from the site : Rev Left Posted by "Radio Raheem 84" The radical center, from racist hipsters to faux investigative journalists.... When I watch videos with these types of yuppie hipsters going from country to country outlining the whole nature of the problem these nations face as cultural or ideological, I tend to think that there is an emergence of what Tariq Ali called "the radical center". These are types that literally use humor, sardonic and sarcastic quips and faux investigative journalism to creative a narrative that puts them at the moral center battling between the "extremes" of society.
I enjoy some of their shows like Vice but hate The Young Turks, The John Stewart Show, Bill Maher, and Don't Tell My Mom with the smug Diego Bunuel. I hate it when they use words like "far left" and make socialism out to be this great idea on paper but always assert that we just have to work with what we have by promoting progressive policy. It isn't just effecting journalism or the media, but academia and politics too, especially with the younger generation. What I've noticed about attending a top school is that they can be less intellectually stimulating than your local flagship. If you're not an Economist reading policy wonkish academically trendy technocratic ally minded faux-liberal then you're just not going to get heard in areas like the social sciences. I remember going against the Microfinance trend during it's height, even as a liberal, but was told I was going against the grain. It's as though that radical spirit of college, that innovative social changing spirit has been quelled and people are just coming up with "market solutions" or NGOs to fix problems when they know they're band aids on gun shot wounds. No one thinks systemically/structurally anymore at these colleges and all of my classmates were just trying to come up with the next Toms Shoes like idea. How do you combat this radical center that seems to have a lot of media flare, cultural legitimacy and seems to command respect by making their ideology hip and intimidating to people with different views? ---------------------------------------- Comments That's not the radical center, though. Michael Lind defines it has having economically progressive or more leftist views, but also as being socially moderate or "soft" conservative (personally not in favour of abortion, but not in favour of toppling pro-choice laws, and generally eschewing "identity politics"). --- Now comes VICE Magazine and one of it's creators Gavin McInnes who represents the growing trend of lolbertarian hipsters. They disguise racism, homophobia and pro-market, anti-left wing rhetoric with irony and cynical sardonic humor. It's a pain in the ass to read that hipster rag but the show on HBO is not that bad of a watch. It's pretty good. But man oh man it seems like if you critique Gavin and VICE than you will be labeled a overly PC sensitive liberal type that's gone haywire. Their influence surprisingly stretches from Sarah Silverman to David Cross to band Interpol to Snoop Lion. I mean it's all pop culture BS but still they made headway because of their reactionary supposedly no holds barred journalism that is really just angsty wannabe iconoclast hipster chauvinism. The only Marxist that I think that counter their sardonic, sarcastic dry humor is Brendan McCooney from Kapitalism101 Wordpress, who I wish would get more exposure considering his rather funny and informative videos seems to take a sideswipe to capitalism in the exact same manner that these reactionary chauvinistic jackasses assert themselves. These hipster lolbertarian jerks remind me of the Futurist movement in pre-fascist Italy, along with the Dadaists and Salvador Dali who loved the iconoclastic allure of being anti-liberal/left wing. It's mixing porn with conservative values and reveling in Western supremacy. --- I think the only solace we'll have is they'll probably burn themselves out much like we did (unfortunately) in the 60s and 70s. It seems mainly a problem of identity right now with middle-class youth trying to figure out politics that fit them when the current democrat-republican dicthomy doesn't apply to them all that well. Unfortunately some of them are going to have some batshit crazy ideas and notions, of course its easy to preach those when you haven't been on the other side of it. --- ____________________________________ I don't see any reason to be surprised or get angry. Yeah liberals have ideological convictions, and moderates aren't communists. Take it for what it is worth and critique their ideological assumptions ... I don't think we should expect moderates to agree with us any more than conservatives (Also, one might say that anyone who disagrees with socialist theory is probably operating with a straw man view of socialism ) Liberals, conservatives, moderates and others have written funny, creative satires or reported on interesting phenomena even if they get their fundamental interpretations wrong. Instead of expecting these people to wave a red flag, why not just view them with the knowledge that their ideological assumptions are flawed? Some of the greatest philosophers, writers and artists in history had despicable political ideologies, and that won't change ... if we can appreciate the filmography or ontological insights of National Socialists, why is some satire which mocks the "loony left" so offensive? Also, your "radical center" actually represents the pro-Democrat "progressive" liberal left ... that seems to be the case Jon Stewart and TYTurks who are on the left of the Democratic party (perhaps Bill Maher is a more centrist figure with his more conservative economic positions). I guess Jon Stewart occasionally makes silly calls for bipartisanship, but it seems that this is more out of naivete than some kind of anticommunist program on his part. In a way, it's asking too much for them to report away from the given line on issues like the DPRK, in part because everyone in America believes that narrative and the fact that everyone in America believes that narrative means that the narrative is constantly confirmed. I would challenge the narrative, not the brainwashed masses (of which, we must remember, journalists and media personalities are actually a part of) who all accept it unquestioningly. That is why there is NO good reporting on these issues in the American media, aside from the occasional leftwing socialist party rag. I think as leftists, if we are ever to convince the world of our agenda, must acknowledge that most people disagree with it, and not make moral judgements at everyone who interprets reality differently. Instead we must try to address the root causes of their misunderstandings. I agree with you about Yuppie youth though. They really ARE annoying. I don't know if its worse than any other generation ... it's just this generation is armed with a seeming nonchalance and independence (i.e "hipster" culture), meaning that they seem so much more hypocritical. -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
