Finally, Gary Stevenson Has Been Found Out - Konstantin Kisin
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How does physical distance and social media change political debate etiquette?
The rise and fall of Gary's economics. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I do not believe in making politics personal. I believe that the failure to treat our political opponents as human first and wrong second is one of the great challenges of our time. The power of atomizing technology has transformed the public debate into a public shouting match. Why? It's not just that the internet has given everyone a voice, it's that it has given a voice to people who never have to sit in the same room. Before the age of YouTube and social media, political and media opponents didn't have the option of shit-talking each other from the safety of their podcast studios. They had to sit across from each other in TV green rooms and then sit together in one room and at least pretend to be talking to each other.
Having done a fair bit of media in my time, I can tell you that meeting the people you're about to debate in the green room beforehand is an important part of the process. It might be that the extent of what you can discuss without an argument erupting is limited to the weather because it's 2026 and we can't seem to agree on what a woman is. But still, you're forced to be civil. The effect of this you know from your own experience. The way you react to someone accidentally cutting you up in traffic is far less restrained than your response to someone accidentally bumping into you on the street. The action is the same, but the level of offense both taken and expressed is not. Why? Reassured by the physical distance and feeling of safety it provides, we feel comfortable to engage in more confrontational behavior.
This difference has been recorded in study after study. Not that you need a study to understand this. The great American philosopher and former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson said it best when he said, Social media has made you all too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face. This is why, whenever I've had disagreements with other people, I've always tried to engage with them in person. We did this with Jimmy the Giant, a new left content creator who made a video calling me a grifter and eventually apologized and took it down after we had a rather robust discussion in our studio. We did this with Dave Smith over Israel. with Peter Hitchens over Ukraine.
Why does the host prefer in-person discussions with political opponents?
We just did it in a blockbuster upcoming interview with Tony Blair's spokesman, Alastair Campbell. I always try to criticize people's ideas, not them personally, because I know that physical separation is corrosive to public debate. Not only do we feel safe and far from the people with whom we disagree, but there is now a giant audience which is not in the room who are watching all the drama. Drama, remember, is above all a performance. And in today's world, you don't have to play to the audience. You just have to play to your audience. And your audience doesn't want you to self-moderate. They want you to ramp it up to 11. A significant portion of the content creator space has realized this, which is why we're living in the age of the character.
Andrew Tate is the heel, a well-known character in combat sports from which he hails. Candace Owens is the entertaining conspiracy loon character. And Gareth Stevenson is the articulate and courageous champion of the downtrodden character. It's important not to confuse actual articulate and courageous champions of the downtrodden with the character. You can help poor people and you can want to help poor people. They're not the same. The problem with Gary Stevenson is not him as a person. I'm sure he's a perfectly nice guy. It's just that he doesn't understand basic economic concepts. Daniel Priestley once spent several minutes trying and failing to get Gary to understand the difference between assets and income.
This clip is really worth listening to in full even though it feels dry and technical. Just watch Gary's brain short circuit repeatedly as he ironically complains about how much tax he paid when he was making millions as a Citigroup trader.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
How does physical distance and social media change political debate etiquette?
0:00–2:13
2
Why does the host prefer in-person discussions with political opponents?
2:13–4:36
3
How has the rise of ‘character’ personalities transformed online political content?
4:36–8:55
4
What specific economic mistakes does Gary Stevenson make about assets, income and tax?
8:55–11:13
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