The Revolution is Not (On) Instagram! (w. Kristen Leo!)

ah so this is my existential crisis in a
way so basically I was like scrolling through Instagram and there were like quite a few more butts we have this saying in English we were all young once you know we don't have a saying for we don't say we were all stupid once because you know what as this life goes on you're not just gonna be stupid once it's not gonna be once it's not gonna be twice it's not gonna be 10 times you get to be stupid again and again and again no matter how wise and experienced and worldly and saiful you will have you don't die tomorrow you're gonna have the sensation of being stupid and reflecting on what it's like to be stupid within the next two weeks I guarantee it doesn't end it does not stop but we were all young once right because we treat ignorant and stupidity as two different things but the problem is what nags at us when we try to be generous and considerate and positive towards people who seem kind of dumb and kind of ignorant we try to pretend that it's not a choice because we all were young once there was a time when being ignorant wasn't something we chose it was just something we were born into and you know Kristen Leo is 28 years old there's some age at which all those excuses have to stop there's some age at which your ignorance isn't something you can blame on the school system and is this something you can blame on the way your parents raised you when it's all on me and it's all on you and that age comes whenever you're willing to take on the responsibility right it's not 26 and it's not 28 and it's not 18 it's whenever you're willing to face up to the awesome horrifying responsibility that ultimately your education or your enlightenment you're being stupid or not you're being ignorant you're taking that it is on you that no one else is ever gonna be responsible but you all right I listen to this [ __ ] from Kristin leo I got sympathy sympathy I got sympathy is an analytical tool I can look at our whole situation as a 28 year old woman who has somehow risen to fame by posting pictures of her ass in a bikini on Instagram who's not that this amazing you like religious Epiphany this new insight that the meaning of life and the way to pursue political change is not through posting pictures of your ass in a bikini on Instagram you're about to hear that from her own mouth in an in a brief edit I understand she's turning things around okay the question I want you to ask yourself as we as we watch this clip I'm gonna come back and say a few more words the end question I want Jess what was this do you actually believe in education to the extent that you think Kristen Leo would be a better person or have a better perspective on these issues if she went to university and studied economics if she went to university and studied philosophy if she wants University and studied political science or politics or what-have-you this is not the only embarrassing video in Kristen Leo's new genre of being an ecological and vegan lifestyle activist she's become more political she's become more politicized more radicalized more feminist she's another video that's utopia in the title through very hard to watch they really are they're hard for me to sit through okay but I sympathize she's 28 20 years old and she's finally facing up to what it would really mean to be some kind of political leader or activist here on YouTube but she has done none of the reading she needs to do and when I watch these videos I wonder if she has ever read a newspaper in her life but here's the thing I don't even believe in our system of education to that extent I've met people with PhDs in economics and PhDs in politics who are just as balefully ignorant and you it's homogeneous christum leo I googled the hell out of it I can't find any indication and for having university education I know she used to be a model she used to be an airline stewardess I'm not hating her but I've never seen any reference to having university education but you know it's possible it's possible she has a degree in philosophy a natural vegan has a degree in philosophy she knows nothing about philosophy I meet people all the time who are burdened with for university credentials and they probably look up to Kristin leo they're probably the people leaving these [ __ ] comments on Kristin Leo's channel telling us that she's a deep thinker and she's a profound influence she's great leader believe me that's out you can just click on a channel and wow the scariest part of all what you see happening here on YouTube is here's this great phrase I don't even know who I'm quoting right the soft bigotry of low expectations right the sense in which these people and more often than not it's women and more often than not it's good-looking women more often not as good-looking women of impregnable age some reason it's not 65 year old women they get all this positive encouragement and feedback and nobody's ever seen them have you [ __ ] read a newspaper in your life have you read Aristotle have you read Plato had look well have you done the basic reading that a 28 year old should do before making this YouTube video stating your political manifesto and your flaws which camp you sit back and thought have you thought about why it is these other people you criticize their opinions are taken seriously and respected and yours I have you who is gonna put someone like that in check who's gonna have that positive positive most and and I sympathize because guess what I have nobody like that in my life right now at age 41 and I had nobody like that in my life at age 28 or at age 21 when I was a teenager I had to be my own teacher and my own guidance and my own inspiration I had to read the books and I decide that's not good enough I had decided I was too ignorant I had to go back to the library I had to set standards for myself to aspire to I had to set the target there was nobody around to tell me that I was dumb and I was ignorant and I was when I was don't make me an ignorant wrong and like I say you're young once but you ain't stupid once you're gonna be wrong again and again and again you're gonna start off studying the history of Cambodia and not knowing a goddamn thing and you're gonna study the history of Laos these are places I've studied you're gonna study history of Greece ancient Greece Iran agrees all stuff I've studied okay you're gonna fall down on your face you're gonna be wrong again and again and again but who's gonna give you that guidance whether you think of it as a positive or negative impetus to go back to the books to learn better to do better to know better and then be able to look back at yourself say oh my god I was stupid oh my god I was ignorant okay you're young once you're only young once Kristin leo you're 28 years old you're out of excuses all the people who are making excuses for you all of them those are the people you should block on Instagram those are the comments you should delete on YouTube not the girls you feel jealous of because they look better than you when they're putting their ass in a bikini on Instagram the same goddamn way that you do yourself and for some reason my feet had a lot of butts but like a lot of bikini shots and bucks and whatever I had to mute them and I was thinking of how do we get taken seriously then as women in a man's world how do we play this game how do we play along how do we hijack this and I think it's definitely not through but pictures on Instagram that's for sure but I combined those two thoughts in a way and it seems to me one thing that I've noticed that all powerful men do is they in in no way have anything to do with their appearance they do not promote their appearance in any way they I've never seen a successful man that has ever in his life shown his butt cheeks you know there's nothing wrong with showing your butt cheeks and there's nothing wrong with nudity and there's nothing wrong with showing your tits on Instagram if you are of age to do that but nobody that has ever ruled the world and controlled the world has shown their butt cheeks on a public forum on social media or on TV or in movies or in anything and I feel like there is a reason behind that we live in a very conservative world so any expression of sexuality is it kind of immediately do takes power from you so this whole thing that like Oh being nude and sharing it online is empowering I feel like it does the exact opposite of that not that there's anything wrong with being interested in your appearance I feel like as a woman it's very hard because we're all so damn beautiful it's very hard to not be distracted by our own beauty and want to share it with everyone in the world and I get it your butt cheeks are beautiful and your boobs are beautiful and I get that you want to share that with everyone else but if you are a woman that wants to hijack all of this and actually take part in changing the world for the better you're not doing yourself any favors if you're objectifying yourself online I think and I'm not saying this at all in the [ __ ] mning way like I want to clarify this I want a world where women and men and everyone feels comfortable to share their butt cheeks online but the way the rules are right now it is it negatively impacts you personally and even I don't know maybe this is a long shot but I think that it does also have an impact on women in general and the opinion that men have men in power have about us and I think that this isn't only useful for the women that want to go out and and hijack the world take over and then hijack the world but I think it's also useful for for just any woman in her life that wants to gain more power why are we trying to focus so much on our appearance when there's just so much more important stuff that we can be thinking about and doing and if we are using social media to communicate and organize ourselves why are we using it to just show our butt cheeks but really is not achieving anything the battles for veganism are just beginning I'm not satisfied with what you guys call committee I'm not satisfied with a bunch of self-indulgent middle-aged people sitting around on Facebook giving each other the thumbs up or you know I'm not satisfied with a bunch of teenagers on Instagram photographing their asses in a bikini and saying they're changing the world none of that does it for me okay I want more can I have it today no can I have it next year no am I gonna see it before I die maybe looking at the tools and the ways that men brought themselves to power is something that we should be copying and then eventually at some point changing of course but right now we got a copy then and we got to look at what they're doing in order to get to the same place that they are so you know for me I guess I got a look at what the YouTube channels are doing that are the most successful on YouTube so I got to do pranks that is terrorized women [Music] so like sexist pranks I gotta I gotta talk like this that was my best PewDiePie impression but like I got a look at what the YouTube dudes that are succeeding on this platform are doing and they're all sexist and they're all offensive and rude and materialistic and superficial and they're also like very ignorant about everything a very racist as well extremely racist Oh what else are the dudes oh yeah they're funny that really isn't what we need today and if you want to keep doing that of course do it and like congratulations on your glorious butt cheeks but like I don't want to look at them honestly and I don't know why you want to put your butt cheeks in my face because that's what it is when when I put anything on social media it's the equivalent of me taking a photo or video and sticking it in your face and being like look look look at look at this you know and when I'm gonna be this obnoxious person that is gonna do this and shove things in your face it might as well be something that's you know something that you want to look at and watch and listen to or you know and and if that photo is just my butt cheeks I've said the word butt cheeks way too much but like if that's what the photo is why am I taking this photo and shoving it in your face this is so awkward this is so weird and like when you are doing that like why are you doing that I don't want to I don't want to look I don't want to look at your body like good job on your beautiful body but like I don't care I don't care for it I'm not I'm not into it I don't I like it like good job for having it but I don't wanna look at it I sympathize kristan leo I sympathize you made it to 28 years old and just now the realisation is dawning on you that showing your ass in a bikini on Instagram is not the way to change the world is not the way to save the planet it's not the way to pursue political change I get it I dig it you'd be better for you if you that out at 18 or even age 12 you're figuring out right now at age 28 it's a positive turning point in your life and I wish you the best okay I have had a turning point in my life also and and looking at your video and you know I popped in a brief clip of myself when I was younger and more optimistic more naive here maybe five years ago on YouTube I've been coming on YouTube for all this time I would say hey guys I want to save the planet who else wants to say but I care about ecology I care about veganism I care about ethics let's get organized let's let's let's change the world let's see what we can do people okay and that was wrong my approach was wrong my approach was an open door broad participatory approach of saying hey let's see how much talent we've got out here guys let's see who's talented and focused and disciplined who wants to get together and make the world a better place and after five years I've got to look back and say I had completely the wrong approach because there was no talent out there to be discovered the ultimate scarcity is human intelligence all right money oxygen carbon dioxide soil water these things are not scarce finding other people who are intelligent focused who can dedicate the time and energy to making the world a better place and this is the instance talent is scarce and you're gonna meet some people who have all the right characteristics they're smart and focused and sane and everything but they're raising two kids so they're out of the game you're gonna meet people and they're smart and focused I remember I talked to a couple different people that an elderly parent they had a parent who had dementia or was disabled or whatever like well all my time goes into taking care of my 60 year old you know Mom or Grandma's and they have some older brothers there are reasons why the talent pool is even smaller than it should be okay I should have known I should have known before I came on YouTube this is look you know what maybe I knew it was wrong and I did it anyway just because it's virtuous just cuz it's the right thing to do it's the right thing to come here on YouTube and say hey I'm open to participating with anyone and ever any anyone out there send me an email talk to me on skype let's get organized let's let's get together make the real place let's go to City Hall let's go to Parliament let's make this happen let's create you know all vegans complain that petaa people the Ethical Treatment of Animals is this terrible corrupt organization doesn't do ok let's start our own organization it's 2019 let's have new blood new talent new initiative let's get things started and that was out here looking for a new talent but it was fundamentally wrong because I didn't want to face up to how scarce talent was I had a great I had a great hint that's the house go scarce talent really isn't this game back when I was involved with the Green Party of Canada all right I used to go to these Democratic open door inclusive participatory green party meetings and you know who would turn up Nazis you would meet literal Nazis who supported Adolf Hitler and you would explain to you why like Adolf Hitler's position on ecology they would show up at Green Party functions you know what I mean at Green Party political events communists lots and lots of [ __ ] extremists Joseph Stalin supporting mass murder supporting comments that's who will show up crazy mentally disabled people others people who are living in Canada if you're disabled enough you get a check from the government any month those people the people get a check in the government cuz they're mentally disabled they will come to Green Party events and they will be a complete [ __ ] waste of your time and you'll look around the room and think if I'm trying to accomplish anything politically for the sake of ecology or veganism or animal rights or whatever it is all of these people discredit me and there's no way I should spend my time and my money trying to help them and they're not going to help me they're holding me back that's my [ __ ] experience with the Green Party decades ago so my experience when I went to ecological animal rights veganism functions here in Toronto whatever three three four months ago now hey um it's virtuous to come here on the internet and say or pretend that you're you're recruiting new talent you're open to everyone you're gonna have this foundation you're gonna have this meeting you're gonna have this event and all are welcome or that you're here on YouTube and you're happy to reply to email from anyone everyone and you're not the reality of what we need to do now in 2019 moving forward I never said this before this isn't what I said in in my video on communities is what I said I manifest the video the reality is that due to lack of talent we as a movement have to go through a transitional phase that will be openly elitist openly conspiratorial openly close in the same way that if you want to start a ballet company you can't just come here on YouTube and say hey I love the ballet who else is with me who L hate get in touch with me on Facebook get with touching me on Instagram I don't want to get all this talent together let's create a new ballet company all right no it is not possible that there's enough talent and that there are enough discipline people at a high level of ability to perform ballet you can create a new ballet coming that way you can't create a new opera company that way all right we need to go through a phase it could take 50 years where we are building up the talent we need to move forward as improvement in a manner that is openly elitist that's closed where you say to people no I won't work with you I'll only work with the best of the best oh you're a Nazi [ __ ] you I don't want to worry oh you're a communist [ __ ] you oh you're mentally disabled I'm so sorry hear that and let me tell you something I get emails from mentally disabled people to this day I have I have a lot of people with Asperger's syndrome and autism spectrum disorder who really think it's worth their time to send me harassing emails and applause it's the question okay I some of the stupidest people on the internet make it their priority to write to me asking for advice and some of you people are you [ __ ] diagnosed I get questions from people in university asking me why I got a question in the day yo well I guess the guy writes to me once asking or do you think there's a difference between the different translations of Plato and Thucydides these classical Greek texts or I didn't answer immediately because I'm not a [ __ ] airplane and [ __ ] I'm busy he writes back to my cuties like oh I assume because you didn't answer my question that there's just no difference between the different what are you of course there's a difference what do you want you me to break down for you the difference between a good and a bad translation of Plato what for your $1 donation on patreon a month what the [ __ ] why are you asking me that question of course I had another guy writing to me oh hey you know I really appreciate your expertise about you know Asian languages so so you know I'm going to Bombay I'm going to India like like next week do you think I'll have any problems with languages of course you're gonna what the [ __ ] are you thinking why you asking me do you think there's a difference through different translations of ancient Greek philosophy in English do you think there's a difference between do you think there's do you think it's difficult to communicate with people in India if you don't speak a single anyway great great question all right it said ages ago I never wanted to make youtube videos for the dumbest 60% of my audience okay well if you want to be successful that's exclusively what you'll do that's also a Christian leo is struggling with you will focus all of your attention enemy energy on the dumbest 80% of the audience was 20% no nobody ever lost a fortune by catering to the stupidest broadest section of the mass market okay and if what you want to do is recruit talent foster talent trained talent work in an organized systematic way that is this it's best described as conspiratorial you have a group of people an elite group of people who want to put on a ballet or an opera they're gonna be a closed group they're gonna raise money in the way they raise it they're gonna recruit talent the way they recruit it they're not going to be really accountable or transparent anyone else until they're at a very late stage of development where they're really ready to move forward with the project so I gotta look back now I gotta look back on my old manifesto video on community where I say I said even then my time would be better spent if I'm Jewish by blood if I spent my time if I converted to Judaism and as you start going to if I started building my position in the Jewish community instead of building my position in the vegan community this community that doesn't even exist that's not real the morning anyway make my life better or my daughter's life better so on and so forth you know I already I already talked that through at that stage I mean and now what I have to say to you even more so is broad-based open participatory approach to to just even recruitment to the creation of a new movement to the creation of a new foundation within a movement I wanted even you know I wanted to make a special little taskforce or special little charity that just dealt with leather not fur leather there already are vegan groups dealing with you know there are a lot of really interesting there's lobbying that needs to be done in public education gotta take that mess with the government taken this to the public there there are big problems with leather not just the animal cruelty also health effects so on and so forth we got to move towards facing leather out of that our society but who do I need to work with not the idiots we're going to send me email or give me thumbs up on Facebook not the people you're going to connect with by posting a picture of your ass on Instagram and not even tragically enough the people you're gonna attract by making YouTube videos talking about the philosophy of Aristotle and Plato and Socrates I'm sorry that's not the way it happens so we and when I say we I mean me I'm talking about myself here we especially me we have to learn to move in a more elitist way if the people you want to work with if the people you want to recruit if the people you need to work with as equals as partners for years in close cooperation if those are gonna be the kind of highly expert highly disciplined people who can actually make a difference in this world how do you meet those people how do you develop the friendships or the colleague ships that again throughout history have been the engine of political change so again see occurrence Cristiano Leo she asked this question and then she completely loses track of her own thoughts it starts talking about beauty pot she starts to have a man who are really in the elite mares look at the personal life story of Napoleon Bonaparte right his success depended on his making friendships with his cultivating you know colleagues of a very finite number of highly talented very eccentric people in Paris France at that time when he wasn't on active duty when he wasn't out slaughtering people he went to Paris and he went to literal tea parties he went to salons and he drank tea with the right people and he cultivated those friendships and that trust and that's what let him make the addition from being a military figure to being a political figure all right it's not easy to do and the type of celebrity even on a small scale that YouTube offers us that Instagram offers us that facebook offers us and the money the income even if it's small a couple hundred bucks here and there it's a big motivating factor for people right it's intoxicating but ultimately it's a completely self distracting me it's a completely self-defeating distraction for us as individuals who aspire to be political activists and for the vegan movement as a whole people like to disrespect my truth but the fact is that you know my name is I don't know