I always felt bad for what Benny went through when he was younger. But Benny seems to have forgotten the lessons from those awful experiences, and that is a real shame. Benny has become just like his abuser, and that is downright tragic.
A horrible lesson I learned, was that some of the worst bullies are created from those who were themselves bullied. It sounded cliche, but it's true that someone bullied can go on to become one themselves and while their bully might have had shallow reasons for their abuse, the new bully will use the moral high ground (however thin at times) to justify their now abusive pattern of behavior.
When I heard about Benny's experiences, I always thought we should do everything we can to make sure they never happen again to anyone. So it's especially frustrating to hear how often Benny uses his trauma to shield himself.
I don't understand, is he talking about JUST Belgium, or all the BeNeLux countries (Belgium , Netherlands, Luxembourg)? I bet it's Luxembourg, I never trusted them.
@@henrybemis9956 What? He’s talking about Benjamin Netanyahu and the ICC arrest warrant, Jewish persecution and the war in Gaza, and *Israel. ISRAEL.*
I'd say 76 yeas is a very short time indeed. Perssecution of Jewish people central europe medieval period to date Rise of Zionism 1800's The Balfour declaration 1912 The Pin ZAIOot-Sykes accord 1917 British mandate 1917 -47 The Holocaust how can one be "over" a history like that Is the USA "over" racism /slavery? Is it reasonable to ask the Iishh to stop singing "fields of Ahthenry" 'cos the deportations ended more than 100 years ago Or let's ask the Brits to bulldoze the Cenotaph and not keep silence 11 00 am 11 11? I don't exonerate Israel I do say let's not talk daft about the power of history
@@asianmalaysianable : Did you know that in 43 states ordinary people can report someone else for not being a "legal" voter and that voter will be taken from the rolls.That alone counts for 850.000 votes this year. Make sure your vote was counted, millions were not, for that and other reasons. .
@aylbdrmadison1051 I don't know adopting Maga's "stolen election" narrative is going to help. Trump was removed by voters in 2020 inspite of those laws. Where the hell were all those voters when we needed them this year?
exactly. The tribe controls world finance(and pharma), hence has monopoly/a say over everything. We don't give them our ammunition and soldiers out of charity, we're just maintaining our business interests. As much as I love Steve he seems a bit dim on this one.
Exact quote Foreign Secrtary briefing Queen Vic on some trouble somewhere QV: and where are our friends? FS: We have no permanent friends your majesty, only permanent interests. from memory, no source maybe was taken up later by Kissinger - I forget
@@MrLilfee oops "We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to followm." speech, House of Commons, 1 March 1848
Todd from Bojack Horseman said it pretty well. "You can't keep doing this! You can't keep doing shitty things and then feel bad about yourself like that makes it ok! You need to be better!"
It matters that it came from Todd, too. Todd was Bojack's most enabling friend, the friend who had forgiven the most over the years that Bojack hadn't earned and had stuck by him even when Todd didn't have to stick by him. Princess Caroline had been forced to draw harder boundaries much earlier. Diane never really had the best-defined boundaries with Bojack, but she made it clear early in their relationship that he never had a free pass with her. Even Mr. Peanut Butter called out Bojack for kissing Diane, something Bojack didn't even think PB knew about. It was important that it was Todd calling him out. Bojack could have ignored PC or Diane delivering that line because he'd heard it from them before. But when even Todd was at his limit, Bojack knew he'd done effed up.
Yeah, my acquaintance told one of his friends who was being shitty to their partner “d’you know what the trick is? Not doing that. You know that shit is wrong so fucking stop it. Don’t just want to be better, **be** better.”
I had a friend like Benny. His name was D. Lick, who’d party all night after working at the hospital. One day though he started obsessing over a gauze strip. He got so jealous and kept the strip of gauze under his thumb until it irritated him severely. I told him “Let it go” to state a solution, but that genius ‘cided that he was better partying down at a German nightclub, the NachtBar.
Damn, dude, I was watching this in the background while paying some bills. When the end hit, I was like, "WHAT the hell?" And I had to rewatch the entire thing! Nice!
Had to like your comment, easily ninety percent of my comments start out with " damn dude". Steve is awesome at what he does, in a perfect world he would be the biggest TH-camr. Have a good day
You had me going right up until the end when you were pointing at the map. Only then, did everything click. That, sir, was damned well played! And, I 100% agree...we should definitely not support Benny! ❤️🇵🇸
Well... Benny has other friends, and has family, who are also coming to the same conclusions you are, Steve. Too bad he's not very likely to listen to them.
Exactly! I always notice how one side of our political spectrum use foriegn aid as a way to get people to vote for them. Saying the money should be spent here in the US, then when someone comes up with a good plan for helping Americans, they say, "Oh no we can't do that."
@@rayhall5280 it is possible to give foreign aid and take care of one's own communities. It's just having the political will, and limiting the influence of the wealthy.
Can anyone explain to me why we send money to "Benny" every year, when he seems to be well off, and even has the health care that we're told we can't afford for ourselves? How did we get signed up to be Benny's gravy train?
Well we don't keep sending Benny money, not in like a briefcase of cash sort of way. We just spend a lot of money buying Benny the things that enable him to keep making trouble. There's a lot of pressure from the store owners to keep buying these presents for Benny, because they like making money, so even though Benny might be using the gifts for no good and everyone knows it the profit motive keeps incentivizing more gifts. Have I stretched the metaphor too far?
Short version? Benny and Sal are our two tough mates in the neighborhood, and whenever the local dealers try to up the price of our fix, they menace them into lowering prices again. While we remain addicted to smokestacks and engine-juice we can only get from round those parts, it's very hard to give up the friendships that keep the dealers in line. So the money we send him (in lo of actually providing a solution to his problems, mind you, because if Benny actually got on with his neighbors he's no use to us) comes back to us in in savings on that sweet black poison we crave. It's, economically speaking, a good deal. Now the whole thing is complicated by the people who think Benny getting into a big war is what kicks off the end times and gets those people a one way ticket to cloud city while everyone else gets dragged in the other direction. Those people make up a bizarrely large voting block, so trying to hold Benny back is bad for your reelection chances. Then there's a misplaced generational guilt for not doing enough to help Benny's folk back before the war, and the people who like countries with only one type of person living in it, who while they tend not to want people like Benny in their own country, like that there is a country for people like Benny, because it gives them a morale authority to build their own, and do all the bad stuff that Benny gets in trouble for doing. There's a complex coalition of groups that support Benny, but the big thing is the economic incentive to have friends, even bad friends, in the area.
In the great words of Thom Hartman, “there is a segment of the population that cannot be reached with logic, information or honesty. These people cannot be reached.”
I learned a long time ago (or maybe I'm just not charitable enough) not to try and save someone from themselves. Life is too short and they just don't listen. Everyone knows at least one Benny.
Really good video, Steve. But, like our other old friend, Joey Tribiani used to say," it's a moo point". Benny's bully friend, Donny, wants to develop that beachfront property. And beyond that, for him, the cruelty is the point.
Sometimes, the best friend is the one who practices the Tough Love. Benny needs to face himself and take responsibility for himself. Benny reminds me of a guy who just got voted back in to office.. he'll use anyone around him to be taken down for him... That's NO friend.
There was an evil perpetrated on Benny when he was younger because those with power blamed him and even accused him of having evil intentions. At that time it wasn't certain that he had evil plans but still they perpetrated evil on him. Now Benny has a lot of power and has "friends" who for their own reasons, support him. But now Benny is perpetrating that same type evil on another group of people. It's almost as if, when a person gets power they want more power and they do evil things to keep it and get even more of it. Maybe that's just the nature of the human species and the cycle of evil will just continue.
Being a Semite, I would say "it's all about the Benjamins", but then the whole world would come down on me and force me, a Semite, to apologize for a perceived antisemitic comment... 🙄
The problem is Benny has a lot of influence and will make your life miserable if you don't keep bailing him out. Benny has a lot of friends in Washington. Mango Mussolini is a BFF.
took me an embarrassingly long time to realize this was not a set up for a long Benny and the Jets pun then you brought it back at the end to make a pun after all, good work
::: mind blown ::: Rewatching with the context. Not sure how I have made it to this point in my life without your brain in it. :::thank you Jesse!!::: ❤
I know Benny, too. Was only acquaintances with him though. I always tried to say that Benny's problem was that he seemed to believe that since he'd been bullied and pushed around for so long that couldn't be the bad guy no what he did, even when he did the same things the people who tormented him did. At first I thought he wasn't reflective enough to see it, but now I think he just doesn't care.
Bennie and his predecessors have not been good friends for well over 50 years. Let's not get too forgetful of the other things that have happened in his back yard and even his front yard. Support should have been halted years ago. Thanks Steve we needed that talk.
Steve actually got me. Perhaps because I actually did have a friend like that. I'd say a significant factor missing in the metaphor is Steve left out goading his friend into doing all sorts of questionable things since the start of the friendship, and made sure Benny had lots of money to do it with.
LOL 😆 I was listening to this in the background, and I was wondering why he was putting such emphasis on the words 'Is Real', then I went back and watched 😏
IMO this is an incredibly well-crafted video slowly building on the clues until the end. Looking in the comments it is amazing how many people still don't get it even after it is pointed out and explained to them. Perhaps it is as well. There are those who choose to remain deaf and blind to Benny's dysfunctional behaviour, and they will likely be offended by the implications.
You need to have an intervention and set boundaries so “he”knows the consequences of his actions. Until he’s fully accountable for his actions he will never change.
Benny thinks it’s okay because the world was there for him…Not realizing he’s doing the EXACT same thing done to him to those around him…but much worse.
Talk about a surprise ending! Even with that map in the background. Point well made, and as we again watch people starving, Benny slows down food shipments. We should listen to Bernie Sanders .
Ayyyye! I got it! That was GREAT! Just a couple minutes in I was thinking “hm this reminds me of… “ I did also think about how your house is probably a place that is outside the cops jurisdiction and because of the paperwork they can’t pick him up there. So it really is important that you stop inviting him over and try less to help him out. 😬
Exactly. Benny won't learn unless his enablers stop helping him. He is just going to keep harming everyone around him. He obviously didn't learn anything from the past. He is causing the future harm of his own people, he isn't keeping them safe. Benny is a terrible friend and has to be let go. It's ok to let go of toxic people...
Knowing Steve, I was expecting this to be a metaphor or a punchline joke, and at first I assumed it was going to be a metaphor for Trump Supporters, but then I was like “warrant out for arrest..,Trump was already convicted.., wait… BIBI!!!”
This is my rule... And I've had friends, good and great, from all walks of life. "A good friend will tell you what you want to hear. A great friend will tell you what you NEED to hear. Which friend do you want me to be?" And I let them decide. So it can't backfire, and I knew I made the right choice, no doubts. I think you can apply that to every "Benny" in your life. Especially those that R-real. You just have to tell "friends" that you're "gonna have to draw the line", sometimes.
Well, 'Steve' doesn't recognise the authority of the court, and as he has enough guns to scare off any cops that could try to enforce a verdict on Benny, there probably won't ever be any consequences for him for sheltering Benny.
The big problem: You aren't the only friend Benny has. Even though in his neighbourhood he isn't that well regarded, he has a lot of friends sticking up for him. They won't turn him in either ..., fuck they will keep helping him double down ... They said in the past: "Benny, don't cross this line, we won't help you anymore." and he crossed it and they kept helping him ... And it pains me to see with how much shit everyone lets Benny get away with.
Benny's dad was bullied, therefore you have to let Benny off, no matter what he does. Because his dad was bullied, you see. That means something to all of us, who weren't his bullies.
I'm not saying I wasn't invested in your personal story, but the ending hit me "The usual suspects"-style. The map in plain view all the time. Almost broke my favorite coffe mug.
friends just like family. you choose. they may have been there for a hunk of it but in the end. they come like seasons and are every changing with or without your involvement.
This Benny sounds like a real nutty yahoo, tbh. And you already made it pretty clear, you know it and everyone else does too -- you gotta stop giving him your money and your stuff! That's what we've all been saying, but... yeah, you're not the kind of "upstanding, moral person" you keep claiming to be, and I don't think you'll stop helping Benny either. In fact, I think a big part of you actually *wants* him to keep doing what he's doing, because that part of you thinks it's Really Important Stuff that *has* to happen so your own schemes will come to pass!
Thank you for sharing your views on Benny! Maybe it's a coincidence, but I think I know this Benny, and I'm in a similar situation. My parents had a really troubled past, and as a matter of fact, many, many, many things they did were really abhorrent and detestable. And some of the worst things they did involved Benny's family. As time went on, all I could do was hope that Benny would forgive me, and I was glad enough that Benny kinda accepted that I wanted to do better than my parents and correct some of the wrongs they did. In fact, we struck up kind of like a friendship, but I always felt like I owed him. I owed him big time. And that's why I started finding more and more excuses for what Benny did. And now, most of the time, I just keep my eyes shut when it comes to Benny, even though I know that some of the shit he's been doing could remind me of what my own parents used to do. Who am I to judge? I don't think I will ever really speak up. For the longest time, I was hoping that maybe you could control Benny's behavior and keep him in the right tracks, but now I'm thinking that all could be lost after January 20tth.
I always felt bad for what Benny went through when he was younger. But Benny seems to have forgotten the lessons from those awful experiences, and that is a real shame. Benny has become just like his abuser, and that is downright tragic.
Benny is also using his awful experience as a shield against any critique
A horrible lesson I learned, was that some of the worst bullies are created from those who were themselves bullied. It sounded cliche, but it's true that someone bullied can go on to become one themselves and while their bully might have had shallow reasons for their abuse, the new bully will use the moral high ground (however thin at times) to justify their now abusive pattern of behavior.
When I heard about Benny's experiences, I always thought we should do everything we can to make sure they never happen again to anyone. So it's especially frustrating to hear how often Benny uses his trauma to shield himself.
Benny... the guy, not the the country... had a sad youth as well. He will always live in his brother Yoni's shadow.
Exactly!
An enabler is not a friend. Just the opposite.
Right. Benny probably wouldn't have done half the bad things he has done if he didn't think that his good friend would have his back no matter what.
Ah yes, Benny. That randomly selected, totally not a metaphor name.
I see you Shives. And I agree entirely.
I don't understand, is he talking about JUST Belgium, or all the BeNeLux countries (Belgium , Netherlands, Luxembourg)?
I bet it's Luxembourg, I never trusted them.
@@henrybemis9956 What? He’s talking about Benjamin Netanyahu and the ICC arrest warrant, Jewish persecution and the war in Gaza, and *Israel. ISRAEL.*
@@henrybemis9956 whoosh
@@henrybemis9956 The very last thing Steve says as he is pointing to the world map: "Benny Is Real - Benny IsReal - Benny Israel". Hope that helps.
@bobjohnbowles ahh so... you are saying it is Belgium, I mean... the Congo was probably the line I'm guessing.
Sometimes the best thing a friend can do for a friend is telling them how badly they are fucking up.
And maybe intervene to prevent them fucking up, but that takes skill and guts.
"There's nothing like a friend who'll tell you when you're pissing in the wind." - Neil Young
And maybe NOT send money and weapons 😡
Benny had it rough starting out in life, but I think 76 years is enough time for someone to be able to stand on their own two feet.
I'd say 76 yeas is a very short time indeed.
Perssecution of Jewish people central europe medieval period to date
Rise of Zionism 1800's
The Balfour declaration 1912
The Pin ZAIOot-Sykes accord 1917
British mandate 1917 -47
The Holocaust
how can one be "over" a history like that
Is the USA "over" racism /slavery?
Is it reasonable to ask the Iishh to stop singing "fields of Ahthenry" 'cos the deportations ended more than 100 years ago
Or let's ask the Brits to bulldoze the Cenotaph and not keep silence 11 00 am 11 11?
I don't exonerate Israel I do say let's not talk daft about the power of history
Perfect!!!!!!!!
The ending sent me - I was worried the metaphor was a bit too opaque until then...
this was an "oooooh" moment
LOL🤣😂
I don't get it? Please explain???
@@ElThompsoñ254 Benjamin Netanyahu, head of Israel.
@@ElThompsoñ254 "Benny IsReal" as he points to a place on the map. How could it be more clear?
I worry that Benny is holding on to power longer than he should - seems like even his own constituents- uh I mean family- don't want him there...
You never know until the actual election. I mean look at Donny...
@@asianmalaysianable : Did you know that in 43 states ordinary people can report someone else for not being a "legal" voter and that voter will be taken from the rolls.That alone counts for 850.000 votes this year. Make sure your vote was counted, millions were not, for that and other reasons. .
@aylbdrmadison1051 I don't know adopting Maga's "stolen election" narrative is going to help. Trump was removed by voters in 2020 inspite of those laws. Where the hell were all those voters when we needed them this year?
Benny is actually pretty popular at home
This is the same thing i tell my wife and kids . Bad company can corrupt good morals, and you are judged by the company you keep.
“There are no friends among states, only interests.”
exactly. The tribe controls world finance(and pharma), hence has monopoly/a say over everything. We don't give them our ammunition and soldiers out of charity, we're just maintaining our business interests. As much as I love Steve he seems a bit dim on this one.
Exact quote Foreign Secrtary briefing Queen Vic on some trouble somewhere
QV: and where are our friends?
FS: We have no permanent friends your majesty, only permanent interests.
from memory, no source
maybe was taken up later by Kissinger - I forget
@@MrLilfee oops
"We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to followm."
speech, House of Commons, 1 March 1848
Beau of the Fifth Column says much the same tbh. (Belle hasn’t had much opportunity since she took over, but I am certain that much they agree on.)
Yep, no matter how good the friend is eventually you have to realise your not helping -- you're enabling.
Benny's been living off past grievances for too long.
Don't say that in front of Benny, or Benny will insist you are anti-Benny.
The first mistake was forgetting Benny was just someone using you for his own interest.
The second mistake was forgetting you were doing the same.
Todd from Bojack Horseman said it pretty well.
"You can't keep doing this! You can't keep doing shitty things and then feel bad about yourself like that makes it ok! You need to be better!"
Great line 👏
Such a great line that many people need to hear.
@dragon1130 yep
It matters that it came from Todd, too. Todd was Bojack's most enabling friend, the friend who had forgiven the most over the years that Bojack hadn't earned and had stuck by him even when Todd didn't have to stick by him. Princess Caroline had been forced to draw harder boundaries much earlier. Diane never really had the best-defined boundaries with Bojack, but she made it clear early in their relationship that he never had a free pass with her. Even Mr. Peanut Butter called out Bojack for kissing Diane, something Bojack didn't even think PB knew about.
It was important that it was Todd calling him out. Bojack could have ignored PC or Diane delivering that line because he'd heard it from them before. But when even Todd was at his limit, Bojack knew he'd done effed up.
Yeah, my acquaintance told one of his friends who was being shitty to their partner “d’you know what the trick is? Not doing that. You know that shit is wrong so fucking stop it. Don’t just want to be better, **be** better.”
Human history is full of yesterday's victim becoming today's monster and the rationalization of the abhorrent.
Don't give your friends the support they want, give them the support they need.
Benny’s problems being largely his own fault is almost cliche. Hell I bet you could write a whole book about it
I'd tell Benny "Nyet!" & "Not You!".
Nicee! lols
I keep having to remind myself Benny's not a yahoo. He's just afraid they'll cancel his show, Ah?
"Nicht du!!"
I had a friend like Benny. His name was D. Lick, who’d party all night after working at the hospital. One day though he started obsessing over a gauze strip. He got so jealous and kept the strip of gauze under his thumb until it irritated him severely. I told him “Let it go” to state a solution, but that genius ‘cided that he was better partying down at a German nightclub, the NachtBar.
Damn, dude, I was watching this in the background while paying some bills. When the end hit, I was like, "WHAT the hell?" And I had to rewatch the entire thing! Nice!
Same
Had to like your comment, easily ninety percent of my comments start out with " damn dude". Steve is awesome at what he does, in a perfect world he would be the biggest TH-camr. Have a good day
You had me going right up until the end when you were pointing at the map. Only then, did everything click. That, sir, was damned well played! And, I 100% agree...we should definitely not support Benny! ❤️🇵🇸
Well... Benny has other friends, and has family, who are also coming to the same conclusions you are, Steve. Too bad he's not very likely to listen to them.
Well played, Steve. Well played.
Before we can be a good friend to others, we need to be best friends with ourselves.
Exactly! I always notice how one side of our political spectrum use foriegn aid as a way to get people to vote for them. Saying the money should be spent here in the US, then when someone comes up with a good plan for helping Americans, they say, "Oh no we can't do that."
@@rayhall5280 it is possible to give foreign aid and take care of one's own communities. It's just having the political will, and limiting the influence of the wealthy.
When someone shows you who they are believe them
Believe them the first time.
Like trump, but -----.
Didn't work with Trump did it?
Yeah but is so hard to believe your friend's gone really bad
The minute you mentioned the arrest warrant, everything clicked...
Though I admit, I didn't know _how_ you were going to point it out... nicely done.
Yeah. It seemed unrealistic that the cops would ignore Benny so much if he was doing such awful things.
@@tsharabrown3719 Yeah, just like the U.S.
I didn't catch on until he pointed at Israel. I kept wondering what this had to do with geopolitics.
Can anyone explain to me why we send money to "Benny" every year, when he seems to be well off, and even has the health care that we're told we can't afford for ourselves? How did we get signed up to be Benny's gravy train?
Because his dad was bullied, you see. Everyone feels bad for him because his dad had it rough.
Well we don't keep sending Benny money, not in like a briefcase of cash sort of way. We just spend a lot of money buying Benny the things that enable him to keep making trouble. There's a lot of pressure from the store owners to keep buying these presents for Benny, because they like making money, so even though Benny might be using the gifts for no good and everyone knows it the profit motive keeps incentivizing more gifts. Have I stretched the metaphor too far?
And he just keeps blowing it and blowing it and asking for more and even "send it faster"
Short version? Benny and Sal are our two tough mates in the neighborhood, and whenever the local dealers try to up the price of our fix, they menace them into lowering prices again. While we remain addicted to smokestacks and engine-juice we can only get from round those parts, it's very hard to give up the friendships that keep the dealers in line. So the money we send him (in lo of actually providing a solution to his problems, mind you, because if Benny actually got on with his neighbors he's no use to us) comes back to us in in savings on that sweet black poison we crave. It's, economically speaking, a good deal.
Now the whole thing is complicated by the people who think Benny getting into a big war is what kicks off the end times and gets those people a one way ticket to cloud city while everyone else gets dragged in the other direction. Those people make up a bizarrely large voting block, so trying to hold Benny back is bad for your reelection chances.
Then there's a misplaced generational guilt for not doing enough to help Benny's folk back before the war, and the people who like countries with only one type of person living in it, who while they tend not to want people like Benny in their own country, like that there is a country for people like Benny, because it gives them a morale authority to build their own, and do all the bad stuff that Benny gets in trouble for doing. There's a complex coalition of groups that support Benny, but the big thing is the economic incentive to have friends, even bad friends, in the area.
@@charlescampbell7230nicely done!
@Steve_Shives: Excellent parable. Keep bringing truth to to the public. The 99% who aren't billionaires needs to hear this rhetoric every day.
The billionaires need to hear it too, but their ears and eyes are closed.
A parable told in front of a map of the world as it was once known. A very old map of diminished utility.
@gemanscombe4985 it still had the needed markings for the purpose, so perfectly useable for this video.
@@bobjohnbowles An old map which suggests a similarly outdated internal mapping of international relationships, perhaps?
You got me. It's about time we end this friendship.
In the great words of Thom Hartman, “there is a segment of the population that cannot be reached with logic, information or honesty. These people cannot be reached.”
Plot twist: Benny was never really your friend, just your henchman.
Worse. He tricked you into being his.
That took me way too long to get. But yeah, I agree with you.
I learned a long time ago (or maybe I'm just not charitable enough) not to try and save someone from themselves. Life is too short and they just don't listen. Everyone knows at least one Benny.
Really good video, Steve.
But, like our other old friend, Joey Tribiani used to say," it's a moo point". Benny's bully friend, Donny, wants to develop that beachfront property. And beyond that, for him, the cruelty is the point.
Damn, you hit it out of the park. Again.
Damn, that dragged on for a bit. I am glad I stuck around for that ending.
Same. I even read the comments and I didn't realize the ending would make it so clear. I cracked up.
Always wait for Steve to drop the last shoe.😂
In those final 5-10 seconds, the reflection of the circle light in the irises became *really* chilling
God, this guy knows how to COMMUNICATE….Steve Shives for PRESIDENT!!👍👍🥇
Steve this was dope!
Sometimes, the best friend is the one who practices the Tough Love. Benny needs to face himself and take responsibility for himself. Benny reminds me of a guy who just got voted back in to office.. he'll use anyone around him to be taken down for him... That's NO friend.
Oh man that was a good ending.
Love your new big ass map to sit in front of.
I wish people these days would treat kids the way you treat your grown friend.
There was an evil perpetrated on Benny when he was younger because those with power blamed him and even accused him of having evil intentions. At that time it wasn't certain that he had evil plans but still they perpetrated evil on him. Now Benny has a lot of power and has "friends" who for their own reasons, support him. But now Benny is perpetrating that same type evil on another group of people. It's almost as if, when a person gets power they want more power and they do evil things to keep it and get even more of it. Maybe that's just the nature of the human species and the cycle of evil will just continue.
I had a feeling this was a metaphor... a lot of people seem to have missed that lol
What do you mean? Steve explicitly says Benny is a real guy, he says it several times at the end. 🤔
The "geopolitical fable" part of the title gave it away for me.
@@davidstorrs That and the world map.
@@davidstorrs : That and the name.
Only if he'd called him, a "yahoo" would it have been more obvious too me.
Good punchline. It really landed.
You're a bad friend to yourself by being a good friend to bad friends
I know writers who use subtext, and they're all cowards.
I thought that this was going to be about being friends with people and learning they dont care if your rights get stripped away.
Ahhh Yes... Benjamin... Err I mean Benny....
Being a Semite, I would say "it's all about the Benjamins", but then the whole world would come down on me and force me, a Semite, to apologize for a perceived antisemitic comment... 🙄
The problem is Benny has a lot of influence and will make your life miserable if you don't keep bailing him out.
Benny has a lot of friends in Washington. Mango Mussolini is a BFF.
Wow-that was woven so very well. I'd be hard pressed to think of another Steve Shives video that was more masterfully written.
took me an embarrassingly long time to realize this was not a set up for a long Benny and the Jets pun then you brought it back at the end to make a pun after all, good work
I have to admit - I did not even suspect the reference until the very last second. Nicely done, sir.
::: mind blown :::
Rewatching with the context.
Not sure how I have made it to this point in my life without your brain in it.
:::thank you Jesse!!:::
❤
This is Steve! 😂
@paulvamos7319 correct.
Jesse introduced us.
@user-ye1go6hw9r 😂 Steve introduced me to Jesse!
@@paulvamos7319 : I already knew Jesse, but Dark Brandon introduced me to Steve.
I know Benny, too. Was only acquaintances with him though. I always tried to say that Benny's problem was that he seemed to believe that since he'd been bullied and pushed around for so long that couldn't be the bad guy no what he did, even when he did the same things the people who tormented him did. At first I thought he wasn't reflective enough to see it, but now I think he just doesn't care.
Damn fine work. Thank you…you’re right. 😕😔
Bennie and his predecessors have not been good friends for well over 50 years. Let's not get too forgetful of the other things that have happened in his back yard and even his front yard. Support should have been halted years ago. Thanks Steve we needed that talk.
Steve actually got me. Perhaps because I actually did have a friend like that.
I'd say a significant factor missing in the metaphor is Steve left out goading his friend into doing all sorts of questionable things since the start of the friendship, and made sure Benny had lots of money to do it with.
I noticed you've got real creative Steve since November 5th.
Best kind of response.
This was probably one of the best wroten one of these kinds of things you have done and l I have seen in a while. The dry somber tone realy sold it.
LOL 😆
I was listening to this in the background, and I was wondering why he was putting such emphasis on the words 'Is Real', then I went back and watched
😏
IMO this is an incredibly well-crafted video slowly building on the clues until the end. Looking in the comments it is amazing how many people still don't get it even after it is pointed out and explained to them. Perhaps it is as well. There are those who choose to remain deaf and blind to Benny's dysfunctional behaviour, and they will likely be offended by the implications.
Ok I got it at the end. Excellent takedown of “Benny’s” “situation”
You need to have an intervention and set boundaries so “he”knows the consequences of his actions. Until he’s fully accountable for his actions he will never change.
Benny thinks it’s okay because the world was there for him…Not realizing he’s doing the EXACT same thing done to him to those around him…but much worse.
Thanks Steve.
We need you.
Please keep posting & creating.
Your commentary keeps us sane.
I love these slow burn weird tight little stories Steve tells. My stomach hurts from laughing
Unfortunately this is no laughing matter.
Been there, done that.
Thank you for sharing.
Damn that ending hit so hard, absolutely genius!
Talk about a surprise ending! Even with that map in the background. Point well made, and as we again watch people starving, Benny slows down food shipments. We should listen to Bernie Sanders .
Benny, geopolitics, yeah...
When I transitioned 12 years ago. I realized how many of my friends were bad friends. Friends I knew for 30 years, I guess were not really friends.
ok, but if you are the drug dealer, Benny is a good customer.
The difference in being good friends and being an enabler is something that some people are not capable of seeing.
Ayyyye! I got it! That was GREAT! Just a couple minutes in I was thinking “hm this reminds me of… “ I did also think about how your house is probably a place that is outside the cops jurisdiction and because of the paperwork they can’t pick him up there. So it really is important that you stop inviting him over and try less to help him out. 😬
Same. At first I thought it was an actual individual story that was similar. Then 2-3 mins in, I looked back at the title again and went, "Oh."
This channel has started to present a gut churning number of long form puns and I AM HERE FOR IT.
Exactly. Benny won't learn unless his enablers stop helping him. He is just going to keep harming everyone around him. He obviously didn't learn anything from the past. He is causing the future harm of his own people, he isn't keeping them safe. Benny is a terrible friend and has to be let go. It's ok to let go of toxic people...
Knowing Steve, I was expecting this to be a metaphor or a punchline joke, and at first I assumed it was going to be a metaphor for Trump Supporters, but then I was like “warrant out for arrest..,Trump was already convicted.., wait… BIBI!!!”
With a couple little changes it applies equally well to them!
This is my rule... And I've had friends, good and great, from all walks of life.
"A good friend will tell you what you want to hear. A great friend will tell you what you NEED to hear. Which friend do you want me to be?"
And I let them decide. So it can't backfire, and I knew I made the right choice, no doubts.
I think you can apply that to every "Benny" in your life. Especially those that R-real.
You just have to tell "friends" that you're "gonna have to draw the line", sometimes.
Steve, you are an amazing young man.
Nailed it.
Taking Benny in when you know Benny is sought by the police could easily lead to a 'harboring " charge against Steve.
Well, 'Steve' doesn't recognise the authority of the court, and as he has enough guns to scare off any cops that could try to enforce a verdict on Benny, there probably won't ever be any consequences for him for sheltering Benny.
The big problem: You aren't the only friend Benny has. Even though in his neighbourhood he isn't that well regarded, he has a lot of friends sticking up for him.
They won't turn him in either ..., fuck they will keep helping him double down ...
They said in the past: "Benny, don't cross this line, we won't help you anymore." and he crossed it and they kept helping him ...
And it pains me to see with how much shit everyone lets Benny get away with.
Excellent parable, very relevant to contemporary geopolitics.
I think there may be a metaphor here...eh, no time to consider that. Not when EGGS are so expensive. 😮💨
Shame on you!
Benny's dad was bullied, therefore you have to let Benny off, no matter what he does.
Because his dad was bullied, you see. That means something to all of us, who weren't his bullies.
Very creative monologue.👏👏👏
I should have waited until the end to post a comment about friendship lol.
That was smooth Steve. I agree
I get it. Thanks for the allegory.
Knocked it out of the park again Steve 🙌
You are quickly becoming one of my favorite creators. Great stuff, as always.
I'm not saying I wasn't invested in your personal story, but the ending hit me "The usual suspects"-style. The map in plain view all the time. Almost broke my favorite coffe mug.
I completely agree with this. Very nicely done.
friends just like family. you choose. they may have been there for a hunk of it but in the end. they come like seasons and are every changing with or without your involvement.
This Benny sounds like a real nutty yahoo, tbh.
And you already made it pretty clear, you know it and everyone else does too -- you gotta stop giving him your money and your stuff! That's what we've all been saying, but... yeah, you're not the kind of "upstanding, moral person" you keep claiming to be, and I don't think you'll stop helping Benny either.
In fact, I think a big part of you actually *wants* him to keep doing what he's doing, because that part of you thinks it's Really Important Stuff that *has* to happen so your own schemes will come to pass!
"Benny" should go to jail, but you should still support your real friend.
Hopefully the courts will NET this YAHOO.
OKAY!!!!!!!!
Bravo MR Shives. Very well said!!!
Well done.
Thank you for sharing your views on Benny! Maybe it's a coincidence, but I think I know this Benny, and I'm in a similar situation. My parents had a really troubled past, and as a matter of fact, many, many, many things they did were really abhorrent and detestable. And some of the worst things they did involved Benny's family. As time went on, all I could do was hope that Benny would forgive me, and I was glad enough that Benny kinda accepted that I wanted to do better than my parents and correct some of the wrongs they did. In fact, we struck up kind of like a friendship, but I always felt like I owed him. I owed him big time. And that's why I started finding more and more excuses for what Benny did. And now, most of the time, I just keep my eyes shut when it comes to Benny, even though I know that some of the shit he's been doing could remind me of what my own parents used to do. Who am I to judge? I don't think I will ever really speak up. For the longest time, I was hoping that maybe you could control Benny's behavior and keep him in the right tracks, but now I'm thinking that all could be lost after January 20tth.
These seem like some really germane anecdotes.
The anecdotes are quite _germane_ .
The anecdotes are _gggeeerrrmmmaaannn..._ *gestures at map*