Why Culture Wars Matter

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  • @ThenNow
    @ThenNow  Рік тому +38

    Script & sources at: www.thenandnow.co/2023/04/14/do-culture-wars-matter/
    ► Sign up for the newsletter to get concise digestible summaries: www.thenandnow.co/the-newsletter/
    ► Why Support Then & Now? www.patreon.com/user/about?u=3517018

    • @SpringfieldCynic
      @SpringfieldCynic Рік тому +1

      It is amazing how people are letting their feelings be manipulated.

    • @colonelweird
      @colonelweird Рік тому +1

      The link for script & sources goes nowhere - "404 nothing found".

    • @fredriksundberg4624
      @fredriksundberg4624 Рік тому +1

      ​@@SpringfieldCynic
      The social media earn their income from triggering peoples emotions.

    • @citycrusher9308
      @citycrusher9308 Рік тому

      Not ''woke'' - Fem...ist ideology. You have to get it right

    • @JackSparrow-re4ql
      @JackSparrow-re4ql 11 місяців тому

      Its amazing how, despite all the things you said, you can't see how fake,false,stupid, conceited and mediocre woke hollywood really is. And you cheer the shit storm that is liberal cinema.
      All that the corporations really do is use racism,LGBTQ and feminism as a shield, a defense of their own mediocre art. They use justice and rights as a shield from criticism.
      Black inclusion does not just usurp and steal heroes, stories and historical figures; it also fails to create its own; this, despite screaming at the top if its lungs that black culture IS culturally unique and different. If that were so; why would we need a black Aragorn? Why can't they write something as powerful as Lord of the rings and create their own? Why steal a cultural hero that is clearly not their own?
      A black person has no more right to play Winston Churchill, than a white one has to play Martin Luther King. Even other cultures such as Norse and Scandenavian vikings are now being portrayed as black.
      This is not simply insulting, mediocre and bad art; its a rewriting and butchering of history, traditional stories and ideas. I've seen your video on history, but let me ask you this; is a complete and utter lie better than the bitter truth? Is not history worth saving and preserving for the sake of fact, instead of being distorted into utter falsehood? How can we even analyze what happened or who people like Churchill were; if even their skin color is falsified!?
      People like you are destroying cultural art, and artifacts simply to push a personal political agenda. You are not 'changing' or 'swinging' cultural art; you are VANDALIZING cultural and artistic milestones in human history and calling it 'progress'.

  • @landoc05
    @landoc05 Рік тому +1545

    You can be rational, aesthetic, and detached in a culture war until people start debating whether you have a right to exist at all.

    • @Mahavishnu01
      @Mahavishnu01 Рік тому +96

      Yeah, I suppose the aristocracy of France (and Europe in general) had the same feeling

    • @pietero.o6792
      @pietero.o6792 Рік тому +145

      Exactly what happened during the french revolution with those deemed not radical enough.

    • @Hartley_Hare
      @Hartley_Hare Рік тому +31

      @@pietero.o6792 Underrated response.

    • @tkdyo
      @tkdyo Рік тому +85

      @@Mahavishnu01 Unfortunately, they left the people little choice but to have those kinds of discussions when they made it obvious they were not going to give up their power willingly.

    • @PabloSteuer
      @PabloSteuer Рік тому +5

      well, where's that right to exist, when we can't spread to all humans in the world?

  • @Set2Wumbo
    @Set2Wumbo 11 місяців тому +301

    I basically approach media with the idea that it's all propaganda, it's all made to reflect the creator and give me insight into their way of thinking.
    It's up to me to be diligent enough to determine what's worth taking away and what's worth disregarding from a piece of media.

    • @hherrie3tuoepiw
      @hherrie3tuoepiw 11 місяців тому

      I don't agree, there's plenty of media that's created with absolutely zero intention of persuading someone towards one view or another

    • @pharaoh9391
      @pharaoh9391 11 місяців тому +9

      I mean that’s art. Art immigrated life and life imitates art it’s made to be consumed and everyone is to have their own perception of what they just witnessed whether it’s dance or painting or acting etc

    • @rasheed7934
      @rasheed7934 11 місяців тому +8

      You usually disregard what you don't like or makes you uncomfortable.

    • @R.A.A.
      @R.A.A. 11 місяців тому +8

      @@rasheed7934 Exactly, its called “confirmation bias” right?

    • @mikexhotmail
      @mikexhotmail 11 місяців тому +2

      Same here. Once you notice one, you see it everywhere.

  • @Sandra-hc4vo
    @Sandra-hc4vo Рік тому +302

    one thing I have noticed about artists is that they almost always are struggling to survive and that society sort of has kind of a hostile environment for them and that has an effect on how many artists there can be. Which if the artist is needed to help uplift society up, this is I think something also to look at as well. How society treats the artist

    • @the_Analogist4011
      @the_Analogist4011 11 місяців тому +4

      I don't think they all struggle as much as we think. especially when "the algorithm" decides to promote you into relevance

    • @the_Analogist4011
      @the_Analogist4011 11 місяців тому +9

      @@PretendingToBeAHuman what I mean is that some people will do their creative stuff as a hobby. art as a career is a very different beast. the problem comes down to people wanting what you have or what you can do for them.
      I have an extremely boring job that luckily affords me enough time to work on my hobbies. the big lesson for my kids though is going to be as i described, finding out how to be useful and leverage an income that way. but you are right, it is a rare lucky few who get to turn their passion projects into a living.

    • @casteretpollux
      @casteretpollux 11 місяців тому +1

      UK Tory Gov is shutting down Art Ed.

    • @casteretpollux
      @casteretpollux 11 місяців тому +2

      Art is direct, involving visual stimuli, and thus to some extent unfiltered and conveys the shock of the new even if subject matter not directly revolutionary. .

    • @casteretpollux
      @casteretpollux 11 місяців тому +8

      @@the_Analogist4011 Art employment is statistically the lowest paid sector in the UK.

  • @ThunderHOWL16
    @ThunderHOWL16 Рік тому +330

    i could listen to this dude read the owners manual of a car and still be intrigued and feel sophisticated

    • @adamgretzinger963
      @adamgretzinger963 Рік тому +10

      If you haven't, definitely worth a read you will learn a ton of stuff about your car.

    • @blueoak116
      @blueoak116 11 місяців тому +1

      And yet, there’s much ado about northing here.

    • @adamgretzinger963
      @adamgretzinger963 11 місяців тому +2

      @@blueoak116 I don't follow your thought path, I don't understand

    • @blueoak116
      @blueoak116 11 місяців тому

      @@adamgretzinger963 good question. In short we as a country should not make a big deal about culture, my culture or your culture. We all a right to our own culture. Politics exists to guarantee our right to our own culture. His argument is wrong headed and dangerous. Leave my culture to me and your culture to you. Only tyrants want to make a big deal over the music I listen to or the clothes I wear. Same for you. That’s why politics are so important.

    • @Laotzu.Goldbug
      @Laotzu.Goldbug 11 місяців тому +6

      ​@@blueoak116 the idea that people are atomized individuals, little random self-segregated units just happened to bump into each other and form self-assembling structures is such an amusingly transparent lie that I'm more than embarrassed for anyone who falls for it. Culture is, by definition, not an individual endeavor. At the end of the day you do not, and never will, have unlimited freedom to redefine the world around you according to preference and consent. This is a brute fact of reality.

  • @emiliobarukgallardoflores6983
    @emiliobarukgallardoflores6983 Рік тому +80

    I'm a philosophy student. I've been strugling with my final project for my aesthetics class, but you just gave me an amazing toolbox for tackling my material. THANK YOU SO MUCH! KEEP DOING GREAT!

  • @Tom_Bee_
    @Tom_Bee_ Рік тому +102

    Yet another thoughtful, insightful presentation. This channel really is an underrated gem.

  • @Ethic-Ai-L
    @Ethic-Ai-L 11 місяців тому +53

    The culture wars are important but it seems both sides can’t have a rational conversation and that is due to the internet, we are all in our own echo chambers and when we hear ideas that go against our narrative we shut down and try to find every wrong with the other side. It’s divide in conquer.We should strive to have cultural conversations rather then wars. Most importantly we can’t ignore the truth and facts in these types of discussions and at the same time we have to acknowledge that we are humans and we have feelings and emotions.

    • @kretin6831
      @kretin6831 8 місяців тому +9

      How right you are and how tired I've grown at not being able to have intellectually authentic discussions with people not sharing the same sentiments as myself.
      The death of discourse and therefore philosophy lies within the wasteland of impenetrable walls which no friendly notion of any kind of honest conduct may yet scale.

    • @gyurhanaziz7676
      @gyurhanaziz7676 7 місяців тому +9

      ​@@kretin6831Indeed. I thought that the internet was a place of plurality, a market of ideas but now my views have endured a dramatic shift. The internet is the greatest filter ever conceived, a gigantic censorship bureau fully operated with the consent of its users and aided by the algorithm. A sanitation of social media is long overdue.

    • @gyurhanaziz7676
      @gyurhanaziz7676 6 місяців тому

      @@kretin6831 it will sound a little strange but can we get to know each other? I would like to chat with you if you leave me your username from a social media account.

  • @justynmatlock8873
    @justynmatlock8873 11 місяців тому +101

    The problem with 'Beauty is good' is the other side of the coin, that 'ugliness' is bad. Too often this is then applied to people. Those judged 'beautiful', 'attractive' are seen as 'better', and those judged 'unattractive', not as worthwhile.

    • @sidstevens9035
      @sidstevens9035 11 місяців тому +12

      You can't fight human nature

    • @jesuschristthesecond
      @jesuschristthesecond 11 місяців тому +5

      ​@@sidstevens9035 literally

    • @jghifiversveiws8729
      @jghifiversveiws8729 11 місяців тому +12

      Beauty is objective

    • @sidstevens9035
      @sidstevens9035 11 місяців тому +20

      @@jghifiversveiws8729 Beauty is skin deep but unfortunately ugly goes down to the bone !

    • @TrueMithrandir
      @TrueMithrandir 11 місяців тому +3

      ugly art > "beautiful" art

  • @hisownfool1
    @hisownfool1 Рік тому +30

    I also cry at the end of T2. "I now know why your cry. But it's something I can never do" 😢

    • @jean-sebastienberube4056
      @jean-sebastienberube4056 Рік тому +2

      This movie is a masterpiece. When T-800 imitates John's voice on the phone and tells him : «Your foster parents are dead.», it's exactly like what AI is capable of today, imitating voices, among other things.

    • @hisownfool1
      @hisownfool1 11 місяців тому +3

      @@jean-sebastienberube4056 It is. As far as I cam concerned, only "The Terminator" and "T2: Judgment Day" are canonical. The story ended. In the original DVD there was a deleted closing scene where John was a senator and Sarah was at peace. They should have stuck with this. Everything else that followed, with the possible exception of "Terminator Salvation," was a middle finger to the people who cared about the characters.

  • @squintsyadams8463
    @squintsyadams8463 Рік тому +25

    Saw the new Spider-Man with my 5yo yesterday. I got all teary-eyed and had to hold his little hand at one point. Sheesh.

  • @liamnewsom8583
    @liamnewsom8583 Рік тому +23

    Thank you so much. I was utterly lit up by the end, uplifting. Good work man.

  • @JS-gr9jb
    @JS-gr9jb 11 місяців тому +5

    I've been watching your videos(also as a supporter) for a long time but never commented on the channel, and I just felt that I should leave a comment of my gratitude for your insightful videos. Thank you so much.

  • @chaueter1041
    @chaueter1041 Рік тому +46

    Another brilliant video, capturing the nuances of what society makes so binary

  • @rightweaponry908
    @rightweaponry908 11 місяців тому +8

    Wow! This really clearly and concisely contextualized soo much i have been thinking about lately. This is soo good i'm definitely going to have to watch it a few more times to truly absorb it all. Thank you🙏🏽

  • @EnemyOfEldar
    @EnemyOfEldar 11 місяців тому +5

    Mate youre really great. I remember you put out a call to have people work with/for you and always wish i put in a word. These qorks you produce should be shown in school RE and philosophy classes. Food for thought thank you.

  • @garveycampbell80
    @garveycampbell80 Рік тому +176

    Woke is an adjective derived from African-American Vernacular English meaning "alert to racial prejudice and discrimination".

    • @benjaminhenderson5025
      @benjaminhenderson5025 Рік тому +36

      It used to mean that. Now it's idpol BS.

    • @garveycampbell80
      @garveycampbell80 Рік тому +84

      @@benjaminhenderson5025 Agreed, ever since Republicans began strategically using it as a Catchall term to draw attention from the disproportionate application of Police Brutality it's robbed the term of its meaning. However one only needs to hop onto the Internet to find its true Meaning.

    • @sentryogmixmaster
      @sentryogmixmaster Рік тому +7

      so it means overly-sensitive. must be hard caring about everybody's opinions. better to prove your worth by adding value to a situation, project or experience. being needed for value rather than just being inserted for message will usually supersede prejudices in application.

    • @thomasjamison2050
      @thomasjamison2050 Рік тому

      'Woke' has been taken over by white college kids so that the reality of what it means for blacks is now, spare the pun.... effectively white washed.

    • @tomemery7890
      @tomemery7890 Рік тому

      ​@@garveycampbell80the disproportionately is due to the fact that black people commit a disproportionately high amount of crime. For example, something like 97% of unarmed people who are killed by the police are men. This doesn't mean the police are sexist against men, it's because a similar proportion of street crime is committed by men, so there are more situations where the police are attempting to apprehend male lawbreakers.
      Studies have also shown that white police officers are less likely to use lethal force against black suspects than black police officers are, whereas the opposite would be expected if racial animus was a factor.
      Finally, black people who live in high crime areas have been found to have an overwhelmingly positive view of the police, to be against reductions in police presence in their areas, and to believe that the BLM movement has made life worse for black people.

  • @Rammarsher
    @Rammarsher Рік тому +16

    It's incredible and visible the effort you put in each video! Keep going on, it's aesthetic education for real :p 💖

  • @magdabergman9397
    @magdabergman9397 9 місяців тому

    wow - your videos and the content is amazing! I consider myself as rather logical, not emotional - and at the end, this video made me slightly weepy and I had goosebumps all over... so beautiful. THANK YOU! You are making my life more meaningful!

  • @ubik5453
    @ubik5453 Рік тому +5

    This seems to be similar to The Birth of Tragedy by Friedrich Nietzsche. The gods Apollo and Dionysus. Apollo represented order, logic, and structure, while Dionysus represented the sublime, drunkenness, and artistic chaos. In the book, Nietzsche believed we needed to mix up the two drives together.

  • @MrMuel1205
    @MrMuel1205 Рік тому +57

    This was a really beautiful and thoughtful video. I've always myself been a great advocate of the generalist, and have lamented the decline of the generalist's role in society. Specialisation has its role too, of course, but we need not give up on one for the other. It's one thing to know something to be true, another to feel it to be true and in humans the latter is ever victorious. Great art, then, is what is needed to implant truths at the core of our civilisation. For that to happen we need generalists, those who can bridge the realms of knowledge and sentiment.

  • @jimschwandt8089
    @jimschwandt8089 11 місяців тому +12

    I do not always agree with everything the gentleman relates in the video, his presentation is exquisite, and his intelligence and emotions come through. This is truly enjoyable.

  • @stevenmatthews2278
    @stevenmatthews2278 11 місяців тому +1

    That was a well thought out video. I enjoyed the perspective on Schiller. I haven’t read much of his works besides a few we had to read in my German courses. Thank you for sharing!

  • @jaysway9251
    @jaysway9251 11 місяців тому +3

    I absolutely love the quality of your videos. Thank you for that!

  • @JordanLimbachArt
    @JordanLimbachArt Рік тому +4

    Simply brilliant! New to this Chanel and very impressed so far.

  • @layziek2137
    @layziek2137 11 місяців тому +2

    I never expected me to be watching a video on Schiller and culture wars on a sunny morning. Cudos to you who got me to continue. This was surprisingly an interesting topic.

  • @pavelandreev4727
    @pavelandreev4727 Рік тому +21

    I love your videos, man! They are as beautiful and thoughtful as they are useful. I just created a course for my studies and linked a bunch of them into it, I will link this one as well it is spot on. My course is on the evolution of civil society, citizenship and the relation between people, society, power, the state etc. from prehistory to today. It is amateurish and incomplete but I think I will continue to study the subject and maybe one day do the real thing. I take inspiration from your work, among others, thank you!

  • @Bronxguyanese
    @Bronxguyanese 11 місяців тому +12

    One thing I realized that German academics changed the moral landscape. The sad part is that some of the German landscape morality gave way to nazism and communism which both are rooted in German academia and killed millions in the 20th century. Also Germans gave birth to critical theory as well. Hegel, kant, Marx neitzche changed the mind for good and bad.

    • @immortalnightbody
      @immortalnightbody 11 місяців тому

      Huh? Nazism was a Capitalist project. Most of the legacy companies we give money to today made their money in that era. The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and Imperialism/Colonialism were centered around the hoarding of Capital. 100s of Millions of lives were destroyed or displaced. Don't say such weird things without taking an honest look at History.

  • @thatgirlzoee
    @thatgirlzoee 11 місяців тому +4

    i'm writing a novel about madame de pompadour and her relationship with the philosophes and Louis XV simultaneously. she's a really great example of someone caught between the two worlds but was able to influence through proximity (and also was a heavy patron of the arts to promote enlightenment ideals)

  • @danielc-s8056
    @danielc-s8056 11 місяців тому +6

    The problem with this script is that it ends talking about how Liberal ideas almost always win, but completely misses that the contemporary Left is not Liberal anymore. You should be more honest about the cultural realities we face

    • @thesevenkingswelove9554
      @thesevenkingswelove9554 11 місяців тому +4

      But he's not wrong. Liberal ideas do always win.

    • @darrenwithers3628
      @darrenwithers3628 9 місяців тому +1

      "The problem with this script is it doesn't play make believe to suit dumb conservatives"

  • @Architypesworldwide
    @Architypesworldwide Рік тому +3

    Recently found your channel. Loving your content, amazed you don’t have more views

  • @g.m.fordham9217
    @g.m.fordham9217 Рік тому

    Wonderful analysis! Thanks so much!

  • @tomaslopez2940
    @tomaslopez2940 11 місяців тому +3

    There was one major thing that was missed here: the effect of religion. While the arts are based on relative morals that shift over time, religion is based on absolutes, which explains why today's culture wars don't happen in Middle Eastern countries, or why conservative factions tend to be the ones that Christians flock to. An example of where the religious conservatives defeated the artistic liberals is Afghanistan, where a communist regime tried to pull the country forward, but the conservative muslims ultimately won out after a Soviet intervention.

    • @Moses_VII
      @Moses_VII 6 місяців тому +1

      This should be top comment

  • @zacharymagnusson2873
    @zacharymagnusson2873 8 місяців тому

    This was a very informative and inspiring video, I can tell you worked very hard on this, fantastic job.

  • @eyecandie16
    @eyecandie16 Рік тому +5

    Thank you for what you do. ❤

  • @snowstrobe
    @snowstrobe Рік тому +14

    My most embarrassing was bawling my eyes out in Ghosts. I actually got angry with myself for being so lame.

    • @williamoldaker5348
      @williamoldaker5348 Рік тому +1

      Nothing lame about being connected emotionally to a work of art.

    • @snowstrobe
      @snowstrobe Рік тому

      @@williamoldaker5348 It is if it's something as bad and manipulative as that film.

  • @ponchothe
    @ponchothe 11 місяців тому +1

    Best one yet! Thank you for this.

  • @sleazycakes
    @sleazycakes Рік тому +11

    Great essay.
    When it comes to abortion particularly, I don't think the sides boil down to "tolerance vs intolerance." Liberals think you should be free to do whatever you want with your body, and conservatives think the right to life should extend to fetuses. Where do the mother's rights end and the fetus' rights begin? It's not clear who's being more tolerant and inclusive.

    • @stop.juststop
      @stop.juststop Рік тому +3

      Thank you. It's about framing.

    • @Damesanglante
      @Damesanglante Рік тому

      You are right. Most people of all sides believe they have the moral high ground.
      We could take the "trans" surgery for minors as another example. Their supporters believe they are helping and fighting hate. Their detractors think it is wrong to perform surgery on minors.
      Most people here are so deep into their ideology, they don't even try to understand the other side.
      Personally, i think the "liberals" will lose the culture war because they start targetting children and greedy corporations are on the liberals sides. Rich elites, corporations and governments teamed up to force their ideology on minors was a slippery rope.
      Prepare for a right wing winter. They went too far.

    • @agathafry4233
      @agathafry4233 Рік тому +8

      @@Damesanglante You're not doing any different than those you criticize. Please inform yourself about the subject you chose as an example.
      Minors are not targeted or having an ideology forced onto them. Trans minors just exist. They are given gender affirming care appropriate for their age which vastly improves their mental health. Minors do not receive surgery. At the earliest, 16 year olds can obtain top surgery, though it is reportedly rare. No one is getting genital surgery until 18.

  • @tkdyo
    @tkdyo Рік тому +47

    Great video, as a socialist I find that culture war often gets severely downplayed in favor of class analysis. And while I get why that is done, it is also one of the major road blocks of achieving class solidarity with minorities. So it is still serving the ruling class' interest, just form the other direction. You have to approach their issues with empathy and with an understanding that many of their issues will not be solved just by changing the economic system. The sooner you do that, the sooner we can gain more solidarity. I am personally loving the rise of cornbread tube that is helping more people understand this.

    • @briobarb8525
      @briobarb8525 Рік тому +6

      Well said...and very true. Namaste!

    • @farzanamughal5933
      @farzanamughal5933 11 місяців тому

      So do you agree with this video. Do you think the culture war should be ignored/rejected by socialists

    • @DanaiHamit
      @DanaiHamit 11 місяців тому +1

      "one of the major road blocks of achieving class solidarity with minorities"
      considering what Stalin had done with ukrainians or what the USSR had done with Circassians... yeah there's definitely a long way for socialists to start being respectful towards minorities

    • @farzanamughal5933
      @farzanamughal5933 11 місяців тому

      @@DanaiHamit Silly comment

    • @DanaiHamit
      @DanaiHamit 11 місяців тому +1

      @@farzanamughal5933
      and how exactly was it silly?

  • @ghostexits
    @ghostexits 11 місяців тому +4

    Haven't read Schiller, but much of this sounds reminiscent of Plato's eternal/ideal forms, and how human beings appreciate beauty insofar as it emulates and approximates the immutable ideal universal forms. Early Christian philosophers adopted and recast these ideas of beauty as an earthly expression of the divine.

  • @jacquelinepayne2012
    @jacquelinepayne2012 11 місяців тому +9

    Culture becomes hypocritical when "tolerance and inclusivity" masks its opposite. Words are then not enough to bring peace among diverse interests, so reasonable behaviour towards others is the all important measure of human virtue.

  • @greatestever8169
    @greatestever8169 11 місяців тому +2

    Wow 🤩 I can truly relate to all the content in this well written, explained, and very informative video! This is a fine example of why we need more free speech/journalism…free platforms! For the algorithm 🤜

  • @derhochwohlgeborene8548
    @derhochwohlgeborene8548 11 місяців тому +3

    Great one. Gramsci makes a similar point, stating that a political formation always has to be stabilised by culture.

  • @blueoak116
    @blueoak116 11 місяців тому +1

    Excellent effort in thinking about the nexus between art and ethics.

  • @enlightenedanalysis1071
    @enlightenedanalysis1071 Рік тому +50

    Great video. However, I have some criticisms: While you are right about the importance of art and beauty in our lives, as you know "beauty" does not exist in a vacuum. As some great philosophers have said, concepts like truth and beauty come from their OPPOSITES. For example, beauty is often appreciated from tragedy, sadness, absence, loss and drama. How can we appreciate a beautiful love song or poem without the sense of sadness and tragedy that it can evoke in us? The book you mentioned "The Sorrows of Young Werther" owes its beauty due to the tragedy of its main hero, the impossible love he has for a married woman and his eventual suicide.
    Conflicts and wars - while they may be ugly (or "evil") - PRODUCE beauty and drama. Heroes and villains, love and tragedy, peace and stability are CREATED through conflict, drama and revolutions. Heroes are born through ADVERSITY - without that, what is there to fight for and how can one achieve greatness? Drama and its beauty are impossible without conflict, inequality and tragedy.
    Also, I am sorry to say this but your uncritical acceptance that "tolerance" is a "good" is perhaps glib and naive. While I agree that tolerance can be a virtue, it can also be dangerous. How can we tolerate "nationalism", "fascism" and "religious fundamentalism" (and those who support such ignorant views) in our daily life? What if the tolerance of certain dangerous views DESTROYED our own society and way of life? The philosopher, Slavoj Zizek, once said that Martin Luther King did NOT ask for African-Americans to be "tolerated" in society. He wanted radical CHANGE by destroying "Jim Crow" racism. Zizek has also argued that certain liberal or "tolerant" policies can bring about the destruction of democracy by far-right extremists and xenophobes. I am not saying I agree with Zizek but he raises an important point.
    Also you did not spend much time discussing the bitter, angry and petty grievances of the culture warriors in our current society. But that is OK, as that was not the angle you were going for.
    Thank you again Lewis. Your videos are always wonderful and educational. Keep them coming. I just felt some critical or constructive feedback may be good for discussion. All the best and thanks.

    • @noelbrown6771
      @noelbrown6771 Рік тому

      It seems that " Liberals" these days are are becoming what they claim to hate: Intolerant. At least it sounds that way.

    • @agathafry4233
      @agathafry4233 Рік тому +10

      @@noelbrown6771 Intolerance of intolerance is critical to the preservation of liberty for all.

    • @noelbrown6771
      @noelbrown6771 Рік тому +2

      @@agathafry4233 Whats an example of intolerance.

    • @Michelle_Wellbeck
      @Michelle_Wellbeck Рік тому +2

      One must be careful because there is an inherent tension or disjunction of the invocation of there being an inherent beauty in suffering that has an implication to even today's political and ethical issues. Mother Theresa believed that it was beautiful for there to be suffering for it mirrors the suffering of Christ. This has implications towards issues like should we prohibit abortion or euthanasia, does the suffering that the prohibition of these procedures bring not allow the deliverance of an even greater beauty and grace?

    • @guywiththebatcostume
      @guywiththebatcostume Рік тому +1

      I would add to this that intolerance is not the only thing that we should not tolerate. Since for the vast majority of us morality does not begin and end in 'tolerance', it is fair to say that we cannot simply let go of everything else.

  • @balmgilead1088
    @balmgilead1088 11 місяців тому

    Stunning analysis. Thank you.

  • @rexremedy1733
    @rexremedy1733 11 місяців тому +4

    Also ask to whom it matters. And also ask who gains an advantage from engaging in culture warfare. Usually it’s not society as a whole, but small self appointed and entitled groups who beliefe it is worth to sacrifice peace in society to benefit from conflict. Also there is a financial advantage to be gained by fostering culture wars as well as unrighteousness powers to be gained. And also consider what to do if this initiated culture warfare doesn’t go the way it was intended. Also ask you self: Is culture war a form of aggression? Does society benefit?

    • @seanwieland9763
      @seanwieland9763 11 місяців тому

      Right is simply the absence of Left. The problem is with the Left who revolt against the natural order and seek to impose an artificial “utopia”.

  • @RazorFringe2
    @RazorFringe2 Рік тому +7

    There's a real sensuous pleasure to football commentary sometimes, like a ball being described as having been "struck beautifully".

    • @thomasjamison2050
      @thomasjamison2050 Рік тому +1

      Sports is now the only true religion in the US. And elsewhere, for that matter.

    • @aquatick1848
      @aquatick1848 Рік тому

      ​@@thomasjamison2050politics more like

    • @Damesanglante
      @Damesanglante Рік тому +2

      In Canada, the riots for hockey games usually gather more people than protests against governments.😞

    • @legrandliseurtri7495
      @legrandliseurtri7495 11 місяців тому

      @@Damesanglante Some teacher I had in college/cegep, can't remember who and in what context, said something like that about hockey fans as a joke: ''If their favorite team loses, they'll go around breaking everything. If their favorite team wins, they'll go around breaking everything.''

    • @justynmatlock8873
      @justynmatlock8873 11 місяців тому

      But the culture around football is so often one of racism, homophobia and misogyny.

  • @genedalefield
    @genedalefield Рік тому

    As always, excellent video essay.

  • @TIKIWOLF
    @TIKIWOLF Рік тому +5

    Art is hugely funded by state & banks, which do not necessarily have the plebs best interest in mind. Comnercial art vs natural beauty. 💰vs🌳

    • @villemononen5303
      @villemononen5303 11 місяців тому

      Art or propaganda? Who knows the difference?

  • @vonunterberg4313
    @vonunterberg4313 11 місяців тому

    @ThenNow pls never stop making these Essays, I beg u its so good to hear about your work, I love it. I know its selfish kinda but never ever stop making these crazy good videos.

  • @Basti557
    @Basti557 11 місяців тому

    So much value in your Videos thank you!

  • @BobHooker
    @BobHooker 11 місяців тому +11

    I found I rarely get emotional by films, but a few times when I watched a movie, no matter how bad, after a long day of activity in the sun I get emotional. Culture connects to politics connects to emotions connects to hydration connects to climate. Its an interesting planet.

  • @alexanderbuchanan3552
    @alexanderbuchanan3552 11 місяців тому +5

    Cultural production needs to be in the hands of the people not corporations and we need the time and material stability it requires to enjoy good art rather than desire escapist fantasies designed as temporary balm for the pain of alienation and drudgery

  • @OILGEN35
    @OILGEN35 11 місяців тому

    This is one of your best videos!!!!! Beautiful, 🙏 thanks

  • @fabiodeoliveiraribeiro1602
    @fabiodeoliveiraribeiro1602 Рік тому +3

    War is the continuation of politics by other means (Carl von Clausewitz). Mao Zedong said that politics is war without blood, just as war is politics with the use of violence.
    Politics, according to Hannah Arendt, can only exist in the space consensually constructed by different people so that they can live in peace. Therefore, contrary to what Carl von Clausewitz and Mao Zedong said, organized violence can only destroy the space in which politics exists.
    Culture can be a continuation of politics by other means. The opposite is also true, as politics can eventually be reshaped by cultural movements. But the culture war is not capable of producing absolutely anything, except the paralysis of society and the political system as it happens in the USA.
    Americans vicariously debate various moral issues turning them into culture wars (some of them irrelevant), but both parties are wholly devoted to increasing military spending. The very Americans who exchange slaps in the streets against or in favor of the gay movement are not capable of questioning American militarism. On the contrary, gays want quotas for gay general officers instead of, for example, closing USA military bases in Italy and Japan.
    Are the culture wars an instrument for neoliberalism to perpetuate itself without being fundamentally challenged on the political scene? I think the answer is yes, because they destabilize the political arena of depoliticized society without destroying it.
    Hannah Arend saw the birth of the modern American culture wars and reflected on some of them (like the politicized civil resistance to the Vietnam War, for example), but I suppose she wouldn't much like to see the world they built: the permanent culture war in the USA is a condition of possibility of the permanent state of war of the USA in the whole world. And now the American culture wars empowered by social media will become even worse because of Artificial Intelligence, a new technology that will surely be used to divert the population's attention and keep it stuck in useless and politically irrelevant culture wars.

    • @olegslapins8156
      @olegslapins8156 Рік тому

      It took me quite a while to come to the same conclusion.

  • @suzannecarter445
    @suzannecarter445 Рік тому +1

    Ha! If you've watched a lot of Lewis' videos, you probably wouldn't think he has much of a sense of humor (certainly not the self-deprecating kind). But just watch the opening of this one. Lewis is so marvelous in every way, but we enjoy the bits of humor; there are so many opportunities when discussing these topics.

  • @cronus2692
    @cronus2692 11 місяців тому

    Awesome! I just feel peace and calm after watching this video.

  • @martinmichalek
    @martinmichalek Рік тому +18

    Love all your videos. Going into this one, I was a little worried it would get too neo-libby and preachy (just because the people who usually espouse fighting in the culture war are preachy and performative). My fears were unmerited. Great video, as always, and very well thought out and argued.

    • @nopasaran191
      @nopasaran191 Рік тому +1

      Neo-libby? I don’t think you know what neoliberalism is if you think that this channel is neoliberal. Reagan and Thatcher are like the Marx and Engels of neoliberalism. When you are a neoliberal it means you believe in one of the most extreme forms of capitalism and this channel is absolutely nothing like that

    • @Intact-gf5zz
      @Intact-gf5zz 11 місяців тому +3

      he isn't one to espouse neoliberalism, tho...am presuming you're one-of-many who envision that 'neoliberal global economics' is synonymous with or related-to what most here would call 'western liberal political ideology', when the two concepts are not at all similar. Don't know who initially termed the global econ changes from the ~70's as "neoliberalism" but boy was that piss-poor naming right there 😮

    • @TheBLGL
      @TheBLGL 11 місяців тому

      That’s not what neoliberal means. It doesn’t mean “New Democrat”, Reagan and Thatcher are two of the most famous neoliberals. Oh, and Pinochet. Clinton is one, too (NAFTA, TANF). As a fellow American, please stop using words you don’t know the meaning to, it’s people like you that cause the world to think we are stupid.
      Also, liberals (meaning democrats) aren’t left, they are center-right. At best, Bernie and AOC are center, not one of them has called for the workers to own the means of production, or for capitalism to end, they aren’t left.

    • @TheBLGL
      @TheBLGL 11 місяців тому +1

      ⁠@@Intact-gf5zz Google classic liberalism and you will figure out why it’s called neoliberalism. The Chicago school called it that because they saw it as returning to pure capitalism a la Adam Smith, the invisible hand of the market and all that, as opposed to Keynesianism, which said capitalism is gonna have booms and busts, and the government’s job is to prepare for the bust times so the people don’t suffer like in the Great Depression.

    • @martinmichalek
      @martinmichalek 11 місяців тому

      @@Intact-gf5zz you assumed piss-poorly there 😮

  • @aanchaallllllll
    @aanchaallllllll 8 місяців тому

    0:00: 🎥 Understanding the emotional connection to films can help us understand the culture war.
    4:23: 🎭 The video discusses the connection between politics and the arts, highlighting Friedrich Schiller as an example.
    8:24: 🎨 Art and beauty are fundamental to the politics of freedom, as argued by Schiller in his essay 'Letters on the Aesthetic Education of Man', which still explains much of why culture wars happen today.
    12:28: 🎭 Art and passion in storytelling have a strong connection to politics, as seen in the sentimentalism movement in Europe.
    16:59: 🎨 The video discusses the connection between art and morality, highlighting the idea that through art, we can shape and create a harmonious and good world.
    Recap by Tammy AI

  • @dariusbucinskas6721
    @dariusbucinskas6721 11 місяців тому +1

    Amazing work as always

  • @thedevilsadvocate4669
    @thedevilsadvocate4669 Місяць тому

    Terrific. I love that you don’t use ads in your videos.

  • @profavocado2506
    @profavocado2506 Рік тому

    Thank you, I hope you are right!

  • @briannamay5459
    @briannamay5459 Рік тому +34

    Culture wars sucks when you're in the group of people being debated if you should be allowed to even exist or have any rights at all😊

    • @Edude117
      @Edude117 Рік тому +4

      What group is that exactly?

    • @projectp1821
      @projectp1821 Рік тому +1

      furry !

    • @ELVIR2
      @ELVIR2 11 місяців тому +5

      @@Edude117lgb ppl

    • @margaretwordnerd5210
      @margaretwordnerd5210 11 місяців тому

      Since the 1970s I've answered bigots by drily saying, "What do they (marginalized group) think this is, a free country?!?!?" It boggles bigoted minds. Bigots define freedom as being able to persecute or eliminate anyone they dislike, but lack the integrity to say so.

    • @dragonslayer101
      @dragonslayer101 11 місяців тому

      ​@@ELVIR2lgb*t+ people

  • @TheRealNorthParkTy
    @TheRealNorthParkTy Рік тому +6

    Politics is just culture issues in an echo chamber

  • @GUILLOTINE_GANG
    @GUILLOTINE_GANG Рік тому +3

    As a fella who shed some tears for Good Dinosaur, the beginning hit home.

  • @foundingfarther1213
    @foundingfarther1213 Рік тому +6

    Yeah, I love crying to some good stories. I can hardly talk about the need for an Uncle Iroh without my eyes leaking.

  • @user-qn8gb5xh8w
    @user-qn8gb5xh8w Рік тому +1

    Love these videos!

  • @pitchforkparty
    @pitchforkparty Рік тому +4

    Good video. The problem in the US, however, is that it is not a democracy. Both parties are controlled by the donor class. The wealthy elite. Over 80% pf Americans have ZERO influence on policy (Gilens & Page Study.) And since (according to polling) vast majorities of Americans agree on almost every major issue, (we're NOT so divided,) naturally, this results in frustration and anger. Now, it manifests in culture wars. Hopefully soon it will be redirected at the real architects of our misery.

  • @ariannatrapani5824
    @ariannatrapani5824 8 місяців тому +1

    There's an art form that's often forgotten, maybe because we think lacks emotionally but I know has a huge impact on the lives of every individual and it's almost intertwined with the social and political realm: architecture and urban planning.
    The space has the power to influence and change human mood and ultimately dictate how we perceive ourselves and the society. One single example: the square in traditional European cities and town, a collective free (malls and media centers aren't) space. I think it's not accidental that squares are almost totally absent in the US suburbia and the European outskirts. These are the environments that promote the most isolation and alienation, powerful social and political tools.

  • @PinkPulpito
    @PinkPulpito Рік тому +2

    A couple or people have the entire forest and the majority of people dont have a single tree for shade.

  • @aaron2709
    @aaron2709 11 місяців тому

    This is great. Very insightful.

  • @RT710.
    @RT710. Рік тому +7

    🤣🤣🤣 don't worry I cried during the final scene of T2 when I was 11 too hehe

  • @adamjohnson5931
    @adamjohnson5931 Рік тому +4

    Philosophers propped up by the aristocracy had mixed feelings on the revolution? Seems they were more sympathetic to the plight of the underlings in theory a tad bit more than in practice lol

    • @dbass4973
      @dbass4973 Рік тому +3

      by that times the most progressive part of the aristocracy has moved on to have their own businesses and became bourgeoisie themselves so of course they propped the philosophers

  • @edgarrodriguez8973
    @edgarrodriguez8973 11 місяців тому +1

    Amazing vedeo, I didn't know about Schiller's analysis on beauty and ethics and rationality

  • @steve19811
    @steve19811 11 місяців тому +2

    Being grateful you have good looking healthy kids on social media is now attacked as hateful against unhealthy people or neurodivergent etc.... The attacks are limited and evil to some degree. Focus on the good and the beautiful in this world and more will be created......

    • @darrenwithers3628
      @darrenwithers3628 9 місяців тому +1

      Making shit up is something the anti woke crowd are very good at.

  • @Counterreactionary
    @Counterreactionary 7 місяців тому +2

    But what if the current strain is no longer 'liberal' but illiberal? And not this time being for 'tolerance', but cens0rship, c0rp¤rate policies and global control?
    C0-¤pted by oligarchs.

  • @flyngturtle
    @flyngturtle Рік тому +11

    You do amazing work. You are discussing a rather sensitive topic without too much bias.

  • @user-gs7oe4wd1l
    @user-gs7oe4wd1l 5 місяців тому

    "On the Aesthetic Education of Man" by Schiller is one of my absolute favorite books, well, it's a collection of letters but still.

  • @RetepOdaged
    @RetepOdaged 11 місяців тому +7

    Culture Wars are caused by two opposing extremes, the one with the means to shout the loudest is usually the victor even if it's completely wrong for society as a whole.

  • @kylewollman2239
    @kylewollman2239 11 місяців тому +3

    I do sometimes wonder if the arch of history actually bends toward justice. It sounds nice, but how true is it?

  • @noor5x9
    @noor5x9 11 місяців тому +27

    I'm dealing with being transgender quite a bit, and I thought the video was interesting from that perspective. What is beautiful is often quite political, and becoming able to see the beauty in what was considered ugly is a difficult but often politically rewarding thing.
    I, for one, find Marsha P Johnson a deeply beautiful human being. Hearing her speak (in the little that we have from that) fills me with passion and admiration. I can find beauty in myself through seeing the beauty in her

  • @loganbrown3565
    @loganbrown3565 Рік тому +5

    I'll be politically correct when the politicians correct themselves

  • @KaiHenningsen
    @KaiHenningsen 11 місяців тому +2

    A few remarks: 1. I'm not sure historically, but today, the German word _aufheben_ means either to pick up, or to abolish, but not to lift up. And 2. the closer the subject is to people, the less universal art is. That is why one can recognize what area and era art is from. So with regards to politics, I'd argue that beauty is very much NOT universal.

  • @michaelknoll4199
    @michaelknoll4199 11 місяців тому +7

    I have a question about the thesis. If it's the culture warriors who are the romantics, then why do they always seem to be the ones attacking the arts & humanities?

  • @50-50_Grind
    @50-50_Grind 11 місяців тому +5

    Anti-fascist for life!

  • @TheBLGL
    @TheBLGL 11 місяців тому +9

    If you don’t cry at that scene at Schindler’s List, you are probably a Nazi or heartless or something. I’ve seen it like 50 times and I cry every time Schindler has his breakdown.

  • @MrALukic
    @MrALukic 11 місяців тому

    Thanks

  • @curiouskitkat
    @curiouskitkat 11 місяців тому

    I don’t usually like videos, but I did this one just because I liked the way you plugged your stuff lol

  • @srinivasgaura7067
    @srinivasgaura7067 Місяць тому

    Thank you

  • @TheMeritCoba
    @TheMeritCoba 11 місяців тому

    Thanks!

  • @theysayisagorilla
    @theysayisagorilla 11 місяців тому +1

    You forgot the several scenes in the green mile. That movies pure waterworks from start to finish. I can't name jst one scene. But the epitome of emotional destruction in any movie is the scene they kill John Coffey. Rest in heaven John.

  • @methyod
    @methyod 11 місяців тому +7

    "why culture war matters" because otherwise a lot of people would be out of a good grift. Just because there's clearly a good guy and a bad guy doesnt mean it isnt a con.

  • @notpub
    @notpub 11 місяців тому +3

    A good film will release an emotional state that underpins our empathy for others. The culture wars are an expected transition as one generation comes of age with new ideas, and is countered by others who fear the proposed changes, and lean hard into tradition. Neither is purely rational nor romantic. It has more to do with POWER. Those who seek change posit their position as an improvement of the egalitarian ideal infused in American society. The counter position feels threatened by the other, because it means a change in status or requirements into new ways of communicating. A clinging to the comfort of traditional. Both sides have extremists recognized by others as ridiculous. History is the prologue to our future...

  • @DSnake655
    @DSnake655 11 місяців тому +3

    11:02
    That was awesome. Postmodern, dare I say 🤔

  • @mathewrussell926
    @mathewrussell926 Місяць тому

    The freedom debate is rarely truly about freedom and usually about culture. The positive freedom to practice my culture while having negative freedom from a different culture. As social beings, few humans truly believe in "absolute" freedom of expression. Most people, but not all.

  • @ryokan9120
    @ryokan9120 9 місяців тому

    Hi, what's the name of the movie at 12.26, please?

  • @datamind4113
    @datamind4113 4 місяці тому

    Great Video!
    I tried to understand transcendental idealism, but I came to the realization that I just Kant.

  • @robbie_the_mastermind2176
    @robbie_the_mastermind2176 6 місяців тому +1

    I’m fascinated by this “Culture war” because I Value Well Writing Characters and World building in Stories and I don’t like it when directors and studios force unnecessary Identity politics and and normalising distasteful Misandry down audiences throat.

  • @zzooeecastles
    @zzooeecastles Рік тому +3

    B&W Flicks for some reason maybe lack of colour, different acting style (clear words and actions) great cinematography or just writing style but i cry a lot watching them::)