Every month or so, John McWhorter and I sit down to answer questions posed by full subscribers here at The Glenn Show. We’re well into February, but we had a batch of questions from last month that we hadn’t yet answered. I really like this installment of the series, so I wanted to offer it up as a regular episode of the show. Q&A episodes like this are just one of the benefits you receive as a full subscriber to this Substack. You’ll also get early access to weekly episodes of The Glenn Show (Mondays instead of Fridays), semi-regular bonus episodes, the opportunity to ask questions for Q&As, full access to the archives, and other assorted benefits. My team and I couldn’t keep the show going without the support of our full subscribers. If you become one, it would mean the world to me. And for those of you who already are full subscribers: thank you!
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2:43 Pat Rimell presents a list of propositions about general poverty in urban communities
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21:40 Samuel D. James asks if John has any writing advice
27:21 Tom Wojciaczyk wants to know if what the difference is between an accent and pronunciation
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36:37 Michael asks why we’re not more worried about Trump taking us back to the nuclear brinksmanship of the Cold War
44:52 Karen Dawn Norris offers two defenses of reparations
49:22 Young Törless asks, since we use the term “blackness” so often, if we could come up with a definition of it that would satisfy such disparate figures as Al Sharpton, Charles Barkley, Condoleezza Rice, Raven-Symone, and Iman
Recorded February 7, 2025
To John's point about black men who "don't have jobs". The claim that we need "illegal immigrants" because there are jobs American's won't do is a claim that there are jobs that black men (and white men as well!) could do, but won't.
And yes, they may suck as "good jobs". But they are honorable, respectable jobs and IMO important for development of self-esteem based on traits beneficial to society.
This Q&A is similar to Glenn's response to my Q from previous Q&A, so I'll drop my response to it here:
Thank you for taking my question regarding my perception of your isolationist streak. I'm glad to see you're not as isolationist as I originally thought but I do have some comments/responses regarding your response. I quote extensively from Bret Stephens' book America in Retreat. If you have not read it, I highly recommend that you do, it is excellent!
I think in common thread of much of your foreign policy take regarding U. S. involvement can be summed up by two quotes:
Jeane Kirkpatrick said:
"When the San Francisco Democrats treated foreign affairs as an afterthought, as they did, they behaved less like a dove or a hawk than an ostrich convinced it could shut out the world by hiding its head in the sand."
Bret Stephens writes:
"We typically approach foreign policy as spectators, not participants; as critics of the drama who can change the channel at any time, not as players on the stage with roles to perform." (America in Retreat, pg. 212)
It seems to me your approach is: we should care about what is going on in the world; but we should only be concerned with issues directly related to us --- as if there is such a thing as any major foreign policy matters are completely independent of us.
- You don't see that the world needs a police man:
Bret Stephens points out: "No great power can treat foreign policy as a spectator sport and hope to remain a great power. A world in which the leading liberal-democratic nation does not assume its role as world policeman will become a world in which dictatorships contend, or unite, to fill the breach." (Pg. xv, America in Retreat)
So, yes. The world needs a police man. This does not mean it is the job of the US to involve itself with every conflict on the planet and micromanage how the world runs. It means it (U.S.) needs to lead by power or a different - not so democratic - entity will fill the void. In truth, diplomatic and economic tools of statecraft are useless without the serious military power to back them up.
Bret Stephens describes what the ideal balance should be: "The serious conservative charts a course between two permanent American temptations. The first is the urge to save the world. The second is the yearning to retreat from it." (Pg. 99, America in Retreat)
- The U.S. doesn't need to be, nor should it be the arbiter of everything that happens on the planet:
See above.
- Should the American tax payer foot the bill to keep China from invading Twain? The U.S. can't and shouldn't dictate what happens:
Another two passages from Bret Stephens terrific book come to mind:
"And smaller government is no guarantee of greater freedom—not if small means weak and defenseless. The United States has had globe-spanning interests for as long as it has been an independent state, and it has gone far abroad to war to defend those interests for over two centuries. purpose of government is to secure freedom. That doesn't happen in a world of chronic insecurity and unchecked predator states." (Pg. 101, America in Retreat)
"In a perceptive essay in The American Interest, Henry Nau lays out the case for pursuing America's "geo-ideological" interests: "Focus on freedom where it counts the most, namely on the borders of existing free societies." Those borders, Nau writes, divide the free countries of Asia from China and North Korea; the free countries of Europe from Russia; and Israel from its Arab neighbors. "When countries on these borders are threatened, America is threatened," Nau argues. "Why? Because as the specter of tyranny moves closer to the core of the democratic world, the world becomes a less hospitable place." (Pg. 224, America in Retreat)
I'm not sure what you mean by American "can't" dictate what happens in regard to keeping China from invading Twain. The American threat has kept China from invading Twain so far. What changed? You seem to think it is not in the American tax payers interest to keep China from invading Twain. I'm pretty sure the economic catastrophe due to loss of technology and the fact that 1/3 of global trade passes through the South China sea is a threat to global commerce that is in the interest of the US tax payer.
If you don't think giving allies military or monetary assistance is a necessary component of being an ally - I'm curious -what roles do you think we play in being an ally? Just rooting for them?
- Regarding nuclear war:
I didn't say worry of nuclear war should not be a factor when considering attacking a country with nukes - I said it should not determine that war is impossible. If it were the case that no nuclear powers could be confronted because of their nuclear arsenal then tinpot dictatorships could run roughshod over the world. That clearly (I hope) is not a world in which you would be willing to acquiesce to.
- This is no longer a unipolar world - it is a world with a lot of contending forces that are at play. The U.S. should be the arbiter? I'm not willing to foot the bill with the blood of my grandchildren or my treasure:
This is not as much of a unipolar world as it was, but make no mistake about it: the U.S. leaving a power vacancy would cost both the blood and grandchildren and your treasure.
To further quote Bret Stephens:
"But whatever your view of our domestic travails, the need to fix your house does not mean you won't also suffer if your neighborhood goes to seed. In the 1920s, Britain and France still counted as serious military powers, at least notionally interested in upholding a decent world order. Today, in the absence of Pax Americana, there is no Pax Europae or Pax
UN or some other kind of benign and self-generating Pax. There is only a Pax Sinica, a Pax Rossiya, a Pax Tehranica. -this is not an appealing vision for a New World Order. Nor is it one that will leave the United States alone while it repairs its roads and reduces its deficits." (Pg. 100, America in Retreat).
Your seemingly knee jerk reaction to the U.S. and war sounds like the "Iraq Syndrome" Bret Stephens described:
"The United States had marched into Iraq in order to make the world a safer place. It ended up mainly feeling suckered and fleeced, like a tourist in a Mideast bazaar, promising himself "never again." So it has been with Americans and the idea of doing anything that conjures the ghost of Iraq. This is the Iraq Syndrome, a political reflex so automatic, uncontrollable, and twitchy as to more closely resemble an allergy than a point of view. Americans have made up their minds about Iraq; they want neither to hear of it nor to think of it; they want, like Seinfeld's George Costanza, to "do the opposite"—-whatever the opposite is." (Pg. 62, America in Retreat) ...
"It's a depressing testimony to how warped the U.S. foreign policy debate has become that it is all but impossible to contemplate potential police actions in Syria—to punish the Assad regime for its use of chemical Weapons—or in Iran—to destroy its nuclear programs—without thinking of them as "another Iraq." Elbe cliché of the slippery slope incapacitates rational debate. Nobody wants another Iraq, and it is preposterous to suggest that a forty-eight-hour air campaign in Syria or a weeklong one in Iran (about the time required to achieve each objective) would devolve into a decade-long land war." (Pg. 223, America in Retreat)
- Sit at the table and talk about it:
That is certainly is being done too. What are diplomats for if not sitting at the table and talking about it? All the same, the U.S. military posture does more to deter Russia than sending over Hillary Clinton with a giant red reset button for Putin. Like I said: diplomatic and economic tools of statecraft are useless without the serious military power to back them up.
Regarding putting too much stock in diplomacy Bret Stephens wrote:
"Halifax perceived Hitler rightly. And Hitler perceived Britain rightly, too: as a status quo power that wanted to maintain its place in the world at the lowest possible price in terms of expenditure and risk. It saw diplomacy not as a penumbra of its military power but as a substitute for it." (Pg. 52, America in Retreat)
As Niall Ferguson pointed out in a lecture discussion regarding Mearsheimer:
We should emphasize deterrence not de-escalation, which is the opposite of deterrence is what keeps the world order. He observed how after the bumbling U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan --- the Iran, China, Russia, North Korea Axis were all emboldened. It was not NATO that convinced Putin to invade Ukraine; it was the tangible weakening of the U.S. resolve to maintain the world order. (https://youtu.be/ocYvwiSYDTA?si=wqHrqxtAzjg6IXxa) (The lecture itself is worth it to hear Trump foreign policy be explained by Niall in a Trumpian accent)
I think of Gov. Wes Moore, The Other Wes Moore in which he describes his mother raising him in very difficult circumstances. We need to focus on Individual Agency - Parenting and raising disciplined children. So many children are born into circumstances that almost guarantee they will face challenges and failures.
Here's an option:
"Danes offer to buy California to spite Trump’s Greenland aims: ‘We’ll bring hygge to Hollywood’"
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/11/denmark-california-greenland-california
Here's the petition:
https://denmarkification.com/
I would LOVE to hear some discussion of what some other countries do that seem to instill cooperative values, good citizenship, work ethic and a value for education (of all sorts). Finland comes to mind. (For one thing, teachers are HIGHLY educated and HIGHLY regarded. I respect that a pre-school teacher has as much responsibility as a college professor, and often a more difficult audience.) I believe Japan does a decent job, maybe even China?
(I have NO expertise. I'm basing this on assorted news stories.)
That said, I think it's interesting to compare what has happened in Denmark where the hope was that immigrants would assimilate (and be able to contribute to their social welfare system after a generation or two)... BUT ... because of "cultural" differences, the education system hasn't provided the acculturation that was hoped for.
Please discuss.
Again, I have not done any research, BUT why is it that we never seem to attempt to learn from other systems that have success (as well as those that do not).
I would assume that some of those PhDs in education might give it a go.
I don't like the truth about IQ = G being an inherited fact of life and that the USA has a deficite of IQ = G in +/- 15% of its population. In central and southern Africa it is far worse. I have lived in both environments and can testify that the unpalatable truth is a fact of life. My suggested solution is to accept the ugly truth that IQ = G cannot be changed. Work towards providing regimes of socio-ecominic responsible employment for everyone in society. Don't work to change what can't be changed.
Will: I'm not so sure as you that "IQ = G" is an immutable and valid measure of someone's "intelligence" (whatever that is), but I do think that spelling can be improved with practice, even for those with limited abilities. In that spirit I suggest you change "socio-ecominic" to "socio-economic" in your comment.
Dave, I'm getting on in years, finger trouble, and my eyes are not that good. Indeed spelling was not my fortia , dyslexia, but as you prescribed worked at it.
If it make you feel better to point out spelling mistakes, it 's okay with me. If you want to be informed about IQ = G read Haier, R.J. 2017 and Herrnstein, R.J. & Murray, C. Their books are escellent on IQ = G.
Hi Will,
Sorry I was so snarky. In the case of your comment it was easy to deduce what you meant. But many Substack comments contain spelling errors, or incorrect words that are not caught by spell checkers, or grammatical errors, some of which do obscure the author's intent. I too am getting up in age (I just turned 80 last October), but the innate proofreading ability that I was apparently blessed with at birth (or cursed with I sometimes think!) still seems to be functioning, and I take that as a sign that my brain hasn't yet turned to mush.
I don't think I have read Haier's book, but I am familiar with "The Bell Curve" by Herrnstein & Murray and all the flak they took for it, including a very critical review by Coles, G. S. (1995) with the clever title "For whom the bell curves". Personally I think the jury's still out on the validity of IQ tests and the relationship between race, ethnicity, culture, and intelligence, and I try to keep an open mind on the subject.
Many thanks Dave, we are roughly the same age. You sound like a good sort. I recommend you view the Lex Friedman interview with Haier. Beyond that, we can agree to differ..
I would love to hear some discussion re: ethical conflicts that have become the norm in government.
Regardless of what one feels about the Trump administration, why is it EVER okay to benefit financially from ones' insider knowledge as a government official OR from a CREATED advantage? (And, of course, not just him. I recall Nancy Pelosi objecting to transparency about insider training in Congress.)
Elon Musk certainly has some vested interests in economic policy and union busting and aid to South Africa. (And, I don't like that his team has access to my banking information vis social security or the IRS. NOT cool.)
Whatever happened to Trump's tax returns? Emoluments?
I guess the general lesson we're seeing is that if you've got enough money to have a team of lawyers who can just clog up the courts for ages and ages, as we saw Trump use successfully with his lawsuits until they were dropped after he got elected. And, of course, now he's is personally retaliating against anyone who dared participate in any investigation.
The last hope for checks and balances, the court system, is completely stacked.
When did we all move to Hungary?
Don't blow off John's very valid concerns.
Government by personal vendetta and whim. Fall of the empire.
Here's a way of looking at difference instead of what may also be cultural threads. When I went to a summer camp for lower class kids, when I was about 15, I had a chore to wash the dishes. It was a rotating responsibility. While I was doing the dishes, another camper came over and asked me, "Are you a chump?" I didn't know what to do with that, but I recalled my grandfather (an immigrant) telling me how he would work beyond what was called for. He said he would be noticed and expected to be rewarded (promoted). Chumpness versus working beyond the expected? Cultural norm? Individual agency? They can run over each other in cultural norms and individual choice. I don't know how government programs or religious institutions can "fix" this tension for all and get the right outcome. For some, yes. For others, no. As I learned, when I learned Spanish going into Peace Corps more than fifty years ago, asi es la vida.
How about voluntary resettlement. One family at a time.
Everyone seems to hate mandates ... but how about offering e.g. welfare recipients an alternative ... to break the cycle.
It would be the equivalent of a minimum income, only would include the whole package. A humble home in a nice, safe, neighborhood, with good schools ... in numbers that don't freak everyone out.
Just throwing things out there. LOL.
I appreciate John's comments about 'culture'. How many people follow in the profession of their parents? And if your role models are unemployed and/or engaged in illegal activities and think school is for losers? Hope for NBA contract? Become a rap star?
How to break the cycle?
-Indian boarding schools? NO
-Foster homes? Yikes!
(Although missionary schools have served some Africans (Episcopal) and SE Indians (Jesuit) I know.)
Social engineering of neighborhoods? De-ghetto-ization? They are trying that in Denmark given that the immigrants, notably Muslim, are not assimilating and contributing to their welfare state as planned.
They came up with their anti-ghetto policy, which is sorta nice in theory (at least they are trying SOMEthing), but causing LOTS of resistance and law suits.
https://www.dw.com/en/why-denmark-is-clamping-down-on-non-western-residents/a-56960799
Now they have a 'zero refugee' policy:
https://humanevents.com/2025/02/10/denmarks-zero-refugee-policy-sees-drastic-decline-in-asylum-applications
The only thing I can think of is aggressive indoctrination (for lack of a better word) and positive exposure starting with pre-school. (AND prenatal care.) Obviously expensive ... but so is prison.
I keep posting this:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/18/opinion/japan-education-childhood.html?
There are countries who do it better. Can't we pause from American exceptionalism to LEARN from ... Finland? or Japan? Where early education is a priority to create better citizens and capitalize on individual talents?
I would LOVE to see a MAGA effort to address this issue ... aside from their ever pervasive general Eugenics POV.
I think it's a good time to be an expat.
I think you answered your own question with above. Remember those countries were homogeneous for the longest time with well established cultured that the whole populace bought into. Japan may have accepted immigrants, but mostly from other Pacific Rim countries with similar culture, so easier to assimilate. As noted, Finland, and other Scandinavian countries, began taking in Middle East & Africans with very different cultures. If you recall, the "US culture" is based on a value system (WASP) formed in the 13 original colonies with immigrants mostly from Europe. Black slaves had no part in this and those that came later assimilated quickly. They understood that cultural differences could be celebrated in private, but didn't expect it in the public (governmental mostly) sphere. Once we started buying or winning territories & forming states we became multicultural, then add in the freed slaves. Though basic "Protestant Ethic" was still the primary value system, over time we became more liberal & tolerant of the "other" muddying the waters. This is very simplistic but you get the idea. We can't agree on what the "American Culture" is, let alone just the respect for the law & private property rights (Constitution, Magna Carta). Not sure where you'd be happier.
I don't think I've answered ANY question ... That's the problem. I have no answers to the conundrum BUT I think whatever is going on now is a failure. And I do think there are other cultures, as I have mentioned, that are better.
I was enjoying listening to Malcolm Gladwell this morning.
"I Hate the Ivy League: Riffs and Rants on Elite Education"
He talks about his experience growing up in Canada (and has fun discussing many other flaws and gaps in the US system).
Not sure where I'd be happier? I'm 'happy' in the world that I've been fortunate to create, but what is clear, as I age, is that this country just does not share my values and seems to be moving more toward the Viktor Ohrban's Hungary then Norway.
This is a fun watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO8vWJfmY88&t=3s
I'm fine in my little created niche, but, the fact that 'I got mine' isn't enough, nor does it make me feel safe. I think, if I were younger, and raising kids, I would consider a country that is safer (fewer guns) and values making some effort to care for all of its citizens. I find it refreshing that some countries, the Netherlands comes to mind, where your self worth isn't with your job or your income or what kind of car you drive and having more more more.
In the two schools of Buddhism, and oversimplification is that Theravada emphasizes individual effort and monastic practice, while Mahayana focuses on helping others and a wider range of approaches to enlightenment. In theory, I prefer the Mahayana school where a practitioner will sacrifice their own enlightenment because it's all of us, or none of us.
Anyway, I'm no expert. A retired health care provider. BUT, again, I just don't vibe with a system that has a Social Darwinism ethic. It's Eugenics. We can do better. And we can learn from other places that DO better.
Meanwhile, here, Texas wants to give $10K to families toward private school. When privates schools cost in the $20K - $80K range these days, it's not poor people who will benefit from $10K when they can't even begin to think of paying the difference.
Sigh.
I'm actually heading to Japan to visit my son for a few months. At least it's safe, clean, and generally functions ... and people are polite.
Sorry I cant think of better ways schools should do thing beside getting back to basics of the 3 R's, discipline and letting teachers teach and not have to be social service workers and parent alternatives. The whys this has happened are too numerous and complicated to discuss. As an agnostically atheist or atheistically agnostic, I have no understanding of Buddhism, Hinduism, etc. as I found them too esoteric bordering on escapist. Though I do believe people can be spiritual. Christianity, Islam & Judaism have morphed into something too far from the Golden Rule to hold my attention.
I too am comfortable in my own "world" which is narrowing as I age though my reading & podcast watching expanded.
Happy travels!! Is Japan a place to consider retiring to?
Getting back to basics would be great ... without the focus on test scores as well as the return of art, music, PE ... those are REALLY important.
I don't think teachers should have to be social service workers or parent alternatives ... BUT teachers are important role models ... and sure, why not have a social service office at the school for those who need access to additional services?
My kids went to a school with small class size and lots of support for the teachers ... art, drama, computer, music, science, PE, foreign language specialist... so the teachers didn't have to be specialists outside of the 3 Rs. Teacher and student support was a priority. They had good facilities, supplies, etc ... Every student should be entitled to that.
My suggestion is that those who need more time and focused attention for reading, writing, arithmetic support ... get it. Regardless of cost.
My point, using Buddhism as an example, was the contrast of every man for himself vs. we can ALL rise together. Even if from a selfish point of view. We're all safer and healthier with educated and engaged neighbors and kids who witness the value of curiosity and a strong work ethic. I'm not enamored of this eugenics model that this country has adopted.
I'm grateful that my children don't have children ... because it just all seems too difficult to raise kids in today's world.
Did you watch the NY Times article about the production in the Japanese school? I'd recommend it. It seems like a good example of educating for individual responsibility as well as community accountability.
Anyway ... sure, Japan is a place to consider for retiring ... although I would be more inclined to focus on the Netherlands or Spain ... I like the idea of easy train access to other places, and I have friends nearby in Belgium and France. I'd consider Canada, but it's TOO COLD. But, maybe with climate change it'll soon be temperate.
Absolutely agree about the music, arts and foreign language make for more well rounded kids. PE and health should be required, Unfortunately the public schools system has to spend so much on psycho-social and "baby-sitting" they have to forgo. I'm glad I don't have raise kids now also.
Pay for education now ... or pay for prison later.
I say give every child supplemental tutoring early on ... if that's what it takes. And treat teachers with respect. They currently are buying their own supplies.
My mother taught for decades in LA Public Schools. They had the most awesome supply room. (I was so jealous ... because I went to Catholic School where our supplies were minimal and we had to buy a lot of our own materials ... and, frankly, since we were taught by nuns and unlicensed lay teachers, the teaching quality was mixed. We spent a lot of time memorizing prayers and certainly had no real support for anything outside the basics. Art? Science? Language? Music meant singing in the choir (no orchestra). Sad. The public schools had MUCH more ... but that has changed when the public school funding became connected to zip code. Really short sided.
I recommend this series: https://www.pbssocal.org/shows/can-we-all-get-along-segregation-john-muir-high-school/episodes/can-we-all-get-along-the-segregation-of-john-muir-high-school
and this
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/harvest/
So many mistakes made.
Btw, what public schools have money for psycho-social and baby-sitting?
Sorry took so long. While I agree that the schools are not doing a good job, but I cant continue this as it's obvious we look at the issue from different perspectives. Until we can get government officials, city, state & federal with more common sense & moderate & significant cultural changes I don't expect much to change. Have a great trip and a good life.
amen sista!
Grammar is just related to social status. I've always believed that if the person you are speaking to understands you unconditionally (as much as anyone can), then all is well. What does you think?