New Rule: Almost InstaFamous | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) 

I like how Bill's first reaction to the horrible tragedy of a young woman getting murdered is "Young people trying to make a living in the 21st century are less deserving of life!"

"Someone tragically gets murdered" Bill: That's what's wrong with this generation, they're not willing to work

I graduated high school in 82 and there was no shortage of kids that wanted to be movie stars and rock stars and sport celebrities. The lure of being rich and famous is nothing new , it is just much easier now.

"I want my job to be, I'm me, and people pay to watch that," Bill said, with no trace of irony.

So glad to see Bill Maher, on “Real Time with Bill Maher,” a show where Bill Maher talks about Bill Maher’s opinions, is speaking out against people making self-important content where they just talk in front of a camera.

Why do Bills arguments all sound like, "Old man yells at clouds."

Ehh. I’ve worked in jewels of our nation - places that you go when you finally retire. And I’ve watched the retirees suffer pain, discomfort, sleepiness, fogginess, and all sorts of things while trying to finally enjoy the places they spent their whole lives waiting for. I don’t really get the Insta influencer thing, but I do believe in having adventures while you can get the most out of them.

"It's hard for me to wrap my head around this level of narcissism of so many Gen Z's trying to make a living by taking pictures of themselves, like they are their own Paparazzi ."______Bill Maher

"I'm me and people pay to watch that." How are you missing this, Bill?

I feel like Bill's missing some of the irony in what he's saying...

Not with you on this one. In my corner of the UK, my income as a lab technician isn’t enough to rent anything more than a box with a bed and a shared bathroom. I don’t have the guts to live out of a van, but I can absolutely see the appeal of doing away with the whole mortgage question by never getting one. If you want us to live like your generation , the economy needs to be like it was for you guys. That means either the low level jobs have better salaries, or the housing market needs to crash hard, and stay that way.

Jesus, this is a text book example of a complete lack of self awareness.

"Us normies." Says the multi- millionaire owner of the Mets.

Naw. This is a ridiculous analysis, and I say that as a Gen Xer. Those jobs out there now... suck! After 20 years at a job that provides a lifesaving service to society, I'm barely making more than the people starting new. And the work conditions just keep getting worse. There is no "starter pay" period to get through anymore. All the money goes to the management. All the tax breaks are for the corporations. Not to mention how things devolve if you are not unionized. If someone can make a living being their own boss, good for them! Hopefully they'll end up with fewer ulcers and worn-out bodies.

I wonder if Bill realizes he sounds exactly like his parents' generation talking about hippie kids.

"Hmm, a woman was murdered. How do I turn this into a rant about how I hate young people?"

It's strange to watch one content creator criticize another group of content creators when the only difference I can see is that the latter is mostly self-employed and distributes the content via social media or video platforms.

"It means I want my job to be I'm me and people pay to watch that" as he's on tv with a show with his name on it. How does he not see the hypocrisy.

College professor here. My Gen Z students are curious, driven, and admirably optimistic despite knowing that this economy will completely screw them over. They know that this economy isn't the one that gave their grandparents prosperity, yet they press on and work their tails off. They also have the kindness and sense not to stereotype entire generations.

"I hate how this generation just sits on their ass and talks to a camera all day." - Bill Maher (Host of a show where he sits on his ass and talks to a camera all day)

As Bill gets older and richer every year he loses the sense of irony in his own CONTENT to INFLUENCE people.

I was born in the 50's too Bill but I seem to remember especially in the 60's, young people in buses out looking for America. Most of them seem to have ended up in California, they were called Hippies --- does any of this ring a bell, Bill? Considering how much you've made off telling people your opinion, are these new ones competition? A few might be.

Working a terrible job sucked back then like it sucks now. But what you got went so much further. People use to be able to afford housing and buy a car and still have some left over to save. Not anymore. If basically living like a homeless person is more desireable then working a regular job, it is because society is failing to provide basic security and insentives to continue functioning. Why continue to feed the machine if your screwed no matter what.

As a teacher it was hell to deal with these students and parents who totally made their kids accountable for NOTHING and so did the school system.

I’ll disagree with Bill on one thing. He thinks a surplus of jobs has magically transformed the labour market. It hasn’t. The pay hasn’t risen like it should have if market forces were the primary factor, job hours are no more convenient and bosses still treat people like expendable crap. I don’t blame people for wanting to become influencers.

"America right now has more job openings than at any time in its history" But do the jobs pay a livable wage?

“If you think having a job is so terrible, why do you keep trying to get people fired?” 👏

I’ve been in finance since 2007. I am 39 years old. I have a good career and I am a head of a department. I own a very mediocre condo, a 2011 honda, a very small saving account. Due to stress I have eating disorder, a bald head. My working cycle some weeks goes up to 70 hour/week. There is almost no justice and ethics in my work environment. Instead of millenial if I were a boomer my life would be much much better than it is now. I do not judge gen z to not go through the path I choose which would yield much less results then even mine when they reach to 40s. So it is not them wanting to be Kim K. It is them NOT wanting to be ME.

Why does Bill constantly forget that Generation Xers even exist? He talks about Boomers like he's unaware that they're in their 60s and 70s and that most people in their 40s and 50s today are Generation X.

Bill : “us normies…” Said the part owner of a baseball team while laughing nervously

I get the feeling if kids accidentally hit any baseballs into Bill’s backyard, they’re not getting them back.

Isn't that basically what you do? As a comedian all we do is travel and tell jokes.

They wouldn’t hire someone out of work for more than a year, Bill. Lower the bar and raise the pay and people will surely work.

"You figured out a way to monetize fucking off" Ngl Bill that sounds INCREDIBLY American.

I'd rather travel in a van and get paid to post pictures and videos about it than work minimum wage at some crap job living paycheck to paycheck while getting yelled at by rude, entitled customers

Wow! A video with no dislikes! I’m certain that means that this video is full of great and insightful takes from Bill Maher!

I'm in my 50's, I spent 30 years grinding out a living in America only to be bankrupted by my 'for profit' healthcare provider while also losing my job and career during the crash in 2008. I was a lead pressman and now I'm a truck driver and I am also online singing and playing guitar and gaming and trying to be a content creator too. F*ck being a donkey pulling a cart. These young kids are on to something. I don't look back and think, "Wow, I really achieved something the last 30 years." I look back and think, "Why did I waste all those years being just another cog in the wheel?" Bill has no clue what many of us have been through.

These guy really sounds like an out of touch rich old guy lmao

Not everyone knows for a fact that they’re going to reach retirement age, Bill

After I got my masters degree I traveled all throughout south east Asia and work there and did a lot of traveling. Then I came home later to settle down for a full-time job. I’m glad I did all my traveling as a young man. It also helped me to become bilingual

My siblings are in a similar mindset of taking lavish vacations and traveling even though they don't have a stable income. Their justification for it is that they have accepted that they have absolutely no future, regardless of how hard they work. So they are trying to enjoy their lives now before the world basically ends. I've noticed that a lot of people in my generation are super defeatists, and I can't exactly argue that they are wrong.

3:37 this is your entire job description, like word for word my dude

I'm saying this as someone who goes to school fulltime while working 2 jobs, before someone wants to jump in and call me some lazy entitled millenial. People don't not want to work because they want to be internet famous? That's such a ridiculous idea, honestly I've only met a handful of people around my age who legitimately want to get famous and even then they usually still work. I assume it was similar before the internet with young people wanting to get into acting or music. Anyways people don't want to work because the jobs available treat you like trash. The ones you can get without experience have super low, barely livable wages. For someone who is as rich as he is I doubt he understands this..but with the pandemic and everything people don't want to go back to work because they realize how awful it was. He brings up teacher as a good job, but I've heard in some places in the US teachers get treated so unfairly. Paying for school supplies out of their own pocket on a super low wage for the amount of education they have. Doctors and nurses being worked to death on crazy long shifts. I really we need reform on how jobs function...I like working, I like making money. But everyone deserves to be treated fairly. And so many crappy jobs I've worked don't even treat you like a person. Even 'respectable' well paying jobs have major flaws. That's why people don't want to work.

That's actually a pretty solid analysis of people tendency to confuse fame with fame-worthyness. Celebrity before the 1950s was restricted to people with major achievements. Shakespeare, Newton, Mandela, Gandhi, Alexander the Great, Neitzshe, Tesla and Darwin all actually did something worthwhile before they got recognition. We would not remember them otherwise.

"If you think having a job is so terrible, how come you're always trying to get people fired? " - Bill Maher, 2021

"Doesn’t anyone in this country just stop and look at things anymore, sort of take them in, maybe even … remember them? Is that such a strange notion? Does experience have to be documented and brought home and saved on a shelf? And do people really watch this shit? Are people’s lives so bankrupt they sit at home looking at things they already did?" -- George Carlin

You know, Z gen’s obsession with taking pictures of themselves and showing their lives online isn’t related to narcissism, it’s actually related to the feeling of insignificance.

Always funny watching a talk show host telling other people to "get a real job"

At this point, it's not even offensive, he's just straight up incorrect

Does Bill not understand the irony of saying that it's stupid to want to be a celebrity, when he's been a celebrity for decades that doesn't do much other than give his opinions?

Actually Bill. The truth is that most of the jobs people can get do not pay enough to actually allow you to have a job. I had a full-time job at a hotel as a desk clerk. I made about 9 dollars per hour. That embarrasses me because I do have a college degree. I also have spotty work history because spent the last 6 years sporadically caring for elderly ill family members. The job I had was the job I could get, and 9/hr did note pay enough for me to pay rent, getting to and from work, food, insurance, prescriptions, electricity... So no, we don't necessarily just want to be insta-famous. Sometimes, those are the only jobs we can afford to get so we do have a van to live in. Because being unwashed and homeless is not conducive to showering, shaving, pressing your work clothes, and making out to work on time.

Over eight thousand comments and they're mostly from 20 and 30 somethings who took this segment personally and seemed to completely miss Bill's point: you have to suffer through the shitty jobs to rise up the ranks to get the job you dream of-- no one is going to hire you out of college to be the CEO.

In Dick Cheney's defense, he just wants to shoot something. Remember that guy he shot?

I did the travel thing since my teens and am SOOOOOO glad I did....TO go after a career, get married have kids and start paying bills at 20-25 yrs old was ridiculous to me....and now more people are getting that part...lol. To wait after your 65, and hope you're not sick, or have enough money was too big a risk for me....to put a lifetime on hold to bet you can do it later is INSANE to me. Do it now. Tomorrow was never promised.. That's just how I did it....now at 46, I look at things differently and am in my settling down phase....I will never have the FOMO attitude because I slept on beautiful beaches, lived in Europe, went to Egypt, met strangers in different lands and had drinks and laughs..Rode a beat down bicycle to catch my bus that was leaving in a few hours to get to the next town...snorkeled in the caribbean, drank hot cocoa in the Swiss Alps...Got drunk flying KLM with friends, smoked Hash in France while catching a subway to get to the English Pub.....I lived it and with little money....It can be done....=) I wouldn't trade those experiences for all the money in the world....hell no.

The best thing about online content is being able to vote with my dollar by cherry picking creators I align with and want to support. Unfortunately if I want to continue to watch HBO a part of my subscription money goes to Bill.

I'll put it to you like this. I'd much rather pay for an education, a house and to raise a family in 1970 than in 2023. Younger generations aren't lazy, many of them are working two jobs then driving Uber on the side just to make ends meet. The generation who got to own a house and vacation every year on a single income shouldn't horn in with their criticisms. The prosperity boomers took for granted has been worn down to a trickle. Things NEED to change!

This isn't new. You shame "Content creators", but there's little difference between that and wanting to grow to be a movie star, late night host, or stand up comedian. You can't mock "content creators" when you are one.. Getting pretty sick of this, "Young people today..." shtick..

I'm a little surprised that the dislike ratio is not higher, especially considering the comments of the video.

This clip demonstrates a lack of empathy and imagination on Maher’s part. As a Gen Xer, I see younger people as being thrust into a world where wages are stagnant, the college path means staggering debt, and home ownership is a dream out of reach. When Maher was young, working two to three jobs to get by wasn’t a thing one had to do. I don’t really fault younger people for rolling the dice on a RU-vid career rather than being repeatedly bent over a barrel by Walmart or Amazon. As for riding around in an RV being something that retirees are supposed to do, maybe Maher hasn’t noticed that younger people know very well that retirement isn’t all that likely for them either. Meanwhile, did he catch the massive existential crisis that has been the pandemic? Losing lives in this country alone at American Civil War levels since the pandemic began has made people of all ages think that perhaps working from home makes more sense than risking it all working in a factory or a restaurant. Makes RU-vid work look pretty smart, actually. Sure, there’s a big problem with self-absorption in many younger people and a desire to not have to do work… just like it was with the slackers in my generation and the hippies before that. Bill Maher used to sell pot and was an actor in Pizza Man. Let’s just say that didn’t require him to hone his craft at the New School. When Bill is on, he’s on fire. This was a dud.

The dirty little secret is most of these van people either had careers that paid well or some sort of financial windfall that allowed them to finance their do nothing lives. There's a guy on youtube who lives in an RV but he's a merchant mariner and spends 8 months out of the year at sea. The people who made their money truly being lazy are few and far between. Most of them either worked to afford that life, or have the time to live that life while still maintaining a career.

I guess Bill considers himself a "teacher?" And I don't understand that last line: "If you think having a job is so terrible, why are you always trying to get people fired?" I'm not seeing that logic...

But admit it Bill, a lot of the businesses bitc*hing about labor shortages aren't hiring a lot of people that are applying for the jobs...Too old, too young, to inexperienced, too qualified...When businesses start using all that help they got to pay their workers...to start actually paying their workers ...I think the "Content creators" have a point.

Reading these comments makes it obvious that he has touched a nerve. So many saying that he does the same thing. The difference is that he is entertaining his audience with substance about actual events in the real world, not posting pictures of himself with breakfast as content. It's the mirror obsessed narcissism that he is criticizing.

the first words out his mouth say it all- "the part of life where you enjoy life is supposed to come after you work for a living." mans really can't imagine a world without capitalism, i wonder if he knows that ancient societies (and indeed, most of the modern world that isn't america) work and enjoy themselves at the same time. it's called "an actual human life," and from what i hear it's pretty nice.

"Van Life" = In the late 70's / early '80's we piled into the van & went on Grateful Dead tour, sold tie dyes, bumperstickers, grilled cheese, & drugs. But that was during breaks & summers while we pursued college degrees &/or worked crappy hard labor jobs.

It seems to me every new rule lately is Bill just having a senior moment. Superhero movies are the problem. Wanting to go to Mars is the problem. Smart phones are the problem. Now young people trying for a career as content creators online is the problem. And this is from a guy who gets paid millions to do a talk show, which is basically being himself and telling the world what he thinks about shit and from time to time turning to guest and saying "tell them how right I am". Come on, let's be real here, you're not exactly working in a mine, ok? I had those crappy McJobs during my teens and twenties and I wish there was an option to be a content creator back then because I would have totally done that if I could. Now, personally I don't find the content young creators are making interesting, I'm too old for that. I never understood why would anyone want to watch other people play video games or open boxes, and I didn't even know that van living vlogs were a thing (I guess it's mostly an American thing?) - but I don't think only the things that I like and find interesting should exist. I don't need to understand everything. I'm fine with not liking something that other people like and just not watch it. You're like a grumpy old man complaining about kids not behaving exactly like your generation did, just because it is unfamiliar. In fact, I take back the "like". That is exactly what you are at this point. Yes, kids today find content creation as a possible easy, well paying and fun career. Much like I thought being a rock star was exactly that. I was wrong, they are wrong, most of them will realise and move on with their lives, that's just life and being young. But those who succeed in doing that, if they hold enough of an interest and make money out of it - good for them! Even if I personally don't care for the content they make. If they create a product that enough people find useful or entertaining to spend money on, who am I to tell them not to do it or to feel bad about it? And if they won't be interesting enough for people or won't know how to monetise it, which is what will happen in the vast majority of cases, they will grow out of it and look for something else. As it always was. Believe it or not, Bill, but a LOT of kids from your generation wanted to be comedians and travel the country (and other countries) telling jokes for a living, and then maybe make millions from hosting or acting. You are one of the few who made it. Most of them fell by the sideways and had to give up. They eventually became small business owners, lawyers, teachers or whatever. What exactly is the difference? You provided content on stage, these kids provide different type of content online because that is now an option. If you had said something like "we need to to have an education system that creates a society where young people aren't interested in cheap generic vlogs because their bar for quality entertainment is higher to begin with", I would have thought you made an interesting point. But this, like many of the rants in latest years, just sounds like "Get off my lawn, you damn kids, and get a job!"

when I was a child, every single kid in my class wanted to be a professional athlete of some kind. Now, everyone wants to be a content creator. It's a similar kind of aspiration I suppose, just a different generation. Kids growing up wanting to be the personalities they see on TV or online.

“I’m me and people pay to watch me” isn’t that what he does lmao

"I'm me and people pay to watch that" 😂😂 Bill you bragging about your job because that's you.

Big fan Bill but this is so hypocritical. You fail to mention if any of the available jobs pay enough for someone to afford rent and have money left after eating.

“Us normies” don’t include old rich white men disguising themselves as political commentators when they’re actually just old school content creators that nobody wants to watch. If you’re miserable, keep it to yourself. Oh and PS, you and your writers should read the whole survey before you go out spewing incorrect data presentation.

I don't know how Bill is shitting on traveling the country.... It's beautiful. I was fortunate enough to work remotely during COVID so i road tripped the states in 2021... One of the best experiences I've had.

Older generations recovered rather quickly from the Great Recession, the brunt of it was born by Millennials who never recovered economically, wages stagnated and costs skyrocketed, and that endurance period Bill refers to, it never ended, so people gave up.

Dude who shouts his opinions at a camera for a living calls people who film themselves doing stuff narcissists. Fascinating.

how exactly is any of what Bill's complaining about any different than what Bill does for a living himself?

Psych nurse here. Ask a patient under 30 what their life plan is after discharge, nearly all of them have some component that involves creating content. Ask them if they have a special skill, experience, insight . . . 😦 wuh?!

Getting paid to do nothing has always been every generation's highest goal. Read what the ancient Greeks wrote about their young people. The desire to work less and earn more has driven every new invention since the wheel.

“Social media - it's just the market's answer to a generation that demanded to perform, so the market said, here - perform. Perform everything to each other, all the time, for no reason. It's prison - it's horrific. It's performer and audience melded together. What do we want more than to lie in our bed at the end of the day and just watch our life as a satisfied audience member. I know very little about anything. But what I do know is that if you can live your life without an audience, you should do it.” ― Bo Burnham

There are plenty of travel vloggers who do a good job of it, explaining local culture, history, geography, even geology. And I find the difficulties and woes of the vloggers who travel unconventionally by small sailboat, bicycle, motorcycle, and even RV interesting--their breakdowns, repairs, storms encountered, etc. Vicariously, I feel their adventure. Some include a lot of practical content, such as how to repair a flat, how to repair a sail, how to tie sailing knots, how to service a portable toilet, solar panels. etc. Not so familiar with the "I want to be famous for being me" vloggers.

The problem is, those shitty apartments they payed for with shitty jobs, is now the most you can hope for, if you worked your way up to a mid level job. Dear Bill, things changed a lot since the last time you actually hat to work for a living.

So much boomer energy coming from Bill these days.

There's a lot to sort from this: 1) As some have already stated, the fact that there are more jobs available and fewer people filling them does not negate the fact that employers are, on the whole, unwilling to pay a legitimate living wage that supports the employee. 2) As it has become painfully obvious, the vast majority of internet "influencers" are vacuous people doing meaningless bullshit for the sake of money and their own egos. How many people *really* need someone to teach them the intricacies of advanced makeup techniques? Even in the case of subject matter with some meaningful relevance to others lives (say something like breastfeeding tips for young mothers with children that can't eat formula as a singular example, there's obviously more than that), you're just as often faced with people whose qualifications in the subject matter is kind of shaky. 3) There are a lot of people out there doing "van life" - not because they want to share it with others online, but because it is their best way to live because rents have skyrocketed all over and, as we've already discussed, employers don't want to pay a realistic wage that allows the employee to pay rent *and* be able to actually pay to eat! When people are comparing costs for things like insurance for their vehicle against rent for apartments that aren't much bigger than cardboard boxes, this is how that happens! 4) ...and this is mainly focused at you, Bill - whether you wish to acknowledge it or not, you *are* an influencer. Maybe you're not doing the Instagram or Twitter thing on a constant basis, but you have a presence here on RU-vid, and you still have the ability to influence the thinking of others. You are, on the whole, more constructive than destructive - but you need to recognize that you're living in a house with a whole lot of glass, and there's a whole lot of rocks in your hand, sir.

I feel like this show just became “old man doesn’t understand the world anymore” and we still watch it because we remember a day when it was pertinent.

Looking at the comments it's obvious our generation is not ready to swallow this one yet 😂

Turns out motivational speaker, Matt Foley was onto something and he didn’t even know it.

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is not just for senior citizens, Bill.

I always wonder how many of those travel blogs have any overlap with "i live out of my car and earn money over my phone because that's literally all I can afford right now"?

Hey Bill, it's not about doing nothing all day and not working, it's about not having to worry about paying bills. ¬Sincerely, us normies who *don't* have a net worth of more than 10^8 dollars

Bill Maher, 7 minutes of criticizing people who are trying to be Bill Maher.

Well... I backpacked and lived in a van and travelled around on a shoestring when I was young. Now I'm in my 40s and settled into an everyday job and my friends now want to go to music festivals or backpacking and I'm like - I'm too old now, can't afford it and I don't know these bands anyway :D Why not do it when you're young or whenever you're ready?

Meh. I like Bill Maher. But I don’t agree with him regarding numerous points here. But that’s how constructive discussion starts

When you Google hypocrisy this video should be the first result

I love Bill's slant on things but he could have taken a shot at himself when he said to be paid just to sit around and if that does not work become a pot tester. Also I am more than old enough to remember young hippies doing the van thing in the sixties . Everything thats new is old.

BILL: I WATCH YOU ON RU-vid. That makes you a content creator on social media.

Bill Maher: Why don't these young adults get *real* jobs, like I did when I was a young adult??? Also Bill Maher: When I was a young adult I sold drugs for a living!

Marijuana tester? Oh yeah. Sign me up for that!

I'll say it again: I'm millennial (born in '87), and I WORK. I have 3.5 jobs: --I'm a barista 3 days a week (8-10 hrs/day); --I work retail--selling Sanita clogs, Birkenstocks and Smartwool socks--1 or 2 days per week (6-8 hrs/day); --I'm a certified personal trainer (NASM) and train women over 60 (yeah, I re-condition out-of-shape boomers) at a local gym and privately on my own; --and I sell my artwork (which I consider half-a-job), I sell paintings ($80-$250 ea. w/ $15-$25 prints), $30 scrimshaw scallop shells, $30-$90 Portraits, and other commissioned items... (mostly sold from September--December...). --And while we're counting... I'm also an occasional handyman, doing repairs, cleaning and maintenance for elderly clients in my neighbourhoods (@$25/hr)... --I WORK. I work a lot. And... My rent was just raised, beyond what I can afford, so now I'm living in my grandparents basement, until I can find something I can afford back near ALL my jobs....

Van Life is about people not being able to afford a house

74 year old boomer here. Young van couples don't bother me a bit, because I'm at that golden age where it's a lot easier to sit in my recliner and see videos of interesting places to visit than it is to actually visit them! Some of these van dwellers obviously work pretty doggone hard on their high quality video productions. Rock on, all you kids in RV's and vans, who've been handed silver spoons. You probably make up less than half a percent of the people your age. The rest are slaving away at Taco Hell so they can buy a few groceries and condoms and get high on Saturday nights. Have fun out there in those luxury vans. No skin off my old back. Get over it, Bill. You must have been desperate for content for this week's "New Rules". :-)

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