The Politics Of The Legend Of Korra - Book 3: Anarchy

[@mimichio33]

I really hate how the "lol Mad Max chaotic hellscape" caricature became the pop culture image of anarchism.

[@sargecad3t]

Try reading "The Dispossessed" by Ursula K. LeGuin. It's a scifi novel about an an-com society and it's what first introduced me to the idea of anarchy as an alternative to capitalism or authoritarian communism.

[@mimichio33]

@@sargecad3t Sounds right up my alley. I'll look into it, thanks.

[@kloggmonkey]

me too. mad max is feudalism at its core, it's opposite to anarchism.

[@louistheriault3900]

@@mimichio33 i was actually wondering when and how anarchism go from "political theory calling for mutualism" to "NO LAWS LUL" as the basic understanding of the term. I mean people have a basic understanding of communism whereas their ideas anarchism is so off the mark its kinda crazy. (Stirner really didnt help tho...)

[@clejinn9521]

@@louistheriault3900 My god if i could get my hand on Stirner... he did so much dammage. Let's hope we'll be able to create our commune (municipalisme libertaire/Bookchin) and still keep our name, anarchists.

[@TheSugarRay]

The things that are bad under monarchy are suddenly good under democracy.

[@cometmoon4485]

@Cian Abroad Many African countries would disagree with your closing statement.

[@oliverworley5162]

@Cian Abroad you could argue that elections are wars of succession, to an extent, I don't nessesarily agree, just foo for thought

[@11DaltonB]

What a hot take. I don’t think every person suddenly thinks it’s good, no system of government has successfully removed all corruption and evil. You kind of have to have an alternative of some kind, if that involves smaller government, anarchy, what have you sure, when someone shows that it’s successful then it should be more widely adopted yes?

[@acceleration4443]

Cometmoon448 Many of those african countries have factions in then which are supported by multiple world powers. Again, all removing democracy does is take out the middle man for corrupt officials. All the sudden your corrupt “officials” become... dukes and King... not much progress.

[@PancakemonsterFO4]

@Cian Abroad why should they if they can be bought? Never seen a more corrupt bunch then the republican Party

[@DrakeFellwing]

There is an entire quote da bois seems to have missed when it comes to the queen dying or any monarch really. "The king is dead. Long Live the King!" Because the king is not a person, the king is a title and the king will never die as long as a kingdom exists. Or so the saying goes.

[@ShirtlessIan]

But the red lotus may have known that she had no direct successor, in that Prince Wu is fairly far removed from her (it says he's like a second nephew in the the audio commentary) and it seemed like the world leaders were grasping at straws bringing him in

[@fabssta814]

But da bois got it right that for monarchs the private body is the public body! The king is not some random person officiating as the ruler - he is the ruler because divine providence made him out to be. It is the source of power, of legitimacy. That’s why monarchs can’t be criticised otherwise the system collapses. It is the reason why paintings of European kings look so imposing and nothing like reality because it is one of the claims to power. The union of public and private body makes an physical end necessary for there to be a transfer of power. The old king (old regime) needs to die either by natural causes or beheading in order to crown a new king.

[@alyseleem2692]

@@ShirtlessIan It's a bit contrived for it to work like that. The one way this would work was him having little to no knowledge of his heritage. Otherwise, they would've got him straight to the capital. And the people would be waiting. They're just too used to this. We needed her not to have an heir,or at least a known one,for this to make sense.

[@alyseleem2692]

@@fabssta814 You can get Kings through a lot of ways. Emperors,too. Just ask the Romans. The weirdest thing,though, is that the Earth Kingdom was never this interconnected to begin with. Each state largely governs itself ,with lip service to the central monarchy. What mad it so bad to lose the Earth Monarch? Or even Ba Sing Se? Do you know it was once just a mining town, in the far past? They should've looked out for themselves.

[@jasonstormsong4940]

@@fabssta814 One year late, but abdication is a thing.

[@Elneco1]

My favourite Zaheer was wrong argument has been "people need oppressors to maintain order"

[@Kidomaru80]

If I ever have the possibility of traveling through time, i'd probably go back and beat Hobbes to mush with a hard cover copy of the Leviathan.

[@nickname4943]

ZweiCastor that’s unfair to Hobbes, his point is far more nuanced

[@cooldude6651]

@@nickname4943 but it still benefitted the ruling class at a critical point in societal development, thereby being shit

[@thomasallister3446]

To be fair Zaheer was explicitly anti-order so he wouldn’t take that as a criticism

[@seekingabsolution1907]

@@Kidomaru80 I'd do it with a copy of the conquest of bread. Or perhaps more ironically a copy of against his story against leviathan.

[@ianj705]

The strangest thing about their portrayal of anarchism is that they have a working example of it in their own world. Air Nomads didn’t have capitalism, homelessness or a wage system. It was a total commune.

[@PancakemonsterFO4]

But it was guided by religion not ideology

[@DasMudPie]

They're probably not aware of its anarchistic nature

[@ryancook2696]

Since the Air Nomads were a commune, I was surprised that Zaheer wanted to wipe them out. Like, he actually has something in common with them.

[@warb_of_fire]

How many people lived in each Air Temple?

[@joemaliancitizen8279]

Upupa epops we don’t know, it’s never mentioned how many people could live at a time but still it shows us that from the simple technology they had, they could definitely feed themselves and any other air bender who came to stop by.

[@josephbyler6666]

"Anarchy is when there's chaos and the more chaotic it is the more anarchister it is"- Pete Crowpodkin

[@simoneschemari553]

​@annokitsune.worldbridgerhe was being sarcastic

[@grmgt]

​@annoworldbridgerSo sarcastic in fact that he intentionally misspelled Piotr Kropotkin last name lol

[@masteroftheart5548]

Fun fact. When Zaheer declared his anarchy as “the natural order is disorder.” The city of Paris reported a spike in seismic activity as Proudhon punched his way out of his grave.

[@blackflagsnroses6013]

Lol! The spirits of the Paris Communards were heard roaring. People thought it was a powerful thunder struck

[@grantus_pax]

"anarchism is when you become the joker, and the more jokerfied you are, the more anarchister it is" 🤡

[@CayeDaws]

Here is something. When the Bois were told by Zaheer's voice actor that he agreed with anarchism the bois were legitimately confused

[@DasMudPie]

Wow, that's hilarious! Any link?

[@CayeDaws]

@@DasMudPie it's during the Blu Ray episode commentary

[@DasMudPie]

@@CayeDaws Oh, I see. Although I don't own a physical copy of the series, it was still nice to know :)

[@dairebeare7839]

Rollins is a mensch, love him.

[@FireheadLazzo]

Really wish he could have pushed back against some of the stupid shit they had him say

[@slavajuri]

I'll never forget how I felt when Zaheer and Korra had their little chat in the spirit world. I am a massive sucker for heroes and villains sitting down and talking until they reach a clear ideological impasse. Sadly, LoK is incapable of doing this, because Korra has no ideology beyond "muh status quo." But I was at first enthralled with how direct Zaheer was and how his words seemed to resonate with much of Korra's personal experiences. She had no answer for his line about kings and queens being oppressive - it seemed like surely we were about to hit a point of real, clear contention. The series was doing what it decidedly didn't do in prior seasons, fleshing out truly opposing viewpoints. I was truly engaged for the first time in like 20 episodes. But then, of curse, the bois did what the bois do, and Zaheer shouted that the natural order is chaos. Lol. I think threw the remote I was so dumbfounded.

[@PancakemonsterFO4]

@JohnnyTheWolf only shows how politically credible they are in their messages

[@PancakemonsterFO4]

@JohnnyTheWolf then again those are the same bois who tried to make a fashist leader sympathetic “she's just misguided, really“ my ass

[@Paul94096]

It was not that bad y’all. y’all love to rah rah and hoop and holler and about shit. Zaheer is a fantastic villain. All the LOK villains are at least layered, complex (yes even Unaloq to a lesser extent of course) and have clear schools of thought from which they are coming from. Clearly it wasn’t a flawless execution, but when it’s all said an done, I’d sign up for this 10x over instead of an Ozai who wanted to burn the world down for reasons I guess. Even Azula as much as I love her, and as phenomenal an antagonist she was, when it came down to it she was evil for the sake of it. They had next to zero depth and any recognizable ideology other than “must burn everything down, me evil and want power.”. But no one even wants to talk about that b/c mentioned ATLA having any flaws is essentially blasphemous.we sweep any flaws in ATLA under the rug while we crucify LOK for even blinking wrong.

[@PancakemonsterFO4]

@@Paul94096 Ozai like all Emperors wanted power and influence while sustaining his empire beyond the grave even with new Avatars growing up and challenging his Empire. This is a legit motivation, it doesn't have to be rocket science. Ozai either had to die or be drained of all of his powers, he was never meant to be an antagonist that could be changed. In LoK however Ideologies that would normally help the oppressed population get turned into strawmen versions of themselves with the conclusion that the status quo may not be perfect but still prefferable. That's why the motivations of the villains in LoK are so paperthin or opposing to the cause they claim to stand for, the Status Quo has to pervail. That's why the viewer can never be challenged on their belief system, the bad guy is always in the wrong no matter what and once he and his leadership falls the movement is no more instead of people who actually believed in the values they upheld taking over kinda like Prince Zuko changing the ways of the Fire Nation once he got into power

[@Paul94096]

@@PancakemonsterFO4 yeah, but that's a really shallow villain. Ozai, and Eve Azula had close to zero depth. As a villain, Ozai was evil for evils sake and wanted to burn the world down and rule the ashes. He's a mustache twirling villain no different that any other big bad from power rangers, or even, skeletor or any other generic "I want to rule the world" bad guy from Saturday morning cartoons. Even Azula we are told was just born that way, which I'm I'm sorry for but is just lazy writing. And I think it's okay to say that. Imagine if LOK's big bad was a villain like Ozai. y'all would have consecutive aneurysms just in trying to figure out who gets to shit all over it first and you know it. Y'all would laugh the show out of the room. But, because it's ATLA and it's regarded as a flawless piece of TV, you aren't allowed to criticise it. Y'all do all the mental gymnastics in the world to justify lazy writing like Ozai. And what's crazy is clearly they know how to write great antagonists like Zuko, but for whatever reason just chose to make Ozai nothing but pure evil. So I applaud Mike and Bryan for realizing they shit the bed in ATLA when it came to the end game threat and putting in the work to have more layered, nuanced villains that don't just want to burn everything down and rule everything. Give me ALLL the Amon, Zaheer, Kuvira Nad yes even Unaloq, no more Ozai's please. Even Sozen in the Avatar and the Fire Lord episode. The turn to "and Sozen wanted to burn everything down and expand his empire, genocide he damned, was so quick and out of nowhere. I really disliked the "the fire Nation is innately evil" of it all. I needed more depth and nuance. But again, we can't ever have that discussion because criticizing the last Airbender is essentially blasphemous.

[@alistairmcintosh9520]

i dont know how to tell you this kay but i think skittles is secretly a ferret

[@brianlav1]

Where is your evidence?😜

[@lonebattledroid4474]

Impossible

[@yoyoyo371]

Fun Fact: Zaheer voice actor was Henry Rollins of Black Flag, a legendary punk hardcore band who some people associate punk/hardcore with anarchy

[@nowhereman6019]

Their ideology is literally right there in their name.

[@lexort4204]

Good video! The word “anarchy” comes from the ancient Greek word “anarchos” and means “without a ruler.” While rulers, quite expectedly, claim that the end of rule will inevitably lead to a descent into chaos and turmoil, anarchists maintain that rule is unnecessary for the preservation of order. Rather than a descent into Hobbes’s war of all against all, a society without government suggests to anarchists the very possibility for creative and peaceful human relations. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon neatly summed up the anarchist position in his famous slogan: “Anarchy is Order.” Again Good video!

[@unknownhandyman6821]

Yeah, that's what it is. But propaganda has changed the meaning. It's really sad.

[@reedhoward27]

_As man seeks Justice in Equality, so society seeks Order in Anarchy._ -Pierre-Joseph Proudhon That's where the famous anarchist circled A (Ⓐ, the symbol in this video's background) comes from. It's supposed to represent an "A" inside an "O".

[@nickyg7557]

Imo anarchy is unrealistic. It maybe works in small settlements or communities but not in big states. People need rules and orders. If people were all so peaceful and good there woulnd't be that many murders, shootings, rapings, etc... in the world.

[@animekitty4218]

if the only way you can criticise anarchism is by creating a highly ridiculous strawman and taking that apart instead, then you've made a pretty good argument for anarchy. we all know that wasn't the intention of the boyzz tho.

[@HxH2011DRA]

The just have the joker urge

[@thomaswhite3059]

@@HxH2011DRA "I'm gonna have damaged on my face. Because I'm so messed up. Get a jester face laughing with a bunch of 'Ha!'s all around it in a cool crazy font to show how messed up I am. I'm so messed up. I'm all messed up. Because I'm all messed. Up." "Perfect, Jared, we think you're perfect for the part." "What part?"

[@multslash]

The same thing is done to the communism ideology in the book 1, it's such an straw man, that it's ridiculous, by choosing that the communist will be a guy that only cares about what you are or what you do, you are literally depicting other things than a communist revolutionary, he doesn't care about class opression or class struggle since he works with a rich guy. His rethoric is not about the opression of the bourgeoisie, but the opression of the benders. A real communist would be a guy that didn't care with you are a bender or a non bender, but a guy that would care about the opression of the poor people, just as today we know that black people are more opressed than white people, but that only is because of the system in wich we live on, and that if both are poor, both are opressed by the dominant class.

[@BigBadWolframio]

It's what I don't understand about right wingers in general. They criticise a made up form of communism, socialism, anarchism, etc., but not the real deal. Damn, present me with actual problems of those systems so we can have a meaningful discussion on how to solve them, but if the condition for you to hate certain ideologies is to invent shit about them... ??? I don't get it!!

[@Milkman740]

@@multslash The thing is, Amon isn't a communist. There is literary nothing he says our does that is remotely reminiscant of communism. He does not strive for equality, he does not talk about how the people should seige control of the means of production or anything that even remotely resembles communist ideology. The thing he strives for is physcical homogenity. He talks about benders being "impure" because they are born differently. He uses violence to force benders to conform to the norms of the group he represents. What Amon says or does comes not even close to touching communist ideology. Considering Amon as an critique to communism is a huge stretch. Calling Amon populist or even fascist would be more accurate in my opinion.

[@brandonweatherstone2380]

There's this weird mentality that exists among a lot of people that kids (I'm thinking 2nd graders to 6th graders) just can't handle "big ideas" or "serious questions", and that if we want to try and communicate such things via cartoons then we have to either dumb it down for them, or have them closely associated with the actions of characters. I think that's one of the reasons why the Legend of Korra focuses so much on the individual actions or experiences rather than actually have them sit down and have a serious discussion over their beliefs or values. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that we can just sit them down and read to them something like Marx's Capital, but I do think that kids are oftentimes a lot smarter than we give them credit for, and they certainly deserve more than the Boy's insultingly dumbed down version of anarchism that boils down to "screw the queen, let's just loot and shit."

[@thecabbageman1]

If the boyz did that then they're hypocrites too, because they constanlty preached Korra as more mature and nuanced from ATLA(mature and nuanced my ass) and try to use that as an excuse for the criticisms it got

[@rsfilmdiscussionchannel4168]

With that last point, I think it's clear that you misunderstood this show more than the creative team misunderstood anarchism. Here are two points of my own: 1. The citizens of Ba Sing Se weren't being anarchists, they were having a natural reaction to being freed from the Earth Queen's awful reign and descending into riots and greed. And now that the leader is dead and that the wall to the city got destroyed, there's nothing to stop them getting to the upper areas. 2. Perhaps the reason why it was "Insultingly Dumbed Down" is because they were thrown into a situation where they could just do what they wanted without consequence. Unlike Zaheer and his crew, they didn't have time to form actual beliefs or plans, they just acted on a whim in response to a problem being solved and a new opportunity for freedom being presented.

[@thecabbageman1]

@@rsfilmdiscussionchannel4168 Still it's immature. They could just resume their lives without a tyrant in their head. The removal of her is no reason for them to start destroying civilization

[@hsgame4088]

Wouldnt overthrowing the Earth queen more of a communist thing? It wouldve made more sense that way,if Amon overthrew the earth queen and announced a new nation of united non benders from all nations that wouldve given the communism element more sense

[@purechigarillos9326]

@@hsgame4088 Actually, Amon's ideology is much closer to Socialism than Communism.

[@uncurled520]

I feel like this season would make much more sense if instead of calling himself an anarchist, Zaheer called himself a sovereign citizen. Swap out the bending with guns and Zaheer might as well be Cliven or Ammon Bundy. Bryke clearly wanted the red lotus to be seen as terrorists and sovereign citizens are one of if not the biggest modern terrorist threats. Anarchist violence was more of a late 19th/early 20th century so culturally it is much less familiar.

[@elysainempire4628]

LOK takes place around what would be the 20s today so it would be base in 20th century problems.

[@Nofixdahdress]

@@elysainempire4628 Huh, I guess I'd forgotten about the attempt of a dark messiah figure to bring about the apocalypse in 1923. Shoulda paid more attention in history class. The 1920s aesthetic of LoK is just that, an aesthetic. It has next to no thematic relevance to the series at large.

[@nathandrake5544]

It just occurred to me that the homeless guy in Republic City reminds me of Karataev from War and Peace, Toltoy's romanticized peasant.

[@jennywhat6108]

holy shit. Did you guys really like this book? I'm russian and we were obliged to read the whole thing in 10th grade and now I can't make myself to even think about fucking Rostovs

[@nathandrake5544]

@@jennywhat6108 Lol I actually enjoyed it. But reading it for school sounds like a nightmare! I guess we have Shakespeare and you have Tolstoy haha

[@nathandrake5544]

@@jennywhat6108 The one Russian novel we had to read was Crime and Punishment, and it was for the summer. Most of the kids didn't finish it and the teacher just made the assignment extra credit.

[@jennywhat6108]

@@nathandrake5544 We had Crime and Punishment in 9th grade and majority of kids didn't finish it either but everyone knows the plot 'cause of memes. Lol

[@B_A-tr]

@@nathandrake5544 i had "frau jenny treibel" in german class and god was it boring

[@neutralnarwhal8184]

Anarchy for me means that hierarchies are not self-justifying. Any position of authority must prove it's purpose and anyone in such a position must continuously prove their competency. Example: A head chef in a kitchen is in charge of the menu and seeing to it that the other chefs perform their duties. This chef is typically more experienced than the others, good under pressure, and understands all the dishes the kitchen is being sent out, and so can coordinate the stations. (He should not be chosen because he is the owner/the owner's son/etc) Having such a position allows for more streamlined operation, faster service, and fewer errors. He is not given control over everything about the restaurant, only what falls under his expertise. The people working under him consent to his authority and can, if an issue arises, remove him from the position of power. The position also ceases to exist if it proves redundant/unnecessary. Also, an-caps aren't anarchist because they accept the hierarchy/authority of wealth.

[@sophiemujiri8275]

Very well put!

[@CodyTaylor115]

What's your response to an-caps who say an-coms aren't anarchist because not everyone will agree to share what they produce. And if you need to apply force to make that a reality isn't that in practice a state or at the very least a centralized power. Im personally an anarchist who doesn't identify as an com or an cap. Your economic policies don't interest me willful and consensual association and exchange is all i think is necessary for a world where both ancoms and an-caps can coexist

[@neutralnarwhal8184]

@@CodyTaylor115 Well, those people that don't want to contribute are within their right to. I've never imagined a society where everyone is productive. Many people could spend their days writing or drawing or hobby gardening. It's not like we aren't currently creating a surplus of most things. Still, those that do produce have more than a little incentive to share: If what they produce is food, then they'll need tools to farm with. If they produce appliances, they'll need raw materials. No one person can occupy all positions in a production line at once. Even if they produce something that they can solely contribute to, in quantities allowing for distribution, they still need to eat, wear clothes, have their house repaired, seek medical treatment, etc. Assuming that they are a jack of all trades and can indeed tend to all their own needs, human beings are creatures of comfort and convenience. Being a plumber, farmer, handyman, seamstress, chef, doctor isolationist would not leave anyone very many hours in the day for leisure. At this point they're making their own life harder for no benefit besides, maybe, proving a point. TLDR: No one would be required to share what they produce. There would be many things that encourage it as cooperation benefits everyone.

[@sophiemujiri8275]

@@CodyTaylor115 There will also be people who wouldn’t want to destroy the state. That doesn’t mean anarchists need to let all of them do whatever they want, because that’s not the goal. The goal is to resist every form of authority. What ancaps want to do is maintain a very oppressive economic system that’s currently destroying the livelihoods of people and the environments. What? Should we also let everyone murder because otherwise we’d be using force to prevent it?

[@Azerty72200]

@@neutralnarwhal8184 What happens if me and the bois, decide to produce and never share, but people actually need what I produce to survive? What if under anarchy I manage to acquire a monopoly on food production? How do the rest of the population fight against that, are there institutions for that? And that's not a criticism, I'm wondering. Maybe KZbin isn't the best place for complex debates, do you mind if we talk through Discord or something?

[@scottgrey3337]

4:56 LoK criticising the Earth Queen's conscription also ignores that only a season before, Korra had actively tried to get Republic City involved in a war. I've seen fans dismiss the president as being short-sighted and selfish for saying no, as if joining was clearly the objectively right thing to do. If they'd (Korra+the fans) gotten the war they wanted, it would have been conscripts fighting it.

[@myohmy9000]

“That’s... not what anarchists think... anarchists don’t think the concepts of chaos will magically fix society’s problems... or is some natural order we must return to. I don’t think anyone believes that. That’s not a real political position that anyone has.” AnPrims: *allow us to introduce ourselves*

[@the_teymur_]

Praise the MONKE!

[@spacepirate4623]

Transhumanist : no

[@the_teymur_]

sauce loop REEEEEEEEEE!

[@hsgame4088]

Anarchist believe in the commune,they dont believe in total anarchy and just everyone can do whatever they want,Anarchist have laws but they are decided by society as a whole that respresent the commune instead of a centralised government

[@paslaruflorin-alexandru9088]

@@hsgame4088 No,they do not have laws....this regime is just based on 3 principles:equality,freedom and communion.Every human counts on his own principles and practices of helping others in order to survive....and if an anarchist wouldn't believe in total anarchy,then he wouldn't be an anarchist.The natural chaos is not anarchy is just disorder.

[@softestshade7813]

Kicked the Trump's trash can, time to "Do Anarchy Now" Also, thank you for the Joker comparison, I literally was thinking that the entire time. I wish they would have at least made one of the Red Lotus members slightly more cartoonish to get something out of this.

[@softestshade7813]

And by something, I mean edgy 2012 style edits and a VA having some fun because Korra is just a mess-

[@Nanook128]

Joker's world view at least makes some degree of sense. He understands the base nature of humanity.

[@stormingfox8360]

k

[@AbMaSync]

"No, you see, everything is a mess, so I'll make a bigger mess of it to set it right."

[@BigBadWolframio]

Hey, if they hadn't called it anarchism it could've worked in a twisted way. Forcing the people into such a messy, unpleasant and way out of their comfort zone situation, that they have no more options than to act and take the matter in their hands. I don't mean it would be a great idea, but it'd made some sense and hint more of an actual plan. Killing the Queen wouldn't have been the end game, but a step into the right direction. The objective wouldn't be chaos, but chaos could be a tool for people to find a new order. Sorry if this doesn't make sense 😅

[@theEndermanMGS]

8:46 I am calling Kropotkin the Magician of Chaos from now on, and nobody can stop me because anarchy.

[@unknownhandyman6821]

Zahir is basically Nestor Makhno :).

[@blackflagsnroses6013]

@@unknownhandyman6821 He’s more like Blanquin

[@unknownhandyman6821]

@@blackflagsnroses6013 Who is he?

[@kaboom138]

​@@blackflagsnroses6013 Good point. Those wondering, Blanquism is a concept of revolution from 19th Century French socialist Louis Auguste Blanqui. Basically, revolution should be carried out by a small group of highly organized and secretive conspirators. This small group of professional, dedicated revolutionaries establish a temporary dictatorial state regime to turn society socialist before giving up power to the people. It's a particular idea that a revolution should be carried out via a coup d'état. Lenin was criticized by Rosa Luxembourg for Blanquist tendencies for not wanting a mass revolutionary organization vs his dedicated, disciplined, & centralized party. Zaheer would def fit the bill as a Blanquist masquerading as an anarchist in my eyes.

[@scytheslash]

Thank you for providing a brilliant series of takedowns of TLoK's politics without resorting to, um... theatrics? Unlike a certain someone. May the algorithm guide you to many views randomly 6-9 years from now.

[@adeptdamage3669]

E;R?

[@hedgydablue6599]

Lily Orchard?

[@juicebox9465]

Both plausible lol.

[@scytheslash]

@@hedgydablue6599 lol yep

[@hedgydablue6599]

@@scytheslash Ha! Called it!

[@mateotrigo7565]

Is it *so* refreshing to hear someone talk about anarchism with competency and actual understanding

[@mateotrigo7565]

@Anno Kitsune “competency” and “understanding” do not mean in-depth, fully realised, textbook knowledge of a topic, just so we’re clear

[@PirateQueen1720]

All political ideologies have SOMETHING you can legitimately critique (or at least make a half-decent argument against), so it is always disappointing when writers settle for straw-manning. For instance...a newly-established anarchist society might do perfectly fine at re-organizing workplaces on a more democratic footing but have trouble mounting a military defense if threatened by outside powers (as tends to happen). And it could be interesting to think about if there is any way the revolutionaries might overcome that; it could produce a lot of good narrative tension. But no...let's just have them be dummies who don't know how revolutions work.

[@cooldude6651]

There's always the point to be made that the anarchist society of southern Ukraine at the end of the First World War was a major threat to the German and Austrian empires, the White Army, the short-lived nationalist Ukrainian state, and the Soviet Union. They inspired mass desertions, and switched between guerilla and frontal warfare tactics with fluidity that predominantly hierarchical militaries couldn't manage. They used almost entirely stolen weapons and decentralized militias, and defended their land for years. The clever bit was that if they were cornered, they would simply bury their weapons and return to their villages to keep working. The main reason for its failure was the lack of global support, but with the growth of global information networks it's significantly likely that an anarchist insurrectionary force could garner widespread support.

[@vt4c]

decentralised organisations tend to fight of centralised ones very well, look at Rojava or the Zapatistas

[@MadameTamma]

Zaheer’s message to Ba sing Se after he kills the earth queen reminds me of the college humor sketch “if the purge happened in real life” where instead of going out to do violence and loot, the people just stand there all night, raising their hands to ask questions about the logistics of how all this is supposed to work and the official just getting more and more frustrated saying “I don’t know, just go do something bad!”

[@thelastcrow5660]

What I find really hillarious is that Zaheer keeps shouting about ''No kings and queens, no city walls just like before the time of the First Avatar" but the very first thing we see Avatar Wan do is steal from a rich lord because he and his buddies are starving. Zaheer has absolutely no idea that these concepts existed long before the Avatar did.

[@aturchomicz821]

The richest thing about this season must be the detail of Suyin once being in a commune and then when it came to dealing with an actual Anarchist she imidentally choose the side of liberalism like no fucking way that would happen like that in real life💀

[@heckporter]

FINALLY! I’ve been SO excited for this. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to watch until I get off of work in a few hours. Yet another abuse under this Capitalist system. Can’t wait to watch!!!

[@heckporter]

Okay, so I just finished the video and it was very good! I said on the first video that I felt Zaheer and co. had a slightly more “sympathetic” portrayal compared to the other antagonists and I still feel that way if only for events in season 4. Of course the fact that the Boys yet again only used the shallowest understanding of the ideology they’re trying to portray is eternally frustrating BUT my friends and I did think it was dope to hear anti state and borders talk in a cartoon even if it was the antagonist.

[@TheJayman213]

As someone who watched ATLA but not LoK, I'm really loving this series. It is almost fully relieving me of the regret of not having watched it. Neoliberal hegemony is a b*tch.

[@cracktoon_powerscaling]

Can you calm down

[@rattyeely]

You're not missing much, the bad politics are only half of Korra's problems. The charcters are also very static and unsympathetic and the plot undermines a lot of things that happened in the original series.

[@AJ-nh9qm]

@@rattyeely the main cast of characters are so bland and trash that the villains have to carry the entire show on their backs and even then their motivations make no sense. We have to rely on big fight at the end to make it entertaining

[@reese1836]

Suddenly thinking about this time I was discussing politics with my brother, who said that anarchism sounds really great, but that it would never be taken seriously because of its name. Propaganda has changed the meaning of the word "anarchy" to such an extreme that it's become its own antonym

[@DasMudPie]

Even more commonly used words such as "the left" and "the right" have had their meaning broadened and diluded so much that they don't really mean anything specific anymore, but are rather vaguely refering to a variety of things instead

[@blackflagsnroses6013]

There’s still libertarian. But if people actually know the philosophy they realize they have some anarchy inside them.

[@Raiseflag_Surrender]

As if it has not changed communism before into the same strawman.

[@aevum6667]

I disagree, Anarchy can be shown to mean something different then Media does very soundly and then you can show how much the powers that be fear it by making so much propaganda against it.

[@TRENCHESandTREADS]

@@aevum6667 I mean, considering anarchists themselves can't even agree to a definitional doctrine that encompasses their ideology, how can you blame the Media for saying something different when anarchists say something different every time one of them opens their mouths? Obviously no ideology has one 'true' definition, but at least with things like communism, capitalism, etc the amount of varying definitions are manageable, and within a degree of similarity to one another. For anarchists though I've seen so many definitions that it's clear to me none of them actually know what it is they believe in, especially when you get anarchists that espouse definitions that are inherently contradictory with one another.

[@Dorian_sapiens]

This series by K&S is so good! I wonder what it will take for a show as popular as The Legend of Korra to present anarchism honestly and seriously.

[@QuestionableObject]

Yaaay counter-revolutionary propaganda in cartoons my favorite

[@PancakemonsterFO4]

Thank god i couldn't stand Korras immature loose canon character or i would have actually watched this propaganda garbage. I did watch spirit bois Arc tho because IT ACTUALLY FELT LIKE AVATAR

[@mkd2839]

@@PancakemonsterFO4 Wait wat that's the least Avatar thing in the entirety of Korra. Check skittles' video on Book 2

[@PancakemonsterFO4]

@@mkd2839 ah, you propably mean the nessecity of the spirits having to constantly keep each other in check or else CHAOS grows stronger and ORDER dies (wich kinda makes order a parasite wich cannot survive on its own) yeah i'm not bothering looking up their names bite me. They were the weakest part of the entire storyline but i liked the art of the spirit world (because we barely see any spirits after Avatar), Korra took a backseat to a more sympathetic character aaand Korra ruins it all in the end by resetting the avatar cycle anyway so i wouldn't get too comfy with the show and throw my TV out the window

[@marshmallowvampire8503]

Well, yes... but actually no.😄😄 Yes b'coz it depicts how taking it to the extreme ends badly. No b'coz at one point Korra does admit that ending injustice is right but the way Zaheer does it is wrong.

[@marshmallowvampire8503]

@@PancakemonsterFO4 I have noticed that this show is a little sloppy-ly explained. I watched Legend/Korra from the beginning recently just to see if I understood it but😊😊... yeah.😕

[@normtrooper4392]

This is good. Thank you Skittles (and also Kay). It's funny to see people who understand absolutely nothing about anarchism try to show anarchism. The boys might as well be writing about Chaos from 40k

[@blackflagsnroses6013]

As an Anarchist I can’t tell you how annoying it was to see yet another portrayal of Anarchism as just chaos and disorder, proving Anarchism wasn’t actually portrayed. The Red Lotus did not function as Anarchists, but as Blanquists. Blanquists believed in a clandestine coup undertaken by a professional group of revolutionaries that would end the status quo State and initiate an intermediary dictatorship of the insurrectionary group to assure victory. Then power would be given to the masses to achieve socialism on their own. This was exactly the Red Lotus except for the temporary dictatorship or government. As someone mentioned they already had an almost complete anarchist society, the nomadic and monastic Airbenders. They did not have industrialization or an agricultural economy, but their culture best was representative of anarchist philosophy. Freedom, communal solidarity, no borders, no State, no rigid hierarchy. Of course being a monastic and spiritual matter it wasn’t completely anarchist, they had an ecclesiastical council that had some influence, but not a government. They seemed more administrators of the monasteries and spiritual leaders, as with real Buddhist monasteries. There weren’t any nation-states. So something they did get right is Air Nomad culture being influential to Zaheer and the Red Lotus, makes sense. But as you mentioned they did a secret top-down coup and just expected people to have libertarian socialism without any actual prior mass social movement? Like Blanquists and Leninists it seems the Red Lotus do not think the masses are capable of revolution on their own and need a professional elite or vanguard to lead them and tell them what must be done. A failure of Anarchist portrayal. No free association, no individual autonomy via access to the means of life, no FEDERALISM an important concept to Anarchy etc... Anarchists are radical individualists that believe it best achieved through socialized means of production. Liberty, Solidarity, Egalitarian. Anarchy is Order! And just the obligatory “anarcho-capitalism” is not anarchist. The foundations of anarchist or libertarian socialism are anti-statism, anti-capitalism. Private property is a hierarchic social relation, as is wage slavery. Capitalism is incompatible with anarchism. We have our own market socialism. Socioeconomically anarchism is anarcho-syndicalist, collectivist, communist, or Mutualist (free market anarchism). Still this was my favorite season, even a bad anarchy portrayal gives it that cool factor.

[@marshallyoungmandy8434]

Nice thing to link Leninism to Blanquists. Go read Lenin please. That's ignorance right there. The Air nomads weren't Communism/Anarchism. That was a form of primitive Communism. As Engels put It, slavery was progressive compared to the primitive communist system. Communism is after the full development of human society, It doesn't happen because of lack of development. Regardless, even If i don't agree with Anarchism overall. I know damn well that Zaheer was the worst strawman ever.

[@Liliquan]

As I commented on another comment…. “It wasn’t anarchism. They still had hierarchies of power. They had to wear certain clothes that indicates their position. They were expected to believe in the religious precepts of their religion. They were expected to do certain physical and mental exercises as part of their devotion. They were expected to be respectful (subservient) to those at a higher rank than them. Ang was the outlier. The only one willing to disobey authority. And so, the only one to survive and the only one to experience the richness of the world. Instead of being cooped up in some sort of holy place.” It’s utterly absurd to call the Airbenders even close to anarchism.

[@fairboy5349]

U would have done some of us a world of good if u were to explain ur point in plain English

[@fairboy5349]

@@Liliquan the show just wanted to incorporate fight scenes and that is all that mattered to them

[@blackflagsnroses6013]

@@LiliquanI agree they are not anarchists I didn’t mean to make it sound so. But what I see is their culture based in freedom was actually the catalyst for libertarian philosophy in the Avatar world. The culture itself wasn’t anarchist, but they did develop its fundamentals. Guru Laghima was a philosophical anarchist akin to the founders of Taoist philosophy in which many aspects have been considered as philosophical anarchism. There was also Laghima’s rival who read as an Egoist. The Airbending culture produced the development of Anarchism, which is why the Red Lotus or at least Zaheer admires the culture. Though I suppose the Red Lotus also serves as adherents of Vaatu and what he represents as a spiritual force. But yeah Airbenders aren’t Anarchists I thought I’d made that clear. This comment was a while ago and I've only gotten sharper on Anarchist/Mutualist philosophy

[@elloingo]

Zaheer is what Jordan Peterson has nightmares about

[@syihanmuhammad7610]

This is the only channel I've found with astute political analysis of the Avatar series lol

[@DasMudPie]

For a series putting politics at the forefront of its stories, you'd think that there'd be more out there :p

[@tomodugan8456]

and I 100% needed it after the show

[@jenna1067]

"it's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism" absolute bar omg

[@burngrace5205]

Can’t wait for you to discuss outright fascism in your next video

[@TheLostArchangel666]

Am I the only one who wants a LoK fanfiction in which Zaheer is an *actual* anarchist and is proven right, now?

[@vetarlittorf1807]

He is an actual anarchist.

[@TheLostArchangel666]

@@vetarlittorf1807 Did you even watch the video? He is not. His ideology is a mere parody of actual anarchism.

[@DasMudPie]

Ba Sing Se would have been a pretty formidable and, most importantly, impenetrable and self-sustaining commune ... the perfect launching point for a world revolution!

[@amerrackhunter3913]

Anarchy is an interesting ideology, and as someone who would probably call himself on; the whole "Mad Max" theme is stupid. The Red Lotus could have been an amazing group that shakes up the world of Avatar forever. What do we get? Some chaos is normal mess; it felt like a huge missed opportunity

[@AntiFaGoat]

The whole show was a missed opportunity.

[@tbhon]

@JohnnyTheWolf I'd rather have gotten an honest representation of anarchism that challenges Korra's view of the status quo

[@rusteeJackson]

In spite of all the poorly thought out plotlines and some bad story telling I sill like the show, call it a guilty pleasure. But yea in a show that is explicitly about politics and society, it really like to use problems of the system as set dressings and only give a truncated mish mash of political theroy. Banking on it's characters to carry the show.

[@KayAndSkittles]

Yeah it's still a fun watch. You can't NOT love a water bender using water as arm tentacles smashing nerds around.

[@williampym3741]

@@KayAndSkittles The Legend of Korra is good if you don't think about anything while watching it. And that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

[@user-mh9dx7nz2r]

My opinion on the show is personified in Varrick, not good but still extremely lovable.

[@ratchetclank4745]

for a show trying to tackle the politics of a world with bending, i love it for everything BUT the pretty bad politics. i swear we'd be living in the "society if X" meme if politically literate people had written this show

[@myselfapretend]

I really like your work. Won't get to watch this until later, but wanted to save it and let you know this now. Thanks!

[@cantaloupegodling352]

Zaheer is probably the only villain who genuinely pissed me off. It was such a shallow view of anarchy and I'd heard tons of people praising him as a villain so I was expecting some sort of confrontation where Korra challenged his ideology but no he's just the bad anarchy man and then they beat him up. (By the way I don't even get how Korra won that she couldn't beat him when she wasn't poisoned with backup)

[@brandoncalvert8379]

This series is really well done. You cover this stuff so completely. Thanks for tackling this project :)

[@1227CGanimated]

Mother Anarchy loves her sons, but hate Brian and Michael.

[@sinjinreed2091]

The funny thing about the Joker from _The Dark Knight_ is that he isn't an anarchist, he's an Illegalist-he just wants to commit crimes with no real endgame or goal. Just crime for crime's sake.

[@orCane]

When I watched the series I really just loved the notion of more Avatar and didn't really analyse its politics. I'm absolutely gutted by how right this series is and it makes me wish LoK had had proper ideological analysis in it. Seems like such a wasted opportunity that it didn't.

[@Runningfromtheredqueen]

I had forgotten/repressed just how terrible that Kuvira shoe-in was. Eugh. Imagine if they'd done it as awkwardly with, say, Azula back in season 1 of ATLA. Anyway, good analysis. I actually spent much of season 3's first half under the assumption that the Red Lotus would try to deconstruct Korra's upbringing, i.e. how she had basically been raised in seclusion by the Avatar-world's version of The Illuminati with no control of her childhood and no worldly experience outside the south pole despite being burdened with being the avatar from a young age; essentially making her, if not indoctrinated then at least heavily influenced by the White Lotus' pro-tradition/Status Quo point of view (and of course all the more convinced of her inherent righness, like with her behaviour in season 2). More fool me of course; expecting that from The Boys who brought us Korraball Z. No, of course the villains just want to perma-kill the symbol of cooperation and unity between the four elements and the world's cultures, because anarchy equals chaos. At least Amon's ideological POV made the depowering of the avatar make sense in some twisted way.

[@KayAndSkittles]

You'd also think someone would talk about how Korra is the Water Tribe equivalent of a princess, with her dad being the leader and all. Seems like that might be a topic of interest to the guys out here killin queens.

[@rattyeely]

Azula does show up in season one during "the storm" but it's handled really well, she's just a background charcter and it's not until the season end that we realize she's going to be important to the plot

[@crackle6875]

And then we have two seasons to get to know her.

[@2Fiddle4U]

Thanks for the video, Kay. This was a long time coming for me, seeing someone break this down. Anyone in the comments actually interested in anarchism, I'd recommend checking out the channels Anarchopac, Garrett, Libertarian Socialist Rants, Thought Slime, Anarcho Agony Aunts, and Audible Anarchist

[@2Fiddle4U]

I should also add that there are sites like Anarchist Library, AnarchismFAQ, Black Rose Anarchist Federation, and Libcom with accessible and free readings, and any talk by David Graeber and Noam Chonsky on the topic can be highly informative

[@cooldude6651]

Anarchy Works by Gelderloos is another great one

[@belegl.7721]

The fun thing (well, not really fun, but you know) is that the only really wrong thing Zaheer and the Red Lotus did was threatening the Air Nomads with another genocide. Killing the Earth Queen and ending the Avatar Cycle are very understandeable and defensible goals, although they are of course not enough to build Anarchism. Also, by Kropotkins beard, if you have a group of Anarchist opposing the "White Lotus" you don't call it the "Red Lotus" you call it the "Black Lotus"! Get your political colour theory together.

[@Aussie26846]

It seems like the boys got their understanding of anarchy from a spark-notes summary of V for Vendetta

[@evan6338]

The worst part for me is coming to realize that regardless of how cool the Red Lotus are, they are dumb. Gazan, the lavabender, was my favorite character that season. (And because I do like anarchy, though I understand it to be much more nuanced now). "But he's so cool! But he's so dumb!"

[@tbhon]

God same Zaheer is such a cool and interesting character but his hodgepodge ideology is so goddamn stupid

[@ErutaniaRose]

I thought it made NO sense that Zahir attacked the airbenders...when literally the episode before, DURING the attack on the Earth Kingdom, he makes a point to say, "We are not here to hurt citizens like him, but to help them." AND one of the people he respects most IS a former Airbending Master. SO WHY WOULD HE WANNA HURT THE AIR NATION OR USE THEM AS LEVERAGE??? It makes no sense.

[@osamamansoor927]

I don't normally comment but literally i found myself whispering "that was such a good video" to myself. Absolutely brilliant stuff. Subscribed.

[@GoodStarfish]

"Art imitates life or vice versa?", some say, but I can tell you that art doesn't often imitate life through the medium of human consciousness very well if it is compromised by capitalism. Your work, Kay, is not. Keep it up, you sky diamond

[@skydragon5555]

"It's easier to imagine the end of the world, than to imagine the end of capitalism". Fuck that hit hard, fuck capitalist realism.

[@Bluecho4]

I remember watching the show again recently, and during breaks I would wind myself up imagining a hypothetical monologue to Zaheer. About how his anarchism was understandable and even laudible, but that his plan was dumb and not sustainable long term. That his failure to create a social movement within the populations was not only allowing for new despots to rise in short order to replace the old, but that throwing the world into chaos was actively depriving people of the freedom he championed. So when this video illustrated how Zaheer's plan is dumb because it displayed a profound lack of understanding of Anarchism or how revolutions are done, I thought "yeah, this tricks".

[@000Dragon50000]

You know they fucked up Zaheer when even several-years-ago, completely-politically-unaware me could tell something was wrong.

[@Chronicpatchkids]

I appreciate this show for trying to tackle different political ideals but in each season it's handled extremely poorly with a disappointing thematic resolution. I say this as someone that likes Korra. It's also very telling that the villain that's most sympathetic and with a redemption arc in the comics is Kuvira

[@zkkitty2436]

I hated that Korra saved kuvira. "I couldn't let her die" yes, you could actually! you could let the fascist fall victim to her own fucking death machine that she used to kill who knows how many people with! and that she intended to use to enslave even more people than she's already enslaved! the world would not be worse off for it babe!

[@sleepy0]

You should make one of these for the Hunger Games, comrade

[@nathandrake5544]

15:15 Also is it just me, or is that scene a gratuitously shoehorned Evangelion reference? There's a particular part in the psychoanalytic sequences where Shinji is drawn that way when he is facing the window of the train.

[@LimeyLassen]

That's just the fisheye lens effect. It shows up in anime a lot.

[@thats4thebirds]

@@LimeyLassen lmao right.

[@odalchiszaratutu6793]

dude this vids are amazing, i love how you engage your public in complex political ideologies and dinamics

[@tofupowda]

great point about how zaheer is never made to interact with the actual people. LOK attempts to introduce and tackle so many different deep political ideologies and subjects but has no idea how to tackle them and it's so frusturating

[@Nottsflix]

I've been looking forward to this! Thankyou so much for making this series. DO ANARCHY NOW

[@natethegreatest1000]

Zaheer used his enlightened meditation to achieve monke for all

[@crueltyquad18]

Let go you hooman tether. Enter the jungle. Empty and become monke.

[@DNS9859]

Henry Rollins bout 2 AIRBEND YA

[@aguy6157]

I was like "who's this fuckhead, badmouthing korra?" Then I actually watched the video and was like "crap, how did i not notice these things on my own??" Great video, i have a lot to learn about politics

[@valmid5069]

*“Where there is no law, there is no freedom”* -John Locke

[@Kanelel]

I was just wondering when the next one of these would come out, then a few minutes later the notification for this pops up. Neat!

[@Rabi2in]

6:55 the earth queen consolidated so much power for herself that she basically was the system

[@arizonatea8801]

Oh shit I thought these were old videos from some dead youtuber so I was expecting to just go watch the next one. I was thinking about rewatching this series but you've made it very clear that this is all just bourgeoise liberal rot. This has been very insightful and I look forwards to the next part.

[@asmrtpop2676]

The inequality of Ba Sing Se was blatant during Kuei’s rule. It’s just continued to worsen.

[@motorcycleman115]

There’s not a single network out there that’s willing to portray anarchism honestly. To do so would be to provide the means for ones own destruction.

[@ninjasheep7492]

One debatable error is that historically for a large portion of feudal history successions were a huge deal. It depends on the state of course with some being very consistent while others resulted in decades long wars over who should rule a country. That being said for most feudal states war happened less for a specific cause and more because the monarch had spare resources and a desire to take land or gold from other states. So peasants were kind of just used to being levied into poorly equipped armies to fight for their monarch’s desires whether its to rule a divided state or expand the state.

[@robotictoast65]

China was a bureaucratic empire though, the Earth Kingdom modeled off it, so unless the warlords take up arms the death of the queen should not result into anything meaningful. Prince Wu is the successor, and nobody was challenging that. What happened in Book 3 should have only happened if for the previous 20 years the were constant uprisings happening around the empire, since it proves that even the warlords can't stop peasants. But since none of the peasants rose up before, and none of the aristocrats were particularly ambitious, the empire should have been under temporary control of the Dai Li.

[@finlaymckeown2891]

No one is saying that he succession was always simple, but rather that it was a given. No matter whether Harold, Harold or William the Conquerer ended up in control of England in 1066, no one even considered any non-monarchical system. The same is true of the Spanish and Austrian wars of succession etc etc. During the French Revolution, Louis was dethroned far before he was killed as revolutionaries understood it was more important to undermine the system then take out the man

[@DieNibelungenliad]

From the King's point of view, the kingdom was his land or in other words: private property. He granted some of his land to his sons (prince) which was called principality, some of his land to his younger brother (Duke) called Duchy, some lands to his servants (Knights) called Knight's fee, and some lands to the Bishops called Bishopric. He may even grant a charter to the rich families (burghers) of a city to make the rules of said city. These landlords will then let the commonfolk rent use of their land to live on, farm on, and do trades on. This was the feudal order and while there were times of peace and prosperity, this order was disrupted when there was a time of crisis every generation be it a war wherein mercenaries rob burn and break everything, a famine making commoners choose between starvation and eviction because they can't pay rent after buying food, being conquered by someone else who would become the new landlord who would then scrap all the old vows and make new ones demanding more in rent from the commonfolk in exchange for using his land, or plague which would obviously kill people and bring them to ruin. Only by the 1600s did capitalism arise and by then it enriched some of the commonfolk but then impoverished many because it brought the new problem of economic recession caused by the boom bust cycle as a result of the law of supply and demand.

[@MrAapasuo]

@@DieNibelungenliad that is rather simplistic view of feudalism, as each country had its own systems on whos land it was and how much power king actually held, there were even elective monarchies where new king was voted in by nobility after passing of the last one. also I dont know which history book you read from but capitalism wasnt in force at 1600's as renaissance is largely recognised as mercantilist period, unless you meant simple trading which had been ongoing since dawn of human cultures

[@DieNibelungenliad]

@@MrAapasuo mercantilism is short for mercantile capitalism. The Dutch and the English began mercantile capitalism with the Levant company, Muscovy company, and Dutch East Indies company and Dutch West Indies Company

[@umanuu]

watching these videos helped me realize that the show isn't an observation of political ideology, but instead an antidisestablishmentarianist propaganda piece.

[@ThatOneGuy7550]

Yess new video!!!! Love this series, Kay! Also loved Zaheer.

[@alexalexandrov9684]

Sad thing is this is still one of the better season. But tbh anarchism is the most misunderstood ideologies

[@cinaedus8781]

Legend of Korra is the cartoon equivalent of a shower argument.

[@ladymercury05]

"If we can just beat the bad man, everything will be good again" - Biden 2020 They've learnt nothing but feel vindicated by an electoral win. I fear for the next four years. Great video series by the way, I revisit it every now and then.

[@mattybrunolucaszeneresalas9072]

5:08 they don’t like that either 12:30 my best guess is that they TRIED to make the Queen hated so much that they would do that 12:47 if you say so 12:52 what is top down? 13:35 okay? Expound!

[@ToruKun1]

My respect for Henry Rollins just plummeted into the Earth's crust knowing he voiced this 14 year old anarkiddy character.

[@rowansnow6579]

14:01 I'm fucking dying! I don't know why that image is so funny to me, but I just love it.

[@alaraplatt8104]

the citizens were just that scared of the monarch lady personally telling them off huh.....

[@alexfirefly1956]

First Half of Season 3: “The Earthqueen kidnapped dozens of air bending citizens, forcing them to be soldiers, is downright disgusting towards her poor subjects and our heroes and even had them arrested for challenging her. What a terrible woman!” Second Half: “Yes, the Earthqueen is amazing Grandma, whatever you say. Hey, Zaheer, you can’t kill this woman and challenge her “right” to rule this Kingdom! That is wrong!!!”

[@TheSamuraijim87]

Fantastic video analysis! Just finished a watch through of Korra, and this was a great discussion of the ideologies. Another thing could have been mentioned in this respect. For the world of Korra, Monarchy is bad and is a cause of great social unrest and disorder. Yet Korra's solution at the end of Book II was to leave her father as Chief of the South and her cousins as Chiefs of the North. Can we ignore these societal evils as irrelevant when the monarchs in question are objectively "good" characters? The fulfillment of the Last Airbender was a "good" firelord, in the form of Zuko, meaning the social ills of monarchy are now no longer a concern?

[@DasMudPie]

The problem is that the Avatar's role isn't presented as solving social problems, but rather as keeping things in order when the boat gets rocked too hard, whether it be due to an imperialist war of expansion or bothersome social movements. Sure, any Avatar can try to make the lives of some people better, but they aren't supposed to fundamentally change the way things work.

[@DasMudPie]

@JohnnyTheWolf "The Avatar is right because the Avatar is good"™️ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@DasMudPie]

@JohnnyTheWolf ... I fear that I'm not inclined to give Zuko or the rest of the Gaang as much credit as you do! I think that a story where confrontation with the antagonists being the result of mutual misunderstandings would've been interesting as well. It could have provided a way to present differing ideologies in a more nuanced way while also allowing dialogue and avoiding outright dismissal of the antagonists' ideas as evil. It would also have fitted the theme of harmonious balance of opposing forces better. Though since I'm not a writer, I have no idea how that could've actually worked out :p

[@DasMudPie]

@JohnnyTheWolf Though I haven't read the comics, I'm guessing that Zuko would be the kind of person who clings to power he doesn't want because he considers it to be his "duty". Also, even though the Gaang might not consider their world's current political systems to be perfect, since they have nowhere to look for alternatives to it (the world is basically ruled by different kinds of monarchies), they're probably left thinking to themselves "eh, that's life, what can you do?"

[@DasMudPie]

@JohnnyTheWolf The Air Nomad's political system's exact workings were probably lost to time, with a few glimpses surviving only through Aang's personnal experiences, so I'm not sure about that. I was also under the impression that it worked like a theocratic oligarchy, so I wouldn't really count on that. Also, I thought the Southern Water Tribe was a an elective monarchy at the time? TLOK's Book 2 showed them having a palace just like their sister tribe's, so I assumed that they had similar systems. Speaking of neoliberal democracies, I think the URN is even worse than that. In light of the information the show provides us, I'm pretty certain that the URN is just basically electing an autocrat every few years or so. There are no mentions of the URN president having to answer to other politicians, only to the electorate, and only when an election occurs. If the council still exists, I bet the president appoints its members too. Given the in-universe dominance of absolutism, it makes sense that the first non-monarchical system would mirror absolutism in every aspect outside of succession laws. The new Earth Federation is probably going to be their first true step towards liberal democracy due to its federal nature. Or maybe not, if the individual "presidents" of each region just end up exerting collective rulership over a fundamentally fragmented continent in a loosely united international organization... Boy, that's a lot of cynicism! Alright, maybe an Avatar world equivalent of Jean-Jacques Rousseau actually exists and their revolutionary thoughts are just hidden somewhere with other forbidden works deep under Lake Laogai, waiting to be found :p

[@aikikaname6508]

I think the reason they went dark knight anarchist is because they wrote themselves in a corner, because logically Zaheer should not be interested in destroying the Avatar. 1. Historically the Avatar is a final check against tyrannical leaders, Roku v Sozin (albeit failing), Kyoshi vs Chin, Aang vs Ozai and Azula. She is a big threat to corrupt world leaders and should really be on side until provoked. 2. He acknowledged that the Avatar is actually doing what he wants in opening the portals. Also freeing the air nomads against a tyrannical government. Even in the context of the show, her goals align with his a fair bit so she shouldn’t be a target. 3. It seems he and Combistion lady were driven on this path by corruption in the Earth kingdom. The Earth Queen and establishing a replacement system should be his no1 goal. If it was, then Korra defending the corrupt Queen wouldn’t put her in a good light, and it would take an explanation far complex than what you want from a fantasy action show to explore what is the issue with Zaheer bumping her off. 4. The air nomads are the only nation without hierarchy and corrupt leaders, so they should be an example of what his goals could look like.

[@Tacom4ster]

Dark Knight Rises does this crap too

[@SofiAzeda]

The Mark Fisher's quote in the end of the video hited hard

[@Paul94096]

Super small animation detail, but if you looo closely at Zaheer’s ears (ha ha that rhymed), they are calcified (cauliflower ears), meaning he’s done A LOT of close quarters combat over the years. I love that details because it explains why he’s such a formidable martial artist.

[@thedudecalledalan9095]

I don't like how you bash Korra but the funny thing is you've actually taught me about politics something I literally had no knowledge about because school never bothered to go this deep.

[@abdelrahmanwael2551]

you know as someone nearing anarchism, i was pretty dissapointed with how they portrayed anarchism in the chaos way. That's like saying decriminalizing drugs means more drug use, a very very surface way of looking at it also what you described is anarcho-syndaclism

[@scarletletter4900]

"It's easier to imagine the end if the world than the end if capitalism." Gene Roddenberry would like a word with you.

[@robertwang2830]

"complex villains", especially in kid shows, are never actually complex because if they were, the authors wouldn't be able to cast them as villains.

[@cooldude6651]

There are hidden stories all around us, growing in abandoned villages in the mountains or vacant lots in the city, petrifying beneath our feet in the remains of societies like nothing we’ve known, whispering to us that things could be different. But the politician you know is lying to you, the manager who hires and fires you, the landlord who evicts you, the president of the bank that owns your house, the professor who grades your papers, the cop who rolls your street, the reporter who informs you, the doctor who medicates you, the husband who beats you, the mother who spanks you, the soldier who kills for you, and the social worker who fits your past and future into a folder in a filing cabinet all ask “WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITHOUT US? It would be anarchy.” And the daughter who runs away from home, the bus driver on the picket line, the veteran who threw back his medal but holds on to his rifle, the boy saved from suicide by the love of his friends, the maid who must bow to those who can’t even cook for themselves, the immigrant hiking across a desert to find her family on the other side, the kid on his way to prison because he burned down a shopping mall they were building over his childhood dreams, the neighbor who cleans up the syringes from the vacant lot, hoping someone will turn it into a garden, the hitchhiker on the open road, the college dropout who gave up on career and health insurance and sometimes even food so he could write revolutionary poetry for the world, maybe all of us can feel it: our bosses and tormentors are afraid of what they would do without us, and their threat is a promise - the best parts of our lives are anarchy already. -gelderloos, in a fuckin awesome book called anarchy works. Check it out folks

[@viriyahh.2237]

Based poetry.

[@ungulatemanalpha]

Honestly, I think you're selling the Joker short by comparing the shallow caricature of anarchy in Korra to him. TDK's Joker uses public spectacle as a way to lay bare the contradictions in peoples' beliefs - by putting the passengers' lives in the hands of the prisoners and vice versa, it would force them to realise that they don't value the lives of other human beings when their own is under threat. It's a pretty obvious prisoner's dilemma. Except the Joker is wrong. Neither the prisoners or the passengers in his 'prisoner's dilemma' are willing to turn on each other to save themselves. It's a remarkable message, that people are good. And the 'heroes' undercut that realisation by covering it up and pretending that betrayal was never possible. That the people of Gotham need a hero, but don't deserve one, when they were the real heroes the entire time. The other example that I keep coming back to is Alfred's interpretations of the Joker's actions based on his experiences in Burma. The rebels aren't interested in the (very valuable) rubies the colonists are trying to mine, so they must be crazy and 'want to watch the world burn'. The idea that the rebels care more about the freedom and independence of their people than the monetary gain of the rubies is outside his comprehension, just like how the Joker's philosophy is completely alien to him in the present.

[@LogicGated]

It's always fun to see contemporary representations of anarchism.

[@neilagangitlog]

Hey, it would be cool if you also do this kind of critique to ATLA. I'm really curious how the creators dealt with these issues in the first franchise. It's commonly remembered as a happy adventure story, and I haven't really seen anyone who looked at it in a political lens. People tend to ignore the shortcomings of their old favorites due to nostalgia, so it would be cool if u could look at that.. Btw, I just found ur channel. I'm now subbed

[@michaellynes3540]

"I'm not the enemy. The system is not the enemy. The enemy is anarchy." - Carmine Falcone (Gotham)