." There are times when following your nature is good, and it requires individual judgment and balance. I'll give you an example. I know of someone who grew up in a Jewish neighborhood in New York, and where the culture was—

and I'm quoting—

"You're either a doctor, a lawyer, or a failure." But he said, "No, that's not my nature. My nature is I want to go on the radio and teach people how to be good." That was me.

I know that.

That was good. That was a good line. Stay with me and, uh, I will, uh, I will respond to you since I know me very well. And I thought that was adorable the way you put it. I have to, I have to commend you. I have battled my nature and followed my nature. I didn't say that there's no element of your nature that you can follow. But if I didn't battle my nature, I wouldn't be here today. The Dennis Prager Show. Let Dennis be Dennis. All right, Dennis, enough. It's the hour you set the agenda, my friends. Whatever's on your mind about you, about me, about life, about death, about fountain pens, classical music, cigars. What else, John? Photography and audio equipment. Enjoy the music. Yep, everybody, good to be with you. I'm Dennis Prager. This is the final hour of the week, and it is the You Set the Agenda hour. Whatever is on your mind, don't be insulted. People are too quickly insulted these days. Don't be hurt, don't be insulted, don't be offended if I drop your call before I take it. It doesn't reflect on you at all. May reflect on me. For that matter. But obviously I want to take subjects that I think will be of generally general interest, or ones that I— if I talked about it all week, I mean, I want to talk about it the third hour on Friday. Okay, let's see here. Where was— there was— oh yes, this is interesting. Erie, Pennsylvania. Howard, hello.

Hey Dennis, how are you? I'm actually pretty excited I got through.

Thank you. I am too.

I listen to you every day on my lunch half hour, and I tell my coworkers that I'm going out to my vehicle to listen to right-wing radio.

So how do they react?

Some of them laugh. Actually, a lot of them see things the same way I do, so they just don't get as long of a lunch break as I do, right? So, hey, so my question was— I, I don't want to put words in your mouth, But I thought— I listened to you all the time, and I thought the one time I had heard you say you don't believe in hell. Now, is that a typical Jewish belief, or is that yours? And I guess if you don't, why not? And what happens to people who probably deserve hell? Uh, you know, I mean, there's some pretty wicked—

so it's very interesting to me. It's very interesting to me how you might have thought you heard that, since if there's no hell, I would be an atheist. If God doesn't punish the bad, I believe it. It is one of the— A, it's one of the fundamental 13 beliefs of Judaism as described by the greatest Jewish thinker who ever lived, Maimonides. It's literally reward and punishment after life. It's one of the 13 principles of the Jewish faith. But you don't have to give a damn about the Jewish faith. You just have to give a damn about justice. If God doesn't punish the bad and reward the good, he's worthless.

I agree with you 100%, and I'm glad that that is the way it is, the way you see things. It's 100% what I believe, and I just maybe I miss her.

I must have maybe you confused it with the devil that I didn't believe in the devil. Devil. Maybe that's what—

well, that, that could be possible, right?

Although I'm even on that a little bit. Yeah, well, I, uh, yeah, that's not a traditional Jewish belief, and I, and I take my religion seriously. There's no independent supernatural force of God. Isaiah 45:7 actually says God has made both good and evil. So I, uh, I've had a difficult time with any, again, supernatural force other than God. But I will say that the last 2 years have made me more receptive to the belief in the demonic. I will leave it at that. The last 2 years have had a big impact on me. Let me put it to you that way. It has increased my faith in the Judeo-Christian value system. It has increased my admiration for the founders of America, who were great, unbelievably great men. And at the same time, I have lost faith in virtually every institution in this country, from the American Medical Association to the American Bar Association to the American Psychiatric Association to the FBI and the CIA, etc., not to mention the CDC, FDA, NIH. They're all corrupt.

All.

It's, it's really, really distressing. Bad or mediocre people— mediocre people become bad people because you have to be strong to be good, right? I don't think the heads of the American Medical Association wake up and ask, how can I be bad? They're nothings who love prestige and have gone the way of destruction. American Medical Association announcing that birth certificates should not list the sex of a child because it's unknown, right? That's the American Medical Association, and it has seeped down to too many doctors who act so sheep-like the last 2 years that that has also been distressing. It's okay, I can live with distress, but I have seen the demonic at work as well. The World Economic Forum is demonic. I never said this. I never thought this before 2 years ago. Maybe I should have, by the way. It is a force for pure, undiluted evil on Earth. Read Naomi Wolf's book about that. Lifelong feminist liberal. Okay, let's see here. Northridge, California. Mitchell, hello.

Dennis? Yeah, I've been thinking about your interview with Alan Dershowitz on Wednesday.

It was remarkable.

And, and in light of his book on integrity, I'm curious, did you ever ask him how he squared using his considerable legal talents and experience to help acquit a man everybody old enough to brush his own teeth knows murdered two people?

The, uh, it's a fair question, but I, I'll give you an insight into what I ask or don't ask in interviews. I tend not to ask questions to which I think I know the answer. I really try to learn either facts or the— about the person. And I, I'm almost certain I know what he would answer. Everybody deserves defense. That is the American system. And what am I going to say? Well, they only deserve mediocre or average attorneys. They don't deserve a great attorney. Now, personally, I couldn't do it. I have to say I could not be a criminal defense attorney. I admit it. I can't. I personally found it hard in high school when I was on the debating team. I found it hard to debate on behalf of things I didn't believe in. I am at one with what I believe. If I believe that the man I am assigned to defend is scum and murdered people and tortured them as well, I can't devote my life to defending such people. Maybe somebody should. Obviously somebody should. I couldn't do it. But what am I gonna say to Alan Dershowitz? What is— what in your nature allows you to defend people you know murdered? By the way, I might ask it now that you mentioned it, but I think I know his answer. They deserve a defense, and they don't only deserve mediocre attorneys.

So however, yeah, that's a different issue from him investing his time, energy, talent.

Well, so right, so I said he'll give me— I think I know his answer. So in other words, Dennis, what you're saying is only mediocre attorneys should represent accused criminals.

Well, doesn't mean that whoever joined the team would necessarily be mediocre.

All right, well, they're less talented than Dershowitz, or you wouldn't have asked the question.

I'm not sure that that's what you said.

No, it is. It's what you're saying. You, you just said, why would you invest your extraordinary talents in defending bad people?

So then there are other people— yes, attorneys with extraordinary talent and experience.

Oh, okay, so it's okay for them to, but not me, Alan? Me, Alan Dershowitz? Is that what you're saying?

Because I know this man is scum.

He murdered two.

All right, well, so the other, the other wonderful attorneys also know he's scum.

Okay, but that's their problem.

That's not their show.

Well, so all right then. But it's— no, he'll say it's society's problem if they don't have attorneys. Hi everybody, Dennis Prager here. Whatever's on your mind. I want to remind you it's the final day of the matching grant if you give money to PragerU to continue fighting for this country. And it's been uniquely successful. It's not the only success, but the dimensions have been remarkable. A billion views a year, fighting being shadow banned, sometimes outright censored. We are influencing a lot of young people in America, and for that matter, around the world. Please help PragerU. Everything we produce is free. It's all made possible by donations. If you give $10, it'll be $20. If you give $1,000, it'll be $2,000. But you have to help the fighters. PragerU.com, or call 833-PRAGER-U. This is fundraising month for Prager University. Ah, look at that. I know who that is because he raised that issue with me before. Anyway, I'm going to go to a different call. Nancy in Pittsburgh, hello.

Hi Dennis, sure, Yinzer friend from Pittsburgh.

What? Oh, oh, yinz, is that what you just said?

Yinzer?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't think anybody except the Pittsburghers and I know what that means.

We had to explain it to you.

That's right, so totally, of course you did. So people in Pittsburgh say yinz, meaning y'all.

I guess. I personally don't use it, but yeah, it's something we say here a lot.

Right.

Yeah.

All right, what's on your mind?

Apparently we take pride in it. Um, well, I called to find out your opinion on the purpose of people. Why do you think God created people?

So I will disappoint you and everybody listening by saying I don't know. And I, I'm not troubled by the fact that I don't know, because I know what God wants me to do much better than I know about why God created us. Do you know why?

I don't know why.

Right. So I, I don't think it should trouble us.

I mean, people trouble me. It's just I'm curious.

I'm curious too. I couldn't agree with you more. You, you and I are on the exact same page. I am very curious, and when we meet, I will ask him, and I'm not sure I will understand the answer. It might be in the divine mind, but in any event, I don't know the answer. Why did God create human beings? Maybe, I know it sounds anthropomorphic, but maybe God was lonely. I know that that's bizarre. How could God be lonely? But that raises another interesting question. Does God have human emotions? Well, God's not human, but if God does not have human emotions, then that means we can do things God can't do. I can get angry, but God can't. I can get lonely, but God can't. Maybe that is true. So I don't speculate on those matters. I have an answer from medieval Jewish philosophy. 3 words in Hebrew, more words, translation to English that are— I find pretty much— I find that these words answer the problem for me, at any rate. Lu yadativ hayitiv. If I knew him, I'd be him. I don't know him. It's like your dog will never understand you, and we will never understand God. We have ideas about God, and some of them are given by God himself. But I am, uh, I, I don't have an answer to why. I mean, what answer could possibly be fully persuasive. A lot of people say we were created to glorify him, but I, I know the words, but I've never understood. I've never understood the sentiment. That may be a— our task is to glorify God, and I agree with that, but it's not why we were created. So that was a good one. I agree with you. And let's see, Naperville. I always forget if it's Naperville or— I think it's Naperville, Illinois. Is that right?

It is Naperville. You got it correct, sir.

Good. Oh, let me say your name. Glenn. Hi, Glenn.

Hey, Dennis. So Yeah, I, um, I heard the previous caller about an hour and a half ago talking about how the Constitution doesn't acknowledge God and thought it'd be worth mentioning a few provisions. If anybody has a Bible handy, they could look up Deuteronomy 17:6 followed by Article 3, Section 3, Paragraph 1 in the Constitution. It's the identical provision regarding capital punishment requiring 2 or 3 witnesses. Um, another scripture is Isaiah 33:22, and we'll see that there's 3 distinct, uh, ways that God governs. God is a judge, God is a lawmaker, and God is a king or an executive. And this provision is where Montesquieu or the scriptures where Montesquieu came up with the idea of these three separate distinct branches. Um, Article 2 of the Constitution has what's called a Sundays Accepted Clause. That is, when a president chooses to not sign a bill, it is automatically vetoed after— I think it's 10 days, I don't remember the, the the time-lapse period. But Sunday does not count towards that period. And the Supreme Court has ruled numerous times that the exception for Sunday regarding the veto is proof that this is a Christian acknowledgment regarding the Sabbath. It was assumed that the president would not be serving in office. He would be attending worship.

All right, these are good, these are good examples. I would like— send me the whole list. It doesn't trouble me that God by name is not mentioned in the Constitution. As I said, God is not named in the parking code or driving code either, but so what? The whole foundation is that our rights come from God. That's in the Declaration of Independence. There were fast days called by the presidents Washington's farewell address says that without the foundation of religion, we will have no, no morality in society. And unfortunately, it turned out to be largely prophetic, as you see the immoral, truly cruel things done to children by so many teachers, principals, and doctors on the trans issue and the non-binary issue. Hey everybody, absolutely my favorite part of the day during August is when I get to speak to a Prager Force member. We have— PragerU has an international body of young people, 20,000 around the world. I had a memorable talk with a Japanese member earlier this week. And now we go back to America. Lila Berger. Let me get that.

Yes, sir.

That's what I did. Hello. By the way, you can see Lila. You can also see me. But I assure you, members of both sexes will be more riveted by Lila than by me. At the, the Salem Podcast Network. That's where the show is actually videoed. Anyway, Lila Berger, you are a live wire. I just met you now. And how old are you?

I'm 23 years old. I just turned 23 and I just got my master's degree.

So in what?

In business administration.

So you are a pianist, singer, and got and have a BA in business.

Yes, master's. And now it's—

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Master's. That's right. Where did you go out of just—

I went to Marymount California University.

And what was it, a 2-year program?

It was a 4-year program, but the plus 1 program added the master's degree too.

When did you discover PragerU?

I discovered PragerU through Candace Owens. I saw clips of her on YouTube, compilations of her you know, being the iconic person that she is. Um, and I figured out that she was connected to PragerU, and I went to PragerU, um, and I just became infatuated by the content they had and how, how sensical it is, how educational it is. Um, it's amazing. PragerU is amazing.

Nice to hear. I agree with you, it is amazing. Yeah, it is.

I—

it, it's, uh, it's beyond any dream I could have had. I mean, It is. It has done so many good things and affected so many people. So you were— were you raised conservative?

Yes, I think I was subtly raised conservative, but I came to my senses that I was actually conservative in high school. There was actually a Republican club which I joined, and at the time there wasn't a lot of tension regarding that side of the political spectrum. But I found out through my past friend that, yeah, I'm conservative. I'm definitely conservative.

By the way, I want to, I want to actually react to that statement that at that time there wasn't that much tension about that part of it, right? In other words, so if you're 23, you're in high school, let's say, we'll say 16. You're telling me, if I hear you correctly, that just 7 years ago you could be outspokenly Republican in your high school, pay no price. But that's not possible now.

Not possible now, unfortunately, for colleges and high schools alike.

So I want people to understand the speed of the crushing of dissent in America, how it didn't take a generation, it took a few years. So if you were back there now and you were First of all, do you know if your school has a Republican club?

I would probably guess that it has been completely eliminated because nobody would join.

And, you know, you live in California. I'm sorry, I spoke over you. You live in California.

Go on.

And I would think that it would be completely eliminated by now. I'm not sure. But if I were to be at my high school that I went to right now and proclaim these conservative beliefs, I would be completely berated, completely berated. People would look down upon me. They would, um, they would not treat me right at all. They would not treat me well.

So I'll ask you another theoretical question. If you went back to your— if I went, or if anybody went to your high school and asked every student there How many genders are there? What do you— do you think how many would say 2?

Not a lot. Not a lot. Because young, young students are being conditioned to think that there are multiple genders when they are actually biologically 2. It's very sad. Yeah. Not— I would say less than 5% of people would probably.

What percentage do you think would answer this question? With the following answer. It's wrong. Is it right or wrong for a biological man to compete in girl sports?

It is completely not right. Wrong. It is. It's common sense.

No, no, no. I know what you would say. What would they say at your high school? Again, it's a theoretical.

Um, I think they would say be more accepting, right? Feminism, it's just, it's so twisted. There's so many things that they would go off on.

Lila, I'm going to come back to you in a moment. You're a delight. And folks, please go to PragerU and help us out. 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 Prager Utopia. You'll also get access to 15 years' worth of archives as well as the Daily Show prep. Subscribe at pragertopia.com.