Redefining American Capitalism | Libertarianism and Ayn Rand

Free-market Capitalism was not always part of the American way of life. How did Libertarianism make its way into the political mainstream?
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Thanks to JJ McCullough for explaining Conservatism and Reagan.
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Check out his video on the Rise of the Christian Right!
• How Evangelicals becam...
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Mean Girl: Ayn Rand and the Culture of Greed - Lisa Duggan (2019)
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Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand (1957)
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The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan - Rick Perlstein (2014)
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The Fountainhead (1949) - amzn.to/3o5C25G
Atlas Shrugged Part I (2011) - amzn.to/3qEqfNl
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www.zompist.com/libertos.html
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www.federalregister.gov/docum...
www.nationalreview.com/2005/0...
davidfrum.com/article/were-th...
web.archive.org/web/201401150...
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www.atlassociety.org/post/cel...
www.softpanorama.org/Skeptics/...
www.dissentmagazine.org/onlin...
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www.liberalviewer.com/AynRand.htm
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Video Credits -
The Speech Every 2015 College Grad Needs to Hear - PragerU - • The Speech Every 2015 ...
Ayn Rand - What Is Capitalism? (full course) - Ayn Rand Institute - • Ayn Rand - What Is Cap...
The Mike Wallace Interview with Ayn Rand - Ayn Rand Institute - • The Mike Wallace Inter...
The ideal man: Ayn Rand interviewed by James Day - Atlas Society - • Video
Ayn Rand on Donahue 1979 - • Ayn Rand on Donahue 1979
Ayn Rand Interviewed By Phil Donahue (1980) - • Ayn Rand Interviewed B...
Ayn Rand's Last Public Lecture: The Sanction of the Victims - Libertarianism.org - • Ayn Rand's Last Public...
www.reaganfoundation.org/rona...
Photo Credits -
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Judgment Day: My Years with Ayn Rand" by Nathaniel Branden, 1989 p. 255-256
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Photo 174907303 © Christian Bridgwater | Dreamstime.com
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Produced with the Assistance of Rozarah
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Intro/Outro and Background Music by Michael Cotten/Nomad
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Intro Art and Channel Avatar by PoetheWonderCat
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Hashtags: #politics #history #libertarianism #economics #libertarian #libertarians #aynrand #fountainhead #atlasshrugged #johngalt #dollarsign #conservatism #biggovernment
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Disclaimers:
- Those are fake cigarettes, smoking kills. Do not smoke.
- That's apple juice, not alcohol. Don't drink.
- If the background light is orange, I'm playing a character. Their views do not reflect my own and I refute their stances in their original videos.
This video was sponsored by CuriosityStream and Nebula.

[@KnowingBetter]

Confused about the shoe metaphor? Check out the start of this whole project. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jpXdZ52uqMh3Ztk And JJ's History of the Christian Right - kzbin.info/www/bejne/sKGvdHyZarWph9k For a summary of this project, check out my Reddit post - www.reddit.com/r/KnowingBetter/comments/lvmw9k/all_that_changed_in_1972_a_summary/

[@PanchoVilla-fe8pt]

Wow. Educational. And Fun in the comments lol 😂 . Get some sleep mate

[@froggywam]

So ayn rand wrote 50 shades?

[@PanchoVilla-fe8pt]

Holly f**dge. Bro. Mind blown 🤯 And I learned a lot. Idk. 🤷🏽‍♂️ where do I-err WE go from here?

[@cornfed420]

Oh, that guy late in the video. Man his cocaine like movements made me crazy. Seemed like he was having withdrawal symtoms . Was it a skit he was doing or is that how he is? The only thing he was missing from me just turning off the video was that way of talking that the kids do. You know, when each sentence ends in a higher pitch that makes it seem like a question. I am sure there is a name for it. Actually, if he did that I may have liked it more, It may have been entertaining. Anyway.

[@sebrr039]

I've seen every one of your videos but I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "this project"

[@petroffma]

"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs" John Rogers

[@jonahdodd3920]

underrated comment

[@ronjayrose9706]

Lmao this is amazing

[@MrRemicas]

I love that quote.

[@theZXDgames]

Is that quote from the guy who wrote Transformers?

[@darryljones3009]

"At first, I was happy to be learning how to read, it seemed exciting and magical. But then I read this: Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I read every last word of this garbage, and because of this piece of shit I'm never reading again!" -Officer Barbrady, South Park.

[@QuantumRead]

"Whats so wrong about helping people?" "Nothing, if you do it by your own choice and it's not your primary aim in life" absolutely incredible. Ayn Rand has done the impossible by insinuating that if your main goal in life is to help people you're actually a bad person

[@beentheredonethatoriginals5673]

No, she didn't say it made you a bad person, YOU added that. And how is that anywhere near as bad as KB saying that all white people wanted segregation? How many examples of rampant bigotry have to spew from his orifice before you see it for yourself? This is the least objective review of Rand that I've come across. Might as well ask Hillary what she thinks of Donald Trump. It's gonna be just slightly to the right of CNNs coverage of him. Check out Milton Friedman some time. His interviews are very concise and accurate and typically have a great deal of historical factual evidence to support what he says.

[@nicolarivarossa4027]

you don't get to decide what makes a person good

[@EyeonthePrize247]

@@nicolarivarossa4027 Isn’t that exactly what Ayn Rand is doing in OP’s comment?

[@nicolarivarossa4027]

@@EyeonthePrize247 that's rand's opinion. the point of her philosophy is that you don't impose your opinion on others.

[@EyeonthePrize247]

@@nicolarivarossa4027 I’m not sure I’m understanding where you’re coming from since Ayn was doing just that (telling people her opinions should be implemented).

[@maxheadrom3088]

The term "Social Darwinism" would have really offended Darwin if he heard about it.

[@Ismael-kc3ry]

Without a doubt lol

[@blugaledoh2669]

@@Ismael-kc3ry why?

[@Almanich94]

​@@blugaledoh2669 Because "social darwinism" has nothing to do with Darwin's actual work, because Darwin himself said the theory of evolution applied to species as a whole and not to competition between members of the same species, because Darwin passionately fought against social injustice and the trite "social darwinists" are advocating for his entire life.

[@tj-co9go]

He did hear about it in his lifetime. They already started making such theories right after publication of his work on evolution. Spencer for example

[@nebunezz_r]

@@blugaledoh2669 because Darwin theory of evolution doesn't explain the cause of extinction. Darwin explained how does a species or a member of ecosystem thrive in the place they are in, and compare it to their contemporaries that is under the same genus but in a different species doing in other completely different ecosystem. Put it simply, it's about the difference between Sperm whale and Orca way of life, not the cause of Indian lion extinction.

[@Sebastian-fn1qg]

I had a libertarian teacher who had us read Atlus Shrugged. I remember thinking, "This... doesn't feel quite as thought out as the rest of the books I've read in school."

[@jeffreygao3956]

I never got assigned that pile of paper thank goodness.

[@jeffreygao3956]

@@azlanadil3646 I only call the ones I dislike piles of paper as an insult.

[@warlordnipple]

At a public school?

[@Sebastian-fn1qg]

@@warlordnipple yes. Graduated in 2014 from a public school in Michigan.

[@warlordnipple]

@@Sebastian-fn1qg sounds pretty dumb as he was likely in a union and got all the government benefits the book derides.

[@am19970914]

"I've been an adult for a while now..." Yeah man, I understand, my condolences

[@lauramarschmallow2922]

Also: this is the EXACT same intro as the one about the running shoes.

[@jeremytuttle9439]

Same. But I still paused to like the video when he said "nice."

[@nilesbutler8638]

When he said "If you where born after ´55..." My first thought was - "wouldnt be me" (although I was drafted two years before the practice was set out over here. Then I got depressed, because I wasnt *that* much off....

[@uss_04]

And all the stores we knew as kids are now closing

[@jeffreygao3956]

Adulthood>>>>>>>>>>>>childhood then, now, and forever.

[@johncarlson1862]

Ayn Rand: Altruism is bad; you should never have to sacrifice yourself for someone else Also Ayn Rand: We need a military that’s willing to die to defend our country and our right to own property

[@zs9652]

I know right? That proves the whole thing bunk lol.

[@felinecontrolled]

It's not entirely a contraction when she saw those who would be sacrificed as lesser and thus deserving of their fate. But I see your point. ;)

[@TheRealE.B.]

Fun fact about Ayn Rand: Frank Lloyd Wright, whom she took as inspiration for her *Special Snowflake That Knows Better Than Everyone Else* character Howard Roark, was kind of a sham architect. His "masterpiece", Fallingwater was new when The Fountainhead was released, and may have inspired the title. But the main reason Fallingwater is famous today is because it's a museum, and the reason it's a museum is because it's a sh*t house that no rich person actually wants to stay at or pay to maintain, and it would have been sh*ttier and possibly collapsed under its own weight if the client and builders hadn't vetoed some of Wright's dumber ideas.

[@DarthVader1977]

@@stephenpincetich2099 cinatas nomed

[@mr.l8527]

@@zs9652 It doesn't prove the idea as bunk - only that one of it's figures was imperfect. It is immature to expect that those who advocate for an idea or ideal should be perfect avatars of them. Like you and I, they are human. As humans, we are imperfect and prone to faults. We are, (all of us) faulty, hypocritical, prone to benevolence and malevolence... and we are ultimately selfish. We are walking contradictions as a result of our ideas and societies evolving quicker than we ourselves are ... and it is reflected in the facts of our daily lives and our species' history. Look at who many major historical figures were as people (beyond what they represented) and you'll see for yourself how flawed or "of their time" they were. You must look beyond the individual and look at their ideas for their merits (or lack thereof). It is the ideas that matter - not the purveyors of them. A wonderful person can have terrible ideas ... and a terrible person can have good ideas. A wise or educated person can have foolish notions and ideas whereas a foolish or uneducated person can have intelligent ideas. And an idea may not be perfect but there can be something there from which to grow upon. It's the idea. Not the person.

[@Jekyllstein_Gray]

I can't get over the hilarity of Ayn Rand forming "The Collective."

[@TheCarrShow]

You probably could if you thought about it.

[@codex8085]

If you haven't been brainwashed by marxism you would realize it's just a word

[@flameyay5207]

She also collected welfare. She was a giant hypocrite.

[@chcknpie04]

I love how Ayn Rand is totally against collectivism, but then names this consortium of great men the collective

[@snowballeffect7812]

She was not the brightest bulb. She seemed very insecure about her barely-average intelligence, as well.

[@BigWheel.]

@@snowballeffect7812 you knew her?

[@Eudaletism]

I'm pretty sure she was aware of the irony and was joking.

[@codex8085]

The first thing an Individualist should do is liberate himself from the dogma of socialist meanings

[@Eudaletism]

@@codex8085 It took a long while for socialism to click for me. We're not exactly embedded in it. The concepts to first liberate yourself from are liberal and capitalist ones, since we are swimming in liberal capitalist "water".

[@thedemongodvlogs7671]

This is the most ambitious crossover between KB characters ever

[@TheBigRedskull]

The KB Expanded Universe’s Avengers

[@setlerking]

It’s a collection of individuals. It’s a clever play on Rands ideas

[@thecharlemagnekid9997]

yeah that new canadian character he introduced is great!

[@Prodigious1One]

Absolutely.

[@chrisborne1646]

KBU>MCU!!!!

[@zachrobinson8357]

As someone in Gen Z, I have constantly asked the question, “well if it’s always been this way, why has nobody tried to change it yet? It clearly isn’t working. I’m not blind.” And I almost never get a straight answer. Usually it’s “oh but that’ll disrupt ____” or maybe something like, “but who’s gonna pay for that? We got like trillions in debt.” And I hate every time I hear it. Especially since I come from a line of entrepreneurs who sorta subscribe to this kind of ideology. Whenever I bring up Wall Street, people avoid the topic. Whenever I talk about solutions that could improve the school system (getting rid of 100% lecture-style classes because they don’t work, changing the way we view grades / getting rid of them altogether and creating a new system, etc.), people are opposed to it despite DECADES of research. It’s really frustrating when people say that I’m wrong but provide no counter argument. Anyways, rant aside, great video! Loved the point at the end, and I think that it should be explored more deeply, as a good amount of that generation seems devoted to influencing our generations for fear of change.

[@jacofalltrades7610]

As a 32 year old cynical af American, I am banking on you, my friend. We millennials are having a tough time moving the boomers along. They totally locked out gen xers but in another 15 years or so it'll hopefully be smoother sailing

[@bongwelll]

It hasn't always been this way. After the great depression the government regulated banks and even before that Teddy Roosevelt trust busted. Franklin Roosevelt made a social safety net. Then every politician since Reagan has chipped away at both of those protections and let the rich bankers do whatever their greedy black hearts desired. Combine that with the war on drugs(aka war on the poor) and mass incarceration which is cheaper than welfare plus you can have prison labor work for corporations for 9 cents an hour. That's how you dystopian hellscape we live in now.

[@beentheredonethatoriginals5673]

@@jacofalltrades7610 hmm. I have 4 daughters age 31 to 36. 3 of them own their homes, one owns 2. 3 of them are successful and one not so much, but she has made a number of questionable life choices. None of them were handed anything, but they did have 2 supportive parents that helped them make appropriate choices in life, they are anything but "locked out" and they were never told they were victims, but the youngest one took that approach and that's the main reason she hasn't been successful nor has she purchased a home. I hired a 35 y.o. and a 38 y.o. to do work on my property. After 2 days I let the older one go and the younger guy worked for me for the next 6 weeks. A hard worker that stayed off his phone, paid attention to details, not the fastest guy but a meticulous worker. I set him up with my nephew (also 35) who is in charge of several HVAC jobs at the airport that are scheduled to take 4 years, and now that guy I hired makes 38 bucks an hour with good benefits. There's too many examples of millennial that are doing well for me to believe any nonsense about being locked out. Look at your options, always strive to do better, don't be afraid of hard work, and don't sit around looking for handouts and you have just as many opportunities as any previous generation.

[@beentheredonethatoriginals5673]

One question. How do you measure what a student has learned without grading a test? That's it, one topic. Really wondering what the alternative(s) is/are.

[@dominicgunderson]

@@beentheredonethatoriginals5673 Love it when geriatric boomers use anecdotale evidence to ignore systemic and social realities. What's it like to live in a world where you can pretend that the average wage does as much as it did back when you were in your 30's? What's it like to play fantasy and pretend that housing is purchasable with a middle-income job? What's it like to be so incessantly selfish and so cartoonishly binary in your thinking that you actually regurgitate 'bootstraps' philosophy. As a 19 year old it makes me pretty sad that someone can be as old as you are, and live in modern times with a brain stuck 50 years in the past. I hope you can change your mindset and stop being a bane on society before you die.

[@clownfromclowntown]

I think it’s just a shame that such a cool title as “Atlas Shrugged” was wasted on such a politically bad take. However, for a long time I actually thought the title was “Atlas Struggled”, and in my head thought it was a really cool book about how a god tasked with holding up the entire earth struggled with that feat, and sort of was a narrative about Atlas’ internal dialogue as he underwent such an arduous and soul crushing task. I wish my brain version could’ve been the real one 😔

[@Desmaad]

There's no reason you can't use that title for your imagined story.

[@ernestoacosta7918]

I thought atlas shrugged sounded like they carried the world but still shrugged like “it is what it is”, but apparently the book has its atlas’s(industrialists) not shrug off a perceived burden to carry, but more whine and throw a tantrum to it and destroy the things that benefit people

[@letsRegulateSociopaths]

Atlas Shagged (the common man)

[@jeffersonclippership2588]

Especially since Atlas is an accurate metaphor for the working class

[@hogndog2339]

Seriously. “Atlas Shrugged” evokes vivid imagery, that the end result is so incredibly disappointing

[@werther7871]

incredible that the pinnacle of individualism would create a cult called "The Collective"

[@thenoblepoptart]

They aren’t individualists, they are insanely collectivist, they literally view anyone outside their cult as ignorant parasitic beasts, and consider it deserved if they meet a gruesome fate. They don’t care about an individuals life or prosperity, only that of their cult collective of “enlightened industrialists” prospers. Jeff Bezos space colony/Total Recall philosophy.

[@hiage66666]

bruh xD

[@mnxt2329]

A cult? You mean the circle of people she socialized with??🙄 Who called themselves "the collective" as a joke?

[@rottendrestantje]

In Europe we simply call them nazis.

[@undead_corsair]

The pinnacle of irony.

[@goodsocksproductions9397]

"she changed her name to Ayn Rand" Well that was an unexpected twist

[@cdw2468]

i was like “who is he talking about?” and then that line dropped and it was a serious “ohhhh... oh no...” moment

[@TitanBait]

That part hit me like a truck

[@DarthVader1977]

nomed

[@makkapakka8895]

I mean he showed a picture of her

[@goodsocksproductions9397]

@@makkapakka8895 I was just listening to the audio :- P plus not everyone knows her face

[@ibnbob7847]

I have found that when reading Atlas Shrugged (or anything by Rand for that matter) it helps immeasurably in keeping one's sanity to imagine the dialogue as being spoken by various Looney Toons characters-- Bugs Bunny for Dagny Taggart, Yosemite Sam for John Galt, and so on. For the narration I like to use Graham Chapman's tut-tutting army officer from Monty Python.

[@elfieinblack4618]

I would like to formally nominate this human for KZbin commenter of the year

[@antlerbraum2881]

That’s wise

[@Sarah-re7cg]

I haven’t read anything by her and only will out of absolute necessity so as to understand what material has turned to many peoples minds into a toxic sludge dump site. I know not to psycho-analyze people, but there is absolutely no way in hell that Ayn Rand wasn’t suffering from severe, severe narcissistic personality disorder. It’s horrifying that a lot of people, mostly Republicans see this as some kind of inspiration or blueprint for how society should be. Delusional narcissistic psychopathy.

[@gsp4prez]

I need that audio book.

[@Rexini_Kobalt]

i have never, ever though of doing this for books i dislike. you sir, are an absolute revolutionary

[@Dancingonthesun]

Ayn rand going on social assistance later in life is endlessly funny to me

[@setlerking]

She literally uses the “your nitpicking and biased I win, bye bye” excuse to not have to explain her beliefs

[@camperwithknife]

That’s just not true, you’re nitpicking and biased. I win bye bye

[@Usagi393]

“I judge your reasoning to be inferior to mine. Bye-bye!”

[@sekroz896]

It's the perfect Position. Since you don't agree with me, you must be crazy and therefore wrong, so I don't have to explain myself.

[@cooperross9495]

Yes, although anyone who claims that excuse is ALWAYS a bad one has not had to watch a fifty post discord conversation railing against "cultural marxism."

[@justderp5713]

This is just like arguing philosophy at Ayn Rand’s house! - shreks

[@charlieputzel7735]

Am I the only one who finds it hilarious that Rand was only able to get an education because the Bolsheviks opened up Russian universities to women?

[@B_Van_Glorious]

And then pull social security at the end. Just buckets within buckets of hypocrisy.. like Russian nesting dolls.

[@tanizaki]

And newlywed couples in Nazi Germany could only afford a new house thanks to government loans. So what?

[@SuperKing604]

Yeah i noticed that to, so they did a good thing but also a lot of bad, real life is just complicated like that. Getting out of Russia as stalin was taking over was a good call.

[@robinthestate6548]

@@tanizaki exactly...🤦🏻‍♂️ people act like you're supposed to be thankful to tyrants and murder if they do a few good things. it's like saying people in Mexico should be thankful they have cartels because they pave some roads...

[@comradelayla5635]

Not only that but also make it free

[@PaulMcElligott]

Like the Bible, _Atlas Shrugged_ is a favorite book among people who mostly haven’t read it.

[@fallendown8828]

Same with Quran

[@jeffreygao3956]

But the Bible is actually good and Atlas Shrugged is worthless.

[@PaulMcElligott]

@@jeffreygao3956 The Bible is good? That’s a matter of opinion and an opinion I don’t share.

[@maxhasproblems4885]

don’t forget 1984

[@surengrigorian7888]

@@PaulMcElligott You have to admit, the teachings of Christ as established in the New Testament are an excellent basis for morality, as opposed to the philosophy of Atlas Shrugged.

[@nokiaarabicringtone1418]

The individualists literally formed a group called "the Collective" Beyond parody.

[@aformofmatter8913]

Even the most hyperindividualistic "objectivist" must bow before the reality that the individual can accomplish nothing, & that only collectives can take any effective action Such is the folly of the capitalist

[@lol-xs9wz]

"The Collective" This has to be deliberate irony.

[@3asianassassin]

No, Ayn Rand was just stupid

[@andrewbenbow9257]

It obviously was an attempt at irony, but if you believe people who are not the producers are ignorant, I guess the point would be self defeating. Ugh...

[@sammosaurusrex]

@@andrewbenbow9257 Do you mean “people who are not the owners?” Most people on the left consider workers to be “the producers,” since they’re the ones producing everything

[@NatCo-Supremacist]

@@mangonel collectives are more nationalist than communist

[@bugfighter5949]

@@NatCo-Supremacist Don't answer him, he has no idea what communism is.

[@mycool8980]

Is it ironic Ayn rand died living off Social security?

[@KaiserMattTygore927]

LMFAO

[@tabenstock7119]

No because the vast majority of hucksters don’t practice anything that they believe. It’s fitting!

[@SampatK164]

Well, it's the same way most red states whose Governors rail about federal overreach are the ones whose budgets rely most on federal loans.

[@ib8025]

I mean to be fair they are gonna take your money no matter what may as well take some of it back.

[@DJlovesjiujitsu]

About as ironic as Karl Marx leeching off of Frederick Engels. Somebody who inherited his wealth

[@dmrr7739]

Finding a “free energy motor” fits right in with Libertarian thinking.

[@danf3201]

Finding a free energy motor and not sharing it even though it's not yours in the first place is such a Libertarian thing. "Oh, look what I found, the solution to all of man's problems. No you can't have it second person to walk into this building, you're a useless parasite, just trying to mooch off my incredible and self-made success."

[@selfdo]

If such a thing were possible, what'd be wrong with an enterprising engineer developing and marketing it? Of course, it won't happen, so don't waste time in fantasyland.

[@Craxin01]

@@selfdo If you had something that produced infinite free power and you produced them, what would happen after everyone had one? No more market. In Ayn Rand's opinion, it'd be ideal, the "maker" would reap all the money, but then the "takers" (workers) would be out of a job. We'd benefit as a society from such a device, but a corporation would collapse. Why do you think everything is so disposable now? Built in infinite supply of customers.

[@selfdo]

@@Craxin01 Pipe dream. Come back to the REAL world. Neither matter nor energy can simply be created out of nothing. Now, if you're talking about getting usable power much cheaper and in a more practical manner, then you've got something that there'd be an inherent market for. Ultimately, free markets are the result of CHOICE, i.e., the consumer picks what he believes to be the best value or most feasible. It doesn't matter what Ayn Rand had to say about it.

[@Craxin01]

@@selfdo I wasn't saying infinite free energy is possible, I'm saying that, if it was (if being the active word), then it would destroy the company that makes it. Business requires repeat customers to survive. Guaranteeing your customers never need to come back would kill your business. Best case scenario, someone that created some mythical infinite free energy source would need to sell the energy, not the device producing it, like a power company.

[@shaurmiath6719]

Objectivism just sounds like the philosophy of "what I believe is correct because I say 'factually' and 'objectively' before I say what I think, and when you disagree, I say your thoughts are invalid."

[@iammrbeat]

A great last episode of the season in which all the characters reunite.

[@ChromeStryder]

Bruh Mr.beast???

[@ry6651]

You're the dad of Mr. Beast

[@kraftymum]

Hey there Mr. Beat. Just wanted to let you know I’ve been fully enjoying your content for the past year and have recently gotten my 9 year old hooked. She loves your videos about the presidents. Thanks for your hard work. 👍🏼

[@PatriotMapper]

Hi daddy :)

[@SoapBurger]

mr breast give me money

[@LiraNuna]

For the gamers out there: Please know that Ayn Rand was a giant influence to the Bioshock storyline. "Andrew Ryan", "Atlas", the subplot of elitists escaping society to create a utopia, etc...

[@thewilson452]

For music lovers, literally half of Rush's lyrics quote Ayn Rand or are influenced heavily.

[@EilonwyWanderer]

KB even referenced Bioshock at the end -- 48:42 "...so if you'd like to be kept in the loop, would you kindly subscribe..." 😁

[@Memorex996]

Andrew Ryan = We R Ayn Rand

[@QuintessentialWalrus]

Yep. I always describe BioShock as the only Ayn Rand story with a realistic outcome. The citizens of Rapture have to pay for AIR for God's sake!

[@maxsalmon4980]

Yeah, but Bioshock is hardly an endorsement of Objectivism.

[@AsbestosMuffins]

watching clips of her, she was a goddamn eugenicists and embraced by far too many people who knew better especially when we're talking about this being the 1930s, 40s, and 50s

[@cryo311]

the problem with the atlas metaphor is that rand has it completely backwards. if anyone’s “bearing the weight of the sky”, it’s not capitalists, it’s workers, a pyramid topples without its base. THAT’S LITERALLY THE IDEA BEHIND A STRIKE

[@johnnynick6179]

It is YOU that has it backwards. The industrialists, entrepreneurs, business owners and risk-takers are the people feeding and housing and clothing you and keeping YOU alive. Workers are fungible. They do ONLY what they are told and taught to do by those industrious and energetic enough to provide them with the tools necessary to accomplish the tasks assigned. When one worker drops out there is another waiting to take his place.

[@tcg1476]

It’s funny how a libertarian made a group called the collective

[@LiveFreeOrDieDH]

My thought exactly as I heard that. I was like, "Wait... really?"

[@General12th]

Flat Earth Society has members all around the globe!

[@beaub152]

Reminds me of hitler calling his party "National Socialism"

[@manospondylus4896]

Also funny how Rand spent the last years of her life mooching off the government

[@burper-oe6tm]

@@beaub152 yeah he was nationalist, but far from socialist

[@ScienceAsylum]

50-minutes is insane, dude. You're one of the few channels I can watch videos that long in one sitting, but dang! It must have been so much work!

[@knoahbody69]

He recycled all of the time he spent on costumes for the last couple of videos.

[@hexramdass2644]

Science Asylum! Great to see you here, love your videos too!

[@chaiti1985]

Yea...a lot of work from him misunderstanding and misrepresenting topics and themes. A toddler taking a crap on the floor and smearing it around for an hour could seem like a lot of work too - but it's probably best if we stop it after a few minutes.

[@FragmentJack]

@@chaiti1985, it’s fine if you believe he’s misrepresenting topics and themes, but not pointing out specific examples only makes it look like you’ve maybe have some passing knowledge on the subject and can’t actually identify said elements that you take issue with.

[@chaiti1985]

@@FragmentJack continue to find my comments. I've pointed out examples for your dissertation.

[@avery4149]

I studied this extensively in college, and it took my professor half a semester to help us understand how today's economy came to be. So thanks for the revision and summary of the stuff that I have learnt.

[@hendrsb33]

When I was still in school, ATLAS SHRUGGED was a compelling title. Made me want to read it. But once I found out more about Ayn Rand, I couldn't bring myself to touch that book.

[@revan7383]

I think the title is the best thing about the book lol

[@mousesteam7882]

​@@revan7383It's a great name for an apocalypse series.

[@RextheRebel]

You should still read it. Simply because it gives you a better insight into your enemy. As they say, know your enemy.

[@perotekku]

​@@RextheRebelI stand by that, to an extent. For example, I thoroughly detest Charles De Gaulle, yet I read his biography to better understand his motivations. However, I can't bring myself to read "Atlas Shrugged", or works such as "Mein Kampf". Outright delusional ramblings, I feel, only drag the mind down.

[@MrRaulstrnad]

you have a point but...telling someone to read it...more easily said than done, it really is a godawful book, at times you have to wonder if the author is the victim of undiagnosed paranoid schizophrenia this theory would explain a lot of things but really just the novel itself is the absolute lowpoint of literature @@RextheRebel

[@timothytikker3834]

"This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force." -- Dorothy Parker, reviewing Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged"

[@demian5631]

I need to steal that one, it's perfect.

[@chaotickreg7024]

It's a hefty book

[@jeffreygao3956]

@@chaotickreg7024 And boring as it is hefty.

[@defaultkoala2922]

@@jeffreygao3956 I enjoy the story. I find the politics to be the insane rambling of a madwoman though.

[@benjaminhenderson7059]

Only value is as emergency toilet paper

[@bugfighter5949]

Who names their philosophy something like objectivism ? Oh yeah, my new philosophy ? It's called "smart chad thinking".

[@funnycat9962]

Oh, what, you don’t believe in powerful brain juice? Kinda cringe.

[@brutusthebear9050]

Because it's based on Objective reality?

[@briantime3762]

@@brutusthebear9050 yeah but its based on her view of objective reality which as the video explains A isn't objective and B nhst her opinion

[@franciscoflamenco]

@@brutusthebear9050 Point is that her "objective" reality is, obviously, subjective.

[@corymoon2439]

I for one have founded the new ideology Chadism, contrasted by the Virgins

[@The2012Aceman]

"There has never been a truly communist country..." -typing- "...or a Capitalist one, for that matter." And that's why I like you.

[@zac5572]

This is a fundamentally misunderstanding what capitalism is, it’s simply the current system which what was given the term capitalism by Marx and other economists of his time

[@zac5572]

The initial use of the term "capitalism" in its modern sense is attributed to Louis Blanc in 1850 ("What I call 'capitalism' that is to say the appropriation of capital by some to the exclusion of others")

[@The2012Aceman]

@@zac5572 That sort of removes Adam Smith's role as the "founder" of Capitalism and Economics.

[@w8ting4fri]

As someone who grew up in an objectivist household and hasn’t thought about this stuff in 10+ years, it’s wild to go back through all of this lol

[@KarlSnarks]

What was the experience growing up in such a household?

[@w8ting4fri]

@@KarlSnarks interesting

[@KarlSnarks]

@@w8ting4fri In a good or bad way, or a bit of both?

[@w8ting4fri]

@@KarlSnarks both.

[@PyrotechNick77]

Oh my gods, Ayn Rand did the "buy avocado toast vs save toward owning a home" analogy with the lipstick/doctor scenario.

[@Nerobyrne]

yup. Completely ignoring the point that medicine in USA is often too expensive for people to save up for. Of course she didn't care, she was on government assistance -.-

[@norml.hugh-mann]

@@Nerobyrne nor can anyone predict stuff like accidents of major illness.

[@Nerobyrne]

@@norml.hugh-mann you wrote that in the wrong comment lol

[@Nerobyrne]

@@Dynamo33 there is no reason healthcare should be private

[@Nerobyrne]

@@Dynamo33 why isn't it the norm? Because other countries place limits on what private healthcare is allowed to do, and actually enforce those limits. If those didn't exist, it would be the same everywhere. The only times private healthcare is good is when it's forced to be less private.

[@demongrenade2748]

I love how knowing better cycled through literally all of his characters.

[@AlteryxGaming]

Not uncle Try Kno Betta. No one remembers pineapple man

[@ernestoacosta7918]

Not sin better 👿

[@vinceellis673]

satan and angel!

[@casualpequod6054]

Try Know Bettah wasn't there, but that would have fit. Try Know Bettah was just a joke after all.

[@noizeemama3697]

As an older Gen X'er, we were left out of everything. Our music (few movie sound tracks with real rock n roll and it was not played on muzak at stores), clothing (we are required to dress like our children or grandmothers), politics, and so much more. It's our fault (by being complacent) that the world it is the way it is now. We just sat quietly instead of continuing to fight for our rights. I truly am sorry about that Millennials.

[@mnxt2329]

What u talking about, you guys had some of the best music and pretty cool fashion

[@noizeemama3697]

@@mnxt2329 What I'm saying is that our music wasn't used for movie soundtracks during our youth. Once our clothes were out of style we were expected to dress like our children or our parents. For the most part this is still true.

[@mnxt2329]

@@noizeemama3697 shit that sucks, but at least the music from your youth wasnt Britney Spears and Limp Bizkit. Dont really remember many classic movies made thru the 2000's either😭

[@noizeemama3697]

@@mnxt2329 I had kids that listened to that shit so I had to suffer through it anyway. LOL Thank you for loving good music!

[@mnxt2329]

@@noizeemama3697 😂😂😂😂😭😭😭

[@whiteorchid5412]

From my observation a consistent defect I've found in conservative and libertarian ideology is that they frame almost every issue in terms of a false binary choice based on extremes. For example either you believe in and support the primacy of individual over society or you believe that the best interest of the society exceeds the primacy of the individual and that is strictly an either/or proposition. When the reality is both things are equally important. Therefore a balance has to be found between the two.

[@KarlSnarks]

Funny how many left-libertarian ideologies on the other hand look at those things the exact opposite, that the freedom of the individual is inseparable from the level of egalitarianism and solidarity of the community and vise versa. So not just that they're both important, but that one can necessarily not function without the other.

[@MrMarinus18]

I think that's a false "centrist" perspective. Of course individual choice matters and it's not something either ideologies disagree on. What matters is when the two come into conflict. What should matter: The individual rights of the elite or the collective right of the larger majority?

[@mssouth1964]

Where's the balance when I have to pay property taxes on my home when I got a bonus at my job at the end of the year the government took 50 percent taxes on that bonus .if you have to pay property taxes you dont own that property

[@MrRaulstrnad]

but everyone has to pay taxes and you can always sell the house so yes you own it @@mssouth1964

[@zombielizard218]

The shoes were a metaphor? THE SHOES WERE A METAPHOR?!

[@brookslewis5220]

The shoes weren't the metaphor, all of the other videos about the government were just a metaphor for shoes.

[@the_algorithm]

There are no shoes

[@manuelalejandrolopezrodrig3786]

Should I get a NEW pair of shoes?

[@dheerajprakash1419]

Gotta appreciate him making an entire video just to be a running metaphor

[@Jonathan-pp5zc]

Didn't we already try the "new shoes" and it caused the death and starvation of millions?

[@GdEvInE141]

Wow an entire video on Ayn Rand that doesn't reference BioShock KB: "would you kindly subscribe" god damnit

[@TheJanitorIsIn]

I'm pretty certain he's familiar with it too

[@eccentriastes6273]

I think I spy an out of focus big daddy on the shelf in the background.

[@thejason755]

He had us all in the first half, ain’t gonna lie

[@user-wm2sc6rz4l]

Ayn Rand and Ronald Reagan prove that human beings can live without a heart or a brain.

[@jeffreygao3956]

Maybe not; They at least had some good ideas.

[@conservativepatrioticstrai5218]

​@@jeffreygao3956Or they never had. The impact we have now, can be traced back to his era, just as those of brits' can be traced back to thatcher's (UK's reagan, while we were having reagan, Lol)

[@jeffreygao3956]

@@conservativepatrioticstrai5218 At least Raegan did negotiate peace with the Soviet Union and Rand stood up for abortion rights and opposed organized religion.

[@ccv1929]

​@@jeffreygao3956"Peace" while funding muslim extremists in Pakistan and given them missile launchers to invade a former Soviet ally (Afghanistan). Search up operation cyclone.

[@1SaG]

I think Jon Oliver put it best a few years ago: Ayn Rand and her "philosophy" are something you're supposed to grow out of after puberty. Like hand-jobs. On a side note: The more I learn about Ayn Rand in general and Atlas Shrugged in particular, the more I think I really should've read that book (or at least a Cliff-Notes summary) before I ever played Bioshock.

[@mentonerodominicano]

"The baby boomers never let go of that power." This is such an important point. Baby boomers changed the system, they're still in Congress defending that system and after implementing all of those austerity measures most of them are just moving to Florida (or any "low tax" State) so they can use all of the wealth they inherited to live in gated communities.

[@MTerrance]

Please...as a Baby Boomer I am on the left, even the far left. Baby Boomers are as diverse as any generation of Americans. Who do you think were the hippies? I understand people like to use labels, but the very people who decry labels seem as prone to using labels as anyone, long as it is Bay Boomers.

[@Quintinohthree]

@@MTerrance As we say, the exception proves the rule.

[@Magnulus76]

@@MTerrance Plenty of hippies grew up to vote Republican.

[@altrag]

Well there's one enemy they'll never be able to defeat - time. Sooner or later the boomers will have no choice but to relinquish power. Lets just hope we have a planet left to rebuild on by the time they do. (Though given we've got the likes of Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor-Green coming to the forefront, I'm not so sure that the boomer replacements will really be all that much better. Changing politics is one thing but more of an issue is that they've changed expectations about what society even _should_ be. And that will last a lot longer than any particular piece of legislation.)

[@IkeOkerekeNews]

@@Quintinohthree Nah, they only prove how stupid the concept of "generations" are.

[@-xphobia]

Game theory: She is the most successful destabilizing Soviet agent.

[@Mastercrazybird]

With the Troll Farm approach that Russia's taking now... Yeah, I can see that. But that's JUST A THEORY!

[@ulti-mantis]

@@Mastercrazybird Maybe they didn't send Rand as a destabilizing agent, but *learned* the technique from the effects she had in US politics?

[@Mastercrazybird]

No one said "a game theory" and I'm sad now.

[@this.is.spencer]

@Luís Andrade Well if you insist on using a private definition of "destabilizing", which seems to be "being a part of antifa", then yeah I agree, Rand definitely was not anti-fascist. If we're playing the private definitions game, I can say something like: "Ayn Rand murdered a school bus full of children." Of course I'm using a private definition of "murdered", by which I meant "wrote". And by "school bus" I meant "book", and by "full of children", I meant "called Atlas Shrugged." So, yeah, if you accept all those definitions, we can definitively say that Ayn Rand murdered a school bus full of children. Here in society, though, where language is a shared construct to convey meaning, we might collectively decide to use the word "destabilize" to mean "make less stable". And under that definition, it's not hard to see (and is demonstrated by the video) how Rand's ideology lead to politics that privatized and deregulated institutions, weakening them. For example, a lot of people would consider the subprime mortgage crisis both the result and cause of destabilization, which can be credited to Randian ideas.

[@onetwothree4148]

Yeah I'd call chanting "abolish the police" and "death to America" destabilizing (Google the videos if you didn't catch those protests on CNN)

[@bedrock6443]

The switch from the very serious KB to the more energetic JJ is crazy.

[@Warentester]

Mate, live your videos! You are a great teacher. I am amazed by your ability to break down complex issues into a way that is easy to understand. But I also really like the diverse choice of topics that urgently need a level headed breakdown, as the current debate is solely consisting of emotional and/or ignorant shouting matches between entrenched positions. Keep it up!

[@PotentialHistory]

I too as a first year business major believe Atlas Shrugged is the model of a perfect society. This belief proves I am smarter and better than everybody else for making such a bold unique observation, completely validating my acting this way. No I will never change my mind about this or develop my beliefs as I get older and gain actual life experience. It's not a phase mom! I'm not just being edgy! I'm an objectivist and always will be! Also, the rules at 19:30 are incredible, how can someone be so egotistical with a strait face and 100% expect to be taken seriously? The world is a crazy place man.

[@treetheoak8313]

The worst part is that from my anecdotal evidence shes not too far off from any minority being abused from systems of power. A lot of people from her side of history who "make it" would like to believe they deserved it over the reality that their success was a combination of serendipity and old fashioned dumb luck. I know a lot of people who work hard. Work smart and are incredibly intelligent and through happenstance are living in poverty. And a lot of people who have the same qualities or dumb qualities that live the same way or as 1 percenter. Capitalism doesn't care if you have merit. It doesn't have space for it. Assigning a morality to it is asinine. But nope "I made it and I work hard so the system is fine!" is what the average person would rather believe. Also when's the next tank meme video?

[@TheSunderingSea]

As a first year history major *ahem* 5 Shermans 1 Tiger

[@MrOzzification]

@@treetheoak8313 Massive survivorship bias with those types. And its incredibly difficult to get them to understand that capitalism isn't the meritocracy its been promised to be.

[@leonst.7471]

Oi Wanabee hatch guy is the next video already on the cutting floor?

[@deffranca3396]

@@treetheoak8313 capitalism is not about merit, is about bringing value to others

[@JJMcCullough]

Man, what a twist!

[@unagjac890]

Lol you and I are watching this video at the same time

[@masonator232]

THE GOAT

[@AllMustJump]

Omg, its a big KZbinr! I have to like his comment!

[@Scaffiddles]

I had this playing while I was working and I was like “wait I know that voice” . Great work!

[@vedrancorluka1332]

Everybodies favourite reader

[@mojcakrivec295]

It's really funny how I can suddenly put pieces of history together in my own head compared to listening to my high school teachers. You are good. You have tegridy:D Thank you for your work!

[@mehmedmaloparic]

I discovered your channel recently and I find it very easy to listen and absorb your arguments. I don't agree on everything you say but it makes me think, which is always good. Rand is weird and she has some nuggets of wisdom in her writings but you presented really well why her overall philosophy doesn't really work in an actual society.

[@xp_studios7804]

"All that changed in 1971" is basically the history of the modern United States

[@GregLanz]

Or people have short memories and always think that the time they're living in is completely different... Change that now to 2001 for modernization or go back to 1951 for another take on the same thing then 1931, 1911.......... this phenomena has been happening for multiple millenia

[@trash9378]

@@GregLanz Actually crazy you're saying we don't live in different times from 2001

[@tteotdead]

"Everything changed when the fire nation attacked..."

[@tamber5977]

hey nice tux icon =)

[@innovativeatavist159]

Curiously the middle class has been shrinking steadily since 1972...hmmmm.... I wonder...

[@sciencoking]

Me 10 minutes in: Why is everyone talking about crossovers? Me 30 minutes in: Oh my god

[@MarcoLandin]

You are consistently amazing at what you do. Thanks for another killer explainer! This one took a ton of prep & study.

[@1st1anarkissed]

It's so weird how I read Ayn Rand vs how the world, and apparently she, meant it. I read her stuff as satire, like A Modest Proposal. I was a kid, read everything she ever wrote, and came out a social anarchist. With the idea that we are responsible to each other but may not try to force conformity. Because the worlds in her books were so awful. I really honestly thought she was a socio anarchist, not a liberalist. Just from reading her books!

[@MrRaulstrnad]

not only were her books totally unrealistic-one guy at the top leaves and the whole organization collapses (that happened many times in real world history and the result was that the underlings just took over like nothing happened), free energy machines (violates scientific laws) but her make believe world was a world of slaves and rape and devoid of children Rand was a very unbalanced individual

[@Corporis]

This has to be the most ambitious character crossover in the Better Cinematic Universe

[@JosephKerr27]

"No one can be a fully consistent individualist who disagrees with Ayn Rand on any fundamental issue." It's hard to believe this sentence actually exists, yet there it is.

[@rickrolld1367]

Do Libertarians not realise that there's more to politics than Capitalist and Communist?

[@steffengustavsen9678]

@@rickrolld1367 there is a scale and the longer to the right you go the better society becomes. Just look at scandinavia. Denmark is the country with less regulations and they do better than Sweden and Norway. I am norwegian and i can tell you that in many ways Norway is more capitalist than america. Most of the problems in america is caused by socialism. Expensive housing and healthcare is all because of government regulations.

[@rickrolld1367]

@@steffengustavsen9678 You do realise that Scandinavia has much more regulations on things, right? I mean they have taxes on addictive substances, 10% of the economy is owned by the government, healthcare and service are mostly public and are highly regulated to meet standards.

[@steffengustavsen9678]

@@rickrolld1367 i lived in the US and i live in Norway now. I can tell you there are lots of regulations in the US, Germany etc we dont have in Norway. Tax is not a regulation. For example Norway never had any regulations that tells people to wear a mask. Only regulation is that if you cant keep 1 meter distance in public transport then you must wear a mask. Taxes are also much less complicated than in the US.Anyways both countries would be better off without all the regulations.

[@stardustnation2480]

I mean that's technically true, but the world isn't so simple that an ideology based on non-contradiction would be adequate to administrate over society

[@paulbaeza7]

KB:*Explaining the fairly dark premise of Atlas Shrugged* The Music: 😀

[@makigames6530]

The best adoption of any Ayn Rand book is still Bioshock

[@anthonybeervor2265]

"a person she viewed as inferior to herself. That's why she ended it according to her, not jealousy." lol, still sounds like jealousy to me.

[@fab006]

BS. The romantic relationship had ended long before their break.

[@damonhage7451]

It wasn't the fact that he was sleeping with other people or who those other people were, it is that he lied about sleeping with other people. Also like fab pointed out, the timeline is relevant here.

[@nithinsrivatsa4726]

44:33 "Government is the problem. Vote for me to lead the government"

[@Nerobyrne]

I mean, that does make sense if you're a reforminst. The only other option is a violent revolution.

[@nithinsrivatsa4726]

@@Nerobyrne There's a difference between saying the government has problems, and the government is the problem. Only the former can claim to be a reformist.

[@Nerobyrne]

@@nithinsrivatsa4726 Yeah, that's why neo-liberalism is an ideological failure. They preach like revolutionaries but act like reformers. That's because the leaders don't really care about politics, they just want to make big number go up. And the specific number is the one in their bank accounts.

[@voxpopuli7910]

@@nithinsrivatsa4726 knowing what the American military industrial complex is, it is the government that is the problem.

[@josephang9927]

As long as they make government less powerful, why not?

[@aethelflaed6814]

Watch this for like the 20th time. Still a banger. Great summary of the book, great tie-in to prior videos, compelling thesis, surprisingly smooth transition to that ad read, and one heck of a call to action 👍🏻

[@SophieB_Ofcl]

The writer of the book: "Atlas shrugged" IS John gault. I feel like she gave businesses the opportunity to do what is happening today..

[@RequiemNocturne1]

“This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.” - Dorothy Parker on Atlas Shrugged

[@timothymclean]

But only if you're conscious of what you're throwing it _towards._ One thousand sixty-nine pages can do a lot of damage-you don't want to waste that chance.

[@RequiemNocturne1]

@@timothymclean I used to own a copy of Atlas Shrugged. I feel like the amount of trees killed in order to make copies of that book is an atrocity.

[@Kehwanna]

@@RequiemNocturne1 Fortunately you can PDF everything now.

[@RequiemNocturne1]

@@Kehwanna The only thing I PDF these days is guitar tabs.

[@metroplexprime9901]

@@Kehwanna Hell, it seems like a waste of drive space.

[@1337w0n]

My favorite part is how a single rail line is capable of threatening an entire transportation network. Because Somehow rail lines aren't a natural monopoly.

[@JETZcorp]

Back in the day, the rail lines really weren't much of a natural monopoly. If you wanted to get something from Chicago to LA, you had at least 4 competing routes. Some of them really were better than others for some stupid reasons. For example, Union Pacific's route was set in the original transcontinental railroad program, for which the government paid by the mile and also granted land rights for miles either side of the track. So Union Pacific built their line in a squiggly route in order to claim ownership of more native lands which they could then use or sell (after getting the Army to genocide all those pesky brown trespassers, of course). As a result, their line was long and slow compared to what it could have been. Great Northern, Northern Pacific, and Southern Pacific all could get passengers or cargo between the points, and depending on any number of factors, you could have a good reason to choose any of them. Even today a lot of these competing parallels still exist, even as the industry consolidated. SP and Santa Fe used to run lines right next to each other over Cajon Pass, and those lines are still both active with UP and BNSF. Here where I live, competing trains drag race up and down on either side of the Columbia River, while cargo barges ply a 3rd route up the middle. The idea of a single line being highly disruptive was probably based on the Great Northern, which was built late and avoided a lot of squiggles and heavy grades. Railroads did often try to collude to fix prices, and a hot new line like that would often blow up those plans. Some of the early function of the very first Federal regulatory agency was to actually limit this competition and "prohibit unfair discounting" (aka fix prices) with government authority. A lot of these early 20th century doings had the clumsy bluntness that Rand took to cartoonist parody. Guys literally named Vanderbilt put in charge of regulating the railroads, son-in-law of Rockefeller overseeing the energy department, just real cheeseball stuff like that. But anyway, railroads then and especially today face competition from cars, trucks, shipping, and air travel. The Interstate highway system and major airports really took huge bites out of the railroads, particularly in passenger routes where literally everyone switched to driving Chevrolets or flying United. FedEx really put the screws to freight rail when they invented overnight shipping. Nobody's competing with that with a train on Donner Pass in January. But even way back, things like riverboats and the Erie Canal were major external competition.

[@beentheredonethatoriginals5673]

Well you should look a bit more at those old systems, not only did they compete against other routes, they were heavily contracted by companies that held leases or had helped fund the RR even though they had competing business. Not that any of those things matter, the Reardon Steel represented a new material that would not only last much longer, take half the maintenance, but would also support much longer bridges, and thereby be capable of spanning canyons, reducing routes that had to find a way around. So this new metal was so superior as to threaten the long term viability of making or even repairing failing rail lines out of any material other than Reardon steel. It is fiction, and this guys bizarre and bigoted take on the subject is like asking Hillary Clinton what she thinks of Donald Trump. Completely one sided, a mixture of opinion, half truths and contempt. Not the most objective review, lol. Also the movies were not Oscar winning material to be sure, but I've sat through far worse, and they are intended to showcase one person's idea of what government overreach can become, and Milton Friedmans take was not only aligned with that vision but has been proven time and time again.

[@codex8085]

Transport itself is not a monopoly however the social planners will have you believe it's better we just use rail

[@codex8085]

@@azlanadil3646 Well not for cost speed or reliability. It's possibly better for emissions that everyone drives to a local rail station, Burning more fuel because it's short-range. Then everyone Gets onto an enormous diesel engine. Only since the train will run the same distance regardless of number of passengers I don't see it

[@tomowens1571]

@@azlanadil3646 a 2$ ticket. Are you going walking distance? Try 60$ per week

[@richardbuckharris189]

“The political arena leaves one no alternative, one must either be a dunce or a rogue.” ― Emma Goldman

[@joylox]

I love the shoe part, as an avid toe shoe wearer, who also isn't happy with the North American political climate (I say that as it's not just the USA that has issues), this all makes a lot more sense. There's a lot of stuff people cover up, and it's important to look at how things haven't been the same, and when we see changes in the past, it can be a motivator to change and try improving things.

[@TheJoker137]

The JJ character has got to be KB's most impressive costume.

[@yee3771]

😂

[@thesage1096]

haha its an actual other person !

[@libu1968]

JJ’s inability to sit still was distracting AF!

[@thesage1096]

@@libu1968 ur new to jj arent you ?

[@TheJoker137]

@@thesage1096 *whoosh*

[@mottebailley4122]

Also, by its own admission, 1984 rejects the idea that the average person (ie the Proles) could overthrow or change their dystopian world. Winston Smith, the protagonist, isn’t “average,” he’s an Outer-Party member, which puts him somewhere in the top 15% of the system.

[@sofijeffrey9797]

I’d argue it pretty much proves Outer-Party members like Winston’s can’t overthrow anything either.

[@tereziamarkova2822]

Well, that's kinda because Proles are too busy starving to death to rise up. Not that the complete bottom rungs of the society never rebel, but because of their lack of access to resources, their rebellions are usually easily crushed, although there are of course exceptions. I would also argue that this sentiment is Winston's more than the author's. Winston isn't a straight-up unreliable narrator, but he does have his own biases.

[@nwerner3654]

@@tereziamarkova2822 I dont even think it's a matter of starvation in the book. They've just reached a threshold where theyve been conditioned to be content with their situation imposed by the party. The proles in the book, by their sheer numbers, are the greatest threat to the party but are made completely docile by their lack of exposure to ideas and concepts that people like Winston become aware of. They aren't in danger of threatening the party with their own thought or expression because there is none that they know of.

[@nwerner3654]

@Motte Bailey I don't think it's that Orwell rejects the idea of the "common people" overthrowing a state, just that once a state becomes so hegemonic and powerful, transforms language, it becomes systemically impossible to alter that state of affairs

[@names_are_useless]

Conservatives and Libertarians LOVE to site 1984, but either don't know or constantly reject that Orwell himself was a Socialist.

[@Le_Petomane]

I must admit, I had forgotten that you and this channel exist, but its such a refreshing journey every-time i return.

[@NickGuy0320]

The fact that this video started with a girl born into a rich family makes everything else just fall into place. I never knew ayns origins, all her stupid selfish ideas make so much more sense now

[@than217]

"They can't even drive through a broken stoplight. That's how bad things have gotten." About 15 years ago in Oklahoma I sat at a stoplight for 11 counted minutes because a police car pulled up behind me 30~ seconds in. Finally the police officer got out and told me to just go through it. hahaha

[@MilwaukeeF40C]

I kept the windshield sticker from Grandma's funeral for that reason as well as for Buckethead performances.

[@Ulas_Aldag]

I also get nervous when a cop is behind me. It's so weird

[@TheRepublicOfJohn]

Does Okla. not have a provision in the traffic code that allows you to disregard traffic signals after a certain amount of time!?

[@MilwaukeeF40C]

@@TheRepublicOfJohn If there's no cop, no camera its legal.

[@moonlightning8269]

@@Ulas_Aldag because regardless of what anything says on paper, they have complete authority to make you do anything they want and if you resist they can murder you and make a fake story that the law will trust implicitly

[@H4hT53]

Hey, I have the same version of "Atlas Shrugged"! Most useful book I have ever owned. Propped up by broken bed frame with it, held open doors and windows, scared away unwanted people by leaving it on the coffee table...10/10, would recommend. Awful read, though.

[@sakatababa]

i use C# in the same way...

[@thewamp9306]

I keep a copy of Atlas Shrugged on hand as an emergency fire starter in case my heater goes out in the winter.

[@jizburg]

Put it in a pilowcase and you have a good improvised flail.

[@Craxin01]

Ah, Ayn Rand. The philosopher in chief of the intellectually and morally bankrupt.

[@rottendrestantje]

Hilarious!

[@addammadd]

What’s hilarious in this day and age is that any self-styled conservative pretends to have the attention span to read Anthem, much less Atlas Shrugged. Fact is, anyone claiming Ayn Rand as their favorite author is incredibly unlikely to have ever read her.

[@jonathanangulo1235]

I honestly believe that most objectivists are just incapable or too lazy to empathize with the common people(they'd describe them as common, at least). They really see lives made up of tragedy, exploitation and isolation and just blame them for not working enough side hussles

[@onclesam1463]

Tragedies, exploitation and isolation are inherent part of human condition. Abolishing capitalism would not make them magically disappear as if by magic

[@maxmazza2987]

"Were things always like this?" History: "Yesn't."

[@chinesesparrows]

So... *actually* make america great again?

[@tristenarctician6910]

Nos

[@TheAnalyticalEngine]

Well yes, but actually no

[@choiettech]

It kinda feels like that concept of things are actually older than they are, like hand portable cameras or sunglasses

[@genieglasslamp5028]

@@chinesesparrows See but things were wayyyy worse before.

[@racewiththefalcons1]

Can we all just take a moment to appreciate the fact that the third film in the Atlas Shrugged trilogy was literally crowdfunded?

[@rickrolld1367]

This book was funded via crowdfund, with special condolences given to our biggest donor, James Bissonette James Bissonette: "Wait, I actually donated to this? Holy shit, I want a refund NOW!"

[@parkermaki3799]

Were they threatened with force/jailtime/fines if those people didn't? You're dumb.

[@benc.3128]

@@rickrolld1367 I’m disappointed that no one gets this reference

[@haceofspades7682]

@@parkermaki3799 how is that relevant? Thats the whole point of crowdfunding. I think the point their making is that donating to the production of something is most likely something Ayn Rand would disagree with, because your investing money into something that will likely make other people money but not yourself, hence its a selfless act, something Ayn Rand doesnt believe in.

[@parkermaki3799]

@@haceofspades7682 they gave money for a movie they wanted to see. Delete your comment.

[@cactusmanofdestiny3708]

It stuns and horrifies me someone like rand has ever existed

[@jeffreygao3956]

Huey Long>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Ann Runt(I nicknamed Ayn Rand!)

[@Desmaad]

She took the lessons from her childhood growing up in the late Russian Empire and the early USSR and learned the wrong things from them.

[@onclesam1463]

@@Desmaad Yeah. Because we all know how libertarian the USSR was, right ?

[@MrMarinus18]

I actually think we should reintroduce the draft but have it not only military but civil as well. The US has a massive housing crisis so having draftees used to build housing and help the homeless assimilate into society would be a good way to go. One of the few countries that does this is Finland and it seems to work out quite sell for them. It essentially works as mandatory volunteer work and it's really not that intrusive into people's lives and I think with how lost a lot of young people are these days giving them a draft to work on alongside their studies would greatly help them move on to adulthood.

[@hopefulhyena3400]

The costume department at the knowing better studio is doing a great job.

[@GoErikTheRed]

Everyone: Avengers Endgame is the biggest crossover event in history. This video: Hold my shoe

[@jcorbo7518]

you win!

[@SeruraRenge11]

"I have always found it quaint and rather touching that there is a movement [Libertarians] in the US that thinks Americans are not yet selfish enough." ~ Christopher Hitchens

[@khalfrankisatool1162]

@@thetravelingmerchant1 They don't know the difference between selfishness and freedom

[@lordj3793]

Lol people who think any sacrifice for the greater good is oppression are hiding their selfishness with fancy words.

[@khalfrankisatool1162]

@@lordj3793 Any sacrifice made needs to be voluntary, otherwise it's coercion. And the same people forcing the coercion never have to sacrifice, and always gets championed for campaigning on stealing more from people.

[@lordj3793]

@@khalfrankisatool1162 nope that’s not how it works if some people don’t wanna pay taxes they shouldn’t have to how is that gonna work huh ??? Vague statements.

[@khalfrankisatool1162]

@@lordj3793 I never said no taxes. But the level of taxation we experience, the double dipping (triple, quadruple, sometimes pentuple dipping) we experience by the government is ludicrous and has only been around for less than century

[@rawdata678]

This Channel provides really High value content. I really appreciate your work: this Will be my First patreon subscription.

[@Anthony-rk8cz]

I haven't read Atlas Shrugged. I have read The Fountainhead. And for anyone to decide that this is where their morals are is despicable & inhumane.

[@magicthegatheringlover4277]

Drinking game: whenever kb says "but all that changed in" take a shot

[@atomicbamboo2453]

RIP your liver if you try this

[@faisal3398]

dead.

[@FireSeraph007]

When the Fire Nation took over.

[@Vi-XiphiqiX]

Only have Everclear... This will be my last post.

[@JackgarPrime]

But the Future Refused to Change

[@DumDumHistory]

The more I hear about Ayn Rand, the more I'm convinced that she had a seriously warped and fragmented mind. She even based her first hero off a child killer that she interviewed in the 1920s. While it's true that Gore Vidal and other writers have written positive things about murderers before, what's so disturbing is that she admired his sheer psychopathy - she wrote that he had "no regard whatsoever for all that society holds sacred, and with a consciousness all his own. He has the true, innate psychology of a Superman. He can never realize and feel 'other people.'" Simultaneously, she lamented that he was a "degenerate" and a "purposeless monster", apparently without understanding that his "degeneracy" was inextricably linked with those qualities she wrote so glowingly about. The way I see it, the story of Ayn Rand is essentially the story of the death of old-style Conservatism - God, charity and consensus and all that - and it's replacement by something fundamentally rotten. You can't have a functioning society if you try to shape it according to the teachings of a woman who denied that society even existed.

[@AcornFox]

“it seems obvious until you think about it” one of my favorite lines lol

[@onclesam1463]

Like socialism.

[@AcornFox]

@@onclesam1463 nah. its just boomers and bootlickers that said it was bad. once i thought about it, and read about it, it made a lot of sense.

[@alfsleftnut9224]

I've always felt that Ayn rand's philosophy was the result of trauma she experienced while living in russia/the soviet union, most of it makes since when you view it as "the opposite of what ever the USSR was doing". She was born in 1905 so would have been like 9 when the first world war happened and would have lived through the Russian revolution, both of witch would have been traumatic to a teenager weather or not they fought in either of them.

[@MrMarinus18]

But she also wasn't the average Russian. For the majority of people in the Russian empire the rise of the USSR was a positive change in their lives. Which is more an indication of just how awful it was under the empire.

[@therobro5089]

@@MrMarinus18no it wasn’t life was still shit as famines hit and the civil war ravaged the country. It wasn’t till the late 1920s when things got better and then Stalin arrived and his mass industrialization is just like what Peter did with his projects

[@Breakalegs27]

"I've been an adult for a while now..." "Yes I did, it's one thousand sixty nine pages, nice..."

[@ooshwiggity]

"In 1492 Columbus gave us a day off schoo'."

[@millermbe]

Nice

[@aaronjulien7331]

"If the background light is orange, I'm playing a character. Their views do not reflect my own and I refute their stances in their original videos." I was too busy paying attention the the KB cast to ever notice the light

[@jasonbelstone3427]

Instructions unclear. Smoking is good now.

[@cerwile1]

This is a very good video. The stuff at the end about the shoes blew my mind.

[@jp38able]

Great video. You inspired me to read the book for myself. Now I know where one of my classmembers got all his smug libertärian examples and stories when we would talk during lunch break. Its really been a long time.

[@aradicalkiwi806]

“One gratifying aspect of our rise to some prominence is that, for the first time in my memory, we, ‘our side,’ had captured a crucial word from the enemy . . . ‘Libertarians’ . . . had long been simply a polite word for left-wing anarchists, that is for anti-private property anarchists, either of the communist or syndicalist variety. But now we had taken it over...” - Murray Rothbard, one of the first American Right Libertarians, and thought leader of Anarcho Capitalism, describing how the American Right purposefully stole the word libertarian from leftists, and redefined it to mean frankly, it's opposite.

[@michaelbuffamante3991]

And now people like KB are for some reason redefining libertarianism as Ronnie Reagan, Art Laffer, etc. At least left anarchists and ancaps are all welcome in the Libertarian Party (in spite of our endless arguments). Why they're equating those guys with Liberty is beyond me.

[@lukeanderson439]

@@michaelbuffamante3991 Wasn't it made up in the first place? They just called themselves something, failed a lot, and it was rebranded a few times until it failed some more and neo-conservatism cherry picked the wedge issues out of it and began dismantling American democracy?

[@thewilson452]

​@@lukeanderson439 Yeah, it is kinda weird how neo-cons identify as libertarian while the libertarian party is much more less hands on when it comes to domestic and foreign intervention. I think it may be related to the tea party wave, but I guess that is open to interpretation. Most neo-cons disagree greatly with most of what the current lp platform is, the only things that is similar is maybe fiscal conservatism, but idk the whole deal honestly. (i have no political party affiliation, but a political observer btw)

[@meekrob29]

To be fair, social democrats took the term "liberal" from it's roots in private property, free markets, free trade, and peace into the mixed economy, military interventionist meaning it has now. We merely started using another word that meant "believer in liberty" instead of the previous one.

[@sterd1149]

@@meekrob29 Eh, Liberalism has never been a pacifistic ideology though. I mean, look at the French and American revolutions. Peace was never an option against the monarchists and tyrants.

[@Dontreadthis0]

that one quote by john rogers seems quite applicable to this whole video. "There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs"

[@Magnulus76]

Funny but true.

[@jeffreygao3956]

*kisses John Rogers*

[@kerstinschwarz5222]

I must say though that while fiction does influence reality, an adult should have enough morality/capability to know that that depiction is not ok and not real. Media literacy in the general public honestly needs to make a come back. Dark fantasy shouldn't be blamed like people often blame video games for violence. They do not exist in a vacuum of course but people who want these things banned don't realise that that is not the solution. Thank you for that wonderful video. I just discovered your channel and honestly, i am binge watching your videos rn. Especially the US history and social issues ones. Incredibly well done, creative and understandable/informative even for a non-american ^^ Can't wait to see more of your work!

[@mountaintop0925]

ABSOLUTELY AMAZING... Thank you so much! Have a wonderful day. Gabriel

[@brandondavidson4085]

Me: "This Alisa woman seems pretty nice, but how is she relevant to these issues?" Will: "Alisa Rosenbaum changed her name to Ayn Rand" Me: "She did WHAT?!" EDIT: Also, I think the sex scenes being a bit rapey explains why egotistical billionaires love Ayn Rand so much.

[@taylordavison6849]

We're going to need some cream for that burn.

[@toade1583]

Well, writers from her time usually did write sex scenes like that..

[@alangivre2474]

I think we got too much information of her kinks XD

[@xaviotesharris891]

@@toade1583 Really? Name a couple, please. I've read lots of books from her time and can't think of another quite so rapey writer.

[@jalexoneschanel1356]

@@toade1583 not really!!!!

[@racewiththefalcons1]

Rand: "I did everything all on my own!" KB: "Sales only started to take off after the film adaptation..." Couple that with getting free education at university and having relatives help secure her visa, it sounds like every moment where she achieved something in life could have been directly attributed to the actions and efforts of someone other than herself.

[@Nerobyrne]

It really is weird. This entire "cult of neo-liberalism" idealizes the leaders of industry, but never asks where these leaders would be without everyone before and under them. What would Elon Musk do without his workers? Without the people who invented all the stuff that went into his various projects? -without his family's mines in Africa staffed by "volunteers"-

[@Nerobyrne]

@@Original_Tenshi_Chan rules for me and other rules for thee

[@aetu35]

her political views were definitely a coping mechanism

[@murraymadness4674]

Of course. Hypocrisy is the leading traits of all these people, Trumpdums in particular, but GOP in general.

[@antonyduhamel1166]

@@Original_Tenshi_Chan Ayn Rand is a big reason why I believe in Socialism. For almost every one of her claims, there's an example of her committing the exact action she condemns others for, while acting like her hypocrisy is her God-given right. Capitalism has its benefits, don't get me wrong, but I'd rather help my neighbour than price-gouge him for his last dime.

[@scottwill19]

The biggest red flag of Ayn Rand’s philosophy is that she had the nerve to call it “Objectivism”. Since when is a mediocre fiction writer the authority on what is objective in the world?

[@RattlesnakeJakey]

"I'm not jealous I just think I'm better than her" is definitely something a jealous person would say.