JRE 1454 · April 7, 2020

Dan Crenshaw

politicsmilitaryphilosophypsychology

Who is Dan Crenshaw?

Dan Crenshaw is a politician and former United States Navy SEAL officer serving as the U.S. Representative for Texas’s 2nd congressional district since 2019. His new book "Fortitude: American Resilience in the Outrage Era" is now available everywhere. https://amzn.to/3b0jyxL

Topics and Timestamps

01Dan Crenshaw discusses his new book 'Fortitude: American Resilience in the Outrage Era' and what inspired him to write it
02Conversation covers his experience as a Navy SEAL and how military service shaped his perspective on resilience
03They explore the current political climate and the role of outrage culture in American discourse
04Crenshaw shares insights on leadership, decision-making, and personal accountability
05Discussion touches on cancel culture and how to navigate disagreement in modern society
06Joe and Dan debate various political and social issues affecting America today
▶Crenshaw discusses the inspiration behind writing Fortitude0:05:30
▶Conversation about Navy SEAL training and lessons in resilience0:18:45
▶Deep dive into cancel culture and outrage on social media0:42:10
▶Joe and Dan discuss political polarization and disagreement0:58:20
▶Crenshaw explains how to build resilience in modern times1:15:00

The Show

Joe sits down with Dan Crenshaw, the Navy SEAL turned congressman who's written a new book called Fortitude about building resilience in what he calls the Outrage Era. This is a conversation that bounces around from Crenshaw's military background to modern politics to the broader cultural moment we're living in.

Crenshaw brings a grounded perspective to the table. He's not some talking head who showed up to sell a book and dip out. He's genuinely engaged in discussing what resilience actually means and why Americans seem to be losing it. The book apparently digs into how outrage culture has infected everything from politics to social media to just basic human interaction. It's not some finger-wagging lecture about kids these days. It's more about how we've collectively lost the ability to sit with discomfort or disagreement without losing our minds.

The SEAL background comes up naturally because it's relevant. Crenshaw saw some of the worst situations humans can be in and still had to maintain composure and purpose. He lost an eye in Afghanistan and came back to build a political career. So when he talks about resilience, he's not speaking theoretically. He's talking about actually dealing with adversity and choosing how you respond to it.

Joe and Dan get into some real debates here. It's not a cheerleading session. They disagree on things and both seem fine with that, which is kind of the point of the whole conversation. You can talk to someone across the political aisle without treating them like an enemy. That's basically what Fortitude is about. The ability to have conviction in what you believe without needing everyone else to think exactly like you.

They touch on cancel culture and how social media has made it so that one mistake or one bad tweet can define your entire existence to a lot of people. Crenshaw's perspective is that this makes people more fragile, not stronger. If you're constantly afraid of saying the wrong thing, you stop taking intellectual risks. You stop growing. You start performing instead of thinking.