The American Soul

One Flag, One Standard, One Future

• Jesse • Season 5 • Episode 214

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What if the way we trade, recruit, and credential is quietly draining the chances our kids need to build a life? We open with gratitude and prayer, then tackle a hard question about stewardship: how do we protect national capacity without closing the door to healthy exchange? From a proposed tariff on chips used for export to the flood of foreign athletic and academic scholarships, we trace how institutions can unintentionally export value while importing applause. The thesis is simple and challenging—opportunity is a national trust, and standards are an act of love.

We push back on the claim that Americans won’t do tough jobs and examine how welfare design, training gaps, and licensing choices shape behavior. Trucking becomes a real-world example: a dignified path for veterans wrestling with reintegration and young men seeking stability. The solution isn’t scorn; it’s rebuilding pathways, setting clear expectations, and aligning incentives so effort is rewarded. When the bar is raised with support, people rise. When it’s dropped in the name of compassion, potential collapses under low aims.

Faith and history anchor the argument. 1 Corinthians 7 reframes marriage as mutual duty and prayerful unity, showing how private order fuels public strength. Readings from Matthew, the Psalms, and Proverbs call for courage, integrity, and fruit that matches our claims. We remember Medal of Honor recipient Abram B. Brandt, honoring sacrifice that built the freedoms we enjoy. And we revisit Theodore Roosevelt’s warning against hyphenated loyalties and Calvin Coolidge’s reminder that our civic fabric rests on biblical teaching broadly shared. One flag, one standard, one future: that’s the path to a nation where kids, veterans, and families find real work, strong homes, and a shared creed.

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SPEAKER_01:

Hey folks, this is Jesse Cope, back with another episode of the American Soul Podcast. Hope y'all are doing well wherever y'all are, whatever part of the day you're in. Sure do appreciate you joining me, giving me a little bit of your time and attention, a little piece of your day. I will try and use it wisely. For those of y'all who continue to share the podcast with others, tell others about it. Thank you. Very, very grateful for you doing that. For those of y'all who continue to pray for me and for the podcast, thank you. Extremely grateful for your prayers. Need them and want them. Father, thank you for today. Thank you for you, Father, and your Son, Jesus Christ, and your Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you for your love and your mercy, your grace, and your forgiveness of sins, Father. Forgive us when we don't cling to you. Forgive us when we put so many other things that matter so much less. Which is pretty much everything in front of you. Forgive us our greed, our pride, judgment of others, rash words and actions, our cowardice, our unbelief. Help us to get our priorities in order with your priorities. As individuals. In our marriages as a husband and wife, as parents, as citizens. Help us to help those that have less than we do. Jesus. Help us to help our country turn back to you. Be with those who are hurting and alone. Those who are injured and ill. Be with our veterans and our military, law enforcement, firefighters, EMS. Comfort them. Be with those veterans who came home broken in one form or another. Help us to care for them and their families. Help us to care for their widows and their orphans for those who didn't come home.

SPEAKER_01:

Be with our leaders, both in the pulpit and in the state. Help them to rule in fear of you and be with those listening to the podcast, Father Please, wherever they are today.

SPEAKER_00:

Bless their families, their marriages if they're married. And guide us all. And guide my words here, Father Please. In your son's name we pray. Amen. Sorry, folks. Obviously, I'm still a little under the weather. I stumbled across a little news blip, I don't know, a week or two ago.

SPEAKER_01:

Some of y'all had probably seen this. The president was proposing, threatening, depending on how you want to look at it, a 25% tariff on semiconductor chips that were imported into the United States but weren't used domestically, right? So meaning that they brought the chips in, but they were going to build something with it, and then they were going to ship them out to another country. And some of you might at first think, well, why would you do that? You know, that's work for Americans.

SPEAKER_00:

It is to a certain extent, but it's also us s shipping out our academic abilities, right?

SPEAKER_01:

Our infrastructure and technological advantages to a certain extent. I'm doing a pretty poor job. But it's it's kind of like we're giving away the talent of America. And it made me think that same mentality, even more so, ought to apply to our schools, our colleges and universities with athletic and academic scholarships. There should be, I would argue, more like a 50 to 75% tariff on schools for positions that they give away to foreign students.

SPEAKER_00:

And you could set a baseline.

SPEAKER_01:

Say that that college is allowed to have 1% of their student body be foreign, or 1% of their scholarships go to foreign students academically or athletically. But folks, we're killing our own kids and grandkids. We're farming out their opportunities. We're giving away their opportunities. And the idea, man, I just got really hot. The idea that you hear so much from the left, which is such a blatant lie, and even from some people that pretend to be conservative, you hear them say, well, Americans just don't work as hard as illegal immigrants, or nobody wants to do those jobs except illegal immigrants. Well, if we didn't have the welfare system, you know what? Suddenly a lot of those people would want those jobs. And it's not true anyway, right? Take the trucking industry and the number of licenses that we have given to illegal immigrants. Trucking's a good job, folks. Right? Maybe you go back to the homeless vets that we prayed for earlier. They come home and they've got some hangups mentally. And sitting in a truck by themselves for eight hours a day, maybe they don't deal with people so well anymore. But they can still drive a truck and do a really good job at it. There's a lot of people out there, a lot of young men that could be truck drivers, that would make good truck drivers, that would be able to provide an income for a wife and children and a stable home. And we're given those positions away. Academically and athletically, in schools, professionally outside of schools. It's not loving. It's not kind or caring or anything else that so many people pretend it is to farm out those positions. And I'll give you one more little tidbit just to kind of drive home the point about the total fallacy and really disingenuous nature of the argument that Americans just aren't up to the standard, our kids today. And if that if that's true, folks, it's our fault because we don't hold them to a standard. It's not their fault.

SPEAKER_00:

It's our fault. I saw it in the classroom all the time. I happened to be going into the Marine Corps right around 9-11.

SPEAKER_01:

And right after 9-11, there were so many applications for the different officer candidacy programs in the Marine Corps that the Marine Corps had to jack the standards through the roof because they had too many people applying. They couldn't take them all. And so they kept raising the standards a little bit, a little bit, a little bit.

SPEAKER_00:

SAT scores, PT scores, right?

SPEAKER_01:

If we have a problem today with children, and I argue that we do, it's because we quit holding them to a high enough standard. Kids respond. They want the standards. They want to know where the guidelines are. They will respond. It's not that we don't have the talent, the skill, the work ethic in our kids because they can't do it. It's because we're too lazy and selfish, or whatever other derogatory word you want to throw in there to hold them to the standard.

SPEAKER_00:

Marriage verse for today, 1 Corinthians 7.

SPEAKER_01:

Start with verse 2. Because of immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband. The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Stop depriving one another except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. But I say this by way of concession, not of command. You don't have to abstain from sex and marriage if you don't both agree to it. But if you do, right? The point is to devote yourselves to prayer. How many marriages inside the church across America do you think only abstain from sex? And I'm not talking about injury or illness or something, folks, where you can't, but when you can, how many marriages inside the church do you think only abstain when both spouses agree to it and they devote that time to fasting and prayer and then come back together again? My guess would be somewhere between zero and one percent. And what does that mean? Does that mean that God was wrong and we're right and we figured it out? No, just look at the state of marriage, even inside the church today. Obviously, we haven't figured it out.

SPEAKER_00:

Obviously, we're getting it wrong because we're not paying attention to what he said. Scripture for today. Go back into Matthew. And we'll go to Matthew 20, verse 29 through 21, verse 22.

SPEAKER_01:

As Jesus and the disciples left the town of Jericho, a large crowd followed behind. Two blind men were sitting beside the road. When they heard that Jesus was coming that way, they began shouting, Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us. Be quiet. The crowd yelled at them. But they only shouted louder. When Jesus heard them, he stopped and called, What do you want me to do for you? Lord, they said, We want to see. Jesus felt sorry for them and touched their eyes. Instantly they could see, then they followed him. As Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the town of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead. Go into the village over there, he said, as soon as you enter it, you will see a donkey tied there with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, The Lord needs them, and he will immediately let you take them. This took place to fulfill the prophecy that said, Tell the people of Jerusalem, look, your king is coming to you. He is humble, riding on a donkey, riding on a donkey's colt. The two disciples did as Jesus commanded. They brought the donkey and the colt to him, and threw their garments over the colt, and he sat on it. Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around him were shouting, Praise God for the Son of David. Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Praise God in highest heaven. The entire city of Jerusalem was in an uproar as he entered. Who is this? They asked. And the crowds replied, It's Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee. Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out all the people buying and selling animals for sacrifice. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves. He said to them, The scriptures declare my temple will be called a house of prayer, but you have turned it into a den of thieves. The blind and the lame came to him in the temple and he healed them. The leading priests and the teachers of religious law saw these wonderful miracles, and heard even the children in the temple shouting, Praise God for the Son of David. But the leaders were indignant. They asked Jesus, Do you hear what these children are saying? Yes, said Jesus. Haven't you ever read the scriptures? For they say, You have taught children and infants to give you praise. Then he returned to Bethany, where he stayed overnight. In the morning, as Jesus was returning to Jerusalem, he was hungry. And he noticed a fig tree beside the road. He went over to see if there were any figs, but there were only leaves. Then he said to it, May you never bear fruit again. And immediately the fig tree withered up. The disciples were amazed when they saw this and asked, How did the fig tree wither so quickly? Then Jesus told them, I tell you the truth. If you have faith and don't doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea, and it will happen. You can pray for anything. And if you have faith, you will receive it.

SPEAKER_00:

Psalm twenty five verse sixteen through twenty two.

SPEAKER_01:

Turn to me and have mercy, for I am alone and in deep distress. My problems go from bad to worse. Oh save me from all save me from them all. Feel my pain and see my trouble. Forgive all my sins. See how many enemies I have and how viciously they hate me. Protect me, rescue my life from them. Do not let me be disgraced, for in you I take refuge. May integrity and honesty protect me, for I put my hope in you. O God, ransom Israel from all its troubles. Proverbs six twelve through fifteen. What are worthless and wicked people like? They are constant liars, signaling their deceit with a wink of the eye, a nudge of the foot, or a wiggle of the fingers. Their perverted hearts plot evil and they constantly stir up trouble.

SPEAKER_00:

But they will be destroyed suddenly, broken in an instant beyond all hope of healing. I've often liked the story of the two blind men.

SPEAKER_01:

When they were told to be quiet by the crowd, what did they do? They cried out for Jesus all the more. I wonder how often the world tells me to be quiet when I'm looking for Jesus, calling for Jesus.

SPEAKER_00:

And I wonder how often I, instead of calling all the louder for Christ, go along with it.

SPEAKER_01:

We should never be ashamed or back away from seeking Christ, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Medal of Honor Citation for today Abram B.

SPEAKER_01:

Brandt Private Indian Campaigns Delta Company seventh U.S. Cavalry US Army, june twenty fifth, eighteen seventy six, Little Bighorn, Montana, USA brought water for the wounded under a most gowling galling fire. Credited to St. Louis, Saint Louis County, Missouri, awarded posthumously. Presented october fifth, eighteen seventy eight, born eighteen forty nine, New York, New York, United States, died october fourth, eighteen seventy eight near Camp Rulin, Dakota Territory. Buried Fort Meade National Cemetery as unknown. Sturgis, South Dakota, United States. Wow. One of our Abram B. Brandt, if I'm reading that right, one of our Medal of Honor winners buried as unknown.

SPEAKER_00:

How do we bury men that give their lives for their country? As unknown. I'm sure there's extenuation and mitigation, but good lord. Well, we can remember his name again, Adam or Abram B. Brandt.

SPEAKER_01:

So we're gonna finish up this second part in this hyphenated Americanism from Teddy Roosevelt, 1815, a speech he gave to the Knights of Columbus. If I can find my glasses, we'll pick up where we left off, talking about the Revolutionary War, and now we're going into the Civil War. So it was with the Civil War. Fargott's father was born in Spain, and Sheridan's father in Ireland. Sherman and Thomas were of English, and Custer of German descent, and Grant came from a long line of American ancestors whose original home had been Scotland. But the Admiral was not a Spanish American, and the generals were not Scotch Americans or Irish Americans, or English Americans, or German Americans. They were all Americans and nothing else. This was just as true of Lee and Stonewall Jackson and of Beauregard. When in 1909 our battlefield returned, our battle fleet returned from its voyage around the world, Admirals Wainwright and Schroeder represented the best traditions and the most effective action in our Navy. One was of old American blood and of English descent. The other was the son of German immigrants. But one was not Native American and the other German American. Each was an American, pure and simple. Each bore allegiance only to the flag of the United States. Each would have been incapable of considering the interests of Germany or of England or of any other country except the United States. To take charge of the most important work under my administration, the building of the Panama Canal, I chose General Gothels. Both of his parents were born in Holland, but he was just plain United States. He wasn't a Dutch American. If he had been, I wouldn't have appointed him. So it was with such men among those who served under me, as Admiral Austris and General Barry. The father of one was born in Germany, the father of the other in Ireland, but they were both Americans pure and simple, and first rate fighting men in addition. In my cabinet at the time, there were men of English and French, German, Irish, and Dutch blood, men born on this side, and men born in Germany and Scotland. But they were all Americans and nothing else, and every one of them was incapable of thinking of himself or of his fellow countrymen, excepting in terms of American citizenship. If any one of them had anything in the nature of a dual or divided allegiance in his soul, he never would have been appointed to serve under me, and he would have been instantly removed when the discovery was made. There wasn't one of them who was capable of desiring that the policy of the United States should be shaped with reference to the interests of any foreign country, or with consideration for anything outside of the general welfare of humanity, save the honor and interest of the United States, and each was incapable of making any discrimination whatsoever among the citizens of the country he served, of our common country, save discrimination based on conduct and on conduct alone. For an American citizen to vote as a German American or an Irish American or an English American is to be a traitor to the American institutions. And those hyphenated Americans who terrorize American politicians by threats of the foreign vote are engaged in treason to the American Republic.

SPEAKER_00:

Teddy Roosevelt, 1815, I believe, Knights of Columbus. Remember what it means to be an American.

SPEAKER_01:

Remember this quote from Coolidge when you're talking about how do we not discriminate on anything but conduct and conduct alone, right? But what are the values that hold us together? This is from President Calvin Coolidge, the foundations of our society and our government rest so much on the teachings of the Bible that it would be difficult to support them if faith in these teachings would cease to be practically universal in our country. I'm reminded of Teddy Roosevelt in another instance talking about the fact that just because there's one or two men or women here or there that can still function morally despite the fact of not honoring their marriage vows outside of that right, that doesn't mean that that's generally true, right? Those are the exceptions that prove the rule, as my father has said all my life. Just because there's one or two Muslims or leftists or communists or socialists or whatever else that in some time of distress have served the country well, uh A, it doesn't mean that they'll serve the country well long term because those those ideologies, values are counter to the Republic, to the principles of Christ. But B, it doesn't mean that if you have a huge chunk of those people, that that's gonna work out well, right? And I would offer up again Minnesota and the Somali case, the mass Muslim immigrants and the mass illegal immigrants in our nation today.

SPEAKER_00:

It's not gonna work out well, folks.

SPEAKER_01:

If you are looking for a family-friendly middle grade read, if you would check out Countryside and if you enjoyed, if you would leave a review for the first or second book, I would very much appreciate that. There's paperback, hardback, ebook. You can find it on Amazon, Barnes Noble, and uh your local bookstores if you're lucky enough to have one, would and they can order it as well. And then if you feel like you're getting something out of the podcast on a semi-regular basis, if you could leave a review somewhere online, and also if you have five or ten dollars that you can spare each month, if you could you could set up that donation on the Buzz Sprout website.

SPEAKER_00:

The links are at the bottom of the show notes, and I would be very grateful for that as well.

SPEAKER_01:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. God bless y'all. God bless your families, God bless your marriages if you're married. God bless your nation, wherever you are around the world. Listening. God bless America. We'll talk to y'all again real soon, folks. Looking forward to it.