I AM A BAD PERSON!

2011-06-03 · letter vlog · Hank · 3:25 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Science & nature (also: Philosophy & meaning, US politics & society) · mode: Personal essay · tags: civic or action cta, community lore, timely hook, on location

Hank, responding to the Evil Baby Orphanage discussion, says he wants to know what makes a good person; he admits he still eats meat though it is environmentally bad, mocks the USDA's new protein-heavy plate, and asks Nerdfighters to go a little vegetarian in June.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Greeting from Venice, Florida, after John's video from Venice, Italy

★ Hank films from the canals of Venice, Florida, an unplanned echo of John's last video from Venice, Italy. — 00:00:01

00:00:09 — The George Washington / Evil Baby Orphanage discussion; what makes a good person

★★ Hank says the discussion of whether George Washington was an evil person spread across Nerdfighteria, on Your Pants and in the comments. — 00:00:09 · Nerdfighteria
★★ Hank likes that a Nerdfighter called Deflin on Your Pants proposed listing criteria for entry to the Evil Baby Orphanage, and that most discussion focused on intent. — 00:00:21 · Evil Baby Orphanage
★★★ Hank doubts that wanting to be good makes one good: he knows he isn't a bad person but not that he is a good one, so he wants criteria for being good. (hedged) — 00:00:35
★★ Citing Sirius Black via the commenter kneehighargylesocks, Hank agrees the world can't be split into good people and Death Eaters; it is more complicated. — 00:00:41

00:01:01 — Eating meat is still objectively bad; Hank still eats it; GOOD magazine's meat-free June

★★★ Hank says eating meat is still objectively bad, as he argued on this same dock a couple of years ago. — 00:01:01
★★ Hank says meat production still accounts for about as much greenhouse gas as the transportation sector, driving included. — 00:01:05
★★ Hank says that if the edible food fed to livestock in the US went to people instead, no one in the world would be hungry. — 00:01:14 · United States
- check: no one in the world would be hungry — doubtful
★★ Hank admits he still eats meat, knowing it is bad, because he likes it. — 00:01:21
★★ GOOD magazine challenges readers to skip meat in June; Hank thinks he'll try, though not fully, since he must eat what his in-laws serve. (hedged) — 00:01:27

00:01:47 — Lab-grown meat as a technological solution

★★ Hank is excited by technological fixes such as scientists growing meat in a laboratory more efficiently and without animal suffering. — 00:01:47
★★ People find lab-grown meat gross, but Hank says nothing is grosser than the way we currently produce food. — 00:01:54

00:02:08 — The USDA's new plate and its protein section

★★ Hank says the US just replaced the food pyramid with a plate: half vegetables and fruits, half protein and grains. — 00:02:08 · United States
★★ Hank finds the protein section absurd since vegetables and grains have plenty of protein; he blames the USDA, not the health department, and a meat-reliant farm industry. — 00:02:17
★★ Hank calls obesity the number one health problem in America right now, which makes USDA control of diet advice disturbing. — 00:02:34 · United States

00:02:44 — Ask: go a little vegetarian this month; Evil Baby Orphanage joke; sign-off

★★★ Hank asks Nerdfighters to go a little vegetarian this month (June 2011), perhaps meat-free at lunch or meat only on weekends. — 00:02:44 · Nerdfighteria
★★ Hank says that denying yourself this one indulgence, meat, will make you a little bit better as a person. — 00:02:51
★ Hank jokes that being a little better lowers your chance of being taken from your cradle by a time traveller and sent to the Evil Baby Orphanage. (joke) — 00:02:58 · Evil Baby Orphanage

Threads in this video

result reported · John asks viewers how to tell who belongs in the Evil Baby Orphanage given the complexity of history (2011) — Hank reports the George Washington discussion spread across Nerdfighteria on Your Pants and in comments, including a proposed list of Evil Baby Orphanage criteria and a focus on intent. (00:00:09) → refers to The Evil Baby Orphanage Returns...for George Washington?
restate · Is evil found only in certain people, or in all of us? — Citing Sirius Black via a commenter, Hank agrees the world can't be separated into good people and Death Eaters. (00:00:41)
restate · Do individual green choices matter? — Hank restates that eating meat is objectively bad for the planet and asks people to cut back a little rather than give it up entirely. (00:01:01) → refers to Eating Man Meat
told · Hank tries GOOD magazine's meat-free June challenge (2011) — Hank says he thinks he'll try GOOD magazine's challenge not to eat meat in June, though he won't fully succeed while staying with his in-laws. (00:01:27)
update · Hank's trip to Florida to visit his in-laws and his high-school friends in Orlando (2011) — Hank is still with his in-laws in Florida and has to eat whatever they serve. (00:01:35)
asked · Hank asks Nerdfighters to go a little bit vegetarian in June (2011) — Hank asks Nerdfighters to go a little bit vegetarian this month (June 2011), for example meat-free lunches or meat only on weekends. (00:02:44)
callback · The Evil Baby Orphanage (2007) — Hank jokes that eating less meat lowers your chance of being taken from your cradle by a time traveller and sent to the Evil Baby Orphanage. (00:02:54)

Where the stories that moved here went next

John asks viewers how to tell who belongs in the Evil Baby Orphanage given the complexity of history (2011) — reported back; last: result reported, 2011-06-03
Hank asks Nerdfighters to go a little bit vegetarian in June (2011) — reported back; last: result reported, 2011-11-09
Hank's trip to Florida to visit his in-laws and his high-school friends in Orlando (2011) — followed over 3 videos (2011); last: mentioned, 2011-06-06
Hank tries GOOD magazine's meat-free June challenge (2011) — followed over 2 videos (2011); last: update, 2011-11-09

Mentioned

Central: Environmental impact of meat production · Vegetarianism

Also: People: George Washington

Projects: Your Pants

Organizations: Good (magazine) · United States Department of Agriculture · United States Department of Health and Human Services

Terms: Evil Baby Orphanage

Concepts: cultured meat · ethical dualism · obesity

Places: United States · Venice · Venice, Florida

Characters: Death Eater · Harry Potter (character, “Harry Potter”) · Sirius Black

Policies: food pyramid · MyPlate

Also centred on Environmental impact of meat production: Eating Man Meat · BEEF DAYS

Also centred on Vegetarianism: Why Are Vegetarians Annoying? (An Exploration of a Cultural Rift)

Replies to

continues · Eating Man Meat — “a couple years ago I sat on this very dock right here and I talked about how objectively”
continues · The Evil Baby Orphanage Returns...for George Washington? — “Last time, you came to us from the beautiful canals of Venice, Italy”

Later videos replying to this one

2011-11-09 · 27 Part Video (Hank) — continues (update on Hank tries GOOD magazine's meat-free June challenge (2011)) — Hank reports he did not eat meat for a month, though he never talked about it again; it was not easy and his life became very cheese-centric. (00:02:40)