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How do We Make Society Better by Dennis Prager

1/28/2016

In this video, Dennis Prager shares, "A major difference between the Right and the Left concerns the way each seeks to improve society.Conservatives believe that the way to a better society is almost always through the moral improvement of the individual -- by each person doing battle with his or her own weaknesses and flaws.

It is true that in violent and evil societies such as Fascist, Communist, or Islamist tyrannies the individual must be preoccupied with battling outside forces. Almost everywhere else, though, certainly in a free and decent country such as America, the greatest battle of the individual must be with inner forces -- that is, with his or her moral failings.

The Left, on the other hand, believes that the way to a better society is almost always through doing battle withsociety’s moral failings. Thus, in America, the Left concentrates its efforts on combatting sexism, racism, intolerance, xenophobia, homophobia, Islamophobia, and the many other evils that the Left believes permeate American society.

One important consequence of this Left-Right distinction is that those on the Left are far more preoccupied with politics than those on the Right. Since the Left is so much more interested in fixing society than in fixing the individual, politics inevitably becomes the vehicle for societal improvement. That’s why whenever the term “activist” is used, we almost always assume that the term refers to someone on the Left.

Another consequence of this Left-Right difference is that, since conservatives believe society is changed one person at a time, they accept that change happens gradually. This isn’t fast enough for the Left, which is always and everywhere focused on social revolution. An excellent example of this was a statement by the then-presidential candidate Barack Obama, just days before his first election in 2008. To a rapturous audience, he declared: “We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.”

Conservatives not only have no interest in fundamentally transforming the United States of America, they are strongly opposed to doing so. Conservatives understand that fundamentally transforming any society that isn’t fundamentally bad -- not to mention transforming what is one of the most decent societies in history -- can only make the society worse. Conservatives believe that America can be improved, but should not be transformed, let alone fundamentally transformed.

The Founders of the United States recognized that the transformation that every generation must work on is the moral transformation of each citizen. Thus, character development was at the core of both child rearing and of young people’s education -- from elementary school through college.
As John Adams, the second president, said: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

And in the words of Benjamin Franklin: “Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom.”

Why is that? Because freedom requires self-control. The freer the society, the more self-control is necessary. If the majority of people don't control themselves, the state -- meaning an ever more powerful government -- will have to control them. From the founding of the United States until the 1960s, schools -- and parents -- concentrated on character education. But, with the ascent of left-wing ideas, character education has all but disappeared from American schools. Instead, children are taught not to focus on their flaws but on America’s. Social issues have replaced character education. An example is a new K-12 science curriculum, the “Next Generation of Science Standards,” which will teach young Americans -- starting in kindergarten -- about global warming.

And when they get to college, American young people will be taught about the need to fight economic inequality, “white privilege,” and the alleged “rape culture” on their campuses. Ironically, if there really is a rape culture that permeates American college campuses, the only reason would have to be that there is so little character education in our schools, or for that matter, at home. Fathers and religion, historically the two primary conveyers of self-control, are nonexistent in the lives of millions of American children.
We are now producing vast numbers of Americans who are passionate about fixing America while doing next to nothing about fixing their own character.

The problem, however, is that you can't make society better unless you first make its people better."

For those called to serve the Lord in government this teaching is important for discovering, unlocking, and living your Godly destiny.

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How do You Deal with Painful Truths by Dennis Prager

1/28/2016

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In this video, Dennis Prager shares, "At the core of left-wing thought is a denial of painful realities, the denial of what the French call les faits de la vie, facts of life. Conservatives, on the other hand, are all too aware of the painful realities of life, and base many of their positions on them.

One example of this left-right difference is the differing attitudes toward human nature and responsibility for evil. When liberals blame violent crime on poverty, one reason they do is that ever since the Enlightenment the Left has posited that human nature is good. So, then, when people do bad things to other people, the Left argues that some outside forces -- usually poverty and, in the case of non-white criminals, racism -- are responsible, not human nature.

Why? Because people on the Left find it too painful to look reality in the eye and acknowledge that human nature is deeply flawed.

Another fact of life that the Left finds too painful to acknowledge is the existence of profound differences between men and women. There is no other explanation for the denial of what has been obvious to every previous generation in history -- that men and women are inherently different. This denial is certainly not the result of scientific inquiry. The more science learns about the male brain and the female brain, not to mention male and female hormones, the more it confirms important built-in differences between the sexes.

Yet many people, influenced by left-wing thought, believe that girls are as happy to play with trucks as are boys, and boys are as happy to play with dolls and tea sets as are girls.

Why do they believe such silliness? Because acknowledging many of those differences is painful.

For example, feminists and others on the Left do not want to acknowledge that men are far more capable of having emotionally meaningless sex than women. Therefore, feminism has taught generations of young women that they are just as capable of enjoying emotionless sex with many partners as are men. The fact is that the great majority of women are deeply dissatisfied with the hook up culture and yearn to bond with a man even more than they yearn for professional success. But feminism came up with the famous and false phrase, “A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle” to counter the painful reality that most women feel incomplete without a man in their life -- just as, I might add, most men feel incomplete without a woman. Ironically, however, most men have no trouble acknowledging this.

This is what the notion of Political Incorrectness is all about. The very definition of “Politically Incorrect” is a truth that people on the Left find too painful to acknowledge -- and therefore do not want expressed.
To cite yet another example, why are many young black males in prison? The reason is too painful for the Left to acknowledge and therefore it is politically incorrect to say it: Young black males commit a disproportionate amount of violent crime. And why are there speech codes on virtually all college campuses? Because the Left doesn’t want to hear facts or opinions that cause them pain.

That’s why the Left developed what it calls “trigger warnings.” A “trigger warning,” as defined by the Oxford Dictionary, is “a statement at the start of a piece of writing, video, etc. alerting the reader or viewer to the fact that it contains potentially distressing material.” That’s why the Left constantly speaks about being made “uncomfortable” and about feeling “offended.” Being made uncomfortable or feeling offended, is, after all, painful.

Take the left-wing bumper sticker idea, “War Is not the Answer.” The painful truth is that war is often the only answer to great evil. Nazi death camps were liberated by soldiers fighting a war, not by peace activists or by peaceful dialogue with the German regime. But having to acknowledge the moral necessity of war is too painful a truth for many on the Left.

One might say that Leftism appeals to those who wish to remain innocent. Growing up and facing the fact that life is messy, difficult and painful is increasingly a conservative point of view."

For those called to serve the Lord in government this teaching is important for discovering, unlocking, and living your Godly destiny.

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How do you Judge America by Dennis Prager

1/28/2016

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In this video, Dennis Prager shares, "The Left and the Right view America and its history very differently. Conservatives view America as President Abraham Lincoln viewed it -- as the “Last Best Hope of Earth.” While acknowledging America’s flaws, conservatives regard America as the best society ever created -- giving more people of more backgrounds more freedom, more opportunity, and more affluence than any other society -- and doing more good for more people in other countries than any society in history.

The Left, on the other hand, sees America as having been, and continuing to be, a very flawed country, morally no better than many, and morally inferior to many. The Left’s view is that America was founded by rich white males who were intent on protecting their race, their wealth, and in many cases, their slaves. America was and remains sexist, intolerant, xenophobic, and bigoted; a country of unacceptable material inequality, where the superrich and big corporations have far too much power and influence. The further left one goes, the more negative the assessment of America.

Here’s a telling example.

On my radio show, I once dialogued with Howard Zinn, arguably the most influential American historian of the second half of the twentieth century. Here is one part of our dialogue: Professor Zinn said: “If people knew history, they would scoff at…the idea that the United States is a force for the betterment of humanity.” When I said that America has done more good for humanity than any other country, Professor Zinn responded: America has “probably [done] more bad than good.”

For the Left, the moral flaws in American history are enormous, but all the unique good America has done both in America and abroad is minimized or ignored. Take the example of slavery. This terrible institution is the most widely cited “proof” of American evil. The problem with that judgment, however, is that every civilization in world history, even including African societies, practiced slavery -- often on a far larger scale than America did.

But there are two other questions about slavery that must be asked in order to make a moral judgment about America: The first is: “Which societies were the first to abolish slavery?” Since all societies had slavery, that is a far more important question to ask than who had slaves. It turns out that all the societies that first abolished slavery were rooted in the Jewish and Christian Bibles and among them was the United States.The second question that needs to be answered is this: Was America morally better than other societies in just about every other regard? And the answer is overwhelmingly yes.

America gradually became the least racist, least xenophobic country in the world. In no country do people of every race and ethnicity become accepted as full members of the society as do immigrants to America. And no country in history has fought for the liberty of others as much as America has. That is why, for example, 37,000 Americans died in Korea, a country that offered America no economic gain. The purpose was to protect Koreans from Communist tyranny. Today South Korea, where American troops are still stationed, is one of the wealthiest and freest countries in Asia. Meanwhile North Korea, the part of the Korean peninsula that America did not succeed in liberating, is the least free and poorest country on earth.

Without America, people around the world would suffer from far more tyranny, enslavement, and genocide. The countries where American troops have remained long after combat ceased -- Germany, Japan, and South Korea -- have prospered economically and morally. Countries that America abandoned -- such as Vietnam and Iraq -- experienced mass murder and other horrors. The Left, however, views nearly all of America’s wars since 1945 as expressions of superpower imperialism.
Days before the 2008 American presidential election, the Democratic candidate, then-Senator Barack Obama, announced: “We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.”

Exactly so. The Left wants to fundamentally transform America; the Right doesn’t. Conservatives want to conserve America’s unique greatness and improve it where necessary, but not transform it. If America is fundamentally transformed, it will not become better than other nations. It will become like other nations."

For those called to serve the Lord in government this teaching is important for discovering, unlocking, and living your Godly destiny.

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Does it Feel Good or Does it Do Good by Dennis Prager

1/28/2016

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In this video, Dennis Prager shares, "A fundamental difference between Left and Right concerns how each assesses public policies. The Right asks, “Does it do good?” The Left is more likely to ask a different question.Take the minimum wage, for example. In 1987, the New York Times editorialized against any minimum wage. The title of the editorial said it all -- “The Right Minimum Wage: $0.00.”

“There's a virtual consensus among economists,” wrote the Times editorial, “that the minimum wage is an idea whose time has passed. Raising the minimum wage by a substantial amount would price working people out of the job market…Why did the New York Times editorialize against the minimum wage? Because it asked the question: “Does it do good?”

But 27 years later, the New York Times editorial page wrote the very opposite of what it had written in 1987, and called for a major increase in the minimum wage. In that time, the Times editorial page had moved further and further left and was now preoccupied not with the question, "does it do good?" -- but with the question, "does it feel good?" And it feels good to raise poor people’s minimum wage.

A second example is affirmative action. Study after study -- and, more importantly, common sense and facts -- has shown the negative effects that race-based affirmative action has had on many black students. Lowering college admissions standards for black applicants has ensured a number of awful results.
Just to cite one, more black students fail to graduate college. Why? Because too many have been admitted to a college that demands more academic rigor than they are prepared for. Rather than attend a school that matches their academic skills, a school where they might thrive, they too often fail at the more demanding school that lowered its standards to admit them.

It's clear that supporters of race-based affirmative action ask, "Does it feel good?” rather than, “Does it do good?”

A third example is pacifism and other forms of “peace activism.”

Many people on the Left have a soft spot for pacifism -- the belief that killing another human being is always wrong. Not all leftists are pacifists, but pacifism almost always emanates from the Left, and just about all leftists support “peace activism,” “peace studies,” and whatever else contains the word “peace.”
The Right, on the other hand, while just as desirous of peace as the Left -- what conservative parent wants their child to die in battle? -- knows that pacifism and most “peace activists” increase the chances of war, not peace.

Nothing guarantees the triumph of evil like refusing to fight it. Great evil is therefore never defeated by peace activists, but by superior military might. The Allied victory in World War II is an obvious example. And violent Islamists today need to be killed before they behead, enslave, and torture more innocents.
Supporters of pacifism, peace studies, American nuclear disarmament, and American military withdrawal from countries in which it has fought do not ask, “Does it do good?" Because it almost never does good.
Did the total withdrawal of America from Iraq do good? Of course not. It led to the rise of Islamic State with its mass murder and torture. Did the American withdrawal from Vietnam do good? No. It led to the violent Communist takeover of South Vietnam. On the other hand, because American troops did not leave South Korea, Japan, and Germany, those countries have become three of the most prosperous and free countries in the world.

So, then, why do liberals support a higher minimum wage if it doesn’t do good? Because it makes them feel good about themselves: We liberals, unlike conservatives, care about the poor.

Why do liberals support race-based affirmative action? For the same reason. It makes liberals feel good about themselves. They appear to be righting the wrongs of historical racism.

And, the same holds true for left-wing peace activism. It’s nice to think of oneself as a peace activist.
All this helps to explain why young people are so much more likely to be liberal than conservative. They haven’t lived long enough to really know what does good. But they do know what feels good.

As society moves further and further to the left, so does the preoccupation with feeling good over doing good. The world is getting worse and worse, but many people are feeling better and better about themselves while it does."

For those called to serve the Lord in government this teaching is important for discovering, unlocking, and living your Godly destiny.

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How Big Should Government Be by Dennis Prager

1/28/2016

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In this video, Dennis Prager shares, "One of the most important differences between the Left and the Right is how each regards the role and the size of the government.The Left believes that the state should be the most powerful force in society. Among many other things, the government should be in control of educating every child; should provide all health care; and should regulate often to the minutest detail how businesses conduct their business -- in Germany, for instance, the government legislates the time of day stores have to close. In short, there should ideally be no power that competes with Government. Not parents, not businesses, not private schools, not religious institutions; not even the individual human conscience.

Conservatives, on the other hand, believe the government’s role in society should be limited to absolute necessities such as national defense and to being the resource of last resort to help citizens who cannot be helped by family, by community, or by religious and secular charities.
Conservatives understand that as governments grow in size and power, the following will inevitably happen:

1. There will be ever-increasing amounts of corruption. Power and money breed corruption. People in government will sell government influence for personal and political gain. And people outside government will seek to buy influence and favors. In Africa and Latin America, government corruption has been the single biggest factor holding nations back from progressing.

2. Individual liberty will decline. With a few exceptions such as an unrestricted right to abortion, individual liberty is less important to the Left than to the Right. This is neither an opinion nor a criticism. It is simple logic. The more control the government has over people’s lives, the less liberty people have.

3. Countries with ever expanding governments will either reduce the size of their government or eventually collapse economically. Every welfare state ultimately becomes a Ponzi Scheme, relying on new payers to pay previous payers; and when it runs out of the new payers, the scheme collapses. All the welfare states of the world, including wealthy European countries, are already experiencing this problem to varying degrees.

4. In order to pay for an ever-expanding government, taxes are constantly increased. But at a given level of taxation, the society’s wealth producers will either stop working, work less, hire fewer people, or move their business out of the state or out of the country.

5. Big government produces big deficits and ever increasing -- and ultimately unsustainable -- debt. This, too, is only logical. The more money the state hands out, the more money people will demand from the state. No recipient of free money has ever said, “Thank you. I have enough.”
Unless big governments get smaller, they will all eventually collapse under their own weight -- with terrible consequences socially as well as economically.

6. The bigger the government, the greater the opportunities for doing great evil. The twentieth century was the most murderous century in recorded history. And who did all this killing? Big governments. Evil individuals without power can do only so much harm. But when evil individuals take control of a big government, the amount of harm they can do is essentially unlimited. The Right fears Big Government. The Left fears Big Business. But Coca-Cola can’t break into your house or confiscate your wealth -- only Big Government can do that. As irresponsible as any Big Business has ever been, it is only Big Government that can build concentration camps and commit genocide.

7. Big government eats away at the moral character of a nation. People no longer take care of other people. After all, they know the government will do that. That's why Americans give far more of their money and volunteer far more of their time to charity than do Europeans at the same economic level.
Without the belief in an ever-expanding government, there is no left. Without a belief in limited government, there is no right."

For those called to serve the Lord in government this teaching is important for discovering, unlocking, and living your Godly destiny.

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How do We Make Society Better by Dennis Prager

How do You Deal with Painful Truths by Dennis Prager

How do you Judge America by Dennis Prager

Does it Feel Good or Does it Do Good by Dennis Prager

How Big Should Government Be by Dennis Prager

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