We Need Places to Go
The other day I decided to delete my Google account because I simply got tired of arguing with people on Youtube. The fact that Google pretty much shut down left-wing content creators there only made things worse.
Sure, there are a few still out there like Sane Progressive and Humanist Report, but it is utterly drowned out by crappy corporate YoutubeRed shows, alt-right white noise, angry kids whining about political correctness on old WWE and Simpsons clips, anomoly hunters crying conspiracy at every possible turn, and general bashing of every flavor.
One in particular that pisses me off is how so many use ASD as an insult for the purpose of stopping conversation. For example 'Oh stop your autistic screeching' or 'I just love seeing people "sperg out"'. For the record, sperg is derogatory shorthand for Asperger's Syndrome.
Caucus comrade Wink introduced me to BitChute, a supposed Youtube killer. Unfortunately there's a problem: instead of corporate media or youtube partners, alt-right shitposters dominate the front page, searches and comment sections. So honestly, it's just Youtube from 10 years ago. Except instead of atheists pwning creationists, it's alt-right idiots whining about 'normies' or whatever anomoly they decided to turn into a giant black hole this week.
Here's another place the alt-right are going for crowdfunding: Hatreon.
Members of the so-called "alt-right" and far-right movements are looking for new ways to fund their projects.
But that's been pretty difficult for them. The self-described "alt-right" is a white nationalist group. For the past couple months, major companies like PayPal, GoFundMe and Patreon limited access to or straight-up banned people associated with it. Oftentimes this was because users violated hate speech policies or threatened people's lives with their projects.
As a result, banned users began searching for what they called "free speech alternatives." In June, that search ended with the launch of crowdfunding site "Hatreon."
Current users of the site include Richard Spencer, white nationalist and inventor of the "alt-right" moniker; anonymous news parody personality TV KWA; and "ethno nationalist" content creator Tara McCarthy. Each of them says they'll use Hatreon to fund their content.
I wish I could say this were a joke, but there it is. And to think, I found this on a simple DuckDuckGo search of 'who funds the alt-right'. Because there's no way in hell these hateful idiots could do shit like this on their own. The side story of 3d printed guns should scare the shit out of any sane person also.
So where are we supposed to go? I mean, we often hear so much god damned whining from right-wingers about how they're silenced, censored and have no voice. Yet when we point out the opposite along their willingness to help the corporate centrists punch left, we're called, among many other stupid things, 'triggered snowflakes'.
Make no mistake: The corporate centrists love the alt-right. They also like the other astroturfed group, Antifa. Google's token censorship bullshit shouldn't fool anyone with regards to this, nor should the corporate media's soft condemnation of white supremacy and Dipshit Trump despite both dominating the airwaves. The corporate media did help get Trump elected, after all.
So what is our recourse? I wish I had ideas, but I don't. Caucus99percent is a damn fine beginning, but we need other ways to counter the corporate centrists and their alt-right/antifa shock troops. It will be difficult, I get that. But something's gotta give.
See ya around,
Aspie
Comments
I'm drawing a blank as to reasonably practical things that
can come to fruition quickly. We do need to remember and keep reminding ourselves for the need to do something, however, so thanks mucho.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
I also have no ideas.
And after 5+ head bangs in recent months, I have discovered that there are tasks that I cannot do. Simple ones, like dishwasher loading, are too complex. I used to be a smart girl. Now I have trouble ambulating. And thinking. TBI here. I try to compensate. What else can I do living alone? Be optimistic that rest and time will make it all work out? Virgin territory for me. I can relate to you.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
Hmmmm . . .
I dunno. It seems to me the only sites that remain true to their purpose are those that are very strictly controled. C99 is interesting--it is very progressive-centric, but I'm not sure how much control is performed. For example, if someone posts a neoliberal essay, do the organizers here leave it, or delete it? I rarely see anything promoting the right or neoliberal wings here, so I assume some control is being performed.
Jimmy Dore and such YouTube channels are being de-monetized, so perhaps we need to put a video news site together (a ProgressiveTube or LeftMedia)--either crowdfunded, kickstarted, or monetized by companies who would be willing to back a progressive agenda. Perhaps run by left-wing retirees here (or elsewhere). People would submit videos to be posted, but they would need the approval of the people running the site before being posted to the public. Perhaps put in a rule that after a certain number of video posts that are deemed okay, then that person/group can post with only periodic review of videos. Anything can be posted, but any videos promoting right-wing or neoliberal views would not be allowed.
Maybe try to get Jimmy Dore and Lee Camp (Redacted Tonight) to post their videos to our services as well (in addition to YouTube) and try to monetize them through companies willing to court the left. I'm not sure who that would be--perhaps renewable energy companies, certain labor groups (nurses union?), organic farmers, non-right-wing foundations, etc.
That way, the front pages are not lined with right-wing propaganda. People have a single place to go for REAL news and information. Promote it on Facebook, like C99 does. But keep it controlled so that it never gets bad or false.
Just initial thoughts.
That makes sense.
I'm sure there are plenty of orgs out there willing to back an organized left-wing online and off. It's finding and connecting with them that can be the hard part.
Modern education is little more than toeing the line for the capitalist pigs.
Guerrilla Liberalism won't liberate the US or the world from the iron fist of capital.
control on c99
The way that is done here, ironically, is a near-complete lack of top-down control. If someone posts a neoliberal/neocon essay here, it's left up -- and the community here is perfectly free to criticize it, which we do. And we're free to ridicule the ridiculous, which tends to discourage folks from posting ridiculosities.
So we remain true to our purpose by remaining true to ourselves, rather than relying on top-down control from "the authorities" to do it for us.
There have been a very few cases indeed of JtC having to lock a user out because he was being a complete dick. But that had nothing to do with ideology, but with behavior.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Interesting . . .
That's very interesting--thanks for the reply!
I'm guessing that if the site got bigger, or started hosting videos like the original poster says, the neoliberal or right wings would make an attempt to co-opt it somehow. That's what seems to happen, especially during election times.
Bing. BlueTube, BlueToob.
YouTube likely would be all over BlueTube as some sort of infringement, so go with something like BlueToob and YouTube can go suck an egg. Start the channel on BitChute or some other platform while building our own.
Until The Left starts putting its money where its mouth is the Totally-Funded Right will continue to have us for lunch.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
Man, I wonder how the economics of that work
Bandwidth is expensive. Hosting videos is expensive. It'd be trivially easy to make a video sharing site but JtC doesn't even host videos here and funding is a struggle.
A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers.
-- lotlizard
The irony of crowdfunding
I find it ironic that many alt-righters decry socialism and preach about rugged individualism while expecting donations from people who probably have much better things to do with their money.
Modern education is little more than toeing the line for the capitalist pigs.
Guerrilla Liberalism won't liberate the US or the world from the iron fist of capital.
Is it really?
Some places now have fiber, which has a crapload of bandwidth up and down. Sure, a lot of that is Google fiber, but there are also many independent fiber providers.
Sorry, I don't know how this site is put together. Is it co-hosted by an ISP, or is it run on someone's personal server? (I'm guessing the former.)
And the struggle for funding is where the kickstarting or advertising angle would help. It doesn't look like C99 uses advertising, although my Ghostery seems to be blocking a DoubleClick (advertising) tracker every now and then from this site.
Video does take a lot of bandwidth, though, you are right.
Alt-Right content creators are leading the exodus to “Alt-Tech”.
I’ve noticed that too.
So what about the idea of a “Left-only” alt-tech infrastructure? Is it practical? What qualifies as “Left” for the purposes of the project? Who would draw the line? Will bits of the Left end up each trying to go their own splintered sectarian way?
Would anti-war, anti-neocon Ron Paul be excluded as too “Right”? How about Antiwar.com’s Justin Raimondo? Backing Israel and Zionism — is that too “Right”? Criticizing Israel and Zionism and backing BDS — is that “Left,” or is it “anti-Semitic”?
Good points, all, lotlizard
Ironic that you can post those questions here without drawing a bunch of crap responses.
Just mentioning Zionism and Israel would trigger snowpuddles on various other sites.
Same with anything anti-war in this Russia, Russia hysteria.
I brought this same subject up months ago. What would we do if we were suddenly shut out of all communications? And while we don't have a shutout, presently, we are being throttled down. A slow death. Denied existence even.
This makes "meetups" even more important. Local "chapters" that can still be in contact with the wider national organisation we call Caucus99%. Or international, in the case of Mimi and others who gather here.
In fact, it may become our best way of communicating with each other, through those of us living outside the U.S.
There is no limit to the power of those who oppose us and our progressive idealogy.
IMHO.
Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.
Agreed
Meet-ups are hugely important. I too wonder if eventually, even in the USA and Europe, if we'll get to the point where the internet has a "wall" like China does where certain information is not allowed.
Maybe
Perhaps instead of making this a "left" video sharing site, you'd make promotion of certain ideas not allowable?
For example--no denial of climate change. No promotion of fossil fuels. No promotion of war. Things like that.
Yep, excellent idea. n/t
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
Where should "we" go?
As I've been pondering the whats & why's of a video sharing site I realized that what is important is to define what "we" we are talking about. I certainly would have no interest in putting up a "progressive" site. I'd want a "reality" site. That means the content is going to be all over the map but the site would need to provide tools for checking & enforcement of correctness. And therein is the rub. Suddenly I'm google all over again.
I've gone over options like saying "Along with your video, you must post a list of primary assertions of the video and your supporting citations for them." But where do you go from there. So someone puts up some MadBomber video and cites CNN, WaPo, et.al. There ya go... fully cited by "authoritative sources".
In the end, I think all you could do would be a patreon like gig. Each broadcaster collects what donations they can and a portion of those go to the site for costs. But it's gotta be up to the people choosing to donate or not whether the broadcaster is worth the donation. Which, of course, leads to the notion that patreon already exists.
A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers.
-- lotlizard
Time to go back to leafletearing
I say its time to get analog. Start a note-passing campaign. Little slips of paper that say "General Strike, Date". Write up a list of demands and have everyone on strike carry it on their person. Then, when anyone is interviewed, they just read from the list of demands name/rank/serial style. Media will never air those interviews, but when the momentum becomes overwhelming, they will finally have to, just like with Bernie. Then the dam breaks open. But it all has to start with the general strike and that can't be organized online - it has to be meatspace.
Well, we do need
to go face-to-face, door-to-door with the public. The best way I've found to do that (if you're easily recognised in your town) is to drive the 5-10 miles to the next town and "practice" there. When you eventually get comfortable with the door-to-door (and if you do enough you will), then you bring your act back to your hometown. But, going face-to-face without a digital meeting place - C99, someplace else - is leaving many of your contacts behind. Takes both digital and face-to-face to make the magic work. No better place than right here as far as I'm concerned. Already has an active community where Newbs can lurk before they wade in.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.