Episode 154 - Listener Mailbag #2

This episode is a patreon exclusive - if you'd like to get access + plenty of other bonuses do consider supporting the show on Patreon : / thedeprogram

[@JurgMudveins]

Yugopnik with the "He's so white" jokes at 21 minutes is killing me. From: a guy so white he looks like the ghost of a pint of milk

[@Srymak]

slavs not white confirmed 🥳🥳🥳

[@chungus816]

Schrödingers slav, white in the US, poc in europe

[@satyasyasatyasya5746]

2:30 *hoot is short for "hootenanny" - a casual gathering of people with music. southern US english afaik*

[@medders7826]

When you start having guests again you should get British rapper Lowkey. The guy has done huge things for Palestine with regards to songs, charity and finding out information. Pretty sure he is a owner of Mintpress but please go check him out, honestly it would be such a good show. Plus Lowkey and Hakim can bond on both being from Iraq

[@funkypunk931]

Lowkey's great!

[@mars_0_0_0]

Ah finally, my favourite men bless me once again; Stephen Curry, a chav, and Jim Cramer

[@liftedspirit984]

Lmaoooooo

[@joeschmoe2202]

Don't you dare compare Lenin to that fucking hack!

[@scout8145]

Whenever I see subtler pro-police stickers on cars here in the US, my immediate copium thought is “this is a tactic to get out of a ticket when a cop pulls them over.” I’ve met a few people who openly admitted to doing that, but I don’t know if it actually works.

[@Rocinante0489]

The shitposting episodes are the best

[@DumbyDooDoo]

The "thin blue line" can also refer to how police are supposed to protect one another. This is most often used when a police officer is killed in the line of duty and was popularized with the 1988 movie of the same name. It is also often used in cases where a wrongful arrest, beating, or killing committed by an officer gets negative press. Essentially, that every officer should publicly defend other member's actions, regardless of the inhumanity of the actions of the officer. This got rebranded into the flag, I believe, to encourage this defense by the general populace.

[@RedSatyros]

You guys should have The Black Red Guard on as a guest

[@Rocinante0489]

Real

[@Rocinante0489]

Love brg

[@Nb-yx6er]

I think they need to have a Maoist on at some point in general, I’ve been hoping they’d have a Filipino natdem on as well

[@Rocinante0489]

@@Nb-yx6er that would go hard

[@joeschmoe2202]

Hes a maoist. I doubt it

[@randomviewernotrelated808]

19:12 I didn’t hear anything about the mods on JT’s Volvo until this episode, but when he started talking about it I instantly knew it was a LS swap. (He is from the south)

[@SecondThought]

Every Texan gets an LS swapped sleeper when they turn 18 🙂‍↕️

[@Omniseed]

​@@SecondThoughtit's the first Texan amendment to the Alamo of Freedom

[@Turdfergusen382]

Cmon! Let’s support these guys! If we get a few more supporters, maybe we can afford Hakim a video camera to go along with his mic. 👍

[@Ajente02]

Hakim don't show his face due to personal security reasons, not because he doesn't have a good camera. But perhaps we could get him an actually good VTuber model!

[@Zachthesloth]

He has a camera that is his face

[@goitcore]

SHAFT CAM! SHAFT CAM! SHAFT CAM!

[@BobtheRedead]

On the topic of the Soviet documentary JT mentioned at 36:55, Oh Sport You Are Peace, the Russian word for "peace" and "world" are the same-- "mir." So the title also means Oh Sport, You Are The World.

[@fukuu7998]

Manuia fa'afetai comrades for the incredible work you have all done to promote the cause of socialism

[@MatthewOstergren]

44:44 Sorry Hakim. When I find when I start to apply a material lens to the study of religious faith, what I seem to find is a social phenomenon that is fully explainable through that lens. Some questions might not be able to be put under a microscope, but the evidence available, in my opinion, suggests that we're just some particularly clever and socially organized animals and that the religious stuff originated with people striving to give explanations to the world around them and create social rules and traditions that encouraged and helped a community survive. Like, there's just not further elaboration needed. All the gods and prophets and miracles have no credible evidence. It's just stories people came up with and there doesn't seem like there is any further explanation needed.

[@GraveStone4U]

Yep, there's a great lecture by prof. Lunacharsky about religion and how and why it was created. It all falls in line with materialism view, from Animism to modern religions, matter before spirit.

[@romanmeneghinister1584]

As far as direct action, getting factories manufacturing components to go strike. But the militant labor movement is basically back at an infancy stage, so bds at present might be the best. That and sa*****ge. The protests are good for drawing out the contradictions of the capitalist system, or at least the corporate duopoly. It might actually be getting people to demexit which is kinda critical for getting an independent labor movement going

[@urek9808]

i watch to hear hakim laugh

[@catherinejanet5806]

he has that hearty boomer laugh

[@samkuzel]

Wow that’s really messed up that Spotify is giving y’all literally nothing

[@mayamayhemmusic]

yeah. as you surely know, depending on what you do, Spotify pays between fuck all and barely fuck all.

[@Icanbarelyfinishpersonagames]

When JT turns the accent it really is a shock even thought I know brother JT is from Texas.

[@sigmalpha_testostronewolf]

Who else is wiggling they toes rn 😂😂💯💯

[@jahnsemtex]

ok then take some money once again... ❤❤❤

[@lordzuzu6437]

Just went to youtube because you said they don't pay anything lol

[@4marra]

43:45 spiritual beliefs and a scientific framework for analysis of the world through history and as it presently exists are not inherently contradictory, it’s very easy for me to rationalise that a higher power and an afterlife very well may exist whilst still believing that the best way to approach the worlds issues is through a dialectical materialist understanding. Traditional indigenous religion is part of my cultural music and history, so reconciling these two belief systems is a necessity to maintain my identity, a necessity which is pretty easy to realise if you think about it for awhile

[@Ajente02]

I feel so tempted to answer all of the questions the guys read by miself here in the comments to inject my own personal reading... But as a wise Iraqi Marxist physician once said, _"I'm too fucking tired"._ Also, Yugopnik's ADHD was *WILD* on the first half of the episode. He needs to start consciously self-controlling his interruptions.

[@valorieya]

in mother yugoslavia, adhd control you. jokes aside aren't people with adhd literally diagnosed and treated because of un-produtive behavior? (at least that was the reason they told me for my add and autism diagnosis) why should people care about these things when the main benefactor of people having their attention spans under control is the bourgeoisie?

[@merbst]

Happy New Month!

[@Nyota7766]

New deprogram ep, hell yeah.

[@macewindow4642]

@2:38 that is also the sound southern US couples make in the privacy of their home at night

[@Sankara22]

GREAT POD

[@hoboroadie4623]

In Appalachia, a holler is something you would hear, or Holler is a regional term for a Hollow, a geographical feature.

[@hoboroadie4623]

"I'm goin' up the holler to check my still."

[@satyasyasatyasya5746]

they're on the wrong track, hoot is short for "hootenanny" - a casual gathering of people with typically folk music. southern US english afaik

[@sonnybits5810]

If you are a sports ball fan it can be a good subject to show differences between an actual meritocracy vs. BS American version; finding common ground with otherwise unpolitical folks. A decent "in" if you're sitting around the TV or at a sports bar or whatever. 👍

[@Effective_tool_of_Satan]

Now some places do drone spectacles with led lights. That's better

[@entertainproxi9140]

Hakim's opinion on electoralism and engaging with 3rd parties should be played on repeat with loud speakers inside the rooms of American leftist streamers.

[@studijasymrov7630]

18:48 You need to make a trip across Americas and Eurasia and Africa: From Prudhoe Bay to Ushuaia; from Magadan to Capetown.

[@thematronsmilitia]

I think "hootin and hollerin" is a phrase mocking indigenous war cries, songs and leleing

[@mangleman25]

43:46 *Thank* you for this question as well as the answer, this is something I struggle with as someone who is a practicing pagan but also a pinko commie bastard. This eases the mind a little bit

[@renaigh]

2019, great year, gone too soon.

[@ristekostadinov2820]

27:28 i haven't eaten beans soup with cheese, but i do enjoy it bacon or sausage or if you want to get fancy and put some pastrima/pastrami. I don't mind lentil soup, but it don't make me feel full after 3 hours i have to munch on something lol

[@emperorspock3506]

33:10 No, you're getting it all wrong! Everyone knows Lenin was a mushroom!

[@saulgrant-drummond8449]

Kia ora, a historian youtuber 'Mr. Terry History' has reacted to a few of Hakims and JTs videos. I think he's a liberal, maybe leaning more libertarian, not sure. But he has been very open minded, and has a lot of questions he'd like to ask you guys. He's an actual historian too, so it'd be fascinating as someone currently studying history, politics and IR to see a really in depth conversation with him.

[@Robert_Bob_Bobrob]

The obligatory question about the vulva confused me! 😅

[@goutamboppana961]

guys, can you please tell me how to write QnA's to you? i have so many questions to ask you for

[@Wolfiemlm]

With short content being so popular, YT shorts to TT, especially for the younger folks, would it not be worth doing content like that? & if that isn't for you, would you have advice on doing short form propaganda content?

[@mayamayhemmusic]

never had blue cheese salad, but honestly, I imagine I can fuck with that. I'll try making it, it sounmds tamsty!!~ >w< cc:

[@geoffreymartin6363]

Yo JT you heard they're making a new trailer park boys?

[@Rompelstaump]

Is JT working on the "LEFTISM for dummies" version of the project 2025 training videos? I'm dumb but I want to know how to organize leftist a coalition in my area.

[@nickmargaritis3263]

🎉

[@alanhorton7300]

The American flag is so uninspired in terms of its imagery. It's like "we used to have this many of these, but now we have this many of these."

[@Ajente02]

Totally. Want an inspiring, original flag? Look at the Nepalis! Now THAT'S a creative flag.

[@plantguy3346]

My birthday is new years eve

[@brownieeclaircroissant]

1:03:58

[@HakimButSouthAfrican]

Yugopnik takes over from Hakim as the most racist man

[@romanmeneghinister1584]

The religion question. How is garnering support by coopting, cherry picking, aspects of faith different from tricking people into supporting your movement? Is that developing class consciousness among people? Inevitably, the organized faiths are going to come into conflict your movement. Evolution is a scientifically established phenomenon. Should the movement incorporate creationism into it to get the creationist faiths on side? It would be anti materialist to entertain such a thing.

[@Ajente02]

Uplifting the positive aspects of organized religion is not _"cherry picking"_ nor _"tricking people"._ Just like any other social development in the superstructure, there are progressive and reactionary elements in any social institution; that includes religion. There are even progressive tendencies inside most major religions who contradict with the hegemonic conservative or reactionary tendencies (as a Latin American, the best example I can think of are the _red priests_ who fought against the US-sponsored military dictatorships alongside the leftist organizations -one of them is currently the Pope-, or the Theology of Liberation, none of which are in anything with the revolutionary movement). Creationism and other anti-scientific beliefs are not something to be upheld, but you won't reject the social work, collective spirit, or "preference for the oppressed" beliefs that most religions share.

[@romanmeneghinister1584]

@Ajente02 sure, organized faiths are on occasion allies in specific struggles, but on the whole, they aren't ideologically aligned with Marxism Leninism. If you do something because you believe god will like you more, or that your sense of right and wrong is based on what gods claim to be right and wrong, is that the same as having class consciousness? Faith is up to the individual, but we should as Marxist leninists use what is real and provable as a means of determining right and wrong. Organized faiths seldom has revolutionary potential. It tends to be reactionary on the whole and tends towards alleviating the pain of the current conditions, rather than seeking to end them. Buddhism teaches that suffering is universal and only through the eight fold path can you escape worldy suffering. The abrahamic faiths have heaven as something to reward the faithful and oppressed people. Hinduism teaches that your current existence is in part based on your souls past actions and that you have reaped what you have sown, be it good or bad. I find faiths to be fascinating to study, and a lot of people do do good things because of their faith. But you do not need faith to be a good person, and we should teach people to be a good person because it is right, and not because it is what god wants.

[@petrolandcoffee]

JT looks a lot cooler without the hair low-key, keep the hat on brother

[@atesah]

dude the internet has made as rude af. JT is a sweetie pie and looks cute as a button at all times