Why America Is #1 at Political Violence

Political Violence: Is It Bigger Than We Realize?
In the wake of the attempted assassination on Donald Trump, politicians and media figures alike have been quick to unequivocally condemn political violence. But in doing so, are they actually distracting from bigger systems of political violence? We’ll explain in this video on Political Violence: How We Get It Wrong.
Support us on Patreon! ► / wisecrack
Join this channel to get access to perks ► / @wisecrackedu
=== Watch More Episodes! ===
America's Freedom is a Lie ► • America's Freedom is a...
Do You Have a Duty to Vote? ► • Do You Have a Duty to ...
Who Profits Off Your Stress? ► • Who Profits Off Your S...
Written and Hosted by Michael Burns
Researched by Dave Mesing
Directed by Michael Luxemburg
Edited by Brian M Kim
Produced by Olivia Redden
Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound
#election #culture #wisecrack
© 2024 Wisecrack / Omnia Media, Inc. / Enthusiast Gaming

[@nohbody369]

This video reminds of a line from X-Men 97. UN Official: We don't typically allow terrorists to be national leaders. Magneto: Yet all too frequently you allow national leaders to be terrorists.

[@WisecrackEDU]

oh wow good call

[@daemoneko]

Magneto in X-Men 97 was based AF (always has been, too)

[@zachryder3150]

Magneto was right.

[@Kaede-Sasaki]

​@@daemoneko Biased or based (on what)?

[@Kaede-Sasaki]

Error 404

[@angrytriangles]

Crazy to me that nobody seems to consider war as "politcal violence" when they're condemning political violence

[@ramadjones]

Naw, that's pretty much the definition of political violence. The bigger question is whether we consider war terrorism. (Hot take - they're all the same)

[@robando2922]

Probably because then we wouldn't look like the #1 in that category because for gods sake the homeless in the U.S. are privlaged compared to the wider world.

[@bridgerparker4275]

@@ramadjones For real, there is basically no difference between "political violence" and "terrorism". Terrorism is defined as violence committed toward a political goal. I think a lot of people nowadays interpret terrorism to mean "creating terror because they are simply evil and want to watch the world burn" instead though.

[@iangreer4585]

So I guess they condone violence. They do not, however, condone sending a message.

[@eddapultstab2078]

War is often considered "diplomacy by any other means".

[@LonkinPork]

to twist an old Mel Brooks quote: "Political Violence is when activists verbally demand that we stop shooting them in the street. Diplomacy is when we commit scores of war crimes in impoverished nations."

[@GeneralSamov]

But, how do we then classify the Kent State shootings?

[@margotpreston]

@@GeneralSamov Domestic terrorism.

[@GeneralSamov]

@@margotpreston But, is it terrorism when it's government mandated? (I mean of course it is, I'm just wondering about the legal justification).

[@Philbert-s2c]

@@GeneralSamov Fascism.

[@roscojenkins7451]

​@@GeneralSamovthe legal definition of terrorism doesn't say anything about whether it's committed by a person, a group, or an actual state... Only that it occurs within the US... Basically gives the US government free reign to to commit NOT terrorism in other countries

[@Motta2194]

Here from Guatemala. That move by the US set us back 50+ years. We are still dealing with the consequences today…

[@WisecrackEDU]

Sorry for what our stupid government did. Incredibly f'd up.

[@Motta2194]

@@WisecrackEDU Funny thing is that they did it with a legitimate president and they are leaving others that actually turned into dictatorships. Honduras, Nicaragua and now Venezuela… Clearly protecting their bags is way more important than “fighting communism”… What a joke.

[@arvinjay336]

@Motta2194 not just you guys they did it to Philippines too for a long long time and even installed CIA backed media like rappler, it was only in 2016 when former President Rodrigo said NO to the US and by not installing US military bases here, but his successor did the opposite and now the Failippines is on the brink of a possible war with US military bases installed.

[@kepspark3362]

@@WisecrackEDU But was it US who did it? Generalizing the decisions of a few to the entire population!! Esp. those few even got replaced. That's the problem with group identity, all are forced into 1 category & hated at 1ce, blamed at 1ce, loved at 1ce, while the individuals at the ground reality vary greatly, won't even agree with each other. The humans who committed the offense, are already dead, lived awesome life, those left are being forced to pay the price, even if they did not commit it, would despise it. What a silly idea 'country' is!

[@deeznuts133]

@wisecrackedu this could be a video? Do socialist projects fail or are they killed by neo imperialism

[@gabrieljordan8015]

The Will Smith slap conversation lasted longer than the assassination attempt on Trump.

[@adam346]

Chris Rock is a national treasure and I will not have his name SLANDERED by those who would even DARE compare the abuse he suffered at the hands of Will Smith to w/e might have happened some low-life like Trump!

[@uwtartarus]

It's violence when people steal from a corporate chain, but when that corporate chain underpays its works, helps them sign up for food stamps paid for by our taxes, and steals from their workers directly by engaging in wage theft (working people off the clock). Absolutely wild.

[@thefuturist8864]

It’s not ‘violent’ when workers are underpaid; it’s unjust, but not violent. Not everything that is unjust is also violent. Activist hyperbole has overstretched the use of ‘violence’ to refer to pretty much anything, which is a problem because when we come to see that much of it isn’t violent at all we falsely assume it’s ok.

[@uwtartarus]

@@thefuturist8864 you're right, it's only violence when the workers protest it, exploitation isn't violence. So it's not violence when someone holds power over you and threatens to starve you and unhouse you by taking away your job if you don't consent to working off the clock. Sure sure!

[@TheWinterscoming]

​@@thefuturist8864 Violence is use of power over someone else in a way that causes harm. Physical power or economic power it doesn't matter, the explicit or implicit threat is that if you don't obey you will be harmed. If you don't work that unpaid overtime you will be fired, if you try to organize you will be fired. If you are fired you lose the ability to stay housed, fed and maintain your health. The only difference between that and breaking someone's leg is how immediate the physical pain is to the individual, oh and some people won't lose all personal security if they have a broken leg.

[@masonsharrison]

Poverty is the most egregious form of violence (because it begets all others). So, yes, financial exploitation, theft and economic depravation are violence. @@thefuturist8864

[@owenmcwilliams9271]

John Brown was hanged, not hung. (He may also have been hung; there is no way to know. He certainly seems to have had that BDE.)

[@WisecrackEDU]

important distinction. I was likely distracted in the moment by his world historical anti-slavery BDE.

[@jsquire1331]

@@WisecrackEDU in that manner, dude was both hung and got hanged

[@aladdinbinschamar2442]

​@@WisecrackEDU crazy that some people get triggered when Hamas is mentioned while John Brown and Nat Turner were strong religious believers

[@Kaede-Sasaki]

Does that mean a drunk person is actually a drinked person since we're ignoring the proper past tense? 🍻

[@Kaede-Sasaki]

Error 404

[@RD-oj4jw]

"The state calls its violence law but that of the individual crime" - Max Stirner

[@cricketlowrey1927]

Makes me think of the popular dichotomy of MLK Jr and Malcolm X (and how even MLK's actions were decried as too aggressive, meanwhile the violence Malcolm X advocated was a necessary support to MLK's movement)

[@twice.re.dac.ted666]

channeling malm?

[@johannvonbabylon]

This video's age-restricted. But an elementary school kid stumbling upon this video would be much better off than if they were watching the news on cable TV.

[@WisecrackEDU]

right??

[@arenomusic]

Age restricted for WHAAAAAAAAAAAT

[@kristenelliott2192]

Thanks for sharing that fact about the aftermath of the Haitian Revolution. Many people are not aware of it and it makes me very happy as a person from the Caribbean to have our history seen and shared with care in this way. God bless.

[@worschtebrot]

"I'm not saying they're better or worse. But I'm saying they're not better." You, sir, are a poet and a gentleman. On a more general note, this video is so fucking amazing. Thank you for all your hard work.

[@WisecrackEDU]

thanks a ton!

[@lordeastwood]

I, Lord Eastwood, do believe that freeing slaves is a GOOD thing.

[@jacoporegini8841]

We are not pointing and laughing. We are holding our breath.

[@gerardryan3692]

Some of us are pointing and laughing

[@jacoporegini8841]

@@gerardryan3692 You shouldn't. A fire is not the most hilarious spectacle, especially when your house is right next to the one currently ablaze.

[@gerardryan3692]

@@jacoporegini8841 where is my house?

[@jacoporegini8841]

@@gerardryan3692 I don't know, but it is unlikely to be safe from the flames should they spread.

[@gerardryan3692]

@@jacoporegini8841 it doesnt really matter. Whoever america vote for wont make any real difference anyway, america is a country run by corporations masquerading as a democracy and for the most part any backlash will be in the form of twitter arguments. Both sides will blame each other because a divided people are easier to control and the rest of us will continue laughing.

[@morganfern4701]

I remember learning about Harper's Ferry in 6th grade. I was horrified that John Brown was presented as a villian & not a hero. My teacher was horrified that I could think that way... and this is the story of my political perspective 😅

[@pacodance29]

Here's the thing; had JB not attacked Harper's Ferry, we might have avoided a civil war altogether. The south was already under pressure to abolish slavery by more than the north, the British had outlawed the trade and were actively running down slaver ships in the Atlantic, meaning that the slave population had to be grown rather than imported, and that was only going to be sustainable for so long. It is possible (and we'll never know) that the south would have abolished slavery via diplomatic means, but JB and HF made that an impossibility. It's a shame, b/c we are still fighting that war in the states TODAY, just on a cultural battlefield rather than a real one.

[@iwatchyoutube523]

@@pacodance29 That's certainly an opinion.

[@rudeboyjohn3483]

​@@iwatchyoutube523a pretty shitty one, at that

[@iwatchyoutube523]

@@rudeboyjohn3483 Yeah. It's also ahistorical, ridiculous, provably false, revisionist, and so much more, but it is, definitely, an opinion.

[@vinaypatel8578]

@@pacodance29 sure an additional 100-150 years of slavery and then quasi-slavery and then segregation. Without a civil war America still wouldn't have equal rights, we wouldn't have protections against discrimination against race, religion, and sex. Despite the death and destruction a lot of good came out of the civil war.

[@zjsz4954]

Handheld addiction machines is highly accurate. I was on vacation without internet or phone service for a couple weeks and WOW you can really feel it in your brain when you pick up your phone again

[@shortdrink873]

The sheer strength of will it takes to allow myself to just exist and be bored, and not pick up a phone or iPad…..terrifying, and very sad

[@patrickmelillo6305]

You're not just creating media for the ad cycle. You're teaching, you're educating people and giving context to the world around us. Thank you so much 😊

[@achronos178]

If I could tell you how many times America sent troops to my country around elections. It doesn't count when it's carried out against Brown/Black nations.

[@WisecrackEDU]

Infinity times?

[@CaptPeon]

I'm guessing EVERY time...?

[@arcturionblade1077]

Iraq?

[@mak3yasmiil3]

Type it louder for the conservatives in the back

[@michaeladkins6]

Im sorry, Its happened enough times in our history, Youre going to have to be specific.

[@denniskrq]

Not the most comforting thought, but a "monopoly on violence" is literally one of the defining characteristics of the modern state

[@Pixachuu]

Weber would say "Monopoly on legitimate violence". When the states forgot about the legitimate it's already abuse

[@azpont7275]

I don't see why using violence to upkeep the status quo is ok, but using it to try to dismantle it is suddenly very very evil and immoral in so many people's mind.

[@AB-zl4nh]

This is a term that explains a states capacity to regulate and minimise people's use of violence to other people. Depending on your view, that is a good or net benefit over the alternative.

[@DrFunk-rk6yl]

When has it not been part of the state system?

[@elainetamika4822]

@@DrFunk-rk6yl When mercenaries were a very common thing, a thing that's is sadly returning.

[@Ford_prefect_42]

I'm living for Michael's "we're just little guys over here" era

[@brolol3136]

Whoah, I love the direction this channel has taken. Hello and Thanks from Belarus, Comrades 😇

[@LegioXXI]

The current state of the US gives me strong Roman Republic vibes right before their hundred years old Republic fell within just one human life span. Especially because the violence and radicalisation dosen't slow down at all, it's only getting worse.

[@sea_triscuit7980]

Definitely, but which side tends to act out in violence? I hate when y'all act like it's all of the US when it's literally the conservatives causing every issue we've had in the past 8 years.

[@geoffrayylmao]

​@@sea_triscuit7980 it is also true that one side lionizes the roman empire and fantasizes that america is the inheritor of roman empire.

[@wintekowa5889]

@@geoffrayylmao I mean, we did base tons our government's systems and aesthetics on that of the roman republic for a reason. And we are the most powerful nation in world history.

[@geoffrayylmao]

@@wintekowa5889 all we're missing is the rampant political assassinations by the secret service 🤞 other than that we have codified slavery, an extensibly powerful ruling class who basically choosing the governing class, and rampant militarism. we check like 9/10 boxes

[@jamesgravil9162]

@@wintekowa5889 "And we are the most powerful nation in world history." Are you? How do you measure "power", exactly? America is the most powerful nation because it has wealth and technologies that previous civilisations couldn't have imagined, so of course it's more powerful in that sense. But if we're talking power in relative terms (how powerful the US is versus its contemporaries on the world stage), you might not make it into the top three. The Roman Empire at its height ruled a quarter of the world's population, and the British Empire controlled a third of the landmass. Both lasted for hundreds of years. The US is still a young country, and has only been a superpower since 1945. Already, however, it's in danger of being surpassed by China, and for all its military power it struggled to take out a bunch of sandal-wearing insurgents equipped with AK-47s in the desert. The US hasn't won a real conflict since the Second World War. Not only that, your country has an unsustainable amount of debt and shows all the signs of being on the verge of some kind of social collapse. So the US may look big and powerful on the outside (a bit like the Empire in Star Wars - which it may end up turning into if it's not careful), but its power is extremely brittle.

[@diegonb89]

Guatemalan here. That coup also opened the door for a long and tragic civil war in the country that lasted decades. I strongly believe that those actions imposed by the US government (not only in Guatemala but in almost all the Central American countries) left millions living in extreme poverty, and is today one of the main causes that millions decide to risk their lifes and cross the boarder.

[@dvolsung1527]

The Twilight Zone moment of the Obama administration was when he got the Nobel Peace Prize. That was wild to me.

[@robando2922]

Yeah, man was a monster.

[@nategz9875]

I think he got it cause the US is perceived to be so racist or had such a racist history (Jim Crow, slavery etc.) the fact that a Black Person being elected president deserves the Novel Peace Prize cause that's huge feat in itself.

[@ichirogutierrez3012]

I completely agree!! And he made an infamous speech about the concept of "just war" when getting the f***ing Nobel Peace Price!!

[@sonicgoo1121]

To be fair, the whole Obama did drones thing lacks a lot of nuance. The DoD basically lied about what happened and once they figured it out the attacks were drastically reduced. That is, until Trump came around, of course.

[@anthonymartensen3164]

Obama himself did not and probably never did think that he was deserving. It was a premature thing on the Nobel committee's part, not Obama's fault.

[@SephoneNorth]

Someone said that “there is no ethical consumption under capitalism” and, in the same way, “there is no ethical existence under the American Democracy and Military Complex.” Ain’t any of us getting into the good place.

[@khalidhassaan2719]

When life is hard, bananas are there. No matter how fat or poor I was, bananas brought balance to my life. If you're not allergic, bananas go hard. Also the history of bananas is absolutely crazy.

[@WisecrackEDU]

This is beautiful.

[@fireaza]

@@WisecrackEDU This is bananas!

[@sonicgoo1121]

@@fireaza That's a joke with many layers. It's very appealing.

[@LeninMcDonalds]

Bananas and eggs got me through quite a few winters in Canada.

[@HalasterBlackCloak-u2w]

Would you say that the history of bananas is just bananas?

[@BiscuitLazers44]

It’s a shame that a conquest-driven society is bound to be found at the top, because our constant greed as a species, despite pockets of clarity, feels pretty much unstoppable. A tale as old as time I fear

[@Camilo_PM]

I just want to show my appreciation, as a Guatemalan myself, for having shared that small portion of historical data in your video. Thanks sir.

[@stefanpp1155]

but remember the time when leftist protesters threw a stone through that window? I do!

[@robando2922]

How about the time they literally occupied U.S. territory, cost people their jobs, their homes, even their lives? Neighborhoods burned to the ground when the lefties "protest" 😂

[@maxuabo]

Member watergate?

[@robando2922]

@stefanpp1155 Let's not forget the "summer of love" plenty of leftist violence there. BLM/Antifa literally occupied U.S. territory and IDK about you, but that sounds like a act of war to me.

[@robando2922]

@@stefanpp1155 Is my comment being deleted?

[@misinfluence]

I remember leftists running amok during BLM riots causing billions worth of damage with full support by the (((media))). Did you happen to notice that or no?

[@jwillsher80]

From attacking colleagues in House of Representatives with a cane, the Boston Tea Party, antics of the Sons of Liberty, throwing stones prior to the Boston massacre, tar and feathering, etc; violence has always been part of our politics.

[@spideralexandre2099]

Could we call homelessness a result of political violence? Hope this comment makes it to live love the show!

[@WisecrackEDU]

if Producer Henry is watching . . .

[@mightyone3737]

Poverty exists exclusively to better exploit workers, homelessness exists as a way to punish people who have offended the ruling elite. Most of human history didn't have poverty because inequality was understood to be a bad thing, modern men are idiots for putting up with this BS.

[@HalasterBlackCloak-u2w]

Yes mostly

[@CollinHeist20]

Actually, my name is Collin, and I think freeing slaves is badass.

[@WisecrackEDU]

Yeah Collin!!

[@RadikAlice]

Classic case of "Not okay since it affects me now"

[@mjay2u]

I love these type videos, keep it up Wisecrack! This is almost never taught in the classroom but explains so much of the world we live in today.

[@tylerking4576]

Louis Riel and the Metis in Canada, another example fighting against colonizers

[@WisecrackEDU]

Thanks for that.

[@emanym]

I was at that Tenacious D concert in Sydney. As an American, I was one of the few people in the audience shocked by Cage’s wish. I understood his feelings, but democracy is better than murder 😮

[@WisecrackEDU]

whoa - on the ground reporting!

[@Violent_Wolfen]

I find that most people that were shocked were hypocritical at best and full if shit at worst ( not saying you were) because had it been Biden, would they have cared? Would you have cared and be honest.

[@emanym]

@@Violent_Wolfen Murder does not help democracy. I’d always care.

[@Violent_Wolfen]

@@emanym As long as you're keeping that energy. However, murder HAS been used by the US to oppress its own citizens and keep politicians in power.

[@Strategistmaster]

You hate Deadpool 3? That's engagement Bait 110%

[@myhandlewastaken]

Those stats on recent political violence are the reasons why corporate media stopped talking about it.

[@poindextertunes]

100% doesn’t fit their narrative

[@deathmagneto-soy]

Only just found your channel and I'm loving the dialectic bent of it. Thanks for spreading good content, comrade.

[@WisecrackEDU]

Glad you found us and thanks for watching!!!

[@swampskald2462]

When Americans say they hate political violence, just remind them that they had a revolution to start with.

[@Felix-qq6sx]

Most major political changes happen via revolution, and only a rare few of them weren't bloody.

[@robando2922]

Only after exhausting all other options, let's be historically accurate here.

[@guamson8946]

@@robando2922Nah, it was mostly because bunch of rich colonists hated being taxed or trade-restricted by the British, the restriction of creating settlements beyond the Appalachian mountains and the Boston Massacre in 1770. The whole “FREEDOM & DEMOCRACY” thing wasn’t even that big of a deal for the average folk because they were still largely subjects of the British Crown, many proudly so.

[@baller0724]

​@@robando2922all because a bunch of rich elites and slave owners wanted to rule the people as peasants instead of being ruled by the crown. Oh and didn't want to honor the treaties of NOT expanding and wanting to get rid of the original inhabitants of this land and was told to stop.

[@Kaede-Sasaki]

​​@@guamson8946 Exactly. King George III would have been zonked at how much power the leader of the Americans has. Much more than he could even fathom. Execute a person that he is against from across the world in 15 minutes? Done. King George would have preferred being an American president. Would just need to bribe...err lobby enough supporters.

[@Clewnkaart]

Hardest condemnation if its a political figure, barely a response if its everyday people.

[@colonelweird]

I'm grateful the video doesn't shy away from the full reality of political violence. But I admit I was triggered -- I had to take a couple of breaks during the video to calm down. Discovering US imperial violence was the beginning of my political awareness when I was in high school, around 1980. I've been angry about it ever since. Back then it became the main issue forming my politics. I became an anarcho-pacifist and an advocate and sometimes practitioner of revolutionary nonviolence. I was very much taken with Gandhi's idea of satyagraha, soul-force or truth-force. I was on my way to becoming Christian (via the life and writings of folks like Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton) and the spiritual dimension of this philosophy was very attractive. But I see now I was mostly responding to my horror of state violence. Maybe I wasn't completely wrong, but I wouldn't approach things the same way now. I suppose I would take a more materialist approach now, so I think Fanon makes a lot of sense. But I'm still shocked at the ease with which people accept most political violence. There seems to be a kind of game people play with themselves, where they simultaneously know but don't know about something. Maybe it's because they only allow themselves to be aware of violence in an abstract sense, and will never imagine the bodies ripped apart by the bombs they build in their beautiful American factories. Or maybe they see it the way Hollywood does - a grim reality that heroes must perform in order to defend Freedom. But however they do it, they come to the same conclusion - the violence is ok as long as "others" are the targets. I don't know. It doesn't make sense to me. It never will.

[@ReclaimedDasein]

Hey, I've been watchin' for years... but GOD DAMN, really great! REALLY great! Thank you so much.

[@WisecrackEDU]

Thanks so much! Kind of you to say.

[@ReclaimedDasein]

@@WisecrackEDU Hey, no way. Thank you for putting this shit together. It's actually, REALLY GOOD!

[@spherejester]

Great video. Lots to think about.

[@oopsy444]

Wait did deadpool and wolverine actually make you angry? If so drop what you're doing a do a video on that! I need to know what made you feel that way

[@WisecrackEDU]

we might do a little podcast thing on it. I'm very conflicted.

[@stefanpp1155]

@@WisecrackEDU cuz it sucks?

[@thestrangeone5921]

Yeah there were some... poorly written parts of the movie for sure.

[@SuperWindsage]

@@thestrangeone5921 it was dumb fun. you are all dumb.

[@oopsy444]

@@thestrangeone5921 what parts? Honestly I only remember some of it bc so much happened

[@umjackd]

This reminds me of the phenomenon of "swatting" which is when someone calls in an anonymous tip of a dangerous situation at someone's house, in a few cases judges or politicians. When the police respond with a SWAT team, or at least violently (due to expecting a dangerous situation) there's a risk that the occupants get assaulted. Pretty terrifying, really.

[@britneyisallyouneedtoknow2406]

When I was younger, I had similar thoughts about how America committed violent acts that led to hundreds and thousands of deaths _abroad_ but folks never talked about it (except maybe Ben Affleck) but when 9/11 happened, it was this massive outrage and sorrow. God, this feels like a hot button issue but I really and truly am NOT trying to diminsh the severity of what happened or the losses people experienced that day. It was just an interesting perspective switch that was highly noticable: it's okay when it's abroad but it's unforgivable when it happens at home. Similarly, it reminds me of WW2 when Americans were very much "keep us out of that war; it has nothing to do with us" and then Pearl Harbor happened and it was like "let's go boys!" meanwhile the US government *had* been helping and expecting to be more involved. Americans felt blindsided and attacked out of nowhere and for no reason but to the Japanese guy, he said something like "it's war; it was to be expected"

[@Blizaros]

American Exceptionalism always felt to me like a highway to double standards and false equivalences. If we keep in mind that winners write History I shouldn't be too surprised, but it rubs me the wrong way that no matter how hard I'd try I couldn't erase from my mind the date 9/11 when two buildings were taken down, yet I can't for the life of me remember the date where the two atomic bombs were dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, which certainly makes USA the champion of most persons killed in the shortest amount of time by erasing two whole cities from the surface of the globe (at separate times admittedly). It's like the country excels at switching between godhood and martyrdom when it fits

[@britneyisallyouneedtoknow2406]

@@Blizaros Those cities weren't "erased off the earth". And if you're American, it makes sense that you would know significant American dates. Many know 9/11 not only because of the attacks but because of the economic impact that it had on other counties. But I do get what you mean about not knowing or remembering the date of such historic events. It's one of the many failings related to the American education system

[@Blizaros]

@@britneyisallyouneedtoknow2406 I'm actually european, but your other points still stand, I have failed to consider them. The fact it happened in our lifetime is also another factor that makes 9/11 so dominant in our minds. It's kind of the point though, how things like proximity and emotional impact makes a distant event seem less important despite being so much bigger in scale. The implications about how easy it is to sway most people with such emotions are uncanny

[@Violent_Wolfen]

​@Blizaros Actually more people during that time were killed by napalm than those two bombs.

[@Sidattack1]

The early bird gets the bald worm straight to the eyes

[@Hel1mutt]

im raw domed and loving it

[@Kwauhn.]

1:00 I'm so appreciative of you guys using the romance sound bite from The Sims here.

[@ericad8412]

... Anyone getting ready to leave just in case? Take me with you?

[@gabe-2100]

Because these 2 parties have been focusing on the divide for so long that's all we know. We don't judge on policy's like we should we judge on something wrong with the other person. We need to unit instead of keeping us divided. Let's go RFK

[@denverharrington8768]

Great vid Michael, I really enjoy Wisecrack vids. They're informative and always offer up a great angle. Thanks

[@o1ecypher]

“We know that they are lying, they know that they are lying, they even know that we know they are lying, we also know that they know we know they are lying too, they of course know that we certainly know they know we know they are lying too as well, but they are still lying. In our country, the lie has become not just moral category, but the pillar industry of this country.” ― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

[@NYKIKE]

When are we getting Jared's opinion on deadpool and wolverine?!?!?!?! I'm here for it

[@WisecrackEDU]

Maybe on . . . Jared's channel?

[@NYKIKE]

@@WisecrackEDU I wasted the one time Wisecrack replied to me on something I could have double checked because I assumed this was a tease for future content and not past content. Anyway, since I have your attention - your stuff is awesome and I'm happy you make it, it brings joy :) TY

[@WisecrackEDU]

@@NYKIKE thanks!

[@killianthegrunt]

"U.S. is number 1 in political violence!" Mexico during last election: "am I a joke to you?"

[@jktolford8272]

Thanks, very insightful. Growing up in the 60s it struck me that widespread rhetoric regarding 'political violence' and terrorism was in bad faith. State exercise of violence, whether abroad or on US streets, was clearly not *inherently* legitimate. Violence resisting the US or other states, whether by state or non-state entities, was clearly not *inherently* evil. The dichotomy seemed designed prevent analysis of both aims & consequences (intended & not) of political action

[@shaunmodipane1]

Hey Micheal, I would like to hear your ideas about existential dread. It would be a cool follow up on this video by analysing the philosophy of benefiting from violence.

[@Florianmunz]

Hello my name is and I think freeing of bananas is bad

[@mlarose42]

I'm totally jelly of Michael's The Band t-shirt!!

[@WisecrackEDU]

it's currently in the #1 spot of my music-based t-shirts collection

[@Sara3346]

Aemrica #! AMERICA #1!! HOORAY FOR US FINDING SOMETHING FOR US TO BE GOOD AT!!! ;-D

[@LilyAC-h3z]

Last point reminds me of a phone call to NPR I heard after Sandy Hook. Then president Obama had given a speech on mourning for the children. This person said "he's mourning for the children who died in Sandy Hook but not for the many more (not to minimize the loss of SH parents, just comparing the scales) that were killed by drone attacks he ordered". It still rings in my mind after all these years.

[@Life-Pursuit]

Yall always bring it proper. Thanks fam

[@Ford_prefect_42]

OMG I've been waiting for this ALL WEEK

[@nural20xx89]

The Israeli-Jewish philosopher Yeshayahu Leibowitz famously argued that occupation leads to moral corruption, affecting both individuals and societal systems. He also noted that, within Judaism, there is no concept of Heaven or Hell as external rewards or punishments; rather, the ethical or unethical nature of an action is its own consequence. This perspective is reflected in the current situations in Israel and the U.S., where high levels of violence, crime, and corruption suggest the deep impact of moral erosion on society.

[@travislawrence5908]

Another interesting read is Peter Gelderloos’ “How non-violence Protects the state.” Not sure I’m completely on board with his argument but interesting perspective nonetheless

[@WisecrackEDU]

thanks for that, will check it out.

[@itisrighttorebel]

“Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun”

[@sonicgoo1121]

American citizens must be very politically powerful, then.

[@itisrighttorebel]

@@sonicgoo1121 “Our principle is that the Party commands the gun, and the gun must never be allowed to command the Party" Is the rest of the quote. If American citizens organized themselves politically and with armed resistance as a principle then yeah they would have a lot of political power.

[@TheCommonS3Nse]

The Guatemala thing reminded me of a Reddit argument I had with someone over the US influence in Chile. They hit me with a 26 page article detailing why America’s intervention in Chile didn’t have any impact. I actually read the article… the first 1/3rd was the background of politics in Chile. The second 1/3rd was the background of the authors, and the last 1/3rd was the juicy bit, America’s involvement. The author starts out explaining that the CIA had an interference campaign in the country from 1963 to 1973. He then jumped to the 1970 coup attempt and explained how America was involved in that coup, but didn’t have any direct involvement in the coup of 1973… but what happened between 1963 and 1970?! Not a single mention of CIA propaganda. Not a single mention of the CIA funding HALF of the campaign of the winning party in 1964. These are documented in Senate Intelligence Committee records! How can you just gloss over them as unimportant?! It’s true that students aren’t taught this part of America’s history. People would have a VERY different perspective on US global affairs if they did.

[@soeasyastonercoulddoit]

So i guess we're ready for part 2 of this video after today?

[@hrishikesh-s]

I would like to recommend two videos: One by Noam Chomsky on “Crimes of US presidents” its on KZbin Another by David Graeber where he analyses state sponsored violence - forget the title but it’s also on KZbin

[@afreaknamedallie1707]

😅 this video was like a cliff notes version of my entire psci degree 🧡

[@Fellupforward]

Also I love how the streams effectively work like prep classes for the videos

[@gheatza]

I started thinking about political violence thanks to Star Trek: The Next Generation's episode titled "The High Ground" from Season 3, Episode 12. It made some very good points both for and against it, and so many years later I still cannot come up with a definitive stance on this subject. In my country (Romania), the government has progressively made stealing legal, meaning that a large portion of the population basically lives on the backs of the 2-3 million people working in the private sector, among many other issues which I won't go into right now. Speaking to people here and there, many wish for a return of one of our Lords of Old, Vlad Tepes. Mr. Tepes is famous for killing people who stole, killed, etc. in such gruesome ways that it is said that if a merchant dropped a pouch of coins somewhere and retraced the road they went on, they could find their pouch untouched. When the state can pass legislation making it legal for them to just take everything, when so many people are uneducated and so easily swayed by electoral promises, when many of the same people and their families vote for the same parties because they actually work for the state apparatus and so have a vested interest in perpetuating this status quo, it seems to become apparent to some that the only way forward seems to be violence - thus the wish for Mr. Tepes to return.

[@somesheqx8073]

"relax guys, we're just doing philosophy" quotes Frantz Fanon just afterwards in order to annihilate the slightest hope in what serves as the heart of the fascists

[@Fenrisson]

Great video as always, Michael.

[@kurtramos9190]

"One way or another, this darkness [has] got to give" ---Jerry Garcia

[@TheMayonakaMidnighter]

I have been trying to warn people about the military to police pipeline for YEARS and got written off as anecdotal... (am a veteran btw)

[@masterchaoss]

Tenacious D already said they're getting back together btw

[@WisecrackEDU]

yeah we saw that, sadly this video was wrapped before we could update.

[@shodanxx]

Iraq & Afghanistan war doesn't count as political violence right?

[@kyero8724]

Only whites are bad. So says these clowns

[@rogerreger9631]

Those were police actions not wars, according to the crazy people on the internet that people listen to for some reason. We were apparently stabilizing the regions and reeducated the Taliban to be more democratic aligned, and it was all planned reason why we spent 20 years in those countries. apparently

[@gabzpot]

How USA didn't win on the shooting competition on the Olympics? Makes no sense.

[@sonicgoo1121]

“when the Germans fly over, the English duck. When the English fly over the Germans duck. And when the Americans fly over, everyone ducks!"

[@LeninMcDonalds]

Probably didn’t wanna make it too obvious.

[@cancerino666]

Just because even a child can get a gun in America, doesnt mean you know how to shoot it.

[@gabzpot]

@@cancerino666 every child can get a foot ball on Brazil, and we are the country with more championships in world cup. Go figure.

[@johnstanczyk4030]

Uh, we all know that America has done a fair amount of regime change and most of it was pretty bad, but equating that certain recent event to past or present regime changes risks sleepwalking into a loss of democracy. Whatever your particular political project may be, it will be impossible to achieve if you lose your democracy.

[@jamesgravil9162]

You sure America hasn't already lost its democracy (assuming it ever had one), and that what you have now isn't an oligarchy masquerading as a republic?

[@baller0724]

Which is why this country should vote to make sure that 45 will never see the inside of the whyte house again.

[@baller0724]

Hold on wait...."fair amount" and "most was bad" how about an EXTREAM amount and ALL bad. Unless you're a person who think that political violence to defend "capital" is ever ok.

[@johnstanczyk4030]

@@baller0724 I cannot quite tell if you are being facetious but just in case you are not: a "fair amount" means a large amount. An "extreme" amount seems a bit hyperbolic considering Great Britain, France, and Russia at the very least easily surpass the United States in regime changes. As for whether all of the political meddling of the United States is bad, a handful of them are generally seen in a positive light. As an example, the intervention in the breakup of Yugoslavia comes to mind.

[@dev.0122]

This guy is wise and cracks me up. The channel and the oretaor are doing justice to its objective of philosophical scrutinising of contemporary waves of change.

[@douglasphillips5870]

When the leader of the face eating leopard party gets his face eaten though

[@matthewlebo1841]

Last year, I wrote a Speech and Debate piece using John Brown as a case study for when violence is justified for progress, and my God, has it only gotten more relevant. Contrasting John Brown with January 6, I wrote as a rule of thumb that political violence may be justified but only as a last resort, when used to prevent further violence, when the status quo is responsible for greater violence, and when used to protect human rights.

[@sharkquisha3407]

To me its simple, when oppression becomes law, resistance becomes duty.

[@wqnd]

great video!!!!!

[@smintili]

That John Lennon quote was a surprise! Lennon‘s kinda my idol and I just want to leave this line from an obituary about him here: “When John Lennon died, I lost a friend I never met.”

[@meganwarren221]

Fun fact: Bananas used to be good but the strain that was good died out because we breed seedless bananas and so there were no seeds to reproduce when a fungus killed the crop. The ones we eat now are ok, but they are bland by comparison.

[@LilyAC-h3z]

United Fruit was also responsible for the Banana Massacre in Colombia 1928

[@AmaraTheBarbarian]

The problem with our particular state actors is that historically popular demand means nothing without the application or at very least the threat of political violence. From the early fights over voting rights for white men who were considered not to have "sufficient stake in the country" to vote (poor), through the "abolition" of slavery, labor rights, equal rights for PoC, and LGBTQ rights, demands of the marginalized were largely not realized without some threat of violence by the oppressed. The women's suffrage movement being a notable outlier rather than the norm. Our system being so structured that the popular will means little in the face of the ability of the wealthy to fund politicians, prop up a system wherein only 2 corporatist partues exist and the minority party maintains an advantage based on the electoral college system, and manufacture concent through media for these structures. Law is to some extent codified morality, and when that morality between the state and oppressed groups causes too much friction and violence to be employed by the state it leaves little else for the oppressed group to do. Even the christian nationalists fall into this framework, as their morality dictates they must oppress other groups towards the advantage of their own, but i think we can all agree that such an ideology should be oppressed since by its nature it demands the oppression of groups outside of itself.

[@negr00sei45]

Great video. Shame it’s not performing as well as it should. Like this is stellar

[@WisecrackEDU]

Thanks a ton. I think it's not performing well because KZbin decided it wasn't appropriate for viewers under 18 so way less folks can see it.

[@mksmike]

Because it's a democracy governed by autocracies.

[@DanielLopez-ec1sn]

Che and John Brown in one video ✊️🤯✊️🤯✊️🤯

[@Dan-sc2pi]

Uh... am I missing something, or wouldn't the obvious elephant in the room regarding the question "Is political violence ever immoral" for Americans be the American Revolution??? Here we had a large number of non-state actors (at the time) committing acts of violence against the established government (the British) and Americans, afaik, would never claim the Revolution was immoral... I'm not condoning political violence, especially individually-motivated acts, but to use absolute language to suggest there is never a moral reason to rise up is not only unrealistic, it's also VERY hypocritical...

[@anthonymartensen3164]

The reasons for the Revolutionary War were an act of resistance for liberating mankind and led to the formation of the United States and all of the gopd ideas that have sprung from its advent/inception. That is why it is considered a justified thing. Anything today would not be comparable.

[@sanko2341]

Incredibly fire video Great John Brown mention Western Reserve ON TOP 💪

[@DavidChipman]

7:41, talks about the USA, but I'd swear that's a street in Toronto, Canada. Notice the streetcars.

[@itsgusgusmeow]

god finally someone breaks this down. fuckin love you wisecrack

[@jeffnickel4648]

Really good analysis. I really enjoyed your vid 👍

[@TulilaSalome]

My name is Blank and i cannot end this sentence as instructed.

[@manofculture7614]

WERE NUMBER 1 RAHHHHHHH🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@kingmarx810]

'Merica!

[@johnflier4873]

You are indeed a man of culture. That was my first thought too!

[@Matty002]

'rules for thee but not for me'