Vlad's main channel kzread.infovideos Support Vlad's work on Patreon! www.patreon.com/vladvexler Support Vlad via PayPal www.paypal.com/paypalme/vladvexler?country.x=GB&locale.x=en_GB chapters 00:00 Decline, not collapse 01:50 Unsafe 02:45 Powerless 05:10 Betrayed 09:04 Unintelligible opacity 14:42 Warning

@ferrariguy8278

2 ай бұрын

When the justice system is co-opted to destroy an a enemy "by other means" and it's clear, because of how tortured a case against even a very unpopular individual is (and there's never any reciprocal prosecution of others who seem to have committed more egregious crimes of power but are on another political team) - whether it be Ken Star in the 90's or the current events for a former President; while some *cheer* their victory, others are thinking the system is unfixable as-is and MUST be re-taken to be fixed. This destroys any trust in the game between political sides.

@annoyingcommentator1582

2 ай бұрын

I think you nailed to concept of trust in a democracy here. But while I am not saying a perception of "evil" and "priviledged outside groups" does not exist (I just don't come in contact with that much) that is not what broke that trust for me. Almost a decade ago I critized a specific idea of top-down planed and politically describing living spaces, tailored to the needs of the citizen AS THE GOVERNMENT sees fit, citing earlier failures of such concepts. Who is right or wrong about that is precisely irrelevant to the question, the important thing is, that after decades of making very controversial and provocative comments in public as well as on the internet about all sorts of things, simply stating essentially "hey this seems like a bad idea to me, I think the people paying deciding what houses to build would lead to better outcomes" I got death threats in my inbox. Something that never happend to me before in that way, despite what I would have expected, but I would never have guessed it would be happen on a topic like that. People strongly disagreed with me, as I would expect them to, I often critized people sharply. (Actually only their ideas, but people don't differantiate, and I have gotten used to that). People certainly had been angry with me, but they didn't hate me and wanted me dead for trivial political disagreement. It was shortly after I changed my language from "political opponents" to "political enemies", precisely as you describe; for a certain political spectrum, I at that time didn't even feel that far apart from. I feel increasingly some groups are tolerated in such behavior as described above while most groups are (rightfully) not. That is what really made the thing antagonistic for me. And with your Tennis metaphor, which is really rather fitting here, took all the fun out of the game for me. I am not American, but talking to Trump-voters gives me the impression this is very relevant to their motivation, to. People a very concerned about - lets call it, slightly leaning on one of your ealier comments - the perception of the sacredness of the peaceful change of power when it comes to potential dangers of the Trump-movement. And always have been from the start. And while I don't worry about that in the same way (or a just to cynical to see much of it being there anymore), this, I think is precisely right. They really never believed in it in the first place. But not in the sense that they want it gone, or see it as a hinderance to their political goals, but in the sense that it was already fiction, in 2014, 2015. If Hillary wins, your rights are gone. You have to win. It is exisential to WIN. Not because people that don't win are losers, and not because the evil outsiders have to be stopped at the borders. You are free to discuss which role such motivations play in addition to a more fundamental concern - that if the other side wins, they come after YOU, personally, you are no longer safe, there are no rules, no guarantees. You are existentially threatened. Checks and balance don't work anymore. Power is absolute power. And you have to be in power to be safe. I am sure we, and in general the left and the right, disagree where this perception comes from. I would guess that people leaning left would say that right wing leader foster such fears. I would say, they might, but a lot has happend and eroded since the fall of the Berlin wall in politics that makes it very easy and plausible to make that case. What I hope we can agree on is that we have to reestablish that feeling of trust for both sides. That you can feel safe. That losing in a democracy is not equivalent to destruction. That you have rights that cannot be voted away. That's a long road from here, in almost all Western democracies as I see it. But we have to agree that we want it it to do the first step.

@ferrariguy8278

2 ай бұрын

@@annoyingcommentator1582 A perspective worthy of contemplation for sure. And at the end, something that seems so lost is that Democracy is NOT a good in and of itself, it is ONLY a good in it's role in preserving much more important Liberty and Rights. Politicians and those who speak to Democracy euphemistically loose that most-important fact. Its a tool, but can as a be used for evil if it is employed to vote away rights, or ceed too much power. We need to talk about Democracy as a required way of balancing those things, not as a goal in and of itself.

@wp9860

2 ай бұрын

I found this to be a brilliant monologue. I say that while still absorbing, and not yet agreeing, with its thesis. The reason that I am impressed is that Vlad lays out a way of thinking about the problem of popularism that offers avenues for remediation. Demonstrating that rational government is working for the disaffected appears to be the necessary condition. Ironically, Joe Biden is the most effective leader in America in a generation pursuing that path. His Build Back Better policy was aimed directly at the strata of the society from which the MAGA base comes. The question now arises, what does it take to make the process work? That is, how much effort and how much time, and most importantly, how much result does it take to do that. It's a deep hole we've dug. Ironic again is if the MAGA movement takes power, it will suffer, and likely collapse, for the same reasons that Vlad describes, an inability to deliver to the ordinary person.

@RichardDressler

Ай бұрын

3:35 That's sort of a given when unbeknown to most people. The state government maintains the right to completely dissolve that local government. But then still annex properties for refusal to pay for unrequested services. The Town of Coober Pedy has been with out a democratic local government for over a decade. The local government I live under presently thinks that council bylaws usurp the federal constitution. The federal government cant enforce curfews on the public. But Ararat council thinks they can!

“Five plus minutes, no more than ten” - video clocks in at 18 minutes. My confidence is destroyed!

@VladVexlerChat

2 ай бұрын

Quite a shocking lack of timing!!

@DonaldRilea

2 ай бұрын

@@VladVexlerChat Time for a time-speech study here😉!

@williambrasky3891

2 ай бұрын

But 5 minutes is a stand in for any indefinite, yet relatively short, period of time. 5 minutes is a quantum object. It does not abide by your anachronistic laws of determinism. 4 minutes is a definite period of time; 6 minutes too. 5 minutes? 5 minutes can be anything but 5 minutes exactly.

@karenjanusch7978

2 ай бұрын

I ❤ people who overthink things! Lol at your comment! ​@@williambrasky3891

@benoithudson7235

2 ай бұрын

@@williambrasky3891 : I crave being able to trust the institution of time, so I will make salad.

I can't shake the feeling that loneliness could be a driver of the loss of trust in politics. Lonely people feel abandoned by society and blame politics for shaping such a society. They turn to fringe political movements or conspiracy theories because there they find a community of outcasts.

@Funko777

2 ай бұрын

I actually just said the same thing in a totally different reply thread lol that this new age of constant connection and globalization has actually made us all so much more isolated and that I do not believe humans were supposed to live or feel like this

@Eowynnofrohan

Ай бұрын

It might work in tandem with other variables. Not all lonely people will seek out those fringe groups etc. So what are the other personality, circumstance variables etc.

I work a large European bank (ING, largest bank of the Netherlands) as an ordinary, slightly overpaid, data analyst. Two years ago, I volunteered to be part of the Works Council. There were not enough applicants for the number of vacancies, so I automatically got the seat. Half a year ago, they asked if there were people who also wanted to participate in the European Works Council, discussing banking on a cross boarder, international level with global management. I had something like a 75% change to be elected. Now I’m talking to the highest management of the bank, both on a national and international level. It’s total nonsense that you can’t have influence! Most people simply choose not to take responsibility. Just try it out! Local municipalities are always happy to find people interested in helping them out.

I really wish that we still taught school children that there are civic responsibilities. Informed voting. Letter writing. Jury Duty. Attending public meetings. Speaking truth to power.

@mikebarushok5361

Ай бұрын

​@@jakeb3157 I agree with most of what you wrote. Some of what I mean by teaching school children is the kind of extra curricular activities that used to be common and that now seem to be limited to what might help on a college application. And, as a side note. Since I had a fascination with old school text books I know that the schools before about the great depression covered what's now considered high school or even college level material as early as 7th and 8th grade.

@jimacmercebay6272

Ай бұрын

I seen my grandfather's 8th grade graduation test from the 1930's . I believe that the majority of college students today would be hard pressed to answer most of its questions.

Vlad, this is why I follow you. I watch most your videos and was familiar with all these ideas, but you have the ability to distill it and articulate it in a way other people couldn't. This video really helps us understand the crisis of trust that we are all dealing with, but can't put to words. Before coming across your channel, I was one of those people who just thought the other side just needs to wise up and realize they are wrong. But that isn't going to fix anything. You are able to filter out all the noise and focus on the real issues at hand, and for that I will keep following you. Always thankful for your analysis.

@VladVexlerChat

2 ай бұрын

Thank you for being with me!

"our democracies need help, they need resuscitation .... not re-education" - a line to remember for all our relationships.

I have not the wine, the wit nor the wisdom to accurately express how much your audience and I appreciate you.

I wish you talked more about this issue. It might not be the hottest topic but nobody else talks as deeply about this.

@VladVexlerChat

2 ай бұрын

I will and I hope to bring it to the main channel - where I have into discussed it in sections of videos so far

@papertroll1

2 ай бұрын

TRUUUUE!

"Five plus minutes, definitely not more than ten." Video is 18 minutes long 😂

@VladVexlerChat

2 ай бұрын

Ha ha!

@Mike-br8zt

2 ай бұрын

Time is relative and Vlad is timeless!

@waigl1845

2 ай бұрын

This is where the breakdown in trust comes from.

A brilliant - if rather depressing in parts - summary of the situation. Many thanks.

@VladVexlerChat

2 ай бұрын

Thank you for hearing and tolerating me going on and on about this repeatedly. I will be going deeper into this.

@Nick-dc6ix

2 ай бұрын

​@@VladVexlerChatPlease do!

@robertsmuggles6871

2 ай бұрын

@@VladVexlerChat you are exploring the issue identified by Prof. Stephen Kotkin in his Sphere of Influence lectures at the IWM in April 2017. Kotkin explains it in an indirect way which is not obvious - almost subversive. You are able to bring it into focus much more clearly. I recommend you listen to the 3 Kotkin lectures on this matter - they are profound & give a deep historical context to the shallowing-out of trust. Thanks Vlad.

This is an important piece. It merits a "just so" in many respects. The "thirst for not being duped" observation is so spot on here in the US. Many no longer feel that they ARE the government. They feel their representatives are not representing them. Not "of the People". Not "for the People." Don't forget the factor that the People do not know what is wrong, they know something is wrong, but are lacking good information and so are using disinformation given to them against their own interests. There is a powerful, building, frustrated rage that is blind and so hugely dangerous to itself and all around it. It seems to me that "The People" (this applies globally in my hypothesis) is like an incredibly powerful giant that had become used to its representatives providing for it and so, complacent. With the implementation of neo-liberalism the caretakers diverged from the Giant. The Giant now senses, no, now it knows, that something is wrong but it has somehow lost the ability to open its eyes. Lost its consciousness of its own power. It is lashing out. The authoritarians/grifters are shouting where it should strike and it is listening to a far too dangerous extent. Who can help the Giant see that IT has the responsibility to open its eyes, see the real problem, and make the changes? Who can help it see that destroying everything in rage will have a bad outcome?

@AstroGremlinAmerican

2 ай бұрын

Money selects our government, not us. And money tells us stories to make us call one another evil.

@Funko777

2 ай бұрын

Well said, I agree with some additional points of my own. Hopefully it neither sounds like a rant nor a total repeat of your comment. I am pretty short on sleep.... Does the giant even want to open its eyes at this point? Aside from the Authoritarians (fascists), I'd say mostly no. I've learned over the past 10 years that people love the idea of changing their government or country (the giant thinks it'd be nice to see occasionally), but when the time comes they barely vote and what's even worse is that they vote with a child's understanding of the current government, economy, geopolitics, history, etc. even though free educational resources are abundant. So, if voting in an objective way (as possible anyway) is so much more work than just voting emotionally and disregarding facts, or having to put effort into learning about the world so you can effectively help the world (which the giant sometimes thinks would be nice). Then you're typically left with an apathetic giant. Not too dissimilar from Ruzzian citizens, "why vote? there's no point, it's all rigged, it won't change anything, it's too much work, I'm actually not as interested as I thought I was" and so on. Don't get me wrong, I WANT the giant to be awakened but I'm scared of that happening now with how most Americans currently view politics and their severe lack of desire to seek objective answers. Most are fine taking another's word for it and as we see now, that is extremely dangerous. We have all of humanity's collective knowledge (Internet) in our hands 24/7, we are the most intelligent humans that have ever existed and some still believe the Earth is flat or fall victim to the textbook propaganda campaigns of Fascist regimes just as if it were the 1930s. So, I have always wanted to do away with a representative democracy because of this inevitable problem we now, and probably have always, faced to some extent. That being the real or perceived disconnect between our elected reps and us, the giant. So, I had hoped that some day we could simply aim for a time where all citizens are reasonably educated on all the aforementioned subjects and the now informed voters could vote using facts and reasoning to turn their country in the correct direction. One person, one vote, but you must be informed to engage. It's not unreasonable to believe those who choose not to be informed probably don't care about voting anyway. This is obviously a pipe dream though. This will probably never happen not because someone has blinded the giant but because the giant doesn't really care anymore, if it ever did. This is half due to the cycle of not being heard by reps, but also by living in conditions where our basic instinctual needs are generally satisfied and by extension our minds pacified by an overwhelming amount of mostly useless information (the giant would wake quickly if it were starving or had the attention span or free time required to think deeply). The second half is due to a failure to fundamentally improve on the individual level. 40-60% of the giant maybe cares about its direct leaders and even less care about global events that don't imminently threaten them specifically. Even then it mostly cares because it was made emotional rather than truly understanding what it's doing and the future consequences of that action or inaction. It's a bit sad the giant lives in a globalized society yet doesn't understand what that means and thus it's opinions remain unchanged. I want there to be "liberte, egalite, fraternite!" for everyone but I don't have faith in everyone continuing that pattern for others if the giant were to take control. Ultimately, I'm afraid we've already passed the point where we could fix it. Either our elected officials continue to be disconnected thus undermining people's will to engage in government/politics or they are removed or forced to listen but I don't think anyone will like what takes their place (or rather what will have a disproportionately loud voice compared to rational informed voices). In short, I am scared of the giant now after being faithful in the giant for a long time. Unfortunately, I'm starting to think that maybe disconnected elected reps blocking an awakened giant's access/ability to influence the world may be a good thing for right now. I've lost a lot of faith in humanity ever since I saw grown men cause riots and literally shoot people because they were asked to wear a 2mm thick cloth mask in order to protect the weaker people amongst them...that's to say nothing of the blatant resurgence in hate filled and fact rejecting fascist movements, or the continued existence of massive totalitarian regimes and our hesitation when dealing with their crimes. The core problem in literally all these examples though and the main reason I really have lost faith in man is the apparent loss of the fundamental desires for improvement, learning, communication, critical thought, integrity/morals/honestly, and individualism. I don't just mean I see a lack of these characteristics in the worst amongst us, I mean I now see it as a common problem with most people I know, see, hear about, and so on. Not that anyone is expected to be perfect...but this feels too widespread, too sudden, too similar. If I had to take a guess, I'd say it probably has something to do with our increased levels of personal isolation caused by this new age of 24/7 global connectionism. I don't think we were ever supposed to live like this and it's taking its toll....or maybe I'm full of 💩 and this is just man being man, as it is, as it was, and as it always shall be

@victorzarenin9286

2 ай бұрын

Brilliantly said. I've so often had to clarify this to people; in America we are a democracy, so the government is US. The reason Congress can't get anything done is because of OUR hatreds and divisions.

@renstein8210

2 ай бұрын

@@victorzarenin9286 The government in the US is not officially the people any more. There are potions of the government that have the ability to raise some their funds outside of congressional appropriations. That means that they are separate entities.

@sbeckwit

2 ай бұрын

@@AstroGremlinAmerican We must change that.

Thank you Vlad for doing this one. I'm 52yrs and I've been in and had all these feelings you mentioned here. And I realize for the first time recently that I must and will become a voter. No matter what the feelings. Your literally amazing. Thank you so much for caring about us and our democracy. I've gone full circle with these feelings and now I'm ready to defend our democratic processes. Very late I know but better late than never right?.. Thanks for what you do. I am from UK like you. Lot's of love

@viper_db5727

2 ай бұрын

@JamesLevineAndSons I think your absolutely right sir. Good day to you sir.

I have long felt the finance capitalist system has left far too many people behind, and anger about the dysfunction of those institutions has been building for generations. Throw in social media and we have a very combustible situation.

@GeistInTheMachine

2 ай бұрын

Elephant in the room. Comfortable people will ignore until it's too late.

@svr5423

2 ай бұрын

economy and politics are two pair of shoes. Capitalism works great, but especially leftist driven education system leaves people in the dark. Which subsequently get left behind. As for politics, there simply is a lack of democracy. I don't trust my Swiss politicians any more than my German ones in former times, but I can vote against their interest several times per year. Here in Switzerland, the citizen is the stakeholder, as it should be.

@beatonthedonis

2 ай бұрын

​@@svr5423Education, like virtually everything else, has been marketised across developed countries, from for-profit voucher schools in Sweden to foundation schools in the UK. And yet you place the blame for the failure of this marketisation on the shoulders of leftists. You sound like the people who blamed the 2008 financial crisis on loans to poor black Americans.

@annoyingcommentator1582

2 ай бұрын

@@svr5423 I would say "simply". Switzerland is a very interesting system of federalism and democracy I would not feel competent to recreate on the spot. The thing about the "Systemfrage" is that people only discuss this for the purpose of convincing others of "their" answer. Twice relevant, I saw a book in a bookshop window today "Warum gibt es Arm und Reich? Das ist doch unfair!". It was supposed to be a childrens book about inequality and justice. It offended me greatly, and I know it is a terrible propaganda book, without reading it (I was working) because the complexity of the situation would overhelm the intended agegroup, and many of the answers likely upset or even demoralize them. So it would have to be oversimplified and highly biased (because you cannot talk about all the reasons for rich and poor with young kids). Passing by, while doing my work I think I came up with 7-10 important reasons that greatly affect your wealth over the next 15 minutes. Intelligence. Conscientiousness. Health. Risk-taking behavior. Financial education. And: Opportunity. That alone has infinite subcategories where people differ. Including the country you are born into or your mobility to change what country you live in. Which includes the economic system. How well established is the rule of law where you life? Do you have access to education and what kind of education? Does it match your abilities? How is the right to property handled? How politically (or worse, militarly) stable is your country? What wealth in form of infracestructre does your country already have? How integrated is your country into the global economy? Does your government keep crime in check? Can you plan long term or do you never now what the next day will bring? Other opportunities: How wealthy are your parents, and what abilities do they have (which is correlated) which they can teach you? What information and connections are available to you through your social group? All of that affecting emplyoment opportunties. Random chance events. I earned a lot of money in the last few years because my job came into high demand which was very hard to predict before. (Otherwise predicting things, where possible, is a function of education and intelligence, if both are measurd validly). There is certainly much more. Every single one of these things can affact your wealth drastically. Some of which you can change and influence, some not. Certainly nothing you can sum up in the banal oversimplification of "fairness". Related to your comment, what I am saying is, people get left behind for many different reasons. I think the two of us would agree strongly where to start to make improvements. But the economic system can only work in giving people a reasonable opportunity and chance to get back on their feet should they fail. People will always be differ in what they archieve, both due to circumstance and their own choices. People need to think about what they mean by the system "working".

@AstroGremlinAmerican

2 ай бұрын

We Little People need to realize that we have to do more than vote. We have to support candidates with contributions. Yes, it's a tax to have a democracy. Pay it with a smile.

Your Passionate emotion overflowing with full of vitality and excitement.

In the tennis match around minute 7, what if we have become convinced that the “opposition “ is not playing by the same rules?

@VladVexlerChat

2 ай бұрын

I addressed this in a recent video on Trump here on Chat. You have to be very very slow before starting to treat your opponent as an enemy even if they treat you as one.

I think you’ve handled this beautifully, particularly for anyone watching who wants to “tear it all down.” You’ve in effect framed their impulse as democratically motivated, so as to encourage those who might be inclined to dismiss them to reconsider AND you’ve also very gently encouraged them to reflect what their goals are and reframe them from “destructive” (tear it all down) to constructive without explicitly doing that work for them.

@ChrisEkstedt

2 ай бұрын

Nice summation.

@annemcleod8505

2 ай бұрын

Exactly. It's this 'meta-level' approach that I so respect and applaud in Vlad.

As someone a little bit on the younger side, it's weird for me to hear this. I can relate to what you are saying, I feel this opacity and it frustrates me, but at the same time I've never known it any other way.

@proEUcontraIslam

2 ай бұрын

You have to believe in your country. You have to believe in America. Or Europe. Or NATO. Or the collective west. You need a strong belief system.

@noneofurbusiness906

2 ай бұрын

@@proEUcontraIslam what does it mean to you to believe in these things.

Problem - hard to _not_ be enemies given our most important moral values are not just different but almost completely opposite. You just can't have a cordial disagreement about the most fundamental life and death stuff.

@AstroGremlinAmerican

2 ай бұрын

The majority of our political disagreements rarely meet that level of seriousness. However, the emotion and rhetorics exceed it.

@Funko777

2 ай бұрын

​@@AstroGremlinAmerican and yet plenty of people have died directly due to MAGA and Trump. Their whole thing preys on people who are already mentally unstable and then they tell those people absurdist lies and fan them until they break. Multiple mass shooters, guy who drove his car into peaceful protesters, Jan 6th and it's attempted insurrection and the people who died and were almost killed there, and many more. This isn't even talking about the insane ideological stuff, this is just from their actions, their rhetoric, and the hateful people they knowingly target. They were backed by multiple factions of neo-nazis and far right domestic terrorists and nothing was done to separate themselves. Their refusal to acknowledge even basic science led to entire communities of Trump supporters in red states to disregard all Covid safety protocols and basically offer up the old and weak as sacrifices. I saw that one with my own eyes, I lived in SW Florida ffs during Covid. Look, I like Vlad a lot. But at the end of the day philosophy is a subjective art not a science and I like the idea of what he was saying but it also came off as someone who was not American. Someone who hasn't had to watch most of their family first-hand (and plenty of other people) starting in 2014 literally lose their minds to conspiracy theories and suddenly think the government is putting parasites in their food. People who suddenly felt empowered to openly speak their hate and xenophobia because politicians were saying the same now finally. People willing to disregard all common sense and reject basic science in place of eating horse deworming pills. People willing to destroy democracy in a frenzy of fear and hate. People willing to claim they are being victimized while simultaneously attempting to turn everyone else into a victim of theirs via threats and promised retaliations. Not sure where you're from but MAGA is "just some conservative political party" in the same way the National Socialists were. In fact, MAGA has plenty of self identified Nazis within it. Are we to assume that the Nazi party was filled with people who felt their government was "too opaque"? Whatever caused it doesn't even really matter at this point because we are already left with the final product and it's an abomination. It quite literally is sabotaging our delicate internal government systems and loudly says it will continue to do so and this can easily be proven unlike every last unhinged MAGA accusation. We have a substantial amount of career politicians currently leading this country who choose to align themselves with this extremist movement rather than rebuke it because they pray it'll put them in the good graces of the 34 time convicted felon and sexual offender that is their leader. They literally sided with the people who attempted an insurrection and tried to kill several of their own party's reps including their own Vice president Pence during the attack....the entire GOP sided with them. I hope I'm setting the context clearly enough here because it absolutely 100% is the enemy of anyone who supports individual liberties and democracy. They viewed us as enemies first and even more so than we do of them. Vlad was off on this one and it almost sounded like the both sides argument ffs now that I think about it. No, one side is clearly delusional and blatantly fascist. You don't blame the other side for then calling the fascists "undemocratic" do you?? What else should you say? How about the 100% of the blame lies at the feet of the damn fascists and their leadership? Nobody wanted this and nobody asked for this bs besides MAGA. And I'm sorry "most" political disagreements don't cause life or death situations?? What?! It's not emotions or rhetoric, it's literally called war. A political disagreement which failed at being resolved via diplomacy. Here in America we have a lot of guns....like A LOT of guns. You've seen how many shootings we have here every day, yeah? Great, let's mix those guns who are overwhelmingly owned by right wingers with the many among them who either have a massive amount of internal hate and rage or are mentally unstable or both. Now let's add in Trump's constant conspiracies, lies, victimization, and encouragement. What does that get us now? We've already had plenty of shootings happen specifically because of this. Maybe for most the world politics don't lead to these kinds of situations but right now? In the US? This was absolutely the wrong topic and video to make right now in regards to the US. Like i said, well worded and probably could be accurate when discussing an EU country. US in 2024? Nope. I mean there's plenty of people here who haven't turned to extremism or fascism who've felt disconnected from their government for a long time. I think people forget about lack of personal accountability and responsibility mixed with hearing the lies and hate they wanted to hear. No one was forced to go MAGA and it certainly wasn't the fault (indirectly or directly) of those who stand up for democracy, accountability, and human decency in the US.

I'm tired of Politicians taking my Trust and using it as a weapon against me!

the ship is taking on water, the captains fight over the controls of the steering wheel while the crew desperately scramble for what remaining life boats there are. that is my feelings about this country.

@phoenixrising011

2 ай бұрын

It's not that bad. We are stronger, relatively speaking, than other countries are doing in their own boats. We're bringing manufacturing home. We're protecting democracy in Ukraine. Record dow, record S&P, Bitcoin is flying, economy is holding, inflation is decreasing,..... It ain't perfect but it ain't that bad. The Republicans are trying instill fear in the ignorant. When was the last time a Mexican caused a problem for you....... You see my point... The Republicans would have you believe the sky is falling because they have nothing to talk about because they're a gang of damn criminals now.

I really enjoyed this podcast. As always, despite all it gave be a sense of optimism.

@VladVexlerChat

2 ай бұрын

I am grateful - I feel operating in the light and less in darkness is inherently positive and constructive. No matter how challenging the situation.

Wow! That was immensely helpful and enlightening. You should post this on the main channel.

@VladVexlerChat

2 ай бұрын

I will bring this to the main channel!

I really appreciate when you've alluded to these concepts in other contexts, and think this elaboration is really helpful 💯

@VladVexlerChat

2 ай бұрын

Thank you so much. I had a window of energy and so went for this rant! People feel pretty scared about all this. So I will be going deeper.

Looking forward to another eloquent discussion Vlad 😁

@VladVexlerChat

2 ай бұрын

🌻

What an absolute tour de force Vlad, this could easily be made into a video on the main channel. About how not to demonize the others that don't vote like us.

@VladVexlerChat

2 ай бұрын

I will be bringing this message onto the main channel!

My mind's heart thanks you.

@VladVexlerChat

2 ай бұрын

I send thanks back!

Thank you Vlad for being longer than 10 minutes :)

@VladVexlerChat

2 ай бұрын

😬😎

I never trusted them to begin with

@CitizenAyellowblue

2 ай бұрын

The fact that you use the term "them" shows how opaque the system is to you.

I definitely don’t see it as a rant, and wholly appreciate this subject being broken down to the basics. This message feels timely and appropriate. My husband even visited from the other room to listen. That’s a rare occurrence in this household. You got the thumbs up from him as well.

Dear Vlad, thanks so much for addressing this important issue. It seems that the opacity about how things work can partly be felt as being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of both fact-based info and disinformation available, is then compounded by algorithms which herd the viewers into deep rabbit holes that go on and on, making people feel disoriented and lost, separate and confused, ever more fearful. And as you said, people then give up due to their fear of being duped, saying to themselves, "both sides are corrupt, why bother?" People lose the ability to discern, and also the willingness to try. What can be done to make it less bewildering to navigate their governments, policies, who is phony, and who is real?

Thanks Vlad! An excellent summary of my feelings (and apparently many others)! A woman came by yesterday promoting her political party in the EU elections. Same liberal party I voted for the last 45 years (Sweden) but she was totally ignorant and just leaned her head and smiled every time I informed her that her facts was wrong. I get the impression that politics doesn't involve any knowledge anymore, it's a TV show - smile and look good. Finally she gave up, said "It seems I can't get through to you" (like she was my school teacher in 2'nd grade) and walked away. I looked at the pamphlet I got... No vision, no goals, no nothing - a list of actions to revert what that same party introduced 10 years ago.

I feel like this video covers stuff we've heard before from Vlad. I'd like to hear more about the origin of those feeling of the voters because he always stops short of talking about what technological, social or whatever factors led to the current state of affairs. Maybe it's meaningless in adressing the problem of today, but maybe it isn't and I wish to have it proven to me that it's the former and not the latter.

Thanks for posting this. It is helpful to have all of these levels of democratic breakdown in one discussion.

Opponent versus enemy, brilliant and thank you!

@VladVexlerChat

2 ай бұрын

Thank you back.

One of your best presentation.

This is a discrete and neatly self-contained video which I can use to start some conversations with some left-leaning friends. I've been wanting to have those conversations for a while, but I don't have the capacity to curate media to do that - something that I've really wanted to do. Thanks Vlad.

Evil is not, and must not be thought of as, something that some people are and other people aren't. Evil is a category of actions, interlinked with a category of motivations. Crucially, we all have these motivations, and we are all complicit in these actions.

I read that as loss of Truss and thought, well she's long gone

@VladVexlerChat

2 ай бұрын

Gone for now …

You have previously covered the four stages of political mistrust in democratic institutions which I believe to be one of your best lectures. It is good to remind us of the pitfalls of isolating/insulating ourselves from the disorder of democracy.

@AstroGremlinAmerican

2 ай бұрын

And we need to break through the insulation with small contributions, now a critical form of participation in democracy. We could be politically 180 degrees apart and I would still urge you to have your financial political voice heard. It dilutes the big and focused money.

Nailed it! This is exactly the issue! Thank you Vlad.

@VladVexlerChat

2 ай бұрын

My pleasure.

Thoroughly enjoyed opening my mind to your thoughts! Excellent content!

@VladVexlerChat

2 ай бұрын

Grateful!

Oh Vlad, you are so, so bloody marvellous! We do love how you help us understand or thoughts and feelings. Much love ❤️

@VladVexlerChat

2 ай бұрын

Stephen thank you so so much! Grateful to have you.

"No more than ten" and I settled in before even checking the length, LOL! I can't see how we even begin to address this loss of trust in government when distrust of each side for the other is so high that finding common ground on any issue is almost an impossibility, with each side seeming to operate on wildly divergent facts about any given issue.. In the absence of any hope of comity, each side now seems intent on beating the other, hopefully, into submissision, ironically, in the name of democracy. I'm slowly accepting that this isn't a fever that will break some time soon. Traditional partisan media and social media algorithms aren't helping.

Bravo Vlad!!! We are with you!

Very good points. Refreshing. Novel even! Thanks, Vlad.

Thank you, Vlad, for your insightful "rant", which I could listen to every day, be it 5 minutes or 20. Take good care - lots of love 🤗

The people I'm constrained to think of mostly as opponents and treat entirely as opponents, but who declare themselves as my enemies and mostly act accordingly, including by trying to destroy institutions and norms that I want reimagined and transformed, aren't _just_ acting on misinformation, disinformation, irrationality, and prejudice. But they are acting on those influences, among others.

A lot to reflect on. Thank you, Vlad🙏

This is an admirably helpful and lucid account. It is just what I needed. Thank you once again.

Brilliant. Shared etc.

Thanks Vlad. An explanation of why I'm depressed about our politics is much appreciated, but it's still very much depressing. ❤️ from 🇺🇸. Yet, I quote a favorite 🇨🇦 band (Triumph).. "fight the good fight".

Good video

Vlad, I have a deep admiration and love for your channel. Thank you for your words of wisdom and reflection.

This is the reason i keep coming back to this channel. A rational explanation, bravo!

I'm trying to get better with it all with your tutelage, Vlad. Love and best wishes.

@VladVexlerChat

2 ай бұрын

Love and gratitude.

Great summary of your thinking. Thanks!

A really engaging talk,Vlad. Many thanks. Please do a chat soon about over-the-kitchen table politics and its failings or weaknesses.

We love you too, my good Vlad! Take good care of yourself.

Floating in an unconstructive space, in a way, is the definition of the internet.

Thanks!

@VladVexlerChat

2 ай бұрын

Thank you!

While I agree this applies to many who have have " disconnected causality" I think the number of knowingly anti democratic voters in the west is underestimated and is growing. Is it good to downplay that dangerous and increasingly influential minority?

🇦🇺💙💛✌ 🇺🇦 " Every drop counts," said the old lady as she peed into the ocean. I am a very old lady with no easy access to a beach yet I have learnt every vote counts......mostly.....sadly only mostly.

Thank you

@VladVexlerChat

2 ай бұрын

Thank you!

Excellent video. I never realy understood what exactly are the threats for our democracy what everybody is talking about. I was constantly surching what it is. This was one of your best viedeos. Thank you for delighting.

Politics is complicated, but we don’t want to throw democracy out with the political dirty bath water.

@perimetrfilms

2 ай бұрын

I think it is self destructive

Hi Vlad, I am a viewer who has heard previous videos with this message. I am happy to hear it multiple times. Maybe when I can restate all 4 stages in my own words it may get stale, but not there yet. In particular I appreciate mentioning the last point that even people in stage 4 that are trying to blow things up are doing so as a way to exercise their Democratic instincts.

They dont need reeducation, but public stigmatization plus branding!

@DSAK55

2 ай бұрын

in the US, they're branded with a red hat

@quintrankid8045

2 ай бұрын

@@DSAK55 In the US they're branded by their talk about how democracy is great, whereas the COTUS guarantees a republican form of government to the states.

Hell im in a big german Party, in the present coalition, and even i feel powerless and betrayed all the time.

@begr_wiedererkennungswert

2 ай бұрын

👍

@svr5423

2 ай бұрын

If you're in Germany, the best thing you can do is vote with your feet. Did the same over a decade ago, as did many of my fellow students, coworkers and friends.

@janronschke7525

2 ай бұрын

@@svr5423 You mean go away from here? Never, i lived in turkey for a while, was really happy to be back in the Sauerkrautpot. So where did you go ?

@svr5423

2 ай бұрын

@@janronschke7525 I left for Switzerland. It's very popular among my peers. Settled down here, got my citizenship and just recently bought an apartment. Others left for Australia, New Zealand, Sweden (though not for economic reasons), Taiwan, United States. Also interesting (though I personally don't know people who moved there) might be Singapore, Canada and, within the EU, Luxembourg.

When I observe the actions of our political leaders and those that hope to replace them, I'm close to abject pessimism and apathy, so I was very grateful to listen to your rant which gave me a better perspective and a little bit of hope for the future.

When there is an 80%+ consensus on certain issues within the demos (for example regarding lowering the TV license fees here in Germany since nobody cares about 90% of the "content" that they produce), yet the politics push the opposite (i.e. keep increasing the fees), powerlessness is not just a feeling, it's a fact. And when numerous studies show that mass unskilled immigration costs the taxpayers more money than they could hope to recover from the immigrants or their children yet we're still told that it's done to secure the pensions for retirees, its unintelligibility is also a fact and not just a feeling. And the same goes for certain political actors being outright evil when they say things like "immigration until national death" without even a hint of shame for those statements. All of those things may be just feelings for people who just live their lives and don't really care about politics, but those who are watching the situation closely can easily point to evidence of all those claims. The only reason I can imagine for why people who are on the left perceive it as being just "feelings" is because they don't actually pay attention to what the people in their own political camp say, or they quickly forget it since it's irrelevant because they are already fighting on the same side, and so those statements never have to be addressed. And even though you're much more lucent than almost every other left leaning content creator that I'm aware of, you still partially suffer from this blindness on your left side. Because to you it's also just "feelings", and you talk as if it's the feelings that are the problem for democracy and not their underlying cause.

The tree is overshadowing the lettuces and preventing them growing.

@mrbaker7443

2 ай бұрын

There’s too many cabbages in my patch

Who's lost trust in politics - I've lost trust in our our electoral system in the UK & every Nation that uses a majoritarian electoral system. No Proportional Representation doesn't fix everything - but its a hell more fairer with more options than A or B.

Thanks for this insight into "post truth". Brilliant as always. look forward to hearing more about how the populist side of the equation gets added.

I wish I could articulate all you have said to my fellow Americans. You are looking much better than you did in your last video. Godspeed, Vlad.

Thank you for your work in sustaining democracy and Politics, if that is a useful description?. Our beautiful Vlad:)

Thanks, Vlad, what an informative video about this and your thoughts. I haven't invested any emotion in politics and governance, I guess working with HMGov and local councils and seeing how they function did that. Yes, a policy for the greater good of the country or district isn't necessarily going to be in your personal interest, and I think a lot of people have trouble with that.

Your description of powerlessness at 3:40 is spot on. I've been active in civics most of my life, but 3:40 is where I am now. Whatever you do seems utterly pointless when Rupert Murdoch, Elon Musk and others multi-billionaires meet very publicly to decide what the outcome of elections in the world's most powerful country will be. At all levels, how can any citizen or citizen group challenge this?

@VladVexlerChat

2 ай бұрын

I am so sorry it’s an accurate description.

@iv2sab512

2 ай бұрын

By voting? It doesn't mean that you get everything that you want, but even Murdoch and Musk can't decide the outcome of an election. That's up to the voters.

It’s not simply that we can’t affect politics it’s mainly that we don’t agree with the political decisions that are being made.Many years ago you could see at least some good in the changes that were being made.These days none of us want the societal changes that are being imposed on us.

Oh we get Ranty Vlad today? My favorite! Our problem here in the US is not just that people are engaged or not but that they can't tell the difference between a fact and an opinion. It's actually the most effective way to handle someone who has had the Orange Kool-Aid, "watch the difference between what he says vs what he does". Except they're so far gone, they don't even remember that there was a tree much less that salad for dinner. I mean unemployment is at a 50 year low, our economy is not in a recession and yet President Biden hasn't done anything? It's crazy making. Lots of love from NYC ❤️💛🌻

@begr_wiedererkennungswert

2 ай бұрын

🧡

@SlpBeauty333

2 ай бұрын

@@begr_wiedererkennungswert Right back at you! 💞

@debrutomeyer9117

2 ай бұрын

I think people prefer not to think. There is a search for a Big Daddy” who will make them feel safe and in whose hands all governance can be left

Massive Shirley Williams fan here, so quoting her was a great start!

I am very curious where you put the causes of this, aside from historical conditions that are out of our control. Regardless, thank you for your work.

Vlad, I find your explanation of the breakdown of political involvement to be especially clear in this video. I always felt a bit of a gap in my understanding of others who make irrational connections in their "arguments," but your explanation the tree and salad example as being a democratic instinct is very insightful. Privately, I wonder how others who seem so irrational or out of touch with the reality of threats to democracy by Trump can't seem to understand the loss of democratic institutions. It's very helpful to see that the focus should be on those institutions and a meaningful relation to them rather than on "re-education." Thank you.

I think you made some really good valid points, and I agreed with most of them. Although I believe you're missing the big picture in reasoning why people living democracies feel betrayed. The biggest reason people feel powerless is because billionaires who donate politicians have way more influence than the common citizens. They have more influence on the laws and legislation. Democracy is the greatest achievement ever, but it has flaws just like everything else in life. Democracies should be founded by the citizens, not billionaires and foreign governments and foreign corporations. It's easier said than, but it would make a huge difference, making people start believing in their governments again.

@VladVexlerChat

2 ай бұрын

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Just to clarify. In this talk I didn’t name a single reason why people feel like they do, or even rank any of the reasons.

@kidneystones3406

2 ай бұрын

Ok, that's fine, but I believe it should be mentioned because most voters feel very demoralized because when they vote when special interests groups contribute millions or sometimes billions to both Republican Party and Democrat Party its very demoralizing for voters because we feel are impact is very insignificant. In America half the people don't vote because they feel the politicians are all paid off by the special interests groups and I believe there's is alot of truth to argument. I personally believe voting is very important but at the same time I also feel it's very insignificant compared to the special interests groups impact on politicians.

@kennethsharp9666

2 ай бұрын

@@kidneystones3406seems you are speaking entirely of American politics though it may be reflected in other nations. What I will say here is there are no bigger special interest groups than the Democrat and Republican Parties. The American public has completely lost sight that they are private entities, always were. The idea that taxpayer money is used to fund primaries so they can pick candidates when smaller struggling parties must fund their own and fight to get ballot access with limited to no funds, and that only the Big Two get debate stage time in the real sense is absurd in a democracy. The Parties are not structurally necessary to American government, and the founders explicitly warned against them. What happens then is the millions of regular people, thinking they are Party members because they vote every two or four years, or even contribute money or volunteer time need that identity recognition and sense of empowerment. They want to feel they are actually a part of, and represented by those who are the real Party members, the only true Party members-the controlling elite of each Party. The result is those falsely believing they are Party members, unable to reconcile that what they want from their vote and what they are always getting are so far apart, have come to accept victory to mean only that their Party defeated the other in some major way during the election (Presidency or control of one or both Chambers of Congress). This victory is seen as an ideological win, when in fact it was never about the ideologies of the millions of individual parts but only the Party, a private enterprise. In turn each of the Two major Parties are financially supported by the same big corporate and private donors although in different ways. That relationship for them becomes symbiotic and even connects the two Parties.

Add to the soup of feelings that you talked about an extra ingredient of the conflation of belief with knowledge. Democracy requires the ability to trust empirical data in the form of a vote count, and distrust is driven when one group believes in a core myth that they have to be a super-majority of the electorate. The difference between a belief and knowledge (or incorrect knowledge) is that a belief cannot be swayed by empirical measurements (like a vote count).

Well, there was erosion in the embankment a couple blocks away and dad called yesterday about it and today it's fixed! So... here we can feel ordinary individuals can contact authorities and get things done. 😁

People who register that politics feels opaque to them are still on the good side. The others have filled this space with their own convictions of what’s going on a long time ago.

"Five minutes, definitely no more than ten..." (Eighteen minutes)

I'm going to experiment by sending these videos to my local politicians

I found this to be a brilliant monologue. I say that while still absorbing, and not yet agreeing, with its thesis. The reason that I am impressed is that Vlad lays out a way of thinking about the problem of popularism that offers avenues for remediation. Demonstrating that rational government is working for the disaffected appears to be the necessary condition. Ironically, Joe Biden is the most effective leader in America in a generation pursuing that path. His Build Back Better policy was aimed directly at the strata of the society from which the MAGA base comes. The question now arises, what does it take to make the process work? That is, how much effort and how much time, and most importantly, how much result does it take to do that. It's a deep hole we've dug. Ironic again is if the MAGA movement takes power, it will suffer, and likely collapse, for the same reasons that Vlad describes, an inability to deliver to the ordinary person.

i like to think of it as demcractic winter and we have been here before, silver lining it so far we usually get a new shiny well functioning demacracy when spring starts

In the UK we can't influence politics anymore outside of participating in the GE. I just saw Gagan Mohindra (Tory MP) out with a bunch of flyers. It gave me the opportunity to tell him and his crew that they're terrible people doing horrible things to the country and area and yeah, great. He's still going to get elected, and nothing we say in the area will change anything significant whatsoever. Local government serves no purpose anymore beyond adding a layer of taxation.

@DBZHGWgamer

2 ай бұрын

Going up to someone and telling them they are a terrible person isn't exactly the start of a productive discussion. You're engaging in exactly the way that is destructive to democracy. You're treating opposition as an enemy.

@theodorekorehonen

2 ай бұрын

Sometimes the opposition is the enemy. For example, you only need to look to the Weimar Republic. Please realize I'm not comparing the UK PM to nazis, but it is hyperbole to illustrate a point. If the opposition is purposefully acting in anti-democratic ways in order to bolster their power, they are quite literally your enemy and your country's enemy. However, how best to deal with politicians who deal in this sort of "politics", I have no idea. Thankfully literal nazis are (mostly) a thing of the past but I think there are parallels to 1930s Germany to be drawn in a fair amount of countries (take Hungary for example)

@AstroGremlinAmerican

2 ай бұрын

Insults and hyperbole often don't sway anyone.

@quintrankid8045

2 ай бұрын

@@theodorekorehonen The Wiemar Republic? Well, in the US the Roter Frontkämpferbund, although they use a different name, is running around in some places wreaking havoc. We have some inflation now. And some folks (no, not them. no, not them either, them, those people, the ones with the square hats who think they favor the left but don't) are unknowingly, mindlessly, spouting some far-right rhetoric. Let's see what happens next.

I’ve been promised no more than ten minutes, but I suppose this surprise is a welcome one.

I have some hope that we will survive this loss of trust. After all, we certainly survived our loss of Truss.

This video seems tailor-made for me in that I have lost all trust and faith in UK politics. I get the point that i should be grateful to live in a 'just-democracy' and that many people have laid down their lives in order to maintain the democracy I live to enjoy - I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the generations that have gone before me. However, I find myself 'dis-engaged' with UK politics - Sunak & Starmer went 'head-to-head' last night - I didn't watch it, I don't want to know what was discussed, I don't care. I am resigned to staying at home on polling day and I sort of hope many others avoid the polling stations too. I think a relatively low percentage turn-out (compared to previous G/Es), might send a message to future candidates along the lines of: "We the electorate, want MPs to work for our interests - as opposed to their own.

In midst of Anakin Skywalker's authoritarian turn - "We have to keep faith in the Republic. The day we stop believing democracy can work, is the day we lose it." - Senator Jamilla, Star Wars Episode II

This is being shared among all my fellow democratic activists.

This connects very well with what is and what is not happening in Canada. Living next to the powerfu, military, economic, political, and cultural giant next doors, we tend to blame it on them. Still, we are responsible for our own actions and inactions even within the context of feeling overpowered by the US..

I never expectedto be considering Count Binface ior the Monster Ravimg Loony Party in the context of a VV chat. But here I am!

I think the problem is the general approach that decision-makers in high positions in the public sector are appointed, by our politicians, for political reasons rather than for competence-related reasons. It is quite easy to see how fearful and cautious a senior public official is when interviewed. If the appointment was based on competence and experience in competition with other candidates, I think the fear would have been less. It shouldn't be ok to appoint managers whose top priority is to keep politicians' backs clear (feudalism should only be a thing of the past right?)