1 00:00:17,239 --> 00:00:21,399 We're back with another edition of The Federalist Radio Hour. I'm Emily Joshenski, 2 00:00:21,519 --> 00:00:25,359 culture editor here at the Federalist. As always, you can email the show 3 00:00:25,399 --> 00:00:29,960 at radio at the Federalist dot com, follow us on exit fdr LST. 4 00:00:30,399 --> 00:00:35,759 Make sure to subscribe wherever you download your podcasts into the premium version of our 5 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:40,200 website as well. We're honored today to be joined by doctor ben Carson. 6 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:43,840 He is the founder and the chairman of the American Cornerstone Institute and the author 7 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:47,920 of the new book, The Perilist Fight, Overcoming Our Culture's War on the 8 00:00:47,960 --> 00:00:52,159 American Family. Doctor Carson, thank you for joining us, Thanks for having 9 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:55,880 me absolutely. Could you talk to us just a little bit about what inspired 10 00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:59,640 this book. Again, it's called The perilst Fight, Overcoming Our Culture's War 11 00:00:59,719 --> 00:01:03,079 on the American Family. Why did you feel the need to write this book 12 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:07,920 at this time? Well, you know, our country was formed in the 13 00:01:07,959 --> 00:01:12,400 crucible of conflict and war, and we had to fight for our freedom. 14 00:01:14,319 --> 00:01:21,200 And it was interesting eight and seventeen eighty seven at the last Constitutional Convention, 15 00:01:22,319 --> 00:01:29,760 Rucus ruckus fight. That's disagreement, but the good guys prevailed and after the 16 00:01:29,879 --> 00:01:33,840 words Benjamin Franklin came out of the building. He was asked by a woman, 17 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:37,560 Sir, what do we have here, a monarchy or a republic? 18 00:01:38,319 --> 00:01:42,840 And he said, a republic if you can keep it. And we've kept 19 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:45,920 it for two hundred and forty years, but we're as close to losing it 20 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:49,920 now as we ever have been, and we're in another perilous fight, just 21 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:55,920 like we were then when we had a bunch of rag tag militiamen who defeated 22 00:01:56,120 --> 00:02:02,400 what seemed to be an insurmountable army of the British Empire. But it happened 23 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:07,800 because we understood who our enemy was and we were determined to defeat it. 24 00:02:08,599 --> 00:02:14,319 We're in a situation now where we have people who are trying to fundamentally change 25 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:22,199 this country by dividing us and attacking the fundamental blocks of our foundation, which 26 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:27,879 are our families and our faith. And as we allow those things to be 27 00:02:28,039 --> 00:02:32,560 dissolved, we're moving downward just as quickly as we moved upward when we grasps 28 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:38,960 the right principles. So that's why I felt a need to make people aware 29 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:45,240 of what was going on, because a lot of people just say, oh, 30 00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:49,759 we're hopelessly gone. We can't do anything about it. It's the end 31 00:02:49,759 --> 00:02:53,639 of our era. But it's not. It's only if we don't learn and 32 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:59,879 understand what's going on. Do you remember when you first when it really struck 33 00:02:59,879 --> 00:03:02,000 you. Maybe there's a particular moment, or maybe it happened gradually over the 34 00:03:02,039 --> 00:03:06,960 time, but over time, But was there a moment when you really realized 35 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:12,560 how dire the situation was in the US, and how dire the situation was 36 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:15,719 in American culture? That what we you know, some people's cases, what 37 00:03:15,759 --> 00:03:19,280 they felt like they grew up with the country that they grew up in, 38 00:03:19,439 --> 00:03:22,639 they didn't recognize. Was there a moment like that for you, doctor Carson? 39 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:28,759 Well, really kind of started back in the late nineties when we started 40 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:36,759 having the political correctness movement, and I realized at that time that if that 41 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:40,960 wasn't stifled, that it would grow at mushroom. And that's exactly what it 42 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:46,919 has done. It's mushroom now to the woke movement, and we've reached the 43 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:53,120 point now where we have those who have power trying to impose their views on 44 00:03:53,199 --> 00:03:57,719 everyone else. And interestingly enough, if you look back at the beginnings of 45 00:03:57,759 --> 00:04:03,360 our country, our founders studied every governmental system that ever existed. They were 46 00:04:03,439 --> 00:04:08,840 eclecticists. They took the good stuff and left the bad stuff out. But 47 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:13,719 one of the things that they discovered is that all government systems tend to move 48 00:04:13,719 --> 00:04:18,680 in the same direction, growing, infiltrating and dominating. They wanted us to 49 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:23,879 be different, and that's why they've worked so hard on our constitution. But 50 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:30,240 you can see already that that dominating is starting to infiltrate our system. You 51 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:35,759 saw it a lot with COVID mandatory, this mandatory that it turned out all 52 00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:43,360 to be based on falsehoods. And even now you see a government saying you 53 00:04:43,439 --> 00:04:48,120 have to drive this kind of vehicle rather than allowing the market forced us to 54 00:04:48,199 --> 00:04:51,600 determine what kind of vehicle you're going to drive. You know, it's the 55 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:59,319 environment that we created that allowed innovation and entrepreneurship that drove us to the pinnacle 56 00:04:59,399 --> 00:05:03,600 of the world. And if we start mandating things and having the government decide 57 00:05:03,759 --> 00:05:09,639 what is right and what is wrong, you will basically snuff out that kind 58 00:05:09,639 --> 00:05:15,360 of innovation and creativity. And government mandates are so often crony capitalism, and 59 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:19,199 a lot of people saw the influence of that over the course of COVID. 60 00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:21,839 If they looked at, you know, for example, Farmer's relationship with the 61 00:05:21,959 --> 00:05:27,079 FDA, and even conservatives who typically were uncomfortable with some of these topics that 62 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:30,920 criticize you know, business leaders that they generally trusted over the government, had 63 00:05:30,959 --> 00:05:35,319 their eyes opened up to how much crony capitalism really did dictate policy and how 64 00:05:35,399 --> 00:05:39,759 much of it dictated culture. Do you share that view, doctor Carson, 65 00:05:39,759 --> 00:05:46,160 that some in to some extent, there's really been a as youram Hazoni has 66 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:50,360 said, a privatization of virtue that hasn't always gone well in the last couple 67 00:05:50,439 --> 00:05:54,199 of decades, as we kind of as we've kind of lost some of these 68 00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:58,199 shared touchstones, points of consensus, you know, about what is a man, 69 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:01,319 what does a woman? What is you know, family? What should 70 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:05,279 it look like? It seems like we've lost our way and some people that 71 00:06:05,319 --> 00:06:10,639 conservatives pro previously trusted in the business sector, you know, for example, 72 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:14,519 have gone in the other direction on what they call trans rites or anything like 73 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:17,639 that. How should conservatives look at a big business right now, doctor Carson? 74 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:20,399 Is they feel that we're in a culture war? Well, I'm not 75 00:06:20,439 --> 00:06:27,160 sure if it's so much that people don't understand what's going on as it is, 76 00:06:27,199 --> 00:06:30,160 that they lacked the courage to stand up against it. You know, 77 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:34,879 when I was running for president, I traveled to off fifty states, the 78 00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:40,759 smallest little hamlets to the biggest cities, and what I discovered is most of 79 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:45,000 the people actually had common sense and had a sense of what was right and 80 00:06:45,079 --> 00:06:49,279 wrong. Well, what I also discovered is that most people would rather stand 81 00:06:49,319 --> 00:06:54,560 in the corner and stare at their shoes than to speak up and potentially be 82 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:59,240 called a nasty name or be canceled. And that's the real problem. You 83 00:06:59,279 --> 00:07:00,480 know, you can't be the land of the free if you're not the home 84 00:07:00,519 --> 00:07:05,959 of the brave. And unless people realize that we're actually in a fight, 85 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:13,079 they're certainly not going to join that fight. And we're told what not to 86 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:17,759 talk about from the time you're a child, said don't talk about politics and 87 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:23,399 don't talk about religion. But those are the very areas that are being heavily 88 00:07:24,279 --> 00:07:28,399 attacked, and they want to work in the darkness. They don't want you 89 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:30,480 to know what they're doing, so they say, don't talk about this. 90 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:39,560 It's sort of like with election integrity. Don't even mention the election integrity. 91 00:07:40,199 --> 00:07:43,240 It's like if you stole the cookie or the cookie jar. You don't want 92 00:07:43,279 --> 00:07:45,800 to talk about the cookie, dear. You can't talk about the cookie jar. 93 00:07:45,839 --> 00:07:48,000 You can talk about anything else if you didn't sell them. You don't 94 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:53,000 care talk about cookie jar. You want This is the situation that we're in 95 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:59,279 right now. Yeah. Absolutely, And actually on that point, I was 96 00:07:59,279 --> 00:08:03,000 curious to ask ask you about your experience just with the so called mainstream media, 97 00:08:03,079 --> 00:08:07,800 really the corporate media as we like to call them at the Federalist. 98 00:08:07,079 --> 00:08:11,040 Over the course of your time in the Trump administration, after time the Trump 99 00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:16,720 administration as a presidential candidate, you've seen up close better than most people the 100 00:08:16,839 --> 00:08:22,480 deception and the corruption of the press in America. And so, from your 101 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:26,160 perspective of your vantage point, what role does the American media play in fomenting 102 00:08:26,199 --> 00:08:30,759 this culture war and in pushing us further and further from as you write about 103 00:08:30,759 --> 00:08:33,320 these sort of values that the country was founded on. Well, you know, 104 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:39,639 the only business protected by the Constitution is the press. And why is 105 00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:45,480 that? It's because they were supposed to present to the people unbiased information about 106 00:08:45,519 --> 00:08:50,360 whatever what was going on, so that the people could decide what their will 107 00:08:50,519 --> 00:08:52,440 was. Because the country was supposed to be run on the will of the 108 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:56,720 people and what was good for the people and with the people first. But 109 00:08:56,799 --> 00:09:03,480 the press has decided to put its thumb on the scale instead of being objective, 110 00:09:03,279 --> 00:09:11,600 and that's caused enormous damage. And they don't seem to even understand what 111 00:09:11,679 --> 00:09:18,399 they're doing, because what is the first thing that Marxist governments do completely control 112 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:24,000 the press. They don't realize they're digging their own grade, and they're sort 113 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:31,200 of what Vladimir Lenin referred to as useful idiots. And I'm just hopeful that 114 00:09:31,279 --> 00:09:35,679 at some point some of the younger journalists will come to their senses and recognize 115 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:43,840 that they've been giving a tremendous responsibility and the press, and they should use 116 00:09:43,879 --> 00:09:50,039 it in an effective way for the people, not against the people. And 117 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:54,279 the New York Times just this week was freaking out about Schedule F, which 118 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:58,759 is one of the many policy proposals that the conservative movement has put together, 119 00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:03,600 targeting Schedule F. And you were overseeing a lot of people that potentially would 120 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:07,879 be affected by a proposal like that in the Trump administration. But at the 121 00:10:07,919 --> 00:10:11,080 same time, you know, as you write in this book, this is 122 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:15,200 a culture war, and you know these are dire times, desperate times, 123 00:10:15,399 --> 00:10:22,240 and what do you think about conservative policies that might target the vast federal bureaucracy. 124 00:10:22,279 --> 00:10:28,639 Are those essential to conservatives winning the culture war? Do things like schedule 125 00:10:28,679 --> 00:10:31,559 F really have to happen in order to win that battle? Well, we 126 00:10:31,639 --> 00:10:39,240 need to recognize that the government is very bloated and very centralized. It's problematic. 127 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:43,360 I think that all the federal agencies reside in Washington, d C. 128 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:52,600 And there's a certain political persuasion that exists in the Washington area. Son of 129 00:10:52,799 --> 00:11:00,480 federal employees and of the executive branch employees are people with a washing and DC 130 00:11:00,679 --> 00:11:07,279 type mentality. That's wrong, and it's very difficult to remove people who aren't 131 00:11:07,279 --> 00:11:13,200 doing an effective job for the people. I can tell you that from what 132 00:11:13,240 --> 00:11:18,759 I've seen, And we need to be thinking about the government. The president 133 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:24,519 actually does have the ability to remove large swaths of people. Can't necessarily pick 134 00:11:24,559 --> 00:11:30,879 on an individual, but you can remove large groups of people, and we 135 00:11:30,919 --> 00:11:35,080 ought to be thinking about how to do that effectively and shift people around and 136 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:41,360 maybe move some of the federal agencies to other parts of the country so that 137 00:11:41,519 --> 00:11:46,919 it's more reflective of the entire country rather than just a particular ideology. And 138 00:11:48,360 --> 00:11:52,440 that's actually such an interesting point because I also wanted to ask about how much 139 00:11:52,519 --> 00:11:56,559 policy because so much of what you write about in this book face family. 140 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:03,919 These are things that can arratives have often looked at us outside the realm of 141 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:07,600 the policy sphere. These are things that are come from parents, come from 142 00:12:07,679 --> 00:12:11,279 grandparents, come from your church, and all of that. And there's some 143 00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:15,440 conservatives who are very interested in, for example, what vicor Orbon has done 144 00:12:15,480 --> 00:12:18,200 in Hungry and encouraging people to have children, encouraging people to have families. 145 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:22,399 There's talk of a child tax credit, there's child tax credit in the Trump 146 00:12:22,879 --> 00:12:28,200 tax bill. But what role does policy play? Is there a serious, 147 00:12:28,399 --> 00:12:35,200 robust role for conservative policy in sort of we're scoring American culture. If so, 148 00:12:35,360 --> 00:12:37,879 what things could be looked at, Well, we certainly don't want to 149 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:43,480 legislate morality. But you look at some of the policies that exist currently, 150 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:50,399 such as if you're getting a house the housing subsidy and you get a raise, 151 00:12:50,519 --> 00:12:52,360 you have to report that so that your rent can go up. Well, 152 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:56,840 that's not a whole lot of incentive to climb the ladder. Or if 153 00:12:56,840 --> 00:13:00,919 you bring someone else into your house hold with an income, you have to 154 00:13:00,919 --> 00:13:05,840 report that so your rent can go up. These are things that are deleterious 155 00:13:05,879 --> 00:13:09,960 when it comes to family formation, and we can certainly get rid of those 156 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:16,320 things and do things that encourage family formation. You know, you look at 157 00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:22,399 the statistics and even you know, Brookings institutions, some of the more liberal 158 00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:28,559 leaning places will readily admit that the data shows that if you have traditional family 159 00:13:28,639 --> 00:13:35,080 mother, father, and children, the outcome for the children is considerably better 160 00:13:35,679 --> 00:13:41,039 than with some of these alternative forms. But there's a big push now for 161 00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:48,080 the alternative forms. Hollywood in particular, ridicules the traditional family and you know, 162 00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:54,200 holds up alternative lifestyles and sexuality as the thing that you should be desirous 163 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:58,879 of and if you can become a victim, wow, you hit the gold 164 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:03,639 nugget. So you know, this is just something. It's a real cultural 165 00:14:03,799 --> 00:14:09,399 or something that we have to understand. Something you have to realize that we 166 00:14:09,519 --> 00:14:13,840 have to participate in it. We can't be observers because you cannot be the 167 00:14:13,919 --> 00:14:16,960 land of the free if you're not the home of the brave, and you 168 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:18,720 can't be afraid of what people are going to do to you. You have 169 00:14:18,759 --> 00:14:22,840 to get out there and fight. They will do bad things. So if 170 00:14:22,879 --> 00:14:28,320 you just sit there and let them, I'm wondering if you've been surprised to 171 00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:31,480 see some of the polling. I personally have been shocked to see some of 172 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:35,960 the polling of black voters, in particular moving away from Biden, but not 173 00:14:35,039 --> 00:14:39,320 just moving away from Biden, also then moving towards Donald Trump. Donald Trump's 174 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:46,080 numbers among Black Americans are higher than just about any Republican in recent memory, 175 00:14:46,279 --> 00:14:50,720 Republican presidential candidate in recent memory. Have you been surprised with that, doctor 176 00:14:50,759 --> 00:14:54,840 Carson, And to what do you attribute it? If you've seen those numbers 177 00:14:54,840 --> 00:15:00,000 and think they really reflect shifting sentiments among black voters. I've not been particular 178 00:15:00,159 --> 00:15:03,559 surprised, because you know, when I was a secretary, there were a 179 00:15:03,679 --> 00:15:11,919 number of celebrations I would call them at the White House where we had hundreds 180 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:16,919 of black, particularly young black people, and they were just over the top 181 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:22,159 enthusiastic about Donald Trump. So of course you didn't hear about that on CNN. 182 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:26,440 You didn't hear about that in the MSNBC. They would never have put 183 00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:30,559 anything like that on television. But you know, black people are just like 184 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:33,080 everybody else. They have eyes and ears and a brain, and they can 185 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:37,879 see that when Trump was there, they were much better off. Their wages 186 00:15:37,919 --> 00:15:43,399 were higher, there was less unemployment. You know, efforts were made to 187 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:52,159 bring into line the sentences for various types of infractions so that it was not 188 00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:58,120 unfair to one group and fair to another group. HBC used didn't have to 189 00:15:58,120 --> 00:16:07,279 come begging every year. Opportunity zones encourage the flow of capital and too dilapidated 190 00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:12,000 areas, And it wasn't just federal money, it was private money. And 191 00:16:12,039 --> 00:16:15,360 people saw that they were just much better off. They had money to buy 192 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:22,559 food, buy gas for their cars. And also, the thing about Trump 193 00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:26,159 that's appealing is you don't have to wonder what he's thinking. You know, 194 00:16:26,639 --> 00:16:32,639 you know what he's thinking immediately, and you know he says what he feels. 195 00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:37,480 And people find that refreshing, particularly when you're a traditional politician. Yeah, 196 00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:41,240 I'm even creous about that because I would imagine, just based on experience 197 00:16:41,279 --> 00:16:45,320 in the workplace, that it makes life a lot easier in meetings, it 198 00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:52,320 makes life a lot easier in general when the president is direct like that exactly, 199 00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:57,360 And I hope it encourages other people to just start being straightforward. Also, 200 00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:03,519 they try to say that he's very divisive and hateful, but it's listening 201 00:17:03,559 --> 00:17:08,799 to Biden. That's where you see all the hate. You know, the 202 00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:12,599 mega this and the mega that needs a people that are come. You don't 203 00:17:12,599 --> 00:17:18,400 hear that coming out of Trump's Now. He talks about specific individuals who cause 204 00:17:18,519 --> 00:17:22,480 problems, but you know, he doesn't categorize the large groups of people that 205 00:17:22,559 --> 00:17:27,319 way. Are they? Is all the lawfair against Donald Trump? Would you 206 00:17:27,319 --> 00:17:32,000 consider that part of the broader culture war? Because when people think of culture 207 00:17:32,039 --> 00:17:34,880 war, you know, they think about things like protecting life from the pro 208 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:40,160 abortion side. They think about, you know, things like sex and gender 209 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:45,839 and marriage and family and faith. But this lawfair is it seems because maybe 210 00:17:45,839 --> 00:17:48,960 it's because we're so polarized right now, but against Donald Trump, it seems 211 00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:52,400 like it does come from a place of just cultural disdain for him. What 212 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:56,480 do you think about that, doctor Carson, Well, you know they know 213 00:17:56,960 --> 00:18:02,119 that Donald Trump has been there before. He knows where the dead bodies are, 214 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:07,839 and you know, he knows where the rottenness is, and he's going 215 00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:14,000 to do what he can do, not necessarily against individuals, but to create 216 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:21,640 a more trustworthy and sanitory environment than the government. So their very existence, 217 00:18:21,799 --> 00:18:26,240 the existence of the administrative state, is threatened by him. And also he 218 00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:33,400 just won't buy into all the traditional power grabbing issues that politicians have been into. 219 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:37,240 You know, most of them have come in made a lot of money. 220 00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:41,160 He, on the other hand, has lost a lot of mind. 221 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:44,759 He was already as famous as anybody can be, so he didn't need the 222 00:18:44,799 --> 00:18:49,079 thing. He actually wanted to do something for the United States. And I 223 00:18:49,119 --> 00:18:53,440 remember in an interview with Oprah about thirty years ago, she said, Donald, 224 00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:56,440 would you ever run for president? He said, I would have no 225 00:18:56,519 --> 00:19:02,319 desire to do anything like that. The country was going off a cliff, 226 00:19:02,920 --> 00:19:04,480 and it was going off a cliff. And if he hadn't won in twenty 227 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:10,440 sixteen and Hillary won, and she'd gotten three Supreme Court picks plus set of 228 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:17,759 federal judges pick, we've been gone already. Do you feel like Donald Trump 229 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:22,480 understands the severity of the culture War? I mean, somebody who was early 230 00:19:22,799 --> 00:19:29,400 to endorse gay marriage and gay rights, although now is definitely you know, 231 00:19:29,599 --> 00:19:33,559 Betsy de Voss's Education secretary, who took some really necessary steps when it came 232 00:19:33,599 --> 00:19:37,519 to Title nine. Are you confident that a second Trump term, and maybe 233 00:19:37,759 --> 00:19:41,279 you've spoken with him about some of the stuff, a second Trump term would 234 00:19:41,319 --> 00:19:45,839 truly carry the banner of the cause that you write about in this book, 235 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:49,400 Winning the Culture War. Yeah. Well, you know, he's more about 236 00:19:49,759 --> 00:19:53,960 allowing people to live the lives that they want to live and not have fair 237 00:19:55,039 --> 00:20:00,880 with you know, it's not so much that he's pro gay merrit as he 238 00:20:00,079 --> 00:20:06,880 is let people do what they want to do, and I'm not going to 239 00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:12,839 interfere as a government official. And I think that's a very reasonable type of 240 00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:22,799 position to take. You. I find my basis for my opposition to gay 241 00:20:22,839 --> 00:20:29,359 marriage in my belief system, which I find in the Bible, states very 242 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:36,079 clearly that God considers those things an abomination. But it doesn't mean that I 243 00:20:36,119 --> 00:20:40,160 have to go after those people. Just means that it's not something that I 244 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:47,680 would necessarily be pushing. Sure, yeah, absolutely. Do you think the 245 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:53,720 Republican Party? Sometimes it seems like the Republican Party is stuck in the past, 246 00:20:53,759 --> 00:20:56,559 it doesn't quite get these issues yet. And in other times it seems 247 00:20:56,599 --> 00:21:00,720 like the Republican Party is totally on board with, you know, fighting the 248 00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:03,920 cultural war, Winning the Culture War. What's your assessment of the GOP, 249 00:21:03,079 --> 00:21:07,240 Doctor Carson, do you feel like Republican leaders across the country, especially in 250 00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:11,759 Washington, are ready to fight this, understand the gravity of fighting this, 251 00:21:12,119 --> 00:21:15,359 or do you wish you do? You still wish you saw a little bit 252 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:18,359 more from them. I would like to see a lot more from them. 253 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:25,759 No, the Republicans don't understand the power of unity. You've got to learn 254 00:21:25,799 --> 00:21:30,319 how to put your little pet peeve aside and work together. That's what the 255 00:21:30,319 --> 00:21:34,440 Democrats have done very effectively. You know, they don't all agree, but 256 00:21:34,519 --> 00:21:40,200 when it comes to important votes, important things, they stick together like glue, 257 00:21:40,359 --> 00:21:45,519 and it gives them a great deal more power. The Republicans have got 258 00:21:45,599 --> 00:21:52,039 to understand that if we don't stick together and we allow the leftists to prevail, 259 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:56,880 they are going to arrange things in such a way that you will never 260 00:21:56,240 --> 00:22:00,240 be able to gain power again. That is their objective. That's why they 261 00:22:00,279 --> 00:22:04,200 treat Donald Trump the way they do, and that's why they will treat everybody 262 00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:10,799 else that way if they have power and the ability to do so. Fairness 263 00:22:11,279 --> 00:22:15,799 justice means nothing to them because they see themselves as righteous and just like the 264 00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:21,160 jihadist, if you're the righteous the others are infidels and you can do anything 265 00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:26,160 you want to them. Did you leave Washington You're doing so much work right 266 00:22:26,200 --> 00:22:32,720 now. Did you leave Washington optimistic about the future? Did you leave Washington 267 00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:37,400 disenchanted? I mean, you came into Washington understanding all of the problems with 268 00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:40,799 the way our government is running. You understood the problems in our culture, 269 00:22:41,319 --> 00:22:45,440 but having sort of seen it from the inside, were you more or less 270 00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:48,200 hopeful by the time you left the administration? And even just as you've thought 271 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:53,279 about thought back down that whole experience. In the year since leaving, I'm 272 00:22:53,319 --> 00:23:00,880 an materrnial optimist. And you know, although it wasn't necessarily always fun working 273 00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:07,440 in that cesspool, I saw a lot of things that encouraged me. You 274 00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:12,119 know. For instance, there was a group of twenty young people from Ohio 275 00:23:12,519 --> 00:23:18,200 who had aged out of foster care, and they told us about what was 276 00:23:18,279 --> 00:23:23,880 going on with twenty thousand aging out of foster care every year, a quarter 277 00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:29,720 of them ending up homeless, a larger amount of that ending up in even 278 00:23:29,759 --> 00:23:36,119 worse situations than being homeless. And you know, we got together with the 279 00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:41,400 careers, the politicals and their careers together and formulated the Foster used the Independence 280 00:23:41,559 --> 00:23:45,720 program and we're giving out grants in less than four months. People say the 281 00:23:45,759 --> 00:23:51,640 government can't do things. When we work together, it's amazing what we can 282 00:23:51,680 --> 00:24:00,160 do. So I'm optimistic that with the right kind of leadership and people being 283 00:24:00,559 --> 00:24:06,480 truly informed, the American people don't know that they're being played like pawns on 284 00:24:06,559 --> 00:24:14,799 a pawn game. They don't realize that. Are you familiar with the Congressional 285 00:24:14,839 --> 00:24:21,000 record of January tenth, nineteen sixty three. I don't think I am, 286 00:24:21,079 --> 00:24:26,279 doctor Garson. Go look it up. Congressman Herlong from Florida ran into the 287 00:24:26,279 --> 00:24:33,559 Congressional record the forty five goals of Communism in America and how we've fundamentally changed 288 00:24:33,559 --> 00:24:40,200 this into a different type of society, and as things like gaining control of 289 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:45,640 the educational system, the teacher unions so that you could indoctrinate the kids, 290 00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:52,720 the media. There was a big emphasis on the media and on Hollywood so 291 00:24:52,759 --> 00:25:00,440 that you could and intimate people's opinions and minds, making sexual perversion normal and 292 00:25:00,519 --> 00:25:08,920 healthy, destroying the nuclear family, particularly the relationship between parents and children. 293 00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:14,039 I mean, the list goes on and on. It's very impressive. This 294 00:25:14,119 --> 00:25:17,720 is over sixty years ago. A lot of people think what we're seeing is 295 00:25:17,759 --> 00:25:21,640 of recent origin. This has been a long term plan, and it's the 296 00:25:21,759 --> 00:25:26,640 reason that Kushchev said to Eisenhower sixty years ago, your grandchildren's children will live 297 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:30,720 under our system. You know, we think we won the Cold War, 298 00:25:32,279 --> 00:25:37,559 but they are long term planners, and we have to recognize that we're being 299 00:25:37,599 --> 00:25:45,079 played, and particularly the division in our society on the basis of race, 300 00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:52,519 age, income, gender, politics, religion, dividing us on every area 301 00:25:53,240 --> 00:26:00,519 so that you can weaken us and be able to I think there's a tendency 302 00:26:00,759 --> 00:26:06,720 of many to a one world type government. What stands in the way of 303 00:26:06,759 --> 00:26:11,000 that the United States of America and what we stand for. And you can't 304 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:15,319 take us down militarily, but you can take us down from inside. And 305 00:26:15,359 --> 00:26:19,759 I think this is a long term plan and it's being executed very well, 306 00:26:21,119 --> 00:26:26,680 and it will succeed unless we understand what's going on and stand against it. 307 00:26:29,079 --> 00:26:33,559 I wonder your thoughts on this question of secularization and how important it is to 308 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:40,799 these overall trends of our culture kind of crumbling in front of us. Why 309 00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:47,359 did or why is secular leftism taking route you know, why is it that 310 00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:52,319 Marxists, as you say, are having success changing the course of American society 311 00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:55,960 and culture. Even as you say, you know, there's so many people 312 00:26:56,000 --> 00:26:59,880 around the country who vote based on their economic interests, who vote based on 313 00:27:00,359 --> 00:27:06,480 common sense, and who still are still have common sense in the United States. 314 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:11,920 Why is it that so many of these secular progressive policies have found success 315 00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:17,759 in some of the American people and across so many of our institutions. It's 316 00:27:17,839 --> 00:27:22,960 called indoctrination. And if you go back and look at that Congressional record, 317 00:27:22,559 --> 00:27:29,000 there's a significant amountment about getting God out of everything, getting God out of 318 00:27:29,079 --> 00:27:36,839 our schools, out of our daily lives. Because Marxism does not succeed unless 319 00:27:37,119 --> 00:27:42,079 the people look to the government as their savior. You certainly don't want anything 320 00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:49,480 competing with that. And you look at our Judeo Christian values and the things 321 00:27:49,519 --> 00:27:55,000 that they taught us, like love your neighbor, not hate your neighbor, 322 00:27:55,039 --> 00:27:57,480 of cancer your neighbor, if they have a different yard sign, you can 323 00:27:57,519 --> 00:28:03,519 see those things. They're antithetical to each other. So they've been working on 324 00:28:03,559 --> 00:28:08,720 it for a long time, utilizing the media, utilizing Hoghwood. Those are 325 00:28:08,759 --> 00:28:15,920 sort of their great, big tools to make people conform. And again, 326 00:28:17,880 --> 00:28:23,680 the reason I wrote this book is I want people to see what the forces 327 00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:29,000 are and what they're trying to do. And a lot of times that people 328 00:28:29,039 --> 00:28:33,640 can actually visualize their enemy, they become much more effective in their fight against 329 00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:38,279 it, Doctor Carson, Is there a particular founder, one of the founding 330 00:28:38,279 --> 00:28:44,799 fathers you find yourself gravitating towards for their particular wisdom any more than the others 331 00:28:44,839 --> 00:28:47,960 these days? Are there any books that you find yourself pouring through as you 332 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:52,839 reflect on these issues most well? I think one of the heroic figures for 333 00:28:53,000 --> 00:29:00,440 me never became the president, but incredibly wise was Benjamin Franklin. You know, 334 00:29:00,559 --> 00:29:03,599 he was an inventor, he was a writer. He used a pseudonym 335 00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:11,119 so that he wouldn't be found out. But he had such a great amount 336 00:29:11,119 --> 00:29:18,519 of perspective. And during the last Continental Congressional meeting, when the whole thing 337 00:29:18,599 --> 00:29:22,599 was about to dissolve, he stood up in front of the whole assembly. 338 00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:26,039 He was eighty one years old, and he said, gentlemen, stop, 339 00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:30,000 let's get down on our knees and let's seek wisdom from the all mighty. 340 00:29:30,680 --> 00:29:34,359 And they all knelt down and prayed, and they stopped squabbling and they put 341 00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:41,519 together our constitution. That kind of leadership, that kind of wisdom, just 342 00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:48,359 amazing, and I'm glad we shared the same first name. Doctor Ben Carson 343 00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:52,079 is the founder and chairman of the American Cornerstone Institute and the author of the 344 00:29:52,119 --> 00:29:56,640 new book The Perilous Fight, Overcoming Our Culture's War on the American Family. 345 00:29:56,960 --> 00:30:00,039 Doctor Carson, thank you so much for your time. It's been a pleasure. 346 00:30:00,119 --> 00:30:03,559 Thank you so much. You've been listening to another edition of The Federalist 347 00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:07,480 Radio Hour. I'm Emily Kashinski, culture editor here at The Federalist. We 348 00:30:07,519 --> 00:30:10,559 will be back soon with more. Until then, be the lovers of freedom 349 00:30:10,599 --> 00:30:23,880 and anxious for the fray. I heard the fame boy ser reason, and 350 00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:30,720 then it faded away.