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Oct 25, 2017
10,113
Sweden
Been listening to history podcasts on the black death, it's fucking bonkers how clueless everyone was back then.

"Why is god punishing our family, including these rats?"
 

SJurgenson

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
1,239
Ah, yes the real problem - 'partisanship' - not the govermental and moral failings of the very thing he touted for years as what he wanted, an outsider to shake up the system.

It was a shame he stopped putting out CS after a few post-2016-election. To me it felt like he could not fully admit how wrong he was.

Blaming partisanship is just the same conservative nonsense -- break the government on purpose, claim it is inherently broken, and blame the nebulous 'partisanship'.
 
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Avengers23

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
21,504
If this is the take that he's going to come with, I would rather that he spend the time on getting the next episode of HH out.
 

pirata

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,411
Going to listen to CS later, but don't have high hopes for it (especially seeing the "partisan" thing). Dan has been in hardcore denial that a lot of his worldview has just turned out to be wrong and a lot of his "conservative" friends are just neo-nazis now (and probably always were).
 

Nude_Tayne

Member
Jan 8, 2018
3,676
earth
I'm curious what he has to say after all these years, but I'm prepared to not agree with any of it. He's a little too fond of his thought experiments, and now one of them has come to life and gone horribly, horribly wrong.
 

Jack Scofield

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,454
Kinda off-topic, but can anyone recommend a podcast app for Android that allows for custom files? I have a whole bunch of older Hardcore History episodes that I'd love to listen to, but PocketCasts removed custom episodes awhile back and I haven't been able to find a good player since.
 

SJurgenson

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
1,239
I'm curious what he has to say after all these years, but I'm prepared to not agree with any of it. He's a little too fond of his thought experiments, and now one of them has come to life and gone horribly, horribly wrong.

Yeah, having listened to about 1/3 of the new episode so far, I still don't think he's really come to grips with that realization.

I mean, blaming 'partisanship' when the President is calling only 100,000-240,000 deaths a win is just so insanely tone-deaf.

Per Wikipedia, there were 405,000 US casualties in WWII. 60% of World War II is a 'goal'.
 

手加減 TG

Member
Dec 11, 2019
893
Hmm, I tend to enjoy most of Carlin's output but a few minutes in, this episode isn't for me. Back to history please.
 

smisk

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,003
Sometimes I enjoy Dan's outsider perspective on politics.. but I'm not in the mood right now.
 

手加減 TG

Member
Dec 11, 2019
893
Haven't listened to this new one yet, but I did really enjoy the episode about left vs. right with Daniele Bolleli that wasn't strictly history.
Actually that Bolleli episode was great. I guess I was just expecting this CS to be cathartic in some way... maybe there's a change in tone later on? Has anyone listened to the whole thing yet?
 

Nude_Tayne

Member
Jan 8, 2018
3,676
earth
20 minutes in and I can't take any more. A lot of both-sidesing. "I have a feeling if you got to really know your neo-nazi authoritarianism-loving neighbor you'd realize he's actually just like you". Fuck off Dan. Right-wing extremism and the Republican party are the problem in America. Period.

And he had the audacity go call people who "simplify" the problem fools after waxing philosophical about how a Donald Trump presidency might be good for America on a show called Common Sense of all things.

Unsubscribing from CS.
 

Nude_Tayne

Member
Jan 8, 2018
3,676
earth
Haha this is why he stopped doing this show.
Then maybe it was for the best. Just because he likes to over-intellectualize things and reads lots of history books doesn't mean his both sides bullshit is any less disingenuous and harmful towards the goal of addressing what the real root problems are.

He was dead wrong about his "outsider shaking things up" thought experiment come to life, the least he could do is fess up to it.
 

Cat Party

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,437
Kinda off-topic, but can anyone recommend a podcast app for Android that allows for custom files? I have a whole bunch of older Hardcore History episodes that I'd love to listen to, but PocketCasts removed custom episodes awhile back and I haven't been able to find a good player since.
I've been using Musicolet. It's ad-free and doesn't even have any internet permissions. Just a straight up music player.
 

TheXbox

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 29, 2017
6,568
Dan has nothing to offer with Common Sense. His points on corruption and executive overreach are always salient, and he can trot out some elementary parallels between the decline of the US and the fall of the Roman Republic, but in the here and now his show is failing in its mission statement. Real common sense tells us that the Republican party is a faction in government and that their monolithic agenda represents an explicit desire for a white supremacist oligarchy. Dan alludes constantly the plight of blue collar workers in rural America because their issues are real to him; he spoke with them, lived with them, and relied on them to support his radio show. I understand his perspective, but I don't think he realizes how blind he is to the urgency beneath other issues facing Americans outside his microscopic intellectual corner. He just doesn't get it.
 

TheClaw7667

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,706
Then maybe it was for the best. Just because he likes to over-intellectualize things and reads lots of history books doesn't mean his both sides bullshit is any less disingenuous and harmful towards the goal of addressing what the real root problems are.

He was dead wrong about his "outsider shaking things up" thought experiment come to life, the least he could do is fess up to it.
I'm pretty sure he did in one of the old CS shows. It was something like "Be careful what you wish for" and there was some other stuff he posted on twitter that made it seem he had become disillusioned because of the 2016 election.

I still think he's under the belief that people voted for Trump because of economic anxiety which is bullshit. Maybe that Grandma who just couldn't vote for Hilary so she decided to vote for Trump isn't a neo-nazi or a racist but how does that matter if shes willingly voting for a white supremacist. Either shes a racist or just doesn't care about minorities enough to not vote for one. I don't see the distinction and even assuming there is one to be found, would it matter to the people being affected by the racists' policies? I can't imagine it would.
 

Kinthey

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
22,364
Kinda off-topic, but can anyone recommend a podcast app for Android that allows for custom files? I have a whole bunch of older Hardcore History episodes that I'd love to listen to, but PocketCasts removed custom episodes awhile back and I haven't been able to find a good player since.

I've been using podcast addict for quite a while now. Quite similar to pocket cast but also allows you to add custom files as podcast feed
 
Oct 26, 2017
19,780
I remember when I first discovered Common Sense after becoming a fan of Hardcore History years ago...and how completely infuriating his both sides shit was. I maybe made it through 2 or 3 episodes before I dropped it. He is a man with 0 common sense when it comes to politics, or he is willfully ignorant.
 

Praxis

Sausage Tycoon
Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,253
UK
Kinda off-topic, but can anyone recommend a podcast app for Android that allows for custom files? I have a whole bunch of older Hardcore History episodes that I'd love to listen to, but PocketCasts removed custom episodes awhile back and I haven't been able to find a good player since.

I use pocketcasts with my own files though?

Tap profile in the bottom right, then files. Add them there.
 

viciouskillersquirrel

Cheering your loss
Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,876
I remember when I first discovered Common Sense after becoming a fan of Hardcore History years ago...and how completely infuriating his both sides shit was. I maybe made it through 2 or 3 episodes before I dropped it. He is a man with 0 common sense when it comes to politics, or he is willfully ignorant.
He strikes me as someone who refuses to see the malignant evil in his friends and family. He once couched racism and xenophobia as simply "people grew up a certain way and they want the place they live to stay that way". The cognitive dissonance is tearing him apart.
 

Luap

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,899
I'm glad he started doing these addendum episodes, so we get to hear from him more than once every 6-8 months.
 

Regulus Tera

Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,458
4PUxZLv.png

twitter.com

Dan Carlin on Twitter

“@HenryHaller "Citation needed"? Really? Um...Gandhi?”

This comment by Dan seems particularly gross considering the current political scenario.
 

Cat Party

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,437
4PUxZLv.png

twitter.com

Dan Carlin on Twitter

“@HenryHaller "Citation needed"? Really? Um...Gandhi?”

This comment by Dan seems particularly gross considering the current political scenario.
I don't think Dan is wrong, but no one gives a shit right now. This is a raw moment and people aren't interested in hearing what lessons history has to teach us about the long term ramifications of violent vs. non-violent protest.
 
Oct 25, 2017
1,893
Dammit, Dan. I used to respect your political opinions so much.

POLICE MURDERING INNOCENT BLACK MEN WOULD CEASE IF ONLY THE PROTESTORS WERE MORE LIKE GANDHI! PEACEFUL PROTESTS WERE CLEARLY WORKING SO WELL UP UNTIL THIS POINT!

How is it even possible for someone so brilliant about history to say something like this? The majority of my history knowledge comes from his show, so I'm very willing to accept that there's evidence pointing to peaceful protests being more effective than violent ones, but I sure as hell haven't seen any evidence of things working like that in my lifetime.
 

Deleted member 43

Account closed at user request
Banned
Oct 24, 2017
9,271
Dammit, Dan. I used to respect your political opinions so much.

POLICE MURDERING INNOCENT BLACK MEN WOULD CEASE IF ONLY THE PROTESTORS WERE MORE LIKE GANDHI! PEACEFUL PROTESTS WERE CLEARLY WORKING SO WELL UP UNTIL THIS POINT!

How is it even possible for someone so brilliant about history to say something like this? The majority of my history knowledge comes from his show, so I'm very willing to accept that there's evidence pointing to peaceful protests being more effective than violent ones, but I sure as hell haven't seen any evidence of things working like that in my lifetime.
It's really not a position that has much of a historical backing. Peaceful protests have done a lot of good in the past, but so has violence.
 

viciouskillersquirrel

Cheering your loss
Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,876
Dammit, Dan. I used to respect your political opinions so much.

POLICE MURDERING INNOCENT BLACK MEN WOULD CEASE IF ONLY THE PROTESTORS WERE MORE LIKE GANDHI! PEACEFUL PROTESTS WERE CLEARLY WORKING SO WELL UP UNTIL THIS POINT!

How is it even possible for someone so brilliant about history to say something like this? The majority of my history knowledge comes from his show, so I'm very willing to accept that there's evidence pointing to peaceful protests being more effective than violent ones, but I sure as hell haven't seen any evidence of things working like that in my lifetime.
He has a blind spot when it comes to racism among his own.

Plus, peaceful protests only work when the protestees have some sense of shame.
 

firehawk12

Member
Oct 25, 2017
24,222
I mean... right now Hong Kong has shown how a peaceful protest has ultimately failed and that if the state wants to impose some law, it will do so at the cost of its citizens if necessary.

He's right that violent protests are easy to de-legitimize, which is why apparently cops are just dressing up like protesters now as standard procedure, but peaceful protests assumes the state, or the people who support the state, actually want change. Clearly this is not the current American electorate.

And then you have Ghandi and Mandela, who were successful because of external factors forced upon the state which precipitated their successes.
 

Yahsper

Member
Oct 29, 2017
1,544
Dammit, Dan. I used to respect your political opinions so much.

POLICE MURDERING INNOCENT BLACK MEN WOULD CEASE IF ONLY THE PROTESTORS WERE MORE LIKE GANDHI! PEACEFUL PROTESTS WERE CLEARLY WORKING SO WELL UP UNTIL THIS POINT!

How is it even possible for someone so brilliant about history to say something like this? The majority of my history knowledge comes from his show, so I'm very willing to accept that there's evidence pointing to peaceful protests being more effective than violent ones, but I sure as hell haven't seen any evidence of things working like that in my lifetime.
How many examples of violent protests working do you have in your lifetime?

And really, non-violent protests for economic reasons are called worker strikes, and they work regularly in the world.

That said, I get where Carlin is coming from, but things have gone on for too long and tensions have run too high. Without a central spokesperson or organisation to rally around, what is a non-violent protest even to do? It'd just become like Occupy Wallstreet.

That said, now there's a violent protest. What exactly needs to happen for that violent protest to end? What's a believable, realistic solution anyone can offer to the protesters? Promise things will get better? No one is going to believe that. Either it peters out or people are going to die in continuous escalation.

I'm off on a tangent here and it's not really the topic to discuss this, but the way I see it the only real viable way to make things better is a non-violent, national protest rallied around a central person or organisation. For a 'Ghandi-like protest', you need a Ghandi. Hashtags and social media isn't going to achieve anything, but continuous escalation will end with dead protesters and added resentment versus the state.
 

pirata

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,411
Of course that's Carlin's take.

It's like he has this mental block that prevents him from applying history's lessons to this country. He's desperately clinging to his respect for his nazi friends and belief for the country's "genteel" reading of its own history. He recognizes that this country has become ridiculously corrupted to the point where it's almost impossible (probably totally impossible) for the system to correct itself, he realizes that the oppressed will inevitably lash out when repeatedly abused and insulted, he realizes that the third of the country that holds power over us live in a depraved fantasy world that can't possible see normal protest and social movements as legitimate, and that living in America in 2020 is like a waking nightmare for a majority of people (and that's if you get to survive), but he just can't put it together in his head.

Mass peaceful protest fixing everything would be awesome, but we all know that the powers in control of us have no sense of shame or empathy. That's their whole platform! They live to see us suffer and they've stopped even putting up an act about caring about anything else! This uprising is years overdue!
 

bomma man

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,069
Peaceful protest only works when it's made clear that if it's not listened to then violence is the next step. All these movements are purposely whitewashed and sanitised by the powerful to demonise the use of force even amongst those people that would otherwise aline with the protesters. To pretend that that violence doesn't work is completely ahistorical. Also don't forget that both MLK and Ghandi were fucking killed!

As far as violent protests and resistance movements that have worked (Whether you agree with their ideology or not), well:

-American rev
-French Rev
-Russian revs
-Haitian rev
-the end of chattel slavery in America
-basically every anti-colonial independence movement inc Vietnam and Algeria and Ireland
-ending Apartheid
-Stonewall
-pretty much all Dickensian/Gilded Age strikes, and a lot since.

Do I wish systemic change could be effected non-violently? Of course. But be real.

Look at the response to Kapernic, to MLK in his day, to Palestinians existing, to any kind of labour movement. Anything that disputes the order is "violence".
 
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Oct 25, 2017
1,893
If that's the most problematic thing he's ever said, I'll consider that a win.
I know. HH is one of the best podcasts ever created and I'm so hyped to listen to the next installment, but saying "Happy Hardcore History day" feels exceptionally tone deaf given the, uh, historic nature of these disturbing times.

Also I'm drunk and upset so I'm more liable to lash out.

But I will begrudgingly admit I still adore Daniel.
 

Luap

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,899
Really enjoyed the latest episode. I knew the general outline of the Pacific War but have been eating up the details in this series. I had no idea the Battle of Midway was so quick and dirty. I can't imagine how those Japanese sailors and pilots must have felt watching their carriers get blown to shit in rapid succession. And I knew basically nothing about the Australian front in Papua New Guinea, so I'm very much looking forward to the next episode.
 

Avengers23

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
21,504
Dan gets a fairly big interview in the latest episode of Hardcore History Addendum as he interviews Tom Hanks about the upcoming film, "Greyhound."
 

pirata

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,411
Uh oh, a new Common Sense. Could barely even start the last one. I wonder if he's still going to be spouting his both sides bullshit.
 

Hasseigaku

Member
Oct 30, 2017
3,552
Uh oh, a new Common Sense. Could barely even start the last one. I wonder if he's still going to be spouting his both sides bullshit.

He rightly notes how dangerous Trump is and that he's voting for Biden for that reason. He also rightly calls out 2nd amendment types for supporting an authoritarian type despite their rhetoric.

But....

About two thirds of the way through he blames some of the escalating of the rhetoric on the riots, invoking MLK and Gandhi. Calls the riots "billboard material" that will keep moderates from joining them. I had to stop at that point.
 

Rocket Man

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,509
I remember Dan saying before the 2016 election that Trump may be a necessary evil, to now saying that he's the most dangerous president in history and worried about a civil war.

Yeah dude, you voting for the fucking libertarian party really helped out there.