Analysis Episode #14 - Russia/UkraineKeep your private data private with our sponsor, Aura! Get two weeks free, no strings attached, with our link: https://a...
Has anyone watched the new episode from First Thought/JT?
It is the single worst video any of the Deprogram trio have ever put out. It misses the mark completely. I am not kidding but this was so bad that i had to unsubscribe from all of them, because there is something seriously wrong with people who call themselves communists and put out a video about the Ukraine conflict that comes across as if its only sources of information for the past ten (because this goes back to 2014) years have been the western media’s propaganda about the conflict.
It’s effectively peddling a pro-Ukraine narrative and outright lies on several instances, and the fact that they refuse to even talk about how much of a Nazi state Ukraine is basically edges into borderline Nazi apologetics territory.
Sorry but this video was an irredeemable clusterfuck and if they want to salvage any shred of their reputation they should immediately take it down and post an apology.
It is THAT disappointing, to be honest… I mean, I wouldn’t outright unsubscribe from them - they still have good content, Hakim’s videos for example are very well-written (though not without flaws ofc). But this one… What a way to absolutely nuke your credibility
Meh. His latest video about the Romanian coup was underwhelming. I expected more. I didn’t understand why he needed to portray Ceaușescu in such a bad light.
I’m the last person to say he was the best communist leader ever, but as someone actually from that country (which Hakim is not) i can tell you that he wasn’t anywhere near as bad as he has been portrayed by the anti-communists for the past 30 years. He made a lot of mistakes (IMF loans? Really? Wtf was he thinking?!) but we also achieved a lot of great things under his leadership, and to his credit he didn’t go along with the revisionist later Soviet (Brezhnev, Gorbachev, etc.) policies either, instead choosing to forge close relations with Kim Il Sung and the DPRK.
No, i would have to do some more research myself before i can recommend something that covers the entire period of his leadership in Romania in a satisfactory way, but on the topic of the 1989 coup specifically you can find some pretty good articles on marxists.org published in Workers World in 1990:
The first of these also goes into a bit of the history of socialist Romania and brings up some legitimate criticism of policy errors that were made by Nicolae Ceaușescu.
It’s well sourced and i appreciate how balanced it is. They rightfully criticize Ceaușescu on points where he clearly deserves to be criticized (some of the foreign policy mistakes made by Romania were really egregious), but they also highlight the achievements of Romanian socialism during his era.
It might have been underwhelming, but not an outright disaster such as this one from JT. In the end, I would say there aren’t that many good videos about Ceausescu in general, so no surprise there. A preferred way to learn about socialist Romania would be reading relevant literature, at least for now.
True. Ultimately i’m not mad at Hakim for that video, it was fine i guess, i was just sort of disappointed because it was a bit shallow.
What i am mad about is that none of the other two guys of the trio told JT that this Ukraine video is dogshit and that you can’t discuss the Ukraine conflict without talking about its internal politics. No mention of the Maidan coup, the Nazification of Ukrainian society or the de-facto NATO-ization of its army from 2014 on? And no talk about how the Kiev regime was poised to invade the Donbass republics in February-March 2022? JT tried so hard to pander to the libs that he ended up saying nothing but lib shit.
Even trying to make it seem like Ukraine won some kind of big David vs Goliath victory in the beginning for not immediately folding is ridiculous when you take a look at the actual facts. Russia went in with less than 100k troops. Ukraine had a massive army at the start, several times bigger than the initial forces the Russians sent in. And armed to the teeth and trained by NATO for eight years. If anything Russia was the underdog at the start, numerically at least if not in terms of equipment.
To try and say that Russia wanted to and expected to overrun all of Ukraine in some “blitzkrieg” but Ukraine valiantly held on against all expectations is just parroting the pro-Ukraine narrative that was sold to the Western public in the entire first year. Reality is much more mundane than that. Russia wanted to shock the Kiev regime into coming to the negotiating table. And they did. They went to Istanbul and almost reached an agreement.
And then the idea that Ukraine could be doing much better and could be winning if only the evil Hamas hadn’t diverted the West’s attention, if only the West was more consequent about sending them weapons and shit, if only they didn’t delay the military aid, bla, bla, bla. All the bullshit that the mainstream media has been spouting these past six months. Utter nonsense. It’s embarrassing for communists to repeat those talking points. In reality the West simply doesn’t have any more shit to give to Ukraine.
This wasn’t some “stab in the back” by the West. It was always going to turn out this way in a war of attrition, which is why it was so stupid for Ukraine to insist on turning it into one by refusing to negotiate.
What i am mad about is that none of the other two guys of the trio told JT that this Ukraine video is dogshit and that you can’t discuss the Ukraine conflict without talking about its internal politics
That we don’t know, I guess. Whatever they may tell him (or may have told already) - I doubt they will do it publicly or in the comment section, and also - he may as well tell them “my channel - my rules, I’m doing it”. IDK about Hakim, but Yugo is probably not gonna say much - I remember him posting a copy of the two gymnasts meme on Twitter - “the US does this and that, all the dirty tricks - loses; China does nothing - wins”, where he conveniently smeared the “Support the Nazis in Ukraine” piece with a gray line. Yugo received a TON of shit in the comment section for that - deservedly so.
I remember him posting a copy of the two gymnasts meme on Twitter - “the US does this and that, all the dirty tricks - loses; China does nothing - wins”, where he conveniently smeared the “Support the Nazis in Ukraine” piece with a gray line. Yugo received a TON of shit in the comment section for that - deservedly so
I remember seeing him post this meme and then others showing the original, revealing what he had chosen to cross out. It was incredibly weird and I am honestly so confused as to why he would do that. Did he respond to the backlash? Because I don’t remember if he did.
This Ukraine situation just seems like one they don’t want to touch with a ten foot pole and I don’t understand the motive. Why won’t they talk about it?
Figuring out one’s motive is always difficult. Perhaps due to their material interests - being afraid of losing the audience. Perhaps because of good old ignorance. Perhaps due to fear of pushback or persecution. Perhaps they got co-opted, or there’s something insidious about the three. Time will give us the clues, I guess
I think in this case the easiest answer is probably the most correct: they don’t say much, or anything at all, because it might result in a lot of vitriol. I understand being worried about being labeled as a propagandist for Russia (I had to face this at school when writing a paper about the Donbas) but thats why education is the best outlet. If you approach the topic from that angle without any polarizing language then it can be hard to call someone a Putin-simp or whatever.
Perhaps due to their material interests - being afraid of losing the audience.
It has not escaped my notice that they have had more and more corporate sponsors on their videos lately. Once you go down that path you are simply forced to toe a certain line else your money tap will be turned off. And when you rely on monetizing your content to support yourself and your family you really have no choice.
It is the single worst video any of the Deprogram trio have ever put out. It misses the mark completely. I am not kidding but this was so bad that i had to unsubscribe from all of them, because there is something seriously wrong with people who call themselves communists and put out a video about the Ukraine conflict that comes across as if its only sources of information for the past ten (because this goes back to 2014) years have been the western media’s propaganda about the conflict.
It’s effectively peddling a pro-Ukraine narrative and outright lies on several instances, and the fact that they refuse to even talk about how much of a Nazi state Ukraine is basically edges into borderline Nazi apologetics territory.
Sorry but this video was an irredeemable clusterfuck and if they want to salvage any shred of their reputation they should immediately take it down and post an apology.
Bro unsubscribed from all of them lmao. Hakims latest vids have been good.
It is THAT disappointing, to be honest… I mean, I wouldn’t outright unsubscribe from them - they still have good content, Hakim’s videos for example are very well-written (though not without flaws ofc). But this one… What a way to absolutely nuke your credibility
Meh. His latest video about the Romanian coup was underwhelming. I expected more. I didn’t understand why he needed to portray Ceaușescu in such a bad light.
I’m the last person to say he was the best communist leader ever, but as someone actually from that country (which Hakim is not) i can tell you that he wasn’t anywhere near as bad as he has been portrayed by the anti-communists for the past 30 years. He made a lot of mistakes (IMF loans? Really? Wtf was he thinking?!) but we also achieved a lot of great things under his leadership, and to his credit he didn’t go along with the revisionist later Soviet (Brezhnev, Gorbachev, etc.) policies either, instead choosing to forge close relations with Kim Il Sung and the DPRK.
Aye, do you have any good sources on Ceausescu, as a Romanian?
No, i would have to do some more research myself before i can recommend something that covers the entire period of his leadership in Romania in a satisfactory way, but on the topic of the 1989 coup specifically you can find some pretty good articles on marxists.org published in Workers World in 1990:
Reactionary coup in Romania and General admits long-term coup planning
The first of these also goes into a bit of the history of socialist Romania and brings up some legitimate criticism of policy errors that were made by Nicolae Ceaușescu.
Aye, that’s good for now…
Here’s another good one, an article from the PSL doing a very good job giving a broad overview of the modern history of Romania:
Romania: 30 years removed from socialism
It’s well sourced and i appreciate how balanced it is. They rightfully criticize Ceaușescu on points where he clearly deserves to be criticized (some of the foreign policy mistakes made by Romania were really egregious), but they also highlight the achievements of Romanian socialism during his era.
It might have been underwhelming, but not an outright disaster such as this one from JT. In the end, I would say there aren’t that many good videos about Ceausescu in general, so no surprise there. A preferred way to learn about socialist Romania would be reading relevant literature, at least for now.
True. Ultimately i’m not mad at Hakim for that video, it was fine i guess, i was just sort of disappointed because it was a bit shallow.
What i am mad about is that none of the other two guys of the trio told JT that this Ukraine video is dogshit and that you can’t discuss the Ukraine conflict without talking about its internal politics. No mention of the Maidan coup, the Nazification of Ukrainian society or the de-facto NATO-ization of its army from 2014 on? And no talk about how the Kiev regime was poised to invade the Donbass republics in February-March 2022? JT tried so hard to pander to the libs that he ended up saying nothing but lib shit.
Even trying to make it seem like Ukraine won some kind of big David vs Goliath victory in the beginning for not immediately folding is ridiculous when you take a look at the actual facts. Russia went in with less than 100k troops. Ukraine had a massive army at the start, several times bigger than the initial forces the Russians sent in. And armed to the teeth and trained by NATO for eight years. If anything Russia was the underdog at the start, numerically at least if not in terms of equipment.
To try and say that Russia wanted to and expected to overrun all of Ukraine in some “blitzkrieg” but Ukraine valiantly held on against all expectations is just parroting the pro-Ukraine narrative that was sold to the Western public in the entire first year. Reality is much more mundane than that. Russia wanted to shock the Kiev regime into coming to the negotiating table. And they did. They went to Istanbul and almost reached an agreement.
And then the idea that Ukraine could be doing much better and could be winning if only the evil Hamas hadn’t diverted the West’s attention, if only the West was more consequent about sending them weapons and shit, if only they didn’t delay the military aid, bla, bla, bla. All the bullshit that the mainstream media has been spouting these past six months. Utter nonsense. It’s embarrassing for communists to repeat those talking points. In reality the West simply doesn’t have any more shit to give to Ukraine.
This wasn’t some “stab in the back” by the West. It was always going to turn out this way in a war of attrition, which is why it was so stupid for Ukraine to insist on turning it into one by refusing to negotiate.
That we don’t know, I guess. Whatever they may tell him (or may have told already) - I doubt they will do it publicly or in the comment section, and also - he may as well tell them “my channel - my rules, I’m doing it”. IDK about Hakim, but Yugo is probably not gonna say much - I remember him posting a copy of the two gymnasts meme on Twitter - “the US does this and that, all the dirty tricks - loses; China does nothing - wins”, where he conveniently smeared the “Support the Nazis in Ukraine” piece with a gray line. Yugo received a TON of shit in the comment section for that - deservedly so.
I remember seeing him post this meme and then others showing the original, revealing what he had chosen to cross out. It was incredibly weird and I am honestly so confused as to why he would do that. Did he respond to the backlash? Because I don’t remember if he did.
This Ukraine situation just seems like one they don’t want to touch with a ten foot pole and I don’t understand the motive. Why won’t they talk about it?
Figuring out one’s motive is always difficult. Perhaps due to their material interests - being afraid of losing the audience. Perhaps because of good old ignorance. Perhaps due to fear of pushback or persecution. Perhaps they got co-opted, or there’s something insidious about the three. Time will give us the clues, I guess
I think in this case the easiest answer is probably the most correct: they don’t say much, or anything at all, because it might result in a lot of vitriol. I understand being worried about being labeled as a propagandist for Russia (I had to face this at school when writing a paper about the Donbas) but thats why education is the best outlet. If you approach the topic from that angle without any polarizing language then it can be hard to call someone a Putin-simp or whatever.
It has not escaped my notice that they have had more and more corporate sponsors on their videos lately. Once you go down that path you are simply forced to toe a certain line else your money tap will be turned off. And when you rely on monetizing your content to support yourself and your family you really have no choice.