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Compassion, Weakness, and the 2016 Election

2016-10-14 · letter vlog · Hank · 3:50 · watch on YouTube

Topic: US politics & society · mode: Personal essay · tags: timely hook

Hank argues that the rising nationalist rhetoric of the 2016 election rests on the false idea that strength is control and compassion is weakness; he says compassion is the ultimate manifestation of strength and fear-mongering is weakness.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Thanks for John's tax-plan video; the interest in it shows people still care about policy

  • ★★ Hank thanks John for his tax video: thinking about policy this election has been hard, but the strong interest in it shows people still care about policy, not just personality and demonizing. — 00:00:00 · United States presidential election

00:00:18 — The rise of nationalism and protectionism and the ideology that strength is control and compassion is weakness

  • ★ Hank apologises for going the other way: talking about the ideas and stories behind politics, in the US and, he thinks, everywhere. (hedged) — 00:00:18 · United States
  • ★★ Hank says nationalism and protectionism have risen, and their story is about how awful things are, a coming wave of enemies, corruption, and having consciously decided to be weak. — 00:00:30
  • ★★★ Hank says at the heart of this unnamed ideology is a perspective he cannot abide: that strength is control and compassion is weakness. (hedged) — 00:00:49 · empathy
  • ★★ Hank says he understands the misconception: strength lets you shape the world, and many people have legitimate insecurities for themselves and their families. — 00:01:00
  • ★★★ Hank says a politician's rhetoric of 'this country is losing', instead of using our many resources to protect citizens, protects no one; it seeks out people's wounds and aggravates them intentionally. (hedged) — 00:01:15

00:01:28 — Rhetoric that never calls the country strong and manufactures fear; fears made of cardboard and styrofoam

  • ★★ Hank says this rhetoric can never admit strength: US industrial production is at an all-time high, the job market is strong, and the US military outspends the next eight militaries combined. — 00:01:35 · United States
  • ★★★ Hank says the rhetoric inflames or manufactures fear and insecurity, which breed ruthlessness, disregard for morality, self-righteousness, and casting Syrians, protesters or opponents as evil or corrupt. — 00:01:49
  • ★★ Hank says part of citizens' job in a democracy can be recognising when the fears pitched to them are made of cardboard and styrofoam. (hedged) — 00:02:08
  • ★★ Hank grants there are huge real problems that good policy, people and strategy can influence, but says much of the fear we are fed is no more real than a Transformers movie. (playful) — 00:02:15

00:02:29 — A strong country digs into compassion; compassion as the ultimate manifestation of strength; America's growing compassion

  • ★★★ Hank argues a strong country digs into civic service, altruism, openness, peacekeeping and collaboration rather than walls and dehumanization, as a confident person shares their gifts; compassion is the ultimate manifestation of strength. — 00:02:29 · empathy

    “Compassion is the ultimate manifestation of strength.”

  • ★★ Hank says because America is strong its compassion has grown: marriage for all loving couples, open doors to immigrants and refugees, rethinking hurtful traditions, debate on mass incarceration and race, with far to go. — 00:02:55 · United States

00:03:16 — Strength-talk that pours salt in wounds is weakness; we will move past this; sign-off

  • ★★★ Hank tells those who call that progress weakness and yell about strength while salting wounds of fear that their rhetoric is sad, hurtful weakness blocking the good work humanity needs. — 00:03:18
  • ★★ Hank says he has no doubt that in the fullness of time we will move past this and do that good work. — 00:03:41

In the description and comments

  • ★ In the description Hank says this year (2016) hit his faith in humanity, but people he knows are more than 90% super great, so probably the general population is too. (playful, hedged) — video description
  • ★ Hank says an article Joe Hanson sent him, a Brain Pickings piece on Rebecca Solnit's Hope in the Dark, helped him this year (2016), if a little thick. — video description
  • ★★★ Hank says he is voting for Hillary Clinton, not only because he thinks Trump treats the world as a game to win at any cost and would raise the (still low) odds of apocalypse, but because she has done much good and he relates to her. (hedged) — video description · Donald Trump, United States presidential election
  • ★★ Hank says his problems with Clinton are mostly about foreign and military affairs, which he feels the US does wrong, but he admits he knows nothing about them and finds it weird so many think they do. (hedged) — video description · United States
  • ★ Hank says humans are great: we have our issues, but he is quite proud of us, even in this unpleasant year. — video description

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: empathy

Also: Works: Transformers

Organizations: United States Armed Forces

Concepts: dehumanization · mass incarceration · nationalism · protectionism · refugee · same-sex marriage

Places: Syria · United States

Events: United States presidential election

Only in the description or credits: Donald Trump · Hillary Clinton · Joe Hanson

Replies to

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