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Has anyone watched the new episode from First Thought/JT?
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I was quite let down by this video, I know that they said there would be no coverage of the internal politics for brevity, but avoiding that makes this video essentially useless. The internal politics are some of, if not the most important aspect of this war and not talking about it just makes the topic lose any sort of substance. Without the internal politics you are just parroting what everyone already pretty much knows and it makes it seem like this war came out of nowhere.
Have the Deprogram boys ever talked at length about the Ukraine-Russia proxy war? I know they’ve mentioned it here and there but nothing super deep, just little comments.
I think they missed a huge opportunity to talk about what this war is truly about and where it originated, this could have been a great video to educate others on the deep rooted context that informs this conflict but I guess we couldn’t get that… maybe next time.
He has a video on the CPUSA channel iirc on the war, calling it a proxy war and all that. I think since his channels are more directed at libs it took a very “centrist” stance trying to avoid controversy. For socdems/radlibs, admitting Ukraine is the vassal it is is a hard pill to swallow (especially in the US where I presume most the viewers are, where the war had pretty much no downsides). Nevertheless, in 2024 we have multiple statements and articles from the most fervent NATOist and pro-western sources spelling out that the war IS fought for the US’ benefit, and the 2014 coup WAS a US effort.
That said, I think it’s incorrect for JT to still be portraying the war in such a way on his channels. The war should be seen for what it is, before it inevitably disappears from libs’ memory and people can get away with saying stupid shit and get away with it. It’s not a secret that he’s a “tankie”, too. I don’t think the people supporting his channel are oblivious to that, so I wouldn’t say it’s a money problem. But then again, I’m not him.
This is an excuse that people have made for the deprogram guys for over 2 years now. I know because I myself was under the same impression. But this is proven to be completely bullshit and irrelevant for quite a while now. The whole “they are appealing to libs and want to take a centrist approach to sensitive topics” crap completely went out the window the moment they decided to comment in support of Gaza in the wake of the genocide since last October. All their channels got blacklisted from advertisers and they decided to throw caution to the wind and drop any pretense in their revolutionary messaging, since they have nothing to lose anymore. Just look at any of JT’s videos since October, and this is most evident.
If the goal was to cultivate a following of liberals and western moderates then start to slowly get them radicalized, it has failed or rather the plan has been long derailed. They ended up attracting a load of ultras and weirdos, which they’ll never convince of anything regardless. I think even they know this at some level because their messaging has shifted.
If they’re ready to tell the truth about Gaza, then they should do the same for Ukraine, simple as that. From here on, any milquetoast or weak spirited commentary should be rightfully called out, we should expect better from them.
This is a sad but sober and i believe accurate assessment of the situation. Unfortunately the audience they have cultivated is one which (at least a part of it) does not want to hear the truth about Ukraine. It is no coincidence that they have a lot of overlap with Hasan Piker’s audience, as Hasan is another “leftist” content creator who never had the guts to go against the anti-Russia narrative. It is just a fact that in today’s western left, much of which is extremely compromised, being pro-Palestine is acceptable while being pro-Russia is not. This is an indicator to me that for whatever reason the empire sees pro-Russia left anti-imperialists as more of a threat than the pro-Palestine movement. They have done a very good job infecting the western left with the anti-Russia psyop.
I completely agree with what you said at the end there.
This is an indicator to me that for whatever reason the empire sees pro-Russia left anti-imperialists as more of a threat than the pro-Palestine movement.
I always viewed this as “it’s way more difficult for the empire to justify what it does in Palestine than in Ukraine”. Primarily because of how many of these breadtube “leftists” like Vaush & friends rabidly support the US in Ukraine, but even they condemned Isn’treal as soon as October 7th happened.
I completely understand why JT uses the language he does, I really do, but there has to be a way to portray the war accurately without using the framing or terms that would trigger anyone watching. Because this is what happens when there is not effort put in, you get lackluster content at best or add to the misinformation at worst. I don’t want to be too hard on him, and maybe I’m coming off that way, but it’s from a place of frustration from what could have been vs what we actually got. Gentle parenting libs is hard, I know, but I think the effort is worth it, this video is just not it and it doesn’t really add anything to the discussion either. At the end of the day I know he can do better and I hope the next video he makes is.
Yeah, I agree that this honestly was one of his worst videos.
Yeah, I agree. He did a better job on the Taiwan video, taking into account that he was being that centrist. The Europe video was very basic, but still getting the point across.
I think since his channels are more directed at libs it took a very “centrist” stance trying to avoid controversy
Do you know what this is called? Tailism! To follow behind popular opinion in a condescending effort to “meet it where its at” even when “where its at” is backward, misinformed, and reactionary is literally the exact definition of tailism!
If he was actually doing Marxist agitation and not whatever miserable opportunist bullshit he’s evidently on, he would be trying to raise people’s consciousness instead of act as another mouthpiece on the thousand-tongued devil-spawn that is the MSM.
If JT “can’t” speak properly on Russia-Ukraine, better to not speak on it at all and focus on what he can address with truth, instead of this nonsense.
The current state of affairs is unacceptable. He must be either corrected or abandoned.
I think they missed a huge opportunity to talk about what this war is truly about and where it originated, this could have been a great video to educate others on the deep rooted context that informs this conflict but I guess we couldn’t get that… maybe next time.
That’s just the thing… In what way are you better than the liberals if you talk about this very important stuff after the conflict has ended, not while it’s still ongoing? To paraphrase, “Liberals are always against every war except the current one”. You educating people on the matter makes a difference - it stirs people in a direction different from the common Western propaganda narrative, which helps bring down this bubble. When it is over and they come out and say “hey, you know what? what actually happened in Ukraine was this and that and this and that…”, it would be 10 times less impactful.
This video was just a whole lot of nothing, and they could’ve done so much good by releasing one that went into what the actual conflict was about, and yet… we got this. We need people talking about the true nature of this war more than ever and, just like you said, it will be useless when all is said and done. It needs to happen now or there is no point. I know there are some academics who have talked about it (Ivan Katchanovski, my beloved) but their platforms and reach aren’t nearly as accessible or widespread as people like the Deprogram guys. It just sucks…
Would you say that JT is a revisionist?
I wouldn’t say so. Based on how he speaks about Palestine, China, etc. he’s definitely not revisionist; its just this one topic, Ukraine, that he and the other Deprogram boys have a strange stance on, as in its a whole lot of nothing. This is just the one thing they avoid talking about at length and it’s very strange why they don’t.
Maybe is because their platforms can be taken down since every pro-Russia platform was taken down from YouTube.
There are still pro-Russia channels on YouTube, you just need to have a bit of courage and not allow yourself to be intimidated by the prospect of losing your audience if you tell the truth about the Ukraine conflict. Yes you may alienate people who weren’t ever serious about anti-imperialism - those aren’t the kinds of people you want in your community as a communist anyway! let them call you a “Russian shill” or whatever, who cares? - but you will gain by attracting people who respect you for having the integrity to be truthful and say what others are afraid to. And most importantly you do not let the right monopolize the anti-imperialist position.
And if YouTube does take you down, well that’s what alternative platforms are for. I know many alternative platforms get criticized for being infested with right wingers, and it’s true, but they are spaces that will gain more and more importance as the imperialism-aligned corporate platforms continue to purge ever more dissenting voices, so the left should have a presence on the alternatives and not surrender these spaces to the right.
It is extremely poor strategic planning for us to put all our eggs in one basket. That just gives the corporate monopolies carte blanche to blackmail us into self-censoring and betraying our own principles.
Actually, nvm, someone just asked him on his server and he replied as to why
Ugh. “Optics” is such a liberal answer…
And if time and effort were in such short supply why waste them rehashing the same shit we’ve been hearing from the mainstream media for two years? Maybe that could have been skipped and they could have put time and effort into telling us what the MSM won’t? Just a thought…
This is interesting, I will say though, and I hope I don’t come across as harsh towards First Thought, there was no point in making this video since they’re just going to parrot the same surface level information that has been reported ad nauseam. Everyone is well aware of the damages caused by this war but not very many people know why. The “why” is the most important here but it was avoided. There was no reason to make this video, no real new perspective was added, just the same thing we’ve been hearing. Hopefully sometime soon they’ll feel comfortable enough to upload a video going into the internal politics that caused this whole mess and inform the current damages. Thank you for sharing this.
A good one in Spanish that I like that was taken down due to pro-Russian sentiment was Ahi Les Va, also RT was banned from YouTube.
The censorship on pro-Russian content has gotten to new heights on the west.
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I understand that completely, but my thing is that they can still talk about the conflict accurately without polarizing language that would get them in trouble; it takes a little more elbow grease but it is possible. Omitting terms like “puppet,” “proxy,” etc. goes a long way.
Dogshit video, to be honest.
Multiple critical pieces of the entire puzzle are missing, like almost everything the US had done before 2014, the coup and the fact that it was a US/CIA-orchestrated Nazi coup, the fascists themselves and their massive influence, the fact that it was Ukraine who’s been provoking Russia for 8 long years, despite the Russian government trying to find a diplomatic solution. The fact that it was Ukraine who indiscriminately shelled civilians in the Donbas, that the people of Crimea rose up themselves, and that was evident by a plethora of polls from the 2000s, where even Ukrainian polling companies admitted the majority of the people (over 70%) in Crimea would like to not just secede but join the RF. Too much “both sides”-ing. I get that they are trying to dance around the truth and create a lib-friendly and babyleft-friendly picture, but my personal take on it is we’re way past that point, given that the vast majority of Westerners want this conflict to end - it’s literally tailing the masses. How can a person look at what is happening in Gaza, at the fact that the US is arming “israel” to the teeth, which makes them enablers of genocide and not “protectors of democracy”, and not understand that they’re not “protecting democracy” in Ukraine either? As one comrade aptly pointed out - “what is the common denominator between Palestine, Ukraine, Taiwan, Syria and Libya?”. It should be clear by now.
Is JT aware of the true nature of this conflict? I’m inclined to think rather “yes” than “no”, but I’m very unsure. Hakim definitely dropped some hints. Yugo - IDK, really. But, sadly, they are silent. Also - they have an Arab to tell them a bit about Palestine, I guess if they had a communist from Ukraine they would at least be more knowledgeable when it comes to Russia-Ukraine stuff.
I guess if they had a communist from Ukraine they would at least be more knowledgeable
Even that is not a guarantee. Because they did have a Russian “communist” on their program at one point and they learned absolutely nothing. Because the “communist” they chose to invite was some kind of ancom or Trot with a vendetta against the KPRF who basically did nothing but repeat western talking points about the Russian government.
It was as if they purposely picked a Russian “communist” who would just come on to validate every prejudice that western leftists have about Russia. I imagine it wouldn’t be hard to find a Ukrainian “communist” to do the same.
Because unfortunately, most of the actual communists in Ukraine are now in prison, dead, or have long since defected to the LDPR. So if they were to actually find a real Ukrainian communist they would run the risk of being accused of platforming a pro-Russian “traitor” to Ukraine.
Yeah, true. I meant if it was a well-educated ML with nuanced takes, not some anti-Russia, anti-China ultra or something. But something tells me they will chicken out if they get the chance.
My guess is they pre-approve not only guests but the talking points in the videos they make. And they did put the Syomin guy into the spotlight twice. You know how it goes - “fool me once…”
Syomin is ancom or a trot? 😂 Jeez, guys, what’s going on in your heads?
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It is the single worst video any of the Deprogram trio have ever put out. It misses the mark completely. I am not kidding but this was so bad that i may just unsubscribe from all of them, because there is something seriously wrong with people who call themselves communists and put out a video about the Ukraine conflict that comes across as if its only sources of information for the past ten (because this goes back to 2014) years have been the western media’s propaganda about the conflict.
It’s effectively peddling a pro-Ukraine narrative and outright lies on several instances, and the fact that they refuse to even talk about how much of a Nazi state Ukraine is basically edges into borderline Nazi apologetics territory.
Sorry but this video was an irredeemable clusterfuck and if they want to salvage any shred of their reputation they should immediately take it down and post an apology.
Bro unsubscribed from all of them lmao. Hakims latest vids have been good.
Meh. His latest video about the Romanian coup was underwhelming. I expected more. I didn’t understand why he needed to portray Ceaușescu in such a bad light.
I’m the last person to say he was the best communist leader ever, but as someone actually from that country (which Hakim is not) i can tell you that he wasn’t anywhere near as bad as he has been portrayed by the anti-communists for the past 30 years. He made a lot of mistakes (IMF loans? Really? Wtf was he thinking?!) but we also achieved a lot of great things under his leadership. The industrialization programs were a massive success. The amount of power plants, dams, factories, etc. that were built in that time are unprecedented to this day. And to his credit he didn’t go along with the revisionist later Soviet (Brezhnev, Gorbachev, etc.) policies either, instead choosing to forge close relations with Kim Il Sung and the DPRK.
It might have been underwhelming, but not an outright disaster such as this one from JT. In the end, I would say there aren’t that many good videos about Ceausescu in general, so no surprise there. A preferred way to learn about socialist Romania would be reading relevant literature, at least for now.
True. Ultimately i’m not mad at Hakim for that video, it was fine i guess, i was just sort of disappointed because it was a bit shallow, and the topic is important to me.
What i am mad about is that none of the other two guys of the trio told JT that this Ukraine video is dogshit and that you can’t discuss the Ukraine conflict without talking about its internal politics. No mention of the Maidan coup, the Nazification of Ukrainian society or the de-facto NATO-ization of its army from 2014 on? And no talk about how the Kiev regime was poised to invade the Donbass republics in February-March 2022? JT tried so hard to pander to the libs that he ended up saying nothing but lib shit.
Even trying to make it seem like Ukraine won some kind of big David vs Goliath victory in the beginning for not immediately folding is ridiculous when you take a look at the actual facts. Russia went in with less than 100k troops. Ukraine had a massive army at the start, several times bigger than the initial forces the Russians sent in. And armed to the teeth and trained by NATO for eight years. If anything Russia was the underdog at the start, numerically at least if not in terms of equipment.
To try and say that Russia wanted to and expected to overrun all of Ukraine in some “blitzkrieg” but Ukraine valiantly held on against all expectations is just parroting the pro-Ukraine narrative that was sold to the Western public in the entire first year. Reality is much more mundane than that. Russia wanted to shock the Kiev regime into coming to the negotiating table. And they did. They went to Istanbul and almost reached an agreement.
And then the idea that Ukraine could be doing much better and could be winning if only the evil Hamas hadn’t diverted the West’s attention, if only the West was more consequent about sending them weapons and shit, if only they didn’t delay the military aid, bla, bla, bla. All the bullshit that the mainstream media has been spouting these past six months. Utter nonsense. It’s embarrassing for communists to repeat those talking points. In reality the West simply doesn’t have any more shit to give to Ukraine without disarming themselves - which many of the smaller countries have done!
This wasn’t some “stab in the back” by the West. It was always going to turn out this way in a war of attrition, which is why it was so stupid for Ukraine to insist on turning it into one by refusing to negotiate.
Bottom line, this video appears to have been made by someone who has consumed exclusively western mainstream media commentary on the conflict and has entirely bought into it. I cannot reach any other conclusion than that these guys simply have refused to engage with any other points of view or educate themselves about the actual facts. It is embarrassing and shameful and has caused me to reconsider their credibility and competence across the board.
What i am mad about is that none of the other two guys of the trio told JT that this Ukraine video is dogshit and that you can’t discuss the Ukraine conflict without talking about its internal politics
That we don’t know, I guess. Whatever they may tell him (or may have told already) - I doubt they will do it publicly or in the comment section, and also - he may as well tell them “my channel - my rules, I’m doing it”. IDK about Hakim, but Yugo is probably not gonna say much - I remember him posting a copy of the two gymnasts meme on Twitter - “the US does this and that, all the dirty tricks - loses; China does nothing - wins”, where he conveniently smeared the “Support the Nazis in Ukraine” piece with a gray line. Yugo received a TON of shit in the comment section for that - deservedly so.
I remember him posting a copy of the two gymnasts meme on Twitter - “the US does this and that, all the dirty tricks - loses; China does nothing - wins”, where he conveniently smeared the “Support the Nazis in Ukraine” piece with a gray line. Yugo received a TON of shit in the comment section for that - deservedly so
I remember seeing him post this meme and then others showing the original, revealing what he had chosen to cross out. It was incredibly weird and I am honestly so confused as to why he would do that. Did he respond to the backlash? Because I don’t remember if he did.
This Ukraine situation just seems like one they don’t want to touch with a ten foot pole and I don’t understand the motive. Why won’t they talk about it?
Aye, do you have any good sources on Ceausescu, as a Romanian?
No, i would have to do some more research myself before i can recommend something that covers the entire period of his leadership in Romania in a satisfactory way, but on the topic of the 1989 coup specifically you can find some pretty good articles on marxists.org published in Workers World in 1990:
Reactionary coup in Romania and General admits long-term coup planning
The first of these also goes into a bit of the history of socialist Romania and brings up some legitimate criticism of policy errors that were made by Nicolae Ceaușescu.
Aye, that’s good for now…
Here’s another good one, an article from the PSL doing a very good job giving a broad overview of the modern history of Romania:
Romania: 30 years removed from socialism
It’s well sourced and i appreciate how balanced it is. They rightfully criticize Ceaușescu on points where he clearly deserves to be criticized (some of the foreign policy mistakes made by Romania were really egregious), but they also highlight the achievements of Romanian socialism during his era.
It is THAT disappointing, to be honest… I mean, I wouldn’t outright unsubscribe from them - they still have good content, Hakim’s videos for example are very well-written (though not without flaws ofc). But this one… What a way to absolutely nuke your credibility
Yea it’s pretty goofy, I can’t disagree there.
I only just pressed play, and the intro text seems to have some relevant caveats.
For the sake of brevity, this video will focus solely on the state of war and not the internal politics of the involved parties, such as the influence of far-right elements in Ukraine or the reception of mass mobilization in Russia.
That is not a “caveat”, it’s an announcement that the video you are about to watch will be worthless as a serious analysis of the conflict.
Trying to talk about this conflict without discussing the internal politics of Ukraine is like talking about WW2 without discussing the “internal politics of Germany” at the time. Imagine making a video about WW2 and not mentioning the Nazis a single time. Absurd. This video was a joke.
100% agree, brilliant analogy
This is hands down the worst video i have ever seen from these guys. It is so ignorant and so steeped in western mainstream media propaganda on this conflict it could have been made by Vox or the Daily Beast and you would not notice the difference.
The “…this doesn’t justify the Russian invasion…” crap is pathetic. Of course it does, it’s literally what was used to justify it?! It’s such a shit framing.
I get frustrated generally when people who should know better revert to christian-brain and make a faction’s moral correctness or incorrectness the be-all end-all of a conversation. Like dude, JT, you’re a communist, you know that all states unavoidably traffic in morally bad actions because of what they are, that material concerns of security and survival overrule conversations about good or bad, right or wrong. You know this, stop being naive. Or if you’re playing to your liberal viewers, stop coddling their naivete, they need to learn what anti-imperial struggle looks like.
Or if you’re playing to your liberal viewers, stop coddling their naivete,
Seems like this is the strategy.
He’s the opening to the lefty pipeline. He has said this is his strategy and talks more openly about his beliefs on the Deprogram podcast.
Fuckin’ Boy Boy had a better video then this on the Russia-Ukraine War only 2 months after it started, they were actually willing to explain such things as the conditions that lead to it being inevitable and the USA’s major role in instigating it, it has some pitfalls with both-sideing a bit and missing a few core details. But despite that, it’s overall more informative and one of the better videos that I saw during the initial months of the war.
Last I checked, they’re doing fine.
Thank you for linking this, I had no idea they made a video about it! I will watch it as soon as I can.
Edit: so the comments on that video are really bad, holy shit…
Most westerners are as brainwashed as they believe north koreans to be.
The amount of comments just missing the point and saying “Well, Putin didn’t have to invade,” is astounding to me. Did they not watch the video? This war has been dumbed down so much that people just have automatic responses to any sort of explanation because they can’t conceive of anything outside “Putin is Hitler, Russia is evil.”
^ what I want to say anytime a westerner starts talking about the DPRK.
Unfortunately, that route isn’t likely to result in them listening to me and questioning their beliefs.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
It’s like he’s afraid to sound too pro-Russia so he tones it down. I think that communists need to be more open about the true nature of this proxy war otherwise we will never convince anybody.
When I see a thumbnail that shows multiple red arrows pointing at a piece of land, my expectations for that video immediately get set to rock bottom.
RealLifeLore be like
Also the fact that they have a sponsor. I can’t take anyone with a sponsor serious.
Someone just asked him on his server and he replied as to why he didn’t want to go into the politics of the conflict
“I don’t have final say over decisions”.
Is that not a blatant admission of selling out? He’s just straight admitted that he’s just a face for the camera and doesn’t have the authority to make content decisions on his own channel. He only has 2 employees that work as editors for him, so who’s making the decisions if not him?
That seems like a damning nail in the coffin for all the accusations of deprogram and JT selling out.
I remember getting downvoted to hell several months ago for saying that JT was selling out and the liberal aesthetics were becoming undeniable. Guess I wasn’t wrong.
Is that not a blatant admission of selling out?
If he’s “sold out” he’d give a far less “gun to my head” answer. It’s obvious he’s saying that the decision was not his. Who do you think he’s sold out to exactly? Can you elaborate on the conspiracy theory?
Corporate sponsors. But more importantly, a wider liberal audience.
There is a lot of money to be made from the milquetoast “leftists” who dominate the western world and essentially want to pretend to be leftists while just being liberals. Look at his and the deprograms videos on Russia as other people have mentioned, it is just regurgitated state department lines. Or the other content they make, which rarely looks at interesting communist topics and instead at random things like “poking fun at and listing all the bad and weird things X US President has done with minimal analysis” for multiple episodes; something that would primarily cater to an American audience. Compare that to their content before, with bringing on Vietnamese comrades, doing hardcore analysis while still being goofy, and doing in depth introspections on news topics. But genuinely, what has their recent content been? Bringing on liberals. Random tech YouTubers. Pop history.
If you can draw in that audience and establish yourself as a “centrist” leftist with “unbiased” facts. Then you can farm a lot of money off of that crowd.
Why is he doing this? I noticed things deteriorating rapidly on deprogram and his channels roughly around the time following the birth of his child. Which would be a good motivator to try and make as much money as possible.
I noticed things deteriorating rapidly on deprogram and his channels roughly around the time following the birth of his child.
Let this be a lesson about making your family’s livelihood dependent on a corporate controlled platform and always living with the fear of putting your family in financial straits if you offend your western audience’s liberal sensibilities.
They would do much more good if they still had regular jobs and only occasionally put out videos rather than becoming full time YouTubers but compromising their integrity in the process.
At the point when it becomes a business, it stops being a revolutionary act. And like what happened with Hasan, their material interests and lived experience are diverging more and more from those of the working class as they become more petit bourgeois.
They would do much more good if they still had regular jobs and only occasionally put out videos rather than becoming full time YouTubers but compromising their integrity in the process.
Honestly this is why I believe that Hakim’s personal channel is still holding relatively strong compared to JT and Yugo. He is a doctor. Not a content creator. This is a hobby and a pastime for him, not how he makes his bread and butter. In turn, that means he has little to no incentive to try and squeeze as much money as possible from a corporate algorithm that pays his salary.
Ironically, this is the identical critique that Lenin had for the careerist and electoralist socialist and socdem politicians, and why he still practiced as a paralegal and lawyer while being a revolutionary. If one stakes their financial well being on something guaranteed to them by the capitalist system, they will become increasingly separated from the material interests of the working class, and “sell out” in order to secure their financial well being.
Indeed. Hakim seems to be the least affected by the decline that is happening to the Deprogram.
Honestly this is why I believe that Hakim’s personal channel is still holding relatively strong compared to JT and Yugo. He is a doctor. Not a content creator. This is a hobby and a pastime for him, not how he makes his bread and butter. In turn, that means he has little to no incentive to try and squeeze as much money as possible from a corporate algorithm that pays his salary.
Material analysis - hits the mark every time.
He is also the only one that is well read.
You guys should comment on his video and let him know what you think.
I definitely encourage everyone here to comment, if they’d like, as the comments so far are just sort of meh. It would be nice to add important context the he omitted.
I found a YouTube link in your post. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
Damn there’s a lot of dare I say reactionary opinions here. First of all, who the hell cares if a single person who does socialist videos sells out, they gotta make a living too. And socialism is not a poverty cult. Stop worshipping figure heads.
If you find the coverage too liberal, well it’s not for you. Go read theory. Go do praxis.
People can still be upset about someone they admired selling out and making videos devoid of all meaning. If someone cultivates an audience of baby leftists in need of guidance and then tells those same baby leftists “the western narrative is the correct one, don’t worry.” they aren’t going to improve, or learn, they’ll sit in that comfortable defanged western leftist space where they smugly dismiss the struggles of people in the rest of the world for failing to meet their perfect standards. It sucks to see someone be a worse person than you thought they were, that isn’t reactionary.
That’s a fair point, and I sort of regretted the comment afterwards. From my perspective, first thought hasn’t been as good content wise as Second thought or the Deprogram. So I’m going to assume either it was just a meh video, or they are winding down firstthought operations.
Thanks for your comment
It’s been a shame watching the deprogram boys go from something special and kind of unique to another generic sort of “breadtube” group that no longer say anything too radical. It’s been a slow descent though, but I think a lot of people have tried to pretend it isn’t happening, because it sucks, so it hits harder once it’s no longer deniable.
Yeah, I think it’s hard to maintain a communist podcast for this length of time tbh. Especially maintaining the entertainment factor. It’s probably inevitable, given that so many creators end up being more moderate, due to profit motive etc.etc.
I do think the best thing they could do is drop first thought, and maybe wrap some of the ideas into the Deprogram. Sort news and news analysis, theory, and shit posting.
But they gotta do what gets them views so idk
Yeah, probably why they switched to having a guest on every week instead of talking about things on their own. Just ran out of things to say without turning into a more theory focused podcast. I think they chose to keep the same basic tone the whole time and a lot of us were expecting them to go a bit more “serious” eventually, and start actively covering more advanced ideas and theory, but they might never have even intended that in the first place. I think a lot of people (myself included) were hoping when First Thought was announced that it would be exactly that, only to find it is just as basic as JT’s other stuff, making it feel redundant.
I started going down the leftist pipeline a few months before they launched the podcast. When I heard about it, it seemed perfect for me - something to deprogram liberals and get into more complex topics as time goes on. Learned a lot at first, but after about 6 months or so I started viewing it as entertainment. And I’m not an avid theory reader or anything. They still discuss some interesting topics, but it’s really not radical at all and it has gotten to a point where it keeps baby leftists stuck at the start of the pipeline, instead of pushing them further
and it has gotten to a point where it keeps baby leftists stuck at the start of the pipeline, instead of pushing them further
Yeah, it was always more focused on entertainment rather than education, but it’s also kept a lot of people from going further, would be nice if they had a proper “further reading” section at the end of their videos and actually discussed theory every now and then. I’m always advocating for injecting humour into socialist education, but the education does still need to be there for it to work.
