Which Side is More "Ideological?" 

I have a "Show Me the Meaning" shaped hole in my heart.

The girl you picked to illustrate "left" deserves compensation (not from you, the whole internet lol). If you watch the original video, she was very polite and patient while an idiot provoked and insult her. They later cherrypicked a frame mid-speak in which she looked "triggered"

I've been watching you since the beginning Jared. I really love all the editing work you put into this video. One of the best video essays I've ever seen.

When speaking between Christian's, marxists, liberals, netizcheites, etc. I find the term worldview is better than any other. Religion is a worldview with particular emphasis on supernatural reality. Political ideology is a worldview with particular emphasis on politics realities. Worldviews emerge from economic, political, cultural metaphysical pillars, as in Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. I agree with "they live", everyone is and ought to be aware of the lenses we wear. You can't not have a worldview, you can only negotiate as best you can across belief systems, always open to abandon one lens for another that illuminates the world better, and lays its ideas flat on reality the best.

I think ideology and Heidegger's concept of "thrownness" are closely linked. Any being born into this world will seek to orient itself. That drive to find orientation or balance is potent because you can't ever feel "good" until it's resolved. Ideologies provide a path toward an individual's sense of worldly balance. Maybe a "balanced" world means mother earth is pleased. Maybe it means the individual ought be higher up in the pecking order. Regardless, each individual usually grows up with a sense that they've been brought into this world by pure incident, but the trajectory of their life is not incidental. I figure most people gravitate toward ideologies for mostly the same reason - it's easier than coming up with your own. Ideologies are just a convenient shorthand when one pursues that feeling of orientation after being "thrown" into being.

Which ideology is more ideological is a stupid fucking question

I’ve always been fascinated about how the most ideological centrists and moderates see themselves as and their worldview as inherently non-ideological and rational.

This was a amazing essay Jared, thank you. And thank you for introducing me to Zizek's "big other" idea. I have had a very immature version of this idea myself for years, and have been looking for where I could read more about it. I knew somebody else had to share this concept

The difference is I get annoyed by the fanatic far left, but I get scared of the fanatic far right. I'd rather get annoyed rather than get scared.

Thank you for this channel Jared; I followed you from your Wisecrack days, and am grateful for your content. You provide nuanced, thoughtful, and intellectually honest critique that distills real insight into the issues plaguing us today… without the ideological cheerleading that usually accompanies such discourse.

Jared, your recent content has genuinely made me reconsider who I actively listened to within the media landscape and to some extent reconsider many positions I may have once held. Cheers!

Even without a rift or polarization everything that is human thought subsumes into ideology, and slinging it as a dirty word to describe the perverse worldview of your opposing tribes reveals an ignorance of your own biases and worldview. That Bush speech sure shows plenty of that ignorance and Fukuyama's prediction about the state of the world and its history couldn't had been more wrong because his tenets were, unbeknownst to him, ideological. Probably the best legacy that the nascent metamodernist philosophy will leave is the understanding that ideology shapes the myths and narratives that we tell ourselves even in the absence of competing worldviews.

Most of the world are just children disguised as adults. Regardless of political affiliation or class systems most people behave as school children trying to fit in, and that usually involves putting someone(s) else down to feel good about yourself, or feel better about yourself to take off heat. I agree when you say both sides just make fun of the other rather than do something about it. In my experience talking to most people I have notice a grey area or one in the middle. Few are on extreme opposite sides. They become annoying. The other if you will doesn't have to be a diety telling us what to do or be our overlords. I believe they are to be our guides. A good guide, cuz the what I see is not leading by example as how you said, talk about helping the poor, but not doing it.

Jared, please never stop. This is top quality stuff

Great to see you making videos again. This was A+

While I think you’re making some compelling points, I do think the foundational assumption for the argument, that “wokeness” is a religious faith is accepted with far to little underpinning, effectively just making the claim. And while it’s certainly true that in the (especially online) left as a group there exists plenty of purity testing and gatekeeping, if you look at the actual positions that are considered leftnleaning taken on various issues they’re underpinned by reason rather than faith. This is illustrated well by how even people who start out right leaning very rarely can expose themselves to higher education in social sciences without moving decidedly to the left on most issues. Sure, there exists people who have assumed leftism for identity reasons and don’t understand the foundations of the issues they accept, but the foundations still exist. The issue further becomes hard to discuss reasonably in the Context of US politics, since the political landscape is skewed to the right from the outset in absolute terms. This is identified by how the leftist mainstream position is a decidedly liberal party, the democrats, whe liberalism is clearly a right wing ideology with foundational values such as free market capitalism and individual property rights. In standard political analysis the view on these two areas is the determining factor between the right and the left, where left wing ideologies such as socialism see capitalism and private property as the critical flaws of society. This isn’t a dimension that even exists in American political discourse and this may be a reason the so called cultural issues have become much more prevalent: when both political alternatives essentially agree on how society should foundationally work, what’s left as fighting positions are the “soft issues”. This is quite interesting since to the small group of people who are tsking ownership of an increasing part of all wealth it’s critical that the foundations does not change, while they couldn’t care less about issues like immigration, LGBTQ+ acceptance, racism or gun ownership. Indeed, they’re quite happy people are occupied with fighting over those issues because the one thing they absolutely can’t allow is for people to stop fighting over those and instead realizing something is foundationally wrong when 1% of the people own more than the entirety of the middle class or that some drastic changes will need to happen to avert ecological disaster. So, politicians who are prepared to ignore any structural issues and instead perpetuate the “culture war”, regardless of party are the ones becoming individually wealthy by doing what the ultra rich wants, that is making sure that people are kept divided over ideological boundaries, virtually guaranteeing that no significant changes to the core of society can ever happen.

I hope these videos are reaching a wide ideological spectrum.

Network? Fukuyama? Zizek? This video tickles my fancy.

First time seeing one of your videos. This was great. The line about “an authoritarian hole in your heart” was spot on. Great job.

Love the videos Jared!! Glad to see you still making content after wise crack these always give me a lot to think/ talk about

Excellent analysis

Not sure I buy your point that ecologists/environmentalists have a God like relationship with their "big other" because it is in the best interest for all life on Earth since the health of our ecosystems directly affects the health of the people. It's not about moral concepts like those in the Ten commandments but more about not shitting where you eat and live. Instead our economic systems necessitate and encourage short term profit seeking and short term thinking at the detriment to human and environmental health.

This is some of the best quality content on the internet. Fantastic vid.

First time I've seen a video from this channel. He looks like a guy who does IT from home, sounds like someone who does voice overs for game shows and superhero cartoons, but speaks with a clarity and honesty that is quite rare. Great stuff.

No cages, no gods, no masters.

I still dont understand how these essays are so good, Happy holidays to you as well Jared

Thank you Jared, I watched that interview with Dawkins after watching your video since I too grew up with him and regard him highly. I think both theories have some truth to it, the substitution theory and the big other. I would also argue that the effects of a big other got exponentially bigger through social media, you are literally watched and monitored all the time, at least in your perception. And the younger you are, the more that is the case.

The vast majority of every day people don’t care about either side and think they’re both ridiculous. I think the “culture war” to content creators is what love is to songwriters…..the main thing that sells.

Can you imagine how weird canned laughter will seem to somebody like 50 years from now stumbling upon old television shows?

Which ideological position is more ideological…? Huh?

Man your videos are amazing.

There might be value to this view, but I don't like the final conclusion that "everything is ideological". It is too similar to the leftist conception that "everything is political". Natural behaviours we engage in by instinct, or irrationally without some framework or understanding of why, aren't ideological.

most depression is from attaching one's value to an external result... and most depression only amplifies if those ideals are met. I remember seeing that depression commercial as a teenager, when I was most mired in an obsession with fitting in, admiration, and feeling horribly behind from the celebrity ideals I'd set out and expected of myself. Now I see I was too smart to fall for it, but the world wasn't smart enough to admit it was lying.

The biggest flaw when it comes to humans in today's era is that we promote individual growth and success over that of society as a whole. The reason humans have overcome everything and is standing on the top is our ability to share and understand information to our kids more then just whats genetically inherited. But in order to learn you need to trust and with parents today don't even trust themself how can a kid in that environment ever grow up to trust anyone other then themself.

I come from a very Christian childhood, and i read Dawkins a little too early, I think. The God Delusion at 14, when no one around you is intelligent enough to check any of those ideas, can almost radicalize you against religion in general. Now, almost 20 years later, my views on philosophy and religion are completely, and Dawkins is still caught in the same way of thinking.

I unsub'd from Wisecrsck shortly after you left. It didn't feel the same. I suppose there's a parallel there with this video. It wasn't so much about following you (or a Jaredian ideology) but rather the worth or enjoyment I got from the videos which I felt was less subsequently; no more earthling cinema and thug notes as just two examples. Glad that you're making new videos here. You got yourself a sub.

Jared with the theory essays. I'm here for it

I love your videos man. Keep going amd take care. 🌍🌟

One is annoying, the other is dangerous.

Its great to see how much you have grown since Wisecrack. I stopped caring about that channel close a while before you departure, The fallacies and half-truths were quickly mounting to a difficult content to truly benefit from. This however was deeper and better positioned. I'm impressed. for all that its worth, coming from the mouth of a random someone.

I see jared is in his centrist moral superiority phase

This video actually echoed a few of the things I was beginning to think myself, but didn't have the words to express. I'd thank some arbitrary Big Other force (Like the RU-vid algorithm) in my life for guiding me to this video, but instead, I'll just thank *you* for publishing it for me to find it by chance 😋

this video is some of the most profound shit i've ever found on youtube man, the amount of reasoning you can cram into 15 minutes is just amazing man, keep up the good work! by the way, what book would you recommend on the subject of that consummerist invisible ideology? edit: I talked to jared over instagram and he recommended the consumer society by jean baudrillard

Dagger and Ball is a strong name for a writing duo

We need a three party system to get out of the shitshow we’re in. Both the left and right of mainline American politics have become brainless.

Thanks for an edifying video.

This is my first time seeing a video of yours; loved it!

Bush Senior was a great president.

5:30 is slightly making my alarm bells perk up because... How? In what way? Usually, "wokeness" on the right is used to refer to social progressivism on civil rights and... How is that "More Irrational" than religion? Whether XYZ religion is objectively true is at least up for debate or unfalsifiable at best, but being progressive on its own, divorced of the actions of some OTT extremists or shallow performativism, is not ambiguous in the same way

This reminds me of Eric Hoffer’s book True Believer. I’m curious if you are familiar with it and the author’s ideas about why people willingly allow their own individual identities to be subsumed into grand ideological movements? This is one of the first of your videos I’ve watched so maybe you’ve already made a video about it and someone reading this can point me to it?

Thanks for turning me to Zizek's discourse. It's given me lots to think about.

The idea that the absence of religion leaves an "authority shaped hole" makes sense to me as religion is essentially a substitute for the first and most primal authority in our lives, our parents. As adults, our parents no longer tower over us in the way they did when we were young children. They not longer have the ability to tell us what to do. They can no longer provide us with moral guidance or authority because as adults we recognise that they are flawed human beings just like us. Religion exploits the lingering desire to have a greater and wiser figure to provide us with protection and moral guidance. A figure whose relationship with us is similar to a parents relationship with a young child. It is no surprise that the Lord's Prayer begins with "our father who art in heaven". Leaving religion means leaving this authority. People who leave religion look for authority in other places.

"Left" vs "Right" is better thought of "Progressive" vs "Reactionary". The fundamental question being "improve society" or violently defend the "status quo". IMO we can do better! How we accomplish this relies on discourse and unity. In the process, the individual gains relevance.

interesting use of "other". normally "the other" is used to define those as that are "not me" or "not us". however in the case of the "the big other" is any nebulous concept or "ideal" created to encourage one to tie (or lose) one's identity to something "other" than oneself so when one looks into a mirror one sees the personification of "the big other".

I have rarely enjoyed any sitcom comedy because it is rarely unique, One of my favorites was My name is Earl, Its appearance may seem dumb but like idiocracy told a compelling tale,

Crimson Permanent Assurance reality

Very interesting, I would love to see your opinions about Alan Moore comic books work!

Finally! Now I understand my discomfort with modern politics. It’s no longer a group of people coming together to produce an environment conducive to the most well being in society. It’s “turf wars” between two (or more) sets of ideological lenses. It’s also why I don’t quite get the obsession with the word “woke” and why I don’t think “woke” is a thing just like I don’t think “great again” is a thing either. I don’t think “cancel culture” is a real concept either. To me it’s all just thought stopping code for people who want to “own the libs” or visa versa.

Damn this is gold “Often times when we get depressed, our unhappiness doesn’t necessarily stem from unmet desires but rather from our perceived failure to generate desire in the eyes of the Big Other. We feel inadequate not because we lack what we want but because we are not inciting enough envy or admiration in others”

Left and Right appear as irreconcilable and opposing ideologies, but they are both part of the same underlying narrative. This narrative is what upholds what both are claiming to be rebelling against. This explains, for instance, the mix of bad faith and sincerity one usually encounters on both sides (usually in the same person). The hyper emotive nature of the discussions, i.e. its irrationality, is an indication that they are both attempts at expressing something buried in the psyche. That something is the collective trauma that maintains what we call Western Society, Democracy, Capitalism, etc. Trauma is what makes such societies possible, and at the end of the day trauma is what maintains it. Ideologies are a way of coping with the trauma. In practice, no matter their narrative content, Left and Right serve to strengthen the evils, real and imaginary, that they seek to destroy. This is why their champions are allowed in the public discourse.

Great review Jared! very insightful and accurate. I write this sincerely: I think you are one of best critical thinkers, social and philosophical commentators out there in these days.

I LOVE how people conflate economic and governmental systems 😂😂😂😂😂

"The Network" is an excellent yet scarey movie to this day.

Omg its jared from wisecrack! Man this was so good im gonna listen twice :) Big fan 😄

I just found Mr Bauer here and I think he makes fascinating videos! "It's not a God-shaped hole, nor is it an ideology-shaped hole. It's an authority-shaped hole." What I wonder is, could this be a bit of a false sorting system? All of them could be holes of sorts. I think people could be predisposed towards God/ideology/authority, in any mixture. Sure, most people (maybe all) care about their reputation -- Mark Leary calls this self-measurement our 'sociometer'. And something like a 'big other' can influence the form of our desire to preen our reputation. The thing in the back of our heads during depressive episodes. But the weird, seemingly superstitious forms a lot of our rituals take (like how a lot of Atheists get sucked into Astrology, or the extremes of postmodernism, including DEI drum sessions at uni)--personally I think a tendency toward something religious describes that better than consumer/enjoyment culture. I do agree with most of the points in the video, including that ideology is often kind of a costume to get approval, a tribe-signalling performance that is overlaid over our nature--and the more fundamental nature is about getting approval from the mob--or the big other, as Lacan might call it.

It’s so odd how institutions and governments protect one side and vehemently attack the other.

I don't even think it's the right question... It's a popular question, though. I think the question should be "which side is more full of it."

My first thought after hearing about that God/deity hole, is that it isn't necessarily a God shaped hole, it's ideological in that we just go looking for something else to identify with, or define ourselves with.

Thinking that socialism or capitalism is the culmination of our socioeconomic system is like staying in puberty without wanting to try adulthood, the maturity of ideas, knowledge and technology. We need a new and better system, at least a big upgrade of the actual capitalism.

i miss you on wisecrack!

There should be only one ideology - common sense

I wonder what a Jared deep dive into the movie Bulworth would be like?

Because I don't know where else to leave this (unrelated) thought: I feel like a lot of media lately has been exploring the idea that "we're all a product of our circumstances" to justify people's current, often messed up behavior and at first Netflix perpetrated this and then Disney bandwagoned it. Netflix shows that do this: - Orange is the New Black - Bojack Horseman - 13 Reasons Why - Dead to Me Disney media that does this: - Star Wars (kinda lol) - Cruella (2021) - probably a Marvel property or two, I haven't thought about this very hard tbh

Is this even a question? Some people are forced to believe that 12 year old can`t get a tattoo but can change sex. Some people believe that there is no way to define what a woman is. Some people believe in God and therefore believe in a bunch of nonsense.

It’s time to bring the sides together to face the real issues all Americans care about. #Kennedy24

We must protect this man, Mr. Bauer at all costs

Really enjoyed this video. I subscribed to Wisecrack many years ago because of Jared's nuance and his ability to give a pretty non-bias view on really difficult topics. I recently unsubscribed from Wisecrack because I felt like it had lost that nuance that I liked. Just subscribed to this channel and can't wait to dive into all the other videos.

What a title

Hey Jared - Perhaps consider altering your thumbnail? The person in question used in the "left" side of the box gets enough grief as it is, after being turned against her will into an imaginary strawman to punch down at. As I understood the origin, she was calmly and rationally speaking at a protest explaining a point, but due to having a very expressive face (and being a feminist) when speaking some less than savory people scanned frames to take the most unflattering screenshot possible to use as a symbol for why people on the left are this or that to use ad nauseam. Which as you can imagine has led to harassment and other less than pleasant behavior along the years. So in order to not even accidentally contribute to that, it ought to probably be a good idea to alter the thumbnail as this person didn't consent at all to this kinda stuff, had her image taken and co-opted against her will by people with bad, hateful intent, and as said has been getting harassed for it ever since both online and in real-life. All for the "high crimes" of...speaking calmly and explaining a point while attending a peaceful protest. Oh, and for being a woman, feminist, and all that because misogyny.

Idk tho, “The Big Other” sounds like ones conscience more than anything

0:35 I was there as a nine year old child - core memory with my mom.

the man is so based ... good god... it's beautiful.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and your family.

There's an easy way to tell which side understands issues more. Take 2 similar people on each side, have them try to fit in on the other side, and see who gets found out first.

Even if we gloss over the controversial take that (US) liberals are "leftist", you clearly know that liberals aren't representative of leftists as a whole, so why act as if that were the case? Are you simply happy use the absorbed and reconstituted capitalist version of the political spectrum as basis for your definitions of left/right politics? If so, why not make this clearer? The clickbait thumbnail plus this narrow perspective of the political spectrum presents the topic in the garbs of an anti-woke enlightened centrist, completely discordant with the otherwise nuanced (and generally leftist) arguments, which aren't about some deeper parallel between "left" and "right" politics/philosophy overall, but rather an analysis of the blurred line between ideology and religion, a caution against belief without deeper understanding and critical thought.

It’s funny that people find the idea of ‘woke as religion’ is a novel idea of something no one could’ve predicted Nietzsche predicted this in the 19th century!

Some of the "wokest" people I know are religious. It fits with the way they are comfortable thinking

This video is great.

I thought this was a really good video. I’m glad I came across it.

Awesome video as usual, somebody should send this to wisecrack to remind them how it’s done.

You might have explained this somewhere but where does the username kalsarikannit originate from? Are you a fellow Finn and if you are, your English pronunciation is amazing. Wish I had the ability to be as fluent and as versatile in my use of the language. Maybe I'm too much of a rural peasant and this is just common in some groups in the higher academia and I'm just way too easily impressed but you sound like a native speaker of the American English dialect.

"Do we have a need to fill a gap in our being with an ideology or religion that determines our tribal affiliation? Does that mean that the irrationality we choose is just a matter of taste?.. It's not a god- shaped hole it's an authority shaped hole.." I posit that god and authority are the same thing as that which is perceived to bear rule is authority aka "god". An authority-shaped hole is that hole that needs a god. Thankyou.

Hey Jared, great to final find your channel. I would sponsor you to do a video on objet petit a. I think it would be really helpful. Thanks!

Love your channel!

Many cultural norms and perspectives are not the product of ideology, but rather, are formed by blind evolutionary processes. This is in many way preferable to the institutionalised myths invented by political philosophers using cherry-picked and often imaginary 'reasons'.

I think when I am in the right state of mind, I actually integrate the big other with Kants categorical imperative, and inspiring others.

This world is messed up.

I take umbrage with the thumbnail!

Fantastic video Jared

I'd like to hear a video diving into Phillipa Foote's answer to the "is-ought". I understanding is that she believes that there isn't in fact a problem. That the world of oughts is in fact, objective.