The Literal Price of Freedom

On Jon Stewart's rationalization of decline

Tucker Carlson’s recent trip to Russia has predictably angered all of the worst people. Many left of center – and even some on the right – have accused American conservatism’s star pundit of carrying water for the Kremlin after he interviewed Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

But that wasn’t the only controversial video Tucker posted from his trip. A filmed visit to a Russian supermarket, of all things, proved to be at least as enraging to the usual suspects as the interview with Putin – as did Tucker’s trip to the Moscow Metro.

The responses from the left have been revealing. Instead of resigning themselves to mocking Tucker for marveling at Russia’s low food prices (which are of course low because Russia is a relatively poor country), some, such as the Daily Show’s Jon Stewart, wound up rationalizing American decline.

In a clip from a recent episode of the Daily Show, a visibly frustrated Stewart rails against Tucker’s praise for Moscow’s subway system: 

Because the difference between our urinal caked chaotic subways and your candelabra’d beautiful subways is the literal price of freedom. But the goal that Carlson and his ilk are pushing is that there’s really no difference between our systems. In fact, theirs might be a little better. 

What a load of nonsense. Sure, our cities might be increasingly violent, ugly, polluted, overcrowded, and dysfunctional – that’s just the price of freedom, buddy! Clearly only a Kremlin apologist would think otherwise. 

By comparing Moscow’s subway system to those in major American cities, Tucker forced Jon Stewart to defend and rationalize American decline. Often, the left pretends that there’s nothing wrong. They accuse conservatives concerned about rising crime or other urban dysfunction of being paranoid cranks. But there’s really no denying the fact that American subways pale in comparison to those in Moscow. 

Stewart and his ilk likely found the subway video so alarming because of the questions it raises for Americans. Why don’t our subways look like that? Why aren’t there mobs of diverse youths accosting normal people? Where are all the homeless people? What about the trash? 

Americans are not supposed to think along these lines. To do so inevitably guides one to the conclusion that a better world is possible – that all of the ugliness, filth, injustice, and chaos we see around us is ultimately unnecessary. Decline is a choice; so is restoration. Why do you think they hate Bukele? 

The fact that Stewart chose to invoke freedom is curious. When the left pushes soft on crime policies, which undeniably make our cities less safe, freedom is rarely cited. Instead they defend these rotten policies on the grounds of “racial justice” or “equality” or something of that sort. As many noted on Twitter, Stewart’s verbiage