PragerU

When asked about hell, Pope Francis recently said, “I like to think hell is empty. I hope it is.” Dennis disagrees. But why? Later, Dennis takes your questions about helping friends with mental health issues and the effects of social media on kids. Full episode: https://l.prageru.com/3Tkvcus Help keep PragerU free: https://l.prageru.com/49zlRGd 📲 Download the FREE PragerU app: https://prageru.onelink.me/3bas/vgyxvm79 Subscribe to PragerU Kids ➡️ (https://www.youtube.com/@PragerUKids) Subscribe to Real Talk with Marissa Streit ➡️ (https://www.youtube.com/@realtalkwithmarissa) Subscribe to PragerU Shorts ➡️ (https://www.youtube.com/@PragerUShorts) Follow PragerU on social media! Instagram ➡️ (https://www.instagram.com/prageru/) Twitter ➡️ (https://twitter.com/prageru) Facebook ➡️ (https://www.facebook.com/prageru/)

What is the only economic system that values freedom, lifts people out of poverty, disdains distinctions of race and creed, and draws us into productive networks of mutual dependency? Hint: it’s not a system of ever-increasing government control. Help keep PragerU free! Donate today: https://l.prageru.com/49zlRGd 📲 Download the FREE PragerU app: https://prageru.onelink.me/3bas/vgyxvm79 Subscribe to PragerU Kids ➡️ (https://www.youtube.com/@PragerUKids) Subscribe to Real Talk with Marissa Streit ➡️ (https://www.youtube.com/@realtalkwithmarissa) Subscribe to PragerU Shorts ➡️ (https://www.youtube.com/@PragerUShorts) Follow PragerU on social media! Instagram ➡️ (https://www.instagram.com/prageru/) Twitter ➡️ (https://twitter.com/prageru) Facebook ➡️ (https://www.facebook.com/prageru/) OK, we’re told, so maybe capitalism is efficient. Maybe it generates more wealth than other systems. But what about values? What about things that can’t be measured in cash? Things like kindness and loyalty and integrity. Well, let me say something that you won’t hear very often. Let me make the moral case for capitalism. Let’s go back nearly 12,000 years, to the moment when one of our ancestors made a world-changing discovery. It turned out that if you left seeds in fertile soil, plants would grow from them. Instead of having to forage, you could produce your own grains or fruits where you wanted. But it didn’t take long for someone to make the next discovery. Rather than spending all year tending to your own crops, you could wait for your neighbor to bring in his harvest and then steal it. And then came the truly diabolical discovery. If you wanted to maximize the ratio of effort to outcome, you could organize a gang of thugs, and seize not only your neighbor’s harvest but everyone’s harvest, regularizing your plunder through tithes, tolls, and taxes. And thus it continued until, well… until roughly the end of the 17th century and the birth of modern liberal capitalism. Sure, there were premonitions before then, little tremors of freedom. But almost everyone on the planet still lived in servitude and penury. Every previous society was based on systematized oppression. Ruling elites would use the institutions of the state to loot its resources, and then rig the rules so that their children would inherit the same privileged position. A Bronze Age slave empire was not so different in this sense from a medieval European monarchy or a twentieth-century African kleptocracy—or, come to that, from those modern states that have avoided the liberal-capitalist revolution. Oppression, serfdom, and bondage were the lot of almost every human being from the moment civilization began until an eyeblink ago. We don’t know how lucky we are to live at a time and in a place where the rules are above the rulers. The great Victorian jurist Sir Henry Maine summarized the move to modern liberty in three words: “status to contract.” In nearly every previous society, our relations with one another were dictated by status, that is, birth and caste. In a liberal-capitalist society, we are free to make one-off, free-standing arrangements with each other without needing to ask anyone else’s permission. Our agreements—our contracts—are enforced by an independent court system. And adult citizens are equal in the eyes of the law. That’s it. That’s the magic formula: Status to contract. Grant it, and the rest follows. It’s the difference between North Korea and South Korea, between China and Taiwan, between Russia and Finland, between Haiti and Bermuda. In a society defined by status, you get rich by sucking up to the people in charge—emperors, or people’s commissars, or presidents for life. But in a society defined by contract, you get rich by offering a product or a service to the people around you. As the 20th-century economist Joseph Schumpeter put it: “The capitalist achievement does not typically consist in providing more silk stockings for queens but in bringing them within the reach of factory girls.” When I buy something on Amazon, yes, I am enriching Jeff Bezos. I am adding fractionally to his net wealth. But he is also enriching me, letting me buy pretty much whatever I want without having to get out of my chair. It is how we get ahead. Full transcript: https://l.prageru.com/4a4IeTy

Dor Shachar grew up in Gaza, suffered a horrific childhood, and had personal experiences in a Palestinian jail before moving to Israel and converting to Judaism. He sits with PragerU CEO Marissa Streit to share his powerful testimony, which gives just a glimpse into the reality of what life is like for people in Gaza. Help keep PragerU free! Donate today: https://l.prageru.com/49zlRGd 📲 Download the FREE PragerU app: https://prageru.onelink.me/3bas/vgyxvm79 Subscribe to PragerU Kids ➡️ (https://www.youtube.com/@PragerUKids) Subscribe to Real Talk with Marissa Streit ➡️ (https://www.youtube.com/@realtalkwithmarissa) Subscribe to PragerU Shorts ➡️ (https://www.youtube.com/@PragerUShorts) Follow PragerU on social media! Instagram ➡️ (https://www.instagram.com/prageru/) Twitter ➡️ (https://twitter.com/prageru) Facebook ➡️ (https://www.facebook.com/prageru/)

Help keep PragerU free: https://l.prageru.com/49zlRGd 📲 Download the FREE PragerU app: https://prageru.onelink.me/3bas/vgyxvm79 Subscribe to PragerU Kids ➡️ (https://www.youtube.com/@PragerUKids) Subscribe to Real Talk with Marissa Streit ➡️ (https://www.youtube.com/@realtalkwithmarissa) Subscribe to PragerU Shorts ➡️ (https://www.youtube.com/@PragerUShorts) Follow PragerU on social media! Instagram ➡️ (https://www.instagram.com/prageru/) Twitter ➡️ (https://twitter.com/prageru) Facebook ➡️ (https://www.facebook.com/prageru/)

When you hear “America First,” what comes to mind? Aldo travels to UCLA and Arizona State University to ask students if they think this term denotes patriotism, racism, or something else entirely. Do young people in Los Angeles and Phoenix have the same opinion when it comes to putting “America First”? Watch to find out. Sign the petition to save women's sports: https://l.prageru.com/4a7entF Help keep PragerU free! Donate today: https://l.prageru.com/49zlRGd Become a member of this channel to support PragerU (there's also some perks!): https://l.prageru.com/3QUqK4q Download the FREE PragerU app: https://prageru.onelink.me/3bas/vgyxvm79

After years of hard work, Riley Gaines made it to the NCAA Championship, but her dreams of winning were shattered when a low-ranked male swimmer who had changed his name to Lia Thomas entered the competition, destroying the opportunities of female athletes. Riley could not stand by and allow this growing trend of biological men dominating women’s sports to go unchallenged, even if it meant standing alone. But, to Riley’s surprise, others would soon join the fight. Sign the petition to save women's sports: https://l.prageru.com/4a7entF Help keep PragerU free! Donate today: https://l.prageru.com/49zlRGd Become a member of this channel to support PragerU (there's also some perks!): https://l.prageru.com/3QUqK4q Download the FREE PragerU app: https://prageru.onelink.me/3bas/vgyxvm79

If China were to invade Taiwan—an island democracy in the South China Sea—would it be in America’s national interest to defend it? China scholar Helen Raleigh weighs in on this critically important question. Help keep PragerU free! Donate today: https://l.prageru.com/49zlRGd Become a member of this channel to support PragerU (there's also some perks!): https://l.prageru.com/3QUqK4q Download the FREE PragerU app: https://prageru.onelink.me/3bas/vgyxvm79 Transcript: Is it in America’s national interest to defend Taiwan, an island less than 100 miles off the eastern coast of China? Every American President of the last seventy-five years has had to face this question. Each one has responded in a slightly different way. But the bottom-line answer they have all given is… Maybe.. Fortunately, this ambiguous commitment has never been put to the ultimate test. But that test might not be far off. The Chinese Communist Party – the CCP – believes that Taiwan belongs to them and has made it very clear that it intends to take control of the island. The Taiwanese, however, hold a different opinion. They want to determine their own destiny. Economically, they’ve done fine on their own. Despite a population of only 23 million people, Taiwan is now one of the world’s leading economies. With a strong industrial base, it is home to the world’s most advanced maker of computer chips, Taiwan Semiconductor. Apple, Lockheed, and Google are clients. It’s also a well-functioning democracy. China, which isn’t a democracy, doesn’t care. It wants Taiwan. Does it have a legitimate claim? If we look at the island’s history, it’s hard to make a great case that it does. From time immemorial the island was inhabited by indigenous people. Beginning in the 16th century, the Portuguese, Dutch, and Spanish each established a small colonial presence. So taken with the island’s natural beauty, the Portuguese called it “Ilha Formosa,” or “beautiful island.” In 1683, the armies of the Qing Empire, the ruling Chinese dynasty at the time, conquered the island. But they didn’t do much with it. Life went on as it always had. Then in 1895, Japan colonized Taiwan after defeating China in a bitter war. On the mainland, the Nationalist Party overthrew the Qing Dynasty and established the Republic of China (the ROC) in 1911. The ROC government took over control of Taiwan in 1945 after the Allies defeated Japan in World War II. Almost immediately, a brutal civil war broke out between the ROC, led by Chiang Kai-shek, and the Chinese Communist Party led by Mao Zedong. By 1949, Mao had prevailed and established the People’s Republic of China. Chiang and the remainder of the ROC government, along with two million followers, fled to Taiwan. From that moment on, the two sides traveled along opposite paths. Taiwan was firmly settled in the American camp. China was firmly settled in the Soviet camp. It’s not that Taiwan was a model of democracy – Chiang was a dictator until his death in 1975. But he was a valuable asset to the United States during the Cold War. With a large standing army at his command, Chiang exerted a restraining influence on Mao. In exchange for this, the United States continued to recognize the ROC as the official representative of the Chinese people. But this was unsustainable. Communist China was a nation with close to a billion people, one-fifth of the world’s population. In 1970, President Richard Nixon and his Secretary of State Henry Kissinger were the first to accept this reality. As a gesture to Mao, they kicked Taiwan out of the UN Security Council and gave its seat to Communist China. In 1972, Nixon and Kissinger made their historic trip to China. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter granted Communist China full diplomatic recognition. As a counterbalance – call it a consolation prize – the US Congress passed the Taiwan Relations Act. Although the Act didn’t guarantee that the US would defend Taiwan in the event of an invasion by Communist China, it did not rule out US intervention, either. To Taiwan’s credit, it didn’t let these diplomatic setbacks stop its march to democracy. After Chiang’s death in 1975, his successors gradually implemented political and economic reforms. The economy boomed. It’s still booming. None of this matters to the Chinese Communist Party. In fact, Taiwan’s success has only inflamed tensions. Here’s why: Taiwan’s fully functioning democracy and dynamic economy discredits the CCP’s claim that democracy is a Western idea incompatible with Chinese culture, and that only the Communist Party can provide the Chinese people with stability and prosperity. Taiwan is a standing refutation of this obviously false claim. So, is Taiwan worth defending? If the US were to lose access to Taiwan’s technology, the economic consequences would be catastrophic. Made-in-Taiwan chips power everything from smartphones to missiles. See the rest: https://l.prageru.com/3wNWMJb

#dennisprager

Watch the full episode: https://l.prageru.com/3TqZJIP Why are anti-Zionist demonstrations marching through major American cities? Why do young people hate Israel and sympathize with Hamas? Look no further than our universities, where the left has taught an entire generation not to not to judge good and evil, but to judge rich and poor, strong and weak, white and nonwhite. If you can't tell the difference between good and evil in the Middle East, your ability to ascertain morality has been destroyed. Download the FREE PragerU app: https://prageru.onelink.me/3bas/vgyxvm79 #israel #palestine #evil

@realcjpearson Barack Obama’s latest film on Netflix is accused of anti-white racism. The House votes to authorize an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. Kid Rock is launching a music tour to take on Taylor Swift. And the state of Florida is launching an investigation as to why undefeated Florida State University was left out of the college football playoffs. Download the FREE PragerU app: https://prageru.onelink.me/3bas/vgyxvm79

The term “racism” has been thrown around a lot recently. Is there anything—from physical fitness and professionalism to clean pantries and even pumpkin spice lattes—that isn’t racist? @aldobuttazzoni visits Cal State Northridge to find out what students think about their everyday behaviors being labeled as “racist.”

An accomplished singer and songwriter, RaeLynn was told at an early age to prioritize career over family. In an act of rebellion, she got married at age 21 and started a family soon after. She now uses her influence to counter the toxic mom culture prevalent in our society. Despite what culture and the media tell you, children don’t hinder success; they only add value to our lives.

Politicians on both the left and the right say their side values freedom more than those across the aisle. But how can this be? Because the left and the right have different definitions of “freedom.” @realcjpearson breaks down these differences and explains both sides of the argument. Are you on the left or the right? Take this quiz to find out: https://l.prageru.com/3sSl6rO

We are on the brink of the biggest merger in history. If we don’t stop it, our constitutional rights could become a relic of the past. Philip Hamburger, Professor of Law at Columbia University and CEO of the New Civil Liberties Alliance, explains. SUBSCRIBE 👉 https://www.prageru.com/join Script: We’re witnessing the biggest merger in history. Big government and big business are getting together to tell us what to do, what to say, and what to think. And the only way they can do it is to work around the Constitution. Sometimes this alignment is voluntary, sometimes not. Either way, it portends a profound change in the way we live—and not for the better. An early hint of this merger occurred in 2013. That’s when the Obama Administration implemented what it called “Operation Choke Point.” The idea was to choke off a type of business—pay day lending—that the administration didn’t like but couldn’t get Congress to ban. Pay day lenders make small, short-term loans at high interest rates. Their customers are usually in need of quick cash—for example, to pay a bill that’s due before the next paycheck arrives. This is entirely legal. Nonetheless, the Obama administration pressured banks not to process credit-card payments to these businesses or give them loans. Banks are heavily regulated and very susceptible to government pressure. All the administration had to do was apply pressure to two banks—Four Oaks Bank in North Carolina and CommerceWest in California. Soon, others took the hint and stopped doing business with payday lenders. State governments have taken a cue from the federal government. In 2018, New York State warned banks and insurance companies about “reputational risk” in doing business with the National Rifle Association—thereby denying it financial services. Recently, the federal government has been pressuring social media platforms to censor speech. As we learned from the Twitter files and recent litigation, government agencies such as the FBI, Homeland Security, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been telling the platforms what opinions they want suppressed. The platforms have become partners with the government in suppressing freedom of speech. They voluntarily cooperate when their own views align with those of government. And when they don’t cooperate, the government pressures them to conform. We’ve seen this before. A foundation of fascism is the alliance of big business with government to control society, even to mold private opinion. Government privileges big business and in exchange expects its support. View full script: https://l.prageru.com/46Qx3vX #government #business #america

@PragerUKids Young people are inundated with panic about climate change. Nobody knows this better than the Dutch, where farmers are under attack by their own government over nitrogen in their soil. In this animated video (based on PragerU’s Around the World magazine), your middle and high school students will learn how government regulations in the Netherlands endanger livelihoods and even the world's food supply. But Dutch farmers like Florian and his family are fighting back! SUBSCRIBE 👉 https://www.PragerUkids.com #education #travel #kidseducationvideo

What is really happening to the Israeli and international hostages held by Hamas? Listen in to an exclusive discussion with family members of hostages who were released, and some who are still being held. They describe the horrific conditions that those who have been held over 2 months in captivity are undergoing and demand their loved ones be returned safely. Stand with Israel. Condemn Terrorism. Sign the petition 👉 https://l.prageru.com/45wKf8t @realtalkwithmarissa #middleeast #palestine #israel

@PragerUKids The President of the United States has a big job, but a group of advisors called the Cabinet works closely with the commander in chief and helps make important decisions. In this fun-filled episode of Street Smarts, your middle and high school students will learn about the history, purpose, and role of the Cabinet of the United States. SUBSCRIBE 👉 https://www.PragerUkids.com #usa #manonthestreet #kidshows

@XAVIAER #middleeast #palestine #israel

@realtalkwithmarissa ft, @VALUETAINMENT #america #shorts #money

@realcjpearson When it comes to the issue of healthcare, how much should the government be involved? The left wants healthcare for everyone to be paid through taxes and administered by the government. The right believes the private sector provides better healthcare with faster access. CJ Pearson breaks down these differences and explains both sides of the argument. Are you on the left or the right? Take this quiz to find out! - https://l.prageru.com/3sSl6rO #health #healthcare #america

@XAVIAER #cod #gamer #gta