Fascists will waste your time.

00:53:32
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZzwO2B9b64

Sintesi

TLDRVideo critiques the approach of debating fascists, arguing that it lends legitimacy to their views. It explores how fascists manipulate discourse to gain platforms, and emphasizes their fundamental traits of being losers with destructive ideologies. The speaker provides insight into the irrational belief systems of fascists and offers strategies for effectively countering their messaging without validating their claims. The emphasis is on staying on message, exposing the hateful nature of fascist arguments, and the need for a united, forceful response against intolerance.

Punti di forza

  • 🚫 Do not debate fascists; it legitimizes their views.
  • 🛡️ Maintain hostility to prevent normalization of fascist ideologies.
  • 📣 Focus on exposing their unlikability and hateful nature.
  • ⏳ Fascists aim to waste your time and confuse the discourse.
  • 🐍 Refuse to engage in their terms; keep the conversation on their harmful actions.
  • ⚖️ The mythic truth of fascists is unchallengeable through rational argument.
  • 🤝 Community support is crucial for antifascist resistance.
  • 🏛️ Tolerating fascism means accepting harm to marginalized groups.
  • 🎯 Target their cruelty to show how unacceptable their beliefs are.
  • 🔥 Kindness is ineffective against hate; be firm and vocal.

Linea temporale

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    Videoautor alustab oma muret, et fašiste ei peaks arutama, kuna nad võivad oma ideid õigustada ja legitimiseerida. Juba varakult tegi ta seda ettepaneku, misainust palju negatiivseid vastukajasid. Ta demonstreerib, et vaatamata oma prognoosidele on fašism endiselt laialdaselt levinud ja deplatforming ei toimi, kuna neil on juba platvormid, kus oma ideid levitada.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    Autor kirjeldab fašiste kui kaotajaid, kes võtavad osa liikumisest, mis lõpuks iseenda hävitab. Fašism ei suuda toimida kooskõlastatuna ja on tihti sisetüli ja ebaefektiivsete inimeste tulemuseks.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    Oluline on märkida, et fašistlikud ideed ja väljendused tulevad tihti inimestelt, kellel on madal enesehinnang ning kes otsivad kedagi, keda süüdistada oma probleemides. Tihti suunatakse vihkamine valele sihtmärgile, näiteks immigrantidele, selle asemel, et süüdistada tõelist võimu.

  • 00:15:00 - 00:20:00

    Vihkamine, millega fašistid võtavad välja teisi, näitab nende alateadlikku kombineeritud soosimist ja kristalliseerimist, sest nad ei mõista, et see, mida nad peavad üksikisit, ei ole normaalne, vaid patoloogiline.

  • 00:20:00 - 00:25:00

    Nad peavad end normaalseks ning usuvad, et igaühel, kes ei jagada nende arvamust, on mingil moel vale või ebaaus. Fašistlikud uskumused põhinevad alusetutel ja pealiskaudsetel õigustustel, mis ei pea tõde, vaid pigem kinnistavad nende fantaasiaid.

  • 00:25:00 - 00:30:00

    Video autor rõhutab, et fašiste ei tohiks arutada, vaid neile tuleb kindlalt vastata ja nad tuleb sundida vaikima. Peamine on, et amortiseerida nende ideid ja hoida oma seisukohti selgelt, väljendades, et nad on vale ja vastuvõetamatu.

  • 00:30:00 - 00:35:00

    Autori soovitus, kui fašistid alustavad, on, et nad tuleks tõhusalt taga ajada ja eelkõige näidata, kui sõbralikud nad ei ole, et tagada neile negatiivne sotsiaalne hind. See vähendab seda, kuidas nad saaksid endale õigustusi.

  • 00:35:00 - 00:40:00

    Fašistid näevad aega ja energiat, mida nad saavad kulutada, et vestlust tasakaalustada, kuid nad ignoreerivad, et teised tööd segavad. Kui neid ignoreeritakse, saavad nad end ise ebaausateks ja ebaausateks.

  • 00:40:00 - 00:45:00

    Autor hoiatab, et kõige väljakutsuvamad asjad, mida fašistid teevad, võivad siiski vaikselt ringlusse minna, ning tuleb olla ettevaatlik kodanikuühiskonna ja sõnavabaduse põhimõtete kaitsmisel, hoides ära, et inimesed saavad vabalt teavet.

  • 00:45:00 - 00:53:32

    Lõpuks peab video autor tunnistama, et nad kukuvad pidevalt, kuid peavad jätkama tööd, et tõenditele, loogikale ja faktidele tuginedes, et hoida fašismist eemal, vähemalt seni, kuni ametlikud ikoonid ja massimeedia on haaratud.

Mostra di più

Mappa mentale

Video Domande e Risposte

  • Why shouldn't we debate fascists?

    Debating fascists gives them legitimacy and allows their ideas to be normalized.

  • What is the main goal of fascists in arguments?

    Fascists aim to waste your time and obscure the harm their beliefs cause.

  • How do fascists construct their truth?

    Fascist truth is often based on mythic narratives rather than reality, leading to conclusions immune to rational criticism.

  • What strategies can be employed against fascist rhetoric?

    Focus on their behavior, highlight their unlikability, and don't engage in extensive explanations.

  • Is it effective to correct fascist misinformation?

    It's more effective to expose them as assholes rather than trying to convince them or their supporters.

  • What approach should we take when confronted with fascist ideologies?

    Maintain hostility towards fascism and do not tolerate hateful rhetoric.

  • Can fascists change their positions?

    They are unlikely to change because their beliefs are rooted in emotional and subjective narratives.

  • How can we prevent fascism from normalizing?

    By being openly hostile towards fascists and rejecting their ideas publicly.

  • What is the role of community support in combating fascism?

    Community support is essential in resisting fascism through civil disobedience and active participation.

  • What is the relationship between hate and fascism?

    Fascists thrive on hate and need to create enemies, centering their ideology on victimization and grievance.

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Sottotitoli
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Scorrimento automatico:
  • 00:00:01
    One of the earliest hot takes I made on this channel,
  • 00:00:04
    about six years and 70lbs ago, was that one should not debate fascists.
  • 00:00:09
    People did not like that I said this.
  • 00:00:11
    They felt that I was being a stinky boy, giving a stinky opinion.
  • 00:00:14
    The threat, as I perceived it then, was that fascists would manipulate good faith
  • 00:00:18
    debate in order to gain a platform. That they would weasel their way
  • 00:00:21
    into the political mainstream by tricking their opponents
  • 00:00:24
    into giving them free airtime, and access to their audience
  • 00:00:27
    by being deliberately provocative and sensationalist.
  • 00:00:30
    That by treating their opinions like something
  • 00:00:32
    we can debate in good faith, their ideas would become accepted as normal.
  • 00:00:36
    So... do you see why I always worried about that now?
  • 00:00:40
    Do you see what I meant about all that stuff I said?
  • 00:00:43
    Got it in one, I'd say. That's the stuff that happened.
  • 00:00:46
    Like all burdened with the gift of foresight,
  • 00:00:48
    I watched helplessly as the world I envisioned came to pass.
  • 00:00:56
    But I'm not here to assign blame (today anyway).
  • 00:00:59
    I'm not here to gloat.
  • 00:01:00
    I have nothing to gloat about,
  • 00:01:01
    because despite being correct (as usual), I didn't convince anyone.
  • 00:01:05
    I was scorned and hated then, just as I am now.
  • 00:01:08
    So now what? Right?
  • 00:01:10
    Like, the fascists are everywhere, under every rock, controlling every website,
  • 00:01:14
    seizing or just being handed power everywhere around the globe.
  • 00:01:17
    Deplatforming doesn't make sense as a strategy anymore.
  • 00:01:20
    You can't deny them a platform, they already have all of the platforms...
  • 00:01:24
    But you still can't treat their murderous ideology, and resultant murderous actions
  • 00:01:29
    as though they are normal. Something to be expected or worse, tolerated.
  • 00:01:33
    They're not normal!
  • 00:01:34
    They're what social scientists call "fucked up Nazi bullshit."
  • 00:01:38
    So how do we speak back to fascism without giving
  • 00:01:41
    fascists the attention and legitimacy they want?
  • 00:01:44
    That's the question I've set for myself today.
  • 00:01:46
    And make no mistake,
  • 00:01:47
    it is a small potatoes question in the grand scheme of antifascist resistance.
  • 00:01:51
    The real work is, obviously, community support, civil disobedience,
  • 00:01:55
    [quietly] armed resistance,
  • 00:01:56
    and a bunch of boring care work that nobody thinks about.
  • 00:01:59
    I can help you with that. I'm a moron.
  • 00:02:01
    But that means I know how morons think!
  • 00:02:03
    And in the war against morons,
  • 00:02:05
    I'm your secret weapon!
  • 00:02:06
    Your moron on the inside!
  • 00:02:08
    You see, I do have a very broad answer to the question I posed.
  • 00:02:11
    That stuff I just said
  • 00:02:12
    about how we talk back to fascism without giving them legitimacy.
  • 00:02:16
    But before I can explain it to you, we have to lay some groundwork.
  • 00:02:19
    We have to understand how fascists argue and how come they does do it that way.
  • 00:02:24
    I genuinely don't think most people understand either.
  • 00:02:26
    And that fact, if not corrected, might kill us all!
  • 00:02:29
    So it's kind of important.
  • 00:02:31
    Here's the thing about fascists.
  • 00:02:32
    Here's the thing you absolutely need to understand before we can proceed:
  • 00:02:39
    They're losers.
  • 00:02:41
    Each and every one of them.
  • 00:02:42
    It is a loser movement. For losers, by losers.
  • 00:02:45
    Firstly, like... literally.
  • 00:02:47
    Fascism inevitably and invariably self-destructs.
  • 00:02:49
    It is not designed to win,
  • 00:02:51
    and when it does, by happenstance, it doesn't win for very long.
  • 00:02:54
    They are always at one another's
  • 00:02:56
    throats, always backstabbing and plotting against one another
  • 00:02:59
    by design. They think that drives them all to be stronger through competition,
  • 00:03:03
    but in actuality it makes coordination and teamwork virtually impossible.
  • 00:03:07
    Fascism is doomed to failure
  • 00:03:08
    because it is entirely staffed and maintained by incompetent buffoons.
  • 00:03:12
    Nobody else would have anything to do with it.
  • 00:03:14
    Everyone else either has to great a critical
  • 00:03:16
    thinking skill, or too much self-respect to become a fascist.
  • 00:03:19
    To quote Hannah Arendt, "Totalitarianism in power invariably replaces all first"
  • 00:03:23
    "rate talents, regardless of their sympathies"
  • 00:03:25
    "with those crackpots and fools whose lack of intelligence and creativity"
  • 00:03:29
    "is still the best guarantee of their loyalty."
  • 00:03:31
    Only losers become fascists.
  • 00:03:32
    This is not a judgment, merely a statement of fact.
  • 00:03:35
    To become a fascist is merely one symptom of an underlying spiritual loserness.
  • 00:03:41
    Because when you really boil it down to its core, it is a movement
  • 00:03:45
    of woe is me crybabies. People with some sort of gripe, who are desperate
  • 00:03:49
    to find someone else to blame instead of doing something about it.
  • 00:03:52
    People who feel owed power and control, and see the absence of that power
  • 00:03:56
    and control as a humiliating insult.
  • 00:03:58
    To be asked to earn power or privilege is a slap in the face.
  • 00:04:01
    They should just have it because their daddy's
  • 00:04:02
    special boy, the best, most masterist race or the smartest, most enlightened, civilization,
  • 00:04:08
    or they're the good religion that God likes.
  • 00:04:10
    Sometimes, by sheer coincidence, their grievances
  • 00:04:14
    happen to be legitimate, just directed towards the wrong target.
  • 00:04:17
    Maybe they're poor or unemployed, and instead of getting angry at the rich
  • 00:04:20
    and powerful (the people who are actually always responsible for that)
  • 00:04:24
    they instead choose to believe it's because of immigrants, or secret
  • 00:04:27
    Jewish conspiracies, or DEI, or welfare, or some shit.
  • 00:04:30
    Usually because the rich and powerful are quite aware that cultivating
  • 00:04:33
    this myth benefits them, not only keeping people off their back,
  • 00:04:36
    but granting them an easily manipulated audience
  • 00:04:39
    willing to do violence on their behalf as a fun little bonus.
  • 00:04:42
    Mostly, though, mostly their grievances are entirely frivolous.
  • 00:04:46
    That they have to accept school integration,
  • 00:04:48
    or that their grandkids are trans,
  • 00:04:50
    or that a woman might have sex without being punished for it.
  • 00:04:53
    The oppression they believe themselves to be facing
  • 00:04:55
    is simply that their prejudices have fallen out of fashion.
  • 00:04:58
    That people get mad at them when they're shitty,
  • 00:05:00
    or that they can no longer out loud proclaim their perceived superiority
  • 00:05:04
    to some minority group, without politely being asked to leave the Olive Garden.
  • 00:05:08
    All of these guys are so happy they get to say the R word again.
  • 00:05:11
    That is the sum total of their ambitions.
  • 00:05:13
    Permission to be cruel and thoughtless.
  • 00:05:15
    And they don't care who they have to kill to get it!
  • 00:05:17
    Because they're weird, fucked up losers with stupid, miserable priorities.
  • 00:05:21
    Fascism always requires an enemy, an opponent who they can
  • 00:05:25
    imagine has perverted the natural order in which they are in top.
  • 00:05:28
    When it's not immediately clear who that enemy might be
  • 00:05:31
    they're happy to just make one up, or blame some outgroup they already didn't like.
  • 00:05:34
    Often, though, not always, Jews.
  • 00:05:36
    Fascists need an enemy because fascism is a movement of people who are unhappy,
  • 00:05:40
    but who are also deeply unwilling to investigate why
  • 00:05:44
    or change anything about themselves or their lifestyle.
  • 00:05:46
    They are perfect as they are. They always have been.
  • 00:05:49
    Things used to make sense when they, or people like them
  • 00:05:52
    were in control, or they perceived people like that to be in control.
  • 00:05:55
    So the world must change back to that standard in order to oblige them.
  • 00:05:59
    And do you see have that belief? Right?
  • 00:06:00
    Do you see how the belief that, like, they're perfect and the only reason
  • 00:06:03
    they're not rightfully heralded as a superior
  • 00:06:05
    being is because someone else fucked them over...
  • 00:06:08
    Might appeal to like a great big loser? A fantasist without any grasp on reality.
  • 00:06:13
    A mediocre person without anything to offer the world,
  • 00:06:15
    who can't emotionally processed their inadequacies,
  • 00:06:17
    and need to find someone else to blame for why life didn't go their way.
  • 00:06:20
    It's not that they're not good enough to get what they want!
  • 00:06:23
    It's because the whole world isn't fair,
  • 00:06:25
    or rather, isn't unfair in their favor anymore. Like it should be,
  • 00:06:29
    Even when they're inarguably successful, rich and
  • 00:06:31
    powerful beyond most people's wildest dreams...
  • 00:06:34
    Hypothetically, off the top of my head, I don't know? Rhe richest man in the world.
  • 00:06:37
    They just have such loser energy.
  • 00:06:39
    They're bitter, unhappy, completely preoccupied with petty little grievances,
  • 00:06:43
    no matter how much wealth, power and prestige they managed to accrue.
  • 00:06:46
    [Msuk ]I mean, you have Tim Walz, who's a huge jerk,
  • 00:06:50
    you know... Running around on stage with a Tesla stock price.
  • 00:06:54
    Having... where the stock price have gone in half.
  • 00:06:58
    And he was overjoyed.
  • 00:07:00
    But what an evil thing to do!
  • 00:07:02
    [Slime] They can't help it.
  • 00:07:03
    They are losers.
  • 00:07:04
    It is baked in. They can't change it.
  • 00:07:06
    It's critical that we understand this.
  • 00:07:08
    I'm not saying this just to mock them.
  • 00:07:09
    That's a side benefit!
  • 00:07:11
    It's not hard to mock them, look at them.
  • 00:07:12
    It's very frustrating to argue with them.
  • 00:07:14
    You might have noticed this because you'll never beat them on effort.
  • 00:07:17
    You have other things to do.
  • 00:07:19
    You have to go to work,
  • 00:07:20
    take care of your loved ones, enjoy your hobbies, and have sex.
  • 00:07:23
    But they have nothing else. This is it for them.
  • 00:07:25
    This is all they have.
  • 00:07:26
    Even if it seems like their life should be fulfilling,
  • 00:07:28
    they make themselves into a miserable loser on purpose, it seems.
  • 00:07:32
    Fascist movements, formal or otherwise, operate much like cults.
  • 00:07:36
    When one joins them,
  • 00:07:37
    they are at first overwhelmed with the appearance of validation and support.
  • 00:07:41
    This is called "love bombing" and it's meant to endear you to them,
  • 00:07:44
    to become dependent on them to meet your emotional needs.
  • 00:07:47
    Then that validation and support is gradually withheld
  • 00:07:51
    in order to pressure the target into severing ties with the "normie" world.
  • 00:07:55
    They drive away anyone outside of their hateful little bubble.
  • 00:07:57
    So their entire network of social support
  • 00:07:59
    depends on how useful they can be to the cause.
  • 00:08:02
    It's the only way they can feel part of something anymore
  • 00:08:04
    because nobody else wants anything to do with them at this point.
  • 00:08:07
    Take a look at Jeepers Creepers Rowling!
  • 00:08:09
    Once a respected author of derivative children's books,
  • 00:08:11
    she was radicalized further and further into hate groups because
  • 00:08:14
    each time she shared a hateful view,
  • 00:08:16
    everybody who wasn't already brain-fucked was angry about it.
  • 00:08:19
    And only the people who shared her prejudices ever validated her.
  • 00:08:22
    That drove her to become more
  • 00:08:23
    and more extreme in those prejudices to seek their validation.
  • 00:08:26
    And so, a fascist (or potential fascist) cannot help but become angrier
  • 00:08:30
    and more extreme over time. It's the only way to participate.
  • 00:08:33
    Because if you're not constantly signaling support for the cause in new, novel ways
  • 00:08:38
    that validation stops flowing.
  • 00:08:39
    They start to question your loyalties.
  • 00:08:41
    Maybe you're a plant trying to make them look bad.
  • 00:08:43
    Meanwhile, anyone who could otherwise talk sense to you requires that you accept
  • 00:08:47
    you've been an enormous piece of shit. And that feels bad to do.
  • 00:08:50
    It feels better to stick with the people who are telling you
  • 00:08:52
    that you're cool actually, and strong and brave
  • 00:08:55
    and the bestest most special type of person.
  • 00:08:57
    Losers don't do difficult things.
  • 00:08:59
    They take the easy way out.
  • 00:09:00
    Everything becomes filtered through this lens.
  • 00:09:02
    Every action, every statement, every thought becomes an opportunity
  • 00:09:05
    to signal their support for the cause.
  • 00:09:07
    [HeelzVBabyface] Fucking pronouns!
  • 00:09:09
    [Slime] Everything becomes part of this eternal struggle.
  • 00:09:11
    A symptom of the rot at the core of society that they are meant to oppose.
  • 00:09:15
    A chance for them to be visibly, loudly loyal to the in-group.
  • 00:09:18
    What might feel like a very trivial matter to you is transformed
  • 00:09:21
    in their mind into a life or death battle against their perceived enemy forces.
  • 00:09:25
    You might think you're having a silly little argument about Star Wars,
  • 00:09:29
    or comic books,
  • 00:09:30
    or video games, or a little meme, but to them, this is a battleground upon
  • 00:09:33
    which the future of our entire culture, nay, humanity hinges!
  • 00:09:37
    Which, of course, makes them very important.
  • 00:09:40
    That makes their posts very important.
  • 00:09:43
    It's not a waste of time, actually, Dad!
  • 00:09:45
    They're fighting to save humanity
  • 00:09:47
    from the bad guys... by making posts. By posting about video games,
  • 00:09:51
    they are saving the world.
  • 00:09:53
    They will spend as much time as is required,
  • 00:09:55
    because they have convinced themselves that the whole world is at stake.
  • 00:09:58
    And they have nothing but time.
  • 00:10:00
    This totalizing attitude also justifies any measures they take against you,
  • 00:10:04
    because if you are with the people trying to destroy the world,
  • 00:10:06
    there's nothing that's too bad to do to you.
  • 00:10:09
    Up to and including murder and torture.
  • 00:10:11
    And they would murder and torture you,
  • 00:10:12
    they'd do it right now even! Gleefully.
  • 00:10:14
    Luckily for us, they're also cowards.
  • 00:10:16
    They have to be, right?
  • 00:10:17
    A brave person would simply confront their problems
  • 00:10:20
    instead of becoming a fascist about them.
  • 00:10:21
    They'll only resort to violence when they know for a fact
  • 00:10:24
    that there's no threat to themselves.
  • 00:10:26
    Which is why it's critical We never allow them to get to that point.
  • 00:10:29
    There should always be a threat to fascists
  • 00:10:31
    should they try to do fascist shit. Until that time comes they're content
  • 00:10:35
    to just pester their enemies incessantly, try to make their lives miserable
  • 00:10:39
    through whatever petty little means they can manage.
  • 00:10:41
    They are relentlessly tedious.
  • 00:10:44
    They will soak up as much of your time and energy
  • 00:10:46
    as you can provide them with, and more.
  • 00:10:48
    There's no getting ahead of them on this without your self becoming
  • 00:10:51
    just as miserable as they are, and that's what they want.
  • 00:10:54
    Toni Morrison wrote, "The function, the very serious function of racism is distraction."
  • 00:10:58
    "It keeps you from doing your work."
  • 00:11:00
    "It keeps you explaining over and over again your reason for being."
  • 00:11:03
    "Somebody says you have no language and you spend 20 years proving that you do."
  • 00:11:06
    "Somebody says your head isn't shaped properly."
  • 00:11:08
    "So you have scientists working on the fact that it is."
  • 00:11:11
    "Somebody says you have no art, so you dredge that up."
  • 00:11:13
    "Somebody says you have no kingdoms, so you dredge that up."
  • 00:11:15
    "None of this is necessary."
  • 00:11:17
    "There will always be one more thing."
  • 00:11:18
    Now, of course, Morrison is discussing racism.
  • 00:11:21
    And while all racism is fascist in character,
  • 00:11:23
    not all racists are explicit ideological fascists.
  • 00:11:27
    By no means do I want to reduce racism,
  • 00:11:29
    an extremely complex confluence of behaviors, to something that only Nazis do.
  • 00:11:33
    I bring this quote up because the phenomenon
  • 00:11:35
    Morrison is relating here also applies to fascism more broadly.
  • 00:11:39
    Fascists delight in wasting your time.
  • 00:11:41
    It suits their purposes to do so, because their purposes
  • 00:11:44
    are just to make you suffer.
  • 00:11:45
    So you can't ever expect them to be reasonable, ever.
  • 00:11:48
    They will die on every hill.
  • 00:11:50
    They will argue at every little point of minutiae, forever.
  • 00:11:53
    They will deny anything you say, no matter how absurd it seems to do.
  • 00:11:56
    So, they will assume the counter position to every position you offer.
  • 00:11:59
    Play devil's advocate about everything, muddy the waters on every single fact,
  • 00:12:04
    no matter how inconsequential or self-evident it may be.
  • 00:12:07
    They will argue that no, Elon Musk didn't throw up a Roman salute.
  • 00:12:10
    You can fucking... see him do it.
  • 00:12:13
    And they will look you right in the eye and they will say, 'No, he didn't.'
  • 00:12:16
    'He did not do that.'
  • 00:12:17
    They'll just deny it, pointlessly. Why bother?
  • 00:12:19
    We can fuckin'...
  • 00:12:20
    We can see him doing it guys! What are you talking about?
  • 00:12:23
    They can't possibly mean it.
  • 00:12:25
    Not even they could be that dumb.
  • 00:12:26
    They are lying. Fascists lie.
  • 00:12:28
    And this... This is where most people get it wrong.
  • 00:12:31
    Because they do, obviously. They lie. Yes.
  • 00:12:34
    They also believe their lies... sort of.
  • 00:12:37
    Even when they know they're lying,
  • 00:12:39
    they believe their lies.
  • 00:12:40
    Not because they're dumb (though, you know) but for a far more insidious reason.
  • 00:12:45
    What I think a lot of people fail to understand is that fascists
  • 00:12:48
    view truth differently than regular people. From their perspective,
  • 00:12:52
    and this is going to sound strange but please bear with me,
  • 00:12:55
    Speaking a falsehood isn't necessarily lying.
  • 00:12:58
    A statement cannot reflect reality, but still be true to a fascist.
  • 00:13:07
    When you and I, when most people think of truth,
  • 00:13:10
    we view it as more or less like that which accords with reality.
  • 00:13:14
    Something is true if it matches what we see or experience or can measure.
  • 00:13:18
    I'm talking in very broad strokes here.
  • 00:13:20
    Obviously it's not that simple.
  • 00:13:22
    Like, we can't measure
  • 00:13:23
    that you love your dog for instance, but nonetheless I accept it as true.
  • 00:13:27
    Entire college courses could be taught on the philosophy of what is
  • 00:13:30
    and is not truth.
  • 00:13:31
    But, you know, more or less
  • 00:13:32
    that's how we mean it when we use the word day to day, right?
  • 00:13:35
    Fascists, like all authoritarians, do not view truth remotely like this.
  • 00:13:39
    To their mind, truth is not dictated by reality.
  • 00:13:41
    It's actually the opposite.
  • 00:13:43
    It works the other way.
  • 00:13:44
    Reality is dictated by their truth.
  • 00:13:46
    Truth, or rather their idea of truth, is the foundation from
  • 00:13:50
    which reality is built, and therefore
  • 00:13:52
    nothing within reality could be invoked to contradict their truth.
  • 00:13:56
    Reality is lesser.
  • 00:13:57
    Reality is always changing. It's not dependable.
  • 00:14:00
    Reality is the earthly and mundane.
  • 00:14:02
    While their truth is eternal, a higher power.
  • 00:14:05
    It is transcendent.
  • 00:14:06
    It is of God.
  • 00:14:08
    A fascist can view a statement as true
  • 00:14:10
    even when acknowledging that it's also an outright falsehood.
  • 00:14:13
    And that seems like a contradiction to you and I.
  • 00:14:15
    Truth and falsehood are mutually exclusive. But to a fascist,
  • 00:14:19
    the falsity is merely base reality, which, remember, you can't count on.
  • 00:14:23
    Truth transcends material reality.
  • 00:14:25
    Truth is eternal and unchanging
  • 00:14:27
    and not subject to reappraisal simply because reality contradicts it.
  • 00:14:32
    That's why J.D. Vance can say with a straight face
  • 00:14:35
    that it is true that Haitians were eating
  • 00:14:37
    people's pets in Springfield, Ohio.
  • 00:14:39
    Even if he concedes, of course, that it didn't actually happen.
  • 00:14:42
    It's true. But that doesn't mean it happened.
  • 00:14:44
    This is called "the Mythic truth", the truth which transcends reality.
  • 00:14:48
    What that mythic truth represents is truer than true.
  • 00:14:52
    The mythic truth simply is.
  • 00:14:53
    It need not be justified.
  • 00:14:55
    It need not be proven, it cannot be falsified.
  • 00:14:57
    It cannot be questioned.
  • 00:14:58
    It is fixed, unchanging.
  • 00:15:00
    It has always been thus and so it will always be thus.
  • 00:15:04
    The mythic truth in the minds of a fascist has been discovered over and over
  • 00:15:08
    throughout history, embraced, leading to all of the great civilizations
  • 00:15:12
    of the past and then suppressed, leading to those civilization's downfall.
  • 00:15:15
    Fascism is syncretic,
  • 00:15:17
    it takes ideas and concepts from multiple sources and tries
  • 00:15:20
    to synthesize them into a broad, sweeping set of principles
  • 00:15:22
    that they can apply backwards in time.
  • 00:15:24
    To question the mythic truth is therefore,
  • 00:15:26
    in their minds, not simply a matter of disagreement, but
  • 00:15:29
    to defy the will of nature. To stand in opposition to what they see
  • 00:15:33
    as the animating force of the universe. To invite the fall of civilization,
  • 00:15:37
    causing humanity to backslide into barbarism.
  • 00:15:40
    So anything which contradicts the mythic truth is fundamentally evil
  • 00:15:44
    and must be rejected on that basis, and that basis alone.
  • 00:15:48
    When evidence contradicts the mythic truth, the evidence is lying.
  • 00:15:51
    You don't need to know how it's lying.
  • 00:15:53
    What about it is incorrect, or if anything, about it is incorrect.
  • 00:15:56
    You simply know the evidence must be wrong, because it can't be correct
  • 00:15:59
    and contradict the mythic truth.
  • 00:16:01
    When the mythic truth is shown to be contradictory or self-defeating,
  • 00:16:04
    they will insist, without a shred of irony,
  • 00:16:07
    that logic itself is therefore lying.
  • 00:16:10
    They won't bother trying to explain away the contradiction is because it
  • 00:16:13
    is an act of service to the mythic truth, the highest good, to simply accept it
  • 00:16:17
    on faith. Particularly when reason would dictate otherwise.
  • 00:16:21
    If anything which contradicts
  • 00:16:22
    the mythic truth is evil, then dismissing it is an act of good.
  • 00:16:26
    So by willfully ignoring evidence or arguments against the mythic truth,
  • 00:16:30
    they show their devotion to it.
  • 00:16:32
    Therefore, they can cognitive dissonance their way into accepting evidence
  • 00:16:36
    against their position as further reason to accept that position.
  • 00:16:41
    Their truth is so strong
  • 00:16:42
    that it doesn't matter if it seems incorrect, it's still true.
  • 00:16:46
    And let me say that again for emphasis: Evidence against a fascist position
  • 00:16:51
    strengthens the fascists belief in that position.
  • 00:16:54
    I'll give you an example of this that might be familiar to you.
  • 00:16:58
    Fascists will often say that there are only two genders.
  • 00:17:01
    Everyone is either male or female.
  • 00:17:03
    You're born that way and there's no changing it,
  • 00:17:04
    and there's nothing else one can be.
  • 00:17:06
    Now, I'm not saying that if you believe
  • 00:17:08
    there are only two genders, you're a fascist.
  • 00:17:11
    You might just be a stupid asshole.
  • 00:17:12
    But it is a position a fascist would hold, and argue strenuously for.
  • 00:17:16
    It is also a position that is dumb as hell, rocks their brains shit,
  • 00:17:20
    like, get a grip. There's no evidence for this position.
  • 00:17:22
    How could there be? It can't be falsified.
  • 00:17:24
    How do you prove your subjective experience of gender is right or wrong?
  • 00:17:28
    Are the millions of gender non-conforming people
  • 00:17:30
    all throughout history lying? All willing to subject themselves
  • 00:17:33
    to persecution and violence for no reason other than to maintain this fiction?
  • 00:17:38
    Why? Does that sound credible?
  • 00:17:40
    Are we to dismiss their stated subjective experience?
  • 00:17:42
    And if so, what evidence do we accept in its place?
  • 00:17:45
    Because to my knowledge, none of these dipshits has ever offered any.
  • 00:17:49
    There is by contrast, much evidence against this position.
  • 00:17:52
    The whole premise of a gender
  • 00:17:53
    binary rests on the faulty assumption of a strict binary of biological sexes,
  • 00:17:57
    which is both obviously incorrect, and also, completely irrelevant.
  • 00:18:01
    Gender is not sex. I think...
  • 00:18:03
    I think we've been pretty clear on that, my guys!
  • 00:18:05
    Not only are you dead ass wrong,
  • 00:18:07
    [it] would not matter to the discussion if you happen to be correct.
  • 00:18:11
    Belief in a bio essentialist gender binary is absurd.
  • 00:18:14
    It's contradictory, and dumb.
  • 00:18:15
    It is obvious and self evident that some people's idea of themselves
  • 00:18:19
    do not align with the gender they were assigned at birth.
  • 00:18:22
    How then, do fascists arrive at this conclusion?
  • 00:18:24
    Why do they feel so strongly about it?
  • 00:18:26
    Why do they remain completely unmoved by evidence against it?
  • 00:18:29
    Why care at all, for that matter?
  • 00:18:31
    And you might say, 'Well, duh, obviously it's because they hate trans people.'
  • 00:18:35
    And yes, I'm not a child.
  • 00:18:37
    I understand that. But why, though?
  • 00:18:39
    Because if you were to ask them,
  • 00:18:40
    they would say that their hatred of trans people is rooted in this
  • 00:18:43
    belief, which, of course they only believe because they hate trans people.
  • 00:18:46
    So isn't that kind of circular?
  • 00:18:49
    I mean, which came first, the adult human chicken or the large gamete cell?
  • 00:18:52
    The real reason they believe this, of course, is that fascists,
  • 00:18:55
    (among other assholes) believe men and women exist in strict natural hierarchy.
  • 00:19:00
    Everyone does, but especially men and women.
  • 00:19:02
    Anything which might complicate that dynamic is therefore automatically untrue.
  • 00:19:06
    Men and women must be immutably and fundamentally separate categories.
  • 00:19:10
    If we are to believe one is superior to the other,
  • 00:19:12
    if the differences between men and women
  • 00:19:14
    are murkier than they imagine, socially constructed, or worse, subjective,
  • 00:19:19
    then that contradicts their perfect, eternal, mythic truth.
  • 00:19:22
    And anything which contradicts their perfect, eternal, mythic truth
  • 00:19:26
    can simply be dismissed on that basis.
  • 00:19:28
    It is not necessary to explain why or investigate further.
  • 00:19:31
    To do so would be a sign of disloyalty.
  • 00:19:34
    Now, sure, they might offer some specious evidence for their case to you.
  • 00:19:38
    They might make some kind of leap of logic to justify this belief to you
  • 00:19:41
    because they know that you value those things.
  • 00:19:44
    But none of that is why they believe what they believe.
  • 00:19:46
    If their reasoning can be shown to be wrong (and it always can),
  • 00:19:50
    it doesn't matter.
  • 00:19:51
    It was never required for them to believe it in the first place.
  • 00:19:54
    They will just invent another reasoning. Forever.
  • 00:19:56
    They'll say, You can tell...
  • 00:19:58
    You can tell because of genitals.
  • 00:19:59
    And you point out that doesn't make any sense.
  • 00:20:00
    There's all kinds of genitals!
  • 00:20:02
    And they say, okay, well, it's the skeletons!
  • 00:20:04
    You can tell from the skeletons that there's only boys and girls.
  • 00:20:07
    And you point out how that doesn't make any sense.
  • 00:20:09
    And they say, okay, it's chromosomes.
  • 00:20:11
    And you point out how that doesn't make any sense.
  • 00:20:13
    And so on, and so on forever.
  • 00:20:14
    Kind of like how Toni Morrison described how they just make up
  • 00:20:17
    the same kind of excuses to justify white supremacy. Saying black
  • 00:20:20
    people's skulls are the wrong shape or that black people don't make music.
  • 00:20:24
    It is trivially and obviously wrong.
  • 00:20:26
    It is nonsense presented entirely to waste your time.
  • 00:20:29
    It's not the same thing, of course.
  • 00:20:30
    These groups have different experiences, particularly
  • 00:20:33
    those who fall into both groups, but it follows the same pattern.
  • 00:20:36
    When you do manage
  • 00:20:37
    to do a complete circuit and exhaust all of the bullshit they have prepared,
  • 00:20:41
    They will always say some variation of the following:
  • 00:20:43
    "Well, it's just the truth. Deal with it."
  • 00:20:46
    Because of course they know what's true already.
  • 00:20:48
    They need not explain why. They need not justify it.
  • 00:20:50
    It simply is so. You cannot reason them away from this position
  • 00:20:54
    because their positions are above reason, above evidence, above earthly logic.
  • 00:20:59
    Furthermore, by an amazing coincidence, whatever they decide is true
  • 00:21:03
    will always, always be whatever is most useful for their political project.
  • 00:21:08
    Because think about it, right? In their mind,
  • 00:21:09
    they're battling for the future of civilization,
  • 00:21:12
    and that's a pretty strong
  • 00:21:13
    incentive to rationalize away whatever it takes to accomplish your goals.
  • 00:21:17
    Would you want to believe that the evidence were stacked against
  • 00:21:20
    what you saw as the only way to save civilization?
  • 00:21:23
    And while, of course,
  • 00:21:24
    they believe that their truth is perfect, unchanging and eternal,
  • 00:21:27
    they are all too happy to edit it on the fly when it suits their purposes.
  • 00:21:31
    To will reality, to bend to their whims by changing what is and has always been unerringly true.
  • 00:21:36
    They don't give a shit if this appears inconsistent to you,
  • 00:21:39
    they will never acknowledge the inconsistency,
  • 00:21:41
    and for all intents and purposes, might not even be able to perceive it.
  • 00:21:44
    Enemies, outsiders, villains become trusted allies whose moral character
  • 00:21:48
    has always been above reproach. Positions, shift and waver
  • 00:21:52
    depending on what is expedient in the moment.
  • 00:21:54
    [Trump] But leave it the way it is.
  • 00:21:55
    There have been very few complaints the way it is. Where people go, they use
  • 00:22:00
    the bathroom that they feel is appropriate.
  • 00:22:03
    [Slime] and just look how mad you are.
  • 00:22:05
    Look how upset you got that I chose to believe a bad, wrong thing on purpose.
  • 00:22:09
    My commitment to believing this bad, wrong
  • 00:22:11
    thing proves how obvious and true it must be,
  • 00:22:14
    because otherwise there'd be no reason for me to reject the weight of evidence.
  • 00:22:18
    For me to do that demonstrates how true what I'm saying must be.
  • 00:22:21
    And I have been rewarded for my faith with what I desire most,
  • 00:22:25
    which is to upset you, to waste your time.
  • 00:22:29
    So if you accept the two premises I have presented to you here,
  • 00:22:33
    That 1. Fascists love to waste your time
  • 00:22:36
    because they're losers with infinite time on their hands.
  • 00:22:38
    And 2. that the fascist construction of truth
  • 00:22:41
    is fundamentally irrational and therefore immune to rational criticism.
  • 00:22:44
    Do you see why it is a bad idea to argue with them on their terms?
  • 00:22:48
    Do you get it now?
  • 00:22:49
    Do you see how they've already decided what they believe?
  • 00:22:52
    And their only goal is to distract and frustrate you forever?
  • 00:22:55
    How ff their whole goal is to waste your time with bad faith nonsense,
  • 00:22:58
    to deliberately frustrate and confuse you.
  • 00:23:00
    How.. Like... y-you...
  • 00:23:03
    You don't need to let them do that?
  • 00:23:05
    'Ah, but Thought Swing, you slutty little sausage,'
  • 00:23:07
    I hear you say, out loud, word for word.
  • 00:23:10
    Even though you're on the bus.
  • 00:23:11
    'One doesn't argue with fascists in order to convince the fascist,'
  • 00:23:14
    'they argue with fascists to convince those'
  • 00:23:17
    'who might otherwise be swayed towards fascism.'
  • 00:23:19
    First of all, it's Thought Slime.
  • 00:23:21
    I don't know how you got that wrong.
  • 00:23:23
    It's written all over the-....
  • 00:23:24
    Secondly, that's also a bad idea.
  • 00:23:26
    I made a part of the video about that for you, and I'm going to play that now.
  • 00:23:30
    Let me know if you like it.
  • 00:23:31
    Comment below if you like this part of the video.
  • 00:23:33
    Imagine if you will:
  • 00:23:34
    You were watching a debate between two theoretical physicists.
  • 00:23:37
    Dr. Sally Pringle's is arguing for the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum physics,
  • 00:23:42
    and Dr. Pepsi Davidson is arguing for the many worlds hypothesis.
  • 00:23:45
    By the end of the debate, 53% of the crowd of 250 people side with
  • 00:23:49
    Dr. Pepsi Davidson.
  • 00:23:50
    Now, you're not a theoretical physicist.
  • 00:23:52
    Don't pretend you are!
  • 00:23:53
    You don't understand most of the arguments being made,
  • 00:23:56
    and you have to take a lot for granted.
  • 00:23:57
    And if you happen to be a theoretical physicist...
  • 00:23:59
    Okay? Pretend, pretend I'm using a different example.
  • 00:24:03
    Like what the fuck?
  • 00:24:04
    You can imagine shit in 13 dimensions, but I got to simplify my analogies for you?
  • 00:24:07
    Fuck off physicists!
  • 00:24:08
    The person who convinces you won't
  • 00:24:10
    necessarily be the person who is correct, and if by chance they are
  • 00:24:13
    you're really not in a position to determine that to be the case.
  • 00:24:16
    Real physicists don't know which one is correct yet.
  • 00:24:19
    The person who convinces you will be
  • 00:24:21
    whomever is more persuasive, for whatever reason.
  • 00:24:26
    Maybe one is the more confident public speaker.
  • 00:24:28
    Maybe you just got dumped in Copenhagen.
  • 00:24:30
    Maybe Dr. Pringles is your dad's new wife.
  • 00:24:32
    You come away with your own preconception about which of these two things is true,
  • 00:24:36
    and at best realize that there's a robust debate for both sides.
  • 00:24:39
    This is something for other people to decide.
  • 00:24:41
    Something you must keep an open mind about.
  • 00:24:43
    Okay, now...
  • 00:24:46
    Imagine you did that a thousand times a day, whether you wanted to or not.
  • 00:24:49
    Imagine if every single thing you read, every single TV show
  • 00:24:52
    you watched, everything about your personality and identity
  • 00:24:55
    were the subject of an unending and indecipherable debate
  • 00:24:56
    happening everywhere, all the time, that
  • 00:25:00
    you were forced to observe and participate in whether you wanted to or not!
  • 00:25:03
    That's just a funny joke! A funny joke I'm making!
  • 00:25:06
    You don't need to imagine that because that's just what life is like now.
  • 00:25:09
    Did you hear?
  • 00:25:10
    Did you hear? Cap'n Crunch is woke!
  • 00:25:12
    People who are ticklish are back on their bullshit!
  • 00:25:14
    Snakes, the animal, went on Joe Rogan
  • 00:25:16
    and said that they think the Civil Rights Act went too far.
  • 00:25:18
    Why does a snake even care about that?
  • 00:25:20
    Why do we care what snakes think about that?
  • 00:25:22
    Snakes have no history of racism-
  • 00:25:24
    None of us is free to investigate
  • 00:25:26
    every fucking discourse that pops up in their lives.
  • 00:25:29
    There is not enough time in the day.
  • 00:25:30
    Eventually, you'll have to sleep.
  • 00:25:32
    You can't spend all of your time researching weird internet bullshit
  • 00:25:35
    and arguing with bad faith imbeciles all day.
  • 00:25:37
    You're a contributing member of society, not some sort of YouTube video essayist.
  • 00:25:44
    [voiceover] My life's work has no value.
  • 00:25:47
    Please go to Patreon.com/ThoughtSlime
  • 00:25:49
    Most people see an argument happening,
  • 00:25:50
    they see two people who seem equally passionate about their positions,
  • 00:25:54
    and unless they have some reason to be invested in the discussion,
  • 00:25:57
    they just go on with their day.
  • 00:25:58
    Because what else are you going to do?
  • 00:26:00
    Nobody is going to come to an informed opinion
  • 00:26:02
    about all of the shit blasted into their brain meat
  • 00:26:04
    every second of every day.
  • 00:26:05
    You pick a few things
  • 00:26:06
    that are important or that interest you, and you get informed about those AT BEST.
  • 00:26:10
    And most people don't even do that! For the rest,
  • 00:26:13
    whether or not we like to admit it, we tend to outsource our critical thinking
  • 00:26:17
    to the crowd.
  • 00:26:17
    We base our view of truth on whatever people are saying at the moment.
  • 00:26:21
    And if enough people say something,
  • 00:26:23
    it seems credible to us because we're social animals.
  • 00:26:26
    Why would so many people say something if there weren't some truth to it?
  • 00:26:29
    If there weren't some good reason to believe it?
  • 00:26:32
    This is a cognitive bias that fascists love to exploit, because the main resource
  • 00:26:36
    they have is a bunch of people willing to talk endlessly.
  • 00:26:40
    Just talk and talk and talk, forever, without stopping.
  • 00:26:43
    They don't care how long it takes to talk over you.
  • 00:26:45
    They have all the time in the world.
  • 00:26:46
    They don't care if anything they're saying is true.
  • 00:26:49
    To them, truth is just whatever they need it to be.
  • 00:26:51
    They don't care how bad it makes them look,
  • 00:26:52
    because they already look as bad as one can.
  • 00:26:55
    Every time someone argues with a fascist in good faith, anyone watching
  • 00:26:57
    who isn't inclined to look into the matter further comes away thinking,
  • 00:27:00
    'Huh, I guess that's the thing people are talking about now.'
  • 00:27:03
    The more arguments they hear about it, the more normal it all becomes
  • 00:27:06
    and the more they subconsciously start to think,
  • 00:27:08
    'Well there's got to be something to what they're saying, right?'
  • 00:27:10
    By virtue of the fact
  • 00:27:11
    that it is being discussed, it must therefore be worth discussing.
  • 00:27:14
    You see, the danger here isn't that a fascist
  • 00:27:16
    might be more persuasive than their opponent.
  • 00:27:19
    I guess that's also a danger, but that's rarely the case
  • 00:27:22
    because they're stinky losers with dumbo ideas.
  • 00:27:24
    They're easy to make look foolish because they're fools.
  • 00:27:27
    The big danger
  • 00:27:29
    is that most people will forget the contents of the argument entirely
  • 00:27:32
    of any argument, and simply remember that an argument took place.
  • 00:27:36
    That two people argued this ,and both seemed to believe what they were saying.
  • 00:27:40
    And how should I know which of them is correct?
  • 00:27:42
    Do you think they will remember any information or statistics
  • 00:27:46
    cited in your argument?
  • 00:27:47
    If you do, how many people sided with
  • 00:27:49
    Dr. Pepsi Darlington In my quantum physics hypothetical earlier?
  • 00:27:52
    That was only a few minutes ago. Do you remember?
  • 00:27:55
    0%? There was no Dr. Pepsi Darlington.
  • 00:27:58
    That's a ridiculous name that I just made up!
  • 00:28:01
    The physicist was named
  • 00:28:02
    Dr. Pepsi Davidson, who 53% of the crowd of 250 people sided with.
  • 00:28:07
    And even if you caught on to my genius ruse,
  • 00:28:10
    do you still think you'll remember that name and that statistic a week from now?
  • 00:28:14
    A month from now? A decade from now, long after I've been executed by the state?
  • 00:28:18
    And if you did remember the contents of the argument,
  • 00:28:21
    aren't you just as likely to remember lies and disinformation
  • 00:28:24
    as the truth? Lies and disinformation, which are much more plentiful?
  • 00:28:27
    Because there's really only one truth and you can make up as many lies as you want.
  • 00:28:31
    Dr. Pepsi Davidson doesn't even exist!
  • 00:28:34
    Remember, to them it is absurd to base one's view of truth on reality.
  • 00:28:39
    That's what weak people without convictions do.
  • 00:28:41
    If you need evidence for your position, you're too soft.
  • 00:28:44
    You're not a useful allly because the minute reality contradicts your position,
  • 00:28:47
    which it might do at any moment because it's always changing, you'll abandon it.
  • 00:28:51
    Why therefore, would they ever engage in good faith argumentation?
  • 00:28:54
    What could they gain from that?
  • 00:28:56
    It is us, it is their enemy
  • 00:28:58
    who takes advantage of evidence and logic.
  • 00:29:00
    It is incumbent on a fascist to de-legitimize both. To make the process
  • 00:29:04
    of finding or applying either
  • 00:29:06
    so difficult and tedious that people stop relying on them entirely.
  • 00:29:10
    Once we can no longer rely on evidence, logic, reason, then
  • 00:29:14
    their irrational arguments are suddenly on an equal footing with everyone else's.
  • 00:29:18
    Because when we can't tell the difference
  • 00:29:19
    between information and disinformation, information ceases to have any power.
  • 00:29:24
    You might notice that Elon Musk has a real hate boner for Wikipedia.
  • 00:29:27
    You might notice that Trump really hates the Department of Education.
  • 00:29:31
    This is why fascists ban books.
  • 00:29:33
    Why they scrub data and spread lies.
  • 00:29:35
    Access to information only ever hurts their position.
  • 00:29:39
    It is their prerogative to make sure people remain ignorant.
  • 00:29:43
    Only an ignorant person would believe them.
  • 00:29:46
    So they don't argue to convince people to inform, or even misinform.
  • 00:29:50
    If they do, that's a bonus. They argue to obstruct it.
  • 00:29:53
    It's crucial that you understand this, right?
  • 00:29:55
    They argue not just not just to win the argument,
  • 00:29:59
    but to delegitimize the process by which one might investigate truth.
  • 00:30:03
    To make it impossible to tell
  • 00:30:04
    which positions are in or not supported by evidence.
  • 00:30:07
    They want to confuse, not educate.
  • 00:30:09
    They cannot lose an argument, because their strategy
  • 00:30:12
    was never to win the argument.
  • 00:30:14
    Their strategy was merely to HAVE an argument.
  • 00:30:17
    That's why it's really fucking frustrating to see people gloat about defeating them
  • 00:30:21
    rhetorically as though that matters.
  • 00:30:23
    Like it's some great victory to be more persuasive
  • 00:30:26
    than the guy who thinks being gay is a form of witchcraft.
  • 00:30:29
    What a genius you must be to defeat that intellectual titan.
  • 00:30:32
    They don't care. They're not trying to win an argument.
  • 00:30:35
    In fact, I'm not sure it would be as useful for them
  • 00:30:37
    if they did, because they want the argument to happen forever.
  • 00:30:40
    If they won and convinced us, everybody would stop talking about it.
  • 00:30:44
    They want to keep the question open. To maintain
  • 00:30:46
    the pretense that this is a matter of legitimate disagreement,
  • 00:30:49
    that there are persuasive arguments to support either position. That their
  • 00:30:53
    arbitrary, frivolous conclusions should be treated with the same weight
  • 00:30:57
    as everyone else's, and in so doing become something you might not agree with,
  • 00:31:01
    but must accept as a valid position that others hold.
  • 00:31:04
    It can't be dismissed out of hand anymore.
  • 00:31:06
    It requires a response.
  • 00:31:08
    It requires your time.
  • 00:31:10
    It must be debunked again and again for as long as they can pretend to believe it.
  • 00:31:14
    You must waste your time.
  • 00:31:16
    And this this is this sounds pretty bleak.
  • 00:31:19
    I know. You'd be forgiven for thinking that this makes fascist
  • 00:31:22
    messaging just unbeatable, and I don't think it is.
  • 00:31:25
    I think it's actually spectacularly easy to beat.
  • 00:31:28
    None of what I'm saying
  • 00:31:29
    precludes educating people and correcting fascist misinformation.
  • 00:31:32
    The only time they are granted the advantage I'm discussing here
  • 00:31:35
    is when they are allowed to participate in that process.
  • 00:31:38
    By all means, feel free to correct their bullshit when they're not present.
  • 00:31:42
    That is both good, and necessary.
  • 00:31:44
    Sadly, sometimes they are present,
  • 00:31:47
    sometimes fascists are around and that's a problem we have to deal with.
  • 00:31:52
    How do we defeat fascist messaging in person, face to face?
  • 00:31:55
    And again, I think the answer is actually pretty simple,
  • 00:31:57
    much simpler and easier than you might expect.
  • 00:32:00
    There's a cost to be paid, of course,
  • 00:32:01
    one that we need to be more comfortable paying, but we can always easily beat them.
  • 00:32:06
    So long as we manage our expectations and are realistic about what we can achieve,
  • 00:32:10
    defeating fascist talking points is actually almost impossible the fuck up.
  • 00:32:13
    Because you can defeat any fascist argument with one simple phrase. It always applies.
  • 00:32:18
    Shut up, You're being an asshole.
  • 00:32:21
    That's it.
  • 00:32:22
    That's all you need to say.
  • 00:32:23
    And here's why this works.
  • 00:32:25
    While not everyone can articulate why,
  • 00:32:27
    everyone can intuitively tell that these people are weird freaks.
  • 00:32:30
    They're hateful, they're destructive.
  • 00:32:32
    But most importantly, for our purposes, deeply, deeply unlikable.
  • 00:32:36
    And they always will be. They can't do nothing about it.
  • 00:32:39
    Fascists are haters. As discussed,
  • 00:32:42
    they must always have an enemy.
  • 00:32:43
    And everything they say and do is designed to destroy that enemy.
  • 00:32:47
    And so, everything they say and do is always, unavoidably
  • 00:32:51
    either an insult or a direct threat to someone.
  • 00:32:55
    They are always, always being a huge asshole.
  • 00:32:59
    Everything they say to outsiders is designed to hide that,
  • 00:33:02
    to send the message that 'Actually we're normal, we belong here.'
  • 00:33:05
    'Mom said we can be here.'
  • 00:33:07
    They're not. They don't. And she didn't.
  • 00:33:09
    They're weird, obsessive assholes, and we can leverage that.
  • 00:33:13
    You must never show them common courtesy.
  • 00:33:16
    You need to be immediately, emphatically hostile towards them.
  • 00:33:19
    Make it known that they are not welcome,
  • 00:33:21
    and you do not respect them, or anyone who tolerates them.
  • 00:33:24
    You must extract an immediate, severe social cost
  • 00:33:27
    to the expression of, or tolerance for fascist beliefs and arguments.
  • 00:33:32
    You must make it known that such beliefs
  • 00:33:34
    are not something you're willing to argue about,
  • 00:33:36
    not something you'll hear out in good faith,
  • 00:33:38
    not something you're willing to budge on, ever.
  • 00:33:41
    That you will not respect anyone who does tolerate or condone them.
  • 00:33:44
    That merely by suggesting these ideas, they have trespassed
  • 00:33:47
    the boundaries of good taste and broken the peace.
  • 00:33:51
    That may sound severe.
  • 00:33:52
    It might even sound mean or close-minded, or rude.
  • 00:33:56
    If you're a New York Times columnist, you might think that it's like itself
  • 00:33:59
    a kind of illiberal use of stochastic violence that a fascist might use.
  • 00:34:04
    It's not any of those things.
  • 00:34:06
    It's in fact the common sense way you would treat any asshole.
  • 00:34:10
    And let me explain why with a helpful analogy:
  • 00:34:13
    Imagine you're hosting a party, and this guy you don't really know that
  • 00:34:16
    well shows up and starts loudly talking shit about your friend Amanda.
  • 00:34:20
    They say Amanda's stupid and ugly.
  • 00:34:22
    Amanda sucks, and Amanda is worse than everybody else at this party.
  • 00:34:25
    And the party would be so much better
  • 00:34:27
    if Amanda got kicked out and they got to have all of Amanda's beer.
  • 00:34:31
    Would you be chill about that? Like, Of course not. Right?
  • 00:34:34
    You would tell that person to fuck off and leave. They're being an asshole.
  • 00:34:36
    You wouldn't feel obligated to hear them out.
  • 00:34:38
    You wouldn't get into a polite debate about Amanda's merits.
  • 00:34:41
    You wouldn't try to convince them that actually, Amanda's pretty cool.
  • 00:34:44
    She's good at Smash Brothers, and you like her dog.
  • 00:34:47
    Because if you care about Amanda,
  • 00:34:48
    and this guy's going around, like, ginning up hate for Amanda,
  • 00:34:52
    you would kick him out of the party. By force if necessary.
  • 00:34:55
    Obviously, right? They're being an asshole. You don't have to let them do that.
  • 00:34:58
    That behavior sucks!
  • 00:35:00
    Why, then, would you behave any differently when they're doing the exact same thing,
  • 00:35:05
    except that instead of insulting one individual Amanda,
  • 00:35:08
    they're instead insulting entire categories of Amandas?
  • 00:35:11
    When they claim that their race, or their sexual orientation,
  • 00:35:14
    or their religion makes them better than all Amanda's in the world?
  • 00:35:17
    Someone who wasn't simply being an asshole at a party, but actively using the levers
  • 00:35:21
    of power to harm Amanda and all Amandas like her. That is categorically worse.
  • 00:35:26
    Far more Amanda's are being insulted.
  • 00:35:28
    Amandas are having their fundamental human rights taken away.
  • 00:35:30
    Amandas are losing protections granted to them by the government,
  • 00:35:33
    and they're being made second class citizens,
  • 00:35:35
    and they're being harassed and killed in the streets.
  • 00:35:37
    Why would you be willing to hear that out?
  • 00:35:39
    To debate the merits of the Amandas they're targeting?
  • 00:35:41
    Why would you approach that in open dialog? Why would it matter how politely
  • 00:35:46
    they express their hateful intent to destroy Amanda?
  • 00:35:49
    Ff somebody says they're going to kill your friend,
  • 00:35:51
    you don't say, 'Oh, allow me to offer a counter argument'
  • 00:35:54
    'good, sir!'
  • 00:35:55
    And make no mistake, that is the end goal. To kill entire categories of human being.
  • 00:36:00
    And if that isn't enough motivation for you, remember
  • 00:36:02
    those categories are negotiable,
  • 00:36:04
    and might soon include you if they don't already.
  • 00:36:08
    Now, obviously, we can't kick fascists out of the world like we could
  • 00:36:13
    kick an asshole out of a house party.
  • 00:36:14
    But we can do the next best thing.
  • 00:36:16
    We can expose them, and make it known that they are not welcome in our spaces.
  • 00:36:21
    Fascists thrive when they are granted respect and legitimacy, and they wither
  • 00:36:25
    and shrink away when that legitimacy and respect are rightfully withheld.
  • 00:36:29
    Thus they will do everything in their power to appear legitimate
  • 00:36:32
    and respectable. To pretend as though actually they're not being assholes.
  • 00:36:36
    They're actually doing a different thing that you don't dislike.
  • 00:36:40
    It's a meme, didn't you know?
  • 00:36:42
    It's ironic, actually.
  • 00:36:44
    It's all about ethics in games journalism, or we have economic anxiety,
  • 00:36:48
    or we're making some inscrutable point about free speech.
  • 00:36:51
    Or don't you think Israel has the right to defend itself?
  • 00:36:53
    There is nothing a fascist hates more than other people observing them
  • 00:36:58
    and describing their behavior.
  • 00:36:59
    It is their kryptonite they need to hide.
  • 00:37:02
    Just don't let them hide.
  • 00:37:03
    When you notice this, you kind of can't unsee it, right?
  • 00:37:06
    Like, they always panic and get defensive if you just describe them.
  • 00:37:10
    They will insist that you're not allowed to do that.
  • 00:37:12
    It's bad to do that.
  • 00:37:13
    It makes you look bad when you describe what they're doing,
  • 00:37:16
    they'll say. Because they know their beliefs,
  • 00:37:18
    their project, is deeply unlikable.
  • 00:37:20
    Every other political group on the planet is eager to tell you what they believe
  • 00:37:23
    because they think, rightly or wrongly, that you'll agree.
  • 00:37:26
    Fascists know that you won't.
  • 00:37:29
    They will always hide what they want.
  • 00:37:31
    They will pretend not to be saying what they are obviously saying
  • 00:37:34
    because they know nobody likes it.
  • 00:37:36
    They'll gleefully post white supremacist memes like right out in the open,
  • 00:37:39
    but the minute you call them racist for it,
  • 00:37:41
    they will shit and piss their entire pants about it.
  • 00:37:43
    It drives them up the wall.
  • 00:37:45
    How dare anyone call me racist?
  • 00:37:47
    Simply because I said and did things to disparage other races!
  • 00:37:50
    You don't know what's in my heart!
  • 00:37:52
    Knowing as we do that any attempt to justify their beliefs
  • 00:37:55
    is meant to deliberately waste your time and dwindle your spirit...
  • 00:37:59
    You just don't give them the opportunity.
  • 00:38:01
    You don't get sucked into whatever lies and bullshit
  • 00:38:04
    they throw out to confuse the issue.
  • 00:38:06
    You don't engage with whatever nonsense they're making up in the moment.
  • 00:38:09
    You let them spin their wheels, let them sputter uselessly,
  • 00:38:13
    shadowboxing with an imagined enemy.
  • 00:38:15
    While you remain focused on what matters:
  • 00:38:18
    That they are assholes, that they need to shut up. And! Also, go away.
  • 00:38:22
    You don't let them change the subject.
  • 00:38:24
    You don't let them lead the conversation.
  • 00:38:26
    You keep it focused on how they're being an asshole.
  • 00:38:28
    Look how what you're saying is going to hurt people.
  • 00:38:31
    Look what a weird freak you're being about it.
  • 00:38:33
    I don't want to be around you.
  • 00:38:34
    Nobody does, because you're being a huge asshole.
  • 00:38:37
    Three key principles inform this approach.
  • 00:38:40
    One Staying on message.
  • 00:38:42
    Maintain control of what the conversation is about.
  • 00:38:44
    Don't let them lead you into a discussion about something else to confuse
  • 00:38:48
    or sanitize the issue the minute they start losing.
  • 00:38:51
    Every time they attempt to throw out some nonsense,
  • 00:38:53
    simply repeat your point. Plainly state what is at stake,
  • 00:38:57
    what they are doing, and do not allow them to obscure it.
  • 00:39:00
    If pressed, say something like 'We're not talking about that right now.'
  • 00:39:03
    'We're talking about this.'
  • 00:39:05
    And repeat your talking point. Number two, if you're explaining, you're losing.
  • 00:39:09
    One of the reasons fascists love misinformation
  • 00:39:11
    so much is that when you debunk it, even when you're right,
  • 00:39:15
    it makes you look suspicious. Because, like, the more you have to explain
  • 00:39:18
    yourself, the less credible you appear to people.
  • 00:39:21
    People naturally start to assume you just have some canned line
  • 00:39:24
    to dismiss criticism.
  • 00:39:25
    After all, how is it possible that every point that the fascist makes
  • 00:39:29
    (and they make so, so many) is either dishonest or wrong? So, like...
  • 00:39:35
    Don't. Don't explain why they are wrong.
  • 00:39:38
    Just call bullshit.
  • 00:39:39
    You don't need to explain why it's bullshit.
  • 00:39:41
    You let them try to explain why it's not. Put them on the back foot.
  • 00:39:44
    They can't give evidence to support their positions.
  • 00:39:47
    They don't believe in evidence, and there isn't any evidence for their positions.
  • 00:39:50
    Let them twist in the wind explaining themselves.
  • 00:39:53
    Number three Fascists are by definition, hateful.
  • 00:39:57
    Hate looks bad.
  • 00:39:58
    Generally speaking, human beings tend to value kindness and dislike cruelty.
  • 00:40:03
    Do not let them hide or obscure their hatred and cruelty.
  • 00:40:06
    Make sure the conversation remains focused on exactly that,
  • 00:40:09
    that they are being hateful.
  • 00:40:10
    Look, everyone, look how hateful this is.
  • 00:40:12
    And you don't need to explain why that hate is bad.
  • 00:40:15
    It is generally understood that hate in and of itself, is a bad thing.
  • 00:40:20
    Let me give you an example of this strategy being deployed successfully.
  • 00:40:24
    This is a clip from Real Time with Bill Maher, wherein Ben Affleck
  • 00:40:27
    argues with Sam Harris and Bilbus himself about whether Islamophobia
  • 00:40:31
    is a real concept. A thing which exists on Earth.
  • 00:40:35
    Now, Ben Affleck,
  • 00:40:37
    generally speaking, is not considered to be a public intellectual.
  • 00:40:40
    I don't know if that's controversial to say.
  • 00:40:42
    I certainly don't know the man, but his reputation particularly at the time
  • 00:40:46
    is that of a himbo, a handsome leading man, but one of very little substance.
  • 00:40:51
    And I doubt very much that's how he is as a guy.
  • 00:40:54
    You know, he's a is an award winning screenwriter.
  • 00:40:56
    But that's how he was seen. Especially then, Right?
  • 00:40:59
    He was the star of Gigli.
  • 00:41:01
    Maher and Harris, by contrast, somehow (defying all logic and reason)
  • 00:41:05
    are considered public intellectuals.
  • 00:41:07
    People think they're smart, worthwhile political guys.
  • 00:41:10
    So they begin this conversation with all of the respect, all of the prestige.
  • 00:41:14
    It is very much their argument to lose.
  • 00:41:16
    I will leave it for others to decide
  • 00:41:18
    whether Bill Maher or Sam Harris are explicitly ideologically fascist.
  • 00:41:22
    Personally, I think both are just useful
  • 00:41:24
    morons who are happy to hobnob with fascists.
  • 00:41:27
    But I also think that that difference doesn't matter even a little bit.
  • 00:41:30
    What does matter for our purposes
  • 00:41:32
    is that they are arguing like a fascist might.
  • 00:41:34
    Using the strategies a fascist would use to defend their position,
  • 00:41:37
    which happens to be one that a fascist would hold.
  • 00:41:41
    They start with a premise: That the concept of Islamophobia is simply
  • 00:41:44
    a shield that liberals use to defend Islam, even though
  • 00:41:48
    they should personally be allowed to be weird,
  • 00:41:50
    bigoted creeps about Islam without people being allowed to get mad at them.
  • 00:41:53
    [Harris] We have been sold this meme of Islamophobia, where every criticism
  • 00:41:58
    of the Doctrine of Islam gets conflated with bigotry toward Muslims as people.
  • 00:42:03
    [Maher] Right.
  • 00:42:03
    [Harris] That is intellectually ridiculous.
  • 00:42:07
    [Thought Slime] Good point, Sam Harris.
  • 00:42:09
    Every time you criticize Islam, people take it as though it's
  • 00:42:12
    some sort of criticism of Islam! When actually what it is is a riddle.
  • 00:42:18
    It's a magic riddle for you to solve!
  • 00:42:20
    But Affleck like keeps bringing the subject back to what matters:
  • 00:42:23
    Look at how cruel your being.
  • 00:42:25
    Look how bigoted and gross what you're saying is.
  • 00:42:28
    [Affleck] You're saying that Islamophobia is not a real thing
  • 00:42:29
    [Maher] It really isn't.
  • 00:42:30
    [Harris] I'm not denying that that certain people are bigoted against Muslims as people.
  • 00:42:33
    That's-... and that's a problem.
  • 00:42:35
    [Affleck] And that's big of you.
  • 00:42:35
    [Harris] But the
  • 00:42:36
    [Thought Slime] The second this premise is challenged,
  • 00:42:38
    they retreat and instead attempt to assert their legitimacy and respectability.
  • 00:42:42
    They're reasonable people and you're not allowed to treat their opinions
  • 00:42:45
    as unreasonable actually. That's rude.
  • 00:42:47
    And you have to be above that.
  • 00:42:49
    You're not allowed to discuss how what we're saying might hurt people.
  • 00:42:52
    You have to discuss these ideas in a kind of vacuum where history doesn't happen.
  • 00:42:56
    [Harris] I'm actually- actually well-educated on this topic,
  • 00:42:58
    [Afflect] I'm asking you!
  • 00:42:58
    [Maher] You're not listening to what we are saying!
  • 00:43:01
    [Thought Slime] and you can see how frustrated this makes Maher and Harris.
  • 00:43:04
    They just can't accept that Affleck refuses to engage with the dry
  • 00:43:07
    sounding minutia they'd prefer to discuss. The boring, sanitized justification
  • 00:43:11
    for their prejudice.
  • 00:43:12
    [Harris] Ben, let me let me unpack this for you.
  • 00:43:15
    [Affleck] Please do, I've been waiting... mug has been sitting there, packed up.
  • 00:43:17
    [Harris] Just imagine some concentric circles here you have at the center
  • 00:43:20
    you have jihadists. That that those two circles,
  • 00:43:25
    arguably, are 20% of the Muslim world.
  • 00:43:28
    [Affleck] What are you basing that research on?
  • 00:43:29
    [Harris] A bunch of poll results that we can talk about.
  • 00:43:34
    To give you one point of
  • 00:43:35
    contact, 78% of British Muslims
  • 00:43:38
    think that the Danish cartoonist should have been prosecuted, 78%.
  • 00:43:42
    So I'm being conservative when I roll this back to 20%.
  • 00:43:45
    [Slime] That completely unrelated statistic does imply
  • 00:43:47
    you were being conservative about the 20% statistic.
  • 00:43:50
    But wait a minute!
  • 00:43:52
    Doesn't that in turn kind of imply you made the 20% statistic up?
  • 00:43:56
    That it was just kind of a guess that you're being conservative about?
  • 00:43:59
    I thought it was a hard number.
  • 00:44:01
    I thought it was a hard number that you had research
  • 00:44:04
    you could discuss about it but chose not to!
  • 00:44:06
    Maher and Harris are bewildered that he's not taking the bait,
  • 00:44:09
    that he seems so dead set on discussing the substance of what they're saying
  • 00:44:13
    rather than letting them change the subject.
  • 00:44:15
    But Ben doesn't play along.
  • 00:44:17
    He doesn't let them obscure the ugliness of what
  • 00:44:19
    they're saying behind boring sounding statistics or platitudes.
  • 00:44:22
    [Affleck] How about the more than a billion people
  • 00:44:24
    who aren't fanatical, who don't punch women, who just wanna go to the store, get some sandwhiches!
  • 00:44:26
    [Maher] Wait a second! Wait a second!
  • 00:44:30
    [Harris] But Islam at the moment is the motherlode of bad ideas.
  • 00:44:33
    [Affleck] Jesus Christ.
  • 00:44:34
    [Harris] We have- We have-
  • 00:44:35
    [Maher] That's just a fact.
  • 00:44:36
    [Affleck] That's not a fact. [Maher] It is a-
  • 00:44:38
    [Affleck] It's an ugly thing to say. [Harris] ...Apostasy
  • 00:44:39
    He just keeps calling it gross.
  • 00:44:41
    He hammers that home. It's gross.
  • 00:44:43
    [Maher] But why are you so hostile about this?
  • 00:44:45
    [Affleck] It's- it's gross. It's racist.
  • 00:44:47
    [Slime] And it is, right?
  • 00:44:47
    Hate is gross.
  • 00:44:49
    Look how gross and weird and shitty they're being. Shut up.
  • 00:44:53
    You're being assholes. And it fucking destroys them.
  • 00:44:57
    They cannot deal with it.
  • 00:44:58
    That's all you got to do. It's that easy.
  • 00:45:01
    The beauty of this approach is that it disrupts the fascists primary objective
  • 00:45:05
    in arguing with you.
  • 00:45:06
    It takes away their ability
  • 00:45:07
    to use the conversation to make their beliefs seem normal,
  • 00:45:10
    to make it seem to anyone watching as though they're reasonable people
  • 00:45:13
    asking reasonable questions.
  • 00:45:15
    They're not.
  • 00:45:16
    And you show people that by not treating them as though they are.
  • 00:45:20
    Instead, you seize the opportunity to point out what weirdos they're being,
  • 00:45:24
    to lay bare the pathetic hate at the center of their worldview.
  • 00:45:27
    Don't let them drop it.
  • 00:45:28
    Don't let them talk about a different thing that's more palatable.
  • 00:45:31
    You keep things focused on the harm that they pose
  • 00:45:34
    and how humiliated they should feel to be a part of it.
  • 00:45:37
    They're being fucking losers. And it works because people get it.
  • 00:45:40
    You can tell. Like, look at them! look at these fucking losers!
  • 00:45:45
    They should be ashamed of themselves, but they're not!
  • 00:45:48
    So let's all get together and make them ashamed of themselves.
  • 00:45:52
    Now, as I said, this strategy comes at a cost. All things in life do.
  • 00:45:57
    They will use this.
  • 00:45:58
    They will use your hostility to portray you, to portray anyone who opposes them,
  • 00:46:01
    to portray the left, as unreasonable and intolerant.
  • 00:46:05
    They will use this to portray themselves as the victims of censorship.
  • 00:46:08
    They will claim that we're afraid
  • 00:46:09
    to confront their ideas because we have no arguments against them.
  • 00:46:13
    So we simply shout them down. That we hate free speech.
  • 00:46:16
    Because why else would you not want to hear someone say a bunch of awful shit?
  • 00:46:19
    I know. That's not news to me.
  • 00:46:22
    I know they will do that.
  • 00:46:24
    Furthermore, I also know that this will be quite persuasive to a lot of people.
  • 00:46:29
    And please, please really hear me now.
  • 00:46:31
    Really listen. Okay?
  • 00:46:33
    Because most people, most people get this wrong, so please hear me.
  • 00:46:39
    You gotta let 'em.
  • 00:46:41
    You gotta let them say those things. Accept that it will convince
  • 00:46:44
    some very credulous people. I know it's frustrating,
  • 00:46:46
    but you can't change it. Because, like, do you think right?
  • 00:46:48
    Do you think that if you're if you're super polite,
  • 00:46:51
    if you do what they say and you're sweet and you ask probing questions
  • 00:46:54
    and you give them a nice big hug and a mug of hot cocoa,
  • 00:46:56
    that they'll be trapped and now they have to be nice to you?
  • 00:46:59
    Do you think that they're evil genies, and have to obey the rules they lay out?
  • 00:47:03
    Fascists are haters.
  • 00:47:05
    They're THE haters. Haters talk shit.
  • 00:47:07
    That's what haters do. You gotta let them hate.
  • 00:47:10
    Let them say whatever mad shit they want.
  • 00:47:12
    You can't stop them. They view you
  • 00:47:15
    as part of a corruptive conspiracy trying to destroy human civilization.
  • 00:47:19
    Do you think it will matter to them
  • 00:47:21
    that you listened calmly and didn't call them names while you did that?
  • 00:47:25
    Are you a fucking baby?
  • 00:47:26
    Are you a little baby shitting in your diaper? I gotta calm down.
  • 00:47:29
    I went way too aggro there for a second. I see that.
  • 00:47:32
    My point is that if it is convenient for them
  • 00:47:34
    to say that you are as censorious, prudish, or close minded,
  • 00:47:38
    they'll just say you were.
  • 00:47:39
    Even if you weren't. That will simply become part of the mythic truth,
  • 00:47:42
    and thus immune to questioning or counterargument.
  • 00:47:45
    You do not need to worry about giving them ammunition, because no matter
  • 00:47:49
    what you do, they will always manufacture ammunition.
  • 00:47:52
    Oh, look how impolite you're being! You're not wearing a suit.
  • 00:47:55
    And that's the reason that we're going to let your country get annexed!
  • 00:47:58
    Because of the suit thing. because of how rude that is.
  • 00:48:01
    They'll tell you that you're not allowed to do this.
  • 00:48:03
    You can't be angry with them. It makes you look bad.
  • 00:48:05
    It makes you look aggressive and mean.
  • 00:48:07
    And of course they will,
  • 00:48:09
    because they don't want you to do it. Because they're cowards,
  • 00:48:12
    and they can't handle conflict
  • 00:48:13
    unless they know for certain they're going to be victorious in advance.
  • 00:48:16
    Why would you let the haters tell you how to act?
  • 00:48:20
    They don't have your best interest in mind.
  • 00:48:22
    They hate you,
  • 00:48:23
    they're not trying to be helpful.
  • 00:48:24
    And the fear of being portrayed this way,
  • 00:48:26
    of being portrayed as censorious, prudish or closed minded,
  • 00:48:29
    which they will portray us as regardless,
  • 00:48:31
    has held us back from pointing out what would otherwise be completely obvious
  • 00:48:35
    to everyone who's paying attention: That these people are... Nightmare idiots.
  • 00:48:41
    That they want the worst possible things to happen,
  • 00:48:43
    and they are preposterously dumb, and preposterously cruel,
  • 00:48:46
    like Saturday morning cartoon villains who say more slurs.
  • 00:48:49
    [Looten Plunder] You'll pay for this [censor beeps]!
  • 00:48:52
    [Slime] They're losers, they're assholes.
  • 00:48:54
    Nobody likes them.
  • 00:48:55
    They need to go away.
  • 00:48:56
    Polite discussion with them normalizes them.
  • 00:48:59
    How dangerous could they be if we aren't treating them as though
  • 00:49:03
    they are dangerous?
  • 00:49:04
    If we treat them with respect as they demand we do,
  • 00:49:07
    does it not therefore follow that they are entitled to our respect?
  • 00:49:10
    And I ask you, are they? Are they entitled to our respect?
  • 00:49:14
    Why would you respect someone wants to hurt innocent people?
  • 00:49:16
    Why would you respect someone who bases their worldview on hatred?
  • 00:49:20
    Those are not respectable qualities.
  • 00:49:22
    Have you noticed that when you just describe
  • 00:49:24
    what the Trump administration is doing, or what
  • 00:49:26
    any of these other far right ideologues gaining power across the world are doing,
  • 00:49:30
    it sounds ridiculous to people who don't pay attention to politics?
  • 00:49:33
    They hear you and they think, 'Oh, of course'
  • 00:49:35
    'you're going to say that you don't like him, you know?'
  • 00:49:37
    'But if they were actually doing all of that bad stuff,'
  • 00:49:40
    'people would be really mad and people would speak up and fight back.'
  • 00:49:43
    So like, if you're not mad, if you're not immediately hostile,
  • 00:49:47
    that kind of trains people to think this way.
  • 00:49:50
    You're doing the work of the fascist for them,
  • 00:49:52
    because like, the things they're doing should make you mad and upset.
  • 00:49:56
    It is normal, quite understandable actually, to be made
  • 00:49:59
    angry and upset by cruelty, by injustice.
  • 00:50:02
    So you just kind of
  • 00:50:04
    you just observe them and describe them plainly, honestly, emphatically.
  • 00:50:08
    Let go of the concern that your analysis might be labeled hyperbolic or hysterical
  • 00:50:13
    by people who either aren't paying attention, or are themselves
  • 00:50:16
    nasty freaks with nasty freak political projects.
  • 00:50:20
    You don't have Trump derangement syndrome,
  • 00:50:23
    Trump does a lot of deranged things which sound deranged
  • 00:50:26
    when described out loud. And yeah, that's going to lose people.
  • 00:50:29
    It will be divisive, as will anything in the world.
  • 00:50:32
    Anything you say will lose some people, anything will be divisive.
  • 00:50:35
    The question we should be asking is which people do we lose,
  • 00:50:38
    and how many do we lose? More than we lose by being sniveling cowards
  • 00:50:42
    willing to collaborate with fascists rather than speak truth to power?
  • 00:50:45
    My guess, probably not!
  • 00:50:48
    You might say to all of this, 'So much for the tolerant left.'
  • 00:50:51
    Tolerance is not a virtue.
  • 00:50:53
    It is a concession.
  • 00:50:54
    It is acceptance of something you may not like but cannot change.
  • 00:50:58
    You tolerate a topping you don't like on pizza.
  • 00:51:01
    You don't tolerate injustice.
  • 00:51:02
    We've allowed the far right to confuse tolerance with diversity and plurality.
  • 00:51:07
    These are not things to be tolerated.
  • 00:51:09
    These are things to be demanded.
  • 00:51:11
    Things we fight to establish, maintain and protect.
  • 00:51:14
    Not something we begrudgingly resign ourselves to.
  • 00:51:17
    There's no contradiction here.
  • 00:51:18
    Fuck off with your Karl Popper Paradox of Tolerance bullshit.
  • 00:51:21
    These are word games, played on paper.
  • 00:51:23
    We should remain intolerant of bad behavior.
  • 00:51:25
    That is not the same thing
  • 00:51:27
    as being intolerant of a minority group simply because we use the same word
  • 00:51:30
    to describe them both.
  • 00:51:31
    You need not tolerate those who wish to harm innocent people.
  • 00:51:34
    To do so is itself an act of harm.
  • 00:51:36
    It is prioritizing peace
  • 00:51:37
    and quiet over the safety of the targeted people like a coward would do.
  • 00:51:41
    Gavin Newsom. You're a coward... Or a collaborator.
  • 00:51:45
    I don't know which. You must at all times make your hostility to fascists clear.
  • 00:51:50
    You must be belligerent towards fascism,
  • 00:51:54
    because you won't reason them out of their positions.
  • 00:51:56
    They're not reasonable people.
  • 00:51:58
    You won't win them over with kindness.
  • 00:52:00
    They don't value kindness.
  • 00:52:01
    You can't defeat them by being calm, dispassionate, the adult in the room,
  • 00:52:05
    because the things they're saying, the things they're doing
  • 00:52:07
    should make you upset.
  • 00:52:09
    And when you're not upset,
  • 00:52:11
    what everybody hears is these people aren't that dangerous.
  • 00:52:14
    It is the far right who must be made to be tolerant,
  • 00:52:17
    who must be made to accept that which they do not like,
  • 00:52:20
    but will never be able to change.
  • 00:52:22
    That people who are different from them are their equals,
  • 00:52:25
    and entitled to the same dignity, respect and protection that they are.
  • 00:52:28
    And if that makes them mad, then they're an asshole.
  • 00:52:31
    Shut up!
  • 00:52:32
    Oh ho ho!
  • 00:52:34
    What a bitter irony it is!
  • 00:52:36
    How poetic that in making a video about how fascists
  • 00:52:40
    waste your time, I wasted like, months making it.
  • 00:52:44
    So I'm really going to pivot to shorter, snappier videos.
  • 00:52:48
    I... this isn't....
  • 00:52:49
    This isn't working.
  • 00:52:51
    In any case, thank you for watching.
  • 00:52:53
    Despite my tone, I'm very proud of this video
  • 00:52:56
    and I hope you enjoyed it and agree
  • 00:53:00
    with my various takes within it.
  • 00:53:04
    If this spirit moves you, please visit Patreon.com/ThoughtSlime
  • 00:53:08
    to pay me for the good job I'm doing. Also please
  • 00:53:12
    like, and also please subscribe to me.
  • 00:53:16
    Those are helpful actions you can take.
  • 00:53:19
    Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to eat an entire bees nest.
  • 00:53:24
    I'm going to eat a whole bees nest,
  • 00:53:28
    and all the bees are going to have to deal with it!
Tag
  • Fascism
  • Debate
  • Rhetoric
  • Ideology
  • Truth
  • Community
  • Resistance
  • Tactics
  • Hostility
  • Counterarguments