WEBVTT 1 00:00:24.160 --> 00:00:33.560 What's Carthago? Delenda asked, Hello and welcome to Everything's Political. I'm your 2 00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:38.759 host, tay A Shoemake. You can find us online at Everything's Political dot 3 00:00:38.799 --> 00:00:46.399 substack dot com. You can email the show at podcast at Everything's Political dot 4 00:00:46.640 --> 00:00:53.759 org. Shout out to magic Man Joe Strecker, the Francis Scott Key of 5 00:00:53.920 --> 00:01:00.439 podcast producers. That's right, Joe, Francis Scott Key, author Lloyd back 6 00:01:00.439 --> 00:01:07.359 when they were a respectable bunch and amateur poet who on this day and into 7 00:01:07.400 --> 00:01:14.560 the wee hours of the next began penning his poem The Defense of Fort McHenry. 8 00:01:14.840 --> 00:01:18.480 And I won't recount every detail here, but let me summarize for our 9 00:01:18.519 --> 00:01:25.359 younger listeners who may have forgotten or maybe weren't taught. So this poem, 10 00:01:25.400 --> 00:01:30.879 which obviously became the star Spangled banner our national anthem, was inspired by events 11 00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:36.480 on this harrowing September night again two years into the War of eighteen twelve, 12 00:01:37.239 --> 00:01:44.680 when Francis Scott Key and two others asked President Madison for permission to negotiate the 13 00:01:44.719 --> 00:01:49.519 release of a prisoner on a British ship, and so they successfully did so. 14 00:01:51.120 --> 00:01:55.920 They went out to the British frigate in the Chesapeake Bay and were able 15 00:01:56.040 --> 00:02:01.079 to negotiate. I believe he was Doctor Bean was his name, his release 16 00:02:02.200 --> 00:02:08.680 And what happened was they inadvertently learned the plans of the British to attack Fort 17 00:02:08.759 --> 00:02:14.199 McHenry, so they hadn't even started yet, and as a result, they 18 00:02:14.199 --> 00:02:19.280 would not allow Francis Scott Key and his friends to leave their ship, their 19 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:23.240 truth ship. So for hours, Key and his friends had to watch the 20 00:02:23.280 --> 00:02:27.680 British bombs bursting in air as he wrote, and he was certain at some 21 00:02:27.759 --> 00:02:30.360 point the fort was going to be taken. From his view, and even 22 00:02:30.439 --> 00:02:37.479 later wrote quote it seemed as though Mother Earth had opened and was vomiting shot 23 00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:43.840 and shell in a sheet of fire and brimstone. Wow. So after hours 24 00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:49.319 of bombardment, the smoke cleared and his Key plainly wrote, the star spangled 25 00:02:49.319 --> 00:02:53.599 banner was still there, which I think Joe meant in many minds that the 26 00:02:53.639 --> 00:02:59.840 war for independence that was fought just a few decades earlier was still one. 27 00:03:00.159 --> 00:03:01.400 I guess we could have a discussion on whether or not the War of eighteen 28 00:03:01.479 --> 00:03:07.840 twelve was going to impact that status of independence, but I think the point 29 00:03:07.879 --> 00:03:12.199 remains true nonetheless because they were still pretty close to it. So there you 30 00:03:12.280 --> 00:03:19.719 have it. Author, lawyer, poet, multifaceted, multi skilled magic man 31 00:03:19.800 --> 00:03:28.759 Joe Strecker. Okay, I'm gonna preface the introduction of our next guests with 32 00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:34.479 this. You all have heard me say often that in that better vanished time, 33 00:03:35.199 --> 00:03:39.080 what we learned in church was reinforced in school and doubled down on at 34 00:03:39.120 --> 00:03:44.879 home. And now church is a Starbucks, school is a perverted babysitter, 35 00:03:45.360 --> 00:03:47.719 and there's no one home. So where are we to go? You know, 36 00:03:47.759 --> 00:03:52.759 you'd be hard pressed these days to recall any conversation, especially over the 37 00:03:52.840 --> 00:03:59.000 last three years, about the state of our nation that didn't involve education reform 38 00:03:59.080 --> 00:04:02.159 as one of the top three solutions to at least trying to stop the federal 39 00:04:02.199 --> 00:04:09.400 ball rog or trying to stop our nation's decline into degeneracy. And with that, 40 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:12.800 I'd like to introduce our next guest. Reintroduce, I should say, 41 00:04:13.240 --> 00:04:16.519 Lee Burton's welcome back to the program. Thank you so much for that introduction. 42 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:20.000 I mean they're going to say something wonderful or horrible, Am I the 43 00:04:20.040 --> 00:04:25.319 bailog? No? No, no, not at all, trust me. 44 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:31.680 No, we appreciate you being here. Educational independence, a declaration of educational 45 00:04:31.800 --> 00:04:38.319 independence. This is what spurred this podcast, this interview. Can you tell 46 00:04:38.360 --> 00:04:42.240 me a little bit about it. You know, before COVID, we homeschoolers 47 00:04:42.240 --> 00:04:45.560 and private educators, we're just kind of looked at as an anomaly. And 48 00:04:45.600 --> 00:04:48.600 then that COVID happened, a lot of parents eyes were opened hit the same 49 00:04:48.600 --> 00:04:53.399 time as me too, and then the transgender movement and the various things that 50 00:04:53.439 --> 00:04:57.800 have just really shown the decline of our culture, and parents are clamoring what 51 00:04:57.839 --> 00:05:00.279 are we supposed to be doing? And of course that's what you say in 52 00:05:00.360 --> 00:05:03.879 your introduction. So before the last couple of years, nobody really cared what 53 00:05:03.959 --> 00:05:08.680 you or I did to you because we were the anomaly. Now they all 54 00:05:08.680 --> 00:05:12.680 want to do what we do. They want to know how can you classically 55 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:16.040 educate or homeschool or hybrid school, or what can we do for freedom education? 56 00:05:16.680 --> 00:05:20.199 And there's a myriad of ways of doing all these things. And one 57 00:05:20.199 --> 00:05:26.040 thing that I saw happening was most folks were saying things along the lines of 58 00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:30.560 do what classical conversations does. Let's help it grow by giving it more money, 59 00:05:30.600 --> 00:05:32.759 and let's let the government take care of you the same kind of needs 60 00:05:32.759 --> 00:05:36.480 at least taking care of. That's kind of the way my ears hear what's 61 00:05:36.519 --> 00:05:41.439 been going on. So a month or two ago, went to see it 62 00:05:41.480 --> 00:05:45.839 this in Florida said we're going to have our own Hillsdale College in the Florida 63 00:05:45.920 --> 00:05:48.319 State system. And I'm thinking, do you hear what you're saying? You 64 00:05:48.360 --> 00:05:55.839 cannot have classical Christian education that's attached to government dollars. The whole thing that 65 00:05:55.879 --> 00:05:59.480 makes it different is that we have this freedom, we're not shackled by the 66 00:05:59.480 --> 00:06:03.800 shackles. And so they feel like you can take classical education or even just 67 00:06:03.959 --> 00:06:10.399 good educational models and put them into the public school system. And they're not 68 00:06:10.639 --> 00:06:15.199 wrong because the public schools started out that way. Originally they were part time, 69 00:06:15.360 --> 00:06:19.040 hardly anybody went to them. They were only part of the year. 70 00:06:19.600 --> 00:06:24.399 They had a lot of Christian capital around them because even though they themselves, 71 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:30.480 being government funded, are inherently a Marxist model of education. In general, 72 00:06:30.519 --> 00:06:35.040 there's Christian capital around the world. Well, every generation had some more micro 73 00:06:35.160 --> 00:06:42.279 injuries and things became acceptable that weren't acceptable to the generation before. All headed 74 00:06:42.360 --> 00:06:46.079 towards decadence. So, for instance, whether it was Margaret Sanger and planned 75 00:06:46.120 --> 00:06:50.600 parenthood, or social Darwinists telling us our children are only a little bit better 76 00:06:50.600 --> 00:06:57.720 than an ape. No fault, divorce, birth control, homosexuality, the 77 00:06:57.839 --> 00:07:02.879 drug movement, little micro injuries that all by themselves just sinful people need to 78 00:07:02.920 --> 00:07:06.600 deal with. They happen't they're real. We need to love those people. 79 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:14.519 But they were not culturally accepted. But every generation another one became culturally accepted, 80 00:07:14.879 --> 00:07:19.959 and we were finally at the place where anything goes. And so after 81 00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:25.959 a hundred years of even think of the words of compulsory universal basic education, 82 00:07:26.519 --> 00:07:29.120 why did it have to be compulsory? If it was such a good things, 83 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:31.399 why didn't parents just want to send their kids to school, Because no 84 00:07:31.560 --> 00:07:35.800 parent who loves their child would send them to something that was foreign to their 85 00:07:35.839 --> 00:07:41.800 family and was part of the state institution. That's what sick families with sick 86 00:07:41.879 --> 00:07:46.199 children did, was institutionalized their children, not healthy families. So it's even 87 00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:49.600 the words I'm saying now are offensive to a lot of people, but I'm 88 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:54.079 trying to put you back to the place where there wasn't no such thing as 89 00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:58.120 government schools and the way people would have viewed it and how they no longer 90 00:07:58.399 --> 00:08:01.480 view it that way, and that's where we've got. So now everyone's going, 91 00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:05.000 all right, there is a sickness of foot there and we can't keep 92 00:08:05.040 --> 00:08:11.360 putting band aids on the bloodshed that's occurring in the government school system. So 93 00:08:11.519 --> 00:08:16.000 what do we do. So some friends of mine and I got together who 94 00:08:16.079 --> 00:08:22.120 are freedom minded and who have been promoters of private both home and private education 95 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:26.360 for decades and said, let's kind of put our stake in the sand and 96 00:08:26.439 --> 00:08:31.920 give a declaration of the basic reasons we believe what we believe, and then 97 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:35.440 hope it goes through social media and people can start talking about it. So 98 00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:39.399 whether you agree with me or disagree with me, I just want them to 99 00:08:39.399 --> 00:08:45.000 be a conversation about the ideas that we have in the declaration, and lo 100 00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:48.600 and behold. It would be about forty eight hours after the writers took care 101 00:08:48.679 --> 00:08:50.759 of We're finished writing. It took me about forty eight hours to get it 102 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:56.120 dispersed to them and for them to start asking their friends to sign it. 103 00:08:56.240 --> 00:09:00.600 And we've been going after leaders of leaders and asking them. First that was 104 00:09:00.919 --> 00:09:03.919 about forty eight hours, and then in the last forty eight hours I am 105 00:09:03.960 --> 00:09:09.639 being bombarded with requests for media and to be able to sign and to help 106 00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:13.960 promote this. So we've hit a nerve and I hope that we can send 107 00:09:13.960 --> 00:09:16.840 some time actually going over what the declaration says. That's how it all came 108 00:09:16.879 --> 00:09:22.200 about. That's fantastic. I appreciate you doing that. I wanted to read 109 00:09:22.519 --> 00:09:28.240 part of the text here, and it's the introduction to the declaration, and 110 00:09:28.399 --> 00:09:33.399 I just wanted to make a distinction because my mind has actually shifted on this 111 00:09:33.679 --> 00:09:39.600 lee. The second paragraph here leading up to the declaration is this, do 112 00:09:39.639 --> 00:09:46.519 you reject tax funded socialist schemes like public schools, charter schools, essays and 113 00:09:46.759 --> 00:09:52.919 vouchers fueled by the coercive power of the welfare state? And I think there 114 00:09:52.919 --> 00:10:01.720 are many like minded people who support essays and charter schools. Can you just 115 00:10:01.799 --> 00:10:07.960 make that distinction of what the goal is here versus those things that people might 116 00:10:07.039 --> 00:10:13.759 support that are ambiguous as to why they would be coercive and socialist. Okay, 117 00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:20.919 So socialism is fundamentally the redistribution of wealth, and so we as taxpayers 118 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:24.159 get our wealth redistributed all the time. And you can argue that we voted 119 00:10:24.200 --> 00:10:28.159 for that tax dollars get redistributed I would argue that, no, a lot 120 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:33.600 of it is redistribution, but you know, that's a different conversation. So 121 00:10:33.639 --> 00:10:37.720 what I'm referring to is whether I send my dollars to the state bureaucracy and 122 00:10:37.919 --> 00:10:43.159 a percentage of it goes back to my local schools in the realm of their 123 00:10:43.200 --> 00:10:46.399 traditional public schools, or it gets back to them and it goes to a 124 00:10:46.480 --> 00:10:52.759 charter school, or it gets back to them to my community through an ESA 125 00:10:52.919 --> 00:10:56.320 or a voucher. It's still funny to pay somebody else money to give it 126 00:10:56.320 --> 00:11:01.080 back to me. That is so inefficient, and it's the definition of what 127 00:11:01.159 --> 00:11:05.639 Marxism is. And so it doesn't matter which of these systems you're looking at, 128 00:11:05.039 --> 00:11:07.480 I would be against them. Now. Some of them are a little 129 00:11:07.519 --> 00:11:13.039 bit softer and easier to deal with than others. But charter schools are basically 130 00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:16.960 public schools that parents who pay attentions and their children too. It's kind of 131 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:20.639 like what's happened in high schools that students who are really good at high school 132 00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:24.840 they don't go to high school anymore. They go over to the community college. 133 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:28.279 And so we're sorting ourselves already naturally between families who care and families who 134 00:11:28.519 --> 00:11:33.519 don't care, and so the general welfare of the public schools is being torn 135 00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:37.879 apart anyway, but it's all still publicly funded. So then they came up 136 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:41.440 with these ideas of essays, and those can be done two different ways. 137 00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:46.759 One could be totally privately funded, where the government can say, look, 138 00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:50.279 you have this educational savings account. It's like a credit card, like a 139 00:11:50.279 --> 00:11:54.639 health savings account would be, and we're going to put money into it and 140 00:11:54.679 --> 00:11:58.279 you can go given to whatever school you want to and it's an educational savings 141 00:11:58.320 --> 00:12:03.440 account that won't be taxed on. Other ones say we'll give you some money, 142 00:12:03.759 --> 00:12:05.840 but you can put some of your own in it. Another one say 143 00:12:05.919 --> 00:12:09.320 you can put all your own money in it. We're not giving any to 144 00:12:09.399 --> 00:12:11.759 you, but you'll get the tax deduction on that. Right. So the 145 00:12:11.799 --> 00:12:16.679 poem in fifty states is there's a lot of different ways that go about doing 146 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:20.840 that. And then of course vouchers is what they used to call essays. 147 00:12:20.840 --> 00:12:24.000 There's still some places that call them voucher programs, but vouchers tended to be 148 00:12:24.120 --> 00:12:31.080 more of An accredited school is allowed as accredited private school by the state that's 149 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:33.200 still getting the states in control. So let's say a proof school by the 150 00:12:33.240 --> 00:12:37.840 state, it gets a voucher to cover your child's tuition. It doesn't go 151 00:12:37.960 --> 00:12:43.679 through the parent, it goes directly to the institute that's been vetted by the 152 00:12:43.720 --> 00:12:46.720 state, which is another thing I don't want to be paying for encouraging, 153 00:12:48.360 --> 00:12:52.440 is the state vetting the better organizations for my children, because the ones that 154 00:12:52.480 --> 00:12:56.759 they want are the ones that will succeed because they have all the power. 155 00:12:56.120 --> 00:13:01.759 And it might be that small Christian school in inner city meeting in a park 156 00:13:01.799 --> 00:13:03.679 half the time and in the church half the time. It's really where I 157 00:13:03.679 --> 00:13:07.919 want my children to go, and they don't stand a chance against all that 158 00:13:07.000 --> 00:13:16.519 manipulation. It's government picking winners and losers and then rigging the game right so 159 00:13:16.600 --> 00:13:20.759 to speak. And I know in many instances with ESAs they limit how much 160 00:13:20.799 --> 00:13:26.519 you can use, so you know, they're still directing the dysfunction, so 161 00:13:26.559 --> 00:13:31.000 to speak, which is frustrating. And so the objective obviously to get people 162 00:13:31.039 --> 00:13:35.840 talking, to start the debate, which you know that can make you a 163 00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:39.279 persona and on grata these days, but I'm with you on that. Let's 164 00:13:39.320 --> 00:13:43.320 have the debate, Let's get out the craziest under the whole umbrella. Let's 165 00:13:43.320 --> 00:13:50.039 talk about the craziest ideas we can and come to a resolution. Were regarding 166 00:13:50.679 --> 00:13:56.399 the goals in your perfect world, if there is one, where would you 167 00:13:56.399 --> 00:14:01.120 see this progress? How would you measure in addition to were after the debate, 168 00:14:01.639 --> 00:14:05.799 how would you measure? Hey, this is catching on and we're in 169 00:14:05.840 --> 00:14:09.279 the right direction. I've been working on these kinds of philosophies for a really 170 00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:15.000 long time. And I had just this week two different incidents that came through 171 00:14:15.039 --> 00:14:20.679 because of the declaration, but we're originated beforehand. The one is in my 172 00:14:20.759 --> 00:14:26.000 great state of North Carolina. They just had some legislation to pass the expansion 173 00:14:26.639 --> 00:14:31.200 of charter schools, and two three of our legislators who normally were for them, 174 00:14:31.559 --> 00:14:37.360 decided to vote against it. They are hearing what the damage that government 175 00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:43.279 money is doing to private education, because if everything is funded by the public, 176 00:14:43.679 --> 00:14:48.480 it's all public education. So right now we have that choice public or 177 00:14:48.559 --> 00:14:52.279 private. If the private gets the same funding as the public, it's all 178 00:14:52.320 --> 00:14:56.039 just public again. So that was one thing that happened, and nothing that 179 00:14:56.120 --> 00:15:00.120 happened was there's you know, there's advocates, there's all kinds of NGO and 180 00:15:00.159 --> 00:15:05.639 homeschooling organizations, state lobby groups for freedom and a lot of them have been 181 00:15:05.679 --> 00:15:11.279 promoting these essays and vouchers, and one in particular who is fairly well known 182 00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:13.279 till she actually signs the decoration. I won't use her name, we're in 183 00:15:13.320 --> 00:15:18.000 talks, but she's like, I just didn't understand. I thought I was 184 00:15:18.120 --> 00:15:22.480 fixing something that could be fixed, and I didn't realize that by putting my 185 00:15:22.679 --> 00:15:28.799 children in a system that designed to be paid for by redistributed wealth and pretending 186 00:15:28.879 --> 00:15:33.960 she could become a capitalist, I was fooling myself. You don't put content 187 00:15:33.080 --> 00:15:37.200 into a form and expected to come out with a different form. And so 188 00:15:37.399 --> 00:15:41.200 the people's eyes are opening up, and I'm stunned at the people who are 189 00:15:41.320 --> 00:15:45.080 signing this. There are a lot of leaders of leaders, mostly in the 190 00:15:45.159 --> 00:15:48.559 Christian conservative movement at this point, but I'm also looking forward to anybody that's 191 00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:52.519 in a libertarian or even a Democrat who's saying, yeah, enough is enough. 192 00:15:52.639 --> 00:15:56.679 Anyone can join this. So that would be my biggest joy was to 193 00:15:56.720 --> 00:16:00.279 see that it actually inspired conversations among all kinds of people. We're in the 194 00:16:00.320 --> 00:16:04.480 middle of a great, big political reshuffle, right now, and I'm curious 195 00:16:04.519 --> 00:16:08.559 to see the fallout from that, and I'm wondering what this declaration may do 196 00:16:08.679 --> 00:16:11.960 to help clarify it for some people. Indeed, well, we will spread 197 00:16:11.960 --> 00:16:17.320 it far and wide. We'll get that at the end here. And often 198 00:16:17.639 --> 00:16:22.759 there are newer homeschoolers that come to me and ask about can we get tax 199 00:16:22.799 --> 00:16:30.799 dollars to support our homeschool of following the child or And I know different states 200 00:16:30.840 --> 00:16:37.240 fund education differently, and I always caution be very very careful about the money 201 00:16:37.320 --> 00:16:41.679 you accept from government, because then they own your homeschool, and that's the 202 00:16:41.759 --> 00:16:47.000 antithesis of why you homeschool, and that's not very popularly. Do you have 203 00:16:47.039 --> 00:16:48.720 any thoughts on that? Yeah, well, you know, it's an easy 204 00:16:48.759 --> 00:16:52.399 example. But maybe it's getting to be too old. Is I used to 205 00:16:52.440 --> 00:16:56.159 say to people what happened to the c in the YMCA. It used to 206 00:16:56.200 --> 00:17:00.559 be a Christian organization and then they started getting government funding, so now they're 207 00:17:00.600 --> 00:17:04.440 just another secular gym. Right, They lost their mission because someone else is 208 00:17:04.480 --> 00:17:08.079 paying the bills. And people just don't understand how much wo the sheffl's come 209 00:17:08.119 --> 00:17:11.960 to shackles because as soon as you have some sort of crisis, and you 210 00:17:11.000 --> 00:17:14.720 need to go back to where the money came from. They're going to at 211 00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:17.759 that point say well, you're not doing that great. You have to do 212 00:17:17.799 --> 00:17:19.400 it my way so you can do better. Otherwise you wouldn't have come after 213 00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:22.799 me for some money. And so it's just ongoing. It never ends in 214 00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:29.119 the government. Yeah, it's all. It's just a blob. But the 215 00:17:29.160 --> 00:17:33.160 other thing that's just so sad is that people forget. Before the nineteen twenties, 216 00:17:33.000 --> 00:17:37.319 there was a public education across the United States and we raised the most 217 00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:41.759 literate culture that had ever been seen ever on the face of the earth. 218 00:17:41.839 --> 00:17:47.240 Before the nineteen twenties, our literacy rates or proficient literacy rates, we're in 219 00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:51.839 the ninety percentile. Now they're down to fourteen percent. And that's through that 220 00:17:52.279 --> 00:17:56.880 national organization that does as independent tests. It compares our country to other countries. 221 00:17:56.279 --> 00:17:59.880 But I was doing some research and I thought it was very interesting. 222 00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:04.559 In the nineteen seventies, the city of Milwaukee actually had the very first voucher 223 00:18:04.680 --> 00:18:10.839 system, So in seventies, a long time ago, almost fifty years. 224 00:18:10.920 --> 00:18:14.920 So when they had the voucher system, they had a one point seven percent 225 00:18:15.160 --> 00:18:21.160 illiteracy rate based on their own numbers, then the voucher system occurred. Now 226 00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:25.440 they have a nine percent illiteracy rate. Wow, I just nobody talk about 227 00:18:25.480 --> 00:18:29.960 these The money did not make a difference. The micro injuries to our culture 228 00:18:30.240 --> 00:18:34.359 is what is killing us, and it's stemming from universal basic education. And 229 00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:37.559 people don't want to talk about that. So if I'm wrong, that's fine. 230 00:18:37.680 --> 00:18:41.240 Let me be wrong, tell me I'm wrong. But can we at 231 00:18:41.319 --> 00:18:45.519 least look at the root causes and not just these symptoms? Right? I 232 00:18:45.519 --> 00:18:51.480 think we can agree that throwing money at stuff, especially government that seems, 233 00:18:51.599 --> 00:18:53.799 you know, they think money, our money grows on trees, has just 234 00:18:53.839 --> 00:18:57.240 been an abysmal failure. And there are so many examples of that. You 235 00:18:57.759 --> 00:19:03.680 spoke about the political shift that is occurring. It's fascinating to me, and 236 00:19:03.720 --> 00:19:08.680 I've been involved for so long that even I'm shocked. It's some of the 237 00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:15.559 things and alliances and organizations that I see nowadays, and it's actually very exciting 238 00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:19.480 on a weird, demented level. So but I did want to ask you. 239 00:19:19.480 --> 00:19:23.759 You know, every presidently wants to be the education president. In my 240 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:29.599 lifetime, everyone wants to be the education president. And my philosophy is, 241 00:19:29.640 --> 00:19:33.440 if you really want to be the education president, then get rid of the 242 00:19:33.480 --> 00:19:37.880 Department of Education and let the states do what they do. But even then 243 00:19:38.240 --> 00:19:42.000 we have to at a local level. And this is part of our other 244 00:19:42.200 --> 00:19:48.079 adventure here, homeschool ready or not, Parents and families need to take ownership 245 00:19:48.200 --> 00:19:56.559 of and responsibility for the health, education, and welfare of the family unit. 246 00:19:56.279 --> 00:20:03.039 And if that means preparing better so that you're not enslaved to a dual 247 00:20:03.079 --> 00:20:07.359 income to the state, or whatever the case may be. And I realize 248 00:20:07.359 --> 00:20:11.319 that there are resources that can help that needs to take place, but it's 249 00:20:11.359 --> 00:20:17.480 a paradigm shift. We have been programmed, and I'm going to say brainwashed 250 00:20:18.440 --> 00:20:22.839 to thinking that we have to outsource absolutely every important area of our lives, 251 00:20:22.839 --> 00:20:26.920 whether it's the raising of our children, the education of our children, our 252 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:30.200 healthcare, et cetera. Do you have any thoughts on that. There's a 253 00:20:30.200 --> 00:20:34.000 lot of a press out there now because people are in leadership are saying you're 254 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:37.680 going to own nothing, and you're gonna like it right, They're going to 255 00:20:37.720 --> 00:20:41.200 be running everything, and they're trying to get us ready for this time of 256 00:20:41.400 --> 00:20:45.039 universal basic income. Well, if you look back in history, the very 257 00:20:45.119 --> 00:20:49.680 first opportunity in the United States for a universal basic any service was school. 258 00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:55.799 Public school was the beginning of the acceptance of universal basic income. And so 259 00:20:55.920 --> 00:21:00.319 between nineteen twenty and since, we now have things like food stamps and housing, 260 00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:04.680 and used to be the church took care of those things. Right now, 261 00:21:04.720 --> 00:21:08.240 about a third of your government dollars from the state, and I don't 262 00:21:08.279 --> 00:21:11.079 know what the percentage, but it's a huge chunk from the FEDS pay for 263 00:21:11.160 --> 00:21:18.240 your hospitals healthcare. So now we have universal basic healthcare. Slowly but surely, 264 00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:22.000 we are being trained just to think, Okay, the nanny state can 265 00:21:22.079 --> 00:21:26.559 cover my bills. And I was just this morning talking with the legislator, 266 00:21:26.680 --> 00:21:30.359 four time legislator in the state that has one of these really extensive school choice 267 00:21:30.359 --> 00:21:34.640 bills, and he said, but the people of the state voted for it, 268 00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:40.440 and so that's what they want to do. Then why should we not 269 00:21:40.680 --> 00:21:44.400 have vouchers? In the essays And I sit there and I just think, 270 00:21:44.680 --> 00:21:48.039 why would you vote to give somebody your money and get some of it back, 271 00:21:48.599 --> 00:21:53.119 or are you really doing what he's subscribed If you're voting to give people 272 00:21:53.119 --> 00:21:59.000 your tax dollars but you're getting more back than you actually paid. The one 273 00:21:59.160 --> 00:22:03.920 is foolish, the other is theft. And I just can't wrap my head 274 00:22:03.960 --> 00:22:10.759 around the logic of establishing bureaucracies to let you do which you're already going to 275 00:22:10.799 --> 00:22:14.960 do. Anyway, you may be looking for logic where it is neither understood, 276 00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:19.319 let alone desired. Having hard time answering him, because like, if 277 00:22:19.319 --> 00:22:22.680 the voters want to vote for idiot things, they can do it. You 278 00:22:22.680 --> 00:22:27.920 know. That was Ben Franklin's first warning after the Constitution was site is we 279 00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:33.240 gave your republic if you can keep it, and we're not keeping it. 280 00:22:33.400 --> 00:22:37.000 We are making bad decisions. And I think a lot of that has to 281 00:22:37.039 --> 00:22:40.920 do with and we talk a lot about that here. You know, we 282 00:22:41.000 --> 00:22:45.079 say life, liberty, property, But in the mind of the founders, 283 00:22:45.160 --> 00:22:52.200 that came with great responsibility and responsibility of educating ourselves, the responsibility of leaving 284 00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:59.480 a legacy of responsibility right in turn so that our children know. And you 285 00:22:59.480 --> 00:23:03.200 know, I'm as anyone of maybe indulging as a parent. You know, 286 00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:06.759 as a parent, you always want to give your kids things you didn't have, 287 00:23:07.119 --> 00:23:10.839 sure, but we also need to remember to give them the things that 288 00:23:10.880 --> 00:23:15.759 we did have. And when I was growing up, those things were tantamount 289 00:23:15.839 --> 00:23:18.880 to say, for a rainy day, don't spend more than you take in. 290 00:23:19.119 --> 00:23:22.960 And if something sounds too good to be true, it is. And 291 00:23:23.400 --> 00:23:27.559 I think that's just gone these days. It's yea, it is. Well, 292 00:23:27.599 --> 00:23:30.799 you know that the Austrian economists will say there's no such thing as a 293 00:23:30.839 --> 00:23:36.240 free lunch. Yet somehow legislators who actually say they believe that then go around 294 00:23:36.319 --> 00:23:40.039 voting for things to give for free to the citizens because they're not really free. 295 00:23:40.079 --> 00:23:42.240 It comes from somewhere. But I think something else to point out is 296 00:23:42.359 --> 00:23:47.720 like, this is a very positive declaration. It just has that beginning negative 297 00:23:47.759 --> 00:23:52.160 introduction because we had people signing it who are like or not something, who 298 00:23:52.160 --> 00:23:53.559 wanted to sign it and they said they could agree with this, and I 299 00:23:53.640 --> 00:23:59.519 knew them first that they personally were taking government school welfare. And I was 300 00:23:59.559 --> 00:24:02.799 like, no, not hearing what we're saying. So we opened it up 301 00:24:02.799 --> 00:24:07.119 with that introduction to be clear. But what's something I'd like to point out 302 00:24:07.200 --> 00:24:11.680 is that there really is a point of education that's not being talked about. 303 00:24:11.720 --> 00:24:15.000 Do you mind if we spend a minute on that? Absolutely, So, 304 00:24:15.400 --> 00:24:19.039 I think the point of education and what I believe both the documents from the 305 00:24:19.119 --> 00:24:23.799 declories of independence which affirmed who we are, as well as the declories of 306 00:24:23.880 --> 00:24:30.440 educational independence. I think they both affirm this one noble idea. I am 307 00:24:30.480 --> 00:24:37.160 a king. Therefore I can rule myself, which that enables me to do 308 00:24:37.279 --> 00:24:41.519 three things that have been proven in all histories, all civilizations, all cultures, 309 00:24:41.559 --> 00:24:48.240 to develop healthy civilizations. And these three things are to hold sacred the 310 00:24:48.279 --> 00:24:51.680 bond between a man and a woman, whether I like it or not, 311 00:24:51.960 --> 00:24:56.319 because I can govern myself, to cultivate the discipline of life long learning, 312 00:24:56.720 --> 00:25:03.359 I can make myself do hard things, and then to delay gratification as I 313 00:25:03.519 --> 00:25:07.640 use the talents I've developed in the family that I held sacred to help me 314 00:25:08.079 --> 00:25:14.920 serve other people around me. So these three things are hallmarks of civilizations. 315 00:25:14.960 --> 00:25:18.640 And that's what I think education should be doing. And I'm saying from a 316 00:25:18.680 --> 00:25:22.000 secular perspective, right it's a Christian I could add to this, but in 317 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:26.680 general, that we're holding the family is sacred. Were cultivating lifelong learners, 318 00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:30.160 and we're teaching people to serve one another. And you can't serve people they 319 00:25:30.160 --> 00:25:34.559 don't have some skill and talent, which of course integrates education. What do 320 00:25:34.559 --> 00:25:38.440 you think of those three ideas, have I hit on something absolutely? I 321 00:25:38.480 --> 00:25:42.480 mean and I love I wanted to wrap up. I love that you include 322 00:25:44.160 --> 00:25:52.559 fulfilling our own to your points, obligations and responsibilities because with liberty comes responsibility, 323 00:25:52.039 --> 00:25:56.160 right. I thought was a Dostoevsky that said, hey, if there 324 00:25:56.240 --> 00:25:59.119 is no God, everything's on the table. So you know, we can 325 00:25:59.160 --> 00:26:02.799 also go that route too. And I feel like we're all around the church 326 00:26:03.119 --> 00:26:07.519 home in school, right because as you talk about the body and serving one 327 00:26:07.559 --> 00:26:11.559 another. When I first heard of the term great reset, I thought, 328 00:26:11.680 --> 00:26:15.119 yeah, that they might be shocked to know that that needs to happen in 329 00:26:15.119 --> 00:26:19.319 the church first and foremost if we are even going to think about turning things 330 00:26:19.400 --> 00:26:26.039 around, because it's a mess as well, unfortunately. And then why is 331 00:26:26.079 --> 00:26:29.400 it such a mess, because, lily, but surely there's micro injuries. 332 00:26:29.440 --> 00:26:30.960 The government said, you don't need to give to the poor. We have 333 00:26:32.000 --> 00:26:34.359 a welfare program, you don't need to have sud kitchens, we'll give them 334 00:26:34.359 --> 00:26:38.559 food stamps, you don't need to and there's things you know, let makes 335 00:26:38.599 --> 00:26:41.799 it ly? What do you care how the poor people get that their resources? 336 00:26:41.839 --> 00:26:45.960 And I would say it matters greatly. I want myself to feel their 337 00:26:47.000 --> 00:26:49.440 pain, and there's to be sympathetic and empathetic and I want to meet them. 338 00:26:49.519 --> 00:26:52.000 And it's made the system has made it so that I don't have to 339 00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:57.400 know any poor people, and they don't get the self confidence right or the 340 00:26:57.480 --> 00:27:03.279 empowerment to know that they can right. I know the Bible says the poor 341 00:27:03.319 --> 00:27:07.680 will always be among us, but there is a truism and an empowerment too. 342 00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:11.000 Yes, I need help, I need a leg up, but I 343 00:27:11.039 --> 00:27:15.279 can do this in return. I taught an eighth grade class a few years 344 00:27:15.319 --> 00:27:21.799 ago that was really transformed. I gave them a project were we measured each 345 00:27:21.799 --> 00:27:25.720 week where they were in the project. They had not encountered anything like it 346 00:27:25.799 --> 00:27:30.359 before. They had a little bit of an inferiority complex as a grade and 347 00:27:30.559 --> 00:27:33.640 that I just wasn't having any of it. Right, Hey, you're capable, 348 00:27:33.720 --> 00:27:37.240 You're able, and I'm here to help. And at the end of 349 00:27:37.279 --> 00:27:42.319 that year, the transformation was absolutely astounding. Now I had gone into that 350 00:27:42.480 --> 00:27:48.640 school not for that eighth grade class, but to install a Latin program in 351 00:27:48.680 --> 00:27:53.079 both their grade school and their high school. But when this fell kind of 352 00:27:53.160 --> 00:27:56.319 well, it fell into my lap. But in hindsight, I tell everybody 353 00:27:56.680 --> 00:28:00.079 I thought I was there to do Latin and put me there for this eighth 354 00:28:00.119 --> 00:28:06.119 grade class. It was that stark, but it is the empowerment of I 355 00:28:06.200 --> 00:28:11.759 thought I was worthless and useless, and I'm not. I can do these 356 00:28:11.799 --> 00:28:14.720 things. I may not do them as well as someone else, or I 357 00:28:14.759 --> 00:28:17.680 may not be as good as someone else, but I can. There are 358 00:28:17.720 --> 00:28:22.559 still things within my control and resources to do and that's huge. Yeah. 359 00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:26.319 And so basically, I feel like our conservative legislators who are voting for these 360 00:28:26.319 --> 00:28:32.519 schemes are saying you can't do it. We know you can't, so let 361 00:28:32.599 --> 00:28:36.799 us help you, instead of saying we know you can do it. There's 362 00:28:36.839 --> 00:28:41.920 so many resources out there, Go support them and they'll support you. Ephesians 363 00:28:41.960 --> 00:28:44.400 for a twenty eight, I want to read that anyone who has been stealing 364 00:28:44.519 --> 00:28:48.279 must no longer steal, but must work doing something useful with their own hands 365 00:28:48.359 --> 00:28:53.400 so they may have something to share with those in need. That's what I'm 366 00:28:53.400 --> 00:28:56.400 say. Still be teaching, and that's what you taught those eighth graders, 367 00:28:56.920 --> 00:29:03.960 not the other way around. Pretty powerful. Thank you for that last question 368 00:29:03.000 --> 00:29:11.880 here, Lee, if you were advising the presidential candidates on their philosophy or 369 00:29:11.440 --> 00:29:17.640 delivery of their philosophy, or on education in general. What would you be 370 00:29:17.680 --> 00:29:22.440 saying to them to look around before they made any decisions or had opinions. 371 00:29:22.000 --> 00:29:27.680 The private education movement is so underground because it's only about ten percent of the 372 00:29:27.759 --> 00:29:33.759 population right now, find out more about that, find out those successes, 373 00:29:33.079 --> 00:29:37.519 because then when you hear things about government student loan forgiveness as college like, 374 00:29:37.640 --> 00:29:42.359 isn't this funny? Everybody's against all these things now that are conservatives in student 375 00:29:42.480 --> 00:29:48.839 loans and money with colleges. They're not against them for K twelve right, 376 00:29:48.920 --> 00:29:52.720 that's just a side note. But find out the opportunities that are out there, 377 00:29:52.920 --> 00:29:56.759 the scholarship organizations that are rising, the moms and pops where you know 378 00:29:56.880 --> 00:30:02.440 they're educating children for two three thousand dollars a year and bringing twenty of them 379 00:30:02.480 --> 00:30:07.200 together up from their cult to sack or from their church. That is affordable 380 00:30:07.240 --> 00:30:08.920 to anybody, I don't care how poor you are. A couple of thousand 381 00:30:08.920 --> 00:30:12.079 dollars a year per a child in this country and guess what it is not 382 00:30:12.200 --> 00:30:17.839 affordable. Ask your church how about this? Attend a church or a synagogue, 383 00:30:17.920 --> 00:30:21.839 but be part of a mutual aid society who will help you when you 384 00:30:21.880 --> 00:30:26.200 actually can't afford something. Welfare just makes it so that we don't know who 385 00:30:26.240 --> 00:30:32.440 to say thankful too, and it teaches us to be to have no gratitude, 386 00:30:33.079 --> 00:30:40.200 ungrateful yes, and dependent upon the leviathan that often doesn't have our best 387 00:30:40.240 --> 00:30:44.200 interests at heart. Clearly I agree, and I'm glad that you mentioned the 388 00:30:44.200 --> 00:30:48.039 different micro schools. Cul de Sac schools, homeschools. Look, they are 389 00:30:48.079 --> 00:30:52.920 the future. I often say that homeschooling, in my opinion, is the 390 00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:59.400 last bastion of innovation in education. But I should probably add on to that 391 00:31:00.559 --> 00:31:07.839 the innovative nature of these schools will, by extension produce innovation, right. 392 00:31:07.880 --> 00:31:11.799 I mean, you look around and you're starting to see the gray communists looking 393 00:31:11.839 --> 00:31:15.799 like buildings where they're all the same. Soon all the cars will be the 394 00:31:15.880 --> 00:31:19.440 same. The competency rate lee, I mean, goodness, gracious. The 395 00:31:19.519 --> 00:31:26.279 competency, I should say incompetency that I experience on a daily basis is just 396 00:31:26.400 --> 00:31:32.920 and I'm not saying that necessarily pejoratively, but it's just so stark that no 397 00:31:32.960 --> 00:31:37.359 one has pride or the dignity of their workmanship and it's just it's frustrating, 398 00:31:37.839 --> 00:31:44.079 and I can't help but think that being innovative in our educational approach will in 399 00:31:44.160 --> 00:31:48.640 turn yield innovation. I mean, we should always have the attitude that no 400 00:31:48.799 --> 00:31:52.640 human being should ever be excluded from the endeavors of others. They should be 401 00:31:52.680 --> 00:31:55.839 able to be equipped to do whatever they need. I think Lewis was one 402 00:31:55.880 --> 00:32:00.079 that said that we want to raise plumbers to read Milton. That has been 403 00:32:00.160 --> 00:32:05.440 lost. It's been drummed out of us by factory education. One model fits 404 00:32:05.480 --> 00:32:09.559 all, and we're about to see a really hopeful, wonderful explosion of innovation. 405 00:32:10.240 --> 00:32:15.839 But government intervention, like it doesn't everything else, slow that down. 406 00:32:15.160 --> 00:32:20.519 We still will innovate. You're just making it harder for us. I do 407 00:32:20.599 --> 00:32:23.119 have one more question. You will often hear, I know I've heard this 408 00:32:23.200 --> 00:32:30.680 throughout my tenure in politics regarding education policy. Well what about this demographic or 409 00:32:30.759 --> 00:32:37.160 that demographic? And usually it's tantamount to maybe a very few, it's not 410 00:32:37.519 --> 00:32:44.200 a large percentage of whatever demographic we're talking about at the time. But you 411 00:32:44.200 --> 00:32:46.880 know what, when I speak about homeschooling, Well, what about the single 412 00:32:46.960 --> 00:32:50.200 mom? Well what about this? Okay, Well, we can have a 413 00:32:50.240 --> 00:32:54.359 conversation about that. That's different. But we can certainly have that conversation about 414 00:32:54.400 --> 00:32:59.559 what we can do for her. But in the meantime, let's fix this 415 00:32:59.599 --> 00:33:04.079 over here. So I feel like a lot of our politicians use that minority, 416 00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:07.920 or that very small percentage of people, to, in my opinion, 417 00:33:08.000 --> 00:33:14.240 be lazy and not have to consider the other options and not have to consider 418 00:33:14.440 --> 00:33:19.599 liberties position in education. Yeah, you know, it's always bad to make 419 00:33:19.640 --> 00:33:23.119 policy on exceptions, and that's what they're clamoring to do. The other thing 420 00:33:23.160 --> 00:33:27.920 is they don't say in the same conversation. They might say it differently and 421 00:33:27.960 --> 00:33:30.880 not connect it. But what could we do to help make sure that the 422 00:33:31.119 --> 00:33:37.319 bond between men and woman is so strong and so supported that there's fewer single 423 00:33:37.400 --> 00:33:42.079 moms like there used to be. We've lived through decades, even centuries of 424 00:33:42.279 --> 00:33:45.680 whole, healthy families. They're like, but that's not what they are now. 425 00:33:45.839 --> 00:33:50.119 Well, let's not make it harder for them to become whole and healthy. 426 00:33:50.480 --> 00:33:53.079 Let's back up to what the root problems are and stop putting the band 427 00:33:53.079 --> 00:33:58.680 aids on. Meanwhile, they have extended family, like said church neighbors to 428 00:33:58.680 --> 00:34:02.559 help them get through until the really hard things have a chance to heal. 429 00:34:02.880 --> 00:34:07.720 We're not going to fix those hard things if we keep going after the symptoms 430 00:34:07.799 --> 00:34:10.840 and not the cause of the disease. That's a great point that reminds me 431 00:34:10.880 --> 00:34:15.480 of a conversation I had with an author who was talking about when he reread 432 00:34:15.599 --> 00:34:21.679 his work there were a lot of passive verbs in there, and so we 433 00:34:21.679 --> 00:34:25.159 were talking active passive verbs, and he said, but you know, everyone 434 00:34:25.239 --> 00:34:31.199 tells you to write to a fifth or sixth grade level audience. And I 435 00:34:31.239 --> 00:34:36.320 said, what would be wrong with at least every now and then putting a 436 00:34:36.360 --> 00:34:40.039 big word in there and making them look it up. How about, you 437 00:34:40.079 --> 00:34:44.159 know, we use that forum. You're a well known author and you write 438 00:34:44.199 --> 00:34:47.480 extremely well and great stories. How about we lift the level up a little 439 00:34:47.480 --> 00:34:52.519 bit and try to fix it in addition to you know, having a forum 440 00:34:52.519 --> 00:34:54.239 out there. Yeah, it's just really hard to see. You know, 441 00:34:54.400 --> 00:34:59.199 we're not very good at being an analogous or looking at first principles anymore. 442 00:34:59.320 --> 00:35:04.679 We're really really good at immediate gratification and doing what I want to do. 443 00:35:04.599 --> 00:35:07.440 Do you see that how bad manners makes it so that then civilization falls apart. 444 00:35:07.519 --> 00:35:10.840 So you're old enough I'm sure to remember when we crossed over from everyone 445 00:35:10.960 --> 00:35:15.960 RSVP to no longer rsvping because they're waiting to see if something better comes along. 446 00:35:16.159 --> 00:35:20.320 Yes, and now we wonder why thirty nine of twenty year olds are 447 00:35:20.360 --> 00:35:23.960 waiting to choose their sex because they're wondering if something better comes along. Right, 448 00:35:24.039 --> 00:35:30.000 it's all related. And norms and nobility, manners and virtues are what 449 00:35:30.199 --> 00:35:35.760 education was supposed to inculcate. And now they inculcate really good careers. Yes, 450 00:35:35.920 --> 00:35:37.599 if you can forecast them that, you know. That always amazed me. 451 00:35:37.960 --> 00:35:43.599 In Ohio, our supermajority just allowed passage of a bill that creates and 452 00:35:43.800 --> 00:35:49.559 educations are I know? And boy, that was frustrating. And it's a 453 00:35:49.639 --> 00:35:53.880 new title, so it's education and workforce so they finally got that in there. 454 00:35:54.440 --> 00:36:00.920 And that is just so offensive to me as a mother that the Republican 455 00:36:01.039 --> 00:36:06.639 supermajority in Ohio thought that this was a good idea. Number one. Number 456 00:36:06.679 --> 00:36:12.840 two think that they know better than me as a parent, and that they 457 00:36:12.920 --> 00:36:16.239 know what a career is going to look like or the skills required in the 458 00:36:16.280 --> 00:36:20.519 next thirty years. They don't. They don't. Yeah, they're discussing, 459 00:36:20.679 --> 00:36:22.880 well, with all the changes, it's going to change even more rapidly than 460 00:36:22.920 --> 00:36:27.519 they realize. So I was doing some research this past week, and I'm 461 00:36:27.519 --> 00:36:30.800 wondering why anybody would ever want to be governor because about a third of their 462 00:36:30.840 --> 00:36:35.920 funding goes to hospitals. Of the state's funding, about a third of it 463 00:36:35.960 --> 00:36:39.480 goes to public schools, about a third of it comes from the federal government 464 00:36:39.519 --> 00:36:45.760 for specified grants, and then about six percent of it goes to what a 465 00:36:45.760 --> 00:36:50.400 governor is supposed to do. So basically, when someone's running for governor, 466 00:36:50.440 --> 00:36:54.400 they're running a ceo of schools and hospitals. We don't think of it that 467 00:36:54.440 --> 00:37:01.719 way right in my Opinionly, the governor is there to protect my life, 468 00:37:01.760 --> 00:37:07.119 my liberty, and my property and that's it. Anything else, especially no 469 00:37:07.199 --> 00:37:10.320 taxpay or funded, but you know, anything else as a perk, Like 470 00:37:10.440 --> 00:37:14.880 you might have a good personality and you don't annoy me today, but other 471 00:37:14.920 --> 00:37:16.920 than that, that's it. Those three things. That's your job. And 472 00:37:16.960 --> 00:37:23.800 the state legislatures, instead of being Gannedolf on the bridge saying to the federal 473 00:37:23.840 --> 00:37:29.159 ball rog you're not going to pass, they've now joined the federal ball rog 474 00:37:29.840 --> 00:37:32.000 because they can't do without the money or they don't want to do without the 475 00:37:32.039 --> 00:37:37.159 money. So that's all part of the mix as well. But to your 476 00:37:37.199 --> 00:37:39.639 point, and to the point I think of this declaration, it has to 477 00:37:39.679 --> 00:37:45.159 be us that we have to move the culture we have to move. And 478 00:37:45.199 --> 00:37:51.159 I tell folks often regarding secession. People ask me often about secession, and 479 00:37:51.199 --> 00:37:57.960 I say, personally, secede from everything that you possibly can, whether that's 480 00:37:58.239 --> 00:38:05.480 the public education, whether that's healthcare in whatever way, whether that's not putting 481 00:38:05.599 --> 00:38:08.079 you know. And I realize certain circumstances are hard, but we can do 482 00:38:08.159 --> 00:38:15.679 hard things and we can go through adversity. Just like empowering young people, 483 00:38:15.320 --> 00:38:20.039 we can be empowered regardless of our age. That's what keeps us young. 484 00:38:20.960 --> 00:38:25.159 That continuous curiosity and learning. Hey, I went through this with my mom 485 00:38:25.280 --> 00:38:30.039 or dad or whatever in my youth or in their senior moments or their their 486 00:38:30.320 --> 00:38:38.119 seasoned age, and there's something very empowering about taking that on and not just 487 00:38:38.519 --> 00:38:45.400 farming out that responsibility and huge difference between getting help and looking at somebody saying 488 00:38:45.480 --> 00:38:50.880 will you help me? Yes, that is a great distinction. Yes, 489 00:38:51.760 --> 00:38:55.039 So that's what you're talking about, is because we've all had problems. Yes, 490 00:38:55.679 --> 00:39:00.079 but it's expectation that someone should do some thing about this. Well, 491 00:39:00.320 --> 00:39:04.280 maybe look in the mirror and then look at the family God gave you, 492 00:39:04.400 --> 00:39:06.880 and then look at the street you live on and see if you can start 493 00:39:06.960 --> 00:39:10.480 there, and maybe you'll succeed by serving one of them, and you'll find 494 00:39:10.480 --> 00:39:14.960 out you didn't even have the problem though you did. Amen. Amen. 495 00:39:15.079 --> 00:39:17.960 I think some of the greatest encroachments have been under the guise of anybody do 496 00:39:19.000 --> 00:39:23.559 anything about this, especially legislatively. Okay, Lee, I want to thank 497 00:39:23.599 --> 00:39:29.159 you so much for being here. It's always a pleasure come back any time 498 00:39:29.760 --> 00:39:32.360 about any topic. And we could just ruffle feathers all day. Yeah, 499 00:39:32.480 --> 00:39:37.039 let's let's do that. Yeah, because we know when we get off that 500 00:39:37.079 --> 00:39:38.679 we are the ones who are actually are going to go take care of our 501 00:39:38.719 --> 00:39:43.960 families and then find someone at church or nearby that we can serve and help, 502 00:39:44.280 --> 00:39:46.840 because servant's heart is what we should all be in cult kating. So 503 00:39:47.320 --> 00:39:53.360 I appreciate yours to you absolutely. You two take care and God bless Okay 504 00:39:53.480 --> 00:39:58.000 Lee Borton's everyone, and good Lord. Can I just say this, Joe, 505 00:39:58.920 --> 00:40:00.679 if there were more women out there like her, there would be a 506 00:40:00.719 --> 00:40:07.360 lot less misogyny in the world, including from myself. But I digress. 507 00:40:07.519 --> 00:40:15.840 Okay. You can find the Declaration of Educational Independence online at Educational Independence dot 508 00:40:15.920 --> 00:40:22.840 net. That's Educational Independence dot net. Please please consider going to the website, 509 00:40:23.639 --> 00:40:30.280 reading the declaration and signing in support of this very, very crucial mission 510 00:40:30.840 --> 00:40:36.599 that they've got going on over there, And please pass this on to as 511 00:40:36.639 --> 00:40:43.039 many of your friends and family members as possible so that they understand how they 512 00:40:43.119 --> 00:40:50.840 may or may not be inadvertently contributing to the issues that we face. Okay, 513 00:40:50.880 --> 00:40:52.239 that's all we have for today. I want to thank you so much 514 00:40:52.280 --> 00:40:57.280 for listening. If you like this program, please share with your family and 515 00:40:57.320 --> 00:41:02.159 friends. And until next time, everyone who will stand at either hand and 516 00:41:02.320 --> 00:41:05.440 keep the bridge with me, have a great day.