Chatters deflated this dude in record time. Weaponizes mental illness and then immediately back peddled saying "you know that's not what I mean". Paints them as monoliths BE fans. Puts a ban out on all BE supporters in the chat for being "parasocial thinkers". Then mopes and pouts for the next 20+ minutes.
I enjoy Hasan, I like the Fear& podcast, but I also see his limitations, and it fully drives me up a wall when he starts dropping "mental illness" derogatorily. Use that college education and find some new fucking words.
Anyway, I don't know much about Graham Platner, but I love this part of his Wikipedia page:
He was pictured holding a sign reading "Free Kosovo, Chechnya, Kashmir, Palestine, Kurdistan, Tibet". When he was 18, he was quoted in the Bangor Daily News after protesting President George W. Bush and the Iraq War at an appearance by Bush at Bangor International Airport.[7]
Platner enlisted in the Marine Corps shortly after graduating from high school, and served three tours in Iraq, in areas including Ramadi and Fallujah.
How do you get from "protesting the Iraq war" to "did three tours in Iraq including Fallujah"?
I get it, he's doing the populist thing, but we should be clear that populism isn't socialism by it self. If I have that wrong then maybe Donald Trump is the greatest socialist of our time.
I have more faith in Zohran coming out of the DSA then this guy coming off the oyster boat. I have a funny feeling he won't be met with the same resistance that these DSA candidates are getting hit with. At least there is a chance thr DNC turns on the DSA and forces them to rethink their strategy. There is nothing supporting this guy should he get the same treatment. I don't think he will though. I think the dems like dudes who do 5 tours as an imperial foot soldier and another as a security contractor for the State Department.
Good or Bad is not a great lens for these things sadly, and online figures are always just online figures. I try to judge on results. That said I don't really understand the argument here, I thought the position regarding electoralism and pressure on Israel was always pretty clear, I don't see any kind of naive endorsement personally.
This isnt directed at you but I swear some people think doing fuck all but having takes and saying "oh you naive lib everything is useless and dumb" is somehow activism. We all think electoralism is shit, some still think pushing strategically on certain fronts is worth doing, some don't. Kinda wish the people who don't would shut the fuck up about it, it feels like a waste of time and drama farming tbh.
I feel like that's probably more the reason he gets annoyed or whatever, it annoys me too.
What we are doing here is engaging in critique. It is not a waste of time, as critique is to some degree an endless process. The issue is that we have no real power to influence change in behavior from the electoralists, so it very much feels like we are wasting our time and breathe by discussing it. M
We cannot 'drama farm' because we make no money from doing that here. Twitter people to some degree can. Hasan on the other hand, benefits from engaging in the electoral farce because it engages the majority of his viewers, who are social Democrats. He therefore, has an incentive to be incorrect and pursue incorrect action.
I get what you are saying though.
For my money, he is a politics streamer, therefore I do not.like him. It is pretty simple.
I do not think I'm critiquing, I'm just a boring mf who is postin. Whatever is in this ether rests in ether and does not transcend to the real world. Maybe that's just me.
As far as the 'drama farming' goes I think the commenter is alluding to these threads that are about same two things posted often. Even unrelated to hasan. The threads bring about same topics and same responses in a harminic motion. And everytime people say these same answers as if its rediscovering fire.
As for hasan or whatever his viewers, I think they are more socialists than socdems. They did some census. 12% of chat were socdems. More than 80% were socialist. His viewers if anything are very averse to that electoral stuff. That's that.
Yea I get you.
I think there is a grayzone that he doesn't really engage with, which is pressuring the DSA to operate outside the Democrats. He seems to think you can recover the democrats from this blue fash trajectory right now (embodied by newsome). He seems dead set on entryism into the Democratic Party, which is clearly becoming a failed project. Zohran might be one of the last few candidates that attempt it if the Democrats continue undermining DSA candidates. They seem to be moving towards divorcing themselves from the DSA. If this gets backing from establishment Dems when Zohran doesn't, it should tell us a lot. I don't see Hasan doing this kind of electoral analysis and I think he should.
That's a good point and on that in particular I have more trouble figuring out his approach.
I don't think he believes the Dems can be saved, I don't recall him talking about entryism, but I can see what you're saying as well.
It could a very "good enough for now" thing, not that the dems can be good but that since we don't currently have a strong DSA or PSL or anything, better to have left-side of the dems for now? Like a purely strategic thing, in terms of the media landscape, overyon window, what is/isn't acceptable, and for agitation purposes? That's the only valid use I can see for engaging in a limited way in Dems electoralism. Not with any naïveté, just a very broad "pushing, agitating and making noise and topics will prepare and radicalise the masses" kinda way. I don't know if that's entryism or what it could be called.
The reason I'm of this view is that from experience in my own country the topic of strategy regarding elections is often very noisy and a lot of leftists sort of talk past each other. Breaking the false hopes and naivety is good, criticism is required, but in pure strategy of "do we engage with things how they currently are, and if so how do we engage" is extremely specific, contextual and nuanced, and in that particular field I'm always willing to be as good faith as possible, and open to any strategy.
Sometimes you need to sort of "be there" politically even if it's shit, while building something better. Sometimes you need to follow along more naive but popular things just to agitate and be where people are, not to do entryism but to already be in the right place and time when things go sour later, etc etc. I get the feeling my goals and hasan's are aligned on 99% of things and I never feel like he's pro dem or entryism so Im willing to hear it out or open to strategies (even if they're messy), if that makes sense.
I don't engage with him as a streamer but he has influence, that influence seems to bring decent results, and its those results I judge.
Honestly beyond the feeling of uselessness that seems to reign in the US left it looks like conditions have never been more primed and ready, looking from the outside. Not quite there yet, but getting there. Hasan just has to help it along or not get in the way, that's my litmus test.
Yeah. I do think most online shit is very tiresome and grating. The thing I like most from someone when he gets to some outside shit. He was in detroit at like a palestine conference and he had dr mustafa who worked in gaza.
I don't think any posting or online groveling is anything beyond groveling. There are people who do seriously think that postin makes some serious difference. Or even interact with these online stuff as some real political battle.
Sure I do see some doing fuck all beyond throwing takes tm.
I do think its just yelling into the void in elliptical way arriving at the same questions and answers again and again and again.
Yeah, that makes sense. Sorry for bringing you distress.
Not in distress no worries. I get confused why people are so involved in liking or not liking some guy. Take care comrade <3