I wish the US and Canada could find ways to integrate, starting off small with like maybe with each country's space programs. Having a singular head or small council in charge of both & any areas where both countries want to financially support would go towards the same research projects so American & Canadian scientist could work in tandem on project. As well if for instance the USA wanted to fund more research & development towards rovers while Canada didnt any Canadian scientist interested specifically in rovers could without issue work on American rover research & development projects without needing to go through any visa or security clearance process that might normally occur. Other areas could be Forest Service or Coast Guard
As I am approaching my 30s, I'm finding myself becoming increasingly annoyed with what I see as "terminally online takes," things that only make sense in some sort of imagined alternative history. That, or getting fired up over incredibly niche issues, that the majority of people neither have heard about, nor care enough to research.
@@64imma it’s supposed to be annoying and they don’t care if it’s good or well researched, it’s about getting content, any content, out there so you can monetise it, sell mercy, get later on sponsors, give out affiliate links etc etc. These windbags ranting about culture or politics don’t even believe what they say themselves. It’s pure verbal snake-oil.
I think you underestimate the amount of petty hyper partisan politics that goes on locally. The type of people that desperately want to be your local representative aren't always the best people to do the job.
personally I'm more of a monarcho-primitivist nomadic Kampfargberianer libertarian stalinist anti-economist rumbelfudgeled kiwi eater, but Anarcho-Republicanist Subgenarian Sectored Blumkampf-Aligned Federal Reserve Abolitionists have an ideology close enough to ours they won't be starved after the great mongolian nomadic counter revolution.
I got into this, I just made my own ideology, which In the end made me focus more on the nitty gritty of governing and very precise issues. So success I guess?
Honestly I kind of like how he's trying to reach out to young people getting into politics and steer them away from this radical populism consuming online discourse
No, actually. He's very concerned about what information young people are getting and what they're encouraged to do by their peers. You're just being a dick.
My pet peeve is when someone dismisses a view they disagree with as "getting too political" But then frames a view they agree with as "Just common sense" and not being political
Based on how the phrase is used, I always took "getting too political" to mean "expressing an opinion I disagree with but don't have a well thought-out argument against." Some people just don't like political debates because they're so emotionally invested in their beliefs that it makes them distraught to be confronted with opinions that differ from theirs; they can't help but take it personally because to them their beliefs are a core part of their identity. (No exaggeration, I had a coworker once nearly in tears when she found out I just didn't think Biden was in general doing a good job. I'm no fan of Trump, but I honestly can't think of a single thing in this country that's been made better by Biden being president instead. This deeply offended her somehow, and not in just the "I disagree with what you're saying" kind of way, but as if she felt directly attacked.) In contrast to that, I always like to say I believe what I believe because of who I am; I'm not who I am because of what I believe. I also think that any opinion worth having is worth defending. If you're unwilling to defend what you believe, why do you believe it?
@@saintnicole3209 Yeah but the use of minorities in media is oftentimes a political ploy by the people making said media to appeal to certain groups. That's usually where I see people saying "minorities existing isn't political". In fact, a lot of minorities would disagree with you and would say their lives are pretty inherently political due to how it is to exist in America. I've seen it said by them quite a bit, at the very least.
And it's often really lose, i've been called both, a Nazi and a Communist......throughtout most of the start of the 21st century, communist hss become a loose term that people will liberals "communists" or social democrats, "communists" which is just pathetic.....and the word nazi being thrown around like it's subjective, it's not, we've become a society where everyone screams at each other and the government fuels it with dividing the people more, nobody is civil
the worst is when people think the best form of political “activism” is just creating the most niche ideology and aggressively hating all the most closely aligned ideologies and refusing to work with them towards any common goals
@@science_bear There's a difference between an "ideology" and "political stance." You can call yourself a anarcho-libertarian but that doesn't mean you support the removal of gay marriage.
@@MoMo-rx4zr I’m saying that there should be more pro lgbt people that argue for less gun restrictions, homophobes will bash us regardless of the gun laws but we need a way to keep ourselves safe.
I hate it when people treat geopolitic conflicts as a team game. As something to spice up your identity. I'm Israeli, and sso often i see people commenting "free palestine" and palestinian flags on videos of jewish creators, or commenting "long live israel" and israeli flags on videos of arab creators, and honestly it makes me so frustrated. This is a real conflict, with many dying every year, it's not a edward vs jacob debate. What we actually need to do is find ways that we could both live together and end this conflict. Harrassimg people with flags is not activism, it's childish and it does nothing for the people suffering. It's just a cynical use of this conflict to make you feel more important than you are. That's what i hate the most about political discourse on the internet
Agreed. I am generally pro-Palestinian, but this depiction of Israelis as cartoonishly evil (and vice-versa) always repulses me. Rarely is anything that cut and dry.
My pet peeve is when people are unwilling to police people on their own side. Especially when they defend bad actors because they don’t want to give other factions valid reasons to criticize theirs. It’s infuriating when people tell me I believe things I don’t because they can’t even comprehend having actual principles
It is not my job or yours to police people who have similar values to us, rather, it is the job of the listener to find things they agree with and things they do not.
@@samueljohnson6152 what he means to say is that people usually stay silent or support people from their side when they do bad things even though they criticize people from the opposite side when they do the same thing
@@Thedimensionalwarrior I as a Black person am seeing this when it comes to excusing outright criminality and the consequences thereof, because the person who happened to quell the situation, was a White man, or a Cisgender in general, depending on how some feel about that. It suddenly becomes that I must either side with the avowed criminal, or be seen as a race/lowkey -phobic and self/hating traitor. Same with LGBTQ issues, but I won't open two cans of worms at once. It's just frustrating to think that there have to be 'sides' in objective matters, rather than context of "Okay who was acting up?"
Yes!!! I wouldn't call it policing but more holding them socially accountable. It especially happens when we originally advocated for someone before and established an investment in that person, either financially or just emotionally. Best example of this is presidents and government officials we can vote in and out. If they mess up, somehow it's now attached to us so there's this false dichotomy that either (1) WE take the L and admit we were/are wrong for voting for that person or (2) refuse to take the L and continue to defend their actions (and by extension our own ability of discernment) to the bitter end! But there is a secret third option: call it out and hold that person accountable for not living up to why we voted for them in the first place. It's THEIR actions that let US down! Just because you voted for/hired/befriended/advocated for someone, it doesn't mean you have to defend and stand behind every decision or mistake they make!
Thats a good point, people normally don't mention it when it comes to 'toxic online discourse' because it seems like people have good intentions, but the disingenuousness with which some people do this is so frustrating. Charities manipulating statistics to make it seem like their issue is the most urgent is so infuriating, even if I totally understand why they do it
I am 40 years old and I have been told that every election I have ever participated in was the most important election of a generation. I stopped listening well over a decade ago.
@@MrEffinBest I remember being told that reducing government subsidies for beef to help discourage the industry was "literally worse than the holodomor". Ironically this person was a communist, so I'm at least pleasantly surprised they believed in it. (For context the conversation was about encouraging a different form of national diet in a similar way Japan introduced the egg as a staple food in like the 80s to improve public health)
It is like the political elites that drive politics have a committee somewhere creating conflicts. "Hmm that doens't seem to be a problem we should tackle, but we can make this one." - Manufacturing outrage.
Online politics doesn’t accurately portray democracy, all it does is give the people with the loudest voices the most power and influence. Those people are more often than not radicals that don’t represent the views of the vast majority of individual people at all.
No, politics in the real world has shifted online. This isn’t a parody. People always believed in extremist ideologies. Online just makes it into entertainment. The actual bad thing about online is just the disregard of the humans we talk to. It’s easier to talk shit to a screen than a person but the mental effect is still similar, especially if you get bandwagoned on.
I think the reason it's more often than not radicals, though, is for a lot of the same reasons JJ laid out. People treat it as entertainment, and the most entertaining voices aren't the ones that are reasonable, well thought out, and logical, but instead are the loud, off the top of your head, emotionally driven voices.
You could observe that very well, when Elon Musk was about to buy Twitter. Everybody, especially in the media, was freaking out and saying that it "is dangerous for democracy" as if everybody is getting their information from Twitter.
I wish that was true, but I'm slowly losing faith in that assumption. So many people shout "bigot" "Nazi" "fascist" etc online, that I'm sure that's what most people from that political tribe unironically believe. They are just a lot more quiet IRL. Jonathan Haidt did a study that showed that the further left you are the more likely you will not be able to understand what the right believes in, despite what the right says they believe in. They will play armchair psychology and assume the worst.
Non-Americans are obsessed with American politics because they consume movies, TV shows and music that come largely from the US. As a Canadian/American who now lives in Switzerland, I noticed that many Swiss prefer to watch Stranger Things, Ozark, etc. over their own TV shows. Learning about US politics is a byproduct of that.
What you said. I also am irritated by people who don't understand their own self-chosen political cults and can't coherently defend their ideologies but don't seem to realize that they conflict violently with their own actual positions.
This is why I hate twitter anarchists. They have this extreme ideology and then crumble at the simplest probe like "how are medical/food safety/labour/etc. standards decided" or "what happens if someone commits a crime"
It's because those cults want you to distort reality according to your beliefs and not shape your beliefs according to reality. It makes things more exciting, especially for youngsters in search of adrenaline. It's similar to how conspiracy theories work: why trying to give analyzed and mundane explanations when it's more exciting to believe there is some big bad evil behind the scenes and only you, the chosen one, can stop it?
@ironlion45 Tankies, I would also add Libertarians. The concept of Libertarianism is remarkably simple yet I haven't met a single Libertarian who actually lived by its values. Anarchists are the worst though, easily the most vapid, thoughtless people of the sectrum.
@@ironlion45 or how a lot of working-class people take up strange libertarian views that would only gimp them if implemented. Bonus points if they're gold bugs
Something that especially bothers me about the whole ‘non-Americans speaking on American issues’ thing is how a lot of more liberal Europeans, especially British people I’ve noticed, normally talk about their country’s politics like it’s this apocalyptic conservative hellscape but then the SECOND an American comes into the picture, suddenly they’re living in a utopia where everyone is just as progressive as they are and Americans are the only ones who need to shape up
That happens so much and it gets to a point when people would dismiss the real problems of their country as "not as bad as the Americans ergo; not that bad"
I used to chat on to those weird and edgy discord communities who focus on politics when i was just some lazy teenager, and i see alot of those people "LARPing" and overall fetishizing weird ideologies, just because they sound "cool" and "quirky" and i was definitely one of them back then. And Surprise surprise, it was very toxic, and it got to the point that people were basically saying some naughty stuff to eachother, and after that, i uninstalled most of my social media, got a break, and started treating politics less as a football match and more of "Just another subject i was interested on" type of matter. TL:DR: Online poltics nowadays are basically just astrology for nerdy social outcasts, and its very... very annoying. Anyways, Great Video J.J, as always.
@@lukerees281 Ehhh... it's true it makes him look a lot younger, but I wouldn't be cought dead with a hairstyle like his. (No hard feelings JJ, we love you)
One side is wear a beret and all of a sudden you are che while the other is, say a slur and believe you're superior than everyone who isn't the same race as you
The second pet peeve is something I encounter all to often on discord. Many people I've talked to from the UK and continental Europe are obsessed with hating the US, and I have no idea where it comes from. I try to reduce some tension by saying stuff like "well, every country has its problems - and I have a great number of things I like in your country" - "yeah exactly, _we've_ got a country that actually functions where our people aren't shooting up schools, or..." It is a sad microcosm I think, of the modern political landscape, where people have little desire to find common ground, but actively seek to promote conflict.
You ain't lying IT IS ABSOLUTELY INSANE. You can't go on any video or channel without people finding some way to shit on the US. Like the video won't even remotely have anything with the US. But the US just gets caught with a stray for no reason lol. You'll literally see someone comment "Americans.." and it'll be the most liked comment lol
As a European living in the UK who has lived in the USA in the past and generally likes Americans, the reasons may vary between countries and people depending on political orientation. And in some countries it might be specific situations, for example when an American commits a crime or causes a serious accident but doesn’t want to cooperate with the authorities or face any consequences afterwards. If an American kills someone in a traffic accident which they clearly caused, and the American government helps the American to leave the European country … sorry, people simply don’t like that. Or American groups funding Anti-Abortion groups or similar causes in European countries…. sorry, but why? There are some things Europeans would like Americans to stay out of, which might vary between individuals. Most Europeans are realistic about the relationship with the USA, the USA is clearly more powerful and compromises need to be made… but some things people would like to decide for their country 🤔 Not sure if some historical issues play a role - Operation Gladio comes to mind… e.g. not sure if you are aware of what the CIA and NATO did undercover during the Cold War. While probably well intended at the time, it caused quite a mess … and people died… well look into it yourself. Or ask people on the political left in Greece or Italy, they are probably the best people to explain some of the mess.
People resent places that have more power than where they live and want to get the upper hand somehow to try and compensate, which often manifests as moral smugness. Uninformed anti-Americanism is certainly one of the more annoying examples (although I've noticed that a lot of Americans of all political stripes are getting real sick and tired of that, thank God) but even within America, that sentiment is what drives a lot of the right wing these days. "Yeah our small town might be poor as fuck but at least we ain't no avocado toast eating libruls!" is an infuriatingly common justification for voting Republican. It's not that rural pride is bad- I've lived in the sticks before and I generally enjoyed it- it's just the raging insecurity and tribalism that gets to me.
@@Lorenz1973 Operation Gladio was the anti-communist sleeper cells, right? We did that in America, too. Lots of Alaskan fishermen and construction workers were trained to disrupt Soviet activities in the event of an invasion.
@@Lorenz1973 Italian leftwing guy here (though I consider myself more of a social democrat, therefore center left). Among the Italian radical left there is this idea that Italy is a sort of "colony" of the US because of NATO military bases, pacts with the Mafia for Operation Husky, the failed Borghese Coup of 1970 and Operation Gladio and the black terrorism of the Years of Lead (1970s). Since Italy was the Western European country with the largest Communist Party among NATO members, the Italian radical left absolutely despise the US as much as the far right, though the latter for different reasons. Unfortunately most of this scorn, mixed with a rather nationalistic pride for Italian culture, has degenerated into blind hatred, where every regime that opposes the US is hailed as an "independent" and heroic country, no matter if it's a nationalistic regime like Russia, or a theocracy like Iran. Many of these radical leftwingers that eventually embrace right wing positions are known as "rossobruni" (red browns). While I don't like quite some aspects of US foreign policy, I'd rather have Italy allied with the US than with other powerful countries, although I'd prefer a more compact European Union.
@@JJMcCullough well considering that Dictatorial Rulers and Representatives in democracies need to keep their Key supporters happy to maintain power for example and the relative comfort of stable "global north" countries, I think its not surprising then that people (at least) would see politics as entertainment since it looks like a "mere" game of power - see "Rules for Rulers" by CGP Grey.
My primary complaint on modern online politics is that it's influencing actual politics. It's not like radicals and psychotic candidates were never a thing before online politics, but it's gotten mainstreamed to the point that some dangerously ill-informed people have taken the reins of power and are steering the entire political body right into the ground.
Sometimes they force it on the general public too. I went to a restaurant the other day. And one guy came in. Sat down, and started listening to an Alex Jones podcast on full volume. Another guy at my worksite constantly checks his phone. Because of updates from Fox News. -It felt like being in a weird dictatorship. Where you're supposed to have the "right flag." And listen to the "correct" radio station.
@@NA-AN Information is the same now as it was when Gutenberg built the first printing press. It's just faster and more ubiquitous now. I think it was Samuel Clemens that said, "A lie can travel around the world and back again while the truth is lacing up its boots." That was at a time when the fastest information could travel was via telegram but most couldn't go faster than a train or horse. Now it's lightspeed.
@@NA-AN I tend to differentiate between the man (Samuel Clemens) and the work he wrote under his pen name. If I'm citing a book quote, I'd say Mark Twain.
I've interacted with someone who defended Pol Pot, which I thought was too radical for even the most hardcore leftists. I also once encountered someone who called anyone who criticized landlords a "landphobe" with no hint of irony. These peeps need to get some friends.
@the flying catto from the perspective of a communist/leftist, everyone else is a liberal keep in mind "leftists" are basically pro socialism / anti capitalism, isn't the same as "the left" ie. Democrats
@Flying-cat5425 Honestly, what you’re describing sounds a bit like an unwillingness to learn, which is completely understandable. Not everyone has the time to care or think about “leftist discourse” or whatever, but that doesn’t seem like a fault in either you or leftists. There was a just language barrier. I do take issue with someone complaining about the use of “old words” as if they stopped being used in the early 1900s. Bourgeoise and proletariat have existed as concepts and terms for centuries. Rome had its proletarii class of people, and that root stuck around for countless centuries, so I just can’t accept that as valid criticism of any discourse.
@Flying-cat5425 What the f are you on about? Whatever you are looking at isn't "leftist Twitter", and no liberal is using words like that, or praising the USSR. Everything you have described is the literal definition of disinformation, either yours or someone else's. These aren't liberal ideologies, and anyone who claims they are is lying. You aren't talking to actual liberals, you're talking to people who want you to think that's what liberals are. Either way, your anecdote can't be trusted.
I also hate how "dumbed down" political discourse online has become, with people competing to make the most meta memes possible, buried in layers and layers of post-irony while also having an underlying message somewhere. A good example of this are wojaks, incredibly stereotyped and cherry picked characters having imaginary arguments in the name of humour. This is how so many young people are getting exposed to new ideas (including me), and I don't think it's very healthy for rational debate
Strawmanning is a huge problem, I agree. I remember someone on twitter talking about how a lot of political commentary seems to consist of people making up fake people to get mad at.
JJ you have no idea how refreshing and validating it is to hear someone else who is annoyed with super niche and obscure political identities. As always great video
Is that what he's doing though? Niche? Yes. Obscure? I mean, half of the time he mentions anarchism, an ideology with notable figures like Ghandi, inspired figures like MLK, and played the single largest role in fighting fascism in Spain. The other half of the ideologies mentioned are other forms of socialism and, in case you haven't heard of the second largest economy in the world or the entirety of the cold war, is far from an obscure ideology. Like it or not, the phenomenon of radicalism shaping politics is far from new. Without the works of a single anarchist, Leo Tolstoy, we would not have had Ghandi, Mandela, or MLK. Without a single socialist union, the IWW, it would've taken several decades longer to get any form of workplace safety, child labor laws, or the 40 hour work week. Hell, had it not been for the backlash that resulted from 7 innocent anarchists being hung despite their proven innocence in the wake of the Haymarket Square massacre you would probably be working 12 hour days right now. Not once has incrementalism stopped a coup. Not once has incrementalism built a global campaign for civil rights. Not once has incrementalism overthrown a dictator. These are all things done by radicalism.
@@jeanivanjohnson I'd like to think everyone is capable of honesty and integrity regardless of their political affiliation, though I'm not sure if I believe it.
@@雷-t3j we are talking about ideological obscurity here. Socialism, the ideology, is different from socialism, the economic mode of production. Even in ML terms China is state-capitalist and, as an anarchist, I wouldn't even call the ML perversion of socialism that pretends the workers are the same as the government actually socialist. That's not what's being discussed though. What's being discussed is whether the belief that the workers should own the means of production is an obscure one and it's not. A chief example of that would be that it is the stated goal of the second largest economy in the world.
It's always bothered me when people identify with ideologies from different times or different countries without seeming to understand that their ideology doesn't really make much sense outside of it's original context, let alone in modern contexts
This applies to the use of "left" and "right" anywhere and time that isn't the 1789 National Assembly of France, which is why I've always despised this binary divide. It turns the rulling of ours lives into sport crowds screaming at each other, with bipartisan countries seemingly exacerbating that aspect.
@@Euphoryaaa I mean unironically, dialectal materialism is made to work in most contexts, things like Juche, maoism, Strasserism, ultra-nazbol agrario-individualism aren't.
@@VinnieMF Well left and right aren't ideologies, they are a political stance, such stances differ according to the context. The issue is people making leftism/rightism their ideology. Main ideologies today can be divided into socialism, liberalism, reactionnarism. Depending which is dominant in your country it will certainly have subdivisions (marxism and social democracy, progressivism and conservatism, ultranationalism and moderate reactionnaries).
Aa an American, I'm not a fan of those who look down on our politics and culture who don't understand them or live in them. There's a layer of separation that gives everything they say an aire of superiority that doesn't sit right with me. Especially when they think they have the solution then give me some bs like, "work together guys" smh
As a non American, I'm not a fan of this either, but that's because I don't like US cultural hegemony in general. It's crazy how much of the entire WORLD trends and new topics are just copied from the USA, be it in music, movies, other forms of entertainment, or even politics. As opposed to inventing and creating your own ideas and trends or copying those from neighbor countries. I wish the entire world would become culturally diverse again, and if anything, promote minority and marginalised cultures (Native Americans, Aboriginal Australians, Occitans, Irish Gaelic, Taiwanese Aboriginals, etc) than being basically culturally colonized by the biggest superpower in the world.
In general I just get super sick of people who complain about wanting politicians to find common ground. If they had been paying attention they would know why things aren't that simple.
I always find it very interesting how people, particularly Europeans seem very capable of moral relativism when it comes to almost any place on earth besides the US. It's like depsite many Euros wanting to distance themselves from America and deny or mock any kinship via many Americans European ancestry, subconsciously they still think they have some right or moral duty to shape the US more in their image.
My personal pet peeve with online politics is the dehumanization of the opposite side into caricatures to be lambasted instead of debated with and the lack of civility involved in a-many of online debates, with most debates online usually achieving absolutely nothing in my experience with both sides digging in their heels unwilling to even try compromising.
Because online, everything is doom and terrible which must mean the opponents are the cause of all the wrong in the world. If society is broken, then it must be destroyed and rebuilt in their ideal image, but if only those evil doers on the opposite side wouldn't get in the way!
That’s because it’s less about the debate and the opinions and more about being right. The debate bros are usually men trying to exert their dominance over the other. Half the time it’s “arguments” full of holes and fallacies. If one of the debaters calls out the fallacy, it spins the debate in doom circles and descends into calling each other stupid
@@lightfeather9953 I think you're missing a third option here, and this one is far far more annoying and in some ways, worse than this. I call it, The Moderate. Serves the exact same purpose as the one that Martin Luther King himself lambasted in the 60's. I'm talking about the guy who insists that both sides are equally correct [or equally wrong, and therefore worth dehumanizing as extreme caricatures], no matter what the argument is, trying to diffuse a tension that may either not actually really exist that much, or may need to, in fact, be addressed. These are the people that if one side concedes a point at all, while the other does not, they will then arbitrarily move the middle again, rather than firmly helping one side or the other. These are the people that say "can't we all just get along", without truly providing anything. If society is broken...firstly, no it isn't, it's perfect, I'm doing fine, why isn't everyone else? Second, surely we can just make a Frankenstein from all the ideas each side is so passionate about, if everyone's happy with it, surely it's okay? An opponent, a true opponent, a true evil doer, is predictable, a true evil doer, can be defeated, or they can win. These people are millstone that only slow the inevitable war, while not actually providing a true option. They think they are breaking a cycle, but they aren't. These people think themselves above the fray, they are probably aren't, and they are still in the vicinity of the carnage even if they are.
@jackjones4824 Thank you for the Middle Ground Fallacy, or Argument to Moderation. I'd been trying to remember what it was called for a while now. I've been dealing with so many in the so-called "middle" lately who excuse blatantly inhumane views on the basis of moderation. This idea that every view is equal has long been a way for sociopaths to justify their lack of empathy, and has been used to justify everything from genocide to torture. I mean, we fought wars over this crap and decided, as a society, that some behavior is simply unacceptable. The rest of the world is following that principle, but a lot of people in the "middle" seem to have never learned it.
@@Warriorcats64 Liberal democracy is a creature of Moderation, and works best when everyone involved is honourable, civil, and able to gentlemanly discuss the issues at hand. As such people that do nothing else but ease tensions whenever a debate gets to heated, that struggle to find compromises whenever they can be found, that keep channels of communication open, that broker deals, etc. are extremely helpful, and most modern republics would certainly not work without them. When, in contrast, you have a democracy filled with opinionated ideologues or generally with people hostile to moderation, unwilling to meet in the middle ground, liberal democracy simply ceases to function properly.
Most of my exposure to online politics is through the wretched hive of scum and villainy that is Reddit, and one of the most irritating things I see over there is that people only read headlines of news stories and use them to smugly validate their pre-existing beliefs even if the headline is inflammatory nonsense that misrepresents the actual story.
I spent much of my teens on that awful website too. Twitter gets a lot of (deserved) hate for the way discourse works on that site, but at least opposing views are still always visible. Powermods and downvote brigades make sure that any dissent in a particular community is immiditately repressed
Actually not sure what I said about twitter is still true now that Musk implemented that new checkmark system, I believe only people who paid are now (easily) visible
Reddit Isn't a hive of scum and villainy. Its a soy factory. They are so braindead, they're practically their own ideology by merit of having one's cortex scooped out.
For me, it’s sometimes hard to know who is an expert? Who is not biased. You helped uncover “china uncensored” for me. I followed the channel for years without knowing they being paid by f.g. I felt they were not being honest and at one time denied being funded by them.
China Uncensored isnt entirely affiliated to the Falun Gong. What it seems, is that the Falun Gong just picked up this dudes channel and started broadcasting cus some stuff aligned with his views. Its more or less the guy doesnt care about the Falun Gong. He rarely talks about it unless its about organ harvesting. China Uncensored is definitely biased, but its hard to be unbiased when talking about China. China is a one party state that forces a monogomy of political views on its citizens. To give credit where its due, China Uncensored does talk about a lot of CCP officials that have done good, in good light. You should really be aware of Falun Gong accusations. Alot of legitimate UA-camrs get botted and hit with that, whenever their critical of the CCP.
Best advice? Be thorough when looking at where you get your information. And even when you trust them, always keep your ears perked because everyone makes mistakes.
One thing I have grown more and more annoyed with are the types who believe every action you take must be for political action. You can't just simply watch, or not watch a TV show, or movie anymore. You must watch, or boycott it explicitly for political reasons.
I'm so tired of this. I'm fairly conservative in values and fiscally. But I have a lot of mixed feelings about boycotting brands just because their "values" don't align with mine. I will keep buying Nike, watching Disney, subscribe to the New York Times, etc. Life is too short to get ticked off that our corporate overlords don't match our values and politics
I have a friend who refuses to watch any cop show because cops on television are "Copaganda" as they say. Stupid too, considering that shows like Brooklyn nine-nine actually cover sensitive issues quite well.
@@dexlovesgames_dlg They'd be surprised. Some are really intriguing. Some about CROOKED cops even; your friend sounds like they'd probably dig that. They sound like mothers from back in my day that would claim that things like Naruto or Pokemon promoted gang violence. XD
Hey, just wanna dip in to say that this channel is what initially got me interested in Sociology, and my first of three final Sociology exam is on Monday. Thanks for everything 🎉
My biggest pet peeve about internet politics is the insane amount of polarization, and how so many people nowadays will not be accepting of people who hold different believes.
To be fair, accepting people with views that are actively harmful towards you or people you care about is not a good thing whatsoever (and a lot of polarization in US politics at the very least is due to how far-right our ‘conservatives’ have become), but when it comes to people with mostly similar viewpoints hating each other over something relatively minor? Yeah, that’s a massive issue in general (see the constant trend of leftist infighting for instance) that helps nobody.
@@rin_reverie I agree. I find it really annoying when bigoted people will say something horrible and say “well it’s just my opinion, you have yours, I have mine.” I’ve had this happen to me with American “conservatives” in real life about race. It’s ridiculous to think that we should tolerate bigotry and infringing on the rights of others as conservatism or normal political opinions
@@rin_reverie The polarization is coming from how far left liberals have become, conservatives really haven't changed all of these large scale social experiments come from left wing thought.
@@SonoftheWest316 Whilst I'm not totally sure which party is moving to the left/right. To me, it feels like both sides have been moving further away from each other. This is not some "both sides" and "enlightened centrist" argument, because even if they're both moving away, only one is becoming more extreme and that, in my view, is the right (Keep in mind I'm talking about American politics, since I gauged that was the subject). The left in America has never been a major political force for a very long time, it hasn't really become one yet. The right wing however, clearly has a big presence. This is the core difference and issue. The dems, who are moderate, left-leaning centrists, are the only mainstream "left wing" that has any sort of political power and they're not even leftist. The right has the republicans, who are pretty clearly right wing. This leads to an imbalance, because when both parties move away from each other, the dems become more like social democrats and the right becomes fascist. This is why I think you could make the argument that both parties have been moved further in their own directions, but only one has become extreme. The left is very focused on identity politics and the right is very focused on mischaracterizing said politics to manufacture outrage. Sometimes the outrage is justified, but still extremely overblown and hypocritical. The right's core issues are "woke and cancel culture" and manufactured outrage against LGBTQ and immigrants, while the left's core issues have to do with basic human/civil rights, basic healthcare reform and livable wages.
Honestly I feel like the fascination with American politics simply comes from how big and culturally significant America is. I feel that this is particularly common in western countries, where the political and cultural ties are quite impactful on the nations. So I think its natural for people in online communities to set their eyes on American politics, seeing as it can be very influential in their countries one way or another. I'm from Israel for instance and here we tend to follow American politics very very closely, as it is very important for our country to be viewed by America with a favorable light, seeing as good relations with them are so vital to our economy and our security concerns.
Definitely agree with this. The US has a unique combo of having a massive population, enormous influence on global politics, and (relatively) volatile and rapidly changing politics. Just compare it to some of the other similarly large countries. China is massively influential but is a one party state where change seems to happen over decades, and others like India, Indonesia, and Brazil have huge populations but just aren’t even close to as influential worldwide.
@@ztl2505 I think it's more that when change does occur in autocracies it's very hard to predict and most commentators will have no idea, or it is an action of the autocratic government. And there's also just lack of information
You shouldnt focus on being viewed by America in a favorable light, you should be focused on being viewed by everyone else. Its good that Israel is repairing relations with other countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Continue that. Americans really dont want to implicate themselves in middle eastern politics as much.
As a Taiwanese person who supports the independence of Taiwan, I am 100% aligned with your first pet peeve. I particularly hate that some of my compatriots disagree (on the internet usually) with policies that might compromise the ideology of independence but can ultimately improve the importance of Taiwan’s role in the world. They then provide 0 actionable alternatives.
This is so true 👍, I mean I literally posted a potential solution to the Middle East's conflicts which is of course flawed but the thing is practically nobody had a viable or realistic alternative for how to bring about peace to the Middle East.
I am almost 63 years old. The vast a mojority of my life I have lived in a wolrd without social media, politically motivated news outlets, and excessive polarized politics. So it is easy for me to stand away from it all. I am really enjoying your presentations, and am learning more about our neighbors to the north.
The thing that bugs me with politics that everyone has this oversimplified version of history that always puts their people on the so called "right side of history", and basically eliminates all complexity in politics and just turns it into a good vs. evil narrative.
@@ABigBluePoliceBox That's true. But yeah... atleast be a little bit open minded. I had a close friend that will go on a debate everytime he got a chance because I disagree with him about current wars happening. I tried to understand him because he's my friend, he thought he needs to chance my mind because I'm his friend, but no, I'm just tired of him bringing up the holocaust and Putin when I'm just chilling... Note: excuse my English. I'm still learning.
@@hmmmm7468 > I'm just tired of him bringing up the holocaust and Putin when I'm just chilling... Quite the friend you have there, sounds very interesting...😅
As someone who grew up in a middle class, even upper middle class, household I really identified with that idea of middle class people not really caring about politics because it doesn't effect them. The main political issue I've cared about is public transport, I campaigned for PT projects that I liked and i even joined a party to better push for better PT in my area. I now think this may be because it is one of the few issues that would actually effect me directly given my parent's money could always shield young me from any bad policies the government made.
@@ee-ef8qr I support increased density, however I'm a bit weary of developers, as many high density developments have been deemed to be of low quality or even unsafe (which is pretty wild for a first world country), so as long as government regulation keeps up I fully support it. As for mixed zoning I don't think it's as important in my part of the world because we don't have such massive residential estates, I'd say most people like within a 15 min walk of some shops, they're just too lazy and car culture is too engrained.
I think one of the major things Canada fears about a more integrated arrangement with the US is losing its identity. From an American perspective if you want to persuade people into this, people in Louisiana hang on to a very distinct identity that separate from people in Texas and the people in Alabama. People in New York have a very strong identity. Including accent and culture that makes them different from the states in their area. This is one of the things that I think America does really well. We're very proud of where we live. To the point where people will wear jewelry or even get tattoos of their home state. That's celebrated here so Canadians won't lose their identity if anything I think they'll grow closer to it. I'm from Texas I love my state but when I meet someone from California or Wisconsin it feels the same way about their state that I do about mine I like that. It's not so much a rivalry as it is a another unifying characteristic
@@happycamperds9917 Yeah but I think in those cases it becomes a sense of identifying with regions. For example being from CT myself I would more likely identify as a new englander than with my own state.
Detroit is very much like Canada in its provincialism. So much so that anything Detroit or Michigan related makes the news or becomes the trend, it gets over saturated in local media. Anything unfavorable spoken about Detroit gets front page news in the two major papers. It’s embarrassing. And one more thing, Ohioans definitely have a strong pride about their states in the same way Texas does or we do.
The truth is, the Canadians that are "afraid of losing identity" arent even holding onto a real identity themselves. Just like in the states, people identify with the province they live in, more than the actual federal entity they live under. A guy from BC is gonna be totally different from a guy from Ontario. Same with Alberta and stuff. The Canadian stereotype literally only applies to rural north Americans in general. It doesnt apply to Canada as a whole lol. Linus tech tips and JJ Muccollough are pretty big Canadian UA-camrs. Alot of UA-camrs are from Canada, but half the time no one ever realizes it lmfao. Like Linus Tech Tips. Theres a reason why your average dude looks at Drake and The Weeknd, and subconsciously thinks their from Toronto, but not "Canada".
I would also say that the overemphasis on weird advocates rather than the power-brokers themselves plays into this. All sides and people will dig up some shocking extreme statement from fringe activists and feign horror that this is what the "other side" represents, as if the government bureaucrats and political representatives are beholden to those statements.
I think a large part of the reason behind your first pet peeve is that by identifying with an ideology allows you to create a community. A lot of people rely on political communities as their only main social community. Their jobs if they have one are soul draining and provide no identity, they don't have religious communities and their friend groups are insular
That seems incredibly unhealthy lmao. Politics are a very divisive and contentious topic that also touches on a lot of very controversial and depressing stuff, having it be your main community seems like a big disaster. And I say this as someone who is very interested in politics myself, and even used it to discover a lot of "hidden truths" about the world that I wouldn't otherwise. I saw myself how bad politics could potentially be for my mental health.
That’s true. Human beings are hard-wired to live in groups, and thanks to social media, young people are falling into weirder and more insular “groups” than ever before.
Wow, little kids interacting with politics like a game 😔. Just leave the this to the professionals like myself, a Post-Traumatic-Transcendentalist-Neo Nazi-Midget Translator
as a transhumanist interventionist anti-capitalist environmentalist who also agrees with most of anarcho national social economic globalism, I disagree
Seriously JJ. If you could explain how the Yukon and northwest territories work i would watch that especially since, there are no main land us territories so I imagine most Americans don't understand it
@@Jack-sq6xb shit I live in Vancouver and I still forget about how those places work lol. I just think abt them like Provinces 2.0 The territories America has are basically just byproducts of the Spanish war, like Puerto Rico.
@@honkhonk8009 Or they were acquired via the Guanos island act because one day America decided that it wanted a bunch of uninhabited islands full of bat poop. A genius power move all things considered.
You are correct in your theory as to why americans watch your Canadian politics discussions, at least in my case anyway. It is fascinating to see what issues and policies that drive politics up there, and you explain it very objectively and lucidly in an entertaining matter. same goes for all your cultural analysis videos which are equally fascinating.
As an American I’m so glad you said this because I’ve always found it very odd when foreigners talk about things like the gun debate or healthcare. While a lot of them make excellent points there’s always a lot of context missing that is hard to grasp if you don’t live here.
My pet peeve with internet politics is how often words like fascist, communist, Nazi, racist, sexist, phobic, and woke get thrown around so much that they have lost their meaning. People just throw them around at people who they disagree with politically most of who probably aren't those horrible things they are being accused of.
I'm a transgender American. The GOP has been systematically trying to criminalize my existence and take away the rights of people like me. I don't go around accusing republicans of transphobia, but the fact is if you vote for the party, you are supporting transphobia(and racism, sexism, homophobia, etc)
@@spaghettiisyummy.3623 Deadbeatdadism is referring to dads who do not fulfill their parental responsibilities, especially when they evade court-ordered child support obligations or custody arrangements
I hate being pigeonholed. because I state such-and-such opinion I am frequently met with some litmus test to determine my loyalties or the bias of my information sources.
Damn, I used to LOVE my politics. Slow and boring and CSPAN, and no one liked to talk politics, which saddened me…then like 2016 hit and suddenly everyone thought they knew politics and had a valid opinion worth talking about all day long…so I got my wish and it totally ruined politics as I knew it.
JJ, Even if you weren't able to stop the bill, you did a great job of bringing the issue to the attention of tons of people, including a lot of us here in the US. I was really impressed at how hard you worked at it. Much love.
Online politics is like a war torn third world civil war only without AKs, RPGs and Camoflauge, it's keyboards, PC and aggravated people who simply cannot make a good comeback
Understanding the difference between idealism and pragmatism really helped me out. While idealism allows us to think in extremes and test our ideas that way, politics requires pragmatism if you want to actually get things done and cooperate with other people who think differently. This is why we almost never see "philosophers" like those online political commentators and politicians enter each other's domains. They're two vastly different disciplines that require different skill sets.
Hearing foreigners talk about US politics, ESPECIALLY as a source of entertainment, is immensely annoying. As someone who enjoys British panel game shows, I'm very put off by the ones that involve recent events too much in their discourse, because there will invariably be laughs about US politics where all the panelists have the exact same opinion...
I do agree that sometimes ppl identify with the most ridiculous ideologies as if it was a legitimate personality trait. However, I do believe that believing some things outside of ”real world relevance” is sometimes a useful tool for understanding the wide range of beliefs humans can have and the worldviews which often don’t fit any specific label as well as wider society in general
When I was somewhat younger, I was very much sucked into the world you describe in this video of grand, pseudo political ideological escapism. One of the events that really snapped me out of this phase was seeing the grand failure of January 6th, which to me represents the epitome of what happens when one engages with politics in a very "fake" way, disconnected from the actual use of power and caught up in narratives as opposed to concerned with relationships between people. This all sounds very abstract, but suffice to say, I've come to appreciate a less ideological view of politics.
I got my BA in political science nearly 10 years ago and I only, for the first time, joined a local activist group and spoke at a regional council, in support of minor policy decision. Much like you I am an avid political observer but realizing how little know about the mundane yet crucial details of the political process. I, of course have been following the lead of some political activists who have way more experience in this type of action and there's so much to learn. It's humbling yet exciting to be actively engaged now.
Your second pet peeve has a twist going back to the foreigners: They confuse American politics with their countys. Too often I talk with people about politics regarding my county but they come at it with a background understanding of American politics which makes it almost irrelevant to my countrys politics. I have heard the same from friends in 2 other European countries. E.g. earlier today I talked with someone about homelessness, and despite of him also being Danish he came at it with a understanding of homelessness in USA.
That’s the thing. You Euroids think you know a bit about American politics when you know nothing in actuality. You euros know as much about American politics as a 1 year old does about calculus, which is to say, not much.
god especially about race/ethnicity/religion. race politics in the us is absolutely NOTHING like caste and religion politics in india. there’s no way you can use the understand of one to deal with the other
I am an American who has recently (over the past 3-4 years) developed a deep and sincere interest in Canada (I have made many Canadian friends online). You're one of my primary sources for Canadiana. I also follow channels that provide commentary on politics in other countries. That would make me one of the Americans who actually actively follows politics outside of my country. Mostly because politics within the US has become a clown show of people "self-righteously ignorant" concerned only for entertainment and virtue telegraphing.
Believe me, I'm aware. One motivation I had to learn about Canada was the possibility of moving there to escape the US's decline. After everything I've learned, I figured it's better to stay where I am and try to ride out the storm. Canada wasn't a bright enough beacon for me to follow.
@@gregoryferraro7379 I'd argue the opposite, but it depends WHERE you live. For example, becaues of canada's electoral system, between elections MOST canadians barely pay attention to politics. Elections have gotten shorter, Albertas was done in three weeks. In canada we are taught to not discuss politics or religion and that generally holds. Online is different because you are going LOOKING for it. In Maine for example, they have citizens initiatives and right now are talking about the 'right to repair', when in Canada I doubt you could find five people that even know what that is.
@@mikearchibald744 this notion that everyone in the US is constantly talking about politics and religion is also influenced by online perceptions. It's not an uncommon view in the US to consider talking about religion or politics at the dinner table as taboo or off limits for example. It may be more common in the US than Canada but I often see Canadians make that statement online and I find it funny. Everything you see online and on Cable news about the US often isn't an actual widespread thing among normal people.
@@chickenfishhybrid44 Well, the OTHER issue with social media is talking to extremes. I certainly wouldn't argue with your point except that we are talking in generalities, even maybe stereotypes. However, there is a structural difference, in Canada the 'powers that be' don't like people talking about politics AT ALL. Whereas in the states they want them talking about PARTIES and personalities. So what you say is likely true, to a point. My counter example is that I have friends in the US who moved there, one from canada, one is swedish. He's a pastor in a baptist church and the congregation keeps trying to get him to talk about vaccines and Trump and he keeps refusing. It IS church after all, I don't see that Jesus had ANYTHING to say about either. But also to my point, when you go to youitubes or places to actually talk about the 'right to repair' and other citizens initiaitves, there are almost nobody there commenting. Very surprising. And that extends across teh country, LOTS of people even in states WITH citzens initiatives that don't even KNOW they have them. Probably for the same reason Alberta Canada just brought in citizens initiatives TWO YEARS ago and yet I cant' find an Albertan who even knows it, AND I can't find even an online media source that has MENTIONED it. In other words. DEMOCRACY is the discussion meant to be avoided. In Canada by talking about politics at all, in the US by ensuring anything BUT that topic comes up. That a country that brags so much on democracy and yet has NEVER held a national referendum on ANY subject, one of the ONLY countries, thats just beyond crazy yet you can't even find people COMMENTING on that. But Trump really changed that, even in Canada more canadians talked american politics, well, Trump., than canadian. In Alberta there is significant pressure to trash Trudeau, so that comes up ALL the time. Conservatives are very active online for pretty obvious reasons. But as you say, thats not 'normal'. The other glaring fact in both US and Canada is that usually BARELY half the population even VOTES federally. We had a local election and not even ONE percent came out to vote.
I feel your pain about number 2. Lots of foreigners talking much of the "let me tell you about YOUR country". Concerning Mexico, is that many of these channels and authors don't even speak the most basic Spanish, so a lot of nuance is completely lost, and of course they mostly get their info from third- or fourth- or fifth-degree sources. It appears most of them haven't even gone through the first step for giving opinions about a Latin American country: spend-a-vacation-at-a-resort.
I think the reason more Americans watch your channel (as well as other Canadian channels broadly speaking) is that there are over 300 million of them right next door and we have a shared culture that the algorithm jives with.
"Politics for Power" is an awesome book! Glad you gave it a shout-out JJ. Political hobbyism is my #2 political pet peeve. Right after "low rung" politics as described by Tim Urban in "What's Our Problem".
You know, having my YT channel for 7 years did teach me a lot of things, but the most crucial is that you don't have to have an opinion about everything and you especially don't have to argue with anyone about it. But also besides that - young people shouldn't be left unsupervised to the Internet. It left me addicted and with constantly changing political opinion that only began to stabilize after 5 years of me starting debates that nobody asked for.
I fee like both sides of any culture war debate would say the exact same thing, though. The disagreement is where exactly the line of "restricting the freedom of others" is.
@@haydencrawford8552 That isn't clear, though. What qualifies as basic needs? You know that people will not agree on that. When does political/religious expression go too far? You know that not everyone will agree on that either. This is the whole point of JJ's video, you can't just boil down your entire political beliefs to a nice snappy sentence, there will be situations that it doesn't account for.
11:00 I wish more channels covered other countries politics. A few years ago I had an itch to learn about India’s government and found very little. I’m pretty curious on European politics too. All I’ve gathered is there’s a “power struggle” between France and Germany to lead the EU. And that Turkey for some reason really hates Sweden. It’s like a soap opera that’s heavily Gate Kept and I want to know more damnit
Coverage of European politics does exist. You just Gotta find a channel That's ran by a European creator. "Into Europe" might help ya! Same with "TLDR News". TLDR has Seperate channels for the UK & the EU, as they're ran by Brits.
there is a LOT of content on india politics and government out there, the only issue is that if you don’t speak hindi or another major indian language, a lot of that is unavailable. that being said, there’s definitely a lot in english too. i mean india _does_ have like the second largest english speaking population
Regarding the "people from around the world that only talk about the USA point: personally I'm Italian and while I'd greatly enjoy learning more about the politics of my own country and its neighbors, I pretty much exclusively watch English youtube channels because in general they have better content than italian ones; however a side effect of this is that english content is obviously more focused on English-speaking countries
As an Alsatian, I hate learning about US politics, because this reinforces the US cultural hegemony. Instead I'd like to know more about Italian politics. Do you know an English or French speaking channel who talks about it? Or at least with subtitles? Preferable to what Meloni did to the country and what are the differences and similarities between her and Le Pen
@@brandonf1260 Alsatians are an ethnic group native to Alsace (Elsàss), a cultural region next to the Rhine River that has its own unique traditions, culture and language. We could actually say we're our own separate nation. This region for many times in history changed sovereignty, mainly between France and Germany, but in reality, neither really cared for our interests. Currently, this region is a part of France, but that's political geography and doesn't reflect our cultural background, therefore, I prefer identifying with my ethnic group/nation over political borders, and I wish others did the same. In fact, unlike what many people believe, France isn't mainly one nation made up of one French culture and ethnicity. France is a multinational nation, comparable to Belgium or Yugoslavia. It has Alsatians, but also Bretons, Occitans, Gascons, Corsicans, Savoyards, Native Americans Guyanese, Polynesians, Afro-Carribeans, etc. In fact, me identifying as Alsatian is very important to me, because France has been actively erasing our identity or at best ignoring it. For example, in 2015, our region stopped existing on official maps, instead being annexed to the same region as Champagne, which, unlike us, isn't a Germanic nation and is way closer to French culture. It's as if Canada made Québec and Ontario one huge province. Or the US made California and Texas one big southwestern state. Although, these aren't perfect analogies, because that's what already happened in North America, all of these provinces and states are already built on ignoring identities and cultures of the First Nations, that are way older and more substantial than modern day state cultures. So if you want to fight for cultural diversity and you're a North American, consider learning some things about Indigenous peoples of where you live in. Ah also, why didn't I just say I'm French? Well as I've said, it's a political description, not a cultural one. Unfortunately, a lot of people see the world in a country based lens, where everything is about sovereign states, even while describing cultures. And that's a shame. For example, I wish people described themselves as being from Sindh, Tuscany, Guandong, Tamil Nadu, or being Cherokee or Ashanti way more than they describe themselves being from Pakistan, Italy, China, India, or being American or Ghanaian. Because it wouldn't make sense if the EU became a federation for people to describe themselves only as European, and not as French, Italian, German, etc, anymore, but that is unfortunately how most describe themselves, even mega diverse countries like India, Pakistan, Ghana, or Indigenous communities without a lot to do with the settler society like the Haida, Haudenosaunee, Yupik, etc from North America. And so yeah, if you wonder, I specifically described myself as an Alsatian to get people to ask me questions and to describe the situation and maybe get the world to change a little bit in how we think about world cultures and languages! Sàlü bisame, S'Elsässer Volk!
My pet peeve would be the unawareness online politics creates amongst the youth regarding their own political realities. They are just so unaware of how poor or rich or whatever their country or constituency is because they are often too busy being online rather than being on the ground, talking to people about their problems and getting to know their society better instead of being stuck in their own bubble. This is a trend I see in the upper and upper middle class of my country at the very least, idk about other countries tho. The disjoint really irks me.
As a westerner myself, I'm tired of my fellow Westerners constantly complaining about capitalism and the rich contributing the most to climate change and income inequality, forgetting that in the global scheme, the Western middle class and even sometimes poor IS the 1% and that yes we all (in the West) should have to change our lifestyles too for it to be sustainable, it isn't all the fault of the billionaires and their private jet (although yes, billionaires shouldn't exist and since they have the power and money, they are indeed often the one responsible for even creating an unsustainable lifestyle by lobbying for cars, fossil fuels, massive meat industry, etc, but yes, we "common folk" should have to change our lifestyles too for it to be sustainable again, but also this doesn't even have to be painful, this could be amazing, if anything, for example, walkable cities, bikes and trams are better for the climate but also nicer and healthier)
US-Americans and Canadians often massively underestimate the amount of harm their country's "founding" has done to Indigenous people, they're also largely oblivious to their actual living conditions today, which are largely miserable, and as for the preservation of their culture and language, that's exponentially worse
Europeans are often oblivious about how much antisemitism still exists today and the harassment and discrimination that many Jewish people in Europe still have to face today, that is if they still live in Europe and weren't murdered/expelled/left. And that's also way, way worse for the Middle East. But even in Europe, antisemitism is far from over, unfortunately. Europeans are also very oblivious about Romani people and most hold antiziganist views, ignoring the different social issues and painful history of the Romas in Europe, for example the Porajmos, the slavery in Romania, the sterilisation in Slovakia, etc.
@@gamermapper this is something I find fault with in regards to jj's attitude towards politics and is something quite common (though not exclusive) to more conservative leaning folk. they are very fixated on local and national interests and what can personally affect them or their country's citizens. it's important to be informed on those things. but it's frustrating to see westerners not give a fuck about anyone else or even conceive of how they might affect anyone else when their global influence is massive. the dictates and behaviours of these countries can mean life and death for people on the other side of the planet, but those people have 0 control of these decisions. that's my biggest problem with modern politics and governance, power is global but political involvement is local. democracy can not really exist, if it's localized within a global system that's anything but democratic.
About time someone said this. Everyone who has anything to say about politics falls into one of your outlined categories, though I wish you had touched more on the personal outrage/identity aspect of politics. I enjoyed hearing your unique perspective as a Canadian national. Has the internet always been such a dumping ground for anonymous hot takes?
Algorithms which are designed to maximize engagement will boost hot takes. Personally I found the only solution is to minimize social media use and try to stay out of the comment sections. These platforms are addictive though.
I’d say the biggest thing that annoys me is how much people in general, left and right, seem to want to use the government as a weapon to fight culture wars.
You can't blame people for being only interested in US politics. Most countries' politics are boring AF, US politics is a real life version of the WWE.
Yea, there’s a difference between interest and obsession. Also a lot will then think they understand American culture/life better than people living here because they are plugged into the News Pipeline.
It isn't though. The actual day-to-day politics that affect real people is monotonous and slow, people seem to forget that the US is fucking huge and national politics are a very small slice of the political pie (opposed to state politics and even lower). Media sensationalism is a pretty big reason why, though. A standard and normal part of the political process can take place and by the end of the day each news organisation has published 5+ stories on how this single insignificant thing will affect everything going forward lol (doesn't matter if it's wrong though, it's moved past and forgotten about by the time we actually see the results)
The friend-enemy distinction is probably the most important part of politics, everything else is detail: whom should the state hurt? Most people don't get more of a say than "not me," but if you do, it's important to know who your enemies are. The "online politics" you decry helps with that.
My biggest pet peeve is kind of an extension of your 1st one. People in online politics get into EXTREME echo chambers to the point where they believe the country is politically very different than reality. For example, as a left leaning queer person I have quite a few leftist friends. In this context, I mean leftist as in actual socialists. They genuinely do believe that the majority of people agree with them and are very unpragmatic. I can't even count the number of times I've heard them say they hate liberals. What they don't seem to understand is that they need to work with liberals to get anything they want done (other than abolish capitalism which you addressed as impossible). In Canada this might be a bit more easy to see as the left tends to vote more for the Liberals than they do the NDP. But most of my friends are Americans, and it seems that they think the Democratic establishment is out of touch with their voter base which couldn't be further from the truth. But because there isn't a fragmented left vote like in Canada they can't directly see how many voters are moderate liberals. This is why in First-Past-The-Post representative democracies, things tend towards two centre parties. Most people are not extreme.
I remember during the 2020 election, a lot of conservatives were predicting these ridiculous landslides for Trump despite polls consistently favoring Biden just because they assumed that everyone shared the same values as them in their little echo chambers. On the other side of the coin, I've seen a lot of Bernie people who are absolutely convinced that if it weren't for the DNC being corrupt (which it is, but Bernie was still a distant second in both elections) he would've been president, despite the fact that anyone calling themselves a socialist, whether they actually are or not, is basically repellent to at least 50% of the country.
I don't hate politics in it of itself as much as discussion of it has invaded a lot of entertainment spaces. You can't talk about movies or video games without running into someone who thinks whatever you enjoy has some sort of political ulterior motive. Yeah, media can be political, but focusing on it too much turns it into a game of who can have better propoganda and turns personal taste into political activism. We get situations like Hogwartz Legacy or TLoU2, where merely liking the game for geniune non-political reasons got you labeled as a political extremist. It's super concerning to me because we're repeating the same mistakes as the Red Scare, where doing anything vaguely anti-establishment will get you labeled as whoever the villainous political ideology of the week is and get you blacklisted from holding a job.
A big pet peeve of mine is the oversimplification of political terms and ideas. People online like the convey things they don't fully understand through half-baked analogies that boil down to I'm a good person and the opposition is evil.
my biggest petpeeve about online politics would have to be: You don't 100% think like me politically, so I hate you. a close second: DEBATE ME!!!!!!! People thinking everything is up for debate and then acting like Ben Shapiro or Steven Crowder and treating the people they're debating like complete idiots.
Ah crud, I've been called out for the inherent contrarianism behind self-identifying as a libertarian socialist! Forreal though I just think there should be less federal control (libertarian) and that what is there should focus more on people's wellbeing (socialist). I think I dug my feet into that one out if spite when extremist echo chambers started dogpiling me as a "filthy centrist" for not literally being anarcho-communist. Did I mention this was in a random Star Trek facebook group?
Your not fully on the right so I hate you. Socialism you say? Must be another Marx loving Commie! All jokes aside you libertarians do get the short end of the stick in the discourse, I have been guilty in the past of overgeneralizing libertarianism. However, I do feel that the political space is wayy too polarizing right now for any meaningful libertarian break through, which is a shame because we definitely need that middle ground to help opposite ends of the spectrum come to a better understanding and get things moving.
I definitely relate to the non-Americans being involved in American politics. You see a lot of “As a Brit I don’t understand how America can be abc” or “Speaking as a Dutchman, we could NEVER tolerate xyz” like their countries are some utopia without problems that Americans wouldn’t even let happen. Countries have distinct cultural aspects and histories that would allow and prohibit certain things in politics from happening.
I agree and tell them so. I don't push opinions about what they should do, either. My comments are often of a general philosophy basis and I don't project future events, also.
Bro these people dont even udnerstand that America has completely different cultures too. Like sure socialized healthcare works fine in Canada. Were just like that. But I totally see why Americans dont want universal healthcare. Their whole idea as a country, is to be the "wild west" where you can do whatever you want along as you dont disrupt others. Diehard individualism is not without merit/reason either. But at least Canada and America are basically carbon copies of eachother, with slightly different federal governments. Its honestly mindbogglign seeing EUROS who act like they have lived for more than a year in America. Like you cant make decisions about a country if you haven't even lived in it. You need that experience and you need to be in touch with the people who live there. Its like how foreigners were shit talking El Salvador for its approach to dealing with gangs, acting like they could even point to El Salvador on a map, let alone understand what your average el salvadorian experiences.
The issue that I have with foreigners talking about American politics is that they lack any understanding of American political philosophy or governance, which leads to half-backed, poorly constructed arguments. Its also why you see European ideas like ethnostatism being so popular on the right, when these are really not American political movements.
Online politics can be boiled down to one simple question: Who has the zingiest quip? Remember, it's not about which solution is best, who is right and wrong, but whose comment gets the most likes.
Is that not what you are doing though? In fact, is that not what this video does? I mean his entire argument is taking a look at the least educated radicals and using them as an excuse to dismiss entire movements. Hell, no one seems to even want to address the real cause of radicalism. Radicalism is not the result of countryball memes. It is the result of our institutions failing us. A third of Spain didn't form an anarchist revolt against fascism because of their 1930s internet memes. They did it because it was the only way to survive. People are turning to radicalism because they are watching in real time as incrementalism fails to protect basic human rights. Whether you think Joe Biden is failing to protect trans rights and abortion because he doesn't care enough or the system is preventing him from doing so, the only answer is to go outside the system. Between MLK, Ghandi, Mandela, and Malcom X, every single one was a socialist and some even outright anarchists. Between four of the most successful civil rights leaders in history and an ineffective president, as a trans person with their life on the line here, I'm gonna follow the tradition of the four most successful civil rights leaders in history.
Honestly I just love your videos. And yes, online politics is quite annoying sometimes, I just want to know how the world works Also let’s not forget people who build their entire personality around being able to beat others in arguments, man that annoys me, things are so polarized now a days
I find myself spending a lot of time talking about American politics as a Brit for two main reasons, most of my friends are American so inevitably when I talk with them about politics its American, and the USA is the world's dominant superpower so even its internal politics affect the rest of the world. Your point about the ideology obsessed political ball communities is very apt though, which I say as someone who's been deep in these circles. Very often it's lonely, introverted, middle-class kids who lack any experience with the struggles faced by normal people. They view politics as a way to create an identity for themselves, find a social environment full of like minded people, and very much *not* as a means to find solutions to common problems.
I’m Australian and actually find it quite annoying that there isn’t more good Australian political content on youtube. Friendlyjordies is fine but his work very much is exposing videos/agitprop for the ALP. There’s nothing wrong with that, his videos are great, I just wish there was a greater diversity of popular Aussie content creators + more content doing neutral explanatory videos like tldr news.
I really appreciate this JJ, nearly everyone I know who's into politics treats it as entertainment. While I do fall into this political hobbyism of sorts I am also actively involved in politics. If you could I would really appreciate it if you would look into the fight for people with disabilities to have accessible transportation in air travel. Air Carrier Access Amendments Act of 2021 is what currently is in the process of review before being passed. I would really appreciate it if you could help inform other people about it. I'd recommend reading the NPR article "Despite calls to improve, air travel is still a nightmare for many with disabilities" or the Washington Post article "Bill aims to improve air travel for passengers with disabilities" for some basics on the topic
if online politics were banned, good chance is that a lot more people will live life way better and not become basement dwellers who spend hours and hours arguing on topics they can't even do any change towards
I am 21 and I have noticed that my peers here in the states, when faced with an American political, geo-strategical or economic issue, will respond something along the lines of "Capitalism *sad face*" combined with no suggestions to improve the situation and leave it at that. I don't even think the notion that capitalism is evil annoys me, but rather the lack of thought and amount of ignorance that goes into using that as an argument. Perhaps because they have spent more time in America, they find my general political optimism equally as annoying. Really enjoyed the video!
@@qchtohere8636 right, despite the US being a thriving democracy and the richest country in human history, with rapid increasing technological progress and even our poor are often vastly more comfortable and have more a political voice than most people had for most of human history, there's no reason to have any optimism. Everything is terrible.
@@lightfeather9953 Oh for f*cks sake... You really believe all that crap? You really think America's lack of a decent healthcare system, over-dependency on cheap foreign labor, consumerist propelled inflation, veterans' impossible societal reinsertion, opioid crisis and their "constant, absolute and unquestionable" operations abroad are not all *political issues* to begin with? .... Americans (and those believing them with no basis) are literally the most gaslighted people in the whole world, no doubt about it.
@@lightfeather9953 PS: I really really really hope you don't think projects like MKUltra or PRISM is America's "giving everyone a voice" when you finally go ahead and start reading about real American policies applied through the decades...
I’m a very ideology driven young person (20 years old) and I can say from my experience that the extremes are something people will mature out of. I get progressively less and less radical by year while being more in favor of implementing my economic/political ideological changes slowly through out current system of legal revision.
I am 100% with you on the last two, particularly the final one. I have personally loved the sports metaphor for years, because it so accurately describes what I find annoying about modern politics in the US, both on and offline. One specific problem that this contributes to is an extreme all-or-nothing kind of mindset, where any compromise on any part of your personal political agenda is anathema. In sports, an unclear result is a bad thing, and most people who are fans of a team won't be happy with, say, a tie. Unfortunately, compromise is the heart and soul of the democratic process. Yes, it's good to have things you won't compromise on, but when you won't compromise on anything, nothing gets done. Even if you are objectively right, and the other side is engaging in bad faith, and compromising would cause harm to a group of people, if your other alternative is "do nothing and even more people get hurt" then it may be the right thing to do anyway.
As an American who watches both TDLR news and Nfkrz I must say that you are absolutely right, with the internet nowadays connecting people all across the world I think a lot of americans myself included are becoming a lot more interested in what's going on in the world and those two channels bring a lot of an individual approach to their slice of politics in regards to their nations and regions. The fact that as one of these creators you've noticed this trend shows that american interest in international politics seems to be continuing to grow.
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Sure. I need it anyway
its annoying but the internet is the most straightforward way to do and interact with politics
Great commentary! BTW, you wouldn't have Christo Aivalis in mind, among others, in this discussion, would you?
I wish the US and Canada could find ways to integrate, starting off small with like maybe with each country's space programs. Having a singular head or small council in charge of both & any areas where both countries want to financially support would go towards the same research projects so American & Canadian scientist could work in tandem on project. As well if for instance the USA wanted to fund more research & development towards rovers while Canada didnt any Canadian scientist interested specifically in rovers could without issue work on American rover research & development projects without needing to go through any visa or security clearance process that might normally occur. Other areas could be Forest Service or Coast Guard
Terminally online people when they go to their local town meeting and realize it is about boring taxes and no one knows what "based" means.
No, it's about short term rentals, walkability, parking, maybe "The Sidewalk To Nowhere". Stuff like that. Good fun.
As I am approaching my 30s, I'm finding myself becoming increasingly annoyed with what I see as "terminally online takes," things that only make sense in some sort of imagined alternative history. That, or getting fired up over incredibly niche issues, that the majority of people neither have heard about, nor care enough to research.
@@64imma it’s supposed to be annoying and they don’t care if it’s good or well researched, it’s about getting content, any content, out there so you can monetise it, sell mercy, get later on sponsors, give out affiliate links etc etc.
These windbags ranting about culture or politics don’t even believe what they say themselves. It’s pure verbal snake-oil.
@@bearcubdaycare Nice.
I think you underestimate the amount of petty hyper partisan politics that goes on locally. The type of people that desperately want to be your local representative aren't always the best people to do the job.
I'm so glad I'm an Anarcho-Republicanist Subgenarian Sectored Blumkampf-Aligned Federal Reserve Abolitionist and don't have to deal with any of this.
With Chinese Characteristics
personally I'm more of a monarcho-primitivist nomadic Kampfargberianer libertarian stalinist anti-economist rumbelfudgeled kiwi eater, but Anarcho-Republicanist Subgenarian Sectored Blumkampf-Aligned Federal Reserve Abolitionists have an ideology close enough to ours they won't be starved after the great mongolian nomadic counter revolution.
I got into this, I just made my own ideology, which In the end made me focus more on the nitty gritty of governing and very precise issues. So success I guess?
Federal reserve abolisitionist seems pretty neat.
I am a hardcore vegan who believes in the right-wing Soviet socialistic capitalism with Chinese characteristics.
JJ woke up and declared war against all 14 year olds today.
Honestly I kind of like how he's trying to reach out to young people getting into politics and steer them away from this radical populism consuming online discourse
Lol fuck that sort of politics. After watching that I identify as an anarcho-primitive-nazbol posadist even stronger then I did before
J.J has switched from his crusade against the Quebecois to wage war upon Jreg and his fanbase
No, actually. He's very concerned about what information young people are getting and what they're encouraged to do by their peers. You're just being a dick.
@@principetnomusic who is Jreg?
My pet peeve is when someone dismisses a view they disagree with as "getting too political"
But then frames a view they agree with as "Just common sense" and not being political
I’ve never thought of it that way but yes people definitely do this to shut down conversation! Thanks for stating it that way
i don't like when ppl call the existence of a minority as political either. like bro people exist it's not political to exist
I think the idea of "common sense" is one that either reinforces the status quo or just exists for people to launder and project their own ideas onto.
Based on how the phrase is used, I always took "getting too political" to mean "expressing an opinion I disagree with but don't have a well thought-out argument against." Some people just don't like political debates because they're so emotionally invested in their beliefs that it makes them distraught to be confronted with opinions that differ from theirs; they can't help but take it personally because to them their beliefs are a core part of their identity. (No exaggeration, I had a coworker once nearly in tears when she found out I just didn't think Biden was in general doing a good job. I'm no fan of Trump, but I honestly can't think of a single thing in this country that's been made better by Biden being president instead. This deeply offended her somehow, and not in just the "I disagree with what you're saying" kind of way, but as if she felt directly attacked.) In contrast to that, I always like to say I believe what I believe because of who I am; I'm not who I am because of what I believe. I also think that any opinion worth having is worth defending. If you're unwilling to defend what you believe, why do you believe it?
@@saintnicole3209 Yeah but the use of minorities in media is oftentimes a political ploy by the people making said media to appeal to certain groups. That's usually where I see people saying "minorities existing isn't political".
In fact, a lot of minorities would disagree with you and would say their lives are pretty inherently political due to how it is to exist in America. I've seen it said by them quite a bit, at the very least.
As an McCulloughist I am so upset that my glorious ideological leader has disavowed me
Now you know the pain of us JREGarians (anti-centrists)
so you HATE quebec?
@@xx_bidoof-faxer_xx4747 no and neither does JJ
I've found that online politics involves the words "Nazi" and "communist" quite a bit
"Everyone I Don't Like is Hitler- A Guide to Online Political Discussion"
godwin's law is very relevant in online politics
That sounds like a bunch of Comunazi nonsense to me!
And it's often really lose, i've been called both, a Nazi and a Communist......throughtout most of the start of the 21st century, communist hss become a loose term that people will liberals "communists" or social democrats, "communists" which is just pathetic.....and the word nazi being thrown around like it's subjective, it's not, we've become a society where everyone screams at each other and the government fuels it with dividing the people more, nobody is civil
I find that most people who call others fascist, don't know what fascism is.
the worst is when people think the best form of political “activism” is just creating the most niche ideology and aggressively hating all the most closely aligned ideologies and refusing to work with them towards any common goals
It shouldn’t be niche though to be, for example, pro gay rights and against gun control. Especially when lgbt people are often targeted by bigots.
@@science_bear There's a difference between an "ideology" and "political stance." You can call yourself a anarcho-libertarian but that doesn't mean you support the removal of gay marriage.
@@science_bear Do you mean pro gun control? Against gun control would be advocating for less restrictions.
@@MoMo-rx4zr I’m saying that there should be more pro lgbt people that argue for less gun restrictions, homophobes will bash us regardless of the gun laws but we need a way to keep ourselves safe.
@@velvetgorge3844 doesn’t one’s ideology drive their stances though?
I hate it when people treat geopolitic conflicts as a team game. As something to spice up your identity. I'm Israeli, and sso often i see people commenting "free palestine" and palestinian flags on videos of jewish creators, or commenting "long live israel" and israeli flags on videos of arab creators, and honestly it makes me so frustrated. This is a real conflict, with many dying every year, it's not a edward vs jacob debate. What we actually need to do is find ways that we could both live together and end this conflict. Harrassimg people with flags is not activism, it's childish and it does nothing for the people suffering. It's just a cynical use of this conflict to make you feel more important than you are. That's what i hate the most about political discourse on the internet
Team Edward though, let's make this clear.
You're telling me a Ukrainian flag emoji on a Twitter profile isn't helping?
@@Onibushou shockingly no
Agreed. I am generally pro-Palestinian, but this depiction of Israelis as cartoonishly evil (and vice-versa) always repulses me. Rarely is anything that cut and dry.
@@omershaik6374 but but... what about the ukrainian flag facebook filter.
My pet peeve is when people are unwilling to police people on their own side. Especially when they defend bad actors because they don’t want to give other factions valid reasons to criticize theirs.
It’s infuriating when people tell me I believe things I don’t because they can’t even comprehend having actual principles
It is not my job or yours to police people who have similar values to us, rather, it is the job of the listener to find things they agree with and things they do not.
@@samueljohnson6152 what he means to say is that people usually stay silent or support people from their side when they do bad things even though they criticize people from the opposite side when they do the same thing
@@Thedimensionalwarrior I as a Black person am seeing this when it comes to excusing outright criminality and the consequences thereof, because the person who happened to quell the situation, was a White man, or a Cisgender in general, depending on how some feel about that. It suddenly becomes that I must either side with the avowed criminal, or be seen as a race/lowkey -phobic and self/hating traitor. Same with LGBTQ issues, but I won't open two cans of worms at once. It's just frustrating to think that there have to be 'sides' in objective matters, rather than context of "Okay who was acting up?"
Yes!!! I wouldn't call it policing but more holding them socially accountable. It especially happens when we originally advocated for someone before and established an investment in that person, either financially or just emotionally. Best example of this is presidents and government officials we can vote in and out. If they mess up, somehow it's now attached to us so there's this false dichotomy that either (1) WE take the L and admit we were/are wrong for voting for that person or (2) refuse to take the L and continue to defend their actions (and by extension our own ability of discernment) to the bitter end! But there is a secret third option: call it out and hold that person accountable for not living up to why we voted for them in the first place. It's THEIR actions that let US down! Just because you voted for/hired/befriended/advocated for someone, it doesn't mean you have to defend and stand behind every decision or mistake they make!
@@samueljohnson6152 can't stand the way that guilt by association has become so popular.
While I fully understand "why" this is a thing, my number one pet peeve in politics is that everything is a crisis...even when it isn't.
Thats a good point, people normally don't mention it when it comes to 'toxic online discourse' because it seems like people have good intentions, but the disingenuousness with which some people do this is so frustrating. Charities manipulating statistics to make it seem like their issue is the most urgent is so infuriating, even if I totally understand why they do it
I am 40 years old and I have been told that every election I have ever participated in was the most important election of a generation. I stopped listening well over a decade ago.
@@MrEffinBest I remember being told that reducing government subsidies for beef to help discourage the industry was "literally worse than the holodomor". Ironically this person was a communist, so I'm at least pleasantly surprised they believed in it.
(For context the conversation was about encouraging a different form of national diet in a similar way Japan introduced the egg as a staple food in like the 80s to improve public health)
I picked up on this in the pandemic every week there was some brand new controversey
It is like the political elites that drive politics have a committee somewhere creating conflicts. "Hmm that doens't seem to be a problem we should tackle, but we can make this one." - Manufacturing outrage.
Online politics doesn’t accurately portray democracy, all it does is give the people with the loudest voices the most power and influence. Those people are more often than not radicals that don’t represent the views of the vast majority of individual people at all.
Yes and?
No, politics in the real world has shifted online. This isn’t a parody. People always believed in extremist ideologies. Online just makes it into entertainment.
The actual bad thing about online is just the disregard of the humans we talk to. It’s easier to talk shit to a screen than a person but the mental effect is still similar, especially if you get bandwagoned on.
I think the reason it's more often than not radicals, though, is for a lot of the same reasons JJ laid out. People treat it as entertainment, and the most entertaining voices aren't the ones that are reasonable, well thought out, and logical, but instead are the loud, off the top of your head, emotionally driven voices.
You could observe that very well, when Elon Musk was about to buy Twitter. Everybody, especially in the media, was freaking out and saying that it "is dangerous for democracy" as if everybody is getting their information from Twitter.
I wish that was true, but I'm slowly losing faith in that assumption. So many people shout "bigot" "Nazi" "fascist" etc online, that I'm sure that's what most people from that political tribe unironically believe. They are just a lot more quiet IRL. Jonathan Haidt did a study that showed that the further left you are the more likely you will not be able to understand what the right believes in, despite what the right says they believe in. They will play armchair psychology and assume the worst.
Non-Americans are obsessed with American politics because they consume movies, TV shows and music that come largely from the US. As a Canadian/American who now lives in Switzerland, I noticed that many Swiss prefer to watch Stranger Things, Ozark, etc. over their own TV shows. Learning about US politics is a byproduct of that.
I feel like that kind of gives the game away about people treating politics as entertainment.
The problem is that these people often think they understand America because they watched a few TV shows.
@@davidnicholson6680 or they visit Orlando on vacation and then think they've experienced the country.
It’s like saying you know about Japan’s social issues because you watched a ton of anime.
@@davidnicholson6680 and also through American video games and books.
What you said. I also am irritated by people who don't understand their own self-chosen political cults and can't coherently defend their ideologies but don't seem to realize that they conflict violently with their own actual positions.
LIke how the average tankie comes from a demographic that would be the first one up against the wall in a stalinist style system. :p
This is why I hate twitter anarchists. They have this extreme ideology and then crumble at the simplest probe like "how are medical/food safety/labour/etc. standards decided" or "what happens if someone commits a crime"
It's because those cults want you to distort reality according to your beliefs and not shape your beliefs according to reality. It makes things more exciting, especially for youngsters in search of adrenaline.
It's similar to how conspiracy theories work: why trying to give analyzed and mundane explanations when it's more exciting to believe there is some big bad evil behind the scenes and only you, the chosen one, can stop it?
@ironlion45 Tankies, I would also add Libertarians. The concept of Libertarianism is remarkably simple yet I haven't met a single Libertarian who actually lived by its values.
Anarchists are the worst though, easily the most vapid, thoughtless people of the sectrum.
@@ironlion45 or how a lot of working-class people take up strange libertarian views that would only gimp them if implemented. Bonus points if they're gold bugs
Something that especially bothers me about the whole ‘non-Americans speaking on American issues’ thing is how a lot of more liberal Europeans, especially British people I’ve noticed, normally talk about their country’s politics like it’s this apocalyptic conservative hellscape but then the SECOND an American comes into the picture, suddenly they’re living in a utopia where everyone is just as progressive as they are and Americans are the only ones who need to shape up
That happens so much and it gets to a point when people would dismiss the real problems of their country as "not as bad as the Americans ergo; not that bad"
I used to chat on to those weird and edgy discord communities who focus on politics when i was just some lazy teenager, and i see alot of those people "LARPing" and overall fetishizing weird ideologies, just because they sound "cool" and "quirky" and i was definitely one of them back then. And Surprise surprise, it was very toxic, and it got to the point that people were basically saying some naughty stuff to eachother, and after that, i uninstalled most of my social media, got a break, and started treating politics less as a football match and more of "Just another subject i was interested on" type of matter.
TL:DR: Online poltics nowadays are basically just astrology for nerdy social outcasts, and its very... very annoying.
Anyways, Great Video J.J, as always.
JJ simply must do a video showing his drawing process. Probably won't be for everyone, but I'm sure some of us would like to see talent at work.
Yes! I 100% agree!
He made a video called 'Watch me draw 10 US Presidents'
@@JoyJournal Yeah, but that was on paper. I wanna see how he does these digital characters
We also desperately need a hair routine / tutorial
@@lukerees281 Ehhh... it's true it makes him look a lot younger, but I wouldn't be cought dead with a hairstyle like his.
(No hard feelings JJ, we love you)
The political compass is like astrology for edgy 13 year olds
One side is wear a beret and all of a sudden you are che while the other is, say a slur and believe you're superior than everyone who isn't the same race as you
Just like this whole Alpha, Beta and Sigma thing.
@@fantuswitt9063 opposite sides of the same coin
it's more like xenogenders
@@vickystxr6728 I don't see it as much :/
The second pet peeve is something I encounter all to often on discord. Many people I've talked to from the UK and continental Europe are obsessed with hating the US, and I have no idea where it comes from.
I try to reduce some tension by saying stuff like "well, every country has its problems - and I have a great number of things I like in your country" -
"yeah exactly, _we've_ got a country that actually functions where our people aren't shooting up schools, or..."
It is a sad microcosm I think, of the modern political landscape, where people have little desire to find common ground, but actively seek to promote conflict.
You ain't lying IT IS ABSOLUTELY INSANE. You can't go on any video or channel without people finding some way to shit on the US. Like the video won't even remotely have anything with the US. But the US just gets caught with a stray for no reason lol. You'll literally see someone comment "Americans.." and it'll be the most liked comment lol
As a European living in the UK who has lived in the USA in the past and generally likes Americans, the reasons may vary between countries and people depending on political orientation. And in some countries it might be specific situations, for example when an American commits a crime or causes a serious accident but doesn’t want to cooperate with the authorities or face any consequences afterwards. If an American kills someone in a traffic accident which they clearly caused, and the American government helps the American to leave the European country … sorry, people simply don’t like that. Or American groups funding Anti-Abortion groups or similar causes in European countries…. sorry, but why? There are some things Europeans would like Americans to stay out of, which might vary between individuals. Most Europeans are realistic about the relationship with the USA, the USA is clearly more powerful and compromises need to be made… but some things people would like to decide for their country 🤔
Not sure if some historical issues play a role - Operation Gladio comes to mind… e.g. not sure if you are aware of what the CIA and NATO did undercover during the Cold War. While probably well intended at the time, it caused quite a mess … and people died… well look into it yourself. Or ask people on the political left in Greece or Italy, they are probably the best people to explain some of the mess.
People resent places that have more power than where they live and want to get the upper hand somehow to try and compensate, which often manifests as moral smugness. Uninformed anti-Americanism is certainly one of the more annoying examples (although I've noticed that a lot of Americans of all political stripes are getting real sick and tired of that, thank God) but even within America, that sentiment is what drives a lot of the right wing these days. "Yeah our small town might be poor as fuck but at least we ain't no avocado toast eating libruls!" is an infuriatingly common justification for voting Republican. It's not that rural pride is bad- I've lived in the sticks before and I generally enjoyed it- it's just the raging insecurity and tribalism that gets to me.
@@Lorenz1973 Operation Gladio was the anti-communist sleeper cells, right? We did that in America, too. Lots of Alaskan fishermen and construction workers were trained to disrupt Soviet activities in the event of an invasion.
@@Lorenz1973 Italian leftwing guy here (though I consider myself more of a social democrat, therefore center left).
Among the Italian radical left there is this idea that Italy is a sort of "colony" of the US because of NATO military bases, pacts with the Mafia for Operation Husky, the failed Borghese Coup of 1970 and Operation Gladio and the black terrorism of the Years of Lead (1970s).
Since Italy was the Western European country with the largest Communist Party among NATO members, the Italian radical left absolutely despise the US as much as the far right, though the latter for different reasons.
Unfortunately most of this scorn, mixed with a rather nationalistic pride for Italian culture, has degenerated into blind hatred, where every regime that opposes the US is hailed as an "independent" and heroic country, no matter if it's a nationalistic regime like Russia, or a theocracy like Iran. Many of these radical leftwingers that eventually embrace right wing positions are known as "rossobruni" (red browns).
While I don't like quite some aspects of US foreign policy, I'd rather have Italy allied with the US than with other powerful countries, although I'd prefer a more compact European Union.
As An Ordist-Nationalist-Social Democratic-Social Conservative-Conservationist-Antiwoke-Populist-Machiavellian…
This video really spoke to me.
Yeah yeah
@@JJMcCullough Sorry if the joke was a bit repetitive, lol 😂. Love your content BTW
@@JJMcCullough well considering that Dictatorial Rulers and Representatives in democracies need to keep their Key supporters happy to maintain power for example and the relative comfort of stable "global north" countries, I think its not surprising then that people (at least) would see politics as entertainment since it looks like a "mere" game of power - see "Rules for Rulers" by CGP Grey.
that position isn't even that radical
My primary complaint on modern online politics is that it's influencing actual politics. It's not like radicals and psychotic candidates were never a thing before online politics, but it's gotten mainstreamed to the point that some dangerously ill-informed people have taken the reins of power and are steering the entire political body right into the ground.
Sometimes they force it on the general public too.
I went to a restaurant the other day. And one guy came in. Sat down, and started listening to an Alex Jones podcast on full volume.
Another guy at my worksite constantly checks his phone. Because of updates from Fox News.
-It felt like being in a weird dictatorship. Where you're supposed to have the "right flag." And listen to the "correct" radio station.
It's so weird seeing how the internet simultaneously made us smarter and yet more likely to believe in stupid beliefs.
@@NA-AN Information is the same now as it was when Gutenberg built the first printing press. It's just faster and more ubiquitous now. I think it was Samuel Clemens that said, "A lie can travel around the world and back again while the truth is lacing up its boots." That was at a time when the fastest information could travel was via telegram but most couldn't go faster than a train or horse. Now it's lightspeed.
@@Craxin01 I thought he preferred his pen name (Samuel clemens). Huh.
@@NA-AN I tend to differentiate between the man (Samuel Clemens) and the work he wrote under his pen name. If I'm citing a book quote, I'd say Mark Twain.
The more I spend time on Twitter, the less comprehensible the political ideologies I see there become
“I’m an Anarcho-Social Collectivist.”
“What does that mean?”
“Idk”
I've interacted with someone who defended Pol Pot, which I thought was too radical for even the most hardcore leftists. I also once encountered someone who called anyone who criticized landlords a "landphobe" with no hint of irony. These peeps need to get some friends.
@the flying catto from the perspective of a communist/leftist, everyone else is a liberal
keep in mind "leftists" are basically pro socialism / anti capitalism, isn't the same as "the left" ie. Democrats
@Flying-cat5425
Honestly, what you’re describing sounds a bit like an unwillingness to learn, which is completely understandable. Not everyone has the time to care or think about “leftist discourse” or whatever, but that doesn’t seem like a fault in either you or leftists. There was a just language barrier.
I do take issue with someone complaining about the use of “old words” as if they stopped being used in the early 1900s. Bourgeoise and proletariat have existed as concepts and terms for centuries. Rome had its proletarii class of people, and that root stuck around for countless centuries, so I just can’t accept that as valid criticism of any discourse.
@Flying-cat5425 What the f are you on about? Whatever you are looking at isn't "leftist Twitter", and no liberal is using words like that, or praising the USSR. Everything you have described is the literal definition of disinformation, either yours or someone else's. These aren't liberal ideologies, and anyone who claims they are is lying. You aren't talking to actual liberals, you're talking to people who want you to think that's what liberals are. Either way, your anecdote can't be trusted.
I also hate how "dumbed down" political discourse online has become, with people competing to make the most meta memes possible, buried in layers and layers of post-irony while also having an underlying message somewhere. A good example of this are wojaks, incredibly stereotyped and cherry picked characters having imaginary arguments in the name of humour. This is how so many young people are getting exposed to new ideas (including me), and I don't think it's very healthy for rational debate
Strawmanning is a huge problem, I agree. I remember someone on twitter talking about how a lot of political commentary seems to consist of people making up fake people to get mad at.
Exactly! By the way, thank you for your high quality content, you're definitely one of the best political commentators on the internet right now!
@@JJMcCulloughthe comment above this one talks about points you missed. Dogpiling, doomerism, ect. I think you should make a sequel vid.
Just missing the Target s and points on purpose to never settle the real topics.
@@grengrenhuskeydog pilling?
JJ you have no idea how refreshing and validating it is to hear someone else who is annoyed with super niche and obscure political identities. As always great video
Is that what he's doing though? Niche? Yes. Obscure? I mean, half of the time he mentions anarchism, an ideology with notable figures like Ghandi, inspired figures like MLK, and played the single largest role in fighting fascism in Spain. The other half of the ideologies mentioned are other forms of socialism and, in case you haven't heard of the second largest economy in the world or the entirety of the cold war, is far from an obscure ideology.
Like it or not, the phenomenon of radicalism shaping politics is far from new. Without the works of a single anarchist, Leo Tolstoy, we would not have had Ghandi, Mandela, or MLK. Without a single socialist union, the IWW, it would've taken several decades longer to get any form of workplace safety, child labor laws, or the 40 hour work week. Hell, had it not been for the backlash that resulted from 7 innocent anarchists being hung despite their proven innocence in the wake of the Haymarket Square massacre you would probably be working 12 hour days right now.
Not once has incrementalism stopped a coup. Not once has incrementalism built a global campaign for civil rights. Not once has incrementalism overthrown a dictator. These are all things done by radicalism.
@@space1546 this is a channel led by a canadian conservative, what do you expect from him
@@jeanivanjohnson I'd like to think everyone is capable of honesty and integrity regardless of their political affiliation, though I'm not sure if I believe it.
@@space1546 If you think China is socialist I feel sorry for you
@@雷-t3j we are talking about ideological obscurity here. Socialism, the ideology, is different from socialism, the economic mode of production. Even in ML terms China is state-capitalist and, as an anarchist, I wouldn't even call the ML perversion of socialism that pretends the workers are the same as the government actually socialist. That's not what's being discussed though. What's being discussed is whether the belief that the workers should own the means of production is an obscure one and it's not. A chief example of that would be that it is the stated goal of the second largest economy in the world.
It's always bothered me when people identify with ideologies from different times or different countries without seeming to understand that their ideology doesn't really make much sense outside of it's original context, let alone in modern contexts
Yeah if only they utilized dialectical materialism
Gay liberation makes a lot of sense in a modern context though, because the mainstream had gone back to recycling the same homophobia from back then.
This applies to the use of "left" and "right" anywhere and time that isn't the 1789 National Assembly of France, which is why I've always despised this binary divide. It turns the rulling of ours lives into sport crowds screaming at each other, with bipartisan countries seemingly exacerbating that aspect.
@@Euphoryaaa I mean unironically, dialectal materialism is made to work in most contexts, things like Juche, maoism, Strasserism, ultra-nazbol agrario-individualism aren't.
@@VinnieMF Well left and right aren't ideologies, they are a political stance, such stances differ according to the context. The issue is people making leftism/rightism their ideology. Main ideologies today can be divided into socialism, liberalism, reactionnarism. Depending which is dominant in your country it will certainly have subdivisions (marxism and social democracy, progressivism and conservatism, ultranationalism and moderate reactionnaries).
Aa an American, I'm not a fan of those who look down on our politics and culture who don't understand them or live in them. There's a layer of separation that gives everything they say an aire of superiority that doesn't sit right with me. Especially when they think they have the solution then give me some bs like, "work together guys" smh
As a non American, I'm not a fan of this either, but that's because I don't like US cultural hegemony in general. It's crazy how much of the entire WORLD trends and new topics are just copied from the USA, be it in music, movies, other forms of entertainment, or even politics. As opposed to inventing and creating your own ideas and trends or copying those from neighbor countries. I wish the entire world would become culturally diverse again, and if anything, promote minority and marginalised cultures (Native Americans, Aboriginal Australians, Occitans, Irish Gaelic, Taiwanese Aboriginals, etc) than being basically culturally colonized by the biggest superpower in the world.
(You're lucky we just complain about it online, while you guys in the same situation would go overthrowing the country haha)
@@gamermapper It's the American way o7
In general I just get super sick of people who complain about wanting politicians to find common ground. If they had been paying attention they would know why things aren't that simple.
I always find it very interesting how people, particularly Europeans seem very capable of moral relativism when it comes to almost any place on earth besides the US. It's like depsite many Euros wanting to distance themselves from America and deny or mock any kinship via many Americans European ancestry, subconsciously they still think they have some right or moral duty to shape the US more in their image.
My personal pet peeve with online politics is the dehumanization of the opposite side into caricatures to be lambasted instead of debated with and the lack of civility involved in a-many of online debates, with most debates online usually achieving absolutely nothing in my experience with both sides digging in their heels unwilling to even try compromising.
Because online, everything is doom and terrible which must mean the opponents are the cause of all the wrong in the world.
If society is broken, then it must be destroyed and rebuilt in their ideal image, but if only those evil doers on the opposite side wouldn't get in the way!
That’s because it’s less about the debate and the opinions and more about being right. The debate bros are usually men trying to exert their dominance over the other. Half the time it’s “arguments” full of holes and fallacies. If one of the debaters calls out the fallacy, it spins the debate in doom circles and descends into calling each other stupid
@@lightfeather9953 I think you're missing a third option here, and this one is far far more annoying and in some ways, worse than this. I call it, The Moderate. Serves the exact same purpose as the one that Martin Luther King himself lambasted in the 60's.
I'm talking about the guy who insists that both sides are equally correct [or equally wrong, and therefore worth dehumanizing as extreme caricatures], no matter what the argument is, trying to diffuse a tension that may either not actually really exist that much, or may need to, in fact, be addressed.
These are the people that if one side concedes a point at all, while the other does not, they will then arbitrarily move the middle again, rather than firmly helping one side or the other.
These are the people that say "can't we all just get along", without truly providing anything. If society is broken...firstly, no it isn't, it's perfect, I'm doing fine, why isn't everyone else? Second, surely we can just make a Frankenstein from all the ideas each side is so passionate about, if everyone's happy with it, surely it's okay?
An opponent, a true opponent, a true evil doer, is predictable, a true evil doer, can be defeated, or they can win. These people are millstone that only slow the inevitable war, while not actually providing a true option. They think they are breaking a cycle, but they aren't. These people think themselves above the fray, they are probably aren't, and they are still in the vicinity of the carnage even if they are.
@jackjones4824 Thank you for the Middle Ground Fallacy, or Argument to Moderation. I'd been trying to remember what it was called for a while now. I've been dealing with so many in the so-called "middle" lately who excuse blatantly inhumane views on the basis of moderation. This idea that every view is equal has long been a way for sociopaths to justify their lack of empathy, and has been used to justify everything from genocide to torture. I mean, we fought wars over this crap and decided, as a society, that some behavior is simply unacceptable. The rest of the world is following that principle, but a lot of people in the "middle" seem to have never learned it.
@@Warriorcats64 Liberal democracy is a creature of Moderation, and works best when everyone involved is honourable, civil, and able to gentlemanly discuss the issues at hand. As such people that do nothing else but ease tensions whenever a debate gets to heated, that struggle to find compromises whenever they can be found, that keep channels of communication open, that broker deals, etc. are extremely helpful, and most modern republics would certainly not work without them.
When, in contrast, you have a democracy filled with opinionated ideologues or generally with people hostile to moderation, unwilling to meet in the middle ground, liberal democracy simply ceases to function properly.
This video inspired me to create my own political ideology (McColoughism)
Make sure to make a McColoughist blob
Pan-Americanist Francophobic moderate liberalism?
@@IamXeneizeBS have it look like a canadian flag in pixel-art style
@@tostcronch with moustache
@@principetnomusic Pan-Americanist Franchophobic Republican moderate liberal conservativism with canadian characteristics
Most of my exposure to online politics is through the wretched hive of scum and villainy that is Reddit, and one of the most irritating things I see over there is that people only read headlines of news stories and use them to smugly validate their pre-existing beliefs even if the headline is inflammatory nonsense that misrepresents the actual story.
I spent much of my teens on that awful website too. Twitter gets a lot of (deserved) hate for the way discourse works on that site, but at least opposing views are still always visible. Powermods and downvote brigades make sure that any dissent in a particular community is immiditately repressed
Actually not sure what I said about twitter is still true now that Musk implemented that new checkmark system, I believe only people who paid are now (easily) visible
Reddit Isn't a hive of scum and villainy. Its a soy factory. They are so braindead, they're practically their own ideology by merit of having one's cortex scooped out.
It also has communities dedicated to humiliation, or even people dying... It's pretty awful and incredibly toxic
For me, it’s sometimes hard to know who is an expert? Who is not biased. You helped uncover “china uncensored” for me. I followed the channel for years without knowing they being paid by f.g. I felt they were not being honest and at one time denied being funded by them.
China Uncensored isnt entirely affiliated to the Falun Gong.
What it seems, is that the Falun Gong just picked up this dudes channel and started broadcasting cus some stuff aligned with his views.
Its more or less the guy doesnt care about the Falun Gong. He rarely talks about it unless its about organ harvesting.
China Uncensored is definitely biased, but its hard to be unbiased when talking about China.
China is a one party state that forces a monogomy of political views on its citizens.
To give credit where its due, China Uncensored does talk about a lot of CCP officials that have done good, in good light.
You should really be aware of Falun Gong accusations.
Alot of legitimate UA-camrs get botted and hit with that, whenever their critical of the CCP.
FG is Falun Gong, right?
Best advice? Be thorough when looking at where you get your information. And even when you trust them, always keep your ears perked because everyone makes mistakes.
One thing I have grown more and more annoyed with are the types who believe every action you take must be for political action. You can't just simply watch, or not watch a TV show, or movie anymore. You must watch, or boycott it explicitly for political reasons.
I'm so tired of this. I'm fairly conservative in values and fiscally. But I have a lot of mixed feelings about boycotting brands just because their "values" don't align with mine. I will keep buying Nike, watching Disney, subscribe to the New York Times, etc. Life is too short to get ticked off that our corporate overlords don't match our values and politics
I simply choose not to give money to people that hate me. I don't think that's a weird decison. It seems like common sense to me.
I have a friend who refuses to watch any cop show because cops on television are "Copaganda" as they say. Stupid too, considering that shows like Brooklyn nine-nine actually cover sensitive issues quite well.
@@dexlovesgames_dlg They'd be surprised. Some are really intriguing. Some about CROOKED cops even; your friend sounds like they'd probably dig that.
They sound like mothers from back in my day that would claim that things like Naruto or Pokemon promoted gang violence. XD
@@ShinFahima DnD promotes Satan to our boys!
Hey, just wanna dip in to say that this channel is what initially got me interested in Sociology, and my first of three final Sociology exam is on Monday. Thanks for everything 🎉
Breast of luck!
Best of luck
You got this!!
good luck!! :)
@@General12th who's breast is it
My biggest pet peeve about internet politics is the insane amount of polarization, and how so many people nowadays will not be accepting of people who hold different believes.
To be fair, accepting people with views that are actively harmful towards you or people you care about is not a good thing whatsoever (and a lot of polarization in US politics at the very least is due to how far-right our ‘conservatives’ have become), but when it comes to people with mostly similar viewpoints hating each other over something relatively minor? Yeah, that’s a massive issue in general (see the constant trend of leftist infighting for instance) that helps nobody.
@@rin_reverie I agree. I find it really annoying when bigoted people will say something horrible and say “well it’s just my opinion, you have yours, I have mine.” I’ve had this happen to me with American “conservatives” in real life about race. It’s ridiculous to think that we should tolerate bigotry and infringing on the rights of others as conservatism or normal political opinions
@@rin_reverie The polarization is coming from how far left liberals have become, conservatives really haven't changed all of these large scale social experiments come from left wing thought.
@@SonoftheWest316 being trans isn’t a left wing psyops.
@@SonoftheWest316 Whilst I'm not totally sure which party is moving to the left/right. To me, it feels like both sides have been moving further away from each other. This is not some "both sides" and "enlightened centrist" argument, because even if they're both moving away, only one is becoming more extreme and that, in my view, is the right (Keep in mind I'm talking about American politics, since I gauged that was the subject). The left in America has never been a major political force for a very long time, it hasn't really become one yet. The right wing however, clearly has a big presence.
This is the core difference and issue. The dems, who are moderate, left-leaning centrists, are the only mainstream "left wing" that has any sort of political power and they're not even leftist. The right has the republicans, who are pretty clearly right wing. This leads to an imbalance, because when both parties move away from each other, the dems become more like social democrats and the right becomes fascist. This is why I think you could make the argument that both parties have been moved further in their own directions, but only one has become extreme. The left is very focused on identity politics and the right is very focused on mischaracterizing said politics to manufacture outrage. Sometimes the outrage is justified, but still extremely overblown and hypocritical. The right's core issues are "woke and cancel culture" and manufactured outrage against LGBTQ and immigrants, while the left's core issues have to do with basic human/civil rights, basic healthcare reform and livable wages.
Honestly I feel like the fascination with American politics simply comes from how big and culturally significant America is. I feel that this is particularly common in western countries, where the political and cultural ties are quite impactful on the nations. So I think its natural for people in online communities to set their eyes on American politics, seeing as it can be very influential in their countries one way or another.
I'm from Israel for instance and here we tend to follow American politics very very closely, as it is very important for our country to be viewed by America with a favorable light, seeing as good relations with them are so vital to our economy and our security concerns.
The US also has a large Jewish population that also connects it to Israel in some way.
Definitely agree with this. The US has a unique combo of having a massive population, enormous influence on global politics, and (relatively) volatile and rapidly changing politics.
Just compare it to some of the other similarly large countries. China is massively influential but is a one party state where change seems to happen over decades, and others like India, Indonesia, and Brazil have huge populations but just aren’t even close to as influential worldwide.
it's also about money, American viewers pay more in ads than than any other country.
@@ztl2505 I think it's more that when change does occur in autocracies it's very hard to predict and most commentators will have no idea, or it is an action of the autocratic government. And there's also just lack of information
You shouldnt focus on being viewed by America in a favorable light, you should be focused on being viewed by everyone else.
Its good that Israel is repairing relations with other countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Continue that. Americans really dont want to implicate themselves in middle eastern politics as much.
As a Taiwanese person who supports the independence of Taiwan, I am 100% aligned with your first pet peeve. I particularly hate that some of my compatriots disagree (on the internet usually) with policies that might compromise the ideology of independence but can ultimately improve the importance of Taiwan’s role in the world. They then provide 0 actionable alternatives.
This is so true 👍, I mean I literally posted a potential solution to the Middle East's conflicts which is of course flawed but the thing is practically nobody had a viable or realistic alternative for how to bring about peace to the Middle East.
Best Taiwanese policy imho - two systems one country.
I am almost 63 years old. The vast a mojority of my life I have lived in a wolrd without social media, politically motivated news outlets, and excessive polarized politics. So it is easy for me to stand away from it all. I am really enjoying your presentations, and am learning more about our neighbors to the north.
Thank you Stan, I hope you've had a nice day
The thing that bugs me with politics that everyone has this oversimplified version of history that always puts their people on the so called "right side of history", and basically eliminates all complexity in politics and just turns it into a good vs. evil narrative.
My pet peeve is how smug people get in their political belief.
@the flying catto everyone believes their beliefs are the correct ones, that’s what makes them their beliefs
@@ABigBluePoliceBox That's true. But yeah... atleast be a little bit open minded. I had a close friend that will go on a debate everytime he got a chance because I disagree with him about current wars happening.
I tried to understand him because he's my friend, he thought he needs to chance my mind because I'm his friend, but no, I'm just tired of him bringing up the holocaust and Putin when I'm just chilling...
Note: excuse my English. I'm still learning.
I'm wondering if that's related to the "treating politics as if it were entertainment/sports" point.
@@hmmmm7468
> I'm just tired of him bringing up the holocaust and Putin when I'm just chilling...
Quite the friend you have there, sounds very interesting...😅
I have similar friends- they just want to talk about issues they care about. Maybe instead of “just chilling”, you could engage every once and awhile
You forgot about political webcomics.
They’re always so irritating and on the nose.
As someone who grew up in a middle class, even upper middle class, household I really identified with that idea of middle class people not really caring about politics because it doesn't effect them. The main political issue I've cared about is public transport, I campaigned for PT projects that I liked and i even joined a party to better push for better PT in my area. I now think this may be because it is one of the few issues that would actually effect me directly given my parent's money could always shield young me from any bad policies the government made.
What's you're opinion on increased density like more multi story dwellings, and on mixed used zoning?
@@ee-ef8qr I support increased density, however I'm a bit weary of developers, as many high density developments have been deemed to be of low quality or even unsafe (which is pretty wild for a first world country), so as long as government regulation keeps up I fully support it. As for mixed zoning I don't think it's as important in my part of the world because we don't have such massive residential estates, I'd say most people like within a 15 min walk of some shops, they're just too lazy and car culture is too engrained.
@@jalflight3513 In my opinion public transportation goes extremely well with mixed use as well as high density.
@@ee-ef8qr I fully agree, however, safe homes are also important. More middle density please! But more safe to live in density preferably.
@@jalflight3513 yeah just tip the skyscrapers over and you get a wide 4 story building.
I think one of the major things Canada fears about a more integrated arrangement with the US is losing its identity. From an American perspective if you want to persuade people into this, people in Louisiana hang on to a very distinct identity that separate from people in Texas and the people in Alabama. People in New York have a very strong identity. Including accent and culture that makes them different from the states in their area. This is one of the things that I think America does really well. We're very proud of where we live. To the point where people will wear jewelry or even get tattoos of their home state. That's celebrated here so Canadians won't lose their identity if anything I think they'll grow closer to it. I'm from Texas I love my state but when I meet someone from California or Wisconsin it feels the same way about their state that I do about mine I like that. It's not so much a rivalry as it is a another unifying characteristic
Well, some states have stronger identities than others. Not a lot of pride for people in Ohio, Nebraska, or Indiana.
@@happycamperds9917 Yeah but I think in those cases it becomes a sense of identifying with regions. For example being from CT myself I would more likely identify as a new englander than with my own state.
Detroit is very much like Canada in its provincialism. So much so that anything Detroit or Michigan related makes the news or becomes the trend, it gets over saturated in local media.
Anything unfavorable spoken about Detroit gets front page news in the two major papers. It’s embarrassing.
And one more thing, Ohioans definitely have a strong pride about their states in the same way Texas does or we do.
The truth is, the Canadians that are "afraid of losing identity" arent even holding onto a real identity themselves.
Just like in the states, people identify with the province they live in, more than the actual federal entity they live under.
A guy from BC is gonna be totally different from a guy from Ontario. Same with Alberta and stuff.
The Canadian stereotype literally only applies to rural north Americans in general. It doesnt apply to Canada as a whole lol.
Linus tech tips and JJ Muccollough are pretty big Canadian UA-camrs.
Alot of UA-camrs are from Canada, but half the time no one ever realizes it lmfao. Like Linus Tech Tips.
Theres a reason why your average dude looks at Drake and The Weeknd, and subconsciously thinks their from Toronto, but not "Canada".
I would also say that the overemphasis on weird advocates rather than the power-brokers themselves plays into this. All sides and people will dig up some shocking extreme statement from fringe activists and feign horror that this is what the "other side" represents, as if the government bureaucrats and political representatives are beholden to those statements.
Yes but then they’ll do a terrible job of showing that’s not what they represent at least in the case of the democrats
Yess this! It is so infuriating to see a single tweet or a news headline being used to put up a strawman of an entire political party
I think a large part of the reason behind your first pet peeve is that by identifying with an ideology allows you to create a community. A lot of people rely on political communities as their only main social community. Their jobs if they have one are soul draining and provide no identity, they don't have religious communities and their friend groups are insular
interesting point
That seems incredibly unhealthy lmao. Politics are a very divisive and contentious topic that also touches on a lot of very controversial and depressing stuff, having it be your main community seems like a big disaster. And I say this as someone who is very interested in politics myself, and even used it to discover a lot of "hidden truths" about the world that I wouldn't otherwise. I saw myself how bad politics could potentially be for my mental health.
That’s true. Human beings are hard-wired to live in groups, and thanks to social media, young people are falling into weirder and more insular “groups” than ever before.
As a 14 year old Postmodernist Capitalist Socialist, I loved everything about this video.
Hmmpfh, figures. Unlike you controlled opposition, I'm a proud Anarcho-Dictatorialist.
Wow, little kids interacting with politics like a game 😔. Just leave the this to the professionals like myself, a Post-Traumatic-Transcendentalist-Neo Nazi-Midget Translator
@@magmamouse7270 alas, if only you heathens could be enlightened to the universal truths of Secular-Theism.
as a transhumanist interventionist anti-capitalist environmentalist who also agrees with most of anarcho national social economic globalism, I disagree
As a primo-anarcho-nazi-post modern capitalist, I agree
So true. We the Americans love your Canadian vids. The more obscure the better.
Seriously JJ. If you could explain how the Yukon and northwest territories work i would watch that especially since, there are no main land us territories so I imagine most Americans don't understand it
@@Jack-sq6xb shit I live in Vancouver and I still forget about how those places work lol.
I just think abt them like Provinces 2.0
The territories America has are basically just byproducts of the Spanish war, like Puerto Rico.
@@honkhonk8009 Or they were acquired via the Guanos island act because one day America decided that it wanted a bunch of uninhabited islands full of bat poop. A genius power move all things considered.
You are correct in your theory as to why americans watch your Canadian politics discussions, at least in my case anyway. It is fascinating to see what issues and policies that drive politics up there, and you explain it very objectively and lucidly in an entertaining matter. same goes for all your cultural analysis videos which are equally fascinating.
As an American I’m so glad you said this because I’ve always found it very odd when foreigners talk about things like the gun debate or healthcare. While a lot of them make excellent points there’s always a lot of context missing that is hard to grasp if you don’t live here.
My pet peeve with internet politics is how often words like fascist, communist, Nazi, racist, sexist, phobic, and woke get thrown around so much that they have lost their meaning. People just throw them around at people who they disagree with politically most of who probably aren't those horrible things they are being accused of.
And deadbeatdadism
I'm a transgender American. The GOP has been systematically trying to criminalize my existence and take away the rights of people like me. I don't go around accusing republicans of transphobia, but the fact is if you vote for the party, you are supporting transphobia(and racism, sexism, homophobia, etc)
Whoa add -Face’ing, and Karen.
@@BonShula What's that?
@@spaghettiisyummy.3623 Deadbeatdadism is referring to dads who do not fulfill their parental responsibilities, especially when they evade court-ordered child support obligations or custody arrangements
I hate being pigeonholed. because I state such-and-such opinion I am frequently met with some litmus test to determine my loyalties or the bias of my information sources.
Damn, I used to LOVE my politics. Slow and boring and CSPAN, and no one liked to talk politics, which saddened me…then like 2016 hit and suddenly everyone thought they knew politics and had a valid opinion worth talking about all day long…so I got my wish and it totally ruined politics as I knew it.
JJ, Even if you weren't able to stop the bill, you did a great job of bringing the issue to the attention of tons of people, including a lot of us here in the US.
I was really impressed at how hard you worked at it. Much love.
this is a personal attack and i am all for it, lol
your job is literally whining about 15 year olds on TikTok 😂
Oh it’s the fat man that’s cool
Online politics is like a war torn third world civil war only without AKs, RPGs and Camoflauge, it's keyboards, PC and aggravated people who simply cannot make a good comeback
yeah
no u
Don't forget the Doxing
ur dad lesbain
Well you're a... um... er.... big stinky pooppoo head!!!! HA!!! ROASTED!!!!
Understanding the difference between idealism and pragmatism really helped me out. While idealism allows us to think in extremes and test our ideas that way, politics requires pragmatism if you want to actually get things done and cooperate with other people who think differently. This is why we almost never see "philosophers" like those online political commentators and politicians enter each other's domains. They're two vastly different disciplines that require different skill sets.
Hearing foreigners talk about US politics, ESPECIALLY as a source of entertainment, is immensely annoying. As someone who enjoys British panel game shows, I'm very put off by the ones that involve recent events too much in their discourse, because there will invariably be laughs about US politics where all the panelists have the exact same opinion...
I always find it funny when the British because if anything, there politics are just as openly corrupt and shitty as ours.
there is no serious political discussion online, both sides just use buzzwords and try to display the other as not having any empathy at all
"Evil commie soviet union chinese spy go to cuba then 😡" vs "American imperialist dog fascism basically 40s germany 😡"
my biggest pet peeve is when people record videos arguing against themselves and then when they win pretend like they just proved the other side wrong
I do agree that sometimes ppl identify with the most ridiculous ideologies as if it was a legitimate personality trait. However, I do believe that believing some things outside of ”real world relevance” is sometimes a useful tool for understanding the wide range of beliefs humans can have and the worldviews which often don’t fit any specific label as well as wider society in general
When I was somewhat younger, I was very much sucked into the world you describe in this video of grand, pseudo political ideological escapism. One of the events that really snapped me out of this phase was seeing the grand failure of January 6th, which to me represents the epitome of what happens when one engages with politics in a very "fake" way, disconnected from the actual use of power and caught up in narratives as opposed to concerned with relationships between people. This all sounds very abstract, but suffice to say, I've come to appreciate a less ideological view of politics.
I got my BA in political science nearly 10 years ago and I only, for the first time, joined a local activist group and spoke at a regional council, in support of minor policy decision. Much like you I am an avid political observer but realizing how little know about the mundane yet crucial details of the political process. I, of course have been following the lead of some political activists who have way more experience in this type of action and there's so much to learn. It's humbling yet exciting to be actively engaged now.
Your second pet peeve has a twist going back to the foreigners: They confuse American politics with their countys. Too often I talk with people about politics regarding my county but they come at it with a background understanding of American politics which makes it almost irrelevant to my countrys politics. I have heard the same from friends in 2 other European countries.
E.g. earlier today I talked with someone about homelessness, and despite of him also being Danish he came at it with a understanding of homelessness in USA.
That’s the thing. You Euroids think you know a bit about American politics when you know nothing in actuality. You euros know as much about American politics as a 1 year old does about calculus, which is to say, not much.
god especially about race/ethnicity/religion. race politics in the us is absolutely NOTHING like caste and religion politics in india. there’s no way you can use the understand of one to deal with the other
I am an American who has recently (over the past 3-4 years) developed a deep and sincere interest in Canada (I have made many Canadian friends online). You're one of my primary sources for Canadiana. I also follow channels that provide commentary on politics in other countries. That would make me one of the Americans who actually actively follows politics outside of my country. Mostly because politics within the US has become a clown show of people "self-righteously ignorant" concerned only for entertainment and virtue telegraphing.
Canada is the exact same. I live there
Believe me, I'm aware. One motivation I had to learn about Canada was the possibility of moving there to escape the US's decline. After everything I've learned, I figured it's better to stay where I am and try to ride out the storm. Canada wasn't a bright enough beacon for me to follow.
@@gregoryferraro7379 I'd argue the opposite, but it depends WHERE you live. For example, becaues of canada's electoral system, between elections MOST canadians barely pay attention to politics. Elections have gotten shorter, Albertas was done in three weeks.
In canada we are taught to not discuss politics or religion and that generally holds. Online is different because you are going LOOKING for it.
In Maine for example, they have citizens initiatives and right now are talking about the 'right to repair', when in Canada I doubt you could find five people that even know what that is.
@@mikearchibald744 this notion that everyone in the US is constantly talking about politics and religion is also influenced by online perceptions. It's not an uncommon view in the US to consider talking about religion or politics at the dinner table as taboo or off limits for example. It may be more common in the US than Canada but I often see Canadians make that statement online and I find it funny. Everything you see online and on Cable news about the US often isn't an actual widespread thing among normal people.
@@chickenfishhybrid44 Well, the OTHER issue with social media is talking to extremes. I certainly wouldn't argue with your point except that we are talking in generalities, even maybe stereotypes.
However, there is a structural difference, in Canada the 'powers that be' don't like people talking about politics AT ALL. Whereas in the states they want them talking about PARTIES and personalities.
So what you say is likely true, to a point. My counter example is that I have friends in the US who moved there, one from canada, one is swedish. He's a pastor in a baptist church and the congregation keeps trying to get him to talk about vaccines and Trump and he keeps refusing. It IS church after all, I don't see that Jesus had ANYTHING to say about either.
But also to my point, when you go to youitubes or places to actually talk about the 'right to repair' and other citizens initiaitves, there are almost nobody there commenting. Very surprising.
And that extends across teh country, LOTS of people even in states WITH citzens initiatives that don't even KNOW they have them. Probably for the same reason Alberta Canada just brought in citizens initiatives TWO YEARS ago and yet I cant' find an Albertan who even knows it, AND I can't find even an online media source that has MENTIONED it.
In other words. DEMOCRACY is the discussion meant to be avoided. In Canada by talking about politics at all, in the US by ensuring anything BUT that topic comes up. That a country that brags so much on democracy and yet has NEVER held a national referendum on ANY subject, one of the ONLY countries, thats just beyond crazy yet you can't even find people COMMENTING on that.
But Trump really changed that, even in Canada more canadians talked american politics, well, Trump., than canadian. In Alberta there is significant pressure to trash Trudeau, so that comes up ALL the time. Conservatives are very active online for pretty obvious reasons. But as you say, thats not 'normal'.
The other glaring fact in both US and Canada is that usually BARELY half the population even VOTES federally. We had a local election and not even ONE percent came out to vote.
I feel your pain about number 2. Lots of foreigners talking much of the "let me tell you about YOUR country". Concerning Mexico, is that many of these channels and authors don't even speak the most basic Spanish, so a lot of nuance is completely lost, and of course they mostly get their info from third- or fourth- or fifth-degree sources. It appears most of them haven't even gone through the first step for giving opinions about a Latin American country: spend-a-vacation-at-a-resort.
I’m talking about the US
As a 16 year old 16 yearoldist I appreciate you making this video
I think the reason more Americans watch your channel (as well as other Canadian channels broadly speaking) is that there are over 300 million of them right next door and we have a shared culture that the algorithm jives with.
"Politics for Power" is an awesome book! Glad you gave it a shout-out JJ. Political hobbyism is my #2 political pet peeve. Right after "low rung" politics as described by Tim Urban in "What's Our Problem".
You know, having my YT channel for 7 years did teach me a lot of things, but the most crucial is that you don't have to have an opinion about everything and you especially don't have to argue with anyone about it.
But also besides that - young people shouldn't be left unsupervised to the Internet. It left me addicted and with constantly changing political opinion that only began to stabilize after 5 years of me starting debates that nobody asked for.
It's a mystery how JJ is such a close friend with Jreg
I mean, they both have J as their first initials
Because I don't think Jreg is ideological
was just thinking this aswell!
Jreg built his whole UA-cam brand on ruthlessly dissecting and mocking the absurdity of what J.J. is complaining about here.
Why not it looks like he is satirizing the problem that JJ is complaining about
The culture war is the most annoying thing imo. I just want people to do what they want as long as they aren't restricting the freedom of others
I fee like both sides of any culture war debate would say the exact same thing, though. The disagreement is where exactly the line of "restricting the freedom of others" is.
@ronan5228 my line Is pretty clear.
If it doesn't infringe on my right to expression, access to basic needs, religious/political expression.
@@haydencrawford8552 That isn't clear, though. What qualifies as basic needs? You know that people will not agree on that. When does political/religious expression go too far? You know that not everyone will agree on that either.
This is the whole point of JJ's video, you can't just boil down your entire political beliefs to a nice snappy sentence, there will be situations that it doesn't account for.
I’ve found another great word to describe online politics these days.
Narcissism.
11:00
I wish more channels covered other countries politics. A few years ago I had an itch to learn about India’s government and found very little. I’m pretty curious on European politics too. All I’ve gathered is there’s a “power struggle” between France and Germany to lead the EU. And that Turkey for some reason really hates Sweden.
It’s like a soap opera that’s heavily Gate Kept and I want to know more damnit
Coverage of European politics does exist.
You just Gotta find a channel That's ran by a European creator.
"Into Europe" might help ya! Same with "TLDR News".
TLDR has Seperate channels for the UK & the EU, as they're ran by Brits.
@@spaghettiisyummy.3623 Thank you! I’ll definitely be checking them out
@@Foul_Ghoul No Problem! :D
there is a LOT of content on india politics and government out there, the only issue is that if you don’t speak hindi or another major indian language, a lot of that is unavailable. that being said, there’s definitely a lot in english too. i mean india _does_ have like the second largest english speaking population
Regarding the "people from around the world that only talk about the USA point: personally I'm Italian and while I'd greatly enjoy learning more about the politics of my own country and its neighbors, I pretty much exclusively watch English youtube channels because in general they have better content than italian ones; however a side effect of this is that english content is obviously more focused on English-speaking countries
As an Alsatian, I hate learning about US politics, because this reinforces the US cultural hegemony. Instead I'd like to know more about Italian politics. Do you know an English or French speaking channel who talks about it? Or at least with subtitles? Preferable to what Meloni did to the country and what are the differences and similarities between her and Le Pen
@@gamermapper nope, unfortunately I do not
@@gamermapper what is an Alsatian cuz it isn't a nationality?
@@brandonf1260 Alsatians are an ethnic group native to Alsace (Elsàss), a cultural region next to the Rhine River that has its own unique traditions, culture and language. We could actually say we're our own separate nation. This region for many times in history changed sovereignty, mainly between France and Germany, but in reality, neither really cared for our interests. Currently, this region is a part of France, but that's political geography and doesn't reflect our cultural background, therefore, I prefer identifying with my ethnic group/nation over political borders, and I wish others did the same. In fact, unlike what many people believe, France isn't mainly one nation made up of one French culture and ethnicity. France is a multinational nation, comparable to Belgium or Yugoslavia. It has Alsatians, but also Bretons, Occitans, Gascons, Corsicans, Savoyards, Native Americans Guyanese, Polynesians, Afro-Carribeans, etc. In fact, me identifying as Alsatian is very important to me, because France has been actively erasing our identity or at best ignoring it. For example, in 2015, our region stopped existing on official maps, instead being annexed to the same region as Champagne, which, unlike us, isn't a Germanic nation and is way closer to French culture. It's as if Canada made Québec and Ontario one huge province. Or the US made California and Texas one big southwestern state. Although, these aren't perfect analogies, because that's what already happened in North America, all of these provinces and states are already built on ignoring identities and cultures of the First Nations, that are way older and more substantial than modern day state cultures. So if you want to fight for cultural diversity and you're a North American, consider learning some things about Indigenous peoples of where you live in. Ah also, why didn't I just say I'm French? Well as I've said, it's a political description, not a cultural one. Unfortunately, a lot of people see the world in a country based lens, where everything is about sovereign states, even while describing cultures. And that's a shame. For example, I wish people described themselves as being from Sindh, Tuscany, Guandong, Tamil Nadu, or being Cherokee or Ashanti way more than they describe themselves being from Pakistan, Italy, China, India, or being American or Ghanaian. Because it wouldn't make sense if the EU became a federation for people to describe themselves only as European, and not as French, Italian, German, etc, anymore, but that is unfortunately how most describe themselves, even mega diverse countries like India, Pakistan, Ghana, or Indigenous communities without a lot to do with the settler society like the Haida, Haudenosaunee, Yupik, etc from North America.
And so yeah, if you wonder, I specifically described myself as an Alsatian to get people to ask me questions and to describe the situation and maybe get the world to change a little bit in how we think about world cultures and languages!
Sàlü bisame, S'Elsässer Volk!
My pet peeve would be the unawareness online politics creates amongst the youth regarding their own political realities. They are just so unaware of how poor or rich or whatever their country or constituency is because they are often too busy being online rather than being on the ground, talking to people about their problems and getting to know their society better instead of being stuck in their own bubble. This is a trend I see in the upper and upper middle class of my country at the very least, idk about other countries tho. The disjoint really irks me.
As a westerner myself, I'm tired of my fellow Westerners constantly complaining about capitalism and the rich contributing the most to climate change and income inequality, forgetting that in the global scheme, the Western middle class and even sometimes poor IS the 1% and that yes we all (in the West) should have to change our lifestyles too for it to be sustainable, it isn't all the fault of the billionaires and their private jet (although yes, billionaires shouldn't exist and since they have the power and money, they are indeed often the one responsible for even creating an unsustainable lifestyle by lobbying for cars, fossil fuels, massive meat industry, etc, but yes, we "common folk" should have to change our lifestyles too for it to be sustainable again, but also this doesn't even have to be painful, this could be amazing, if anything, for example, walkable cities, bikes and trams are better for the climate but also nicer and healthier)
US-Americans and Canadians often massively underestimate the amount of harm their country's "founding" has done to Indigenous people, they're also largely oblivious to their actual living conditions today, which are largely miserable, and as for the preservation of their culture and language, that's exponentially worse
Europeans are often oblivious about how much antisemitism still exists today and the harassment and discrimination that many Jewish people in Europe still have to face today, that is if they still live in Europe and weren't murdered/expelled/left. And that's also way, way worse for the Middle East. But even in Europe, antisemitism is far from over, unfortunately. Europeans are also very oblivious about Romani people and most hold antiziganist views, ignoring the different social issues and painful history of the Romas in Europe, for example the Porajmos, the slavery in Romania, the sterilisation in Slovakia, etc.
@@gamermapper this is something I find fault with in regards to jj's attitude towards politics and is something quite common (though not exclusive) to more conservative leaning folk. they are very fixated on local and national interests and what can personally affect them or their country's citizens. it's important to be informed on those things. but it's frustrating to see westerners not give a fuck about anyone else or even conceive of how they might affect anyone else when their global influence is massive. the dictates and behaviours of these countries can mean life and death for people on the other side of the planet, but those people have 0 control of these decisions. that's my biggest problem with modern politics and governance, power is global but political involvement is local. democracy can not really exist, if it's localized within a global system that's anything but democratic.
About time someone said this.
Everyone who has anything to say about politics falls into one of your outlined categories, though I wish you had touched more on the personal outrage/identity aspect of politics. I enjoyed hearing your unique perspective as a Canadian national.
Has the internet always been such a dumping ground for anonymous hot takes?
Algorithms which are designed to maximize engagement will boost hot takes. Personally I found the only solution is to minimize social media use and try to stay out of the comment sections. These platforms are addictive though.
I’d say the biggest thing that annoys me is how much people in general, left and right, seem to want to use the government as a weapon to fight culture wars.
You can't blame people for being only interested in US politics. Most countries' politics are boring AF, US politics is a real life version of the WWE.
Yea, there’s a difference between interest and obsession.
Also a lot will then think they understand American culture/life better than people living here because they are plugged into the News Pipeline.
Nope. Other way around.
It isn't though. The actual day-to-day politics that affect real people is monotonous and slow, people seem to forget that the US is fucking huge and national politics are a very small slice of the political pie (opposed to state politics and even lower). Media sensationalism is a pretty big reason why, though. A standard and normal part of the political process can take place and by the end of the day each news organisation has published 5+ stories on how this single insignificant thing will affect everything going forward lol (doesn't matter if it's wrong though, it's moved past and forgotten about by the time we actually see the results)
The friend-enemy distinction is probably the most important part of politics, everything else is detail: whom should the state hurt? Most people don't get more of a say than "not me," but if you do, it's important to know who your enemies are. The "online politics" you decry helps with that.
I have become surprisingly aware of Canadian politics thanks to your channel, and Australian politics thanks to @FriendlyJordies
Im Canadian and its the same story with that russian NKFRZD or whatever guy lol.
These channels are really good
My biggest pet peeve is kind of an extension of your 1st one. People in online politics get into EXTREME echo chambers to the point where they believe the country is politically very different than reality.
For example, as a left leaning queer person I have quite a few leftist friends. In this context, I mean leftist as in actual socialists. They genuinely do believe that the majority of people agree with them and are very unpragmatic. I can't even count the number of times I've heard them say they hate liberals. What they don't seem to understand is that they need to work with liberals to get anything they want done (other than abolish capitalism which you addressed as impossible).
In Canada this might be a bit more easy to see as the left tends to vote more for the Liberals than they do the NDP. But most of my friends are Americans, and it seems that they think the Democratic establishment is out of touch with their voter base which couldn't be further from the truth. But because there isn't a fragmented left vote like in Canada they can't directly see how many voters are moderate liberals. This is why in First-Past-The-Post representative democracies, things tend towards two centre parties. Most people are not extreme.
I remember during the 2020 election, a lot of conservatives were predicting these ridiculous landslides for Trump despite polls consistently favoring Biden just because they assumed that everyone shared the same values as them in their little echo chambers. On the other side of the coin, I've seen a lot of Bernie people who are absolutely convinced that if it weren't for the DNC being corrupt (which it is, but Bernie was still a distant second in both elections) he would've been president, despite the fact that anyone calling themselves a socialist, whether they actually are or not, is basically repellent to at least 50% of the country.
I don't hate politics in it of itself as much as discussion of it has invaded a lot of entertainment spaces. You can't talk about movies or video games without running into someone who thinks whatever you enjoy has some sort of political ulterior motive. Yeah, media can be political, but focusing on it too much turns it into a game of who can have better propoganda and turns personal taste into political activism. We get situations like Hogwartz Legacy or TLoU2, where merely liking the game for geniune non-political reasons got you labeled as a political extremist. It's super concerning to me because we're repeating the same mistakes as the Red Scare, where doing anything vaguely anti-establishment will get you labeled as whoever the villainous political ideology of the week is and get you blacklisted from holding a job.
A big pet peeve of mine is the oversimplification of political terms and ideas. People online like the convey things they don't fully understand through half-baked analogies that boil down to I'm a good person and the opposition is evil.
Half-expected Jreg to burst onscreen roaring with rage and beat him senseless
my biggest petpeeve about online politics would have to be: You don't 100% think like me politically, so I hate you.
a close second: DEBATE ME!!!!!!! People thinking everything is up for debate and then acting like Ben Shapiro or Steven Crowder and treating the people they're debating like complete idiots.
@@blakekaveny Okay
Ah crud, I've been called out for the inherent contrarianism behind self-identifying as a libertarian socialist!
Forreal though I just think there should be less federal control (libertarian) and that what is there should focus more on people's wellbeing (socialist). I think I dug my feet into that one out if spite when extremist echo chambers started dogpiling me as a "filthy centrist" for not literally being anarcho-communist. Did I mention this was in a random Star Trek facebook group?
Your not fully on the right so I hate you. Socialism you say? Must be another Marx loving Commie! All jokes aside you libertarians do get the short end of the stick in the discourse, I have been guilty in the past of overgeneralizing libertarianism. However, I do feel that the political space is wayy too polarizing right now for any meaningful libertarian break through, which is a shame because we definitely need that middle ground to help opposite ends of the spectrum come to a better understanding and get things moving.
Reviewing this today. Still one of the best videos you have done. Thanks!
I definitely relate to the non-Americans being involved in American politics. You see a lot of “As a Brit I don’t understand how America can be abc” or “Speaking as a Dutchman, we could NEVER tolerate xyz” like their countries are some utopia without problems that Americans wouldn’t even let happen. Countries have distinct cultural aspects and histories that would allow and prohibit certain things in politics from happening.
I agree and tell them so. I don't push opinions about what they should do, either. My comments are often of a general philosophy basis and I don't project future events, also.
Bro these people dont even udnerstand that America has completely different cultures too.
Like sure socialized healthcare works fine in Canada. Were just like that.
But I totally see why Americans dont want universal healthcare. Their whole idea as a country, is to be the "wild west" where you can do whatever you want along as you dont disrupt others.
Diehard individualism is not without merit/reason either.
But at least Canada and America are basically carbon copies of eachother, with slightly different federal governments.
Its honestly mindbogglign seeing EUROS who act like they have lived for more than a year in America.
Like you cant make decisions about a country if you haven't even lived in it.
You need that experience and you need to be in touch with the people who live there.
Its like how foreigners were shit talking El Salvador for its approach to dealing with gangs, acting like they could even point to El Salvador on a map, let alone understand what your average el salvadorian experiences.
Tbf you do get a lot of Americans weighing in on British-Irish issues.
some of these guys do it for the attention, views, ... money.
but yeah, it is annoying, especially when some of them are in a worst off country.
The issue that I have with foreigners talking about American politics is that they lack any understanding of American political philosophy or governance, which leads to half-backed, poorly constructed arguments.
Its also why you see European ideas like ethnostatism being so popular on the right, when these are really not American political movements.
Online politics can be boiled down to one simple question: Who has the zingiest quip?
Remember, it's not about which solution is best, who is right and wrong, but whose comment gets the most likes.
it has to fit on a bumper sticker sir. that is axiomatic. the average human brain cannot input more than that.
Is that not what you are doing though? In fact, is that not what this video does? I mean his entire argument is taking a look at the least educated radicals and using them as an excuse to dismiss entire movements.
Hell, no one seems to even want to address the real cause of radicalism. Radicalism is not the result of countryball memes. It is the result of our institutions failing us. A third of Spain didn't form an anarchist revolt against fascism because of their 1930s internet memes. They did it because it was the only way to survive. People are turning to radicalism because they are watching in real time as incrementalism fails to protect basic human rights. Whether you think Joe Biden is failing to protect trans rights and abortion because he doesn't care enough or the system is preventing him from doing so, the only answer is to go outside the system. Between MLK, Ghandi, Mandela, and Malcom X, every single one was a socialist and some even outright anarchists. Between four of the most successful civil rights leaders in history and an ineffective president, as a trans person with their life on the line here, I'm gonna follow the tradition of the four most successful civil rights leaders in history.
Every interaction between JJ and JReg is the funniest thing ever.
Honestly I just love your videos. And yes, online politics is quite annoying sometimes, I just want to know how the world works
Also let’s not forget people who build their entire personality around being able to beat others in arguments, man that annoys me, things are so polarized now a days
I find myself spending a lot of time talking about American politics as a Brit for two main reasons, most of my friends are American so inevitably when I talk with them about politics its American, and the USA is the world's dominant superpower so even its internal politics affect the rest of the world.
Your point about the ideology obsessed political ball communities is very apt though, which I say as someone who's been deep in these circles. Very often it's lonely, introverted, middle-class kids who lack any experience with the struggles faced by normal people. They view politics as a way to create an identity for themselves, find a social environment full of like minded people, and very much *not* as a means to find solutions to common problems.
I love Friendly Jordies because of how funny he is while also tackling topics about Australia (which I find interesting)
What you said about American politics I resonate with.
It feels like people watch us for sport 😅
Especially American news outlets. Watching CNN it sometimes feels like I've tuned into ESPN
I’m Australian and actually find it quite annoying that there isn’t more good Australian political content on youtube. Friendlyjordies is fine but his work very much is exposing videos/agitprop for the ALP. There’s nothing wrong with that, his videos are great, I just wish there was a greater diversity of popular Aussie content creators + more content doing neutral explanatory videos like tldr news.
I really appreciate this JJ, nearly everyone I know who's into politics treats it as entertainment. While I do fall into this political hobbyism of sorts I am also actively involved in politics. If you could I would really appreciate it if you would look into the fight for people with disabilities to have accessible transportation in air travel. Air Carrier Access Amendments Act of 2021 is what currently is in the process of review before being passed. I would really appreciate it if you could help inform other people about it. I'd recommend reading the NPR article "Despite calls to improve, air travel is still a nightmare for many with disabilities" or the Washington Post article "Bill aims to improve air travel for passengers with disabilities" for some basics on the topic
if online politics were banned, good chance is that a lot more people will live life way better and not become basement dwellers who spend hours and hours arguing on topics they can't even do any change towards
Agreed! Though I don't know why I'm wasting my time enthusiastically telling you that...
I am 21 and I have noticed that my peers here in the states, when faced with an American political, geo-strategical or economic issue, will respond something along the lines of "Capitalism *sad face*" combined with no suggestions to improve the situation and leave it at that. I don't even think the notion that capitalism is evil annoys me, but rather the lack of thought and amount of ignorance that goes into using that as an argument.
Perhaps because they have spent more time in America, they find my general political optimism equally as annoying. Really enjoyed the video!
US politics are so hyperpolarized and annoying that I don't blame anyone from disengaging from serious political discourse.
Political optimism?
You are not paying attention, right?
@@qchtohere8636 right, despite the US being a thriving democracy and the richest country in human history, with rapid increasing technological progress and even our poor are often vastly more comfortable and have more a political voice than most people had for most of human history, there's no reason to have any optimism. Everything is terrible.
@@lightfeather9953 Oh for f*cks sake... You really believe all that crap?
You really think America's lack of a decent healthcare system, over-dependency on cheap foreign labor, consumerist propelled inflation, veterans' impossible societal reinsertion, opioid crisis and their "constant, absolute and unquestionable" operations abroad are not all *political issues* to begin with?
....
Americans (and those believing them with no basis) are literally the most gaslighted people in the whole world, no doubt about it.
@@lightfeather9953 PS: I really really really hope you don't think projects like MKUltra or PRISM is America's "giving everyone a voice" when you finally go ahead and start reading about real American policies applied through the decades...
I’m a very ideology driven young person (20 years old) and I can say from my experience that the extremes are something people will mature out of. I get progressively less and less radical by year while being more in favor of implementing my economic/political ideological changes slowly through out current system of legal revision.
I am 100% with you on the last two, particularly the final one. I have personally loved the sports metaphor for years, because it so accurately describes what I find annoying about modern politics in the US, both on and offline. One specific problem that this contributes to is an extreme all-or-nothing kind of mindset, where any compromise on any part of your personal political agenda is anathema. In sports, an unclear result is a bad thing, and most people who are fans of a team won't be happy with, say, a tie. Unfortunately, compromise is the heart and soul of the democratic process. Yes, it's good to have things you won't compromise on, but when you won't compromise on anything, nothing gets done. Even if you are objectively right, and the other side is engaging in bad faith, and compromising would cause harm to a group of people, if your other alternative is "do nothing and even more people get hurt" then it may be the right thing to do anyway.
As an American who watches both TDLR news and Nfkrz I must say that you are absolutely right, with the internet nowadays connecting people all across the world I think a lot of americans myself included are becoming a lot more interested in what's going on in the world and those two channels bring a lot of an individual approach to their slice of politics in regards to their nations and regions.
The fact that as one of these creators you've noticed this trend shows that american interest in international politics seems to be continuing to grow.