Hi. The Awesome Socks Club is live! awesomesocks.club Get great socks. 100% of the proceeds go to support efforts to reduce maternal and child mortality. -John

I’ve been trying to explain this concept for years. “Enough” is a relief that hit me with an overwhelming strength in my early twenties, after years of sleeping in living rooms and eating only the day-old pastries from work. When I was promoted to manager at that restaurant, my whole life changed. Now, two promotions later, I’m in an office job with my own apartment and a cat, and it is so incredibly ENOUGH.

_“Is not dread of thirst when your well is full,_ _the thirst that is unquenchable?”_

"when rich people only spend time around rich people, they don't feel rich. They feel normal." This is absolutely true.

This title really scared me as someone worried John is going to parent my overconsumption of Halloween candy

I am a person who doesn't have enough of most things. I struggle to afford clothing, and I struggle to afford food. I am often in a state of generalized frustration at those that take these things for granted. Thank you for acknowledging that you have things others don't. It makes the divide a little more bearable.

This is why it’s different when everybody has enough together. We’re all drops in a bucket, and the strongest ripples start closest to the source. A community that prioritizes giving leads to a culture of giving. Kinda like Nerdfighteria.

By far, the BEST Policy Genius ad that John’s made.

As someone who sufferes from constant existential anxiety, this is actually really calming. Thank you.

3:04 I heard a great analogy for this once: a country is like a big hotel with lots of floors. The floors are sorted by income, ie. the richest people are at the top and the poorest at the bottom. You can go and visit people in the hotel, but you can only ever travel three floors up or down. I feel it reflects the way our societal structures keep people in groups of roughly similar economic position quite well. The result being, obviously, most people, especially those that are better off, feel like there somewhere in the middle. Definitely not rich, but not poor either.

"Too often in trying to insulate myself...from the realities of suffering, I am also looking away from injustice, inequity, impoverishment" if having enough means turning away from these realities, then 'enough' is too much. Thank you, John. I'm saving this so I can quote it frequently in the various conversations I have around various parts of the internet.

Look, John, in our uncertain times, I'm not sure we're prepared for you to begin a video without immediately greeting Hank.

“We must talk about poverty, because people insulated by their own comfort lose sight of it.” -Dorothy Day ❤️

I feel "enough is too much" every day of my life. I'm in an odd position where I was raised poor, but got a nice and stable job right out of college. (And I got through college without loans thanks to very generous financial aid.) So now I'm doing remarkably well, but my parents aren't. My brother's family isn't. My friends from highschool aren't. I try to help where I can but while I have a lot, I don't have enough to help everyone out of everything. I'm always overwhelmed with what I have, and what the people I love don't have.

“It grows in the form of more kids growing to adulthood, and more people having access to educational opportunities, and so on. And that growth is much more transformational than the appreciation of stocks.”

“Everyone I know and love will die”…omg, John, I’m still dwelling on how I have no savings, give me a minute.

I recently learned about steady state economies, and I'm starting to think that ought to be the goal rather than constant econonic growth. Also I'm personally grateful to you and Hank for how thoughtful you are about your wealth. Hank paid my roommate's rent when the pandemic hit, because they worked at his favorite coffee shop. He didn't have to be proximal to their suffering, but he was.

Wow. My dad passed away this morning - a man who always dreamed of making a huge impact but never thought he did. This gives me comfort knowing his impact was immeasurable. Thanks, John!

When you said "I have insurance to make my life less precarious." I thought you were about to make a very clever pivot to a Policy Genius ad.

Jews have a word for this in Hebrew: Dayenu (dye-AY-new). It means “enough” and we use it like “I already had everything I could have ever hoped for, and now I am blessed with more!”

It makes me think of the book “The ones who walk away from Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin. Sometimes we realise our happiness and wealth is at the expense of others but we often choose to act as if we don’t know. That makes me sad

John the type of guy who gets every kind of insurance the agent offers

Reminds me of a word my family in Sweden mentions, “lagom” or “lagom är bäst”, meaning “enough” or “the right amount (enough) is best”. Which from the time I’ve spent in Sweden seems to be a commonly held belief.

“The richest person in the world is not the one who has the most but the one who needs the least.” - Joseph Simmons

This paired really well with John Oliver’s recent piece on homelessness and the desire of the houses to avoid having to see the unhoused.

“When rich people hang out with only rich people they stop feeling like rich people”. That’s going to stick with me for a long time. It’s making me reflect on the fact that after college, I really only have surround myself with a certain socioeconomic class of people. I’d say mid to upper middle class with 4 year+ degrees and steady jobs. It wasn’t intentional, but I can feel how our collective problems are not the same as others’ might be and I don’t want to forget that I am essentially a “rich” person.

I've been thinking about this a lot during the pandemic, and feeling like we're only exploring this comraderie of 'in it together' while we feel somehow 'dragged down' to the level of those regular victims of poverty, disease and imprisonment. Like we've joined a club to not feel so alone and scared. As soon as we feel we 'have enough' again - vaccination status, contingiencies, freedom etc., we'll go back to looking away from those who remain without. We won't be 'in it together' for very much longer.

I heard a quote from Mark Twain the other day that is along the lines of, “Comparison is the death of joy.” Since I heard that I have been convincing myself that I am and what I create is “enough”. It is a hard process to go through, but this video helped me with it.

Part of the problem is it takes a lot to live on a little. Living “simply” or “minimalist” actually requires quite a bit. What we often see in practice is boutique minimalism obtained by playing the acquisition game and then cosmetically downsizing on certain external arrangements but backed up by squirreled away wealth that both insulates the person from the risks of simplicity as well as allowing for a regularly-occasional vacation from that “simple” lifestyle with a splurge vacation into luxury again.

Something I've struggled a lot with is the feeling of "enough". I constantly question mentally "am I good enough" or "am I doing enough". And this was a good video to remind me that I do still have "enough". But the feeling from "enough" remains difficult to hide from.

Thanks for this nuance- it's so easy to get lost in the everyday and forget to be a citizen of the world. Last week a friend visiting remarked that I live in a beautiful city- which I had forgotten to find beautiful for a while- I noticed it again. Thank you for reminding me that I am a citizen of a global whole and to be less stingy with what I can give even while a graduate student and living in what I consider to me meager means (while still having a roof over my head and enough to eat). I have enough to need to invest it back into the world for the good of those I've never met. Thanks, John. As always, the truth resists simplicity.

"By the way, good morning Hank it's Tuesday" Hank: and I took that personally

I’m in my last semester student teaching to become a math teacher. My family around me always talk about salary prospects of my career and where else I could go to increase that financial security. It’s taken me so long to wrap my head around choosing that fulfillment and happiness over the of money and the lessened anxiety. I hope someday I’ll be able realize that I have enough.

I have been thinking about this so much lately. We made the choice to have my husband be a stay-at-home dad, and it allows our child to have a calm toddlerhood, but ironically makes our financial stability feel less calm. And it limits the money and energy we have to give outside our home. It's the right choice for right now, but I feel like I'm always searching for ways I can do more.

I was so disoriented for a sec when you didn't say "good morning Hank it's Tuesday"

Thanks John. I wrestle with this alot, not because I don’t feel like I have enough. I feel like I have too much without an accurate perspective on what is enough. I’ve lived most of my life privileged to have more than enough and that warped my perspective. Now, I’m grown and have a sense of having way too much, but I have a family who often behave as if they don’t have enough and it creates a struggle within the family. There’s no consensus on what enough is. And, of course with being a dad, I often feel like no one is particularly interested in my notion of what constitutes “enough.” Holidays are coming up, Y’all. Let’s do our best to make sure everyone has enough. Many of us have had too much for too long.

Having enough to prevent our own suffering is an absolute good. From there, the best of us will expand to make life better for everyone. I aspire to that.

This was one of those vlogbrothers videos that flipped my world upside-down. Both my favourite and least favourite kind of video, because it is a wonderful experience to watch such a video, but it can feel devastating knowing that 4 minutes ago, I was not thinking about this topic as meaningfully as I could have been.

This is why I have been subscribed to Vlogbrothers for over a decade. Thanks for making the world a better place yall. DFTBA

Is there anybody else on the internet who talks about this? It has become core to my values over the years, thanks to John and Hank

Precarity is a word I didn't have for the situation I'm in. If nothing else, you've given me a definition. I've found that definitions help. And so you have helped me. Thanks, John.

I just realized that I never watch Johns videos full-screen, - only in framed, contained and safe environments. Because I need distance to his words, if i'm to close, they hit too hard, I need room to catch what he is throwing, else it hits me in the face and it hurts, but without changing. With a bit of room, I can protect myself and still take it in. Thank you , John.

I disagree so much that it's impossible to get far enough from precarity - it isn't possible through individual action or savings, but as a community we can all work together to be collectively far from precarity. A real social safety net and strong communities should do that

Enough - I love it. I have enough of most things. What I lack is enough freedom to control my space (because it's not just my space and the people I share it with don't share my desires). I have always wanted a home full of people, I tell my kids and their friends that the door is always open, call if you need, I will pick you up and help out however I can. Many of my dds friends are neurodivergent and struggling or just depressed in not great homes. My heart cries out for them but I can't give what I don't have.

Wow, that was powerful. As someone who has been trying for years to build himself up so he could have "enough" to ensure the protection and success of his future family, this hits home. I'd never considered that "enough"-ness to potentially be a bad thing, something that could in itself end up being too much. Thank you for your perspective on this, John.

Speaking of enoughness.. This channel is enough to keep me afloat and for that I’ll always be thankful.

John, thank you for reminding me that I have enough. I live in a third world country and I'm constantly bombarded with the images of the impoverished and you become so numb to the street kids who are trying to sell you toilet paper that you forget that they actually have lives outside of that snapshot and irritation as they approach you at traffic lights. I am fortunate enough to have a job that pays for the roof over my head and the food on my plate and provides me with the joy we need on a daily basis (I am a teacher and love what I do). Thank you for reminding me that my small discomforts are nothing compared to what others may have and that my normal is not everyone's normal.

I am SURE I’m not the first to say it, but… It’s interesting to me that a person with such continually high levels of anxiety is such a voice of calm in my life. Thank you John!

I feel like having "enough" also has something to do with autonomy and if you're able to get enough for yourself or do something about it if you're not getting enough

This is 100% my mood this week so thank you. I'm finally housed, in a loving marriage, own a reliable car, having some savings and there is always food in the fridge. Most of this was not true a few years ago.

I feel like I’ve been getting more fulfillment and life lessons from these weekly VlogBrothers videos than I ever did from a lifetime of church.

Reminds me of something my friend said to me once: the problem is people don’t aim for enough money they aim for as much as possible

Thank you for this video.

Thanks John and Hank for being the awesomest people! My KZfaq is forever littered with your binges.

I grew up poor, so finally having "enough" is great. Then we started to save for a deposit on a mortgage and suddenly I didn't feel like we had enough anymore. We do, we are taking advantage of our privilege to try get be in a less precarious position in the long term. I also insulate myself from feeling like I have enough because my career isn't 100% secure. I keep moving from short term contract to another, and getting a permanent job in my sector, especially where I want to live is nearly impossible. But I should not forget that I I am not actually poor anymore. I met a family at the weekend who didn't have food at home. That is closer to my childhood's reality that my current state and I need to remember that, even though where I live means I see lots of people who own yacht.

there is so much packed in here that requires constant rewatching. i really really really appreciate when you and Hank talk about what it's like to live with so much money that you can afford to do work and give all profits away. what a beautiful luxury and it reminds me that sometimes the reason i don't accomplish as many things as other people isn't because i'm stupid or garbage or lazy, it's because i can't afford to...

This is oddly excellent timing; I was just watching a documentary on war photography for school, and it brought me far closer to human suffering than I've been in a long time. I'm in a situation that I'd really like to not be in, but I still have security in many ways and it's good to remember that.

I love how you made an excellent 2-year anniversary video for the MCOE without even mentioning the MCOE.

I’m saving this to play periodically to remind myself how complacent I’ve been with my life. I’m truly grateful for what I have.

This was so deep that I had to watch it twice. Thanks John. As someone who began life in poverty and now finds themselves upper-middle class, I hope to return to this though frequently to maintain perspective as I insulate myself from precarity

There's also the saying to never have more than you need and for this the Pythagorean cup is a great example. Inspired by the Egyptians, the concept is that Pythagoras thought that if you had more than five ounces of wine, you had too much. So with the cup, if you have five ounces of a drink, it's just fine. But when you pour more than five ounces, the whole drink spills from below the cup.

This is great, John. Thank you. Although my family is in the worst financial state now that it's been in years due to hurricane damage and complications working with FEMA, my family has been living well below the poverty line since my mom was a little girl - all while being surrounded by the same kind of people who don't want affordable housing built because their property values will go down. You and a select few others really give me hope, especially when you encourage people to venture outside of their own little bubble a little bit to see what's going on with the rest of us :)

It's amazing to hear someone I respect so much speak to the exact questions I've spent my entire life trying to figure out and put their opinion on it out their so eloquently and concisely. Thank you John.

"then enough is simply too much " is a really good sentence

Thanks for making this John. As someone in my family who has not achieved what others have already achieved, I need more reminders that despite those achievements I am enough and it is enough to be exactly where I am. ❤️

I have always struggled with how truly undefinable the word “enough” is. Perhaps being aware of that fact is enough.

"it is so easy to forget that we have enough" WOW😭😭😭😭

This video has really stuck with me, and I came back to watch it again. This quote in particular I find very powerful (I believe it's my favorite John Green quote so far, which is saying a lot): “I forget that I have enough because in trying to insulate myself from precarity, I can also make myself distant from the reality of suffering, and if I were more proximal to that suffering, I would use more of my resources to try to alleviate it. And too often in trying to insulate myself and those I love from the realities of suffering, I am also looking away from injustice and inequity and impoverishment, and if having enough means having enough to not have to face those realities, then enough is simply too much.”

Both of you have dropped some excellent truths the last few videos, and I have really enjoyed getting to think deeply about these things.

John Green: "enough is too much" Me: "waiting for that day when the safety net isn't needed" Oh, for the luxury of having security in this society of material plenty.

"In trying to insulate myself from precarity I can also make myself distant from the reality of suffering, and if I were more proximal to that suffering I would use more of my resources to try and alleviate it." An important truth beautifully expressed.

You and your brother ARE our great philosophers of this era. Insightful and promoting ideas and beliefs which are so profound and yet conveyed in ways that reach the masses. Truly remarkable content on such a high frequency. I am thankful that I have enough and yet I simply cannot get enough of your content... 💗

Living in a co-op aimed at low income students reminded me daily that I was basically rich, even though a grad student’s salary isn’t much.

John: "...let me stop using 'we', and start using 'I'..." Me: "Oh dear..." **Waves of reality roll in like a tsunami**

I came into this communty late in the game (during the pandemic), but these videos by both John and Hank fill me with warmth and optimism. It's lovely to know that there are intelligent, kind, and thoughtful people in this world; and that you two specifically have a huge community of like-minded individuals who support and cherish you. It reminds me that not everything is awful, and that's so important. Thanks for being you.

I have nothing to say other than: thank you, John

Holy hell this video just came out ten seconds ago

I feel I do not have enough in a way. I have no savings. but I forget to acknowledge I have it pretty good. if I fail to pay rent, sure I might get kicked out but I have parents who will take care of me. I wouldn't die. It could be a lot better. I was turned down for PIP even though I told them I can't leave the house which really upset me because for some people it's their only option. PIP gives money to people with mental and physical health problems in the UK. basically, I feel like I have 0% "enough" but really it's like 95%. once I have some savings it will be enough and I'll try to remind myself of that.

traumatic 7 seconds where I didn't know what day of the week it was

Thank you for this message. I shed a single burning tear at the end.

Thank you for being willing to acknowledge and examine your stability and the effects it has on your life and your view of the world. You two are such great humans.

As someone who is always on the mental journey to enough, I enjoyed hearing your perspective. We're here because we're here because we're here because we're here and that is often (mentally) enough.

The phrase, "adequate distance from prequarity" is *chef's kiss".

The fact is, I can't physically have "enough" until everyone else has enough. And I'm not special in this.

"enough" is not an amount, it's a conscious, mindful, prolonged feeling.

JOHNNN💯❤️😭

Thank you for the reminder to appreciate the concept of having enough. I think I've been struggling with this all year, but when I really stop and think about all that I have whether it's material or the love I feel from my friends and family. I know I have enough and there is a comfort in knowing that, no matter what I will gain in monetary value it will not make me happier without the connections I make with others. I have enough and I am enough no matter how much my existential anxiety tries to tell me that I don't.

Thank you for always making me think and see things in a different light. You always change my day and my perspective.

Thank you for reminding me that there are reasons to be grateful in spite of my pain and mental health struggles. I’m always more thoughtful when I come away As a sufferer of chronic pain, I often feel so frustrated with my own access to health care and rarely take a moment to remember that I’m an American phd student in Scotland who is benefiting from the slow but technically free NHS system and that if things get bad enough I could theoretically borrow money from my parents to return to the states and use the insurance that my father very graciously still pays for me. I’m safe. I’m provided for. Forgetting this benefits no one, least of all me. It should be enough. Especially when so many need so much more I am so grateful for the vlogbrothers space.

YOUR BOOKS HELP ME SURVIVE 😭😭😭😭😭😭

That last line gave me chills and tears. Amazing, thank you

"Enough is simply too much" oof, that hit deep

I think this really hits at the core of the human struggle, where we have better clarity when we can remove our own stress from precarity because we are gaining control over something we lacked, which allows our brains to more easily function less reactively. However, doing so creates advantageous circumstances that, until others have that as well, means we face new stressors that gradually distance us from others' hardships that we have the power to alleviate. This is a struggle that ties back into when the first kings emerged, and wealth helped to make them able to think clearly, but also distanced them. _"Heavy is the head that wears the crown"_ because its normal is addressing stressors of others and not just itself - but it only does that so long as it recognized that its position is not "normal" compared to everyone else. This is something that is often hard to see objectively, but is something that I think your videos and content always help to do, and bring to myself and others in ways you may not see. Having "enough" and doing "enough" are all an imperfect measurement of what we perceive about the level of control over what we have and what we do with it to what ends. That will change over time, but I think it's a really helpful reflection to consider regularly when assessing motivations and struggles, and helping to remember that we're all human and no one has a perfect answer to their unique circumstances.

As always, this feels so vitally important. Thank you for this video. Thank you for thinking about these things and sharing those thoughts with all of us. Now someone send this to Bezos and Musk.

Videos like this inspire me to stay thoughtful and critical of my own world view and my own position in this world we all call our home, and for that I'll always be thankful. Thank you, John and Hank.

The Sisyphean human effort to get to the point of "enough" really permeates through everything. As an artist I find that ten years ago as a middle schooler I could clearly see gaps in my skill level and work from those I looked up to, but I persisted and now- I still see those gaps. I think trying to practice gratefulness everyday is really important to combat this phenomena, so that you can look at either what you have or what you can do and say "I'm thankful I have this, and I will try to not take it for granted". Easier said than done, but I do think that practicing it helps what exists feel closer to truly "enough", if even a small bit.

I always have to remind myself that although I don’t have “enough” money and security to follow my dreams I still have a roof over my head and food in my cabinets unlike some

What I'm here early

I was legit upset by the first word of this video not being "Good" - h

This is the most profound vlogbrothers video in recent memory. I feel like it reflects and touches on things i have felt and tried to live by for a long time. Thank you.