WEBVTT - Russia Is Paying Right Wing Influencers? 0:00:21.723 --> 0:00:25.023 A whole bunch of right wing influencers received millions of 0:00:25.023 --> 0:00:29.403 dollars from Russia in return for promoting pro-Russian talking points, 0:00:30.573 --> 0:00:34.293 which is hilarious to me since their whole narrative is like, 0:00:34.323 --> 0:00:38.823 I don't believe anything. I'm skeptical. I'm discerning except when 0:00:38.823 --> 0:00:42.543 it comes to obvious Russian propaganda. Here's another way to 0:00:42.573 --> 0:00:46.503 think about it. And I did some Intel in the Army. 0:00:46.503 --> 0:00:52.233 I'm not, like heavily Intel trained, but I did have 0:00:52.233 --> 0:00:54.393 a decent amount of exposure to it and worked in 0:00:54.423 --> 0:00:57.933 like the Intel Group or whatever. But the thing about 0:00:57.933 --> 0:01:02.853 this here are probably two unrelated phenomenon. One, we know 0:01:02.853 --> 0:01:05.973 for absolute certain that Russia is trying to use its 0:01:05.973 --> 0:01:09.933 significant propaganda capabilities to influence the right wing in the 0:01:09.933 --> 0:01:13.803 United States to be pro-Russian into Ukraine, that we know 0:01:13.803 --> 0:01:17.613 for absolute certain. Like that's not even debatable. They are 0:01:17.613 --> 0:01:22.743 really good at this, and they are spending at least 0:01:22.743 --> 0:01:25.683 tens of millions of dollars, probably hundreds of millions of dollars, 0:01:25.683 --> 0:01:30.443 probably not billions. So I'm guessing tens of millions to 0:01:30.473 --> 0:01:33.923 hundreds of millions of dollars they are spending on doing this. 0:01:34.613 --> 0:01:37.583 And they're really good at it because it's essentially like 0:01:37.583 --> 0:01:43.433 the evolution of the KGB. Second point, which is probably unrelated. 0:01:43.433 --> 0:01:47.033 The right wing in the United States is now completely, 0:01:47.063 --> 0:01:51.953 almost completely pro-Russian Anti-ukraine. And some people reached out to 0:01:51.983 --> 0:01:54.413 me and they're like, that's not true. That's not true. 0:01:54.743 --> 0:01:57.323 I should have went and found some data and linked 0:01:57.323 --> 0:01:59.873 to it. I read the data all the time. I 0:01:59.873 --> 0:02:02.903 read the data all the time in polling, where it's like, 0:02:02.903 --> 0:02:09.923 how much of the Republican Party, when polled, are actually pro-Putin? 0:02:09.953 --> 0:02:12.653 The numbers are ridiculous. I'm sorry, I don't have the 0:02:12.653 --> 0:02:15.923 link here. I should have put it in there, but 0:02:15.953 --> 0:02:19.793 it's it's pretty easy to Google and you'll find it yourself. 0:02:19.793 --> 0:02:22.163 It's actually better if you find it yourself than if 0:02:22.163 --> 0:02:25.403 I feed you the link. Just Google that. Look for 0:02:25.403 --> 0:02:31.473 your look for the stats, the polling. It's ridiculous. And 0:02:31.473 --> 0:02:34.023 a brief political aside. So this is an example of 0:02:34.053 --> 0:02:37.023 a little breakout piece. So I already know I'm going 0:02:37.053 --> 0:02:39.483 to get hate mail about the point above, because I'm 0:02:39.513 --> 0:02:42.213 a crazy liberal and I post a lot of other 0:02:42.213 --> 0:02:49.413 stuff that's like anti-left far left and their idiocracy or idiocy. 0:02:49.413 --> 0:02:52.623 And I get tons of comments about being way too 0:02:52.653 --> 0:02:57.513 right from the left because I attack the left and whatever, 0:02:57.513 --> 0:02:59.373 and I just now attack the right, and they're going 0:02:59.403 --> 0:03:02.013 to be like, oh, you're too left wing. So I 0:03:02.013 --> 0:03:04.893 ask you to consider another possibility, which is I'm actively 0:03:04.893 --> 0:03:10.503 considering each position from first principles, not perfect. I could 0:03:10.503 --> 0:03:13.053 be wrong, but I put a lot of effort into 0:03:13.083 --> 0:03:15.873 having my own opinions that are not part of a 0:03:15.873 --> 0:03:19.983 tribe of pre-approved options. So perhaps the best way to 0:03:20.013 --> 0:03:23.313 sum me up right now is that I'm liberal in 0:03:23.313 --> 0:03:28.563 my goals, and somewhat conservative in my approach for how 0:03:28.563 --> 0:03:34.233 to achieve them. So meaning, I want a planet full 0:03:34.233 --> 0:03:38.723 of lots of different colors and ethnicities of people all 0:03:38.723 --> 0:03:43.613 thriving together. A secular society that encourages any religion but 0:03:43.613 --> 0:03:47.213 doesn't allow any of them to infringe on government or 0:03:47.213 --> 0:03:52.613 the ideals listed here. Gender identity, private sexual behavior between 0:03:52.613 --> 0:03:58.553 consenting adults, all personal choices and nobody's business. Basically, the 0:03:58.553 --> 0:04:01.253 freedom for everyone to strive to be the best versions 0:04:01.253 --> 0:04:04.733 of themselves that they can be, and a society that 0:04:04.733 --> 0:04:09.533 sees that as simultaneously a matter of personal responsibility, but 0:04:09.533 --> 0:04:16.193 also helps people along that path. So free speech, the 0:04:16.193 --> 0:04:21.203 ability to offend people with difficult ideas and have those 0:04:21.203 --> 0:04:25.493 debates and be controversial and be offensive, right. The concept 0:04:25.493 --> 0:04:32.063 of meritocracy, the emphasis on personal responsibility. Okay. And those 0:04:32.063 --> 0:04:36.383 are kind of like currently those are considered like right wing. Right. 0:04:36.383 --> 0:04:40.903 But also the acknowledgement that some people in groups need 0:04:40.933 --> 0:04:44.833 help getting to this point where their personal responsibility can 0:04:44.833 --> 0:04:48.883 actually take root and help them thrive, and that it 0:04:48.883 --> 0:04:55.003 is society's responsibility to give that to them. And that's 0:04:55.003 --> 0:04:58.963 where it's liberal. So in other words, if everyone had 0:04:58.963 --> 0:05:04.063 the same opportunity, I'd be fiercely all about meritocracy. But 0:05:04.063 --> 0:05:08.413 not everyone has the same opportunity. And that's the role 0:05:08.413 --> 0:05:12.943 of society and charity and kindness to help them get 0:05:12.943 --> 0:05:16.783 to the place where their hard work can actually benefit them. 0:05:17.653 --> 0:05:20.983 So the problem right now, in my mind, is that 0:05:20.983 --> 0:05:26.023 the far right and the far left are in opposition 0:05:26.833 --> 0:05:30.043 to that model I just laid out. The far right, 0:05:30.043 --> 0:05:32.773 because they actually want the wrong things, and the far 0:05:32.773 --> 0:05:35.083 left because they are so confused about how the world 0:05:35.083 --> 0:05:40.573 works that they're causing more harm than good. So anyway, 0:05:40.573 --> 0:05:43.813 that's a short version of where I currently stand. And 0:05:43.813 --> 0:05:46.313 if you ever get confused about, like, if I'm crazy 0:05:46.313 --> 0:05:50.813 right or crazy left? Just go read that. And here's 0:05:50.813 --> 0:05:54.173 a really important point. I also consider you to make 0:05:54.173 --> 0:05:58.253 your own North Star paragraph or set of bullet points 0:05:58.253 --> 0:06:03.293 like I just did, and have that be your thing 0:06:03.293 --> 0:06:08.723 and then realize that this, this, the left narrative or 0:06:08.723 --> 0:06:12.803 the right narrative or centrist narrative with all these different narratives, 0:06:12.803 --> 0:06:14.903 they don't really matter. What matters is what is your 0:06:14.933 --> 0:06:18.353 North Star look like? Like I just laid out. And 0:06:18.353 --> 0:06:21.023 then what you'll find is, like all these different narratives 0:06:21.023 --> 0:06:25.373 and tribes and everything they might have. Venn diagram overlaps 0:06:25.373 --> 0:06:28.703 with some part of your thing, but they shouldn't be 0:06:28.703 --> 0:06:32.213 your thing. If you have a perfect Venn diagram, overlap 0:06:32.213 --> 0:06:38.093 with the extreme right or the extreme left, you don't 0:06:38.093 --> 0:06:41.633 have your own opinions. You are using someone else's opinions 0:06:41.633 --> 0:06:46.013 and that's a problem. So North Star plus First principles 0:06:46.013 --> 0:06:49.133 is far better than picking a tribe and endorsing everything 0:06:49.133 --> 0:06:49.883 they say.