I think it highlights the need for materialist analysis. The only way for the Left to get a real sense of this administration’s potential actions is to assess when the things they say are aligned with the material goals they seek.
2 months ago (edited) | 205
Please, please, please don't add to the explainers. I have been devouring educational content about why things are the way they are for over a decade.....I want pro tips... I want strategy and direction... I want RX for this American Life. tell me how YOU fight in your life. What do people in France do? What do you see Americans doing that seems promising? I fight to see the humanity in my fellow Americans, no matter how they voted. Should we call our senators? Is AOC awesome? Are common folk in other countries able to send the poorest americans venmo payments as mutual aid? I am SO tired of the explainers. When a building full of people is on fire, we don't ask WHY. We ask WHAT what do we do to get the people to safety? I read some of the comments and see that to some, the plight of the poorest in American is a laughing matter. Any prosperity we ever experience as Americans is extracted ruthlessly from anyone under the boot, here or abroad. I, too, feel that this is just the chickens coming home to roost. This is karma. American history is one big long horror show with the only good thing about it is the fact that the oppressed always fight back and have never stopped. You can trace this fight for liberty throughout history and the world. I honestly think it's time for activists in other countries to send money to trans rights groups in the American South. I promise you we already need small donations for womens abortion support, trans rights, and getting bail for local activists. I am in Arkansas, and I can't get an abortion. That was my rubicon. I give my money to Intransitive, LR Freedom Fund, and our local radio KABF 88.3
2 months ago (edited) | 68
Bonjour, Alice! I think it's a great time to stop to reacting to their stupid actions and start to give real answers to them. I mean strikes, forming unions, mass protests etc. Here in Brazil we had a great example last year: right-wing politicians (majority in congress) occupy the public debate with nonsense themes like neutral language, attacking stereotypical left people and promoting useless debates. When two left-wing members of the congress started to mobilize people in favor of ending the 6x1 scale (+44h per week), brazilian working class suported en masse and for the first time in years I saw right-wing politicians going crazy because they weren't the ones leading the public debate. Brian Thompson's assassination had a similar effect in US. A very important detail is that Partido dos Trabalhadores (Worker's Party, which isn't the same thing like in western countries) wasn't in leadership of the movement, what is obviously contradictory. So it's really important to give up the old "left"/progressive forces, like democratic party in US and start to building alternative forms, more suitable to current issues. The struggle to reduce weekly working hours still continues here even without endorsement of old progressive figures, being handled primarily by young people like me who are the real people that suffers with this problem and are trying to dispute and discuss.
2 months ago (edited) | 195
I'd say what's most important is reporting on the things that they're doing behind the scenes which aren't getting reported on as much because of the intentional outragous shit that they expect to get reactions for. I don't really have a straight up answer for that, but also as a trans woman in Texas I will say something that has made me feel more powerful in the face of all this is being visible and outspoken and participating in protests at the capital of my state. I think more than ever, actually taking action will make you feel less hopeless about everything, even if nothing comes about from it.
2 months ago | 143
Others have said it, but I think we need examples of what to do. Concrete, local ones. I participate in a neighbourhood community center (Spain) and it's the only thing that's keeping me together, because I feel I'm actively improving something and moving people towards empathy. About explainers: not sure we need more. The only video that brought some solace was the AOC one where she explained what they were actually doing. Understanding what's really BROADLY happenning, without the outrageous details, has been far more helpful for getting an idea of what I'm looking out for in the future.
2 months ago | 20
For me, as a Ukrainian whose very existence (not just freedom) depends on the decisions of American officials, this isn’t just upsetting — it’s terrifying. Every little thing that Trump or Musk does, no matter how big, small, or outright stupid, gets dissected by the entire nation like a lifeline. Remember when Musk reposted a modified quote from Zelenskyy’s interview with Ukrainian Radio? The quote was out of context, and it went like this: “The US cannot force us to ‘sit and listen’ at the negotiating table. We are an independent country.” And Musk retweeted it with: “His sense of humor is amazing 😂” At this point, it doesn’t just feel like laughing at a victim who’s desperately trying to fight back with everything they have left — it feels like gradually siding with the aggressor, purely for his own amusement. Jokes aside, I think both Musk and Trump know that, with all the power they have, people in countries like mine are genuinely afraid of them. And I think they enjoy it
2 months ago | 91
Emphasize that it isnt "trolling politics" and they have already caused real damage by freezing federal spending illegally and firing most government workers.
2 months ago | 41
The same thing happened with Milei in Argentina and now we're stuck with no one who can capitalize on the opposition. I guess it's planned to be like that. Bolsonaro in Brazil had the same strategy (throw 20 controversial statements and one or two will go through while everyone is stuck dealing with the other 18 or 19). What you said in the last video in defense of wokism really resonated with me, but i believe we must try to understand which debates we must take on and stick to it, otherwise the agenda is settled by those who don't want to discuss.
2 months ago | 7
It feels increasingly exhausted, but I think a lot of that has to do with the fact they ended up in charge. Leading up to the election it was very high energy and now it feels a lot of people are very burnt out and deflated having ultimately lost the election to someone like that
2 months ago | 22
I'm personally trying to redirect my focus and energy on what to actually do to combat them. I've been disgusted with the Democratic party leadership response to everything, namely doing nothing and getting mad at the base for calling for them to do more. If they won't do anything, we have to figure out what WE can do.
2 months ago | 21
Summing up their patterns of thought seems the most effective. Just recognizing what their tactics as a whole amount to is the most educational at spotting their tricks without dwelling on each individual controversy.
2 months ago | 4
I’ve been enjoying Heather Cox Richardson’s podcast on the weekends. Her historical contextualization keeps things feeling grounded.
2 months ago | 1
I agree! I'm having a hard time engaging in the news w/o it wrecking my nervous system. And, I don't think panic is productive. I've been very active in my union for the past year & a half and find a lot of hope there. But, in terms of how to engage with the news, I haven't really figured out how to for this presidency yet, I don't want to ignore it completely, but so far most of what they are doing is rhetoric and hasn't had a direct impact on myself or my community beyond having to take out some wording in documents (because of "DEI" language)
2 months ago | 4
Whenever the details are many and overwhelming, it's a good idea to step back and look at the big picture. What are they really trying to accomplish with what they're doing? What's their overarching strategy? How is the world reacting? And also, look at where things might be heading, and try to think of what actions when could do to help mitigate it, or to counteract it when it happens. Action gives hope.
2 months ago | 0
It's ok to not see outrage, as long as we don't see apathy and nihilism, or even worse, cooperation. We must focus less on offending and calling out the indecency of the fascist, and more in actually building resistance against them. It's time to sober up about the times that are coming and prepare for them, we can still fix this
2 months ago | 4
i'd say focusing on the few issues and their impacts on EU and making a few "how to try working on solutions" videos would help me the most personally, since this is where i live and this is where i can actually feasibly do something. maybe a short segment to acknowledge what they are doing and what they are trying to accomplish, and then something about how to take action before we descend in the same bullshit. thank you for all the work <3
2 months ago | 3
To them, a negative response is a form of reinforcement, that they're definitely doing the right thing. Honestly, the worst thing you can do to a narcissist is ignore them and continue your life as if they don't exist. I know that's difficult to do when they're literally in control of the federal government and people's lives are literally at stake, but I feel like some attention needs to be looking forward and past them.
2 months ago | 0
J'ai l'impression qu'arreter d'en parler finirait par normaliser la chose. Déjà qu'on réagit tous plus ou moins par des "Bah ouaip, qu'est ce que tu veux que je te dise. C'est Trump, quoi..." alors que lui et ses collaborateurs sont entrain de catapulter leur pays vers un régime fasciste revendiqué...
2 months ago | 30
I would rather hear from the people in the US who are organising against Trump and Co. There must be someone, right?
2 months ago | 20
I feel like they're overwhelming us with bad politics in order to stay afloat, so much has happened over the past weeks that people can't comprehend everything; you end up sitting there trying to understand one thing but by the time you formed your opinion on it, 30 other things happened already. It's even harder for political creators as you have to add the time it takes to stream/edit a video explaining why it's bad to your audience on top of it. There is this great line from the character Nemik in the Andor series that describes my thoughts on the subject quite well: "the pace of repression outstrips our ability to understand it [...] it's easier to hide behind 40 atrocities than a single incident
2 months ago | 1
Alice Cappelle
Bonjour! I wanted to ask you guys what are your thoughts on how we should talk about Trump and Musk's trolling politics and the fatigue it creates. Purely reacting to what is going on and explaining why they are bad feels increasingly counter-productive as these guys use reaction, especially negative reaction, to stay relevant. I have some thoughts on this but I wanted to ask you how you feel about this
2 months ago | [YT] | 1,810