The Glenn Beck Program – AmFest 2025 Speech

Date: December 24, 2025
Host: Glenn Beck
Network: Blaze Podcast Network

Episode Overview

In this special episode, Glenn Beck delivers a keynote speech at AmFest 2025, addressing a young audience amid an era of uncertainty in America. He reflects on generational change, the importance of personal agency, responsibility, spiritual grounding, and the need to dispel cynicism. Beck urges listeners to reject victimhood, become leaders, and prepare to be a light in dark times. The speech is both a rallying cry and a reassurance, blending his hallmark wit, candor, and storytelling.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Honoring “Normalcy” and Introducing Jeannie Beeman

• Glenn opens by introducing Jeannie Beeman, a woman he admires for her authenticity and resilience. He highlights the rarity and importance of "just being normal" in today's cultural climate (02:43).
• Beck notes:

  “When I was your age, there wouldn’t have been somebody like this up on stage because it was the normal thing to do. Now it’s not.” (03:07)

• Jeannie’s vulnerability about her personal loss and ongoing perseverance sets the stage for themes of pain, heart, and shared purpose.

2. A Shifted World – Generational Disillusionment

• Glenn acknowledges the rapidly changing landscape younger generations have inherited:
  • Reference to 9/11 and the loss of innocence (05:54).
  • Ongoing war, financial crises, the false promise of technology, and the corrosive impact of social media (07:18).
  • COVID-19’s economic impact on “the little guy” and the increasing sense that the system is broken (08:30).
  • Challenges of post-college life, job markets, and constantly shifting realities.
• He empathizes:

  “If I’m 25 years old, I would think absolutely everything is a lie. I get it.” (10:00)

3. Rejecting Victimhood and Recognizing Agency

• Beck confronts the narrative that young people are “crazy or lazy” for feeling out of place:

  “You are not crazy. You are not lazy. You are not imagining things. The truth is, the rules have changed.” (10:31)

• The most dangerous lie, he asserts, is the idea that individuals “don’t matter.” (11:09)
• Every generation inherits a mess, but only the great ones “turn that mess into a mission.” (11:29)

4. The Power of Belief and Responsibility

• Key contrast: Past generations didn’t have it easier; they had belief—in God, in tomorrow, in personal agency (11:53).
• Prosperity is a byproduct of belief, not its cause. Systems are failing, but individuals can shape destiny.

5. Leadership, Self-Education, and Building Platforms

• Challenge to listeners: Don’t wait for others to lead—become your own leader (12:55).
• On knowledge:

  “You have the world’s library in your pocket. Learn it.” (13:20)

• Don’t take information for granted, even from the stage:

  “Don’t take anything I or anyone else on this stage says as gospel. Because I’m not Jesus. None of us are. You find the truth yourself.” (13:50)

6. Three Levers of Personal Power (14:40)

• Internal Power:
  • Work ethic, honesty, discipline, faith, response to others.
• Compounding Power:
  • Small, consistent actions and decisions build momentum over time, outpacing institutions.
  • Example: “Reputation compounds. Integrity compounds. Intellect compounds.” (16:11)
• Spiritual Power:
  • Meaning comes before prosperity; each person’s existence is purposeful.
  • “God does not create excess people. If you exist, it means you’re needed.” (17:09)

7. Rejecting Victimhood in Favor of Purpose and Responsibility

• “You are not a victim. Spread the word. History has never asked a victim to save it. Nor does history ask comfortable people to save it. History asks capable people to save.” (17:55)
• Taking on responsibility leads to purpose, which dispels cynicism and turns life into a calling (18:32).

8. A Parable: When the Lights Go Out

• Beck presents a scenario where all power and communication fail—who steps up matters most.
• The moment defines real leaders—those who take responsible action and organize without waiting for authority or permission.

  “When the lights go out, that’s when everyone will discover who they really are.” (20:28)

• No one will care about political divides or online persona—character and local action are what matter.

9. Flickering Lights: Call for Preparedness and Hope

• Acknowledges societal “lights are flickering”—in markets, politics, belief (22:03).
• Yet, from such moments, great generations rise by saying: “Oh, crap, we’ll fix it. I’ll take responsibility.” (22:56)
• Reframes power as self-control, honesty, forgiveness, and the drive to build even amid chaos (23:29).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On today’s youth and the system:

  “You are not crazy. You are not lazy. You are not imagining things. The truth is, the rules have changed. Promises have been broken. Institutions have failed.” – Glenn Beck (10:31)

• On the most dangerous lie:

  “The biggest lie that you were told is that you don’t matter.” – Glenn Beck (11:09)

• On agency:

  “A broken system does not erase human agency. It reveals who still has agency.” – Glenn Beck (11:19)

• On the challenge ahead:

  “Only the great generations turn that mess into a mission. And that’s your calling.” – Glenn Beck (11:29)

• On responsibility versus victimhood:

  “You are not a victim… History has never asked a victim to save it.” – Glenn Beck (17:55)

• On personal power:

  “Power, real power is the ability to control yourself when no one is watching. Power is telling the truth when lies are rewarded. Power is forgiving hatred when hatred is celebrated. Power is building when everyone else is tearing down.” – Glenn Beck (23:39)

Important Timestamps

• 02:43 – Introduction of Jeannie Beeman, recognizing the power of “normalcy.”
• 05:54 – Reflections on generational change (9/11, perpetual war).
• 07:18 – Social media’s divisive impact.
• 08:30 – COVID-19’s effect on small businesses, institutional failure.
• 10:00 – Generational skepticism: “I would think absolutely everything is a lie.”
• 10:31 – “You are not crazy. You are not lazy.”
• 11:09 – On the most dangerous lie—that listeners “don’t matter.”
• 13:20 – Emphasis on self-education: “You have the world’s library in your pocket.”
• 15:30 – The three levers of power: internal, compounding, spiritual.
• 17:55 – “You are not a victim. Spread the word.”
• 20:28 – Parable: “When the lights go out, that’s when everyone will discover who they really are.”
• 22:03 – Warning that “the lights are flickering.”
• 23:39 – Definition of real power.

Final Message

Glenn Beck closes with a direct encouragement to young listeners:

“If you take one thing away, it’s that you matter, that you count, that the ultimate power is there and it channels down to you and you can accomplish anything. ... Do not curse the darkness. Become the light that others will see by. We’re counting on you.” (24:00)

Summary

This AmFest 2025 speech is quintessential Glenn Beck: personal, impassioned, and urgent. He speaks to young Americans who feel disoriented and stripped of agency, emphasizes the importance of truth, learning, and spiritual grounding, and challenges every listener to take responsibility—not to wait for someone else, but to be ready to lead, especially when the systems around them falter. His message is clear: You are not born too late, you have everything you need, and your belief—expressed through courage, personal responsibility, and action—is what will light the way forward.