Leo D.M.J. Aurini - July 17, 2015


Bioshock & Objectivism


Episode Stats


Length

21 minutes

Words per minute

133.53171

Word count

2,842

Sentence count

202

Harmful content

Misogyny

2

sentences flagged

Toxicity

23

sentences flagged

Hate speech

7

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

This is a sequel to my recent video on Objectivism, in which I discuss the plot structure of the hit video game, "Rapture" and how it reflects the philosophy of Objectivism in the world of "Bryoshock."

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 Music
00:00:12.000 Music
00:00:16.000 Music
00:00:20.000 Music
00:00:24.000 Music
00:00:28.000 Hey folks, this video
00:00:32.000 is actually a follow up to
00:00:34.000 the Irini's Insight video
00:00:36.000 I had requested on objectivism.
00:00:38.000 I can't believe
00:00:40.000 I did a video on objectivism without
00:00:42.000 mentioning Bioshock. I've actually
00:00:44.000 been planning to
00:00:46.000 look at this game
00:00:48.000 for over a year now, I just
00:00:50.000 have never really got around to it
00:00:52.000 and I think it is a very
00:00:54.000 genuine and
00:00:56.000 decent exploration
00:00:58.000 of the philosophy.
00:01:00.000 Now, I'm not recommending it as a video game
00:01:02.000 I don't think there's been a decent first person
00:01:04.000 shooter since Max
00:01:06.000 Payne 2. 1.00
00:01:08.000 They all suck, nowadays. 1.00
00:01:10.000 The only redeeming features 1.00
00:01:12.000 of modern shooters are that they have
00:01:14.000 really good storylines in them.
00:01:16.000 So, spoiler,
00:01:18.000 the game's what, 10 years old?
00:01:20.000 Yeah, there's spoilers, deal with it.
00:01:22.000 So,
00:01:24.000 Bioshock. 0.67
00:01:26.000 Two, there's
00:01:28.000 two interesting
00:01:30.000 things going on in the world of Bioshock
00:01:32.000 that kind of reflect what I was saying
00:01:34.000 in my video on objectivism.
00:01:36.000 And, if you don't
00:01:38.000 know, the entire universe
00:01:40.000 of Bioshock, the city of
00:01:42.000 rapture under the sea, is essentially
00:01:44.000 an objectivist paradise
00:01:46.000 that falls into ruin
00:01:48.000 because of the adherence
00:01:50.000 to the philosophy.
00:01:52.000 The over-adherence
00:01:54.000 to the philosophy.
00:01:56.000 Now, the very first thing
00:01:58.000 is the plasmids.
00:02:00.000 The plasmids in the game,
00:02:02.000 they are basically magical superpowers
00:02:04.000 that have been discovered
00:02:06.000 through science.
00:02:08.000 And, what happened
00:02:10.000 in the narrative of the game
00:02:12.000 is that, because
00:02:14.000 everybody was taking these plasmids
00:02:16.000 and overuse of the plasmids
00:02:18.000 has negative psychological effects,
00:02:20.000 it eventually
00:02:22.000 devolved everybody
00:02:24.000 into junkies.
00:02:26.000 Into...
00:02:28.000 into smart...
00:02:30.000 Like, if you think of an objectivist junkie. 0.92
00:02:32.000 So, they weren't some loser 0.63
00:02:34.000 hanging out in the street corner, 0.96
00:02:36.000 you know, getting drunk
00:02:38.000 with a needle hanging out of their arms. 0.92
00:02:40.000 These were uber-mensch junkies.
00:02:42.000 So, they wind up being extremely dangerous.
00:02:44.000 Constantly seeking a fix
00:02:46.000 of more...
00:02:48.000 Adam, the thing that powers the plasmids.
00:02:50.000 Absolutely desperate for that.
00:02:52.000 Only working in teams
00:02:54.000 when it's beneficial
00:02:56.000 to them in the short term
00:02:58.000 and being completely willing
00:02:59.000 to betray one another.
00:03:00.000 It winds up with a society
00:03:02.000 fallen into ruin.
00:03:04.000 And, ironically,
00:03:06.000 this is one of the brilliant aspects
00:03:08.000 of the game,
00:03:10.000 for you to survive in Rapture,
00:03:12.000 you, the player character
00:03:14.000 that arrives in the city
00:03:16.000 not understanding anything about it
00:03:18.000 and just getting introduced to it,
00:03:20.000 you are forced yourself
00:03:22.000 to take all of these addictive substances
00:03:24.000 just to compete,
00:03:26.000 just to be on par
00:03:28.000 with all of these
00:03:30.000 downgraded uber-menschs
00:03:32.000 that have destroyed the civilization.
00:03:34.000 Now, I think that the plasmids...
00:03:38.000 Well, let's put this into a metaphor
00:03:40.000 that might make some sense
00:03:42.000 in contemporary culture.
00:03:44.000 I think of them like performance-enhancing drugs.
00:03:46.000 Now, I love performance-enhancing drugs.
00:03:50.000 You know, one of the sponsors
00:03:52.000 for the podcast is, of course,
00:03:54.000 Island Line Herbals Kratom.
00:03:56.000 Great stuff.
00:03:58.000 I love caffeine.
00:04:00.000 I love nicotine,
00:04:02.000 which has many beneficial effects
00:04:04.000 for the brain.
00:04:06.000 I love performance-enhancing drugs.
00:04:09.000 You know, if I...
00:04:10.000 I personally have nothing against steroids.
00:04:14.000 Personally, I am too lazy
00:04:16.000 to actually look into all the biochemistry
00:04:18.000 so I can use them safely.
00:04:20.000 So I don't use steroids.
00:04:22.000 But people that do,
00:04:24.000 they can be used safely.
00:04:26.000 They certainly help you bulk up.
00:04:28.000 Lots of potential benefits
00:04:30.000 from using steroids.
00:04:31.000 I have nothing against it.
00:04:32.000 However...
00:04:34.000 However...
00:04:35.000 Imagine your favorite sports ball team.
00:04:38.000 And yeah, that's a...
00:04:40.000 I stole that from Confused Matthew.
00:04:42.000 sports ball.
00:04:44.000 A hilarious term. 0.99
00:04:45.000 I love it.
00:04:46.000 Now, in professional sports,
00:04:49.000 steroids are banned.
00:04:51.000 And there's this naive libertarian approach
00:04:54.000 that says, well, why should we ban steroids?
00:04:56.000 You know?
00:04:57.000 Like, they're already genetic freaks. 0.97
00:04:59.000 You gotta be a genetic freak
00:05:01.000 to make it into the NFL
00:05:02.000 to play sports ball.
00:05:04.000 Yeah, they're already doing...
00:05:07.000 Whatever.
00:05:08.000 They're taking creatine.
00:05:09.000 They're...
00:05:10.000 All of this other stuff.
00:05:12.000 They're managing their hormone levels
00:05:13.000 through the meat that they eat, etc.
00:05:16.000 Why is it that we ban steroids?
00:05:21.000 Well, the answer is
00:05:22.000 because if you legalized steroids
00:05:24.000 in professional sports,
00:05:26.000 you would quickly have
00:05:28.000 the exact same spiral
00:05:31.000 that you get in Rapture.
00:05:34.000 You would not only have to be 0.76
00:05:36.000 a genetic freak, 0.95
00:05:37.000 you would also have to be doing
00:05:39.000 extremely unhealthy levels
00:05:41.000 of steroids.
00:05:43.000 You would wind up with people
00:05:46.000 that by the age of 40
00:05:48.000 would be getting prostate cancer
00:05:50.000 or their bones would be destroyed, etc.
00:05:53.000 You would turn every sport
00:05:55.000 into a blood sport
00:05:57.000 because that raw competition
00:06:00.000 that's not being mitigated
00:06:01.000 by anything
00:06:03.000 is going to wind up destroying
00:06:05.000 the sport itself.
00:06:07.000 It's going to demand
00:06:08.000 more and more sacrifices
00:06:11.000 from all of the players.
00:06:13.000 If you think of the Rocky movie,
00:06:15.000 for example,
00:06:16.000 where Rocky has to fight
00:06:17.000 the Soviet giant,
00:06:19.000 the genetically engineered man,
00:06:21.000 you know, this is a guy
00:06:22.000 that's just being pumped full
00:06:23.000 of all these chemicals
00:06:24.000 that are shortening his lifespan.
00:06:26.000 You know,
00:06:27.000 and it's kind of a metaphor
00:06:28.000 for the Soviet space program,
00:06:30.000 which was successful,
00:06:32.000 but quite frankly,
00:06:33.000 Yuri Gagarin?
00:06:35.000 Yuri Gagarin was not
00:06:36.000 the first man in space.
00:06:38.000 The first man in space
00:06:39.000 is unknown
00:06:40.000 because his capsule broke down
00:06:42.000 and he was relaying
00:06:43.000 a distress signal
00:06:44.000 and the Soviets completely 0.91
00:06:46.000 denied that he exists. 1.00
00:06:47.000 The poor bastard died 1.00
00:06:49.000 in outer space 1.00
00:06:50.000 in outer space
00:06:51.000 because the Soviets
00:06:52.000 had no safety protocols.
00:06:53.000 They did not care
00:06:54.000 about the survival
00:06:55.000 of their people.
00:06:57.000 They were just units
00:06:59.000 to be used.
00:07:01.000 You know,
00:07:02.000 and with any of these
00:07:03.000 utopian ideologies,
00:07:05.000 like pure,
00:07:07.000 pure objectivism
00:07:08.000 or pure utilitarianism,
00:07:10.000 you know,
00:07:11.000 and I mean,
00:07:12.000 Soviet style governance
00:07:14.000 is just another form
00:07:15.000 of utilitarianism
00:07:16.000 where we create a paradise
00:07:18.000 by turning all the humans
00:07:19.000 into useful cogs, 0.96
00:07:21.000 the humans aren't important
00:07:23.000 all of a sudden.
00:07:24.000 The moral health
00:07:26.000 of humans
00:07:27.000 is not important.
00:07:29.000 And so,
00:07:30.000 in the present world
00:07:31.000 where we have these bans
00:07:33.000 on performance enhancing drugs
00:07:35.000 in the NFL,
00:07:37.000 et cetera,
00:07:39.000 this is because there's
00:07:40.000 a moral aspect
00:07:41.000 to sports as well.
00:07:43.000 We expect our athletes
00:07:45.000 to behave sportsmanlike
00:07:48.000 and it's unsporting
00:07:51.000 to be using
00:07:52.000 performance enhancing drugs.
00:07:54.000 We,
00:07:55.000 and we even apply this
00:07:56.000 to warfare.
00:07:58.000 We,
00:07:59.000 we have the just war theory
00:08:00.000 in the West,
00:08:01.000 in Christendom.
00:08:03.000 We try and limit,
00:08:05.000 like nuclear, biological
00:08:06.000 and chemical warfare
00:08:08.000 are considered
00:08:10.000 inhumane.
00:08:11.000 They are
00:08:12.000 too brutal.
00:08:13.000 And so,
00:08:14.000 at least when we're
00:08:15.000 warring against
00:08:16.000 one another
00:08:17.000 in the West,
00:08:18.000 we don't use
00:08:19.000 those tactics.
00:08:24.000 Now,
00:08:25.000 and,
00:08:26.000 we'll get back to,
00:08:27.000 like, what's the solution?
00:08:28.000 You know?
00:08:30.000 We'll get to that
00:08:31.000 in a minute.
00:08:32.000 Because there's,
00:08:33.000 there's another side effect
00:08:34.000 that you get from,
00:08:35.000 from this pure,
00:08:36.000 objectivist reality.
00:08:37.000 And,
00:08:38.000 and in Bioshock,
00:08:39.000 that is the
00:08:40.000 Little Sisters.
00:08:42.000 So,
00:08:43.000 to harvest the atom,
00:08:44.000 the,
00:08:45.000 the atom is basically
00:08:46.000 the,
00:08:47.000 the magical,
00:08:48.000 sea cucumber juice,
00:08:50.000 whatever it was.
00:08:51.000 It,
00:08:52.000 it's the magical BS
00:08:53.000 that's used to power
00:08:54.000 the plasmids.
00:08:56.000 And because everybody's
00:08:57.000 using plasmids,
00:08:58.000 for you to compete in society,
00:08:59.000 you need to use plasmids too.
00:09:01.000 And so,
00:09:02.000 what's the best way
00:09:03.000 to get plasmids?
00:09:04.000 To get the atom?
00:09:05.000 Well,
00:09:06.000 well, 0.97
00:09:07.000 it's to rip these little girls 1.00
00:09:08.000 away from their families
00:09:09.000 and,
00:09:10.000 do some genetic engineering nonsense
00:09:13.000 to them,
00:09:14.000 so that they're basically
00:09:15.000 worker bees.
00:09:16.000 They're,
00:09:17.000 they're,
00:09:18.000 they're kids working in mine shafts
00:09:19.000 at this point.
00:09:21.000 Now,
00:09:22.000 in actual Western history,
00:09:26.000 we had child labor,
00:09:27.000 because,
00:09:28.000 and poor countries
00:09:29.000 still have child labor.
00:09:31.000 the reason that there's child labor,
00:09:34.000 is because the countries are poor.
00:09:38.000 Now, you see all of these government bans
00:09:40.000 for child workers,
00:09:41.000 and et cetera,
00:09:42.000 back, you know,
00:09:43.000 over the past century.
00:09:46.000 This,
00:09:48.000 all these laws were put into place
00:09:49.000 after child labor was pretty much gone
00:09:52.000 already,
00:09:53.000 once the market no longer needed it.
00:09:55.000 When you have a poor society,
00:09:58.000 and most societies have been poor,
00:10:01.000 children need to work.
00:10:03.000 Whether it's working on the farm,
00:10:05.000 or even terribly working in the coal mine.
00:10:07.000 It's,
00:10:08.000 something that we don't like to think about nowadays,
00:10:10.000 is that you need to eat.
00:10:12.000 You know,
00:10:13.000 we're a bunch of privileged,
00:10:15.000 entitled, 0.86
00:10:16.000 little brats these days. 0.92
00:10:18.000 Um, 0.91
00:10:19.000 most societies kids have to work,
00:10:20.000 and that's just,
00:10:21.000 that's just a fact of the universe.
00:10:23.000 It's very unfortunate.
00:10:27.000 And the government bans,
00:10:28.000 are not what stopped it.
00:10:30.000 Increasing wealth,
00:10:31.000 industrialization,
00:10:32.000 the free market,
00:10:34.000 is what eliminated child labor. 0.99
00:10:37.000 But in Rapture,
00:10:38.000 we see a return of child labor,
00:10:40.000 a return of very exploitative practices.
00:10:45.000 Because,
00:10:47.000 this is what the market demands.
00:10:52.000 And you know,
00:10:53.000 this, uh,
00:10:54.000 this argument about,
00:10:55.000 exploitative labor practices,
00:10:57.000 you know,
00:10:58.000 this is,
00:10:59.000 an argument that,
00:11:00.000 the left makes this argument,
00:11:02.000 but,
00:11:03.000 it doesn't mean the argument's completely wrong.
00:11:05.000 About how,
00:11:06.000 you know,
00:11:07.000 in the West,
00:11:08.000 you know,
00:11:09.000 in Europe,
00:11:10.000 North America,
00:11:11.000 we have very high standards of living.
00:11:13.000 Um,
00:11:14.000 which is a good thing.
00:11:15.000 You know, again,
00:11:16.000 free market,
00:11:17.000 increases quality of life.
00:11:18.000 But when you get transnationals, 1.00
00:11:20.000 what transnationals can do,
00:11:22.000 is they can export all the labor,
00:11:25.000 overseas.
00:11:26.000 overseas.
00:11:27.000 So not only is that destroying the manufacturing base within North America,
00:11:31.000 um,
00:11:32.000 but it,
00:11:33.000 it does,
00:11:34.000 it does get a little bit of an exploitative,
00:11:36.000 uh,
00:11:37.000 thing going on.
00:11:39.000 Where you're now,
00:11:40.000 you're exploit,
00:11:41.000 and this is also connected to the Federal Reserve and printing money.
00:11:45.000 Um,
00:11:46.000 um,
00:11:47.000 if they weren't printing money in North America,
00:11:49.000 then,
00:11:50.000 if the US were not the world reserve currency,
00:11:52.000 then it would actually make a lot more sense to manufacture things to higher standards,
00:11:56.000 here.
00:11:57.000 But that's a whole other part of the argument.
00:12:00.000 This is a very complex issue,
00:12:01.000 and I'm,
00:12:02.000 I am really oversimplifying it.
00:12:04.000 But there is an element,
00:12:06.000 uh,
00:12:07.000 we want cheap textiles.
00:12:10.000 We want cheap plastic toys.
00:12:13.000 We want cheap stuff.
00:12:15.000 And so we're going to turn a blind eye to the exploitative practices that are happening overseas,
00:12:22.000 so that we can all get that.
00:12:26.000 And,
00:12:27.000 you see that in a society without any moral guidance,
00:12:31.000 without anything,
00:12:33.000 even,
00:12:34.000 you know what,
00:12:35.000 like the minimum wage laws that they're trying to pass,
00:12:38.000 uh,
00:12:39.000 which are completely economically illiterate,
00:12:41.000 but they come from,
00:12:42.000 um,
00:12:43.000 a good place.
00:12:44.000 There,
00:12:45.000 there's a,
00:12:46.000 a motivation,
00:12:47.000 that,
00:12:48.000 you know,
00:12:49.000 people deserve a living wage.
00:12:50.000 Now,
00:12:51.000 the reality is,
00:12:52.000 the best way to achieve that is to leave the market alone.
00:12:55.000 But there's this moral sense,
00:12:57.000 that paying somebody two bucks an hour,
00:13:00.000 or,
00:13:01.000 or ten cents an hour,
00:13:02.000 or what have you,
00:13:03.000 that,
00:13:04.000 that there is exploitation going on there.
00:13:06.000 And that we should be willing to pay for what something's worth.
00:13:11.000 Now, of course,
00:13:12.000 this gets all tied up into,
00:13:14.000 into politics,
00:13:16.000 into Keynesian economics,
00:13:18.000 and all,
00:13:19.000 into Leviathan.
00:13:21.000 But there is a moral core there.
00:13:25.000 So, this brings us back.
00:13:26.000 What is the solution?
00:13:28.000 You know,
00:13:29.000 if you have this pure capitalist society,
00:13:32.000 pure economics,
00:13:33.000 where,
00:13:34.000 where you take,
00:13:35.000 you take the ideas of free market economics,
00:13:37.000 which are good sound ideas.
00:13:39.000 They are a good way to run your country,
00:13:42.000 to run your community.
00:13:43.000 It's the,
00:13:44.000 the fair and just way to run things.
00:13:47.000 If you take those,
00:13:49.000 and raise them up to the top,
00:13:52.000 above justice,
00:13:53.000 above decency,
00:13:55.000 above moral development of people,
00:13:57.000 above sportsmanship.
00:13:59.000 If the highest absolute principle,
00:14:02.000 is the free market,
00:14:03.000 is self-interest,
00:14:04.000 is the individual.
00:14:06.000 Not the family,
00:14:07.000 not the community,
00:14:08.000 but the individual.
00:14:10.000 If you completely discount,
00:14:12.000 everything else,
00:14:13.000 you wind up,
00:14:15.000 with these exploitative practices.
00:14:20.000 If a corporation,
00:14:22.000 can get away,
00:14:23.000 with dumping waste,
00:14:25.000 into the environment,
00:14:26.000 well,
00:14:27.000 why shouldn't they?
00:14:29.000 Under that,
00:14:30.000 under that system.
00:14:31.000 Now,
00:14:32.000 it's quite possible,
00:14:33.000 the best way to prevent that,
00:14:34.000 is through private lawsuits.
00:14:36.000 Okay,
00:14:37.000 the free market anarchists,
00:14:38.000 they,
00:14:39.000 generally,
00:14:40.000 they don't place,
00:14:41.000 the free market,
00:14:42.000 as the highest value.
00:14:43.000 What they say,
00:14:44.000 is the free market,
00:14:45.000 is the best way,
00:14:46.000 to achieve,
00:14:47.000 the highest value.
00:14:48.000 So,
00:14:49.000 understand,
00:14:50.000 that I am not,
00:14:51.000 advocating,
00:14:52.000 for,
00:14:53.000 Leviathan.
00:14:54.000 When you get,
00:14:55.000 simplistic thinkers,
00:14:56.000 when you get people,
00:14:57.000 that don't understand,
00:14:59.000 the complexities,
00:15:00.000 of the market,
00:15:01.000 they see a moral problem,
00:15:02.000 with the market,
00:15:03.000 they want to,
00:15:04.000 institute,
00:15:05.000 a morally simple,
00:15:07.000 solution.
00:15:08.000 They try and institute,
00:15:10.000 Leviathan.
00:15:11.000 They try and institute,
00:15:12.000 the,
00:15:13.000 the mechanical god.
00:15:14.000 And they say,
00:15:15.000 well,
00:15:16.000 we'll,
00:15:17.000 we'll raise up the state,
00:15:18.000 to have this much power,
00:15:19.000 over us,
00:15:20.000 to have unlimited power,
00:15:21.000 over everybody,
00:15:22.000 and the state,
00:15:23.000 will now be responsible,
00:15:25.000 for regulating,
00:15:26.000 all of this stuff.
00:15:27.000 Which,
00:15:28.000 and there's two obvious problems,
00:15:30.000 with that.
00:15:31.000 The very first one,
00:15:32.000 is that the state,
00:15:33.000 is not that smart.
00:15:34.000 You know,
00:15:35.000 the old saying,
00:15:36.000 who's smarter,
00:15:37.000 the,
00:15:38.000 the platoon,
00:15:39.000 or the sergeant?
00:15:40.000 Well,
00:15:41.000 the platoon's smarter,
00:15:42.000 because there are 30 of them.
00:15:43.000 The free,
00:15:44.000 free market,
00:15:45.000 relies upon the wisdom of crowds.
00:15:46.000 And the wisdom of crowds,
00:15:47.000 nine times out of ten,
00:15:48.000 is going to,
00:15:49.000 supersede,
00:15:50.000 that of the state,
00:15:51.000 that of Leviathan.
00:15:52.000 Um,
00:15:53.000 the,
00:15:54.000 the second obvious objection,
00:15:55.000 is that if the state,
00:15:56.000 has this much power,
00:15:57.000 then the people that,
00:15:58.000 have,
00:15:59.000 finances,
00:16:00.000 the people that are,
00:16:01.000 in the one percent,
00:16:02.000 they now,
00:16:03.000 will capture,
00:16:04.000 the state,
00:16:05.000 to ensure,
00:16:06.000 their monopolies.
00:16:07.000 So,
00:16:08.000 given the choice,
00:16:09.000 between rapture,
00:16:10.000 or Leviathan,
00:16:11.000 believe me,
00:16:12.000 I'm on the side of rapture.
00:16:13.000 I'd rather, 0.79
00:16:14.000 live with the crazy, 0.99
00:16:16.000 tweakers, 0.57
00:16:17.000 and plasmid users,
00:16:18.000 than,
00:16:19.000 live under the,
00:16:20.000 uh,
00:16:21.000 uh,
00:16:22.000 Obama's police state.
00:16:23.000 Absolutely.
00:16:24.000 Give me rapture,
00:16:25.000 under the sea,
00:16:26.000 any frickin' day.
00:16:27.000 At least,
00:16:28.000 it's interesting.
00:16:30.000 But the solution,
00:16:31.000 that I'm,
00:16:32.000 getting at here,
00:16:34.000 is that you need something,
00:16:35.000 of a,
00:16:36.000 a higher value.
00:16:37.000 You need a,
00:16:38.000 higher principle,
00:16:40.000 for society.
00:16:41.000 Not something,
00:16:42.000 orchestrated,
00:16:43.000 and governed,
00:16:44.000 by the state.
00:16:46.000 The seat of morality,
00:16:47.000 of a society,
00:16:48.000 needs to be separated,
00:16:49.000 from the state.
00:16:50.000 It needs to be,
00:16:51.000 the church.
00:16:53.000 For society to function,
00:16:55.000 you want,
00:16:56.000 a limited government,
00:16:58.000 that,
00:16:59.000 you know,
00:17:00.000 does the basic things,
00:17:01.000 that government,
00:17:02.000 is supposed to do.
00:17:03.000 Roads,
00:17:04.000 courts,
00:17:05.000 national defense.
00:17:06.000 But you also need,
00:17:08.000 a church.
00:17:09.000 You need,
00:17:10.000 a core of morality,
00:17:11.000 for the society.
00:17:12.000 You need,
00:17:13.000 an organization,
00:17:14.000 that understands,
00:17:15.000 what the principles,
00:17:16.000 of,
00:17:17.000 of moral development,
00:17:18.000 morality,
00:17:19.000 what all of,
00:17:20.000 these things are.
00:17:21.000 And when you have that,
00:17:22.000 then,
00:17:23.000 the business owners,
00:17:25.000 the ones that own,
00:17:26.000 the NFL,
00:17:27.000 they,
00:17:28.000 either they understand,
00:17:30.000 because they are,
00:17:31.000 part of the church,
00:17:32.000 and they seek out,
00:17:33.000 to do moral things,
00:17:34.000 with their lives.
00:17:35.000 They,
00:17:36.000 they want to make sure,
00:17:37.000 they're not exploiting,
00:17:38.000 their players,
00:17:39.000 and destroying them, 0.87
00:17:40.000 by the age of 40.
00:17:41.000 Or,
00:17:42.000 at the very minimum,
00:17:43.000 the populace,
00:17:44.000 is going to look,
00:17:45.000 at this business.
00:17:46.000 And,
00:17:47.000 the owner will say,
00:17:48.000 well,
00:17:49.000 we need to keep,
00:17:50.000 these guys happy.
00:17:51.000 I might be a complete, 0.99
00:17:52.000 psychopath, 0.99
00:17:53.000 that's willing to use people,
00:17:54.000 but I need to,
00:17:55.000 at least pretend,
00:17:56.000 to be a good person,
00:17:57.000 to,
00:17:58.000 please my customers.
00:17:59.000 And the similar,
00:18:00.000 it's also there,
00:18:01.000 with the government.
00:18:02.000 Was it Madison,
00:18:03.000 that said,
00:18:04.000 this constitution,
00:18:05.000 was built for a,
00:18:06.000 moral and religious people?
00:18:07.000 Because when you have,
00:18:08.000 a moral,
00:18:09.000 religious,
00:18:10.000 disciplined people,
00:18:11.000 that watch the government,
00:18:13.000 they're,
00:18:14.000 they're not going to export,
00:18:15.000 their morality,
00:18:16.000 onto the state.
00:18:17.000 That's what Leviathan does,
00:18:18.000 that's the mechanical god,
00:18:19.000 that's leftism,
00:18:20.000 that's what we have presently.
00:18:22.000 Instead of being,
00:18:23.000 moral and responsible people,
00:18:25.000 the vast majority,
00:18:27.000 of the population,
00:18:28.000 doesn't want to be held,
00:18:29.000 accountable for anything,
00:18:30.000 so they'll let the government,
00:18:32.000 make their morals for them.
00:18:38.000 Objectivism,
00:18:39.000 is an excellent reaction,
00:18:41.000 against,
00:18:42.000 the sort of monstrosity,
00:18:44.000 that we have right now.
00:18:45.000 It's an excellent reaction,
00:18:46.000 against,
00:18:47.000 Leviathan.
00:18:48.000 But by focusing,
00:18:50.000 only on the individual,
00:18:51.000 because,
00:18:52.000 Leviathan,
00:18:53.000 takes a bunch of individuals,
00:18:55.000 and turns them into cogs.
00:18:57.000 And so,
00:18:58.000 the objectivist,
00:18:59.000 looks at this,
00:19:00.000 and it sees the cogs,
00:19:01.000 it sees the,
00:19:02.000 the communism,
00:19:03.000 of the entire thing.
00:19:04.000 And they reject that,
00:19:07.000 to celebrate the individual.
00:19:08.000 But see,
00:19:09.000 the,
00:19:10.000 the way you form communism,
00:19:11.000 is that you turn everybody,
00:19:13.000 into an atomized individual,
00:19:15.000 in the first place.
00:19:16.000 You turn them into the cogs.
00:19:17.000 Whereas the actual,
00:19:18.000 human strength,
00:19:19.000 comes from community.
00:19:21.000 It comes from the,
00:19:23.000 the networks,
00:19:24.000 of friends,
00:19:25.000 and family,
00:19:26.000 and neighborhoods,
00:19:27.000 that we're allowed to build,
00:19:29.000 you know,
00:19:30.000 under actual freedom.
00:19:31.000 You know,
00:19:32.000 actual freedom,
00:19:33.000 is the freedom to do,
00:19:34.000 the right thing.
00:19:35.000 is to form,
00:19:36.000 healthy bonds,
00:19:37.000 with other people.
00:19:38.000 And so,
00:19:39.000 it's the freedom,
00:19:40.000 to exclude other people,
00:19:41.000 from those bonds.
00:19:42.000 It's not individualism.
00:19:44.000 It's not this,
00:19:45.000 this pure,
00:19:46.000 rarefied individualism.
00:19:48.000 Because then you get the case,
00:19:49.000 of,
00:19:50.000 you know,
00:19:51.000 divided we stand,
00:19:52.000 divided we fall.
00:19:53.000 Together we stand,
00:19:54.000 divided we fall.
00:19:57.000 Individ, 0.98
00:19:58.000 the defense of the individual,
00:20:00.000 needs to be,
00:20:01.000 for the,
00:20:02.000 growth,
00:20:03.000 of communities.
00:20:04.000 And,
00:20:05.000 ultimately,
00:20:06.000 for a,
00:20:07.000 a state,
00:20:08.000 a,
00:20:09.000 a governance,
00:20:10.000 that is responsible,
00:20:11.000 to the community.
00:20:16.000 So,
00:20:17.000 while objectivism,
00:20:18.000 is certainly,
00:20:19.000 it's a noble,
00:20:20.000 philosophy,
00:20:21.000 it's a,
00:20:22.000 very positive,
00:20:23.000 response,
00:20:24.000 against what we have,
00:20:25.000 presently.
00:20:26.000 It celebrates the greatness,
00:20:27.000 in the human spirit.
00:20:29.000 It's missing,
00:20:30.000 a couple of things.
00:20:31.000 It,
00:20:32.000 it's putting the,
00:20:33.000 the individual,
00:20:34.000 it's putting self interest,
00:20:35.000 a little bit too high.
00:20:37.000 And it,
00:20:38.000 it's not,
00:20:39.000 acknowledging,
00:20:40.000 the transcendence,
00:20:42.000 within us.
00:20:43.000 The,
00:20:44.000 the universalism,
00:20:45.000 of morality,
00:20:47.000 of,
00:20:48.000 of spirituality.
00:20:50.000 So,
00:20:51.000 again,
00:20:52.000 I love it.
00:20:53.000 It's,
00:20:54.000 it's great.
00:20:55.000 one of the best books,
00:20:56.000 in the world.
00:20:57.000 But,
00:20:58.000 Bioshock,
00:20:59.000 is,
00:21:00.000 an,
00:21:01.000 excellent exploration,
00:21:02.000 of what happens,
00:21:03.000 when you base,
00:21:04.000 everything,
00:21:05.000 upon,
00:21:06.000 a,
00:21:07.000 very mechanical,
00:21:08.000 philosophy.
00:21:09.000 And,
00:21:10.000 upon something,
00:21:11.000 that doesn't have,
00:21:12.000 the transcendent,
00:21:13.000 within it.
00:21:14.000 Anyway,
00:21:15.000 thanks for watching folks.
00:21:16.000 out.