American Thought Leaders

We’ve heard a lot about how Israel is a beneficiary and dependent on the United States. But is that really the case?“Our economy is heavily dependent on Israel. And there’s this illusion that really irritates me—that somehow Israel is a dependent of the U.S., or some kind of abusive child or something. But Israel really gives us far more than they take,” argues George Gilder.He is an investor, economist, and best-selling author of 23 books, including the post-Oct. 7 updated edition of his 2009 book, “The Israel Test: How Israel’s Genius Enriches and Challenges the World.”“You destroy Israel, the value of the world economy would drop by 50 percent,” says Gilder. “It’s knowledge that enables wealth. And knowledge comes from human minds created in the image of their Creator. And this is the great monotheistic vision that Jews have vouchsafed to the world and that is crucial to Western civilization.”From the first pogroms in ancient Egypt and up to the present day, what role has envy played in anti-Semitism?“I think the evil in men’s hearts is to tear down accomplishment, excellence, and genius. It’s really a perverse envy that we all have to labor to overcome. I mean, envy is natural to all of us, and it’s our Israel test. It cleaves the hearts of the world and it continues to challenge us,” says Gilder.Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

“When [social security] was first established, you had 40 workers for every retiree. Today, we have three workers for every retiree. You also have people living longer, and you have all people forced into this system that they don’t own … and they can’t transfer it to their heirs,” says Star Parker. She is the founder and president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education (CURE) and editor of the book “The State of Black Progress.”America’s social security system is broken, Parker says. And it’s not just social security. She argues that America’s welfare and safety net programs are all built on a one-size-fits-all model that fails to actually help the poor. Instead, they entrench generational poverty in certain communities, she argues.Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Sponsor special: Up to $2,500 of FREE silver AND a FREE safe on qualifying orders - Call 855-862-3377 or text “AMERICAN” to 6-5-5-3-2“The promises of the American experiment and liberty are still what people want, and they are most in tune with what does it mean to be an authentic human being. Communism, on the other hand—it only works by force. It keeps its own people locked away in countries that are essentially gulags. It doesn’t value the human person—the fundamental dignity of men and women as they are.”In this episode, I sit down with Eric Patterson, the president of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, to learn about their research on Venezuela and China.“You could go [to China] for such and such a price and get a new lung or a new liver or something on 24 hours notice. Now, what kind of organ industry can advertise that you can shop around, and on a very, very short notice to get a vitally needed organ?” asks Patterson.We also explore a key flaw in American foreign policy.“We misunderstood how to deal with the Taliban, we misunderstood how to deal with the Iraqis, and so many other places, when we didn’t take seriously the religious milieu in which they live, in which they make decisions,” says Patterson. “And this is also true of secular states like China ... There is a ruling ideology that’s been expressed by President Xi.”Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

“What you’re seeing in the Philippines is one more step in China’s effort to tighten its control over all parts of the South China Sea,” says retired U.S. Marine Col. Grant Newsham, an expert on the Asia-Pacific region and a senior fellow at the Center for Security Policy.In recent clashes near the submerged reef known as the Second Thomas Shoal, there have been cases of Chinese vessels ramming Philippine ships, deploying water cannons, and injuring several sailors.In this episode, Newsham breaks down the Chinese communist regime’s decades-long strategy to gain control of the South China Sea, from methodical island building to deploying a combination of Coast Guard, maritime militia, and fishing fleets to harass and intimidate other nations.Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

W. Bruce Lee is the executive director of the Phoenix Correspondence Commission, the first nationwide convention of states since 1861. It’s a little known government body owned by all 50 states organized to provide another check on the federal government.“After 40-some odd years of no progress in Congress, the states are being looked at as the solution now. And the states do need to buck up,” said Lee. “If Congress is unwilling to control itself, then there needs to be some external enforcer.”He argues the best way to rein in federal spending and reduce the $35 trillion national debt, is through a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.“At $35 trillion, we’re spending more on interest payments than we do on our national defense,” he said. “If you do not have economic stability, you do not have anything. The whole house of cards comes tumbling down.”Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

In this episode, I sit down with John Lott, founder and president of The Crime Prevention Research Center, to discuss his extensive research into national crime rates, arrest rates, as well as gun permit laws and how they impact crime.“In 2022, the last year that we have the National Crime Victimization data for, while the FBI showed a 2 percent drop in violent crime, the National Crime Victimization data showed a 42 percent increase in total violent crime,” says Lott.Why is there such a disconnect between media reporting that violent crime is down and the public’s perception that crime is surging?“If you look at arrests for total crimes, reported and unreported, only 8 percent of violent crimes result in arrest,” says Lott.Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Sponsor special: Up to $2,500 of FREE silver AND a FREE safe on qualifying orders - Call 855-862-3377 or text “AMERICAN” to 6-5-5-3-2Space policy expert Greg Autry believes the Chinese communist regime may be looking at targeting Taiwan with an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapon attack. What would such an attack look like, and why might an EMP be the weapon of choice for the Chinese regime?Autry is the director of space leadership, policy, and business at the Thunderbird School of Global Management and a professor at Arizona State University. He’s also the co-author of “Red Moon Rising: How America Will Beat China on the Final Frontier.”“Space is the ultimate high ground,” but America is at risk of losing its superiority in space, the policy expert says.What would losing the second space race mean for America and its allies?Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Why are people in developed economies having fewer and fewer children? Is it really because raising children is too expensive? Or are there other factors at play? How will declining population rates affect Western economies and societies?And why are some families bucking this trend, and having five, six, seven, or even eight children? How does having children affect a woman’s long-term happiness?In this episode, we sit down with social scientist and researcher Catherine Pakaluk, author of “Hannah’s Children: The Women Quietly Defying the Birth Dearth.”Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Sponsor special: Up to $2,500 of FREE silver AND a FREE safe on qualifying orders - Call 855-862-3377 or text “AMERICAN” to 6-5-5-3-2The end of the U.S. dollar gold standard in 1971 had unexpected, far-reaching consequences for the United States and its adversaries, ones that are central to today’s economic and geopolitical realities. What happened?Jeffrey Tucker is the senior economics columnist at The Epoch Times and the founder and president of the Brownstone Institute.“You’re gutting your entire industrial base and turning yourself into a whole country of indebted and stupid consumers. And you’re not making anything anymore. This is a crazy system,” said Tucker.In this episode, we dive into what’s really going on with the U.S. economy. Are we in a recession? Are prices and unemployment rising or falling? What about domestic goods and imports? And what is the data really saying?“You need to adjust this data by inflation, which is easy to say. But if you’re going to do that, you need an accurate reading of inflation. And if you don’t have that, you’re going to end up with inaccurate data,” said Tucker.He claims that many financial indicators we use to measure economic growth are inaccurate.“So now, we’ve got the highest rate of multiple job holders we’ve ever seen. Some people are holding two full-time jobs, which is extremely strange,” he said.Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

To understand Venezuela’s disputed election and the bigger picture of what’s really going on in the region—including how China, Russia, and Iran are involved—leading security expert Joseph Humire gives a comprehensive deep dive.“This is probably the biggest electoral fraud in the history of Latin America, at least in modern times in the 21st century. The difference of what we’re talking about is not in the tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands, it’s in the millions of votes,” Humire says.Humire is executive director of the Center for a Secure Free Society and visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation.He argues Nicolas Maduro has a hidden ace under his sleeve.Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.