Skip to content

Are We Making Things Worse?

2017-02-03 · letter vlog · Hank · 3:15 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Nerdfighteria (also: US politics & society, Global development) · mode: Personal essay · tags: timely hook, fundraising ask, heavy topic

Thanking John for his immigration video, Hank worries that talking politics on Vlogbrothers deepens the echo chamber, but says he will not hide his beliefs (on climate change, marriage, discrimination, fear of immigrants) and will use his platform for them some days; he launches a weekend sale of refugee-support art posters for refugee resettlement organizations that lost federal funding.

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; thanks for John's Tuesday video; worry that politics on Vlogbrothers deepens the echo chamber

  • ★★ Hank thanks John for his Tuesday video: neither wants Vlogbrothers to become a current-events and politics channel, but John is very good at such videos and Hank came away understanding more. (hedged) — 00:00:07 · Vlogbrothers
  • ★★★ Hank sometimes thinks that talking politics on Vlogbrothers just makes things worse, deepening the echo chamber and chasing off everyone who disagrees with his liberal views. (hedged) — 00:00:22 · Vlogbrothers

00:00:35 — Hank's beliefs: human-caused climate change, marriage, discrimination by sexual orientation, fear of immigrants

  • ★★★ Hank believes global warming is caused by people and will be one of the biggest challenges humanity will ever face together. — 00:00:42 · climate change
  • ★★★ Hank calls it ludicrous that so much time was spent denying the joy of marriage to people because of whom they love. — 00:00:49
  • ★★★ Just as the government shouldn't have discriminated against people for their sexual orientation for years, Hank doesn't think it should be legal for businesses to do so. (hedged) — 00:00:58
  • ★★★ Hank thinks creating and feeding an irrational fear of people who want to come to America, as his ancestors did for the same dream, is an effective but dangerous way to gain power. (hedged) — 00:01:06 · United States
  • ★★ Hank believes these things are true and that running the country while denying them is a bad idea. — 00:01:20

00:01:26 — He won't drive away or insult those who disagree, but will use his platform to fight for what he believes

  • ★★★ Hank does not want to drive away people who disagree with him, but that won't stop him saying what he believes. — 00:01:26
  • ★★★ Hank says he is here to be silly and thoughtful, and to use his platform to fight for the things he believes in, not every day but some days. — 00:01:35
  • ★★ Hank is not here to insult people who disagree with him, because he wants them to watch more than anyone. — 00:01:43
  • ★★★ When he sees things he believes in, like human rights, objectivity and liberal democracy, being threatened, Hank will talk about it. — 00:01:50

00:02:01 — ACLU Twitter offer, the refugee art poster sale, defunded refugee organizations; change, not an echo chamber

  • ★★ Last weekend Hank offered on Twitter to donate $5 to the ACLU for every hand-drawn message of support for immigrants and refugees; he got over 2,000, some beautiful art. — 00:02:01 · Twitter
  • ★★★ This weekend only, until midnight Sunday, the artists of some of those works are selling them as posters at DFTBA.com. — 00:02:18 · DFTBA Records
  • ★★★ Hank says that as part of Trump's refugee ban, federal funding to local organizations helping refugees find work, training and basics like toothpaste and tampons has been eliminated. — 00:02:26 · Donald Trump
  • ★★ Those organizations are struggling; the US has stopped helping both people who want to come and those already here, which Hank says doesn't seem like a good idea. (hedged) — 00:02:46 · United States
  • ★★★ 100% of poster proceeds will be divided among several organizations doing that work for refugees. — 00:02:56
  • ★★★ Hank says we can make a difference and work for the world we want: that isn't creating an echo chamber, it's creating change. — 00:03:04

00:03:13 — Sign-off

In the description and comments

  • ★★ In the description Hank says that having a platform means he never really knows how much he should use it to effect change. (unsure) — video description
  • ★★★ The description points viewers to the refugee art posters at DFTBA.com: buyers choose their donation, minimum about $10 per poster, or a $150 package of all the art. — video description · DFTBA Records
  • ★★ Hank says that if he did a third of the things he has ideas for it would be too much, yet he always feels he isn't doing enough, and admits he doesn't know the best path forward: he is a video blogger. — video description
  • ★★★ Hank wants to act for his beliefs without attacking those who disagree: not every Trump supporter is like Milo or Richard Spencer, 50% of Americans still approve of Trump's job, and treating them as a monolithic block of racists does more harm than good. — video description · Donald Trump

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: echo chamber · refugee

Also: People: Donald Trump

Projects: DFTBA Records

Organizations: American Civil Liberties Union · Twitter

Concepts: climate change · democratic backsliding · discrimination · modern liberalism in the United States · same-sex marriage · sexual orientation · xenophobia

Places: United States

Policies: Executive Order 13769

Only in the description or credits: Milo Yiannopoulos · Richard Spencer

Also centred on echo chamber: My Post-Election Thoughts · Does the truth still matter?

Also centred on refugee: Volunteering (In Your Pants) · THE PROJECT FOR AWESOME 2013 IS UPON US! · Understanding the Refugee Crisis in Europe, Syria, and around the World · The Refugee Crises: Project for Awesome 2015 · Aida and Majeeda: Thoughts from the Azraq Refugee Camp · The Extraordinary Story of Hussam: Teenager, Writer, and Syrian Refugee

Replies to

← Previous: Understanding Trump's Executive Order on Immigration · Next → Good News, YA Books, and Bears: It's Question Tuesday