Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 37 | Growing Anti-Americanism

Episode Date: September 13, 2018

Sadly, patriotism has become partisan. There is a growing anti-American sentiment on the Left, and it says a lot about what leftists value. We'll break down their cynicism toward our country and their privileged disregard for American greatness.    Copyright CRTV. All rights reserved.

Hey guys, what's up? It's Ali. This is relatable, a podcast by CRTV. You can listen to anywhere you get your podcast, as you've probably figured out by now. So that means friends who don't have iPhones. You can send them to Spotify or Google Play or Omni. Anywhere you like to listen, you can listen to this podcast. And of course, you can go to CRTV.com slash Allie. Sign up with promo code Allie 20 so you can watch my lovely face while I am talking. Okay. Today we are going to talk about anti-Americanism on the left, something that we have seen exemplified, unfortunately by Democrats like Andrew Cuomo, Beto O'Rourke or some people surrounding him, Barack Obama, and others.

And you might be thinking, well, Ali, this sounds really harsh. How can you accuse an entire side of being unpatriotic? Well, I'm not accusing an entire side, and I do wish it was a harsh accusation, but it's really not. The truth is, is that patriotism has become partisan. I don't think it was always that way. I think at a time maybe before I was born, people would say that both Republicans and Democrats loved America. They just have different ideas of how that love of country could manifest itself. People of different political affiliations could discuss differences on foreign policy, domestic policy, diplomacy, taxes, welfare.

and they could come together in some sort of compromise, or at least at the end of the day, be able to look at their fellow American on the other side of the aisle and say, okay, you know, we're both part of the same country and we can love each other in that sense. But that's just not the case anymore. We are more polarized than we've ever been.

There are fewer people in the middle that was found by Pew Research in a study called polarization in American politics. And it's really unfortunate. And there is a really big and a really disturbing difference now between the right and the left that I think is fundamentally driving us apart, and that is patriotism. Now, let me go ahead and say that not all people on the right are patriotic and not all people on the left are unpatriotic. There are people on both

sides who think that America is not the greatest country in the world, that we are corrupt, that we have a lot to apologize for, yada, yada, yada, yada. And there are specifically, there are people on the left, or at least people who identify as Democrats who are more liberal than conservatives who do love our country, who support our military and are supporters of American exceptionalism. So I am not saying that only conservatives love the country and all liberals hate the country. But it is a documented fact that Republicans are more proud to be American for the Democrats. are. So I will take a look with you at some of these numbers that back up that assertion. So according to Gallup, in 2003, 70% of all Americans said that they were, quote, extremely proud to be Americans. In 2016, only 52% did. That was a record low. If you look at the graph that Gallup has in 2001, before 9-11, it was 55%, and then it spiked after 9-11 and continue to go up until 2003, and then it kind of declined after that, probably do in part to the cynicism of the war. In 2009, it was at 58%. So even though it was a lot lower than in 2003,

it was still higher than it was actually pre-9-11. And yet, from 2009 to 2016, that number dropped by six percentage points. Huh. So let's see how that actually breaks down among different kind of people. So it says that usually women have actually been prouder to be Americans than men have. But right now, for whatever reason, or at least in 2016, women are less proud than men by three points. Listen to the generational differences. This is really interesting.

And like I said, this is in 2016. It might have changed a little bit. People aged 50 to 64 were the proudest people pulled with 64 percent of them, extremely proud to be an American. ages 30 to 49, a slim majority, 51% extremely proud. And then, of course, as for 18 to 29 year olds, as of 2016, only 34%, barely a third, said that they were extremely proud to be Americans. Hmm, I wonder why that is.

Could it be that the vast majority of millennials and young people are the most progressive generation in American history? Hmm. That statistically, most of us vote to. consistently Democrat? Huh, that's really interesting. So how do Democrats feel about patriotism? Well, let's look at the numbers. So pre-9-11, 53% of Democrats were extremely proud to be Americans. And then in 2003, that number shot up to 63%. And then as of 2016, only 45% were. So significantly lower than before 9-11. So after eight years of their progress.

darling, after eight years of leadership from the president that they hailed as a hero, after eight years of ruthlessly pushing their left agenda, they were less proud to be Americans than before. Well, surely, surely after all of that time, Republicans lost some patriotism, right? After eight years of a president who did basically nothing that we agreed with, who passed a health care act that most of us viewed as unconstitutional, surely we became less proud after all of that. Well, actually, no, we didn't. Republicans polled were actually even more proud to be Americans than we were in before 9-11. So like every other group, our patriotism dropped from 2003. In 2001, 64% of us were extremely proud. In 2003, 80% of us were. And then in 2016, 68% of us were, which, like I said, is higher than pre-9-11. Then if you go not by party affiliation, but ideological affiliation, the gap gets even wider and, in my opinion, even more troubling than that.

So only 36% of liberals in 2016 said that they were extremely proud to be Americans down from 49% in 2001. 61% of conservatives, kind of interesting that is actually lower than the Republican number, were extremely proud, down only 1% from 2001. And then we look at a study by Pew Research. People were asked to choose one of these three options. A, America is the greatest country in the world. B, America is the greatest country along with other countries in the world or C, there are other countries better than the United States. In 2011, 38% of Americans said that U.S. is the greatest country in the world. That dropped to 29% in 2017. When asked in in 2017, if America is the greatest country in the world, older Americans and conservatives, obviously, were the most likely to say yes. Among 18 to 29-year-olds, only 12 percent. 12 percent said yes to that question, with 28 percent saying that there are countries that are better than America.

47 percent of conservative Republicans say yes, and only 13 percent of liberal Democrats say yes. 29% of liberal Democrats say there are countries that are better than us. So those numbers look very similar to the millennial numbers. It's almost like the left is being driven by millions of millennial socialists. Interesting. It's also interesting to see that the greater number of degrees someone has, so high school, college, post-grad, the less likely they are to say that America is the greatest country in the world. It's almost like universities are in. indoctrination stations now rather than institutions of learning. Because if they were learning,

if these students were learning anything of value, they would recognize the exceptionalism of the country in which that we are all really blessed to live. And I'm going to talk about why we are so blessed to live in this country, why it's such a privilege. And then I'll go into specifically how the Democrats, as of late, are showing kind of more than ever their flagrant disregard for American greatness. See, if these kids, if people our age were learning anything in college, they would be learning that America, in our short, less than 250 years of existence, has done more to make men free than any other nation in existence. We are the only country, the only country who has sacrificed everything, not just for our own liberty, but also for the

liberty of both our allies and our enemies. Can you think of another country who has done more to free strangers in foreign lands from the iron fist of tyranny? Can you think of a greater force against the evils of communism? Who has saved the entire world from totalitarianism, not just once, but multiple times in just one century? Can you think of any? Who else has sustained the world's economy with the greatest innovations history has ever seen? Who else has, in such a short amount of time, gone from allowing the atrocity of African-American

slaves to having countless African Americans lead in both the private and the public sector, to recognizing African Americans like Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and Martin Luther King as some of our country's greatest heroes. Who else has gone from women not being able to vote less than a hundred years ago, less than a hundred years ago, to having a woman sit on the Supreme Court only 60 years, 60-ish years after the 19th Amendment was passed. Thanks, President Reagan, by the way, who nominated the first woman to the Supreme Court. We have three women and a black man on the highest court in the land and only 100 years ago that would have been laughable. People always point, particularly people on the left, point to the inequalities that we've had

throughout history to talk about how bad we are. No, every country, every country in human history has had bad periods. They have all had injustice, virtually, Every society has had slavery. Virtually, every society has oppressed women and elevated men. Virtually, every society has had inequality and has marginalized various segments of the population. No society has righted their wrongs as quickly and as valiantly as the United States of America has. No country has done more good in the world than we have. And you hear all of this nonsense about imperialism and how we've messed up other countries by

imposing our values. There's the story about how India is no longer making gay sexual relations illegal. And people were actually blaming the fact that it was illegal in the first place on old Victorian wars that were pushed on them by American or Western imperialists, which is hilarious. So you still hear this all the time. But the reality is that wherever American boots have been on the ground, the lives of those around those American boots have improved. America has existed to make men, women, and children free. And we have done that more effectively than any other nation in existence. So why is that? What makes us so special? Because we are special. The reason is because we are the only country, the only successful country anyway, that was founded on an

idea and not just any idea, but a good idea. And that idea is that all men and women are created equal. And that word created is crucial, and it points to the next part that as created beings, we were endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, rights that because they were given to us by a supreme, transcendent, higher power, cannot or should not be taken away by a lower power, i.e. the government. Everything good that America has ever done has been built on that foundation and everything bad that America has ever done, we have done bad things. Any unequal injustice that America has ever allowed to flourish has not been built on that foundation. So when people point to America's imperfections in our historical sins to prove the point that America is inherently bad, no, America is not inherently bad.

Inherently, America is very good because the idea that we were founded on is good. Our premise is good. Any sins that we have committed have been diversions away from that premise, away from the foundation, way from the idea that makes us so good and so special, so exceptional. We are the greatest experiment the world has ever put forth. And that experiment is one in self-governance. That man, when he is mostly left to his own devices, is able to flourish and should be free to flourish because of his inherent worth as an individual. That was a concept wholly derived from Protestantism, by the way. And many people say that that experiment has failed. Look at the corruption,

look at the crony capitalism, the wealth disparities, the school shootings, all of these things that show just how bad humans are and how in need we are of the government to dictate our lives. There are lots of problems with that, but I will acknowledge, yes, man is bad. We know that, especially as Christians, that we are fallen, we are sinful. We have the capacity to do disgusting, evil, heartless things. But despite all the evil that men and women as fallen human beings have done in America, we have not learned that this experiment in self-governance is a failure. What we've learned is that self-governance and liberty are double-edged swords. That while freedom allows us to commit inconceivably harmful acts, it also frees us to do more good for our neighbors

than anyone could have ever imagined before America was around. Um, self-government. Um, self-governed, which is necessarily girded by and fueled by free enterprise, has the power to lift people out of poverty without enslaving them to the government. It enables us to be free willed in our charity. It encourages competition, which encourages innovation, which leads to advancements in technology and medicine that have rerouted the course of human history for the better. The world is less hungry, less desperate, more hopeful and more successful because of America's idea of self-governance, which has sustained the success of capitalism for centuries. There is a reason why so many people come to America to start their businesses, to work in technology, to develop their innovations.

There is a reason why people bring their sick here to be healed. There is a reason why so many people come here to receive top of the line education. There is a reason why millions and millions of people immigrate here every year and very few people leave. And America has become, has been the most open, the most welcome and the most generous nation in the world to the tired, to the hungry, and to the sick who have showed up at our door. So the only proper response from the world to America in most cases, maybe, maybe not all cases, but most cases is thank you. And we, as Americans, should be thanking God for the grace that he has given us, for the faithfulness to us, for his provision when we haven't deserved it. God has blessed America so much.

And he has blessed each of us who live here by allowing us to be born here or to move here. So thank you, God. And why? Why? You ask all of you smart listeners. Why, if all of that is so true and obvious, why does the left, according to the numbers, dislike America so much? Why are they so resentful of American strength? Why are they so insistent that we are bad and that other countries are so much better than us? Why, even after so much of their so-called progress, what they deemed progress under their dear leader Barack Obama, were they so discontent with America, even more discontent? And why, even though America is clearly going to the left in almost every

regard, at least socially, culturally, do conservatives stand firm in our love for America? Honestly, I couldn't tell you one singular fundamental reason. Anti-Americanism really so during the Cold War throughout the world. There was anti-American propaganda, by Russia or USSR throughout Europe that I'm sure contributed to the kind of anti-American sentiment throughout the world. Even now, universities have been peddling far left material for years. There have always been sympathizers of Marx and Lenin, both adamantly anti-American men, anti-capitalism, anti-freedom. In every era, there are a few people who try to bring those ideas back who just ignore the bloodshed that socialism and communism have caused throughout the

past century and who insist that their ideas just, you know, have never been tried. But in America, in general, those voices have been successfully drowned out. They've been kind of pushed to the margins of society by both Republicans and Democrats. Until now. Now, Democrats openly embrace Marxist identity politics and socialism. Many of them even have it in their name, Democratic Socialists, which is just socialism that you choose. that's like having the power to pick which gun you're going to get shot with. It's not that great.

And even those who don't have socialist in their name are embracing things like Medicare for all and free college, things that sound great, but cost taxpayers a heck of a lot of money. There are several of these kinds of candidates running for Congress and in gubernatorial races this year, which should really scare us. So what we see is that socialist far-left views and anti-Americanism go hand in hand. I highly doubt, I highly doubt that you would be able to find an American socialist who is proud to be an American. So while they are enjoying all the benefits of capitalism like Netflix and Uber, they are demoning the evils of it. Even though they themselves have been able to rise to prominence because of American ideas and free enterprise, they complain about the deep-seated American injustice that holds us all back. I mean, it's really, really laughable, except it's not because it's a lot.

so scary. Take Cynthia Nixon and Andrew Cuomo. For example, I run it against each other in the Democratic primary for New York governor. Andrew Cuomo recently said in a speech that America was never that great. Never great. Okay. So Andrew Cuomo, a millionaire thinks that America isn't that great. Cynthia Nixon, she didn't even have a whole lot to say to that. She tried to use it to her benefit, but she didn't have a whole lot to say because, oh, yeah, she doesn't really like America either. So right now they're just in a battle for who hates America more. That's apparently who New Yorkers want to elect. Great.

Beto O'Rourke, Ted Cruz's challenger for the Senate in Texas, recently said that he can think of, quote, nothing more American than players kneeling for the national anthem. Really? Nothing? You can't think of one thing more American than that? not even, I don't know, sacrificing your life in the military. That's, that's not more American or maybe, I don't know, singing the national anthem with your hand over your heart. That's not, that's not more American you don't think. Okay. This is also the guy who recently had a rally in

Texas, of course in Texas, at a veteran of foreign affairs hall where people demanded, apparently, that the American flags that were up on the wall be taken down. Now, his camp The campaign says that it wasn't them, that it wasn't part of his campaign team that requested this. But the guy who worked at the VFA hall, who was running the event, said that the people who made their request came out of the room where the rest of the team was. So we don't know exactly who requested it. I wasn't there. Beto's team has denied it was their team. But, I guarantee you, this would not have happened at a Republican rally.

If it does one day, I will stand corrected. I mean, I guess it could happen by some crazy alt-right person, but my guess is that it wouldn't. And then we had most recently the lovely Joe Scarborough of MSNBC on 9-11 a couple of days ago. This is a guy who says he is a Republican, by the way. He has been a key leader in the anti-Trump resistance for a couple years now. And he wrote a piece for the Washington Post that he decided. he needed to publish on 9-11. And he tweeted out his articles saying, Trump is more damaging to the dream of America than any terrorist attack ever could be. I kind of paraphrase that because I feel like

grammatically it was a little bit messed up. But really, that's what he said, that Trump is more damaging to America and the American dream than a terrorist attack by a foreign adversary. Really, really, that's what he said. I want to know if he would say that to the family at the firefighters who lost their lives on 9-11. Would he say that to the men and women who have been fighting overseas for years for his right to be a raving, ignorant, lunatic? Now, the article itself is really stupid, but it's not quite as bad as the headline, because that would be really bad.

But the headline reveals everything that he actually thinks, that Islamist terror is literally worse than, or is literally better than a president who has added millions of jobs to our economy. And look, I understand not liking Donald Trump. I really do. There are many days when I don't like Donald Trump, but I would never say that he is worse than a terror attack by a foreign enemy in which my fellow countrymen and women were killed. Three thousand people were murdered that day. That is because the reason for the difference is because people like Joe and all of his leftist cronies have a weak, flimsy understanding of American strength and patriotism, and they are so use to their anti-American echo chambers that they think that they are totally in line by saying

that Trump, a president who has done a heck of a lot of good for our country, whether you like him or not, is worse than Americans being murdered by Islamic terrorists. He probably ran this headline by everyone at MSNBC and they were all like, yeah, definitely, dude, solid stuff. That's really, really good. And then on Twitter, he was probably shocked when his tweet got really, really badly ratioed by thousands of people with an actual brain. Really amazing stuff. And then, of course, rewind to the 4th of July. I was on HLN right before the 4th of July. I was on a panel with two Democrats. I was the only one, maybe the host was, but I was the only one on the panel who was excited about celebrating the 4th of July. Always been my favorite holiday, by the way. One guy said

that he's not going to celebrate at all because of how racist our country is. The other girl said that she will, but only because she has to. So begrudgingly, there were leftists all over Twitter saying that they weren't going to celebrate. So what we see is, one, the left patriotism is dying, if it ever really was alive.

And two, whatever patriotism they do have left is dependent on who is in power. That's just not true for conservatives as the numbers we already talk about show. Because patriotism that depends on the president isn't really patriotism.

We are patriotic because of the principles on which the country was founded and the unmatched strength that we have exhibited in our country's lifetime. And these things don't change depending on who is in office. But the left doesn't feel that way because they simply don't buy into it anymore, the foundation of American values. They don't believe in self-governance, the idea that America originally put forth. If they did, they wouldn't be pushing for socialism and taking down flags and insisting that America has never been great and refused.

to celebrate the 4th of July. And for a party who constantly decries the evils of privilege, I can see nothing more privileged than not realizing how much better you and I have it as an American than anyone else in the world. See, here's the problem. The problem is the reason that we're so divided is because our differences as Republicans and Democrats are not more complicated or more complex. than they used to be. They are a lot more fundamental and a lot more simple. We don't primarily

disagree on policy anymore. We disagree on identity, on what it means to be an American. We do not share a love of country. We do not share an appreciation for the goodness and the greatness of America. We can't, at the end of the day, look to our friends on the left, some of them, or most of them, but not all of them, but look to most of our friends on the left and say, hey, at least we're both Americans. And hey, even though we have different ideas on how to make our country better, we are both proud to be here, proud to be contributing to this great unfinished symphony that is the United States of America. There is one party that is proud. There is one party that is grateful for all that America has done for us and for the world. And again, that doesn't mean that no one on

the left is patriotic and that everyone on the right is. But the right dominates the left when it comes to the area of patriotism. And that's been seen through both statistical data and through the words and actions of the people that we've been talking about. And it's just, it's just not enough to say, okay, well, you know, whatever, I don't want to worry about this. That's just what they think. That's just a matter of opinion. Let them have their anti-Americanism and socialism and we can have our love of country and capitalism. Well, no, I'm not content with that. Those two things don't coexist. I'm going to beat down their stupid ideas forever until the day that I die. Do you know why? Because their way doesn't work. Because it has led to force mediocrity, to despair and death for millions of

people. Sure, socialism might ensure equality, but it's equality of misery. This is not just a difference of opinion. This is a dangerous, deadly ideology that has squashed the freedom and has taken the lives of millions. You want to know what the end of Marxism looks like? Just look at China. Yes, they have embraced capitalism in many ways, but virtually all of human life is dictated by the government in China, and it's getting worse. They're developing technology to read the facial expressions of its citizens to determine whether or not they are sufficiently loyal. That is real. Both Muslims and Christians are being prohibited from worship and or their places of worship are being bugged. by the government, there is hardly any individual freedom whatsoever in China. And that is precisely

what happens when you give the government all of the power, which is exactly what socialism, what communism, what Marxism, what Leninism does. Just look at the fates of the USSR, Cambodia, Eastern Germany, all of these totalitarian countries who in the last century have slaughtered its citizens. That is what happens when the power is taken from individuals. and given to the government. That is why our founders founded the kind of country that they did. Just look at Venezuela, a government who promised its citizens everything and is now bankrupt, and its people are starving in the streets.

All of this doesn't happen right away. At first, it just looks like growing the size of the power of the government, which, admittedly, America has been doing for a long time. The new programs always sound really nice and really compassionate, even Christian. Oh, let's just try. Let's just try Medicare for all. Let's just try single payer health care so everyone has covered. Let's just see what happens if we make college free. Let's just force companies to raise the minimum wage to $15. Let's outlaw inheritance so that when a person dies, they have to give their leftover money to the government. Let's make sure that the government provides everyone with the job who wants one. And then, hey, we might just go ahead and abolish profit. And, oh, do you mind if we overtake the means? production and seize private property. Okay, great. Thanks so much. And no, we are not to all-out levels of, you know, a socialist regime yet. But if not for us, if not for people like you and me, pushing back against this far left anti-American narrative, talking to our friends, educating the

people around us, teaching our kids, supporting freedom-loving candidates, getting involved in the campaigns of conservatives, fighting for judges like Kavanaugh, who actually acknowledge the existence of the Constitution, unlike many leftist judges, we would be there and we would be getting there soon. That is why you do not give the left an inch, just as a matter of principle, not an inch. Now, I'm not saying that we don't agree on some things or that we don't try to come together on issues that matter to us both, but when it comes to being bullied by the liberal mom, when they tell you you're a bigot for believing in God, that you're selfish for promoting capitalism, that you're arrogant for believing in American exceptionalism. Don't submit to that.

Don't give in to that. You come to them with facts. You tell them why America is the greatest country in the world and why socialism has been such a fatal failure every single time it has been tried. And yes, it has been tried. It is really unfortunate that patriotism has become political, one side so outweighs the other when it comes to loving our country. But don't let them push you into silence. Be proud of that. Be grateful. You can still acknowledge our flaws, our sins, the injustices that have occurred and do occur, the times that we fail to live up to our places, the shining city on a hill as the beacon of liberty as the leader inequality and freedom, but that does not require you to become cynical about just how blessed we are and have been as a country. I think that it is a slap in

face to God, not to thank him for allowing us graciously to live in a country where we can worship him freely and talk about him without fear of punishment. There are millions of people around the world who see that freedom as a far-off privilege that they'll never get to enjoy. We see it as a given right. That is because of the God-inspired values on which we are founded and the men and women who have fought and died to make that a continued reality for us. and it is up to us to keep that alive. It is a fight, unfortunately. I wish it wasn't, but it is.

It's an uphill battle. It's a fight for American greatness against those both here and abroad who really despise us. They despise us because of our unique greatness, a greatness without which, by the way, the world would be a much darker place. Okay, that's it for today. Thank you guys so much for listening. a positive review if you would like. Of course, you can message me on Instagram if you have any suggestions or feedback for the show. You can also email me, Allie at the conservative millennial blog.com,

and I'll see you next week.