Interview With Richard Lim (Part 2)
It’s the “age of the unprecedented!” That’s historian Richard Lim’s take. Back for Part 2, the host of “This American President” explains what factors truly make this presidential election so unique. He also offers insight on the importance of knowing our nation’s history, and why it’s so rare to find political leaders who are willing to do the right thing anymore. But Richard still has hope that America can produce leaders of integrity—if some things change. Find out what those things are in this quick, topical episode.
Tired of ‘Unprecedented?’
“We truly live in the age of the unprecedented,” Richard told Know Why, adding that there is so much unprecedented about our current politics that it’s “absurd.” However, we can still glean insight from looking at our nation’s history. Unfortunately, few Americans are well-versed in American history.
“History is to a country the way memory is to an individual,” Richard said. “Why would you experience things and learn lessons but then forget them? What’s the point of that?”
Hope
Richard believes studying the past can also give us hope for the future, because even though events and circumstances change, human nature stays the same across time. And in the past, there are examples of leaders emerging to do the right thing, even when it wasn’t popular—and sometimes even when it was costly. He gives examples of past presidents who made the right decision when it was tough.
He acknowledges that many Americans may feel frustration at our political leaders today, whom many deem corrupt. “Why did we have leaders that did [the right thing] back then and not have that now?” he said.
“The answer is because there was this belief that everybody was accountable to God. Whether you were a Christian or not, that was the basic belief in the country. And we don’t have that anymore. If you want better leaders, you need that moral check on every American citizen, because then it will lead to leaders doing good things.”
You can read more about one of America’s good leaders in Richard’s forthcoming book, Refusing a Crown. Learn more at his website below.
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