Surprising to see so many on lemmy not watch the video, or recognize that it is by Second Thought.
I watched this video earlier today and it didn’t contain any particularly new or insightful information for me, but that’s almost entirely because I’ve been somewhat politically active for a while, which I don’t think is strictly his target demographic at this point.
Second thought’s videos were very uncomfortable but informative when I was first learning about socialism.
Again, just surprising to me that they aren’t more popular in this online space.
Because it is propaganda shit
Promoting socialism is fine. “Promoting” socialism by kneecapping Democrats, airing “pro socialism” content which will have as its sole and only impact in the actual real world, to give aid and comfort to people who are actually trying to destroy socialism (like, very literally, in the sense of shooting socialists with real bullets), and cloaking in it this veneer of “oh yeah it makes perfect sense because the opponents of the socialism-shooters aren’t doing ENOUGH and so it makes total sense to focus energy on damaging them, instead of on, idk, promoting socialism and socialist outcomes,” is less fine.
Hope this helps explain the difference
I really feel like you replied without watching the video because none of that is from the video.
The video explains what a sacrificial villain is in the context of a two-party partisan legislator, expands on why this is necessary in modern politics, then encourages the viewers to continue to support more progressive Democrats so that the strategy is more difficult to pull off successfully without alienating large populations of voters.
I really feel like you replied without watching the video
That is accurate yes. I’ve watched Second Thought videos before, and I’m familiar.
because none of that is from the video
The fuck it isn’t. I decided it was probably unfair for me to get into too much of a back and forth about the video without having any idea what’s in it, even though I am highly confident that it’s shit. So, I grabbed the transcript quickly and asked ChatGPT to summarize the whole thing in bullet points. That way I can still switch away quickly and hurt it with the algorithm.
Here’s what it came up with:
- Introduction to Second Thought: The channel is 100% viewer-funded, encouraging support through Patreon.
- 2024 Election and Biden’s Approval Rating: Biden’s approval rating is very low, and his failure to fulfill several key promises like the $15 minimum wage, federal right to abortion, and significant student debt cancellation is highlighted.
- Broken Promises and Blame on Republicans: Despite having a Democratic majority for two years, Biden blames Republican obstruction for his unfulfilled promises.
- Democratic Control and Disappointments: Even with control of the presidency, Senate, and House in 2021, Democrats failed to deliver on progressive promises, leading to disappointment among voters.
Bullshit. The student debt cancellation in particular is transparently false to blame on Biden since he tried to do much more than the rest of the system (the Supreme Court in particular) allowed him to do.
I listed some key accomplishments above. I actually am fairly content with how accurately I guessed what kind of transparent bullshit and Biden-blaming and failing to recognize important stuff he actually did accomplish, was in this video.
Now it gets interesting:
- Obstructionist Democrats: The video mentions the recurring issue of Democratic senators like Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema obstructing progressive legislation, drawing parallels with past figures like Joe Lieberman.
- Lobbying Influence: Lobbying and corporate donations are identified as major influences on conservative Democrats, who often block progressive policies due to financial incentives.
- Revolving Door and Career Incentives: The potential for lucrative lobbying jobs post-politics motivates some Democrats to obstruct progressive legislation to stay in the good graces of corporate donors.
If this was the core of the video, it’d be grand. “How do we get rid of the Manchins of the world” sounds great. “How do we blame Biden for anything and make sure we don’t vote for Democrats” is guaranteed to make things worse. Like I say, I’m actually fairly happy with how well I was able to determine what was in the video just from the thumbnail, title, and what channel it’s from.
- No Labels Organization: Founded in 2010, No Labels aims to bring together centrists and moderates, often funded by Republican donors, to undermine progressive candidates.
- Democratic Leadership’s Role: Democratic leadership actively supports centrist candidates who obstruct progressive policies, revealing a strategy to maintain corporate support while appearing progressive.
- Managed Democracy Concept: The thesis borrows from Sheldon Wolin’s “Democracy Inc.”, arguing that gridlock and obstruction are intentional to prevent majority rule and maintain corporate influence.
Yeah. More good stuff. It’s a big problem. Let me guess - the solution is not to vote for Biden Harris.
- Systemic Gridlock: The design of the American political system, with its gridlocked Congress, ensures that corporate interests are prioritized over majority rule.
- Democrats’ Dual Strategy: To remain in power, Democrats need to appear progressive while catering to corporate interests, resulting in a strategy of controlled obstruction by a few key figures.
- Electoral Politics and Voter Demobilization: Elections focus on mobilizing voters with progressive rhetoric, but post-election, corporate interests take precedence, leading to voter disillusionment.
Yeah. All of this stuff is pretty bad.
Honestly? If this video was being made in 1995 or 2004, it’d be great. Since then we’ve moved on to an actually progressive Democrat in the White House, against all fuckin odds, and the Republicans have moved on to actually wanting to shoot all the Democrats, let alone what they want to do to the socialists.
- Long-term Implications: The video concludes that radical change in the US will not come from the Democratic Party but from organized mass movements, as the party is too entrenched in corporate interests.
Accurate yes
- Support and Community Engagement: The video ends by promoting its Patreon and Discord community, emphasizing the importance of viewer support for independent, principled socialist content
Yawn
Not really. He calls out headlines from news articles for actions that happened but not for his main claims.
First ten seconds in and he’s full of shit.
His claim is a conspiratorial garbage that “it’s by design”. This claim is never backed up by evidence. It has been debunked thousands of times and anyone that still spews it is doing it intentionally. This guy is 100% on the anti - establishment grift that is so popular on YouTube.
