The Road | Are We Naturally Evil?

A look at The Road (2009) based off of Cormac McCarthy's novel. The Road presents a bleak picture of human nature outside of the constraints of civilization. But is it accurate?
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[@KeithWoods]

Thanks to everyone who supports this channel: www.subscribestar.com/keith-woods www.buymeacoffee.com/keithwoods

[@bigolboomerbelly4348]

man is neither good nor evil in a more modern, thus deterministic sense. Man CAN be good but only after great effort. When left to gratify his base desires Man defaults to the beast within him. Can Man be good is the more pertinent question.

[@bigolboomerbelly4348]

Think about it. Evoking "good" or "evil" implies accountability which implies some sort of choice. If they do not have this choice then Man cannot be either good nor evil.

[@mistycloud4455]

A.G.I Will be man's last invention

[@nickc3856]

It's worth noting that McCarthy wrote The Road in his 60s, and he had a young son at the time. By his own admission much of the relationship between the boy and the man in the book are derived from his subconscious worries about being able to raise, protect, and impart wisdom to his son before he passed away. The ending of the book is definitely a whitepill in that McCarthy (obviously not known for being hopeful) seems to accept that when he dies, his son won't be alone; rather he will find others who love and care for him on his journey towards becoming his own man. It's as if McCarthy knows deep down that as wretched as the world may be hope is never truly lost.

[@vangoghsear8657]

Out of all of McCarthy's books that I've read, The Road being the bleakest of them all, its ending is perversely the most hopeful.

[@Bigbaz86]

The idea for the landscape czme from.his visit, with his son, to connemara.

[@arklowrockz]

He also has that final page about the salmon swimming up the river (which I assumed when I read it was akin to the final chapter of 1984 which appears to be a historical text discussing IngSoc, the implication being that IngSoc and Big Brother fell and in The Road that the earth regenerated its life)

[@june5527]

The line that struck me the most was "the child is my warrant". That summed up and justified the father's actions throughout the story.

[@bradlovick5601]

“He knew only that his child was his warrant. He said: If he is not the word of God God never spoke.” it brings a tear to my eye. So much love on display in this dark book

[@adamschaeffer4057]

Touched me too. Not to mention that by the end the Man has become so tunnel visioned into taking care of his son that he was devolving into something that was morally wrong. Basically, he had come to the logic that "whatever it takes" is ok. But he slipped too far in that direction. What he did to the thief came back to haunt him, fatally.

[@user-ze3tq9hf9i]

The problem is that it seems impossible to grow anything in that sunless world. The animals all died off and the last trees are falling regularly. Scavenging is more and more scarce because it's relying on food produced before the "cataclysm". Since people can't grow any food they can't form any stable communities outside of cannibal hunting parties. The guy set out to make the bleakest shit possible.

[@ThriftyCHNR]

The film is an environmental warning...

[@robertthain4330]

@Loredan It is far more pared back than Blood Meridian but that is logical as it is set in a projected future rather than a documented past. IMO it is his second masterpiece after BM.

[@TheNonEdibleCheese]

​@@ThriftyCHNRCould have been something to do with Yellowstone erupting.

[@tyrannosaurustheproudliber5619]

People will describe an average post apocalypse and then soy about about how "bleak" it is. Like yeah, bro didn't hear your as crying when the dinosaurs went through it, eh?????

[@LadyOfShaIott]

‘The Road’ is an unspeakably bleak book and film. It stayed with me for months; I found it genuinely disturbing. Even the fact that the mother takes her own life, thereby abandoning her child, goes against social norms. But it is the determination ‘to prevail’ that, ultimately, drives the narrative. Thanks Keith.

[@thelionofjudah5318]

The road is the great tribulation of the bible.

[@Waterenjoyer1308]

⁠@@thelionofjudah5318I can see your interpretation of keeping the fire in your heart being keeping god in your heart.

[@JaketheJust]

We are naïve in thinking all can be good. You are not good unless you know how evil you can be and have it under voluntarily control.

[@tyrannosaurustheproudliber5619]

I can be the nicest guy you've ever met.... Or a TWISTED F@CKING PSYCHOPATH... 🐺

[@SurfbyShootin]

The notion of naturally evil is a classic accusation against the tribe. Seeing how they inject their misanthropy in every movie, it certainly checks out

[@ramblingnutcase]

You can try to blame the tribe for all of society's ills (and they're responsible for a lot of it) but who let them in? We Europeans have shitty, egregious people within our society who are of the same blood as us and they just as much damage as the tribe or anyone else.

[@sebastianprimomija8375]

And if man is naturally evil, then it is permissible to abuse him, do him harm without consequence and moral quandary.

[@pkop4]

@@sebastianprimomija8375 power will do what it can and what it wants no matter what words are used. Associating good with meek and submissive and strong/dominant with evil is slave morals used to demotivate European man. If man is defined as good that does nothing to stop our enemies from subjugating us. Power is all that matters. Might makes right

[@billyscenic5610]

@@pkop4 if might makes right is a nihilistic slogan.

[@ubermensch4304]

Are you retarded? Neither McCarthy nor Hobbes were Jews.

[@thomasbernard2364]

I would say there is probably an aspect of projection by those who write things like this. They see the ruthless barren materialism today and so they think it's 'human nature' to be cold and avoidant, but smaller villages, places that aren't under the heel of international capital are where you find decency.

[@thomasbernard2364]

@DeusVult1527 War is war. And the aztecs are the aztecs. Doesn't negate that decent people tend to want to stick around and be decent around other decent people. You're either a cynical opportunist, or you're a decent person. But 'modern society' cities just turn people into cynical opportunists. The worship of money doesn't help either.

[@lordfraybin]

@@thomasbernard2364 naturally. I dont feel as safe in the big city. I lock my car while getting gas. When I lived in a small town, I didnt take the keys out of the car. Never locked my front door. P.S. God I want that back....

[@hardliner7964]

@Thomas Bernard-And I would argue there's a great degree of protection among those who say things like what you said. And what could I infer from what you said? That you're privileged, used to getting your way, a rather smug beneficiary of the capitalist social compact. To believe that life is inherently harsh and brutal, I need only to look at the world around me, And look at the endless evidence of history and prehistory. The assertion that people are inherently good and decent is an intangible idea that bears "0" resemblance to the world that actually surrounds us.

[@thomasbernard2364]

@@hardliner7964 It's not a question of if nature is harsh and brutal, but if your fellow man is. And what kind of turd goes around calling people he doesn't know on the internet 'privileged'. You're just a cynical turd. Go read more gobbeldygoo word-magic literature about how we are beasts or something, turd.

[@righthand7965]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/hJDYkmimbaudp6s 🙏❤️

[@davidward3848]

As was once said... "My honor is loyalty."

[@shayneswenson]

I could only watch that film one time. It’s a masterpiece, but something I only want to experience once.

[@nedrain9044]

The book is so much better. It's one I've read several times.

[@pkop4]

Read the book

[@philregular1465]

read the book

[@Nasty-Nate-gh4it]

The book was a tough read to me. Had to set it down to cry at certain points.

[@nickc3856]

@@Nasty-Nate-gh4it Like a lot of McCarthy's stories, it is a BRUTAL read.

[@KaiserTheAdversary]

"it is the individual as we know him that has been the human invention." I often refer to myself as a "bleeding heart" third positionist. I'm a nationalist not out of contempt for those unlike me, but out of a desire to one day see our children grow up in a world more meaningful and satisfying than the one we grew up in. Individualism has reached its limits and no one is happy about it. It's time to re-embed the individual in traditional structures which have been developed and refined over the course of centuries, if not millennia, to meet our most basic needs and the deepest yearns of our hearts.

[@leonhauptmann3301]

Well said

[@lordfraybin]

What do you mean by? Individualism has reached its limits? Ban pink hair? Or give a shit about what pronoun they prefer?? I'm not clear what you mean here. And.. Can you actually verify that "no one" is happy about whatever it, is?

[@KaiserTheAdversary]

​@@lordfraybin >What do you mean by? Individualism has reached its limits? I mean just that. We've all but completely deconstructed everything that has hitherto given life meaning and value: faith, family, folk; and in their stead we have a culture in which everything has been retooled into a a commoditized expression of individual preference. People are now so individualistic that they feel the need to wage chemical warfare on their own bodies so that they can act out their own perversions. >Can you actually verify that "no one" is happy about whatever it, is? Simply look around. The testimony of everyday experience demonstrates this to be true. Everyone is lost. Individualism furnishes the individual with nothing on the basis of which to build a meaningful and satisfying life.

[@kevhogan3846]

Touch grass

[@lordfraybin]

@@KaiserTheAdversary - faith family and folk, is everything of value? I disagree with this sentiment, but I also dont see the world the same way you do. What you describe as "modern life" is nothing like the world I live in. Newer generations are simply adapting to technological changes faster than you. They want a better future than a mundane job at a factory, doing repetitive work. Add to that: We built a culture of hero worship, over the course of thousands of years. Now.. literally ANYONE can become famous "enough" to make a living off it. Pretty fucking clever if you ask me. Sure beats hard labor.

[@leibert6320]

I don't know why , but this one made me cry a little . Thanks Keef

[@australiafair5926]

It made me tear up a bit too

[@djvdtweel]

same

[@highmarshalhelbrecht4715]

This is quality content.

[@TheVeganVicar]

@Pantsmonster v6, based on what?

[@TheVeganVicar]

@Pantsmonster v6, Good Girl! 👌 Incidentally, Slave, are you VEGAN? 🌱

[@ArthurSchoppenweghauer]

Excellent video. Looks like humans are either bored and depressed when they're too rich or at each others throats when they're too poor, even if tribalism persists. Your video came to a more optimistic conclusion, but one cannot ignore this tragic catch 22.

[@MrBobbyar]

if you're poor you would band together, brotherhood of suffering, parents going without food to feed their children. I can only see hostility being an option if the poor were being exploited by a different group.

[@davidward3848]

Loyalty to the nation or tribe is the ultimate virtue. It's not a catch 22. You've just been blinded by your enemies or apathetic members of your own in group into thinking that in group loyalty is somehow the ultimate evil. To put it into a reactionary lens, if your avowed enemies are operating off of the principles that they tell you to disregard then you might as well use them. As if conflict is immoral

[@ArthurSchoppenweghauer]

​@@MrBobbyar One way or another, suffering is preprogrammed into human existence. When people are (too) rich, they get bored and try to form their own weakened version of the brotherhood of suffering by chasing surrogate goals, since all their real problems have already been solved by excessive wealth and comfort. When people are poor tribal conflict ensues for real reasons.

[@davidward3848]

@@ArthurSchoppenweghauer why do you put it in a rich vs poor dichotomy? Hegelian dialects rearing its head a again...

[@jacobj3933]

My family was poor for most of my life. The community we were in was poor too. It is ultimately a fantasy that everyone will be entirely down to this fairy tale of pure individualism. To care solely for the individual. It's ahistorical and same is the case for pre-written history.

[@jewelcitizen2567]

‘Are *~they~* naturally evil’.

[@grandmastersreaction1267]

Yes

[@qweewq5734]

No

[@djvdtweel]

maybe

[@TA-by9wv]

Perhaps. Perhaps.

[@tpower1912]

The important fact of Hobbes picture isn't whether some or even most individuals will show altruism but whether such acts will matter at all. Its why he came up with the prisoners dilemma. Most people can be altruistic but it won't matter if there are those who will act with force who if left unopposed will take everything and the only way to oppose force is to be utilizing force yourself. There's really no way around this. The fact tribes have always existed is just the beginning of the Leviathan itself.

[@savethefamily-savetheworld5539]

Locke's state of nature defines the nature of man with accuracy. Man has contained within him ,necessarily , desires which reside in both worlds, both in time and overtime, consequentially. Locke attended to this truth.

[@Greeze]

Would love to see some more film/media analysis that you find thematically relevant - I really love your discussion on "No Country for Old Men"

[@owainystlyg8215]

Straw Dogs.

[@JonathanRodriguez-nz9nw]

Unfortunately, humanity is very much innately evil. Like the Good Book says: "There is none righteous, no, not one"

[@tyrannosaurustheproudliber5619]

Good and evil is an inherently dumb and poisonous dichotomy. It is incompatible to how life and the larger reality surrounding it operate.

[@niicopanda]

I will say that this type of narrative drove me to more deeply consider the image of God being upon man, and (contrasting?) Original Sin. *** I read The Road, watched the movie, and read the Black River graphic novel in a relatively short period of time. One of my questions, as result, was, "How in the world did *we* make it this far?" History itself is a refutation of these hyper-individualist expectations. This media, I'm pretty convinced, is fear. They are examples of Tolkien's maxim of evil destroying.

[@jeffbezos3200]

The book definitely doesn’t put forth that we are naturally evil. In a lot of this story, the father is on the verge of going too far. His son always stops him and pushes back against it. Except in the case of the robber, who tried to condemn them to death for his own survival, which the boy pushes back against *hard* because they would’ve done the same. So I would argue that the book isn’t saying that people are naturally evil, but rather…survival supersedes good. While people can be corrupted by power, there’s just as many examples of good as evil in this story. For every basement scene, there’s an old man in the road who eats dinner with them, or a family that takes in the boy. Rather than saying we’re naturally evil, it’s saying that the evil that does exist can thrive in a world without order

[@Brooder85]

Beautiful and eloquent. Thank you.

[@roryprice4369]

Some of your best content so far here, much more accessible to a borader viewership than essays about the metaphysics of geopolitics.

[@plaubelmakina8916]

That film shook me up for days and weeks after.

[@LadyOfShaIott]

Me too.

[@grandmastersreaction1267]

Same

[@zerodarkthirty703]

That movie was like a spiritual experience.

[@joeythegypsy]

I lived on the street in New York city for years and the people who stay solo are usually the strongest, smartest, most resilient, most efficient. But they also usually attract others who maybe aren't so capable and they will usually help those less capable and also teach them to be more capable. The least capable usually ban together and share resources. The worst of the worst will try to just latch onto others like a parasite and take as much as they can. But all in all the worst types of people are usually the least capable and easiest to defeat. If society collapsed they wouldn't last very long i don't think. Because they aren't smart or strong enough to be truly dominant.

[@Harry11enderson]

The worst of the worst you describe is very similar to a certain tribe

[@lucaswa]

Very insightful 👏 ... but The Road is about a world beyond all that. It is a work of pure fiction ... that tells us nothing about the real world. Well, I do suppose the cannibalism depicted in The Road is grounded in the possibilities of human reality. Why doesn't Keith instead post on the on the wide spread, and well documented practice of cannibalism in Africa and the South Pacific? Why all of this ruminating over a work of fiction🤔🤨🧐.

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

The father doesn't "preemptively kill a traveller who he feared had been following them". He killed a dude who had just shot a deadly razor tipped arrow at him and hit his leg.

[@TheZombieburner]

I commented the same thing. It was self defense, though I doubt a flare gun would actually do that, the guy fired on him and his son first, and had it coming.

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

@@TheZombieburner Yeah it's funny I watched another movie recently that had a flare used as a deadly weapon and it threw me. No way one of those would just kill as much as burn someone

[@meganaxeliar]

great video keith. in iceland during the first covid lockdown it felt very apocalyptic. however i noticed all the locals were so cooperative and constantly checking up on each other. people were sharing all their food and resources when our markets were short on produce. we were more united than ever. i am a med student and was up all nights after long shifts giving support and advice to my people suffering or scared at home and it felt like second nature to do so; i think this video hints why.

[@louisdubois7654]

Very good and white pilling video. Good that you kept it normie-friendly as well, it makes it easier to share with friends.

[@Choobaccacabra]

Keith, you should definitely do more philosophical essays relating to other films in this exact format. Perfect crossover to spread your reach.

[@lucaswa]

The last thing in the world Keith Woods should do is what you are suggesting. Keith should stick to interviewing those who actually know what they are talking about.

[@bertclements]

Awesome great work! 👍 When man is put under great pressure, there's no luxury to philosophize, there's no human rights, there's only the struggle to survive.

[@GiantArtProductions]

Excited to watch this, read the road when i was young, along with I am Legend by Matheson. There was that one line that stuck with me in the road “when you experience something, it stays with you forever”. The road is really about pure throwness, there is no wasting time with potential scenarios about how society fell, just a radiation and cannibal filled wasteland. The road also has the most realistic depiction of longing for relationships of the past, in fact the film was in some ways a better medium for jumping back and forth in a way.

[@happyhammer1]

I am Legend is such a great book. It annoys the hell out of me that every single movie adaptation completely misses the point.

[@Hardrive2677]

@@happyhammer1 are there more adaptations than the Will Smith one?

[@happyhammer1]

@@Hardrive2677 yes, there's Omega man (1971) with Charlton Heston, which I do like but it's not a good adaptation. Then there is the 1964 version called The Last Man on Earth starting Vincent Price and Frana Bettoia, didn't care for that one or the Will Smith one.

[@Hardrive2677]

@@happyhammer1 interesting that they have different titles. I never knew there were other adaptations.

[@happyhammer1]

@@Hardrive2677 it used to be pretty common for scifi/horror movie adaptions to change the name for some reason.

[@nicholascroixet8089]

Thanks for the video! This will aid my studies greatly.

[@grandmastersreaction1267]

You should have compared The Road with a famine and not a war. While war would bring us together, famine will tear us apart. At this point. A war would be great for us. But God forbid we have a famine.

[@threemeters1425]

I remember an idea from the Grapes of Wrath (which a leftie wrote, but I liked it nonetheless despite my disagreements and find that many from us could take something from it): Maybe there’s only one big soul that belongs to everybody. Or at least a nation, or collective. Not the gnostic type. The reason we can sacrifice ourselves for others is because we can unmistakably find pieces of ourselves in them, and that any preservation of our kin at any cost is a kindling for the big soul. The individualization of the modern world makes us reject or doubt this soul. Liberals, both in the left and right, atomize it. Leftists confuse and limit (or overshoot) their perceptions of it. Nationalists still feel it.

[@nt6444]

I think you'd be far better served interpreting that 'connection' you feel with others, as God's love for his children being reflected in you.

[@alexhammad582]

god this film is depressing

[@nemanjapopovic909]

This is a great video because it stimulates powerful emotions. We need more of that.

[@Teapot-kd9qp]

Great video, I hadn't thought about the book that way. Would love to see a video from you about Blood Meridian.

[@Gnasheress]

Your channel deserves so much more attention

[@zagreus4438]

In NUIG there is a political science teacher who recommends only this movie and Das Kapital for this whole curriculum or as he puts it “why we need a state and what we do with it” After watching I came the same conclusion as this video and now question did he even watch to the end

[@JohnLambLashNemeta]

I see McCarthy as a kind of tormented moralist struggling with a problem of essentiality: are we good by nature? His work is a strong tonic, the results depending on how you digest it. Taking my own experience for evidence, I can say that the incidents when I have experienced brutal mindless violence directed at me, going to the lethal level, have been rare compared to situations of bonding, trust, and mutual aid. As yet I have not found myself in a setting of anarchy and desperation. (I agree that toxic and violence-prone individualism is a recent development for our species. Welcome to Kali Yuga.) If I did have to face such a situation, I am pretty sure that some survivors in the wreckage would come together in mutual aid and exhibit kindness, care, and self-sacrifice -that would be the kindred. Against them would stand the brute degenerates, the apocalyptic thugs. It's a given that the latter would use violence against the former. What interests me - almost more than anything -- is IF and HOW some members of the kindred would apply violent force, both deterrant and lethal, against the wandering bands of thugs. Consider the view of Malvina in McCarthy's screenplay, The Counselor -- closing scene on YT. "It is our faintness of heart that has driven us to the edge of ruin. Perhaps you won't agree but, nothing is crueller than a coward. And the slaughter to come is probably beyond our imagining." For me the abiding question is, Who slaughters whom?

[@JohnLambLashNemeta]

Can anyone explain why I see the strikeout line in this post from "self-sacrifice" to "anything"? I have never see this before on a YT comment. JLL

[@Jimmy_The_Goat]

@@JohnLambLashNemeta you probable use a - on both sides on the sentence which is formatting symbol for striking out -text- . I believe you intended to use an em dash -

[@JohnLambLashNemeta]

@@Jimmy_The_Goat That's it. In the name of the Fodder, the Sump, and the Holy Goad, I thank you.

[@Droggelbecherbot]

It can both be true that after a sudden collapse humanity would descend into barbarism, and that this is not our natural state. I think the scenario in "The Road" is not that unlikely. Egoistic, evil people exist and in the initial phase of a post-apocalyptic world they'll likely be the ones setting the rules. It will take some time for people who have been alienated from each other their whole life to learn to trust people again and form natural communities and tribes that can enforce certain rules and resist anarchy on the land they control.

[@tomemery7890]

I think high-trust unified groups would emerge pretty quickly, but there would be barbarism directed at other tribes. American Indian tribes had almost no internal anti-social behaviour but would brutally torture captured enemies, with even the tribe's women and children getting involved.

[@thelfrithofbeornice8437]

Barbarism isn't innately evil. We currently have civilisation, yet evil is thriving.

[@ZackEdwards1234]

Another really good video, Keith!

[@wizard_of_poz4413]

Definitely an unexpected surprise on a Saturday

[@thebeltingbalaclava4798]

The historical examples given are great. It reminded of someone (forget his name) who pointed out how crime rates generally decrease while a country is at war. However, if it wasn't for the fact that I know Keith is an ethnonationalist, I would think he is a leftist, possibly anarchist. Maybe I am still too Hobbesian in my thinking, but that is the implication I got.

[@lucaswa]

I will let you in on a little secret 😉. Keith is actually a leftist👌👋.

[@thebeltingbalaclava4798]

@@lucaswa I know people have said that before. However, because of socially conservative views, ethnic nationalism, belief in natural inequalities/hierarchies, I would not place him on the left. There is certainly a Marxist strain that runs through a lot of his work. I don't know, but would assume that he studied philosophy or politics at uni and had left wing professors who expected him to write from a more leftist perspective. Maybe one could label him as a Stalinist or Strasserite, although I am not sure I would even go that far.

[@lucaswa]

@@thebeltingbalaclava4798 a very well thought out response. My response: are you aware that beside Keith, the only other group who takes Cormac McCarthy's post-apocalyptic survival p*** seriously, are the left-wing members if the Near Term Human Extinction cult? There is most definitely something to the old adage about being judged by the company one keeps. If Keith is so hopped up on this stuff ... why doesn't he limit it to uncle Ted and his Manifesto? That's would be far more respectable. And don't beat yourself up too much about being "too Hobbesian" in your thinking. Clearly savage tribes in a "state of nature" are stuck in an endless war of "all against all". And only a select few could find their way forward to a state of civilization.

[@thebeltingbalaclava4798]

@@lucaswa I did not know that. I will look up that cult you referenced and think about what you've said.

[@adhamh3666]

@@thebeltingbalaclava4798 He's a third postionist. Strasserite wasn't far off

[@thenorthowl2033]

Interesting considering the modern internet meme of men to be “sigma” males which is essentially a hyper individualistic man to the point of being a recluse but is celebrated for it. Technology and capitalism create the need for us to be individualistic and then we come up with the justifications for it later. If this continues we will eventually reach a point where humans live and could potentially never interact with one another their whole lives.

[@leoxvitale9757]

Great video Keith.

[@pulse833]

Very interesting, keep the videos coming.

[@alexpetrovich85]

Even group barbarism is an emergent proto-State. It may not look pretty, but that's how order develops in the vacuum of the individual.

[@TheTookar]

Another example of self sacrifice in the face of disaster can be found within Thucydides’ description of the plague of Athens. While Thucydides describes the destructive effects on Athens and it’s inhabitants and how they subsequently behaved, Thucydides notes that many would stay to care for the sick in the face of what seemingly would be certain death from catching the plague. The radical individualism of Hobbes’ state of nature is peculiar since it is Thucydides who primarily influences Hobbes’ realism.

[@Fury851]

This is the best Keith woods video iv ever seen. Very interesting

[@katherinejackson6354]

Yeah, the key to tribal society is spiritual cultivation and harmonisation with the nature order. Hobbes' stuff is about the breakdown of law within his given culture. Law and moral convention themselves are both found in Semitic and Greek cultures. Because they're both effected by the same technology.

[@LabiaLicker]

4:09 This is incorrect. The couple in the apartment ambush the father and son with a bow and arrow. After the father is struck in the leg with an arrow he then fires back. Overall its a good movie. But what annoys me is the sub par dialogue for the son.

[@skitidet4302]

I noticed a lull in content coming from you over the summer. I know it's vacation season, but part of me was getting really worried because you are by far the best content creator when it comes to this stuff. I'm relived to find this absolute masterpiece!

[@handsonfire6113]

I deeply enjoyed your video commentary, thank you for sharing and putting in so much effort.

[@tommywiseau4224]

We're gonna need a video on Cormac's new book, Keith.

[@secondhorizon]

Thanks Keith ~ this was a fine contribution.

[@Kousaburo]

Please review Children of Men, I saw it as a film depicting post multi-racial Britain.

[@whatda7705]

interesting video. Thanks Keith👍

[@tcorourke2007]

I was so impressed with the shifting of narrative perspective at the end, from the man to the boy, that I really missed the larger shift from the pessimistic individualism to the group dynamic.

[@happyhammer1]

The Road is probably the most depressing novel I've ever read.

[@MrBootsNow]

Read McCarthys blood meridian then

[@happyhammer1]

@@MrBootsNow I have, still found The Road to be more depressing.

[@lance-biggums]

Great video essay.

[@Lolm3ist3r]

Absolutely love Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian honestly changed my life. I agree with your conclusion on the fundamental nature of man. We as a species are not inherently evil, selfish, or cruel. Rather, we live in a world that could be considered evil that humanity itself exists in stark contrast to, or even in spite of. The state of nature, as in the universe without humanity is an unbelievably cruel, callous, and unforgiving place. Man's capacity for empathy and understanding of others is truly a very special and precious abnormality in a very dark universe.

[@connorperrett9559]

Intra-species empathy or at least instinct approximating it exists in quite a few non-human species as well. Social animals tend to demonstrate the same cooperative behavior as humans, though perhaps not in such a sophisticated fashion. Tribalism is pack-based territorialism.

[@SacrumImperiumRomanum]

Excellent stuff. It's clear that emergency situations make us behave in the best interests of the group. However, it does seem that most of us do so towards the ethny in particular.

[@liamimbriolo6066]

This video, along with that awesome conclusion is probably one of Mr Wood's best yet. Perfect for those sympathetic to our side of things to explain our world view. Keep up the good work & God Bless.

[@ProletarianTakeover]

They should stayed in that bunker with the cheez-its. Also first.

[@grandmastersreaction1267]

Great video, keef. We’ll done mate

[@biggest23]

Thanks mate, that was a good listen.

[@tranzorz6293]

Very insightful video.

[@Noble_Savage]

Good analysis 👍

[@nt6444]

I see some comments positing that our perception of inherent evil, is 'projection' stemming from our soulless modern world. I disagree in the strongest possible terms and my rebuttal is twofold: 1. Why is it that this trend towards a debased society is persistent throughout history? 2. It takes only a surface level of introspection to identify the self-serving, unkind and even violent desires that exist within us all to varying levels. Granted, my calvinist faith informs this position, but I firmly believe that these truths are self-evident to any truly honest person.

[@kosemekars]

Angus Calder - The Myth of the Blitz (1991)

[@krystynanikolowa998]

Thanks for the video 💯

[@gooseboy6046]

If we were inherently evil then you would never see such things recorded like a random stranger risking his/her life to save a child or a dog yet there are hundreds of examples of this.

[@lordfraybin]

We arent inherently evil. We're incredibly social and empathetic. It makes us stronger, as a group.

[@RUfrikkinkiddinME]

There's also a video just this week of a kid drowning in a pool in China while the bystanders within arms reach literally do nothing.

[@gooseboy6046]

@@RUfrikkinkiddinME yeah china is weird though they are like droids in a electrical hive. Maybe if you remove humanity from your society in favour of 1984 style super technocracy people helping each other will become a rare thing.

[@lordfraybin]

@@RUfrikkinkiddinME 100s of kids drown in backyard pools in AZ, every year. Many with parents feet away. Bad stuff happens to good people. That's a fact.

[@thelfrithofbeornice8437]

Some are innately evil, but not all.

[@fergal2424]

fantastic overview of one of my favourite books.

[@Bucketheadhead]

To answer the title question I’d recommend Human Kind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman.

[@happyhammer1]

Excellent video. I couldn't help but think of Hurricane Katrina after watching this. An American multi culti cosmopolitan city is so alien to the natural state of tribal affinity that it basically became the setting of the road.

[@occidentadvocate.9759]

I recall seeing this film years ago. It disturbed and saddened me. It made me think of my Grandson. I just had one at the time. Id do anything for him to survive. I think this scenario of a breakdown in Civilisation is a definite possibility. It seems our masters are looking to bring it about.

[@hengloosfan.webcom4149]

6:12 It was in Yungay, Peru, but there's also another town named Yungay in Chile

[@GodwardPodcast]

Very nice. Reading Blood Meridian right now. There’s so much going on, on these same themes.

[@JohnLambLashNemeta]

Blood Meridian, first novel I read by McCarthy. The moral seems to be: There are no innocent by-standers.

[@GodwardPodcast]

@@JohnLambLashNemeta reading it for a second time, but don’t quite recall a moral from the first time… almost reassuring to think there might be something succinct like that in all this. But, just love the language & setting, mainly.

[@chrisd561]

Great video!

[@Tehz1359]

semi related to the video. I've been reading Hoppe recently. I just finished "From Aristocracy, to Monarchy, to Democracy". He gave a historiography of all of those systems using medieval Europe. He argued the feudal order didn't constitute a state by his definition, since law was seen as a given, even kings were under the law, there was no monopoly on who can arbitrate or judge this law, and so authority was very decentralized. This allowed a sort of natural aristocracy to thrive. Of course he used this to argue for his "private law society", which I'm not sold on at all for obvious reasons. But I think this relates to the topic of the video because Hoppe explained how we don't really need a mass state bureaucracy for societies to function, and so, we shouldn't see the modern state as inevitable. Which I thought that part was convincing, however he didn't convince me of his exact alternative. But I wish he took his historiography back further. To study the social orders of tribal and pre-civilizational times. Perhaps he would have come to different conclusions, or could have made a better case.

[@max05003]

You took it to a higher lever of understanding. I give you credit for that. Linking it with essential tribalism gives out a silver lining that I couldn't imagine myself after both reading the book and seeing the film. The film The Morning Patrol by Nikolaidis deals with the same issue exactly and has similar ending. When he was asked how did he picture the sanguine 80s Athens like that , he said ''these are the same places you visit in your daily lives, I just see them differently''. So it will happen in the same places. True when we are pushed to the edge we behave like that. With cruelty and savagery. That said, not yet speaking personally. These days I feel a little bit like the Suttree. Anyway, May we live through the Blood Meridian.

[@00fgytduydrtu]

Ελληνας;

[@max05003]

@@00fgytduydrtu Ναι.

[@duunchannel]

Sometimes I fantasize about a collapse scenario, being one of a few survivors in a small group like those Chileans or the Tongan castaways. The level of closeness you'd soon establish with the other survivors has to be unparalleled, unlike anything most of us will ever experience.

[@hyper_modern5071]

Masterful

[@MonkFishTV]

Great video.

[@danualbocock1593]

None of us for sure really know how we would react in this situation until God forbid we end up there. Books and movies add a hint of romanticism to the apocalypse.But I believe it would be terrible, and the living would truly envy the dead. I cried for the boy at the end of this book, and I cried for humanity.

[@alexxx4434]

The big question is would the modern alienated, hyper-individualistic man be capable of forming social bonds necessary for the forming of groups or not.

[@universome511]

This is a movie I've seen a few times as a kid that's never left much of an impression on me

[@arturobelano6243]

read the book you will cry

[@user-sp5yk3ic9v]

Man is not naturally evil, just fallen to sin.

[@ryanoneill3192]

Would love more videos like this. I'm know it's been mentioned elsewhere, but No Country For Old Men would be the natural follow up to this video. Also, I'd recommend checking out the films of Robert Bresson and Andrei Tarkovsky if you're ever interested in doing any film analysis videos. I recall Fróði Midjord and his co-host once saying that we should adopt the films of Bresson as inherently right-wing works. Check out the John Ford/John Wayne movies The Searchers and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance too, as they feature a number of interesting ideas about man's nature and civilisation.

[@jefftaylor3109]

He talked about the movie but also the books with that Norwegian guy Frodi Midjord (not sure of spelling) at the start of the pandemic lockdown

[@cianodubhghaill]

Really good video. It's a question that most people have strong opinions about

[@raffles7556]

I love Cormac McCarthy but Jesus it’s hard goin! Blood Meridian is my favourite book of his.

[@ThePhilologicalBell]

I'm biased as a raging lib/leftie but, it does often seem like pretty much all coherent media analysis approaches texts from a left-wing or a political stance. There's Big Joel, Shaun, there was Lindsay Ellis etc, but all of that can feel similar after a while, at least as far as political messaging is concerned. You're one of the first people I've seen actually produce insightful deconstruction/analysis of a text from a different political angle, so kudos. I hope you make more, not for my agreeing necessarily with your premises but because it's valuable to see alternative perspectives presented well.

[@uludag326]

Ladies, it's time to start thinking wether the guy you're dating has post apocalyptic warlord potential

[@savethefamily-savetheworld5539]

Other than a brief nod in his direction, I'm not sure why John Locke's s theory regarding man's state of was avoided in this video? Upon his philosophy , was the essence of this video distilled. .

[@Patrick-vh5nr]

Thanks Keith

[@segaofmyhouse]

Keith, do you reckon Blood Meridian would translate into a good movie or mini series? Many have tried, but no one has been successful in gaining funding to make it happen.

[@araincs]

Shouldnt compare the road to a society at war but rather to a society in famine.

[@nullset560]

Looking forward to McCarthy's new novels Keith?

[@pkop4]

The Road is great. Would love to hear your views on Might is Right by Ragnar Redbeard. The Authoritative Edition is the best version aggregating 5 versions into one with footnotes... Characterizing survival and domination of strong over their enemies as evil is moral propaganda to keep people weak and submissive. Go beyond good and evil

[@leightonwatkins9486]

Cloud man gone already Keith a Week must be a record 😃👌