thousands and thousands of documents, and finally, in this civil suit, a map named mike con nell was subpoenaed to testify. he was rove's cyber guru and supposedly had all the answers. on december 19th, 2008, his plane crashedded. there were a lot of unanswered questions about that. watch this and other programs online at booktv.org. ..

have today. we have a couple of tables from our american legion right here. you might just wave so everybody knows who you are and very active post i should say is each of you have a card at your place that looks something like this to it several years ago we began a program called support the troops just to see how it would

go. it started in our library. we would have a speaker from the military typically and the idea was to have those that were in attendance bring things we could send to the troops so if it was books or dvds or cds. some of the things they let us know that we needed so we collected a few boxes and sent over to the troops. each year it's gotten bigger and bigger and bigger and i think last year we sent over 300 boxes to the troops and we collected a lot of money which if you come to the event and haven't brought a set of batteries, you don't need to feel bad because we have $25 bags, 50-dollar bags, 100-dollar bags, 40,000-dollar bad as if you want to bring that and we will fill them with things they need so that on

november 8 starting at 6:00 and you will see from the speakers are and they are equally spectacular so i hope you will come and bring whatever you can, bring that big check that we are talking about. one last thing i will say if you have a cell phone this will be an appropriate time to turn that also there are no interruptions and we will have cards i don't know if we have them yet at the tables but we will have cards in the event that you have questions and if you would fill all those cards they will be collected and handed to me so we can just really couldn't get them not to sergeant meyer. i would like to introduce you to a leading partner and we couldn't be more thrilled. so i'm going to introduce to you like who's going to tell about the leading authorities.

mike? >> good afternoon. i'm the senior vice president with leading authorities here in chicago. first i would like to think the club for partnering with us on this event. it's the first event we are working together on and i hope it will be the first of many. we are excited about the event today and i want to tell a little about us. we are a design firm here in chicago. if any of you have meetings and events and things like that where you are looking to program that we have been partnering with different organizations throughout the city to showcase some of the speaking talent that's out there helping organizations, trade associations and corporations speak to their members and employees and the families and things like that. i have a couple colleagues. matt is at the front table. if you have any needs come see as afterwards and we would love to talk to you.

today i have the pleasure of introducing sergeant dakota meyer he is the recipient of honor in the military's honor. he's the first living marine to receive the medal since 1973 and is also one of the youngest. the marines went missing after being in boesh, meyer defied his orders in order to save his comrades. for his actions that day president barack obama awarded meyer the medal of honor on september 15th, 2011. meyer was also inducted into the hall at the pentagon and honored with a parade. since then, meyer has raised more than a million dollars to help send the children of wounded marines to college. finally, as you have all seen him he is the author of into the fire a firsthand account of the most extraordinary battle in the afghan war. leading authorities is very proud to represent dakota meyer and now want to show you a video and hear a little bit more about dakota and his story.

>> it's kind of frustrating because everybody wants to get an interview about the worst day of your life. >> it was a straightforward mission that than 21-year-old sergeant dakota meyer had been signed that day. meyer awaited anxiously by the vehicles as their team began a patrol of the village on foot. as they approached, the lights in the village blank dolph. all hell broke loose. more than 50 insurgents fired from positions on mountains surrounding the valley and the village. back at the vehicles, meyer heard of hiring and could see into the volley. the volume of fire increased and radio traffic grew increasingly desperate. wounded but steadfast in his decision, sergeant meyer entered the kill zone four times, swapping out guns and trucks and rescuing the trap and wounded comrades with each run. >> meyer is the kind of guy that gets the job done so he has earned our nation's highest military decoration, the medal

of honor. we are extraordinarily proud of search and dakota meyer. >> medal of honor recipients are often called the bravest of the brave. as the first living united states marine seen to date, reena to receive the honor in 40 years, sergeant meyer is only the third recipient since the vietnam war. >> i accepted on behalf the guys that died, on behalf of the guys that have passed before and on behalf of the marines and the men and women that are fighting every day. schenectady sergeant meyer has dedicated his time to raising awareness for benefiting fallen marines and issued the dakota meyer scholarship challenge to america to match his efforts with the goal of raising an additional $1 million for the cause. he also wrote "and the fire a firsthand account of the most extraordinary battle in the afghan war." leading authorities would like to speak for the coast of the union league club of chicago for his generous support for today's program. humble, courageous and

determined. ladies and gentlemen, please welcome sergeant dakota meyer. [applause] >> thank you. thank you so much. [applause] thank you. [applause] so i've got a question. do you think that i could -- when i go out and use a referee to you think i get showed that video where the president says the code is the kind of guy that gets the job done to get me a job? [laughter] i want to start by thanking the union league club for having me here today and share my story. leading authorities for going around and helping me get out the crowds and getting crowds here to share my story as well with the men and women who

served and thank all of you for your support. i really appreciate it. i would like to start with the question why am i here today, why am i standing in front of you getting ready to give all of your speech? because i have to say as a 24-year-old high school educated sergeant in the marine corps, this is not a group of people i would expect myself to be standing right now. you know, but i want to thank you all again for giving me the opportunity to do this. by now everyone has heard of me whether you know me as a small-town guy, dakota meyer as a guide as construction or sergeant tick riders meyer, medal of honor recipient, use more than likely you'll give me in some shape or form buy now. i was a typical student 17-years-old walking through the lunch room and i knew everything back then. i was walking three and a marine recruiter was sitting in the back of the room and had his dress blues on and he looked like he could have been the president of the united states. i asked him a lot of smart alec

questions. you know, what's this for? how did you get that? i can shoot a 308, hit a deer at 100 yards, not in pressing him at all. he took it for a minute and said what are you going to do when you get out of high school? i looked back at him acting tough and puffed my chest out i said i'm going to play football somewhere. he said that's what i would do, too because you'll never make it as a marine. [laughter] quickly i realized -- i guess that's what they're supposed to do -- i realize i set myself up. i went back to my classroom. my lunch period was over. i came back and for those of you that don't know me, i don't to get dillinger easily and i definitely don't take no very easily come in and if you were one of my commanders would know that. i went back to my room and i started thinking about it. i was thinking about the recruiter had done and he had challenged me. i was a bargainer. i came back to him, left my room and said you know what? if you pack your stuff upright malae will sign the papers.

we can't do it today, do it tomorrow and i would get out of it. he said okay, let's go. i didn't tell my father. we went to elizabethtown, signed the papers and we were sitting -- the only thing in the way now was my father's signature. so we were sitting in my living room were actually my kitchen table and my dad walks in. i'm sitting there and he goes what have you done now? i said dad, i want to go to the marine corps. he said you're going to play football yesterday. i said i'm ready to go. he said have you really thought about this? i said yeah, the hour drive up there and back. i'm ready to go. some enlisted in the marine corps. on june 18th, 2006, which i want to let you know is a date that i will never forget, i shipped off to paris island and this is where i would spend my 18th birthday. happy birthday, right? but it's not really as bad as the next three birthdays because my 19th birthday i was in sniper school hell week. my 20th birthday i was in hell

week of sniper school mountain training in bridgeport, california. so i had a lot of good birthdays piffling parris island, i was shipped off to north carolina where it completed the infantry training. after that, i went off to hawaii where i would be stationed the next four years. and this is where i also attended sniper school. so, after attending sniper school i quickly shipped off to iraq. and in iraq i didn't get to complete my tour because i was bitten on my right hand by a vicious slider and i actually suffered severe nerve damage plan to let everyone in the room know that the enemy will stop at nothing. they even train the spiders to bite us. [laughter] so i returned home for two years of additional training and working at trying to get my hand back, and this is where i can a sniper team leader in charge of five other marines. and we were out in the viper training to go back to iraq and my sergeant walked in and said you need five volunteers to go

to afghanistan. and i said what's the mission? he said we don't know yet we just need five volunteers right now so i said all right, i'm ready to go. so i ended up being assigned to a small team of advisers and we were going to act as advisers to the afghan national army. and this is different because it's not used like normal missions going over with conventional forces and being around americans and this and that. you know, we would live with to marines, won navy corpsman -- three marines, one corpsman and 80 afghans on a base. you talk about a complete culture shock i can tell you right now i got one. we did everything with the afghans from eating to drinking to building volleyball courts to mission planning to hearing about their stories of their lives. and they really helped us become a solid unit and we learned to depend on one another and rely on one another. and i want to talk about the afghans later on because of what the current events are. but i have to tell you one of

the best lessons i think this taught me was not to look at the world -- not to judge people by their religion, their skin color, their financial status or anything like that. but accept them for who they are because i have to tell you i'm guilty of having what i like to call the small town complex to be a come from a small town. i've got it but it's where you think the world is only this big because that's how you were taught. i want to tell you right now i'm 24 and i know that is not the case anymore. but really we do that. they are so fast to judge one another we get to know them for what they are so it's something we could all take to and listen to. so anyway, we were stationed in northeastern afghanistan at a place called elsewhere in the kunar province right on the pakistan border. this is where i would be stationed with lieutenant johnson and bulkeley tin.

now, doc leighton was a navy corpsman but if anybody knows anything about them they might as well be marines, so i'm going to call him a marine from here on out. [applause] so, part of my opportunity was getting to meet these guys and develop the team, because this was a group of guys i would learn to call my brother is because when the advisor teams up together, the brash just six different skill sets, ranks, threw them in a team to go over and advise. they don't ever ask about personalities or anything like that. it's definitely not in others of love connection. they just put you in there and expect you to get along. when i met them, these guys were totally different than me. i was the only infantryman in the growth and we were not on the same lies, so i didn't care about them at the time. i was so excited of the thought of going to afghanistan to get enough light, so we didn't really matter to me. but what i learned more and more every single day is that these guys are the most important people in my life.

each of us shared the responsibility to take care of one another. to support one another and protect one another. and it didn't take long before all of the personality differences just melted away. and they were without a doubt my brothers. and there was never any doubt in my mind that they were willing to sacrifice their life at a moment's notice, just as i was for them. and in the end, they proved it. my whole team sacrificed their lives, not just for me but for all of us in this room. so, some of you know the details in that day on september 8, 2009. so, we were running emission in the village in the valley. this is the only mission on the mission planning they took me out and replaced me with a gun resurgent named gunnar research and johnson. now he was a big guy, looked like a typical money coming in a fitness guru he left cross it and to work out and i can tell you right now i always hated it. but anyways, so gunnar j. was

going to take my spot for whatever reason i still ask the question today. so my assignment was to sit back and a secure position of all of the vehicles and while my team entered the valley. which i was uncomfortable with, but being an e for in the united states marine corps you don't have much of an option but to follow orders. so, the mission was at the end of the village to secure the town meeting because the village owners had come to us and said they were going to renown themselves from the taliban. and this is how i believe we windel war for what it is worth. i believe that by learning the supporters of the taliban, and by that stopping their freedom of movement we win a war and stop terrorism. that is what we were starting to do on this mission but i must immediately went into the village my team was under attack under an ambush and he was big and it didn't take me long to realize it wasn't a normal ambush i've been in a quite a few firefights last time but it's like the first of any fire

fight like the dust comes in and you try to figure out any situation. the best comes in, you figure it out and your training kicks in and you start doing your job after about ten to 15 minutes. but not in this fight. one thing after another after another started. everything started to fall like a house of cards every other firefight to support us wasn't happening. it was like the mission was falling quickly like a house of cards. and the enemy was seeing it and they were taking fuller advantage of it. after some period of time my driver chavez was in the vehicle and figured out we had to do something. we couldn't sit back and watch anymore. so we were to go in for times. and we finally looked at each other and said we've got to go in because that's what brothers do for one another. and we knew as soon as we were

going on our own program that if the situation wasn't as bad as we thought it was we would have to answer for it. but i can tell you this: i would rather be here answering the consequences for my team being alive today and not being as bad as it was then to be standing here today knowing that i didn't do anything because i was worried about myself and my team would be dead. but as we were going and i hear lt. johnson over the radio start calling to support the artillery mission and he starts calling in with the format we were taught to do he calls it quote close watch on." it's perfect. the response he got back is the location is too close to the village. if you don't give me the rounds right now we are going to die. and the response back was well, try your best. a few minutes later i heard the gunnery sergeant come over the radio. he said he had to call a medical evacuation.

he kept getting cut off because all the confusion in the radio traffic and over the radio. with a frustrated voice he said get off the radio. so everyone did. succumb he started giving his grit and i pulled out my serbian and starting to write on the humvee because if i can write it down i would tell myself i could locate his position on the map and goes straight to him and tell the more menacing team is and he stopped and that is the last time i ever heard from my teammates. after six more hours and evacuate in the afghan soldiers and wounded marines searching for the missing dies the helicopter spotted their lifeless bodies in the trench and when i got to them i immediately knew that they were all gone. it's like i didn't want to face it. surely it can't be all of them. this can't be true. so, i checked each one of them for a pulse to only confirm what

i already knew. and they all fell together doing their jobs as they had sworn to do the day-to-day enlisted in the military as every man and woman does when they enlist. they paid the ultimate sacrifice. in the details that they are difficult for me to communicate to but i'm sure you get the scene now. so now my actions of that day have been recognized as outstanding and courageous. but for me to be honest it is only the exact opposite. because we live by the words you never leave a fallen marine behind or you get them out a live or die trying. and if you didn't die trying, let's sample, you didn't try hard enough. and i was just doing what my brothers were any of their marine would have done for me. and now i've been honored by the country and the president of the united states and i stand before you as a medal of honor recipient. so after hearing how i see how i viewed the medal of honor and in situation of how i feel about

it, i'm sure you can now see why i have struggles with the medal of honor. i've been called an american hero but i want to tell you if this is what it feels like to be a hero, you can have it. i am not a hero, they are. so i decided that that day i would accept the medal of honor on behalf of all of the marines, on behalf of all of the men and women serving in on behalf of all of the men and women who have sacrificed so much for the country and all of the families that have done so much as well. because i am just one of the thousands of marines who would have done the same thing put in that situation. in all of the credit goes to my family and the marines to never leave a fallen man behind. always refer to it as an opportunity i've given. i truly believe every man and woman that stands up and raises their right hand to sacrifice and put their life on hold for our country would have done the exact same thing in any situation i was. i was just given the opportunity to perform my duties. so, from the time the conflict,

it was over two years before the medal of honor was awarded and denied that time, not a single day passed that i wasn't caught with the faults of frustration, guilt, anger, you know, the what if questions that we have all been through. i live with the pain trying to figure out what could i give them different? why had i somehow survived? why was i given the opportunity to live. why them but let me? and the truth is that every day i still ask those exact same questions and i decided i could take this opportunity to grow and to educate and i could take this opportunity to lead and i want to share the opportunity with groups just which of the reality on september 8, 2009 because this forever changed my existence in life. so now this part of my life going around at meeting america that is what i call it. meeting america. i mean, just imagine being

24-years-old on a construction site one day to have the president called you on your cell phone after you tried to set numerous times to tell you you would be receiving the medal of honor to be a national figure overnight could let me say something, don't envy me. so now everyone in america is watching every move i make remember when i am 24-years-old is out of question. [laughter] talk about pressure and stress. that goes back to its bigger than me. so you know what? i've got to tell you i'm just going to tell you how i really feel. i look at everything. the president called me and it'll start of the president called me on my cell phone and i told them you know what, dakota, you are getting ready to receive the medal of honor we need to start planning for it and of planning for a wedding is like planning for the ceremony, i'm out on getting married. [laughter] so we started planning for this and i told him you know what?

i don't feel like i deserve the metals when started bargaining with them let's break it down and call it even and then go back and fight because they really messed things up to go back and fight. so he says that is not going to happen. so the president called me on the construction site one day and i said you know what will you please not give the medal of honor because i am nothing but a failure. please do not do this to me. he said you know what, it's bigger than you. i really get frustrated because i'm like bigger than me is this the best answer that you've given? you are about to miss my whole life up. so thinking about it, you know, i went through the frustrations of drinking every day, drinking an average of a bottle of crown a day, the frustration, the guilt and i started thinking

about that and i were the bracelets with all four of the guys on them and i looked down and say why am i feeling this way? why am i so frustrated, why am i not taking advantage of my life? i said i'm not feeling sorry for those guys because they are in a better place, if you think about. i need to go on and take the of vintage and start making my life better and live life to the full list. with that i've come up with my own a theory so you can imagine what this is going to be. i came out of the marine corps and i wanted to make it so much difference i am out of the marine corps and we get out and we are frustrated with how the marine corps is and how you were trained but i look at it as the marine corps as a whole has probably the best set of i've ever seen and you can apply it to everything in life because no offense to the other branch of

the service but you know how they are they hold themselves to a high standard and no one can disagree on that. we need to pick each other over the smallest things over a haircut. but we do this because in the marine corps we have made -- we have made a culture where we would accept nothing less than being the best. we've dictated a culture where we want to hold each other accountable to what we will succeed. are we really better? ar we've if you and the proud? who knows. it doesn't really matter but what we have done is we have made a culture where we would accept nothing less demand the best. so we have two things. opportunities and accountabilities. now everyone here will agree with me on such additions that are not always favorable and we don't have control of them. so, with those situations you can either look at the last situations will look at them as

opportunities not everything in life as an opportunity. why use the worst-case scenario? i use the worst-case scenario of a family member getting sick or family member buying. is that an opportunity? no its not but it is an opportunity because it slows your life down and it makes you start evaluating on how you live your life and everything like that and after you start doing that and you start using this opportunity to evaluate your life is at that point that you need to hold yourself accountable every single day and to make it better. do you agree? and i want to tell you something else i've learned. i've learned about people and dillinger out and meeting so many different people and from a small town in kentucky. i travel 25 to 28 days and i do are not speaking at numerous types of people. and some of them are good, some of them are bad, some of them

are crazy. but what i like to say is it's like with these afghans now they were the closest people to me as any marine in my entire life. these afghan soldiers i still keep in touch with them every week at least allowed to let you know and assure you that these afghans have sacrificed so much and help us out over there because if the current a situation is going on, they fail to give them credit. they are making them look bad right now. but i want to tell you that they stood up and helped me every single day to become a volume it's not fair to us as americans because i didn't go over there and fight for republicans or democrats. i didn't go over there and fight for any type of color, christians, muslims, i didn't fight for any of them. you want to know what i fought for? i fought for americans and we

all need to understand that and realize that and pull back together and i sure that we all live in the greatest country on the face of the earth. i have accepted that i have an opportunity to go out and speak and share these stories with people just like you that will listen to me. and i have used this platform to go out and make a difference. and maybe you look at me now and say why can you say this, you are 24. yesterday i gave my first 12 scholarships from the marine corps scholarship foundation and it's been the greatest thing that i've done. i called up margaret davis last year before receiving the medal because i decided i was going to accept the medal and but i wanted to go out and make a difference and i called her up and i said you know what what can i do to make a difference? i want to educate kids and help them and i want to still do what i can for the marines. he said let's start a scholarship fund. i said okay. well, on top of that how much

money do you think you can raise? i don't know, it sounds good, million dollars i don't know what that is though. we will give you a year to raise a million dollars and have your challenge to america. not knowing how i would do it just knowing i would do whatever it took i raised $1.2 million within four months and i gave out my first 12 scholarships yesterday and it's been the greatest. [applause] with that i have teamed up with toyota to go and try to give veterans jobs. with that we were going out and speaking in by trying to help them get jobs and this and that and standing up for the veterans and trying to make a difference and we also wrote the book and i hope that when you read the book you go home and read everything that i talk about and how i figure this out and it makes a difference. and i want to say i'm going on

and i am speaking and in doing it for the men and women that sacrificed so much for our lives because every day that you don't do that inside this room and you don't go out and do the best that you can, you are doing nothing less than disgracing those men and women who paid so much and i want to let you know something. i'm not okay with that. i really appreciate it. [applause] i would like to open up for questions at the end if you have any pity if you don't start asking questions i'm going to ask them of you.

yes, sir. how do i see the rest of my life? that is a great question. i tell everyone i have a construction company. i'm working with to leota and consulting for a few companies. i just finished the book. i'm on the road quite a bit but how do i see the rest of my life? that is a challenge that i have is climb 24-years-old and everybody agrees that we live our life to try to top everything that we do. we like to use everything as a steppingstone. what am i supposed to do that 24-years-old i have received the medal of honor and i have done so many things what am i going to do for the rest of my life to top it? i'm going to find something. i promise you that. and it's going to be for someone else. it's going to be to make a difference and go out and speak and say things and be true to myself and americans and hopefully inspire the whole nation to stand up and start a culture just like the marine corps does to accept nothing

less than being the best and told each other accountable every day. so the rest of my life is to go out and make a difference whatever that may be. [applause] yes, ma'am? >> [inaudible] >> to be honest with you, i have no idea. i'm going to find out. i get asked that question all the time and i am never asked. i don't know. i wasn't there. i've got a question right here that somebody wrote down. what are the things we can do to help servicemen and their families? help their servicemen and families. i want to tell you this is a topic a lot of people get mad at me about but guess what, i'm going to speak about it because i am so passionate about it. a lot of guys come back and deal with the stress of the war and

what's going on and they deal with the events that occurred over there. what i believe you can do to help them the most is hold them accountable every day in their actions because just like that i get so frustrated when i see a guy not go out especially a member that has served and does so much for the country i get so frustrated when they don't go out and to give river to the everyday and do is something told them back or what something like i guess ptsd hold them back these guys have seen what it takes to be able to live in this great country and to be free. they've seen it in for them to sit there and disregard that and disregard the to seen happen and let themselves not go out and make a difference and be the best they can every single day, it bothers me a lot. what can we do to help everyone

now? don't forget you are sitting here and live in a free country. that is what is going to help out the most is to do that. don't ever forget because we take our freedom every single day take advantage of it and we forget why we are here. just as we are starting to be extending your right now i promise there is someone getting shot at who is scared to death for their life and a family member that is sitting here wondering what's going on. so it's not just about the men and women serving its out their families because they serve, too so we never can forget them and i think that is what is going to be the biggest difference in my opinion. yes, sir. >> [inaudible]

in the marine corps we are taught obedience by what to tell you something else we are taught honor, courage and commitment and tosk accountability. just because there is obedience, the bond with me and my brothers was stronger than what i've learned obedience delivers because they hold me accountable. when i say they hold me accountable the hold me accountable to get them all live or die trying and that's what it was. i knew, i knew whenever i left that position after they told me know i said in the hallway like i'm going to have to answer for this. but you know what just because there is obedience doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. i can go home at night and look at myself in the mirror.

>> yes, sir. >> [inaudible] it was a combination of all of them. you know, growing up with my father my father never would let me quit and always taught me to do what's right. you know, my father never was in any kind of clicks or anything like that because he does what is right and what is the best for him and that is what he put in me than with the marine corps

training on top of it it's the same thing in the marine corps. my father taught me all the way it to the marine corps and they just pounded it in even more and it's a lot of luck. how did i not die that day? i don't know can't even begin to tell you. i don't know how i didn't die that day. but i didn't and there is a reason. every day that we have to live on it is a bonus. if you go to sleep at night and wake up in the morning that is a bonus. we as humans are getting to the point we feel like we are entitled. we are entitled. well, guess what we are not entitled to anything. and that's the thing we've got to remember is every day is a bonus. why not worry about the unknown? we worry so much about tomorrow why don't we just get through today? but it's a lot of luck through so many combinations. it was crazy. thank you. yes, ma'am.

>> [inaudible] >> do whatever they want. it's their own decision because i don't want them to look back at me and say he pushed us into it or you made me do this or i don't want the guilt on my hands if something happens to them i pushed them into it. you make your own decision. i will give them the fact they need to know and that's all we can do. we can never make up anybody's mind for them but i would recommend it you don't go to college i would recommend going to the military. and of course i'm going to say the marines because i'm biased. [applause] thank you. yes, ma'am. >> [inaudible] >> no, i don't. she said i'm not wearing my medal today. jul ever wear it? no, i don't. the only time is when i'm in uniform because i am required to wear my medals.

i on don't wear it because that's not what i am about. im foremost a marine and i am an american. that's y rear american flag cufflinks. i don't where the metal because i don't have enough of them. i want to let you know that any man or woman serving in all of these marines in the back in uniform, they should be wary of the metal and it's just as much theirs as it is mine. because i truly believe -- ask them. if you've ever been in a situation to receive the medal of honor, raise your hand. none of them. that's why they don't have the medal of honor around their neck. >> [inaudible]

>> well, i have. i've spoken at the naval academy, but i don't go out and speak a lot because a lot of people don't want to hear what i have to say. you know what i mean? we get into rules of engagement, and like i said last night, i truly believe that if you let an officer or anybody give you an excuse of the world's engagement stop me from doing something or this or that, pardon my language, but that is complete bullshit to the its incompetent leadership not being able to make a decision is what that is. yes, sir? >> [inaudible] >> at 17-years-old what did you think of your experiences? >> was a great vacation. [laughter] know, it was a wake-up call. i can't really look back at it because i didn't get to

experience it from the outset. i was doing what i was told and marching around pity and i went back to the base about a month ago, and i didn't even know this was here. it seemed like coming from this place and this place was so much longer. they were like it was because we take you all the way around the other side. thank you also much for having me today. i really appreciate the questions. [applause] you are watching book tv on c-span2. from time to time we like to visit universities and attend different events so we get a chance to talk with authors. this week we are at freedom fest, a libertarian organization in las vegas for their annual

conference and we are joined by author jeffrey tucker who is the editor of laissez-faire books and the author of these books. it's a jet since world private miracles and public crimes as well as suburban for breakfast living outside the status quo. jeffrey tucker, let's start with "its a jetson's world." >> thank you for having me on. "its a jetson's world i've is trying to capture the sense of miracle that's around us every day but deutsch a technology and the astonishing innovations that have happened over the last ten years fulfilling my childhood dreams. every once in awhile i wake up and i realize that it was just a big dream. walter cronkite will be on the air giving me the news or something like that. it seems too good to be true.

and i don't know. there are so many things that are amazing. let me give an exit poll. the other day i was traveling in the small town in the would become midwest. i used a quick - application and i felt all of the restaurants around me and i was able to click on a song i liked and i pulled up the menu and have the daily specials there and the full price list which have an x-ray vision. through this marrec phyllis digital technology part of the book is to draw attention to these things and i think more importantly help us understand the source of them which is the market economy, not the government. >> what is the flintstones part of your book? >> the part the government runs from the physical world to break down due to the taxes and regulations. we live in a highly regimented fiscal world where day after day bureaucracies are getting more and more rules on how things have to be made just like the

old soviet union and we've seen a kind of breakdown of the physical things we took for granted but due to the regulations with its washing machines or dry years or toasters or hot water heaters its heavily regulated now things are not working as well as they used to sew it is a strange thing. on the one hand in the free world of the digital economy we have massive renovation every day there is no release its more spectacular than ever and then in the physical world things are kind of a dilapidated, ever less impressive so the book tries to draw attention to the contrast and the cause and effect relationships. i would argue that the reason the digital economy is growing and progressing and serving so many people was because it's a free sector of society. >> one of the examples you talk about or one of your chapters in "its a jetson's world is a fact

that students said should try to work for free. islamic this is a very serious problem. it is a gigantic problem. young kids are not getting work experience any more. when i was younger i was able to start work when i was called for 13. now almost impossible to get to work at all until you are like 16 at the very latest and it seems very assertive and there are fewer opportunities and what i suggest is that young people get to work as soon as they possibly can even if it means working for free so you can build up a context and so that you can develop a network to see if you can have a nice resume and people but will recommend you but more important than that it is important for building character. i argue here that the market, the workplace is an important educational institution probably more important than the usual education. you learn how to deal with other people and how to deal with the authority and be creative in any

job market place. there's discipline associated with it. all these things you learn how to handle money. this is an experience all americans have had since the beginning of the country in the current generation. i think it is a serious problem. >> how does that fit into your "its a jetson's world"? >> i try not to draw attention to the miracles which i think is important to be aware of how wonderful the digital world has become to be conscious of it and then to be aware of the problems in the way the regulations of kind of caused the dilapidation and the physical world but i also try to provide solutions. i think it's important that people realize even in an age of local despotism, you have to still live a full and free life and whenever you can. and so this is one of the solutions i said just for young people is get to work and find a place you can volunteer your efforts and integrate yourself because it is going to come at

some point he will be on your own and you will be out of that show of government schooling and you will have to provide for yourself and for your loved ones. >> jeffrey where did the title bourbon for breakfast come from? >> it came from a very surprising event in my life. i went to breakfast with a very old scholar in the university who was an expert in greek and latin who'd written a book on the old testament and one of these old southern gentleman and the first thing he said this would you like a cup of coffee? sure. would you like bourbon and that coffee? a shot? what is he doing drinking in the morning? it's like a taboo. what an interesting context. this old scholar, a southern gentleman, by a leading of the great social taboos of drinking in the morning. i said yes, of course. so it was kind of a big moment because i realized a lot of the things we think are true or not true to the we have a kind of a crafty world where we obey the

central plan. you're supposed to not go to college until we are 18, steven scully and not work until you are 16 to the it's like there is a map for our lives that has been imposed upon us and the book urges us to think outside of the box and do things in a new way. in other words don't just accept what people tell you and consider different points of view. the title burden for breakfast is a window and urged to think less orthodox. and to attend new things. >> you also talk about the fact that morality in your view doesn't come from the state. one of the examples you use is something increased on your drain. >> i do dampen greece donley drain. that's funny that you mention that. i'm also a big fan of lard. i consume a lot in my biscuits and pancakes and cook all the

time so that is another example. it's a good food, i love lard. i love fast food. everybody is down on fast food but i defended in this book. i love mcdonald's and taco bell and i'm crazy for wal-mart. i was watching a movie theater day featuring a century ago i had all these socialists and they were organized and making demands and what they wanted. what do they want? they wanted prosperity for the masses, they wanted the working man and woman to have health care to have housing and to have access to the things the rich have. i agree to everything they said. there are deals are ma ideals but what brought that to us clacks not the socialist state. it was the free market that did it. was delivering to less the old goals of the years ago. we need to realize that and come to terms with it. it's very interesting to me the people but were down on wal-mart and the socialists and the leftists, i don't understand it.

when i go to wal-mart i see the masses shopping getting a great stuff and low prices and this is heaven. this is the dream of every great philosopher from the beginning of time to achieve something is wonderful. why don't we appreciate it? i don't understand. i defend that, too. >> jeffrey tucker, you talk about the piano industry in bourbon for breakfast and in the current debate on outsourcing going on on the highest political levels what is your take? >> i'm glad you brought that up, there was interesting essays research. i got interested when i was in the market for a piano i went to a store and played some of these old american pianos made in the entire war period. they saw the beautiful. they are interesting instruments, totally different from the instruments we use today. i began to look into the u.s. the industry it was gigantic there is a piano in every home.

it was hugely profitable interesting debate to industry. a major part of the economy. well at some point it became a longer economically feasible for them to be manufacturing in the u.s. and the move to japan and korea. now china is a major manufacturer but there was no panic. i don't recall anybody panicking about pianos are leaving in the u.s. and we are outsourcing our piano and losing jobs. no it is just part of the normal market process that takes place. part of the economic development. we have to let itself played out. and i discussed the piano industry in the industry and panic we can't possibly have prosperity as long as the u.s. is not manufacturing the cars we drive but that's ridiculous. i have personal regrets about that because i like the u.s. piano. i like the american piano. we just have to defer that result. and by the way i was just in

brazil. they drive a lot of american cars the you know what, they are not manufactured in america. the manufacturing process these are way more advanced than we used in this country. it's because of the labor unions and in my home state of alabama on manufacture a lot of corrine in cars made in the united states. >> and mercedes >> they've saved the culture of my state. there are hundreds of spin-off businesses all over montgomery and even georgia and the children of the workers are violinists. they've boosted their programs and they are now building churches all over the place and funding the symphony's. the culture has improved as a result of the koreans. i don't know what alabama would do without the korans.

it's been a beautiful thing to see, and the other theme of both of my books i am intrigued how commerce brings people together and a beautiful way without any central planning. the have nothing in common the curvy and said nothing in common with native alabama. culturally or any other way. but it's a beautiful thing to see how it brings people together. the brotherhood of man. beautiful. >> jeffrey tucker, what is laissez-faire books? >> it is founded in 1972 in the analog age when people just read a paper ink and got their books in the mail. we can't imagine that these days. i do vaguely. it was very prosperous and was kind of resource for the libertarian ideas that bumped up against the digital age 1995 they began to have problems and never became profitable again. a ticket over in 2010 almost as acquire an old mansion that was falling down or something in the

hope of refurbishing and yet so i was honored to be picked to becoming an executive editor and hopefully i can turn a profit. >> what kind of books to publish? >> history and philosophy and economics and financial books this when we started in november. it's backend it's everywhere now. everywhere you go and i started a book club except in the digital world. smith has that been successful? steny it's been six weeks. you know, it's a wonderful thing to be part of a commercial endeavor. make a plan that it can always change. you learn to go to bed with a sense of i don't know all the answers we cobble together this

business plan. was very exciting to me a creative endeavor. what's cool about markets this is a beautiful thing so it is a test in the market economy you know whether you are doing the right or the wrong thing because they are ratified by the balance sheet. it's a beautiful things you can go to bed at night. today we did well. i did the right thing. i will try again tomorrow but it's a great life. >> what is the ludwig von mises institute? >> i've worked for them for many years and it's a non-profit organization located in alabama and defender of liberty and economists whose agreed and a socialist antifascist scientist that publish both of the books and took the risk from both of them. and very pleased and i have another book coming out in six weeks it's called no more gatekeepers in the digital age

you can imagine what that is about. >> are you selling more hard copy books or online? >> far more at this point and it's great pity it saves the trees. i myself am a big -- the first 1i picked up i thought my goodness this is spectacular. this is a real commodity, this is a real thing to be this the future. so i fell in love with them. we make everything in ebook now. some people still want printed books and as you can see we have physical books and some people still love them. it's been to be this way for a long time. you have to do big things and audio books, too to be all things to all people these days. >> so is a book publisher and somebody that cares about intellectual property etc. what did you think of the d-day earlier in congress on sopa and

pipa? >> alj believe it is part of the free market. we went through thousands of years with no intellectual property and some legislators invented it some time or another. they made it international. i think it is gummed up for the works and it's made a mess of literature and music and especially in the world of patents it's made us of software to i think, you know, beethoven composed without copyright as did bach and shakespeare going back. i don't think we need intellectual property and in fact i don't think intellectual property is real property so i made this at great length and it's shocking. if any of the viewers hear me say that they are mike ki is out of his mind. read my argument and see what you think and think about a long time. it took me six years to come to this view. >> at the same time we live in a capitalist system and you're worried about your business turning a profit. >> that's right. >> these books help make it