Not sure where to post this so hoping here is fine.

A bit disappointed in BTN for calling Dugin “a very esteemed Russian political philosopher”…

Just yesterday learned Rainer Shea is now collaborating with Caleb Maupin which was really disappointing cause Shea had some good anti-imperialist articles.

I really didn’t need to hear this on BTN. Not sure what answers I’m looking for, I guess I’m getting paranoid about third positionist infiltration and need to hear your thoughts.

  • davel
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    3 months ago

    Just yesterday learned Shea is now Maupin-adjacent

    What?

      • freagle
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        3 months ago

        Shea came into the scene as an awkward, sometimes misguided person who was open, overly trusting, and constantly trying to improve.

        Then last year he started making content that was completely intellectually dishonest, specifically his attempts to misconstrue PSL positions by deliberately excerpting Brian Becker’s content without context that was immediately adjacent. It was perfectly transparent to anyone who already engaged with Becker’s content, but was sufficiently obfuscated and confusing to people who didn’t listen to his podcast weekly. That was the end of Shea for me. He was either turned, or he was a plant from the beginning.

        • Red_Scare [he/him]OP
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          3 months ago

          Thanks for this explanation! I mostly read some of his articles via links from GenZhou and other explainer posts. Most patsocs are clowns at the first glance, so this one took my by surprise.

          • freagle
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            3 months ago

            Shea always rubbed me the wrong way, but I chalked that up to my biases based on his vocal style. He got a lot of social proof from podcast hosts that I trusted, and I figured they were in the trenches with him so they had a better perspective on his position than I did, so I repressed my discomfort as “just feelings”. Last year all those feelings came flooding back when I read his article about the PSL (I’m not a member, but I have been consuming their content a lot and feel I have a pretty good understanding of their position, and what Rainer was writing didn’t withstand even cursory investigation).

      • davel
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        3 months ago

        I try not to be ageist but damn.