Glenn Beck (25:39)
So Lucy Biggers is somebody who wrote an article U.S. politics, that says I woke up to the news last week that 33 year old Democratic Socialist Zoran Mamdani had beaten Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary for New York City mayor. Charismatic, handsome and social media savvy, Mamdani amassed an enormous following of young New Yorkers and spurred more than 50,000 volunteers to get out in canvas for him. His promise of free bus rides, free childcare and government run grocery stores, and his vow to tax the rich reminded me of another young, good looking, charismatic Democrat who upset the heavily favored party nearly a decade ago, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. Back then, I was one of AOC's biggest supporters. In fact, it was not too much to say that I helped her win in the fall of 2017 when I was a video producer at the left winging millennial news company now this I found myself at a small meet and greet event hosted by ARENA Political Action Committee dedicated to backing those new Democratic candidates. The speakers that night were unknown candidates hoping to take back the House. One of the candidates was Alessa Lisa Slotkin, who has since become Michigan's junior US Senator. And there was aoc, an unknown bartender turned volunteer for Bernie Sanders. Out of all of the candidates, I hit it off with Alexandria. She was beautiful, humble, articulate and had a spark of charisma. You could tell this girl was going places. We're the same age and it was easy to talk about our frustration and fear of Donald Trump, our love of Bernie, and the need for real change. From universal health care to climate action to free college, we exchanged numbers. Two months later, I booked her for a video interview on the now this program. AOC arrived to our office and by the end of the hour we felt like old friends. My friend working behind the camera is also completely taken by AOC and her vision. We agreed that AOC had tapped into something real and it was going to be popular with the coming generation. I am now 35, a mother of two and a homeowner. Like so many other people before me, I've grown up and my eyes have my ideas have moderated. Much of the hyperbole being thrown at Mamdani and his followers goes too far. For example, that Mamdani is a 100% communist lunatic, as Trump says. I don't know if that's true, but I no longer think that giving the government more of our money to run free programs is the right way to do things. I spend time at the DMV and tell me if you want government run grocery stores like run like the dmv. We need less government in our lives, less regulation and lower taxes so individuals can flourish and create capital and prosperity. Hopefully these young New Yorkers don't have to live through the downturn of New York City to learn the hard way that socialism never works. So, woman who helped AOC get elected. I still have sympathy for the young people who see inequality and poverty and want to do something about it. Their hearts are in the right place. But sadly, the promises that charismatic people like Mamdani and AOC sell are not the solutions that young people are seeking. They have been mistakenly taught that our capitalist society is the source of all of their problems and the only way to fix it is with more government spending. Whether from the lack of life experience or just pure ignorance, they fail to realize that programs offering free everything have to be paid for and nothing is free. The politics and policies they promote will lead to a more centralized government with more power, higher taxes, and a higher cost of living. I think we should extend these people grace and realize that most of them don't have any idea that they're supporting horrible ideas that literally ruin civilizations. We should understand that they just want to make the world a better place. That is what Mom Donnie, with his charming demeanor and understanding of social media, is promising to do. He is still way ahead in New York. It's weird because I have always been an optimist. Yes, I'm an optimistic catastrophist. I know that. But I've always been an optimist. I've always believed in people. I believed in the country. I believe people can change. And the older I get, I see some of that wearing thin. You know what I mean? There are times I catch myself and I'm like, no, stop it. Stop it. You know the truth. You've just had 60 years of being beaten into the ground. Nothing's going to change. Nothing's going to change. And it's all a game. And that's where the gift of youth comes in. Because it is. It is the power to renew, to breathe life into the world. That, that frankly, has gone a little weary, has lost all of our hope. We're tired, we're cynical. And then you, the youth, show up and you renew us. And that's part of your job. You are the hope that this entire country is starving for right now. And soon enough, whether we like it or not, the world is yours to shape. And it doesn't have to be shaped the way we want it shaped. But let me just plea to those, give a plea to those who are young. You need to understand something very, very, very real. Your passion, your energy, your hunger to change the world. It is fantastic and it is not invisible. It's not going unnoticed. And there are those who see it and are excited by it, but there are those who see it and crave it. They would, they would gleefully take it, twist it, bend it, and weaponize it to their own ends. Because history repeats itself. History is not clean, it's not clear cut. Revolution, war, protest, all of these things, they're not fairy tales. They happened and they can happen again. And for every cause that was just, there was somebody lurking in the wings ready to hijack it. Let me show you how this works. They take you back to 1933. The Hitler Youth brainwashed millions of German children into Nazi ideology. Why? Because they knew the youth. They were optimistic, they were idealistic. They were looking for hope. They were looking for something bigger than themselves that they could be involved in. Well, they ended up spying on families, disrupting the church services. They helped lead the German military's aggressive style, and eventually all of that led to the Holocaust. And you know the rest of the story, unless you went to a public school in 1966. Who, who did Mao rely on? The Red Guards. What did the Red Guards do? They attacked the intellectuals, they destroyed artifacts, they led chaos and violence in the street. They, they pulled university professors out and stoned them, killed them, beat them and their families. They were responsible for so much of the loss of freedom in China. And who were the Red Guards? They were the student led youth groups. They were you, if you're in that age group, that's who and why. It wasn't them. They wanted to be a part of something bigger, to change the world. The Hitler Youth wanted to be involved in something bigger. And there was always somebody who was older who couldn't get it done themselves and needed the power of the youth to be able to take that and, and, and chain it and twist it to what he wanted. 1994. Genocide in Rwanda. 1 million deaths in a hundred days. They Used machetes to kill a hundred, a million people in a hundred days. Who was the main perpetrator of this? The youth militia. Misguided. Wanting to be a part of something for justice. Something to change the world. Used by leadership. 2020 BLM. Americans youth. Flood the streets. Hammers, fists, fire, mass destruction. Ended. Lives, dreams, opportunities. Remember, you have to have the black square for blm. Did you know that all of that money ended up, most of it at blm? I'm not making this up. Look it up. BLM Incorporated. That money was laundered. That money was lost. Useful idiot. That's what Stalin used to say. So to the youth of America, I know you want to change the world. I know. I do too. I'm more jaded because I just. I. We've tried to do it over and over and over again and that's the problem. The people of my age that are using you, they know they can't do it because they've tried. And so they're now co opting you and they're convincing you that this your idea. It's. That's exactly what. But they're not. They're not most times. Most times they are looking for their own greed and their own power. So I know you want to change the world. Just don't you want to make sure that you're on the right side of right and wrong? Don't you want to make sure you're. You're not on the popular side, not on the easy side, but on the truthful side? This is really hard because you want to believe. And the people my age no longer believe many cases. But I do. I believe in you. There are millions of us that believe that. You know, it's your turn, it's your turn. But don't be used. Don't become a tool of somebody who couldn't fix it themselves. Because if they could, they would have. They would have fixed it by now. But they didn't. And now they're looking to you. Not to lead, but to serve the power. We all have to learn what, what history is begging us to learn. Yeah. The odds are stacked against real change. But here's the good, good news. Real change never comes from the odds. It comes from the people. And usually young people. But that change is often very dangerous. If the young people don't know history. They want to choose to be more than just useful. You have to choose to be true because you have a light that is dimmed as life goes on. You are the balance between the people who still see the light, still believe in the light, but have worked their whole life to try to make that light become stronger. And in many cases, we have in many ways. But in others, it just seems like it's never going to end. It's never going to be a fight. We win. And that's the way power wants it. And so we look down to you, and we're like, they have the light. They believe in the light. And if that light is true, if it is based in thinking, in reason, in critical questioning, then it's true. It's an. It's a universal and eternal light. And it's your job to not just carry it, but to guard it and protect it and refine it in the truth. Because now is your turn. And I am so excited to see what you're about to build. Our job at my age is to protect them, to tell, To. To point out the weasels that may be duping them. Just like she did. She's like, look, I. I get it. I was there. But that's not true. If you. If you base your life in truth and you guard that light, you are going to do something remarkable. The future will be brighter than anything you dared to imagine it. It is. And the best part is, it will be yours. It will be your success, not somebody else who is going to take your success and mock it.
