There is an audience today.
Glenn continued with his theme of “stuff”. He showed a video clip of Oprah’s “Favorite Things” episode and her audience’s reaction to hearing that they would be given a car. He felt that some of those reactions were “over the top”.
He then showed a clip of people waiting in line days in advance to get a new iPhone. He also noted that in two weeks you could get one of these phones without waiting at all.
Glenn then reviewed the Tower of Babel story (originally aired on the November 18th episode: http://beck-cliff-notes.blogspot.com/2010/11/glenn-beck-program-november-18-2010.html). This story had King Nimrod trying to turn people into interchangeable “bricks” held together by the mortar of materialism, i.e., “stuff”.
He referred to his book, “Broke” http://www.amazon.com/Broke-Restore-Trust-Truth-Treasure/dp/1439187193/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1290816683&sr=8-1 and an entry on page 7 concerning the Roman Empire as described by Gibbons in his “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire http://www.amazon.com/History-Decline-Fall-Roman-Empire/dp/B001FOK68G/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1290816765&sr=1-3 . In Gibbons work, he referenced the emphasis the roman emperor placed on providing the people with amusement, entertainment, and “stuff”. Glenn felt there was a parallel with what is happening today. In particular, Gibbon’s statement that “The enjoyment of plenty would make the Romans lose the memory of freedom.” Glenn feels that we are doing the same things today as did the Romans in their time.
Glenn then asked how is it that we don’t understand our own history and talked about his family when he was growing up. On Thanksgiving they would sit around the dinner table and discuss their stories, their history. Children, he felt must know their past. We don not seem to be doing that today.
He showed a revolutionary war coat made for his father and the story behind it. His father owned a bakery in Mount Vernon, WA. Mount Vernon was the home of George Washington and the state itself was named for Washington. In the early 1970s, the large malls came to Mount Vernon and small businesses began to die. His father came up with the idea of changing the atmosphere of their small town to reflect the revolutionary war period of George Washington so as to create a destination site for tourists. This coat was an attempt to gain some buy-in by the townsfolk. He showed a few photographs of the small “militia” that was created by local people to help make that dream a reality. Unfortunately, the idea did not catch on and the bakery eventually went out of business and the town was very much reduced in size. Apparently today they have resurrected his father’s idea and are retrying to create a period piece town.
He felt that what his dad tried to do locally, he, Glenn, is trying to nationally.
Guest Ms Amanda Zych.
He then showed a video clip of the woman that found the coat, Ms Amanda Zych, and how she got it to him. He then brought the woman and her daughter to New York and she was in the audience today. He brought her up on the stage for an interview. In summary, she developed a period clothing business to financially survive after a divorce by visiting second hand clothing stores and reselling items on-line (Her web site is www.etsy.com/shop/rogueretro .) When she found the coat, there was a label inside identifying it back to Glenn’s father. She contacted Glenn’s organization and sent him the coat. What amazed Glenn was that she did not want any money for it even though she estimated that her business could sell it for about $300. He felt that she was a hero for not just going on the public dole and starting an on-line business to help her survive.
The discussion was then extended to the audience. One person felt that one aspect that was important was that Ms Zych’s daughter was watching her mother and how she dealt with situations. Glenn then extended this to everyone by noting that everyone’s children were watching them and how they saw their parents reacting to current events – or not.
Guest Rabbi Daniel Lapin
Rabbi Lapin related the story in the bible of Joseph to Glenn’s coat. Joseph’s brothers tried to kill him. Once they figured that they could gain nothing from just killing him outright, they instead sold him as a slave. Much later, Joseph became successful and wealthy. He was visited by his brothers and sent away with sacks of grain. Inside those sacks was money. The moral of the story was that what was really important was the relationship, not the money. The Rabbi saw that theme in Glenn’s coat story.
Glenn extended that thought by referencing his efforts to get people away from “stuff” and put more importance on relationships.
The Rabbi then commented on the Christmas season and the gift giving associated with that holiday by noting that people are the only beings on the planet that “own” stuff and that charity could not exist if you did not own things, i.e., you cannot give away things that you do not already own.
Glenn and the Rabbi discussed the Roman emphasis on entertainment. Part of this was the concept of “amusement”. In the sense that “asymmetrical” means without symmetry and “amoral” means without morals, “amusement” means without muse, i.e., you are not using your imagination and thought. Others are providing all the imagination and thought and you are just a passive participant in the process. Again Glenn’s objective was to get people involved with others and not to allow themselves to be diverted and entertained by “stuff”.
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