I think everyone who has been paying attention saw this coming. Now so-called “socialist” Hasan Piker is putting out CNN level liberal propaganda. Even western polling had to admit that Putin enjoyed an approval rating above 80% just prior to the election, but of course when you have demonized Russia to this degree you have to resort to reality denial to explain what you see.
We need to start using the term “red liberal” to describe these “leftist” political streamers and YouTubers who mimick the aesthetics and language of leftism while feeding into imperialist dogma and liberal assumptions about the world. Hasan also continues to deny the Donbass genocide that had been taking place since 2014 before Russia finally intervened, refuses to accept that Russia had legitimate reason to take action to stop NATO eastward expansion, and downplays the Nazi nature of the Kiev regime.
Now after he made fun of all the dumbass chuds who insisted in 2020 that the US election was stolen and made up all kinds of conspiracy theories to try and justify it, Hasan himself engages in the same kind of behavior when it comes to Russian elections. This is the kind of “socialist” who will act like they are not Democrat shills by superficially criticizing Genocide Joe yet continue to advocate that you vote for Democrats as the “lesser evil”.
It is good though that since 2022 all of these sheepdogs for liberal imperialism have been exposing themselves. Now we know where the lines are drawn. Once again Lenin’s words ring true:
“We are marching in a compact group along a precipitous and difficult path, firmly holding each other by the hand. We are surrounded on all sides by enemies, and we have to advance almost constantly under their fire. We have combined, by a freely adopted decision, for the purpose of fighting the enemy, and not of retreating into the neighbouring marsh, the inhabitants of which, from the very outset, have reproached us with having separated ourselves into an exclusive group and with having chosen the path of struggle instead of the path of conciliation. And now some among us begin to cry out: Let us go into the marsh! And when we begin to shame them, they retort: What backward people you are! Are you not ashamed to deny us the liberty to invite you to take a better road! Oh, yes, gentlemen! You are free not only to invite us, but to go yourselves wherever you will, even into the marsh. In fact, we think that the marsh is your proper place, and we are prepared to render you every assistance to get there. Only let go of our hands, don’t clutch at us and don’t besmirch the grand word freedom, for we too are “free” to go where we please, free to fight not only against the marsh, but also against those who are turning towards the marsh!”
meh, he is not a thinker he is a reactor. He prolly did get those votes and simultaneously enjoyed more loyal media apparatus than typical in the west. But the west media wants russia to suicide again like in the 90s, so no loss there
more loyal media apparatus than typical in the west
I’m sorry, have you watched/read western mainstream media recently? When i look at German media it’s like Gleichschaltung has happened all over again. And in the Anglo countries the media are thoroughly infiltrated by the intelligence agencies, this is a well known fact.
You see way more liberal critics of the Kremlin and of the Ukraine war on Russian media than you will see critics of NATO or of the pro-Ukraine policy in western media. And when it does happen the latter comes almost exclusively in the form of Trumpist conservatives who are obsessed with going after China instead.
I can count on one hand the number of people who are allowed on western mainstream media to voice any kind of rational, reality-based critique of the failure of the anti-Russia crusade and the collective insanity that has gripped the West in regards to Russia. It’s gotten so bad that Mr. Neoliberal Shock Therapy himself Jeffery Sachs has somehow become the voice of reason while the “left” has lost its goddamn mind.
kinda, but russia doesn’t have something like the intercept (semy acceptable but critical newspaper), they have either fully tilted western copycats, or current party-line loyalists (well and myriads of telegram channels,i believe). Anyways, from leftist point of view, more interesting liberal-adjacent point is about bonapartism and how it’s not good long term or that cprf seems hell bent on self destroying.
This is the kind of “socialist” who will act like they are not Democrat shills by superficially criticizing Genocide Joe yet continue to advocate that you vote for Democrats as the “lesser evil”.
Does he advocate for voting for Democrats? That doesn’t sound right.
Doesn’t he? Why then is every other video of his criticizing or making fun of Republicans or fearmongering about another Trump victory? He certainly seems to want to give the impression that the Democrats are the “lesser evil”. If he isn’t getting paid by the DNC he is getting ripped off, because he is doing a good job campaigning for them.
He spends a lot of time dunking on democracts. Go listen to when he was on the deprogram. It comes of like you don’t know anything about his positions tbh.
Yeah, he dunks on them from the perspective of them not doing enough or the right things to defeat Republicans. You can’t seriously tell me that you think Hasan and most of his audience don’t root for Democrats to win. Even now when they’ve all exposed themselves as warmongers and Zionist tools he still hasn’t denounced the so-called “Squad” as frauds.
I don’t get why Putin wouldn’t have such a high %?
He only allowed losers to run against him, the propaganda, the war.
More important question would be the turnout.
Maybe people in Russia like him because how much everyone else hates them.
More important question would be the turnout.
Turnout was around 75% which is a record high for the Russian Federation and more than you see in most western elections.
He only allowed losers to run against him
The reality is that there is no figure in Russia that would not come across as a loser next to Putin. Or do you buy into the West’s ridiculous propaganda that Navalny, who was virtually unknown and barely even polled in the single digits before he was arrested was ever a real threat to Putin?
Of course this is sad for us too because it means that the KPRF have no impressive personalities to put forward either.
the propaganda, the war.
Sure, media always plays a big role in shaping the outcome of elections, but this is no different in the West. People will only really vote for whoever the media picks as a “viable” candidate, and the media has a lot of power to shape people’s impressions of a candidate, for good or bad. Look at how much the media favored Biden in the last US elections. Look at how the media demonized Jeremy Corbyn in Britain some years ago.
As for the war, yes this was a major factor. In a war, especially when it is going well (which it is for Russia despite how the West tries to spin it), people will “rally around the flag” and support the leader, even many who would otherwise not agree with him or like him. But this doesn’t support the idea that the result is fake, quite the opposite, it explains it.
Maybe people in Russia like him because how much everyone else hates them.
Very likely. The West really shot itself in the foot with all of the sanctions and the anti-Russian discrimination. If they hadn’t done this maybe more Russians would be pro-Western but as it is they see that the West is treating them all as enemies so they react by doubling down on their support for the person that is portrayed as the incarnation of defiance toward the West.
Yep. Basically you wrote a better version of what I was thinking.
Navalny was never going to matter. His peak could have been an advisor to a candidate.
I don’t think the polls were cheated, as the chance of being caught exist.
I do consider there to be a lot of propaganda, as well hey, about 50% of Americans think life would be better for them under the Republicans than anything else.
But yeah, just a little bit of thinking to get to “it’s probably not a trick”
Historically election fraud is rampant in Russia, it’s just the main losers are the communist party not what ever fascist the West likes that month. Idk why everyone is acting like it isn’t a thing.
Like they do do a bad job and statisticians do point to huge irregularities it just doesn’t matter bc Putin is still popular.
I’m not sure we should die on that hill tbh
I have no way of verifying any claim about election fraud. All I know is that Russia has a capitalist mode of production, a liberal political system and that Putin is not a leftist, but he is also opportunistically anti-west which is good.
If you see a potential comrade hyperfocus on this election fraud thing, it’s better to open their perspective so they shift their attention on what matters rather than trying to get them to trust Russia more which is pointless at this level of propaganda
Edit : now specifically referring to Hasan - this guy is a massive libshit for endorsing western bourgeois dictatorships while dismissing their enemy-of-the-day bourgeois dictatorships
Elections in Russia, a bourgeois liberal democracy, are no more or less legitimate than elections in the West. If you believe that elections in the West are legitimate, which Hasan does as evidenced by the fact he spent years making fun of conservatives calling into question the 2020 election, then you are a hypocrite or a chauvinist if you claim that Russian elections are not.
For myself i don’t believe any elections under a dictatorship of the bourgeoisie are legitimate. Real democracy can only exist under the dictatorship of the proletariat. But i take issue with the double standard that is applied by Westerners when it comes to Russia
Damn I didn’t think his brainworms would be that big honestly, I had a form of sympathy for Hasan but now it’s gone. Who tf says they’re anti-capitalist and validate western elections??
In the end my reply was more about what you just said, that any bourgeois election is profoundly undemocratic
Thanks for proving my point that Hasan is a Democrat partisan. That is the same AOC who repeatedly voted alongside the entire Democrat party to give billions of dollars and heavy weapons to Ukrainian Nazis while denouncing the Palestinian resistance for striking back against the Zionist occupation and refusing to call what is happening in Gaza a genocide, yes?
We should oppose lies and misinformation wherever we find it, even when it is used against people we don’t like or support. You can’t combat misinformation by allowing it to continue to fester in other areas. It all needs to be dealt with, or none of it will. We can’t have “just a little western media brainworms, as a treat.”
We should oppose lies and misinformation wherever we find it, even when it is used against people we don’t like or support
Totally agree. I’ll just say that it’s important to avoid being disdainful especially when it’s ultimately quiet hard to prove this negative and since the precedents aren’t strong
On the other hand the conversation around this election can be very interesting if you take it as a starting point to ask more questions like “if the election was actually genuine do you trust the media would admit it?” / “The Russian system and economy have been written by the USA, what does it say about us?” / “All polls say he is actually popular, why would he commit fraud if he’s already won?” and most importantly “Why do you seem to think that democracy means everybody needs to be upset at the last politicians in place and vote for a different one given the chance?”
I agree. He is the enemy of my enemy, but other than that you can point to him doing things the west does, which helps libs sometimes open their eyes to how hypocritical they are being. Other than that i maintain that Putin is just another bourgeoisie dictator of yet another oligarchy.
Also hasan being a liberal? lol. That’s going a bit far imho.
I do agree, his postures on Russia are indistinguishable from a lib, him saying that Navalny would’ve been better than Putin for russians is absurd. That being said i think he has to be very careful with his words in this specific subject because he lives in the US after all and his livelihood is tied to it, he could easily end up in jail for saying something not allowed by US media.
he could easily end up in jail
Let’s not exaggerate, the US isn’t yet on the same level as Germany. There are plenty of people in the US in alternative media who have a much less anti-Russian stance than Hasan, some are even openly pro-Russian. They get harassed yes, but generally if you are a big enough public personality there is not much that will happen to you. Hasan himself even got away with telling the truth about 9/11.
and his livelihood is tied to it
This is more accurate. He has a vested financial interest in continuing to toe the liberal pro-imperialist line. He would indeed lose a good chunk of his audience and perhaps advertiser contracts if he did not go along with the anti-Russia talking points. This just indicates that he is a self-interested coward who is more worried about keeping the millions flowing in from subscriptions and advertisements than in actually using his platform responsibly and bringing (unpopular) truth to his massive audience.
I’m sorry but when you have a platform you also have a responsibility. He is not some working class regular Joe who out of self-preservation needs to shut up or else fear losing his job and his home. He has made a choice to support the propaganda narrative that is leading us down an ever more slippery slope of escalating war with Russia. “Putin is a tyrannical dictator”, “China is genociding Uyghurs”, “Saddam Hussein has WMDs”, these are the kinds of lies that lay the groundwork for wars.
In addition to serving the pro-war neocon agenda this kind of rhetoric is also putting Russians living in the West in physical danger just as anti-China propaganda puts Chinese people at risk. Already there have been people who have been fired from their jobs for admitting that they voted for Putin. In other countries people have been investigated by police and even arrested just for posting “pro-Russian” opinions online.
Hasan has both the money and the clout to be able to safely speak out against this atmosphere of paranoia and persecution but chooses to feed into it instead.
Let’s not exaggerate, the US isn’t yet on the same level as Germany. There are plenty of people in the US in alternative media who have a much less anti-Russian stance than Hasan, some are even openly pro-Russian. They get harassed yes, but generally if you are a big enough public personality there is not much that will happen to you.
He is easily the most influential leftist figure, maybe it’s just me but if i was in his shoes i would be very careful with my words because the US does have an history of minecrafting dissident figures. Another point, his audience is mainly baby leftists filled with liberal propaganda, if i was in his shoes i’d take it step by step, avoid talking about some topics while focusing on others that might be more important like China.
We definitely should call out the liberal propaganda he spews, so people ready to outgrow him can find the criticisms, but lets pump up the brakes a bit with calling him a sellout, he is doing this 24/7 and is bound to eventually say stupid shit, IMO he is a very important part of the communist pipeline.
because the US does have an history of minecrafting dissident figures
Well then Hasan is perfectly safe. You’re not much of a dissident when you repeat state department talking points about the US’s geopolitical enemies.
he is a very important part of the communist pipeline
He is part of a pipeline alright, i’m just not sure it’s a communist pipeline. More like a pipeline leading baby leftists away from anti-imperialism and back into system-compatible radical liberalism.
if i was in his shoes i’d take it step by step, avoid talking about some topics while focusing on others that might be more important
This argument would make sense if he was actually avoiding talking about it. He could have kept his mouth shut about the Russian election if he didn’t want to be accused of legitimizing Putin, but instead he chose to speak on it and basically call it rigged. And again, i have to stress it’s not that i am against saying that an election under a liberal democratic political system is, in a certain sense, illegitimate. It’s that he doesn’t ever say the same thing about elections in the US and Europe. He would never speak about Western elections in the same condescending, dismissive tone.
You don’t have to like Putin (i certainly don’t, and i am reminded of that every time he shittalks Lenin) to acknowledge the reality that he is just more popular in his own country than any Western politician has been in theirs in a long time. An ostensibly leftist political commentator like Hasan could choose to have a productive discussion with their audience about why that is and try and understand the political dynamics inside Russia from a materialist perspective and gain some actual insights. But instead, like liberals typically do, he refuses to even entertain the idea that another country’s leader that he doesn’t like can actually enjoy a considerable degree of support from the people of that country.
Liberals project their own likes and dislikes onto the rest of the world and assume everyone secretly thinks like them and just needs to be “liberated” by the enlightened West. Here is where that condescension and dismissiveness of other people’s cultures and political systems comes in. This same applies not just to Russia but to other countries whose leaders are demonized by the West and labeled as “autocrats” or “dictators” even when they win elections and available evidence shows that they have a pretty good approval rating.
That being said i think he has to be very careful with his words in this specific subject
He doesn’t just have to worry about US authorities, but his platfom as well.
The guy has to perform a balancing act of not pushing too far against the narrative or he gets cancelled and then nobody is listening to him.
It’s why Western streamers are ultimately controlled opposition, and there’s only so much they can do to defy that control.
By that same logic you could argue we all should have stayed on Reddit and continued to self-censor our opinions.
There are alternative streaming platforms you know…
… like what?
Don’t get me wrong, I do agree there’s plenty to criticize Hasan over, but what’s the alternative streaming platform besides YouTube?
They don’t put you in jail, they disinvite you from corporate media, demonetize your YouTube channel, suppress your Twitter reach, etc.
Look at the history of Chris Hedges’ career. Ever since he questioned the arguments for invading Iraq, he’s been banned from all corporate media. And when Russia became the enemy du jour, his RT YouTube account was deleted and his years of content purged. Now he lives on Substack donations. Hedges: On Being Disappeared
It is a kind of stepping on a mine thing in the US. You just cannot agree with Russia or against Ukraine or you will be deplatformed and branded a Russian shill. I’m not convinced Hasan is a principled Marxist but on this he has two choices which are shut up and say nothing or say this. Any other choice would result in Twitch likely demonitizing him, his sponsors leaving him, much of his audience leaving him and a good chance he gets straight up banned from Twitch at which point his influence and livelihood would be done, over, gone forever.
I personally in his position would just stay mum but he either does believe this as well or wants to cash in on the views from saying so. Though in his position I admit not talking about it would be seen as odd given what he discusses.
I don’t trust Hasan as he and many others could be part of the swerve strategy, recuperation, etc but this is the least surprising thing ever.
They kicked Roger Waters off his record label for understanding Russia. No one who is not a billionaire with their own media distribution (Musk) is immune from being cancelled over this and even Musk is the type who can have pressure applied given his position he could be dragged in front of congress and screamed at, humiliated, just in general harassed by the government. So while it’s true they almost certainly wouldn’t kill him, that’s because they could just ruin his life instead.
