# Peter Boghossian on Fighting Cowardice, Protecting Our Rights, and Saving Civilization **Creator:** Dad Saves America **Platform:** youtube **Duration:** 7m **Source:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL2W_7_azow ## Summary The discussion revolves around the current state of civilization, emphasizing the need to conserve fundamental liberties and engage in open discourse. The speaker critiques the rise of offense culture and cowardice in society, arguing that these trends hinder meaningful dialogue and threaten civil liberties. - Civilization is at risk due to a rise in offense culture, where being offended is seen as a virtue. - There is a need to conserve basic freedoms like speech, assembly, and cognitive liberty. - The speaker highlights the importance of dialogue and discourse in a healthy society. - Cowardice is identified as a significant issue, preventing individuals from standing up for truth and rights. - The conversation touches on the dangers of ideological rigidity and the lack of willingness to change beliefs based on evidence. - The speaker critiques the medical treatment of children with gender dysphoria, likening it to surgical conversion therapy. - There is a call for individuals to fight for their civilization and the principles that support human flourishing. ## Transcript [[0:01]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL2W_7_azow&t=1s) how do you think about what civilization is um and how it survives like that yeah as Florence Reed from unheard says we are living in a uniquely stupid age this is a uniquely idiotic age so I think about civilization I think about what Thomas Soul said about civilization this idea that you know conservatives want to conserve the civilization they want to serve elements [[0:31]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL2W_7_azow&t=31s) of the society that enable people to flourish that help people to live the kind of lives they want so right now Society is simultaneously the citizens in not only the West this is an a neocolonial export critical social justice that we've exported all around the world great book on that was reiv mra's snakes in the ganga where he talks about American exp America exporting not values of a shining City upon a hill but [[1:03]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL2W_7_azow&t=63s) values of pronouns and trans status people are born in the wrong body and everything is due to systems okay so what does it mean to conserve society and is is there is there anything worth conserving well the first order of businesses you have to you have to have some fundamental starting points you have to have some first principles the we have a really good in the United States we're very fortunate we have basic freedoms freedom of assembly [[1:31]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL2W_7_azow&t=91s) freedom of the press freedom of speech but increasingly those are under attack I think among since I've started this journey one of the things that I've learned is the most fundamental and perhaps important freedom is cognitive Liberty you're Catholic I'm an atheist it is absolutely vital that you have the right to believe what you want to believe about you know I don't the transubstantiation [[2:02]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL2W_7_azow&t=122s) or the whatever it is that you want to believe in the same way that we shouldn't have a good deep cut I appreciate it transubstantiation well I don't know what what I I my first thought was Jesus walking on water but okay so um yeah even better that a piece of bread becomes the actual body and blood yeah well that's why I thought of it because it's the most crazy thing I could think of but it's a crazy sounding [[2:25]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL2W_7_azow&t=145s) thing yeah yeah not just sounding but anyway but but the point so even even in that right there which was important is that and this is one of the things we've lost like I gave you a little dig you took it in a good way nobody's ending their friendship nobody's like storming out of here like that should be we we we all have to live together in a society right we we we all have to yeah get [[2:47]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL2W_7_azow&t=167s) along with each other and you know we we know each other a little bit so I'm you know I can rib you about that or you can rib me about you know I don't have enough Faith to be an atheist or you know whatever it is what I don't take these things personally but we have we have have taught generations of kids now that being offended is a virtue that you should be offended that if you're not [[3:08]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL2W_7_azow&t=188s) offended that you're a bad person it's a kind of virtue signaling and it's virtual signaling by proxy I'm offended that you've said something to him even though he's not offended I'm offended on behalf of him no we got to let this whole offended thing go like we it's just this is a civilizational toxin because that prevents discourse and dialogue but again the problem is we have people running around who simply don't believe in discourse and dialogue [[3:34]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL2W_7_azow&t=214s) we have people who are actively fighting against our institutions and the ability for us to retain our speech rights our cognitive Liberties our freedom of assembly our freedom of press even our Miranda rights oddly enough so the question is you know what does it mean to be in a civilization my answer to that question would be to uphold the Liberties that all of us are AF fored and in order to do that we we have to have some basic [[4:06]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL2W_7_azow&t=246s) consensus on how we should behave in the Public Square how we should live our lives you know in Portland I moved out of Portland they ripped down the Abraham Lincoln Statue well because of course well yeah I mean it was it was also a lot of this is is we have a bunch of thugs terrorizing our institutions and they they have their intellectual horsepower from people in the academies [[4:38]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL2W_7_azow&t=278s) but the the larger problem is we're in a situation now where cowardice is rampant I mean we we have the mutilation of the genitals of children we know from shellenberger W path we know from the Tavo we know from the wonderful stuff Andrew Doyle's done in the coverage we know from Bernard Lane in Australia his stuff we we know that this is grotesque we know that this is not evidence-based we know that we and now even countries [[5:11]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL2W_7_azow&t=311s) in northern Europe are starting to ban these procedures but we have had an epidemic of cowardice people were cowardly they didn't speak up children who suffered from gender dysmorphia children who are now lifelong medical patients so what does it mean to to have a civilization is you have to have people in the civilization who think it's worth fighting for and who stand up for [[5:43]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL2W_7_azow&t=343s) things and take hits because you will take hits you'll take hits on social media you'll take hits from your friends I can't tell you how many friends I've lost you you you have to get beyond the epidemic of cowardice you have to not be a coward you have to stand up and fight when something is clearly false however you also have to couple that with one disposition the ability to change your mind the ability to revise your belief [[6:13]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL2W_7_azow&t=373s) if incoming evidence shows that you were Incorrect and that's the piece that is missing that is the piece that is missing from the ideolog from the ideologues in their ideological tool set do you not have the will willingness or the ability to change their minds they're very good at calling everybody a Nazi and a racist and a bigot and a homophobe when the Great irony is that they were almost universally homophobe you know the the the uh percentage of [[6:44]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL2W_7_azow&t=404s) these of young kids who are quote unquote transitioned was itself a myth the majority of those kids are Autistic or or gay Abigail shri's written about that Colin Wrights has written about that yeah it's basically surgical transition it's surgical uh mtil um what's the term what's the term that was used for the uh con it's surgical conversion therapy which is the Iranians do yeah that that's the that's absolutely correct and we have had an epidemic of cowardice of people failing [[7:16]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL2W_7_azow&t=436s) to stand up if you like this clip we've got more where that came from be sure to watch the full video and don't forget to subscribe to the channel so you won't miss our new videos as they come out each week