The Search for Meaning in a Self-Destructive Society

Dr. Benedict Beckeld discusses the search for meaning and the failure of education in light of the current unrest.
Link to the "Oikophobia" video: • Oikophobia: Our Wester...
Link to the podcast: quillette.com/2019/12/01/podc...
Link to the article: quillette.com/2019/10/07/oiko...
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www.benedictbeckeld.com

[@mashroob]

I think the best line I ever heard was when I was once told, “It is a task far easier to fool a man, than convince a man that he has BEEN fooled.”

[@thanksfernuthin]

"Question Authority"... Absolutely! But also "Hope you have the wisdom to know when it's right." I was really happy with myself when I figured that out as a young man.

[@vaggs75]

I enjoyed the calmness throughout your video. I seem to have forgotten that reason doesn't need volume to be heard. To quote the ancient Athenian general Themistocles, upon being heat with a stick in a heated debate "Hit me, but hear me out".

[@BenedictBeckeld]

Thank you, I appreciate that. And mentioning me in the same context as Themistocles is about as great as a compliment can be!

[@spk4000]

This was an excellent message. Thank you for putting it out there. I’m currently ABD in a doctorate program and I agree with your comments regarding today’s lower quality of education. Before entering this doctoral program, I earned my Master’s degree at another university. During my time in the graduate programs at these universities, I witnessed changes being made to the course curriculum and comprehensive testing requirements for the completion of both Masters and PhD degrees. Both institutions eliminated comprehensive exams for the Master’s, introduced a non-thesis option for the Master’s, and created an alternative “portfolio” option for the PhD dissertation. I’m a seeker of knowledge regardless of the requirements put in front me. I’ve published papers, and I produced a Master’s thesis containing research content equivalent to the majority of today’s dissertations. But I am shocked by how many individuals have earned either a masters or PhD from these programs, yet are incapable of demonstrating adequate knowledge these degrees are supposed to signify. It is sad.

[@BenedictBeckeld]

Thank you for your kind words. I'm surprised (but I suppose I shouldn't be) that at some institutions nowadays one can get a Ph.D. without an actual dissertation - things are even worse than I thought! All the same, good luck on completing your doctorate!

[@tonymullins6327]

Dude love your voice and the content. It’s a shame that we live in a world where we forgot that one can actually make sense without yelling! Culture in America is what I call corporate culture as corporations, afforded the same rights as a person under the constitution, have laid a meshwork of ideology devoted to consuming out of fear. When you live in a society that has suffered a loss of soul, the search for meaning becomes meaningless.

[@BenedictBeckeld]

Thank you for the nice compliment!

[@selimgure]

This is coming from a non-westerner. The final part strongly resonated with me. I am of the opinion that the western way of living is "the" way of living, rather than just another way of living-as cultural relativists would have you rather believe. Many of its ideals (basic human/animal rights, rationality, solidarity, egalitarianism etc.) are the ones after which the whole of humanity should strive. Of course, things are not perfect in the west, but whatever progress to come will be accomplished by building upon that which has been hitherto made, not by demolishing it to the ground in a hissy fit of oikophobia. I would even go so far as to suggest that a good majority of the non-western ideals are causing tremendous suffering to those whose countries’ governments embody them. Having been born and raised-also living- in one of said countries, I can confidently say that,here, the two main themes in political/cultural debate are oikophilia and xenophobia (especially towards the states). Anyone who objectively criticizes his/her countries’ ideologies, which are heavily characterized by the prevailing culture, is met with flagrant accusations of being “treacherous”, “ungrateful”, or what have you. (I believe this to be a by-product of oikophilia) In that respect, I think that culture, in and of itself, should not be perceived as something greater than man, but rather as an instrument through which his welfare is attained. And if a particular culture cannot accomplish that, the “to hell with it” attitude may perhaps be justified. Why try to fix something that is inherently broken, when you can adopt one that really works? (I am referring to the aforementioned countries, of course.) Fortunately for the U.S, this does not seem to be the case there. As you’ve mentioned, however, it couldn’t be a long-shot to argue that it fails, especially in these days, to live up to the western ideals.

[@BenedictBeckeld]

Thank you for your comment. I'm guessing you're in Turkey. That country has grown even more oikophiliac in recent times under Erdogan, has it not? I travelled around Turkey in 2005, and found the people I spoke with friendly, but also very patriotic and anti-American (though perhaps it was in part because of the diplomatic conflict between Turkey and the U.S. at that time in wake of the invasion of Iraq). I also think the Western way is best (and I have lived and worked outside of the West as well), but indeed it seems difficult for people to find the golden mean: we either have too much oikophilia, as in your country, according to your description, or too much oikophobia, as in mine. These things, of course, happen along a historical continuum, so I suppose it's not impossible that things would change in your country at some point, just as they have changed here. And I agree with you that culture, as you say, is "an instrument through which his welfare is attained". I think it may to some degree be a question of phrasing.

[@selimgure]

@@BenedictBeckeld Your guess is correct, and I wholeheartedly agree with the following assessment. I have now seen your other videos, which I also thoroughly enjoyed. Thank you for uploading such content.

[@BenedictBeckeld]

Thank you! And thanks for your interest.

[@fluffynator6222]

The US calls everyone who isn't a Capitalist Conservative a Communist anti-American, how exactly is that different to what you described? Btw, there's no inherent Western culture, there's lots of European cultures, some others and the weird amalgamation of radical Christianity and excessive Nationalism that is the US.

[@michealstotten3741]

He's not from America but still a westerners. England is considered western by definition

[@tonymullins6327]

Yes it has changed; I went back to school two years ago, and I couldn’t believe how easy school had become in the last twenty years. Meritocracy is no longer a thing in America, and it’s why we are no longer the top country in the world. What’s worse, other countries are tightening down who they let into university in order to build a much stronger infrastructure no matter what industry it is!

[@BenedictBeckeld]

That's depressing to hear. Most of my university training took place in Germany, where there is still a pretty strong sense of intellectual hierarchy and merit, which I appreciated.

[@lfidarraga]

I'm glad I've found your channel

[@BenedictBeckeld]

Thank you! It's glad to have been found.

[@AlanLarawalktheearth]

Me too.

[@SpaceProbeSeven]

Thank for the content. Originally found your channel looking for an explanation of nominalism. This is a great video also.

[@BenedictBeckeld]

Thank you! And I hope the nominalism video shed some light on the matter.

[@OvertlyDespotic]

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6

[@katherinoday1458]

@Overtly - Not according to Oprah and the countless millions of women, Christians included, which she's influenced into her globalist , one world religion.

[@OvertlyDespotic]

@@katherinoday1458 oh yeah. With all the other revelation stuff going on in the political sphere, I momentarily forgot about the cultural push for a one world religion. There’s also that.

[@Ubu987]

Revolutions are almost never the result of peak immiseration, as Marx imagined. There may be rebellions in such circumstances, but they are quickly quashed. Successful revolutions, by contrast, generally occur when there has been rapid and significant improvement for the revolutionary demographic.

[@BenedictBeckeld]

Exactly right.

[@solomontruthlover5308]

Very well said!

[@BenedictBeckeld]

Thanks!

[@neverletmego1948]

Impressive.

[@b_uppy]

Thank you. People equate cultural celebration as a negative iteration of tribalism, which is a false premise. If you hold one above all others, that *is* problematic, as it is arrogant and short-sighted. It's okay to find merit in one's own cultural mix, though.

[@BenedictBeckeld]

Thank you, I'm happy you liked it.

[@b_uppy]

@@BenedictBeckeld You're saying what needs to be said.

[@johnmartin2813]

Are you aware of the sequence of videos presented by John Vervaeke of Toronto University called 'Awakening From The Meaning Crisis'? This is a series of fifty one-hour lectures which is highly pertinent to your present theme but presents I think a much more subtle and profound analysis and hence a much more nuanced solution. I personally cannot see in the toppling of a few statues of unsavoury people an end to Western civilisation but a much needed shot in the arm. Far more troubling is the low quality of work in all the arts over the last few decades.

[@BenedictBeckeld]

I didn't say that the toppling of statues was the end of Western civilization, and in any case the video is meant to be a brief overview; my more detailed work is in my writing. But thank you for the reference to the other videos, at which I'll take a look.

[@lesktube]

Thank you for the suggestion. Can't wait to have a listen. Have a wonderful day!

[@katherinoday1458]

"Greater Than Ourselves" and that would be God Creator. When they took God and Prayer out of schools, a generation of lost souls came forth. A godless Nation is a doomed Nation. This we witness today.

[@BenedictBeckeld]

I certainly agree with you on the cultural aspect of it, yes.

[@robjackson4050]

reading the bible i see myself and most people better than god yeah he sent his son to die for our sins but the rest of the bible makes him out to be worse than any human in recorded history

[@katherinoday1458]

@@robjackson4050 Not sure I'm following. Please elaborate. Thanks.

[@robjackson4050]

@@katherinoday1458 the flood the law genocide of entire nations the only person who in history i can even think of who comes close to the evils that god did is hitler

[@katherinoday1458]

@@robjackson4050 You really need to read up on the Bolsheviks, Marxists and Communists , if you think Hitler was bad. The worst mass murderers in ALL of recorded history were Communists: Stalin, Mao and the Khmer Rouge. As for God, who am I to judge Him?

[@rodolphedrolet6994]

Curse of ALLMIGHTY GOD some say ,pray and be or be cursed

[@ManjuSubin]

I have a question🙋 China : Maoist Communist Ideology :: Considered universally as LEFTIST ideology. (which has always praised machismo) Feminism : Influences Soyboy Effeminacy in Men :: Left Liberal "Woke" :: Also Considered LEFTIST ideology. Macho maoist commie China wants to uproot effeminacy of men in their society through social engineering. ... So this comparison suggests that one domain of LEFTISM is against another domain of LEFTISM... The irony of the situation isn't it ?? Strange contradiction🤔 🤔 what do you think ? I want to know I am curious... plz comment.

[@BenedictBeckeld]

Yes, there are plenty of internal contradictions in left-wing ideology, due, in part, to the fact that they keep moving their goal posts, and the logic can't keep up. You have identified one such contradiction here. I discuss a few others in my book out in May.

[@gcampa]

You are forgetting a key factor... Soros' money 😆

[@justfeddup3663]

Mr. Beckeld, You have got to stop with your videos.....they are loaded with far too much common SENSE....I would not want to hear about you being taken to the STATE RE-EDUCATION CAMP.....

[@BenedictBeckeld]

Then we shall do our best to re-educate the re-education camp.

[@justfeddup3663]

@@BenedictBeckeld As long as they don't re-educate with a frontal lobotomy, they seem to have an inability to understand logic.

[@bustersmith5569]

@@BenedictBeckeld good luck with that my friend,,,,,,, one flow over the coo coo's nest,,,,, 🤔