I Went From Foster Care to Yale. This Is What I Learned About ‘Luxury Beliefs.’ | NYT Opinion

In a 2017 Senate hearing, the Harvard sociologist Robert Putnam famously argued, “Rich kids and poor kids now grow up in separate Americas.” Rob Henderson knows this firsthand. His mother was addicted to drugs; he never knew his father. He grew up shuttling among foster homes, where he started drinking beer around age 5 and smoking marijuana at age 9. At age 17 he watched a drunk friend kick a dog off a cliff and knew he had to escape. He enlisted in the Air Force.
When Henderson got to Yale on the G.I. Bill, he was shocked by the differences between him and his classmates. As he explains in the video above, he learned it was popular for his classmates to hold strong, seemingly progressive views about many of the concerns that shaped his life - drugs, marriage, crime. But they were largely insulated from the consequences of their views. Henderson found that these ideas came to serve as status symbols for the privileged while they, ironically, kept the working class down. He came to call these ideas luxury beliefs.
Henderson went on to get his Ph.D. at Cambridge and wrote a book about his experiences, “Troubled: A Memoir of Family, Foster Care, and Social Class.” In the video, Henderson argues that these out-of-touch views are all around us, widening our class divide and fueling our fractious politics. And he envisions another way.
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[@kellyfeger]

I grew up poor and with two abusive drug and alcohol addicted parents. I don't mind when people with money want to defend the less fortunate. Better that they have empathy than not. My only problem is when they don't mean it. Like some who say they're liberal but hate homeless people.

[@tamarleahh.2150]

He's saying that they don't really mean it but they make it about themselves

[@AnObviousTrollWhoBaitedYou]

@@tamarleahh.2150which he provides no evidence for lmao Makes a claim but can’t even back it up.

[@jamesmitch9792]

stop doing huite people. we are sick of your stupidity.

[@jamesmitch9792]

don't do drugs, it's easy. latinos don't do drugs but you people keep doing it.

[@user-qo4kb4dr1i]

​@SaintThiccolas did you try watching the video?

[@LoloO42]

Interesting to note that the protestor at Yale were "arrested" by their own campus police. The New Haven police chief said publicly that they were too busy to bother with them. I've also seen Yalies pitching tents and sleeping on the town green in protest. Actual homeless people are not allowed that luxury.

[@ladyheatherly]

Feels like NYT devotes much of their front page and editorial content to luxury beliefs but only those that cater to the status quo.

[@Draxtor]

Mind blown! I never noticed that?

[@PaulPomplun]

100% but since the country is not moving more to BASE it is now using its BASED employees to shift MO and make money...

[@Blahcub]

Type all that but not a single example

[@dallassegno]

Remember blm before Patrice colors? Ha ha ha

[@jesseleeward2359]

Bingo

[@Flora_Pinky]

"Savior theater" Imma start using that 😂

[@marcus0800]

I can personally agree with 2 out of the 3 topics on the "how should they protest" section (although I'm wary of people that believe a protest is only valid when it meets certain criteria - that feels too much like refusing to engage with the actual problem being protested), but the "don't protest the consequences" thing is absurd. If you try to change something unjust about the world you live in and then face negative consequences for it, that is also part of the injustice. Or should we think that, say, arresting Mandela for fighting against racial segregation was something acceptable? Anyone demanding the end of apertheid would logically also demand his release.

[@ericlorenzen4795]

I think the point he was going for was to not get consequences just as an avenue to play the victim. Not stated clearly, but maybe don't do a thing just so you have something about yourself to victimize and distract from the core issue of the protest.

[@hjc7429]

​@@ericlorenzen4795 You mean Jews acting like they're being persecuted on college campuses?

[@allyjmjm]

@@ericlorenzen4795 One of the major demands of the protesters was for schools to stop the "Palestine exception" to free speech policies, so it's not really distracting from the goals.

[@vociferous5267]

Your world is slowly falling apart as you begin to realize the NYT is not a news channel, but instead a funnel of propaganda from the state department and intelligence agencies. They used to promote free thinking with initiatives. Now they give you the answer in an op ed

[@ErickRaymundo-u9d]

请持续关注被虐待的儿童们

[@ftgjt21]

If they care but have the wrong information, then give them the correct information (and support it with evidence & cite your sources). I glad that they care about someone other than themselves. That's usually the hardest thing to get people to do.

[@rashithadahanayaka1852]

I do agree with this statement, it is not easy to get people to care about issues beyond their personal economic or social problems that the everyday joe has to go through, a very few in society might die living for their ideals, like the many journalists that get killed in war to report the stories and suffering of peoples However, Correct information is most probably out there but because of confirmation bias or any other cognitive biases that are in humans, we do not give the information such authority... it is understandable where they are coming from and definitely the beliefs systems are much more enlightened than say 50 or a 100 years back but there is room for improvement...

[@Huge_Echman]

College students only deal in vibes, correct information is poison for the boogie man they create to virtue signal about. People that want to be educated are humble, they don't behave like these college students do, as self-righteous and condescending about the most heinous behavior. Play the clip of finkelstein, who they idolize or used to, telling students to stop shouting "from the river to the sea" and watch him get booed and be made fun of. Go to these protests and ask people there why they're protesting and try to get an answer deeper than isreal=bad and the memorized, often bad, talking points they got from twitter. If they were honest a vast majority of them would tell you that they don't really know what's going on but in their social circles protesting isreal means you're a good person. Perfect case study of modern tribalism.

[@IncognitoActivado]

Saying some things that are true here and there does not take away from how manipulative and deceitful this medium is, so no.

[@user-zu2jo7zz4d]

They don’t want the correct information. They want to be mad.

[@Jay-pd9kc]

Yeah because the people who threaten anyone who challenges their beliefs are certainly open to change. Have you seen any interviews of these protestors? Probably the least tolerant people

[@stevenwcherry]

This is an odd video for the New York times. I grew up in a broken home, with abuse, camping and living in women's shelters. I have a master's degree now. I've learned that defund the police was about de-escalation in police brutality and weapons Like tanks and more on social programs. Chances are if wealthy educated people are protesting on behalf of those without the means or time to do so, chances are there's a reason. I'm suprised anti- LGBTQ2+, anti choice/prolife or any anti- antifa protests aren't "luxury protests" with the new York times. I swear things have changed this last year

[@stevenwcherry]

@@dstuart2918 mine wasn't, my job is in high demand. Mine was in rehab medicine

[@hanaf1231]

Because of Gaza, maybe.

[@tapewormrage]

Foster care making me take my belongings in trash bags whenever I changed houses is something that stuck with me. I guess they just saw me as trash to be taken out.

[@zoeolsson5683]

But you were never trash. I am so sorry that happened to you. Hope you are doing ok now.

[@dcoughla681]

Remember this. You are important and deserving of love and care always.

[@CoCo-ny3zp]

Leaving a light on for you as you’re on your way home🤍

[@shles]

Hey can I have sources for the facts you claim in this video? Like the distribution of support of the decriminalisation

[@SkodaUFOInternational]

No. You not taking everything the rich guy with foster care background at face value is a luxury belief.

[@fangirldigital]

@@SkodaUFOInternational Brilliant observation.

[@Mujina888]

Nowadays when I see people fiercely virtue signaling on social media, I perceive them as feeling guilty about their privilege and using this behavior to cope with that guilt, rather than taking any meaningful action. I believe it would be more beneficial for these individuals to take a step back, self-reflect, and take direct action to improve themselves, instead of using others as a proxy to feel better.

[@elias.knotman]

Step back, get in lane, and be quiet. Perhaps that would be better.

[@yanikkunitsin1466]

It's not guilt, it's hoard behaviour and mindless teenage maximalism of people with too much time and money on their hands. Diffrence between this and civil rights protests of the 60s? Enormous condescension of the middle class, self-appointed champions of the oppressed.

[@SourDoughBill]

The irony in that "me" response is almost palpable. 😂

[@Kul-tegin]

It's the same in Germany. You'll often find that the loudest yelling progressives, their grandparents were Nazis.

[@susanfritzel4055]

TIL: Luxury Beliefs can be found in any Times editorial.

[@IncognitoActivado]

That's why is called bad propaganda.

[@Skillseboy1]

People protesting to project themselves as the good guys while not having the decency to clean up their mess is ridiculous.

[@QueenBobsta]

I come from Australia and I've noticed this is extremely common in the US, it's basically a religion for most people here. They don't really care about these issues, they just love the feeling of "being a good person". It's honestly disgusting and requires common sense and basic levels of rational to see it, Americans are just so reluctant to admit this for some reason.

[@vintce6019]

They also don't really care about the outcome of the thing they are protesting about. Like how they want migrants to be housed in shelters forever when it costs cities hundreds of millions to do so. Or like in the video, defund the police or decriminalize crime, which are more likely to negatively impact the vulnerable.

[@hanaf1231]

Hmmm. I guess all 300+ million Americans, of varying faiths and ethnicities, are just like each other. Guessing you’re in a bubble somewhere.

[@user-hs7ry4nx7l]

Most of these beliefs in the video are beneficial no matter who is saying them. Don't throw out the baby with the bath water.

[@mustbeaweful2504]

Here’s a cookie 🍪 I appreciate the spirit of, “champion the voice of the less privileged and most affected.” Because: duh. And I’m sorry some protesters aren’t getting that. But there is absolutely no time in history where the effectiveness of a controversial protest was matched with a feeling that the protester’s strategy was not upsetting. Even the MLK protests were heavily criticized at the time for inciting violence, which further controversialized his movement. And that it’s overlooked by saying it “wasn’t perfect,” downplays the intensity of that controversy; tiptoeing around the similarities that throws a wrench into his argument, making it an ahistorical read of the past that we can no longer learn from. I’m sorry your childhood sucked. There seems to be a misalignment between practical current solutions in terrible situations and theory for what to do when those practical solutions are less than affective for certain groups. All the more insulting when the theory turns into what seems like a fad by people with no such troubling history. Unfortunately, when desperation is all you got when the system doesn’t work to protect you, then you’ll latch onto anything trying to do right, because what alternatives do you have? Isn’t it also privilege to keep politically falling back to a system that doesn’t work for everyone because the system miraculously worked for you?

[@teresafrcc]

Drug use was decriminalized in Portugal in 2001 and yes, it did help people. The history of the fight for rights and popular mobilizations has never been without incidents, imperfections, contradictions and, often, violence. This oversimplified analysis caricatures those who protest or hold certain kinds of opinions as a bunch of spoiled, rich, woke people. It accuses a group of people of seeing the world in black and white but fails... by doing exactly that.

[@austin2640]

@@teresafrcc underrated comment

[@dustywaxhead]

It worked because programs there made drug users curb their usage and eventually quit. Imoortant caveat. Here in America there are no stringent programs that drug users are forced to partake in so they linger on the street until they die of an overdose. Big difference.

[@smartalek180]

@@austin2640 25 "likes" as of (at the moment I'm posting this, it sez) 4 hours is not bad. I see only 9 comments in the whole thread that have more "likes" as of this moment. We'll see how it shakes out long-term.

[@Astorflex]

Prove your Portugal statement with stats and a source 🤷🏻

[@Tamara-qd5dc]

The most significant component of Portugal success is a family/friends intervention. Portugal is way less individualistic than US. I wish we could apply their method, but our society is made of a different cloth.

[@Bl-ug8ek]

I mostly agree but here in Italy sometimes students had the right to point out an aggressive way of dealing with the protesters by the police. We are still figuring out who's the one to indict (few guilty 'cops' or the higher institutions) but the policemen involved had been protected from the law. Sometimes the same students would punch in the face other parties protesters though.

[@allyjmjm]

NYPD threw a Columbia student down a high flight of stairs and left him there injured

[@maxbergman8032]

this video frames these topics as a dichotomy, where one side has to hate the other side, or where by having these beliefs you are automatically assuming someone must be privileged. when that just isn’t true.

[@gilgamecha]

Yeah no you're not listening to what he said. You're just responding to what you expect him to say. Did you actually watch?

[@vociferous5267]

NYT is pure state dept and intl agencies propoganda. They done want you to think for yourself like the tv radio campaigns did in the 50’s+ They just want you to get your opinions from them To make you think like them instead of on your own.

[@CaptainFSU]

Yeah there are soooooooo many kids in Harvard living off food stamps it's really sad to see. All he was talking about was the inauthenticity of certain young and impressionable protesters, which unlike Civil Rights protesters, face zero long term consequences DUE TO THEIR PRIVILEGE.

[@sphiwemkhonza8895]

​@@gilgamecha exactly He did mention that not everyone who protests is priveleges

[@simontie7715]

I have zero idea how you could possibly arrive at this conclusion

[@italktoomuch6442]

From my own reading of the protests of the 60s: nah, nothing has changed. Ask your average anti-Vietnam protestor why they were there and they'd be just as confused. It has been massively romanticised as an era. Forrest Gump portrayed them pretty well. But despite everything, it didn't make them wrong.

[@whoisgtsdk]

"It's great that people with privilege care about injustice" they don't though, they care about the PERCEPTION of caring about injustice, which they use to try to jockey for social clout. I know you know this at heart because it is the inevitable implication of the point you made just after when they use the issues to highlight themselves, but it's so important a point that it deserves independent emphasis.

[@ilovecats8629]

NYT, you should run an op-Ed about why NYT Op-Ed’s are so bad

[@wakkablockablaw6025]

This one was super based.

[@lawrencespoo3965]

Found the privileged 19 year old

[@YoY664]

why, because they invade your safe space?

[@tada3399]

found the rioted PepeL

[@Snow-fb7oy]

I don't think a lot of people realize that some of those tents in the beginning of the video can go anywhere from $100 to $200 brand new. These protesters have no issue throwing away money.

[@cheesball96]

I agreed with some of what he said, however I feel like he felt that because he has suffered in life, he has the right or (privileged belief) to play the moral judge on the actions of others. Ironic.

[@sash1ell]

Its not ironic, he actually does.

[@daniel_anthony_k]

This is literally the exact moral argument Progressives have been using to justify everything they do. You completely lack any self awareness.

[@Pilot15555]

Yeah. You "feel like." Next question!

[@dcoughla681]

I can’t order your book from Amazon UK. The paperback won’t be released until February 27, 2025.

[@dcoughla681]

Got it on Kindle. Great!

[@bigworm3886]

Wow, would have never expected a video like this from NYTimes! I am blown away.

[@ShizukaRose]

In a good or bad way? This video is trash.

[@ASquidWithC4]

@@ShizukaRose Why is it trash?

[@mljh11]

@@ShizukaRose You're expressing a luxury belief.

[@sfdko3291]

They're Israeli run....

[@mogensgallardo3288]

​@@mljh11"Everyone who holds a different belief than me is bad, and I will make no attempt at understanding them."

[@jammRJ]

"Back in the day they knew how to . These kids today. " - every generation gets to hear this from the previous generation 😂. And every yiung person ignores this advice and we move onwards .

[@sek3ymisek3ymi]

You are funny . I am laughing at you

[@bobbyologun1517]

yup

[@user-mm5jr1xm8f]

There a few thjngs i cant get over although its understandable. To begin with, the imagery certainly paints this argument, but I'm very sure students on campus are educated on the topics. People fall into different camps in politics so it's unlikely they don't grasp these innate concepts. I mean, we all read the news. Their protests are relevant and historical in this case. Even so, it's very unlikely and unhuman for Yale students to seriously be so out of touch. (And in advanced, i know left wing extremism, such as not peaceful protest, disproportionately affects the marginalized they're at hand defending.) On from that, I can't get over the fact it's a heavy conservative stereotype young people not only don't know what they're talking about, but must prove their worthy to even say something. I'm not a victim and people love social media to project another self, but its a far overused narrative that's been used historically. I'd have to learn more past this oped to clarify what that actually means. In short, there's footage of a clean up crew, but not police in riot gear. In otherwords, you either don't have the privilege or the right so you get automatically silenced as being illegitimate. And to end off, no sociologist has a definitive answer to why college educated people are more left leaning than non college educated. It's a new historical distinction that hasn't happened in the large part of America history. And so, this video effectively participates in a current trend to loath polically liberal colleges. As a result, i see some major flaws in evidence and reasoning altogether. And so, although i found myself believing and absorbing in large part the most apparent notions, but I can't taken it all as truth. It seems politically charged, but coming from the correct place.

[@duo315]

word salad

[@scott7224]

Apologies in advance, as English is not my first language. I don't think you're quite right in some points. I do think college educated young adults are able to grasp such topic, and the topics should be discussed, but there's a trend within the protesters of making it about themselves, making themselves the heroes/freedom fighters/etc. To them, those who do not know or follow the belief of the protests are deem as horrible people, a big chunk of the movement is filled with narcissists. This ends up devolving the movement to just good and evil. Harming the movement more than it helps. The use of "privilege" in this context is not intended to shut down their argument but to highlight that they may not realize the harm they are causing to the movement due to having this privilege. I think his last points on how it should be protested would give a better image, first, to make the stories of victims the main point, and for it to be peaceful (A peaceful country doesn't require violence/crime to protest). The main point of a protest is for a message to be transmitted, so that it reaches the most amount of people, but it shouldn't turn the public against your cause like what behavior of some of the protesters will make. It's like oil protesters all over again

[@lukebent7317]

@@scott7224main problem I’m seeing with this video and the topic is there’s no statistical evidence. It’s taking select instances of people protesting that made it about themselves with the VAST majority of protests are about the victims. It’s just anecdotal evidence nothing that provides significant evidence. You could essentially make the exact opposite claim as this video saying most protests are about the victims and show those instances but there’s no evidence to show which one actually occurs more.

[@tornadre]

Students on campus are absolutely NOT educated on the topics

[@duo315]

@@lukebent7317 victims of what? hamas' supporters (the victims you're referring to?) celebrated in the streets all over the world after october 7th and continue to celebrate their "global intifada" every day.

[@stephaniefigz3739]

Looking back through history, it’s easy to see that there has been a contingent of privileged voices in so many important movements. The abolitionist movement was propelled in the public consciousness primarily by white activists. Using the fact that enslaved people themselves didn’t have the luxury of expressing themselves to discredit the movement for ending slavery would have been quite ludicrous & a convenient way to skirt actually engaging with the merits of the argument. Sometimes the only people with the time, money, and resources to take risks are people with some degree of remove and “luxury”-and thank god there are people with the compassion to rise to that challenge even when their own neck isn’t on the line. Pointing out this dynamic does nothing to address or invalidate the actual merits of the arguments being put forward by this advocacy.

[@er...]

Well said, I was searching for similar words but could not have said it so succinctly or eloquently.

[@SkodaUFOInternational]

but he was poor and is now from yale so this makes your argument quite invalid and luxurious!

[@connorthompson66]

I agree with what you say. I want to expand upon the discussion by adding the caveat that the definition of luxury beliefs Henderson cites necessitates that the belief would negatively affect the marginalized if implemented. If Henderson wants to claim that the current Pro-Palestinian protests are luxury beliefs, then he should prove that the demonstrations are harming Gazans.

[@ziiiim]

1:58 this is a weird argument and reasoning. Kids need married parents so we shouldn’t reject marriage? What if I never get married and don’t want to have kids? Can I reject marriage?

[@campfire87]

I was thinking the same thing. He makes it seem like not wanting to get married is the leading cause of single parenthood.

[@ziiiim]

@@campfire87 this guy totally wasted his education his reasoning is at the same level as some high school dropouts 😂

[@w.urlitzer1869]

I was very happy when my parents divorced, a period of abuse ended.

[@cileft011]

he says people should "believe in marriage" but if you force someone to marry for the sake of stability, that absolutely will not lead to a happy stable home

[@10secondsrule]

Obviously yes. Congratulations for arriving to this logical conclusion even when used in irony. Skip the latter and you are on the right path.

[@FishareFriendsNotFood972]

This video is a perfect example of how the New York Times is actually quietly socially conservative.

[@LD-vn3zu]

Didn’t the NYT omit Rob Henderson’s book from their bestseller list despite it being 4th in sales? I am surprised to see that they’re showing this vid on their channel at all. Maybe they’re finally realising the truth that their paper itself has been a prime purveyor of luxury beliefs.

[@GSNY]

More likely than not, the NYT is trying to introduce another POV instead of just reinforcing the same narrative in an echo chamber. You should want to hear a different POV - that is how people sharpen their critical thinking skills.

[@modalmixture]

Or maybe they just make an attempt to platform a variety of viewpoints? Which people then argue reveals them to be obviously biased one way or another. It's called an opinion piece for a reason.

[@FishareFriendsNotFood972]

@@modalmixture I have been a subscriber for decades and am socially liberal. They never publish some pieces advocating for my general social views, and I would know, because I would notice if they do. In general, media that is entrenched tends to skew conservative, because conservatives want to maintain the status quo, and legacy institutions benefit from that.

[@smartalek180]

Not "quiet" abt it at all.

[@kazimoazim8096]

We (Bangladeshi) students are currently peacefully protesting against quota,but Student League an organization of the government ambushed us.Nearly two hundred people were injured and many were killed in the attack. At this time we need you very much because the journalists of our country are on the side of the government.They have no news on this issue.They have not promoting about on this issue.Seeking freedom has now become a crime for us. #Save_Bangladeshi_students #ALjazerra #Bbcnews #CNN #TheWashingtonPost #TheNewYorkTimes #TheGuardian #BBC #AlJazeeraEnglish #TheWallStreetJournal #CNBC #DhruvRathee #UnitedNations #NewYorkTimesOpinion #ABCNews #NewYorkPost #ProjectNightfall #AbhiandNiyu #QuotaReformProtest #বাংলাদেশ_কোটা_আন্দোলন #কোটা_আন্দোলন_২০২৪ #no_more_quotha #protect_students #save_students #bangladesh_quotha_movement #focus_on_bangladesh

[@Frivolitility]

It's that thing where someone misrepresents ideas by pretending they exist without context. Defund the Police, for example, is always part of a set of policies that involves reallocating resources to other kinds of first responders and freeing up police resources, and curbing militaristic raids that are unnecessary and require expensive equipment and the wrong kind of training.

[@DallinPorter-ii4qk]

Except in some cities that simply cut a bunch of sworn staff positions in 2020 when there was a massive crime wave. In reality, it doesn’t matter how awesome your ideas are. It matters how they’re implemented.

[@Leathal]

“Yes, We Mean Literally Abolish the Police” - The New York Times June 12, 2020 110 IQ Midwits On NYTs YT: “uh Ackshually it’s a slogan representing a holistic approach that has failed everywhere it’s been tried except for a brief few years in Camden NJ and no I will not introspect on why that might be the case”

[@sek3ymisek3ymi]

Oh yeah great logic. Reallocated funds building things for children and then having no money to protect them from crime . Genius! What could go wrong

[@konami1979]

Yes, that was the theory on paper. But a lot of city council members and county supervisors saw "defunding" as simply laying off law enforcement officers and shrinking patrol units.

[@peace-or2cp]

@@DallinPorter-ii4qk Sworn staff positions? Where?

[@garrett9945]

We should evaluate the strength of an argument on logic and evidence, not the character of the person making the argument. What's at issue is the ethics of belief formation and the fact that most people in the US and elsewhere don't have good processes for forming beliefs. It becomes more problematic the more politically active people are, which privilege affords. The problem is not uniquely explained by privilege and much wider than he thinks. It's misleading to say only wealthy people are failing to form beliefs in an approriate and responcible way. It's also harmful because it's in the relm of scape-goating. It is imporant to be careful when we discuss the issue of belief formation to distinguish between what people believe and how they came to believe it. The fact that someone holds a belief for bad reasons is not evidence that the belief is wrong. If someone's beliefs can be explained by their wealth, that's no reason to reject them. Unfortunatly, the notion of 'luxury beliefs' does not help us be more careful about making that distinction. Rather, it stears us toward failing that mistake. The problem is not the beliefs but the process by which people forms their beliefs. If someone used a bad process, that is not a reason to reject the belief. 'Luxury beliefs' are alleged to be a problem because weath is a cause for people to have bad belief forming processes. The problem with the notion of 'luxury beliefs' is that 'luxury beliefs' are no less 'luxury beliefs' if someone came to hold them using a responsible thought process than an irresponsible one. Suppose Sandy realizes he used a bad process to come to hold a 'luxury belief'. He responds by using a good process to answer the question to which the original belief was the answer. As it turns out, he came to the same conclusion. He still holds the 'luxury belief'. The fact that he holds a 'luxury belief' does not depend on whether or not he used a good or bad process to come to hold it. But that's what the notion of a 'luxury belief' cannot afford to admit. It's important to realize that social causes underdetermine policy. He says that people don't see how the causes they support are actually harmful to the people they are supposed to help. The only way he can provide evidence that they are harmful is by looking at the effects of policies that are in line with the relevant activism. However, there are many ways that social activists can acheive their ends through policy. This is true even if their cause is support for a specific sort of policy. 'Luxury belief' is an unhelpful notion because it excludes the people who hold those beliefs from the political conversation. The notion begins with the assumption that those beliefs are wrong in order to explain why they are wrong. Of course, no one who holds a so-called 'luxury belief' believes that they are wrong, otherwise, it wouldn't be a belief of their's, so they can't even raise the question 'why am I wrong'. But democratic discourse must include everyone, so it is wrong to start the conversation by exluding groups of people. The worst part is that he is trying to shift the focus of a number of current debates onto the charater of his opponents, which is harmful for democratic discorse. The ad hominem fallacy explains why this does not work.

[@imaxdigital7052]

Well, to be fair, he's not arguing that their questionable character delegitimizes their arguments. His claim is that the causes these protestors fight for actually harm the marginalized people that have to live with the consequences of naive policy decisions. He then concludes, by way of presumption, that they must not actually care about marginalized people, given the fact the policies they fight for harm the marginalized. He then brings up privilege as a potential cause for this disconnect, or clouding of judegemt. His logic is sound, in my opinion, but he's also clearly biased. Like most takes from educated people, there's a likely a lot of truth to what he's saying, but also some amount of bias leading to exaggeration and in some cases, falsehoods. Overall, his ideas of "luxury beliefs" tend to hold water.

[@alicekins]

i feel like this piece is not taking the political stances it raises in good faith, nor does it properly represent the actual arguments surrounding these topics.

[@NoNameToYou]

Thank you. It most definitely is not.

[@sek3ymisek3ymi]

That’s because you have your head up your a$$ .

[@ogzombieblunt4626]

'I disagree with him therefore it is bad faith'

[@IncognitoActivado]

Totally true.

[@KvalHdura]

I don't think intellectual honesty is the strong suit of twitter-tier wokes.

[@FranticSloth420]

Asmongold literally drove these views up by 25x 😮😮😮

[@DavidJohnsonFromSeattle]

It is great watching NYT fans coping over this video in the comments

[@nel9954]

Can you please share your sources? The ones in the video point to the institutes, instead of the studies themselves.

[@mooseflower]

I have to imagine you could find them in his book, which is in the bio.

[@AnObviousTrollWhoBaitedYou]

He made the claims, he should cite where he got his data from (in the video.)

[@mooseflower]

@@AnObviousTrollWhoBaitedYouthat is a wildly unreasonable claim considering he wrote a book where you could verify his sources if scrutinizing them was important to you. This is KZbin, not a term paper.

[@AnObviousTrollWhoBaitedYou]

@@mooseflower it makes no difference whether he made a book on this or not. If you’re going to make a claim and expect people to believe you, you should be able to cite your sources. This is a rule on persuasion drilled in as early as high school lmao, and a man with a PHD writing for a professional journalism company couldn’t even do that.

[@mooseflower]

@@AnObviousTrollWhoBaitedYousure man.

[@desudesudesu5326]

"Kids these days."

[@robhaze8617]

Upper/middle class kids these days tbf

[@campfire87]

@@robhaze8617 What social class do you think he's in right now? And 64% of students who go to UCLA received need-based financial aid last academic year. 28% of the students received the Pell Grant which if you knew about financial aid means they're really poor by US standards and destitute by Californian standards.

[@wakkablockablaw6025]

Causing property damage, espousing far-left ideology, violent protest...yeah, you can say that again.

[@dcoughla681]

@@campfire87 That’s a debate for another time.

[@skulls-n-guns]

@@dcoughla681 Actually, it _isn't_ a debate for another time. The speaker in the video, Rob Henderson, implies that most people who hold "luxury beliefs" are "privileged". @robhaze8617 seems to agree. @campfire87 seems to disagree. Their debate is relevant to the topic at hand.

[@Ser-me9wi]

Yale graduate says people should wash their hands before eating

[@sagerogers1]

I’ve always thought about this virtue signaling; folks talk, yet in their inner lives, would never give anyone a leg up, even say hello

[@eriklapidus5868]

I think you make some great points but I disagree about the whole consequences issue. I think people should be able to protest peacefully without being arrested even if I disagree with everything they have to say.

[@laketwo]

Protesting peacefully is not the issue. The issue is protesting and then destroying property, keeping people from getting an education, costing the taxpayers money for police control, etc.

[@allyjmjm]

Yup, protesters in the 60s could camp out on their own campus lawn without arrest and suspension. Not true today.

[@hadeel9389]

@@laketwodo u understand these the universities are taking their tuition money and investing billions into Israel’s military ?? Which is actively killing thousands of innocent civilians? If that doesn’t move you if that doesn’t shake you, you have lost your humanity. If that doesn’t make you want to stand up and fight against that you have no right to sit here and talk about the ethics of destroying property. Human life is far more valuable than a building. And I’m saying this as a Palestinian, not as a luxury take.

[@allyjmjm]

@@laketwo All medium-to-large sized protests cost taxpayer money for police control, your argument makes no sense. Police costs increase whenever there is any large event.

[@ogzombieblunt4626]

Protesting is not peaceful when you restrict the movement of other citizens as was done at all of these protests.

[@karanrana7874]

I am astounded that the new york times posted this !

[@yunleung2631]

It's an opinion piece. It's awkward.

[@RatherCrunchyMuffin]

I'm sure conservative news outlets post contrary opinions too

[@flufftronable]

Same, in a good way.

[@allyjmjm]

@@RatherCrunchyMuffin Not nearly as often...

[@smartalek180]

Why? The NYTimes has been GOP/right-wing propaganda for at least 30 yrs now. They r Fox-lite, only less blatant, and w/better vocab & fewer hot blondes. Look at the paper, don't look at what biased pundits & pols SAY abt the paper. And look @ lst as closely at what they choose NOT to cover, as what they DO choose to cover, and how.

[@jono3175]

Drugs actually should be legal because it will help the drug problem by driving down the price of drugs it’s better to fix the real problem like mental health and wealth inequality

[@strawberrykun6136]

I hate their lack of commitment.

[@sona7444]

where are the citations? source for stats?

[@dr.carmichael530]

This should be the top comment

[@scoopityboop]

don’t worry it’s an opinion piece! no need to see concrete citations or statistics when we can just go off of general “kids these days” vibes am i right?

[@mooseflower]

Read his book. Title in bio.

[@campfire87]

@@mooseflower It says his book is a memoir... Not sure if it's where he's listing sources for this opinion piece.

[@elias.knotman]

ah the iron law of woke projection never ever fails.

[@Marcos-yd2iz]

This video has some interesting ideas, but nothing is substantiated or supported with evidence. Just because something it's an opinion doesn't mean you should just throw together a short video with blazing hot takes and not fill in the rest. I'm pretty disappointed with, especially coming from the NYT and a guy with this level of education. Could've just had an extra 5 minutes backing the claims, and I'm suspecting some of the claims are not so valid because why not mention it?

[@dcoughla681]

The sources are in his book or you could look them up. Otherwise this will be a long video.

[@definitelynotcole]

Agreed... including his strange statement on marriage. Married people tend to be better off, more successful, more intelligent, and safer. Not because marriage make them that way but because who wants to marry some one who is aggressive, foolish or unsuccessful. Its a selection bias not a solution. Providing evidence would have allowed him to have the nuanced takes he is demanding his opponents to have.

[@MetalGearyaTV]

@Marcos-yd2iz So you need to see a back up for claims like that 'defund the police' or 'heavy drugs are alright' are bad ideas? You're clearly a deluded leftist living in a bubble.

[@minazulkhan8287]

Aptly said Marcos

[@pmccord9]

A worthwhile insight but missing the point that manichean narratives dominate all political discourse. Where is a plan or paradigm to reinvigorate nuanced and fact based discourse. There isn't one because it's neither clickbait simple nor revenue generating tribalism.

[@IncognitoActivado]

The New York Times is full of lies.

[@myleft9397]

asmon sent me, good video

[@floydblandston108]

Remember when the NYT was THE go to source for factual, timely reportage on events? I'm battered by opinions all day long- I even have my own- I don't pay for them.

[@DSQueenie]

First things first if we are gonna play the “woe is me” Olympics I know a couple of orphans who will disagree with many of your opinions. Especially the “Defund the Police” one as it is people from over police neighbourhoods who are the most at risk of violence policing as well as violence in general. The protesters in the ‘60s didn’t “always” practice non violence, remember the Panthers? He’ll go back a hundred years to the Suffragettes and they were sending pipe bombs to politicians. Both civil rights and women’s suffrage are seen as just causes.

[@CaptainFSU]

The Panthers weren't made up of white trust fund babies, both the Panthers and the Suffragettes were made up of those who had been DIRECTLY persecuted solely because of how their DNA was assembled.

[@elias.knotman]

Narcissistic outrage has little to do with genuine activism.

[@Tamara-qd5dc]

And how killing the cops who were doing their jobs or public in the court room was helping the Panthers' cause and why do you think it was Panthers, not Dr. King who was able to secure the eventual victory, the Civil Rights Act? BTW, when Angela Davis, the hero of the Panthers, went to Czechoslovakia after she was released from jail, she was approached by the Czech dissidents who asked her if she would advocate for the jailed dissidents whose main crime was to want "socialism with a human face", she said that they were only jailed "if they were undermining the government." You can be a communist in a free country, but you cannot be free in a communist country - I know it very well, I lived in a communist country. Now, going back to the overpoliced neighborhoods, in 2020-2021 Oakland, CA, City Council voted to defund the police. The only representatives who voted AGAINST the measure were the ones from majority Black and Latino districts. The wealthy people had their gated communities.

[@sek3ymisek3ymi]

You don’t understand how uneducated you sound , do you ???

[@shivamgujjar3581]

Not everything is set in stone! You can be a difference to these things happening and XAI60T is the first major step

[@joshuamusicant]

KZbin decides the “educational” value of videos while generating advertisement revenue from news-related channels/videos about topics including, but not limited to, these "protests", and the atrocities in Ukraine, Gaza, and the United States.

[@gabrielaornelas8759]

Because privileged people coopt movements doesn’t automatically equate to the conclusion that defund the police or legalizing drugs movements for many black and brown people experiencing hyper-criminalization is not a legitimate worthy cause for those who actually experience its impact

[@gabrielaornelas8759]

My issue is that labeling these beliefs as “luxury beliefs” can further co-opt these movements tied with a ivory tower bow

[@gilgamecha]

That's true but it's a strawman here because it's not the claim he's making.

[@susanaltman5134]

But too many times those speaking for black and brown people don't talk to them - to find out what they think is best for their community. Example, most black and brown communities are dead set against "safe use" drug facilities being set up in their community. At least in NYC that is true.

[@acobster]

"I was poor and now I'm not anymore, and that makes me a social policy expert. If you disagree, check your privilege."

[@robrob8936]

unironically

[@trevorwilliams3501]

I guess you missed the PhD part.

[@acobster]

@@trevorwilliams3501 I think I missed the part where he critiques any of the beliefs driving these protests on their merits. "It's great that people care about injustice" ...unless you disagree with his take that Defund the Police is for babies and that we obviously don't need to take it seriously. Because only babies support that idea. Putting that PhD to good use there.

[@mystik.mermayde.aotearoa]

Brilliant thank you

[@lfeng15]

This video needs wayyyyy more explaining. Very little actual explanation of how these protesters are doing the wrong thing and harming people. Just a claim.

[@poik247]

You can’t understand everything in 5 minutes, if you don’t think this is good enough read his book!

[@NoNameToYou]

No.

[@MrCBroz]

"Radical calls for change aren't held by the communities most impacted" - She who fights to get through the day may not be at liberty to imagine systemic change. Yes, we should listen to the communities who would be most impacted by a proposed change, but this is a convenient escape from debating the issue of policing on it's merits

[@susanaltman5134]

But many don't agree with some liberal policies or protest tactics. (Example: in Minneapolis, street blockades set up by protestors made just getting about much harder and were not appreciated by people in the neighborhood) Does that even matter? If SJWS spent more time actually talking to the people, they claim to be sticking up for, they would be in a better position to advocate for them. To assume that what you want is what they want is ________. You fill in your own descriptor.

[@stephaniefigz3739]

Exactly! This has been true in so many movements. The abolitionist movement was propelled in the public consciousness primarily white activists. Using the fact that enslaved people themselves didn’t have the luxury of expressing themselves to discredit the movement for ending slavery would have been quite ludicrous & and convenient way to skirt actually engaging with the merits of the argument. Sometimes the only people who have the time and money and resources to take risks are people with some degree of remove and “luxury”-and thank god there are people with the compassion to rise to the challenge even when their neck isn’t on the line. People want to believe they would be the rare white person who supported the civil rights movement, but also feel comfortable belittling people for taking interests in causes from a place of privilege or disconnect-its a quick mental shortcut to help people feel comfortable that their own apathy is “normal” and anyone speaking to the contrary is clearly hysterical. And that is not to mention that casting protest movements as violent and hysterical in order to ignore their arguments is also nothing new. And it’s completely ridiculous to the use the civil rights movement as a counterpoint to this. Looking at the contemporaneous media coverage, these exact same criticisms were leveled no matter how peaceful organizers strived to be. It is only through the lens of history that this chapter of history has been refurbished as something we can all get behind. At the time, protesters were imperfect people with an important cause who were largely doing their best and sometimes falling short-and their critics were fiercely using every small misstep to discount and belittle the the entire movement. A real student of history can tell you just how much that wave of criticism had in common with videos like this.

[@rogerorio912]

This guy needs to be protected after posting this KZbin content 😂😂😂 I bet most people around him are in the categories he is exposing 😅

[@coltekr]

I don't think middle class people are "privileged" these days.

[@jamesmitch9792]

they are thought

[@sek3ymisek3ymi]

Compared to the poor ?

[@DigSamurai]

Compared to who?? if you have a job in North America you're in the top 1% in the world. How is THAT not privileged?!?

[@user-qo4kb4dr1i]

You don't think having more than other people is a privilege?

[@bigfloppa9594]

Probably because you are middle class lol

[@ahnana833]

I hope his mum is proud of him now. 😢

[@morgan3625]

Seems like no one actually watched the video

[@Tan92lfc]

british patriotic song

[@LightYearsAhead]

good video!!

[@wakkablockablaw6025]

WTF? Why is this so based?

[@DianaPray]

NYT Opinion reveals NYT's true colors.

[@meirm471]

It's NYT trying to hedge their bets. After turning the news pieces into opinion pieces and pretty much acting as Jihadi mouthpieces while cosplaying as real journalists. They probably understand that the far left communists will not buy any more subscriptions and everyone else pretty much understands that NYT is nothing but a leftist elitist brand which hires trust fund kids... So reading them is a waste of time for most people...

[@SheikhBadhon92]

#SaveBangladeshiStudents Please help us🇧🇩🇧🇩🙏

[@munounom8991]

Great video, I love the cries from the commenters that felt they got hit by this though. Keep crying narcissists.

[@IncognitoActivado]

Whatever you say, liberal.

[@flipsolo]

I seriously thought this was a Fox News or OAN production.

[@goldenvulture6818]

Care to elaborate?

[@toddallen7862]

Its says more about you than Fox or OAN. Get out of the wizards circle while you can. The magician sets the frame. All you need to do is step out of it.

[@NoNameToYou]

Yes. This is MAGA propaganda from the summer of 2020.

[@spht9ng]

@@NoNameToYou No it's just reasonable

[@shethewriter]

I don’t like the implication that we shouldn’t protest genocide. Not all the stances he criticizes here are equal. Talk about oversimplifying.

[@JginderNoni]

Those with XAI60T understand the key of having a chance to survive the next generations

[@ChrisWillx]

Les gohhhhh Rob

[@kennethuyabeme]

I understand the concept and there is a lot of truth to it but some arguments are reductive. The first one is this idea that modern protests is just performative virtual signaling of rich kids. If he wants to make that case maybe show some data on that because it's a dangerous conclusion. Many people protest, the defund the police movement was largely driven by everyday people of color who have very negative experience with law enforcement. Same with legalizing drug possession. These are things that different people believe, especially people whose lives have been affected by these issues. The second is the rosy belief that past movements have been non violent and nuanced. Truth is that's the dressed up narrative. It was messy (often times literally), people hated those protests as much as people hate these present day protests. It's difficult to have nuance in a protest, it's more about singular purpose so many things get lost along the way. Lastly it feels like these criticisms are saying it's bad to have empathy. Why can't people give voice to something they care about even if it has nothing to do with them or if its outcome won't affect them. People get involve because they want to help, no one comes in with the intent of "pushing the less privileged down".

[@DarkRoosterTHN]

''If he wants to make that case maybe show some data on that because it's a dangerous conclusion'' Then you go and have many dangerous conclusions without any data to back that up ''Only 18% of respondents supported the movement known as "defund the police," and 58% said they opposed it. Though white Americans (67%) and Republicans (84%) were much more likely to oppose the movement, only 28% of Black Americans and 34% of Democrats were in favor of it.'' Decriminalizing drugs also doesn't have wide support as you think it has. These movements are clearly not driven by every day people but rich kids. You give absolutely no care in the world how many people are suffering from violence or drug abuse.

[@vladimirvolkov187]

"ironically, kept the working class down" There is nothing ironic about it, this is the purpose.

[@neenaclevenger6176]

Excellent!

[@pafournier1]

"Yale graduate says war on drugs works."

[@susanaltman5134]

No, he didn't. He said that in neighborhoods with the worst drug problems they don't want decriminalization. They definitely don't want "safe" use facilities in their neighborhoods. In NYC they have put up vigorous protests against them, and I don't blame them.

[@jamesmitch9792]

@@susanaltman5134 don't do drugs white woman, it is very easy -from all the brown people in the third world.

[@sek3ymisek3ymi]

Uneducated misrepresentations in the comments. He said decriminalizing doesn’t work. Can u distinguish the difference or are you the exact problem????

[@rafaelfigueiredo5865]

Started watching and stopped on "decriminalize drug use". That's definitely not a luxury belief. I live in Portugal where we decriminalized drug use and carrying small quantities for consumption. Deaths sharply fell, consumption as well (this was in response to a heroin epidemic in the 90's) and way less people go to jail. So if your concerned with less privileged people let me tell you something: a rich kid will most likely get out of jail asap if found with drugs, a poor person? Not so much. So no, sir you are wrong.

[@spht9ng]

All the cities that decriminalized drugs in the US have done NOTHING like the rehab programs in Portugal. Even the old drug court programs have better outcomes.

[@logoutofmyaccountweirdo]

​@@spht9ngyeah because all they did was decriminalised drugs and hoped for the best, your cities are run by absolute brain dead geriatric old men, as they didnt invest in the insinuations that allows these drug addicts to come to them on their own by their terms as that is the only way it will work if people seek it themselves. The only thing we can do is make sure it is as easily accessible and that there isn't a stigma around it so people aren't ashamed to seek professional help. As y'all just implemented a law without acknowledging why it was successful in other nations.

[@liberalsocialist9723]

​@@spht9ngThan let's implement rehab drug programs in the US. As a progresive, I am in favor of implementing the successful policies that have worked in other countries.

[@IncognitoActivado]

True.

[@fratystuff6737]

There's more nuance that what the video portray. Its a short message but dismissing the whole thing just because you don't agree with one thing is crazy and honestly just a symptom of a radicalized individual. I also disagree with this point but I can see what he's saying. The problem is not substance use itself but the knowledge and education around it.

[@billybrant6818]

Very important video

[@MrAnonymousJack]

It's ironic how the term Luxury Belief fits its definition of a Luxury Belief 🤣 what a ridiculous paradoxical concept. It's also self-refuting and highly divisive when used in this "opinion" piece by an affluent educated individual. Not only did they fail to address any of the core reasons people were protesting, but they also failed to substantiate anything except by appealing to emotion by saying, "Aww gee, poor little orphan me wishes I had a stable mommy and daddy who didn't do drugs. It's a good thing that popo was around to help somehow." 😂 They literally say drugs are a problem and shouldn't be decriminalized while talking about how the laws in place did nothing to protect them anyway. I think my favorite part is when he says "Protesters try and force complex issues into good and bad people" while showing the "bad" as Genocide, like, sense when was that not a horrible thing? Ridiculous propaganda.

[@lephtovermeet]

Love the term Luxury Beliefs but a lot of this is gaslighting. Example: the ending - people didn't just litter and leave everything there, they were forced off campus without the opportunity to clean up. Many if not most drugs should be decriminalized, which doesn't mean legalized, although many should be legalized. Defund the police is a terrible slogan, but the idea is right - so many social problems can be solved with social workers, first responders, intervention, preventive care. It will take time but if we invested in that and education, rather than robot dogs, military vehicles and weapons, us-vs-them training etc. our society would be better. Police and law enforcement ARE necessary and deserve respect, but more often than not, that's not what we have. We have state sanctioned violence from a legal gang. And forcing people to stay married hardly creates stable social upbringings - that's just delusional. I do however agree it's a luxury to even be able to protest. I agree probably half of the supposedly passionate people out there are really just attention seeking and virtue signaling. But I think you're conflating cause and effect and you're also not realizing your own privilege. I'm willing to bet rarely or never when police rolled up were you presumed guilty or pushed up against a wall and frisked, even when it was potentially you or your friends and family who called the police. I'm not one to call this a privilege but discrimination is real.

[@leprechaunalley7207]

It’s precisely why the New York Times is no longer a reliable source. The owner of the New York Times voted for Donald Trump. The owner of the Washington Post is Elon Musk. The only journalist worth listening to you are independent journalists. If it wasn’t for the mom protesting, we never even would’ve gotten FDR‘s plan. Now, maybe all of those protesters had their own agenda, but frankly, this is the basis of our entire country. It’s more than dishonest. It’s fascist.

[@RapidBlindfolds]

Based

[@dkg_gdk]

That doesnt matter, when they spray painted the walls they didnt care about it

[@georginarichardson6570]

THIS!

[@CaptainFSU]

You missed the entire point of the video, the video was not about the content of the protests but about the lack of integrity, immaturity, and conceitedness of certain actors within the protests and how their luxury beliefs counter-intuitively harm those who they are supposedly fighting for. The narrator was a psychologist, not a policy wonk.

[@beat0n147]

Great video.

[@controvert7218]

what is worst? those examples you gave, want their ideology and beliefs to be imposed on many around the world, demanding we all follow them because they said so

[@GenerallDRK]

FUN FACT! Did you know that you'll never get to experience the BIG RIP, FREEZE Or CHRUNCH!?.......

[@chrisjohannsen7214]

Can everyone please recognize this is an OPINION piece. This is not an editorial endorsement.

[@asdf8asdf8asdf8asdf]

must be a lot of college grads in the comments.

[@FishareFriendsNotFood972]

You do realize staff needs to sign off on what opinion pieces to publish? Not every single person with an opinion gets the NYTimes as their platform to share it.

[@patrickking5883]

An editor had to publish it, so in a way it is an endorsement. The NYT isn’t Facebook or twitter

[@NoNameToYou]

Yeah and reacting to them is complete fair game.

[@Quesly1]

yeah and his opinion sucks and when he's publishing that opinion on the new york times youtube channel it means that someone gave the OK for him to publish it

[@sek3ymisek3ymi]

Absolutely true .

[@DigSamurai]

Mother Teresa never went to a protest, she was too busy doing things for the poor!

[@ThaNarc]

The vast majority of the money rasied for her went to the catholic church. The people she was supposed to help got little of it .She was a horrible women.

[@kotor610]

Young people feel their voices are not heard, they do not believe protesting peacefully will result in any meaningful change. Leaders only listen to those who write the biggest checks.

[@greggseamon]

Cringe

[@TheRealBeeBzZ]

Wow NYT really going mask off here

[@bobbyologun1517]

yep

[@aazh9869]

Right….

[@aazh9869]

Very convenient to publish this now. Nyt do better, this is embarrassing

[@only18467]

Mask off? What are they showing?

[@TheRealBeeBzZ]

@@only18467 a face of colonialism white supremacy and patriarchy

[@Padronfan]

“Don’t protest the consequences accept them” - pure gold

[@AnObviousTrollWhoBaitedYou]

The bootlicking is craaazy lmao, I can’t believe this was ever aired by NYT

[@miguelangelcorredor]

No me parece conveniente desacreditar el movimiento ciudadano solamente porque las personas que lo ejercen gozan de determinados "privilegios" relativos... La verdad, todos siempre seremos privilegiados ante los ojos de alguien más y eso no debería ser un factor de descalificación de los movimientos ciudadadanos... bastante antidemocrático tu análisis

[@kkjeff100]

Telling people how they should protest is an ultimate luxury belief!

[@RajEdpache-bc5vx]

Appreciate XAI60T and the art of thinking with it

[@nohvis4435]

People with no values or meaning in life try to tell other people what to do. They don't have to face any consequences and hide their atrocious actions behind the guise of helping a victimized group. And through their association with them they can claim victimhood which justifies them acting out. Just a bunch of pathetic narcissists

[@annangel4828]

Appreciate your perspective. Thanks, NYT.

[@sutirtharoy]

02:13 Why not 13?

[@dallassegno]

Ironic coming from NYT.

[@ummon995]

So many angry yuppies in the comments.

[@youtubesucks9539]

This comment section shows that the damage that has been done to politics is irrevocable. The two groups are simply incompatible and require separation or that one be purged. If it's the latter, I won't shed a tear for all the smug rich kids that will perish.

[@mpalgy]

It’ll be hilarious when the rich kids have to hire militias to do their “revolutions” for them. Is there an app for that?

[@channelname5938]

Purged? Tf? You’re no better than any of their groups.

[@youtubesucks9539]

@channelname5938 I said "if". Besides, they wanted me dead first.

[@channelname5938]

@@youtubesucks9539 Why would they want you dead? What’s your affiliation?

[@youtubesucks9539]

@@channelname5938 No affiliation

[@yunleung2631]

a lot of the times the upper middle class see their dissent as an intellectual exercise rather than people who would do it themselves.

[@mirage5949]

At first I thought this video was complete nonsense. Just a guy who doesn't like the libs. But he is mostly right. One can see that by extrapolating his analysis to a very precise example: his own opinion. Do the exercise at home, write down the golden rules and watch the video again. What are his beliefs? Why can he go to one of the most influential media outlets in the world and give his opinion? What are the consequences of him doing so? Are those consequences going to exert a meaningful impact on his life? If anything, this video is the best example of his third golden rule. His narrative has no other effect than distracting us from the real problem of the less privileged. The only real result of posting this on The New York Times' KZbin channel is no other than presenting the cited beliefs as exclusively aligned with the interests of an irrational minority, wich they are not. I thought this was a serious newspaper, with earnest opinion pieces. Turns out it's a pamphlet written by the ivy league alumni, liberal or otherwise, with a very specific relationship with politics: that of strategic publicists, not of genuinely concerned citizens.

[@lordofchaosinc.261]

Exposed the little narcissists.

[@chadben9532]

Wow. This is the first discussion on the campus protests that completely encapsulates my feelings in a thoughtful, coherent way. I go to UCSD and I have a friend that goes to UCLA so I've experienced the protests, encampments, and the harmful effects of "luxury beliefs" firsthand. What's more striking, is that luxury beliefs aren't at all a new thing. Malcolm X talked about the harmful effects of people that we would today say have luxury beliefs in a discussion he had at UC Berkeley. In the 1963. The same generation the college protestors of today espouse to emulate. The only thing thats changed is the ease of being a self-centered activist.

[@hadeel9389]

Malcolm X would have been at those protests :) He believed in a free Palestine and would never tell his muslim brothers and sisters that they hold luxury beliefs.

[@sophcw]

Malcolm X also said we should take up arms against white moderates lol