9.22.25 The Babylon Bee wins in court, the Fed’s interest-rate cut and political battles, and American eugenics

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The World and Everything In It – September 22, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode covers three central topics:

1. The Babylon Bee's successful court challenge against California's law restricting political deepfake and satire content.
2. The Federal Reserve’s recent interest rate cut and analysis of political and internal conflicts at the Fed.
3. The historical roots of Nazi eugenics law, tracing its inspiration to American policies and Supreme Court decisions.

Each segment presents in-depth reporting and interviews with an emphasis on free speech, economic policy, and the moral implications of histories too often forgotten.

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1. Legal Docket: The Babylon Bee Wins in Court

[06:55–14:10]

Key Discussion Points

• Background: California passed a law targeting “deceptive AI political content,” requiring any such content to carry prominent disclaimers.
• The Babylon Bee’s Satirical Response: The Bee released a parody video featuring a fake “Gavin Newsom,” lampooning California’s policies and mocking the new law.
• Legal Challenge: The Bee intentionally violated the law to prompt judicial review, arguing that satire should be protected under the First Amendment.
• Federal Court Decision: The judge struck down the law, citing overbreadth, the chilling of political discourse, and unconstitutional compelled speech.
• Principled Defense of Free Speech: Seth Dillon, CEO of Babylon Bee, discussed the importance of upholding speech rights consistently, irrespective of the speaker’s viewpoint.
• The Power and Purpose of Satire: Dillon emphasized satire’s role in exposing bad ideas while also acknowledging its power to offend.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Satire as a Tool:
  • “One of the ways that humor treats the disease of bad ideas is by exposing them for what they are. I talk about satire as being like a scalpel. You know, it does cut, and people often feel the sting. ... But you gotta think of it as a scalpel not a knife that you're just running around stabbing people with... It's cutting for a healing purpose.”
    – Seth Dillon [11:25]
• On Compelled Speech:
  • “When you lead off your joke with ‘what I’m about to tell you is a joke’ ... it just totally kills it.”
    – Seth Dillon [08:47]
• On Government vs. Public Pressure:
  • “If there’s a public response and backlash to something that somebody said ... that person’s voice hasn’t been stamped out by the government. … It wasn’t government censorship violating their First Amendment rights.”
    – Seth Dillon [10:36]
• On Support Across the Spectrum:
  • “Every now and then, you find strange bedfellows where you weren’t necessarily expecting support, but you got it.”
    – Seth Dillon, recalling Bill Maher’s defense [12:03]

Key Segment Timestamps

• [06:55] Introduction to the satire case and parody video
• [08:23] Seth Dillon on the Bee’s legal strategy
• [09:25] Phil Seckler (Alliance Defending Freedom) explains the court’s reasoning
• [10:36] Dillon on the difference between government censorship and public backlash
• [11:25] Satire as healing
• [12:03] Surprising allies in the free speech fight

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2. Monday Money Beat: Fed Interest Rate Cut and Political Tensions

[15:33–24:50]

Key Discussion Points

• Fed’s Interest Rate Cut: The Federal Reserve cut rates for the first time in nine months, aiming to shift from restrictive to more neutral policy.
• Risk of Excessive Accommodation: David Bonson explains that the challenge is determining when accommodative policy becomes excessive; markets tend to reveal this through speculative excess.
• Fed Credibility and Political Pressure:
  • The removal of Fed Governor Lisa Cook, the appointment of Stephen Mirren, and ongoing presidential pressure on Chair Jay Powell sow concerns over the Fed’s independence and credibility.
  • While consensus remains on the most recent move, growing internal division and visible campaigning for future leadership are seen as potential risks to institutional credibility.
• Labor Market vs. Housing as Economic Drags:
  • Bonson argues job growth is the central component, but the housing market freeze is interconnected, affecting adjacent sectors and labor markets.

Notable Quotes

• On Fed’s Dilemma:
  • “We don’t have a rules based system, and we’ve asked a central bank to set the price of money … And they have been consciously setting it restrictively … now they want to move towards a neutral posture, which I believe we ought to be in.”
    – David Bonson [16:20]
• On Assessing Policy Excess:
  • “We're not at a point where the cost of money is driving malinvestment. But that would be the thing I would look to … to see when that begins to happen.”
    – David Bonson [19:10]
• On Fed Credibility:
  • “You have this kind of division on the Fed that we just haven't seen much at all in my adult lifetime. And that is eroding credibility. That's problematic, but it's hanging in there.”
    – David Bonson [21:20]
• On Labor Market vs. Housing Freeze:
  • “Jobs are always the bigger issue because jobs and the health of the labor market feed so many other elements of the economy... The housing market freeze would most certainly bleed into the labor market.”
    – David Bonson [23:27]

Key Segment Timestamps

• [15:46] Fed’s interest rate cut explained
• [16:20] Risks and market signals for excess accommodation
• [19:34] Analysis of Fed credibility amidst political battles
• [22:55] Labor market versus housing market as economic drags

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3. World History Book: American Roots of Nazi Eugenics

[25:53–32:08]

Key Discussion Points

• Nazi Eugenics Law: In 1933, Hitler’s regime enacts the “Law for the Prevention of Offspring with Hereditary Diseases,” targeting groups deemed “unfit.”
• Direct Inspiration from U.S. Policy:
  • U.S. is world leader in eugenics research and legislation; 24 states had sterilization laws, and Supreme Court rulings (notably Buck v. Bell) upheld forced sterilization.
  • Hitler studied American practices and cited them as precedent.
• Mechanics of Nazi Implementation:
  • Creation of “hereditary health courts;” forced sterilization, promotion of eugenics in media, targeting of women to denounce neighbors.
  • Expansion of measures to include forced abortion and euthanasia of those considered “incurable.”
• Moral Implications:
  • Catholic and Confessing churches opposed the laws but had little effect.
  • Physicians and medical professionals became early and ardent collaborators.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On American Precedent:
  • “The United States was not just a template for Hitler, but in fact was an inspiration for Hitler.”
    – Dr. Mark Conrad [27:06]
• Supreme Court Rationale (Holmes Opinion):
  • “It would be better for all the world if instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring or let them starve for their imbecility, they were sterilized.”
    – Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes (as read by Mark Conrad) [27:34]
• On the Complicity of Professionals:
  • “Physicians were Nazified more thoroughly and sooner than any other profession.”
    – Beth Greekpolleli [30:24]
• Goebbels’ Chilling Philosophy:
  • “We must have a healthy people in order to prevail in the world.”
    – Joseph Goebbels (quotation reported) [30:28]

Key Segment Timestamps

• [25:53] Introduction to Nazi eugenics law
• [26:10] Social Darwinism roots explained
• [27:06] U.S. as model for Nazi policy
• [27:34] Supreme Court’s Buck v. Bell rationale
• [28:36] Nazi use of denunciation and propaganda
• [29:19] Mass reporting and implementation
• [30:09] Catholic/Christian opposition and professional complicity
• [30:28] Goebbels’ speech and policy expansion

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Conclusion

This episode of The World and Everything In It provides an insightful exploration into:

• The limits and importance of free speech via the Babylon Bee’s legal stand,
• The subtle but significant tremors within U.S. monetary policy and its intersection with politics,
• A sobering reminder of how American legal and scientific thought fed into some of the darkest policies of the twentieth century.

The reporting is careful, thorough, and reflective, offering both news and crucial cultural analysis.

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Transcript

[Mary Reichard]

Good morning. Can a joke change the law? The Babylon Bee thought so, then proved it.

[Seth Dillon]

One of the ways that humor treats the disease of bad ideas is by exposing them for what they are. I talk about satire as being like a scalpel. You know, it does cut.

[Nick Eicher]

That's a head on legal docket. Also today, the Monday money beat. The Fed finally cuts interest rates. Economist David Bonson is standing by. And the world history book today, the seeds of the United States was not.

[Kent Covington]

Just a template for Hitler, but in.

[David Bonson]

Fact was an inspiration for Hitler.

[Mary Reichard]

It's Monday, September 22nd. This is the world and everything in it. From listener supported world radio, I'm Mary Reichard.

[Nick Eicher]

And I'm Nick Eicher. Good morning.

[Mary Reichard]

Time now for the news. Here's Kent Covington.

[Kent Covington]

The sounds from a memorial service on Sunday for the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Tens of thousands packed out the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, home of the NFL's Arizona Cardinals. And thousands more crowded into an overflow arena, bringing the total by some estimates to more than 100,000, including President Trump.

[David Bonson]

I know I speak for everyone here today when I say that none of us will ever forget Charlie Kirk and neither now will history.

[Kent Covington]

Trump said he would posthumously award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Many in attendance vowed to continue Charlie's work, including his wife, Erica Kirk.

[David Bonson]

Through all the pain, never before have I found as much comfort as I now do.

[Mary Reichard]

In the words of our Lord's Prayer.

[Seth Dillon]

Thy will be done.

[Kent Covington]

She was unanimously elected CEO and chair of the Arizona based Turning Point usa. Charlie Kirk founded the political action group when he was just a teenager. Erica also spoke about the 22 year old suspect accused of fatally shooting her husband during a campus event in Utah earlier this month.

[Caleb Woolley]

That man.

[Mary Reichard]

That young man.

[Caleb Woolley]

I forgive him.

[Kent Covington]

Others honoring Kirk from the stage included Vice President J.D. vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Donald Trump Jr. President Trump delivered a threat over the weekend to Afghanistan's ruling Taliban government. It follows earlier remarks by Trump last week when he said he wants to once again station US Troops at Bagram Air Base north of Kabul. He said it could be strategically important to counter threats from China. But the Taliban said it is not interested in striking a deal with Trump for US Forces to return to the base. And President Trump responded, saying he will not keep asking nicely.

[David Bonson]

We're talking now to Afghanistan and we want it back. And we want it back soon, right away. And if they don't do it, if they don't do it, you're going to find out what I'm going to do.

[Kent Covington]

And he followed that up on social media, saying if Afghanistan does not give Bagram Air Base back to those who built it, the United States, United States of America, bad things are going to happen. The Taliban seized full control of the base after the chaotic US Military withdrawal four years ago. The uk, Australia and Canada have formally recognized a Palestinian state, a coordinated move that drew an angry rebuke from Israel. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said it is meant to move closer to a so called two state solution to the regional turmoil.

[David Bonson]

Ordinary people, Israeli and Palestinian, deserve to.

[Nick Eicher]

Live in peace, free from violence and suffering.

[Kent Covington]

The announcements reflect growing frustration with Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza and the expansion of settlements in the West Bank. But for now, the recognition may be mostly symbolic. None of the three governments has outlined firm steps toward embassies or full diplomatic ties, and leaders have stressed conditions attached to those kinds of future steps, such as excluding Hamas and advancing reforms. But US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee criticized the move, saying Israel is not only fighting to eliminate Hamas, what has been an existential threat to them since October 7th, but they're also dealing with.

[Nick Eicher]

A war with all of the PR.

[Kent Covington]

Nonsense that's coming all over the world.

[Nick Eicher]

But particularly out of Europe, and it's very troubling.

[Kent Covington]

More countries, including France, are expected to follow suit at the United nations this week. A bipartisan group of lawmakers made a rare trip to China on Sunday, marking the first visit by a House delegation to Beijing since 2019. The group met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang. Democratic Congressman Adam Smith said the two sides clearly have their disagreements, but open dialogue is absolutely crucial to resolving those and making sure that we find a way to peacefully deal with. He said that dialogue is especially crucial on military matters. Smith was joined by Democrats Ro Khanna and Chrissy Houlahan, as well as Republican Michael Baumgartner. All serve on either the House Armed Services or Foreign Affairs Committee. Li Qiang welcomed the delegates, calling it an icebreaking trip to strengthen ties. President Trump has announced plans to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the APEC summit in South Korea next month. Sonny Curtis has died at the age of 88. Curtis was a vintage rock n roller who wrote the chart topping song I Fought the Law as well as the theme song to the Mary Tyler Moore Show. Starting as a teenager, he wrote or co wrote hundreds of songs from Keith Whitley's country smash I'm no Stranger to the Rain, to the Everly Brothers, Walk Right Back. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll hall of fame in 2012 as a member of the Crickets. I'm Kent Cuffington. And straight ahead, comedy and free speech on legal docket Plus, David Bonson talks about conflict within the Federal Reserve. This is the world and everything in it.

[Mary Reichard]

It's the world and everything in it for this 22nd day of September 2025. Thank you for joining us today. Good morning, I'm Mary Reichard.

[Nick Eicher]

And I'm Nick Eicher. Time now for legal docket today. Satire, deepfakes and the First Amendment. A year ago, the Christian satire site the Babylon Bee dropped a video parody dripping with irony. Hi, I'm Gavin Newsom, the Governor of California.

[Kent Covington]

This is a message for the people.

[David Bonson]

Of America given in my authentically recorded non AI voice.

[Kent Covington]

Thanks to my leadership over the last.

[David Bonson]

Several years that almost 1 million people.

[Nick Eicher]

Are now fleeing the state every year.

[Kent Covington]

We even ran out of U Hauls on my watch. The cost of living and homelessness have skyrocketed, schools are failing, drug dealers and.

[David Bonson]

Human traffickers are pouring across the border.

[Kent Covington]

This isn't a deep fake and you.

[David Bonson]

Can rest assured that it isn't.

[Kent Covington]

Because I just signed an unconstitutional law outlawing deep fakes.

[David Bonson]

No one would dare violate it. Thank you and science bless America.

[Nick Eicher]

That parody was not random. As you heard the fake Governor Newsom say he had just signed a law targeting so called deceptive AI political content. That part was the true part. The Bee made the video to force a legal test of that law and it landed both comedically and constitutionally. Last month, a federal judge considered a lawsuit the Bee filed and struck the law down.

[Mary Reichard]

Last week I spoke to the CEO of the Babylon Bee, Seth Dillon.

[Seth Dillon]

We were ready to go. I mean, we knew it was coming. He had announced that he was going to do this and we were working on a concept for how the moment he made this unlawful, we would immediately challenge it by violating that law. We were going to parody him immediately. So it got a lot of attention. It generated a ton of attention.

[Mary Reichard]

One major issue was compelled speech. The Bee would have to post a disclaimer and set it in the largest font on the page.

[Seth Dillon]

Definitely defeats the purpose because it kills the joke. It's also compelled speech because it's a disclaimer. We don't want to say when you lead off your joke with what I'm about to tell you is a joke and then you give the joke and then what you have just read is a joke, you know, it's. It just totally kills it.

[Mary Reichard]

Because the law targeted content and viewpoint, the court applied the most rigorous level of constitutional review. Strict scrutiny the court found California law did satisfy a compelling government interest to protect elections, but it did not meet the second prong of that strict scrutiny test that it was narrowly tailored to achieve that compelling purpose.

[Nick Eicher]

Phil Seckler of Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented the Bee, explains the reason why.

[David Bonson]

The court pointed at the fact that.

[Kent Covington]

The statute was very broad and didn't.

[David Bonson]

Even require an actual injury like fraud or defamation to be able to bring.

[Kent Covington]

A claim against the content creator. Second, the court pointed to the fact that anybody in California who saw the content could seek remedies. It wasn't limited to the person who was injured. And third, of course, the court pointed to the fact that even satire and parody could be swept up.

[Mary Reichard]

The judge said that chilled political discourse and ruled the state cannot play minister of truth. I reached out to Governor Newsom's office and to the state attorney general by email and phone. My first message was actually blocked. The AG's office wrote back that it was reviewing the ruling and referred me to advisories about health care and consumer law.

[Nick Eicher]

The case comes as Comedians are under scrutiny. Just last week, Late Night host Jimmy Kimmel was suspended after wrongly linking Charlie Kirk's accused killer to the MAGA movement. Some say it chose a double standard. Seth Dillon sees it differently.

[Seth Dillon]

I'm not one of those people who's like, oh, well, if my side's doing it, I'm okay with it. If their side's doing it, I'm not. These are principles that we have to uphold in any circumstances when we're talking about our rights. What we're defending in this case is, you know, the First Amendment right and government using its power to suppress certain speech that is protected, that's a violation of the First Amendment. If it's public pressure, that's different. You know, if there's a public response and backlash to something that somebody said and the network decides that they want to part ways with that person, that person's voice hasn't been stamped out by the government. It's not like it's criminal for them to say what they say. They faced backlash and consequences for what they said. But it wasn't government censorship violating their First Amendment rights.

[Mary Reichard]

Much as the bee stings, Dylan told me, even in tense cultural times, satire can heal.

[Seth Dillon]

One of the ways that humor treats the disease of bad ideas is by exposing them for what they are. I talk about satire as being like a scalpel. You know, it does cut, and people often feel the sting of satire. But you gotta think of it as a scalpel not a knife that you're just running around stabbing people with. We're talking about a scalpel that's being used to cut out some kind of social cancer, you know, and that's a good thing. It's a healthy thing. It's cutting for a healing purpose.

[Nick Eicher]

Defending it costs time and energy, but Dylan says it's worth it.

[Seth Dillon]

You know, it's advantageous for us to be involved in those fights because they look like the fools who are trying to silence comedians.

[Nick Eicher]

And he's found some surprise allies along the way.

[Seth Dillon]

I remember very distinctly when we were going through it with Twitter, and Twitter had suspended our account. You know, Bill Maher did a segment on it, talking to his audience and guests about how it may not be satire that I think is funny. And, you know, it's Christian satire. I thought Christianity itself was satire. You know, he's taking jabs at us, but at the same time defending our right to speak. So, yeah, every now and then, you find strange bedfellows where you weren't necessarily expecting support, but you got it even.

[Mary Reichard]

When speech is offensive. Lawyer Phil Seckler says the remedy is more speech, not government bans.

[David Bonson]

The other thing to keep in mind.

[Kent Covington]

Is what the judge said in California. He said the antidote is not stifling content creation, but encouraging counterspeech, rigorous fact checking, and the uninhibited flow of democratic discourse.

[Nick Eicher]

Seth Dillon sees that same antidote at work outside the courtroom. He says humor, even sharp satire, can serve the cause of open debate. And that's one reason, among many. Dylan says the loss of his friend Charlie Kirk is so profound. Kirk embodied that spirit, a fan of the Bee who mixed argument with wit and humor to make his points.

[Seth Dillon]

Charlie was an encourager to me. I don't know that any of us have a lot of people in our lives who just proactively reach out to be an encouragement. But he was that person. He would just randomly text to say something nice. You know, he would see something that you did that he appreciated, and he would let you know he did it publicly, too, but just privately behind the scenes, just, you know, saying, you know, keep it up. Oh, I know that's really hard. You know, I'm with you. I'm here for you. I'm praying for you. And then sending a script, traversed along with that to encourage his friends and allies so that they didn't feel like they were alone.

[Mary Reichard]

For Dylan, that kind of support is what the Bee hopes to offer in its own way, to encourage, to challenge, and to keep people laughing.

[Seth Dillon]

Charlie's death is a reminder of the darkness that's out there. I think Charlie would want us to move forward with a focus on what really matters. He'd want us to encourage each other and he'd want us to continue to laugh. And so that's what the bee is going to try to do, is continue to spring levity.

[Mary Reichard]

And that's this week's legal docket.

[Kent Covington]

Additional support comes from Cedarville University, equipping students for professional excellence and gospel impact Cedarville. Edu World from Dort University, whose online MBA and MPA programs prepare leaders for lasting impact. Dort University until all is made new. And from his words abiding in you, a Bible memorization podcast designed for truck drivers. His words abiding in you on all podcast apps.

[Mary Reichard]

Coming up next on THE World and everything in it, the Monday Money Beat.

[Nick Eicher]

Time now to talk business markets and the economy with financial analyst and advisor David Bonson. David heads up the wealth management firm the Bonson Group. He is here now. And David, good morning to you.

[David Bonson]

Good morning, Nick. Good to be with you.

[Nick Eicher]

Well, David, the Fed has just cut rates for the first time in nine months. It was a move described as a risk management cut, officials saying that they want to get away from a restrictive policy stance towards something more neutral. And I think you should take some time and explain what that means in monetary policy. But I'd also ask at what point does an easing monetary policy shift from being one that you would consider prudent to becoming something that has gone too far, becoming excessively accommodative?

[David Bonson]

Well, I think the first thing that has to be said is that it's very unfortunate that we have to speculate about what that is, that having a central bank who is supposed to arbitrarily determine what the neutral rate is is I think problematic when I believe market forces are the best adjudicator and some rules based system for doing such. We don't have a rules based system and we've asked a central bank to set the price of money and then they have to decide do they want to set the price of money restrictively, accommodatively or neutrally, given different shifts in the economy. And they have been consciously setting it restrictively, meaning setting the cost of money so high that it would attempt to slow down economic activity. And they have stated now that they want to move towards a neutral posture, which I believe we ought to be in something more neutral. And your question then is, when will you know that they've gone beyond neutral into something accommodating easing, trying to stimulate and indeed, perhaps excessively stimulate activity. Well, the question is not so much when we'll know that happens as to when it happens, whether or not they wanted it to happen. Because if you go into a recession, then they are purposely trying to be beyond neutral into accommodative, using monetary policy consciously, purposely to drive certain levels of economic activity. And if we are not in a recession, or if there is not an economic reason to try to juice the economy, so to speak, then how do we know that they've gone too far? Well, the answer is you don't know until you see it. And this has been the issue for decades, going back to multiple times throughout the reign of Alan Greenspan as Fed chair. So financial markets are usually the easiest way to see it. And when you see a lot of speculation and silly leveraged activity, what I refer to as malinvestment, in other words, a low cost of money attracting a lot of capital and a lot of debt and a lot of leverage and a lot of financial decision making that you would not otherwise be seeing. So we're not there yet. We're not at a point where the cost of money is driving malinvestment. But that would be the thing I would look to Nick to see when that begins to happen.

[Nick Eicher]

Well, David, there's also the question of the credibility of the Fed. The President continues to apply pressure on the Fed Chairman, Jay Powell. The Lisa Cook removal fight is in the courts. Stephen Mirren has just come in aggressively touting deeper cuts. How solid is the Fed's credibility right now, David? Is it hanging in there or starting to erode?

[David Bonson]

Yes, hanging in there and eroding. I do believe that the termination of Lisa Cook was very pretextual, that we had an unqualified Fed governor. So I'm not defending Lisa Cook. I don't think that the Biden administration should have appointed her. But then the reasons that the Trump administration gave to terminate her I think are a very poor rationale. She may very well, by the way, be guilty of it, but she hasn't even had charges brought against her, let alone been convicted. And so I just still believe in enough procedural due process that it's hard to take seriously terminating someone for something that it may not even result in charges, let alone a couple conviction. And the courts have so far ruled that way. Now the administration is asking for the Supreme Court to jump in. So you have this whole issue with the White House attempting to move out a Fed governor who by statute in the Federal Reserve act can only be terminated for cause. And then now Stephen Mirren coming in and being approved by the Senate and sworn in, and then a few minutes later being part of the FOMC meeting this last week and voting for a half point rate cut, the only one to do so, which is fine theoretically, but on the dot plot indicated he sees one and a half percentage points coming out by the end of the year where no one else is even close to that. And so you kind of, I think effectively see somebody campaigning as a Fed governor to be the next Fed Chair when Jay Powell's term ends next year. These things are all a little bit silly. Now, the reason I say hanging in there is you did have a close to consensus view here on this single quarter point cut that took place this last week. And even though there's a wide dispersion of expectations for where things will be in the next couple of years meetings, there's still barely up majority of nine votes indicating two more rate cuts this year, even though there's six people saying no more. And then there's Steven Mirren saying one and a half. So you have this kind of division on the Fed that we just haven't seen much at all in my adult lifetime. And that is eroding credibility. That's problematic, but it's hanging in there. So that's why I kind of answer on both sides of it. What's really the thing in front of us now is where we're headed to new leadership in the Fed in May of next year and the process by which the President goes to get there. I do believe financial markets will not mind at all someone who is going to be cutting rates if that's deemed the right thing to do. And just because the President wants it to happen doesn't make it the wrong thing. In fact, I think the President's been right to want rate cuts. The question for markets and credibility is whether or not the reason someone's cutting rates is because the President wants it. That's the issue of credibility, that we want the Fed making the decisions it makes, right or wrong for the right reason, not for right or wrong, the wrong reason, which would be political pressure.

[Nick Eicher]

Okay, last question today, David. Jobs growth clearly has slowed down, even if we haven't seen a lot of layoffs yet. And at the same time, the housing market is stuck with potential sellers kind of frozen into holding onto attractive mortgage rates because they don't want to take out new, more expensive mortgages on a different house. So between a hiring slowdown and a housing freeze which would you say is the bigger drag on the economy?

[David Bonson]

Well, of course it isn't mutually exclusive. It can be both at the same time. But jobs are always the the bigger issue because jobs and the health of the labor market feeds so many other elements of the economy, from income to savings to consumption to capital investment to industrial production. And so the various categories that drive economic growth really do have at their root a lot of connectivity to the health of the labor market, both in causation and reflection. And what I mean by that is that you get a lot of economic activity out of having gainfully employed people, but you also reflect a healthy economy in having gainfully employed people. So the other component to your question I would point out, is that housing is a subset of the labor side as well. If the seller strike in housing, this frozen housing market I refer to, were to continue, it would most certainly bleed into the labor market. There already is a substantial decline in those that are doing real estate, agent work, title work, mortgage work, processing, construction. Construction is also being heavily impacted by tariffs. So you have a lot of adjacent labor sectors that are connected to housing. So there's a connectivity in all this that I think is important.

[Nick Eicher]

All right. David Bonson is founder, managing partner and chief investment officer at the Bonson Group. He writes regularly for for world opinions and dividendcafe.com David, hey, thank you and I hope you have a great week.

[David Bonson]

Thanks so much, Nick.

[Mary Reichard]

Today is Monday, September 2022. Good morning. This is the world and everything in it from listeners supported World radio. I'm Mary Reichert.

[Nick Eicher]

And I'm Nick Eicher. Next up, the world history book. In 1933, Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist Party announce a troubling new law, one that had roots in the United States. World's Caleb Welding reports.

[Caleb Woolley]

The law for the prevention of offspring with hereditary diseases. Its name should have been warning enough. The details are much worse. The Nazis are seeking, in their words, racial hygiene.

[David Bonson]

This is a movement that really grew out of Social Darwinist thinking.

[Caleb Woolley]

Beth greekpolleli is chair of Holocaust Studies at Pacific Lutheran University. Audio from the Midwest center for Holocaust.

[David Bonson]

Education and of course, at the root of social Darwinist thinking is the idea.

[Mary Reichard]

That there are certain groups of people.

[David Bonson]

Who are of more value, who are more superior to other people.

[Caleb Woolley]

The law says anyone suffering from schizophrenia, manic depression, Huntington's hereditary, epilepsy, blindness or deafness, those with severe physical deformities, alcoholics, and anyone deemed feeble minded can be forcibly sterilized. Starting on January 1, 1934.

[David Bonson]

What happened in Nazi Germany did not arise de novo, did not arise anew from nowhere.

[Caleb Woolley]

Mark Conrad teaches at Johns Hopkins, and he served two terms on the ethics committee of the American Psychiatric Association.

[David Bonson]

The United States was not just a template for Hitler, but in fact was.

[Kent Covington]

An inspiration for Hitler.

[Caleb Woolley]

The United States is the world leader in eugenics research and legislation. When the Nazis pass their law, 24American states already have sterilization laws on the books. Hitler personally studied several of these. The U.S. supreme Court ruled in favor of forced sterilization in 1927, saying it would be better for all the world if instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring or let them starve for their imbecility, they were sterilized. Here's Conrad reading more of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes opinion.

[Kent Covington]

We have seen that the public welfare.

[David Bonson]

May call upon the best citizens for their lives.

[Kent Covington]

It would be strange if it would.

[David Bonson]

Not call upon those who already SAP the strength of the state for lesser sacrifices.

[Caleb Woolley]

Holmes goes on to compare mandatory vaccination with mandatory sterilization, saying since the government can mandate one, it can mandate the other. More than 10,000Americans are forcibly sterilized by 1933. Back in Germany, the Nazis are busy creating a second national court system. Hereditary health courts will be made up of a eugenicist, a doctor and a lawyer.

[David Bonson]

Any person can recommend. If they know that there is someone who should be investigated and be prohibited from reproducing, then they should submit those names for consideration to the hereditary health court system.

[Caleb Woolley]

The Nazis promote eugenic ideas in magazines and on the radio. They specifically target women.

[David Bonson]

If you denounce your neighbor, you are actually more womanly for denouncing them because you're a caregiver, you're a nurturer, and as a nurturer, you're nurturing the health of German society.

[Caleb Woolley]

The government is also asking all doctors, nurses, social workers and schoolteachers to report anyone with disabilities that walks into their offices or classrooms. Midwives must report all so called deformed and questionable births. January 1, 1934. When the courts open, they are inundated with reports.

[David Bonson]

Between 1934 and 1936, over 259,000 victims were denounced to these hereditary health courts.

[Caleb Woolley]

90% are forcibly sterilized. Hitler Deputy Rudolf Hess says national Socialism is nothing but applied biology. People look for loopholes like purposefully getting pregnant.

[David Bonson]

And then they would show up on their sterilization date at that clinic and.

[Mary Reichard]

Say, well, you can't sterilize me because I'm pregnant.

[David Bonson]

And so the Nazis add in, now that If a woman shows up to that sterilization appointment and is pregnant, the doctor should perform an abortion and then.

[Mary Reichard]

Sterilize her, all at the same procedure.

[Caleb Woolley]

Catholic and confessing churches opposed the government mandates, but to little effect.

[David Bonson]

Physicians were cooperating with this, physicians were.

[Kent Covington]

Falling in line with this, and so that kind of legitimized it.

[David Bonson]

Physicians were Nazified more thoroughly and sooner.

[Caleb Woolley]

Than any other profession by 1938, propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels is blunt. He says at a rally, our starting point is not the individual. And we do not subscribe to the view that one should feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, or clothe the naked. Our objectives are entirely different. We must have a healthy people in order to prevail in the world. Sterilizations continue through the fall of 1939 when the Nazis issue a new decree. Doctors and midwives are told they must register all children under three who they suspect may have a congenital disability. Midwives are paid two reg marks or about $20 today for each child they register.

[David Bonson]

And as this information, as this data is being collected, clinics, about 30 or so clinics all across Germany are being set aside for the so called care in quotations of these children.

[Caleb Woolley]

Sterilization is not the only hygiene scheme. In 1933, the Nazi Ministry of Justice released a detailed memo saying they wanted to allow doctors to end the sufferings of incurable patients. They insisted euthanasia would only be available to those demanding relief, that at least two doctors would have to sign off on it, and that only a doctor could administer the lethal drugs. The news makes it to the front page of the New York Times a day later. The headline reads, Nazis Plan to Kill Incurables to end pain. German Religious groups Oppose Move for world. I'm Caleb Woolley.

[Mary Reichard]

Next week, what happened next?

[Nick Eicher]

Tomorrow, a report from Israel. Another Rosh Hashanah celebration amid hostages still held by Hamas terrorists and no end in sight to the war in Gaza. And we will meet a classics professor turned hip hop artist turned folk songwriter. That and more tomorrow. I'm Nick Eichmann.

[Mary Reichard]

And I'm Mary Reichardt. The world and everything in it comes to you from World Radio. World's mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates and inspires. The psalmist writes, two are better than one because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up. Verses 9 and 10 of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes chapter 4 go now in grace and peace.