Best of the Program | 8/11/25

Summary

Summary of "The Glenn Beck Program | Best of the Program | 8/11/25"

Introduction The Glenn Beck Program, hosted by Glenn Beck on the Blaze Podcast Network, offers an incisive analysis of American culture and politics, blending storytelling with candid opinions. In the "Best of the Program" episode released on August 11, 2025, Beck delves into pressing national issues, including President Trump's declaration of D.C. Liberation Day, soaring crime rates in Washington D.C., and the enduring principles of capitalism.

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1. President Trump's Declaration of D.C. Liberation Day (00:00 - 19:11)

Glenn Beck opens the discussion by addressing President Trump's recent declaration of D.C. Liberation Day. He questions the president's intentions and the legal boundaries of such an act within the unique governance structure of Washington D.C.

• Beck on Legality and Intentions:

  "President Trump declares today D.C. Liberation Day. What is he, what is he insinuating here? What is he instituting? Is he allowed to do it?" ([00:00])

Beck explains the constraints placed upon the President regarding D.C. governance, emphasizing that D.C. is a federal district without a governor and subject to congressional oversight. He outlines what Trump can and cannot do, including the potential use of the National Guard under specific conditions.

• Detailed Breakdown:

  "He can deploy the National Guard for law enforcement, for support, for emergencies, crowd controls, and to execute federal laws." ([19:26]) "He cannot repeal the Home Rule Act. Only Congress can alter it or repeal it." ([20:07])

2. Soaring Crime Rates in Washington D.C. (19:11 - 27:57)

Beck, joined by Chief Researcher Jason Butrell, examines the alarming statistics surrounding crime in Washington D.C., highlighting a significant increase in murder rates compared to major global cities.

• Critical Statistics:

  "Washington, D.C. at 27.54 is larger than Bogota at 15.1. Mexico City 10.6 Islamabad 9.2 Lima 7.6 Ottawa 2.17. Paris 1.64." ([19:25])

Butrell underscores that, despite a slight reduction in crime around 2023, rates remain "off the charts," surpassing those of traditionally high-crime cities globally.

• Butrell on Crime Trends:

  "It's still insane. The White House actually just did a comparison of the 2024 murder rates per 100,000 people." ([19:11])

Beck criticizes the unique governance of D.C., attributing its high crime rates to the lack of a robust local government and the overreach of federal authorities. He reminisces about his personal experiences in the city, contrasting past and present security measures.

• Beck’s Personal Insights:

  "I can walk the whole Mall in the middle of the night. I could walk up to the Capitol doors... You can’t even walk up the stairs to those doors. You are no longer allowed to even see those doors." ([27:15])

3. The Home Rule Act and Governance of D.C. (27:57 - 35:32)

The conversation shifts to the Home Rule Act of 1973, which granted Washington D.C. the ability to elect a mayor and a city council. Beck and Butrell debate the effectiveness of this act, with Beck labeling D.C. as a "failed American experiment."

• Critique of Home Rule:

  "1973 is when everything changed. When I went to Washington, D.C. in 1982... So this is not an American city, as you understand it." ([27:15])

Butrell expresses frustration with the current governance structure, advocating for the abolition of the Home Rule Act to return control of D.C. to Congress and the President.

• Butrell’s Stance:

  "We have the benefits without it actually being a state. Because in the 1960s they were given three electoral votes." ([27:57])

Beck counters by emphasizing the original intent behind the Home Rule Act, arguing that the founders never intended for the capital to become a state and that maintaining it as a federal district is crucial for national integrity.

• Beck’s Rebuttal:

  "We cannot have our capital in a state. It has to be a district, but run by the government, the federal government." ([27:57])

4. Capitalism and Personal Responsibility (35:32 - 46:42)

Beck passionately defends capitalism, portraying it not merely as an economic system but as a moral revolution that empowers individuals to achieve their dreams through hard work and innovation.

• Beck on Capitalism:

  "Capitalism is not just an economic system. It is a moral revolution." ([35:33])

He contrasts capitalism with other systems, highlighting its role in eliminating feudalistic constraints and fostering technological and societal advancements. Beck criticizes the current societal shift away from personal responsibility, linking it to increased depression and lack of motivation among youth.

• On Personal Responsibility:

  "We have taken away every responsibility. You know, why your kids are depressed." ([20:07] indirectly related)

Beck shares personal anecdotes about his upbringing, influenced by his father's belief in positive thinking and visualization, which he credits for his success despite skepticism from others.

• Personal Anecdote:

  "My father was always like, you're going to make it. Whatever you set your mind to." ([35:32])

He underscores the importance of failure as a learning tool, arguing that modern society's aversion to failure hampers personal growth and resilience.

• On Failure:

  "Failure is a part of life. The reason why our kids are so tender is we've never let them fail." ([35:32])

5. The Global Impact of Capitalism (46:42 - 47:03)

Beck concludes by highlighting capitalism's global influence, pointing out how innovations born from free markets have improved lives worldwide. He emphasizes that despite criticisms, capitalism remains the most effective system for reducing poverty and rewarding hard work.

• Global Influence:

  "Capitalism was the one that just broke all of the chains of feudalism and said to the world, if you have an idea, if you have a dream, try." ([35:33])

• Final Affirmation:

  "Compared to every other system in the world, it has taken more people out of poverty, rewarded more hard work and transformed more nobodies than any other system the world has even imagined." ([35:33])

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Conclusion In this episode of The Glenn Beck Program, Beck provides a thorough examination of critical issues facing the United States, particularly focusing on the complexities of Washington D.C.'s governance and the overarching principles of capitalism. Through engaging dialogue and compelling statistics, Beck advocates for personal responsibility and the enduring power of free markets, while critiquing governmental overreach and societal complacency.

"Capitalism is not just an economic system. It is a moral revolution." – Glenn Beck ([35:33])

This episode serves as a robust reflection on the state of American society, urging listeners to embrace individual initiative and resist systemic failures.

Transcript

[Glenn Beck]

Got all the big stories of the day. President Trump declares today D.C. liberation Day. What is he, what is he insinuating here? What is he instituting? Is he allowed to do it? We have the list of what he's allowed and what he's not allowed to do to make DC Safe again and talking directly to you and probably your kids. Capitalism is not the boogeyman that should get all the blame. It's more than an economic system. It is the way to fix what's broken in our own lives and our own families. And point points to the future for the youth. I explain it all on today's podcast. You know when you're, you're, you're staring down at that bank statement in horror, you know that feeling, right? It feels like every dollar you've just made is already spoken for. Mortgage, credit cards, loans. Drip, drip, drip, drip, drip. Avoiding your financial future in a bright way. Here's one thing you don't have to do. Live like that anymore. You don't have to live like that. At American Financing, their mortgage consultants work for not the lenders. That means their only goal is to help you pay less, get out of debt faster, and keep more money. You know, keep it where it belongs, in your pocket. And they're not going to push you into something that doesn't make sense for your life because, you know, they're not salary based, they're not commission driven. They work for you. Now, maybe it's refinancing to free up cash. Maybe it's consolidating high interest debt into one manageable payment. Maybe it's just finding a lower rate finally allow you to breathe a little bit again. They'll walk you through step by step. It's your money. Take control of it. American Financing, 800-9062-440800-90624 40 it's americanfinancing.net hello America. You know, we've been fighting every single day. We push back against the lies, the censorship, the nonsense of the mainstream media that they're trying to feed you. We work tirelessly to bring you the unfiltered truth because you deserve it. But to keep fight going, we need you right now. Would you take a moment and rate and review the Glenn Beck podcast? Give us five stars and lead a comment. Because every single review helps us break through Big Tech's algorithm to reach more Americans who need to hear the truth. This isn't a podcast. This is a movement. And you're part of it, a big part of it. So if you believe in what we're doing. You want more people to wake up? Help us push this podcast to the top rate review, share together we'll make a difference. And thanks for standing with us. Now, let's get to work. You're listening to the Best of the Glenn Beck Program. Started the show off with Donald Trump is going to be speaking to the nation here in about 30 minutes. Usually he's late, so maybe in an hour. But he's going to be talking about what he's doing in Washington D.C. and we're going to give you all the facts on that because, I mean, the first thing that everybody in the media is telling me is a fascist. No, he can't do that in Los Angeles. But the District of Columbia is federal mandate, so the ones really in charge of the District of Columbia is the federal government. He can do many things that he can't do anywhere else in Washington, D.C. but of course, they just use this to claim he's a fascist. No, it's District of Columbia, but I'll get into that later. So we're talking about crime and why the teens are becoming worse and worse. Why? Why? How can I say this? Let me switch this around. Because we look at it at my age and go, how could you do that? Let me look at it from. I've been raised in the last 16 years and my kid, my family went through hell in 2008 and. And they've never really gotten back on their feet. So I was raised, I was raised in a family that is broken, in a society that is broken. I went to school. They told me the system is against you. They taught me how to be. How to hate people, how to hate people of other races, how to blame things on everybody else and on the system, how never to take responsibility and how you've watched your whole life, nobody gets punished. The bad guys don't go to actual jail. Uh, you know, at the top level. And you know what? Here in a local level, nobody seems to go to jail for it anyway. I mean, think about it was 3% of those criminals that used a gun in violent crime in Washington D.C. 3% went to jail. 3. Now, if it was a bunch of white guys carrying guns and not even using them in Washington D.C. what do you think the percentage would be that they went to jail? I would say probably closer to 100%. It's the law and they don't screw around with it. Right? We got gun violence. We got to get tough on gun. Why aren't they not getting tough on Gun violence. Nobody's trying to solve this problem. This is why a Batman always arises. And we have to be very careful because I've told you we are entering the time of Gotham, that the problems seem overwhelming. Superman, I told you about that just about 20 minutes ago. Batman, a defender who sees that the system is completely broken. There is no justice. So he steps in to do it. But there's also the other angle. The Punisher. The Punisher is really more on the left. We have the. We have. My fear is that we start to believe in a Batman figure on the right and they believe in a Punisher. Um, that's really dangerous. That's not America. That's really, really, really dangerous. So what is, what's happening to us as a society? Well, you have taken away every responsibility. You know, why your kids are depressed. And I'm, I'm saying this about myself and my, my own family. So I'm not pointing fingers at anybody pointing them to me, you know, when I have low self esteem, when I feel that I'm not productive, when I'm not productive, when I'm not doing something of consequence, when I'm sitting around the house, you know, doing whatever, playing games, reading frivolous stuff, watching tv. If I do that for more than a couple of days, I start to feel like really nasty about myself. Like, you know, it's not worth any. That's the problem we have by, by devaluing capitalism. What is capitalism? In, in. In a nutshell, what capitalism is, is the right for you to work hard, to have a better idea, to produce that better idea and then be rewarded for it. That's capitalism. Now it's been conflated with consumerism and corruption and crony capitalism. But the essence is you don't have to have a title everywhere else in the world. Still go over in England, try to make it on your, your, your own. Really? Do you have the right English accent? Do you use the Queen's English? Where did you go to school? Who are your parents? That happens all over the world. Doesn't happen here. Because in our system of the free market, you have the right to have an idea and, and then work hard and produce it. But in a society where we have removed all personal responsibility, you're not responsible for anything. You took out a loan. Well, let somebody else has got to pay for that. Well, no, wait, wait, wait. You were there during the decision. You, you and your parents signed those papers. Now you may have been misguided, but also, honestly, it's like anybody my age who is like, I can't believe they're going to touch Social Security. I planned on that. Well, you may have because you had to. There's a difference if you had to. Because I could never get ahead and I paid into the system. I get it, because you paid into the system. But for anybody who says that and they don't have to rely on it, it's. What are you, stupid? I mean, we all knew this thing is coming. We all know it's a scam. All of us know it's a scam. The closer we get to retirement age, the more we need that scam to stay in place because they bled us dry everywhere else. We want what we paid in for. It's, it's the same thing here with, with capitalism. When you take away the personal responsibility, the right to succeed, and the right to fail. You notice they only, they only talk about the right to fail. They only say, you're not going to fail. You're going to fail. If you go that way, you're not going to fail with us because we're not going to let you fail. Failure is a part of life. The reason why our kids are so tender is we've never let them fail. We've never said, you know what? You played a. You played your best. Did you go out and play your best? Great. The other team smoked you because they were better. Oh, no, you were. You were a superstar out there. Now, you dropped the ball. Now, I'm not going to harp on that. I'm not going to beat that into you. I'm not going to be one of those parents who are like, you dropped the ball. I'm not that. But I'm going to tell you the truth because the truth will set you free. I didn't get the role. You know why? Because she's better, he's better. Now what are you going to do to get better at those things so that doesn't happen again? But if you just say, you know what, the system was rigged against you, the system may be rigged against you. That is also part of life. Somebody else gets the job that you're perfectly qualified for. And it may just be because of the way they look, because they have a friend who has a friend in the business, whatever it is, that's part of life. And you need to be resilient enough to understand that. Instead, all of our problems are the system's fault. And that takes away all pressure to take action. Other than to the streets, nobody believes nine to five is worth. I mean, kids expect Adulthood to be more fun. Yeah, I did too, when I was a kid. And then I grew up and I'm like, oh, crap, this is even worse. Your childhood is the. That's as good as it gets usually. I mean, unless you're in a really abusive childhood, that's as good as it gets, you know, and still your whole life is just set up to, what, recover from childhood. Because there were so many things that. Things that happened and you misinterpreted or somebody did something and you're like, I gotta. That's gonna leave a mark for the rest of my life. We're all just. That's adulthood. Trying to. Trying to put our childhood into perspective. And hopefully, you know, if you have common sense, you have faith, you can do that in pretty short order. It takes time and it's hard, but you can put that into short order. But it keeps cropping up. Mine does. I'm in the full throes of absolute, just like crazy town right now with things that are. I thought I had gotten rid of, and I gotta dig them up again and start dealing with them again, as I apparently didn't heal enough on a few things. And then the left romanticizes not working. Cuba, Cuba. You want to live on Cubans. They romanticize communism. You know anything about communism? No, because they don't teach you anything about communism. They just say it's better and, you know, ignore their hardships over in Cuba. It's just better instead of. Instead of focusing on the hardships over there and saying, you'd rather have this than that, wouldn't you? They don't focus on the hardships over there. They only focus on your hardship here. And by doing that, you're only creating something. People that have just this giant hole within them, just this emptiness because they're not working. Is your kid sleeping later and later playing games all the time on, you know, on a. On a gaming machine and. And bummed out all the time, kind of just withdrawing that, you know, why they think that's normal? Because that's what everybody does right now. But that's the cause of the problem. Nobody said, you know what? Go pick up a shovel. How's that? I told my son. He's. He's in a time between, you know, classes, and he's like, I don't feel well. I just, you know, I'm kind of. And I'm like, I get it, I get it. Here's an idea. Go work at a pizza parlor. Dad, that's not going to solve. Yes, it is, son. Yes, it is. Get up every morning and work until you're butt tired. And I guarantee you mentally, you will feel better. You will feel better. You're gonna probably complain. Oh, but you know what? Everybody did that in my day. We all did that. That's part of life. That is the value, the TR of work. Idle hands, devil's workshop. Why? It's not because you just get yourself in trouble, but because you start to be introspective and you start to look at all of the things that you don't have that you want that. And you just fuel this emptiness over and over and over again. Here's a stat that'll blow your mind. Life satisfaction. Life satisfaction. Are you satisfied with your life? How much does that does marriage affect? That marriage has no value, family no value. How much in life satisfaction does marriage change? Life satisfaction, 545%. A 545% increase in life satisfaction with marriage, by the way. Jobs. Job satisfaction, 145% increase. We're devaluing the things that give us meaning in our life. First thing you need to say to your kids, go to work. Get a job. Get a job. Get a job. Because you're never going to feel better until you. I mean Peterson said it best till you make your bed and clean your room. Clean your room, make your bed. Now step two, get the hell out of the house and get a job. When you have a job, you can come back, you can do whatever. We'll help you anyway. Get a job. Oh, but that might. Yeah, it might, it might. But I'll tell you, coddling them one more thing before I go and I got just going to touch on this. We'll talk about it later. Do you know what's now starting to hit the market and taking off? Adult pacifiers. Adult pacifiers. That's an oxymoron. And it's being accepted by kids as reasonable. No, it's not. Let me tell you about relief factor. You know, it's weird when you stop to think about it. When you were younger, you didn't really ever think much about pain. Not when you climbed a ladder, carried groceries, spent a Saturday fixing the yard. You just did things. No mental negotiation. Just gonna hurt tomorrow. Somewhere along the way, some little calculations began to start. At least in my head. Maybe I won't pick that one up. Maybe later. Life started getting a little more difficult day after day. And your interest in abilities got narrower and narrower. Relief factor is about widening them back out. And four natural ingredients that support your body's fight against inflammation that can cause long term pain. No drugs, no knockout side effects. Just a chance to reclaim those everyday moments without worrying about any of the consequences. You've been watching me, you know, for the right time, the right time to take control of your life. It's right now because life is still out there and it's not going to wait forever. So go and grab it. Relief fake factor. Let's make the can I do that question disappear in your life. Just try it for three weeks. Take it as directed. 1995 to try it for three weeks. Reliefactor.com that's relieffactor.com 800 the number for relief. 800 for relief. Now back to the podcast. This is the best of the Glenn Beck program. Let me just talk a little bit about what he's going to come out and talk about. He's crime is out of control. We talked about this last hour. The stats on crime. Jason Butrell, chief researcher, is with me today. The stats on crime in Washington, D.C. are off the charts.

[Jason Butrell]

Off the charts. And if you look over a period that goes back to like say 2010, there was a reduction around 2023. But the reduction just gets us back down to basically right when Donald Trump left office.

[Glenn Beck]

Right.

[Jason Butrell]

So if you look at it as a whole, it's still insane. The White House actually just did a comparison of the 2024 murder rates per per 100,000 people. Washington, D.C. at 27.54 is larger than Bogota at 15.1.

[Glenn Beck]

Jeez.

[Jason Butrell]

Mexico City 10.6 Islamabad 9.2 Lima 7.6 Ottawa 2.17. Paris 1.64.

[Glenn Beck]

I mean, what are we at? It just keeps going. DC 27.57. Yeah. Double the almost three times as much as Islamabad. Oh my gosh. I mean, kind of bad. Kind of bad.

[Jason Butrell]

It's nuts.

[Glenn Beck]

So you know when they say it's going down. Yes, but going down to where? From when you have to look at. It's just been out of control for a long time. And a lot of stuff we were talking about last hour, if you missed it, go to the podcast and listen. Our number one of the podcast because we were talking about, you know, kids and what's happening today and why our kids are turning out the way they're turning out. And we need to turn a corner on this. But we'll get back into that here in a second. The Washington, D.C. is different. It is a federal district. They don't have a governor. Okay. The president is kind of the governor in some ways. It's Not. But in some ways, the Congress can overrule things. In 1973, Congress passed the Home Rule Act. It granted D.C. the ability to elect a mayor and a city council. But. But Congress can still override all the local laws at any time and even manage the city's budget. Well, that would be good. They'd be good at that. Um, but they didn't even have a mayor until 1973. Did you know that? So this is not an American city, like you understand it. This is a failed American experiment. Quite honestly, 1973 is when everything changed. When I went to Washington, D.C. i. 1982, maybe, and I was working at WPGC in Washington as, I don't know, 18 years old. And the license plates back then said District of Columbia. No tax. No taxation without representation. And they were trying to become a state. They were trying to say, we pay federal taxes, we want statehood. Okay? So this has been an ongoing battle since the very, very beginning. And Washington, D.C. when it comes to policing, it's very complex. You have the Metropolitan Police, which handles the. The everyday policing under the D.C. mayor and Chief of Police. But the Park Police handle, you know, the National Mall and other national park areas in the city, which is a good portion of the city. Then the U.S. capitol Police, which is not under D.C. rule. Capitol Police, they're supposed to patrol the Capitol complex and the surrounding areas. Then the Secret Service is in charge of the White House and any of those areas. Then you have the FBI, the atf, the US Marshals that investigate crime in the DC Area, along with the police. So it's not an American city, as you understand it. If Donald Trump was going to say, I'm just going to take over, well, then, you know, maybe. Maybe you would have a point if it was Chicago. But that's not what's happening here. There is no governor, so he can call out the National Guard. Now, there are things that he can and cannot do. Here's what the President is allowed to do, and we'll hear what he wants to do. He can deploy the National Guard for law enforcement, for support, for emergencies, crowd controls, and to execute federal laws. Under the Home Rule act, the President can assume control of the Metro Police, but only for 48 hours during special conditions of an emergency nature, and the time period can be extended. So he may choose to do that and say it's a national emergency or it's a city emergency, and then just keep extending it every 48 hours. He could invoke the Insurrection act, and that way he can deploy military Forces to enforce federal law, suppress any kind of insurrection, or restore order when civilian authorities can't. But I don't think he's going to do that because he would have done that in Portland or Seattle or any of the other crazy places. Increase the presence of federal law enforcement in D.C. including the FBI, U.S. marshals, Capitol Police and DEA. So he can increase the presence of them. It also allows him to form an interagency task force under federal authority to conduct operations in dc. My guess is that's what he's going to do. He's going to put an interagency task force on the streets that can conduct operations in the District of Columbia. That seems the broadest and the one that would give him the most authority without any kind of time restrictions on it. Here's what the President cannot do. And I want you to know before he speaks, if he suggests any of these, I will speak out against him. Because the President cannot do these things. He can't take indefinite control of the Metro PD and do it for 48 hours and then he has to renew it every 48 hours. I just don't see that as a workable thing. But, but he can't take indefinite control of the Metro pd. He cannot repeal the Home Rule Act. Only Congress can alter it or repeal it. He cannot use active duty military forces beyond the D.C. national Guard in certain roles for domestic law enforcement unless authorized by Congress or under specific exemptions like the Insurrection Act. Okay, so no active duty can go on. National Guard can, but only in certain roles. And he also cannot make any changes to DC's local criminal laws or police policies. Only Congress can make those changes. So if you're talking about a fascist, those. That would be the mark of a fascist. If he says we're going to do that, if he says we want to change the criminal laws, he is absolutely in. In within his jurisdiction, if you will, to say, I'm going to pass some new criminal laws, but Congress has to do them. He can't just sign executive orders and do those. He has to have Congress to do those. That last thing on the eo, I'm not really sure. I'm not a big fan of executive Orders. I don't know how far those things have been expanded in the last 25 years, but I would hope that it is not going to because that should be challenged and, and I don't know how that would work out.

[Jason Butrell]

What I would love to see him do, I know he can't overrule overrun the Home Rule act, but I Would love to see him use that bully pulpit to bully pulpit the crap out of the Home Rule act to really do a full court press and get rid of it. Because in my opinion, it's an abomination. It's not what the framers had in mind. It should not be there. And I think the only. I mean there's multiple reasons why. You can say why we have the Home Rule Act. It's not supposed to be that way. It's supposed to be a way to where Congress. Which is a joke because I think Congress gave it up because why they're doing the thing that they always do, which is skirt responsibility.

[Glenn Beck]

Disagree. I was alive at the time. Disagree. When they got it. What did the license plates change to immediately? What was it? No taxation without representation. That was a move towards statehood. That was a progressive. Okay, give us home rule. Agreed. And then. Then we need to have a governor. We need to have a state. We need to have representation in Washington D.C. this has all been a move to make Washington D.C. a, a state when our founders thought that was absolutely the wrong thing to do. We cannot have our capital in a state. It has to be a district, but run by the government, the federal government.

[Jason Butrell]

But they basically already have it. They have the benefits without it actually being a state. Because in the 1960s they were given three electoral votes. You want to guess how many times that the District of Columbia has gone towards Republicans and Republicans have gotten.

[Glenn Beck]

I'm going to take a GU000. Right. Right.

[Jason Butrell]

Just insane.

[Glenn Beck]

Yeah. So it's. This is not fascism. You need to understand that. Right. You need to understand home rule change 1973. Just remember that home rule 1973. That gave them the ability to have a mayor and a city council. They never had one until 1973. This is a failed American experiment. It has become more and more leftist. And the more leftist it gets, the more out of control that city gets. Congress should abolish home rule. It should go back to Congress and the president running that city. They're very capable of doing it. And the only reason to have home rule is to make it a state. That's the only reason. I mean. And honestly, look at that. Look at. Look at the mayors. Anybody remember Marion Barry? Marion Barry was caught smoking crack and they reelected him. I mean he went to prison, I think. And then he got out of prison. He's like, yeah, remember me? I'm the crack guy. Yeah. Elect me again. And they did. I mean it's. It's an insane city. It's an insane City and our capital cannot. I remember, you know, when I was living in Washington, D.C. i was a kid, 18 years old, all by myself. Never. I had never been west of Boise or east of Boise, Idaho. And I move across the country, and I move to Washington, D.C. it was the freakiest place I had ever been. I'd never seen an east coast city. I had never. I mean, yeah. But I remember I got up every morning and I would go to the Lincoln Memorial, and I would sit on the stairs of the Lincoln Memorial, watch the sunrise. And in the summer, and they would hose that thing down. Fire. Fire hoses, and they'd hose that thing down. I don't think that's been washed and, I don't know, maybe since 1983. And I could walk the whole Mall in the middle of the night. I could walk. I could walk up to the Capitol doors and these beautiful relief doors that tell the story of America. You can't even walk up the stairs to those doors. You are no longer allowed to even see those doors. Okay? Because of security. And what is that security giving you? Security is giving you maybe some security inside the Capitol, but everybody else, you're on your own. Well, that's my city as well. I am so proud of this audience. I remember when we went and we did Restoring Honor there, and the National Park Service called the office and said, could you please ask Mr. Beck to please ask his audience to stop calling us? You know why? You know why they were. Why this audience was calling? Because people had gone up and they had seen how badly it was being run and how the Park Service didn't. Wasn't mowing all the lawns and everything else. So this audience volunteered over and over and over again, saying, can we just come up and mow the lawn? Can we just. We'll clean it all up. We just want to mow the lawns in Washington, D.C. and the park Service was like, we can't let people just come out on the block. And I'm like, you know what? You should. You should. If the people can fix it, and you can't let the people fix it, it's their own. It's their own place. You can't do things in Washington, D.C. and it's really not for your safety. They'll say it's for your safety, but it's not. And it is. Separated the people from that city. And now you go walking down the street. Good luck. I go walking down the street with my wife at night because I have armed security with me. I'm not Walking down that. I'm not walking down that street by myself, nor would you. You want to go to Washington D.C. and see the founding documents, good luck with that. This is the best of the Glenn Beck. I want to talk to you. We've been talking today about the system and what is happening to our kids, what's happening to our world. And Jason and I, I think we were kind of, you know, at this place where when I was a kid, I was lucky enough, my mom and my dad never said, you can't make it. My dad believed in the power of positive thinking, and he believed in words. Create a force and they do. What you think becomes, what you speak becomes. You say it enough and it becomes. And so my, my father was always like, you're going to make it. Whatever you set your mind to. If you do the work and you can visualize it, it will happen. I've been talking to some people about some things and they were like, glenn, we know your record. If you see it, it's done. And it is truly, that is one of my superpowers that my dad gave me was visualize it. If you can see it done, it will be done. You have to put all the work into it, but it will be done. When your vision is murky or cloudy, you're going to create more murky and cloudy. You have to have a super clear vision on things. But I know that everybody around me, my dad said, you should just have a backup son because radio is not a really good industry to get into for success. And I know, I mean, the odds of you being a talk radio national guy, there's what, five of us, six of us, not even that, maybe four of us left. The odds Hollywood looks like, easy to get into compared to this. And my dad was right. Now, everybody else in my life said, you'll never make it, loser. You'll never make it. But I. I set out because I knew what I could accomplish. And I also, I also wanted to prove people wrong. And I'm not sure that's a very American thing, you know, when you set out to go. Really, you think, I can't do that? Oh, I will. I mean, how many people cross the mountains because somebody in their life was like, you're never gonna cross those mountains? Oh, yeah, so very. Maybe it's childish, but it's also a very American thing to do. And when we take that, what's left? Jason, if your kids don't have that, I'm gonna prove it. I. I can prove it. You become what Europe an average.

[Jason Butrell]

Who cares Country?

[Glenn Beck]

Pretty much, yeah. Like Europe. Like Europe. They don't believe they can change things because they've been conditioned to believe the system won't allow it. And they've allowed a system to be created around them. Now, we were the first to break that, and nobody's really broken that except us. Nobody went the, you know, the full Monty like the United States did. And that's what. That's what built people in my generation and all the generations before. But we don't have that foundation being taught or even extolled by anybody. I mean, now the slogans are, you know, capitalism is just greedy. Capitalism ex, you know, exploits. Capitalism is the reason why you're miserable. No, no, you're miserable because you're thinking about your misery. I mean, it's an easy thing to say when you've never had to live without it and our kids have never had to live without it. Capitalism is not just an economic system. It is a moral revolution. And I don't think we frame it that way enough. You know, for the first time in human history, your destiny was not locked into who. What family you were born into. Did you. Did you come from wealth and wild success? Oh, no, yeah, I didn't. I mean, I mean, really, honestly, I've looked into my genealogy. It is a loser city. I am the king of the loser people. There's not a single person that did anything in my genealogy at all. Me included. I. But I'm like the king of all of the people. Nobody. Nobody. I mean, really. One of the relatives that I hang on to, my. My great great grandfather and great great uncle, you know, they did. They were captured by the south in the Civil War after a week of fighting, and one of them died in Andersonville. I mean, that's how you. I mean, that's how low you got to go. You're like, yeah, but what am I to. My relatives were fighting for the north, of course, got captured in the first week and one of them died in prison. But they are on the right side. That's how low it is. How could somebody like me make it? You listen to this show. You can't figure it out, right? It's America. It's America. Hard work, vision, and, honestly, luck, they all come. But for the first time, America gave that opportunity. You didn't need a king's permission to own land over in England. All of that's king's land. And then it was granted to the lords and the ladies. And if they ever wanted to sell it, they could Sell used to be that it had to go back to the king. But here you don't need to be nobility. You had to be noble to be able to open a business overseas. You didn't have to be born into privilege to invent, to create, to rise. You know why everybody over in England had such bad teeth for so long? Because if anybody would have invented the toothbrush and toothpaste, a lord or lady would have gotten all of the royalties for it. You're just a peasant and you're like, you know what? I, I'd like some minty breath. Next time I kiss you, you're not gonna get the royalties from it. You're not gonna get anything except a minty kiss, which quite honestly would be enough for me to invent the toothbrush. But that's just me speaking from today's point of view. Um, capitalism was the one that just broke all of the chains of feudalism and said to the world, if you have an idea, if you have a dream, try. It may not succeed, but try never promised you success. It gave you something much more valuable. And that is the chance. Who is striving for the chance? There have been no rich people except those who were born noble or into wealth. There's nobody that has become rich that wasn't looking for a chance they weren't doing. You didn't win it by lottery and you certainly didn't do it for long through theft. I mean, you, for almost the entirety of world history, people lived in gut grinding poverty. You, you didn't live past 30 years. There was no, there was no middle class. That, that's a function of capitalism. No middle class, no social mobility. You didn't go from the lower class to the upper class. Didn't happen. Only capitalism did that. Now has it been distorted and perverted? Yes. By whom? The people who want to treat you like a serf? The people who are like, they don't know. I know better than them. They're too stupid to rule themselves. The same people that have enslaved the rest of the world for all of humanity are now winning the argument that this isn't good. You know what? You need somebody like me to make all the decisions for you and then take all the money in the end. Wow. I mean, this is a very short window of time. Child labor used to be a necessity. It was a necessity. You, you would be out on your ear when you were 12 or 13. Nobody could. You, you had to fend for yourself. You don't anymore. You don't. Why? Because of capitalism. All of the inventions that we take for granted, the light bulb, antibiotics, the Internet at all came into the world because people were free to dream and do. Are we encouraging our kids to dream and do? If you are a 20 something, forget about all of this crap that everybody's telling you, dream and do it. What's stopping you? Honestly, what's stopping you besides fear? What is stopping you? I got to, you know, I'm making massive changes in my life and I got to a place to where, you know, my wife and I prayed on it and everything else. But before we pray on it, we always try to make the decision and then bring it to dad and say, hey, what do you think of this? Because I know as a dad, I don't want my kids to come at me, what should I do now, Dad? I don't know. Think it through. What do you think is the best thing? And then I could go, great idea. Have you thought about this? So I approach God the same way. Why you think, dad? And he'll be like, boy, I can't believe you're still alive. Out of all of the natural selection, I didn't think you would have survived. Do you know about your great great grandparents? Anyway, I'm making these changes in my life and before we brought it to God, Tanya said, what do you think? And I said, I keep making the list in my head. Pros and cons and all of the negatives, they're all based in fear. They're all based in fear. And she just looked at me and I went, I know, I know, I know. That's the worst reason to have. If it's fear based, get rid of that. Don't make a decision ever based in fear, ever, ever, ever. You will make a bad decision. Make a decision based in love or in hope or based in fact, not just like, you know what? I hope my butt starts growing flowers because then my, my farts won't, won't smell so bad. That ain't gonna happen. Okay? Real hope based in something that when you have that, you can change the world. And it's a ripple effect. When. When a guy in Ohio figured out how to mass produce steel, it built railroads in India, not just here in India. When a woman in America developed a new vaccine, children in Africa live to see adulthood. Capitalism doesn't just create wealth, it spreads it over oceans and continents and through generations. The inequalities of capitalism, they point to that as if that's proof it's broken. But the truth. Under capitalism, the poor today live better Than the kings of the past. Do you know there was a. Well, let me just go here because I'm going to run out of time. King Louie didn't have air conditioning. You know where that was invented? San Antonio. You know where it was first put? In a movie theater. Do you know why? Have you been to a building in San Antonio, Texas, in the summer? You want to kill yourself? I, I would really, if that's how I would live, I'd be like, can we make the life expectancy only 30? Because I don't think I can do this another 30 years. I mean, for the love of Pete. It came because people went, there's got to be a better way. And you didn't need a king. The king didn't have air conditioning. Queen Victoria didn't have any antibiotics. You know, you, you through just opening up a faucet. You couldn't have clean water arrive at your home. And that's not the work of a dictator. That is the work of millions of people. Thinking, dreaming, trading freely, innovating, competing. And not for the glory of the state, but the hope of what? Why do they say people come here to build a better life for themselves and their families? Why can you use that as. You know what you just. Against illegals? All they're trying to do is make a better life for themselves and their family. Wait, are you saying they can't do it here, but they can't do it there? But somehow or another under this system which is oppressing you, they can make it. What do they have that you don't have? Oh, I know. Work ethic, A dream, a desire. They've seen the other side. They don't want to live like that. Capitalism, perfect. But it is human. And anything human can be corrupted. But compared to every other system in the world, it has taken more people out of poverty, rewarded more hard work and transform more nobodies than any other system the world has even imagined. And I say that as the king of nobodies.

[Jason Butrell]

What do you think makes the perfect snack?

[Glenn Beck]

Hmm, it's gotta be when I'm really craving it and it's convenient.

[Jason Butrell]

Could you be more specific?

[Glenn Beck]

When it's cravinient. Okay, like a freshly baked cookie made with real butter, available right down the street at am pm. Or a savory breakfast sandwich I can grab in just a second at am, pm. I'm seeing a pattern here. Well, yeah, we're talking about what I.

[Jason Butrell]

Crave, which is anything from am, pm.

[Glenn Beck]

What more could you want? Stop by am pm where the snacks and drinks are perfectly craveable and convenient. That's cravenience Am PM too much good stuff.