00:00:00
travel vloggers the staple of the
00:00:02
YouTube Community these people have been
00:00:04
around since almost the conception of
00:00:06
social media Aesthetics and some may
00:00:08
even say they're the original my life is
00:00:10
better than yours influencers I mean
00:00:12
think back for a second think orange and
00:00:14
teal think tan bodies blonde hair no
00:00:18
care that's probably a caption they
00:00:20
would use on their over saturated
00:00:21
Instagram pictures or something like
00:00:24
living life like a butter
00:00:25
knife what does that even mean you want
00:00:28
to live life like the most dull version
00:00:30
of a knife a knife that can't even cut
00:00:32
through bread I personally would want to
00:00:35
live life like a chef's knife but hey
00:00:36
that's just me and you're just you the
00:00:40
average person may be going to school
00:00:42
may be working and you watch these
00:00:44
mainly white people traveling to foreign
00:00:46
countries exploiting often third world
00:00:48
countries all to get that pretty
00:00:50
Instagram picture just to make you feel
00:00:51
like [ __ ] at your 9 to-5 job while these
00:00:53
trust fun babies are off experiencing
00:00:55
the world but what if I told you there
00:00:57
was a different kind of travel
00:00:59
influencer one that was more real more
00:01:01
honest I mean Bare Bones no color
00:01:04
grading to make the water look more blue
00:01:07
or their skin more tan no
00:01:09
overdramatizing The Experience if they
00:01:11
have something negative to say they will
00:01:14
say it because hey he's American and
00:01:16
Americans can do whatever the we want
00:01:19
finally someone is providing a truthful
00:01:21
perspective on these countries what no
00:01:23
one tells you about Japan smoking that
00:01:26
gas on Vietnam's communist Express how
00:01:28
dangerous is Iraq for Americans real
00:01:31
life Titanic in India look he went to
00:01:33
India how long till I get food poisoning
00:01:35
in in
00:01:38
India India's train ride from from
00:01:46
Hell India
00:01:49
sucks don't ever come
00:01:53
here okay I kind of missed the orange
00:01:55
and
00:01:58
teal
00:02:00
[Music]
00:02:03
that's funny my intro kind of has the
00:02:05
colors orange and teal bet you didn't
00:02:07
catch that Easter egg God I'm so good at
00:02:09
my [ __ ] job today we're talking about
00:02:11
a YouTube travel vlogger by the name of
00:02:13
the small brained American so I guess
00:02:15
it's safe to say he's pretty self-aware
00:02:17
does that make his content better or
00:02:19
worse uh well I guess we'll leave that
00:02:21
up to interpretation I'm going to say
00:02:22
worse because that probably means he
00:02:24
knows what he's doing now what is he
00:02:26
doing well he's just traveling the world
00:02:28
and giving his honest opinion on the
00:02:29
place he's visiting what's wrong with
00:02:31
that I mean isn't that what Honest Abe
00:02:32
died for no he died because he let his
00:02:35
guard down see now I'm just being honest
00:02:37
and honestly I didn't want to make
00:02:38
another video about Western
00:02:40
discrimination towards Indians because I
00:02:43
don't want people to think I'm milking
00:02:44
it but then I saw this video on my
00:02:46
homepage India sucks don't ever come
00:02:48
here 3.7 million views the most viewed
00:02:51
video on small brined Americans YouTube
00:02:54
channel and it's basically just a video
00:02:56
of Connor here describing his visit to
00:02:58
one place in India and he clearly is not
00:03:00
having the best time now that's okay
00:03:03
India isn't for everyone but describing
00:03:05
a place that you're visiting for the
00:03:07
first time that is under less than
00:03:08
fortunate circumstances without context
00:03:11
information or research of said place's
00:03:13
history to an audience of 3.7 million
00:03:16
people is dare I say it racist whoa woke
00:03:19
buzzword woke buzzword now he may not be
00:03:22
portraying inherently racist values but
00:03:24
this is a level of ignorance that
00:03:25
completely disregards and oppressed
00:03:27
people's circumstance and can easily
00:03:29
give way to uninformed racism and
00:03:31
because of your YouTube Channel's name
00:03:33
we can infer that this is done
00:03:35
intentionally that you're aware of your
00:03:36
ignorance and you're just playing into
00:03:38
it and people that maybe have not
00:03:39
developed an opinion on India now Will
00:03:42
based off of your impression or even the
00:03:44
people that do share these beliefs about
00:03:46
India's environment are given a reason
00:03:47
to keep believing them now if you're
00:03:49
still not convinced there's anything
00:03:50
wrong here um I'm going to look at a few
00:03:52
of these videos so I can properly
00:03:53
explain myself but first a word from our
00:03:55
sponsor I'm a pretty young guy at the
00:03:57
ripe age of 21 I just entered this world
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rocket money for sponsoring this video
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now let's get back to the Travel Channel
00:05:06
now the small Brin American or Connor
00:05:08
didn't just travel to India to talk [ __ ]
00:05:10
he had planned out a little travel
00:05:13
Excursion one that started in Ireland
00:05:15
and ended in Japan stopping at bordering
00:05:18
countries along the way before he even
00:05:20
got to India he explored places like
00:05:22
turkey France Ukraine and Iraq now at
00:05:25
its most basic intention I appreciate
00:05:27
what Connor is trying to achieve with
00:05:29
his content traveling to different
00:05:30
countries talking to locals and taking
00:05:33
in perspectives that people wouldn't
00:05:34
really be able to see otherwise I
00:05:36
actually really enjoyed this one video
00:05:38
in particular that took place in Iraq
00:05:41
where Connor was sitting with some
00:05:42
locals playing dominoes and drinking
00:05:44
chai he was asking one of the locals
00:05:46
about his perspective on the Iraq War
00:05:48
and how it had affected him and his
00:05:49
loved ones as well as how it had
00:05:51
affected the locals perspectives on
00:05:53
Americans can you tell me a little bit
00:05:54
about the war like how was it living
00:05:56
here during the 2003 War like the period
00:05:59
from 2003 up until
00:06:03
2011 it was horrible you can get
00:06:07
killed for saying the wrong word and the
00:06:09
wrong neighborhood who would kill
00:06:12
you danger comes from all sorts of
00:06:15
places it was a very genuine and
00:06:17
enlightening conversation that you don't
00:06:19
see from a lot of travel vloggers this
00:06:21
is someone who is really immersing thems
00:06:23
in another world trying to understand
00:06:26
the suppressive history which is what
00:06:28
made me even more confused when he went
00:06:30
to India because it was not at all the
00:06:33
same sentiment Conor's first video in
00:06:35
India takes place in Delhi and it's
00:06:37
titled how long till I get food
00:06:39
poisoning not long which is already a
00:06:41
decently negative title and would have
00:06:43
been fine if Connor actually had a
00:06:46
negative experience because at least
00:06:48
this title isn't a generally broad
00:06:50
statement it's pretty specific but
00:06:52
weirdly enough this is a a very positive
00:06:55
video he gets to India with a desire for
00:06:57
spicy food and cold beer and within 30
00:06:59
seconds he finds a street vendor with
00:07:01
spicy
00:07:03
food yeah some kind of onion green chili
00:07:05
sauce and some kind of dough ball godamn
00:07:08
delicious it only took us 30 seconds to
00:07:09
M spicy food godamn delicious okay
00:07:12
starting off with a good experience I
00:07:14
wonder when the bad experience that's
00:07:16
mentioned in the title happens oh look
00:07:18
he meets two locals and they introduce
00:07:19
him to some more street food maybe it
00:07:21
happens
00:07:23
here good very Tangy it's it's Tangy and
00:07:27
spicy and delicious okay he loves that
00:07:29
too and what's that they they buy it for
00:07:33
him okay two random people just bought
00:07:38
you ponti py okay all right let's let's
00:07:40
keep going he goes to get Dosa loves it
00:07:44
not surprised locals take pictures with
00:07:46
him he meets more locals has some banter
00:07:49
they ask questions he asks them
00:07:52
questions they give him a smoke and then
00:07:54
they buy him chai wow what an amazing
00:07:57
first night in India if I had to guess
00:07:59
what the title of this video is called
00:08:01
based on the events that took place I
00:08:03
would have guessed something like Indian
00:08:05
locals buy me food or the locals in
00:08:07
India treat me like royalty but no
00:08:10
instead this video is titled how long
00:08:13
until I get food poisoning in India and
00:08:15
he never mentions actually getting food
00:08:18
poisoning he just talks about how it's a
00:08:20
possibility we'll continue to find the
00:08:22
spiciest food possible cheapest food
00:08:25
possible all while hopefully dodging
00:08:27
salmonella or diptheria or whatever the
00:08:29
book called but even if he did get it
00:08:31
that's his own fault he's traveled to
00:08:33
multiple countries already he should
00:08:35
know that you don't just walk into a
00:08:37
third world country and eat everything
00:08:39
in sight and it's obvious this title is
00:08:41
just clickbait anyway I know how the
00:08:43
algorithm works okay I've played the
00:08:45
game long enough now using negative
00:08:47
connotation and negative buzzwords just
00:08:50
to rank higher in search because you're
00:08:52
being controversial and honest and hey
00:08:55
guess what it worked this video is his
00:08:58
second most popular people love it
00:09:00
they're happy someone is finally being
00:09:02
truthful about places like India in
00:09:05
instead of romanticizing it which I
00:09:07
personally have never seen before but
00:09:09
okay and like I mentioned in the
00:09:11
beginning this provides a sort of dog
00:09:13
whistle for people that already have
00:09:15
negative beliefs about India in the
00:09:16
first place love your honesty compared
00:09:18
to 90% of other vloggers who will
00:09:21
literally walk through trash and crap
00:09:22
and say how beautiful is this place did
00:09:24
we watch the same video bro had a great
00:09:26
time and was laughing with the locals
00:09:28
for 90% % of the video EX exactly my
00:09:31
point the next video doesn't have a
00:09:33
negatively connotated title however in
00:09:35
it he just experiences more pure
00:09:38
kindness and generosity from the Indian
00:09:40
people he stumbles into an Indian
00:09:42
wedding anniversary and is literally
00:09:44
offered cake and food by the wife he
00:09:47
then gets politely kicked out by the
00:09:48
husband which is understandable he's
00:09:51
crashing a party after Connor stay in
00:09:53
Delhi he travels to Pakistan where he
00:09:55
stays with a rich Elite religious SL
00:09:59
political figure so of course this
00:10:01
experience is going to be a lot better
00:10:03
than his stay in India also quick
00:10:04
sidebar the political figure that Connor
00:10:08
is staying with in Pakistan goad is just
00:10:12
a just a little bit suspicious now I
00:10:14
don't know much about Islam or earning
00:10:16
money ethically under Islam but kuad and
00:10:20
his uncle who is supposedly a descendant
00:10:23
of the Prophet Muhammad earn their money
00:10:25
by praying for the poor and naive locals
00:10:29
they're like celebrities in this area
00:10:31
I'm a
00:10:32
Muslim what was happening at K's uncle's
00:10:35
house is not at all a part of our
00:10:37
religion what they were doing was sinful
00:10:38
and a way to earn money from the
00:10:39
underprivileged uneducated and naive
00:10:42
people as a Pakistani I thank you for
00:10:44
exposing these people they've been
00:10:46
exploiting these poor people for
00:10:47
Generations again I don't know a lot
00:10:49
about this situation and I don't think
00:10:51
Connor does either after all he is just
00:10:53
a small brained American but it looks a
00:10:55
little slimy from the outside looking in
00:10:57
so I just wanted to point it out maybe
00:10:59
someone can educate me in the comments
00:11:01
now after Pakistan Connor goes back to
00:11:03
India and this is when the infamous
00:11:06
India sucks video is born so Connor
00:11:08
arrives in vasi India's holiest city and
00:11:11
he's overwhelmed with pollution constant
00:11:14
horns from locals going to and from work
00:11:16
Rickshaw drivers he's convinced are
00:11:18
trying to rip him off poverty-stricken
00:11:19
families living in horrific conditions
00:11:21
clearly this is not the most pleasant
00:11:24
experience yet still along the way he
00:11:25
manages to find the people of vasi
00:11:29
welcoming him to their holy city but I
00:11:30
guess that doesn't matter because only
00:11:32
the bad parts are India and not the
00:11:34
kind-hearted people so therefore India
00:11:36
sucks in Connor's next video titled
00:11:38
indiaia train right from hell he finds
00:11:40
himself in the wrong cabin of a train
00:11:42
smooshed among a massive herd of people
00:11:45
and yeah this sucks the pollution sucks
00:11:49
the living conditions suck the trash
00:11:53
sucks the cows eating trash sucks even
00:11:55
though we treat cows and farm animals
00:11:57
insurmountably worse in the US but
00:11:59
anyway going to a third world country
00:12:01
like India and being honest about the
00:12:04
experience hurts more than it helps
00:12:07
because most of this information is
00:12:09
already a presupposed belief inside
00:12:12
Westerner heads being dirty and smelly
00:12:15
is an Indian stereotype so you're not
00:12:17
giving anyone new information you're
00:12:19
just affirming a preconceived bias there
00:12:22
are literally videos of Street vendors
00:12:24
who serve food in India that go viral
00:12:27
just because of how gross people think
00:12:28
it is this is not much different than
00:12:30
other Street vendors in different third
00:12:32
world countries serving food like at all
00:12:34
but India has to catch flak because
00:12:36
Indians are dirty and that's why
00:12:38
channels like the small-brained American
00:12:39
are only fueling the fire rather than
00:12:42
highlighting The Beautiful People of
00:12:44
India he chose to diss the disgusting
00:12:46
country they live in and this isn't me
00:12:48
saying India's conditions are not bad
00:12:51
this is me saying historical context is
00:12:53
important the why is really important
00:12:56
because at the end of the day this isn't
00:12:58
really India's fault and it certainly is
00:13:00
not the people of India's fault
00:13:02
unemployment famine poor sanitary
00:13:05
conditions lack of access to education
00:13:07
and Healthcare cast based oppression
00:13:09
religious violence and gender-based
00:13:11
violence are all part of the legacy of
00:13:14
colonialism in 40 years between 1880 and
00:13:17
1920 British colonialism killed a 100
00:13:20
million Indians and according to
00:13:21
research by economic historian Robert
00:13:23
Allen extreme poverty in India increased
00:13:26
under British rule from 23% in 1810 to
00:13:29
more than 50% in the mid 20th century
00:13:32
Allen and other Scholars argue that
00:13:33
prior to colonialism Indian living
00:13:35
standards may have been on a par with
00:13:37
the developing parts of Western Europe
00:13:39
so when you sum up your entire
00:13:41
experience in India with a clickbaity
00:13:44
and slanderous title you're not just
00:13:47
putting down the country and its history
00:13:49
you're putting down the people and not
00:13:51
the rich wealthy Indian Elites that
00:13:52
hoard 77% of the country's wealth you're
00:13:55
putting down the people that excitedly
00:13:57
greet you beaming with with pride that
00:13:59
this American had decided to travel to
00:14:02
their country to their City to their
00:14:04
home the ones that share their sacred
00:14:07
spaces and beloved food with you or
00:14:09
provide you with reassurance that you're
00:14:11
going to be fine in this new and
00:14:13
dangerous situation the ones that shave
00:14:15
your beard with the finest most prized
00:14:18
blade that doesn't get pulled out very
00:14:20
often only to be regarded as unsanitary
00:14:23
and overpriced their Hospitality goes
00:14:26
unnoticed because India sucks don't ever
00:14:29
go there said the white man who was
00:14:30
given the utmost respect by the people
00:14:34
that get the least the dark toned the
00:14:36
lower cast the people that aren't even
00:14:38
regarded as people share their culture
00:14:41
with you and what do they get in return
00:14:44
slander a a knife in the back even when
00:14:47
Connor went to a different country
00:14:49
Myanmar a country to the right of India
00:14:51
he was helped by one of the locals there
00:14:53
for the whole day they showed him around
00:14:55
and offered to buy him things for the
00:14:56
whole day they even did drugs together
00:14:59
and Connor just ended up ditching him
00:15:01
without paying cuz he was just convinced
00:15:02
that this person was trying to scam him
00:15:05
well guys that's the last we're going to
00:15:06
see a Michael he started to ask me for
00:15:08
money for hanging out with him for the
00:15:10
day dude of course this person wants to
00:15:11
get paid have you seen their conditions
00:15:14
their living conditions a small amount
00:15:16
of money can definitely go a long way
00:15:18
for this person and I'm sure you give
00:15:20
money to people all the time all I'm
00:15:22
saying is that it's not a good look to
00:15:24
claim something is a scam refuse to give
00:15:26
money to children who are begging at the
00:15:28
same time as your patreon donations show
00:15:31
up on screen look I I don't think Connor
00:15:33
is a bad person I don't think he has bad
00:15:35
intentions I guess I'm just realizing
00:15:38
that I don't think there is that much of
00:15:39
a difference between the orange and teal
00:15:41
vloggers and the honest vloggers I get
00:15:44
it all right you both need to make money
00:15:46
oversaturate your pictures add that
00:15:49
controversial title go make your money
00:15:52
hey not much different than the scammers
00:15:53
now are we at least their excuses they
00:15:55
need to live these are parts of the
00:15:57
world that have experienced an immense
00:15:59
amount of pain and suffering which is
00:16:00
why empathy and sympathy are so
00:16:04
important and sure Connor was kind to
00:16:06
these people he talked to them and
00:16:08
that's great the most recurring themes
00:16:09
in his India Vlogs were his
00:16:12
overwhelmingly positive experiences with
00:16:14
the food and with the people if he would
00:16:16
have expressed that sentiment in his
00:16:18
title and his thumbnails I guarantee you
00:16:20
it would have made a very important
00:16:23
impact especially considering the views
00:16:25
that he gets Anthony Bourdain is the
00:16:27
perfect example of a priv Ed Foreigner
00:16:29
stepping into underprivileged and
00:16:31
marginalized spaces but knowing how to
00:16:33
navigate it with respect and care he
00:16:35
didn't look down on foreign places he
00:16:37
visited and their quaintness SLB
00:16:39
backwardness SL insert usual derogatory
00:16:42
adjective journalist Ria Abu tweeted he
00:16:45
dived in hungry to experience his wasn't
00:16:48
the orientalist Gaze he saw humanity and
00:16:51
food everywhere and connected with it
00:16:53
Anthony Bourdain will always be a a very
00:16:56
special person to me because he embodied
00:16:58
pure good-natured curiosity curiosity
00:17:02
that did not step on the toes of the
00:17:03
community he was experiencing but rather
00:17:05
a curiosity that was willing to accept
00:17:07
and understand drastically different
00:17:09
experiences you guys know that Bourdain
00:17:11
went to Palestine fun fact he bluntly
00:17:13
criticized the treatment of the
00:17:15
Palestinian people at a time where
00:17:17
nobody was really doing it and it was
00:17:19
way more controversial than it is now he
00:17:21
went to Gaza to understand he spoke a
00:17:24
truth that a lot of people are too
00:17:26
afraid to speak today the world has
00:17:28
visited many terrible things on the
00:17:30
Palestinian people none more shameful
00:17:33
than robbing them of their basic
00:17:35
Humanity people are not statistics that
00:17:39
is all we attempted to show now
00:17:41
personally that's the kind of honest
00:17:43
travel experience I want to see one that
00:17:45
has empathetic intention and careful
00:17:47
deliberation not one that is slandering
00:17:50
a country and its people all because the
00:17:53
algorithm might pick it up this video
00:17:55
isn't just about India it's about the
00:17:58
people people that belong to countries
00:18:00
and homes that are painted as unusual or
00:18:03
outlandish by videos on the Internet or
00:18:06
news outlets culture is a beautiful
00:18:08
thing and imperialism and colonialism
00:18:11
have stained too many of them so it's
00:18:13
impertinent that we celebrate them in
00:18:15
the ways that matter I want to end the
00:18:17
video with an Anthony Bourdain quote
00:18:20
travel isn't always pretty it isn't
00:18:22
always comfortable sometimes it hurts it
00:18:25
even breaks your heart but that's okay
00:18:28
the journey changes you it should change
00:18:30
you it leaves marks on your memory on
00:18:32
your Consciousness on your heart and on
00:18:35
your body you should take something with
00:18:37
you hopefully you leave something good
00:18:40
behind thank you for watching and I'll
00:18:43
catch you next
00:18:44
[Music]
00:18:57
time
00:18:59
[Music]
00:19:23
[Applause]
00:19:25
[Music]
