It will always be relevant. Extremist idealists are the driving factor for changing the status quo and always has been regardless of how absurd their actions can be. If everyone was a moderate nothing would ever change. It's just that in a too peaceful world you'll have to use some imagination and conjure up problems to get things going and that is exactly what the idealists of today are doing.
I feel I am the good kind of extremist. I'm on the right side of things, therefore I am exempt to all of these points he's making. I'm thoroughly pleased that John Cleese made a hilarious mockery of those other, less desirable extremists. You are a great ally, Mr. Cleese.
You are wrong. Clearly my kind of extremism is righteous and justified. Yours is just reverse hatred, you are part of the problem, with your extremism. My extremism is only extremist to fight your extremism, because there is no way to fight extremism but to use it too. You must submit to my extremism or it will continue to become more extreme. Comprende? Ah shit, i spoke "Their" language don't tell my extremist friends they'll be extreme to me... I meant: Understand!?
What do we want? Calm, nuanced, and rational thinking. When do we want it? In a time period that balances humane and economic needs. (No exclamations in the responses)
Donovan Hunger so you think this guy's a lefty because he used the word "mandatory"? How do you even make that connection? Anyone can use that word regardless of political views, you know. I don't get people who assume other people's opinions on politics over comments like these. It doesn't make any sense to me at all.
Watching it and not understanding it (the meaning, not the words!) is still a hurdle to overcome. Intellectual poverty, a crime many societies suffer from.
"The surest way to work up a crusade in favor of some good cause is to promise people they will have a chance of maltreating someone. To be able to destroy with good conscience, to be able to behave badly and call your bad behavior 'righteous indignation' - this is the height of psychological luxury, the most delicious of moral treats." -Aldous Huxley
I refer people to this clip almost daily now. I hope you never take it down. Some of the hate groups have shifted a bit, but it's a classic for a reason. Thank you🕯💫🔥🌱♻️💖 A good time to share...
He was one of the first to make a career out of calling out cognitive dissonance, that's what Monty Python was about. Making fun of 'polite society' was controversial, their show was banned in the US except for PBS when I was in high school. That made them MORE popular rather than less so, especially with teenagers like me.
John Cleese is so god damned funny From the moment you hear him say "moderates" at the end of his list of authorized leftist enemies, you know he's going to eventually say it at the end of his list of authorized rightist enemies. It comes exactly as expected, and yet somehow it's still funny. No idea how he does that. Exquisite delivery.
Endless Jess No, not everyone, as I can read many moderate comments further developing their particular arguments in a civilized manner. Nice blanket statement though, very useful for fishing likes.
Yes, bravo sir. You alone saw through my sinister ruse. I thought I could slip one by, but you're just too damn clever. It's clear to me now that while I thought I was just making a silly comment, I was in fact making a totally serious blanket statement that carried with it a nefarious hidden agenda. The internet is a better place with you on patrol. Keep fighting the good fight you brave, noble, paragon of intellect..
I refer people to this clip almost daily now. I hope you never take it down. Some of the hate groups have shifted a bit, but it's a classic for a reason. Thank you🕯💫🔥🌱♻️💖
John Cleese combines a canny understanding of human psychology with a humorous and thoughtful mind. The end result is both insightful and entertaining.
The 'us vs them' canard has made many people rich over the centuries, the modern day outrage is no exception. It's class warfare to me, a convenient way to divide the haves from the have nots by process of dehumanization.
@@Super241946 Hearing a reasonable, if somewhat comical, line of logic should make you think on things a little. Maybe even get you to do some self-reflection. Sometimes, it does nothing. Sometimes, you realize that you viewed things in a way that was simply not logical or factual and causes an entire cascade of changes.
The sad thing is that a lot of people in this very comments section use this video to sum up a particular group of people they hate (e.g US Politicians, Feminists, Islam, Atheists, Christians, the Russians, moderates, etc), thus becoming the very extremists they claim to demean.
-Bob 'I left my grandmother's funeral to play Super Mario Bros 3' Chipman -Bob 'I made a video telling other gamers to eat better and exercise only to develop Type 2 diabetes' Chipman -Bob 'The neckbeard hat is a trilby, but I wear a fedora' Chipman
Just remember to tell them hes wrong about one thing (in his whole life) - the BBC are the most extremist right-wing propaganda thats probably ever existed. Including Thousand Hills radio.
@@Drunkledore It's meant for forever. Every new generation falls into the same groove. They eventually realize they're in the groove, but by then the next generation has fallen into the groove.
Not accurate because the left now uses judges as activists. The left also now likes newspaper owners and public schools because they spread their propaganda.
I'd argue that newspaper owners and public schools would now be on the list of the hard right, perfectly evidenced by our little friend Tim here. Otherwise, not much has changed.
In a time where it seems like every single person around you is an extremist of one thing or another, it’s very surreal and refreshing to see someone actually speak logically so once. Too bad this was filmed so long ago, most celebrities probably wouldn’t even get away with saying this nowadays.
@@elijahevo6859 That's the thing. I couldn't even read the actual good comments because all I see is you guys spamming Elon Musk's name. I wasn't expecting the comments to be full of spam so I couldn't dodge your bullshit.
Watching this makes me realise the world didn't change ... it is I who changed to see the world in a different perspective. We have always been idiots who like to hate each other, social media just made it easier for the idiots to be heard.
@valleyshrew He never says that having enemies makes you an extremist. He said being an extremist gives you justification to make enemies and to blame them for everything.
Reminds me of C.S. Lewis' observation: "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
@Steven Moore I can understand what point you're trying to make, but you had to change the context in order to make that point. You added the words "well-meaning" and then jumped to your conclusion. But the original context isn't referring to well-meaning anyone. Both robber barons AND moral busybodies are corrupt -- but the robber never claims to be superior and knows they are criminal. The busybody (like multimillionaire TV evangelists ranting about morality when off-screen they are pumping their seed into their mistress, or the conservative politician pounding the gavel and making anti-LGBT laws while on the side he's pounding his gavel into some boy) is most definitely feeling superior and beyond reproach, as he demands "others" to concede to his dictates.
The psychology is behind it is moderates share broad spectrum opinions. Any time one of those opinions strays into the opposite camp they dog pile on. Moderate: Oh i agree with such and such opinion of the conservatives (Liberals attack) and vise versa. Thus both extreme polarities hate anyone in the middle of the camp, as it would disrupt their black & white thinking.
Oh, no no no. This is all wrong. Quite off the mark, really. Everyone can't be a mix of both good AND bad. Then we'd actually have to TALK to each other and sort things out! I just want to be left alone with the peace of mind in the fact that I'm right and we're all on a 1-dimensional continuum. Much simpler that way.
+Roger Levy It depends: Person A is an adult and says that babies are delivered by the stork. Person B argues the opposite and proves person A wrong using objective reasoning and evidence. Person A is not right, objectively or factually. Person A is actually quite stupid on this subject and has no clue what they are talking about. Person A doesn't deserve to be placed on the same pedestal (On the topic of childbirth) as person B because person A is provably wrong. There is no controversy of "Stork vs pregnancy", so there shouldn't be a 50/50 platform for the "Controversy". One is supported by evidence, the other isn't. The "Right side" is the one supported by evidence, factual and demonstrable. That being said, Person A still has a right to express their beliefs, Person B has a right to respond: so long as it's not with violence. Yes: you are right, there is no good or bad, but there are bad ideas out there that do not deserve the same time of day as good ideas.
A Small Babby Still though, I'm bringing up how some will accuse others of extremism for "Censoring" their ideas, when in reality their ideas are being disregarded because they are stupid. For example: creationism vs evolution.
No not really extremist are just people with similar values. A moderate is just someone who agree rape is moderately ok not because of solid arguments but because he is being moderate in the amount of rape.
The one thing this doesn't make clear is people don't necessarily start out nasty abrasive bullies, and then pick up extremism as an excuse. Extremism can also turn perfectly decent people into massive raging assholes. It plays off those moments of anger and weakness we all have and gives you a momentary escape, and he is absolutely right, it makes you feel good.
I'm a schizophrenic moderate extremist. I hate myself yet feel strangely satisfied in doing so. Thankfully I'm not a paranoid schizophrenic moderate extremist because then I'd have to worry that someone besides myself is pretending to be me and is trying to fool me into thinking that no one else is the root cause of my hardships besides myself and I, unlike the rest of the world, take personal responsibility for my own insanity.
He confuses Americans since he doesn't play by our rules. He's not a racist but says that London is a very different place, he expected better by his govt not minorities. His thoughts are complex....he's never been a Conservative but that's what people would call him here in the us.
@CodyNW42 Don't be absurd moderates still exist, most of the folk who get labelled alt/far right used to be moderate left but we got kicked out the left for not agreeing 100% with all the idiotic far left insanity that has taken over it. We didn't overnight become radical far right morons but we sure as hell don't support an extremist political party that has turned on its own country and its own people while pretending to be the good guys and chasing false equality. They are what Nietzsche would call tarantulas. Thus I speak to you in a parable-you who make souls whirl, you preachers of equality. To me you are tarantulas, and secretly vengeful. But I shall bring your secrets to light; therefore I laugh in your faces with my laughter of the heights. Therefore I tear at your webs, that your rage may lure you out of your lie-holes and your revenge may leap out from behind your word justice. For that man be delivered from revenge, that is for me the bridge to the highest hope, and a rainbow after long storms. Thus spoke Zarathustra
In actuality, for the U.S. at any rate, slightly under 8% of people are far left and 12% are far right. The remaining are moderates with a slight advantage to those leaning left.
@@TD-ug4mg not sure where you are geting those figures from but the far right make up less than 6% of america and has been getting smaller every year Richard spencer the leader of the alt right has even admitted defeat The far left on the other hand is in every education system radicalising students every year for a very long time now so much so that there are way more radical lefty's than moderate left and thats because they have driven moderates like me out by attacking us when we tell them theres only two genders or some shit like that fortune.com/2018/10/22/far-right-americans-just-six-person-study-says/
The battle changes faces, but yes, thank you! I'm 20, so I wasn't around in the 90s, but I grew up with a love of punk and alternative music and a deeper love of comedy, so I was aware through my teens of the massive censorship battles that took place in the late 20th century (George Carlin's 7 words skit and the 'X' label on music, which was funnily enough fought by Al Gore's wife). I couldn't help but laugh recently at the state of society today because the same people who (out of sheer edginess) would have sided with the rockers and comedians (lmfao, if they'd been born then they probably wouldn't have. They just crave social validation and seek to control others, which are the same things both opposing parties (parents and the people who censored the skit) in the aforementioned fights were like) and yet they act like their supposed enemy. They hate on religion and yet they act like they're in a cult. Every. Fucking. Generation. I don't even want to know what my future kids'll have to put up with. Sometimes I wish that we could just take all the rational people and move them to a different planet, but then that wouldn't work because some people would switch to irrationality. It's a depressing case of Le Chatelier's principal applied to humans :(.
@@noelstar1456 Cool. I teach at a university. My sense is that a fair chunk of 20 year olds are actually pretty open minded. And many are very positive when I bring up the polerisation stuff using a Cleese-like angle. But still, the overall atmosphere is quite intense. Post-truth postmodernism dominates (especially amongst the staff), where you begin discussions by assuming you are right, and the only goal is to convert everyone to your way of thinking. And if you try to slow up and explore complexities, then people start whispering that you are a conservative, or part of the spineless centre. I wish we could be laughing and joking the whole time - this is how we get to the truth and how we connect with oneanother... Anyway, it's a long and interesting discussion.
Still mostly accurate. Those moderates suck. lol 😂 it's time for my yearly compliment.... I refer people to this clip almost daily now. I hope you never take it down. Some of the hate groups have shifted a bit, but it's a classic for a reason. Thank you🕯💫🔥🌱♻️💖
Lol, making a judgement call on me while i just make a joke about a piece of comedy? That period at the end of the sentence you made tells it all, you're an absolutist xD
@TheManFromOctober In the UK the term "public school" refers to non-government schools (same with a "public house," aka a pub). Yeah, difficult for us to wrap our heads around.
Nah we evolved to be cooperative you can tell by the way our eyes differ from chimpanzees etc they specifically let those around us see which direction we're looking which is helpful in group hunting etc
This is more relevant than I want it to be.
It will always be relevant. Extremist idealists are the driving factor for changing the status quo and always has been regardless of how absurd their actions can be. If everyone was a moderate nothing would ever change. It's just that in a too peaceful world you'll have to use some imagination and conjure up problems to get things going and that is exactly what the idealists of today are doing.
what says the most is the huge difference of what it apparently means to be far right or far left then compared to now.
Every person on the left and right should watch this.
Being that I was born the same year kinda hurts.
people have often spoken the truth bold faced in front of others, but you need a certain temperament to feel it echo in your heart as truth
This feels like it should be an introductory video when you first sign up for twitter.
Nah, well before then.
Nail. On. Head.
Or 4chan
😂
For any social media
Good thing about John Cleese is he STILL believes this and hasn't shifted left or right. He rails on the left and right extremists consistently.
John Cleese should be declared a national treasure by all the English speaking world
I guess he should be added to the list of enemies. :P
Notice how the "moderate" in the drawing is dressed pretty similar to himself.
@@samuel88andrews I wanted to vote for him as king of the universe but then I remembered you don't vote for kings.
@@Shinwaable How do you get to be king, then?
I feel I am the good kind of extremist. I'm on the right side of things, therefore I am exempt to all of these points he's making. I'm thoroughly pleased that John Cleese made a hilarious mockery of those other, less desirable extremists. You are a great ally, Mr. Cleese.
Damn liberal!
@@ja3482 Yes, it is satire and you are clueless. Happy to be of help.
@@ja3482 Okay.
I like that he put the BBC and Communists on the same list...that is comedy genius
You are wrong. Clearly my kind of extremism is righteous and justified. Yours is just reverse hatred, you are part of the problem, with your extremism. My extremism is only extremist to fight your extremism, because there is no way to fight extremism but to use it too. You must submit to my extremism or it will continue to become more extreme. Comprende? Ah shit, i spoke "Their" language don't tell my extremist friends they'll be extreme to me...
I meant: Understand!?
Who's here, because of 2020
Saw he retweeted it. I'm old a like Monty Python. Good use of time this video.
It was relevant before. It will be relevant again. But yeah... the zeitgeist seems to be leaning especially hard into it today.
*Raises hand.
Everybody.
Hard Right enemies including Russia? Not in this 2020.
I can't think of any cool, moderate chants.
What do we want?
Some more of this and less of that!
When do we want it?
In a reasonably timed fashion.
Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right; here I am, stuck in the middle with moderate views
@@misterpoot7246 You sure you're not a clown or a joker?
What do we want?
Calm, nuanced, and rational thinking.
When do we want it?
In a time period that balances humane and economic needs.
(No exclamations in the responses)
Or the chant from the Apathy Party:
"What do we want?"
"We don't know."
"When do we want it?"
"Now."
That's an easy one:
"You’re both pieces of shit and I can prove it mathematically."
Can't believe how much this hits the nail on the head all these years later
Human nature, mate. How long have humans been here? That's how long this has been true.
Those damn, bloody moderates!
I hate these filthy neutrals. With enemies you know where they stand, but with neutrals, who knows?
Cecilff2 They're like Spies from TF2.... you never know if they'll backstab you... or shoot you.
"What makes a man turn neutral? ... Lust for gold? Power? Or were you just born with a heart full of neutrality?"
Plato Smith They don't even stand up for anything!
I have a fear that some people are actually taking you seriously.
This didn't age like wine. This just flat out didn't age.
Russians being the enemy of the far right gave a good laugh.
@@zym6687 they were commies and we won the cold war. Still not off the list just way down :)
Nice one mate
it kinda aged like milk
the analogy with wine is that it improves with age - which I think this does also
Can like this be mandatory for every human being to have to watch please? That'd be great.
But then people who don't speak English won't understand it.
tibschris then just add non-English subtitles or translate it or something
Donovan Hunger so you think this guy's a lefty because he used the word "mandatory"? How do you even make that connection? Anyone can use that word regardless of political views, you know. I don't get people who assume other people's opinions on politics over comments like these. It doesn't make any sense to me at all.
Watching it and not understanding it (the meaning, not the words!) is still a hurdle to overcome. Intellectual poverty, a crime many societies suffer from.
@@SS-zd5uf Who's to blame for this crime?
John Cleese is spot on about those bloody moderates!
Comment of the day :)
🎯😂
Who’s here, because of Elon Musk?
LOL X GANG
yes!
Elon Musk educating the masses
Phuck yeah
@@Mrunknown2u2exactly
"The surest way to work up a crusade in favor of some good cause is to promise people they will have a chance of maltreating someone. To be able to destroy with good conscience, to be able to behave badly and call your bad behavior 'righteous indignation' - this is the height of psychological luxury, the most delicious of moral treats."
-Aldous Huxley
Thank you for this
"The more perfect a person is on the outside, the more demons they have on the inside" --- Sigmund Freud
Best explanation of extremism I've ever seen.
I refer people to this clip almost daily now. I hope you never take it down. Some of the hate groups have shifted a bit, but it's a classic for a reason. Thank you🕯💫🔥🌱♻️💖
A good time to share...
Just tell them he got - for once in his life - one thing wrong: the BBC (in particular BBC News) is ultra right-wing extremism.
I keep watching this every year and instead of crying about our sorry state, I just can't help but laugh my ass off at the last 10 seconds! xD
Me too!
He was one of the first to make a career out of calling out cognitive dissonance, that's what Monty Python was about. Making fun of 'polite society' was controversial, their show was banned in the US except for PBS when I was in high school. That made them MORE popular rather than less so, especially with teenagers like me.
this is the best description of extremism I have ever heard
im sick and tired of everyone going like "he was ahead of his time"
this shit was going on for millennia
yep. Pretty timeless message. Same shit, different day...
Indeed. We've always been jerks.
im sick and tired of these bad cs:go players
Yeah, there's just more of it and more of it being seen now.
Plus he himself has turned a bit extremist as he's got older.
John Cleese is so god damned funny
From the moment you hear him say "moderates" at the end of his list of authorized leftist enemies, you know he's going to eventually say it at the end of his list of authorized rightist enemies. It comes exactly as expected, and yet somehow it's still funny. No idea how he does that. Exquisite delivery.
everyone in this comment section:
"ha, john cleese is spot on about (enemy group)"
Endless Jess No, not everyone, as I can read many moderate comments further developing their particular arguments in a civilized manner.
Nice blanket statement though, very useful for fishing likes.
Yes, bravo sir. You alone saw through my sinister ruse. I thought I could slip one by, but you're just too damn clever. It's clear to me now that while I thought I was just making a silly comment, I was in fact making a totally serious blanket statement that carried with it a nefarious hidden agenda. The internet is a better place with you on patrol. Keep fighting the good fight you brave, noble, paragon of intellect..
Drowning In Footwear Good to know that I bothered you enough to deserve such a sarcastic speech. :)
Drowning In Footwear how about John Cleese is spot on about extremists?
+cormano64 Let me filter that post though my straight-to-the-point sentence decoder: "U MAD BRO?"
Never been a better time to watch this than now.
Actually the sad thing is that pretty much every time, this is appropriate. But granted, the lockdown is really something.
I refer people to this clip almost daily now. I hope you never take it down. Some of the hate groups have shifted a bit, but it's a classic for a reason. Thank you🕯💫🔥🌱♻️💖
John Cleese combines a canny understanding of human psychology with a humorous and thoughtful mind. The end result is both insightful and entertaining.
This gets more and more relevant as time progresses. It's actually frightening really.
one thing that surely hasn't aged well is saying the right wing's perceived enemy is russia
The 'us vs them' canard has made many people rich over the centuries, the modern day outrage is no exception. It's class warfare to me, a convenient way to divide the haves from the have nots by process of dehumanization.
Timeless comentary, served in a way anyone can understand.
Pure genius! 🧠
Don't mean to bring cliches into the mix, but I seriously think this video may have changed my outlook on life.
You're a dangerous person........easily led!
@@Super241946 Hearing a reasonable, if somewhat comical, line of logic should make you think on things a little. Maybe even get you to do some self-reflection. Sometimes, it does nothing. Sometimes, you realize that you viewed things in a way that was simply not logical or factual and causes an entire cascade of changes.
The sad thing is that a lot of people in this very comments section use this video to sum up a particular group of people they hate (e.g US Politicians, Feminists, Islam, Atheists, Christians, the Russians, moderates, etc), thus becoming the very extremists they claim to demean.
Or just the moderates getting shit from both sides.
I know right, people can smell all types of shit, except their own.
The only good people in that list you mentioned are the moderates the rest need to be exterminated.
Jesus Christ this so true despite this being so old this is why I don’t take sides! God I hate current year politics!
"aaand of course, the moderate."
Fucking god damn moderates ....hang the lot of them!
@@weswolever7477 just pick a fucking side so I know who to KILL.
Extremists see moderates as worse than the other side.
@@atomicskull6405 They (extremists on both sides) do have more in common with each other,in the end.
"There is (almost) no such thing as a bad tactics - only bad TARGETS"
-Bob 'I lived in my parent's basement till I was 30 Moviebob' Chipman
-Bob 'I left my grandmother's funeral to play Super Mario Bros 3' Chipman
-Bob 'I made a video telling other gamers to eat better and exercise only to develop Type 2 diabetes' Chipman
-Bob 'The neckbeard hat is a trilby, but I wear a fedora' Chipman
He has a few good points in what he says.
Besides, I’m pretty sure he’s gotten more graceful after six years.
I hope this never gets taken down. We need it more than ever. I send people to this....weekly if not daily. Thank you! 🕯
Just remember to tell them hes wrong about one thing (in his whole life) - the BBC are the most extremist right-wing propaganda thats probably ever existed. Including Thousand Hills radio.
Rung true then, rings true now.
Some truths are universal.
I almost think this is meant for today more than anything...
I'm from the future. It still rings true.
@@Drunkledore It's meant for forever. Every new generation falls into the same groove. They eventually realize they're in the groove, but by then the next generation has fallen into the groove.
Felice and with the generation blaming the ones before them
Some people these days rag on about me being a fence sitter but my argument is “hey, what if it’s quite a nice fence?”
This is incredibly accurate.
Scarily accurate. Basically if you make it into one of these cults this is how you see everyone else.
Its interesting how the battle lines of "Permitted Enemies" have changed since Cleese did this bit forty years ago, and why those changes happened.
Still completely accurate today. What a brilliant mind.
Not accurate because the left now uses judges as activists. The left also now likes newspaper owners and public schools because they spread their propaganda.
@@clickeye1 K, bootlicker
@@clickeye1 Hmm because Murdoch is soooo left wing. He's basically Stalin reincarnated. Idiot.
I'd argue that newspaper owners and public schools would now be on the list of the hard right, perfectly evidenced by our little friend Tim here. Otherwise, not much has changed.
I've come to hear John Cleese, because Elon made me aware of this piece, but i also happen to love John Cleese!
In a time where it seems like every single person around you is an extremist of one thing or another, it’s very surreal and refreshing to see someone actually speak logically so once. Too bad this was filmed so long ago, most celebrities probably wouldn’t even get away with saying this nowadays.
Like who is here because of Treelon
#inmuskwetrust
Stop spamming the comments, you're not helping anyone
On elon, we leen on
#inmuskwetrust
@@YehudiNimol if you don't like everyone saying there here from Elon Musk then don't read the comments
@@elijahevo6859 That's the thing. I couldn't even read the actual good comments because all I see is you guys spamming Elon Musk's name. I wasn't expecting the comments to be full of spam so I couldn't dodge your bullshit.
These comments are so depressingly ironic.
They have extremest views and don't even realize they have fallen for the trap that extremism does...
Watching this makes me realise the world didn't change ... it is I who changed to see the world in a different perspective.
We have always been idiots who like to hate each other, social media just made it easier for the idiots to be heard.
2020 brought me here
Whats good 2020!?!
Actually, dont answer that... I know 2020 is going down as a skid mark on history
@@utubby3730 Let's just erase 2020 from the history books all together
Me too, mate. Me too.
This is one of the best, most relevant videos I've ever seen.
Recently stepped away from twitter. This video really helped me deradicalize myself from far left politics
Cleese hits the nail squarely on the head and still as relevant today as it was, probably 40 years ago when this was made. Wonderful!
Crazy that these words ring so true now in 2020.
So this is so revelations and relevant to the world now these days
Thank you I needed that today.
This thread has become a fascinating, every-expanding time capsule
@valleyshrew He never says that having enemies makes you an extremist. He said being an extremist gives you justification to make enemies and to blame them for everything.
We can add a few enemies to the lists on both sides but this is still totally relevant.
Reminds me of C.S. Lewis' observation:
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
@Steven Moore I'd rather deal with an honest scumbag than a virtue signalling phoney any day.
@Steven Moore I can understand what point you're trying to make, but you had to change the context in order to make that point. You added the words "well-meaning" and then jumped to your conclusion. But the original context isn't referring to well-meaning anyone. Both robber barons AND moral busybodies are corrupt -- but the robber never claims to be superior and knows they are criminal. The busybody (like multimillionaire TV evangelists ranting about morality when off-screen they are pumping their seed into their mistress, or the conservative politician pounding the gavel and making anti-LGBT laws while on the side he's pounding his gavel into some boy) is most definitely feeling superior and beyond reproach, as he demands "others" to concede to his dictates.
Original broadcast: 1987
Love how both sides hate the moderate, ^_^.
ajmetz82 as a moderate I like it a BIT less😉🤣
I don’t
It’s quite normal for irrational people do have distain for those more rational than them.
I don't
The psychology is behind it is moderates share broad spectrum opinions. Any time one of those opinions strays into the opposite camp they dog pile on. Moderate: Oh i agree with such and such opinion of the conservatives (Liberals attack) and vise versa. Thus both extreme polarities hate anyone in the middle of the camp, as it would disrupt their black & white thinking.
Some of these people have probably since jumped from one enemy list to another. But it's still overall a timeless message. Sadly.
Who cares what list they are on so long as we hate them.
more relevant in 2020 than ever
Truth never loses its effect! Thanks.
Oh, no no no. This is all wrong. Quite off the mark, really. Everyone can't be a mix of both good AND bad. Then we'd actually have to TALK to each other and sort things out! I just want to be left alone with the peace of mind in the fact that I'm right and we're all on a 1-dimensional continuum. Much simpler that way.
Moderate
+Roger Levy It depends:
Person A is an adult and says that babies are delivered by the stork.
Person B argues the opposite and proves person A wrong using objective reasoning and evidence.
Person A is not right, objectively or factually. Person A is actually quite stupid on this subject and has no clue what they are talking about. Person A doesn't deserve to be placed on the same pedestal (On the topic of childbirth) as person B because person A is provably wrong. There is no controversy of "Stork vs pregnancy", so there shouldn't be a 50/50 platform for the "Controversy". One is supported by evidence, the other isn't.
The "Right side" is the one supported by evidence, factual and demonstrable. That being said, Person A still has a right to express their beliefs, Person B has a right to respond: so long as it's not with violence. Yes: you are right, there is no good or bad, but there are bad ideas out there that do not deserve the same time of day as good ideas.
+Krobbkag Destroyer Of Worlds pretty sure we're talking about people though, not ideas.
A Small Babby Still though, I'm bringing up how some will accuse others of extremism for "Censoring" their ideas, when in reality their ideas are being disregarded because they are stupid.
For example: creationism vs evolution.
Krobbkag Destroyer Of Worlds Many never consider their mistakes until after it happens.
I love how many extremists are nodding their heads and patting themselves on the back hearing this right now.
This is still relevant. WTF is wrong with us humans.
We think we're the most important thing in the universe.
No not really extremist are just people with similar values. A moderate is just someone who agree rape is moderately ok not because of solid arguments but because he is being moderate in the amount of rape.
....and then evolution made a funny experiment and added ego to the character.
Replace *humans with, *the media, and you might not have such a dumb straw man argument.
@@Senzotan No. Fuck you.
It's ironic how many of the "enemies" on the lists have switched sides.
The one thing this doesn't make clear is people don't necessarily start out nasty abrasive bullies, and then pick up extremism as an excuse. Extremism can also turn perfectly decent people into massive raging assholes. It plays off those moments of anger and weakness we all have and gives you a momentary escape, and he is absolutely right, it makes you feel good.
It’s like a euphoric drug.
It makes you feel really good, then you can’t stop taking it.
I'm a schizophrenic moderate extremist. I hate myself yet feel strangely satisfied in doing so. Thankfully I'm not a paranoid schizophrenic moderate extremist because then I'd have to worry that someone besides myself is pretending to be me and is trying to fool me into thinking that no one else is the root cause of my hardships besides myself and I, unlike the rest of the world, take personal responsibility for my own insanity.
The only way to fight radical centrism is to schizoid oneself to the extremes. JrEg disciples unite!
Nothing ever changes
This is so perfectly on the nose about society it’s terrifying
Time does nothing but polish this gem. It gets shinier by the day.
Yes!
wow, this is pure wisdom, and also funny. I am really impressed.
This should be mandatory viewing in school.
incredibly relevant to today in spite of the piece looking old. Pity about the poor picture - the content is excellent and of course very funny!
As a representative from the future, I can confirm that it still fits today.
This was beautiful and I have a much deeper respect for him now more than ever.
He confuses Americans since he doesn't play by our rules. He's not a racist but says that London is a very different place, he expected better by his govt not minorities. His thoughts are complex....he's never been a Conservative but that's what people would call him here in the us.
More relevant with each passing day...
Spot on. How accurate is this these days. Tolerants are swallowed by radical right and radical left intolerance
Just when I thought I couldn't have any more respect for John...
Yeah I guess the BBC forgot to air this one :D
Have the goal posts moved since then? Is a moderate today the same as 13 years ago?
Its amazing that this was over 30 years ago, yet still resonates today. People need to lighten the fuck up!
Ha. Moderates. Clearly this was before the internet.
Clearly.
@CodyNW42 Don't be absurd moderates still exist, most of the folk who get labelled alt/far right used to be moderate left but we got kicked out the left for not agreeing 100% with all the idiotic far left insanity that has taken over it.
We didn't overnight become radical far right morons but we sure as hell don't support an extremist political party that has turned on its own country and its own people while pretending to be the good guys and chasing false equality.
They are what Nietzsche would call tarantulas.
Thus I speak to you in a parable-you who make souls whirl, you preachers of equality. To me you are tarantulas, and secretly vengeful. But I shall bring your secrets to light; therefore I laugh in your faces with my laughter of the heights. Therefore I tear at your webs, that your rage may lure you out of your lie-holes and your revenge may leap out from behind your word justice. For that man be delivered from revenge, that is for me the bridge to the highest hope, and a rainbow after long storms.
Thus spoke Zarathustra
@@finn9553 That does sound familiar ....
In actuality, for the U.S. at any rate, slightly under 8% of people are far left and 12% are far right. The remaining are moderates with a slight advantage to those leaning left.
@@TD-ug4mg not sure where you are geting those figures from but the far right make up less than 6% of america and has been getting smaller every year
Richard spencer the leader of the alt right has even admitted defeat
The far left on the other hand is in every education system radicalising students every year for a very long time now so much so that there are way more radical lefty's than moderate left
and thats because they have driven moderates like me out by attacking us when we tell them theres only two genders or some shit like that
fortune.com/2018/10/22/far-right-americans-just-six-person-study-says/
So true today as it was when it first aired, even more true if you live in the US like I do. At least Cleese was spot on!
There’s a difference between believing strongly in something and treating people who disagree with you like monsters.
Every generation the comedians and free thinkers fight the same idiot battle. And it must be fought.
It's and endless cycle.
Extremist!!
The battle changes faces, but yes, thank you! I'm 20, so I wasn't around in the 90s, but I grew up with a love of punk and alternative music and a deeper love of comedy, so I was aware through my teens of the massive censorship battles that took place in the late 20th century (George Carlin's 7 words skit and the 'X' label on music, which was funnily enough fought by Al Gore's wife). I couldn't help but laugh recently at the state of society today because the same people who (out of sheer edginess) would have sided with the rockers and comedians (lmfao, if they'd been born then they probably wouldn't have. They just crave social validation and seek to control others, which are the same things both opposing parties (parents and the people who censored the skit) in the aforementioned fights were like) and yet they act like their supposed enemy. They hate on religion and yet they act like they're in a cult.
Every. Fucking. Generation. I don't even want to know what my future kids'll have to put up with. Sometimes I wish that we could just take all the rational people and move them to a different planet, but then that wouldn't work because some people would switch to irrationality. It's a depressing case of Le Chatelier's principal applied to humans :(.
@@noelstar1456 Cool. I teach at a university. My sense is that a fair chunk of 20 year olds are actually pretty open minded. And many are very positive when I bring up the polerisation stuff using a Cleese-like angle. But still, the overall atmosphere is quite intense. Post-truth postmodernism dominates (especially amongst the staff), where you begin discussions by assuming you are right, and the only goal is to convert everyone to your way of thinking. And if you try to slow up and explore complexities, then people start whispering that you are a conservative, or part of the spineless centre. I wish we could be laughing and joking the whole time - this is how we get to the truth and how we connect with oneanother... Anyway, it's a long and interesting discussion.
And further justified by calling it the good fight. I never knew there is such a thing.
Who watching in 2024
This is so simple. Way too simple for lots of people to understand. Or to want to understand.
John Cleese was ahead of his time. Well done from 2020.
Human nature is human nature. This would've been relevant in various forms since the dawn of man.
No he isn't. People make same mistakes over and over again 🙄 Watch a film "Cloud Atlas"
He was also behind the times, since this ad came out in 1987, and MLK had already called out the failures of the moderates back in 1963.
still up to date in 2024
Ah yes, the enemy of all extremists: moderates.
Couldn’t have said it any better John! And to think that this being from 30 years ago still applies today because human behaviour rarely changes.
0:25 - 0:55 it works very well with religious fundamentalists too, always blaming the outside world/the other persons for their own frustrations
Everyone needs to share this.
Great comic, and philosopher.
Still mostly accurate. Those moderates suck.
lol 😂 it's time for my yearly compliment....
I refer people to this clip almost daily now. I hope you never take it down. Some of the hate groups have shifted a bit, but it's a classic for a reason. Thank you🕯💫🔥🌱♻️💖
Is someone opposing all the enemies mentioned (left and right) an extreme extremist? :O
Lol, making a judgement call on me while i just make a joke about a piece of comedy? That period at the end of the sentence you made tells it all, you're an absolutist xD
Cernel Joson Covers all the bases and doesn't discriminate; sounds good!
An extreme extremist is one who backflips off a ramp into a pool of lethal sharks while hating people - that's extreeeeeme!
*****
an extremely moderate moderate?
You become the edgiest piece of shit around, The Edgelord
@TheManFromOctober In the UK the term "public school" refers to non-government schools (same with a "public house," aka a pub). Yeah, difficult for us to wrap our heads around.
Too true. Thanks TB made my day.
I think the lists of enemies have changed a bit in the last few decades, but the point still stands.
It is sad that this is the human condition.
Nah we evolved to be cooperative you can tell by the way our eyes differ from chimpanzees etc they specifically let those around us see which direction we're looking which is helpful in group hunting etc
@@pogchamp7983 "to be cooperative", yeah, maybe in small tribes, we're still barely out of the jungle on that one.
What year was this? 1983 or March 2020?
This aged like the finest of wines
Oh John Cleese, I'd love to see an "update"of this beatiful video. I don' know when this got released, but Jesus Chist does it fit in current Times.
"keep your man focused on the war....not so much his ailing mother....." - C.S. Lewis
"The Screwtape Letters"
My oh my this is the definition of timeless