Support Vlad's work on Patreon! www.patreon.com/vladvexler Vlad's main channel ruclips.net/user/VladVexlervideos Support Vlad via PayPal www.paypal.com/paypalme/vladvexler?country.x=GB&locale.x=en_GB 00:00 @aragusea - BIDEN 09:29 CHAD - BOYCOTTS AND ACTIVISM 23:50 ALEXANDER - RUSSIAN NARRATIVES 30:54 DIRT MONSTER - COMPULSORY VOTING 34:03 LEANETTE - PROJECT 2025 39:54 ANNE - POLARISATION 57:14 RAPHAEL - NIGEL FARAGE 01:15:34 JEROME - BIDEN AGAIN 01:23:21 RANDY - VLAD’S ILLNES AND WORK 01:26:30 DARREN - LIBERALISM AND EGALITARIANISM 01:33:37 LUKA - GEORGIA 01:37:07 KARAN - CARING ABOUT POLITICS 01:52:50 DUSTIN - PROGRESSIVE POLITICS 02:11:26 JASON - UKRAINE SINGLE ISSUE POLITICS 02:15:57 JONATHAN - PROFILICITY AND AUTHENTICITY
Very happy to see you working as a public intelectual, reestructuring questiona, building lines of argumentation, giving insighfull examples, and last but nota least helping people trough out desire of making a contribution, regain hope and strengh. I wish your health will allow you to do more of these beautifull interventions.
Wow Vlad - what a tour de force! The meandering was brilliant as it covered so many different aspects of politics and political philosophy. lots and lots to think about! Thank you 🙂
@@timshufflebottom828if she can make headway in the swing states & bring home disaffected Democrats elsewhere, there’s no reason why not, but it’s going to be close…… like all US elections!
@@fieuline2536 According to the most recent poll data her numbers in swing states are now better than Trump's. Some are still within the margin of error and it's possible it's not yet enough to win the election but the momentum is clearly on her side. Harris is either gaining on or has surpassed Trump in all 7 major swing states. She's ahead in 5 of 7 and is within the margin of error in the other 2. Normally that would be enough to win the election. But it's obviously not likely to play out exactly how it looks in this one poll 3 months before the election. But it's still a very good sign. Plus her net approval is +4 while Trump's is -16. Trump's hasn't been that high at any point since he entered politics 8 years ago. Harris's net approval rating was -8 about a week ago when she became the likely nominee so things are moving in her direction rapidly. She hasn't picked her VP or been officially nominated at the DNC yet so there's still lots of room for improvement as people learn more about her.
Whatever Nigel Farage had to say about public services during the election campaign, his long-term wish for the NHS is to replace it with a US-style insurance-based system. He knows how unpopular this idea is, so he avoided the topic while campaigning. Journalists should challenge him ruthlessly on this, as well as challenge his claim that Brexit failed because of Tory incompetence, rather than because it was a deeply flawed enterprise from the start. He hates being forced into seriously defending his views, and the experience tends to bring out his essential nastiness.
To be fair to Farage (which goes against my natural inclination), on the TV debate he suggested something like the French healthcare system. In the broader sense I don't think he can defend his views. His manifesto is a wish list of unachievable goals. He is a wholly destructive individual. He was destructive as an MEP and no doubt will continue to be destructive as an MP.
Thank you, Vlad, for the answer and for empathizing with us. We're sending warm wishes your way too. You remain a great source of education and encouragement. We love you!
@@CraigTalbert glad you asked, my favourite song now is pain remains, especially part 1 and 2. (its a 20 minute long 3 part song) i actually really like this react compilation, a lot of em need to cry cuz its a very emotional deathcore song, its a pretty unique song. id call it a masterpiece tbh. deathcore? or sadcore? hahaha ruclips.net/video/-lZWEZTWiNs/видео.htmlsi=6A06WQKL1zl_Gvxt u might need to pull lyrics up if you havent practiced this dialect, my favourite line is "a world without you isnt meant for me" first lines he says are; captivate me, become my escape, cant look away, you were my everythiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh
Well wishes Vlad. Hearing you analyze something is always incredible. I feel as if we have appreciated every possible aspect/perspective of an ideology, put it back together and then assessed fairly in a pragmatic sense. Thanks as ever.
Wow, thank you Vlad for sharing light on these complex questions. Thanks also to the community for asking about the very things I didn’t realise I wanted answers to also. Much love ❤
Vlad's so pleasing to listen to. I never think something that he's saying might be long winded or whatnot until he asks forgiveness for being long winded😄
You are among the greatest human beings on RUclips: reflective, good, constructive. Thank you, Vlad, sincerely. My best wishes for your future success.
So, is this Vlad Vexler Chat with Vlad Vexler making a cameo on the Chat channel?😂 Coming from Australia, over the years I have come to appreciate the compulsory voting. I personally feel it is a very stabilising influence because the resulting 95-96% participation rate makes it more challenging for extremes to take hold. On the point that it is not a right to vote but a compulsion. Effectively it is still a right to vote and not a compulsion. The compulsion is to participate. Since the ballot booth and box are sacrosanct you can’t be compelled to vote beyond participating in the process. I was born behind the iron curtain I am so grateful for 🇦🇺 and our stable boring middling democracy. It bloody works!
Hi from Canada. I've always seen voting as a duty not a right. "Compulsion" usually means an internal feeling compelling one's action, but other than that tiny quibble, I agree with you about compulsory voting. I've even thought that something like tiny bribes might be worthwhile, collector cards maybe.
As an Englishman, I would just like to apologise to the world for Nigel Farage. And especially to everyone in Europe who he has systematically insulted in his campaign of self-aggrandisement.
I love these long form conversations. They go bit deeper. Also when I'm driving, I don't need to be setting another thing to listen every 10 minutes or so. So it enhances traffic safety as well :)
In depth analysis I have heard of Project 2025 (such as that on 'Conspirituality' podcast would suggest that is not a minor threat to Democracy but a complete dismantling of institutions designed to hold a Presidents power in check , including scrapping problematic departments, having only vetted ( written questionaires) partisans as civil servants ,giving corporations far more power, such as oil companies as it is fundementally driven by climate change denial. It would ban LBGTQ influence and gender affirming health care, banning abortion, imposing Christianity on Schools and society in general and giving the President immunity from prosecution . Theres no doubt other equally distubing ideas in this document which is 920 pages long and is partly written by people close to Trump including several who served high up in his administration despite his claims to knowing nothing about it after being questioned by reporters .
I love Vlad's exposition on question (2) Boycotts and Activism. Individual opinions are necessarily healthy, but when individuals try to amplify their judgements by co-opting institutions (art museums, symphonies, universities, Courts of Justice) it's actually a kind of corruption.
Oh man, i need to learn more about universalism and pluralism. I have too many unpolished thoughts about them and i seem to oscilate between the two depending on what i eat for breakfast
I read your QandA in parts,.,. There are truely very bright and clear answers in it!,..You are a topper, maybe summerizing your speeches may help to make the messages strong and illuminated and transforming,.
Love your chats! They prevent me from becoming caught up in the emotional overwhelm of today's world. I am a neurodivergent person and have difficulty with discerning pretense from authenticity. What would have to happen for Kamala's odds to improve to the point she could actually beat Trump. How to look for tangible signs that it is really happening?
Tangible signs so far include: Over $200 million donations in the first 48 hours and almost half of that was small donations from people that had not previously donated to Democrats. Tens of thousands of new volunteers. Huge increase in voter registration, especially younger women. Fox news polling shows higher approval ratings for Harris than for Trump in all the swing states.
If Dustin is somewhere in the Southwest of German, I'd very much like to get in touch. I can SO get the feeling. Enough for an extended conversation at any rate, if you're interested.
Vlad, Rather thanking rambling, I thoroughly enjoyed your exploration of Dustin's question regarding those who struggle with the greater versus lesser evil question., I've no wish to rehash or review that here. There is no improving on your discussion in that regard. Rather, that, I want to say how helpful your explanation was for me. I don't personally harbor any ambiguity about voting, and for whom to vote. But I frequently meet people who do. Your reply to Dustin was to my mind, a perfect exploration of the dilemma some may face. Funny juxtaposition: Trump talked about rambling in Pennsylvania last week. His exploration of rambling....well, that's how you ramble! Thanks for another terrific chat and your helpful insights!
19:09 "... so you could absolutely have a communist theater." V. Vexler All hail Marx and Lennon (On the cover of a 1969 comedy record album released July 1969, by the comedy group 'The Firesign Theater' with the title: "How Can You Be in Two Places at Once When You're Not Anywhere at All"
Regarding the very first question, Biden was asked by a reporter in 2023 if he thought there were any other Democrats who could beat Trump and he answered that there were about 50 who could. So I don't think it's about him thinking he was the only one who could beat Trump.
The reason anyone can potentially beat Trump is that the biggest power is the Media and it is controlled by the Left. Whoever runs will be whitewashed.It will happen overnight. Observe. Don’t believe. The only reason they couldn’t continue with puppet Biden is the debate. He was exposed. The war machine is in full force. That and the plans by WEF in Europe. Harris was hated by all and then just like that she’s a savior 😂😂
@@smolderingtitan"my team is great they're all more than capable of beating the incompetent orange threat to democracy". Makes him look like a leader while trying to emphasise the weakness of his opponent.
Wish you all the best and hope that I could meet you some day but that is not in the cards. Could you someday comment about why older, retired persons may give up on current affairs?
Imagine how many MP's Farage would have brought into parliament if you had proportional representation. It's similar to what we have to put up with in New Zealand. Be careful what you wish for.
I dont mean to say dealing with a debilitating illness does not take courage...it does of a very different sort. And ultimately virtue is inter related .
You mention in re: Heidegger having a view that there are three levels of philosophical genius. I am hoping you would like to elaborate on this in a video at some point. Cheers.
I reached the end! Do I get a special badge? 😂 Apart from the one brief statement I disagreed with because I think it's factually incorrect, another all round feast for the mind. I don't know how Vlad does it, except through being extremely smart and focusing his intelligence on topics of philosophy and politics for 30 years or so. It occurred to me earlier that if someone had said "hey, there's someone who discusses political philosophy and suchlike from a pretty academic perspective, you should watch his YT channel", I probably wouldn't have investigated - and would have missed what for me is by far the most rewarding , fascinating, thought-provoking, educational material I've come across online for... oh, age and ages. Since I found academic journal articles could be found online, perhaps and that with a lot of effort and concentratin I could read and partly understand them, some time in the early 90s. (These are usually in very different areas from Vlad's domain - climatology, planterary science, some light astronomy when I feel up to skipping past the mathematics, and information security.) So my very sincere and deep thanks again to Vlad for spending so much of his precious windows of relative health in giving his thoughts to us all.
@@imipak23 I am so grateful to have you! Thank you much for getting through to the end! I am proud of myself for getting through the end too, as it was a health challenge! And if there is a glaring factual error, do correct it!
@@VladVexlerChat I already commented on it the other day; it related to popular consent to immigration in the UK (and the events of this week have not changed my mind.) However, I certainly agree with your recommendation to remain open to the possibility that I'm wrong about that, and indeed most other things that I think I know. Thanks again!
Vlad, you may not see or feel this outside of the US, but there is an amazing groundswell of support for Kamala Harris and a real excitement that's palpable. We haven't had this kind of excitement in almost 20 years. I think she can take this election!
On the compatibility and commensurability of values -- I think we have to assume that there is truth potentially available about the important questions, about the values that people can plausibly think are worth dying for or killing for. If there is, then people who disagree on important things can, at least in principle, work together to try to get it right (which includes opposition but not enmity). If there is no such thing as getting it right, then might is all we're left with, and there's no way even in principle for people to get away from enmity and reach opposition. On evolutionary storytelling (aka "evolutionary psychology") -- You can never _completely_ explain something about contemporary societies _solely_ by appealing to something about human nature. But so what? That's not what anyone tries to do. They combine what they take to be simple and obvious premises about contemporary societies with what they take to be subtle and insightful truths about human nature, and give credit for the conclusions to the non-trivial part of the explanation. If the simple and obvious premises really were true, and the supposed truths about human nature really were true and subtle, that would be fine and dandy. The problem with evolutionary storytelling is that it's completely bogus, at least if the reasoning goes the direction it purports to go. For any thesis about human nature, you can easily generate a dozen mutually contradictory evolutionary stories that would support your thesis, and a hundred more that support various alternatives. If you have an empirical description of human nature, an evolutionary story can be a way of narrativizing it so that it sticks to people's brains better. As such, it doesn't invalidate whatever empirical evidence you have for the description. But neither does it add any evidence for or against. Evolutionary storytelling has nothing real to say about the decline of democracy, but that's because it can tell us absolutely anything with equal credibility.
19:00 what is your view about the responses of universities in the summer of 2020 to the Black Lives Matter protests? It seemed to me like a major overreach which is harming institution's attempts to be neutral on other issues.
I thought Biden withdrawing from the Presidential candidacy might have been a catastrophe but it seems I may have been very wrong, judging by the way the election race seems to have been upended. You seem to be right about this, Vlad!
If Biden would have used your words when he withdraw that would have been great "I need to withdraw because of my cognitive decline it would be a disaster for the US just as it would be under Trump"
Iv always been left-leaning. However i remember yrs ago, the pianist Valentina lisitsa was facing widespread condemnation, for her rather right wing views. I remember feeling palpably uncomfortable about the whole affair.
20m 20s (comedy clubs universities political stances) 1. Incitement to violence is already banned by law. 2. The point I keep coming back to on this issue, which I haven't heard Vlad address, is the hackneyed cliche that not taking a political stance /is itself apolitical stance/. To take a real world example - there's a statue of notorious imperialist, colonialist and self-proclaimer racist, Cecil Rhodes, at a particular Oxford college, because he was either the founder or a large benefactor in the 19th century. (I forget which.) Various organisations of students, academics and external activists have strongly advocated for the statue to be removed; so far, the college has declined to do so. One counter argument is indeed the "we must remain unpolitical" position. But clearly leaving it up is a public demonstration of the political stance that "we don't consider this character so nasty that we went to remove his statue".
Hey, a minute later Vlad contradicts himself by saying he would allow both strongly pro-Hamas and pro-Israel opinion to be expressed at his hypothetical club; but the whiff of psychopathy on both issues certainly enters the realm of advocating for violence against he other side, to varying degrees of the G word. Which is it?
39m - the robust nd resilient US counter majoritarian institutions - I strongly disagree with this claim, because allsuchc institutions are contaminated by large-P party politics. The recent Supreme Court ruling that the President has immunity for all acts in their official capacity neatly produces both an example of the danger of a political judiciary, and the weakness of those institutions. If Trump wins in November and decides to abolish elections and declare himself president for life (and abolishes the bits of the constitution thst prevent that), there is nothing that those institutions can do to say "no, you've broken the rules, ths is not allowed". No doubt many Americans would say that law enforcement and military people, who swore and oath the defend the constitution, would be bound to step in and prevent that happening. But apart from the very high levels of Trump support in the mil / LEA, it's not hard to conjecture ways a Trump regime could manipulate things to give the appearance of constitutionality to such anti democratic actions in such a way as to minimise resistance from LEA / .mil .
Fairness? Nah. If something helps a lot of people, and doesn't harm anyone, (relative to the next-best alternative, on each criterion) then it should happen. Even if it helps some people a lot and other people not at all, and is therefore unfair by most people's conceptions of fairness. Solidarity among citizens? Nah. There are a lot of people who were born in the US, who seek to harm innocent third parties without any justification, and who regard me as an enemy. I have much more reason to find common cause with those they seek to harm, than with them.
I realize this talk occurred two weeks ago. I still have a question: My feelings about Gaza are thus: Israel may have once held the moral high ground in the West, born out of a sense of guilt within the west regarding the Holocaust. Also, Israel probably was more civilized by some measures during the intervening years of conflict. However, in my opinion, Israel's recent violence against civilians within Gaza has ended any such feelings. Israel is today just another violent actor trying to get their way through violence. At the same time, the Palestinians are abhorrent to me due to their continued use of violence to attack Israel. They are still clinging to this idea of being refugees from their former homes, when today's reality is this. The Palestinians who lost their homes in what is today Israel are largely dead or at least too elderly to shape today's political narrative. The so called refugees have never set foot on the villages, farms, and homes lost by their grandparents or great-grandparents. I say, a pox on both parties in this conflict. Israel no longer deserves the support of my nation 🇺🇸, and by the same token, the Palestinians have never deserved such support. I say this because it appears that most Palestinians tacitly support the attacks on Israel, even if they themselves would prefer to be left alone to live in peace. What should we do about this conflict? I'd prefer to permanently cut off military aid to Israel and leave attempts to feed Gaza to NGOs. How would you respond to this view?
I'm not sure if you have the energy to read comments on a 3 week old video, but as a trans woman I think you are missing an important part of what we need from society (or you didn't express it). I agree with you that we have an issue of a lot of people creating an us vs them narrative, and that a subset of society throws around terms like transphobe way to liberally. And that those same people are creating a moral police vibe to the whole movement. But I think ultimately what we need is for people in society to break down rigid categories they have in their head which have been instilled in them from childhood. I think there is an inherent stress reaction from people to that. It's a huge ask. For many people the gender binary is a core building block to their conception of reality, but it has never been fully true. Enforced masculinity and femininity are hugely ingrained in us as people, as is the idea that it is worthy of mockery to break those categories. Equally the gender binary breaks down when you consider intersex people, who are at birth assigned either male or female by a doctor even if they don't biologically cleanly fit one or the other. I am very concerned about how much the push for trans acceptance is shaking the foundations of society. I think this is both a flaw in a large subset of the people advocating for us, and in opportunistic politicians. However, your claim that equality before the law and solidarity are what is needed for us I think is somewhat dated. The word solidarity here is very vague, so you can always argue that you're correct by its use. However, your statement reminds me of people thinking feminism is purely a civil rights issue when a lot of the issue is way deeper and exists in unquestioned cultural practices and in the collective result of many individual failings of people. Equally I think there is a lot about racism which can not be overcome with an appeal to solidarity. Equality before the law and solidarity combined is a highly status quo preserving perspective on the issue. It will push us towards local maxima of equality and acceptance without rocking the boat too much. I think there's a fair argument that the boat is rocking too much right now and that that's bad for democracy. My response is that sometimes self growth is painful, and on a societal level too much call for self growth can produce nasty effects. I have experienced huge benefits in my life from breaking down the gender based programming I was given, and I have seen it have very positive effects on cis friends I have who have integrated what can be learned too.
Well Canadian assets in Mali arent lost quite yet but personally i would not invest money after the expulsion of the French and the Mali coup. But the weakness of the president in fighting or preparing for coup was disgusting. Do you want our leaders to be cry baby milquetoasts , do you want us to be like Germans ?
When you say horrific terrorist attack on October 7 are you referring to Israel shelling their own neighbourhoods or the debunked gore that the Palestinians never committed?
On Dirt Monster's question re compulsory voting I note you don't give a reason why you think it's a good thing: here in Australia it tends to foster resentment amongst many (ballots are always and only held on Saturdays). Add to this the distribution of preference votes to skew the picture further leading to incoming governments that come into power largely unaware (and uncaring) of how well they've connected to their electorate vis a vis policies and expectations etc.. Net result is a deepening sense of disenfranchisement from the political/democratic process. On the governing side we generally end up with minority and mediocre governments made up of incompatible minor parties whose only modus operandi seems to be to cancel previous govts' legislation and to squabble amongst themselves. Non compulsory voting enables the mood of the populace to be read via the voter turnout figures: unless you can motivate people to turn out and vote then you haven't earned the right to be in power
sorry, but there are oodles of people (in this beautiful community and far beyond) who have really not earned the privilege of evoking "woke" at will; low-voltage shock collars might be your only hope for seeing the inside of the cookout in this lifetime...🙄
I understand why you don't want broad cultural institutions like the Elbfilharmonie or Carnegie Hall in the West to take a position on the Ukraine invasion since the public opinion there is not unanimous. Would you say the same for the national-level cultural institutions in Eastern European countries where the public opinion is very close to unanimous support for Ukraine. I don't personally see a real issue there with institutions taking a broad stance (say, putting up a Ukrainian flag) if they stay out of the particular details and political fights of that day.
In that context there's no question that reflecting a nearly unanimous consensus causes no problem precisely because it's ineffective and unnecessary. But where people might be persuaded, it's difficult to justify taking a moral stance by a non-human entity, both for business reasons and because it feeds the feeling of being oppressed institutionally.
Vlad, I’m interested to know why you think Harris will lose to Trump in November? Is it the timescale or America isn’t prepared to elect a black woman as president or something else? TIA H
I still take issue with your dichotomy of expressive vs effective politics because I think the level of control the average person can exert over our political system is so insignificant that essentially all we can do is expressive politics. Is it effective politics to vote in a strongly blue state? Is it even a worthwhile use of your time in most cases? Probably not. But we know that if everyone thought that way, our systems would cease functioning properly. The same goes with protests; in the vast majority of cases there are not enough people at the protest to meaningfully influence anything. But you can't know that with absolute certainty in advance, and if you took that as a given then you essentially give up on popular influence on politics in general. So we have to engage in expressive politics because it is all we have unless we occupy a remarkable position.
(of course local politics is a separate matter and you can have effective political positions on those that matter more, i mainly am referring to politics on a large scale)
lincoln took his cabinet ( about 8 , not yet a ridiculous imperial court like that of Trudeau or Obama) to see a high trestle bridge the brilliant army engineers had built over a creek extending from the ocean in N Virgina . One of the cabinet ministers had vertigo so bad it made him confused. Lincoln ordered them to follow him over the single planks of the 150 high bridge. If they were comanding men to fight risk death they had to have courage themselves. And id strongly suspect if you could have asked our old Queen about fear of assasination she would have said or thought i ask people fight , risk death for our country why shouldnt i take risks and have courage too. Queen Victoria faced about 4 assassins it didnt phase her. Your not a good person with out courage nor are you capable of love or good leadership. John Hay served most presidents from Lincoln to Teddy Roosevelt , lincoln loved him because he could recite poetry , knew literature. He worked like a slave had the bedroom across from lincoln would be awakened in the middle of the night. He had a dream when he was old having lived into another still worse century. And the President was calling him... could have been one of many but it was Lincoln he was the one he truly loved and lincoln was by far the bravest. Of course courage is related to financial probity etc. I dont mean to make too many excuses for Trump. He s not Lincoln , hes not the devil incarnate in the end he will serve the republic. My father tried to explain elite society of a 100 years ago , more now. But the thing he emphasized was the suffocating comformity , conformity so bad it stifles achievement and destroys wealth the basis of status. We ve had two mavericks Biden and Trump. And Biden was a rather brave disdident on neo imperism in Afganistan etc. He was an interesting senator. He also protected a fundamental shift in American geo politics and the economy started by Trump. We want politics that can throw up moderate non comformists like Thatcher . If we loose flexibility if we succumb to group think like moribund elites we will fail. So well watch Trump the constitution is intact , even with a republican congress a revolt would be likely if he misbehaves too much.
In the Farage section, I think Vlad forgot to mention that Farage is one of the few exceptions to the constant gaslighting of the UK public by politicians and mainstream media. He might not always be correct, but he at least appears to be trying to speak about important issues - and usually manages to speak about VERY sensitive issues in a way that is NOT inflammatory, just reported as being so by hyper-sensitive types. By the way, I think it very disrespectful to throw such demeaning slurs at an elected member of the British Parliament. Bit of a surprising moral failure there, Vlad. It smacks of having been caught up in a particular worldview where "anyone right wing is bad", very much the same way that the Guardian and other left-wing media automatically resort to slurs first rather than trying to come up with coherent arguments why something is a bad policy.
@@VladVexlerChatWould you be willing to go through the events that led up to the invasion on your channel so that you can at least inform your viewers before making judgements?
We ve thrown up many good leaders because of the competition and vetting in our varied English speaking commonwealths. Even as a Canadian its impossible to denegrate G Washington , who united the fractious thirteen colonies , was unique in English American culture in moving well in the wilderness , being a highly effective military commander in the 7 yrs ( french and indian wars) and esp the revolutionary war. They defeated a country , the UK close to ten times the size. Its a brilliant story. And difficulties , fundamental contradictions in political culture n and s were papered over successfully enough that the republic did not face crisis till after the union of texas and the Mexican war. He s great , hes comparable to JA McDonald or ws or john Chuchill or wellington or Pitt the Elder. But the leader who almost inspires awe and is at his center a self contained mystery is president lincoln who ruled at a time when the republic was breaking apart. Its a long story . But he was forceful and deft in using power , just about the opposite of a hand wringing liberal. The same could be said of his Cabinet and his best generals like Grant or Sherman. It was the courage of Stanton the war minister who blocked the absurd President Johnson from wrecking the achievements of the civil war. When dismissed by Johnson who wanted to end the protection the army gave freed blacks , he barricaded himself in the war office. Congress hated Johnson and sustained him , i dont even know what the legal nuances are , it didnt matter . It was a struggle that with an evil fatuous president Grant refused to act to remove him. Defying the President. In trying to explain ambiguity in American polity foreigners never understand ive mentioned Supreme Court Justice Field. He was the tenth member of the Supreme Court ( from California) appointed by lincoln to over come the pro southern and anti black malice of the Tanning Supreme court. Lincoln threatened to arrest the chief justice who had achieved power under hostile southern influence before the war. Lincoln persoally had the love of his soldiers. At reviews of troops they cheered him to the echo. Now Trump is not a moral man like lincoln , but hes chosen to seek political glory , i believes he will serve the republic. And he hasnt inherited a civil war . But his forcefulness is a recommendation like Lincolns. Weak people are often evil people , they are diasters as heads of state. A prince must be a prince. Biden was warlike , that actually was a virtue.
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00:00 @aragusea - BIDEN
09:29 CHAD - BOYCOTTS AND ACTIVISM
23:50 ALEXANDER - RUSSIAN NARRATIVES
30:54 DIRT MONSTER - COMPULSORY VOTING
34:03 LEANETTE - PROJECT 2025
39:54 ANNE - POLARISATION
57:14 RAPHAEL - NIGEL FARAGE
01:15:34 JEROME - BIDEN AGAIN
01:23:21 RANDY - VLAD’S ILLNES AND WORK
01:26:30 DARREN - LIBERALISM AND EGALITARIANISM
01:33:37 LUKA - GEORGIA
01:37:07 KARAN - CARING ABOUT POLITICS
01:52:50 DUSTIN - PROGRESSIVE POLITICS
02:11:26 JASON - UKRAINE SINGLE ISSUE POLITICS
02:15:57 JONATHAN - PROFILICITY AND AUTHENTICITY
Oh good, 2h+ runtime, with multiple Vlads, just what I needed today
Due to ME this is tragically about 7 Vlad’s !
@@VladVexlerChat I'm so sorry... that's more than I was expecting but I'm sure they all did an excellent job. Thanks to the whole crew.
@@VladVexlerChat you are a legitimate hero
@@michaziomek lovely of you
Wow, the questions are so good. I’m grateful to the community for that and to Vlad for his very thoughtful answers.
🌻
"Maybe an hour and a half." It was then that we knew, two hours minimum. Thanks Vlad!
Hahahaahaha
You are a gem on RUclips Vlad. I'm happy to be able to listen to you for more than two hours.
You speak with the calm of a monk.
Thank you Vlad for answering my question. Illuminating as always and certainly not abrupt! I will go back to lurking now 😶🌫️
57:14
Thank you for being with me and for asking it. Basically yes, Farage is a serious threat.
Very happy to see you working as a public intelectual, reestructuring questiona, building lines of argumentation, giving insighfull examples, and last but nota least helping people trough out desire of making a contribution, regain hope and strengh. I wish your health will allow you to do more of these beautifull interventions.
It's very orienting in a world that seems to be trying to create disorientation.
So I'm finally getting my cult-brainwashing with this 2.5h video? Was about time.
Sending love and hugs to all seven Vlads. Great team work.
💛
I'm really loving this ministry of love.
Wow Vlad - what a tour de force! The meandering was brilliant as it covered so many different aspects of politics and political philosophy. lots and lots to think about! Thank you 🙂
Vlad i just adore when you come out with brittishisms like "muppet" with your melifluous accent.
I LOVED your phone call!! 😊
Slightly different white shirt? Impossible.
As an American, I agree with every word you made regarding Biden. Boy, the Harris phenomenon here is WILD!
Does she have a real chance?
@@timshufflebottom828if she can make headway in the swing states & bring home disaffected Democrats elsewhere, there’s no reason why not, but it’s going to be close…… like all US elections!
@@timshufflebottom828 Absolutely, totally.
@@timshufflebottom828Democrats by and large overestimate her chances currently, but she has a healthy chance.
@@fieuline2536 According to the most recent poll data her numbers in swing states are now better than Trump's. Some are still within the margin of error and it's possible it's not yet enough to win the election but the momentum is clearly on her side. Harris is either gaining on or has surpassed Trump in all 7 major swing states. She's ahead in 5 of 7 and is within the margin of error in the other 2. Normally that would be enough to win the election. But it's obviously not likely to play out exactly how it looks in this one poll 3 months before the election. But it's still a very good sign. Plus her net approval is +4 while Trump's is -16. Trump's hasn't been that high at any point since he entered politics 8 years ago. Harris's net approval rating was -8 about a week ago when she became the likely nominee so things are moving in her direction rapidly. She hasn't picked her VP or been officially nominated at the DNC yet so there's still lots of room for improvement as people learn more about her.
Nice! Hope you are well
Whatever Nigel Farage had to say about public services during the election campaign, his long-term wish for the NHS is to replace it with a US-style insurance-based system. He knows how unpopular this idea is, so he avoided the topic while campaigning. Journalists should challenge him ruthlessly on this, as well as challenge his claim that Brexit failed because of Tory incompetence, rather than because it was a deeply flawed enterprise from the start. He hates being forced into seriously defending his views, and the experience tends to bring out his essential nastiness.
To be fair to Farage (which goes against my natural inclination), on the TV debate he suggested something like the French healthcare system. In the broader sense I don't think he can defend his views. His manifesto is a wish list of unachievable goals. He is a wholly destructive individual. He was destructive as an MEP and no doubt will continue to be destructive as an MP.
I will watch in phases due to cfs. Thank you Vlad. Much love to you 💛
Never any pressure to watch please! If you do something more nourishing than listening to me, I would prefer that! Healthful wishes.
@@VladVexlerChat thank you for doing a long form video as I know you have ME. It is no pressure because I totally enjoy your work. So worth it!
Thank you, Vlad, for the answer and for empathizing with us. We're sending warm wishes your way too. You remain a great source of education and encouragement. We love you!
Outstanding. Well done Vlad. A marathon over a few takes. I hope you don't / aren't crashing too much having completed it. Much love.
Love back Neil!
Dang a 2 hour vlad vid, guess ill pause the deathcore for now.
Recommend some deathcore to me.
@@CraigTalbert glad you asked, my favourite song now is pain remains, especially part 1 and 2. (its a 20 minute long 3 part song)
i actually really like this react compilation, a lot of em need to cry cuz its a very emotional deathcore song, its a pretty unique song. id call it a masterpiece tbh.
deathcore? or sadcore? hahaha
ruclips.net/video/-lZWEZTWiNs/видео.htmlsi=6A06WQKL1zl_Gvxt
u might need to pull lyrics up if you havent practiced this dialect, my favourite line is "a world without you isnt meant for me"
first lines he says are;
captivate me,
become my escape,
cant look away,
you were my everythiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh
@@CraigTalbert remember that video? well its not mine but I did just write subtitles for it so it has the lyrics in the subs now... ;)
Well wishes Vlad. Hearing you analyze something is always incredible. I feel as if we have appreciated every possible aspect/perspective of an ideology, put it back together and then assessed fairly in a pragmatic sense. Thanks as ever.
Wow, thank you Vlad for sharing light on these complex questions. Thanks also to the community for asking about the very things I didn’t realise I wanted answers to also. Much love ❤
Vlad's so pleasing to listen to. I never think something that he's saying might be long winded or whatnot until he asks forgiveness for being long winded😄
You are among the greatest human beings on RUclips: reflective, good, constructive. Thank you, Vlad, sincerely. My best wishes for your future success.
Very grateful for your conversation around Dustin’s question on progressive politics. Very helpful and thought provoking
So, is this Vlad Vexler Chat with Vlad Vexler making a cameo on the Chat channel?😂
Coming from Australia, over the years I have come to appreciate the compulsory voting. I personally feel it is a very stabilising influence because the resulting 95-96% participation rate makes it more challenging for extremes to take hold.
On the point that it is not a right to vote but a compulsion.
Effectively it is still a right to vote and not a compulsion. The compulsion is to participate. Since the ballot booth and box are sacrosanct you can’t be compelled to vote beyond participating in the process. I was born behind the iron curtain I am so grateful for 🇦🇺 and our stable boring middling democracy. It bloody works!
Hi from Canada. I've always seen voting as a duty not a right. "Compulsion" usually means an internal feeling compelling one's action, but other than that tiny quibble, I agree with you about compulsory voting. I've even thought that something like tiny bribes might be worthwhile, collector cards maybe.
As an Englishman, I would just like to apologise to the world for Nigel Farage. And especially to everyone in Europe who he has systematically insulted in his campaign of self-aggrandisement.
Adam ragusea being a patreon of this channel is just perfect.
I love these long form conversations. They go bit deeper. Also when I'm driving, I don't need to be setting another thing to listen every 10 minutes or so. So it enhances traffic safety as well :)
A most enjoyable Q&A. Both the questions and answers were most engaging
"Smarter than Dugin" 😅 Thats a compliment like having read more books than the average squirrel.
Oh my gosh, I would love to see a crossover video with you and Adam Ragusea like a sit-down philosophical chat with food 😍
In depth analysis I have heard of Project 2025 (such as that on 'Conspirituality' podcast would suggest that is not a minor threat to Democracy but a complete dismantling of institutions designed to hold a Presidents power in check , including scrapping problematic
departments, having only vetted ( written questionaires) partisans as civil servants ,giving corporations far more power, such as oil companies as it is fundementally driven by climate change denial. It would ban LBGTQ influence and gender affirming health care, banning abortion, imposing Christianity on Schools and society in general and giving the President immunity from prosecution . Theres no doubt other equally distubing ideas in this document which is 920 pages long and is partly written by people close to Trump including several who served high up in his administration despite his claims to knowing nothing about it after being questioned by reporters .
927th! Will watch in full after work 🎉
928th hope work is OK.
Long one but all good -Thank you Vlad!
Excellent analysis. Thank you!
Holy shit Vlad! 2+ hours?
Vlad you beautiful man. Keep shining ☀️
I agree with your view of humanity and human personality as you have expressed it here. Delightful!
The Vlad/Adam crossover always blows my mind
They're both public intellectuals, in their own ways!
Love Adam.
@@VladVexlerChat His podcasts have always been a treat when they touch on politics / real life stuff. Beautiful individual, much like you Vlad.
This is not the RUclips collab I was expecting to see today. Al dente!
I love Vlad's exposition on question (2) Boycotts and Activism. Individual opinions are necessarily healthy, but when individuals try to amplify their judgements by co-opting institutions (art museums, symphonies, universities, Courts of Justice) it's actually a kind of corruption.
Oh man, i need to learn more about universalism and pluralism. I have too many unpolished thoughts about them and i seem to oscilate between the two depending on what i eat for breakfast
The problem is not with embracing new ideas but escaping the old ones. - John Maynard Keynes
Thx Vlad
I read your QandA in parts,.,. There are truely very bright and clear answers in it!,..You are a topper, maybe summerizing your speeches may help to make the messages strong and illuminated and transforming,.
Whew! That was long! Gave me time to get up, out of bed, to walk around and exercise my legs! Thank you for this video, the answers were enlightening.
Love your chats! They prevent me from becoming caught up in the emotional overwhelm of today's world. I am a neurodivergent person and have difficulty with discerning pretense from authenticity. What would have to happen for Kamala's odds to improve to the point she could actually beat Trump. How to look for tangible signs that it is really happening?
Tangible signs so far include:
Over $200 million donations in the first 48 hours and almost half of that was small donations from people that had not previously donated to Democrats.
Tens of thousands of new volunteers.
Huge increase in voter registration, especially younger women.
Fox news polling shows higher approval ratings for Harris than for Trump in all the swing states.
Thank you Vlad. That was a very illuminating session.
If Dustin is somewhere in the Southwest of German, I'd very much like to get in touch. I can SO get the feeling. Enough for an extended conversation at any rate, if you're interested.
The bit about Farage was a masterclass in explaining 80% of the problems that the West has.
Vlad, Rather thanking rambling, I thoroughly enjoyed your exploration of Dustin's question regarding those who struggle with the greater versus lesser evil question., I've no wish to rehash or review that here. There is no improving on your discussion in that regard. Rather, that, I want to say how helpful your explanation was for me. I don't personally harbor any ambiguity about voting, and for whom to vote. But I frequently meet people who do. Your reply to Dustin was to my mind, a perfect exploration of the dilemma some may face.
Funny juxtaposition: Trump talked about rambling in Pennsylvania last week. His exploration of rambling....well, that's how you ramble! Thanks for another terrific chat and your helpful insights!
Project 2025 is all about banning porn. Somehow you managed to completely dodge that point. Impressive.
19:09 "... so you could absolutely have a communist theater." V. Vexler
All hail
Marx and Lennon
(On the cover of a 1969 comedy record album released July 1969, by the comedy group 'The Firesign Theater' with the title: "How Can You Be in Two Places at Once When You're Not Anywhere at All"
The album cover had photos of Groucho Marx and John Lennon.
Regarding the very first question, Biden was asked by a reporter in 2023 if he thought there were any other Democrats who could beat Trump and he answered that there were about 50 who could. So I don't think it's about him thinking he was the only one who could beat Trump.
The reason anyone can potentially beat Trump is that the biggest power is the Media and it is controlled by the Left. Whoever runs will be whitewashed.It will happen overnight. Observe. Don’t believe. The only reason they couldn’t continue with puppet Biden is the debate. He was exposed. The war machine is in full force. That and the plans by WEF in Europe. Harris was hated by all and then just like that she’s a savior 😂😂
Or his answer was political.
@@DailyPolemics it could have been but not sure what the goal of that would have been.
@@smolderingtitan"my team is great they're all more than capable of beating the incompetent orange threat to democracy". Makes him look like a leader while trying to emphasise the weakness of his opponent.
@@petergeddes6652 right, thanks.
A comment for the Machine God.
Wish you all the best and hope that I could meet you some day but that is not in the cards. Could you someday comment about why older, retired persons may give up on current affairs?
Imagine how many MP's Farage would have brought into parliament if you had proportional representation.
It's similar to what we have to put up with in New Zealand. Be careful what you wish for.
I dont mean to say dealing with a debilitating illness does not take courage...it does of a very different sort. And ultimately virtue is inter related .
You mention in re: Heidegger having a view that there are three levels of philosophical genius. I am hoping you would like to elaborate on this in a video at some point. Cheers.
What part was the recommendations of books and especially what was the article about human rights in ancient Greek culture!?
I reached the end! Do I get a special badge? 😂
Apart from the one brief statement I disagreed with because I think it's factually incorrect, another all round feast for the mind. I don't know how Vlad does it, except through being extremely smart and focusing his intelligence on topics of philosophy and politics for 30 years or so.
It occurred to me earlier that if someone had said "hey, there's someone who discusses political philosophy and suchlike from a pretty academic perspective, you should watch his YT channel", I probably wouldn't have investigated - and would have missed what for me is by far the most rewarding , fascinating, thought-provoking, educational material I've come across online for... oh, age and ages. Since I found academic journal articles could be found online, perhaps and that with a lot of effort and concentratin I could read and partly understand them, some time in the early 90s. (These are usually in very different areas from Vlad's domain - climatology, planterary science, some light astronomy when I feel up to skipping past the mathematics, and information security.) So my very sincere and deep thanks again to Vlad for spending so much of his precious windows of relative health in giving his thoughts to us all.
@@imipak23 I am so grateful to have you! Thank you much for getting through to the end! I am proud of myself for getting through the end too, as it was a health challenge! And if there is a glaring factual error, do correct it!
@@VladVexlerChat I already commented on it the other day; it related to popular consent to immigration in the UK (and the events of this week have not changed my mind.) However, I certainly agree with your recommendation to remain open to the possibility that I'm wrong about that, and indeed most other things that I think I know. Thanks again!
That's what Elvis said when asked about Viet nam...." I'm not a politician, I'm a entertainer "👍
You should enable clipping.
14:20 very important points here about hyper identity politics.
Vlad, you may not see or feel this outside of the US, but there is an amazing groundswell of support for Kamala Harris and a real excitement that's palpable. We haven't had this kind of excitement in almost 20 years. I think she can take this election!
On the compatibility and commensurability of values --
I think we have to assume that there is truth potentially available about the important questions, about the values that people can plausibly think are worth dying for or killing for. If there is, then people who disagree on important things can, at least in principle, work together to try to get it right (which includes opposition but not enmity). If there is no such thing as getting it right, then might is all we're left with, and there's no way even in principle for people to get away from enmity and reach opposition.
On evolutionary storytelling (aka "evolutionary psychology") --
You can never _completely_ explain something about contemporary societies _solely_ by appealing to something about human nature. But so what? That's not what anyone tries to do. They combine what they take to be simple and obvious premises about contemporary societies with what they take to be subtle and insightful truths about human nature, and give credit for the conclusions to the non-trivial part of the explanation. If the simple and obvious premises really were true, and the supposed truths about human nature really were true and subtle, that would be fine and dandy. The problem with evolutionary storytelling is that it's completely bogus, at least if the reasoning goes the direction it purports to go. For any thesis about human nature, you can easily generate a dozen mutually contradictory evolutionary stories that would support your thesis, and a hundred more that support various alternatives. If you have an empirical description of human nature, an evolutionary story can be a way of narrativizing it so that it sticks to people's brains better. As such, it doesn't invalidate whatever empirical evidence you have for the description. But neither does it add any evidence for or against. Evolutionary storytelling has nothing real to say about the decline of democracy, but that's because it can tell us absolutely anything with equal credibility.
19:00 what is your view about the responses of universities in the summer of 2020 to the Black Lives Matter protests? It seemed to me like a major overreach which is harming institution's attempts to be neutral on other issues.
Is that the same Adam Ragusea as in the cooking youtuber?
I thought Biden withdrawing from the Presidential candidacy might have been a catastrophe but it seems I may have been very wrong, judging by the way the election race seems to have been upended. You seem to be right about this, Vlad!
cop stops a speeder who is part of a group. getting 1 is still useful. just call out the 1st lie.
If Biden would have used your words when he withdraw that would have been great "I need to withdraw because of my cognitive decline it would be a disaster for the US just as it would be under Trump"
Aye 😄. Don't tell me where going to watch you sit there sweating in your shirt 😁
Iv always been left-leaning. However i remember yrs ago, the pianist Valentina lisitsa was facing widespread condemnation, for her rather right wing views. I remember feeling palpably uncomfortable about the whole affair.
Pro-Russian and intellectuals so close in a sentence gives me shills down my spine.
20m 20s (comedy clubs universities political stances)
1. Incitement to violence is already banned by law.
2. The point I keep coming back to on this issue, which I haven't heard Vlad address, is the hackneyed cliche that not taking a political stance /is itself apolitical stance/. To take a real world example - there's a statue of notorious imperialist, colonialist and self-proclaimer racist, Cecil Rhodes, at a particular Oxford college, because he was either the founder or a large benefactor in the 19th century. (I forget which.) Various organisations of students, academics and external activists have strongly advocated for the statue to be removed; so far, the college has declined to do so. One counter argument is indeed the "we must remain unpolitical" position. But clearly leaving it up is a public demonstration of the political stance that "we don't consider this character so nasty that we went to remove his statue".
Hey, a minute later Vlad contradicts himself by saying he would allow both strongly pro-Hamas and pro-Israel opinion to be expressed at his hypothetical club; but the whiff of psychopathy on both issues certainly enters the realm of advocating for violence against he other side, to varying degrees of the G word. Which is it?
39m - the robust nd resilient US counter majoritarian institutions - I strongly disagree with this claim, because allsuchc institutions are contaminated by large-P party politics. The recent Supreme Court ruling that the President has immunity for all acts in their official capacity neatly produces both an example of the danger of a political judiciary, and the weakness of those institutions. If Trump wins in November and decides to abolish elections and declare himself president for life (and abolishes the bits of the constitution thst prevent that), there is nothing that those institutions can do to say "no, you've broken the rules, ths is not allowed". No doubt many Americans would say that law enforcement and military people, who swore and oath the defend the constitution, would be bound to step in and prevent that happening. But apart from the very high levels of Trump support in the mil / LEA, it's not hard to conjecture ways a Trump regime could manipulate things to give the appearance of constitutionality to such anti democratic actions in such a way as to minimise resistance from LEA / .mil .
Comment for the algorithm
Fairness? Nah. If something helps a lot of people, and doesn't harm anyone, (relative to the next-best alternative, on each criterion) then it should happen. Even if it helps some people a lot and other people not at all, and is therefore unfair by most people's conceptions of fairness.
Solidarity among citizens? Nah. There are a lot of people who were born in the US, who seek to harm innocent third parties without any justification, and who regard me as an enemy. I have much more reason to find common cause with those they seek to harm, than with them.
ADAM CHEF MAN
First!
I realize this talk occurred two weeks ago. I still have a question:
My feelings about Gaza are thus:
Israel may have once held the moral high ground in the West, born out of a sense of guilt within the west regarding the Holocaust. Also, Israel probably was more civilized by some measures during the intervening years of conflict. However, in my opinion, Israel's recent violence against civilians within Gaza has ended any such feelings. Israel is today just another violent actor trying to get their way through violence.
At the same time, the Palestinians are abhorrent to me due to their continued use of violence to attack Israel. They are still clinging to this idea of being refugees from their former homes, when today's reality is this. The Palestinians who lost their homes in what is today Israel are largely dead or at least too elderly to shape today's political narrative. The so called refugees have never set foot on the villages, farms, and homes lost by their grandparents or great-grandparents.
I say, a pox on both parties in this conflict. Israel no longer deserves the support of my nation 🇺🇸, and by the same token, the Palestinians have never deserved such support. I say this because it appears that most Palestinians tacitly support the attacks on Israel, even if they themselves would prefer to be left alone to live in peace.
What should we do about this conflict? I'd prefer to permanently cut off military aid to Israel and leave attempts to feed Gaza to NGOs.
How would you respond to this view?
🥰😍😘
I'm not sure if you have the energy to read comments on a 3 week old video, but as a trans woman I think you are missing an important part of what we need from society (or you didn't express it).
I agree with you that we have an issue of a lot of people creating an us vs them narrative, and that a subset of society throws around terms like transphobe way to liberally. And that those same people are creating a moral police vibe to the whole movement. But I think ultimately what we need is for people in society to break down rigid categories they have in their head which have been instilled in them from childhood.
I think there is an inherent stress reaction from people to that. It's a huge ask. For many people the gender binary is a core building block to their conception of reality, but it has never been fully true. Enforced masculinity and femininity are hugely ingrained in us as people, as is the idea that it is worthy of mockery to break those categories. Equally the gender binary breaks down when you consider intersex people, who are at birth assigned either male or female by a doctor even if they don't biologically cleanly fit one or the other.
I am very concerned about how much the push for trans acceptance is shaking the foundations of society. I think this is both a flaw in a large subset of the people advocating for us, and in opportunistic politicians. However, your claim that equality before the law and solidarity are what is needed for us I think is somewhat dated. The word solidarity here is very vague, so you can always argue that you're correct by its use. However, your statement reminds me of people thinking feminism is purely a civil rights issue when a lot of the issue is way deeper and exists in unquestioned cultural practices and in the collective result of many individual failings of people. Equally I think there is a lot about racism which can not be overcome with an appeal to solidarity.
Equality before the law and solidarity combined is a highly status quo preserving perspective on the issue. It will push us towards local maxima of equality and acceptance without rocking the boat too much. I think there's a fair argument that the boat is rocking too much right now and that that's bad for democracy. My response is that sometimes self growth is painful, and on a societal level too much call for self growth can produce nasty effects. I have experienced huge benefits in my life from breaking down the gender based programming I was given, and I have seen it have very positive effects on cis friends I have who have integrated what can be learned too.
Well, the ws all depressing. Not wrong, but find me tall bridge.
So Vlad does have s double after all. 🤔
Well Canadian assets in Mali arent lost quite yet but personally i would not invest money after the expulsion of the French and the Mali coup. But the weakness of the president in fighting or preparing for coup was disgusting. Do you want our leaders to be cry baby milquetoasts , do you want us to be like Germans ?
When you say horrific terrorist attack on October 7 are you referring to Israel shelling their own neighbourhoods or the debunked gore that the Palestinians never committed?
On Dirt Monster's question re compulsory voting I note you don't give a reason why you think it's a good thing: here in Australia it tends to foster resentment amongst many (ballots are always and only held on Saturdays). Add to this the distribution of preference votes to skew the picture further leading to incoming governments that come into power largely unaware (and uncaring) of how well they've connected to their electorate vis a vis policies and expectations etc.. Net result is a deepening sense of disenfranchisement from the political/democratic process. On the governing side we generally end up with minority and mediocre governments made up of incompatible minor parties whose only modus operandi seems to be to cancel previous govts' legislation and to squabble amongst themselves. Non compulsory voting enables the mood of the populace to be read via the voter turnout figures: unless you can motivate people to turn out and vote then you haven't earned the right to be in power
sorry, but there are oodles of people (in this beautiful community and far beyond) who have really not earned the privilege of evoking "woke" at will; low-voltage shock collars might be your only hope for seeing the inside of the cookout in this lifetime...🙄
I understand why you don't want broad cultural institutions like the Elbfilharmonie or Carnegie Hall in the West to take a position on the Ukraine invasion since the public opinion there is not unanimous. Would you say the same for the national-level cultural institutions in Eastern European countries where the public opinion is very close to unanimous support for Ukraine. I don't personally see a real issue there with institutions taking a broad stance (say, putting up a Ukrainian flag) if they stay out of the particular details and political fights of that day.
In that context there's no question that reflecting a nearly unanimous consensus causes no problem precisely because it's ineffective and unnecessary. But where people might be persuaded, it's difficult to justify taking a moral stance by a non-human entity, both for business reasons and because it feeds the feeling of being oppressed institutionally.
Vlad, I’m interested to know why you think Harris will lose to Trump in November? Is it the timescale or America isn’t prepared to elect a black woman as president or something else? TIA H
It would be nice if you could elaborate on why Harris will lose to Trump sometime.
Not Vlad but would say… they don’t have an electoral strategy. It’s about memes and not about “here’s how we make 270 happen.”
I still take issue with your dichotomy of expressive vs effective politics because I think the level of control the average person can exert over our political system is so insignificant that essentially all we can do is expressive politics. Is it effective politics to vote in a strongly blue state? Is it even a worthwhile use of your time in most cases? Probably not. But we know that if everyone thought that way, our systems would cease functioning properly. The same goes with protests; in the vast majority of cases there are not enough people at the protest to meaningfully influence anything. But you can't know that with absolute certainty in advance, and if you took that as a given then you essentially give up on popular influence on politics in general. So we have to engage in expressive politics because it is all we have unless we occupy a remarkable position.
(of course local politics is a separate matter and you can have effective political positions on those that matter more, i mainly am referring to politics on a large scale)
lincoln took his cabinet ( about 8 , not yet a ridiculous imperial court like that of Trudeau or Obama) to see a high trestle bridge the brilliant army engineers had built over a creek extending from the ocean in N Virgina . One of the cabinet ministers had vertigo so bad it made him confused. Lincoln ordered them to follow him over the single planks of the 150 high bridge. If they were comanding men to fight risk death they had to have courage themselves. And id strongly suspect if you could have asked our old Queen about fear of assasination she would have said or thought i ask people fight , risk death for our country why shouldnt i take risks and have courage too. Queen Victoria faced about 4 assassins it didnt phase her. Your not a good person with out courage nor are you capable of love or good leadership. John Hay served most presidents from Lincoln to Teddy Roosevelt , lincoln loved him because he could recite poetry , knew literature. He worked like a slave had the bedroom across from lincoln would be awakened in the middle of the night. He had a dream when he was old having lived into another still worse century. And the President was calling him... could have been one of many but it was Lincoln he was the one he truly loved and lincoln was by far the bravest. Of course courage is related to financial probity etc. I dont mean to make too many excuses for Trump. He s not Lincoln , hes not the devil incarnate in the end he will serve the republic. My father tried to explain elite society of a 100 years ago , more now. But the thing he emphasized was the suffocating comformity , conformity so bad it stifles achievement and destroys wealth the basis of status. We ve had two mavericks Biden and Trump. And Biden was a rather brave disdident on neo imperism in Afganistan etc. He was an interesting senator. He also protected a fundamental shift in American geo politics and the economy started by Trump. We want politics that can throw up moderate non comformists like Thatcher . If we loose flexibility if we succumb to group think like moribund elites we will fail. So well watch Trump the constitution is intact , even with a republican congress a revolt would be likely if he misbehaves too much.
trump and his cult are anti democracy traitors.
all persons are obv not of equal moral worth, ftr
In the Farage section, I think Vlad forgot to mention that Farage is one of the few exceptions to the constant gaslighting of the UK public by politicians and mainstream media. He might not always be correct, but he at least appears to be trying to speak about important issues - and usually manages to speak about VERY sensitive issues in a way that is NOT inflammatory, just reported as being so by hyper-sensitive types.
By the way, I think it very disrespectful to throw such demeaning slurs at an elected member of the British Parliament. Bit of a surprising moral failure there, Vlad. It smacks of having been caught up in a particular worldview where "anyone right wing is bad", very much the same way that the Guardian and other left-wing media automatically resort to slurs first rather than trying to come up with coherent arguments why something is a bad policy.
Your take is delusional. It's rather sad.
I'm a simple man: I hear "the glory of old Rus", I call bs.
Same for stuff like "Russian ontic space"
Yes an independent country got invaded by an imperialist maniac. There is nothing from the 17th century that will change our mind about this.
@@VladVexlerChatWould you be willing to go through the events that led up to the invasion on your channel so that you can at least inform your viewers before making judgements?
5:12 damn I feel gaslit
Biden said in 2020 that he would not serve a 2nd term. It was strategic from the start. We had no other option and Biden knew it.
Saw Bidens last announcement he's deteriorating rapidly IMO
We ve thrown up many good leaders because of the competition and vetting in our varied English speaking commonwealths. Even as a Canadian its impossible to denegrate G Washington , who united the fractious thirteen colonies , was unique in English American culture in moving well in the wilderness , being a highly effective military commander in the 7 yrs ( french and indian wars) and esp the revolutionary war. They defeated a country , the UK close to ten times the size. Its a brilliant story. And difficulties , fundamental contradictions in political culture n and s were papered over successfully enough that the republic did not face crisis till after the union of texas and the Mexican war. He s great , hes comparable to JA McDonald or ws or john Chuchill or wellington or Pitt the Elder. But the leader who almost inspires awe and is at his center a self contained mystery is president lincoln who ruled at a time when the republic was breaking apart. Its a long story . But he was forceful and deft in using power , just about the opposite of a hand wringing liberal. The same could be said of his Cabinet and his best generals like Grant or Sherman. It was the courage of Stanton the war minister who blocked the absurd President Johnson from wrecking the achievements of the civil war. When dismissed by Johnson who wanted to end the protection the army gave freed blacks , he barricaded himself in the war office. Congress hated Johnson and sustained him , i dont even know what the legal nuances are , it didnt matter . It was a struggle that with an evil fatuous president
Grant refused to act to remove him. Defying the President. In trying to explain ambiguity in American polity foreigners never understand ive mentioned Supreme Court Justice Field. He was the tenth member of the Supreme Court ( from California) appointed by lincoln to over come the pro southern and anti black malice of the Tanning Supreme court. Lincoln threatened to arrest the chief justice who had achieved power under hostile southern influence before the war. Lincoln persoally had the love of his soldiers. At reviews of troops they cheered him to the echo. Now Trump is not a moral man like lincoln , but hes chosen to seek political glory , i believes he will serve the republic. And he hasnt inherited a civil war . But his forcefulness is a recommendation like Lincolns. Weak people are often evil people , they are diasters as heads of state. A prince must be a prince. Biden was warlike , that actually was a virtue.
🐮🐮🐮🐮were texans . Were fleeing red meat eating republicans. Can uou help us get to the Hare Krishna cow sanctuary in California ?