In his speech to a crowd of about 250 people Monday night at Trinity Classical Academy in Valencia, American politician and podcaster Nick Freitas opened with remarks about an English literature class he took in college after serving in the United States Army.
Of all things, he said, he was tasked with reading “The Communist Manifesto” by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
Because, Freitas joked, nothing screams English literature like the work of German Marxists.
“We read ‘The Communist Manifesto,’ and we come into class the next week, and the professor gets up there, and he goes, ‘So, what do you guys think of capitalism?’” Freitas said. “This student raises his hand, and he goes, ‘I think capitalism is what is destroying this country.’”
Freitas added that his class wasn’t going to study works by those in favor of capitalism, but they were being asked to read about those who were against it. Students would only get one side of the argument. The student who raised his hand was essentially echoing the sentiments of what the class had read.
Despite just wanting to get in and out of college, Freitas said he couldn’t let this student get away with a statement about capitalism ruining America. Freitas raised his hand, and when the professor called on him, he asked the student who spoke about capitalism to define the term.
“And he’s, ‘Oh, capitalism is this rigid, class-based structure, where the wealthy control the resources at the top,’” Freitas said. “Whoa, I didn’t ask for Karl Marx’s caricature of capitalism. I asked, ‘Do you know the definition of capitalism?’ Professor jumps up and goes, ‘Do you?’”
Freitas did know the definition of capitalism and answered his professor. By the end of the class, he said he had a room full of capitalists.
The point of Freitas’ story was that a liberal English professor was teaching kids about economics and political theory. It was then, he said, “all of the nonsense I started seeing happening in my country made sense to me.”
On Monday night, Trinity Classical Academy’s Young Americans for Freedom group hosted the speaking engagement with Freitas.
Freitas, who’s the host of the shows “Making the Argument” and “The Why Minutes,” which can be found on YouTube, typically discusses politics, free market economics, culture, masculinity, marriage and family. He’s also a member of the Virginia General Assembly serving in the House of Delegates.
YAF is an organization for young conservatives. The chapter at Trinity, according to Liz Caddow, founder and head of the school, hosted a dinner before Freitas took the stage, and the students were working the event, too.
“It’s a very large, active group on campus,” Caddow said of YAF in an interview. “They’re very excited that Mr. Freitas could be with us this evening.”
Trinity senior and YAF member Thomas Rolls was ushering guests into the theater to see Freitas. He was thrilled to be taking part in the program for the evening.
Rolls, who has plans of following in Freitas’ footsteps by joining the military, said hearing Freitas speak was impactful to him.
“All our teachers encourage us to listen to things like this,” Rolls said. “I’m very happy that I get to come to one of these.”
Trinity sophomore and YAF member Tyler Smith did some tabling work at the event beforehand, offering reading materials like mini copies of the Constitution, pamphlets on George Washington and other U.S. presidents, and other informational pieces.
Smith said that while YAF hosts a speaker each year, Monday’s event was the first one she’s attended. She was no stranger to Freitas.
“I’ve adored him for years,” she said. “I followed him on YouTube when I was in seventh grade, so, I’m very familiar with a lot of his opinions. But it was excellent to not have him restrained to one minute like on YouTube shorts.”
During his speech, Freitas talked about the challenges of having logical discussions in today’s political climate. He criticized the weaponization of empathy and the tendency to attack individuals rather than arguments, shared his thoughts on the importance of strong families and communities preserving freedom and values, and he reflected on the responsibility of the current generation to fight for and preserve freedom.
After delivering his message, Freitas offered a Q&A session with the YAF students, who lined up down two aisles to ask questions.
