Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Again this morning, we have the pleasure of talking for
a few minutes with doctor Mark Skousen. You may have
seen him on TV other places before. An incredible author, historian,
and the prestigious Dottie Spoke, lead chair of Free Enterprise
at Chapman University. If that doesn't mean anything to you,
(00:23):
we're gonna we're gonna make it meet something to you
by the time we get through this conversation. He is
the author of the Greatest American and he is an
eighth generation descendant of one of the founders of our country.
Some people can argue maybe the most important innovator at
the beginning of America, Benjamin Franklin. Doctor Scousin, welcome to
(00:45):
the show. How are you.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
I'm doing well and I'm looking forward to making this
a bestseller. I think it's possible. People. We need to
bring pride back to America. And you know, when you
go raw these days, there's a lot of people who
are really angry at America. That's the ugly American view
that a lot of people have that's going on these days.
(01:09):
And it's nice to be able to talk about somebody
that everybody loves. At least today. They did not back
in Franklin's day, but he is definitely Ben Franklin is
one of those. I mean, I've spoken at many conferences,
and whether you're Republicans are Democrats, there's a lot you
can like about Ben Franklin.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Well, when we have people who are American citizens like
Bruce Springsteen going overseas and preaching basically their detestament of
our president, our elected president, or the America he says
he loves it's kind of easy to understand what you're
talking about where some of this misguided mistrust and hate
(01:50):
comes from when you go overseas.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Well, I would take issue with you a little bit
on that, because Trump he's a disruptor and he does
try to insult people. I mean, I like Bruce Springsteen.
I think some of his music is fantastic, and I
think it's unfortunate that we're seeing this kind of divisiveness
in this country. And I think if you said, well,
(02:18):
Bruce Springsteen, what do you think of Ben Franklin, he
would probably say great things about him. One of the
things that Franklin really emphasizes is the need to be
humble and admit your mistakes. And so I think there's
a lot to be said for Franklin as somebody that
everyone could say, wow, you know, he really symbolizes the
(02:42):
greatness of America.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
As far as what's going on right now in the news,
Doctor Skousen, Let's compare Benjamin Franklin and what he would
say or think about, for example, economic nationalism.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yes, he's very much a global thinker, and he loved foreigners.
He spent nine years as the colonial agent in London.
He loved London. He loved the life there, the intellectual atmosphere,
the political atmosphere, until he was finally kicked out because
(03:20):
of the American Revolution, and then he was beloved by
the French people. So Frankly at one point said listen,
I believe that the rights of man are universal, and
I hope there's a day where I could stand on
any country and say this is my country. So I think, well,
(03:44):
he was a very proud American. I loved what we
stood for in creating a new nation that was based
on the rights of man. He would also want to
extend that around the world. Don't think he would be
critical of other nations and other countries. He would try
(04:04):
to try to work together.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
So he wasn't necessarily an America first kind of guy.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Then I think he was America free and all other
countries free. But yes, he loved America and he was
a devoted follower of American exceptionalism because look at the
difference between the American Revolution the French Revolution. Franklin died
(04:32):
before he could see the full effects of the French Revolution,
but he would not be happy with the outcome of
the French Revolution. What was very happy with the outcome
of the American Revolution. So I think he liked the
idea of America as a great country and spreading its
(04:54):
message all around the world. But you you don't want
an idea that we have have to we win only
if you lose in other countries. And I don't think
that's Franklin's view. I think he would like to see
free trade. He was an advocate of Adam Smiths, and
(05:15):
he would be a big believer in globalization today and
new technology which is being developed because we have entrepreneurs
from all over the world.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
What about America's sovereignty? Did he not believe in that?
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Oh? Yes, I'm sure he did, but he was he
was very liberal when it came to immigration. He invited
foreigners to come to this country. I think it's a
little different today because of the terrorist problems and the
gang problems and stuff like that. So I don't think
(05:52):
he would be an open border guy today like he
was back then, because back then, I mean, we really
wanted people from all over the world to come, and
they did come. But today I think his view would
be more, we want the best in the brightest to
come to America to do jobs that we're not willing
(06:15):
to do or we're not qualified to do. I mean,
there's just like one hundred thousand openings right now for
engineers that we can't fill because we don't have enough
engineers in our own country.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Well, I've heard President Trump speak to that exactly, that
exact thing. We want the best in the brightest. We
want people here to add to our country, and what
has been going on in the previous administration, I think
illustrates how we weren't getting the best in the brightest
here and that therein lies some of the issues we have,
(06:49):
or many Americans, in fact, the majority of Americans have
with illegal immigration. I tell you what, We'll take a
quick break and we'll talk more about the greatest American
that's the book Benjamin Franklin, eight Generations on. We're talking
to doctor Mark Skousen. Good stuff. Conversation with doctor Mark Skousen,
(07:13):
author of the Greatest American. The book does not come
out until a week from today next Tuesday. That will
be Amazon and the usual places, but you can pre
order the book and what he illustrates here and what
he parallels. Benjamin Franklin is great, great, great great great
great great great great great. I ran out of greats.
(07:35):
Dear doctor Skeleson descendant, and how he would view a
lot of arguments and debates we have now in the country,
including government spending, and that has been a huge thing.
And Benjamin Franklin a penny saved, a penny earned, believe
that government should be as as costless as possible, that
(07:58):
we could be governed cheaply. Correct.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
I think that's a good way to look at it.
He was definitely in Thomas Jefferson's camp of government. Government's
best at governs least in many ways, and in fact,
at one point he said, a virtuous and industrious people
may be cheaply governed. So I ask people when I
(08:21):
give talks about Ben Franklin, do we have cheaf government today,
and whether you're Republicans or Democrats, you say, no, government's
pretty expensive. We pay a lot of taxes in order
to get these services, and they're not as productive as
we would like. So Franklin would be really amazed and
(08:42):
very upbeat about our higher standard of living today. Actually,
one point said, I'd like to live to be two
or three hundred years from now, which would be now,
and he would love the new technology gadgets and the
cell phones and the internet and the television and dry
and the flying and he would love that. But he
(09:03):
would also be appalled at the size of government and
the national debt. He was very much anti debt in
many ways, and he believed in kind of classical economics
of a balanced budget and low taxes and free trade
and open markets and that sort of thing. The regulatory environment.
(09:24):
I think he would find that way overboard, So he
would be very much in Elon Musk camp of doge
and trying to bring government back to a you know,
better and cheaper is the American way, right?
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Sure? Well, we talked about today's current foreign policy challenges
and and Donald Trump kind of illustrated this on his
trip to the Mid East. This commerce with all and
war with none? Did he not?
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Yeah, that's Franklin's another very simple formula. It's kind of
similar to what George Washington said in his farewell addressed
the system of America's commerce with all and war with none.
So if we can expand commerce and private relations with
individual countries, that's all the better. And I do put
(10:18):
high marks in Trump's efforts to reduce international tensions and
to work work with other countries to eliminate these wars
that are going on. Of course, it's easier said than done.
I mean, Trump said he would do it in a day,
but obviously the Ukraine war is much more complex, and
(10:39):
he's having a hard time dealing with Putin and there's
a lot of evil out there and how do you
how do you deal with that? You have to show strength,
and I don't think Biden did that. That is a problem.
But Franklin, you know wars. He said there's never a
good war of bad peace. Uh. I think it's I
(11:01):
think there can be a bad peace, but there's never
really a good war. And as Trump points out over
and over again, hundreds of thousands of people are being
killed in these wars that hopefully they can end that soon.
So I'm I'm optimistic. I'm idealistic, as as Ben Franklin
(11:23):
is about trying to develop a peaceful international community.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Benjamin Franklin, you say in the book The Greatest American
by doctor Mark Skousen out next Tuesday, we're looking at
what the Fed is doing. Would Ben Franklin have even
been a fan of the Federal Reserve? It wasn't part
of the original plan, was it.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Well, in a sense it was because he Franklin was
around when the Alexander Hamilton created the first.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Bank.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
He was actually a shareholder of the Philadelphia.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Bank that.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
Started the central banking method. Franklin had a rather modern
view that would fit rather well with J. Powell and
the Federal Reserve and having a policy of a two
percent annual inflation. He actually wrote a pamphlet when the
(12:27):
British restricted the use of gold and silver coins in
the colonies, and so there was always this talk of
shortage of money, Franklin wrote a pamphlet in favor of
printing paper money that was not backed by gold or silver,
and he said this would be very helpful for expanding
(12:48):
business and get the economy going and so forth, and
he wrote this pamphlet, and then interestingly enough, he became
the printer of the currency that the Pennsylvania Colony had
printed up, so in a sense, he became the first
crony capitalist profiting from that, I will say, if I
(13:13):
don't mind saying, when he saw that we inflated too
much and the continent it wasn't worth a continental because
of the runaway inflation. As a result, in Congress he
did write critically and criticize excessive inflation. So he's in
favor of a little inflation, but not a lot of inflation.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
There is so much to unpack here, I tell you what.
Let's take another quick break and we'll come back more
with doctor Mark Scousen this morning, author of the Greatest American.
He is an eighth generation descendant of Yes D. Benjamin Franklin,
and I think there are so many parallels to what's
going on today and how Franklin would view them. And
(13:58):
the Doctor's got a pretty good hand on it from
what I've heard so far. We'll be back in just
a moment. You're on fifty five KRC, the talk station.
As we continue with doctor Mark Scowsen this morning, we
want to talk about political polarization, which is just everywhere today.
(14:18):
And Benjamin Franklin, just like George Washington, not a fan
of party politics whatsoever, believed it was counterproductive to what
they were trying to do in the country they were
trying to build. I concur with this. How do we
How would he suggest we get out of the situation
we're in with the polarization of politics in this country.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Doctor Well, Franklin had to deal with enemies all the time,
and he had a formula. He would, for example, somebody
didn't really like him for whatever reason, he would go
to that person and say, listen, I hear you have
a book on your bookshelves that perhaps I could borrow
that would be helpful for me, and he would develop
(15:00):
a personal relationship. And I think that is really the key,
if you can develop that with an avoid the labeling
and the name calling that we so often engage in.
Franklin was very good at that. He really worked hard
at it, and that becomes evident in his autobiography. And
(15:21):
so he worked really over time to help and become
friends with people that were not necessarily in agreement on
a particular issue. There's a lot to be said for
that approach and to avoid the labels as much as possible.
(15:41):
Ronald Reagan I think was very good. He worked with
Tip O'Neil and so forth on these kinds of issues,
and we're able to accomplish a lot of good things.
So that's the I think that's the Franklin approach. He
certainly did a very good job of fundraising in in
France to win the American Revolution, so he was beloved
(16:06):
by the French people, even though John Adams and others
were very critical. They didn't like the French people and
as a result, they were not able to raise any money.
Franklin raised all the money, and a lot of people
say without the French help, we would not have won
the American Revolution.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
You know, doctor, you've seen them. I'm sure the bumper
stickers on the backs of some people's cars that say coexist,
and it's got all the different religious or faith symbols
as spelling out the word coexist. It's hard to coexist
with people who want to kill you or put you
in jail or bankrupt you. And I think that's some
(16:43):
of the issues that President Trump has with the other
side of the political realm. Just my own personal comment.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Franklin had the same problem. He had His own son,
William was a loyalist, and even though Franklin arranged for
him to be become the governor of New Jersey during
the American Revolution, his own beloved son, William was a
loyalist and put his life, his own father's life at
(17:15):
risk because of it, and they never reconciled. So Franklin,
there are some lines that Franklin would not cross, and
I'm sure that applies very much today.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Yeah, okay, And finally the juicy part. Been waiting to
get to this. In the Greatest American there is a
chapter on Benjamin Franklin's towards sex life. And you know,
I'm not surprised that you're an eighth generation descendant. I'm
sure Benjamin has plenty of descendants. As far as the
stories I've heard, I don't know. But this was the
(17:50):
only content that was ever censored from Newsmack's column.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
I wrote some of these columns for Newsmatches Franklin Prosperity Report,
and I sent him this issue about Franklin's sex life,
and that was the only the only column that they rejected.
I had to replace it with another one. But that
chapter is that to call him is in the book.
(18:18):
I think it's chapter seventy seven about his hard to
govern passions and William, his son was an illegitimate child.
But there's really evidence that he only had one illegitimate child,
but he did have aliances with a number of other
women that he was definitely he was definitely the ladies man.
(18:40):
I mean, his critics call him a womanizer. He was married,
he was devoted to his wife, Debbie, but when she
passed away, then he went to France and he was
the ladies man there with Madame Brione and Madame elve Seuss.
And one thing that was really great, he was a
defenseunder of women's rights and treated them as equals in
(19:04):
intellectual interests and so forth. So there's a lot to
be said for again Benjamin Franklin as the most modern
of the founders. Even in the case of slavery, he
was the he changed his mind on slavery and at
the end became the president of the Institution to abolish
(19:27):
slavery and stuff. So there's a lot of things that
you can say about Franklin that are really quite positive
and why we can be proud to call him the
Greatest American.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
He was a civil rights pioneer and a randy feminist.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Well that's true, and and and he was active sexually
into his eighties.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
So how about that without viagra? Mind you? Thank you,
and you you mentioned that he'd be a fan of
doze and trying to cut government waste and spinning. He'd
also be a fan of Elon Musk and people like him,
as far as entrepreneurs and inventors and innovation without government.
It's all covered in the book The Greatest American. Again,
(20:11):
that is not out till next Tuesday. Correct, that's correct.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Yeah, but it'll be in Barnes and Noble bookstores next
Tuesday as well as Amazon, and you can pre order
it on Amazon.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
All right, doctor Mark Skows, and thank you so much
for the time. I love the conversation, and it paints
a whole new or a broadened picture of one of
our founding fathers that many people have not really thought
about very much. I think, and I know it kind
of cause.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
See him on one hundred dollars bill every time. He's
quite I'm sure that would please his vanity.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
All Right, very well, I wish you great success with
the book, and thank you for your time this morning.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
All right, thank you, you bet.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
We continue five krc V Talk Station stay on top
of the day's biggest stories at the top of the
hour and that's so important. Another update coming up on
fifty five krc the Talk Station. This report is sponsored
by
Again this morning, we have the pleasure of talking for
a few minutes with doctor Mark Skousen. You may have
seen him on TV other places before. An incredible author, historian,
and the prestigious Dottie Spoke, lead chair of Free Enterprise
at Chapman University. If that doesn't mean anything to you,
(00:23):
we're gonna we're gonna make it meet something to you
by the time we get through this conversation. He is
the author of the Greatest American and he is an
eighth generation descendant of one of the founders of our country.
Some people can argue maybe the most important innovator at
the beginning of America, Benjamin Franklin. Doctor Scousin, welcome to
(00:45):
the show. How are you.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
I'm doing well and I'm looking forward to making this
a bestseller. I think it's possible. People. We need to
bring pride back to America. And you know, when you
go raw these days, there's a lot of people who
are really angry at America. That's the ugly American view
that a lot of people have that's going on these days.
(01:09):
And it's nice to be able to talk about somebody
that everybody loves. At least today. They did not back
in Franklin's day, but he is definitely Ben Franklin is
one of those. I mean, I've spoken at many conferences,
and whether you're Republicans are Democrats, there's a lot you
can like about Ben Franklin.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Well, when we have people who are American citizens like
Bruce Springsteen going overseas and preaching basically their detestament of
our president, our elected president, or the America he says
he loves it's kind of easy to understand what you're
talking about where some of this misguided mistrust and hate
(01:50):
comes from when you go overseas.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Well, I would take issue with you a little bit
on that, because Trump he's a disruptor and he does
try to insult people. I mean, I like Bruce Springsteen.
I think some of his music is fantastic, and I
think it's unfortunate that we're seeing this kind of divisiveness
in this country. And I think if you said, well,
(02:18):
Bruce Springsteen, what do you think of Ben Franklin, he
would probably say great things about him. One of the
things that Franklin really emphasizes is the need to be
humble and admit your mistakes. And so I think there's
a lot to be said for Franklin as somebody that
everyone could say, wow, you know, he really symbolizes the
(02:42):
greatness of America.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
As far as what's going on right now in the news,
Doctor Skousen, Let's compare Benjamin Franklin and what he would
say or think about, for example, economic nationalism.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yes, he's very much a global thinker, and he loved foreigners.
He spent nine years as the colonial agent in London.
He loved London. He loved the life there, the intellectual atmosphere,
the political atmosphere, until he was finally kicked out because
(03:20):
of the American Revolution, and then he was beloved by
the French people. So Frankly at one point said listen,
I believe that the rights of man are universal, and
I hope there's a day where I could stand on
any country and say this is my country. So I think, well,
(03:44):
he was a very proud American. I loved what we
stood for in creating a new nation that was based
on the rights of man. He would also want to
extend that around the world. Don't think he would be
critical of other nations and other countries. He would try
(04:04):
to try to work together.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
So he wasn't necessarily an America first kind of guy.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Then I think he was America free and all other
countries free. But yes, he loved America and he was
a devoted follower of American exceptionalism because look at the
difference between the American Revolution the French Revolution. Franklin died
(04:32):
before he could see the full effects of the French Revolution,
but he would not be happy with the outcome of
the French Revolution. What was very happy with the outcome
of the American Revolution. So I think he liked the
idea of America as a great country and spreading its
(04:54):
message all around the world. But you you don't want
an idea that we have have to we win only
if you lose in other countries. And I don't think
that's Franklin's view. I think he would like to see
free trade. He was an advocate of Adam Smiths, and
(05:15):
he would be a big believer in globalization today and
new technology which is being developed because we have entrepreneurs
from all over the world.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
What about America's sovereignty? Did he not believe in that?
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Oh? Yes, I'm sure he did, but he was he
was very liberal when it came to immigration. He invited
foreigners to come to this country. I think it's a
little different today because of the terrorist problems and the
gang problems and stuff like that. So I don't think
(05:52):
he would be an open border guy today like he
was back then, because back then, I mean, we really
wanted people from all over the world to come, and
they did come. But today I think his view would
be more, we want the best in the brightest to
come to America to do jobs that we're not willing
(06:15):
to do or we're not qualified to do. I mean,
there's just like one hundred thousand openings right now for
engineers that we can't fill because we don't have enough
engineers in our own country.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Well, I've heard President Trump speak to that exactly, that
exact thing. We want the best in the brightest. We
want people here to add to our country, and what
has been going on in the previous administration, I think
illustrates how we weren't getting the best in the brightest
here and that therein lies some of the issues we have,
(06:49):
or many Americans, in fact, the majority of Americans have
with illegal immigration. I tell you what, We'll take a
quick break and we'll talk more about the greatest American
that's the book Benjamin Franklin, eight Generations on. We're talking
to doctor Mark Skousen. Good stuff. Conversation with doctor Mark Skousen,
(07:13):
author of the Greatest American. The book does not come
out until a week from today next Tuesday. That will
be Amazon and the usual places, but you can pre
order the book and what he illustrates here and what
he parallels. Benjamin Franklin is great, great, great great great
great great great great great. I ran out of greats.
(07:35):
Dear doctor Skeleson descendant, and how he would view a
lot of arguments and debates we have now in the country,
including government spending, and that has been a huge thing.
And Benjamin Franklin a penny saved, a penny earned, believe
that government should be as as costless as possible, that
(07:58):
we could be governed cheaply. Correct.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
I think that's a good way to look at it.
He was definitely in Thomas Jefferson's camp of government. Government's
best at governs least in many ways, and in fact,
at one point he said, a virtuous and industrious people
may be cheaply governed. So I ask people when I
(08:21):
give talks about Ben Franklin, do we have cheaf government today,
and whether you're Republicans or Democrats, you say, no, government's
pretty expensive. We pay a lot of taxes in order
to get these services, and they're not as productive as
we would like. So Franklin would be really amazed and
(08:42):
very upbeat about our higher standard of living today. Actually,
one point said, I'd like to live to be two
or three hundred years from now, which would be now,
and he would love the new technology gadgets and the
cell phones and the internet and the television and dry
and the flying and he would love that. But he
(09:03):
would also be appalled at the size of government and
the national debt. He was very much anti debt in
many ways, and he believed in kind of classical economics
of a balanced budget and low taxes and free trade
and open markets and that sort of thing. The regulatory environment.
(09:24):
I think he would find that way overboard, So he
would be very much in Elon Musk camp of doge
and trying to bring government back to a you know,
better and cheaper is the American way, right?
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Sure? Well, we talked about today's current foreign policy challenges
and and Donald Trump kind of illustrated this on his
trip to the Mid East. This commerce with all and
war with none? Did he not?
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Yeah, that's Franklin's another very simple formula. It's kind of
similar to what George Washington said in his farewell addressed
the system of America's commerce with all and war with none.
So if we can expand commerce and private relations with
individual countries, that's all the better. And I do put
(10:18):
high marks in Trump's efforts to reduce international tensions and
to work work with other countries to eliminate these wars
that are going on. Of course, it's easier said than done.
I mean, Trump said he would do it in a day,
but obviously the Ukraine war is much more complex, and
(10:39):
he's having a hard time dealing with Putin and there's
a lot of evil out there and how do you
how do you deal with that? You have to show strength,
and I don't think Biden did that. That is a problem.
But Franklin, you know wars. He said there's never a
good war of bad peace. Uh. I think it's I
(11:01):
think there can be a bad peace, but there's never
really a good war. And as Trump points out over
and over again, hundreds of thousands of people are being
killed in these wars that hopefully they can end that soon.
So I'm I'm optimistic. I'm idealistic, as as Ben Franklin
(11:23):
is about trying to develop a peaceful international community.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Benjamin Franklin, you say in the book The Greatest American
by doctor Mark Skousen out next Tuesday, we're looking at
what the Fed is doing. Would Ben Franklin have even
been a fan of the Federal Reserve? It wasn't part
of the original plan, was it.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Well, in a sense it was because he Franklin was
around when the Alexander Hamilton created the first.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Bank.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
He was actually a shareholder of the Philadelphia.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Bank that.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
Started the central banking method. Franklin had a rather modern
view that would fit rather well with J. Powell and
the Federal Reserve and having a policy of a two
percent annual inflation. He actually wrote a pamphlet when the
(12:27):
British restricted the use of gold and silver coins in
the colonies, and so there was always this talk of
shortage of money, Franklin wrote a pamphlet in favor of
printing paper money that was not backed by gold or silver,
and he said this would be very helpful for expanding
(12:48):
business and get the economy going and so forth, and
he wrote this pamphlet, and then interestingly enough, he became
the printer of the currency that the Pennsylvania Colony had
printed up, so in a sense, he became the first
crony capitalist profiting from that, I will say, if I
(13:13):
don't mind saying, when he saw that we inflated too
much and the continent it wasn't worth a continental because
of the runaway inflation. As a result, in Congress he
did write critically and criticize excessive inflation. So he's in
favor of a little inflation, but not a lot of inflation.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
There is so much to unpack here, I tell you what.
Let's take another quick break and we'll come back more
with doctor Mark Scousen this morning, author of the Greatest American.
He is an eighth generation descendant of Yes D. Benjamin Franklin,
and I think there are so many parallels to what's
going on today and how Franklin would view them. And
(13:58):
the Doctor's got a pretty good hand on it from
what I've heard so far. We'll be back in just
a moment. You're on fifty five KRC, the talk station.
As we continue with doctor Mark Scowsen this morning, we
want to talk about political polarization, which is just everywhere today.
(14:18):
And Benjamin Franklin, just like George Washington, not a fan
of party politics whatsoever, believed it was counterproductive to what
they were trying to do in the country they were
trying to build. I concur with this. How do we
How would he suggest we get out of the situation
we're in with the polarization of politics in this country.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Doctor Well, Franklin had to deal with enemies all the time,
and he had a formula. He would, for example, somebody
didn't really like him for whatever reason, he would go
to that person and say, listen, I hear you have
a book on your bookshelves that perhaps I could borrow
that would be helpful for me, and he would develop
(15:00):
a personal relationship. And I think that is really the key,
if you can develop that with an avoid the labeling
and the name calling that we so often engage in.
Franklin was very good at that. He really worked hard
at it, and that becomes evident in his autobiography. And
(15:21):
so he worked really over time to help and become
friends with people that were not necessarily in agreement on
a particular issue. There's a lot to be said for
that approach and to avoid the labels as much as possible.
(15:41):
Ronald Reagan I think was very good. He worked with
Tip O'Neil and so forth on these kinds of issues,
and we're able to accomplish a lot of good things.
So that's the I think that's the Franklin approach. He
certainly did a very good job of fundraising in in
France to win the American Revolution, so he was beloved
(16:06):
by the French people, even though John Adams and others
were very critical. They didn't like the French people and
as a result, they were not able to raise any money.
Franklin raised all the money, and a lot of people
say without the French help, we would not have won
the American Revolution.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
You know, doctor, you've seen them. I'm sure the bumper
stickers on the backs of some people's cars that say coexist,
and it's got all the different religious or faith symbols
as spelling out the word coexist. It's hard to coexist
with people who want to kill you or put you
in jail or bankrupt you. And I think that's some
(16:43):
of the issues that President Trump has with the other
side of the political realm. Just my own personal comment.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Franklin had the same problem. He had His own son,
William was a loyalist, and even though Franklin arranged for
him to be become the governor of New Jersey during
the American Revolution, his own beloved son, William was a
loyalist and put his life, his own father's life at
(17:15):
risk because of it, and they never reconciled. So Franklin,
there are some lines that Franklin would not cross, and
I'm sure that applies very much today.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Yeah, okay, And finally the juicy part. Been waiting to
get to this. In the Greatest American there is a
chapter on Benjamin Franklin's towards sex life. And you know,
I'm not surprised that you're an eighth generation descendant. I'm
sure Benjamin has plenty of descendants. As far as the
stories I've heard, I don't know. But this was the
(17:50):
only content that was ever censored from Newsmack's column.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
I wrote some of these columns for Newsmatches Franklin Prosperity Report,
and I sent him this issue about Franklin's sex life,
and that was the only the only column that they rejected.
I had to replace it with another one. But that
chapter is that to call him is in the book.
(18:18):
I think it's chapter seventy seven about his hard to
govern passions and William, his son was an illegitimate child.
But there's really evidence that he only had one illegitimate child,
but he did have aliances with a number of other
women that he was definitely he was definitely the ladies man.
(18:40):
I mean, his critics call him a womanizer. He was married,
he was devoted to his wife, Debbie, but when she
passed away, then he went to France and he was
the ladies man there with Madame Brione and Madame elve Seuss.
And one thing that was really great, he was a
defenseunder of women's rights and treated them as equals in
(19:04):
intellectual interests and so forth. So there's a lot to
be said for again Benjamin Franklin as the most modern
of the founders. Even in the case of slavery, he
was the he changed his mind on slavery and at
the end became the president of the Institution to abolish
(19:27):
slavery and stuff. So there's a lot of things that
you can say about Franklin that are really quite positive
and why we can be proud to call him the
Greatest American.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
He was a civil rights pioneer and a randy feminist.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Well that's true, and and and he was active sexually
into his eighties.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
So how about that without viagra? Mind you? Thank you,
and you you mentioned that he'd be a fan of
doze and trying to cut government waste and spinning. He'd
also be a fan of Elon Musk and people like him,
as far as entrepreneurs and inventors and innovation without government.
It's all covered in the book The Greatest American. Again,
(20:11):
that is not out till next Tuesday. Correct, that's correct.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Yeah, but it'll be in Barnes and Noble bookstores next
Tuesday as well as Amazon, and you can pre order
it on Amazon.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
All right, doctor Mark Skows, and thank you so much
for the time. I love the conversation, and it paints
a whole new or a broadened picture of one of
our founding fathers that many people have not really thought
about very much. I think, and I know it kind
of cause.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
See him on one hundred dollars bill every time. He's
quite I'm sure that would please his vanity.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
All Right, very well, I wish you great success with
the book, and thank you for your time this morning.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
All right, thank you, you bet.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
We continue five krc V Talk Station stay on top
of the day's biggest stories at the top of the
hour and that's so important. Another update coming up on
fifty five krc the Talk Station. This report is sponsored
by
Brian Thomas News
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