Frustrated may not be the right word. Even a few days before the election he had a podcast suggesting the outcome may go this direction. To most people comparing Trump to almost anyone is an obvious choice. Trump has no values nor does he seem to care for anyone. That's just really odd. Yet.. he won. Unhappy with the extreme left makes sense. Unhappy with social media and the weirdness it is heading towards. And unhappy with the fact that what were once Republicans has now become a mass of folks that approve of a style of personality rather than intelligence, values, and competence.
@@BabudroSun If you want to get all technical and correct random people on UA-cam, then let me do the same to you... Sam did say it twice. You are, technically speaking, incorrect.
Sam is too smart to know that the reason trump won wasn't due to identity politics but economic politics. When inflation got as bad as it did in 2022-2023 not even Obama himself would have won reelection. This leads me to believe Sam is being disingenuous on purpose, but for what reason
It sure as fuck wouldn't have been buried had Kamala won. She'd have simply doubled down on it the way the MSM is right now, and followed through on making loans to "oppressed minorities" and continuing to treat white Americans like the devil.
I am an American who has just spent three years living in Latin America. Literally *every single person* I have heard use the term "Latinx" was a white American.
I also just lived in Latin America for 3.5 years (Panama). Returned to US this past February. Most of the other expats were far right materialists or conspiracy theorists, or both. Anti-intellectual, arrogant, ignorant, aggressive. A few more thoughtful types. Depressing.
What point do you think you're making? Has anyone ever claimed that the term "Latinx" was created by Latin Americans? I always just assumed it was created by either feminists or LGBT activists who wanted to eliminate gendered naming conventions. Why do people act like it's a big own to point out that Latin people don't use "Latinx"?
@@creoshin9082 You're saying whoosh because you can't address my point. "Latinx" is a term popularized by the LGBT community in the US who wanted a gender-neutral alternative to the terms "latino" and "latina". What's the purpose of pointing out that mainstream cis-het people in Latin American countries don't use the term? Of course they don't. Why would anyone expect them to?
Finally I found a podcast where it is ok to be left, but also seriously critize the far left. Thank you for saying out loud what has been going through my mind in the last years. I literally agree with everything you say.
I'm trans and I agree. However, I take issue with some of the trans blame. Let me preface this with, this is a soft critique and I'm not seething in ideological rage.. Just trying to add a little nuance to the topic. Can we note that the Trump campaign grossly misrepresented the trans topic, spending $215 million on ads to inflame the topic, make bombastic claims that nine year olds are given SRS or we want to overrun sports? He has inflated the issue and promoted discrimination. There was an effort by his campaign to represent all of us as the radical minority. There was much much more focus on transgender topics from the right than the left during this election. Topics that were exclusively cast in a negative, threatening or controversial light. The reality is, most of us do not want the attention or drama. Social transitioning is difficult and painful and wrought with rejection and judgement, but it is also an incredible experience of self-realization, self-love, independence, unique perspective on the world, connection, community, feeling genuine, an invigoration of life etc. Nonetheless, many of us are perceived with the presumption that we were captured by the cultural contagion and that it's a lifestyle CHOICE. Acknowledging child dysphoria is a nuanced and difficult topic, here's my partial anecdote. I grew up with dysphoria and internalized the transphobia present in entertainment media, my family and the public, attempting suicide at eight years old. I continued to suffer from suicidal ideation, disassociation, self-loathing and depression into early adulthood until I stopped treating transitioning like it was a choice.. That realization has been profoundly impactful on my well-being, life and pursuit of happiness while diminishing my liberty and societal acceptance. Transitioning after puberty is completely different as our bodies, face and muscle-skeletal system develop to our primary sex hormone. Effects that persist throughout our adulthood and can only be partially remedied with hormonal therapy and surgery. Effects that erode our ability to assimilate or diminish our self-perception. With that being said, I would never encourage a child to contemplate their gender if there's not a pre-existing issue. In a perfect world that existed in a vacuum, we'd simply listen to our kids instead of imposing our own confusion. Its a difficult gap to bridge. Families and environments are composed of countless variables. Mine continually reinforced the idea that trans and homosexuals were "disgusting," amongst other things. Kids growing up in small town Texas are going to have a completely different perspective on the topic than those in Portland, Oregon. However, some are open minded and are willing to listen to their children. I'm not sure how you reconcile those two and provide the infrastructure for the former scenario without confusing kids at large. I think we'd all do less harm by not forcing families to comply. Instead, spread the positive message. Build trust in the science, explain how to differentiate trend v. psychology, mitigate psychologist bias etc. Be there for those who do experience it. Express our life experiences in a way that promotes compassion and understanding rather than reinforcing a stigmatization. I'm also conflicted about the cultural contagion topic. There are divisions in transgender spaces of dysphorics and trenders. That trenders are propagandistic fuel to diminish our place in society. That they reinforce stigmatization by presenting transitioning as a flippant choice. That they've clumsily stepped all over the basic rights, protections, acceptance and liberties we've fought for. They eagerly expect benefits we worked so hard to get from experiencing hardships that deeply hurt most of us and now demand a seat at the table of how we are represented. However, I can't help but question, what's so bad about it being a lifestyle choice so long as it doesn't infringe on others? I don't think they're guilty of what all the right says aside from some isolated events. I don't think they're peeping on women and children in the bathroom, transitioning for personal gain, enter women's prisons or to dominate sports. Most aren't trying to convert kids.. Some are guilty of all of those things, but there are creeps, crazies and weirdos in every group.. I'm not generalizing all right wing voters as neo-nazis even though that faction generally supports Trump. Home issues are one thing, but societal rights, liberties, protections and opportunities seem somewhat easy to address without inciting bigotry. Bottomline is, yes, left radicals have grossly overstepped and are overly received to our detriment, however, the right has inflated the issues beyond recognition. Sam did a good job of softening it, but generally has accepted a bad-faith argument in transgender care. I'm trying not to be pedantic, but I think it's a worthwhile observation. I do appreciate his specifying of "trans activist," instead of simply "transgenders." It would have been nice if we were presented in a similar fashion as latin americans who don't support being spoken for by radicals who try to enforce "latin-x." Please differentiate radicals and bad actors from the rest of us. Thank you for acknowledging some of our struggles and some of the nuances within transgender care. I think there's some room for positivity and humanization in the discussion at large.
Sorry to burst your bubble but Sam harris showed his true colors during covid lockdowns and vaccine mandates and is genuinley blinded by Trump derangment syndrome. Youll grow tired of him soon enough I basically promise that.
Sorry but leftist don't need even more leftist willing to criticize the left when the right is completely incapable of taking any measurable stance against Trumpism. Sam is just preaching to the converted
And the elitist circle jerk continues. Lessons weren't learned in 2016 and I doubt they will be learned in 2024 that's sort of the problem with our arrogant out of touch elite class. History is filled with this story playing out in America today.
There is one wrong assumption being made here: it is lot that all those that voted for Trump ignored his flaws or are unaware of them. They simply disliked the postmodernist left more.
What I find unconvincing about your argument is that I gave many Trump supporters the opportunity to acknowledge serious flaws about Trump but still conclude that he is the lesser of two evils to them. These Trump supporters refuse to acknowledge any serious flaws. In fact, they would view his flaws as features not bugs.
@@jasonhead4280 Yep. We love everything about the whole Trump phenomenon. Especially now that he's been reelected with an inarguable MANDATE to change the course of this country. Every single thing the Dems have done to "stop Trump" added to the reasons we needed to stop THEM. They shat on every word of our Constitution and wiped their asses with the Bill of Rights. They weaponized the judicial system against a GAME SHOW HOST just bc they truly couldn't defend their own political stances. Nobody deserves the victory of Trump and this mandate more than every single Democrat
Ive been saying this for years. Try walking into a traditional Latino household and talking to them about “systems of patriarchy” and see how far that gets you
Sam got this one a bit wrong. Per capita, crime is now and has generally always been higher in Republican and conservative states and counties. Even in California the per capita crime and violence trends higher in its most Republican and conservative counties and cities.
Sam is correct and utterly convincing here. But if anyone else tried to make this case about the gender issues to a leftist, you’d be immediately canceled and labeled an intolerant bigot. Which proves his point.
They already labelled Sam a bigot for criticizing Islam. Militant Leftists & trans activists think like islamic religious fundamentalists. Anyone who criticizes their ideological convictions is a bigot or ___phobe to them. Sam knows this too well. That's why he doesn't go too hardlined on the trans issues. Unlike say Richard Dawkins, who is more hardlined & rightly calls the trans stuff 'bullshit' & got cancelled by leftists, to a certain degree. Telling leftists that their convictions regarding transgenderism is bullshit is like telling Muslims that Mohammad is not a prophet. They won't forgive that blasphemy no matter who you are. Sam's approach is different, he knows how to deal with the leftist mob, how to confuse them & expose their weaknesses to themselves. He lets them know that he despises the Alt-right regressive people just as they do & tries to show them their own regressive ideas.
Really? Anyone else, but not him? Why does he have some special power that other people don’t? I think he makes some valid points here but I’m still not fully convinced that the trans thing is the large issue he thinks it is. He claimed there is an “epidemic” of teenage girls wanting double mastectomies… really? An EPIDEMIC? Somehow I doubt that, but I would love to hear a source for that claim. I mean he says himself that everyone is at risk of seeing their own pet issue as being responsible for why Kamala lost, but I feel like he is playing right into that himself here. If this really is the biggest issue that is moving the needle I don’t feel like he has done a good job of proving it.
"The dumbing down of American is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30 second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance" --Carl Sagan
“Many were increasingly of the opinion that they’d all made a big mistake in coming down from the trees in the first place. And some said that even the trees had been a bad move, and that no one should ever have left the oceans.” ― Douglas Adams
This is, hands down, one of the best summaries of our current state and how the Democratic party and progressive Left can move forward. Sam Harris has done us all a great service memorializing it. My hope is political leaders take his points to heart...
If the democrats take some of Sam's messages to heart they will never win again. I don't think that Sam has thought this through. If he had, he would realize that he does not want the alternative to the type of democratic party he describes. He simply wants the democrats to be republican light. The republican light strategy was tried in 2016, and again this time. It did not work either time. All of this culture war BS is just a distraction. It is the republicans who want to talk about it most. About the democrats running too far left, consider that Bernie Sanders ran far, FAR to the left of any of the last democratic candidates. He probably would have won too. FDR was one of the most popular presidents ever, and he was practically a Marxist. His radical left Marxist policies included 99% taxes on the ultra rich, huge redistribution of wealth, and massive public employment programs. This radical Marxist agenda paved the way for the rise of the American middle class and a golden age of American economic growth and business. An empowered proletariat has more money, including more money to buy all of the things who's demand made our economy hum like never before in the decades after the war. Such policies today could make the democrats very popular, but not with the big donors and not with Wall Street. I don’t think Sam would like this agenda either, so perhaps he should not complain about a democratic party mired in “woke” culture war BS.....he would not like the real alternative.
Bernie Sanders had a great line in his recent conversation with Lex on his pod. What issues are neither side talking about? The influence of money in politics, universal healthcare, and raising the minimum wage. These should be issues the democratic party is addressing, and the Harris campaign was way to corporatist to connect to real problems that the current party has no plans to address.
“Black teenage unemployment in the United States was roughly equal to white teenage unemployment until the minimum wage was raised. It is no accident that the rate of black teenage unemployment is much higher than white teenage unemployment. The effects are discriminatory, even though it’s not intended.” -Milton Friedman
My problem with universal healthcare is that the people advocating for it want it to be unconditional. I don't think it's fair to force a person who's disciplined enough to maintain a healthy lifestyle to fork over part of their earnings to pay for individuals who CHOOSE to mutate themselves into The People of Walmart.
Bernie needs to stop trying to sell government-only monopolized healthcare as universal healthcare. Providing baseline healthcare that everyone can access is a good idea that's actually popular. Banning any privatized healthcare is immoral and something that most people will never vote for.
@@mattturner5429Many many people who contract or have serious illness or other serious medical conditions have them through no fault of their own, in a myriad of ways. You sound like ex-Alabama senator Mo Brooks.
I'm a liberal and have never voted for a Republican presidential candidate (though I voted for my moderate Republican senator Arlen Spector before he was replaced by "tea party" radical Pat Toomey). I've been voting for 44yrs and I'm a "person of color." Let me tell you. Sam is 100% correct. Denying that the Left hasn't helped to put us in this terrible position as a nation is pure, unmitigated, cope. So many of my fellow liberals have been saying the same thing for years... only to be called transphobic, islamaphobic, or some other, made up just yesterday, bullshit, merely for wanting to discuss this stuff reasonably. Enough is enough.
I'm a Liberal myself and if you've truly been voting for the past 44 years, what do you make of Liberals, progressives and dems being lumped into one party over the last 20 years or so? I've been voting since the early 80's and i have more in common with the Republican party today than i do with the Democrat party. If you've truly been a Liberal all these years, you should be against big government and big business, you should be 1000% in favor of free speech and 2nd amendment rights. These are all Liberal values and things Dems such at. There also seems to be little accountability for the fact that Harris was a horrific candidate. How many delegates did she win in 2020, ZERO!? In 2020 she ran as a very progressive candidate and just 4 short years later she 180'd on everything she ran on in 2020 pretending to be a more moderate middle of the road Dem. Of course people are allowed to change their minds but on EVERYTHING!? And to 180 on it all!? Did she truly even have stances on anything or was she just saying whatever in an attempt to grab power? Why is Trump such a bad candidate? Can you give me actual reasons other than BS headline buzz words and phrases? "Jan 6", "convicted felon", "racist", "homophobe", ext...
@jacoblee5796 Sorry man, that he is a 34x convicted felon, a civilly adjudicated rapist, has been convicted of fraud and successfully sued because of it, and he stoled from a children's cancer charity makes him a scumbag. That your moral compass is so goddamned broken that you find his to be acceptable as a president, let alone as a man, is pathetic and speaks volumes about you as a person.
@@hewhomustnotbenamed9276Buddy if you believe Trump is a 34 count convicted felon you’re drinking way too much kool-aid. Even Sam Harris has stated that was total BS and a shame court case. I suppose you think Kobe Bryant is a grapist as well then? A long with thousands of other rich powerful men that have settled civil cases? You may have me on the children’s charity, I haven’t heard that one before. But these other two just make you look ignorant.
An all those true classical liberals voted for Trump. Tulsi is a classical liberal, so is RFK, Rogan, Rubin.... Whether you like it or not, Trump represents those classical liberal values. But people are blinded by their TDS
@@greg.ocallaghan Really? Cutting taxes for the rich, killing workers unions, de-regulation to the point that corporations can become a monopoly to raise price to however they want is classical liberalism? That's what happen when you voted for Trump and Elon Musk, but because you are so focused on the cultural war you missed the big picture. Just for reference: FDR raised massive taxes on the rich and created Medicare and Social Security. Theodore Roosevelt used his government muscle to take down the monopolies and the oil barons to protect consumers, and also created national parks to conserve America's nature. If you want classical, those guys are both classical liberal and conservative for you. There has to be a balance. Conclusion: Trump and modern GOP is NOT your friend. They conned you guys big time.
“The fact that we have had to think about this man continuously for over a decade is just an incredible piece of bad luck”. Amen. Edit: this sure is a Sam Harris crowd, both for and against.
I have my choice moving forward, turning anything off with his face/voice on. Control the controllable. Hope we still have our democracy after 4 years, feel bad for people working in the field has to deal with him. What’s a curse.
No, no one thinks about this man unless u have an ego or narcissism, I care and most ppl I know care about the policies and wat he can do for my family and bank account! I could care less if he’s an asshole or even a racist which he isn’t but I wouldn’t care if he made the lives of Americans better. Which he does over a Biden/Harris administration.
Trump is the one who ran ads saying "Kamal Harris is for they/them, Trump is for you." That's blatant identity politics. The ad might as well have said "Kamala is for LGBT people, Trump is for cis-het people."
Long time Dem here. My take is that our party, has for too long, tried to be 'nice' to everyone. We avoid the white, working class majority issues and focus on helping the marginal. Yes, I agree that being a nice human being is important but you can not ignore what is putting fear into everyday Americans.
Long time Dem here as well and I completely disagree with your assertion that the party, for far too long, has tried to be nice to "everyone". Far from it. You frame the party's enormous flaws as a positive, but it's demonstrably not true. Affirmative action policies are nice to blacks (and Latinos) who can't otherwise cut it because public schools in blue cities have failed to do their jobs and not nice to whites and Asians. DEI policies are nice for the blacks (and Latinos) who can't otherwise cut it because public schools in blue cities have failed them, but horrible for everyone who cares about meritocracy, maintaining high standards, and free speech. Immigration policies like Democratic sanctuary cities and Biden's decisions are nice for illegals and bad for everyone else who is forced into sharing public resources with people who aren't supposed to be in the country in the first place. Failing to maintain the hard line between men and women that has always existed is great for looney trans people and activists, but horrible for women. The Democratic party and Liberal Media exist to (try and) put the fear of bigotry into every previously marginalized group and then (hopefully) gain votes/viewers from this ragtag coalition by presenting themselves as their great protectors (as their Democratically run public schools continue to fail them).
But who put that fear there? Trump did. He gets on stage everyday and tell his supports that the country is garbage (but he can fix it, despite us still being the world leader by every metric), that immigrants are out to get you and take your job (but he'll fix that, despite record unemployment and dropping violent crime numbers).
Let’s look on the bright side-there is at least one thing Democrats and Republicans have in common: the conclusion that Americans got the president they deserve.
It was mostly just the perception of the economy and the fact that the GOP tapped into people not giving a shit about reality or statistical data. As long as you tell people you care, affirm their position, and promise the world, you win. Even if it is all fake. We now live in the idiocracy and Trump is president Commacho promising to cut the price of car insurance by 50%. Doesn't matter if inflation is down, unemployment is down, growth is up, etc. If you can sell a lie and scapegoat problems, you win.
@@Uppernorwood976 I had friends in swing states tell me they thought the commercial was a parody or SNL skit, the notion of supporting that was so absurd.
There just isn’t enough to be said about trump that can eclipse the level of disdain we have for the left, the mainstream media that covers for them, and the government as a whole.
I truly believe people vote for the opposing party if they feel their lives are doing worse. It doesn't matter who's at "fault," if the matters are in the control of politicians or not, or what the culture war is doing. If people feel as though their lives are better, they vote for the incumbent party. If they feel as though their lives are worse, then vote for the opposition. It's not really any more complicated than that, in my opinion.
exactly. Sam's issue is mistaking what people think they're voting for or against with what they're actually voting for or against. Nobody gives a flying fuck about trans rights or trans issues if their lives are getting better, if they're earning more money than they did before and they can afford a better life than they did before, and they have better healthcare, less crime, and so on. But if all of those things are getting worse for them, they'll find everything and anything to blame it on, and the right will usually help them with that.
I've been screaming this to anyone who'll listen since last Wed. I think your description hits the bullseye for "swing voters," i.e. the 3-6% who vote but can truly go either way any given election. Most of these people are utterly clueless about policy and even superficial politics. Many of them would literally vote for Hitler reincarnate in order to punish the incumbent if they felt (correctly, or due to numerical illiteracy as in the case of wages outpacing inflation) their personal financial situation was marginally worse than 4 years ago. Note that I didn't say "if they felt strongly that Hitler had a better economic platform" -- they don't even make it that far in their rationale. It's simply a knee-jerk reaction against the incumbent with no further thought, for the most part.
I agree with Sam on most points. But I see the root of the problem is much deeper, its the condition of society. The U.S. is experiencing a few generations of a broken family, social, educational and economic system. Broken homes, no real moral or ethical compass, lack education, overworked, and materialism/cosumerism, all in the fertile soil of social media for last 20 years or so. Society is void of direction and purpose, so any personality with a good line can sway the ignorant and impressionable masses. It really started with Reagan, Nixon was the beginning, but there was still enough direction in the country.
And sooo much loneliness, making people willing to listen to anything that feels like buddies hanging out, and unfortunately many "real conversations" are packed with lies and slander. There's literally no way to interview shameless liars "casually" while maintaining any informational integrity: If you push back during, they will get mad/storm out. If you push back in post, they'll learn not to sit with you. So hosts now know the big money is in being a platform that's a safe place for liars.
Sam keeps on saying the Dems lost because Kamala didn’t publicly denounce “wokeness“. But wokeness has a plethora of definitions dependent upon perspective. Most left wing voters believe that being woke simply means, respecting the sanctity of the Golden Rule. The thing about the Golden Rule is just about everyone believes in it. Even a tyrant is kind to their own family and friends. In 2016 Hillary said “when they go low we go high” regarding staying true to the tenants of morality and kindness. Was that a mistake, was it a self declaration of moral superiority? I believe it wasn’t. It was a reminder to Americans that we all want a kinder gentler society no matter what side of the political arena we lean on. It’s the same type of friendly order we all want in our families - we all want it in our society as well. If Kamala denounced wokeness, she would isolate many on the left because they would perceive that action as denouncing the Golden Rule. If this happened the right would have a hey-day attacking Kamala for her hypocrisy, saying she’s more morally bereft than her opponent. While it’s true that wokeness and political correctness have gone too far, defining those boundaries is perilous at best. Sorting this out will likely take decades.
No, I think you're wrong here. While the word "wokeness" has evolved and migrated from its original connotation, I don't think the majority of left-wing voters equate wokeness with treating others as you wish to be treated, at least they don't act that way. The vast majority of left-wing woke-sters are frequently intolerant, bullying, shrill, demonizing, and willing to ascribe moral failure to anyone who has a different opinion or conclusion from their own. Hardly an example of the Golden Rule. I don't think a subset of Americans want kinder and gentler, they're sick of having to indulge the oversensitiveness of how everyone "feels," and having to nod their heads and bend their knee to self-righteous victim-claiming.
Sam's critique, I think fairly obviously, is not a call for Kamala or the Democrats to renounce the basic ethical precepts of every functional and stable society on Earth. He's talking specifically about the mainstream left-wing attachment to needlessly divisive identity politics. That's not the same as the golden rule. "Do unto others" doesn't even really factor into what he's talking about here. If some people choose to affix a different and more relaxed meaning to the word "woke", then great; they're no longer the people who are being described here. Trees have no concrete, agreed upon scientific definition. That doesn't mean that nobody understands what someone might be talking about when they say "I saw a tree". People are free to define "tree" by criteria outside of common associations. But if you personally choose to define "tree" as something like "a red-hot, twelve foot cube of tungsten", then people are naturally going to exclude you from the conversation, because expanding the definition of the word to encompass what you're talking about simply makes it impractical to discuss with any clarity.
I remember growing up in the 90s. Everyone was complaining about how it didn't matter who you voted for, because they are all the same. Now there's clear distinction between the parties and people still aren't happy.
Those same people when polled, back then, would have largely agreed with the statement, "don't you think the two parties should stop fighting and work together for the American people." In many respects, our problem is the American voter; they are dumb as a box of rocks.
@@erikblomqvist8325 is there? Superficially maybe but they are all wealthy elites who answer to oligarchs. The running of the system won't change maybe some of the culture war stuff will but the growing inequality is supported by both sides
The upper management might be pretty much the same. But I think the Democrats are crying all the way to the bank. I am suggesting they took a dive or three, and at street level, we have a "sane wing" rather larger than the GOP's. Those missing votes? Sane Republicans, Assholes Maybe, but not the looney-tunocracy now waiting to disassemble America, who were stranded without a party and feeling doomed either way, I assumed
As an outsider from Europe, I agree with Sam on this issue. From a distance, it seems as though the Democrats didn’t actually want to win-they made it remarkably easy for Trump. I could never bring myself to vote for him, but I do understand why so many people did. One issue that stands out is a tendency within the Democratic Party to adopt a patronizing approach toward minorities, which is something I’ve even noticed being discussed here in my own country. Similarly, the emphasis on “woke” issues has created a divide. Personally, I would always vote in favor of more rights for minorities, but Democrats need to recognize that this approach often gains little while alienating a substantial portion of the population, especially when it’s constantly pushed. As Sam points out, this has become one of the most frustrating aspects for many voters. The irony here is that, by enforcing this narrative on those who don’t relate to it, the Democrats have ended up achieving the opposite of their intentions. The result is an administration in the White House that feels emboldened to disregard these issues, leaving those minorities, whom Democrats intended to protect, even more vulnerable. Politics, in my view, requires finding a balance, but what we’re witnessing globally now is a divisive “black-and-white” approach, with no middle ground. Ultimately, I see this Democratic loss as one of their own making. Trump didn’t so much win as the Democrats lost. Also, if you think Trump is the worst that can happen, think again. He may be saying stupid shit, but he's quite 'normal' and moderate' in his views (if you dare to admit how far left the Dem's have gone on certain issues). I do think it is more show than real belief. But he can pave the way for others. More radical people. Like Owens, yes.
I agree with pretty much everything you wrote, except for your comment that Trump is "quite normal". You're dead wrong. He's an outlier to a great degree. It's incredible that you don't recognize that after everything you wrote. His supporters....many of them....don't recognize that he's pathological. And that is precisely why strongmen gain power in challenging times. Trump has been described in many ways by people who have had brushes with the man. And most of them...if they were consequential interactions....concluded that the man is anything but normal. All of his generals from his first administration have been severe in their assessments of Trump.
Many are inclined to downplay the significance of the legalistic coup attempt by framing the resulting damage as a consequence of policies rooted in the globalist establishment, a system perpetuated through the cyclical dominance of the Bush-Clinton dynasties. For many, the Obama administration epitomized the culmination of broken promises from this entrenched establishment. Their disillusionment has since been replaced by renewed hope in a figure who seems to elicit disdain from the very elites who have long held sway. Though this figure operates within elite circles, he appears to challenge the same power structures that perpetuate disdain for those deemed "deplorable." This growing discontent signals a palpable rejection of the status quo, as the marginalized populace, increasingly vocal, has had enough.
The biggest question you should ask yourself is why are there so many minorities in the West to begin with. No other people in the world have such an open door policy to their nations. Yet in the West, we've propagandized ourselves over decades to believe that if a person from anywhere on earth moves to a European country such as England that they're suddenly british as if the name wasn't made to describe the ethnic people of britan. If you were to move to the Philippines, you wouldn't magically become filipino. A nation is the makeup of its people who all share a common heritage, speak a common language, and share common values. You fundamentally change the makeup of a nation when you import millions of people within a few short years. These are people that more than not aren't coming from civilized developed nations and thus they often times have values which directly oppose ours. The only reason for example many from the middle east vote in alignment with the left is due to their pro immigration policies, but their social and religious ideology puts them further to the right of even someone like Trump. Much further. The left will drag us all down with them. When our democracy consists of 65% non native Europeans in all of our nations and they start to push their true values and ideology, you will wish you had listened to sense.
Amazing that all these people Sam once respected, associated with and admired are now untouchables in his eyes. Sam, what are the odds they're ALL wrong?
It’s most decidedly not the access to information making us dumber, it’s the cultural Marxism which insists on teaching young people that critical examination of itself is counter revolutionary and and immoral act in itself-simply a manifestation of your oppressor or privileged status. This is not new. It’s the unwillingness to listen to viewpoints critical to our own or to hold open debate which is making “us” dumber. You ever see leftists try and defend critical inquiry into their positions? It’s not just “like” the first time they’ve ever heard them, it possibly IS. Conservatives are forced to sharpen and defend their ideas in college because they are constantly attacked-and I don’t just mean the ideas, I mean the people who dare to hold or speak them. And by “conservative” ideas, I mean all those liberal and libertarian positions which the left has othered as well. It’s how the middle became the right. Simply by standing still and cleaving to some pretty uncontroversial and plain sense principles.
@@charlesvan13authority in knowledge is important for a reason. Whenever you have a serious problem, think of whether you want the expert or the podcaster to solve it
You hit the nail on the head Sam - I agree with the analysis on every issue here. In the absence of the great Christopher Hitchens, we’re lucky to have commentators like you who cut through the confusion and bring clarity to the seemingly complex current landscape.
Republicans have never been for the working class. Dems struggle to pass any legislation that moves the needle. They stick up for the Affordable Care Act, capping insulin and other common drug prices, defending the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (something the Republicans recently hobbled). The dems are doing more in governance to help the working class, but it gets drowned out by the misinformation and propaganda from the other side. When did Republican policies ever put more money in the working class's pocket? They'll say that the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was the greatest benefit in history but then don't mention that while those making $60 might've had a $2k more in annual take home pay, the millionaire got another $100K. And corporations got their rate cut from 40% to 21%, that's a 40% increase in revenue for them - and it also drove up the deficit. Republicans are not better for the economy - that is a trope. They certainly love money more than anyone else so I guess that's why most people fall for it.
Thank you Sam. For remaining steadfast and speaking out. A lot of people are adapting to a new normal and rationalizing what is happening. I know you have gotten a lot of pushback. But having you as a steady voice has been important for many of us.
Ya Sam lives in an echo chamber and he clearly is so disconnected from the average American who voted for trump 2/1 in most places and 50/50 everywhere else so not to mention being extremely wrong about Covid and lockdowns/vaccines, he’s been so far from right political that only ppl in an echo chamber and media propaganda think this way.
@ ur telling ME, it’s either u have TDS or not and Sam Harris definitely has TDS as well as anyone else who has a brain could see Kamala Harris was 10x worse of a candidate for president then Trump was who was already president before and did a lot better then the Biden/Harris Administration.
I am a paid subscriber of Sam; I’ve been following him for many years. I agree with him on all topics except Trump. I love and deeply respect Trump, and it hurts me to know what Sam thinks of him, but I guess you can’t agree on everything.
It was a million issues that caused it, but I think the mistake of analyzing it from Sam's perspective is that he and his viewers based in the US are different from most voters. Most voters are swayed by emotional messaging and all of the standard trappings of politics. Many voters don't even check the programs of the sides before the election or do any verification of the merits of the candidates and how compatible those candidates are with their own values. This especially applies when you vote for a person and not a party - it just becomes a popularity show. They just hear someone talk about an issue they are passionate about and go "yeah that's my guy" and that is the extent of the decision-making, even though this may harm them; or they have a vague feeling of "this country isn't going in the right direction" so they just vote to whoever is opposite the current powers. And the second thing is some people really align with Trump's values (or at least whatever values he tries to pander to). There really are people who would prefer to close borders to immigrants etc.
Yeah, many of us fear becoming like Europe. It isn't a racial thing...we want the vast majority of America to be multigen American. Perfectly reasonable.
@angelmartin7310 exactly. We want immigrants, regardless of race, who adopt and share our core values and to perpetuate them into the future once we are gone and how contribute to building the country.
I agree Sam. I had to go through DEI about 6 times with an organization I recently retired from and it was so annoying. Sorry not sorry, but I will continue to use the word homeless person.
Unhoused. Which, from a European perspective… is actually quite accurate. We don‘t blame people who are in the worst spot possible and actually would feel ashamed to leave people unhoused. But that‘s just us silly Europeans who don‘t gloat over the poor.
@@BleakVision so the difference is that being unhoused is a passive state in which the onus lies on others to provide housing? As opposed to homeless which makes no implied reference to the prospective source of shelter?
Sam has lost his marbles. Trump won because inflation was really really bad between 2022- early 2024. It's hard to win reelection when the cost of living increased as fast and as high as it did.
@@soberanisfam1323 inflation was just over 2% this year, brain trust. And 100% of the economic pain Americans have been suffering is the result of Trump’s presidency and policies. 100%. You probably blame FDR for the Great Depression as well😏
@@shacktime so what was inflation in 2022 and 2023? You do know that inflation is cumulative right? Did you get a 10 or 20 or 30 percent raise between 2022-2024? Most Americans didn’t which is why the cost of living went up substantially for those Americans in those 3 years. FOH with your disingenuous 2%.
None of those people would have voted for Trump. Democrats may do stupid things, but that doesn’t justify Trump for anyone who cares about actual outcomes.
Woke insanity is what pushed this over the line. Democrats had four years to prove they were less crazy than Trump. They failed. Round Two… *DING DING DING*
People will get tired of conservative insanity. The pendulum will swing back when conservatives go back to being finger wagging tone police moral guardians like they once were.
I left “X” and Joe Rogan long ago and have recently left Good Morning Joe. It made me sick to watch them go to Mar a lago and bend the knee. We need more real journalists. Thanks again, Mr. Harris, please continue to shine a light were most won’t even look.
@@blue123439 what just happened? You just stopped watching Joe Scarborough? Sorry I don’t mean to come off rude but honestly find that baffling. I found that guy to be one of the absolute worst propagandists currently.
I am a 55 year-old Southern whhhhite woman. This 2024 election had me not only voting for Trump but also donating, for the first time in my life, to a politician (Trump). I don't particularly like him but the democrats drove me, at high speed, to Trump. I hate the economy right now but the issues that moved me to activate politically were immigration, the trans crap and all the blatant lies that the legacy media spewed. After the election, seeing so many people calling me a racist and sexist and a transphobe because of my vote only solidified for me that I made the right choice.
@bonniebush7960 I will look forward to how you see things after this administration. So you deeply care about these issues? Or is the most important thing in your life moving forward and surviving to gain or keep the middle class dream? We as Americans are being separated by these issues. They want us to look over there and blame others. We must look at what the rich are doing to say the problem is the immigrants. They are taking our jobs etc. can we all agree that shareholders wanting more from those who already own the market is no good for the majority of us?! They know we are suffering and would rather point the blame at others then truly look at why the rich keep getting richer
Exactly. There are too many right-wing grifters masquerading as centrist whilst only ever criticising the left and ignoring right wing lies and bigotry.
This is incredible. Every person in the country and around the world should listen to this. I want to say “ignore everything else…” but won’t and just start here and listen to everything else with a critical ear.
I agree with every point, Sam. I kept asking myself, “why would someone support someone so extreme in Trump?” And it’s simply because people want something extreme - people are sick of the standard politician using fancy language and then ultimately nothing happens for the working class. People want chaos and we are going to get it.
You still don't get it. We don't want chaos. We simply want a normal functioning society with a givwrmwnt that lifts all people up and protects our rights. Not fake rights like abortion. We don't want chaos at all. You're clueless.
They want change and any change is better than none. It's a message to the elites that they don't want ideological nonsense shoved down their throats any more
@@lu1903-f2t how can you say Biden did nothing? You must be insanely privileged or sheltered if you think that, the child tax credit alone did more for struggling families than anything else in recent history
In a world flooded with so much nonsense and brainwashing, its so refreshing to revisit sam harris and be brought back to reality with logic and reason. Wish this guy could run the country instead lol.
Sam is one of the most honest and courageous individuals I have ever encountered. He is a true warrior, artist, and guardian of love and important values. By taking risks for our benefit, he serves as a significant inspiration to us all.
So you dont want to be lied to unless it is by institutions that have put themselves in places of power or put into power by corporations,and the fact you think they are ever held accountable or apologise for their mistakes and outright lies is ridiculous.
His point is that we need to reform the institutions, not that they are perfect. He argues that they have more value when they are working correctly, and we should focus on that instead of putting our trust in bros who have done their own research. Try to keep up.
I heard you on The Bulwark, so I thought I would check out this episode. I'm a 53 year old, white, left leaning independent voter. For decades, I almost exclusively voted for 3rd party candidates. Do not like the two party system or either party. But, we have had a binary decision to make since 2016, and I now vote exclusively for Democrats because of what you said in the 2nd half of this podcast. I was ready to bail after the first half, but I committed to hear you out. And I'm glad I did. I do not agree with everything you said in the first half, but I understand your points. My take is we have a crisis of uninformed, misinformed, and disinformed people in this country. The point you made about the limited # of trans people in this country and the extremely limited # of events where biological men are competing with women at elite levels in sports or assaulting women in bathrooms, like Republicans like to claim, should not be an issue for any voter. It's ridiculous that it is. So... I do chalk it up to ignorance, racism, and misogyny. I think the voters are more culpable for the outcome of this election than the Democratic Party.
I think that we all need to recognize that Barron Trump is now a very seriously influential advisor to the president of the United States. So that’s comforting.
@@shak535 Shit take. An old president listening to younger people around him is not bad. And no one knows Barron Trump’s views since he has said zero in public.
This was just what I needed to help me understand what the hell just happened. Why can't we have this caliber of intellect in our political candidates? Thanks, Sam.
Sam, thanks, that was soothing. A superb 30 plus minutes of sensible analysis. You don't have to be completely correct, or cover all the bases. Thanks for helping me, us, breathe deeply in a time of madness and upheaval. I live in an urban environment in Canada. In a way it's worse here as one doesn't know what anyone really thinks or feels - it's disgustingly polite and over-ordered.
Sam, why bring Imane Khelif into this? Her controversy is, at the most charitable interpretation, an issue of intersex participation in sports. mentioning her as a preface for a good faith discussion on trans issues is, I think, misguided, and muddies the waters of what might otherwise be productive conversation.
That is note true. There is only a 6 million vote difference in the total between both candidates and they are still counting. Stop with the conspiracy nonsense. Trump lost last time more than Harris this time.
@@MCCrleone354where did they go? We know they cheated and it was most likely via ballot harvesting because of the “pandemic” and yes that’s cheating, people who normally won’t go out and vote, shouldn’t vote!
I don't agree with Harris on anything. Conservative Christian, isolationist, pro Palastinian, anti covid mandates, pro gun, pro Trump.... Genuinely like listening to Sam though and rarely miss an episode.
Yes. He's spent a big portion of his career critizing people for existing in filter bubbles, and is oblivious to his own. He could be a apolitical juggernaut, but he's yet to discard his own god.
Trump’s rhetoric made it sound like that’s all democrats cared about. That was clearly false, but those who were on the fence about who to vote for believed his lie anyway.
I'm looking forward to the moment when I can savor the schadenfreude when the inevitable happens, and Marco Rubio is fired, and will be neither a United States Senator, or Secretary of State.
"The most prolific liar on earth" And this is why people will justifiably say that you have Trump derangement syndrome. You talk about what lessons the Democrats should draw, but I think you should draw some lessons yourself
He is that though. He's on another level than anyone else. It's not comparable. Orders of magnitude difference between he and the next most prolific liar.
The ideology is also wrong, though. Nothing he says has any real meaning. It's all vibes. He has no real plan for anything, and what plans he does have are contrary to the stated goal. This is classic populist demagoguery. For example, he says he knows you are suffering high prices and that he will "reduce them," but he has no plan to do that. HIs only stated economic policy is to deport millions of people who are cheap labor and slap massive tariffs on everything. Economists have repeatedly warned that both of these policies are highly inflationary and will raise prices. Thus, policy proposal contradicts policy goal. He also wants to cut taxes, which will create revenue short-falls, leading to cuts in programs that most people, when polled, say they actually like. Assuming he doens't just deficit spend like he did last time. Which also contracts the desired goal of reducing the national debt. If you read the GOP party platform and the project 2025 manual they put out, they wanna cut the FDA, the EPA, the SEC, etc. The SEC being defanged means business fraud will multiply. The FDA being unable to regulate means you are more likely to get poisoned by food. During Trump's first term in office, his meat-packing deregulation caused disease outbreaks. So no, the ideology of the agenda is also bad. He just says it in a way that is appealing.
@@s0515033 Yeah...sure. More insanity. I actually do know European politics well. Trump is not like Hungary's Orban or Russia's Putin. One is a career politician and the other a forme KGB agent. Trump is a real estate magnate. The attempt of the left to place him in the same pot is simply ridiculous. But I understand why the left do it. I see way more corruption in the dem party at the moment. Kamala had 1billion for the campaign and ended up still being 20 million in debt. Where did all that money go? Authoritarian populism my ass. Get out of your bubble. Talk to other people. Tough grass.
It really isn't. There is plenty of diversity within the parties and being able to vote someone out is a more important power (which only exists in a two party system) than having more selective support for a party which more aligns with your views. In a multiparty system, ultimately voters do not pick who is the prime minister or which parties are in the governing coalition, that all happens behind closed doors and the only thing voters decide are how many people each party has in play for negotiations. Multiparty systems are just a distraction from the actual problems the US faces.
@@leedunkin3338 The UK has 4 major federal parties and things are worse there, not better. 2 Parties makes things much simpler. I wish we had that in my country.
@@Lavabug hellow fellow bug :D What I like about radical centrism is the craziness you need to have to put two radical ideas face to face and come to a pragmatic solution. That is radical - not adhering to a single perspective; You have to work with what is reasonable on both sides.
@@scriptedBug It doesn't make you crazy, it just makes you lazy. There's nothing radical about mainstream parties, they both agree on fundamentals (do what corporations pay them billions in lobby money to do) and just split on surface level culture war issues to fill the airwaves with junk discourse and entertain voters with drivel like TRA and immigrants eating pets. A radical recognizes this is the status quo and is interested in a radical change. "Nothing fundamentally changes" (Biden's words to a room full of billionaire donors) when dem/rep parties flip the white house. Even BlackRock's CEO Larry Fink said it “doesn't matter” who won this election - they lobby both sides and always come out on top and are the ones actually making policy.
Ive known a lot of trans and non-binary people that weren't happy about becoming a political football. Especially when it comes to the escalatory nature of that kind of publicity. To me it looked like a concerted effort to make a voting block out of people who already embraced progressive policy and alienate everyone who doesn't align with the characterization. I'm trans and in the military, and from a home town with a significant conservative populace. Liberal elitism these days seems to have a significant PR problem, it seems quite fashionable to engage a rhetorical and moralistic brinksmanship that drives polarization, and turns the middle ground into a no man's land. I present male in most online interactions. And if given the opportunity to double my money i would bet every dollar that i could find a cisgender trans activist that would absolutely shit hellfire on me for any attempt at nuance or any allowances for skepticism about what is often seen publicly as institutional gospel. It's a joke. Even speaking to my behavioral health counselor regarding my own dysphoria there is plenty of facepalm on the subject of the loudest liberal voices on this issue. It's also really upsetting to hear anyone point at trans issues being at fault here. It's an excellent, accessible, all encompassing example of the deeper problem. Liberal advocacy is broken. The liberal thought leaders we have are in a reactive silo of information, extremely sensitive to provocation, uncompromising in rhetoric and more than willing to compromise broader American values to see themselves in only the best of light and everyone else as either an enemy or in tacit alignment if they do not engage in the same conflict in the approved way. If identity politics is a problem then lets focus on the identity with the deepest roots in the most tainted ground. Deeply polarizing activism is killing civil discourse, nuance, and opportunity for reconcilliation, with a smile on it's face as it does.
Love ya Sam. I really - and honorably, respect your clarity on these topics and how consistent you've been the WHOLE entire fing TIME! Hitch would be proud! Thank you, brother!
Identity Politics, Border Crisis, Foreign Policy Failure, Economy. Every single last moderate I know, including myself, voted for him to avoid any more of the insanity. I've been a registered Democrat my entire life until the cycle.... I suspect we will remain this way until the Obama era ends. He was decent in 2008 and the harbinger of everything awful in 2012. Bernie Sanders said it perfectly. This party no longer represents the working class. There's no reason it should be surprising that the working class no longer supports it. This was a well-deserved loss. Stop racially profiling everybody, and maybe you won't be shocked when Donald moron Trump manages to win 1/3 of all non-white votes. Race never mattered. Stop bringing it up. It's not relevant and never was. Every single living entity on this planet shares a common ancestry. In Humans, you only have to go back about 15 generations to where we are all related. You are all descendants of slavery and royalty alike. We're all evolutionary heavyweights because we wouldn't be here if we weren't. Wake the fuck up. The leftist policies are fucking awful and turning every moderate away. Stop being a professional victim.
@maxducoudray I only sound that way because the left has moved incredibly far left. I'm right in line with Clinton and Obama first term. And no she's not moderate on anything. That pathetic display of running a midline campaign with the exception of abortion where she's as far left as humanly possible was just nonsense. If she really wanted to send a message to the electorate she would have done the grown-up thing and chose Shapiro as her running mate but instead we got the most brain dead, pansy of a male I've ever seen. The conservatives did have that part right. And yes I agree there is nothing wrong with being a conservative. I just don't happen to be one.
I have very few conservative beliefs. Most of my beliefs are well in line with Obama 2008 and Clinton. Have you considered the obvious reality that maybe the left has gone over the top bat shit left and the rest of us haven't really moved?
@@SovereignVoid If you'd asked me in 2016, I'd agree. That said, I don't think most people on the left (or even most left wing American politicians) are as bad those terminally online leftists we use as an example. It seems like most disdain for the American left is all based on vibes. When I compare the mainstream American left to Donald Trump who stacked the DOJ for not going after his political enemies, leaked classified information about Israel to the Russians and has even advocated for jail time if anyone burns an American flag, I can't help but feel like the right are much worse offenders when it comes to losing touch with reality.
You and the "experts" you like to keep throwing out there have been wrong about everything over the past few years. I thought appeals to authority were a logical fallacy.
Where do you draw the line? When the "experts" shut down the country over a cold, and anyone who questions the laughably inept countermeasures is socially ostracized? Sam's response was essentially, "I would have been right if the facts were different."
I've always been an independent but I remember when on day one, Biden signed executive orders allowing men to play women's sports, I thought WTF!? THAT's what he's prioritizing right now!? How does that even make the top 20?? That was when I knew we'd be in for a ride.
To anyone who's not convinced that Sam is indeed frustrated about the results of the elections:
He said "f*cking" twice in 40 minutes...
Because he is an angry tender man. Listen to him tell us who we are. So daft
Time to re-visit the Canon, Sam.
Frustrated may not be the right word. Even a few days before the election he had a podcast suggesting the outcome may go this direction.
To most people comparing Trump to almost anyone is an obvious choice. Trump has no values nor does he seem to care for anyone. That's just really odd. Yet.. he won.
Unhappy with the extreme left makes sense. Unhappy with social media and the weirdness it is heading towards. And unhappy with the fact that what were once Republicans has now become a mass of folks that approve of a style of personality rather than intelligence, values, and competence.
Someone needs to learn to count. (it was way more than twice)
@@BabudroSun If you want to get all technical and correct random people on UA-cam, then let me do the same to you... Sam did say it twice. You are, technically speaking, incorrect.
Persian woman here, we are forced to wear hijab, this is a total disregard of our basic human rights.
But you can listen to Sam Harris?
@@dermotmeuchner2416 Really makes you think.
@@dermotmeuchner2416 fortunately, the internet works in Iran thanks to VPNs
@@dermotmeuchner2416 Why couldn't she?
Depends where you live.
“Identity politics is dead and we have to bury it” - Sam Harris.
Amen, Sam.
It's alive and well on the left.
I don't remember Harris engaging in identity politics during her campaign, did she?
Sam is too smart to know that the reason trump won wasn't due to identity politics but economic politics. When inflation got as bad as it did in 2022-2023 not even Obama himself would have won reelection. This leads me to believe Sam is being disingenuous on purpose, but for what reason
It sure as fuck wouldn't have been buried had Kamala won. She'd have simply doubled down on it the way the MSM is right now, and followed through on making loans to "oppressed minorities" and continuing to treat white Americans like the devil.
Amen indeed
I am an American who has just spent three years living in Latin America. Literally *every single person* I have heard use the term "Latinx" was a white American.
I also just lived in Latin America for 3.5 years (Panama). Returned to US this past February. Most of the other expats were far right materialists or conspiracy theorists, or both. Anti-intellectual, arrogant, ignorant, aggressive. A few more thoughtful types. Depressing.
What point do you think you're making? Has anyone ever claimed that the term "Latinx" was created by Latin Americans? I always just assumed it was created by either feminists or LGBT activists who wanted to eliminate gendered naming conventions. Why do people act like it's a big own to point out that Latin people don't use "Latinx"?
@@homelander7742 whoosh.
@@creoshin9082
You're saying whoosh because you can't address my point.
"Latinx" is a term popularized by the LGBT community in the US who wanted a gender-neutral alternative to the terms "latino" and "latina".
What's the purpose of pointing out that mainstream cis-het people in Latin American countries don't use the term? Of course they don't. Why would anyone expect them to?
@@homelander7742 You. You are the reason your side lost. And thank God. LOL.
Imagine Sam using the f word on his meditation app, too. "Close your f***ing eyes. Focus on your f***ing visual field."
😆
Okayyy. Take your f’ing seat.
I hope he posts something like that for April Fools Day
What the fuck!
Sam doesn't need the f word. 😏
Finally I found a podcast where it is ok to be left, but also seriously critize the far left. Thank you for saying out loud what has been going through my mind in the last years. I literally agree with everything you say.
Literally agree with everything you say. Isn't that the definition of a cult
Sam supports the vaccine mandate. Let that sink in
I'm trans and I agree. However, I take issue with some of the trans blame. Let me preface this with, this is a soft critique and I'm not seething in ideological rage.. Just trying to add a little nuance to the topic.
Can we note that the Trump campaign grossly misrepresented the trans topic, spending $215 million on ads to inflame the topic, make bombastic claims that nine year olds are given SRS or we want to overrun sports? He has inflated the issue and promoted discrimination. There was an effort by his campaign to represent all of us as the radical minority. There was much much more focus on transgender topics from the right than the left during this election. Topics that were exclusively cast in a negative, threatening or controversial light. The reality is, most of us do not want the attention or drama. Social transitioning is difficult and painful and wrought with rejection and judgement, but it is also an incredible experience of self-realization, self-love, independence, unique perspective on the world, connection, community, feeling genuine, an invigoration of life etc. Nonetheless, many of us are perceived with the presumption that we were captured by the cultural contagion and that it's a lifestyle CHOICE.
Acknowledging child dysphoria is a nuanced and difficult topic, here's my partial anecdote. I grew up with dysphoria and internalized the transphobia present in entertainment media, my family and the public, attempting suicide at eight years old. I continued to suffer from suicidal ideation, disassociation, self-loathing and depression into early adulthood until I stopped treating transitioning like it was a choice.. That realization has been profoundly impactful on my well-being, life and pursuit of happiness while diminishing my liberty and societal acceptance.
Transitioning after puberty is completely different as our bodies, face and muscle-skeletal system develop to our primary sex hormone. Effects that persist throughout our adulthood and can only be partially remedied with hormonal therapy and surgery. Effects that erode our ability to assimilate or diminish our self-perception. With that being said, I would never encourage a child to contemplate their gender if there's not a pre-existing issue. In a perfect world that existed in a vacuum, we'd simply listen to our kids instead of imposing our own confusion. Its a difficult gap to bridge. Families and environments are composed of countless variables. Mine continually reinforced the idea that trans and homosexuals were "disgusting," amongst other things. Kids growing up in small town Texas are going to have a completely different perspective on the topic than those in Portland, Oregon. However, some are open minded and are willing to listen to their children. I'm not sure how you reconcile those two and provide the infrastructure for the former scenario without confusing kids at large. I think we'd all do less harm by not forcing families to comply. Instead, spread the positive message. Build trust in the science, explain how to differentiate trend v. psychology, mitigate psychologist bias etc. Be there for those who do experience it. Express our life experiences in a way that promotes compassion and understanding rather than reinforcing a stigmatization.
I'm also conflicted about the cultural contagion topic. There are divisions in transgender spaces of dysphorics and trenders. That trenders are propagandistic fuel to diminish our place in society. That they reinforce stigmatization by presenting transitioning as a flippant choice. That they've clumsily stepped all over the basic rights, protections, acceptance and liberties we've fought for. They eagerly expect benefits we worked so hard to get from experiencing hardships that deeply hurt most of us and now demand a seat at the table of how we are represented. However, I can't help but question, what's so bad about it being a lifestyle choice so long as it doesn't infringe on others? I don't think they're guilty of what all the right says aside from some isolated events. I don't think they're peeping on women and children in the bathroom, transitioning for personal gain, enter women's prisons or to dominate sports. Most aren't trying to convert kids.. Some are guilty of all of those things, but there are creeps, crazies and weirdos in every group.. I'm not generalizing all right wing voters as neo-nazis even though that faction generally supports Trump. Home issues are one thing, but societal rights, liberties, protections and opportunities seem somewhat easy to address without inciting bigotry.
Bottomline is, yes, left radicals have grossly overstepped and are overly received to our detriment, however, the right has inflated the issues beyond recognition. Sam did a good job of softening it, but generally has accepted a bad-faith argument in transgender care. I'm trying not to be pedantic, but I think it's a worthwhile observation. I do appreciate his specifying of "trans activist," instead of simply "transgenders." It would have been nice if we were presented in a similar fashion as latin americans who don't support being spoken for by radicals who try to enforce "latin-x." Please differentiate radicals and bad actors from the rest of us. Thank you for acknowledging some of our struggles and some of the nuances within transgender care. I think there's some room for positivity and humanization in the discussion at large.
Sorry to burst your bubble but Sam harris showed his true colors during covid lockdowns and vaccine mandates and is genuinley blinded by Trump derangment syndrome. Youll grow tired of him soon enough I basically promise that.
Sorry but leftist don't need even more leftist willing to criticize the left when the right is completely incapable of taking any measurable stance against Trumpism. Sam is just preaching to the converted
I remember Sam's episode in 2016 after the election. 8 years later here we are again.
"The Most Powerful Clown." I remember what I was doing as I listened to it. Lol
He didn’t have a popular vote mandate 8 years ago. Nothing can stop him.
And the elitist circle jerk continues. Lessons weren't learned in 2016 and I doubt they will be learned in 2024 that's sort of the problem with our arrogant out of touch elite class. History is filled with this story playing out in America today.
Holy shit, I missed that!
Must go back and find!! 🙏🏼
Me too! I remember listening to that and finding some solace at the time. What a world, time flies.
There is one wrong assumption being made here: it is lot that all those that voted for Trump ignored his flaws or are unaware of them. They simply disliked the postmodernist left more.
Right! Can't understand how Sam doesn't see this.
If they were so "aware" of Trump's flaws they sure are silent about it.
What I find unconvincing about your argument is that I gave many Trump supporters the opportunity to acknowledge serious flaws about Trump but still conclude that he is the lesser of two evils to them. These Trump supporters refuse to acknowledge any serious flaws. In fact, they would view his flaws as features not bugs.
@@jasonhead4280 They don't care and for good reason, you people are delusional.
@@jasonhead4280 Yep. We love everything about the whole Trump phenomenon. Especially now that he's been reelected with an inarguable MANDATE to change the course of this country. Every single thing the Dems have done to "stop Trump" added to the reasons we needed to stop THEM. They shat on every word of our Constitution and wiped their asses with the Bill of Rights. They weaponized the judicial system against a GAME SHOW HOST just bc they truly couldn't defend their own political stances. Nobody deserves the victory of Trump and this mandate more than every single Democrat
Ive been saying this for years. Try walking into a traditional Latino household and talking to them about “systems of patriarchy” and see how far that gets you
What would happen?
@@Zurealz they'll give you a dirty sanchez
Funny how all those Latino men are afraid of a woman president while their mothers completely dominate their lives. Maybe Alex P Keaton syndrome
You get a chancla thrown at your head
You are the problem.
I was waiting for this since the day of election.
Me too.
Same
Same
same
Yes, same.
“Democrats we won’t police the streets, but we’ll police your language” Bingo!
Sam got this one a bit wrong. Per capita, crime is now and has generally always been higher in Republican and conservative states and counties. Even in California the per capita crime and violence trends higher in its most Republican and conservative counties and cities.
Why are you so sensitive about your "language"?
crime is down. Just another trump talking point
Private companies policing your language is NOT the government & crime is DOWN under the Biden administration. Get a clue.
Only if it’s racism. Then yes people will complain.
Sam is correct and utterly convincing here. But if anyone else tried to make this case about the gender issues to a leftist, you’d be immediately canceled and labeled an intolerant bigot. Which proves his point.
They already labelled Sam a bigot for criticizing Islam. Militant Leftists & trans activists think like islamic religious fundamentalists. Anyone who criticizes their ideological convictions is a bigot or ___phobe to them. Sam knows this too well. That's why he doesn't go too hardlined on the trans issues. Unlike say Richard Dawkins, who is more hardlined & rightly calls the trans stuff 'bullshit' & got cancelled by leftists, to a certain degree. Telling leftists that their convictions regarding transgenderism is bullshit is like telling Muslims that Mohammad is not a prophet. They won't forgive that blasphemy no matter who you are.
Sam's approach is different, he knows how to deal with the leftist mob, how to confuse them & expose their weaknesses to themselves. He lets them know that he despises the Alt-right regressive people just as they do & tries to show them their own regressive ideas.
he is exaggerating the importance of gender issues. he (we) need to account for how anybody could vote for such a malicious cretan as Trump.
Really? Anyone else, but not him? Why does he have some special power that other people don’t? I think he makes some valid points here but I’m still not fully convinced that the trans thing is the large issue he thinks it is. He claimed there is an “epidemic” of teenage girls wanting double mastectomies… really? An EPIDEMIC? Somehow I doubt that, but I would love to hear a source for that claim. I mean he says himself that everyone is at risk of seeing their own pet issue as being responsible for why Kamala lost, but I feel like he is playing right into that himself here. If this really is the biggest issue that is moving the needle I don’t feel like he has done a good job of proving it.
"The dumbing down of American is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30 second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance" --Carl Sagan
To be fair Americans have been celebrating ignorance for a long time. The worst think you could ever be accused of at school was being smart.
When so called Cable "News" networks take sides and screw their coverage towards their candidate, you know we are lost.
I was wondering how long it would take for someone to use this quote.
@@mikef2813 Because it makes so much fucking sense.
Carl Sagan certainly saw how it would all pan out . Shame it’s fallen on deaf ears.
“Many were increasingly of the opinion that they’d all made a big mistake in coming down from the trees in the first place. And some said that even the trees had been a bad move, and that no one should ever have left the oceans.”
― Douglas Adams
Well said.
Uncle Ted was right :D
Great reference, maybe a comet will hit the earth before America turn total fascism.
Ooh, well played!
Cthulhu fhtagn.
This is, hands down, one of the best summaries of our current state and how the Democratic party and progressive Left can move forward. Sam Harris has done us all a great service memorializing it. My hope is political leaders take his points to heart...
If the democrats take some of Sam's messages to heart they will never win again.
I don't think that Sam has thought this through. If he had, he would realize that he does not want the alternative to the type of democratic party he describes. He simply wants the democrats to be republican light. The republican light strategy was tried in 2016, and again this time. It did not work either time. All of this culture war BS is just a distraction. It is the republicans who want to talk about it most.
About the democrats running too far left, consider that Bernie Sanders ran far, FAR to the left of any of the last democratic candidates. He probably would have won too. FDR was one of the most popular presidents ever, and he was practically a Marxist. His radical left Marxist policies included 99% taxes on the ultra rich, huge redistribution of wealth, and massive public employment programs. This radical Marxist agenda paved the way for the rise of the American middle class and a golden age of American economic growth and business. An empowered proletariat has more money, including more money to buy all of the things who's demand made our economy hum like never before in the decades after the war.
Such policies today could make the democrats very popular, but not with the big donors and not with Wall Street. I don’t think Sam would like this agenda either, so perhaps he should not complain about a democratic party mired in “woke” culture war BS.....he would not like the real alternative.
It was such a perfect explanation.
100% agree!
What serious leader is going to take a Jew dwarf with TDS’s opinion on anything serious
"You lost more people of colour than you ever have while running against archie bunker"
Thanks Sam
😊
It's always hilarious when Sam swears because he saves them up for the perfect moments 😂
Candace Owens 😁
yup this one was simply perfect
Sam knows the art of swearing. He uses it rarely for effect.
Like all jealous beta males should.
Sam is a con
Bernie Sanders had a great line in his recent conversation with Lex on his pod. What issues are neither side talking about? The influence of money in politics, universal healthcare, and raising the minimum wage. These should be issues the democratic party is addressing, and the Harris campaign was way to corporatist to connect to real problems that the current party has no plans to address.
“Black teenage unemployment in the United States was roughly equal to white teenage unemployment until the minimum wage was raised. It is no accident that the rate of black teenage unemployment is much higher than white teenage unemployment. The effects are discriminatory, even though it’s not intended.” -Milton Friedman
My problem with universal healthcare is that the people advocating for it want it to be unconditional. I don't think it's fair to force a person who's disciplined enough to maintain a healthy lifestyle to fork over part of their earnings to pay for individuals who CHOOSE to mutate themselves into The People of Walmart.
Bernie needs to stop trying to sell government-only monopolized healthcare as universal healthcare. Providing baseline healthcare that everyone can access is a good idea that's actually popular. Banning any privatized healthcare is immoral and something that most people will never vote for.
@@george_cantstandya...like every other comment section.
@@mattturner5429Many many people who contract or have serious illness or other serious medical conditions have them through no fault of their own, in a myriad of ways. You sound like ex-Alabama senator Mo Brooks.
Sam doing his job here: He is the right person to tell the Democrats this because no way in hell could you accuse him ever of liking Trump in any way.
I'm a liberal and have never voted for a Republican presidential candidate (though I voted for my moderate Republican senator Arlen Spector before he was replaced by "tea party" radical Pat Toomey). I've been voting for 44yrs and I'm a "person of color."
Let me tell you. Sam is 100% correct. Denying that the Left hasn't helped to put us in this terrible position as a nation is pure, unmitigated, cope.
So many of my fellow liberals have been saying the same thing for years... only to be called transphobic, islamaphobic, or some other, made up just yesterday, bullshit, merely for wanting to discuss this stuff reasonably.
Enough is enough.
I'm a Liberal myself and if you've truly been voting for the past 44 years, what do you make of Liberals, progressives and dems being lumped into one party over the last 20 years or so?
I've been voting since the early 80's and i have more in common with the Republican party today than i do with the Democrat party. If you've truly been a Liberal all these years, you should be against big government and big business, you should be 1000% in favor of free speech and 2nd amendment rights. These are all Liberal values and things Dems such at.
There also seems to be little accountability for the fact that Harris was a horrific candidate. How many delegates did she win in 2020, ZERO!? In 2020 she ran as a very progressive candidate and just 4 short years later she 180'd on everything she ran on in 2020 pretending to be a more moderate middle of the road Dem. Of course people are allowed to change their minds but on EVERYTHING!? And to 180 on it all!? Did she truly even have stances on anything or was she just saying whatever in an attempt to grab power?
Why is Trump such a bad candidate? Can you give me actual reasons other than BS headline buzz words and phrases? "Jan 6", "convicted felon", "racist", "homophobe", ext...
@jacoblee5796 Sorry man, that he is a 34x convicted felon, a civilly adjudicated rapist, has been convicted of fraud and successfully sued because of it, and he stoled from a children's cancer charity makes him a scumbag.
That your moral compass is so goddamned broken that you find his to be acceptable as a president, let alone as a man, is pathetic and speaks volumes about you as a person.
@@hewhomustnotbenamed9276Buddy if you believe Trump is a 34 count convicted felon you’re drinking way too much kool-aid. Even Sam Harris has stated that was total BS and a shame court case.
I suppose you think Kobe Bryant is a grapist as well then? A long with thousands of other rich powerful men that have settled civil cases?
You may have me on the children’s charity, I haven’t heard that one before. But these other two just make you look ignorant.
An all those true classical liberals voted for Trump. Tulsi is a classical liberal, so is RFK, Rogan, Rubin.... Whether you like it or not, Trump represents those classical liberal values. But people are blinded by their TDS
@@greg.ocallaghan Really? Cutting taxes for the rich, killing workers unions, de-regulation to the point that corporations can become a monopoly to raise price to however they want is classical liberalism? That's what happen when you voted for Trump and Elon Musk, but because you are so focused on the cultural war you missed the big picture.
Just for reference: FDR raised massive taxes on the rich and created Medicare and Social Security. Theodore Roosevelt used his government muscle to take down the monopolies and the oil barons to protect consumers, and also created national parks to conserve America's nature. If you want classical, those guys are both classical liberal and conservative for you. There has to be a balance.
Conclusion: Trump and modern GOP is NOT your friend. They conned you guys big time.
"You're gonna get President Candace Fucking Owens one day.." i can't decide if this is more hilariously accurate or debilitatingly terrifying.
It's both
based
no way! she is deeply ignorant of history and rationale
It was hilarious! It may also be true!
I mean.....
She's better than Karmello.
Trump makes Nixon look like one of our greatest presidents.
“The fact that we have had to think about this man continuously for over a decade is just an incredible piece of bad luck”. Amen.
Edit: this sure is a Sam Harris crowd, both for and against.
It's not a piece of bad luck, it's a direct result of how they responded to him.
@ yeah, these things are not mutually exclusive.
I have my choice moving forward, turning anything off with his face/voice on. Control the controllable. Hope we still have our democracy after 4 years, feel bad for people working in the field has to deal with him. What’s a curse.
No, no one thinks about this man unless u have an ego or narcissism, I care and most ppl I know care about the policies and wat he can do for my family and bank account! I could care less if he’s an asshole or even a racist which he isn’t but I wouldn’t care if he made the lives of Americans better. Which he does over a Biden/Harris administration.
@@freedomlife3623 God speed, fine Warrior
"Identity politics is dead, and we have to bury it", this is so true
It's not dead for Harris
Trump is the one who ran ads saying "Kamal Harris is for they/them, Trump is for you." That's blatant identity politics. The ad might as well have said "Kamala is for LGBT people, Trump is for cis-het people."
Long time Dem here. My take is that our party, has for too long, tried to be 'nice' to everyone. We avoid the white, working class majority issues and focus on helping the marginal. Yes, I agree that being a nice human being is important but you can not ignore what is putting fear into everyday Americans.
That's not being nice. It's called pandering.
You can become so diplomatic that you are of no use.
Long time Dem here as well and I completely disagree with your assertion that the party, for far too long, has tried to be nice to "everyone". Far from it. You frame the party's enormous flaws as a positive, but it's demonstrably not true. Affirmative action policies are nice to blacks (and Latinos) who can't otherwise cut it because public schools in blue cities have failed to do their jobs and not nice to whites and Asians. DEI policies are nice for the blacks (and Latinos) who can't otherwise cut it because public schools in blue cities have failed them, but horrible for everyone who cares about meritocracy, maintaining high standards, and free speech. Immigration policies like Democratic sanctuary cities and Biden's decisions are nice for illegals and bad for everyone else who is forced into sharing public resources with people who aren't supposed to be in the country in the first place. Failing to maintain the hard line between men and women that has always existed is great for looney trans people and activists, but horrible for women. The Democratic party and Liberal Media exist to (try and) put the fear of bigotry into every previously marginalized group and then (hopefully) gain votes/viewers from this ragtag coalition by presenting themselves as their great protectors (as their Democratically run public schools continue to fail them).
But who put that fear there? Trump did. He gets on stage everyday and tell his supports that the country is garbage (but he can fix it, despite us still being the world leader by every metric), that immigrants are out to get you and take your job (but he'll fix that, despite record unemployment and dropping violent crime numbers).
@@indyatmn420 Yeah. You really sound like a long time dem.
Let’s look on the bright side-there is at least one thing Democrats and Republicans have in common: the conclusion that Americans got the president they deserve.
I can surely say that America is at large "Capitalist re.tard.dation
Yeah that closed border and energy independence is gonna suck. Not getting bent over on our foreign policy left and right sounds terrible too.
No one deserves Harris or Biden.
@@rgold9329energy independence… hahahahah!
I’m more concerned about Trump screwing over our economy with tariffs. He has no idea how to fix the economy.
I’m certain the “Kamala is for they/them" commercials were a big part of Trump winning
It was mostly just the perception of the economy and the fact that the GOP tapped into people not giving a shit about reality or statistical data. As long as you tell people you care, affirm their position, and promise the world, you win. Even if it is all fake. We now live in the idiocracy and Trump is president Commacho promising to cut the price of car insurance by 50%. Doesn't matter if inflation is down, unemployment is down, growth is up, etc. If you can sell a lie and scapegoat problems, you win.
It was just another reason on the enormous pile.
@@Uppernorwood976
I had friends in swing states tell me they thought the commercial was a parody or SNL skit, the notion of supporting that was so absurd.
@@Uppernorwood976
"There is not a thing that comes to mind." is near the top of that mountain, too.
@@Uppernorwood976right next to the neutron star of reasons not to vote for Trump.
There just isn’t enough to be said about trump that can eclipse the level of disdain we have for the left, the mainstream media that covers for them, and the government as a whole.
Facts
Been waiting for Sam's take.
Gee, I wonder what it'll be....
@treborkroy5280 go listen to Alex Jones
Same here
The first 2/3 is tolerable, even perceptive Sam Harris. The last 3rd is total selective memory, TDS nonsense.
@@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017 lonce you mention "TDS" your opinion is irrelevant
I truly believe people vote for the opposing party if they feel their lives are doing worse. It doesn't matter who's at "fault," if the matters are in the control of politicians or not, or what the culture war is doing. If people feel as though their lives are better, they vote for the incumbent party. If they feel as though their lives are worse, then vote for the opposition. It's not really any more complicated than that, in my opinion.
Yep
I think a great deal of people probably vote this way
exactly. Sam's issue is mistaking what people think they're voting for or against with what they're actually voting for or against. Nobody gives a flying fuck about trans rights or trans issues if their lives are getting better, if they're earning more money than they did before and they can afford a better life than they did before, and they have better healthcare, less crime, and so on.
But if all of those things are getting worse for them, they'll find everything and anything to blame it on, and the right will usually help them with that.
I've been screaming this to anyone who'll listen since last Wed. I think your description hits the bullseye for "swing voters," i.e. the 3-6% who vote but can truly go either way any given election. Most of these people are utterly clueless about policy and even superficial politics. Many of them would literally vote for Hitler reincarnate in order to punish the incumbent if they felt (correctly, or due to numerical illiteracy as in the case of wages outpacing inflation) their personal financial situation was marginally worse than 4 years ago. Note that I didn't say "if they felt strongly that Hitler had a better economic platform" -- they don't even make it that far in their rationale. It's simply a knee-jerk reaction against the incumbent with no further thought, for the most part.
It's the economy stupid. That Slogan will always work. Bu Identity politics absolutely mattered and still does.
I agree with Sam on most points. But I see the root of the problem is much deeper, its the condition of society. The U.S. is experiencing a few generations of a broken family, social, educational and economic system. Broken homes, no real moral or ethical compass, lack education, overworked, and materialism/cosumerism, all in the fertile soil of social media for last 20 years or so. Society is void of direction and purpose, so any personality with a good line can sway the ignorant and impressionable masses. It really started with Reagan, Nixon was the beginning, but there was still enough direction in the country.
And sooo much loneliness, making people willing to listen to anything that feels like buddies hanging out, and unfortunately many "real conversations" are packed with lies and slander. There's literally no way to interview shameless liars "casually" while maintaining any informational integrity: If you push back during, they will get mad/storm out. If you push back in post, they'll learn not to sit with you. So hosts now know the big money is in being a platform that's a safe place for liars.
Sam keeps on saying the Dems lost because Kamala didn’t publicly denounce “wokeness“.
But wokeness has a plethora of definitions dependent upon perspective.
Most left wing voters believe that being woke simply means, respecting the sanctity of the Golden Rule. The thing about the Golden Rule is just about everyone believes in it.
Even a tyrant is kind to their own family and friends.
In 2016 Hillary said “when they go low we go high” regarding staying true to the tenants of morality and kindness. Was that a mistake, was it a self declaration of moral superiority? I believe it wasn’t. It was a reminder to Americans that we all want a kinder gentler society no matter what side of the political arena we lean on. It’s the same type of friendly order we all want in our families - we all want it in our society as well.
If Kamala denounced wokeness, she would isolate many on the left because they would perceive that action as denouncing the Golden Rule. If this happened the right would have a hey-day attacking Kamala for her hypocrisy, saying she’s more morally bereft than her opponent.
While it’s true that wokeness and political correctness have gone too far, defining those boundaries is perilous at best. Sorting this out will likely take decades.
No, I think you're wrong here. While the word "wokeness" has evolved and migrated from its original connotation, I don't think the majority of left-wing voters equate wokeness with treating others as you wish to be treated, at least they don't act that way. The vast majority of left-wing woke-sters are frequently intolerant, bullying, shrill, demonizing, and willing to ascribe moral failure to anyone who has a different opinion or conclusion from their own. Hardly an example of the Golden Rule. I don't think a subset of Americans want kinder and gentler, they're sick of having to indulge the oversensitiveness of how everyone "feels," and having to nod their heads and bend their knee to self-righteous victim-claiming.
Sam's critique, I think fairly obviously, is not a call for Kamala or the Democrats to renounce the basic ethical precepts of every functional and stable society on Earth.
He's talking specifically about the mainstream left-wing attachment to needlessly divisive identity politics. That's not the same as the golden rule.
"Do unto others" doesn't even really factor into what he's talking about here. If some people choose to affix a different and more relaxed meaning to the word "woke", then great; they're no longer the people who are being described here.
Trees have no concrete, agreed upon scientific definition. That doesn't mean that nobody understands what someone might be talking about when they say "I saw a tree".
People are free to define "tree" by criteria outside of common associations. But if you personally choose to define "tree" as something like "a red-hot, twelve foot cube of tungsten", then people are naturally going to exclude you from the conversation, because expanding the definition of the word to encompass what you're talking about simply makes it impractical to discuss with any clarity.
I remember growing up in the 90s. Everyone was complaining about how it didn't matter who you voted for, because they are all the same. Now there's clear distinction between the parties and people still aren't happy.
Those same people when polled, back then, would have largely agreed with the statement, "don't you think the two parties should stop fighting and work together for the American people."
In many respects, our problem is the American voter; they are dumb as a box of rocks.
The left doesn't like to hear truth. It hurts their feelings.
@@erikblomqvist8325 is there? Superficially maybe but they are all wealthy elites who answer to oligarchs. The running of the system won't change maybe some of the culture war stuff will but the growing inequality is supported by both sides
The upper management might be pretty much the same. But I think the Democrats are crying all the way to the bank. I am suggesting they took a dive or three, and at street level, we have a "sane wing" rather larger than the GOP's. Those missing votes? Sane Republicans, Assholes Maybe, but not the looney-tunocracy now waiting to disassemble America, who were stranded without a party and feeling doomed either way, I assumed
SOLUTION? I thought not.
*Thank you for everything Sam*
As an outsider from Europe, I agree with Sam on this issue. From a distance, it seems as though the Democrats didn’t actually want to win-they made it remarkably easy for Trump. I could never bring myself to vote for him, but I do understand why so many people did.
One issue that stands out is a tendency within the Democratic Party to adopt a patronizing approach toward minorities, which is something I’ve even noticed being discussed here in my own country. Similarly, the emphasis on “woke” issues has created a divide. Personally, I would always vote in favor of more rights for minorities, but Democrats need to recognize that this approach often gains little while alienating a substantial portion of the population, especially when it’s constantly pushed. As Sam points out, this has become one of the most frustrating aspects for many voters.
The irony here is that, by enforcing this narrative on those who don’t relate to it, the Democrats have ended up achieving the opposite of their intentions. The result is an administration in the White House that feels emboldened to disregard these issues, leaving those minorities, whom Democrats intended to protect, even more vulnerable.
Politics, in my view, requires finding a balance, but what we’re witnessing globally now is a divisive “black-and-white” approach, with no middle ground. Ultimately, I see this Democratic loss as one of their own making. Trump didn’t so much win as the Democrats lost.
Also, if you think Trump is the worst that can happen, think again. He may be saying stupid shit, but he's quite 'normal' and moderate' in his views (if you dare to admit how far left the Dem's have gone on certain issues). I do think it is more show than real belief. But he can pave the way for others. More radical people. Like Owens, yes.
I agree with pretty much everything you wrote, except for your comment that Trump is "quite normal". You're dead wrong. He's an outlier to a great degree. It's incredible that you don't recognize that after everything you wrote. His supporters....many of them....don't recognize that he's pathological. And that is precisely why strongmen gain power in challenging times. Trump has been described in many ways by people who have had brushes with the man. And most of them...if they were consequential interactions....concluded that the man is anything but normal. All of his generals from his first administration have been severe in their assessments of Trump.
Many are inclined to downplay the significance of the legalistic coup attempt by framing the resulting damage as a consequence of policies rooted in the globalist establishment, a system perpetuated through the cyclical dominance of the Bush-Clinton dynasties. For many, the Obama administration epitomized the culmination of broken promises from this entrenched establishment. Their disillusionment has since been replaced by renewed hope in a figure who seems to elicit disdain from the very elites who have long held sway. Though this figure operates within elite circles, he appears to challenge the same power structures that perpetuate disdain for those deemed "deplorable." This growing discontent signals a palpable rejection of the status quo, as the marginalized populace, increasingly vocal, has had enough.
The biggest question you should ask yourself is why are there so many minorities in the West to begin with. No other people in the world have such an open door policy to their nations. Yet in the West, we've propagandized ourselves over decades to believe that if a person from anywhere on earth moves to a European country such as England that they're suddenly british as if the name wasn't made to describe the ethnic people of britan. If you were to move to the Philippines, you wouldn't magically become filipino. A nation is the makeup of its people who all share a common heritage, speak a common language, and share common values. You fundamentally change the makeup of a nation when you import millions of people within a few short years. These are people that more than not aren't coming from civilized developed nations and thus they often times have values which directly oppose ours. The only reason for example many from the middle east vote in alignment with the left is due to their pro immigration policies, but their social and religious ideology puts them further to the right of even someone like Trump. Much further. The left will drag us all down with them. When our democracy consists of 65% non native Europeans in all of our nations and they start to push their true values and ideology, you will wish you had listened to sense.
More rights for minorities? What do you mean? Based on the color of ones skin you should be awarded extra rights? Are you dense?
@@flyinhigh50You read an essay on a Thursday on utube. Get a life.
As always Sam; a voice of reason in a time of madness.
Hey, Sam harris, it's about time for a appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience.
He won’t go on. No way!
he can't go on there anymore because he defend the craziness the left wing now promotes. Thats why Harris and no one on left will talk to people
Amazing that all these people Sam once respected, associated with and admired are now untouchables in his eyes. Sam, what are the odds they're ALL wrong?
LMAO for real. Sam's dug himself way too big of a hole.
@@markmoretti9122 Please, you don't get to play the numbers game when the people you're propping up routinely spout heterodox drivel.
"All this access to information is making us dumber" Truer words were never spoken. I think about this a lot.
Sam is a PERFECT example.
It’s most decidedly not the access to information making us dumber, it’s the cultural Marxism which insists on teaching young people that critical examination of itself is counter revolutionary and and immoral act in itself-simply a manifestation of your oppressor or privileged status.
This is not new.
It’s the unwillingness to listen to viewpoints critical to our own or to hold open debate which is making “us” dumber. You ever see leftists try and defend critical inquiry into their positions? It’s not just “like” the first time they’ve ever heard them, it possibly IS.
Conservatives are forced to sharpen and defend their ideas in college because they are constantly attacked-and I don’t just mean the ideas, I mean the people who dare to hold or speak them. And by “conservative” ideas, I mean all those liberal and libertarian positions which the left has othered as well. It’s how the middle became the right. Simply by standing still and cleaving to some pretty uncontroversial and plain sense principles.
I stopped listening to Sam Harris when he started making appeals to authority like that.
Only for dumb people that are not good at parsing info
@@charlesvan13authority in knowledge is important for a reason. Whenever you have a serious problem, think of whether you want the expert or the podcaster to solve it
You hit the nail on the head Sam - I agree with the analysis on every issue here. In the absence of the great Christopher Hitchens, we’re lucky to have commentators like you who cut through the confusion and bring clarity to the seemingly complex current landscape.
It's almost a sacrilege (pun intended) to compare Sam with the great Hitch. They are in very different leagues.
@ Well they were both members of the Four Horsemen, so maybe not that far apart?
@@leetaylor27 Definitely far apart when it came to racist pseudoscience and free speech
@@leetaylor27 Not every husky in a sleigh team has the same physical and mental qualities. And not every bird is an eagle.
@@petermuller6359 I didn’t say they were the same.
This deserves more views
Democrats abandoned the working class. That’s the main reason.
Republicans have never been for the working class. Dems struggle to pass any legislation that moves the needle. They stick up for the Affordable Care Act, capping insulin and other common drug prices, defending the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (something the Republicans recently hobbled). The dems are doing more in governance to help the working class, but it gets drowned out by the misinformation and propaganda from the other side. When did Republican policies ever put more money in the working class's pocket? They'll say that the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was the greatest benefit in history but then don't mention that while those making $60 might've had a $2k more in annual take home pay, the millionaire got another $100K. And corporations got their rate cut from 40% to 21%, that's a 40% increase in revenue for them - and it also drove up the deficit. Republicans are not better for the economy - that is a trope. They certainly love money more than anyone else so I guess that's why most people fall for it.
Thank you Sam. For remaining steadfast and speaking out. A lot of people are adapting to a new normal and rationalizing what is happening. I know you have gotten a lot of pushback. But having you as a steady voice has been important for many of us.
Thanks for not wavering in your convictions Sam, this episode gives me hope that there still are voices of clarity out there
Sam is a study in terminal Trump Derangement Syndrome. And I'm lovin' it 😂
Ya Sam lives in an echo chamber and he clearly is so disconnected from the average American who voted for trump 2/1 in most places and 50/50 everywhere else so not to mention being extremely wrong about Covid and lockdowns/vaccines, he’s been so far from right political that only ppl in an echo chamber and media propaganda think this way.
Enough with the tired TDS bullshit.
@ ur telling ME, it’s either u have TDS or not and Sam Harris definitely has TDS as well as anyone else who has a brain could see Kamala Harris was 10x worse of a candidate for president then Trump was who was already president before and did a lot better then the Biden/Harris Administration.
Sam is a clown 🤡
I am a paid subscriber of Sam; I’ve been following him for many years. I agree with him on all topics except Trump. I love and deeply respect Trump, and it hurts me to know what Sam thinks of him, but I guess you can’t agree on everything.
It was a million issues that caused it, but I think the mistake of analyzing it from Sam's perspective is that he and his viewers based in the US are different from most voters. Most voters are swayed by emotional messaging and all of the standard trappings of politics. Many voters don't even check the programs of the sides before the election or do any verification of the merits of the candidates and how compatible those candidates are with their own values. This especially applies when you vote for a person and not a party - it just becomes a popularity show. They just hear someone talk about an issue they are passionate about and go "yeah that's my guy" and that is the extent of the decision-making, even though this may harm them; or they have a vague feeling of "this country isn't going in the right direction" so they just vote to whoever is opposite the current powers.
And the second thing is some people really align with Trump's values (or at least whatever values he tries to pander to). There really are people who would prefer to close borders to immigrants etc.
Yeah, many of us fear becoming like Europe. It isn't a racial thing...we want the vast majority of America to be multigen American. Perfectly reasonable.
Sam: People think their pet issue is the cause due to their bias.
Also Sam: (immediately talks about his pet issues)
@@angelmartin7310None of you Americans know what „Europe“ is actually like.
@angelmartin7310 exactly. We want immigrants, regardless of race, who adopt and share our core values and to perpetuate them into the future once we are gone and how contribute to building the country.
@@hnc-mitte4800 We know enough to know we don't want to meet the same fate. It's hard enough seeing it happen to my ancestral homelands.
I agree Sam. I had to go through DEI about 6 times with an organization I recently retired from and it was so annoying. Sorry not sorry, but I will continue to use the word homeless person.
I am not from the US, how else would you refer to a homeless person?
Unhoused. Which, from a European perspective… is actually quite accurate. We don‘t blame people who are in the worst spot possible and actually would feel ashamed to leave people unhoused. But that‘s just us silly Europeans who don‘t gloat over the poor.
@@BleakVision"homeless" is equally accurate -- it's "a person without a home"
@@BleakVision so the difference is that being unhoused is a passive state in which the onus lies on others to provide housing? As opposed to homeless which makes no implied reference to the prospective source of shelter?
@@jacqdanielesI called it people living in the elements because that's what is actually happening.
President Candice Owens. Don’t scare me like that Sam. 😂
You know It's gonna happen. The first female president of the United States. 😶
You can't make any of this shit up. It's like we're living in a misanthropic scifi novel.
Would she be worse than Donald Trump?
@@voidlover-eu1og Dont make me defend the man. Please don't.
@@xeroeddie She's even more racist than Trump.... easy win.
Thank you Sam.
"The most annoying thing in the f*cking galaxy..."
_Bingo._ Thanks, Sam.
Sam has lost his marbles. Trump won because inflation was really really bad between 2022- early 2024. It's hard to win reelection when the cost of living increased as fast and as high as it did.
Precisely. Delusional generation.
Yes!
@@soberanisfam1323 inflation was just over 2% this year, brain trust. And 100% of the economic pain Americans have been suffering is the result of Trump’s presidency and policies. 100%. You probably blame FDR for the Great Depression as well😏
@@shacktime so what was inflation in 2022 and 2023? You do know that inflation is cumulative right? Did you get a 10 or 20 or 30 percent raise between 2022-2024? Most Americans didn’t which is why the cost of living went up substantially for those Americans in those 3 years. FOH with your disingenuous 2%.
I wish George Carlin and Bill Hicks were still here at moments like this.
Patrice for me
@@Legal_Sweetie333 Robin Williams for me
Carlin already summed up the establishment perfectly. The Democratic Party exemplify Carlin's last special.
And Christopher hitchens.
None of those people would have voted for Trump. Democrats may do stupid things, but that doesn’t justify Trump for anyone who cares about actual outcomes.
Thank God trump won!
Top 5 pods on Earth. I NEVER miss an episode. Thanks Sam!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Finally…. Been checking UA-cam everyday for Sam’s take on this
RIGHT?!!
lol me too
Woke insanity is what pushed this over the line. Democrats had four years to prove they were less crazy than Trump.
They failed.
Round Two… *DING DING DING*
People will get tired of conservative insanity. The pendulum will swing back when conservatives go back to being finger wagging tone police moral guardians like they once were.
'Woke' isn't the problem.
"Anti-woke insanity" ie people that seek out something to be outraged at. Fixed that for you
I left “X” and Joe Rogan long ago and have recently left Good Morning Joe. It made me sick to watch them go to Mar a lago and bend the knee. We need more real journalists. Thanks again, Mr. Harris, please continue to shine a light were most won’t even look.
You left Joe Scarborough last?
@ yes,because it just happened.
@@blue123439 what just happened? You just stopped watching Joe Scarborough? Sorry I don’t mean to come off rude but honestly find that baffling. I found that guy to be one of the absolute worst propagandists currently.
He literally repeated Joe's idiotic "It's the far left's fault" rhetoric so you've learned literally fuck all.
@ I guess I was just wrong, I didn’t see him that way but I didn’t watch him a whole lot.
I am a 55 year-old Southern whhhhite woman. This 2024 election had me not only voting for Trump but also donating, for the first time in my life, to a politician (Trump). I don't particularly like him but the democrats drove me, at high speed, to Trump. I hate the economy right now but the issues that moved me to activate politically were immigration, the trans crap and all the blatant lies that the legacy media spewed. After the election, seeing so many people calling me a racist and sexist and a transphobe because of my vote only solidified for me that I made the right choice.
@bonniebush7960 I will look forward to how you see things after this administration. So you deeply care about these issues? Or is the most important thing in your life moving forward and surviving to gain or keep the middle class dream? We as Americans are being separated by these issues. They want us to look over there and blame others. We must look at what the rich are doing to say the problem is the immigrants. They are taking our jobs etc. can we all agree that shareholders wanting more from those who already own the market is no good for the majority of us?! They know we are suffering and would rather point the blame at others then truly look at why the rich keep getting richer
This is an awesome take thank you for it.
It seems like you’re one of the only ones that are truly in the center. Criticizing both sides fairly and pragmatically. Thank you.
Exactly. There are too many right-wing grifters masquerading as centrist whilst only ever criticising the left and ignoring right wing lies and bigotry.
No he isn't in the center, he is left. He is stating all this in hopes he can get the left back on track.
That would be Bill Maher…who consistently criticizes both the right and left, and still makes room for laughter. ❤
I dunno… I think is also part of the problem and a reason why Trump won. Sam has TDS.
“while running against Archie Bunker” 😂
This is incredible. Every person in the country and around the world should listen to this. I want to say “ignore everything else…” but won’t and just start here and listen to everything else with a critical ear.
I've been refreshing your channel for the last few days and finally we got it! :D
I agree with every point, Sam. I kept asking myself, “why would someone support someone so extreme in Trump?” And it’s simply because people want something extreme - people are sick of the standard politician using fancy language and then ultimately nothing happens for the working class. People want chaos and we are going to get it.
You still don't get it. We don't want chaos. We simply want a normal functioning society with a givwrmwnt that lifts all people up and protects our rights. Not fake rights like abortion. We don't want chaos at all. You're clueless.
No People want direction and Trump gives them that. That's what a president is supposed to do not just manage the decline.
@@thomasseptimius What do you mean by "direction"? Genuinely curious.
They want change and any change is better than none. It's a message to the elites that they don't want ideological nonsense shoved down their throats any more
@@lu1903-f2t how can you say Biden did nothing? You must be insanely privileged or sheltered if you think that, the child tax credit alone did more for struggling families than anything else in recent history
Sam's logic and soothing delivery is a glowing sword that cuts through a fog of nonsense showing you the path
Reddit tier cringe
@@NotQuiteFirst Yeah, wow, that was one of the most horrid sentences I've ever read.
🤮
In a world flooded with so much nonsense and brainwashing, its so refreshing to revisit sam harris and be brought back to reality with logic and reason. Wish this guy could run the country instead lol.
Sam is one of the most honest and courageous individuals I have ever encountered. He is a true warrior, artist, and guardian of love and important values. By taking risks for our benefit, he serves as a significant inspiration to us all.
🤦
He’s an arrogant clown with terminal TDS.
So you dont want to be lied to unless it is by institutions that have put themselves in places of power or put into power by corporations,and the fact you think they are ever held accountable or apologise for their mistakes and outright lies is ridiculous.
It’s absurd, incredible how a man of his intellect can even begin to vocalise such nonsense and not see anything wrong.
His point is that we need to reform the institutions, not that they are perfect. He argues that they have more value when they are working correctly, and we should focus on that instead of putting our trust in bros who have done their own research. Try to keep up.
I heard you on The Bulwark, so I thought I would check out this episode. I'm a 53 year old, white, left leaning independent voter. For decades, I almost exclusively voted for 3rd party candidates. Do not like the two party system or either party. But, we have had a binary decision to make since 2016, and I now vote exclusively for Democrats because of what you said in the 2nd half of this podcast.
I was ready to bail after the first half, but I committed to hear you out. And I'm glad I did.
I do not agree with everything you said in the first half, but I understand your points.
My take is we have a crisis of uninformed, misinformed, and disinformed people in this country.
The point you made about the limited # of trans people in this country and the extremely limited # of events where biological men are competing with women at elite levels in sports or assaulting women in bathrooms, like Republicans like to claim, should not be an issue for any voter. It's ridiculous that it is. So... I do chalk it up to ignorance, racism, and misogyny. I think the voters are more culpable for the outcome of this election than the Democratic Party.
Typical virtue signalling lefty. Throw around the slanderous R word and M word willy nilly. Yawn. Go Trump 💪
Appreciate you, Sam. For as many who gloat at the Democratic Party’s degradation, many former members morn. Hope your message gets through.
I think that we all need to recognize that Barron Trump is now a very seriously influential advisor to the president of the United States. So that’s comforting.
I hope you are joking about comforting part. What’s wrong with USA & its voters? Do you all on a kamikaze mission?
@@shak535 Shit take. An old president listening to younger people around him is not bad. And no one knows Barron Trump’s views since he has said zero in public.
@@freedomlife3623 Bread and Circuses
@@freedomlife3623 No, it's just slightly over half of us that want to watch the world burn.
Soon to be King of America
It's truly heartbreaking that it's come to this. This is like murder/suicide on a national scale.
This was just what I needed to help me understand what the hell just happened. Why can't we have this caliber of intellect in our political candidates? Thanks, Sam.
Sam, thanks, that was soothing. A superb 30 plus minutes of sensible analysis.
You don't have to be completely correct, or cover all the bases.
Thanks for helping me, us, breathe deeply in a time of madness and upheaval.
I live in an urban environment in Canada. In a way it's worse here as one doesn't know what anyone really thinks or feels - it's disgustingly polite and over-ordered.
Thanks for what you're saying about X and journalists on there.
Dave Smith challenged Sam to a debate. Would love to see that.
I see you've done your own research as well
Best stuff Sam has said in a long time
Had to listen to this twice it was so good.
Sam, why bring Imane Khelif into this? Her controversy is, at the most charitable interpretation, an issue of intersex participation in sports. mentioning her as a preface for a good faith discussion on trans issues is, I think, misguided, and muddies the waters of what might otherwise be productive conversation.
Respect to sam, both sides hate him
Correction the right and far left hate him. This is part of the issue, the small far left doesn't represent the entire democratic party.
Indeed 😂❤
Imagine if Hitchens we’re alive today 😅
@michael-yf8js well it doesn't matter if its Hitchens or Sam or Twain even, those who are speakers of truth are despised by both sides
@@ganeshnayak4217 Indeed.
What about the 20 million democrat voters that “just didn’t show up” for this election?
That is note true. There is only a 6 million vote difference in the total between both candidates and they are still counting. Stop with the conspiracy nonsense. Trump lost last time more than Harris this time.
Correction: ~8 million democrats didn’t show up for this election.
@@MCCrleone354where did they go? We know they cheated and it was most likely via ballot harvesting because of the “pandemic” and yes that’s cheating, people who normally won’t go out and vote, shouldn’t vote!
They left the party
Been waiting for this one for a few days. Sam solo episodes are always the best
Anyone here that follows Sam's podcasts despite having a decent level of disagreement with his worldview?
For all it is worth, I do.
I follow Harris because I agree with his take on things. Am I missing something?
I don't agree with Harris on anything. Conservative Christian, isolationist, pro Palastinian, anti covid mandates, pro gun, pro Trump.... Genuinely like listening to Sam though and rarely miss an episode.
He's a fascinating case study in utter delusion.
Yes.
He's spent a big portion of his career critizing people for existing in filter bubbles, and is oblivious to his own.
He could be a apolitical juggernaut, but he's yet to discard his own god.
Based on the Trans issue! Maybe democrats will listen to him!
The democrats listen? What was I thinking? 😂
Trump’s rhetoric made it sound like that’s all democrats cared about. That was clearly false, but those who were on the fence about who to vote for believed his lie anyway.
I can’t wait to see how long it takes for Trump to disagree with RFK and to throw insults at him.
I'm looking forward to the moment when I can savor the schadenfreude when the inevitable happens, and Marco Rubio is fired, and will be neither a United States Senator, or Secretary of State.
I'm not sure he can understand him.
He already has, but now their buddy’s and as long as Trump releases all the classified JFK assassination info, RFK’s done he’s job
Typical trump hater, you cant find anything to complain abiut so you invent scenarios.
The same way you could not wait to see Trump losing the election? Keep waiting forever
Trump broke Sam harris and Sam can't abandon the cult.
Even if the collective left was a cult that doesn't make Maga any less of a cult
someone didn't listen lmao. what cult? he bashes the democrats nonstop in this video
"The most prolific liar on earth"
And this is why people will justifiably say that you have Trump derangement syndrome. You talk about what lessons the Democrats should draw, but I think you should draw some lessons yourself
He is that though. He's on another level than anyone else. It's not comparable. Orders of magnitude difference between he and the next most prolific liar.
Growing up is agreeing with Sam less and less. I still see eye to eye on half the things said in this one. Keep up the good work Sam.
Clicked so fast I almost dropped my phone
Sam’s analysis has been outstanding this past year.
It is not that the agenda or the ideology of the Republicans is wrong. It is the fact that Trump is the flag bearer of those ideologies is troubling.
The ideology is also wrong, though. Nothing he says has any real meaning. It's all vibes. He has no real plan for anything, and what plans he does have are contrary to the stated goal. This is classic populist demagoguery. For example, he says he knows you are suffering high prices and that he will "reduce them," but he has no plan to do that. HIs only stated economic policy is to deport millions of people who are cheap labor and slap massive tariffs on everything. Economists have repeatedly warned that both of these policies are highly inflationary and will raise prices. Thus, policy proposal contradicts policy goal.
He also wants to cut taxes, which will create revenue short-falls, leading to cuts in programs that most people, when polled, say they actually like. Assuming he doens't just deficit spend like he did last time. Which also contracts the desired goal of reducing the national debt.
If you read the GOP party platform and the project 2025 manual they put out, they wanna cut the FDA, the EPA, the SEC, etc. The SEC being defanged means business fraud will multiply. The FDA being unable to regulate means you are more likely to get poisoned by food. During Trump's first term in office, his meat-packing deregulation caused disease outbreaks.
So no, the ideology of the agenda is also bad. He just says it in a way that is appealing.
What are the ideologies of the Republicans?
@@Alnivol666 Authoritarian populism. If you want to see what the modern Republican party is, look at Putin and Viktor Orban.
@@s0515033 "they wanna cut the FDA, the EPA, the SEC, etc." They often _say_ that. I hope they _do_ cut them, but they're exceedingly unlikely to.
@@s0515033 Yeah...sure. More insanity. I actually do know European politics well. Trump is not like Hungary's Orban or Russia's Putin. One is a career politician and the other a forme KGB agent. Trump is a real estate magnate. The attempt of the left to place him in the same pot is simply ridiculous. But I understand why the left do it. I see way more corruption in the dem party at the moment.
Kamala had 1billion for the campaign and ended up still being 20 million in debt. Where did all that money go?
Authoritarian populism my ass. Get out of your bubble. Talk to other people. Tough grass.
Dear God, that was incredible. Thank you Sam Harris. 🇺🇸
This is the fucked up fruit of two party politics
It really isn't. There is plenty of diversity within the parties and being able to vote someone out is a more important power (which only exists in a two party system) than having more selective support for a party which more aligns with your views. In a multiparty system, ultimately voters do not pick who is the prime minister or which parties are in the governing coalition, that all happens behind closed doors and the only thing voters decide are how many people each party has in play for negotiations. Multiparty systems are just a distraction from the actual problems the US faces.
We have a zillion parties in Canada and things are much worse here.
😂 the fucked up fruit. The poisonous political pomegrapple.
@@hamzak7261ok I think the point is a zillion is too much and twos not enough.
@@leedunkin3338 The UK has 4 major federal parties and things are worse there, not better. 2 Parties makes things much simpler. I wish we had that in my country.
Best (and most sane!!) podcast out there!! Thanks, Sam
I cannot Like this video more times!
As a radical centrist, I find it very satisfying.
Radical centrist is an oxymoron lol. Vigorously defending the status quo is the entire opposite of radical.
@@Lavabug hellow fellow bug :D
What I like about radical centrism is the craziness you need to have to put two radical ideas face to face and come to a pragmatic solution. That is radical - not adhering to a single perspective; You have to work with what is reasonable on both sides.
@@scriptedBug It doesn't make you crazy, it just makes you lazy. There's nothing radical about mainstream parties, they both agree on fundamentals (do what corporations pay them billions in lobby money to do) and just split on surface level culture war issues to fill the airwaves with junk discourse and entertain voters with drivel like TRA and immigrants eating pets. A radical recognizes this is the status quo and is interested in a radical change. "Nothing fundamentally changes" (Biden's words to a room full of billionaire donors) when dem/rep parties flip the white house. Even BlackRock's CEO Larry Fink said it “doesn't matter” who won this election - they lobby both sides and always come out on top and are the ones actually making policy.
Thanks for the oxygen, Sam, as always. Sane, cool-headed, well-reasoned commentary.
Thank you Sam. Your voice is needed now more than ever.
Ive known a lot of trans and non-binary people that weren't happy about becoming a political football. Especially when it comes to the escalatory nature of that kind of publicity. To me it looked like a concerted effort to make a voting block out of people who already embraced progressive policy and alienate everyone who doesn't align with the characterization. I'm trans and in the military, and from a home town with a significant conservative populace. Liberal elitism these days seems to have a significant PR problem, it seems quite fashionable to engage a rhetorical and moralistic brinksmanship that drives polarization, and turns the middle ground into a no man's land.
I present male in most online interactions. And if given the opportunity to double my money i would bet every dollar that i could find a cisgender trans activist that would absolutely shit hellfire on me for any attempt at nuance or any allowances for skepticism about what is often seen publicly as institutional gospel.
It's a joke. Even speaking to my behavioral health counselor regarding my own dysphoria there is plenty of facepalm on the subject of the loudest liberal voices on this issue.
It's also really upsetting to hear anyone point at trans issues being at fault here. It's an excellent, accessible, all encompassing example of the deeper problem. Liberal advocacy is broken. The liberal thought leaders we have are in a reactive silo of information, extremely sensitive to provocation, uncompromising in rhetoric and more than willing to compromise broader American values to see themselves in only the best of light and everyone else as either an enemy or in tacit alignment if they do not engage in the same conflict in the approved way.
If identity politics is a problem then lets focus on the identity with the deepest roots in the most tainted ground. Deeply polarizing activism is killing civil discourse, nuance, and opportunity for reconcilliation, with a smile on it's face as it does.
Love ya Sam. I really - and honorably, respect your clarity on these topics and how consistent you've been the WHOLE entire fing TIME!
Hitch would be proud!
Thank you, brother!
@@noneofyourbusiness-c7h You never really listened too - or read any of Hitchen's books then.
Identity Politics, Border Crisis, Foreign Policy Failure, Economy.
Every single last moderate I know, including myself, voted for him to avoid any more of the insanity. I've been a registered Democrat my entire life until the cycle.... I suspect we will remain this way until the Obama era ends. He was decent in 2008 and the harbinger of everything awful in 2012. Bernie Sanders said it perfectly.
This party no longer represents the working class. There's no reason it should be surprising that the working class no longer supports it. This was a well-deserved loss. Stop racially profiling everybody, and maybe you won't be shocked when Donald moron Trump manages to win 1/3 of all non-white votes. Race never mattered. Stop bringing it up. It's not relevant and never was.
Every single living entity on this planet shares a common ancestry. In Humans, you only have to go back about 15 generations to where we are all related. You are all descendants of slavery and royalty alike. We're all evolutionary heavyweights because we wouldn't be here if we weren't. Wake the fuck up. The leftist policies are fucking awful and turning every moderate away. Stop being a professional victim.
Harris is much more moderate than Trump. You sound conservative. Which is fine, by the way.
@maxducoudray
I only sound that way because the left has moved incredibly far left. I'm right in line with Clinton and Obama first term.
And no she's not moderate on anything. That pathetic display of running a midline campaign with the exception of abortion where she's as far left as humanly possible was just nonsense. If she really wanted to send a message to the electorate she would have done the grown-up thing and chose Shapiro as her running mate but instead we got the most brain dead, pansy of a male I've ever seen. The conservatives did have that part right.
And yes I agree there is nothing wrong with being a conservative. I just don't happen to be one.
I'm a moderate and an ex-Republican. There is no way in hell I would ever vote for Trump. He's caused me to swear off the GOP for good
I have very few conservative beliefs. Most of my beliefs are well in line with Obama 2008 and Clinton. Have you considered the obvious reality that maybe the left has gone over the top bat shit left and the rest of us haven't really moved?
@@SovereignVoid If you'd asked me in 2016, I'd agree. That said, I don't think most people on the left (or even most left wing American politicians) are as bad those terminally online leftists we use as an example. It seems like most disdain for the American left is all based on vibes. When I compare the mainstream American left to Donald Trump who stacked the DOJ for not going after his political enemies, leaked classified information about Israel to the Russians and has even advocated for jail time if anyone burns an American flag, I can't help but feel like the right are much worse offenders when it comes to losing touch with reality.
You and the "experts" you like to keep throwing out there have been wrong about everything over the past few years. I thought appeals to authority were a logical fallacy.
Appeal to authority and appeal to experts are two very different things.
Where do you draw the line? When the "experts" shut down the country over a cold, and anyone who questions the laughably inept countermeasures is socially ostracized? Sam's response was essentially, "I would have been right if the facts were different."
@@Roleren Well I tried to further the discussion, but UA-cam has deleted my replies three times.
I've always been an independent but I remember when on day one, Biden signed executive orders allowing men to play women's sports, I thought WTF!? THAT's what he's prioritizing right now!? How does that even make the top 20?? That was when I knew we'd be in for a ride.
That's not what the executive order says though?