Transcript [00:00] We've got Ayaan Hirsi Ali with the [00:02] Hoover Institution. Let's take a look. [00:04] >> Soviet communism lasted seven decades. [00:07] >> Yeah. [00:08] >> Islam has been with us for 14 centuries. [00:11] Are you optimistic? [00:13] >> I am optimistic because we have defeated [00:18] in the past [00:19] um these ideologies you mentioned uh [00:22] communism and [00:24] uh national socialism [00:27] that were in some ways [00:29] um more determined, modern, fighting [00:32] with modern tools. [00:34] And Islam has been around for a very [00:35] long time, but the jihad is the [00:38] political uh Islam of our day [00:42] buys weapons from us, takes innovation [00:44] from us, needs us to destroy us. [00:48] And so in some ways I think we should be [00:50] more optimistic because A, we've done it [00:53] before. [00:54] >> They can't destroy us without our [00:56] permission. [00:57] >> They can't destroy us without our [00:58] permission. They can't destroy us [00:59] without us letting them destroy us. [01:03] And even if you just put the two ideas [01:05] side by side, one thing [01:07] I I was talking to Andy McCarthy, the [01:09] former prosecutor. [01:10] >> Yes. [01:11] >> And he was uh from you know, as a [01:13] prosecutor, he's really tried to fight [01:15] this fight [01:16] within the justice system. And he's come [01:19] to the conclusion, you know, the biggest [01:21] part of this battle should be won on the [01:23] cultural arena. [01:25] >> Mhm. [01:25] >> The battlefield of ideas. And if you [01:28] take it there [01:30] I think that we can easily win if only [01:33] we would stand up for our own ideas. If [01:36] you are promoting Sharia and you make it [01:39] explicit, you're selling Sharia to [01:41] someone like me. [01:43] Uh I left Islam. [01:45] So for those who leave Islam is the [01:47] death penalty. [01:49] I'm a woman. You want to sell Sharia to [01:51] me? It puts me in a position of chattel. [01:54] You're trying to sell Sharia to a Jewish [01:57] person or a Christian? They've been [01:58] relegated to the status of dhimmi's or [02:01] second class, third class, right? [02:03] Um and then you show people the places [02:06] on this planet today in 2017 where [02:09] Sharia is reality. [02:11] And you see a lot of pain and suffering, [02:14] discrimination, divisiveness, poverty. [02:17] So it's it's not [02:19] a difficult idea, a difficult philosophy [02:23] to defeat. It's just that we're not [02:25] interested for some reason. We're not [02:27] yet We don't get it yet. But once we get [02:29] there, [02:30] all of our ideas, I mean and I know most [02:33] people here today feel a sense of shame [02:36] when they talk about Western [02:37] civilization. But the ideas and [02:39] principles of Western civilization, with [02:42] all their weaknesses and with all their [02:44] pathologies, are far superior to [02:46] anything that Sharia has to offer. We [02:48] shouldn't be embarrassed about saying [02:50] that. That should be where we begin the [02:51] conversation. [02:52] >> Last question. This time I'm going to [02:53] quote President Trump. This is Donald [02:55] Trump speaking this month in Warsaw. [02:58] Quote, [02:59] "The fundamental question of our time is [03:02] whether the West has the will to [03:04] survive. [03:05] >> Yeah. [03:06] >> Do we have the confidence in our values [03:08] to defend them at any cost? [03:10] Do we have enough respect for our [03:12] citizens to protect our borders? [03:16] Do we have the desire and the courage to [03:18] preserve our civilization in the face of [03:21] those who would subvert and destroy it? [03:24] Close quote." [03:27] Does the West have the will [03:28] >> Was that really Donald Trump? I'm not [03:31] I'm not sure I've ever heard Donald [03:32] Trump speak so eloquently before. That's [03:33] crazy. [03:34] >> Is that the fundamental question? [03:36] >> That's a fundamental question. Yeah. [03:38] That is the fundamental question. He [03:39] said these words in Poland and they were [03:42] well received. And what I've noticed, [03:44] I'm I'm, you know, I came to [03:47] the West in 1992. So I'm a newcomer. But [03:51] >> You're doing fine. [03:52] >> Thank [laughter] you. [03:53] In the in this short period, what I [03:55] notice is [03:57] those to whom freedom came late, [04:00] they're the ones who are willing to [04:02] fight. [04:03] The Eastern [04:04] >> having suffered for four decades under [04:06] the communists. [04:06] >> the Eastern Europeans, you know, for [04:08] them it is not some vague story in [04:11] history. It's They still know what it [04:14] was like to be under the Soviet Union, [04:16] to be behind that Iron Curtain, to have [04:19] no freedom. They know what a [04:21] totalitarian ideology is. [04:23] They recognize it and they're willing to [04:25] fight for the core principles of [04:28] freedom. [04:29] And [04:31] that's what Western civilization has [04:34] uh [04:35] has granted in to a certain degree to [04:38] human beings and has promoted and has [04:40] established systems that protect that [04:42] individual freedom. They know that. The [04:45] Northern Europeans, [04:47] to some degree Americans, who have been [04:50] free for so long that they don't know [04:52] what freedom is anymore. They're the [04:54] ones who are in this, I think, [04:57] moral [04:59] um moral twist about and wringing their [05:03] hands and thinking, you know, how can we [05:05] defend Western civilization? I mean, [05:07] what is Western civilization? Is it [05:09] white supremacism or is it something [05:11] else? And if our leaders, if our elites [05:14] cannot tell the difference between white [05:17] nationalism and Western civilization, or [05:20] what it is that makes America great [05:22] again, then I think we're in big [05:23] trouble. [05:25] We'll have to depend on those Eastern [05:27] Europeans to defend us. [05:29] >> That's the [05:30] This really is the last question. I keep [05:32] saying last but this one really is the [05:33] last question. [05:33] >> Yeah. [05:35] >> If the question is whether the West has [05:37] the courage to defend itself, has the [05:38] will to defend itself, [05:40] then you've just identified the central [05:42] sub question within that question, and [05:45] that is will the United States of [05:48] America stop wringing its hands? [05:51] >> Yeah. [05:52] >> What do you think? [05:54] >> Uh I hate to say it, but something has [05:57] to happen to make us focus and to stop [06:00] wringing our hands. Uh [06:02] you know, just turn on the news and the [06:04] first thing you hear is about North [06:06] Korea testing missiles that could hit [06:08] us. Then there's the whole radical [06:10] Islamic phenomenon. There's this rise of [06:12] China, which is [06:14] again in its expression anti-Western. [06:18] And looking at all of that, I think it [06:21] is I don't know. I feel a sense of [06:23] urgency. I hope that you feel a sense of [06:24] urgency that we have something to [06:26] defend. But unfortunately, something [06:29] and this is this is not my analysis. [06:31] This is what I hear from other people. [06:33] This is Americans first try all the bad [06:36] options, and they try all the before and [06:39] then the very last one will be Now, if [06:42] that's the case, I hope we have time [06:44] this time. [06:45] >> [laughter] [06:47] >> I hope we have time as well, but it's [06:49] seeming to me as a first generation born [06:52] in America from parent like immigrant [06:55] parents, I can tell that we are heading [06:57] towards a very very very very dangerous [06:59] precipice. And this is a precipice of of [07:03] of dread for a lot of people who are [07:04] immigrants to America who have escaped [07:07] terrible places to live, this is a place [07:09] of absolute dread. Why do I say dread? [07:12] Because [07:14] what are we in America if we aren't for [07:17] our values? What are we in America if [07:19] we're not for our [07:20] history? What are we if not for our [07:22] culture? And if you keep bringing in [07:25] people, emboldening people, or letting [07:27] people rise up that hate our culture, [07:29] that hate our history, that tell you all [07:31] the time that you're terrible for being [07:34] a part of this or for living here, what [07:36] what can be made of this nation? Where [07:39] can this nation possibly hope to go? [07:42] You know, it's these are really really [07:44] valid questions that I ask. Where in the [07:46] world [07:48] what in the world can one hope to [07:50] accomplish [07:52] with with always being told that [07:56] this is a terrible country and terrible [07:57] region and the terrible people, [07:59] and you're racist and you're terrible, [08:00] and anytime you want to defend or stand [08:02] up for yourself, what can be [08:03] accomplished? I can tell you what, [08:04] nothing can be accomplished from that. [08:06] You have to rise up. You have to change. [08:09] It has to be a big change.
