Welcome to the Kim Monson Show podcast. Kim Monson is your host. Founder of American Furniture Warehouse Jake Jabs is the quintessential American success story. Jabs shares his experiences from co-owning a successful music store in Montana to mega success with American Furniture Warehouse. Stan Everitt founded The Legacy Project which has helped several thousand people walk through the principles of our Founding Documents. Everitt discusses why these documents are relevant today. Alicia Garcia and Teddy Collins with The 2nd Syndicate explain the importance of the 2nd Amendment. ————————————————————————————– The Kim Monson Show airs on KLZ 560 AM every
SPEAKER 08 :
It’s the Kim Monson Show, analyzing the most important stories.
SPEAKER 19 :
An early childhood taxing district? What on earth is that?
SPEAKER 08 :
The latest in politics and world affairs.
SPEAKER 19 :
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 08 :
Today’s Current Opinions and Ideas.
SPEAKER 19 :
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.
SPEAKER 19 :
Indeed. And welcome to The Kim Monson 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 Monson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter, and you can email me at Kim at KimMonson.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 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 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 09 :
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? uh to be an entrepreneur there’s no incentive to do that you know and so my dad was eyewitness to to he said approximately 40 million people starved to death under lennon so lennon 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 stopped 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? Yeah. But what history books will tell you, he died, he didn’t take care of his health, he had a couple 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. Yeah, and about 20 million people starved there. On my mother’s side of the family, she’s from Ukraine, Russia. I guess that’s the way you put it, Ukraine, Russia. It was Russia and then it was Ukraine, you know. 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 said, 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 going to 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 picked 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 did 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 19 :
So how did your father get out of the Russian army? How did they get to America?
SPEAKER 09 :
Okay. On my dad’s side, we all thought he went AWOL. Okay. Kids did. Because he seemed to always be looking over his shoulder. Oh, my gosh. He seemed to be 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, learned 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 his aunt had sponsored him to come here. On my mother’s side, they were Germans living in Russia, Ukraine. Russia slash Ukraine, I guess, yeah. So my mother’s family came over. What the deal is, part of it, you know, Catherine the Great was the czar of Russia. She had the Germans come into Russia to teach them to farm and 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, everybody there are Germans from Russia. 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, create 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 19 :
So your parents get to, well, how did they meet?
SPEAKER 09 :
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, Long Island, 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. So anyway, he says, we have as eligible. My dad was 28 years old at that time. My dad didn’t come to America until he was 28 years old. By the way, he always spoke broken English, by the way.
SPEAKER 01 :
Did he? Okay.
SPEAKER 09 :
Because he spoke five languages, German, Polish, Russian, learned to speak Portuguese in Brazil, and then learned to speak American. But anyway, so 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 19 :
Okay. And so a lot of children in the family, yes?
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, nine kids, yes.
SPEAKER 19 :
Nine children. Where did you fall? Out 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 09 :
Okay. 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 and I’d give him a quarter of beef. So he 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 mornings. There was no heat at all. No heat in the sleeping quarters. I can remember that cold. We’d make a beelive to 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. Yeah. 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 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. I played, by the way, I played all the way through college. grade school, high school, college. I played with the Montana State College marching team, by the way. These are with wind instruments. Anything with a trumpet, with a mouthpiece, I could play. 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 for country dances. My dad played violin. My oldest sister was a piano player. And by the way, she was a good one-playing player. She played professional piano all her life, my sister, you know. 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 on 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. Oh, my gosh. Our family at that time, you know, 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. Sure. Yeah, you know, 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. I 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 19 :
Oh, that is awesome. I’m talking with Jake Jabs, and you know him. He is the… Thank you so much for having me. 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 03 :
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SPEAKER 01 :
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SPEAKER 19 :
And welcome back to The Kim Monson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is KimMonson, 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 KimMonson.com as well. And for this week, Independence Week, the Fourth of July week, we are pre-recording all of our shows. 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 09 :
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 will now. It landed up that I was stationed in French Morocco. We had a security office there. And I ran the security office at the North Shore Air Base in French Morocco. And I was the top sheet 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. You know, at that time, France owned Libya. Algeria, and Iraq, and that whole part of the world. 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 their friends 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. They 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 19 :
Yeah. And so you were in the Air Force. Now, were you a pilot?
SPEAKER 09 :
No. No. Okay. I got flying pay, but I wasn’t a pilot because I was flying so much. Okay.
SPEAKER 19 :
I bet that was a really amazing experience.
SPEAKER 09 :
It was, 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 a lot with the locals, so to speak. So I kind of have an experience with what’s going on now.
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, yeah, it’s been a hotbed for a long, long time.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, it’s kind of brewing.
SPEAKER 19 :
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 09 :
No, it was two years active, six years reserve.
SPEAKER 19 :
Okay. And then what happens after that, Jake?
SPEAKER 09 :
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 that – 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. Oh, my gosh. And it was kind of cool. At that time, Roy 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, Roy 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. There 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 in Bozeman. 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 landed 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 multi-million dollar business I have today. Isn’t that something? There’s a few steps along the way.
SPEAKER 19 :
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 09 :
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, I’m a country-western musician is what I am you know and just music period and he didn’t like country he said there’s no music in a guitar he said oh really that was his and Elvis Presley was hot at that time you know and Elvis Presley came out with a record that sold a million copies a day he announced the record you know And he didn’t want to sell Elvis. Kids would come and say, I want an Elvis Presley record. He says, we don’t sell Elvis Presley records. Okay.
SPEAKER 19 :
So he didn’t want to sell what people wanted. That’s right. Okay.
SPEAKER 09 :
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 he didn’t. 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 to have 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, you know, there’s a couple of 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, learn business. At least know what a financial statement is. So we’re trying to fill out this financial statement on the banker. What’s your assets? What’s your liabilities? 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. It was… He was an 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’s surrounded by mountains. And so there was no direct TV. The only way 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 online. where if you buy a Motorola TV, you get a free cable installation. So they agreed to give me a discount, so I ran an ad, buy a Motorola TV, get it free. That’s the first time where I had people lined up at the door. Wow. You know, get a free cable. It’s a $135 free cable installation with a TV, you know. Yeah. So kind of a lesson learned there. If you have a value to the customer, 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 carload of furniture, and I put it up. The top floor of my store was empty. It was an old building, you know, the pop store. So I put this carload of furniture upstairs, and I sold it cheap. And I 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 19 :
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 officer. 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. We’ll be right back. Call Mint Financial Strategies today. That number is 303-285-3080. That’s 303-285-3080.
SPEAKER 02 :
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SPEAKER 16 :
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SPEAKER 06 :
Thank God it’s Friday.
SPEAKER 19 :
And welcome back to The Kim Monson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is KimMonson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter. You can email me at Kim at KimMonson.com. And 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 do check out the Center for American Values, which is located in Pueblo, Colorado, on the beautiful Riverwalk. 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 AmericanValueCenter.org. That is America’s Value Center. 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 09 :
Well, I went to open a store in Billings. The trouble with the music business, particularly at that time, you had to have franchise, and they protected your franchise. And that’s a learner sometimes, you know, for particularly young people who are looking at franchises. Remember, 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 troubles the music business. They wouldn’t let me take Fender guitars to Billings or Gibson guitars, for example. 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.
SPEAKER 19 :
For the furniture or the music business?
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, yeah. The music business was still the biggest part of it. Okay, okay. I was doing a million dollars a year out of a music store. When I first started at a music store and bought the 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. And I just, you know, 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 going to be successful. So I decided, well, I lost interest in music 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 wound 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. Hmm. And then Mengerian’s 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 a big market like Denver. And 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. Mm-hmm. Stuff like that, you know. And so, anyway, it was $180,000. Excuse me. Excuse me. It was a million and a half dollars worth of assets. It was trucks, warehouse racks, forklifts, a million and a half dollars worth of assets. And they were just trying to turn the assets into money. And other lessons learned, a lot of times there’s opportunity in recessions where you can buy things. assets at pennies on the dollar. So I gave 80,000 cash for a million and a half dollars worth of assets. Wow. I figured I made a million dollars that day. Yes. 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. Okay. 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 land 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 for years. And so if 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, yeah. I did that at my music store, too, by the way. I doubled my volume every year. That’s amazing growth.
SPEAKER 19 :
Just amazing growth.
SPEAKER 09 :
Today we’re doing over a billion dollars in sales today. Oh, my gosh.
SPEAKER 19 :
From a little music store in Montana.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, so it’s very successful. So I bought out different stores along the road. It’s kind of a long story. Idaho and Montana and Wyoming were where I had stores. Yeah. 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 solve 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, where 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. You know, they land up being drugs and pardoning 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. I really don’t. And so I told my accountant, no, I don’t want to get rich. I want my business to be successful. So I put the buildings in place. 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 at 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 them down, but Art Band sold out to him. So the first thing the investment company did, they took his 200 stores and they put them 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 Band. He visited my store, I visited his store. We used to have a buying group. We used to do things together, and I liked Art. He had family in the business, but he went bankrupt. So the lesson learned there 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— 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 the same way as the 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. And not just furniture stores. I think a lot of car dealers 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 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 19 :
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 09 :
Denver, CU Denver. CU Denver.
SPEAKER 19 :
And from what I can tell in reading all the information about you is you have a real… passion for young people as well. 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 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, KimMonson.com. Another great sponsor of the show is Lauren Levy. And we’ll be right back.
SPEAKER 04 :
Call now.
SPEAKER 12 :
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SPEAKER 13 :
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SPEAKER 19 :
And welcome back to The Kim Monson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is KimMonson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter, and you can email me at Kim at KimMonson.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 Award. And this is out of all retailers, right? Yes. This is remarkable. Congratulations. Thank you. There must be, what, millions of retailers? 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 take care of themselves, their families. And so 3,300 employees is a pretty remarkable thing. Yeah.
SPEAKER 09 :
And what I’ve developed is a lot of incentive programs. 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, and they make good money. They work hard, but I have a lot of incentives throughout my company. And if you give people an incentive, their productivity goes through the roof. Because they’re really working for themselves. The harder they work, the more money they make. And I consider 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 19 :
That’s amazing. And so it’s good for them, good for the business. It’s good for the customer.
SPEAKER 09 :
They stay with you forever. I’ve got boys that have been with me for 40 years. So that’s a little turnover, which makes you more successful, too.
SPEAKER 19 :
Absolutely. It seems like you’re operating on all cylinders very well. Why are you still working?
SPEAKER 09 :
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 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 in the lines of 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 day 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 19 :
We’re running a billion-dollar company.
SPEAKER 09 :
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, then it was 60 years old. So my dad retired off the ranch. My granddad retired at 60 years old, died at 64. I saw my dad retire at 60 years old. He was getting out of shape, started drinking. As kids got older, I said, Dad, what the heck are you doing? And he saw it going downhill, and so we kind of forced him to go get a job. He came to pray for me to 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 19 :
I love it.
SPEAKER 09 :
I love it.
SPEAKER 19 :
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 09 :
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 Zickenberg 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, and 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 really believe, 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 it’s 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 19 :
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 09 :
I’m always a hopeful person. Right now it’s a little harder to be hopeful. What bothers me a little bit, I think, you know, in America we could get better candidates, you know, just be more honest, more trustworthy people. But it kind of bothers me a little bit that we can’t come up with better candidates. 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 sixth term representative from Colorado Springs, it was his turn to run. You know, it was his turn to run. And I hadn’t paid.
SPEAKER 19 :
Hadn’t paid the dues.
SPEAKER 09 :
Hadn’t paid the dues. And he got defeated by Tim Morris, by the way.
SPEAKER 19 :
OK.
SPEAKER 09 :
But anyway, but the problem is, 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 be a politician, almost be a professional politician.
SPEAKER 19 :
to be nominated and yeah i think people are ready to change that it seems 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 you’re welcome this is uh just a real pleasure and uh thank you your story is truly a great american story and i so appreciate it well thank you it was my pleasure 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 are not alone. God bless you. God bless America. And stay tuned for our number two.
SPEAKER 14 :
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 08 :
It’s the Kim Monson Show. Analyzing the most important stories.
SPEAKER 19 :
An early childhood taxing district? What on earth is that?
SPEAKER 08 :
The latest in politics and world affairs.
SPEAKER 19 :
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 08 :
Today’s current opinions and ideas.
SPEAKER 19 :
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 08 :
Is it freedom or is it force? Let’s have a conversation.
SPEAKER 19 :
And welcome to our number two of the Kim Monson Show. Thank you so much for listening. 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 I get to work with. Amazing people. Producer Joe, Luke, Rachel, Zach, Echo, Charlie, and all the people here at Crawford Broadcasting. Check out my website. That is Kim Monson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com. So Kim Monson dot com. And sign up for our weekly email newsletter. You’ll get first look at our upcoming guests as well as our most recent essays. You can email me at Kim at Kim Monson dot com. And 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 shouldn’t have to force people to do it. And we are pre-recording these shows, which we’ll be broadcasting the week, obviously, of Independence Day week. And so pleased to have on the line with me Stan Everett. And he has done so much, particularly in northern Colorado, regarding freedom. helping people understand our founding documents. He and his family have been in the development business for many years. Stan Everett, welcome to the show.
SPEAKER 07 :
Hi, Kim. Thank you.
SPEAKER 19 :
And first thing, let’s just mention the Legacy Project. This is something that you started a number of years ago, and it’s so important. So tell our listeners a little bit about that.
SPEAKER 07 :
Started it about 15 years ago, and… It’s a program that we have expanded quite a bit. We’ve got a few thousand people who have gone through the lessons at this point. I just finished a lesson two days ago, in fact, with a group in Denver that is really something that’s fascinating. But as you know, we kind of walk through the founding documents in a way that is different than most American history is taught. We don’t really talk about the people very much. We don’t talk about military battles or strategies. We basically talk about the principles that the nation was founded upon, which would be the Declaration of Independence that lists these principles. And then how does the founding generation then order those principles into a government, into an economy? And then how do those principles exhibit and express themselves in the culture? So those lessons are typically an hour and a half each. We are now meeting more frequently on a five-week session. We’ve also done six-month sessions with one meeting a month instead of five weeks in a row, which is what we’re doing more frequently now. But it’s been very impactful, very informative, It’s the Legacy Project because we’re really using history to teach legacy. To my thinking, the legacy of what we have received is important and critical to the survival of the nation. But at the same time, you can use that model of a legacy that we are living in now in order for people to recognize that their lives individually and collectively can also be a legacy. And so they start to look at the value of a legacy in their lives, and that’s really the most important part of the program as far as I’m concerned.
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, it’s such an important program. It normally has been guys. Is it still all guys, or have you branched out on that?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, on the short form, the five-week program, then we don’t – We’re really not narrowing it down to gender or age. We’re teaching people that are in high school. We’re teaching people in business, in education, all sorts of different cross-sections of our society. The longer form is more towards education. Okay.
SPEAKER 19 :
And I think that that’s important. As I’ve seen what’s been happening over all these years, I think that it is important for men to come together and talk about these important principles. And women, I think it’s important for them to come together as well. But I really want to acknowledge that. have been have have been kind of at the bottom of the the food chain if you will on all you know many things out there so i really i love the idea of men coming together to talk about these important issues and that’s on your longer form how can people get more information about uh the legacy project stan everett well we still don’t have a website and we don’t intend to have one uh
SPEAKER 07 :
As I’ve described to you, our history includes an observation by Alexis de Tocqueville about our country. And one of the things that he has written about in his Democracy in America volumes is how people in America don’t have to have an organization in order to do things. They’ll build schools. They’ll create businesses. missionaries that do all sorts of things that are basically just people getting together and deciding to do something. And it doesn’t require a permit. It doesn’t require somebody from the government sitting in on meetings. So I’m trying to model to these folks that I deal with that, you know, you don’t have to create a nonprofit or you don’t have to get into a corporate setting to just go out and meet with people and be with people and influence people. And so I’m kind of resistant to getting too formalized. But I think it’s just something that is part of the legacy that we’re trying to impart is, you know, you can do stuff without having to necessarily have to formalize it.
SPEAKER 19 :
Okay. And is there a way if somebody wants to pursue trying to be part of one of these groups, is there a way to connect with you? Sure.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah. My email is Stan. S-T-A-N at EverettCompanies.com, E-V-E-R-I-T-T-C-O-M-P-A-N-I-E-S.com.
SPEAKER 19 :
Okay. And we’re talking with Stan Everett, and we have such important discussions with him regarding these founding principles. And we need to be dusting them off and understanding them, because I really think that we are in our third founding of our country at this particular point in time. And it really is up to us to not squander what has been given to us. And so first and foremost, we need to understand these principles. And we get to do all this because of our wonderful. And we have amazing sponsors here at the Kim Monson Show. One of those is the Second Syndicate. And I have on the line with me the co-founders of the Second Syndicate. And that is Alicia Garcia and Teddy Collins. And we are pre-recording for this week of July 4th. I’m now calling it Independence Week, Alicia Garcia. Instead of just Independence Day, I’m claiming the whole week. What do you think of that? I think let’s go for it. And so let’s jump in here. There is a lot that has happened. The second amendment, Teddy Collins, is put in the Bill of Rights for a specific reason, correct?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes, it’s put in the Bill of Rights to protect the other amendments that are in the Bill of Rights. It’s the enforcement mechanism, in my opinion.
SPEAKER 19 :
And that has really been under attack here in Colorado, Alicia Garcia. So let’s talk about some of the things that are happening as of July 1 here in Colorado. Indeed.
SPEAKER 18 :
So we have two things that are going on. We have the first that’s going into effect is a state permitting for gun shops. That goes into effect July 1. It’s essentially a state-level permitting process in addition to federal-level permitting through the ATF and other federal regulations that the state of Colorado decided to impose on FFLs, which is firearms, federal firearms licensees. So such as, you know, home home based gun manufacturers or gun shops like my partner’s Spartan Defense. There’s also the new concealed carry laws that go into effect as of July 1st as well that they voted in in 2023.
SPEAKER 19 :
And that’s why the work that you’re doing at the Second Amendment is so important, Teddy Collins. And this is a grassroots organization bringing these voices together so that we can conserve, preserve our Constitution, our constitutional rights, Teddy.
SPEAKER 05 :
Absolutely. Yeah, here at the Second Syndicate, it’s a grassroots 2A organization. It’s a non-for-profit. We are trying to bring the 2A community together to fight back against these infringements on our constitutional rights, which seem to happen every single year here in the state of Colorado. Chunk by chunk, cut by cut, they keep adding more and more legislation and keep regulating and legislating our rights out of existence.
SPEAKER 19 :
And that’s why the work that you’re doing at the Second Syndicate is so important. And then, Teddy, you also, your company is Spartan Defense. Just tell us quickly about Spartan Defense.
SPEAKER 05 :
Spartan Defense, locally owned and operated Colorado Springs Firearms Store. We specialize in what we call auto-tanium, things that you don’t see at your average firearms store. In fact, we have multiple state exclusives and very select firearms, everything from Atlas Firearms to Cabot and Alchemy, which is a state exclusive for us, Bull Armory, you name it, things that you’re not going to see at your normal big box store. And actually today, for the Fourth of July, we’ll be having a huge celebration, a Freedom Fest, out in our parking lot with live music and fireworks and speakers and everything else. So if you’re going to be in the Springs today, come on down and join us for our Freedom Fest at Spartan Defense. And what time does that start? It’ll start at 4 p.m. Okay. And we’ll have live music and we’ll have free haircuts for any veteran or active-duty military that want to come out and get a nice clean cut for America’s birthday.
SPEAKER 19 :
Okay. I love that. And Alicia Garcia, our Bill of Rights is so important for everyday people. And the Second Syndicate is there, as you said, to protect, I guess Teddy said it, to protect all of our other rights. So expound upon that just a little bit more.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, I truly believe that there are no rights if you can’t have the ability to resist. So if you want to be able to speak up and you want to embrace the right to, you know, employ your First Amendment right and say, hey, you know what, this is my opinion and this is what I want to say. And you want to talk poorly about the government and you want to, you know, speak out against things that you don’t agree with. You have the ability to say, you know what, I have the right to do that. And nobody could stop me from doing that because I can say no. That’s what the Second Amendment is about. It’s about protecting your personal interests as well as your ability to defend your views and your way of life. And that’s exactly why we stand for the Second Amendment, because the second protects the first and it protects all the other rights that we have as human beings and Americans.
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, absolutely. Alicia Garcia, thank you so much. Teddy Collins, what is the website for the Second Amendment or Second Syndicate? Sorry.
SPEAKER 06 :
You’re fine. It’s the2ndsyndicate.com. So the2ndsyndicate.com.
SPEAKER 19 :
Okay. Well, I wish both of you a very blessed July 4th Independence Day, and we’ll talk next week. Thank you so much, Kim.
SPEAKER 03 :
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SPEAKER 19 :
And welcome back to The Kim Monson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is Kim Monson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter, and you can email me at Kim at KimMonson.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 shouldn’t have to force people to do it. I did want to say thank you to Laramie Energy for their gold sponsorship of the show. It is reliable, efficient, affordable, and abundant energy. that powers our lives, fuels our hopes and dreams, so that we can pursue our happiness, which is straight out of the Declaration of Independence. On the line with me is Stan Everett, and he is the founder of the Legacy Project, which a few thousand people have gone through the program. And it’s not really formal, but it’s to talk about these founding principles of So, Stan Everett, where do you begin regarding these founding principles as people are going through the Legacy Project?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, we start with a little bit of context. The important parts of understanding the history prior to the Declaration, and I really love the first few words of the Declaration, when in the course of human events, which to me signifies that These guys are looking backward from a premise or what has occurred, but they’re also describing that this course of human events, there must be a course that is setting the future of human events. So to me, the course setter is what they’re describing when you look at this from a theological or philosophical presentation. But the two biggest things in my mind, Tim, are the Great Awakening, which is the… the religious revival that has happened in the colonies. As well, there’s the Enlightenment or the Age of Reason, which is the philosophical format. So those two things really influenced the founders in their education as well as their exposure to these ideas and ideals that are articulated by fellows like John Locke or Witherspoon, a great philosopher, pastor that wrote up and down, or I’m sorry, it was Whitfield, George Whitfield, that I think they say he preached 40,000 sermons in a couple of decades. I mean, you can’t even imagine it. That has to be like five or six a day. It’s amazing. So those influenced the creation of these principles that are articulated in the Declaration, and I always split the Declaration into four parts. One is the premise, one is the principles, one is the grievances, and the last one is the Declaration itself. So that’s how we study it. And we study it by examining the words, their meanings, not in today’s context, but mostly in the context of the Founders’ past.
SPEAKER 19 :
There are those that have been taught that it was just a bunch of old guys, what does it really matter, and that they don’t realize how educated they were and how beautiful their writing was. I would challenge many of our young people as they’re getting out of school now to try to write a declaration like they did there. Those that have tried to really disparage the founders, I think people that buy into that have not really read the Declaration or the Constitution or any of those important documents.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, but that’s the strategy of discrediting the author in order to discredit the words. We don’t even talk about the authors. We talk about the ideas. And I think that really is a different approach to studying the Declaration. And Every meeting that we have when we start this study, I can tell you, somebody in the participant group is wanting to bring up the founders and how hypocritical they were and how they were slave owners. And this was all written for their benefit, which, of course, we’re all flawed as human beings. So we’re the founders. But to claim that everybody else is a hypocrite and not recognize that you yourself are a hypocrite is hypocritical in and of itself. So I think, you know, we can pass through all of the negativity and start to examine the words and the ideas behind those words and what are the source of the ideas. Like I was talking about the Great Awakening as well as the Enlightenment era. Those were influential on these ideas that they put forth. that really changed the trajectory of human civilization. It wasn’t just a reorganization of society. It was a new civilization that they had created.
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, and those ideas, that civilization is under attack significantly in America today.
SPEAKER 07 :
And it always has been since the day it started.
SPEAKER 19 :
So the ink wasn’t even dry. Right.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, these are ideas that are so radical, but the simplicity and the magnificence of this piece of literature, people can skip over that. And when they do, then they can discredit it. But it’s profound. And I’ve read about a guy named Roger Sherman, who was one of the authors, in fact, with the Committee of Five. And he had lamented that They didn’t go into more detail. It’s almost too succinct and too clear that people skip over it and they don’t understand it because they take it for granted. So I think it’s important to study the words and then study the impacts of the words that have created this new societal organization as well as a trajectory of human civilization that is just profound, just incredibly profound.
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, when they pin the words, Jefferson pinned the words that all men are created equal with these rights from our creator of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. I think we do in some ways gloss over those words, but it is one of it’s some of the most radical words regarding a society that have ever been created. ever been written. And Calvin Coolidge is credited with saying, if all men are created equal, then that is final. And there isn’t anything else. And I love that.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yes. Well, and it’s a creator equality. It’s not another human being. Lafayette, I’m sure you remember that from George Washington’s attaché. He went to Africa, maybe it was South America, and tried to start a new society. He didn’t use all men are created equal. He used all men are born equal. So that implies that the equality is then going to be derived from somebody else, a man or a human being. Whereas all men are created equal is profound in that my equality is coming from and I’m accountable to the creator who has given me that equality. And like you say, the next phrase is that I’m endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. Those things are so succinct that you can skip over it and you don’t recognize it. But this is a replacement phrase. with God or the creator of the king and the crown. So it becomes hard to argue against this theology. And the king of England didn’t argue any of this. He just said, well, we’re just going to win the war. We don’t care what you’re saying. But it changed so many things by looking to a higher power as opposed to another manpower.
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, that is so profound. And in the next segment, in the Declaration of Independence, they refer to the Creator, I think, four different times. That’s my understanding. So I want to talk with you about that. I’m talking with Stan Everett. He is the founder of the Legacy Project. And he and I were chatting a few months ago, and he said, Kim, I really want to focus on the Declaration and what that means exactly. And so that’s why it’s such an honor to get to record this and broadcast this on July 4th. And we get to do that because we have amazing sponsors.
SPEAKER 01 :
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SPEAKER 17 :
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SPEAKER 19 :
Welcome back to The Kim Monson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is Kim Monson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter. You can email me at Kim at Kim Monson dot com as well. And 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. On the line with me is Stan Everett. He is the founder of the Legacy Project. A few thousand people have gone through that project. And they talk about the founding documents. And we’re talking about the Declaration of Independence. And before we went to break. Stan, I mentioned that in the Declaration of Independence, they refer to God, our Creator, four different times. First of all is nature’s God, then the Creator, then, let’s see, the Supreme Judge, and also the Divine Provider, Divine Providence. And I don’t think that’s by accident, is it?
SPEAKER 07 :
No, no, the Declaration itself is… really primarily theological as opposed to what people say is political or ideological or even philosophical. If you’re replacing a human structure of the king and the crown with the creator, then that’s a theological replacement. It’s not a ideological replacement. So you’re right. There’s a lot of references there. And people just get over that, I think, more than they should. And I think they also frequently hear that, well, there’s no reference to God in the Constitution, so therefore the next phase of this was proving that God really didn’t have a hand in any of this.
SPEAKER 19 :
So how do you answer that when people say that? Because that is true, that they do not refer to God in the Constitution. So how do you address that?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, they do refer to the Declaration of Independence in the Constitution. We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union. And then it kind of goes through three or four different things that they consider to be what they’re after here. But it ends with… to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. So blessings in the era of these people, where do you think blessings came from in their minds? From the Creator, and liberty is a theological concept. It is not a political concept. Now, you can have other nations speak in terms of liberty, but they’re speaking in terms of freedoms. which is individual freedom that ultimately ends in self-destruction, or in the case of France, when they had liberty in theirs, and it ended up in anarchy and the transfer of power to more and more people, more and more structure that is not different. In our country, liberty is a different thing. In a theological sense, it’s basically my free will, which is a God gift, that is then able to be directed. I can point my free will in a direction and make choices. So my free will is directed towards virtue, and my virtue is defined by my faith. So you can’t ignore the theological foundation of all of this, and it’s Protestant Christian theology. Particularly in the time that these founders were putting this together, That was the primary theology of the entire nation. So it’s important to understand this as a document that really is honoring to a creator, to the God, to the supreme judge of the earth, and all of those things. So I appreciate that you bring that up.
SPEAKER 19 :
And in these references, and I never heard that regarding the Constitution. That makes so much sense. Blessings of liberty. Every word mattered. But let’s talk about their reference to nature’s God. During the break, you mentioned something very interesting about that, where they refer to nature’s God in the Declaration.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, the language they use is laws of nature and of nature’s God. When I teach this, I don’t complicate it. To me, it’s not that complicated. The laws of nature would be man’s human nature. Man has a human nature. And then nature of God, God has a nature distinct and different and higher than man’s human nature. So if you think of the Declaration of speaking to the laws of nature and of nature’s God, or human nature and God’s nature, then it really becomes important or valuable to understand that in a theological sense. So man’s nature is not pure as God’s nature is. Man’s bent towards wickedness or sin, and God’s nature is perfect and eternal. and all of those things that we understand from our religious backgrounds. So they’re distinguishing that at the very beginning of the premise that they came up with. So if you look at that, and you can get a PhD in natural law because it is a well-studied thing. But to me, it’s not that complicated. I don’t want to make it that complicated. It’s easier to understand things in my simplistic mind if they’re simple.
SPEAKER 19 :
And, yes, that’s really, it is really important. And the Declaration, speaking of simple, it’s not that long. And it’s to the point. It’s very succinct. And I would really recommend that people pull this out and read it again for themselves and read it with their children and their grandchildren. And it does not take that long.
SPEAKER 07 :
No. No, it’s a one-page document on a, large piece of parchment is how it was handwritten, but it is not at all long. And the Constitution as a form of systemizing or organizing a government under the principles of the Declaration isn’t that long or complicated either. The complications of the Constitution are intentional in order to then dilute power and make sure that not one segment of our federal government nor our state governments or the people have all the power residing in that. Too many people worship the Constitution. And all it is is a document that is systemizing the principles of the Declaration. In my opinion, if the House of Representatives, the people were elected every three years instead of two years, It doesn’t mean the country would have failed or is failing. It just is a system that they put together on a two, four, and six time category as opposed to a three, five, and seven pattern. But the patterns, to me, are nothing more than just trying to systemize the principles of the Declaration. Which brings me to the principle in the Declaration that says that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That’s a principle that flips the entire structure of rulers over subjects into a completely different category. So they’re talking about this as a principle of how do we organize our civilization, which is completely radical and completely different than anything that has ever been seen on the planet before.
SPEAKER 19 :
So next question. So we have all kinds of government. We’ve got way too much government. We’ve got local, county, state, and federal. And I served on city council for four years, and I always tried to look at all that we were doing through this lens of the vision of the Declaration that all men are created equal with these rights from God of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. So to me, that would mean that government doesn’t pick winners and losers, that they don’t give someone an advantage, because when you do that, then you’re dinging somebody else. But the way of the Constitution giving states rights, and states have a lot of latitude to to make different laws, but I’ve always thought that every elected should always make sure that whatever they’re doing stands up to this vision of the declaration. But with states’ rights, there are those that say, well, states can do whatever they want. How do you address that, Stan Everett?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, I think this is a universal concept. It’s not a specific concept. The Constitution is specific to the federal government and how the federal government relates to the states as well as the people. But the principle is a universal principle, that to secure rights, governments are instituted or formed deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That is a profound change in the way people would view things. And I think because it’s universal, that should relate to the city council. It should relate to a school board. It should relate to any form of government that is represented by the people. And so I think you have the right idea. But the Constitution is strictly a limitation of government, really, that The 10 amendments of the Bill of Rights isn’t really about rights as much as it’s about limiting government power over people. And so I think you’ve got to look at all of this in the context of the principles to begin with, and then you really start to understand the depth of meaning. Because we have a form of government, this constitutional republic, Republic means everybody is equal under the law. And where do the laws come from? The Constitution. And how are they derived? Well, you have this process of laws that has three different branches of government. In one branch, you have two different branches itself. And then you have a judiciary. And then you have states. I mean, it’s intentionally dysfunctional. so that we have to debate these ideas for making laws to make sure that we are representing the people properly.
SPEAKER 19 :
Absolutely fascinating. I’m talking with Stan Everett regarding the Declaration of Independence and how it relates to the also then mentioning how it relates to the Constitution. But I wanted to mention two nonprofits that I dearly love. One is the USMC Memorial Foundation. They’re working to raise money for a facelift to remodel the Marine Memorial Foundation. usmcmemorialfoundation.org. And Drew Dix, who is one of the co-founders of the Center for American Values, which is located in Pueblo, Colorado, is scheduled to be one of the honored guests at the event on the 24th. But the U.S. I’m backing up. The Center for American Values is on the Riverwalk in Pueblo, Colorado. And I would highly recommend that you make sure you get down there this summer to see the portraits of valor of over 160 Medal of Honor recipients and their quotes. It is really a special place. You can find their hours by going to AmericanValueCenter.org. That’s AmericanValueCenter.org. And we get to do all this because of our sponsors. And one of those is John Boson with Boson Law. Thank you.
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SPEAKER 19 :
And welcome back to The Kim Monson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is KimMonson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter. You can email me at Kim at KimMonson.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 we have prerecorded these shows for the Independence Day week, and they are rich. Just really special guests. And on the line with me is Stan Everett. He is the founder of the Legacy Project. We’ve been talking about the Declaration of Independence. And during the break, Stan, you said you wanted to talk about how they prioritize the language regarding the Declaration. What do you mean by that?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, I think… My frustration is that everybody talks about the Constitution. Not that it’s not a magnificent structure in order to then have kept us alive for, what, 250 years just under that longest lasting constitutional republic or form of government in the history of humanity. So the Constitution is a magnificent document. But if the Constitution isn’t based on principles and understood to be based on principles by the people as well as those that are exercising in our government, then the Constitution has little value. And we’ve seen over the years where the Declaration has been brushed aside, and then we wonder why the Constitution seems to be violated at every turn. Well, because we aren’t focusing on the principles that support the Constitution. We’ve ignored those principles and that frustrates me because the principles to me are what we should be understanding and then calling our political representatives to fall back on those principles as opposed to make it up because they’re interpreting some document that’s a little different than the guy next door who’s interpreting. The principles are timeless and they’re firm and they should be understood because they are very clearly written.
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, and those principles are basically what’s in the Declaration that we have these unalienable rights from God of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, right? Those are the principles.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, there’s five principles in the Constitution or in the Declaration of Independence.
SPEAKER 11 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 07 :
And we call them truths. We hold these truths to be self-evident. It’s the beginning of that whole section.
SPEAKER 11 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 07 :
And— The original draft from Jefferson on that was we hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable. So there’s a little bit of theology there. But the principles themselves are that all men are created equal, principle one. Principle two, they’re endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. Principle three, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, which needs very clear definition as to what those words mean. Plural number four, that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That’s what we just talked about. That is a principle. And then the principle five, that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it and to institute new government. laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness. So those are the five that’s, because they all start with the word that as a way of listing out these different principles under we hold these truths to be self-evident. Boy, that is interesting. Yeah, I’ll send you how I… separate this document of the Declaration into these four parts. As I teach it that way, people really latch onto it because it makes sense in almost a sequential, if I was writing something, you know, I’d want to start with the principles and then I’d want to start after the principles, I would list my grievances or the problems. And then the final section of the Declaration is the declarations that they’re making. And with firm reliance on divine providence, we hereby pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. That is the declaration that they have made. So I’ll send you a copy of it. So if you want to put it on your website while we’re having this conversation over the fourth, that might be helpful for your listeners. Thank you.
SPEAKER 19 :
Okay. And I think probably what Zach will do is include that in the show summary so that it is there with the podcast. Language, nothing was by accident. And during the break, you mentioned something that I also have found rather remarkable, not in a good way, and that is that people think we are a democracy. We are the term threat to democracy, threat to democracy. and save our democracy. What do you say to that?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, democracy is a transitional form of governing. Democracy is completely dysfunctional. Every one of the founders have quotes about their hate or antipathy toward democracy. My favorite has been Franklin. Democracy is two wolves and a lamb. voting on what to have for lunch. So it’s really despised, in fact, by the founders. And so we are a constitutional republic, republic meaning we are a rule of law nation. All people under the rule of law are equal. So equal justice under the law? You’ve heard that phrase. But it’s a constitutional. Where do those laws come from? If we’re going to be under the rule of law, where do those laws come from? Well, in our form, those laws come from our Constitution. That’s the system as to how we make those laws. Now, in the Constitution or in the Republic of China… That isn’t a constitutional, that’s a party that determines the laws. So you have an oligarchy that is overriding or overseeing a party. And so those laws, even though they call themselves a republic, the origin of those laws comes from a different form than ours. So it’s important to kind of distinguish what those are and quit talking about democracy. we’re kind of getting close to democracy, which in and of itself fails, because you’re going to end up with a society that is 49% versus 51%, and you’re always going to be hating the other side. And so you’re always going to want to override the other side, and then you take power, and then you abuse the other side, and then they take power, and so you’re always back and forth. Ultimately, it ends up in anarchy, and anarchy always ends up in the outcome of an oligarchy. rule of elites.
SPEAKER 19 :
Boy, it sure seems like that there are elites that do want to try to rule us. And, uh, I guess that’s why there’s so many attacks upon this American idea.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah. Well, we’ve always been under attack. Uh, it’s just out of the ordinary and it’s so much of a flourishing of humanity and a sanctity of life or the sanctity of, uh, God’s creation. So, uh, It will always be opposed by people who want to power over other people. Now, if you can tell me somebody who doesn’t want to naturally overpower other people, that’s a human nature characteristic. They don’t exist. So you have to restrain yourself from these vices by trying to become a virtuous society made up of people aspiring to be virtuous. Can’t be virtuous. You can’t complete yourself as a virtuous person, but you can aspire to be. That’s another characteristic of our nation and our people that is unique throughout the world as well as throughout history. The people aspire to be better. Better parents, better children, better husbands, better wives, better people in business. Just think of all the aspirations that this society holds that are not really available in other societies.
SPEAKER 19 :
And to aspire for these big ideas. And what we see in our culture now is this focus in many ways, even on carnal things, instead of these big, big ideas. And we need to think about these big ideas. We’ve got just about a minute left, Stan Everett. Thank you. And how would you like to button this up?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, I think with the 4th of July being the broadcast date for this, I would just ask people to look at the Declaration, read it. It doesn’t take very long at all. If they want to go to your website and get this abridged form, it’s all the same words, but it’s just formatted a little bit differently. Instead of one page with all the sentences running together, which is what they wrote, because paper was kind of expensive and hard to come by, Look at it in this context, and then you will have a greater and a deeper understanding, I believe, of what it means and how it should be the primary document that our country is founded upon.
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, Stan Everett, thank you so much. And we are so blessed with liberty because of these amazing documents, the Declaration of Independence. And I wish you and yours a very happy Independence Day. And we will talk again very, very soon.
SPEAKER 07 :
Thank you, Kim. Great to hear from you and look forward to speaking with you again.
SPEAKER 19 :
Definitely. And our quote for the end of the show is Thomas Jefferson. He said this, a true patriot will defend his country from its government. So 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 are not alone. God bless you. God bless America. And wishing you a very happy Independence Day.
SPEAKER 10 :
To the mountains climbing, twisting, turning further from my home. Young like a new moon rising fierce. To the rain enlightening, wandering out into this great home. And I don’t want no one to cry. But tell them if I don’t.
SPEAKER 14 :
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.
