Join Kim Munson as she navigates a stimulating conversation with Jake Jabs, delving into topics that range from complex legislative issues to the profound impacts of communism, as experienced by Jake’s family. This episode beautifully interweaves personal history with broader political discourse, offering listeners a rich tapestry of narratives about freedom, resilience, and the power of the free market. Listeners will also hear about the music-filled childhood that shaped Jake and how these experiences continue to influence his outlook on life and business.
SPEAKER 04 :
It’s the Kim Munson Show, analyzing the most important stories.
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An early childhood taxing district? What on earth is that?
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The latest in politics and world affairs.
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I don’t think that we should be passing legislation that is so complicated that people kind of throw up their hands and say, I can’t understand that.
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Today’s current opinions and ideas.
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And it’s not fair just because you’re a big business that you get a break on this and the little guy doesn’t.
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Is it freedom or is it force? Let’s have a conversation.
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Indeed. And welcome to The Kim Munson Show. Thank you so much for listening. You’re each treasured and valued. You have purpose. Today, strive for excellence. Take care of your heart, your soul, your mind, and your body. My friends, we were made for this moment. And thank you. I work with an amazing team. That’s producer Joe, Luke, Rachel, Nicole, Zach, Echo, Charlie, and all the people here at Crawford Broadcasting. I’m just really blessed to work with great people. Check out our website. That is Kim Munson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter, and you can email me at Kim at KimMunson.com as well. Thank you to all of you who support us. We are an independent voice, and we search for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. If something’s a good idea, you shouldn’t have to force people to do it. And thank you to Laramie Energy and Karis Oil and Gas for their gold sponsorship of the show. It is reliable, efficient, affordable, and abundant energy that powers our lives and fuels our hopes and dreams. And for this July 4th Independence Week, we are prerecording our shows with very special guests. And I am truly honored to have in studio with me a great American, and that is Jake Jabs. Jake, welcome to the show. Oh, it’s nice to be here. Thank you. I feel like I know you. I’ve watched you on television all these years. And so I thought this was so appropriate to broadcast your story on the 4th of July because you are the great American story. And you’re 93 years young, running the company still every day. That is remarkable. Thank you. But tell us, let’s go to the beginning. You grew up in Montana. Tell us about your family.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, one reason I really believe in America and the free enterprise system is my dad was born and raised in Poland. When the First World War came along, the Russians came into that part of Poland and drafted him in the Russian Army. That was 1916. In 1917, as you know, if you’re a history buff, that’s when Lenin and the Communists took over Russia. And my dad was in the Russian Army when Lenin and the Communists took over Russia. And so the horror stories he told, you know, about people starved to death, they killed the rich people, and And things like that, you know. And the bottom line is that they wouldn’t let him out because it was actually German heritage. They were Germans living in Poland on my dad’s side. And by the way, Germans living in Ukraine on my mother’s side, by the way. So anyway, so the message there is that communism just doesn’t work because you can’t keep what you earn. There’s no incentive. There’s no incentive to be productive, to be innovative, right? to be an entrepreneur. There’s no incentive to do that, you know. And so my dad was eyewitness to, he said approximately 40 million people starved to death under Lenin. So Lenin could see that communism wasn’t working, so he gave everybody an acre of land and that stopped the starvation. And the lesson learned there, if you have an acre of land and it’s yours, you’re probably going to Take care of it. Take care of it, you know, raise it. So that basically stops starvation. But he developed what he called the new economic policy. And if you’re interested in that, you know, Google up the new economic policy. It really was a free market policy. He was allowing foreign trade. He was allowing farmers to sell some of their crop. He was allowing foreign investment. So it was, he was really, Lenin, my dad said, Lenin really no longer believed in communism. And I think he proved that out. What happened, Lenin died at age 52. which we probably feel is pretty young, right? But what history books will tell you, he died, he didn’t take care of his health, he had a couple of bullet wounds from assassination attempts, he died of poor health. And Stalin was his first guy in charge, and he was having some problems with Stalin, but because he died young, Stalin would end up taking over. And Stalin was a dying world communist, and he took back all of the free enterprise things Lenin had adapted, including the acre of land. Oh, my gosh. And about 20 million people started there. On my mother’s side of the family, she’s from Ukraine, Russia. I guess that’s the way you put it. It was Russia and then it was Ukraine. But anyway, it was about all of my family on my mother’s side starved to death under Stalin. We used to send them care packages, and they says, don’t send us care packages anymore, we’re not getting them. And basically what it was, they were farmers, and a soldier would come in and take their seed grain, they couldn’t plant crops, and they’d come in and take their animals and kill their animals. and they all starved to death under Stalin. So the message there is, you know, and Stalin was probably, my dad said that Stalin was probably the most ruthless killer in the history of the world. And I think history proves that out. There’s a great video, the History Channel did a great video called The Man of Steel, and it’s about Stalin. And if you ever get a chance to see that, you should see that. where he just killed millions of people. He killed his entire Politburo one time. He heard rumors that they were gonna try to replace him, so he had them all killed. He was just a ruthless, ruthless killer. And of course he stayed in power for many years, and particularly the war, the war I think kind of saved him. World War II? World War II, yeah. So anyway, so from that background, my parents, I’m a first generation American. Both my parents are immigrants. But with that background, knowing about communism and how it didn’t function, because there’s really no incentive to, if you can’t keep what you earn, why would you work? Why would you work? Exactly, exactly.
SPEAKER 14 :
So how did your father get out of the Russian army? How did they get to America?
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay, on my dad’s side, we all thought he went AWOL. Kids did. Because he seemed to always be looking over his shoulder. Oh, my gosh. looking over his shoulder, but he actually went to South America, fled to South America, had to work two years for a boat ride, spent two years in Sao Paulo, Brazil, learn to speak Portuguese, and he was a musician, he was an Atlanta Venus Street musician in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and he had an aunt in Detroit, and she sponsored him, so he finally came to America, because and the sponsor to come here uh on my mother’s side uh they were getting germans living in in in russia ukraine and russia slash ukraine i guess yeah so but uh so my mother’s family came over what the deal is is uh part of you know when the catherine of great was the czar of russia She had the Germans come into Russia to teach them to farm. Because basically at that time, Russia was pretty much nomads and Cossacks and stuff. So there was a lot of Germans in Russia. In fact, Hardin, Montana, where I grew up, proved everybody there are Germans from Russia. Wow. So a lot of them tried to escape out of there, and they did. And that’s what happened on my mother’s side. They escaped when it was part of Russia. They got out of there before that. So, anyway, the lesson learned there is that if you don’t have a free market, free enterprise, have an incentive to be inventive, creative, inventive, be an entrepreneur, which I believe I am. I’m an entrepreneur. Absolutely. You know, that there’s no incentive to do that. And that’s why it really fails.
SPEAKER 14 :
So your parents get to, well, how did they meet?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, what happened is there was a lot of Germans from Russia. Actually, there’s quite a few of them here in Colorado, by the way, up around Loveland, along with the farmers, the Germans from Russia. But on my mother’s side, they came through here in Colorado, Atlanta, Montana. And so many of the people, immigrants, went back to areas that were kind of the same climate that they came from. And Montana was pretty much the same as they were used to. And there’s a lot of Germans in there for Billings and Hart in that area where I grew up. There’s a lot of Germans from Russia. My dad, but my aunt sponsored him to come here. And so he, they had, families knew each other a little bit. And my mother was 20 years old. And at that time, that was time that they got married. Old maid. Yeah, yeah. You know, so anyway, they says we have as eligible. My dad was 28 years old at that time. My dad didn’t come to America till he’s 28 years old. By the way, he always spoke broken English, by the way. Did he? Because he spoke five languages, German, Polish, Russian, learned to speak Portuguese and Brazil and then learned to speak American. English but you know I saw they knew each other so my dad went to Montana to meet this 20 year old maid and they fell in love and got married and so he left he was living in Detroit at that time with his aunt and he immigrated to Montana and they got married and he started farming in Montana
SPEAKER 14 :
Okay, and so a lot of children in the family, yes?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, nine kids, yes.
SPEAKER 14 :
Nine children. Where did you fall? About in the middle. In the middle, okay. And so what was it like? I’m from western Kansas, and my paternal side Germans, farmers, still farms, and my grandmother grew up in a two-room sod house. What did you grow up in?
SPEAKER 05 :
Pretty much the same. Yeah. As a family grew, we were sharecroppers of the Crow Indian Reservation. That’s one way you could get started farming, is being a sharecropper. That’s where you give a share of your crop to the Indians, actually, because it was a Crow Indians reservation. And so my dad decided that he was going to… I think one thing that we had in common that really helped us through the tough times was music. My dad was a musician. He saw we had instruments. He made a deal with the band director, Lodgegrass Band, that he’d give us instruments that I’d give him a quarter of beef. So we traded, huh? Yeah, so, but it was a small house, small house. And as the family grew, Dad moved up a bunk house next to it and built a walkway between the house and the frame house. And I remember us boys, us five boys slept in this log cabin. And I can remember getting up on those cold Montana winter morning, there was no heat. No heat in the sleeping quarters. I can remember that cold. We’d make a beeline for the mother to have the stove going. Sure. Dress around the stove. So it was a small frame house with a bunk house where the boys lived. And, you know, there was no running water. There was no electricity. And, you know, that’s the way it was. We didn’t know we were poor. Nobody told us we were poor. Because everybody was in the same boat, too. Everybody was in the same boat, yeah. And so, in a way, we grew up, I think, well, we grew up poor. But I think what we had maybe an advantage over some of the other people was our music. Dad always, I was playing in the Lodgegrass High School Band when I was in the second grade. No. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. I always played trumpet. By the way, I played all the way through grade school, high school, college. I played with the Montana State College marching team, by the way. These are with wind instruments. Okay. Anything with a trumpet, with a mouthpiece, I could play.
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Yeah.
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I played trumpet, cornet, baritone, sousaphone, French horn. So I played them all. So it was a family. He always saw we had a band. We played together. for country dances. My dad played violin. My oldest sister was a piano player. And by the way, she was a good one, a piano player. She played professional piano all her life. My sister, yeah. And then my older brother played guitar. My first instrument was a tenor banjo. And so we went to Billings, which was a bigger city, to market some animals. And we went by this music store, and there was a steel guitar and amplifier on the window. This was back… And when steel guitar country music was just sort of coming on, I said, dad, buy me that steel guitar and amp. And it was 145 bucks. Oh my gosh. To our family at that time, it was a lot of money. Dad says, I’ll tell you what. He says, you go in there and learn to play a couple songs and I’ll buy it for you. So I broke off from the family and went in there and I learned to play a couple songs. So dad bought me the steel guitar. So now the tenor banjo went in the closet and I played steel guitar. I played steel guitar all the way through high school, college. And then when my older brother graduated, I ended up switching to Spanish guitar. Steel guitar is fine, but it’s almost, you have to be playing with a band. So the Spanish guitar, or regular guitar, whatever you want to call it, was the instrument that was, you could play all types of music. You could accompany yourself. You could play. It was more entertaining, so I started playing. And still do, by the way. I still play. Do you? Oh, yeah. I still play. I get up and play with musicians and do that all the time.
SPEAKER 14 :
Oh, that is awesome. I’m talking with Jake Jabs, and you know him. He is the founder of American Furniture Warehouse. It is truly amazing. the american story and perfect to broadcast this fourth of july and the show comes to you because of amazing sponsors and one of those great sponsors is the roger mangan state farm insurance team and roger’s been in business for 47 years taking care of his clients and taking care of his family giving back to the community and they can create personalized insurance plans for you so give them a call at 303-795-8855 like a good neighbor the roger mangan team is there
SPEAKER 01 :
So I switched my insurance to the Roger Mangin State Farm Insurance Agency. Get this, I actually talked to Roger Mangin, who has been helping people with their insurance coverage in our community for 47 years. He helped me create a State Farm personalized price insurance plan for my home and auto and explained affordable options. For personalized service and peace of mind that you are working with a team that cares about you and your family, call Roger Mangin now at 303-795-8855. Kim highly recommends the Roger Mangin State Farm Insurance Team. Again, that number is 303-795-8855.
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Focused and wise marketing is essential for your success, especially during tough economic times. If you love the Kim Munson Show, strive for excellence and understand the importance of engaging in the battle of ideas that is raging in America. Then talk with Kim about partnership, sponsorship opportunities. Email Kim at KimMunson.com. Kim focuses on creating relationships with individuals and businesses that are tops in their fields so they are the trusted experts listeners turn to when looking for products or services Kim personally endorses each of her sponsors again reach out to Kim at Kim Munson calm
SPEAKER 14 :
And welcome back to The Kim Munson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is KimMunson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter. You’ll get first look at our upcoming guests as well as our most recent essays. And thank you to all of you who support us. I greatly appreciate it. You can email me at Kim at KimMunson.com as well. And for this week, Independence Week, the Fourth of July week, we are pre-recording all of our shows. And we’re going to be And for this 4th of July, Independence Day, I’m interviewing Jake Jabs, and he is truly the American story. Jake Jabs, so we’ve talked about your early life. You’re a musician. You’ve gone to college in Montana.
SPEAKER 05 :
What happens after that with Jake Jabs? Well, I’ll tell you a little bit about my military career real quick. The Korean War was on. Dad said, take ROTC. And by the way, there’s three of us brothers did that, and we all took ROTC, which meant you went in the military as an officer instead of a buck private. Not bad, huh? So anyway, so my first assignment, I was stationed at a radar site in Point Arena, California. I was adjutant personnel officer at this radar site. And you had to have a secret clearance to be at the radar site. And I filled out an application for top secret clearance. And the tricks come in and said, we need an officer to go to European Theater of War with a top secret clearance. I raised my hand. I said, that’s me. Korean War is over here. And I’ll go that way. I’m going that way. that way to European state airport, top-street clearance. It landed up that I was just lined up, stationed in French Morocco. We had a security office there, and I ran the security office at the air base in French Morocco. And I was the top-street clearance. It landed up there was a civil war when I was going. The Arabs were booting the French out. This was kind of the end of the colonial days when the You know, at that time, France owned Libya and Algeria and all that whole, Morocco, that whole part of the world. And it was kind of when they were leaving. It really wasn’t a civil war like we think they’re sitting there fighting each other, but they were, France were kind of leaving. But what happened because of that, Atlanta happened to deliver top-secret mail to American Embassy, to all the other military, and they were like the Navy, Sixth Fleet Navy was headquartered in Port Leone, had their top-secret mail to them. And land up, I got flying pay. I was flying like 40 hours a week, delivering top-secret mail all over Africa. Great experience for a 21-year-old second lieutenant in the Air Force. Oh, my gosh.
SPEAKER 14 :
Yeah. And so you were in the Air Force. Now, were you a pilot?
SPEAKER 05 :
No. No. Okay. I got flying pay, but I wasn’t a pilot because I was flying so much. Okay.
SPEAKER 14 :
I bet that was a really amazing experience.
SPEAKER 05 :
It was. Yeah, yeah. I really got to have a kind of a knowledge of what’s going on in the Middle East, you know, with the problem. We had problems back then. Yeah. A lot with a local, so to speak. So I kind of have an experience where what’s going on now.
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, yeah, it’s been a hotbed for a long, long time.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, it’s kind of brewing.
SPEAKER 14 :
So the Korean War was on. You’re over in French Morocco. And so how many were you in for, four years, or how long were you in?
SPEAKER 05 :
No, it was two years active, six years reserve.
SPEAKER 14 :
Okay. And then what happens after that, Jake?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, then I went back to, when I got out of the service, I went back to the farm. And two of my brothers, there was four of us in the military at the same time, four brothers during the Korean War. Two of them got out before me. And the farm was always kind of a small farm. My parents were always kind of scared to expand the farm. They were always afraid of a recession. I said, Dad, buy that 40 acres over there. Oh, no, there’s going to be a recession. Because they’d been through that 30s recession, and they were spooky about recessions. So there wasn’t room for me on the farm. So I took off, and I hooked up with the Grand Ole Opry Group and toured Canada with them. And after the tour, I landed up in Nashville, Tennessee, playing my guitar for Ray Price and Webb Pierce at the Hinton Post Bar right across from the Ryman Auditorium.
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh, my gosh.
SPEAKER 05 :
And it was kind of cool. At that time, Ray Price had the number one song on the country charts, and Webb Pierce had the number two song. So after I got done playing my guitar for him, Ray Price says, come and rehearse with us and go on tour. I made a decision that night I’m not going to be a roadie musician. And what I’m talking about there is a lifestyle. You know, if I could sing like Ray Price… That’s a different thing. I’d probably still be playing music. But I couldn’t sing like Ray Price. And I didn’t like the lifestyle. It was a lot of booze, drugs, and chasing, and, you know, it’s just… And I felt like there was a better lifestyle. So I got in my car that night and headed back to Bozeman, Montana. I made money going to college. I made money. I was teaching guitar, playing music. I had a guitar in a music store and actually made money going to college. So I wanted to try and have a guitar studio. It’s a small studio starting a music business and music. And see if I could make a living that way instead. So I did. I went back and had a little guitar studio and started teaching guitar. I actually made a deal with the band director at Montana State University that they’d come and take guitar lessons from me because I had a degree in education. I had a minor in music. that they could get a credit for a one-to-one music at Montana State. So they were feeding me students. And that was pretty cool. I was doing well. They were feeding me. I was teaching like 175 kids a week. Two dollars a lesson, you know? That’s pretty good stuff. And there was a music store for sale right downtown Bolden, right in the middle of town. And it was a partnership. And one of the partners was trying to bail out And I’ll end up buying his half interest in this music store for $1,500. And so from that $1,500 investment in a music store, in that multimillion-dollar business I have today. Isn’t that something? There’s a few steps along the way.
SPEAKER 14 :
Yeah, a few things happen. So you buy the music store, but then it doesn’t just remain a music store, and then did you buy the other partner out, or what happened?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I wanted to get along with my partner, and by the way, the lesson I kind of learned, a lot of times partnerships don’t work. Our problem was he didn’t, I’m a country-western, a musician is what I am, you know, or just music, period. And he didn’t like country. He said, there’s no music in a guitar.
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh, really?
SPEAKER 05 :
And Elvis Presley was hot at that time. And Elvis Presley came out with a record that sold a million copies the day he announced the record, you know. and he didn’t want to sell. All those kids would come and say, I want an Elvis Presley record. He says, we don’t sell Elvis Presley records. Okay.
SPEAKER 14 :
So he didn’t want to sell what people wanted.
SPEAKER 05 :
That’s right. Okay. That’s a problem, right? That’s right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And he didn’t want to keep up with what’s going on. And then he didn’t. And so anyway, Another lesson learned here, by the way, is I made a deal with my partner that I’d buy his half-interest out for $3,000 when I bought into the store. So it was the end of the year, and we had an agreement for $3,000. Well, trouble with businesses, they take money. You’ve got to have inventory, you’ve got receivables, and then you land up with no money. So I went over to the bank to borrow the $3,000. And he says, do you have a financial statement? I said, a what? I didn’t know what a financial statement was. And one reason that I support colleges, and there’s a couple colleges that have their business school named after me. And I do that because I think if you’re in business, you should have business, take business course, at least know what a financial statement is. So we’re trying to fill out this financial statement from the banker. What’s your assets? What’s your liabilities? You know, how much do you turn your inventory? And I could tell, he’s not going to lend me this $3,000. You’re not going to get it. And by the way, I said, I have 30 head of cattle on a ranch at home. And the story there was, when we graduated from high school, Dad gave each of us boys a heifer calf. And that was our start in life, was this heifer calf. Heifer calves have calves and so forth. And bankers in Montana understand that. So he lent me this $3,000 and took my 30 head of cattle for collateral. But the lesson learned there is, you know, bankers want collateral. Sure. And if you don’t have collateral, they’re probably not going to lend you the money. So he lent me the $3,000. So I went back to my partner and I said, by the way, here’s your $3,000. And our agreement was up. It was the end of the year. And he says, I decided I’m not going to sell. Because the store was starting to boom. We were doing well. The store was doing really well. And his attorney had drawn up our agreements. I went back to the attorney and he said, yeah, well, you know, these agreements are only good if the people that draw them, you know. He was taking the side of the partner. He was attorney for him. So he didn’t help me. So I went back and I said, here’s your $3,000. Now get out. And I took him in the back room, and he knew that I was serious. We weren’t getting along at all. So he took the $3,000 and left. So at first it was just, I started selling TVs. TVs came into Montana. I don’t know if you’re familiar with Bozeman, but Bozeman was surrounded by mountains. And so there was no direct TV. All you could get TV was by cable. And I think one of the first entrepreneur things I did, they wanted $135 for a TV hookup, which was a lot of money back then. So I went to the cable company and said, if I buy 100 cables, will you give me a deal? Yeah, we’ll sell them to you for 100 bucks. So I went to my Motorola supplier and I said, I got this deal on these cables. Now give me a deal on TVs. I want to run an ad where if you buy a Motorola TV, you’ll get a free cable installation. so they they agreed to give me a discount so i ran an ad buy motor old two get free that’s the first time where i had people lined up at the door wow you know get a free cable it’s 135 free cable installation of the tv you know so kind of a lesson learned there if you have a value to the customer or you know something special people really come so I became the big TV dealer in Galvin County. We sold thousands. It’s crazy how many TVs we sold. But from that experience, a furniture salesman came along, and he needed a dealer. And so I said, well, I think that’s what entrepreneurs do. You know, you take risks, and you look for opportunities. So I bought a carload of furniture. Now, I didn’t know furniture from a hole in the ground. But anyway, I bought the car-loaded furniture, and I put it up. The top floor of my store was empty. It was an old building, you know, the pop star. So I put this car-loaded furniture upstairs, and I sold it cheap and found out not everybody needed a guitar, but everybody needed furniture. Okay. So we started selling furniture, and from there on, I decided to sell furniture.
SPEAKER 14 :
Okay. Well, I’m talking with Jake Jabs. He is the founder of American Furniture Warehouse. And, again, a great American story. And one of the nonprofits that I dearly love and support is the U.S. MC Memorial Foundation. And the U.S. MC Memorial is the official one. It’s located right here in Colorado out at 6th and Colfax. And the president is Paula Sarles. She is a Gold Star wife, a Marine volunteer. veteran and she and her team are working diligently to raise the money for the remodel of the marine memorial and now more than ever it’s so important that we honor those that have given their lives or been willing to give their lives for us and so on this fourth of july why don’t you go over and make a contribution there at the usmc memorial foundation that website is usmcmemorialfoundation.org and another great sponsor of the show is remax realtor karen levine
SPEAKER 04 :
There are always opportunities in changing markets, and the metro real estate market is no exception. That is why you need to work with seasoned RE-MAX Alliance realtor Karen Levine when you buy your home, sell your home, consider the opportunities of a new build, or explore investment properties. Rising interest rates are spurring creativity, innovation, and opportunity in the real estate and mortgage markets. Kim Munson highly recommends award-winning REMAX realtor Karen Levine. Call Karen Levine today at 303-877-7516 for answers to all your real estate questions. That’s 303-877-7516.
SPEAKER 10 :
You’d like to get in touch with one of the sponsors of The Kim Monson Show, but you can’t remember their phone contact or website information. Find a full list of advertising partners on Kim’s website, kimmonson.com. That’s Kim, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com.
SPEAKER 14 :
and welcome back to the kim munson show be sure and check out our website that is kim munson m-o-n-s-o-n.com sign up for our weekly email newsletter you can email me at kim kimmunson.com and thank you to all all of you who support us we’re an independent voice and we search for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force force versus freedom if something’s a good idea you should not have to force people to do it and do check out the center for american values which is located in pueblo colorado on the beautiful river walk And at the Center for American Values, they do a couple of things. One, they honor our Medal of Honor recipients with their beautiful portraits of valor, but also they’re putting together educational programs for kids K-12, online educators, to continue to instill these values, these American values of honor, integrity, and patriotism. So you can get more information by going to AmericanValuesCenter.org. That is America’s Value… Center.org. There we go. And in studio with me is Jake Jabs. He is the founder of American Furniture Warehouse. It is truly the American story. He is first generation. His parents immigrated from Poland and Ukraine, Russia at the time. And he grew up in Montana. And just an amazing story. So let’s get to, you’ve now got this music store that’s now sold all these TVs, furniture store in Bozeman, Montana. What happens after that, Jake Jabs?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, I went to open the store and the billings. The trouble with the music business, particularly at that time, you had to have franchise, and they protected your franchise. And the lesson learned there sometimes, you know, for particularly young people who are looking at franchises, normally they’ll give you a certain territory, but if you want to open it in another territory, you can’t do it because it’s somebody else. And that’s what’s the trouble with the music business. They wouldn’t let me take Fender guitars to Billings or Gibson guitars, for example. Okay. And I lost interest in the music business. And the lesson learned there is I think you have to have passion for what you do. If you don’t have a passion, you’re not going to work the nights, the weekends, or the hours, you know, if you don’t have the fun doing it. So I lost my passion for the furniture business, and I had three stores. For the furniture or the music business? Yeah, yeah. The music business was still the biggest part of it. Okay, okay. I was doing a million dollars a year on a music store. When I first started up a music store and bought interest in it, there was five music stores. Five years later, I was the only one left. Wow. The reason for it was I had the best store. I had the best music store. I had teachers. I was teaching guitar. I had a piano teacher. I had an organ teacher. I’m a musician, and I had the best music store. So the lesson learned there, if you have the best store, best business, you’re gonna be successful. So I decided, well, I lost interest in business, so I sold my three stores and I retired. How old? 30 years old. But I didn’t have to retire. And there was a furniture factory for sale in Bridger, Montana. And I bought this factory. So then I started manufacturing furniture. And that was interesting. So what happened, I ended up doing a lot of the sales myself. And I was selling here in Denver. I was selling Mangurians who had built that big building down on Furniture Row. Mm-hmm. And then Mengerians is opening these big warehouse showrooms. And they went out of business. And this was 74, 75 now. And there was a big recession in 74, 75. Down on Furniture Row, every furniture store went out of business, including the old American Furniture Company. which they had eight stores, they went out of business. So I said, maybe there is an opportunity for this farm kid from Montana to open up a furniture store in big market like Denver. And I had available, every building there was available. And the Old American was available too. So I bought the Old American Furniture Company. And the reason I did, I thought it was the best building for what I wanted to do, 180,000 square feet. And I renamed it American Furniture Warehouse because at that time, Levitt’s Warehouse and the big warehouse thing was very popular. So I renamed it American Furniture Warehouse. So that was 1975. So they had assets on the book they were trying to sell. This was typewriters and adding machines. Stuff like that, you know. And so anyway, it was $180,000, excuse me, it was a million and a half dollars worth of assets. It was just trucks, warehouse racks, forklifts. $1.5 million worth of assets. And they were just trying to turn the assets into money. And another lesson learned, a lot of times there’s opportunity in recessions where you can buy assets at pennies on the dollar. So I gave $80,000 cash for a million and a half dollars worth of assets. I figured I made a million dollars that day. Because they had room for those adding machines and those assets, plus the forklifts and everything. So I reopened it as American Furniture Warehouse. Now that was 1975. And so from that, then, it just grew. I think I probably had the best operation. You know, I was buying better. I was willing to sell it cheap. Yeah, I think a lot of mistakes that a business has made, too, they try to get rich, you know. I never intended to get rich. I just wanted my business to be successful. I wanted my music store to be successful, and I wanted my furniture store to be successful. And if you have that motivation to be successful instead of trying to get rich, And I’ll tell you another story about that a little later, too. So, you know, I landed up, I bought out Vogue Furniture. They had some stores in Colorado Boulevard. And some of these stores that I bought out were ties in when I had my, I still had my factory. The factory was running when I still had American Furniture. And so a dealer was in trouble. They’d call me and I’d either buy them out or have a sale for them, that type of thing. So I grew my business. We doubled the volume in my furniture store just almost every year. My first year was $3 million, then it was $6 million, then it was $12 million, and then it was $24 million. So… I did have my music store, too, by the way. I doubled my volume every year.
SPEAKER 14 :
That’s amazing growth. Just amazing growth.
SPEAKER 05 :
Today we’re doing over a billion dollars in sales today. Oh, my gosh.
SPEAKER 14 :
From a little music store in Montana.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, so it was successful, yeah. So I bought out different stores along the road. It’s kind of a long story in Idaho and Montana and Wyoming where I had stores, but Landed up, I decided that if I wanted to do volume, I had to be in the bigger markets. So that’s why I chose Colorado. That’s why we open stores in Arizona and open stores in Houston, Texas. We need a million people. We have to do volume. If you do a lot of volume, you can sell stuff cheaper. But another lesson learned here, in fact, is on my 33 reasons for success, which I have here. Number seven says privately held company. We don’t need a big profit. Number eight is because we own all of our own buildings, trucks, inventory, and we can sell for less. What happened is like when I started opening stores, my accountant said, Jake, put the buildings in your name and have American Furniture pay you rent to make you rich. I said, I don’t want to get rich. And I was serious about that, by the way. And part of that comes from my dad or He was in Russia where he saw the rich people got killed. He used to tell us stories about that. And when you really study rich people, a lot of times they’re not happy. They’ll end up being drugs and partying and having personal problems with booze and drugs and that type of thing. And I’m serious about that. I don’t think money and happiness are synonymous.
SPEAKER 07 :
Right.
SPEAKER 05 :
I really don’t. And so I told my accountant, no, I don’t want to get rich. So I want my building, I want my business to be successful. And so I put the buildings in… the company names. So today we have 17 stores, and there’s no rent payments. Just think about that, no rent payments. Just a side note there, about eight years ago, an investment company wanted to buy us out. And they wanted to buy Art Van. At that time, Art Van was the fifth biggest retailer in America, had 200 stores doing $2 billion a year. And he says, this investment was by you and Art Van. This is going to be a big deal, you know, Art Van and you buy out. and I turned him down, but Art Van sold out to him. So the first thing the investment company did, they took his 200 stores and they put him in a separate company. So now he’s paying rent, his 200 stores, he’s paying rent on his 200 stores. Three years later, he’s gone, out of business, bankrupt. At that time, he was very successful, and I met Art Van. He visited my store, I visited his. We used to have a buying group. We used to do things together. And I liked Art. And he had family in the business. But he went bankrupt. So the lesson learned is, you know, if you… Own your own buildings, same with trucks. A lot of times investment companies still call us and say, hey, how about taking, I have a whole fleet of trucks, you know. Why don’t you put your trucks in this separate company and American to pay, you know, so they make the trucking company successful. No. I mean, I want the trucking just to be part of the business. So same with inventories. I pay cash for my buildings, pay cash for my trucks, pay cash for my inventory. And so I have no debt. I don’t have to worry about it. And by the way, there is a recession right now in the furniture business. The furniture business has been down for quite a while. You know, this high interest rate has hurt the furniture business. So there is a recession. Nationally, the Furniture Day just came out that the furniture business last year was down 11% nationally. Wow. And so a lot of furniture stores are hurting nationally. and not just furniture stores i think a lot of car dealers and and anything that takes to borrow money and have an interest rate you know hurts business they should be lowering interest rates and not raising raising them but the lesson learned there if you put your money back in your business and that’s what i’ve always done from a little music store to american furniture still do today I put the money back in. And at my age, I’m still working because I like what I’m doing.
SPEAKER 14 :
It’s remarkable. It’s truly remarkable. So, Jake Jabs, we’re going to go to break here in just a moment. And as you mentioned, you have two different business schools. One, Montana State, right? And the other is?
SPEAKER 05 :
Denver, CU Denver. CU Denver.
SPEAKER 14 :
And from what I can tell in reading all the information about you is you have a real… passion for young people as well. Yes. And, you know, want them to be successful. So I’d love to go through this, how many, there’s 39 keys to business and entrepreneurship success. So let’s talk about that when we come back. And I’m talking with Jake Jabs and another great sponsor of the show. And I got to know them when I was on city council. And it’s really a story about freedom and free markets and capitalism and And then I call them PBIs, politicians, bureaucrats, and interested parties that want to try to control things. And Hooters Restaurants has five locations, Loveland, Aurora, Lone Tree, Westminster, and Colorado Springs. A great place to get together to watch sporting events, meet friends. And the story about how I got to know them is on my website, KimMunson.com. Another great sponsor of the show is Lauren Levy. And we’ll be right back.
SPEAKER 15 :
If you’re 62 or older, a reverse mortgage could be a great tool regarding retirement and estate planning. It is essential to understand the process. Lorne Levy with Polygon Financial Group has nearly 20 years in the mortgage industry and has the experience to answer your questions. Call Lauren at 303-880-8881. Licensed in 49 states, Kim Monson highly recommends Lauren Levy for all your mortgage needs. Call Lauren at 303-880-8881.
SPEAKER 17 :
All of Kim’s sponsors are an inclusive partnership with Kim and are not affiliated with or in partnership with KLZ or Crawford Broadcasting. If you would like to support the work of The Kim Munson Show and grow your business, contact Kim at her website, kimmunson.com. That’s kimmunson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com.
SPEAKER 11 :
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SPEAKER 14 :
And welcome back to The Kim Munson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is KimMunson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter, and you can email me at Kim at KimMunson.com as well. Thank you to all of you who support us. We’re an independent voice, and we search for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. If something’s a good idea, you should not have to force people to do it. And happy Independence Day to all of you. We have prerecorded this show, and it is… Just a great inspirational show. I’m talking with Jake Jabs. He is the founder of American Furniture Warehouse and amazing awards over all these years. In 2023, Newsweek said you were awarded in the top 30 most trustworthy companies in America in 2023. You were awarded that again in 2024. You were awarded in 2024 the Best Customer Service by Forbes Awards. And this is out of all retailers, right?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes. This is remarkable. Congratulations. Thank you. There must be, what, millions of retailers?
SPEAKER 14 :
Yeah. Yes, definitely. And how many employees do you have, Jake? 3,300. You know, Jake, and you do so much regarding so many nonprofits and supporting education, just so many great things. But I really think that one of the most compassionate things that a person can do is to give someone a job. It’s something that they can get up and go to every morning and, you know, take care of themselves, their families. And so 3,300 employees is a pretty remarkable thing. Yeah.
SPEAKER 05 :
and what i’ve developed is a lot of incentive programs a lot of like we pay our drivers a commission for what they deliver we actually have a waiting list of people that want to deliver furniture for us could you imagine that i don’t think nobody can say that because we pay them a commission for what they deliver they make good money they work hard and they earn equipment but i have a lot of incentives in my throughout my company and if you give people an incentive the productivity goes through the roof Because they’re really working for themselves. The harder they work, the more money they make. And I can name them all, but it’s too many to name. But if you pay somebody directly for what they do, the productivity more than doubles.
SPEAKER 14 :
That’s amazing. And so it’s good for them, good for the business. It’s good for the customer.
SPEAKER 05 :
They stay with you forever. They’ve been with me for 40 years. So that’s a little turnover, which makes you more successful, too.
SPEAKER 14 :
Absolutely. It seems like you’re operating on all cylinders very well.
SPEAKER 05 :
Why are you still working? I have four reasons that I like to give. Number one is you have to have a passion for what you do. My passion is, as you said, I give back to a lot of charities. I have a lot of charities that actually depend on us. So there’s a real passion on giving back to charities. We support things like the State Fair in Pueblo, the Peach Festival is coming up. We’re the big supporter of the Peach Festival. Oh, I love it. and so forth and so on. So you have a passion. But the other thing, my passion is to have the best prices. That’s just always been my passion. I just want to have the best prices. Imagine that. So I have a passion. Number two is exercise. You have to exercise. I walk three miles a day. And so, of course, it’s easy for me to do because I walk through my stores. But exercise, I think you have to exercise. And number three, you have to enjoy what you’re doing. If you enjoy what you’re doing, you may never work a day in your life. By the way, I didn’t make that up. I mean, that goes without saying. If you enjoy what you’re doing, it may never work a thing in your life. And number four, you need to exercise your brain. What I’ve seen so often is people that get older, they quit exercising their brain. And that’s one of the first things that go. But you have to exercise your brain. And I do that all the time, too.
SPEAKER 14 :
We’re running a billion-dollar company.
SPEAKER 05 :
So if you do those four things, you’re still working. And I saw my, you know, my parents retired early. The European, they came from Europe, retired at 60. Then it was 60 years old. so my dad retired off the rents my grand granddad retired at 60 years old died at 64. i saw my dad retire at 60 years old and all he’s getting out of shape start drinking as kids got on him said dad what the heck are you doing you know and he saw you going downhill and so it kind of forced him go get a job he came up pretty start building houses and he got his house back but the point i’m making If you just lay around, you lose your health, you lose your brain, and you pass away and you don’t enjoy life. So that’s my four reasons for why I keep working.
SPEAKER 14 :
I love it.
SPEAKER 05 :
I love it.
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, we’ve got, guys, about seven minutes left. And this piece, 39 Keys to Business and Entrepreneurship Success, is amazing. And so take us through some of the top ones on this, Jake Jabs.
SPEAKER 05 :
Number one, secret to free enterprise is find a demand. There’s got to be demand. There’s a demand for a good furniture store in every market. But whatever it is, you know, Bill Gates with Microsoft, you know, Mark Zuckerberg with Facebook, you know, things like that. Find a demand. But number two is be honest. Because today, everybody’s got a phone on them. They can blog you. They can yawk you. They can run you down. Like there’s another furniture store open here in Denver, all once in their name, and they’re just bad operators, and they’re just being slammed by being dishonest. Today you need to be honest. It makes life more fun. It does, yeah. Yeah, so being honest is so important. And become a social media savvy. Keep your credit good. Keep your credit good. Good credit opens doors. And that’s what has happened to me, opened doors. Number 10, have a passion for what you do. If you have a passion, it’s not work anymore. I mean, you enjoy it. I enjoy going to work every day. Number 14, entrepreneurs don’t do it for the money. I never did it for the money. My goal was never to be rich. My goal was to have a successful business and give back. But that’s what entrepreneurs, I’ve studied entrepreneurs. They do it because they make life things better, they make life better, and that’s what entrepreneurs do. I encourage you to get an education. Education develops confidence. It makes dreams possible. Keep physically fit. And it’s okay to be a workaholic. I think hard work is good for you. I think most people enjoy working hard because you’re contributing back and you’re accomplishing things. So I think hard work is good for you. Don’t be afraid to have hard work. Have integrity and honesty in all situations. It’s so important. Don’t be afraid to work on commission because there’s an incentive to do a good job. And like I mentioned earlier, if you enjoy what you’re doing, you may never work a day in your life. I didn’t make that up. I plagiarized that one, you know. But if you succeed, you have to be willing to fail. Be a goodster with what God has given you. And 36, I put that in there. Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. As you know, John F. Kennedy made that statement, but I think that’s so important today. Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. Make America a better country. And so I think that’s important. So competition is the spice of life. Don’t be afraid of competition. So that’s a highlight of those 39 reasons. And by the way, this is available to, if anybody wants it, it’s on the website. It’s on American Furniture website. So most colleges love this thing. It’s good teaching material.
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, Jake Jabb’s remarkable life growing up in Montana and through the Great Depression and World War II and the Korean War. What do you think about 2024 America? We certainly are at a very unique time as you look forward in the future. Hopeful or what do you think?
SPEAKER 05 :
I’m always a hopeful person. Right now, it’s a little harder to be hopeful. What bothers me a little bit, I think, in America, we could get better candidates, just be more honest, more trustworthy people. But it kind of bothers me a little bit that we can’t come up with better, better, I’m talking about all the candidates, I’m not trying to pick on anyone in particular, but I think hopefully we could be better. But what I see, maybe one of the troubles with our process is you almost have to be a politician to get there. you know, that’s a trouble. You’ve got to go to the Lincoln Day dinners, you’ve got to do the Buckeyes barbecues. I don’t know if you remember, way back, a long time ago, a bunch of my buddies wanted me to run for the Senate. I had a lot of people urging me to run for the Senate. I don’t know if you remember that. I do, now that you mention it. And what it is, if you don’t announce, if you spend $5,000, you have to announce. I never did spend any money because I got free publicity There was an AP reporter in Evergreen who loved the idea of a businessman running for the Senate. So she gave me national publicity. Front page of the Denver Post, front page of the Rocky Mountain News. So I didn’t have to spend any money. But the problem was when it came time to nominate, The Ken Kramer, who was a six-term representative from Colorado Springs, it was his turn to run. It was his turn to run. And I hadn’t paid the dues. And he got defeated by Tim Morris, by the way. But the problem is you have to be a politician and do all that. And I think that’s kind of maybe one of the flaws of our system where you have to almost be a professional politician to be nominated.
SPEAKER 14 :
Yeah, I think people are ready to change that. It seems like that’s the case. Jake Jabs, we are just about out of time. And I want to say, first of all, thank you for sharing your story.
SPEAKER 05 :
You’re welcome.
SPEAKER 14 :
This is just a real pleasure. And thank you. Your story is truly a great American story. And I so appreciate it.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thank you. It was my pleasure.
SPEAKER 14 :
And our quote for the end of the show, because it’s Independence Day, I went to the end of the Declaration of Independence, and this is what they said. And for the support of this declaration with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. So my friends today, be grateful, read great books, think good thoughts, listen to beautiful music, communicate and listen well, live honestly and authentically, strive for high ideals, and like Superman, stand for truth, justice, and the American way. My friends, you’re not alone. God bless you. God bless America. And stay tuned for our number two.
SPEAKER 06 :
Through the rain and lightning Wandering out into this great unknown And I don’t want no one to cry. But tell them if I don’t survive, I was born.
SPEAKER 02 :
The views and opinions expressed on KLZ 560 are those of the speaker, commentators, hosts, their guests, and callers. They are not necessarily the views and opinions of Crawford Broadcasting or KLZ management, employees, associates, or advertisers. KLZ 560 is a Crawford Broadcasting God and country station.
SPEAKER 04 :
It’s the Kim Munson Show. Analyzing the most important stories.
SPEAKER 14 :
An early childhood taxing district? What on earth is that?
SPEAKER 04 :
The latest in politics and world affairs.
SPEAKER 14 :
I don’t think that we should be passing legislation that is so complicated that people kind of throw up their hands and say, I can’t understand that.
SPEAKER 04 :
Today’s current opinions and ideas.
SPEAKER 14 :
And it’s not fair just because you’re a big business that you get a break on this and the little guy doesn’t.
SPEAKER 04 :
Is it freedom or is it force? Let’s have a conversation.
SPEAKER 14 :
And welcome to the Kim Munson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is Kim Munson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter and you can email me at Kim at Kim Munson dot com as well. Thank you to all of you who support us. We are an independent voice on an independent station searching for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. If something’s a good idea, you should not have to force people to do it. And I so appreciate each and every one of you. You’re each treasured and valued. You have purpose today. Strive for excellence. Take care of your heart, your soul, your mind and your body. My friends, we were made for this moment and we get to do all this because of a great team. And that’s producer Steve, producer Luke, Zach, Patty, Keith, Charlie, Echo, all the people here at Crawford Broadcasting. And I get to work with amazing people as sponsors of the show. And one of those great sponsors is Jay Davidson. He is the CEO and founder of First American State Bank, which is a community bank right here in the Denver metro area. Jay Davidson, welcome to the show.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, thanks for having me, Kim.
SPEAKER 14 :
And we’re doing something very special, Jay, this week of Independence Day week. I’m making it a week. If some things can have a month, this can have a week, I think. But we actually are prerecording all of these shows so the team can take a little bit of time off. But we have put together amazing guests, and Jay Davidson is one of those great guests. So, Jay, let’s jump in here. What’s, first of all, your thoughts about America’s founding?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, that’s kind of wide open. I think that our founding is based on a principle, and that principle is unique in the history and in the world. And to me, that principle is the sanctity of the individual, the rights of the individual not to be overpowered and controlled by a greater entity, more powerful entity.
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, and within that is inherently liberty, which my good friend Ben Martin says liberty is the responsible exercise of freedom. And so the fact that the… The patriots, that they basically, I think, the same thing, the sanctity of the individual, that we could govern ourselves, that we didn’t have to have a king, a tyrant, a czar, or whatever. All this was unique to the American founding. And I think it’s important that people understand that. You and I always talk about the economic component. of freedom as well. And the quote that I’ll share at the end of the show is a Maggie Thatcher quote, and she says, you wouldn’t keep political freedom unless you also have economic freedom. And overtaxation, overregulation, all kinds of things can chip away at our economic freedom, Jay Davidson.
SPEAKER 03 :
That’s very true, and Maggie’s exactly right, in my opinion. I The basis of that thought process is the right to ownership of property that each individual has. And then it’s, as Jefferson wrote in the Declaration, it’s an inalienable right. In other words, it doesn’t come from mankind. It doesn’t come from a law. It doesn’t come from a government. It comes from the Almighty, our Creator, whatever name you want to ascribe to that being. And that is innate and inherent in our lives. in our freedom, our liberty, our individuality. Because if you can’t possess property, a property, then you can’t be independent. You can’t be separate from. And this is how the opposite forces, the forces of control, come at us through our property, through our rights, through our money, through our taxation, etc.,
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, and control ultimately has to come down to force as well. And force can – with government, I think the founders, they realized that with government there had to be some force, but yet they put in place – With the vision of the Declaration, then they put in place the Constitution, which would try to keep that force of government constrained within proper roles. But we’ve gotten way past that right now in 2023 America, Jay Davidson.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, you’re exactly right. The founding fathers realized in their infinite wisdom that a government was necessary to do very specific things and nothing more. And so they were very careful in creating what’s called the rule of law, which is the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the amendments. And if you read them, well, what I read them anyway— They appear to have a greater effect, and in fact almost an exclusive effect, on the activity of governments, bureaucrats, politicians, and not really say much about individuals, except that you have these inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the ownership of property. So I say that government needs to be there. It’s a necessary evil, but it is an evil that was recognized today. by our founding fathers. And if you look at the situation the world was in when they declared their independence, every man that signed that declaration had a death warrant put on his head. This was serious stuff. And they had experienced a monarchy, an absolute monarchy, through the king of England for the entirety of their lives. And now they were saying, we reject that monarchy, that ultimate government in this case, because a king is identical to a government in the sense that they have absolute control. They can take your life or not as they wish. So I think the… Go ahead.
SPEAKER 14 :
So on that, a question, because when we talk about these inalienable rights from God of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, but yet, how do you respond when people say, well, dictators, tyrants, they could take your life. They could take your liberty. So how does that match up that there are these rights from God? What would you say to people on that, Jay?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, that’s the very point that I’m trying to make, the A murderer can take my life if I let him, and certainly I’m going to fight that person to prevent that. A government can take my life, and I’m certainly going to fight that. We’re unique in the United States in that our founding fathers were wise enough, they looked far enough into the future to identify the problems that we face today and give us solutions for those problems. And the solution is the Constitution, the rule of law, not the rule by regulation, and each individual citizen standing up and demanding that the government go back into its hole and stop involving itself, its bureaucratic self, in our lives. I don’t know if I answered your question, Kim.
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, no, I think that you did. Even though a dictator or tyrant could take those things, the founders said that they are their rights from God. And I’ve always tried to… try you know try to figure that out because they could take our life they could take our liberty and they certainly take our property through a variety of things through they take they can take our property through uh taking away opportunity as well through regulations and taxes and all but those things are still inherent those rights are still inalienable even though a tyrant could take them it doesn’t maybe it’s this even though they could take them it doesn’t mean that we don’t have them how’s that
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, it doesn’t mean that they’re right in taking them. And it does mean that we have an inalienable right to protect our individuality. That’s what that means. I mean, and think about it. They took up arms against the most powerful nation in the world at that time. A bunch of farmers and businessmen and so forth, you know, fathers and brothers and uncles. took up arms and pointed rifles at the British soldier, who was the most powerful army in the world, that conquered the world. So that’s how serious they took the liberties that they talked about as inalienable rights in our Constitution, in our Declaration.
SPEAKER 14 :
And again, it’s remarkable, as you mentioned that it was farmers and merchants taking up arms against the most powerful empire on the face of the earth because they wanted liberty. I just it’s just such a remarkable story. And we’re doing very special shows this week. This is a prerecording with Jay Davidson, a great sponsor of the show. He is the CEO and founder of First American State Bank. Another great sponsor of the show is the Roger Mangan State Farm Insurance Team. And Roger’s been an agent for 47 years. He served his customers, provided for his family, and given back to the communities of Centennial, Littleton, Highlands Ranch, Englewood, Greenwood Village, and Castle Rock for help with all your insurance needs today. Call the Roger Mangan team at 303-795-8855. Like a good neighbor, the Roger Mangan insurance team is there. And it is Friday, which means that that is Jim May Day on the show. And we’ve pre-recorded everything for this week. And I’m very excited about this poem that he’s going to share with us. And we’ve really had a great, blessed Thanksgiving week. And I’m very excited to hear your poem, Jim May, Cattleman with Lavaca Meat Company. What is happening over at the meat store?
SPEAKER 16 :
Hey, good morning, Kim, and happy Friday. I guess happy Black Friday today. as we record this but uh yeah everything’s going good at the meat store we are starting to get a lot of orders for some uh some holiday gifts and and uh it’s a great gift for folks um i was going to mention these little little packages of they’re not really little i i’m not sure exactly what the size they’ll vary i think they start around 24 ounces but the new yorks and the ribeyes are cut really thick so that they can be used as either a roast or they can be split as steaks And that’s kind of neat if you’ve got a small family or just two to four people coming over or something like that. You can actually make your own little prime rib and just cook it slow, or you can split it in half and have two ribeye steaks. But I wanted to mention that. Yeah, the pet food is going good. Everything is rocking and rolling over there. So I’ll move right into Thanksgiving and my thoughts. I did whack something out here last night, and… Thanksgiving is a little tougher day for me because, I mean, it goes way back to the first one. And I think about that, thoughts about that. I think about Abraham Lincoln was the one that established Thanksgiving. And I think it was 1863, right in the middle of the Civil War, between 1861 and 1865. And that’s kind of interesting that the country’s just in the worst tragedy that we’ve ever had. You know, families fighting against families in some cases that he stopped. to give thanks for what we did have, our country and our life. And I guess after a good harvest, everybody did Thanksgiving back then. So that’s where we’re at. I’m going to move into this poem. And my other Thanksgivings were up in Canada. And I just… I think nobody celebrates Thanksgiving like the USA does, but it was fun to go up there and go skiing while everybody else was working. We were having our turkey and stuff. And so this poem is just our Thanksgiving of 2024. Here we go. As another new Thanksgiving Day nears, we should all think back about 400 years and imagine our ancestors in this strange new land, the Mayflower dock there on the ocean sand. There was no turkey or dressing or pumpkin pie, no football or parades with balloons in the sky. They say the first few years were pretty tough. The journey was hard. The ocean was rough. But the American spirit was about to unfold. In this brand new world, they had to be bold. I think the most amazing thing on that first holiday is the first action was to stop, to thank God, and to pray. President Lincoln declared this Thanksgiving event to be worthy of action. A holiday decree he had sent in the midst of one of our most terrible wars. He decided to recognize why we came to these shores. No other country we know of celebrates this way. Thank God for our life and our country this Thanksgiving Day. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.
SPEAKER 14 :
Oh, I love that. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, and we’ll talk next week.
SPEAKER 16 :
Okay. Thanks, Kim. Have a great one. See you.
SPEAKER 01 :
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SPEAKER 14 :
And welcome back to The Kim Munson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is KimMunson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter. And you can email me at Kim at KimMunson.com as well. Thank you to all of you who support us. We’re an independent voice. We search for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. If something’s a good idea, you should not have to force people to do it. And I am blessed with amazing sponsors. And one of those is Jay Davidson and First American State Bank. He is the CEO and founder. First American State Bank. And Jay Davidson, you are writing nationally. You’re a frequent guest on my show, on other shows, because you’re just so passionate about this American idea and economic freedom and property rights and capitalism. So let’s talk a little bit about capitalism. There have been those that are working to demonize the word. And in fact, this last April, the Colorado Education Educators Association, which is the largest, I think the largest teachers union in Colorado, put forth a resolution demonizing capitalism. And we’re starting to see some school board members push back on that. But capitalism is a good thing, yes?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, absolutely. I think it is. And I think what we’re seeing here is a very, I would say, ancient primordial force at work. The battle of two basic fundamental ideas. One I would certainly, because I agree with it, I’d call it good, and the other one I’d call evil. That’s just human nature. But the fact is that there’s always been a group of people who… to see control as the ultimate goal they seek the power of government they seek control over others they want to involve themselves in your life and then the other side is what i would call good side because that’s the one i believe in is the side that says no i’m an individual i have individual liberty and whether my government says i do or not doesn’t matter my this my My individual rights come from my creator, my God, the God, the one and only. So this is the eternal battle that’s going on, and I think that is the underpinning of the attacks on capitalism. Maybe I can elaborate a little bit on that. I think that capitalism is the natural outgrowth of freedom, and as such, I think that our constitutional republic with its rule of law and the inalienable rights of which we spoke earlier always and inevitably lead to a capitalistic economic system. Why do I say that? Well, capitalism says, you know what? If you own it, it’s yours. You can do whatever you want with it. That’s what capitalism is. You can own capital. And what is capital? It’s property. It’s money. It’s your rights. So here we have this eternal battle between the forces of what I would call evil, the ones who want to control us, and good, which are the forces that say you have an inalienable right to ownership of property, to capitalism. And I would submit to you that America has become great. and that the dollar is considered the most powerful currency in the world today because of capitalism, because of you and me and everybody else out there starting their own business or working for somebody of their own free will in order to gain a profit. Everybody has to make a profit because what is a profit? It’s the money that you can earn over and above what is your basic subsistence level. I mean, if we were still hunters-gatherers in the woods, our subsistence level would be surviving this moment, this day. But because of capitalism, we can bring together capital, property, our foodstuffs, our water supplies, and so forth. And we can create the profit that exists over and above our subsistence. So in order for the left to prevail, and the left is, in my opinion, go term with control, although there’s elements in the extreme right that are the same. So both extremes are bad, but I’ll use the left because that’s the most obvious example that they want to take away all the rights that are inherent in our creation. And so capitalism, to me, is a godsend. It’s a natural outgrowth of the freedoms that each person, each individual has. has that come from the Almighty.
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, and you mentioned profit, and there are those that try to demonize profit as greed. But I actually, I think that’s a Thomas Sowell quote that said, how is it greed if I want to keep more of my own money, but it’s charity if they’re taking my money to give to somebody else or something like that.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thomas is brilliant.
SPEAKER 14 :
He really is brilliant. So this demonizing of capitalism and of profit, and profit occurs when people exchange value. So if someone comes up with a product that somebody else finds, or a service that somebody else finds value, then they come to an agreement of just what that value is, and that’s where they exchange dollars for profit. for that value and uh… and obviously if somebody’s creating a good or service and they’re not able to charge a price more than what their costs are to making that that product they’re gonna stop making that product or service i guess that way the market answers to that but profit is not a bad thing it is is is an exchange of value and so if somebody says hey i value that I will pay you this amount for that. They agree upon that. But if a lot of people see that value, I’m thinking of like Steve jobs and the iPhone. If a lot of people see it and they exchange their hard earned dollars for that, then these people become very, very wealthy. I’ve never begrudged that at all, Jay, because I’ve thought if they could do it, I have the opportunity to do it as well. Your thoughts.
SPEAKER 03 :
Um, yeah, absolutely. Excuse me. Um, This is such a fundamental concept that people seem to fall. I mean, I’m a capitalist, obviously, and now I’ve embraced it and I’m very happy with it. I started my own business, as did you and a lot of your viewers and listeners did. And you started it. Why? Because we wanted to add value. I want to create a certain amount of capital so that I can protect my family, not so that I can exhibit all sorts of physical things like some fancy car or whatever, but so that I can really protect my family. That’s the basis of what I think we’re all about. And when we see these people that amass wealth with the intent of controlling others or impressing others or, you know, the bling people or whatever you want to call them. That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about Joe and Jane, hardworking person, not just subsisting, but thriving through freedom to the rights that are inherent in what’s called a capitalistic economy. which is also our foundational, constitutionally foundational nation that we live in. The right that you have as an individual to own property. And then you raised a really good point. The definition of fair trade is Bryant. And I totally, 100% agree with this. Fair trade is a willing buyer and a willing seller without outside coercion agreeing on a transaction. And that in and of itself defines the value of the product or service that’s being transacted. And nobody and no thing should come between that. And yet we see all the time that the bureaucratic entity of the federal government and the state and the local governments comes between it, between the fair trade of two individuals. So I think it’s a critically important issue for people to think about. And as far as The other thing that I hear all the time, particularly from the left, is love of money is the source of all evil. And they say money is the source of all evil. Well, I submit to you that anything can be the source of evil. Anything in excess can be the source of evil. I do think that the love of money can become evil, and more so than just money itself. And the love of money suggests that money is more important than anything. No, money is just a tool. It’s something that you gather to yourself through your hard work and your effort in order to protect yourself and your family from the vagaries of life. That’s all it is. It’s a medium of exchange. So I would also say that the love of power is the source of all evil. Yes, it is. So it’s a complex topic, but I love capitalism. I think it’s right.
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, it is. And again, and I appreciate that definition that fair trade is the exchange of value without outside coercion. So I’m going to ask you about that here in the next segment. I’m talking with Jay Davidson, and he is a great sponsor of the show. He is the founder and CEO of First American State Bank. And I am blessed to work with many great sponsors.
SPEAKER 11 :
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SPEAKER 17 :
All of Kim’s sponsors are an inclusive partnership with Kim and are not affiliated with or in partnership with KLZ or Crawford Broadcasting. If you would like to support the work of The Kim Munson Show and grow your business, contact Kim at her website, kimmunson.com. That’s Kim Munson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com.
SPEAKER 14 :
And welcome back to The Kim Munson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is KimMunson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter, and you can email me at Kim at KimMunson.com as well. Thank you to all of you who support us. We’re an independent voice. We search for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. If something’s a good idea, you should not have to force people to do it. And I did want to mention the USMC Memorial Foundation. Paula Sarles is the president of the foundation, and she is a Gold Star wife as well as a Marine veteran. And she and her team over at the USMC Memorial Foundation are working diligently together. to raise the money for the remodel of the Marine Memorial out at 6th and Colfax. And my friends, as we’re reflecting upon our independence this week, it’s a great thing to do to honor them would be to go to the USMC Memorial Foundation and make a contribution. And again, that is usmcmemorialfoundation.org. On the line with me is Jay Davidson, sponsor of the show. He is the founder and CEO of First American State Bank. And Jay, we’ve been talking about capitalism, and you mentioned the quote that money is the root of all evil. And I agree with you. The actual quote is love of money is the root of all evil. Love of power is a pretty evil thing as well. But I have seen people that have kind of looked over the shoulders of others that maybe are more successful, or maybe I should put it this way, very successful, and then people say, oh, they should give their money to charity instead of building a big house or having a car or a boat or whatever. And I thought, first of all, it’s not anybody else’s business how people spend their money. But just think about it. If they are building a big house, think about all the people that they’re employing and doing so. It could be an architect. They need all the supplies. So the people that make the fixtures and the wood and all that. So I’ve never demonized that. What do you think? What do you say?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, if we have an inalienable right to the ownership of property, then we do. then what you do with that property is your own right. You can do anything you want. I like to see people that are successful. It inspires me to work harder and try better. so um but but the point that you’re making is that some people will look at that and say well he should do this well no he shouldn’t he should do what he wants to do within the bounds of the law with his money period but every day of our lives somebody is looking at us no matter what we make how little or how much we make and saying you should contribute to something else that i think is more important than you spending on your family. That’s really what taxation regulation fees is all about. You notice one thing about the left, the social justice warriors, these people that think they are doing, I don’t know what they think, honestly, I don’t get them. But whenever they want to solve a problem, they do two things. They find a government entity, or they create one, and they take from you. They have to take from you to fund their idea of what should be done with your money. And the point I’m trying to make here is that government does not make money. Government is incapable of making profit. Government is the antithesis of freedom. and of capitalism and free markets and the individual. And our founding fathers realized that. That’s why they established the Constitution specifically to control government. Because they knew that government would, of its own nature, of the evil in mankind itself, want to grow and become more powerful. And today it’s become extremely powerful. But we can identify how it’s done that and start to bring it back down. And I must say, whatever you say about Donald Trump, he nominated four Supreme Court justices that are in favor of reducing the government’s control over our lives. Now, he has all these other problems. I get it. But this is critical. And we’re going to see this play out in the next few months. But I’m getting off track. But the fact is that as an individual, you have the inalienable right to spend your money as you wish. But you also have the rule of law, and you have to follow that. And doing that, then do whatever you want. It’s your money.
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, and, Jay, rule of law. People, Americans… I want to be law abiding citizens. And that’s why when law becomes when it doesn’t hold up to the vision of the Constitution, then that’s where it becomes a problem. And when I was on city council, I had to wrestle with this because in the Constitution, I think it’s the 10th Amendment. It says that whatever powers are not basically given to the federal government, those powers go to the state and to the people. But that doesn’t mean that the state and the people can put forth laws that are unconstitutional or put forth laws that are antithetical to this vision of the Declaration that all men are created equal with these rights from God of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. And so I realize that every ordinance, every everything that the government does needs to go. And every elected representative needs to go back to the vision of the founding and also the Constitution, because even on a local level, it’s not OK to be passing things that are unconstitutional. And so the rule of law that that at least I like to refer to is that within the context of the Constitution. And I think it’s important that people think about that.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, the rule of law, there’s only one law, and that is the Constitution. No matter what the left or right say, that is the law, the rule of the law, the rule of the land, the rules to which we have all agreed by being American citizens. We swear an oath to our Constitution. We did it every day of school. when I was going to grade school in the 50s and 60s. Well, in my case, 70s, because I was held back for about 30 years. So the rule of law is the Constitution and the amendments, period. That’s it. Now, the way that the left or extreme right subvert that is by incrementalism. It started when President Woodrow Wilson was in place over 100 years ago. And he basically said, he’s been quoted as saying the following. You people, you individuals don’t have the intellectual capacity, I’m paraphrasing, the intellectual capacity to handle your own lives. So we need a group of government bureaucrats to help you live your lives. And President Wilson was the beginning of the progressive movement that we see today. Barack Obama, who was still the puppet master behind Joe Biden, still in power, is the culmination of 100 years of effort by the lefties to destroy the freedoms that exist in America today. So my job and our jobs, Kim, I think, is to awaken people to the fact that there is an imminent threat. I mean, it’s a serious threat, but it’s not Overwhelming. I mean, my goodness, we have our Constitution. We have the inalienable rights defined by the Almighty himself. How can we lose? We can’t lose except by being embarrassed or being shouted down. And that’s all just a matter of willpower of every American standing up to the politician, the bureaucrat, to the left, the social justice warrior, saying, no, I don’t agree with your point. In fact, I totally disagree with it. And if you want to take my money, forget it. You don’t have that right. You spend your own money. If you notice, when I first started, we started this conversation. There are two things that the social justice warrior always does. Number one, they find a solution in a government program or they create a government program. And number two, they take money away from you as a citizen, as an individual. Those are the two things that every solution they bring to the party has in common. And there won’t be one thing that they do or ever do that doesn’t have those two elements. So be aware of it. And on the right, I mean, these guys on the right are not without blame either. I mean, you know, when you have a big government politician on the right or left, Republican or Democrat, it doesn’t matter. It’s the same thing. They’re identical. All these people that say you should give up so that I can tell you what to do are wrong. And I think the Republican Party, honestly, has got to wake up and clean up its act before it’s ever going to hold office in this nation again. And I think that’s a long ways off, unfortunately. But that’s a long story there. But the bottom line is, it’s control versus freedom. It’s going to be freedom.
SPEAKER 14 :
It is. And the Republican Party used to be painted as… Fat cats, rich guys, and certainly there is that. But then we also are looking at the radical left, and we’re seeing that there’s a bunch of very rich people over there as well that’s trying to affect America. uh… public policy and so for a long time i i mean i’ve always thought the you know capitalism is important and then i realized that cronyism is not capitalism first of all the cronyism is big government and big business colluding together to use force to either put forth their agenda put forth a way for them to profit, and it’s not a profit because you mentioned, well, fair trade is without outside coercion. So when government and big business get together and collude together or coerce together, that is not capitalism, and that’s not really profit. That is collusion.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah. Yeah, the name for that that you just described is fascism. That’s fascism. And the Nazis got it. They understood fascism very well. So the difference between fascism and communism is simple. In a communist society, they take the means of production. In a fascist society, the owners keep the means of production, but the production itself is taken and controlled by the government. It’s just a matter of degree. I mean, socialism is on the autistic scale, shall we say, toward communism. It’s just an interim step. And so the control mechanism, I think, is inherently evil. And I reject it at every point. Now, if I choose, and this is going to sound weird, but if I choose to live according to my moral code and according to the rule of the law of the land, which is the Constitution, then that is my right. And I choose to do that freely. In fact, I think every American has that right and that obligation to make that intelligent decision. RATIONAL DECISION THAT I WILL LIVE BY MY MORAL CODE, MY PRINCIPLES, AND I WILL LIVE BY THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, AND THEREBY I WILL BE, I THINK, THAT’S ALL FAITH, BUT VIEWED AS GOOD IN THE EYES OF MY LORD, AND THERE WILL BE A GREAT GOOD THAT ACCURS TO ME IN THE FUTURE WHEN I PASSED AWAY. SO THIS IS THE MORAL ARGUMENT FOR FREEDOM FOR THE INDIVIDUAL. for liberty. And it is the antithesis of everything that the big government Republicans and the big government Democrats are trying to foist on us right now. Anybody that seeks control over another is, in my opinion, relatively evil.
SPEAKER 14 :
And agree. And it’s on both sides of the aisle. And but I think people will, first of all, shedding light on this. You’re doing such a great job with all that you do, but shedding light on this. And I really think, Jay, that from moderate Democrats or used to be called blue dog Democrats, unaffiliated Democrats. Republicans, conservatives, libertarians, there is this big, broad middle of America that I think we, as we continue to speak reason and ration with rational thought into what is happening, I’m encouraged that we can unite this big, broad part of America and reclaim this great heritage of our American founding, Jaye.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, that’s where the real power of America resides. I mean, you know, Trump, for instance, he’s such a divisive individual. And I just, I get the people that really like him. Okay, you have that right. And if you want to vote for him, God bless you. You’re right. But why does he have to be so divisive? Why not be inclusive? And the left side, they’re so incredibly divisive. It’s unbelievable. But they have, I’d say, brainwashed a lot of people into thinking that though they are the individuals in the Democratic side and the far left side are right in their efforts to be social justice warriors and to fight the battle of climate change and carbon something or other. I mean, it’s an insane mix of things. And what you’re saying, Kim, is so right. It’s the rational approach to living together. And we as a nation must choose freely and of our own free will to live together. And how do we do that? I better close my mouth and open my mind to what my opponent is saying. And like you said, the blue dog Democrat, the moderate Democrat, the moderate Republican, the independent, et cetera, et cetera, we all have a similar belief and a similar mindset. I mean, we can disagree a little bit on the fringes of what should be done, but basically our ethical standards are identical. So why aren’t we talking to that unified and unifying principle that exists? to bind all of us together of our own free will. That’s where you’re going with that comment, and I totally agree with you.
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, and I’m encouraged that we are going to be able to do this. I know so many people are working diligently to make this happen. And we get to have these important conversations because of amazing sponsors.
SPEAKER 15 :
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SPEAKER 14 :
And welcome back to The Kim Munson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is Kim Munson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter. And you can email me at Kim at KimMunson.com as well. Thank you to all of you who support us. We are an independent voice. We search for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. If something’s a good idea, you should not have to force people to do it. And I did want to mention the Center for American Values located in Pueblo, Colorado. And they’re right on the river walk there. And they’re doing several different things. First of all, they have the Portraits of Valor, which is portraits of 160 Medal of Honor recipients. And there’s a quote with each one of them. And it is just powerful and inspiring. I would recommend you take the family down to the Center for American Values sometime this summer. But they’re also doing a lot of educational programs and opening up a great set of online programs. educational programs. And you can get a lot more information by going to AmericanValueCenter.org. That is AmericanValueCenter.org. On the line with me is Jay Davidson. He is the CEO and president of First American State Bank, great sponsor of the show. Jay Davidson, do you remember when Barack Obama was president and Joe the Plumber asked him a question? And I think he said to Joe the Plumber, he goes, you didn’t build that. That stopped me in my tracks. And then somebody, I don’t know if he said that or somebody else said, well, Joe the plumber, he has his business because he’s driving to see his clients on roads that the collective built. And I thought, well, that’s kind of interesting because people, all kinds of people drive on those roads, but we have different outcomes from the choices that we make on driving on those roads. What’s your thoughts?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, a couple of things there. It reveals very plainly what Barack Obama and the left’s mindset is. You as the individual, Mr. Joe Plummer, who worked hard for his money, you really have no rights to that money. The government does everything for you. And we’ve got to be aware of that mindset because it creeps into all of us. And any time you say, well, this problem is so great. poverty, drug abuse, I mean, things like this, trafficking of kids. These are serious problems. I agree. But when you start saying, well, there’s a government solution and only the government can solve it, I think you should stop and ask the question, well, can they? And if we keep doing this, like we’ve been doing for the past 100 years, When do we put so much debt on the public, on the American people, on the freedom, the free people of America that they can no longer sustain it? There is a limiting factor. Government can’t continue to do what you think they might be able to do. My second point here would be, well, let’s look at what the government can do and cannot do and what it’s done successfully. It has not prevented poverty. It has not stopped drugs from coming into America. Why is that? It’s not possible for a government entity to do those things. It is possible for an individual not to take drugs or for an individual to decide, I’m going to get up at 7 in the morning and go to work and work for 12 hours today so I can build my own wealth up. That is possible. This is what people miss when the Barack Obamas and these people say, the government gave you all this stuff. No, the government took all this stuff and they wasted it through bureaucrats, inefficiencies, and they didn’t deliver. So, you know, everybody says, well, you need regulation. I said, no, I don’t. I really don’t. Because the market will regulate. If I cheat somebody, I’m out of the market. People are going to stop coming to me. And it’s not my nature to do so. So I think we should always question that very issue. And then you said your dad talked about the equity of time or something, Kim. I thought that was kind of interesting.
SPEAKER 14 :
Right. Well, my dad – and we’re talking about this in between segments here. My dad had always talked to me about time and that you make choices about your time. You can never get time back. Time waits on no one. And with all this talk recently about equity and equality, and the two are different. And those that use the words equity, that’s kind of code words for taking other people’s stuff because they’re trying to get to an equal outcome. We’ll never get to an equal outcome. But what I did realize is the great equalizer, the great equity is. is time. And we each have 24 hours in a day. And of course, with the American idea, that time, I’m just thinking of this as we’re on the air, that time is your property. And what you choose to do with that You may become successful. You may have good outcomes. You may have consequences from that. But that’s inherent in freedom. So the great equity is time. But then we’re going to have unequal outcomes because everybody makes different choices with their time, Jay.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, that’s exactly right. I think it’s a well-discussed idea of the equality of outcome versus the equality of opportunity. And all that our God and our country give us is equality of opportunity. You can do whatever you want in America as long as you follow the law and the rule that don’t hurt someone else. You can do whatever you want. That makes us kind of unique in the world and in history. And why are we trying to destroy that? Well, because of some misguided idea that the Barack Obama’s lefties and the Joe Bidens and all these other clowns have. Well, I disagree with that. I say you’re wrong and I’m going to stand against you and I’m not going to adhere to your way of thinking. So I think this is your father’s point of the equality of time. That’s the basis, and I think that’s a really smart way of looking at it. And then you said the choices you make determine your outcome. Absolutely. If some clown went to college and spent $100,000, went into debt to get an underwater basket weaving degree, what should they expect to make on the outside? It’s pretty easy to figure out you’re not going to be paid to weave baskets underwater. So why are we paying for their mistake, for their decision? And it just, the list goes on. So- I like this concept a lot.
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, and I have real libertarian tendencies in as much as I think you as well when you say you can do whatever you want as long as it doesn’t hurt somebody else. But if people are making a choice and then expecting a government program to come in and help with whatever the consequences are of that choice, then they’re not being responsible for those choices. And I don’t think that government should step in. If people have fallen on hard times, we used to have something called charity. And charity was not this ongoing handout. It was a hand up to try to help people get out of a difficult situation. And so I think we need to lower taxes, let people have more money in their pockets. Then they can choose how they help people that may have fallen on hard times. But I think that’s a much better answer to all of the things that’s going on in our society right now.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, you’re right. And you were channeling Bob Cote over at Step 13. A hand up helps somebody get off the… get out of the mud and start his own process, not a handout. And that’s the whole problem that we’re facing here today with inflation. I know this is another topic for another time, but all the inflation is due to government spending. And I can walk you through that at some other point. But the fact is that government spending has to stop. And not only stop, but it has to be reduced severely. And our politicians have to step on the third rail. And they have to stop this kind of government incursion into our lives. Because every dollar that the government spends, it takes from you. Every dollar. And every debt that they take on, they put on you. That is not freedom. That’s slavery in the ultimate sense.
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, and a final thought on that is is and we’re putting that debt on our children and it’s unvirtuous and it’s immoral to speak for for our children and encumber them with this debt. And so that’s why we have these conversations. Jay Davidson, I so appreciate these long interviews that we get to do. And I also appreciate you and First American State Bank being a sponsor of the show.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, it’s an honor, Kim. Thanks for all the hard work you do and I sure appreciate that, too.
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, and we’re going to continue to engage in this battle of ideas. And our quote for the end of the show, and actually Jay Davidson met Maggie Thatcher, but she said, you wouldn’t keep political freedom unless you also have economic freedom. So, my friends, be grateful. Read great books. Think good thoughts. Listen to beautiful music. Communicate and listen well. Live honestly and authentically. Strive for high ideals. And like Superman, stand for truth, justice, and the American way. My friends, you are not alone. God bless you, and God bless America.
SPEAKER 06 :
And I don’t want no one to cry, but tell them if I don’t survive, I was born.
SPEAKER 02 :
The views and opinions expressed on KLZ 560 are those of the speaker, commentators, hosts, their guests, and callers. They are not necessarily the views and opinions of Crawford Broadcasting or KLZ management, employees, associates, or advertisers. KLZ 560 is a Crawford Broadcasting God and country station.
