Destiny (person)

Bonnell, in 2020, during a debate with Vaush.

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v \- t \- e

Steven Kenneth Bonnell II (1988–), better known by his online nickname Destiny, is an American Twitch streamer and YouTuber. Though primarily a gaming channel, his YouTube channel has become better known for his centrist and neoliberal political content, initially debunking and criticizing Youtube conservatives and reactionaries, but then quickly began denouncing socialists and left-wing content creators in general. His moment of glory came in 2017 when he exposed JonTron’s white nationalist sympathies in an online debate, but since then has made a habit of occasionally engaging in apologetics for far-right personalities.

## Contents

* 1 General positions
* 2 Debates and other shenanigans
* 2.1 The good
* 2.2 The not-so-good
* 2.3 The bad
* 2.4 The ugly
* 2.5 The evil
* 3 See also
* 4 External links
* 5 References

## General positions[edit]

Below are a few examples of Destiny's centrist and neoliberal views:

* Throughout his debates, he consistently summarizes his philosophy as "rules-based utilitarianism".[1]
* He supports neoliberal, capitalist,[2] and free trade policies.
* Bonnell believes that voter ID laws are inherently racist.[3]
* He used to hold a generally favorable view of Black Lives Matter,[4] but later switched his position during the George Floyd protests, and claimed that police brutality can sometimes be justified, and has outright actively incited violent crackdowns and massacres against Black Lives Matter activists.[5][6][7]
* Destiny’s YouTube content was initially pro-trans, especially since he strongly argued against Ben Shapiro’s conflation of sex and gender.[8] However, he has repeatedly defended TERF activists such as Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling against accusations of transphobia, and argued that Rowling's comments are likely caused by ignorance instead of genuine hatred.[9]
* He used to frequently use ableist slurs in his videos,[10] but has since claimed he is trying to phase these words out of his vocabulary because he does not like the idea of using a group of people to mean something “bad”, comparing it to using derogatory terms for non-heterosexual people.[11]
* He supports the European Union and its federalization into a superstate as part of globalization.[12]
* He does not believe in the existence of natural human rights, and he instead claims that the only rights that exist are the ones that a government will grant and protect.[13]
* He has a generally hostile and conservative view regarding increasing the national minimum wage to US$15 and beyond, claiming that rapidly increasing it would invariably hurt small businesses who may not be equipped to pay such a high amount. He has argued that tying minimum wage to inflation would be positive, however.[14]
* He has a favorable view of a 2-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and stated that in his mind the Palestinians should negotiate lasting peace instead of choosing violence, that Israel must make concessions and pursue peace instead of fighting to maintain an untenable status-quo that is only benefiting its side, and that he has a negative view of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank.[15][16]

## Debates and other shenanigans[edit]

### The good[edit]

Destiny has debated many alt-right personalities and their useful idiots, including JonTron,[17] Lauren Southern,[18] Nick Fuentes,[19][20] and Sargon of Akkad.[21][22][1] Former alt-right sympathizers, most notably Caleb Cain (Faraday Speaks, currently a leftist YouTube content creator), credit Destiny and ContraPoints, among others, for their de-radicalization and shift away from conservative extremism.[23][24] However, in an attempt to balance out debating far-rightists and far-leftists, he has also debated some Breadtubers/LeftTubers, including Ben Burgis,[25] Mike from PA,[26] NonCompete,[27] and his former friend[28] Vaush. Finally, he has debated Marxist/"patriotic socialist" Caleb Maupin[29] and Peter Coffin,[30].

Destiny is a formal proponent of social justice, primarily focusing on the rights of minority groups, including trans people.[31]

### The not-so-good[edit]

In November and December of 2020, Destiny led a canvassing operation to help Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff win their important Senate races in Georgia,[32] but upon arrival, he realized that he did not have any reliable voter data and campaign infrastructure, and was left completely unprepared for the event. When asked to pay for staff time and management with an organization that could help, he stubbornly refused any assistance.[33] After the Democrats swept both Senate seats in Georgia, he decided to canvass for Mark Gudgel, a Democratic Party candidate for the Mayor of Omaha, Nebraska, which is Destiny's hometown. However, Destiny's past quickly damaged his legitimacy, and Gudgel promptly rejected Destiny's support due to his controversial past comments and actions, especially his incitement of violence against Black Lives Matter protesters and activists.[34]

### The bad[edit]

> NonCompete: If they're hungry, why not just give them food? Why not just-

> Destiny: Because this fantasy world where we can have maximum production to get everybody houses, food, clothing, it doesn't exist. It's not possible.

> NonCompete: Six times more empty houses in the United States than there are homeless people. We throw away-

> Destiny: Wait, how do those two numbers connect at all? What does that have to do with anything at all?

> NonCompete: Why should anybody be homeless when we have empty house-

> Destiny: I don't know what an empty house has to do with a homeless person. Are you going to steal those houses from people who own them, or what?

> NonCompete: Yes, why not?

> Destiny: Okay, I mean I'm not… it's strange that as an anarcho-communist, you're telling me that the state needs to seize property from other people. I don't understand! [laughs for 5 seconds][35]

Expectably for someone who spends so much of their time criticizing notable right-wingers and anti-SJWs, Destiny has garnered a sizable leftist fanbase, but in spite of that fact, he openly hates the leftist portion of his fanbase for not fully agreeing with his neoliberal politics, and even went as far as to say:

> What God do I have to pray to to get rid of my lefty following? I'd almost rather have fashies at this point, ugh.[36]

> Oh sorry also by "lefty" I meant commies and shit, not just people who are progressive/lean left.[37]

In December 2020, he had a acrimonious barfight with @RespectableLaw on Twitter, taking a section of an LSAT practice test to prove that it was extremely easy to become a lawyer, and he even changed his Twitter profile picture and description to claim that he earned an implausibly high score of 184 on the test despite the highest possible score being 180, although this was likely done as a joke.[38] He was subsequently suspended from Twitter for evading his permanent ban on the website.[39] In addition, Destiny repeatedly claimed that the CIA had nothing to do with Pinochet's coup against Salvador Allende in Chile,[40] despite the CIA itself explicitly admitting its main role in triggering the coup and sabotaging Chile's economy.[41] In April 2021, Destiny engaged in a live online debate with Marxist economist and professor Richard D. Wolff.[42]

### The ugly[edit]

Destiny has an unfathomably long record of everything ranging from bad takes to bad jokes, to borderline inexcusable behavior. It would be near impossible to make a complete list of everything ugly he's ever done. Here are just a few of his most-well known worst moments.

In September 2020, Destiny's long-standing partnership with Twitch.tv was terminated for inciting violence and illegal conduct after defending the far-right Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse and he openly called for Black Lives Matter protesters to be shot to death by far-right militias:[43]

> The rioting needs to fucking stop. If that means white redneck militia dudes mowing down dipshit protesters that think they can torch buildings at 10 PM, at this point they have my fucking blessing. Holy shit, this shit needs to stop. It needed to stop a long time ago.[44]

Destiny made a particularly embarrassing blunder during a debate with anarcho-communist Emerican 'NonCompete' Johnson, where he trivialized and outright denied the atrocities and war crimes committed by American soldiers in Vietnam in the direct presence of his Vietnamese co-host and current wife, Luna Oi.[45] (Destiny is in good company, however, as Luna Oi is a Vietnamese nationalist who denies North Vietnamese war crimes committed during the same conflict.)[46]

A significant controversy in Destiny's career involves his distinction between the public and private use of the N-word. He defended this stance in a lengthy online post that focused on documenting what he described as the bad-faith debate tactics and hypocrisy of his opponents. This post is often mischaracterized by critics as the '10,000-word N-word manifesto,' a title which is factually inaccurate regarding its length (approximately 4,000 words) and its format. [47]

In relation to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in the months before the Israel–Hamas war in 2023 he has made the heinous and ignorant comment while talking to friends saying "honestly, I'm pro-genocide..." while giggling when asked about the conflict.[48] Later, after talking to his friend that actually had some background knowledge, he demonstrated that he knew nothing about the conflict and took everything back.[49] After the 7th of October, while the war was going on, he has stated that "if October 7th would've happened to the settlers, I wouldn't give a fuck, ..., I wouldn't feel bad for any of them".[50]

Destiny also mocked the death of Corey Comperatore, a man who was killed during the failed assassination attempt on Donald Trump in July 2024.[51] This led to streaming platform Kick temporarily suspending his account.[52]

### The evil[edit]

In 2025, he got hit with allegations of sharing revenge porn by multiple women, resulting on one of them, a smaller streamer named Pxie, suing Destiny in February.[53] In August, screenshots leaked of him sending sexually explicit images to somebody who was only seventeen at the time as well as mocking people who were upset about it.[54]

## See also[edit]

* Vaush
* HasanAbi

## External links[edit]

* His website
* "Destiny and the Liberal Mind Prison", Thought Slime

## References[edit]

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Your positions are COMPLETELY unfounded ft. Sargon of Akkad from the YouTube channel Destiny 2 March 2019
2. ↑ The capitalist arc of my streaming career from the YouTube channel Destiny 28 May 2019
3. ↑ Voter ID Law Debate with Fan from the YouTube channel Destiny 17 September 2017
4. ↑ Police Brutality & Black Lives Matter - Debate with Twitter User from the YouTube channel Destiny 27 January 2018
5. ↑ Was shooting him justified? from the YouTube channel Destiny 24 April 2019
6. ↑ Daniel Park, Twitch Legal Department Unpartners Destiny After 'Encouragement of Violence'. gamerant.com, 12 September 2020.
7. ↑ Twitch streamer Destiny loses partnership for "encouraging violence" GINX Esports TV 12 September 2020
8. ↑ Are Sex & Gender the Same Thing - Ben Shapiro Video Review from the YouTube channel Destiny 2 January 2018
9. ↑ IS JK ROWLING A TERF? from the YouTube channel Destiny 2 January 2020
10. ↑ Talking About JonTron, Sargon, My Emotional Well-being and More from the YouTube channel Destiny 22 May 2017
11. ↑ Twitch Streamers talk about Ableist and Homophobic Slurs from the YouTube channel “Sabor” 18 August 2019
12. ↑ Why I support the EU from the YouTube channel Destiny 6 February 2019
13. ↑ You can't keep begging the question with that statement… - Destiny Debates Adam Kokesh from the YouTube channel Destiny 4 August 2019
14. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd8Lm2owIJQ
15. ↑ Destiny vs Simcha Rothman on Israel-Hamas War | Palestine, Hamas & Gaza from the YouTube channel Eli Hassel 6 March 2024
16. ↑ Israel-Palestine Debate: Finkelstein, Destiny, M. Rabbani & Benny Morris | Lex Fridman Podcast #418 from the YouTube channel Lex Fridman 14 March 2024
17. ↑ Debating JonTron from the YouTube channel Destiny 13 March 2017
18. ↑ Debating Lauren Southern on immigration from the YouTube channel Destiny 16 January 2017
19. ↑ Debating Immigration with Nick Fuentes from the YouTube channel Destiny 9 November 2017
20. ↑ Immigration Debate with Nicholas J. Fuentes from the YouTube channel Destiny 26 September 2017
21. ↑ Debating @Sargon_of_Akkad from the YouTube channel Destiny 2 December 2016
22. ↑ Discussions with Sargon of Akkad, Take 2 from the YouTube channel Destiny 19 March 2017
23. ↑ The Making of a YouTube Radical The New York Times 8 June 2019
24. ↑ My Descent into the Alt-Right Pipeline from the YouTube channel Faraday Speaks 21 March 2019
25. ↑ This is not a healthy positive direction to head in... - Destiny Debate on Socialism ft. Ben Burgis from the YouTube channel Destiny 16 July 2019
26. ↑ This is the dumbest thing I've ever heard... - Destiny Debates Mike from PA from the YouTube channel Destiny 19 August 2019
27. ↑ This feels so idealized… - Destiny Debates NonCompete from the YouTube channel Destiny 14 August 2019
28. ↑ Why I Burned the Vaush Bridge - Debate w/ Xanderhal from the YouTube channel Destiny 15 September 2020
29. ↑ This isn't strengthening your arguments… - Destiny Debates Socialism ft. Caleb Maupin from the YouTube channel Destiny 3 September 2019
30. ↑ "You ran away from every SINGLE point" - Destiny Debates Peter Coffin ft. The Serfs from the YouTube channel Destiny
31. ↑ I think that social justice is a real thing. We have made a ton of progress so far... From Destiny's website
32. ↑ I'm Getting Involved in Politics and Heading to Atlanta from the YouTube channel 'Destiny' 16 November 2020
33. ↑ https://twitter.com/zei_squirrel/status/1336133078130044933
34. ↑ Chris Bowling, After Cutting Ties with Controversial Streamer, Gudgel Staying in Mayoral Race The Reader, 5 Mar. 2021
35. ↑ https://twitter.com/biggestjoel/status/1348513667155963906?s=20
36. ↑ Destiny-chan on Twitter[a w] 1 April 2019
37. ↑ Destiny-chan on Twitter[a w] 2 April 2019
38. ↑ https://twitter.com/RespectableLaw/status/1336513127769403392
39. ↑ https://twitter.com/JordanUhl/status/1336723956129259520
40. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/uncensorstiny/comments/kdrezg/curb_your_wiki_destiny_on_pinochet_and_the_cia/
41. ↑ https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu//news/20000919/01-13.htm
42. ↑ Destiny Vs. Richard Wolff: Capitalism Vs. Socialism
43. ↑ Daniel Park, Twitch Legal Department Unpartners Destiny After 'Encouragement of Violence'. Game Rant, 12 September 2020.
44. ↑ Twitch streamer Destiny loses partnership for "encouraging violence" GINX Esports TV 12 September 2020
45. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJqmSw2S31w
46. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/tankiejerk/comments/n68ub4/luna_oi_dismissing_the_hue_massacre_as_propaganda/?rdt=33064
47. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/Destiny/comments/dmjb18/clarifying_some_previous_events/
48. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG7-rwT2Z6M
49. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG7-rwT2Z6M
50. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQhdeQ1PPnM&t=29m30s
51. ↑ Kick bans streamer Destiny for “hate speech” after Trump shooting backlash Dexerto, 17 July 2024
52. ↑ Kick Has Banned Destiny Game Rant, 17 July 2024
53. ↑ YouTuber Destiny Sued for Sharing Revenge Porn Video With ‘Random Fan’, Sean Burch, The Wrap 21 February 2025
54. ↑ What did Destiny do? Streamer accused of sending sexual texts to a 17-year old in viral screenshots, Times of India 22 August 2025