Seamus Coughlin

Seamus Coughlin
Born	March 24, 1995 Chicago, Illinois, United States
🏳️ Nationality	American
💼 Occupation	Animator, Political cartoonist, Political commentator, Comedian, Columnist, YouTuber
Known for	FreedomToons, a weekly political satirical series, Common Sense Soapbox, a right-leaning informational series

Seamus McNamara Coughlin (/ˈʃeɪmʌs ˈmæknæmərʌ ˈkɒglɪn/; born March 24, 1995) is an American Right-Wing animator, political cartoonist, commentator, comedian, columnist, and YouTuber. He is known for his YouTube channel FreedomToons and his Foundation for Economic Education series Common Sense Soapbox with Seamus Coughlin.

Coughlin taught himself to animate at the age of 12 and has been doing freelance animation work since he was 14. Coughlin started his YouTube channel in 2012, when he was 17. In January 2018 his channel surpassed 100,000 subscribers. As of August 2021, his channel has over 650,000 subscribers and over 120 million views. Since 2017, Coughlin has been a contributor for the Foundation for Economic Education.

Early life and education

Coughlin was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in the suburbs of the Chicagoland area. Coughlin grew up in an Irish Catholic household and he and his family are devout Catholics.

Coughlin was interested in politics from an early age. His parents are conservatives and raised him with traditional conservative Christian values. Coughlin was a self-described conservative for much of his childhood. Coughlin gained interest in libertarianism after a cannabis smoker in his Spanish class told him about Ron Paul.

Coughlin loved cartoons and animation as a child. Some of his inspirations to pursue animation as a career include A Charlie Brown Christmas and The Simpsons. Coughlin taught himself to animate when he was 12 years old. He would often make animations and short films in his spare time. Starting at the age of 14, Coughlin did freelance animation work throughout his middle school and high school career, and still continues to do so.

Coughlin attended community college for three years before transferring to Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia where he studied art. He graduated with his bachelor's degree in Fine Arts and Animation in 2018.

Career

FreedomToons

FreedomToons uploads weekly political cartoons that educate the audience on libertarian and conservative principles and satirize current events in politics. [1] Coughlin used to animate, write, and edit FreedomToons by himself, sometimes with the help of animator and writer Pat Oblere. While Coughlin has worked with freelance artists on a limited basis, as of 2018 he has hired freelance animators and writers who have worked on FreedomToons regularly.

Older FreedomToons videos would usually start with a cartoon caricature of Coughlin being faced with a political adversary, usually portrayed as being deceptive and manipulative or a disagreeable idiot, who says a common leftist talking point or fallacy. Coughlin usually then gives a counter-argument using facts, statistics, and logic. Coughlin often uses visual aids and metaphors to illustrate his point. The cartoon usually ends with a punchline or a call to action. Other times, instead of arguing with another character, Coughlin will address the audience directly and give arguments for his position on a particular issue or recent political event. However more recently, FreedomToons usually simply parodies current political events, usually parodying the views of Liberals, Progressives and Democrats and the left leaning Media, often using caricatures of real life people who align with those groups. However Coughlin will also parody Right leaning groups and figures, however he does that in a much less hostile way.

Main characters

• Seamus: Seamus Coughlin is a caricature of the real Seamus Coughlin, the creator of FreedomToons. He is very similar to Coughlin's actual self. He is an opinionated, knowledgeable libertarian who debates leftists on a regular basis. Coughlin's caricature of himself in early FreedomToons is very self-deprecating, whereas modern Seamus is more true to life.
• The Social Contractor: The Social Contractor is a dim-witted, arrogant, destructive superhero who has the power to buy and build things without your consent and expects you to pay for it when he's done. He violently attacks and harasses his foil, Jason, on a regular basis. He is a metaphor for government and statism. His name is a pun on the social contract.
• Jason: Jason is an intelligent young man who is constantly being terrorized by The Social Contractor. He is a metaphor for the people and libertarianism.
• Dr. Mac: Dr. Mac is an unintelligent, immature, dishonest far-left political pundit for the fictional news network MSNBS. He is the host of the MSNBS program ‘The Echo Chamber with Dr. Mac’. He is a satirical representation of the far-left political bias of the mainstream media in America.
• The Strawmen: The Strawmen are metaphors for the straw man fallacy. The two Strawmen, Right-Wing Strawman and Left-Wing Strawman, debate on regular occasions while grossly misrepresenting their respective side. They hold extremely exaggerated stereotypical political opinions that no real person on the side they are representing would actually hold. They talk in deep monotone voices and their mouths often expand to half the size of their bodies when debating.
• The Debunkers: The Debunkers, whose names are yet to be revealed, are two intellectual, elderly millionaires who live in a secret underground bomb shelter. To stimulate their minds, they spend their days debunking leftist YouTube videos.

Recurring characters

• Eric: Eric July is a caricature of the real Eric July, a conservative rapper. He will either represent the libertarian opinion or the leftist opinion depending on the cartoon.
• Liberal and Conservative: A young woman and a middle-aged man respectively, who are meant to represent traditional liberals and conservatives in the current political climate.
• Social Justice Warrior: A young woman with a half-shaven green haircut who is a satirical representation of the regressive left and Social Justice Warriors.
• Megan: Megan (mistakenly referred to as Julie in one video) is a far-left transgender woman who frequently appears on ‘The Echo Chamber with Dr. Mac’ as a gender studies expert.
• Dr. Click: Dr. Click, also known as snobby journalist, is a far-left journalist who frequently appears on ‘The Echo Chamber with Dr. Mac’. He changed his name to ‘Click’ (pronounced like the African consonant) after deciding that his Western name was “oppressive and imperialistic”.
• NRA Representative: A member of the NRA who frequently appears on ‘The Echo Chamber with Dr. Mac’ representing the conservative opinion.

Recurring caricatures of real-life politicians and political pundits

• Ben Shapiro: A caricature who talks absurdly fast and has the ability to "destroy liberals" with his laser vision.
• Jordan Peterson: A caricature who constantly talks about the archetype of the hero, saving one's father from snakes, and cleaning one's room.
• Donald Trump: A caricature who is easily offended and constantly tweets.
• Joe Biden: A caricature who constantly rambles nonsense and easily gets angry if he is challenged.
• Bernie Sanders: A caricature who hates capitalism and suffers from narcolepsy.
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: A caricature who constantly proposes legislation that would be damaging to the United States.

Series

Along with the regular FreedomToons format of political satire, FreedomToons has several series that have their own spin on the traditional format, each starring their own cast of characters.

Jason and The Social Contractor

‘Jason and the Social Contractor’ is a series that satirically and metaphorically explains the libertarian perspective on the relationship between the citizen and the government using its two titular main characters. It usually starts with Jason minding his own business when the Social Contractor shows up to ruin his day. The Social Contractor spends the rest of the cartoon messing with Jason and making his life extra hard by meddling in his business. The cartoon usually ends with Jason either telling off the Social Contractor, or being horrifically murdered.

The Echo Chamber with Dr. Mac

‘The Echo Chamber with Dr. Mac’ is a series that parodies mainstream leftist news outlets, hosted by the left leaning Dr. Mac. Dr. Mac is a proponent of socialism, identity politics, and big government and this is reflected by his heavily biased news casting. He will often distort the truth on his show in order to deceive the public and promote his political agenda. The cartoon is meant to educate the audience on the bias of mainstream news and to encourage skepticism of the credibility of news sources.

‘The Echo Chamber with Dr. Mac’ usually starts with Dr. Mac saying to the audience “Welcome to the Echo Chamber. I’m your host, Dr. Mac.” Dr. Mac will follow by either expressing outrage over right wing policy, or praising a recent development in far-left politics. Dr. Mac will usually have a guest on his show who will either validate his point or refute his arguments, depending on the political position of the guest. If the guest disagrees with Dr. Mac, he will completely disregard his guest's argument and simply accuse them of being bigoted. The cartoon usually ends with one of the characters delivering a punchline at either the expense of one of the characters or leftists as a whole.

‘The Echo Chamber’ is a pun on a metaphorical ideological echo chamber. MSNBS, the fictional news network that ‘The Echo Chamber with Dr. Mac’ airs on, is a pun on the news network MSNBC and BS, an acronym for bullshit.

Debates with Strawmen

A strawman argument is an argument that substitutes an opponent's argument with a misrepresenting version of it and attacking that instead. ‘Debates with Strawmen’ experiments on the idea: “In modern discourse, opponents constantly ‘strawman’ one another. It may be amusing to imagine for a moment: what if people were actually as insane as their opponents claim they are? What would an argument sound like then?”

The premise of the series is that two Strawmen, one representing the right and one representing the left, debate over a political topic with comically exaggerated misrepresentations of their side’s opinion.

The Debunkers

‘The Debunkers’ is about two millionaires who are tired of the stupidity of the world and have hidden in an underground bunker in order to prevent themselves from “catching the stupidy”. The Debunkers spend their time using their intellect to debunk political YouTube videos. The Debunkers play the entire video and give point by point commentary refuting the video's arguments.

PSA’s

FreedomToons has a series of parody public service announcements that satirize PSA's for leftist organizations and their use of guilt in order to make a point. They usually feature a 1950s-esque announcer who makes several false claims that Coughlin refutes.

What Libertarians Actually Believe

‘What Libertarians Actually Believe’ was a cancelled series that was meant to educate the audience on the beliefs of typical libertarians. There were only two videos produced, the first being a promo for the series, and the last being ‘What Libertarians Actually Believe: Stereotypes’, which was about the stereotypes of libertarianism and the basics of libertarian thought. Coughlin later removed it from FreedomToons because he felt it didn't hold up to the standard he set for himself and his content and didn't explain libertarianism well.

2017-present: Common Sense Soapbox with Seamus Coughlin

Since 2017, Coughlin has written and animated a series for the libertarian think tank Foundation for Economic Education called Common Sense Soapbox with Seamus Coughlin in which he discusses free-market capitalism and dispels common misconceptions about economics.

It usually begins with a character named Bob, expressing support for a leftist or statist economic policy. Coughlin, in animated caricature form, refutes Bob's argument using evidence and statistics, leaving Bob frustrated and dejected.

Reactions from other political commentators

Ben Shapiro has reacted positively to the cartoon version of himself. Andrew Klavan gave a positive review of FreedomToons on his podcast. Frank Camp of The Daily Wire has written articles praising his arguments against statism and big tech. Tom Woods has interviewed Coughlin twice on his podcast and donates to his Patreon. However leftist political commentators such as Ian Kochinsk have criticized Coughlin, dismissing his work as "propaganda".

Political Views

Coughlin identifies as a conservative libertarian and his cartoons are reflective of his political beliefs and values. His main political belief is that society functions best when the government, if any, is as small and powerless as possible and that people should not use government as a tool to force their beliefs and values onto others.

Economics

Coughlin has a right-wing libertarian position on economics. He is a proponent of free market capitalism and believes that government should have almost no role in the economy. He is against universal healthcare and universal college tuition. He is strongly against Socialism, Communism, Marxism, Anarchism and other far-left ideologies. He believes in the right of people to do business with whomever they choose. He supports the decriminalization of recreational drugs, but has no record of advocating for the usage of them. He is against tariffs. He believes that people should be taxed very little and does not support the taxation of the rich.

Culture

Coughlin believes that society functions best under conservative principles. He doesn't believe in a state forcing these principles upon the people, however. He believes that the people, upon their own free volition, should work to foster a non-violent, compassionate community. He is a proponent of the non-aggression principle. He believes that institutions such as marriage should be respected. He is strongly against identity politics. He is against abortion and attended the 46th March for Life. He is patriotic and is a proponent of American exceptionalism.

Government

As a libertarian Coughlin believes that the government should be as small as possible and should have very little power. His believes have fluctuated over time between libertarian and minarchist thought. He is a supporter of the decriminalization of victimless crimes. He supports the right to bear arms. He is a strong advocate of free speech and believes that identity politics and political correctness are a danger to it.[2] He is against the way the public school system is currently run. He believes that the government shouldn't be involved in the free market and that it should be as unregulated as possible while still functioning.

Religious Views

Coughlin is a devout Roman Catholic. As a result, he abstains from premarital sex and recreational drug use, observes Lent, and takes Communion on the tongue as opposed to on the hand. His confirmation saint is Saint Patrick.

References

This article "Seamus Coughlin" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Seamus Coughlin. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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