MAMET: "If you want to understand something, Teach it." This is a must watch interview.

Thank you for sharing. God bless David Mamet.

David Mamet got it RIGHT spot on, so many of you here are just haters :( -WHY ??

Free thinking is a wonderful thing. Very refreshing interview.

I love David Mamet!!!

Mr, Mamet was way ahead of his time. He makes so much sense now and very nearly predicts a Trumpian figure in the future esp when talking about Bibi and Israel. With Trump and Mamet, I know I am on the right side of history. Interestingly, Mamat precedes D'Souza in his calling out Obama and Saul Alinsky. Spot on! Happy to say my favorite films are Spartan, Heist, the Spanish Prisoner all by Mamet! God bless America and Israel!

Excellent ! A brilliant analysis by Mr. Mamet!

Mr Mamet... I love your movies. All my best to you.

Wag the Dog ...greatest film. This guy is brilliant.

Just as relevant today as it was when this video was made....he is spot on!

a lot of these comments show what happens when a former lib goes 'off the reservation' and calls a spade a spade

I am European not Jew, I have never heard of this man but I like what this man says.

I love David Mamet, I'm ashkenazi he is right on!!!!

A man of sound reasoning and gives you evidence as to his opinions, very good.

Forget political debates, see Spartan and Redbelt, both masterpieces nobody has seen or heard of!

Being Jewish and ISRAEL are two totally different issues...! What a ridiculous nonsense he's talking about. Is it anti Jewish to be critical of Israeli politics in the middle east? I think if he spouted this nonsense at the beginning of his career he would have dived. Seems like he's screwed up about being Jewish and a secular American.

Palestinian apologists must ignore history, and bank on the historical ignorance of your audience. A task made easier by a failing American education system, and the tiresome drumbeat of constant leftist propaganda. Israel exists today, precisely as a consequence of standards of international law to which Palestinian partisans appeal to today. The few Arabs that lived in the backwater that was Ottoman Palestine in 1947, never referred to themselves as "Palestinian." Yasser Arafat, when he was busy hijacking and blowing up jets and planning the murders of innocent athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972, never called himself Palestinian. He called himself Arab, indeed, Jordanian (the West Bank was annexed by Jordan in 1948, after having attacked Israel under the Jordanian standard, not as Palestinians!). It was not until l after the1973 Yom Kippur War, a year after Arafat orchestrated terrorism at the Olympics, that the term Palestinian is used for Arabs of that region. It was a European diplomatic invention, so that Israel would have someone to renegotiate what had been rejected by the same Arabs in 1948, and had resulted in decades of war and terrorism on the part of Israel's Palestinian "victims", who ultimate lay utterly defeated after the war. Jerusalem had NEVER in history been the capital of an Arab Muslim state. The Palestinian Arabs had NEVER had a state until U.N. Resolution 181 was adopted in 1947, creating a Jewish Israel, and an Arab Palestine for the first time IN HUMAN HISTORY! The Palestinian response? Their response was to attack and commit well documented atrocities. Their response was numerous wars, and acts of terrorism. THAT IS WHY THE "PALESTINIANS DON'T HAVE A STATE TODAY.

Here's the thing about Israel: to me Israel is just another state, nothing more. It should be judged the same as any other nation, and shouldn't be given any special treatment, positive or negative, simply because a majority of it's population are Jewish. I really get the feeling that any criticism of Israel is instantly considered antisemitic bigotry. But all of the criticisms I've made towards Israel I've made about the United States and a dozen other countries as well. It doesn't seem fair.

why are people so upset about one guys views??? so what? let him enjoy his independence.....

Bob Odenkirk is great as an interviewer

I love the Jewish people. They gave us the Old Testament, they preserved knowledge of G-d. As a Christian, I know that G-d says “I will bless them that bless you (talking of the Jews) and I will curse them that curse you”. I take G-d at His word. Therefore, I will bless them and pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

so now that david mamet is not longer a liberal he sucks. this is madness, he is one of the best screenwriters ever.

Prediction : As an out of the closet Conservative , he will never get another Pulitzer .

Mamet, to me, is like Woody Allen. i'm a big fan of their artistic work....their personal philosophies on life, not so much.

Did he really just imply Obama hasn't worked a day in his life? God I'm such a fan of him too, but he seems so jaded and his opinion muddied by some sort of religious verdict. It's totally on him for letting himself become so insulated by liberalism. And the pendulum swings on a very fine line, between awareness of the bubble you've lived in, and rebelling like a teenager. His way of defining Obama by not pronouncing a stadium correctly leads me to believe it's tipped towards the latter.

I've always liked Mamet's thoughts...

Fascinating. Easily one of the most intelligently stated conservative positions I've ever heard. No surprise that it would come from someone originally from the Left Wing. His point about political correctness and the assertions on Israel are interesting and compelling, if debateable.

"Why can't we have a leader like Netanyahu" is about as daft a remark as could be imagined. To think, Mamet dried government yet without it, only profitable endeavour thrives. Wrong, Dave. P.S. Niclas, I am not a hater, just questioning his judgement: for one his view of Israel is worse than naive.

I like the guy..a smart man who found the truth..i did too around 1991...I'm always learning about us..

One of my favorite passages in "The Secret Knowledge" would be when we arrive at the subject of hate crimes: "Getting beaten to death seems far more pleasant if no one's using racial slurs."

Thank you!!

Excellent.

Being against the policies of the Likudniks is not the same as being against Israel. I am sure Mamet knows this, so he's apparently being disingenuous.

It was Tom Sowell who wrote _The Vision of the Anointed_, Dave, not F.A. Hayek. :)

Very coherent. Excellent analysis. Not dripping with juvenile pretension, or base irrationality. Good job. Surely KZfaq is credited with your existence. Tool.

Back in 81' I worked at one of those land development places staking Lots for sale and odd dirty gofer jobs for the sales people . Sales guys and gals were site to sale the land to Northen folk looking to move and retire . Don't know where Mamet got his Resurch but he was spot on about how that whole world in Glen Gary Glen Ross . Lol !

I was honestly interested in hearing him give his take and rationale on his change in perspective. But this interview is basically just a guy ramble nearly incoherently. I had a professor who suffered undiagnosed mini-strokes and slipped into early dementia (right in the middle of the semester); where the students basically watched the guy (not so) gradually go out of his bird before the university had to send him home for good (he died shortly thereafter). Mr. Maker's ramblings here...decidedly familiar of that professor.

I mostly like what Mamet says toward true conservatism and loss of culture... but Israel is not our ally

Finding this in early 2020. Live in NYC. Work in the theater. Left the left am careful not to speak up, everyone’s so reactive...

amen! why cant we ha ve a leader like netanyahu

Such a good writer...such a shame 😔

I'm a big fan of Mamet's writing, but it's a shame to hear him defer to religious doctrine in defence of Israel while purporting to the importance of law, given Israel's continued infraction of UN resolutions. Like many Jews he conflates opposition to zionism with latent anti-semitism. Remember- palestinians are semitic, whereas many Jews of eastern european origin are not! The more scientifically minded among us look to universal codes of morality independent of scriptural dogma.

With intensity and passion, I applaud this man.

Comprehensive interview from the author of the little masterpiece: "True and False."

Ooh. No thanks. File this in with The Spanish Prisoner. That is, shit that I want to forget about David Mamet.

impressive guy.......great writer.

Once we open our minds to the whole picture we can no longer be liberals!!

This is good...

Hmmm... I'm not sure if I want to read about David's political views. At this stage, I'd prefer to stick to reading his theories on acting and directing for film and theatre.

@marcmeup1: The saddest thing is, you're not being ironic. You are actualy astonished to learn these things. You should keep listening to me. After a few thousand years of it, you might be up to speed w/ Mamet.

It's not the average Americans duty nor obligation to assist Israel especially the majority of the civilized world is opposed to their apartheid choke-hold in Gaza. Israel can not continue to play the martyr while simultaneously being the oppressor. The charge of anti-Semitic is growing old as even prominent Jews and Israelis have asserted. Not to mention it is inaccurate as Palestinians are too Semitic.

I had no idea Mamet was this insane.

Fedayeen, Black September, PFLP, PFLP-EO, PLO (1970s) > IDF & Mossad

The glasses? Just keeping that early `90s fad of funky-colored plastic glasses alive, I guess.

@marcmeup1: Some people would be astonished if they were informed that the Sun rises in the East every morning. Now I've given you another occasion for astonishment. Her is another occasion for astonishment on your account. Water is wet.

(Remembering when David Mamet mattered)

Gotta get me some new glasses like my man Mammoth here.

Sometimes, I look at the Israeli flag and think of it as a banner, and ask, which earthly government deserves to fly that symbol, if not that one? That is to say, which government upon the earth brings forth fruit which is pleasing to Him? Which government is most conducive to allowing, or aiding, a people to bring forth good works? Who is worthy of the name Israel, to receive the adoption, and the promises, and the inheritance? Ignoring persons desiring to do you bodily-harm, I imagine there is not much difference growing up Jewish in Tel Aviv or or in Brooklyn or in London. The place where you stand is a "state of mind", for behold, God did curse the ground for man's sake. In contrast, land seems defined by GPS coordinates. Sector 7? ..Now, to some, was the Torah given, and for others to seek it. It is a love affair, is it not? The R. Stones : "wi-ild horses, could not drag me, away" .. A Blessing, is it not? One feels a need, whereas the other might desire. Which is better, to be a woman or a man? To be needed, or to feel desired? The world is a he, and the Church is a She. Orthodox Jews prefer to be aloof from the world, alone with theirTorah, which they perceive to be their bridegroom... My writing, at times, I think, tends towards the poetic. It is important for a man to "hold his liquor", and not sing... According to a dictionary, the US has a population of about, 300 million persons. Say, half are male. But given that many are killed each year, say 100 million males - to teach, to instruct, to get them to think better. Quite a problem, from the perspective of governors. But can you teach a student who does not desire to learn, or who sees you not as a teacher, as one to learn from? Somebody once wrote in a high school yearbook that his favourite teacher was Pink Floyd. Art is subversive. A means by which to reach persons who otherwise might never consider that there was something being kept from them. "Listen, and understand. The Terminator is out there.."

He turned into Ralph Bakshi.

@VictorLepanto Double wow! That's profound!

Artists are often a disappointment outside their art. How can u promote creative freedom and at the same time a religion that excludes anyone not born from a Jewish parent, i.e. a racist religion?

Put that coffee down!! Coffee's for closers only.

@BudordStone: UT (and Austin) seemed more (liberal?) (democratic voting?) than Texas A&M to me, in the 90's. Also maybe "liberal" compared to San Antonio.

ELOQUENT.

I assumed Mamet would be discerning and intelligent enough to understand the difference between critical thinking and anti-Semitism. I guess I was wrong. And he married Rebecca Pigeon, so how smart can he actually be?

Politics. There are essentially only two kinds of politics - idealism, or "sheep politics", and realistic, or "wolf politics". In sheep politics, one believes that government is to serve everybody, regardless of whether they vote, or not. Taxes are collected, and then spent in such a manner that every child born in the land be able to participate in the national life - that means quality public education, and access to basic healthcare, and other social (public) services. Public libraries are to be adequately funded, and have useful information, quality non-fiction books, reference materials, as well as works of literature, so that they be regarded as libraries indeed. The government is not to regard the people as a resource, as cattle, to be used to serve special interest groups, but government is to serve the people. That, is "sheep politics"... In "wolf politics", one says, "Be realistic - these people, the crowd, they are complete strangers.. Now, economic life is about forming alliances, to wield power, and authority over others, to give the children of your own flesh more - for who else might take care of you in your old age, but he whose economic fortune depends on your own? Be not as King Lear who gave his fortune to his heirs early. Trust no body." And so the realist writes off the disenfranchised, the social outcasts, they who do not vote, nor they who are able to fund your campaign to remain in power. Look at Bill Clinton. His wife may win. In which case the song playing on Clinton's ipod might be,.. "you never gonna keep me down. I go down, I get up again,.." This explains the Israelis' need for gentiles to equate christianity with zionism, for a people will be reluctant to support a political economy if they believe they will be damned for doing so. .. "First prize, is a BMW. Second prize is a set of steak knives. And third prize is, You're fired".., Hmm, Mamet really is a talented writer, whether you like his politics, or not. Maybe he got chased out of liberal academia for his play about sexual politics called, O'leanna, I think, if I remember correctly.

03:30 he's talking about the McCarthyism beloved of the intolerent left

Mamet doesn't disown his anti-capitalist GlennGarry Glenn Ross. He dissimulates. He sounds like a confused rich guy trying to avoid paying taxes.

mamet never knew that a conservative viewpoint existed? not the same man who wrote those plays

He wasn't a very good "unquestioning Liberal"--- hes a much better Reactionary....

@VictorLepanto Will do my best Victor. Cheers :)

@israelx7 stop trying to immanentize the eschaton, you're making me think I'm living in Robert Anton Wilson's hellish afterlife.

Memet lost me with the bless / curse brooha-ha. Just in case, G_d bless all of Israel.

@mbera11 And now you finally reveal yourself hiding behind the pretense. I'm done now because I have no reason to respond to name calling and profanity. Mamet is right about people like you which is why G-d is giving him a voice louder than yours.

@TheJarrod00 Clearly, you have no clue what it is like to be the object of world scrutiny or why would you comment without regard?

No wonder this guy for a long time gave no interviews, his politics are sketchy at best. Israel is continuing a ridulous hard line against Palestine and regularly infringing on lands they agreed to give to Palestinians. It gets deeper but the mai thing is as TheCuk sais below, Mamet should stick to tough-guy dialogue in plays, film & TV. Intelligent political dialogue is not his strong suit.

Witchhunt in Austin :(

@VictorLepanto WOW! "evil UN...biggest crooks in the universe." You sound like a universal authority. I must be wrong then and I defer to your infinite wisdom. ;D

i am a total David Mamet fan. That being said his politics suck. LoL when started this interview i expected something more intellectual from him. He just sounds like one of Trump's deplorables. still he is the one of the best playwrights of the modern era. BTW he is boring

@dramajew Some Jews do bad things. What's wrong with that?

Writing drama.. and being dramatic and applying that to politics clearly is a disaster. What "liberal" America is he describing? Even so called liberal America is conservative by any rational position. An election system where you have to pay millions to participate. Isn't it just that he's very rich and older and therefore has become conservative. As a Jew perhaps he would like America to be more conservative... then there's blacks, women. Stunning embarrassment.

I love that everyone's best defense against this are all ad hominem. In other words, they can't argue the viewpoint; just how much they think David Mamet sucks. You're all bigots.

@xalstarx I agree!

@mbera11 First of all, that a Jew does something bad is not something to be ok with. It is a desecration of everything sacred. But that is not the issue. The issue is that he is right: when it comes to politics, if you don't agree with the political left about everything, especially Israel, you are called a right wing, reactionary idiot who is not part of the enlightenment. The same people who built America on the foundations of blacks.

Bibi for President!!

How the fuck does a financially successful and artistically creative liberal circa 2004 not know what the conservative viewpoint is on anything? This such bullshit. He (mistakenly) saw where his bread should be buttered and flipped. Like Al Capp, like Dennis Miller. And like those two, his fanbase COMPLETELY deserted him. And his plays, even the last funny one he wrote (November), have more than a whiff of desperation to them. Oh well, dog, bed, fleas.

mamet has nice taste in glasses, though, I'll say that. He can be a misinformed bigot and a derivative playwright all he wants, but those are nice glasses.

Stick to writing plays, Mr. Mamet.

I just sat through Heist, it was the worst movie I’ve ever seen.

I am a fiscal conservative and I don't like, to put it mildly, Israel. I don't hate Jews, i hate Zionists. The left needs to go the way of the dinosaur, extinct. It is a low intelligent and immoral party.

Brilliant. If he's a piece of dogshit, are you a urine stain? Just wondering, Einstein.

Gets your facts right up from all sides before you speak out a word mister David Mamet There are more to this issue and you are only projecting yourself to just one side, as if victimizing it, is kinda coward to me and shows how lacking you are by a lot in knowledge.

"cant"

IDGAF

Warning: some comments below contain antisemitic behavior.

Good works - Like NOT bulldozing some Palestinian guy's house down, and then telling him to move before he gets shot, along with the rest of his household? ... You see, the world establishes property rights by pointing guns at others. And then the rest of us, attempt to survive in that political arena. "God gave us the land" - No, not yet, and yes, he did : It is a temporal paradox. For he gave them the land, while promising it to others, if they would keep His Commandments. It is not yet obvious that those others, are them, to whom He gave the land to. Now, they who would point guns at others, oppress strangers, kill, steal, so that they might own land, and open up nightclubs, and hotels, and make money ... y'know, be like the world, are in fact, the world themselves... They are as Esau who for a morsel of food traded away his birthright.... It is a reason why Christians like to fast. For they fear walking after the flesh. The flesh is weak. Do not sin WILFULLY... You do the best you can. It is like a test. How well will they do, given their weakness? How strong are you? Resistance is not futile.... The Zionists would have gentiles believe that their plan will usher in the return of the Lord Jesus. .. Umm, it is written, Jesus Christ IS come in the flesh... Wherefore then do many speak of a return? If the Spirit of Christ dwells within you, and me, then He has in a sense, come. Do you see the wrath of the Holy Lamb of God? We are the Third Temple, which some Jews seek after, and have sought after, since the destruction of the Second Temple. We are as Living Stones built up into a Holy Temple.... Well, one begins at Judaism, and then asks, Who is Jesus? Or another begins at Jesus, and asks, Who are these Jews? And how are they related to Our Lord? ... He the Son is Our Lord, and Our God is the Father. CAtholics and Protestants seem not to understand this. Maybe because they choose to go to church, rather than do their own homework? .... Oh well, they who repent will join "the good fight", while the others will continue to serve the interest of antichrist, or be as "food for thought" for them who yet dwell in darkness... It is a weeding out process... Ever see that George Carlin bit about religion and hats? How is he not a light shining in darkness?

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From the very beginning, this video is ridiculous. Just listen to how the interviewer pronounces "Pulitzer." David Mamet is quite possibly the most pretentious, overrated person in the movie industry today. Why does he think anyone would care about his opinions on politics? And what is up with those ridiculous glasses?

can appreciate his work ever again. jus nother rich repuglican.

This guy scares me....