Matt Welch Talks Obama, The Independents, Immigration, Millennials, Campaign 2016, Collectivism, Vaclav Havel and More With Gavin McInnes

This morning I subjected myself to the off-color grillings of Gavin McInnes for his always-entertaining Free Speech series of podcasts, which are part of the podcasting juggernaut produced by Stand Up NY Labs. If you can power through the stuff about my daughters' names at the beginning, we cover a lot of interesting ground about President Barack Obama's economic record, how political tribalism kills brain cells, whether George Soros is a communist, how much Gavin loves Ted Cruz, and other items of note. It's a long one, so strap yourself in:

FREE SPEECH - MATT WELCH by Freespeechpodcast

Comments

[Cytotoxic]

Teen libertarian is face of Brazil's young free-market right

http://news.yahoo.com/teen-lib.....12589.html

Kataguiri is a social media star whose quirky videos skewer Rousseff and the ruling party's social welfare policies. His ascent as a protest figure has been rapid.

Kataguiri says he had a political awakening two years ago when he began questioning a classmate's position that a popular cash transfer program applauded by many experts around the globe was responsible for the expansion of Brazil's middle class and for lifting millions of citizens from poverty during the last decade.

He believed the credit instead should go to the country's commodities boom. "That's what has helped the poor," he said.

He began posting satiric videos to YouTube, which gained a following. He joined two digital media collectives and produced more clips. Along the way, Kataguiri read the works of free-market economists Milton Friedman and Ludwig Von Mises.

Libertarian Moment.

[straffinrun]

Along the way, Kataguiri read the works of free-market economists Milton Friedman and Ludwig Von Mises

What no hate speech laws in Brazil? Must've burned his fingers yanking them out of the bonfire.

[Hyperion]

You're only like a week late on that.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

Sorry Welch - clicked on the page, saw there was a podcast with Katherine Timpf and decided to check out that one since she's prettier than you.

Gavin McGinnis is now proclaiming that Mexico has never produced anything of value except the Taco and "those cool Aztec pyramid things, but that was back when they were eating babies" so I think I'm going to stick with this one.

[GILMORE]

"Gavin McGinnis is now proclaiming that Mexico has never produced anything of value except the Taco"

(thinking)

well....
....
....
those dia de los muertos sugar-skull-art things are pretty awesome?

But i think 'Tacos' covers a lot of it. Didn't they popularize chocolate too, or something?

[LynchPin1477]

You can't just limit it to the taco. All Mexican food is awesome. Especially mole. You are just being ignorant.

[GILMORE]

""All Mexican food is awesome.""

yes, because all mexican food generally involves all the same ingredients and is all variations on the same theme.

'tacos' was a joking way of saying 'the food is good'.

[Tejicano]

Preuy much - chocolate, corn, tomatoes, avocados, math, independently developed a written system (one of five known instances in the history of mankind ).

Here is a major downside of the internet - that massively ignorant people get to have the same level of input as others who actually know something.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

It's hard to tell when McGinnis is joking and when he's just being a dipshit.

[Monty Crisco]

Here's what I hate about McInnes and his spawn, Vice Magazine. They claim they are all counter-cultural and edgy and anti-establishment, then they fucking run these stupid fucking fear-mongering anti-gun stories. I saw one they did on 80% finished AR15 lower recievers and another they did on Cody Wilson and BOTH were total libtard "we need more laws" BULLSHIT.

Real fucking edgy, Gavin. You're just another piece-of-shit statist.

Oh, and the guy they were trying to demonize from Ares Armorer stated "I want to see gay married couples defending their pot farms with fully-automatic unregistered AR15s..."

Classic.

[GILMORE]

"Real fucking edgy, Gavin. You're just another piece-of-shit statist."

McInnes left vice in 2007 when they got lots of new corp funding and Shane Smith decided to turn the mag into a series of diaper-soiling liberal-documentary pieces.

Alex "really shitty person" Pareene talks all about it here @ Gawker

I noted this below. the short version was, "it was cool, then he left, then it sucked"

[GILMORE]

"independently developed a written system (one of five known instances in the history of mankind )."

Yeah, but seriously though = how many do you really need?

[Heroic Mulatto]

You forgot nixtamalization.

[Atanarjuat]

And vanilla, amaranth, capsicum peppers, some beans, and squash. Actually, most of the food crops grown in North America were brought up from Mexico.

[Mr. Anderson]

At crops really an invention?

[Tejicano]

Corn pretty much was. Whatever plants they cross-bred to come up with corn are still unclear. There are no wild variants and it cannot propogate without human assistance.

[Bam!]

Gavin McInnes is the consequence of validating annoying people.

[GILMORE]

What do you think Punk Rock is?

[AlmightyJB]

"It's a long one, so strap yourself in"

Hey that's my line

[GILMORE]

gah. squirrels eating mah posts.

need to get some beer for this. I like the dynamic tension of McInnes/Welch. I assume no ties were worn.

[Episiarch]

An hour and a half?!? Look, man, I have better ways to avoid doing work than that.

[Palin's Buttplug]

whether George Soros is a communist

Gavin must be Glenn-Beck stupid to debate that one since Soros has spent billions fighting communism.

[Mr. Anderson]

What did he spend it on?

[Palin's Buttplug]

Fighting Soviet/Communist influence in the Eastern Bloc countries. Soros is Hungarian and has written at least four books on capitalism. Soros was in the Hayek-Popper London School of Economics wing.

Soros has made billions here in investing. But when he opposed the fascist-light policies of the Bush Administration the Beckerheads on Fox News started a smear campaign against him.

[Scarecrow Repair]

Oh. Another dummy who can't distinguish communism and Communism.

[Scarecrow Repair]

Just in case ShitStopper doesn't understand, the dummy in question is ShitStopper. Soros is a different kind of dummy.

[Palin's Buttplug]

I see. Soros is not a goddamn greasy ass Republican so he is a "communist" to you.

[Scarecrow Repair]

Ha! I can read your mind, you shit storm.

[OldMexican]

Re: Peter Caca,

Gavin must be Glenn-Beck stupid to debate that one since Soros has spent billions fighting communism.

And he succeeded. There are hardly any communist countries anymore. Money well spent.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Wow. We agree on something. I can't give Soros the most credit (that is for the people) but he certainly helped.

[OldMexican]

Yeah. I mean, nothing to do with the calculation problem, the lack of markets, the economic inefficiency or anything like that. Nah. It was Soros' billions.

[Wasteland Wanderer]

To be fair, Fascists have never gotten along well with communists.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Is this a temporary reunion of The Independents gang?

Hi Matt and how goes your life post-Independents? Still shopping with Kmele? Great. Nice to catch up.

Me? Bah. I've been pondering. Like who was the first man to cross his arms. Stuff like that. Thanks for asking.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

It's not a legit The Independents thread until Francisco summons us all to unite.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Quit groveling.

[Migrant Log Picker]

Douchebags gonna douchebag.

[Matt Welch]

I'm going on a Kennedy-hosted Red Eye Thursday....

[OldMexican]

Uh, you mean this Thor's Day? I thought Kennedy was on vacation riding on top of donkeys naked or something, because there are no new Kennedy shows this week.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Liberty = naked women.

Seriously.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Don't act like you can still get it up. That's part of the reason you're so angry all the time.

[Palin's Buttplug]

I'm angry?

You're the one trying to chase youngsters off your precious GOP yard.

[GILMORE]

"Red Eye Thursday"

"'you mean this Thor's Day? ""

I have the same problem with "Trans-(insert gender)". I always have to double-check....

Seriously though - is that "weds night(thurs AM)" or "Thurs night (fri AM)"

Also = Matt Walsh is the @#()$@#( funniest motherfucker. Former OG Upright Citizens Brigade guy, very prolific performer in the late 90s/early2000s, did a bunch of 'one man shows' (usually involving 3 people) ... like 'Secret Slut', my personal fave...where he played the Secret Service bodyguard of the presidents nymphomaniac daughter. brilliant.

oh, he also has a great episode of that 'getting doug with high'

[GILMORE]

(apologies i just saw that the Walsh episode of GDWH was pulled)

[Fist of Etiquette]

Prediction: Hoops?

[straffinrun]

Badgers v Duke, Duke takes it all.

[GILMORE]

Fuck. I hate duke. But i believe you.

[straffinrun]

Wisconsin may win. The faculty could flee to Illinois and vow to not return until the NCAA agrees to a rematch.

[BigT]

Kentucky is the most overwhelming favorite since Bill Walton was playing. While I'm not a fan, I recognize something historic. The ND game just made the story better.

[GILMORE]

i just realized this "podcast" had video.

anyway. Fuck me... they ARE wearing ties. but.....*black n white*? Arg!!? I'm cheated. although i think i can tell that its matt's lighter-grey suit. (the nap).

Gavin has a good tailor. that, or off-the-shelf-jackets just fit him like a @*#$&(@ glove. some people just have the right shoulders/neck. but i doubt thats his deal. He's actually 'fashionable'.

no other thoughts.

I like hearing matt's semi-frequent POV on "how the media is trying to slander Libertarians lately". It would be nice if there were a quarterly Reason-sponsored podcast where they did a similar round up. Something of a "big picture" outlook

[GILMORE]

Gavin's assertion of "ZPG" isn't necessarily true yet.... though its getting close. the die-off is accelerating, and blacks are having fewer kids.

But yes, we need immigrants to come and have babies. Gavin's cultural bullshit about how the nation is going to break down on cultural lines is some of the dumber echoes of Taki-mag stuff i've heard. Its much better when he and jim goad et al do it in writing. talking about it makes them sound stupid.

Although his "we need to restrict asians or else they'll outsmart us" was pretty funny.

[GILMORE]

I like the

"you run a tight ship here" (ironic)
"when have you last gotten drunk and puked?"
"when vaclav havel died"
....

pause while gavin needs explaining who vaclav havel was...

Havel was pretty much the most awesome "politician" of the 20th century, and i credit him with my own post-fall-of-communism interest in "something different than the past". Prague was also pretty much the most awesome place to party in those few early 90s years.

[GILMORE]

I also like when Matt has to correct Gavin's misunderstanding of what a "5th column" is.

[widget]

This morning I subjected myself to the off-color grillings of Gavin McInnes for his always-entertaining Free Speech series of podcasts,

Gavin is also a regular at reactionary Taki Magazine. I am trying to draw a draw 2-dimensional Venn diagram of this in my head and coming up with a null set. 3-d, or 4-d? I am not a smart man.

[GILMORE]

reactionary? really?

I read Taki (actually i get goad/mcinnes in my rss feed), and it seems to me that they're a niche-market 'snob/elitist conservatism'.

maybe because I don't read derbyshire and sailer I miss out on the rest of their steez

[widget]

maybe because I don't read derbyshire and sailer I miss out on the rest of their steezI

Sailer is an acquiesced taste, but how can you go that far and not read derb?

[GILMORE]

as i said - i just plugged their feeds into Rss. I also get "The Week" (their summary blog), but i don't have to see anything beyond just those writers.

[GILMORE]

reactionary? really?

I read Taki (actually i get goad/mcinnes in my rss feed), and it seems to me that they're a niche-market 'snob/elitist conservatism'.

maybe because I don't read derbyshire and sailer I miss out on the rest of their steez

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

McGinnis isn't really much of a reactionary - he's more of an incredibly un-PC, moderately conservative libertarian.

I have my issues with Gavin but don't think he's a reactionary in any honest sense of the term.

[GILMORE]

Gavin's problem seems to be that of someone who "used to only hang out with lefties" then just "had a game-changing moment"...and now is superexcited about being RED as fuck

see = his interest in Ted Cruz.

I understand gavin on a certain level...because I also lived in Wburg and spent all my time surrounded by hipsters. I share his loathing of their whole mindless-cultural-politics thing.

unlike gavin, i was libertarian before i got there, however, so I didn't suffer a meltdown

[Heroic Mulatto]

I don't even think that's it. He is a fucking co-founder of VICE; hipster transgressivism is his thing. Look at the other founders of VICE. Suroosh Alvi has yet to find a jihadi cock he didn't want to suck, and Shane Smith...well, I don't know what his deal is. Nevertheless, it's all just schtick. To take it seriously is to be trolled.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

Shane Smith is the easiest to understand - he's just a traditional hipster douchebag.

Gavin's actually the wildcard of the bunch, given that he actually does seem to have some pretty legitimate libertarian beliefs. I don't think it's fair to claim he's just trolling - I think his more offensive outbursts might be trolling, but I don't think you could just pretend to believe the things Gavin clearly believes.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I don't think it's fair to claim he's just trolling - I think his more offensive outbursts might be trolling, but I don't think you could just pretend to believe the things Gavin clearly believes.

No doubt. I'm not saying that all of his views are just posturing, but some are just expressed merely for the sake of shock value. And why not? It's been rather lucrative for him.

[GILMORE]

"It's been rather lucrative for him.'

maybe you know better than me, but i think Gavin's conversion to the Right has been nothing but a major hurt for his own businesses, and there's little to zero further benefit to be accrued from it just by being "controversial"

(like...what was that thing that had the internet so riled a while ago?... that trannies aren't happy, well-adjusted people? something like that. OK, here it is = and LOL the warning is still awesome. I don't think the short or long payout on that kind of opinion is particularly 'lucrative'. even if its true)

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

Similarly, being a dude is quite involved. Ripping your vaginal canal out of your fly doesn't mean you are going to start inventing shit and knowing how cement works.

Holy God, I forgot how ludicrous that article.

I don't know what the fuck he was thinking when he wrote that. It's so absurd even I'm mildly offended.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I don't think the short or long payout on that kind of opinion is particularly 'lucrative'. even if its true

Why not? Professional gadflies can always find work. A good heel is worth is weight in gold.

[GILMORE]

[GILMORE]

i'm just saying, i'm not sure he's building media-empire V2.0 on the back of his more-recent incarnation of himself.

that he sold out of the previous one too-early, or at all... i have no idea about what was involved in that.

that said - i actually find his writing pretty interesting and comparatively 'valuable' in our current 'so fucking oversensitive its painful to even witness' media-environment.

Although i think there is a happy medium between simply "baiting" the left, and telling them truths they don't want to hear. I think there's room for wit there.

[Heroic Mulatto]

i'm not sure he's building media-empire V2.0 on the back of his more-recent incarnation of himself.

I agree. He does manage to have what seems to be a successful writing career though, which isn't easy. I don't begrudge him his hustle, but I recognize it for what it is...hustle.

[GILMORE]

" I don't begrudge him his hustle, but I recognize it for what it is...hustle."

.....

you say that like its a bad thing.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

I believe he lost a job when he was running his advertising firm because of things he said in internet posts.

Hardly seems lucrative.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I believe he lost a job when he was running his advertising firm because of things he said in internet posts.

Hardly seems lucrative.

Well, yes, pissing people off is not a good strategy if you're in advertising, I'll admit.

[GILMORE]

I think you're tarring Gavin with what Vice evolved INTO, which is to almost blame him for "paternity" even though he was out of there.... even before it was official AFAIK.....around 2006-2007? i have no idea beyond the one guy I knew who did Adsales for them at the time who hung out at the same bars I did.

anyway, the VICE of 2000-2005 was not 'political' but just 'sensational'. yes, hipster transgressivism, but purposely having no political "center". I still think the 2003 "Iraq Issue" was emblematic for how it completely avoiding saying even the first thing about "oil" or anything about politics, but rather ran a story about how often Iraqi prostitutes have to do anal. they couldn't do that after he left. they couldn't even do it just a few years later when they did a "Guns" issue and it was clear they were starting to inject a very-liberal consciousness that hadn't existed before. It crept in, but i think by the time it was obvious he was already gone.

anyway, this is just my POV as an outsider. I have no real idea.

[widget]

Gavin left that paying gig at Vice he bootstrapped of his own volition, as far as I can tell. Name calling him a hipster transgressve is your schtick. You've called me a pedophile, so he could fare worse.

[GILMORE]

" You've called me a pedophile, so he could fare worse."

Who called you a pedo?

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

IT'S PLOPPER!

[Heroic Mulatto]

You've called me a pedophile, so he could fare worse.

I don't recall ever calling you a pedophile.

[Bam!]

Name calling him a hipster transgressve is your schtick.

Googling "Gavin McInnes" brings up posts calling him the godfather of hipsterdom. Doesn't seem like name calling.

[Paul.]

Matt, excellent talk. Things really got rolling at about 18 minutes. I was worried because the conversation seemed to start as that kind of MTV hipster jabber.

Your forceful point about the "Millennial safe-space" and Salon's devolving into all identity politics all the time was much needed.

[GILMORE]

Alright, whatever.

Here's two things that are food for thought

1 - badass black women
and
2 - badass black women

[GILMORE]

booo, i Sf'd the 2nd

Here

[JeremyR]

Gavin McInnes should be the one replacing Jon Stewart.