A Nation of Cowards by Jeffrey Snyder (audio version)
Radical Personal Finance
Joshua J. Sheats, MSFS, CFP, CLU, ChFC, CASL, RHU, REBC, CAP
4.2 • 1.9K Ratings
🗓️ 1 March 2018
⏱️ 37 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This is the audio recording of an essay published in the Fall of 1993 in The Public Interest magazine.
The essay is titled: "A Nation of Cowards" by Jeffrey Snyder.
You can access a text version of this essay here: http://rkba.org/comment/cowards.html
I'm publishing this essay for you as a thought-provoking defense of the morality of your being well-armed.
In today's political climate where critics are drawing a moral equivalence between mass murderers and an average armed citizen, I think this moral defense is warranted.
The facts and names of the essay are dated. The arguments are not.
As you consider this essay with 25 years of hindsight, do some research into how well the arguments have weathered the test of time.
Joshua
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Nation of Cowards, published in Fall of 1993 in the Public Interest, a quarterly journal of opinion published |
| 0:06.9 | by National Affairs, Inc. |
| 0:09.9 | Our society has reached a pinnacle of self-expression and respect for individuality rare or unmatched in history. |
| 0:17.0 | Our entire popular culture, from fashion magazines to the cinema, positively screams the matchless worth of the individual, and glories in eccentricity, |
| 0:27.0 | non-conformity, independent judgment, and self-determination. |
| 0:32.0 | This enthusiasm is reflected in the prevalent notion that |
| 0:35.3 | helping someone entails increasing that person's self-esteem, that if a person |
| 0:40.4 | properly values himself he will naturally be a happy, productive, and in some inexplicable |
| 0:46.5 | fashion responsible member of society. |
| 0:51.0 | And yet, while people are encouraged to revel in their individuality and incalculable self-worth, |
| 0:57.0 | the media and the law enforcement establishment continually advises us that, when confronted with the threat of lethal violence we should not |
| 1:04.6 | resist but simply give the attacker what he wants. If the crime under |
| 1:08.8 | consideration is rape there is some notable waffling on this point and the discussion quickly moves to how the woman can change her behavior to minimize the risk of rape and the various ridiculous non-lethal weapons she may acceptably carry such as whistles keys mace or that weapon that really sends shivers |
| 1:26.4 | down a rapist's spine the portable cellular phone now how can this be how can a person who values himself so highly, calmly accept the indignity of a criminal assault? |
| 1:39.0 | How can one who believes that the essence of his dignity lies in his self-determination, |
| 1:43.7 | passively accept the forcible deprivation of that self-determination. |
| 1:50.1 | How can he quietly, with great dignity and poise simply hand over the goods? |
| 1:56.7 | The assumption of course is that there is no inconsistency. The advice not to resist a |
| 2:02.1 | criminal assault and simply hand over the goods is founded on the notion that one's life is of |
| 2:06.5 | Incalculable value and that no amount of property is worth it |
| 2:10.4 | Put aside for a moment the outrageousness of the suggestion that a criminal who proffers |
| 2:14.8 | lethal violence should be treated as if he has instituted a new social contract, I will not hurt |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Joshua J. Sheats, MSFS, CFP, CLU, ChFC, CASL, RHU, REBC, CAP, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Joshua J. Sheats, MSFS, CFP, CLU, ChFC, CASL, RHU, REBC, CAP and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.