Reviewing a Conservative Young Adult Novel

Glenn Beck's Chasing Embers is the sort of dystopia you get when you no more than an hour trying to figure out what that world would look like, and then not realizing you just ripped off one of the most famous books in the genre. I could have spent more time talking about all the stuff that didn't seem to make sense, or was poorly thought out, but I tried to be lenient on what's supposed to be part of a series. That said, there was still so much that left me wondering while reading this. Not in a curious way, but in a way where I really don't think the book has any clue what it's doing.
If you are a streamer reacting to this video, please wait at least one week after its upload date and provide a link or some other means of directing people back to this channel. Thanks!
Follow me on Twitter: / josenotajay
Follow me on Bluesky: bsky.app/profi...
Contribute to my Patreon: / joseonyoutube
Join this channel to get access to perks:
/ @josebird
www.mediamatte...
www.thedailybe...
Thumbnail concept by fluttr.me

[@alexp.288]

I find it really interesting that even in a piece of conservative schlock, the villain is still a corporation that used its political power to exempt itself from government regulation

[@animeotaku307]

Happy that Glenn and I can agree that corporations have no place in politics!

[@tinfoilslacks3750]

A common criticism of capitalism is that it means the eventual corporate capture of government, but conservatives like to insist that the corporate capture of government means it isn't real capitalism, paying no mind to the fact that it's pre-existing capitalism that necessarily cedes ground to this "not real" capitalism.

[@noneofyourbusiness4616]

Not to mention it's a book about book censorship that an organization that censors books in school libraries is trying to get placed in libraries to replace the books it censored.

[@trinodot8112]

I love how the idea of designing a city in a way that you don't have to spend an hour in traffic to get from place to place is dystopian to conservatives. It's such a self-flagellating political position.

[@bibubbletea]

SITTING IN TRAFFIC FOR 25 OF THE 30 MINUTES I SPEND DRIVING TO GET MILK FROM THE STORE IS AN AMERICAN STAPLE GODDAMNIT

[@Bmarkb]

Making it so that most of my daily necessities are within walking distance is an infringement of my rights as a red-blooded American. How am I supposed to roll coal as a pedestrian?

[@somik-i3x]

Imagine if they look at older city before the advent of cars.

[@jessicaleethomas92]

I would love to be able to walk places instead of drive.

[@3baxcb]

I wonder how they would react to an oil crisis like the one that occurred in the 1970s.

[@Jallakuntilliokan]

It's always so funny when conservatives bring up banning books as something negative and yet they are the ones banning and burning books.

[@seeleunit2000]

The point is they have no problem banning books except those that they personally like.

[@philipvipond2669]

"Read this book about a dystopia where books are banned." -Moms For Liberty

[@ericcarabetta1161]

Self awareness is not something these people are “afflicted” with.

[@addabad4276]

I really do love the fact that in this secret society of truth tellers, their historical knowledge only really resembles the glossary of a middle school US history textbook.

[@megafire7]

Well, they *are* still Conservatives.

[@djangofett4879]

they are illiterate

[@seeleunit2000]

Exactly. This is why right-wing conservatives are terrible when it comes to trying to create anything. They have absolutely no ability for critical thought, and addition to no ability to self-reflect. Things you need to be able to be creative

[@MoreEriksson]

Hilarious that Mom's for Liberty would financially back a project where the villains are the ones banning books. Irony much?

[@seeleunit2000]

Not really. Organizations like that are all about control oand oppression. They're the bad guys that pretend that they're good

[@EJMStudio10]

5 minutes in and Glenn Beck has already referenced the ONLY MLK quote Conservatives know 😂 Instant classic

[@seeleunit2000]

Exactly. You think that someone like Glenn Beck would ever entertain the idea of actually reading about Martin Luther King Junior and everything else he said ?

[@tehn00bdude]

The difference between Chasing Embers and Fahrenheit 451 is that one was written by a gibbering baboon and the other was written by one of the seminal sci Fi authors of our time.

[@bbrbbr-on2gd]

"The blurst of times!" - Glenn Beck, probably.

[@djangofett4879]

gibbering A.I.

[@FowCowMow]

I dunno if Glen Beck rises to "seminal author of our time" standard, but...

[@MrAweeze]

Shame on you​@@FowCowMow

[@fashion-baller3399]

"15 minute cities are dystopian" Why do so many Americans (including conservatives) go on vacation to European cities like Rome, London, and Paris if they're so dystopian? They could vacation to the middle of nowhere USA but prefer to go to touristy spots that let you walk and use public transit. Makes no sense! Obviously they're not that horrible if you're spending tons of money to visit them.

[@brenatevi]

Do you know what the difference between European cities and American cities? Just think about who is populating American cities...

[@PasCorrect]

Enh, I get it. You can visit a place without wanting YOUR home to resemble it. I'll go to the states for a few days and have fun, but that doesn't mean I endorse anything about it.

[@n00dle69]

@@brenatevi… Americans? are you being racist or just stupid lmao

[@fashion-baller3399]

@@PasCorrect I personally would not visit anywhere that I described as "dystopian" but maybe you are more adventurous than me... For example, North Korea...

[@seeleunit2000]

​@@brenateviWe get it, it's all about racism. What do you expect from a bunch of right-wing, white conservatives.

[@algi1]

The dystopia of purchasing at the corner store instead of a mall a highway away.

[@kahlilbt]

My freedom tho 😢

[@tcaprecap1448]

uhhh if everything is within walking distance, how will I tell the world that I definitely, certainly, surely have a great, big snake in my pants by driving an F350 and rolling coal on my way to my office job?

[@PakBallandSami]

Conservative should never stop writing novels it is the funniest stuff ever

[@djangofett4879]

you think a human wrote this? ever heard of chat gpt?

[@giovanniruffinoni4832]

You tuink this is funny?? You think Azaz Aloy and Lincoln Freeman is funny??? That being terrified of 15 minute citis is for cranks??? This is a very serious book written by 2 smart adults!!!!

[@seeleunit2000]

Brother taking up so much precious for people with actual talent who can be filling of bookshelves with interesting books. Besides, read anything from these people like endorsing turning your brain to mush

[@MDHilgersom]

I don't think you are radical enough, conservatives must write novels. So an average person can see what conservative policy leads to before implementing it.

[@josephborraccini2521]

@@giovanniruffinoni4832 History will remember the story of I. P. Daley next to the likes of Frodo Baggins and Odysseus!

[@garysmith6218]

He thinks "15 Minute Cities" means little pocket dimensions people aren't allowed to leave! Priceless.

[@bbrbbr-on2gd]

Imagine if you started a "Hunger Games" video by saying. "We meet our protagonist, 'Hunger' as she...". God I love Conservative stories, just always on the nose. 💀

[@kahlilbt]

The title strokes me as Catching Fire meets City of Ember

[@MarxistMomentum]

Ironic how a book that claims to be against historical revisionism engages in the most egregious historical revisionism.

[@rocksandsocks7]

There's a 2003 YA book called The City of Ember which was a condemnation of post 9/11 nationalism. I don't know if Glenn Beck radically misinterpreted City of Ember's message, or wanted to create a conservative alternative; but I don't think the similar titles are a coincidence. Especially since there are some plot similarities (dystopian future, planned city, historical knowledge being hidden, one girl and one boy protagonist). The kids in the City of Ember are around 12 or 13, so a rip-off would even explain the age weirdness.

[@3baxcb]

If you're right, then Glenn's book could be a ripoff that's altered as much as possible in order to avoid any potential legal action.

[@jacobs2099]

I thought this book sounded familiar. Of course conservatives can't create culture, they can only copy and revisionize.

[@ollie2111]

That was such a good book. Also there was a sequel and a prequel :)

[@r.s.4231]

Oh my god thank you for mentioning this book. I was literally thinking about it the other day but couldn’t recall the title!!! And a genuinely backward hilarity if he truly drew the most referential material from The City of Ember lol

[@emexdizzy]

I don't understand what the point of this book is. If you give this to Christian youth to read, they will ALL grow up to deconstruct once they encounter ANY amount of mainstream news or discussion, because it's teaching that: 1. Censorship of literature is bad 2. Organizations that try to suppress dissent are bad 3. Control youth by forcing them into conformatist youth programs is bad 4. Ratting out your friends to adults is bad 5. Authoritarian measures to suppress unrest are bad ...and literally ALL OF THOSE THINGS are stuff that the conservative Christian Right does. Like, I was taught ALL OF THIS growing up, and it made me deconstruct because I put it together that Conservative Christianity was full of bull once I learned a basic amount of knowledge about history/news. The only way to prevent that is to forcibly censor what your kids access, but your kids will immediately note the hypocrisy. This is ridiculous, this is just gonna make young people think Glenn Beck is full of bull.

[@djangofett4879]

it was most likely written by an A.I. with very little oversight so I doubt they noticed the ideological and inconsistency. also, nobody actually reads these conservative books.

[@papermr.magolorguy7957]

Liberal Christianity is more reasonable to me.

[@seeleunit2000]

That's the point. It's all about control. Any adolescent growing up in a secular house wouldn't believe in this crap, but someone in a more conservative, religious fanatical house just might.

[@nanashi7779]

​@@seeleunit2000 you'd be surprised what children in a secular house are willing to believe. In my experience it can be as ridiculous as these evangelical Christians. I think generally the family in the West is an absolute mess

[@tcaprecap1448]

the ghost-writer is actually a deep state plant trying to infect the minds of conservative teens with the most marx'ed-out marxism??

[@Arkholt2]

"The only reason why he's popular is because it's cool to be different." He genuinely believes that people who have different opinions than he does only think those things because they want to be "cool." He doesn't believe that they have put any thought or contemplation into them. He thinks that if they used their brains they would agree with him, but instead they close their minds and have certain beliefs simply because they're "popular." He really believes this stuff. It's wild. Like, he just plain doesn't believe that two people can be familiar with the same exact idea and come to two different conclusions about it. I don't understand this mode of thinking.

[@speedslider3913]

I think it's just projection. Conservatives get mad at things they're told to get mad at, then move on to the next thing they're pointed at. Glenn probably doesn't even know what a 15-minute city actually IS. Sure, give him 10 minutes and he'll be able to get his brain cell in order enough to chop out a 6-year old's definition, but he couldn't tell you the possible benefits or why people would like the idea, just that it's bad because big government will trap you or communism or something.

[@a_level_70_elite_raccoon]

I think it has a lot to do with the conservative mindset of "right vs wrong," "good vs evil, "moral vs immoral," whichever way you want to spin it. There can't be room in the world for interpretations or differences because uncertainty is scary. That's the underpinning of every moral panic in history: they don't understand something, therefore it's immoral and wrong. LGBT+ people can't just be people, they're trying to tempt the youth into demon worship, etc.

[@nathanh9871]

Finally Glenn Beck address the youth of the nation, but it’s hot now.

[@seeleunit2000]

Nope, it just sounds like Glenn Beck wrote a crappy book and it didn't address anything. He's still the out of touch conservative moron that no teenager wants to hear

[@KingsandGenerals]

what fresh hell...

[@KK-bl1oc]

Didn't except you here. Love your content tho.

[@TheZombifiedGuy]

"Oarsmen" being an acronym - and learning what that "acronym" stands for - caused me so much pain. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the guy who infamously misspelled "oligarch" isn't very good at handling words, but my god.

[@seraphonica]

"fifteen minute cities" is such a triggering concept for conservative conspiracy theorists. when they come up, I've started calling them "large cities made out of small towns" and unsurprisingly they seem to like that idea far more, despite it being the same concept.

[@speedslider3913]

Conservatives really are just sleeper agents, huh?

[@Reginald_Ritmo]

I would guess that the turn off point is the idea of a government exercising so much authority over how a city takes shape rather than the city developing organically through external investment. Which is a really dumb thing to be turned off by.

[@-tera-3345]

@@Reginald_Ritmo But the government kind of already controls how a city takes shape via zoning and building permits and such.

[@Reginald_Ritmo]

@@-tera-3345 Yeah, again, why the conservative criticism is kinda unfounded

[@scragar]

@Reginald_Ritmo American Conservatives really, really love cars. The idea that someone might make a car unnecessary means there's less need for everyone to drive which means it's easier to justify taking away people's licences.

[@mojoforthewin3069]

the scene with the Oarsmen reciting ‘banned history’ is ironically a very succinct illustration of the problems with conservative historiography as it’s just a bunch of factoids and slogans utterly removed from context and history to try and work its audience into a patriotic fervor

[@tayzers69]

its honest to god strange and unnerving the fervor with which these people regurgitate the american mythology without even a hit of awareness or cognition. i cant imagine believing in anything so dogmatically even my current beliefs

[@timbates12]

OARSMEN might be the single dumbest acronym I have ever heard in my entire life

[@graysontatters5068]

I was doing laundry and missed it if it’s explained in the video. What’s the acronym stand for?

[@timbates12]

@@graysontatters5068 It's at 34.46, I truly cannot explain it

[@rocketbilly]

its seriously the stupidest thing I've heard in weeks.

[@seeleunit2000]

Give it time, I'm positive there's going to be another conservative making up another crappy YA story, with an even dumber acronym then this one... But right now it is pretty dumb

[@pseudonym8791]

Please don’t read this as an apology for the concept, just an explanation - OARSMEN looks like it’s not an acronym, it seems to be closer to an acrostic poem, like “Elizabeth” by Edgar Allan Poe. It’s probably a shout out to symbols from crypto-Christianity like icthys (Jesus Fish), the letters of which in Greek can make an actual acronym. And yes, OARSMEN is still objectively a pretty bad acrostic poem!

[@smjaiteh]

I love fiction by conservatives because I like to think they’re bad because they didn’t want to pay attention in their liberal arts classes.

[@christianbuffum-robbins8904]

I'm really struggling to understand how conservatives hear "urban planning that emphasizes the wellbeing and convenience of its citizens over needing a car," and think "DYSTOPIA!"

[@emisformaker]

Also remember that borrows from libraries give authors royalties. So even borrowing this book for laughs will support its creators. Source: I am an author, and I've made most of the money from my book through the public lending right (PLR) program. I make between $500 and $1000 per year this way, and I am not a known or popular person. Obviously, Jose needed to read it somehow to give us all this analysis, so he took one for the team. He did it so none of us have to.

[@iluvtacos1231]

I'm absolutely losing it that a 15 minute city is somehow a dystopia in Glenns mind.

[@xibalbalon8668]

They have to bend over backwards to pretend it's going to be like big brother, or a thing at all in a place like america

[@pururin42]

I hope u kno u have the best voice ever to help my insomnia and get me sleepy.. i never fall asleep but listening with my eyes closed is a big comfort

[@Best_Stressed]

“We don’t organize like that… when WE organize, there are tiki torches!” -Glenn Beck, translated for clarity

[@warlordofbritannia]

Historical sidenote: It would be unfair to paint the Pilgrims and Plymouth Plantation as the same as other English colonists and colonies. Plymouth had far better and cooperative relations with the local indigenous communities than that of neighboring Massachusetts Bay Colony. It wasn’t until 1675, more than a half century after the initial settlement, that Plymouth warred against the Wampanoag in King Philip’s (Metacomet) War. In fact, the Wampanoag and Plymouth fought together in the Pequot War, one of the myriad colonial conflicts that combined Old World antagonism and native rivalries.

[@a_level_70_elite_raccoon]

With every new quote you read I said to myself, "Wow, that is some of the worst writing I've ever heard, surely the rest of the book isn't as bad as that." And I was wrong every time. I do hope that the writer is truly messing with us and is just making a quick buck on Glenn Beck's dime. Otherwise... yikes. Great video, though. I especially liked the dedication to using Tisquantum's real name. That idea you brought up about the cop-out narrative device of Providence makes a lot of sense to me, though, because it reflects the way that conservatives in general just don't understand Capital-H-History. What I mean is that History isn't a collection of distinct facts and events that had to happen or could only have happened that way. Our puny human brains can only grapple with and understand the immensity of Time through narratives and selective omission. Who writes the narrative and chooses what gets included and what doesn't has a big hand in how that story can be understood. There is entirely too much information that goes into even just a singular historical event, and that's why getting any degree other than an undergraduate in history means you have to turn yourself into a specialist in a singular theme, event, or sector of time. That's why I was laughing so ridiculously hard at the section you read where Ember's parents were shouting out random facts because it displays such a rain-puddle sized view of history, where you can see and observe specific things as simple thoughts. Columbus sailing to the """"new"""" world in 1492 was the result of THOUSANDS of interlocking events and complex power struggles between nations, trading companies, and individuals, and had a multitude of cascading effects on its own. The founding fathers weren't divinely guided to revolution by God, they were wealthy land owners who didn't like paying taxes and wanted a system of government where they wrote the rules. History is happening **all the time**, but frequently the only way to make sense of it is to pare it down to individual stories (like the one about Tisquantum) or to simplified series of events. Glenn's note at the end about the writing's of Thomas Jefferson being cool or not based on whether you 'can't read them' is also so laughably small-minded. It's not that modern day people don't find his writings 'cool', and as someone who has two history degrees I can tell you that they are still widely read and discussed and are, in fact, pretty cool. We just understand them from a more evolved viewpoint: he was a racist hypocrite who slept with his slaves. Smart guy? Yeah, at some stuff. "Brilliant"? Ehhhhh, not really.

[@ItRemindMeOfHome]

As an aside, its probably the least important aspect, but I notice how we in the US never call the "Allied Powers" in WW2 by the alliance's actual name. Why might conservatives not want to say the **United Nations** won WW2?

[@Transconaslim7075]

It’s really interesting listening to this after listening to the Behind the Bastards ep on Curtis Yarvin. Considering that Yarvins ideal is a corporate controlled city-state is the bugaboo for his co-ideologue beck.

[@xibalbalon8668]

Conservatives take the logical extreme of corporations controlling our lives, and call it communism. I think it's intentionally so the average schmuck doesn't stop and think capitalism is going too far. They talking about "living in the pods" as if the US didn't have horrible company towns before regulations and trust busting

[@PeaceInExile]

I feel like those lines after Columbus were chosen to make Columbus not sound like a monster by chaining sentences that aren’t actually linked right after some that are.

[@xibalbalon8668]

A society where you get arrested for bragging about Columbus and the dropping nukes sounds like a utopia. I imagine the rest of the world is doing better without US meddling

[@Naahhh34]

Glan Beck would replace convenience stores with inconvenience stores if he could

[@lizabell6782]

The idea that Beck couldn't see a reason that Marx could be popular aside from it being rebellious is both insane and fascinating.

[@a_level_70_elite_raccoon]

Well yeah, Marx's ideas can't possibly have any factual basis or kernels of truth that apply to people's lives or speak to lived experiences, that would mean that capitalism is flawed and we can't have that.

[@MartijnterHaar]

"Oh, I am so happy working 12 hours a day for 6 days a week in a factory with no safety regulations and still not making enough to feed the family. The idea of seizing the means of production doesn't appeal to me at all."

[@tinfoilslacks3750]

​@@a_level_70_elite_raccoonI think OP's point is more, is Beck being intentionally dogmatic and disingenuously making this accusation about people who read Marx, or does he earnestly believe it's impossible for people to be supportive of Marx's writings for sincere reasons?

[@xibalbalon8668]

He can't imagine life outside of his upperclass WASP american bubble. These are the same guys who think the CIA destabilizing third world leftist governments for the greater good, how dare the peasants demand better. People like Beck have different brains, or none at all.

[@davidalex565]

So the people that ban books, write a book where banning books are bad..?

[@angelinabrown3142]

They're preserving American mythology, not American history. Of course Glenn Beck thinks that this is endangered. It's like they came up with a list of "teenage dystopian novel" tropes and just went down the list, checking them off.

[@Sam_on_YouTube]

Fun fact in the midst of tragedy. It is not known for sure, but likely that Tisquantum and Amonute (also known as Matoaka and Pocahontas) likely knew each other at least a little. They were both in England at the same time and were literally the only two people there from their continent. And they were both traveling in similar high society circles of those who had the luxury to be curious about such foreign people. There is no record of them meeting, but it is likely to have happened.

[@SilverDragonJay]

Those acronyms are hilariously tortured. Its bringing to mind Codename: kids next door, where the acronyms being tortured was a joke...you know, because the people making them up were all under the age of 13. Except I feel like KND's dumb acronyms still actually made more sense then these ones. Like the creators were making a deliberate joke, but at the same time were considering what words would still make some tenuous sense. BRA stands out in my mind: battle ready armor. I'm sure the creators of the show wanted to have something that sounded innocuous but turned out to be a dangerous weapon and so they picked the word 'bra' deliberately because they knew they could make it stand for 'battle ready armor'. It feels like Glen Beck (or his writer) put in not even half that amount of effort. They started with the word they wanted to use and worked backwards then said "good enough" and hit "publish"

[@JordanLittle-bb3yq]

'The Tuttle Twins' reads like it was written by Andrew Ryan.

[@MartijnterHaar]

The cover art is really good though, makes it look really badass. I can imagine a 14-year old who has no idea who Glenn Beck is picking this up because of the cover.

[@beej741]

True to form for conservatives to jump on a bandwagon-dystopian ya fiction-about 10 years after it was popular

[@djangofett4879]

also, a genre which has never been good. teen dystopia novels are the worst of the worst. I blame Kurt Vonnegut. I feel like all of this crap was heavily influenced by his terrible dystopian fiction.

[@3baxcb]

What's next? Glenn tries to create his own cinematic universe in the vein of Marvel or DC? Or try adapting a novella into a trilogy as was done with The Hobbit?

[@mahrinui18]

I think it might be pronounced Aylo as in Reylo because then her full name would be more heavy handedly pronounced like Azazel

[@Paint_The_Future]

Can't believe he said the "Teek" slur in a KZbin video. He's gonna get banned.

[@kicksyo2171]

I would love to be an Oarsman! For no other reason, other than the fact that I just love coming up with what random spiel, I would yell when I get captured. "my friends are my power, and I'm there!" "if you threw a party, and invited everyone you knew…" "Guess what day it is?....HUMPDAY!"

[@colonelweird]

Azaz Aylo must be an allusion to the fallen angel Azazel, according to the book of Enoch.

[@Johury]

And apparently Canadian porn

[@333Metatron]

Which is highly ironic, as Azazel is noted to share forbidden, and destructive knowlege and wisdom. Even seemingly being the Serpent of Eden in the Book of Enoch - well, "Gadreel" was noted to be the Serpent, but it does seem Gadreel is another name for Azazel; Azazel is also described as responcible for "all evil" in Enoch, further suggesting it.

[@pseudonym8791]

Glenn Beck couldn’t be referencing Azazello from The Master and Margarita? Surely he’s not read Bulgakov and completely missed the point, oh wait…

[@blackcatkai]

seeing they also seemed to grab stuff from The City of Ember & the Wool series. dear lord 😅😅😅

[@skellumfh]

You'd think lying to save a life would be an easy moral problem. Yet Immanuel Kant came down on the other side nonetheless.

[@CampaignerFilms]

Whoa! I thought for a sec the characters were saying Columbus was endowed by his creator... <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="295">4:55</a>

[@heroedify]

I would be surprised to learn that there were any Black characters in this book but the name Lincoln Freeman has real "Neal Adams trying to explain to the writers that they can't name a Black superhero Lincoln Washington" energy.

[@Prizzlesticks]

Skip this, read Fahrenheit 451 instead, have a better time.

[@Lr.Laecro.Lirus3445]

Jose videos are always making my day better.

[@Janokins]

I'm going to assume that the Azaz Aylo character is more of a reference to Azazel, the demon who introduced forbidden knowledge to humans in the Bible, since it's got them Christian undertones. But it is funny that they picked that surname in particular.

[@benverboonen1108]

Being a conservative at a young age is just ghoulish

[@seraphonica]

I like your analysis of the epilogue. However, given the foreshadowing of "Aylo" (yes, I googled it) and the uh, themes that are reportedly very common in such works, I suspect that these characters who are certainly in the same family structure and possibly in the same bloodline may end up in a romantic relationship in future books. My condolences on your newfound pain and I hope you heal well and quickly.

[@Necro352]

"...Frogs gay--" "...away christmas--" "Inside Job--"

[@joey0guy]

Americans love cruise ships and walking holidays then don't want well planned cities

[@tinfoilslacks3750]

They'll just tell you "those places are nice for holidays, you're not supposed to live there!" Because desirable qualities are supposed to be treats, not the norm I guess.

[@milii113]

@@tinfoilslacks3750 I think it's more likely that those holidays are among people who are well off enough to spend that money. What they're more afraid of is interacting with people less fortunate than them on a regular basis, because then they can't just look away and drive pass a homeless person and might have to question some of their beliefs that the world as it is or even was is fair and ideal

[@UNTHESUNTHESUNTHES]

Great video my favorite part was when I commented in order to increase it's engagement (Te amo josé)

[@selahanany5645]

The 'hidden knowledge' part is fun because i think it shows Glenn Beck never really left the headspace of the Tea Party movement. Nowadays this sort of patriotism is seen as a bit gauche even in those circles I feel, Russia is the hero now.

[@corranhorn85]

I shouldn't be surprised that Beck put his name on slavery apologia, but here we are.

[@desertplanet3253]

fahrenheit 451 except it's just the people who are actively banning books fantasizing about being the victim because they aren't irl

[@arcanineryu]

The conservative explanation of "why its okay to lie sonetimes" is way dumber than the one ive seen. Which is, you dont have to answer the spoken question, you can answer the implied question. For instance, say your best friends worst enemy comes to your house and asks if your friend is hiding in your house (which they are). And thus its implied that you would be a liar if you continued to hide them. However, the question itself is a lie. They arent asking where your friend is, theyre asking if they can come inside your house and beat up your friend. And the answer to that true question, is no.

[@virgovirtuoso]

sorry to hear about your injury, get well soon

[@JesseHenderson-xc2kg]

My ex was secretly reading a Glenn Beck "novel". She kept it in her car like contraband.

[@saulabbott-atchison6660]

I gotta good idea for a book.. the people I don't like are running a dystopian version of our society.. ENOUGH!

[@summertime69]

Love this. Please keep reading "conservative lit" so we dont have to!

[@jessicaleethomas92]

Drop everything, a new Jose video just dropped

[@lindamarshall3485]

I haven't got very far into this, but this book is being told from the POV of a child, whose parents are being dragged away by oppressors. And her father is described as "the husband". Now, maybe that makes sense in the context of the book, but more likely, it's telling me that it's very clunkily written.

[@austinlee5408]

I'm glad that Mom's for Liberty realized that book banning is bad. Great development arc for them.

[@legoyodascream]

Please Please Please make sure you are registered to vote. My life will objectively get worse if Trump wins. I don't think I'll survive it. This is a cry for help.

[@rafstrayhorn5772]

Your life will get worse if Kamala wins too, I'm sorry to tell you. Spend two decades voting and you realize that no matter who wins, we lose. Every time.

[@francisr9026]

I'm here with you, my friend. There's millions fighting for us.

[@legoyodascream]

@@rafstrayhorn5772 The two aren't remotely comparable. Lost my family to pandemic thanks to Trump firing the pandemic response team in 2018.

[@Armadill0h]

@@rafstrayhorn5772i’d rather lose a dime than a dollar

[@ndrew7707]

​@@rafstrayhorn5772 I don't like Kamala at all but if she doesn't win I will literally have to leave the country to continue being allowed to live. and I'm lucky that I have the means to do that.

[@MaxMercuryAnonymous]

Azaz Aylo? Like Azazel? Subtle, Glenn.

[@DextrHavenV]

My first reaction seeing this is, "Damn you, damn you, damn you".

[@philpaignios2777]

Just hearing this, I suppose the Beck-insert is called "Mr. Amos" and not what I understood (and would be quite fitting).

[@Butterfly-ql4pg]

A group of book-banning moms financially supporting a Fahrenheit 451 rip-off? That's not ironic at all 🥴

[@lewsmith9708]

That acronym..........it broke me.

[@averagejoe455]

So, according to this book, "Squanto" is one to blame for the creation of the US.

[@ScrumbynPlumbo]

I honestly must commend Glenn for being so self restrained when it came to attacking the left besides the imaginary 15 minute cities.

[@benjaminshinar9509]

if you live at a 15-minutes city, you won't live in a house, you'll live in an apartment at the 15th floor (either above or below the ground). and that map would have a lot more roads leading to the center.

[@tayzers69]

4 billion ppl on the top 15th floor 4 billion ppl on the bottom 15th floor amiright

[@TheCommentingCat]

Going straight into the discount bin

[@maryvon8518]

Disagree. Hat keys are cool. It's harder to remove someone's hat than pick their pocket, and if someone manages to sneak in they would be noticed by lack of hat. Plus you can make jokes about the etymology of falsehood and I like that. Dear Christian Nationals please don't take hat keys from me.

[@valence7]

New Jose video just dropped!

[@GhostBusters-wb4un]

MFL can also be found in Indiana Jones The Last Crusade.

[@phae_th]

love how big brother is just mr house

[@TheDanishGuyReviews]

I made that connection the first time l played FNV. I'm certain Mr. House is a deliberate homage. Big Brother's face in 1984 is described as dark-eyed with a mustache. And of course the little detail of Mr. House having eyes all over New Vegas in the form of his Securitrons.

[@phae_th]

@@TheDanishGuyReviews oh no absolutely. like in the book he's supposed to resemble hitler and stalin looks-wise, but add a 'father of industry' into the mix like walt disney and who you get is mr house. and obviously the whole idea of a guy watching you from every screen is very big brother.

[@Mngalahad]

I wonder if the slur was included because thats also a thing in harry potter used for world building.

[@jamesholland8057]

I think the interpretation of quotes presented is the important part. Corporations controlling society is what Trump & Beck support at the cost of American citizens. Mixed up ideas and story like Beck & Trump are.

[@otisaga]

Your accident that affected your performance? Boom: Providence

[@chloerogers4855]

Everything about this plot feels like Glenn Beck dumbed down tropes from like 5 other YA series and replaced all the world building with his stupid ideology. This is the most "hello fellow kids" book I've ever seen. When Divergent has better world building than your book you've failed.

[@SergeantVau1]

Glenn Beck is really bad at acronyms. Reminds me of Oligarh

[@dancooperish]

This feels like it was written by Matthew Reilly, but trying to argue for conservatism, instead of just appeal to them.

[@lilgrasshoppah]

Oh, for the halcyon days... when a dry-drunk, bearded Mormon was the only grifter on offer....?

[@lilgrasshoppah]

Glenny boy is a true blue Mormon Morgbot. He did a couple of tabs of LDS... it blew his mind and he learned, "Holy shit [pun intended]! If I play along with this massive fraud... I'll get rich! Rich, Rich, Rich! He kind of branched out with his [very very] white [supremacist] boards... and his on air water works...? but, you know... it's all the same bullshit. "Sugar Daddy in Heaven will give you stuff, if you give me money!"

[@kidkous]

Feel better Soon Jose

[@arabwaluigi5248]

I wish I could bottle the dopamine rush I get when i see a Jose video in my feed

[@somik-i3x]

I have laugh out loud when the Oarsmen acronomym is reveal. This is so dumb lol.

[@malic_zarith]

I think he has a ghost writer. Maybe he writes them, but at the very least, I think he has help on all of them.

[@iamcuttlefish]

yeah shes listed on the cover

[@pseudonym8791]

For a really good dystopian future novel, see Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban. Not an easy read but worth it!

[@Unquestionable]

This garbage is a wonderful example of how a lot of conservatives are severely disconnected with not only human nature but how society as a whole develops. I mean that or just an overpowering willingness to push/go along with propaganda because it brings a sense of order and certainty to a reality which is anything but. While deserving of pity given the sort of things they often inflict on those who don't agree with makes a strong case how they should be met with ridicule and scorn.

[@SvenLorenz1975]

If you want some insights into the mind of teen girls, you should ask Matt Gaetz, I hear he's an expert.

[@megafire7]

So, how compelling would a pro-Oasis read of this book be?

[@rasmusazu]

"Glenn Beck's Chasing Embers is the sort of dystopia you get when you no more than an hour trying to figure out what that world would look like,", am I just incredibly tired or is something missing in that sentence?

[@ScorpionClaws789]

The word "spend" between "you" and "no"

[@majkus]

Does it really describe a world in which the banning of physical paper books is significant? If so, surely as dumb an idea as an evangelical-fiction book set in a dystopia where Bibles are banned. But I guess it's okay to ban books that describe things like slavery.