Thanks for watching, and please consider supporting the channel by buying merch: teespring.com/stores/the-cynical-historian Or by donating to my Patreon: www.patreon.com/CynicalHistorian See following replies for corrections and additional info, but first, here are some related videos to check out: 0:30 - Rise of the New Left: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fLxPUcZKFuY.html 1:15 - A Conversation on “Patriotic Education": ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XLH1iy7F-zw.html 1:15 - Reading the 1776 Report: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LaHTFKHPgoA.html 1:15 - Academic Bias (w/ Step Back History): ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-IKHpBsCMBxo.html 1:15 - Discussing Teaching US History in 2021: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-EHG_1efRBc0.html 1:40 - party switch: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hBHHIJG8Rds.html 2:20 , 2:45 - RU-vid's suppression of history: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--vRGguUJIx8.html 3:35 - on Kennedy and the New Deal: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ZNxWTiDrgR8.html 4:35 - party switch: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hBHHIJG8Rds.html 7:25 - 1968 rise of the New Left: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fLxPUcZKFuY.html 8:25 - race riots: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tAbkCU5nBhM.html 9:35 - history of feminism: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-IK-Qechh_Ec.html 14:20 - history of Hollywood: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ilFzX8ggXeo.html 15:15 - historical revisionism: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xQGs3eYxGRw.html
*[reserved for errata]* Commenters claim Pat Buchanan wasn't a neocon. Today he's considered a paleoconservative, but the term didn't exist in 1992, and Buchanan has become progressively worse since that speech. He was a neocon then. That is how history works = change over time
*References:* Keith Beattie, _The Scar that Binds: American culture and the Vietnam War_ (New York: New York University Press, 1998). amzn.to/389otNd Jefferson Cowie, _Stayin’ Alive: The 1970s and the Last Days of the Working Class_ (New York: The New Press, 2010). amzn.to/2KQT8Tb Christopher Gair, _The American Counterculture_ (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007). amzn.to/3uQDiy2 Andrew Hartman, _A War for the Soul of America: A History of the Culture Wars_ (Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press, 2015). amzn.to/30wqyiW Ezra Klein, _Why We’re So Polarized_ (London: Profile Books, 2020). amzn.to/31sqFLB Edward T. Linenthal and Tom Engelhardt, _History Wars: The Enola Gay and other Battles for the American Past_ (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1996). amzn.to/2pHmglK Rick Perlstein, _Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus,_ reprint (2001; New York: Nation Books, 2009). amzn.to/3rre0od Rick Perlstein, _Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America_ (New York: Scribner, 2008). amzn.to/3sLTDlQ Rick Perlstein, _The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan_ (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2014). amzn.to/306XMo9 Rick Perlstein, _Reaganland: America’s Right Turn, 1976-1980_ (New York: Simon and Schuster: 2020). amzn.to/2NZ4f1R Elizabeth Tandy Shermer, _Sunbelt Capitalism: Phoenix and the Transformation of American Politics_ (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013). amzn.to/2Z0IClY
This is the story of my life, from beginning to now. There's one big push that you only barely scratched the taking away of power from judge's and placing it with the prosecution and police making judge's little more than a rubber stamp. Which is exactly why most people in prisons never have a trial or a competent defense. Just an accusation can bankrupt a family costing jobs and shattering families.
While I'm sure you meant it in jest, I can't help but think of stories I have heard here and there about family members that stop speaking to one other because the culture war. Stories of people you just turned their backs on their family because they thought they had gone nuts.
I'm kind of in the middle. I acknowledge the bad things the United States has done, but I try to lay all the blame for them on an elitist minority that blocked both men and women, and both whites and people of color, from achieving progress.
Sounds about right in a US American context. However, I don't think being an Irish nationalist for instance requires you to deny any Irish wrongdoings.
I love my country. I love the opportunity it gave to my parents and the myriad of freedoms it gives us. I would consider myself a patriot. But that dosent mean I will ignore the flaws we have in place. If you truly love this place, you would acknowledge its flaws and help it move forward. Living in ignorance because the truth makes you uncomfortable or mad is one of the worst ways to live out your life.
That will not be possible until those bringing up issues with the system start being honest with themselves and allow examination and scrutiny of their policies. We harp on and on about police brutality and poor minority communities, but never want to acknowledge the factors that create those systems. They just say it’s White people’s fault and leave it at that. The uncomfortable truth is that the political system does not want these issues resolved. Until we acknowledge this, it’s a complete waste of time.
@@EdmacZ except people do talk about the systems behind the causes of all these problems. People are now more than ever specifically using the terms “institutional” and “systemic” to describe these problems and how it’s not just some people being bad on an individual level. You’re only half right here. Also how often do you actually hear people literally say “it’s white peoples fault”? Or is that just a strawman people throw out to excuse arguments like how slavery still has effects felt now and how conservatism has held back civil rights . Also “it’s white peoples fault” isn’t even entirely wrong considering they are still the dominant economic and political group of this country who instituted the policies of Native American reservations and Jim Redlining for example. Very much against the wishes of these other races.
Not really anything new this goes back to atleast montaigne who basically said the same thing in the 1500s. Thats where the noble savage motif comes from. But the leftists will write it off as racist even though it was supposed to be a counter to exceptionalism.
@@seanhovan7426 lol that's ridiculous. It's like Santa Claus. If you never insist that your child believes he is real, you won't have to worry about your child being upset when they learn the truth. Patriotism in the USA is fine as long as it doesn't require cult-like blind faith and a denial of truth for the sake of someones fragile belief in fantasy land. Patriotism is fine. Nationalism is for the weak and/or stupid.
Thoughtful patriots acknowledge the country's sins but also recognize that it has positive attributes that are worth preserving; whereas SJW's want to tear down the country because they see it as irredeemably capitalist, racist, sexist, homophobic, etc.
As someone with a science background I would like to make the point explicitly that it tends not to be the actual scientists who perpetuate this science vs. humanities narrative. Most scientists are quite willing to engage with meta-analysis, discussions of systemic and personal bias the argument more often comes from people who want to speak for science, politicians and pundits.
Well duh? The sciences were taken over by the morons back in the 90s and 2000s. Nowdays the smart people go into TEMC technology, Engineering, Math and Computer science
History doesn't stop existing just because its ugly, gruesome, and makes us remember not only the good but our worse points in humanity and in ourselves with out own ideals. Those who do not remember history are doomed to repeat it.
As a Brit, I learned a lot about Pat Buchanan today. To summarise: "I stand for the freedom to choose, so long as you choose what I say is the right thing." That about right?
@@paisleepunk Actually, the quote is supposedly from Henry Ford regarding some of the early Ford cars. They were only available in black and customers were starting to ask for a bit more variety. Not trying to be pedantic or anything, I just grew up in the Detroit area and that phrase got used a lot!
I actually wonder, how would anti-trust fix something like RU-vid? Wouldn't it probaly still run the same since the main problem is advertisers refusing to run ads if they don't? Iirc doesn't RU-vid tend to run at a loss, and so can't be split off without collapsing in on itself? RU-vid requires access to Google servers and funding to survive, and I don't see how breaking it up would benefit it or the creators using it at all. But I am also uneducated as to what trust busting would entail, and would be very interested in learning in how it could work out in favor of those who rely on youtube.
@@zachantes1161 as of now there aren't really any other sites that really offer any kind of reach, so RU-vid can do as it wishes. If there was actually opportunity for others to compete with it, then I think RU-vid or other sites would be more willing to tell those advertisers to piss off, as people would flock to the other sites that didn't have draconian censorship. Just a theory, but it's one I like
@@nxthy6978 that is quickly changing on the right wing while people on the left are becoming the private companies defenders as long as the companies out BLM or a pride flag on their door and website they will defend them
@@dubvuchyea502 the problem is for a service like what RU-vid provides its very easy for it to conglomerate into just one thing being what most people use, it’s not as if RU-vid or Google has never had a competitor, there are competitors out there right now actually, people just don’t use them. I think it’s human nature more than anything else, people want to be on the same platform interacting with each other across the world, people also like familiarity and simplicity. It’s really hard to actually replace something like RU-vid with anything else. Which don’t get me wrong, I’m a socialist, so I don’t think RU-vid should exist as it does now either. Maybe the answer circles back to who owns RU-vid and how it runs, if RU-vid is like a “central square” so to speak, maybe it should be owned instead by the people who use it? Like a consumer cooperative? You could pay for a share to opt into owning RU-vid which would allow you to create content and Democratically set the rules with other members. If you just want to watch videos you wouldn’t have to pay, just watch advertisements like you do now. But to create content and/or to play a role in making the rules of the site you would buy a single share of RU-vid stock that would have voting privileges with it (in case you wanted to also sell stock to investors without voting privilege) each person would be limited 1 and would have equal weight in setting a lot of the rules. There could also be a tiered system where you could gain the ability to purchase a higher tier of stock when you’ve been a big creator for a long time, which would allow the big creators who have been here since the beginning and really built this website to decide, who the CEO is for example. And to limit other private companies or governments from influencing it too much there could be rules and structures set to prevent them from trying to control it all or buy stock. You won’t just be able to buy your way into defining the rules, and since each person is limited to only one of the entry level stocks you can’t buy extra votes. The only way to get more power is to dedicate yourself to the website. There could even be a constitution of RU-vid drafted by human rights experts designed to protect internet freedom and set basic rules for how things would operate. Just a basic outline of a thought I’ve had on this.
@@christiandauz3742 For 1: The US will lose its allies if they don't support them. 2. That would piss too many people off for too little gain. 3: We are already doing that.
“His most regal and purrfect Majesty, Lord of Meowland, King of the Kittons, and Holy Emperor of Litterbox, King Richard hereby declares to His Commons that all Conspiracists, Racists and Bigots shall be banned from this Comment Section. Issued in the year of our lord two thousand and one and twenty, and witnessed by His Majesty’s most leal servant, Cypher the Cynical Historian. Amen.”
The frustrating thing about RU-vid’s obvious attempt at censorship is that they’ll still gladly air ads before and during your content. They just try to gag you by keeping all the money instead of merely most of it. It’s not, and never was, about being advertiser friendly.
The technocrats do this, not for the money, but because they believe themselves to be the makers of taste. So, they believe that, if they remove anything that has even the trace scent of "bigotry", including the "bigotry" of *not* messenging their non-bigotry, they could somehow make the culture more progressive.
And the utter gall of a platform that LOSES MONEY hand-over-fist for their Corporate Daddy, Google, to demonitize channels like Cypher's while trying to justify that CD's undeserved philanthropy of it -- without Google RU-vid would no longer be around -- is beyond my comprehension. I'm 53 and have a 143 IQ (Stanford-Binet), so I have a pretty broad comprehension of things.
@@jasonbelstone3427 It's the advertisers that keep pushing RU-vid around to moderate the content. I'm pretty sure RU-vid would happy to host porn if it could get away with it.
The one issue where I might be a little right leaning is PC culture. Some people are just searching for things to be offended by. But other people have completely abused the terms 'PC', 'Woke', and 'SJW'. Like wearing a mask isn't about being PC; that has a practical function. I'm sick of people telling me I shouldn't like classic movies cause they're "problematic", but I don't wanna be associated with the guys who screams "woke hollywood" at every female-led action movie. I think it's absurd to go digging through someone's old tweets and try to cancel them for a racist joke, but the right would still call me an SJW for wanting police accountability for murder. Bottom line, I think the culture war is being fueled by people on both sides whining about shit that doesn't matter and ignoring shit that does.
@Emilie Bouchard Spot-on. I like to believe the hyper-PC left is just the minority of the left, but sometimes it feels like they're taking over. I hope you're right that it's mostly a teen phase.
@@TheTocuba right on it is a very vocal Minority on both sides and hell we know money plays a part and I believe some of this is amped up by parties who have an interest in splitting us apart. the vast majority of things I hear people are enraged about can be easily debunked or reasonably discussed but most do not take time to do either.
Blind nationalism is dangerous, that's how China became the world's punching bag when they refused to modernize in the 1800s. You must be able to point the flaws in your nation to able to fix them. You don't need hate your country to do this, in fact it is necessary to love your country because other wise you have no incentive to fix it. That is the difference between loving and hating your country, those that hate look at America's mistakes and say how evil we are. While those that love America look those same mistakes and say that we will fix them. The greatest example of this is slavery. Those that hate America say it is proves that America is an evil country. Those that love America say that is America's greatest mistake. And it those people that loved America that ended slavery, it those people who kept fighting the systemic inequalities that persisted the end of that horrid institution. And were resisted the whole way, by those that hated America for personal gain, along with their useful idiots. Even today the most necessary reforms are resisted and blocked at every turn by those who hate America, they don't want to fix any actual problems because to so would weaken their support. They continue to lie, cheat, and swindle this country so that they be given power. Those love America should resist the encroachment of these radicals and attempt to fix the systemic issues that have helped bring us to this point.
I'm a liberal and I love this country, and I want it to do better. It's a shame that the other side thinks this nation only belongs to them, and to them change always=loss.
It’s always confused me that the American flag is associated as a right wing symbol now, even though the right consistently and adamantly defends the people that betrayed America.
As a patriot I’m all for criticizing the government we live under. My main issue is looking for the right sources of information. Luckily King’s servant Cyber has grant us such information :)
you should enable channel memberships. Downside: on platform, which gives google control but huge benefit would be a much higher conversion rate than off-platform sites like patreon. Idk, maybe patreon has a stronger pull in youtube history communities, but i know in general memberships drive higher rates
I think the issue with channel memberships is that you remain at the mercy of Team RU-vid. Tomorrow they could decide in a board meeting that they need stronger means to fight "inappropriate content", and channel memberships could be used as a new point of attack. For creators to be safe, they need their monetization to be 3rd party.
@@paisleepunk Storyblocks for stock footage, youtube and archive.org for other stuff, documentaries for some footage, wiki for a lot of imagery, and tons of google-image-searching. Sometimes I dig into media stuff, so I've got a huge library of films to use as well. Just a lot of stuff
Dee Snyder's slap in the face of Al Gore is the most statisfying thing a person can see; the full hearing exists on YT, and it's a pleasure. Don't care which side you claim to be, viewers; censorship is the worst thing you can support. Free speech is paramount.
All three - Frank Zappa, Dee Snider, and John Denver at the PMRC - were brilliant and each played a crucial role in the proceedings (as I posted at greater length under a different comment on this subject, so I won't annoy everyone by copy-pasting here).
Dee Snyder is so desperate to stay relevant after his fifteen minutes of fame making songs for eleven year old boys in the early 80s, 😂🤣 it’s pretty funny. The free speech angle was a good move for his career, but I still think he’s completely cringe and ridiculous. Master of the cheese 🧀
A very interesting dive into the culture war. I alway appreciate you giving us the information straight. I've been drowned in the culture war for a while now. I'm trying my best to escape it, and I hope we all can find our way out of this mess and discuss our issues rather than just shouting at each other. Looking forward to the rest of this series.
Oh we will. Maybe not in our generation but people little realize that man is a being in transition and constantly shifts in reaction to our environment and vice versa. Eventually people will bang or die so much you won't be able to tell one group from another. What we bleeding need is a species wide identity. We need to make an Ur-culture made of every bit of man melted into a pot, because alloys are stronger.
What you're saying is the Culture Wars should be renamed the Strawman Skirmishes. Everything out of it from the arts vs. science and being PC reek of strawmen fighting other strawmen because people lack an understanding of anything.
No what I’m gonna say something about myself born 1998, California. My parents were born in Vietnam and escape Vietnam war, I didn’t know what The hell happened so I decided to search for myself I already learn this on USA on Vietnam War point of view during high school did very bad things like my lai Massacre and agent orange, South Vietnam Committed war crimes, and North Vietnam did something like I don’t remember what it’s call hue massacre so yeah it’s a boring comment and wanted to say I believe there’s good people around the world and Cynical dude I think you cool dude and have good heart.
I grew up in southern California and knew some people of Vietnamese descent. It's good to see other people's point of view and call out injustice regardless of the country or cultural background
@@justinwatson1510 I mean, I won’t argue that the US isn’t responsible for some pretty fucked up shit, but when you put it that way, it seems like you’re discounting the achievements that the US has also accomplished.
Sir! Your visual components have got to be the best I’ve seen on pretty much any channel/genre on RU-vid. The amount of pausing I have to do is crazy! (In a good way) 36 minutes of great content, and so much more sprinkles throughout. Thank you!
Arguably we entered a new "party system" in the election of 2016, when Trump, Clinton, and the voter base emphasized culture war over policy to the point that people started brawling in the streets. Trump's economic ideas also recognize the GOP's only major deviation from Reaganomics since the 80s, thanks to his administration's emphasis on protectionism and home grown industry over international "globalist" capitalism.
Nothing fundamentally new happened in 2016, including the name "Clinton" and its role (except Hillary was less smooth than Bill at selling the same crap 24 years later). The only difference is that the Democrats' "triangulation" strategy has resulted in chasing the Republicans ever further rightward.
Interestingly enough Biden is now also deviating from Reaganomics with massive public investments and "growing the economy from the bottom and middle up". He also straight up attacked trickle down economics and said it has never worked in his State of the Union Address.
Isolationist economy isn’t a good idea. If the US solely relied on its own materials and industry, it would increase consumer prices, which would reduce buying and money circulation. Isolation may have worked in the past when there wasn’t an efficient way to quickly harvest resources and churn out products, but in todays modern world, international trade and foreign manufacturing is more financially stable.
One correction. While the Reagan administration moved slowly on AIDS, Reagan himself was remarkably silent on homosexuality (he was, after all, an actor from Hollywood, an industry long known for tolerance of gays). Even appointees like C. Everett Koop were criticized by their Evangelical peers for their failure to condemn homosexuality in the most odious terms.
I'm late to the party, but I thought I'd chime in. Having lived with HIV for over 30 years, I'll introduce you to an old ACT UP slogan " Silence = Death"
@@MaelPlaguecrow6942 What’s wrong with pointing out the truth, the truth hurts. America has done a lot of good things, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t made bad or even horrible decisions. The point of pointing out the bad is to instill critical thinking in young minds. That way people have a larger understanding of our history.
The difference is, in the neoliberal culture wars, they take higher precedent and have helped moved political discourse into what is effectively a simulation of politics, mostly as a result of almost no class consciousness or class interests being in the discussion of politics in media, and thus, at the dinner table. Material interests have been removed entirely for idealistic posturing. I'll end on the note that although we do see a return of class demands and discourse, it does not yet seem we have left simulation behind at all.
@@ethanmcfarland8240 race in America was primarily made up by conservatives to justify having a White ethnostate after banishing natives from running the country. How can they divide a country, that's already been divided centuries in advance, when you jackasses do little to nothing in resolving them?
Just one thing about drugs and politicians harping on not taking them. In 2020 there were 93,000 deaths from drug overdoses in the United States. More Americans died in that one year from drug overdoses than were killed in the Korean and Vietnam wars combined. I am a very old man and this is not an immediate problem for me, but I can understand why it is an issue for any concerned citizen.
I'm looking forward to this. There are few topics as essential for understanding present politics (across the developed world as well as the US) as the culture wars.
"Do we really need to weave America's sad, long history of racism throughout the entire story?" "Yes we do...because it happened." Drop the damn mic, bro!
"I may disapprove of some of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it" To parra phrase Voltaire, and keep the content coming I truly due enjoy having my preconceptions challenged.
Not be that guy but Voltaire didn't actually say that it's rather a summary by a woman going over voltaire's opinion on the censoring of one of voltaire's contemporaries
You have a new subscriber. I appreciate how you embrace looking for the context in these historical events. Most researchers think facts only matter when context is what makes those facts much clearer and for that I thank you
@@CynicalHistorian I can understand. I got the idea from watching Cody's "What if Germany Won WWII?" videos. and I also understand if you're afraid of another toxic comment section.
@@jwil4286 it's also the inevitable demonetization and suppression. I just don't want to deal with a video whose viewership congress solely via hate-sharing
@@CynicalHistorian I think getting the truth out is more important, not many history channels really convey it with the level of objectivity and facts as you have. It might seem pointless at the start but it sets a role model for other possibly bigger channels out there to run the risk of popularizing actual logic in the world instead of leaving the lid on it until they've already found a shitty counterargument against it.
This is probably one of those, "people on each side think it biased", videos. I don't agree with everything you said, but I shall cool my conservative jets hahah. Thanks again Cypher, you're a man of discipline and courage. Cheers mate!
@King Sobieski Historical revisionism to push an agenda based in what is inarguable falsehood and smearing anyone who disagrees as "unpatriotic" isn't a right. No ifs, ands or buts.
Amazing video as usual! Just a hint from a euro: you use "Jim Crow" quite a lot, while most international viewers are familiar with the concept of those laws a lot of us don't know them by that specific name, putting a quick definition would be very helpful, thanks a lot!
I think it's worth distinguishing between the counter culture and the new left. Where the counter culture was focused on personal empowerment and freedom (i.e., the hippies) the new left was much more about organisation and activism. There was an element of race in this, too (e.g., Malcolm X, Black Panthers, etc), but there was also plain old Marxism in the new left. The two were often antagonistic.
I'm not sure the Civil Rights movement was entirely nonviolent - the nonviolent protests worked with the Liberals watching on TV, but they only avoided repeats of Greenville by supporting the non-violent blocs with some pretty tasty Black militias marching with them; lots of them battle-tested veterans of armed defences against local Klan chapters
@@_bane_7742 Exactly. It pisses me off to no end when people point MLK and the civil rights protest in order to dispairage BLM as "violent thugs" when those same people would have said the same thing about MLK back then. Conservative media always points towards the worst in any civil rights group to paint it as violent, all so they can try and get support for gunning them down in the streets.
An excellent analysis of post-war American culture. Thank you. To be honest, the amount and scope of social contradictions within the American society is fascinating. If the United States comes out of this crisis, then it has a chance to maintain its status as a world power. If not, then the end will be sad.
I really appreciate Buchanan's speech as a source. Unlike Reagan where you need to look through various speeches to find his opinions on various cultural topics, Buchanan just lays it all out in a single speech. The fact that he goes straight past real criticism to a near conspiratorial separation of reality is very interesting to watch.
@@CynicalHistorian Reagan was far to the left of Buchanan on immigration and maybe even to the left of Biden. This is one of the most pro-immigrant speeches ever made. www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/remarks-reagan-bush-rally-elizabeth-new-jersey
It seems the problems arise all the time. I mean think of today compared to then. I dont see that much of a difference in arguments or what people fight for. But we need progress. Pushing for things to remain the same or to go backwards in completely wrong. Everyone needs rights.
Great video Cypher, and I very much appreciated the detailed work on the video and content provided. To echo others, loved that statement about Nationalists vs Patriots. I also loved the clip of the historian who says we talk about it, 'because it happened.' Damn straight.
The debate is when does a clump of cells become a human being. The longer the pregnancy lasts and the more the baby develops the harder it becomes to get an abortion.
As an Australian, I love the country I'm in and I'm proud of it. Also I am willing to admit that my country has an incredibly dark past and roots in genocide of original owners of the land. There is such thing as a middle ground and more work needs to be done to rectify hurt relationships.
I enjoy the cynical Historians content greatly. He definitely approaches American history from the run of the mill neo-liberal boilerplate perspective. We all have our innate biases it’s unavoidable. Regardless, This was very enjoyable. Thank you. I am loving this series.
I'm decently liberal myself but this still comes off as refreshing. It's nice to feel that someone is just biased instead of trying to force they're opinion down my throat.
I think this has a couple of significant simplifications that do it a considerable disservice which I'd like to address. 1. The idea that the culture wars is merely set dressing for the real issues is ultimately incorrect for nuanced reasons. In fact, it's intimately tied with the resurgence of neo-liberalism itself. You correctly note the neoliberal consensus is a both party thing. But you're not recognizing how intimately this consensus was tied with specific elements of the culture war, white america's consensus on the welfare queen myth directly contributed to a consensus on dismantling social safety net programs contributing to electoral victory for the GOP during the Reagen era and the realignment of the democrats to becoming more moderate under Clinton and the third way democrats. The culture wars should not be treated as a side-show because in general, especially in a capitalist society where everything is commodified, social hierarhcies have economic implications. I'll note that I'm aware you do address the welfare queen myth to a degree, but i don't think it does justice to the import of the seismic shift that was the WWC turning so anti-social safety net and supporting politicians that supported the same which is supported by the scholarship on the welfare queen myth, especially in context that the challenges to the the southern strategy explanation from academic historians have primarily been the theory that instead of being top down (political elites radicalizing population), it was bottom up (population seeking political elites that fit their views), eg Dr. Kevin Kruse's work. 2. There's no mention of Coit V. Green or in general the religious right being primarily a pro-segregation movement. The narrative about them primarily organizing around Roe V. Wade is false, it was specifically a Catholic issue with plenty in the evangelical circle hailing it since it ALSO protected the right not to have an abortion. Falwell didn't start preaching on it til 1978, but it ended up being wildly successful at energizing evangelical voters.
While the PC principal references are ok. I think the 1990s PC culture that shifted the House into Republican control under Newt in 1995 needs a deeper dive. By that time, the Baby Boomers were becoming parents of teenagers. The 1990s featured emerging technology and pop culture that scared this large group of voters. The movie "PCU" really captures this culture war taking place on college campuses. For parents of younger children, the emergence of AOL chatrooms, video games like Mortal Kombat, television like Bevis and Butthead, clothing like Big Johnson and CoEd Naked, and music like gangsta rap gave worried parents something to censor and blame for their kids misbehavior.
And now it's being scared of "influencers" or "LGBTQ+ people" being visible. But they project it on to everyone else and claim they aren't the ones who are "oversensitive"
Analyzing the culture wars with historical context is so much more productive than what most commentators do nowadays, which is to observe the issues with a very short-term, surface level view of the issues. Seeing how these issues are decades-old, and to see the fact that these ideological forces evolve over time is so much more illuminating, and consoling as well. It's consoling to see that these issues emanate more from human nature than from a "radical external source that is going to threaten the survival of the country." It's consoling, I say, because if we learn that humans have been dealing with this kind of clash - conservatism vs progressivism - for at least centuries, then it makes me think that we can surely weather the storm.
interesting stuff....but you really should give us what we all really want......AN ENTIRE VIDEO OF NOTHING BUT HIS MOST SERENE AND MAJESTIC MAJESTY KING RICHARD THE FIRST!!!!!!!.........right people? like if you agree and let's make Cypher work..... :D
Hey Cypher. I really loved the video. I'm a Progressive Immigrant myself who's VERY interested in US history, (learning as much as I can about the country). but something about this video just felt off I feel this video doesn't project an accurate view of the cultural conflict that developed in the US following the 2nd world war. It started out as a crucial yet objective analysis of the origins of the new left, it's motives and it's outcomes but slowly descended into a tirade of attacks on the rise of conservativism in response to it. I know you're not aiming to be objective and you have your own beliefs but I don't think this video was as good an analysis as it could have been had you left some of your personal disagreements with Neo Conservatives by the side. There appears to be a startling misrepresentation of conservatives and a drive to associate everything that went against the new left with ill intent from Trotskyites, to the STEM establishment, to Neo cons etc. It seem more like defense of the New left and a criticism of all the reactions in opposition to it than an honest evaluation of why there was such a backlash and why it was and still is so successful. You even display the new left with a divine dove associated with "The Good" in Traditional Abrahamic Faiths and Show 'The Others" as violent predators as, "The Bad". and you make this comparison of New Left=good, Others=bad many times over the course of this video than you usually do. I assume you have a personal issue with the ahistoricism and the attacks on your field with their BS which i deeply understand. But I think you're not really trying to understand conservatives and good faith and if we can't understand why this movement has not just gotten stronger but has actually morphed into full on Nationalist populism, this crisis the US faces will keep getting worse cause people with a platform like yours and a high degree of professional credibility just don't bother to and would rather demonise... Hence the culture wars. I know you're unlike to see this unless it gains a lot of traction and much less respond, But If you do, Id like to hear from you. I Just wanted to share that respectfully from an outside perspective if that helps any for further reflection. I'm really looking forward to your NeoLiberalism Video. More Modern Historians need to talk about it's impact.
Overall good vid. I would quibble with Pat Buchanan as neoconservative. He seemed (at least claimed) more of a paleoconservative. Neocons always saw a foreign conflict to be involved in while the Peleos, like Buchanan, tended to be isolationist, even to immigration and trade. Buchanan was so isolationist it went into the realm of conspiracy and antisemitism.
I am always a bit surprise that so many Trotskyist went to the right and had such an influence there. Even in the Tory government in the UK currently, the head of the Policy Unit; Munira Mirza; which advises the PM was a former Trotskyists.
“It hides real issues beyond nonsense, which is the essence of the cultural wars…”Wow! That’s the best description of the whole melee. Perfectly encapsulated. Kudos.
Good video, I would recommend though with your comments at 25:44, talk about some modern examples of your argument about how many of those who are 'Anti-PC' are criticizing ideas that actually have good intentions, do you think conservative commentators like Ben Shapiro, Michael Knowles are examples of that?
As someone that was born in the late sixties but still identifies with hippy culture, this is fascinating. When I think of the hippy culture my first thought is peace, love and the piercing of taboos. I associate the green movement with the seventies. Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth were born from that era. I have hippy friends that are still super-chill and on the right track. There is this one guy that was and is super into the culture that is a total reactionary. He does not believe the science on climate change, and cannot back up his claims with anything but blatant propoganda, that uses freedom of thought as his ultimate defence. What you say about neo-conservatism coming from inside the hippy movement rings true. If you are conservative your instinct is to conform with your peers, regardless of the direction they take. When the peer group changes, the language you use does not necessarily change, and you may still identify with that group but your priorities change. What I think makes mass media so influential, is their ability to influence in group norms. They form a bridge between groups that can outweigh any common connection between people. When the media agenda becomes the "common sense" view that is hard to displace.
I believe you have a bias that is showing throughout your interpretation of several events, but I think that your excellent presentation of information is still laudable. This is a very well made video, I hope that you continue to make more.
"An open mind is like a fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded" - Isador Akios, Librarian of the Blood Ravens Space Marine chapter. A chapter in service of the most brutal dictatorship that the galaxy has ever known.
@Berserking Bishop That is eating itself alive with the numerous idiosyncrasies and ironies that not even a Space Marine chapter can physically cut through...
Your statement at 19:00 was really great to hear. I just completed my masters thesis, which involved patriotism and nationalism, and what you said there was essentially reflected in all of my most crucial sources of my literature review!
I'm sorry your stuff keeps get demonetized. I've always been a history buff and quite enjoy your channel. I always foresaw myself becoming a history teacher, but ended up joining the army and then getting out and becoming a diesel mech.
Tardy to the party on this but I think it's relevant so... The Roe v Wade case did not argue that bans on abortions were unconstitutional because they violated a woman's right to control her own body. That case, the legalese involved, argued that abortion bans violated a woman's right to "privacy" which is the weak link that got Roe V Wade overturned. The underlying argument of bodily autonomy is still unanswered. Also, the evangelical's attacks on Disco didn't cause it's demise, Disco sucked & died of lack of interest. Ironically the religious attack on Disco, then their continued attack on music in general i.e., the PMRC is what led to the loss of support for the Evangelicals in America.
While you should teach about the bad parts of your country’s history, what’s wrong with promoting a form of patriotism for your country? If the US is suppose to be “the land of the free and the home of the brave,” why kill that sentiment to continue to progress under that sentiment? In my opinion, focusing consistently on the scars of US history has taught resentment to this country and keeps young minds focused on the wrongdoings and not reminded what this country stands for and why.
All what you said is crappy, I want to know every part of my country from it's worst abd it's best in the most objective way possible with the goal to progress ourselves and to keep charging forward. I can be prideful and shame for what my country has done and doing now.
"Because it happened". You can't sugarcoat over attrocitites just because they make you uncomfortable or make you think differently about your country. History isn't about making you like your country more, it's about showing you the faults of the past so you can hopefully prevent them in the future. Without teaching what America did wrong we can't even attempt to fix any of the long tem consequences. You need every single detail, otherwise nothing actually get's solved.
Great video. I thought I heard you call Pat Buchanan a neconservative in it though, and that struck me as funny. My understanding is he's generally described as a "paleoconservative" or someone who is much more socially traditional and skeptical of foreign military adventures than the neocons. I'd be curious as to why you labeled Buchanan this way.
I use think 20th century history regarding culture to be boring but in recent years it's widely important and to know the politics and who was in office other than the presidents. Like Geroge bush senior was in charge of the CIA. Duck Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld served Regan and the administrations before him. Really understanding modern Politics.
The problem with American politics is that there is this idea it must be black and white which politics are very morally gray and nowadays people can’t separate personalities from political opinions.
Yes about your addressing the censuring from RU-vid: Yes they’ve changed tremendously over past 10 years to the point that even without profanity, people cannot speak freely enough to where others can understand the subject. Remember when public censuring begins in any society, it is usually because it could interfere with the agenda that the ones doing the censuring [ is part of]A much larger picture. And that’s really something for us all to think about
