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  • WHYYYY wasn't I a nerdfighter when you were in LaGrange... :(

  • AWWWW he so freaking cute

  • I think in theory it may work. But what I know is Capitalism has contradictions, it may be a free market, but in reality for the existence of these really really rich people, there has to be poor people. And I'm not a positive enough to think that one day it will totally work, I mean work for EVERYONE. I am as sure that Communism won't do it either. It's just not fair how freaking wealthy some people are, I don't care how much "charity" they do. Capitalism allows that. I pray for a new system.

  • @marythekook But people get all that money as a reward for working hard and contributing to the free market. I admit there are cases where it is unfair and it does need regulating but I do think that capitalism is the best system we are likely to develop

  • That was the most adorable thing I have ever seen in my entire life.

  • Puppy Elephant Defends Capitalism? PREVIOUSLY UNSAID SENTENCES.

  • i successfully took non of that in his little dig Willie is so cute its hard to listen

  • Oh, I'm sorry, John were you speaking? I was too busy looking at the puppy-sized elephant

  • Sarah was roughly six months pregnant in this video; I feel tricked.

  • Comment removed

  • @Quintinia you can almost tell at 2:15 ish with her shadow. it's hard though. also, willie is a westie, right?

  • @Quintinia thank you :D

  • The birthplace of the dooblydoo.

    Finally.

    All Nerdfighting inside jokes have been uncovered.

  • @ChelsieOliviaa Are they all in the 23 essential nerdfighter videos?

  • @venkat2212 I have no clue.

  • I HAVE A WESTIE TOO, but no elephant costume....must find

  • dont hear that much...puppy elaphant defends capitalisim...

  • "Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone." - Keynes.

    I don't hate capitalism: it is the most dynamic economic system of all history. Nonetheless, it's a system in which capital dominates just about everything. I hope that one day it will be superseded by something better.

  • @MrAlienlovechild Bravo!

  • Aaaaw soooo adorable!! :I -3

  • 'because it's a loan and they repay me it actually doesn't cost me anything' and it doesn't cost them their dignity either.

  • YESSSSSS!

    He said Doobly doo.

    WHEEZYYYY WAIIIITER! *ding*

  • I'm sorry, what were you saying?

    *continues to stare at Willy*

  • this video made me happy:) i mean the dog.. i didnt pay a lot of attention to his talking this time XD

  • Henry age 12 brings a friend home...

    Friend: why is your dog wearing an elephant costume

    Henry: nah my dad must just be in a bad mood

    Friend: ??

  • French the Llama! Look at those puff levels!

  • The difference between loaning money to a friend or through kiva.org and a bank loaning money is that a bank doesn't need an actual $10,000 to loan $10,000 out, a bank can potentially loan out more than 10 times it's actual worth, it creates money that didn't exist before when it needs to float a loan

  • I've been watching you for hours.

    So much so that my first instinct by means of comment is extremely creepy.

    I'm writing this pre-watching the video.

    I'm sick and tired and you're addicting and I'm Run-On-Sentencey.

    Just this once, PFTBA!

    The P stands for Please.

  • @sirdoctoroftardis12 You have dishonoured yourself. *tuts*

  • @KungfuCow5 That comment was made about two hours before I stopped watching.

  • awww hes so cute

  • It's amazing how you only have to mention a charity such as Kiva and then the nerdfighters flock to it. I love nerdfighteria.

  • Willy is so cute that I only heard "WAH WAH WUH WUH WMMM HRRR RRHHM WHRHHH" in the background while I was watching a very cute dog. And very randomly, I heard "Which is why heroine is illegal" and realized it was because there was no more cute dog and so I was paying attention again.

  • It seems like you based Alaska off of Sarah.

    That is probably the cutest thing I can think of besides....well. Willy.

    Or Henry.

  • that's a lot of yeti

  • @tunawrangler1 A nerdfighter actually asked John if he would rather have an elephant-sized puppy, or a puppy-sized elephant. He answers in a "Question Tuesday" video that he would rather have a puppy-sized elephant.This was in January 2008, so it was just after Brotherhood 2.0.

  • i didn't listen to a thing john said until the thing about getting rich on puppy sized elephant costumes and something about heroin because i was distracted by the puppy elephant

  • kiva.org is such a great thing!! It is absolutely my favourite charity because instead of say giving water or something to a village it helps improve the economy of 3rd world countries which is after all what needs to be changed in order for the decrease of their suck! (run-on enthusiasm)

  • I needed to look away the second time I watched this...

    I kept getting distracted by Willy.

    But, the best part is, what he says makes sense!

  • @2Bforsaken a nerdfighter is a person that instead of being made out of bones, and organs, and tissue, they're made entirely out of awesome. Go watch the rest of the vlogbrothers videos; you'll catch on.

  • willy got a tailrection!!

    

  • Can someone please tell me what a nerd fighter is? Thank you

  • I SAW THE YETI!!!

  • This video is actually one of the resources used for teaching capiralism to Grade 10 Social Studies students at my high school. It was the first time I ever saw a Vlogbrothers video. All of the teachers show it. :)

  • Puppy sized elephant costumes transfix from leaving homes to work

    Heroin transfixes from leaving homes to work

    Therefor puppy sized elephants are heroin

  • Does this count as a puppy sized elephant?

  • i wish i had seen this yesterday when i had to write an essay explaining capitalism

  • Can't...not...resist...liking.­..video!

  • COMMUNISM ALL THE WAY YAAAAA :)

  • Unfortunately the free capitalistic economies become run by corporations and then the economy suddenly isn't so free. It can still seem like it's free because of all the different brands, but they are all owned by one corporation creating fake competition. And don't even get me started on government subsidies.

  • I FOUND A PICTURE OF THE YETI ONLINE!!!! YAAAAAYYY!!!

  • @pokemonmanic400 Really? Where?

  • @darknight10000 Just google "John Green Sarah Green" ^_^

  • We're learning economy in social right now, and I can FINALLY understand this video! Poor Nerdfighter!....poor as in lame as in unable to understand economics ahead of my time

  • Gah Willy was so distracting, I'm sorry John I hardly heard a word you said =P PUPPY SIZED ELEPHANT COSTUMES #FTW ! =D

  • I also have a Westie. His name is Maxx (after Looking For Alaska) and I am now sewing him a puppysized elephant costume.

  • While organizations like kiva.org do good by providing capital for poor entrepreneurs, the way that they go about it is unacceptable. What you have not mentioned so far in any of these videos about it is the astronomical interest rates included with such loans. They say that since the loans are so small they need to have a high percentage of interest, but why must they profit? All money is provided by site users, plus they take donations. The interest rates thus are exploitative of those in need

  • @LegendShark You ask, "Why must they profit".... You don't understand what John is talking about here do you? Heck you don't seem to understand how the free market works at all. Interest rates are what make the process possible. If they just took Johns money and made nothing on it then the incentive to do it would not be there. They would also have no money to pay for the management of the company.

  • @stormlifter Wait, do the donors make money back from their investments? If so, then I'm not brutally irate.

    And they would have money to pay for the management of the company: When you donate money to a budding capitalist you are encouraged to donate to help the site run..

    But it's charity... the incentive is to help others. You're just feeding into the capitalist money grubbing system that forces you to believe that the only reason that people do anything is to make money. That's disgusting.

  • @LegendShark There's a lot of evidence to support the fact that lending developing countries money is more effective than giving them money, but that can be a whole different discussion.

    Kiva donors don't make money. What you're not accounting for is all of the people facilitating these loans. You can't expect someone to manage these loan groups 365 days a year without getting paid. Money Kiva makes above and beyond that is used to expand their efforts, allowing them to reach more people.

  • IT'S THE YETI!

  • @poprocksxxcoke The Yeti isn't in this. That's his wife. If you're referring to the puppy, his name is Willy.

  • @mmmmmheyyyy Yes, but it is the Yeti feeding Willy throughout the video. :3 Usually you don't see her this much.

  • okay, because i'm a grammar nerdfighter: heroine ≠ heroin. "heroine" = female hero, like buffy. "heroin" = illegal highly addictive drug that a bunch of rock stars have problems with. buffy is not a rock-star-killing drug. hence, i say again, heroines are not heroin. and i'll stop now.

  • cute puppy costume= heroine

  • I have a westie too :) I need to get him a small elephant suit!

  • Thats basically why heroine is illegal! hahah also apparently it feels like your naked in a hot tub of puppies!

  • I want a ellephant cosyume for my chiwawa

  • Oh dear... I really was trying to pay attention! I tried really... awww WILLY!

  • Awww he's so adorable! Wait, what were you talking about John?

  • Huzzah for the first vlogbrothers use of Dooblydoo!

  • This video doesn't really address any of the problems with capitalism that I worry about, like exploitation of workers, corporate wastefulness and pollution, or the free market's failure to prevent "tragedy of the commons" events (see: fisheries). I'd like to see a video about that someday!

  • @OlleLindestad That's why we have governments - to step in and legislate where the market fails.

  • Elephant puppy kills with cuteness!!!!!!

  • Oh, and yes, the super partisan, left and right does like to call anyone who disagrees with them a "left wing socialist," or a "right wing fascist." Our country is so divided it is sad.

  • The dog is really cute, and I do think the free market works, it just needs regulation.

  • I actually had to watch this a few times to get the gist of what John was saying because I kept drifting off and just paying attention to Willy.

    transfixing? yes, very.

  • I just put it on mute and watched the puppy!!

  • hey john willy's tail is not limp anymore!?

  • COME BACK TO COLUMBUS.

  • this is a great video but this is an argument for a market economy,which not necessarily an argument for capitalism. there have beeen and still are lots of market economies that are not exactly capitalist(social democratic market economy, economy of compeating workers co-ops ect ect), and also arguably lots of economies that had capitalists but no real market compitition (facism and if i wanted to be mean the modern american banking system). capitalisim and a market economy arnt the same thing

  • I see the Yeti !!!!!

  • WOW! At 2:38 you actually updated the new dooblydoo to the current format

  • it's really difficult to focus on silly issues like capitalism when there are puppies in elephant costumes scampering around.

  • I did not hear one word that man said. Puppy Elephant is too cute. Win!

  • Oh my god that kiva website is amazing.

    From now on most of the gifts i give people will be gift certificates from that site.

  • Terriers are such awesome dogs.

  • Willy is adorable, and he seems to be okay with the costume. He has the sweetest face too.

  • Willy is SO cute!!

    I found out about Kiva a long long time ago from you guys, and I've lent to two people (one fully paid back, the other almost) and I got my mom Kiva gift certificates for Christmas so she's lent to two people, and I agree that it's a really really awesome website!

    P.S. What is aplomb? (from the end of the doobly-do?)

  • funny thers a dungeons & dragons ad under u and willy :3

  • oh right, the renovations are for the baby room.. I just realize it

  • This is my favorite video ever!

  • I really can't pay attention to what he's saying with that adorable puppy in an elephant costume!

  • i love your dog so much <3

  • John, if you promise to come to Columbus, Ohio on my birthday (October 20th) for the 3rd year in a row, I will be the happiest turning-17-year-old-Nerdfighte­r in Nerdfighteria that day.

  • Gah...meant 2nd year in a row...year knowing fail.

  • John: It's a balance between the communist extreme and the capitalist extreme. The fact that we have any regulation at all shows this. So you've argued the point for the free market side of things, and there are great arguments for the socialist side. The question is, which is the best balance? Having lots of experience of America vs Europe, my view is that America is far too extreme in the capitalist direction. You'll never have complete freedom or social fairness... you have to choose a mix.

  • @dwood2001 Agreed it is a balance between the two extremes.

  • Ah, capitalism.

    Sorry about your basement, but the benefit is that Willy is adorable in his elephant costume.

    And yeah, as soon as I have money to loan I'm signing up for Kiva.

  • Dear John,

    You have the best goofy analogies for serious topics. Also, I'm so sad I couldn't see you in Columbus. I've been in Ecuador since the beginning of October and now that I'm home I'm watching all the VlogBrothers videos I missed...and now I'm sad that I missed seeing you. Come back soon!!!

  • puppy sized elephnets FTW

  • I love puppy-elephants

  • thank you for defending capitolism. people are starting to scare me with their anti-capitolism attitudes. over time in a socialist economy everone is equal, but everone is equally poor, and over time the country's economy goes down. with capitolism there are dips and booms, but on average the economy goes up

  • "Which is basically why heroin is illegal, but that's another story." So, you don't really believe in capitalism, just a free market for those things you agree with. Hmmm... A really free market would include a free market for property use; for example, I could build an adult bookstore right next to that nice yard you and Bubbles are running around in. What? That would infringe in your use of your property? But what about the free market? Can't I use my property as I want?

  • Front page of YouTube!!!

  • Upper middle class white male defending capitalism color me shocked.

  • Capitalism dosnt work because for an economy to keep growing there has to be continueous demand and recources for products.people dont need an infinite number of things and there only a limited amount of recources in the world.

    Without growth and profit there is no incentive for business to continue on the market.

  • Which means that when your one product is down, then you would need to make a new one to keep it growing. Using the Elephant idea: When people stop buying elephant costumes because they already have one, the person making elephant costumes would need to think of a new idea to keep their business growing, such as lion costumes. In the real world, this creates new inventions and a growth in technology.

  • True, but that will only bring a limited growth to consumer products, not, for example healthcare, where developement is vital. This also leads to people spending more money on consumer products, which leads to inflation and insreased personal borrowing, which then leads into a downturn when prices become too high and many people are unwilling to spend because of their debt.

  • Well. then people have to be smart with their money. If someone is borrowing so much that they can't pay it back, then that person has a problem. Though, if people start unwilling to spend their money on a product, then the product will drop in price until people are willing to buy it.

  • There is a problem if banks are allowed to give out 120% mortgages, sometimes to risky customers.

    But when product prices drop, the company who makes/sells this product cuts expenses through wage reductions or redundancies, leading more people into the bad debt from a mortgage, for example. This leads into a spiral of banks losing money and not providing loans for businesses which leads to less products being made and less liquidity in the economy.

  • That's the problem with the bank. Would you lend your money to someone you know unresponsible? There is a problem with banks giving out that much on risky custormers, I agree to you on that. That's why our country is in this kind of mess.

  • Definetly. Banks need to be properly regulated and its no good to anyone if they're in financial trouble

  • Aww, poor doggy,

  • I'm sorry, I couldn't take you seriously while watching Willy in his puppy elephant costume. I don't think I understood anything you said. XD

  • Honestly John, do you really think I want to pay 99 cents to get your video? I mean, a puppy in a puppy-sized-elephant costume is cute and all..but no 99-cents cute.

  • thats just a new function that youtube is fazing into the site. Its not johns idea, they'll soon be everywhere

  • So...would the person who posted the video I'm paying for get some of that $.99?

  • If they are a partener. The vlogbrothers are, youtube already pays them. People who arent partenered will not be payed.

  • poor dog

  • Hey that's one cute Westie Pup. And he's not even bothered by that elephant outfit. I agree free market and inventiveness works as opposed to waiting around parking lots for a hand out. Nothing is EVER free, much to the chagrin of those that disagree with Capitalism. Hang in there, drain the swamp and get back to those puppy outfits. Thanks for a cute post.

  • Dude... I just noticed... Your voice gets higher and higher throughout the entire video... XD

  • lmfao!!!!!!!

  • OMG!!! I MADE THAT COSTUME!!!! I haven't had internet at my apartment so this was the first time I could watch new videos in a months so I just noticed today. I'm so happy it (sorta) fits Willy. Thanks John for keeping it and showing us what Willy looks like in it!

  • I checked out the kiva website that like independant lending for poorer class of people much like the american banking system in united states does but independant, So what if there buisness folds and and can't pay back the investers, with interest. I guess that's why you need to read there profile lol, I guess if people want to take a 25 dollar gamble. If it worked it would be nice to see that payback.

  • You can only get loans if you got credit, that just minused me from the equation and about half of all american with debt or no credit.

  • God, does this freak realize that no one gives a shit bout what he says? just post videos for the cute puppy and shut the fuck up

  • lol thats wat i said!!! i just want that damn dog..... i didnt pay attention to wat he said through out the whole video...

  • wow all i heard was blah blah blah i just saw the cute dog! hes soo cute!

  • West Highland white terrier

  • Very educational, and hilarious, too.

  • Cute costume. Butt i think it would be funnier if you left space in the elephant's trunk so it would fit on the tail of the puppy!! Notice that it is about the same size...

  • What kind is that puppy?

  • OMG.

    You're talking way to fast :(

  • can i buy one of ur puppy costumes? large plzz.i'll give u 15$ :) its so cute! Thnx!

    -megablue1990

  • Labor is what creates the products and services...working on my masters degree in finance I would like to think I know a little something about money and capitalism

  • Nah. What you tried to do what oversimplify and wrap up your definition of the economy into a idealistic sound byte. Honestly, what you said didn't really mean anything. I'm not even sure what your aim was. Exploitation of labor? I'm sure you were going somewhere with that, just not quite sure where.

    Incidentally, you don't have to give me your resume. If you're really the expert you think you are, your words will reflect it. Congrats on pursuing your masters, though.

  • tape your mouth to a foot and check regularly in the morning

  • John, combining puppies with anything is awesome, but this especially is. I swear, your videos are some of the most educational videos ever. I really wish you were my teacher.

  • LOll, i love this =P

  • Kiva is great idea. But you are forgetting one very important thing. People are giant cheater cheater pumpkin eaters. Capitalism only works well as long as:

    1. Information is true and pervasive

    2. Workers/Companies compete equally with each other to keep wages/prices at reasonable levels

    Unfortunately, when people have an interest in cheating the system they usually do. Whether that's by forming monopolies or by pretending that chopping up risk and dispersing it is safe. We need Regulation

  • we dont need regulation, that is not the governments job. There job is to protect our god given rights(not govenrment given) and to enforce the law to protect people. You are forgetting something as well.

    1) Absolute power corrupts absolutely

    2) the government can not be trusted with that sort of power

    3) Similar regulations were enforced by the nazi parrty in facist germany.

    I dont want to compare our government to nazi germany but there politics are dangerously close

  • Who regulates then? If a company builds a factory that releases toxic chemicals into the river, causing millions in health care costs and potentially killing hundreds of people, who makes them pay for it? Not the government? Who?

    If the three major producers of product X decide to get together and fix a prices at a certain level to maintain high profits for everyone, who tells them that they can't? Not the government?

    All power in every form can corrupt. But some will hold power. Who?

  • This is the most rediculous claim- "we dont need regulation". Haven't you seen what has happened due to a lack of regulation, how the banks have ruined every right-wing country in the world due to a lack of regulation? Another point aswell, apart from Nazi Germany's horrid rascism and expansionism, they managed to bring the country back from when it was practically a third world country, in debt over £6.6 billion (worth around £500 billion today) and with over 6 million people unemployed.

  • but at what price did the come out of there depession they lost a lot of freedom. What you are basically saying is that you wouldnt mind the government having the power to take away are freedom. That is ridicolous in itself. Also there was already regulation before hand just not as much. The government played a heavy role in the state the economy is in right now. did you know that he only time the country was not in debt was when andrew jackson was president there was regulation back then

  • You just dont get it, I LOVE FREEDOM!!! Everyone does, but the point i am making is that if you are poor in a left-wing country, you have more freedom and a better standard of living than if you are poor in a Caplitalist country. It is obvious that your country, your society, has poisoned you against left-wing politics, which is sad :( Try looking at left-wing politics from an informed, non-biased view and you might see that it has some good ideals

  • That's simply not true. The poor in left-wing countries are not better off because they lack the incentive to better themselves and bring the standard of living down for everyone else through redistribution of wealth. Bringing everyone down rather than permitting someone to lift themselves up is not a "better standard of living". It's an economic slight of hand where everyone is worse off.

  • And, to prove the incorrectness of your assumption, look at the most left-wing countries that have existed, i.e. the USSR, China, North Korea, and Vietnam. The poor in these communist countries hardly live better than the poor in capitalist countries. These were/are the penultimate left-wing countries that have not only failed, but have reduced their middle class and poor to absolute poverty.

  • you are excluding Sweden, a Socialist country which tops the polls every time for high standards of living and they also have huge amounts of freedom. You Capitalists tend to 'forget' countries like this when you make sweeping statements of how u think ur system is better

  • Actually, let's talk about Sweden. The UN reports which rank Sweden as having a high standard of living use factors many Americans, and capitalists, don't consider factors at all, i.e. the availability of universal healthcare, availability of welfare, etc. Of course the US doesn't have the same standard of living because, under our values, the majority don't believe in such programs. You socialists ignore your "leading" countries and try to focus on the "good" ones.

  • You say that things like universal healthcare and availability of welfare don't contribute to high standard of living, yet Sweden has a higher Average life expectancy than the US, so it is your own stupidity that stops you from thinking that they are not important factors

  • And there is the typical liberal insult. 1.) it's point of view. I, and most Americans, do not want the government telling us what medical care we can get or should get. Notwithstanding, Americans have longer 5 year survival rates than Europeans from major diseases such as cancer and heart disease, which shows how our system works. We don't live as long, not because of our medical care, but because Americans have different lifestyles (eat worse for the most part, watch more tv, etc.).

  • To be honest, i dont really care anymore, you have obviously closed your mind to any possibility of reviewing Socialism with an unbiased opinion, so why should I even try to help someone who supports a system that is so self-defeating that it has brought the world to its knees with its mistakes

  • false i educated myself in these matters and it is the other way around the left wing is piosoning the ignorant. How would you even no you dont even live here so how can you judge. I have looked at these veiws and i have studied them and they are wrong. You see socialism doesnt work. It has been proven in history that it fails. Not only does it fail but it also takes peoples freedoms away. Les look at soviet Russia they did have more freedom or a Good standard for living even in there best days.

  • You say Socialism doesnt work, even though the biggest Socialist country in the world, China, is not in recession, while the biggest Capitalist country in the worle, the USA, is. Ergo, capitalism doesnt work

  • your ignoring the fact that China only started to succeed when the country adopted a semi capitalist system to go along with there socialist. You are also ignoring the fact that millions of people have suffered in China due to there lack of freedom and opression. Socialism fails. im sorry you do not see it

  • Its funny you should mention that, as the US is only recovering from the recession after left-wing policies have been introduced

  • Further, European countries have, historically, had much higher unemployment rates than the US. Why? It's a direct result of socialist policies. With regard to China, they're socially communist, not economically communist. Further, your logic is circular. Under your logic, Europe's economies failed to grow at any significant rates while having high unemployment from the 1990's through the most recent recession. Therefore, under your logic, socialism doesn't work.

  • Actually, the unemployment rate for September 2009 is 9.8% in the USA but Europe has a 9.2% unemployment rate, so your point is false. Secondly, you imply that all countries in Europe are Socialist, which is wrong. The funny thing is, it is the right-wing countries that are a substantial amount of those unemployed. Let me give you an example of this: Ireland (my native country) has a right-wing government and is getting poorer by the day, while countries like Sweden are beginning to recover

  • First and foremost, your measurement is current as opposed over the past 10 years. The US has routinely and consistently had lower unemployment rates for 25 years than Europe, and the 9.2% number you rely upon is inaccurate because it doesn't include, by the UN's own admission, those who no longer with to work in Europe.

    Second, Ireland has the largest amount of capital investment in Europe. Eastern Europe is booming and moving away from left-wing ideologies.

  • Thank you for that. So many political platforms seem based on ignorance of the capitalist system and concept of money supply. I'm starting to think they should teach macroeconomics in grade school bcs so many ppl don't know -- perhaps Schoolhouse Rock shoulda made a video ...

  • that would be awsome

  • I <3 micro transactions. I recall a fine gentleman winning the Nobel Prize for Economics based on his contributions to micro loans in India.

  • aww!! Ish a westie!!

  • Is he possibly loaning money to Columbians or people from Boliva because he talks so fast that they might be repaying him in coke

  • i almost pet my screen