cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/2331989
I don’t really think he knows this site’s culture at all. No one is dissuading people from reading theory lol
Yey or ney for him?
As someone said in the post
As far as I can tell, he’s a guy who spends all his time posting about how all leftists do is post.
And this ain’t the first time, Roderick’s a bit terminally online, arguing against other progressives like JT (Second Thought) and Michael Hudson…
Edit:
Ok I’ve made a right-deviationist mistake in saying that Michael Hudson is a progressive, and indirectly agreeing with the views of the former…
I’ve not investigated into JT’s MMT videos nor looked carefully into Hudson (I thought he was also against capitalism, turns out, only finance and feudalism…, just cares for industrial capitalism)
I hope I’m not crucified for this but I can’t stand this guy. People have made good points about him, and theoretically/intellectually he is brilliant - we all know communists need to be engaged in serious business and not just spam posting memes and hanging out in our circle-jerk platforms.
But is he not a flaming hypocrite? I swear I’ve read something about how he isn’t even involved in an organization because he “just can’t find anything serious enough” (this could be a dream on my part tho) - that is just insufferable. There are a few good orgs in the US/Canadian area and it’s ridiculous to throw everything out because they don’t adhere to page 4858584 line 5 of some obscure Marxist’s writing. It seems to me that he dishes out criticism after criticism and spams writings on the internet, engaging in borderline useless beef that doesn’t get much traction, all while being… chronically online himself?
I just think that like, anyone who is willing/able to understand/actually applying this level of Marxist thought isn’t just sitting online anymore and doesn’t need constant “takedowns” because someone said something vaguely wrong. JT makes one iffy MMT video that is literally one of his least effectual creations and dude wets his pants over it. I’m not saying don’t criticize but the frequency in which he makes them, combined with his harsh ass wording, combined with the (maybe?) fact that he is not even doing anything serious in real life? Rubs me the wrong way and just paints the stereotypical insufferable communist picture we all know.
He extrapolated very erroneously that anyone said don’t read theory here, and although the “you have to be a literal slave to be a commie” is braindead, he seems to latch on to literally anything that could be false and go deboonk mode.
Part of flowing through the masses and being one of them is not being an insufferable nerd. If this guy preaches sincerity and seriousness, then I think we should get serious that this rhetoric and behavior online isn’t doing shit other than MAYBE fine-tuning already-ML-aligned people. There’s a use for that, but good lord, if he tried this shit in an organization he would be hated. You can’t be obnoxious to your comrades or random members of society if you expect anything.
I could be going too harsh here honestly, I just have had these thoughts for quite a while and never really said anything lol. If it is proven true that he is in fact in a real life org then a lot of this would fall through and I would only stand on “stop being annoying” point, but I don’t know. You have to be personable and digestible to be an effective communist, not just “I know my shit and you don’t and here’s why”
Mucho texto over, burn me alive if necessary
Edit: Stawp downvoting me and explainnnnn
I think the problem with the nature of being an online content creator is that is drives people to be polarizing and harsh because that generates clicks. I’ve never been on social media since like 2015, especially twitter, so I get to avoid the results of such a cycle, but when any comrades clue me in on the latest online leftist gossip it always seems to be some form of this type of thing. Ostensibly principled or politically developed people consciously or subconsciously stirring up internet drama for clicks.
That could be true, and definitely is for a number of “left-wing” creators. I don’t know if that’s the case for this, though, because he seems to (no hate to him here) really not be that popular? Or content-creator-y? Like he writes essays and critique pieces, he doesn’t make videos or whatever and to my knowledge none of this is monetized, so would that even be a motive? I don’t know, but either way it’s an “ugh” moment lol.
I think there is a lot to say about the brain’s reward center motivating a desire for post engagement for any social media user, regardless of their size. Him being a content creator who likely has some inner desire for his work and theories or whatever he he producing to be spread would likely only increase the feeling of reward that the average user gets from a like or a share, since for him it might feel like praxis or education or something that would be extra rewarding. You don’t need to be well known or get huge engagements to have a subconscious motivation for more.
This is true.
I don’t know if he’s doing anything irl, but redsails is pretty good for making theory accessible.