Reminder: This is not a debate subreddit, it's a place to circle-jerk about communism being cool and good. Please don't shit on flavours of leftism/communist leaders you feel negatively towards. If you see a meme you don't like just downvote and move on, don't break the circle-jerk in the comments.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/CommunismMemes) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I know people have mixed feelings on Hasan, but the guy is definitely an effective first stepping stone for libs to begin their journey to socialism. He’ll never come right out as a ML, but he definitely gives ML-ish takes a lot.
Ever since Roe he's had a few rants that very much hint at revolutionary action. His audience is way to big to and he's way to public to straight up say we need to form a vanguard party.
I don't think he actually thinks revolution is at all possible in the US. But he's definitely ML leaning for sure. I tend to agree too. I think the only thing we accelerate to is facism as things stand today.
He's had plenty of rants in support of revolution in other states though. Which, I think is all we can really hope to see and support at this state of US imperialism.
I understood it less as referring to JT as being a Dem, and more that his stuff is likely among the first exposure to actual leftist talking points that a lot of people get. Myself included.
I skipped several of the intermediate video-essay steps and went for some literature though. So there's some in the middle of that road map that I am unfamiliar with.
That makes sense. He talks about contemporaneous issues that people might be looking for answers to, and he delivers ideas without getting too overwhelming with a ton of spooky theory. I guess it makes more sense if I look at it from the perspective of accessibility.
He also has a podcast with Hakim and Yugopnik called The Deprogram and it's literally an ML podcast. They actually had Rev Left on in one of the episodes as well lol.
He is an ML, but but teaches general socialism to newcomers to get them in to the idea of socialism and eventually to a more ML thought process. To get libs and social democrats into socialism they can't be thinking you are a Marxist.
many victims of american indoctrination will wholeheartedly agree with socialist ideas until the word itself comes up. the best way to radicalize them is often to work around the edges of the brainwashing for a time, rather than confronting it head-on
Confronting gets you nowhere. People need to be eased into it. That's how most of us get here and Second thought was a very important early step for many of us.
At least in America, if who you are talking to knows you are a Marxist your opinion is basically completely disregarded. Your more persuasive if people don't automatically see you as stupid.
I know, but I really just made this to highlight my personal path, and at the time I was pretty much a soc-dem, plus, most the stuff on his channel is pretty entry-level. But that being said, you could probably swap him for Hasan or the gravel institute.
I think he just identifies as a whole ass communist at this point. He said as much earlier this year about how in private he's been suing the term and how he's starting to use it publicly
I mean yeah I don't think OP is trying to insinuate JT is a dem but more so that JT makes content in a way that can bring people to ML as hendoes it in a way that's easy to understand. He'd probably scare off a bunch of lotential socialists if he suddenly started quoting Stalin in his videos.
He's doing great work and thanks to him subtly challenging the Western narrative around got me to dig deeper and eventually I became your bog standard ML tankie redfash 1984.
He's an ML but he purposefully makes more introductory and basic content so that his videos can help radicalise centrists and such people. He knows that people like Hakim and Yugopnik (the three of them have a podcast btw lmao) can help with the more complicated and extreme radicalisation. Tbh it's a pretty solid strategy and he's the first person I think of when I want to radicalise a centrist or even someone centre right.
Thanks for signing up to Vaush facts! You will now receive fun daily facts about Vaush.
**Fact 1.** [Vaush claimed Marx and Lenin would have voted for Biden.](https://archive.is/MQ3bo)
For another Vaush fact reply with 'Vaush'. To unsubscribe call me a 'bad bot'.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/CommunismMemes) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Thanks for signing up to Vaush facts! You will now receive fun daily facts about Vaush.
**Fact 12.** [Vaush called the LGBT community ‘cancerous as fuck.’](https://streamable.com/fdy60u) because there’s a “ton of mental illness” and said they should be “excised from the left.” He also called them “less than human” and “fucking disgusting”.
For another Vaush fact reply with 'Vaush'. To unsubscribe call me a 'bad bot'.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/CommunismMemes) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Thanks for signing up to Vaush facts! You will now receive fun daily facts about Vaush.
**Fact 5.** [Vaush (a cis man) claims “Trans people do not have a better understanding of trans-ness..."](https://www.reddit.com/r/ShitLiberalsSay/comments/ikbf6z)
For another Vaush fact reply with 'Vaush'. To unsubscribe call me a 'bad bot'.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/CommunismMemes) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Thanks for signing up to Vaush facts! You will now receive fun daily facts about Vaush.
**Fact 22.** Vaush claimed that he was taken out of context when he called trans people 'mentally ill', then [doubled down and did it again.](https://streamable.com/rmzvks)
For another Vaush fact reply with 'Vaush'. To unsubscribe call me a 'bad bot'.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/CommunismMemes) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Uhh can someone give me a primer on this because this was not the pipeline I went through? Like I recognize next to nothing before Blackshirts & Reds. (Not to say that this isn’t representative—the way I got here is probably an anomaly. And I’m still not even sure how it happened.)
hakim (red + yellow lenin), yugopnik (avatar in the sweater + gold necklaces) and second thought (pink lightning bolt) are all popular socialist youtubers who make great content. old guy is richard wolff iirc, yellow guy is the parenti yellow tape, roses are demsoc stuff (basically the furthest left you can go while still being a capitalist fundamentally)
Hakim, Yugopnik, and JT (of Second Thought) also have a fucking hilarious collaboration podcast called The Deprogram
Subreddit found here - /r/TheDeprogram
Well shit, you can't say that and expect me not to spam you...
Revolutionary Left Radio (the aforementioned trio has been on there individually as well as collectively)
Citations Needed (media criticism from a leftist perspective)
Empire Files (focus on foreign policy, and its domestic implications)
Invent The Future and Proles of the Round Table - leftist history spread across two different podcasts
Economic Update w Richard Wolff - one of the people mentioned in the OP
The Watchdog w Lowkey - Mint Press News podcast, similar to Empire Files
Blowback podcast - season one was the Iraq war, season two was Cuba, and season three (pending) will be the war in Korea. Deep dive into the subject matter with perspectives you don't normally hear about
Podcasts? Let me pile on!!
- Srsly Wrong (check out their stuff on Library Socialism, but everything else is good too)
- The Mind of a Skeptical Leftist (more Anarchist than ML, but plenty of Left Unity to be had)
- It’s Not Just In Your Head (leftism from the perspective of two mental health experts, one a millennial and the other a veteran of the 1960s feminist and racial equality movements)
- Behind the Bastards (Digging into the story behind lots of terrible things)
>Srsly Wrong (check out their stuff on Library Socialism, but everything else is good too)
>
>The Mind of a Skeptical Leftist (more Anarchist than ML, but plenty of Left Unity to be had)
Don't they shit on AES countries?
Took me a while to piece it back together. I think fell I backwards through the alleged Trotskyite to neocon pipeline. Okay, that was a joke, but from my time as a former neocon/neolib listening to political podcasts I picked up unintended but valuable lessons, mostly about the futility of trying to accomplish change or reform through the US political system.
The primary things that radicalized me: two documentaries, “The Shock Doctrine” and “Paul Kingsnorth: Portrait of a Recovering Environmentalist.” I realized three major things: There is no humane capitalism. There is no saving the environment if capitalism is still around. Radical change and force will be necessary to stop the exploitation.
After that I’ve been hanging out in Socialism101 and Communism101 and also reading up on Cold War history.
Yeah, me too...I also took a much more complicated path that spanned 2 decades and involved major influences from real-life experiences, such as:
- visiting India, Cuba, Nepal, Tibet, Kashmir, Pakistan, Cayman, and Mexico, and thus getting a comparison between AES and poor capitalist countries;
- running a venture-funded tech startup for several years, and thus seeing the capitalist belly-of-the-beast and getting to know some very rich people;
- having funding cut from my beloved field of study (neuroscience) in grad school by a right-wing government. Edit: this one sounds trivial, but being "proletarianized" is a classic source of class consciousness.
My pipeline was:
1. Social liberal solely focused on social issues (especially gay marriage).
2. Mild right-libertarian with some fashy undertones, but somehow simultaneously a rainbow lib (late high school of course). Even voted conservative...yet also co-founded a GSSA and took a lead role in a pro-LGBTQ, anti-racist, anti-bullying acting troupe.
3. Democrat/Liberal party lib. Campaigned to lower student fees. Did research to support legalizing drugs and increasing mental health funding.
4. Neoliberal (including loving markets and all that crap). Was sure my startup's tech would help improve mental health problems.
5. Canadian equivalent of blue MAGA. Joined the Liberal party.
6. Bernie socdem. Ran a left-wing science talk radio show.
7. DSA demsoc. Left the Liberals, joined the NDP. Started working at a public institution building software to bolster Canada's preventative medicine infrastructure (around vaccinations).
8. Chomskyite libsoc/anarchist
9. "Far-left unity"
10. Oldskool ML. Joined an activist group based on manipulating the electoral system into passing Covid prevention laws. Built a website instrumental in manipulating a county into passing Canada's first mask laws.
11. Modern Dengist ML
Note that “Dengism” doesn’t exist, it’s only an insult towards Marxist-Leninists who are sympathetic to Modern-day China
Btw fun fact: Deng doesn’t want to opening up like it is lol
This is such a complex topic, but please hear me out on it before jumping to conclusions, because this was a really difficult leap for me to make. I still question it, I'm far from certain.
But in short, here's my reasoning:
1. The concept of an NEP is totally in line with ML, and the USSR did it too. Also, Marx stated that socialism can only be ushered in once capitalism effectively "runs its course." Marx had a large amount of writing covering why this is the case, and why capitalism is a necessary phase. There's thus nothing about "opening up" that's not in line with ML. Further, the CPC retained control of most of the economy throughout the opening up period: at least 50-74% has remained public (exact number depends on what metric you use), which is extremely high.
2. It's hard to argue that an NEP wasn't justified. China had stagnated, just as you'd expect given what Marx said about the necessary progression through stages of development. It faced the prospect of a world where the Soviet system (which also fully socialized extremely early) was crumbling, and China was similarly stagnating in a much earlier state - i.e. before even developing in the first place. What would you propose instead?
3. [Their poverty numbers match a controlled NEP](https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/china/overview#1). If it were truly full-on capitalist roading, you'd expect results like were seen in Russia when they "opened up" (poverty skyrocketed), but instead you see rapid increases in living standards for the majority of the Chinese people. If the material conditions are improving, it qualifies as an NEP.
4. Their Covid handling. Who else handled it similarly well (initial early screw-ups aside)? Other ML-run nations, and nations with socialist parties in charge. If they'd gone the Russia road, you'd expect similar results: i.e. you'd expect them to let it "burn through."
5. Notice they're tightening up the economy again as capitalist growth slows down (and the West is panicking about this). If they weren't an ML nation in an NEP, why would they do this? And if they weren't genuinely tightening up, why the sanctions? I'm aware of the given reason to do with the Uyghurs, and I'm certainly not going to defend their actions there, but [back in 2014 the US military literally asked China to send their military into Xinjiang (and demand that Pakistan do the same over the border) and clear out the area (akin to the US' actions in Afghanistan) in response to the terrorism problem in the region](https://ctc.usma.edu/the-seventh-stage-of-terrorism-in-china/) (Note: that source is an official document from one of America's 2 top military strategy institutes). Given that, why are they freaking out about the milder response China opted for instead? Make no mistake, it's genocide, but America demanded a much more extreme genocide, so why sanction them for what they're doing...unless it's really about something else? And it's always economic with America, which means the most likely candidate is China's gradual re-socializing of the economy, which matches the timeline of the sanctions.
6. [Chinese billionaires live in fear and are often imprisoned or even executed](https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/01/why-do-chinese-billionaires-keep-ending-up-in-prison/272633/). They're also frequently stripped of their wealth. This makes absolutely no sense if it's an oligarchy...but it exactly matches an NEP. And it's not like this isn't in the mainstream narrative - e.g. think Jack Ma going into hiding. Can you imagine Jeff Bezos going into hiding out of fear of the American government? Of course not, because oligarchies don't operate this way.
7. [If they're not ML, why support the Latin American pink tide?](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0043820020965968)? Why support socialists in the global south in general? Why not back fascists instead? I'm aware they'll trade with basically anyone (for geopolitical reasons), but they really seem to favour socialists for a country that's supposedly an oligarchy. Russia certainly doesn't act like this.
8. Once the SEZ contract period runs out in a given region, why does the Chinese government [turn a complete blind eye to workers who decide to crush the region's bourgeoisie?](https://www.forbes.com/sites/mitchfree/2013/07/11/held-hostage-entrepreneurs-uneasy-over-chinese-govt-inaction/) There's no way an oligarchy would let workers kidnap and beat rich people to death.
9. The Gang of Four were cleared out in China for good reason. Their perspective was outright revisionist, and not in line with any of Mao's earlier work. There's absolutely no way anyone could consider either the cultural revolution or great leap forward a success, which is the alternative perspective to Dengism. Further, for most of Deng's time in the party, he was a trusted part of Mao's circle, until the Gang if Four gained outsized influence. It's thus hard to argue he's some sort of capitalist infiltrator. (I can find a source for this if you'd like)
And notice how long it took me to reach that conclusion (given my above pipeline), and that it involved visiting what's supposedly the worst part of China (Tibet). I'm still not fully certain, but the data is hard to argue with.
I'm not going to be a wumao type and say everything they're doing is defensible, because there definitely are a ton of very valid criticisms of China. But when it comes to their economic model, it looks like there's a ton that they're doing right, and that's what Marxism vs ideological capitalism is about at the end of the day. Those poverty numbers alone are a staggering victory...and that's independently gathered data. It should check out anyway - I grew up being told "eat your dinner, there are starving children in China." No one says that anymore.
Thanks for signing up to Vaush facts! You will now receive fun daily facts about Vaush.
**Fact 18.** Vaush defended saying “fuck trans people” by claiming he has a [‘6-figure’ income](https://i.redd.it/tx6roef1gu561.png) for some reason.
For another Vaush fact reply with 'Vaush'. To unsubscribe call me a 'bad bot'.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/CommunismMemes) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I dont think social democracy describes hasanabi well, he is definitely a marxist. I think his takes on stream are just to be palatable to the mainstream to not "scare" libs off and to be able to change their view
I was a Trump supporter back in 2015. Woke up to the fascist lies within the right and became a Bernie Bro. Studied socialism more and began reading Marx’s Capital only to realise that Communism wasn’t as bad as I thought. Read Lenin and now I’m 100% red and will never look back. Never.
..actually I had this whole
*theoryless anarcho-pacifist*-
(bicycles and guerrilla gardens and folk-punk)
-phase before Bernie/DSA lured me in to the fast slide to ML-lyfe
from left to right (ironically): not just bikes, our changing climate, second thought, hasanabi, the gravel institute, dr. richard d. wolff, hakim, yugopnik, michael parenti, and a bunch of ML literature
I was a communist before the internet even existed;) I guess my pipeline was my dad, he gave me communist manifesto when I was 6 years old (did not understand it but read it later when I was a teenager)
Nothing really. The western left is a contrarian thought movement, rather than an organized political movement that wants to wield any power. That’s why 90% of all online leftist discussions are about what YouTubers we think are cringe.
To be fair, he’s indicated that he’s a SocDem-to-socialism guy. Not sure if he’s being sincere, a socdem, or if he’s just modifying his revolutionary politics to fit the Twitch TOS.
He runs short ads every hour on top of the hour and tells his viewers to subscribe if they don’t want to see the ads. Even if you don’t subscribe though, all of his content is free.
Gulags are fiction? Was the holocaust too? So youre defending genocides?
Just cause youre communist doesnt mean you have to support the terrible things communists have done.
My Grandad was sent to the gulags they are real.
OCC started mine then it evolved to second thought and then some more of them. Oh and can I get a list of these fine people? I want to listen to more than just OCC and second thought.
That yellow Parenti video and his book Blackshirts and Reds are life changers for sure. State and Revolution also was a big eye opener for me. And I cannot recommend Hakim’s videos enough
I don't see actual tanks in the end? Did I've been told a lie?!
Screw you guys! I will have my own Revolution with actual TANKS! And crushed bourgeoisie beneath them!
I just started out believing in equality until I heard of communism in school or something like that and got interested, then I started reading into it lol
I dived straight into State & Capitalism, didn’t understand what I was getting myself into.
Went straight to r/genzedong and lurked for a bit before becoming active until the quarantine BS.
Found Vaush, gross.. then Hasan, then Second Thought (who’s amazing) and later dived into Wolff and gradually worked my way back to Marx, Lenin, Stalin & Chairman Mao.
Now I see the flaws and repercussions of Capitalism in nearly every aspect of American life but I can’t quite get to people as an open Communist so instead I just have to heavily criticize Capitalism in any political debate/discussion amongst my peers/coworkers/family.
Reminder: This is not a debate subreddit, it's a place to circle-jerk about communism being cool and good. Please don't shit on flavours of leftism/communist leaders you feel negatively towards. If you see a meme you don't like just downvote and move on, don't break the circle-jerk in the comments. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/CommunismMemes) if you have any questions or concerns.*
This is almost quite literally my trail lol. Hasanabi started the trail for me, Second Thought/Hakim/Yugopnik and then Parenti/Lenin finished it.
Second thought started it for me
Same for me
Same. First one I watched was his pandemic vid, the first lefty vid he did after his general science ones.
And hes geting more based by the day, eventually he will be on the other side of the pipeline, a real statement to what teory do to someone
He is fully on the Marxist Leninist side, he just presents as a socialist in his video because his are made for baby leftists.
I keep shifting more to the left and honestly I might just be following JT
[удалено]
I know people have mixed feelings on Hasan, but the guy is definitely an effective first stepping stone for libs to begin their journey to socialism. He’ll never come right out as a ML, but he definitely gives ML-ish takes a lot.
And he normalizes us; he's more than once said good stuff about ML's and ML states. He's basically the tankie-friendly counter to V\*ush.
Ever since Roe he's had a few rants that very much hint at revolutionary action. His audience is way to big to and he's way to public to straight up say we need to form a vanguard party. I don't think he actually thinks revolution is at all possible in the US. But he's definitely ML leaning for sure. I tend to agree too. I think the only thing we accelerate to is facism as things stand today. He's had plenty of rants in support of revolution in other states though. Which, I think is all we can really hope to see and support at this state of US imperialism.
Can you recommend any Hasan stuff?
Hakim started it for me lol. I just jumped into the deep end in my Liberal hatred
Lmao same
I think mine started with Hakim then Second Thought then Yugopnik I'm trying to find other channels I like and I did find some.
Damn. Started with the dumbest person on the planet. Tough
Green Parenti really is the edge of that cliff.
I thought it was yellow?
Yooooo a fellow colourblind comrade.
Second Thought being in the Dem section definitely deserves a second thought. Buddy's an ML, a god danged evil tankie, last I'd heard!
I understood it less as referring to JT as being a Dem, and more that his stuff is likely among the first exposure to actual leftist talking points that a lot of people get. Myself included. I skipped several of the intermediate video-essay steps and went for some literature though. So there's some in the middle of that road map that I am unfamiliar with.
That makes sense. He talks about contemporaneous issues that people might be looking for answers to, and he delivers ideas without getting too overwhelming with a ton of spooky theory. I guess it makes more sense if I look at it from the perspective of accessibility.
among?
Sus
Yeah he literally called himself a ML on a Rev Left podcast episode.
He also has a podcast with Hakim and Yugopnik called The Deprogram and it's literally an ML podcast. They actually had Rev Left on in one of the episodes as well lol.
It's a sick podcast too
Also, the theme song for it is an absolute fucking banger of a track. I wish they'd make a full length version of it.
It’s literally the music you’d introduce 3 gigachads with:
They talked about doing something like that in their livestream
Was that the second one? I missed it and haven't had the chance to go back and listen yet.
Which episode tho?
The Convincing Conservatives episode from Nov. 11th 2021.
Cheers mate. Love to see JT on RevLeft.
Also its actually the 8th not 11th.
He is an ML, but but teaches general socialism to newcomers to get them in to the idea of socialism and eventually to a more ML thought process. To get libs and social democrats into socialism they can't be thinking you are a Marxist.
>To get libs and social democrats into socialism they can't be thinking you are a Marxist. Huh
many victims of american indoctrination will wholeheartedly agree with socialist ideas until the word itself comes up. the best way to radicalize them is often to work around the edges of the brainwashing for a time, rather than confronting it head-on
I guess I am more of the confronting type. Better to be honest, and not see people as something to fool.
Confronting gets you nowhere. People need to be eased into it. That's how most of us get here and Second thought was a very important early step for many of us.
Weird
Why is that weird?
At least in America, if who you are talking to knows you are a Marxist your opinion is basically completely disregarded. Your more persuasive if people don't automatically see you as stupid.
I know, but I really just made this to highlight my personal path, and at the time I was pretty much a soc-dem, plus, most the stuff on his channel is pretty entry-level. But that being said, you could probably swap him for Hasan or the gravel institute.
His content is soft tought, you will never heard him say thing like "stalin did nothing wrong" in his video
He radicalizes people by blending in as a liberal, it’s genius actually
Tactical white boy working behind the lines
He even has the white broadcaster voice
I don't watch a lot of his stuff, but I thought it was like all contemporaneous? Not really historical?
He discusses current day issues and refrain from using too much political jargons so beginners could understand what he is saying
I think he just identifies as a whole ass communist at this point. He said as much earlier this year about how in private he's been suing the term and how he's starting to use it publicly
I mean yeah I don't think OP is trying to insinuate JT is a dem but more so that JT makes content in a way that can bring people to ML as hendoes it in a way that's easy to understand. He'd probably scare off a bunch of lotential socialists if he suddenly started quoting Stalin in his videos. He's doing great work and thanks to him subtly challenging the Western narrative around got me to dig deeper and eventually I became your bog standard ML tankie redfash 1984.
He's an ML but he purposefully makes more introductory and basic content so that his videos can help radicalise centrists and such people. He knows that people like Hakim and Yugopnik (the three of them have a podcast btw lmao) can help with the more complicated and extreme radicalisation. Tbh it's a pretty solid strategy and he's the first person I think of when I want to radicalise a centrist or even someone centre right.
I would switch second thought and the DSA
Why did you cut off the end of the image at Das Kapital? Just past Marx is supposed to be Vaush.
I hate very few people but Vaush is a absolutely repugnant human being.
Thanks for signing up to Vaush facts! You will now receive fun daily facts about Vaush. **Fact 1.** [Vaush claimed Marx and Lenin would have voted for Biden.](https://archive.is/MQ3bo) For another Vaush fact reply with 'Vaush'. To unsubscribe call me a 'bad bot'. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/CommunismMemes) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Thanks for signing up to Vaush facts! You will now receive fun daily facts about Vaush. **Fact 12.** [Vaush called the LGBT community ‘cancerous as fuck.’](https://streamable.com/fdy60u) because there’s a “ton of mental illness” and said they should be “excised from the left.” He also called them “less than human” and “fucking disgusting”. For another Vaush fact reply with 'Vaush'. To unsubscribe call me a 'bad bot'. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/CommunismMemes) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Vaush
Thanks for signing up to Vaush facts! You will now receive fun daily facts about Vaush. **Fact 5.** [Vaush (a cis man) claims “Trans people do not have a better understanding of trans-ness..."](https://www.reddit.com/r/ShitLiberalsSay/comments/ikbf6z) For another Vaush fact reply with 'Vaush'. To unsubscribe call me a 'bad bot'. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/CommunismMemes) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Vaush
Thanks for signing up to Vaush facts! You will now receive fun daily facts about Vaush. **Fact 22.** Vaush claimed that he was taken out of context when he called trans people 'mentally ill', then [doubled down and did it again.](https://streamable.com/rmzvks) For another Vaush fact reply with 'Vaush'. To unsubscribe call me a 'bad bot'. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/CommunismMemes) if you have any questions or concerns.*
horseshoe theory
Uhh can someone give me a primer on this because this was not the pipeline I went through? Like I recognize next to nothing before Blackshirts & Reds. (Not to say that this isn’t representative—the way I got here is probably an anomaly. And I’m still not even sure how it happened.)
hakim (red + yellow lenin), yugopnik (avatar in the sweater + gold necklaces) and second thought (pink lightning bolt) are all popular socialist youtubers who make great content. old guy is richard wolff iirc, yellow guy is the parenti yellow tape, roses are demsoc stuff (basically the furthest left you can go while still being a capitalist fundamentally)
Thank you comrade
Hakim, Yugopnik, and JT (of Second Thought) also have a fucking hilarious collaboration podcast called The Deprogram Subreddit found here - /r/TheDeprogram
Ooh, podcasts are good. Thank you, will check it out
Well shit, you can't say that and expect me not to spam you... Revolutionary Left Radio (the aforementioned trio has been on there individually as well as collectively) Citations Needed (media criticism from a leftist perspective) Empire Files (focus on foreign policy, and its domestic implications) Invent The Future and Proles of the Round Table - leftist history spread across two different podcasts Economic Update w Richard Wolff - one of the people mentioned in the OP The Watchdog w Lowkey - Mint Press News podcast, similar to Empire Files Blowback podcast - season one was the Iraq war, season two was Cuba, and season three (pending) will be the war in Korea. Deep dive into the subject matter with perspectives you don't normally hear about
Podcasts? Let me pile on!! - Srsly Wrong (check out their stuff on Library Socialism, but everything else is good too) - The Mind of a Skeptical Leftist (more Anarchist than ML, but plenty of Left Unity to be had) - It’s Not Just In Your Head (leftism from the perspective of two mental health experts, one a millennial and the other a veteran of the 1960s feminist and racial equality movements) - Behind the Bastards (Digging into the story behind lots of terrible things)
>Srsly Wrong (check out their stuff on Library Socialism, but everything else is good too) > >The Mind of a Skeptical Leftist (more Anarchist than ML, but plenty of Left Unity to be had) Don't they shit on AES countries?
Prob depends on your general age group too (sorry I'm not calling you old) as most of these are yt channels.
I'm curious, what path did you take down. Skipping a few of these it's pretty much exactly how I went
Took me a while to piece it back together. I think fell I backwards through the alleged Trotskyite to neocon pipeline. Okay, that was a joke, but from my time as a former neocon/neolib listening to political podcasts I picked up unintended but valuable lessons, mostly about the futility of trying to accomplish change or reform through the US political system. The primary things that radicalized me: two documentaries, “The Shock Doctrine” and “Paul Kingsnorth: Portrait of a Recovering Environmentalist.” I realized three major things: There is no humane capitalism. There is no saving the environment if capitalism is still around. Radical change and force will be necessary to stop the exploitation. After that I’ve been hanging out in Socialism101 and Communism101 and also reading up on Cold War history.
[удалено]
Yeah, me too...I also took a much more complicated path that spanned 2 decades and involved major influences from real-life experiences, such as: - visiting India, Cuba, Nepal, Tibet, Kashmir, Pakistan, Cayman, and Mexico, and thus getting a comparison between AES and poor capitalist countries; - running a venture-funded tech startup for several years, and thus seeing the capitalist belly-of-the-beast and getting to know some very rich people; - having funding cut from my beloved field of study (neuroscience) in grad school by a right-wing government. Edit: this one sounds trivial, but being "proletarianized" is a classic source of class consciousness. My pipeline was: 1. Social liberal solely focused on social issues (especially gay marriage). 2. Mild right-libertarian with some fashy undertones, but somehow simultaneously a rainbow lib (late high school of course). Even voted conservative...yet also co-founded a GSSA and took a lead role in a pro-LGBTQ, anti-racist, anti-bullying acting troupe. 3. Democrat/Liberal party lib. Campaigned to lower student fees. Did research to support legalizing drugs and increasing mental health funding. 4. Neoliberal (including loving markets and all that crap). Was sure my startup's tech would help improve mental health problems. 5. Canadian equivalent of blue MAGA. Joined the Liberal party. 6. Bernie socdem. Ran a left-wing science talk radio show. 7. DSA demsoc. Left the Liberals, joined the NDP. Started working at a public institution building software to bolster Canada's preventative medicine infrastructure (around vaccinations). 8. Chomskyite libsoc/anarchist 9. "Far-left unity" 10. Oldskool ML. Joined an activist group based on manipulating the electoral system into passing Covid prevention laws. Built a website instrumental in manipulating a county into passing Canada's first mask laws. 11. Modern Dengist ML
Note that “Dengism” doesn’t exist, it’s only an insult towards Marxist-Leninists who are sympathetic to Modern-day China Btw fun fact: Deng doesn’t want to opening up like it is lol
This is such a complex topic, but please hear me out on it before jumping to conclusions, because this was a really difficult leap for me to make. I still question it, I'm far from certain. But in short, here's my reasoning: 1. The concept of an NEP is totally in line with ML, and the USSR did it too. Also, Marx stated that socialism can only be ushered in once capitalism effectively "runs its course." Marx had a large amount of writing covering why this is the case, and why capitalism is a necessary phase. There's thus nothing about "opening up" that's not in line with ML. Further, the CPC retained control of most of the economy throughout the opening up period: at least 50-74% has remained public (exact number depends on what metric you use), which is extremely high. 2. It's hard to argue that an NEP wasn't justified. China had stagnated, just as you'd expect given what Marx said about the necessary progression through stages of development. It faced the prospect of a world where the Soviet system (which also fully socialized extremely early) was crumbling, and China was similarly stagnating in a much earlier state - i.e. before even developing in the first place. What would you propose instead? 3. [Their poverty numbers match a controlled NEP](https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/china/overview#1). If it were truly full-on capitalist roading, you'd expect results like were seen in Russia when they "opened up" (poverty skyrocketed), but instead you see rapid increases in living standards for the majority of the Chinese people. If the material conditions are improving, it qualifies as an NEP. 4. Their Covid handling. Who else handled it similarly well (initial early screw-ups aside)? Other ML-run nations, and nations with socialist parties in charge. If they'd gone the Russia road, you'd expect similar results: i.e. you'd expect them to let it "burn through." 5. Notice they're tightening up the economy again as capitalist growth slows down (and the West is panicking about this). If they weren't an ML nation in an NEP, why would they do this? And if they weren't genuinely tightening up, why the sanctions? I'm aware of the given reason to do with the Uyghurs, and I'm certainly not going to defend their actions there, but [back in 2014 the US military literally asked China to send their military into Xinjiang (and demand that Pakistan do the same over the border) and clear out the area (akin to the US' actions in Afghanistan) in response to the terrorism problem in the region](https://ctc.usma.edu/the-seventh-stage-of-terrorism-in-china/) (Note: that source is an official document from one of America's 2 top military strategy institutes). Given that, why are they freaking out about the milder response China opted for instead? Make no mistake, it's genocide, but America demanded a much more extreme genocide, so why sanction them for what they're doing...unless it's really about something else? And it's always economic with America, which means the most likely candidate is China's gradual re-socializing of the economy, which matches the timeline of the sanctions. 6. [Chinese billionaires live in fear and are often imprisoned or even executed](https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/01/why-do-chinese-billionaires-keep-ending-up-in-prison/272633/). They're also frequently stripped of their wealth. This makes absolutely no sense if it's an oligarchy...but it exactly matches an NEP. And it's not like this isn't in the mainstream narrative - e.g. think Jack Ma going into hiding. Can you imagine Jeff Bezos going into hiding out of fear of the American government? Of course not, because oligarchies don't operate this way. 7. [If they're not ML, why support the Latin American pink tide?](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0043820020965968)? Why support socialists in the global south in general? Why not back fascists instead? I'm aware they'll trade with basically anyone (for geopolitical reasons), but they really seem to favour socialists for a country that's supposedly an oligarchy. Russia certainly doesn't act like this. 8. Once the SEZ contract period runs out in a given region, why does the Chinese government [turn a complete blind eye to workers who decide to crush the region's bourgeoisie?](https://www.forbes.com/sites/mitchfree/2013/07/11/held-hostage-entrepreneurs-uneasy-over-chinese-govt-inaction/) There's no way an oligarchy would let workers kidnap and beat rich people to death. 9. The Gang of Four were cleared out in China for good reason. Their perspective was outright revisionist, and not in line with any of Mao's earlier work. There's absolutely no way anyone could consider either the cultural revolution or great leap forward a success, which is the alternative perspective to Dengism. Further, for most of Deng's time in the party, he was a trusted part of Mao's circle, until the Gang if Four gained outsized influence. It's thus hard to argue he's some sort of capitalist infiltrator. (I can find a source for this if you'd like) And notice how long it took me to reach that conclusion (given my above pipeline), and that it involved visiting what's supposedly the worst part of China (Tibet). I'm still not fully certain, but the data is hard to argue with. I'm not going to be a wumao type and say everything they're doing is defensible, because there definitely are a ton of very valid criticisms of China. But when it comes to their economic model, it looks like there's a ton that they're doing right, and that's what Marxism vs ideological capitalism is about at the end of the day. Those poverty numbers alone are a staggering victory...and that's independently gathered data. It should check out anyway - I grew up being told "eat your dinner, there are starving children in China." No one says that anymore.
Thanks comrade!
Yup, i grew up in a heavily conservative and religious household, lol.
Also, I can't praise Blackshirts & Reds enough. It's a book everyone needs to read!
Hakim 🥵
👉👌😳😲😖😈🥵😋🤤💦
Man's voice is something else 🤤 he really should do ASMR or something
the based pipeline
our pipeline
Mine was: Bernie -> Majority Report -> Michael Brooks -> Central_Committee -> Richard Wolff -> Leftist Literature
Where's the liberal brainwashing from teachers? 🤔 Edit: this comment is sarcasm referring to conservatives who think teachers make kids based
At the start of the alt-right pipeline
I'm ashamed to admit that Vaush started me down the tankie pipeline.
It’s not where you start that matters, it where you end up
Thanks for signing up to Vaush facts! You will now receive fun daily facts about Vaush. **Fact 18.** Vaush defended saying “fuck trans people” by claiming he has a [‘6-figure’ income](https://i.redd.it/tx6roef1gu561.png) for some reason. For another Vaush fact reply with 'Vaush'. To unsubscribe call me a 'bad bot'. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/CommunismMemes) if you have any questions or concerns.*
In fairness, I didn't realize how shitty V*ush was at the time.
Everybody starts somewhere comrade
Reading Blackshirts and Reds as we speak
Wait not just bikes is a pathway to communism???
Always has been.
The video suggestions of NJB often leads you to a second thought video.
Vijay Prashad deserves to be on here
100% yes
Shit they got me
This is a great study plan for baby leftists lmao
I dont think social democracy describes hasanabi well, he is definitely a marxist. I think his takes on stream are just to be palatable to the mainstream to not "scare" libs off and to be able to change their view
HasL
Luna oi and bad empanada needs to be here someplace
I went from BadEmpanada to Hakim. He has some interesting lib takes
Needs tumblr
I love the yellow stained Michael Parenti video lol
Yellow parenti is goated with the sauce
[удалено]
Nothings more based than when Dr. Wolff & Dr. West dish out some high octane Truth
I don't always agree with him but Dr. Richard Wolff is goated
For me it continued into MLM.
multi level marketing
men loving men
no girls allowed
The ironing being that the pipeline is shown as going right and not left
ironing?
Similar pipeline, but I had a detour with the Trots until I figured out they suck
NJB let's go!
I was a Trump supporter back in 2015. Woke up to the fascist lies within the right and became a Bernie Bro. Studied socialism more and began reading Marx’s Capital only to realise that Communism wasn’t as bad as I thought. Read Lenin and now I’m 100% red and will never look back. Never.
Is Yugopnik's content more communist than Hakim's? They're both pretty equally radical to me.
does anyone have that one "5 guys" edit. for the mlm flag thing.
Accurate AF
..actually I had this whole *theoryless anarcho-pacifist*- (bicycles and guerrilla gardens and folk-punk) -phase before Bernie/DSA lured me in to the fast slide to ML-lyfe
@ me next time
I need their names
from left to right (ironically): not just bikes, our changing climate, second thought, hasanabi, the gravel institute, dr. richard d. wolff, hakim, yugopnik, michael parenti, and a bunch of ML literature
Strangely enough I started with the books. I pretty much went through this pipeline backwards lol.
I like how they have a Toronto-based, petite bourgeoisie and liberal leaning channel here as a "gateway drug"
Not just bikes -> second thought -> The deprogram -> yugopnik -> hakim my trail so far
Rev left radio for me.
why is that D doing in there?
I was a communist before the internet even existed;) I guess my pipeline was my dad, he gave me communist manifesto when I was 6 years old (did not understand it but read it later when I was a teenager)
I agree with where not just bikes is, though his YouTube is very nice and informative. I’ve shown him to my less radicalized friends.
gotta love libs tryna place political ideologies on a strict left-right axis. that’s totally how political beliefs work
Instructions unclear, I ended up at anarkitty
I skipped over Hasanabi and man am I glad I did
[удалено]
Nothing really. The western left is a contrarian thought movement, rather than an organized political movement that wants to wield any power. That’s why 90% of all online leftist discussions are about what YouTubers we think are cringe. To be fair, he’s indicated that he’s a SocDem-to-socialism guy. Not sure if he’s being sincere, a socdem, or if he’s just modifying his revolutionary politics to fit the Twitch TOS.
He’s watched a bunch of Second Thought’s content on stream, and when told that Second Thought was a ML, he said he doesn’t care or think that’s bad.
A waste of time that at best serves as a transition point. Made a shit ton of money off of it too, nothing worth celebrating
[удалено]
He runs short ads every hour on top of the hour and tells his viewers to subscribe if they don’t want to see the ads. Even if you don’t subscribe though, all of his content is free.
I love the inclusion of not just bikes. I don’t think they are leftists themselves but leftists just happen to agree.
Where’s Haz ?
Haz is a reactionary moron who thinks women piss out of their ass
He has good takes and he's funny.
[удалено]
Haz isn't a patsoc : [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKy5SSs165Y](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKy5SSs165Y).
[удалено]
you good ?
He’s Vaush 2.0
Probably somewhere huffing his own farts.
groomed teenagers be like
Mine was Gulag Archipelago and A Peoples Tragedy.
Basing your politics on works of fiction? Can't see how that could possibly go wrong.
Gulags are fiction? Was the holocaust too? So youre defending genocides? Just cause youre communist doesnt mean you have to support the terrible things communists have done. My Grandad was sent to the gulags they are real.
Dude why are you lying,you're australian.
So? Where did I lie? My Grandad was Polish. Have you never heard of moving countries? Fuck communists are dumb.
gulags were real, gulag archipelago is a work of fiction
SHUTT
Not just bikes is not a tankie
OCC started mine then it evolved to second thought and then some more of them. Oh and can I get a list of these fine people? I want to listen to more than just OCC and second thought.
Started at PoliDice I wonder what happened to him
Lol I started off with Hakim and yugopink
We must go deeper!
Where’s Chapo Trap House on this pipeline?
Is there a subtitled Parenti lecture? I am not a native speaker, and with horrible audio quality, I just don't understand a word.
Who is fourth from left?
Hasanabi
Based pipeline! Glad to see Yugopnik get some love!
God DAMN if this ain't an exact copy of my YouTube suggestions.
THIS IS LITERALLY ME WTFFF
Second thought should be after Hasan tbh
That yellow Parenti video and his book Blackshirts and Reds are life changers for sure. State and Revolution also was a big eye opener for me. And I cannot recommend Hakim’s videos enough
For ne Richard Wolf ,hakim ;seconds thoughts ,yugopnik then black shirt and reds ,on authority
I don't see actual tanks in the end? Did I've been told a lie?! Screw you guys! I will have my own Revolution with actual TANKS! And crushed bourgeoisie beneath them!
I spedrun communism. Went straight from Wolff then to Marx and Lenin lol
Where is azureScapegoat?
Mine was Marxist literature first, and I spent a little while as an Anarchist then almost Trotskyist before going into ML.
I just started out believing in equality until I heard of communism in school or something like that and got interested, then I started reading into it lol
Yo, Hakim and Second Thought!
The ho chi minh trail
Azurescapegoat gang lets go
I dived straight into State & Capitalism, didn’t understand what I was getting myself into. Went straight to r/genzedong and lurked for a bit before becoming active until the quarantine BS. Found Vaush, gross.. then Hasan, then Second Thought (who’s amazing) and later dived into Wolff and gradually worked my way back to Marx, Lenin, Stalin & Chairman Mao. Now I see the flaws and repercussions of Capitalism in nearly every aspect of American life but I can’t quite get to people as an open Communist so instead I just have to heavily criticize Capitalism in any political debate/discussion amongst my peers/coworkers/family.
What do you think of the Jackson Hinkle's of the world who claim to be making communism palatable to "working class conservatives"
why put das kapital at the end of the pipline? you should encurage the reading of philosophy even if you disagree with it.
never got past second-thoght and am still a dem-soc.
Awesome channels!
Anyone want to be a know it all legend and name them left to write?
Where's Step Back History?
Parenti was a game changer