Welcome to Uncommon Knowledge, I'm Peter Robinson.

I'm Peter Robinson. Ayan, Hirsi Ali, grew up in Africa and the Middle East and lived in the Netherlands where she served in the Dutch Parliament before moving to the United States where she became a citizen in 2013.

Ms. Ali is now a fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford.

Peter Berkowitz, also a fellow at the Hoover Institution,

has served since 2019 on the policy planning staff in the office of

the Secretary of State. Dr Berkowitz served as Executive Secretary of the

Commission on Unalienable Rights. Ayan and Peter, welcome.

Good to be with you, Peter.

Thank you.

Two quotations.

Here's the first question.

Two quotations.

President Calvin Coolidge on the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence,

quote, if all men are created equal, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the government, that is final.

No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions, close quote.

I actually think that's thrilling. Coolidge has such a reputation as a sort of stick in the mud, but those words just ring. Second quotation, Lee Kwan Yu, the long time ruler of Singapore, who of course turned Singapore into one of the most vibrant economies in Asia.

When people say, oh, ask the people, it's rubbish.

Do you honestly believe that the chap who can't pass primary school exams knows the consequences of his choices?

What people want is homes, medicine, jobs, and schools.

Coolage.

Government derives its powers from the consent of the govern

and that is transcendent and final,

...