Transcripts For CSPAN2 Book TV In Depth 20130804

Conjoined twins out of the blue, and i started reading a lot about them and i was trying to figure out why were the results so dismal . This is 1987. Modern time now we think of it as ancient but those times and as i read and read, finally concluded it was bleeding to death, which seemed to be the big problem. And i was talking to a friend who was the chief of surgery at the time and he had a lot of experience with hype othermic arrest, and he had done research and practiced a technique in which basically you cool the body temperature, pump all the blood out, the heart stops, and you can operate on a child for up to an hour before you have to warm the blood up and infuse it back in. And i was thinking, wow, joint the critical time during the separation, if you could go on hypothermic rest, reconstruct it and then start things up, macthe wouldnt bleed to death. Then i was saying, why am i thinking about this . Im never going to see a set of those twins. Lo and bee hold, two months later, here came the german doctors presenting the case to different medical centers, wanting to know if anybody had a solution because the mother was not willing to accept the solution that had been proposed in europe, which basically was for her to choose the one she wanted and the other one to be chopped off. And she loved them both. She just couldnt do that. And so i started explaining this whole concept of using the very modern techniques we had for doing all kinds of cranial facial surgery, and hypothermic arrest together, and everybody said, you know what, that sounds like it might work. And our chief of anesthesia, mark rogers, got really enthusiastic, and we started pulling together the team and talking about this. And one of the great things about being at an institution like hopkins, is that you can draw on people from lots of different specialties, all of whom are tops in their field, and you sit down and talk, but not only the physicians but the nurses, the aides everybody got involved. We punt together teams and asking people, how do you see this from your point of view, getting everybodys opinion. Even the engineers, how do we ensure we dont have a power failure. The head nurse in the surgery had me lay down on the couch, closed my eyes and tell me what instruments do you need, and i would go through it. She would write everything down. Put together a manual. The nurses actually created accordion sleeve drapes so that you put it over the bed and when the time came to pull the beds apart, they would fall into place to maintain the sterility of the field. That level of detail. I get an awful lot of credit of being the neurosurgeon the first one to separate twins like that, but could i not have done it without all those other people. It was team effort. Everybodys input was needed, and ive used that same principle throughout my surgical career, recognizing that as the bible says, and the multitude of counselors is safety. Dr. Carson, you talk about the bender twins in your first book gift hands the ben carson story. How many Siamese Twins have you separated and how long does such a surgery take . Guest i have personally been involved with five sets. And then ive been involved as a consultant for a number of others in this country and elsewhere as well. They usually take a very long period of time. Anywhere from 12 to 18 hours to a few days. It goes on and on. And i think that we are learning. People are learning a lot more about these kinds of things, and theres so many wonderful techniques that are coming up. I think within the next 20 years, these kinds of separations will be possible with very good outcomes in general. So, the other thing that is helping is the use of virtual reality. Once there are twins i helped with in singapore, the team that i worked with, i worked with before while i was in the United States, and they were elsewhere. But the second twins that i was involved with in south africa, i had the advantage of using the virtual work bench at Johns Hopkins, which we can take the cat scan, the mri, the angiogram, integrate them into a threedimensional model, put on your 3d glass and its sitting in front of you, and i was able to study the anatomy in the brains. Unfortunately i couldnt take that with me to south africa but at least i had seen it, sort of like a cab driver in new york city. If you have been there for a while and been driving through you at least have some impression of which way to go or no go. And in fact there came a point during the surgery when it was almost impossible to decipher which vessels went to which twin, and i was able to think back on those three dimensional images, and figure out what was going where, which i dont think i would have been able to do otherwise, and it turns out that was the first case of very complexly joined type one vertical twins, in which both ended up neurologically intact. Host you talk about in the book being able to see in 3d. A lot of people see things more or less in two dimensions. Somebody who sees things in three dimensions is able to keep relationships in their mind. For instance, im looking at you and looking at a camera behind you, book case, all of these various other things, and then if i was to close my eyes and spin around, as im a threedimensional thinker, i can still imagine where you are, where the cameras, where the books are, where the telephone is, and thats very important particularly when youre operating in a brain, which doesnt have a lot of visual landmarks. So you see one thing here and one thing here, and then you have to utilize those things to tell you where Everything Else is. Otherwise all your patients come out looking like that. So its a very important feature for neurosurgeons. Host in 1959, you were eight years old two things happened. Want to talk about your father and what you told your mother you wanted to be when you grew up. Guest my parents got divorced, i was eight years old. That was absolutely devastating. Like all little boys, you just so thrilled when your dad comes home. I remember i used to about the time he was supposed to come home, id run out to the alley, and be looking down the alley to see if he was coming, and then id run up to him. And so your dad just about always is sort of like your hero, and he would drive and i would sit in this lap and steer the wheel. I it was cool. And i loved playing with the veins on his hand because they were big and id push them in and they would pop back out. It was cool. So when it came time for them to get divorced, i just couldnt understand. And i wondered, was it something that i did . And i just begged my mother to let him come back. She never bad mouthed him. Never really even told us what the reason was until we were really old enough to understand it. That in fact he was a big amist. He had another family. When she married him she was 20, she was 28. That was extraordinarily difficult for her because now she had the responsibility of trying to raise two young sons on her own, and in a city of detroit, inner city boston, and then back to detroit, after she got her footing. And that was very difficult. She only had a third agreed education. She worked very hard as a domestic. Leaving at 5 00 in the morning north getting home until after midnight, going from job to job to job. She just had a disdain for welfare. And the sense that she was very observant and she noticed that no one she ever saw go on it came up a of it, and she just didnt like the idea of being dependent her whole life. So she figured she would work as long and as hard as she needed to, and that somehow god would take care of her. And i was an awful student, and but i just loved the whole concept of medicine. Anytime there was story on television or the radio about medicine, i was right there. I just loved hearing about the story. Interestingly enough, a lot of the big medical breakthroughs when i was a little kid seemed to be coming out of Johns Hopkins so i internalized one day i wanted to work at Johns Hopkins. But i think i told my mother, i want to be a doctor. I said, mother, do you think i can be a doctor . And she would auld say, you can be anything you want to be. You can be the best at anything you want to be, because youre a smart boy. And took a lot for her to say that because i wasnt manifesting the characteristics of a smart boy. And i was a terrible student. The people called me dummy. I thought i was stupid. Everybody else thought i was stupid, stepped for stupid, except for my mother. Host where did you good to medical school . Guest university of michigan. And. Host undergrad . Guest i went to yale. Its sort of interesting how all of that occurred, but in high school in inner city detroit, turns out i did extremely well on the s. A. T. S, and i had very good grades, and i had become the city executive officer in r. O. T. C. , but i only had enough money to apply to one college. So, i decided to apply to the college that won the grab championship in college bowl, ge. College bowl, my favorite program. And yale won, so i said, case, ill apply to yale, and fortunately they took the scholarship. And when township medical school at the university of michigan i was thinking i was pretty tough. Wow, youre good. But i did horribly on that first set of comprehensive exams. I mean, really bad. To the point i was sent to see my counselor, and i looked at my record and he says, you seem like an intelligent young man. I bet there are lot of things you could do outside of medicine and he tried to convince know drop out of medical school, said i wasnt cut out to be a doctor. Needless to say he said, we can get you into another discipline. Its only been six weeks and you will not have wasted a whole year. Which seemed like a kind thing, but i was devastated. I went back to my apartment and i just prayed. I said, look, help me. Ive always wanted to be a doctor. It doesnt look good for me. Help me. And i just started thinking about my whole academic career. And i said what kind of courses have you struggled in or dub very well in. And i realized i struggled in courses where i listen to a lot of boring lectures. I did very well in courses where i did a lot of reading. There i was listening to six to eight hours of boring lectures, wasting the time. I couldnt afford to waste six to eight hours a day while i was in medical school. So i made an executive decision to skip the boring lectures and spend the time reading and the rest of school was a snap after that. And went back question Commencement Speaker. And i was looking for the counselor to tell hem he wasnt fit to be a counselor. So many people are so negative and looking for a reason to explain why you cant do something rather than helping you figure out why you can, and thats one of the reasons that i and my wife have spent so much time trying to encourage young people, and encourage them to read and encourage them to excel academically, encouraging them to use their talents to help other people. Those were the things that make for great leaders and a great nation. Host in your 2000 book, the big picture you talk about skipping 80 of your lectures in medical school. Absolutely. And i dont want anybody listening to say, dr. Carson said i should skip my lectures. Im saying that everybody learns differently. Some people, lectures are incredibly useful. Some people, its repetition, some people its discourse, and conversation. It really depends on i always say to young people, learn how you learn. Host dr. Ben carson is our guest this month on book tvs in depth program. The author of five books insuring 1990, he wrote gifts hand the ben carson city. Think big came out in 1996. And the big picture in 2000, take the risk, learning to identify, choose, and live with acceptable risk. Came out in 08. And his newest book, america the beautiful, rediscovering what made the nation great in 2011. Dr. Carson, how do you get from gifted hands to america the beautiful where you begin that book by asking essentially a philosophical policy question whether or not were still following the version of the founding fathers. Guest yes. Thats a very good question. First of all never intended to be an author. But after the bender twin operation, a lot of people wanted know talk about the operation, and then they started want took hear wanting to hear about my background, and people were flabbergasted, and it was interesting how it worked out. Everybody gets their 15 minutes of fame. Well, my first 15 minutes had to do with an operation that they remove half the brain, and my second 15 minutes had to do with operating on babies still in the mothers womb. And then i said to my wife, if theres a third 15 minutes, our lives would probably change because the media isnt stupid. And theyll say, wait a minute. Isnt that the same guy and then theyll want to look into my background. I said, are you kidding me . I said it would all change. And thats e wt happened. And then a lot of publishers came to me and said you should write a book. I said i dont want to write a book. After the tenth publisher i said, should write a book. So i wrote gifted hands and i remember the initial publisher said this is a great autobiography. It will probably sell 14, 15,000 copies, which is great for an autobiography. Of course it sold well over a million. And then they wanted to know how did all this happen . And my philosophy is think big. Each book means Something Special. So i wrote that book, and then i resisted any urges and any appeals to write another book for a few years, but then i started looking around, and i was noticing that people seemed to get caught up in little stuff, and they miss the big stuff. And theyre just squabbling and using all their energy in the wrong places, and i said, i need to write another book. So that was the impetus behind boy the big picture. And then i said theres Something Different going on in america. You go to city store, buy a piece of Electronics Equipment that maybe costs 169, and then they want to sell you this warranty that costs 150 decide for three years, and say, you have to buy this, and i say, does that make any sense . If you put aside all the money youre paying warranties for, you can replace anything you ever bought. But we have become so risk adverse that we easily fall prey to anybody who comes along and says, well, this might happen, this might happen. Im aware of instances where they try to sell you socalled wind insurance in certain parts of florida for 25,000 a year. Now, think about it. If you take that 25,000 and you put it into an account, in ten years its 250,000. You can take care of any wind and you 250,000. But you prey on peoples fears and sometimes people lead their lives based on fear rather than based on courage. So thats why i decided to write that book. And then the latest book america be beautiful the first four books were all written with professional cowriters. The latest book, america the beautiful was written with my wife and the first one that made it to number one in the New York Times bestseller list, and its still on the list. I was becoming increasingly concerned. I have a granddaughter now and another grandchild on the way and i have three sons. Started worrying about their future. And looking at how america seemed to be changing from a Cando Society to a, how can whaty do for me society, and hearing people say very negative things about america, looking out oh of the history is revised. And i said, let me write a book about america. Which has been a very good nation to me. And give people real perspective on why this nation came into being. And instead of rewriting history, let me put in a lot of quotes from people who were involved so that you can actually determine for yourself what they were saying and what they meant. And it was quite an endeavor. But obviously if you look at the comments of people who have read it, it has struck a chord. And im actually working on another book right now, called one nation. Basically the theme of which is to help america to realize that were not each others enemies. We have allowed ourselves oursee pawns, be manipulated by political factions and certain aspects of the media so were at each others throats all the time rather than learning how to Work Together to solve problems, and there are those who enhance themselves and enhance theirs positions by creating friction, and creating their own little power base, and we the American People have got to be able to see through that because a man once said a house divided against itself cannot stand, and we need the kind of leadership that brings people together and helps to create a vision. The book of prove verbswithout a vision, the people perish. Host can you give an example of what you mean by being pawns . Guest by ill give you a perfect example. There are a group of people who have come along and said, people who sit there and tell you that you have to have voter i. D. Are racist. And theyre just trying to keep you from voting. And stirring up people and getting them excited about something that is a nonissue anywhere necessary the world. I travel a lot throughout the world, and in the last year, year and a half, ive taken it upon myself to ask in every country ive gone, how do you prevent voter fraud . They had all some form of identification. Its not even an issue. And to allow yourself to be whipped into a frenzy by people saying thats a racist thing, that is so totally absurd. And i want people to really stop and think these things through rather than just allowing people to whip them up into frenzies. Host in america the beautiful you write capitalism is a system that works extremely well for someone who is highly motivated and very energetic, but it is not a great system for someone who is not interested in working hard or for someone who feels no need to contribute to the economic wellbeing of their community. Guest exactly. Thats largely selfexplanatory. And a capitalistic system, you work, you earn, you benefit. And socialistic type of system, you work if you want, you dont work if you dont want, but everybody is going to take care of you. So, one kind of system is certainly very good for people who are energized and ready to work, and recognize that though those initially were the kind of people who were drawn to america. Because in england and other parts of europe, other parts of the world, people would frequently work extremely hard, just for the government, rather be working for themes. And they saw an opportunity where they could come here and they could use that same energy, but it would accrue to them and to their families. So you have that kind of motivated individual coming over here, and they did work extraordinarily hard. And they created a lot of products. And then their mother ship said you guys are doing i should get some of that. I protected you and everything. And you started the basis of the Tea Party Movement at that time. People saying, look, this is our stuff. We worked for this. Were the ones who did all the work. You dont get it. So, thats okay. Now, at the same time, i am very quick to add that those very same people who are motivated like that, who came here, who created wealth for themselves, also were very generous to people around them. They created all kinds of things that benefited other people, including factories and textile mills, charitable foundations, institutions of higher education, taking care of people who could not take care of themselves. Hospitals and weve always done that and i think we have a duty to do that. That is our responsibility. Some people say, am i my brothers keeper . Obvious live thats what cain said about abel. I said, yes, you are your brewers keeper. I if your brother is unable to take care of himself you have the responsibility to do that. Were human beings and we should have humanitarian qualities, all of us, and we always have in this country, and it is a complete falsification for people to come along and say we havent done that. Were the most generous nation the world has ever known. Host in your book think big, an an chrome nick for talent, insight, have you gotten in troublefor the g, god in think big . Guest certainly. I remember a group of lawyers came to us and said you cant put those standards up in a public school. Because the g stands for god. And they said, thats a violation of the First Amendment. No Government Support of religious expression. Said, excuse me in the First Amendment says there can be no government suppression of religious expression. So we had a vigorous argument, and i suggest we resolve it at the level of the Supreme Court, which seems bold and reckless but it wasnt because i knew the next week i was going to the Supreme Court to receive the jefferson award and i figured i would ask why i was there, and i did, and Justice Sandra day oconnor said they had no idea what separation of church and state was. Of course that was not a violation. And what has happened is people have somehow distorted the meaning of our constitution and its amendments. There was never any intention that you could not have god in your life. And there was never anything that said you cant talk about god in public. This is absolutely absurdity. But what happened is the Progressive Movement has beat this drum so loudly that many people, even in the legislature, think its true, youre not supposed to do that, that somehow that violates something, and it absolutely does not. Im a deep believer in separation of church and state. I understand why it was done. Because in the old world, in the national of the church, there were a lot of state atrocities committed. No question about that. And then there were circumstances where the state tried to control the church. Theres no room for that in america. But there also is no room for intolerance of peoples religious beliefs. Host 202 is the area code if you want to participate in our conversation. You can send dr. Carson a tweet book tv is our handle. You can signed send an email, or you can make a comment on our Facebook Page. Facebook. Com book tv. Right up there at the top in the Comment Section underneath our the notice for dr. Carson. I want to start with this email from pamela bland who is a doctor. Pardon me in the washington area. My names dr. Pamela bland i am a peteatric anesthesiologist at walter reed in bethesda. My question is do you think you have become more jade or more inspired over the past two decades . The reason im asking this is that you have become over the years a lot more vocal on your stance on issues affecting the nation. Guest well, i dont think im either of those things. I think i have become more concerned with what is going on, and recognize that theres no purpose in curing the organism and then putting it back into a sick environment. And sometimes people think that physicians should stick to medicine. I dont generally hear people saying that about lawyers for some reason but physicians should stick to medicine, and im very quick to point out that five physicians signed the declaration of independence and were involved in the bill of rights, the u. S. Constitution. Absolutely no reason that we cannot think outside of the operating room or the clinic. But in doing so, and in looking at what is going on, i have become extraordinarily concerned, and i think all citizens should be concerned. And our system of representation was a very good system the way it was put together. Supposed to be representatives who were doctors, lawyers, businessmen, farmers, teachers, drug store owners, what have you. Why . Because you wanted all the interests to be represent, and as we have become more homogenous and representatives coming from one group as opposed to everybody, we dont get the kind of representation we need, and we also get a lot of representation of special interests. Way more than we should. And it has completely distorted the system of values in this country. Im almost to the point of saying we ought to consider a constitutional convention. We ought to talk about what is going on. Because it has been so drastically distorted and so many things that have changed. You look at, for instance, the federal court judge appointments, for lifetime. Well, you know, when we put that in place people lived on average 47 years. That has changed dramatically should we look at that . Should we look at things affected by drastic changes in our society and adjust accordingly . I think probably theres some wisdom in doing that. Host well, saying all that, tom chastain from tampa, florida, asks you, what is your political future . Guest my political future is to continue to raise these issues, to continue to talk i have been just a flabbergasted traveling around the country i retired july 1st. Havent been much retirement because i have been in men states but the enormous crowds, the great enthusiasm of people who resonate with common sense. And a lot of them tell me that they thought that they were the only ones who thought that way, and theyre so happy to hear that somebody else thinks that way. And heres the interesting thing. The secular Progressive Movement i think is very largely in sync with sol number one rule, you get the majority to believe their opinion is the minority opinion, and yours is the majority opinion, and if you can corrupt the media and the press, youll be fair ahead in the game and then you can intimidate them into silence. And what i would like to do is pull the veil off of that and to get people to be courageous again and to be willing to stand up for what they believe in, and not allow the whole fabric of america to be changed without a discussion. If we can have a good, open discussion, and not all this subterfuge, and the majority of people who are well informed about the idea say, you know what . We dont really want our a country that is for for the n people. We want a government. What i dont want is all this teachous stuff going devious stuff going on where we change the country without a discussion. Host lawrence, dentist in new york city, while much has been said regarding your political thoughts i have not heard much in the media regarding your decision to leave a stellar surgical career behind. Unfortunately, he wrotes, i have seen too many of my colleagues at the peek of their careers decide to leave medicine as well, citing the impending changes of the Affordable Care act will impose. Guest my decision to leave medicine was in place long before the Affordable Care act came into being. Someone told me that neurosurgeons die early. I didnt believe it. And i wrote down the names of the ten the last ten neurosurgeons i knew who died and i indicated the average eight of death and it was 61. And im 61 now. And i said, you know what . Maybe i should think about doing Something Else. But also, i became increasingly concerned about what was going on in the world, and i knew that i could not devote adequate time to it in an extremely busy neurosurgical practice, and then couple that with the fact that weve brought into the Neurosurgical Department at Johns Hopkins some incredibly talented pediatric neurosurgeons. World class, really good so i didnt feel i was absolutely needed. I didnt have to go away and feel guilty about it. And it was the perfect time for me. Host well, it was february 2013, and you were on a national stage, and we want to show our audience a little bit of video and then have you explain what was going on. Guest okay. What about our taxation system . So complex. The is no one who can possibly comply with every consideration of our tax system. If i wanted to get you or you i could get you on a tax issue. That doesnt make any sense. What we need to do is come up with something that is simple, and when i pick manipulate bible, you pick up my bible, i see the fairest individual in the universe, god, and he has given us a system. Its called tithe. He didnt say if your crops fail dont give me in the tights. If you have a bumper crop give me triple tithes so there must be something fair about proportionality. You make 10 billion, you put in a bill you. Make 10 you in one. Of course you got to get rid of the hoop holes [applause] now some people say, thats not fair. Because it doesnt hurt the guy who made 10 billion as much as the guy who made where does it say you have to hurt the guy . He just put a billion dollars in the pot. We dont need to hurt him. It is that kind of thinking that has resulted in 602 banks in the okay man islands. That money needs to back here building our infrastructure and creating jobs, and were smart enough, were smart enough to figure out how to do that. Dr. Carson, where were you . Guest well, i was sort of in a zone at that time. The people say the the president was just a few feet away from you. I wasnt thinking about who was there. I was talking about what i deeply believe, and the things that still can be of tremendous benefit to us as a nation, and our taxation system like hours is a precursor to a totalitarian society, because if i dont like you and youre really, really good guy and i cant find anything, i can get you on a tax issue. I can always do that. I dont like that system. And we need to have something that is fair and that is simple. Now, some people consider it fair to take from the rich and redistribute to the poor. On the surface that sounds pretty good. Robin hood. Great. The problem with that is that where do you define rich and where do you define poor . Everybody has different definitions. So bet tier do something where theres not a lot of very great lakes the definition. Thats where proportionality comes into play. Thats why a tighting system tithing system is fair you make little, you pay little. You make loot, you pay a lot. The around doesnt seem fair is because we have all these loopholes and you have the ability if you have a lot of money to buy expensive tax lawyers and accountants and do these manipulations ands get out of paying taxes. Thats unreasonable. So you got to get rid of all those loopholes, and truly maybe it fair. Then its extremely predictable. You dont have people trying to escape it. You dont have money offshore. You have it back here working where it should be working, and i dont think we would have nearly the problem that we have if we would do that. The other thing you have to remember is the example i use, the guy who put a billion morals and the guy who put bun dollar in, even though one guy just put in a billion times more than the other, they have the same rights. That me seems awfully fair. You take a system on the other hand where half the people dont even pay any federal income taxes but they get to have a say in how much the other half pays, is that fair . Give me a break. We need start thinking about things that work for everybody, and in the process of doing that, i think we will not have any limitation in the number of jobs created, and in the opportunities that are provided. As one who grew up in a very lowest rungs of society in terms of socioeconomic status to be able to rise to where i am now, its because we had a system that allowed that. The system still does, although its getting more difficult. And i want to make sure it remains easy for people who are willing to work extremely hard and do the right things, to be successful in our society. What was was the political reaction to your speech with the president sitting right there . Well, there were a lot of people who were shocked, and to me thats alarming. That we, in america, the land of the free the land of freedom, would be shocked that one would Say Something in the presence of the president , that the president might not agree with. That tells you how far astray we have gone. We should not be shocked about that. But of course there was obviously the video went viral, cant find anybody who hasnt seen it. But thats okay. And there was criticism from the sort of secular progressives region and from the more traditional and conservative regions there was great praise. The the wall street journal came out, carson for president. That might have been a little tongue in cheek but the fact of the matter is the response, the letters, the emails, the package, the books, my office, you could barely get in the door, and the thing that affected me the most, though, were the letters i got from elderly americans, a lot. That said, doctor, im elderly american. I fought in world war ii, or whatever. And i was just waiting to die. Because id given up on america. Until i heard you speak. And i have a lot of responses like that, and i get that all the time. Away and i will continue to speak out, because i wantem to understand the nation we live in and i dont want them to be manipulated. Host javier, youre on book tvs with dr. Ben carson. Caller good more. First, id like to say what an honor, dr. Carson, to address you this morning. Its a real honor. What i wanted to comment on was regarding your earlier comments about one of your counselors tried to misdirect you from continuing in the medical field. I understand exactly where youre coming from because when i was attending college i was told the same thing and my daughter was told the same thing by her High School Counselor when my daughter mentioned she wanted to attend the university of texas and her counselor told her youll be luckive you can get into a your most public or local community college, which offended her also. And im proud to say she is in her junior year at the university of texas and just completed 15 hours very successfully. My question to you is, what can you tell the counselors out there that are listening, the ones in High School Counselors, the College Counselors . What can you do, tell them to change their rationale, the way of thinking in treeing students, and i hope also to say that i hope we get to see you down here at the texas book fair. Hopefully later on this year. Its an honor. Thank you. Host javier, beautiful we let you go, what do you do for a living . I am a physical education coach. Host thank you very much. Guest okay. First of all. I do want to say that Community Colleges serve a very important purpose in our society. Theyre great. But as far as counselors, particularly High School Counselors are concerned, recognize that anybody with a normal human brain has enormous potential, and we need to be looking at how do we cultivate that potential . That helps us all in the long run, and never try to dumb someone down or lead them into a place where theyre not utilizing that tremendous potential that god has provided for us. In the long run its going to hem you when you retire because youre going to have someone in the next generation who is very productive, who is allowing you to lead a much better retirement. So, lets try to push people upward rather than downward. Host david in peoria, illinois, go ahead. Caller well, i just believe that anything that happened since 1900 has helped the human race as far as voting, fair wages, anything . Host david, whats your answer to that question . Host david . Caller yes. Host turn down your tv and what is your answer to that question you just asked . Caller i am flabbergasted that dr. Carson is able to sit here and deny that progressives have not had a hand in helping the human cause throughout history. And we all want help up to succeed, and i just think that carson is slightly naive when he sits around and talks about people just doing their best and helping themselves out. Host thank you, david. Dr. Carson . Guest first of all i dont recall having said that anyone was not important and helpful. What you may be eluding to is the fact that i talk about agendas that certain progressives have. People who want to take god out of our society, take godly principles out of our society, and substitute for it their own principles. Those people are perfectly welcome to be here as far as im concerned, but what i dont like is when they try to thrust their opinions on to everybody else and keep other people from being able to express themselves and express their opinions. In terms of being able to help with women suffrage, civil rights, everybody has had a role in that, and one of the things i dont particularly appreciate is when individuals come along and try to castigate something and distort it. Host with america the beautiful, with your speech at the National Prayer breakfast, is this kind of the first time you faced criticism from, like, such as david . Guest not by a long shot. Im out triple dont hide my opinions. Ive been involved in medical controversies. When i first started advocating a type of operation at the First International conference on human in 1986 in rome and many of the worlds general net cysts are saying you surgeons their the ones that caused people to die and people at hopkins were against me doing this. But now its something that is very well accepted and done there was controversial around been controversies politically about some of my stands. My pro life stance and things of that nature. I will continue to face and it i dont have any problem facing it. And i expect to face it. And one thing i tell young people all the time is if Everybody Loves you and they love everything you do and everything you say, youre probably not doing anything. Youre probably not saying anything. Host next call for ben carson froms from will in mississippi. Caller how you do. Host go ahead, sir. Caller nice to talk with yall today in 97, 98, i was in middle school in mississippi, and dr. Carson came to speak to the students at the school, and i want to know was he making National Tour to come visit different states and different schools . Because we also had to read his book and write reports in middle school. And i want to know, was he planning on making those types of trips against. Host what did you think of dr. Carsons visit when you were in middle school . Caller this is the reason im calling. One of the things that stood out to me in his book was he had an anger management problem, and so in my town, one of the things that have with the young people that is on the rise, anger, a lot of. The rivalries, aa rise in murders, so he found a way to channel the energy into direct it elsewhere, and so i wanted to know and that stood out his book believe i wrote on that topic but it was in 1997 and 1998. So i wonder can bring that back and circulate throughout the United States. Host can you tell the temper story as well . Guest yes, i will. Thank you so much. And ive been actually traveling around the country, giving talks, for more than 20 years. And getting involved in various Community Activities and charitable organizations, which is one of the robes, quite frankly, that people knew the vast majority of people who know me, a few months ago when certain progressives were trying to paint me as a homophob, knew that was a bunch of crap. And its very good when you have a lifetime to point out who you are as opposed to a short period of time where someone tries to castigate you. Having said that, awas a person who thought i had a lot of rights. The more righteous think you have, the more likely someone is to infringe upon your rights so people always infringing on my rights and i would go after people with baseball bats, i would get in fights, and once i even tried to stab another youngster with a knife. The scene is will depicted in the movie gifted hands which cuba gooding, jr. Play mist part. After that incident i locked myself in the bathroom and i started contemplating my life and i realized, trying to kill somebody over nothing, that i was seriously deranged. And i prayed and i picked up a bible in the bathroom, and i it had all these verses about fools, and i said, how, does that sound like me . And it also had a lot of verses about anger. Prove verbs, and verse are verse, chapter are chapter, seemed like they were written for me, and while i remained the the bathroom for three hours i came to an understanding it was not a sign of strength to punch somebody or kick down a door. It was a sign of weakness. It meant you could be controlled by other people and by the environment. And i didnt want to be controlled. But i also came to understand that it was my selfishness, because somebody was in my space, somebody was taking my things, somebody was doing something to me, it was always about me and my and i. And i said if you can step outside of the center of the circle and let it be being somebody else, maybe that will change things. And i started trying that, that day, and ive never had another angry outburst since that time. Host in america the beautiful you write, as a bible believing clip youve might imagine i would not be a proponent of gay marriage. I believe god loves homosexuals as much as he loves everybody but if we can redefine marriage as between two men or two women or any other based on social pressures as opposed to between a man and a woman, we will continue to redefine it in a way that we wish, which is a slippery slope with a disastrous ending. Guest correct. I stand completely by that. And that is marriage has been has always, should be, between a man and a woman, and if you begin to redefine it, and i was asked that question and i said, i didnt think that you gays could do that, and i mentioned a couple of other categories. The point being that there is no group now or in the future that should get the chance to redefine it, because if they do, it keeps somebody else from coming along 20 or 50 years from now saying we want to redefine it and what right do you have to say, well, no, were keeping it this way. That doesnt make any sense. The easier thing to do, much easier thing to do, is to lead traditional definitions alone, but make whatever accommodations you need to make for other people. And of what ive always said is any two adults of any Sexual Orientation should have the right to engage in a legal ceremony if they want, create legal documents, which give them visitation rights, property rights, whatever rights they would like to have. That can be crafted into the legal agreement. Leave marriage alone. Dont have to mess with marriage in order to do that. And thats what is really fair. We take one group and say you can change its for all of us, how is that fair . What im talking about is treating everybody the same. Host joe in north dakota, youre on booktv. Go ahead with your question or comment. Caller yeah, dr. Carson, an honor to have a chance to talk to you. Guest north dakota . Caller yeah, north dakota. Guest thats thats the only of the 50 states i have not visited. Caller you should come up here. Im a farmer, rancher, im 75 years old, and the reason why i really enjoy your talks, i have seen you heard you that morning at the prayer breakfast, and im just glad that we have people like you, with the backbone that stand up and just talks truth. But youre pro life and against gay marriage and all these things, and i just want to tell you a little about my history. We lost our dad when we were ten years old. I mad one brother who was nine monthlies months old. My mother was 34. We had three girls in between and we stuck out on the farm because my idea im not complaining dish put out my scrap when i was 11. Talk about working yourself up on the ladder. Today we by cattle out of montana, nebraska, texas, and all over the country, and the attitudes i hear from older people are exactly like yours. We know what the real rules are. Pertaining to the gun laws, they want to take the guns away. You know and i know and anybody with a common mind knows guns do not kill people. Its the people that kill people. Host jo we got a lot of information there lets hear from dr. Carson. Thanks for calling in. Guest well, certainly appreciate your hard work, and im sure that your hard work has resulted in a lot of opportunities for other people, and that is one of the things that i have emphasized in these books, how we all have a role to play, how we Work Together and how, if we as Americans Care about each other, were going to have the kind of society that truly is fair. Host you are watching booktvs monthlily in depth program. This month, surgeon and author, dr. Ben carson. First book, gifted hands the ben carson exterior. Think big in 1996. The big picture in 2000. Take the risk, learning to identify, choose, and live with acceptable risk. In 2008. And his most recent, america the beautiful. Rediscovering what made the nation grate. You mentioned earlier youre working on a new book. Guest yes. A new book that tentatively will be entitle one nation. And again i want to make sure that the people understand that were not each others enemies. We have to throw away this whole ideology that it has to be my way. Im the only one who is right. As i said, in the National Prayer breakfast, the recent an eagle can fly high and straight it has two wings, a left wing and a right wing and when they Work Together the eagle can fly extremely well and if weighted down one way or the other, you have problems. So, people only the left and people on the right, we need to understand that we live here together, and in terms of the big issues, for the most part we agree. Im reminded of the movie Independence Day with will smith the earth was suffering this alien invasion. All of a sudden the arabs and israelis were working together. The americans and russians were working together. We need to start emphasizing those things we have in common and then deal with the issues as they come along. I liken it to a ship that a Passenger Ship about do toe go over niagra falls and everybody is going to be killed and you get the crew and the passengers, sitting there looking over the edge and saying, look at those barn kells down there we ought to get those barn kells off the ship. And everybody dead. That begs a question, can we learn from the mistakes of the past and not good the way of other pinnacle nations like rome, et cetera . Guest and certainly no one else has ever learned. So, i couldnt argue vigorously against someone who says we cant learn from it and we must tear ourselves apart and good over the cliff. But i dont think its true. I think theres something very different about this country than any of the other countries that have come along. First of all were the child of every other nation. Were a mosaic of the world. So we should have the interests of all the other pieces of the world at heart. Because they really are our parents. Secondly, this is a country that was founded on godly principle. And i think that makes a big difference in terms of how you look at the world, how you treat people, how you treat other nations, and we need, rather than be ashamed of that, be proud of that. Every coin in your pocket, every bill in your wallet, says, in god we trust. Bud do we act like this . Cant talk about god. Come on. Thats schizophrenia. People come along and say, gee, i wonder if i should say merry christmas. Somebody might by offended. Give me a break. This is america. Freedom of speech, freedom of expression, its a salutation of the season. Its not something, i hate you and therefore im going to say this to irritate you. Come on, we have to stop letting people manipulate us and whip us into a frenzy. It was not an issue 50 years ago. We just have to be a little more mature and lets deal with the real problems and not the artificial ones. Host next call from bob in livingston, montana. Hi, bob. Caller i get so emotional listening to this guy. I just love the way he talks. My question is, have you studied the Federal Reserve . To me, this is the situation that is bringing down america. Ive been in the money business all my life and im the age of joe in north dakota and you can visit us first before them. But the Federal Reserve has got control of the irs, theyre controlling everything, they the money is flooding all over the world. Every nation now, they got have a central bank and its killing us because its not based on supply and demand. Its just printing paper. Thank you. Guest yes, i have studied that, interestingly enough. A lot of people are really amazed all the stuff i stud yesterday and read about. Im just a curious person. When we kind of decoupled the dollar from gold, during the fdr years, a lot of possibilities began to arise in terms of ways that currencies could be manipulated. The way that money could be printed. And evaluated. Right now, the name of the United States is the only thing that is really behind the currency. And it does provide opportunities for manipulation. I think its something that all of our legislators need to be aware of. Need to understand. They need to understand its history. And we need to understand the implications going into the future, and we need to be looking at ways that we can solidify the value of our currency and not devaluate it by continuing to print money. Dr. Ben carson, john wingate from minneapolis emails us we live in a hyper partisan era. If you juan for president as a republican, what changes in approach and message would you take to correct what you see as the partys errors of the past. Guest first of all i think both parties have plenty of errors. I could talk about that for hours and hours. Im not going to do that. Gist want to boil it down to one big issue. And both parties again have been guilty of this. This country was designed as a place for, of, and by the people. Now we are rapidly moving toward what the founders feared, and that is a country that is for, of, and by the government. And as the government increases, it infringes upon the rights of the people. That is a natural consequence. And we are kind of allowing it to happen and kind of sticking our heads in the sand or, in in some cases, not even noticing what is going on, and what i want to do is go back and look at the constitution. I want us all to Pay Attention to the constitution, because it is ingenious document. It was the way it was put together, it almost looked like things would not work out for our nation. There was so much discord in the small starts and large states. Everybody had different opinions how things should be done and who had what rights and before the thing broke apart, benjamin franklin, stood up before the whole assembly in 1787 and said, gentlemen, stop. He said, during the revolutionary war, every other word out of your mouth was, god save us, and he did. And now you dont even want to talk to him help said, let us get on our knees and let us ask god for wisdom, and they knelt down and prayed, and they got up and put together a 16 and one third page document known as the constitution of the United States. Greatly admired document. That if we adhere to, we wouldnt be having nearly the problems we have today. So, if i were ever in that position, that document would once again become very important to us. Host 2008 book take the risk you write in talking to people like george lucas and ag galston ive come to the conclusion that the single most important determinant of the level of success a person achieveeses how he or she deals with the risks that career presents. Guest yes. Well, there are people that i admire a lot. George lucas was his family was in the retail business, and that is where his father intended for him to go. But his heart was in film. And he was really kind of living hand to mouth. It was not a very pleasant situation for him. And finally he got a break. Somebody said i want you to direct this for me. Ill pay you 100,000. He said, i want to do my own thing. And he got his big break with american graffiti and then some other things and he continued to do his own thing, his own way. He stuck to his guns, and created an amazing empire, and entertainment for millions millf people throughout the world. Ag gaston, a black man in birmingham, alabama in the 30s, 40s, and 50s, became a multimillionaire. And you say how does that happen in racism in i asked him. I had lunch with him. A great honor. I said, mr. Gaston, how did you do that . And he said, it was simple. I opened my eyes. I looked around. I said, what do people need . And whatever it was, thats what i did. And he said at that time, a lot of the people were very concerned about what kind of funeral they would have, and a 600 funeral was considered like really top of the line. So he started a funeral insurance business. He said, to elderly people, give me a quarter a week and ill give you a 600 tune. A if you die tomorrow, if you gave me a quarter today, you get a 600 funeral. Everybody was giving him quarters. He had so many quarters he didnt know what to do with them. He started a bank and Life Insurance company and it just went on and on. Ive always felt that was just the coolest philosophy. You look around you, what do people need . You look at the great inventions that have occurred, that have improved our lives are it was because somebody had the same attitude and they did that. And thats what entrepreneurship, what america is all about. We need to encourage that opposite again, and all of our policies should be directed at encouraging that. Not at finding ways to take from this one and redistribute to this one. Thats just not where we are or where we should be as a nation. Host edward, models stow, california, good afternoon. Caller good afternoon. Thank you for taking my call. Dr. Carson, its an honor to talk to you. My question is, i am an engineer, at the time when my wife became ill because of a heart problem, and she actually had a heart attack, she did not fit that bill, if you will, and it was due to hereditary. The issue that we ran into was that i had to give up my job in order to take care of my family. We ended up paying cobra, which was about 702 a month at the time. This is early 2000. And when i tried looking at other Insurance Companies, no one would touch her with a ten foot pole because of the preexisting condition. And we were living in san diego, i was if we needed to move someplace else in order to have better insurance, the cheapest was in arizona and that was 1,700 a month. Were middle income, good salary and all that host edward, what would you like the doctor to respond to . Well, the cost of insurance from the standpoint of Insurance Companies, the medicines and things like that, it will bankrupt middle america. Guest no question about it. We have rapidly escalating costs of medical care and that was the impetus behind obamacare, that we could bring the price down. Obviously that has not worked. The price has gone up. But it doesnt mean that we shouldnt have been looking at this issue. One of the major pillars of the American Healthcare system are Insurance Companies that make money by denying people care. Thats fundamentally wrong. Thats a conflict of interest. So, i dont have any problem with Insurance Companies making a profit, but i think it should be they should be nonprofit organizations. I dont think the idea of profiting on someones health care in that manner, when you dont have anything to do with their health care, really, is fair. Into we need to address that. But i think rather than some people being gleeful as obamacare is falling apart, we should all be sad it does not appear to be the thing that is working, but lets not say, see, i told you so, or, now, this is the only way we can go and just got to keep jamming it through. No. Lets stop and be reasonable. Lets say, have we learn some things from trying item policemen this . Absolutely. Are there things we have known before . Absolutely. Can we Work Together . Can we look at some models that have worked . And can we aapply those . Can we use our collective intellect to actually solve the problem rather than making it into a political football . I talked at the National Prayer break fast a system would work well. Health savings account. Guest you can actually transfer money, like lets say a husband needs a heart transplant, and its going to cost 80,000, and he only has 75,000 in his account. His wife can give the other 5,000 or his son or daughter, mother or father. Every family becomes like a little mini Insurance Company in and of themselves. Their cost per capita is less than a quarter of what ours is. And if you go and you talk to them, youll find theyre very happy. They can also with their Health Savings account buy Catastrophic Health insurance, buy bridge insurance. We would be able to do the same thing. We need to be able to look at these kinds of things. I think if we stop making it a partisan issue and actually say lets fix this for the American People, we can do this. We absolutely can. Host dr. Carson, in your book america the beautiful, and the chapter is health care a right, you write this today to a large extent Insurance Companies call the shots on what they want to pay, to whom and when. Consequently, even busy doctors operate with a slim profit margin and find it more difficult to offer care for the poor. I speak from personal experience because over the last many years ive had to cut my staff significantly due to low Insurance Company reimbursements. Guest yes. Interestingly enough, you know, when i first started practicing medicine and, you know, it would come to my attention that there was a kid somewhere who had some horrible tumor or some cranial facial problem, you know, from this country or someplace else in the world and, you know, id look at the case and id say we can help this person. And id say letsi just override the cost. nrni guest they took care of them anyway because they had a cushion, and they want to care for people. Thats the reason they go into medicine. And we need to stop finding ways to demonize and penalize them and finding ways to make, you know, life more tolerable for them. And easy to practice medicine. Host andrew in celine, michigan, thanks for holding. Youre on the air with dr. Ben carson. Caller have you ever faced discrimination from within the black community for being successful, and if so, how have you dealt with that . And go blue. Ill listen off the phone. [laughter] guest okay. Well, certainly there have been people in the black community particularly in the media who have been critical of me, you know . They say i remember one guy saying hes an uncle tom. Well, i dont get into that slime pit, but i did just mention to him i wonder if you know what that term actually means . Because uncle toms cabin, by Harriet Beecher stowe, uncle tom was a sort of a go along to get along character, sort of doing the song and dance. He was not challenging anybody. And thats exactly the opposite of what im doing. So i recommended to him that he go back and actually read the story before he starts accusing people of things, and he doesnt know what hes talking about. But thats usually about as negative as i will get on people. Host from the big picture, you write many black people harbor racist feelings towards whites while most black racism i have witnessed is what i would term reactionary, an angry response to the discrimination they have experienced themselves. It is no less hideous and no less destructive than any other variation of this plague on our society. Guest absolutely. You know, racism, regardless of where it comes from, is evil. And, you know, we like to just sort of pick one group and say that theyre the racists. But i think anybody who looks at me and says, oh, hes a black man, so this is what he should be thinking, this is what he should be saying, i think theyre racist. You know . Whether theyre conservative or whether theyre liberal. I think theyre a racist. You know, im an individual. And, you know, i was giving an interview on npr once, and the interviewer said, dr. Carson, i notice you dont speak about race very often. Why is that in and i said its because im a neurosurgeon. And and she looked at me quizzically thinking, what the heck does that have to do with it . I said, when i take someone to the operating room and i peel that scalp and open the dura, im operating on the thing that makes that person who they are. The cover doesnt make them who they are. It really doesnt have a whole lot to do with what they are. And only those people who are very superficial let the cover define the person. Those people who are deep look at the content of the character, as Martin Luther king said. Host dr. Carson, eighth grade, who was mr. Mann . Guest mr. Mann was the band teacher. And i tell the story of how, you know, i had turned things around. When i was in the fifth grade, i was a dummy. When i was in the seventh grade, i got to the top of the class, still in the top of the class in eighth. Same kids that id been with in fifth grade, they had seen the transition, they were very impressed, and they accepted it. There was a special award that was given to the student who had the highest academic performance, and, you know, i was the only black student in the eighth grade. And you would take your report card around to the teachers, and they would put your grade on it. And band was the last class. And i had all as. And i was going to be a cinch to be the top student. And mr. Mann gave me a c even though i was a terrific student. I mean, he clearly just wanted to keep me from getting the top award. Well, much to his consternation, it turned out that band was not counted. [laughter] so i still got the top award. And interestingly, and, of course, this scene is depicted in the movie also, when i was presented with the top award, there was one of the teachers who got up and chastised the other students. I mean, how could all of these white students allow a black student to be number one . Now, recognize this was, you know, a long time ago, 50 years plus ago. And, you know, people were ignorant. You know . And there were a lot of people who just didnt even think that a black person could possibly intellectually be the equal of a white person. And i dont say that that was necessarily because they were evil. Im saying that that was the culture they were brought up in. Thats what they knew, thats what they thought. And i then took it upon myself as my own issue to educate people. And i was always shocking people because, you know, they would mention something, and, you know, this 15yearold comeandae subject, and theyd be saying what is going on . I enjoyed shocking people like that. But the fact of the matter is, you know, discriminatory practices are based on ignorance. Thats all it is. And thats why its important to educate people. And as people become educated, the more educated they are the less superficial they are. Host and in gifted hands you also talk about being a resident at Johns Hopkins and being mistaken for an orderly. Guest yes. When i first came back in 1977, you know, black doctors were extraordinarily rare, and there had certainly never been one on the neurosurgery service. So when i would go in the wards and have scrubs on, invariably one of the nurses would mistake me for an orderly. Say, im sorry, mr. Smith isnt ready to be taken to the operating room. And id say, well, gee, im sorry hes not ready, im dr. Carson. And theyd turn about 18 shades of red, and id say, you dont need to be embarrassed, its okay. Its fine. Id be very nice to them, and i would have a friend for life because they very much appreciated my attitude on that. But the reason my attitude was that way is because, you know, i looked at the big picture. I said from the perspective of this nurse, the only black man to ever come on this ward with scrubs on was an orderly. So why would she think Something Different . Now, if they do it a second time, i might have a few words, choice words for them. [laughter] host did you ever have patients refuse your service . Guest yes. Again, when i first came to hopkins, there were patients who did not want their care by a black physician. And the chairman of our department, donald long who has a quaker background would always tell them the same thing dr. Carson is a prize resident, we chose him from among many, and if youre going to be in the this hospital, hes going to be involved in your care. And if you dont like that, the door is right over there. He was very consistent with that message. And it turned out not to be a big problem because he was consistent with that message. Host monique in houston, thanks for holding. Youre on booktv on cspan2 with dr. Ben carson. Caller yes, hi, dr. Carson. Guest hi. Caller its an honor to talk with you today. Guest my pleasure. Caller i have a question. I have spinal atrophy. Im 40 years old, and i also have an older sister with the same disease. And i was wondering if you know if theres been any advances in the, in the Scientific Research in finding a cure for spinal Muscular Atrophy or any other type of muscular dystrophy. Guest okay. Well, that would be a question that would be better directed to a neurologist who specializes in those areas. There is Significant Research going on in terms of how to use electronic apparatuses to stimulate and to and utilizing those along with brain waves to help activate limbs that are not atroughic or contracted. And, therefore, its very important to try to keep your limbs in very good shape because that kind of technology is advancing. Will we at some point be able to control the way that stem cells work and be able to reinvigorate, you know, portions of the nervous and muscular system, i suspect the answer to that is, yes. So, but i would definitely defer to a neurologist who is an expert in that area. Host dr. Carson, are you teaching at all . Do you have any connection with hopkins still . Guest yes. Im an emeritus professor and, yes, i still am on the schedule of teaching. You know, i have warm feelings towards Johns Hopkins. You know, some people say, well, you must hate hopkins because of the commencement situation. I dont. The decision to withdraw as the Commencement Speaker was my own decision. No one asked me to do it. But, you know, i thought that the graduation really should be about the students and not about me, and it would have been a circus. So why put anybody through that . And i got so many emails from my colleagues and staff, approaching a thousand, of support, how much they appreciated what ive done, how much they enjoy working with me. Most of them probably would not be public about it because, you know, there are people who are fearful. Some of the students, some of the medical students sent me mails saying that they were fearful to show outward support because they felt they might be penalized. I dont think the administration would do that, i really dont. But the fact that people actually have that fear is concerning to me and something that we probably should concentrate on. Host for people who dont know, what is the commencement situation . Guest well, you know, i was asked to give the commencement address at the Johns Hopkins school of medicine this year and also the school of education. And because of the situation with gay marriage and my definition as that between a man and a woman, some of the media that doesnt particularly like my stances tried to say that i was comparing gay marriage to bestiality, which i was, of course, not. But they knew that if they could paint me that way, it would demonize me. And, you know, that took root with a few students, and they created, you know, some turmoil and protest. Anybody, again, as i say, who knows me knows that theres not a homophobic bone in my body, you know . But what i do care about is freedom and justice for everybody, and i do have principles and standards which i hold. And they, i will readily admit derived from my belief in god. And, you know, im not apologetic about that. But at the same time, i do make it clear that what i try to exercise is real tolerance. So even though, you know, im not an advocate of gay marriage, i have no objection whatsoever to gay people or other people or anybody, quite frankly, doesnt want to be engaged in a traditional marriage, but they do want to have a close association, they do want to have many of the benefits associated with marriage. I dont have a problem with that. And, you know, sometimes people just cannot get their head around the fact that unless you totally agree with the way that i want it, then youre this or that. And, you know, the example that i frequently use is i say, you know, a lot of the people who advocate gay marriage are like a new group of mathematicians who come along and say two plus two is five. And the traditional mathematicians say, no, its four, its always been four. And the new ones say, no, its five. We insist its five. So the old ones say, okay, for you it can be five, were keeping it as four. And the new ones say, no, it has to be five for you too. And, you know, this kind of intolerance, i think, is something that we need to get rid of. And we need to treat everybody equally. Host well, recently tanya davis who is the producer of this program, visited dr. Carson at his house in suburban baltimore to learn how he write ands where he writes, and heres a little bit of that. Guest most people dont really understand, you know, how it works with books. A lot of people write books, and then they spend the next two years trying to get somebody to publish their books. Ive never really experienced that. So when people come to me and say how do you get a book published, i say, look [laughter] im the wrong person to ask. But, you know, i finally felt that really i had something to say. I dont write books just for the purpose of writing books. The first three four books, actually, i did with a cowriter. And basically i would sometimes dictate into a tape recorder and then send them the tapes, and then they would, you know, transcribe things. This last book i did myself with my wife. You know, she did a lot of the research and, you know, helped with the editing. And, of course, shes quick to point out its the first one that hit number one on the New York Times bestseller list. [laughter] but actually i enjoy very much working with my wife. So, certainly, ill be doing that from now on. Fortunately, it does tend to come pretty easily. Its very much like speaking. When i give a speech, you know, i dont have a written text. I just go up there, and, you know, i survey the situation, i ascertain what kind of audience we have, and, you know, ill have a few points that i want to make sure that i make which i might have written on a card, but i just start speaking. Basically, i write the same way, you know . Ill have a chapter title, and ill write down some bullet points about what i want to say, and ill order them. I just start dictating. And so its very much, you know, whats on my heart. You know, i always pray and i ask god to guide me in my writing, to give me wisdom in terms of what points need to be brought out. And i think he does a pretty good job of that. Host dr. Ben carson, who is lucina rustin . Guest that happens to be my wife of 38 years. [laughter] most people know her as candy. And, you know, we met at yale. We actually were recruiting for yale in detroit. It was a way that we could get to come home for thanksgiving, because neither one of us had enough money to do that, and they would pay for a trip back home. And while we were recruiting, we came to recognize that we really did like each other quite a bit. And interestingly enough, when we were on our way back to school, we were in a rental car, and we had to get it back the next morning, and we were driving from ann arbor, michigan, to new haven, connecticut. And we were just going to drive all night. And, you know, she fell asleep and i fell asleep at the wheel going 90 miles an hour on interstate 80 in youngstown, ohio. And i was awakened by the vibration as the car was going off the road heading for a ravine. And, you know, i just grabbed the wheel, spun be it, and the car actually started spinning like a top. And they say your life passes before your eyes before you die. I vividly remember it. It was like a movie, just rapidly going true. And i said, im going to die. There are and the car stopped in the lane next to the shoulder, and just in time to pull off before an 18wheeler came barreling through. And, of course, candy was awake by that time, and, you know, we started talking, and we said you know what . The lord spared our lives for a reason. And hes got Something Special for us to do, and that was the night we started going together. Host 202 is the area code if youd like to dial in and participate in our conversation with author and neurosurgeon dr. Ben carson. 5853880 for those of you in the east and central time zones, 5853881 if you live in the mountain and pacific time zones. booktv is our twitter handle, also make a comment on our Facebook Page, facebook. Com booktv or an email, booktv cspan. Org. Dr. Carson is the author of five books beginning in 1990 his autobiography, gifted hands the ben carson story came out. Think big unleashing your potential for excellence came out in 1996. The big picture came out in 2000. Take the risk learning to identify, choose and live with acceptable risk came out in 2008. And america the beautiful rediscovering what made this nation great came out in 2011. Mike in albuquerque, new mexico, you have been very patient. Please go ahead with your question or comment for dr. Carson. Caller hey, dr. Carson. I was advised by a va hospital chaplain not to talk about my Sexual Orientation with doctors and nurses at the va because a lot of the employees at the va are very conservative, and i would not receive the same level of care. Because of homophobia. Do you think home phone yas a real thing homophobias a real thing in the medical profession and in society . Guest well, i think certainly it has been in the past. I think as people have gotten to know people who are gay and in the many cases didnt know that they were gay at first and recognize that theyre regular people, you know, i have worked with, hired, dealt with gay people for years, and, you know, theres absolutely no reason, i tell anybody, to homophobic. At the same time, i would also say to those in the Gay Community dont assume that someone is homophobic just because they believe in traditional marriage. I think that is a real stretch and probably not a fair assessment. Host next call is tom in chapel hill, north carolina. Tom, youre on booktv on cspan2. Caller thank you. Dr. Carson, would you please explain to your audience why you repeatedly use the term of secular progressive . My wife and i are progressives, but our religion informs every political and social belief and thing we do. So why do you constantly use that term . Thanks very much. Guest all right. Well, first of all, if you are, in fact, a believer in god, then youre not a secular progressive. You may be a progressive, but youre not a secular progressive. And secular progressives, i use that term, theyre people who tend not to believe in god and whose social views are informed by their nonbelief and their substitution of their own code of ethics. Host wayne, bakersfield, california, good afternoon. Caller good afternoon. Thanks for taking my call, dr. Carson. You had mentioned earlier about you had mentioned earlier about the fact that if you ran for or became president , you would get back to the basics with the u. S. Constitution, and i was wondering how we got away from all of that in the first place. Is it something we did by not being more involved with our government . Or is our government kind of in reality taking on a life of its own and really not paying attention to what the constitution really means and stands for . Thanks for my call. Guest okay. Well, i think both of those things are true. We have not been vigilant, and you have to recognize that freedom is not something thats thrust upon you. Its something that you have to seek. And something that you have to maintain. The natural order of things that government withs grow. They expand governments grow. They expand. They take on a life of their own. You know, the founders of this country warped us severely warned us severely against that, and they tried to put in place a constitution that would restrain the growth of government. But we actually have allowed people in all three branches of our government to ignore the constitution, and they see no consequences for doing that. We, the people, are the ultimate authority. They work for us. But if we neglect our responsibilities, then they can do anything they want to do. We need to wake up. We need to know what the voting records are of our representatives, and particularly, you know, people in the executive branch of government. We need to hold them responsible. If we dont do it, they will simply take liberties. The other thing thats interesting is one of the real pillars of a strong Democratic Society and a free society is a free press. And a free press that is free of bias, that will report things fairly on either side. This seems to be something that is being lost in our society. And if the press takes sides, doesnt really investigate what one side is doing, but totally castigates the other side, what it does is it empowers the side that theyre taking to begin to disregard a lot of the portions of the constitution and to take on their own mantra of authority. And that, in the long run, is detrimental to all of us. And its my hope and prayer that the press in our nation will come to its senses soon and recognize that if the whole nation goes off the cliff, theyre going off too. And i know a lot of those guys, and theyre pretty smart. And i think they will actually come to that realization. The question will be, will it be in time . Host an email to you, dr. Carson are any of your sons also doctors . Guest i have three sons. My oldest son, murray, is an engineer. Specializes in nanotechnology. My middle son, benjamin jr. , lives in the financial world. Hes Vice President of a financial firm. Does a lot of investment banking. And hes networked everywhere. And my youngest son, royce, is an accountant. And i have one granddaughter whos the cutest little thing that you could ever imagine. She was born on leap year on leap day last year. And the way i understand that it works is they have a birthday every year until theyre 30, and then its once every fourth year after that. [laughter] host where was ben carson jr. Born . Guest ben carson jr. , or bj as we call him, was born at home. It was not intended that way. But, you know, my wife had been in a marathon that day, but. She only walked. Other people were running. But she also took some [inaudible] my mother had known some greens. Unbeknown to us at that time, it has an ingredient in it that mid wives used to use to induce labor. [laughter] so about two in the morning, you know, my wife awakened me and said the babys coming. And i said it doesnt work that way. I said, see, what happens is you start having contractions ten minutes apart and then five and then two minutes, and then we call the hospital she said i understand all that, but the babys coming. [laughter] i looked, and the baby was crowning, so we had to deliver the baby at home. And hes been in a hurry ever since then. Host randalls in seminole, florida. Hi, randall. Caller hi, i how you doing . Its an honor to speak with you, dr. Carson. Guest thank you. Caller thank you for all the young lives youve save inside the operating room as well as the other ones you continue to save with all your inspiration to others. I had the pleasure and honor of meeting you at least 15 years ago in florida on a blackonblack crime seminar, and i remember almost everything you said on that day. I remember you talking about touring a tennis shoe factory, i believe it was in vietnam, and how you had dissected the tennis shoes because one was priced at a very high rate, and the others were priced much cheaper, and they were identical on the inside. And i was quite impressed with that. Host randall, why were you at a blackonblack crime seminar . Guest i was a Community Police officer in a predominant Africanamerican Community at the time, and i went there for training. That was probably one of the greatest and most honorable positions i ever held in Law Enforcement was to be actually part of the community as opposed to just going and enforcing laws. We started quite a few programs helping out the youth, cleaning up the neighborhood, taking what their concerns were and trying to solve them as best we could. Guest wonderful. Host randall, how close are you to sanford, florida . Caller thats quite a distance. Do you know where tennessee is, st. Petersburg . Host yep. Guest im one city in next to st. Petersburg. Host so i take it youre white . Caller i am. Host whats your take on the Zimmerman Trayvon Martin case . Caller quite honestly, i think it was kind of sad the way that mr. Zimmerman was treated. He did what we ask of almost all of our citizens whether theyre black, white or of any race, is to take your head out of the sand and Pay Attention to whats going on in your community. I think he saw something that looked suspicious to him, i think he did what he thought was right, and its just unfortunate, the outcome. I think that had some of the other citizens in that community gotten involved that were looking out their windows seeing what was happening, or had they just stepped outside and simply yelled the police are on the way, i believe that mr. Zimmerman would not have been beaten, and i think trayvon would still be alive. Host dr. Carson, you recently wrote an oped in the Washington Times about this case. Guest yeah. You know, my point about that oped was that, you know, some people are calling for boycotting florida because of the outcome of the zimmerman trial. They were not satisfied with the verdict. And that, in fact, the use of boycotts should not be taken lightly, and i talked a little bit about the history of boycotts with the montgomery bus boycott and how effective it can be. Not to throw that term around loosely. But i also talked about the fact that, you know, people in Neighborhood Watch and we should be learning everything we can from this situation. And Neighborhood Watches can be really quite useful when theyre used in conjunction with the police and when they are well trained by the police. I think in the case, in the Trayvon Martin zimmerman case there probably was more training that could have been done. Because what happens and what ive known as a youngster growing up in the ghetto is that when somebody starts following you at nighttime, you know, thats usually a serious situation, and you go into fight or flight mode. And then, you know, theyre right upon you, and, you know, you make that choice. And what most policemen will tell people in a Neighborhood Watch is that you dont actually approach an individual, you yell out to them. And say who you are and then ask them who they are and what theyre doing there. From a distance. And most of the time the answer will be quite satisfactory, but if it isnt, then, of course, you call the police. And that, perhaps, if we can make sure that Neighborhood Watch people know that throughout the nation, we can avoid this kind of situation from occurring again. So lets always learn from a situation. If either mr. Zimmerman or mr. Martin had sort of backed down or perhaps had, you know, less of a confrontational stance, i dont think we would have been looking at this tragedy. Having said and the other point that i made is that, you know, knowing that this case was going to be highly scrutinized and very controversial, i think it would have been wise for the legal counsels on both sides to perhaps try to create a little more diversity in the jury. This is not to say that the jury came up with the wrong verdict at all. But you have to be concerned about optics and about the feelings of people throughout your community. All of these things are important, and theres a way to do it which i think works better for everybody. Host in several of your books, dr. Carson, you talk about or you mention jesse jackson, reverend jackson. Do you have a relationship with him . Guest well, certainly ive met him, and i think a lot of the things that he stood for years ago when he was working with dr. King were extremely admirable things. And i think he has certainly made a contribution. Host april 1968, you were in high school the day Martin Luther king was shot. What happened . Guest well, you know, that day is still so vivid in my memory. Students, the black students were just incredibly angry. And many of them were going around in groups looking for any white person they could find and just beating the tar out of them. And, you know, i was very concerned, and i happened to be the lab assistant, biology lab assistant. I had a key to the lab, so, you know, i was getting white students into the lab and locking the lab so that they could hide until the whole thing was over. You know, i was very disappointed and angry, too, that dr. King had been killed. You know . As a teenager, i followed what was going on with the Civil Rights Movement with great interest. But in no way was i at a point where i was ready to blame all white people for that. And i think that just maybe demonstrated the christianity part of me. You know, i recognize that christ died for everybody. God loves us all. And, you know, to try to lump people into categories based on superficial qualities is really the height of irresponsibility. Host yolanda is calling from here in the suburbs, upper marlboro, maryland. Hi, yolanda. Caller thank you for listening, dr. Carson. Guest absolutely. Caller i greatly admire your courage in speaking out for nothing more except about speaking about what is important to an individual. And i agree with you about not being a respecter of persons when it comes to ones conscience. So i believe all persons believe to be respected for tear honesty whether for their honesty whether they agree with me or not. So my question is its not necessary for me to know what your future plans are, but what is your next step in protecting peoples rights, and how can i support you . Guest all right, well, thank you. Right now, you know, im writing books, im doing an incredible amount of public speaking, probably too much. You know, im working with our scholarship program. Were in all 50 states now. Basically, we try to take children from all backgrounds who achieve at the highest academic levels and also demonstrate humanitarian qualities. They have to have both compounds. We dont want people who are just smart and dont care about somebody else. And we put them on the same kind of pedestal as we do the allstate basketball players and the allstate wrestlers. I dont have anything against sports and entertainment, dont get me wrong. But what will maintain the position of our country . The ability to shoot a 25foot jump shot or the ability to solve a quadratic equation . So weve got to prioritize, and thats the purpose of that. And we also put in reading rooms all over the country, and we particularly target title i schools where a lot of kids come from homes with no books, they go to a school with no library. Theyre not going to learn to love reading. Those are the ones who frequently drop out. We cant afford that. You know, this is the information age, the technological age. We cannot afford to lose any of our students. So weve got to figure out ways to really work with them and put the dollars where they really count and make a huge difference. So doing that and continue with some academic pursuits, and, you know, im doing a fair amount of appearances on television. But, you know, largely what im trying to do is help to change the dynamics in our country and get away from all of this hatred and spite and help people to recognize that were not each others enemies and that if we learn how to Work Together, theres Amazing Things that we can accomplish. Host have you been approached to run for office . [laughter] guest many times. A lot of people feel that thats in my future. My personal opinion is that, you know, i can do a lot of good outside of the political arena. Politically, im an independent. I have a lot of friends that are republicans, i have a lot of friends that are democrats. To me, the r or the d doesnt matter. I really would like to deemphasize that and really Start Talking about the problems that we have. Host well, tony hall from south lake tahoe, california, emails in i am a teacher in a courtmandated high School Inside a juvenile hall. I know that you had a tough childhood. What words or advice would you have for my students . Guest very good question. And thank you. Thank you for your service. Working with those young people. And the Police Officer who called before, thank you. You know, i teachers and Police Officers are some of my favorite people along with nurses, and they do Great Service and frequently are not recognized. Now and, by the way, as long as im being nice to everybody [laughter] happy birthday, mr. President. Its president clinton president obamas birthday today. Hes 52. Those students, heres what i would say. The average person today lives to be about 80 years old in this country. The first 2025 years you spend either preparing yourself or not preparing yourself. If you prepare yourself, you have 60 years to reap the benefits. And if you dont prepare yourself, you have 60 years to suffer the consequence. Now is the time when you are making that decision. You are the only one who gets to do it. You get to choose your future. Host laura tweets in a friend of hers daughter got a ben carson scholarship, and it was great, really special. What is a ben carson scholarship . Guest well, first of all, congratulations to that young lady, because it is very hard to win. [laughter] youve got to be really smart. But its what i was talking about, you know . Our fellowship program, were in all 50 states. And we acknowledge, its really more of a Recognition Program for students starting in the fourth grade. They have to have at least a 3. 75 grade point average on a 4. 0 scale to even be considered. Most of them have 4. 0s or better. And they have to have sustained demonstration that today care about other people. It cant be just the six weeks before the application is due. And they get money thats put into a system where they can see each year how much its growing, and when they go off to college, they get the money and interest. The school gets a trophy every bit as impressive as any of the sports trophies. It goes right out there with the sports trophies with their name on it. They get a special medical to wear, they get to go to a banquet. We frequently have adult role models at these banquets, incredibly impressive individuals that everybody would know. Why america elect obama twice. Is it good for the country or not . Caller thats obviously a very philosophical question. Host something you discuss in america the beautiful. Guest i do. First of all, i will say in 2008, the things that the president was saying were very attractive to anyone, you know, were going get rid of all of this partisanship. We have transparency. Well get rid of the special interests group. I said, yeah, that guys sounds really, really good. Obviously none of those things happened. But you can certainly understand why the first election took place. The second election, i think it was a matter of people thinking that, well, he didnt do that great of job, im not sure i like the other guy either, and, you know, so sort of like half a dozen one way. Six the other way. I dont think they really felt that thing wowed change that much either way. Couple that with an extraordinary campaign. Campaign Staff Campaign mechanism. An extremely articulate and compelling speaker. Then you also have to recognize that a lot of people in America Today just have not informed themselves to the degree that they should. And the founders of our nation said the kind of america were looking for and to create is based upon a wellinformed and welleducate popular. If the populace ever becomes less than that, the nature of the nation will change because people will decide what they believe based on what pundits say. And based on what a candidate says rather than on what they do. You know, this is a problem, again, on both sides. Im not saying that one side is any better than the other side. What i am saying is we the people have to be responsible. We have to know what were doing. When you go in the voting boothe. Dont look for the name that looks familiar. Dont look for the d or the r. Make sure you know what youre doing. And, you know, there were a lot of people who wanted me to run for the senate in maryland yenc senator ben cardin whom i know. Can you imagine how confusing that would have been. Ben carson, ben cardin. [laughter] i cant tell you how many people come up to say hi, dr. Cardin. We have to be a little more with the game than that. Host gifted hands was his first book. The ben carson story came out in 1990. Think big, unleashing your potential for excellence came out in 96. Big picture coming out. A new one on the way one nation. When should we see it . Guest early in 2014. Host your publish has been what is that . Guest its the religious branch of harper colins. The publisher for the new book will be penguin . Host why . Guest i thought that was an opportunity reach a different audience. Host george in my. Please go ahead with your question or comment for doctor carson. Caller yes, its a pleasure to listen to you. I was a young kid growing up in brooklyn when Martin Luther king was killed. I remember quite vividly that the young man the italian boy that lived next door to me was chased home by a gang of black youth, and he rushed inside of his house, rushed next door and they threw a garbage can through the window. The next thing i know him and his father came out with shotguns and started firing in the air. Everybody scattered until the guys left. That was it. But get back to florida, im in miami now, and when you were talking about Trayvon Martin, i personally think he got away with murder. My father is black. My mother is white. I dont love either one of them more or less than the other. So i dont think you could call the police and have them tell you not to follow someone and you follow them anyway and shoot them in the heart and claim selfdefense. Anyway, dr. Carson, like i said, i moved to miami in 1987. I came down with spinal meningitis. I had that same year that i came down to miami. 87. I had brain surgery, i was in the hospital for three months. Host george, were a little tight on time. What would you like the doctor to respond to . Caller it was just about the cranial and i wanted to ask him. My mother is 82 and she has alzheimers. Does it have any effect increase or decrease my chance of alzheimers or stroke . Host i think we have a lot of information there. Guest yeah. There are many who feel theres a her red tear predispositions for alzheimers. I think theres at Love Research in the area. Progress is being made. My mother, too, has alzheimers. I certainly sympathize, and i hope theres not a huge her exoabt. You have to recognize theres good things and bad thing to be taken out of that. At the last turn of the century, you know, the average of american only lived to be, you know, 47 to 49 years old. Now we are looking at 80. So alzheimers could potentially have been an issue back then. Most people never really got to that age. In a way, its sort of a badge of progress, but at the same time, a lot of scientists are working very hard on this, you know, having spent my whole career in medicine, im acquainted with people who are just beyond belief smart. And coming up with all kinds of things every day. To me im very encouraged. Host rob, seattle, washington. Good afternoon to you. Caller first, i want to thank you very much for the inspiration you have provided so many people in the United States and throughout the world. I think one of the greatest president we had was ronald reagan. He inspired but had a pragmatic way of looking at things. I think you have many of those qualities. I would like you to encourage you to think about thecy of the united. I think the only other person i see with the same balance is marco rubio. I think hes another great leader. Ill take your comments off the air. Thank you. Guest thank you very much. As identify said before, i had a nickel for everybody who said i should run for president , i could phenomena my campaign. [laughter] as ive also said, until i feel, god grant me by the collar, im not going to do that. I would be continuing to speak out, continuing to be very supportive of anyone, regardless of their party who opposed the principles of freedom and prosperity in this country. And who has value system consistent with our founding. Host a little bit more of dr. Carsons writing. Its from the being pictures with can the. We have learn what matters most is not whether we view ourself as democrat, republican, rich, or poor, black or white, tall or short, young or old, smart or dumb, successes or failures. What truly matters most this this world is who we are in relation to the one who created it. You are a [inaudible] which is with what . Guest a process substantiate. Most people dont know much about them. They say you guys dont accept blood thats the jay hoe have a witnesses. They said you guys. Thats not us. They are people who believe in the entire bible. They dont just like say this section doesnt really including the fourth command, which talks about the sabbath. We dont believe that the sabbath was changed. Now some people believe that con they had a authority change the sabbath from saturday to sunday. Looking through the bible we havent found that anybody except god gets to make that declaration. They are very much like pros incident. We believe that he died for everybody and he loves everybody. And that, you know, god is the ultimate authority. And that we should live a life with the principal he put forth. Host services are on saturday. They are on saturday. Although, like many, service for me are every day. Host several similar tweets and emails weve sfed. This is from that guy. What do you think about the citys decline in bankruptcy. Do you see any hope . Guest i definitely see hope. You know, obviously im torn about what is going on in my home city. Ill always be a detroiter. No matter what happens. I was able to get in detroit what i needed dwrown play on the world stage. Those things still exist in detroit. Sometimes, you know, theyre a little more difficult to find, but detroit is a great example of what happens when you have a complex society, and you dont control it. With the right kind of leadership. Now a lot of people say, well, its the unions, the unions destroyed detroit. Did the union play a role in it . Of course. What do unions do . In the old days, obviously, they were terrible working conditions, people were not receiving appropriate wages and things like that. Unions were desperately needed. I applaud what they did. As those kinds of roads became less important, a lot of unions began to focus on what is good for their members. Not necessarily looking good at what is good for the society at large. They continued to ask and receive and take with regard to strangling the goose that laid the golden egg. Its not all their fault, upper management at the lot of big three Automobile Industries are copeble. Because these guys are not stupid. They are smart. They are able to project far to the future. They knew that the concession they were making would come back to roost one day. They would already have their golden parachute and would be long gone. So they bare some responsibility here too. Thats why its so important that people Work Together. Dont sit around and let one group demonize the other group. If we learn how to discuss these things, we learn how to look at things short term and longterm and we learn how to explain that to people. Thats missing part. We dont explain things to people. They dont really know what is going on. And some people, to their credit, will do research and find out stuff. They are informed and intent. Intent. For a lot of people, unfortunately they are more interested in who is on dancing with the starrs. We have to make sure they distill things and explain things to them so they can understand them appropriately. Host how many speaking engagements do you have a year . Guest right now, im running at the pace of a bit over 100. Host do you enjoy them . Guest i very much enjoy them. I love being with people. My wife goes with me to all of them, and ive been just overwhelmed by home wonderful people there are throughout. I mean in blue states, red states, you know, everywhere all types of groups, and if we can just get people to stop being enemy, i think my life would have been successful. Host does your wife enjoy going with you and the enjoy the interaction, publicity, et. Cetera, et. Cetera. Guest yeah. At love people tell me shes my best tool. [laughter] shes very outgoing. Just absolutely wonderful person. I thank god every day for her. Host a musician . Guest yeah. Shes a musician, yeah. When i met she was a psychology major, music major, and premed. Host at yale. Guest ate yale. At yale. She let medicine go, thankfully. And just a terrific musician. Gets involved in all kinds of musical things. All the of the kids grew up musicically black they she had a string quarter debt. They would play quite amazing. Host in his book, c. Carson reports that he used to about 450 brain surgeries a year when he was practicing. Do you miss surgery . Guest i miss what surgery could accomplish. It might come as a surprise to many people. I dont really like surgery. [laughter] i dont like the sight of blood, but i love what can be accomplished. And some people say youre a surgeon. How can you not like blood. I said would you rather have a surgeon that likes the site of blood. [laughter] in terms of missing medicine, i miss medicine, particularly the way it used to be. The way it was becoming when i left, i dont miss. And im hopeful that we can come up with a system heart attackenning back to my earlier comments that really works for everybody. We pay twice as much per capita for health care in this country than the next closest nation. Yet, what a mess we have. Its not because we have, you know, allocated enough money. Its not because we dont care. Its because we have a very ineffective and inefficient system. I think question fix it. We can do it together. Its not partisan thing. When obamacare was being brought up, i talked to a very High Administration official, everyone would know the name if i mentioned it. I said, you know, theres some good things about this program that i think pretty much everybody could agree with. Why not, you know, put those things out there as the first stage and incorporate them in to what we do. This will be body, and well continue to Work Together to build this up in to something that really works. I said because if you push it through with Just One Party in a very partisan way, first of all, youll alien ate the other party and not get any corporation from them. And i said, youre probably going lose the house. You may lose the senate, and youre going create nothing but chaos and animosity. This person said youre probably right. But this is washington. And this is politics. When you have attitudes like that, how in the world are we ever going to get our problems fixed . Everything is political. We can do better than this. Im absolutely positive we can do better. Host what parts of the Affordable Care act do you support . Guest preexisting diseasing. Theres no reason people with preexisting conditions shouldnt be cared for appropriately. I think thats very good. Lifetime limits, you know, to tell somebody that your life is only worth so much after that goodbye. That was ridiculous. We needed to get rid of that. Im not super happy about, you know, leaving kids on their parents until they are 26. I think we need to go everything we can to get them off of it. At the same time, im sympathetic because of the terrible job market that is out there. And at the same time, i feel that the job market doesnt need to be nearly that terrible if we do some lodge kl things. We have the highest Corporate Tax rates in the world. We sit and complain that companies are doing businesses offshore, and that demonstrates a fundamental lack of understanding of capitalism. Businesses form to make money. Businesses are not formed to support the government. And some people just dont seem to understand that. Haas understand that and do what almost every other nation has done. Bring the Corporate Tax rates down. Even the neighbor to the north they cut it substantially. What happened . Things started were smarter than that. And we talk about it. You talk to the republicans and you say its hoo high. Do we do anything . No. And, you know, by the same token, you know, we need to bring individual taxes and businesses for Small Business and taxes spar Small Business down to a level where people feel like theyre working for themselves and not working for the government. You know, that was what caused the initial revolution. Is there anything to learn from that . I think there probably is. Tampering with everybody, getting it to everybodys business, you know, this is a problem. The fact that th irs is targeting people. Targeting organizations, i mean, we should be completely outraged. We have gotten used to stuff we say its terrible. What is on tv . Its unbelievable. Thats why it continues. Because were not doing anything about it. Host cindy sent an email. She lives in missouri. Group in michigan. As a prolife neuro season whab Stem Cell Research in general . Guest i think Stem Cell Research is very important. I think it will have tremendous ramifications as we learn how to use it. Its a little bit overpromised, quite frankly. The interesting thing is that in the scientific community, we are finding that its actually easier to control adult stem cells that were matured and dedifferentiated back to a totally potential stage where they could be redirected. As opposed to em brieonic stem cells, which tend to be much wilder and more difficult control frequently, you know, forming tumor and things of that nature. I think the controversy about embryonic stem cell use will dissipate significantly and the usefulness of that kind of research will benefit all of us. Host if you cant get through to dr. Ben carson in any other form. You can try our Facebook Page facebook. Com booktv. Right up there at the top you can make a comment or ask a question for dr. Carson. Dakota in new port, news, virginia. Thank you for holding. You are on booktv. Caller hi, dr. Carson. I would like to say to you thank you your first book came out by accident, and i read it. I talk to young people all the time and i want to say thank you to you. Oftentimes, i always mentioned i tell a story about you something i read. But i wanted to know and understand that you have many, many narratives that made a contribution to the areas sciences and professions, and i hold you in the highest regard. Guest thank you. Caller just reading that one book when i was 12 made a complete difference in my life. I have to say thank you to you for all of your contribution. What u yo have done in the past, your struggle in getting to Johns Hopkins and what youre doing today. Host what is your background. What do you do today . Caller i work for the department of Human Services formerly known as essential service. I hold two degrees. One in criminal justice and the other in instructional design. So i try to do at love to help to work the young people understand that there more than Martin Luther kings out there. There are dr. Ben carson. You too, can be a replica or an original. But dr. Carson i have to say its your you are my hero. Guest thank you very much. I appreciate that. Something you said reminded me when you talk about dr. King and so many other people of all races the sacrifice their time, money, and many cases their lives so i can have the opportunity. I remember as a youngster looking at television seeing thoses Sick Children in those fire houses. And, you know, the fact that so Many Americans of all backgrounds said thats not who we are. And they put their food down and they stopped it. Im grateful for all of those people that did that. Host who is curtis carsons . Guest its my brother. My older brother. He is an engineer. Work for parker aviation. I became the brain surgeon, he became the Rocket Science inspect a way its wonderful. It shows it wasnt a fluke. It was a mother who at any time have much going for her except that she refused to be a victim. She said i can go to the library. You can go to the library. We can learn to read. We can learn anything we want to develop. We take advantage of this program and this program and we are not just going sit around and say poor me. And if we ever came up with an excuse, she always came out with a point called yourself to blame. Youre the captain of your ship. When things go awry things growing up with that philosophy was extremely helpful. Because if people will not accept your excuses pretty soon you stop looking for excuses and you start looking for solutions. My brother was a role model for me. You know, when we were in high school, he was a captain. He was the rotc, he was the company commander. He had the ribbons. That really inspired me to get in to rotc and really work very hard and, you know, fortunately i became the city executive officer and had a chance to meet with generally west and go to congressional medal of honors dinners and offered a full citizenship to west point. I had deep affection for the military as a result of that. We a lot of military friends. They are some of the most spectacular people i know. Some people try to denigrate the military. Some of the smartest people i know in the military. Thats why were safe. Host why did president bush give you the president ial med medal of freedom . Guest i guess we have to ask him that question. I got know him over time. We had a lot of conversations. I had a opportunity to talk to him about lot of issues, and our belief that hes a lot smarter than most people give him credit for. He reads ninety minutes every night before he goes to sleep. Has an enormous knowledge of history, and he said something funny. A lot of people think im stupid, but its my second term in the white house and they have still out there. Who is the stupid one . [laughter] from your book the big picture. You tell the story of ceo lean danielle from cincinnati. Who is that . Guest shes the president of a hospital one of those areas over there she was a Vice President of the Johns Hopkins hospital system, and she was, you know, abandoned as a child, abused, ended up in, you know, foster home. Actually escaped at age 15. Ended up living in ohio in a basement working as an accountant for a bookie. She would hire people to play her parents when she had to have parents at any kind of an affair. And really extremely smart. Very industrious. Went on to college, got a masters degree. Rapidly rose through the ranks at hopkins. As i said now, as president of a large hospital in the middle east. Host why do you put her story in the big picture . Guest i put her picture in there to demonstrate its not where you come from, when you have the right kind of drive the Amazing Things you can accomplish. Host in pennsylvania, you have been on the line for a long time. Very patient. Thank you. You are on with dr. Ben carson. Caller you are welcome. Hi. Guest hi. Caller new surgeon and a professor. The student failed health and [inaudible] guest theres a little dis, distort. Caller in these two fields what are your first frustrations . Host as an educator and surgeon what are your frustrations . Guest okay. Well, you know, i tend not to concentrate so much on the frustrations. I have a philosophy that any time something is not successful, any time you fell, you need to analyze it and ask yourself is there something to be learned from this . If you do that each time, your failures and frustrations will certainly diminish. Now, you know, in a field of neuro surgery, and the field of teaching, one of the things that is a little frustrating to me is sort of that a change in attitude that im seeing where its not so much this is my patient as it is this is my shift and my job. I would like to see us return more to a, you know, really Good Relationship between the patient and the prak practitioner, again, thats one of the reasons im really pushing for the Health Savings account. 80 of the counter between the patient and the physician can be handled through the hsa without a need for a third party to intervene and suck up money, by the way. And relationship develops, you know, 02 not going to allow your doctor to order five c. A. T scans when you only need one. Its coming out of your hsa. He knows that. Hes not going to order five when he needs one. You are going to be working much more closely together, and then i think this is my patient and my doctor type of relationship is only beneficial to everybody. Host chapter 10, america the beautiful is health care a right . How do you answer that question . Guest i dont think health care is a right based on our constitution. I think h. B. Is a duty. I think we have a duty to provide basic health care to everybody. We certainly have the ability to do it. We certainly have put enough financing in place to do it. And we absolutely need to it. But, you know, did gets back to a bigger question, that is somewhat is our duty as a churches tax deductible because they do things or they are supposed to. They are not supposed to be social clubs. They are supposed on out there helping those in need in the community, and one of the wonderful things about it is a relationship, again, ill get back to that. Developed between the church and those people and their community that are being helped. And those people in the community feel much more of an obligation to do something with the aid theyre getting as opposed to getting a check in the mailbox every two week. In which case you are kind of like in many cases. Okay. This is fine. I can deal with this. This is not with a we want. We dont want complaisant sincerity. We want everybody to be striving and driving to move forward. Its a particular area of concern for me. And the Africanamerican Community or the black community right now because, you know, we see poverty increases. We see 73 of babies being born out of wedlock. They are four times more likely to grow up in pouf it. Their mothers are less likely to finish their education. We have tremendous crime, things going on, and economic deor it your ration completely unnecessary. We need to be talking about that in the black community. Those who will leaders in the black community inspect is a serious problem. And, you know, teach people economic. You need to learn how to turn over dollars in your own community before they go out. Thats how you create wealth and wealth being created. We need to reach back and pull the next guy up and help along the way. You do that and you dont need any help from anybody else. Host in america the beautiful when it comes to health care, you write contrary to popular belief, one of the reasons many physicians refuse to see indigent patients is not they cannot pay, because of the poor treatment they receive from such parents. Patient. Guest yeah. Because of our lotterylike system of medical malpractice. Were one of the few places in the world has the problem of malpractice. A lot of people recognize they are concerned about it. They bully them. Im going sue if this isnt happening. Ive seen it so many times. Its so disgusting. What it says to us is that we need some tort reform. Its a big problem. Costas lot of money. And it creates, you know, an atmosphere that i dont think is con con deucive to good care. And you know what is going on in this country that isnt going on in every other country that makes it a big problem . Theres one thing we have they dont have its called the Trial Lawyers Association. They make that lot of money out of it. You look at the field like mine, neuro surgery. Nine out of ten malpractices cases are without merit. But, you know, some of those lawyers, some lawyers are very ethical. I know, some malpractice lawyers who wont take a case like that. A lot of them they just want a case. And they know that the hospital and the Insurance Company and the doctor they dont want to be tied up in court for months. If they can find the right number, settlement which happens in the vast majority of cases they get their cut and gotolook for the next case. Theres no consequences. You might become a millionaire. That doesnt make any sense. We have to fix that. Yfs that why was that not in the Health Care Reform bill . Ill tell you why, because president is in bed with the Trial Lawyers Association. And they didnt want it in there. I was at the public forum. Howard dean, i dont agree with much he has so say. And he was asked why it wasnt in the health care bill. He said, its simple. The Trial Lawyers Association gives us a lot of money and they dont want it in there. Boom. Host doctor carson, do doctors have a role in the cost of our health care . Are doctors paid too much . Guest are doctors paid too much . I dont think they are paid too much. Recognize that, you know, in college when everybody was partying, doctors are grinding. Because they have to get the grades to get to medical school. When they get to medical school, its goodbye family, i love you dont take the fact you never hear me from they dont love you. They are grinding away. You know, the first two years of medical school, the amount of material you have to learn is likened to learning eight new Foreign Languages simultaneously. Its an enormous task. Then you become an intern in a resident where you learn how to put everybodys agenda on the front burner and your on the back burner. You miss your sons birthday party, your anniversary dinner. You miss everything because emergencies dont look at the schedule. Theyre not paid too much money. And also, look at the list of time, the training you have to go through. You know, people who go in to law or business, you know, by the time you get done, you know, theyre already well to the career making lots of money. You have been skating along not making a whole lot of money, and i think a lot of people also have a misperception about how much money doctors actually make. Even neurosurgeons who are at the top, in philadelphia, the malpractice premium for a neuro surgeon, if you have never had a lawsuit 300 ,000 a year. You know, that has to come out of the earnings. So you to pilot of overhead and things. By the time you get to paying all of that, the believe me, you are not making a large amount of money. I dont think they bring too much. Host what do you bring to a Company Whose board you serve on such as kellogg . Guest different perspectives. Particularly about, you know, health. Health care, but a lot of social issues as well. And, you know, interestingly enough, you know, people and science and people in medicine frequently dont get involved in things outside their field. I think thats to the detriment because were trained to make decisions based on facts. Based on evidence. Not on emotion. Not on ideology, not on philosophy. And i think that is something that is extremely useful in nidis plin. Discipline. I encourage many more people in the field of medicine and signs to get more involved in your community and what is going on. Host reading has purpose. Posts on our Facebook Page. I love the mention of africanamerican businessmen able to back millionaire in birmingham, alabama in the 30s. He wrote an auto biography its been published to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the civil rights event. I ordered a copy sitting here watching the interview. Rachel asked the question what happened to your father. If he was absent, did that or does that play a role in the kind of father husband you are today . Guest yes. The book is a great story. I have to tell you i recommend for anybody of any race of quite inspirational. Many father died many years ago. Host did you see him after that day in 1959 . Guest yes. The last time i saw him was the day i was married. He came to the wedding. I never heard any ill will toward him even though, you know, i know he wasnt my mothers favorite person after she found out he was a bigamist and wouldnt pay Child Support either. But after awhile she just, you know, stopped pursuing it and said ill deal with it myself. You know, i think he was largely a victim of his upbringing, and the interesting thing is, you know, when they moved from tennessee to detroit, my mother was able to take his salary working in a factory, put aside significant portions of it, and they were able to acquire a large amount of real estate in detroit. And unfortunately, he kind of got in to drugs and stuff and gambled it all away, but he had the wisdom listen to my mother, they would have been very rich people. Host brad in florida, your youre on with dr. Ben carson. Caller good afternoon. A pleasure to speak be you. I would like to ask you a twopart question. The first being, what is your opinion of Rush Limbaugh, and secondly, do you feel he has a positive or negative impact upon society . Thank you. Guest okay. Well, you know, i think Rush Limbaugh serves a very useful purpose in our society because he break things down. He looks at things, he analyzes it, you know, some of his analysis, you know, i might not agree with. But a lot of them, i do agree with, and because a lot of people have tried to demonize him, people look at what he says in light of that demonization as opposed to the merit of what it is. And i think, you know, Rush Limbaugh, you know, on one side some of the people we see on msnbc on the other side, you know, we need to stop, you know, taking these people and say, you know, youre bad. Youre good. Forget about all of that stuff. Listen to what they have to say and analyze the merit of what they have to say rather than always trying to focus on the individual. Next calm for dr. Carson cometting from peter in vancouver, washington. Hi, peter. Caller hi, thank you, booktv. Dr. Carson, thank you for your courage. Guest thank you. Caller i was just wondering do you think its necessary for a third party i would like to think of Something Like we the people party also you have [inaudible] please accept it before it send Something Else other than in god we trust. Ill take your comment. Guest yes. Well, you know, the third party issue, i would not like to see that occur. Because even though on the surface it seems like a very good idea, it can result in a perpetuation of just the thing that the thirty party arose to dissipates by splitting the vote. What i would rather see happen is the third party, for instance, the tea party to analyze Democratic Party analyze the Republican Party and see which one more closely fits their values, then try to work within that party to make changes. I realize they choose the Republican Party as more of a party that was for govern mans by the people. And i realize they have created some havoc in the Republican Party was the traditional Republican Party has been a progovernment party. If there cant be some accommodation, perhaps there is room for a third party. I know, a lot of people who are democrats. I just spent, you know, a weekend with a democrat whose philosophies are republican, they are just traditionally democrat. We need sort of get rid of these labels, and talk about solutions, and people need to start voting across party lines because the philosophy that the individual hold is much more important than the party to which they belong. This Party Loyalty stuff, let me tell you, its crap. Its a way to control you. Dont allow people to manipulate you until a party. Make sure you align with the principles not with the party. Host steven h. Sends it in via email. What prevents you from running for president in 2016. Why do you avoid the question . Guest i dont avoid the question, and nothing prevent me from doing it except i dont feel a need to do it. I dont feel a calling to do it. Will things change . I dont know. , you know, if there were no candidates that anybody could get enthusiastic about, and, you know, there was a large outcry, you know. I would have to Pay Attention to that. I dont see that happening. I see my role of really as more of someone who can provide background for people to make good decisions. Host just a few minutes left with the indepth guest this morning. Dr. Ben carson. Author of five books with one on the way. Kristy in reno, hi. Caller hi. Thank you so much. God bless you, dr. Carson. Guest thank you. Caller the ive been learning about you for some time. My mom felt like your mom was a hero for some of the things she was able to do. My question is about your 3 dthinking. You said i understand a little bit about this. I think thats my son thinks. You said in med school, two dimensional thinking was easier. So i am surprised by that. I hope youll explain more. Guest yeah. By what i mean by two dimensional thinking is seeing everything on the same plane. When it happens, its much easier, much more difficult rather for you to keep relationships in mind. So people who have to deal with a lot of Spatial Relationships are people who tend to excel in three dimensionaltype thinking. Its not a dem gracious of anybody. Its simply to say some people have certain talents or gift, they need to recognize what those are and use them appropriately. I tell young people all the time to sit back and assess what your gifts are. Talk to people who know you. Who have known your whole life. See what they think your gifts are. In term of a career, choose something that fits your gifts and talents. Youll do much better. Host dean post on facebook. Dr. Carson with poll toward a socialist type of government can the people of the great nation be awakingenned. Can they foster the strength . Yes, i believe they can be awakened. Again, it goes back to sometimes theres a failure to explain to people the consequences of their actions. The longterm consequences. They can see the longterm but frequently cannot see the longterm. We those of us who feel that capitalism works that peoples like Jew Christian moral system works. We need to be more effective in the way we explain these things. We need to be kind and compassionate when we talk about spending cuts. We need to put more emphasis on grow we economy and make opportunity for people than how we slash their benefit. Of course, theyll be concerned when you do that. There are ways this can be done. Again, i invite people from both parties, republicans and democrats as well as independents like myself to Work Together to solve these problem. Were not doing ourselves any good when we put ourselves in our Little Corner and throw hand grenades at each other rather than focus on fixing the problem. Host gary is in texas. Youre on booktv. Caller thank you. Im a surgeon here. First, i think a great ticket would be [inaudible] having sit down [inaudible] we were respected and honored. Now its like a game for the Insurance Company, the attorney, the hospital to demonize us. And patients are kind of biased before they see us. They assume were going to be doing something wrong and cant wait for it to happen. I must say in my twenty five years, i have never burned away a patient. Youll never see an american adult without a repaired cleft lip or palate. You go to italy, spain, nobody does free care unless we decide to do it. My question is do you think we as physicians should deal with being demonized in everything we do. Host how long have you been a Plastic Surgeon . Caller twenty five years. I did a Plastic Surgeon [inaudible] foip and everybody thinks i make too much money. Host what is your malpractice, if we could ask in caller ive been in practice over twenty five years. Ive had zero lawsuits its 80,000 a year. Guest first of all, you know, just an example of a kind of person that loves talking about, you know, most physicians absolutely wonderful, above board, out there to help people being nonnize demonized, so to speak, by the system. Part of the problem is that physicians tend to be relatively meek and mild. You know they dont really speak up for themselves. And Insurance Companies discovered that some years ago. You can do anything to these guy theyre not going say anything. Can you imagine if somebody came along to the lawyers and said you know what . I know you are charging 100. Im giving you 5. Docks, over . Whatever. Doctors need to begin to speak up more. They need to be force of the like we were in the early part of this nation when i said five physicians founded the decoration of independence. We were much more involved in every aspect of society. The more involved we are, the more our point of view will will be recognized and the contribution we make. The less effective those who try to demonize us will be. Host in gifted hands you write successful people dont have fewer problems. They have determined that nothing will stop them from going forward. Guest exactly. Host go ahead. Guest i dont know everybody has problems in life. And really whether you succeed or fail is a matter of how you relate to them. If you see the obstacle as a containing fence, it becomes your excuse for failure. And if you see it as a hurled l, each one strengthens you for the next. So again, its a matter of choice. How do you decide to see things . How do you decide to see yourself . Host david in bismarck, north dakota. The only state in the union that ben carson hasnt visited. Hi, david. Caller good morning. Guest hi. Caller i have a question then an i invitation. I know, youre a christian. I was wonder was there a certain point in your life that you became believer . Guest well, you know, i grew up to sort of in the church, and believing, but the time when it became very real to me is the day they tried to stab another youngster. That belt buckle that he had on, you know, the knife blade struck and it broke, but that three hours that i spent in the bathroom thinking about my life contemplating,ing, praying, reading the bible. God became very real that day and has been extremely real to me. Im not a highly religious person. I have a deep and abiding relationship with god. Host david, your followup . Caller i mentioned earlier this morning you have never been to north dakota. Well, we have a lot going on up here. We have one of the strongest economies in the nation. 2 billion in the black and 2 unemployment. [inaudible] as a citizen of the great state of north dakota would like to extend a invitation to you. Guest when the right invitation comes along for the right event, ill be there. Host we have a minute left. Hes calling from orlando. Ged. Ged. Go ahead i have a question for you. I understand that the [inaudible] for thirty years and just resolved and we have some [inaudible] where do you see that going . Guest well, you know, theres been animosity in the middle east the since the days of jacob. And im sure you know that whole story how things evolve, but actually it even started before that with isaac having the same father, abraham. There never has been peace. Will there be peace . I dont know. Should we attempt to create situations where theres peace . Absolutely. Are the israeli our friends . Absolutely. They have been always. Many of the entities in the middle east countries have been our friends at some we have to be willing to extend the olive branch. We have to be fair and loyal. We are to try to do what is right. By the same token, i dont think we necessarily have to have our nose in everything, and, you know, i may be one of the few people, for instance, who doesnt agree with us being in afghanistan. You know, afghanistan is not one solitary nation. There are 300 tribes in afghanistan. One doesnt listen to the other. No one has ever been able to tame afghanistan. Why do we think we can tame it . There are things we can do there with covert actions, drones, pet. I have no problem with that. To send our troops over there to get killed and not change anything, not so great. Host dr. Ben carsons book came out in 1990 followed by think big came out in 2000. Take the risk 2008, american the beautiful 2011. And theres a new book on the way. For the last three hours we have been talking with dr. Ben carson. An anthology that explores the sexual politics of black churches so without further ado please welcome josef sorret. [applause] good evening everyone. Thank you valerie for that introduction thread i want to thank our sponsors as well as their host for the opportunity to moderate this panel of insightful