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Sept. 30, 2019 - Freedomain Radio - Stefan Molyneux
13:11
Stefan Molyneux: My Brutal Year
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Time Text
You know, it's really not the easiest topic for me.
Or maybe for most people who, like me, don't like showing the soft underbelly of their vulnerabilities and fears and concerns.
But what's the point of praising honesty as a virtue and encouraging it in you guys if I'm not honest and direct with you myself, which I'm going to be?
Because, you know, it's time to lift the lid.
I need to. Tell you what the hell has been going on with this show over the last little while.
Because it's been...
I mean, I'll be straight up with you, man.
It's been pretty brutal. It's been pretty brutal.
Earlier this year, very early this year, my views on YouTube crashed like 80%.
Very quickly, right?
Very quickly. And that's partly a YouTube policy for people who don't violate...
They're standards, but they just don't like, right?
And look, I knew it was going to be tough, right?
It's one of the reasons I started doing documentaries last year.
Like, I did Poland. I did a whole series that's still ongoing on California.
And I was just out for a while in Hong Kong where I just did incredible stuff.
We got amazing footage.
I was there with the director of Hoaxed.
I mean, I was down in a protest talking with people.
I interviewed the guy who wrote their constitution, another politician.
I interviewed entrepreneurs.
I was right out there in a protest against communism when the protest and myself, we got hit with tear gas and it was intense and brutal and visceral.
And I just put that footage out.
I hope you will check it out. So I knew, because you know it's an election year in Canada this year, it's election season in America.
And, you know, they're not dumb.
They know who influenced Brexit.
They know who influenced Trump.
And they just want to crush those views, right?
And it's a very effective strategy, I'll be honest with you.
Like, it's a two-pronged strategy, right?
Suppressing people's views. And again, I know it's not the quality of the show because podcast numbers are actually up.
So it's a two-pronged strategy to suppress people's views, my views.
Number one, it's psychological warfare, right?
Because then you say, oh gosh, my views are down, people don't like my show anymore, oh, and then you start, you lose your energy, you lose your enthusiasm, you lose your charisma, you lose your push, and I was not going to let that happen.
I was not going to let that happen.
So I have been pushing through that, and I have been positive and engaged and enthusiastic at what it is that I do, because I will not let those numbers erode.
My commitment to bringing philosophy to the world.
So that's number one, is the undermining of your enthusiasm and your motivation.
But number two is more dangerous in a way, a very central way, which is, so I survive on donations.
And a lot of those donations are one-time, of course, but a lot of those donations are monthly subscriptions, right?
Because, yeah, I don't take ads.
I don't have a big sponsor, and so I rely on you, the wonderfully kind listeners, to support what it is that I do.
So people cycle into the show, right?
New people see what it is that I do, they get interested, and then they end up, often, like six months later, they'll end up starting to donate.
But then people cycle out, right?
They lose their jobs, maybe they lose interest, maybe they've got everything they want for philosophy for a while, or maybe I say something they don't like.
So then they cycle out. So you need new people cycling in for the people who are cycling out.
So the whole purpose of suppression of what it is that I do is to choke off the supply of new people coming into the conversation who will support the show.
And that puts you in a death spiral as people cycle out of the conversation.
Fewer people are cycling into the conversation, which means your income begins to diminish.
So my motto... For the last year has been more of the same as a losing game.
More of the same as a losing game.
And that has been the case.
So I, of course, have been looking for other ways to get new listeners, other ways to generate income.
So I went on a speaking tour last summer.
And, you know, they're signing books and chatting with people.
So you sell some books too, some merch.
So I was doing this speaking tour.
My God, man. I mean, it was straight-up war out there.
It was straight-up urban combat.
I mean, I'm standing there. It was in Melbourne.
I remember standing there in the front of the venue looking out of the parking lot.
It's kind of surreal because of the time change and all.
And I'm just seeing these feral, ape-like leftists just barreling into the sides of the buses of people who want to come and hear Philosophy, who want to have a conversation, trying to tip the buses.
They're throwing batteries, giant batteries at the bus windows.
I mean, it was straight up urban combat.
And couldn't even speak at all in New Zealand because of threats.
Tried to give a speech in Vancouver earlier this year.
The usual, you know, bomb threats, crazy, hostile media saying the most appalling false things.
And The police wouldn't even show up when there was a church that was going to host my speech.
People show up to threaten them and they call 911.
They're scared that police don't even show up.
This is how freaking crazy it is out here.
So that avenue is cut off.
New listenership, new viewership is largely cut off.
So what can I do? Well, I can go out and do documentaries because nobody knows where I'm going to land.
I can go out and I can do my thing.
I can come back, assemble the footage and put the documentary out.
So that's one possibility. But, you know, it's one of the reasons for having the conversation, so to be frank, right?
I put this documentary trailer out for Hong Kong.
It's crazy, great, powerful stuff.
Oh, by the way, thanks for those who thought I've gained weight.
It's not. I was just crazy bloated in Hong Kong because my digestion did not survive the trip and then the time flip and I just, anyway.
But, yeah, I'm asking for donations for that stuff and getting very little.
So, does that mean you guys don't want me to do documentaries?
Okay, what should I do?
If it's not going to be documentaries, again, more of the same as the death spiral, it's a losing game.
The show is not going to survive because suppression means fewer people cycling in.
I can't go and do book tours.
I can't go to speaking tours.
I can't go to speeches. So what am I to do to get new listeners?
To survive! To have this conversation survive.
650 million views and downloads.
More than a million of my books read every year.
Thousands of listener conversations, incredibly powerful ones.
Hundreds of subject matter expert interviews.
What, 10 or 11 books?
I mean, it's an incredible thing that we built here, this philosophy conversation.
But how am I going to keep it alive in this incredible headwind of a ridiculously hostile and abusive media?
New York Times. We've got papers out west in Canada.
We've got the Irish Times now.
Just crazy, hostile, stupid stuff.
Wikipedia has turned into a complete toxic waste dump of leftist prejudice.
The socialists are editing it, making me out to be some kind of monster, and then they lock it down so it can't be changed.
I mean, that's... That's hard, man.
That's hard. That's hard.
Now, you can survive de-platforming if you have, like, a crew, if you have people who will support you and help you out.
And, like, Dave Rubin's getting...
They're threatening to de-platform him at the moment.
He's interviewing Maxime Bernier, head of the People's Party of Canada, here in Hamilton.
And... Yeah, he was hit with 10 times security costs because of threats.
And I'm like, I'm Twitter and I'm like, hey man, I'll help you out with your security costs.
I'll chip in because this has got to go forward and so on.
And I'm out there pushing back against people who are being deplatformed.
But hells bells, man, when I was being deplatformed.
Who was standing up for me?
You guys, yes! I mean, who out there who's like prominent and, you know, helpful?
They're not standing up for me.
It's just the way things are.
So my strategy is I've been doing documentaries.
My other strategy is I've been really working hard on Twitter.
You know, we did, in one month did 100 million impressions on Twitter.
That's hopefully going to get, translate into new stuff.
And so I've been pursuing a variety of strategies, tried a new call-in show, just a dial-in show with a phone number.
We're enjoying that. So I'm really, I really am trying.
New stuff to keep the show going, to keep the show alive.
You know, it's hard too because after 15 years, this is something John Cleese said years ago, you get about 15 years of peak creativity and then things, you know, it's like a tent that just keeps folding in.
You can keep poking it up, right?
So at the sort of 15-year mark of me doing this as a public philosopher, There's a lot of suppression.
There's a lot of undermining.
There's a lot of verbal abuse and attacks from the mainstream media.
And income is down because fewer people are cycling in to support what it is that I do.
Expenses are up because I'm doing these documentaries, which are very expensive.
And it just feels like it's a bit of a vice, man.
It's just a bit of a vice that's closing in on what it is that we're doing here.
And I know it's essential.
I know it's essential. But I don't know how it's sustainable.
And that's the challenge. And that's the challenge.
So, I mean, I guess I'm telling you where the pain points are.
Not something I enjoy, but again, I want to be honest.
I'm telling you where the pain points are.
And I'm asking for your help. I mean, tell me what it is I should be doing.
What should I be doing? Help me brainstorm about things that I could be doing.
You know, it's hard to go on other people's show.
My name's become really, really toxic.
And there's not a lot of new people I want to interview.
And I'll still keep doing the listener calls.
I enjoy those. But, you know, again, more of the same is a losing game.
The show cannot survive more of the same.
I need new things. Do you not want me to do documentaries?
Do you want me to write another book?
What topic do you want?
What do you think will help?
What it is that I do. Are you guys sharing what it is that I do?
Because without your shares, I mean, again, can't survive.
And will you help? Can you help?
Can you help? Please.
You know? I mean, the strategy is effective, right?
Income is down. Costs are up.
Not a very sustainable business model.
But you've got to take risks when you're under attack.
Because, again, more of the same is a losing game.
More of the same means the show fails.
The show dies. So I need new things to do, and I need your support.
I need your help, my friends.
I really, really do. I have been busting my ass this year like you would believe, trying to find ways to extend and expand the reach of the show.
And it's been hard.
It's been frustrating. It's been disappointing.
And, you know, I like to act, and yet it feels like I'm trying to push string to just be able to achieve something.
So I need your help.
I mean, again, income's down, cost her up.
Please. Please.
I want your suggestions, absolutely.
I want your feedback about what it is I should do, but I do need your help.
I need your help. It's expensive, cutting these documentaries.
And maybe it was a mistake.
I don't think so. I don't think so.
I think they've been doing pretty well and a lot of new people are coming to the show because of it.
But, you know, maybe you disagree or whatever.
But nonetheless, even if it was a mistake, I really need your help.
Please, please help me cover these costs.
I mean, I'm on my knees here.
Please, please help philosophy.
Please help what it is that I'm doing.
We are facing really the greatest threat.
To the survival of the show that the show has ever seen.
Free Domain. I also spent a lot of money on the new website, which I think was important.
The whole website was not working very well and there was no place for me to post new writing and so on.
So the new website, Free Domain, the whole, it was pretty expensive to buy that.
Domain name as well, but again, I'm very happy with those decisions.
But I need your help. And I can't do anything other than stare you eye to eye, tell you what I need, and ask for your support.
Please, please help out what it is that I do in these incredibly difficult and Dangerous times.
Physically dangerous times at times.
But please help out what it is that I do.
You can check out of course the Hong Kong documentary trailer at freedomain.com forward slash Hong Kong.
But I need your help.
I need your support. And it's been a while since I've asked and I've The fact that I don't like asking is not particularly relevant, but I am going to ask nonetheless.
Please, please go to freedomain.com forward slash donate and help me out.
Help me out. Give me your suggestions.
Give me your feedback. Give me your thoughts.
This is a collective endeavor bringing this level and intensity of philosophy to the world in these desperate times.
These desperate and dangerous times.
Really, really need your help.
Freedomain Radio. Sorry.
Freedomain.com forward slash donate.
Thank you. Thank you for this incredible ride.
I really, really hope it continues.
I look forward to your feedback.
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