Dennis Prager on the Future of American Conservatism | Dennis Prager's Latest Thoughts | PragerU

Marissa Streit (0:02)

Hi, Dennis, we're ready for your thoughts this week.

Dennis Prager (0:05)

I'm ready for my thoughts this week, too. I'm going to begin with a really dark one, but I can't shake it. I'm not going to spend time on it. I just feel I have to mention it. And I'm sure most people watching this or listening are aware of it, but Dave Chappelle, the comedian, at a Madison Square Garden event, said the following, Ever since that guy Charlie Kirk got murdered, and I shouldn't say this publicly, but I feel better. If one needs to graph or document the decline in American life, this would be one of the spots, one of the examples you would use to exemplify the decline in American life. This is not something that would have been said in the past. That one feels better at the murder of a 31-year-old man with whom one differed politically. Forget the fact that Charlie was a kind giant man.

I cannot imagine me saying anything like that. It wouldn't even enter my mind if a political foe of mine had been murdered.

And the only question I have is, how was the Madison Square Garden reaction? I watched it, and it seemed that he didn't get a load of laughs or big applause. But I would love somebody who would be able to measure it to actually measure it. As I said, it's worth noting to say that I didn't follow Dave Chappelle beforehand. But unless he went to Erica Kirk and kneeled on the ground and apologized, I can't imagine ever wishing that man anything but failure in his endeavors.

So Marissa, that's what I just wanted to begin with. Were you aware of that?

Marissa Streit (3:25)

Well, yes. And Dennis, I did watch some of the reactions at Madison Garden to Dave Chappelle's comment, and there were people who laughed and applauded. But I would also say that New York does not reflect America. And so sadly, sometimes New York seems to be the barometer of what is going wrong with America. And when people applauded to what Dave Chappelle was saying, I just think it's yet another proof that there's something deeply wrong in the culture there.

Dennis Prager (3:52)

All you mean the city that elected an Islamist communist as mayor? You think there's something wrong?

I think you're right. I thought there was something wrong when I left New York in the 1970s. After going to Columbia University, I never had good vibes. And so it's very sad. A lot of good people in New York, but there are a lot of not-so-good people. Anyway, I want to talk to you about the big question that I keep reading about and hearing about on YouTube. The question of is MAGA dead? Is the Republican Party dead? Is conservatism dead? So I want to talk about that. I think that what we have here is the consequence or are the consequences of generations of not teaching America's youth what America is about.

If you were to ask most conservatives in my lifetime, what is conservatism? Not their fault. They wouldn't really have an answer. I wrote a book about the answer, called Still the Best Hope, Why the World Needs American Values to Triumph. And it is true. The American value system is the greatest ever invented. It is the American Trinity. It is as I call it. And we at PragerU spread this. And it's got to be spread far and wide. E pluribus unum. In God we trust and liberty. I didn't make that up. PragerU didn't make that up. That is found on every American coin, on all American currencies. That's the American Trinity. And if we don't keep those going, then America ceases to be America. Therefore, I'd like to offer a thought here.

That instead of America first, we think in terms of America's values first. Because America without its values is not America.

You see, maybe Norway, without Norwegian values, whatever they may be, is still Norway.

And that may be true for many countries, but it is not true about America. America is its value system, and its value system is that Trinity. In God we trust, e pluribus unum, and liberty. Well, he start with liberty. Everybody knows liberty, so I'm starting with it. Well, liberty means first and foremost, I think freedom of speech. But it is only possible when we have limited government. This is the American innovation in human history. Limited government checks and balances on power. The giants who founded America understood that the more power people have, the more corruption and ultimately dictatorship. They were afraid of human nature, and they were right. I am afraid of human nature. And if you're not afraid of human nature, you don't know your history. All the staggering amount of torture and rape and murder and slavery that has taken place. They knew that human nature had to be kept in check. Limited government is not some sweet phrase about economics or politics. It is the essence of what freedom constitutes or what constitutes freedom, I should say.