Escaping The Alt-Right (Conversation w/ former Conservative)

I talk to a former Atheism is Unstoppable fan about his new political shift.
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#VaushPit #AltRight

[@competingcoot4756]

That last bit where the guest commended Vaush for debating PF is proof that centrists/conservatives are watching and that we always need to put our best foot forward.

[@telluhwatboy]

They will only watch when we, whether right or wrong, beat up on non white people.

[@JHaas117]

@@toptextbottomtext3062 tru

[@peoples2296]

@@telluhwatboy I don't care if they are non white, if they are racist they should be criticized.

[@haqoe9857]

@@peoples2296 non whites can't be racist against white people

[@hamfxbe]

@@haqoe9857 they can be racist just not systemically

[@myaxalienn]

Y’all are being elitist as fuck. I genuinely wish this guy the best, it seems like he really needed this conversation

[@sydt7104]

I mean this sincerely, I hope this guy gets therapy. Not because I think is off or anything, but it seems like he has a lot on his mind and needs that time to unpack it all. Best of luck to this guy in the future.

[@Kassey194]

For a second I had to double-check because I thought I was under a wokescold-ish channel's upload of the video with the absolute amount of "If you were not always right there is something wrong with you" opinions in the comments

[@zotaninoron3548]

I'm only just getting into this video and he's very hard to listen to. I hope him well in his journey but I'm very concerned he's not properly grounded. I would hope I'm wrong, but I can't help but get the feeling that this is just another swing in his constant vacillation. I guess other people are also getting this vibe, which might go to explain some of the negativity in the comments. Obviously it would be better to love bomb this guy because I get the very strong vibe he'd be vulnerable to that kind of tactic. But rather that wasn't necessary, that he could develop the internal ethical structure that would support him beyond his attachment to personal relationships. He strikes me as way too invested in his relationship to online personalities.

[@LizStaples]

The more working class guys we can convince the right is actively using them as cannon fodder the stronger our movement will be. And moving people like him someone who clearly feels strongly about certain things, can have a ripple effect across an area and groups of people. Like imagine him reconnecting with his family they may be pushed to be even more leftist and more active in the left because they feel like the right tried to take their brother/son from them.

[@LizStaples]

@@zotaninoron3548 I think it’s pretty clear he is young. And from what we gleaned about how he grew up he likely didn’t have as much exposure to politics as some other people. Hispanics don’t vote as a solid block like other minority groups so both sides equally exploit and ignore them as far as campaigning goes. I also think he is indicative of many young men. And the Left needs better messaging and better recruitment specifically for cis men.

[@Kassey194]

I see a lot of hate of this guy in the comments and I gotta say that this shit is so damn elitist. Like for real, do you think that the average person out there with all their material problems being blasted constantly from all sides with (mostly reactionary) political messaging won't jump all over the place politically? Not everyone spends all their time on Twitter and Discord constructing "moral frameworks" and sculpting the best possible ideological line as if it is a D&D character. Most people will go by gut feeling. They will have their pre-existing biases that will inevitably be mixed with whatever the first trustworthy political pundit tells them. This is the case for most people who do not concern themselves with philosophy of ethics and ideology.

[@jamesross2279]

There's a specific way the alt right appeals to these people and retain them in their spheres and this guy literally said once he stopped going to 4chan he felt better but it wasn't of his own accord, his WIFE asked him. Most people on the alt right are there because they don't have these support networks which is why groups like incels are so vulnerable to this misinformation. We know this and it should be celebrated when someone escapes the alt right in a way we'd celebrate someone escaping scientology or jehovas.

[@sypherthe297th2]

Well leftists are always pure and make the right choices. Seems you didn't get the memo. Its unfortunate really because the wokescolds and purity chasers are about as likely to change as iron and they're just as brittle do they'll break before they bend.

[@Kassey194]

@@jamesross2279 I remember watching this B@dEmp@n@d@ video about how if you are an ex alt-righter you are an inherently lesser person morally speaking due to the fact that "normal people" would never be sucked into such environments and thus there is something inherently wrong with you. To say the least I was sickened and this was actually the reason I unsubscribed from his channel. I do understand some people not feeling 100% comfortable with ex-alt righers or ex-terfs but this type of rhetoric is rooted in reactionary essentialist logic.

[@jamesross2279]

@@Kassey194 it does come across as some purity type testing which surprise surprise the right also delves into hardcore so it's no wonder people will be turned off with that type of rhetoric. It's the type of shit that brings about the new wave LGBT flag with the black and brown plus trans colors having to be physically there for them to feel like they have a place in a community that's supposed to be about acceptance which always baffled me. People will just be assholes I guess.

[@Iloveguitar07]

@@Kassey194 that's disgusting of that video, I look at a lot of people who fell down the pipeline and other things that people do that are bad, and I see and think "I could've almost ended up like that, some things go the wrong way and i could be like them", and then feel really bad It's shocking how much you could've gone through and end up fine and see someone else with similar circumstances and they end up worse Everyone makes mistakes, everyone is capable of making mistakes, no one is immune to it and can easily fall down the pipeline, when I hear things like that I think less of myself because I've made mistakes in my life and hate that I'm not perfect. Even if you change, people don't care and can still think of how you were and not how you are Anyone who is "normal" whatever that means, can fall the same way people who aren't "normal" have

[@johnnyth440]

YES! As an ex-conservative I love these talks.

[@coindog6336]

Same but what I would like to see more of is ex liberal to leftist talk

[@Onus6688]

SAME!!!

[@Occam31]

What brought you over?

[@JayTheNegotiator]

Ditto! It's always good to see people like us who have gotten away from those ideas lol

[@xiiiunmetal]

Thank you for becoming reasonable, friend.

[@Llaceroche]

Dang this guys is using Vaush like a priest he’s confessing all his sins to.

[@janelle_was_here]

Lmfao

[@bigpooper4156]

Come down to the

[@bigpooper4156]

Come down to the Lutheran fauci koshinski baptist church every Sunday for confessionals, and may our vaccines be ever potent, amen

[@verager2493]

@@bigpooper4156 "dR fAuCi!!!" The priest eloquently squawks. The hall fills with bird noises at the congregation's response...

[@emporioalnino4670]

@@verager2493 ONE SIN TWO SIN BWAAAK

[@MarkArandjus]

"I don't know where I stand." "On a pile of crunchy leaves?" Haha.

[@tybo103]

So mean but hilarious lol

[@PlanetOfTheApes999]

I almost got sucked into the alt-right, so I understand his rage and anguish. When you realize you were being brainwashed, it's only natural to hate the people who were filling your head with lies.

[@carolyntalbot947]

Natalie Wynn talked about realizing how the young men she helped de-radicalize from the Alt-Right ended up becoming tankie accelerationists/revolutionaries. This guy engages in a lot of what psychologists call "splitting," a kind of all-or-nothing black and white thinking, but if we show him empathy (as Vaush does here) often people grow out of this phase with maturity.

[@gerunkwon2598]

This is a very interesting phenomenon. Could you send a link to Nat’s vid?

[@suides4810]

@@gerunkwon2598 i think it was just a small comment not really a segment or anything I dont remember the vid

[@lamwam5065]

An acceleratist commie? Cringe

[@DamienPalmer]

Did she have any insight into what she was doing wrong? Or are these cringe extremists just inherently going to go crazy on one end or the other?

[@mdhutch2002]

​@@gerunkwon2598it was from her Men video. It was near the end.

[@bullydwilliams6785]

Glad this guy has made a turn for the better. We should welcome everyone who wants to come to the left. It's the only way we will have any amount of change for the good of the people.

[@FerociousPaul]

Absolutely

[@FerociousPaul]

@ASquadWiper Painfully true

[@hochmeisterr]

More like For the worst, he went from bad to worst.

[@bullydwilliams6785]

@@hochmeisterr how so?

[@lawbringer9857]

Bully D Williams Speak for yourself. I can never trust and welcome a so-called 'former Nazi''

[@tylerreed610]

This sounds like it was very cathartic for this dude. Good for him, working through his cognitive dissonance. Still working through some of my old beliefs and unpacking them

[@user-gk9pl6vl5v]

I love the part when he talks about the jokes about Palestine, if you're emphatetic person and you're conservative I can't understand how you can not realise the terrible consequences of views other conservatives share. Like it's all fun and games when you make fun of crazy SJW's like 5 years ago, but I don't understand the lack of empathy and the geno*idal views many conservatives (and liberals) share, that's the main thing that pulled me of the extreme right as well, although with me it was conservatives showing their real colors after George Floyd. I just thing being right-wing is not compatible with empathy

[@drophat]

"being right-wing is not compatible with empathy" - regressive

[@dee-wreck]

Yeah. For a time, they were just youtube videos made about other weird youtubers. But then real shit started happening and they farmed it for content, and it feels like they just exposed themselves.

[@drophat]

@Oswald Cobblepot "it isn't." - other regressive

[@Finnboy-ml5jv]

Базированно.

[@Finnboy-ml5jv]

@@drophat It’s true.

[@user-uz4hx2cg7m]

talking with people who left the right wing pipeline boils down to them growing up and not being terminally online

[@riktrik7013]

Generally, yes. It also has to do with a lack of a support structure. I think a lot of 'terminally online' people are trying to find some sort of support structure online due to a lack of one offline. At least, that was the case for me.

[@LimeyLassen]

The alt-right is just an internet fandom, seriously. Those people could have just as easily spent the half decade saying "blood and soil" or "gamefreak lied" without needing to change their personalities much.

[@jasonfenton8250]

@@riktrik7013 Yep, alt-right offers a community. You're all brothers in arms (there are very few women) against cultural bolshevism or whatever. The left does this too. People try to excise others that they personally don't like from the left because they see the left as a social club and not a political movement.

[@Charles-pf7zy]

It’s pretty condescending to say the right is full of essentially emotional reactionary thinkers and brush off the same types from the left as an overwhelming minority. Sort of like the “mostly peaceful” protestors BS. Vaush likes to act like the left is largely a bastion of intellectualism and rationality and ignore the mouth breathing manhating terminally online folks on the left as well

[@LizStaples]

The reason IRL right wing groups like the Proud Boys/OathKeepers are so dangerous is their ability to prey on lonely men give them a sense of belonging and purpose (however misguided and self destructive). The left has spent decades telling cis men they are inherently “bad” and unwanted, it’s something we need to correct in our messaging ASAP. It goes beyond just internet stuff or growing up. Jan 6th was mostly 30-45 year old men how long are we supposed to wait patiently for them to grow up?

[@jameshunt4611]

I was so close from falling into the pit of despair that is the alt-right. Thank god.

[@ghostofsilence2697]

Same. Glad I jumped ship when I did

[@jameshunt4611]

@@ghostofsilence2697 what stopped you? For me it was realising that I was hating people for no reason which was making me miserable and realising that many of these right wing media pundits are idiots, liars and losers.

[@riktrik7013]

@@jameshunt4611 For me it was getting off of 4chan, and reconnecting with some family. Also, the murder of George Floyd, and the absolute distain and downright malicious attacks on his character by conservative youtubers and 'skeptic communities', was when shit got real for me. Had a long hard look in the mirror during that shit, because by that time I was already about 8 months into deprogramming the conservative brain rot. So seeing the comments from online conservative figures and their communities was like seeing the shadow or 'afterimage' of what could of been me. It was a truly terrifying and sickening experience.

[@jameshunt4611]

@@riktrik7013 man, I know exactly what you mean, do you ever just think randomly “boy, I can’t believe I had such dogshit beliefs and opinions”? Because I do. Happy for you.

[@riktrik7013]

@@jameshunt4611 Oh yeah I do. I pretty much have that realization every time I a read a comment from someone that is clearly in the very online conservative-right. I know what their dialogue tree is, kind of like ex-cult members when they see someone in the cult they used to be in. It's a sobering experience to say the least.

[@Metonymy1979]

This guy is very extreme with his decisions. He needs to be very careful. He's the perfect person for cults.

[@havokmusicinc]

He is autistic to the point where he was getting disability checks at one point in his life. As someone who also receives disability for their autism, this is not unusual behavior. We're passionate, often to our own detriment, and we can have trouble communicating our emotions verbally without "overdoing" it in terms of what a neurotypical person would consider normal

[@drewan6591]

Nobody is immune

[@verager2493]

True, but it looks like there's a through line that's not perfect, but at least shows a continuous learning streak. We can only hope it keeps going with a better intellectual diet

[@LyricalDJ]

I imagine it would be beneficial for him (and others) to not think in sides or conflicts but to look for what people need and if they're acting in a (seemingly) negative fashion to look for why and see if there are deeper lying causes. And to decide where to go from that point onwards. But to his credit I think he's (started) doing some of that.

[@nickdanger12345]

Exactly my thoughts, he went from a radical right winger to a radical left winger. This seems to be with very little in the way of nuanced opinions in between.

[@puckerings]

Putting so much of your identity into an idea that you can feel BETRAYED by others who share that idea but not other ideas you have, is a big problem. Why can you not just have your beliefs without them forming part of your identity? It's one reason so many people refuse to change their minds on things in the face of evidence - because they're made that belief part of their identity.

[@rougenarwhal8378]

Associating your beliefs with your identity is in human nature, pre frontal cortex be damned

[@dorarandom7870]

If I'm not wrong, there is actually some research on how people see, specifically their political opinions, as a part of their identity. It has to do a lot with how they're socially seen and in what communities/social spaces they're most likely in. I feel like we put too little acknowledgement on how powerful communities can be. Especially with right leaning politics. People aren't a part of their community because they share an opinion, but they share an opinion because of the community they're in. This especially takes place when people don't have a justification for their political belief. Instead of using arguing to justify their beliefs, the arguments are their "ground". But if arguing is all they have than what do they actually care about? Their community.

[@melaniey.5596]

@@rougenarwhal8378 because of our monke brain, it IS part human nature ngl (I think it’s more formally called tribalism). But humans are called Homo sapiens for a reason, in that they are able to act and grow beyond those instincts. It’s difficult, but one of the challenges of for a society to work is that we must remind our peers to not fall to base instincts like this.

[@crimsonghost4107]

I've always considered myself fairly left leaning but I thought 2016 era SJWism was super cringe and I even considered myself an egalitarian anti feminist, which is pretty cringe looking back. If they talked about real issues like systemic racism or the problems with neoliberal economics instead of id pol and man spreading I probably would have been radicalized much earlier. I knew the tip of the iceberg in terms of what was wrong with this country so it made me angry that they weren't talking about it. My SJW aversion never sent me down the alt right pipeline though.

[@dorarandom7870]

@@crimsonghost4107 Yeah that era was horrible. I honestly think that if I was as present on the internet as I am now I would probably have a chance in falling down the alt right pipeline. There was a time when I was of the genuine opinion on that there is no need for feminism anymore. The thing that actually kept me away was me coming out actually. I started watching more gay creators that were usually left leaning and feminists themselves. It's not talked about a lot, but there is a correlation between leftist ideas and progressive ideas that push people to the left. I'm not just talking about liberals, there tend to be actual anti-capitalist ideas. It's not as main stream as the alt right obviously, but it serves it's purpose.

[@marcanthonycantu]

As a Mexican living in southern Texas, I was extremely triggered by Vaush’s take on where the best Mexican food is

[@BOO00R]

Nah here in cali we have the best Mexican food. You guys are 2nd

[@marcanthonycantu]

@@BOO00R I’ve been to Los Angeles and had Mexican food, it was pretty good I won’t take that from you. But saying it is unrivaled is just “empirically false” as vaush would say.

[@mattmiller9809]

CalMex > TexMex. Specifically SD > LA imo and I'm sure LA > SF. Theres are non debatable facts

[@robertmabolsitch8283]

@@BOO00R nah El Paso. It’s practically just Mexico

[@havokmusicinc]

tex mex is respectable but baja cuisine is untouchable

[@harrywompa]

It's wild to hear how people get sucked into the alt-right now, I grew up in the late 90's and the 00's, didn't even have internet till '09. My far right beliefs were trained into me in church and at home under my dad's angry rants after listening to Christian talk radio all day at work. I was kept in that mindset until I moved away for school, as soon as it stopped being reinforced by my environment my eyes were opened to the harm and inaccuracies with my ideas. I can't even imagine how hard it would be to get that necessary distance today, if you grew up online. A good talk, it's really important to remember that being present as a personable leftist and progressive matters. It helps get vulnerable and isolated people out of environments they didn't choose, you could very well be the first left person that person meets. It matters.

[@spacedonut8157]

Oh man, AIU used to post the most amazing cringe. As a former hate watcher of conservative channels I have to give it up to him, his stuff was the best. Not for the reasons he thought, though. He always had generic footage of attractive women in the background of his videos, Reddit tier arguments, completely unjustified arrogance, it was the whole package. Almost like his videos were the distilled essence of neckbeard.

[@trentonmcclintock7836]

I saw a video of his once that was like.. a " takedown" of sam seder and it was legitimately hilarious tbh.

[@verager2493]

He might actually be the avatar of reddit

[@thefluffyone999a]

I feel this. There were times I wondered if the dude was trying to be stupid. Something about his inflection seemed so insincere.

[@LuisManuelLealDias]

except he's bald and with strong problems with that.

[@dalekrenegade2596]

I remember when the orange turd got elected I thought to myself the only good to come out of this is the meltdown of AIU and his cohorts.

[@grahamcarpenter5135]

Glad Vaush and Arthur agree with me on staffing agencies. Just recently I got a warehouse job from one of them. It was pretty promising at first: 17$ an hour, monday-friday, eight hours. Would've made a lot of money...except they fired me after four days with no explanation. Just kicked me out in the middle of my shift. They never gave me a reason. I feel like those agencies are just there to make it easier for employers to pump and dump people without having to go through the actual firing process.

[@alexandertheresurrection2810]

It’s the ultimate anti capitalist teacher.

[@darkphoenix2]

Interesting guy. I'm a little confused on the timeline and reasons for his political shifts, and I think he probably is a leftist, but the thing that matters is he seems like a good person.

[@LizStaples]

@@blasphimus since the absorption of the Tea Party GOP is a lot more mask off. The death of the “Fiscally Responsible” Conservative, from A)the shift in globalized markets, debt, stripping safety nets till they don’t exist. C)radicalization scaring off corporate might, Has completely changed what and who the right are. There was a time when Goverment Overspending was a valid talking point but since they can’t touch the military that whole line has become meaningless

[@igorlorenc1445]

@@whitefragilityexpose1512 How do you even define "good people"? Are there any objective measurments to decide if someone is a "good person"?

[@enicake]

Oh shit i didnt realize how close the Vaush Pit is to 100k, lets goo !!!

[@dominiks5068]

the channel is doing great :)

[@stevenp291288]

Quite refreshing to see Vaush actually talking WITH someone rather than AT them.

[@nomercynodragonforyou9688]

Something he needs to do more often

[@madisonwethington4796]

I forget that people like this actually exist. Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather have him on our team over him being another member of the right. But another comment got this right: he thinks he’s the main character. And he sounds like he has a hard time working through internal conflict. He tells a story of rapid and tremendous oscillation between extreme ideologies. I feel like this is another example of what happens when somebody lacks a moral and ethical framework, not to bring up the EJ and Luna stuff again. But man oh man. It’s just another reminder that this person and people like him could have avoided a lot of pain, turmoil, and confusion with some personal growth/ mental health help. Just establishing some personal values or identity building could have gone a long way.

[@Onus6688]

This. 100%

[@HanMasho]

Seriously! It sounded all of his ideological positions were based entirely on whatever his emotional state was at the time he heard various arguments and news. Either reacting with emphatic acceptance or vitriolic rage to whatever he heard. The fact that he would go straight from one extreme to the polar opposite in a heartbeat makes me think that you hit the nail on the head with the lack of a well-thought-out moral compass hypothesis; and that it was all about what "felt right in the moment."

[@shaggy4769]

@@HanMasho y'all make a good point but I think it's a lot easier to fall into these things than we assume. The internet is basically made to create echo chambers and people looking for belonging and ppl that generally struggle a lot has a pretty easy time to fall into these unfortunately. Especially at a younger age. We see people do this with fandoms as well. It's sad but just a reality of our time and imo we should make an effort in accepting these people that manage to change even if it's sometimes uncomfortable to do so

[@cnacma]

I don’t understand how people can not have a moral framework. It’s crazy to me. I’ve always had a broadly humanistic moral framework in my head even since I was a teenager. I didn’t even know what humanism was until college, but the basic tenants of it were always something I felt were morally correct (because of course they were). Obviously history shows that it’s very easy for humans to lack a moral framework or abandon the one they have, but it’s such an alien concept to me.

[@HanMasho]

@@shaggy4769 Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to act superior or insinuate that I think I would never fall for bad ideas. In fact, in those anti SJW days, I even watched Sargon and a couple of the other "skeptics" that ended up being borderline if not full-fledged fascists in the future. The difference though, is that I did have a moral compass, so when they started switching over from making fun of bad ideas from wacky pink haired college kids to far right-wing talking points like the great replacement, I knew it was my time to get out of there.

[@daddyshrek2295]

i too am a former conservative who then turned libertarian and then finally socialist

[@stevenguitink5947]

I posted this on one of Xan's vids but given this guy's story I think it bears repeating here: I think the thing a lot of people forget/ignore about that whole "SJW/Anti SJW" period of time - at least in online spaces - that there was a lot more going on that Anti-SJWs were taking advantage of because of bad optics/poor tactics/shitty people. It wasn't just cringe videos/compilations (as Xan used in his vid). In no particular order there was: - The trial of Greg Elliot/Stephanie Guthrie - Chanty Binx (Big Red) and her subsequent interview on an Aussie documentary revolving around the Men's Rights Movement - Elevatorgate and the subsequent embarrassment that was Atheism+ - The quality of prominent Anti-Gamergaters including Bob Chipman whose hot takes nowadays are considered toxic but were dismissed at the time, Devin Faraci who proudly proclaimed his feminist label before being outed as a sex pest, and Sam Biddle the journalist who went after Justine Sacco, who quoted in a Tweet that gamergate affirmed that nerds should be shamed and degraded into submission. - The kerfuffle revolving around the 2016 Ghostbusters movie - "36 questions for Anti-SJWs" prompted by Buzzfeed's "36 questions for Men". - The rise of Milo Yiannopoulos and excerpts of him running circles around academics and interviewers on TV discussion panels - Jessica Valenti and her inflammatory articles - someone whom Milo considered his archenemy - The mainstream media's response to Anita Sarkeesian (keep in mind, when no-one was listening to the critics of Anita, who did they turn to?) - JonTron's interview with Breitbart (something I personally suspect was motivated by his own dogpiling experiences on social media, something he talked about on the Co-Op Podcast) - The prevalence of online personalities who would be nowadays considered wokescolds, including certain KZbinrs who used blockbots so egregiously that people who had never heard of that individual would find themselves blocked simply by association. - The kerfuffle around Baldur's Gate Siege of Dragonspear - Metalgate - Ben Affleck and Sam Harris on Bill Maher's show discussing Islam (to tie this in more with this video) And probably a few others I'm forgetting. Like I said, this wasn't just limited to cringe vids. This shit didn't happen in a vacuum. So I'm not surprised about people like this dude pulling themselves out of the Alt-Right rabbit-hole. The online American Left really weren't bringing their A-game.

[@scottfromspace]

I used to sub to Sargon and it was Kyle who pulled me left I think the big problem is that left wing politics often requires a little bit of thought, so it's easier for right wing politics to appeal to people who know nothing about politics, by praying on insecurities they hold It's a lot easier to say "Manspreading is a stupid non-issue" or "Yes we should be allowed to have big boobas in video games" than it is to say "medicare for all is beneficial for this list of reasons" or "this list of reasons is why a history of oppression negatively impacts minority groups today"

[@emilchan5379]

Yeah I remember the Buzzfeed style of "corporatised feminism" turning a lot of men into reactionaries because frankly, a lot of it was just misandry. It gave the false impression that feminism was all about men-hating. Iirc it was one of the reasons why Shoe became a reactionary. A good example of corporations and capitalism ruining good social movements. Also back then the Syrian civil war and the migrant crisis was still in full swing. Coupled with ISIS bombings around the world, there was a lot of anti-Muslim and Islamophobic sentiment pushing people towards racism and the far-right.

[@discountgumshoe3787]

Yeah its kind of nuts how many people are in here dogpiling on this guy despite forgetting the perfect series of domino falls the alt right was using to recruit with. The reality is, the stone cold, balls dick ass reality of like 2012 to 2017 or whatever is that Breadtube was barely, if not completely non existent, and what leftist content there was in online spaces was pathetic, embarrassing, and really shit. There wasn't any presented resistance at all to the nurturing and beginning of the alt right by leftists and what happened was that these PR disasters that the left kept having, both from shitty voices in the left, to wokescolding, to "Corporate Feminism" or whatever you want to call that was the perfect dry tinder for the neo nazis online to burn and point at. You had a massive supply of lonely, confused, scared and undereducated teenage boys who suddenly found their communities for safety under attack, their hobbies ridiculed and when they went looking for help nobody on the left was helping, and thus they went to the only people who had answers, the insidious elements in their communities already. I don't remember which interview it was but Contrapoints said this herself, and I do genuinely agree with her with that, if there was as strong a breadtube as there is now back in 2013 or whatever, theres a good chance the Alt Right would've never even gotten off the ground at all. Leftists who want to try pretend that they weren't to blame at least in some part for the rise of neo-facism online are just flat out denying the reality of the situation. The leftist presence online back then was fucking pathetic and it makes complete sense to me how many stupid kids walked right into the open arms of fascists when our presence back then was like "No fun allowed" brainless dipshits bitching endlessly about boobs in video games, misandry, cringey white guilt flagellation and neolib wokescolds with significantly more money than you.

[@lobsterminion693]

@@scottfromspace It doesn't help that many on the left have gone so far off the deep end, that it's incredibly easy to point to the worst of the lot and say "look, this is the entire left, they're crazy and need to be opposed at all costs". Shit like the Covington Catholic incident, BLM riots and the attempts to downplay them, Kyle Rittenhouse and the mess that was Kenosha (and the lies surrounding it), the hilariously ironic racism of removing minorities from Aunt Jemima/Land O' Lakes/Uncle Bens products, the "Don't say gay"/Anti-grooming bill in Florida, the outlawing of misgendering and deadnaming in some countries, and on and on. However, I have one maxim that I live by when determining the worth of any group. Every group has extremists. A group is not defined by those extremists, but by how they handle them.

[@vontrances4667]

My heart sunk when he mentioned the shooting. This was an incredibly unique interview and I didn't expect that given the title.

[@Namazuros]

Parasocial relationships are a hell of a drug. This dude sounds like streamers dictated the last decade of his beliefs.

[@someonerandom8552]

Honestly when I was in the alt right I think I relied way too much on parasocial relationships. I wasn’t in a great place mentally speaking and I wasn’t being as social as I should have been. I got out, thankfully. Not sure how, just one day I was like, “this isn’t a healthy place for me” and simply disconnected. But in these times of social isolation and quarantines and what have you, I think it’s important to recognise that parasocial relationships can be used for both good and bad.

[@Cobalt985]

@@someonerandom8552 For me I was using 4chan interactions as a stand in for actually having friends. I got out once I realized that unironically, nobody liked me, because I was so combative from only knowing how to interact from 4chan. Just another reminder of how the alt-right preys on young people without support structures.

[@ladyvanda]

Caller changes political allegiance based on feelings of betrayal. “This person was mean so I don’t believe in wealth redistribution anymore!” Truly playing politics like playing sports. smh.

[@Onus6688]

Yeah it's a volatile way to go back and forth over and over

[@duman173]

it's just the reality of how people hear and internalize infomation, sports arn't like that because of sports, sports are like that because of people, it's only logical that if people can relate to something they feel strongly about (even if one of the cases is sport) how you develop you're identity and how you feel about it are very deep and complex things that have hundreds of variants that make each person unique in their approach even thou we all end up using the same "tools" for coping mechanisms, same tools diffrent swings, it's unfortunate but a reality, and something that should be considered in our advocacy for our politics and how we approach people the fight is forever and just like vaush has mantioned in recent streams the fights are with the eternal ideas that are attached to the inevitable consequences of our limitations as human beings and the struggle to free people of ignorance and give them better tools to understand and communicate with the world outside of own mind and conceptualisation of themselves is a big thing to help people like this caller from not hurting himself and others when exposed to toxic and malicious idiologies

[@Kassey194]

Yea average people whose 80% of entertainment intake is not Breadtube debatebro streamers and alt-right figureheads really be like that.

[@xiahouduin]

I knew a person, who always went 110% on something he was interested in. Being a muslim, then hating them, being a brony and then nationalist anime hating, extreme christian to hippie. This man sounds little bit like him in a sense, that keeps on changing his political views often and strongly. In the end, this person never truly found the one that would have brought him out from depression, RIP.

[@Ahrecks0]

This guy talking rn. The guy talking about being working class and hating how people talk about poor people. This guy is me. Minus the bigoted past.

[@Spungle15]

Vaush: Los Angeles is the Mecca of Mexican food. San Diegans: And I took that personally.

[@TheStraightGod]

Something I don't get is wouldn't Mexico City/Monterrey/Tijuana be the Mecca of mexican food?

[@Spungle15]

@@TheStraightGod it might be more accurate to say San Diego is the Mecca of American Mexican food since many popular examples of the cuisine (ie, California Burritos) are distinctly American in flavor

[@kindadecent9754]

Yeah I don’t know if it’s the Mecca but it’s up there. LA is one of the best places to find food in general because it’s so diverse and there’s a lot of competition

[@matthewhernandez5339]

San Antonio would like a word

[@havokmusicinc]

@@TheStraightGod oaxaca tho

[@SatyreIkon]

He sounds like a really decent guy, I'm glad he made this turn for the positive regarding his political journey.

[@tipze4445]

This is a very common story from a lot of "new atheists" (ie, those who turn atheist during their youth, as opposed to those born into atheist households). There's a very good reason the "Skeptic Community" was the birthplace of the Alt-Right. When many teenagers turn away from a religious upbringing, it's often because of some disillusionment that they had. So they look explicitly for counter-ideas (as opposed to new or different ideas) and end up finding KZbin Atheists who hate on religious people, replacing one form of proselytizing with another. They haven't had the opportunity to question or explore their own values. To construct a more complex morality and ethics system that isn't just the same old "us and them". What's worse, because the way KZbin Atheism presents itself - as a thing wherein it is enough to mean you're "right" simply by being atheist - they end up believing anything said by their newfound preachers, often becoming hostile to anyone who disagrees with them, categorizing them firmly in an "out group"... just like any other dogmatic individual. I remember having an argument with a KZbin Atheist many years ago, about something i don't remember anymore (but it was not religion). They eventually dismissed my ideas outright with a simple "your god's not real, lol" (i'm an atheist) and left the chat. KZbin Atheists like to say that they are not religious in the same way someone who doesn't collect stamps is not a stamp collector. But when you're not-collecting-stamps "non-hobby" consists of going around and telling everyone who does collect stamps how dumb their hobby is and you only hang out with other non-stamp collectors and you buy and consume exclusively media that talks about how bad stamp collecting is.... is that really just the absence of a hobby anymore?

[@HotBaraDad666]

Honestly, that's what got me to become an anti-SJW.

[@mattmiller9809]

I agree and disagree with you on this. I think it's fair to say that Atheists can and have gone overboard, especially on social media, but again it was a reaction to religious oppression that created this movement. Dont blame the player but blame the person who made the game. There should be a respectful theological and philosophical disagreement between people of faith and those who lack it. That's fine. That said there should be a huge reaction against theocratic policies. A lot of theists think they're just spreading their religion respectfully but in reality they're doing two Ex: a statehouse put up a nativity. Christians think this is the first type of religious activity but in reality theyre using the state to endorse a religion. Atheist Satanists put up a statue of baby Baphomet to troll the Christians; I think this reaction can be viewed as disrespectful but its disrespectful to theocratic policies not the religions themselves. If there were no nativity there, there would be no baby Baphomet. Ex: Christians have a bible club. Satanists create a Satanist club that teaches science and literacy. One is a respectful reaction to the first. For the most part its not offensive in any way and the only ones who are offended are theocrats. My point? There should be blowback. A respectful blowback to incorrect theological positions; marketplace of ideas and all. To theocratic ideas which are common in US? Yeah its ridiculous to think Atheists and Satanists should respect that. I dont think this means Satanists and Atheists are religious but some definitely take their hatred of a religion as a hobby for sure and that's sad

[@mattmiller9809]

I think its worth noting that a lot of the KZbin Atheist community contains Anti Creationist, Pro Science, anti theocracy, pro leftist, anti hate, and respectful disagreeing content.

[@nomercynodragonforyou9688]

Uh no, a lot of it came from the start of the anti-sjw trend of social media

[@supremecalamitas342]

The difference is conservatism and religion has been used to hurt and oppress people.

[@Ravierave]

The way this guy swung back and forth with political extremes is really concerning. I hold the direct opposite views now than I did before, but the transition took me years. Expressing betrayal is also…weird.

[@shinjite06]

Yeah, kind of seems like this guy is liable to flip back at some point.

[@Ravierave]

@@shinjite06 it’s not just that- like, what’s his core values here? Like, I wouldn’t say that my values changed so much, just my understanding of how to achieve them, yk? But if this guy went from pro-Zionist to anti-Semite over a speech, what the hell is driving his politics? It’s like he’s looking for an overarching narrative first, and then looking at “facts” that form the narrative later

[@mechtechpotato4249]

@@Ravierave It wasn't just the speech, he said it was the carpet bombing of gaza, in retaliation for murder. I think he is genuinely empathetic, and got caught up in the hate without thinking how it affected people. Its unsprizeing that someone can swing like that. He genuinely cared and that caused him hating jews because of Israel's actions. As he said "I was going through a tough time". And people like that are vulnerable.

[@zthecat]

I mean this is just the way he remembers it. I feel like the change was likely a bit more gradual than he was describing. People in general often seem to misremember things happening a lot more quickly than they actually did. It's easy to attribute everything to one memorable moment.

[@TR13400]

@@Ravierave I think it's very telling that he lead his reasoning for changing as "being betrayed by the left, and then betrayed by the right." This guy just goes with the tide he thinks looks good at the time. This is something I unironically see Destiny do as well. They can change from far left to right based on the behavior of the OTHER people in the political party they are following currently. I personally think its a sign of spinelessness. But it could be the honest evolution of their polical beliefs but such a drastic change is also strange to me because I've been on the side of liberalism my whole life.

[@astralflick]

I liked the crunchy leaf noise

[@williammullinax6130]

Some people have a hard time moderating their world views and swing from one extreme to the other. I am glad this guy has found a more reasonable world view.

[@StormCrownSr]

"Oh god I hate that guy" when reacting to Paul Joseph Watson being brought up. I like this guy.

[@emilchan5379]

I was watching this live on the stream and I am not sure why chat was being so hostile to this guy. His story is interesting and is a great first-hand account of how someone can fall down the alt-right pipeline. I think a lot of viewers forgot or were too young to have known how it was like during the GamerGate/anti-SJW era. It was plenty easy for even normies to get influenced by right-wing rhetoric. Back then even though I was never conservative, I still ended up being swayed a thought that SJWs were cringe, "woke" culture was destroying video games, immigration was bad, so on and so forth. I think it was only the fact that I was PoC that prevented me from fully falling down the alt-right rabbit hole, because self-hating is not my thing. I guess I am just surprised so many people here ould be so dismissive of his story. It just seems very elitist. Like sure, he seemed to flip flop on his political leanings because he didn't seem to have a moral framework, but in all honesty, not a lot of normies do. Most people go with "gut feeling" and are influenced by their surrounding culture. Very few people think of philosophy.

[@tybo103]

Very well said... sometimes it's a matter of chance when you're growing up surrounded by disinfo and right wing rhetoric. I fell for it when I was 15 but got way out of that as I grew up. I can't expect everyone to do the same but we should make it as easy as possible for those who got duped to escape.

[@mattmiller9809]

Devin Tracey is an interesting case. I used to be in his community. He was a Democrat (according to him) but he's absolutely a racist who appeals to the Alt Right and as time went on, he went more and more down the Alt Right pipeline. His views on Muslims and on black people tend to be pretty fucking regressive and surface level. He points out a problem with islam or an issue going on in black communities but doesnt want to address the systemic problems that led to the problems in these communities and countries.

[@89RealThe]

Is he still around? I haven't heard of him since 2016

[@clarencejones8180]

@@89RealThe Yeah he was like an unironic dixiecrat. He loved richard spencer but he hated Trump.

[@89RealThe]

@@clarencejones8180 Yeah so weird.

[@Krooksbane]

He would also claim that people who tried to bring up the systemic problems with the black community were infantilizing them. Then call the person bringing up systemic racism the racist, because of having the soft bigotry of low expectations. Don’t get me wrong, the soft bigotry of low expectations is a real thing that needs to be called out, but AIU was so bad-faith about everything that he clearly just wanted to complain and build his own cult of personality.

[@omarnoory]

This guys needs to talk to a therapist not Vaush lol

[@Mauriac158]

No kidding. Massive infodump.

[@alexandertheresurrection2810]

He sounds like he made a massive jump from lonely angry alt righter to redeemed married man becoming a father.

[@crimsonghost4107]

Good faith discussions with conservatives and former conservatives are my favorite Vaush discussions

[@directed4703]

He really said "I mean say what you want about the tenets of national socialism, Dude. At least it's an ethos"

[@LenSchiff]

There we go. Exactly what I thought.

[@phatman9762]

This guy spent an hour essentially apologizing.

[@charleshardes]

I was a GW Bush supporting pro Iraq War conservative. I've been apologizing for 15 years.

[@kindadecent9754]

Seemed like he just needed to get it all out lol

[@BenYork-UBY]

No hate on him for doing that though, sounds like he's being going through some stuff and really needed someone to talk to.

[@isabelmcgaugh711]

I hope speaking to Vaush was a useful experience for this guy!

[@honor2996]

another day another person moved from being consumed by the far right

[@jakitron890]

2nd best Arthur Redemption story

[@conroconro]

God it's so fuckin' weird hearing people talk about Weev. I was LiveJournal friends with the dude well before he took his far right wing turn, and it's just so fuckin' bizarre seeing how he's turned out.

[@The_Story_Of_Us]

Something that shows here I think is that as conservatives become more and more extreme, people tend to get fed up with it because most people just cannot sustain that level of hatred towards other people. When people see their behavior taken to the Nth degree, taken to their logical conclusion, they take a turn at that point. It’s like a political psychological accelerationism almost.

[@kishendooken1856]

Great having conversations like these

[@comradequestion4206]

This guy has a better material understanding of capitalism than most communists I've interacted with. His argument that "our actual enemy isn't people, it's the institutions and systems of capitalism that want to keep a portion of population in abject poverty inorder to line their pockets" was succinct and clear and demonstrates a good understanding of the problems and infers prescriptive solutions.

[@genghisdingus]

I remember I got into politics in 2014 had a break in 2015 right before the right got into anti-feminism and came back in 2016. Saw a no-bullshit video and got real mad and disappointed how stupid his points were.

[@piglin_gold64]

I was cleaning out my Facebook today deleting the dumb ass posts I had. Facebook really radicalized me to the right side in 2015-16. Full on Ben shapiro, ancap, louder with crowder, all of it. Thankfully I've turned around, but it's so sad that I wasted a few years of my life in that shit.

[@VibingMeike]

Same thing for me but on KZbin instead, I can say with full confidence that I was absolutely insane back then

[@Chronix-]

What one must do, if they are truly interested in politics is first get a perspective of your own by reading history and learning the fundamentals of the issues you're interested in BEFORE consuming other people's opinions. It allows one to stop listening to people THEY agree with and start listening to people who agree with THEM. That way you can more easily figure out who's being an honest actor on an issue and who's just pushing an agenda ignorant of the facts. It also gives you control over weather you fall down "rabbit holes" into crazy conspiracy land.

[@marinooliveira4204]

This was one of the most wholesome stories i heard in a vaush video

[@CynicalBastard]

Seeing chat is like so puke worthy - holy crap - come with love or pay closer attention, then. The whole point is to bring love to the table, first and foremost: then, only if that doesn't work, do you step up the attack on your so-called enemy.

[@MrWhit30]

My 2 cents. Politically ideology is something you arrive at on your own, not something you adopt because you are a fan of some blowhard on the internet, and then cry because you inevitably become disenchanted. Take in the relevant information and make up your own mind. Take responsibility for how you understand the world. My suggestion to the caller would be to engage in some serious reflection and take some responsibility for how you have been so easily manipulated and try to do better in the future.

[@Ellipsis115]

I never knew a comment could sum up survivorship bias so well. The dudes on a tough journey leave him alone, unless you want to give these kinds of people up to the right.

[@ananousous]

I disagree. Sometimes people are in environments that indoctrinate them into certain beliefs. That's just how the mind works sometimes You can see this with religious ideologies, and how survivors of a abuse or oppression will often internalize the hate they've received. While I don't disagree with the idea that individuals would be better off if they take greater responsible to protect themselves from, well, what are essentially cults. Your comment just seems way too in-line with victim blaming for my tastes

[@Aperson156]

I used to listen to Tim Pool, Fleccas, and Stephen Crowder every day and I now listen to Kyle Kulinski, Vaush, and Sam Seder. I had been drifting left for awhile, but the pandemic is what really drove it home for me.

[@reesf743]

Sam Seder's the goat

[@supersaiyanzero386]

Peter Joseph (revolution now podcast) is without question the greatest anti capitalist rhetoric master on KZbin and probably in the world. Plus he's actually consistently well spoken, and doesn't get involved with KZbin drama at all or come with baggage. He's smarter than you all and all of your idols, go check him out.

[@saisameer8771]

You went from watching clueless idiots on the right to watching clueless idiots on the left. You want to change? Stop watching political youtubers and watch more actual history and economics content. That's way more helpful in the long run. Most of these people spout half baked misinformation about things they have no idea about.

[@Aperson156]

@@saisameer8771 Why are you here, oh enlightened one?

[@jamielee7404]

It was very interesting. This guy is very interesting and intelligent and very empathetic. I think he'd really win by going to therapy with a good therapist. I know that the phrase "get therapy" is often used in a derogatory way but I mean it in the best way possible. Therapy is a must for anyone. It really sounds like he's struggling with some pain still and with some black and white thinking still and exploring this in therapy will be great. And I say this as a person who goes to therapy himself and it really helps

[@LaBlueSkuld]

I was slowly getting pulled into the Alt-Right movement during Gamergate. It was actually the 2016 election campaigns that shook me out of it when I saw all the talking heads that existed on KZbin back then just criticize every Democrat for the smallest error as being some elaborate lie and/or conspiracy and then excuse Trump that every "supposed" error was a lie or conspiracy being directed at him. Once I realized how dishonest they all were I went back and watched their older Gamergate stuff and realized just how much I had been emotionally manipulated and gaslit by them.

[@danielemazzali9810]

what a nice convo. I love that guy

[@TwoForFlinchin1]

Whatever his past was, I'm glad this guy seems to have a framework that centers workers rights. Seems like a good base.

[@simonjaz1279]

Believe it or not many right wingers (including myself) believe in this idea. The things we don't believe in is the silly notion workers need to OWN the entire business. Its very unnecessary and only the most extreme examples may show when its needed.

[@TwoForFlinchin1]

@@simonjaz1279 "many" is doing a lot of work

[@TwoForFlinchin1]

@@simonjaz1279 also what you just said is as dumb as saying direct democracy by referendum is the only type of democracy. It also has nothing to do with giving non-management workers profit based compensation

[@danbaccaxboxone4547]

@@TwoForFlinchin1 you're not the brightest

[@zthecat]

@@danbaccaxboxone4547 Then tell us why

[@bumblebeeatbreadloaf1286]

Nice convo. Remember, you can be on the left even if some parts of it frustrate you. For example Vaush argues with left wing people from time to time but it never sways him closer to the right wing.

[@kdoe1305]

I liked hearing this story. This perspective is something that people on the right should be aware of. They don’t have to be as extreme as his story is, but they should understand there are degrees to this pipeline and how far one can get if led by misinformation and the sense of belonging.

[@Alaskan-Armadillo]

One thing I really want to bring up is the fact that this guy said that he was Mexican and I am not bashing him for being Mexican but I wish that Vaush would ask him more about that. To many times do we have people in the Latin American diaspora think that we are part of white/European-American community despite being Latin American.

[@C.G.Jr.]

I genuinely loved this. A little misty eyed at the end I won't lie

[@marissacongusto]

The Regional Center provides vital services to the developmentally disabled or neurodivergent in California. The San Bernadino attacks weren't about it. The local city rented a conference room there to throw a holiday party and it was at that party, the terrorist a city employee. when it started. I was watching it on TV and it was traumatizing. I have a brother who uses the regional center. Not that one, but I couldn't imagine who was so depraved they'd shoot up disabled people.

[@345635356]

He sometimes is hard to follow because he’s a bit rambly, but his language is also easy to understand... Anyways, great on him for growing out of the alt right

[@hexcodeff6624]

20 minutes in, I expected him to change his political at least twice in the remaining 45 minutes.

[@ihsahnakerfeldt9280]

Lmao

[@Mavuika_Gyaru]

Don't listen to terminally online lefties, welcome brother! I also escaped the republican side

[@laurentsaint-laurent3659]

Just a tiny complaint about the title of the vid' : he's not a "former conservative", he's a former fascist..

[@criticalthinker3262]

Former _modern_ conservative lol

[@sourceeee]

I used to get so far into that shit it was harmful to my psyche, we're talking 2013-2015 pre-gamergate/post gamergate, and it took me until late 2020 to get out of it. Bad upbringing, low self-esteem, insecure, etc. were all huge contributing factors into me getting being brianwashed into that ideology. Also, that seemed to be the only prominent content back then too, it was infused in everything I used to watch in youtube back then. I think what was remarkable is it was all osmosis, dogwhistles, and ironic rhetoric that got me into it, and I never quite realized what a dogwhistle was because I truly never believed what they believed and wasn't "in" on it. I never got to the mask off parts because I never TRULY believed in those messed up things. I was hilariously in the closet about being bi, and did not want to accept or acknowledge anything about that, and to think of all of the content back then I used to consume from people that didn't even think I was completely human. It makes me cringe in so many ways looking back at it.

[@lil_weasel219]

If he was alt-right he was a Reactionary not conservative. Conservatism is wanting to maintain the status quo, while being a reactionary means wanting to recreate the status quo ante

[@Starman256]

This guy is actually awesome. That ending was wholesome

[@Dk07740]

I’m still a conservative (right libertarian) but I’ve listened to a lot of Vaush over the last couple years and he has changed my mind on many things

[@chefleen1254]

I would like more of the C R O N C H

[@Spongebrain97]

When he mentioned AIU that made me remember how back in the day he was a menace even towards TJ Kirk who I followed a lot

[@ihavenoname4139]

That was an amazingly wholesome ending

[@marksadplier9451]

WHY DID I HAVE A BEN SHAPIRO ADD I CANT 😂🤌

[@vXn-vXn]

I’m proud of this guy. Good for him for having these discussions.

[@Mizar007]

The crunchiest interview in recent history

[@StormCrownSr]

It's funny, I was deep in the right bubble, during gamergate days but the furthest I ever got was not calling myself a feminist because I didn't see equality advocates but cringe. I think I just watched them for entertainment rather than information.

[@kraio-sfu]

I think a lot of us were. I was about 13-14 at the time, and I remember watching rekt feminist videos from Benny boy in my free time. Luckily I had been watching shoe at that time too, and I think watching her scratched that anti-feminist itch while preventing me from slipping too far down the pipeline

[@JaySlay69]

The (also American) political commentator Odins Men on KZbin is a conservative with knowledgeable talking points on many political and societal issues, however he does have interestingly liberal views every now and then. I would love for him and you to debate some day! Could you send him a message, Vaush? What do you say?

[@Tacklepig]

I remember getting into the anti-SJW shit through atheism channels, too. Not AIU, but I remember TJ Kirk having Sargon on his podcast, and I mostly liked his humor and attitude. I never considered myself on the right though - I've always been very firmly libertarian left, just very disillusioned with my own side of politics, especially idpol and the like, and I saw that disillusionment reflected in that anti-SJW shit. That's why it's REALLY important to these people to portray themselves as "classical liberals" or whatever the fuck they say now, because I would definitely not have listened to anyone who was openly right wing. The syrian refugee stuff was what ultimately moved me over about it, though. I live in germany, and that part of anti-racist activism - being accepting to immigrants and refugees etc, opposed to islamophobia, that sort of thing - has always been very important to me. I actually helped out in a place that was teaching german to those syrian refugees (and especially their kids) at the time, and my girlfriend back then was a middle eastern refugee as well, so I could tell that what these people were spouting was literally just the talking points of our far right parties. ...and that's literally it. Interestingly enough, I basically watch Vaush for the same reason I used to watch Sargon: it's a critique of the bad people on the left. Only this time, it's way more substantiated and not deepthroating that alt-right cock.

[@irishladdie9702]

I followed a similar path, I used to be right wing and now I’m very much not. While I can’t point to an exact moment that changed my perspective, it really started around 8th grade and now I’m a Junior in high school.

[@sargonsblackgrandfather2072]

Respect to you brother Arthur. There but for the grace etc, I’m thankful 4chan and the pipeline wasn’t around when I was younger as I could easily have been sucked into the alt right, I think anyone could if they spent enough time on /pol etc. Seen good friends totally radicalised by it and their lives totally ruined, you escaped pretty much in good shape.

[@NoahWeaverRacing]

We love the touching grass ASMR at the beginning, kinda wanted it to keep going lol

[@coimbralaw]

Are you high?

I think a lot of people don't identify as much with the ideas of a group as they do with the group itself. I've seen this with several people coming from white nationalist groups who, as they start to explore their own actual beliefs, come to realize that they were not primarily looking for people with the same opinions, but for any group who would have them. This is why the right is so often seen recruiting people in a vulnerable position; they give them affirmation and a home and that's worth more than the actual ideals. This can lead to a feeling of betrayal when the group you identify with has opinions you find bad.

[@lil_weasel219]

The term "antisemite" is really weird because both the Arabs and the Jews are semitic peoples. Semitic branch of languages

[@lil_weasel219]

@AJ Porter k

[@illpegyourdad973]

Idk who needs to hear this but: ostracizing people who want to learn about your values because they realize the ways their own are immoral is an objectively awful and ineffective way to spread your message and inspire actual societal changes. Truth should be available to everybody.

[@isaactailer4104]

I’m sorry, I’m glad this guy was able to get out and super glad he was able to talk to Vaush, but I feel like he’s a strong breeze away from being back in the same alt right pipeline he escaped. He’s making it sound like whatever he heard last is his new ideology.

[@user-nh1lf1hz3k]

Just commenting for engagement!)

[@quietsonya]

This was so wholesome

[@Sabagegah]

We like trains here.

[@maxortiz8795]

It’s gonna take a while and multiple conversations such as this one to flush all the alt right poison from his brain. These conversations need to happen with those that want to leave the right. They should be encouraged and even expected to change and to think, but not at the moment, judged. Let them try to put their emotions into words, get them to think past the mantra. Like what happened to me, thinking through the alt right rhetoric and trying to put it into words got me to realize just how stupid it all was

[@supilikecats_]

this was a really surprisingly wholesome conversation to listen to, considering this person comes from an alt-right background i think it is awesome that vaushs videos reached him at seemingly perfect timing. i have my criticisms of vaush & i think its healthy to maintain those in good faith. but im always impressed with how well vaush's rhetoric reaches people who are stuck in hateful, doomer ideologies. keep up the good fight comrade. thanks for all you do

[@CynicalBastard]

"Detached from reality" - Like Wokescolds, right?

[@FoxhoundIbby]

Glad he's fallen on this side, but this dude sounds like the "stand for nothing, fall for anything" type. At the very least, he's HIGHLY impressionable. I do hope that he's truly a good dude, and I don't think he should be ostracized by the left. But I can't help but feel that it would take very little for him to stumble back over to the right again.

[@luminousghosts]

Sounds like an alright dude. I wish him and his wife all the best!

[@Naafidy]

Ah, a fellow LA resident who moved to the south. It's nice here, and there are things I'd change but it's been fun so far.

[@invincible203]

I got out through channels like Vaush and HasanAbi but I started out with MGTOW and Ben Shapiro/ Milo. Shit’s so hard to get out of because of how hateful they make you. You see all these stupid feminist clips taken out of context and these weird situations which are never going to occur and you think you hate them too so you must agree with these alt right people. I think what caused me to fall out was their sheer hatred for Islam and refugees/ immigrants because I’m Muslim but that shouldn’t have been the only thing. I also bought into the Donald Trump b.s. and the anti Hillary crap. Somehow him saying he likes to sexually assault ladies in an RV didn’t get me to wake up but I’m glad that I did. What’s great to see and what makes the left correct in my opinion is that they’re accepting of people and genuinely want everyone to have a fair crack at life regardless of their immutable characteristics/ how they want to live and the right don’t.