B-TIER inspiration
John Cleese on extremism — why having enemies feels so good (1987)
100k ft — What is this?
John Cleese on extremism — why having enemies feels so good (1987)
50k ft — Why care?
Cleese's 1987 satirical monologue: extremism's appeal is that it supplies a ready-made list of enemies so you can project all badness outward — and both hard left and hard right lists end with 'moderates'. A sharp, quotable case for nuance and critical thinking.
10k ft — Key takeaways
• Both extremes share one enemy: moderates
• Polarization works by offering moral license via an enemy list
5k ft — Tools & techniques
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1k ft — Deep-dive / try it
A simple point about extremism
In this 1987 talk, John Cleese breaks down how extreme thinking turns disagreement into division; by simplifying issues, reinforcing “us vs. them,” and creating unnecessary enemies. His message is straightforward: nuance, openness, and critical thinking are the antidotes.
Fun fact:
Cleese wrote and performed this piece as a satirical but serious critique of how easily people are pulled toward rigid, polarized thinking.
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Transcript excerpt
biggest advantage of extremism is that it makes you feel good because it provides you with enemies. Big explain, the great thing about having enemies is that you can pretend that all the badness in the whole world is in your enemies and all the goodness in the whole world is in you. Attractive, isn't it? So if you have a lot of anger and resentment in you anyway, and you therefore enjoy it using people, then you can pretend that you're only doing it because these enemies of yours are such very bad persons. Even if it wasn't for them, you'd actually be good-natured and courteous, rational all the time. So, if you want to feel good, become an extremist. Okay. Now you have a choice. If you join the hard left, they'll give you their list of authorized enemies. Almost all kinds of authority, especially the police, the city, Americans, judges, multinational corporations, public schools, farriers, newspaper owners, Fox Hunters, generals, class traitors, and, of course, moderates. Or, if you'd rather be an extremist on the hard right, no problem, fine, you still get a lovely list of enemies, only their different ones. Noisy minority groups, unions, Russia, weirdos, demonstrators, welfare sponges, metals and clergy, peace nicks, the BBC, strikers, social workers, communists, and, of course, moderates. And upstart factors. Now, once you're armed with one of these superlists of enemies, you can be as nasty as you like, and you'd feel your behaviours morally justified. So, you can still…