The Podcast of the Lotus Eaters - The Podcast of the Lotus Eaters #1139

00:00:00.000 How do you do, fellow Lotus Eaters? This is the podcast of The Lotus Eaters, episode 1139.

00:00:07.080 I'm your host, Harry, joined today by Josh, who's threatening to get his willy out.

00:00:13.200 I'm not threatening.

00:00:14.580 Who has got his willy out. And Dan, who's always standing full mast.

00:00:19.940 It was a bit low energy, wasn't it, Harry?

00:00:22.240 Was it?

00:00:23.280 A bit. I don't know, middling energy, maybe.

00:00:25.660 Middling energy.

00:00:26.420 How would you have done it, Dan?

00:00:27.960 You might have a bit more vim and vigor.

00:00:30.440 Hello there.

00:00:31.740 Welcome to the podcast of The Lotus Eaters.

00:00:33.340 All right, so this first section of the podcast will be testing out intros to the podcast.

00:00:37.720 I hope you don't mind.

00:00:38.800 It's very meta, okay.

00:00:40.200 Yeah, yeah. No, it won't, actually, because we're going to be talking about...

00:00:43.120 Dan's going to be talking about tariffs again.

00:00:45.320 I'm going to be talking about millennial writing and why it gave me cancer.

00:00:49.260 Josh is going to be talking about streamers giving Asians cancer.

00:00:54.460 That's true.

00:00:55.420 Yeah.

00:00:55.760 Yeah, okay.

00:00:56.420 I know you like an Asian, so I've done a whole second about it.

00:00:59.360 Yeah, I'm not unforgiving them cancer, though.

00:01:00.620 That seems a bit...

00:01:01.480 I'm not actually doing that.

00:01:01.860 It's a bit harsh.

00:01:02.840 It's a bit harsh.

00:01:03.980 Anyway, I think there's nothing else to say, so Dan, get on with it.

00:01:08.820 Oh, hang on.

00:01:09.200 I'm just doing the bloody hell screen zooming bit so I can actually read it.

00:01:12.900 Don't take all day, Dan.

00:01:14.520 All right.

00:01:16.060 Okay.

00:01:16.660 Game phrase on.

00:01:18.400 I think I'm going to have to talk about tariffs again.

00:01:21.300 I've been talking about tariffs quite a lot, but there doesn't seem to actually be anything

00:01:25.580 else in the news.

00:01:26.780 I don't know if you guys have...

00:01:28.460 I mean, looking at our segments.

00:01:31.240 Yeah, there's not much been going on, really.

00:01:34.120 Yeah, it's all been about tariffs.

00:01:36.260 So I've been talking about tariffs a lot.

00:01:38.060 I did this video on tariffs last week where I kind of, you know, gave it a bit of an intro

00:01:44.420 and, you know, my perspective on the sort of general direction of things.

00:01:48.760 Then I did a Brokernomics on that where I went into a bit more detail, the sort of, you

00:01:53.760 know, basic tier of how these tariffs work and the mechanisms behind it and all that kind

00:01:58.180 of stuff.

00:01:58.540 Then yesterday, I did a three-hour live stream with Academic Agent on a tariff debate.

00:02:09.320 You watched it, Harry.

00:02:10.800 What did you think?

00:02:11.860 I thought it was an interesting discussion.

00:02:13.940 The shame was that it was two separate discussions going on parallel with one another.

00:02:18.320 You weren't really debating the same thing.

00:02:20.080 AA was looking at this from a potential short-term consequences angle where he was looking at

00:02:24.960 if there are price increases of products due to the tariffs, how is this going to affect

00:02:30.040 the next election for the Republicans?

00:02:31.900 He was very concerned about Jamal, wasn't he, and his trainers?

00:02:35.060 His Nikes.

00:02:35.800 They're very important to Jamal, and Jamal does get as much of a vote as everybody else.

00:02:39.840 So it was something important to think about in the short term.

00:02:42.460 You were looking at it from a broader, long-term geopolitical strategy.

00:02:46.560 Exactly right.

00:02:47.220 So, I mean, AA is very good, you know, world-class thinker on elite theory and all that stuff.

00:02:58.060 So top chat.

00:02:58.940 We like having him in whenever we can.

00:03:01.600 He does have a slight hint of the Peter Hitchens about him.

00:03:06.120 Doesn't like the all these days.

00:03:07.640 Yes.

00:03:08.500 What?

00:03:09.300 Don't we all these days?

00:03:10.580 Well, yeah.

00:03:10.980 I mean, I'm maybe not less the contrarian, more the just unending misery.

00:03:15.640 Well, there is that.

00:03:17.120 Yeah, so he was coming in from the perspective of, you know, the short-term power plays and

00:03:20.960 stuff, and I was coming in.

00:03:21.840 So if you want to see two people of the right, even if one of them likes to be a bit contrarian

00:03:26.740 to the right, then that would be an interesting discussion about, you know, the current stage

00:03:31.620 of things.

00:03:32.760 And what I thought I'd do in this segment is because Travis are dominating everything

00:03:36.880 again, I will go through a little bit deeper into my thinking of it, some of the stuff

00:03:41.380 that I mentioned in that live stream, although without the back and forwards quite so much.

00:03:46.820 Also, if you've got a question, Josh has very kindly said that I can run into his segment

00:03:52.700 a little bit.

00:03:53.400 So if you have a question, put it in a rumble rant, and I'll try and answer it in the segment.

00:03:58.120 And if you're a subscriber, put your question in the comments, and I'll get you another bloody

00:04:03.740 full Brokernomics, and I'll go much deeper into your comments.

00:04:06.920 So there you go.

00:04:07.760 Everybody's got a chance to get into this.

00:04:09.480 So that also means that you're not reading the comments at the end today, right?

00:04:13.380 Yeah.

00:04:13.640 Because you're saving them all up for your...

00:04:14.940 Well, I'll do the rumble rants today, but the subscriber comments I'll save for the Brokernomics

00:04:21.100 so that I can go into them properly and with full detail.

00:04:24.120 But, you know, any comments on yours, I'm sure we can do as before.

00:04:27.600 Right.

00:04:27.880 So let's start off with the setup behind this, because one of the things that's become apparent

00:04:33.460 to me as I've been talking about this over the course of the last week is a lot of people

00:04:37.480 are working on the assumption that everything was hunky-dory up until Trump put the tariffs

00:04:45.380 on, as if everything was fine.

00:04:48.640 That's not entirely the case.

00:04:50.120 This is a map showing who your largest trading partner is, given the binary choice between

00:04:57.620 the US and China.

00:04:59.880 So, for example, Turkey's largest trading partner is actually Germany.

00:05:04.520 That aside, right, between the split between the US and China, you can just see that China

00:05:11.480 is dominating, apart from basically the collective West.

00:05:18.180 Apart from a little bit of Central America, Canada, and Europe.

00:05:22.260 And even then, Eastern Europe's on China, Spain's with China.

00:05:26.580 Yes.

00:05:27.160 What's going on in Spain?

00:05:29.100 Australia.

00:05:29.460 Well, they are ever since.

00:05:30.080 Yeah, that's true.

00:05:30.800 Australia and New Zealand, members of Five Eyes, they've gone over.

00:05:35.000 So, I mean, this is not the sort of thing you can ignore for military reasons, which I

00:05:40.940 will come back to in a bit.

00:05:42.440 The other thing that you want to bear in mind is, I think a lot of people were under

00:05:46.720 the assumption that the COVID-era debt, and more broadly, the last 30 years of rampant

00:05:54.760 deficit spending, huge government expenditure, and debt accumulation, I think they thought

00:06:01.420 it was all free.

00:06:03.320 Well, it sort of is, in that when they held the default world reserve currency, a lot of

00:06:10.480 their debts were basically inconsequential to them, because they could just print more

00:06:14.700 money and devalue the debt that they had.

00:06:17.140 Well, it lets you accumulate the debt for free, but the servicing cost of the debt isn't

00:06:21.260 free.

00:06:22.480 So, I think a trillion dollars a year now is going just to servicing the debt.

00:06:28.340 So, yes, it's pretty much free at the point of creation.

00:06:31.200 They can push it out there during the mechanisms that you described, but you still need to pay

00:06:35.820 the ongoing bill on it.

00:06:37.020 Well, it's because the world has moved away from the dollar as a reserve currency to a

00:06:42.340 significant degree from the year 2000.

00:06:44.920 Yeah.

00:06:45.280 And also, the debt has gone up, and so those interest payments are now extortionate, really.

00:06:50.680 I mean, they're not bigger than Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid at the moment, but they've

00:06:56.980 already exceeded the size of the military, for example, just paying the debt.

00:07:00.800 And if you look at this, I mean, you know, Americans have allowed themselves to cover

00:07:08.840 up all sorts of sins in inefficient government, in bloated government, you know, jobs.

00:07:16.360 You know, COVID is a classic example of this.

00:07:19.720 A lot of the people enthusiastic about it, the leftists and the boomers, for example, just

00:07:24.400 thought that they could have it for free.

00:07:25.880 And, you know, if you could do that, why wouldn't you just always have a situation where people

00:07:31.560 stayed home and didn't go to work and got handouts?

00:07:34.980 We all still went to work.

00:07:36.760 Well, yes.

00:07:37.380 Yes.

00:07:37.760 Well, I didn't, because I wasn't here at the time.

00:07:39.460 I was getting very annoyed at home.

00:07:41.080 That's true.

00:07:41.800 Being stared at by the neighbours every time I had a group of rules.

00:07:44.520 I was working from home, so I was still working.

00:07:47.560 Right.

00:07:48.720 Yeah, one of the few.

00:07:49.800 Not if you worked in the government, you wouldn't have been.

00:07:51.400 You would have been sat at home watching Netflix.

00:07:53.760 But basically, the bill for COVID is, and you can see the huge jump in the debt, the bill

00:08:01.000 for that is coming due now because most of that debt was done on a five-year rollover

00:08:05.920 and it's five years later.

00:08:07.080 So the bill is coming due and basically the US has 10 trillion in debt to rollover over

00:08:13.160 the course of the next year.

00:08:15.400 So, and the other thing that's changed, of course, is that interest rates at the time

00:08:20.020 when it was done was about 1% and now they're about 5%.

00:08:23.500 So that's an extra 400 billion that they're going to have to pay.

00:08:30.340 Now, if you think about what Elon Musk is doing with Doge, a really good outcome for

00:08:34.540 Doge would be that they cut, say, 400 billion.

00:08:37.460 So all of Doge's efforts could be wiped out if these debt costs don't come down fast.

00:08:43.480 So that's the setup.

00:08:45.280 Please don't assume that if everything was going to be hunky-dory, if Trump did nothing,

00:08:50.960 that was absolutely, you know, not the case.

00:08:53.880 I'll give you another bit of broader perspective.

00:08:56.420 Let's hear from Mr. Vance, shall we?

00:08:59.020 Can you play this from about 28 seconds in?

00:09:01.360 All of us to step back and ask us, ask ourselves, what has the globalist economy gotten the United

00:09:09.220 States of America?

00:09:10.240 And the answer is fundamentally, it's based on two principles, incurring a huge amount

00:09:15.400 of debt to buy things that other countries make for us.

00:09:18.700 And to make it a little bit more crystal clear, we borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy

00:09:23.780 the things those Chinese peasants manufacture.

00:09:25.960 That is not a recipe for economic prosperity.

00:09:28.560 It's not a recipe for low prices, and it's not a recipe for good jobs in the United States

00:09:33.060 of America.

00:09:33.900 For 40 years, we have gone down that pathway.

00:09:36.600 We've seen closing factories.

00:09:38.020 We've seen rising inflation.

00:09:39.520 We've seen the cost of housing so high that most Americans can't afford to buy a home right

00:09:43.140 now.

00:09:43.740 President Trump is taking this economy in a different direction.

00:09:46.840 He ran on that.

00:09:47.880 He promised it.

00:09:48.760 And now he's delivering.

00:09:50.000 And yes, this is a big change.

00:09:51.780 I'm not going to shy away from it.

00:09:53.320 But we needed a big change, Lawrence.

00:09:55.080 We cannot keep going down the Joe Biden globalist pathway where we have $2 trillion of peacetime

00:10:01.720 debt and deficits.

00:10:03.040 We have manufacturing disappearing.

00:10:05.220 That is not working for Americans.

00:10:07.360 We've got to take this country in a different direction.

00:10:10.140 So, yeah, good points by Vance.

00:10:12.640 Wasn't it fun two weeks ago when we were just making memes of Vance?

00:10:16.020 I did enjoy that, yeah.

00:10:17.340 Oh, this is J.D. Vance?

00:10:18.920 Yes.

00:10:19.280 I thought he was a lot fatter.

00:10:20.820 Yeah, yes.

00:10:21.540 Curlier hair.

00:10:22.080 He had a long curly hair and a deranged grin.

00:10:25.280 But no, no, he's fair point.

00:10:26.980 Right.

00:10:27.400 So a quick recap from my very long debate yesterday.

00:10:31.520 I'll try and sum it up a little bit sharper today.

00:10:35.520 Here's my sort of broad macro arguments for what's going on here.

00:10:38.600 Let me find them out.

00:10:39.180 Here we go.

00:10:39.800 Right.

00:10:40.160 So first thing you've got to bear in mind is the dollar's exorbitant privilege,

00:10:44.440 so that basically its ability to run huge deficits supported by debt indefinitely,

00:10:50.520 is not an immutable law of nature.

00:10:53.400 And actually, the dollar is at greater risk of dying from its strength than its weakness.

00:10:57.440 The reason being is that if the dollar is too strong, 50% of world's debt are denominated

00:11:02.660 in dollars.

00:11:03.660 It basically suffocates the system.

00:11:06.080 So the dollar is too strong, had to come down.

00:11:07.840 As I mentioned, the US has 10 trillion in COVID-era debt to roll over in the next year.

00:11:13.660 And you've got to get rates lower than nominal growth, right?

00:11:18.880 Basically, my thinking there is the economy is about the same size as the debt.

00:11:23.440 So the debt to GDP ratio is 100%.

00:11:25.520 So if given that they're the same size, if one grows faster than if the debt grows faster

00:11:31.640 than the economy, then it's going to swallow everything.

00:11:34.280 And then you're in a debt spiral, which is bad.

00:11:36.680 So you've got to get those rates below the growth rate.

00:11:41.880 Yeah, more there about the debt roll over.

00:11:45.680 The dollar's a wrecking ball.

00:11:46.660 It's too strong, 50%, blah, blah, blah.

00:11:48.240 Yeah, I said that.

00:11:50.180 Particularly in China.

00:11:51.320 So China's in an interesting situation.

00:11:53.160 We're going to have to come back to them because they're part of the big meltdown that

00:11:56.160 is going on right at this very moment.

00:11:58.940 China also has a vast amount of debt that it needs to roll over this year.

00:12:03.180 And it's in a bit of a tricky situation.

00:12:05.160 So they need this even more.

00:12:07.660 So it's a bit odd, some of the things that are happening at the moment.

00:12:10.780 It is also worth adding on to that, that the Chinese still need to restructure their

00:12:15.920 entire way in which they distribute money to their local governments.

00:12:20.640 Because at the minute, people are sort of surprised by this.

00:12:22.880 But the local districts or regional governments have a certain degree of autonomy.

00:12:28.340 It's why the social credit score thing is very different depending on where you are in China

00:12:34.880 because it's all done by these regional governments.

00:12:37.280 And they've been using their assets as collateral for loans.

00:12:40.660 And then eventually, the loans have got so large that they don't have enough assets to

00:12:44.960 get any future loans.

00:12:47.560 So they've got to more or less restructure that system.

00:12:50.460 And this is all coming at the same time that the US is whacking large tariffs on them.

00:12:55.160 Yeah.

00:12:55.580 I mean, they're in a right pickle for a number of reasons.

00:12:58.460 And yet there is this brinkmanship going on with the US at the moment, which I will come

00:13:02.880 back to.

00:13:03.420 But that is certainly an issue.

00:13:07.260 As well as the debt refi cycle, which is really important, you've also got to be thinking

00:13:10.880 about the manufacturing and strategic supply lines, including military.

00:13:14.940 So what am I thinking of there?

00:13:15.920 Well, one, a recent Pentagon study found that the US military fails at hundreds of separate

00:13:23.400 points because it is reliant on Chinese supply chains in order to function.

00:13:29.380 Now, I would suggest that if you are a superpower and you're worried about an up and coming superpower,

00:13:34.900 you don't make your military fail if the other superpower that you're a rival with doesn't

00:13:39.740 want to cooperate with you.

00:13:41.540 I think that is bad.

00:13:43.220 And presumably the Trump admin has come to the same conclusion, even though obviously Biden

00:13:48.300 and Obama were not particularly concerned about that.

00:13:51.280 The US share of global manufacturing has declined 11 points over the last decade from 28.4%.

00:13:58.440 So the US used to have 28.4% of global manufacturing, and that's down to 17.4% related to that map

00:14:07.080 that I showed you earlier.

00:14:07.940 So that's going to be both the fact that the US has de-industrialized as well as a lot of

00:14:13.080 the world has been industrializing as well.

00:14:15.640 So it's being pushed from both fronts.

00:14:17.960 Yeah, it's being squeezed.

00:14:18.740 Absolutely.

00:14:19.020 But that is a trend that is accelerating, so you would expect the next 10 points to come

00:14:23.680 even quicker.

00:14:24.940 That's the issue there.

00:14:26.160 And we are literally in the process right now of watching the US lose a war against Russia

00:14:31.200 because Russia can outproduce munitions, which is important.

00:14:36.740 I know that's not Trump's war.

00:14:37.900 That is a war that he inherited.

00:14:39.560 But I mean, that is the reality of it.

00:14:41.100 It is effectively a US proxy war against Russia, and they're losing it because they can't produce.

00:14:47.040 And what do I say at the end?

00:14:48.220 Oh, yeah.

00:14:48.760 Yeah.

00:14:49.020 I remind us that the US is not a superpower because of the dollar.

00:14:53.600 Some people are getting this a bit mixed up.

00:14:55.380 It's really a superpower because of its military, which allows it then to enforce its dollar

00:15:03.040 will.

00:15:03.360 And I won't go into now exactly how that came about.

00:15:06.580 But the strength of your military is also determined by the strength of your economy.

00:15:10.320 And the best measure of that in terms of sort of martial economy is industry, right?

00:15:17.060 Part of the reason that the US was so important in World War II is that they had the best industrial

00:15:24.060 capacity.

00:15:25.180 Yes.

00:15:25.560 Yeah.

00:15:25.740 I mean, that was really when they emerged as the superpower.

00:15:28.520 Exactly.

00:15:28.840 It was as a result of that.

00:15:30.180 So to go with this, I have put together this handy chart.

00:15:35.420 It's a bit blown up on our screen, Samson.

00:15:37.520 I don't know if you might need to reduce it.

00:15:38.580 As long as the audience can see that.

00:15:41.240 There we go.

00:15:41.980 That looks good.

00:15:42.720 So I put together this handy chart with emojis explaining the whole situation.

00:15:46.680 Because one of the pushbacks that I've had on this whole tariff thing is people looking

00:15:52.000 to identify different messages and say, well, look, if people can't agree what the tariffs

00:15:57.520 are for, well, that must invalidate the whole argument then.

00:16:01.240 Because if there's any confusion over, you know, give me one reason why these tariffs,

00:16:05.560 there is not one reason why these tariffs are for.

00:16:07.560 So there's three broad buckets as to why the tariffs are going in.

00:16:12.720 So there's the trade issue, which is the US manufacturing, the big deficits, the lack

00:16:17.100 of blue collar jobs, US getting hollowed out.

00:16:21.960 Trump is a champion of that.

00:16:23.300 He's been talking about this for 40 years.

00:16:25.100 And I think that if Trump had come in and he was still the only person in the admin who

00:16:31.100 was enthusiastic for this, it would have been like last time where he did a little bit of

00:16:35.820 tariffs and, you know, he did something, but it wasn't earth shattering like this.

00:16:39.920 The whole reason why this tariff thing is as big as it is, is because he's got the second

00:16:44.440 two camps who signed up to this as well.

00:16:46.360 So what are the, what are those second two camps?

00:16:48.520 Well, the money camp, which is the huge US debt, US debt, it's global debt, you know,

00:16:53.540 too much dollar denominated debt out there.

00:16:56.040 Rates are too high and the dollar is too high.

00:16:57.660 It's suffocating everybody.

00:16:58.620 People can't roll over their debts.

00:16:59.840 They can't release global liquidity, all of that stuff.

00:17:02.180 And the real champion there is Scott Bessons.

00:17:05.120 This is the, I mean, as you can imagine being a money guy and do brokonomics, this is,

00:17:08.560 this is probably the one that I focus on the most.

00:17:10.880 But, but what I'm saying is, is along with Trump's reasons for doing this, you then get

00:17:17.480 the money guys wanting to do this as well for their own reasons, but the policy achieves

00:17:22.400 what they're trying to achieve as well.

00:17:23.920 Then you've got the military guys, which is, you know, the problem is as simple as this.

00:17:27.840 The US military relies on China, which is obviously bonkers.

00:17:31.920 I put the champion down as Pete Hegseff.

00:17:34.780 I mean, actually, he's not being incredibly vocal on this, but there was a broad,

00:17:40.880 three military guys who understand that you just, you just can't have a situation where

00:17:44.660 China is, you know, able to turn off your military, obviously bonkers.

00:17:50.740 So then I've got, right, what does winning like for each of these camps?

00:17:54.740 Well, for the, for the trade guys, it's all about getting jobs back and getting the deficit

00:17:59.600 down.

00:18:00.360 And it's kind of as simple as that.

00:18:01.600 So when you hear Peter Navarro going out, he's being very bellicose on this.

00:18:05.540 He focuses purely on those two things, which is why you're getting different messages

00:18:09.780 from different people because he, he is only focused on those things.

00:18:12.980 And that's a win for him.

00:18:14.920 For the trade guys, losing would look like backing down.

00:18:19.000 And, and there's, that, that is the whole effort at the moment is to put so much, to

00:18:23.200 do so much reeing and so much screaming that Trump feels the need to back off and just give

00:18:30.220 up on these things.

00:18:30.940 Um, I don't think Trump is a sort of chap who, who backs down because people are reeing.

00:18:37.440 I saw an old tweet from 2014 where he's saying some people are artists, you know, they, I'm

00:18:43.800 paraphrasing a little bit here, you know, they might work in marble or on a canvas, but my,

00:18:48.760 my art form is in deal making and making the best deals is, um, how I basically get my

00:18:56.460 enjoyment.

00:18:57.440 Yes.

00:18:58.120 And if you've got that sort of mindset, you're probably not going to just say, you know what,

00:19:02.000 I back down.

00:19:03.080 Yes.

00:19:03.600 Because that's a bad deal.

00:19:04.780 I suspect he's going to hold the line on this, but we will see.

00:19:07.140 That's where all the effort is going, trying to make him back down.

00:19:09.200 Right.

00:19:09.620 The money guys, how do they win?

00:19:11.360 Well, they get the dollar down, they get their, they get their 10 trillion of debt rolled

00:19:15.700 over at manageable levels and, uh, they probably get a Mar-a-Lago record.

00:19:19.680 Now, what do I mean by that is that, um, so with each of these, I mean, people, people are

00:19:23.700 saying, people have said in the debate yesterday, some of the comments were saying,

00:19:26.320 I was, I'm just reaching and theorizing.

00:19:29.100 No, these guys have been very clear on what they want.

00:19:32.300 These guys have been very clear.

00:19:33.580 Scott Besson has been writing articles and doing interviews for, for years, making all

00:19:37.680 of these points.

00:19:38.700 Um, and the military guys are making all of these points.

00:19:41.000 So all of the, there is, there is no guessing as to what people want, uh, and what winning

00:19:46.640 looks like and what losing looks like that.

00:19:48.400 There's no theory whatsoever in this.

00:19:50.180 The people have been very clear.

00:19:51.200 So the Mar-a-Lago cause, what is that?

00:19:52.620 That is something that Scott Besson brings up every time he does an interview on this

00:19:56.340 is that there is going to need to be a new trade order in the world.

00:20:02.060 Now, these new trade orders, they come around every sort of 80 to a hundred years.

00:20:07.280 Um, you know, the, the, the last time would have been after the second world war.

00:20:10.760 Um, but you, you, you can keep going back and, and there will be a new trade order that's

00:20:16.320 put in when there's a change of hegemon.

00:20:19.160 Um, so either a new trade order, a viable trade order gets set up now when the US is

00:20:26.360 still hegemon or you wait until China are a co-equal partner or even ahead.

00:20:31.980 And then you do the trade and renegotiation.

00:20:34.140 So they obviously want to do the trade and renegotiate now.

00:20:36.420 And that's getting, and that's getting the, um, the acronym there.

00:20:39.460 Well, the, uh, uh, the name Mar-a-Lago Accords, uh, which I will come back to in a future

00:20:43.320 Brokernomics at some point.

00:20:44.900 Uh, and what does, what does losing look like to them when it's going to be, if, if the debt

00:20:48.680 cost goes up, you know, that'd be very bad for them.

00:20:51.340 Uh, as I mentioned, they, they want to roll over this debt close as possible to what it

00:20:55.480 was last time, not some, you know, great multiple of that.

00:20:58.480 Okay.

00:21:00.400 The military guys, uh, what does winning look like for them?

00:21:02.740 It's going to be, um, self-reliance or at least allies.

00:21:06.920 I think the US military might be able to live with it if their supply chain, um, had some

00:21:13.420 Indian input, for example, or, you know, some other place, maybe they could be a bit more

00:21:17.740 comfortable.

00:21:18.220 Ultimately, they would like to be.

00:21:19.480 A scammer division, maybe.

00:21:21.000 Yeah.

00:21:21.280 I mean, preferably they want to bring it all back in house.

00:21:24.000 That would be the best win, but you most certainly don't want it to be in China.

00:21:29.360 Obviously.

00:21:30.480 Also, India is still relatively close to China and very evadeable.

00:21:34.860 So I, I, I wouldn't say that, you know, moving it from out, out from China to India is a win.

00:21:40.940 I just say it's, it's not as bad as China, but ultimately you do want to bring it all

00:21:44.100 back in.

00:21:45.000 Um, and what does losing look like for them?

00:21:46.680 Well, it's, it's, if China, um, can outproduce them.

00:21:50.040 So this is a point that JD Vance makes.

00:21:51.760 There is a single Chinese shipyard that has outputted more commercial ships in a year

00:21:58.280 than the US has in its entire period since World War II.

00:22:02.140 Now those are commercial ships, but obviously that could be retooled for military ships pretty

00:22:06.960 quickly.

00:22:08.980 If anyone who's ever played a, you know, a, uh, a 4X strategy game knows that basically

00:22:14.980 whoever's got the biggest econ just wins because your, your military is, is, is downstream

00:22:19.300 of that.

00:22:20.200 Um, also losing would look like the, uh, China having the ability to, to turn off the US

00:22:24.320 military or whatever.

00:22:25.000 Okay.

00:22:25.380 So how are people, uh, reacting to this?

00:22:28.340 So, um, the, on, on, basically everybody is going to want to like the money stuff.

00:22:34.360 Um, longer term, China won't be so in love with it if they get the Mar-a-Lago records,

00:22:39.740 because they want to set the new trade order.

00:22:41.820 But, but China very, very much needs to get the dollar lower because it's got a lot of

00:22:46.620 debt to all of them and things that Josh was talking about as well.

00:22:48.840 So, so everybody is in favor of the money angle of this.

00:22:52.500 When it comes to the military angle, um, EU would probably, I mean, EU knows where it

00:22:58.800 is with having the US as the superpower.

00:23:00.920 So they're broadly happy with, you know, the Chinese, um, being cut out of it.

00:23:05.900 Um, the rest of the world, I mean, it depends on which country really, but, you know, they're

00:23:09.460 broadly happy with this.

00:23:10.820 Obviously China is very, is not happy, um, with the US military being independent of itself.

00:23:18.340 So I've, I've put them, yes.

00:23:20.340 I mean, I don't know for sure.

00:23:21.240 I'm not in a WhatsApp chat with Z, but I'm, I'm, I'm going out there.

00:23:25.380 Get invited to one from what I've heard.

00:23:27.000 Maybe they'll be thrilled that it could be more of a fair fight.

00:23:29.920 Possibly.

00:23:30.580 China's known for its honorable dealings.

00:23:32.680 Yes.

00:23:33.000 Maybe, maybe they're, they're, they're looking for a good old scrap.

00:23:36.820 Fair fight.

00:23:37.480 Yep.

00:23:37.740 More sporting.

00:23:39.060 Not to the end.

00:23:39.900 Total war over.

00:23:41.460 Let's just do it until we see who gets their military objectives and then peace, right?

00:23:45.400 Possibly.

00:23:45.840 That's how it works in the modern era.

00:23:46.960 But for the people who say I'm speculating, I am speculating that, that, that, that China,

00:23:50.920 China, um, would not like, um, that.

00:23:53.820 Um, and then over on the trade side, um, EU, uh, are, um, they started off being very belligerent,

00:24:00.480 um, but they've, they're now making noises about, okay, we want a zero rate deal with the US.

00:24:05.800 Um, the concern for the EU is that if they get into a zero rate trade arrangement with

00:24:11.080 the US, um, they are vastly, vastly over-regulated.

00:24:15.680 So they might be able to compete with California, but they're going to get their, you know, they're

00:24:19.620 going to get their trousers taken down by the, by the rest of the US.

00:24:22.060 So, so they will then end up getting into a race to the bottom on regulation, which is

00:24:27.400 not what they want to do because...

00:24:28.820 It sounds great for us.

00:24:30.500 Yes.

00:24:31.220 Yes, it, it, it would be good.

00:24:32.600 I think, I think the UK is going to be fine with this because we, you know, well, we don't

00:24:36.280 produce anything anyway, so, so it doesn't matter.

00:24:38.800 But we've got, we've got an aerospace industry, lots of aviation stuff.

00:24:41.960 That's true.

00:24:42.400 Yes, we, we have got a little bit of manufacturing.

00:24:44.200 We have got a little bit of something.

00:24:45.340 My town produces Bentleys.

00:24:47.120 There you go.

00:24:47.680 We produce something.

00:24:48.500 Okay, so we, we produce a little bit, so, so we're fine, but I didn't bother putting

00:24:52.580 us on the chart because, well, we didn't.

00:24:57.060 Anyway, China...

00:24:58.340 I will say just the, the one thing regarding the deficits that's annoyed me a little bit

00:25:02.300 is regarding the EU has been the American whining that apparently the EU has been screwing

00:25:07.940 them over with this trade deficit for untold decades when really it's like, well, well,

00:25:14.460 Trump in particular has been saying, oh, they barely buy any of our cars.

00:25:18.500 They don't fit in our roads.

00:25:21.220 Yeah, steering wheels on the wrong side as well.

00:25:23.600 They don't buy any of our food.

00:25:25.720 I mean, you've got RFK in there for a reason.

00:25:28.820 We don't, we don't want your food.

00:25:30.920 We've got our own farmers.

00:25:32.480 We like our own food as well.

00:25:34.260 Yeah, that's, that's been the one thing that's annoyed me about that.

00:25:38.500 We are never going to buy a Cadillac over here.

00:25:40.820 It's just, it's impractical.

00:25:42.240 I would like one, but it wouldn't necessarily be a go-to.

00:25:45.520 It would stay in the garage.

00:25:46.540 It would be a, it'd be a party piece.

00:25:48.500 Hey, look at that.

00:25:49.160 Want to go for a drive?

00:25:50.020 No.

00:25:50.520 I mean, I did buy an American, I bought a Tesla.

00:25:52.540 So that sort of counts, but I'm not buying one of those.

00:25:55.940 Teslas are a bit more adaptable and basically like little toy Hot Wheels blown up anyway.

00:26:00.780 So yes, yes, that is fair.

00:26:02.340 Right.

00:26:02.640 So then I thought, let's have a look at the generations as well.

00:26:06.400 So we've got Boomers, Gen X, Millennials and Zoomers.

00:26:08.580 Right, Boomers are losing their shit right now because they've basically got all the stocks

00:26:15.640 and stocks are down.

00:26:17.760 I will come back to that, but Boomers are very unhappy at the moment.

00:26:21.820 Gen Xers, Gen Xers do actually have a modest stock portfolio, nothing like the Boomers.

00:26:26.740 So they are also down, but Gen Xers, we're a different breed.

00:26:33.120 We're used to being kicked in the teeth so often that we kind of like it at this point.

00:26:39.080 And actually, we're thinking longer term about all this stuff anyway, so it doesn't particularly

00:26:43.720 matter.

00:26:44.480 Whereas the Millennials and Zoomers, and I will come back to this, they are absolutely loving

00:26:48.940 this because they haven't got anything to lose.

00:26:52.880 No assets.

00:26:53.900 Yes.

00:26:54.380 They don't have any assets.

00:26:55.320 They don't have any stocks.

00:26:56.400 They don't have any prospects.

00:26:58.680 Or a future.

00:26:59.620 Yes.

00:26:59.980 So why not lean into this?

00:27:02.260 I might skip over this Mar-a-Lago record, but it's just somebody's theory on how that

00:27:10.260 bar skip over that because it is taking a bit long.

00:27:12.040 So how is this going?

00:27:13.680 So here is the DXY, the dollar.

00:27:17.000 So it's basically the US dollar against a whole bunch of other currencies.

00:27:20.060 How is that holding up?

00:27:22.460 Remember the win criteria is this would come down, but it's choppy over the past five days.

00:27:29.200 But, you know, it is lower on a month timescale.

00:27:33.680 DXY was basically too high.

00:27:35.240 It was up there at sort of 104.

00:27:36.620 And now it did come down lower.

00:27:39.320 And now it's a bit higher.

00:27:40.740 So there's pretty much a bit of a win here.

00:27:42.940 So we're happy with that one.

00:27:45.840 Cost of debt.

00:27:48.180 Right.

00:27:48.520 So, again, let's do a shorter thing.

00:27:51.480 This would have been going up.

00:27:53.080 There we go.

00:27:53.560 So it initially came down more sharply and now it's up again.

00:27:55.960 And what you're getting at the moment is an awful lot of people on financial Twitter

00:27:59.500 who are clipping a bit of it.

00:28:02.200 What they probably do is they're, you know, they're just, they're just clip that bit there

00:28:06.960 and say, oh my God, debt is going vertical.

00:28:09.200 Panic, panic, panic, all that kind of stuff.

00:28:10.980 I mean, just step over, just ignore.

00:28:12.700 If you, if you zoom out, there you go.

00:28:18.520 You know, debt cost is still down.

00:28:21.060 So, you know, that is broadly moving in the right direction.

00:28:24.000 So don't get caught up in all.

00:28:25.240 Yes, it has spiked between the absolute low after it was announced and up to there.

00:28:29.380 But it's still, it's still moving in the right direction as a broad trend.

00:28:33.220 So I'm not, I'm not going to get too upset.

00:28:34.540 Why was it going in a negative trend in the first place, even before this, if you don't mind?

00:28:40.360 Well, because people didn't see any point in owning anything else other than US assets.

00:28:46.980 So some money was flowing in.

00:28:50.820 This is, this is kind of the global risk-free rate.

00:28:53.560 And then they kind of needed to get bond prices to move so they could get this, this rate

00:28:59.280 down to a serviceable level, because this is what they're going to be rolling over that

00:29:02.280 10 trillion of debt on.

00:29:03.800 So if they, if they can get this down, that is a win and it's not come down as much as

00:29:09.460 you might've hoped.

00:29:10.160 But, you know, again, you know, all the people on Twitter telling you that this is blowing

00:29:14.000 up and the CNBCs, you know, again, it's, it's, it's, it's just not actually that bad.

00:29:18.500 Um, uh, what else have I got?

00:29:21.360 Um, oh yeah.

00:29:22.320 So this is, this is returning to the, uh, China thing because what has been happening

00:29:26.160 is, okay, rates were coming down, but in recent, the trend has shifted.

00:29:32.320 Now they're going up again, not back to the level they were there, which is why I showed

00:29:35.760 the chart before, but things are moving up.

00:29:37.920 And the reninbi, um, the, um, uh, the Chinese currency is also going up.

00:29:42.860 So we've got a couple of competing theories as to what's going on here.

00:29:46.440 Um, this guy is, is sort of suggesting one side of this is that, um, China, so there's

00:29:53.580 two camps at the moment.

00:29:54.460 There's people that think that China is, is selling off, um, U S treasuries, um, despite

00:30:00.420 them, um, which is, which is bold because it will hurt the U S, but it

00:30:07.900 will also hurt China a lot as well because they need their, their reninbi lower.

00:30:11.900 So, um, we are in the process of finding out as to whether that is the thing or not.

00:30:17.300 Um, also on China, uh, minutes before we came on air, I, I quickly checked the news feed

00:30:23.100 only to find that they are retaliating to the U S's retaliation to the retaliation of

00:30:30.060 their tariffs.

00:30:31.300 Right.

00:30:31.480 So they've added, so, so basically, um, U S put on tariffs or whatever it was, 34%.

00:30:36.560 So, um, China put on 30%, 34% onto the U S and then, um, the U S put extra tariffs on

00:30:45.120 and now China have put another 50% on, like a few minutes before we came on air.

00:30:49.540 I have a question here.

00:30:50.540 How many retaliatory tariffs do they have to put on one another before it's declared a

00:30:55.180 formal trade war?

00:30:56.420 Because it seems to be at that point already.

00:30:59.840 I don't know if there was a formal definition of trade war.

00:31:01.740 There probably isn't.

00:31:02.600 I think it's safe to say we're in it and just a quick note, tariffs don't go up to

00:31:07.060 a hundred percent.

00:31:07.600 They go up to infinity percent.

00:31:09.240 So, uh, whatever, let's have a quick look into, uh, this article that only, it's only

00:31:14.060 just popped up.

00:31:15.000 So yeah, the, um, U S rate on China is now 104%.

00:31:19.000 Um, and, and China is at 84%, although the U S would say that currency manipulations count

00:31:24.780 for more than that.

00:31:25.280 So 104% would pretty much be double and a little bit more.

00:31:30.280 Yeah.

00:31:30.480 So when you buy your next piece of Chinese tat at the point where it comes into the country

00:31:35.000 to the importer, whatever they paid for it, they then need to pay 104% of that as a tax,

00:31:40.740 as a tariff, um, and then add their markup and then it goes on Amazon.

00:31:44.320 So it's still going to cost like six pounds for, you know, a toaster or something, but it's

00:31:49.140 just not going to be as cheap as it was.

00:31:51.120 Um, because it's fine because it's rubbish anyway.

00:31:55.340 Well, yes.

00:31:55.700 I mean, none of this Chinese stuff lasts more than a year or two.

00:31:58.920 So, I mean, a lot of people are upset about it, but do you really need it?

00:32:04.340 I mean, that's my view on it.

00:32:06.540 Um, Jamal's and his Nikes, man.

00:32:09.620 Yes.

00:32:10.800 Yeah.

00:32:11.100 Well, yes.

00:32:12.520 So yeah.

00:32:13.060 Um, Vietnam got hit with, uh, with a whole bunch of tariffs.

00:32:18.280 So whatever price Nike pays when they import them from the factory in Vietnam is going

00:32:24.380 to get whatever it is, 67%.

00:32:25.740 And is Jeff's chai latte from Starbucks going up as well?

00:32:30.220 Yes.

00:32:30.720 You know, a bunch of things will come in.

00:32:32.200 You're going to have to bear, you're going to have, yeah, you're going to have to bear

00:32:34.440 in mind that the input price that the importer pays is a fairly small percentage because

00:32:39.500 the biggest markup is actually when it goes into the shop or what the importer gets.

00:32:42.900 Here's a quick question.

00:32:43.920 So as I understand it then, if, uh, exporting in a US direction, as in if the US is buying

00:32:51.620 less stuff from abroad, does that mean that the global price of a lot of goods is going

00:32:55.040 to go down as the demand has gone down and therefore prices in Europe would actually be

00:32:59.720 lower minus the tariffs from the US?

00:33:03.400 Um, so a lot of this Chinese stuff is flowing into America and it looks like a lot less of

00:33:10.560 it is going to be flowing into America.

00:33:12.660 So China has the problem of excess capacity.

00:33:17.680 One way they might deal with that is by lowering the prices into everywhere else.

00:33:22.440 And the other people with a consumerist debt-driven mindset would be UK and Europe.

00:33:29.660 So yeah, maybe we have more, so maybe we can get extra Chinese tap that we don't need because

00:33:35.260 Americans are being edged out of it price-wise.

00:33:37.340 We can sort of drop ship it to the Americans with our lower tariff, be like a middleman.

00:33:42.260 Like India, for Russian oil to Europe.

00:33:44.720 If we had no shame whatsoever, we could pivot to being drop shippers.

00:33:50.460 I'm not suggesting we do that, by the way.

00:33:52.800 Um, some people I've noticed...

00:33:54.040 Revenue stream anyone?

00:33:55.200 Yeah.

00:33:55.780 Yes.

00:33:57.100 Yes, Lotus Eaters branded toasters or something.

00:33:59.280 Maybe that's...

00:34:00.300 We spend one penny on the logo that we stick on the Chinese toaster and then we mark it

00:34:05.640 up ten times.

00:34:08.020 Although we will then have a 10% tariff going into America, but I think we can deal with

00:34:11.300 that.

00:34:11.960 We'll be fine.

00:34:13.060 Um, one of the things I've noticed, um, uh, some of the...

00:34:15.600 A lot of people on, again, on social media have been saying that, that China can make

00:34:20.140 its population suffer because China has the bigger trade deficit with the US, so it does

00:34:25.820 hurt them more, plus they've got their own problems to deal with, which I haven't really

00:34:29.900 got time to get into now, but maybe I'll do that in the Brokonomics.

00:34:32.840 Um, but a lot of people have been saying, well, because China is a dictatorship, it can

00:34:38.120 just do that indefinitely because it doesn't have to worry about its people.

00:34:41.740 Uh, clearly you disagree, quite sensibly.

00:34:44.480 Yeah, well, the Chinese people have seen a very accelerated standard of living and the

00:34:51.360 whole reason that the CCP has sort of a hegemonic power over the Chinese people is that their

00:34:57.400 standard of living has got markedly better and the entire reason that their governance

00:35:04.040 exists unquestioningly, or at least appears to exist unquestioningly, is because people

00:35:10.100 broadly agree that their life is getting better in the future.

00:35:13.320 And if that stops, that is a big problem for everyone in China.

00:35:17.880 If, if the Chinese leadership has to deal with hundreds of thousands, if not millions of

00:35:24.080 unemployed men with nothing to lose pouring out of those southern factories back into the

00:35:28.780 cities, they've got a problem.

00:35:31.880 Um, so we, we will see who blinks first.

00:35:35.040 I, maybe I'm going to have to follow up with another segment next week.

00:35:38.400 Um, when the, when the actual shooting war between China and the U S begins, or maybe

00:35:43.480 the Chinese civil war begins or somebody backs down.

00:35:45.640 If China ends up murdering an incredible portion of its own population, that would just be another

00:35:51.580 footnote in the many times China.

00:35:53.400 Yes.

00:35:53.600 China has done that quite a lot.

00:35:56.660 Quite a few times.

00:35:57.540 Yes.

00:35:57.840 In recent memory as well.

00:35:59.160 Yeah.

00:35:59.440 Yes.

00:36:00.060 Yes.

00:36:00.280 Um, other people are less concerned about the China situation.

00:36:05.460 Zero hedge is going, um, absolutely nuclear about, um, the basis trade blowing up, uh,

00:36:12.560 which is basically where hedge funds take, um, U S treasuries and then they turn them,

00:36:17.460 uh, through the futures market.

00:36:19.120 And basically they leveraged into it to such an extent, um, that they're, they are in trouble.

00:36:24.040 So, um, everybody who is, um, sympathetic to hedge funds who are over leveraged, um, this

00:36:29.820 is your moment to, to break out the violin.

00:36:31.940 Uh, the reason I, I stick it up on screen is because it creates a problem for Jerome Powell

00:36:37.480 and the fed, because Jerome Powell and the fed do not like Trump.

00:36:40.700 They do not want to get on board.

00:36:42.680 They don't want to help out, um, by, um, anything that they can do by, you know, um, as this

00:36:48.660 sort of image shows bailing out Trump's trade war.

00:36:50.840 Uh, but they don't want to let their friends blow up either because they probably go, well,

00:36:56.420 they go, they go to dinner parties, dinner parties of these people and they want to get

00:36:59.220 jobs with them afterwards.

00:37:00.740 Um, so, so the fed is in a, is in a particular pickle at the moment.

00:37:04.540 Um, then I thought, um, oh, oh, let's talk about the boomers as well.

00:37:09.720 Josh, um, I'm, I'm a bit over time.

00:37:11.600 Can I, can I have a bit more time or should I skip the boom a bit?

00:37:14.300 What do you think?

00:37:14.960 I'm hosting.

00:37:15.780 Ask me.

00:37:16.440 All right.

00:37:17.000 What can I do?

00:37:17.600 Yeah, go for it.

00:37:18.280 Right.

00:37:18.720 Yeah.

00:37:19.040 I approve as well.

00:37:19.880 All right.

00:37:20.120 Okay, good.

00:37:20.840 Um, right.

00:37:21.400 So, so this is the S and P 500 boomers are absolutely freaking out because look, um,

00:37:26.440 you know, let's put it on the five day.

00:37:29.360 Um, actually let's put it on the month.

00:37:31.920 There we go.

00:37:32.720 So, so the S and P 500 used to be up here at, um, you know, what, what, what is that?

00:37:38.500 I assume this is one of those, cause I'm not an economist.

00:37:41.160 So I assume that this is one of those graphs where the idea was line, go up infinity.

00:37:45.480 Well, the whole point of the S and P 500 is that it's what the top 500 companies.

00:37:50.560 And because it's a diversified portfolio, the line forever goes up.

00:37:54.960 And in fact, it's, yes, it's quite rare for it to go down.

00:37:58.700 So there we go.

00:37:59.620 A few, a few weeks back, that was at sort of 5,700.

00:38:02.440 And here we are, we've lost 700 points on, on the, uh, the, the S and P.

00:38:06.880 So you might think, oh my God, that's catastrophic.

00:38:08.840 And, and the boomers are going absolutely mental about this.

00:38:11.640 Um, let's put it on a five year view.

00:38:14.060 Um, you know, we're back to levels not seen since mid last year, mid last year.

00:38:21.940 Yeah.

00:38:22.080 It's also worth mentioning as well.

00:38:23.200 Most people investing in the S and P 500 are doing it more on the longterm, aren't they?

00:38:27.800 To try and beat inflation rather than in a safe investment.

00:38:32.680 So not necessarily going in there for a short trade.

00:38:35.740 Right.

00:38:36.040 So finally, let, let, let's get into this absolute, um, uh, massive boomer, uh, schism.

00:38:43.300 Um, because, uh, I, I think it's funny.

00:38:46.500 Um, and you, you, you guys, cause I'm, I've, I've rambled over a bit.

00:38:50.780 So you guys stopped me when you've had enough of this.

00:38:52.900 Uh, but this is, this is Tim Rice.

00:38:54.760 For all you mega cultists who keep saying the market slump doesn't matter because 20 and 30 year olds have had plenty of time to make up losses.

00:39:01.920 Uh, seriously, what's your answer for people retiring now who thought they were good until you guys effed it up?

00:39:07.400 What's your answer?

00:39:08.320 Tough shit.

00:39:09.180 Yes.

00:39:10.060 Uh, funnily enough, uh, the, the zoomers and the millennials in the comments are not massively.

00:39:17.160 Sympathetic.

00:39:17.800 Boo hoo.

00:39:18.440 Oh, you get to retire.

00:39:19.440 I'm going to work until I'm dead.

00:39:20.940 I don't care.

00:39:21.820 Yes.

00:39:23.000 Um, didn't, didn't most of these people that he's castigating now have to shut their entire lives down a few years ago?

00:39:30.320 Uh, at the expense of all of this debt that needs to be repaid now.

00:39:34.300 Well, purely for the sake of Tim Wise feeling a bit more, um, secure in itself.

00:39:38.580 Funny you mention that.

00:39:39.240 Some people are recycling some of his own comments back to him.

00:39:41.920 Uh, he, he said, um, a couple of years ago,

00:39:44.140 when you millennials and Gen Z arseholes stop congregating in large numbers because you're

00:39:48.640 young and you can handle COVID-19, perhaps we respect you.

00:39:52.220 Until then, we don't care about your college debt and no precious.

00:39:55.400 We won't be paying or sell your bills anymore.

00:39:58.060 Good luck.

00:39:58.780 Well, it goes around, comes around.

00:40:00.160 So, so people have been giving Tim advice, uh, stop buying, um, avocado toast.

00:40:05.880 Maybe he's going to have to cancel that fifth cruise of the year.

00:40:09.160 Uh, yes.

00:40:09.600 Some people are saying, look, go into plumbing, learn to code.

00:40:12.280 Have we got any visit Canada comments here?

00:40:15.700 Have you tried euthanizing yourself?

00:40:17.980 Uh, yeah, yes.

00:40:18.920 Somebody suggested that.

00:40:20.160 Um, you know, this guy is saying, look, you can pull yourself by your, by your bootstraps.

00:40:23.700 Hard work pays off.

00:40:25.380 Uh, stop buying so much avocado toast and fancy letters and get an entry level job to

00:40:30.060 get your foot in the door.

00:40:31.100 Wait, wait, wait, wait.

00:40:31.520 What if he goes in and gives the manager a firm handshake?

00:40:34.580 Yes.

00:40:35.260 Top advice.

00:40:36.240 I literally got that advice from my dad.

00:40:40.000 Advice?

00:40:41.020 It never worked.

00:40:43.160 The handshake wasn't firm enough.

00:40:45.060 Oh, clearly that must have been the problem.

00:40:47.140 Yeah.

00:40:47.620 Yeah.

00:40:47.940 Have you tried a side hustle, pick up some extra shifts and over time?

00:40:50.940 Um, so, so, so the reason I threw this in there is because, um, there was a bit of a

00:40:56.280 generational divide over this one and, and zoomers and millennials, they just really don't

00:41:00.680 care because they are, they're not invested in the system.

00:41:03.380 People of Harry and I's age have nothing invested in the system.

00:41:07.160 All it does is extract money from us.

00:41:08.920 So why should we care if it burns down?

00:41:11.060 Generally about a quarter of my wages every single month go to taxes and all sorts of things.

00:41:19.040 And that's even before council tax and value added tax on every purchase I make as well.

00:41:24.580 So good luck saving.

00:41:26.080 We're paying money to a system that screws us over actively.

00:41:29.240 Is actively replacing it.

00:41:30.660 Yeah.

00:41:30.720 So why would we care?

00:41:33.140 Yeah.

00:41:33.880 They can pull themselves up by their bootstraps, take the Panda Express assistant manager job

00:41:37.600 with a smile, blah, blah, blah.

00:41:38.660 You get, you get loads of this.

00:41:39.640 Oh, that was the Chris Rufo one, wasn't it?

00:41:41.840 Yeah.

00:41:42.000 About the Panda Express manager.

00:41:43.640 They get paid really well.

00:41:45.380 I mean, in America, yeah.

00:41:46.380 Oh, that was a famous Tim Wise comment about how white people are going to go extinct

00:41:53.300 and he's not going to be sad about it because it's a good thing, actually.

00:41:57.760 Yes.

00:41:58.000 That's an interesting take from him.

00:42:00.300 Yes, yes, is indeed.

00:42:01.880 So I wonder what would motivate that.

00:42:04.620 Remarkable lack of sympathy from him on many fronts there.

00:42:09.560 Yeah.

00:42:09.760 Okay.

00:42:10.280 So anyway, so this is developing.

00:42:11.920 Haven't had a chance to do anything more than a bit of reaction on this one and what's going on.

00:42:15.340 I'll do a Brokernomics when I get into it more.

00:42:17.500 And let's just see if anyone has left a rumble rant from me to answer straight away.

00:42:22.560 Well, right.

00:42:23.440 So Rage Quit Ninja says,

00:42:27.300 China has always been threatening to attack the independent nation of Taiwan.

00:42:31.540 If it were to economically collapse, this might push it to actually do so.

00:42:36.320 I think in reading out independent nation of Taiwan, your social credit score just got shifted down a little bit there.

00:42:42.800 But yes, so I mean, you know, he's right.

00:42:47.240 I mean, this situation is so unpredictable at the moment that I'm going to I'm going to end up having to come back to it.

00:42:52.240 So, yeah, that could happen.

00:42:53.900 I came in partway through.

00:42:55.020 Did you see China raise tariffs to 84 percent?

00:42:57.100 I did.

00:42:57.680 I only just caught that just before we came on.

00:43:00.040 Trump's going to embargo them at this point.

00:43:02.040 Yes. Well, I suppose you could go to infinity percent tariffs or you could just embargo them or whatever.

00:43:05.880 Same thing.

00:43:07.100 And Bald Eagle 1787 says China can turn off the U.S. military because a vast majority of things the U.S. uses in their arsenal are made in China.

00:43:16.900 China just cuts off the exports and the U.S. military has zero munitions.

00:43:20.600 I mean, yeah, pretty, pretty much.

00:43:22.800 I mean, it's not just it's not just military as well.

00:43:24.900 China dominates on heart medication, diabetes medication as well.

00:43:28.320 That's very important for America.

00:43:30.080 Yeah. China.

00:43:30.740 The U.S. should never have got into this situation.

00:43:33.240 Who was it that put them in that situation?

00:43:34.840 Was it Reagan?

00:43:35.940 Oh, the last the last 30 years of globalist leaders.

00:43:39.760 Yeah, that makes sense.

00:43:41.120 OK, on to something a little bit less complicated, a little bit less serious.

00:43:45.980 And if we're entirely honest with ourselves, not particularly important.

00:43:49.440 But I wanted to talk about it anyway.

00:43:51.460 And that is the scourge of millennial writing, which sadly has given me terminal cancer.

00:43:58.100 And if you still got all your hair, that's a miracle.

00:44:01.120 Well, I've chosen to go the Walter White route of, ah, screw it.

00:44:05.160 You're making meth now.

00:44:06.300 OK, stay on your good side.

00:44:08.360 And not for the first time.

00:44:10.720 It's self-incriminating now.

00:44:13.420 Ah, they'll never catch me.

00:44:14.980 Anyway, so you may have experienced this before.

00:44:18.000 You may have encountered it, which is the millennial writing.

00:44:20.800 I first came across the term through this man's account, Shredded Nerd.

00:44:24.940 He's got a couple of videos on these sorts of things.

00:44:26.880 A recent video came out of called Millennial Critics, I think it was,

00:44:31.300 where he was insulting, like, Zero Punctuation and Yahtzee and people like that.

00:44:35.860 And he also did this one, a follow-up called Millennial Characters.

00:44:39.280 And I think you can identify Millennial writing through a few of the things that he identifies in these videos.

00:44:45.540 To sum a little bit of them up, I would recommend you watch them, though.

00:44:48.560 So, it doesn't necessarily mean that you are a Millennial who writes things.

00:44:54.060 Millennial writing is just the name that has been given to this colloquially.

00:44:58.020 It's sort of a term for the bad stuff.

00:44:58.760 So, you can be a Millennial who's a good writer.

00:45:01.120 Yeah, so it's a bad term.

00:45:02.960 It's a style of writing.

00:45:04.520 It's a style of writing, exactly.

00:45:06.460 And you can identify it through a few things, which is a reliance on irony and insincerity.

00:45:12.740 Nothing is allowed to be serious for too long.

00:45:15.180 You can see this through, ironically enough, Boomer, Joss Whedon-style writing,

00:45:18.880 where things can be serious for a few minutes at a time,

00:45:23.040 but every serious scene has to end with a quip.

00:45:25.800 This is a product of emotional insecurity and a fear of rejection.

00:45:30.500 Oh, that's a very interesting take.

00:45:31.980 I just thought it's because of the fact that he's a hack.

00:45:35.780 That too.

00:45:36.740 Yeah, although I still quite like Firefly.

00:45:39.500 Oh, did you make Firefly?

00:45:41.020 I like that.

00:45:41.540 He wrote Firefly, yeah.

00:45:42.580 He also wrote the original Buffy show.

00:45:45.380 Oh, I like that as well.

00:45:46.040 Yeah, well, the thing is, Joss Whedon, he kind of started the trend,

00:45:50.380 while at the same time kind of having some good shows behind him at the same time.

00:45:54.900 So you could forgive it with him, because with him, it was new.

00:45:58.780 It was a new style of writing that was interesting and funny.

00:46:03.000 And he kept on leaning into it.

00:46:04.660 Well, it was more that he then did the first Avengers film,

00:46:08.460 and then the rest of Marvel decided to do it as well,

00:46:11.400 and then because Marvel was the big popular franchise,

00:46:14.620 as everyone else started to do it as well,

00:46:17.160 but without even a fraction of the talent that Joss Whedon originally displayed

00:46:22.380 when he was writing this stuff back in the early 2000s.

00:46:26.360 But it does serve to undercut the kind of emotional stakes of any story

00:46:31.220 that you're being told.

00:46:32.540 It's also got the constant pop cultural references

00:46:35.120 that you as the audience are just expected to get.

00:46:37.880 This could be a holdover from Family Guy,

00:46:39.960 which a lot of people of millennials and my generation

00:46:43.040 would have grown up watching.

00:46:44.480 Constant swearing for no reason.

00:46:47.320 They just think it makes them sound cool and mature.

00:46:49.800 I really dislike that.

00:46:50.920 A lot of shouting.

00:46:52.160 They talk like babies,

00:46:53.840 but throw in lots of swearing in their baby talk,

00:46:56.780 and it's very, very annoying.

00:46:58.180 I'll tell you what I really dislike

00:46:59.440 that's probably going to get some people upset at me,

00:47:01.660 but I really didn't like the film Step Brothers,

00:47:04.000 because it was basically...

00:47:04.880 I hate that film.

00:47:06.160 It was two reasonably good comic actors playing man children.

00:47:11.180 When they're in the right role.

00:47:12.720 Yeah.

00:47:13.640 But Will Ferrell has a bad tendency to go for characters

00:47:16.640 who are just random loud noises and shouting.

00:47:19.540 That's kind of his style.

00:47:21.800 Yeah, I don't really like that.

00:47:23.700 No, me neither.

00:47:24.960 It's also very flippant in its depictions of violence,

00:47:27.720 where the writers clearly have never experienced real-life violence,

00:47:32.220 so they kind of tend to glorify it and revel in it.

00:47:36.740 See, for instance, the boys' TV show,

00:47:40.200 where everything is as gross as possible,

00:47:42.980 as gory as possible,

00:47:44.460 because really, you can just tell

00:47:46.260 these writers have never been punched in the face

00:47:48.400 when they were growing up.

00:47:50.400 I watched a film once

00:47:51.340 where a woman was in the back seat of a car,

00:47:53.540 and she took off her shoe

00:47:54.700 and hit this huge guy next to her

00:47:57.520 and knocked him out with her shoe.

00:47:59.600 Must have been some very heavy shoes.

00:48:02.580 No, no, it was just...

00:48:04.320 I think it was just this.

00:48:05.220 It was written by a millennial woman.

00:48:07.140 Yeah, that makes sense.

00:48:09.420 And the stories themselves

00:48:10.940 and the world that they establish for these stories

00:48:13.560 tend to only reflect the cosmopolitan city environments

00:48:16.980 and attitudes of the writers,

00:48:18.860 who have no attempt to think outside of themselves,

00:48:21.500 completely self-obsessed

00:48:23.020 and very, very lazy in its social commentary.

00:48:25.900 And as a result of this,

00:48:27.660 the themes always tend to be about

00:48:29.320 depression, mental health problems,

00:48:32.540 and get celebrated for doing things like...

00:48:35.200 The Reddit, it had a realistic depiction

00:48:37.820 of a panic attack in it.

00:48:39.760 That's something that has popped up quite often.

00:48:41.440 Wow.

00:48:41.920 Philipsistic is the word I think you wanted there.

00:48:43.600 Yes.

00:48:44.280 And yeah, it's characters

00:48:45.440 that are only reflections of the writer,

00:48:47.440 only appeal to the writer,

00:48:48.960 and one of my least favourite things,

00:48:50.600 only ever speak in the writer's voice.

00:48:52.960 Now, an example of this,

00:48:54.900 I was unfortunate enough that a few years ago,

00:48:57.380 my missus decided to start watching

00:48:58.980 the Amazon Prime Doom Patrol TV show.

00:49:02.480 And I was unfortunate to be trying to read

00:49:05.600 in the living room, for instance,

00:49:07.020 while she was watching it at full blast volume.

00:49:09.560 And so I had the misfortune of hearing the dialogue.

00:49:12.700 And the thing that frustrated me more than anything

00:49:14.740 was I could tell every single one of these characters

00:49:18.380 spoke in the same voice.

00:49:19.960 There was no attempt to differentiate

00:49:22.820 how all of these characters spoke.

00:49:24.620 They all spoke in the exact same

00:49:26.220 sardonic, insincere, ironic way

00:49:31.120 where every other word had to be the F word.

00:49:34.420 Sorry, I'm smiling just because

00:49:36.440 I'm imagining you in your living room

00:49:38.980 getting increasingly annoyed

00:49:40.340 while you're reading a book about,

00:49:41.580 I don't know, World War II or something.

00:49:44.440 That's exactly...

00:49:44.860 And you'll be putting it down,

00:49:46.640 you'll be taking your glasses off

00:49:47.820 and sort of going, ah.

00:49:48.860 That is exactly it.

00:49:50.260 That happens quite often.

00:49:52.240 Sad enough to say.

00:49:53.700 But so all of these characters

00:49:54.860 all spoke in the same voice.

00:49:55.920 Whereas at the moment,

00:49:57.000 I'm going back through a rewatch of, you know,

00:49:58.740 Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad.

00:50:00.860 And you can tell the differentiation

00:50:02.320 in the character voices.

00:50:04.640 Walt doesn't talk like Jesse.

00:50:06.260 Jesse doesn't talk like Saul.

00:50:07.880 Saul doesn't talk like Walt.

00:50:09.640 All of these characters speak

00:50:10.740 in their own distinctive ways.

00:50:11.620 Whereas these writers are unable

00:50:13.580 to take themselves

00:50:14.720 and detach themselves

00:50:16.960 from these characters

00:50:17.980 because all of the characters

00:50:18.940 just have to be them.

00:50:20.340 What's a fundamental lack of awareness

00:50:22.880 is sort of a...

00:50:24.180 I've thought about this a fair amount.

00:50:25.860 It always strikes me when...

00:50:27.300 You can always tell

00:50:28.440 when a writer's done this.

00:50:29.880 Even if you don't know the writer at all,

00:50:32.100 you can always tell

00:50:32.900 that there's a self-insert.

00:50:34.640 And it just speaks of

00:50:36.260 an extended period of self-obsession

00:50:39.260 where you've not thought about anyone

00:50:40.380 but yourself

00:50:41.180 for such a long period of time

00:50:42.920 that you're incapable of doing that.

00:50:45.280 It's like one of the most basic

00:50:46.880 human skills

00:50:48.120 of communicating with other people

00:50:49.840 is being able to imagine

00:50:51.480 what they're like.

00:50:52.900 Put yourself in their mind.

00:50:55.680 Whereas a real writer,

00:50:57.360 if they have to have

00:50:58.620 a self-insert,

00:51:00.120 just does it like George R.R. Martin did

00:51:01.940 in A Song of Ice and Fire

00:51:03.180 where he's like,

00:51:04.000 oh, I'm going to have Sam Tarly

00:51:05.720 who's a fat nerd

00:51:07.060 who's pathetic

00:51:08.280 and cowardly and weasley

00:51:09.720 and that's me in the story.

00:51:12.180 And everybody else

00:51:13.040 can just be, you know,

00:51:14.320 themselves as I write them.

00:51:15.960 Well, he has a bit of a redemption.

00:51:17.420 Not going to spoil it,

00:51:18.320 but, you know,

00:51:18.760 he's not all bad.

00:51:19.840 He does have a little bit of redemption.

00:51:21.140 And he's one of the few good people

00:51:23.180 in the entire show.

00:51:24.700 Yeah, but it is interesting, again,

00:51:26.140 that Martin has explicitly said,

00:51:28.380 oh yeah, he's me.

00:51:29.600 Who did you write as yourself?

00:51:31.880 Oh, the fat coward.

00:51:34.140 I mean, that's a certain level of honesty.

00:51:36.460 Yeah, so I can respect it.

00:51:37.960 So the most recent example

00:51:39.340 that's been popping up for me

00:51:40.880 of this kind of millennial writing style

00:51:43.740 is this.

00:51:46.040 The Netflix adaptation,

00:51:49.060 adaptation of the Devil May Cry

00:51:51.960 video game series,

00:51:53.560 executive produced and written

00:51:54.800 by Adi Shankar.

00:51:56.700 Now, I'm a huge fan

00:51:58.100 of the Devil May Cry games.

00:51:59.700 I doubt either of you

00:52:00.720 have ever played them.

00:52:01.780 I have.

00:52:02.400 You have?

00:52:02.920 Oh, which one?

00:52:03.340 Was it the fourth one?

00:52:06.300 Oh, the one on PS3, yeah.

00:52:07.680 That's it.

00:52:08.180 That's a good game.

00:52:09.000 Is it one of those games

00:52:10.060 where you need a controller

00:52:11.100 and you need to press

00:52:11.760 the buttons really fast?

00:52:12.840 Yes.

00:52:13.480 Not my kind of game.

00:52:14.880 I only play video games

00:52:16.420 where it's possible

00:52:17.520 to invade France in them.

00:52:19.920 That's fair.

00:52:20.580 I mean, you do fight demons

00:52:21.780 from hell in them.

00:52:23.680 If they're from France,

00:52:24.780 I think I could go for it.

00:52:25.740 There's a white flag there.

00:52:27.560 Yeah, there is a white...

00:52:28.500 Pretend they're French.

00:52:29.280 Yeah.

00:52:29.500 But I love those games.

00:52:31.880 I've played all five of them.

00:52:33.500 The DMC, Devil May Cry,

00:52:35.140 doesn't really count.

00:52:36.240 And I will admit

00:52:37.040 I only played five minutes

00:52:38.100 of the second one

00:52:39.000 because it was...

00:52:40.500 Even those five minutes

00:52:41.480 was enough to tell

00:52:42.140 that it was a dreadful game.

00:52:43.440 But the rest of them,

00:52:44.700 I absolutely love.

00:52:45.780 Some of my favorite games ever.

00:52:47.940 And the thing that you'll notice

00:52:49.080 if you play them

00:52:49.820 is that they're really, really cheesy,

00:52:51.940 as I'll show you in a moment.

00:52:53.400 They're really, really...

00:52:55.460 over the top.

00:52:58.020 But they're also,

00:52:59.660 in the very Japanese way,

00:53:01.660 very, very sincere.

00:53:03.520 When there's a big emotional moment,

00:53:05.260 the characters will drop the act

00:53:07.080 and they will become very sincere

00:53:08.820 and treat a situation

00:53:10.560 with the seriousness it deserves.

00:53:12.480 Not so in this adaptation

00:53:14.980 where I found this image

00:53:16.660 and posted it

00:53:17.680 and it took off for some reason.

00:53:19.680 But they said,

00:53:21.000 here's the description

00:53:22.520 of the backstory of the show,

00:53:25.440 of the character Sparda,

00:53:27.320 the demon

00:53:27.920 who is the main character

00:53:28.860 Dante's father.

00:53:30.400 He was a demon knight,

00:53:31.740 whatever that means.

00:53:33.180 Big bad warrior,

00:53:34.340 blah, blah, blah.

00:53:35.680 Two thousand years ago

00:53:36.860 when our world

00:53:37.520 was still connected

00:53:38.320 to their shithole

00:53:39.480 and Mundus wasn't happy

00:53:41.200 just ruling the shithole.

00:53:43.080 And I guess Sparda

00:53:44.000 woke up one day

00:53:44.960 and realized,

00:53:45.960 hey,

00:53:46.560 this is evil as F.

00:53:48.320 He fought against Mundus,

00:53:49.880 taking out hundreds

00:53:50.660 of his own former legions,

00:53:52.520 kind of the least

00:53:53.240 he could effing do, really.

00:53:54.820 I hate everything about this.

00:53:56.820 You can see why

00:53:57.600 I have terminal cancer.

00:53:59.400 So two points here.

00:54:00.360 First of all,

00:54:01.500 I am never going to

00:54:02.260 watch this anyway.

00:54:03.200 Yeah.

00:54:03.680 But reading that,

00:54:05.000 my reaction is,

00:54:05.640 well,

00:54:05.780 if you don't take

00:54:06.680 yourself seriously,

00:54:08.000 why should I?

00:54:10.360 That's a good question.

00:54:11.440 Yeah.

00:54:11.680 With fantasy,

00:54:12.560 there's this little thing

00:54:13.580 known as suspension

00:54:14.500 of disbelief.

00:54:15.360 You've got to sell

00:54:16.120 the universe to people

00:54:17.140 and make them immersed in it.

00:54:18.320 If you don't take it

00:54:19.560 seriously yourself,

00:54:20.480 you're not going to do that.

00:54:22.340 It's going to be bad.

00:54:23.460 I've read a few

00:54:23.960 of the 30k books now

00:54:25.220 and they take themselves

00:54:26.280 very seriously

00:54:27.120 and you can kind of

00:54:28.320 get into it.

00:54:29.660 You mean they don't

00:54:31.160 do things like,

00:54:32.220 say,

00:54:32.360 big bad warrior,

00:54:33.440 blah, blah, blah,

00:54:34.400 and completely shit

00:54:35.820 all over the lore

00:54:36.880 that they're trying

00:54:37.420 to establish?

00:54:38.440 Quite.

00:54:39.020 Yes.

00:54:39.260 I mean,

00:54:40.260 compare this to the

00:54:41.280 actual intro

00:54:41.980 of the first game

00:54:42.940 and you'll see

00:54:43.540 what I mean.

00:54:45.960 It's really cheesy.

00:54:48.240 There's Spada

00:54:48.980 in the background

00:54:49.600 with his big demon sword

00:54:51.040 doing like

00:54:51.980 Star Wars guy style

00:54:55.240 like watch.

00:54:56.560 Add Eye of the Tiger there

00:54:57.800 and it's like

00:54:58.140 a training montage.

00:54:59.240 There's some Japanese guys

00:55:00.760 with sensors on him

00:55:01.640 and against a green background

00:55:02.860 setting this up.

00:55:04.600 He's practicing his moves

00:55:06.040 against Darth Maul.

00:55:07.420 That's what he's doing there.

00:55:08.380 But it's got the lore dump,

00:55:10.080 it's got the fire.

00:55:11.060 Like I said,

00:55:11.560 it's cheesy,

00:55:12.900 it's over the top,

00:55:14.240 it's silly,

00:55:15.700 but it is actually taking

00:55:16.980 a bit sincere.

00:55:18.100 He's taking itself seriously

00:55:19.840 because it is saying

00:55:20.840 here's Spada,

00:55:22.020 he's the one good guy

00:55:23.200 out of all of the demons

00:55:24.280 and that's what made him special.

00:55:26.400 And here's the sincerity

00:55:27.620 versus irony again.

00:55:29.400 The character who delivered

00:55:30.800 those lines

00:55:32.020 that I showed you

00:55:32.700 a moment ago

00:55:33.440 is the same as

00:55:34.860 this character

00:55:35.440 from the game,

00:55:36.460 Lady.

00:55:37.380 And in the games,

00:55:39.180 she's very serious

00:55:40.480 about the whole thing.

00:55:41.620 She's very sincere.

00:55:42.860 I also like

00:55:43.900 that there's a woman in it

00:55:44.920 and they just call her Lady.

00:55:46.740 Yes.

00:55:47.600 She does have a name

00:55:48.660 but they do call her,

00:55:50.100 they just call her Lady.

00:55:51.900 And she's cool

00:55:52.860 because she carries

00:55:54.000 a gigantic rocket launcher

00:55:55.620 everywhere.

00:55:57.240 Which again

00:55:57.980 is just part of

00:55:58.640 the fun factor

00:55:59.360 of the games

00:55:59.940 because they take

00:56:01.260 themselves seriously

00:56:02.120 but not too seriously

00:56:03.380 because they're Japanese.

00:56:04.900 The armour seems impractical.

00:56:06.320 She's got an armoured

00:56:07.080 miniskirt

00:56:07.720 and then the rest of her is...

00:56:08.960 Oh, that's not armour.

00:56:10.500 Those are just like

00:56:11.260 gun pouches

00:56:12.100 for bullets.

00:56:13.080 So she's not actually

00:56:13.780 wearing any arm.

00:56:14.520 So if it was hit,

00:56:15.620 that would be the first bit

00:56:16.460 to go up in sparks then.

00:56:18.640 Yeah, presumably.

00:56:19.880 Right.

00:56:20.360 But again,

00:56:21.000 the whole point

00:56:22.680 of these character designs

00:56:23.660 was literally all about

00:56:24.700 cool factor.

00:56:25.860 Yes.

00:56:26.120 The second game...

00:56:26.940 I appreciate that.

00:56:27.900 The second game

00:56:28.820 had outfit designs

00:56:30.520 by the fashion company

00:56:31.680 Diesel, for instance.

00:56:33.100 It wasn't about

00:56:33.780 how practical

00:56:34.720 would this be.

00:56:35.640 They fire rocket launchers

00:56:37.580 at one another

00:56:38.140 and then all of a sudden

00:56:39.000 the main character

00:56:39.680 takes a surfboard ride

00:56:41.620 on one of the rockets

00:56:42.620 as it's going...

00:56:43.300 How based are they

00:56:44.080 compared to Hugo Boss?

00:56:46.060 I don't know anything

00:56:47.060 about Diesel.

00:56:47.980 I imagine they're German.

00:56:49.200 They sound German.

00:56:50.620 But as well as that,

00:56:52.740 Josh is going to do

00:56:53.880 some studying for us.

00:56:55.920 Here's how they talk

00:56:56.840 in the original game

00:56:58.900 in DMC3.

00:56:59.800 Are you crying?

00:57:05.300 It's only the rain.

00:57:09.100 The rain already stopped.

00:57:15.240 The devils never cry.

00:57:17.620 Again, cheesy,

00:57:19.000 over the top,

00:57:20.040 but sincere.

00:57:20.740 But really sincere.

00:57:22.340 Italian.

00:57:23.240 Oh, they're Italian.

00:57:24.260 Okay.

00:57:24.920 So, you know,

00:57:25.560 pretty based adjacent

00:57:27.280 to Hugo Boss.

00:57:29.180 In that case,

00:57:29.820 here's the Netflix adaptation

00:57:31.200 as interpreted

00:57:32.300 by a Twitter user.

00:57:36.280 Are you fucking crying?

00:57:39.680 It's only the rain.

00:57:43.460 It already stopped

00:57:44.860 fucking raining.

00:57:48.120 Oh dear.

00:57:50.280 The devils never cry.

00:57:51.740 I see.

00:57:56.100 But the clue is in the title.

00:57:57.700 They may cry.

00:57:58.080 Maybe somewhere out there

00:57:58.740 even a fucking devil

00:57:59.820 may fucking cry

00:58:00.800 when he loses

00:58:01.340 a fucking love.

00:58:02.060 Turn it off.

00:58:04.700 That's not the actual show

00:58:06.020 or anything,

00:58:06.720 but that's how they would

00:58:07.740 write that scene.

00:58:08.740 I see how...

00:58:09.440 Okay, I've got my head

00:58:10.280 around millennial writing now.

00:58:11.620 I can't get it.

00:58:12.040 Yeah.

00:58:12.540 And then there's the other

00:58:13.600 parts that come with

00:58:15.200 the whole Netflix

00:58:16.900 adaptation of the show.

00:58:19.320 That being that you can see

00:58:20.660 with all of these...

00:58:21.440 What do all of these shows

00:58:22.960 tend to have in common

00:58:24.360 with the source material

00:58:25.900 that they're adapting?

00:58:27.660 They don't do it

00:58:28.260 very faithfully.

00:58:29.300 For a start,

00:58:29.860 I've noticed that

00:58:30.600 The Witcher is relegated

00:58:32.020 to the back of his own poster

00:58:33.300 and the girl bosses

00:58:34.060 are kind of the prominent ones.

00:58:35.540 Yeah, there's a lot of

00:58:36.400 girl bossing in these shows,

00:58:37.760 isn't there?

00:58:38.280 There's a lot of

00:58:39.120 complete lack of faithfulness

00:58:40.620 to the source material

00:58:41.620 and a lot of

00:58:42.680 current year messaging

00:58:44.620 in them.

00:58:45.760 And you can see that

00:58:46.540 through the IGN review

00:58:47.640 which praises it

00:58:48.580 for being a bold

00:58:50.300 indictment

00:58:51.400 of 2000s Americana.

00:58:54.700 Right.

00:58:55.440 Huh?

00:58:56.220 I don't remember that

00:58:57.480 being part of the games

00:58:59.040 personally.

00:58:59.960 So I grew up

00:59:00.760 in 80s movies

00:59:01.640 that absolutely

00:59:03.680 loved America.

00:59:05.180 Yes.

00:59:05.580 And I bigged it up

00:59:06.300 at every possible moment.

00:59:07.560 And because of these movies

00:59:08.540 got exported around the world.

00:59:09.760 Lots of Japanese programs

00:59:10.080 still love America.

00:59:11.460 Yeah, because they got

00:59:12.560 exported around the world,

00:59:13.400 everybody liked America

00:59:14.460 because the cultural stuff

00:59:16.860 coming out of it

00:59:17.560 was so upbeat.

00:59:19.120 I think America

00:59:19.980 can hardly be surprised

00:59:21.020 when the stuff

00:59:21.540 that it's putting out

00:59:22.140 these days

00:59:22.820 loathes itself.

00:59:24.800 Yeah, leave a certain

00:59:26.200 amount of pessimism

00:59:27.140 and self-loathing

00:59:27.920 to the people

00:59:28.460 who have experience,

00:59:29.540 which is us.

00:59:30.420 The British.

00:59:31.260 We're very good at it,

00:59:32.220 actually.

00:59:33.080 And can you guess

00:59:34.020 in a show

00:59:34.840 being made

00:59:37.300 in current era

00:59:38.380 where it's about

00:59:39.740 fighting demons,

00:59:41.640 are the demons

00:59:42.300 just going to be

00:59:43.480 evil creatures,

00:59:44.880 bad guys?

00:59:45.280 They're going to be leftists.

00:59:46.920 Maybe orcs,

00:59:47.800 maybe orcs

00:59:48.520 like Lord of the Rings.

00:59:50.240 They're not going to be

00:59:50.720 a stand-in for politics,

00:59:52.000 are they?

00:59:52.700 I'm sorry to break

00:59:53.460 your feet, Dan.

00:59:54.860 So this is a real clip

00:59:56.560 from the show

00:59:57.560 where America,

00:59:59.400 the real bad guys,

01:00:01.380 invade hell

01:00:02.460 like it's Iraq

01:00:03.900 or Afghanistan.

01:00:05.140 Sand oil in hell.

01:00:06.360 Finally.

01:00:08.060 Basically, yes.

01:00:09.060 And listen to the soundtrack

01:00:10.320 they put to it.

01:00:11.160 Hang on a minute.

01:00:11.600 Why would you invade hell?

01:00:13.260 What's your military objectives?

01:00:14.720 What does winning look like

01:00:16.000 when you invade hell?

01:00:16.440 They've got so high

01:00:17.820 on post-war liberal ideology

01:00:20.780 that they want to go to hell

01:00:22.180 and take out

01:00:23.320 old Adolf

01:00:24.460 a second time.

01:00:26.240 I think that...

01:00:27.660 I can't say it.

01:00:29.740 I can't say it.

01:00:30.580 No, no.

01:00:30.860 I think I can't say it.

01:00:32.140 Literally,

01:00:32.820 I think it's a case of

01:00:34.000 religion...

01:00:34.780 I think it's a case

01:00:35.860 of religion bad.

01:00:37.460 They're Christians,

01:00:38.440 so they just hate

01:00:39.400 evil demons.

01:00:40.540 Well, sorry,

01:00:41.500 poor, pitiable demons

01:00:42.900 for no good reason.

01:00:44.640 And again,

01:00:45.020 listen to the music

01:00:46.160 that they've set this to

01:00:47.280 as well.

01:00:59.280 I will turn that off

01:01:00.560 before we get copyright struck.

01:01:02.920 So they're firing missiles

01:01:04.360 into hell.

01:01:05.400 They've opened the portal.

01:01:06.600 I think firing missiles

01:01:07.880 into hell

01:01:08.340 is a good idea, though.

01:01:09.420 So do I,

01:01:10.120 but have you considered

01:01:11.400 that the poor demons

01:01:13.400 are actually...

01:01:15.420 Wait for it...

01:01:16.840 Brown people.

01:01:19.140 So what the show

01:01:20.660 is trying to say

01:01:21.700 is that all brown people

01:01:24.220 go to hell?

01:01:25.280 There's some interesting

01:01:26.400 mixed messages there.

01:01:27.720 They're trying to hate

01:01:28.760 on themselves so hard

01:01:30.660 that they've kind of

01:01:31.380 gone 360,

01:01:32.580 and it's like,

01:01:33.180 well...

01:01:35.740 America's become

01:01:36.840 so powerful

01:01:37.580 that even the brown people

01:01:38.880 in hell aren't safe.

01:01:40.720 That's what I like

01:01:41.480 to take away from this.

01:01:42.520 I, for one,

01:01:43.520 think that holy crusade

01:01:44.780 against the demonic forces

01:01:46.000 of hell

01:01:46.460 is a good thing,

01:01:47.860 but I'm a far-right extremist.

01:01:49.580 But what this video

01:01:50.300 is saying is

01:01:50.900 if you don't have access

01:01:51.880 to a hell portal,

01:01:53.720 you know,

01:01:54.380 brown people in general do.

01:01:58.220 I guess so.

01:01:59.200 I guess, maybe.

01:02:00.180 But where have we seen

01:02:01.120 this kind of messaging before?

01:02:03.120 Think of les poor orcs.

01:02:05.320 They just wanted to live

01:02:06.300 a good life.

01:02:07.200 They're poor refugees.

01:02:09.140 Open the gates to Gondor

01:02:10.560 and let them in.

01:02:11.960 Look at these poor demons.

01:02:13.800 They're so hard done in life.

01:02:15.760 They're poor little refugees.

01:02:17.620 Open the portals to Earth

01:02:19.200 and let them in.

01:02:19.740 Tell you what is implicit in this

01:02:21.400 is that they think

01:02:22.600 that violent media

01:02:24.840 causes real-world violence

01:02:26.380 in much the same way

01:02:27.580 that in the 90s

01:02:29.140 they were talking about

01:02:29.860 violent video games.

01:02:31.080 Well, actually...

01:02:32.040 And music making people violent

01:02:34.140 like Tipper Gore.

01:02:35.480 That's something

01:02:36.020 that Shredded Nerd

01:02:37.200 discusses in Millennial Characters

01:02:38.940 because of the fact

01:02:39.780 that, for instance,

01:02:40.520 the whole girl-bossing thing

01:02:42.220 is a big thing.

01:02:43.880 Could be seen to be

01:02:44.860 downstream from this idea

01:02:46.260 of they say,

01:02:47.040 well, men are more violent

01:02:48.040 than women,

01:02:49.140 but we can't say

01:02:49.840 it's just because men

01:02:50.820 have testosterone

01:02:52.000 and are naturally more violent

01:02:53.260 because that's

01:02:53.840 biological determinism

01:02:55.260 and post-modern feminism

01:02:57.000 says biology doesn't exist.

01:02:59.820 So, therefore,

01:03:00.660 it has to be down

01:03:01.500 to the environment.

01:03:02.820 What's part of the environment

01:03:04.020 is the media people consume.

01:03:06.040 So, if you watch Predator

01:03:07.260 and watch Arnold Schwarzenegger

01:03:08.820 having a manly fight

01:03:09.920 against the Predator,

01:03:11.400 therefore,

01:03:11.980 that's going to make you

01:03:12.620 more violent.

01:03:13.340 So, we need to take

01:03:14.040 Arnold Schwarzenegger out

01:03:15.280 and put Zendaya in.

01:03:16.700 That explains why

01:03:17.880 lesbians are so violent

01:03:19.380 to their partners, then.

01:03:20.700 They're big Schwarzenegger fans.

01:03:22.100 That's it.

01:03:22.540 It's all those girl bosses

01:03:23.980 that's making them violent.

01:03:25.360 And the testosterone

01:03:25.960 and steroids as well.

01:03:28.920 Unironically.

01:03:29.640 They've got no man

01:03:30.220 to tell them to calm down, dear.

01:03:32.500 That always works, doesn't it?

01:03:34.240 Every time.

01:03:35.080 It literally does, actually.

01:03:36.180 100% success rate.

01:03:38.140 And there's more clips

01:03:39.760 that are going about

01:03:40.580 where, for instance,

01:03:41.280 Lady is pointing her gun

01:03:43.020 at these poor,

01:03:44.180 poor demonized,

01:03:45.820 no pun intended,

01:03:47.120 refugee evil demons.

01:03:49.820 And again,

01:03:50.380 if you're going for

01:03:51.200 an adaptation of

01:03:52.580 the Devil May Cry series,

01:03:54.620 like, the whole point

01:03:55.600 of Sparda himself

01:03:56.660 is that he's literally

01:03:58.260 the one demon

01:03:59.380 who ever was able

01:04:00.380 to realize

01:04:01.000 being evil is bad.

01:04:03.240 And that's what makes him special.

01:04:04.520 That's what makes

01:04:05.460 his son, Dante, special.

01:04:07.560 This, if they're all like that,

01:04:09.200 then it completely...

01:04:09.860 But these people don't care

01:04:11.080 about the canon.

01:04:12.100 In this scene on here,

01:04:13.580 they literally make up

01:04:14.660 a whole new lore

01:04:15.760 and canon for the show

01:04:16.900 that has nothing to do

01:04:18.220 with anything in the video games,

01:04:19.580 which makes you ask,

01:04:20.880 why are you adapting this?

01:04:22.280 Is it just because

01:04:23.160 you think the name

01:04:24.440 is marketable?

01:04:25.640 It's probably just because

01:04:26.700 you think the name

01:04:27.480 is marketable.

01:04:28.400 It is, as ever,

01:04:29.760 always,

01:04:30.380 as with Rings of Power,

01:04:31.460 explained by

01:04:32.220 The Heat Map.

01:04:33.660 Refer to The Heat Map

01:04:34.800 if you have any questions.

01:04:36.400 It will explain

01:04:37.260 everything to do

01:04:38.360 with leftists for you.

01:04:40.140 And, um,

01:04:41.340 you get...

01:04:41.920 You get dick riders

01:04:43.140 like this.

01:04:44.840 You get, oh,

01:04:45.360 Devil May Cry fans

01:04:46.540 when the Netflix

01:04:47.200 non-canon adaptation

01:04:48.740 doesn't follow

01:04:49.320 the game's lore perfectly.

01:04:50.840 These are the dickheads.

01:04:52.700 These are the wretches.

01:04:54.240 These are the Reddit virgins

01:04:55.880 that are happy

01:04:56.880 to accept

01:04:57.520 the lowered standards

01:04:58.740 for everything

01:04:59.840 in pop culture

01:05:01.200 and make it

01:05:02.280 so that every film

01:05:03.180 that you go to see

01:05:03.860 these days

01:05:04.460 is a wretched abomination.

01:05:06.100 Can I bring Snow White

01:05:06.860 into this?

01:05:07.420 To just accept it.

01:05:09.180 Go on.

01:05:09.800 So, Snow White

01:05:10.700 did not respect

01:05:11.460 the source material

01:05:12.280 and nobody went

01:05:14.160 to see it

01:05:14.700 and they've lost

01:05:15.320 whatever it is,

01:05:15.920 300, 400 billion on it.

01:05:17.960 Whereas Minecraft,

01:05:19.540 and I took my kids

01:05:20.220 to see the Minecraft movie,

01:05:22.260 apparently that very much

01:05:24.100 does respect

01:05:25.000 the source material

01:05:26.540 and the cinemas

01:05:27.620 were full,

01:05:28.820 like completely full.

01:05:29.960 I've seen the clips

01:05:30.720 from the cinemas

01:05:31.400 and there's,

01:05:32.360 like, every time

01:05:33.080 Jack Black opens his mouth

01:05:34.420 in America,

01:05:35.440 they just start clapping.

01:05:37.220 People start cheering,

01:05:39.400 shitting themselves

01:05:40.380 with pure excitement

01:05:41.920 and joy.

01:05:42.940 It's quite something.

01:05:43.700 They don't do that

01:05:44.440 in British cinemas,

01:05:45.400 but they politely

01:05:46.440 give a round.

01:05:47.720 There was a mild

01:05:49.380 giggle of approval

01:05:50.300 just below the sound

01:05:52.240 level that you'd hear it.

01:05:53.560 So, yes.

01:05:54.180 Yeah.

01:05:54.540 But for Britain,

01:05:55.460 that's pretty riotous.

01:05:57.560 I mean,

01:05:58.460 that's basically...

01:05:59.380 But the point is,

01:06:00.120 if you're going to make

01:06:01.180 something about something,

01:06:03.680 you should respect

01:06:04.360 the source material

01:06:05.040 because that's why

01:06:05.800 people are going

01:06:06.260 to go and see it.

01:06:07.820 It makes sense,

01:06:08.540 doesn't it?

01:06:09.380 But these kinds of idiots

01:06:11.140 are why this kind of stuff

01:06:12.700 exists in the first place

01:06:13.680 because they'll just

01:06:14.220 excuse any rubbish

01:06:15.860 that comes across them.

01:06:18.020 That they know

01:06:19.360 will own the chuds

01:06:20.740 if they pretend

01:06:21.860 to like it.

01:06:22.620 So they pretend

01:06:23.140 to like it

01:06:23.780 and Netflix makes

01:06:24.860 more of it.

01:06:25.660 On to the man

01:06:26.220 who made it,

01:06:26.960 Adi Shankar.

01:06:28.440 So he's born in 1985,

01:06:30.480 so he is a millennial.

01:06:32.620 So officially

01:06:33.240 a millennial writer.

01:06:34.700 What I found

01:06:35.060 interesting about this

01:06:35.960 was that I just

01:06:37.260 looked through this.

01:06:38.060 I go down

01:06:38.840 and find

01:06:39.600 career.

01:06:40.920 He gives his influences

01:06:41.840 and then it's got

01:06:42.760 this big section

01:06:43.520 about the Apu problem

01:06:45.120 where because

01:06:46.220 Adi Shankar,

01:06:47.100 as you can tell,

01:06:47.760 is Indian,

01:06:48.980 he just had a problem

01:06:50.320 with the character

01:06:51.180 Apu

01:06:51.880 in The Simpsons.

01:06:53.880 He was rarely

01:06:54.600 portrayed negatively.

01:06:56.080 At worst,

01:06:56.740 he was seen

01:06:58.100 as flogging things

01:06:59.440 that were past

01:07:00.080 their sell-by date.

01:07:00.960 He was an exaggerated

01:07:01.980 caricature

01:07:02.700 in a town

01:07:03.360 made up entirely

01:07:04.420 of exaggerated

01:07:05.320 caricatures.

01:07:06.100 What a big surprise.

01:07:09.060 If anything,

01:07:09.680 the character

01:07:10.320 taught more

01:07:11.240 Americans about India

01:07:14.060 than anything else.

01:07:15.640 Also,

01:07:16.140 he was an executive

01:07:16.960 producer on the

01:07:18.060 2012 Dread film,

01:07:20.220 which was awesome.

01:07:22.120 So,

01:07:22.560 I can't believe

01:07:23.500 that he is...

01:07:24.740 I would have thought

01:07:25.320 it was dreadful.

01:07:26.460 I mean,

01:07:26.640 just coming back

01:07:27.120 to the Apu thing,

01:07:28.000 presumably his issue

01:07:29.160 is that Apu

01:07:30.520 was a kind of

01:07:32.620 authentically

01:07:33.280 Indian stereotype

01:07:34.600 as opposed to

01:07:35.520 having exactly

01:07:36.420 the same tone

01:07:37.080 of voice

01:07:37.460 as every other

01:07:38.500 character

01:07:38.880 just happening

01:07:39.820 to be brown.

01:07:41.500 Well,

01:07:41.820 yeah.

01:07:42.320 Right.

01:07:43.260 Well,

01:07:43.720 but when they

01:07:44.640 got rid of Apu,

01:07:46.380 he said,

01:07:46.780 oh,

01:07:46.940 well,

01:07:47.100 actually,

01:07:47.500 it's a step

01:07:47.900 sideways.

01:07:48.420 It's not a good

01:07:48.880 thing.

01:07:49.440 It doesn't undo

01:07:50.240 the damage,

01:07:51.280 the damage

01:07:52.760 that Apu

01:07:53.320 caused to society.

01:07:54.680 I don't think

01:07:55.060 the damage

01:07:56.960 to India's

01:07:58.460 reputation

01:07:59.060 comes from

01:07:59.720 the character

01:08:00.140 of Apu

01:08:00.740 in The Simpsons.

01:08:02.220 Perhaps

01:08:02.540 other kinds.

01:08:03.360 And then

01:08:04.740 you can see,

01:08:05.560 as I mentioned

01:08:06.200 at the beginning,

01:08:06.880 the incredible

01:08:07.500 self-indulgence

01:08:08.860 of millennial

01:08:10.140 writing,

01:08:10.780 where he's

01:08:11.320 decided to,

01:08:12.820 one,

01:08:13.360 indulge in

01:08:13.900 his own

01:08:14.260 emotional

01:08:16.180 vulnerability,

01:08:17.320 where he says,

01:08:17.820 Devil May Cry's

01:08:18.740 antagonist

01:08:19.620 has a goal

01:08:20.760 to open the

01:08:21.320 portal between

01:08:21.900 human and

01:08:22.420 demon realms

01:08:22.960 to guarantee

01:08:23.500 humanity's

01:08:24.280 destruction.

01:08:25.340 His reason

01:08:26.040 for opening

01:08:26.540 the portal

01:08:27.000 and for having

01:08:27.520 smuggled demons

01:08:28.360 into the human

01:08:29.080 realm for years,

01:08:30.080 refer again to

01:08:31.020 the heat map,

01:08:31.880 is to save

01:08:33.040 people who

01:08:33.540 embraced him

01:08:34.160 with open arms

01:08:34.880 after he was

01:08:35.360 scorned by his

01:08:36.080 own kinds.

01:08:36.680 It was a process

01:08:37.320 of,

01:08:38.160 and I'm going

01:08:38.580 to slowly

01:08:39.040 reveal to you

01:08:39.960 the story of

01:08:40.780 this hurt kid,

01:08:41.820 said Shankar.

01:08:42.840 By the end of

01:08:43.480 it,

01:08:43.760 I want you to

01:08:44.400 understand that

01:08:45.040 the biggest

01:08:45.460 enemy in your

01:08:46.380 life is also

01:08:48.000 a hurt kid,

01:08:49.420 just like you.

01:08:50.540 So that's just

01:08:51.040 emotional,

01:08:53.460 like,

01:08:54.200 basically

01:08:54.760 arrested development.

01:08:55.680 I don't need

01:08:56.860 sympathy for my

01:08:57.680 enemies,

01:08:58.360 I need tools

01:08:59.040 to crush them.

01:09:00.220 And then he

01:09:00.600 says,

01:09:01.220 Devil May Cry

01:09:01.960 episode 6 was

01:09:02.840 personal to him

01:09:03.560 for another reason.

01:09:04.540 Asked about the

01:09:05.100 introduction of a

01:09:05.760 new art style,

01:09:06.720 beginning at the

01:09:07.120 moment the kid

01:09:08.140 white rabbit

01:09:08.860 stepped through a

01:09:09.460 portal into the

01:09:10.080 demon realm,

01:09:11.160 he said,

01:09:12.320 I was born in

01:09:13.200 India,

01:09:13.960 in Kolkata,

01:09:15.380 and if you know

01:09:15.900 anything about

01:09:16.400 Kolkata,

01:09:17.320 it's a lot of

01:09:18.120 rampant poverty

01:09:18.920 everywhere.

01:09:19.760 This is the

01:09:20.220 environment I grew

01:09:21.040 up in,

01:09:21.620 anytime you go

01:09:22.340 anywhere you look

01:09:23.000 out the car window

01:09:23.680 and you just see

01:09:24.300 kids that look like

01:09:25.020 you but they're

01:09:25.480 living in the

01:09:25.900 streets and it's

01:09:26.380 so overwhelming.

01:09:27.400 My memory of

01:09:28.140 India was not

01:09:29.080 that it was a

01:09:29.620 very dark place,

01:09:30.700 it was this sweet

01:09:31.540 place of sweet

01:09:32.220 people.

01:09:32.940 This happened to

01:09:33.620 them,

01:09:34.060 they were colonized,

01:09:35.020 they were strip

01:09:35.480 mined,

01:09:35.980 and then bad

01:09:36.740 people took over.

01:09:37.820 So,

01:09:38.560 strange mixed

01:09:39.820 messaging there,

01:09:40.640 which is one he's

01:09:41.300 saying within the

01:09:41.980 canon of this

01:09:42.640 universe he's

01:09:43.360 saying that hell

01:09:43.940 is essentially

01:09:44.500 India.

01:09:46.140 Yeah,

01:09:46.640 I can see that.

01:09:47.140 Okay,

01:09:47.720 and also showing

01:09:48.840 that again,

01:09:49.640 very self-indulgent,

01:09:50.880 only ever reflects

01:09:51.920 the interests of

01:09:53.020 the writers

01:09:53.500 themselves,

01:09:54.220 can't be about

01:09:54.700 anything greater.

01:09:55.800 The show is

01:09:56.420 basically about his

01:09:57.300 own post-colonial

01:09:58.840 grievances.

01:09:59.940 And of course,

01:10:00.460 he was born in

01:10:00.960 1985,

01:10:02.320 and so he never

01:10:03.480 lived in colonial

01:10:04.300 India.

01:10:05.480 It's all post-hoc

01:10:07.200 nonsense.

01:10:08.160 Yeah,

01:10:08.360 well,

01:10:08.640 I mean,

01:10:08.960 we do owe them,

01:10:09.840 what was it,

01:10:10.320 42 trillion pounds?

01:10:12.200 The world's economy,

01:10:13.360 yeah.

01:10:13.500 Yeah,

01:10:13.640 the entire global

01:10:14.800 economy is owed to

01:10:16.120 India,

01:10:16.720 and I'm sure he would

01:10:17.640 agree with that as

01:10:18.760 well.

01:10:19.200 He also had a hand in

01:10:20.660 making the Castlevania

01:10:22.020 adaptation that Netflix

01:10:23.580 put out a few years.

01:10:24.440 I actually like that

01:10:25.040 one.

01:10:25.640 Well,

01:10:26.180 the first season,

01:10:27.140 I watched the first

01:10:27.660 season,

01:10:27.940 it's actually quite

01:10:28.500 good.

01:10:28.820 That had a lot of

01:10:29.820 other typical

01:10:31.240 tropes in it,

01:10:32.440 where you can see it

01:10:33.500 reflected in Devil May

01:10:34.300 Cry as well,

01:10:35.260 which is the

01:10:35.840 religion bad,

01:10:37.100 whereas in real

01:10:37.680 Castlevania and the

01:10:38.620 games,

01:10:39.560 religious characters

01:10:40.360 are people fighting

01:10:42.280 Dracula and vampires.

01:10:43.940 That's a fair point,

01:10:44.540 yeah.

01:10:44.680 In the show,

01:10:45.840 they're evil people

01:10:47.020 tricking the masses

01:10:48.300 who are doing evil

01:10:49.400 things because religion

01:10:50.520 is evil,

01:10:51.620 they're warmongers.

01:10:52.940 They also made this

01:10:53.960 amazing change where

01:10:55.160 instead of the vampires

01:10:56.280 being afraid of the

01:10:57.680 cross because of

01:10:58.600 Christianity,

01:10:59.980 they're afraid of the

01:11:01.680 cross because of the

01:11:02.760 right angles on it.

01:11:05.980 Right.

01:11:07.460 Yes.

01:11:08.920 Or geometry phobia

01:11:10.040 or something.

01:11:10.980 Well,

01:11:11.380 apparently,

01:11:12.120 according to this

01:11:12.720 dialogue here,

01:11:13.740 vampires are basically

01:11:14.840 an evolved predator

01:11:15.720 species,

01:11:16.500 it confuses the shit

01:11:17.900 out of their brains.

01:11:18.860 so good luck going

01:11:21.020 through a door

01:11:23.000 sitting at a table.

01:11:24.660 It's like the vampire

01:11:25.320 version of Per Capita

01:11:26.420 then,

01:11:26.640 it just doesn't...

01:11:27.320 It doesn't work for

01:11:28.320 them.

01:11:28.520 It just doesn't work.

01:11:29.220 There is one beneficial

01:11:31.280 thing from this show

01:11:32.560 though that I can say,

01:11:34.020 which is that it has

01:11:34.960 led to a spike in sales

01:11:36.240 of the actual games.

01:11:37.660 And if you've not

01:11:38.920 actually played the

01:11:39.880 game before,

01:11:40.460 Samson,

01:11:40.840 we can hear you.

01:11:41.920 If you've not actually

01:11:42.880 played the game before,

01:11:44.340 you should play the

01:11:45.280 games,

01:11:45.820 skip the second one,

01:11:46.860 but the rest of them,

01:11:47.700 top-tier action

01:11:49.020 gameplay,

01:11:50.000 fantastic,

01:11:50.880 really fun stories,

01:11:52.280 really fun characters.

01:11:53.100 You're recommending the

01:11:53.220 first one?

01:11:54.640 I'm recommending the

01:11:55.700 video games.

01:11:56.740 The first,

01:11:57.540 Devil May Cry,

01:11:58.280 don't play the second one.

01:11:59.060 No,

01:11:59.320 I thought you were

01:11:59.900 talking about

01:12:00.260 Castlevania,

01:12:01.280 because the first

01:12:01.840 Castlevania was like

01:12:02.820 30 years ago.

01:12:04.140 I still play the

01:12:04.720 Castlevania games,

01:12:05.540 they're good too.

01:12:06.560 But yeah,

01:12:07.100 so that's the one

01:12:08.240 good thing to come

01:12:08.900 out of this,

01:12:09.400 which is that a

01:12:10.280 very well-deserving

01:12:11.480 video game franchise

01:12:12.820 has actually got a

01:12:13.860 bit of a sales boost

01:12:14.680 because of this.

01:12:15.300 And apparently they're

01:12:15.860 on sale at the

01:12:16.440 moment as well,

01:12:17.000 so if you feel

01:12:18.200 interested,

01:12:18.880 go and buy them.

01:12:19.860 Don't watch the show

01:12:20.600 though.

01:12:22.320 All right,

01:12:22.880 we've got some

01:12:23.400 rumble rants through.

01:12:24.660 Fair few.

01:12:25.340 Yeah,

01:12:25.760 we do have quite a

01:12:26.560 fair few.

01:12:28.280 I don't know,

01:12:29.640 Samson.

01:12:30.180 Not very long,

01:12:30.900 I don't think.

01:12:31.080 Not very long,

01:12:32.040 but we could hear you

01:12:33.020 for a moment.

01:12:33.720 Audience,

01:12:34.280 could you hear Samson?

01:12:36.480 Could you hear me

01:12:37.400 chat?

01:12:39.120 Could you hear Samson?

01:12:40.280 He's in the walls.

01:12:41.900 I can't really hear him

01:12:42.620 that well,

01:12:42.920 but that's because

01:12:43.240 I'm a bit deaf.

01:12:43.800 So Sigil Stone says,

01:12:46.220 millennial writing

01:12:47.220 has so much cussing

01:12:48.500 because of a fake

01:12:49.280 study once posted on

01:12:50.260 Reddit that swearing

01:12:51.100 excessively is a sign

01:12:52.240 of intelligence

01:12:52.980 because sailors are

01:12:54.280 known for their

01:12:54.780 intellectual prowess.

01:12:55.900 Is that true?

01:12:57.100 Is that real?

01:12:57.900 Chat fact check that

01:12:58.920 for me.

01:12:59.880 That's a random name

01:13:00.720 is sent in a couple

01:13:01.480 saying,

01:13:01.900 been re-watching

01:13:03.020 phase one Marvel

01:13:03.720 movies this week.

01:13:04.540 They're overall better

01:13:05.260 than I remember,

01:13:05.920 yet even back then

01:13:06.560 there was stuff like

01:13:07.140 Scarlett Johansson

01:13:07.900 taking on a dozen

01:13:09.080 six-foot-plus

01:13:09.940 security guards,

01:13:11.340 Lamao.

01:13:12.140 Also saying,

01:13:13.340 also is it just me

01:13:14.140 or is most modern media

01:13:15.060 written with YouTuber

01:13:15.980 reactors in mind?

01:13:17.680 Everything is centered

01:13:18.500 around these

01:13:19.120 Yas Queen moments

01:13:20.380 where the slop gurglers

01:13:21.580 get to screech

01:13:22.640 at the screen.

01:13:24.420 Yeah,

01:13:25.100 I think that's just

01:13:25.940 because the

01:13:26.600 Yas Queen mentality

01:13:28.160 is what these writers

01:13:29.360 have in mind anyway.

01:13:30.880 They want to

01:13:31.840 write a cool moment

01:13:33.520 and then work

01:13:34.400 backwards from it

01:13:35.460 in a way that

01:13:35.980 isn't earned.

01:13:37.060 Whereas in like

01:13:37.760 Breaking Bad,

01:13:38.360 for instance,

01:13:39.140 they earn

01:13:40.240 the cool moments

01:13:41.400 when they eventually

01:13:42.200 arrive.

01:13:43.180 Scan Lines,

01:13:43.920 it shows they've

01:13:44.460 lost the concept

01:13:45.040 of good and bad.

01:13:45.800 They're betraying

01:13:46.280 people being punished

01:13:47.120 with eternal damnation

01:13:48.100 as victims.

01:13:49.040 It's the same mentality

01:13:49.860 that drove the

01:13:50.680 Floyd riots.

01:13:52.040 Bald Eagle,

01:13:53.060 Netflix had a good

01:13:53.980 DMC animation

01:13:54.940 years ago

01:13:55.640 that was amazing.

01:13:56.760 This new one

01:13:57.320 should be burnt

01:13:57.880 to the ground.

01:13:58.860 Also US invading

01:14:00.040 hell.

01:14:00.840 Deus Vault

01:14:01.560 Brothers.

01:14:02.280 Yeah,

01:14:02.620 I think the good

01:14:03.220 DMC animation

01:14:04.060 was one that was

01:14:04.620 actually done in

01:14:05.580 2008 in Japan.

01:14:07.500 It was a full-on

01:14:08.240 DMC anime,

01:14:09.260 so that explains

01:14:10.140 why it was good.

01:14:11.880 JM Denton,

01:14:13.000 question for Josh.

01:14:13.840 If you have to

01:14:14.300 let one in between

01:14:15.200 the orcs of Sauron

01:14:16.200 or India,

01:14:17.240 which do you choose?

01:14:18.260 I suppose this is

01:14:18.900 open,

01:14:19.220 not just a single

01:14:19.980 person to your home,

01:14:21.020 open the floodgates

01:14:21.980 who?

01:14:22.220 Um, I suppose the orcs

01:14:27.080 because it's easier

01:14:28.200 to see that they're

01:14:30.060 unequivocally evil

01:14:31.220 and therefore the

01:14:32.660 solution will come

01:14:33.420 about quicker.

01:14:34.240 I mean, to be fair,

01:14:34.760 there are plenty of

01:14:35.640 good Indians.

01:14:36.740 Orcs, of course,

01:14:37.780 they're evil.

01:14:40.480 I know Rings of Power

01:14:41.400 might have changed

01:14:42.220 your mind on this,

01:14:43.040 but orcs are

01:14:43.600 genuinely evil.

01:14:44.420 Um, just by sheer

01:14:48.220 exposure, I'm still

01:14:49.620 going with the orcs.

01:14:51.100 It'll be a bit novel,

01:14:52.380 that's what you're

01:14:52.840 going for.

01:14:53.300 Yeah.

01:14:53.800 Sigil Stone again

01:14:54.740 says,

01:14:54.980 I can't wait for the

01:14:55.760 Adi Shankar adaptation

01:14:57.080 of Dragon Age

01:14:58.140 where the Darkspawn,

01:14:59.180 a literal walking

01:14:59.940 plague,

01:15:00.620 are just poor

01:15:01.140 refugees from the

01:15:02.200 Fade looking to

01:15:02.940 settle down and

01:15:03.700 spread the blight

01:15:04.420 in peace.

01:15:05.420 That's a random

01:15:06.000 name again.

01:15:07.160 Subversive writing

01:15:07.880 is best exemplified

01:15:08.780 by what they did

01:15:09.400 to Thor in the

01:15:10.160 early movies he

01:15:10.820 was respected,

01:15:11.800 but then Thor

01:15:12.440 Ragnacook began the

01:15:14.060 trend of emasculating

01:15:15.100 him and mocking

01:15:15.800 European mythology.

01:15:17.080 That's a good point.

01:15:18.420 Uh, also where I'm

01:15:19.300 from, we call them

01:15:20.200 the...

01:15:20.640 I don't think I can

01:15:22.540 read that.

01:15:23.400 And finally,

01:15:23.960 Bald Eagle says

01:15:25.680 the 2007 Devil May Cry

01:15:27.240 animation is the

01:15:27.920 one that should be

01:15:28.480 watched.

01:15:28.920 Yes.

01:15:30.020 And it's pretty late

01:15:31.380 into the podcast now,

01:15:32.460 so are we going to

01:15:33.160 carry on?

01:15:36.260 Oh, apparently we can

01:15:37.300 just go on forever,

01:15:38.560 so it's the Infinity

01:15:39.600 podcast today, folks.

01:15:41.780 Well, you don't have

01:15:43.020 to speed run it then,

01:15:43.920 you can...

01:15:44.380 No, I'm going to

01:15:45.180 take my time and

01:15:45.840 we're going to enjoy it.

01:15:46.880 And it's a fun one as

01:15:48.020 well.

01:15:48.220 I was going to say,

01:15:48.440 this should be fun.

01:15:48.980 You know what, I'm

01:15:49.520 just going to put your

01:15:50.360 laptop away.

01:15:51.280 There you go.

01:15:52.180 Also...

01:15:52.860 Give me the stuff.

01:15:55.780 Give me the stuff.

01:15:57.520 All right, what...

01:15:58.260 Pop down to the

01:15:58.980 turkeys bar.

01:15:59.460 What are you buying?

01:16:01.220 That's the wrong game

01:16:02.200 anyway, that's not

01:16:02.740 Devil May Cry.

01:16:03.620 That's Resident Evil 4.

01:16:04.680 It is, yeah.

01:16:05.120 Also a classic.

01:16:06.020 Don't play the remake,

01:16:07.180 play the original.

01:16:08.200 It's amazing.

01:16:09.860 Where did everybody go?

01:16:12.320 Bingo?

01:16:12.680 I will cosplay Leon

01:16:17.580 Kennedy again.

01:16:18.560 I've done it before.

01:16:20.480 Anyway, on to the

01:16:21.980 actual segment.

01:16:22.800 Hang on, let's get

01:16:23.620 you sorted.

01:16:24.280 There we go.

01:16:24.900 Happy now.

01:16:25.560 I'm just going to get

01:16:26.200 it at a right angle

01:16:27.080 and sit back and

01:16:28.020 savour it.

01:16:29.120 Yeah, I'm going to get

01:16:29.680 it at a right angle so

01:16:30.760 that vampires can't get

01:16:32.000 me.

01:16:32.460 He...

01:16:32.940 Dear me.

01:16:35.540 Anyway, I think people

01:16:38.220 like Johnny Somali have

01:16:39.840 kicked off what amounts

01:16:41.940 to a plague of

01:16:43.120 streamers on the

01:16:44.160 East.

01:16:44.600 And I know, Dan,

01:16:45.440 you're a big fan of

01:16:46.380 the East.

01:16:48.440 I also am a fan of

01:16:49.920 the East.

01:16:50.460 It's an innocent part

01:16:51.060 of the world, isn't it?

01:16:51.900 You know, the South

01:16:52.420 Koreans, the Japanese,

01:16:53.980 good cultural output

01:16:54.960 these days, this sort

01:16:55.900 of bastion of...

01:16:56.680 Historically, I don't

01:16:57.500 know how innocent the

01:16:58.580 Japanese have been.

01:17:00.560 I'm not talking

01:17:01.400 historically.

01:17:02.200 Oh, okay.

01:17:02.600 All right, all right.

01:17:03.020 Even the Chinese are

01:17:04.000 being plagued by these

01:17:04.840 sorts of people.

01:17:06.080 And, you know, Johnny

01:17:06.980 Somali got banned and

01:17:08.800 arrested in South Korea.

01:17:10.040 The Japanese obviously

01:17:10.860 hate him.

01:17:11.940 Because he was going

01:17:12.820 around being disrespectful.

01:17:14.560 And another one, another

01:17:16.000 one of these annoying

01:17:16.700 streamers, the box

01:17:17.640 isn't working.

01:17:19.360 My box isn't working

01:17:20.540 as well.

01:17:21.300 Oh, no, now it's

01:17:22.240 working too well.

01:17:23.460 Okay, there we go.

01:17:24.240 Tighten up these boxes.

01:17:25.360 There we go.

01:17:25.780 The box is working

01:17:26.480 again now.

01:17:27.540 So, also, there's

01:17:28.580 another streamer,

01:17:29.940 Vitaly, who's a

01:17:31.200 Russian guy, I think,

01:17:32.640 who was arrested in

01:17:33.620 the Philippines after

01:17:34.660 being a nuisance,

01:17:36.240 basically.

01:17:36.920 And people are just

01:17:37.800 going over to Asian

01:17:38.800 countries and being a

01:17:40.400 nuisance.

01:17:40.800 Was Vitaly one of the

01:17:42.140 ones who was trying to

01:17:43.280 go across all of Japan

01:17:44.560 via public transport

01:17:45.740 without paying for it?

01:17:47.820 I don't know.

01:17:48.640 Because I remember there

01:17:49.540 was a European streamer

01:17:51.640 who had been going around

01:17:52.860 doing that.

01:17:53.580 And again, just very

01:17:54.600 disrespectful.

01:17:55.260 And, yeah, I don't pay

01:17:58.360 much attention to these

01:17:59.300 people except when they

01:18:00.360 do awful things.

01:18:01.980 But a new person has

01:18:03.520 been doing the rounds.

01:18:04.360 But this time, they've

01:18:05.580 not necessarily been

01:18:06.500 annoying people.

01:18:08.320 What they've been doing

01:18:08.960 is they've been seemingly

01:18:10.580 invited by the Chinese

01:18:11.780 government.

01:18:12.180 I don't know.

01:18:12.820 Or at least they've been

01:18:13.460 embraced by the Chinese

01:18:14.540 government.

01:18:14.980 They've been doing the

01:18:15.800 media rounds.

01:18:16.480 You may notice this

01:18:18.220 gentleman here has been

01:18:19.280 showing up quite a lot.

01:18:21.140 I'm not going to play

01:18:21.920 this.

01:18:22.540 But, yeah, he's been

01:18:24.700 going around China and

01:18:26.820 with a police escort and

01:18:29.640 security guards and

01:18:31.320 Chinese state approval

01:18:33.140 and having a very curated

01:18:35.120 and...

01:18:36.700 So Chinese police are

01:18:39.060 following him around?

01:18:40.600 Not for that reason.

01:18:42.300 Right.

01:18:42.820 It's not because they're

01:18:43.440 just looking to get a

01:18:44.180 jump on crime.

01:18:44.700 I think it's an escort,

01:18:46.840 isn't it?

01:18:47.320 Yeah, it's because he's

01:18:48.460 got like 30 million or

01:18:50.700 so subscribers on

01:18:52.520 YouTube.

01:18:53.440 Right.

01:18:53.660 I'd never actually heard

01:18:54.620 of him until I saw

01:18:55.480 these.

01:18:55.820 So he's doing a propaganda

01:18:57.180 piece.

01:18:58.380 It seems like it, yeah.

01:19:00.320 He's made some guest

01:19:01.420 appearances on WWE

01:19:02.720 recently where,

01:19:03.880 thankfully, he

01:19:04.880 understands the crowds

01:19:05.820 hate him, so he just

01:19:06.880 gets beaten up.

01:19:08.140 Absolutely.

01:19:09.000 Rightly so.

01:19:10.140 So, you know, he's

01:19:11.340 doing things like...

01:19:12.840 By the way, just to be

01:19:13.980 clear, I'm showing you

01:19:15.640 this because it annoys

01:19:16.980 me.

01:19:17.580 Like, the whole reason

01:19:19.600 for people going out

01:19:20.660 and they do these

01:19:21.540 exaggerated expressions

01:19:22.600 was like, oh, I can't

01:19:23.980 believe this thing is

01:19:24.760 happening that I have

01:19:25.900 deliberately come all

01:19:27.260 this way to see.

01:19:28.260 Oh, wow, I didn't

01:19:29.160 expect this thing that I

01:19:30.460 knew what I was getting

01:19:31.520 in for would be like

01:19:32.840 this.

01:19:33.740 And there's all these

01:19:34.460 really poorly acted

01:19:35.840 expressions and it's so

01:19:37.500 disingenuous a lot of

01:19:38.920 the time.

01:19:39.780 It's made to appeal to

01:19:40.980 12-year-olds.

01:19:41.960 It is.

01:19:42.380 It's made for children

01:19:43.440 and idiots.

01:19:44.440 And I tell you

01:19:45.540 what, if our society

01:19:47.060 completely ignored the

01:19:48.820 wishes of children and

01:19:50.140 idiots, it would be so

01:19:51.160 much better.

01:19:52.360 Imagine how much

01:19:52.920 better the media would

01:19:53.740 be as well.

01:19:54.800 So, just to show you

01:19:56.160 roughly what it is.

01:19:57.520 What the fuck?

01:19:58.520 Oh, no!

01:19:59.700 Oh, please turn.

01:20:00.420 Yeah, there you go.

01:20:01.040 Sorry about the loud

01:20:02.200 screaming.

01:20:02.640 I forgot about that.

01:20:04.180 But, yeah, he's just

01:20:05.940 sort of freaking out

01:20:07.560 over the fact that

01:20:08.160 there's a dancing robot.

01:20:09.300 Wow.

01:20:09.980 If I saw that in public,

01:20:11.180 if I was in China, I'd

01:20:12.560 probably go to the edge

01:20:13.920 of the crowd and be like,

01:20:14.900 oh, that's interesting.

01:20:16.560 Like, you can tell he's

01:20:18.180 poorly acting.

01:20:21.800 But, yes.

01:20:22.420 I know who he reminds me

01:20:23.420 of.

01:20:24.020 The Fifth Element.

01:20:25.140 There was a character in

01:20:26.380 The Fifth Element who's

01:20:27.360 basically him.

01:20:27.920 King Kwan.

01:20:28.840 Yes.

01:20:29.180 Yeah.

01:20:29.780 Yeah, I know who you're

01:20:30.940 on about.

01:20:31.880 Maybe he watched that as

01:20:33.520 a child and decided to

01:20:34.580 base his entire life

01:20:35.620 personality on it.

01:20:36.560 He was that actor who

01:20:37.660 showed up in the 90s and

01:20:38.840 was really annoying in

01:20:40.040 everything that he was in.

01:20:41.720 Quentin Tarantino had

01:20:42.960 Samuel L. Jackson kill

01:20:44.320 him in Jackie Brown as

01:20:45.500 well.

01:20:45.820 It was the best role he

01:20:46.720 ever did.

01:20:47.740 He also took a ride in a

01:20:49.240 flying car and here you

01:20:50.840 get some very clear,

01:20:53.700 silly reactions that are

01:20:55.320 obviously put on for the

01:20:56.620 children.

01:20:58.020 But all of this sort of

01:20:59.240 thing.

01:20:59.580 You look at the crowds

01:21:00.700 around there.

01:21:02.480 Obviously, this is

01:21:03.520 something that has been

01:21:05.260 designed to make the

01:21:06.440 Chinese look good.

01:21:07.800 And, of course, this all

01:21:08.620 goes on at the back of a

01:21:10.880 U.S.-Chinese trade war.

01:21:12.960 And, of course, there's

01:21:14.300 also the fact that TikTok

01:21:15.920 was going to be banned and

01:21:17.060 then loads of people on

01:21:18.020 TikTok went to Red Note and

01:21:20.580 there was the China-U.S.

01:21:22.360 cultural exchange.

01:21:24.040 And so what seems to be

01:21:25.200 happening is there's a

01:21:26.160 deliberate attempt by the

01:21:27.880 CCP to make people very

01:21:29.440 sympathetic to the

01:21:30.300 Chinese, which, you know,

01:21:31.880 I have nothing against the

01:21:33.220 Chinese people.

01:21:33.880 I just don't like their

01:21:34.540 government, right?

01:21:35.400 I mean, yeah, this is, I

01:21:36.960 mean, look at the camera

01:21:37.800 angles.

01:21:38.180 Look at what he's been given

01:21:39.000 the opportunity to do.

01:21:40.080 He's got his police escort.

01:21:41.300 This is propaganda being

01:21:42.900 sold to 12-year-olds on

01:21:44.340 Twitch.

01:21:45.220 It's basically like, look at

01:21:46.640 China.

01:21:47.020 They're just like us.

01:21:47.800 It's exactly the same.

01:21:48.920 We're all good friends.

01:21:50.220 So don't put Tarik on it.

01:21:51.500 I kind of want to see an

01:21:52.320 RPG trail just sneaking up.

01:21:56.120 Alas.

01:21:56.860 Yes.

01:21:57.600 And there was also him in an

01:22:00.360 amphibious car.

01:22:01.340 And I've got to admit, the

01:22:03.120 amphibious car did look quite

01:22:04.240 cool.

01:22:05.620 So the common theme of who is,

01:22:06.880 look, we Chinese have got

01:22:08.060 loads of tech.

01:22:09.000 Yes.

01:22:09.600 And it's very impressive to

01:22:11.220 gesticulating black men.

01:22:13.420 Exactly.

01:22:14.280 Right.

01:22:14.540 And once you've seen one

01:22:17.100 video of it, you've seen

01:22:17.980 them all.

01:22:18.680 It's like, look at this

01:22:20.240 thing.

01:22:20.540 It's really cool.

01:22:21.300 Wow.

01:22:21.960 Facial expressions.

01:22:23.260 This is the kind of thing

01:22:24.860 that I like to see the Top

01:22:26.920 Gear crew do because they're

01:22:29.380 entertaining and funny and

01:22:31.280 have a good, good

01:22:32.540 personalities.

01:22:33.480 Not this guy.

01:22:34.560 Yeah.

01:22:35.000 Here's how you be

01:22:35.700 entertaining.

01:22:36.480 Be yourself and don't be

01:22:38.120 inauthentic.

01:22:38.920 That's my life advice for

01:22:40.880 you.

01:22:41.800 And there was a sort of

01:22:43.060 wholesome one where he

01:22:44.460 listens to people play

01:22:46.820 instruments and there's a

01:22:48.320 very good, I'm not sure

01:22:49.520 what that is.

01:22:50.720 Is it, it looks like a

01:22:52.280 Koto or something like

01:22:53.360 that, doesn't it?

01:22:55.940 But I think he was

01:22:56.920 genuinely impressed and it

01:22:58.280 was genuinely impressive.

01:22:59.660 That's so cool.

01:23:02.180 That actually seems like an

01:23:03.400 authentic reaction.

01:23:05.720 And also it is very

01:23:07.580 impressive.

01:23:11.260 What the?

01:23:14.460 But anyway, we have a

01:23:22.340 podcast to get on with.

01:23:23.960 Sorry to disenchanted you

01:23:25.360 there, Dan.

01:23:27.180 But that sort of thing is

01:23:28.640 wholesome.

01:23:28.860 Dan's wondering how much

01:23:29.200 she costs now.

01:23:30.420 Well, I mean, it does look

01:23:31.440 like a sort of 17th century

01:23:34.020 brothel setup, doesn't it?

01:23:36.060 I know what you mean.

01:23:37.080 Yeah.

01:23:37.360 I kind of know what you mean.

01:23:39.400 I don't know.

01:23:39.780 I never went to China in the

01:23:40.700 17th century, so I just

01:23:42.640 assumed that's what it

01:23:43.320 really missed out.

01:23:44.380 I don't know who's gone

01:23:45.260 into my notes, but there's

01:23:46.540 a whole page missing.

01:23:48.120 Okay, there we go.

01:23:49.020 I've figured it.

01:23:50.720 So yes, that seemed

01:23:52.220 genuine.

01:23:52.940 Fair enough.

01:23:53.620 She does deserve some

01:23:54.960 respect for that crazy

01:23:56.360 playing because Harry and

01:23:57.560 I, I think, can recognize

01:23:58.920 as the guitar players.

01:24:00.400 That's very impressive.

01:24:01.340 That's some skills right

01:24:02.580 there.

01:24:03.060 Yeah.

01:24:03.240 And he also met the

01:24:05.860 Chinese Trump.

01:24:07.060 I've seen this guy.

01:24:08.620 Chinese Trump.

01:24:09.820 Pleasure to have you come

01:24:11.440 to Chongqing because Chongqing

01:24:13.400 is an international city.

01:24:15.240 You know, we're going to

01:24:15.980 have fun here.

01:24:17.200 So I don't, I don't,

01:24:19.020 because my English is not

01:24:20.460 that good, actually.

01:24:21.580 But, you know, I'm just

01:24:23.360 stating the facts that I

01:24:25.160 know about Chongqing because

01:24:26.320 I was born and raised in

01:24:27.300 Chongqing.

01:24:28.660 That's actually, okay,

01:24:29.780 I like that guy.

01:24:30.860 I want to see more of

01:24:32.320 that guy.

01:24:32.880 You can, you can find

01:24:33.680 this stuff on online.

01:24:35.100 Oh, I'm going to follow.

01:24:35.880 So the point being here

01:24:37.600 that the authentic stuff

01:24:39.440 that is actually cool

01:24:40.520 about China isn't so much

01:24:42.640 the we have technology.

01:24:44.300 The authentic stuff is

01:24:45.580 that there are people

01:24:46.540 there that have

01:24:47.180 interesting things to do.

01:24:48.660 And of course, it speaks

01:24:50.140 of we are the CCP.

01:24:52.600 China is very advanced.

01:24:53.760 We are number one for

01:24:54.500 technology.

01:24:56.200 Whereas I think actually

01:24:57.580 if you wanted to sell

01:24:58.600 China to Westerners,

01:24:59.520 they're doing it the

01:25:00.060 wrong way.

01:25:00.860 But that's just me.

01:25:02.860 But he's been very well

01:25:04.460 received in China.

01:25:06.020 He's had a mural made

01:25:07.340 of him.

01:25:07.960 I've seen murals like

01:25:08.880 this in Britain as well.

01:25:11.500 Even in the mural,

01:25:12.280 he looks angry.

01:25:15.860 And they've also turned

01:25:18.160 him into a sort of weird

01:25:19.840 Pixar-like character.

01:25:21.240 Imagine you're lucky if

01:25:22.180 you live opposite these

01:25:23.000 murals and that's what

01:25:24.020 you get every time you

01:25:24.800 open the curtains.

01:25:25.720 Well, there's one in

01:25:26.640 Swindon that's not far

01:25:27.500 from where I live and

01:25:28.400 it's just a giant 30-foot

01:25:30.560 black woman.

01:25:31.360 Nothing summarizes

01:25:32.880 Swindon quite like that,

01:25:33.900 does it?

01:25:35.460 Black women built this

01:25:36.960 small city.

01:25:38.580 They built Europe.

01:25:40.080 Yeah.

01:25:40.600 Have you seen that video

01:25:41.920 of the protesters in

01:25:43.440 York where the black

01:25:45.620 guy goes up and he's

01:25:46.480 like, we built this

01:25:47.480 country.

01:25:48.000 We built this city.

01:25:48.960 Yeah, I'm sure you

01:25:49.600 built York.

01:25:50.220 Jorvik, the Viking

01:25:52.600 settlement.

01:25:54.460 We was Vikings, man.

01:25:57.480 I'm not sure that's

01:25:58.480 accurate, to be honest.

01:25:59.980 I'm going to have to

01:26:00.840 check a history book,

01:26:02.000 but I've got questions.

01:26:02.900 He's been playing Assassin's

01:26:02.920 Creed games again.

01:26:04.000 I mean, they had their

01:26:04.580 own king in the year 800.

01:26:06.200 I just don't think it's

01:26:07.880 true.

01:26:09.700 History books are lying

01:26:10.820 to you, don't you?

01:26:11.560 He also had his face

01:26:12.800 projected on a Ferris

01:26:14.800 wheel here.

01:26:15.840 And he's also...

01:26:18.700 That would be

01:26:19.440 horrifying.

01:26:20.760 It would be.

01:26:21.100 Just look up at his

01:26:22.600 face.

01:26:23.060 And the Chinese government

01:26:24.160 praised him personally

01:26:25.940 for promoting positive

01:26:27.320 US-Chinese relations.

01:26:28.840 Just in case you

01:26:29.620 doubted it.

01:26:30.760 You know.

01:26:32.060 Yes, of course.

01:26:32.920 Him along with John

01:26:34.540 China.

01:26:35.520 Social credit score.

01:26:37.480 Very, very good.

01:26:39.480 And yes, even the

01:26:41.660 Chinese embassy in the

01:26:42.640 US did a post about it

01:26:45.300 saying he's kicked off

01:26:46.400 his journey in China

01:26:47.180 that has already garnered

01:26:48.080 massive global attention

01:26:49.260 which indicates a broader

01:26:50.280 trend of digital

01:26:51.600 influences bridging

01:26:52.700 cultural gaps and

01:26:53.660 creating alternative

01:26:54.600 channels for foreign

01:26:56.180 audiences to understand

01:26:57.420 a vibrant China.

01:26:59.720 Obviously, it's all a

01:27:01.080 PR campaign, isn't it?

01:27:02.200 Of course it is.

01:27:03.260 Right, when do we get

01:27:03.820 onto the clips of

01:27:04.780 people trolling him?

01:27:07.380 In a minute.

01:27:08.480 Okay.

01:27:08.760 Don't worry.

01:27:09.340 Okay.

01:27:09.760 You'll get to the

01:27:10.420 forbidden fruit soon enough.

01:27:11.880 Impatient.

01:27:13.100 As China Uncensored

01:27:14.220 points out,

01:27:15.300 he's basically releasing

01:27:16.780 CCP propaganda to 37

01:27:18.520 million subscribers on

01:27:19.660 YouTube.

01:27:20.900 And yes, the live streams

01:27:22.660 are getting about 5

01:27:23.460 million views.

01:27:25.200 So he is unintentionally

01:27:27.720 helping support the

01:27:28.660 Chinese government.

01:27:31.200 Now, it's time for

01:27:33.120 Harry's favourite.

01:27:35.500 Here we go.

01:27:36.560 He got a gift from a

01:27:37.680 member of the public

01:27:38.380 here.

01:27:38.700 This topic is terrible.

01:27:39.580 I'm going to turn it

01:27:40.200 down a bit.

01:27:41.020 Chill, chill, chill.

01:27:41.880 Travis Scott, you should

01:27:44.100 take it, you should take

01:27:44.780 it.

01:27:45.100 Bro.

01:27:45.560 He called him Travis Scott.

01:27:47.240 Wait, wait.

01:27:48.960 He's a completely

01:27:49.880 different person.

01:27:50.740 Open it, open it.

01:27:51.520 Open that shit.

01:27:52.060 Open that shit.

01:27:52.880 You're going to love it.

01:27:53.900 You're going to love it.

01:27:55.360 You're going to love it.

01:27:56.940 You're going to love it.

01:27:57.700 Wait, guys.

01:27:58.980 You're going to love it.

01:27:59.980 Woo, woo, woo, woo.

01:28:01.240 Come here, motherfucker.

01:28:02.160 The thing is, with these

01:28:08.680 clips that I've seen,

01:28:09.880 funny as they are, I

01:28:10.700 wonder if these are

01:28:11.760 staged as well.

01:28:12.920 They might well be.

01:28:13.900 Just to get eyes on his

01:28:15.060 live streams.

01:28:16.540 So there have been some

01:28:18.740 funny instances.

01:28:19.920 So it's worth mentioning

01:28:21.840 what you think you're

01:28:23.000 hearing is actually a

01:28:24.020 Chinese word.

01:28:24.920 And if you're a YouTube

01:28:25.980 censor, we're not

01:28:27.580 playing that word.

01:28:28.760 It is a Chinese word.

01:28:30.200 And actually, if you take

01:28:31.340 this video down or

01:28:32.240 punish us, you're the

01:28:33.420 racist.

01:28:34.440 But with that out of

01:28:35.240 the way.

01:28:55.380 It means that, does it?

01:28:57.140 It does.

01:28:57.860 And this word comes up

01:28:59.160 quite a lot.

01:29:00.240 And there are lots of

01:29:01.340 interesting interactions

01:29:03.320 here with this.

01:29:06.880 Here we go.

01:29:22.240 To be fair, I imagine

01:29:23.960 if you were in a foreign

01:29:24.840 country and loads of

01:29:25.760 people started speaking

01:29:26.980 in a language you don't

01:29:27.840 understand, and it

01:29:28.720 sounds like they're

01:29:29.540 talking about you

01:29:30.540 right in front of you.

01:29:32.820 Although I wouldn't be

01:29:34.080 surprised if these were

01:29:34.900 staged.

01:29:35.080 I'd be shocked if the

01:29:36.840 slurs were the same

01:29:38.460 in all of the languages.

01:29:41.160 They're universal,

01:29:42.100 Harry.

01:29:42.440 I'm sorry.

01:29:43.920 The slurs are the

01:29:44.680 friends we made a lot.

01:29:45.740 It's the true global

01:29:46.960 language.

01:29:48.600 And within the first

01:29:49.680 five minutes of him

01:29:50.400 being in China, I think,

01:29:51.680 he gets, this guy's a big

01:29:56.820 fan of him.

01:29:58.140 What's my name?

01:29:59.280 I see.

01:30:00.300 Hang on.

01:30:00.580 You actually know me.

01:30:02.460 I can't hear it.

01:30:03.380 Could you turn it up a

01:30:03.780 little bit, Samson?

01:30:04.420 I can hardly hear it.

01:30:06.660 Thank you.

01:30:07.200 And the community note

01:30:20.200 points out is that's a

01:30:22.100 word often used as an

01:30:23.260 interjection to express

01:30:24.300 thoughtful absorption and

01:30:25.600 hesitation, doubt, or

01:30:26.800 perplexity.

01:30:28.280 It's basically a filler

01:30:29.040 word, pretty similar to

01:30:30.040 um or well.

01:30:32.140 Makes sense.

01:30:32.580 That's their filler word?

01:30:33.880 I know.

01:30:34.220 Wow.

01:30:35.060 Okay.

01:30:36.240 Dan's going to start

01:30:37.020 learning Chinese right

01:30:38.700 now.

01:30:39.660 But I like how he says

01:30:41.420 tell a joke and then he

01:30:42.840 just goes and drops the

01:30:44.460 N.

01:30:46.500 It made us laugh.

01:30:47.380 I mean, it was a good

01:30:47.940 start.

01:30:48.380 I mean, to be fair, I

01:30:50.600 mean, that's like somebody

01:30:51.540 just walking up to you and

01:30:52.780 saying, make me laugh.

01:30:53.960 You probably would go,

01:30:54.860 um.

01:30:56.160 Yeah.

01:30:56.440 So he's probably just

01:30:57.180 saying, um.

01:30:58.100 I would do exactly the

01:30:59.280 same.

01:31:01.660 It'd work.

01:31:02.580 It worked, to be

01:31:03.740 fair.

01:31:05.320 And, um.

01:31:06.800 In fact, there was an

01:31:07.880 entire crowd chanting

01:31:09.520 the word.

01:31:23.800 And I think he's doing

01:31:24.860 that all.

01:31:25.420 He's leaning into it,

01:31:26.400 isn't he?

01:31:26.600 Yeah, yeah.

01:31:27.340 He knows what he's up

01:31:27.980 to.

01:31:28.540 I think the crowd knows

01:31:29.660 what they're up to as

01:31:30.680 well there.

01:31:32.580 And then, well, at least

01:31:34.240 they all didn't stop

01:31:35.060 chirping or something.

01:31:36.840 This one.

01:31:37.980 Start throwing cornstarch.

01:31:41.220 This one.

01:31:42.160 You got wet?

01:31:42.860 Yes, I'm racist.

01:31:44.060 You're racist?

01:31:45.180 Yes.

01:31:45.780 I hate this.

01:31:46.820 I'm a killer.

01:31:49.100 I'm so sorry about that.

01:31:50.460 What?

01:31:50.700 A bit of a strange

01:31:58.040 interaction.

01:31:58.700 What?

01:31:59.860 I'm very confused.

01:32:01.540 Let's not dwell on it.

01:32:02.520 I'm not entirely sure

01:32:03.320 what happened there.

01:32:04.180 Either am I.

01:32:04.520 Let's not dwell on that

01:32:05.440 one.

01:32:05.920 I don't think she was sure

01:32:06.960 what she was doing either.

01:32:08.080 Now, moving to an entirely

01:32:09.620 unrelated country, Japan.

01:32:11.840 And this is a streamer

01:32:14.180 called Mizkif.

01:32:15.220 I don't know who the

01:32:15.860 hell he is.

01:32:16.880 But basically, he started

01:32:18.620 doing pull-ups on the

01:32:19.800 Japanese cherry tree.

01:32:22.220 It doesn't seem like a

01:32:22.980 good idea, that.

01:32:23.740 No.

01:32:24.460 And then lots of people

01:32:25.540 got upset because he's

01:32:27.100 being an idiot.

01:32:27.880 And it's like a symbol of

01:32:29.020 Japan, isn't it?

01:32:29.980 And it's very beautiful.

01:32:31.220 And he's spoiling it by

01:32:32.440 being a moron.

01:32:33.960 And there were lots of

01:32:36.560 people complaining about

01:32:37.420 it, saying, broke my

01:32:39.200 heart to see someone doing

01:32:40.160 this.

01:32:41.300 And then they eventually

01:32:42.380 removed the video the

01:32:43.440 next day because it got

01:32:44.540 backlash.

01:32:45.520 And then he posted a big

01:32:46.800 old apology about it.

01:32:48.000 And he's like, sorry, I

01:32:48.740 didn't understand the

01:32:49.540 significance of it.

01:32:50.240 I just thought it was a

01:32:50.840 tree.

01:32:51.980 I took it down as soon as

01:32:53.220 I found out.

01:32:53.780 I'm sorry.

01:32:54.200 That seems right.

01:32:55.580 Well, people do this kind

01:32:57.900 of stuff on purpose.

01:32:59.000 And I always go back to

01:33:00.280 Logan Paul really seems to

01:33:02.720 have started the trend of

01:33:03.700 these streamers going to

01:33:04.800 Japan in particular, doing

01:33:06.560 IRL streams and being

01:33:08.380 purposefully disrespectful to

01:33:10.380 the local culture and

01:33:11.440 customs.

01:33:12.280 So you can get clicks.

01:33:15.340 I don't have the video of

01:33:16.280 it, but there is a video

01:33:17.140 of him, which is online,

01:33:19.480 of him standing on a

01:33:20.340 street corner after this

01:33:21.400 happened saying, oh, it's

01:33:22.800 okay to be loud in public

01:33:24.000 in Japan because Japanese

01:33:25.200 people are basically NPCs.

01:33:27.040 They don't matter.

01:33:28.360 And he says when the next

01:33:29.480 GTA comes out, they'll be

01:33:31.280 even more like NPCs.

01:33:32.720 He says, which is just

01:33:34.400 blanketly disrespectful,

01:33:36.440 isn't it?

01:33:37.060 Saying that they don't

01:33:37.860 have an agency, which

01:33:40.420 just seems like he's

01:33:41.600 taken the cherry tree

01:33:43.500 thing quite spitefully, to

01:33:45.580 my mind.

01:33:47.000 But yes, it's being

01:33:48.180 disrespectful.

01:33:48.940 There's no need for it.

01:33:50.060 And then another idiot

01:33:51.080 decided to find the same

01:33:53.100 tree and then climb it

01:33:54.100 again for internet clout

01:33:56.240 because of course he did.

01:33:58.240 Some beanie wearing

01:33:59.440 dweeb.

01:34:00.020 They should start

01:34:00.860 deporting all of these

01:34:02.260 people because they're

01:34:02.900 obviously doing it on

01:34:03.820 purpose as an insult.

01:34:06.600 Yeah.

01:34:06.900 And then this same

01:34:08.040 guy says that Japan

01:34:11.640 would be more fun if

01:34:12.720 Japanese people weren't

01:34:14.200 such wusses.

01:34:15.960 I suppose I can

01:34:16.720 translate that too.

01:34:18.060 And he's basically

01:34:18.760 complaining about the

01:34:19.520 fact that they care about

01:34:20.500 their culture.

01:34:21.420 And if you do things that

01:34:22.340 are disrespectful, then...

01:34:24.360 You don't want to go back

01:34:25.680 to the days when the

01:34:27.300 Japanese weren't wusses.

01:34:29.060 Yeah.

01:34:29.600 You don't want to deal

01:34:30.600 with that.

01:34:30.920 But also, them caring

01:34:32.400 about their culture and

01:34:33.340 not wanting it to be

01:34:34.260 disrespected is more

01:34:36.560 important than you doing

01:34:38.060 whatever you want.

01:34:39.160 I'm sorry, but it's such

01:34:40.800 a selfish mindset.

01:34:42.860 And then...

01:34:44.060 Oh, I'm going previous

01:34:45.780 instead of forward.

01:34:46.940 Then there's a video here

01:34:47.980 where live streamers are

01:34:49.300 told to stop filming in

01:34:50.240 McDonald's.

01:34:51.320 And they're just like,

01:34:52.700 I'm not going to do

01:34:53.360 that.

01:34:53.740 They're going to have to

01:34:54.200 come over and make me.

01:34:55.760 And it's a black woman

01:34:57.780 saying this.

01:34:59.280 That's why I've got it

01:35:00.100 muted.

01:35:01.080 Basic manners is all

01:35:03.020 you need to avoid

01:35:03.940 situations like this.

01:35:05.400 So this same woman,

01:35:06.740 as far as I'm aware,

01:35:08.160 also was staying in an

01:35:10.160 Airbnb.

01:35:11.020 Let's just watch this.

01:35:12.040 I don't want to even

01:35:12.680 have to explain it.

01:35:13.860 She clearly doesn't like

01:35:14.680 using the toilet.

01:35:16.080 Show me the pee.

01:35:17.320 I don't believe you.

01:35:20.360 No, that's some hood

01:35:23.740 shit, bro.

01:35:24.160 What's wrong with you?

01:35:25.520 Where?

01:35:27.940 Bro, what?

01:35:28.940 Oh my God.

01:35:29.740 Nah, what's...

01:35:30.620 I can't take you

01:35:31.440 nowhere.

01:35:32.480 That's fucked up,

01:35:33.380 Xena.

01:35:34.540 You poured beer on my

01:35:35.460 head.

01:35:35.820 Yeah, but that's...

01:35:37.000 This is not our house.

01:35:38.980 We have to respect the

01:35:40.240 house.

01:35:41.580 I like how he's the one

01:35:43.320 saying, yeah, we've got to

01:35:44.200 be respectful here.

01:35:45.260 They're staying in an

01:35:45.960 Airbnb at someone else's

01:35:47.080 house.

01:35:47.400 She doesn't understand the

01:35:48.260 toilet or whatever.

01:35:49.020 And so it's peeing

01:35:50.120 outside like a dog.

01:35:51.400 I thought Japan has

01:35:52.940 famously excellent

01:35:54.100 toilets.

01:35:54.920 I know, yeah.

01:35:56.340 Apparently.

01:35:56.960 Maybe they're just too

01:35:57.560 complicated.

01:35:58.720 Maybe.

01:35:59.340 To sit on a toilet?

01:36:01.540 No, no, because I think

01:36:02.440 the Japanese toilets,

01:36:03.280 they've got like...

01:36:04.080 They're the days,

01:36:04.960 aren't they?

01:36:05.360 Yeah.

01:36:05.400 It's like a 747.

01:36:06.540 They've got lots of

01:36:06.960 buttons on them.

01:36:07.780 But it seems to be a

01:36:08.880 theme about urinating in

01:36:10.640 places where you shouldn't

01:36:12.060 in Japan for Westerners.

01:36:14.100 Well, Westerners in

01:36:15.380 quotation marks.

01:36:16.000 Because here's a live

01:36:18.520 streamer who couldn't

01:36:19.320 find a toilet, just goes

01:36:20.260 into a random hotel and

01:36:22.080 just pees in a hallway

01:36:23.820 because he couldn't find a

01:36:25.120 toilet in there.

01:36:26.100 I'm not going to show you

01:36:26.960 it because it's like a

01:36:27.620 minute and 47 of someone

01:36:29.320 saying, I need to pee, I

01:36:30.260 need to pee, which isn't

01:36:31.540 interesting.

01:36:32.820 But, yep, they go in

01:36:34.880 there, they pee in a hotel

01:36:36.260 lobby.

01:36:37.140 And then there's, I don't

01:36:38.360 know why this was a

01:36:39.400 live stream.

01:36:40.020 Two sweaty, what looks

01:36:41.780 like Middle Eastern men

01:36:42.760 with English accents, so

01:36:45.120 foreigners that have

01:36:46.660 moved to England, are

01:36:48.180 staying in some pokey

01:36:49.080 hotel and he can't be

01:36:50.480 bothered to get up and

01:36:52.360 go to the en suite

01:36:53.300 bathroom.

01:36:53.620 So he just pees on the

01:36:55.120 floor in the hotel room

01:36:56.720 that they're then going

01:36:58.300 to sleep in.

01:36:59.720 Just deport these people.

01:37:02.020 I'm not going to...

01:37:02.820 It's mischief, deport him,

01:37:04.760 deport them, deport that

01:37:06.120 woman.

01:37:07.440 And then some streamers

01:37:09.580 were in a bar and

01:37:10.940 apparently they sexually

01:37:12.220 harassed a bar girl and

01:37:14.660 then one of the locals

01:37:15.760 chased them down and

01:37:17.420 attacked them, basically.

01:37:19.440 And they didn't even know

01:37:20.400 what they'd done wrong.

01:37:21.280 And they're like, what

01:37:21.700 are you doing?

01:37:22.200 Why are you attacking us?

01:37:23.100 And they ran away.

01:37:24.420 But it's just because

01:37:25.440 they're being disrespectful,

01:37:26.480 isn't it?

01:37:26.940 That's why this is

01:37:27.640 happening.

01:37:28.680 I mean, any culture, if

01:37:30.500 you get caught sexually

01:37:31.460 harassing random women,

01:37:32.920 expect to have maybe a man

01:37:34.860 or two come up and try

01:37:36.020 and stop you.

01:37:37.180 Exactly.

01:37:37.900 Yeah.

01:37:39.680 I travel quite a lot.

01:37:40.840 And I never get attacked

01:37:41.780 because I'm never

01:37:42.840 disrespectful.

01:37:44.260 It's this wonderful trick

01:37:45.420 where if you go to another

01:37:46.380 person's culture and you

01:37:47.400 act better than you would

01:37:49.000 at home, they don't mind

01:37:50.560 you being there.

01:37:51.420 Yes.

01:37:51.940 It's funny, that, isn't

01:37:53.020 it?

01:37:53.880 And here's a streamer.

01:37:57.820 This is Justice.

01:37:59.900 He was basically messing

01:38:01.080 around in a nightclub being

01:38:02.160 an idiot.

01:38:03.120 And here he is.

01:38:04.180 It's annoying the security

01:38:11.560 guards.

01:38:15.040 This is just a cure for all

01:38:17.080 of this stuff.

01:38:17.700 Watching them get hurt.

01:38:21.720 That's good.

01:38:22.780 Because they're idiots most

01:38:23.920 of the time.

01:38:24.420 They deserve it.

01:38:25.160 Yeah, they like to see how

01:38:28.000 far they can push the F

01:38:29.400 around before they find

01:38:30.840 out.

01:38:31.740 And then here's a sort of

01:38:33.400 discount Johnny Somali who

01:38:35.360 just goes to a shop, like a

01:38:38.600 corner shop, I suppose, and

01:38:40.460 just starts being rude to

01:38:41.840 people because they can't

01:38:42.920 understand him speaking

01:38:44.380 English.

01:38:45.600 And he's basically saying,

01:38:47.020 look at how fat you are,

01:38:47.920 blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,

01:38:48.540 stuff like that.

01:38:49.380 And they can't find out.

01:38:51.100 He's just being rude.

01:38:51.860 He's just going up to

01:38:53.420 random people and touching

01:38:54.380 them, which is, I don't

01:38:57.680 know how to put it.

01:38:58.840 You wouldn't want that,

01:38:59.500 would you?

01:38:59.820 It's more than rude.

01:39:00.900 It's getting on the verge

01:39:02.200 of being a little bit, I

01:39:05.040 suppose, aggressive.

01:39:06.260 Yeah.

01:39:06.900 A bit imposing.

01:39:08.320 Imagine being in Japan and

01:39:09.640 then out of the darkness,

01:39:11.500 this guy turns up and starts

01:39:13.340 touching him and shouting

01:39:14.540 at you in a foreign

01:39:15.240 language.

01:39:15.800 I noticed he's doing it to

01:39:16.880 a small woman and not a

01:39:18.060 large man.

01:39:19.020 It's funny that, isn't it?

01:39:19.920 Yeah.

01:39:20.140 And then the same guy was

01:39:23.600 in a Japanese public toilet

01:39:24.800 and he's just throwing

01:39:25.580 rubbish around on the floor

01:39:26.800 and he's filming in the

01:39:29.380 toilet.

01:39:29.840 And then eventually a

01:39:30.700 Japanese man comes up.

01:39:31.520 Is that not against the

01:39:32.900 law to film in a public

01:39:33.940 toilet?

01:39:34.440 Probably.

01:39:35.880 But he starts filming when

01:39:37.640 there's a Japanese man in

01:39:38.700 there, just minding his own

01:39:39.820 business, going to the

01:39:40.520 toilet.

01:39:40.800 I'm not going to show you

01:39:41.600 because I'm not going to

01:39:42.460 make the problem worse.

01:39:45.320 And then the same guy was

01:39:48.080 just in a shop.

01:39:49.940 saying, well, I'm not

01:39:51.140 going to play it, but as

01:39:52.880 they're trying to sort out

01:39:53.980 him buying stuff and

01:39:55.160 trying to be helpful, he's

01:39:56.940 talking about the size of

01:39:58.780 his own genitalia, as is

01:40:00.520 often the case of American

01:40:03.200 urban scholars.

01:40:04.820 They like to big themselves

01:40:05.780 up.

01:40:06.360 But the point being here

01:40:07.460 that why has this got

01:40:09.180 worse?

01:40:10.000 Who's watching this stuff?

01:40:11.400 Why are people allowing it?

01:40:13.220 It makes everyone outside of

01:40:16.360 Asia to the, you know, the

01:40:17.980 Chinese and Japanese think

01:40:19.480 we're all like these

01:40:20.360 animals that go around

01:40:22.100 weeing on the floor,

01:40:23.500 shouting, grabbing random

01:40:24.820 people.

01:40:25.840 It doesn't benefit us

01:40:27.800 whatsoever.

01:40:28.580 Certainly doesn't benefit the

01:40:29.660 people they're, you know,

01:40:31.540 visiting.

01:40:32.620 And all they're doing is

01:40:34.560 they're making a fool out

01:40:35.900 of themselves and everyone

01:40:37.060 around them for internet

01:40:39.220 clout.

01:40:39.940 And this sort of stuff needs

01:40:41.560 to end because it's just

01:40:43.320 socially irresponsible.

01:40:44.280 I never thought I'd say

01:40:46.740 this, but I feel of all of

01:40:48.600 the streamers that you've

01:40:49.520 shown me on this segment,

01:40:51.420 iShowSpeed was the best

01:40:52.820 behaved.

01:40:53.600 He was actually.

01:40:54.400 Yeah.

01:40:54.740 Because he wasn't being

01:40:56.100 actively disrespectful.

01:40:58.300 Yeah.

01:40:58.880 I mean, that's a remarkable

01:41:00.280 thing that I never thought

01:41:01.220 I'd say.

01:41:01.840 But there you go, folks.

01:41:02.980 We've got some rumble

01:41:03.940 rants through if you want to

01:41:04.960 read through some of them,

01:41:05.720 Josh.

01:41:06.180 Sure.

01:41:09.580 Why do so many of these

01:41:12.060 scholars' hair look like

01:41:13.160 they use toilet brush?

01:41:14.720 You'd think that with all

01:41:15.540 the money they're making,

01:41:16.560 they'd be able to afford

01:41:17.260 not to have crusty pubes

01:41:19.000 for hair.

01:41:20.200 That was a very popular

01:41:21.820 haircut in the late 90s as

01:41:23.580 well.

01:41:23.840 You had Rob Flynn from

01:41:25.240 Machine Head with the

01:41:27.360 toilet brush hairdo as

01:41:28.660 well.

01:41:30.360 Yeah.

01:41:31.140 It's like you're trying to

01:41:32.200 channel electricity.

01:41:33.280 I wouldn't go outside in a

01:41:34.760 thunderstorm with that

01:41:35.720 haircut.

01:41:36.500 Yeah.

01:41:37.380 Matt G. Hammond says,

01:41:38.600 Dan should watch the CNN

01:41:39.680 clip of American businessman

01:41:41.040 Kevin O'Leary proposing a

01:41:42.600 400% tariff on China going

01:41:44.480 around X.

01:41:46.360 Why not?

01:41:47.260 We'd probably be that by

01:41:49.040 tomorrow, that is right?

01:41:50.300 Waif Neve says, I am an

01:41:52.860 X-Gen.

01:41:53.860 None of this computes.

01:41:56.920 Also, $50.

01:41:59.360 Thank you very, very much

01:42:00.300 for that.

01:42:00.660 That is, yeah.

01:42:00.940 I couldn't see that over

01:42:01.980 the mic arm.

01:42:03.140 Sigil Stone says, the most

01:42:04.380 surprising part of iShow

01:42:05.680 meat's visit to China is he

01:42:08.220 managed to keep it in his

01:42:09.180 pants in front of the

01:42:10.180 cameras.

01:42:11.640 Has he done that before or

01:42:13.100 something?

01:42:13.440 Is that a reference?

01:42:14.840 I'm sure it probably is from

01:42:16.380 what you wrote.

01:42:16.820 The worst I've seen is a

01:42:18.020 clip came up on Twitter one

01:42:19.500 time.

01:42:19.800 The worst I've ever seen was

01:42:20.780 that he basically like went

01:42:23.340 boo at someone's baby in

01:42:25.480 Norway and made the baby

01:42:26.820 cry.

01:42:27.400 And the dad was there.

01:42:28.680 He's like, what the hell?

01:42:30.360 What's wrong with you?

01:42:31.680 Why did you just make my baby

01:42:32.720 cry?

01:42:34.780 Why did you go to go boo to a

01:42:36.400 baby anyway that you don't

01:42:37.980 know?

01:42:38.420 It's very strange.

01:42:40.060 Bold Eagle 1787 says, if you

01:42:42.280 want to see a nuisance streamer

01:42:43.300 getting arrested and kicked out

01:42:44.340 of countries, legal mindset on

01:42:46.300 YouTube has made it his mission

01:42:47.520 to stop them and shows that it's

01:42:49.180 an international effort also.

01:42:51.240 Yeah.

01:42:51.680 Hats off to them.

01:42:52.880 And that's a random name.

01:42:53.620 Says, reminder that all these

01:42:55.840 public nuisance streamers votes

01:42:57.580 are worth the same as ours.

01:42:59.780 A polished democracy return to

01:43:01.440 monarchy.

01:43:02.420 It sounds reasonable.

01:43:03.200 Yeah, very based.

01:43:04.820 It is just realizing that that

01:43:08.040 guy on the screen right now,

01:43:10.200 what's his name?

01:43:11.000 Blackass Dave.

01:43:13.800 His vote is worth just as much

01:43:16.060 as yours, Americans watching

01:43:17.760 this.

01:43:18.580 Interesting, isn't it?

01:43:19.860 Do we have any video comments

01:43:21.020 that we're going to go through,

01:43:21.840 Samson?

01:43:23.120 I can't hear you anymore.

01:43:24.480 We've got the opposite problem

01:43:25.480 now, Samson.

01:43:26.880 I still can't hear you.

01:43:30.580 Okay, we'll do them tomorrow.

01:43:32.120 Can you read comments just for

01:43:33.140 ours?

01:43:33.460 Just a couple?

01:43:34.120 Yeah, we'll read a couple.

01:43:35.480 Yeah, yeah, and then we'll be

01:43:37.320 hitting the road, folks.

01:43:39.780 So, just a general one.

01:43:41.220 Samzu said, never thought I'd see

01:43:42.720 the day where Momoi in a

01:43:45.540 Lotus Eater's thumbnail.

01:43:48.560 Oh, that's Samson's work, that is.

01:43:52.040 What's that?

01:43:52.720 I don't understand.

01:43:55.480 Would you like to go through

01:43:56.520 some of your comments, Dan?

01:43:57.400 Well, Dan's saving his for

01:43:58.480 broken arms.

01:43:58.840 Oh, yeah.

01:43:59.360 All right, okay.

01:44:00.560 All right, then, North FC Zuma,

01:44:02.060 is that actually real dialogue?

01:44:03.680 Yes.

01:44:04.800 That Texas gal, I haven't watched

01:44:06.180 a new show or movie in years

01:44:07.400 because they all sound like they

01:44:08.200 were written by a Reddit mod

01:44:09.300 group chat.

01:44:10.620 Very good description.

01:44:11.900 Good decision.

01:44:12.240 Again, re-watching Better Call Saul,

01:44:14.320 probably the most recent thing

01:44:15.560 I've watched.

01:44:16.040 Excellent, excellent show,

01:44:17.920 so give that a watch if you've

01:44:18.820 not.

01:44:19.640 Rebecca Zed, well, I'm an older

01:44:21.180 millennial, and I would never

01:44:22.420 write like this.

01:44:23.200 I think it's all those bad

01:44:24.160 Nickelodeon cartoons in the late

01:44:25.580 90s and early 2000s.

01:44:26.720 After 97, cartoons kind of fell

01:44:28.720 off a cliff in quality and writing

01:44:30.500 that I couldn't watch, not just

01:44:31.960 because I was older, I wasn't

01:44:33.320 stupid, and animation became

01:44:34.860 lazy.

01:44:35.720 Yeah, animation's definitely got

01:44:36.940 lazier since the late 90s.

01:44:39.580 There's another rumble chat that

01:44:40.800 qualifies it.

01:44:41.540 I Show Meat gained wider fame

01:44:43.180 when he was playing a Five

01:44:44.120 Night at Freddy's game and

01:44:45.520 accidentally flopped it out on

01:44:47.300 stream.

01:44:48.100 That's why he's an influencer.

01:44:50.060 Okay, that's interesting.

01:44:52.280 Oh, I wish I didn't know that.

01:44:54.340 Key to having a multi-million

01:44:56.380 subscribed YouTube account is

01:44:58.840 apparently just showing your

01:45:00.340 penis.

01:45:00.900 And apparently then the CCP will

01:45:02.480 invite you over for a guided tour.

01:45:04.740 Nick Taylor, my wife, was

01:45:06.200 watching Netflix while I was

01:45:07.340 noodling on my guitar, and I

01:45:08.540 said to her, doesn't it bother

01:45:10.160 you that all these characters have

01:45:11.420 the same personality?

01:45:12.840 She suggested I play in the

01:45:14.000 bedroom.

01:45:14.440 This is the conversation I've

01:45:15.980 had many times when I've been

01:45:17.820 overhearing these shows.

01:45:19.160 Pointed out, this is shit they

01:45:21.040 all talk the same.

01:45:22.400 There's never an actual argument

01:45:23.880 against that.

01:45:24.720 It's just, shut up, I'm

01:45:25.700 enjoying this.

01:45:28.480 Okay, alright.

01:45:29.960 Furious Dan, as a diehard DMC

01:45:32.140 fan for 20 years, good man, I'm

01:45:34.400 not letting the lefties have this

01:45:35.720 one.

01:45:35.920 Like Adolescence and Barbie

01:45:37.420 movie, we may need to counter

01:45:38.900 read it to absorb any of its

01:45:40.320 cultural momentum.

01:45:41.420 Again, I think even in my

01:45:42.960 segment, we laid the seeds for

01:45:44.960 some counter readings that you

01:45:46.400 could do of it.

01:45:48.280 India is hell.

01:45:50.240 Brown people are demons.

01:45:52.260 According to Adi Shankar himself,

01:45:54.100 there is a way you could reverse

01:45:55.740 engineer this, that Indian Adi

01:45:57.840 Shankar is blood-libeling all of

01:46:00.780 the people of the Middle East to

01:46:02.460 the west of India.

01:46:04.380 That's also a reading of it.

01:46:05.820 The funny thing is, yesterday when

01:46:07.020 I was on the podcast, there was a

01:46:08.760 map of the Indian diaspora, and

01:46:11.080 they used the colour brown to

01:46:12.660 signify how much of a diaspora

01:46:14.620 there was in another country.

01:46:17.300 So, Britain was quite dark brown,

01:46:19.940 which was interesting to me.

01:46:21.240 Yeah, well, we do have quite, we've had

01:46:23.080 quite a few Indians in this country for

01:46:24.660 years at this point.

01:46:26.060 Yeah.

01:46:26.460 I mean, a somewhere person.

01:46:28.560 One of the aspects of millennial

01:46:29.900 writing that you've not really

01:46:31.020 discussed is on top of the irony and

01:46:32.620 sarcasm, there's often a degree of

01:46:34.320 aggressive ambivalence about a topic

01:46:37.300 where writers want a massive rant

01:46:39.020 about something, but don't want to

01:46:40.820 actively take a position against

01:46:42.660 something.

01:46:43.880 Characters won't say, I don't like

01:46:45.420 something, instead preferring to say,

01:46:46.720 I don't care about that.

01:46:47.800 People who do care about that suck.

01:46:50.520 Yeah, it's all part of the

01:46:51.580 insincerity of that style of

01:46:54.360 writing.

01:46:55.100 George Happ, it's about time people

01:46:56.740 learn their lesson with Netflix.

01:46:58.420 All they produce is subversion, they

01:47:00.380 take a skin suit of an IP and

01:47:02.260 shove in as much leftism as they

01:47:04.020 possibly can.

01:47:04.920 As a massive DMC fan, I refuse to

01:47:06.600 watch this abomination because I've

01:47:07.860 learned my lesson with

01:47:08.640 Castlevania, but culture junkies just

01:47:10.760 want to consume content.

01:47:12.020 Exactly.

01:47:12.480 That's why I said at the end of the

01:47:13.560 segment, play the games, they're on

01:47:15.240 sale at the moment, give them a

01:47:16.900 nice boost.

01:47:17.880 Don't watch the show.

01:47:18.980 I've not watched the show.

01:47:20.160 I refuse to watch the show.

01:47:22.020 Let's go through some of yours.

01:47:23.620 Sure.

01:47:24.340 There's only one in the

01:47:25.040 documents, we're just going to

01:47:25.840 read some from the website.

01:47:26.840 AZ Desert Rat says, a good

01:47:28.060 portion of streaming is for

01:47:29.160 children and rage bait.

01:47:30.760 It's very true.

01:47:33.880 Furious Dan says, Japan should

01:47:35.780 outlaw tourism to anyone who

01:47:37.140 can't pass the N4 Japanese

01:47:39.260 language test.

01:47:40.940 Well, that's me going then.

01:47:43.080 To be fair though, I'll sacrifice

01:47:45.240 my ability to visit if it means

01:47:47.020 that their country stays nice.

01:47:48.360 Yeah.

01:47:48.620 I'll just learn a bit of

01:47:49.440 Japanese.

01:47:51.440 And where was I?

01:47:53.080 Somewhere person says the

01:47:54.300 streamer plague is getting

01:47:55.280 worse because people are

01:47:56.240 rewarded for behaving like

01:47:57.400 animals, getting beaten in the

01:47:59.180 street for being annoying and

01:48:00.940 obnoxious, sorry, would

01:48:03.220 outweigh the internet clout, I

01:48:04.940 suspect.

01:48:06.260 I reckon people would take a

01:48:08.220 beating for fame quite easily, to

01:48:10.880 be honest.

01:48:11.320 I mean, that's basically what

01:48:13.400 some of these people are

01:48:14.340 doing.

01:48:16.920 He also said, WTF, I love

01:48:19.680 China now, which I can only

01:48:21.220 presume was from a specific

01:48:24.260 part of that segment.

01:48:26.040 We'd never know.

01:48:26.700 Probably the flying car, we'd

01:48:28.040 imagine.

01:48:28.880 That's it, yeah.

01:48:29.760 Again, I mean, it's obviously

01:48:31.380 CCP propaganda.

01:48:32.840 I will say it did make China

01:48:34.200 look very nice.

01:48:36.100 Well, we may as well end it

01:48:37.340 there because we're about 20

01:48:38.540 minutes over.

01:48:39.160 Yes, so we hope that you've

01:48:41.640 enjoyed this Excel edition of

01:48:44.040 the podcast of the Lotus

01:48:45.180 Eaters.

01:48:46.000 Join us again tomorrow.

01:48:47.200 Until then, take care.

The Podcast of the Lotus Eaters - April 09, 2025

The Podcast of the Lotus Eaters #1139

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