Hearted Youtube comments on Whatifalthist (@WhatifAltHist) channel.

  1. 151
  2. 148
  3. 144
  4. 144
  5. 143
  6. 143
  7. 140
  8. 139
  9. 139
  10. 138
  11. 135
  12. 134
  13. 133
  14. 133
  15. 133
  16. 132
  17. 132
  18. 132
  19. As to the point about the cult of authenticity, which I wholeheartedly agree with you on, I think the explanation for how it came about and where it's headed is a tale in itself. Historically, people were sincere or insincere. You were more or less born into a role, and how society judged you reflected a concern for how well you fit those mostly preassigned and prefabricated roles: How good of a mother are you? A man? A king? A saint? A peasant? A baker? A wife? A son? A warrior? A Christian? Or even a villain? A heathen? We still partially relate to one another via these displays of sincerity, as when we consent to consigning part of our identity to a traditional role like husband or wife through marriage. But we have put increasing cultural emphasis the past two centuries on being yourself, being authentic, as the traditional structures reinforcing sincerity-based identity structures began to either crumble or so radically transform as to become unrecognizble to themselves. This shift created an odd paradox since society's encouragement to not bend to society's will is self-contradictory. You no longer were asked to fit in but to stand out, to be who you truly are, and eventually the Gen X ethos would most fully embrace this distaste for ideology in place of a desire to be a fully authentic individual. But just as sincerity became gradually replaced with authenticity as the primary mode of identification and truthfulness, branding or "profilicity" (the construction and curation of a public profile) is today starting to eclipse the authentic. Think of it as the difference between an intimate photograph meant to capture a fleeting moment that deeply means something to perhaps only yourself versus a group of friends taking a staged photograph with them all jumping in unison with big grins on their faces. The former is authentic, the latter is profilic. To people raised to identify with authenticity, the profilic photograph looks phony, what with its carefully curated staging and artifice. But to younger generations, the profilic display demonstrates a form of honesty by virtue of how invested in a particular image or display one is, by the cultivation of a profile and the labor invested in maintaining that socially accepted image. I don't think the internet demands authenticity. Instead, it demands this mode of profilicity, where the injunction is not to fully integrate one's actions into a cohesive narrative about one's identity but instead to successfully promulgate a personal profile as it relates to second-order observations in a self-referential social system. So, when we are observing and engaging with an identity formation, it is as a means of communication, external, first and foremost and not as an expression of an internal consistency. Gen Z is close to fully embracing this new paradigm, it appears.
    131
  20. 131
  21. 130
  22. 130
  23. 128
  24. 126
  25. In the late 1980’s, there was a British political comedy show called Yes Minister, and a sequel called Yes, Prime Minister. The beauty of this show is that Civil Servants contacted the writers and shared their experience, so the show captured an accurate account of how the political mercenary in No10 works, and more importantly; why. In one of the Yes Minister episodes (clip entitled: Yes Minister - Selling British Arms to Terrorists), we learn that Britain was selling detonators to Communist in Italy. Near the end of the clip, Sir Humphrey Appleby tells his Minister that “Government isn’t about morality. [It’s about] Stability; keeping things going; preventing anarchy; stopping society falling to bits; still being here tomorrow. … The government isn’t about good and evil, it’s only about order or chaos. … It’s not my job to care [about the Italian terrorists getting British bombs], that’s what politicians are for. My job is to carry out government policy.” This is truly startling that Civil Servants actually believe this, however throughout the rest of both shows, there are far too many examples where they let a conflict of interest affect their decision making; they were effectively taking bribes, giving themselves honours, and quid pro quo. The point the show subtly makes is that, even though Civil Servants are like robots who think themselves as serving the greater good, the corruption side of things is ultimately going to undo society and bring about chaos. This show came out nearly 40 years ago, and the damage that came about because of corruption is nearly complete. It’s a really good series and it sheds a light on why things are getting progressively worse decade after decade, but more crucially, imagine this happening but in every country, every day.
    125
  26. 124
  27. 124
  28. 124
  29. 122
  30. 119
  31. 119
  32. 119
  33. 119
  34. 117
  35. 117
  36. 117
  37. 115
  38. 114
  39. I’ve only gotten about thirty minutes into the video before writing this, but when I see how miserable my life can be(20 white college educated man, single, well read, currently bordering on near insanity from social isolation and extensive drug use that’s addled my brain, addled by relatively extensive trauma, very few close friends, usually go months without having sex yet I’ve had sex more than the vast majority of men in my age group) I find that there’s truly no way to not let the melancholy and bleakness of modern life affect you, besides ignorance and faux-positivism. Faux positivism is worse than the abyss. It is a lie. Ignorance is just ignorance. As stated in the blurb, recently I’ve been bordering, and perhaps sliding into insanity. My mind hasn’t been working correctly and a decent chunk of the time I’m not lucid. This morning I felt extremely nervous, nauseous, paranoid, and dissociated. Occasionally I have moments of near schizophrenia, (hallucinations, voices, irrationality). Living in this world truly kills, though I wouldn’t refer to it as “late stage capitalism” as I feel it’s a doomsday term, the current capitalist system has destroyed society and alienated everyone. The family today is not a close group, my experience with family is sadly the normal. Though my home isn’t broken, my parents teeter between reluctant cohabitation and not speaking to each other for weeks on end. My mother and father both, at multiple points in time have left major psychological impacts on my psyche that have blossomed into major hindrances of my life, and when I compare my experience with others mine is way better than most. Let’s face it, communities today are lame and shallow and do not fulfill any aspect of the inner soul. They’re built on shallow ideals, and are incredibly ineffective as they usually boil down to “you should just be positive”. Positivity and optimism are another form of opium for the masses. Sincerity is the answer, in my opinion and experience. Being sincere to the people who are in your life and building relationships that are worth having will save you whilst also accepting, as ugly as this truth is, your life can very well continue in the relative misery it has been defined by. I’m not gonna say that romantic love is dead, but it’s not faring well and is in rough shape. There is no blueprint for this, humans are randomly evolved animals, consciousness is a coincidence. Before self determination in romantic relationships, most women were subjected to daily rapes by someone they were forced to marry. However, in the same way that communities are lame and shallow and possess little to nothing, so are most relationships. Many are about satisfying sexual urges. Many are right place right time and have very little substance. Many are because of trends(see tik tok trends for tall skinny boyfriends, white women dating black men(further footnote: I am not espousing racist views with this, plenty of white women date black men for the trend, look at any college campus)). Love isn’t preordained either, there isn’t someone just waiting there for you. There are no stars that align, there is no fate. There is simply coincidence, and to be happy you have to take those chances. For example, I’m currently in a partnership, however it’s a near entirely online thing. I’ve seen her in person once. The first chance I get I will take it with her, because she is very important to me and having her in my life makes it that much better. The final thing that I will say is crucial for not putting a bullet in your head is abandoning expectations and hope. Our generation was sold a false bill of goods in childhood, and since pretty much most aspects of western(I’m an American so this may be different) culture are built off of an either constant living in or a nostalgia of childhood, when the world doesn’t line up to our childish ideals, everything falls apart or we choose to delude ourselves and continue living in this faux world. Abandon those expectations, even abandon the idea that you will be happy and you will lose about half of the desire to kill yourself.
    112
  40. 112
  41. 112
  42. 107
  43. 107
  44. 103
  45. 101
  46. 99
  47. 98
  48. 98
  49. 96
  50. 96