Hello, ladies and gentlemen, and I want to welcome you again to another episode of Freedom's Creed. Before we get started with the show today, I just want to say that I'm really excited that it's springtime. I live in Colorado, so by the time spring shows up on the calendar, believe me, we welcome it here in Colorado. And even though the winters are really not that harsh, the cold and the wind can be a drain on your energy and your positivity. So it's a welcome sight when spring does finally arrive. And truth be told, we've had lots of snowstorms in the spring before. That's not a big deal here in Colorado. People just get used to it, and that's just the way it is. But the one thing I will say is that we get a crazy amount of sunshine throughout the year, even in the winter. I grew up in the Midwest. So when winter hit in the Midwest and you get that first snowfall, it was like April or May before you saw the ground again in a lot of cases. It was depressing. But here in Colorado, we get a lot of sunshine. So it's a welcome sight as far as I'm concerned, for sure. And I know that uh my fellow Coloradans uh feel the same way. Okay, so this is not a weather podcast. So if you're tuning in to hear the weather, then you're not gonna hear it other than what you just heard. So that's that's all I can give you today. Today I'll be talking about something that I've been thinking about a lot lately. And in fact, and I don't want to go out on a limb, but I'm going to. I may be coining a new phrase today. I'm not sure, but you can be the judge. I haven't researched it, so don't judge. Even though I just said you could be the judge. Hmm. In any case, let's move it along. So here's the phrase. I call it systemic elitism. Naturally, you may be asking yourself what that really means. But no worries, I will definitely give you my version of what systemic elitism means to me, and I'll let you be the judge as to whether you agree with it or not, because hey, that's the system we live in. You can agree with someone, you can disagree with someone, but you shouldn't punch someone in the face because they disagree with you. That you shouldn't do. Let's begin by dissecting these two words, systemic and elitism. If something is systemic, then it affects the entire body or the entire system. And elitism is leadership or rule by the elite. Who are the elite or what is the elite? It's a group of people who, by virtue of their position, uh education, uh, they exercise a lot of power or influence over other people. Now that we have dissected these terms a little bit, let's take a look at who qualifies as a systemic elitist. I've made up a small list of my own, and you may agree with some of those, you may come up with some of your own, but in any case, let's take a look at some of them. First of all, politicians, as you might imagine, and it has nothing to do with party, it seems, especially now. Next on the list, and these are in no particular order, I have entertainers, the group of people who have award shows because they're a little bit self-absorbed, and give each other made-up awards and all that kind of stuff, which I'm not really bitter. I'm just making an observation. Next on my list are athletes, and I mean professional athletes, of course. They too get a little self-absorbed uh every now and then. Perhaps I should have just called this the self-absorbed list, because next on my list is big business or big tech. And if they're not self-absorbed, then whew, I don't know who is. But listen, I didn't and I'm not going to do this episode uh based on a lot of self-absorption. We're still talking about systemic elitism, so let's continue on with the last group that I have on my list, which is Wall Street. You know, that entity which essentially uh takes the average American and throws them into the stock market via their company, entices them with uh deferred taxation, which everybody jumps at. And of course, the government has their hand in all of these qualified retirement accounts to get people to buy into the notion that they can defer taxes and that somehow when they get to retirement and they have to take the required minimum distributions and then have to pay taxes, that yeah, somehow they won't be paying as high a tax rate as they did when they were working. But if the government continues to spend the way it does, then that hope has gone out the window, as they say. Now, having identified some of these systemic elitists, let's take a look at what they want. Politicians, of course, they want votes, and they'll get them any way they can. They don't really care how. Entertainers, they want eyeballs. They want you to go to the movies, they want you to watch their uh idiotic uh award shows, and no offense to anybody who really loves that stuff, but I don't. But what about the last time that Ricky Gervais hosted the Grammy Awards? Hmm, what a performance. Athletes, well, they also want eyeballs. They want butts and seats, but with COVID, they haven't had them, but they still want likes and they still want clicks because that's who they are. What does big business or big tech want? Well, they naturally want sales, and big tech in a lot of cases want sales, but they want subscribers too. And Wall Street, well, I've already given my piece on Wall Street, and I won't say anything more about that at this point. Okay, so what do we do? What's the average American to do with this systemic elitism that I believe is spreading throughout all these areas of our society that I have just mentioned, and certainly a lot more, uh, academia being one of them. In all of this, we need to ask ourselves what the difference between us and them really is. Or is there a difference? Is it possible that we all want the same thing? I don't know. I can only answer that for myself. And at this point, I don't believe that the elitists want the same thing or the same things that I do. At least I don't think that exists with the five areas that I've outlined politicians, entertainers, athletes, big business, and Wall Street. But in any event, please don't get the wrong impression. I am not advocating an us versus them mentality. We have too much of that in our society, and we certainly don't need any more of that. I mean, last year, in the summer of 2020, we all saw evidence of what us versus them gets us, and I'm pretty sure that the bulk of us, the vast majority of us, don't want it, don't like it, and flat out reject it. What I actually suggest is that we all adopt more of a live and let live mentality. It's what happened during World War I when enemies, sworn enemies, at least their governments anyway, would not fire upon each other and essentially call a ceasefire without it being an official ceasefire. It was, hey, uh, I want to live, I want to go back home, I got a life to live, and that's what I want to do. So they adopted this kind of mentality. And I think that it would work well in our society today, but a lot of people look at it and think, oh, that's a nice little cliche, but it's not reality. I tend to disagree. The bottom line that we should all want is to ensure that everyone's rights are upheld no matter what. It doesn't matter about personal beliefs or how far right you are or how far left you are. We all want the same thing, I think. We all want to make sure that our rights are being upheld, plain and simple. But why is it that the political elitists and the systemic elitists as a whole want to politicize everything? I mean, look at our society. Look at COVID, how it was politicized. It shouldn't have been, but it was. And my belief is it was politicized because those who were politicizing it wanted to take control. The systemic elitists also politicize funerals of all things. It's crazy. What about mass shootings? It's a heinous thing that takes place in our society, but the systemic elitists politicize it, make it about gun control. They want to take guns away from law-abiding citizens. That's what it comes down to, ladies and gentlemen. Uh, the criminals, they're gonna get their guns no matter what. It's it's not gonna impact them. The laws that restrict gun ownership are gonna end up penalizing law-abiding citizens, and that's not a good thing. What about the way that border security and migration are politicized? The argument seems to be that while Republicans want to control migration and the border because they're racist. And on the other side, the argument is, well, Democrats just want people to come across the border so that they can get more people to vote for them. I suppose the truth is out there somewhere, but it's often very difficult to find, that's for sure. But whoever has the power tends to drive the agenda, and that's really what it comes down to. And it when it comes to politics, anyway, the systemic elitists are definitely the ones who want to be in the driver's seat and push uh the agenda. There's this push to control the narrative. And is there a better narrative to control than what I'm about to say next? I don't think so. Systemic elitists love to push political correctness. They encourage the elimination of free discourse when it comes to speech, though they would never admit that, of course. But in any case, they do push for this political correctness when it comes to speech, because there are some people who may, may find offensive the things that I say, the things that other people say. This tactic has never been, nor will it ever be a good idea. I subscribe to the Bill of Rights, and the First Amendment says that we have freedom of speech, so I'll stick with that. Another tactic that the political systemic elitists use is ignorance of the law. They try to use it to their advantage, and they're pretty successful at it as well. But ignorance of the law is no excuse for one to be offended because of my speech. I would never deny other people their right to free speech, especially if I disagree with what they're saying. The First Amendment ensures our right to disagree, and that must always be defended. You might even be saying, Well, Rex, why would you want someone to have the right to speech, especially when you disagree with them? And I would say, because that's the way it is. Not everyone is going to agree with me. I'm not going to agree with other people sometimes. But that's not the point. I don't want to live in some cocoon or some bubble where I'm in a place where everybody agrees with me. How boring would that be? It would be ridiculous. It's not going to happen in our society. We live in a country where we are free to speak our minds, and that's how it should be. That's how it should always remain. There's no room for negotiation when it comes to that. But there are a group of people in the systemic elitist crowd who want to do just that. And I, for one, will never ever subscribe to it. I'll never ever submit to it, no matter what they do. Which brings me to another point. Those who follow or adhere to the systemic elitist folks out there often agree with the notion that silencing dissent is the way forward. Well, it's not. That's the exact opposite of free speech. Silencing dissent is the essence of fascism, which seeks to suppress and silence opposition. It most certainly does not welcome opposition. Listen, I have friends and family who I disagree with on a myriad of topics. And personally, I don't ever want to see our right to discuss any of these topics taken away, irrespective of whether we agree with each other or not. The whole idea behind the Bill of Rights and the First Amendment's right to free speech is that we have that right to disagree at times. Look, we're not always going to agree with the things that other people have to say. In fact, we may disagree with them wholeheartedly, but it doesn't mean that we should want to silence the people that we disagree with. It just doesn't make sense. But many of the systemic elitists in government, in academia, or any other sector want to absolutely silence dissent. And that is not the American way in the 21st century, and it has to be, it must be rejected. I have shared my feelings a little bit about the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence in prior episodes. And I'm not going to say that it's a perfect system. I know it's not. And any system like ours is only as good as the people who uphold it and who defend it. And so for me, the founding of our country was nothing short of a miracle. And I don't believe that it was coincidence that all of the people who were involved in it just happened to be living at a time where they could come together and actually put together a document called a Declaration of Independence and a Constitu that would ultimately benefit every man, woman, and child in this country, and every man, woman, and child who comes to this country in a legal fashion. But the simple fact of someone like me saying the words that I just said about our country don't make me patriotic, they make me a racist. And well, that's sad. But nevertheless, I do appreciate that this country was founded on the principles that everyone is created equal. And even though that was not manifest until generations after, the foundation was laid so that we could all participate in what we call freedom and liberty in the United States of America. It's plain and simple. And yeah, is our history a little less than stellar? Of course. But that doesn't negate where we are now, where we've come from, and the growth and potential that we have moving forward. And it's unfortunate that not enough people believe that, but in my heart and mind, I think that a lot of people do believe that. And I think enough people believe it. So we move forward. That's the way we do it. So I'd like to end this episode by reading from George Washington's final address at the end of his presidency. He gave this on September 19th, 1796. I actually recommend that each of you go and look this up and read not just this portion that I'm about to read, but the entire speech. In any event, I believe that George Washington was one of the greatest presidents that we've ever had. And please bear with me as I read this quote. Washington obviously was a very well-read man, and we just don't talk like they did back then. And sometimes I think that's kind of sad. But anyway, he said this quote satisfied that if any circumstances have given peculiar values to my services, they were temporary. I have the consolation to believe that while choice and prudence invite me to quit the political scene, patriotism does not forbid it. In looking forward to the moment, which is intended to terminate the career of my public life, my feelings do not permit me to suspend the deep acknowledgement of that debt of gratitude which I owe to my beloved country, for the many honors it has conferred upon me, still more for the steadfast confidence with which it has supported me, and for the opportunities I have thence enjoyed of manifesting my inviolable attachment, by services faithful and preserving, though in usefulness unequal to my zeal. If benefits have resulted to our country from these services, let it always be remembered to your praise, and as an instructive example in our annals, that, under circumstances in which the passions agitated in every direction were liable to mislead amidst appearances sometimes dubious, vicissitudes of fortune often discouraging in situations in which not infrequently want of success has countenanced the spirit of criticism, the constancy of your support was the essential prop of the efforts and a guarantee of the plans by which they were affected. Profoundly penetrated with this idea, I shall carry it with me to my grave as a strong incitement to unceasing vows that heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of its beneficence, that your union and brotherly affection may be perpetual, that the free constitution, which is the work of your hands, may be sacredly maintained, that its administration in every department may be stamped with wisdom and virtue, that in fine, the happiness of the people of these states, under the auspices of liberty, may be made complete by so careful a preservation and so prudent a use of this blessing as will require to them the glory of recommending it to the applause, the affection, and adoption of every nation which is yet a stranger to it. And as always, if you can think it, you can plan it. If you can plan it, you can do it.