EDIT: JT has now finished. Thank you all for coming. The thread will remain open for chats to finish then we’ll be locking it for preservation at some point after 24 hours. Thank you JT for joining us!
JT will be answering questions below, due to a scheduled appointment that couldn’t be changed he will be starting a little late, answers will begin roughly 1 hour after the post starts.
Like usual there are no strict time limits set for this so JT will come and go as and when his time allows, if he doesn’t get to your questions be patient! This post will be edited here when things end.
JT’s posting account for AMAs is: @Secondthought_JT .
Be sure to check out The Deprogram if you haven’t already! Available wherever you listen to podcasts.
The Deprogram | Second Thought | First Thought
Thank you for all your efforts in combatting western chauvinism, its been wonderful to see your channel gain the traction it has.
I’m sure we all feel like we’re fighting a losing battle against US propaganda, especially recently given the increased racism from liberals against China and Russia. Do you think there’s any hope of overturning that ideological stranglehold within the imperial core, or will the engine of revolution continue to be located in the global south?
I’m glad you like the channel! We certainly have an uphill battle to face in the imperial core. I don’t think there will ever be a moment where class consciousness overtakes the deeply ingrained ideology we’ve been fed for the last hundred years. Our job is to do the best we can. Fight fascism when it appears, educate our friends, family, coworkers, build resilient communities, and be prepared to weather the coming storm of warmongering and reactionary hate. As the US empire wanes, it will continue to lash out ever more violently. The people with the most to lose - those on the receiving end of the violence in the global south, will be the torchbearers of revolution. All we can do is help in whatever little ways we can.
As the US empire wanes, it will continue to lash out ever more violently.
good lord I shudder to imagine what an even more violent US empire would look like
Thank you! 100% agree. If we can just get the imperialists to stay in their own lane, by creating enough traction and support for an anti-war movement in the imperial core, then we can have the multi-polar world we all dream of; reduced inequality between nations, decolonization / return of native lands, and socialism allowed to grow unhindered by US fuckery.
His Twitter feed aside, what do you think of Day’s essay, Masses, Elites, and Rebels: The Theory of “Brainwashing”? It’s at least in the running for being this website’s favorite text that isn’t by Michael Parenti, and I personally think it’s probably the most insightful essay I’ve ever read.
I like his work. He’s a sharp guy, just unfortunately a very bitter and condescending person. That’s not the kind of personality we need on the left, so I hope he gets his act together. Gotta win hearts as well as minds.
It’s sort of ironic given the empathy and non-condecension advocated for in the essay, but it is what it is
Okay everyone, I gotta run. Thank you all for your wonderful questions and your kind words! Lots of love, can’t wait to do this again in the future 🥰
goodbye JTAh just missed you! Shame
Please take a moment to browse our extensive emote collection, and tell us which one’s your favorite?
Or along more pressing matters, who’s your guess to win Fat Bear Week?
:3
I hope he actually doesnt answer my questions instead of a good one.
I think Yearling’s got the edge
Could you cover more about former socialism in Africa, such as Ethiopia, Somalia, Angola, Mozambique, etc? Thank you for what you do
I’ve been meaning to do more non-US stuff, so this is definitely on my list!
Hey comrade, what do you think about shouting out ProleWiki in a video? Or I guess for a more serious question, do you feel this type of resource could help you do research for your videos?
Shameless ProleWiki plug /s
the beast will not feed itself
Had a bad experience with one of the ProleWiki people (I think it was prolewiki at least). He was in my CPUSA chapter and was one of those very sus patriotic socialists, and some screenshots of his chats came out that confirmed my suspicions
I appreciate your honesty! This was a very shameful period for us, I’m not going to try and defend it. He was later banned (I think I know which screenshot you mean) when he conspired with the Infrared community* to infiltrate the wiki. Since then we’ve been completely free of patsocs.
Omg is it Wisconcom? Please tell me the Wisconcom lore just deepened. Lmao.
Lol Wisconcom definitely left a bigger mark, but no this was a different person. We wrote about all this on history page.
He’s not a patsoc, so no. Some are a mix of ultra left and revisionist, but he’s all the way on the left deviation.
He was later banned (I think I know which screenshot you mean) when he conspired with Infrared to infiltrate the wiki.
Wait what? The infra Haz guy tried to infiltrate prolewiki? You serious lol?
I still remember when he came to hexbear and got banned within a few posts.
Not him thankfully, as far as I know he never mentioned PW anywhere lol. But someone who we later learned was watching him and participating in his community; it’s on our history page.
What can be done to combat rising anti-Chinese sentiment? It seems even the previously anti war libs are foaming at the mouth for war. My girlfriend is Chinese, in China, and we’re considering rescheduling her trip out here and accelerating my trip there, because we worry that she may be targeted here. Not to mention the fear of war separating us entirely :/
Yeah if you guys are thinking of relocating to China I’d say go for it. So many cool places. The best we can do here is look at the example of the war on terror. People who “looked liked terrorists” were the target of extreme prejudice and frequently the target of hate crimes. Ask around in lefty communities what actions were taken to educate people, or protect their targeted comrades. There’s no easy answer, unfortunately. The US propaganda machine is incredibly powerful, and you’ll never be able to fully defeat the manufactured hate.
Thanks comrade!
How has being a commie internet celeb affected your day to day / personal life. Have you managed to avoid harm?
Surprisingly little. Some death threats every now and again, but always via email, never in real life. So far so good!
How about positive in-person interactions? Has anyone random ever recognized you or thanked you for what you do in-person?
I’m happy to hear that. I was curious bc I’ve bumped into internet ppl IRL, said something short and sweet like ‘Hi, i like your show’ and the reaction has been varied so I have imagined that other youtubers/podcasters mostly have had negative interactions. Hell, my vibe could’ve just been way off some of the instances I am thinking of were years ago
Hello JT! What is your opinion on this here rodent?
BIGGS
That’s a mighty fine critter, I tell you what
Do you figure lumpenproletariat was replaced by police (for capitalists and otherwise)?
what organizational constraints do you see the us left needing to overcome for it to be able to meaningfully challenge state power?
Mostly we need our orgs to shake the accusation that they’re tailing the democrats or too heavily invested in electoral politics. CPUSA has real trouble with this. I’m not saying these accusations are accurate, but if so many people come to that conclusion we’re doing something wrong. I think part of it is the associated publication, People’s World. Some of those articles are absolute trash and really harm the party’s image
Do you think that the USA and NATO will collapse? If so, how soon do you think it will happen? Do you think that once that happens China will help guide the world towards a better socialistic tomorrow, the same way the USSR was doing back in the day?
Collapse, not sure. Wane in power, absolutely, if they don’t blow us all up first. I give it 50 years before China is well and truly established as the economic and cultural powerhouse of the world. And I think that’s a good thing, I truly believe China is our best shot at world socialism
Hi JT! I came up with a few slurs for white people. Which one is your favorite?
- Birch Bark Babies
- Pasty Waste
- Vanilla Killas
- Polar Pirates
- Northern Overexposure
- Trash Bag Hag
- Cumulus Calamity
- White Whiners
- White Blatherskite
mmmm none of these are quite right…we need something snappier
I really can’t believe you replied to the dumbest comment on this thread
I was going for “comically overwrought” so I’m going to call that a success.
Vanilla Killas lmaooo
Who will be the first US Federal politician to utter the word tankie?
Realistically probably Mayor Pete, but I’m hoping it’s Christie
Where do you personally think first world praxis should focus? Building movements inside the empire? Accelerating the downfall of the empire? Aiding international / third world socialist projects? Elsewhere?
The first seems difficult and at constant risk of getting coopted or subsumed. The second risks making things worse for no reason. Not sure how to do the latter other than financial aid.
We gotta do a lot of base building and mutual aid to build an alternative to capitalism from the belly of the beast. There’s a reason they were so scared of the panthers. If you’re feeding someone’s kids they’ll listen to you.
Our job is to fight fascism at home and build our organizations. We may not be at the forefront of revolution, but through mass organizations we can partner with fraternal parties around the world and assist in whatever ways we’re able. Without organization, we are nothing. Join up if you haven’t!
