for media. As we continue to fight COVID-19, it has been one of the toughest years for the global economy. Every brand, irrespective of sector, had to reinvent itself in these challenging and absolutely unpredictable times. All of this makes this year's WPP Brand 3 2020 report even more interesting and crucial for each one of us. We speak to Dr. Mr. David Roth, CEO of the store WPP India and Asia and Chairman of Brand C to understand more about emerging trends. Welcome to the show, Mr. Roth. It's a great pleasure to be with you. I wish I could be in India in person, but as you have used, as you've explained, we're in very unusual times. I could just go through the inside, some highlights of the report and it says that India's top brands performed well against other countries where declines in total brand value were much greater. What were some of the factors that worked for these Indian brands?  In the number of studies we've now done for brand valuations, probably about six or seven during the height of the COVID period, and we've seen a various varying different degrees of total valuation growth and decline over those countries. I think India in balance has done reasonably well, a decline of around 6%. I think that one of the reasons that we haven't seen a greater decline in India than we have in other markets is the strength of Indian brands. In particular, a key component of brand value growth, which is their meaningfulness and the way in which the brand is also well differentiated. I think that is a testament to the strength and the quality of brand building in India and the history indeed of brand building India over a number of years. I suppose there lies a critical point, which is the amount of money, investment that you make in building a brand has an amazing payback. It not only helps you recover faster, but it also helps you during the difficult times. We saw that at the economic crisis, the world economic crisis a number of years ago, that strong brands recover faster. I think we're going to see exactly the same as we start to join the glide path out of the COVID period that we're in. So that's also my next question. Again, the report says that trusted brands have weathered the crisis better than brands with a low trust index. So as per the report, Airtel is one such brand that showed a significant growth in India during the pandemic. So globally, which are the brands that have been able to achieve the same and what what can Indian brands learn from this? Yeah, I think on a global level, it's been quite interesting because the top 100 most valuable global brands, which the valuation has launched pretty much at the peak of the growth in the pandemic, grew at around 5.8%. So that's a positive growth. And that growth is in sort of value terms are 275 billion US dollars. Now, I think that the big difference in the global is that if you look at the top 10 global brands and our brands in top 100 versus the top 10 in India, for global, we see many, many more digital e-commerce and technology brands in the top 10. Of course, those brands have performed well over the recent months because the world has accelerated the digital transformation that was well underway post COVID. And I think that's probably one of the key lessons that we can all learn from the period that we are in in the last few months is how important it is to put your foot on the accelerator of the digital transformations that will probably go on inside your business. But both from a consumer perspective and also from a business efficiency perspective, those investments in technology and being able to have a direct relationship with your consumers is going to be something that all businesses are going to need to accelerate over the course of the next two years. So you're an industry expert. What are some of the key steps that marketers and brands must take to build trust with the new and evolved consumer? Because this is a new socially distant world that we have entered in. So what are some of the new steps that marketers must take now? Well, of course, trust has always been a key pillar in what defines a brand and also what defines a valuable brand. But I think that our experiences over the course of the last few months and I think the experiences that we're going to have for the rest of the year is going to redefine a little bit about what we now mean by trust. A number of things that brands did that were very invisible to us, especially on sort of health and safety, those aspects of what they do are going to have to become much more visible. And I think that's going to build trust. One of the things that we've seen in India and also across the world is that despite, and I say that in a positive way, despite the difficulties that everybody has had, it hasn't taken consumers' eye and mind of how important it is for companies and brands to operate in both an ethical way and also a way that is good or lessens their impact on the environment. I also believe that that's also going to be a very important ingredient within what makes up brand trust going forward as well. And then the third area which is equally important is the whole notion of transparency. The way in which organizations, companies, and brands work is becoming more and more under the microscope. Consumers really do look to see how brands behave versus their claims and where there is gaps between the two. That's going to, that has been exposed in the past and that's going to be exposed in the future. They are, those I think are the three key ingredients and I would add one more in the spirit of what this next element is and that is value. I think more and more consumers are going to be much more careful about where and how they spend their money and will be looking for greater value propositions and brands are going to have to interrogate their products until it confesses their value superiority and then make sure that that's very, very well explained and communicated to their consumers. How important do you think will be the role of Martek? Well, I think the way in which we as communicators and the way which consumers consume information and data is clearly in the fundamental stages of change. I think one of the key observations that you can make is that some of the trends that were either appearing or there if you really looked carefully before the Covid period was there, those trends are being accelerated now and the ability to be able to really understand who your consumers are, to mine the data that is coming out of all those different digital communications that you can have with your consumers in a way that is open and transparent, that consumers give their approval and permission for and then to be able to use technology tools to be able to put in front of the consumer at exactly the right time, at the right place, context sensitive messages, information that the consumer finds useful and valuable is going to be one of the defining things that will differentiate those successful brands and marketeers from those who are going to struggle in the years ahead. So that Martek stack is going to be a vital ingredient in business performance and being able to have a meaningful, valued relationship between yourself and your customers in both directions. So as for the report and even we all have been observing some sectors like OTT platforms or sectors that are involved in digital like Mastercard has appeared in your top 10 brands or TikTok. So going forward in 2021 also do you think they'll be able to hold these positions or it's just a momentary thing because of the lockdown and the Covid? No, I think they will be held on to their positions. Obviously the year on near growth won't be as stunning and spectacular as it was in 2020 but I think now a number of non-returnable gates that we've gone through as consumers in the world which we consume, entertainment is where we consume, media the way in which we shop and I think that those brands are very well placed to take advantage of that. Of course there will be some normalization of it. I think one of the key things that we're beginning to see through data from a number of people who track web traffic is the fact that whilst web traffic has is declining over the course of the last few months or last month or so as lockdown in many parts of the world becomes less aggressive that web traffic is declining but what has maintained significantly above the Covid rates is the transactions that are being made and the conversion rates and I think those type of things are signals to the fact that consumers have undergone a fundamental change in some of their habits and behaviors and probably won't return to exactly the same way as before which means that marketers around the world are also going to have to be much sharper in the way they change and refine their marketing strategies. On the top you must have been involved in preparing reports of other countries also so if I would want to ask you how is India I mean where is India better and where is India weak I mean where do you think Indian marketers or Indian brands need to work so if you can just give us a comparative thing on that. Sure well that's a very interesting question I think one of the things that's always surprised me in a positive way about working in India with our Indian colleagues and our Indian clients is the amazing amount of both intellectual ability that they have and also just a sort of a can-do attitude and a very positive outlook on life and circumstances and I think those three things have been very important in the way in which Indian brands have responded to the challenges that nobody would have predicted at the end of 2019 which overall was a pretty good year when you look back at it for brands right across the world. I think the areas where India has some catching up to do in other markets around the world is in the e-commerce space although frankly the speed with which that's happened over the last few months and also the last couple of years has been quite dramatic in India so that is very impressive but there is some catch up still to do and the digitisation of processes and procedures in order to make things significantly more simple and quick for the consumers. One of the intriguing trends that was definitely around well before Covid for the last few years but is one of those trends that has been accelerated on steroids and that's despite the fact that consumers have had lots of time at home they might have had time at home but they haven't had a lot of time in home in a sense to do everything they want to do so those brands that can simplify things can make their businesses simple make their propositions simple make it very easy for the consumers to understand and get hold of those products to reduce the amount of time and friction that the consumer has to go through in order to complete something that I think is also going to be amazingly important and in that area India has some catching up to do but I have every confidence in the skill ingenuity of Indian marketeers and the way in which they go about doing things that that gap will soon disappear. So before we close I would want to understand from you that what are some of the long term changes transformations and not just in the digital space but in the working of the overall business that we can expect post Covid in India and globally? Well I think if one takes a helicopter view as I said 2019 was a good year on average but I think we're all realizing that it's pretty unlikely that we're going to retailers and brands and manufacturers are going to have as much turnover in for the next sort of two to three years than they had in 2019 so businesses do need to be re-engineered, businesses do need to become significantly more efficient and businesses do need to get really really close to their consumers and there are many different ways in which that can happen. I know that most far-sighted brands now are looking at ensuring they have a direct to consumer channel within their roots to market because we've found over this period how important it is to be able to do things directly between you and your consumer without relying on other intermediaries who might not have the same priorities as you have in difficult periods. I think it's slightly too early to tell now what consumer attitudes and behaviors are fundamentally going to completely change versus what will snap back in one form or another to behaviors that we're all exhibited without really thinking about it in December and January. I think the jury is still out on that and as eager watchers of consumer trends of understanding how consumers relate to brands via the brands and data and our WPB data sets we will be looking very closely for all the signs of where change is happening and how it's happening to enable marketers to quickly adapt and be much more flexible. The only way that all of us can do that is amazing speed and I think that's one of the skills that we're all going to have to hone and refine and sharpen up. We've learned a lot of new skills all of us over of course the last few months that we didn't know that we either had or we didn't know that we needed but the ability to work fast work in teams that are not all in the same place and to maybe get things 70 to 80 percent are correct and done and completed and implemented. Fast is much better than 98 percent complete but just takes you too long to get there and the time you've got there the consumer has moved and changed. Thank you so much Mr. Ross for this insightful interview and the reports that have come out and we hope to get back to you soon once your data scientists have put all those insights together on consumer behavior and we would also be interested in understanding that for you. Thank you for speaking to us. It's a pleasure very much. Look forward to that and please do go to brandz.com and download the report. I'm sure you will find it unbelievably insightful for drive businesses. Thanks very much indeed. It's been a pleasure. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks a lot.


I'm here to let you know something. Don't pick at your differences, okay? They're what make you you. You're never going to look like someone else, but you don't need to. There's something I learned that might help. A rose and a sunset are nothing alike, but they're both so undeniably beautiful in their own way. You're beautiful, and the person you're comparing yourself to is too. You have futures that other people would die for.


I have 10 minutes to pull this card or else. What's up guys? We're back with another epic 10 minute challenge. This time we're going back to 10 minutes cause 15, I got, literally I got tired during it. So we're going to do 10 minutes. We are trying to pull Starlight Exodia. Any piece counts, I win. If I pull any piece, there's five different options. So we're going to be opening a ton of Battles of Legend in this video, hopefully as many as I could possibly can in the 10 minute time span. If I do pull it, I win. If not, you guys win a hundred dollars. So make sure to like the video, be subscribed, turn on notifications. Let me know if you believe that I can do it. We've not pulled access code talker yet. So that'd be cool to pull as well. So let's get into it. Have you ever thought that you don't get enough respect? Has your opponent at locals called you a buy or an easy win? Today that all changes when you follow in the footsteps of Sir Ruxen and become a Lord or Lady with established titles. Established titles is a fun and novel way to preserve the natural woodlands of Scotland while helping with global reforestation efforts. It's a project based on a historic Scottish custom. That is a tongue twister where landowners are referred to as lords or lords and ladies in English. Imagine the fear your opponents will feel when they're dueling a Lord of Yu-Gi-Oh. Title packs give you at least one square foot of dedicated land on a private estate in Edelston, Scotland and a unique plot number and an official certificate with a crest. The first 200 people purchasing a title pack using my link will effectively be next to my plot within a few minutes of walking distance. Depending on how many of you become lords and ladies we can build a Ruxen 34 kingdom. They plant a tree with every order and work with global charities such as One Tree Planet and Trees for the Future. You could officially change your name to Lord or Lady and get it on your credit card, plain tickets, et cetera. You can even get it on dating profiles. It makes an amazing last minute gift. Christmas is coming up. Established titles is actually running a Black Friday sale right now. Plus if you use the code Ruxen you get an additional 10% off. Go to EstablishedTitles.com slash Ruxen to get your gifts now and help support the channel. Thanks Established Titles for sponsoring this video. All right, our time starts right now. All right, my timer is going. Let's go. We have Battles of Legends. Let's see how many I can open. There's five cards per pack on this. So this should be a little easier. Oh, I have to do the pack trick. That's part of the rule, isn't it? I'm already wasting time. Great. Can we get that access code talker? Here we go. Soroko. Ooh, chaos space. This is the first time I'm opening for myself. So I'm actually, okay. Stop spending time looking at the cards. I'm just gonna throw aside like what I think is decent. I'm not gonna, you know, think about it too much. All right, we've got the dragon nails, mentioned dice, gravity balance, savior, and ooh, chaos creator. Very nice. Yeah, these are actually my cards, which is fun. I get to open my own cards. Everyone who is excited, I am. I get to keep some of these cards. Very nice. It's more black wings. Very nice. I don't know if anybody uses that one, but maybe they do. Morphotronic and Advanced Crystal Beast. I'm working on the deck. Here we go. We gotta believe I've opened what? Three packs, four packs. I gotta hurry up. I'm going slow. We've got Hieratic Seal. Very nice black wings. We've got the Golem. We've got the Turoki, the Ian shovel. Apparently that's a great card that I didn't mention for heroes, but guys, if you're expecting me to know meta or know decks, you know, current decks, like maybe like Edison stuff. Yeah, you know, go format. That's good. But come on, guys. You guys know I don't know that stuff. I'm doing my best. Okay, I'm doing my best. We've got a lot going on here at the rucks and 34 headquarters, aka my apartment. So we're trying to learn what we can. We have Advanced Crystal Beast. All right, nothing too crazy so far. And honestly, we're going a little bit slow. We probably, oh, it's only been a minute 20. Okay, we're opening a few backs. Gale, that's a very good card. Advanced Dark. We've got the Fusion Destiny, beautiful card. No checking out the artwork. Even if it's Access Code Talker, we will not spend a single second. Look, okay, we probably will. Why am I setting the packs up there on the keyword? I'm not really sure. Blackling Armor Master or something. It's like the bigger one. Got the Advanced Crystal Beast Sapphire Packages. The secret rears on this set look absolutely amazing. I think we will be doing the live stream tomorrow. So make sure you guys come hang out live stream on Wednesday. That's the goal. This is our third video before the live stream. Been doing a lot of those. You guys are good for Edison, Side Dex, or Extra Dex, sorry. So that's the goal.  We've got Advanced Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle. All right, speed it up. Speaking of, you guys wanna buy some of this set? Make sure you use Code Ruxon Revenge with Sassy Auto. You guys can get some of this. You get 5% off for using my code. Check it out. Try and grab some Exodia pieces. Borrel Lode Savage, let's go. I needed that card, very nice. So if you guys want some of that, I keep opening these upside down which is making it slower. I'm struggling. But yeah, check out that code. It supports me with the affiliate link and of course, Sassy Auto is a legend. If you guys have not worked with him before, you will be happy. You will be happy. He's a cool guy. All right, let's go. And you guys have seen him in my vlogs as well. Edgym Chain, cool. At the Blackwing Soroko, and Atune Page, page, page, page, page, page. Flip, very nice. Okay, it's only been three minutes. We've opened a lot of packs. I'm really struggling right now. Oh no, oh no, oh no. We are wasting time every second. What am I doing? All right, Dynabase, Crystal Beast, Totoroki. Wait, does it say Totoroki? Is this my hero academia? What's going on here? Is this Totoroki? Wow, cool. All right, let's go. We've got the Odd Eyes Rebellion Dragon. Didn't notice that the first couple of times I opened this tune, Harpy Lady and Evil Twin Lil. It's probably a reprint anyway. It's probably already been a card. I'm leaning forward. My back's already hurting. Really glad I decided to go with 10 minutes on this video. I'm feeling a lot better about that. All right, Dream, Cicada. We've got the Odd Eyes Persona Dragone. I still don't know the prices of anything. Yesterday's video, when I did all the prices of like this versus brothers, it was the perfect example of why you cannot trust pre-sales. Cause all the cards were over a dollar basically on the battle side and zero of the cards on brothers, like literally. So it was a absolute blowout in terms of value because none of the prices have come down yet. So it was a pretty interesting, it was interesting to see how bad it is like compared to like when the set actually settles. They're so expensive. So that's why I usually recommend waiting until they come out.  But it usually does, but sometimes it doesn't. We've got the cast creator, very nice. All right, the back has already killed me. We're only four minutes in. I've opened a lot of packs here, but I really want to pull an access code. We haven't pulled that yet. So that'd be really cool. Tunebook, Mario, these are the cards I'm pulling aside over in that little pile right there. But I'm not really taking too much time to think about it, but I'm like, oh, it looks decent. I'll keep it real straight. Soroko, I've probably gotten enough black wings at this point when we pulled a million of them. I feel like I have not opened that many packs though. So we got to really hope, could we get our first starlight in this opening? So I'm still thinking here's the access code. That's our one second of excitement. There we go, our first access code talker. Let's put it right there. This is a great opening so far. I still haven't pulled a starlight. I'm still like kind of leaning. I've heard there, I think there might be like a 10th starlight. Is that true? That's what I'm hearing. Like nine might not be the number. It might be 10. I haven't actually seen it. So I'm not actually sure about that. So if it is, they literally double the starlights compared to a core set. So maybe they are gonna like half the pull rates and even one per case, something like that. I mean, that just makes sense to me. You know, if you double the starlight, number of starlights in there and then you also make the pull rates twice as easy, that's literally the same ratio. Cause like there's extra. So to get the same one, you have to open the same amount of packs. Wouldn't make sense to do that. All right, Gil. So if they do do that, do do. There's a, oh, Hades is in here. That's cool. I actually bought an ultimate rare of that in Pasadena when I was there. So that's pretty cool. So I think that would be a good idea. And that means we probably tune the black as their soldier have a decent chance to pull a starlight in this video. If we can open enough packs, if it's one, one per case, it's actually a lot easier than one per 25 boxes. All right, crystal skull, token collector, G goal, Artemis, that's a good one for invoked. I'm getting closer and closer because my back is hurting from reaching for that pile. All right, tune tear. I gotta move this over. That stack's getting too big. Ryzen, tune Harpy. We've got another chaos creator, a lot of chaos. I need to get rid of some of these packs there everywhere. They're taking up room. I'm taking up time throwing them away, but it's also gonna save me time because I can get them out of my way. D.D. Crow, very good car. We've got to place it now. Bora, another good one. We've got number 100. Very nice. I think I opened four boxes to have on standby. I didn't think I could open four boxes. So I went with that and hopefully I'm wrong. And I open all, what, how many packs is that? 96 packs. In 10 minutes, that would be, I think I would have the record for the fastest pack opener ever. I don't think I am the fastest pack opener, but we'll see. We'll see what we can do. We've got very nice stuff here. We have two from the back. The frickin' pack trick is really, it adds a dynamic to this. There's a value I needed that to make my black wing deck. Very cool. I'm gonna be putting that together soon. I gotta finish out my Gladby's deck. I'll need a couple more cards. Gadget box, Friar for Patchwork, and Blackbeard. I would love to do some more Edison's like content on this channel, but we'll see. We'll see what happens. I gotta play more. But we've got Cobalt Eagle, Gadget Box, Formal Pal, Odd Eyes, and Supplier. Three minutes left on the clock. We're looking okay. We can handle this. Three minutes. Amber Mammoth, Emblem, Saver. Oh no, Dungeon. Odd Eyes, Persona Dragon. We have pulled an access coat, I don't know what's cool. Which seems to be short printed because we've pulled, what, five boxes at this point? Probably, probably open two boxes in this video. Something like that, Artemis. I've pulled a lot of DD crows today. So yeah, we've probably opened five boxes and gotten one access coat. So it's probably like two per case, something like that. Chaos space, speaking of space. I mean, case, that just rhymes. That's not the same thing. All right. Believe, I'm not even close to opening as much as I wanted to open a roll at call. Oh no, come on, we gotta do this. Another $100 giveaway. No, I refuse to give you guys more money. Let's go. Samurai and Gadget Circle token collector. And speaking of, make sure you guys go check out the giveaway that they are on the community tab. They are not in the comments. So keep that in mind. Make sure you go check out the community tab. They're pretty much caught up. It might be like a week off, but we've done a lot of announcing and a lot of people have not claimed them. So make sure you go check it out. Here we go, Thunderball, Amazonas Hall, Gravity Balance, Dream, Cicada. Selene, that's a big secret that finally got reprinted. These cards are going everywhere. I need to organize a little bit. Speed opening prowess. How's my battle prowess? Crystal Skull, DD Crow, another one. Nice toolbox and Odd Eyes Persona Dragon. Kind of glad these are like five packs. It's a little bit easier. I'm like, I don't have to go through so many comments when I'm doing the speed openings. We've got, there's the Black Luster Soldier, like, you know, same style, I guess, the guy standing in the same position. Minute and a half. We're really feeling the pressure now. We have not pulled a Blizzard. It's a good card. Dice Dungeon and Doodle Beast, Stego. I don't know if like all of the Black Wings are Edison cards. I've never actually played the Black Wing deck myself, if for Edison at least. So we're gonna have to find that out afterwards, but we've probably opened half of the packs here. Maybe a little bit more. I don't know, Doodle Book. We'll have a pack opening number, a numbered pack opening, I should say. A number count, a pack opening counter. That's what I'm trying to say. I don't need to say number in there. That is not important. Counter kind of conveys that. I'm struggling. All right, Chaos Daedalus, Soroko. I probably pulled out 10 of those. Tortoise, 55 seconds. Can we get like three more opened here? Here we go. We have Emblem Rebellion. We've got the Senko and another Artemis, beautiful. All right, that was 10 seconds to open that one. So let's see if we can do a few more. Amazonus, Breeze, Heroic, and number 100. Can we get another card? That's good. You gotta believe in the heart of the card, Stonehenge.


Welcome to Spotlight Advanced. I'm Megan Nollette. And I'm Bruce Gulland. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live. This program may be difficult for some people to hear. This program is about the death of a child. Imagine a woman meeting her seven-year-old child. She has not seen the girl in a very long time. So when they do see each other, the girl asks where her mother has been. She says she has missed her mother. The woman bursts into tears. But the girl does not seem angry. Together, they walk to a playground. The woman, still crying, watches her child play. After a time, the girl takes her mother's hand.  This is where the girl lives now. Together, they eat some of the girl's favorite foods. Then, the girl is tired.  She tells her mother she loves her. I am not in pain anymore, she says. Then, she and the bed disappear for the last time. The woman cries and cries. This woman's name is Zhang Jisung, and she is not really meeting with her daughter. Instead, she is in a virtual reality simulation. Her daughter died of blood cancer. She has been dead for three years. But virtual reality programmers have attempted to recreate what the child looked like. They talked to her parents to understand what she was like. They asked about her favorite things. Then, they made a program that was just like her. They showed it to her mother. It was a program designed to help Zhang process her grief. People struggle with how to deal with death. Losing someone can feel like losing a part of yourself. And many of us want to have those people back. We may not know how to deal with these feelings. So, we tell stories about them. We look at pictures of them, and we try to get through the pain. But technology is becoming more advanced. And people are wondering if this advanced technology can change the way that we grieve. But are these technologies good? And are they the best way to deal with death? Today's spotlight is on how technology can change our ways of grieving. Stories about rescuing people from the dead are part of a long tradition of storytelling. The story of Orpheus and Eurydice is from ancient Greece. It teaches us lessons about seeing our loved ones after they have already died. Megan tells the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. Orpheus was a famous poet and musician, and Eurydice was his wife. They loved each other very much. Orpheus made music about her so beautiful that it made gods cry. But one day, Eurydice stepped on a poisonous snake. It bit her, and she died. Orpheus was incredibly sad. He was so troubled that he traveled to Hades. In Greek myth, Hades was the land of the dead. He convinced its ruler to free Eurydice. Orpheus could lead Eurydice back to the land of the living, but there was one problem. Orpheus could not look at Eurydice. If he did, Eurydice would remain in Hades. But Orpheus could not help himself. He was almost to the surface, and he glanced around at Eurydice. In that moment, she disappeared. He would never see her again. His grief was greater than when she first died. He had some hope. Now he had none. This story is a warning about thinking too much about the past. The point of the story is that the dead are dead. Wishing they are not dead will only hurt you. It will stop you from living your life. Modern stories show a different way of dealing with grief. They talk about how technology can affect the grieving process. Black Mirror is a British science fiction television show. Each episode tells a different story, and each deals with our relationship to technology. One episode is called Be Right Back. Bruce tells the story from this episode.  But she discovers that there is a new technology. This technology can look at her boyfriend's social media. It can use this information to create an artificial intelligence. It is like her boyfriend. There is even technology to recreate a lifelike copy of his body. She uses this technology. But the copy is not quite the same. It does not have her boyfriend's negative qualities. It will do what she asks without question. She grows to hate the copy. It will never actually be her boyfriend. This story is also a warning. It warns that technology can never replace humans and that trying to bring people back will result only in pain. But are all technologies like this? Nick Stavru and Steve Kutsuliotas are game designers. In 2015, they started creating a program called Project Elysium. Project Elysium was a virtual reality program. In it, people could visit virtual images of their dead loved ones. They could sit with them. They might even play a game together. These virtual images would not be very realistic. They would not be able to talk. But they would look and act in similar ways. They would be like photographs that moved and smiled. Kutsuliotas spoke to Fast Company magazine. He talked about why he thinks Project Elysium could be a good thing. He said, What if you never had a chance to say goodbye? What if you feel like you're forgetting that person? Sometimes I panic. I feel like I'm forgetting what my father's face looked like. It is the small things that I fear losing as time goes on. Like sitting next to him. Or watching him smile when I told him something funny. These are the things that Project Elysium has a better chance at offering. Stavru and Kutsuliotas believe that technology can help the grieving process. Visiting someone in Project Elysium would be just like looking at a picture. Or it could be like going to a memorial. Still, there are concerns about this kind of technology. As it grows more advanced, could it become more like Black Mirror? Technology may one day be able to make a realistic virtual copy of someone. But someone who is living could also become a virtual copy, even if it is something they did not choose. And it could make grief worse. But grief is different for everyone. For some people, seeing someone they loved in virtual reality will make them feel worse. For others, it may do a lot of good. For Zhang Jiseng, seeing her daughter again was difficult. But it helped her do something she felt she had not been able to do. She could say goodbye. She spoke in a documentary made about her experience. She said, Maybe it is a real paradise. I met my daughter. She called me with a smile. It was a very short time. But it is a very happy time. I think I have had the dream I have always wanted. Have you lost a loved one? How did you grieve? Would you want to meet them again in virtual reality? You can leave a comment on our website at www.spotlightenglish.com. You can also find us on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The writer of this program was Dan Christman. The producer was Michio Ozaki. The voices you heard were from the United States and the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. This program is called Technology and Death. Visit our website to download our free official app for Android and Apple devices. We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.


Hello you guys, what is up? For today's video you already saw the title we're gonna do a wrap with me you guys are gonna see what I got people this year I'm gonna expose the dirtiest of the dirtiest also. I'm really good at wrapping so I might even teach you guys a few things I got this wrapping paper from Walmart if anyone is wondering If you are a part of my family a person I'm gonna get a gift for click out right now Thank you very much, but I will be naming the name for I expose your gifts So you will be warned before I show your gift. I feel like Clothes very nice guys. What if we were out first gift of the season? We're gonna be wrapping.  She's gonna hear me right now But you can see from the picture exactly what it is and I think that she's gonna use this a lot to be honest I don't feel like this is such a mom thing to have, you know I'm excited. It's the first gift of the season. What wrapping paper should I use this wrapping paper is such a vibe We're gonna go with this. Oh, it has coconuts on the inside, but I don't like that. It's not Christmasy at all Okay, I need scissors. What am I doing though? I'm gonna like let you guys in on how I wrap for the first gift Just in case you're wondering measure it half way and then you have to bring the other side Do a little approximation and then you cut This is where it gets complicated what you want to do So you want to make sure that this part goes up to halfway and then you measure that on both sides Then you cut this piece off Okay, so I'm gonna try to do you want to flip the gift upside down. It's already upside down So we're gonna chill that hold it over this top over I'll do one side and then I'll show you guys the next Okay, so this is how I do it and it looks so clean So first step is you like that and you fold it down and then you take this wrapping paper to the box You're gonna fold the corners like this And then you're gonna fold it over And then do that to this side of the So now what you do is you want to take this to this So once that is done, then all you do is you flap this corner up and then you just take this That is how you do it.  I wouldn't really walk I was just like butt scoot around and my parents and my grandparents thought that I would never be able to walk Okay, so this next gift is for you dad get out of the video. What are you doing? So this is what got my dad this as you can tell by the title of it We have been recently obsessed with this kind of drink that we can have it on our fingertips Do you guys ever get your parents gifts that you can use to okay? So I asked you guys to send me some questions on Instagram and we're gonna look at them now and like reply to them Oh, we're wrapping. What's your favorite thing about being a youtuber? That's a really good question I think my favorite thing is making videos that people enjoy making people happy with the content that I create not pleasing people but for example like if someone is having a bad day and then they go and watch one of my videos and It makes them feel better and it makes them smile. That to me is amazing.  How did I do that? I do this every single year. I at least mess up one present. I can use this later But come on. Okay. Let's look at another question while we're trying to wrap this present again How long have you and your boyfriend been dating for? So me and Joel have been dating for Three years now. I didn't think about that. It's been so long. Yes, three years now and it's almost coming upon four We started dating in May of 2017 just over a year and a half years, which is absolutely crazy But it feels like I've known him forever. You know what I mean? We started dating when we we were 17. That's crazy I'm just gonna like finish wrapping this gift and then I will bring up the other gift and then continue the questions Ready to go. We love a good gift session Okay, this next gift is for my boyfriend's parents, so Michelle and Dan if you're watching this probably aren't but if you are I exit out. Thank you. Me and Joel are splitting our gift to his parents There's like a pimple inside of my ear So we're splitting their gift and one of the items that we're getting them is a speaker because they were like Renting about how they wanted a speaker. I just actually picked this up today I also got a boyfriend's mom this car GPS mount so you can put your phone when you're using the GPS I picked this up today. Also, it's Bailey's chocolates, and they really like chocolate I mean, sorry, they really like Bailey's and chocolate. I guess it's like the perfect combo This is part of their present not their full present, but we're gonna get wrapping and I'm gonna look at the next question Why did you start a YouTube channel? So the reason why I started a YouTube channel was because I've always loved making videos since a young age Every single Christmas I would ask for a camera, and I would just go ham on it all year I have a lot of really embarrassing videos that I actually have on my old computer I would be actually really fun to do a video on yeah, thanks to my old videos But yeah, so I started a YouTube channel because I love making videos.  It's not even your life anymore I wish I started my YouTube channel years ago I would literally make videos and just not post them because I would be too scared of people judging me And that now like looking back on it.  We can borrow it from her. Just kidding but not really You can live anywhere. Where would you live? That is a very good question It's funny how I hold that question because I was literally just talking to my boyfriend about this I want to experience other places in the world other than here. If you think about it We have the whole entire world. You can go anywhere You can live anywhere if you wanted to recently I've been thinking. I want to experience other places other than here Not that I want to necessarily move somewhere else for the rest of my life But I do want to experience and live maybe for a short amount of time in other places I've always dreamed of my being somewhere tropical. Maybe I can make some travel vlogs I feel that would be really cool I don't even know if that answers the question, but I think it does. Okay, so I have four siblings and what we've been doing for the past few years It's Secret Santa makes it way easier and that one person can get like a nice bigger gift rather than a few small ones You know what I mean? So this year for Secret Santa. I got I got my brother And this is what I got him. He gave one option and he's like I want this so I was like, okay Perfect easy ordered BAM arrived. This is what I got him. You can be booming in the backyard and I love the color So nice. Is YouTube your full-time job? No, YouTube is not my full-time job right now I do do video editing geography on the side I would love to make it my main job because it's literally my favorite thing to do In the new year, I'm gonna focus a lot more time on doing YouTube I want to make it my main priority because I want to grow this channel and I want to make this my full-time job You heard it here first. So 2021 watch out for the videos. It's gonna be a step up I promise you ever since I started YouTube. I was never consistent I would be like, oh, I'm gonna post this many times a week and I would never stick to it because I've always had other Priorities if you set your mind to anything you can do it You can do anything whatever you want to strive for whatever your goals are in life. You can do it So the next thing that I got here is this for my mom You can see clearly what it is She needs a new one this for my dad to go along with the other gifts So I think these are gonna be the last two gifts that I wrap if I'm completely honest I am not even done my Christmas shopping yet finish it on the weekend But I just really wanted to get this video filmed. Should I use like the recycled pieces? This is gonna be a fun experience, but I'm gonna get another question if there is any more questions Is everyone around you supportive of you having a YouTube channel? I think so family a hundred percent They've always been through true supporters. I have a hundred percent support from everyone in my life I mean, I definitely think there's people that make fun of my videos on the deal You know what I mean? And honestly if no one supported me I would still do this to be honest because I support myself in the end You know what I mean? You want to do what you got to do and at the end of the day if it makes you happy then do it You know what it's abstract art and that's all I'm gonna say about it beautiful done wrap So we are gonna try to fit this in this box No, not happening Five five five Which is the proper box I'm gonna survive another question. Are you in school? Um, no I went to college the first year out of high school and I honestly did not want to go I really had no idea what I wanted to do with my life at that point technically I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in videography video editing something along those lines But my parents their main motto was like you have to go to school You have to get a degree and if you don't get a degree or not gonna be successful So pretty much after high school. I was forced into college and I was like, I don't know what I want to do in college I knew a lot of people who are going into the nursing program So I was like, you know what I'll just take the nursing prerequisites because I don't know what else To do everyone was like, yeah good for you. That's great a deep down Did I want to be a nurse? No first semester of school? Absolutely miserable anything. I liked about it with the needs of friends the schooling part of it It made me want to cry and throw up at the same time There was one point of the last semester that I was in school and I was like I can't even study anymore I could not even sit down to study because my brain was just thinking other things like I couldn't focus My brain is not wired for school It's not for me and I'm gonna put this image up on the screen right now that really touched me and that really spoke to me Yes, I think that getting a degree in everything is gonna be very helpful for for your future But if you don't see a career that you want to do in any of those fields that school can provide then Why would you go to school just to get a degree just so you can have a backup? It would make me miserable. I would just feel like I'm wasting my time wasting my life So my parents really saw that I was unhappy in school and it honestly did take a lot of convincing to convince But they finally understood that I don't want to do anything that a degree can provide The point of life is to be happy and yes, we all have to make money and you have to have jobs and help the work Obviously because that's how you eat. That's how you live But if you look at the richest people in the world Elon Musk Jeff Bezos, they dropped out of college They didn't even get a degree great for you if you're going to school If you like it then that's amazing because that's what makes you happy That's what you want to do. You see the light at the end of the tunnel. So that's amazing for you But for me personally, I just felt like when I was in school I wasn't working towards anything now. I'm honestly living my best happiest life ever I'm doing what I love every day That's honestly my thoughts on school and I feel like society has built this huge construct about school You don't go you're gonna be unsuccessful and I've had so many people still to this day Think that I'm burnout and whatever even though they might not really say it to my face It's obvious that they don't like the fact that I'm not in school if going to school isn't gonna make me happy Might as well do and earn money from what really does make me happy and you have a goal and a motive and a dream in life Why wouldn't you achieve that dream and make it happen for yourself because if we only have one chance at this life We only live once. Yo, so if you're not gonna make this the best and happiest life for yourself What's the point of living because well, I'm gonna die anyway. So yeah moral of the story. No, I'm not in school I'm the happiest I've ever been the whole purpose in life is to be happy So do what makes you happy then you live a successful life in your own way Access to me isn't money isn't schooling isn't education success to me is being happy So whatever that is whatever makes you happy that is success. We're gonna just wrap If you guys want like an in-depth video about that, let me know in the comments down below because I can talk for hours on that I can give you all a fight. Okay. I think that wraps up today's video.  Thank you guys so much for tuning into today's video for watching up into this point Okay, I'm gonna go catch you guys later on Tuesday Tuesday Fridays Tune in love you guys so much You guys are curious about my setup here it is look at all this mess gonna have so much fun cleaning it up


Item No. SCP-5135 Level 4 Secret Containment Class Safe Disruption Class Ecce Risk Class Caution Secure Containment Procedures Physical evidence supporting the existence of the events of SCP-5135 are to be secured and archived. People claiming to remember any events associated with SCP-5135 are to be administered amnestics and pending brief psychological review released without further incident. The area containing SCP-5135-1 is to be secured with a 1km radius exclusion area inside the Golden Gate National Recreation Area marked with physical security, fencing, and security personnel. SCP-5135-1 itself is to be sealed inside a 10m x 10m Acophagus with cement walls no less than 0.5m in thickness. There is to be no door into the container. Note, this acophagus is meant to protect SCP-5135-1 from exterior forces. It will offer no mitigation of destructive impact in the event of detonation. Description SCP-5135 is a global scale armed conflict which did not occur between 2009 and 2017, for which evidence exists that it did. This evidence, which consists of documents, radio signals, photographs, and fragments of digital data such as images and communications, has been recovered intermittently since 2011. It is theorized that this evidence is an anomalous manifestation of an alternate parallel timeline, see Addendum Z. Very little exists about the details of SCP-5135. Subgeneral information about the cause, context, and impact of the conflict has been learned through examination of the recovered data. SCP-5135 involves at least four global superpowers, of which two are the United States and the People's Republic of China. SCP-5135 utilizes a high level of espionage and cyber warfare. The first physical-military engagement on US soil occurred in 2010, with additional engagement occurring several times since then, as late as 2014. Widespread misinformation campaigns are integral to the strategies of at least the United States, and one other belligerent. The conflict has included nuclear engagement since at least 2016. The Foundation may be involved. SCP-5135-1 is an undetonated nuclear device. It is of a size and payload similar to the Soviet RDS-202 hydrogen bomb, SAR-Bomba, tested on October 30th, 1961. The casing is inscribed, see below. Its estimated yield is approximately 97 megatons. Casing inscription, The Families Lost, Kauai, Hawaii, December 24th, 2012. Indistinguishable, North Carolina, March 12th, 2016. This one's for you. SCP-5135-1 is locked in a temporal stasis field, and presently hovered 104.6 cm above the ground. The source of this field is unknown, but is suspected to be caused by Foundation personnel or an equivalent in the SCP-5135 timeline. Measurements suggest that despite appearing still, SCP-5135-1 retains its momentum and kinetic energy. As such, antiphysical interaction with it may cause instant detonation. Addendum 1. There Arise Timeline The following is a possible timeline of events for SCP-5135-2,008. The United States sends emergency relief supplies in response to the 2008 C. Schwann earthquake. Some of these supplies are contaminated with biological agents that cause a biological outbreak resulting in an unknown number of casualties. Early 2009, Chinese agents operating in the US uncovered that this contamination was intentional. China launches a military strike against the United States. Details in US response unknown. November 2009, after escalated military engagement over the year, another nation joins the engagement with a military operation against China. The United States denies affiliation or alliance with this third nation. 2010, military troops arrive on the east coast of the United States from another unknown nation. 2011, in a closed-door summit, members of the European Union express the desire for this conflict to end. Summer 2012, military forces attack Hawaii and set up a military installation in Kauai. The United States begins their siege of this installation. December 24, 2012, the United States bombs the installation of Kauai, killing hundreds of military and civilians. The US considers this operation a success. Early 2013, the National Security Agency begins a disinformation campaign to quell growing US concerns after the bombing of US civilians. March 2016, a nuclear strike occurs on US soil. June 2016, an aircraft with a nuclear payload is shot down over Italy by unknown aggressors, resulting in catastrophic losses of civilian life. No evidence has been recovered regarding any events after this occurred. It is unclear if the war ended after this point, or the world evolved into a self-destructive nuclear conflict. Addendum 2, Collected Evidence of SCP-5135 Inventory Code 5135-E-1 Description, a corrupted digital photograph of a US government document indicating a military strike by China in early 2009. Contents, sections in red are marked for redaction under 50-USC Section 403. Unclassified under the authority of the CIA. Hours to do something, decision now. This was unprovoked, and we need to continue to show that the American people are strong in the face of chaos. I have expressed to the Chinese Ambassador that in light of this attack, we will be asking the Chinese government to recall him. We would like this done before the end of March.  There will be no mercy for those who would attempt to imp- values our lands and our way of life moving forward. Inventory Code 5135-E-2 Description, an audio fragment of a phone call between an unknown US government employee, possibly employed by the US Secretary of State, and an unknown party. Metadata indicates this call took place in on November 19th, 2009, at 5.43 pm Eastern Time. The US Secretary of State already said that we're just a valley and new relationship. Where guardlets, the CMT, and green grease that were involved. They don't know that, and with all the attacks this year, I can't imagine that they all are going to authorize that kind of conversation. All right sir, I understand. Inventory Code 5135-E-3 Description, an encrypted plain text file from an unknown US operative. Significant data loss. Contents, PRC aware US in b- n-0a bio op. Horses operating in Kauai since 12th. Bound, Asian hand, wrist, mood, or NSA sub-press info, 10 degrees east, coast and gate, population. Inventory Code 5135-E-5 Description, brief excerpt of air traffic control signal picked up by Italian ENAV, air traffic control. Transmissions are from Italy Area Control Center in Rome, Roma. US Army 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team Airborne, Red Tail, and Unidentified Aircraft, UAC-001. Note, block indicates the message was blocked by another transmission. Aircraft heading 185, Inavoma, Yon Radio. Aircraft heading 185, Inavoma, Yon Radio. Aircraft heading 185, Inavoma, Vincen, we'll talk 76 years old, radio and up, if there's Roma. Roma, Army 1016, heading 025 on the 10-16. Army 1016, wrong word, you've got to aircraft heading 185, let me see. Roma, Army 1016, negative. Army 105, aircraft heading 187, he's mad. Roma, all is well. Army, I do believe that... Army, keep fire, keep fire, US Army 173rd Infantry Airborne, keep fire. Keep fire, advise, I'm carrying a nuclear... Why? We're easy to hear that, bastard. I'm Putt Mayjo, Nathan Mayjo. I'm in for fire. Dormitory, unarmed, unarmed, like level 5 magazine. Center position, 1004, can you maintain the number... Base, company's closed, in and out, you're making a hollow. Tracking, crossroads, no! End of Recording Addendum 3 – Additional Observations Dr. Voight is a theoretical physicist, specializing in temporal anomalies. It is employed in the Foundation Office of the Historian. Recording begins. There is one thing they want to be completely and totally clear about, yes? I want to be certain that this war is not something that happened in our reality, we are not threatened by it. Dr., that's a bit of a complicated question. On the surface, yes, it definitely seems that this war tangibly did not happen here. The collection of items we've uncovered paint a very stark picture of a world that we are quite sure never occurred. But you have another theory? Unfortunately, there is the possibility that war did happen. It could still be happening. Where? Here, on earth, in this reality. Dr. Delkert scribbles in a notebook. Some kind of anti-mimetic war? And these pieces of evidence are… no. Not an anomalous war, a mundane one, perhaps contained partially by anomalous means, but a mundane war nonetheless. SCP-5135 is a full-scale armed conflict, Dr., involving multiple nuclear attacks and massive loss of both military and civilian life. And? That's not something you could easily hide. You're not a military man, are you, if you don't mind me saying so? No. Ever been to Iraq? No. Can you tell me? How do you know the war in Iraq happened? Through historical records, media reporting. And if there was none? What if the news never reported on the war in Iraq? Never made statements about it. Never decorated soldiers for it. Would you even know it happened? You're talking about a cover-up on a global scale. Wouldn't there be evidence? Dr. Boyd is tapping on the front page of the containment file for SCP-5135. Physical evidence supporting the existence of the events of SCP-5135 are to be secured and archived. My god, are we... are we the cover-up? Recording ends.


Welcome to George H. Smith's Excursions into Libertarian Thought, a production of Libertarianism.org and the Cato Institute, narrated by James Foster. Lord Acton and the History of Liberty, Part 1 The Cambridge historian Lord Acton, 1834-1902, who is best remembered for his maxim, power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely, spent much of his professional life working on a single book, A Comprehensive History of Liberty. As one of the most knowledgeable historians of the 19th century, Acton was uniquely qualified for this ambitious project. Unfortunately, however, his rigorous standards of scholarship eventually got the better of him. Distrustful of secondary accounts, Acton insisted on doing original research in every phase of his history, and since his history spanned over 2,500 years, covered many different countries and dealt with everything from the history of religion and philosophy to the history of political movements, it became virtually impossible for any one person, however brilliant and industrious, to complete the task that Acton had set for himself. Consequently, Acton's masterpiece was never finished, and his History of Liberty, the work of a lifetime, became known as the Greatest Book Never Written. Although Acton never published a book, he did write many articles that reflected his passionate interest in the history of freedom, religious toleration, and constitutional government. According to Acton, we cannot understand the history of western civilization if we fail to appreciate the perennial conflict between liberty and power. The idea of liberty, he said, is the unity, the only unity of the history of the world and the one principle of a philosophy of history. Acton detected something unique in western civilization, a distinctive worldview that set it apart from other cultures. In this worldview which took centuries to develop, the individual was afforded a status greater than any collective entity such as the state or society, and the individual conscience, especially in religious matters, came to be treated as a supreme value that should remain forever immune to the incursions of power. Throughout his articles we see many indications of Acton's primary interest, namely to explain the various factors that contributed to the rise of freedom in western civilization. What were the ideological conditions that led so many western intellectuals to focus their attention on the idea of freedom? And what were the social and political conditions that made it possible to transform the idea of freedom into specific institutions? According to Acton, if we wish to understand the causes of freedom, we must look beneath the surface of recent events to its roots in the intellectual, social, and political history of the western world. When Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and others in their tradition referred to history as the lamp of experience, they were expressing an insight with which Acton agreed. There is an important sense in which we can understand past ages better than our own. For example, when Edward Gibbon wrote The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, he was dealing with events that had happened some 1500 years earlier. Yet this distance of time, though disadvantageous in some respects, enabled Gibbon to view the arc of Roman history from a perspective that would have been impossible for a historian living, say, in the year 300 in the heart of Rome itself. Similarly, a historian living a century from now could probably write a better history of modern libertarianism than we can at present, even though we are able to experience events as they happen in a way the future historian cannot. What the future historian will have and what we presently lack is an overall perspective of how things will eventually turn out, which libertarian ideas and policies will be able to gain popular support, which libertarian institution will prove most effective and so forth. We are simply too close to these things at present to be able to render a final judgment, and unlike the future historian, we cannot know where our current efforts will take us. This is why modern libertarians, like our 18th century predecessors, must rely on a knowledge of freedom's history for our own lamp of experience, and here we are especially fortunate to have a historian of Acton's caliber to guide us. Two of Acton's essays are especially relevant in this context. The first, the history of freedom in antiquity, stresses the intellectual history of freedom, whereas the second, the history of freedom in Christianity, focuses on the institutional history of freedom. Before exploring the significance of this distinction, we would do well to ponder a few of Acton's incisive observations. In the history of freedom in antiquity, Acton wrote, At all times, sincere friends of freedom have been rare, and its triumphs have been due to minorities that have prevailed by associating themselves with auxiliaries whose objects often differed from their own, and this association, which is always dangerous, has been sometimes disastrous by giving to opponents just grounds of opposition and by kindling dispute over the spoils in the hour of success. This passage raises a number of interesting issues that I cannot explore here. I quoted it to illustrate the principle that even a little knowledge of freedom's history can shed light on its future prospects. Modern libertarians, for example, regard themselves as among those sincere friends of freedom, who, according to Acton, have always been in the minority. Thus, rather than viewing our minority status as a cause for pessimism, we should understand that this has been the norm throughout history. A minority status, according to Acton, has not presented an insuperable barrier to the progress of freedom. Of course, history, as they say, is not destiny, so Acton's observation doesn't prove anything one way or the other, but it may suggest new ways of looking at old problems. Immediately after the passage I just quoted, Acton wrote, No obstacle has been so constant or so difficult to overcome as uncertainty and confusion touching the nature of true liberty. If hostile interests have wrought much injury, false ideas have wrought still more, and its advance is recorded in the increase of knowledge as much as in the improvement of laws. The history of institutions is often a history of deception and illusions, for their virtue depends on the ideas that produce and on the spirit that preserves them, and the form may remain unaltered when substance has passed away. As is so typical of Acton's writing, this passage bears the mark of extensive research and reflection, condensing a number of important ideas into a few lines. Perhaps most important for our purpose is Acton's point about the significance of ideas and their relationship to institutions. Essentially, Acton was saying that political institutions alone cannot be relied upon to preserve freedom because such institutions have no real substance apart from the ideas that people have about them. A political institution such as the American presidency may retain the same external characteristics through time. Officially, for example, the office of the president had the same powers during the latter half of the 19th century when Acton was writing that it had during the Washington administration. But, as Acton pointed out, the reality of power is often far different from what it appears to be on paper. Legally and to outward seeming, the American president is the successor of Washington and still enjoys power devised and limited by the convention of Philadelphia. In reality, the new president differs from the magistrate imagined by the fathers of the republic as widely as monarchy from democracy, for he is expected to make 70,000 changes in the public service. 50 years ago, John Quincy Adams dismissed only two men. It is interesting to note that a similar point had been made many years earlier by James Madison about the separation of powers in the federal government. The system of checks and balances was supposed to pit each branch of the government against the other two, which in turn was supposed to inhibit the pursuit of power by the members of each branch and thereby restrain the growth of centralized government. But some years after the Constitution had become the law of the land, Madison, who is often hailed as the father of that document, had serious second thoughts about the effectiveness of this system. Indeed, Madison later characterized the separation of powers as specified in the Constitution as nothing more than a parchment barrier to the growth of the federal government. The idea of checks and balances looked good on paper, but that was about all. It would not serve to restrain the growth of government, in fact, because each branch, whether executive, legislative, or judicial, would ultimately seek to expand its power not by encroaching on the jurisdiction of the other branches, but by taking freedom away from the people at large. Acton was calling attention to a kind of optical illusion that can be generated by political institutions. As long as these institutions appear to be in good working order, then it is frequently assumed that our freedom is secure and that we needn't worry about the onset of despotism. Yet even a political institution that originally served the interests of liberty can insensibly degenerate over time into an instrument of power. And this can happen with no external changes in the formal characteristics of that institution. This is what Acton meant when he said that the history of institutions is often a history of deception and illusions, and that the form of an institution may remain unaltered when the substance has passed away. Acton's other claim that the virtue of institutions depends on the ideas that produce and on the spirit that preserves them illustrates his belief in the crucial role of ideas in achieving and maintaining a free society. However much political institutions that were originally designed to preserve freedom may have been corrupted and turned to other uses, it may still be possible to restore their original spirit with fresh ideas about freedom. If institutions can be corrupted with bad ideas, they can also be reinvigorated with good ideas. Thank you for listening to Excursions. To learn more about libertarian philosophy and history, visit www.libertarianism.org.


In 1 Corinthians 15-14, Apostle Paul tells us that our faith is based under a resurrection of Jesus Christ. He says, if Jesus didn't rise from the dead, our faith is empty and our preaching is empty. Many times people say that Christian faith is based on the Bible. And we have a lot of young guys today who go to universities and they hear from professors, you know, guys who study the Bible and who say, well, the Bible is nothing short than just a compilation of different books. It has different mistakes in it and you should never place your faith in the Bible. Actually, as a Christian, your faith is not in the Bible. Your faith is in an event that the Bible documents. And that event is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That means that the whole Christianity hangs under miracle. Apostle Paul is saying, if that miracle doesn't exist, we have no basis for our faith. For those of you who sit here today and maybe say, well, Bible is an old book, has a lot of contradictions. For a moment, let's imagine it does. It doesn't shake my faith, not a bit, because my faith is not based on the Bible. It's based on an event the Bible documents. What is that event? Resurrection of Jesus Christ. That event is a miracle. Now, for example, I have a birth certificate. A birth certificate documents my birth. A birth certificate is not my birth. Let's imagine for a second, my birth certificate has a spelling error. Does that mean I don't exist? Let's imagine for a second, Bible does have contradictions. It does have things we don't understand.  People are like, I just cannot wrap my mind around it. Let's imagine you can't wrap your mind around it. That still doesn't change the fact Jesus rose from the dead. Your faith as a Christian rests on the miracle of his resurrection.