Mark Blyth ─ Global Trumpism

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Watson Institute Student Seminar Series - American Democracy: The Dangers and Opportunities of Right Here and Right Now
Designed especially with Brown undergraduates in mind, but welcoming all members of the University and wider community, this seminar series meets in the weeks both before and after Election Day to analyze what's truly at stake in this election. In the context of American history, contemporary global politics, and current issues in U.S. social, political, and economic affairs, guest speakers will set before the seminar participants the essential issues and then facilitate probing discussions. The seminar's goal is bear witness to a historic election, illuminating the "dangers and opportunities of right here and right now."
Mark Blyth is the Eastman Professor of Political Economy and a Professor of Political Science and International and Public Affairs.

[@bmarti7998]

fell asleep last night with autoplay on and woke up this morning to this. I was not disappointed.

[@puffball4484]

lol me to fell asleep watch jimmy dore and ended up here.

[@bmarti7998]

Puff Ball OMG same are you my twin? lololol

[@the.sherlock]

jimmy brought me here to :))

[@bmarti7998]

Florin B welcome to the club

[@marcusplenty1153]

Jimmy brought a lot of people here. But Mark's knowledge and fun teaching style kept us here

[@rogerparker4468]

Been watching a bunch of his presentations. Lord he sure kissed the Blarney Stone. Absolute genius. A progressive second coming of Adam Smith. Sort of Chomsky on aged single malt. Wow, could listen to him for hours, and did. Fantastic, thanks Mark Blyth, envy your students. You are a great educator, as well as a scholar

[@mrjimmbo]

He's a great binge watch on KZbin that's got sure

[@artyblartyfartblast8465]

Roger Parker I think we need more academics that like Blyth have been musicians and comedians in their pre academic life.

[@antonleimbach648]

This guy hits the nail right on the head. The Democratic Party abandoned the Labor Movement decades ago in favor of Wall Street and "free trade".

[@ultrademigod]

It's debatable whether they ever represented the unwashed masses at all.

[@roc7880]

plus the identity politics for the elite taste. and for them being in sync about gay rights or multiple genders is more important than taking on structural racism. they have an issue with a linguistic racism but not bothered by the institutionalized one. I see how irrelevant is the DNC now including Obama in the week since Floyd death, nothing they say is a solution.

[@TheSimonScowl]

@@ultrademigod Any party that won rights for black people was, at some point, progressive.

[@ultrademigod]

@@TheSimonScowl That's to assume they want the same things. I think the current BLM riots across Britain prove that is not always the case.

[@TheSimonScowl]

@@ultrademigod No. Your language proves that nearly all white people around the world are racist (esp. white boys like me here in the states).

[@simonshah8570]

Mark Blyth, to your great dismay i'm sure, tonight you are one of the big winners. You called it really early when the entirety of academic and the media would not even consider it. Anybody could flip a coin, but you so convincingly build a foundational argument for this outcome that one could never just brush you off as a opportunistic contrarian. Bravo mister Blyth looking forward to your future work and if the nobel wasn't so obsessed with classical economics and econometrics you and Piketty should be definitely be up there for the run.

[@ThusIsBrad]

"What do you mean?" -Justin Beiber

[@simonshah8570]

I posted that the night of the election. I was drunk. I wish I were drunk right now.

[@waspishhen1]

Lmao nobel for piketty and Blyth? Blyth hasn’t said anything new at all and half of pikketys assessments of capital is wrong. He even got supply shifts wrong when explaining transforms in the demand curve. That’s literally macro 101.

[@Sabhail_ar_Alba]

You mean he's a Marxist and you like Marxism.

[@jmitterii2]

Media won't show it because it's owned by the very oligarchs that don't want this apple cart of a house of cards to collapse.

[@walterwz]

If my rent and all other expenses did not go up I would be content with my stagnant wage.

[@nickcwilliams9911]

F A right. Where is the disconnect? Blyth talks about this. I have scoured practically all his talks. He posits that capital flight is creating the disconnect between housing prices and domestic market forces. Housing prices are directly impacting rents as people can now sell a home they previously "had" to rent because it was underwater. The sale is taking them off the market thereby decreasing available units. The crazy part is that household formation and the other metrics used to gauge housing health are terrible. It's the road to serfdom all the way... crazy. The US is becoming a renter nation, created by communist capital.

[@MichaelMikeTheRussianBot]

Becoming? Went past that line in '11. ;) The bailout money wasn't used to lend, for the most part. It was used to buy, cheaply. A greater part of ownership is in the hands of corporations/institutions than individuals. I don't remember exactly, but I remember reading of your-lobbyist-$-at-work tax law(s), that make it more advantageous than it would otherwise be, all things being equal. Seems as though there's something that removes the risk, and any incentive to deal, on things that aren't moving.

[@doc7000]

The disconnect isn't coming from capital flight as much as it is coming from those who have and control capital are essentially moving themselves away from where everyone else lives. They are no longer just moving into gated communities but they are also moving to private cities in which there is no democracy. They qoute things such as it isn't fair that they pay high taxes which goes to benefit poor people, because of this they have no idea what is going on in the rest of the country. The irony here is that this arrangement was brought on by neoliberalism, once upon of time the middle class in America had decent wages. They paid a higher share of the income taxes, however and inline with what friedmen essentially factors that pushed for a higher standard of living for the masses was done away with. Unlike what most libertarian will tell you we (workers) have no say in what are wages are, after I lets say go to college and get a degree for engineering. At the end of the day it is the person who is doing the hiring that has the say on what I will be making (if I get hired in the first place). So the masses who have no say in their own future prosperity as all of the power is increasingly put in the hands of capitalist (those who have the capital). So they drive down the wages of the masses then complain when those masses isn't paying as much in taxes as they use to be (because 30% of $40,000 is less then 30% of $80,000). So they push their paid workers (politicians) to cut the taxes of the wealthy, then those politicians go OMG the debt is going up we need to cut spending. Though those same capitalist tell their workers not to cut the areas which makes them money, instead social programs that benefit the poor and middle class get cut at the same time that wages are dropping. Then those capitalist go OMG these people are dirty smelly and hooked on drugs, I need my own city so I can be safe from them and boom you get a completely disconnected capitalist class.

[@rifleman4005]

People completely miss the fact that although the rich net worth has gone up the principal concentration of wealth is NOT individual but institutional investors. The Norwegian Sovereign wealth fund is over a trillion dollars , Pension plans are massive, with the Japanese one at 1.5 trillion. In Canada where I am the largest concentration of wealth is in public service pension plans at over a trillion dollars. In the US the California teachers fund is at $350 billion and even Harvard has a $30 billion dollar endowment fund. With low interest rates and huge government debt most to the money is flowing into assets which is exacerbating wealth inequality. This is causing a problem because as populations are aging they are forced to invest in the stock market and real estate to get a decent return instead of safer fixing income.

[@mandu9520]

Thank you to the Watson Institute for putting this online. I found it very interesting.

[@snakey973]

best analysis I've heard on this situation yet- and I think he's right on the money.

[@TR0LLREIGN]

No, he is not right on the money. Note how he melts down when asked why is he calling this phenomenon "global Trumpism" if it only happens in the West? Well, he cannot say the truth and cannot talk about reality because that wouldn't fit his leftie narrative, but why it happens in the West is because multiculturalist ideologues only force their ideas on the West. Only in the Western civilization is there a need to make ALL countries multicultural, whether they want it or not. Only white countries have to become multicultural and import millions upon millions of third world migrants without ANY idea whatsoever on how to integrate them. Have you ever wondered why aren't there multiculturalists protesting in Japan against their strict immigration policy? Have you ever wondered why the unbelievably rich Arab countries like Saudi Arabia, Quatar, UAE, etc have taken a grand total of ZERO refugees while Europe has to deal with millions? Have you ever wondered why is the default state of Western countries is a HUGE influx of third world migrants?

[@focast1825]

It isn't only happening in the West, check out the rise of India's Narendra Modi. Or how Erdogan in Turkey has become more "Trump-like" since the 2008 crisis and has been specially bad in the past few months. I agree with you on the Arab Gulf states, but Japan does indeed have people pushing for more immigration, and extremely anti-immigration factions are taking up against them. That said, mass migration has never been well received in any society. Sudden changes are always uncomfortable and there are only so many people that an economy and society can absorb before detriments are observed. It is almost as if policy is made to actually rile people up.

[@jojo300001]

Or Rodrigo Duterte

[@5ynthesizerpatel]

+TR0LLREIGN have you got a timecode for his meltdown? I watched the whole thing 3 times and I keep missing it There is a bit at 1:20:55 where he gets asked why he calls it Global Trumpism when it's mostly just a western thing and he's very relaxed and cool about it - pointing out that he was just being lazy when he coined the phrase and he did indeed just mean it was a western thing - so you obviously don't mean that bit. so which bit were you talking about? I reckon Mark would be hilarious when he melts down so it would be great to watch

[@billy-joes6851]

Word of advice; your caplocks are a dead giveaway of your stupidity , if you want people to take you seriously quit using them .

[@TMITNA]

This video was prescient.

[@gordonb9903]

This guy if you listen makes a hell of a lot of sense. Maybe people like this is who we should be listening to solve the problems we face.

[@jaelynnzee9091]

Co-ops are happening in other parts, like Greece and Argentina, who are also having capitalism problems. People on the right would yell "commies!" yet they are the ones putting out commie sentiment online, or someone is making it LOOK that way. Russia? if we believe the "news." Dems are sure saying "look over there" after Hillary lost and not at themselves. It's sad to see Dem "leaders" not stepping aside and all these old people (mainly men) being greedy! People aged about 55 on up had the best years of the US. It's so not right for the following generations to not have the same opportunities as our parents and grandparents. My parents bought my childhood home in 1974, the week I was born, for $21K! Then 20 years later it sold for around $140K! Yet, wages did not go up at all to reflect the cost of living. This is INSANE! There's no reason why I shouldn't be able to own a home after I did my duty to society and went to college, did everything right in life, never screwed anyone over, yet live in poverty due to illness. The medical community refuses to do the necessary testing to get me diagnosed, treated and back to work. So I feel forced almost, wait out life as is, which isn't a life.

[@johansterk8968]

What solution did he give?

[@vdotme]

@@johansterk8968 a diagnosis is the first and potentially most important step in curing a disease.

[@claudearmstrong9232]

@@jaelynnzee9091 Hope you catch this... Why not do your own online research into natural nutrition as healing medicine? Sure, loads of garbage, yet there are vetted health resources, like Dr. Mark Sircus, whose career led to many actual cures that for-profit drug pushing fake doctors ignore and follow high profit lethal drug use.

[@dfrew2529]

"Everyone pays taxes. No exemptions." Just applauded my computer screen.

[@knoore]

always fun listening to Mark

[@OllyRoberton]

Fascinating talk from someone who clearly knows and cares deeply about the subject...

[@compagotv]

Really informative. Thanks. One correction- the US Government is the largest employer in the US

[@okrajoe]

Very interesting discussion.

[@richiebkbkbk]

Thank you for posting these videos!

[@rhammond2152]

Thumbs up. It is a lecture that you really need to hear.

[@pcuimac]

Sadly I can't understand a word of the questions. Why can't institutions not pay for competent people who know acustics and how to use microphones when they have money for a ton of equipment?

[@moonspeak6374]

turn on closed captions?

[@eKko0]

acoustics, yw x

[@dimpstyler6142]

pcuimac lol right. Can you hear the feedback? Turn down the damn gain...

[@vdotme]

Not even necessary to go that far. Invite those with questions to come forward and speak them into the mics at the front. You call one up while the questioner I'd going their thing so the front isn't mobbed.

[@P34KxGaming]

I've only just heard this guy for the first time, what an amazing lecture he gave. Mark Blyth; a voice of truth

[@enochhema4558]

Why have I just discovered this guy An incredibly important voice

[@Ccs1989]

Great talk. Every lecture Blyth gives blows my mind.

[@AndyMorrisArt]

I was surprised to hear there's been no inflation in the last thirty years. Everything I personally buy has gone up including property taxes and insurance. Seems to me it's been running at about 3% annually. (perhaps 2.8%, not certain)

[@1873Winchester]

Mark Blyth seems to be painting an overtly negative picture of a return to the era of more national economies, but they all did better jobs than the current regimes have. Especially in taking care of it's poorest and raising their living standards. So I am not convinced a return to limited global trade we used to have pre-90s, rather than the current mode of free capital movement and unregulated free for all trade, would be bad in the long run. Transitions might be messy though but perhaps required so we can secure our welfare states and funding for them, which will be needed if we want to transition into a mostly automated economy that doesn't transform us into a neo-feudal system. Some proper nationalizing of stuff we've privatized over the years would only be a good thing too. I mean, so what if growth would be less than the previous booms of the past in returning to such a more nationalized economy, growth is less now and the best thing we can hope for in the current system is something termed secular stagnation. At least with a nationalized economy and capital controls we can keep things going and prevent people on the low side of the income distribution from falling through the cracks. Currently in my home country we're busy destroying ourselves on the altar of capitalism and austerity to make us more competitive. What for? So we can export goods and the swine at the top don't need to pay for our sacrifices, people will literally DIE from the cuts we're doing to health care. It's not gonna work anyway, we're a small northern country and we're stuck in the euro, it's a lead weight dragging us to the bottom of the ocean. I'm sure Germany appreciates our and others ritual slow suicide on the altar of neoliberalism as it keeps the euros worth down. I say this all despite having been in constant employment for the last 15 years, I can only wonder what people think who are worse off than me think.

[@jukkapenttinen4132]

If we are going to combat climate change we basically need to end consumer culture and i don't think that is possible on the current "free trade/neoliberal" paradigm the whole point of globalization is longer production chains which means more pollution. The left has bought this idea that nation state can't combat global capital and climate change and so on but i think its the opposite that the strong independent nation state is the fundamental basis for progressive policies not these kind of large institutions like the EU because i think its a lot easier to corporations and vested interests to corrupt these big institutions.

[@mushtaqbhat1895]

Some small nation states have successfully implemented, albeit not consistently, some very fruitful strategies by directing the private financial and production sectors of their nations in benign and productive manner, like South Korea (see Ha-Joon Chang) and Iceland, without recourse to Greenspan-type deregulation nor communistic authoritarian centralization. But this has been achieved within an extant global planetary exploitative episteme, that is based on unlimited growth and a pathological fixation on national GDP as the ultimate universally valid and the only mass of measurement for national progress. Climate Change and potential new disruptive technologies that could favor decentralization in ways never envisioned by all the pundits of predominantly junk economics (Michael Hudson) may offer us new means to combat our common planetary problems, that nations are incapable of doing as long as they are constrained in a semi-collaborative and at the same time highly competitive rat race. Blockchain and cryptocurrencies although increasingly being attacked by centralized instances of finance and political power may offer those interested in breaking that 5000 year old grip of the latter on the human destiny. They like other new disruptive technologies surely have the potential but it remains to be seen what force will it exert on those of us, who strive for a sane trajectory for mankind as compared to those driven alone by monetary gains or by a desire to retain/acquire social power and privilege, the archaic relicts from our tribal origins, whose basis BTW is the no more obligatory reproductive fitness and the ability to profusely disseminate ones genes! Blyth is right in claiming that many of these disruptive technologies have done the opposite of what we all once imagined, concentrated the wealth even more into the hands of the few, albeit a new class, but humans can at the same time also exhibit an immense amount of ingenuity, if things do turn too bad. There will be disruptions like there always have been, but the new world is probably beckoning us all to take the big jump this time and mankind will probably take it, as the crisis unfolds. Everywhere there are signs that the old order is on precipitous grounds and probably not able to retain the power anymore without the use of force _ which is the best sign for its demise.

[@OolTube02]

The guy's so prescient it's amazing!

[@DeFineAl]

Frighteningly accurate in historical analysis and future prediction. Please can we have him in charge. A long watch but worth it!

[@b.terenceharwick3222]

"It's much easier to fool people than it is for people to learn they have been fooled." Mark Twain

[@DarkEpyon123]

does this guy have a regular uploaded porcast, channel on youtube, or a place where he regularly uploads his ideas and thoughts on a weekly/daily basis?

[@highlonesomed]

I'm not sure, I hope so, he's a brilliant guy. I just discovered him after hearing he predicted Brexit and Trump winning back when the campaign was juust getting started. I also recommend Prof. Richard Wolff and Yanis Varoufakis. Wolff has a weekly podcast and monthly lecture analyzing current events here on KZbin on his channel, Democracy at Work. His lectures are strangely addictive, especially considering he's an economist.

[@DarkEpyon123]

numkie ??? he is blaming people like trump for why a lot of the world is going to shit, why would he want trump to advise him?

[@yonisgure7348]

Trump would much rather prefer the advice from Neo-Con Hawks, Christian Fundamentalists, former Exxon Mobile CEOs, Wall St. Bankers and Corporate tycoons that now make up the bulk of his administration. How Trump has fashioned himself as somehow "anti-establishment" in the face of all this, will make for great PHD theses in media studies.

[@Ndesire]

+DarkEpyon123 I think you didn't actually watch the video. He didn't say Trump was a cause of anything rather a symptom of our economy imploding and racial ideology.

[@5ynthesizerpatel]

+TipoJ M I'm most definitely not a Trump supporter - but I agree with you on that point Assuming Trump didn't just do this to glorify and enrich himself - and really does have honest intentions, he needs to understand who voted for him, why they voted for him, and what he needs to do for them.

[@zunich1]

Damn you are smart and put things into perspective. Thanks for your post. Cheers

[@jonathanbrowne8849]

You are providing an extremely valuable academic, political and public service and I think you should run for Emporer in Brussels Mark. Keep popping up on Jimmy Dore please, there are 300,000 of the most astute politically aware citizens on there every day. The corporations really do write the laws in the US.

[@phaedrusg3232]

Fantastic presentation and QandA. But the feedback between the speaker's clip-on mic and the podium mic makes half this talk physically painful to listen to. Could no one in the lecture room hear the feedback?

[@edgeman148]

Taxes are important, funding weapons are not.

[@enizle5]

Mike Brunt until you or your family are defenceless against aggressors.

[@SalmonFume]

There's few people that make so continuously much sense like Mark Blyth. He's like the Chomsky of Economics.

[@jonathanbrowne8849]

This lecture is the most amazing, smartest, most intelligent analysis of the economy I have ever seen.

[@robertmotzel593]

The beauty of chaos upon entering is, you can rationalise to your hearts content and if you did manage to rationalise the situation, it would not be true chaos. Welcome to chaos and good luck.

[@Cpruett]

Robert Motzel "The thing ' bout choas..... it's fair".

[@pompeiusmagnus2276]

This lecture needs an update for 2019.

[@slemire58]

Now for 2022!!! ;)

[@Ram_Lakshmanan]

Very interesting, informative and insightful! Enjoyed it.

[@richardc7692]

How great to be in this room listening along with the students all paying huge fees to this really sharp and original thinker who cuts through so much current bs. Stayed up late listening to Mark. Maybe some find it hard to catch his rapid-fire Scottish accent …I've noticed some of his stuff has subtitles. i love the speed sharpens the brain.

[@cuckingfunt9353]

As far as immigration is concerned, look at Japan or Korea, very nice comfortable places for the indigenous population, no crime, very happy, everyone looking out for each other, good sense of community. Compare that to your typical mixed race ghetto. Everyone out to get everyone else, no trust, no cooperation, no community.

[@dafunkala]

cucking funt actually, you can't say no crime. In Japan, they have a stalking and murder problem against women.

[@Bayonet1809]

Except neither Japan nor (presumably South) Korea are at all comfortable for the "indigenous population". Yes, crime is low, but so is happiness. In Japan, that sense of community exists only in rural areas ever since the Asian Financial Crisis forced companies to cut their retirement plans and lay off workers, breaking the mutual trust between employee and employer. The grueling working hours, previously endured with the understanding of an easy future retirement, have (when combined with the global wage stagnation) contributed to Japan having the highest suicide rates in the OECD, while South Korea's suicide rates are even higher. So no, having no immigration is not necessarily a positive thing as it only puts further strain on the existing population to improve efficiency in order to counteract the low birth rates in developed countries. This is why the Japanese government has recently implemented new legislation that will allow for the importation of cheap labour temporarily to tide them over until automation can run their economy for them.

[@nelsondisalvatore9812]

well, this videos was certanly interesting, its a fucking horrible forecast but I think its accurate. i loved the way he talked about elizabet warren

[@Caldaron]

thanks for putting the mic back on the desk to give us all a back coupling, deafening headache...

[@LeedsUnitedJohn]

Thsee Videos have got me thinking. Excellent Stuff.

[@maxhollenbeck9074]

When we get universal basic income, I give this guy three days of fishing before he goes back to giving rousing lectures. But he's do it on his on time and his way. Which makes all the difference.

[@mikeh0212]

Some countries have already put it on the ballot. It doesn't pass in most cases because it doesn't feel as urgently needed yet but I imagine sooner than later something is going to have to be done. As more jobs go away, then the more people will turn to extremism, authoritarianism, and god knows what else. And I don't hear many politicians addressing it in our elections. We're still fighting over crap from the 90's. lol

[@catscan2022]

"Why do we need to work?" A sense of purpose.

[@gwengwengwen9604]

Blyth would be doing himself and everyone else a favour if he read some of the literature on multiculturalism - being concerned about loss of high trust in groups, loss of social capital, social stress ... it is not racism to care about these things and it hurts all countries irrespective of colour or creed, not just the peoples of wealthy countries. Blyth's conclusions are skewed because he's not looking through enough lenses, and yet his analysis is the best out there.

[@tr78478]

Uuuuuugh. "Loss of high trust in groups, loos of social capital, social stress".....i.e. people who were once the overwhelming majority are now not, or are even on the verge of becoming a minority, and are feeling a loss of 'power'. Such is the history of man......People that don't truly understand use flowery language and rely on hierarchical social constructs to insulate themselves and obfuscate the fact that they can't see the forest for the trees. People that truly understand, like Mark, are able to discuss these concepts as simply, or as complexly, as requested (not "required", as that involves judgement of the audience and a desire to 'appear' a certain way to same). If people could only get out of their own way and stop worrying only about themselves, they would see that more people wanting to become a member of their society validates it as superior..... No good will truly come until people realize this simple truth - the self does not validate it's own existence; the self is only a reflection of how others see you....i.e. we exist FOR others; we exist to ASSIST others.....

[@gwengwengwen9604]

tr78478 I was referring to sociological research. There are other disciplines...

[@Brembelia]

WE, the People, need to get rid of the Federal Reserve but first we need to get a sane plan of what to replace the Fed with. Once we have a plan to eliminate the Federal Reserve, we can then move ahead to get rid of the Council On Foreign Relations. People know nothing about what these two institutions do, or how they are responsible for our current state. But who has this kind of banking knowledge enough to draft a comprehensive and sane; workable plan?

[@tegan2mares]

This helps this historical moment make more sense.

[@RickP2012]

In many respects Mark Blyth is correct, however, there are many people I know who voted to leave the EU, not because they are at the bottom of the pile - or anywhere near it, but because they see overtime that is where they will find themselves if things carry on the way they are going. They are the 'Gary's in 1989' who have the foresight to see what will happen to them by 2036.

[@Aesroc]

Wasn't that part of his point? That people have cottoned on to the fact they're "Gary" regardless of whether that's in 1989 or 2012 or 2036. I don't think he was implying that you could only be 'Gary' if you're in Aldi being worked like a dog for 8 quid an hour. I think any intelligent person could appreciate that conditions for them weren't set to improve if they stuck with the status quo. In fact quite the opposite, the Brexit vote was a huge "we expect things to get much worse, so we're rolling the dice" moment. I just hope people watch videos like this, inform themselves, and question the plan, because Brexit really can start to look like a worse version of where we are now, very quickly indeed.

[@85cube]

no, they're just confused people. exactly like trump voters. they were suffering the consequences of decades of national decisions and decided to protest cutting off the EU, which was something completely unrelated. probably the decision will damage their national elites in a minor way, but their suffering won't change one bit.

[@ThusIsBrad]

they see overtime that is where they will find themselves

[@krazoe6258]

I lived in the North-west of England during the referendum, and I was just shocked by the amount of misinformation and lies propagated by the leave campaign. And nobody seemed to correct it in a way that reached the people who weren't already sceptical about such claims. 350m pounds a week in savings from EU payments? Come on dude, that would never happen... So people voted leave based on a significant proportion of lies with no correction or nuance. If you do say that they were Garys who saw where things were headed, then I raise the counterpoint: If they can't see through simple mathematical errors and logical fallacies, how on earth can they make a rational analysis of where their country is headed (Which is a complicated issue). And furthermore, if they get tricked by the 350m a week claim, why should we take them seriously? Not to say that all leave voters are thick, I just think you're oversimplifying the isse. But then again, this is the internet, so it is to be expected.

[@johansterk8968]

BeepBop Boop: And then?

[@mjc01]

~ 1:11:00 Ultimately we don't need people to work but we have an ethic that says if you don't work you are worthless. I have *never* believed this. I '77 (when I was 17) I knew that we lived in a rich technologically advanced society / world. Even then we could have started to share the wealth created by the technology (which we had created) . The election 79, and subsequent actions of Thatcher made me realise I am living in an insane, dysfunctional society. Greed and narcissism for some. Guilt and resentment and "just about managing" for some, and for the rest varying levels of poverty. None of it was necessary. None of it. Now on top of this we are at last waking up to the various environmental threats we face which are far more fundamental than anything mentioned by Blyth until right at the end.

[@jasmineluxemburg6200]

Paul R iiii

[@jasmineluxemburg6200]

Paul R i

[@jasmineluxemburg6200]

Paul R p

[@sanpatch8447]

I wish I had such an inspirational teacher in university. No jargon.

[@Camcolito]

Great lecture Mark, thanks.

[@thumper8684]

"And when the centre left see the new left coming up they try and strangle them in the bath tub." Mark Blyth is so on the button, I am inclined to distrust him just because I wish I had said that. (PS I know I need another ID for talking about serious stuff)

[@nmavrantzas]

Very interesting talk, but poor sound. It was tiring to listen to it...

[@johansterk8968]

Would be nice if he spoke less of a dialect too.

[@RickP2012]

The Euro section is very interesting and something I've been looking at for years. It is going to cause huge economic and political turmoil in the future, but few economists seem to be interested.

[@ronaldyoung8040]

not the EURO per se, the way is instrumentalised

[@awuma]

Absolutely brilliant lecture! However, in the discussion following 1:08:30, the "sharing economy" runs up against patents for business methods, algorithms and software. Alternative platforms are not so easy.

[@worldtravelercommentary5219]

Doesn't Italy have its own olive oil/butter line?

[@daniel.lopresti]

Yep and so does France ;)

[@rogerparker4468]

Global Trumpism, right wing populist, to some extent does exist in Asia. Can name Modi and Duterte amonsgt the larger states

[@dakshchauhan2446]

modi and right-wing , You dont know what you are talking about. Modi is left-wing by all US standards. Increased taxes and more and more affirmative action policies. wtf are you talking about. India is a leftist shithole. lol. everyone gets govt jobs and then sit on their ass all day, simply imagining their life is done with no quality checks, screwing over the public. Cultural center-right is the thing.

[@michaelwilliams7404]

1:02:00 One Question regarding China, dude you rock! My new favorite person to watch on YT. Also EB5 programs are pushing up asset prices.

[@brianlacy8870]

excellent... wanted also to hear questions

[@andrewhubert7868]

Never mentions how with Obamacare my employer now pays $8k on just my health insurance. That's a raise without wage increase.

[@mooniebo2752]

Bernie Sanders would have been the genuine left alternative in the USA... but greedy Hillary couldn't take "no" as an answer during the primaries.

[@marianrubchak5765]

Bernie was too far left to win in this country. "Greedy" Hillary???? Don't you mean "incredibly qualified" Hillary? If she was "greedy" aren't all politicians "greedy"? Rethink this and come up with a sensible explanation. Yours is based on sheer prejudice.

[@deffbee]

If she was so qualified, why did she lose? For the matter HRC supporters love to throw around that "she's the most qualified" trope as if she were the only one who has every worked in government. HRC , the DNC , and hersupporters anointed her as the next Democratic President and she smugly fell in love with this gospel and look where it got her.

[@marianrubchak5765]

defbee--aren't you missing something? She did not lose. She won by nearly 3 million votes. The electoral college (antiquated) screwed her!

[@deffbee]

it serves her right for what she and the DNC did to bernie

[@diatonicjon]

Take the definition of "coup d'etat" and add the definition "corporate" before it. This was seen clearly through the election fraud orchestrated by the DNC, several milestones were evident and laid out for anyone who bothered to be paying attention to see. The corporate fascism that has been developing in this country for decades only operates on binary thinking through the narrative that is spearheaded through the corporate media, which is wholeheartedly backed by the oil industry and the military industrial complex. The government has long been hijacked by corporate fascism, Clinton and Trump were your only choices in the general because Bernie was effectively ostracized from media coverage since the beginning, except to those who were already hurting enough to be fully discontent with continuing binary thinking in a political context. This is not to mention the federal lawsuit against the DNC by the Sanders campaign after they played their hand too blatantly, among many other things (election fraud in several states). It's time to wake up, we eagerly await you far beyond the cognitive wall of identity politics and dichotomous political worldview.

[@subcitizen2012]

This aged really well. Hello from mid 2022!

[@mushtaqbhat1895]

I know of no other instance of social economical political science that gets as close to analytical science, worthy of its claim to be a scientific discipline, as this work of Mark Blyth. It is a voice of reason in this threateningly regressive epoch that exhibits increasingly archaic tribal traits almost inversely proportional to the progress being achieved in physical sciences and technology. Anybody interested in imparting the direly needed education to our present and future leaders in all segments of social life will do well to pay heed to what he is saying, perhaps even incorporate it as a necessary grounding framework for questions dealing with global ethics. In my opinion he should be invited to HBS, an institution that I am sure could use his insights in an extremely productive manner.

[@mmmhorsesteaks]

amazing point about democratizing the return on automation. something has to give at the end of the day, you can't fool all the people all of the time. robots can give us anything except purpose. (real shit show from the trump crowd in the comments btw, good job us.)

[@mikesoward2261]

You people think that utopias are a viable thing. Try and take most of a persons money and see what happens.You are thinking of something that may exist in thousands of years and the human race will probably destroy itself before that.

[@mmmhorsesteaks]

Did you know the highest tax rate for income tax in the US in the sixties under a republican president was 91%? Were the sixties a utopia? Between ever-growing productivity and an ever-growing populations, something has got to give.

[@ThusIsBrad]

+Sun Tzu, as described in the percentage of wealth change, the middle and lower class is having most of their money taken, and it seems to be working out for someone. And we see what happens- life becomes worse for the people that have most of their money taken. Are you trying to start a "job creators" rant?

[@hikerJohn]

If Trump builds that wall he needs to use it to keep North American retirees from going to Mexico where they are spending all their retirement income there rather than keeping Mexicans (who PAY taxes) from coming to North America.

[@hikerJohn]

They do pay a LOT of taxes but they dont pay all of the taxes that everyone else pays but still - they are payed so little that even if they file a tax return they would owe hardly any taxes. The rich cheat the system WAY more than the immigrant getting payed less than minimum wages in cash. And the cash transactions are not as many as you might think unless the employer is doing a lot of cash business himself. If a landscaper pays cash it just increases HIS net profit and his tax burden because he cant write off the labor and he pays at a higher rate. Big companies with lots of labor cannot pay cash because they don't get payed in cash so it's a minuscule problem. Again, the problems are at the TOP, not at the bottom of the economy. Getting rid of cash gardeners is NOT going to bring salvation to the middle class or increase quality American jobs in any meaningful way but it will be EXPENSIVE to deport 5 MILLION people and build a wall. A may just be a net loss to the economy.

[@ryacus]

They also leech a lot more resources than they contribute.

[@mirkostanic92]

thank you

[@adamyork3702]

FanTastic listening

[@Kangsteri]

Google paying taxes... Lol.

[@AirelonTrading]

Ok, 51 minutes onwards on Dodd-Frank ... is where Mark Blyth falls apart. It was interesting commentary before that. But at his comments on Dodd-Frank is where it falls apart, as it usually falls apart. An academic, trying to comment on Finance ... and internal auction mechanisms. It's always the same story. An academic who does not put money into markets, an academic who does not understand downside risk event mechanisms that we once enjoyed that protect us from an order book opening up into a black abyss. Why doesn't he understand those mechanisms? Again, because the same said academic is not putting his money into the markets and have skin in the game. If anything ... Dodd-Frank has completely empowered HUGE institutions, who can easily afford the bare minimum *_ONE HUNDRED MILLION_* in compliace regulations. That's just for the COST OF DOING BUSINESS. Small firms can not longer afford to begin, unless they have about $150 million in seed money. You're young and smart, and want to start a new risk capital investing firm? Forget it. It's not going to happen. You can't even afford the start up costs. So the net-net, is there are no more 'small firms'. So with no small firms, it has *_destroyed_* the capital formative effects on the Middle Class, by taking away their ability to afford to put money at risk with new, smart money. At the same time, any Institution that is sitting on 80 Billion on management can raise their deposit req's on the 1/2 of 1% that can afford them, and to that Instituion .... Dodd-Frank compliance req's is nothing more than an annoyance to which they throw a bit more money towards.

[@hellolin324]

I have read a lot books and articles since Trump got elected, and I don't think I have ever seen one like this. He gave a straight to the point, no bullshit, non-partisan explanations of how and why we got here, and what is going to happen next. I was suppose to go to an event tonight, given by another equally important and interesting speaker in my local college, but I got sucked into watching this while eating dinner. Kudos especially on the part where he correctly stated how the turning of neo-liberalism happened because we needed to export our inflation, and reduce the power on labor.

[@jonathanbrowne8849]

Brilliant! Just finished, will watch again. Thank you for running for office! Hit me up for a small donation anytime.

[@ClarksonsinUSA]

Hey Mark,when I visit other countries I obey the LAW! Rule of Law matters or your country becomes like Mexico!

[@NathansHVAC]

I'm not a "hip"" socialist who never had a job in their entire life, but is still able to get personally rich spreading the good word of socialism. I have a question. I was wondering if someone on the left could help me out with this question. Blyth said that technology makes it possible for a work force of 10% of the worlds population to support basic income (and decent livings) for the other 90% of the world. What magic words can the socialist say to the 10% that have jobs that they need to pay high enough taxes so that 90% of society can free load on them? Certainly, the life of the paid vacation people would be easier than actually working. Also, would the tax rates on the 10% that actually have jobs need to be 90% taxes? I supposed the 90% of the population on paid vacation could just vote and say democracy demands that the 10% pay all their bills. But, would giving 90% of your income away be considered fair or even moral? I thought this is how communism works? The party owns everything and distributes to the population. I"m just wondering what someone could say to me to make me take away 90% of the money from my family and give it to them. And, I'm not even rich, but I have a job. Even the mafia would have a hard time extorting that much money.

[@finitekosmos]

Well ultimately, immense social change is underway. up to 40% of existing jobs now, are under threat from automation. And no, automation did not stop at the factory floor. The problem is that society needs to plan to deal with this degree of upheaval, but hasn't. I'm not saying Mark's solutions are the right ones, but conversely I haven't heard any solution to these social issues. The question remains when most jobs are performed by an algorithm how will the population survive?

[@NathansHVAC]

Automation helps the economy. For the last 100 years, automation has increased jobs by reducing cost and keeping $dollars inside the border. China will lose 85% of it's jobs to automation. We are way ahead of them, because we are more advanced. Automation here will bring back the millions of jobs that were lost to china without raising prices. The socialists seem to hate the idea of US companies making money. But, where do those profits actually go? They go back into the companies to create more jobs. The government cannot create a single thing of value. Chinese profits can go anywhere in the world and are mostly going to china. Blyths example of Uber going automated will significantly reduce the price of cab fares without exporting any jobs to china. Currently, we send $500 billion to China every year. That is about $5000 for every family in america, or a house every 10 years. When we start keeping that money here, our GDP will improve. You might say, automation will make profits too high for greedy companies? This is basically what Blyth is saying. The top 1% can own all the robots and keep all the profits to themselves. Well, that isn't how capitalism works. That is how government cronyism works. For example: Uber gets the government to limit automated taxis to only medallion holders. And Uber owns all the medallions. Of course Uber will make out like a bandit. But, in a capitalist society, Lift can price Uber out of business with thier own automated taxis. So, you get lower cab fares and everyone benefits (accept the lobbiest working for Uber to get the government to ban Lift).

[@NathansHVAC]

One more mental exercise. First, this really isn't possible because Moore’s law has ended and computers 100 years from not will only be slightly faster than they are today. But, suppose we figure out how to make a robot in a human form with average human intelligence. Also, suppose this robot could be programmed to be an average doctor, average lawyer, average anything in just one day. Obviously, this would kill many jobs right? Not so fast. Lets look at the cost. Suppose the robot can only last 10 years and costs $1 billion to build. Could it generate $100 million worth of services per year? I think only CEO’s make that kind of bank. But, this robot is average intelligence and would make a poor CEO. Now, suppose the robot costs $100K to build. It could easily generate more than $10K per year in services. So, it would replace 90% of the work force. Yes it would. But, would that be bad? These robots are slaves that work for free. What would the new jobs be for humans? Well, repairing and owning a robot of course. Slavery would return to America. The more slaves you own, the more profitable you can be. So, the 90% of the workforce would have robots working for them. It is kind of like having a refrigerator working for you right now. You get a service from a machine. However, these robots would provide much more profitable services, but they would never have human rights to compete with humans directly. But, I’m sure the PETA people will want robot rights too. That is the problem with the left. They are all emotion. So, to sum up: Being against automation is like being against home appliances or cars. It really doesn’t make economic sense to turn down cheaper services in a capitalist system. Humans adapt to new jobs. The same logic applies if the robot has super human intelligence. As long as the robot is a slave, humans win. But, in reality, we aren’t going to see this level of automation in the next 1000 years. So, humans will be working for a long time.

[@Rob-fx2dw]

Of course you are thinking in the correct direction. It is automation that creates more for less and that has been the benefit of intelligent thinking form day one. The socialist leftists operate from an emotional perspective which takes over any reasoned thinking. If what Blyth says about automation were correct then destroying all automation would make society better. In effect doing things worse would somehow make life better. That illustrates the absurdity of leftist thinking. Blyth also totally miss describes what happened in the 1940's after WW2 . The fact is that Keynesian economist were predicting a recession in the US after WW2 with high unemployment because of the number of people returning to the US after serving overseas. They recommended the US government keep it's deficit spending to create jobs. What happened is the government ignored the Keynesians and massively slashed spending by 50% and there was a drop in unemployment as well a a huge boom in the economy. The Keynesian policies were pushed aside and did not make the boom he talks about. So he has misdirected people on the facts of that era. One has to ask Why? Why wouldn't any serious student do the homework to find the facts when the evidence of the spending is readily available? The answer may be that those like him who have promoted Keynesian economics as a large part of their career (their life's work) have no other solution and keep pushing a theory which has failed. If they don't they have to swallow their pride and admit they had supported a failed belief most of their lives. - A truly bitter pill to swallow for anyone - one that requires some courage.

[@NathansHVAC]

Rob Mews: The socialists never admit that they are wrong even when country after country fails from their policies. But, the real problem is that they are screwing up capitalism with these huge bailouts for the rich. We really should have purged a lot of the dead wood in 2008. But Obama added $100K of debt for every family in the US. And where are we now? We are in an even bigger credit bubble. When the bubble pops, I hope people are smart enough to see that socialism created the bubble in the first place with the socialist bailouts and bad asset repurchasing programs. They have been trying to destroy capitalism in this country for the last 100 years. They might succeed if enough people believe their 5 year plans. Look how many of the kids want communism now in America. They think state control of all large private companies progressive. So sad.

[@johnniebee4328]

Thank you Watson Institute, they wanted 34.95 for the article and there's more here for free

[@freedomwatch3991]

25:00 Brilliant Analysis. Quite impressive

[@cutypetuty]

What about the economy of cool? What happens when the good ole USA is just another lame landscape? You cannot vape culture!

[@stevecocker3078]

Have it now

[@defenstrator4660]

I generally agree with his lecture but I do think he is showing his own bias when describing the right as the racists and the left as not. I think this has more to do with the right wing parties recognizing that bringing in cheap labour is simply dumping on the working poor while the left has embraced free movement. Certainly the left has a Jewish problem where anti-semetism has basic become conflated with support of Palestine. The left has also become steadily more about dog whistle politics where anyone that disagrees is automatically a racist or sexist to their compared to their own self righteous point of view. They also don't seem to like white men, which no surprise, are now steadily abandoning them.

[@robroy6072]

Of course. He's doing quite well with his Boston real estate. "Woke"

[@billcorr9450]

Airbnb takes a 3% service fee from the host for each reservation to cover the cost of processing the transaction. This fee is in addition to the 6-12% paid for guest service fees

[@patriciaholman8938]

Are Mark Blyth's lectures available in text form? I'm having difficulty understanding him due the acoustics in the room combinrd with his Brirish accent, and I am truly interested.

[@RonaldoFearsEboue]

Rich people will retire in little rural villages where there are no muslims.

[@Edithae]

Trumpism is a blip...Yeah, a four year long blip.

[@lordhawkeye]

Human life is a blip in the eyes of the Earth. The point was long term, actual long term, effects of Trump will be a blip. Four years, assuming he doesn't get impeached, isn't that long.

[@DJ-zp8hw]

With respect to political history, to human history, 4 years Is a blip.

[@freshdopefiend]

The world survived 8 years of Dick Cheney. Trump aint shit.

[@Kalyani1995]

Cheney is an advisor to him now.

[@freshdopefiend]

Canada is about to have an immigration problem.

[@ashedwards1311]

Very good and informative!

[@joedoe27]

great...

[@C4RT1987]

Damn I was onboard, but hes such a leftest. Econ 101 the more of something, the cheaper it is. More Labor the less labor is worth. Build the wall. Yes No immigrants from mexico they come from Guatemala, El salvidor & Central America

[@jeffilli1663]

WTF!? "You have a higher probability of being bitten by a shark on land than you do of being a victim of a terrorist attack in the United States." Can't listen to this after that idiotic statement....

[@kangaroo1888]

jeff illi so facts confuse you

[@mcennery]

Mark Blyth, you beauty, as they say in Scotland.

[@simewood2040]

The voice of reason.

[@billiecamilla1053]

THE RICH STAYS RICH BY SPENDING LIKE THE POOR AND INVESTING WITHOUT STOPPING THEN THE POOR STAYS POOR BY SPENDING LIKE THE RICH YET NOT INVESTING LIKE THE RICH.

[@boba9170]

One thing... Trump is no buffoon. Underestimate him at your own peril.

[@JHDundrum]

I'am so grateful to the man at 1:08:45 for fixing that ringing noise by moving the mic because this is a really interesting lecture.

[@JHDundrum]

well, he tried : )

[@RoyAlf]

Really good.

[@j.scottburgeson3928]

Pro-immigration versus anti-immigration is a false binarism. One can be in favor of limited immigration that benefits the indigenous population of a particular nation without being an evil "racist." Surely this is obvious to your average man or woman on the street. The fact that a hyper-educated political scientist like Mark Blyth is framing the issue in such simplistic, black-and-white terms suggests that ideology rather than facts is his overriding concern.

[@ryacus]

These politicians want cheap labor at the cost of other peoples lives but they will never admit it, it's always under the guise of "helping the less fortunate".

[@Luke-oe8fe]

I think it is you who has created the false binarism. Migrants can be played as chips in economic policy, district gerrymandering, etc. Ergo, the primary motivation a sovereign leader has to enact immigration policy is to satisfy his keys to power, not to pay deference to their racial preferences. The binary which exists here is that of statism and libertarianism, with the former supporting _regulated immigration_ on the presupposition that government strives to produce collective benefit. A frail supposition at best.

[@managingassignedreadingsat4770]

+ryacus From your statement, I presume that you're American. In a political system where you have given corporations and the rich the right to 'buy' elections, politicians become beholden to them as opposed to people whose income is derived from their labour. It has spawned a political class that necessarily (and from their perspective rationally) comply with the wishes of the former. This, which Blyth points out, is among many unfortunate consequences for working people in America. Apropos to your statement, it creates resentment between income/advantage levels of US society that leads to the kind of heartless statement you make. It is not politicians who want cheap labour-at least not directly-it is a capital class (i.e. those who live off the return on investments or capital as opposed to a return on their labour) which is driven to reduce the costs attached to any business in which they have invested. (There is an apocryphal story of a mine owner bemoaning the loss of donkeys in a mine collapse. "But sir," someone asked him,"what about the men?" "What about them?" he replied, "men you only have to hire... donkeys you have to °buy°") The point being that owners/investors want to invest the minimum of their capital in their investments. Employees are paid from funds generated and can be hired and fired at will.

[@ryacus]

Managing Assigned Readings in University Courses I haven't given the corporations or rich anything that happened long before I was born and it wasn't the "peoples" choice, I fail to see anything in my statement that is "heartless" they are just cold hard facts, corrupt politicians are stealing our money with threat of violence and death via taxation to import cheap replacements, they are giving them our money so they can raise a family on our dime at the cost of us not being able afford to raise our own and you think this is some how alright?

[@ryacus]

frenk GNU Every bald guy who doesn't agree with open borders is a "skinhead" in your narrow view?

[@RobetPaulG]

i LIKE THIS BLOKE, BUT HE IS FOCUSED ON THE WRONG CRAP...

[@compagotv]

Mark what else did that Chinese document reveal at 1:01:53? Many thanks for sharing your wealth of knowledge here

[@Smallenface]

I'm surprised I watched the entire thing, it's worth every minute of it. Mark is a really interesting guy.

[@Gismotronics]

I've been following Mark Blyth for a while and he's certainly been on the money. However, I would disagree with him when I talks about Trump or UKIP being racist. That is untrue. Maybe that's just Mark tailoring his language for the audience (students).

[@Erdavorn]

totally agree.

[@culturalmarxist2670]

ever heard of dog whistle politics, thats essentially what he means

[@zook2k5]

....... Mark Blyth describes "dog whistle politics" at 13:40, until then I'd never heard the term.

[@Gismotronics]

'Dog whistle' expressions seem to be a way of interpreting what someone else has said merely to fit in one's own political position. As they are merely interpretations to suit one's own political viewpoint, they are a poor way to judge if someone is racist. Perhaps this is part of the era of 'Post Truth'?

[@culturalmarxist2670]

dog whistle is when politicians and the media use subtle racism. they often replace overt racism with classism and xenophobia, dehumanising people by calling them illegals or welfare queens is a way this is done. this is why many nationalists, conservatives and racists love elitist capitalism, because they attack the same people but use different names.

[@TheAtlantaMafia]

This guy is so obsessed with "racism" - that he undercuts the remainder of his discussion.

[@rhiannonhill]

He's right to be. Despite fifty years of legislation and education millions of people still live their whole lives believing white people are genetically superior. Racism in the UK is now worse than it was when I was a kid in the 1950s. Bannon is an admitted White Supremacist and he's in talks with Nigel Farage from UKIP. Of course UKIP isn't going to admit it's racist - due to the small detail that actually it's ILLEGAL to be racist in the UK! But it is. If you have people in your party who are racist, then you are racist. Regardless of policy. Anyway, UKIP is rumoured to have lost it's funding from Arron Banks, who is rumoured to have been funded by the Russians. They in-fight, like all nasty miserable alt-Right people tend to do, so much that they've had about five different 'leaders' in two years. Like the BNP, whose 'leader' kept all the subscriptions and was eventually charged with fraud, UKIP wants a Kleptocracy. Farage took a fat salary, along with his 10 or so cohorts, from his position as an MEP in the EU for 17 years, while attempting to sabotage the EU from within. Apart from the negativity and jawdropping unethicality of this, the moment he succeeded in getting the Brexit vote he hopped on a plane for the USA. His 'American lawyer' is a 'friend' of Bannons. Luckily, the Orange Mussolini, embroiled in his usual clinically narcissistic Twitter meltdowns pretty much ignored him. People need to wake up. UKIP is full of people who left outlawed alt-Right organisations in the UK. I live 30 miles from their Southern HQ in Littlehampton, I've met a lot of people there due to the social scene of which I am part, who are thick, angry, uneducated, racist fantasists who long to return the UK to some fantasy 20th century World. That's what we're up against.

[@robroy6072]

See my comment above about "bathrooms". He's woke. Lets see where he is right now (2020) on these issues. I too was nodding in agreement about the economic analysis* then got hit with the idea that not being pro-trans is akin to denying women the vote. * its plain common sense to know that democratizing the economic yields of automation is necessary. How in God's green earth does he think that the patent holders will forfeit those monies? SW developers and e-commerce companies pioneered these business strategies for the very reason that replicating code is less expensive and more profitable than replicating cars, appliances, etc. He's brilliant and daft at the same time. He is also blithely tone deaf to any concern about slave wages in the third world that makes globalism possible and attractive to industry. Stunning. I learned alot about human nature and "intellectual elites" by watching this video.

[@domzbu]

Economics is great but cultural changes and terrorism are a major common factor for support of Trump, Brexit, Le Pen, Orban etc.

[@heathkitchen4315]

This guy is amazing.

[@rolandhawken6628]

" It's no wonder the undocumented in this country feel insecure " Of course they should you idiot they are avoiding tax and committing crime in order to get by .

[@typicalbraindeaduser]

Wow, I guess I missed it when a shark in Orlando came onto the beach and killed 40 gay dancers at that beach party! Or the San Bernidino shark, that was something eh? Good talk, but a stupid straw man argument ruined his credibility for me.

[@Zkdub4]

You're proving his point. In reality these attacks are exceptionally rare and not a major threat, but you've hyped them up in your mind to be a disproportionately massive issue. Your perception of their threat doesn't match statistical reality.

[@typicalbraindeaduser]

So please, explain to me, how many deaths a year by terrorism are acceptable? 1-10-100-1000-10000? If we can contain this issue by reducing immigration from backwards countries where throwing people off of a roof for homosexuality, keeps their women wrapped up in bee keeper outfits and believes death for apostasy is required, so be it, at least until they reach the 21st century level of civility.

[@Zkdub4]

More people die from vending machines than terrorism, by your deeply flawed logic we should outlaw all vending machines.

[@typicalbraindeaduser]

37 people have been killed by vending machines since 1978. More killed in one night by someone at a night club in one night. Again, answer the question. Do we need to have a Europe style level of terror (Parris/Nice etc.) and tribalism (no-go zones) before we take precautions? I love your logic. His statistics were complete B.S., you took the bait, therefore he was correct. Brilliant. What is he, a serious thinker on these matters or an internet troll?

[@ryacus]

Why would you want to add to the problems you claim we already have?

[@dairyqueen4053]

he is good with the details.

[@douglaslund7188]

The Blarney Stone is in Ireland!!!!

[@martinnolan4800]

I reckon the Scots have a secret one hidden somewhere.