In this compelling episode of The Kim Munson Show, Kim speaks with Helen Raleigh, an American entrepreneur and writer, about the pervasive influence of socialism in today’s society. Drawing from her personal experiences growing up in communist China, Helen highlights the potential dangers these ideas pose when introduced as seemingly helpful public policies. They explore how concepts designed to control, such as minimum wage laws and price controls, often result in adverse consequences for the very people they aim to help. Tune in to discover essential insights into the ongoing battle between freedom and force.
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It’s the Kim Munson Show, analyzing the most important stories.
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The socialization of transportation, education, energy, housing, and water. What it means is that government controls it through rules and regulations.
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The latest in politics and world affairs.
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Under this guise of bipartisanship and nonpartisanship, it’s actually tapping down the truth.
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Today’s current opinions and ideas.
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On an equal field in the battle of ideas, mistruths and misconceptions is getting us into a world of hurt.
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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 joining us. You’re each treasured, you’re 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 in history. And thank you to the team. That’s Producer Joe, Luke, Rachel, Zach, Echo, Charlie, Mike, Teresa. and all the people here at Crawford Broadcasting. And check out the website. That is Kim Munson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter. You can email me at Kim at Kim Munson dot com. And 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 should not have to force people to do it. And the show can be heard on all KLZ 560 platforms. We broadcast 6 to 8 a.m. Monday through Friday. The first hour is rebroadcast 1 to 2 in the afternoon, second hour 10 to 11 at night. And those KLZ platforms are KLZ 560 a.m. KLZ 100.7 FM, the KLZ website, and the KLZ app. And then we do publish the show with a written summary and a podcast. Once that happens, you can listen to the podcast also on Spotify and iTunes. And we are pre-recording these shows for this week of Christmas with very special guests. And to kick all this off is Helen Raleigh. And she is a chartered financial analyst and She’s an American entrepreneur, writer, and speaker, and a senior contributor at The Federalist. Her writings appear in other national media, including The Wall Street Journal and Fox News. She’s the author of several books, including Confucius Never Said and Backlash, How Communist China’s Aggression Has Backfired. Her latest book is in the second edition of The Broken Welcome Mat, America’s Un-American Immigration Policy and How We Should Fix It. You can follow her online. on Parler and Twitter at H. Raleigh. That’s spelled R-A-E, excuse me, R-A-L-E-I-G-H speaks. So H, excuse me, one more time, H. Raleigh speaks. Helen Raleigh, welcome. Good morning, Kim. That’s a lot, but it’s important that people just understand your vast experience. You immigrated from China. That’s why these books are so important. And you’re just a really amazing writer. And I wanted to start with this piece that people can find at Substack. And they can just put in your name and they will find it. And it’s this article regarding it could happen here. And so where should we start with that, Helen Raleigh?
SPEAKER 14 :
well so it’s actually based on the talk i recently give at a young americans for freedom foundation i have a really good relationship with them and they normally organize conferences for high school students as well as college students so i recently traveled to california to speak to a group of high school students who were there attending free enterprise leadership conference So the it in the title really refers to socialism slash communism. I know we often use these two terms interchangeably. They’re slightly different, but they both are tyrannic economic and political systems. As you mentioned in your introduction, I grew up in communist China, so I had a firsthand experience in living under the tyrannic socialism slash communism. And so I used my experience as well as the contrast with some of the things I observed what’s happened in America and want to my purpose was to educate the high school students about because socialism could happen here actually I gave some example of some elements already happening here that I want everyone including us as well as this future leaders to be eternally vigilant about preventing socialism happening in America.
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So what are the things that you see, Helen Raleigh, that are happening here that you remind me of your experiences growing up in communist China?
SPEAKER 14 :
So one element, a couple of them. So let me give you a first example. First example was, especially when I was growing up, I mentioned on your show before that I grew up with a food ration because China had a price control. The Chinese government imposed a price control on all the supplies of food as well as nationalized the distribution of how many people were allowed to have food. amount of food, how much food each person was allowed to have, like how many pounds of rice you’re allowed to have and how many ounces of cooking oil or meat you’re allowed to have. And the whole rationale behind the price control was to keep the price low, keep the price affordable. So it sounded like an honorable goal, but what the reality was, that there was a widely spread shortage because the price control destroyed incentives. So there was no, the shelves are empty. And I told the kids that, you know, it really doesn’t matter what the price, the government says about the price of the bread, right? They can say the price of bread is zero, but if you can’t find anything in a grocery store after you stood in line for four or five hours, it meant nothing. And so in contrast, we all heard that Vice President Kamala Harris was promoting price control as one of her policy ideas to keep food inflation down in this country, even though her administration’s policies was the root cause of price, you know, food price inflation. So that’s just really shocking to me. And so that’s one example of something failed, some policy idea failed in China before and now somehow get a second life here in the United States.
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Well, and I’m just going to mention another headline that I saw recently. Whenever government gets involved in something, it really causes problems. So Gavin Newsom, California did a forced minimum wage of $20. I guess that went into effect in April. Ostensibly, this is to help people so that they can be able to live on a quote-unquote living wage. Well, what happened, there will be some… excuse me, some people that will be paid $20 an hour, but over 6,000 people lost their job. So zero is a lot less than $20 an hour. The fact that people lost their jobs is the actual effect of, again, a forced minimum wage.
SPEAKER 14 :
Exactly. That’s the thing. That’s one thing I really want to convey to the kids. I call them kids because they’re high school students. It really is that you should not judge a public policy simply based on its intention. You really have to evaluate based on consequences. And I urge them that I say all the problems we face in life, there is always a free market solution. But when you’re seeking government for a policy solution, you always end up creating more problems. And the minimum wage law is a perfect example of how it ends up helping only a small group of people who get to keep $20 an hour job, but most people have to be laid off because the restaurant has very thin profit margins, and so they couldn’t afford. And also, the people who are already struggling, American people who are struggling with food inflation, Can you imagine how much a restaurant has to charge a burger if they have to increase the minimum wage to $20? I mean, how many people can afford to pay for $25 a burger or to feed a family of four? So those are very short-sighted government solutions, only ends up making the problem worse.
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Well, and so ultimately then what happens to people? They lose their jobs and there is such dignity in work, being able to trade value for value and being paid to do that. But when government is coming in with these policies and limiting jobs, what happens to people then?
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But people are forced to, you know, restaurants forced to close doors or move to different locations, normally out of state. And then people would have to get on welfare or, you know, retrain themselves to find another job. And it’s not as easy said, you know. as we imagine, because sometimes it’s very difficult for people to transition from one career to another career. So this just adds so much stress. And we’ve already seen this. Many restaurants, even including large restaurant chains, they’re shutting down, moving out of state. And the people are leaving California. We’ve seen many of them move to Colorado. Unfortunately, the Democrats in Colorado are trying to follow California needs and to increase minimum wage here, too. Basically, what we are witnessing is the Democrats continue to re-implementing, re-impose the same failed ideas everywhere else, and somehow they have this fantasy. They are smart enough to do it right this time. We never see them do it right, but they still have this confidence that they’re going to do it right this time. Somehow the bad ideas that failed in other places will not fail under their watch. But that’s just a fantasy because the bad ideas ALWAYS FAIL BECAUSE IT VIOLATES THE ECONOMIC 101 AS WELL AS HUMAN NATURE.
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Well, and so ultimately socialism comes down to force. And I think a lot of people think that socialism means people can get free stuff. But again, free stuff, if there’s no free stuff to be had, so what? But you can’t give to one person what you haven’t taken from another. So to take from the producers, to give to the non-producers, ultimately the producers will go out of business or quit producing. People will really be in dire straits. People will be very hungry and won’t have freedom to go after their hopes and dreams. And so ultimately, socialism is not about free stuff. That’s the carrot to get people to vote for it. It ultimately comes down to force because it’s a terrible idea.
SPEAKER 14 :
Right. So socialism, you only get a free stuff maybe for the first couple of months or a year. But like Margaret Thatcher said, socialism always ran out of other people’s money. And that is why, regardless of locations, language, or people’s cultural background, Socialism failed in China, Soviet Union, Cuba, Venezuela, and all these places people speak different languages, have different cultures, and yet socialism failed with the same paralysis, such as widespread shortage of everything, especially on food, starvation. lack of health care, despite the promise of free health care. But there’s a shortage of doctors, shortage of medicine, and, you know, economists, you know, going bankrupt. They just have the same symptoms. Nobody can do it better because it’s a bad idea to begin with. And it’s more than just about a force. It’s also about envy, right? It’s about… ENVY THAT INSTEAD OF INSPIRE PEOPLE TO SAY HEY KIM DOES BETTER THAN ME THAT I SHOULD ASPIRE TO WORK HARD TO GET EDUCATION AND FIND A GOOD JOB AND SAVE MORE JUST SO I CAN REACH KIM’S LEVEL INSTEAD OF BE ASPIRATIONAL IT’S ABOUT ENVY IT’S ABOUT HEY KIM’S DOING BETTER THAN ME NOW I HAVE TO GO TO THE GOVERNMENT FOR HELP IMPLEMENT POLICIES TAX KIM MORE OR TAKE WHAT KIM HAS And, you know, from her, even though she’s the rightful owner and distributed it to other people. So socialism is really coming down to envy and the force. Yeah, free stuff is just a facade. You know, it’s appearance, but it’s never, it doesn’t last very long.
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Well, it doesn’t last very long. And I’m talking with Helen Raleigh, and she is an amazing writer. You can find her at The Federalist, also at Substack, and then in many of the national publications as well. And the show comes to you because of our sponsors. And for everything regarding insurance, reach out to the Roger Megan State Farm Insurance team. You might be able to save money if you bundle your insurance together. Roger’s been in business for 48 years. taking great care of his clients, his family, and giving back to the community. So give them a call at 303-795-8855. Like a good neighbor, the Roger Mangan team is there.
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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 can email me at Kim at KimMunson.com as well. Thank you to all of you who support us. We’re an independent voice as 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 a sponsor of the show has been with me since before it was The Kim Munson Show. is Hooters Restaurants, and they are sponsors of both the Kim Munson Show and America’s Veterans Stories. How I got to know them was in a very important story about just the things we’re talking about, proper role of government, these foundational principles of capitalism or socialism. And so it’s a story regarding free markets and capitalism as how I got to know them. And so check that out at my website. The whole story is there. But they have five locations, Loveland, Aurora, Lone Tree, Westminster, and Colorado Springs. Great place to get together to watch the football games. They have great specials for lunch and happy hour Monday through Friday. Talking with Helen Raleigh. And she immigrated from China. She is an American entrepreneur. She is an American, a citizen by choice. And she’s a writer and speaker. And she has written several books, among them Confucius Never Said, Backlash, How Communist China’s Aggression Has Backfired. and the second edition of The Broken Welcome Mat, America’s Un-American Immigration Policy and How We Should Fix It. These are very important books, and I would recommend that you have them on your Freedom Library or in your Freedom Library at home. We’re talking about socialism, and it could happen here, which is a speech that she gave to Young Americans Foundation, And we talked about price control, but what would be a current example of socialism, Helen Raleigh?
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Well, a more current example, some of your listeners have probably heard about the social credit system in China. SCORES BASED ON THE BEHAVIORS OF CHINESE PEOPLE, INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORS, AND THE SCORES ARE BASED ON WHAT BEHAVIORS THAT THE GOVERNMENT APPROVED, WHAT BEHAVIORS THE GOVERNMENT DISAPPROVED. SO YOU GET A BAD SCORE AND YOU’RE GOING TO BE PUNISHED. YOU COULDN’T TRAVEL, YOU COULDN’T airline or train tickets and your kids could not go to school, you may not even get a promotion at work. But if you are on the government’s good list, then you may get a lower mortgage rate and better schools for your kids. So there will be a reward that comes with that. That in contrast to something we’re having here in America is the debanking. That’s a relatively new phenomenon, but basically it’s about how financial institutions in the West basically tell their customers, even though the customer has done nothing illegal, but the bank will suddenly severely banking relationship with them. So one of the most famous examples is the former first lady, Melania Trump, soon to be our first lady again, that she mentioned in her latest biography that she was a long-term bank, debanked her severe relationship with her after January 6th, and also refused to open a bank account for her son, Barron Trump. They did nothing wrong, only because their famous last name. And there are many other examples about crypto entrepreneurs who are also debanked by the financial institution. And this basically Now we’re seeing Americans, Americans, law-abiding Americans being punished for their perceived political views or even religious beliefs. And this is deeply troubling.
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Well, it is deeply troubling because the next thing that’s going to happen is it’s not going to get better. And when you have bullies that are doing this kind of stuff and people think, well, if I keep my head down and I don’t say anything, then maybe they won’t see me. Ultimately, this will devolve into a very dangerous situation, I think, Helen Raleigh.
SPEAKER 14 :
Oh, absolutely. And this is what I try to emphasize. I think not enough people know, not enough Americans know about this. Because just imagine this. We don’t even have to imagine. Just look around. We live in an increasingly very digitized society, right? So everything, you know, especially banking, everything is done online. So when you are debanked to buy the bank, you will have a hard time to get paid. which means you’re going to have a hard time finding a job because if the employer cannot pay you online, they most likely will not offer you a job. And it’s very difficult for you to pay somebody else or pay a business to get the goods and services you need. So basically, when you’re being debanked, you’re basically being shut down, being cut off from participating in almost every aspect of this modern society, of your life, life needs. So it’s no different than you being thrown into a digital prison. So I think this is why this is something very serious. We need to talk about this more, because so far the debanking affected a small group of Americans, But again, they are law-abiding citizens like a millennial Trump. They have done nothing wrong other than they’ve been perceived that have different political views, and they get punished. And the only reason the financial institutions are doing this is because they get a hint-hint from the federal government, from the current administration to say, oh, we don’t like these people. We think that they are terrorists or dangerous or whatever, give them a label based on their political or religious beliefs. Then they’re being shot out.
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Well, what about, can’t we have a, shouldn’t there be a company that’s going to pop up that would not do that? Couldn’t we have competition in the marketplace that would prevent this?
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Yes, but it takes time to build institutions. It takes time to build this. And also the same institution will be subject to the same regulations, right? So there’s a piece I just wrote for the Federalist. So there’s a regulation called the Bank Secrecy Act. Basically, financial institutions… EVEN THOUGH THE ACT IS VOLUNTARY, BUT THEY ARE GENERALLY, THEY ARE SO AFRAID, THEY ARE FORCED THAT YOU HAVE TO PROVIDE THE GOVERNMENT A LIST OF ACCOUNTS THAT HAVE SUSPICIOUS BEHAVIORS. behaviors, the definition has become so wide. It used to be dealing with money laundering, but now the FBI created this screen list of even people who are buying a Bible or people who shop at a Cabara’s to buy guns and ammo. Those could all be considered as suspicious behaviors. So now more and more Americans, their financial activities have been swallowed and been reported. They are being spied on by the financial institutions on behalf of the federal government. So, yes, there’s a free market solution, but it takes time to build that. Really, the number one priority for the income Trump administration is to REFORM, WORKING WITH THE CONGRESS TO REFORM THE BANK SECRECY ACT TO MAKE SURE THAT AMERICANS ARE PROTECTED FOR THEIR FREE SPEECH AND NOT BE
SPEAKER 15 :
Wow. This is, do you think, okay, so under the, I could see this happening potentially more and more under the Biden-Harris administration. Do you think the Trump administration will get this turned around?
SPEAKER 14 :
I hope so. So this act, this Bank Secrecy Act, it’s a very antiquated law that was imposed back in the 1970s. So I think President Trump needs to work with Congress to reform or repeal this regulation. Basically, either to narrow it down back to its original purpose, to really just target criminals and not criminals. cast such a wide net against Americans or repeal the law entirely. But something needs to be done. Because I open my articles with this sentence. Our financial institutions know more about us than our own mothers. Because we do everything online. They can easily, based on where we shop, when did we buy what, create an entire profile of us. I don’t feel safe. I don’t know. I recently just bought a house, so I’m pretty sure I have to move money around, and I’m pretty sure I’m on some list already. And that just does not feel good.
SPEAKER 15 :
No, and I know, I think that we’re on all these different lists, and we shouldn’t, we should not be on lists. The American citizen, and I think that’s something in the Constitution. We’re supposed to be able to have privacy of our papers and our effects and all of that, and the idea that these financial institutions would share this information with the government is, it’s unconscionable that it would happen, and it’s unconstitutional as well, right? Right.
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I think so. That’s why I think the incoming Trump administration really need to look into it. In my article, I mentioned Bank of America. So after January 6th, even before the Fed reached out to all the financial institutions, Bank of America, which is a nationwide, like have a huge presence, Bank of America voluntarily send the Fed a list of people with the spending, even though there’s no criminal act happened, just send the Fed a list of people who were in D.C., had the spending, like whether even they bought a cup of coffee from a train station. It’s all those data the Bank of America collected and then send it to Fed. Without even Fed, send a warrant. So basically, you know, if you’re a banker, America’s customer, you should be really concerned, right? Bank of America never informed you, and the Fed was, you know, snooping up your private data. If you just happen to pass by D.C. during that time, and you bought a cup of coffee at the train station or at the airport, now suddenly you’re on the list. And that’s ridiculous, and I believe it is unconstitutional. But I’m not a lawyer, so I let the lawyer decide that. I just think this whole thing is unconscionable.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, and spying on citizens. You mentioned this bank secrecy law and then also the Patriot Act. Both of these things were ostensibly to go after criminals, bad guys, terrorists. But instead, it seems like they’re focusing on everyday American people. And and I don’t know who they is exactly, but that seems to be what’s happening now.
SPEAKER 14 :
Yeah, we know who they exactly. It’s the federal government and law enforcement, especially the FBI. Basically, the Congress, the Judicial Committee, published a report. That’s what my article was based on. So the Congress, this report, especially named the FBI as one of the notorious abusers, they basically A FINANCIAL INSTITUTION AS AN EXTENDED LAW ENFORCEMENT ARM. BECAUSE IF THEY DIRECTLY GO TO THE FINANCIAL INSTITUTION ASKING FOR INFORMATION, THEN BASED ON THE LAW, THEY NEED TO AT LEAST FIRST HAVE A WARRANT. SO WHAT THEY HAVE BEEN DOING UNDER THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION IS THEY GIVE A HINT. Instead of directly asking for the financial institution providing information on certain people, they gave hints to say, oh, people who recently bought the Bible, it’s kind of suspicious. Do you have anything? And then the financial institution, out of fear, they would go through their bank records and provide a list under this act. Of course, Bank of America was the worst offender. They did it even before FBI asked them to do anything. So that’s why this whole thing, I hope everybody will go read this article. It’s published today in the Federalist, and I will repost it on my sub-staff, but I hope everybody will go read it. Because last year, all the financial institutions in America filed over 40… I think it’s about either 40 or 40 million reports. That’s a lot of Americans being on those lists. It’s just pretty ridiculous.
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That is getting ridiculous. I’m talking with Helen Raleigh. We’re pre-recording these shows, and they come to you because of our sponsors. And for everything residential real estate, reach out to RE-MAX Realtor Karen Levine.
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SPEAKER 15 :
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 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 I do support the USMC Memorial Foundation because they are doing such important work It is so important that we know our history, that we understand and hear these stories of those that have given their lives or been willing to give their lives for us and to honor them. And a great way to do that would be to make a contribution to the USMC Memorial Foundation before the end of the year. That website is usmcmemorialfoundation.org. Talking with Helen Raleigh, who is truly an American entrepreneur, even though she grew up in China. She is a successful writer and speaker and financial advisor. And she’s just really an innovator. So let’s talk about some innovation, American innovation, Helen Raleigh.
SPEAKER 14 :
Thank you, Kim, for that kind introduction. So I think we should celebrate two of the greatest innovators, Americans, since yesterday was their, well, December 17th. 121st year anniversary of the Wright Brothers. I didn’t know, I mean, I know about the Wright Brothers, but I didn’t know December 17 was the anniversary. So I look at it up. On December 17, 1903, on a cold morning in a small town in North Carolina, the Wright Brothers tested their plane. And the plane lasted about 12 seconds. and at a height of 120 feet in air. But that’s the 12 seconds that changed the life forever. I just find this is so fascinating to consider how much we have evolved from those 12 seconds from a little over a century ago now to Elon Musk’s landing this giant spaceship in steel arms most recently, like a chopstick, steel arms, holds a perfect landing. The innovators, the people who continue use their talent and hard work to push our progress, human progress forward. I just find this is so fascinating.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, and that human progress is the goal is human flourishing for each and every individual. And so that’s why the free markets and capitalism is the way that that can be accomplished. When people are free to innovate and to create, the sky’s the limit. And that’s the thing about we started the show with socialism and communism and progressivism. They all believe that there is only a finite pie. And that you have to get your share of the pie, and it doesn’t expand. That is it. And so you see the elites want to try to use public policy to get more of the pie, and ultimately that means then… In that finite pie, there’s less for everybody else. It gets down to everybody’s equal, but they’re equal in their misery. They don’t understand that through creativity and innovation, the pie can expand. It can get bigger and bigger. More and more people can have a piece of the pie. They can thrive and they can flourish and thrive. I don’t understand why we can’t get that taught to our neighbors and our kids. I guess it’s because that narrative of the elites is pretty prevalent out there right now, Helen Raleigh.
SPEAKER 14 :
Yeah, and because this is one thing, when I was giving a talk, one kid during the Q&A, he did ask me, like, what are some of the comebacks in a debate with socialism, with socialists? One of the advice I gave her, and I will give it to your listeners, is, So socialists, when you debate with them, they always like to use the ideal of socialism in contrast to the reality of a free market. What I mean is the ideal of socialism is everybody will have everything. And they never explain how everybody will have everything. They just say everybody will have everything. Of course, their methodology is always to take it from somebody and to give it to somebody else. And in the process, the government, the collective, actually keeps the most of it, right? And so I said that’s one. So when we debate the socialists, we should never fall into the trap to allow them to use that ideal state in contrast to in the free market. In free market, you know, yes, most people will be better off because of the rising tide lift all boats, but we’re not all going to end up with having the same amount of the same thing, right? So that’s why I think when we compare, when we debate socialism, point out their fallacy, we have to force them to come down to reality. We can’t allow them to use the ideal state, which has never been achieved, and also which has been proven on the way to get there it always resulted in force and you know death starvation and the suffering so it’s never been accomplished and the attempt to accomplish the result in death and suffering so we have to force them to come back to the reality use the reality of socialism in practice to contrast to the contributions and the the enormous achievement that the free market has been able to generate in the last 100 years. The last 100 years, socialism, communism produced over 100 million deaths and the deprivation. The last 100 years, you know, the capitalism, the free market has produced the human flourishing. You know, we move from 12 seconds, you know, a a still bird flew in the sky for 12 seconds to now we can travel across the continent in hours and where Elon Musk, an entrepreneur like Elon Musk, is planning to take a human to Mars cross in the cosmos. So that’s what the free market can achieve. So the best way to debate the socialists is to force them to combat reality and compare to the real misery, real life misery of socialism in contrast to real achievement in free market.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, and I think a lot of young people have been taught this, and they think that cronyism is capitalism. And cronyism is when big government and big business get in bed with each other and make it difficult on competition, and they pick winners and losers. And so then I thought this was so interesting because words are so important. is you heard the term crony capitalist. Well, those words can’t be in the same sentence together. It’s cronyism when you have government that is picking winners and losers. And so a lot of people have demonized corporations because of that relationship. And of course, corporations that want to exhibit cronyism, we need to call them out on that. But corporations that are providing a great service And providing for their customers and their clients and doing a good job and then are rewarded for that with more and more people using those products or services. Then they make money or what’s called a profit, which is not a bad thing. It means they’re offering value. And it’s so important that kids understand that distinction, Helen Raleigh.
SPEAKER 14 :
Exactly. I agree with you. Cronyism and capitalism should not be in the same sentence because today we do not live in a pure capitalist society. Cronyism is the beginning of socialism. That’s exactly what happens when Business and the government working together to set the barriers, competition barriers to prevent other people from getting involved and then to make product and process inefficient. And so it makes them less affordable, make it more difficult for consumers. So that is not capitalism. That is not a free market. Free market does not have those barriers. So the closest America has ever come to a free market was back in the 19th century. That’s when the Wright brothers invented a plane. That’s when John D. Rockefeller discovered commercialized oil. That’s when Thomas Edison invented the light bulbs. All of them did it on their own they did not get a government subsidy that was a foreign concept to them they those were the golden ages entrepreneurs if they are waiting to take a risk if they have a good idea they just went they just went for it and they all became enormously successful we should strive to at least in spirit to back to that risk-taking era, you know, reduce regulation, lower barrier of entry, make our market as free as possible so other people, a young person who’s out there who had a great idea, who had confidence, who’s willing to roll up the sleeves and put sweat, tears, blood, equity in there, they’re going to be successful. And that’s what we need to get back to.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, and I think that we’re seeing this next generation start to blossom, I think, from an entrepreneurial standpoint. What do you see? Because you’re around so many young people.
SPEAKER 14 :
Oh yeah, I think there’s definitely a culture shift. So I really applaud for that. Like those kids at the free enterprise conference that I attended recently, several of them came to talk to me afterwards asking for advice because they wanted to start their own business. And I really celebrate, you know, I really love that. And so, and I want to give a shout out to your son. You showed us, you know, your son Mark, you know, he created this fabulous board game. I really wish him successful. And I just, I love… young people out there that have a great idea and are willing to work on it, willing to put the time, resources, and energy to make something happen. And I applaud all the young people out there, and I also applaud all of us to be as supportive as possible, because that’s how we as a society keep moving forward. That’s how we improve people’s living standards. That’s how we keep our environment you know nice and bring fresh air clean water it’s all through innovation and the creativity not by imposing ridiculous laws or regulations that limiting what the people can do we should encourage people to to do things that that will benefit all of us in the end
SPEAKER 15 :
I totally agree. And Helen Raleigh is truly the American story. The American entrepreneur grew up poor in China. And when we come back, she tells a story that is so amazing about a chocolate bar, which I think during Christmas is probably a good time to hear it again. But a couple of things. I wanted to mention the Center for American Values. It’s located in Pueblo, Colorado. Pueblo is known as the home of heroes because there’s four centers. Medal of Honor recipients that grew up in Pueblo. And the center is a very special place. It has portraits of valor of over 160 of our Medal of Honor recipients. And then just what Helen is talking about, they have all these great educational programs for kids K through 12 to… to learn and relearn and think about these foundational principles of honor, integrity, and patriotism. And so check out their website. That is AmericanValueCenter.org, AmericanValueCenter.org. And for everything mortgages, reach out to Loren Levy. He can help you in 49 of the 50 states, just not New York.
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SPEAKER 11 :
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 18 :
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SPEAKER 15 :
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. And 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 Ellen Raleigh, we started off with this piece about that you had written about, it could happen here. And the it is socialism slash communism. And it could happen here. Ronald Reagan said that we’re only one generation away from the extinction of freedom, and that we each of us have to fight for it, each generation. And I find great hope that in this generation. I think there’s a reawakening that is happening in America. I think we’re in our third founding. I think it’s very exciting. And there’s so many people, so many entrepreneurs, so many people that love the American idea. But your story as a child growing up in China, poor, hungry, and a chocolate bar changed your life. And I love this story if you’d share that with us.
SPEAKER 14 :
Sure. I want to go back to the food rations just to set a context. So as I mentioned earlier that the Chinese government has had a very extensive and all-composing food rationing system because there was a food shortage. So the government decide each person based on your age and gender how many ounces of sugar you are allowed to have in addition to like rice and meat and stuff. So it’s really measured by ounces. I’m not exaggerating it. And even with the ounces the government promised you, the sugar you’re going to have, as I mentioned earlier, the grocery store shelves are often empty. So you’re often stood in line for hours, and then by the time you had your food coupon, you walk into the store, the shelf’s empty. So the ounces of sugar they promised to you was not available. Anyway, so as a kid, we all know that kids love candy, love sugar, so we never had enough sugar, never had enough candy. And when I was in, this was much later, so when I was in college, the things, the economy was better, but chocolate, you know, something as luxury as chocolate, chocolate was considered very luxury, was not, still not widely available. And our college had an American professor. He was the first foreigner I met on campus. So American professor. And he held a contest about, you know, English, give an English talk, speech, short speech for students. And I won the contest. And the reward was a Hershey chocolate bar, Hershey bar. And I never had anything so delicious, Kim. Now I think back, I always want to cry because it tastes so silky and so sweet. It just melts in your mouth. I never tasted something so good. And I wouldn’t say it changed my life, but it definitely planted a seed in my heart. I basically decided someday I want to go to a place that I can have as much chocolate bars as I wanted to. Because it always bothers me in my young heart, like why I was not allowed to eat whatever I want. or how much I wanted. Why is there always a restriction? And that chocolate bar symbolized there’s something better out there. There’s a better way of living out there. And not everybody lived in this repressive way as we did. And I did not want to continue living this oppressive way. I wanted a different life. And I think that’s what that chocolate bar symbolized for.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, and the other thing, I didn’t know this for many years, but you actually shared that with your colleagues, right? Yes.
SPEAKER 14 :
Yes, we have to, I have to cut it into small pieces because there’s no way I get to have it by myself. I wasn’t the only one who did not have enough sugar. Everybody else did not have enough sugar either. So yeah, so it is definitely, I shared it with several close friends because, I mean, it’s a chocolate bar. There’s really not that much into it. It’s a chocolate bar. And so I did share it with other friends. And in a related story, there was a McDonald’s. First, the McDonald’s opened in Beijing. And during the summer, when I did an internship in Beijing, my friend and I went to the McDonald’s. And the only thing we could afford was an apple pie. There’s nothing more American than apple pie. And she and I shared an apple pie. And it was like we did not have any concept about a fast food restaurant. To us, going to McDonald’s was like a luxury, like a treat. So we sat in there for hours, became the two of us, shared this little apple pie. This is something really magical about the McDonald’s. That’s why during the election, I mean, pre to the November election, when I saw Donald Trump, you know, all dressed up, put the apron on, had this, you know, worked in the McDonald’s for 30 seconds, for 30 minutes, I don’t think people realized how important that image was. Even if he was putting on a show, but there’s something very Americana about it. McDonald’s, about apple pies, about entrepreneurship, about how you build, you know, going back to build your wealth, you know, and working hard. All these American ideals, how we get there from such a young country and with an experiment. Nobody knew it was going to be successful. And now we are the most powerful, wealthy nation on the planet. And it’s America’s amazing story.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, it is an amazing story. And Helen, you know, in the Bible, when it talks about the promised land and it’ll have milk and honey, I’ve always thought of America and the milk and honey that we have in abundance here because of creativity and and innovation, and capitalism, and freedom. And these things are to be celebrated and teach our children to be creative. The sky is the limit because it is the limit. We need to protect these principles that have been under assault. And I’m so encouraged because I think people are realizing this and people are stepping forward. And I think that the next… You know, this next year offers great promise. Certainly there’s we see dangers in the headlines as well. But we’re Americans and there’s something. And when I say we’re Americans, Americans are people that love these ideals that all men are created equal with rights from God of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. That’s the thing that unites us. It’s a beautiful thing to unite us. Helen Raleigh.
SPEAKER 14 :
Oh, absolutely. And I think that’s the American ideal. I always say I identified as American before I even came to this country because America’s ideal is universal, has universal appeal. That’s why you see so many immigrants like me who came here with nothing, literally nothing, that we can… become successful and feel fit right in, you know, in this society. And that’s the beauty of America, because Americana really stands for truth, beauty, and love, as well as freedom. And you’re right. It’s a freedom. It’s a freedom to choose that created this abundance of things and high living standards that we all get to live a better life than where we started in life. And that’s really something really beautiful and hopeful for America. And I’m with you. I think that next year, even though we have a lot to work on, but we also have a lot to hope for. I really believe this is a new dawn is coming for America. And a lot of people are waking up and they’re ready to work.
SPEAKER 15 :
I think so, too. And Helen, I’ve said this to several people. I think that we are we’re at a time in history. It’s a remarkable time. And we were made for this moment. And I think that we are taking part in the third founding of America. Of course, there was the Revolutionary War, the Civil War. And I think this is such an exciting time. And it’s a battle of ideas. You’re out there on a regular basis with your pen and speaking about these ideas on a consistent basis. And I thank you for that. And people can find you at the Federalist Papers and at Substack. And it would be great if people subscribed to that as well, correct?
SPEAKER 14 :
Yes, I really appreciate the support because Battle of the Ideas needs voices and needs platforms. So the more people can subscribe, the more people can share and help to get the message out, the better. Because you’re right, the Battle of the Ideas, it takes… more involvement. It takes consistent effort. So I really appreciate that people will go subscribe, the Substack letters, and go read at the Federalist and, you know, my website, HowToRoundItSpeaks.com, or follow me on Twitter. Just any help we can get. I think for you, too, Kim, you’re out there doing the same amazing work, and I hope more people will continue to support your work as well, you know, because it’s important. All these voices are important.
SPEAKER 15 :
You know, all of these voices in this battle of ideas are important. And this has been attributed to Stalin. He said, ideas are more powerful than guns. We wouldn’t let our enemies have guns. Why would we let them have ideas? And so that’s why these ideas are so important. And again, where can people find you, Helen Raleigh?
SPEAKER 14 :
They can find me several ways. On Twitter, H. Rowley Speaks. My website, HelenRowleySpeaks.com. Or on Substack, they can just search my name. Or my Substack newsletter is also called Confucius Never Said, which is the title of my first book. Of course, they can find all my books on Amazon by just typing in my name.
SPEAKER 15 :
Okay, Helen Rowley, thank you so much. Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2025. And Merry Christmas to you and all your listeners. And our quote for the end of the show is Samuel Adams. He said this, So my friends, today be grateful, read great books, think good thoughts, listen to beautiful music, communicate in this 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. God bless America. Stay tuned for hour number two.
SPEAKER 08 :
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 17 :
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 16 :
It’s the Kim Munson Show, analyzing the most important stories.
SPEAKER 15 :
The socialization of transportation, education, energy, housing, and water, what it means is that government controls it through rules and regulations.
SPEAKER 16 :
The latest in politics and world affairs.
SPEAKER 15 :
Under the disguise of bipartisanship and nonpartisanship, it’s actually tapping down the truth.
SPEAKER 16 :
Today’s Current Opinions and Ideas.
SPEAKER 15 :
On an equal field in the battle of ideas, mistruths and misconceptions is getting us into a world of hurt.
SPEAKER 16 :
Is it freedom or is it force? Let’s have a conversation.
SPEAKER 15 :
Welcome back to The Kim Munson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is kimmunson.com. And a nonprofit that I dearly love is the Center for American Values. They are located in Pueblo on the beautiful Riverwalk. Pueblo is known as the home of heroes because there are four Medal of Honor recipients that grew up there. But it is really a very special place. And the portraits of valor of over 160 of our Medal of Honor recipients with their quotes is very inspiring. So I would recommend that this Christmas season that you take a road trip to Pueblo and visit the Center for American Values. That website is AmericanValuesCenter.org. Talking with Colonel Bill Rutledge, retired United States Air Force. And we have pre-recorded these shows for Christmas week. And the Boston Tea Party was December 16th, 1773. And Colonel Rutledge said we should do a show regarding the tea parties. But you said the precursor to all of this really was the French Indian War. And we went to break, just as you were saying that Washington, George Washington, had briefed General Braddock, the British general, that the battle with the French near Pittsburgh is not like what they’re used to in Europe. So what happened then, Colonel Rutledge?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, the general didn’t pay attention to George, and so he continued to march his soldiers sort of en masse and on. did not send out scouts to the front or to his flanks. And what happened, he got surrounded. And he believed in leading from the front like they would do in a combat on the coast of Europe. And so he was one of the first killed. And then shortly thereafter, Since the French and the Indians were all around them, their casualties were tremendous. They had about 2,000 redcoats plus their officer corps, and soon it was obvious that they were going to be decimated, and they had to withdraw. Washington, of course, was with the general as his aide, and George was the largest guy there. He was like 6’2 or 6’3″. A big man, over 200 pounds, on a big horse. So he was a huge target. And the Indians and the French were all trying to shoot George and shoot him off the horse or shoot the horse and have him fall. They didn’t. For some reason, it never happened. So he rallied the survivors and went back to Virginia. And… explained the situation to the governor there. And the governor recognized that this was not going to be successful there at that level. So he just sort of withdrew the men and did not pursue it any further in that area. But the battle on with the French continued, but it moved north. It moved up the Hudson Valley and on up into Canada. so that most of the rest of that French and Indian War, which was called the Seven Year War in Europe, was conducted up in Canada and along the border in Canada. So consequently, Georgia’s involvement in the American activity was reduced because most of the fighting was with British soldiers who had come over, It wasn’t with very many of the colonial people. So when the war ended after this seven-year period, so it’s the early 1860s, I mean 1760s, then the British Parliament recognized that they had incurred a tremendous debt enduring this. So they elected… to have the people who were in America, the colonials, be taxed in some form or another to help pay for it. Their perspective was that they had sent troops over there to protect British citizens who lived in America. The colonial people didn’t look at it that way. They looked at it as though It was continued English colonial expansion because England had gained all of Canada and the maritime provinces all the way up to Labrador. And they viewed this as a British problem and was not their problem. So the British started, the first thing they did to somewhat appease the French, but maybe just to avoid further conflict in that area, they put out an edict to the colonials that there would be. So anyhow, the first direction to the colonials were that there was to be no more colonization west of the Appalachian Mountains. Well, this did not go well with the Americans because they were in the process of Moving into that area, they’d been doing it gradually for a number of years, and even people like Washington and some of the others had staked out thousands of acres of land just west of the Appalachians. So it was a big investment for a lot of people, and there was great interest there. But it was just a start of what was going to happen. And this was in 1763, immediately after the war. And then later, the next year, in 1764, they decided to tax sugar. Well, it would be sugar and molasses and any byproducts that might be manufactured in America. But all of this was going to be taxed. So this was the first of a series of many things. Then they had another act also in 1764, Currency Act, so that we couldn’t be printing our own money to use for things here in America. Then they came up with the Stamp Act, which we all heard of in high school. But that was what required that a stamp be put on all sorts of retail products. And this was, of course, controlled by the British colonial government. And again, the Americans had no voice in it. By this time, in 1765, the infamous Stamp Act was passed by Parliament. This required English stamps, which were basically a taxation act, to be put on all sorts of retail merchandise and even bulk items that would be shipped in from England. And it was a burden upon the people, but also it was a visible nuisance that they didn’t approve of. So they started right away, the Sons of Liberty and the Daughters of Liberty started started boycotting a lot of the imports from England. And then they started talking more openly about they didn’t want taxation without representation. If the parliament at that time would have recognized their feelings and just had some token representations… from America to go to England and participate in some of these decisions, it might have alleviated the problem. But they didn’t. So there was nobody from America in London who spoke on their behalf.
SPEAKER 15 :
Okay, Colonel Rutledge, let’s go to break on this. We’re talking with Colonel Bill Rutledge regarding the Tea Parties, also the French-Indian War at the beginning of America. And it’s important that we have these discussions and we get to because our great sponsors. And one of those great sponsors is Lavaca Meat Company, which is that steakhouse experience at home. And I’m truly a blessed woman to work with amazing people. And one of those, and I’m blessed to work with amazing people. And one of those is one of my sponsors, Roger Mangan with State Farm Agent. Roger, it’s great to have you here. And we’ve pre-recorded these shows for Christmas with amazing guests and wanted to get your reflections regarding Christmas.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, Merry Christmas to you, Kim, and your family and all those you love. You know, when you asked me to comment on Christmas, my thoughts, I had a flurry of memories, physical memories, where my mother and I sat in front of a Christmas tree and decorated it days before Christmas and just connected with each other along with my brothers. Putting the final touches on the Christmas tree back in the 40s and 50s was angel hair. Any of you old enough to remember angel hair? That was wool that itched like heck, so you needed to be careful. So I have some very fond physical memories of those times. But also I look at Christmas as a time to thank those who helped me get where I am today, who led the way spiritually and also by example. There was a friend of mine who was a wrestling coach when I was in college, and he continuously comes to my thoughts because of the undiminished support he gave to me during his connection with me in over a four-year period. And what a role model he was. He used to have a sign over his door when you left his house. It would say, return with honor. And it’s like, yeah, he was the kind of guy that forever has influenced my life. And I think there are a lot of us at Christmas that look backward with sadness, some with joy. But it’s a time to look forward for a lot of us to renew our hope and in ourselves, the world, and the places we live and we want to be connected with. So I think Christmas is a very different holiday for everybody, even though we think it’s the time for the birth of Christ and the renewal of Western values and culture. It is way more than that because it’s not a single theme. It’s many things.
SPEAKER 15 :
It really is, Roger. And reflecting on this Christmas, this Christmas, I’ve given myself permission to not have to have everything done within a certain time frame. And it has been somewhat liberating for me. And I used to think December 1st, you know, first day of Advent, whatever, that I needed to have everything ready. I realized that Christmas is the 24th. Advent’s the preparation. So I’ve decided I’m going to prepare. I mean, I’ve kind of given myself a break this season.
SPEAKER 04 :
Good for you. I think it’s time to catch your breath and probably say, you know… let me think about what I want to be in 2025 and how I’m going to get there and who helped me get where I am and be thankful and grateful and look back at them, pick up the phone and say, hey, just wanted to touch base with you and let you know how much you’ve meant to me in the past year or many years, and thank you for your friendship. You’re on my mind, and let’s keep connected.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, I think that’s true. And speaking of people that have helped you over the years, years and years ago, I was in a tough spot. And we get in tough spots. It happens. But I was in a really tough spot. And I had some friends that stepped forward and they said, just give her a chance. And that was when I first moved to Denver. they gave me a chance I got a job as a trainee at a stock brokerage firm and actually it it worked out really well so if you can help people out give them a chance I think that that’s a great thing to do in 2025 don’t you wonder if those people are still around that open that door for you and have you ever had a chance to go back and say hello Well, I did go back and say thank you. That was many years ago. But I said I will always work to try to pay that forward. And so I try to.
SPEAKER 04 :
Let me share with you something that I learned probably 24 years ago when our wonderful daughter Michelle passed away. I was at a church service and the minister brought forward something that has stuck in my mind forever. And it has to do a little bit with Christmas. And it goes like this. Life is short and you have oh so little time to share the path of life with those you love. So be quick to love. Make haste to be kind.
SPEAKER 15 :
Roger Mangan, that really touches my heart. Thank you so much. Thank you for your partnership. Thank you to Alice. I wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas.
SPEAKER 04 :
Kim, let me close by saying Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everybody. Happy Hanukkah. May all of you have a great life and a future that’s bright with optimism.
SPEAKER 18 :
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SPEAKER 11 :
You’d like to get in touch with one of the sponsors of The Kim Munson Show, but you can’t remember their phone contact or website information. Find a full list of advertising partners on Kim’s website, kimmunson.com. That’s Kim, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com.
SPEAKER 15 :
and welcome to our number two of the kim munson show thank you so much for joining us you’re each treasured you’re 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 in history and i work with an amazing team that’s producer joe luke rachel zach echo charlie mike Teresa, all the people here at Crawford Broadcasting. 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 will get first look at our upcoming guests and our most recent essays. We send that out on Sunday. You can email me at Kim at Kim Munson. Again, that’s M-O-N-S-O-N.com. Thank you to all of you who support us. And you can hear the show on all KLZ 560 platforms. That’s KLZ 560 AM. KLC 100.7 FM anywhere in the world on the KLC website or the KLC app. And the first hour broadcast 6 to 8 a.m. Monday through Friday. Well, the show broadcast 6 to 8 a.m. Monday through Friday. The first hour is rebroadcast 1 to 2 in the afternoon and and the second hour, 10 to 11 at night. And Christmas week, Merry Christmas to all of you. We are pre-recording some very special guests, and I’m pleased to have on the line with me Colonel Bill Rutledge. He’s retired, United States Air Force. Colonel Rutledge, welcome to the show. Thank you, Kim. And we had talked about doing a show regarding the Tea Party because the Boston Tea Party was in December. And so I thought, let’s have some history. So where should we start regarding? And it wasn’t just the Boston Tea Party. There were other tea parties as well. So where shall we start?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, first of all, most American students have heard of the Boston Tea Party in one level. of their American history. And we might as well mention the time. It occurred on the 16th of December, 1773. It was sort of a culmination of a lot of agitation and irritation on the part of the American colonials that had been developing over about a 20-year period. So we really need to go to the origin. And what was the origin was the French and Indian War. The reason being that the French and the English had been at one another’s throat militarily for centuries. And they were vying for control of America. And the French had control of what is now Canada and the maritime provinces. And then, of course, we were right up against them. And then to the south of us was Florida, which was Spanish. And to the west, beyond the Mississippi, was really undesignated, but it was principally Spanish. So in 1754… The French decided they wanted to expand their control, and they wanted to have the control of that area down the Ohio River to the Mississippi, and then they would like to control the whole Mississippi Valley all the way down to New Orleans. So they moved a group of soldiers down to the area of Pittsburgh, right where the Ohio forms, where the Allegheny and Mahongahele River converge. And so they built a fortification there. And the governor of Virginia learned of this, and he was very concerned because the English had assumed that they had control of everything even west of the Alleghenies all the way out to the Mississippi River. And they felt that the French were infringing upon their territory. So the governor, he needed to send a message to the French. So he picked George Washington. And George Washington was about 22 years old. He was in the Virginia militia. But he was also a surveyor. So he had actually been… west part of Virginia, but he’s also been beyond the Allegheny Mountains, so he was familiar with the territory almost all the way out towards where Pittsburgh is located. So he became the delegate to carry the message out. So on his first trip out, he got a few Indians just for interpreters, and he went out in the fall, and it was cold, and It took him several days to get there, and he took the message and gave it to the French commander. And it basically was telling them that they should abandon their fort and go back to Canada. Well, the French commander elected to write a lengthy written statement back to the governor of Virginia, which he did. So George took this message back and wrote, when he got back there and it was read by the governor, it was very explicit that they weren’t going anywhere, that is, the French. So he formed a small, almost like a company of soldiers in the militia with a few interpreters and a few civilians, and they were going back out there to see if they could actually drive the French out of that area Well, when they did this second trip, they couldn’t do it. The French were too numerous, and they were defensive in a good position, and they were allied with several of the Indian tribes in the area. So Washington, they had a few casualties, and then he turned and went back to Virginia and talked to the governor and said, they’re serious, they’re not going anywhere, and we lost a few men. Well, the British took great exception to this, and they were already fighting the French on the European coast area. And so consequently, they decided to send approximately 2,000 redcoats under General Braddock to come to Virginia and then press on and make the French surrender. vacate their area near Pittsburgh and go back to Canada. Well, when they got there, they looked for someone to be their guide, and the obvious person was George Washington, since he had been there. And so he became the aide-de-camp for General Braddock. And he tried to brief the general not to expect combat with the French like they had encountered on the plains in Europe, where you’d have lines of soldiers facing lines of soldiers in open and clear spaces. There were a lot of trees and many places to hide, and he, George, told the general that you have to have scouts out. You have to expect that you could have people on your flanks, and you must send out your your people to go out and represent the flanks.
SPEAKER 15 :
So, Colonel Rutledge, let’s stop right there. Yeah. And we’ll go to break. We’re going to come back and continue this discussion about the French and Indian War. We have all these discussions because of great sponsors and really blessed to work with amazing people.
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SPEAKER 15 :
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 can email me at Kim at KimMunson.com as well. And we are pre-recording these shows for Christmas week. Very special guests. But before we get back to Colonel Bill Rutledge, I wanted to mention the USMC Memorial Foundation. And the memorial is located here in Golden, Colorado at 6th and Colfax. And Paula Sarles, who is a Gold Star wife, a Marine veteran, and the president of the USMC Memorial Foundation, she and her team are really working diligently to give a facelift to the Marine Memorial. So get more information, go to usmcmemorialfoundation.org. And Colonel Bill Rutledge is 96 years young, and he is a retired United States Air Force. Colonel Rutledge, when we went to break, you said the colonists were starting to get frustrated about being taxed without representation. And perhaps the British could have headed off the complete Revolutionary War if they would have recognized that and given the colonists some representation at Parliament.
SPEAKER 06 :
That’s absolutely correct, but they did not extend that invitation. So they continued in 1765 after they’d already enacted the Stamp Act. Shortly thereafter, they passed what was called the Quartering Act. And the Quartering Act required the colonial governments to provide— accommodations for the British Redcoat soldiers who were assigned to America. And in some instances, they even required people to take British soldiers into their own homes, provide their sleeping accommodations, but also provide for their meals. This was not only was it an imposition, but economically it was a strain upon a lot of families. So the British weren’t making things easier for the Americans, and it was getting to be pretty bad. Shortly thereafter, they realized that they were losing a lot of sales in America. So they repealed the Stamp Act, but they still were doing taxes on all sorts of things. it wasn’t going well. So this continued, and then they followed up with what they called the Townsend Acts in 1768, which is sort of a conglomeration of various ways of taxing the Americans. What really lit the fire for ultimate Tea Parties was in May of 1773, they passed the Tea Act. Now, one of the reasons they had done this was that the British source of tea, of course, came from Ceylon in India, and they had an exclusive on all tea coming to America. The tea would go into England, where it would be boxed, and taxed and prepared and sent over on British ships, and it must be exclusively from England for Americans to buy it, which made tea much more expensive, and tea was considered a part of their life, the life of the people in America. In what’s ironic, although they didn’t talk about it, at that same time, cocoa was becoming equally important in London. So we didn’t know much about that, and we were never told that in school. I only found that out by reading more and more about the English side of the story. So these acts just all came to a peak in 1773, and what happened was In the fall of 1773, the British sent seven ships to America, cargo ships loaded with tea. And the tea was packed in big wooden boxes. And they sent these ships to a number of ports. But for Boston, since the population was greater in that area, they sent three ships that had tea on them. And since the tea was already being taxed and people were getting a little tired of it, this is when the Sons of Liberty first came out overtly, so they made a presence. But, of course, they decorated themselves up as though they were Mohawk Indians. It didn’t take a lot to figure out that that was just a disguise. It was the Sons of Liberty all dressed out to be Indians. So they went to the ships in the harbor and they threw all the tea out into the harbor. So this is the story that we got in history in elementary school and also in high school and somewhat in college. But it didn’t explain the fact that The British had tons and tons of tea, and just sending it to Boston wasn’t going to cut it. They sent it also to New York, to Philadelphia, to Charleston, to many of the population centers. And the reason they would send is that the people who were in the business of selling tea were Americans, so they would put in orders. to be placed in England, and then the tea would be consigned to them by name. So it would come there, and then in each of these ports, the British had a customs officer who was supposed to collect a tax before the tea could be released to the American vendors. Well, because of the pressure that was being put on by the the colonial people against the Tea Act and against paying tax for their tea, some of the vendors wouldn’t even take it. And there were some of the ships that turned around and went back to England. Meanwhile, of course, the Boston situation set a pattern so that people throughout the colonies learned of what had happened in Boston. and some of them elected to emulate what they had done there. So there were a few occasions where one of the convoys went into Philadelphia, and they had quite a few huge boxes. But the people in Philadelphia had learned about it and had warned the captain of the ship and said, look, don’t unload or it’ll just go in the water. So the ships turned around and went back to England with the T. And then later, the ship, one of the ships, which was called the London, when it went back to London, then it had an order to Charleston. So in that fall, it went, you know, in this early spring of 74, it went to Charleston. When it got to Charleston, there were two big commercial vendors there who were going to pay their taxes and get their tea. But there were a lot of local people who went to the meeting and said, we’re not going to buy your tea anyhow. So these two people who were going to have to pay the taxes and get the tea, they just decided, well, we better not bring that ashore anymore. So what happened one evening, they unloaded the ship to London, and they took all the boxes of tea, and there were quite a few, and they put them in the custom house, which is at the end of the street right down by the dock in Charleston. And that custom house is still there. It’s a beautiful big building, and in 19… 52 and 53, I worked in the same block where the Custom House is. And I didn’t even know about the story of the T. It’s at the end of Broad Street and intersection of Broad and Church Street. And a very famous area in downtown Charleston. And it’s a beautiful building. And today it’s used by the Chamber of Commerce. And it’s almost like a national… headquarters for them. But I didn’t know anything like that when I would walk by it to go get my car and do my job. This is a digression, but it shows a current association with the past. Because what happened there was really unique. They unloaded all the tea, they put it in the custom house basement, and this was in early in 1774. But nothing happened. It stayed there until the American Revolution started. And in 1776, now after we’ve had a Declaration of Independence, the tea was sold at auction, and the money was used to buy ammunition and muskets for… the locals to defend Charleston against the British. So it was sort of an ironic spin-off. But there were other examples up and down the coast. It was really a situation where they decided, we’re going to throw the tea in the ocean, or you’re going to take it back to England, or we’re going to unload the tea and we’re going to burn the boxes. But one place really did it, and this was in Maryland. And so they came into port there at Annapolis, and the locals were trying to figure out what to do with the tea. So what they did, they just burned the whole damn ship. Wow. With the tea, the people got off okay, but they burned the ship and the tea, everything.
SPEAKER 15 :
That probably made the British pretty mad, huh?
SPEAKER 06 :
I’m sure that sort of ruffled their feathers, but we were getting awfully close to the first Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia, where the first time 13 colonies got together, and it didn’t take too much longer for that to happen. And the So consequently, it wasn’t just the Boston Tea Party. It was the focal point, and it set some of the precedents. But we had tea parties all up and down the coast in various configurations, and the destiny of the tea was up to the locals and some locals. Maybe some of it actually got drunk. Who knows? But most of it was being abused because they were being abused by the British. And it was things like this that, again, were brought on because the British were still operating under the philosophy that those Americans have got to pay for us. And all of our war expenses against the French.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, and it’s just so amazing how over time we didn’t just get to the Declaration of Independence, 1776. It was a period of years. I think it’s fascinating for people to understand that. We will continue the discussion with Colonel Bill Rutledge. As you know, I dearly love the USMC Memorial Foundation. And Doyle Glass has written a very important book about a group of Marines.
SPEAKER 13 :
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SPEAKER 05 :
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 18 :
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SPEAKER 15 :
And welcome back to The Kim Munson Show. Merry Christmas to all of you. We have prerecorded shows for this week with very special guests. And pleased to have on the line with me Colonel Bill Rutledge. He’s retired, United States Air Force. December 16th in 1773 was the Boston Tea Party. But it wasn’t just the Boston Tea Party. It was up and down the colonies. And Super interesting things that I didn’t know about. You had mentioned Boston Commons, I guess, during break. So tell us a little bit about Boston Commons and how that relates to the Tea Party.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, Boston Commons is just what the title indicates. It’s a common ground. It’s like an open park. It’s right near where their state government is, and there’s a big cemetery near there. It’s right in the middle of town, and it takes its pattern from England, because almost any town you go to in England, even today, has what’s called a common. We would consider it a park, but the common can be used for a number of things that are traditional in their particular part of the world. So Boston Commons was an assembly point for within the city of Boston. And they had planted a tree there. And the tree had been planted in 1646. And it was a very big elm tree. And it had grown and grown. And it was a point where people would come and converge to discuss political issues or whatever they wanted. But it was definitely the local people and not representatives of the crown that would come there. And some of their meetings, of course, were opposing some of the taxations that had been imposed upon them. And the tree actually lasted until we were in a situation in 1775. where Boston was occupied by the British, and we were forming an army, and George Washington was coming in July to oppose them. And they just got together and said, hey, the people who were in favor of the crown and British soldiers and some of the British officers said we’re going to wipe this thing out. So they burned the tree. So the tree was burned. They never did plant a new tree. They just put a plaque up there so that today you could go to Boston Commons and you could see where the tree was. Now, getting back to the era, 1774 and on into early 1775, the Sons of Liberty and the Daughters of Liberty— were both very active, covertly in some cases, but very open in some. Now, the Daughters of Liberty were very open in what their position was. And they stopped buying linen and cloth and decorative items from England. And they went back to spinning wheels and also weaving. And we talk about homespun weaving. This really dates from that era because they took great pride in wearing clothing that they were making and was not coming from England. And this, of course, made a big impact upon retail sales and also on taxes. And they also would not drink any British, any English tea. That was another thing. expensive impact upon English taxation as well as the cost of selling the tea. So there was a mutual understanding among the men and the women that they were making a collective effort to make the British presence in Boston as uncomfortable as possible and to make it where It was not economical to do it. Now, of course, it got so bad that by early in 1775, the British just did a mandate to cut off all cargo, all merchant dealings with New England, because New England was the focal point on this opposition. And so they cut things off. And then we have to go back and remember the poem about Paul Revere’s ride. And that will give you the time really close because it starts off on the 18th of April in 75. Now hardly a man is still alive. So he wrote that many years later, but it also set the tone for the Boston Marathon, which is traditional and has been for decades. Well over 100 years. So if you ever want to wonder, when is the Boston Marathon? Just think back to the poem. It may not be on the 18th. The race might be on the 17th. But it’s always really close to the 18th to be compatible with the time when Paul Revere went out to alert the people at Lexington and Concord that the British were coming.
SPEAKER 15 :
Wow. So much history there. I’ve been to Boston maybe twice and have walked on the Freedom Trail, which I think is so fascinating. It’s really quite the interesting city, Colonel Rutledge.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, it is. And I hope you had the opportunity to go down and walk on board Old Ironside.
SPEAKER 15 :
I did not.
SPEAKER 06 :
Exactly. Okay, that was the ship Constellation. It’s still in commission. Every year it goes out into the harbor for one day, and they move it around. And it was actually used in battle, not then, but later on in the War of 1812. And it was really, the reason it was called Old Ironside was because it was made out of real heavy oak wood. and the British cannon from other ships, the cannonballs would bounce off the side of it. And after the War of 1812, there were times when they were going to decommission and either sell it or sink it, and there was a national outcry. And people all around the country, and even in public schools, people contributed pennies and money to save the ship. And in elementary school, people used to learn, there was a poem written about old Ironside, and people used to memorize things like that in elementary school. But it was a very important part of the legacy of that era.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, and we’ve got just about a minute left, Colonel Rutledge. But that spirit, I think, runs through the veins of Americans. And we’re at a time right now where we’re engaged in a great battle of ideas. There are things that the colonists were frustrated about regarding taxation. We’ve got pretty excessive taxation here in America now. So there’s some correlations right now. And I think that we need to reclaim the spirit of America. What’s your final thought you’d like to leave with our listeners, Colonel Rutledge?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, I think that this year I witnessed a parallel. On the 13th of July, I was watching Trump speak in Butler, Pennsylvania, when he was shot. And when he got up and yelled, fight, fight, fight. I had read a lot about Washington, and I knew that Washington had justified his safety on divine intervention. And I said right then to myself, I said, this is exactly like what happened for Washington. And I said, God saved Washington to save America. And I said, I feel the same thing has happened today and And later, President Trump acknowledged that he believes the same thing.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, we are in quite a time. Colonel Rutledge, thank you so much. This is so fascinating. And our quote for the end of the show, I went to Samuel Adams. He said, So today, 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 09 :
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 17 :
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.
