The Warmth of Individualism

Summary

Podcast Summary: "The Warmth of Individualism"

Podcast: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
Episode Date: January 10, 2026
Hosts: Ali (Producer), Greg (Producer); featuring archival audio from Rush Limbaugh
Theme: Exploring the American tradition of rugged individualism versus collectivism, inspired by current events and their historical resonance, with reflections, analysis, and classic Rush Limbaugh commentary.

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Episode Overview

This “After Hours” edition of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show is an engaging discussion about the tension between individualism and collectivism in American society. Prompted by a recent headline-grabbing New York political speech—specifically the line about replacing "the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism"—Ali and Greg reflect on past and present cultural battles over identity, liberty, and personal responsibility. They highlight Rush Limbaugh's powerful historical commentary on these themes, playing extended, rarely heard archival clips that anchor and inform their discussion.

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Key Discussion Points & Segments

1. Setting the Stage: Holiday Wraps and A Viral Speech

Timestamps: 03:03 – 05:01

• Ali and Greg banter about their holiday gift exchanges, with a humorous nod to Buck Sexton’s dislike of wrapping paper.
• The real focus starts as Ali introduces the New York mayoral speech:
  • “[The] sound bite that was heard around the world...” (05:09)
  • Rush Limbaugh archival clip plays: “We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.” (05:30)
• Immediate reaction: Greg is dumbfounded by the reversal of American values—“Oh, the warmth of collectivism vs. the cold of rugged individualism. My jaw hit the floor.” (06:07)

2. Individualism as the American Minority

Timestamps: 06:16 – 07:45

• Ali channels Rush’s core message:
  • "What is the number one minority group in the entire world?... It is the individual." (06:50)
• Discussion on societal pressure: balancing group identities with personal autonomy.
• Greg finds irony in cultural double standards: those who champion individuality in the arts often advocate for collectivist ideas in property rights and politics.

3. American History: Lessons from Rush and Thanksgiving

Timestamps: 07:45 – 09:00

• Ali and Greg recall past “After Hours” discussions about Thanksgiving as a cautionary tale of failed collectivism.
• Rush Limbaugh’s influence emphasized:
  • “Freedom and Optimism, not Collectivism Made America Great.” (08:49)

4. Rush Limbaugh Reflects on Individual Responsibility and Freedom

Timestamps: 09:03 – 18:37

• Full, rarely played Rush Limbaugh segment (May 31, 2007) lays out a passionate defense of individualism:
  • On personal responsibility:

    “Most people never blame themselves for their own shortcomings or problems. It’s always somebody else’s fault...” (09:03)

  • On opportunity in America:

    “The opportunities in this country today are profoundly better. And yet people do not grasp it.” (13:17)

  • On American distinctiveness:

    “It is the freedom that we all acknowledge we have that allows us to pursue whatever our dreams and ambitions are as unfettered as any people in the history of civilization have ever been.” (16:24)

  • On collectivism and modern politics:

    “The only way we can survive as a nation with pure happiness and fairness is socialism. Collectivism. We don’t like those terms, but that’s what it is.” (18:28)

5. The Generational Divide: Perspective, Privilege, and Ideals

Timestamps: 19:04 – 27:26

• Ali and Greg discuss how young progressives often lack the perspective that comes from struggle or want.
• Greg’s observation on privilege:
  • “Why is it that all the best communists now seem to come from privileged families?” (24:14)
• Personal stories underscore points—Ali references her family’s immigrant experience; Greg recounts Depression-era wisdom from his grandparents.
• Both agree: Many young activists are more naïve and idealistic than malevolent, easily swayed by “larger, more powerful, sinister forces.” (26:42)

6. History and the Assault on Individualism

Timestamps: 27:33 – 42:49

• Second extended Rush Limbaugh clip (March 2009):
  • On explaining individual freedom:

    “If you have to explain why the individual is important in the United States of America, then you have to explain freedom.” (27:39)

  • On ‘rugged individualism’ being mischaracterized:

    “Rugged individualism is portrayed unfortunately as selfishness, but it is not selfishness. Rugged individualism is self interest. And self interest is good.” (32:05)

  • Colorful anecdotes (e.g., Reagan’s “We had to invent these for you” story) illustrate how innovation and prosperity spring from individual drive.
  • On the danger of enforced equality:

    “Anything that says to you that you’re no more than anybody else… is lying to you. And they’re seeking to control you.” (37:35)

  • Rush’s personal story—seven firings and persistence—underscores the principle of self-belief.

7. Passing the Torch: Role of Media, Education, and Family

Timestamps: 42:49 – 44:34

• Greg hammers home Rush’s point: The American Revolution, Constitution, and Founding Fathers all centered liberty and the individual.
• Ali urges parents to educate their children using resources like Rush’s “Rush Revere” books.
• Greg champions Clay and Buck’s efforts to keep these values relevant to a younger, modern audience:

  “…keep listening, keep doing everything that you can to pass these values on…”

8. Easter Eggs and Community Engagement

Timestamps: 45:10 – 46:18

• Playful end: Mention of “Easter egg” pop culture references in the main Clay and Buck show, encouraging listeners to spot and engage with them.
• Tease of more After Hours episodes and potential listener prizes.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Rush Limbaugh (09:03):

  "Most people never blame themselves for their own shortcomings or problems. It’s always somebody else’s fault..."

• Greg (06:07):

  “Oh, the warmth of collectivism versus the cold of rugged individualism. My jaw hit the floor.”

• Ali (06:50):

  "He said it is the individual, the individual."

• Rush Limbaugh (16:24):

  "It is the freedom that we all acknowledge we have that allows us to pursue whatever our dreams and ambitions are as unfettered as any people in the history of civilization have ever been."

• Greg (24:14):

  “Why is it that all the best communists now seem to come from privileged families?”

• Rush Limbaugh (27:39):

  “If you have to explain why the individual is important in the United States of America, then you have to explain freedom.”

• Rush Limbaugh (37:35):

  “Anything that says to you that you’re no more than anybody else… is lying to you. And they’re seeking to control you and limit your own ability.”

• Rush Limbaugh (42:25):

  “Only the belief in yourself that propels you through all those things… and yourself is the individual.”

• Ali (44:05):

  “For all you folks out there that have crumb crunchers, as Rush would say, please, please just take the time to educate them.”

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Rugged individualism vs. collectivism discussed: 05:09 – 06:16
• Defining individualism as a minority: 06:50
• Historical context and Rush Revere books: 06:16 – 09:00
• Rush’s 2007 commentary on freedom & optimism: 09:03 – 18:37
• Rush’s 2009 defense of individualism: 27:33 – 42:49
• Discussion of perspective and generational divides: 19:04 – 27:26
• Call to parents and audience engagement: 42:49 – 46:18

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Conclusion

This special “After Hours” episode blends spirited analysis, personal stories, and foundational American philosophy—rooted in unique, classic Rush Limbaugh audio. Ali and Greg challenge listeners to appreciate and defend individual liberty in a culture increasingly drawn to collectivist rhetoric. They emphasize the crucial responsibility to educate the next generation about America’s founding values, reminding the audience that “eternal vigilance is the price of freedom.”

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For listeners:

• This episode is a stirring primer on why individualism matters—packed with history, humor, and heartfelt appeals. Even those who missed the original show will come away with a vivid sense of the core themes, arguments, and personalities involved.

Transcript

[Ali]

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[Rush Limbaugh (Archive Clips)]

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[Ali]

Hey, welcome to a new year, a new edition of After Hours with producer Ali.

[Greg]

Happy New Year. I'm producer Greg. How are you, Allie?

[Ali]

I'm good. How was your holiday?

[Greg]

I had a great time, thank you. How about you?

[Ali]

I had a good time as well. And Clay and Buck got my gifts that I wrapped with eight layers of wrapping paper so they opened them like Russian dolls.

[Greg]

Really? Were you using Christmas paper? Were you using birthday paper? Were you using just brown paper?

[Ali]

I stuck to the Christmas wrapping paper. Themed, okay.

[Greg]

Oh, themed. Oh, impressive. Did Buck say anything about it? Because I know he's.

[Ali]

You know, he said it took 10 minutes to open his gift.

[Greg]

Really? Good for you. Now, was it just wrapping paper or was it like nesting doll boxes and stuff?

[Ali]

No, no, just wrapping paper. Cause I really wanted to lean into the wrapping paper after he dissed it.

[Greg]

Yes.

[Ali]

For those of you who have no idea what we're talking about, Buck went on a whole thing about how he does not like wrapping paper, much to my chagrin, since I love wrapping paper and I love wrapping presents and giving them.

[Greg]

Was it so much. Okay, now I'm gonna step up for Buck here. Just a minute here. Was it so much that he doesn't like wrapping paper or he just doesn't really see the need? Now, Carey's born on Christmas Day. Christmas Eve.

[Ali]

Christmas Eve. No, he was born on December 28.

[Greg]

But Carrie's birthday was Christmas Day, so he doesn't see the need of having to have individual gifts. One for birthday, one for Christmas, and then wrapped in separate paper. He just didn't get it.

[Ali]

Yes.

[Greg]

So it was less. It was more about that than it was about just not liking wrapping paper.

[Ali]

No, he didn't like wrapping paper either. He threw wrapping paper under the bus, and I had to step in in defense.

[Greg]

Big wrapping paper had to come out.

[Ali]

Big wrap.

[Greg]

Yeah, gotcha.

[Ali]

But anyway, if you can hear our voices, both Greg and I have a bit of a cold.

[Greg]

Oh, it's January.

[Ali]

It's January. We're dropping like flies over here.

[Greg]

You know, the end of the holidays, January, there's the transition. People are up late partying and doing things, and especially with new. I don't know if you did anything major on New Year, but people do get tend to get sick in January, Greg.

[Ali]

I was in bed by 10pm on New Year's Eve.

[Greg]

I was in bed definitely at midnight.

[Ali]

And that's a late night for me, by the way.

[Greg]

Yes, I was definitely in bed at midnight. On New Year's Eve, I watched. I was awake. I watched the clock turn, but I was in bed.

[Ali]

Well, we wanted to hop on and get right to it because over the holiday, Greg and I are from the great state of New York and I actually live in the city of Manhattan. And Zora and mom Dani, that speech and the sound bite that was heard around the world.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

We will draw this city closer together.

[Rush Limbaugh (Archive Clips)]

We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

If our campaign demonstrated that the people.

[Rush Limbaugh (Archive Clips)]

Of New York yearn for solidarity, then.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Let the this government foster it.

[Rush Limbaugh (Archive Clips)]

Because no matter what you eat, how you pray, or where you come from.

[Greg]

The words that most define us are.

[Rush Limbaugh (Archive Clips)]

The two we all share.

[Ali]

New Yorkers, all of you at home, especially those of you who used to listen to Rush right away jumped right out at me when he said that line about rugged individualism versus collectivism.

[Greg]

Oh, the warmth of collectivism versus the cold of rugged individualism. I just, it was just my jaw hit the floor.

[Ali]

Yeah. And Buck actually sent us that clip. He's like, we are hitting this right when we get back in the new year. And it reminded me of so many things that Rush used to say. In particular when he wrote his Rush Revere books, the very first book, his whole introduction was all about what makes this country stand apart from every nation in the world. One word freedom. Something else Rush used to always say is what is the number one minority group in the entire world? And used to stump people because they'd be like number one minority group. And they'd be thinking, thinking. And he said it is the individual, the individual.

[Greg]

Right, exactly. And that's what you're always faced in this country, the pressure, the push me pull you between the people who want to have everybody represented by one thing or one group or whatever. And then the people who are like, no, I'm myself, I'm going to do my own thing. And it's really funny too because on the one hand you're very creative types that are in Hollywood. They're very in particular about their individuality and individualism. And I have to self expression and don't make me like the herd. And I don't want to look and be. And yet at the same time when it comes to say property rights, then all of a sudden they become less individualistic and much more collective. And it's. I'm fascinated by that dichotomy, personally. I don't understand it.

[Ali]

If you listen to our after hours that we did right before Thanksgiving Producer Greg and I replayed Rush talking about the first Thanksgiving. And William Bradford learned this the hard way. The whole collectivism and why that doesn't work, and it's really just another word for socialism or communism. Communism, exactly.

[Greg]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Ali]

We wanted to go back into the archives, the Rush archives, because we know if he were with us today, he would have been firing on all cylinders after that speech. Actually, one of our guest hosts, Brian Mudd, I was talking to him about that and I gave him a sound bite of Rush talking about individualism. It went all the way back to 2007, May of 2007. And he only played 40 seconds of it for the show. But Greg and I thought we would bring you the whole, the whole shebang.

[Greg]

It's worth it because if you sit there and listen and it's just, first of all, it's hearing Rush again and that's awesome. But then you get to hear the wisdom about the difference between collectivism versus individualism and why it's so important.

[Ali]

And the title of that segment that Rush did that day on May 31, 2007, was Freedom and Optimism, not Collectivism Made America Great. Great.

[Greg]

And he wasn't wrong. Why don't we listen to it?

[Rush Limbaugh (Archive Clips)]

Most people never blame themselves for their own shortcomings or problems. It's always somebody else's fault. It's always some other entities problem. It's the neighbor's fault, that's the whoever. Most people very rarely, when trying to assess their problems, start with themselves. They're not honest about it. And so it's. It's Bush's fault that I'm miserable or it's Limbaugh's fault. It's conservative. Whatever they come up with, it's. It's inane, but they come up with these things. Some of them have forgotten what built this country, what allows this country to lead the world. Some of them know and resent that we lead the world. They resent how the country was built because it's led to their misery. They don't think that they're factors. They don't think they're that important. They think that, you know, life's an excrement sandwich and some days all they get is mayonnaise on it. So they're out there. So they want everybody else to be miserable. We're all in this together. How else can somebody entertain the thought that we all ought to be miserable if, if, if they have forgotten or if they have never been taught what it was that built the country? We've got growing Wages across the board, despite this illegal immigration stuff that's going on. Prosperity, gdp, stock market, whatever measure. I know the first quarter growth rate of the economy was stagnant. You have spikes like that. But my gosh, folks, this, this. My parents would not anymore understand my life. You know what my dad. My dad was. When I got out of radio when I was 29, I figured that was about the fifth time I'd been fired. Well, if I haven't made it playing top 40 records when I'm 28 or 29, I better get out of it because it's, you know, it's a teenage market. So I went to work for the. When I got. When I lost my last radio job, I was making, I think something 22 or $23,000 a year. I was out of work for three months. I decided what I wanted to do, and I just. I was in Kansas City and I like living there. So a friend of mine, the Kansas City Royal, said, why don't you, why don't you come work for us? We need a group sales director. Okay, $12,000 a year to start at age 29. Called my dad. My dad could not have been happier, God bless him. He thought radio was a waste of time. He never forced me out of it because I had quit everything else prior to that. I was a Boy Scout tenderfoot for a year in the Boy Scout, all you got to do is join to be a tenderfoot. I got nothing done. My first camp out, I got the Gold Brick Award because I was just a bump on a log, didn't do diddly squat. I quit everything except baseball, Little League and minor league baseball. But that, that, that was just avocational stuff. So he never pulled me out of radio. But they were constantly worried, where is playing Donny Osmond records going to lead our son nowhere? What's the social relevance? What's the. So when I called and told him that I was joining Kansas City Royals, he was ecstatic. $12,000 a year, and this is 1979. And he said, son, if you play your cards right and be there 30 years, you may make $50,000 and get a car. Company car. I mean that his formative experience was the Great Depression and World War II. And you didn't get a college degree, which I don't have, you didn't have a chance. That was just his world. He was trying to be a good father. He was ecstatic. After five years, I left the royals making 17,000 a year, got $1,000 a year raise every year, and Went back into radio and they started getting worried all over again. But I was just pursuing my passion. The point is, my father would no more relate to my life today. He'd be thrilled by it. Don't misunderstand. And I think, you know, we've always had arguments in this society about, well, is this the generation that's not going to do as well as its parents? We are nowhere near that yet. But the, the misery index crowd would love for you to believe that that's the case. You know, people have, over the course of my career, have come up to me and sought advice on getting into radio. I said, well, the worst thing you could do is go talk to people who failed at it because they'll tell you that you shouldn't do it, that the business will eat you up, spit you out. Make sure you talk to people who've succeeded at it. It's easy to run into. People tell you won't be able to do something. You can find. People will tell you you can't do something. And they, because many of them don't want you to. If they failed at it, make them feel bad. You can always find negativism, you can always find pessimism, you can always find these things. But the opportunities in this country today are profoundly better. And yet people do not grasp it. They don't grasp it. They don't understand. In fact, people wondered why the news of the economy was not a factor in the 06 election. I think one of the reasons for that is people now just demand and expect a roaring economy. There's no appreciation for it. There is an expectation of it. And when we have a downturn, that's when there's hell to pay. But no more will there be any laudatory congratulations for perceived politician who's brought, well, mad Democrat does it. The media will trump it back up again and try to create. But there's this expectation our expectations have risen, which is fine, but coupled with that is the fact that people just have lost touch with how this country was built. We've got growing wages across the board. We've blown records out of the water in employment. Life expectancy is growing every year. And we didn't just get here by accident. We got here by virtue of a distinct American culture. And all of this is happening while the drive by media and some liberal Democrats are out there telling everybody how miserable they are. It's time for a change. We can't continue to go on this way. And it burns me up when I hear this. It burns me up, not for political reasons. I mean, that's a given. It burns me up because I'm into inspiring people, I'm into motivating people. I'm into almost a cheerleader for this country. We all conservatives are all we wants the greatest country we can have. We know how we got here, we know how we gonna stay here and how we're gonna grow. And it isn't running around talking about collectivism and having the public get Veto rights over CEO pay while Mrs. Clinton hitches rides on a corrupt business owner's jet while hoarding her own millions that she admits to having. That isn't what made the country great. And Edwards and whoever it was said the middle class made the country. I had this quote earlier today. I forget Hillary said the middle class made the country great. I don't disagree with that, but I disagree with the tone and the implication of her statement. It's an attack on achievers. It's an attack on the wealthy. I'll tell you what made the country great. It's the people who make this country work. I don't care that a rich middle class third or fourth quintile. It's the people that make this country great, not government and not government policies and not government regulations. It is the freedom that we all acknowledge we have that allows us to pursue whatever our dreams and ambitions are as unfettered as any people in the history of civilization have ever been. That's what sets us apart from all other countries in the history of human civilization. And it's the liberals who are trying to look at this prosperity right in the eye, which is right out in front of our faces every day, and tell us we should be miserable, that it's unfair, that it's not right, that it's not going to last, and this all needs to be torn down. And the fact that there are people who are running around panting with their tongues out, lapping all that up, is a testament to the fact that if you browbeat people long enough and consistently enough with how miserable they are, and you blame other people for their misery, and you get them thinking that a magical government program or a singular politician is going to come along and make them happy, you can sell it. And that's exactly what they've done. And it flies in the face of what is right in front of everybody's eyes to see something else. I've noticed out there, and I don't know if you have, but all of a sudden we got Barack Obama now entering the policy arena. He's not just uttering platitudes and bromides. Now he's got this universal health care plan or this health care plan. And they say Obama getting serious now and his health care plan basically is raise taxes on the rich. And you got Hillary out there with her collectivism, and you've got. Well, that's basically it. What are the other Democrats saying? I don't know what Biden said about anything. Not that it matters, but, I mean, I don't know what he's saying. I don't know what Chris Dodd saying. I don't know what Bill Richardson saying. But if those guys want to get noticed, they better start talking socialism, because that's what the drive by media is going to promote. Because that's fair. It's fair and it's equitable. Mr. Limbaugh is equitable. It's the only way we can survive as a nation with pure happiness and fairness is socialism. Collectivism. We don't like those terms, but that's what it is. As the voice of the new castrati.

[Ali]

No truer words.

[Greg]

You know, again, it's great to hear Rush's voice, but hear what he's saying. And that's really the most important thing, because the young people who are supporting Mamdani and the Mamdanis of the world, AOC and others, are not hearing what Rush was saying 18 years ago. 19 years ago now, because we're in 2026 now.

[Ali]

How old was Mamdani in 2007? He's only like, what, 33 years?

[Greg]

Yeah, he was much younger. Yeah, I mean, 19 years. He was a kid. He was a very young kid. So I think, unfortunately, and this is why, you know, what do they say that, you know, vigilance is the cost. Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom. Because it's continually. Those forces against freedom and against liberty and against individualism, they never stop and they never give up. And you have to continue to defend it, and you need to continue explaining why.

[Ali]

And speaking of continuing to defend it, Rush did that very thing throughout the years. When I went back in the archives and I was looking for all the things he used to say about rugged individualism versus collectivism. So many segments came up throughout the years. I just happened to pick two for today's podcast because I could have played hours and hours and hours. I showed you the other one from. What year was that?

[Greg]

2009. March of 2009. In defense of individualism. So this is almost two. Two years later, 22 months later. And it's great because you know, I'm sitting here reading. Cause I have a copy of it here, and you just get to read. I can hear Rush talking in my. Snartly says, and this depresses me, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, so on and so forth. It's just great. It was really important that he repeated.

[Ali]

Himself on this topic frequently and often.

[Greg]

Yeah, that was part of the genius of Rush. And then I think, actually Clay, I have to say, Clay and Buck had picked up on. We have to revisit these topics again, because eternal vigilance is the cost of freedom. You have to revisit them over and over and over again. And some people go, oh, you talked about this last week or last month or last year. Yeah, but there's always a new audience, and there's always a new threat pushing against it.

[Ali]

And I also feel that the younger generations. And I don't mean to sound like a fuddy duddy, like, oh, back in my day when I had to walk to school barefoot in the snow. I don't mean to sound like that, but at the risk of sounding like that, I think younger generations have no idea how privileged they are. They just have everything. Clay actually said something I thought was really astute, where he said, we have nothing more to gain. We have everything that we need. I mean, beyond with the tech going like driverless planes and the tech going to a whole other level. But his point being, we've kind of achieved so much that the current generation don't really want for anything. Like, everything they have. Like when you and I, Greg, were growing up and going to school and we had to study something, we had to go to the library, use the cards to get the books out and look up things in encyclopedia. We had no Internet. We had to go to the physical library to get.

[Rush Limbaugh (Archive Clips)]

You had to do the work.

[Ali]

Yes.

[Greg]

You actually had to work to get it done.

[Ali]

And you couldn't just throw everything into AI and write this essay for me.

[Greg]

Right. We didn't have these computers walking around in our pockets that we could just pull up at a. At a moment's notice. And I think it's interesting, too, in light of what's gone on with Maduro and Venezuela and what President Trump has done there, that there's so many people who are opposed to that. Okay. Who have come out on the left and, oh, this is a terrible thing, and he's a dictator and all this stuff.

[Rush Limbaugh (Archive Clips)]

And.

[Greg]

And yet you hear the people from Venezuela who have for the last 15, 20, 25 years or more back To Hugo Chavez and before who are saying thank you to President Trump for doing that. And hey, if you think it's so bad what President Trump did, you go live in Cuba for a while or you go live in Venezuela for a while and one day and you'll change your tune. Because these kids, they have just everything and they've never really experienced want or anything like that.

[Ali]

No, that's a very good point. And it also speaks to Maudani's new housing pick.

[Greg]

So she's the director. So Sia Weaver is the director of the mayor's office to direct tenants. And she's a housing activist. She's the former, I'm saying former because I'm assuming she gave up the office. Executive director of Housing justice for all.

[Ali]

Okay. I have to do a deep dive on her because I admit I don't know a lot about her background, but little bits and pieces that I read, she actually comes from a pretty well to do background.

[Greg]

Why am I not surprised?

[Ali]

Again, that word, privilege. She grew up with all the nice things, it sounds like. And when you don't to what you were saying, Greg, if you don't live somewhere and you're not in that survival mode where, hey, we just need to get food every day, keep the lights on, you're not going to really understand fully what struggle really is.

[Greg]

Absolutely. And just going back to irony and things for a second, why is it that all the best communists now seem to come from privileged families? I mean, seriously, they don't, you know, all their parents have money and they live in these nice houses in the, in the suburbs. Lily white suburbs, quite honestly.

[Ali]

So that's Ivy League educations with Ivy.

[Greg]

League educations and they come out and now they're collectivists, communists, socialists. It's unbelievable. I don't understand how that happens. You know, they're willing to just burn, you know, look, rebellion and getting away from their parents or whatever, maybe that has something to do with it, but they just want to burn it all down. And I don't understand, you know, they've never had a chance to experience.

[Ali]

Well, they lack the perspective.

[Greg]

They don't have the perspective. I remember. Look, I'm not old enough to have lived through the Depression, but my grandparents did. And I remember the stories that they told and my grandmother having a compost heap and her own garden and all these things. And she saved all of this stuff because she went through Depression and they didn't. And she never bought. She had like three pairs of socks and she continually darned them and she continually repaired things over because they didn't have the money to go and get those things. These kids don't know. These kids are door dashing. Coffee?

[Ali]

Oh, I know.

[Greg]

To the house?

[Ali]

No. Well, my father's family, I mean my father's family fled Warsaw, Poland and went to England. They always thought they were going to return to Poland after the war, but there was nothing to return to, so they stayed in England. They didn't know the language. They learn the language. My father was born in England but raised learning Polish. It wasn't until he went to first grade that he had to sink or swim and quickly learn English in order to survive. But they lost everything and they went from living a middle class life in Warsaw to living on a farm in England. My grandfather became a potato farmer. Sharing a farmhouse with other refugees and an outhouse in the backyard every day with was just to survive. So I feel like a lot of these kids that are out there with their signs and they're protesting and they're no kings and all that, they just lack perspective and they're easily manipulated by what I feel is larger, more powerful, sinister forces that would like to take.

[Greg]

Down the west very easily, Very easily manipulated and they are being unfortunately taken advantage of. And I don't think that a majority of the young people necessarily are coming from a position of malevolence. I don't think that they're doing it because they're bad. I think they're uninformed. I think they're naive and I think they think, hey, this looks great on paper, this sounds great.

[Ali]

They're idealistic, let's face it.

[Greg]

Yes, yes they are. And it's nice. You can afford to be a home.

[Ali]

And you get a home and you get a home and you get a home.

[Greg]

You can afford to be idealistic when you're young, when you get older. No, it doesn't work that way.

[Ali]

That's right. Well, why don't we dive into one of these other Rush clips?

[Greg]

That'd be great. Why don't we do this one? This in defense of individualism.

[Rush Limbaugh (Archive Clips)]

The Democrat party and the Obama administration are conducting an all out assault on the individual and liberty and freedom. And that's exactly what it is. Snerdly says you better explain why the individual is so important. You know a lot of people, you got a whole brand new bunch of tuner inners out there, Rush, and a lot of these people think the individual is just a greedy SOB and the individual, bunch of individuals are what got the country in trouble. And I said to snerdly during the top of the hour brief. If I have to explain this, it's over. I mean I'm. I'm just. It depresses me that I have to try to explain this. Why is the individual important? If you have to explain why the individual is important in the United States of America, then you have to explain freedom. And if you have to explain that, I'm at a loss. I guess I'll just ask you a question. To those of you in this audience who kind of have a fit when you hear me say that this administration is targeting and making an all out assault on the individual, which is an assault on freedom, individual freedom and liberty. Where and how do you think your freedom comes from? Why is it you are free? To me, that answers it. I mean, are you free because you are a member of a group? Or are you free because you are your own soul endowed by your creator, God, certain inalienable rights, life, liberty, pursuit of happiness? From where does your freedom come? Do you not have freedom until you join a club? Do you not have freedom until you join a union? Do you not have freedom until you are part of the disabled? Do you not have freedom until you are a minority? Where does your freedom come from in the United States of America? What our revolutionary was fought over and we just barely made it. The whole concept of individual freedom and liberty was the reason we sought independence from the tyranny of King George, not Bush, George III of Britain. I know that, Mrs. Clinton, we're trying to remember this. I said back in the 90s when the Clintons were running this show, I said, rugged individualism is what built this country. And Mrs. Clinton went out there and took me on and ripped me. And we forget what she said, but she had a very critical comment about rugged individualism. Rugged individualism. Rugged individuals don't care about anybody else and they leave everybody else behind. And it takes people like Mrs. Clinton to care about the people who get left behind when rugged individuals take over. Mrs. Clinton had a book, says it takes a village to raise a child. I said, no, it doesn't. It takes individuals to raise a child. Doesn't take a village, the town doesn't raise a child. Villager, what have you. You know, that was just. That was just code word for the parents don't really matter. It's the school, it's government enterprises that are responsible for raising the child right. And nothing could be further from the truth. This country was not built on group politics. The country was not built on group identities. The country was Built on rugged individualism. Rugged individualism is portrayed unfortunately as selfishness, but it is not selfishness. Rugged individualism is self interest. And self interest is good. If we were all acting in our own self interest. What are your self interests? Let's say you're a father, husband. What is your self interest? Well, if you take it responsibly, the responsibility of being a husband and father, your self interest is improving the life that your family lives. You want economic opportunity for them, you want social stability for them. You want a relatively crime free existence. You want some security, you want to see to it that your kids don't go off the wrong path. All of these things are the things that you work for and you rely on yourself to provide them. Of course you have support groups, the church and friends and so forth. It doesn't mean that you are solitary, doesn't mean that you're isolated, but it means that you accept responsibility for your life and what happens to you is your responsibility. And that you have in this country all of the ability and opportunity in the world to make the most of it. Or you can slough it off and you can not make the most of yourself. But then you're not acting in your own self interest, then you're letting everybody down. When you don't seek your best, when you don't try to be the best you can be, you're letting everybody down. You're letting the country down. Obama even said this. He hadn't said it since when talking about the dropout rate, he said, you people dropping out, you're not helping your country, you are harming your country. It's the same thing, self interest. He won't ever say that again. It sounds too Reagan esque and it sounds too conservative. But individuals, rugged individuals, have great and high expectations of themselves. It was rugged individualists that built the railroads. It was rugged individualists that discovered the new world. It was rugged individualists that dreamed about getting to the moon. It was rugged individualists that invented the automobile and the airplane, the bullet, the gun. It was rugged individualists who invented medicines, improvements in healthcare. It wasn't a bunch of groups. But Rush. But Rush pharmaceuticals have a bunch of people in laboratories work. Yeah, they do. There's somebody that runs them. But they're all working to try to be the best they can be and come out. Thomas Edison light bulb. Benjamin Franklin, electricity. Alexander Graham Bell, A telephone. Marconi, the radio. Henry Ford automobile, mass production. The assembly line. Carl Benz, the automobile. I'll never forget a story. Reagan was governor of California. In the 70s. And this is in one of the books about Reagan. I heard William Rusher, who was the former publisher of National Review, tell the story. And I may, I'm paraphrasing this. There may be others who know it better, but the students at Berkeley were all bent out of shape one day, as they always were during the free speech movement. And they didn't like what Reagan was doing with the national regard. The National Guard didn't like Reagan's policies. They thought Reagan back in the 70s, was just an old man, out of touch. He had no clue about their lives and who was he to sit there and make policies about their future? So they demanded, they had a sit in state capitol in California, somewhere outside his office. They got in the building, they were let in, they demanded to see him. And at some point, Reagan let a couple of these student leaders in. And they went in there, cocky young little kids, and they essentially said, who are you, old man? You don't know anything about our lives. You don't know how we function. You don't know how we get along. You don't know anything about telephone, you don't know anything about computers, televisions. You don't know anything about that. These things are all foreign to you. Look, you're still using all these old fashioned things around here. And Reagan looked at him and said, you know, you're right about that. We had to invent these for you to use them. We had to invent them for you. Take your favorite actor or actress, take your favorite television personality and ask me. Or ask yourselves what government, what protective agency got them their job? What? Or was it rugged individualism or sleeping on the couch or whatever they had to do, but they did it. They also get $20 million a movie because they put people in the theater seats, whether the movie's any good or not. People go, except for Tom Cruise is in trouble right now. But, well, Valkyrie just wasn't quite it. But the point here, ladies and gentlemen, is that anything that beats you down, anything that says to you that you're no more than anybody else, that you're no better, no different, no worse, that you're the same as anybody else, is lying to you. And they're seeking to control you and they're seeking to limit your own ability and your own desire, because we're not the same. There are no two. The whole premise of equality is it's a great thing to strive for, like equality before the law, equality in job opportunity and so forth. But there are no two things that are equal. Certainly not outcomes other than identical twins. No two human beings look exactly alike. Do you realize that as many human beings as will be created in the history of the earth, no two of them will look alike? It's not possible, other than the rare cases of identical twins. But even those people are not the same. We have the same shell, the same look, but they're not the same inside. No two people the same. No. Everybody's got different level of ambition, desire. Everybody has a different iq. Everybody has different intelligence. Everybody has a different metabolism. Everybody has a different hairline. Everybody's got. No two people are the same. And it's not fair. It just didn't. But some people are smarter than others. Some people are more creative than others. Some people can walk down the street and just have people throw money at them. Other people can toil their whole lives and never make more than minimum wage. Why? Who knows? But it is our contention that the people who never make more than minimum wage can do far better if they're just invested in themselves. Not in a government, not in a president, not a Congress, not a program. How many people in those people's lives tell them that they're special versus how many of them tell you don't have a chance. You don't have a prayer. This country's racist, it's homophobic, it's bigoted. You don't have a chance. You need to vote for us. Even I, ladies and gentlemen, you listen to me and you, you look at me and you see whatever you see, but you see me as successful. It may make you mad, may make you furious, but nevertheless, you see me successful. But you don't know the 35, 37 years that I've spent in this business since I was 16 minus 5 that I worked for the Kansas City Royals baseball team. You don't know the seven times I got fired. And you don't know how many people in this business told me to quit and told me to give it up, that it's not a fair business, even if you're good. There are too many idiots above you, too many jealous people above you that don't want you to get anywhere because you're better than them. Hey, hello, that's the world. There are a lot of professors don't want you to be smarter than they are. There are a lot of people working at banks who are tellers that probably could be in the investment side, but somebody's threatened by them because everybody's trying to hold everybody back. It's just human nature. And it's Only the belief in yourself that propels you through all those things and yourself is the individual. I got fired seven times. One time was it probably justified. The other times due to vagaries of the broadcast business. But each time I got fired, the person that fired me said, you know, you really don't have what it takes to succeed here. If you want to stay in this business, you need to go into sales or something else because you just. You really don't have that much talent. And I'm saying to myself, how would you know? You've never let me exhibit it. You and your brilliant management have come up with ways that I can only say this here or that there, and I can only take that much time. How do you know what my talent is? And when was the last time you cared to really find out what my talent is? Without believing in yourself, you're going nowhere. And you won't believe in yourself if somebody beats the individual out of you, if somebody convinces you that you don't deserve to do any better than anybody else, because that's not fair. And they are teaching you that in school about your grades, and they're teaching you that about economics. It's not fair that you might have a nicer car than a schlub down the street. This is not fair. It's humiliating to the people who have less. So they're trying to beat the individual out of you and the individual in you. The belief in yourself is the only thing you've got to compete against everybody that's trying to hold you back, and they all are. It's the way of the world. You look at things from afar, you look at pop culture, you look at movie stars, and you think, that's a community. And they all decided one day, they all decided that Cameron Diaz is great. And they all got together and they all love Cameron Diaz, and they've all made her a big star. That's the image they project because they want you to think it's all a giant. Cameron Diaz is like everybody else. She had to fight for everything she has. And she's. They're nipping at her heels now as she gets older. Same thing with Julia Roberts. It doesn't change. No matter where you are, no matter what kind of glamour, you take a look around you, the genuinely successful people that you see who you want to be did not check their individualism at the door when they started their work. They didn't check their self interest at the door, and they didn't check their self respect, and they didn't Turn over the belief in themselves to somebody else. That's all I'm talking about. And that's under assault by this administration which wants to control and limit freedom. Because the only way Obama can get the power he wants and the Democrats can get the power they want is if you willingly turn it over to them by getting rid of your self interest, your self respect, and holding your best interests at heart. Your best interests do not coincide with your governments, especially now.

[Ali]

It's always so good to hear his.

[Greg]

Voice again in the United States of America. What our revolution was fought over, the whole concept individual freedom and liberty was the reason we saw independence from the tyranny of King George. I mean, that's what it's all about. You know, it's not about what 1619 Project says, what's her name says about why this country was start. No, we were the pilgrims, came here for religious freedom. The founders of this country, founding fathers fought off the yoke of George iii. And then the framers of the Constitution continue to enumerate those rights about liberty and freedom on the papers and the documents that we hold most sacred in this country. And that's what it's all about. It's not very difficult to understand, but.

[Ali]

Yet here we are. And which is why the Clay and Buck show is so massively important. And for all you folks out there that have crumb crunchers, as Rush would say, please, please just take the time to educate them. Go, go get. He had those five great books. Those were a great entree into really understanding this country and why we need to protect and preserve it.

[Greg]

Absolutely. And make sure that you tune into the Clay and Buck show because especially for young people listening, these guys are really, you know, relatable. You know, they're young, they can. That you can. They're younger than we are, that you can relate to them. They're talking about stuff that, that people can relate to. And I think. And yet it makes sense. So, you know, keep listening, keep doing everything that you can to pass these values on to the next group of people coming up, the young people.

[Ali]

That is so true. Sid and Greg and I, even though we're sick, we both really wanted to do this after hours and replay these Rush segments in full because it is that important. So we hope you enjoyed this after hours and hearing Rush again speak to these things. We hope you continue to tune into the Clay and Buck show and always feel free to send, send us a talk back. Greg listens to all of them. The after hours podcast is sort of like an Easter egg that we pop into the Clay and Buck podcast network feed from time to. And speaking of Easter eggs, Greg, what were the guys talking about today?

[Greg]

Well, Clay dropped the reference. And honestly, it kind of blew by me. But some of you caught it.

[Ali]

It blew by me, too.

[Greg]

Yeah. A reference to office space and just casually dropped it in there. And then we played the sound bite or the talkback about it, and then Buck dropped one in rather obviously. He actually made a big deal of pointing out that this is an Easter egg I'm dropping in. So it's the idea that maybe that this is gonna become a thing down.

[Ali]

The road a bit.

[Greg]

A bit. That a couple times a week they'll just make a reference to something. I'll be back, or whatever it is and see if you can pick up on it. And yes, and I don't know, maybe we could talk them into having some sort of prize. I don't know, an autograph book or.

[Ali]

You know, some swag, some clambuck swag.

[Greg]

They get a picture of producer Ally or, you know, maybe a picture of Ginger Spice. I don't know.

[Ali]

Ginger Spice.

[Greg]

Ginger Spice, yeah. But it could be a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to this.

[Ali]

Yeah. So maybe keep an ear out for those Easter eggs on the Clay and Buck Show.

[Greg]

And you never know. We've gotten requests for more episodes of After Hours, so maybe we'll be doing them a little more frequently in the future, too. You never know.

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[Rush Limbaugh (Archive Clips)]

Man, it all comes down to it.

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[Rush Limbaugh (Archive Clips)]

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[Ali]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.