Chapo Trap House and the rise of the dirtbag left

also did you happen to notice that this thread is absolutely chock full of ppl who listen to/enjoy this stuff AND are critical of it? Wild I know

I skimmed parts of the book online. I think "non-military women with PTSD are faking it" and "lol @ all these pages of wacky pronouns reddit told me came from tumblr" are offensive enough on their own for a start. plus her conflation of indigenous criticism of trudeau's racism with liberal claims of HRC's feminism as part of the same tumblr bullshit is about the purest example of this whole anti-idpol equivocation game I can think of

she's not a unique villain just a great example because she's less cagey than most of her "ex" peers (who certainly still agree with her general thesis). my only point is that reaction couched in leftist anti-idpol language is Actually A Thing here not just an invention of annoying twitter blue checks. it's an investment for this whole new left media clique, it's a glue. convincing fans of this is not going to happen

i'm not telling anyone that listening to chapo makes you a bad person i'm just saying a thing that people say is fake or overblown is actually a thing and i don't like it

ofc this isn't just about chapo but enough now

Even ignoring Chapo you’re just waving your hand at all of the vaguely public left. It’s weird because pretty much everyone I can think of under the age of 40, for instance, is aggressively pro-trans rights.

You are always quite vague about who these enemies are.

investments don't match surface presentation, pro-trans sentiment is vvvv recent/limited/conditional, I'm vague bc I'm trying to describe a tendency more than a person or group tho many ppl & groups are involved, casting a v wide net on purpose but it's whatever no one cares right. 1312

so how about that felix bit eh guys, am i right

Left what are some things you enjoy

rum, xanax, eric dolphy's flute solo on "stolen moments"

I'm vague bc I'm trying to describe a tendency more than a person or group tho many ppl

Which from the outside appears to be a bit of a strawman, that's the problem w/ being vague.

Probably could be crossposted with the is social media okay for you thread but there are assholes everywhere online saying stupid and horrible things. If you're going to ascribe to them some kind of import as a meaningful tendency that needs to be tackled, you've got to get more specific.

specificity is a cagenosorry im not arguing anymore. execution suboptimal pf rant way bigger than named subject9s of thread. so like just carry on dunking on chuds or whatever. sorry

mark fisher vampires castle is dumb, I agree (a uk trad marxist makes a broadside again anti-idpol, is this the 1970s?) . but otherwise you really are scolding a straw-man itt a bit which, I mean, "enjoy" I guess, but whatevs.

I feel like vampire castle was speaking to a very specific subset, and I kind of wish it didn't exist as an essay because it's *such* a slippery slope from there to criticizing a lot of legitimate politics based in social identity. Fisher walked that back and clarified a number of times, yet

the struggle for racial justice and lgbt justice are urgent priorities for the left. they are not helped by the mental environment of fear and censure that characterizes the contemporary left. the vampire castle essay remains otm.

and fisher remains one of the best expositors of our current political moment. the sections of capitalist realism that deal with depression were very helpful for me. and they pointed to the possibility of a more substantive conversation about, like, what we want, as human beings, from our society. he was trying to rehabilitate philososphy

Ftr the common association between Bran Castle and 'Dracula' is chiefly a Western European projection.

dracula is a great novel about the way the present is "haunted" by power structures that should have become irrelevant years ago. it's a funny book, and fresh today, even though it is 120 years old or something

Fwiw the conclusion I’ve come to is that while there are valid critiques of “idpol” they too often slide into a justification for just not having to think about race bc it’s easier. So I stay away from those critiques with the exception of when race is being cynically deployed by centrists who don’t actually give a fuck.

on VC- is the characterisation of the struggles of working class hero russell brand vs feminist critics (can't remember specific grandiloquent epithet used) in that essay otm? I may be stupid but are all the other people who also read it as an aggressively sexist gatekeeping intervention? especially given the climate on the UK left at the time? I mean this supposed climate of fear sounds pretty cushy compared to the actually existing one faced by survivors on the left

my first & last exposure to st mark, he knew what he was doing there, it's got enough in it in the way of contradictions & qualifications for people who want to think better of him to take what they want, but I've seen how people use the piece & the constant hagiography in certain UK left circles gets to me. from which I'd risk being excommunicated for being insensitive to his struggles or whatevever it's like this whole thing is some kind of elaborate reversal

man i remember when that guy was just an authority on british sci fi telly and mid-period fall LPs

has anyone read The Long Twentieth Century? the antifada/trillbillies crossover ep summarizing it wasn't totally convincing to me, but I was intrigued.

A lot of takes on this platform are going to age very poorly if it holds true that the riots were instigated by white dudes who listen to too much Chapo https://t.co/qMSa0AvgIe

— Neoliberal 🌐 (@ne0liberal) May 30, 2020

Bwahaha

Looool

idk if saying this will help or hurt the perception of this argument on this site but i think this is v otm:

my only point is that reaction couched in leftist anti-idpol language is Actually A Thing here not just an invention of annoying twitter blue checks. it's an investment for this whole new left media clique, it's a glue. convincing fans of this is not going to happen

― no (Left), Friday, May 29, 2020 4:43 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

ive just seen it happen enough exactly as described, its a way of shutting down challenges to shared assumptions way too often by maligning the underlying intent of the person doing the challenging. its a shortcut to not dealing w the questions raised, bc it immediately undermines the motives of the person raising them, might a well be an accusation of "virtue signaling"

this is a thing basically everyone does imo

I think even chapo haters would get something out of matt's post protest stream (06/02)

Also on the 2nd half of yesterday’s Michael Brooks show:

https://youtu.be/kUR42sshabc

Worthwhile history chat: A podcast panel discussion of Irish, Anglo, and American Marxist types from everybody from Zero Books folks to Swampside Chats types holding a free flowing opining on current events. Also they get into the differing class compositions/interests of the military vs the cops.

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/fromalpha2omega/episodes/2020-06-03T12_45_47-07_00

Here’s the Youtube version: https://youtu.be/fhvabQ75FZU

listening now. god it's painful when ppl try to do Chapo style jokes in otherwise dry discussions lol, will remember that if I'm ever in the same boat

Gotta know when to riff, gotta know when not to.

Tolentino TrueAnon was pretty much the perfect way to handle that story

Is Chapo still popular

Matt's "musings" were good on the most recent ep imo. He is the main person worth listening to on the show and not featured enough these days.

Chapo is still popular, certainly the biggest independent left podcast thing, but I think over time some others (True Anon especially) will have followings to rival it.

They do seem a bit rudderless/aimless at the moment except for Matt. I think they kind of instinctively sense they're not ideally suited to cover the current moment. (Though this NYT fail saga should give them fine material.)

Is Chapo still popular

― all cats are beautiful (silby), Wednesday, June 10, 2020 9:28 PM (twenty-eight minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

They've had a slight dip that began roughly exactly when Bernie's campaign crapped out but are still the top podcast on patreon

Russian patrons dropped off obv

True Anon def the more cost effective op

Tolentino TrueAnon was pretty much the perfect way to handle that story

― Donald Trump Also Sucks, Of Course (milo z), Thursday, June 11, 2020 5:20 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Yeah, I thought that was a really, really good discussion.

TrueAnon's general saltiness towards anarchists / police and prison abolition as a short-term goal is going to be a sticking point for some of their listeners, i think. There's a been a backlash on their Twitch streams / patreon comments. idk about Chapo.

Looking forward to the new one on Brazil with the excellent Vincent Bevins.

Chapo just going with a Matt's ponderings this week was smart. By Monday they should be around with some update on lib co-opting of the protests, covid increases, hellworld baby etc

Bevins TA episode is terrific.

yeah, dizzying

I fancy that book

Communists hate shopping
Women be shopping
Communists hate women

I haven’t listened to Chapo for years but I thought Matt’s take on the current situation, from the 8th, was good.

ive just seen it happen enough exactly as described, its a way of shutting down challenges to shared assumptions way too often by maligning the underlying intent of the person doing the challenging. its a shortcut to not dealing w the questions raised, bc it immediately undermines the motives of the person raising them, might a well be an accusation of "virtue signaling"

― ILX’s bad boy (D-40), Saturday, May 30, 2020 7:21 PM (two weeks ago) bookmarkflaglink

this is a thing basically everyone does imo

― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Saturday, May 30, 2020 7:24 PM (two weeks ago) bookmarkflaglink

at times i guess but there are also arguments where its clear one side is ignoring arguments to impugn motives and the other side is simply...making arguments. Some arguments should be ignored & some should be engaged w but it's always interesting which ideas are considered off the table

I haven’t listened to Chapo for years but I thought Matt’s take on the current situation, from the 8th, was good.

this whole situation has made clear he's the only chapo capable of generating any kind of perspective on these events instead of just riffing on pre-existing media. I don't always agree w/ him but I've enjoyed his updates a lot on the whole.

So what happened to Virgil Texas? I noticed he hadn’t been on the show or twitter for months and found this:

Ooh. I welcome this change. pic.twitter.com/fFmQetr5ks

— larks tongues in aspies (@htmlmencken) April 11, 2020