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Philosophy Chemtrails (formerly Ordnance Lab) is a YouTube channel that makes philosophy, literature, film, and other cultural treasures more accessible to average people.
09/21/2025
The first video on how Cinema Paradiso is most likely both a brilliantly subtle troll & communist conspiracy, is up on YouTube.
Next week, we will get into the full-blown, literal Communist conspiracy theory.
Link to video in the comments section.
09/07/2025
After two videos on Nietzsche, we bring Albert Camus to the New World in The Last of the Mohicans. We look at how the choices of the characters in the final part of the film, align with Camus's concepts of the ancient Greeks and their approach to vice and virtue.
Link to video in comments.
08/27/2025
Last week Nietzsche went to Vietnam, this week he is going to Mexico for “Twilight of the Western’s Idols: or How to Philosophize with a Machine-Gun”. Here are the pre-video notes:
Things to notice when watching the film:
• When does Pike Bishop use his 1911 vs his Single-Action Army revolver?
• Does Angel ever use anything except his 1911?
• What differentiates Angel’s motivations from the rest of the bunch?
• What characters give grand speeches to rationalize their violence vs just doing it?
Historical Context of 1913:
• 65 years after the US-Mexican War in 1848
• 48 years after Civil War in 1865
• 23 years after the closing of the frontier in 1890
• 10 years after the Wright Brothers first flight in 1903
• 1 year before WWI started in 1914
• 3 years before the US Punitive Expeditions in 1916
• 16 years before the Great Depression in 1929
• 26 years before WWII started in 1939
Philosophical ideas:
• Nietzsche’s “sounding out idols”
• Nietzsche’s “philosophizing with a hammer”
08/20/2025
Here are some of the concepts that will be discussed in the upcoming video on Platoon, comparing SSG Barnes to the officers. There are also links to the relevant Wikipedia articles. Wikipedia is far from a perfect source. But it is great for general background information.
ChatGPT is also fantastic for background information. But the specifics are often off and sometimes wildly so. So use it with caution.
You do not “need” to be familiar with them to understand the video (or at least that is the intention), but it will help.
As I said in the previous video, we are trying for a German “Wissenschaft” approach which sees philosophy as a comprehensive system including history, psychology, sociology, culture, and other factors; not as something walled off into abstractions for academics to squabble about.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
• The Vietnam War in late 1967: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_in_the_Vietnam_War
• Search & Destroy Tactics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_and_destroy
• Body Counts: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War_body_count_controversy (also check out this clip from Full Metal Jacket that will add some context https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wKNjL7lrn60)
• Project 100,000 (aka “McNamara’s Morons”): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_100,000
PHILOSOPHICAL CONCEPTS:
• McNamara Fallacy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McNamara_fallacy
• Friedreich Nietzsche’s “The Last Man”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_man
• Hanna Arndt’s “The Banality of Evil” (from her book “Eichman in Jerusalem”): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eichmann_in_Jerusalem
• Michele Foucault’s Discipline & Punish (focus on how torture and punishment went from being done in public, to becoming “humane”. Yes, Foucault is a weirdo French intellectual who I would not leave alone with children. But his sexual proclivities do not invalidate his ideas): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discipline_and_Punish
• The guillotine as a brutal symbol of the paradoxical nature of the Enlightenment. By this I mean that it is a thoroughly modern invention used for pre-modern ends (best to plug into ChatGPT).
• Modern vs Pre-Modern Societies (also best to plug into ChatGPT)
OTHER RELEVANT WORKS:
• Christopher Browning’s Ordinary Men: https://www.amazon.com/Ordinary-Men-Reserve-Battalion-Solution/dp/0060995068
• Homer’s Iliad, specifically Achillies: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achilles
Ordnance Lab has become Philosophy Chemtrails.
Trying to explain nuanced philosophical concepts is much more difficult than explaining booms. There are a few minor misstatements in the video. In future videos, I will put more focus on avoiding such minor mistakes.
Here is the link for Nietzsche's "Parable of the Madman".
Below is the context for the concepts referred to in the video:
Hobbesian:
This refers to Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679), who wrote Leviathan, describing humanity’s “State of Nature” as a “war of all against all,” shaped by the violence of the English Civil War. To Hobbes, only an all-powerful ruler could prevent collapse into this chaos. When I say humanity is “skimming over the surface of a Hobbesian world,” I mean that civilization is never far from returning to such conflict.
Not Going Anywhere:
Humanity is not progressing toward an ultimate goal or better world. History is simply one event after another, shaped by natural laws rather than divine purpose. This rejects both religious teleology (a God with a plan) and secular versions (Marxism, Progressivism) that see humanity as evolving toward a collective destiny.
Who Will Wipe This Blood Off Us?:
Nietzsche’s Parable of the Madman asks, after the “death of God”: “Who will wipe this blood off us?” While he was not speaking directly about violence, the spirit applies. Without God, the moral stain of violence cannot be transferred to a higher authority—nor to substitutes like governments, ideologies, or progress myths. Responsibility remains with us alone.
I Do Not Believe in God, but I Am Not an Atheist:
Camus’ line captures both philosophical and cultural nuance. Philosophically, I do not believe in God, yet I accept the possibility of being wrong. This is not hedging; it is simply intellectual honesty. Culturally, it separates me from “New Atheist” figures like Dawkins or Harris, whose ideologies I reject for reasons similar to why I reject theology.
Shortcomings of the Enlightenment:
The Enlightenment brought material improvements unmatched in history—today’s poor live better than kings of 200 years ago. I credit it fully for these gains and would not give them up. But while it advanced comfort and technology, it did not make us morally better or provide humanity with a deeper purpose. That absence remains unresolved.
God Is Dead:
Nietzsche’s claim is not about a literal deity but the collapse of legitimizing narratives. With religion fading, attempts to replace it—progress, democracy, capitalism, Marxism—are themselves “God substitutes.” The death of God leaves a void of meaning these systems cannot permanently fill.
Wissenschaft:
Literally “knowledge-making,” Wissenschaft treats philosophy with both scientific rigor and cultural breadth, integrating history, art, and society rather than isolating philosophy as a sealed discipline. This approach reflects my intent: to grapple with ideas holistically, not abstractly.
Realm of the Forms:
Plato’s Forms represent perfect concepts existing beyond the material world, which we can only imperfectly express. Referencing this is a way of admitting we do not claim access to ultimate truths. We must work with the imperfect, lived world rather than pretend to possess perfection.
Intellectual Settler Colonialism:
This tongue-in-cheek phrase signals a willingness to “claim” ideas from any tradition, so long as their internal logic is respected. I freely borrow from Marx, Luther, or Kierkegaard while discarding what is irrelevant or indefensible. For example, Luther’s 95 Theses challenged church corruption. I reject his theology and antisemitism, yet see parallels between his fight against dogma and my critique of corrupted Enlightenment ideals. I also admire his courage at the Diet of Worms, declaring: “Here I stand. I can do no other.”
12/29/2024
Us shooting Houston Jones with 37mm & 40mm less-lethal in a collaboration with ballistichighspeed.
I Got Shot By A Gr***de Launcher For Science! (Ft. Ballistic High Speed & Ordnance Lab) In this episode of Bro Labs, I Put Myself To The Test By Shooting Myself with a Gr***de Launcher, I was in so much Pain after This Video! Sadly YouTube doesn...
12/07/2024
If you ever wanted to see someone get shot for real with all kinds of less-lethal goodies, next week before Brandon Herrera’s range day, Ballistic High Speed & Ordnance Lab will be filming the cathartic, Jackass joy you seek.
It should be a great video, but one thing this will be the quintessential “don’t do this at home” type of video.
While police & law enforcement use less-lethal to save lives everyday, less-lethal weapons are still obscenely dangerous and can easily cause lethal injuries.
12/04/2024
First it was the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, then the Russian FSB, and then State Department; trying to keep us down.
Buddy woke up this morning to discover that apparently the Russian FSB has again frowned upon one of our videos. Clearly he is quite upset at the news.
You can watch the naughty video here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OU-odCVdgLY
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