LEMON DROP | Sam Harris Says That No One Was More Disadvantaged Than White Men!
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
We are happy to have back with us Sam Harris, a neuroscientist, philosopher, best-selling author, and the host of the Making Sense podcast, which I am told that I get name-checked rarely, occasionally on the program. Thank you. Thank you, Sam. Thanks for joining us. How are you?
Yeah, it's great to see you, Don.
Yeah, good to see you.
It's nice to know that rumors of the infringement of the First Amendment in the society of ours aren't just rumors. We have the man in flesh here. Yeah.
Well, let's talk about that because, and I'm going to couch it in the state of our union because in a few days, Donald Trump is going to deliver his first, the official state of the union, the one the first time was not, that wasn't a real one. So what's your assessment on the state of our union? How is America doing?
Well, not well. I'm quite worried about the state of our democracy and the state of our media landscape that has become a kind of hallucination machine. Apart from anything that we might... talk about or criticize with respect to the Trump administration or the great unraveling of American stature in the world and the growing corruption and kleptocracy. And I mean, all of that is awful and worth worrying about, but behind all of that is this basic fact that half the country, something like half the country, doesn't see any of that, right? I mean, at least 40% of Americans seem to think that things are going pretty well and not much is at stake. So any topic we might touch here, whether it's infringements of civil liberties or corruption, the looming risk of disorder as America retreats from its leadership role,
Much of the country, I mean, something like half the country either doesn't care or is totally oblivious to these concerns. I think things are going well. And the more stuff that Trump covers in gold in his immediate environment, that's all a sign of progress.
Well, I don't know if it's half the country. I think it's like 30-some percent of the electorate, which I believe a dwindling number now, even more so now, if you believe the polling. But can I just go back before we move on? You called it a hallucination machine. What did you mean by hallucination machine?
Well, it's just, it's increasingly clear that when you look at what people do and say they believe and the kinds of political intentions they apparently have, we're just not dealing with the same sets of facts, right? I mean, I'm sure all of your listeners have had this experience to one or another degree where you're talking to someone And it's proving increasingly hard to converge on just a basic account of what's happening in the world.
I mean, whether it's from- A shared sense of reality or a shared sense of facts. Yeah.
Yeah. And strangely, this is true even around events that are among the most witnessed events in human history, right? I mean, now we have video of everything, right? We have video of everything or many things, certainly from three sides, right? So you have someone killed in Minneapolis and there's just a fundamental breakdown along political lines around what happened there Again, even when you can see what happened from three sides. So it's very disorienting.
What do you see what happened?
How worried is Sam Harris about the current state of American democracy and media?
You said even when you can see. Do you mind if I ask you what you see when you look at it?
You're talking about the killing of Preddy?
Alex Preddy, yeah. Or Rene Good?
Yeah. I mean, but both of those, I mean, the Preddy one was... awful and illegitimate for yet another reason but i mean both were were clearly unwarranted killings right i mean these are this is a a highly unprofessional police force uh that has been marshaled uh by trump for reasons that are um you know perhaps are yet to be seen right i mean it's it's i think it's rational to worry that this isn't all about immigration concerns however You might agree or disagree with those concerns. I mean, there are other reasons, there are other uses to which a vast Praetorian Guard could be put. And I think it's reasonable to worry about ICE generally, but clearly these guys are not being vetted or recruited or trained in ways that are producing normal police outcomes, right?
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:13–3:52
2
How worried is Sam Harris about the current state of American democracy and media?
3:52–15:59
3
What does Sam mean by the news ecosystem being a 'hallucination machine'?
15:59–24:20
4
How does the podcast analyze recent police and federal enforcement killings like Alex and Rene?
24:20–30:13
5
Why does Sam say gun culture reacts differently to administrations and the Second Amendment?
30:13–1:01:15
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from The Don Lemon Show
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