The Progressive End Game: Top Down, Bottom Up, Inside Out

Top down, bottom up, inside out. It's a strategy that's been going for a hundred years that progressives have used to accomplish their agenda. The elites like Mike Bloomberg and George Soros believe they know best and they are doing whatever they can to take advantage of crisises in America and across the globe to push their plans. Just in the past few weeks, this strategy has been applied to global economy, war, and gun control. On tonight's Glenn Beck Program, Glenn went through each and explained what the ultimate outcome of the progressive end game could be.

Below, Glenn addresses the situation in Cyprus and how it impacts the global economy:

Let’s start with Cyprus and money. Cyprus, a small little island that nobody really cares about, and a last-minute deal was reached that will “spare the East Mediterranean Island a financial meltdown.” Oh, well that’s really good news, right? Well, not really, and not really good for you.

The Bank of Cyprus is going to be shut down and then turned over to the Greek banks – but aren’t they in trouble? But here’s what they did. Deposits over €100,000 will be frozen. Now, €100,000, that’s about $130,000. They’re going to be frozen and then used to resolve government debts and restructure. The government plans to take an estimated 30%, maybe up to 40%, of all of the assets from the frozen accounts.

Now imagine, first of all, a week ago it was going to be between 6 and 10%, but what they’ve decided is to freeze people’s account, anybody who has $130,000 in their bank account, freeze them and then pay off all the government debt. Can you imagine that happening here? The media is reporting this massive, multi-billion-dollar theft as a deal that saved the day. But did it save the day, and what does it really mean? What does it accomplish?

Well, if you’re a Marxist radical, it accomplishes an awful lot. First of all, it redistributes the wealth, redistribution of wealth, but that redistribution of wealth will cause civil unrest because of a couple of things. First of all, anybody who saved for an entire lifetime for a retirement, if you played by the rules, you know, you’re screwed, you’re screwed. They’re going to take your money.

But more importantly, and something I don’t hear anybody in the media talk about, small companies, any small companies with payrolls to meet. For instance, we’re a small company. I have all of my money in the bank. Well, if somebody took 30 to 40%, and first of all, froze my bank accounts, I’m not going to be able to pay my employees because everything is in the bank. And then, if they decided to take 30 to 40%, I can’t meet payroll, which means unemployment goes up and so does strife, so does hunger, so does anger. Wait a minute, that’s almost like civil unrest. So what they did causes the top coming down. Taking this causes the bottom to rise up.

More people take to the streets, the goal of the radical left, and the Progressives have successfully confiscated private funding for the greater good – first time, no private property. That’s very unconstitutional, but it’s Cyprus, so why pay attention? Unless, it’s not like anybody here has been saying about this kind of stuff.

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President Obama: That’s why I have proposed taxing the record multibillion dollar profits of oil companies.

Hillary Clinton: I want to take those profits, and I want to put them into a strategic energy fund that will begin to fund alternative smart energy…

I want to take those profits. Got it. So there’s no private property because they know better. They’re the ones that made the mistake, the people – I don’t know about Cyprus, but here, we’ve been saying stop the spending, and I’m telling you, they will do what they’ve just done. This is a test. Cyprus is a test, and really it’s all about control. I mean, it empowers. Who do you think it empowers? Do you think George Soros, Bloomberg, Al Gore, Warren Buffet, Bill Clinton, and all those people, do you think they’re going to be impacted by this sort of confiscation at all, or do you think they’ll be emboldened by it?

Do you remember when I said spit yourself out of the system because you know what, if you’re not designing the system, you’re going to be a slave to it? Do you remember that? Do you think the people who sat at the table trying to work this deal out, to approve confiscation of 40% of everybody’s asset that has anything in their life savings in a bank, do you think they approve that if they went, Oh, gee that’s going to hit me 40%? Do you think they were affected by it at all?

This kicks the snot out of everybody who comes up behind because the Soroses and the Bloombergs of the world, they don’t care. They got theirs, and they’re designing the new system. And what happens, this kicks the snot out of everybody who’s semi-rich behind them, anybody who has $130,000 in the bank. This creates greater instability in the region. It causes runs on the bank. You watch, it will happen, but also instability politically speaking for a couple of reasons.

Inside out, there’s no private property. You can’t trust the rules anymore. Inside out, a new power class. They’ve just destroyed everybody who was coming up, so anybody who made the rules, those are the people that now have the money for power. But you’ve also made new enemies, the people in Germany. The Cypriots now are saying, Germans, those evil Germans. It’s not the Germans. It’s not the Germans. Who’s making the decisions? Watch the other hand. But also Russia – up to 40% of the Cypriot bank deposits are estimated 40% to belong to Russian businesses and individuals’ worth about $32 billion. Okay, that’s not a good idea.

Dmitry Medvedev, he called the actions of Cyprus “the stealing of the stolen.” Don’t steal from the mob. Do the people in Cyprus not watch the news? Have they not seen what happens to the enemies of Russia and those people who they don’t like or steal their money? Journalists mysteriously fall out of buildings nine stories up. Dissidents are mysteriously poisoned to death. Political enemies, like this guy just this weekend, ended up mysteriously dead in the bathtub. Hmm, I wonder what happened there.

Everything that happened in Cyprus is a major progressive victory. Okay, top down, no private property, redistribution of wealth, take the savings. Bottom up, it’s going to cause unemployment, civil unrest, and those who saved are screwed, and runs on the banks. Inside out, no more private property, new power class, and new enemies. Top down, bottom up, inside out, it’s happening with money, and this is just the beginning.

Next, he tackled the growing unrest in the Middle East:

Next, we go to war. This one’s strange. Something’s happening here, and I can’t really put my finger on it yet, but it’s not good, not good. Let me show you this. Do you remember this video? This video we ran when I was over at Fox. The IDF will routinely inspect flotillas heading to Gaza to ensure that there are no weapons on board, and the aid is truly humanitarian and everything else. Nearly all the time, these inspections happen without incident, but this flotilla was different, and we knew about this flotilla going in. We knew about it because we covered it almost live as it happened.

The IDF soldiers were ambushed and immediately attacked by activists and beaten with iron bars. Some soldiers were stabbed. I know these things because we have the video. There they are, beating them. We have the video. I’ve talked to members of the IDF. I’ve talked to leaders of Israel. It’s very clear what was going on. One of the soldiers was tossed overboard. An activist wrestled a gun away from an Israeli soldier and opened fire. The Israelis then shimmied down from helicopters and returned fire, and nine activists were eventually killed in the fight. This was clearly a case of self-defense. No one in the media covered it. We did.

I covered it for months, the only one that was covering it. But now, nearly three years later, something happened over the weekend. Israel formerly apologized for this. They’re paying compensation to activists and the families. I saw the video. What’s up with that? Israel doesn’t apologize for things when they know they’re in the right, so why now? What’s different? We are, the United States of America. We have virtually no power left. This apology indicates the disillusion of America’s long-standing with a strong alliance with Israel and I think a signal to the rest of the world. We don’t count anymore. Even Andrea Mitchell called Obama’s and Netanyahu’s relationship one of the worst she’s ever seen.

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Andrea Mitchell: It’s gotten off on the wrong foot, and they’re trying to fix it, but it is one the worst relationships I can remember. And I’ve covered ever president going all the way back to Ronald Reagan.

Yeah, no he’s the best friend. Israel understands this. It understands that it can no longer count on America to watch her back, so they’re going to start playing their own game now, and right now they’re just trying to buy as much time as possible. I think they know that they’re appeasing Turkey’s anti-Israeli Prime Minister, a good friend of Barack Obama’s, and they know they’re not going to win him over, but I think they hope that they’re going to slow him down.

I’m not entirely comfortable with this explanation of what’s going on, but so far it’s the best theory that I’ve heard or read, and it seems to make sense. But something else is afoot. There is a clock that has been started on the war front. Something has started. One thing that stuck out with President Obama is that he is oddly beating the war drums on Iran, saying we’re going to do everything possible to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons. He’s gone on and on about this.

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President Obama: And I will repeat, all options are on the table. We will do what is necessary to prevent Iran from getting the world’s worst weapons.

Okay, he’s starting to sound more like me five or six years ago. I’ve been saying for years that Iran is the head of the snake. It’s not Iraq. It’s not Afghanistan. It’s Iran. And I’ve been warning that this is extraordinarily dangerous because they believe in creating world chaos. Why? Because it will hasten the return of the 12th Imam. Who’s the 12th Imam? The one that radial Islamists believe is the savior of all mankind. Others, who shall remain nameless at this point – me – think that he might be the literal Antichrist, and no, not this guy who, come on, let’s be serious, he looks just like Barack Obama. Come on, how do you deny it? How do you deny it? It’s like father and son here, just like the guy who last night played Herod. See this guy? Do you think it’s a coincidence that this guy looks just like Harvey Weinstein? I don’t think so.

Anyway, just a few months ago, the vice presidential debate, Joe Biden was laughing about Iran, dismissing the possibility of war. Do you remember?

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Vice President Biden: This is a bunch of stuff. Look, here’s the deal –

Martha Raddatz,: What does that mean, a bunch of stuff?

Vice President Biden: Well, it means it’s simply inaccurate.

Rep. Ryan: It’s Irish.

Vice President Biden: It is. We Irish call it malarkey.

The only reason why I’m bringing this up is because they were so clear there was no war. There was nothing with Iran, and now I keep reading, and most of the people in the mainstream media I don’t think is noticing it. Most people who are watching the mainstream media are noticing, but there’s a change. What has changed? Why is Mr. Diplomacy now threatening war? Why is this so important all the time?

Even a few sources of ours have come up and said, oh, there’s war right on the horizon. Why? Why? Because this is now the last thing that we should be doing, because that will set the Arab world on fire. Is it that now’s the time, because if you set the Arab world on fire you could set the whole world on fire? So the Iran situation is escalating, and then on top of it, you have the latest from Syria. Why is no one really talking about this?

The opposition has a new prime minister in Syria, going to head up the effort to form a new government post-Assad. Who is he? Well, he’s a friend of ours. He’s a good friend of ours, this guy. He’s great. He was born in Damascus. Then he left Syria in 1980 and became a naturalized American citizen. In fact, he was neighbors with us. I didn’t know this at the time. I wish I would’ve known. He resided right here in Texas. He was the choice of Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood. Isn’t that great?

Now, there was one objection, besides mine, to his appointment from the free Syrian army, and wouldn’t you know it, I mean, such bad luck. The day they announced that they were against the Muslim Brotherhood’s guy, there was a bad, nasty car crash. Well, it wasn’t a crash as much as it was POOF! And he gets himself blown up, so, it was just a coincidence and what timing, huh? I mean, cars mysteriously explode all time, especially, I don’t know I haven’t checked yet, but it might have been a Chevy Volt.

This is all about the Brotherhood. Hitto is the man now, and he’s been there for quite some time. If you look at his resume, boy he loves the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic Society of North America, the North American Islamic Trust, the Muslim American Society. He was a representative for CAIR who definitely has nothing to do with terror or Muslim Brother – what?

Many of these groups have been identified as part of the Muslim Brotherhood. Now, he went to Turkey just at the end of last year, well last December, and then he goes to Syria just a few days ago. Isn’t that weird? So this guy was living right down the street from us. There’s the studio. Right there, the Texas, there’s TheBlaze studios. That little black dot, that’s the Muslim Brotherhood guy. We were neighbors. Why didn’t we have barbecue or go see a Cowboys game?

The next day, he’s over in Syria as the new prime minister of the opposition forces fighting to get a Muslim Brotherhood Egypt-style government implemented post-Assad. Whoa, that’s weird. It’s almost like this is further confirmation that everything in our documentary called The Project was true.

The Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated the White House, this administration. It is alive and well inside of our borders, even the great state of Texas. And you know what else is weird, that America was running guns from Benghazi to the Syrian opposition. At the same time he went over to Turkey, our boats were landing in Turkey, and we knew full well that those guns were landing in the arms of radical Muslim Brotherhood fighters. It’s almost again like what reported and nobody else did about Benghazi attack being connected to gunrunning operations are true. Wouldn’t it be nice if somebody else would connect the dots from time to time?

Here’s something else nobody else bothers to report on or connected the dots on, America’s popularity in the Middle East. Guess what, we are so popular right now. Support for the United States of America in Egypt Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan is great. It’s a little lower than it was in 2008 in the closing year of George W. Bush, but hey, you know, we faced some headwinds. Our approval rating now – do we have it – our approval rating right now is 15%. Okay, like I said, a little lower, you know. It’s down about 20% in the last four years, down from 35% during the last year of Bush. It was so bad at 35%, this guy was going to save us, and now it’s at 15%. Wait a minute, that sounds a little like bottom up.

Now why is our approval rating so low in the Middle East? Because we have the savior, right? Here’s why, because at least during the Bush, Clinton, Reagan years, we did go to bed with dictators that we didn’t like. I mean, we were in bed with dictators and we’re like, Ooh, I just can’t get clean, but now we’re seducing them. Now we’re taking brutal Islamic thugs, and we’re dressing them up in something low cut and lacy. Say, is that a bomb in your pants Mr. Muslim Brotherhood, or are you just excited to see me? That’s what’s happening.

We’re propping up the Muslim Brotherhood, a band of radical Islamists who want to control every aspect of human life. Kind of sounds like the Progressives, doesn’t it? They are worse than the previous dictators, and we’re putting lipstick on these pigs and my apologies to pigs.

Look at the words of Mohammed Morsi this weekend about those people on the streets, bottom up, that are protesting him. He said this weekend, “If I am forced to do what is required to protect this nation, then I will do it. And I fear that I might be on the verge of doing it.” Uh oh, that doesn’t sound good. Sounds an awful lot like what Adolf Hitler said right after the Night of Long Knives. President Obama supported this guy was well. No wonder people hate us.

The top is coming down even more, and the bottom continues to rise. And we are sowing the seeds of discontent literally, arming the Syrian opposition and funding a civil war and wooing the opposition leaders in the wings. And who stands with Hassad – you’re going to love this. You’ll never guess. New Alliance, war with Iran, Muslim Brotherhood in Syria, we were gunrunning. Bottom up, discontent on the Arab streets, nobody likes us anymore. We have a new alliance. This is inside out. We’re powering the Muslim extremists, and we’re also making enemies of Russia. Wait a minute, oh that’s right, that’s right. They stand with the other side, don’t they? Wait a minute, those of the same guys that the Western banks pissed off. What could possibly go wrong here? Nothing, I’m sure. When we come back, the last piece of top down, bottom up, inside out. We go to guns.

Finally, Glenn detailed the escalating efforts of the progressive elites to disarm the American people through increased gun regulations:

Glenn Alright, last piece here I want to tell you about is guns. Look who’s leading the charge now to dismantle the Second Amendment. It’s this guy:

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Mayor Bloomberg: I think I have a responsibility, and I think you and all of your viewers have responsibilities to try to make this country safer for our families and for each other, and if I can do that by spending some money and taking the NRA from being the only voice to being one of the voices so the public can really understand the issues, then I think my money would be well spent. And I think I have an obligation to do that.

David Gregory: So you’ll spend money on ads?

Mayor Bloomberg: We’re starting to run ads today or tomorrow.

Okay I can’t take it. Please pray for me as we get into writing this speech for the NRA convention in about a month from now. I’m going down, and I’m going to give the keynote address at probably the most important NRA convention of all time, and boy I’ve got a lot to say. I’m not sure I should say all of it, but here’s a guy who views himself as a one-man warrior versus the special interests of the NRA.

Okay, let’s go over this. The NRA is a group with about 5 million members. Mayor McFascist is one person with $30 billion. So you know, the $30 billion, more than George Soros and a butt load more than the Koch brothers. So which one, the 5 million or the one is about the special interests? Which one’s about the Constitution, one with 5 million supporters, one with giant bank accounts?

Now, to be fair to Mayor McFascist, he also has Hollywood on his side, and I mean, there’s really a group of people that are, I mean, who could be more in step with mainstream American values than a Canadian in Hollywood?

Jim Carrey is the latest boob to actually support gun control, and he released the parody song – oh look, and he’s mocking country-western music and Hee Haw. He released this on the website Funny or Die, and after watching the painful 5 minutes and 56 seconds of this atrocity, attempt at comedy, I think it’s clearly or die for this one.

He called the song “Cold Dead Hand,” and in it, he mocks Charlton Heston. He also goes on the say, “Cold Dead Hand is abt u heartless motherf%ckers unwilling 2 bend 4 the safety of our kids.” Yep, that’s me. I say screw the kids, Jim. “Sorry if you’re offended.” Jim, I’m not offended, but I’m not surprised that you’re blinded by the lights in your eyes. You don’t see the hypocrisy here? I mean, in your upcoming film Kick-Ass 2, there’s – oh that’s a gun in your hand – nor the fact that you allegedly have armed bodyguards to keep you safe.

You at home, no, you’re not important enough to have armed bodyguards. Of course, you could have them. You just have to pay for ‘em. What? What’s the problem? He’s paying for ‘em.

Dana Loesch tweeted about this, and after absolutely demolishing him, he said this over the weekend: “I’d like to respond to all the conservative pundits out there personally but I’m far too busy NOT stumping for the gun companies!” Yeah, what are you implying you dope, that we’re getting kickbacks from Beretta? I feel like I’m at the end of Scooby Doo and I would’ve gotten away for it, too, if it wasn’t for that pesky kid.

They make a product that we use. I mean, was Sally Struthers stumping for the food companies? Or did she see a bigger picture, no pun intended. Jim, look, let’s be honest with each other. I’m sorry that you’re not feeling well. It was a bad weekend for you. Bad weekend for me, I had to put my dog down. You had a pretty big box office bomb, and you know, Burt Wonderstone sounds good. I’m thinking that maybe we should send it to Syria. Then, they’ll have the biggest bomb in the Middle East.

Let me explain this to you nice and slow because I speak Canadian. I proudly give the money to the NRA that I give because the NRA is standing up for the Constitution when nobody else will, and they work for us. You see, this is the way that government is supposed to be, at least here in America. I don’t know what it’s like in Canada, but here in America, the government works for us. But see, Canadians, like you, come down here and try to convince us and people in, you know, universities, you know, and other morons, they try to convince people that you work for the government. But that’s not how it works.

Now, the gun lobby, there’s 5 million of us. They work for us. See, we’re not their puppets. They’re standing up to the people like you because we don’t have the money that Hollywood and Bloomberg and everybody else has. Now, I know that’s how you feel about President Obama, and I and millions of others, you know, don’t. I mean, I don’t believe that government knows better than me, and I do believe, as Mayor Bloomberg you know, doesn’t, that the government is infringing on the right of my freedom.

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Mayor Bloomberg: I do not think we should ban most things. I do think there are certain times we should infringe on your freedom.

Oh, he does believe that we should infringe on rights. You see, I believe in the individual. He believes in himself. I believe in the individual, for liberty. I believe in individual freedom, to live my life, and you live your life. You want to make funny faces, that’s cool. It works for you. It did for a while. Then do it. Do everything you want as you see fit, as long as it neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg. That’s the way it works. If you or I make poor choices, then I believe we have to have maximum personal responsibility and live with the consequences of those choices.

I’m not a puppet. I’m not looking for a puppet. I’m a man, and I really just want to be left alone so I can be busy helping others and creating jobs, but thanks for the Canadian sidebar there, I appreciate it. The American Constitution gives us the right, and I will defend it. And I’ll look for all like-minded Americans that will stand against mister-take-your-soda-away because it’s bad for people.

You see, a peaceful government is not the norm in human history. It’s a fluke. It’s a freak. What keeps a government in check is a responsible citizenry which we don’t really have very much; an educated people. The teachers unions and the universities have pretty much taken care of that one; or a media that is responsible and tethers themselves to the truth. We haven’t had that one for quite some time, either; and people, willing to stand up to the power of the man, as long as the man is trying to violate principles.

Now, I thought that you would’ve been with us on that last one. I don’t know how you anti-fascist, anti-controlling government people suddenly have found yourself either in bed with or actually playing the role of the man, but really you should look at yourself in the mirror, I mean, without making all those funny faces that you do that were so funny about 15 years ago.

The rest of us are busy protecting the right to defend ourselves, especially when the government is going all top down, bottom up, and inside out, especially on the Second Amendment. And what’s really strange is they are infringing, and they are mocking top down. At the same time they’re doing that and flipping the Constitution, turning things inside out, they’re trying to take away our right to defend ourself, at the same time they’re threatening to cut back police and releasing prisoners in the name of sequester. So what would be the result? What would be the result of releasing prisoners and also all of the policies that they have from finances and all of the really pissed off Arabs in the world? What do you think’s going to happen? Chaos, fear, crime.

So people are rightly worried about the safety of their families as government is not enforcing the laws, and if you don’t believe me, watch this.

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Wayne LaPierre: Look, we’re 5 million families, we’re 80,000 law enforcement families, we’re 11,000 law enforcement trainers. We want to make people safe. That’s what the NRA does every day.

That’s what it was really all about, and they are rightly upset, because the Constitution is being threatened by Progressives armed with an agenda, not the truth, and agenda. We have gun laws on the books, enforce them. If the Second Amendment is allowed to be infringed, what does it mean for the other amendments, the charter of negative liberties that so many Progressives say is outdated and no longer useful? What is the endgame, and can they win, next.

The government is WAGING WAR against these 3 basic needs

NICHOLAS KAMM / Contributor | Getty Images

The government has launched a full-on assault against our basic needs, and people are starting to take notice.

As long-time followers of Glenn are probably aware, our right to food, water, and power is under siege. The government no longer cares about our general welfare. Instead, our money lines the pockets of our politicians, funds overseas wars, or goes towards some woke-ESG-climate-Great Reset bullcrap. And when they do care, it's not in a way that benefits the American people.

From cracking down on meat production to blocking affordable power, this is how the government is attacking your basic needs:

Food

Fiona Goodall / Stringer | Getty Images

Glenn had Rep. Thomas Massie on his show where he sounded the alarm about the attack on our food. The government has been waging war against our food since the thirties when Congress passed the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938. They started by setting strict limits on how many crops a farmer could grow in a season and punishing anyone who grew more—even if it was intended for personal use, not for sale on the market. This sort of autocratic behavior has continued into the modern day and has only gotten more draconian. Today, not only are you forced to buy meat that a USDA-approved facility has processed, but the elites want meat in general off the menu. Cow farts are too dangerous to the environment, so the WEF wants you to eat climate-friendly alternatives—like bugs.

Water

ALESSANDRO RAMPAZZO / Contributor | Getty Images

As Glenn discussed during a recent Glenn TV special, the government has been encroaching on our water for years. It all started when Congress passed the Clean Water Act in 1972, which gave the government the ability to regulate large bodies of water. As the name suggests, the act was primarily intended to keep large waterways clear of pollution, but over time it has allowed the feds to assume more and more control over the country's water supply. Most recently, the Biden administration attempted to expand the reach of the Clean Water Act to include even more water and was only stopped by the Supreme Court.

Electricity

David McNew / Staff | Getty Images

Dependable, affordable electricity has been a staple of American life for decades, but that might all be coming to an end. Glenn has discussed recent actions taken by Biden, like orders to halt new oil and gas production and efforts to switch to less efficient sources of power, like wind or solar, the price of electricity is only going to go up. This, alongside his efforts to limit air conditioning and ban gas stoves, it almost seems Biden is attempting to send us back to the Stone Age.

4 signs that PROVE Americans are hitting rock bottom

Spencer Platt / Staff | Getty Images

As we approach the presidential election in November, many Americans are facing dire economic straits.

Glenn has shown time and time again that Bidenomics is a sham, and more Americans than ever are suffering as a result. Still, Biden and his cronies continue to insist that the economy is booming despite the mounting evidence to the contrary. But who is Biden fooling? Since the beginning of the year, gas has gone up an average of 40 cents a gallon nationwide, with some states seeing as much as a 60-cent per gallon increase. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Foreclosures and bankruptcies are on the rise, evictions are surging, and America is experiencing a record amount of homelessness. We can't survive another Biden term.

Americans across the country are hitting rock bottom, and here are four stats that PROVE it:

Evictions

John Moore / Staff | Getty Images

Across the country, people are being evicted from their homes and apartments. Between 2021 and 2023, evictions increased by 78.6 percent. With inflation driving up prices and employers struggling to raise wages to compensate, rent is taking up an increasingly larger percentage of people's paychecks. Many Americans are having to choose between buying groceries and paying rent.

Foreclosures

Justin Sullivan / Staff | Getty Images

Renters aren't the only ones struggling to make their monthly payments, foreclosures are on the rise. This February saw a 5 percent increase in foreclosures from last year and a 10 percent increase from January. More and more Americans are losing their homes and businesses.

Bankruptcies

Chris Hondros / Staff | Getty Images

High interest rates and inflation have driven bankruptcies through the roof. Total filings have risen 13 percent and business bankruptcies rose 30 percent in 2023. It's getting harder and harder for businesses to stay afloat, and with California's new law requiring most restaurants to pay all employees a minimum of $20 an hour, you can expect that number to keep climbing.

Homelessness

FREDERIC J. BROWN / Contributor | Getty Images

The result of all of these issues is that it is getting harder and harder for Americans to afford the basic necessities. January of 2023 saw a record-breaking 650,000+ homeless Americans, a 12 percent jump from the previous year. More Americans have hit rock bottom than ever before.

Editor's note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

I want to talk to Generation Z. I’ve seen some clips of you complaining about your 9-to-5 jobs on social media and how life is really hard right now. To be honest, my first reaction was, “Suck it up, buttercup. This is what life is really like.” In a sense, that’s true. But in another sense, I think you’re getting a bad rap. You are facing unique problems that my generation didn’t face — problems that my generation had a hand in creating.

But I also think you don’t understand the cause of these problems.

I would hate to be in your position. When I was your age, we didn’t have to deal with any of the challenges you’re facing. In one sense, your life has been tough. At the same time, compared to previous generations, your life has been very easy. Everybody was rushing to save you, to protect you. You were coddled, which makes your life harder now.

You’ve grown up with social media and the definition of narcissism: somebody gazing into the pond looking at themselves all the time. I don't mean this as an offense, and I am not just including you in this. We’ve become a culture of narcissists. It’s all about “me, me, me, me.”

If you end up thinking more collectivism is the solution, then you haven't done enough homework.

You’ve been in territory that my generation never had to enter. You’ve already navigated a landscape that we didn't have to, where nothing is true, and you can’t trust anybody. I wouldn’t trust anybody either if I were in your position. But I do know a few things to be true and a couple of things I can trust.

First, life is worth it. Life is tough, but it is worth it in the end.

Second, life is not about stuff. As a guy who is kind of a pack rat, I can tell you that none of that stuff will create happiness in your life. In fact, I think your generation has a better handle on happiness in some ways than anybody in mine. You’re starting to realize that pharmaceuticals may not be as good as natural solutions in a lot of situations, that the huge house may not be as satisfying as just having a smaller house, that living your life instead of having to work all the time may be a better way to live.

I want to talk to those of you who feel like it’s not worth even trying to go to work because you’ll never get anywhere. You work 40 hours a week or more, and you still can't afford a place to live. You’re still living with your parents. You can’t afford food. I think you're right to feel frustrated because the problems you're facing weren't always the case.

I blame a lot of the current problems we’re facing today on the hippies. That may be wrong, but I hate hippies. Hippies have been screwing things up since the 1960s. While on their socialist march, they have become everything that they said they were against: lying, greedy politicians. They just won’t let go of their power even though their time has passed.

These are the people who have come up with policies that make you feel like this is the way the world is. I hope I can convince you that it doesn’t have to be this way. This isn’t the way our country has always been. We don’t have to keep these people in power. Actions have consequences. Votes have consequences. These people allow crime, looters, squatters, riots, and somebody needs to pay for that.

You say you can’t afford health care. I understand. Since Obamacare passed, the cost of individual health insurance has doubled. You need to remember that politicians promised that if we passed this massive health care overhaul, it would mean a savings of $2,500 per family. You're in school. You must know that $2,500 savings is not the same as an 80% increase. Moreover, the cost of hospital stays is up 210%. I understand when you say you can't afford health care at these costs. Who could afford health care? Who could afford insurance?

The generation coming of age is right to feel frustrated.This mess — with high costs and a massive debt burden — was not of their making.

Iwant to talk to Generation Z. I’ve seen some clips of you complaining about your 9-to-5 jobs on social media and how life is really hard right now. To be honest, my first reaction was, “Suck it up, buttercup. This is what life is really like.” In a sense, that’s true. But in another sense, I think you’re getting a bad rap. You are facing unique problems that my generation didn’t face — problems that my generation had a hand in creating.

But I also think you don’t understand the cause of these problems.

If you end up thinking more collectivism is the solution, then you haven't done enough homework.

I would hate to be in your position. When I was your age, we didn’t have to deal with any of the challenges you’re facing. In one sense, your life has been tough. At the same time, compared to previous generations, your life has been very easy. Everybody was rushing to save you, to protect you. You were coddled, which makes your life harder now.

You’ve grown up with social media and the definition of narcissism: somebody gazing into the pond looking at themselves all the time. I don't mean this as an offense, and I am not just including you in this. We’ve become a culture of narcissists. It’s all about “me, me, me, me.”

You’ve been in territory that my generation never had to enter. You’ve already navigated a landscape that we didn't have to, where nothing is true, and you can’t trust anybody. I wouldn’t trust anybody either if I were in your position. But I do know a few things to be true and a couple of things I can trust.

First, life is worth it. ≈

Second, life is not about stuff. As a guy who is kind of a pack rat, I can tell you that none of that stuff will create happiness in your life. In fact, I think your generation has a better handle on happiness in some ways than anybody in mine. You’re starting to realize that pharmaceuticals may not be as good as natural solutions in a lot of situations, that the huge house may not be as satisfying as just having a smaller house, that living your life instead of having to work all the time may be a better way to live.

I want to talk to those of you who feel like it’s not worth even trying to go to work because you’ll never get anywhere. You work 40 hours a week or more, and you still can't afford a place to live. You’re still living with your parents. You can’t afford food. I think you're right to feel frustrated because the problems you're facing weren't always the case.

I blame a lot of the current problems we’re facing today on the hippies. That may be wrong, but I hate hippies. Hippies have been screwing things up since the 1960s. While on their socialist march, they have become everything that they said they were against: lying, greedy politicians. ≈

These are the people who have come up with policies that make you feel like this is the way the world is. I hope I can convince you that it doesn’t have to be this way. This isn’t the way our country has always been. We don’t have to keep these people in power. Actions have consequences. Votes have consequences. These people allow crime, looters, squatters, riots, and somebody needs to pay for that.

If you end up thinking more collectivism is the solution, then you haven't done enough homework.

You say you can’t afford health care. I understand. Since Obamacare passed, the cost of individual health insurance has doubled. You need to remember that politicians promised that if we passed this massive health care overhaul, it would mean a savings of $2,500 per family. You're in school. You must know that $2,500 savings is not the same as an 80% increase. Moreover, the cost of hospital stays is up 210%. I understand when you say you can't afford health care at these costs. Who could afford health care? Who could afford insurance?

You are also starting your life with thousands of dollars in debt. Your parents didn't have that burden. People used to be able to work their way through college and graduate debt-free. Others were able to get jobs that quickly paid off their debt. You can't do that now. Once the government said that they were going to guarantee all student loans, university costs skyrocketed, and it hasn't stopped. You can thank the progressive President Lyndon B. Johnson for that.

The people who created this mess cannot fix it. But it can be fixed.

You are also starting your life with thousands of dollars in debt. Your parents didn't have that burden. People used to be able to work their way through college and graduate debt-free. Others were able to get jobs that quickly paid off their debt. You can't do that now. Once the government said that they were going to guarantee all student loans, university costs skyrocketed, and it hasn't stopped. You can thank the progressive President Lyndon B. Johnson for that.

Once the government said that they were going to guarantee everybody’s college tuition, universities found out that they could just charge more because the government would give you virtually any amount in your loan. And they have been charging more and more ever since. In 1965, the average college tuition was $450 a year. Adjusted to inflation, that's $4,000 a year. You're currently paying an average of $26,000 a year as opposed to the inflation-adjusted $4,000.

What happened? The answer is always the same: government regulations. Gas is up. Why? Government regulations. Can't afford a house? Well, that's due to several things. Many of them revolve around the fed and our national debt. But the simple answer is the same: government regulations.

Moreover, the U.S. government has run a staggering national debt. We have been concerned about it forever, but the people in power haven't been listening to your mom and dad and people like me. A lot of other people just thought, "Oh, well. We could get away with it. We're the United States of America, after all. Somehow or another, it will all work out."

People like me have been saying, "No. We can't pass this on to our children." You're now seeing what we have passed on. When you say that the adults are responsible for creating this world of problems, in some ways, you’re right. We were lied to, and as many people do, they want to believe the lie because it makes them feel better.

There are big lies being pushed in your generation as well. You're being told that a man is a woman and a woman is a man. At the same time, you’re being told that gender doesn't even exist at all. It makes us feel better to go along with the lie because we don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

My generation believed the same kind of lie about our national debt. We were told that we could spend all this money on subsidized programs because it would provide you, our children, with a better life. Some people warned, "Wait, how will they pay this off? This will cost them." We didn't want to believe them. The lie sounded better, and it was easier to believe that than the truth. We never saw the consequences, and even if we did, they were always way out in the future. Nobody wanted to listen to the doomsday people saying, "No. It's going to come faster than you think."

And that time is right now. Our government now is printing $1 trillion every 100 days. That's never been done before. We have more debt than any country has ever had in the history of the world. But we’re not alone. Every country is doing this. They’re going into debt like we’ve never seen before, and we’re all about to pay for that. It’s going to make your life even harder.

There are Democrats and Republicans who still believe in spending all kinds of money and getting us involved in every global conflict. Then there are constitutional conservatives who believe that we should conserve the things that have worked and throw out the things that don’t and follow our Constitution and Bill of Rights. You haven't really learned about those most likely. But you should. All of our problems are caused by the government and the people who feel they can bypass the Constitution. That's what this election is really all about.

You might say, “I don’t really care. I don’t like either of the political parties.” I know a lot of people who don’t like either of them, but one is going to try to cut the size of this government and one is going to spend us into collapse.

The people who created this mess cannot fix it. But it can be fixed. You need to learn enough about the truth, about why this has happened to us, and about how our Constitution lasted longer than any other Constitution in the world. The average is 17 years. This thing has lasted hundreds of years. Why? How? And why is it falling apart today? That's what you should dedicate some of your time to figuring out today.

You can complain about the way things are. I complain. Everybody complains. But don't wallow there. Learn what caused this. And if you end up thinking more collectivism is the solution, then you haven't done enough homework. They always end the same way, and that's exactly where we're headed right now. We can either repeat the dreadful past of nations that have tried it before us, or we can choose freedom, liberty, and prosperity. The ball is in our court.

Glenn recently had Representative Thomas Massie on his show to sound the alarm about an important yet often overlooked issue affecting what we eat. Whether you're trying to be prepared to weather a catastrophe or just trying to keep food on the table without resorting to eating bugs, it's more important now than ever to source local food. Unnoticed by most, our right to eat home-grown or locally-sourced foods is under attack. The government doesn't just want a say in what you eat; they want you vulnerable and dependent on their system, and they are massively overstepping their bounds to ensure your compliance with their goals.

How did the attack on your food begin?

Government overreach on food can be traced back to 1938 under the autocratic eye of FDR with the Supreme Court case "Wickard v. Filburn." The case was pretty straightforward, but the results were devastating. The case began with the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, which sought to control national food prices by placing limitations on how many crops farmers could grow in a season.

Filburn was one such farmer, who was allotted 11.1 acres of wheat to plant and harvest annually. Filburn planted and harvested 23 acres, arguing that the extra acres were not headed for the market, but were used for personal consumption. After being penalized for over-harvesting, he fought his case all the way up to the Supreme Court, arguing that Congress did not have the authority to regulate crops that never left his farm.

Unfortunately for Filburn (and the rest of us), the Supreme Court didn't agree. They ruled that the mere existence of that extra wheat—whether it left Filburn's farm or not—had an effect on the national value of wheat. Congress assumed the power to regulate just about anything that could be roped under the umbrella of "interstate commerce."

Under the precedent set by Wickard v. Filburn, Congress might bar you from growing tomatoes in your backyard, because it could affect national tomato prices. This was a major blow to our right to feed ourselves, and that right has been eroding ever since.

How is our right to feed ourselves under attack today?

Last June, the Virginia Department of Agriculture shut down Golden Valley Farms, a small Amish farm owned and operated by Samuel B. Fisher in Farmville, Virginia. Golden Valley Farms had started out selling dairy products, primarily, and processed some meat for personal consumption. However, by popular demand, Fisher began selling meat.

Fisher initially hauled his animals to a USDA processing plant, paid to have them processed, and then hauled them back. This process was time-consuming and costly, and Fisher's customers didn't want the meat processed by the plant. A survey done on Golden Valley Farms customers found that an overwhelming 92 percent preferred meat processed by Fisher. So naturally, Fisher began to process more and more meat for his customers.

Moreover, COVID shut down the USDA plant, which made it impossible for Fisher to process the animals by the USDA anyway, though the demand for meat was greater than ever. Fisher made the call to process 100 percent of his animals himself and didn't look back. That was until June when the Virginia Department of Agriculture caught wind of Fisher's operation and shut it down. The VDA seized all of Fisher's products, and he wasn't allowed to process, sell, or even eat his meat. Then they loaded it up in a truck and left it at the dump to rot.

Nobody ever got sick from eating meat from Golden Valley Farms. This was NOT about "health and safety." This was about control. The fact is that informed adults were not allowed to make a simple transaction without the government sticking its slimy fingers into Fisher's business and claiming it was somehow for "our benefit." But it's not for "our benefit." It's so they can regulate and control what we buy and what we eat, and they cannot stand it when we operate outside of their influence.

What comes next?

Where does this end? With so much of our ability to feed ourselves already eroded, is it too late? Is it going to get worse? Before long, will it be illegal to eat eggs from your chickens or pick vegetables from your garden without getting government clearance first? Fortunately, a solution is already in the works.

Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie recently told Glenn about a new constitutional amendment designed to limit government overreach regarding food production. The proposed amendment reads as follows:

And Congress shall make no law, regulating the production and distribution of food products, which do not move across state lines.

The amendment is still on the drawing board and has not been formally introduced to Congress yet. But this is where you come in. Call your representative and tell them to support Massie's amendment and take a stand for your right to provide sustenance for you and your family.