[NOTE: This blog contains a number of embedded links to videos. Many of those videos have now been removed from their resident platforms (usually YouTube). I decided to trash posts if their supporting video links were no longer available, and I was about to trash this post when I decided to save it. This is why it appears out of sequence now. It was originally posted 01.04.23. Jane on 12.02.23]
Let’s be clear on a few things. We are concerned for what we don’t know about Andrew Tate at this moment. His spokesperson is saying that he and Tristan are fine: they are working out, confident that things will be okay because they know they haven’t done anything wrong. As Sneako quickly pointed out to his viewers on YouTube and Rumble, that would naturally be the official word, but we really don’t know anything about the brothers’ physical and emotional states or the status of the plot against them.
But let’s take stock of what we do know.
Andrew Tate is a conundrum: an extremely complex individual, a man with an upside of spectacular talents and virtues, but a man with the downside of an unsavory past. A man who acquired his first wealth in businesses like his Webcam studio and his casino. A man with an ego so inflated that at times it clouds his judgment. A man with a drinking problem and perhaps even a diagnosable personality disorder. A man who has told a few lies, although mostly small ones.
Andrew Tate is also a man who appears in many thousands of hours of video, a matter that complicates his public image and, I believe, is problematic where criminal charges are concerned.
While “unsavory” does not mean illegal or evil, it does mean we may wince or squirm if we take a close look.
The up and the down. Tate’s “upside” is so overwhelming and so outside the mainstream that I cannot think of a precedent. We are unhappy to look at his past because doing so seems unfair to the wonderful person we think we know.
For this writer, the past is the past. I find it can give me some insight into the choices a person has made, which is an aid in understanding that person, but I judge an individual primarily on what he is in the present and what he aspires to become, as well as on what he says and does in the present. The indiscretions of youth, bad behaviors that have been corrected, and bad habits that have been eradicated can be left in the past. I am a Christian. The concept of redemption is at the core of my soul, that powerful inner “me” that controls my thinking.
Andrew Tate needs fair public judgment. Obviously, if someone is hiding a hideous deed in his or her past, a murder or grand larceny or malfeasance which caused severe pain and injury to others, we would want that addressed. For some crimes, there is no statute of limitations.
However, we live in a world which criminalizes and weaponizes far too much, while at the same time it excuses the criminal activity found in world leaders, many very rich people, popular icons, and elected politicians. Sam Bankman-Fried walks free on bail; Cardi B faces no disapproval, let alone sanction, for robbing men; and none of Jeffrey Epstein’s high profile associates are charged with anything. Yet Andrew Tate and his brother are confined to prison cells.
When we judge another person (and we absolutely do this on a daily basis), whether it is someone we know personally or a public figure, we cannot ignore our gut responses. We struggle to separate facts from our emotional reactions, and some of us are better or worse than others at this process. But we all still judge others.
Speak up now. Say it now. I believe we all need to commit to our judgements of Andrew Tate now. I feel that if we don’t, we may do him unnecessary and unforgivable harm by letting his enemies take over public discourse on him. There are public figures who are speaking up, and I am grateful for them: Patrick Bet-David and Katie Hopkins have made useful statements. Layah Heilpern, Myron Gaines, Adin Ross, and The Blonde Known as Andrew’s Ex (Vivian?) have been quick to appear. And Tommy Robinson, who cannot be happy with Andrew Tate’s conversion to Islam, stepped up immediately. We should all thank them. If what they believe and say at this point undergoes a change at some future date, they will be able to speak up again. But those of us who are merely part of the “general public” should also make our voices known. Being silent now is not fair to Andrew.
Those of us inclined to think well of Tate, and I am one of them, need to make clear to ourselves and to each other what we think and believe about him. We can’t hang back and wait while his detractors and the Matrix’s human bots speak. They can be fools. They can be liars. All of them attempt to control the public narrative.
Fair trials come along about as frequently as albino whales. And to those who are saying they will wait to see how the trial comes out, I say you are either naive or cowardly or both. Courts in the West have become a joke in the last thirty years, and courts outside the West have generally been deplorable for much longer.
Cyclonejane
January 4, 2023
Conundrum Andrew Tate 