The Aaron Renn Show

Generation X has been something of a lost generation. Sandwiched between the much larger Baby Boomer and Millennial generations, Generation X has often been overlooked. It has also preferred standing aloof, ironically critiquing society rather than seeking to take the reins and reshape it. Today, as American struggles under aging Boomer leadership, and Millennials and Gen Z get absorbed into technology, what role should America's last analog generation play?

The Wall Street Journal's Matt Hennessey, author of the book Zero Hour for Gen X, joins me live to discuss these and other questions related to the enigma that is Generation X.

Buy Matt Hennessey's book Zero Hour for Gen X: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1641770643/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=theurban-20

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Julius Krein is the editor of American Affairs magazine, a reformist conservative policy journal, joins me to discuss why the Republican Party as currently constituted can't succeed, what's untrue in conservative dogma, and what conservatives should do next to be more successful and to genuinely help the country.

American Affairs Journal: https://americanaffairsjournal.org/

Julius Krein's essay Can Conservatism Be More Than a Grudge? https://ksr.hkspublications.org/2021/05/18/can-conservatism-be-more-than-a-grudge/

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This month's newsletter is about how America has witnessed a profound decline of the exercise of authority by those who legitimately possess it in order to promote the public welfare. The evangelical church in particular seems to have defective process of elite formation, and is implicitly hostile to Christians exercising authority, especially doing so as Christians. This needs to change both for the sake of the church and America.

Demographer and Lutheran Lyman Stone joins us to discuss Lutheranism in America. What are the distinctives of Lutheranism? How did Lutheranism get established in the United States? What are the unique features of how it is organized? Why is the profile of American Lutheranism lower than some smaller denominations like Presbyterianism?

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Since listeners expressed an interest in hearing about this, I revisit the sexual harassment and abuse accusations made against against former Willow Creek pastor Bill Hybels. In contrast to those many against many others, which were heavily substantiated, very little evidence was publicly presented demonstrating that the accusations were true. This is not to say that Hybels is innocent, merely that that the case against him that's been presented is not especially strong. I also examine the case of Canadian radio personality Jian Ghomeshi, who was also credibly accused of sexual misconduct by multiple credible accusers and was event put on trial for it. Ghomeshi was exonerated when he produced evidence showing that this accusers lied. 

Willow Creek Investigative Report on Bill Hybels: https://globalleadership.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/IAGReport_022819.pdf

New York Times article on Bill Hybels: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/05/us/bill-hybels-willow-creek-pat-baranowski.html

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Leading cultural analyst and policy maven Joel Kotkin will join me to discuss his book The Coming of Neo-Feudalism, as well as the state of California vs. Texas and more. Kotkin will help provide a map to understand the today's geopolitical and economic realities in America.

Buy Joel Kotkin's The Coming of Neofeudalism: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1641770945/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=theurban-20

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Our Sponsor: Gold River Trading Co. speciality teas: https://goldriverco.com/ (Use discount code RENN10 for 10% off your order).

Many Republicans love to criticize the "Chamber of Commerce." But what is the chamber of commerce? In this podcast I answer that question, as well as describing the different types of chambers of commerce (there are many of them).  I examine what they do, their basic political orientations, and why they will always oppose social conservative ideas.

Article Referenced: Indiana under Republican Rule - https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2021/11/indiana-under-republican-rule-pro-business-policy-disappoints-outside-the-sunbelt/

This episode sponsored by Gold River Trading Co. teas: https://goldriverco.com/ (Use discount code RENN10 for 10% off your oder).

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Conservatives haven't tended to oppose things.  As William F. Buckley famously put it, to "stand athwart history yelling Stop!" But purely oppositional or defensive approached tend to get steamrolled in the long term.  You can't be something with nothing. You can't be someone else's proposal, even a bad proposal, to fix a real problem with no proposal. This is seen most notably in the Republican Party's approach to health care. What is the Republican health care plan? There isn't one and never has been.

If you are someone who does not like ideas that other people are pushing, an important question to ask yourself is: what's my alternative?

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A new video from a pro-life group about "pro-choice men" exposes once again the conservative Christian world's penchant for blaming men even for the things women do.  We see this clearly on display in the pro-life movement in how, while they say abortion is murder and the worst social evil in the country, they describe women who abort their babies as victims, even casting blame at men as in this video. Men are also blamed for women in combat in the military, any martial or family problems, etc.

This is a form of moral doublespeak, and was identified in part as far by as 1987 by no less than famed sociologist James Davison Hunter. It's a big reason why men should exercise extreme caution in believing and acting on anything these conservative ministers tell them on gender.

Video: Abortion Rights Are Pro-Choice Men's Rights - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o950k2HffWw

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So many arguments today de facto reduce the definition of societal flourishing to some economic definition such as GDP growth, per capita GDP, or per capita income. While economic growth is important, there are other dimensions of life that matter to most people. For example: how socially intact a community is (drugs, crime, out of wedlock birth rates, etc), the political functioning of the country, and whether a particular place is expressing people's cultural preferences. We can't allow the economy to become the sole measure of a nation's success or prosperity.