Skip to content

The Trouble with Wishful Thinking

2016-11-11 · letter vlog · Hannah Hart · 3:49 · watch on YouTube

Topic: US politics & society · mode: Advocacy & fundraising · tags: timely hook, civic or action cta, guest or collab

Filling in for Hank after Trump's election, Hannah Hart argues that wishful thinking (doing less and still expecting what you want) helped bring the result, including the 46% who didn't vote, and urges viewers to have uncomfortable political conversations with family and non-voting friends now.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — 11/11 wishes; the first Friday of President-Elect Trump; 46% didn't vote

  • ★ Hannah Hart: Hannah says people tweet 'make a wish' at 11:11 and she can't be bothered to find out why, since it is the first Friday of President-Elect Trump's 'president-electionry'. (playful) — 00:00:07 · Donald Trump
  • ★★★ Hannah Hart: Hannah says some people voted for Donald Trump to be president, and moreover 46% of people didn't vote at all. — 00:00:27 · Donald Trump, United States presidential election

00:00:42 — Hannah introduces herself: Harto, My Drunk Kitchen

  • ★ Hannah Hart: Hannah introduces herself: her YouTube channel is Harto, she is best known for My Drunk Kitchen and most beloved for putting her feelings all over the internet. — 00:00:42

00:00:52 — The trouble with wishing: wishes show what you want, but wishful thinking means thinking you can do less and still get it

  • ★★★ Hannah Hart: Hannah says it occurs to her that wishes are what got us here: wishing is what made 46% of the population not vote. (hedged) — 00:00:55
  • ★★ Hannah Hart: Hannah says a wish is your heart's desire, what you truly want to be true, see and do, so it is a great thing because it shows you things about yourself. — 00:01:07

  • ★★★ Hannah Hart: Hannah defines the trouble with wishes as wishful thinking: thinking you can do less and still get what you want. — 00:01:22

    “wishful thinking, where you think you can do less and still get what you want”

00:01:31 — Blaming ourselves; talk with family who voted for Trump or didn't vote; actions and inactions matter; grieve, then stop crossing fingers

  • ★★★ Hannah Hart: Hannah says she doesn't want to blame 'us' for what just happened but will: it's not our fault, but maybe it is. (hedged) — 00:01:31
  • ★★★ Hannah Hart: Hannah thinks 'we' probably acted on our hopes ourselves, but worries we didn't have enough conversations with other people in our families. (hedged) — 00:01:39
  • ★★ Hannah Hart: Hannah says it is beautiful that millennials were motivated to vote this year (2016) with a strong turnout, and thinks the next step is talking to family and others who hold other political beliefs or are apathetic. (hedged) — 00:02:00
  • ★★ Hannah Hart: Hannah thinks it is extraordinary to live in a country where we can still act on our beliefs, and that while we still can, we should. (hedged) — 00:02:22
  • ★★★ Hannah Hart: Hannah asks viewers, while it is still safe, to have uncomfortable dinner conversations with family members who hold opposing political beliefs. — 00:02:32
  • ★★ Hannah Hart: Hannah tells viewers to show such family members their Twitter feeds and the racism and violence already incited in 'Trump's America'. — 00:02:37 · Twitter, Donald Trump
  • ★★ Hannah Hart: Hannah tells viewers to show friends who didn't vote this, and if they say they didn't vote for Trump, to answer that they didn't vote at all and are guilty by association. — 00:02:51 · Donald Trump
  • ★★★ Hannah Hart: Hannah says people would like to pretend their actions don't matter, but their actions and inactions matter a lot. — 00:03:03
  • ★★ Hannah Hart: Hannah implores viewers to take time to heal, mourn and grieve, because rebuilding strength needs rest. — 00:03:11
  • ★★★ Hannah Hart: Hannah cautions against wishful thinking: what we thought was enough isn't, so we can't cross our fingers for a more aligned Congress in two years; the conversations must start now. — 00:03:20 · United States Congress

00:03:37 — Sign-off and the dramatic lighting joke

In the description and comments

  • ★ The description says Hannah Hart fills in for Hank during his paternity leave, and recommends her newly released book Buffering. — video description

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Donald Trump · Hannah Hart · voter turnout · wishful thinking

Also: Millennials · paradox of voting · racism · Twitter · United States Congress · United States presidential election

Only in the description or credits: Buffering · My Drunk Kitchen

Also centred on Hannah Hart: An Evening of Awesome at Carnegie Hall · Felicia Day, Hannah Hart, and The Fine Brothers

Also centred on voter turnout: You. Must. Vote. · Terrible at Frenching: My Spicy Summer Camp Story · Ten Terrible Reason to not Vote (and two good ones) · Our Massive Project: How to Vote in Every State · If you don't go…

← Previous: The Museum of Pizza Johns Past · Next → Who the Eff Is Hank?