Bill Maher, Slavery Expert

Bill Maher talks about the issue of history being written from a presentist view and blames colonialism and slavery on people being “generally atrocious” back then. The Majority Report crew discusses how Maher tried to minimize America’s role in chattel slavery and compared it to tribal slavery. The MR crew also talks about how liberal intervention narratives existed then and Maher’s failure to understand the systemic economic systems in place that fueled such atrocious parts of history.
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Oh I see now wait a second I see that's weird okay so we started with presentism and now how many minutes are we in it's really about why are white people being subject to this isn't a story this isn't about let's be clear this is not about Bill Maher being upset about what's happening with the academic development of History. This is Bill Maher being upset that white people are being demonized this is literally the Candace Owen segment that we played last Thursday. She did that and said that colonialism actually was a net positive for the African continent. And here's why like: hey I mean that just an understanding of who he's speaking to there I mean what does this like he has it this is the funny thing about it he's done this whole segment so far and he hasn't said the actual premise. No and he is spent like 80 of the time on just like cultural references to his childhood well but no but look at where he's going I know slob white people even black people own slaves...

[@bengreen171]

the real problem is not blaming people in the past for not thinking like people in the present - it's that there are people in the present thinking like people from the past.

[@sebastiangarcia901]

Wtf 😂

[@bengreen171]

@@sebastiangarcia901 what don't you understand?

[@w0ccySluSh]

Did you know that some people back then thought slavery was wrong? Are we not to judge Hitler because he was in the past?

[@bengreen171]

@@w0ccySluSh Yes, I am aware of the abolitionist movement. And yes, I think we should judge people like Hitler, no matter what age he is from. Maybe my point wasn't clear. I am suggesting that there are people around today that are clinging to the ideas of the past - clinging to racist, misogynist, homophobic ideas that were accepted in the past, but which we now understand to be unacceptable. It's easy for me to excuse someone from the 1800's thinking that slavery is ok, because of the way people were taught and influenced by society at the time. But there is no excuse for anyone to support slavery today.

[@nova77791]

@@sebastiangarcia901 every nation had slaves. Americans use it as an excuse. Others dont thats the difference

[@AGHathaway]

False equivalency is Bill Maher's favorite fallacy.

[@milascave2]

The atrocities of Christopher Columbus were indeed condemned by people in his time. A Spanish priest who went on one of his voyages was disgusted by what he saw. He went back to Spain and publicized what was going on. He appealed to the royal couple to stop. It. It wasn't like EVERYBODY at the time was horrible and totally cool with atrocities when they saw them. And he was not the only one who went back to Spain during the Early periods of Spanish colonization who went back to Spain to plead for better treatment of the indigenous people.

[@loisjonesable]

Thank you!

[@richardellis8076]

Thats why they need to teach accurate history. Columbus was even sentenced to prison. Tells you how bad he was that racist colonizers decided he had gone too far.

[@chicagoeconomist1643]

He didn’t say everyone he said generally.

[@bethlevine1000]

I read about that priest too

[@strawberryfields1094]

​@chicagoeconomist1643 exactly. Columbus was AWFUL, even to those during that time. All of these people are saying EXACTLY what Maher is saying here, and they just don't realize it. By saying, "EVEN to those during his time" you are admitting that those during his time were generally awful/atrocious. "Columbus was awful, EVEN to those of his time. He fed live Native American infants to the dogs. He didn't have the decency to murder them first, which would have been standard practice at the time." That's the type of shit you will see people write while saying that Maher is wrong. Liberals... we can't tell an enemy from an imperfect friend. How about we stop eating our own?

[@billkinnunen2384]

Bill Maher knows just enough about history to think he knows something about history

[@daughterofbob-d5r]

Average rich guy behavior.

[@andrew_owens7680]

He knows as much about history as people who are erasing it pay him to know.

[@sol2701]

Name one thing that was wrong ?!?!? I’ll wait

[@billkinnunen2384]

@@sol2701 He has proclaimed that Hitler was elected for 30 years

[@Black_unity597]

For this reason I stopped watching anything with him even remotely involved! Him showing his inner racist is what turned a lot of us Black Americans against him!

[@akumakorgar]

The thing I always notice about these arguments people make about not judging the past, ie not judging slavers and slave masters and so on for the past, because it was just how things were - I notice nobody ever mentions how the slaves felt about it. Apparently their point of view is completely and utterly null. It's like the slaves themselves are just props, inanimate objects, in the narrative of their own enslavement.

[@rebeccathorpe3049]

I sure can't imagine any saying they benefited from slavery. And those who would say they did, well...

[@patriciajones9987]

Well said.

[@dorianvick8932]

bill maher is right. People have done horrible things in the past. For example, I used to watch his show.

[@AmericasWhitewashing-gf6kx]

Bill Maher is not right, stop minimizing other people's pain, he doesn't excuse things done in the Holocaust. He don't play those games, and black americans, shouldn't allow him to play those games with them. They should stand up to this coward that what he is a coward, come from behind that desk with those camera on and see how brave he pretends to be.pervert creep 🤨

[@oldsesalt8496]

I hate watch now.

[@debbiedoodiedandi]

🤣🤣🤣

[@sinsincere5748]

🎯

[@thetruthhurts5632]

Or comment to a reaction to his show.

[@ericblair54]

Maher is 66. One of the worst things about Maher's show(Realtime) are the various people planted in the audience in order to applaud every time Maher pauses. I'm 73 and as in many of my acquaintances Maher has turned into a self-righteous know it all and he equates growing older with wisdom. A grouchy, bitter(especially at the young) person who wants you to think he's the smartest person in the room. Pathetic.

[@edgarcayce2.02]

That is very well said. I've just fairly recently stopped watching him entirely. His audience is the worst audience anywhere _by far_ ...constantly feeling the need to interject themselves...laughing even when he's trying to be serious. Maher desperately craving the adulation. Narcissistic.

[@carlmarks8170]

Hell hath no fury like the progressive left scorned...

[@ericblair54]

??????????????

[@soulknife20]

@@carlmarks8170 I think you might be a fool

[@jcc777]

There are some things that should be innate. But obviously others have other ideas. But then there are examples where even Jesus was ok with slavery. Just don’t turn his dads house into a payday loan or tax collection site.

[@louissimmonds5509]

Yes, Bill Maher, committing atrocities is exactly like stealing s pack of gum.

[@msaldana8142]

Really? stealing a pk of gum is a cruel, violent, or shocking act?

[@rodkoehler]

Couldn't figure out the word for what Bill had become over the past few years--SMUG! Thank you.

[@philwill0123]

This. problem is he has become a"wisened" enough to believe having an opinion is fact enough. "I think, therefore it is" attitude has affected Rogen, Chapelle, Gervais, Russell Brand and Maher etc. Basically any comedian with a podcast (excluding Chapelle) or a social media presence has a " I have been criticized, I can't be wrong because millions still love me" viewpoint. Part ego stroking/ grift /denial and smugness

[@billyboy1093]

@@philwill0123 Looking at this old clip reminds me of the sick Florida Board of Education adding to their history curriculum that slavery taught slaves skills as a benefit to their lives.

[@jrwill58]

@@billyboy1093 Thats NOT what they did. You probably would know this if you really tried to find out. Liberals today will stop at nothing to achieve a ONE Party system.

[@anarchistpreacher]

A mashugana?

[@lindaflesch7303]

Is that what smacking his lips constantly means?

[@doepicshizzle6465]

Bill Maher is proof that money changes people for the worst.

[@ralphalf5897]

Facts make wittle boy sad? 😥

[@ferox965]

@@ralphalf5897 Trump lost 2020 fair and square.

[@MisterJackson-so9lo]

​@@ferox965no he didn't😅

[@daughterofbob-d5r]

@@ralphalf5897Don’t be too sad, witto one. The fact that Biwwy is a wight wingo is upsetting, but doesn’t weewy impact any of US.

[@daughterofbob-d5r]

@@MisterJackson-so9loRump is a 1-term LOSER on his own merit. Rump is a LOSER all the way all the time.

[@jediryan9454]

The USA was basically an apartheid state just 50+ years ago. And we are still suffering from that period today.

[@USandGlobal]

Considering the US has the most immigrants and foreign students every year despite being the hardest to obtain a visa and or citizenship yeah no we’re better 😂

[@Thebullshitdebunker]

Ahh, yes, 1972, the infamous apartheid America. Who could forget it?

[@jediryan9454]

@@Thebullshitdebunker Guess all those white only signs were just for show?

[@Thebullshitdebunker]

@@jediryan9454 Do you have any evidence that those signs were posted as late as '72? Or that it was widespread, and not just one crazy racist? I can believe you if you are talking about 42, 52, even 62, but 72?

[@cockoffgewgle4993]

Amen. The country has really gone to shit since segregation ended. Just like South Africa.

[@w.a.franklin4739]

They knew it was evil then-- they know it was evil now.

[@TragoudistrosMPH]

If it wasn't seen as evil, coercion wouldn't have been necessary... The revisionism is shocking...

[@zzz-nu2re]

Are natives evil?

[@w.a.franklin4739]

@@zzz-nu2re What natives? Or are you trying to invoke a tired @$$ argument? Be specific.

[@zzz-nu2re]

@@w.a.franklin4739 what whites? The majority of whites never had slaves, majority of the us states never had slavery. 'They' refers to the rich or blood thirsty, no matter who or what we are talking about

[@seanvales073]

​@@zzz-nu2re They smiling faces on lynching postcards say it was sure entertaining to them. Jim crow Sundown towns The most coddled preferred demographic of america has been the purveyors of mass deaths and destruction across the globe 🌍 Chattel enslavement of Black People in the north american hemisphere is exclusively thanks to white people.

[@livelongandtroll9108]

I remember Christopher Hitchens getting annoyed with Maher's audience bursting into laughter at anything vaguely sounding like a joke. Now, they go bananas for any pause between lines, it's bizarre.

[@Nezzeraj]

He didn't even say a joke! He was like "I stole some gum as a kid" and the audience was cracking up! It was painful to watch and listen to.

[@redrick8900]

Hitches was a stupid drunken fascist egomaniac. Of course he whined that the crowd wasn't with him.

[@livelongandtroll9108]

@@Nezzeraj Yeah, that's what I meant. They hear a pause and go "Must be the time laugh hysterically" 🤷‍♂

[@tkbikesnc6079]

Didn't he flip the audience the bird? We need Hitch bad nowadays. He'd eviscerate this Heritage Foundation dominated media.

[@shaymicah4194]

It's what a cult does

[@tinabaygboe6879]

As someone who enjoyed Bill Maher over the years it’s extremely disappointing to see where he’s at politically these days. His narrative is so cringe these days that I personally feel hoodwinked by him bc he’s moved so far right and just weird now smh.. Thank you MR for highlighting his BS! 😏😏😏😫😫😫

[@waldipup9010]

Ha ha the minute he strays from the Mandatory Liberal Mantra he's excommunicated - Shades of Joe Lieberman .

[@ferox965]

@@waldipup9010 Trump lost 2020 fair and square.

[@mjohnson1741]

Yes, I've always been a massive Bill Maher fan. Now, I don't even recognize him anymore.

[@Lyaso]

@@waldipup9010 None of the words you are using describe anything happening in reality. Try not to hyperbolize, troll.

[@stevencooke6451]

At first I used to think, well Bill and I do not always agree, but I have noticed that he is trying to carve out a place for himself where right-leaners who don't love Trump, can go. I have also realized that his examples and metaphors are just plain weird. Presentism can be discussed in relation to behavior that has gone out of fashion. For instance, saying "Ladies and Gentlemen" twenty years ago when most people did view the world as binary. It should not be used to justify slavery or genocide.

[@dopplar]

The thing about Columbus is that he was bad even for his time and was criticized for how cruel he was by other people who were not good people

[@brevnovak]

and? it was everywhere in the world. europeans brought more civility to the america. it's just fact.

[@mykoniichistorychannel]

@@brevnovakGenocide and slavery are civilised. What kind of horseshit is that?

[@brevnovak]

@@mykoniichistorychannel slavery was everywhere in the world. european did not start it. but they ended it. if it was not for them, it would be still across the world today. genocide was in the north america one of the cruelest ever before the european came. european at least let the tribe live when they surrendered. just read how indigenous tribes treated each other. it was just another (unthinkable) level of cruelty. btw, all african slaves in the usa were sold by other africans. in africa it was a constant clash of kingdoms and if you ended up as a slave, it means that your tribe lost the war and instead of killing you, you were sold as a slave, because it made more profit. more lucky slaves were sold to united slaves. the unlucky one were sold to arabs or turkish empire, where they were castrated (cock & balls) and serving till their death.

[@jenniferdavid8538]

​@@mykoniichistorychannelYou should read American Slavery As It Is. Testimonies Of 1000 Witnessed.

[@BoBo-yn4xf]

@@brevnovak like Genocide and Slavery, so cool bro.

[@jwats4952]

We are also talking about the legacies, residuals, continued hardships from these moments in time. To this day, the vast majority of Black slaves havent migrated far from the plantations that their families worked in. We had the 1st and 2nd great migration to the north, but that was only a handful, compared to the majority who couldn't afford to leave. Both frightening and unbelievable, but true. Many of these poverty-stricken cities that we hear about in the news have had few opportunities to recover, and it's due to unresolved hardships (and sentiments) from the antebellum era.

[@jrwill58]

Yes, too bad more of the Black community haven't made it to the lush milk and honey lands of Chicago,IL , New York City, or even San Francisco, California! There are Black Doctors, Lawyers, and CEO's all over this Country, even in the South. Im pretty sure we elected a Black POTUS...TWICE!

[@Iloveswedes]

And the whites of the day created these ghettos of which you speak, intentionally.

[@Black_Caucus]

For what it's worth, Kyle Kulinski of Secular Talk went to a Bill Maher show when Krystal was on a couple months ago. He took some backstage, behind the scenes footage, and before the show started there was some guy on stage pretty much telling the audience to be extremely generous with their laughter. He didn't straight up say "PLEASE CLAP"- but he pretty much told everybody that 'if you think the joke is funny, you know, let out a bit of laughter". Which is just a nice, bit less cringe way of saying "PLEASE CLAP.

[@robi6317]

@Nicholas Time except it didnt used to be on this show, and it was a diff audience every week, not the same exact people it is now. the laughter is minimal while the general NOISE is loudest

[@KingJT80]

@@robi6317 basically a living laugh track...

[@rickharrison6862]

That's pretty standard for talk shows with audiences

[@isaacrodriguez26]

Source "trust me bro"

[@ObsidianLife]

Some of this is definitely priming the pump, and applause lights or signs have existed in television shows easily since the 50s, but I’d like to think that it’s because Maher sucks

[@KevinGloverpost24]

Bill Maher is what Malcolm X warned us about

[@msaldana8142]

Malcolm X. you might want to look in the mirror there lies the problem.

[@KevinGloverpost24]

@@msaldana8142 please clarify I am not following you

[@pataplan]

Maher: "It's true, Conservatives often distort history too...but I'm only going to criticize liberals for some reason."

[@sinsincere5748]

That's all he does while Republikkkans destroy America. I think he wants Republikkkans to destroy America

[@msandrearobinson]

Exactly.

[@MrJeffRomm]

@Jacob Osborn Maher took a shot a conservatives twice in 5 minutes? No freakin’ way, dude! So, explain how MR’s reaction to what he said in this segment is ‘reaching hard”?

[@Thebullshitdebunker]

For some reason? What political side overwhelmingly has a grip on academia? I'm sorry, I forgot about all of those MAGA republican college professors that came out of the ground last night. My bad.

[@ivandafoe5451]

He's making the argument FOR distorting it and is criticizing "liberals" for NOT distorting it to suit the "conservatives".

[@tragicallymalicious1]

For folks who have never been to a live taping, before the show they have audience directors who ask the audience to laugh on cue. They then flash lights to let you know when they want you to laugh

[@ZiggyStardust49]

That makes sense, the audience laughing every time he opened his mouth sounded so fake.

[@leewohlfert5462]

Think most of us are aware a fluffer comes out to ask audience to laugh, but Maher’s audience goes beyond. No intelligent audience member would whoop and holler like this crowd does. And Maher craves it!!

[@louiswhite4909]

I have gone to tapings in the past. The whooping and hollering are his writers and producers laughing at their own jokes. You can easily observe who wrote what by their antics.

[@TayTayMakesBeats]

People who jump to excuse Columbus's actions with "it was a different time" seem eager to forget that even at the time Columbus was heavily reprimanded for the genocide and many other atrocities he committed. Even for the time, even compared to many other colonists he was a monster.

[@sebastiangarcia901]

How was he a monster, I wanna hear it

[@candacen7779]

@@sebastiangarcia901 Google is your friend. So is the library.

[@pmntl.f]

@@candacen7779he’s probably Spanish. The Spanish education system doesn’t teach them what they did was horrendous.

[@wolfstar675]

Kyle Kulinski did a BTS video when Krystal Ball was a guest on Maher's show and he showed how they're training the audience before the show when to laugh. They tell them the jokes beforehand and when the show is being taped they pull out "LAUGH" and "APLAUSSE" signs.

[@christopherstathis4419]

Not sure why that's considered shocking,since all talkshows in that format do that.

[@Titurel]

Superman doesn't really fly either.

[@Disaletteritis]

All sitcoms are like that...most tv is too...have you been living in a bubble?

[@Disaletteritis]

@@Titurel he's invented gunpowder! Holy Hannah Batman!

[@GeteMachine]

I could tell because Bill Mahar isnt funny, but he has very think skin about his jokes that he needs laughs predetermines for his own insecurities. The champions of offending people they claim they are.

[@joelhenry5489]

He's been in narcissistic rage since he was forced to apologise to Ice Cube for using a racial slur.

[@michaelwilliams369]

I was thinking the exact same thing.

[@leewilcox5848]

Ironically now Ice Cube would probably not have a problem with it.

[@dontaylor7315]

"Old man get off my lawn" lol... There is no excuse for Bill Maher. He's about a decade younger than I am and if I'd turned out like him I hope someone would have shipped me off to a nursing home

[@iceman24life]

He's using Candace's "both side" argument. Bill is truly becoming a conservative libertarian.

[@yasseford]

In Maher's prime, circa mid-90s, he and his devotees considered him to be an exemplary liberal because: 1. He slept with black women. 2. He only used the N-word for comedic effect. I wish I were exaggerating.

[@GeteMachine]

Thats usually what happens to liberals.

[@KingJT80]

@@GeteMachine neoliberals. turning into ol ronny raygun...

[@arnabiarnab3037]

Everyone is chasing those conservative ratings….. for a party that love to say they are always working…they sure watch a lot of TV

[@Newmericaindustries]

No he’s not, you’re straw-manning his argument.

[@nedsantos1415]

1. Bill has changed so much over the past few years. I stopped watching him a couple of years ago. 2. The idea of selling humans and mistreating/kixxxxling them was already abhorrent before the Civil War and the founding of this nation. It was just that voice against slavery was stifled. It is NOT presentistic to criticize those who engaged in and supported the abomination called slavery in the past.

[@Virjunior01]

Not to mention, they even called it a "necessary evil."

[@KikomochiMendoza]

I used to listen to Bill back pre Trump era when I was at that stage in my life questioning my religion. I don't remember him being this reactionary when he was all about skepticism. But lately he seems to be more focused with Homophobia and Libs Bashing that he is sounding more and more reactionary. What the fk happened? Skepticism doesn't pay the bills like it used to so now Bill panders to Conservatives?

[@nedsantos1415]

@@KikomochiMendoza What you say represents partially how I feel about him as well. Also, he seems to have been in the elite chamber for too long....so long that he seems to be less empathetic and compassionate toward the less fortunate than he used to be. That's why he whines so much lately.

[@johnmill4258]

all your premises, are false --

[@Lyaso]

@@johnmill4258 Weird troll, but okay. Prove it.

[@DuoXCity]

I find it interesting how people always do that with Columbus. He was tried and charged as a criminal IN HIS TIME. There's has to be a better example of what they're trying to talk about lol.

[@Virjunior01]

But Italian Americans wouldn't have a positive role model, as it would seem by the outcry over removing Columbus statues 🤣

[@godfather71190]

​@@Virjunior01 there is a lot of Italians that hate Columbus as well.

[@rosecotter-lyford2327]

Omg! People around Columbus’s time were part of the renaissance! There were painters, artists, scholars, thinkers, progressives, it’s what led to Enlightenment Era. It got us out of the Dark Ages (where Bill came from). I saw a podcast with him and some random, inconsequential nobody talking about public schools. The dude is telling Bill (who is enamored with his “story” that he took his son to a public school somewhere ? And he was “horrified” to see that his school required Girls to stand and boys to sit on the floor so girls would feel more “dominant or domineering” and couldn’t believe it. WTF? Where was Cornell Graduate (he always mentions), educated Bill Maher on this? He soaked it all in. The Dude he interviewed never, ever mentioned the NAME OF THE SCHOOL, the Type of school it was as in Private, Charter/Correspondence or Reg Public Education but I never wanted to hear another word out his BIG, WEED FILLED mouth or listen to another show which previously had some excellent guests that he NEVER LETS TALK b/c it’s all about him. I used to not mind some jabs at Dems , for being purity policing candidates (and I believe we do it so much, we miss out on good people) but he agreed with the guy and as a former Public HS educator forced to leave a profession, school, students and subjects I loved teaching because of Fuc*Turds like Maher, who have really help ensure the full privatization of schools is close and he’s helping it all collapse. We all know how much better for-profiting Gov has gone in this country and what a “success it’s been” while the 45 yr abuse on Educators & Students due to Reagan’s 43 year War On Public Education and Poor Children especially -family values kind a guy-has almost come to an end and those Minivan Talibans, Ku Klux Karens aka Moms for Liberty are making sure parents/students are so miserable, they’ll request Private, segregated schools and leave the poor a “separate but equal” education package.

[@Free2b56]

The very first episode of politically incorrect premiered on my 25th birthday and I've been a fan of Bill Maher ever since until recently. Over the years he said many things I disagreed with but he always said them in a spirit that I didn't feel like he was intentionally trying to do harm. Over the last couple years I've watched as he has changed drastically his positions on almost everything and started sounding like a selfish rich white heterosexual male who feels entitled and is convinced that his Fame and Fortune are deserved. I'm not saying people don't deserve success but I am saying there are plenty of people out there who are smarter and funnier than Bill Maher who are not rich so sometimes you have to accept circumstance does play a factor. Point being I have become convinced over the last couple years that he has always just said whatever he had to say to stay famous and to stay in the headlines. And over the last couple years being a lunatic gets you the headlines and that's what he's become an entitled whiny rich white heterosexual who thinks the rest of us owe him something.

[@charlesandrews2360]

He was popular back then because he was hip and edgy for the day. It may have taken longer for some of us but, we've evolved. Bill Maher is now the Andy Rooney of our times except he's not that lovable

[@jrwill58]

@@charlesandrews2360 Nope, you loved when he was a Liberal, and voted blue no matter who. Now he has become a wiser man and can see through the bullshit the biden administration is pushing on the American people! Its common sense really. Get some.

[@07Flash11MRC]

@@charlesandrews2360 "because he was hip and edgy for the day": He was a grifter even back then and many fell for it.

[@charlesandrews2360]

@@07Flash11MRC I watched a little bit, laughed a little. His smarmy, snarky delivery wore thin quickly. His celebrity was from using naughty words on TV that he called political incorrectness but it really wasn't that political from what I can remember. I thought it was more about "controversial" opinions on social issues like smoking weed is cool. He's just another stupid AF talk show like all of them are. The only one of those worth watching is John Oliver.

[@jameshannagan4256]

You sound awfully jealous and envious are you one of the modern professional victims.

[@WeWiLLRefuse]

Maher has literally become the human embodiment of the "Ok, Boomer" meme

[@elderlord5164]

💯

[@karankapoor2701]

Says a leftie 😂

[@undergroundman310]

@@elderlord5164 shouldn't your name be boomerlord?

[@oldsesalt8496]

Bill seems content to be an old rich guy crying about his rich guy problems. He has completely cut emotional ties to his humble beginnings.

[@phoebeflanders]

@Jacob Osborn He compares adult decisions from our past to his own decisions as a 10-year-old. So f***ing stupid.

[@roshango125ab]

Once the face of liberalism, now making actual Prager U arguments

[@CKO92]

I doubt even PragerU wants anything to do with him at this point.

[@redrick8900]

This is just how history works. Anyone with a history degree can tell you that. Watching you communications majors try to condescend about history doesn't make the history major look bad.

[@tneil.4292]

@@redrick8900 stop lying about being a history major

[@GeteMachine]

@@CKO92 I wouldnt be surprised if he ended up ther at one point.

[@moodycxnt]

@@redrick8900 humanities includes historical analysis. I'd bet you haven't even attended tertiary ed brother Rick.

[@curtisthomas2670]

Bill Maher: Bill O'Reilly with a laugh track

[@moodycxnt]

Maher's ego is insurmountable, apparently. The guy really just thinks he knows it all.

[@GeteMachine]

He's definitely a boomer tha hates the hippies, talking.

[@asymmetrical6479]

Agreed, I think he's absolutely insufferable, so glad I stopped watching him years ago.

[@chefboiardeeznutz9881]

@Nicholas Time no it isnt lol

[@teamamerica5987]

@Nicholas Time his argument is correct. COPE.

[@akumakorgar]

@Jacob Osborn Stupid post, this isn't a debate club. He doesn't have to address his "argument" if he doesn't want to. He's just commenting that Bill Maher is an egotistical asshole, which he is.

[@MugRuith]

Maher is butthurt that his audience stopped laughing at his punching down jokes. He would ridicule and attack his audience for not "getting it" and finding his every utterance, written by a team of sycophantic writers, to be the height of comedy. This is now his giant fuck you to liberals for calling him out. "Fine", says Maher. "You don't appreciate all I have done for you and taught you, I'll take my marbles to MAGA world where I'm appreciated". This is the politics of aggrievement where ego and feeling trump truth and empathy.

[@lauratomczak6797]

sad but true.. even his quality of guests are becoming fewer. My favorite was when he had Jenna Ellis the traitor on and she tore him a new one. He thought he could own her with his big brain and she was too much of a fast talking liar and made him look stupid on his own show. Now he just embarrasses himself weekly just by opening his mouth

[@ryri51]

@Jacob Osborn lol, is this a bill Maher sock account?

[@ivandafoe5451]

@Jacob Osborn It doesn't take a mind-reader to see what an insufferable sell-out Maher has become. If you want to be part of his laugh track, go right ahead...but the only jokes he makes are on YOU.

[@HandleThisSelection2]

​@jacobosborn8584I can tell what you're butthurt about, and it has a little bit to do with 11,780 votes😊

[@kadarabdullahi]

Well said Emma, Maher who claims to be Atheist only ever bashes Islam.

[@politicalnonpartisan4681]

I have heard him bash Christian’s a lot from the segments I have seen.

[@andrew_stamps]

This isn't true, I've been a long time watcher and while bill has been weird lately, he bashes Christian's way more often. He does think that Islam is worse, today radical Islamic fundamentalism is more dangerous than radical Christian fundamentalism. If we went back in history 600-700 years the inverse would be true, but these are the times we live in today. The abuses allowed by both of these ancient books is dangerous because people are willing to believe their words are true and fitting for modern life, cherry picking (a problem with both religions) allows people to use the books to justify many atrocious things. But in today's modern context and because of the current state of the regions of the world where Islam is practiced, and because of some language in the text, violence in the name of the Quran can be easier to justify and convince to more of its believers to take part in than that of westernized Christians or Muslims.

[@Thebullshitdebunker]

Good. Islam is worth criticizing.

[@TheScandoman]

The idea that Bill Maher knows what's going on in public schools is ridiculous as much as the idea that Ron DeSantis knows what's going on in public schools or Marjorie Taylor Greene knows what's going on in public schools or Lauren Boebert knows what's going on in public schools! Absolutely ridiculous!

[@msaldana8142]

How lucky are we to have someone like yourself and those who agree with you to point out who is wrong about public schools. My advice go see for yourself and get 1st hand information and then give your honest unbiased opinion. Thats what i thought.

[@TheScandoman]

@@msaldana8142 Maybe YOU should go back to school and learn how to read! I NEVER claimed to know what's going on in public schools! I haven't set foot in one for 15 months! Although, in the past 60 months, I have been in over 30! And yet, I am not/was not claiming any particular insight into the topic; unlike the 'talking heads' I refered to! Go learn how to read! Then learn how to think!

[@InnerMindCommunication]

Most of us get knowledge from reading what experts say and from critical thinking, not direct experience. Should we close all the ways we learn without direct experience?

[@TheScandoman]

@@msaldana8142 Are you talking to me or are you talking to Ron DeSantis and Marjorie Taylor Greene and Bobobert the clown from Colorado, cuz I'm not claiming to know everything that's going on in schools and recommending recommending radical policies like they are!

[@TheScandoman]

@@InnerMindCommunication No, I am not: I am saying it is impossible for the christo-fascists of the GOP to gain a true picture of it, because A. They don't want one; B. The people that provide them with policy templates don't want them to have one; C. They ate only provided with information that supports the policy agenda that they want by the exact same people; D. And that is how they ALL want it!

[@adr1annn129]

I thought a major point of analysing history is establishing how far backwards the past was was to learn from their mistakes

[@hitthegoat]

That and to not glorify the past’s atrocities

[@theinvisiblewoman5709]

You would be correct

[@brianbenoit6883]

Oh no....apparently MR has developed time reversal machines so that people in the past should learn from people in the present or more recent. It's why Emma has this fetish to blame the 5000 year old slave trade in Africa on the British Empire that only discovered Africa a little over 400 years ago.

[@mpagirobin3805]

I think that is the point he was emphasizing. I still haven't understood what the major report is talking about here. And they haven't said anything against anything he said in a way... Am i missing something??

[@Thebullshitdebunker]

What mistakes are there to learn in the United States on slavery in the United States? Who is advocating for a return to slavery in the United States?

[@MelkorPT]

I judge people by the morals of their time. There were plenty of people back then who were appalled by the stuff their countrymen were doing. Even during religious persecutions there were people who tried to protect the persecuted. If you asked them what they thought of the people who committed these atrocities they would be even more damning that we are.

[@DefenderOfLogic]

The Bible was used to justify enslaving people. It was a moral compass for those who enslaved people. According to conservatives America's morals are based on Judeo Christian Values which are derived from the Bible. Therefore the morals of Judeo Christian Values should be used to judge them.

[@elephantman2112]

Exactly, there was plenty of criticism of the system even at the time. It actually took a substantial amount of money, lobbying, and social engineering to get people to accept and rationalise something so obviously wrong.

[@Vorzilla]

Slavery was considered inhumane and barbaric in those time as well. In fact Lincoln had a set of debates with Douglas based on how slave economy was saw as inhumane and out of date with the rest of the worlds elites and rich

[@diallo1347]

Maher is acting like everyone (including the slaves I guess) approved of chattel slavery and no one disagreed. This is a way to absolve him of any responsibility for maintaining and defending the systems that evolved out of those past atrocities.

[@seandoyle296]

@@Vorzilla Thomas Jefferson wrote a passage condemning slavery as a blight the British had foisted upon the colonies. A blight that, if it remained, would prove to be a shadow of imperialism continuing to exist in the now "free" United States. And naturally the passage was thrown out because it would have upset the wealthy landowners and merchants, because god forbid America hold to its principles.

[@dominoep]

BillMaher: "You can't judge something by how it was perceived at the time." AlsoBillMaher: "...Being woke in 2022 is bad!" 😆 What a hypocrite!

[@donaldbeaudoin9022]

Emma's look of puzzlement, searching the database for references to 'sea monkeys,' is beyond priceless.

[@MissKashira]

So basically, owning slaves is just cringe, like your childhood celebrity crush...I can deal with some cringe, let me go get my chains. Also, what an insult to the Union soldiers who fought and died in the Civil War to suggest they were too immature to even grasp what they were dying for.

[@mayayamato7351]

bill maher is cringe

[@theinvisiblewoman5709]

@Slava Ukraine meanwhile the confederate soldiers knew they were fighting to keep slavery thus wanted to secede? Or was that the truth behind the leadership and the pawns that died was only told the Union wanted to upend their livelihood?

[@theinvisiblewoman5709]

@Slava Ukraine but then you missed the whole point. They wanted to preserve their livelihood which was the ownership of slaves. While the war itself wasn’t explicitly about slavery from the Union’s perspective (it was about preserving the union per constitution) it was about slavery from the Confederacy’s. This the war being fought to keep slavery. In which we can extend that there were at the time and before the war people who did not believe in slavery and were active against it despite the war aka abolitionist. I know these facts are inconvenient for you but reality is complicated. That is why oversimplifying it to “I ate dirt as kid” is nonsensical and Bill is too old to be boiling down concepts without nuisance.

[@theinvisiblewoman5709]

@Slava Ukraine lol what is the narrative exactly you think I stand behind? Please explain it to me? Also your the one who omitted parts of reverent history of that time period just like Bill and the other people who make that argument. I simply suggested we approach history with the context it deserves.

[@MrJamy610]

Most Union soldiers fought to preserve the Union not to end slavery! Read history not the the new woke revisionist one.

[@weirdgirlandproudofit9012]

One of the first things my Western Civilization 101 teacher said was, "History is to be looked at with a critical eye." That is so we don't repeat the mistakes of the past.

[@h8a1c3]

I wonder when Bill will drop his "I'm leaving the left" video.... 😆

[@rodkoehler]

Maybe he'll save it for when more people forget about him.

[@edwardshaw9743]

He's never really claimed to be from the left. He's Libertarian. He clashes with the right on religion and legislated morality. But he's very capitalist. It's his bread and butter. His show on ABC was "Politically Incorrect". I suspect he still resents losing it over his comments about the 9/11 hijackers.

[@naomimoore47]

We have the same problem in the UK. We can't deal with our past. Germany had to and now makes Nazi expressions illegal, remembers Kristallnacht (I happened to be in Berlin when this was on their news). We remember colonialism through rose tinted glasses and the US can't deal with the legacy of slavery. Sometimes we need to be ashamed, it lets us move on.

[@leonmckoy7632]

Slavery so cringe. Can’t believe we did that back then. UwU. - Bill Maher

[@siennz7127]

Right up there with raising sea monkeys smh

[@AhsanShere]

Bill Maher: that'd be like being mad at yourself when you were a dumb ten year old. Also Bill Maher in literally every rant he's gone on in the last ten years: the kids are dumb and wrong.

[@Hoganply]

Are they not?

[@manucr9183]

We let Joe Rogan and Bill Maher get away with too much.

[@mikehoncho2763]

Huh

[@TheEvolver311]

I mean they have a curated guest list which generates a curated audience based on preference for those individuals. I mean wtf are you talking about "we" did I miss the HBO public referendum vote regarding content on the platform?

[@jeffbell9391]

Joe is hard guy to figure out some people think joe is a republican and didn't he back Bernie sanders a few years ago.

[@FloyDJode]

Petition to treat Bill Marr how he wants to be treated: As chattel property

[@SpaceForceCommander]

Maher recently had a chat with Aaron Rodgers and he complained about being called conservative despite saying he left the left, and uses the same talking points as right-wing media these days.

[@shefchenko111]

Talking points? Or just common sense? Freedom of speech is nowadays considered right-wing ....

[@mjh277]

Maybe that should make you realise how far left the left has become

[@rdean150]

@@shefchenko111 They're dumb talking points, bad faith arguments, and intentional misrepresentations for a cheap laugh and to coddle his precious ego. The video shown here was a perfect example. The way he compared history to his childhood is a painfully stupid and insulting way to remember our ancestors. Sure, they had childhoods themselves. But that was before they grew into adults whose decisions steered the course of our society. There were MANY people who knew that slavery was wrong, even back then. That's why there was a whole war about it. It's why we stopped. Bill Maher simping for slave owners is NOT "common sense".

[@terrystevens3998]

@@shefchenko111 hahahahahaha.. that was a good one 😂😅 the right wing + freedom of speech are arch nemesis.. the right wing is firing librarians from schools that help kids get library cards to read the books they banned, they have patriotic lesson plans and have pulled don’t ask don’t tell back out of the closet and introduced it into schools, they want the gov to tell social media companies that they can’t ban transphobia from their own platforms. The right hates free speech!! You are as loony as Maher is.. when has the left called for the government to ban speech? Oh yeah they haven’t!!

[@shefchenko111]

@@rdean150 Freedom of speech is nowadays considered right-wing Let that sink in.

[@aereree]

It's interesting when people actually look into history and find out how slavery actually was.

[@oldsesalt8496]

Check out Brazil. The life expectancy of a slave once they got there was 7 years.

[@ayushisharma162]

Um I'm just surprised that people are willing to look past the fact that stealing and killing have been you know, not cool since civilisations. So even by the standards of the past people like Columbus were not "generally" atrocious. It's pretty simple. It doesn't require much thinking. It requires extra thinking to go out of your way to defend Columbus by ignoring the moral systems that governed even his times.

[@benvinar2876]

Like africans selling each other before we got there, and most ships were owned by ✡

[@LOLLYPOPPE]

A million or more white ppl were also slaves in Africa

[@ayushisharma162]

@@LOLLYPOPPE chattel slavery is different from indentured servitude. Don't act like they are the same shit. Just by positing this argument you are exposing where your intentions lie. Don't start with the slavery Olympics coz the whites ain't winning that shit. And they have tried to, really hard with this line of argument.

[@michaeldemarco1465]

As an historian and history professor myself, I can say with absolute certainty that Bill Maher doesn't understand what presentism actually is. At all.

[@shaymicah4194]

My good sir, presentism IS exactly how he described it. I wouldn't expect an Historian to be privy to the English vernacular.

[@ivandafoe5451]

@@shaymicah4194 From the Meriam-Webster Dictionary: presentism - noun pres·​ent·​ism ˈpre-zᵊn-ˌti-zəm : an attitude toward the past dominated by present-day attitudes and experiences The REAL argument here seems to be about whether it is a good thing or a bad thing. For those ONLY concerned with learning ABOUT the past, they argue that it is BAD because we must accept the people and events of the past solely on their own terms. This seems to be a narrow esoteric view of history that can only mythologize the past and stifle social progress. For those MOSTLY concerned with learning FROM the past, they argue that it is GOOD because the main point of studying the past is to learn from our collective mistakes by contrasting past and present values. This seems to be a much broader practical view of history as lessons that can guide us towards a more enlightened future.

[@fupi78]

Based on Bill Maher reasoning, everyone who in prison should be pardoned since they didn't know what they were doing in the past.😢

[@robertf976]

What do you expect from a rich elitist. Conservative or liberal they think the horrors of the elites are how the rest of us think and act.

[@Hi-jw7oq]

Like disney, apple, facebook? If your ideals align with them, youd be supportive of slavery 200 years ago.

[@MissKashira]

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." They knew.

[@44excalibur]

Yes, and that's why the US Constitution gave slavery a 20 year time limit before legislation could be passed to abolish it, which is why once the 20 year limit expired, Thomas Jefferson signed the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves of 1808, which prohibited slave ships from making port in the USA, effectively pulling the USA out of the Atlantic Slave Trade.

[@_Sakidora_]

Yes, they knew, but do you imagine it is an easy thing to abolish something when also trying to break from the rule of another nation and forge a new one? People also know it is horrible to eat animals but most people still do it. Imagine trying to force everyone to become vegan and you have some idea of the difficulty they faced dealing with an issue like slavery, especially when various state's economies depended on it to a large extent.

[@MissKashira]

@@_Sakidora_ Did you watch the video at all? He's said that humanity was "immature" for its age and didn't know any better. Like there haven't been people against slavery since 390 BC.

[@acfiv1421]

11 out of the 13 colonies wanted to express their rejection of slavery, and insert it into the Declaration of Independence. It was in Thomas Jefferson's draft of the Declaration in his own hand. However, as the Declaration was intended to be "The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America", everyone had to agree. Two states objected, so the entire clause was struck. Maher is correct about it being a different time. Revisionists on the left refuse to understand that the very concept of human rights was brand new in 1776, maybe only a few decades old, stemming from the Enlightenment philosophers of the early and mid 18th century. The concept of basic human rights simply did not exist before then, and the US was the first country to attempt to write them into the basic laws of a nation. Imperfectly, to be sure, but that's why you have amendments. The vision of the Founders was and is the finest vision of how a country should be run.

[@theofficialvernetheturtley338]

@@MissKashira Bro people these days don't know that killing babies is bad. People naturally inhale copium even when something is bad. It's a human constant.

[@elephantman2112]

Bartholomew de las Casas, a Spanish priest, spent much of his life fighting slavery in the New World. His views were influential, even at the time. He was born in 1484 and died more than 50 years before 1619. The fact Bill thinks criticism of slavery is something new shows he knows nothing about history. He also apparently didn't know that there was a stock market crash in 2020... Time to retire.

[@fighttheevilrobots3417]

I used to the present the writings of Bartholomew de Las Casas to my 8th grade Social Studies students as a primary source.

[@tneil.4292]

@@fighttheevilrobots3417 I would have loved to have been in your class when I was in the 8th grade.

[@Disaletteritis]

"oh but religion is evil and unnecessary!" Like all institutions, there are exceptions...

[@waldipup9010]

So how'd things work out for Barth? God bless him , but I think Maher was referring to slavery being accepted INSTITUTIONALLY on a (near) Universal basis throughout the past - not per "each , specific , person" - ie; I don't think the slaves liked it either! All this is about is "Joe Lieberman-ing" Maher for similarly failing to adhere to the Liberal Scripted Agenda . SUDDENLY! - "Oh , he's not funny anymore" 🙂

[@johndozier38]

I am surprised by his take on the past and knowing better.....the way people treated others then was horrendous and they knew that then....and now!! Stop it Bill. 🛑

[@Antropovich]

But what was the minority/majority divide on the issue of slavery? The treatment of slaves was criticized - true. But most people who criticized did not want to totally dissolve slavery ("a necessary evil") - they advocated for better treatment of slaves. And yes, then you had the minority in a minority who wanted to dissolve slavery completely.

[@1SaG]

"so coasting on old-man-shit" is what they should rename his show to.

[@ivandafoe5451]

Ahem...can we please just refer to this as "old fool shit"...we are not ALL like this pompous ass.

[@jebediahrage8273]

It wouldn't be "rich people propaganda" if they titled the show what it serves as.

[@libertas5552]

In 1416, the Republic of Ragusa (today Dubrovnik, Croatia) officially banned slavery; 75 people voted for the ban and just three were against it. The decision stated that “none of our nationals or foreigners, and everyone who considers [themselves] from Dubrovnik, can in any way or under any pretext to buy or sell slaves…or be a mediator in such trade.” Anyone who didn’t follow this law was fined and sentenced to half a year in the lower dungeons. It took a while for other countries to catch up - Britain didn’t ban slavery until 1833.

[@LadyAGlobal]

Thank you for this information!

[@keithkoganeislife3144]

Yes, but remember that was the exception, not the rule. Because most human civilizations practiced slavery in some form. While Britain didn’t ban slavery until 1833, Türkiye didn’t ban it until 1933, and Mauritania didn’t ban it until 1981. But something tells me you won’t hold them as accountable as Britain because they aren’t White.

[@joeruiz4010]

Those Croatians were Chattel Slaves to the Ottoman Empire. They banned Slavery after the Ottomans were driven out of the Region. The Croatians knew what it was like to be a Chattel Slave.

[@joeruiz4010]

​@LadyAGlobal It's because the Croatians were Chattel Slaves to Ottoman Turkey. They knew what Slavery was like from being subjected to the Institution.

[@moreofawave]

I haven't listened to Bill Maher in a LONG while...he's so glib and some of the stuff he says is ridiculous.

[@foofkanon]

Emma is an American treasure.

[@ONLYFACT_X]

❤❤❤❤❤

[@lau_dhondt]

The maher audience is a paid bunch of clappers and oohers, no doubt about it if you’ve seen the last season; their timing makes no sense otherwise, they just respond to mahers intonation, wether or not he’s joking

[@robi6317]

their overtly loud hooting (well at least one guy) is so obnoxious it cant be real

[@g.stephens263]

Maher stopped being funny years ago. Now he's just snarky, and my guess is that there are 'applause signs' throughout the studio.

[@Onthebrink5]

Sam seder has never been funny so it evens out.

[@g.stephens263]

@@Onthebrink5 ummm, what?!

[@Onthebrink5]

@@g.stephens263 Seder was a stand up comic. He failed at it.

[@g.stephens263]

@@Onthebrink5 So...what's your point? It's Maher is the the subject, nobody mentioned Seder. Sounds like you have a 'hard on' for Billy. LOL

[@Onthebrink5]

@@g.stephens263 What channel is this exactly????? You are the one that watches this channel for its terrible politics. I wonder if that is because of Seder. Weird that terrible comedians end up talking politics. Mahar included.

[@JohnZyski]

The slavers knew what they were doing was wrong. That is why they whipped the slaves. They did that becouse they needed to scare and force people to do what they wanted. There is no innocent, unknowledgable way to whip someone. The slaves said no, stop, please stop. They ran, they fought, they organized (sometimes). There were so many signs that that was wrong. There is no way to innocenntly, unknowledgable way to whip someone into submission. They know it is wrong, otherwise, they wouldn't whip them.

[@barbiquearea]

Though in their minds they probably didn't feel like they were hurting fellow human beings when they cruelly pressed slaves into hard labor and whipped them harshly. To a Southern plantation owner, to the slaves that work for them were no different from the horses in their stable. It was that mentality that allowed them to treat their slaves with such inhumanity.

[@WandaWojcik]

@@barbiquearea which means, in their hearts they KNEW it was wrong, they just desensitized and some were evil. God says: love God, first, then Neighbor, second. Ancient History, who don't know that? Man's inhumanity to man has and always will exist. Jesus showed as a New Way, but it was ignored by self-serving people who had NO heart to the cruelty. God will judge these wrongdoers and already has. That is my solace.

[@fuzzymcwazzy1293]

Idk why anyone acts surprised that a 70 something year old rich white dude is out of touch.

[@Zaimejs]

The people laughing at Mahr is really weird. I have been watching for years, and he gets really sad if people don't laugh, so I am pretty sure his handlers pack the audience with howlers who will laugh at everything he says just to make him feel better about his own smugness.

[@michaelcozzi9637]

Bill Maher is also abusing what historians mean by the concept of presentism. Historians are generally talking about presentism in the context of talking about historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln’s evolving views from that of just deporting freed slaves to Africa, and then evolving to accepting the need for a multiracial society. When people like Bill Maher argue about presentism, they use it to make excuses for terrible attitudes that people had rather than contextualizing as to why it was extraordinary for people to have progressive views in the same time period.

[@MarginalSC]

Maher stealing Candice Owen's Prager U video content.

[@hughgraham6587]

By Columbus' actions - Jamaica had genocide of the Tainos - now extinct. It cannot be justified in history or the present. Also, more than 300 years of slavery of black people kidnapped in Africa cannot be justified ever.

[@brentwalker3300]

John Meachim, an actual historian, is his guest and looks pretty uncomfortable at Maher's treatment of the topic.

[@buckeyewill2166]

Because like the late C Vann Woodward he knows the real history.

[@jebediahrage8273]

@@buckeyewill2166 The real history that Mahar and many right wingers want to censor.

[@stevemorales4098]

Around the time before Covid Bill Maher use to get mad at his audience for not laughing when he believed they were supposed to. It does sound like a laugh track almost sounds repetitive . . . unless his crowd is filled with Jim Breuer fans.

[@MugRuith]

Since he couldn't get better jokes he got a better audience. MAGA dolts.

[@lauratomczak6797]

I know exactly what u are talking about

[@zammmerjammer]

I remember he'd get mad at his audience if they went "oooh!" after he told a risqué joke. He always thought they were booing him. It was bizarre. He's a standup comedian and doesn't detect the difference between "oooh!" ("you're so naughty!") and "booo!" ("you're terrible!"). I'm not even sure how that's possible.

[@squishybuspr]

So when people watch a movie like Gladiator, I guess we’re supposed to be like “Caesar was aight. He just didn’t know any better. Slavery is cool as long as the fights are good I guess.”

[@brianmcsorley3229]

If slavery is so acceptable -- enslave "the Bills".

[@francoisbouvier7861]

What's the problem? There is absolutely no false equivalency between shop lifting a package of gum and whipping a human being to death.

[@redrick8900]

You don't know what slavery is. People are beaten to death in marriage more than slavery. You think Marriage is "whipping people to death?" Clownshoes.

[@Hi-jw7oq]

Who do you think makes your clothes and fabric nowadays?

[@francoisbouvier7861]

@Hi the system as a whole is messed up. Unfortunately walking around in a foot of snow with little to nothing on wouldn't be an option. Doesn't mean I have to agree with it. If the upper echelon wasn't pillaging there could be a more sustainable society.

[@Powerhaus88]

@Nicholas Time No, they didn't. Pick up a history book, kid.

[@charleswilliams4247]

@@Powerhaus88 Yes, they did, goober. There were both abolitionists _and_ "rebellious" slaves for a reason.

[@TheBayFoto]

Bill Maher is Jimmy Dore with a HBO contract

[@its_rick_james_bich2575]

I know! It’s great!! And Bill’s so deserving of it..One of the few reasons left to watch HBO👍🏽

[@penguinuprighter6231]

Good one

[@Piromysl359]

"How dares he to not agree with our cult?!"

[@markheyliger533]

That has to be a laugh track. I used to watch Real Time a couple years ago before he went full cringe and no one was cracking up in the audience that loudly for corny jokes

[@redrick8900]

It's a laugh show Brainiac.

[@chuckshingledecker2216]

I think they’re miking the crowd much heavier than a few years ago. The difference to me is noticeable as well.

[@markheyliger533]

@@redrick8900 so you’re saying those “jokes” were worth those laughs? Weirdo

[@maffman2001]

It is interesting how little diversity of opinion there is in the comments section of this channel. you should beware of being in an echo chamber. I found him mildly amusing at times. Its a shame you didnt actually listen to what he was trying to say.

[@ivandafoe5451]

Don't all of these shows have signs that light up telling the audience ..."APPLAUD!" and "LAUGH!"?

[@timothyepowell8388]

American slavery was nothing like slavery in other parts of the world. It was based on a new concept never before conceived. It was based on white racial supremacy emphasizing the so-called inferiority of anyone who was not white in comparison to their white skinned masters. Europeans created the racial concept to justify their superiority over all the other non-European peoples throughout the rest of the world. This was their main justification for engaging in a slave trade of hundreds of millions of Black people from Africa to other parts of the world to create free labor in their overseas colonies. White people did not consider themselves as being white until they began to subjugate and colonized the African continent in the 16th Century. Before that, Europeans thought of themselves according to their ethnicity groups. After the slave trade was in full swing they begin to think of themselves as being white and a people better than everyone else.

[@GanguroKonata]

Whom amongst us hasn't done the trail of tears? Why, every boy back in my day did it as a rite of passage!

[@alexandraw.4012]

Oh wow. I wish I could say I was surprised. Maher is absolutely despicable. So are the people keeping him on television. Sick, sad world.

[@brando7266]

Compared to greg gutless, maher is a god,

[@ivandafoe5451]

@@brando7266 Gutfield is a lame right-wing hack who doesn't pretend to be what he isn't...other than to think he's funny. Maher is a lame right-wing hack who does pretend to be what he isn't...because he is no longer a lefty and no longer funny.

[@ivandafoe5451]

@Jacob Osborn Maher has interesting guests on his show and constantly attempts to downplay their opinions with his lame "jokes". It's time for this gatekeeper to retire...his show isn't worth watching.

[@RalphJBater]

I actually had a KZbin recommendation for MATT WALSH that said "Bill Maher viewers also watch".... when the worst people become your audience, a decent person would be like....mmmm maybe I should evaluate what exactly I am saying..

[@cockoffgewgle4993]

When you’re arguing against objective historical fact with a weak ad hominem you should probably analyse your own biases and laughable ideology

[@Hi-jw7oq]

The worst people? Worst really? You do know there are places where its legal to rape right? Where there are child soldiers. You do know that there are places in the world where slavery is legal right? How are the people who support matt walsh the worst people? Hes never supported slavery? His stance is that we should teach everything about it. Also hes always trying to protect children from the evil things adults do.

[@RalphJBater]

@@Hi-jw7oq ...Matt Walsh is a transphobe who stokes fear in people like you to incite hate and violence to further his agenda of a theocracy...

[@monroetrotter1381]

He has always felt that having a Black girlfriend gives him license to utter this nonsense. Ice Cube taught him better, on Bill’s own show. It’s was classic.

[@tacticalgrace6456]

People knew just as well back then the difference between right and wrong. They just chose to go ignore it because who’s going to stop them? They knew they could get away with anything if there are enough like minded people and enough people that could justify or rationalise it. Europeans had already spent centuries before 1492!behaving in ways not in keeping with their espoused principles. Were they aware of their hypocrisy? Of course! Also, chattel slavery was their approach to one of the cornerstones of their colonialism, yes, obviously. I like to think of it as industrialised slavery, with a streamlined process, like a Proto-industrial revolution over 150 years before what was recognised as such.

[@jrwill58]

Sounds like those in DC today. Biden in particular, but most politicians in general.

[@Valyssi]

The abolition movement is as old, in fact older, than the transatlantic slave trade. Many countries actively avoided or limited participation in it due to public opposition to it. In the US as well, opposition to slavery and the slave trade was widespread throughout its entire history

[@Hoganply]

'opposition to slavery and the slave trade was widespread throughout its entire history'. I think you're overstating things a tad, professor.

[@ickisandoblina]

@@Hoganply Not so sure they are. Slaves owners were wealthy and politically powerful. A lot like corporations (now that they are "people") are now. It doesn't matter what the people want - we get thrown scraps for votes.

[@BlueDotEric]

I used to have huge respect for Bill. No more. I stopped watching him years ago ever since he used racial slurs on his show, and completely went off the rails.

[@jetsebutenpost]

Sorry Sam, I am with Bill Maher 100% here!

[@jpbm1873]

How and why has it become so controversial when someone is telling the truth?

[@earnthis1]

Bill Maher's crowd laughing uncontrollably about how slavery just happened in all sorts of times in history. Slavery is funny! Right, Bill?

[@Sloimer]

NOTHING IS FUNNY NOTHING IS FUNNY HITLER LAUGHED DO YOU LAUGH ???

[@tneil.4292]

People who have gone to his show, have admitted they welfare told when to ooh and clap. It's a common practice for shows with live audiences apparently.

[@robertsmith262]

Don’t give me that crap Billy. They knew it was wrong. Do you know why? Because they knew they wouldn’t want that to happen to them. It’s kind of the golden rule of life. SMH

[@miggans21012]

Whether Bill is right or not, his argument is better then yours.

[@tommiddlebrook1500]

My god, he is completely right wing now

[@Thebullshitdebunker]

Yeah, and? The left believes in wacko stuff, like permanent healthy organ removal for alleged mental dysphorias. You'd have to be crazy to not be right wing in America today.

[@seansteele6532]

A progressive view of history where civilizations progresses from one stage to another in a linear path is widely discredited among historians.

[@Vorzilla]

Name a historian and give an example

[@fighttheevilrobots3417]

@@Vorzilla David Graeber and David Wengrow's groundbreaking work "The Dawn of Everything". They research extensively about how collaboration has defined human advancement, despite competition through capitalism being incessantly cheered.

[@redrick8900]

@@fighttheevilrobots3417 So you couldn't come up with a serious historian that agrees with you. Those guys aren't even historians. You've got a couple of idiots, one an anthropologist, and one an archeologist. That book isn't even about history.

[@Vorzilla]

@@fighttheevilrobots3417 you do realize that statement means collaboration and advancement = progress

[@tneil.4292]

@@Vorzilla yes progress, but not on a linear scale and not preceding to a definitive point.

[@Vorzilla]

We all fooled ourselves about Maher bc his original opposition was our opposition. That show is basically a moderate right think piece.

[@maffman2001]

No, it is just your position has become so distorted and left wing that the ground has moved under him. He is effectively a centrist and heading towards the right. Not because he has changed but because you have been radicalised to the extreme left.

[@Vorzilla]

@@maffman2001 Maher use to be anti religion now he makes arguments that are anti separation of church and state. He also use to call himself leftist so your entire little emotional rant doesn't even coincide with his changing politics 😭😭😭😭😭 . Dude use to have Noam Chomsky on his show and now has people like Ben Shapiro 😭😭😭. Go sit your white racist azz down somewhere

[@ryri51]

@@maffman2001 lol, yeah, it's called progress. No one is entitled to keep being ignorant just because you dont like that society is evolving past your ignorance and bigotry.

[@ivandafoe5451]

@@maffman2001 No radicalizing going on with YOU apparently...you just go straight into the same old standard strawman right-wing response, rather than dealing with the subject.

[@maffman2001]

@@ivandafoe5451 correct. I am a centrist. Believe in a mix of politics and listen to what people have to say rather than ignoring or censoring them. Perhaps if you watched differing opinions from time to time you might realise that you are incorrect on a number of matters.

[@IAmNumber4000]

Good lord that laughing is so forced. Every time that loudest audience member starts laughing and clapping I imagine a trained seal

[@Indyawillis85]

I thought it was a laugh track too!! I was trippin until Sam said the same thing lmao.

[@andrewgrove1691]

The laugh track sounds terrible

[@chuckshingledecker2216]

As someone who used to watch his show there is definitely a MAJOR difference with the audience between then and now. It sounds like the audience is more heavily miked than 7 years ago. It also sounds like fewer people. Also, Maher has no understanding of world history at all.

[@redrick8900]

What he said here is perfectly correct. You don't understand history. Bill Maher is a history major. You are out of your depth.

[@kevindonahue2251]

@@redrick8900 Wow, a history major. Those are really rare.

[@tneil.4292]

@@redrick8900 nobody cares what you majored in the day after you graduate college. Maybe one day kid, you'll finally understand that "history major".

[@alexpetrie2327]

I always wonder how slavery-apologists think abolition came about. We didn't wake up one morning and decide that slavery was bad, there was a whole movement of activists, politicians, former slaves, etc, etc. who told slavers again and again for decades and centuries to stop. They KNEW it was wrong.

[@OH_MY_DOGGG]

He likes his martini shaken not stirred. By slave labor

[@brandonthompson4137]

I'm concerned he doesn't realize you can judge the History in context by its own ideas and principles, and by our own. It seems no one can figure this out. We can think two things at once.

[@Hi-jw7oq]

Who do you think makes your clothes and fabric today?

[@charleswilliams4247]

@@Hi-jw7oq That depends on where the clothes are bought.

[@Hi-jw7oq]

Slavery is evil and i am not condoning it. At the same time, China and India are major exporters of goods and services and they both have huge problems with slavery and mistreating people in general. The world at large outside of the certain countries is still rife with slavery. And i dont condone this at all but this issue is more complicated than we think.

[@TwoForFlinchin1]

@@Hi-jw7oq are you trying to be adversarial because it sounds like you're agreeing with OP and the video?

[@its_rick_james_bich2575]

@@charleswilliams4247 ​ So where do you buy your clothes? Or do you tailor make your own clothes when your not tapping away on your keyboard!! Or maybe your clothes are all Italian made..no probably not lol!

[@philipStClair-mm4jq]

Bill gets high during the show and the audience is so high that it can't help but to laugh at anything

[@markjaimes3218]

Hah that’s laughable 😅

[@adamlieberman628]

Arguing with a comedian makes you part of the comedy.