Listen in as Victor Davis Hanson talks with cohost Jack Fowler about the leak from the Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision, violence in America from the Left, Nina Jankowicz the new “disinformation” czar, a nation of Julias and Pajama Boys, and college graduations.
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Prof. Hanson, does anyone believe that the “left” will permit an election to occur that will likely terminate a substantial amount of their authoritarian power? It will be shocking if they don’t follow the Trudeau paridigm?
Thank you Dr. Hanson, I look forward to your commentaries daily.
On our elites’ lifestyles:
Most societies in the Midern era have not married terribly early and still produced an average of five children. It took men years to gather enough wealth to build a house and sufficient income to marry and raise children. In fruitful Puritan New England, the average marrying ages were M 26 F 23. Women typically continued to have children till around 40. (John Putnam Demos “Entertaing Satan” and “A Little Commonwealth”, for Puritan ideas about marriage, the dignity of women, etc. See David D. Hall “A Reforming People”) they’re peers among non-puritans raised it to M28 and F26 in Old England. So, you can marry well into your 20s and have a burgeoning society -if you get started with child bearing soon after marriage and continue to menopause. Thus, economic factors in themselves do not drive down our fertility rate. It’s some combination of mentality, how much it costs to raise children through college, and different opportunity cost choices in a largely urban/suburban society.
P.s. forgive spelling mistakes! I am typing with cramped fingers on the phone!
On Pajama Boy:
I’ve been reading articles for about 10 years now all saying the same thing: the Great Recession empowered a generation of tyrannical, underqualified, and incompetent bosses that deliberately treated their workers like fuses to be replaced (engineers being the notable exception). For many workers, especially those in dual income families, Covid was the last straw. Right now, those people are physically and mentally wrecked and they’re taking the opportunity to opt out to Repair and Reorient. Others are simply retiring early so they don’t die at their desks. Point being, we need some accurate statistics on the “Why” before we can blame what’s going on simply on Pajama Boy and Julia.
I agree, the government broke the Social Contract, if anyone’s business can simply be forced closed at any time for an “emergency” and you’re a “nonessential” worker you’ll simply be fired. It’s been a long time coming. 11 million unfilled jobs…I don’t think any stats the gov. publishes can be trusted. That’s why they want open borders to prop up the GDP whilst affecting demographic replacement and destruction of the middle class (life savings, home ownership), speculative capitalism needs a permanent debt class as USURY to keep “growth” up. Brainstorming possible causes from workers’ perspective:
1. visas foreign workers (IT and tech, illegals cheaper, etc.)
2. vax mandates by COMPANIES and Feds (“health” industry)
3. cost of living. 3+ min. wage jobs, 20hr work days, with roommates (not partner-working women)
4. shareholders profit FIRST, workers wages FALLING. many opting retirement. human resources
5. undesireables – older, white, males, deplorables. openly RACIST Equity Opportunity “employers”
6. unhiralbes – lack experience, no employer will hire, even if can LEARN on job
See, that fills out the picture even more. Some work is also heavily seasonal, like moving and packing or fruit picking, but I don’t know how that’s reflected in economic data.
Thank you for the podcast. I always enjoy listening and learning. I had Covid too and it is obviously not a normal virus. Everyone has strange symptoms which seem to ebb and flow.
Regarding commencement speeches, Mitch Daniels did such a fantastic job several years ago at my son’s Purdue graduation I don’t even remember if there was a guest speaker!
I agree. I too am a Boilermaker — and my son also attended Purdue, graduating in 2014, with Mitch Daniels as University President. I had the same observation as you when he spoke at commencement.
At times in life, you observe a person serving in a role, and it is most obvious that the individual is very competent and being successful in the role/position in which he/she serves. I have that sense when I see, observe or read a communication from Purdue President Daniels. It was also very obvious he really enjoys being President of Purdue University.
Since she’s a she, is nitwit Jankowicz not a disinformation czar, but a czarina?
Only if you’re going to declare kanly, my good Baron. Incidentally, did you ever find the Atreides heir and his Benegeserit Witch of a Mother?
Count Fenring
The handle’s a Munchausen reference, not Harkonnen, Jim! 😉
@35:13 “Yeah, it’s a nation of pantloads!”
Jack! That cracked me up, I did a spit-take! Now I have to clean off my screen. That was a pisser! I have to remember that one.
Forgive all the comments, but you’ve really got me thinking. On the costs of raising children. I had friends in college who were poorer by far that were much better versed in classical music, but there’s a difference between records and CDs and the MET, Broadway, the Schubert -Shakespeare at Longwarf. You can read Twain, but his house in Hartford takes things to a whole new level. Not everyone can use the Stratford Shakespeare library for high school papers -or just pop over to Yale. Then college is richer if you can haul off to the Getty for kicks, see films at Mann’s Chinese Theater, and get props for performing Aeschylus from the same prop house that furnished Windtalkers. All that takes money -scads of it. You can raise 3 kids in that environment. I’ve seen elite military contractors who can push it to 5. People on the coasts have access to all the vast riches of western civilization and they want to share that with their kids. To do that, however, requires some steep tradeoffs the costs of which are increasing every year. They may misuse their privilege, but that doesn’t make them Julias -they could just be detoured Jen Psakis.
Prof. Hanson, get well soon! A couple days ago since recording but hopefully you are doing better now.