"Anti-Woke" Poetry is Terrible, and Here's Why

I spent April reading conservative poetry. Here's why it sucks.
00:00 - Intro
01:20 - Red Pill Rhymes
08:13 - Society of Classical Poets
14:05 - An American Conservative
19:17 - What I Learned
29:20 - Credits & Cat Bloopers
** SOURCES: **
------ Society of Classical Poets Website: classicalpoets.org/
------ Trump Hate Crimes Paper: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.c...
------ Link to info about Joseph Charles Mackenzie: www.thehypertexts.com/Joseph%2...
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[@zoe_bee]

Go watch the trailer for my podcast: kzbin.info/www/bejne/e36QkpaMi5x3otE (and don't go watch the podcast JUST started by the Society of Classical Poets - it is terrible and super cringe. Okay, I need to go recover from my surgery now, bye)

[@BurnBluefireK]

Very excited for this! Is it already up on nebula? I can't seem to find it.

[@zoe_bee]

Not yet! We're still finalizing somethings, but keep an eye out in the coming days!

[@floragraves5167]

The dude IS an instapoet

[@tacofacefart]

Awesome stuff :)

[@justinwatson1510]

I would be willing to bet that any adults who saw "The Society of Classical Poets" would know that watching the podcast would just result in needless suffering. Between the "classical liberals" and classically Abby, at least a few generations of people will have an immediate fight-or-flight reaction to "classical" and any of its derivatives.

[@freyabee819]

I'm not like other poets. I'm a bad poet.

[@m.g.4060]

nah, you're like most poets. I read a poem that once referred to gods great beard oil

[@cheatcode146]

So you are exactly like other poets

[@lilyofluck371]

Same T-T

[@DanielinLaTuna]

“I'm a poet, and I know it Hope I don't blow it” - I shall be free No 10 Bob Dylan Anyway, the right seems to have latched on to “Rich men north of Richmond”… it was recently used in the intro to the 2023 Republican debate. Lyrics, I know, but what do you think?

[@soft-moss]

joe patterson is a man who was cursed to speak only in rhymes but still wants to preach his political beliefs

[@anyjen]

The Tom Bombadil curse!

[@Montesama314]

He loves free speech... He WISHES he had it.

[@MrKyltpzyxm]

Joe Patterson missed a perfect opportunity. Nowadays that book would be published by Praeger U with a bunch of cartooney pictures and be marketed as "American Civics for Kids" as a sort of evil parallel universe version of Dr. Seuss.

[@isweartofuckinggod]

@@MrKyltpzyxm The idea of a kids book about bonds and the economy is absolutely hilarious.

[@probablyants]

He got cursed for his rhetoric but it only made him more insufferable

[@VoteBidentoSaveDemocracy]

It would be very difficult to write poetry without using pronouns

[@ShinyTillDawn]

let alone the constitution

[@FrozenVibraniumProductions]

Unrelated but I love your username

[@oceanbreeze3172]

Challenge accepted

[@sneksecry5087]

This might not be too hard The language although, far from ideal Even without pronouns Words can still feel This comments a bit old See no reason to bother But here this poem is Without pronouns, like no other

[@liviawannavibe]

@@sneksecry5087 As much as writers might still try, mistakes in the text may yet lie. Pronouns 'this' and 'other' still arise, though, errors so small aren't easy for the eyes.

[@maximillion322]

The line “you identify as a Walmart greeter” would be a great line in an anti capitalist poem. Walmart greeters are such a vivid symbol of capitalism and the idea that it overcomes someones whole identity could be a powerful image of what wage slavery does to people.

[@threemooseqateers9689]

Idk, I think there are better choices for anti capitalist stuff. A lot of elderly people’s dream job is a Walmart greeter.

[@WickedHole]

Agreed -- that would make for a pretty good line in an anti-capitalism poem.

[@sofamiller7133]

Wage slavery? You realize greeter is a pretty undemanding job for a wage, right? You realize that because this position exists, the physically and mentally disabled can still do something that makes them feel worth as a member of society, right?

[@ryanm7082]

@@threemooseqateers9689the fact that an elderly person could have a “dream job” - as opposed to living a comfortable retirement in their sunset years - is about as anti-capitalist a statement one could make

[@ryanm7082]

@@sofamiller7133the idea that having a job is the only way to feel “worthy” to society is why we need anti-capitalism

[@sbadapple3473]

I'd like to see a trans woman write a book of 'red pill rhymes' considering the original red pill was estrogen

[@BoredInNW6]

Dedicated to the medicated

[@FirstnameLastname-sb3hj]

titty skittle ditties

[@betty_wayne_78]

Huh the pills I take are blue

[@Lucifersheaven]

And on top of that the "movement" uses the term as a direct reference to the Matrix. A movie directed by a pair of trans sisters...

[@shadowcween7890]

​@@Lucifersheaven It's funny how the red pill is literally a metaphor for accepting oneself as trans

[@jamesmeow3039]

Anti-woke poetry? Hasn't humanity suffered enough

[@thetypingape2073]

No. This is brilliant. I think there needs to be more. There needs to be a class in private conservative schools that place this work and more like it on a pillar. Why? It would be hilarious. Imagine a human being that could quote this with a twinkle of a tear in their eye.

[@tassosaivazis6880]

if a poetry is anti-woke, is it technically sleeping poerty?

[@ogungou9]

@James Meow: Murphy's law.

[@johndemeritt3460]

@@tassosaivazis6880, wouldn't anti-woke poetry be the antithesis of "sleeping beauty"?

[@iantaakalla8180]

Sleeping poetry sounds like a neat phrase to describe poetry that is aggressively middling with the exact same characteristics and themes, and metaphorically does not wake up from wherever it started

[@thederrick770]

"and they are so morally destitute, the only choice is to execute." would be a chilling line if it were coming from a villain in a show or something, but is just unhinged coming from a real life person.

[@k-boi420]

Sounds like a line in a Disney villain’s song.

[@iantaakalla8180]

It could also indicate some “productivity/morals” dystopia where everyone’s actions are monitored to be outwardly efficient and moral.

[@bosef1]

​@@iantaakalla8180"You have been fined one credit for a violation of the Verbal Morality Act".

[@uncertainink]

Frollo, I think.@@k-boi420

[@aimfulRenegade]

A disney villain song would be the perfect place.

[@acebase555]

What’s sad is the “megalovania” line was easily the best of the three, because it had an attempt at wordplay.

[@Selfdestructingwii]

Oh yeah, because the player wouldn't have love, they'd have LOVE from killing the monsters.

[@Milo-hp9fw]

The megalovania line is the best because of Undertale.

[@solsoups]

megalovania could've stopped this book

[@ottergauze]

The first thing that comes to mind at the thought of 'Anti-Woke poetry' is "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo" but with slurs.

[@joeiechristiansantana9641]

lmaooooooooooooo

[@matthewmorgan7103]

Excellent.

[@TruFalco]

*finger snaps*

[@luisfilipe2023]

Good it’s better then transing kids

[@markmerk1296]

For a second I thought you were referring to the timeless classic, “Everybody’s got a Water Buffalo.”

[@ElZamo92]

Virgin SCP: Writes bad poems about how the political left is icky. Chad SCP: A MASSIVE collection of crowd sourced scary stories about paranormal phenomena.

[@boyboilNEO9055]

096 spends most of his time watching redpilled podcasts

[@MorganEdgy]

@@boyboilNEO9055 That's the most boomer thing I've seen today so it would be completely in character

[@tonytins]

Not going to lie, my thoughts immediately went to the Chad SCP the first time she used the acronym.

[@kiddosneakybeaky3934]

Fr,,,

[@KB-zq9ny]

They should make an SCP based on the SCP. Giggle.

[@kokopelli314]

She read 3000 sketchy poems, then produced a graphed analysis showing a real pattern. That's why I love this channel!

[@jamesvalvis1131]

No she didn't. Don't be daft.

[@lord_ozymandias]

@@jamesvalvis1131is it difficult to believe a person could read a bunch of short poems for a video?

[@dyld921]

Love the cat walking in just when she's talking about "dangerous predators coming into your home and eating your food and giving you nice little kisses on the cheek" (12:43)

[@saltydinonuggies1841]

I love how he sits there staring up at her for a bit. Such a cute little fuzzball

[@CalebTibster]

Please DO NOT refer to the Society of Classical Poets as “SCP” ever again. I do not want this collective of bigots to be associated, even in name, with my favorite collection of internet fiction.

[@siobhongaull9161]

The SCP has broken containment.

[@acemagalor2519]

@@siobhongaull9161 I understood that reference

[@UTTPOfficerBennie]

It's a cover organization

[@bentpen2805]

Or with my favorite Unix tool for sharing files between computers

[@Pendragondnd]

I was very confused for a minute.

[@shawndonq135]

Dude that trump Scottish fan fic poem was genuinely the funniest thing I’ve read/heard this week.

[@stalfithrildi5366]

Naw it isnae

[@thetypingape2073]

It is, legit, the most valuable player, if ever to lighten the dark of my nether. 🪘

[@MulberryDays]

i want a full stage reading from David Tennant, preferably filmed at the Globe

[@charlesb-b993]

he’s the thomas kincade of poetry

[@jvondd]

Ironically, Trump is not particularly well liked in Scotland.

[@tylermaxwell2359]

As a trans-fem teen, I read both the anti-trans poems out of curiosity. "Eulogy for them" is atrocious in so many ways, it's condemnable to the highest degree. So is "Transgender Madness: For All the Children Being Harmed Beyond Repair," but it was also kind of funny. Like it's so bizarre in its message and delivery that it's hard not to laugh at it. Like the title is already too much.

[@Len-jk4zi]

Children are being harmed beyond repair, and the consequences are setting in.

[@silly_lil_guy]

​@@Len-jk4zi yeah, by conversion therapy and heteronormativity

[@Len-jk4zi]

@@silly_lil_guy Nope, they're being harmed by having their bodies permanently altered before they're old enough to fully understand the consequences.

[@timbirdie8180]

​@@Len-jk4zi You don't even know what your talking about.... Children are doign what they want not their parents or the gov want. Whi is freedom so evil suddenly. Personal choice so disdained. Oh its cuz you dont like it grow up if its not harming anyone let it go. I dont like alchocol but im not banning it!

[@timbirdie8180]

@@Len-jk4zi Theyre not transitioning at 8... You know that right. Puberty blockers are a safe process. Most horonmone therapy starts at thier teens when they have had to have a dcotor approve it and knowing who they are for years.

[@pocketraccoons]

"unemployed post-modern leftist with blue hair" you didn't have to call me out like that damn

[@wokeaf1242]

Evil is as evil does. My Mommy used to say "Conservative poetry is like a box of Christmas Fruit Cakes, you know what you're gonna get and you absolutely don't want any of it."

[@cubicbanban]

LMAO XD

[@rayssasantos6815]

i mean- she is not wrong

[@nicreven]

wicked is as wicked does and if i lose control is this the way that hell is gonna be have i fallen too far to rise? etc.

[@greentoasterfish7772]

what if i like fruit cake

[@asapling]

​@@greentoasterfish7772 replace it with cheese party salad.

[@hughcaldwell1034]

Honestly the idea of anti-woke poetry just seems like an oxymoron to me. Poetry is an intimate form of communication and exploration that requires being emotionally vulnerable. The anti-woke mindset seems to rail against intimacy, exploration, and emotional vulnerability.

[@helvete_ingres4717]

it seems like an 'oxymoron' to you b/c you have extremely rigid and prejudiced thinking and very little idea what poetry is, only this popular modern sentimentalised version thereof. The metonym (you probably don't know what that means, I know) for poetry itself in Western thought is Homer, whose attributed works are epic poetry which means long stanzas about battles, there is none of the notion of 'intimacy' or 'emotional vulnerability' you absorbed in school or whatever. It does not 'require' emotional vulnerability, it requires putting words to metre in a musical manner that is expressive and evocative. More broadly, this notion of art as nothing but' intimate' and 'vulnerable' ultra-personal expression is a philistinic one expressed by social worker types who really see it as nothing but a form of therapy - it absolutely robs art of any capacity for transcendence of the individual, which is what draws the artistically-inclined among us.

[@Boooo]

@@helvete_ingres4717 among us

[@gammaboy4568]

@@helvete_ingres4717 god, I didn't know a *trascendent individual* needed to be so defensive about someone being... wrong? You make it hard to agree with you regardless of what point you make when you feel the need to be a pretentious asshat.

[@dizzylilthing]

​@@helvete_ingres4717 "You stupid social worker types" wow, let me guess, nurses should commit 41% too?

[@Nai-qk4vp]

@@helvete_ingres4717 ok buddy

[@tagsby81]

In middle school I accidentally memorized an extremely conservative poem. We had to memorize and recite a poem we picked from the library to work on our public speaking skills. I just picked something some guy wrote around 1900 that sounded pleasant that I didn't understand, but years later realized I had recited a poem which basically was saying the North was wrong and the South will rise again This had to be approved by a teacher, and they didn't say anything about my choice

[@shitpostersingracia2931]

Thats just fowl

[@getaround1276]

@shitppstwrsingracia2931 *foul. Fowl have legs to stand on

[@spphicore]

What poem was it?

[@lunam9397]

I liked your point about how conservative poetry didnt used to be universally terrible, and it's definitely not a coincidence that at the same time that it did, lawmakers and other conservative figures got so much more blatantly anti-human. When you don't have any actual defensible ideals, you have to fall back on in-group signaling, or as its been called recently, "culture war" stuff. And that stuff just doesnt have any real heart to it, its not a way to express genuine feeling, just a way to show youre part of Group A and not Group B.

[@theonewhocaredandasked9126]

howd it anti human

[@lunam9397]

@@theonewhocaredandasked9126 They increasingly blatantly dont care about anything other than making a few people very wealthy. The comfort or even continued ability to live of workers, or especially the people who cant work, access to healthcare or even safe food (a couple years ago, there were a ton of recalls all the time as a direct result of R-led reductions on regulation. There might still be, I just dont work in grocery anymore so I dont knowing), access to basically anything actual people need to thrive. Their constant demonization of lgbtq people and other minorities, with major party figures language going right up to or even past the line of exterminationist. I could go on, but this is a youtube comments section not a ted talk.

[@Anti-Parasite2023-pp8uu]

@@theonewhocaredandasked9126 Because conservatives have no respect or empathy for human beings. Conservatives are entitled scumbags who think they have the right to control other's personal life.

[@theonewhocaredandasked9126]

@@lunam9397 idc about other minories but lgbtq is just on a war with them

[@theonewhocaredandasked9126]

@@lunam9397 not tryna start something tho

[@tamaragriesel4783]

"I think birds are neat" would be an excellent anthology and I would buy it in a heartbeat.

[@Stephen-Fox]

I'd be more interested in it from a zoologist perspective, But a Zoe written one would be cool.

[@naftalibendavid]

Ready to pre-order.

[@nineparr3110]

I mean let’s be real here I want a hat with “hats are neat” written on it

[@johndemeritt3460]

@@nineparr3110, how about having a "Hats are neat" hat that's dirty, tattered, and has "Hats are neat" scrawled upon it with a marker in a hand that was under the influence of much alcohol and magic mushrooms at the same time? I think THAT'D make for great fun!

[@3smuth]

Birds and the Bee channel when?

[@Blutzen]

Never apologize for liking birds. Birds _are_ neat.

[@kylegovender6211]

Birds suck

[@kylegovender6211]

@inf1nite332 they are literally vermin

[@stalfithrildi5366]

I love the Owls, I know that. WAWAW

[@Nobert594]

Except geese

[@thetypingape2073]

Birds are good to eat, when they are not robot drones. 🙃

[@MONARCH_FLIES]

You were definitely a weird little girl growing up. This is 1000% a compliment. Life needs more weird little girls growing up to be awesome cool women. Thank you so much for your videos, I want to be a poet and you inspire me so much :)

[@asterlyons8564]

So much of pop culture is dedicated to squishing the weird out of young girls to turn them into an easily manipulated consumer. Preserve the weird!

[@atanvardecunambiel8917]

Weird Little Girl who took the Dawn Stone, co-signing!

[@optiquemusic6204]

@21:36 : I wish I could forget 2013, the year my mental health hit rock bottom. Even so, there were a few good things to happen that year (beauty in the madness, if you will), with the political poetry Not being one of them.

[@acuerden]

I had a conservative friend who was kind of fine under George W. Bush, and went absolutely mad and extreme under Obama. Maybe it's a thing where losing power just... to borrow a word, triggers them?

[@jamesvalvis1131]

Either that, or Obama was the most radically anti-American POTUS in history. Until the present one.

[@PrincessNinja007]

For people of a certain ideological leaning, losing power to a Black man was an event horizon

[@dizzylilthing]

I won't be friends with conservatives anymore because of that. once the waters got two liberal for them they started talking about ethnic cleansing and re-education camps and exterminating queer people and I am absolutely never opening my doors to that nonsense again. I was adopted into the far right because of my anti-government and anti-big business leanings, I was indoctrinated into trad right and ancap nonsense Because I only knew leftists as hyper industrialist authoritarians. But as the world became more left-leaning socially everyone around me became more and more unhinged and inhuman and it was absolutely terrifying as a closeted queer youth. I learned that conservatism is built on repression and hatred and the most venomous fear that I have ever seen.

[@oobernoober7617]

Conservatives: OH, let's see her attack conservative values stated in these poems! Zoe: These poems are horribly written with basic rhyme schemes and vocabulary used by a 5th grader from 2015. I don't know why anyone would choose to actively read from this book. There is probably better written conservative media, but this could work for rap. Grade: C- right idea, wrong medium

[@KillahMate]

The people you're thinking of would not be fazed by this; they already conflate form with substance anyway.

[@threemooseqateers9689]

RIGHT idea

[@Anti-Parasite2023-pp8uu]

Conservative calues: Abusing children, murdering innocents and exploiting workers. Conservatives are entitled scumbags who see other people as their property. We should treat conservatives the same way we treat rapists and thieves.

[@DarkPesco]

No. This could not work for rap. That you would say this would work in the hip hop genre shows you don't know a thing about rap music and the deep complexities in the rhymes and lyrical structure. What you said almost seems racist.

[@SirKickz]

​@@DarkPescoyeah I was gonna say this shit wouldn't hold up against even mediocre rap.

[@XanIndigo]

have to be honest, "anti-woke poetry" sounds like something a vengeful elder god might come up with to torment me

[@jamesvalvis1131]

All good poetry is anti-Woke. Because Woke itself is by definition intellectually and creatively crippling.

[@aritrachoudhuri6716]

​@@jamesvalvis1131my man came up with the most made up definition of "woke"

[@jamesvalvis1131]

@@aritrachoudhuri6716 I didn’t give a definition of Woke. I just gave a causal result of it.

[@cyrollan]

​@@jamesvalvis1131probably because there is no definition of the word. It's just whatever conservatives are mad at in the moment.

[@jamesvalvis1131]

@@cyrollan No, I can give you a flat definition. I just didn't. Nor do I need to. I didn't introduce the word "woke" to this conversation. The clown named Zoe did. Ask her for one.

[@grantmerrill8865]

The cat walking across the back of your couch during the really disturbing bits was EXACTLY what I needed to break the tension. Your cat is the real MVP. Also, I love the earrings!

[@blacky_Ninja]

Gotta be honest Chat GPT ranting about Trump in its respectful way just makes me like it even more 😂

[@theMyRadiowasTaken]

maybe ais not so bad

[@ldmnyblzs]

Peterson getting mad at "woke ChatGPT" instead of their shitty poets is actually a great example of what it means to be conservative nowadays. Blame everyone but yourself when you refuse to keep up with the progress of the world and get left behind.

[@gold_ram_5.780]

You far left progressive can think the world is changing and you are changing it but in the end you will be on the wrong side of history. The trans movement will end cause you can never change the sec you were born and as businesses lose billions playing your games the eventually will go back to the real world. Enjoy thinking you are changing things

[@MysteryGeek2006]

To conservatives, if [insert this thing] ain’t agreeing to their beliefs, they call it political or woke and whine about for a month

[@Temulon]

"Blame everyone but yourself when you refuse to keep up with the progress of the world and get left behind" Changes within societal norms doesn't equal progress. Progress is change for the better. And "better" can be viciously argued.

[@yarpenzigrin1893]

Gender ideology and neomarxist indoctrination is not progress. You're not making the world a better place.

[@frishter]

ChatGPT literally got neutered early on but of course ideologues gaslight by acting it's not a real thing. Also the irony of saying that it's conservatives that blame everyone but themselves.

[@underconstruction6436]

If something is "anti-woke", chances are it's gonna suck by default. Also every time conservatives use the term red pill, I feel horrible for the Wachowskis even more.

[@candyh4284]

every time a chud uses the term red pill, a wachowski sister gets a little closer to going super saiyan.

[@emeraldmines1194]

Agrreed, although I doubt they mind much given all the money they made and how they reinvented action films

[@emeraldmines1194]

Still kinda sucks that their insightful commentary got turned into conservative talking points

[@Kobolds_in_a_trenchcoat]

​@Emeraldmines11 honestly, I can't imagine they don't care. They seem cool and I can't see them being disinterested in politics.

[@candyh4284]

@@Kobolds_in_a_trenchcoat in the same breath, if you experience as much of a horrifying limelight as they did/do, i could see it making you completely dissociate from politics altogether. might just get too tiring.

[@loiseauxmort9568]

As someone profoundly invested in the online horror community I took psychic damage every time the you refered to the Society of Classical Poets as the "SCP". Great video though!

[@sillyspider]

7:20 YOUR CAT JUMPING UP GAVE ME SO MUCH JOY WHAT A SILLY LITTLE GUY!!!! :3

[@Reed5016]

As a poet, alt-right poetry feels almost ironic. So many people on the right are anti-art and anti-expression (for obvious reasons), so them using a medium of art that is so much about expression can be a little jarring.

[@dr.emilschaffhausen4683]

Your generalization is laughable.

[@8tymology]

@@dr.emilschaffhausen4683 tilting at windmills in comment sections will not stop the death of your ideology.

[@J-manli]

@@dr.emilschaffhausen4683 Which political side in the US is trying to not only ban books, but shut down public libraries again?

[@sovietdoge.7369]

​@Dr. Emil Schaffhausen You seem to like the right wing people. So, I ask, who brought child labor back to the USA? Who gives tax breaks to the richest among us? Who talks about free choice and speech, and immediately outlaws it when they don't agree with it? The conservatives.

[@dr.emilschaffhausen4683]

@@J-manli Do post your source for such a ludicrous claim. The "book banning" amounts to nothing more than wanting to keep age-inappropriate books out of kid's school libraries. Do you think there is such a thing as age-appropriate?

[@quintonclothier6171]

Upon hearing the poem from the third person, I was immediately struck with a wave of nostalgia to a poem(?) from my childhood. It reminded me of it so strongly, that I had to share it here. Admittedly, the childhood piece far surpasses anything found here. Prepare for trouble! Make it double! To protect the world from devastation! To unite all peoples within our nation! To denounce the evils of truth and love! To extend our reach to the stars above! Jessie! James! Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light! Surrender now or prepare to fight! Meowth! That's right!

[@harveyhaslostit]

Glad to see that true art is still valued today

[@redrooster3420]

This comment took me by surprise and it was amazing

[@mariuscovic4797]

perfect

[@astracrits4633]

Certainly not what i *expected* to see here, but appreciated nonetheless XD

[@Owesomasaurus]

Thing is Team Rocket, despite being poachers in the employ of a nefarious organised crime syndicate... ...are actually kind of not terrible people? I mean, children's cartoon villains aren't going to be frothing monsters, but time and again we see them put others needs before their own, care for the pokemon they work with, and even show up at Ash Ketchum's final battle to cheer him on. Total wholesome shit.

[@eek6764]

Jordan Peterson wrote an insane and terrible book of poetry, which he has tried to scrub from cultural memory.

[@micharydz420]

I absolutely love how your cat walks across those poems lmao 12:49

[@lupus5859]

Your cat is a wonderfully distracting, comforting presence in the midst of all this misery. Could we get a devoted video for said cat? I could just watch them for hours.

[@thetypingape2073]

I would prefer the cat to have a voice actor and a segment. 🐈

[@lilyme3]

Orange cat is very cat. 😂

[@johndemeritt3460]

How about a dedicated KZbin channel for KZbin content creators who are besotten with cats. Get Zoe, Amy Shira Teitel and any other people owned by cats to make videos introducing their feline masters. Give them a forum to explain how their cats "help" in the creative process, from generating ideas to writing scripts, shooting videos, editing them . . . the works! It could be as much fun as someone with a laser pointer at a cat show!

[@patriciaw1137]

Exactly! A perfect creature. Enormous and so incredibly orange

[@iamthewatergod]

I got my cat in 2013. That was a major 2013 event

[@nobody08088]

you’re cat wins the award for biggest thing that happened in 2013

[@Cool-Vest_Leo]

I graduated from kindergarten. That's about it.

[@rickriffel6246]

The term "Anti-Woke" is itself terrible. Nothing connected to it can possibly be good or smart.

[@engineer_cat]

"remember literally anything from 2013" ok: that's the year I came out as trans, turned twenty, and went vegan (in that order) but apparently I was the most interesting person all year 😂

[@theletters9623]

very impressed that you managed to stay on script when your cat showed up, I wouldve dropped everything and been like "KITTY :D"

[@maudama5489]

It's such a shame they miss use the good name of "SCP" Some tales / SCP's are genuenly some of the best shit I have ever read

[@hartthorn]

I feel like the SCP community needs to be made aware of this so these individuals themselves can be rendered into an SCP.

[@elizathegamer413]

Honestly the antimemetics one goes really hard

[@iantaakalla8180]

Surprisingly, I think they have delved into this with someone akin to Trump as an SCP.

[@yoyohayli]

SCP community is one of those things I obsess over for a few weeks, then forget about for a looong time so the next time I "discover" it again, there's so much more content to enjoy 🥰

[@maudama5489]

@@hartthorn they are obviously just a cover-up to distract the public from the SCP foundation do prevent an mask off scenario

[@angelad230]

I can't believe you made the graph of all that conservative poetry. That's amazing. It sounds so time consuming, good job.

[@colinstudzinski1347]

I was just chilling, watching the cat and being like "awww how cute" imagine my surprise when immediately after thinking that it commited a grave act of violence (13:21)

[@stalfithrildi5366]

In Discworld, one of the characters has such a distinctive smell that it anthropomorphises into its own character. This poetry book was written by the anthropomophised smell of a boys' Secondary School changing room.

[@thetypingape2073]

God I miss Terry Pratchett. 🥃

[@stalfithrildi5366]

@@thetypingape2073 GNU STP

[@L0rdOfThePies]

This almost makes too much sense

[@thetypingape2073]

@@stalfithrildi5366 Indeed.🫡

[@Kth77]

Bugrit, millennium hand an' shrimp...

[@Mel_the_Pirate]

Hearing you say "SCP Website" made me think of the SCP Foundation and for a second, I had to check if they did indeed share an acronym. Which is hilarious to me.

[@L0rdOfThePies]

😭 i too was wondering why the fictitious anomalous entities database website was making political poetry, dont worry

[@InventorZahran]

The Society of Classical Poets is a cover organization that the real SCP Foundation uses to interact with their banks, the IRS, and non-governmental partners.

[@tangosteen]

4:20 Hi, aro/ace undertale fan here with a quick message, I desperately need the " no love only megalovania " it doesn't even need to be the right answer I just need it. Love the way you said it Edit: it being the right answer only makes my desire to completely integrate my corpse into it stronger

[@timdegriselles1216]

Once I get more clout at my university, I want to teach a class about the philosophy of poetry as liberation. That poetry has been used by the oppressed and marginalized because 1) easy to transmit and 2) you don't need to be an "academic" to share your thoughts and experiences with the world.

[@shiloh_moonfrost]

I gotta say, I just loved how you put the images like they are literally on the wall. That bit where your cat (amazingly cute btw) passes in front of the images and it really looks like they are on the wall was awesome! Loved the video too, had lots of laughs!

[@zoe_bee]

Thank you so much! There weren't a lot of "interesting" edits in this one, so I figured making the "boring" stuff a little more in-depth might help - so I'm really glad you noticed that little touch!

[@epicazeroth]

As a free verse hater and formalism defender, I am ashamed to be associated with these people.

[@juniperrodley9843]

literally enjoy exactly the kinds of poetry you feel like, these pricks are bad for entirely different reasons than their hatred of free verse lmaooo

[@BulletShaba]

Honestly I think this Book of poetry is outright inspirational. it just goes to show that Almost everything I have written professional or personal is better than this. I love your videos. thank you

[@gregslingland3576]

Wait. They think we should “bring back” forced penal labor? What do they mean “bring back”? It’s still here! It never left! It’s the official form of slavery that we never abolished. (There’s a discussion to be had about wage slavery, but that’s probably for another time.)

[@Wyattporter]

“Reduce the Budget with Bonds” is exactly *why* I hate formalism. It’s so extremely restrictive. Formalism can be a powerful creative aid but it can also be a turn-your-brain-off writing crutch, and _An American Conservative_ exclusively uses it as the latter

[@helvete_ingres4717]

eh, that's just the eternal dilemma of creativity. 'What is full of redundancy or formula is predictably boring. What is free of all structure or discipline is randomly boring. In between lies art.' - Wendy Carlos. If you forget the second part of that sentence, you confuse mere novelty with creativity. The greatest art imo can be characterised by someone working within formal bonds but ultimately discovering their limits and transcending them (I think this idea is outlined in a video on yt of glenn gould talking about beethoven) and these are really the epoch-makers and the game-changers. Can be understood as a dialectic between the formal past and an unbounded future

[@jwlsiee]

they both have their places, and can both be misused. to me, the issue is the poets not the form haha

[@tjenadonn6158]

​@@helvete_ingres4717 To counter that I point you to one of my all time favorite videos on the internet, that being the infamous video of some random dude having an absolute blast brushing the hell out of his teeth at a Merzbow concert. Everyone around him stonefaced and still while he just goes to town playing air guitar on his face with a toothbrush and a look in his eyes like he's seeing the face of God, somehow managing to be the weird one in the audience at a harsh noise show. More to the point I could point you to the entire careers of Frank Zappa or Allan Holdsworth. You don't make history by sticking to form.

[@washipuppy]

It's not even good formalism - the rhythm and meter aren't strict enough from line to line, and the stresses are randomly placed throughout the lines. Reading them aloud reveals the clunk of the lines that is absent from good formally structured poems.

[@jamesvalvis1131]

This argument is so silly that it's amazing it was even made let alone liked by over 300 dopes. All poems have form, which is what makes them poems and not novels or bananas, and therefore you're already restricted just by writing a *poem.* Frank O'Connor, for instance, considered his short stories to be extremely loose as compared to the the condensed nature of poetry, which must be by definition *more* restrictive than prose. In fact, you can make an argument that what makes a poem a poem and not prose is the very restrictive nature of it. No, because poetry is so restrictive, it's therefore easier to mess up, like a tuxedo is easier to mess up than a pair of sweats and a tee shirt. Therefore, the more restrictive the poetry, the more likely it is to be bad or at least have its errors noticed. A splotch of ketchup on a fry cook's apron is not as noticeable as one on a prom dress. But it doesn't mean your brain is more or less engaged in either. The poet is the poet. He brings his talents and skills to each poem, regardless of the form he uses, and he succeeds or fails based on a number of factors-- none of which is whether it is free verse or a pantoum. (Although form at best should match the poem and not contradict it.) 311 thumbs up at present. No wonder the artform is in such decline.

[@BrigitteEmpire]

I’m honestly surprised they don’t think poetry as a concept is Woke at this point

[@InventorZahran]

Poetry written by women, queer people, and people of color is woke poetry. Real poems can only be written by old racist white guys!

[@helvete_ingres4717]

why? I can't think of a significant poet who would be classified as anything adjacent to 'woke' as modern people use that term. The most significant poets of the past 100 years were all not only conservative but deeply conservative (Eliot, Yeats..). Anyone who knows anything about poetry knows its significance to the historical-cultural idea of the West (the works of Homer etc.) which is what a lot of conservatives identify primarily with. The 'woke' ideology seems something overwhelmingly expressed in prose, not poetry (and almost designed that way) - strongly associated with academic sociology etc.

[@BrigitteEmpire]

@@helvete_ingres4717 the first poet that comes to mind for me is Benjamin Zephaniah 🤷‍♀️

[@Stephen-Fox]

@@BrigitteEmpire Carol Ann Duffy is the first one to spring to mine.

[@helvete_ingres4717]

@@BrigitteEmpire well that's a good demonstration of why you probably shouldn't use 'the first poet that comes to mind' as any kind of metric for literary or poetic significance - especially if you're uneducated on the subject and the first one that comes to mind is the one that's on the telly

[@Ujames1978Rises]

Indeed Zoe, far beyond 'Conservative Art,' the reason why the 'Conservative Poetry' site which you referenced nose dived into #CultureWar rants around 2020 is that the entire 'Conservative' movement is midway through its inevitable snowballing into reactionary and regressive outrage. Although it's a part of this much broader picture, a black man winning the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry was merely another symptom. Because while 'Conservatism' in general is all about 'Religion,' 'Patriotism,' 'Lowering Taxes,' 'Law & Order,' 'Traditional Values' & 'Natural Beauty' when their position as the dominant group and supreme arbiters of what is right, moral, beautiful and what have you is secure, the fact that their entire position is bult on 'Supremacy' means that when they start to lose it, they begin to lose their minds! After all, "A Fascist Is Merely A Conservative Who Can No Longer Win Democratically." And although the Electoral College Fluke of 2016 gave them hope and empowered their violent bigotry, from fearmongering about "The Great Replacement" to a black man winning the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, their entire movement is now driven by the fact that they're inevitably losing everything. The world is changing more rapidly than ever. Although a few remaining 'Good Conservatives' who still want to impose a White Supremacist, Christo-Fascist Tyranny through legal vote rigging methods such as Gerrymandering and Voter ID Laws are trying to wrest power away from Trump, their party is literally dying of old age! And the demographics and culture are simply changing too fast for such tactics to save them for much longer! The Fascist Death Cult which was once the GOP doesn't merely want lower taxes and 'Traditional Values' anymore. In their minds, the 'Degenerate, Inferior Others' from whom they once protected society are **Taking Over** as part of an Evil, Gay, Jewish, Communist plot to destroy civilisation. (This being the only way for Fascists to square the circle of being both the naturally superior 'True People,' and at the same time, the oppressed and persecuted victims.) So with every day that passes, their politics, their art and everything else descends further into nothing but spiteful, white grievance fuelled existential rage which can only be satiated by burning the rest of the country to the ground. 😓

[@eileenbutterfly7856]

I love your kitty. He looks just like my old cat Prospero. I miss him and hope he's doing okay.

[@dodge7246]

Our great cat overlord was trying to shield us all from the hateful poetry. And he asked for nothing in return! (Other than a bite of Zoe's arm)

[@bepisthescienceman4202]

Kitty can has a little blood

[@gabriel_cooper]

man, calling megalovania a meme song is true but also so sad lol, it deserves so much more than that 😔

[@bru4773]

Megalovania is like a contemporary RickRoll, both songs are good songs, but at the same time, both songs have this immediately recognizable beginning few seconds that makes you realize you've been clowned on.

[@strangevol5264]

yeah, Tavros Nitram died to that song. it's rather serious.

[@iantaakalla8180]

That is true; Homestuck’s Megalovania is the most expansive Megalovania and I like it for that

[@gwen9939]

@@bru4773 I'd definitely say that Never Gonna Give You Up is not a "good" song. It's not a bad song, but it mostly deserves it popularity from its meme status, and its quality and appeal is mostly as a "product of its time" kind of song. On the other hand, I don't know what planet Toby Fox is from but on top of everything else he's good at he knows how to write great melodies and make great arrangements for them, like it's actually crazy. It became a meme song, and people getting overexposed to it that way over time makes people deaf to how well it accomplishes exactly what it needs to.

[@andrewmanchiraju8005]

I honestly do love megalovania and don’t really see it as the Sans meme skeleton song anymore but more of a Toby Fox signature. This song has been around since the Earthbound Halloween hack and plays as the final boss theme for Dr. Andonuts after a 15 year old Toby Fox shows how musically gifted he is and all the new swear words he just heard. It also crops up in Homestuck and after Undertale Megalovania was the song Toby Fox remixed for Smash Bros.

[@JCMPRadio]

I came in to this video after you defined SCP. I was so lost lol I briefly thought you were referring to the SCP Wiki which is unrelated lol

[@kqawiyy]

7:40 when she said "scp website" that made me do a double-take to make sure she wasn't talking about the horror story creepy pasta things

[@gailcbull]

The best poetry is written from a place of emotional vulnerability, self-reflection, and curiosity. "Culture War" poetry (and I am so sad that that has actually become a thing) is the antithesis of that. It's emotionally defensive, totally un-self-aware, and fearful of anything unfamiliar. You can't create meaningful, quality poetry built on that foundation.

[@jamesvalvis1131]

Actually, you can. And it's been done countless times. In every art form. From Picasso's "Guernica" to Milton's "On the Late Massacre in Piedmont." Each picks a side in a war, and all wars are to some extent culture wars, and then makes art for one side of the other.

[@finnryerson-rw3qm]

@@jamesvalvis1131 you are intentionally misinterpreting the meaning of "culture war", all wars are not culture wars in the way that this commenter meant it.

[@jamesvalvis1131]

@@finnryerson-rw3qm All wars have their basis in culture. This is common sense. People with shared history, customs, values, and traditions almost never fight. Which is why there can be long periods of peace from time to time.

[@finnryerson-rw3qm]

@@jamesvalvis1131 don't be dense lmao, you should know that's not what people are referring to when they say culture war

[@jamesvalvis1131]

@@finnryerson-rw3qm You are the one being dense. There are different levels of violence in wars. The fact that this one has not yet reached the mass casualty stage does not mean it won’t nor does it mean it is not a war. Remember this when the time comes. Because you made it happen.

[@cassieisnothere]

Zoe you can't just shorten the name of that poetry website to SCP. You almost gave me a heart attack

[@joshwhite5730]

Why?

[@samanthae.1002]

@@joshwhite5730 some beasts should stay sleeping

[@lovebjrds]

​@@joshwhite5730theres a collective online fiction project called the SCP foundation. SCP standing for secure, contain, protect. it deals with entities, called SCPs, most of which are extremely dangerous. the SCP foundation is very beloved by many, so hearing a conservative poetry site shortened to SCP as well is very jarring

[@joshwhite5730]

@@lovebjrds interesting, thank you for clarifying

[@lovebjrds]

@@joshwhite5730 no worries !

[@cows_on_a.picnic]

I dont know how you managed to read so many conservative poems and still keep your sanity, but I greatly appreciate your sacrifice for the sake of data! This was a very interesting watch!

[@unamejames]

I think COVID and social media are to blame for that weird shift around 2020. People were lonely and scared, so they got on the internet to find a bunch of people yelling about culture war issues. They picked a side based mostly on instinct, and the rest is history.

[@TrevorLyons123]

In general, I think conservative art has directed itself into pure aesthetic as opposed to art as an emotional experience. Instead of reflecting it turns art into instruction. 'Live, Laugh, Love' over a painting that would inspire these feelings in yourself. Current conservativism needs this constant reinforcement from its art because, for most people, these positions cannot standup to reflective thought.

[@gwen9939]

Conservativism and artistic expression is in itself a combination that barely fits I feel, and it's hard to really pinpoint why without outlining what conservatism is and why some people are it. In its essence, conservatism is simply enough all about conserving. A lot of conservative values are what were once necessary survival mechanisms that are now long obsolete, and no one remembers the initial reasons they were put in place. It becomes a "things must be this way because they always were this way". So conservative art has already been made. The only thing you can make through the lens of conservatism is more of that same style. There isn't room for subversion or breaking the rules because conservatism is all about upholding the rules. New conventions can't happen, subtext can't exist, and social commentary is absent. There's a reason why art schools and universities are extremely left-leaning for being educational institutions. They have to be, it comes with the territory. In music, conservatism is classical music, where there's a strict, ruling school of thought that insists certain composers should always be played a certain way. You can find these music professors in jazz as well, which of course misses the entire point of what the earliest jazz was when it was contemporary: experimentation and breaking of norms. These schools of thought happened simply because jazz musicians and teachers got older and new stuff came around that "messed" with their stuff. In conservative fiction, there's often the idea that everything must return to a status quo, and this leaves out a lot of nuance. The only constant is change, but conservative fiction wants to disregard that and constantly wants to return to the first page. It's often like early adaptions of superhero stuff where bad guy shows up, bad guy gets defeated, and that's it. It's shallow and can't create character depth because whoever is trying to upset the status quo can't have good motivations otherwise the defenders of the status quo don't look as righteous as they need to. But the most successful fiction was always underdog and about fighting for systemic change, and conservatives are clearly enamored with this type of narrative, so a lot of it seeks to emulate it only without understanding what it's trying to say. So they have to shoehorn in ridiculous justifications for why the bad guys fighting for systemic change would have justifiable motivations while also making sure that the audience aren't going to root for them. That's how we get a string of supervillains who all on paper seem to have sympathetic causes but then we need to know that they eat babies and kick puppies for fun so we know not to be on their side. Since conservatives don't know why they defend the status quo, "they just do", they need whoever is trying to upset it to look terrible in comparison. It's all optics, no themes, no substance, no meaning, and it's similarly how they completely manage to miss the point of the Matrix while stealing its symbolism and The Boys while picking the main antagonist as a poster boy for their beliefs.

[@SleepyMatt-zzz]

@@gwen9939 TLDR: Conservative art lacks sincerity, yet their hate is sincere, which is why Conservative art is cringe.

[@asswipe-fl7hq]

I tried to reflect in the mirror but then I got mad and slammed the door and the mirror broke when it hit the floor and there was glass all over the floor and I had a panic attack and had to clean it up

[@asswipe-fl7hq]

@@gwen9939 I cannot make good art all of my art is offensive worthless slur filled drivel and I will never have anything of value and I should give up now the ability for me to be able to express myself through art specifically should be illegal and I should just work 40 years in a job i hate and die

[@japanpanda2179]

"these positions cannot standup to reflective thought" What do you mean by that? There's as much logic behind many conservative positions as there is for leftist positions. If anything, they're based more on cold reflection than on empathy and human interaction.

[@JLocke0113]

The most memorable thing about 2013 is everyone making the same joke that there wasn't an apocalypse in 2012.

[@hoodiesticks]

The only thing I remember offhand from 2013 is "What Does The Fox Say?" I looked it up, and 2013 is also the year Edward Snowden leaked the NSA's kitchen sink, and the year Canada eliminated pennies. So that's neat.

[@PogieJoe]

Can't wait for the word "woke" to become so overused that even these talentless weirdos will stop using it. Nice work as always, Zoe!

[@phoenixvance6642]

Don't hold your breath. "Sexually identifying as a helicopter" is one of their comedic staples and has been going on for at least a decade

[@ashemountain]

Honestly, when I think of a poet, I just remember one of my English professors, who was also head of the department. Late 30s/early 40s, white guy, was a runner, had big time "cheating on my wife to understand love" Literature protagonist vibes. And he was an absolute tool.

[@InventorZahran]

"He could spend some more time getting better at his writing, but he's not a writing teacher, he's an English teacher. He doesn't give a shit!" -the AI that wrote one of Zoe's videos

[@emilyrln]

@@InventorZahran there were some real gems in that script 😂

[@superpheemy]

I can't help but make the connection between the Conservative Right's celebration of the Pastoral and Religious with the shift in prose during several authoritarian movements. The image of a hard working "people of the land" with a dose of religious endorsement has for a long time been synonymous with oppressive governments developing a narrative of being benevolent rulers over a content population of conforming, robust, workers.

[@lastswordfighter]

The legacy of godless leftwing heathens is one of mass genocide, mass starvation, and a bunch of ex Soviet and Warsaw abandoned cities. You are going to keep bringing that trash to America.

[@Incognitow_]

" you are an artist sing megalovenia". "No". Im dying lmao

[@2shy2guy52]

I need more Scottish accents reading me the word McLeod in my life

[@hopelessutopian]

Here's the thing... when you started questioning what makes conservative poetry "conservative," it made me question what makes progressive poetry "progressive." Like... I don't know much about poetry at all, but it sure seems like of all the topics poetry is written about, only a portion could be considered "left" or "right" in the first place. I've heard some great political left-wing poetry, and it slams hard because it comes from such an earnest and personal place in addition to being crafted well. I think the problem here is that conservatives equate left-wing poets with left-wing poetry, so they see a bunch of left-wing poets existing (or just assume poets are all left wing because poetry is a "Liberal Art") and just kind of imagine that those poets must approach poetry the same way they do; from a purely political lens. So they invent what those poems are about, and try to construct counter-poems to those imaginary ones. It doesn't help that conservative culture war topics are ones that the writers don't really have any personal connection to, either. Like, sure, maybe they don't like wearing masks, but they aren't exactly getting directly persecuted the way that LGTBQ+ folks are (especially trans folks). The personal connection is abstract, not direct, and it's focused on what the author imagines the harm to be more than what they personally experience. That's all my guess, anyway. I don't really have evidence to back things up. But it'd be a slightly more concrete take on why "conservative poets" these days write so poorly. They've imagined an abstract problem in poetry and have responded with poetry that stems from an identical abstract connection to the topic. That takes a ton of talent to do well for anybody, and they just don't have it.

[@jamesvalvis1131]

That's a lot of frankly dopey words when you could have just stopped at "I don't know much about poetry at all."

[@Tornnnado]

​@@jamesvalvis1131LOL, take a good, long look in the mirror and try to seriously say that again.

[@jamesvalvis1131]

​ @Tornnnado Dude, take a good long look at my CV and then seriously laugh at yourself. I've had work in most of the best literary journals and anthologies, including Ploughshares, The Sun, Prairie Schooner, Rattle, Best American Poetry, and Poetry 180. I've won national contests and received poetry grants. You do any of that? Has Hopeless Utopian? I'm not using a fake name like losers like you. Anything I'm saying can be verified by Google. And the fact is I've forgotten more about poetry than almost anyone on this lame channel knows, especially you.

[@zeldafreak000]

12:40 Thank you kitty for protecting us from a lethal dose of cringe red-pill poetry.

[@crimsonlanceman7882]

NEPTUNA NEPTUNA

[@pengine6096]

honestly this type of poetry should straight up just be classified as an SCP at this point

[@frostyvoid827]

Maybe the Society of Classical Poets are a front organization and hiding the actual "poetry" behind watered down versions because the original is so bad that it can be considered a cognitohazard

[@anezay4987]

This conceptually reminded me of Some More News's "Why is Conservative Comedy so... Not Very Good?", even before Zoe explicitly drew the connection and showed a clip of that video.

[@akuma4321]

the cat appearing and trilling while you were listing off his stupid rhymes made me so happy, i really needed that in that cesspit of absolute unironic cringe

[@Pfhorrest]

I love that your cat just comes to join you on the couch. It's like I get to watch a cute cat video and an intellectual video essay at the same time. (And now I'm envisioning a whole new genre of youtube which is just 100% cute cat videos overlaid with essay monologue...)

[@megafire7]

The one joke is the free space on my bingo card.

[@joeblaster8770]

6:18 I need contexts for that because you can still wear an Optimist Prime t-shirt and watch the Lone Ranger.

[@ActiveAdvocate1]

For the record, my brain was giving me better than this back in 2018 when I had LITERAL BRAIN DAMAGE. I had a really bad medical emergency, throughout which my then-fiancée just acted like a selfish ass, and before I was even out of hospital, I remember waking up one morning humming an improvised tune to myself. I'm a musician, not much of a lyricist, but what my brain was feeding me was: Oh wait, CONTENT WARNING for anyone who's been in an abusive relationship! And I'll skip down four lines so you don't have to read it if that's a bad spot for you. I'll subjugate your body And then subjugate your soul. To break your mind completely Is just one of my goals. You can fight, You can flee, But you won't Be set free. I love you, You love me, I will never let you be. And I do get that that is deeply terrible, especially since, NO, he never physically abused me--he was just emotionally stunted--but all of that was from "his perspective", and my brain was writing it on autopilot before I'd even consciously decided to dump him. Among the first things I did after getting out of hospital, once I could play piano again, was to play that song and solidify the left-hand chords. I was in a bad way for a couple of months.

[@bluezenith_]

If Jordan Peterson accidentally stepped in a puddle, he’d blame it on “The Left”

[@og_dripj]

I can imagine this as a political cartoon, thanks.

[@isaacmayer-splain8974]

*splish* DAMN LEFTIST BASTARDS!

[@SilverAceOfSpades]

Damn leftists controlling the weather!

[@sovietdoge.7369]

​@@SilverAceOfSpades With their gay agenda

[@Zectifin]

I had indigestion today. DAMN YOU LEFT!

[@catastrophicfailure2745]

The biggest message I got from this wasn’t right wing bad left wing good, but to write out of love and not hatred. when something is written, out of hatred, or from a place of fear, it is very obvious, and it taints the medium. if you write something, you should write it out of love or out of passion, that way it can flourish.

[@user-qm2li8zx2d]

Not all poetry is about love nor should it be.

[@catastrophicfailure2745]

@@user-qm2li8zx2d I never said that. i said the best art is made WITH love and passion, not the best art is made ABOUT love and passion. I agree I don’t think that all poetry should be about love, and that it would be very boring if that was the case. i’m just saying that any writing that is made with a sole purpose of hating somebody or something is just not good art

[@user-qm2li8zx2d]

@@catastrophicfailure2745 Understandable.

[@trotskyeraumpicareta4178]

"I challenge you to remember anything from 2013" As a Brazilian, this triggered flashbacks worse than your Vietnam

[@unvergebeneid]

8:23 The Society of Classical Poets wants to "preserve humankind's artistic traditions with a particular emphasis on beautiful poetry." I had to literally gag.

[@iantaakalla8180]

It sounds nice, but in context it is basically the Nazi’s goals with their own art vs the Jewish art.

[@bowen13]

Oh yeah, beauty and meaning. Yuck. /s

[@atanvardecunambiel8917]

I must ask: which traditions? Like the qasida and zejel?

[@unvergebeneid]

@@bowen13 okay but try reading between the lines a bit which shouldn't be hard since it's written in double spacing: because it's the society of _classical_ poets, what they're saying drips with cultural pessimism, they're saying that non-classical poetry (whatever that is) has _no_ beauty or meaning and basically everything else is degenerate art.

[@bowen13]

@@unvergebeneid They're not wrong. As a former poetry magazine judge for years, I had to significantly lower my standards of approval just so we could have enough poems to publish every month. Modern poetry is mostly really bad.

[@idoewjiofejw]

7:21 the cat jumping up when you said “breed” was absolutely perfect timing

[@julias.6658]

His breed is cute kitty

[@anneginzburg1362]

In gregory Maguire's Wicked novels (the ones that got adapted to the Wicked musical), there's a similar sort of culture war between the conservative Wizard's government and the talking Animals. Madam Morrible, the upper-class puppet of the Wizard, writes two poems in a style Maguire made up called a Quell, a 14-line poem where thirteen lines are made up of meandering nonsense which has no goal other than to rhyme, and the final line bluntly states the writer's political opinion. The best Quells "should have no connection between the first 13 lines and the last." This is a style of poetry that could really be popular among American conservatives!

[@minty7945]

This KZbinr named Jacob Geller made a great video called "Who's Afraid of Modern Art", and it kind of relates to this. The video talked about the connection between fascism and hatred for modern, abstract art. Art like that represents a challenge to the status quo fascists, and conservatives by extension, seek to protect. And that's why so many of them rebel against things like modern art, including modern poetry. Ultimately, there's this desire to strictly confine the meaning of art to a status quo they created.

[@redrooster3420]

I hope your surgery goes/went well, whenever you are reading this! I adore birds, and they are a great inspiration for many of my favourite poems! :') It brings me joy to hear about them in your writing also, and I'm glad birdwatching has been bringing you some moments of comfort and peace

[@genericcatgirl]

It took me WAY to long to realize that they weren't writing conservative poetry on the SCP foundation website

[@Robstafarian]

Desmond DESTROYED me at the end!

[@jan_kisan]

21:40 remember something from 2013? easy. that was the year i went to Crimea before it was annexed. enjoyed it a lot, it was a nice archeological expedition, some getting along with the locals, exploring the cute coastal streets of Kerch and the horrifying and yet inspiring catacombs of Ajimushqai. 2013 is my personal 'good old days'. feeling very nostalgic now.

[@adams3627]

I'm of the mind that everyone should be encouraged to pursue the creative endeavors that interest and excite them, but BOY are these poets testing that conviction. I liked the connection you drew to Cody Johnson's video about conservative comedians; it also reminded me of the episode of Chapo where they reviewed conservative comics. These people all have the same kind of brainworms, and it seems like they don't so much want conservative poems, or comedy shows, or newspaper comics, so much as they desperately need there to be more media that flatters them and tells them the bizarre and hateful things they believe are true. They just happen to have a knack or enthusiasm for a particular medium that they use to express those beliefs.

[@kylepagel9360]

I can't imagine reading 3000 poems, much less strictly conservative ones. That's real dedication. Thank you

[@jamesvalvis1131]

You can't imagine it because she never did it. Don't you know a liar when you see one?

[@kylepagel9360]

@@jamesvalvis1131 wow. Calling her a liar and explaining my own feelings to me. Go away, troll

[@MysteryGeek2006]

@@jamesvalvis1131well I’m looking at one right now… JAMES

[@dottyContrarian]

​​@@jamesvalvis1131 well when you think about it, it's pretty much the same as reading a handful of long books.

[@jamesvalvis1131]

@@dottyContrarian it’s way more than a handful of books. These are not easy prose books. Poetry books run 60-80 pages. That means she’s claiming to read 50 poetry books. 50 poetry books she’s claiming to both be studying and despises. Few people read works they hold in contempt, let alone 50 books worth. Hell, I’m a conservative and I wouldn’t read that much poetic dreck. She’s a liar. She skimmed a few and that’s it. And in any case, the idea that this one site holds all the work that seeks to conserve our history, customs, values, and traditions, is a complete absurdity. And I am here as evidence for that.

[@DTFauxClassic]

The reason why Conservatives will always and forever struggle to have a meaningful foothold in any creative industry (in addition to other fields) is because they can't help but put their political affiliation before their own morals and convictions. So even if earlier poems were more policy-focused or a yearning for the "good ol' days", they were still primarily influenced by Republican rhetoric and talking points. At the end of the day, there's only so many ways you can creatively write about the desire to maintain the status quo. The other issue is a matter of passion. In the same way how it's difficult to sustain making art exclusively for money, it's also unsustainable to try and create primarily to "stop the leftist/woke monopoly". Dispassionate creativity will only appeal to the lowest common denominator, because those who love and respect the arts have moved past wading in the kiddie pool. They want something with more depth.

[@BenGroebe]

The Joe Patterson lines remind me of a dumb joke I use to make fun of pithy rhyming cliches: if rhyme it do, it must be true. That should be the epigraph of the book.

[@emilyrln]

"The flower of Europe, Melania the fair" Oh my God I can't even with this 😂

[@colmryan9289]

“I challenge you to remember anything from 2013” That’s the year Milly Cyrus had the Twerk-tastrophe at the VMAs and everyone was horrified/scandalised. First thing that comes to mind about 2013 🤣

[@lastswordfighter]

All caused by leftwing degenerates.

[@CardBazaarYT]

Zoe, Just curious. I saw a couple of your Education videos. Did you just work as a professor or did you ever work in the K-12 system.