Hearted Youtube comments on Whatifalthist (@WhatifAltHist) channel.

  1. Hi,whatifalthist.I discovered this channel last year &I have watched almost all of your videos.They are interesting & educational.So far these are the history books i discovered on this channel &some of them have became my favorites (I hope I am writing the titles correctly) 1Against the grain. 2William .H. Mcneil books a The rise of the west. b people & plagues. 3 Evolution of civilizations (reading currently) 4 Secular cycles.
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  2. 28:36 “What we call Man's power over Nature turns out to be a power exercised by some men over other men with Nature as its instrument.” CS Lewis
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  3. Blaming "evil colonizers" is a very convenient alibi for the incompetence, dogmatism and corruption of post-colonial leaders. You can see this a lot in India where it's become fashionable to blame the British for all their problems: despite the fact their country wouldn't exist without Britain, all their institutions are based on British ones, and their economy magically started taking off once they dispensed with the socialist ideology they adopted for the first 40 years after independence.
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  4. Just you wait human, things will get worse before it gets better.
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  5. I quit my job two weeks ago. I would frequently work 4-5 hours passed my scheduled time to leave often making me miss important stores and the bank throughout the majority of the day. They would often ask me to work extra while skipping my breaks. I asked if I could leave early for the post office cause they close at 5 and the day before I stayed 4 hours over. He replied “no” and that “we need you here” I said “we always care about your needs as an employee but you never care about your employees needs as an employer, I NEED to and will be leaving” he said “young male workers come and go” and that “he could always train someone else to do what I do” and “if you walk out that door your fired” I replied “employers come and go just as frequently for us as new employees come and go for you, I’ll make it easy for your ass I quit” walked out and never felt more free. I found a better paying job. We will see if it works out. But it felt good to fight for my independence and even win in my opinion. The terrible leadership of that place is known around town.
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  6. I think the path of the US during a new 30-Years War would be more similar to England during that period than any of the continental powers. Withdrawal from the world stage, a devolution into Civil War, and eventually a restoration of its original form of government.
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  7. As a Hindu I can tell you that Vishnu told the prince that violence is necessary to restore order. He also said that you must fight only and only to restore order and not for reasons like personal revenge( the prince's wife was humiliated ) or the throne of Hastinapur( name of kingdom ). In short, commit violence only for betterment of society and not for personal reasons.
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  8. I don’t know if this is related, but when I was young I was told ‘violence doesn’t solve anything’ I get the sentiment, but I always thought it wasn’t true, especially looking at history. If you beat your enemy, you’ve won, solved you’re issue. It’s a limitation on aggression, which never has positive effects, only if it’s re-directed to something useful
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  9. As a member of Gen Z who was born in 1997, this is perhaps the deepest Whatifalthist video I've watched in my years of being a subscriber to this channel. Also, how the hell is Rudyard 20 years old and not being a good student in school throughout?! I thought he was a year younger than me and I've learned way more from this channel than in any of my political science courses in college. This guy and channel is an absolute rare gem of intelligence in a world that's becoming more like in the movie "Idiocracy" by the day. To the point where I genuinely believe that if Whatifalthist had the same amount of viewers and subscribers as the most popular YouTubers such as MrBeast, the world would be a hell of a lot smarter. Please continue the good work Rudyard! We need your intellect and perspectives more than ever.
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  10. I currently teach Japanese adults, mostly businessmen, at an online English school, and it disgusts me how some of these people take pride in dedicating their entire lives to their jobs and not giving a shit about their family. They usually tell me that on the weekdays they would start work at 8 AM, end at 9 PM, and go home at around 11 when their wife and kids are already fast asleep. On the weekends, they either continue their work from home, play sports with their coworkers/bosses or study some skill their bosses demand them to learn (like accounting, English etc.) I often ask them whether they spend time with their families, and they say yes, but only one or two times a month when they take them on outings. And when I ask them if they ever get worried that they're not being for their kids, they just say no, they don't, because it's "just the wives' job" to do such things apparently. The fact they say that so nonchalantly, and even take pride in it, really hits home what Whatifalthist said about modern bourgeoise capitalism and postmodern thinkers, on how they see basic human needs like socializing, to be a "weakness" or even a second priority because of how it doesn't contribute to the industrialized economy. Sorry for coming off as rude, I don't mean to generalize the Japanese, it's just these few salarymen that think that taking care of children is a "wife's job" because they couldn't bother about their own offspring really hits me. It makes me thankful that my father, despite working late hours too in another country, still messages me sometimes if I'm okay.
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  11. The anxiety portion of this video really helped me understand just how realistic The book series called Uglies really is when it comes to how Scott Westerfield wrote a future anxiety/envy driven society. I mean he quite Literally wrote it to where the main thing everyone in the society wants is to be given a surgery that makes all people after turning 16 beautiful, healthy, and extends youth. But they are also unwittingly submitting to alterations to their brains And ultimately abandoning any sense of individuality in favor of a supposed perfected collective that is incredibly docile and stable.
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  12. Mouse Utopia is referenced in the Bible. It’s the Old Testament story of God telling Abraham that if Abraham doesn’t find 10 good men in a city, God will destroy the City. Ten good men were not found. Things did not go well for the City.
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  13. The fact that one's sexual value is equivalent to ones social value is proof how eroded the values of our society has become.
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  14. The school bullshit is so real. I remember in pre-k I had drawn myself with red eyes because red was my favorite color. Another kid freaked out, told me I was evil because red was evil, and told the teacher on me, who told me to start over drawing myself. It’s so insane that I still remember this today at age 20.
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  15. Terrific video, thanks! Re Stalin: He had an illness when he was about 10 months old that destroyed part of his prefrontal cortex. Lobaczewski mentions this in Political Ponerology, and there's a medical report about it available online.
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  16. At a dark time in my life I went through a phase where I was fixated on WW1, I found it therapeutic to learn about what those people went through because it gave me hope that I could handle the relatively trivial problems I was having. That led me to the idea of approaching life heroically which has indeed helped me handle life better.
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  17. "Even in 2021 or whatever year you're watching this" Dude in 3274: "Nah man, that ice age has come and gone"
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  18. Here's one for you that I find pretty silly: the War of Jenkins' Ear. Long story short, a British smuggler in the Caribbean got stopped by a Spanish warship looking for contraband 1n 1731. The ship was boarded, and the captain, Jenkins, somehow had his ear cut off. Eight years later, the guy goes to the British Parliament together with a bunch of slave merchants hoping to cause outrage among MPs against 'Spanish barbarism', and eventually pushed them into angrily declaring war on Spain and raiding many of their coastal possessions in the Caribbean and Central America in 1739. This whole thing has been mostly forgotten by now except in Spain, in part due to the "idgaf about the Caribbean except 20th century Cuba" mentality of most western historians have, and also because the conflict was then absorbed into the War of Austrian Succession.
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  19. I was told all my life that people in the past were "repressed" and had no freedom, and we the first "liberated" society in history. However, the more I learn about previous eras, the more I realize the opposite is true. Every pre-industrial society lacked the resources to micromanage every aspect of everyone's lives. It's as if the more technologically advanced and prosperous the world gets, the less freedom everyone has, because those in power use the wealth and technological prowess to control everyone else more and more. You could even say we use it to control each other more and more, as opposed to a small elite controlling everyone else. We are now on camera every second of our lives, and saying a single word can ruin our lives forever.
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  20. When a person says “Life is meaningless” what they’re really saying “ My life is meaningless”
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  21. everyone 20 years older than me: "you guys have it so easy, we had to walk to school and didn't have those fancy computers* me: 9/11 arab spring coup d'etat at my country in 2009 all the presidents family gets locked up for drug trafficking historic hurricane damage the cheeky virus that has us locked up
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  22. Seriously thank you. Literally today I had a mental breakdown about how dead-end the world seems and that life fucking suck. This video really helped me get a better perspective and understand what stuff I need to figure out and go do. If I could I would genuinely hug you right now, great work man.
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  23. Learned more history from Whatifalthist than from any history teacher or book I’ve ever read! Dude is a literal fountain of knowledge. Keep it up 👍
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  24. Granny from Missouri checking in! White collar professional, worked most my life and checked out of the big city about 10 years ago after losing 3 of my family to suicide. I'm watching in total heartbreak and disbelief at how our society has crumbled over my lifetime - this is the worst I've ever seen it. My son lives in complete blackpill despair, my daughter is lost and both my granddaughters are Thomas' leftist sister. I don't know what to do. I spend my time gardening and cooking, trying to make a bright warm spot for whoever lands here.
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  25. I usually just don't care enough to get into a more meaningful conversation with most people so I probably end up just doing the surface level npc conversation when forced to speak with people
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  26. Normies being dumber than actual dimwits is simultaneously the most surprising, unsuprising, shocking, eye opening, and obvious thing that I ever heard but it shouldn't really shock me in the slightest
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  27. Imagine living in a world where schooling does not make you actively hate learning, but the internet still exists and you can go down any rabbit hole you desire. Imagine a world where you're in an online game lobby, you drop a reference to some obscure Chinese philosopher, and if no one else gets it at least half of them would be curious.
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  28. They also like contracts, so I wonder if lawyers would work well with demons.
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  29. I’ve been watching your videos for about 2 years now but I think this is the first time I’ve ever commented on one. Im 20 years old and I find it incredible that someone as articulate and insightful as you is only older than me by a few years. Truthfully, it makes me question if I am where I am supposed to be for someone my age. This feeling made me anxious initially, but over time it morphed into a sense of curiosity and desire to think about the world in new ways. You have legitimately been one of the main reasons I have opened up to the world and tried to view topics in a new light. I started watching your channel because I really enjoyed alternative history, but these recent philosophy videos have been absolutely amazing. I won’t even claim they change my views all the time, but simply hearing about concepts that are so “foreign” to our generation and yet seem to strike a chord deep down is incredible. Thank you WhatIfAltHist, you truly are one of the greats on this platform.
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  30. Such a playful critique of communism that I found strange yet due to its quality very rewarding, appreciate it. I’ve been reading Orlando Figes and I think this quote supplements the video: “The ideas imported from the West (as nearly all ideas in Russia were) tended to become frozen into abstract dogmas once the Russian intelligentsia took them up. Whereas in Europe new ideas were forced to compete against other doctrines and attitudes, with the result that people tended towards healthy skepticism about claims to absolute truth, and a climate of pluralism developed.” Whenever I talk to a fanatic I’m amazed by how they appear to be frozen in the past. Take a revolutionary and they appear to be in 1917, take a critical race theorist/political correct/social justice warrior and they are stuck in the 1960’s. A most curious phenomenon that perhaps highlights their intellectual inflexibility to deal with any kind of critique or adaptation to new contextual circumstances.
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  31. My personal favorite example of Karenism: Making an improperly tested novel medical treatment into something akin to a religion and everyone who is hesitant about it into a heretic, with what I believe to be disastrous results.
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  32. Bro you said this was coming yesterday and it's already up, you amd your team are KILLING it. Thanks to all of you and your team!
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  33. Every time Whatifalthist drops a video I think "This might be the most important video I've ever seen" and it seems I am rarely proven wrong
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  34. Before watching: I think the US could underestimate the defensive potential of cheap FPV quad copter drones. As the Russo-Ukrainian war is showing every day now: these drones are insanely effective in mass precision striking every single enemy soldiers or pieces of machinery on the battlefield. They are also dirt cheap (cheaper than a regular artillery shell). A precision guided bomb with the capability to hover, search for targets over long times and to strike exactly the spot they need.
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  35. Dude if anyone asks my favorite youtube channel its yours. Every time I see a new Whatifalthist video I click.
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  36. It’s so strange that groups in the US are trying to adopt the European PTSD response, using fear of Nazism, slavery, and colonialism to fuel the ideology of the Woke culture. But none of these things directly happened to the generations alive in the US except carryovers from WWII or if you count injustices on Native reservations. It makes sense Western Europe has not yet shaken the cultural response, but the US somehow decided to adopt its own on the Left and we are increasingly seeing a push to behave more like the PTSD response of Europe to crises in our country and abroad. (I am referring to anyone left of center in the US). At least here in the US, there is a self-loathing of “Western” identity I feel like they want to see it all collapse. And now THIS is being imported into Western Europe as well with American culture.
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  37. I briefly lived in Phoenix, AZ for two years. The main reason I left was because I realized that the entire city and metropolitan area wasn't sustainable over the long term. Over a quarter of the people moving into that area are from either Orange County or Los Angeles. Another large influx of people moving in are from Northern Mexico, and the tide isn't stopping anytime soon. Mind you, I'm not blaming anyone above for causing a strain on the city resources. I'm blaming the location and a lack of cohesive municipal planning. Phoenix is mainly reliant on external sources of water (mostly piped from California) to supply the residents, there. In addition, because so many realtors and land barons based out of California own land there, housing prices have shot up to alarming levels in only a year. Especially during the height of the pandemic when there were mass evictions taking place. If you want to see what happens during an apocalyptic urban scenario when the U.S. Government finally fragments, watch Phoenix consume itself after it's external resource supply is cut off or drastically reduced. I hate to say that, but I also don't want to mince words.
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  38. My favorite lie is “it is different this time.” It is never different this time. It is always the same. I do agree, however, that history does not repeat. Instead, it rhymes, which is why it all sounds the same but many of us do not see it.
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  39. I am here mostly for book recommendations. I just finished reading "false economy"
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  40. "Thomas logs into all the work computers and clicks on Rudyard's videos after work. He loves Rudyard so much he increases the watch count selflessly, as should all WIAH fans."
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  41. Must be really cool to watch the downfall of modern civilization being a historian Also I think it's time to change the channel name to Whatifactualhist
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  42. science is a tool. we should use it to achieve the desired goals of religion and philosophy. we should never use science to find goals.
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  43. I would love an understanding African civilization video cause as an African American born and raised in the U.S countryside it wasn’t talked about much if at all during my school years
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  44. Honestly, you are starting see more and more of cultural divide between black Americans by class. We have now had several generations of middle to upper class blacks being in more integrated areas so it’s a bit easier to see. Also, I do think with the internet more information is penetrating insular, poorer communities. Maybe it’s just me but I find even over my small lifetime I have seen poorer Americans in general become more knowledgable about the world simply from Internet exposure.
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  45. I remember driving one sunny day I was watching the trees as I drove by and seeing the shadows of the trees reveal itself as I drove by. I don’t know what it was in that moment but I suddenly had this intuitional knowing that everything I did in my life, everything that everyone did in their lives revolved around the fact they would die one day, and up until that moment the idea only laid in the back waters of my mind. I think that it’s quite interesting that you decided to bring this up. I feel like most people in general are afraid to talk about anything real or don’t even understand or choose to not even think about it. In a lot of ways it feels like the book Fahrenheit 451 has came true. To everyone reading this comment know truth, speak truth, and most importantly seek truth. Talk about something real in your lives don’t just garble on about a bunch of meaningless garbage and constantly chase after a hedonistic life.
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  46. Envy drove communism sure. But you can't make the argument that European Countries are driven by envy. It is very reductive to say the political philosophy of each country is driven by hatred of the successful. Think from a European perspective. They suffered from the great depression which objectively made peoples life worse. No matter how hard they would have worked they couldn't have improved their life. that's why they were willing to vote for extreme parties who promised to improve their lives (The Nazis did improve the economy). Post war, most European cities were destroyed so the government had to step in to fix all the mess. The post war consensus was that free market capitalism lead to the great depression so it should be regulated and wealth should be redistributed to improve the lives of people so they don't vote for extreme parties (Nazis) again. And European countries didn't keep sticking to this philosophy. Since the 80's they have moved towards neoliberalism. That's why countries like Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Scandinavian countries are still very rich. If your argument is there is not as many start ups in Europe as USA because they are successful people are shunned, that's a very lazy analysis. USA is massive country with one language and roughly one regulatory system, so start-ups can expand and succeed, whereas in Europe that's very difficult to with all different countries
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  47. Bias against people in the past was widespread in my circles growing up. Even (especially?) from the "smart" kids. Anytime Id express reverence or even curiosity about older societies theyd always say something like "they didnt have computers tho" or "how can you think it was better if you weren't even there." One guy said black and white films or even movies made pre-1980 weren't worth watching because "theyre too old." Trying to learn from history was met with platitudes like "we should look forward, not back." These nuggets of wisdom came from honors students, whod dismiss my contrary opinions because they were in advanced math and i wasnt so therefore i was stupid. It was infuriating.
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  48. In summary: Asia: The main theatre of the conflict, loads of guerrilla campaigns and huge investment by both sides. India: Expect blood. Lots of blood. And more blood. Did I mention blood? Middle East: Turkey and Israel have always been stupid OP and will continue to be stupid OP. Europe: Everyone gang up on Russia! Unless they don't want to, that is. *Africa and South America are too poor to count.
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  49. Some key issues id put out there are: Lack of familial spirituality - a lot of young people just can't find or create a familial vibe with a partner. There is a level of relaxed honesty that many relationships are not reaching Ritual dating habits - people don't really learn courtship from anywhere in the US. Things like dances, cheerleaders and jocks, ect just aren't supported or practiced Drugs and medicine - so much of the young are on some drug that affects hormones. Like seriously find a girl with normal oxytocin receptors or a guy without some medicine or drug for attention/social skills
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  50. I love how you’re mic can go from sounding good in one video, to being locked in a safe the next
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