The Daily Signal - Educating American’s Youth, One Cross-Country Trip at a Time

Episode Date: September 23, 2019

Education is fundamental to American flourishing. However, many young people today are not being taught how to think critically, to reason, or even to understand our nation’s founding principles. Billy Planer founded Etgar 36 in 2002 in an effort to educate students on America’s history and to teach youth how to have meaningful discussions around critical issues. Planer joins The Daily Signal podcast to explain how Etgar 36’s cross-country student journey accomplishes just that. Learn more about Etgar 36 by visiting their website: https://www.etgar.org/.  Also on today's episode: • We also read your letters to the editor. You can leave us a message at 202-608-6205 or write us at [e-mail]. • And we share a good news story about a 12-year-old entrepreneur who received a special surprise from the Carolina Panthers. The Daily Signal podcast is available on Ricochet, Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or your favorite podcast app. All of our podcasts can be found at dailysignal.com/podcasts. Enjoy the show! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the Daily Signal podcast for Monday, September 23rd. I'm Robert Blewey. And I'm Virginia Allen. Today we are talking with Billy Plainer, founder of Edgar 36, a nonprofit that takes young people on a cross-country journey to explore America and empower them to become involved politically and socially in their communities. Plus, we read your letters to the editor and share a good news story about a 12-year-old entrepreneur who received a special surprise from the Carolina Panthers. Before we get to today's show, Rob and I want to tell you about our favorite morning newsletter. It's called Morning Bell. In each weekday, the Daily Signal delivers the top news and commentary directly to your inbox for free. You'll be able to read about the policy debates that are shaping the agenda, analysis from Heritage Foundation experts, and commentary from leading conservatives like Ben Shapiro, Michelle Malkin, and Dennis Brager.

It's easy to sign up. Just visit DailySignal.com. on the connect button in the top right corner of the page. We'll start sending you the morning bell tomorrow. Now, stay tuned for today's show. Coming up next. We are joined on the Daily Signal podcast by Billy Plainer, the founder and director of Edgar 36. Billy, thanks for joining us. Thank you for having me. Well, Billy, Edgar 36 can be traced all the way back to 1995 when you began to take a group of youth on weekend trips to visit various cities around America. And through those experiences, you learned about history and culture of that city. But you officially launched as a nonprofit in 2002.

And since that time, you've traveled with hundreds of student groups with the goal of exposing them to various political thought, leaders, and philosophies on both sides of the aisle. And I'm pleased to say that the Heritage Foundation was among one of your stops recently. So share with our listeners a little bit more about Edgar 36 and what you hope to accomplish. Sure. So in this day and age of the heated rhetoric, and, you know, to make your point, you have to yell louder. And for me, to be right, you have to be wrong, and I have to demonize you. Really, the genesis of Edgar was, could we calm the speech, the debate in America? And could it be that we just find the humanity and each other, that it's okay to disagree.

In this political correctness world, I think sometimes we are afraid to disagree. And what we try and teach the teenagers on our summer trip, which is the trip that goes all the way across America, and they meet with opposing sides of debate, pro-life, pro-choice, pro-guns, pro-gun control, is it's okay to disagree. It's how you disagree that could be rude. It's not rude to disagree. And in fact, I do believe part of the setup of a. America, part of the role of the dice that our founding fathers had when they created this country

gave powers to the people was that we would engage with each other, that there should be a vibrant debate. But where we've gone to in this country is probably not where they wanted us to go, where, you know, we go to our tribal corners and just yell at each other or not even talk to each other. We just shut down when speaking with somebody who has an opposing viewpoint. So that's what the trip is all about. And then during the academic year, we take groups from seventh graders to people, empty nesters, to people who haven't been in seventh grade for a long time on the civil rights trips to the southeast, Atlanta, Montgomery, Birmingham, Selma, and engage in the learning of the history of the civil rights movement, but realize that history is just prologged.

We are dealing with these issues today, and what happens when we marginalize somebody? What happens we make somebody the other instead of another human being. We see that playing out, unfortunately, throughout the decades since the Civil Rights Movement. So that's really what the trips are all about. Billy, would you just tell us a little bit more about where you all go on the trips, who are the people that you're talking with, what are the issues that you're really asking both young people and adults to engage around? Right.

So on the summer trip with the teenagers, it's a five-week journey across America. And we start in Atlanta and head all the way west, ending in San Francisco, and then starting to head back east, and then actually end a journey and the trip in Washington, D.C. And that's when we meet with the Heritage Foundation. And for example, the issue that we meet with the Heritage Foundation is about income inequality. and the gap between the have and the have-nots are at 1%, 99%. We on our summer trip had been talking about that way before Occupy Wall Street develops. So we meet with the Heritage Foundation that explains the conservative right opinion on the income inequality, but in Boston about three days before, we met with United for a fair economy and heard their side of the debate,

which is we have to close the gap and how they want to close it. We meet with guns in America every year. I think, well, perhaps this is going to be the last time we have to talk about this, but our country keeps bringing this debate up. We meet in Denver, Colorado, with a man named Tom Mouser. His son was shot and killed at Columbine High School. Tom went on, has gone on to become a major, gun control advocate, and you see him on the news every time there's a shooting. So we meet with him

at Columbine High School. He tells his story and his views on guns. And then two days later, we meet in Utah with Clark Capotion, who is the only person in America who is allowed to have a bump stock. He sued the government to keep his bump stock. He was a lobbyist with the NRA, Now he's a lobbyist for gun rights in Utah. He is a gun safety instructor. So we have that debate. We meet with pro-life Texas, and then we meet with Planned Parenthood to discuss the issue of abortion. So it's those kinds of debates going on.

And then we also just deal with issues like hunger in America, literacy in America. We meet with a man in San Francisco who is 44 years old when he learned how to read because a person took one hour a week to work with him. He had been socially promoted through school back in the day, and he just basically left school, got a job in construction, but when he heard his back and realized he could not be in construction anymore, he had to find jobs that this is where it gets scary. This is where we realize we try and teach the teenagers. We are all connected. Here's a gentleman in San Francisco, who was illiterate, but had a job working in a medical facility, making sure the right pills were going in the right bottles

for your medicine. He couldn't read. He would just sort of count up letters and hope he was getting them right. Well, that impacts us. So we really talk about the fact that there are, as we call them, invisible people, people we may never know our seat that impact our lives. And so maybe it's best for all of us to help them have or make sure that they have the best life that they can have, you know, because it will impact us in a way. Those are the type of

organizations and places we see. We're in Las Vegas and we meet with the SEIU, the union out there, the hospitality and culinary union and discuss and debate unions in America and whether they're effective and timely now, but we also see the work that goes on to teach the hotel employees because every night of the summer trip, we are in a hotel. And magically, when the kids come back to their room, their room is cleaned up. And so they see the work and effort that goes into those jobs that we often take for granted. Well, thank you for explaining the structure of the program. That is truly fascinating to hear more about how it all works.

I'm curious, though, can you take us in the room and what one of those conversations is like, particularly, you know, after you talk to somebody who's in favor of gun control and then you talk to somebody who's on the complete opposite side of that. What are the interactions like between these speakers and the students? Right. So the first four days of the trip are the civil rights through the southeast. And on the fifth day, we get to Dallas, Texas. And that is where the teens are going to meet with pro-life Texas. And most of the teens will tell you that they are considered themselves pro-choice. And I got to say, I'm not sure how much in-depth research they've done to come up with that. I think it's more a gut level and also being a teenager that

they feel that way. And after the first four days of the civil rights, we sit down the night before we meet with the pro-life Texas. And that meeting will be counterfeit. balanced with Planned Parenthood later in the trip. I sit and speak with the kids and say, you know, the civil rights meetings with the people who worked with King, who strategized with Dr. King, that's sort of emotional politics. That's sort of easy to be engaged with and to stick your flag in the ground and say, I stand on the rights of, you know, equality of people should be able to sit where they want and go into restaurants.

That's the easy stuff. Now we're going to get to the hard politics, and that is the issues that we're confronting today. And so, as I tell them that night, tomorrow you're going to meet with Pro-Life, Texas. And I want to change the way we think in America what success is in a discussion and debate. Because this gentleman, who is the executive director of Pro-Life, Texas,

you're really not going to change his mind tomorrow. He's not really going to hear something from a 16-year-old where he's going to say, oh, you know what, you are right. I'm pro-choice now. So we need to get away from the idea that success is that he changes his mind or defeat is that we change our mind. But success could be that we engage in this discussion. And can we at least see? We don't have to buy. We don't have to agree with where he's coming from. But can we understand where he's coming from? But can we understand where he's coming? from? And also, can we make a human connection and see what is his life story? Where is he coming from? And for a lot of these teenagers, to hear somebody basing life choices on religion, on the Bible, is a new phenomenon for them. And all of a sudden, it goes from what may have been a joke or a punchline of a joke to reality. And they see, oh, okay, so this person, live their life this way. I've sort of dismissed that in the past offhandedly, but you know what? He's a good guy. I just disagree with him. And so that's really the mindset that the kids go into

the discussions with. And also, we talk about, as we talked earlier, about the concept of it is okay to agree to disagree. So the game that's going on is not what's going on on on our media where whoever yells loudest to win, but the game in our discussions is, can I take in the information that this speaker is giving to me, connect it with the information I already have in my head, the feelings and opinions I have in my head, and either something's going to happen. One of these things is going to happen.

I'm going to listen to them and go, you know what, they're right. I do see it that way and change my opinion. Number two, I'm going to tweak a little bit about what I think. I can incorporate some of that, some of that I cannot. or three, I hear him, I understand what he's saying. It's not where I am. And thanks for letting me challenge my own opinions, but I'm going to stay where I am.

So that's what our debates are really all about. And then we also talk about how to ask a question civilly. There's not going to be the gotcha moments. That rarely happens. And in actuality, when the cameras aren't there and it's not scripted, it's actually rude. It's a conversation stopper. It's not a continuing the conversation. And I believe that we'll be okay as long as we keep the conversation going.

It's when we stop talking to each other that we're going to start to get in trouble. Yeah. Thank you for sharing that. That's such a powerful way to go about framing that discussion, really simple but incredibly profound. Can you tell us about maybe a particular student who you have seen. be really impacted by the Eckhar 36 experience? There's, I mean, the anecdotal evidence of the success of the trip is there are so many. So this was our 17th summer.

So the oldest alumni are in their mid until now, later 30s, I would say. And I hear from alumni all the time about being exposed to a speaker. So, for example, there was a young man who heard the gentleman I told you about in San Francisco talk about his battle with illiteracy. That gentleman's name, the speaker's name is Leon Beal. And Leon, once he learned how to read, actually went on to work for a program at the San Francisco Public Library called Project Read. where he now goes out into the community and gets people off the streets into the vans or into the library to learn how to read.

So he is now, he's taking, and this is part of the story he tells, which is so powerful, is the power of one person to make a difference. So that one person taught him how to read. He is now the ripple effect. He is teaching thousands to read. So Leon told his story, and this young man named Andrew sat through that meeting and decided that moment, I know I wanted to be a lawyer, go to law school, my path was set. I'm changing that. And he is now a teacher because of that meeting.

He's an English teacher in a school. So he changed his course of what he was going to learn in college and what his profession was going to be. and he's dedicated his life to education. So we see stories of that of what they choose to major in in college, and what slant would they give to their profession that they were choosing to embark on already. So, for example, some have gone on to have wanted to be lawyers and have gone on to become environmental lawyers or labor law, because of some of the meetings that have happened here.

And then overall, it's just been fantastic to hear that they will agree that we just need to talk, that they find that especially in the last couple years, they're still able to talk and remain friends with people who are voting differently than they do, while their friends, while their other friends just can't be in a room with somebody that they disagree with. So those are the impacts that we see that it's okay and necessary and vital to speak to people who don't look like you, think like you, vote like you, love like you, pray like you. So that's really the strength of the trip. Well, Billy, that's really refreshing to hear as Virginia can attest. That's a recurring theme on the Daily Signal podcast. We try to highlight examples like that.

And I'm glad to hear there are so many people who've participated that are serving as role models and bring that type of approach to how they lead their lives. You know, I wanted to ask you, tell us a little bit about the name, Etgar 36. Where did it come from? Right. So, Edgar 36, Edgar is the Hebrew word for challenge. And at the time, you went back to the very beginning, 1995, I was running youth groups at a synagogue.

And at the time, we had an annual trip to Disney World in Florida. We were based out of Atlanta. And every year I would take a group of kids down to Disney World. They meet up with other factors of this nationwide youth group. And I tell you, I would sit there and go, this is probably the least impactful thing I do. But the kids love it. And, you know, how could you not love getting away from home, going to see your friends, and playing all day at Disney World?

As an educator, I was getting frustrated. I was like, I need to be doing more than this. We could and should be doing deeper, better programming than this. And at the time, a few things were happening. I had read a book by a professor Doug Brinkley, who is now you see him on the talk shows quite a lot. He was at Hofstra University at the time. And I read a book that he wrote called The Magic Bus,

where he took his students on a six-week trip around America teaching them about culture and history. And that really got into me this idea of being where things happened. So, for example, on our summer trip, we're at Kent State University, meeting with somebody who was shot that day, 50 years ago this May, this kind of May. And he walks us around the campus and tells the story. And because as a student, I found it much more powerful to see a picture than read about something and especially to be where something happened,

to be able to look around and see what it looks like and feel the vibes going on, or to learn about rock and roll and be standing in Sun Studios where Elvis helped create this art form. So the power of being somewhere I got from his book. At the same time, I was following the music group, The Grateful Dead, around the country during my free time. And their lead singer, Jerry Garcia, just passed away.

And part of what I enjoyed about following them was traveling to a different city and understanding what made Seattle different from Memphis, different from Las Vegas, different from New York. It's getting harder and harder in this homogenization of America and cities to get that feel and difference. So I wanted to get my students to feel that too and to understand the power of travel. So being in my 20s, I had the ego and the audits. to sit the kids down and say, okay, I'm going to take away your Disney trip, and I'm going to replace it with a trip where we're going to do a lot of learning, and I want to challenge you to come on this trip. And I'd like the idea of the challenge, the challenge of discovering your American identity, the challenge of understanding the culture and history of being an engaged

citizen. And so luckily, they said, yes, I don't know what I would have done. We would not be speaking had these teenagers looked at me and said, no, we're not coming on that. So I'm very fortunate that they just followed me basically out the door and onto a bus and plane. And we went to a different city every year. And it was in Chicago on our third trip. We were at the site of the 1968 Democratic Convention riots in the park there and in Grant Park. and I was telling the teenagers the history of the riots, and then we listened to the Bob Dylan lyrics,

the times they are to change. And I had a student come up to me and say, from the youth group, and say, I'm a Bob Dylan fan, but I have never really understood these lyrics the way I'm understanding them right now. This is so clarifying. That's when it solidified to me, the importance of being where something happened

and bringing in history, culture, politics to really understand who we are as Americans. Because once again, I'll say, I'm a firm believer that our founding fathers. Really, the gamble they made was putting power to the people. And I think that they were hoping and betting that we would take that responsibly. And that means being actively engaged citizens and understanding what's going on all around us and what impacts us and how we impact everything. So that's really how it started. And after the first few trips, you know, that was an annual trip, one weekend a year,

I realized that's what I really like doing. And in 2002, I put it together, incorporated it as a nonprofit, and then in 2003 ran my first summer trip. That was the 36-day summer trip. And right after that, I got a phone call from a youth group. group in California that was coming to the south to do a civil rights trip. And they had heard that my summer trip had the civil rights component to it. And could I help them put it together? I eventually ended up running that for them. And that became our winter program, the civil

rights trips that we run. It is so neat to hear about some of Eckhart's history and just how far you all have come. As you do look to the future, what are your aspirations for Eckhart 36 moving forward? Well, I think right now, I'll be honest with you, we are overwhelmed with business right now, just keeping up with demand. As somebody very nicely said to me, America has caught up to the lessons you've been trying to teach of being engaged and the importance of speaking to people you disagree with. While we're seeing the divide in America growing stronger and stronger, are wider and wider, actually. I do think there is an undercurrent of people who have had enough of this and realize we have got to get along here.

We have got to learn, we've got to relearn now how to talk to each other. And so right now we are just growing as our civil rights trips during the school year are taking off and demand for the summer trip is rising too. So we're just keeping that going. I mean, the beauty of the summer trip is it is organic as issues. arise, we're able to incorporate them each year. So each year is a little different than the previous year because, you know, as new issues come up, and I can only imagine the energy level that's going to be out there this coming summer leading into the 2020 election is going to be fantastic. In 2016, the summer of 2016, we were fortunate enough, just coincidentally, we were in

Cleveland during the Republican Convention, and we were in Philadelphia on the Democratic Convention and able to walk around and engage with everybody out in the streets and the protesters and the activists, and that was just amazing. So the growth of Eckhart is really sort of organic in that we are able to adjust and tweak as America adjusts and tweaks. And finally, Billy, if our listeners have children of their own, or they themselves are interested in applying? How do they go about doing that

or learning more about Atgar 36? Sure. Thank you for that plug right there. So our website, Eckar E as an Edward, T as in Tom, G as in Georgia, A.R.org is our website. And you can connect with us through the website. And there's also our, we have a companion website, the American Journey.org.

So both talk about our, trips and what's going on there. And like I said, the demand is just gone through the roof now. So we are usually at this point for our summer trip. We may have one teen who signed up, whose brother or sister may have gone. We're about a third full right now. We haven't even done any recruiting or information nights or sent out any information. So this is just the excitement out there for the work.

we're doing is so gratifying, but it's out there. And I really appreciate y'all having me on. Absolutely. We really appreciate your time, Billy, and just learning more about Eckhart 36 and the wonderful work that you all are doing. Great. Thank you. Y'all take care. Tired of high taxes, fewer health care choices, and bigger government, become a part of the Heritage Foundation. We're fighting the rising tide of homegrown socialism while developing conservative solutions that make more free and more prosperous. Find out more at heritage.org. Thanks for sending us your letters to the editor.

Each Monday we feature our favorites on this show and in our morning bell email newsletter. Virginia, who's up first? In response to Rachel Gressler's article, Miss Monopoly's woke rules are bad for girls, devalue women. Goenga writes, how ironic that there's now a game

giving special rights to women while progressives are trying to pass the Equality Act. It exposes the real purpose of the Equality Act. It is not to provide equal rights, but special rights to a select few. In actuality, women would lose key advantages under the act. Like this version of Monopoly, the Equality Act is detrimental to women. And in response to Abby Strews article, The Daily Signal adds six new contributors, Tanya Merrill writes, what a wonderful addition these individuals will be to the Daily Signal. I love that you pick people with integrity, and the ability to do their homework and research to get the truth out there.

Well, Virginia, I also want to mention that the Daily Signal's continuing to grow. We have a news editor that we're searching for now. And if our listeners have ideas or would be interested, you can be sure to send us a letter at letters at dailysignal.com or leave us a voicemail message at 202-608-6205. What the heck is trickle-down economics? Does the military really need a space force? What is the meaning of American exceptionalism? I'm Michelle Cordero.

I'm Tim Desher. And every week on the Heritage Explains podcast, we break down a hot button policy issue in the news at a 101 level. Through an entertaining mix of personal stories, media clips, music, and interviews, we help you actually understand the issues. So do this. Subscribe to Heritage Explains on iTunes, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcast today.

We enjoy bringing you a good news story every Monday to start your week off right. Virginia, over to you. Thank you, Rob. It is no secret that college is expensive and kids are often told that they should start saving at a very young age. Well, Jalen Clyburn took that challenge to heart this past summer. Jalen is only 12 years old and he lives in South Carolina. Over the summer, he launched his own lawn mowing business charging between $10 and $15 per lawn. Jalen used social media to advertise his business and shared his intentions to use his earnings for college tuition.

The story ended up going viral and South Carolina State Treasury gave him $250 for his college fund. But the real surprise for Jalen came at the end of the summer when he was invited to the Carolina Panthers football stadium. Coach Ron Rivera greeted Jalen in front of the stadium along with a representative from Lowe's Home Improvement. I'll tell you what, Jay. I think that's so impressive. And our friends over here at Lowe's, we've been to one of our corporate sponsors. They've got a real nice gift for you.

So on behalf of the Carolina Panthers on Lowe's, James is going to explain to exactly what we're doing here. Yeah, we actually have some really cool stuff back here for you, Jay. To help you out with your business, we got you an 80-volt, coal-balt max, mower. It's all your self-propelled. A little Panther Blue there. An official member of our Browns crew.

Okay. Yes, sir. And then here, that's for you too, but this is even better. This is really cool. This is from our guy. We told Cam about you and he wanted to make sure you got an autographed Cam Newton football, all right? Ooh. All righty, buddy.

Thank you. Jaylen was given a brand new lawnmower, made an official member of the grounds crew at the Panthers Stadium, and received an autographed football from quarterback Cam Newton. And what I think I love most about this story is just the initiative on behalf of a 12-year-old to embrace that entrepreneurial spirit and begin to save for his future. And then also seeing the Carolina Panthers come alongside Jaylen to empower him as a small business owner. Well, and since the NFL is often in the headlines for such negative reasons, it's nice

to see them doing this and recognizing, like you say, that entrepreneurial spirit of a young person. We encourage people like Jaylen to share these stories with us if they have them. Truly great story. Thanks for highlighting it, Virginia. Yeah, these are the stories that we love to tell at the day. Daily Signal. Well, we're going to leave it there for today. The Daily Signal podcast comes to you from the Robert H. Bruce Radio Studio at the Heritage Foundation. You can find it on the Rurkishay Audio Network. All our shows can be found at DailySignal.com slash podcast. You can also subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or your favorite podcast app. And be sure to listen every weekday by adding the Daily Signal podcast as part of your Alexa Flash briefing. If you like what you hear, please leave us a review and a five-star rating. It really means a lot to us and helps us.

spread the word to other listeners. Be sure to follow us on Twitter at DailySignal and Facebook.com slash the DailySignal News. Have a great week. The Daily Signal podcast is executive produced by Rob Bluey and Virginia Allen. Sound design by Lauren Evans and Thalia Ramberset. For more information, visitdailysignal.com.