Never made one of these before so if you're looking for an essay long drama thread on leftist infighting because a lot of things need to be said and aired for the healing of humanity then you're in for a treat.
If that sounds like pulling nails then we're sorry?
If that sounds like pulling nails then we're sorry?
I say "we" because contrary to some online discourse Dave (the other Serf) is very much a human and not a computer algorithm and you can find him on our main YouTube page doing the funnies or our podcast on Patreon. He's just not as keen on streaming but also tweets and stuff.
So in a week where there's an uprising in Serbia, China effectively engulfing Hong Kong, the US smashing world records for COVID cases, the entirety of my twitter feed has seemed to be concerned with cancel culture or the strangest debate on Indigenous issues I've ever seen.
I had more dm's and emails from other leftists asking me why I hadn't cancelled Vaush or condemned him then ever before, including people invoking my Indigenous mother (which is a really bad look to be frank)
My mother is the bravest woman I've ever known. One of the moments I cried the most in my life was when she was sentenced to a week in jail for protesting a pipeline so please don't ever use her for political aims or goals.
To start I think anyone who felt the need to bully Joey Andean off the twitter platform should have a good long look at what they think they're accomplishing. He's a proud activist who doesn't deserve harassment online and the fact that it got so bad is sickening.
It's no surprise though. This is a garbage platform.
People talk past each other and become defensive immediately.
There is no utility to having discussions about serious issues on twitter.
People talk past each other and become defensive immediately.
There is no utility to having discussions about serious issues on twitter.
It's the reason we use it primarily for ripping into right wing reactionaries because we're not expecting to open up a thoughtful and intellectual debate.
We're expecting to provide you with a laugh or some catharsis.
It's usually petty and we acknowledge that.
We're expecting to provide you with a laugh or some catharsis.
It's usually petty and we acknowledge that.
The left is a giant mash of a lot of different ideologies for how we want to better the world and yet some people live in a binary where there's only the one true leftist. I constantly push for a diversity of tactics and strive not to impose a methodology on anyone else.
I'm not "edgy" in the traditional sense of the word. I don't use ableist slurs or say the n word to recruit people from the other side of the isle but I do bully the bullies. I've done it my whole life and will continue to do so.
Of course there's things Vaush does that I disagree with and stuff I even find problematic. I can say the same thing about a huge amount of content creators on a variety of platforms.
For a lot of them I simply don't watch them. I turn them off. They're not my cup of tea.
For a lot of them I simply don't watch them. I turn them off. They're not my cup of tea.
I don't actively start twitter flame wars with them because surprise surprise, all it does is throw gasoline on a platform where people don't listen to each other. They talk past each other.
And what exactly are our goals?
And what exactly are our goals?
Vaush is extremely popular for a reason. He's charismatic and delivers lighting fast rhetoric usually aimed at far right reactionaries. He's one of the fastest growing channels (170,000 subs) That's a lot of young impressionable minds looking to him for guidance.
I'm not saying that to say he's beyond criticism. He shouldn't be. No one should be. That's kinda the beauty of the left, you should be able to critique and grow from each other. Not into the same person but better each other through collectivisation.
If anyone hadn't noticed the left is losing badly right now. Corbyn, Bernie, Jagmeet, these aren't even far leftist political movements. Meanwhile Jair Bolsonaro and Trump can accelerate global warming as quickly as they want while Indigenous people die saving the rainforest
To me there's a far greater utility to Vaush teaching his young minds about Indigenous rights than there is to creating a bunch of memes. It's the reason I did a bunch of research on the topic and made this
I genuinely don't know if he saw it (we hadn't spoken since this all went down). Maybe it was the conversation he had with Joey. But he was offline for two days, did research and came back with a video he released yesterday.
I want to emphasize this isn't the defense of yet another white cis male (because next to gamers they're the most oppressed people on the internet). But to explain why people learning about a subject and using their platform for good serves a better purpose than blood sports.
Since it's the only thing twitter understands here's some of out context clips from the episode
"What we did to Native Americans"
Anyways if you want to watch the whole thing you can, he's rich and famous so you know where to find it. The purpose of this story isn't to white knight a person who had a bad take or sad problematic stuff. It's about the bigger picture of how the left operates together.
If you made it this far excuse skipping the obligatory Ted Talk joke. Instead why don't you follow some Indigenous groups and creators: @IAF__FAI @salishmemer @The_Red_Nation @TheEagleist @APTNNews @CFNGBI @deejayndn @Nehiyahskwew @Hayden_King @waub @SilvrSpookGames @RussDiabo
