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Glenn's Show Prep

Ken Hutcherson: "Jesus before blackness" in wake of Zimmerman trial

July 22, 2013
Wilson

Writer

Today on radio, Glenn was joined by Pastor Ken Hutcherson to discuss the aftermath of the George Zimmerman trial, specifically the increasing division along skin color. Hutcherson said that much of this division has emerged because the black community has been living in the mindset of victimhood, and he told Glenn the only solutions were going to come from God.

"In the black community, we have a real bad case of victimhood. We consider ourselves victims. So if you're a victim, it's very difficult to think that you are wrong. It's everybody else's fault. And so in the Trayvon/Zimmerman issue, it's very difficult for them to accept the fact that, you know, Trayvon could have done something wrong in this whole incident and that is because they put their blackness before they put everything, including Christ, including the Holy Spirit, including truth and including the Holy Spirit. Because if you put your blackness in front of the Holy Spirit, you can't get through it," Hutcherson told Glenn.

Hutch said that people need to pray that God breaks through and wakes people up, noting that it will take more than politicians and even more than pastors bring about change.

"First thing a person should do who believes in God, who believes in Christ, who believes that God is the way, we just start praying for them because God's got to come through.  We give the truth as we pray for them and we pray for the Holy Spirit to break through.  Politics is not going to break through.  Politician is not going to break through.  Pastors are not going to break through because most of the pastors are evangelicals, are just afraid of their sheep more than leading them.  You heard me say that.  Pastor's not going to do it, churches are not going to do it.  It is God through the Holy Spirit that's going to do it, and I am one who believes this the power of the Holy Spirit can turn this country around when we get unified because God will bless unity.  He always has and he always will.  And that is the only hope for America today," Hutch said.

He also told Glenn that Jesus has to come first in people's lives or things will never change and America will will continue down the same path it's headed now.

"I mean, the biggest problem we got, Glenn, is like I said in my article is that anytime you put your blackness in front of Jesus or you put your whiteness in front of Jesus, you put your political views in front of Jesus, you put your patriotism in front of Jesus, it's a bad deal.  It doesn't work.  And until black people learn to put Jesus in front of their blackness, they will never be the great people that God expects them to be.  Never."

Read Hutcherson's comments on race and faith in the wake of the George Zimmerman trial at TheBlaze.

Full Transcript of the interview is below:

GLENN: Warning: What you're about to hear will be controversial because it is the truth, and that is the only thing that is shocking in our society on how somebody really, truly feels or what the truth really is. Pastor Ken Hutcherson from the Antioch Bible Church in Seattle, Washington is with us. I warn you, he is not one to mince words, and he'll tell you exactly how he feels because he has stage 4 cancer and so he would rather go out telling the truth and spending his time doing something worthwhile than wasting it playing politically incorrect games.

Ken, how are you, sir?

HUTCHERSON: Hey, how are you guys doing this morning?

GLENN: Well, you know, I'm really actually really frustrated. First of all, you have an article that is out on TheBlaze now and the Christian Post. You speak frankly to blacks about Trayvon Martin. So this is actually a highlight of the Trayvon Martin case as somebody who is actually telling the truth. You want to recap some of this before we start our conversation?

HUTCHERSON: That's up to you. I was, just want to let you guys know I really appreciate you calling a brother so early. You know this is Seattle out here.

GLENN: Yeah.

HUTCHERSON: And you guys are always calling the brother early, man. You know, I have to get up, I'm standing here right now, Glenn, in my ‑‑ with a towel wrapped around me. Want me to tweet you something?

GLENN: (Laughing.) Ooh, that was disturbing.

HUTCHERSON: (Laughing.)

GLENN: So Pastor, let's start with, you said James Manning, who's a guy I don't usually agree with ‑‑

HUTCHERSON: We don't. Neither one of us.

GLENN: Yeah. And you say he hit it on the head when he said black people have a difficult time accepting truth simply because they're black. Explain.

HUTCHERSON: Yes. The biggest problem that we have here in America, bruh, is we have allowed in the African‑American community and, you know, I like to just consider black. I don't hear white Americans, you know, Hispanic Americans, everybody putting subtitles on who we are. We are Americans. But in the black community, we have a real bad case of victimhood. We consider ourselves victims. So if you're a victim, it's very difficult to think that you are wrong. It's everybody else's fault. And so in the Trayvon/Zimmerman issue, it's very difficult for them to accept the fact that, you know, Trayvon could have done something wrong in this whole incident and that is because they put their blackness before they put everything, including Christ, including the Holy Spirit, including truth and including the Holy Spirit. Because if you put your blackness in front of the Holy Spirit, you can't get through it.

GLENN: So here is the real question: How do we solve this? Because ‑‑

HUTCHERSON: By telling the truth.

GLENN: But is anybody listening to the truth anymore?

HUTCHERSON: Evidently. It made it to an article. You saw it. You liked it. Blaze printed it up. There's people calling me all kinds of names and telling me I'm a traitor. They called me, you know, the Oreo. As a matter of fact, man, an Oreo with some milk is not bad.

STU: (Laughing.)

GLENN: But where does this get us, Ken? I mean ‑‑

HUTCHERSON: It gets us in trouble, but it also gets us heard. It gets us to make people start thinking, Glenn, and that's the most important thing in the world about someone who's got a closed mind.

I tweeted this morning people that's lived by the flesh can only influence other people living by the flesh negatively. It is those who have lived by the spirit that can produce a positive and uplifting message. So Christians, get on your job and start doing what God called us to do. I don't care about fearfulness. I'm not fearful about anything. God is ‑‑ he walked the valley of the shadow of death, I walked with no evil, for my Lord and savior and the baddest one in the valley.

GLENN: Do you ever fear death? When you found out you had cancer, did you fear death?

HUTCHERSON: That was the first ‑‑ that was the last thing I needed to break this whole concept of not fearing anything, to be like Christ. Once I got cancer, brother, I go, oh, man, the world's in trouble.

GLENN: Because you were kind of like that, you know, when you were ‑‑ I mean, you were a racist when you were a teenager.

HUTCHERSON: Oh, yes. Glenn, you would never ‑‑ people can't even comprehend how I felt about whites. Like a smile on your face ‑‑ you know my motto was if you can't beat them, use them.

GLENN: What does that mean?

HUTCHERSON: That simply means, you smile, pat them on the back, kill them and beat them up when you can. Ain't no one can catch ya. I didn't believe in that joining stuff. I believe that I was superior as a black person, superior mind, superior capabilities physically. God proved it over and over again. I didn't know it was God using me to get me ready for this fight, but it was ‑‑ I hated white people. I didn't just dislike them. I hated them.

GLENN: So you were changed because God showed you what love meant.

HUTCHERSON: Oh, Glenn, when you look Jesus in the eye and you allow your heart to know how much he loves you and what he did for you, how he died on the cross for you. I even have people in my own neighborhood, I have family members talk about dying, but you know, we get in a fight and they will run off and leave you. I had two brothers that we was coming from ‑‑ two black brothers talking about, coming from the game during our junior high year, bro, after our homecoming celebration and we got surrounded by about 20, 30 white guys walking home. You know what my two black brothers did? They ran and left me. Ran off and left me. Man, I was fighting like a crazy pent‑up panther to get out of that crowd. But Jesus would never run off and leave me. And he said to me, I love you. I died for you. I rose again for you, I love you so much.

GLENN: Ken, now here's ‑‑

HUTCHERSON: And I also died for white people. So who are you to think you have the right to hate anybody.

GLENN: Here's the problem. I don't know what mindset you were in at the time, but we have a ‑‑ we will a whole nation of people that are being told by very big authorities you ‑‑ and it's almost now universally accepted that you are being held back by this group of people, they're in your way, and no matter ‑‑ no matter how many cities are destroyed, no matter how many children are made illiterate, no matter how many families are destroyed, this, this lie continues to grow and seemingly gain strength, and you have a ‑‑ I'm not just talking about black people. I'm talking about white people too.

HUTCHERSON: Oh, yeah.

GLENN: You have people who are just willing to take it because it's easier that way. How do you get people to do things that are hard?

HUTCHERSON: Number one ‑‑

GLENN: You're asking people to change ‑‑

HUTCHERSON: Number one ‑‑

GLENN: ‑‑ and stop taking stuff.

HUTCHERSON: Yeah. Number one: We've got to pray for them, Glenn. Prayer breaks things ‑‑ I was supposed to have been dead 5 1/2 years ago. Prayer's kept me alive through all this, right? Now, if prayer can do that, there's nothing I said I don't think prayer can accomplish. First thing a person should do who believes in God, who believes in Christ, who believes that God is the way, we just start praying for them because God's got to come through. We give the truth as we pray for them and we pray for the Holy Spirit to break through. Politics is not going to break through. Politician is not going to break through. Pastors are not going to break through because most of the pastors are evangelicals, are just afraid of their sheep more than leading them. You heard me say that. Pastor's not going to do it, churches are not going to do it. It is God through the Holy Spirit that's going to do it, and I am one who believes this the power of the Holy Spirit can turn this country around when we get unified because God will bless unity. He always has and he always will. And that is the only hope for America today.

GLENN: Do you believe that we are ‑‑ you know, I said right before you came on that I'm beginning to believe that a reset is coming and is necessary. Do you believe we are at the point of reset, or do you think that we walk away, we walk away, you know, by the skin of our teeth just saying, whew, that was a close one"?

HUTCHERSON: Oh, no, no, no. There's no way in the world we're going to walk away by the skin of our teeth, brother. If God don't do something to break is up, he's going to have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.

GLENN: Well, that's a happy note. Back to you standing in your kitchen with your ‑‑

HUTCHERSON: Say what I, Glenn, it's not good to have silence on radio, you know.

GLENN: I know. Sometimes, sometimes it is. Sometimes people need to ‑‑ sometimes people need to hear the silence and ‑‑

HUTCHERSON: Right. It's no way in the world, Glenn, he's not going to reset us, man, to save this nation. It's going to have to happen. I mean, just look at scripture. Look at prophecy. Every prophecy in the Bible has come through and will come through that has not come forth yet. You can put your money on the bank on that, bruh, and God's going to do something here to America. But we also have to remember that America's not mentioned in front of is I.

GLENN: Okay. Thank you for that too. You know, I was in church yesterday and I ‑‑

HUTCHERSON: That's a good place to be.

GLENN: I know. And I thought ‑‑ I wrote down on the, you know, the little thing that they pass out. What do you call them?

HUTCHERSON: Bulletin?

GLENN: Yeah, the bulletin. And I wrote on there, we all used to think that we were alike and that we all wanted America to succeed and we all believed in America.

HUTCHERSON: Mmm‑hmmm.

GLENN: We found out that not to be true.

HUTCHERSON: Mmm‑hmmm.

GLENN: We all now believe that most people are alike; they just want to be left alone and let live. I don't think that's true either.

I think evil is on the rampage in our nation.

HUTCHERSON: You know why evil's on the rampage, Glenn? Because righteousness is feared. Silent and fearful. See, the only way ‑‑ what was the statement said? The only way evil is to promote itself and grow is good people stay silent?

GLENN: Well, here's what ‑‑ and let me ask you this: Here's why that has happened. I mean, it is ‑‑ it takes everything in me now to say black as opposed to African‑American because it has been drilled into us and drilled into us and drilled into us. And even when I say black as opposed to African‑American, even though I fully believe that African‑American is wrong and everything else, there's still part of me that goes, well, I don't want to make anybody ‑‑ I mean, most Americans, the reason why political correctness has succeeded is because most Americans, they're not politically correct. They just ‑‑ you know, if that makes somebody feel better, fine. I'll do that. And I just don't want to cause any trouble. That's the way most Americans are.

HUTCHERSON: Most Americans didn't change history, bro. There's only a few that can do that. And that's the reason I like to work with you: I think we want to change history and make the future better. But don't you worry about calling people black, brother. Let me tell you, black people come through a metamorphosis of names. We've had so many names, we don't know what we ought to call ourselves.

GLENN: Hutch ‑‑

HUTCHERSON: The NAACP still don't know what to call each other.

PAT: What do you identify with, Hutch? Do you identify with ‑‑

GLENN: No. Black.

PAT: Because I don't think I've ever heard you refer to yourself as African‑American.

GLENN: No. He's just black.

PAT: Yeah.

HUTCHERSON: Yeah, man.

PAT: And I've heard others say that as well, that they've never been to Africa. Why would you call yourself African‑American?

HUTCHERSON: I tell you the only true African‑American I've ever seen is Rabbi Lapin.

PAT: Yes.

GLENN: Yeah. Well, you know, you talk about, you know, African‑American and black, and we've made this culture to where you can feel comfortable calling yourself black but if you're white, you immediately feel uncomfortable and being made to feel uncomfortable for calling you anything but African‑American. And then you have the N‑word, which I think is a despicable word, especially ‑‑ I mean, you know, I didn't need to talk to you to know how horrible that is, but I have to tell ya, after sitting down and talking to somebody like you who went through living in the South in the Fifties and the Sixties, I'll tell you, Hutch, it's an experience that, a guy who grew up in the Seattle ‑‑ in the Pacific Northwest, I didn't grow up around any of that. I didn't recognize any of that. And to hear it is stunning and is so unbelievably shameful and yet, people like Al Sharpton, I've talked to him about it. Why don't you stand up against that? Why don't you ever stand up against that? "Well, I do." No, you don't.

HUTCHERSON: But that don't make money, Glenn.

GLENN: What did you say?

HUTCHERSON: That don't make money for him.

PAT: Isn't that the truth.

STU: To be fair, he did march on that against rappers using that word and in, in fact ‑‑

HUTCHERSON: Oh, good.

PAT: And you joined him, did you?

GLENN: I did join him.

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: Because I ‑‑

HUTCHERSON: I really appreciate him marching against rappers.

STU: Fair point.

GLENN: Go ahead, Hutch.

HUTCHERSON: I mean, the biggest problem we got, Glenn, is like I said in my article is that anytime you put your blackness in front of Jesus or you put your whiteness in front of Jesus, you put your political views in front of Jesus, you put your patriotism in front of Jesus, it's a bad deal. It doesn't work. And until black people learn to put Jesus in front of their blackness, they will never be the great people that God expects them to be. Never.

GLENN: Well, that's not happening. I mean, you know, black people ‑‑

HUTCHERSON: I'm going to help it happen.

GLENN: You look at the values of the average black family and they're very conservative. Very conservative.

HUTCHERSON: Very. Very.

GLENN: And you don't see any of that in the way we vote or the way people speak or anything. It just doesn't happen. It happens in church, but it doesn't happen any place else.

HUTCHERSON: Have you seen the movie Lincoln?

GLENN: Yes.

HUTCHERSON: Brother, that movie, to have Argo beat that out? You know that's Hollywood. I don't have the slightest idea how Argo beat Lincoln out for the award. I'm going to tell you something, man: Every black person in the world should be made to sit down and watch that movie and see how Democrats was the one that stood against freeing the slaves. They ought to sit down and read some black history in America, which, history isn't taught at all in America anymore, to find out just who the Jim Crow laws and the separate but equal people who pushed that mess. We are stupid as a people ‑‑

PAT: And then see who it was that ‑‑

HUTCHERSON: ‑‑ when it comes to knowing who to support.

PAT: And then find out who it was that opposed the Civil Rights Movement in the Fifties and Sixties, again, Democrats.

GLENN: Not just Democrats. It was London B. Johnson.

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: It was Johnson.

PAT: Al Gore's dad.

GLENN: Yeah. Al Gore's dad is Lyndon B. Johnson's?

PAT: No. Just an addendum to it.

GLENN: Yeah, okay. Thank you very much.

PAT: In addition to Lyndon B. Johnson.

GLENN: A very confusing conversation.

Hutch, we love you, man. I'll talk to you later.

HUTCHERSON: I'll see you this afternoon, right?

GLENN: Thank you ‑‑ yes, sir. We'll see you at TV tonight. Thank you.

HUTCHERSON: Bye.

GLENN: Pastor Ken Hutcherson, former NFL player, former racist, and a guy who has very little time left and has the truth, knows what it is. Will America listen?

WWIII: The new face of war

Oleg Nikishin / Stringer | Getty Images

Has World War III begun?

Over the weekend, Iran launched an unprecedented attack against Israel involving over 300 missiles and drones. This marked the first direct attack on Israel originating from Iranian territory. Fortunately, according to an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, 99 percent of missiles and drones were successfully neutralized by Israeli defense systems. Iran claimed that the operation against Israel had concluded and that no further offensive was planned, although the possibility of another attack is still present.

This has left many people, including Glenn, wondering the same thing: did we just witness the start of World War III?

Glenn recently had a World War II Air Force Veteran as a guest on his TV special, who told stories of the horrors he and his brothers-in-arms faced in the skies over war-torn Europe. This was a timely reminder of the terrors of war and a warning that our future, if it leads to another world war, is a dark one.

But, if Glenn's coverage of the Iranian attack revealed one thing, it's that World War III will look nothing like the world wars of the twentieth century. Long gone are the days of John "Lucky" Luckadoo and his "Bloody Hundredth" bravely flying their B-17s into battle. Over the weekend, we saw hundreds of autonomous drones and missiles clashing with extreme speed and precision over several different fronts (including space) simultaneously. This ain't your grandfather's war.

From EMP strikes to cyber attacks, here are FIVE ways the face of war has changed:

EMP attacks

New York Daily News Archive / Contributor | Getty Images

The entire modern world, on every level, is completely dependent on electricity. From your home refrigerator to international trade, the world would come to a grinding halt without power. And as Glenn has pointed out, it wouldn't even be that hard to pull off. All it would take is 3 strategically placed, high-altitude nuclear detonations and the entire continental U.S. would be without power for months if not years. This would cause mass panic across the country, which would be devastating enough on its own, but the chaos could be a perfect opportunity for a U.S. land invasion.

Nuclear strikes

Galerie Bilderwelt / Contributor | Getty Images

Nuclear war is nothing new. Many of us grew up during the Cold War, built fallout shelters, and learned to duck and cover. But times have changed. The Berlin Wall fell and so did the preparedness of the average American to weather a nuclear attack. As technology has advanced, more of our adversaries than ever have U.S. cities within their crosshairs, and as Glenn has pointed out, these adversaries are not exactly shy about that fact. Unfortunately, the possibility of an atomic apocalypse is as real as ever.

Immigration warfare

Nick Ut / Contributor | Getty Images

The strategy of strangling an opposing nation's economy to gain the upper hand is a wartime tactic as old as time. That's why the Border Crisis is so alarming. What better way to damage an opponent's economy than by overburdening it with millions of undocumented immigrants? As Glenn has covered, these immigrants are not making the trek unaided. There is a wide selection of organizations that facilitate this growing disaster. These organizations are receiving backing from around the globe, such as the WEF, the UN, and U.S. Democrats! Americans are already feeling the effects of the border crisis. Imagine how this tactic could be exploited in war.

Cyber shutdowns

Bill Hinton / Contributor | Getty Images

Cyber attacks will be a major tactic in future wars. We've already experienced relatively minor cyber strikes from Russia, China, and North Korea, and it is a very real possibility that one of our adversaries inflicts a larger attack with devastating consequences on the United States. In fact, the WEF has already predicted a "catastrophic" cyber attack is imminent, and Glenn suggests that it is time to start preparing ourselves. A cyber attack could be every bit as devastating as an EMP, and in a world run by computers, nothing is safe.

Biological assault

WPA Pool / Pool | Getty Images

Don't trust the "experts." That was the takeaway many of us had from the pandemic, but something less talked about is the revelation that China has manufactured viruses that are capable of spreading across the globe. We now know that the lab leak hypothesis is true and that the Wuhan lab manufactured the virus that infected the entire world. That was only ONE virus from ONE lab. Imagine what else the enemies of America might be cooking up.

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.

Stop blaming Gen Z for the problems WE created

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.