We Must Not Allow Pundits and Partisans to Simplify Great Issues Into Irreconcilable Extremes

Krista Tippett, host NPR's On Being and author of Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living, joined The Glenn Beck Program on Tuesday.

"I normally wouldn't have somebody on from NPR because of some of the experiences I've had recently . . . but we've had a conversation, and she is really a remarkable human being who sees, perhaps, I don't even know, perhaps not the policies of the world, but the problems and some of the solutions of the world, the same as I do," Glenn said.

On the current so-called war between the White House and the media, Tippett had this to say:

"I'm not fighting it," she said. "I'm choosing to get out of reactive mode and into building mode and healing mode. And I think that's a choice everybody can make."

In 2014, Tippett was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Obama.

Listen to this segment from The Glenn Beck Program:

GLENN: I want to introduce you to somebody who -- who I've just -- who I've just met. I read her book on the plane back from Bangkok yesterday, and a way to introduce her is just in the opening pages: I was born in the wee hours of the night of the 1960 election returns that came in with John F. Kennedy. I grew up in Shawnee, Oklahoma. A small town in a young state in the middle of Middle America where people had come to forget their past and leave their ancestral demons behind. My mother's ancestors drove their covered wagons into the former Indian territory to create their lives from scratch in the unforgiving Oklahoma dust. My father had been adopted by the people I knew as my grandparents at the age of three.

Her name is Krista Tippett. She is the author of a book, Becoming Wise: An Inquiry Into the Mystery and Art of Living. And she is also with NPR.

And I normally wouldn't have somebody on from NPR because of some of the experiences I've had recently with NPR. But we've had a conversation, and she is really a remarkable human being who sees -- perhaps, I don't even know. Perhaps not the policies of the world, but the problems and some of the solutions of the world, the same as I do.

Welcome to the program, Krista, how are you?

KRISTA: Hello, Glenn. I'm good. And I've so enjoyed getting to know you these last months as well.

GLENN: I want to talk to you first about the press. Bill O'Reilly said we're at war. The White House is at war with the press, and the press is at war with the White House.

How does that end?

KRISTA: Well, I think we don't all have to become foot soldiers in that war, right? I don't know how that war will end, but it's a very small slice of what's happening in the world and what matters for how we create the world for how we want our children to inhabit.

And I'm not fighting it. In fact, we're so focused right now -- I think so many of us, so captured. And the media war is kind of doing this, to what we resist and what we're reacting to. And I'm choosing to get out of reactive mode and into building mode and healing mode. And I think that's a choice everybody can make.

GLENN: I happen to agree with you. And I'm in that same place too.

KRISTA: Yeah.

GLENN: I'm wondering -- I was in Bangkok over the weekend doing some work with Operation Underground Railroad, which is trying to break up slavery. And I saw some -- I was in the jungle this weekend. I saw some just horrific things.

I get home and, you know, my kids are on the iPad. And it was hard to readjust. Then I get in this morning, and I see all the news where we're yelling at each other for ridiculous things.

KRISTA: Right.

GLENN: How do we change that?

KRISTA: Well, I -- you know, I interview a lot of scientists along the way. And, you know, I'm attentive to how -- there are really understandable reasons that our brains actually get riveted by that kind of fight and by a sense of threat.

And, you know, I think everybody I feel on all -- all around on all sides of our political system, you know, our brains are on high alert. So part of it is finding ways to calm ourselves, to calm the people around us.

You know, that sounds maybe like a not very powerful thing to do. But we don't -- just as biological creatures, we don't think clearly, and we don't rise to our best selves when we're afraid.

So, you know, I think there's these really basic things -- I feel like there are different callings in this moment for each of us as human beings, as citizens, as political people. And that's one of them.

And also that we have to accompany each other in that, and we have to get to know our neighbors who have become strangers.

I was watching the election all last year and seeing that whoever had won in November, the real work ahead of us is to reweave our life together.

GLENN: Not to make everybody else feel like a loser.

KRISTA: Yeah.

GLENN: You write: The 21st century globe resembles the understanding we now have of a teenage brain.

KRISTA: Right. Right.

GLENN: We reduce great questions of meaning and morality to issues and simplify them to two sides, allowing pundits and partisans to frame them in irreconcilable extremes. But most of us don't see the world this way, and it's not the way the world actually works. I'm not sure there is even such a thing as a cultural center.

What do you mean by that?

KRISTA: Oh, well, I guess, you know, when somebody like me starts talking this way, I think the suspicion is, she's talking about the center or talking about moderates. I don't even know if that's interesting, you know, if there's a center. But what I do know, what I do believe is that right of center and left of center, even if we have very deep differences and convictions that are different to us, we don't want to give up or negotiate away, we also have big questions in common. And we share really important things like our love for our children.

You know, I loved -- I was in Iowa right after the election. And a mom telling me that she's part of a group of neighbors and school parents. About half of them voted for Donald Trump. About half of them voted for Hillary Clinton. But every single one of them was concerned about the effect that the election had on their kids, what they were watching, the kind of discourse they were hearing, the level of discourse.

And so they had rallied together to be in solidarity and actually be working together around that shared challenge. And I think that is a model for how, not that we all have to be in the center or all be moderates, but how we can really be building things together across differences.

GLENN: I will tell you, you were -- we're talking to Krista Tippett. She is the author of Becoming Wise: An Inquiry Into the Mystery and Art of Living.

You know, not to stick him out, but it was one of the most stunning things I had ever heard: George Stephanopoulos said that his 12-year-old daughter, for two weeks after the election, was sleeping in mom and dad's bed because she was afraid of what Donald Trump would do.

KRISTA: Yeah. Yeah.

GLENN: I mean, I have been called every name in the book, beginning at fearmonger. My children are not afraid of Democrats. They're not afraid of President Obama. That's not happening.

What is happening in the world of somebody like George Stephanopoulos, where their child has to sleep in bed at night because they're afraid of Donald Trump?

KRISTA: Well, I mean, I think there are some simple answers and some more complex answers. I mean, we have kind of all resorted to this level of making fun, which I think also is really destructive. And catastrophizing. Catastrophizing about the other side.

You know, catastrophizing, it's not good for us. And it almost never comes true. You know, the things that go terribly wrong are not the things that we are looking for or expect. That's just kind of a life truth.

On a deeper level, you know, to me this political moment is really about this human drama that's going on. I think all of the politics, I think Donald Trump -- I think it's all -- it's all a symptom of this human drama of how -- and how I see that -- you know, over the last few years -- you know, we need to sometimes just like stop, be quiet, take a breath. I just wish we could all take a breath together and say, you know, what an astonishing moment we are living in, in history, where we are redefining basic definitions, even that the 20th century thought it had gotten -- when does life begin? When does death begin? What is family? What is marriage? What is gender?

Our institutions don't make sense all of a sudden. Right? Like workplaces don't make sense. Schools don't make sense. Politics doesn't make sense.

So this is very, very unsettling. And, again, to go back to what the science is telling us, like physiologically, this sends us to really primal parts in ourself, where we just go into two modes, fight or flight. And, I mean, I think that's big. And it's complicated, but to me it's a way to relax and just say, "I'm going to stand on the ground of reality and have a really clear view of what we're up against."

And, again, I think even though it's huge, it comes back to, can we get grounded in ourselves? Can we get clear about what we care about and who we love? Yeah, go on.

GLENN: You say there are five things in your book that we have to pay attention to that will ground us. Can you give them to me?

KRISTA: Yeah. Yeah, there's kind of these basic elements of life. I wrote this book about wisdom, and I thought it was going to be about big extract, but lofty concepts. And I realized in the wisest lives, it's the raw materials, it's the words we use, you know, moment to moment.

GLENN: You write -- I love -- I circled this: Words make worlds. I love that.

KRISTA: Yeah.

GLENN: We choose too small a world in the decade of my birth. Tolerance to make the world we want to live in now. We open the radical difference that it had been there all along, separate, but equal to a new infusion of religions, ethnicities, and values. But tolerance doesn't welcome. It allows, endures, indulges.

KRISTA: Yeah. Tolerance has taught us to be with otherness and be with difference, whether it's racial or political and say, "I'm going to let you be in the room with me." But it doesn't -- has not taught us to be curious about each other, to be open to being surprised by each other.

These are small steps. This is not about saying, I want you to bring me around to your side, or I want to bring you around to my side, just to meet each other as human beings.

GLENN: But doesn't that -- but, Krista, I was -- I was with some people that -- we were talking about this, this weekend. We are not allowed to be surprised by each other.

KRISTA: No, that's right.

GLENN: Not because of tolerance, but because of political correctness.

KRISTA: Yeah.

GLENN: We're afraid to be surprised -- to ask questions that are surprising of the other.

KRISTA: That's right. So we -- part of the task -- it's not going to happen in our -- in our -- most of our media spaces. It's not going to happen in our political spaces. You know, this is the problem right now too. Those are the places we've been trained to look, to see the way forward. And it's hard to say, they're not going to save us. And they're not modeling how we want to be, how we want to live. So we -- yeah, we have to -- we have to create places. And I think we can do that very close to home, right? In our neighborhoods. In our parent and teacher meetings. In our families. And in local politics.

GLENN: How does -- how do we -- you know, I've been trying to find -- I would call them strange bedfellows. But I think people who are willing to be friends with people who are different and then risk everything by showing that friendship, how do we -- how do we get there when everything is set to destroy anyone who disagrees?

KRISTA: Yeah. No. You're so right. We don't -- what we also don't reward or honor in public is apology, or -- right? When somebody says, "I've changed, or I'm reflecting critically on some of the things I've done" -- and you're one of those brave people -- we don't reward that.

GLENN: I don't think we reward courage in any way.

KRISTA: We don't reward courage, that's right. Again, we don't reward it in our lives. In our real lives. But it's not -- it's not reflected. We've really got to turn away from -- you know that phrase above the radar, right? You know, I think one of the other things that's broken now -- the radar is broken.

But, again, we are -- the places we're captivated to look, to see, this is what matters, you know. This is how it works. These are our leaders.

We -- we have to force ourselves -- and I think help each other to move away. And I think the answer to that question of looking for friends, stepping a little bit outside of your comfort zone.

You know, Rilke. The poet Rilke is a great hero to me, and he talked about holding questions. There's a kind of pathology in America, that a question has to have an immediate answer. And any good question actually -- when you and I deal in questions -- ask questions for an answer -- questions also are -- a lot of questions we need to just put out there, and I think holding the question until we find the answer. And everybody can do this in their sphere, you know.

Who is that person? Who is that friend of a friend? Who is that brother-in-law, that I always get into a fight with at Thanksgiving. How can I very gently, in a spirit of generosity, with a willingness to be surprised, create a new entry point. And therefore create a new possibility for how we look forward differently.

GLENN: Krista Tippett, author of the book Becoming Wise. Thanks for being brave and reaching out and accepting a reach-out yourself. Thank you so much.

KRISTA: Thank you, Glenn.

GLENN: Appreciate it. Krista Tippett.

EXCLUSIVE: Tech Ethicist reveals 5 ways to control AI NOW

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By now, many of us are familiar with AI and its potential benefits and threats. However, unless you're a tech tycoon, it can feel like you have little influence over the future of artificial intelligence.

For years, Glenn has warned about the dangers of rapidly developing AI technologies that have taken the world by storm.

He acknowledges their significant benefits but emphasizes the need to establish proper boundaries and ethics now, while we still have control. But since most people aren’t Silicon Valley tech leaders making the decisions, how can they help keep AI in check?

Recently, Glenn interviewed Tristan Harris, a tech ethicist deeply concerned about the potential harm of unchecked AI, to discuss its societal implications. Harris highlighted a concerning new piece of legislation proposed by Texas Senator Ted Cruz. This legislation proposes a state-level moratorium on AI regulation, meaning only the federal government could regulate AI. Harris noted that there’s currently no Federal plan for regulating AI. Until the federal government establishes a plan, tech companies would have nearly free rein with their AI. And we all know how slowly the federal government moves.

This is where you come in. Tristan Harris shared with Glenn the top five actions you should urge your representatives to take regarding AI, including opposing the moratorium until a concrete plan is in place. Now is your chance to influence the future of AI. Contact your senator and congressman today and share these five crucial steps they must take to keep AI in check:

Ban engagement-optimized AI companions for kids

Create legislation that will prevent AI from being designed to maximize addiction, sexualization, flattery, and attachment disorders, and to protect young people’s mental health and ability to form real-life friendships.

Establish basic liability laws

Companies need to be held accountable when their products cause real-world harm.

Pass increased whistleblower protections

Protect concerned technologists working inside the AI labs from facing untenable pressures and threats that prevent them from warning the public when the AI rollout is unsafe or crosses dangerous red lines.

Prevent AI from having legal rights

Enact laws so AIs don’t have protected speech or have their own bank accounts, making sure our legal system works for human interests over AI interests.

Oppose the state moratorium on AI 

Call your congressman or Senator Cruz’s office, and demand they oppose the state moratorium on AI without a plan for how we will set guardrails for this technology.

Glenn: Only Trump dared to deliver on decades of empty promises

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The Islamic regime has been killing Americans since 1979. Now Trump’s response proves we’re no longer playing defense — we’re finally hitting back.

The United States has taken direct military action against Iran’s nuclear program. Whatever you think of the strike, it’s over. It’s happened. And now, we have to predict what happens next. I want to help you understand the gravity of this situation: what happened, what it means, and what might come next. To that end, we need to begin with a little history.

Since 1979, Iran has been at war with us — even if we refused to call it that.

We are either on the verge of a remarkable strategic victory or a devastating global escalation. Time will tell.

It began with the hostage crisis, when 66 Americans were seized and 52 were held for over a year by the radical Islamic regime. Four years later, 17 more Americans were murdered in the U.S. Embassy bombing in Beirut, followed by 241 Marines in the Beirut barracks bombing.

Then came the Khobar Towers bombing in 1996, which killed 19 more U.S. airmen. Iran had its fingerprints all over it.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, Iranian-backed proxies killed hundreds of American soldiers. From 2001 to 2020 in Afghanistan and 2003 to 2011 in Iraq, Iran supplied IEDs and tactical support.

The Iranians have plotted assassinations and kidnappings on U.S. soil — in 2011, 2021, and again in 2024 — and yet we’ve never really responded.

The precedent for U.S. retaliation has always been present, but no president has chosen to pull the trigger until this past weekend. President Donald Trump struck decisively. And what our military pulled off this weekend was nothing short of extraordinary.

Operation Midnight Hammer

The strike was reportedly called Operation Midnight Hammer. It involved as many as 175 U.S. aircraft, including 12 B-2 stealth bombers — out of just 19 in our entire arsenal. Those bombers are among the most complex machines in the world, and they were kept mission-ready by some of the finest mechanics on the planet.

USAF / Handout | Getty Images

To throw off Iranian radar and intelligence, some bombers flew west toward Guam — classic misdirection. The rest flew east, toward the real targets.

As the B-2s approached Iranian airspace, U.S. submarines launched dozens of Tomahawk missiles at Iran’s fortified nuclear facilities. Minutes later, the bombers dropped 14 MOPs — massive ordnance penetrators — each designed to drill deep into the earth and destroy underground bunkers. These bombs are the size of an F-16 and cost millions of dollars apiece. They are so accurate, I’ve been told they can hit the top of a soda can from 15,000 feet.

They were built for this mission — and we’ve been rehearsing this run for 15 years.

If the satellite imagery is accurate — and if what my sources tell me is true — the targeted nuclear sites were utterly destroyed. We’ll likely rely on the Israelis to confirm that on the ground.

This was a master class in strategy, execution, and deterrence. And it proved that only the United States could carry out a strike like this. I am very proud of our military, what we are capable of doing, and what we can accomplish.

What comes next

We don’t yet know how Iran will respond, but many of the possibilities are troubling. The Iranians could target U.S. forces across the Middle East. On Monday, Tehran launched 20 missiles at U.S. bases in Qatar, Syria, and Kuwait, to no effect. God forbid, they could also unleash Hezbollah or other terrorist proxies to strike here at home — and they just might.

Iran has also threatened to shut down the Strait of Hormuz — the artery through which nearly a fifth of the world’s oil flows. On Sunday, Iran’s parliament voted to begin the process. If the Supreme Council and the ayatollah give the go-ahead, we could see oil prices spike to $150 or even $200 a barrel.

That would be catastrophic.

The 2008 financial collapse was pushed over the edge when oil hit $130. Western economies — including ours — simply cannot sustain oil above $120 for long. If this conflict escalates and the Strait is closed, the global economy could unravel.

The strike also raises questions about regime stability. Will it spark an uprising, or will the Islamic regime respond with a brutal crackdown on dissidents?

Early signs aren’t hopeful. Reports suggest hundreds of arrests over the weekend and at least one dissident executed on charges of spying for Israel. The regime’s infamous morality police, the Gasht-e Ershad, are back on the streets. Every phone, every vehicle — monitored. The U.S. embassy in Qatar issued a shelter-in-place warning for Americans.

Russia and China both condemned the strike. On Monday, a senior Iranian official flew to Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin. That meeting should alarm anyone paying attention. Their alliance continues to deepen — and that’s a serious concern.

Now we pray

We are either on the verge of a remarkable strategic victory or a devastating global escalation. Time will tell. But either way, President Trump didn’t start this. He inherited it — and he took decisive action.

The difference is, he did what they all said they would do. He didn’t send pallets of cash in the dead of night. He didn’t sign another failed treaty.

He acted. Now, we pray. For peace, for wisdom, and for the strength to meet whatever comes next.


This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Globalize the Intifada? Why Mamdani’s plan spells DOOM for America

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If New Yorkers hand City Hall to Zohran Mamdani, they’re not voting for change. They’re opening the door to an alliance of socialism, Islamism, and chaos.

It only took 25 years for New York City to go from the resilient, flag-waving pride following the 9/11 attacks to a political fever dream. To quote Michael Malice, “I'm old enough to remember when New Yorkers endured 9/11 instead of voting for it.”

Malice is talking about Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist assemblyman from Queens now eyeing the mayor’s office. Mamdani, a 33-year-old state representative emerging from relative political obscurity, is now receiving substantial funding for his mayoral campaign from the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

CAIR has a long and concerning history, including being born out of the Muslim Brotherhood and named an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terror funding case. Why would the group have dropped $100,000 into a PAC backing Mamdani’s campaign?

Mamdani blends political Islam with Marxist economics — two ideologies that have left tens of millions dead in the 20th century alone.

Perhaps CAIR has a vested interest in Mamdani’s call to “globalize the intifada.” That’s not a call for peaceful protest. Intifada refers to historic uprisings of Muslims against what they call the “Israeli occupation of Palestine.” Suicide bombings and street violence are part of the playbook. So when Mamdani says he wants to “globalize” that, who exactly is the enemy in this global scenario? Because it sure sounds like he's saying America is the new Israel, and anyone who supports Western democracy is the new Zionist.

Mamdani tried to clean up his language by citing the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, which once used “intifada” in an Arabic-language article to describe the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. So now he’s comparing Palestinians to Jewish victims of the Nazis? If that doesn’t twist your stomach into knots, you’re not paying attention.

If you’re “globalizing” an intifada, and positioning Israel — and now America — as the Nazis, that’s not a cry for human rights. That’s a call for chaos and violence.

Rising Islamism

But hey, this is New York. Faculty members at Columbia University — where Mamdani’s own father once worked — signed a letter defending students who supported Hamas after October 7. They also contributed to Mamdani’s mayoral campaign. And his father? He blamed Ronald Reagan and the religious right for inspiring Islamic terrorism, as if the roots of 9/11 grew in Washington, not the caves of Tora Bora.

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

This isn’t about Islam as a faith. We should distinguish between Islam and Islamism. Islam is a religion followed peacefully by millions. Islamism is something entirely different — an ideology that seeks to merge mosque and state, impose Sharia law, and destroy secular liberal democracies from within. Islamism isn’t about prayer and fasting. It’s about power.

Criticizing Islamism is not Islamophobia. It is not an attack on peaceful Muslims. In fact, Muslims are often its first victims.

Islamism is misogynistic, theocratic, violent, and supremacist. It’s hostile to free speech, religious pluralism, gay rights, secularism — even to moderate Muslims. Yet somehow, the progressive left — the same left that claims to fight for feminism, LGBTQ rights, and free expression — finds itself defending candidates like Mamdani. You can’t make this stuff up.

Blending the worst ideologies

And if that weren’t enough, Mamdani also identifies as a Democratic Socialist. He blends political Islam with Marxist economics — two ideologies that have left tens of millions dead in the 20th century alone. But don’t worry, New York. I’m sure this time socialism will totally work. Just like it always didn’t.

If you’re a business owner, a parent, a person who’s saved anything, or just someone who values sanity: Get out. I’m serious. If Mamdani becomes mayor, as seems likely, then New York City will become a case study in what happens when you marry ideological extremism with political power. And it won’t be pretty.

This is about more than one mayoral race. It’s about the future of Western liberalism. It’s about drawing a bright line between faith and fanaticism, between healthy pluralism and authoritarian dogma.

Call out radicalism

We must call out political Islam the same way we call out white nationalism or any other supremacist ideology. When someone chants “globalize the intifada,” that should send a chill down your spine — whether you’re Jewish, Christian, Muslim, atheist, or anything in between.

The left may try to shame you into silence with words like “Islamophobia,” but the record is worn out. The grooves are shallow. The American people see what’s happening. And we’re not buying it.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

How private stewardship could REVIVE America’s wild

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The left’s idea of stewardship involves bulldozing bison and barring access. Lee’s vision puts conservation back in the hands of the people.

The media wants you to believe that Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) is trying to bulldoze Yellowstone and turn national parks into strip malls — that he’s calling for a reckless fire sale of America’s natural beauty to line developers’ pockets. That narrative is dishonest. It’s fearmongering, and, by the way, it’s wrong.

Here’s what’s really happening.

Private stewardship works. It’s local. It’s accountable. It’s incentivized.

The federal government currently owns 640 million acres of land — nearly 28% of all land in the United States. To put that into perspective, that’s more territory than France, Germany, Poland, and the United Kingdom combined.

Most of this land is west of the Mississippi River. That’s not a coincidence. In the American West, federal ownership isn’t just a bureaucratic technicality — it’s a stranglehold. States are suffocated. Locals are treated as tenants. Opportunities are choked off.

Meanwhile, people living east of the Mississippi — in places like Kentucky, Georgia, or Pennsylvania — might not even realize how little land their own states truly control. But the same policies that are plaguing the West could come for them next.

Lee isn’t proposing to auction off Yellowstone or pave over Yosemite. He’s talking about 3 million acres — that’s less than half of 1% of the federal estate. And this land isn’t your family’s favorite hiking trail. It’s remote, hard to access, and often mismanaged.

Failed management

Why was it mismanaged in the first place? Because the federal government is a terrible landlord.

Consider Yellowstone again. It’s home to the last remaining herd of genetically pure American bison — animals that haven’t been crossbred with cattle. Ranchers, myself included, would love the chance to help restore these majestic creatures on private land. But the federal government won’t allow it.

So what do they do when the herd gets too big?

They kill them. Bulldoze them into mass graves. That’s not conservation. That’s bureaucratic malpractice.

And don’t even get me started on bald eagles — majestic symbols of American freedom and a federally protected endangered species, now regularly slaughtered by wind turbines. I have pictures of piles of dead bald eagles. Where’s the outrage?

Biden’s federal land-grab

Some argue that states can’t afford to manage this land themselves. But if the states can’t afford it, how can Washington? We’re $35 trillion in debt. Entitlements are strained, infrastructure is crumbling, and the Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, and National Park Service are billions of dollars behind in basic maintenance. Roads, firebreaks, and trails are falling apart.

The Biden administration quietly embraced something called the “30 by 30” initiative, a plan to lock up 30% of all U.S. land and water under federal “conservation” by 2030. The real goal is 50% by 2050.

That entails half of the country being taken away from you, controlled not by the people who live there but by technocrats in D.C.

You think that won’t affect your ability to hunt, fish, graze cattle, or cut timber? Think again. It won’t be conservatives who stop you from building a cabin, raising cattle, or teaching your grandkids how to shoot a rifle. It’ll be the same radical environmentalists who treat land as sacred — unless it’s your truck, your deer stand, or your back yard.

Land as collateral

Moreover, the U.S. Treasury is considering putting federally owned land on the national balance sheet, listing your parks, forests, and hunting grounds as collateral.

What happens if America defaults on its debt?

David McNew / Stringer | Getty Images

Do you think our creditors won’t come calling? Imagine explaining to your kids that the lake you used to fish in is now under foreign ownership, that the forest you hunted in belongs to China.

This is not hypothetical. This is the logical conclusion of treating land like a piggy bank.

The American way

There’s a better way — and it’s the American way.

Let the people who live near the land steward it. Let ranchers, farmers, sportsmen, and local conservationists do what they’ve done for generations.

Did you know that 75% of America’s wetlands are on private land? Or that the most successful wildlife recoveries — whitetail deer, ducks, wild turkeys — didn’t come from Washington but from partnerships between private landowners and groups like Ducks Unlimited?

Private stewardship works. It’s local. It’s accountable. It’s incentivized. When you break it, you fix it. When you profit from the land, you protect it.

This is not about selling out. It’s about buying in — to freedom, to responsibility, to the principle of constitutional self-governance.

So when you hear the pundits cry foul over 3 million acres of federal land, remember: We don’t need Washington to protect our land. We need Washington to get out of the way.

Because this isn’t just about land. It’s about liberty. And once liberty is lost, it doesn’t come back easily.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.