Welcome to George H. Smith's Excursions into Libertarian Thought, a production of Libertarianism.org and the Cato Institute, narrated by Daniel Highland. Thomas Paine vs. Edmund Burke, Part 3 In Part 2 of this series, I discussed some aspects of the English prosecution of Thomas Paine who was tried in absentia, 18 December 1792, for seditious libel. His crime consisted of writing the second part of Rights of Man. This installment of my series, though it continues with the discussion of Paine's trial, takes a detour through the broader intellectual landscape of freedom of the press, especially as defended by Thomas Erskine 1750-1823, Paine's celebrated defense council. In English common law, libel was a nebulous concept with numerous variations, which is why it was so beloved by British authorities who could bring a charge of seditious libel for just about any political doctrine, expression, or publication that they didn't like. Sir William Blackstone in his authoritative Commentaries on the Laws of England, 1765-69, explained that libel's are malicious defamations of any person, and especially a magistrate, made public by either printing, writing, signs, or pictures in order to provoke him to wrath or expose him to public hatred, contempt, and ridicule. In a civil action, according to Blackstone, a libel must be false as well as scandalous. But truth is irrelevant in a criminal prosecution of libel because criminal law considers only the tendency of a libel to create animosities and to disturb the public peace. And since true as well as false statements may lead to the breach of the public peace and perhaps to bloodshed, truth is no defense against a charge of seditious libel. Blackstone concluded, and therefore in such criminal prosecutions the only points to be inquired into are, first, the making or publishing of the book or writing, and secondly, whether the matter be criminal. And if both these points are against the defendant, the offense against the public is complete. Payne's attorney was Thomas Erskine, 1750 to 1823, who later served as Lord Chancellor of Britain, 1806 to 7. Erskine made a significant contribution to the reform of English libel law. Contrary to the prevailing view, according to which the judge had the sole right to determine if a publication is libelous and the jury had no function other than to determine whether or not the defendant was responsible for that publication, Erskine argued that the jury should decide on the libelous nature of a publication, and that such determination should be made within the full context of the work, including the intent of the author, publisher, or distributor. Only if a defendant had a mischievous intention, such as the desire to deceive or to inflict harm on his government or country, should he be convicted of seditious libel. Erskine famously argued for this interpretation of libel law during the trial of William Davies Shipley, Dean of St. Asaf, for seditious libel, August 1784. In a speech for the support of the rights of juries, which was delivered to the King's bench after the jury had rendered an ambiguous verdict, Erskine argued, no act which the law in its general theory holds to be criminal constitutes in itself a crime abstracted from the mischievous intention of the actor. And the intention, even where it becomes a simple inference of legal reason from a fact or facts established, may and ought to be collected by the jury with the judge's assistance. Erskine sent transcripts of the Asaf trial to a political ally and liberal Whig Charles James Fox, who then helped push the libel act of 1792 through Parliament, an act that empowered juries to decide not only the external facts of a case, but also the question, previously reserved for judges, of whether a libelous act had really occurred. This interpretation of libel law became the foundation for Erskine's defense of Thomas Paine. Erskine stated his general approach as follows. The proposition which I mean to maintain as the basis of the liberty of the press and without which it is an empty sound is this. That every man, not intending to mislead but seeking to enlighten others with what his own reason and conscience, however erroneously, have dictated to him as truth, may address himself to the universal reason of a whole nation, either upon the subject of governments in general or upon that of our own particular country. That he may analyze the principles of its constitution, point out its errors and defects, examine and publish its corruptions, warn his fellow citizens against their ruinous consequences, and exert his whole faculties in pointing out the most advantageous changes in establishments which he considers to be radically defective or sliding from their object by abuse. All this, every subject of this country has a right to do if he contemplates only what he thinks would be for its advantage and but seeks to change the public mind by the conviction which flows from reasoning dictated by conscience. Erskine did not repudiate the notion of seditious libel per se, nor did Thomas Jefferson and many of his American contemporaries according to a controversial book by Leonard Levy, Jefferson and Civil Liberties, The Darker Side, 1963. Rather, Erskine argued that a person would be guilty of seditious libel if he wickedly condemns what his own understanding approves, if he calonates living magistrates or holds out to individuals that they have a right to run before the public mind in their conduct, that they may oppose by controversy or force what private reason only disapproves, that they may disobey the law because their judgment condemns it or resist the public will because they honestly wish to change it. He is then a criminal upon every principle of rational policy. Thus, if it could be shown that Thomas Paine in Rights of Man had advocated disobedience of the laws or violent resistance against the British government, then Erskine would willingly yield him up to the justice of the court. But Paine had advocated none of these truly seditious actions. Instead, he attempted by appealing to reason to demonstrate the superiority of a republican form of government over a monarchical form. Moreover, Paine did not defend his opinions out of the blue as if seeking to foment unrest and resentment among his readers. Rights of Man was specifically written to rebut the contrary arguments presented by Edmund Burke in Reflections on the Revolution in France and Paine should be afforded the same freedom enjoyed by Burke. In part one, I described Erskine as perhaps the greatest civil rights attorney of his day. But unblemished libertarian heroes are hard to come by. Erskine's defense of a free press had its limits, as curiously illustrated when he served as a prosecutor in the trial of Thomas Williams for blasphemy, June 1797. The impicunious Williams, who was caring for three children with smallpox, had published copies of part two of The Age of Reason, 1795, Thomas Paine's notorious broadside attack against Christianity. Although Erskine claimed that his role reversal from defender to prosecutor was consistent with his belief in a free press, an outright attack on Christianity, he said, was an attack on the very foundations of civil society and so should not be permitted. The solicitor for Thomas Williams, John Martin, bluntly accused Erskine of hypocrisy. See Martin's letter to the honorable Thomas Erskine, 1797. Ironically, the defense attorney for Thomas Williams was Stuart Kidd, deist and radical Republican whom Erskine had successfully defended against the charge of high treason in October 1794. A number of prominent libertarians were prosecuted along with Kidd, including Thomas Hardy, John Horn Took, Thomas Holcroft, and John Thelwall. Kidd used the same method of argument when defending Williams that Erskine had used when defending Paine, and Kidd did not hesitate to call attention to this embarrassing parallel. But Erskine proved as successful in his prosecution of Williams as he did in his defense of Kidd. Tragically, Thomas Williams was found guilty, sentenced to a year in prison, and required to pay a huge security to ensure his future good conduct. Whatever became of his children is not known. But we do know that Erskine, after becoming aware of Williams' dire circumstances, pleaded for leniency, a plea that went unheeded. Are there any lessons to be learned from the trials of Thomas Erskine that inconstant defender of a free press? Two come to mind. The first and most obvious point is that the personal failings of a defender of freedom have no bearing on his or her lasting contributions to the theory of freedom. Second, and perhaps less obvious, is the point that the fundamental principles of a free society did not spring full-blown like Athena from the head of Zeus, or closer to home from the head of Ein Rand or Murray Rothbard. On the contrary, principles that modern libertarians take for granted, principles that we think should be obvious to everyone, developed gradually over time, as libertarian theorists ironed out the inconsistencies of their predecessors. An interesting example of this progressive development may be found in Erskine's speech in defense of Thomas Paine. In Erskine's day, it was common for self-identified defenders of a free press to stipulate that such freedom prohibits only the prior restraint of a publication, and that this does not exempt a writer or a publisher from prosecution after publication. As Blackstone put it, the liberty of the press is indeed essential to the nature of a free state, but this consists in laying no previous restraints upon publication and not in freedom from censure for criminal matter when published. Every free man has an undoubted right to lay what sentiments he places before the public. To forbid this is to destroy freedom of the press. But if he publishes what is improper, mischievous, or illegal, he must take the consequences of his own temerity. To subject the press to the restrictive power of a licensor is to subject all freedom of sentiment to the prejudices of one man and make him the arbitrary and infallible judge of all controverted points in learning, religion, and government. But to punish, as the law does at present, any dangerous or offensive writings which, when published, shall on a fair and impartial trial be a judge of a pernicious tendency, is necessary for the preservation of peace and good order of government and religion, the only solid foundations of civil liberty. Thus the will of individuals is still left free. The abuse of that free will is the object of legal punishment. Erskine quoted John Locke, David Hume, and even Edmund Burke in his defense of a free press. Erskine also quoted from John Milton's Areopagitica, 1644, while acknowledging that Milton's magnificent defense of a free press was meant to pertain only to the abolition of pre-publication licensing, not to legal liability incurred after publication. This is the same position later articulated by Blackstone, quoted above. Erskine made two salient points about this qualification. First, if every work that runs counter to the wishes of government or to the opinions of those who may compose it is to be condemned as libelous, then to institute pre-publication licences and censors would be the rational course of action. For if the censor forbids the publication of a book, the writer simply needs to forbear publication, and that will be the end of the matter, unless the writer appeals the decision of the censor to a higher authority. But if a writer may be prosecuted after his book has been published, then he will live in a continuous state of insecurity and fear, never knowing if and when he will suffer legal punishment. Upon the argument of today, a man must print at his peril without any guide to the principles of judgment, upon which his work may be afterwards prosecuted and condemned. Erskine concluded that Milton's arguments, if consistently applied, condemn all forms of censorship, not merely pre-publication licensing. An insight that has surely occurred to many readers of the Areopagitica and other early defenses of a free press that are riddled with exceptions. Generally speaking, this is the manner in which libertarian ideas have developed and progressed over time. A thinker posits a core principle of freedom, but fails to understand or embrace its sundry implications, after which subsequent thinkers develop the inner logic of that principle in greater detail. Thus have the principles of freedom taken on a life of their own, apart from the intentions of their creators, as if seeking consistent advocates. But improvements in the principles of liberty would never have occurred if there had not been a foundation, however flawed to build upon. Thank you for listening to Excursions. To learn more about libertarian philosophy and history, visit www.libertarianism.org.


From VOA Learning English, this is the education report in special English. The shooting of a 14-year-old Pakistani schoolgirl made news around the world last month. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on Malala Yousafzai. She was shot in the head and neck as she left school. The next day, doctors successfully removed a bullet from her neck. She received treatment at the country's top military hospital. Later, she was transported to Britain for more treatment. Malala Yousafzai became famous for speaking out against the Taliban. She is also known for her support of education for women. It is estimated that only about 40% of Pakistani women above 15 years of age can read. Witnesses to the incident say gunmen who came to her school asked for her by name. They opened fire as she was entering a school bus. Two other students also were wounded. The Taliban says Malala Yousafzai was targeted for what it called her pro-west ideology. It says she denounced the Taliban and called President Obama her hero. After the incident, a spokesman for the group said Taliban leaders decided a few months ago to kill the schoolgirl. They told gunmen to carry out the attack. The girl's uncle, Ahmed Shah Yousafzai, is head of the Swat Valley Peace Council. He told VOA that no one expected that such a fierce attack would be carried out against a ninth grade schoolgirl. The Taliban led a violent campaign for control of the Swat area in 2008 and 2009. The campaign included attacks on schools. The Taliban had banned girls from attending school. But Malala Yousafzai and her friends had disobeyed the ban by attending school. For VOA Learning English, I'm Alex Villareal.


By the way, of course, I know that I go to mainstream every now and then just to see what propaganda is being pushed Yeah, for me. I'm done with figuring out what propaganda is pushed. Like I I get it from the people I watch like the Duran Alex Jones and the Grey Zone the Grey Zone was really good good work as well, right? So I get I I know what propaganda they're pushing but tell you the truth I wish they wouldn't even talk about the propaganda the corporate media is pushing Because we sort of already know the agenda, right? We like here. Let's let's switch this up We know that this is a full-on proxy war now. All right We'll just change Niger for now. We'll just change Niger for now, but Come next map the world map that we do and that next world map might be within within days Latest within weeks Because here we're gonna switch this up to red Right because it's a it's full-on proxy war right here Niger Proxy war went from a civil war to a proxy war, right? red This is gonna go red. This is gonna go red.  They're saying For me, I don't right. Does it blow me away? Yeah What kind of low-key person believes what they're what they're spewing, right? We want to know Where we're going from here, right? That's the purpose of this Sort of exercise that we're doing so for example as we saw Pipeline why is the shit hitting the fan? Pipeline gas pipeline coming in from Nigeria Going into Algeria and it splits off from here, but we're just gonna go direct We're going to Europe, right? Why did Syria happen? Why did Syria happen? parts gas field here and It's split into Qatar and Iran, right?  It's the same gas field Saudi Arabia Western world got really pissed off and they decided to do regime change in Syria.  Is that gonna feed up there? Is it gonna go through Turkey? Is it gonna go through Mediterranean? We don't know pipelines Right, why did Afghanistan happen?  This is full-on Multicountry war if it happens, I hope it doesn't I hope Russia and China can put a stop to it, but Newland went there and she got a nasty treatment the neocons aren't gonna take that. Wow, right?  We'll see where it goes. We'll see where it goes


This book is one of the strangest things I've ever read.  The point of the book seems to be a platonic kind of utopia story that's meant to teach a lesson about the differences between men and women. There are a number of things in this book that some people might find very offensive and I'm not talking about foul language or sex I'm talking about sexism but that's a decision that you're going to have to make.


Come back drone tech here. Have you ever noticed how the just-the-facts truth-based news media always pump up and support? Republicans who go against their party they use a lot of positive adjectives to describe these people words like courageous and Maverick People like Romney or Liz Cheney or John McCain Hell even the example of Maverick given on dictionary.com is a fiscal conservative willing to raise taxes Which is right in line with the Democrats state media's agenda of keeping Democrats in power The more people you can pull away from your opposition party to help you the better They've been doing this for at least the last 20 years leading to embarrassing media segments like these reform the corrupt campaign finance system That is that is having such pernicious effect in Washington Well, however brave a stand campaign finance reform may be members of your own party have rejected it What's the matter with them? Why don't they get it said he has this remarkable appeal? He's a down-the-line conservative. He's voted for every item of the contract for America and yet he has this appeal To centrists and even some liberal Democrats in many but ways he is evolving a lot of Democrats say a dream ticket Would be if John Kerry would reach across the aisle take you as a vice presidential candidate Sorry to imagine they'd have to be taking some steroids That it was done seven years of talk about repeal and replace done in one hand Gesture probably much was made of that moment a moment of moral courage a man staring down his own Mortality yet again not the first time in his life But let's also talk about the courage of Murkowski of Alaska and Collins of Maine Because without those two women there is no moment like that for John McCain My question to you is that kind of courage for people cheering them on going to be contagious He has prided himself over a very long career on being somebody who takes courageous stance me. Yep certainly was a McCain moment tonight voting his conscience over his party the Mitt Romney decision is a fascinating one for this reason He is now the president of the Republican resistance to Donald Trump. He put politics aside That was a true profile encouraged speech. Yeah, we just heard that was the sound of a man Who'd wrestled with his conscience who tried to think bigger than partisan politics? I could go on and on but you get the point now Let's see how the exact same media treats Democrats who put partisan politics aside and courageously stand against their own party So what can senator Manchin say other than the fact that he is an extremist him and senator cinema are Extremists and anybody that's hiding behind them are extremists any minute now The Senate is expected to begin a series of votes on voter protection legislation Which is expected to fail Teeing up majority leader Chuck Schumer's plan to move forward with a vote on a proposed filibuster rule change That too is likely to fail since conservative Democratic senator and professional Colbert and Joe Manchin in the tradition of the body to his Clyde Kristen cinema Preempted that effort earlier this afternoon look the people like Joe Manchin and Kristen cinema These are the white people that Martin Luther King, Jr. warned us about this is a war This isn't a battle and we absolutely will win this war It is a war it is indeed a war and I have to say they have won some battles Jasmine But we have to keep our eye on the war and everybody needs to pick up a weapon and get involved We stop whining about bipartisanship first of all bipartisanship means appealing to the other side not joining it When it comes to voting there's only one side Republicans are the ones waging war and democracy You can't compromise with the side that's doing the damage between the moderates and the Progressives because he was really on track to be the next Lyndon Johnson with the great society programs But Manchin and cinema are standing in their way Especially they call themselves Democrats and they will be the remation of this nation those two These people are destroying the country in my opinion Democrats lose the Republicans who are so corrupt right now and we all know that they will move in Trump will run in 2024. He might win because of all the cheating that's going on. We cannot let this happen They are the enemies right now of the of the democracy You got that the only way to save the democracy is for Democrats to be in permanent power with no political opposition Or roadblocks to whatever policy they want to enact It's just so disturbing that our so-called fourth estate the supposed check-on power only really cares about keeping their Political opponents out of power and apparently to convince the public that so-called democracy is just one party Democrat Party rule With no political opposition. All right folks Just want to give you a quick insight into how just utterly corrupt our so-called free press has become in service of the Democrat Party They are literally the threat to democracy. They're accusing their opponents of being as always if you enjoyed this video Help the algorithm along and help this channel by hitting that like button and leaving a comment to let us know what you think


in New York. Yeah, Special Olympics. Obviously, I think everyone, all of your viewers have certainly heard of Special Olympics. It's been around for 50 years. Eunice Kennedy Shriver started it a little over 50 years. She just had her hundredth birthday we celebrated. She passed away a few years ago, but she really started Special Olympics just to, it's really about inclusion through sports. So just giving an opportunity, your sister had an intellectual difference and she saw the isolation and the difference that she was treated and started this organization to just start including people with intellectual differences through sports. So fast forward, here's Special Olympics, New York, one of the largest programs in the country. We have, we work with over 60,000 athletes. We have seven offices throughout the state and again, same thing. We just, it's authentic sports opportunities for people with intellectual differences, competitions, trainings, or sports organization, but we're really also advocates for inclusion. So inclusion in all forms of life, health and school and sports and social. So that's what we do.


If you're new to working out, the gym can be quite an intimidating place. Look, we totally understand that's why in today's episode, we're going to talk to you about how to overcome that fear so that you can improve your health and fitness and go to one of the best places on earth for doing so, the gym. So this is a legit thing. I think everybody goes through that one point. They do. Even if you're, I think even if you're a fitness person, I think when you first start. Yeah. You remember your very first gym membership? Can you remember it? Can I remember it? It's like yesterday. It was definitely not like yesterday. It was 1994. So I do, but you know, I had a different relationship. I can remember doing other things that I was very intimidated with. The gym was always something exciting to me, but that is not the average person. The average person feels totally different walking in for the first time and I didn't get this because I was such a fanatic as a kid. But when I started working in gyms and I started to do like tours and talk to people about signing up, you know, when I was selling memberships and I was managing them, majority, majority of people talked about how it was intimidating to walk into a gym. It wasn't just like one out of 10, it was like eight out of 10 people would comment on this. So I don't know. I'll give you an example, though, where I did feel intimidated with something. It was my first time doing Judo and then my first time doing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. That first time, first months doing those things. I remember walking in and seeing all these people look so proficient and so serious and I knew nothing. I knew, you know, I don't know how to do any of the moves. I don't know what it was like. I don't know what the workouts were going to be like. I didn't even know how to tie my belt and it was like nerve wracking. It was super nerve wracking. Was there a special way to tie the belt? Yeah, oh yeah. Oh, I didn't know that. Oh yeah. That was just a traditional knot. Like you tie your shoes. No, no, no. Oh really? Just formality. Did you know that? So much of it, yeah. It's not just formality.  You didn't know that. You knew there was a special knot for the gi? Yeah. Really? Yeah. Yeah, if you tie your gi, the belt wrong, the belt, then the belt will leave. Did you know that, Doug? I did, because Breonna did taekwondo. Yeah, there was taekwondo that exposed me to that. There's a specific knot that you make to tie your belt. If you don't, then your belt goes like this and then your coach can go on. Got them all on here. Andrew, save me. Did you know? You knew, too.  It's like saying there's a special way to wear shorts when you're playing basketball. Yeah. Not that you wouldn't know that, but imagine if I showed up with my shorts on backwards. Bad analogy. I don't know. Yeah. Probably doesn't work either. Yeah, no. I had a similar experience, but it was going into Muay Thai and it was like, I had nothing about martial arts in general at that point. I just was like, I want to do this. I want to pursue this. Thankfully, I went with a friend, which kind of helped some of that anxiety going in because everybody there knew what they were doing already and they were aggressively going through these moves and I'm like, I didn't know what to expect. I'm like, are they just going to throw me in and spar right away? Is it one of those kind of places or is it one where they're actually going to focus on technique? Just the anticipation of what to expect really was like what was daunting for me. Yeah. What about you? Yeah. I was going to say, am I the only one that actually, I mean, I felt this gym intimidation for me. I was super nervous to go to the gym. How old were you when you first walked in? 16 or 17? Okay. So you were a kid. Well, yeah. You guys were earlier than me. So my only experience before getting this gym membership was one of my good friends, his dad had a little garage gym. Super basic. And we literally did. It was like a bench with the legs. Bicep curls, tricep push downs and every once in a while my other buddies would convince me to bench, but I hated to bench because my form was terrible.  So it was really intimidating for me to even bench. So I actually didn't even bench press, which is like the staple exercise that every teenage boy does, right? Cause he wants to say how much he benches where I was so terrible at that and so intimidated to do it because my form was such was so shitty that all I did was buy some curls and push downs. And then when I get to this gym and it was a massive gym, you guys actually been to the gym. Oh, that's right. We shot. We filmed. First aesthetic. So that was my first gym. That was my very first gym. That's a hardcore gym. And it's a hardcore gym with all kinds of stuff in there. And so, and I was extremely weak. So and in these times, especially a gym like that, mostly dudes, it was like, well, there was hardly any girls in that gym. It was a lot of guys that were much bigger, much stronger, older than I was. And so it was a really, now luckily for me, I did go with a friend. I don't know if I would have went by myself to be honest, you know, trying to remember what, what I was thinking back then, like I would have been probably pretty scared and nervous to do it all by myself. At least I had him and he was a little more comfortable in that. He was much stronger than I was. And so I kind of leaned on that. Wow. You know what, now that I'm thinking about it, so I was intimidated, but not the first gym I went to because the first gym I went to was nothing like what you just explained. So the first time I went to was the YMCA. Oh, okay. Yeah. So that would have been a better place. Yeah. So I was 16. I remember the first like hardcore gym I went to or big gym, right? So I was 16 and let's see, I was either 15 or 16, maybe 15 and a half. And I was able to ride my bike to the YMCA and I've talked my mom into co-signing for me to, to join this gym. And the YMCA, the weight area was tiny. It was literally the size of where we film out there, maybe a little smaller. And now I had already been working out for a year and a half. I was familiar with pretty much everything I needed to do. So I went in. I was excited. Now, the first time I went into a big gym, it was a world gym. And I remember walking in and I saw an Olympic platform, which I had no experience with Olympic lifting. I had no experience with chalk, rubber plates, anything like that. And there were big, strong, loud people in there. And I was like right away, like I'm just staying in the corner. Not doing anything. I was super intimidating because, and again, that's what I experienced in Judo and Jiu-Jitsu. It's every, every time you do something that is new and you're in an area or a space where there's lots of proficient people, there's a culture and you're walking into a brand new culture that you're not familiar with. And people look very serious and very focused. So right away, you feel at a place and judged. You feel both at a place and judged.  It takes a while to, I think you get past your own insecurities of it to be able to receive it. Even when it's there, it's like you're very, you know, much, you have all your walls up and your guards up because I think it's just what you've created this narrative in your mind of like, oh my God, what am I going to experience? It's funny you mentioned worlds, because that was the first one that outside of, so I had experience at school being trained with weight training, I think, which really helped because we actually had a class that took us through like all the technique and all the lifts. And then we would actually work out as a team through sports, but in terms of like a commercial gym, my first experience was at Worlds in Scotts Valley, Dave Draper's gym. Oh, wow. That's a great gym.  How old were you? I was probably, yeah, I was probably 16, 17. Okay. Yeah. And I went in there by myself, I didn't have a friend, and so I was super, and I wanted to have a plan for the summer because I was like, I got to keep training and I thought it was local and it was close. And so I went in there and it was intimidating because it was just like guys getting after, and it's serious because it's, again, they're competing and they're jacked and I was just a tiny, skinny kid like getting in there and seeing like all of the pictures on the wall of everybody's, you know, past, you know, stage performances and awards and all that kind of stuff. And like, you know, I mean, it was kind of cool. Like I was very much in awe of like the gym itself, but it was like, wow, these guys are beasts. I had a great experience the first time. So my fear, and I think this is a lot of people's fear, is that they're going to do something wrong. Like they're going to use a machine wrong or they're going to exercise wrong or they don't know what they're doing. And, you know, as a gym manager, much later, I would see these members. They'd come in half the time is because I signed them up and I'd see them wander over to something and kind of look at it. And they're afraid to use it or they want to make sure they do it right. So I'd make sure I come over and help them real quick. But I was, I've told the story so many times, I had this great experience where I was doing leg press and I had just recovered from a dislocated kneecap and I just, I'm like, I need to strengthen my legs. The physical therapy helped only so much. I still felt unstable and I just said screw it. I'm going to work out my legs and I think that'll help. And I'm doing leg press and there was a group of this at the point at this time, the strongest people I've ever seen in my life. There's these power lifters. They're probably in their thirties and forties, you know, they look like old men to me, right?  And part of me going after it was that's the way I was a kid and I was, you know, I really wanted to build muscle. The other part of me was that was going after it was I was working out next to these guys and I didn't, I didn't want to be judged as not, you know, working out serious or whatever. So I'm really pushing it, right? And one of the guys comes over to me and he kind of smirks and I immediately felt like embarrassed or shame ashamed. And he says, uh, you're working hard. And he goes, what are you trying to do? So I'm trying to build my legs and he goes, you're using the wrong machine. He goes, you should be squatting over here.  And it was like, uh, I, this was such a, um, a life changing moment for me because I realized that I had my own ideas, my own, um, you know, what I thought was happening was not what was happening. I thought I was being judged. I thought people were looking at me. I don't know what I'm doing. Skinny kid, what are you doing to get out of our gym? We're serious or whatever, but the reality is, and this is the truth because then I'm on the other end of it, right? Later on when I'm the one working out, when I know what I'm doing and I see people like that, I'm not thinking anything like, what are you doing here?  I'm always thinking, wow, that's amazing. That's so great. I, you know, I, I hope there's an opportunity for me to help them. See if I can encourage them somehow. Yeah. Like, and that's exactly what they were thinking. It wasn't what I thought, which was they're judging me. They're making fun of me or whatever. And, and they showed me that. And then from then on, it was like this great experience. And I learned some incredible lessons, uh, that day, but it really, I can totally understand why somebody would be intimidated because people are focused. They're not necessarily social. They're maybe social with each other, especially the, the regulars, but people are in there doing their thing. They're very focused. People who are serious about their fitness, like they're, they're in their space, they're doing it.  It's just weird culture. Everybody's super serious. It's a lot to take in. Yeah. So I totally understand, um, why it could feel this way, but it's, it's a lot of it is what you're thinking yourself that other people are thinking about you.  What's up everybody? Today's giveaway is the super bundle. It's the biggest bundle we offer. I'm going to give it away for free. By the way, we only will give this away in the comment section. We'll never ask you to call us, text us, use some weird app. There's scammers out there. If you see them, tell them to screw off. That's not us. We'll let you know in the comment section that you won. And here's how you can enter to win. Leave a comment below this video in the first 24 hours that we drop it, subscribe to the channel, turn on notifications. And then again, if you win the super bundle, we'll let you know in the comment section. We'll literally say you won. And then that's it. We'll tell you how to get that free bundle. Also, we're running a sale specifically for this episode. We've taken the starter bundle, which is Maps Enabolic, Maps Prime, and the Intuitive Nutrition Guide, and we priced it. Ready for this? 80 bucks, 80 bucks. Normally that would cost you $243, but you can get all of it for $80. If you're interested, go to mapsfitnessproducts.com and then use the code nofear for that discount. All right? Here comes the show. I don't think it's much different than learning almost anything for the first time. I think the same type of butterflies and fears and concerns are almost the same. The only difference, I would say, is it's actually more welcoming. Like, I remember learning how to play basketball and joining a game. Like, boy, you want to talk about people being hard on you. You join a pickup game, and you've never played that sport before. Well, they're directly competing against you. Yes. And the people on your team, if you don't understand the fundamentals of the game, that could be... They're not going to give you the ball. Yeah, that's rough. You know, wakeboarding, snowboarding, doing these sports first time, falling all day long in front of friends or peers or stuff like that. I think those things were as intimidating, if not more, and there's less of a welcoming feeling. And the gym is actually... That's what you'll find. You'll find that you may have the same type of fear and intimidation going in, but the more you do it, the sooner you'll realize, like, actually how welcoming the community is.  Like, oh, there's the 100 people inside the gym, and it's like this in-click or whatever that. And it's not like that. It's like what you said, where everybody is so focused on their own personal goals and stuff like that. And if you find yourself talking to somebody, most people, even if you're messing up and doing it all wrong, are very encouraging. They're not going to put you deadly. You make, again, you make a...  Roasted. Yeah, you make a mistake on how to use a machine or how to rack the weights properly or something like that. People are going to come over and criticize you. If anything can come over and help you. The only time you'll ever get ostracized in a gym is if you made fun of someone who was trying. If you openly make fun of someone, the rest of the people in that gym who are consistent, they're going to get you out of that gym. Now, I think the first thing to realize is that you're actually not the exception, you're the rule. The vast majority of gyms, and we know this personally because we managed big gyms in some of the busiest gyms in the country, we managed or grand opened. I remember talking about thousands and thousands of workouts a day, 30, 40,000 square foot facilities. The vast majority of people in the gym working out are not super consistent, been working out for years, people. In fact, that's a small, tiny group. And when I would manage a new gym, a new big box, I would get to know the regulars very quickly because it was a small group. The vast majority of people were in and out. And if you look at the statistics, it's actually quite true. Most people start working out and then stop after six months or so. So when you're in a gym and you're like, oh my God, I don't know what I'm doing or whatever, you're not the only one, you're the majority. Most people are thinking- There's a wave of people behind you that don't know what they're doing. Yeah, most people in the gym are having a tough time. Even the most hardcore gym that you could think of, if you go in there, you're still probably a majority. I mean, there's still probably 40% of them would be a lot. If you went into like a super hardcore gym where 40% are like regulars, but you're still like part of the 60%. In more commercial gyms, it's like 90%. 90%.   The most of the people walking into workout, you didn't recognize almost every day, almost every day. And this is something we worked in on a daily basis. So, and this is a good realization because when you realize you're not alone, because I think one of the number one reasons why people fear or feel afraid of going to a gym is they feel like they're the only one, but the reality is it's like most people. Most people in there are totally new or have just come back or really have a lot of questions, not sure what's going on. So, you're not the only one by a long shot. A lot of people are like that.  I mean, if it's the first time- You've never done it before. Yeah. And that's part of the learning curve that everybody had to go through at one point. Whether they experienced it five, 10 years before you or experiencing it right with you or just experienced it a month ago, like everybody experiences that and the more comfortable you can get with accepting that, hey, this is gonna be difficult. I probably will make some mistakes. I probably will have some setbacks. I probably will spin my wheels for a little bit, just like anything else that I've learned for the very first time. Make peace with that, understand that everybody also went through that. You're totally normal. You are not the exception. And I think that is the first key is to get through that.  That's something that I notice even personally I've been getting better at just recently. Like this is something that like every time you do something brand new, it's so intimidating just because you start like, you start thinking about like all of these scenarios, all of the worst case scenario, all these things that like may give you some kind of justice, justified reason to maybe avoid it or maybe I don't go today or maybe I just don't get started with it. And even just learning, initially I was trying to sort of lead the way with my kids and be like, well, maybe I'll learn a little bit of jujitsu and see what it's all about. And so it's like, I have to like, step into a new environment, a new culture, learn things that I know nothing about and just be completely humble in that environment. But the sooner I just realize, I'm going to suck. I'm going to be terrible. Like I'm just here to like literally follow the guidance of the instructor and like do what's necessary in that moment. And that's all I can focus on is just, I'm going to be in the moment and release that. And once I was kind of released that, it's a lot of weight goes off your shoulders. The disappointment happens when reality doesn't meet your expectations.  You're going to be okay. If you're like, ooh, I hope I don't mess up. I hope that I can do this thing. Like you're going to get a lot of disappointment because you've never done it before.  If you've never done it before, it's a skill. So that means you're going to not be good at it. You're going to have to practice it before you get better. So when you walk into the gym, one of the best ways in my experience to overcome the fear of that potential disappointment is to expect that you're not going to be good at it. So you walk in, you're like, I'm totally not going to be good at this. And then you're okay with the fact. And it sounds funny, but it's totally true. I did, this happened to me when I, there was a short period of time, very short per time. I think it was like a four month period where I did yoga. And I'm not the most limber, flexible person in the world. This is an area of challenge for me. And I remember I was like, I don't want to do yoga. I don't want to do, and I had these staff members that were like, you need to do yoga. You make us lift weights. These are like the wellness people that worked in my studio. And they made a good point. They're like, you've made a squat and deadlift and it's really transformed us. Why don't you do what we ask you?  So I'm like, all right, I'll do yoga. And I'm like, why don't I want to do this? I'm like, I know why.    And it was this great experience. I had no, no issues because it was my expectation. I met my expectation.  And I did a little bit better than I thought. And I left feeling much better versus like, oh, I better do well because I'm a fitness person. And then, you know, disappointing myself. Now the next thing is, and this I learned when I started doing more public speaking, this particular thing. So I, I don't really get nervous talking on camera or interviewing or doing podcasts. Depending on the environment and the crowd and the group, I can sometimes get nervous public speaking. And this, this is going to sound obvious to some people, but to me it wasn't so obvious at the time. I talked to a friend of mine who does phenomenal public speaking.   So when you go to the gym, have a plan. Have a plan when you go in, follow a program or know what you're going to do because it could be far more intimidating to walk in and then be like, what do I do now? Right. Know what your plan is going to be as you walk in. Yeah. And I think that, and this kind of, you know, feeds into the next point is make that simple too. I think people over complicate that, especially at the beginning when they're not sure what they're doing. They're like, oh man, there's so many exercises to do and there's so many machines in here. And, you know, we've talked at Nausium on the show of the most important movements, the biggest bang for your buck. You know, sticking with those four or five movements, that could keep you busy for a long time. So coming in with this plan of like, I'm going to get good at these movements and keeping it simple, I think, is a great strategy versus trying to learn all these different machines that are in, every gym, by the way, too, is that way. Like, I don't think I've ever been to a gym where there's not a piece of equipment that I'm unfamiliar with or haven't seen yet. So thinking you're going to go in a gym and feel like you're going to know every piece of equipment, I've been doing this for 20 years, still go into gyms to this day and see a new piece of equipment that I'm unfamiliar with. So instead of bouncing around to all these machines that are unfamiliar, you know, stick to the four or five basic movements and get good at them. You know what the irony is of what you're saying, Adam? That's also, simultaneously, the most effective way to work out. Yeah. Literally, like, if you want to get the best results with a workout, you're better off doing a few effective movements and mastering them than you are doing a whole bunch, a plethora of different exercises and becoming a master of none of them. I think this is true for, like, anything that involves skill, any sport, right? Like, you could learn 15 different ways to throw punches and kicks in martial art. What did Bruce Lee say? I fear the man, not the man who knows a thousand kicks, but the man who practices one kick a thousand times or something like that. Isn't that true for the sports you guys play? It's always about the basics? Yeah. Every single time. And that's the thing, is it relieves so much of that anxiety because you just have a few items that you really need to concentrate on.  You can kind of stick within a similar area. You don't have to, like, you know, bounce around all over the gym because the gym's a pretty big place and there's lots of different moving parts going around. And I think that people think that they have to just kind of explore and do this massive workout that's going to take them throughout the entire gym floor when, in fact, like, if you just stick with the basics, you're going to get more bang for your buck and also, too, you're going to slowly kind of familiarize yourself with that environment. You know, also talking about sticking to the basics and also kind of having a plan. You know, something that we would do if we were coaching a client, the very first thing that I'd do with somebody is an assessment on the very first visit. The very first visit, I'm going to see their starting point. How well they move. Now, not everybody can afford to have a personal trainer, but this was a big part of the motivation behind Maps Prime. Yes. Was to give people a kind of a universal tool so they could assess themselves and have a good starting point. So they know what movements to focus on. Right. And this is, I think this is an important strategy because the part that's going to be difficult for anybody starting off is the losing body fat, building muscle. That's difficult. It takes, and there's more involved than just going to the gym than just that, right? You have to do, you have to figure out caloric balance. You got to figure out what macros you need. There's levels to this, but what you can start to see progress in right away is how well your body moves and having a baseline of what you can and can't do through some sort of an assessment and then a way to look back. To me, it's an incredibly powerful strategy that I didn't have when I first started that I wish I had because there might be the first month you go by and you don't see major change on the scale or you don't notice that you're getting way, way stronger yet. And so you're discouraged, but if you have something to refer back to and see like, oh, I'm moving much better, you're progressing. And so there's many ways that we can progress in the gym and having a good baseline and a plan when you first start I think is essential. And again, ironically, that gives you the best results. It's like, I think part of the problem is when people, and this is part of the fitness industry's fault is that they make people body part focused, not exercise and skill focused. So someone goes to the gym and says, I want to train and they're new. Like I want to work on these areas. I want to work on my back and my butt and my shoulders.  And there's like 25 different machines. Yeah. Instead, they could be like, I want to get good at deadlift overhead press squat, three movements, which by the way, we'll develop those areas. I just said, better than any other. Build a fantastic physique.  So literally, if you view it as a skill base versus a body part focus, you'll do much better. And again, ironically, I mean, MAPS and Ebola, one of the most popular workout programs, actually our most popular workout program uses not a lot of exercises. It's like few movements, but those are the effective movements and you learn how to do them really well. And then you get phenomenal results versus like, oh, every workout's 15 different movements and I don't know what I'm doing or whatever, which brings us to another thing, which is you're better off going to the gym daily and spending a little time there than you are or exercising a little bit every day than you are going infrequently and spending a whole long, a lot of time. Why? Because frequency builds familiarity. So it's cool to go to the gym, you know, a couple of days a week where you spend some time in there, but then, you know, maybe go in there every single day, spend 10, 15 minutes, make yourself familiar with the environment. It desensitizes you to some of the fears that you have. This is even a useful strategy for people who have other kinds of fears. They desensitize you by frequent exposure. It's called exposure therapy. So if you just show up every day, do 15 minutes, 20 minutes, every once in a while, spend an hour, you're going to get over that fear much faster. Yeah, just think about the alternative to that what you're setting yourself up for if you're trying to do like this really long, elaborate workout and like accomplish all these things in that one gym time there. And then, you know, you made the tendencies to overdo it and you're going to feel that soreness and, you know, you're going to get all these kind of like deterrents psychologically now for you to come back and then, you know, keep frequently hitting the gym. It's like you want to make it an inviting environment for yourself and have that kind of energy where I want to go back. And so you lean a little bit more towards less, I would say. It's also obviously an incredible way to build habits. I mean, only going two or three times out of the week is fine and you can build a physique doing that. But going every single day is more likely to build a lifelong habit. Even if it's like 15 minutes. Right, even if it's 15 minutes or even if it's you and this happens a lot for me where I would go and just walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes, stretch for 20 or 15 minutes, maybe practice one movement and get out. You don't always have to go to the gym.  It's like, that's a recipe how you don't create a habit, right? How you dread going to the gym because it's like, oh my God, the last time I went, I just crushed it. I couldn't walk for four days.  And I think that is a problem with our, with the fitness culture right now is this idea that you need to walk out feeling destroyed. You actually touching on something that's very important, which is that sometimes the fear that people have with the gym is the fear of this is going to beat me up. Last time I got so sore, last time I almost passed out or I felt like throwing up, that's a real fear. That's a real fear. Like if you had that kind of an experience, especially the first few weeks that you started working out, like why would I want to go back?   I got to go lay down. Like, and then, you know, three, four days later, you start to, you know, recover a little bit. Like, oh, I got to go back. Like, I don't want, like that didn't feel right, right? But what if instead you went in and you trained yourself appropriately, you spent a little bit of time, you left feeling good, that fear is not going to be there. In fact, you might even look forward to the fact that you felt so good.  And then again, ironically, incidentally, that's the best way to get results. The funny thing is everything we're saying here isn't just to get you over your fears. It's actually also the best way to get best results. Your body responds the best to that type of mentality going in and that stimulus. Well, that's the other problem with that mentality of going in there and crushing it. Not only is it, you know, can be fearful for some people, but it's also frustrating. Imagine doing something uncomfortable like that, crushing it for, say, weeks on end, and then seeing little to no return. Like, and that was, this was my experience with people that would tell me, working out wasn't for them. It would be like, I'd rather be 15 or 20 pounds overweight and not having to beat myself up in the gym and eating salads all day long. They're like- Yeah, because they didn't barely produce anything. Yeah. So it's like, you know, just like if you were to show up to work and get nothing on a paycheck or hardly anything on a paycheck, how long do you continue working for that business, right? So it's the same concept. So, you know, not only is it caused fear, but then it also causes frustration because you're working so hard and getting such a little return that if you only knew that, you know, working out smarter and having a better approach, plan, strategy, practicing movements, trying to leave the gym feeling refreshed and good, not feeling beat up afterwards, will actually serve you more, both results and in consistency and overcoming the fear. Totally. And now lastly, I'll say this, and this sounds, this is going to, you know, maybe trigger someone's like little fear button, but, and I get this, but, you know, when you're in there and you need help with an exercise or technique or I'm not quite sure how to set up this machine or am I doing this right? Some, the most helpful people you'll find in that gym are the most serious members, okay? So the really strong woman or guy or person who's like, looks like they're just laser focused, you know, wait till they're not doing an exercise, don't approach someone while they're exercising. That's dangerous. But then walk up and say, hey, Squat, tap on their shoulder. Don't tap on your shoulder or miss squat. Yeah, don't do that. Somebody who can get hurt.  I don't know how to do it. Do you have a few seconds to give, to lend me a hand? You will find the most helpful people in the world in a situation like that. I do it, I mean, I do it at least once a month. Somebody asked me something while I'm working out and, and I help them and I love it and it's great. And, but I can understand why that's scary. I don't like asking for help at all, period. That's just an ego thing for me. But when you do, and then you find that, you know, they give you great advice. It's amazing. And those serious members are the best people to ask for help.  So, I mean, that's also an option too. I mean, if you see a trainer floating around, that's just like you wouldn't interrupt someone in the middle of a set, don't interrupt a trainer in the middle of coaching a client, but you know, every, you'll notice that every trainer ends up ending a session on the hour or half hour mark. And so when you see them in between and, and catch a moment to ask them questions or maybe somebody that works at the front desk to support and, or your point, the, the most serious person in the gym many times is also going to be the most friendly because they've been doing this for a really long time. And at one point they were right where you were at and they remember that. So absolutely reach out to those people. Absolutely. So if you follow those things and you stay somewhat, and you stay consistent, relatively consistent, you'll not only start to get over this fear, but then you'll start to find that you're going to be the person on the other end and you'll be the one that will be able to help other people who are just getting started. And that's a great place to be. By the way, if you're just getting started and you want the plan, you want to laid out for you, you don't necessarily want to hire a trainer, which I think is the best option, but hiring a trainer can be quite expensive and costly. We have workout programs that you can follow. It's got exercises, tells you the reps, the sets. You click on it. You can watch the video of us demonstrating or one of our people demonstrating on how to do it right. And we have something called a starter bundle, which we designed specifically for people just getting started. And because it's a bundle, it's already discounted. But then what we did with this episode is we took an additional discount. So what you get with this is MAPS and Ebola, which is one of our best programs especially for people getting started. Then we have MAPS Prime, which is a great way to assess yourself so you know what movements you should start with. And then we have a nutrition guide in there to help you with diet because that's important. This entire bundle is $80. I think retail would cost you almost $250. So $80. And what you want to do is, if you want to sign up for us, because it's just for this episode, is you go to mapsfitnessproducts.com, you go to starter bundle, but then you have to use this code, otherwise you won't get the discount. No fear. So N-O-F-E-A-R. No fear. We'll give you $80 for all those programs.  And we hope you get started because that's one of the big goals here with Mind Pump is to get people to start fitness and stick with it for life because we see so much value in it. Look, if you like the show, you can also find more free information at mindpumpfree.com. You can also find all of us on Instagram. So Justin is at Mind Pump. Justin, you can find me at Mind Pump to Stefano and you can find Adam at Mind Pump, Adam. Today we're going to teach you everything you need to know to build a strong, well-developed chest. When I think of weak points and areas that I struggled with developing for a really long time, chest was up there with the work. Yeah, it was for me. It was for me for sure. I got more caught up in the weight I could lift versus how I was developing my body. I think it's one of the most challenging muscles to develop for most people because the form and technique.


Yo, what is going on guys realized the game here today? We're gonna be reacting to some sonic videos Not just the heads up before we get into this video. They are weird creepy Funny, but I mean they're pretty awesome. Let's go ahead and begin with our first video by Explosive Sonic the Eggman is strong the chaos emeralds for the last and final time I've had enough My god He will never debunk my meticulous wrongdoings. I am the breeder of misery and chaos to this world Sorry in advance. What is the meaning of this intrusion? Yo, what's over sonica? He on one. You're going to wish you'd never done all those evil things What Remember kids working together is better than alone He said working together is better than alone then we seen tails burst out and crying I'm guessing tails didn't like that. He left them out at the end All right, that was pretty nuts.  Lunk box. Oh gosh. Hello there sonic.  I don't know who's been turning my food into a what?  What was that at the end? All right, so it looks like he might have cut off like dr. Eggman's face or something as From what we see here on the screen All right, that was very haunting. Next we got the sonic tapes house footage. Oh My god, wait, is this continuing off the previous one? Dude, he like totally dismembered professor Robotnik. Why did it look so crazy? Okay, I know the threat has been causing a hundred people in the area There have been several mutilations and reported missing persons in the past a authorities are currently investigating be alert lock your doors Yada yada and be prepared for a face-to-face encounter with this monster Whoa Right soon seems like sonic has Gone insane and He's just killing people Always right there behind the tree. I see you looking man, bro. He just broke in the house. Oh Well, he got a big old head of smaller wise like I know we're supposed to be scared right now, but Great now he's running off. Oh Bruh, he's just there in the darkness That has to be one of the most gruesome most gory Sonic tape I've ever seen. All right, ladies and gentlemen. Well, there we have it some cursed sonic videos Those last two videos are definitely gonna give me nightmares But thank you guys for watching. Thank you guys so many support as always and I will catch you guys in the next one