America's Freedom is a Lie

[@troperhghar9898]

Im reminded of MLK's letter from prison "I find that the white moderate is more interested in a negitive peace which is the absaence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence justice"

[@ritwik1410]

its no different than the concept of "capitalist peace" which basically just means imperialism swept underneath the rug and law and order mediated by bourgeois, international law

[@WisecrackEDU]

great quote.

[@falkorornothing261]

I'm curious what you guys think. I looked up "white moderate" the last time I read it. The only reference I found was a letter from Birmingham jail. I think he deliberately didn't want to use the word liberal and made up his own term. What you guys think?

[@SCHMALLZZZ]

​@ritwik1410 the capitalist peace has been true for the last 100 years. No capitalist country would dare go to war with one of it's capitalist trading partners because the economic turmoil would be greater than any benefit.

[@mosesmm5473]

Point to an American school that teaches that part of MLK, along with the fact he was critical of capitalism

[@stoda01]

Reminds me of this quote from the movie The Dictator: "Why are you guys' so anti-dictators? Imagine if America was a dictatorship. You could let 1 percent of the people have all the nation's wealth. You could help your rich friends get richer by cutting their taxes and bailing them out when they gamble and lose. You could ignore the needs of the poor for health care and education. Your media would appear free but would secretly be controlled by one person and his family. You could wiretap phones. You could torture foreign prisoners. You could have rigged elections. You could lie about why you go to war. You could fill your prisons with one particular racial group, and no one would complain. You could use the media to scare the people into supporting policies that are against their interests."

[@budgiefriend]

THIS....

[@TheDSasterX]

This Joke: America's head.

[@mervinreyes3008]

Love that moment and no, it doesn't make America not free it just means you're fucked if you're not smart with your freedom shit if we weren't free things like that would not be allowed

[@TheDSasterX]

@@mervinreyes3008 negative freedom for some in the US*

[@roscojenkins7451]

Oh man. U said "the dictator" and I was thinking of "the great dictator" from the 40's and hos epic speech at the end. So I read that in Charles Chaplin's voice

[@patrickgranstrm2537]

I’m from Norway. Freedom for me is the freedom to have the same opportunities as everyone else. The freedom to get help if I get sick. The freedom to learn. The freedom to feel safe. If someone needs more help we help them.

[@lynth]

As a Scandinavian you are sheltered from the reality of your system. All of your wealth is based on the enslavement and exploitation of the Global South. Particularly Norway is guilty of some of the worst crimes against humanity in human history. Its entire wealth is based on US imperialism and global environmental destruction. Note that you can't ever have a sustainable capitalist system. Capitalism is a zero sum game: If you make money using capitalist methods, it means someone else has less. There is no NATO country that isn't guilty, so Sweden and Finland joined the Club of Pure Evil, too. You are high on your own propaganda if you believe your country to be an example of "doing it right". There is a reason why American propagandists like to point at Scandinavia as an example of "socialism": Because Scandinavian capitalist systems are a total scam that will never work for the majority of countries and is literally just the US system on a smaller scale with Scandinavians relying on the US empire to do their dirty work. It's sad how self-assured Norwegians always are even though their entire wealth is essentially stolen from the Global South and future generations. Just because you export the damage your system causes to less fortunate countries doesn't mean those negative externalities aren't your fault. Your wealth was taken from others. By the way: Plenty of nations would love to have what you have but they can't do it because the US (or some other imperialist power like France) will destroy them if they tried. Also: Norway is the US empire's closest empire in Europe. You helped them blow up North Stream and caused the worst ecological disaster in European history. This is the kind of thing your regime constantly does without you knowing (and if someone points it out, you call them names and make up conspiracy theories always blaming everyone else except for yourself, e.g. Russia, China, etc.).

[@goldenealgefromdutchbros6834]

beautiful ideas

[@Moncrom]

Yes that the EU spirit. It's the same for me in Austria. EU ! EU! EU! EU! EU!

[@alexlindbjerg]

As a Dane I'm co-signing this

[@SCP.343]

Sounds like socialist propaganda.

[@MGood-ij1hi]

In America telling people how free they are, loudly and often , is the most effective method of controlling them yet devised.

[@hastekulvaati9681]

Not really. The most effective way to controlling people is making them fear death or the death of their loved ones if they fall out of line. I’m not sure you are quite there in America. Obviously in the nations history native Americans and African Americans probably have felt that way . But the majority of Americans, much as they bellyache, probably haven’t experienced the same kind of fear that people who live in totalitarian societies experience. That is why you can get people proudly proclaiming that they believe the Government kidnaps children and drains their adrenaline or that vaccines contain microchips. You’d think they might fee some trepidation in making those statements. But apparently not. I’m not sure people were quite so outspoken about plots in Stalin’s USSR or Mao’s China.

[@ElectricBookWorm]

It truly blows my mind how people still fall for it. It seems people would rather chant the word over and over like a capalistic rosary rather than looking around and seeing all the freedoms that are being stripped away on a regular basis.

[@Spiral.Dynamics]

“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.” -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

[@martinwinter615]

Well, it is still more freedom than any "socialist" regime ever was. If one group has full control then no freedom will ever be guaranteed. Is capitalism perfect? Not at all it has many problems but still a democracy with capitalism is still freer than any country where the state has all power. Cause as soon as you don't have any checks and balances (when the state controls all three powers and also controls media and the economy) then nature kicks in and the leading class loses all its empathy (This is a neurological process to save energy cause if you can get what you want without needing to understand the other your body will no longer do it - this is a proven fact) Aka absolut power corrupts absolut.

[@sampicano]

NO! NO IT ISNT! WRONG!

[@jackzacksplazer1848]

I am from Denmark, and currently studying in Canada. Without the welfare system and subsequent freedom it creates for much of the population, I would not be able to study at it or explore the world. Our welfare system has provided me with an endless range of opportunities.

[@authenticallysuperficial9874]

By "freedom" you mean power, wealth, assets, and entitlement.

[@dain6250]

As an American who's lived in Iceland, Denmark, and Sweden for several years, I had quite a bit more freedom than I did in Arizona. For instance, there is a concept called allemansrätten in Norway and Sweden (the right to public access). It means you have the freedom to roam wherever you want in the country. You can hike, cycle, ski, or camp on public as well as through private property, provided you are a certain distance from a house, not causing a disturbance, and clean up after yourself when you leave. In contrast to the US where I worked as a survey archaeologist, it is a regular concern that you will be confronted by ranchers or land owners with guns even if you are surveying on public land. Affordable healthcare is also a massively liberating feeling. A lot of the money put away for university by my grandparents was used just to pay for medication when I turned 18 in the US and lost access to health insurance until Obamacare. This was never a worry in the Nordics, nor here in Germany. I felt very free from the chance of being a victim of a violent crime, even in some of the worst areas for crime in Sweden like Malmo. I never felt unsafe walking home at night in comparison to being stabbed once in northern Arizona and held at gunpoint in Phoenix within the span of 4 years. Free or affordable education was the only reason I had the opportunity to do two graduate degrees for less than the cost of one year of my bachelors. I would have never gone in the US because of the cost. The access to public transportation was also a massively liberating feeling. I could go almost anywhere in the country I needed to on trains or buses with excellent amenities. Starting a business or pursuing an idea is typically easier for someone in the working-class than it would be in the US. There are grants available in countries like Sweden to people to simply take time off of their regular career (up to a year or more I believe) in order to pursue an entrepreneurial or artistic venture. If memory serves, the person who came up with the marble machine in Wintergatan used a grant to support himself while he created it and he became very successful. In the states, the only humanities that I felt were valued were the ones that would make buckets of money.

[@hourglass1988]

I'm from Wyoming and public lands are a huge issue here in that there are huge swaths of publicly owned land that is completely blocked on all sides by privately owned ranches so no one but those that own those ranches (or those with permission from them) can legally access those lands without trespassing. This means they are technically public lands but effectively privately owned. The state has been attempting land trades to fix this problem but amazingly no rancher has volunteered to give up this extremely sweet set up they got and they aren't forcing them. They can ask them to but they are free to say no. If you think, "oh well i'll just sneak through the edge of a property to get to this public space they can't possibly keep track of all of it" you underestimate the petty and squirrely nature of these ranchers. Our local news cycles have been wrapped up for two years now talking about "corner crossing" case where a pair of hunters jumped a fence, walked maybe 40 feet, and jumped another fence to get to publicly held lands. However the owner of the land had a trail camera set up and caught them and took them to court, and won. Keep in mind these are fences literally a 50+ miles from the nearest structure out in the middle of the planes. (look up any picture of wyoming thats not in yellowstone to get an idea). So here a guy's freedom to not have strangers walk on his dirt trumps two other guys rights to access public land.

[@SCHMALLZZZ]

Yes, the Norseman have a lovely and historical tradition of accessing the lands of others as they see fit.

[@dain6250]

@@SCHMALLZZZ sharing is caring 😉

[@SCHMALLZZZ]

Medicaid exists in the USA, Obamacare doesn't replace Government funded healthcare programs for Americans, it merely subsidizes private health insurance costs for Americans making above $1,600 a month. Anything less than $1,600 and Medicaide kicks in.

[@5GentleGiants]

Thank you for sharing this

[@AlexGreat87]

I'm from Latinamerica, the first word that came to mind when you said United States of America was "Coup"

[@WisecrackEDU]

YEP.

[@thedudewhoeatspianos]

Makes sense

[@triciclosonido]

+1

[@alexpkeaton4471]

"The problem with 'socialism' is the eventual CIA coup."

[@Reed5016]

Same.

[@josephk.4200]

Always having to fight for your freedom implies that something or someone is systematically trying to take it from you. America is like that.

[@WisecrackEDU]

Great point.

[@steven2183]

If you have to fight for freedom, you've already lost it and somewhere there is an audience eager for a show.

[@rickybryan1759]

This is so insightful

[@RubeusArchos]

To me free is knowing your free with out some telling me..American warps that idea.

[@rickybryan1759]

@@RubeusArchos yeah they talk a lot about freedom as if they are trying to convince themselves

[@rashadb954]

I'm surprised you didn't mention the insanely high incarceration rate in our country. We are proportionally less free by that metric simply because so many of us are in cages. Furthermore, it is a burden on all of us to pay for those who are in jail. In that sense, jail is one of the biggest and most guaranteed American welfare rights, which is a weird thought I just had.

[@alexthewrecker4666]

Gotta get that cheap prison labor 😍 Nothing screams freedom quite like getting paid $0.20 per hour doing backbreaking work

[@mervinreyes3008]

Most of this shit has a history.

[@mervinreyes3008]

@@alexthewrecker4666 still pick being an American over half the shit out there; even with our flaws, the other half can eat a dick. I may like them and their culture, but I am an American at least my idea of one there more then a few here

[@jodajoda2863]

America has a quarter of the entire planet's prison population, it would be comical if it weren't so horrifying. 1 out of every 4 prisoners on earth is American. But yeah "land of the free" and all that

[@IamBrixTM]

“The biggest and most guaranteed American welfare rights.” Holy shit you’re right 😂 that’s fucking crazy.

[@michaelhowell7678]

My favorite way to explain freedom comes from one of my history teachers; “Your rights end where mine begin.”

[@fiorellino]

Seems like your teacher read Immanuel Kant

[@Balder95]

To answer the question posed at the end of the video; Honestly as a Scandinavian (Norwegian), I think you have to leave Scandinavia to really understand how great the system works. And most, if not all Norwegians grow up learning that the collective freedom is more important. So you feel very free when compared to countries like USA, whereas the personal freedom might be more “constrained” it’s a very acceptable trade off for good education, infrastructure and healthcare

[@lynth]

As a Scandinavian you are sheltered from the reality of your system. All of your wealth is based on the enslavement and exploitation of the Global South. Particularly Norway is guilty of some of the worst crimes against humanity in human history. Its entire wealth is based on US imperialism and global environmental destruction. Note that you can't ever have a sustainable capitalist system. Capitalism is a zero sum game: If you make money using capitalist methods, it means someone else has less. There is no NATO country that isn't guilty, so Sweden and Finland joined the Club of Pure Evil, too. You are high on your own propaganda if you believe your country to be an example of "doing it right". There is a reason why American propagandists like to point at Scandinavia as an example of "socialism": Because Scandinavian capitalist systems are a total scam that will never work for the majority of countries and is literally just the US system on a smaller scale with Scandinavians relying on the US empire to do their dirty work.

[@batcrow6224]

It's pretty crazy how as an American it seems like the idea of collective freedom is completely foreign to most people in our country. It might be a bit more common for those who grew up on the internet to have those values but as a whole the only freedom that most americans know of is one that is completely individualized.

[@twominutepenalty]

I'd make that trade. Sounds like a good deal.

[@ashleighsparkle8810]

It was the opposite for me. I am from California and I wanted to try the so called best system in the world so I moved to Sweden for 6 years. Not only was it crushingly boring compared to Cali, everything was so MEDIOCRE. It was all just good enough. Nothing great. Lagom and there is a reason for it. Swedes lack curiosity, adventure, outside the box thinking. Boring , safe culture. I wanted to leave Sweden after a year but stayed for my husband. Now we are immigration process back to US. I feel like I escaped a dystopia.

[@MrTimothy1967]

Comparing Norway to the USA is like comparing apples to oranges.

[@le2382]

My husband is from Denmark, and he finds America to be absolutely barbaric and shockingly unfree. He used to literally get paid by the government to study at university and all the way until his master’s degree. Meaning he doesn’t have a penny of student debt, he could start saving money from the moment he got his first job, and never had to worry about healthcare. Now that’s freedom 😂

[@jackanderson719]

100 percent agree

[@mervinreyes3008]

my inner American just says fuck you

[@Temulon]

His freedom though was at the cost of someone else's debt. He was paid by the government to study, but that money didn't come from the money fairy, it was acquired through taxes. Why is it fair for working class people, who for whatever reason, cannot attend college themselves, to provide for his upkeep while he attends?

[@muhammadsyahnan8488]

​@@Temulon"someone else's debt" taxes are not debt. After college, he'll work and ultimately pay taxes too. Then his taxes, along with other taxes, will help other people with free education and healthcare. Then people who got helped by that will work and pay taxes that will help other people again. It's not that hard to understand

[@Temulon]

@@muhammadsyahnan8488 Taxes are not debt, but they're used to pay debts, don't be obtuse. And it is hard to understand if you aren't willing to live under a socialist government.

[@gargigulos1984]

It's called the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it

[@Reed5016]

That’s a great way to describe it.

[@gargigulos1984]

@@Reed5016 I'm quoting George Carlin's stand up there. He's still relevant today.

[@Reed5016]

@@gargigulos1984 Is that a novel?

[@Undertaker93]

I'm 14 and this is deep

[@Kami-cw7en]

@@Reed5016 you forgot to mention America's For Profit Prisons and the legal slavery they use. "slavery & involuntary servitude, as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." - 13th Amendment U.S. Constitution..

[@OverlordMMM]

Freedom is as large as the prison cell you are confined to. Rather than striving to escape, most people are content with extending the borders of theirs at the cost of decreasing the ones around them. And those who do escape simply find new walls surrounding them, encapsulating them in yet another prison.

[@алексейпугачев-л9й]

I mean......that's kinda how the whole world works tho.

[@Osiris064]

I've learned that in America, having freedom means taking it from someone else

[@mervinreyes3008]

name me one nation that doesn't take away a freedom pro-tip you cant every nation has laws taking away one or two freedoms else your just a fucking animal, so I guess I lot of ancient human history(hunter gather). I don't even want to get into the evil shit you can find in a history book

[@esonon5210]

Of course because Europe definitely doesn't take most of well off, healthy people's money to give it to sickly people and bums.

[@ifeoluwaadeoye6557]

THIS

[@mervinreyes3008]

@@ifeoluwaadeoye6557 replying to me? Cuz if so na

[@ifeoluwaadeoye6557]

@@mervinreyes3008 no, to the OP

[@satyasyasatyasya5746]

Ah yes, American freedom. Totally free to go to school (if you can afford it), get healthcare when you're sick (if you can afford it), travel for pleasure (if you can afford it), live where and how you like (if you can afford it), take care of your loved ones (if you can afford it), learn a trade or skill or artform (if you can afford it), take time off work for your own wellbeing (if you can afford it), have hobbies (if you can afford it), try new things and treat yourself (if you can afford it), build relationships with people (if you can afford it), avoid hunger, the cold or heat (if you can afford it), get justice and fair treatment under the law (if you can afford it).

[@BlackCroLong]

Spunds like you can't afford any of it. Cry me a river.

[@mind-of-neo]

Exactly. You only have any "freedom" if you have enough money. And youre still obligated to participate in whatever society rules over the land youre living on. even if you "own" a particular patch of land there, you still have to pay property taxes indefinitely so you have to do something for money. You can never just go off and start a commune or just be entirely self reliant.

[@WisecrackEDU]

damn you went for it.

[@satyasyasatyasya5746]

@@WisecrackEDU OMG Michael noticed me and complimented me!!! My heart can't take it!!! A compliment from one's hot internet philosophy teacher! 🥰🥰🥰🤗🤗🤗😅😅😅 but yes, I went for it, and many other things too. Very much the "better to die on your feet..." type when it comes to these issues hahaha

[@satyasyasatyasya5746]

@@mind-of-neo Or rather than running off, we can fix it. "If you can afford it" doesn't HAVE to be true.

[@717UT]

I love your videos because they make me think and consider what I choose to believe. And ultimately, I am either more convinced of what I believe, or sometimes I rethink my personal beliefs to better define myself. And rarely, I need to wrestle with things for awhile before I can justify that belief. To me, that's growth. I genuinely feel your videos promote positive growth. So, thank you.

[@WisecrackEDU]

Appreciate you and thanks for the comment.

[@WhenIsItUs]

Moving to New Zealand was a pretty good eye opener. I'll leave the questionable aspects of their politics to the locals, but I will comment on how funny it was to see my roommates' reaction to life in America. They could hardly believe the tales of student and medical debt, or the job market. I mean, the government filed taxes on my behalf and just gave me money. I wasn't even a citizen. I could just walk in to most hospitals and get free checks up, not to mention pay very little for medication. Minimum wages were amazing even in the service industry. Working quality was awesome. Public transportation was cool and the land itself was beautiful. I came back to America and it felt like the Great Depression, everyone killing themselves and super market shelves were empty, meanwhile the president was using tax money to murder foreign "terrorists" while they ate dinner with their families and the American citizens were too busy envying the latest footage of gross wealth.

[@mervinreyes3008]

Why didn't you stay then, or did you go back?

[@WhenIsItUs]

@@mervinreyes3008 My visa expired and everyone I know is here in the states, so here I remain for now :/ Also, there were some issues in the politics of the country at the time.

[@BajatheChickenMan]

Ya and how were those people treated during covid? get out of here with that anywhere else is better. Everywhere is shit.

[@shadowbonbon3]

One thing I got from my 14 year lifetime of living in America is that freedom is based on how much you have. My parents have a massive wealth disparity between them and when the broke I definitely got the taste of both lives. My mom could buy a ton of stuff and often travels around even with her restrictive job while my dad generally lives not necessarily pay check to pay check but very close to it. Just 2 years after they broke up I had to switch schools as my dad can’t live where he lived before and while the school I go to isn’t “bad” it’s worse than the other in terms of quality of people food and education. And if I was to ever break a bone or something of similar seriousness my mom would always be the one paying, as even though she’s out of state I still have to have her pay for stuff from school and occasionally food. I’m surprised there’s so few safety nets and that help poor people. My mom doesn’t like the thought of Free healthcare because it helps people who don’t work but even if they don’t they still deserve to live, right? I feel that we need to get past our fear of socialism if we want to call ourselves free

[@RobertDrane]

Let your mom know medicaid exists. That's free healthcare but only if you stay below the poverty line. If you have a chronic illness, its usually better to not work and collect medicaid than work and go into debt for your health care. It's a poverty trap. Universal healthcare would encourage people to work.

[@seanbirtwistle649]

@@RobertDrane its not just that universal healthcare would encourage people to work, it would encourage people to be the hero of their american dream. save some money, take a risk on a business idea, develop or discover something, improve someones standard of living by providing services. now its a choice of do you choose to work hard for a company that gives good health insurance for you and your family, or do you risk ruining your bank account, your marriage, friendships because you took a risk and life happened. it was a pretty big shock to finally discover that most americans aren't like the ones you see in movies, but just simple honest conservative folk bordering on being boring because you'd have to be rich or stupid to be otherwise

[@shadowbonbon3]

@@RobertDrane I don’t know a ton about this as I am still young but I do know my mom has tricare which I’m 90% sure she gets from the military which is a job she’s going to be having for the foreseeable future. My dad mostly doesn’t have money due to the commute to work and school taking a ton of time as the only good schools are a city away so he likely won’t make enough even from Medicaid.

[@edwardzignot2681]

I don't feel "free" so much as constantly terrified that any mistake or sickness on my part will result in me ending up homeless. I have two teeth going right now that I simply cannot afford to get fixed or even removed, so I'm free to suffer for weeks on end and possibly die of an infection I guess.

[@twinphalanx4465]

Same boat, greatest country with the best health care...unless you're poor by the wealthys standards

[@ashleighsparkle8810]

It sounds like you make very poor decisions and expect everyone to pick up the slack. How about you take care of your body for starters.

[@gooner_duke2756]

That's' sad to hear and seems kind of barbaric to me to let someone suffer like that, from a country that has a national health system. I love the US, has so many great things going for it, majority of people I've met from there have been good people. It seems to me that American freedom is based on how much you have... plenty of 'freedom' for those that can afford it...

[@twinphalanx4465]

@@gooner_duke2756 bingo

[@authenticallysuperficial9874]

You are free to deal with your problems as you wish. You are free to ask for help. You are free to engage in a voluntary exchange and give something in return for what you want. You are not free to use the threat of violence to force someone else to help you against his will.

[@pedrogomesmoura]

When someone from US says freedom, i hear power.

[@tobyzilla]

Same and I'm american who doesn't think like other Americans

[@MrSlayerkid117]

I waited for this so I could watch it on my lunch break. But I also get 2 15-minute breaks, so I ended up just taking an hour off but got paid to watch and discuss this for 30 minutes. I hope that counts as doing it at work.

[@olebh]

Norwegian here, we feel free and regard the us as a third world country socially

[@BKDBut]

Any suggestions on how to scale up to 330 mil with a way less unified culture?

[@minez5628]

I'm from Brazil, which is regarded as a third world country, and I feel like I have more freedom than most Americans. We have public health and education, and the private options are affordable in comparison to the US. While in school I never 9nce feared for my life, never knew the fear of being the victim of a mass shooting. Crime is right, sure, but I have access to paid vacation, public Universities, worker's rights, state protected unions, racism and lgbtfobia are crimes, hate speech is a crime, we have gun control. If you are unemployed you can get monetary support from the government, there are programs to ensure affordable housing, access to private university for those who couldn't qualify for the highly disputed public one's and can't afford the private usually. This are just some things that I remember, but as a middle class person I don't really need most benefits, apart from human rights that the US doesn't have.

[@BKDBut]

@@minez5628 Dude you just named endless things that the US has You should stop only paying attention to "US bad porn" that manipulates everything and lies about other things

[@somasatori9117]

I'm an abolitionist and got into an argument with a counter-prostester at a noise demo whose main argument came down to him hearing me say that slavery was abolished except as punishment for a crime and disagreeing. It's in the verbiage, my man. Literally read the Constitution. He didn't buy it and told me that it had been "edited." He left before explaining what he meant by editing, unfortunately. All that to say I appreciate your use of the edited -- I mean original language in the 13th amendment.

[@rickybryan1759]

Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.

[@AmbitiousNoodle]

When you said America, the first thing that came into my mind was unrestrained capitalism, so…

[@sampicano]

Unrestrained Capitalism is two words. So is involuntary servitude and mass shootings.

[@startheangel9760]

Corrupt healthcare that gets you bankrupt for riding in an ambulance

[@hjertrudfiddlecock4394]

imperialism

Endstage capitalism.

[@АртемМакєєв]

It's not unrestrained tho. America has a lot of corporate welfare , which is the opposite of unrestrained capitalism

[@Durrutitv]

Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime, that's why I watch Wisecrack on company time.

[@BKDBut]

Why should you make the same amount?

[@authenticallysuperficial9874]

Go work somewhere else if your labor is so valuable

[@Durrutitv]

@@authenticallysuperficial9874 This triggered bozo posted 11 replies to this video in the middle of the night. Go tell your doctor the meds aren't working.

[@Durrutitv]

@@authenticallysuperficial9874 I was told that America was extremely socialist yet my boss is allowed to keep my labor value as profit and you don't have access to proper mental health care...what gives?

[@BKDBut]

@@Durrutitv what idiot told you America was super socialist? And what idiot believed them?

[@DeclanMBrennan]

When you have so much space, it always struck me as strange that you don't have a *freedom to roam* which an ancient right in a lot of Europe.

[@mind-of-neo]

Yes I find this strange as well. People can get in trouble for just standing somewhere

[@Mercwithamouth101]

Europeans have that because your land is limited and has constantly being divided up by landowners. In US the majority of land was owned by the government and parceled out. Because of this we have tons of national and state parks. And some states the majority of land is owned by the government and is considered public lands.

[@TheRandomhobo123]

The fact that we have so much space is exactly why we don’t have “freedom to roam”. If you have a ton of open public land to explore, there’s no reason to allow people to wander on private property where they could cause trouble

[@avinashreji60]

bs excuse@@TheRandomhobo123

[@MorbidEel]

When much of that land involves evicting it of its original inhabitants is that really so surprising? If there was freedom to roam it would mean those people could just return.

[@cptnraptor]

Man I wish I lived in a country free of car-centric infrastructure.

[@BKDBut]

Have you ever used trains in the US, and have you ever used trains in Europe?

[@thomaskalbfus2005]

So you want to live in a country with no roads? Try Greenland, it has very few roads, most people there get around by boats and airplanes!

[@thomaskalbfus2005]

@@BKDBut I am sure Europe is crisscrossed with railroad tracks, and their are spurs doing up everyone's driveways into their garages where people can park their family locomotive!

[@BKDBut]

@@thomaskalbfus2005 what? What was this supposed to mean?

[@thomaskalbfus2005]

@@BKDBut Greenland lacks roads so it is not very car centric.

[@ondreibazant-fabre2164]

I'm Mexican and the first thought that popped up while thinking of America was guns and rock & roll.

[@RubeusArchos]

I can see that

[@Warhead_235]

Nothing wrong with that. When I was in college I had friends who where from the UK and Australia. They tell me yes healthcare is free but not the best. You have long wait times if your sick. And the paid time off you have to be with the company for over a year to get it.

[@robertnewland8358]

I'm in the US, and KZbin decided my commercial for this was gonna be for a gun holster manufacturer.

[@elplaceholder]

As a chilean living in miami i agree, there are"gun shows" everywhere🤣🤣🤣😅😅😅😕😕😕☠️☠️☠️

[@BKDBut]

I'm American and the first thing I think of when I think of Mexico are police trucks with army turrets on the back and anti sexual assault cars at the front of the train

[@eduardosilveira6974]

As a Brazilian, I grew up with the idea that the US was heaven on Earth. When I was little I actually thought there were no poor people there. Lived in LA for 6 months before the pandemic and couldn’t wait the get the hell out of that place. Never seen the streets so full of homeless people, and Im from São Paulo. No public transport whatsoever, I had no access to the city. No one is able to afford a good place to live. They told me if an accident happened during a party or something I wasn’t supposed to call an ambulance because they’re ridiculously expansive. I found the city of dreams had no culture whatsoever. Just a bunch of tourist traps. Back in São Paulo I use the city so much more, public places, samba bars, SESC (witch is a sort of public “private” club), parks, USD 4.00 independent music concerts. You guys have a lot, and I mean A LOT, to learn about urbanism and the right of use of the city.

[@brandon4000]

Yeah. I have thought about this a lot as a Canadian (with family in the states). My son needed a massive operation because he was born with a genetic disorder, probably one of the most expensive procedures out there. The care he received was amazing and he is cured now. I, as a lower middle class artist did not have to go into crushing debt. For my American family, their whole idea is to get a very high paying job so they can afford health care and dreams of any sort (like being an artist musician etc...) are essentially bad. Now, let me be clear, I make pretty good money as an artist, but not nearly as much as I would if I was working in a trade (which I have done). Ultimately, I felt I have a skill, a talent a calling and why give that up on a life that is fulfilling just so I can work a job I hate to make money just in case I get sick. Essentially, after my sons operation, I realized that the collective good allows me this huge freedom. Beyond this, I benefited all my life from affordable college, arts grants etc... things that took me from poverty to being a member of the middle class. I still strive to make more money for all you Americans who might think I am a freeloader, but I also know I can take risks and not end up on the streets.

[@NelsonGuedes]

Sadly, healthcare in Canada is not universal. The government can deny you access to Healthcare if you are marginalized. It happened to my wife, and she is doing very poorly.

[@brandon4000]

@@NelsonGuedes marginalized how? What province are you in? Some provinces are moving towards a 2 tier system./ But I have never heard of citizens being turned away.

[@NelsonGuedes]

@brandon4000 BC. Both my wife and I are autistic, and I'm also an immigrant. And I'm not white, that might matter too.

[@NKO_lindo]

i can't belive they finally found out, i thought they would never

[@chrispychicken9614]

Well, we fucked around for long enough… finding out was inevitable.

[@Wulk]

One would assume that they'll figure it out after reporters started disappearing

[@le2382]

I know, right?

[@steven2183]

I thought for sure they'd have taken the hint when slavery was codified into law in the 'land of the free'....especially AFTER they had just fought a bloody civil war over it...

[@jackfoxx6351]

The cat is out of the bag.

[@ceic02120]

I love this channel. Ppl much more educated than myself systematically breaking down and explaining relevant, essential human topics in ways that i never can. i can point to friends and family and say "here is what i was trying to explain to you with my lack of vocabulary or uh, whats it called, reference".

[@mr.platypusgaming]

The US is that one neighbour. They laugh at you because they see you fixing your heating system from their window while sitting in a locked house that's burning ablaze. And when you try to point out that they're going to die he'll just exclaim: "YEAH BUT AT LEAST I'M NOT COLD!!!"

[@focofox37]

Did anyone else respond "f*ck yeah" when asked first thing to come to mind when you hear "America"

[@marieseaman7855]

Absolutely

[@mervinreyes3008]

yup also, how are they( the saved world) going to try and slander us this time not a bad video, even if I think it is a complex topic they just siped their toes into honestly I think most of humanity is free after all we all can just decide fuck it and go against the law we are freely in the system we chose

[@kennyle8640]

I joke with my boss that my retirement plan is to be incarcerated in a Norwegian prison. They have X-Box. X-BOX!!!

[@WisecrackEDU]

brb flying to Oslo to commit a crime

[@IamBrixTM]

Xbox?! :0

[@BajatheChickenMan]

There are video games in some prisons America, just depends how rich you were when you were incarcerated and what crime you committed. If you go to white collar resort prison you can play games and have leisure time.

[@yourgoddesssdivine]

What crime must one commitm 😮 asking for a friend 😧

[@doomdoot6731]

As someone from Germany (not scandinavia, but definitely closer to those countries than good ol' Murica), I just realised that whenever I thought "You're not really free though, just in theory, right?" I was constantly thinking of "this isn't positive freedom" without having the vocabulary. Thanks for teaching me the words to properly articulate what I was thinking. I think over here, we're definitely closer to the American idea of freedom (negative freedom), but more willing to "give up" that freedom to enable certain living standards that we all agreed upon should be a baseline (like health care not completely financially ruining you). Every time I think about positive freedom, I don't actually think about it as freedom. The only real example would be where someone is free to choose whatever they want to do in life due to a (somewhat) decent education standard. But that again feels more like personal freedom (lack of limitations) than societal freedom to me.

[@BKDBut]

I recently visited Berlin. At least the train stations I used there were no type of turnstiles. Just an honor system with the fear of if you got stopped you'd get a fine In American culture nobody would be paying. Not even the people commenting on this video. Train systems would lose hundreds of millions and couldn't exist

[@AndrewGeierMelons]

For me, freedom is distance, and social obligation is proximity. Admit it; you will sing when no one's listening, no matter how bad you are at singing. However, when someone's right inside your personal bubble, right up next to you, you're going to try to behave. I'm at a point in my life, where if someone's in my personal bubble, I direct my bad breath away from their nose. Last year I went camping 500 km away from civilization. I loved it. This year I went camping somewhere else and I had to share my space with some ravenous raccoons. I couldn't just leave my food out where I would've wanted, it had to be locked away or else the raccoons tried to get it. Also, the wolves were top dog and I didn't go out at certain hours. What is freedom? Being far away from people who force you to change your plans. If I wanna climb a mountain, I'm going to climb the mountain. If I hear a pack of wolves howling from the top of that mountain, I'm no longer climbing that mountain. Maybe next time I can climb the mountain, this time the sun set and the wolves came out

[@shaylenwayne9284]

Honestly being in America doesn't feel free when every single thing they makes life worth it has an unattainable price tag..

[@charleselindberg]

Michael, about the Hobbes-Russeau opposition on human nature and the development of the concepts of inequality and freedom in society, have you read the last book by David Graeber, "The Dawn of Everything"? It makes the case for the influence of Native Americans, Africans, Arabs and Chinese on the development of the so-called Enlightenment era, and the contradictions of the liberal concept of freedom. It would undoubtly make for a good Wisecrack episode.

[@WisecrackEDU]

Still need to read that book!

[@southend26]

Awesome book!

[@lVideoWatcherl]

I have that lying here, started months ago... need to get back to it.

[@darenblythe5169]

I really enjoyed "Bullsh*t Jobs". Great book. He left us way too soon.

[@Zerathil]

Michael´s steadily deteriorating filter is just *chef´s kiss*.

[@WisecrackEDU]

Going to be fun until it gets me fired. So let's enjoy the ride until then.

[@egyptwns89_26]

The truth is, we as a species are absolutely free, the only question is: "are the consequences worth the actions?". You have the freedom to walk away from someone who is offending you and face the consequences of that action. Society is the real prison in which we enslave ourselves and base our freedoms off of.

[@romanmanner]

America ‘freedom’ is mostly marketing.

[@sanngbarzenji1329]

Im from Denmark and here we adhere to certain social structures that makes us feel more free. Yes we have high tax, but also high earnings on average. We get paid sick leave, paid vacation and both universal Healthcare and education. All of this lets us have free time to spend with family friends or ourselves. It lifts the burden of having to do everything yourself. Besides i think we have robust worker unions that ensure our rights as workers are not infringed upon.

[@lintaobohan]

"Freedom’s possibility is not the ability to choose the good or the evil... The possibility is to be able." - Søren Kierkegaard

[@ACCPhil]

The US is quite libertarian (although the GOP are trying to crack down on that). And the definition of libertarian is someone who believes that oppression should be outsourced to the private sector

[@drkekyll]

eh... that's not really fair to the political philosophy. that's just how it expresses itself in the US because it's what our economic system allows.

[@ashleighsparkle8810]

Lol. That says a lot about political systems.

[@burtlewand5915]

​@@drkekyll So how is what you say different from what communists say? "Real communism has never existed!" Right, because it works on paper not real life. Same is true of libertarianism. Otherwise, it's also the philosophy that empowered China. You know, not telling rich people where and when they could spend their money... so they sold out our country.

[@drkekyll]

@@burtlewand5915 i didn't say "real libertarianism doesn't or never existed." that's something you apparently get excited to argue about, but what i actually said was that that's not fair to the political philosophy because it merely expresses itself that way in the US and speculated on the limitations of what our economic system allows for its expression. because some people with a label don't necessarily represent every person with the label. or are all [your choice of subdivision] people the same?

[@linuxman7777]

The US has civil rights laws, and strict zoning laws, things most libertarians don't like at all

[@danielsandrade]

One of the best examples of Freedom is a Brazilian short movie called "Ilha das flores"(Island of Flowers). It helps you put Freedom in context.

[@steelerfaninperu]

I moved to Peru from the US, and I am absolutely freer here. Free from rules, because they are mostly optional, and free to pursue my interests because the system isn't so oppressive. I'm halfway to owning my home in my early 30s earning less than $40k a year, and I'm barely educated. I don't have many meaningful restrictions on my activity or extreme taxes either. I'm aware I live a privileged life here, but I'd have to make 3-4x that in the US to have even anything close, and I could still get shot

[@andrewmcquade9413]

That existential freedom is also scary when you’re standing somewhere real high up.

[@lifevest1]

Not to be cliché, but freedom is power, and we all know Stan Lee’s famous line. With freedom comes a lot of “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should” type of moments where you either infringe on other’s rights or it puts yourself in great danger.

[@h_3_x_]

Freedom is not power ur just putting that in there

[@CliffSedge-nu5fv]

​@@h_3_x_ But aren't those with more power more free?

[@theprinceofinadequatelighting]

It's weird, the last time I had a discussion about positive vs negative freedom, it was at an Olive Garden. I couldn't afford the thing on the menu I wanted to get but nobody could stop me eating _all_ the free bread.

[@alexwixom4599]

Olive Garden, where they have the FREEDOM of calling whatever they serve "Italian" food.

[@iotaayushshrivastava114]

"It's all about money, not freedom. You think you're free? Try going somewhere without money." - Bill Hicks

[@Mathias-bz2kr]

As an "Scandinavian Friend" from Denmark I definately like the danish system, that the society helps you as the state is viewed an extension of society. I do not like the american freedom viewpoint that everyone should fight for themselves, this not reality for anyone, except people who live alone in a lodge and hunt with spears. And the personal accountability is not really a thing, it does not make sense that you are legally allowed a freedom but cannot use it. Example freedom of speech in campaigns, but you need an astronomous budget which only the rich can muster. I personally find American type freedom better in some aspects copyright laws are better.

[@lynth]

As a Scandinavian you are sheltered from the reality of your system. All of your wealth is based on the enslavement and exploitation of the Global South. Particularly Norway is guilty of some of the worst crimes against humanity in human history. Its entire wealth is based on US imperialism and global environmental destruction. Note that you can't ever have a sustainable capitalist system. Capitalism is a zero sum game: If you make money using capitalist methods, it means someone else has less. There is no NATO country that isn't guilty, so Sweden and Finland joined the Club of Pure Evil, too. You are high on your own propaganda if you believe your country to be an example of "doing it right". There is a reason why American propagandists like to point at Scandinavia as an example of "socialism": Because Scandinavian capitalist systems are a total scam that will never work for the majority of countries and is literally just the US system on a smaller scale with Scandinavians relying on the US empire to do their dirty work.

[@ashleighsparkle8810]

That’s good you like your country. I like my country and we don’t have to be Europe. We aren’t Europe. We are the US and our culture is very different.

[@Serai3]

"In the bad old days it was 'freedom to'. Now you're being given 'freedom from'. Don't underrate it." -- Aunt Lydia, _The Handmaid's Tale_

[@Jimraynor45]

Well, let's try to get the meaning right. First, let's talk about what freedom isn't. Freedom is not free stuff. Freedom is not a utopia, or a vacation. Freedom is defined by the absence of obstacles, not the presence of luxury. In that regard, freedom can be very harsh. A rich kid who lives with his parents is well-off, but must obey his parents, but should he be kicked from his home, he will be free and all the harshness that entails. Freedom by itself not sufficient to make a nation or an individual rich. It is usually a good starting point, but at the end of the day, whether one becomes rich or not is dependent on their own actions.

[@osurpless]

Yep, Simone de Beauvoir has good stuff to that end: “All of us pass through the age of adolescence; not all of us take up its ethical demands. The fact of our initial dependency has moral implications, for it predisposes us to the temptations of bad faith, strategies by which we deny our existential freedom and our moral responsibility. It sets our desire in the direction of a nostalgia for those lost Halcyon days. Looking to return to the security of that metaphysically privileged time, some of us evade the responsibilities of freedom by choosing to remain children, that is, to submit to the authority of others.”

[@LuciTerra666]

Real freedom doesn't constantly start wars or kill you for being "poor".

[@12grain]

The concept of freedom in America being inextricably tied to property over anything else (barring what progress people have made like the civil rights acts or whatever hasn't been overturned by the supreme court) is wild. I'm American and lived in three states here but also lived in Europe for half a year for school and it was such a stark contrast. I didnt truly appreciate it until I was unemployed during COVID - everything I felt I had the freedom to do was based on whether I had a job or not because of things like healthcare (I went to the ER in Belgium and paid 35 Euros, I was genuinely scared when I lost my job here and couldn't pay for COBRA) and student debt, not to mention a complete absence of any public infrastructure when it came to responding to a crisis that would make our lives livable. I hope more is done to allow people to feel empowered to want to live the lives they want to on a federal or state level but it's really sad to think people can't live any other sort of life here besides one that is so focused on making as much money as possible so you can stop working at some point before you die

[@dwc1964]

The timing of this video is pretty good, considering it comes during the only-in-the-USA autumnal festival known as "Open Enrollment" - where workers lucky enough to have employer-provided medical insurance get to find out what medical insurance our employers have decided to provide in the coming year; whether the insurance plan we had last year will be replaced by a different one next year, and whether our current general & specialist physicians, pharmaceuticals and procedures will be "in-network" or whether we're going to have to go doctor-shopping again. This is so much better than having The Government cover everyone for everything through a single-payer plan (which, absent the perverse incentives of the profit-driven model, turns out to cost _way less_ to administer). Because everyone knows that Freedom is when The Government leaves you alone, and when The Government does stuff it means less Freedom. (Ronald Reagan told us so.) Freedom!

[@yuuka926]

KZbin should add community notes, 90% of this video is misinformation or lacking context.

[@mr.lumbergh]

I had truer freedom when I lived in Australia than I do here. If I lost my job, I didn’t have to worry about healthcare going with it. I was free worrying about mass shootings. I was free to think that my taxes went to the collective good rather than military contractors. And so on.

[@mervinreyes3008]

hahaha sad ass

[@Twewy13]

To me, as a Swede, it's crazy when Americans call themselves free when you have trespassing laws. Surely the most fundamental freedom must be the freedom to go where you please.

[@AJX-2]

In America, the most fundamental freedom was long the freedom to own and control your own land, a privilege reserved only for royalty and nobles in Europe.

[@Twewy13]

@@AJX-2 Not even royalty can ban you from entering their land. You may go where you will.

[@AJX-2]

@@Twewy13 That is a recent development. The nobility of Europe's ancien regime had absolute power over land.

[@Twewy13]

@@AJX-2 I do not believe the age of a freedom matters much to its importance. Every right was at some point new.

[@AJX-2]

@@Twewy13 True. America was the first country to be founded with a concept of "rights", other countries were inspired and imitated us, albeit with different sets of specific rights.

[@dang1099]

I sure as hell dont feel free...if this is freedom you can have it, im done.

[@confusingdot]

For those who don't know, Florida's new standards said “slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit”

[@BrianFace182]

I guessed Florida and was scrolling down the comments to see other people's guesses. I've never even BEEN to America. Florida is world famous for how weird it is

[@ron9543]

Great video. The concept of "hierarchical freedom" clarifies things a lot.

[@kirkmarshall2853]

I have KZbin videos playing in my car all the time. I just don’t watch the screen while I’m driving cuz I don’t wanna die that way.

[@WisecrackEDU]

we endorse this system.

[@madisons2117]

My step dad used to play DVDs in his truck with an aftermarket radio that had cd/DVD player and a deployable 5 inch screen. It was awesome to know that my life held less value than watching a DVD. Not to mention that the DVD was perfectly watchable at home, so It's not like it was a one or the other choice.

[@brandtcampbell3610]

Ok, real talk. I genuinely was “watching” this video while driving home from work (where I also “watch” KZbin on the clock). By that I mean I have playlists set up for videos that I know I can listen to more than watch, and can understand the thesis while only occasionally glancing at the screen. So I feel free to do what I wanna do as long as I also do what I gotta do, vis-à-vis playing KZbin videos while I work/drive. That’s what freedom means to me.

[@Ford_prefect_42]

I love the unhinged digressions 🤣 you're fantastic friend. And i have KZbin premium so i turn on KZbin and turn off my screen to listen while driving so you're good!

[@manzo6335]

I like Schopenhauer's dictum as a conversation starter around freedom: "A man can do what he wants, but not want what he wants."

[@torbjornlekberg7756]

Swede here. Yes, I feel quite free, and safe, in a decent balance. Unfortunately, not as much as I once did, however. The rot of Neoliberalism have slowly spread here too since Reinfelds government introduced it here in the early 2000's and it have affected both freedom and safety negatively.

[@ShatteredAutomaton]

As a Florida Man through and thorugh, i would like to say how truly bizzare it is to have a governor that sees one of the worst Fentanyl epidemics in the country and choose to go after children's online rights and trans rights.

[@flovv4580]

There is no freedom without financial freedom.

[@darkmatter6714]

There are two ways you can attain financial freedom: make enough money to be able to do whatever you want, or go live in the woods and live off the land. Both are equally valid.

[@alexbishel4164]

You ought to do a video on The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and War before Civilization by Lawrence Keeley. They both point out that academics exxaggerate Hobbes and Rousseau's positions far beyond what they would have argued for. And Dawn Of Everything talks about how the concept of freedom during the enlightenment probably took a bit of inspiration from Wendat philosophers and their critique of the French Monarchy and people's relationship to it. The books use a lot of the same evidence but seem to come to different conclusions about the state and it's relationship to how peaceful or free people are.

[@WisecrackEDU]

Good call - need to read these.

[@ockhamsblazer]

@@WisecrackEDUdo not read that book. that shit was garbage.

[@paullukis3315]

Outback Steak House: No Rules Just Right

[@WisecrackEDU]

Bloomin' Onion Baby

[@DeclanMBrennan]

Freedoms interact with one another. I like to think of freedoms as a set of inflated balloons in a box. If one balloon really matters to you, you can vote to add more air to it but then you have to take air out of some of the other balloons so they all still fit in box.

[@geoffsmith1479]

there's something poetic about thinking of all those freedoms being confined in a box.

[@truecatholic1]

Look up the book "The Idea of Freedom." It defines freedom under three main categories. (1) The natural freedom of self-determination. This is free will. (2) The circumstantial freedom of self-realization. This is the ability to do whatever you want to do. (3) The acquired freedom of self-perfection. This is the freedom to do what is good.

[@bkstandard882]

In Puerto Rico, i met an old white southern Vietnam veteran. He lives in Antigua and has been there for 30 years. He said US freedom isn't actual freedom and when he visited the Caribbean, his entire perspective changed

[@chrisdunker54]

It would be absolutely terrifying to live in a world of absolute freedom.

[@malbeth8700]

That's been portrayed many times, it's called the post-apocalypse. ;)

[@chrisdunker54]

@@malbeth8700 You got that right.

[@johnquiett1085]

I LISTEN to videos like this while I drive. As in, I start the video and put my phone down. The quotes put on screen are read 90%of the time so I get the just of everything.

[@nuke___8876]

Anyone that's traveled anywhere immediately realizes that there are like a billion other free countries out there. Depending on who you ask, they're even more free. Try explaining what loitering is to anyone not from the USA (or South Africa, apparently) and you'll just get puzzled looks about how just existing in a public place while doing nothing is illegal in a "free" country.

[@cassandrachristine]

so many people in murica are suffering. there's such a huge wealth (freedom) gap. it's really really heartbreaking.

[@luliby2309]

When I heard the word "America", the first thing that came to my mind was stuff like "Shithole" and "Dumpster Fire". I definitely did not think of "Freedom" (or "Hot Dogs" for that matter XD). Thinking about it a little bit further, the next words that come to my mind are ones like " Hateful", "Evil", "Incompetent", "Stupid", "Selfish", "Harmful", "Violent", "Low Standards", "Low Quality", and "Unrepentant".

[@luliby2309]

Oh yeah. Sociopathic works too!

[@coinsilver3]

Ironically, I believe Burger King embodies personal freedom with their slogan "You rule."

[@Ensgnblack]

Watching wisecrack over the last few years has been like watching radicalization happen in real time. And I am here for it.

[@Rodrigo_91]

" Capitalism has failed, fails and will fail in all societies in which it places its tentacles that are based on the expropriation and exploitation of mankind by the mankind." CARVALHO, João. (adapted)

[@redred222]

​@@Rodrigo_91communism will aways fail remember that too

[@andresbarriga5305]

Common sense is radical these days.

[@RankaZer0]

I miss the old wise crack they were far more honest and understanding

[@truecatholic1]

No person EVER has the freedom to do wrong. "Positive freedom" is a matter of POWER. It means that a person is entitled to some assistance to achieve some good.

[@htidtricky1295]

Positive and negative liberty should be balanced in a way that minimises maximum regret. Both individual and collective freedom have the worst outcomes at the extremes. Extreme individualism = All oxygen belongs to me. Extreme collectivism = Everyone not like me is an oxygen thief. Outcome is the same. For a single agent, positive and negative liberty also reflects your present self(-) versus your future self(+). Imagine you are trapped on a desert island with limited supplies. Your present self wants to eat now and your future self wants to wait until tomorrow. At the extremes your present self will eat everything too quickly and starve before being rescued. Conversely, your future self will push the limit of hunger and wait another day until you starve without consuming anything at all. Minimax regret, balance both. Tom Scott gave an amazing lecture - "There is No Algorithm for Truth - with Tom Scott". He discusses freedom of speech absolutism versus censorship and came to the same conclusion - the worst outcomes are at the extremes. Another great example is Daniel Kahneman's system 1(-) and system 2(+). Great video. See you on Wednesday.

[@drkekyll]

How do you control for my regret? It just strikes me as similar to trying to make people feel safe. Abolishing the second amendment will make some people feel safer and others less safe. Some of the people who think they would feel safer, in fact, would not because their fear is a bit more fundamental than a fear of guns it's actually a fear of others' freedom. And I think that fear is reasonable, but I don't think it's an worthwhile goal to allay that fear for people. I don't actually believe anyone has the right to *feel* safe (because it would necessarily privilege some people's feelings over others). Similarly, no one has the right to be free from regret and I don't think it's a worthwhile goal for a society to create objective rules around something so subjective.

[@electrotricity7203]

When I heard America, the first thing that came to my mind wasn't freedom or gas station hotdogs, it was overflowing stupidity.

[@BKDBut]

This is a special type of stupid comment

[@Argonnosi]

On October 6, 1919, the First Woman's Bank opened in Clarksville, Tennessee.

[@aaronhoy3410]

Ok, in 1862 California passed legislation that allowed women to bank under their own name, regardless of marital status. The point of that remark in the video was that it wasn't a right everywhere in the country until the time mentioned in the video.

[@BKDBut]

​@@aaronhoy3410No, the point of that segment was to lie to buffoons who'd eat that up The law passed was that they couldn't be discriminated against. Not that they could finally open them at all. Words are important, especially in law

[@Moonthroughtheglass]

I love the callbacks to other videos It's a huge network of philosophy knowledge

[@WisecrackEDU]

trying to build an interconnected Wisecrack Cinematic Universe

[@baburnit]

Time is freedom. Any system where generating “free” time for as many people as possible is not the policy goal, is not a society that values freedom.

[@rohitjohn6180]

My first thought after you said America was "f*ck yeah"

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

2:25 That song was great! Loved the movie and your videos on it!🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

16:13 Olivia spitting facts over here!

[@Jake-pi3yh]

She's the perfect model though... Fake and perfect exterior, completely empty inside. A walking store mannequin

[@Thing.of.nought]

American freedom has always been amusing. It has always seemed more like the greatest lie told in the last 300 years.

[@arthas640]

US has been backsliding lately but by almost every metric the US was one of the most free countries in the world until the last couple decades. Large parts of Europe didnt give women the right to vote until the 90s, gay marriage is still unrecognized in much of the world, and the US has always had a large economic divide but also remains one of the most upwardly mobile countries and one of the easiest to start a business in.

[@ГеоргиГеоргиев-с3г]

@@arthas640 how is that freedom to be evicted going out for you and your upward mobility, why do you need to be the richest person in the world when you could have a whole country of happy citizens instead. It's like a lottery one person gets the jackpot, 10 get a retirement amount, 1000 get 100$ and 100000 get to pay everyone involved yes it's really easy to be upwardly mobile you just need that 1/10000 hit, when with the same amount of money everyone can have 200$ due to more spending money for lottery tickets, circling the economy and no need for a tv host and production crew making them richer and more open for employment.

[@MrMezmerized]

@@arthas640 Wait what? The vast majority of European nations got women's suffrage before WW2. The last last three were Liechtenstein in 1984, Switzerland 1971, Monaco 1962. As for income mobility... the US ranks poorly, at least among advanced nations. Which is not surprising since the govt. doesn't invest all that much in education, you're more screwed in poor areas, and higher education is incredibly expensive. And for regular working folks there's shitty rights and wages, long hours and live to work ethics, which leave many millions little to no time and/or money to move up.

[@_AmirK_]

Freedom in america is NOT A LIE I'm not an American so I can see America's flaws and values from the outside, but it seems Americans lost the ability to understand complexity and are living in a misconception of post colonial shame. "America is not the best- but it's better"

[@CitizenPlane]

My cat was resting in my lap, and when you shouted "AMERICA!" she jumped so high.

[@NightRogue77]

Florida man guesses Florida