Small correction to whomever it may interest: Mao and Stalin didn't "apply" marxism, because Marx never instructed on how to build a communist or even a socialist state. As a hegelian, Marx despised idealism, so he dedicated his works to critique and instruct about capitalism and it's shortcomings and contradictions and why it needs to be overcome, but he didn't know how a communist state would be like and only could think of a basic, early strategy of how the workers could seize the means of production and start to walk towards this thing called "communism", but he refrained from going into too much detail because he knew that first the workers should unite, THEN, and ONLY THEN could they devise a strategy that works for that country, that time period, that situation. The first (famous) person to write about what a socialist state could be in practice was Lenin in the USSR. He started doing that only when the workers of USSR were sufficiently organized and he devised strategies and tactics on how to apply it. Marxism-Leninism refers to this combination of Marx's critique of capitalism and Lenin's strategy to fight it in a country which was taken by it. All that said, Ford's lines about how Marx "caused" Mao and Stalin, regardless on how you should particularly feel about the two figures, falls flat, since Marx has no responsibility on what people do with his critique, and has never instructed any socialist leader on how to run their country. On the other hand, Ford's association with Hitler wasn't just a passive thing, there was a very documented mutual admiration between them, IIRC Ford had a picture of Hitler on his office, and Hitler had one of him. Ford mass produced military vehicles to help Nazi Germany's war effort, and he was (also very documented) an open anti-semite.
Agreed, anyone who thinks Marxism is responsible for either Mao or Stalin, doesn't understand Marxism. The only way that it could be responsible was if Marx had direct connection to either of them. There are a great many philosophical ideologies that were adopted to allow those doing so to take power. It is not the fault of the ideology. As you said, a critique is a neutral position that points out the evils, it is not saying one is bad so another position by extension must be good but that's how people view things. The divisionists are generally what causes an ideology to succeed or fail unless it becomes a monopoly the way capitalism has and capitalism is one of the world's most evil ideologies which is played out on a daily basis. People scream about the evils of socialism but it has never been allowed to exist because capitalism must kill any potential rival and capitalist interests have always moved against any attempts to create socialist societies in the most ideal sense that they could be. It also has to demonise any system that isn't capitalistic because that is where capitalist societies drown their power from. Half the time I see people talking about socialism and they demonstrably have no fucking clue and are just regurgitating the false propaganda.
It's also worth pointing out that the USSR was in many ways quite antithetical to the principles Marx laid out, the linchpin of which was that workers would control the means of production, and have a say in both economic and political matters. Things started going wrong in Soviet Russia early on, when the Bolsheviks annulled the results of the first general elections due to losing them, for the official reason that since the country was very much still in midst of civil war, continuity in governance was for the moment needed. Lenin might have meant that, too, since he believed that people would come to choose communism of their own free will, once the oppressive structures of old had been torn down. He died just a few years into the revolution, however, and power passed onto Stalin -- who soon made it clear he had no intention of sharing it. Initially there was quite extensive liberty of commerce in the USSR, and the many co-ops were set up so the workers could indeed own and operate the factories and farms themselves. This all came crashing down in the late 20s, however, when Stalin enacted the forced collectivization of virtually all property worth anything. This angered many of his compatriots, who felt -- IMO correctly -- that the workers now had even less say in things than under bourgeois rule: Instead of being owned by wealthy individuals who could at least be pressured into enacting improvements in working conditions, everything was now controlled by the distant, uncaring bureaucracy of the state. The old guard of the revolution was also increasingly annoyed by Stalin's refusal to give up the special powers bestowed upon the chairman during the civil war and instate democracy. Things came to head in the 30s, when Stalin finally gave his response: The Great Purge, which saw everyone not unblinkingly loyal to him systematically imprisoned, exiled or killed. After the Purge, there was little point in talking about the USSR as anything other than a brutal dictatorship. Communism had become just an empty promise to placate the masses so they could more easily be controlled. This was then the model of "communism" the USSR actively imported to other countries, supporting movements that followed the Stalinist model of highly militant totalitarianism, including Mao's rebels. Not only that, but the Soviet Union also worked to SUPPRESS communist movements more aligned with Marx's ideas, the most flagrant example of this being Czechoslovakia in 1968: The local communist party was moving ahead with reforms which would've given people greater civil liberties, done away with the single-party system and allowed private entrepreneurship. Everything was done in accordance to the law, and the reforms had widespread popular support. The Soviet Union saw this as such an immense threat that it invaded the country and installed a puppet regime which put an end to the reforms. This was really the point when all but the most stubborn admirers of the USSR in Europe realised it wasn't what it claimed to be -- not by a long shot.
Yeah but Lennon still killed a lot of people And he was pretty close to Getting to what Mark's wanted but here's the thing about all those world leaders the idea of communism is a state of his state which means that there could be no communist country there could just be communism. But here's the thing Stalin at the beginning of his role was somewhat communist the holodomor was When he started to go off the deep end and seems like he didn't really know much about communism because he did redistribute the food to the cities but he took everything from the farmers which led to mass starvation
I LOVE the decision to listen to the verse altogether first, and then break it down! Let’s the momentum cook and then you don’t interrupt the flow at awkward times by accident. Love your content Knox!
A lot of reactors will stop in the middle of a line and be confused about what it means, then go on without backing up and be just as confused about the second part because they have already forgotten what the previous line was.
I hope Knox continues this trend with future ERB reactions. He seemed super knowledgeable in this one too. Looking forward to future ERB reactions even more now.
The Brazil line killed me. Henry Ford started a city in Brazil called Fordlandia. Rubber was cheaper to harvest from gum trees which were in plentiful supply out in Brazil. The whole attempt failed fantastically yet the ruins still stand to this day.
Wendigoon did a video on Fordlandia and the whole thing speaks to Ford's delusion that "the American way" as Ford envisioned it would work in any country and culture.
To be honest, this is one of the best performances of Karl Marx I've ever seen. Lloyd captures his passion and his vitriol with gusto, along with the tortured misery of his skin affliction, and the makeup is spot on. The accent works too. If there is a casting director looking for someone to play Marx in a TV series or a Movie, I would go so far to say that Lloyd could be a serious consideration.
The competiton caught up too. There are a lot of other channels that have history/pop-culture rap-battles with writing as good as ERB's. Some of them even have the same production quality in the videos, and upload more regularly too. Check out Freshy Kanal
I mean this in the most sincere way: I wasn’t expecting a rapper breakdown to get all the lyrics and be able to explain it in real time. Strong work, friendo.
What I love about the ERB is the educational part of it. I am not American, so I don’t know what they learn in the school about Henry Ford, but we learned only about his accomplishments in revolutionising mass production. I really didn’t know that he was such a f*cking piece of sh*t of a human being, that he spied on his workers and allowed them to be massacred when they protested against him, and that he supported nazis.
@@psgistheworstclubineurope yeah, my bad, I admit it. We barely touched it in our history lessons, and I had other subjects to concentrate myself at (I was preparing to my graduation exams in mathematics and physics at the time), but I should've known some of these facts anyway. But, now I know how terrible he was.
11:21 just want to add something you may not have picked up on, that line about not reading shit is probably a reference to the fact that many people who are fervently anti-communist base their entire opinion of Marx and anti-capitalist ideology off of existing preconceptions, memes, assumptions, and stereotypes instead of bothering to actually read the works of him or other Communist thinkers to truly understand what their ideals, goals, and intentions were.
True, my mom who hates communism, never could properly say WHAT is commumisn, now im not saying she cant disagree with commnunism, i do feel like "holy shit, you hate the ideology but cant describe it ?" This entire thing was because i was making a Karl Marx biography for my philosofy teacher.
You missed the key part of "bootstraps". The origin of "pick yourself up by your bootstraps" was to say to try to do something that is physically impossible. Since it is impossible to pick yourself up by your own bootstraps because that is like trying to pick yourself up by picking up your own feet. So the line is about trading in the fake dream of doing something impossible and treating it for the sure support of something like food stamps.
Actually he didn’t miss it, since that reference doesn’t apply. It would’ve been a good rebuttal if Marx mentioned it, but since he didn’t Ford’s line stands. He was only saying that Marx trades in the ability to control your destiny for not even being able to afford food. Kinda wish Marx said something about the bootstraps line.
With the way language and meaning evolves, and considering all the hard times in history, it's not strange that the bootstraps idiom shifted from "that's impossible." to "Well, we have no recourse but to do the impossible, so get to it." to "just do it."
Maybe it meant that to begin with, but the phrase has been taken back. Now it means "benefit your life by working for it" and it's being compared to a system of legalized indentured servitude where people are reliant on a system for pitiful sustenance and rungs are torn from the ladder so they can no longer improve themselves, hence food stamps.
@@TorazukiIt also could’ve been repurposed as a motivational/optimistic statement, like “You can do whatever you put your mind and heart to, even the impossible.”
Nothing is a better synopsis of herny ford's character as man than this one sentence: Henry Ford and Adolf Hitler were both massive fans of each other, and had pictures of each other on their desks in their main office
In the 30’s, Nazism and Fascism were considered desirable alternatives the the “true enemy.” Communism. The United States was a bit behind the rest of the world, passing judgement on Germany. But finally did after Pearl Harbor.
When it dropped yesterday, I was rofl the whole time while thinking "I can't wait to see Knox's reaction to it" well...I wasn't disappointed! What an Amazing break down! Thank you @KnoxHill ! Have a blessed day
I loved how you decided to do this episode and breakdown. Letting the verses go freely before breaking them down. Helps my brain enjoy it more, in past episodes, when the verse was cutoff to be explained and broken down it would always leave me a little "starved of action" in a sense. I'm really glad you decided to switch it up and let the verse play fully this time around! Thank you!
So glad I didn't have to wait to get your reaction and break down. I literally was thinking you'd have so much fun and so much to say about this battle when I listened to it the first time.
Fun fact: “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” was originally conceived as something frivolously impossible because factually it’s not something that make’s physical sense
@@metaempiricist It's definitely relevant to the context of the statement in general. In many instances where "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" is not possible in reality either in the situations it's applied to. Normalize context.
@@break1146 Lmao you bring up what it used to mean and now you're whining that it doesn't make sense where physics is concerned. Stop being such a clown.
I am thoroughly impressed with the amount of knowledge @Knox Hill has with history. His vids are far more than a reaction it is an in depth breakdown of not only the lyrics but a complete explanation and back story. Big props very entertaining and very impressed with this mans intellect.
I feel like he does watch the videos before and lies about it, because some lines are so obscure like scars guard - Skarsgard in joker v pennywise. I don’t have anything against Knox but I reckon he does a watch through before recording
The even worse thing about the car crashes bar, when cars were first invented the roads were still mostly meant for walking on, and automobile owners would drive down them at full speed anyway, when victims considered suing car companies for the accidentaly injuries and deaths, car companies started a smear campaign that coined the term "jaywalking" as an insult for people who walked in the road That's what led to it becoming a legal term, car companies refusing to admit they were irresponsible
Carbrain cultures like in North America still have this weird demented idea that it's always the pedestrian's fault when a barely sentient mouthbreather hits them with a several thousand pound death machine. And pedestrian deaths have skyrocketed since every dipshit wants to drive the biggest wankpanzer and suburban assault vehicle they can buy. Especially among toddlers, mostly from parents running over their own kids because they opted for a tank-sized truck with a 20 foot blind spot in front. Fun fact, automotive companies poured millions of dollars into market research that proved, objectively, that truck and SUV drivers are insecure, inconsiderate, selfish assholes. And Mark Rober did an experiment years ago that shows trucks/suvs were overwhelmingly likely to purposefully swerve to kill animals on the road.
This is the 4th or 5th reaction video I’ve watched for this battle in the past day, and it’s the first one that picked up on the “dung from a Taurus” = “bxllshxt” line. Nice!
I personally enjoy the way you did this one... listen to the verse, then go back and break it down... sucks when we stop so often to hit every single line it takes away the bigger punch of the verse, yes i know we stop alot, no im not new
@robertmasengale9366 As long as companies allow for it, sure. That doesn't often happen thoigh, and reactors have to protect themselves from legal departments.
This is the best channel on youtube when it comes to erb reactions. Not only are you well versed in rap/hip-hop but history as well (not to mention music, politics and other topics as well). That's what makes your reactions 10/10 Great vid!
if I am not mistaken, you havent reacted to all the ERBs yet, You should definitely bring back this series! Also love the formula of letting the whole verse play and then breaking it down.
Knox, I have no idea whether you just happen to know this much about history or whether you do research on the people before watching the battles, but either way I'm always impressed by how much you've got to offer in your commentary -- not just lyricism but the historical content.
Slight correction, Ford wasn't just being antisemitic while the holocaust was happening, his antisemitic writing started before the holocaust and has been cited as an inspiration for both Hitler and Himmler
First, I appreciate this new format you’re going for. Second, if you started making videos where you just explain different things in history, I think I would actually start remembering more historical events lol. I would definitely watch those kinds of videos if you decided to make them. Last thing, actually two. One, as a Metal fan I really appreciate that you react to rock and metal songs, as well as your regular rap and hip-hop fair. Two: have you ever reacted to any Tupac? if not, I would love to see your analysis of some of of his work.
Or maybe read books? Listening to different sources, and using the learning tactics that works best for you is good and all, but don't leave your education in the hands of a random history buff. That said, there is nothing wrong with historical content referencing proper sources, so the concept isn't a bad idea. I doubt it would be comparably popular here, though
@@jakob3044 i’m not sure if it would be as popular as his music breakdowns, but if he were to make the occasional video about it here and there, I would definitely watch. I do appreciate that advice, so thank you for that. I’ll just have to see what history I’m interested in and go from there. Looks like it’s time to go back to the library again.
@@bMt5553 Do as I say, not as I do. I'm no avid history reader either, so perhaps the advice was shallow to begin with. I think it's conceptually sound though. I shall try and get to reading as well, out of respect for your determination
One point to make - you are mistaking Private property (means of production like factories owned by private capital as opposed to publicly owned property) to PERSONAL property (like your shirt, cap or that legendary toothbrush)
Now this is a reaction. Analyzing and giving extra information. The addition gives context to the original but at the same time doesn't replace it because of the frequent stops and rewinds. Although I knew some of this stuff already, I learned quite a bit as well. Thanks for the excellent video!
As soon as I heard that Animal Farm bar, I thought, "Knox is gonna have something to say about this one!" Love your breakdowns, man! Not only a talented musician, but a historian as well! 😁
I like that you let the verse play iut before analyzing, it can help catch references that might've beeb missed because of details that might be in the next line. Great reaction!
I love watching you break down these ERB's, I'm nowhere near smart enough to pick up most of this stuff myself so you pointing it all out for us really helps me enjoy the genius of these raps properly. Thank you kindly sir.
I feel like there's a fun connection in the fact that ford ended his 2nd verse with "take the bourgeois pig shit back to animal farm" could be a mirror of 8 mile when wormbrains ended "take your white ass home across 8 mile to the trailer park" which is why Marx finishes his next verse with "clock into detroit and lose themselves like eminem" i don't know if the connection is really there but i thought it was fun Added flip to Marx's end to his 2nd verse would be the fact that Eminem did actually start out as a factory worker in the film 8 mile
Excellent breakdown Knox! If you look at the poll they show at the end of the battle, it looks like they're entertaining the idea of Tom Brady vs Diego Maradora, and I recommended they pick you if they do Tom Brady.
Thank fucking God you have a nuanced understanding of communism. It's so refreshing after seeing the word thrown around to describe anything people don't like.
@Nyx_2142 idk man he brings this shit off the dome. Maybe he does listen and try to research it before recording but even if so he still is doing the work to educate himself and us.
Young man I'm an old timer and I love your channel for the fact of the knowledge you have for your age it's a blessing to hear somebody your age actually know about history and learn about it.
Hope you get to finish the series out. If you are looking for another series to react to involving either Peter or Lloyd , I’d suggest Dis Raps for Hire. It’s a series where Lloyd reads a post about a situation of sorts, usually involving bullies, and disses them. Happy early holidays, Knox. Thanks for your breakdowns over the last 3 years. Appreciate your work!
It's actually very interesting to see how deep your historical knowledge goes. Not many would know all of this, and would be able to catch most of these bars. That's actually pretty cool
"Model T total lack of skill" also alludes to Ford requiring a teetotaler pledge from those that he hired. As Marx was a hard drinking, he'd take issue with that.
I think that in line "I throw you for loops like a F in my logo" there is also reference to "for loop" in programic languages or maybe i am overthinking this.
I gotta say i liked this one a lot more than the last one, Croft had too many "I'm so hot I don't have to care about what you say" lines. But this one hits! They both had amazing verses although i feel Ford's last verse was a bit wasted it was still a very even battle until Marx took it
Hi Knox, it’s amazing you are reacting to ERB Henry Ford vs Karl Marx and in my opinion I think Karl Marx won. I hope you and everyone else that reads this has a amazing great day.
Thank you for chsnging the format ^^ I used to be quite frustrated at times when you jumped in the analysis mid verse, it stopped the flow and reduced the imlact of the delivery in my opinion. Rn we have the best of both worlds : Great analysis and great watch
An interesting line in this ERB is when Marx said that "Engel's bank was the crank that got the revolution spinning". Marx saw capitalism as a progressive force, but one that was flawed and anti-worker. He saw capitalism was a tool, one that created the means of production that workers could then use to emancipate themselves from the horrible conditions they suffered.
Great analysis like always Knox. Going through your playlist recently and saw that you still haven't reacted to the first election battle with Obama yet. Looking forward to that soon
Eminem said it best "Music is like magic there's a certain feeling you get when you real and you spit and people are feeling your shit" From John Denver singing about the back roads of his childhood home in the mountains of West Virginia, to the latest rappers singing about how low his chain hangs, to Bob Marley singing about singing about the three little birds he met on his doorstep one morning, to a massive Hawaiian man strumming a tiny ukulele singing about a better place somewhere on the other side of that rainbow. Music can make you feel stuff and it's kind of crazy when you think about it
ABout the whole "Climate change and car crashes" line: It goes even further. It were car manufacturers like FOrd that lobbied for "Jaywalking" to be made a crime. Before cars, streets were there for everyone. Yes, it was at htat point mainly for carts, but people could cross the street wherever, and even early into cars it was the case. Just look at old pictures from, say, New YOrk! But cars hitting people etc. obviously was bad press. So what did the car moguls do? Blame the pedestrian! MAke that stuff THEIR Fault! And that isn't even getting into the Suburbia nightmare that destroyed walkable, liveable towns and cities in favour of bulldozed, space wasting car towns. Other youtube channels, i hope the "plug" is OK, like NotJUstBikes have videos on that. YOu had US towns that were just as walkable (and with good public transportation!) as most towns and cities in europe. Then the dream of suburbia and a car for everyone got spread to sell mroe cars. Then there was stuff, even if Ford wasn't involved, like the Red Car COnspiracy...
Nah fuck walkable. Having a car is one of the best parts about being alive in this era of human history. Im all for making them in a sustainable, non pollutinng factories but there’s zero need to demonize them as a concept like some how walking around a city is better.
@@alvatrousWalkable towns isn't a prescription to completely deny all other forms of ability to shop outside the neighborhood, but that there should be a focus on having neighborhoods half things that are necessary (such as grocery stores, parks, and other places like that) should be walkable so you don't have to drive just to get basic stuff.
I like that the movie "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" actually took a real event from history (The Red Car Conspiracy) and made it a major plot line within the movie.
people often forget how incredibly harsh winters can be... walkable or bikeable is not happening here from december to march, especially hauling groceries
Quick note, anybody interested should look up the etemology of the phrase "Pick yourself up by your bootstraps." It's not quite the slogan of self-actualization and the American Dream it's so often applied as.
The sad thing is, we do have road laws like that. You're only supposed to pass on the right, never the left. But the joy of being an American means we're too free to give a fuck about things like public safety if it impedes on our immediate convenience
Great job on this reaction Knox, but I just want to clear up a few misconceptions: 6:36 Marx did make a distinction between private and personal property. Private property is what Knox describes as “bourgeois property”, Marx never advocated for redistributing your toothbrush or anything like that. 18:36 One of the reasons Marx is famous is because he denounced a lot of the earlier forms of socialism pioneered by people like Proudhon as utopian and not based in material reality. He instead created a more scientific type of socialism that used a form of Hegelian dialectics and incorporated historical materialism. So Marx definitely wasn’t utopian, or at least not in the socialist sense. 25:17 Yeah this one’s a bit unfortunate. However Marx and Engels were never against being rich or wealthy people in general, they were against the bourgeoisie because of their exploitation of the working class. Engels had a lot of money because of his family’s business, but he himself only worked there for a few years so you could argue he wasn’t too much of a hypocrite.
Marx had to make a distinction without a difference between private property and personal property because his labor theory of value was being utterly destroyed by his opponents. His response "oh, that's personal property so it doesn't count" is pretty silly. It's true that there were socialists that were almost comically utopian, but Marxism is also inherently utopian. His criticism of capitalism ends with a prediction that the workers conditions will get so bad they will throw off their chains and society will enter a new era of vaguely defined communism. I also think you are missing the point that the only way people accrue lots of wealth is through exploitation of workers, which would be impossible under his economically utopian communist society, so it is kind of hypocritical. I guess he's saying its ok because it's a mean to an end to bring in the revolution.
@@JWar- How exactly was the ltv being destroyed at the time? Plus even if you are right and personal property was added later in response, you can’t really dismiss an important distinction within Marxism just because Marx added it later. You’re acting like improving your ideas in response to criticism is a bad thing. Marxism is a scientific school of thought that bases itself on the contradictions within class society. Capitalism’s need for endless growth causes the capitalist class to extract increasing amounts of profit at the expense of workers, which inevitably leads to the conditions for the working class deteriorating. This is one of the main contradictions of capitalism. The worsening conditions lead to discontent within the proletariat increasing, which creates the possibility of revolts or revolutions like what’s happened many times in history. Communism is not “vaguely defined” it’s explicitly stated to be a classesless stateless society where people contribute according to their ability and receive based on their needs. This is the higher stage of communism that is reached after a socialist transitory period once capitalism and the bourgeoisie are eliminated. As for Engels, I don’t entirely agree with his actions in that regard. I don’t think anyone should see historical figure as immune to criticism no matter how favorably you view them. However, Engels only really worked for his family business for 5 years after getting hounded by his parents wanting him to take over the company, so he didn’t take too much of a part in the exploitation himself. It’s true that the wealth was taken through capitalist exploitation, but it’s both impossible and pointless to redistribute everything back to who it was stolen from. Engels probably accepted it as something bad that couldn’t be undone and dedicated that money to ensuring that such exploitation wouldn’t happen in the future.
That's not true though that capitalism solely needs human workers for accrual of wealth. More importantly they need Customers. If a Factory is fully automated, robotics/robots , A.I. run. no human workers to be seen ...the Owner of the Factory can still accrue wealth as long as there are Buyers for his goods. Eventually there will be the scenario where workers in factories disappear as the machines take over. As long as there are Workers present though then co-ownership should be put in practice. Every worker should get a certain amount of shareholding as part of their employment contract, not just management. If wages are divorced from Labour & people are instead paid a Citizen's Wage/Shareholders Dividend then it is as Consumers that they make choices on their Consumption & the Owners whose Factories fulfill their consumption demands will keep on accruing wealth. It is possible to have a System that is neither Socialist nor Capitalist ...yet both. Socialised/Distributed/Humanised Capitalism. Instead of Labour/Socialism vs Capital/Capitalism you break the distinction by making every Worker/Citizen a Capitalist through making every Citizen/Worker a Shareholder in the Economy as a whole not just a stakeholder in the Democratic Society. You socialise Capitalism by having that factory not just owned by one Owner or by a small circle of Shareholders but also co-owned by any present workers and/or by the local community in which the Factory exists in & beyond that more generally partially owned by the wider Society. eg 50% Private 25% Local/Regional Community & 25% by the national State on behalf of the whole Nation. There is no reason on Earth that things have to be either extreme of fully privately owned ...or completely Socialised/Nationalised. All capitalist enterprises should be Partnerships between Private owners/shareholders, Local Workers/Citizens/Public and the Central Gov. There is no reason the Governments couldn't be owners of a Minority Stake in every Corporation/company & use their share of Owner Dvidends as a Social Dividend to fund Gov services & a Social Dividend Citizen's Wage :) You can build a Society/Economy that truly includes the best of Capitalism & the best of Socialism without the Flaws of each.
They may not put out videos as often as they used to, due to being independent now, but dear lord does the Epic Rap Battle team release some unadulterated bangers.
Just to adress your question on 6:55. When Marx speaks about private property, our modern concept of belongings did not exist. The private property he refers to includes farms, forests, factories, tools... private ownership of the means of production and not of the products. An easy way to visualize this is the origin of the term 'Soviet,' which comes from soviets, worker councils that managed factories and other properties.
I love that the main argument for capitalists is that poverty reduced while inequality raised under capitalism, but it didn't reduced if you don't account for China and Vietnam that are self proclaimed socialist countries.
Actually no because sometimes if a reactor whose big enough reacts to a smaller or equal sized creator within a day or two that video loses all of its traction doesn't matter if it was doing good the first or 2nd day after that it's pretty much killed this happened with the act man and whatshisname where act man's video was doing great in the first and second day but then whatshisname reacted to it and it immediately lost all traction they agreed to reacting videos 4 days after they come out to let the video build in the algorithm because the most you're gonna make on a video is within the first week after that the video doesn't make as much in the algorithm and that is especially true here where erb and knox hill are somewhat equal in size so if knox hill reacted to it right as the video came out it could lose some traction in the algorithm Edit: the guy was asmongold I rarely watch him I always think of him as a loser version of moist critikal
I do appreciate the new format. Obviously I love the breakdown, but I feel like to connect everything, and truly appreciate the verse, listening to it as a whole before getting to the nitty gritty is an improvement.
Man it's really subtle but I have the slightest impression that Knox might not think Ford is a good person. :P Loved this reaction, you really went into crazy amounts of detail with both of them!
Ford wasn’t the father of the production line, he just popularized the model for motor vehicle production. Models similar to the modern version of assembly lines have existed since the very early 19th century (between 1801 and 1803)
It's been turned into a right-wing capitalist dog whistle. "You aren't being exploited, you just aren't working hard enough." Its resulted in an entire voter base convinced that they are merely temporarily embarrassed millionaires and that they'll hit the big leagues any day now.
I'd just like to point out that originally the "pick yourself up by your bootstraps" was a way of describing an impossible act, as no matter how much you pull on your own bootstraps, it'll never lift you anywhere.
Damn! The speed of that notif click tho, been waiting for this one😂 Unrelated, Knox, love your content, while we're on the battle topic, might I recommend Freshy Kanal rap battles?😂😅❤
Seeing how you break down lyrics I really think you'd enjoy alot of the game-based songs The Stupendium does, every bar has like eight layers to pull back and the wordplay is on point. The newest one "The Ark and the Tinderbox" is based on Frostpunk, and I recommend all of his frostpunk songs honestly, the newest calls back to the older ones as well.
And one of Ford’s his lines is reminiscent of one Spielberg said. “I produce with my two hands” - Henry Ford “I produce cartoons and make games for all ages” - Steven Spielberg very interesting.
Small correction to whomever it may interest: Mao and Stalin didn't "apply" marxism, because Marx never instructed on how to build a communist or even a socialist state. As a hegelian, Marx despised idealism, so he dedicated his works to critique and instruct about capitalism and it's shortcomings and contradictions and why it needs to be overcome, but he didn't know how a communist state would be like and only could think of a basic, early strategy of how the workers could seize the means of production and start to walk towards this thing called "communism", but he refrained from going into too much detail because he knew that first the workers should unite, THEN, and ONLY THEN could they devise a strategy that works for that country, that time period, that situation. The first (famous) person to write about what a socialist state could be in practice was Lenin in the USSR. He started doing that only when the workers of USSR were sufficiently organized and he devised strategies and tactics on how to apply it. Marxism-Leninism refers to this combination of Marx's critique of capitalism and Lenin's strategy to fight it in a country which was taken by it.
All that said, Ford's lines about how Marx "caused" Mao and Stalin, regardless on how you should particularly feel about the two figures, falls flat, since Marx has no responsibility on what people do with his critique, and has never instructed any socialist leader on how to run their country. On the other hand, Ford's association with Hitler wasn't just a passive thing, there was a very documented mutual admiration between them, IIRC Ford had a picture of Hitler on his office, and Hitler had one of him. Ford mass produced military vehicles to help Nazi Germany's war effort, and he was (also very documented) an open anti-semite.
Agreed, anyone who thinks Marxism is responsible for either Mao or Stalin, doesn't understand Marxism. The only way that it could be responsible was if Marx had direct connection to either of them. There are a great many philosophical ideologies that were adopted to allow those doing so to take power. It is not the fault of the ideology. As you said, a critique is a neutral position that points out the evils, it is not saying one is bad so another position by extension must be good but that's how people view things. The divisionists are generally what causes an ideology to succeed or fail unless it becomes a monopoly the way capitalism has and capitalism is one of the world's most evil ideologies which is played out on a daily basis. People scream about the evils of socialism but it has never been allowed to exist because capitalism must kill any potential rival and capitalist interests have always moved against any attempts to create socialist societies in the most ideal sense that they could be. It also has to demonise any system that isn't capitalistic because that is where capitalist societies drown their power from. Half the time I see people talking about socialism and they demonstrably have no fucking clue and are just regurgitating the false propaganda.
It's also worth pointing out that the USSR was in many ways quite antithetical to the principles Marx laid out, the linchpin of which was that workers would control the means of production, and have a say in both economic and political matters. Things started going wrong in Soviet Russia early on, when the Bolsheviks annulled the results of the first general elections due to losing them, for the official reason that since the country was very much still in midst of civil war, continuity in governance was for the moment needed. Lenin might have meant that, too, since he believed that people would come to choose communism of their own free will, once the oppressive structures of old had been torn down. He died just a few years into the revolution, however, and power passed onto Stalin -- who soon made it clear he had no intention of sharing it.
Initially there was quite extensive liberty of commerce in the USSR, and the many co-ops were set up so the workers could indeed own and operate the factories and farms themselves. This all came crashing down in the late 20s, however, when Stalin enacted the forced collectivization of virtually all property worth anything. This angered many of his compatriots, who felt -- IMO correctly -- that the workers now had even less say in things than under bourgeois rule: Instead of being owned by wealthy individuals who could at least be pressured into enacting improvements in working conditions, everything was now controlled by the distant, uncaring bureaucracy of the state. The old guard of the revolution was also increasingly annoyed by Stalin's refusal to give up the special powers bestowed upon the chairman during the civil war and instate democracy. Things came to head in the 30s, when Stalin finally gave his response: The Great Purge, which saw everyone not unblinkingly loyal to him systematically imprisoned, exiled or killed.
After the Purge, there was little point in talking about the USSR as anything other than a brutal dictatorship. Communism had become just an empty promise to placate the masses so they could more easily be controlled. This was then the model of "communism" the USSR actively imported to other countries, supporting movements that followed the Stalinist model of highly militant totalitarianism, including Mao's rebels. Not only that, but the Soviet Union also worked to SUPPRESS communist movements more aligned with Marx's ideas, the most flagrant example of this being Czechoslovakia in 1968: The local communist party was moving ahead with reforms which would've given people greater civil liberties, done away with the single-party system and allowed private entrepreneurship. Everything was done in accordance to the law, and the reforms had widespread popular support. The Soviet Union saw this as such an immense threat that it invaded the country and installed a puppet regime which put an end to the reforms. This was really the point when all but the most stubborn admirers of the USSR in Europe realised it wasn't what it claimed to be -- not by a long shot.
Yeah but Lennon still killed a lot of people And he was pretty close to Getting to what Mark's wanted but here's the thing about all those world leaders the idea of communism is a state of his state which means that there could be no communist country there could just be communism. But here's the thing Stalin at the beginning of his role was somewhat communist the holodomor was When he started to go off the deep end and seems like he didn't really know much about communism because he did redistribute the food to the cities but he took everything from the farmers which led to mass starvation
But here's the thing@@Michael-zi3kk
@@jakob3044 what's the thing?
I LOVE the decision to listen to the verse altogether first, and then break it down! Let’s the momentum cook and then you don’t interrupt the flow at awkward times by accident.
Love your content Knox!
yeah, if you don't listen to the whole verse, it looses some of the oomph. So listening to it whole first hits much better.
You said it perfectly!
A lot of reactors will stop in the middle of a line and be confused about what it means, then go on without backing up and be just as confused about the second part because they have already forgotten what the previous line was.
this was definitely a positive change from his previous reactions to erb.
I hope Knox continues this trend with future ERB reactions. He seemed super knowledgeable in this one too. Looking forward to future ERB reactions even more now.
The Brazil line killed me. Henry Ford started a city in Brazil called Fordlandia. Rubber was cheaper to harvest from gum trees which were in plentiful supply out in Brazil. The whole attempt failed fantastically yet the ruins still stand to this day.
Well-spotted! That line kinda stuck out as extraneous for me until those synapses fired about 2 seconds later.
Wendigoon did a video on Fordlandia and the whole thing speaks to Ford's delusion that "the American way" as Ford envisioned it would work in any country and culture.
@@vitoc8454Ford underestimated brazillian's willpower to not work😂
fordlandia is such a goofy name for a city lmao
To be honest, this is one of the best performances of Karl Marx I've ever seen. Lloyd captures his passion and his vitriol with gusto, along with the tortured misery of his skin affliction, and the makeup is spot on. The accent works too. If there is a casting director looking for someone to play Marx in a TV series or a Movie, I would go so far to say that Lloyd could be a serious consideration.
Couldn't agree more.
They just released the ERB2 video and Lloyd went into his thought process on and preparation he put into the voice
THAT WAS LLOYD???? I didn't even realize. Goddamn this man is great at playing any role
Wow I didn’t know there were people still alive who knew Marx. You must know so much about what kind of person he was in real life…
@@tomkapa It’s documented. That he had a skin condition and was always grumpy because of it.
Its a shame that ERB videos dont get the same amount of views as they used to, because the songs are still really good.
It’s hard to get as many views when they don’t publish at the same clip as before. The quality is there but not the quantity.
Yeah I agree, but I think it has a lot to do with the fact that they only drop like once a year now.
Didn't they reach #1 in music on youtube with this one?
maybe not immediately but they still rack up millions of views
The competiton caught up too. There are a lot of other channels that have history/pop-culture rap-battles with writing as good as ERB's. Some of them even have the same production quality in the videos, and upload more regularly too.
Check out Freshy Kanal
I mean this in the most sincere way: I wasn’t expecting a rapper breakdown to get all the lyrics and be able to explain it in real time. Strong work, friendo.
Knox is phenomenal at his breakdowns. If this is your first time watching welcome to the rabbit hole.
What I love about the ERB is the educational part of it. I am not American, so I don’t know what they learn in the school about Henry Ford, but we learned only about his accomplishments in revolutionising mass production. I really didn’t know that he was such a f*cking piece of sh*t of a human being, that he spied on his workers and allowed them to be massacred when they protested against him, and that he supported nazis.
Yeah a lot of the successful people from that era were sicks. Edison was supposedly the same way.
If you thought Ford was entirely good person you're living under a rock 😂
In school we mostly learn the positives but none of the negatives.
@@alvatrous well, it didn't change a bit. Look at Musk with his support of russia, for example.
@@psgistheworstclubineurope yeah, my bad, I admit it. We barely touched it in our history lessons, and I had other subjects to concentrate myself at (I was preparing to my graduation exams in mathematics and physics at the time), but I should've known some of these facts anyway. But, now I know how terrible he was.
11:21 just want to add something you may not have picked up on, that line about not reading shit is probably a reference to the fact that many people who are fervently anti-communist base their entire opinion of Marx and anti-capitalist ideology off of existing preconceptions, memes, assumptions, and stereotypes instead of bothering to actually read the works of him or other Communist thinkers to truly understand what their ideals, goals, and intentions were.
They read junk talking shit about Marx & Marxism but never actually take time to read Marx or others supporting Marx's views.
True, my mom who hates communism, never could properly say WHAT is commumisn, now im not saying she cant disagree with commnunism, i do feel like "holy shit, you hate the ideology but cant describe it ?"
This entire thing was because i was making a Karl Marx biography for my philosofy teacher.
it might also be a reference to nazi's burning books, fantastic line!
You missed the key part of "bootstraps".
The origin of "pick yourself up by your bootstraps" was to say to try to do something that is physically impossible. Since it is impossible to pick yourself up by your own bootstraps because that is like trying to pick yourself up by picking up your own feet.
So the line is about trading in the fake dream of doing something impossible and treating it for the sure support of something like food stamps.
Which is why I find it funny when people use that term
Actually he didn’t miss it, since that reference doesn’t apply. It would’ve been a good rebuttal if Marx mentioned it, but since he didn’t Ford’s line stands. He was only saying that Marx trades in the ability to control your destiny for not even being able to afford food. Kinda wish Marx said something about the bootstraps line.
With the way language and meaning evolves, and considering all the hard times in history, it's not strange that the bootstraps idiom shifted from "that's impossible." to "Well, we have no recourse but to do the impossible, so get to it." to "just do it."
Maybe it meant that to begin with, but the phrase has been taken back. Now it means "benefit your life by working for it" and it's being compared to a system of legalized indentured servitude where people are reliant on a system for pitiful sustenance and rungs are torn from the ladder so they can no longer improve themselves, hence food stamps.
@@TorazukiIt also could’ve been repurposed as a motivational/optimistic statement, like “You can do whatever you put your mind and heart to, even the impossible.”
Nothing is a better synopsis of herny ford's character as man than this one sentence: Henry Ford and Adolf Hitler were both massive fans of each other, and had pictures of each other on their desks in their main office
In the 30’s, Nazism and Fascism were considered desirable alternatives the the “true enemy.” Communism.
The United States was a bit behind the rest of the world, passing judgement on Germany. But finally did after Pearl Harbor.
When it dropped yesterday, I was rofl the whole time while thinking "I can't wait to see Knox's reaction to it" well...I wasn't disappointed! What an Amazing break down! Thank you @KnoxHill ! Have a blessed day
Never thought I'd hear ROFL in 2023😂
I loved how you decided to do this episode and breakdown. Letting the verses go freely before breaking them down. Helps my brain enjoy it more, in past episodes, when the verse was cutoff to be explained and broken down it would always leave me a little "starved of action" in a sense. I'm really glad you decided to switch it up and let the verse play fully this time around! Thank you!
Knox’s history lessons!! Love it!!🔥
🤟 Appreciate you
So entertaining!❤
So glad I didn't have to wait to get your reaction and break down. I literally was thinking you'd have so much fun and so much to say about this battle when I listened to it the first time.
Fun fact: “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” was originally conceived as something frivolously impossible because factually it’s not something that make’s physical sense
It's the equivalent to "let them eat cake."
Fun fact gay used to just mean happy. Meanings change and your archaic reference is boomerish.
@@metaempiricist It's definitely relevant to the context of the statement in general. In many instances where "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" is not possible in reality either in the situations it's applied to. Normalize context.
@@break1146 Lmao you bring up what it used to mean and now you're whining that it doesn't make sense where physics is concerned. Stop being such a clown.
@@metaempiricist I think gay has been associated with homosexuality since way before the 1950s, so perhaps not boomerish
I am thoroughly impressed with the amount of knowledge @Knox Hill has with history. His vids are far more than a reaction it is an in depth breakdown of not only the lyrics but a complete explanation and back story. Big props very entertaining and very impressed with this mans intellect.
This guy knows more about history than the historians reacting to it
I feel like he does watch the videos before and lies about it, because some lines are so obscure like scars guard - Skarsgard in joker v pennywise. I don’t have anything against Knox but I reckon he does a watch through before recording
I am pleasantly surprised at how educated Knox actually is on the topic, we're getting a more in-depth history lesson than with Mr. Terry
Ayo don't disrespect the goat Mr Terry
I’m still waiting for Teacher Eddie’s breakdown
@@artembentsionov Hopefully it brings him back. He hasn't done anything in 3-4 months.
@@bigheel2k I know he’s had issues with depression before
The even worse thing about the car crashes bar, when cars were first invented the roads were still mostly meant for walking on, and automobile owners would drive down them at full speed anyway, when victims considered suing car companies for the accidentaly injuries and deaths, car companies started a smear campaign that coined the term "jaywalking" as an insult for people who walked in the road
That's what led to it becoming a legal term, car companies refusing to admit they were irresponsible
Carbrain cultures like in North America still have this weird demented idea that it's always the pedestrian's fault when a barely sentient mouthbreather hits them with a several thousand pound death machine. And pedestrian deaths have skyrocketed since every dipshit wants to drive the biggest wankpanzer and suburban assault vehicle they can buy. Especially among toddlers, mostly from parents running over their own kids because they opted for a tank-sized truck with a 20 foot blind spot in front.
Fun fact, automotive companies poured millions of dollars into market research that proved, objectively, that truck and SUV drivers are insecure, inconsiderate, selfish assholes. And Mark Rober did an experiment years ago that shows trucks/suvs were overwhelmingly likely to purposefully swerve to kill animals on the road.
This is the 4th or 5th reaction video I’ve watched for this battle in the past day, and it’s the first one that picked up on the “dung from a Taurus” = “bxllshxt” line. Nice!
I personally enjoy the way you did this one... listen to the verse, then go back and break it down... sucks when we stop so often to hit every single line it takes away the bigger punch of the verse, yes i know we stop alot, no im not new
This is a much better format.
@robertmasengale9366 As long as companies allow for it, sure. That doesn't often happen thoigh, and reactors have to protect themselves from legal departments.
Yeah, it flows a lot better this way- and tbh it's funny when Knox forgets that's what he's supposed to be doing and pauses anyway.
This is the best channel on youtube when it comes to erb reactions. Not only are you well versed in rap/hip-hop but history as well (not to mention music, politics and other topics as well). That's what makes your reactions 10/10
Great vid!
if I am not mistaken, you havent reacted to all the ERBs yet, You should definitely bring back this series!
Also love the formula of letting the whole verse play and then breaking it down.
Which of the missing ones should he do? I feel like he did most of the good ones.
@@oskioskioskiDavid copperfield vs Houdini, Lewis And Clark vs Bill and Ted are good Erb’s and he hasn’t reacted
32:04 "Do we nazi maybe some issues here with Henry Ford?"
Geez, that was one sneaky pun right there, Knox.
Having grown up in a truck culture town, that Found On Road Dead bar is fucking hilarious on multiple levels 😂😂😂
Yeah, I completely missed that reference the first few times I watched this ERB.
@@Yggdrasil777 it flies under the radar, which makes it perfect 😂
Knox, I have no idea whether you just happen to know this much about history or whether you do research on the people before watching the battles, but either way I'm always impressed by how much you've got to offer in your commentary -- not just lyricism but the historical content.
Slight correction, Ford wasn't just being antisemitic while the holocaust was happening, his antisemitic writing started before the holocaust and has been cited as an inspiration for both Hitler and Himmler
As Marx said, Hitler name dropped him in Mein Kampf. Imagine being so antisemitic that Hitler uses you as a source
@@truedarklanderfunny that it also ties with Henry's "When a world leader likes you, thats a red flag" how ironic
First, I appreciate this new format you’re going for. Second, if you started making videos where you just explain different things in history, I think I would actually start remembering more historical events lol. I would definitely watch those kinds of videos if you decided to make them.
Last thing, actually two.
One, as a Metal fan I really appreciate that you react to rock and metal songs, as well as your regular rap and hip-hop fair.
Two: have you ever reacted to any Tupac? if not, I would love to see your analysis of some of of his work.
This KnoxHill!🙏
Or maybe read books? Listening to different sources, and using the learning tactics that works best for you is good and all, but don't leave your education in the hands of a random history buff. That said, there is nothing wrong with historical content referencing proper sources, so the concept isn't a bad idea. I doubt it would be comparably popular here, though
@@jakob3044 i’m not sure if it would be as popular as his music breakdowns, but if he were to make the occasional video about it here and there, I would definitely watch.
I do appreciate that advice, so thank you for that.
I’ll just have to see what history I’m interested in and go from there. Looks like it’s time to go back to the library again.
@@bMt5553 Do as I say, not as I do. I'm no avid history reader either, so perhaps the advice was shallow to begin with. I think it's conceptually sound though. I shall try and get to reading as well, out of respect for your determination
@@jakob3044 oh, it’s good advice for sure, some people might not follow it, but it’s still good advice.
One point to make - you are mistaking Private property (means of production like factories owned by private capital as opposed to publicly owned property) to PERSONAL property (like your shirt, cap or that legendary toothbrush)
You are amazing knox! I barely knew anything about ford and your insights helped me apreaciate this battle a lot more! Greetings from Argentina
Now this is a reaction. Analyzing and giving extra information. The addition gives context to the original but at the same time doesn't replace it because of the frequent stops and rewinds. Although I knew some of this stuff already, I learned quite a bit as well. Thanks for the excellent video!
As soon as I heard that Animal Farm bar, I thought, "Knox is gonna have something to say about this one!" Love your breakdowns, man! Not only a talented musician, but a historian as well! 😁
I like that you let the verse play iut before analyzing, it can help catch references that might've beeb missed because of details that might be in the next line.
Great reaction!
I love watching you break down these ERB's, I'm nowhere near smart enough to pick up most of this stuff myself so you pointing it all out for us really helps me enjoy the genius of these raps properly. Thank you kindly sir.
I feel like there's a fun connection in the fact that ford ended his 2nd verse with "take the bourgeois pig shit back to animal farm" could be a mirror of 8 mile when wormbrains ended "take your white ass home across 8 mile to the trailer park" which is why Marx finishes his next verse with "clock into detroit and lose themselves like eminem" i don't know if the connection is really there but i thought it was fun
Added flip to Marx's end to his 2nd verse would be the fact that Eminem did actually start out as a factory worker in the film 8 mile
Excellent breakdown Knox! If you look at the poll they show at the end of the battle, it looks like they're entertaining the idea of Tom Brady vs Diego Maradora, and I recommended they pick you if they do Tom Brady.
Marx's last verse is one the best verse ever written by ERB
Marx's last verse absolutely destroyed the entire battle holy SHIT
The Eminem line was also referencing the job he had in the 8 Mile movie
It's good to see you reacting to these again. It was sorely missed!!
Thank fucking God you have a nuanced understanding of communism. It's so refreshing after seeing the word thrown around to describe anything people don't like.
Dude how do you know so much about everything. You're a smart dude. And i love how you entertain and educate with that reactions.
It's easy to seem that way when you can look up as much as you want before hitting record.
@Nyx_2142 idk man he brings this shit off the dome. Maybe he does listen and try to research it before recording but even if so he still is doing the work to educate himself and us.
Young man I'm an old timer and I love your channel for the fact of the knowledge you have for your age it's a blessing to hear somebody your age actually know about history and learn about it.
First verse: Tied
Second Verse: Marx starts to pull ahead
Third Verse: Ford is found on road dead💀
The moment I saw that Eminem reference, I couldn't wait to see your reaction to it!
Hope you get to finish the series out. If you are looking for another series to react to involving either Peter or Lloyd , I’d suggest Dis Raps for Hire. It’s a series where Lloyd reads a post about a situation of sorts, usually involving bullies, and disses them.
Happy early holidays, Knox. Thanks for your breakdowns over the last 3 years. Appreciate your work!
It's actually very interesting to see how deep your historical knowledge goes. Not many would know all of this, and would be able to catch most of these bars. That's actually pretty cool
"Model T total lack of skill" also alludes to Ford requiring a teetotaler pledge from those that he hired. As Marx was a hard drinking, he'd take issue with that.
You got one Knox missed. :)
I think that in line "I throw you for loops like a F in my logo" there is also reference to "for loop" in programic languages or maybe i am overthinking this.
I gotta say i liked this one a lot more than the last one, Croft had too many "I'm so hot I don't have to care about what you say" lines. But this one hits! They both had amazing verses although i feel Ford's last verse was a bit wasted it was still a very even battle until Marx took it
Hi Knox, it’s amazing you are reacting to ERB Henry Ford vs Karl Marx and in my opinion I think Karl Marx won. I hope you and everyone else that reads this has a amazing great day.
Marx’s last verse won it
Agreed
ok jona
Also, Ford took a bite out of his own ass with that bourgeois bit. He the bourgeois one!
2nd one was very very good as well
Agreed
You are probably the only one that broke the battle down to a molecular level and even got the acronym at the end. Subbed!
This was one of the best battles- love the reaction breakdown.
Thank you for chsnging the format ^^
I used to be quite frustrated at times when you jumped in the analysis mid verse, it stopped the flow and reduced the imlact of the delivery in my opinion. Rn we have the best of both worlds : Great analysis and great watch
Seeing Knox react to the end verse is like he nerded out but in a rap way 😂
An interesting line in this ERB is when Marx said that "Engel's bank was the crank that got the revolution spinning". Marx saw capitalism as a progressive force, but one that was flawed and anti-worker. He saw capitalism was a tool, one that created the means of production that workers could then use to emancipate themselves from the horrible conditions they suffered.
This
I appreciate and respect your breakdown and history knowledge dude. Great reaction and analysis!
Great analysis like always Knox. Going through your playlist recently and saw that you still haven't reacted to the first election battle with Obama yet. Looking forward to that soon
Knox is the Goat
Fax
I'm always impressed by how much you know! One of the best reaction channels for ERB content!!
Such a beautiful breakdown. Way to go Knox!
This is the best way Ive seen anyone react to these, its great to hear the full verse before you go back and break it down. Keep it up!
Eminem said it best
"Music is like magic there's a certain feeling you get when you real and you spit and people are feeling your shit"
From John Denver singing about the back roads of his childhood home in the mountains of West Virginia, to the latest rappers singing about how low his chain hangs, to Bob Marley singing about singing about the three little birds he met on his doorstep one morning, to a massive Hawaiian man strumming a tiny ukulele singing about a better place somewhere on the other side of that rainbow.
Music can make you feel stuff and it's kind of crazy when you think about it
Isn't it just Virginia, and the mountains are in the western part of the state?
Great, Great breakdown. We waited a long time to get another ERB but damn did they deliver.
I love how fast your brain works with breaking down bars... Nothing gets past Knox!
You should totally be in ERB as Tom Brady
ABout the whole "Climate change and car crashes" line: It goes even further. It were car manufacturers like FOrd that lobbied for "Jaywalking" to be made a crime. Before cars, streets were there for everyone. Yes, it was at htat point mainly for carts, but people could cross the street wherever, and even early into cars it was the case. Just look at old pictures from, say, New YOrk!
But cars hitting people etc. obviously was bad press. So what did the car moguls do? Blame the pedestrian! MAke that stuff THEIR Fault!
And that isn't even getting into the Suburbia nightmare that destroyed walkable, liveable towns and cities in favour of bulldozed, space wasting car towns. Other youtube channels, i hope the "plug" is OK, like NotJUstBikes have videos on that. YOu had US towns that were just as walkable (and with good public transportation!) as most towns and cities in europe. Then the dream of suburbia and a car for everyone got spread to sell mroe cars. Then there was stuff, even if Ford wasn't involved, like the Red Car COnspiracy...
Nah fuck walkable. Having a car is one of the best parts about being alive in this era of human history. Im all for making them in a sustainable, non pollutinng factories but there’s zero need to demonize them as a concept like some how walking around a city is better.
@@alvatrousWalkable towns isn't a prescription to completely deny all other forms of ability to shop outside the neighborhood, but that there should be a focus on having neighborhoods half things that are necessary (such as grocery stores, parks, and other places like that) should be walkable so you don't have to drive just to get basic stuff.
I like that the movie "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" actually took a real event from history (The Red Car Conspiracy) and made it a major plot line within the movie.
people often forget how incredibly harsh winters can be... walkable or bikeable is not happening here from december to march, especially hauling groceries
@@andrew1497walkable cities would emphasise having amenities and needs within short walking distance, 10-20 minutes or less. Just put on a coat lmao
Quick note, anybody interested should look up the etemology of the phrase "Pick yourself up by your bootstraps." It's not quite the slogan of self-actualization and the American Dream it's so often applied as.
The sad thing is, we do have road laws like that. You're only supposed to pass on the right, never the left. But the joy of being an American means we're too free to give a fuck about things like public safety if it impedes on our immediate convenience
Great job on this reaction Knox, but I just want to clear up a few misconceptions:
6:36 Marx did make a distinction between private and personal property. Private property is what Knox describes as “bourgeois property”, Marx never advocated for redistributing your toothbrush or anything like that.
18:36 One of the reasons Marx is famous is because he denounced a lot of the earlier forms of socialism pioneered by people like Proudhon as utopian and not based in material reality. He instead created a more scientific type of socialism that used a form of Hegelian dialectics and incorporated historical materialism. So Marx definitely wasn’t utopian, or at least not in the socialist sense.
25:17 Yeah this one’s a bit unfortunate. However Marx and Engels were never against being rich or wealthy people in general, they were against the bourgeoisie because of their exploitation of the working class. Engels had a lot of money because of his family’s business, but he himself only worked there for a few years so you could argue he wasn’t too much of a hypocrite.
Marx had to make a distinction without a difference between private property and personal property because his labor theory of value was being utterly destroyed by his opponents. His response "oh, that's personal property so it doesn't count" is pretty silly. It's true that there were socialists that were almost comically utopian, but Marxism is also inherently utopian. His criticism of capitalism ends with a prediction that the workers conditions will get so bad they will throw off their chains and society will enter a new era of vaguely defined communism. I also think you are missing the point that the only way people accrue lots of wealth is through exploitation of workers, which would be impossible under his economically utopian communist society, so it is kind of hypocritical. I guess he's saying its ok because it's a mean to an end to bring in the revolution.
@@JWar- How exactly was the ltv being destroyed at the time? Plus even if you are right and personal property was added later in response, you can’t really dismiss an important distinction within Marxism just because Marx added it later. You’re acting like improving your ideas in response to criticism is a bad thing.
Marxism is a scientific school of thought that bases itself on the contradictions within class society. Capitalism’s need for endless growth causes the capitalist class to extract increasing amounts of profit at the expense of workers, which inevitably leads to the conditions for the working class deteriorating. This is one of the main contradictions of capitalism. The worsening conditions lead to discontent within the proletariat increasing, which creates the possibility of revolts or revolutions like what’s happened many times in history.
Communism is not “vaguely defined” it’s explicitly stated to be a classesless stateless society where people contribute according to their ability and receive based on their needs. This is the higher stage of communism that is reached after a socialist transitory period once capitalism and the bourgeoisie are eliminated.
As for Engels, I don’t entirely agree with his actions in that regard. I don’t think anyone should see historical figure as immune to criticism no matter how favorably you view them. However, Engels only really worked for his family business for 5 years after getting hounded by his parents wanting him to take over the company, so he didn’t take too much of a part in the exploitation himself. It’s true that the wealth was taken through capitalist exploitation, but it’s both impossible and pointless to redistribute everything back to who it was stolen from. Engels probably accepted it as something bad that couldn’t be undone and dedicated that money to ensuring that such exploitation wouldn’t happen in the future.
I expected brain dead "rebuttals" when I looked at the replies of this comment and boy was I ever not surprised.
That's not true though that capitalism solely needs human workers for accrual of wealth. More importantly they need Customers. If a Factory is fully automated, robotics/robots , A.I. run. no human workers to be seen ...the Owner of the Factory can still accrue wealth as long as there are Buyers for his goods.
Eventually there will be the scenario where workers in factories disappear as the machines take over. As long as there are Workers present though then co-ownership should be put in practice. Every worker should get a certain amount of shareholding as part of their employment contract, not just management.
If wages are divorced from Labour & people are instead paid a Citizen's Wage/Shareholders Dividend then it is as Consumers that they make choices on their Consumption & the Owners whose Factories fulfill their consumption demands will keep on accruing wealth.
It is possible to have a System that is neither Socialist nor Capitalist ...yet both.
Socialised/Distributed/Humanised Capitalism.
Instead of Labour/Socialism vs Capital/Capitalism you break the distinction by making every Worker/Citizen a Capitalist through making every Citizen/Worker a Shareholder in the Economy as a whole not just a stakeholder in the Democratic Society.
You socialise Capitalism by having that factory not just owned by one Owner or by a small circle of Shareholders but also co-owned by any present workers and/or by the local community in which the Factory exists in & beyond that more generally partially owned by the wider Society. eg 50% Private 25% Local/Regional Community & 25% by the national State on behalf of the whole Nation.
There is no reason on Earth that things have to be either extreme of fully privately owned ...or completely Socialised/Nationalised.
All capitalist enterprises should be Partnerships between Private owners/shareholders, Local Workers/Citizens/Public and the Central Gov. There is no reason the Governments couldn't be owners of a Minority Stake in every Corporation/company & use their share of Owner Dvidends as a Social Dividend to fund Gov services & a Social Dividend Citizen's Wage :)
You can build a Society/Economy that truly includes the best of Capitalism & the best of Socialism without the Flaws of each.
They may not put out videos as often as they used to, due to being independent now, but dear lord does the Epic Rap Battle team release some unadulterated bangers.
Just to adress your question on 6:55. When Marx speaks about private property, our modern concept of belongings did not exist. The private property he refers to includes farms, forests, factories, tools... private ownership of the means of production and not of the products. An easy way to visualize this is the origin of the term 'Soviet,' which comes from soviets, worker councils that managed factories and other properties.
I originally thought it was close at first but now it really does seem like a blowout win for Karl
I love that the main argument for capitalists is that poverty reduced while inequality raised under capitalism, but it didn't reduced if you don't account for China and Vietnam that are self proclaimed socialist countries.
ERB Should give u early access to their songs so u can drop these reactions as fast as possible 💯😂
Oh...that would be mesmerizingly AMAZINGLY COOL! 😄😂🤣
This was within what? a day or two after it was released? Knox was ON IT for this one.
Actually no because sometimes if a reactor whose big enough reacts to a smaller or equal sized creator within a day or two that video loses all of its traction doesn't matter if it was doing good the first or 2nd day after that it's pretty much killed this happened with the act man and whatshisname where act man's video was doing great in the first and second day but then whatshisname reacted to it and it immediately lost all traction they agreed to reacting videos 4 days after they come out to let the video build in the algorithm because the most you're gonna make on a video is within the first week after that the video doesn't make as much in the algorithm and that is especially true here where erb and knox hill are somewhat equal in size so if knox hill reacted to it right as the video came out it could lose some traction in the algorithm
Edit: the guy was asmongold I rarely watch him I always think of him as a loser version of moist critikal
I do appreciate the new format. Obviously I love the breakdown, but I feel like to connect everything, and truly appreciate the verse, listening to it as a whole before getting to the nitty gritty is an improvement.
Man it's really subtle but I have the slightest impression that Knox might not think Ford is a good person. :P
Loved this reaction, you really went into crazy amounts of detail with both of them!
Solid breakdown. Didn't know what to expect when I sat in, as this was my first of your vids, but I think I will be back.
Ford wasn’t the father of the production line, he just popularized the model for motor vehicle production. Models similar to the modern version of assembly lines have existed since the very early 19th century (between 1801 and 1803)
Sooo good to have ERB again. You said it. It has been too long
I believe he forgot about it due to piano but, cranking out "Severed fingers" instead of Seven figures was good
@14:00 yes teaching English was positive but it is ironic which was also stated in Karl's first verse that Ford himself couldn't even read.....lol!!!!
I was looking forward to see you breakdown this latest ERB.
Just a note, "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps," meant to be sarcastic/suggest an impossibility.
Christmas has indeed come early, and wow what an ERB this was, a thick and juicy video that wasnt over quickly.
5:00 what's funny is that bootstrap metaphor was originally satire because obviously you can't pull yourself up by your own bootstraps
But, when you're stuck in the mud, you do need to pull on your bootstraps to get out and continue to make progress
It's been turned into a right-wing capitalist dog whistle. "You aren't being exploited, you just aren't working hard enough." Its resulted in an entire voter base convinced that they are merely temporarily embarrassed millionaires and that they'll hit the big leagues any day now.
I'd just like to point out that originally the "pick yourself up by your bootstraps" was a way of describing an impossible act, as no matter how much you pull on your own bootstraps, it'll never lift you anywhere.
Damn! The speed of that notif click tho, been waiting for this one😂
Unrelated, Knox, love your content, while we're on the battle topic, might I recommend Freshy Kanal rap battles?😂😅❤
Seeing how you break down lyrics I really think you'd enjoy alot of the game-based songs The Stupendium does, every bar has like eight layers to pull back and the wordplay is on point. The newest one "The Ark and the Tinderbox" is based on Frostpunk, and I recommend all of his frostpunk songs honestly, the newest calls back to the older ones as well.
Love you knox
Think this is the best ERB in terms of clever bars, and the rhythm, the flow...man, can't stop watching! Congrats!
Henry Ford’s voice and cadence is a lot like Steven Spielberg’s vs Alfred Hitchcock
And one of Ford’s his lines is reminiscent of one Spielberg said.
“I produce with my two hands” - Henry Ford
“I produce cartoons and make games for all ages” - Steven Spielberg
very interesting.
I get some remnants of JRR Tolkien vs George RR Martin, but that may be because Nicepeter also plays Tolkien.
this is a great breakfown holy shit ive never seen ur videos before but ur in-depth knowledge of the history behind the bars is super awesome
Erb litteraly never dissapoints
I was patiently waiting for Knox's reaction to this. Early Christmas indeed.
I appreciate the fact that you know a lot about Communism to put proper commentary... Thanks
19:00 NSDAP was formed in 1920. Main Kampf was published in 1925. Ww2 started in 1939. I get where you were trying to go….but yeah.
The flow is strong in this one
Last 4 pictures. Old school Godzilla, Risky Business classic living room scene, Evil Knievel (I think), Mission Impossible dangling scene.
Didn’t Ford hire the Pinkerton’s at one point?
Edit: yup, Battle of River Rouge