this post was submitted on 26 Oct 2022
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GenZedong
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The entire trio of the Deprogram podcast have somewhat more western-compatible views on the Russia-Ukraine conflict than many of us here do, whether this is because they genuinely think this is a "both sides bad" situation or because they can't afford to come off too pro-Russian and alienate their largely western audience i don't know. It is clear they really don't like modern day bourgeois Russia and Putin. This is understandable obviously, we would all prefer if the Soviet Union was still around, and Putin besides not being exactly fond of communism is also quite socially reactionary which makes it difficult to defend critical support of Russia to a western audience. If you ask me i think that since they spend so much of their time immersed in what's going on politically in the west they could not avoid being influenced by some of the liberal left's narratives about Russia's intervention in Ukraine, i.e. that it's an "imperialist" invasion, that they are using Ukraine's Nazi problem as a pretext, that they are committing atrocities, etc. For Hakim especially being Iraqi and having been invaded by the US i imagine it can be difficult to not at least be extremely skeptical of any military intervention.
I think they are all three pretty decent Marxist-Leninists, Hakim in particular is very well educated in the theory classics. I just get the impression they haven't exactly followed the conflict very closely and have not been exposed to the Russian perspective that much. As for having Russian Marxists as guests on, that doesn't tell us very much, there are plenty of self-described Marxists in the west especially in academia - Trotskyists, etc. - who buy into US imperialist narratives and whose overall views and ideology are really quite liberal. Russia similarly has a liberal, anti-Putin left, and some of them do claim to be Marxists. But they are a small minority, most Russian communists may be critical of Putin but they generally take the KPRF's line which is that the intervention is not just justified but should have happened much earlier. Unfortunately in the west the KPRF is smeared as controlled opposition, that's an easy way to discount them without ever having to honestly engage with what they are saying and where they stand.
one of the claims in that mango press thread was that hakim lies about being an iraqi, or at least living in iraq, for online marxist clout. the argument goes that because he was eligible for US student loans for medical school, he's probably a US citizen. there were also some examples brought up about euphemisms he used that only a fluent or first-language english speaker would use. no idea how true this is and it's not a lot to go on, and mango press has some fucking weird opinions sometimes, but i can't deny that it's possible.
hakim having weird, uninformed, or no opinions on present-day events is not totally out of character: i watched a conversation on present-day china between him and paul morrin (anti-china maoist), and was surprised at how lukewarm at best his defense was. no mention of like the NEP, him calling china bad because "state capitalism," etc. anyone curious should watch it for themselves. let's be honest, there's no reason why we should all read theory and study historical trends other than better understanding the present, and consistently having not-great takes on the present makes me question what good his content can be except perhaps as an introduction for people who aren't marxists or leninists.
also noticed recently that he's put ads on his youtube videos. i'm sorry but this does affect the content, because at the very least it affects the purpose why the content was made. it also implies that the content is intitutionally-friendly enough for a company to buy advertising time from them. we should be extremely, extremely skeptical of theory youtubers and especially advertised content. if ben norton or BT news suddenly got sponsored by fuckin surfshark or expressvpn, i think we would all be very surprised. i haven't unsubscribed yet, but just the title of this most recent video gives me "capitalist brainwashing" vibes, which ultimately gives ground to multiple anticommunist tropes. will perhaps edit after i watch.
Hakim has come out to be pretty pro-China recently, if u listen to what he says when he mentions China in the pod it's pretty nuanced and he's put ads in his videos because he hired an editor.
lol @ mango press claiming Hakim is american bc he speaks English too fluently.
just want to clarify that it wasn't exactly mango press making that specific argument, but someone in telegram comments. and, the argument wasn't that his english was fluent, but that he used specific idioms that only an american would use. mango press did make the argument that only a US citizen would be eligible for student loans.
That's insanity coming from a place like mango press that focuses so much on other countries. These people do realize how most young people around the world learn English right? It's 80%+ pop culture and consuming stuff that comes from the US/Britain. My longest relationship was with a girl from Italy who's parents didn't even speak a word of English and she was 10x more well versed in American pop culture and popular sayings than I am as an American myself. Even Yugopnik himself has said he basically taught himself English through American movies and video games.