What I find really interesting is that this guy is basically a liberal, yet he has the decency to question the propaganda and breaks the basics down very well.
Interesting. Like others said, he’s clearly trying to open space for “rehabilitation” of Nazism. He almost explicitly says this. I was thinking about whether or not to share this video with libby friends but I actually don’t think it’s good beyond MLs watching for curiosity.
Ultimately I think this just associates Stalin with Hitler, Communism with Nazism by extension, in the best case scenario. Worst case scenario people will fall into this pipeline and buy into Rightwing ideologies.
Reminder: this is the guy that Hakim dunked upon for, for using mudpie argument in regards to the socially necessary labor time theory that Marx used from Adam Smith
(if the guy’s name is Academic Agent)
Ya this video was 90% good. As other people have commented, he did lib “but Stalin totalitarian tho”, but most of his points were spot on. Even I learned a bit.
I checked out other videos in his channel and I was very disappointed.
I have to say, I admire Grover Furr for being just so damn obsessed with debunking claims against Stalin. He’s me, but better, and with a tenure. I’ve wasted hundreds of hours of my life editing bs on Wikipedia that I’ll never get back.
Looooootta Nazis in that guys comments
That’s just the sad state of mainstream social media now. Facebook comment sections are full of people posting memes that you’d only see on the dregs of 4chan 10 years ago.
Yeah this guy is really out there, definitely a cryptofascist but with his own flair. He’s funny to read until you get to the comments and realize people take him seriously.
He says things like (to paraphrase) “anti fascism is anything that’s against the defence of tradition, home and hearth, cultural heritage, tribe or people, hierarchy” and (to quote) “what is called ‘Progress’ in most cases is entropy and a sign of moral decline.” And thinks that self-censoring his use of “Nazis” and “Hitler” somehow makes him cool or something (and hides the strong possibility that he likes them).
Yeah, something felt off throughout the whole video, even though the summary of Furr’s work seems decent. In the ending especially he says (paraphrasing): “maybe we should question the narrative we’ve been told about Nazi Germany and the USSR as these two evil totalitarian twins”
Yeah, so he shows some arguments debunking the mainstream view of Stalin, because there are facts to support this debunking, then he leaves the door open for his audience to… do the same about the nazis. Except you can’t do that, because the nazis really were that terrible. But it’s still going to embolden a lot of people to think the nazis were actually not that bad
I wouldn’t be surprised if this guy does a reverse double genocide theory
I was VERY skeptical of watching this video when it was suggested to me, is it worth watching bc I absolutely will if it’s even slightly more based than expected. I was anticipating stuff like “actually he didn’t give a shit about communism, he was a sTaLiniSt” but lmk if it’s actually cool. After reading Anarchism or Socialism, I have ZERO patience for anyone disrespecting Stalin.
Aside from the occasional don’t-get-me-wrong disclaimer like “I’m sure Stalin was not a great guy” or “I’m sure Stalin did bad things”, I find the rest of it to be an impressive questioning of the Western propaganda narrative for someone who is not a marxist. For us, there’s nothing really new in the video. It’s just satisfying to see someone escape the bubble of lies with nothing else but logic and skepticism.
I saw this video and read his text about the booner truth narrative.
I think the video is deceivingly positive but this guy seems to me like either a fascist or a right deviationist of sorts.
The problem with this is the pattern. The alt right in germany is also strictly going the anti imperialist route and since the left is simping the usa, the alt right gets huge influx.
If you confront leftists about it, they are totally brainwashed by western media.
And I think that is the problem. The right being a pro capital movement in its core, they are trying to play all sides to come out on top.
We need a better communist pipeline. This is not going to work imo. Same with the “maga communists”. They are what happens when there is no stringent leftist movement and the only " left" is pro imperialist soc dems.
The rebranding of Stalin as this homophobic dudebro conservative “hard man making hard choices, while triggering the libs but in a non-chud way” - mind you which is even done inside modern russia & georgia - has been absolutely beneficial to crowd of mostly (white) men that never grew out of their edgy 4chan phase and refuse to dismantle their various isms because its all just “identity politics” (never mind that libs appropriate and deformed it from socialists in the first place)
Its basically capitulation to willingly accept the narratives of the ruling class.
Makes me think of exactly what Haz does. Seems like that clown’s favorite thing about Stalin was his homophobia.
Yeah they see him as this ultimate machismo figure. Tito & Fidel are also popular for this reason with these types of “leftists”.
Even though Castro actually apologized for his horrible treatment of LGBT people and changed course later in his life.
I watched a couple of his other videos some time ago. I’m not really sure where he lies politically, but now that you mentioned it, I checked some of his video titles, and he does seem to be alt-right.
Definitely agree with your point. Every right-wing surge in Europe is a result of the failures of the left. I see it in my country too. Our major left party (which also happens to be communist, at least on paper) has been diluting itself hard ever since the 90s. When the economic crisis occured in 2007 (along with some other issues that got compounded due to the crisis), the party kept trying to “behave in a civil and responsible manner” as they put it. Meanwhile, a newly-formed fascist party started going hard with “revolutionary” speech, and they very quickly grew in numbers enough to make the left party lose seats. This was a direct result of the fascists gaining votes among the disgruntled population, and a lot of party-members becoming inactive as they grew more and more disillusioned. Finally, the party has had a couple of shock election results these past couple of years, and they are starting to change their approach to communication and messaging. Although internally, they seem to still think that trying to appeal to right-wing and centrist voters is more viable than convincing their actual target audience from joining their cause.
I think this video is well constructed as a sort of introduction to unlearning the anti-Stalin propaganda. Something that well-intentioned liberals may find educational and help them start deconstructing the lies.
I also like the mention of the Trotsky ——> Neocon pipeline. I also use the “evolution” of Christopher Hitchens to describe that phenomenon
Glad that I never fell down that pipeline when I was a Trot.
He sees the Trot-Neocon pipeline and then makes the leap that this means neocons are actually leftists!
Someone posted this to Lemmy, elsewhere https://www.ft.com/content/0e244103-80e8-4acc-9262-d6a45bbbaf14?accessToken=zwAGO-7qfeOwkc8OJEEDgOhKzNOSYtakW7uvFA.MEYCIQD589PbV2MFe_8duPnTdQn9X75vRPuxEhbKwn62fNjDDwIhAMCiFc2j4VJPJbx6glJcGIPr1_vSvdxs3zDjSnLiDeV6&sharetype=gift&token=06640978-724f-4b61-b8f1-b66a4c32f49b
Weird, rambling read and I literally brushed my teeth, after reading it.
What a read indeed.
I was half of the video yesterday, didn’t finish it yet. Very interesting how anyone, as long as they use logic and critical thinking, will end up with the same conclusions as we do.
Almost as if ML is some kind of science or something.
I found a YouTube link in your post. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
