“Freedom – with all its messiness, with all of its unproductive decision-making – freedom works better,” Sen. Mitt Romney said at the Hinckley Institute of Politics on Monday, during Sutherland Institute’s annual Congressional Series. “I believe a free people will insist on freedom, ultimately, and will outperform anything else in the world.”  

The senator spoke with Rick Larsen, Sutherland’s president and CEO, about America’s resilience and motivation to keep up against China and other booming nations. 

Despite America’s history of success, Romney expressed concern with our nation’s economy, particularly the decline in men choosing to participate in the workforce. 

“Getting married, having kids, having a job and having a purpose bigger than your own … makes you happier,” Romney said. 

Romney said that Utah still leads in important areas. 

“Utah is number one in the country in social capital,” he said. 

Social capital refers to a compilation of data on the number of people getting married, having kids, going to school, workforce engagement and the negative metric of suicide rates. 

On the topic of the supply chain struggles Americans have encountered in recent years, Romney said that China is the biggest threat we face. 

“As the world has adopted free enterprise … we anticipated that everybody would play by the same rules … but China decided to play a different game,” the senator said.

Romney went on to express his growing concern regarding China’s grasp on raw material trade, which directly impacts output for batteries, solar panels, semiconductors and microchips.

“As we electrify our automobiles, recognize we are completely beholden to and subject to China,” he said.

Mentioning the tragic wildfires in Maui, Larsen noted the increase of finger-pointing and blaming in current events, asking the senator if he believes America is making a mistake by politicizing everything.

“Oh, absolutely,” the senator said. Romney cited Ian Bremmer, a foreign policy expert and corporate consultant, who said, “The problem with America is that you’ve become politically dysfunctional.”

Romney added, “That’s because some people go to Washington to make noise, and some go to make law.”

You can watch the senator’s discussion via the recorded livestream here.

Sutherland Institute’s Congressional Series continues throughout the month of August, held in partnership with university venues across the Wasatch Front. You can learn more and sign up to attend by visiting the event page here.