What are the real-world consequences of trying to keep people in the closet, in terms of their sexuality, politics or lifestyle? What really happens when you try to repress your own opinions, your authentic identity? According to Dave Rubin, repression creates precisely the shadowy monsters that it pretends to protect us from. On this episode of Conversations with Tom, author Dave Rubin and Tom Bilyeu discuss the nature of identity and freedom, and talk about how we might do better as parents, citizens and individuals. This episode is brought to you by: NETGEAR: Learn more about Orbi WiFi 6 at netgear.com/bestwifi SHOW NOTES:   Dave talks about trying to launch a book during a quarantine [0:30] Tom discusses his conflicting feelings about writing a book [3:26] Dave describes his process for getting his book written [4:47] Tom explains how he became the “mindset guy” [8:02] Dave discusses the difficulties facing entrepreneurs and small business owners [9:54] Dave talks about how his interest in politics developed [13:08] Dave describes his experience of being “in the closet” [19:53] The terrible results of refusing to let people be who they are [24:49] Dave explains how he deals with surrogate parenting [30:26] Dave details the criteria he and his partner use to choose surrogates [35:04] What is the definition of a decent parent? What constitutes good parenting? [38:35] Dave and Tom discuss helicopter parenting and how technology has changed kids [41:45] Tom talks about why he would be much too overprotective as a parent [46:05] Your kids will rebel against you no matter what, so there’s no perfect parenting method [49:38] Dave celebrates the freedom that has transformed people who live in the US [51:26] Dave and Tom discuss the difference between equal opportunity and equal outcomes [57:16] Tom talks about the influence on luck in life, and how the education system works [1:06:13] Dave strongly advocates for stable families [1:09:23] Tom talks about his experience working with people who grew up in South Central LA [1:12:01] You can’t solve everyone’s problems, but they still might haunt you [1:16:19] Dave advocates helping out small businesses and mom and pop stores [1:19:53] What is the government really good at? [1:25:01] Dave claims that the individual is the only thing that matters [1:27:47] Tom and Dave discuss Jordan Peterson [1:30:50] Tom strongly advocates deep personal responsibility [1:39:49]   FOLLOW DAVE:   WEBSITE: daverubin.com  INSTAGRAM: https://bit.ly/34X3w5i  FACEBOOK: https://bit.ly/2Vupp8V  TWITTER: https://bit.ly/2KqyitT