Dennis Prager and Charlie Kirk Discuss Student Loan Crisis, Campus Activism, and America's Future

[00:07] hello everybody I'm Dennis

[00:09] Prager had a lot of calls obviously on

[00:12] the NSA issue and we'll certainly return

[00:14] to it but I have too much to talk to you

[00:16] about including I want I actually want

[00:18] to bring to you a reason for optimism

[00:21] about America I never fool you I tell

[00:25] you that I'm pessimistic but that we

[00:27] have to

[00:28] fight right and that's what I do if if

[00:31] only optimists fight

[00:33] then no good battle will ever be won

[00:36] it's just it's so odd to me if people

[00:38] well I'm pessimistic I'm not going to

[00:41] fight all I think every time I hear that

[00:43] is I think of the guys who storm

[00:45] Normandy Beach on D-Day were they

[00:47] optimistic that uh that they would uh

[00:50] that they would

[00:51] live if they were they wouldn't have uh

[00:54] so many of them wouldn't have been uh

[00:56] peeing in their

[00:57] pants those poor guys on those boats on

[01:01] the first waves at Omaha Beach waiting

[01:03] for submachine guns from the Nazis to to

[01:06] mow them

[01:07] down you fight folks whether you're

[01:10] pessimistic or

[01:12] optimistic anyway but here's a reason

[01:14] for optimism sitting actually with me he

[01:17] in the room he's 22 years old Charlie

[01:20] Kirk he's founder and executive director

[01:22] of Turning Point

[01:25] USA it's a national student movement

[01:27] that promotes conservative values on

[01:29] campuses how many campuses are you on we

[01:32] are now on a thousand college and high

[01:34] school campuses across the country so I

[01:36] asked him uh right before he went on I

[01:39] said so what college did you go to and

[01:42] then he went to my favorite college none

[01:46] I went to Prager University

[01:49] too actually uh I am going to tell you

[01:52] something when we have enough courses up

[01:55] there unless you have to learn a skill

[01:58] like physics or medicine you know

[02:00] something like that it will

[02:03] suffice to because the most important

[02:06] thing to have is wisdom mhm and there is

[02:08] none in colleges it's they anti- wisdom

[02:11] places so when you said you didn't go to

[02:12] college I thought wow that's great

[02:14] that's just great so now you're on a

[02:16] thousand campuses something you started

[02:18] in high school that's

[02:20] correct you know it's a very interesting

[02:22] thing in life what what

[02:25] produces certain types of people and

[02:27] it's it's just it's it's a nature

[02:30] it's hard to explain

[02:33] because you know you're you're a one in

[02:35] a million type I'm not complimenting

[02:37] it's it's just a fact and you know thank

[02:40] God you exist so you've created this

[02:43] what does it do on campuses yeah

[02:45] essentially we are doing the the

[02:46] clipboard and ten isues type of work on

[02:48] these campuses we starting chapters

[02:50] growing groups registering voters that

[02:52] agree with freedom and liberty um

[02:55] finding other like-minded students that

[02:58] uh are kind of fed up with the culture

[03:00] that has been propagated on these

[03:01] campuses uh you would you wouldn't

[03:03] believe how many young people are

[03:05] looking for an alternative point of view

[03:07] see the left has made a big mistake and

[03:09] that is they have become the academic

[03:12] establishment of which they used to be

[03:13] fighting against see the the left's rise

[03:16] to power in the 60s and 70s is all about

[03:18] raging Against the Machine and now

[03:20] they've actually become that machine and

[03:22] so young people in college today are

[03:24] being indoctrinated and they're being

[03:26] steered toward a point of view that

[03:28] quite frankly runs contrary to the

[03:29] spirit of being young uh Conformity uh

[03:33] one-size fits-all uh top- down power and

[03:36] if you look at what it really means to

[03:39] be a college or high school student in

[03:40] America there's kind of a spirit of

[03:42] rebellion inherent in being young and

[03:44] we're starting to channel that around

[03:46] the ideas of free markets limited

[03:47] government and there's a growing

[03:49] undercurrent amongst our nation's youth

[03:51] to be involved in an activistic type

[03:53] organization so that we can actually

[03:55] start to move the ball forward on

[03:56] College universities and also across the

[03:58] country so the average student in your

[04:01] opinion looks looks at these students

[04:05] who are now making all these demands

[04:08] hire more administrators uh to make to

[04:11] ensure greater

[04:12] diversity and all the other key words of

[04:15] of political correctness does the

[04:17] average student think yeah that's a

[04:19] wonderful thing not not so much and I

[04:21] I'll say this a lot of the the protests

[04:24] you see at Missouri and Yale are

[04:26] actually being stirred up by a

[04:28] professional protest testers and

[04:30] agitators being brought on to these

[04:32] campuses uh to stir up this controversy

[04:34] the average student quite frankly uh

[04:36] couldn't care less about how many

[04:37] diversity officers there are these Free

[04:39] Speech codes this is just a narrative

[04:41] that is being painted by a certain very

[04:43] loud contingent of uh I would say more

[04:47] entitled students on campus that are in

[04:49] such Prime positions their life they

[04:51] have nothing better to worry about than

[04:53] what what's going to be said next that

[04:54] will offend me so there's a there's a

[04:56] group of college students that are

[04:57] waiting to be offended next and they're

[04:59] using these Free Speech codes and zones

[05:01] a way to suppress alternative points of

[05:03] view all right I I want to uh talk to

[05:05] you about you did a video last week when

[05:07] we were in Israel so we couldn't promo

[05:09] it about the student loans we're going

[05:11] to talk about that Charlie Kirk is my

[05:16] guest hey everybody there is actual uh

[05:18] there are many reasons for

[05:20] optimism there are also many reasons for

[05:23] pessimism but I I and I bring you both

[05:27] another reason for optimism is this

[05:29] young man Charlie Kirk 22 founder

[05:31] executive director of Turning Point USA

[05:33] is that the name of the website that's

[05:35] tpusa.com correct tpusa.com it's up at

[05:38] dennisprager.com

[05:40] Charlie Kirk uh has been doing great

[05:43] work a thousand campuses

[05:46] already by the way I just want to say to

[05:48] you Charlie and to my

[05:52] listeners there is every reason to

[05:55] believe despite the indoctrination of

[05:58] high school now Elementary School and

[06:01] certainly

[06:02] College there is absolute reason to

[06:05] believe what you said earlier is true

[06:06] that they are open to hearing us I know

[06:09] it from my own visits to colleges I know

[06:12] it because the largest demographic of

[06:14] the 40 million views Prager University

[06:17] has this year is under 35 years of

[06:20] age that that's

[06:23] something they have been

[06:25] indoctrinated but as soon as they hear

[06:27] something rational

[06:29] that isn't there they go well that makes

[06:33] sense is that your experience absolutely

[06:36] and I I I get asked all the time well

[06:38] why don't we indoctrinate our young

[06:40] people with conservative views the same

[06:43] way the left has indoctrinated current

[06:45] students with liberal views and I say

[06:47] the good thing about the truth is you

[06:48] don't indoctrinate you Enlighten people

[06:50] to it my man that's all we want and

[06:53] that's all you got to do you you just

[06:55] open the box and you let it you let it

[06:57] be free and when when you actually go to

[06:59] the process C of reasoned thinking and

[07:02] and challenging the status quo and which

[07:04] by the way Prager University is doing

[07:06] with Incredible efficiency and

[07:09] Effectiveness um young people are

[07:11] starving for a different point of view

[07:13] see what it's like to be a young person

[07:15] on a college campus right now you go

[07:17] from your So Soft social science

[07:19] department to your economics Department

[07:20] to your Humanities it's all this

[07:22] one-size fitall common philosophy

[07:24] America is bad capitalism is evil we

[07:27] need a a revolution to overthrow the the

[07:29] ruling class and the only solution to

[07:32] all of this is more government and less

[07:33] freedom for yourself but when there's a

[07:35] point of view that says free people

[07:37] making free decisions in a free Society

[07:40] not only works morally and ethically but

[07:42] it works pragmatically when you talk

[07:44] about constitutional Liberty when you

[07:46] talk about how you can make your own

[07:47] decisions in a free Society that's an

[07:50] that's not just an IDE ideology that's a

[07:52] philosophy young people can and will buy

[07:54] into they just have to be exposed to it

[07:56] yep yep indeed uh Charlie Kirk uh video

[08:00] for prer youu was that your first with

[08:01] us that's correct yes uh was up last

[08:04] week we didn't feature it cuz I was of

[08:05] course broadcasting from

[08:07] Israel uh but it's called G the game of

[08:10] loans and and it is a it is a game it's

[08:12] it's it's not even it's worse than a

[08:14] Ponzi scheme actually because they're

[08:16] not even having the next group pay for

[08:18] it nobody's paying for it it's just

[08:20] being paid for by by the citizen of the

[08:22] United States and it really encourages

[08:25] more people to vote Democrat that I have

[08:28] to say is depressing about the young

[08:31] people in America how they have been

[08:35] bought

[08:37] bought vote Democrat will give you free

[08:40] lunch free breakfast free tuition free

[08:44] medical care everything is free just

[08:47] vote Democrat that's right and the best

[08:49] way to create future Democratic voters

[08:51] is to First prop up and to manufacture a

[08:54] crisis so what's the best way to get a

[08:56] lot of people dependent on government

[08:58] make it seem like government is the Only

[08:59] Solution so I believe firmly that big

[09:02] government Democrats and some

[09:03] Republicans have manufactured the

[09:05] student loan crisis over the last 30 to

[09:07] 40 years they've injected trillions of

[09:09] dollars of cheap money into higher

[09:11] education they have went after sought

[09:13] after students with predatory practices

[09:16] to try to solicit cheap student loans

[09:19] make them take out these loans to go

[09:21] study degrees that may or may not have

[09:23] any sort of relevancy in the job market

[09:25] once they graduate then they're

[09:27] completely destitute with choices and

[09:29] options and the only salvation that they

[09:31] could possibly think of is government

[09:34] forgiveness in the form of if you vote

[09:36] for me I will give you free stuff see

[09:38] the Democrats they wake up every single

[09:40] day and their mission their objective is

[09:42] how do I get more people dependent on

[09:43] the federal government I believe firmly

[09:46] that the way that they have planned and

[09:48] strategized to get more young people

[09:49] dependent on the government is through

[09:51] the student loan crisis it's the it is

[09:52] the large I think the most um dangerous

[09:56] Financial issue facing young people

[09:58] today and quite frankly we've never seen

[10:00] anything quite like it in modern

[10:02] economic or modern generational history

[10:04] uh it's going to be cataclysmic in

[10:06] almost every single what the SH now what

[10:07] is the 1.3 trillion in the aggregate um

[10:11] and then per borrower about

[10:13] $28,000 that's per borrower that's not

[10:15] even per graduate we point this out in

[10:17] the Prager University video so over half

[10:19] of all the student loan debt held in

[10:21] this country is being held by people

[10:23] that never graduated they got no return

[10:26] on the on the debt they that is like

[10:28] getting a huge Lo phone on your house

[10:30] and getting no house yeah getting no

[10:32] house precisely and even the ones that

[10:34] might graduate they have degrees in

[10:36] Communications or you know Western

[10:39] medieval history you know that's it's

[10:41] well I could handle the medieval history

[10:43] it's the communications the first one or

[10:45] gender studies ethnic studies yes it I

[10:49] mean we want a certain number of people

[10:52] you look at all you look at really

[10:53] what's going on here the left has been

[10:56] has been so strategic in the way that

[10:58] they have planned this not only do they

[10:59] want more young people to go to college

[11:01] because they can get them depend on the

[11:03] federal government that's also how they

[11:04] are instilling their value system in

[11:07] them because they know if you can get a

[11:08] young person to walk into a freshman

[11:10] Humanities class more times than not

[11:13] they will walk away with anti-American

[11:15] anti- capitalistic anti-freedom

[11:16] viewpoints and they will be a liberal

[11:18] voter for

[11:20] life I was thinking when you were

[11:22] talking about uh the student loan and

[11:25] how much of course what is it $60,000

[11:28] now on some campus this is a year I read

[11:31] what a kid at Yale

[11:34] gets do you know that you have to go to

[11:38] $1,000 a

[11:40] night uh Pacific island South Pacific

[11:44] island

[11:46] resort to

[11:47] duplicate what what a student gets at

[11:50] Yale in terms of swimming pool

[11:54] sauna uh they have uh you know special

[11:58] uh what is it the hammocks that they

[12:00] have outside their their dorm back in a

[12:06] moment hello my friends final segment of

[12:08] this hour here ultimate issues hour is

[12:10] coming up Charlie Kirk is head of

[12:14] Turning Point USA

[12:17] tpusa or you could just get it through

[12:19] uh our website at dennisprager.com he's

[12:22] already on a th campus he's just 22

[12:24] years of of age the only University

[12:27] attended in his words is pregant

[12:30] University it's part of the reason he

[12:32] thinks so clearly I got a question it's

[12:34] a challenge too as well to you because

[12:37] obviously you give a reason for

[12:40] optimism given your age and your

[12:43] Effectiveness but I am concerned about

[12:46] an additional aspect of what's happening

[12:48] to America and that is that how how many

[12:51] in your generation list themselves

[12:53] religiously as

[12:55] none because even with a commitment to

[12:58] Constitution and

[13:00] reason this country was not founded on

[13:03] them

[13:04] alone and there I don't know how much

[13:08] progress is being made and I agree and I

[13:11] would say this when most people say

[13:13] they're not religious they do in fact

[13:15] have a religion that religion is statism

[13:18] see the state in many aspects is taking

[13:21] place of what the church used to be or

[13:23] the church or the religious institution

[13:25] whether it be a synagogue or a local

[13:27] community outfit see people people are

[13:29] looking not for you know religious

[13:31] officials or institutions for moral

[13:33] Clarity or answers instead they're

[13:34] looking for elected officials and

[13:36] leaders and personally you know I'm a

[13:38] I'm an Evangelical Christian and I

[13:40] attend on a regular basis but when I see

[13:42] my peers and colleagues try to

[13:46] separate the the religious component and

[13:49] the moral component and Foundation of

[13:51] their livelihood and of this country

[13:53] it's very dangerous and that's how you

[13:55] get the rise of the state as the country

[13:57] becomes more secular

[13:59] people will look towards government uh

[14:01] for more answers uh for um Direction and

[14:05] for leadership and when you have that

[14:07] Paradigm completely switched then the

[14:09] state will then Target and attack the

[14:11] religious institutions which is exactly

[14:13] where we are today

[14:14] unfortunately well I'm very happy to

[14:16] hear I did not know that you were

[14:18] religious I'm very happy to hear that

[14:21] because I think that the the libertarian

[14:24] appeal to young people which I fully

[14:26] understand and which in many ways I

[14:29] support is insufficient because it is

[14:31] overwhelmingly

[14:33] secular so I'm very you you really are a

[14:36] guy I wish you great uh great luck you

[14:38] could watch him on the pr University

[14:40] video of last week doesn't matter what

[14:42] week they're all Timeless but it's about

[14:45] the the uh the game of

[14:47] loans you should see it it's fun as well

[14:50] as

[14:51] informative okay everybody ultimate

[14:53] issues coming up Charlie it's great to

[14:55] be with you thank you good luck and uh

[14:58] great great success to you