Recently we wrote about Kurt Schlichter's new book, "Conservative Insurgency," a fictional retrospective looking back in 2041 on how constitutional conservatives stopped the inexorable march of progressivism and won back the country.
We sat down with the Townhall columnist to talk about his book and the state of the culture war in America today. In a particularly explosive part of our interview, we asked Schlichter how he foresees the welfare state effectively coming to an end, as codified under the fictional Thirty-Second Amendment, which reads:
[instory-book ISBN="9781618689771"]
Each American shall be presumed to be responsible for the financial support of himself or herself, and for his or her dependents, and Congress shall make no law providing for such support for more than a minimal period of no more than three months during their lives, and in modest amounts necessary to preserve life, unless such person has paid into, and is eligible to participate in, a system of social insurance for such support, is truly and demonstrably physically or mentally unable to support himself or herself, or is injured in the service of this Nation.
Schlichter told us:
I think...people are starting to see the failure of government as...a sort of father of a spoiled child. I think a lot of people resent the free-ride mentality that many people have. I think we're seeing the tremendous damage that the welfare state does, not only economically, but morally, and socially. There are critiques out there of what it's done to minority families and...white families that are shocking. I mean when it becomes an economically smart play...to ditch the man...the man of the family is gonna get ditched in a lot more cases than would otherwise. We need to do things that promote families because families are the basic building block, not government.
The author continued:
And frankly there are a lot of people that are working hard who are sick of giving free money to losers. And a lot of free money goes to losers.
...[T]oday it's funny because it's kind of harsh, but I think down the road eventually...people are going to start saying, "Wait a minute - you sit on your couch gobbling Doritos, you watch Judge Judy. I'm working two jobs, and you're getting about seventy-five percent of the money I'm getting, and it comes out of my check."
"Here, I have a counter-offer. How about you get nothing. And if you're hungry, that motivates you to go...and operate a mop and bucket at a McDonald's."
You know when somebody starts whining about these...[entry level] jobs, my first question is, "Do you think you're better than me?" They kind of look at me funny.
I'm like, "Do you think you're better than me?"
"Well why do you say that?"
"Well how do you think I started?"
Schlichter described the trajectory of his own career, rising from a private to a colonel in the army, and working at Carl's Jr. and then McDonald's after being "fired at Denny's for gross incompetence," prior to getting a law degree and starting his own firm. He continues:
..."I operated that mop and bucket." So when you start talking bad about someone who's working an entry level job, you're saying that you're better than me because I don't have to do that. And I've got a newsflash: If you're taking money from Uncle Sam than you're not better than anybody. You're a loser. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. If you're taking a check from Uncle Sam -- and not for working -- and you weren't blown up by an IED in Iraq, you're a loser.
You can listen to this exchange beginning at 25:08.
During the interview, we also had the chance to discuss a variety of other topics including:
- Why Barack Obama is right that "we are the ones that we've been waiting for"
- What the government shutdown teaches us about picking battles and the future of the conservative movement
- How conservatives will ultimately win - in spite of some of the terrible things that befall the nation during Hillary Clinton's two presidential terms (and how she is aided by a certain New Jersey governor in retaining office)
- How conservatives and libertarians are going to coalesce, including around the issue of marijuana
- Why immigration will continue to plague the country for decades
- Insight into some of Kurt's favorite colorful characters
- The tremendous untapped skill set of conservatives that will ultimately propel them to victory
- The state of the culture war today, and why conservatives are winning it
You can find all of our Blaze Books interviews on Soundcloud and Stitcher, and subscribe to the podcast automatically via iTunes.
Note: The link to the book in this post will give you an option to elect to donate a percentage of the proceeds from the sale to a charity of your choice. Mercury One, the charity founded by TheBlaze’s Glenn Beck, is one of the options. Donations to Mercury One go towards efforts such as disaster relief, support for education, support for Israel and support for veterans and our military. You can read more about Amazon Smile and Mercury One here.
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