11.1 Why the Russian Revolution Failed: When Rich Kids do all the Socialism

[@Andrewism]

Any time oppressors "give" the oppressed a measure of liberty, it always comes with a catch. The peasants were free from serfdom but had to compensate the landowners. The enslaved were free from slavery but were subject to sharecropping or apprenticeship.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

yes! there’s even a quote from the czar justified this to the angry nobility by saying something like “better this happens from above than below” too tired to find it right now, but i have it somewhere… i think i pasted it in my notes for the next ep

[@choosecarefully408]

You made a statement about chapter fifteen of a book as if it was the introduction: 'Any time oppressors "give" the oppressed a measure of liberty...' "give?" Right there, you're skipping past what *everyone keeps* skipping past. We accept that some people are in _UNQUESTIONABLE_ decision-making power so naturally that we're already completely in a state of Learned Helplessness & then proceed from there. Look at the groups wanting to reform campaign finance. They _"have to"_ ask the very oppressors who set up what they want overturned for permission? & permission to _what?_ These groups, even if handed the power to make the changes themselves would still beg 'Daddy' to apply them &/or come begging again next time for the next legal loophole the corrupt politicians themselves invented. They have A Constitution that makes politicians legally equal to them yet mentally cannot act without the permission of these corrupt politicians they should be charging, prosecuting & arresting _for_ illegally taking private $ while in public office, a thing that their daily news reminded them _was still_ 100% illegal for two full years, in the articles of impeachment against Trump. & you too also went into "but *they* aren't gonna arrest themselves" mode. _NO ONE_ outside of a Dostoyevski novel "arrests themselves!" Y'all come here discussing isms as if isms, once set up transport to you food & clothing for your children, protection from Invisible Enemies & you're terrified of angering the _politicians_ because somehow *they **_are_* the ism AND a potentially angry father who will abandon you if you merely question them & even _that_ is a self-deluding mental state to be in. All that ANY politician does is rubber stamp the policies written up by *corporate interests* & you _KNOW_ this because no one can _take_ their $ then not do as they command & survive. Ergo they aren't "maybe lobbying influences them a little 0.0005% of the time" this was made a crime by the framers of your constitution precisely because taking that $ puts you under their power _100%_ of the time! And you *_KNOW_* this. You keep conflating these things as being done by the "ism" when no "ism" has ever done or prevented any thing. Capitalism doesn't force volunteers to get paid, communism didn't shoot peasants, & the people making decisions are mind-controlled by some ism. We're in a position now with the ability to communicate with everyone & the only thing stopping us from acting to reduce or remove the power of these people allaregreen.us/ from being the only people who can "give" us our freedom is constantly feeling oppressed by that they won't arrest themselves. You're putting all the power _INTO_ their hands by waiting for some "ism" in Political Form to come rescue you.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

@Maria CANCER sorry to hear that - it takes a long time to grow an audience unfortunately - try posting videos on relevant reddit subs or facebook groups, or discords that often helps get a certain exposure

[@gengar1187]

​@@choosecarefully408 my young bro relax

[@comandantedubois2397]

still waiting for a successful anarchist revolution in 2023 lmao

[@Andrewism]

Fantastic video as usual! Seeing all the parallels to the movements and ideas of today gave me a permeating sense of deja vu.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

haha, right? i have to be clear that I have a lot of respect for the russian socialists of that time, they were very brave, and many were very sincere and took huge risks and sacrifices - unlike so many of our own “radicals” in the rich democracies who have every opportunity and very few restrictions nowadays. But i wanted to highlight those very real similarities because it’s quite startling!

[@ladymacbethofmtensk896]

The lesson is to accept that nothing is nor will ever be perfect and that is nothing to feel guilty about.

[@nilsdahlin8744]

The Soviet Union was absolutely nothing like modern day America and this guy trying to spin it as some parallel to modern liberalized America was a complete joke.

[@furnacego2164]

"What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." Ecclesiastes 1:9

[@discipleofkruppe]

@@nilsdahlin8744no I think he meant that he sees this range of ideologies in the leftist spectrum of ideologies and he wasn’t making a comparison between the countries but rather the leftist ideologies

[@brysonfetters4934]

I had no idea that Marx actually changed his views on the Russian Peasants later in life, I learned a lot about late 19th century Russia from this video. thank you so much for putting in the time and effort to make this!

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

thanks - i knew he change his ideas a little, but not to this extent! this stuff is really not discussed much at all anymore and i was pretty surprised by a lot of it despite thinking i had a good grasp of the general picture

[@nicanornunez9787]

I think Chomsky talks about that. But it never goes balls deep in the how do you say that in English, sack of potatoes? A bag of Pringles I guess.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

@@nicanornunez9787 hahah nice - i dont remember him talking about it, if you can find something let me know

[@Daniel-uk6yr]

@@WHATISPOLITICS69 yeah he spoke about it. I think it was in a video about lenin, he briefly mentions marx having gained the view that russian peasant have "revolutionary potential"

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

@@Daniel-uk6yr ah ok so not in great depth ,but he mentions it. he would be the type to know about it - all the capitalists and leninist would be interested in forgetting about it

[@LuckyBlackCat]

Will watch this later but just stopping by to boost that algorithm with a muted play and a comment. Congrats on completing another video and thank you for all your hard work.

[@Anark]

An absolutely incredible video. I was very engaged from beginning to end. Also, I am impressed that you were able to cover so many important subjects about the Russian Revolution while also never becoming too bogged down in unnecessary detail. You struck a fantastic balance between necessary information and high-level education. This and the 1st part of the series remain not only some of the best primers I have encountered on the Russian Revolution, but go even further than this into being a genuinely informative resource for those who are interested in the subject. Even as someone who studied the Russian Revolution quite in depth when making my own videos, I learned many new things here. Lastly, it gave me food for thought, especially considering the current urban chauvinism of leftism and its enduring failure to reach out to rural communities, which may very well prove amenable to anarchism. I am very impressed with this work and look forward to the coming parts.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

thank you! yes there’s a lot that i learned while reading for this that surprised me, and i thought i knew a lot about this beforehand… beyond urban chauvisnism there’s also a lot of chauvinism against less educated people in general, and people with less money!

[@MirrorSurfer]

Perfectly balanced. As all things should be. 🗡

[@MrDeicide1]

@@WHATISPOLITICS69 None of this is true. Socialism doesn't mean worker "elimination of all domination". It doesn't mean direct control of workers over industrial production. It doesn't mean democratic decision making in the workplace. It just means replacing Private ownership - with that of the State. What THAT was explained as - was "dictatorship of the proletariat". So the titular dictator, Expressly, was the People, not Lenin nor Stalin. The "immediate elimination of the State itself" -- was the dream, and the demands, of anarcho-syndicalists, NOT the socialists. At the time Soviet Union was being Invaded, by expeditionary corps', from almost every country in Europe, and domestic "white guard" collaborators-- the anarcho-syndicalists launched the Kronstadt Rebellion, undermining the new Bolshevik state's ability to fight off the Invasion. Same thing that scum did in Spain, in Barcelona, and wider Catalonia. Anarcho-syndicalists, Bakunyinists, were always the right hand of fascists. Their assassinations and bombing campaigns - is what led to the hysteria of "Red Scare" , and to the Banning of all socialist and communist parties, in most of the western world. They're the reason the U.S doesn't have a Left, for a 100 years now... And because of that, you're mixing apples and oranges the entire time. What you were talking about in Introduction -- is democratic socialism of Edward Kardelj, and something implemented (in form) -- in former Jugoslavia, since the early '60s. "Socialist Self-governance" I couldn't stand more than 3 minutes of this nonsense. You created a Frankenstein strawman for yourself to attack. Go learn the Basics of what Scientific Socialism is, and what Anarchism is. You are one Very confused puppy....

[@Synochra]

I have never before decided to give money to a creator after watching just one of their videos, but god damnit comrade, I can't begin to describe how profoundly this video has touched me. Thanks and keep up the work, I'm happy to give a little bit and I encourage others to do the same.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

wow, it’s comments like this that really keep me going. the money helps too for sure, but the fact that it means that much to you is huge so i know im doing something right… i imagine you’ll get a lot out of the other videos too, and i learn a ton of things doing these videos, but this one in particular shocked me - i actually had a script ready but wanted to read a “little more” to get a better grasp on peasant issues, and then got sucked into reading 2500 pages worth of stuff and discovered all of these totally ignored issues! so i really appreciate that it meant a lot to you as well as it did for me! i should be fair to the russian socialists in the 19thC that they were very brave and risked their lives, much moreso than our socialists today in the rich countries, so the comparison is unfair, but my goal is to focus on today and what traps we need to avoid.

[@practicaliching2311]

When Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge, the first order the Khmer gave was to turn in your guns. The Khmer then ordered everyone to evacuate the city. The people were forced to leave all their possessions at the river bank and we're dispossessed of everything they owned.. Then the people were put into forced labor camps and worked sun up until sun down without adequate food or medical care. The Khmer killed anyone who spoke a foreign language or wore glasses. Every rainy season the army would come back from the front and kill a wider circle of their political enemies. Wives, siblings, and cousins. To save bullets, the Khmer would kill them by forcing them to kneel down and then smashing them in the back of the head with a heavy short handled hoe. This is the purest example of socialism in history. It is just implemented differently and called different things like communism or Democratic Socialism in different countries with different cultures and histories.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

@@practicaliching2311 see this is what happens when people don’t know the defintions of words. socialism is when workers control their workplaces and the government, and when they own everything cooperatively, so that there’s no more employer employee relationship. the genocides in cambodia is just genocide using the word “socialism” to justify itself. If I drop a nuclear bomb in the name of Jesus, does that mean christianity is about nuclear war? no. same thing here.

[@Kenneth-ts7bp]

@@WHATISPOLITICS69 Socialism sucks

[@kimobrien.]

@@WHATISPOLITICS69 That just show how much you don't understand if all that human progress involved was proper definition of words we'd probable still be chasing animals around for food and eating wild vegetables. Every workers revolution has had the problem of the state because they've faced a counter revolution from the old police and military and from the capitalist powers. This is a question that reformist tendencies want to avoid since they are afraid of hurting feelings. Marx pointed at the new state the commune put in place and Professors like Chomsky and Wolfe want to hide behind a lot of hand waving when this problem is referred to because to address this problem more theory is required than we will put off that question to some other day. .Sure post WW2 the Stalinist won a few revolutions but that is nothing compared to the number they lost both before and after the second world war. Of course you'd have to reject the idea that the Soviet Union was a capitalist country and that the cold war was not a zero sum game. Neither Mosulinini nor Hitler faced the initial hostility that the Soviet state faced from all the Imperialist countries either.

[@theoboueid6450]

This series is one hell of a rabbit hole and is insanely interesting. I cannot even begin imagine the amount of research that it took to make this video. The whole going over the different branches of socialism in Russia, the characteristics of its peasantry, Marx's letters and his change of positions... You brought all of these elements in such a detailed, clear and cohesive way. It makes me realize how much more complex is the context behind what became the USSR dictatorship. I cannot believe the fact that you manage being a part-time lawyer in addition to creating such high quality essays. Incredible! I'm really thankful for your honest work. I genuinely hope we're still getting the episode about the Russian revolution because I would 100% watch it. Cheers!

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

yes, episode 11.2 is eventually coming, but finishing the series on israel and palestine right now. and yes, it’s an insane amount of work, i got sick 5 times early this year and had serious burnout, but i finally figured a way to get most of my income from the podcast and take only very few legal cases from now on so that helps a lot.

[@deadcaliph6414]

Rich kids that were rightfully dissatisfied with how their parents were treating the peasants, factory and industrial workers, rightfully reached out to them and ask them to fight for a say in politics, but wrongfully approached them with romantic lenses that, as a result, caused some alienation between them. So rather than making the working class an equal, they remained as a lower class compared to the rich kids that now operated all the enterprises of Russia as one government-owned organization. Without anything changing much for the labor population. Most importantly, it's about asking people what they need out of their life and what they want to improve in their condition, get to know them as friends and family, not as employees, clients and attendants to preach to.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

yes, this is a wise comment. i have to say that even though i’m criticizing them sharply, the people i’m discussing here were very brave and took huge risks and made big sacrifices. but they were not aware of how their position was undermining socialism, and promoting their own class self interest. any movement will have wealthy and educated people as part of it, but they have to be helping not directing the movement, or else it becomes a new ruling class movement in disguise, even with the best intentions.

[@RESTITVTOR_TOTIVS_HISPANIAE]

So, you want them to lose the war and be annihilated

[@NixonThr336ix]

Lenin was so concerned he treated the population worse then all the tsars combined, He promised “peace land & bread” he then derived a war worse then the WWI the worst famine in history & stole everyone’s land

[@SouvenTudu1]

*-owned business

[@SouvenTudu1]

Yes Communism is like Cronyism

[@aumioishaat8167]

As a broke grad student I wouldn't at all mind ad breaks on your channel if it means it makes you more financially secure, in fact I'd love it knowing it supports the invaluable work that you're doing. This video answers questions I've had for years, and you've answered them so succinctly, yet with all the nuance to come to a near complete understanding of the developments of socialism. Thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart!

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

ads on youtube drive me absolutely nuts and i just won’t ever allow them so long as i have a choice! but thank you

[@ModernConversations]

I adore it. It sets you a cut above the rest in a subtle way. I know this is something that you have to express; you're not just gigging to get ahead of me. :P

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

@@ModernConversations thanks - what does “gigging to get ahead of me” mean?

[@ModernConversations]

@@WHATISPOLITICS69 like I watch all these deep youtube videos talking about the disaffected state of my generation, about the political tumultuousness and inner alienation and unease, and then reminding you by doing a paid promotion that they're actually doing this as a hustle so that they don't have to hold down my shitty minimum wage job. It's like going to church and realising that the preacher is relating to you in lieu of holding down a 9-5.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

@@ModernConversations haha, well i cant blame anyone for not wanting to be enslaved by a horrible job, but i’m lucky that I can earn a living at something that’s worthwhile without having to resort to ads and marketing stuff.

[@weltenrandwanderer2626]

Wow, that was incredibly interesting. I just got through the video. I think I will have to re-watch it a few times to take it all in. Thank you for all you hard work and for sharing so generously. I am already supporting on patreon, but I am glad to hear that you take care of yourself to make this sustainable. Only appreciation!

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

thank you so much, its much appreciated. im glad people want to see these more than once, it’s worth the effort! and yes, this one really burnt me out, but im taking care of myself, sometimes you need to make big efforts to start building something. but im taking care to make it sustainable for the future

[@j.rivermartin3412]

@@WHATISPOLITICS69 You can count me among those who will watch / listen several times. Were I rich, my brother, I'd send you all the money you need for five years and set you busy both writing and making such videos. It would be an honor system. Basically, I'd pay for all of your needs and merely request that you also write a book or two. Alas, I cannot even pay for dental care.

[@Navinor]

This video was amazing! I am from germany myself and this is really refreshing, because some of the points you are mentioning in the video are new to me.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

many were new to me as well before i did the research for this!

[@pianospeedrun]

One of the most comprehensive and enjoyable history videos i've ever seen, and I've seen a LOT reminds me of my best history teachers in school, the ones that seemed to always have a bag full of surprises at every lesson, the dry humour, the hour long lessons passing by like they where 5 minutes... Also very interesting to point out the guilt aristocrats felt early in the video. I relate to this guilt a lot, and it pushed me to make some weird decisions (& long depression phases) in my own life. Now I can see it as what it is, a pattern. I'm a piano teacher and do my job with a passion, the guilt is slowly subsiding. The better I do my job, the less guilt I feel. You mentionned teachers especially women who would go to the peasants and awnser some of their needs rather than pushing narratives to them. That's my style of teaching the piano, and it's very peacefull (especially with kids) and enjoyable as kids have inner motivation to play the stuff THEY like. It also gives a sobering insight into people's lives. Today after thousands of hours of learning history, economics and politics, I have no clue what's best for us. A part of me wants to be politically active, the other part feels like just riding it out, simply observing the patterns of history and comfortably chilling on the side. I had a fascination recently for Yanis Varoufakis, thanks to your video I understand much better his interest in reviving Marxism as capitalism has maybe advanced far enough from his perspective for socialism to be viable now. Interesting to note that Varoufakis is the son of an engineer, he's been well off all his life basically, the guilt in him has to be a motivating factor to keep pushing for fairness in his country. If you have time and believe it to be a subject worth interest, I would greatly appreciate your perspective on "irony". Maybe i'm just biased, but I see irony pop up everywhere thru history, there's something about it...

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

hi thanks! i like varoufakis too and guilt is a waste, just be responsible and help in the ways you can. being a good piano teacher is important! dont really have anything to say about irony, sometimes it’s funny and makes a good point, sometimes it’s a way to avoid emotions

[@donnievance1942]

Thanks so much for this very important historical document. The catastrophic devolvement of the communist movement into totalitarian states laid a massive burden of stigma on socialism that we are still struggling with today in a very big way. I've long had my suspicions that something like the dynamics you're talking about here was at the root of what went down in Russia, but I never had the historical background to really have any opinions about it. I'll be arranging a viewing with some of my SocDem friends and talking up some contributions. What an amazing revision of the legacy of Marx!

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

@@donnievance1942 thank you! i was pretty surprised about what I found, and I thought I was knowledgeable on the subject! i’m not the biggest fan of modern social democracy (which i think is better termed “welfare capitalism”) because it still maintains the employee employer dependence relationship and the state ends up getting coopted by the biggest firms who subsidize themselves and i think it undermines itself over time - BUT - it is a huuuge improvement over what we have today, so I’ll take it if that’s what’s on the table!

[@anubis2814]

Amazing Breakdown. I found much of this in the revolutions podcast and used it in my series "what the heck is communism". You took it even further and I knew Marx had changed some of his opinions in his old age but I didn't realize he did it so drastically. It redeems some of the things I had against him, which damns other bourgeois Russian thinkers even more so.

[@davidfoust9767]

Incredible video! It is really hard to get a grasp on Russian history because everything is filtered through a US anti communist lens. This detailed history and analysis is very valuable.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

yeah you get the anti communist lens, then you get the justify everything the bolsheviks ever did lens, i was surprised by what i found in here

[@Conman2541]

@WHAT IS POLITICS? I didn't find that you really touched on the bolsheviks specifically. Like you just presume the positions of the mensheviks, economists, and plekhanov as the homogenous "Russian marxist line" even tho Lenin was criticizing a lot of the same things that you do. Like, what about the bolsheviks adopting the left SR program in the leadup to 1917? What about the Leninist lines on the peasantry as an ally with the urban proletariat (hence the hammer AND sickle)? What about debates with Trotsky, who took a lot of your maligned anti-peasant positions? Plekhanov was practically irrelevant by 1917, he was completely outside of the RSDLP factions, for reasons you correctly point out. Why act like all these differing trends in Russian Marxism are undifferentiated, when they were splitting over these very questions as early as 1905?

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

@@Conman2541 that’s because I didn’t get there yet! we basically end this episode at the turn of the century before the bolsheviks even exist! I mentioned 1905 a couple of times, but next episode starts at the bolshevi k menshevik split and will be largely (but not entirely) focused on lenin and trotsky

[@kurtklingbeil6900]

Not merely an "anti communist lens" but rather a gratuitous petulant Manifest Destiny Exceptionalist hostility toward collectivism or challenges to an elitist ruling elite. Socialism / Comminism served as raw material to a century of manufactured Enemies - along with the Manufactured Consent to engage in hyper-militarized warmongering. The Amerikkkan Empire - a variant of Dictatorship with a clever mythological/psychological PR program remains mired in McCarthyist RedScare polemics and the anachronistic Right-Left false paradigm. As far as "lens" goes, the Amerikkkan airbrushed sanitized heroic his-storical narrative looks like it's through a fisheye

[@NoMasters.]

​@@WHATISPOLITICS69can't wait to see it! You're literally the only source I've found that filters everything through the lens of leftism=equality of decision making, which has been my understanding since investigating the origin of the term and the philosophy. The French Revolution and mainly Spinoza and Rousseau. After that understanding, so much of history falls into place, so to speak, and you can't unsee the power dynamics at play. I think it's a crucial understanding to spread so thank you for what you do and I wish I could help more.

[@phithinker02]

This video has been profound for me. I didn't know much about the Narodniks and what came out of that period. I also didn't know that Marx recognized the revolutionary potential of the peasantry towards the end of his life. Knowing that recontextualizes some important things for me, chiefly the ways in which things could have played out differently in Russia had more of the Marxists been scientific in their analysis of things rather than blindly following a schema that Marx himself disavowed. Great stuff and looking forward to the next episode!

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

next time we’ll see how this set the bolsheviks for massive failure - and also some other mistakes they made unrelated to this

[@MrDeicide1]

@@WHATISPOLITICS69 None of this is true. Socialism doesn't mean worker "elimination of all domination". It doesn't mean direct control of workers over industrial production. It doesn't mean democratic decision making in the workplace. It just means replacing Private ownership - with that of the State. What THAT was explained as - was "dictatorship of the proletariat". So the titular dictator, Expressly, was the People, not Lenin nor Stalin. The "immediate elimination of the State itself" -- was the dream, and the demands, of anarcho-syndicalists, NOT the socialists. At the time Soviet Union was being Invaded, by expeditionary corps', from almost every country in Europe, and domestic "white guard" collaborators-- the anarcho-syndicalists launched the Kronstadt Rebellion, undermining the new Bolshevik state's ability to fight off the Invasion. Same thing that scum did in Spain, in Barcelona, and wider Catalonia. Anarcho-syndicalists, Bakunyinists, were always the right hand of fascists. Their assassinations and bombing campaigns - is what led to the hysteria of "Red Scare" , and to the Banning of all socialist and communist parties, in most of the western world. They're the reason the U.S doesn't have a Left, for a 100 years now... And because of that, you're mixing apples and oranges the entire time. What you were talking about in Introduction -- is democratic socialism of Edward Kardelj, and something implemented (in form) -- in former Jugoslavia, since the early '60s. "Socialist Self-governance" I couldn't stand more than 3 minutes of this nonsense. You created a Frankenstein strawman for yourself to attack. Go learn the Basics of what Scientific Socialism is, and what Anarchism is. You are one Very confused puppy....

[@maybepriyansh9193]

new viewer here. Absolutely loving how insightful and rigorous your work here is. Thanks so much for this. Will surely be a patreon once I have more disposable income which is pretty soon!

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

thank you! look in the video notes, there’s a link to the bibliography - it’s on a patreon pages but nothing is every behind a paywall so you can access it. bibliography has links if the articles are available online

[@MirrorSurfer]

As some old head once said "You should never have heros." People are just people and are hence prone to falter ever so often as you've so perfectly laid out. No one person has ever had the perfect first thought but are constantly revising and updating their ideas and theories.

[@MrHippasus]

"Pity the country that needs heroes" - Bertolt Brecht

[@JSmusiqalthinka]

As a socialist currently researching Lenin/the Russian Revolution, this is invaluable. This makes a bunch of stuff click. Thank you, comrade.

[@Helelsonofdawn]

why do you suck so bad at life that you want me taxed more?

[@practicaliching2311]

When Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge, the first order the Khmer gave was to turn in your guns. The Khmer then ordered everyone to evacuate the city. The people were forced to leave all their possessions at the river bank and we're dispossessed of everything they owned.. Then the people were put into forced labor camps and worked sun up until sun down without adequate food or medical care. The Khmer killed anyone who spoke a foreign language or wore glasses. Every rainy season the army would come back from the front and kill a wider circle of their political enemies. Wives, siblings, and cousins. To save bullets, the Khmer would kill them by forcing them to kneel down and then smashing them in the back of the head with a heavy short handled hoe. This is the purest example of socialism in history. It is just implemented differently and called different things like communism or Democratic Socialism in different countries with different cultures and histories.

[@JSmusiqalthinka]

@@practicaliching2311 That's why I don't claim Pol Pot as any kind of leftist. He just used Marxism-Leninism as a vehicle for Khmer nationalism/supremacy. What he did runs contrary to socialist values, and people who defend that shit aren't leftists as far as I'm concerned.

[@multipleleekisms]

@practicaliching2311 Yo​​​u're def not a right wing partisan hack that has a cartoonishly stupid red scare idea of what the word socialism means lmfao.... Go read about the origin of the German Social Democratic Labor Party which still exists today & enjoys wide support in all of it's assorted iterations around Europe (Labor Party UK, etc.) & US funding of the Khmer Rouge, if you actually care to understand. Left wing, self proclaimed socialist or communist regimes don't have a monopoly on authoritarianism. Ever heard of Augusto Pinochet? Why don't you ask the average Chilean how they've lived the past 40+ years because of this insanely misinformed & bloodthirsty anti-leftist ideology the US took up after the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945.You're probably one of those guys that would make jokes about helicopter rides and think the Nazis were socialists "cuz it's in name & gubment did stuff, hur dur"

[@multipleleekisms]

​@@practicaliching2311😂😂😂

[@OntologicalCatastrophe]

I see you haven't uploaded anything in a while. Whatever youre up to those days I hope youre well, thanks for all the free education youve offered us

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

it often takes me months to make these videos - i took 3 weeks off after the last one so i can work and earn money, and have been working on the next one since then…, should be out in a few weeks, editing it now

[@nambochimbanskeyold]

Thank you so much! It is enormously refreshing to see someone actually talk about Marx's work on Russia and his general disconnect with so-called Marxists. This video was really interesting and I am very glad that KZbin recommended it to me.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

me too! thanks!

[@joeyracine3631]

Ok, tu m'as eu à la fin avec le "p'tit Staline" 😂 c'est incroyable que tu n'aies pas plus d'abonnés; c'est monumental le travail que tu nous a livré ici. Honnêtement, je crois que c'est le meilleur vidéo que j'aie vu sur le sujet. ✊️

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

haha, merci! trouve-moi donc plus d’abonnés! je croyais m’y connaître quant à la révolution russe, mais j’ai été assez surpris en faisant fait mes recherches pour cet épisode. j’suis heureux qu’au moins une personne a pu rigoler à mon p’tit staline

[@RichardRoy2]

Fascinating. Nice work. Really love the organics of it. The parallels to what goes on now are interesting. It sounds so much like the way many ideologies end up taking: they take on lives outside of the originator's intent. Thank you very much. Definitely worth making what little contribution I could.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

hey thanks so much - and I’m glad youre getting so much out of this - the goal is really to learn from the past so we can make better strategies going forward

[@desi_anarch]

This gave so much depth to my current understanding, and reaffirmed some thoughts too. I appreciate your immense hard work. Love this channel.

[@Igor-tn6cw]

Another great eye opening episode! Thank you for another lesson, you really deserve way more views and subscribers for the effort put in and the quality of your videos!

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

thanks! hopefully eventually! i need to make some easier episodes sometimes so it doesn’t take 4 months to make a new one, maybe that will help…

[@Igor-tn6cw]

@@WHATISPOLITICS69 Thats the perfect move, will keep your audience entertained and bring a lot more people with less of the excruciating research and editing you have to do for those hour long podcasts. I am looking forward to your new videos!

[@littlejohn8100]

@@WHATISPOLITICS69 Maybe make some TLDR videos where you outline a conclusion in a short video. That video could point to an existing video that makes the case for your conclusion. On one of your videos you pointed out two rules for creating minority rule. That was mind blowing to me. I wish everyone knew it. It's hard to ask someone that isn't into these ideas to watch an hour + video. Something short would do the trick though. It would also help someone like me that has watched all of your videos but doesn't remember which video has you talk about the requirements for a minority to rule the majority (1.Control of the important resources, 2. Not allowing alternative systems).

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

@@littlejohn8100 yes, i agree 100% - i want to make 1 minute tiktok length videos just asserting my conclusions/theories without explaining or proving them, and people cant watch the full length ones if they want to know.

[@AgorizTribe]

This episode is so beautiful. I'm working right now in a paper that criticises that criticises "Living Well" o "Vivir Bien" used in Bolivia. And one of the thinks that I rescue from this video is the idea of using the peasants, their live, they way of seeing the world (Cosmovision) as a mean of an end. Thanks again for your work, I´am very grateful for your ideas.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

interesting! i don’t know enough about bolivian culture to know the implications of the living well concept, but sounds super interesting. and yes, people are always looking at other people as a means to an end without realizing it. it’s something to be conscious of in ourselves and others

[@furb7695]

So glad I found this channel, truly a treasure trove of knowledge you can tell how much research you put in, and the way you make it easily digestible is incredible

[@VaQm11]

I've read a few books about Russian (revolutionairy) history, but this is series really helps to bring all of that information together. Thank you for your very clear but not simplefied explenaition, this is great material!

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

thank you! i’m always surprised and learn a lot myself when i do these, but this one really surprised me with what i found

[@quart-knee-lee]

I was a Trotskyist for a very long time and after rethinking that, this is such a perfect encapsulation of why I'm an anarchist now. I appreciate what you do and wouldn't mind ads if they helped you survive because we all need that.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

ads are just too fucking annoying for me to do that - also, don’t want to be worrying about how saying the wrong word of phrase will get the video i spent 3 months on getting demonetized! and oh boy, trostky will not be coming off well in the next episode! trotsky and lenin should be the example of generally well intentioned people can turn into when they fuck up majorly in a position of power

[@quart-knee-lee]

@@WHATISPOLITICS69 looking forward to it!

[@disappointedmess209]

Holy shit what a behemoth of a video. If I had the money I would donate for this amazing content. Everything about the video is spectacular, cant wait for the next part.

[@marinielgalvao5259]

Great show, man. Great episode. I wish I could help you financially, but I make

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

no worries man, that’s why i make everything free! cause i’m always in that same situation myself in regards to supporting the people whose work i benefit from!

[@3210elio]

Great episode! Thank you for all of your hard work!

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

thank you!

[@NeverAloneForever]

I'm buggin'. Found out about your channel through your last video a couple of months ago. Then, last week I remembered your channel and checked for updates. There weren't any yet . . . so I checked out some of your older vids. Then all of a sudden, you bring us this gold. Are you . . . are you magic? P.S. I had heard that seemingly ironic Marx quote many years ago but had not known what it meant. Right and Left have gone on and on about how Marx' predictions about world revolution were wrong and this and that . . . and now you've lifted the veil. Thank you.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

haha, thanks! everyone is magic! i think because i’m older i’m not like deeply invested in politics as identity, and i’m looking at stuff with a bit more skepticism than a lot of youtube people, so my perspectives are a bit different - but it’s crazy how no one focuses on any of this stuff. like for this ep, i just did some extra reading and stumbled on all this crazy shit and a lot of it took me completely by surprise.

[@NeverAloneForever]

@@WHATISPOLITICS69 Wow! Now I can't help but wonder how the Left (and even the Right) might take this. Looks like Plekhanov had his victory . . . until now.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

@@NeverAloneForever yeah it;s crazy, plekhanov was the one who predicted revolution in russia would lead to dictatorship, but in a sense he made it happen by supressing marx’ ideas about peasant socialism!

[@Bigglesworthicus]

Just found your channel a few days ago and I have to say I'm extremely impressed. Have only watched your videos on the emergence of gender hierarchy and your critique of Graeber & Wengrow so far and am working back through your stuff. If this is up to the same standards then I expect to be challenged as someone sympathetic to the Bolsheviks! Good shit comrade, carry on.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

thank you! i myself was very challenged and surprised when doing the research for this and a lot of my assumptions were overturned. and don’t take my word for anything, go check out the bibliography and examine and evaluate for yourself if you have time! the next episode will cover the bolsheviks in depth, good and bad…

[@HGWaze]

Really appreciate what you are doing with this channel! Always recommend it to friends and on forums.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

thank you professor!

[@mr.le-capibar]

Holy---, you just introduced me into this part of history with a lot of grace. Salutations from Brazil !

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

if you have time check out any other history of this period and you’ll get a rather different point of view on it!

[@TheAmericanAmerican]

Man... I've been looking a LONG time for an in depth review of Marxist/Leninism/Russian Revolution history that's legit! The tankies have been insufferable lately and this is such a breath of fresh air! Keep going, Comrade! We need more of your work!

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

thank you! i made this because everyone, tankies to anarchists are all cosplaying 1920s and turning socialism into identity politics with anarchist or leninist as their identity, and it’s nonsense - and all the young people seem to have become cult victims falling for 100 year old fake news, and have turned into totally naive leninists and tankies, and the tankies have taken over every internet space and while they pretend to be anti ID pol they are the ultimate IDpol cancel maniacs, and enough is enough of these lizard people… so everyone needs to look at how badly their side fucked everything up, especially the MLs… like even Lenin realized he fucked up by the end…

[@TheAmericanAmerican]

​@WHAT IS POLITICS? Very well said! In that exact same spirit😅, I do have to ask, if I may, what is your ideological leaning? I've been on my internet political ideology odyssey since 2009 when I started with the madman himself, Alex Jones(2009-2013 was one hell of a fever-dream lol), to today where I'm a... Eco-Marxist/SolarPunk guy? All I know is that I hate tankies, fascists, and capitalism for what it's done to the planet and I want to see it abolished in my lifetime. That all being said, I really really appreciate your work here! I'm might try to join your Patreon if I can swing it! I was a Patreon of Second Thought for a bit but he's been chillin with Hakin too much and I'm afraid the tankie brainrot is taking hold...

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

@@TheAmericanAmerican haha, you’ve been through a wild ride! i don’t think it’s productive to be using ideologies from 100 years ago today in a completely different world. Also people have turned socialism into identity politics with “anarchist” or “marxists” or “marxist leninist” as the identity, and it’s just become ridiculous and disastrous. In general i think hierarchy is extremely dangerous and should only exist when it’s been chosen by all of its members because there’s no better option, and where the people on top are only there because they’re allowed to be there by the people at the bottom. i think decisions need to be make by all of the people affected by them, in proportion to how much they’re affected by them. so this is some kind of libertarian socialism, but i’m not attached to any particular form as long as it’s based on these principles. like i think markets are fine so long as all participants are relatively equal in bargaining power, and markets aren’t really appropriate for more important resources and services, and i think the state might be ok if it’s extremely democratic and has a zillion safeguards and mechanism to hold representatives and executives accountable to the population.

[@TheAmericanAmerican]

@@WHATISPOLITICS69 fuck yea! Let's go!

[@Chris-cq5pw]

Man, that was fantastic. Thank you for all the work you put into it. FYI I found you from your interview on Peter Michael Bauer’s Rewilding podcast (which I also found hugely enriching).

[@bombrix5195]

Oooooo, dude, you're alive! So happy to see that, gonna watch immediately

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

yup, spent the last 4 months making this so i didn’t go anywhere!

[@nathanielmathews2617]

Im thoroughly impressed with this and am delighted to subscribe. This video showed me that you arent falling into the traps so many socialist content creators (and historical figures of course) have. Although i am a bit ignorant on the details of the history of socialism & the revolutions youve helped me out a lot.

[@oiaeyu]

Your videos are litterally a synthesis of most of my interests 😍

[@gregjs9665]

Hands down the best presentation of history I’ve ever encountered. I’ll qualify that by saying that I don’t read/listen to a whole lot of history, but the reason is because most history is nothing like what you do here. I could gobble up huge amounts of this. Not only do you take a massive amount of detailed factual info (most of which is totally unfamiliar to me) and put it into a completely coherent narrative (which a lot of historians do well enough); not only are you super lucid (and entertaining) in how you do this; but most of all-and most uniquely-you make the universal relevance and significance of the particulars of that narrative as plain as can be. To me, that’s the whole point. Why else would I want to study history? I’m not interested in piling up facts or knowing “what happened.” I want meaning-and wow do you deliver! Bravo and thank you. I have a concern, though, which is: why did I have to accidentally stumble on this? Why are you not a well-known author? Please tell me it’s because you simply haven’t tried to get published, that you’re content to simply make videos and podcasts and leave it at that. I would hate to hear that you’ve tried to get published but there’s no market for this level of coherent meaning. That would make sense because our society can’t bear too many examples of meaning and truth because that would expose how little of it we have in our lives. But I would still hate to hear it. Anyways, I hope there’s a lot more to come. I’m subscribed and will be patreon-izing. Thanks again. The work you’ve done (I can’t even imagine how much is involved) makes a difference for me and I’m sure for many others too. ps-I started with your talks on The Dawn of Everything. They’re brilliant. As an amateur-armchair anthropologist, I’m grateful to you for confirming my doubts about the book’s thesis from the point of view of the 200K years of immediate-return hunting-and-gathering that it mostly skipped over.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

hey, i love this, this is exactly what i’m going for, making all of this relevant to real life today! and no i haven’t tried to publish anything - and the videos are not as popular as they should be probably in part beacuse i’ve only made 15 of them or so as it takes so long to do each one, but hopefully the audience will grow as i keep going. i think i reach more people with videos/podcast than i would by writing stuff, so i’m putting my energies towards this format for now…

[@gregjs9665]

You’ve clearly found your medium. I hope it catches on in a big way.

[@vauchomarx6733]

Spicy criticism, apparently too spicy for many online Marxists, unfortunately! As someone who likes to side with Marx over other "Marxists" who just treat him as a cult symbol, I think you raised some good points. I'd defend the achievements of the Russian revolution any day of the week, but yes, the Bolshevik's dismissal of the peasant communes was a huge error!

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

yeah, i think things would have turned out very differently had lenin and trotsky’s generation known about the depth of marx’ change of opinion. you can see that lenin and trotsky were willing to adapt marx to russia’s conditions, and they came to many of the same conclusions as he did, but they didn’t do the research to learn about the actual state of the peasant commune vs accepting “common knowledge” and government reports.

[@thomase5772]

What a refreshing, insightful video. As someone who is still new to the ideas of socialism, all the contradicting theories and interpretations of historical events can be quite overwhelming... do you have any advice on navigating through all of it without falling into dogmatic beliefs on one end or complete nihilism on the other? Patiently looking forward to the next part of this series.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

i’m looking forward to doing the next one as well! now it’s really hard to navigate through all the propaganda - like cold war US propaganda and pro stalin propaganda and try to sort out what’s real and what isn’t - it just takes a lot of reading of everything before you can start to get a sense of what’s what. to not fall into dogmatism - just think for yourself and don’t follow anyone blindly no matter how brilliant they are, or no matter how soothing it is to want to believe what they say. the most brilliant people are constantly wrong about all sorts of things, and just because you want to believe something doesn’t make it true. try to interpret things through your own life experiences, and i think most importantly, don’t turn political ideologies into identity groups - don’t think “I am a marxist, i am a socialist, i am an anarchist” think - “i believe that socialism is the best way to run society, i believe marx has the best ways of looking at capitalism” etc - because if you ARE something, then anything that challenges that, becomes a personal attack and you can’t evaluate it properly. If you are YOU and you happen to believe in A B and C, then you can evaluate counter arguments more objectively and rationally. For nihilism - haha i have no idea, i think people can be shit, but they can also be wonderful and selfsacrificing, so just keep that in mind!

[@shellyshelly9218]

I'd forgotten about this great channel. Good to see this pop up.

[@richardfinlayson1524]

Very informative stuff, good on you mate you are doing a fantastic job, thanks for the no adds. Please keep up the great work

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

thank you! and you’re welcome for the no ads, i hate fucking ads!

[@EastWindCommunity1973]

These are so well produced, great job! This makes me want to reread A People's Tragedy. I was lucky enough to have a friend give me his copy senior year of uni.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

yes, it’s a super great read, though read the Esther Kingston Mann stuff, and the Shanin, it really fills out things that Figes (and everyone else) forgets about. I’d never heard of so much of this stuff before reading for this episode.

[@MrDeicide1]

@@WHATISPOLITICS69 None of this is true. Socialism doesn't mean worker "elimination of all domination". It doesn't mean direct control of workers over industrial production. It doesn't mean democratic decision making in the workplace. It just means replacing Private ownership - with that of the State. What THAT was explained as - was "dictatorship of the proletariat". So the titular dictator, Expressly, was the People, not Lenin nor Stalin. The "immediate elimination of the State itself" -- was the dream, and the demands, of anarcho-syndicalists, NOT the socialists. At the time Soviet Union was being Invaded, by expeditionary corps', from almost every country in Europe, and domestic "white guard" collaborators-- the anarcho-syndicalists launched the Kronstadt Rebellion, undermining the new Bolshevik state's ability to fight off the Invasion. Same thing that scum did in Spain, in Barcelona, and wider Catalonia. Anarcho-syndicalists, Bakunyinists, were always the right hand of fascists. Their assassinations and bombing campaigns - is what led to the hysteria of "Red Scare" , and to the Banning of all socialist and communist parties, in most of the western world. They're the reason the U.S doesn't have a Left, for a 100 years now... And because of that, you're mixing apples and oranges the entire time. What you were talking about in Introduction -- is democratic socialism of Edward Kardelj, and something implemented (in form) -- in former Jugoslavia, since the early '60s. "Socialist Self-governance" I couldn't stand more than 3 minutes of this nonsense. You created a Frankenstein strawman for yourself to attack. Go learn the Basics of what Scientific Socialism is, and what Anarchism is. You are one Very confused puppy....

[@lbarudi]

Awesome video and awesome channel, I’ll probably binge over the olders ones while the next part is not up 😂

[@__-vb3ht]

Thank you for yet another amazing episode, I can indeed feel new creases form in my formerly smooth brain. Even before I considered myself a communist, the assertion that communism inherently leads to a dictatorship irked me. It was always a dogma that no one could really explain in detail. later I chalked it up to intellectuals being douchebags and viewing themselves above the poor helpless masses they are championing, as they tend to do. Seems I wasn't far off but it's invaluable knowing more of the connecting and how close they got to getting it right at a few times. Thank you so much for your service! Also, who's the art in the background from? It's all Ashley Wood, right?

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

ha yes, most of it is ashley wood! it think you’re only the 2nd person to notice you’ll see next episode all the mistakes that led to the ML dicatatorship system

[@__-vb3ht]

@@WHATISPOLITICS69Yeah Ashley's art style is one of my absolute favourites, but I rarely find pictures from him that I like. To much hornyness and military fetishisation for me. Even though I'll probably never have a picture of his on my walls, he is a massive inspiration

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

@@__-vb3ht yeah he’s ridiculous but super talented at the same time! those are all action figure boxes actually!

[@marcmanolache2106]

>Not smooth brain >Am communist ROFL Communism requires absolute equality. People are not equal. Some are smarter, some are harder working, some are more responsible. This leads to better outcomes for some than others. Therefore, in order to have equality of outcome there must be a redistribution of wealth. This can only be done by force since no one is going to willingly give up their hard earned money for the sake of some idolized “equality.” Communism is always authoritarian. It always kills millions of people. And it always fails in the end.

[@lausenteternidad]

Wow, you are bringing a lot of new perspectives and information about a historical period I already enjoy learning about a lot. Really cool analysis.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

thanks! i thought i knew a lot about it before i read this stuff and was very surprised

[@lausenteternidad]

@@WHATISPOLITICS69 "Psychoanalysis is like the russian revolution, one never knows when it went wrong"

[@blindteo5808]

I always get excited when I see a new video drop

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

always happy to see your face/icon here!

[@AM-sw9di]

This is probably the most interesting video I've watched on history. I've always been interested in Russian history, and I realise a lot of my knowledge was quite reductive. I had no idea about many of the things in this video, and have found that much of what I was taught about the peasants was much in line with what these intellectual kids thought back then, what a shame!

[@zoeitzaify]

You convinced me to send you money. You are the first I have done that for. Thanks for all the hard work you put into these videos I really appreciate it.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

hey thank you! saw that earlier! very much appreciated, and if you like this one i think the next one in this series will really flip your lid!

[@dankelly4984]

Now none of the confused conservative proletariats working next to me in the factory will have an excuse, other than the deliberate choice to not know. I read some books when I was younger, but this 1 & 1/2 hour video makes it accessible to all. Incredible. Too good for youtube.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

haha well i wouldn’t blame people for not knowing stuff like this, they’re not expecting to get anything useful out of politics so they don’t spend time on it

[@izarahiahtaylor5114]

Hey man great video so great, that I actually decided to join your Patreon. You’re the first creator that content was so good that I just had 2. Btw how do I make one time donations? Am I blind or slow?

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

thank you! i love to hear that! one time donations are super appreciated as well - the links are in the description where it says KO FI ONE TIME OR MONTHLY DONATIONS and PAYPAL ONE TIME OR MONTHLY DONATIONS - it’s easy to miss cause there’s so much text there - posts with links in the comments often get deleted so i won’t post the links here, but i’ll send you the link on a patreon message DM in case you don’t find them in the description

[@michamuller3451]

This is so interesting. Thank you :) I learned so much...

[@sagetolley147]

Wow thank you so much for being so clear and concise and clarify everything i really love your channel and I found it from a fricking tiktok where someone clipped your stuff. I think it’s awesome that people are finding these projects and just distributing them without you even having to do anything, it’s so natural and growthy. I really expect your channel to blow in the near future cause I can’t be the only one that recently found you. You are blowing my mind dude.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

thanks! oh cool i’ve been wanting to do a tiktok for awhile, like short clips summarizing some of these ideas, but haven’t had the time yet, so that’s the next best thing, especially if I didn’t have to do any of the work! Send me the channel if you can! thanks

[@jobjoho]

Great video, again. Interesting thing re: pastoralists vs farmers: David Glantz, the American military historian of the Eastern Front of WWII, does his short summary to describe who Stalin was when he's asked by saying he more or less fit the mold of a Dagestan warlord. People from the South Caucuses would rightfully say there's some orientalism going on there, but it also does seem to sum the guy up pretty succinctly.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

ha, i don’t know enough to judge that, but sounds good - stalin was a super interesting character and according to archives discovered since the 90s was by all accounts sincere in his belief that he was working towards socialism the whole time, which says a lot about ideology…

[@victorsherazee]

Thank you a lot for this very interesting video! I have a question regarding your thesis on “peaceful, egalitarian peasants” versus “warrior-like pastoralists”: Where can I find this in the literature you have used? I think I found most of what you said on the characterization of peasants as peaceful and egalitarian in Eric R. Wolf's “Peasants”. But is there anything I can read on the warrior nature of pastoralists (stemming from material conditions, of course)?

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

hi - hmm i was saying that from my own general knowledge (i have a master’s in anthropology) so i didn’t think to cite anything on that - and i’m not sure that I can’t think of any particular book that gets in to that, i took a whole course on pastoralism - i think you’ll probably find something on that if you read The Nuer by E Evans-Pritchard. oooh actually i’m pretty sure it’s discussed in the Arab Israeli Conflict by Carl Philip Salzman (who taught the pastoralism course!) - that book is very right wing and extremely pro israel and blames the conflict on arab culture due to arab pastoralist background, so you’re likely to absolutely hate it, but if you disregard the conclusions there’s a whole section that goes over the mechanics of pastoralism and how it generates a very militaristic and patriarchal ethos. It might also be discussed in War and Warless Societies by Keeley - sorry that i don’t have a definitive answer, it’s something i know for a zillion sources and can’t remember which one in particular articulates it in detail once you find it, you’ll have a much clearer understanding of the old testament for example (the ancient hebrews were pastoralists - evans-pritchard discusses this somewhere, maybe try to good evans-pritchard pastoralism jews old testament) and so many other historical events!

[@victorsherazee]

@@WHATISPOLITICS69, thank you for providing an answer to my question so quickly. And thanks for the literature suggestions. I will have a look at that.

[@chrisbean9663]

I'm so happy to see your videos come backup again

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

me too! took 4 months to make this, so i didn’t go anywhere!

[@GarvotheGreat]

What a rollercoaster. This socialist is exhausted, but ive never enjoyed hearing a conversation on the subject quite as much as the one you just gave me. Subbed. Excellent work 👌

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

wait until you see 11.2!

[@circleofmoonmusic9743]

This is so good. It gives me a lot of useful information for dealing with my weird, cranky old stepdad who thinks that Putin’s Russia is communist and damns any socialist project. I really cannot wait for the next episode. Thank you so much.

[@axeldankwort3142]

Found and finished this series 3 months ago, have been foaming at the mouth for a new episode since. Love how accessible all the ideas are, fantastic work.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

thanks! good to hear that, as i’m always worried that i’m making them too complicated!

[@JAJFi]

@@WHATISPOLITICS69 how could it be too complicated when all you're doing is engaging in revisionism and logical fallacies? Rather easy to see your research took you twenty minutes.

[@JAJFi]

@@WHATISPOLITICS69 yeah this is how an adult man responds to criticism. Not interacting with a real critique but spewing vitriole because you're hurt I know you lied to people. Your "even if" statement is an appalling dismissal of academic rigour and a lack of maturity as an intellectual. You can't just say "I'm right cuz I worked hard and you're wrong because my made up idea of you is gross!" You have no leg to stand on man. Give it up. You're a joke. The only people taking you serious are the ones who refuse to put in the work and want some one to make it easy for them. You should feel horrible not enraged. You should be asking for help and guidance not digging into your own shit while admitting it stinks. You sourced one person for the bulk of your video. I already have addressed the short comings of her scholarship and encouraged you to use primary sources. It's evident you refuse not out of your existing knowledge but your fear and immaturity at being confronted with the facts. I'd love to come on and debate you sometime and show your audience that adult men can do research and not act like a third grader who got called stupid on the playground.

[@JAJFi]

@@WHATISPOLITICS69 I'm sure you'd rather censor me and your negative commenters though? I bet you love engaging in exactly the authoritarianism you preach against. You definitely don't have anything wrong with contradicting the rest of your existence. How do you expect to win someone over to your side and achieve a better society with the name calling and anger you have? How do you see yourself as anything less than the core of all the hate you project onto historical figure in your work?

[@JAJFi]

@@WHATISPOLITICS69 at any rate I encourage your audience to dismiss your clearly emotional bias and read primary sources and decide for themselves and I hope they dig into your sources and criticize you for them. It makes a better researcher. If you actually cared about making a better product and not ignorant propaganda your response would have inquired into ways you could improve. Or do I have to pay you to be respected on your platform? What a free society!

[@Jib-Jab-4-life]

Amazing work yet again! I always admire your curious and creative mind, and your ability to convey your deep research so well

[@badnewswade]

OMG this is BRILLIANT! I love the idea of Marx as a data scientist, who, like real scientists, is capable of changing his mind... I wonder what would have happened if you gave Marx a computer.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

probably just be addicted to porn all day and forget to do any socialist theorizing

[@Johnnysmithy24]

@@WHATISPOLITICS69 I 100% believe this is what would happen!

[@On1Zuk4-Sensei]

I can hardly find a neutral, analytical, objective (trying the hardest to be at least), and unbiased channel on politics and ideology. Am I finally at the right place ? 😅 We are in the "Post-verité" era. And it hits hard. I support all truth seekers and all guardians of registered facts and "language preservation", concept definitions etc.... Putting things on the table as they are, in a full, extensive and precise manner, with an invitation to critical thinking and rational evaluation of History and politics.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

haha, nothing is unbiased, but i think i have a different perspective than what you’ll hear in most places, and i think people to think for themselves vs telling them what to think and talking to people with various perspectives vs preaching to the choir

[@tuberialolicon-tanuki6533]

I finally got to see this, thanks for such a fantastic episode. Lately I've been thinking about how if the goal of the proletariat is the abolishment of its own class, we should be critical of "workers' interests" and proletarization, and pay attention to how previous experiments interacted with the peasantry or any other groups with some degree of economical autonomy, picture my delight when I realized this chapter I was going to learn about the Russian peasants before the revolution. Also I like your beard. The bits about guilty inteligencia was interesting too. I'm not new to the realization that advocating for revolution while having a relatively comfortable position in the current system is basically to sit down and wait for someone else to do the dirty work for me, I don't even want a position of power yet I feel severed from the working class, like how am I supposed to preach to others while its clear I'm not facing the same stakes, I waste a lot of time not really developing anything out of those thoughts haha. Yes I notice the irony of saying this just after criticizing workers' interests, I don't feel like going into detail to try and please the CCP apologist in the walls. Something something, primary and secondary, something something material conditions.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

well there’s nothing wrong with being a socialist and not being working class or poor - but if ALL the socialists are middle and upper class, and from ivy league schools - that’s a big indicator that the movement isn’t what it purports to be. anyone intersted in an social system that’s all about mass democracy and equality is going to be making efforts to see where the majority of the population is at and reach out to them. and if not it suggests something is going on… and yeah, you don’t want a society of proletarians, that’s just people who take orders for a living!

[@DanielGarcia-kw4ep]

It is very important to take a critical lense to these, but it is not easy when both the capitalist and socialist nations with their all mighty control of the information skew the information according to their interests

[@drarp]

Very glad to see that the lolicon-racoon pipeline is getting a leftist theoretical education. Keep it up, comrade 🫡

[@tuberialolicon-tanuki6533]

@@drarp totally my fault that no one gets the weeb pun, but the "translation" would be lolicon-tankie pipeline. Thanks for the encouragement tho.

[@drarp]

@@tuberialolicon-tanuki6533 Lmao that's even more hilarious

[@CatSandwich69]

Phenomenal video! I recently heard a socialist, who I've had a lot of respect for, partially blame the failure of the USSR on "a tendency rooted in the peasant nature of the country". There was more to the discussion than just that, and I don't intend to be reductive, but hearing that one line set off alarm bells and I just had to come back and rewatch this video. That this kind of rhetoric has persisted is very disheartening.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

honestly when i started doing the research for this video, that’s more or less what I thought, but by the time I read all the stuff it completely changed my perspective!

[@ekesandras1481]

This video is surprisingly objective and point on. I was expecting some Neo-Marxist bullshit, like there is so much on KZbin, but this lecture was really different.

[@Johnnysmithy24]

Agree, I am actually Center-Right Wing and surprisingly ended up subscribing

[@RD-zj6vc]

I'm only 20 minutes in but this is awesome. I've read up on the beginning of Russian socialism but you're bringing in new angles I hadn't heard, or at least not this clearly and in plain language.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

thank you! i thought i knew a lot about the russian revolution, but when I sat down to do the reading for this i was really surprised by a lot of the stuff that I found. no one talks about any of this stuff, i guess because it doesn’t promote the ideologies people are trying to promote…

[@johnjohn-kj6ux]

f@ck yeah. I was going crazy waiting for this episode... Your work is so good and needs to be heard all over the world. By the way i dont mind seeing some advertisements from your channel. If this helps you financially then you have to consider doing it or at least do a poll or something like that to see what the people think of this idea.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

honestly, seeing ads on youtube videos throws me into a rage, and i just cant stomach the idea of it on my videos, especially given the nature of the content. and then you get demonitized every time you say the wrong word anyways, and i dont want to be worrying about that shit.

[@johnjohn-kj6ux]

@@WHATISPOLITICS69 fair enough. Also i was wondering why this videos has only 4.3k views and the previous one got 74k, is it for example because of the title ?? Because the content of both the videos is spot on but we see a huge difference in views.

[@Helelsonofdawn]

so capitalism is good

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

@@johnjohn-kj6ux the other one has been out for 4 month, this one a few days! but according to the stats, this one is doing less than half as well as the other one at a similar point - i guess it’s mostly the title - it’s doing twice as well as any other video i have besides the last one

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

@@Helelsonofdawn where do you get that?

[@mihajlobujisic2006]

I fucking love you, not even joking. Such a well-researched masterpiece of a video, thank you so much!

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

thank you so much! i do think i dug up some much neglected parts of the story, so i’ll take it!

[@MichaelSmith-rr7mo]

I am not a socialist nor communist. The closest I feel I could be categorized would be similar to a Bernie sanders social Democrat. But I'm a big fan of capitalism and do not buy into the idea that workers are inherently exploited by capitalism or that profit is bad. That being said, I wanted to comment to say that that the videos I've watched of yours have been extremely well written and informative. Thank you

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

thank you! i dont’ think profit is inherently bad, but I think that employee employer relationships are bad, and that being allowed to accumulate enough resources to dominate other people, and influence the political system more than your peers is bad.

[@MichaelSmith-rr7mo]

@@WHATISPOLITICS69 We can definitely agree that different people should not be able to have greater control of the political system than anyone else. Especially not just because one person has more money than other.

[@TheLeftPath]

The problem is that if you dont get rid of the underlying contradictions the excesses of capitalism will always reproduce. Do you know that the US after ww2 until the 1980s had many elements of social democracy and how quickly they were demolished by the neoliberal reacion? Socdems have good intentions but they are too soft regarding reaction to their policies. At some point it just becomes "we need to defend minimum wage and basic regulations from lobbying and the bourgeois press".

[@r.w.bottorff7735]

Sooner or later something is going to give, and our planet is running out of time. Maybe we can get it right the next time around. This video was very insightful. Thank you ✊

[@gengar1187]

m8 this video dropped so hard my neurons are spinning out

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

SLAM! sorry / you’re welcome

[@Kdanieli238]

Such an amazing episode! Thank you so much for putting this together and sharing these references. I've learned so much! Thank you!!

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

thank you! yes i’m pretty proud of this one - wait for the next one in this series when i cover the actual revolution and what went wrong, that should be a doozy!

[@StarIings]

This is a really brilliant video and is what i find personally about my interactions with socialist in the west. Most memorably a few years ago i was giving a talk about shan people an ethnic minority which i share heritage of where my family members fled from. For context we are most well known as one of the many armed minorities myanmmar has been doing ethnic cleansing on. So i reached this point talking about slow wheel pottery and tea picking and this white teen from a wealthy neighborhood interrupts with, where are you so privileged to enjoy tea parties like that. It was rather surreal to me that the kid somehow felt his life was worse living in LA compared to our people in Myanmmar. Throughout this session he would continue to interrupt, make fun of our religion with eqivalences to christianity (we are buddhists) and would consistently try to get attention to him to talk about something else he felt was more impt like crypto scams. I think overall children just lack a lot of perspective, joining these kind of schools of thoughts is like joining a club that gives you an im a good person badge mentally. But as we say in buddhism one must utilize the right action and the ability to do so requires deep understanding and a willingness to learn and broaden life perspective which children have a long way to achieve.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

omg that’s awful and hilarious (the kid accusing you of privilege for having tea parties) … i’ve been getting a lot of attacks for being privileged because I think authoritarianism is not a good idea for a political system… but being attacked for having tea takes the cake!

[@Johnnysmithy24]

This sounds exactly like every “communist/socialist” I’ve ever met. Pretentious, Obnoxious, Self Righteous, and more privileged than they realize. However I’m glad to see they’re not all like that, the guy in the video is very chill

[@Tuxfanturnip]

idk, no one is free of cringe but as a kid I was always aware of being part of a different culture to my friends and how many little things white Christian Americans would assume about others without even realizing. I started to consider myself an anarchist pretty much from the first awkward conversation where someone had to explain to me the difference between anarchism and Reddit hypercapitalism. acting compassionately is hard and takes practice, but it's not about neural development; I've met empathy-impaired "sociopaths" who are kinder and more considerate than many "empaths." I think we do ourselves a disservice by accepting the intellectual and social denigration of youth and dismissing the perspective of people living through the stark ur-oppression that could otherwise serve as common ground (consider what it means to *infantilize* as a component of oppression). fuck that guy though lmao but I don't think age alone should be a reason to discount people's perspective and experiences.

[@garygrantham3917]

I loved this analysis so much I actually created a patreon account so I could donate. Please keep educating and being a force for good.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

thank you so much! just recorded a new episode yesterday and am editing now on israeli palestinian conflict, should be up in a few weeks….

[@isdel9474]

@@WHATISPOLITICS69 this is giving me life

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

@@isdel9474 i need to bottle this!

[@thomasdonovan3580]

Great work, some of the best I've ever seen and I am a life long history buff.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

thank you, it means a lot to hear stuff like this!

[@j.rivermartin3412]

Okay, this is freaking awesome! But of course I'll have to take your word for much of this historical analysis, as I have other things I'm doing, too, and to check it all out would require four months of doing nothing else! But I appreciate your efforts and I suspect you're probably basically right on. I'll send you a little of the play money from 'Merka soonish. Thanks for doing what you do, brother.

[@j.rivermartin3412]

PS - Videos are great, and very important. But seriously, dude, y'oghta write one of those BOOOOk thingies. SEriously.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

@J. River Martin haha thanks - if you dont want to take my word for it (and i encourage you not to!), check out the bibliography linked in the description. there’s so little written about this stuff that i haven’t found anyone debating against the points i’m making so there’s that… for a book, the thing is, how many people would read it vs the people that watch the videos? and the time investment would be so much more…

[@j.rivermartin3412]

@@WHATISPOLITICS69 I have no idea how many people would read the book. And your argument for making videos over writing books is a sound one -- sadly, as I'd LOVE to have a book from you -- on most any topic -- but perhaps especially a radical history revision of the sort you've provided here. It could be a thin book, and perhaps ought to be. And you have already assembled so much material for it! ... Anyway, back to my reading of Home Cloning for Dummies.

[@callumdempsey8362]

That last episode ended on such a cliffhanger haha I've been dying to find out more. I found the parallels to modern trust fund socialist intellectuals really interesting, and of course the fact that Marx changed his mind on peasants is crazy. Thanks so much for these incredibly high quality videos! I'll definitely be finding you on patreon, this channel needs to be reaching as many people as possible.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

yeah sorry for the 4 months cliffhanger - but i guess that’s what all the TV shows do - i was pretty surprised by a lot of this stuff as well. i never saw the rich kids parallel until now, and didnt realize just how thoroughly marx had changed his mind either. he also basically became an anarchist regarding the state as well after the paris commune! but don’t tell than to the marxists, they all flip out when they hear that.

[@callumdempsey8362]

Don't apologise, these must take an ungodly amount of work to make haha. And yeah big win for the anarchists really on that point (if the how the Soviet Union turned out wasn't enough)

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

@@callumdempsey8362 also i didn’t get into it here, but marx basically accepted the anarchist position on the state after 1870 as well…

[@callumdempsey8362]

Wow yeah that's crazy. To be fair I know almost nothing about the Paris commune so I'll have to find out more.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

@@callumdempsey8362 read marx’ CIvil War in France and he says you need to smash the state immediately in a revolution! and engels says smashing the state and having workers run everything directly immediately is the dictatorship of the proletariat. they still distanced themselves from anarchists after that, but basially they were a new branch of anarchism at that point

[@rotskep]

Great video. I want to learn more about the USSR and it influences. Do you have any books or reading lists you would recommend?

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

there’s a link to the bibliography for this episode in the show notes - that stuff would be a great start

[@rotskep]

@@WHATISPOLITICS69 thank you!! I should've looked closer at the description...

[@ignatiushazzard]

For the sake of solidarity I've always tried not to be overly critical towards a lot of marx and friends, but this really gave me a lot to consider I love these takes and insights that leave me really thinking differently. Fantastic work, comrade. I really appreciate it To add: I mean "change" as in new concepts to consider, rather than implying something I believed was contradicted.

[@jongya]

I’m pretty new to leftist thought but what you said I think describes really well one one of the problems I see in the community, that being a distaste for criticism of other leftists like Marx and Lenin. I think that whether or not you support the USSR or Cuba etc at this point we should all be able to agree that socialism has lost or is at least losing in terms of cultural and political influence. We need to be asking why that is and what early Marxists got wrong because here we are in very late stage capitalism and I don’t see any signs of a significant proletariat uprising.

[@ignatiushazzard]

@@jongya the proletarian revolution you should be watching for is happening in the third world.

[@jongya]

@@ignatiushazzard yea I mean I really hope you’re right and humanity doesn’t just find itself trapped in a system of global capitalist exploitation

[@hansfrankfurter2903]

@@jongya There's no problem with critique of Marx or Lenin per se, just the quality and substance of those critiques. Socialism declined because its enemies (both from within and without) were/are far stronger, its as simple as that. It's kind of like asking why the western world dominates the the rest, well to put it in simple terms because they're stronger as they were during the days of colonialism. The strong dominate the weak, its the law of the jungle and we're just talking apes. "Late stage capitalism" is also not really a thing, ppl have been saying were in that stage for over 60 years now. If you're looking for criticism of Marx or "Marxism" its the crude teleology some ppl attribute to him. Capitalism is not destined to collapse and be replaced by socialism, that depends on multitude of factors, one of which is collective human agency. As to why there isn't any "proletariat uprising" , like I said to put it simply its enemies are just far stronger. The US is the strongest state/army in human history and its also the most anti-communist/anti-proletarian esp within so called "developed countries". They can easily stymie or wage hybrid warfare against any socialist uprising/ project. The other major cause is that living standards, have risen due to technology over the last 100 years, so there isn't an incentive to pull off a revolution in any country that matters geopolitically. The US led western world, has waged a relentless ideological and propaganda war against communism, that it very much thoroughly discredited any shred of popularity it ever had before. Now that the Soviet Union ended, and China has watered down its content, there's no big daddy to latch on to. Landless peasants wanting to revolt , will simply be on their own from now on. While before, the USSR and China would send aid..etc. In other words, international proletariat solidarity is dead! The proof is in the pudding! With that said, there ARE proletariat uprisings, you've just never heard of them because as is typical with first world communists, they care only about the first world and the rest is an invisible irrelevant backwater. There's been ongoing communist insurgencies in the Philippines with the NPA, in India with the Naxalites, and various Latin American countries. The only ones to "succeed" in taking power are the communists Nepal in the 2010s, and the Zapatista indigenous movement in Chiapas in the 90s. They're obviously still works in progress not utopias, with incredible challenges and unenviable starting conditions. Nevertheless this is the paradox of socialism, the horrible immiserating that incentives ppl to revolt and want socialism, is precisely what holds back the revolution once it succeeds. Marx never foresaw that, because the situation he was commenting on was even more paradoxical, an advanced society of plenty with a massive class of immiserated workers. What ended up happening is that most of the "revolutionary" potential went the way of reformism and social democracy, thus pulling the carpet from underneath socialism. So the potential shifted to the east, to the global exploited backwaters. Although that potential is still there, the concretization of it is lacking for all the reasons I listed. No international support, insane odds against imperialism, ideological weakness due to competing ideologies..etc. One other factor is the hope that some have in immigrating for a better life. Why join a hopeless demonized revolutionary movement bound to fail, when you can always have at least a fighting chance in immigrating. Be it legally or by these ever precarious boats at risk of capsizing? At least there's a chance. Leftists in the developed world valorize weak immigrants, but they're not very fond of armed revolutionaries. They're an obsession with the "civil" aesthetics of working within the system somehow, and a valorization and romantasization of weakness and innocence...and I believe that's because deep down, despite all their rhetoric to the contrary, these "leftists" simple love and like the system they're in, and don't really want to supplant it.

[@jongya]

@@hansfrankfurter2903 hey comrade, I just wanna say I appreciate the long and well thought out response so much. I know I only posted that 3 months ago but I’ve been spending a lot of time rapidly learning and don’t even agree with many of the stances I had at that time. You’re also so right about being a first world communist and I have since learned that there absolutely are proletarian movements outside of the imperial core. I still think as an American citizen I should focus my energies on building class consciousness and mutual aid within America, as that is my sphere of influence but I also would love to show solidarity with comrades abroad. I’m just curious if you have any suggestions for how as an American communist I can help build international solidarity.

[@genk9798]

The algorith likes comments and I want more people to see your content. Thanks for all the effort you put, it really shows in the quality content you produce.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

appreciated, thanks!

[@TimoDcTheLikelyLad]

As an anarchist communist -i really enjoy your videos and wealth of knowledge. What do you think, the movement needs to do in order for radical change to happen and actually achieving anarchism aka libertarian socialism in the modern day?

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

i mean a million things, but one big one, is people need to start connecting to ordinary people, and not just be in the hyper political bubble - like “go to the people” was a great idea, they just didn’t follow through. and we have zero obstacles today, they would get sent to siberia for it!

[@TrophyGuide101]

Surely an anarchist communist doesn't care about achieving anything? Doesn't that ideology consist of you just setting up your own commune with other willing participants and leaving others alone?

[@Libertarian606]

WIP is right of course, plus material conditions and culture will throw up different answers in any particular location

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

@@Libertarian606 what’s WIP? agreed about the rest for sure - marx was telling his followers to stop following his writings and go study the conditions for themselves - and unfortunately, they didn’t!

[@Libertarian606]

@@WHATISPOLITICS69 What is WIP??? What Is Politics It’s you old chap!😄

[@antgrantrant]

Over the last few years, every time I think I've conjured together a coherent political identity, something inevitably comes along to throw it all out the window and start over. Gee thanks, (I'm sorry I don't know your name), It's not like I had anything else going on this week.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

sorry

[@nebojsag.5871]

36:30 To be fair, if we are talking about America, the underlying housing problem is housing regulation making it illegal to mass-produce cheap, affordable housing for working-class people. Rent-control improves the lives of ordinary people who already have an apartment, but it makes owners of housing much less likely to rent anything out to anyone else, resulting in either skyrocketing deposit payments or other indirect costs which raise effective rent. It's like treating a deadly fever with antipyretics. Yes, in the short term, preventing acute death through fever takes precedence, but suppressing the fever is almost as deadly, because it prevents the body from frying the infection. The real solution is to increase the housing stock through more housing, or to treat with appropriate antibiotics, to continue the analogy. 55:50 Eh, the state did occasionally do some useful things, like build irrigation canals and roads or distribute famine-relief when harvests failed. Also agrarian peoples could indeed be extremely warlike. The Romans and Greeks come to mind. 56:00 Peasants did often have a vague sense of nationhood. It just wasn't particularly important to them that their ruler be of their particular ethnicity, just that he didn't abuse them more than they were habituated to being abused. There was often plenty of German nationalism for instance, looooong before there was a unified German state. Also, music and church-sermons were used to promote national identity long before the modern state, and it often wasn't a conscious project of power consolidation, but a result of people genuinely feeling like they belonged to a nation. Jewish nationhood existed for centuries without being propped up by some project of state-building, just to name another prominent example.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

no, that’s all nonsense about housing. deregulating so that people create garbage fire hazard housing is not a solution to anything, and you can also outlaw damage deposits. the real solution to the housing crisis that’s affecting all major cities in the world, regardless of whether they have rent control or how regulated their housing is, is to build no-equity co-ops, which cost the taxpayer nothing and take housing off of the rental and profit market entirely. the state makingraods and famine relief was for the benefit of the state more than the people jewish nationalism started in 1850s so i don’t know what you’re talking about there…

[@truthhertz10]

Can't wait for the sequel to this! Incredible series, much needed.

[@beyondborderfilms4352]

I really like his take of this, I never realized the contradictions and the inevitable authoritarian structure were a result of these intellectuals being disconnected from the people they supposedly represented. And it's quite a shame the peasants were seen as tools by these intellectuals rather than as people.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

yes, and all that they didn’t put in the effort to learn about them, even though the information was out there!

[@hansfrankfurter2903]

That's a completely asinine argument , Marx and Engles themselves were intellectuals with the latter being a factory owner. Almost all revolutions (socialist or otherwise) in modern history were led by intellectuals or petty Bourgeoise labor aristocrat types. To disqualify people simply because they aren't destitute poor 14 hours a day factory workers or whatever is ignorant as it is pointless. Also typical cold warrior talking point about the "MuH EvIL BolSHEVIks JusT WnTED USe The pEasents FoR PoWeR" is as cynical as it is devoid of any serious content or provenance. How the hell can anyone prove the "true intentions" of the leadership of the Bolsheviks or any party for that matter, esp insofar as they tirelessly worked to improve the living conditions of the masses, is beyond me!? Has their ever been a leader in all of history, that hasn't been accused of "Just wanting power/using his followers" ? Has any successful leader ever passed this magical litmus test of "not wanting power" ?

[@electricVGC]

I'm not smart enough to come up with a clever comment but here is the engagement wish I hadn't been so busy to leave it so long

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

appreciated!

[@Conman2541]

Reading all of your sources from Marx, Engels, and Lenin, I can't help but feel like they've been cherrypicked to fit your paradigm of an "anti-peasant marxism." Does chapter 7 of the 18th Brumiere really say that peasants are backwards and stupid and irrelevant? Or does it only explain, in the culmination of a text meditating on a demagogue's rise to power, the material interests of small-landholders who saw themselves in this demagogue's program? Does Engels say that Russian peasants will never be revolutionary? Or is he arguing against the logic that the artel tradition alone is enough to overthrow a state that supposedly "floats in the air" with no represented estate? I don't even think Engels is precluding the idea of a revolutionary peasantry, so long as that peasantry is subsumed in the ever-expanding capitalist division of labor: "there is no country in which, in spite of the pristine savagery of bourgeois society, capitalistic parasitism is so developed, so covers and entangles the whole country, the whole mass of the population with its nets, as in Russia. And all these bloodsuckers of the peasants are supposed to have no interest in the existence of the Russian state, the laws and law courts of which protect their sleek and profitable practices!" The "historical progression" line in Marxist philosophy is a full-blown battleground, within and without Marxism, centered on the level of determinism and essentialism in Marx's worldview. I think the only progression Marx was truly concerned with was the development and expansion of the division of labor (see The German Ideology). You didn't have to have full-blown English-style capitalism in every country in order for socialism to take hold, even tho Marx talks about primarily English capitalism in Das Kapital. English capitalism was a world-spanning productive force, revolutionizing production wherever its global markets spanned. Russian peasants by default became subsumed in the English and French divisions of labor, even if it was majority agricultural labor. Having a domestic workforce that associates together and is capable of managing production on its own is the prereq for taking on the state. You can't fight an organized military without also having organized forces, or else your movement is too easily dispersed, disposed of. That doesn't mean you need majority factory labor, you just need enough to spread organizational tactics among the masses, which Lenin was able to do in connecting these struggles together and aligning peasant interests with the worker councils.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

What sources for lenin? I haven’t even talked about lenin yet or quoted him, or discussed him outside of a couple of his statements as a kid or very young man. 18th brumaire says they’re a sack of potatoes who support dictators - capital (first edition 1867) says they’re backwards and stupid (google “idiocy of rural life”) and destined to be wiped away. >“or does it say, in the culmination of a text meditating on a demagogue's rise to power, the material interests of small-landholders who saw themselves in this demagogue's program?” uh… same difference. this is quickly becoming empty blather which is getting on my nerves. are you writing all of this out before even getting to the end of the video when marx makes his big shift? >“Does Engels say that Russian peasants will never be revolutionary? Or is he arguing against the logic that the artel…” blah blah blah, i never said anything about this or quoted engels about that, so i don’t know why you’re wasting my time with it. as for the rest .. blather blather blather… i feel like you haven’t watched to the end of the video… like i said before this episode ends before lenin becomes important, and before the bolsheviks even exist. we’ll talk all about lenin and his views and his evolution on peasants, and then his actions in power next time, and quote from him and trotsky endlessly. it’s probably turn in to two episodes unfortunately, though I’ll try to keep it to one

[@Conman2541]

@WHAT IS POLITICS? for Lenin I was referring to the early 1890s references, especially the idea that Lenin could ever be described as "aligned with big business interests." The sack of potatoes line is admittedly a condescending comparison from a bohemian drunkard about emisserated masses, but he's making a statement on the French mode of production, these small landholders place within it, and why Louis Bonaparte was able to amass their support even tho it hadn't worked out so great at any point in the "Bonaparte dynasty." Marx was an edgelord, often morally deplorable in his personal conduct, and certainly eurocentric in his perspectives. But what comes up when I look up "idiocy of rural life Marx" is a page on this being a mistranslation of the German word "idiotismus," which translates as "idiom." I think he was a bit more careful than to dismiss peasants when he spent so long looking at their way of life and its destruction. He does say that capitalism tends to whipe out rural life, even tho food production is vital in the division of labor. Does he cheer this on or say it *should* be the case? And yeah, the French peasantry were drawn to Bonaparte for many of the same reasons you point out with the peasant subsumption under the state. You and Marx aren't in disagreement over that process, just you think he's mean about it. And I'll take it, Marx was a shithead, but I don't think he's wrong in the ways you're calling him out, these are common misinterpretations that Marx consistently denounced. (Also I did watch the video all the way thru) For Engels, I'm referring to your references to his argument with Pyotr Tkachev. And yeah, when reading the full text, Engels is fairly comprehensible that the peasantry *will* revolt and that this was indeed a fulcrum of Russia's social change-- he's only in doubt over how the peasant revolt will go, because in the past the peasant energy wasn't directed in the places that would most likely take down the state (which, from my perspective, is a kind of doubt over *other* mass organizational elements in Russia including and also beyond just the peasantry). The artels are dictated by creditors, and their existence alone isn't gonna destroy the state. The peasants suffer grain expropriations by foreign industrial forces and this will continue until they can gain control more of their own grain production, which necessitates collaboration with workers along the circuits of capital that produce this relationship. I think these are important distinctions, not blather. I'm only attempting to complicate the understanding of Marxism you portray. As a Marxist, I believe an accurate understanding of Marx, his place in history, and how we can move beyond him, is essential if you want to deal in this sort of history. Engels especially opposed the exact trends in Russian Marxism you here discuss, just as he opposed the economists who replaced revolution with class collaboration. I think Lenin had the exact *correct* ideas about who should/shouldn't collaborate with who, and hence we have the hamsic.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

@@Conman2541 I didn’t say lenin was aligned with big business interests, i said that industrialists loved marx’ work when it first came to russia because they thought it justified their activities. You’re projecting this onto lenin. And yes marx basically cheers on the dissapearance of peasantry in his earlier work, and then changes his mind later after 1870. In the video i talk about the revisions to Capital I - if you read the 1st edition from 1867 it reads this way, but then the 2nd edition in the 1870s cuts out those parts. You’re missing my point with the Engels Tkachev debate and how this relates to russian marxism in general - I didn’t get into the weeds of the debate, I just pointed that Tkachev and the populists thought that Engels and the marxists were making excuses not to act, which accurately capture the populist critique of the marxists. like you said, for engels the peasant revolts couldn’t be socialist in nature but “bourgeois” in the sense that their goal would be to become bigger property owners and they couldn’t be interested in socialist, and he thought it was more important to focus on the minority of kulaks than the peasants’ revolutionary potential, and that the artels weren’t relevant to socialism - marx saw it differently. and again we’ll get to lenin next time. like i said in the video he was a more creative thinker than his russian marxist predecessors and integrated peasant dissatisfaction in his theories, but he still stuck to engels’ basic script outlined above.

[@Prprpsksks]

Incredible video. Just finished digesting all this info. Do you have somewhere a reading list? A goodreads book list for example, from you, would be godsent

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

thank you - look at the video description, there’s a link to the bilbiography - and i highly encourage you to read for yourself, it’s fascinating and more detail than I can cover here - actually i’ll just post the bibliography link here: www.patreon.com/posts/11-1-why-russian-80314393?Link&

[@Prprpsksks]

@@WHATISPOLITICS69 thanks G

[@donnievance1942]

So cool that you've adopted the Alfred E. Neumann icon. Mad Magazine provided my childhood introduction to social criticism back in the late "50s.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

@@donnievance1942 yes! and one big reason i chose it is it’s not copywritten! cause mad took off of some 19thC ads!

[@JayFortran]

Amazingly clear breakdown. Thank you!

[@Void7.4.14]

Glad ya touched on anarchism in Russia. It's a huge misconception that the Bolsheviks were some overwhelming beloved force and more libertarian forms of socialism were unpopular. The Bolsheviki were relatively unknown and while their rhetoric was very popular, their actual positions, policies, and actions not-so-much, while libertarian socialist ideas were very common just not explicitly or exclusively anarchism. ML/M's like to pretend otherwise but libertarian socialist ideas were by far the most popular socialist tendency in the region for many years until it was effectively illegal.

[@veritasetcaritas]

I absolutely loved this video and have already shared it. I really appreciate your amazing work ethic, and I totally sympathize with your comments on the workload required to maintain your channel. I've had to scale back my own channel content recently for exactly the same reasons. Solidarity!

[@ignatiushazzard]

Some of your work looks really interesting- I queued a handful of them :)

[@veritasetcaritas]

@@ignatiushazzard thanks! I hope you enjoy them.

[@ignatiushazzard]

@@veritasetcaritas starting with your anarchists' perspective on China series. I subbed :) Thanks for the work comrade

[@veritasetcaritas]

@@ignatiushazzard thanks!

[@Johnnysmithy24]

Hey mate just wanna say as someone who absolutely is opposed to communism, you actually managed to make me sit through the video and be sympathetic/understanding of your beliefs, which is the only time that’s ever happened. Mostly because most communists I’ve ever met seemed to me super arrogant, close minded, and obnoxious, but you came off very likable and chill. I wish more people were like you when discussing politics, people would actually be inclined to get along and listen to each other.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

thank you! yes, they tend to be downright sociopaths frankly. that’s because the ones that call themselves communist are very often the ones worshipping stalinism, which is basically fascism dressed up in red flags and socialist words!

[@EsperSofrito]

After being taught Marxism by Marxist/Leninists around me growing up, I knew there was always something missing in this puzzle of the history of this country. From conservatives to tankies, everyone has their own ideas of what history is actually, discarding nuance, it had me doubting the history that I read myself on this subject. I deeply appreciate your work here, it has helped me to form my own thoughts of this subject more confidently then I ever imagined. Much love ❤️

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

back at you! and dont take my word for it either, if you have time check out the bibliography too

[@EsperSofrito]

@@WHATISPOLITICS69 I will 😎 also shoutout to @lil’ bill for turning us on to this!

[@omoh8301]

Just discovered your channel and this series on the russian revolution is especially incredible! 😍 Hope you'll have the time to continue the series soon and that my meager Patreon subscription will help you in that direction 🤍

[@multipleleekisms]

Really accessible & cleverly done, how you chide both ends of the common arguments, especially the reductive ones that you often hear right-leaning people say today. This is a good way to open the door to getting others to listen & open their minds who, otherwise might not due to decades of Cold war agitprop. I was able to open up my dad to the labor theory of value & commodity fetishism recently when he was talking about the common gripes boomers in the US/West have about all the jobs, factories, manufacturing, etc being sent overseas & conditions that precipitate the need for shit like suicide nets to be wrapped around where iPhones are made. He bought a nice FN handgun recently and started talking about the craftsman ship, the union made labor, and I connected the latter with that. Lots of these things the average right leaning voter see & hate on a micro scale, from their cable bill, to the nepotism present in their work place can all be connected on a macro scale to what Marx, Bakunin & Co. dedicated their lives to writing about, so don't give up trying to enlighten & change minds people. ❤

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

thank you! yes it’s hard to reach people who don’t already agree, but I try - very cool to hear you got somewhere on it with your dad!

[@SvalbardSleeperDistrict]

This was very well narrated and interesting. I agree with a lot in this, and I think historical events bear out the accuracy of this analysis. However, I want to add that there are also other perspectives on the subject, and it's also interesting to think about them when making conclusions about why the revolution ended up where it ended up. For example, in the short video Paths to Communism: From Marx To Lenin, on the This is Revolution Podcast channel, Kuba Wrzesniewski follows the viewpoint that the revolution was dependent on the gamble of European revolutions that never came, and that development meant that people like Plekhanov were actually correct against Lenin in predicting that not following the (original) Marxist view and "enforcing" a pesant-to-proletarian-society transition is what doomed the post-revolution state to face circumstances where a lot of the original ideas of the revolution would be sacrificed to the emergency of a global blockade, hostility and so on. Obviously that angle does not directly relate to the question of whether Bolsheviks missed the mark with the peasants, but it is still about the "why it failed" question, and offers a different interpretation. I am also not sure what angle this critique is taking overall - is this an anarchist critique of Marxism, or a Marxist critique of Marxist revolutionaries?

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

yes, i love this is revolution and have heard that episode. that’s the takaway that a lot of the exiled mensheviks had for what happened to the revolution, and when I went into this episode, I thought that my analysis was going to go something along those lines. however, the more i learned about the peasants, and the more i learned about the massive blunders lenin and the others made because of their ideological rigidity and ignorance concerning peasants, i’ve changed my narrative. the next episode is where i’ll get into it in depth, but lenin saw the peasants as competitors for power, so in order to consolidate power after taking over in october he shut down the market in order to prevent the peasants from having de facto control over the food supply, and it caused total chaos and famine, which spiraled into a war against the peasants basically. that and an incredible naive lack of checks and balances in the power structure of the party combined and turned into a downward spiral of more and more dictatorship. further, i now believe that part of the reason that the revolutions failed across europe was because the peasants didn’t join them or weren’t asked to join them or were hostile towards them - because of marxist rigidity and also because they saw what happened in russia and were afraid of marxism. im coming at this from the perspective of someone who believes in old school socialism - people controlling the means of production and all of the resources that they depend on to live - be it anarchism or some other form of socialism - critiquing bolshevism, marxism, marxist leninism, anarchism, social democracy and all the rest! 20th century socialism had many successes and many incredible failures across the spectrum of socialism, so we need to examine these so as not to make the same mistakes

[@SvalbardSleeperDistrict]

@@WHATISPOLITICS69 Thank you, I appreciate your response. As a Marxist I think it is possible to concur with Marx and Engels' analysis of class society and political economy and recognise the historic importance of their work, while also recognising that efforts to change the status quo involve more than simply "following Marx" - especially since so little of his work was about the topic of "what to do instead". Your videos are very enjoyable and informative.

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

@@SvalbardSleeperDistrict thank you!

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

@@SvalbardSleeperDistrict thank you! yes, i think marx and engels were brilliant, but they died 120 years ago or so - following their words like a bible is really foolish. some fundamentals are the same, other things have changed - and marx himself changed his mind as circumstances changed, and people have to think for themselves!

[@magnificent9784]

Will you in the eventual future make a video on chinese revolution and how they treat different class/group of people compare to Russian revolution?

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

i don’t know enough right now, and i have like 10 other videos i want to do first, but people have been telling me some parallels and it’s definitely something i’m interested in

[@WHATISPOLITICS69]

@@asbest2092 not watching the video didn’t bother you when you’re writing 30 moronic comments about it…