This is literally a religious worship ceremony. You have the preaching, the testifying, the tearful conversions, the declarations of faith, the exhortations to the sinners. The speakers even have exactly the same rhythm as an Evangelical preacher.
You really hit the nail on the head. The confession of sin. The repentance. The salvation. The affirmation of faith. The abandonment of reason in favor of simple belief. And here, it seems everyone auditioning for the role of Jesus.
The whole meeting's message can summed up as "You're a bad person if you don't completely submit your will to our collectivist authoritarian ideology".
And, there’s no discussion, no debate. The cornerstone of our Republic is freedom of religion and robust debate. That’s what the 1st Amend is about. They shit all over it, by design. “We will make you respect us” Get bent.
What fascinates me most is how little actual information is being conveyed through all this talking. These are mostly just acts of self congratulatory "performative linguistics" designed to virtue sing to the choir without actually saying much of anything specifically except for platitudes of buzzwords.
Good observation. Reminds me of what has become of professional debate in the academic world. Like the stuff Micheal Moreno exposed. It's no longer debate. it's performative art. Race to the bottom.
You are witnessing the bizzar rituals of a cult. They preach their ideology, chant the sacred words, confess their sins and proclaim their devotion and purity. This one seems to have a sort of Jesus complex about it. They who have suffered the most, or at least claim to, are the most worthy, the most innocent, the most pure. Amen.
I think the button down Professors nervously and self consciously trying to clap along is even funnier. None with the guts to say this is ridiculous, I am out of here.
Most of them, but not all. Some of them to me looked delighted at finally being able to spread their agenda. What they fail to understand is that "diversity and inclusion" leads to group tensions, because each group has different needs. They also fail to recognize how "inclusion" mostly excludes a huge swath of increasingly-resentful people.
No Felix, we will not be getting into the Canoe of Equity. Instead we will join Benjamin Boyce in the Canoe of Inquiry: charting the dark waters and looking out for loons.
Yes, that’s what revolutionaries do, burn things to the ground. This nightmare of nonsense explains why getting a job is nearly impossible for these people other than equity divisions created to provide paychecks. I have no doubt some of these people are hostages to the bizarre ideologues, but most usurp unearned moral superiority for passively enabling the crackpots.
I got really confused by this, but I think I can clarify it. There were a couple references to people working at "MIT." At first I thought they were talking about the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but doing a little research, I learned there's a program at Evergreen called the Masters in Teaching program (MiT). I believe that's what's being referred to. These were people teaching future educators. How um...gawd awful. :P
Yeah that gets me. I did my whole MA in Australia, and just plain don't believe grown-up, self-respecting, money-paying students at a university "consider themselves" international students. It's a university--people are from all over, in different ways. Of course, times have changed.
Dear Lord, I'm not even 5 mins in. and all I can think is how this looks like every tv or movie portrayal of a group therapy session. Pull yourselves together for crying out loud! That, and of course the Tomahawk Chop. I am also thinking I'm at a Braves game in the 90's.
"enforcing others to respect us" Why on earth would I be obedient to you? Why should I be forced to respect you against my wishes and judgement? Will you reciprocate? Will you respect me and be obedient to me? I highly doubt it. "Your silence will not protect you" I agree. My actions and my willingness to defy tyranny will.
Evergreen Trivia: I was on camera two for this (audience right). The Equity Plan they're unveiling was hurriedly assembled the night beforehand, with large sections of it plagiarized from other institution's Equity Proposals. econospeak.blogspot.com/2017/05/the-protests-at-evergreen-state-college.html Evergreen's head of statistics states the data itself doesn't support its conclusions: ruclips.net/video/3xQzs3lMsdw/видео.html The full plan: evergreen.edu/sites/default/files/equity/documents/FINAL%202016-17%20Strategic%20Equity%20Plan%20--%20FOR%20CAMPUS-1.pdf The plan itself does not withstand honest critique, and such critique was ignored by the President and the Board of Trustees: ruclips.net/video/ArIBoF-HnG0/видео.html After the ceremony, faculty and students walked to the Longhouse, where faculty surrounded students, and everyone sang songs. Bret Weinstein, Mike Paros, and Alan Nasser (all professors), challenged the wisdom, efficacy, legality, and data of the proposal, via the campus-wide email system. Many arguments ensued. Bret Weinstein's emails would be singled out and published by the TESC Student Run Cooper Point Journal: www.cooperpointjournal.com/2017/03/20/re-equity-inclusion-silence-and-fear-faculty-emails-reveal-controversy-over-race-and-diversity-at-evergreen/
Something appeared on my RUclips main page just now that I haven't seen before. It was a link to this video with the label "What did you think of this video? Help us improve RUclips", and asked me to rank it 1-5 stars or "not sure". I had watched a some of the video yesterday.
It still KILLS me to stand Bret standing there at the end. He must have had a lot running through his head during this whole ritual. I feel horrible for every good person that was guilted in to joining this madness
I was thinking that too but what's up with the flipping the top hand around when they clap? I have no doubt that has some historical or metaphorical message aside from "traditional clapping with palms together is so eurocentric".
Oh how I love to get cringy goosebumps from watching and listening to these fools......kinda like a train wreck. It's repellent yet mesmerizing at the same time.
I feel sorry for the folks in this video who have experienced hardship and pain, until they become embittered and angry at others, and seek to control other people. Sometimes we should work to make the world a better place; but life will never be entirely fair. Ultimately, it is up to each of us to make the most of - and find contentment in - whatever life circumstance we are in - even when those circumstances are bad. Those who do, tend to be more pleasant people - those capable of remaining at peace and maintaining healthy relationships with others.
Well, it's an Evergreen video, I can let it play in the background while I'm doing something else. We've been in lockdown since March 10, I'm running out of things to do. 😂
I watch, i get frustrated, i continue to watch. Merit and equity are mutually exclusive. Your college can't achieve equity without stifling not only their highest achievers, but also their average achievers.....because even average is better than below average. You don't win at anything.....life, sport, work, intellectual endeavors by just pointing out what you don't like and how things are unfair. If the only thing you create is chaos and dissension, you're a useless person in a society.
zxy atiywariii I always listen to these things while I work. I like to think that the spirit of the evergreen protesters is somehow contained within the paint of the vehicles I spray.
Watching this as an ex-Mormon, I was struck by how much it was like a fast and testimony meeting in the Mormon church, full of emotional virtue-signaling that reinforces group think, mingled with a general conference talk where Mormon leaders likewise often use the analogy of a boat to distinguish between those who are on the path of righteousness and those who are not, warning people that if they leave the boat they will drown and die "spiritually". It also reminded me of the Mormon temple endowment ceremony, where you are called upon to make vows of loyalty and obedience (without real forewarning of what you'll be asked to commit to either it should be noted).
just saw a video on this canoe scene, and was blown away by it. i'm SUPER curious if you're open to talking about it: now that you've left the mormon church and see things like this in this way, do you feel there is a truthfulness or correctness to "proper" cult behavior? or does anything that exhibits this stuff automatically trigger something in you? like do you think there's any formation where these things could be done in these ways without it being manipulative and void of meaning?
@@caleb.lindsay Hey there, and my apologies for this late reply. Yeah - I'm definitely up for an interesting conversation on these matters. "Behavior like this" does automically trigger a red flag for me, but the behavior I'm referring to isn't the use of ceremony or ritual per se (which is what I'm guessing you are referring to whith your phrase "any formation of these things")... well, actually - it partly is... there is a sense in which you can think of ritual and ceremony or even social sensure as being simply a tool that, like a hammer, can be used either constructively or destructively - it all comes down to the purpose to which it is put and the skill with which it is wielded that determines which of those categories a given application of the tool falls into. Taken this way, my critique of what's going on in this video isn't with the ritual or cermonial aspects of what is happening so much as the goals to which they are being applied and subtle aspects of the application of ritual and ceremony that, to my eyes, corrupt the act, transforming it from something constructive to destructive. This remains the core of my critique, however, ceremony and ritual do concern me, in and of themselves, for this reason: the measure of success for ceremony and ritual is it's ability to move people emotionally and emotions can so easily be invoked without the guiding hand of reason and bent to destructive ends while riding the highs of lofty purpose. It's a conundrum - emotions are the source of all of our felt impetuses to do even the best things, no matter how the intelect is involved, and they are our most potent tool for galvanizing mass action toward worthy goals, but they are so dangerous - they are like a great wave that, masterfully surfed, can provide a magical, life-affirming, experience, but will, otherwise, dash you upon the rocks and destroy you... and we have seen an awful lot of destruction wrought in human history by the invocation of emotions at the behest of ceremony and communially reinforced feeling. For this reason, I am, ultimately, left feeling uncertain of how to feel about the use of ceremony and ritual - on the one hand I see an argumnet for more of it to bring us together under the banner of united purposes, while, on the other hand, I fear what might become of us if we do.
@@fbbez super grateful for the response! i am particularly interested in this topic because i'm finding that it is more and more the foundational aspect of humanity that either must be embraced as humanly necessary or nothing more than a social construct and outright rejected. i have known many people that have left what the world traditionally views as "cults", and my pain in my heart is that it ends up being some kind of broken relationship disposition akin to someone after a cheating spouse from there forward. there seems to become a mistrust in the collective, universal participation in common ground (so to speak) and i would say "rightfully so" to a pretty strong degree. i had a super similar experience with what i would consider "Christian fundamentalism" yielding large distrust and aversion to anything resembling it. but then, the issue for me is that it seems this form of congregational ritualistic "worship" is fundamental to the human experience, and not just in the "connect to our past" way, although it is obviously AT LEAST in that way. like it's necessary for us to actually participate in or proper fulfillment is impossible, which is why every group ends up doing something like it. i do like what you said about the "purpose" of the rituals being critical but i think even intentionally good purposes can be misdirected without proper information or adequate targeting. i can't see a way ritualistic enforcement of behavior and belief is good unless it's aimed (and not practically but transcendently) at something truly worthy and true. the purpose of the ritual is subordinate to that (i think, maybe?). i'm just super interested in whether you feel it would even be possible for you to believe something like these rituals even has the potential to be "true" or "right" rather than just "useful", or if they're entirely defunct for you? did you change religions, become spiritual but not religious, or atheistic/agnostic? love talking about this stuff, but don't feel pressured.
It's hard to believe so many people could speak so inarticulately for so long about so little with such obvious insincerity & complete conformity. The dim light of mediocrity bathes the room, and it's reflected in the stultified faces of the unfortunate participants.
But they all hit all the buzzwords. Equity, Centering, "Doing the Work", Systemic,. Systems of Oppressions, "Creating a Space". Bunch of Orwellian gobbledygook.
"I'm here because I was told by a high school counselor I wasn't smart enough to go to college." Everything you do and say serves to demonstrate that counselor's wisdom. From my vantage point, the most shocking thing about this video is the absolute lack of talent demonstrated by the participants. I didn't hear a single original thought. No one among these people showed an ability to be articulate. Nothing of substance was presented. No one demonstrated an ability to present a coherent idea from beginning to end. Clearly no one took the time to prepare their comments in advance. This nation needs higher quality students and faculty or we are doomed. Hopefully , this sample is not representative. The president of Evergreen...holy shit. That guy doesn't have the integrity to be the president of the neighborhood dog walkers' cribbage club, not even secretary. Paying his pension, starting immediately, would be an excellent use of college funds.
I’m honestly excited. I have seen much of your work, but somehow I missed this one. Someone mentioned it on a podcast, and here I am getting the bonus I never knew I deserved. I hear the heartbeat. I’m using my hands.
@@BenjaminABoyce It looks like Mike Nayna was the man who mentioned this amazin’ incident. What I saw appears to be taken from a 4 year old interview with David Fuller / Rebel Wisdom. The clip was also 4 years old, but the algorithm decided today was the right time for me to finally see it.
Equity of student experience is the goal of all this? That is not only impossible to achieve, but also an undesirable outcome completely at odds with the goals of diversity. You can't celebrate difference and want everyone to be the same, with the same outcome. Equity of outcome as a stated goal is fundamentally flawed.
Did you notice how, rather than respect actual cultural diversity, they kinda wanted everyone to embrace Black and First American culture? Uh, what about other people's cultures?
The entire concept of “equity” is racist. Period. It discriminates against whites, Asians and high achieving minorities (Indians). I never thought I’d be happy Trump crammed those three looney Catholics on the bench.
They're all madder than a bag of cats! 😒 You're right it is a struggle session. There's nothing bl**dy awesome about it though - it's completely God damned crazy and the fact this happened outside of a communist country like China or N Korea is shameful.
I know you talked about events that led up to this, going back to 2015 (IIRC), and I think you said Bridges came in in 2016, but I can't help but notice the timing of this, about 1 week after the election... I interpret the way the leaders of this are acting as feeling alarmed, and taking a "circle the wagons" action, in response. They wanted to strengthen their tribe, and they thought the way to do that was to find out once and for all who is with them, and who isn't, and to ostracize those who are not. They find strength in ideological conformity. This explains what happened in May 2017, where Bret Weinstein clearly indicated again and again that he was not joining in with the group-think, and they saw that as a threat. However, you've pointed to a different cause, where he opposed a budget proposal (again, IIRC), because he, in effect, was interfering with the plans of Bridges and the Equity Council.
Benjamin, you got this on an FOIA request? Did they give you any trouble, and is there a lot of other material? Great work! This stuff needs to see the light of day.
I got snubbed by some TESC employees who were not happy I disgorged so much material (that I had been present during the creation of)-but they're a state institution and WA has fairly strong FOIA legislation. See my "Evergreen Resources" playlist for more videos, I'll eventually put up everything I have, including uncut & time stamped protest footage (which I'm saving for when I'm especially bored-it's quite a bit to organize and cross reference!)
@@BenjaminABoyce Wow...yes, I can imagine that you're a thorn in the side of some TESC people! Just their luck that you're patience never ends, haha :)
If the black guy wants to acknowledge and respect that he is sitting on native land, why doesn't he leave? Was he invited by those tribes "connected with the land?"
I had almost the exact same thought. He’s not so upset by the situation that he would make a sacrifice of any sort to correct it. He’s actually using the situation to his own advantage, leveraging the need for ‘respect’ to add authority to his words and gain power.
Would be fun if you are a member of the tribe, hearing that, and just walking up to him telling him: "I would like you to leave my lands now" That would be hilarious 😂😂
Unfortunately most people don't investigate past the surface level proclamations. Rich parents read the schools mission statment, feel satisfied enough and write the check. That's how a lot of business works actually.
Hi Benjamin. What's your read on the staff member talking from 1:12:40 to 1:13:29? Is he emotional because of pride in what he/they are doing? Or is it fear / being forced to do something he doesn't agree with? Thanks!
Was there not one sane person who said WTF are we thinking before going forward with this crazy show? Boggles the mind that so many smart people have so little common sense and also so willingly go along with the MOB mentality without saying a word!
Evergreen's song in my head is Metallica's Shortest Straw... Behind you, hands are tied Your being, ostracized Your hell is multiplied, upending The fallout has begun Oppressive damage done Your many turned to none, to nothing You're reaching your nadir Your will has disappeared The lie is crystal clear, defending Channels red One word said Blacklisted with vertigo make you dead Shortest straw Challenge liberty Downed by law Live in infamy Rub you raw Witch hunt riding through Shortest straw This shortest straw has been pulled for you Pulled for you
As my friend Doug, a man who had visited many indigenous people from the Middle East to Scandinavia to once said when I asked him about shamans, "When they break out the rattles and drums, I'm out of there." He was a man who could be among bullshitters, but not have to believe their bullshit, himself.
This would have been so uncomfortable to be apart of. Holy shit the theatrics. What a waste of everyone’s time and no wonder they keep complaining they can’t get anything done.
The Native American man had a very inspiring message to start things off. It must have been tough to watch his message be unceremoniously shit on by the other speakers.
In what way is a song and dance suposed to bring about unity when the students are dead set on division? Content of character or color of skin? Are we to punish children for the sins of their fathers? Put down the past's luggage. It's weighing us all down.
@@BenjaminABoyce Thanks you. That. Means a lot. I really did try. 😢😁🤪 That is not a school anymore. It’s a cult for the mentally deranged. Great work though..as usual. I might’ve been able to endure it better If you narrated it some, but without you..I was like.. Why the F am I watching these absolute loons.
Full Story: bit.ly/evergreenstory
I graduated from a college in Middle East, even by our standards this is batshit crazy...
This is literally a religious worship ceremony. You have the preaching, the testifying, the tearful conversions, the declarations of faith, the exhortations to the sinners. The speakers even have exactly the same rhythm as an Evangelical preacher.
You really hit the nail on the head. The confession of sin. The repentance. The salvation. The affirmation of faith. The abandonment of reason in favor of simple belief. And here, it seems everyone auditioning for the role of Jesus.
The whole meeting's message can summed up as "You're a bad person if you don't completely submit your will to our collectivist authoritarian ideology".
The Indian could not get into Evergreen so he beets a drum and call racism.
And, there’s no discussion, no debate. The cornerstone of our Republic is freedom of religion and robust debate. That’s what the 1st Amend is about. They shit all over it, by design. “We will make you respect us” Get bent.
So, Islam.
They don’t need politics. They need a therapist.
Or like religion or something...this seems very religious
@@propertake If people don't have a religious/mythological framework, they'll try to make politics their religion
What fascinates me most is how little actual information is being conveyed through all this talking. These are mostly just acts of self congratulatory "performative linguistics" designed to virtue sing to the choir without actually saying much of anything specifically except for platitudes of buzzwords.
Good observation. Reminds me of what has become of professional debate in the academic world. Like the stuff Micheal Moreno exposed. It's no longer debate. it's performative art. Race to the bottom.
Couldn’t agree more. I’ve gotten 30 mins in so far and have heard nothing of substance at all.
You are witnessing the bizzar rituals of a cult. They preach their ideology, chant the sacred words, confess their sins and proclaim their devotion and purity. This one seems to have a sort of Jesus complex about it. They who have suffered the most, or at least claim to, are the most worthy, the most innocent, the most pure. Amen.
Been to church?
They’re telling “their story”.
Don't be the first to stop clapping.
North Korea style lol
Solzhenitsyn
LOL classic comment
But you’d better be the first to start. I don’t believe that any of those “professors” (some would call them oppressors) actually felt the heartbeat.
Precisely! Very good memory I really congratulate you for that.
The canoe sailed right into financial oblivion.
The canoe has now sailed into my workplace 🤮
There is no warmth here. It's baffling (and ironic) that these are the kinds of people that are supposed to be providing "safe spaces" for people.
Well, they want safe spaces for certain people, but for others those spaces will be anything but safe.
Was this a scene deleted from Portlandlandia?
I'm not sure if Portlandia is still a thing, if so I have a feeling they would have to lie about reality for their 'jokes'.
This feels like a high school theatre adaptation of The Death of Stalin.
do
NOT
get
in
the
canoe
Empire of Autism ... hahaha 😂😂😂
I wish I would have read this message last week...
For a full-time drum-circler, that first guy sure struggles to keep a steady beat.
It's like that classic Beatles tune, "We all live in a yellow canoe of equity"
The Canoe segment 3/4 in is so mesmerizingly culty.
The fat guy beating on the drum pretending like he's Native cracks me up the most.
It's weird that they thought they needed one. Natives don't have magical powers. Anyone could have done that just as well.
I think the button down Professors nervously and self consciously trying to clap along is even funnier. None with the guts to say this is ridiculous, I am out of here.
Everyone on that 'council' looks absolutely miserable.
excellent observation. It's like they have to have a constant mad face or they're not doing the work.
I know right? It's so disturbing. Like they're all under willing subjugation. This isn't what people "doing it right" look like.
Most of them, but not all. Some of them to me looked delighted at finally being able to spread their agenda. What they fail to understand is that "diversity and inclusion" leads to group tensions, because each group has different needs. They also fail to recognize how "inclusion" mostly excludes a huge swath of increasingly-resentful people.
No Felix, we will not be getting into the Canoe of Equity. Instead we will join Benjamin Boyce in the Canoe of Inquiry: charting the dark waters and looking out for loons.
This is what happens when they try actually constructing something. All they can do is critique and dismantle
Yes, that’s what revolutionaries do, burn things to the ground. This nightmare of nonsense explains why getting a job is nearly impossible for these people other than equity divisions created to provide paychecks. I have no doubt some of these people are hostages to the bizarre ideologues, but most usurp unearned moral superiority for passively enabling the crackpots.
That canoe was sinking, for sure.
I have to take a shower after watching these evergreen "equity" videos.
I tried, but the dirt, it won't come off!
try a month in detox. That might just work.
Oh, I get it...this is one of their church meetings and this "equity" that they talk about is their god.
And why all the back slapping and clapping?
I got really confused by this, but I think I can clarify it. There were a couple references to people working at "MIT." At first I thought they were talking about the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but doing a little research, I learned there's a program at Evergreen called the Masters in Teaching program (MiT). I believe that's what's being referred to. These were people teaching future educators. How um...gawd awful. :P
None of these people have the intellectual capacity to get into MIT
"I consider myself an international student even though I've lived in America for 21 years am a full citizen of the USA."
Okay so you're delusional
Yeah that gets me. I did my whole MA in Australia, and just plain don't believe grown-up, self-respecting, money-paying students at a university "consider themselves" international students. It's a university--people are from all over, in different ways.
Of course, times have changed.
Dear Lord, I'm not even 5 mins in. and all I can think is how this looks like every tv or movie portrayal of a group therapy session. Pull yourselves together for crying out loud!
That, and of course the Tomahawk Chop. I am also thinking I'm at a Braves game in the 90's.
"enforcing others to respect us" Why on earth would I be obedient to you? Why should I be forced to respect you against my wishes and judgement? Will you reciprocate? Will you respect me and be obedient to me? I highly doubt it. "Your silence will not protect you" I agree. My actions and my willingness to defy tyranny will.
Evergreen Trivia: I was on camera two for this (audience right).
The Equity Plan they're unveiling was hurriedly assembled the night beforehand, with large sections of it plagiarized from other institution's Equity Proposals.
econospeak.blogspot.com/2017/05/the-protests-at-evergreen-state-college.html
Evergreen's head of statistics states the data itself doesn't support its conclusions:
ruclips.net/video/3xQzs3lMsdw/видео.html
The full plan:
evergreen.edu/sites/default/files/equity/documents/FINAL%202016-17%20Strategic%20Equity%20Plan%20--%20FOR%20CAMPUS-1.pdf
The plan itself does not withstand honest critique, and such critique was ignored by the President and the Board of Trustees: ruclips.net/video/ArIBoF-HnG0/видео.html
After the ceremony, faculty and students walked to the Longhouse, where faculty surrounded students, and everyone sang songs.
Bret Weinstein, Mike Paros, and Alan Nasser (all professors), challenged the wisdom, efficacy, legality, and data of the proposal, via the campus-wide email system. Many arguments ensued. Bret Weinstein's emails would be singled out and published by the TESC Student Run Cooper Point Journal:
www.cooperpointjournal.com/2017/03/20/re-equity-inclusion-silence-and-fear-faculty-emails-reveal-controversy-over-race-and-diversity-at-evergreen/
I get the feeling you were never more glad to be working the camera than then in not half to get in to that silly imaginary Canoe
Something appeared on my RUclips main page just now that I haven't seen before. It was a link to this video with the label "What did you think of this video? Help us improve RUclips", and asked me to rank it 1-5 stars or "not sure". I had watched a some of the video yesterday.
Thanks for letting me know! My fate is in the hands of the audience!
Cargo Cult?
"everyone sang songs" I'd love to know which songs.
It still KILLS me to stand Bret standing there at the end. He must have had a lot running through his head during this whole ritual. I feel horrible for every good person that was guilted in to joining this madness
I thought clapping was triggering to these people?
I was thinking that too but what's up with the flipping the top hand around when they clap? I have no doubt that has some historical or metaphorical message aside from "traditional clapping with palms together is so eurocentric".
They probably "micro evolved" .
Never gets old. Simultaneously hysterical, yet terrifying.
it'd be interesting knowing where all this people are now
Oh how I love to get cringy goosebumps from watching and listening to these fools......kinda like a train wreck. It's repellent yet mesmerizing at the same time.
I feel sorry for the folks in this video who have experienced hardship and pain, until they become embittered and angry at others, and seek to control other people. Sometimes we should work to make the world a better place; but life will never be entirely fair. Ultimately, it is up to each of us to make the most of - and find contentment in - whatever life circumstance we are in - even when those circumstances are bad. Those who do, tend to be more pleasant people - those capable of remaining at peace and maintaining healthy relationships with others.
Ben I love your content but I can't watch this. I'll never get that hour-and-a-half back
Wise choice. This is for posterity / researchers.
Well, it's an Evergreen video, I can let it play in the background while I'm doing something else. We've been in lockdown since March 10, I'm running out of things to do. 😂
Perhaps beta-blockers instead of popcorn?
I watch, i get frustrated, i continue to watch.
Merit and equity are mutually exclusive.
Your college can't achieve equity without stifling not only their highest achievers, but also their average achievers.....because even average is better than below average.
You don't win at anything.....life, sport, work, intellectual endeavors by just pointing out what you don't like and how things are unfair. If the only thing you create is chaos and dissension, you're a useless person in a society.
zxy atiywariii I always listen to these things while I work. I like to think that the spirit of the evergreen protesters is somehow contained within the paint of the vehicles I spray.
Watching this as an ex-Mormon, I was struck by how much it was like a fast and testimony meeting in the Mormon church, full of emotional virtue-signaling that reinforces group think, mingled with a general conference talk where Mormon leaders likewise often use the analogy of a boat to distinguish between those who are on the path of righteousness and those who are not, warning people that if they leave the boat they will drown and die "spiritually". It also reminded me of the Mormon temple endowment ceremony, where you are called upon to make vows of loyalty and obedience (without real forewarning of what you'll be asked to commit to either it should be noted).
A fellow ex-Mo? Mormonism taught me about human nature, and being cultish is inescapable. What do we do Francis?
I'm a former Jehovah's Witness and feel the same way. Major cult vibes.
just saw a video on this canoe scene, and was blown away by it.
i'm SUPER curious if you're open to talking about it:
now that you've left the mormon church and see things like this in this way, do you feel there is a truthfulness or correctness to "proper" cult behavior? or does anything that exhibits this stuff automatically trigger something in you? like do you think there's any formation where these things could be done in these ways without it being manipulative and void of meaning?
@@caleb.lindsay Hey there, and my apologies for this late reply. Yeah - I'm definitely up for an interesting conversation on these matters.
"Behavior like this" does automically trigger a red flag for me, but the behavior I'm referring to isn't the use of ceremony or ritual per se (which is what I'm guessing you are referring to whith your phrase "any formation of these things")... well, actually - it partly is... there is a sense in which you can think of ritual and ceremony or even social sensure as being simply a tool that, like a hammer, can be used either constructively or destructively - it all comes down to the purpose to which it is put and the skill with which it is wielded that determines which of those categories a given application of the tool falls into. Taken this way, my critique of what's going on in this video isn't with the ritual or cermonial aspects of what is happening so much as the goals to which they are being applied and subtle aspects of the application of ritual and ceremony that, to my eyes, corrupt the act, transforming it from something constructive to destructive. This remains the core of my critique, however, ceremony and ritual do concern me, in and of themselves, for this reason: the measure of success for ceremony and ritual is it's ability to move people emotionally and emotions can so easily be invoked without the guiding hand of reason and bent to destructive ends while riding the highs of lofty purpose. It's a conundrum - emotions are the source of all of our felt impetuses to do even the best things, no matter how the intelect is involved, and they are our most potent tool for galvanizing mass action toward worthy goals, but they are so dangerous - they are like a great wave that, masterfully surfed, can provide a magical, life-affirming, experience, but will, otherwise, dash you upon the rocks and destroy you... and we have seen an awful lot of destruction wrought in human history by the invocation of emotions at the behest of ceremony and communially reinforced feeling. For this reason, I am, ultimately, left feeling uncertain of how to feel about the use of ceremony and ritual - on the one hand I see an argumnet for more of it to bring us together under the banner of united purposes, while, on the other hand, I fear what might become of us if we do.
@@fbbez super grateful for the response! i am particularly interested in this topic because i'm finding that it is more and more the foundational aspect of humanity that either must be embraced as humanly necessary or nothing more than a social construct and outright rejected. i have known many people that have left what the world traditionally views as "cults", and my pain in my heart is that it ends up being some kind of broken relationship disposition akin to someone after a cheating spouse from there forward. there seems to become a mistrust in the collective, universal participation in common ground (so to speak) and i would say "rightfully so" to a pretty strong degree. i had a super similar experience with what i would consider "Christian fundamentalism" yielding large distrust and aversion to anything resembling it. but then, the issue for me is that it seems this form of congregational ritualistic "worship" is fundamental to the human experience, and not just in the "connect to our past" way, although it is obviously AT LEAST in that way. like it's necessary for us to actually participate in or proper fulfillment is impossible, which is why every group ends up doing something like it.
i do like what you said about the "purpose" of the rituals being critical but i think even intentionally good purposes can be misdirected without proper information or adequate targeting. i can't see a way ritualistic enforcement of behavior and belief is good unless it's aimed (and not practically but transcendently) at something truly worthy and true. the purpose of the ritual is subordinate to that (i think, maybe?).
i'm just super interested in whether you feel it would even be possible for you to believe something like these rituals even has the potential to be "true" or "right" rather than just "useful", or if they're entirely defunct for you? did you change religions, become spiritual but not religious, or atheistic/agnostic? love talking about this stuff, but don't feel pressured.
It's hard to believe so many people could speak so inarticulately for so long about so little with such obvious insincerity & complete conformity. The dim light of mediocrity bathes the room, and it's reflected in the stultified faces of the unfortunate participants.
But they all hit all the buzzwords. Equity, Centering, "Doing the Work", Systemic,. Systems of Oppressions, "Creating a Space". Bunch of Orwellian gobbledygook.
There’s no way anyone can look at this and say this is not a cultic religious ritual
14:00 - "loving our image and enforcing others to respect us"
Problem in a nutshell right there.
Whites don’t come to school today. it’s a forced day of absence for YOU!
We have a saying in Australia----Up shit creek without a canoe === It means we are screwed. This appears apt to Evergreen.
I think Christopher Guest just got the idea for his next movie/mockumentary.
"I'm here because I was told by a high school counselor I wasn't smart enough to go to college."
Everything you do and say serves to demonstrate that counselor's wisdom.
From my vantage point, the most shocking thing about this video is the absolute lack of talent demonstrated by the participants. I didn't hear a single original thought. No one among these people showed an ability to be articulate. Nothing of substance was presented. No one demonstrated an ability to present a coherent idea from beginning to end. Clearly no one took the time to prepare their comments in advance.
This nation needs higher quality students and faculty or we are doomed. Hopefully , this sample is not representative.
The president of Evergreen...holy shit. That guy doesn't have the integrity to be the president of the neighborhood dog walkers' cribbage club, not even secretary. Paying his pension, starting immediately, would be an excellent use of college funds.
Spot On!
It would have been really funny if he had done that drum thing for like three hours.
Somehow the drumming feels fake.
I’m honestly excited. I have seen much of your work, but somehow I missed this one. Someone mentioned it on a podcast, and here I am getting the bonus I never knew I deserved. I hear the heartbeat. I’m using my hands.
Who mentioned in on what show? There's been a sudden, inexplicable bump in views and comments
@@BenjaminABoyce It looks like Mike Nayna was the man who mentioned this amazin’ incident. What I saw appears to be taken from a 4 year old interview with David Fuller / Rebel Wisdom. The clip was also 4 years old, but the algorithm decided today was the right time for me to finally see it.
Equity of student experience is the goal of all this? That is not only impossible to achieve, but also an undesirable outcome completely at odds with the goals of diversity. You can't celebrate difference and want everyone to be the same, with the same outcome. Equity of outcome as a stated goal is fundamentally flawed.
Kevin Mykelz Yes, equality of outcome is the precise principle which oversaw the slaughter of over 100 million during the last 100 years.
Did you notice how, rather than respect actual cultural diversity, they kinda wanted everyone to embrace Black and First American culture? Uh, what about other people's cultures?
The entire concept of “equity” is racist. Period. It discriminates against whites, Asians and high achieving minorities (Indians). I never thought I’d be happy Trump crammed those three looney Catholics on the bench.
They rowed that canoe on a river that ended with a waterfall.
That dude really sucks at the drum his chief sheds a tear from the skies
If you sent this video to someone who has never heard of evergreen or what happened there, I am 95% sure they would believe it’s a cult meeting.
They would be correct.
...and the award for Worst Performance by a Native American goes to...
Iron Eyes Cody wept..
Yeah I’m sure he’s a real Indian
This is a struggle session, I’ve only just read about them, this is awesome
They're all madder than a bag of cats! 😒 You're right it is a struggle session. There's nothing bl**dy awesome about it though - it's completely God damned crazy and the fact this happened outside of a communist country like China or N Korea is shameful.
The air in that room makes a funeral look like a Brazilian Celebration of the Flesh.
Naima looks really pissed that she has to pretend to clap to the beat of someone that isn't really her sort...
is that a canoe in your pocket or are you just pleased to censor me?
28:35 “struggle some of us have been fighting for hundreds of years”
Last time I checked, Irish have been fighting Britain twice as long
I know, I want to go to Evergreen State just to drink the water and see if I too can live hundreds of years.
I know you talked about events that led up to this, going back to 2015 (IIRC), and I think you said Bridges came in in 2016, but I can't help but notice the timing of this, about 1 week after the election... I interpret the way the leaders of this are acting as feeling alarmed, and taking a "circle the wagons" action, in response. They wanted to strengthen their tribe, and they thought the way to do that was to find out once and for all who is with them, and who isn't, and to ostracize those who are not. They find strength in ideological conformity. This explains what happened in May 2017, where Bret Weinstein clearly indicated again and again that he was not joining in with the group-think, and they saw that as a threat. However, you've pointed to a different cause, where he opposed a budget proposal (again, IIRC), because he, in effect, was interfering with the plans of Bridges and the Equity Council.
Benjamin, you got this on an FOIA request? Did they give you any trouble, and is there a lot of other material?
Great work! This stuff needs to see the light of day.
I got snubbed by some TESC employees who were not happy I disgorged so much material (that I had been present during the creation of)-but they're a state institution and WA has fairly strong FOIA legislation. See my "Evergreen Resources" playlist for more videos, I'll eventually put up everything I have, including uncut & time stamped protest footage (which I'm saving for when I'm especially bored-it's quite a bit to organize and cross reference!)
@@BenjaminABoyce Wow...yes, I can imagine that you're a thorn in the side of some TESC people! Just their luck that you're patience never ends, haha :)
@@BenjaminABoyce Thank you for your efforts. This needs to be seen.
I would rather get on a canoe with Ted Bundy
I guess I watch stuff like this because I must enjoy occasionally flooding my body with stress hormones.
25 minutes and still don't know what they're talking about
Christmas in May. Many thanks, Benjamin!
My brain goes haywire when I try to click like on your videos like these.
Cutting edge higher education for all to see and learn from.
If the black guy wants to acknowledge and respect that he is sitting on native land, why doesn't he leave? Was he invited by those tribes "connected with the land?"
I had almost the exact same thought. He’s not so upset by the situation that he would make a sacrifice of any sort to correct it. He’s actually using the situation to his own advantage, leveraging the need for ‘respect’ to add authority to his words and gain power.
Would be fun if you are a member of the tribe, hearing that, and just walking up to him telling him: "I would like you to leave my lands now"
That would be hilarious 😂😂
George trying to avoid eye contact with Bret Weinstein at 1:30:20
The behavior is so pathological, no one looks at him.
I feel like I've been through a struggle session just watching it
This corny pseudo-intellectual crap makes me think of band names. "Maximum Woo" is my favorite so far.
Did she say “poop-ah”??? 🤣
12:50 I’m nervous. The butterflies have formed. And now we must fly.
Their heads were so deep inside the data!
Please tell me there will be an MST3K/RiffTracks version of this.
thanks for the video.
Talk about being placed in a forced situation. This is so disingenuous ! Thumbs way up to anyone that had the courage to ignore that racist canoe.
That one poor guy. “ I’d like to get in the canoe” Not yet! “ May I get in the canoe” No! It’s like a circular firing squad of ignorance.
It’s like the end of the hobbit when they get on the boat to sail away ?
"I'm here for the entertainment. Prolonged and awkward as it may be, I find this a rather amusing spectacle, and well worth enduring."
This is a church service
How is this dumpster fire of a college still going?
Unfortunately most people don't investigate past the surface level proclamations. Rich parents read the schools mission statment, feel satisfied enough and write the check. That's how a lot of business works actually.
Their enrollment went from just over 4,000 in 2015 to 1951 in 2022. They barely made it. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
Thst song is really called..dying Buffalo
"Get in the boat and shut up...Inclusion and Solidarity!!"
Hi Benjamin. What's your read on the staff member talking from 1:12:40 to 1:13:29? Is he emotional because of pride in what he/they are doing? Or is it fear / being forced to do something he doesn't agree with? Thanks!
Fear 100%
@@Mike.Garcia Agree
Was there not one sane person who said WTF are we thinking before going forward with this crazy show? Boggles the mind that so many smart people have so little common sense and also so willingly go along with the MOB mentality without saying a word!
did they literally invent word salad?
Swab the poop deck & splice the mainbrace! All aboard the canoe me hearties!! There be lunacy ahead
First, a canoe. Next, cool aid.
He got a paradigm shift alright... just not the one he was expecting
That canoe will get you to the deep water, but likely won't last for the return trip..
I managed to make it up to 25 mins 13 seconds approximately. Could not, was not able to, continue.
Evergreen's song in my head is Metallica's Shortest Straw...
Behind you, hands are tied
Your being, ostracized
Your hell is multiplied, upending
The fallout has begun
Oppressive damage done
Your many turned to none, to nothing
You're reaching your nadir
Your will has disappeared
The lie is crystal clear, defending
Channels red
One word said
Blacklisted with vertigo make you dead
Shortest straw
Challenge liberty
Downed by law
Live in infamy
Rub you raw
Witch hunt riding through
Shortest straw
This shortest straw has been pulled for you
Pulled for you
As my friend Doug, a man who had visited many indigenous people from the Middle East to Scandinavia to once said when I asked him about shamans, "When they break out the rattles and drums, I'm out of there." He was a man who could be among bullshitters, but not have to believe their bullshit, himself.
This would have been so uncomfortable to be apart of. Holy shit the theatrics. What a waste of everyone’s time and no wonder they keep complaining they can’t get anything done.
The work will never be done because the work is the product they are selling.
The Native American man had a very inspiring message to start things off. It must have been tough to watch his message be unceremoniously shit on by the other speakers.
In what way is a song and dance suposed to bring about unity when the students are dead set on division? Content of character or color of skin? Are we to punish children for the sins of their fathers? Put down the past's luggage. It's weighing us all down.
Ship of fools.
That canoe took them up stream with out a paddle!!!
gloriously bonkers
I tried. I really did. I have watched ad enjoyed every evergreen video, but these people are nuts.
Fed up American, I commend thee for the attempt.
@@BenjaminABoyce Thanks you. That. Means a lot. I really did try. 😢😁🤪 That is not a school anymore. It’s a cult for the mentally deranged. Great work though..as usual. I might’ve been able to endure it better If you narrated it some, but without you..I was like.. Why the F am I watching these absolute loons.
I think I saw a hole in the Canoe.
If you go to Starbucks or MacDonald's a lot, you may recognize some of these students from the drive-through window.
i admire your courage and integrity... much respect
She is really struggling to read something she wrote herself?
It happens when you copy and paste something together
Are there any actual classes at this school?
Absolute f..king insanity. Take that canoe and put it on Mars, see how well they fair.
So what land did they colonize when the canoe hit the equity shore?