What Young Americans Need to Know About America | Sunday Fireside Chat

Life Audio.

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.

Hey everybody, this is Dennis Prager, and it's my fireside chat without a fireside. Is that correct?

There's—

oh, there is actually. Hey, how do you like that? I didn't even know it. But it's not in my home the first time. I've done about 44, and this is the first time that we're at another location. You'll understand why in a moment. I want to explain it to you. Anyway, this is a chance to be together every week, to just be as open. There's nothing, nothing planned, nothing scripted. I always open up with some thoughts and then take your questions. But today will be a little different. I will open up with some thoughts. It'll be briefer than usual. Then I'll have a lot of questions from people you will see on camera. So where am I? I am at the Reagan Ronald Reagan's ranch, which is located somewhere between Neptune and Jupiter. That is how you feel when you come here. It is really, really remote. Actually, it's located. Oh, about a half hour outside of Santa Barbara. Is that about right? Uh, it's, uh, it's a, it's a wonderful winding road, uh, but it's, it's probably good if you're very sober when you handle that road because it's a very steep climb on either side. It's gorgeous up here. This is where Ronald Reagan, the late president, would come and relax. And the reason I'm here is that YAF, Young America's Foundation, a group that I have a great deal of respect for and affection for, is having its annual, I believe annual, meeting of handpicked high school students. And I will be addressing them after this. But first, I will have here— there are 7 students, college and high school, that YAF has chosen to ask me some questions. And we'll have that. They'll be the ones posing questions. I asked them if they have prepared, that's fine. I don't want them not to ask something just because it's prepared. But I told them to be completely spontaneous, just like I am with you. What else can I tell you? Oh yes, one other big change aside from locale is no cigar. It's a, I presume, one of these places that doesn't allow for it, and it's very hot, and there's a bug flying around my head somewhat consistently. But other than those problems, it is an ideal situation. Anyway, it really is an honor to be here and a joy. So let me quickly get into it. I'm gonna talk— let me tell you what I'm gonna talk to the high school kids about. about, because I take this very seriously. Believe me, uh, I, I took this speech out of idealism. Uh, if I'm going to speak to about 100 hand-picked high school kids from across America, if I get that opportunity, I will take it. And I just spoke to 2,500 of them in Washington, D.C., for— or 1,500, I don't remember what the number was. It was a very large number. Uh, uh, uh, for, um, Turning Point USA, another great organization. But, uh, that's how much I value having the chance to speak to young people. By the way, I should just explain, young people are not more special than old people. When I was young, I never bought that notion. Oh, you're young, you're special. There's nothing special about young people. There's nothing special about old people. There's only something special about special people. However, there is one thing that young people have that is irrefutable. They have the future. They are the future. This is not a cliché. It's just a fact. It's important to talk to young people because they will make the country when we're gone, when my generation moves on. And that's the way it is, as it was when my parents' generation spoke to us when we were young. But that's why I consider this to be an important thing to do. So what will I tell them? I will talk to them about the great crisis that they are inheriting. And I don't— I never patronize audiences. I tell them what I think, and I let the chips fall where they may. And this is what I think. I think that America is in a civil war. I have been writing this for years. I am convinced of it more every day. It is the left versus the rest of the country, including the left versus liberals. Liberals don't know this because liberals have been brainwashed to think their enemy is the right. But the enemy of liberalism is not the right. The enemy of liberalism is leftism. No greater liberal— I mean, no lesser liberal than the famous Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz. who is a lifelong liberal, lifelong Democrat, Hillary Clinton supporter, and said to me on camera, he is much more— as a liberal, he is much more afraid of the left than he is of the right. Most liberals don't understand that because they've been brainwashed, and that is the only word I could use, into thinking conservatives are their big enemy. They're not. Conservatives are actually the people who are preserving America's liberal foundation. We're the ones who are fighting for free speech, not the left. The left is suppressing free speech because everywhere on earth that the left has gained power, it has suppressed free speech. There is no exception to that. Liberty is not a left-wing value. It's a liberal value. It's a conservative value, but it is not a left-wing value. So these kids are— that I will be speaking to, and their whole generation are inheriting an America in real crisis. Part of the crisis is also that so many Americans don't know what America stands for, including, by the way, a lot of conservatives. They feel what America stands for, but they can't articulate it. And I have been attempting to articulate it much of my life. And here is the way I articulate it. The United States of America has a trinity, just like Christianity has a trinity. The trinity is not one I made up. It's on every coin. It precedes my birth by a century. The American Trinity is Liberty, In God We Trust, E Pluribus Unum. No other country has those three mottos: Liberty, In God We Trust, and E Pluribus Unum. E Pluribus Unum means from many one because America, despite the fact that there was a lot of racism in America's history. America's values do not allow for racism. Americans have fallen short of their own values often. Who doesn't? That's, that's, that's, that's the, the history of good values is that people who even hold them will fall short of them. But those are the American values. From many, one. We don't give a damn about your race or ethnicity or background in any other way, nationality. If you become an American, you are one of us. And that is why we assimilate people in America so much better than Europe does. Just a wonderful German young man who's very close to my family, in fact living with us this summer, noted to me about the World Cup, which I, in a very un-American way, was following. And I— he noted that the German team has a number of players, all of whom were born in Germany, but whose ancestors or whose parents or grandparents came from other countries. Not one of them sang the German national anthem when it was being sung. They didn't sit down. They didn't kneel. They didn't protest. I want to make this clear. They just didn't sing it because they don't feel German. Born in Germany, fluent in German, But they don't feel German. Whereas you become an American and you can feel American. It's your choice. You can feel American in, in a day. America assimilates people better than any other country because it's not xenophobic and it's not racist. That's the irony. All the terrible things the left says about America are not true. We are the least xenophobic, the least racist. country that has ever existed that has multiethnic and multiracial groups within it. It is a remarkable achievement. So that was E Pluribus Unum. In God We Trust, because we understood that without God there are no rights. Okay, rights don't come from man, rights come from God. Because if man gives rights, man can take rights. It's so obvious a 5-year-old can understand that. It's the— the problem is with people who get PhDs in history and political science and gender studies. They don't understand it. But a 5-year-old can understand that. If human beings give you rights, they can take them away. But if God gives you rights, human beings cannot take them away. They're God-given. That's the point of the words God-given. That's one of the many reasons that In God We Trust is part of it. It is foundational to the American founding. that God matters. I'll explain, obviously, to the, to the group much more tonight. And of course, liberty. We're the freest country in the history of the world. That's why France made a Statue of Liberty, and they didn't give it to England, and they didn't give it to Germany, and they didn't give it to Sweden, and they didn't give it to Brazil. They gave it to the United States because it's the freest country in the world, unless the left takes over. then it will be less free because everywhere the left takes over is a less free country. There is no exception to that because the— as I said, liberty is not a left-wing value. So there's a civil war. There just is. The left wants equality rather than liberty. It wants an irreligious society. The left has contempt for God and religion. And it believes in multiculturalism. Not an e pluribus unum. Instead of being an American, you're an African American, you're a European American, you're a Hispanic American. When I grew up, everybody was just plain old boring American. Now everybody has a hyphen. So they're, uh, they, they don't know, and maybe they shouldn't. Maybe there's a built-in optimism to being young. But they they better they better wake up and realize that this is a very big problem. What they're confronting in the in the possible end of the American experiment that was started in 1776 and even before. So I'll try to be a little more uplifting when I talk to them. I know this is a downer, but I don't care. I'm not, I'm not down. I, I could somehow walk and chew gum. I can know that there's a crisis and be a happy person. That's why I wrote a book on happiness. I know that, that it's doable. Anyway, when did humans not have crises? This is the most serious in America since the Civil War. That I will say. But crisis is unfortunately normal to the human condition. So having said those things, I guess what are we gonna do, meet one at a time? Is that right? So why don't you— we'll start. Usually I take questions on the iPad that you folks send in. Come on in. Hi, what's your name?

Grant Wolfe.

Grant Wolfe, where are you from?

Dallas, Texas, Southern Methodist University.

You're at SMU in Dallas?

Yes, sir.

Are you from Dallas?

I'm from California.

You're from California and you went to Dallas to go to SMU. What are you studying?

I just graduated. I studied finance and music.

Music?

What kind?

Classical piano.

Okay, folks, take a break, get something to drink, because I can't let that pass. I conduct. I do. I conduct orchestras. I mean, this is my first love, classical music. So what— who's your favorite composer to play?

Uh, probably would say Beethoven.

Good man. I thought you'd say Rachmaninoff, and then I would have asked you to leave. Uh, no, I like— I'm, I'm really— one of my friends who's your age, and he's a great pianist. Beethoven. And what do you have a— did you specialize in any of the sonatas?

Um, I played the Pathétique Sonata, and I enjoyed that one. He has a depth of He does. Expression that I don't see in other composers.

Right. Well, Bach, but that's about it. Yeah. Anyway, it's great to meet you. And what are you going to do for a living, or what do you hope to do?

Um, so I'm starting in about a month with Deloitte in Dallas in their technology consulting branch.

Okay, great. All right, what did you want to ask?

If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to address kind of what you talked about with the, uh, the In God We Trust portion.

Yeah.

The American Trinity, right? Um, I mean, you've written You talk tremendously about the influence of secularism throughout all different portions of American life and how really that erodes, as you mentioned, a fundamental portion of the American foundation.

Right.

What ways do you see to reverse the tide of secularism in American society and ways that we as young people can contribute to that?

Religious people have a very similar dilemma to Americans. They forgot how to explain what they stand for. So they, they felt— my parents' generation, the World War II Depression generation and Depression generation, they, they loved America. They're called the Greatest Generation, the sacrifices that they made. They're not the greatest. They're one of the greatest. But it doesn't matter. They're called the greatest. But they did one thing terribly. They didn't communicate to my generation what America stands for. And so my generation became the most selfish, the least loving of America in American history. Not all of my fellow, obviously, generation, but a tremendous chunk. That's exactly what has happened with Christians and Jews. They have forgotten how to explain what they stand for. So many people have drifted away from religion because nobody made a rational case for, you know, why, why is God necessary, you know, for morality?

Right.

That's— so that's what I've taken as a big part of my life, is to explain, you know, the greatness and necessity, for example, of the Bible. And I have a Bible commentary that I'm writing in 5 volumes. And, and, and this is Without making the case, we will lose. Does that make sense?

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I guess the dilemma that, at least in my experience, I've, I've seen is that the left, with the toxicity of language that they use in the hostile environment of discourse, it's hard to even get past the front door of the conversation with regards to religion or conservatism.

That's correct. It is because they don't argue. They call you names. They dismiss your humanity. Why would they debate a sexist, intolerant, xenophobic, homophobic, Islamophobic, racist person? Why would they do that? Right?

Yeah.

And that's what they've done. They, they dismiss us as humans because they don't have arguments.

Right.

So the trick is don't argue. I have a great motto. Don't— unless they want to, which is fine. Clarify. Just say, you know what, I just want to establish where we differ. I'm not— I don't want to win nothing. I just want to understand. So are you saying that? And then, you know, are you saying bigger government leads to more liberty? Is that what you're saying? Okay.

Open them up within their assumptions.

Yes.

Thank you.

Appreciate it. Pleasure to meet you.

Thank you.

Thanks. Alrighty, welcome. There are a lot of flies in that chair.

Yes.

I'm trying to send them over, actually, to you.

Oh, thank you.

That's very nice.

And you are?

My name is Mary Wishing. I go to Grove City College in Pennsylvania.

Is that a Christian college?

Yes.

Conservative Christian. I'm sorry?

Conservative Christian. Conservative Christian. Yeah, that's a good point, by the way. That's actually not necessarily the case. So that's a big problem within the religions. And where are you from?

Grove City, Pennsylvania. Same town.

That is not common.

I know.

Where is Grove City?

North of Pittsburgh.

Oh, cool. Very nice. All right. Did you have a question or what are you studying?

Uh, political science and minoring in sociology and economics.

What do you think of Beethoven? Just kidding. Okay.

It's not my forte.

I was observing you. Yeah, what's on your mind?

So one of the things that makes America so wonderful is that it recognizes people's freedom to religion. And I'm wondering, with so many different religions among the populace, could you see, um, there being issues with people governing themselves? Or do you think that, like, do you think that people need to have a universal moral code? Or do you See there not being any problems with having different religions.

Oh God, well, the universal moral code is where, where it's at. I mean, see, look, you're a Christian, I'm a Jew, but yet we talk about Judeo-Christian values. We never talk about Judeo-Christian theology because we have different theologies, right? But it doesn't matter in terms of values because we share the Ten Commandments. We share that God says love your neighbor as yourself. We share the Old Testament of the Bible. I mean, which is more about 2/3 of the Bible, right? There's a lot shared there. And that's why I actually— in my view, America is the quintessential Judeo-Christian country.

Absolutely.

Because it was founded by Christians who adored, uh, the, you know, the Hebrew Bible and, and the Jews, uh, historically. And it was amazing. So it— you've asked a very important question. Without— let's even forget the religion part. Without shared values, how does a society survive? We don't. That's why I said we have a civil war. We don't have shared values. I do not have shared values with the left. It's not just— it's not— people think, Americans think, oh, the left and right, they have the same ends. They just have different means.

Right.

That's true for liberals and conservatives, not leftists and conservatives. They, they want a, they want a different society than I have. I mean, they've abolished men and women.

Right.

How do you reconcile— I believe that there are 2 genders. You believe that there are 56. That's the latest count on Facebook. Uh, it's very hard to reconcile that view. That doesn't mean that I don't honor someone who changes their sex and wants to be known by a new name, it's none of my business. You do what you want. It's a free country. But don't ask me to say that there is more than male and female.

Mm-hmm.

That, that's, that's a, that's a bridge too far. So you're right. I— that's what I'm worried about. You are inheriting a country. When I say a civil war, I— that means the North and South shared more values than the left and right do today. They differed on, on a huge moral issue— slavery, a pure evil— but beyond that, they shared pretty much everything else. But not today, right? So good luck.

Thank you.

Thanks for coming.

Thanks so much.

You bet. Hi there, and you are?

I'm Maggie Coffin.

Maggie, from where?

Santa Barbara.

Right around here?

Yes.

Have you ever been to the ranch?

Yes.

Do you work at the ranch?

No.

You just come up here because you like—

My dad works.

Oh, he does?

Yeah.

Nice. And where do you go to school?

Uh, Providence High School. It's a Christian liberal arts school.

A Christian liberal arts school here in Santa Barbara?

Yeah, high school.

Yeah, high school. I got that.

Yeah.

What year are you in?

I'm going to be a senior.

And then where do you want to go in the following year?

Um, I'm interested in University of Chicago.

Oh, what area? Economics?

Um, they have a good anthropology program.

Wow. Do you have conservative values?

Yes.

Do you know about anthropology departments?

Yes.

Okay, fine. Well, then you know what you're getting into. That's fine.

I'm more interested in taking it to the forensics level. Forensic anthropology.

What is that?

Uh, where you'd be studying the Bones of human remains in an effort to help with law enforcement.

Oh, great. So you watch the ID channel? No? Investigation Discovery channel. It's the only TV I see. It's, it's— you don't know about it?

No.

I have just given you heroin.

Awesome.

It is a bloody drug. I can't stand TV, but the moment one of them— they show you how forensics solves cases. Oh, you really should take a look.

Okay.

Maybe you have a TV in your house?

Yeah.

No, no, I am— I was serious about that. A lot of religious homes have, and I think pretty wisely, decided not to. But anyway, then take a look at the ID Channel because it gives— they're really there to show you how forensics solves crimes. That's— you don't— I must say, I think you're the first young person I've ever met who said that they want to do forensic bone work as a detective. I think you'll do very well.

Thank you.

So I'm just curious, did you always love reading about crime and solutions? Is this—

Yeah, pretty much. Yeah, I like the puzzle.

Yeah, the puzzle. Gotcha. All right, you got a question?

I do. Um, I was wondering, um, what are some rules to live a happy and successful life that you can suggest for the younger generation?

Well, here's a— I'll start by saying that I have the exact same rule for an 80-year-old as for an 18-year-old. I tell you, I don't talk differently to different ages. And I never understood why when I was a kid, I said, if it applies to humans, it applies to all humans. So anyway, I just want to say my answer is for anybody. Um, the number— the first thing that comes to my mind is without meaning, it's not possible to be happy.

Mm-hmm.

And what has happened, I think, in America and the whole West, by knocking out religion, which was the source of meaning, certainly my source of meaning— I think there's a God, I think there's a Bible that he revealed I mean, it gives me a lot of meaning, a lot of purpose. I may be— it may be nonsense to a secularist, but at least they acknowledge I get meaning.

Mm-hmm.

But if you knock that out, there is no God, there is no religion, there is no holy writ. So you're going to have to find meaning elsewhere. That's why leftism is so powerful. It gives the secular meaning, gives some religious people meaning too, but that's That's, that's because they don't get it from their religion. They get it from leftism. So the first thing is you have to deal with the issue of meaning. And, uh, this, this is not original to me. There's a man named Viktor Frankl, F-R-A-N-K-L, and on my website, DennisPrager.com, I have a listing of the 10 books that most influenced me. You should read it. Man's Search for Meaning. You could read it in one evening. It's very powerful. And he's the guy who said, you know, he's, you know, Freud said sex is what ultimately animates the human species. Marx said it was economics. Frankl says it's meaning. And I agree with Frankl. So that's, that's certainly one. Another one is it is not possible— I wrote a book on happiness, so this is right up my alley. Uh, another one is you can't be happy if you're not grateful. There is not one ungrateful person on Earth— that's 7 billion or 6 billion people— not one ungrateful person is happy. It is literally not possible. It is like, it is like there is living without oxygen. Gratitude is the oxygen of happiness. That's why— that's another part of what's happening in America today. We are creating a vast number of ungrateful people. They're called victims. Women are victims, Blacks are victims, Latinos are victims, gays are victims. Everybody's a victim. If you think you're a victim, you are the opposite of grateful, right? You can't be a grateful victim.

Mm-hmm.

You're an angry victim by definition. And these are the most unhappy people of all. people who walk around so, uh, thinking that they're victims. So meaning and gratitude. Uh, then the one other thing, and this is directly to young people: get married. And don't buy the notion of, well, I'll get married, you know, when I'm ready or when I'm financially, uh, uh, grounded. That's nonsense. Get Get married when you meet a good person that you could— that you can love and share a life with. And if that happens at 21, then marry at 21. That's very heretical today, but, uh, it's based on, on a lot of life. Good luck.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Howdy there.

Hi.

Are you at the same school as she?

I am.

And that is Providence Christian School here in Santa Barbara?

Yes.

Okay. And are you in the senior year too?

I am.

Do you want to go to college?

I do, yes.

Where do you want to go?

Um, I'm not 100% sure at this point.

Do you want to study forensic anthropology?

No, I don't think that's for me.

That was a joke. I didn't think you did. What do you— do you know what you'd like to do? You don't have to, by the way. I'm just curious.

I think I'd like to double major in econ and philosophy.

Whoa, that's serious. So, what do you have in your mind? I'm sorry, folks, this is because we are inundated with flies. I feel like I'm on the East Coast.

Yeah. So, I'm a big fan of all your debates with Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris and the like. And I was wondering if you think that atheism is or can be compatible with the idea of free will.

That's a great question, and the answer is no. And any atheist who says it can be is fooling himself. I don't think they're fooling us. I think they're fooling themselves. If there is no God, what are we? We are only— we humans, we are genes and environment. What else? What else? We're matter and environment. So that means there's no us. That's free. There's no, there's no Dennis here. Dennis is just, or you are just, every one of us is just the product of heredity and environment. Where's the freedom? There is none. So ironically, only those who believe that there is a soul and a mind that is independent of genes and environment. can believe that we have free will. Does that make sense?

It does, yeah. Um, sort of a follow-up question. I 100% agree with what you're saying. Um, something that I've always struggled with in that area though is what you say about the mentally ill, or those who maybe say don't have 100% free will like other people do.

Uh, having said what I said, I know that there are people with less free will than me. I, I couldn't agree with you more. I, I live— you got— we all— I have a motto on my radio show: first tell the truth, then give your opinion. So the truth is, I mean, it's, it's a very, it's a very tough issue. What level of free will does any given person have? That we have free will, I answered already. We are not just matter and environment. Having said that, you know, when, when, you know, somebody who, uh, constantly hurts themselves, physically hurts themselves, do they have free will? Does a schizophrenic have free will? These are very, very vexing questions. I fully acknowledge that. I think that there are— I think ultimately there, there there are people with more free will than others. I do, I do. I, I would, I would ultimately have to say that. So you're obviously thinking, uh, deeply. Thank you very much. Yes, thanks for coming. Hi there. And you are?

I'm Noah.

Noah?

Yes.

What's your last name?

Mestas.

And where are you from?

I'm from Santa Clarita, California.

And tell everybody where that's from since nobody knows.

Um, it's kind of like 30 minutes north of Los Angeles.

Okay. And are you in high school?

Yes.

Yep. Where?

Trinity Classical Academy.

Great. And where do you want to go to college?

Yes.

Do you know where?

USC, hopefully.

And what do you want to study?

Um, industrial design.

I know as much about that as I do about forensic anthropology. There's nothing for me to ask you.

Yeah.

Industrial design. So in 2 sentences, explain that.

It's basically designing your everyday things. So like a radio.

Oh, not a house?

No.

That's as opposed to— okay, I get it. That's why I'm glad I asked. Oh, so that which is produced by industry and you will help design it.

Yes.

Have you done any of it yet?

Um, small things. Nothing— I've designed some, like, books, uh, just some little figures, right? Nothing, nothing grandiose.

So you have— but you have an ability there, obviously.

Yes.

Yeah, I didn't. Okay, what's on your mind?

Yeah, I wanted to ask, how do you think that we could get students excited and passionate about politics?

Well, they need to be excited about America. Then everything else will follow. Maybe they'll be excited about writing. Maybe they'll be excited about politics, economics. There's— there— the trick is, I'm, I'm not excited about politics, believe it or not.

I'm not.

I am excited by the greatest experiment in liberty in human history, America. And I, it pains me terribly to think it may fail. So that is what energizes me to do so much of the work that I do. If they get excited by that, everything else will follow. But don't put it, You're putting— one is putting the cart before the horse.

Yeah.

If one gets people excited in politics before the purpose of politics. First, get excited with the purpose. It's like when I meet a young person, he says, I want— what do you want to do? I want to go into politics. I say, why? And, oh, I love politics. That's a terrible reason. If your reason is because I'm worried about America and I want to preserve its greatest values, That's a great reason to go into politics, but not because you love politics. So the trick is to get excited about this experiment and the rest will follow. That's, that's how I would approach it.

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah.

Great to meet you.

You too.

Good luck. I'll look for your, your designs. Do we have any more? Is this the 7th? Last one. Hi.

Hi, sir.

What's your name?

My name is Reagan.

Reagan?

Yes.

I know, I'm sure everybody's making jokes since you're at the Reagan Ranch. I will not make a joke. I won't.

Okay.

I suppressed it. But what is your last name?

Warner.

And where are you from?

I'm from Minnetonka, Minnesota.

Minnetonka, Minnesota?

Cool.

I know the area well because I have a very big listening audience in the Twin Cities.

I'm sure, smart people.

There you go. I, I want you to know you are sitting next to a person— you will probably never meet someone who has been to the Minnesota State Fair more than I have.

Yes, that's awesome.

That's a great state fair.

And I want you to know God will reward me.

He has to after all the sacrifice of all the food.

Yes, that's true, but the food was pretty good, I have to admit. I mean, you could just have that many fried things, I admit it. But, um, that's hotter than this.

Oh, absolutely. The humidity is crazy up in Minnesota.

So I'm well aware of your state. And so where are you studying?

I go to the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.

And is that a Catholic school?

Yes, it is.

And are they traditional or are they going like Notre Dame?

Uh, yeah, they're, they're going off the traditional pathway, but They're a great school. I mean—

That's great. I'm glad for you. What are you studying?

I am studying business communications.

Nice. What's the difference between business communications and business?

So there's multiple different categories of business degrees you can get. So when you go into a specific field such as business communications, you take all the business courses and then you have additional courses such as Intro to Communications, uh, Marketing Communications, uh, Social Media Communication.

Oh yeah.

So it's a big area.

Yeah.

It's getting bigger and bigger.

You can go into a lot of different fields from that.

Does it include advertising or that's a separate thing?

It can. It depends. You can kind of pick and choose that sort of concentration if you want to.

Nice. So, uh, you have a question?

Yes, I do.

Good.

Uh, I was wondering why so many people, especially in my generation, Are adopting this new ideology of being fiscally conservative but socially liberal?

Oh, that's a great question. Because the left has won that part of the civil war. They are convinced that if you have a socially conservative position, you, you're immoral. And that combined with taking a socially conservative position will, uh, open you up to so much attack. I'll, I'll give you one example. I'll give you an example with me. All right, I believe that marriage should be defined as one man and one woman. I still believe that. Yet, uh, at Prager University, we have gays who give courses, uh, including one who is married to a man. Uh, I have not only been to his home and dined with, with the two of them I have had him on my show. I've been on his show talking about Dave Rubin. I mean, I never— I'm very open here. And Dave Rubin has made a video for us, Why I Left the Left. Here is a gay liberal far more comfortable among conservatives. He knows I'm against same-sex marriage, but he knows that I love him. And I don't mean in some, you know, beautiful philosophic way. He's a great guy. I adore him. It's end of the issue. But I have, I have principles. But we have not taught these principles. So we look to the average young person, uh, that you just described as bigots, when in fact it is— it has nothing to do with bigotry. Nothing. Zero. I hate bigotry as much as they do. They're the bigots, as it turns out, but that's a separate issue. But that is why, as I said to, uh, one of the other students who was in this chair a few moments ago, we have to learn how to make the case or we're ruined. That's, that's the point. We, we can't just hold positions. We have to know how to explain them. But it's, it's a lot easier to, uh, or to say, oh, just forget even same-sex marriage. Could be any— obviously abortion. You know, and even on abortion, you don't even have to be religious to believe there's a moral problem with extinguishing nascent human life for no reason other than I don't want the child. I mean, let's be honest, it's— unless you regard the human fetus as a pimple, there is a moral problem in extinguishing its life. There are people who are vegetarians. They don't think it is right to kill insects, and, uh, or certainly not any edible food. Uh, but, uh, but for total convenience, if you wanted to extinguish the life of a nascent human, that, that's fine. I mean, it's, it's, it's because they're afraid to take a socially conservative position. It sounds bad. Or God, right? The sophisticated don't need God. Only, only the, uh, the crippled, the emotionally crippled, and the intellectually inferior. But that, that's all propaganda. That's all left-wing propaganda. Does that make sense what I'm saying?

Absolutely.

So you have to learn how to make the case. It's a big deal. It's harder than business communications. Delivery— well, the content is everything.

Yes.

Delivery is a big part.

Yeah.

All right, good luck to you. It's a pleasure to meet you.

Thank you so much.

All right, everybody, as I explained, this was not from my house, and it's from the Reagan Ranch located in the high hills above Santa Barbara, California. Had a great time talking to these students. And I will see you next week in an air-conditioned room smoking a cigar. I'm Dennis Prager.

On tomorrow's Sunday Fireside Chat.

My friends, this is what I do on a Labor Day. Uh, I talk about labor, specifically your labor, and it gives me a chance— you know, I talk about God and religion on Christmas. And I talk about the meaning of America on President's Day. I talk about what is the nature of patriotism on July 4th. I talk about the wars on Memorial Day. I mean, you know, there are specific reasons for the holidays. This is a great way to meet my listeners.

That's right.

You know who I am. Who are you? And specifically, because we are— none of us is only our work. Obviously. And there are many who don't have a paid profession, but that doesn't mean they don't have work. I'm thinking of the tens of millions of, example, of women in particular who make a home, probably the most noble profession that exists in the world. But what do you do for a living?

Join us tomorrow to hear more on Timeless Wisdom. With Dennis Prager. Visit DennisPrager.com for thousands of hours of Dennis's 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.