Green Beret Debates Government Coercion and Civil Liberties

We're flying out of Texas, so I'm thinking safe.

Nope, I get the only liberal in Texas.

And we get to talking, and we're talking about different policy

things, and we're

talking about civil liberties, and we're talking about rights,

and we're talking

about responsibilities. And at one point, I stop her in the middle of the

conversation. I said, "You know, I find something really interesting about

this.

During the course of our conversation, we have both agreed on the problems.

We're trying to address poverty, we're trying to address sickness,

we're trying to

address violence. We've even agreed on a lot of the end

states.

We want people to be happy, healthy, prosperous, and free.

But the difference is, is that you're a lot more comfortable with

violence than I

am." Dual PhD college professor was taken aback by that statement.

In fact, the way she worded it was, was, "You're going to have to explain what you

just said." And the first thing I said was, "I don't mean any offense." I said,

"And I know it sounds kind of wild because you're a college professor, and I was a

Green Beret. I've actually been in a lot of situations

where I was very comfortable

with violence. You're just comfortable with it against

innocent people, and I'm

not. And here's what I mean by that. You and I will both see a problem.

The dam breaks in Louisiana, and it floods, and people are suffering.

And I see that problem, and I think to myself, as a Christian,

as an American, as a

human being, I have to do something. Let's donate resources. Let's send money.

Let's, let's go down. Let's, let's do what we can to go help the people

that are

suffering because we have an obligation to our fellow men and women to do that.

And I ask you, maybe would you like to come along?

Would you like to donate?

Would you like to do something? Maybe you want to write a check.

Maybe you want to get on a plane and go down there.

But no matter what you say, the option and the choice is yours.

And if you choose to do something other than what I am asking for,

you get to leave

the conversation in peace." So now on the other side, you see a problem within

society, and your automatic response is, we need a government program.

We need government intervention.

And so Nick, we're gonna raise your taxes, or we're gonna regulate you, or we're

gonna set up a statute or a law. What happens if I say no?

Do I get to live in peace? You will deprive me of liberty and

property, and depending on how much I resist,

you will deprive me of a lot more.

You'll take away my kids, you'll take away my home,

not because I didn't want to

help, but because I didn't want to help the same

way you did.

How do you square that with the belief

that you're a tolerant person?

And she looked at me, and she said, "I have never thought of it

that way before."

She actually asked me for my card, and we had an email correspondence after

that

flight. Again, I didn't say anything brilliant.

I'm ripping it off from people far smarter than me.

But some of those powerful conversations that you will have start with not

assuming that the other person has some sort of evil design.

In many cases, they've just been convinced of something

that isn't true.

And one of the most important things that you can point out to some,

certain people

is that they're the ones that have chosen coercion, aggression, and

violence. Because if you don't do it the way they

want to do it, they're going to

punish you, and they're gonna use the government to do

so.

So the argument that we're making in almost every single conversation we have

with

people on the left is not to say we want the power to coerce

you to do what

we think you should do. We want you to be free to make your own

decisions.

What we ask for in return is that you be responsible for the

consequences, because

liberty

without responsibility is nothing more than licentiousness.

And when you can start to chip away at that false notion

that what they believe is

rooted in kindness or tolerance or equity

or charity

or peacefulness

and point out that no, no,

no, that's not what you actually believe.

You're actually very, very comfortable with using violence

if it means getting what

you want,

and maybe you should reevaluate that if it doesn't actually coincide with what

you

think you're trying to achieve.