Anarchy v. Totalitarian: The new right-left scale?

This morning on radio, Glenn talked about the importance of defining the real right and left in American politics. It might seem simplest to think of the right and left as Republicans and Democrats, but, as it turns out, the best right-left scale does not necessarily have anything to do with party lines.

“People think that, you know, the left is the Democrat and the right is the Republican. That's not true. Everything is upside down and that's just a lie,” Glenn said. “When you look at the real scale... On one side is anarchy and the other side is totalitarianism.”

When you look at this scale in terms of television coverage it becomes clear that whether you are watching Fox News or MSNBC, all of these networks are covering the same group of people. For example, people like John McCain, Lindsay Graham, Bill Clinton, and Chris Christie are accepted by all sides because, as Glenn put it, they are “an extremist on one end or the other… they go from one side to another.”

The fact that these men have a tendency of casting such a large net when it comes to what policies they choose to support, it becomes difficult to determine where they fall not on a right-left spectrum but on an anarchy-totalitarian scale.

“You know, we sat here at the chalkboard yesterday, Pat and I,” Glenn said. “I'm like, where does Chris Christie go? Where does he fit? Forget about left and right. Who does he fit with? I contend he fits with Bloomberg, Sunstein, Al Gore, and Newt Gingrich.”

Pat, on the other hand, had a slightly different interpretation of Christie. “He’s got some redeeming qualities and his redeeming qualities are really redeeming,” Pat said. “You know, look at the way we cheered for him at the beginning before we found out just how moderate he really is. But the things on which he's good, he is exceptional.”

On the chalkboard Glenn used on last night’s 5PM show, Christie was placed next to Newt Gingrich on scale. “I think Chris Christie does do some really good things and I think Newt Gingrich does as well,” Glenn said. “But the bottom line is: overall they see themselves as a bit too progressive in their vision of what government should do.”

Based on chalkboard, the establishment of the Republican and Democratic parties are all muddled in about the same place, but the most important people, the people Glenn feels could be the future of the GOP, are on a different chalkboard all together.

“We should actually be down in the other scale, past the edge of the Republican Party. And I put the edge of the Republican Party with Rubio and Paul Ryan,” Glenn said. “Those guys are accepted into the tent of the Republicans but not all the time. They could, they might be good on freedom, you know, but they could easily be sucked in the other way, don't you think?”

With Rubio and Ryan on the fringe of the establishment GOP, it will take people who fall to the right of them to actually affect any sort of change. “Then you move down the scale and you have Ted Cruz and Rand Paul… Then after that you have Ron Paul. I don't really put Ron there, but I put his supporters there… And then, then you have Penn Jillette. I know he's not political at all, but he's the guy who I think is at the edge of that line of, ‘No, I'm a libertarian and I don't care what happens" but he's still reasonable. He still knows there has to be some sort of a framework to be able to hold things together… He's not an anarchist.”

If the GOP’s comfort zone does not extend past Rubio and Ryan, as Glenn suggests, the race for 2016 is going to be a tough challenge.

“I think all these people, you know, you've got the, you know, the McConnell and the Boehner and the McCain and the Lindsey Graham and the Chris Christie. I've written those guys off. Written those guys off. We have 18 months before the political machine starts again. And if you really want to have a place at the table, I'm telling you now that Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, Paul Ryan and Rubio will either be destroyed by the machine in the next four years or sucked into the machine, one of the two,” Glenn said. “In the next 18 months, maybe even 12 months, we have to populate that area between Paul Ryan and Penn Jillette with people who we think will really stand, will buck the system and they don't care.”

“You know, Ted Cruz said there needs to be a third party. I think there does. We have to have a new party,” he concluded. “I would love to be able to use the structure and the framework of what they've already established, but what they've already established is garbage. It doesn't stand for anything. So I think we should start taking phone calls, I think we should start to these politicians.”

The West is dying—Will we let enemies write our ending?

Harvey Meston / Staff | Getty Images

The blood of martyrs, prophets, poets, and soldiers built our civilization. Their sacrifice demands courage in the present to preserve it.

Lamentations asks, “Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?”

That question has been weighing on me heavily. Not just as a broadcaster, but as a citizen, a father, a husband, a believer. It is a question that every person who cares about this nation, this culture, and this civilization must confront: Is all of this worth saving?

We have squandered this inheritance. We forgot who we were — and our enemies are eager to write our ending.

Western civilization — a project born in Judea, refined in Athens, tested in Rome, reawakened in Wittenberg, and baptized again on the shores of Plymouth Rock — is a gift. We didn’t earn it. We didn’t purchase it. We were handed it. And now, we must ask ourselves: Do we even want it?

Across Europe, streets are restless. Not merely with protests, but with ancient, festering hatred — the kind that once marched under swastikas and fueled ovens. Today, it marches under banners of peace while chanting calls for genocide. Violence and division crack societies open. Here in America, it’s left against right, flesh against spirit, neighbor against neighbor.

Truth struggles to find a home. Even the church is slumbering — or worse, collaborating.

Our society tells us that everything must be reset: tradition, marriage, gender, faith, even love. The only sin left is believing in absolute truth. Screens replace Scripture. Entertainment replaces education. Pleasure replaces purpose. Our children are confused, medicated, addicted, fatherless, suicidal. Universities mock virtue. Congress is indifferent. Media programs rather than informs. Schools recondition rather than educate.

Is this worth saving? If not, we should stop fighting and throw up our hands. But if it is, then we must act — and we must act now.

The West: An idea worth saving

What is the West? It’s not a location, race, flag, or a particular constitution. The West is an idea — an idea that man is made in the image of God, that liberty comes from responsibility, not government; that truth exists; that evil exists; and that courage is required every day. The West teaches that education, reason, and revelation walk hand in hand. Beauty matters. Kindness matters. Empathy matters. Sacrifice is holy. Justice is blind. Mercy is near.

We have squandered this inheritance. We forgot who we were — and our enemies are eager to write our ending.

If not now, when? If not us, who? If this is worth saving, we must know why. Western civilization is worth dying for, worth living for, worth defending. It was built on the blood of martyrs, prophets, poets, pilgrims, moms, dads, and soldiers. They did not die for markets, pronouns, surveillance, or currency. They died for something higher, something bigger.

MATTHIEU RONDEL/AFP via Getty Images | Getty Images

Yet hope remains. Resurrection is real — not only in the tomb outside Jerusalem, but in the bones of any individual or group that returns to truth, honor, and God. It is never too late to return to family, community, accountability, and responsibility.

Pick up your torch

We were chosen for this time. We were made for a moment like this. The events unfolding in Europe and South Korea, the unrest and moral collapse, will all come down to us. Somewhere inside, we know we were called to carry this fire.

We are not called to win. We are called to stand. To hold the torch. To ask ourselves, every day: Is it worth standing? Is it worth saving?

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Pick up your torch. If you choose to carry it, buckle up. The work is only beginning.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Stop coasting: How self-education can save America’s future

Joe Raedle / Staff | Getty Images

Coasting through life is no longer an option. Charlie Kirk’s pursuit of knowledge challenges all of us to learn, act, and grow every day.

Last year, my wife and I made a commitment: to stop coasting, to learn something new every day, and to grow — not just spiritually, but intellectually. Charlie Kirk’s tragic death crystallized that resolve. It forced a hard look in the mirror, revealing how much I had coasted in both my spiritual and educational life. Coasting implies going downhill. You can’t coast uphill.

Last night, my wife and I re-engaged. We enrolled in Hillsdale College’s free online courses, inspired by the fact that Charlie had done the same. He had quietly completed around 30 courses before I even knew, mastering the classics, civics, and the foundations of liberty. Watching his relentless pursuit of knowledge reminded me that growth never stops, no matter your age.

The path forward must be reclaiming education, agency, and the power to shape our minds and futures.

This lesson is particularly urgent for two groups: young adults stepping into the world and those who may have settled into complacency. Learning is life. Stop learning, and you start dying. To young adults, especially, the college promise has become a trap. Twelve years of K-12 education now leave graduates unprepared for life. Only 35% of seniors are proficient in reading, and just 22% in math. They are asked to bet $100,000 or more for four years of college that will often leave them underemployed and deeply indebted.

Degrees in many “new” fields now carry negative returns. Parents who have already sacrificed for public education find themselves on the hook again, paying for a system that often fails to deliver.

This is one of the reasons why Charlie often described college as a “scam.” Debt accumulates, wages are not what students were promised, doors remain closed, and many are tempted to throw more time and money after a system that won’t yield results. Graduate school, in many cases, compounds the problem. The education system has become a factory of despair, teaching cynicism rather than knowledge and virtue.

Reclaiming educational agency

Yet the solution is not radical revolt against education — it is empowerment to reclaim agency over one’s education. Independent learning, self-guided study, and disciplined curiosity are the modern “Napster moment.” Just as Napster broke the old record industry by digitizing music, the internet has placed knowledge directly in the hands of the individual. Artists like Taylor Swift now thrive outside traditional gatekeepers. Likewise, students and lifelong learners can reclaim intellectual freedom outside of the ivory towers.

Each individual possesses the ability to think, create, and act. This is the power God grants to every human being. Knowledge, faith, and personal responsibility are inseparable. Learning is not a commodity to buy with tuition; it is a birthright to claim with effort.

David Butow / Contributor | Getty Images

Charlie Kirk’s life reminds us that self-education is an act of defiance and empowerment. In his pursuit of knowledge, in his engagement with civics and philosophy, he exemplified the principle that liberty depends on informed, capable citizens. We honor him best by taking up that mantle — by learning relentlessly, thinking critically, and refusing to surrender our minds to a system that profits from ignorance.

The path forward must be reclaiming education, agency, and the power to shape our minds and futures. Every day, seek to grow, create, and act. Charlie showed the way. It is now our responsibility to follow.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Glenn Beck joins TPUSA tour to honor Charlie Kirk

Joe Raedle / Staff | Getty Images

If they thought the murder of Charlie Kirk would scare us into silence, they were wrong!

If anything, Turning Point will hit the road louder than ever. On Monday, September 22, less than two weeks after the assassination, Charlie's friends united under the Turning Point USA banner to carry his torch and honor his legacy by doing what he did best: bringing honest and truthful debate to Universities across the nation.

Naturally, Glenn has rallied to the cause and has accepted an invitation to join the TPUSA tour at the University of North Dakota on October 9th.

Want to join Glenn at the University of North Dakota to honor Charlie Kirk and keep his mission alive? Click HERE to sign up or find more information.

Glenn's daughter honors Charlie Kirk with emotional tribute song

MELISSA MAJCHRZAK / Contributor | Getty Images

On September 17th, Glenn commemorated his late friend Charlie Kirk by hosting The Charlie Kirk Show Podcast, where he celebrated and remembered the life of a remarkable young man.

During the broadcast, Glenn shared an emotional new song performed by his daughter, Cheyenne, who was standing only feet away from Charlie when he was assassinated. The song, titled "We Are One," has been dedicated to Charlie Kirk as a tribute and was written and co-performed by David Osmond, son of Alan Osmond, founding member of The Osmonds.

Glenn first asked David Osmond to write "We Are One" in 2018, as he predicted that dark days were on the horizon, but he never imagined that it would be sung by his daughter in honor of Charlie Kirk. The Lord works in mysterious ways; could there have been a more fitting song to honor such a brave man?

"We Are One" is available for download or listening on Spotify HERE