welcome back! enbies! girls! fellas... last
time we looked at the aesthetics of
intellectualism; the way that toxic
masculinity and fascist rhetoric
disguise themselves as thinkyman speak
and of course how creepy old guys with
bad ideas seduce the younger generations
into following them have you ever heard
the tragedy of Darth Plagueis
yeah the wise that's right yeah no no I
didn't think he would have no it's not
the kind of story the Jedi would tell
this was supposed to be a sequel to that
but then something happened on October
4th 2019 something so important it shook
the foundations of society occurred on
October 4th 2019 Joker was released
you alright lads it's like this joker
fucking slaps and here's why right Joker
the Joker in joker the joker guy he laughs
at stuff but he's not laughing cuz he's
happy right he's laughing cuz he's sad
super sad sad as fuck but then he
realizes the stuff that's making him sad....
pretty funny
okay no this isn't going to be a joker
video. I just think it's interesting the
way the film is being received see Joker
is a dangerous movie that will inspire
incels to do misogynist terrorism
apparently if you believe the reviewers
who drummed up a mass panic about the
film's politics before it was even out
but if you've actually seen it there's a
pretty clear anti-austerity political
narrative not about the
disenfranchisement of men who can't get
dates but about the disenfranchisement
of the poor, of the working class. Joker
even tells a joke - a joke in which he
kills someone a sort of their killing
joke if you will - in which he says "what
do you get if you cross a mentally ill
loner with a society that treats him
like garbage? you get what you deserve"
so why are these reviewers so convinced
that Joker is an in cell film well in
part has to be because people are
becoming more aware that individual
mental health and the general broader
state of society are extremely closely
linked in capitalist realism Mark Fisher
makes a case for certain mental
illnesses and personality disorders
being rooted in a conflict between human
nature and basic needs and how we're
expected to behave under capitalism now
I think it's important to acknowledge
that the pessimistic voice which Fisher
writes about this situation it's
probably largely informed by his own
depression and I don't see eye-to-eye
with him on everything here but as far
as the basic relationship goes I think
he's right on the money and community
psychology the study of individual
mental health with the broader context
of the society we live in is one of the
most useful tools we have for looking at
the world for example if we're looking
at men and their mental health it would
be sensible to look at how society
treats masculinity especially in a
society in which feminism exists which
is
toxic masculinity and so many men seek
to hide their shitty behavior either by
disguising it as false intellectualism
like we discussed before or by using
comedy and irony by becoming in a
technical time here the Joker
baby it would be useful to look at how
creating a character of yourself a sort
of mask or painted face allows you to
distance yourself from any criticisms
but also might stop you from being truly
introspective which could seriously harm
your emotional growth but hey this isn't
a Joker video so that's all irrelevant
don't worry about that just forget about
it just put it in the bin let's talk
about Gavin McGinnis and the proud boys
let's start here who is Gavin McGinnis
Gavin McGinnis is an American Canadian
Scottish Canadian far-right political
commentator originally born in Hitchin
England oh he was one of the lads one of
our boys why is he founding an American
nationalist going them well we'll get
back to that but first here's how he got
there Gavin grew up in Canada and worked
as a writer before forming with Vice
magazine in 1994 after which Gavin came
to be worth 10 million dollars right
it's not really one of the boys then
Gavin was pushed out of Vice eventually
because everyone there thought he was a
piss boy after when she founded an ad
agency called Rooster but he was pushed
out of that too because everyone there
also for who was it oh because he penned
an essay titled transphobia is perfectly
natural
so there's transphobia again funny that
really no one of the boys at all is he
naturally Gavin needed another big win
after being pushed out of rooster in
2014 so that's more or less when he
founded the proud boys I spoke to
someone very familiar with the proud
boys and they said the basics of the
Gavin McInnes wanted to start a
midlife-crisis fraternity and landed
inside of a violent street gang and you
know that's just a really good summary
that confluence between midlife crisis
fraternity and violent street gang has
led to a consistently embarrassing
existence for the proud boys the proud
boys just didn't show up to the unite
the right rally in Charlottesville
17 and honestly that's probably for the
best because the most thorough and
extensive coverage of the event was done
by vice and I would have been
embarrassing for Gavin if anything this
showed that Charlottesville really was a
lose-lose situation for the old right
because the gangs who did show up there
outdid themselves open white
supremacists and the gangs that didn't
show up with an ridicule by the rest of
the old writers cowards for a while the
proud boys had a subreddit a slash proud
boys but then it was infiltrated in an
overthrown by known fascists and now
it's a place for trans men to post
selfies you know proud boys boys who
actually have something to be proud of
there's also that time that one of the
proud boys tweeted that his mum homes
oral sex on him and the whole gang but
my family watched my channel so I'm just
gonna get on with the video now
somewhere along the line the proud boys
gained their tiered system to determine
who is the proudest boy I mean basically
the answer is it's Gavin but he's
devised this system to make it so his
boys can proudly strive to be as proud
of boy as him firstly you have to recite
an oath to say that I am a proud Western
boy bla bla bla
second you have to get punched while
reciting pop culture trivia I know it's
really sounding like the coolest gang
you ever heard of next you have to give
up masturbation and then get a proud
waist tattoo a part of this system which
is proving increasingly difficult as
more tattoo parlors become aware that
the proud boys are a nationally
recognized hate group with links to
actual neo-nazis the last step is of
course violence for the cause and that's
an interesting one because what is that
cause exactly it can be really easy to
assume that there are white supremacist
group because
but they aren't actually exclusively
white and they aren't even as
homogeneous as you might expect I don't
want to leave it unsaid the proud boys
are a racist group and they are fascists
and white supremacists are clearly a
dime a dozen in their membership but
they aren't actually a white supremacist
group we'll get back to it but it's also
a very serious and pretty scary step
everything else so far has been
ridiculous really deserving if your
spawn and your laughter but then they do
this they get in a serious fight for the
cause we keep on laughing at them
because they are ridiculous and then
they suddenly are calling up the homes
of anti-fascist activists and
threatening them into silence suddenly
making the surprisingly small step from
sad mean lord piss boy gang to domestic
terrorist organization by the way if you
want to do your bed to help stop the
proud boys one of the most effective
things you can do is attack their
revenue sources for example 1776 shop
the online shop they set up to raise
funds for the legal defense of their
piss boy goons convicted of assaulting
protesters but how can you help shut
down the shop you ask well 1776 shop is
powered by Squarespace an easy-to-use
online tool that makes it easier than
ever before to make your fascist
terrorist group a reality Squarespace
has loads of easy-to-use tools that make
it so easy to get your domestic
terrorism up and running today I'm never
gonna get that sponsorship please share
my patreon anyway now the proud boys are
a recognized hate group and that's when
Gavin says he wants off this right in
November 2018 Gavin McGinnis did not
step down as the leader of the proud
boys he wanted to be super crystal-clear
he was never the leader only the founder
so I guess we should be clear tube he
hasn't stopped being the leader he's
quit being the founder he's not the
founder anymore he's done founding the
group no proud boys look up to him as
their founder anymore they don't expect
any founder ship from Gavin
how did we get here we are living in
clown world it was a really strange
statement actually he claimed that white
supremacists and white nationalists
don't exist and accidently said that gay
people are a separate race is this whole
idea of white nationalists and white
supremacy is a crock why are we talking
about it so much
such people don't exist we are a
multiracial Club with blacks Jews gays
Asians etc it wasn't the most clear or
concise rhetoric but what did come
across straightforwardly is that Gavin
really realized he fucked up and that he
needs to get the heck out of Dodge
ank's journal October 4th 2019 her good
joke the other day man is depressed goes
to see the doctor doctor helped me I've
lost everything my rich friends won't
talk to me anymore
my wife is mad all the time and I found
it a violent street gang of piss boys
doctor says treatment is simple when I'm
sad I simply remember I'm not Gavin
McGinnis cheers me right up man burst
into tears but doctor I am Kevin
McGinnis doctor says I no get the fuck
out of my office
roll on drum curtains good joke so
what's Gavin up to now that he isn't
founding the proud boys anymore well
apparently he's trying to recruit guests
for his new show basically a debate show
when he pairs up a liberal and a
conservative and gets them to argue the
thing is apparently in his desperate
attempts to stay relevant Gavin has been
trying to pitch the show to liberals as
an opportunity to make fun of him like
they can come on his show and they can
make him look foolish I mean firstly
that's obviously not how that works when
you come on someone else's platform they
have all the power but secondly this is
pretty interesting it's interesting
because it's such a sad attempt to still
be in control of this situation I think
that's something that shows as a
through-line for all of the proud boys
utter humiliations and Gavin's continued
clawing at the edges of relevance that
it's then making themselves into
characters and that the criticism of
those characters means nothing to them
after all as the Gandhi quote goes first
they ignore you then they laugh for you
then they fight you then you win
actually that isn't a Gandhi coy it's
just commonly misattributed to him but
after the aesthetics of intellectualism
baby they still want you laughing at
them because that means that being seen
and that's all they care about people
who have that desperate to be seen that
they're willing to be laughed at
Guerry because being laughed with is one
of the best feelings there is but being
laughed at is one of the worst and
someone who's willing to put up with
that humiliation just for attention has
a terrifying determination we know about
Gavin's new show by the way because he
tried to recruit sam cedar of the
majority report for it Sam of course
didn't want to give Gavin the time of
day but thought it was a pretty good
opportunity to try and get steven
crowder who had ducked out of debates
with sam in the past to finally sit down
and do the debate alas Steve still
continued to refuse to debate Sam
possibly because his manager didn't
think he'd be up to the task
his manager who's also by the way his
dad hang on hang on hang on let me be
clear about this I am NOT saying it is
funny that Steven crowd as dad as his
manager I'm not saying the Crowder who
was the voice of brain on the kids show
Arthur sorry for ruining Arthur by the
way was probably pushed into his showbiz
career by a helicopter parent and then
lacking any comedic talent whatsoever
just repeated increasingly disgusting
conservative views in the style of jokes
for the approval of people that he looks
up to I'm not saying that because that
would be tragic not funny I'm also not
saying that lil Steve is the perfect
case study of the way that men perform
cruelty as if it's comedy in order to
form a toxic masculine in-group that
necessarily by definition eliminates
anyone who doesn't find bigotry funny
and brands them as either weak or too
sensitive and what I'm definitely most
certainly not saying is that Stevie's
dad doesn't have the confidence in his
ability to debate Sam cedar and in his
intelligence because Steve spent his
whole career parroting back things his
dad told him because if I was saying
that that would be really fucking grim
Steven and other conservative comedians
are a pretty good case study of the post
masculinity I was talking about before a
kind of ironic masculinity engaging in
all the shittiest behaviors and
insisting it's just a joke now to be
clear this is nothing
you as a defense against accusations of
being a total pest boy but I think the
contingent of men who actually sincerely
internally believe that their toxic
masculinity is just a cute joke is an
emerging identity much more of a new
recent thing and also to be clear about
the term post masculine it doesn't mean
that we live in a time after masculinity
when masculinity is over and done with
it refers to a society that is aware of
feminist ideas that has recognized
masculinity refers to living in a time
after its emergence or acknowledgement
let's take a moment to talk about
notorious big wet boy Ricky Gervais
gervase recently started doing stand-up
in the well-established am i offending
you haha you're so offended genre of
stand-up comedy and then taking to
Twitter to frequently search his own
name and get definitely not mad not mad
at people saying he isn't funny
I could definitely talk a whole bunch
here about how punching down is pathetic
and not real comedy and just the
constant reinforcement of a bigoted
in-group but I'm realizing as I write
this that Ricky Gervais smite name
search on YouTube as well and he
probably doesn't have the attention span
for all that so hi Ricky
I'm never gonna stop tagging you on
Twitter and calling you a big wet boy
you can click off the video now one
thing a lot of people who are now banned
from commenting on my channel have said
is that I don't engage properly in the
ideas that I criticize and that's
because I usually read books by people I
respect but point taken so I picked up
conservatism by Roger Scruton I wanted
to check out conservatism in the words
of a conservative well came across
really strongly is that Scruton has no
fucking idea what conservatism is he
spends a whole section defining the
prehistory of conservatism outlining
ideas that conservatives today no longer
believe but the conservatives of the
past did with the exception of a few
famous faces like Thomas Jefferson who
he tries to claim was a conservative in
his own day which is frankly just
baffling when he's done explaining the
conservatives used to believe in the
Divine Right of Kings he just moves on
as if there's no
intellectual massive inconsistency there
that needs explaining what becomes
apparent to the reader is the
Conservatives just believe in not
changing anything well whatever the
current moment in history is by whatever
means necessary
but that revelation seems to elude
scrutiny I kept thinking about Scruton
and his terrible book while researching
for this video because I think just like
Gervase and Crowder and McGinnis Scruton
is genuinely unaware that his political
beliefs essentially boiled down to
defending the status quo at any cost
from the point of view of the right-wing
comedian he's a totally original
boundary-pushing act and no one's ever
thought of doing what he's gonna do
before and if someone doesn't like it
they're just anti-free speech you know
next thing you know anti-fur are gonna
show up and protest my gigs you know the
scary thing about anti-fur if they'll
punch a fascist what's next
they could punch me if I was the fascist
in 1936 on the 4th of October a famous
battle occurred in London it occurred in
a place called Cable Street which is why
it's funnily enough remembered as the
Battle of Cable Street
it happened because oswald mosley his
British Union of fascists tried to
organize a march and London and
specifically the working-class Jewish
community around Cable Street said no
fuck that if you don't know sir Oswald
Mosley was a weird rich old racist man
who was a big fan of Hitler black
turtlenecks from the M&S menswear
collection and having piss and shit
thrown on him by passers-by as I tried
to hold fascist parades in the streets
of London yes really they really knew
how to show fascists the appropriate
level of respect back in those days 3000
fascists marched accompanied by 6,000
police and countered by over 20,000
anti-fascists the Battle of Cable Street
is remembered as the moment when the
fascists were driven back never to be
seen or heard from again except that
that memory is is kind of useless and
completely fucked and terrible because
about a year later the fascists marched
again this time in Bermondsey in a place
near where I live to celebrate the
anniversary of the foundation of their
organization again 3,000 fascists again
accompanied by 6000 police and according
to some contemporary sources an even
bigger crowd of anti-fascist activists
this time the anti-fascists formed to
block hate across the announced route
chaining old iron ovens and fridges and
other bulky objects together to form a
physical barrier because when we say
battle we mean battle anti-fascist
speaking in anticipation of the event
told crowds that these want people from
Berlin Z expressing their fascist views
these are people from outside Berman's
he trying to invade trying to take it
and that's true that was the stated
intention of the buf March it's crucial
to understand that the anti-fascist is
represented and to this day represent
the local community that this was the
working-class people of Berlin Z
fighting off sir Oswald
Moseley and that because of their
efforts he never got to hold his racist
pest boy rally in West Lane and Berman's
II as a cable street anti-fascist said
just as they've said all around the
world they shall not pass yeah that's
what I'm saying Gandalf is anti-fur but
more importantly a lesson we should
learn from the Battle of Berlin Z is the
anti fascism isn't a single fight
against the forces of evil that defeats
them once and for all but an ongoing
struggle a constant effort that
encompasses everything from taking down
stickers and reporting graffiti to
voting to yes
punching fascists and yes
punching me if I was a fascist when you
see anti fair reported on today can be
really easy to just buy into the
rhetoric that they're this extremist
radical group and not just local people
organizing together to stop fascism from
sinking its disgusting claws into their
local community I love that headline
Bermondsey says no to fascism because I
think that's what anti-fur means and if
you want to understand why antifa means
you need to picture a place you live a
place you have lived where you're from
your hometown and that headline my
neighborhood says no to fascism okay
I've done my job
and thenso talking about headlines let's
talk about the New York public and
headquarters Fox News reported on what
happened there as anti-fur attacks again
swords and vandalism at New York GOP
office and showed a video of a man
brandishing a sword outside the GOP
building and naturally I think that
would lead you to assume that anti-fur
attacked the Republican headquarters
with swords but in fact the person the
video is yes drumroll please Gavin
McInnes see Gavin was there in this
powerfully racist costume apologies that
you even have to see that to reenact and
celebrate the assassination of a
Japanese politician by a far-right
terrorist in the 1960s and act he called
an inspiring moment in his Instagram
post about the event it's a murder Gavin
not a body positivity post there's
something interesting about Gavin though
in 2017 as the Albright were becoming
more and more publicly prominent he said
of distancing himself from them claiming
that their major focus is on race
whereas his on Western values don't get
me wrong here Western values is the
states rights of the 2010s
but I think Gavin really means this I
think the fact that the proud boys
aren't an exclusively white group
Gavin's transphobia the no fat rule and
this distancing they all have something
to do with each other the in dance can
made a really potent point in this video
white fascism if you make loads of
really pertinent points I guess we're
just gonna have to keep referencing this
video forever fascism as a word has
become so ubiquitous and also so
colloquia lized
that it seems ridiculous to people to
ever sincerely call anyone or anything
fascist even when by the most basic
definitions of the word fascism it is or
they are I think a similar thing has
happened with the patriarchy especially
if you're quite online because
anti-feminist gotcha arguments have been
so memes to hell the idea of sincerely
discussing the patriarchy seems to some
people for want of a better word a bit
cringy
this expresses itself as a guilt an
apology pre-empting the supposed
audience reaction of discomfort at
talking about something that edgy PS
boys say you aren't allowed to talk
about without another way let's talk
about fascism and the patriarchy we
could define fascism by a hierarchy that
mythologize --is an us an in-group as
inherently superior and everyone step by
step less like that us as more and more
inferior in this system anytime the
fascists fail the blame should be put on
to people who are lesser and so don't
wholly belong to the US the adage goes
fascism cannot fail it can only be
failed the internal logic of fascism
says that any time you see someone
failing at something it doesn't make
sense until you can explain why they are
less like the US than they would need to
be to succeed this is where the word
degenerate comes in anyone who that's
fascism down is it degenerate so they
can just be cast aside and this is where
we encounter what I call the shrinking
circle of fascism a never contracting
tightening ring that just closes in and
closes in until only the perfect ideal
person is left I think it's a pretty
useful term and also describing it
sounds a bit like a butthole that may be
fascists really uncomfortable for white
supremacists lesser members of the white
race exist essentially as a logical prop
to explain why anyone white could ever
do anything they disapprove of for
misogynists a man seen doing anything
wrong or inferior or embarrassing or
honestly just unexpected is feminine
this is so baked into our language that
many of us would say like a girl without
thinking to just mean bad so you see why
I'm making this comparison the
patriarchy is itself a fascist
institution so getting back to our
earlier dilemma are the proud boys
fascists yes
are they racists also yes but they don't
exist to serve white supremacy and white
fascism they exist to be the
stormtroopers of the patriarchy they
describe themselves as Western
chauvinists they're not aiming for
Richard Speck
white ethno state necessarily they're
aiming for The Handmaid's tails Gilead
although it's also worth noting the
muhammad's tails Gilead is a white
ethnic estate and Richard Spencer's
white f no state would necessarily be
incredibly misogynistic now my statement
there only works if you agree that
fascism while often nationalist is not
inherently nationalist my academic
backing for that is but I think it's
plain to see that english-speaking
fascists in the US and the UK especially
in the age of the internet view their
mission is one and the same they'll
often talk more about the West and about
their own country and if those fascists
can express nationalistic loyalty
something as nebulous as the West or as
patently fake as whiteness I don't think
it's a stretch to understand groups like
the proud boys as expressing loyalty to
masculinity as if it were the borders of
their nation they are expressing
nationalistic loyalty to the nation of
manhood and just as the black shirts of
the 1930s were swindled into parading
around playing dress-up by a rich old
asshole with a knighthood and probably
gout being told that they were defending
the honor of mother britannia today
gavin an actual millionaire is tricking
sadboys online into thinking they're
they're defending manliness they're
putting on a special costume and
refusing to masturbate right at the time
of Joker's release its director Todd
Phillips made some comments to the
effect that he's not making comedy films
anymore because what culture killed
comedy you can't be funny anymore
because everyone expects you to be woke
all jokes insult someone and there's no
such thing as a power dynamic anywhere
in life so insulting a minority group
and insulting the rich and powerful is
exactly the same thing no one can
possibly be funny without appealing to
bigotry my name is Todd Phillips and I
see no difference between pooping and
eating poop it's fine that's not a
direct quotes in response mock moron
longtime comedian and actually actor in
Joker had a fair few words to say
in his podcast WTF he said you know
there's plenty of people being funny
right now
not only being funny but being really
fucking funny
there are line still lines to be rode if
you like to ride a line you can still
ride the line you want to take chances
you can still take chances I mean really
the the only thing that's off the table
culturally at this juncture and not even
an entirely is a shamelessly punching
down for the sheer joy of hurting people
for the sheer excitement and laughter
that some people get from causing people
pain from making people uncomfortable
for making people feel excluded you know
that that excitement and as I've said
before it's it's no excuse I mean if
you're too intimidated to try to do
comedy that is deep or provocative or
even a little controversial
you know without hurting people I mean
you're not good at what you do I mean
that's just a deal maybe it's time for
you to quit I don't know if I could have
said it better than that what a king
yeah well fucking lot thank you Mark
Mehran he also put it a little more
succinctly in his interview with enemy
it's about men women and how men deal
with being woke the way I'm a pro I
can't do that voice anymore no just
rethought I can put the glasses and the
moustache back on no I might do this
voice no just read the line the thing
about the patriarchy is it makes men
powerful not happy and we're a lot of
conservative men point to the fact that
they are unhappy as proof of the
patriarchy doesn't exist the proud boys
have taken the fact that they get power
through male privilege and decided that
that is what makes them happy joke yes I
guess kind of like the Joker
when these guys are funny characters
with memes and jokes and secret symbols
for their special boys club they can do
anything they want because they're
untouchable when they're funny they're
scary but when you take a closer look
and realize these ding-dongs actually
derive their masculinity from a special
uniform and a bunch of pictures of a
cartoon
raagh that's not scary that's tragic but
that tragedy it's pretty funny there has
to be a better model for masculinity
than desperately clinging on to old
shitty behaviors through irony and memes
and no fat boys clubs there has to be a
model of masculinity that's about caring
for the less fortunate the less strong
about helping the less capable or
failing that just do what mock moron
doesn't show these Oedipus boys you're
tired of their bullshit boy I don't care
about the government and really need a
hug stupid ugly
I'll fuck you up if your mean us
it's getting cold down here underneath
to sit with you I really like your
smiley sweater
if ladybug cigars how do you make it
together was it like an eagle but I bet
it's just so much better I just turned
40 and I think this you I'm gonna be me
don't mess with me I'm a big boy now I'm
very scary I punch my wall stayed out at
night gonna do karate don't message me
cuz I won't reply wanna make you cry
ain't now that was supposed to be though
it isn't me boys will be bugs right
hey everyone I'd like to thank
bathymetric sand ashley throw accident
for producing incredible music first
channel in particular this cover of cave
town's boys will be bugs I'd also like
to thank everyone who helped with the
research for this video I paid for your
supporters for keeping me alive and you
the viewer for watching all the way to
the end if you'd like to support the
channel you can go to
patreon.com/scishow that's to see
additional content and get early access
to these videos sometimes I also make
longer versions of my videos just for $2
plus patrons and you can get access to
those too this month I'd like to
introduce you to Lottie Blix and Cass
heiress Lottie is a lefty NB twitch
streamer whose streams are always a lot
of fun and you should definitely go
follow right away Cass is an academic
psychologist making a series where they
break down Jordan Peterson's 12 rules
for life chapter by chapter and it's
honestly one of my favorite things on
youtube right now thanks again for
watching remember fascism is a loser
ideology and see you next time
don't mess with me I'm a big boy now and
I'm very scary I touch my wall stay out
at night and I do karate
