So I think we already know the outlines of the typical criticisms of Breadtube, namely that it’s vaguely-leftist content that focuses on cultural critique and gives a nod to socialist theory here and there but it doesn’t actually achieve anything and it’s just a media-consumption demographic with no moves towards anything that resembles on the ground organising and activism. (Obviously there are a few outliers but as a rule this generally holds true.)
I dipped out of Breadtube years ago for plenty of reasons but I just posted on Lemmygrad criticising the SPD Three Arrows movement which prompted me to have a look at the Breadtuber Three Arrows and they have done exactly the same thing that Contrapoints and a lot of other large figures in this genre have done:
They build up a healthy Patreon base and then their content drops off to like a couple of videos a year, if that, while continuing to draw off a personal salary which rivals that of a full-time worker.
In the past two years Three Arrows has produced 4 videos, amounting to less than 4.5 hours of runtime all up.
That’s staggering for someone who is getting over 60k a year, at the most conservative estimate.
Likewise Contrapoints claimed to be getting 20k a month and she’s putting out like 1-2 videos a year. And there’s plenty of other examples of this too.
Imagine what could be done if people supported their local grassroots organisations instead of paying boatloads of cash for their twice-yearly YouTube treats smh.
There’s a lot about Three Arrows that I’ve never been able to reconcile.
I get that there are good reasons for hiding your power level: you might want to avoid the feds (learn from JT), you might want to avoid being effectively blacklisted by employers (learn from Marxist Paul), you might want to avoid malicious trolls (learn from BayArea415), you might be savvy enough to realise that fascism is on the rise in the western world and you don’t want to find your name on their list. Or you might want to make your stuff as palatable to your audience either to extend the reach of your message or because you’re chasing Patreon bucks. I respect the hustle. But there’s a big difference between playing it down with regards to your political position as a public figure and openly being a comprador.
I might be misremembering here but I reckon that Three Arrows goes in on anti-communism and promotes a message about how communists go “too far”.
For a person who ought to know very well how the SPD half-measures played out historically, that’s an interesting line to take especially when you’re making videos about how the current political situation is rapidly devolving into fascism and how the conditions of today are increasingly mirroring those of the Weimar Republic.
For a person who ought to know how the SPD collaborated with the Nazis and facilitated their rise to power, not to mention the assassination of Liebknecht and Luxemburg, it’s an even more interesting position to take.
As far as I’m aware, the SPD is really just another milquetoast “left-leaning” party (insofar as they aren’t as rightwing as the other major parties) these days so to support them today is another interesting line to take.
I get that the whole schtick of accusing any and every SocDem of killing Rosa is really overplayed, especially if we’re talking about some American who just wants universal healthcare and doesn’t know shit about Rosa Luxemburg, but Three Arrows has always thrown up a lot of red flags for me tbh.
He does. The SPD has a VERY long and VERY consistent history of betraying the working class every election cycle. Thats why his continued support of them made me immediately suspicious.