I love the new ASMR genre of white Floridian guy walking through a neighbourhood describing the economy collapsing and filming nature. (hexbear.net)

submitted 2 weeks ago by happybadger@hexbear.net to c/chapotraphouse@hexbear.net

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Source video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mLX2kKq7ZA

Michael Bordenaro is the main one, a vaguely libertarian guy who walks around Florida talking about the housing market bubble: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWSXBs8EzhQ

Since watching his videos I've started getting copycat channels popping up in my feed. They're all a white guy walking through a Floridian neighbourhood and describing the economy collapsing. If they're good like Michael they spend a fair portion of the video showing off the flora, which is the interesting part of Florida. This particular channel doesn't do extended shots of neat plants but we get some quality bad landscaping while learning about the condo market crisis. These are a great evolution of the white guy wearing sunglasses in his car and ranting about Obama genre.

Florida is super pretty. You should see the Everglades and Big Cypress National Preserve before they're gone.

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[-] Nacarbac@hexbear.net 30 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

I remember Crime Pays But Botany Doesn't being a good channel. A person who got really into botany in jail, wandering around showcasing local flora and often discussing the social collapse and poor urban planning in evidence.

[-] happybadger@hexbear.net 14 points 2 weeks ago

He's the left's version of this guy and does the best version of the genre as a result. There's a proper sense of debord-tired dérive to his videos while the right-wing Floridian with sunglasses never goes into the urbanism or how that creates the botany.

[-] Abracadaniel@hexbear.net 5 points 2 weeks ago

still good. better when he sticks to botany and shouting at lizards IMO but it's good stuff.

[-] muirc@hexbear.net 13 points 2 weeks ago

I've been going on vacation to Florida since I was a kid and never really cared for it until I went to Sanibel Island and loved it. The flora and fauna there are simply amazing. Not sure how it's faring since a hurricane a few years ago took out the bridge connecting it to the mainland, but the nature itself is probably doing just fine.

[-] happybadger@hexbear.net 11 points 2 weeks ago

I'm used to the mountains where everything struggles to survive in a low-density environment. Florida's swamps feel so alive compared to that. Half a dozen trophic levels stacked on top of each other in the same small space, each tree its own complex ecosystem. Then you get down to the lower Everglades and I've never seen anything like it, a literal sea of grass.

[-] muirc@hexbear.net 9 points 2 weeks ago

Once you get away from the strip malls and beach towns there is a lot of beautiful nature to see.

[-] CHOPSTEEQ@lemmy.ml 7 points 2 weeks ago

It’s still fucked sadly.

[-] deforestgump@hexbear.net 10 points 2 weeks ago

Damn this hits like crack.

[-] SpiderFarmer@hexbear.net 10 points 2 weeks ago

I love manatees. Probably one of the coolest things in Florida.

[-] happybadger@hexbear.net 12 points 2 weeks ago

Kayaking with them at the mouth of the Everglades was a remarkable experience.

[-] came_apart_at_Kmart@hexbear.net 9 points 2 weeks ago

Florida condo owners are always desperate. that's how they got sold condos in Florida in the first place.

the key is to keep them contained inside the little boxes they bought and then shelling their position with artillery until you can no longer hear the sound of pornography/Benny Hinn Ministries playing over their Bluetooth speakers.

[-] Evilphd666@hexbear.net 9 points 2 weeks ago

it-is-happening-again econony

[-] BoxedFenders@hexbear.net 8 points 2 weeks ago

These videos look really low effort and easy to replicate but they're actually pretty difficult to do well. Bordenaro's vids are all around 20 minutes long with no edits so he's gotta ramble on about one topic nonstop the whole time. And he has no notes or co-hosts/guests to interact with. I guess it gets easier with practice like anything else but keeping such a large audience with such a simple formula is challenging if you aren't especially charismatic or hot.

[-] happybadger@hexbear.net 10 points 2 weeks ago

I wish I had the public speaking talent to do it. This format of video gets a huge amount of engagement and would be perfect for a socialist to go one level deeper than Bordenaro or Uneducated Economist go. As far as I've seen, only Crime Pays But Botany Doesn't does something similar.

[-] Belly_Beanis@hexbear.net 8 points 2 weeks ago

There's an interesting couple who tours the US, going to the poorest places in the country. The main guy talks about local history, shows photos from when the towns were thriving, and visits landmarks. I didn't get any bad vibes from him, he was pretty matter-of-fact when discussing these towns. He always points out they were reliant on specific industries, which were outsourced or moved to another state.

The videos are just him driving around in his truck, stopping to show interesting things like experimental architecture or abandoned factories. I think he's heard gunshots in only one video. People are pretty friendly when he interviews them. He avoids doing anything at night, though.