Can We Be Heroes Again? Confronting the Banality of Modern Evil
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- Опубліковано 4 тра 2024
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About this video essay:
An analysis of the dissonance between morality and heroism in stories, and the reality and moral complexities of our modern society.
0:00 Introduction: Dreams of Heroism
7:38 Part 1: Organized Irresponsibility
15:41 Part 2: Carrying the Cross
23:03 Part 3: The Banality of Evil
31:09 Part 4: Reclaiming Morality
Sources:
Allan Schnaiberg - The Treadmill of Production: amzn.to/3hWv6rR
Ulrich Beck - Risk Society: amzn.to/3usjwr9
Ulrich Beck - World Risk Society: amzn.to/3ft7g5k
Ivie - Can ‘Ethical’ Consumption Exist Under Capitalism? (no): • Video
Kaylene C. Williams - Fear Appeal Theory: www.researchgate.net/publicat...
Kim Witte and Mike Allen - A Meta-Analysis of Fear Appeals: www.researchgate.net/publicat...
Leigh Singer - Barbaric poetry: can we really film the Holocaust? • Barbaric poetry: can w...
Further Reading:
Like Stories of Old - The Complete Reading List: kit.co/likestoriesofold/readi...
10 Books that changed my life: kit.co/likestoriesofold/10-bo...
10 More books that inspired my thinking: kit.co/likestoriesofold/10-mo...
Lies of Heroism - Redefining the Anti-War Film: • Lies of Heroism - Rede...
Vigilantes, Retribution, and the Pursuit of Meaningful Justice: • Why Vigilantes Can't D...
Media included:
A Clockwork Orange; A Hidden Life; Avatar; Avengers Endgame; Avengers Infinity War; Bag It; Batman Begins; Batman v Superman; Black Panther; Blade Runner 2049; Captain America Civil War; Captain America The First Avenger; Captain America The Winter Soldier; Captain Fantastic; Cloud Atlas; Cowspiracy; Dominion; Dunkirk; Elysium; Enemy of the State; Fight Club; Game of Thrones; Hacksaw Ridge; Harry Potter; Home; Into the Wild; Joker; Kick-Ass; Kingdom of Heaven; Knight of Cups; Lord of the Rings; Man of Steel; Mr. Robot; Network; Paths of Glory; Platoon; Quantum of Solace; Samsara; Schindler’s List; Sense8; Shooter; Snowpiercer; Spider-Man 2; Spotlight; Star Wars; The Dark Knight; The Dark Knight Rises; The Falcon and the Winter Soldier; The Grey Zone; The Hunger Games; The Killing Fields; The Lion King; The Matrix; The True Cost; V for Vendetta
Business inquiries: lsoo@standard.tv
Music:
A. Taylor - Particles
Makeup and Vanity Set - Asuntos Primordiales
Tony Anderson - Chasm
A. Taylor - Wistful
Chris Coleman - Reckoning
Shawn Williams - Darkness
A. Taylor - Who Will Remember
Bradford Nyght - Closeness
Jude Cosmo - Chroma
Music licensed from Musicbed. Elevate your videos with record-label quality music here: share.mscbd.fm/likestoriesofold
Additional Music:
Josh Leake - She
Hey all, this was quite a challenging video to make, lots of complicated subjects intersecting with each other, very difficult to do them all justice but I hope it will give you some food for thought :) These videos are largely made possible thanks to my amazing patrons, if you want to support me as well, and help me to keep making videos, please check out: www.patreon.com/LikeStoriesofOld Thanks!
LOVE YOUR VIDEOS!!!!
Yo upload vids on other platforms too like insta n shit we also need you there pls...
Are you going to return to making breakdowns of single films at a time? I personally don't care for this style of videos, not only do they risk spoiling a movie I haven't seen, they are also extremely long. I can watch a 50% of an actual movie in this time.
Great video once again. I know you probably don't even bother with recomendations but I have to tell you: If you havent seen Adam Curtis' new project "Can't get you out of my head" you REALLY should. It really adds to several points you touched upon in this.
This is great work. It deeply echoes my thoughts. I feel like we need fiction that can show us as a people a way forward. It seems like despair that we can solve problems like climate change is the biggest threat, while the paradoxical banality of merely personal choices is both uninspiring and seems hopelessly inadequate in the face of problems of such scope.
That said, there are evils that are not merely banal. There are oil billionaires who know climate change is real but would lose the "wealth" represented by their claims to oil reserves that would lose their value if the world stopped using petrolium. So they've invested small fortunes in the creation of alternative media to push disinformation to prevent the loss of the larger part of their fortunes.
I always liked how Tolkein said "it's the small acts of kindness from ordinary people that keep darkness at bay."
But it's not true. Look at all the darkness it has kept at bay. Another proof of Tolkien's silly superficial worldview.
@@jaguillermol I don't think it's a silly view. One time, I was taking a walk, minding my own business, when I see someone's car shut down out of nowhere at the middle of the intersection. So one decent guy came out to help, then another guy came to help and then another. It came to a point were there was about at least five or more strangers helping this one other stranger by pushing his car out of the road. They then decided to call in a mechanic for him.
Very lovely display of paying it forward
@@applesandgrapesfordinner4626 And that has to do with heroes and problems in the world....how?
@@jaguillermol It doesn't. I just thought it was a generous act that pulled others to do the same.
@@applesandgrapesfordinner4626 But it's not "others" that make the world a difficult place, it's a few people on top who don't care and aren't moved by what the people think or want or do
"Protect your spirit, because you are in the place where spirits get eaten." John Trudell
RIP Brother Trudell
Hii, Thank you for this amazing quote.🦋🦋🦋
@@generationz6667 You're welcome 😌
RIP Trudell
Go to the Stronghold, Thunderheart!
"How can we claim morality as individuals when evil is not an external entity we can fight off in some grand heroic moment, but it is woven in a very fabric of our daily being'
Because there's no such thing as evil there's just moving resources: be that atoms, funds, energy, people. It's just chemical reactions and things need to flow to stay alive.
@philmcclenaghan7056 you mean there is no evil in nature's laws? That is true. If not for humans, there would be harmonious equilibrium and no evil.
...as humans evil precisely comes from desperately trying to defy nature's laws...
@@philmcclenaghan7056movement used to be small in stature, now it's so big it's covered the whole world.
@@philmcclenaghan7056 just because a concept doesnt have a physical counterpart doesnt mean its not "real"
shall we presume the concept of nothing to be fake since electrons appearing in a vacuum makes "nothing" impossible to reproduce in a laboratory? how about up or down, if i said to you "look up" and you responded with "up" doesnt exist because directionality is completely relative" who would be the Loon?
We've romanticized 'heroism' so much that the slightest note of disagreement is considered as opposition. Many of us have grown up knowing only black and white, but as adults now, we realize the world is truly grey, and so is the moral spectrum.
Indeed. Heroes need monsters. In lack of dragons we turn against our neighbors.
@@SheepWaveMeByeBye there are always dragons. There is always the one inside to be tamed. But most would rather find an external one to deal with. The true immorality of the average human being. So incredibly concerned with self
Grey no that to can lead to evils that this video spoke about, Seeing the world in color with it's white, black, greys, blues red and rest is really the best way forward.
@@SheepWaveMeByeBye There is always evil when you run out of foes turn inward and do good a knight can be the king that understands and cares for his people. A dragon hoarding gold can't.
Not completely true most of us are still in a black and white mentality
he takes ideas ive always had and lays them out in a clear way i never could. its almost embarrassing. i think of myself as pretty smart and introspective, but then someone explains the weight on my heart better than i could, and i realize i still have too much to learn. another masterpiece!
Damn on a third level cause you just said what I was thinking better than I could
@@JohnDoe-jq4re maybe he is rubbing off on me then :)
@Cade P Thank you! I meant only to say that it is an opportunity to recognize a potential area of personal growth :)
You literally took the words out of my mouth. As a social scientist, I cried watching this. His voice plays a big role in the articulation. I am grateful that he exists to tell the truth that lives in all of us who understands the war within.
yes exactly that...
"Do what is necessary, not what is convenient."
If modern society could learn to live by these words, then I think that change could be possible.
Pursue what is meaningful. Not what is expedient
I've said just this to many people. And they agree with me. But they won't quit Facebook.
On what basis do we define "necessity"? Necessity for one isn't going to be for the other. Perhaps the exploitation and misuse of human labour in the construction of stadiums in Qatar is a necessity for them albeit the sheer evilness of it. The atomic bombings on Japan...you name them.
@@lyankhaute7217 I do not believe that anything which prioritizes greed over the good of mankind (and the species we share the world with) can be deemed as "necessary," regardless of how one might twist it.
For people to live by those words they first require a society they feel is actually worth saving. Nobody is going to give up their conveniences and do what is necessary if it's only to save a society and species they'd rather see burn. Everyone walking around secretly hating themselves for being part of the problem isn't going to inspire anyone to change anything either. You realize that in order to save humanity as a species we're going to have to overthrow every government on Earth, take down every corporation, kill or convert anyone who disagrees, reshape how we live life, re-organize all of civilization, all without becoming the thing we're fighting and do it all in less than a decade. I mean, I'm down for giving it a try if you are, but the odds are not good.
A school principal sent this letter to every teacher in his small, private school on the first day of class.
I read it in my eighth grade English class in 1973.
"Dear Teacher:
I am a survivor of a concentration camp. My eyes saw what no man should witness:
Gas chambers built by learned engineers.
Children poisoned by educated physicians.
Infants killed by trained nurses.
Women and babies shot and burned by high school and college graduates.
So, I am suspicious of education.
My request is: Help your students become human. Your efforts must never produce learned monsters, skilled psychopaths, educated Eichmanns.
Reading, writing, arithmetic are important only if they serve to make our children more human."
ill take things that didn't happen for 3000$ alex
@@tenanaciouz
The point still stands.
Great sentiment for sure.
@@terrifictommno it does not. The evil people of our world do not know anything about it, having fabricated every necessary evidence to support their narrative.
That was corny
"If history's taught me anything, it's that good intentions don't translate into action without a steady hand to guide them. A wise man once told me that a person can do anything once they realize they are a part of something bigger. It's taken me a while to understand that. For years, I was just a face in the crowd. But now, I'm choosing to stand up. To become a part of something bigger. I really do believe that together, we can accomplish anything. ―Phil Coulson, S.H.I.E.L.D subversive broadcast
That was cringe af
@@davelo3506 what about it is cringe?
Great take
@@davelo3506 just a bit corny
@@davelo3506 Aesthetics mean nothing really.
"You know what I love most about Mars? They still dream. We gave up. They're an entire culture dedicated to a common goal, working together as one to turn a lifeless rock into a garden.
We had a garden and we paved it."
-Franklin Degraaf, The Expanse S01E03
sounds like thats from the book "red mars"
mars is dead bro.. no survivors..
Yet the person who wrote that line probably doesn't live any differently the rest of the wealthy hollywood hypocrites.
I remember that episode. Great qoute
@@timhenley3602 That show has some great dialogue for sure. I hope we'll get an essay on it on this channel one day :D
"i dread what has to happen for us to be truly outraged"
maybe 700,000 Americans have to die
...never mind
@@allocater2 Just Americans?
@@adamm2091 in America, the focus of tragedy is mostly on what affects America. That's not a defense, it's patently narcissistic, but that's the culture here. I personally wasn't educated on any history that didn't directly affect America, and even that was barely veiled capitalist propaganda.
I'm just saying, when Americans act like the world revolves around America, it's because we're taught to do so. I'm hopeful for change. Gen Z seems much more aware of the world than I've ever been.
@@allocater2 there people in the world that still think COVID is a hoax, madness
@@alexandernakashima4236 I know this is unsolicited advice but if you write it off as "madness" and move on youre falling into one of the exact mental traps this video mentions. If you work to understand others with beliefs contrary to your own, the world starts to make more sense.
Sir, it is a crime that your channel only has 489k subscribers, and this video only 417,000 views. Each and every one is practically overflowing with gentle wisdom, and a deeply human warmth so sorely needed in common discourse today. Please keep up the amazing work you're doing, as we truly do need you.
Such an amazing video, it reminded me of how Pixar makes their movies. The "villains" aren't clearly defined objects of evil, but just characters. All the antagonists in the film are simply characters with motives different from those of the protagonist, and often times the roles become fluid. I think that's why Pixar movies tend to be so relatable as well, because it represents how in reality, there are no super villains.
One thing we must do is to separate the hero from the warrior and savior. The heroes of our reality are not heroes because they save us or fight our battles. They are heroes because they choose the right actions despite great cost to themselves. In our world our heroes do not protect us, we must protect them.
Trouble is that the "right actions" of these heroes are very subjective. Nothing personal but I'm assuming that your statement is based on political perspective, whether you're left wing or right wing
@@easttowest7839 there are no rightwing good actions. Only fear and hate.
@@easttowest7839 Ok, I'll be slightly more elaborate.
First off, there's not really a left wing in the US. The democrats are center-right. The republicans are far-right. So when speaking US-centric, politically only one side is represented.
But morality as most commonly understood across the world has more to do with doing no harm and having empathy. 'Thou shalt not murder', and 'Do onto others as you would have them do onto you' are commonly described as the golden rules. No political party keeps to these rules. None.
@@AynenMakino You declare that with such confidence! You must be a mind-reader to know what lies in the hearts of conservatives. And it's obvious that you know how the world oughta be. Anybody ever tell you that you should be in charge? Get over yourself
@@easttowest7839 he’s actually right about the politics in the United States. Idk why you think he’s not right, it’s almost obvious to see the policies both sides of the political spectrum are pushing.
I don’t have the ability to articulate a good response to a subject as complex as this, so I’ll just leave a quote here that I think about often: “Some people can’t face the world, that doesn’t mean they’re weak, just scared.” -Finka
Thanks for sharing that quote
Hence why this modern society won’t end well. Our bellies may be full, but our spirit will be empty.
@@mattabraham3549 Bold to assume hunger isn't endemic too
“Take the crumbs from starving soldiers, they won't die. Take the food from hungry children, they won't cry. But without dreams we all will die”. If you’re stuck on the war on hunger you at least have a cause. Ur good 👍
yeah, that's weakness
This really came at a good time.
A lot of my anxiety comes from knowing I live in a society that makes it harder and harder to lead a life with little negative impact onto the world. And each choice I make, either in the grocery store or even by what I eat, I am leaving my own trail behind.
Stop blaming society for your actions. If you believe that the way we live "negatively impacts the world" then stop living that way. YOU choose to live like us, it's your choice. Go live among the animals, and scratch and claw your way to survive. The world can't be negatively impacted, it adapts just like humans.
@@Lee-km7qq Isn't that a lie, though? I don't mean that you are lying, but that the idea of just her being responsible for that dread is a lie. Sure, it is partly her choice, but it also isn't. We can hardly blame a person for trying to fit in the environment they grew up in. I think it's more about coming to terms with what we as individuals can change, and what we can't change.
@@Lee-km7qq I'm sure she'd love to live among the animals if we didn't drive most of them to extinction. Any land that hasn't been privatized is either owned by the government or unusable.
You say the world can't be negatively impacted. All climate models disagree.
The Founding Fathers of America crossed the Atlantic to escape the rule of monarchs and tyrants. But now the Tyrants are more powerful than ever and we've run out of oceans to cross. Yes, with great sacrifice you can live a largely sustainable life on a farm somewhere, grow all your own food and be mostly self sufficient. But that's a privilege most working-class people will never be able to afford.
Even if she fulfills this pipe dream her taxes would still go to bailing out banks, subsidizing beef, oil and sent to shithole countries like Saudi Arabia and the failed occupation of Afghanistan. All of which make the world empirically worse. So literally by the mere act of existing you're doing wrong.
@@124085
“Live among the animals” like among wolves? lions? Polar bears??
I’d like to see that.
Stop Romanticizing nature. We are part of it. And it is as ugly as it is beautiful.
It's not hard dude. Just buy local. And start convincing other people to do the same.
We have people who make careers out of creating hate and issues in the internet, claim they are warriors for morality, but they literally do nothing to make anything better. They think calling people out or creating an enemy to go after counts as actually changing the world for the better
Through action, a man becomes a hero.
Through death, a hero becomes a legend.
Through time, a legend becomes a myth.
By learning that myth, causes men to take action…..
Why would men take action through myth when it's MYTH?
@@cothinker680 I believe they're referring to the power of stories to inspire people to strive for greater heights.
@@MrNickPresley Myths inspire everything - from atrocities to heroism. Myths are real.
@Armenias Thunk such a naive way to look at it. I think western culture has destroyed enough, eh? Let other men find strength and believe in mythos, without tearing it down
@@clongshanks5206 Why west specifically? It could very well be said by someone from the east or to the west's south.
Alienation is the key element here, seperating us from all things until we are left with nothing to connect us to the world, each other and even ourselves..
alienation is an explicit goal of corporations. they want you alienated from anyone that doesnt also consume their product
In many way we are not only alienated from our work and its products, as Marx would say, but also from each other. The world is connected, but much more economically than socially. That should change.
@@raiorai2 not really the case everyone is connected on the internet
@@oo--7714 Yes the internet, the pinacle of empathy and union
I would suggest "la société du spectacle" or in English "the society of spectacle" from guy dobord. It's a very interesting book which suggest that modern alienation come from the spectacle and entertainment that we live today.
This is actually one of the greatest things I've ever seen, heard and absorbed as a conversation in my entire life. You put your words amazingly and the reflections you provoke are more than necessary. Thank you!
I’ve been struggling with the idea of individual morality as an answer to an immoral system for a while to no avail. This helped me conceptualise it better, thank you 🙏
“If you wish to escape from prison, the first thing you must realize is that you are in prison. If you think you’re free, no escape is possible.” - G.I. Gurdjieff
Ahh, I forgot about him. Must revisit.
Age tends to 'tuck' things away.
Same for being manipulated.
@@wrenlittle8826 Ikr
Is this the same Gurdjieff that believed that there is no salvation for humanity at large, that only some people can escape through some form of enlightment, that equality and happiness are neither possible nor even desirable because suffering and inequality are required for feeding the Moon and feeding the Moon is the sole reason for life on Earth existing, yes...?
But I'm not .........
2:58-4:17 People like the idea of a big moment changing everything because then you only have to do the hard thing for one moment. The reality is much more exhausting and far less glorious. "Deeds will not be less valiant because they are unpraised." Do it anyway.
That's the irony of heroism: one instant of blazing self-sacrifice after which there is only darkness and no more pain - is actually much more bearable than indefinitely long time of hard, exhausting, boring task - which may also be thankless and unprofitable to the boot!
Your section on Reclaiming Morality is really on point. Hollywood so often villainize radicals by making them cross the line, sometimes what feels like arbitrarily.
You're great at compartmentalizing complex societal topics and summing it up in a nice fancy package. Well done 👏
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn said "The battleline between good and evil runs through the heart of every man." We try so hard to project evil onto others and we continue to believe in our own virtue
Thankyou for your wonderful essay
I just started reading The Gulag Archipelago a few days ago.
@@michaelricketson1365 how you feel so far? Good book never finished myself
@@syndicatesanctuary8692 It is frightening to read of course! And interesting when Solzhenitsyn suggests that maybe things wouldn’t have gotten as bad if the people being arrested had resisted more. It is a real lesson for society.
I recently listened to the audiobook and thought it was absolutely incredible. I would not have been able to conceive of the atrocities he describes yet he comes to the conclusion that the Russian people deserved all the horrors they faced because they were complicit in them to some degree, however small. I've never read such powerful stuff. Couldn't recommend enough, though I'm glad I used the audiobook as I'm a slow reader so would have taken forever.
@@ThePS3Beast109 I haven’t tried audio books yet but I think I would benefit from them. I also read slowly.
"You can resolve to live your life with integrity. Let your credo be this: Let the lie come into the world, let it even triumph. But not through me."
Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Burn it all to ashes if we let it get that far, once the house is run down, no amount of work will save it.
Your essays are so beautifully presented. I had some words in mind, but I'll just say thank you.
Every MCU villain’s character arc
Villain: *makes reasonable political demand*
(5 minutes later)
Villain: execute the civilians
Even the most Liberal and generous of societies, were built on a mountain of bodies. Just how it works.
Yeah, it's clear that traditional superheroes just out of the gate stopped being about helping others and more about violently defending the status quo. This trope is hardly noticed when the villains are bank robbers and rich assholes who got too big for their britches, but becomes glaringly obvious when villains start talking sense and pointing out real problems that the author or comic book company refuses to empathize with. But the author gets this weird dissonance when writing those villains so they make them perform unrelated overtly evil actions just to remind the audience that this person wanting change is in fact the villain, and things will never be better than how they are right now.
it's quite depressing.
@@Burgerzaza Makes me think of the recent spiderman movies, Homecoming especially. This incarnation of spiderman is the apprentice of a billionaire weapons manufacturer and the villain is a salvage worker who was driven into arms dealing after facing unemployment. The big fight of the movie is literally spiderman going full cop-mode on the dude for daring to steal a shipment of his weapons, which are OK for the avengers to have but not him because...?
It's beyond parody in hindsight considering that spiderman is fucking given a personal network of satellite nukes like 2 movies later. Working class hero my ass
“Man is that being who invented the gas chambers of Auschwitz; however, he is also that being who entered those chambers upright, with the Lord's Prayer or the Shema Yisrael on his lips.” Viktor Frankl
lol what a douchenozzel species.. maybe it SHOULD end..
Haha
@@Tinkering4Time Big words but have you read the works of the 20th century that lay out how that happened and why? It seems unlikely that you would be the one to lay down his life to stand up to the faceless machine bearing down on people.
@@thothheartmaat2833 It will in time. Until then we have beauty, art and a richness of experience that is unmatched, possibly in the entire galaxy.
The question is what small amount are you personally shouldering to better align yourself with heaven? Or are you on the side of ending it all in rot? Because that truly is a choice made daily and too many of us are choosing rot.
@@TheAcad3mic it is foolish to believe that just one person can do it at any time. Leverage is everything, and that requires proper force behind it. Rarely could one person provide that force.
I speak of broader, more nuanced and collective guardianship.
“You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
Yeah except that's bullshit, Marcus was taught, outside events shaped his personality throughout life, being influenced by the world around you is a fact of life because as long as your brain records information it will always act based upon it. All language is taught, most topics in education were founded based on wisdom gained over many thousands of years, history has enabled people.
@@EveryTimeV2 Aurelius didn't say that outside events have no control over you. He said that YOU have no control of outside events. That you must learn to master yourself, regardless of what may come.
Marcus Aurelius, born aristocrat.
According to most modern understandings of how the brain works, you may not have much control over your mind either
@@meregaming1770 And so what? This man saw more death than you and I will ever be. Problem with modern people is they see movies and series or read books about death and they think they understand the full force of conquering ones mind in a place where all you can see is death. Most modern people in todays society lives their lives not seeing one corpse in the street.
One of the best videos of its kind ive seen in a long while, bravo! Thanks for expressing these ideas and thoughts in such a concise and eloquent manner
Spot on again, LSOO. it’s incredible how you articulate what is in the hearts and minds of many.
Hero's stories and journeys tend to be really inspirational and moving because we like to see that justice wins and evil is defeated.
But I don't think most people have it within them to actually put themselves through the turmoil that is necessary to actually bring change and that's because these stories have a very romanticized view of heroism with generic villians, predictable story arcs, epic music and usually some sort of superpowers, but that's not realistic.
I think it’s more because evil in the world is so...vague. Most of us see it everyday, we know it’s there but it’s not a person or someone you can just punch away. It’s a whole system, so much bigger than any individual. That’s why collective efforts are necessary, and while I don’t think superhero movies are a good guide as to HOW to seek justice, they’re a great inspiration and have the potential to teach people about how important it is to actually care and hope for something better. I would say one of the biggest mistakes ever made by society was thinking idealism is the same as being naive or stupid, and romanticizing cynicism. Whenever I think of what superhero stories should be, I think of the speech Aunt May gave in Spider-Man 2.
I think there are real life heroes, people with moral courage who lives up to the challenge of opposing an unfair system: Ralph Nader, Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, Erin Brokovitch, Eugene Debs, Martin Luther King etc. In general, the propagandists work for the interests of the small oligarchy who shapes the system and will present narratives which wont challenge it. The movie industry works hard in recasting people with ideologies undermining the status quo, anti-capitalists (Bane), environmentalists (Thanos), anarchists (the Joker), as the villains. There is a profound irony in turning into heroes the CEO of a military industry (Ironman), a trust fund baby (Batman) and a mainstream journalist (Clark Kent). I believe most people are not willingly complicite of the system, they just try to survive in it, compromise with it because they feel alone and powerless. We need different stories where everyday heroes band together.
You can still take away practical examples of right action from grandiose settings and stories. The moral choices are the same we face every day but it is up to the individual to reduce them into their elemental components and apply them to their own life. As long as you think in terms of "most people" and draw arbitrary lines between them and us, rather than realising we are each one part of a symbiotic ecosystem that depends on cooperation for survival, you set up the house of cards all over again.
@@mdmazedYT There is a line and there is such a thing as a predatory/parasitic class. We don't cooperate with them, we enable them. Through colonisation, that class and its ideological converts behave like an invasive species. Practical wisdom based on history says you destroy it before it destroys you, your community and everything else you care about. And you deal with the invaders in the most rapid and definitive manner you can so it wont take root and spread. The Beothuks were able to push away the Vikings but failed to do the same with the French and the Anglosaxons and they were wiped out. I find naive and unhelpful to make a blanket statement that we are all equally evil. In a survival mode and forced by circumstances, most of us are able and willing to use violence. But very few among us will scheme, manipulate and plan in cold blood for the systematic and organized exploitation of each others and nature. The psychopaths of our ruling class did and still do.
@@MsLuath have you not seen the video? All of us are capable of great evil and it is mostly exercised through inaction. You, and all other people, are just as psychopathic as the leading class is. With good intent, but ultimately unable to overcome a system that is too big and complex to change on your own. It is by collectivism that the power is found to bring about those changes. And collectivism doesn't start with ostracizing a part of that necessary collective by painting them as psychopaths.
I think that this is the only channel that, with every video, can take my faith in humanity, destroy it and then rebuild it stronger than it was before
OMG me too. I click on it with a blend of trepidation and exhilaration.
"Jump in the arctic water or not jump" "Jump". Cheers
What an astonishing presentation. And what an incredible work of production. Excellent, LSOO. Thank you for your insights.
This may be the best thing I have ever seen. Love it so much. I have struggled with the themes in this video ever since I became aware of the world around me. While there are no clear answers, knowing others feel the same is a great comfort. Thank you for this!
Elliot's dialog is great to use when discussing morality and heroism
You mean monolog?
Is this a movie? And what movie is that?
@@tonibojones mr robot a tv series, watch it, you'll be amazed
@@faiz3711 TV show "Mr. Robot"
@@faiz3711 Yeah, I searched it and watched 3 episodes already. I’m indeed amazed by what I have seen so far. And thank you! 🙏🏽
These videos are incredibly cathartic for me personally. Thank you so much for making them.
I related with this so much, and found your analysis thought provoking, comforting and inspiring. Thank you. I love your channel.
Overcoming nihilism in the modern world is one hell of a fight! Great video btw!
Matthieu Dandoy "Overcoming" nihilism means living in a delusion.
@@nihilism6226 you still haven’t committed suicide tho, 🤷♂️
Nihilism isn’t sustainable, meanwhile some illusions can prove themselves positive, for you and others.
It is more a matter of seeing thru the illusion and choosing those that are helpful and rejecting those that aren’t
@@nihilism6226 Its overcoming self-destructive tendencies and repurposing that energy towards helping someone that day. And having that energy continually focused on good will rather than self-destruction. Even atheists disagree with nihilism, and they don't believe in a higher power of absolute goodness. Because they know there is always something good to live, fight and, possibly, die for. Whether it be family, friends, a pet, their beliefs.
A pure nihilist recognizes life is naught and the impending doom of death inescapable (in which the latter part, he isn't wrong). But more so, the pure nihilist would recognize this and be suicidal, to the point of taking action. A nihilist that continues to live on knowing the impeccable march to the grave, and that all efforts are meaningless and pointless, with no gain or reward save the temporary satisfactions of worldly objectivity, would know that to continue their existence is hypocritical to the dogmatic values of life being meaningless is held.
By continuing to exist, a nihilist is proving there is still something worth living for. Or, even better, they are living to avoid meeting the early grave. Life is worth living, by avoiding dying.
Nihilism is an oxymoron of principle. Its self-defeating. One cannot hate his life so much and believe it so pointless, yet continue living in it. Which, in itself, is torture. Imposing self harm to one by practicing that which is opposite to the core beliefs of nihilistic tendencies...
@@matthieudandoy6268 Nihilism doesn't mean idleness, it means: "do whatever the fuck you want (absolutely no limits, positive, negative, doesn't matter), none of this matters and existence is completely worthless. We are all dead already, we just don't know it yet.
@@JohnDoe-wt9ek The dogma of nihilism is an oxymoron. There is no dogma or an ideology, it is just acceptance that morals and laws don't exist, only truth does. Everything is permitted. And I mean everything. Since there are no lasting effects on the world.
What matters the most is seeking of pleasure because maximalizing pleasure and minimalizing pain seems to be the most "meaningful" thing we can do. But if you wanna shoot up a crowd, be my guest, it is 100% irrelevant in the long run. These people would die either way, they are already dead, they just don't know it yet.
I sometimes behave in a just way (if I feel like it), other times I am a complete twat for the pleasure of it. Who really cares right? In 50 years tops I will be a corpse regardless of how I behave.
This man never fails to amaze with the subject he chooses and just how much effort he much puts into his each video. Kudso Bro! 👏👏👏
I liked the 1st one so much I'm back here for round 2 on another , on a cold , wet, sober night ; how in the world have I not binged on this channel before ? haha.
Interesting. Hope togetherness is translated through community, charity, and friendliness instead of pressure, obligation, and vanity.
Gotta remember the classics ;)
(philia, storge, and agape)
Really excellent content. You’ve put eloquent words and editing to a dissonance that I think most of us feel, especially those with an interest in great stories and storytelling, between the kinds of problems and villains presented in our cinematic hero mythologies and the kind of soul-sucking systemic problems that represent real threats in our modern lives. Been a longtime fan with a few buddies, this is a good reminder to join your Patreon. Keep it up maestro.
"Opposing evil will bring our societies to a screeching halt."
Who decides what is evil? It's such a general word to use to describe something disagreeable relative to ______. As a specialized species, we have a baseline for what evil is, but living in a western empire, thumbing this comment into this glowing screen and knowing it came at great human and environmental cost, does that make me evil? It's strange to think in someone else's eyes that as much as I distance myself from the madness of the west I am evil.
@@sanomiabyrd1821 Indeed, perhaps you can argue merely using your phone and watching videos is evil. It’s free advertising for phone companies, who use child labor in foreign countries and destroy the environment in the process. It’s so gross I hate it.
@@popopop984 Keep in mind that it is NOT your fault that you happened to be born into a system that you have no direct power over, and that has power over you to a strong degree.
Also keep in mind that your voice has power, even if small and quiet. While one voice is too subtle to be heard far, an ocean of voices speaking as one can shake mountains.
@@sanomiabyrd1821 The Bible has always spoken of turning good out of the bad. Its just too bad everyone is so intrinsically disgusted by the awful things that happen that they miss the good things that come out by galling mankind to its core.
It is only by that disgust and the willingness to recognize it, address it and change it for better, is how we improve as individuals and as communities. The irony of it all is that by adversity, by the disgust of such vile things, making it aware and calling it out, without hypocrisy or ill intent, can we motivate others to make good change.
While yes, the phones made and the computers made are developed in countries where its equivalent to slavery, yet these same products are used to identify these issues, to make aware and to call out the countries and mad men who brutalize these innocent people for their own selfish gain.
Something evil isn't permanently evil. It can still be repurposed for good. Just as a man may have been evil, he can always be changed to do good.
Then let them halt, let them wither and die and let us build something better in their place.
This one reminded me of the work of Joshua Oppenheimer and his two sensational documentary films, "The Act of Killing" and "The Look of Silence" exploring the genocides in Indonesia, both from the point of view of the perpetrators and of the victims. The recognition of evil as something that is part of human nature and something to be understood and overcame is darkly apparent in his work so I suggest you'd check him out if you haven't already, I really liked how you analysed that evil isn't as cut and dry as just good guys and bad guys as a lot of media would tend to suggest. It is instead something that resides within us all and the larger structures that come out of us. I believe it is imperative that we recognise that evil compassionately in order to overcome it, harnessing the best aspects of human nature to triumph over the worst.
I am from Indonesia. Sometimes, people believe they are killing/doing evil for a good, that it was the order of the God. The definition of good and evil, in the end, is sadly depending on the current age and culture. Globalization, UN, and Internet helps to start evening out the odds, to make the definition more... equal around the globe.
We all have a shadow side, there are no exemptions. There are no unimportant thoughts, pay attention to your thoughts, you can not change anything you don't pay attention too.
Thank you for your time, your labor, but mostly your spirit of optimistic questioning. It consistently reminds me of the beauty within my life that I sometimes fail to see. This is a gift I didn't know that I'd ever needed. You open Plato's cave for me.
Amazing video. Currently writing an essay that relates to this and I really found this helpful. But also just personally really found this video fantastic. Great work
This channel is a gift
I needed this. This... this is my constant everyday life thoughts... I hate myself for it. I hate that I might not be capable of doing anything to help.
Do want you can and it will be good enough, not matter how small you think it is. Each small acts of kindness and moral courage inspire others to do the same. We don't need superheroes, we need everyday heroes which actions restore faith in each others and makes it seem possible to do good. As one of my personal heroes say all the time, together we are strong.
You made me cry. Don't hate your self. Please.
I know the feeling. But you can do little things, things that aren't even noticed by others can be a blessing. You can refrain from agreeing with people just to appease them.
YOU, can do great things.
Take the log out of your eye, before worrying over the speck in your neighbor's.
If you improve yourself, mentally, physically, educationally; you'll have improved the world by one person.
Helping family does at least two more.
A friend makes four.
That's four times your share.
Dear commenter , the largest mistake we all make is try to change only the large things . Instead we concentrate on what we can do . While we may negatively affect the world our actions also positively affect our surroundings and people . Our small actions can snowball into a huge effect .
This is probably one of the most important videos of this era. I really appreciate the message in this video and look forward to your other content.
Masterfully articulated! This essay covered a lot of the issues that have been plaguing me throughout my adult life.
I can't believe you referenced home. It is one of my favorite documentary. Seriously I love your work man. This is my sacred place as I mentioned in a previous video.
Also saw some scenes from Samsara. Also an absolute must watch!
So True
Embracing all parts of our being, both good and evil, is essential to finding practical ways of dealing with the issues we face together as a species. You weave these together so beautifully. Thanks bud.
THIS
Your content is superb. Love your mind, heart, and soul, it shines through every word in your commentaries.
Thank you.
Most people know about the unabombers manifesto, but he also wrote another piece called "the systems neatest trick" which basically posits that rebellion has been harnessed and turned on its head by the system we all live in. In order to use it as a tool for control rather than liberation. Whatever you think of uncle ted, his writings become more and more prescient with each passing moment.
I just finished reading The Banality of Evil by Hannah Arendt last night and this dropped. Maaaan.
After so much unbearable bullshit these many years, you've helped me turn a key in a lock and open a long shut, forgotten door in forty minutes. That is a gift. Thank you once again. Cheers.
This is just beautiful, I cannot imagine how much work you put in this video. It's visually stunning, your voice is so chilling. Thank you.
Brilliant!! Narration and visuals are on another level.
Enjoyed every minute!
Thank you!
I reccomend Paul Scrader's 2017 film First Reformed. A very compeling story about morality, polution, evil and faith. I highly reccomend it, it's very underrated.
And Network is one of my favourite films. Also Samsara.
Before watching First Reformed, watch the film Schrader copied to make it - *Ingmar Bergman's Winter Light.*
@@racewiththefalcons1 I will. Haven't seen that one before!
First Reformed is astounding, can’t recommend highly enough.
Your videos are so thought provoking. I have a book I'm trying to write where "the new gods" are trying to fix the world after destroying "the evil old gods." The problem I have it exactly this: the banality of evil and how to "fix" humanity to be better. Such a brilliant thought provoking video that helped me see a few different ways to try it.
Do you really think that there even could be a good world. A good God who takes over and fixes us. I honestly feel that morality as we know it is antithetical to nature and human nature. Their is no justice in nature, only survival. And man emerges from the 4 billion year old corpse pile and decides that mankind is better than that, as we slaughter and pillage our way across this planet znd through the ages. I feel kinda heartbroken in that aspect. I really wish I could find some type of morality or something that's not just more of the same
All Gods where Created by man God serves man always has
what if the old gods still rule and arent evil at all.. chaos is very misunderstood..
@@thothheartmaat2833 what do u mean?
@@CMCSS-to3to Our inability to fully reconcile the good and evil natures within every human being is what makes the path to righteousness so meaningful. There was a quote somewhere in the video that went along the lines of "if man cannot choose to be good, he is no longer a man". The meaning is two-fold. While one can consider it to mean that "if man has no recourse but to commit evil by way of living within the system thrust upon him then he is no longer human", it can also mean that "were our ability to choose between good and evil taken from us, to only ever pick the path of good because we could not physically, knowingly choose to do something ingrained from before birth to be evil, then we would be no more complex than insects". We would be as the angels of God, incapable of disobeying, of having free will.
It is each man's personal struggle between good and evil that makes his triumphs righteous, and his failures tragedies.
this channel is absolutely magnificent, the effort you put in is HEROIC, keep it up.
This video hits HARD. Probably one of the darkest and urgent videos I've seen on your channel. I didn't think it would have the usual pull of hope.... but thank goodness it did (kind of!!) - amazing work!!
This essay is a movie. A whole movie. Your discourse is just amazing. So clear and concise and so inspiring. Great job man!!!!! :D
Beautiful work here, the relationship between individual responsibility & structural change is incredibly complex, & you laid so many core concerns out in a very concise manner.
Another great piece of work. Superb context extrapolation. I think you tie together what we all think in pieces into a singular narrative. You have my complete admiration.
thankyou LSOO is one of my favourite youtube channels. I look forward to many more of your moving thought provoking and authentic exposees of real life through film
You often make me ask myself tough but meaningful questions - that is, as I think, is the most important thing in enlightenment and growth as a human being. Thank you for your work and passion.
Another masterpiece, couldn't love it more! Lay out so many things on my mind that I haven't been able to articulate. Thanks!
Keep these coming, you're doing your part and it's very important.
Beautifully put together! Should be an Oscar winner for UA-cam content.
It also happened during the viewing this video that something stirred inside me ... The words... And those exact words followed in the video as well. The entire line of thought was like dance steps I was taking with you. I was beating the same notes of Thought as you were.
Thank you once again ☺️
I've been coming to the same conclusions a lot recently. It's good to hear someone with a platform put it in a more coherent essay. Nice work.
I really enjoy your approach to those heavy subjects, not to even mention the always relevant cultural examples you use to portray them or the way you put it all together. Please never stop !
There is so much to unpack and your work is well visualized, thanks for being.
Thanks for expanding our minds. Also giving us knowledge throughout your video essays. Keep up the good work!!
Amazing production. Very well articulated thesis. Thanks for sharing it with us.
this video came out during the perfect time. In canada, 215 remains of indigenous children were found in a mass grave next to a residential school. So naturally alot of this video hit home " i'm a human being god damn it, my life has value!". thank you for this
Fantastic video. And I still feel this resistance or rather lack of belief, how working together and creating communities can overcome this hole we’ve dug ourselves. The learned helplessness is very ingrained and couples together nicely with this lethargy because „I don’t have it so bad“. Rest assured that I will keep thinking about your words in my work of overcoming this.
Always, always, ALWAYS a pleasure to watch your videos, listen to your words and become inspired by your spirit. Thank you, LSOO. 🙌❤️
Your videos are very well structured and researched - they are also works of art. Thank you
Already 10 minutes in and I can't take my eyes of the screen. This subject matter gets DEEP and the movie scenes make this even more fascinating.
Takes a lot of skill to rearticulate and reiterate knowledge in a novel, clear and concise way. Keep up the great videos.
Excellent video as always, man. Thanks for everything you do, you keep a little bit extra hope alive.
Very thought provoking and interesting video. It's quite rare for me to watch something for 40 minutes in one sitting. Thank you.
you are incredibly talented and hard working. keep up the good work!
I usually don't watch UA-cam videos twice, but there is so much in here - wow!! Masterpiece Sir, especially pointing out that noble ideas or intentions are embodied by villains who go too far - however, rarely as the hero who changes things. Having good and evil less romanticised would definitely be interesting in a movie
Thank you so much for this very important video that the entire world needs to see and hear. 👍🏻👍🏼👍🏽👍🏾👍🏿
My favourite youtuber talks about Elliot Alderson? What a treat! Thank you for another excellent video, friend.
I recently bought a used copy of Jared Diamond's book Collapse. I'm half way through it and cannot at this point recommend it enough. It truly shows the complexity of the human society, and what can happen during the evolution of these groups. Very much food for thought. Thank you again LSOO for your excellent channel. Peace and Strength.
WONDERFUL ESSAY AND CLIPS! THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO YOUR HEART AND MAKING THIS!
You finally hit on Samsara, like I've been asking for years now! Thank you!
The “banality of evil” makes me think of the book “The Screwtape Letters” by C.S. Lewis, where Hell is like this terrible bureaucracy methodically trying to corrupt men through the small insidious everyday little vices. Thank you for the analysis, as always.
Stay well out there everybody, and God bless you friends. :)
LSOO,
you wonderful stranger. I ask you to keep doing what you do.
With a sincere respect I urge you to carry on and on regarding these videos.
I genuinely believe that you are a humble and kind person and you should know that you have touched my heart many times over. Your philosophical deconstructions and analyses have helped drive me forward as I venture to become a man who is better.
"Better" is a strange term. I think this term means something different for us all...
Continue to help me and others find out for themselves what that means stranger.
Such impactful subjects. I enjoy your channel and the content you produce very much. I hope this part of you will never change. Keep touching this world in a positive way!
Those who dare listen to you Sir are truly brave. Thank you, again.
I cried, I mourned the opportunities I failed to grasp and pray I can become more.
Exceptional! Amazing! I wanted to be a teacher. I never knew exactly why. It doesnt pay well, and pretty hard to do good. But after watching this video, i realized the thruth. I wanted it to make a change even if its small. To create a community where i teach the values and morality of life through sports. Thats my dream. And now, i know its foundation, all thanks to you. Thank you!
People look at me crazy when I tell them I teach RS. I simply say "I feel a need to teach kids critical thinking skills, how to relate to people from walks of life they do not understand in ways which are respectful, and the idea that some things which seem fantastical can have deep meaning if one bothers to suspend disbelief and think about them from a personal angle". Some people get it, some don't. Luckily, my RS classes seem to get the kids interested.
Baseline for teaching salary in my crappy state is 34k per year.
My last four years of income total that and am still able to pay off student loans and card debt. Cant do anything else but whatever.
I dont get the whole argument that teachers are not paid well.
They get the summer off, meals are cheap to free, retirment and health benefits.
What am I missing here? Honest question.
@@grinningtiki220 Here in Hungary, teachers earn 6000 dollars a year. The avarage monthly cost of an apartman is 400 dollars in Budapest, (thats 4800 a year). Thats what you missing :D. And im not even exaggerate it.
@@grinningtiki220 I can only speak to my experience with public education in the midwestern United States, so TheKapor10 or others may have different perspectives, but here's my take on what you may be 'missing':
As a culture we value knowledge. We assume that the function of a teacher is to impart knowledge, so we conflate the value of teachers with the value of knowledge and hold the profession in high esteem. The thing is, most public 'teaching' jobs in the US are primarily focused on child care and ensuring accountability through the school/state bureaucracy. Now, to be fair, this is not without good reason - accountability structures are important because putting children in a public school exposes them to myriad dangers, and many children are not ready to learn because of personal circumstances, so child care will often be the first step that must be taken before learning can even be considered. Unfortunately, this means that actually imparting knowledge to children comes in, at best, a distant third or fourth in terms of what teachers actually spend time doing with pupils.
While the demand for teachers is quite large (there are many children, after all), the labor pool for teachers is also extremely large - the work requires essentially no physical labor, and relatively little training to do compared to highly compensated fields. There certainly is a lot of training available, but it is not actually required to be a good teacher. Pretty much anyone who enjoys children, is a little bit patient, and is not a pedophile can be a teacher with a few courses on classroom management and child development - one can't say the same for, say, garbagemen (physically demanding), aeronautical engineers (educationally demanding), or surgeons (educationally and physically demanding).
Thus we end up with a class of people who think that their jobs are both more important and more challenging than they actually are, and expect an amount of compensation commensurate to their perceived value, rather than the value they actually provide. I work with a number of teachers who make upwards of $150,000 per year who still feel they are undercompensated.
This very well may be the best video I've seen on UA-cam in years. And it just came up on exactly the right day, after having a conversation with a coworker today about what evil is. Very well done, thank you for creating this.
Yeah I rambled/ranted to someone today in person about how capitalism (after they brought up me getting groceries) has left my life looking like what u saw and what this guy described as a dystopian movie early in this video here. I don't think they were listening at all , but I felt a lil better after wards haha.
Thank you that was a very honest and insightful way to approach the subject. As well as very inspiring ⚡️