... they're all just groups of people doing stuff. The real important thing is what these people believe and how they behave. In a society where the majority of the people are against the use of force (except when defending against other force), such power can never be concentrated in the hands of a few who would use it (because the majority would put a stop to it). In today's world, the majority of the people support government (and therefore the initiation of force), and that's how we get wars
@MarmaladelNFP: So let's say that this corporation you're talking about becomes massively powerful - much more than any others, and it builds a police force and imposes laws on others. And lets say that after about 2000 years, the people are getting upset, and to calm them, the leaders of this corporation decide let the population vote on the CEO every year. How is that corporation any different than the state? All of these words: "corporation", "state" become meaningless once you realize that
HI Stefan, can you please direct me to the article you read out. I'd like to get a copy and hand it to sceptical people. Many thanks for your time. Rod
Many thanks for this clip. I downloaded it and showed it to the members of my local club. You inspire me to help make a difference in this crazy world. Thanks again.
if you do not understand the fact that the same people fund both sides of every conflict, you have no grasp of how all war is a racket for the big corporations
I find it extremely repulsive that Obama clamors for a bill - whose effects on the lives of low-income Americans down the line is quite ambiguous - when he is in TOTAL control of a situation that is DIRECTLY KILLING low-income Americans. Why is not clamoring to end that situation like he was 18 months ago when he was obviously lying?
I had seen this data before. The patriotic conservatives who are for the war couldn't care less about the veterans. Stef speaks the truth. Veterans have high rates of suicice, homelessness, drug abuse, alcoholism. What would conservatives like to do? Cut funding to all programs that would help these people who've sacrificed themselves to 'defend' the state. I know that Stef thinks the state is the problem, but by destroying the lives of these veterans they become the responsibility of the state.
His emotional conclusion was less than convincing. The data he presented was good, but many reasonable arguments could be made based on it. He seems to want to project all the bad things in the world on this evil entity called 'government'.
No. The violence and suffering comes from within people. You can change the system, but you can't change human nature. Any system whether governed by state or corporations will lead to the same tragic results if they concentrate power.
I understand his point. I've watched many of his videos and I've checked some of his writings on his website. I agree with him, but I don't think he goes far enough. His criticisms are too narrow. As far as I can tell, concentrated power in any form serving any ideology will always lead to corruption. Actually, concentration of power merely concentrates normal human behaviors, and so both the bad and the good get magnified. If a stateless society concentrates power, it will have the same results
A stateless society isn't a form of concentrated power. If anything, the power is concentrated by the free individual.
Statelessness widely considered polycentric, not a central/concentration of power like the state.
I don't think that both good and bad get magnified by the state. A state just distorts the market and makes everything a mess. Through voluntary action, the free person benefits the self and others. A state just gets in the way.
I understand the theory of a stateless society, but my criticisms are based on historical facts. As far as I know, no largescale stateless society has ever existed and no smallscale stateless society has lasted in the modern world. The "free person" you speak of (assuming such a thing has ever existed) probably could only exist in a small isolated agrarian village or a small isolated hunter-gatherer tribe. Anyways, nothing in life is entirely voluntary. Certain choices are always excluded.
@pretorious700 No, I don't accept all of his conclusions. I agree that concentrated power leads to corruption, but I disagree about the form this might take. Govts can exist without concentration of power. Govts can be more localized and govts can have division of power, both of which have been central to the US political system. OTOH there is nothing to stop concentration of power within an anarcho-capitalist system. There is nothing to stop a corporation from creating its own military.
The price of supporting lady liberty in the style she has been accustomed too.
If you own an emasculated blinged out truck, I hope you enjoy the blood on your hands.
If you own a guzzler car- the same applies.
Thes guys go thru hell, in war for a year. 48 hours later you get back home and NO ONE but another vetran has a clue. NO ONE wants to hear, and everyone forgets.
This video also describes how truly destructive war is now. This is why countries with constant war never move much beyond a middle ages quality of life.
I agree, that is a most excellent and intelligent question! :) You might want to have a listen to my free book Practical Anarchy, available on my website...
Magician David Blaine's next stunt could leave him blind. "Mad Men" scores Emmy for best drama series. 10 ft. boa constrictor found in road. Plasma tv's selling like hotcakes. NFL is playing again. Local woman really enjoys new Mercedes. Sigh.
war does things to people in it or not you have been afected i was physicaly and mentaly scared by the communist groups in Russia after being burned nd beaten i escaped and ended up killig a man i cant say for certain but none of you know what its like to kill a man knowing that its either you or him it changes you on the inside and out feeling are numb and relations are apethetic
I am so, so sorry for the horrors that you have had to endure my brother! I hope that you can see a counselor and bring your soul back to life... [hugs]
what can one do?I hate it all.I dont want to be alive.Dowsing myself in fire is stupid.There are no tanks to stand in front of.Ive hated all my life,and I am full of what is right and love.I can hardly leave the house,I am so grateful.What do I do?
You need to talk to a counsellor friend - look in the yellow pages for a suicide hotline and get on the phone. There is beauty in the world beyond the darkness... [hug]
@creten69 When things get me down, i just try an remember that there is a lot left to do in life, and some of it is shitty but you got to put up with the shitty to get the good. [Much worth it]
Fuckin' commie! Only joking. The next general election here in the UK will be the first time I consider spoiling my balot paper. I wouldn't piss on any of the three main candidates if they were on fire, and don't know of a better way to register my disgust with the system. What say you stef?
It is amazing how much the expression on your face says as a reaction to the pieces of information you have just read without actually commenting on them.
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you cannot save everyone, and you especially cannot become so attached to one situation.
all this anti U.S. and U.K. propaganda and everything about the middle eastern kids dying and i have not heard or seen a single video about massacres in Africa, i will keep looking and watching your ridiculous and false claims but with everything i have seen you have done a wonderful job of telling half the truth and making wildly inappropriate situations to make your card castle look like a brick wall.
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The problem with Stefbot is that his videos are not for educating his beliefs but to preach to the choir or those who have converted to his beliefs. As a non-convert, like myself, I have a hard time getting through a whole video because of all the logical fallacies, strawmans, and ad-hominems stef creates for his arguments, thoughts, and topics. But I will continue to watch since he is an interesting, and has a watchable style.
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Alrighty then mr. stefbot. DarwinHamster's videos brought me to you, anyway. I do not find you educational because I have already formed a negative opinion of you, through Darwinhamster's videos.
But you do agree with me that your vids preach to the choir better than they educate new people about your beliefs.
u preach to them in the hopes that they well tell people what you preach and then they well come to hear it for themselves to form there own opinions. then as they do this and become more knowledgeable on all the perspectives of an issue, through the powerful process of peer review, we can all stimulate our minds towards truth and grow collectively.
its feedback, reviews, and then critiques that makes ideas grows
I is a horror that the state suck so many people into it's wars. Yet it is a great horror few will hear a case for "non-cooperative anti statism". In most cases you cannot find an Iraqi who has not lost a family member. I feel like the final scenes in bridge on the river kwai are being enacted aruond me, all I can do is stand inpotently by and mouth the words, "..maddness.." Thats what it is. "And every fool will see his madness crowned".
like a steely blade in a silken sheath, we don't see what they're made of. they shout about love but when push comes to shove, they live for things they're afraid of, and the knowledge that they fear is a weapon to be used against them. he's not afraid of your judgement, he knows of horrors worse than your hell. he's a little bit afraid of dying, but he's a lot more afraid of your lying. rock on stef, im there, just got to catch up to myself :) dont you dare stop!
It's too bad that we, the citizens, have never been in control. We've never known a time when the many didn't give up their powers of decision-making to a few anointed individuals, short-circuiting the very system of guidance that we've so deparately needed.
I don't think anyone else understands that there is no turning back. We cannot fix this. It must completely fall in on its self, destroy itself, and most of Earth, in order to wipe the slate clean. We've already jumped off the cliff. :(
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I think was a beautiful, heartfelt video. I agree with it 100%.
However, just as a word of warning, the U.S. did not "install" Saddam, although they certainly supported him during his war against Iran, which was a morally disgusting thing for us too do.
It's just, when you say things like that ("U.S. installed Saddam), it has the effect of turning off more moderate listeners who will see you as following in the same "blame the U.S. for everything" path as Noam Chomsky.
I disagree with you completely. If you see the U.S. government's own accounts of its (via CIA) manipulation of the governments of Central and South America as well as in the Middle East you will understand that this is not a message for "radicals" but simply the truth. If truth is too much for "moderates" to bear, I hope you enjoy living in the dictatorship that is spreading in our country like a cancer.
I'm sick and tired of all the praise that is heaped on the military and police by the media.
Remembrance day in Canada is a joke, weeks of people ignorantly parading around with poppies stuck to their chest, really just showing how stupid and conformist they are. The corporate media in Canada shows what a sham they are by the fact that virtually every single person on TV wears the poppy, as if you were a complete ignoramus if you did not wear it.
Can I ask you to send me the sources that you used for this... not saying that it isn't true... but without academic sources I don't know if it really is. If it is true that over a million people have died in Iraq then this can't remain hidden. It should be common knowledge and the Bush government should be held accountable. You might want to be careful about what you say on here about the gov. you know they might call you a terrorist and take you away. keep up the good work
Living in fear is not something I imagine any libertarian is willing to do. Especially when it is essentially the end goal of states that you be scared of them.
Quite true, but certainly, illogical people won't worry about such things as logical people sitting in their living room, talking about philosophy on youtube. These people respond to force, because it's what they know. Truth forces them to hide, or ignore. They cannot acknowledge it's power.
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Great comments, except for your final conclusions about the state. In my opinion, Libertarians are naive, without the state we'd have a Mafiocracy - bullies running everything. At least legal and bureaucratic institutions over time tend to blunt and smother the power of the bullies.
I'm afraid the state is a necessary evil, and perhaps the only way to lessen that evil is for all to learn our sad and bloody history and hopefully not repeat it.
Ah but only figuratively not literally and therein lies the difference. The more civilized the society the more implicit becomes the violence, which allows some fortunate people (the "nice" people with "nice" jobs and who live in "nice" neighbourhoods) to be oblivious to the implicit violence upon which all social relations are ultimately based. As they say, ignorance is bliss..
Where Libertarians are naive is where they believe they can eliminate violence - whether real or implicite.
You need to educate yourself on these crucial matters. Libertarians never talk about 'eliminating violence.' We talk of eliminating the state, which is the prime enabler of violence in the world. A man who finds the cure for cancer will never claim to have 'eliminated disease' - do you understand?
I suggest you take a quick look at Stef's first few podcasts, as he suggested to Ape65. You'll see very quickly that "straw man" is far from true in the context of his full argument.
I suggest you read my comment again. You'll see very quickly that "straw man" comment was directed at the guy who employed the straw man argument, not stefbot.
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The state is at least somewhat accountable through democratic processes; the corporations that love this war are not, unless you're a major shareholder.
So, as illegitimate as the authority of the state might be, it's still more legitimate than that of, say, Blackwater. Get rid of the state as it currently exists, and it'll be right back after these important messages from our sponsors.
No, it's prosecuting it on behalf of other corporations; you surely don't think the American people get anything out of the war, even if their children (and grandchildren, and so on) will foot the bill for it?
I think Blackwater's share price would go through the roof, if the state were abolished tomorrow. But they seem like nice guys.
It's odd that you think that, because it seems to me their main customer is the government, and their main source of revenue is tax money. That's the whole point of war--looting the treasury, because there's no way to get that kind of money in a free market.
What is, is not what would be, if the state were abolished tomorrow. Check your tenses.
As for "looting the treasury", you're not wrong, but THE treasury? Is there not also plunder to be had on foreign shores, and more of it? Or is that fair game?
The state is only part of the problem. There's more than one elephant in this room. Do you know who Smedley Butler was?
Yes, I know who Smedley Butler was. And I know that he made the case that war is a racket, and not one for looting other countries but for transferring large sums of tax money to private hands. Yes, companies make huge profits off of war: that's because the government pays for all of the endless destruction of capital to make it happen.
Again, you're narrowing a global phenomenon to a strictly national context, which is bound to distort the bigger picture. Look at Butler's most famous quote; he knew better than most the international dynamic at play...
(It's a bit too long to paste into a single comment, but it starts "I spent 33 years and four months in active military service" and ends with "I operated on three continents." It's very thought-provoking, check it out.)
Blackwater = corporation. Therefore, it is evil. Democracies are inherently good, and accountable (NOT). Stop questioning the dogma. Believe in the State.
In reality, I would not trust the government one BIT more than a firm I paid to protect me. Why should I? It can go to hell.
Blackwater shows that when state funded atrocities are committed by men NOT wearing a flag, when they are committed "privately" and not through socialization, they are seen as what they are:
MURDER, RAPE, DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY
I put privately in quotes because there is nothing private about subsidized business or government contractors.
I'm glad you pointed out that if you support the state you have to take the "rough with the smooth". States introduce universal healthcare, (via the medium of coercion and theft), but they are also mass aggressors.
Historically, States are the only institutions that 'have' the resources for mass warfare. They fuel the arms race and they murder under the justification of democratic sanction.
In the words of Larry from the film Ground Hog day, "You touch me, man."
Really and truly, you have touched me. I don't know if you have ever heard of the free state project, but it is a group of people to the state of New Hampshire to reduce and/or eliminate government. I am a participant currently recruiting in Utah. Check it out. We must stand against the tyranny of the majority and legal plunder.
UnitedOffensiveIII | November 09, 2007 (Block User)
"Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of State and corporate power."
Benito Mussolini, Fascist dictator of Italy
"Fascism will come to America in the name of anti-fascism'. I'm afraid, based on my own long experience, that fascism will come to America in the name of national security."
Best video yet! I've seen quite a few now and this one really hits you in the gut with truth, sadness, and integrtiy. Though I do salute the the U.S. flag, not backing this government belief, but for the simple fact that we as the people can make change. If we don't make change and things continue on the course we're running, then it is a believe of mine that all will have been lost. There will always be a struggle of power and whats right. So we must keep up the good fight.
You are an honorable man! We all should cry! It is a sad thing that there are people who face the facts you present here, still harden themselves and dare say that this is for the good of the Iraqi people while they themselves indulge in their "free" and mondain lives. Shame on them!
Thanks akho for this vid.... it is selfexplanatory who the devils are.. Destruction gives them away... and then there are people defending them in the name of jezus... well as we both know jezus is just another name for HeyZeus or Haylel the devil!
the human revolution has already begun, the capitalists think they can purchase our complicity in their fevered frenzy of corporate fascism, but they didn't realize that their products soothe no suffering but only make that suffering more intense. the will of the people is greater than the military industrial complex.
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I watched this on the news today, the new Hot Topic. Anything to to play with the hearts and minds of people. The Troops are doing a damn good job destroying Terrorists.
The problem in Iraq has nothing to do with terrorism, it has to do with Sunni, Shiite, Kurdish differences.. These groups have been at odds for many years, to think we can force a military solution is idiocy. The Troops are also doing a great job of killing tens of thousands of civilians and displacing millions. Not to mention the good job that our mercenaries are doing killing whoever they choose without remorse or reprisal.
the Military become depressed bcos of what's going on! bcos of killing innocents and raping their women and girls, bcos of the truths they have to hide! thats why they become! depressed. Don't you understand??!
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Yeah, it's a terrible thing what they have to endure. The Family should step up strongly. Maybe people here on YouTube should also stop yelling that the War against Terror is wrong. Spreading shit is not helpful.
The war against terror is not wrong, it is just we are too busy in Iraq to fight the actual war on terror. Afghanistan is going backwards, AQ is regrouping and planning the next attack on the US safely outside of Iraq, and Bin Laden is gleefully watching as the US is tied up by a President who is keeping us in Iraq simply to avoid admission of failure.
Bin Laden is dead, probably has been for a long time. It'd be awful damn hard to run around the mountains & caves of Afghanistan & Pakistan with a dialysis machine eh? Never mind finding power for it. This whole entire scenario is a set up.
Cretancooper: you are truly ignorant. the facts are staring u right in the face, and u'r in comeplete denial.... who cares abt the troops what about the god damn children! they're INNOCENT children! do u even see them as innocent?
I don't believe in hell, but I do believe that a man who has murdered hundreds of thousands of fellow humans can only be a deeply unhappy man and will continue to be so until the day he dies. So it could be said that he is in "hell" already.
Thanks for sending me this vid. I was in the car today and heard some ignorant newscaster say, "Aren't they screening for mental wellness before they induct people into the military?" Hmm.... I had no words, my jaw flew open. There is so much ignorance about PTSD.
Yes and the government does not want you to know have you ever seen COPS filmed on a Military installation with MPs? The answer is no and you will never see it because the government does not want you to know how fucked up the people in the military are.
A marine said he knows why hes over there and he just wants to be used right. He did not care about the constitution, freedom and people. His job is to kill anyone in the way of what he is told to do.
I only find this video now. But I still have chills down my spine when hearing this.
MeneerVerspiller 1 month ago
I have no sympathy for the muslim race. they subjugate and abuse and rape women and have a violent intolerance toward anything that isnt them
they should all burn. especially the children
vtran31 3 months ago
@vtran31 I also feel the same about all of the baptist cult
vtran31 3 months ago
... they're all just groups of people doing stuff. The real important thing is what these people believe and how they behave. In a society where the majority of the people are against the use of force (except when defending against other force), such power can never be concentrated in the hands of a few who would use it (because the majority would put a stop to it). In today's world, the majority of the people support government (and therefore the initiation of force), and that's how we get wars
TheDestroyerCrom 6 months ago
@MarmaladelNFP: So let's say that this corporation you're talking about becomes massively powerful - much more than any others, and it builds a police force and imposes laws on others. And lets say that after about 2000 years, the people are getting upset, and to calm them, the leaders of this corporation decide let the population vote on the CEO every year. How is that corporation any different than the state? All of these words: "corporation", "state" become meaningless once you realize that
TheDestroyerCrom 6 months ago
HI Stefan, can you please direct me to the article you read out. I'd like to get a copy and hand it to sceptical people. Many thanks for your time. Rod
eckyspondoolie 1 year ago
@eckyspondoolie No Remembrance, No Remorse for the Fallen of Iraq
google it, first link.
Really late on my part, but truth is timeless.
Gerstein1 1 month ago
Many thanks for this clip. I downloaded it and showed it to the members of my local club. You inspire me to help make a difference in this crazy world. Thanks again.
eckyspondoolie 1 year ago
if you do not understand the fact that the same people fund both sides of every conflict, you have no grasp of how all war is a racket for the big corporations
leadcreator 1 year ago
Stefan, can you do a video with your thoughts on the New World Order
piscesgutt 1 year ago
i cry too! most people have no clue about the lie that war is!
dttnwo 1 year ago
this just makes the statement that " everything the state says is a lie.", by Nietzche, that much more powerful
dttnwo 1 year ago
Jeezuss, how fucking sad.
rockstarofredondo 1 year ago 2
I find it extremely repulsive that Obama clamors for a bill - whose effects on the lives of low-income Americans down the line is quite ambiguous - when he is in TOTAL control of a situation that is DIRECTLY KILLING low-income Americans. Why is not clamoring to end that situation like he was 18 months ago when he was obviously lying?
I am referring, of course, to the Iraq war.
pedantologist 1 year ago
I had seen this data before. The patriotic conservatives who are for the war couldn't care less about the veterans. Stef speaks the truth. Veterans have high rates of suicice, homelessness, drug abuse, alcoholism. What would conservatives like to do? Cut funding to all programs that would help these people who've sacrificed themselves to 'defend' the state. I know that Stef thinks the state is the problem, but by destroying the lives of these veterans they become the responsibility of the state.
MarmaladeINFP 1 year ago
His emotional conclusion was less than convincing. The data he presented was good, but many reasonable arguments could be made based on it. He seems to want to project all the bad things in the world on this evil entity called 'government'.
No. The violence and suffering comes from within people. You can change the system, but you can't change human nature. Any system whether governed by state or corporations will lead to the same tragic results if they concentrate power.
MarmaladeINFP 1 year ago
He doesn't want to project all the bad things in the world onto 'government'.
His point is that government causes further detriment and exacerbates the already-existing problems of violent human nature.
A system with a monopoly on said violence is probably the worst possible thing that could be created when trying to minimize violence.
Anon1696 1 year ago
I understand his point. I've watched many of his videos and I've checked some of his writings on his website. I agree with him, but I don't think he goes far enough. His criticisms are too narrow. As far as I can tell, concentrated power in any form serving any ideology will always lead to corruption. Actually, concentration of power merely concentrates normal human behaviors, and so both the bad and the good get magnified. If a stateless society concentrates power, it will have the same results
MarmaladeINFP 1 year ago
A stateless society isn't a form of concentrated power. If anything, the power is concentrated by the free individual.
Statelessness widely considered polycentric, not a central/concentration of power like the state.
I don't think that both good and bad get magnified by the state. A state just distorts the market and makes everything a mess. Through voluntary action, the free person benefits the self and others. A state just gets in the way.
Anon1696 1 year ago
I understand the theory of a stateless society, but my criticisms are based on historical facts. As far as I know, no largescale stateless society has ever existed and no smallscale stateless society has lasted in the modern world. The "free person" you speak of (assuming such a thing has ever existed) probably could only exist in a small isolated agrarian village or a small isolated hunter-gatherer tribe. Anyways, nothing in life is entirely voluntary. Certain choices are always excluded.
MarmaladeINFP 1 year ago
@MarmaladeINFP Its not human nature. Can you remember a time when a system of mass coercion was not acting upon people who committed mass atrocities?
VyseLegend 1 year ago
@MarmaladeINFP "if they concentrate power"-yes and with those 4 words you accept his conclusions and invalidate the rest of your post.
pretorious700 1 year ago
@pretorious700 No, I don't accept all of his conclusions. I agree that concentrated power leads to corruption, but I disagree about the form this might take. Govts can exist without concentration of power. Govts can be more localized and govts can have division of power, both of which have been central to the US political system. OTOH there is nothing to stop concentration of power within an anarcho-capitalist system. There is nothing to stop a corporation from creating its own military.
MarmaladeINFP 1 year ago
Wow..... sigh
kimdaviscali 2 years ago
The price of supporting lady liberty in the style she has been accustomed too.
If you own an emasculated blinged out truck, I hope you enjoy the blood on your hands.
If you own a guzzler car- the same applies.
Thes guys go thru hell, in war for a year. 48 hours later you get back home and NO ONE but another vetran has a clue. NO ONE wants to hear, and everyone forgets.
bmecher 2 years ago 2
This video also describes how truly destructive war is now. This is why countries with constant war never move much beyond a middle ages quality of life.
bmecher 2 years ago 3
You are an awesome gentleman.
dice4death 3 years ago 6
Required reading for everyone:
War Journal: My Five Years in Iraq.
Read it, learn the truth.
PreachReality 3 years ago
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But if we didn't have a state, who would run the police, the army and the courts? We DO need these things.
Fetchdafish 3 years ago
I agree, that is a most excellent and intelligent question! :) You might want to have a listen to my free book Practical Anarchy, available on my website...
stefbot 3 years ago 3
Magician David Blaine's next stunt could leave him blind. "Mad Men" scores Emmy for best drama series. 10 ft. boa constrictor found in road. Plasma tv's selling like hotcakes. NFL is playing again. Local woman really enjoys new Mercedes. Sigh.
crem88 3 years ago
war does things to people in it or not you have been afected i was physicaly and mentaly scared by the communist groups in Russia after being burned nd beaten i escaped and ended up killig a man i cant say for certain but none of you know what its like to kill a man knowing that its either you or him it changes you on the inside and out feeling are numb and relations are apethetic
tehriemer 3 years ago
I am so, so sorry for the horrors that you have had to endure my brother! I hope that you can see a counselor and bring your soul back to life... [hugs]
stefbot 3 years ago 2
what can one do?I hate it all.I dont want to be alive.Dowsing myself in fire is stupid.There are no tanks to stand in front of.Ive hated all my life,and I am full of what is right and love.I can hardly leave the house,I am so grateful.What do I do?
creten69 3 years ago
You need to talk to a counsellor friend - look in the yellow pages for a suicide hotline and get on the phone. There is beauty in the world beyond the darkness... [hug]
stefbot 3 years ago 3
@creten69 When things get me down, i just try an remember that there is a lot left to do in life, and some of it is shitty but you got to put up with the shitty to get the good. [Much worth it]
EmceAA 1 year ago
Fuckin' commie! Only joking. The next general election here in the UK will be the first time I consider spoiling my balot paper. I wouldn't piss on any of the three main candidates if they were on fire, and don't know of a better way to register my disgust with the system. What say you stef?
SummerPudding1 3 years ago
I would say, don't participate in an evil system. Burn the ballot. I'm gonna. ;-)
PhilosophyWatch 3 years ago 2
If only everyone could see this video and know what is really going on.
sumadartsan 3 years ago 6
agreed
Epblueyes 3 years ago
Help get congressman Ron Paul into the White House and American troops will all return home from all around the world including those in Iraq.
RonPaul2008dotcomluv 3 years ago
It is amazing how much the expression on your face says as a reaction to the pieces of information you have just read without actually commenting on them.
RonPaul2008dotcomluv 3 years ago
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you cannot save everyone, and you especially cannot become so attached to one situation.
all this anti U.S. and U.K. propaganda and everything about the middle eastern kids dying and i have not heard or seen a single video about massacres in Africa, i will keep looking and watching your ridiculous and false claims but with everything i have seen you have done a wonderful job of telling half the truth and making wildly inappropriate situations to make your card castle look like a brick wall.
snugglylovemuffin 3 years ago
Empathy is tough, it is true...
stefbot 3 years ago
not when it's face to face.. then empathy is pretty easy.
ultimategoobah 3 years ago
i do not love war, i do not love death. why is it that the death of one man is a tragedy whereas the death of a million is a statistic.
there are many times when killing is necessary, and there are many times when a person should embrace defeat.
Stefbot i respect your opinion but i sharply disagree with some or most of your claims.
you must dis attach yourself from the subject to present it as truthfully as you can.
empathy IS only easy face to face.
snugglylovemuffin 3 years ago
as tough as seeing thru the propaganda bleed into the news
tehriemer 3 years ago
What do you love about war so much?
RonPaul2008dotcomluv 3 years ago
When information is too painful, I guess it is much easier to deny it.
sumadartsan 3 years ago 3
Incredible and emotional video.
mport1 3 years ago 5
My late father who served in west germany in the 60's during the cold war called the military a meat grinder.
Mahoivlich 3 years ago 3
This comment has received too many negative votes show
The problem with Stefbot is that his videos are not for educating his beliefs but to preach to the choir or those who have converted to his beliefs. As a non-convert, like myself, I have a hard time getting through a whole video because of all the logical fallacies, strawmans, and ad-hominems stef creates for his arguments, thoughts, and topics. But I will continue to watch since he is an interesting, and has a watchable style.
Rsd79 3 years ago
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To sum it up, he has great presentation style but crap content or persuasiveness.
Rsd79 3 years ago
Oh I'm sure you can find someone who is both entertaining AND honest, no need to waste your time on this stuff bro! :)
stefbot 3 years ago
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Alrighty then mr. stefbot. DarwinHamster's videos brought me to you, anyway. I do not find you educational because I have already formed a negative opinion of you, through Darwinhamster's videos.
But you do agree with me that your vids preach to the choir better than they educate new people about your beliefs.
Rsd79 3 years ago
Perhaps you should state where he's using fallacies.
"I do not find you educational because I have already formed a negative opinion of you"
It seems obvious to me that a negative view of someone is not evidence that what they're doing is non-education.
comradepinko 3 years ago 3
Great suggestion comradepinko! You can't will categories of... I like=truth and... I don't like=false. Doesn't work that way my friend.
PhilosophyWatch 3 years ago 2
everybody preaches to the "choir"...
u preach to them in the hopes that they well tell people what you preach and then they well come to hear it for themselves to form there own opinions. then as they do this and become more knowledgeable on all the perspectives of an issue, through the powerful process of peer review, we can all stimulate our minds towards truth and grow collectively.
its feedback, reviews, and then critiques that makes ideas grows
luvthehated 3 years ago
if you want to be entertained watch reality tv
tehriemer 3 years ago
I can't express how wrong you are.
jingleshady 3 years ago
I is a horror that the state suck so many people into it's wars. Yet it is a great horror few will hear a case for "non-cooperative anti statism". In most cases you cannot find an Iraqi who has not lost a family member. I feel like the final scenes in bridge on the river kwai are being enacted aruond me, all I can do is stand inpotently by and mouth the words, "..maddness.." Thats what it is. "And every fool will see his madness crowned".
PvtSchlock 3 years ago
GetterRoboG 3 years ago
REVOLUTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's due time
Arin322 3 years ago 2
Great video stefbot
"Arin322
REVOLUTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's due time"
It sure is
motokeiru 3 years ago
It's too bad that we, the citizens, have never been in control. We've never known a time when the many didn't give up their powers of decision-making to a few anointed individuals, short-circuiting the very system of guidance that we've so deparately needed.
I don't think anyone else understands that there is no turning back. We cannot fix this. It must completely fall in on its self, destroy itself, and most of Earth, in order to wipe the slate clean. We've already jumped off the cliff. :(
thinkofwhy 3 years ago
Very touching, thanks again stefbot.
lukeev 4 years ago 2
Stefan,
Not that I have any reason to doubt your sources, but would you please cite them in the video description with corresponding URL's?
WaxAwnWaxOff 4 years ago 3
Steph - the cure for cancer is vitamin B17. Cancer is a vitamin deficiency disorder.
RLore18 4 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
I think was a beautiful, heartfelt video. I agree with it 100%.
However, just as a word of warning, the U.S. did not "install" Saddam, although they certainly supported him during his war against Iran, which was a morally disgusting thing for us too do.
It's just, when you say things like that ("U.S. installed Saddam), it has the effect of turning off more moderate listeners who will see you as following in the same "blame the U.S. for everything" path as Noam Chomsky.
sam72 4 years ago
The US put Saddam in power years ago, before that war vs. Iran even occurred. Being put in power is synonymous with "installation."
And a quick note, the US actually support both Iraq AND Iran in that war. Read up on US involvement in the war and you will understand.
snipa4lyfe 4 years ago 3
I disagree with you completely. If you see the U.S. government's own accounts of its (via CIA) manipulation of the governments of Central and South America as well as in the Middle East you will understand that this is not a message for "radicals" but simply the truth. If truth is too much for "moderates" to bear, I hope you enjoy living in the dictatorship that is spreading in our country like a cancer.
hagiaadrasteia 4 years ago 5
So, what are you waiting for? Impeach the bastards on both sides of the ocean!
BigDaddyLiberty 4 years ago 2
UNTIL REVOLUTION MY FRIEND!
pbot64 4 years ago 3
REVOLUTION!
whir 3 years ago 2
I'm sick and tired of all the praise that is heaped on the military and police by the media.
Remembrance day in Canada is a joke, weeks of people ignorantly parading around with poppies stuck to their chest, really just showing how stupid and conformist they are. The corporate media in Canada shows what a sham they are by the fact that virtually every single person on TV wears the poppy, as if you were a complete ignoramus if you did not wear it.
jackson32 4 years ago 13
This comment has received too many negative votes show
as a counterpoint i offer this is the military all that terrible for defending you and helping allies with there issues
tehriemer 3 years ago
I just had to get that last idiots comment off the top.Oh yeah, great vid!
garvess 4 years ago
Is it any wonder many Iraqis fight back, and that many in the Middle East come to their aid to fight the invasion from the fear they will be next?
Preservation of ones self and family is one of the most primordial instincts. Shoot the ones pointing guns at you.
RVsaidso2 4 years ago
Can I ask you to send me the sources that you used for this... not saying that it isn't true... but without academic sources I don't know if it really is. If it is true that over a million people have died in Iraq then this can't remain hidden. It should be common knowledge and the Bush government should be held accountable. You might want to be careful about what you say on here about the gov. you know they might call you a terrorist and take you away. keep up the good work
manminusblood 4 years ago 2
I cite the author at the beginning, and the sources are on my website, on the Board...
stefbot 4 years ago
thank-you. sorry to be a pain.
manminusblood 4 years ago
watch?v=vSs54BlIFGY
rushnout 4 years ago
ManMinusBlood
Living in fear is not something I imagine any libertarian is willing to do. Especially when it is essentially the end goal of states that you be scared of them.
thorsmitersaw 4 years ago
Yeah, I agree. But I also know that there are often sticky consequences for people who speak out against the dark side.
manminusblood 4 years ago
Quite true, but certainly, illogical people won't worry about such things as logical people sitting in their living room, talking about philosophy on youtube. These people respond to force, because it's what they know. Truth forces them to hide, or ignore. They cannot acknowledge it's power.
PhilosophyWatch 3 years ago
*hugs*
deathweaselx86 4 years ago 6
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Great comments, except for your final conclusions about the state. In my opinion, Libertarians are naive, without the state we'd have a Mafiocracy - bullies running everything. At least legal and bureaucratic institutions over time tend to blunt and smother the power of the bullies.
I'm afraid the state is a necessary evil, and perhaps the only way to lessen that evil is for all to learn our sad and bloody history and hopefully not repeat it.
Ape65 4 years ago
I know it sounds quite mad when you first hear it - have a listen to my first few podcasts, it's closer than you might think... :)
stefbot 4 years ago
How is the current state not a mafiocracy? Everything the state "provides" is done so at the point of a gun.
furyofbongos 4 years ago
Ah but only figuratively not literally and therein lies the difference. The more civilized the society the more implicit becomes the violence, which allows some fortunate people (the "nice" people with "nice" jobs and who live in "nice" neighbourhoods) to be oblivious to the implicit violence upon which all social relations are ultimately based. As they say, ignorance is bliss..
Where Libertarians are naive is where they believe they can eliminate violence - whether real or implicite.
Ape65 4 years ago
You need to educate yourself on these crucial matters. Libertarians never talk about 'eliminating violence.' We talk of eliminating the state, which is the prime enabler of violence in the world. A man who finds the cure for cancer will never claim to have 'eliminated disease' - do you understand?
stefbot 4 years ago
Advocating a coercive monopoly to defend against the threat of a coercive monopoly is a bit counter-productive, don't you think?
Berzerker165 4 years ago 2
there are coercive monopolies and coercive monopolies... Some are democracies, others are tyrannies.
vegrin 4 years ago
I see you have the old straw man argument down to a fine art, Elhan2005. Why not engage with something I actually did write, or at least refer to?
The Smedley Butler quote would be a good place to start. Please refrain from the temptation to paraphrase it to your liking, for rhetorical purposes.
zkwaerwaivbace 4 years ago
I suggest you take a quick look at Stef's first few podcasts, as he suggested to Ape65. You'll see very quickly that "straw man" is far from true in the context of his full argument.
dysurian 4 years ago
I suggest you read my comment again. You'll see very quickly that "straw man" comment was directed at the guy who employed the straw man argument, not stefbot.
zkwaerwaivbace 4 years ago
Oh, my mistake. I misread and missed the username you had in there. Maybe I should stop posting youtube comments on so little sleep :-/
dysurian 4 years ago
Actually, you're the master of strawmen. If I wanted to get it down to an art I'd ask you for lessons.
Elhan2005 4 years ago
Good one.
zkwaerwaivbace 4 years ago
Thank you.
Nicotine1982 4 years ago
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The state is at least somewhat accountable through democratic processes; the corporations that love this war are not, unless you're a major shareholder.
So, as illegitimate as the authority of the state might be, it's still more legitimate than that of, say, Blackwater. Get rid of the state as it currently exists, and it'll be right back after these important messages from our sponsors.
zkwaerwaivbace 4 years ago
So, blackwater is financing the war?
Nasikabatrachus 4 years ago
No, it's prosecuting it on behalf of other corporations; you surely don't think the American people get anything out of the war, even if their children (and grandchildren, and so on) will foot the bill for it?
I think Blackwater's share price would go through the roof, if the state were abolished tomorrow. But they seem like nice guys.
zkwaerwaivbace 4 years ago
It's odd that you think that, because it seems to me their main customer is the government, and their main source of revenue is tax money. That's the whole point of war--looting the treasury, because there's no way to get that kind of money in a free market.
Nasikabatrachus 4 years ago
What is, is not what would be, if the state were abolished tomorrow. Check your tenses.
As for "looting the treasury", you're not wrong, but THE treasury? Is there not also plunder to be had on foreign shores, and more of it? Or is that fair game?
The state is only part of the problem. There's more than one elephant in this room. Do you know who Smedley Butler was?
zkwaerwaivbace 4 years ago
Yes, I know who Smedley Butler was. And I know that he made the case that war is a racket, and not one for looting other countries but for transferring large sums of tax money to private hands. Yes, companies make huge profits off of war: that's because the government pays for all of the endless destruction of capital to make it happen.
Nasikabatrachus 4 years ago
Again, you're narrowing a global phenomenon to a strictly national context, which is bound to distort the bigger picture. Look at Butler's most famous quote; he knew better than most the international dynamic at play...
(It's a bit too long to paste into a single comment, but it starts "I spent 33 years and four months in active military service" and ends with "I operated on three continents." It's very thought-provoking, check it out.)
zkwaerwaivbace 4 years ago
you continuously make the same logical error that illegal immigration opposition makes:
person A
person B robs from person A to benefit person C
so we must eliminate/regulate/persecute person C????
I think the obvious answer is to treat person B's activities in all contexts as crime and to stop them.
thorsmitersaw 4 years ago
Blackwater = corporation. Therefore, it is evil. Democracies are inherently good, and accountable (NOT). Stop questioning the dogma. Believe in the State.
In reality, I would not trust the government one BIT more than a firm I paid to protect me. Why should I? It can go to hell.
Elhan2005 4 years ago 2
Blackwater shows that when state funded atrocities are committed by men NOT wearing a flag, when they are committed "privately" and not through socialization, they are seen as what they are:
MURDER, RAPE, DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY
I put privately in quotes because there is nothing private about subsidized business or government contractors.
thorsmitersaw 4 years ago
Thank you, Stef.
oldladybluejeans 4 years ago
I agree Stef, well said.
I'm glad you pointed out that if you support the state you have to take the "rough with the smooth". States introduce universal healthcare, (via the medium of coercion and theft), but they are also mass aggressors.
Historically, States are the only institutions that 'have' the resources for mass warfare. They fuel the arms race and they murder under the justification of democratic sanction.
Klarkster 4 years ago
And what is this video intended to do?
themaclady 4 years ago
What does it do to you?
What reaction do you have?
rushnout 4 years ago
In the words of Larry from the film Ground Hog day, "You touch me, man."
Really and truly, you have touched me. I don't know if you have ever heard of the free state project, but it is a group of people to the state of New Hampshire to reduce and/or eliminate government. I am a participant currently recruiting in Utah. Check it out. We must stand against the tyranny of the majority and legal plunder.
mottoncouthUSA 4 years ago
Wow, why can't we drop the right and left
and unite? Who can clean up this mess?
wbdubay 4 years ago 2
UnitedOffensiveIII | November 09, 2007 (Block User)
"Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of State and corporate power."
Benito Mussolini, Fascist dictator of Italy
"Fascism will come to America in the name of anti-fascism'. I'm afraid, based on my own long experience, that fascism will come to America in the name of national security."
Sen. Huey Long
UnitedOffensiveIII 4 years ago 4
Best video yet! I've seen quite a few now and this one really hits you in the gut with truth, sadness, and integrtiy. Though I do salute the the U.S. flag, not backing this government belief, but for the simple fact that we as the people can make change. If we don't make change and things continue on the course we're running, then it is a believe of mine that all will have been lost. There will always be a struggle of power and whats right. So we must keep up the good fight.
zerobelow33 4 years ago
After watching this you still salute the flag? Do you not feel the blood you're standing in?
furyofbongos 4 years ago
Thanks to the one who sent this video...
I'll share it with others
rushnout 4 years ago
Bravo.
leitermann 4 years ago
You are an honorable man! We all should cry! It is a sad thing that there are people who face the facts you present here, still harden themselves and dare say that this is for the good of the Iraqi people while they themselves indulge in their "free" and mondain lives. Shame on them!
kuonankrma 4 years ago
great work, I feel your passion, most importantly, I understand!
CitizenPatriot 4 years ago 3
These people are DEVILS!!!
mariettaga 4 years ago
Thanks akho for this vid.... it is selfexplanatory who the devils are.. Destruction gives them away... and then there are people defending them in the name of jezus... well as we both know jezus is just another name for HeyZeus or Haylel the devil!
kuonankrma 4 years ago
the human revolution has already begun, the capitalists think they can purchase our complicity in their fevered frenzy of corporate fascism, but they didn't realize that their products soothe no suffering but only make that suffering more intense. the will of the people is greater than the military industrial complex.
matrixcmitech 4 years ago
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I watched this on the news today, the new Hot Topic. Anything to to play with the hearts and minds of people. The Troops are doing a damn good job destroying Terrorists.
cretancooper 4 years ago
The problem in Iraq has nothing to do with terrorism, it has to do with Sunni, Shiite, Kurdish differences.. These groups have been at odds for many years, to think we can force a military solution is idiocy. The Troops are also doing a great job of killing tens of thousands of civilians and displacing millions. Not to mention the good job that our mercenaries are doing killing whoever they choose without remorse or reprisal.
acseeley 4 years ago 2
"the Troops" are paid hit men. Murderers.
Genowulf 4 years ago 4
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The Military should be more careful accepting recruits. Don't need depressed people to hunt down Islamic Extremists.
cretancooper 4 years ago
hey cretan
the Military become depressed bcos of what's going on! bcos of killing innocents and raping their women and girls, bcos of the truths they have to hide! thats why they become! depressed. Don't you understand??!
mrmij100 4 years ago 4
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Yeah, it's a terrible thing what they have to endure. The Family should step up strongly. Maybe people here on YouTube should also stop yelling that the War against Terror is wrong. Spreading shit is not helpful.
cretancooper 4 years ago
The war against terror is not wrong, it is just we are too busy in Iraq to fight the actual war on terror. Afghanistan is going backwards, AQ is regrouping and planning the next attack on the US safely outside of Iraq, and Bin Laden is gleefully watching as the US is tied up by a President who is keeping us in Iraq simply to avoid admission of failure.
acseeley 4 years ago
Bin Laden is dead, probably has been for a long time. It'd be awful damn hard to run around the mountains & caves of Afghanistan & Pakistan with a dialysis machine eh? Never mind finding power for it. This whole entire scenario is a set up.
fenderjbass77 4 years ago 2
Cretancooper: you are truly ignorant. the facts are staring u right in the face, and u'r in comeplete denial.... who cares abt the troops what about the god damn children! they're INNOCENT children! do u even see them as innocent?
ezsarah 4 years ago
This is so important. Thank you.
VoiceofBaghdad 4 years ago 4
thank you, stef. Thank you.
jcastillo81 4 years ago 2
It all is so sad...
EntertainedWatcher 4 years ago
What is the title of that article, and who wrote it?
papackar 4 years ago
I believe in Hell, and I believe GWB will fry in it forever.
wisdomknight777 4 years ago
most of our current and previous congress will be there too...
fenderjbass77 4 years ago
I don't believe in hell, but I do believe that a man who has murdered hundreds of thousands of fellow humans can only be a deeply unhappy man and will continue to be so until the day he dies. So it could be said that he is in "hell" already.
furyofbongos 4 years ago
a little better perspective on what it is to support the troops, i see here.
bootme21 4 years ago 3
Wordless...
just ... wordless
LatinYoung20 4 years ago 3
incredible, Powerful.
like all truth's
vipervp 4 years ago 3
I read what he is reading. Talk about disturbing.
AzraelsJudgement 4 years ago 3
Thanks for sending me this vid. I was in the car today and heard some ignorant newscaster say, "Aren't they screening for mental wellness before they induct people into the military?" Hmm.... I had no words, my jaw flew open. There is so much ignorance about PTSD.
Gemm73 4 years ago
They just use them and throw em away they dont care about people's state of mind.
AzraelsJudgement 4 years ago
Great video.
Neonsolid 4 years ago 3
woah, Stef, this was great. Thanks.
jleec5 4 years ago 6
Powerful!
Daghita 4 years ago 7
Thanks Stef... I'll spread this around.
MiniAmericanFlag 4 years ago 6
This has been flagged as spam show
Boring
LimpLoser 4 years ago
Go back to your nintendo then.. we don't have any use for you here nor for your comments. It is evident that you have a blocked and sealed mind.
kuonankrma 4 years ago 3
I was an MP in the Army for 5 years. You have no idea how many suicides and domestic abuse cases I went too during my time in the Army.
willyswear 4 years ago 13
The problem is most people dont want to know.
AzraelsJudgement 4 years ago 5
Yes and the government does not want you to know have you ever seen COPS filmed on a Military installation with MPs? The answer is no and you will never see it because the government does not want you to know how fucked up the people in the military are.
willyswear 4 years ago 3
A marine said he knows why hes over there and he just wants to be used right. He did not care about the constitution, freedom and people. His job is to kill anyone in the way of what he is told to do.
AzraelsJudgement 4 years ago
solutions oh solutions
marjan15 4 years ago 4
I am dumbfounded. Thanks, Stef.
1tinsoldier 4 years ago 7
Bravo!
dakatesr 4 years ago 7
WOW
visioninverse 4 years ago 5
Unreal Stef, hard to watch, but oh so important.
Thanks
Burnaby1 4 years ago 6
Thanks for doing this video Stef. Gut wrenching, but it's time this stuff gets out. It's gone on long enough.
RickyCisco 4 years ago 6
Just finished watching.
Heart-rending and powerful.
raureka 4 years ago 3
Thank you Stef, that was incredible.
wiccidnu 4 years ago 3
I wish this video wasn't needed.
Thank you, Stef.
gmgauthi 4 years ago 3
Could you please link the article you reference?
raureka 4 years ago 3
Nevermind, found it.
raureka 4 years ago