Check out @1Dimee 's latest video -- the second part of a commentary on the PRC and the Cultural Revolution.
https://youtu.be/7WFd5kYItHI?si=I-RGI...
One point that stood out to me was the notion of revolutionary creation, in contrast to destruction. There is great importance in the dissolution of old symbols and ideology (and old power structures). But what is equally important is the creation of the new: the scaffolding for a better society.
The video raises an interesting question: why have past revolutions struggled to achieve this latter objective? There is no single, simple answer. Feel free to share your thoughts here, or in the comments of the video.
watch video on watch page
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Happy May Day! A red salute to all the working peoples of the world ✊
Channel update: Things have been slow because of academic and professional obligations, but there is a video in the works on OGAS and Soviet cybernetics. No promises on the exact release date, but hopefully within the next two weeks.
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Audience Feedback:
What kind of topics are you most interested in seeing videos about?
Please feel free to use the comment section to suggest other categories/ideas! (YouTube won't allow for more than 5 options)
Specific video ideas are welcome as well.
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Happy International Workers' Day!
Solidarity with all the liberation struggles around the world!
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103 years ago today, the Bolsheviks stormed the Winter Palace in Petrograd, marking the end of dual power and the effective dissolution of the provisional government.
The history that unfolded after this event is complex and tumultuous. Nevertheless, the October Revolution became widely known as the first successful socialist upheaval in history. Despite the complicated legacy that the Soviet Union left behind, the revolution itself has remained a symbol of the triumph of the working peoples.
The revolution brought with it an array of explosions, literally and figurately. It tore the Russian Empire open and ignited a bloody civil conflict. But with all the chaos and fighting, there was also an explosion of creative power: experimentation with the arts and sciences, rejection of rigid social constructs, exploration of new philosophies and ethical frameworks, and so much more.
All that said, perhaps the best way to "celebrate" the October Revolution is to turn our attention to the future. To preserve the best elements of that history, the left needs to engage in the challenge of furthering our own creative potential. We live in the era of great possibilities and our most lethal limitation is our inability to imagine what the "bright future" (светлое будущее, as the Soviets often called it) might look like. To master the creative act of imagining, we must equip ourselves with the theoretical capacity and the practical experience necessary for surmounting the mental block of complacency and defeatism.
We have nothing to lose but our chains!
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Only a few months ago the channel reached 5k subscribers, and here we are again with another milestone! We've grown in size as a community and as a team, which will hopefully open doors to more quality and quantity.
A huge thanks is in order for all the Patrons who have supported the channel and whose aid has funded better software, hardware, and overall quality of content.
Thank you to all the team members who have contributed to the project (reminder that any and all of you are always welcome to extend your skills and knowledge for developing new content).
There's an endless amount of ground to cover, so expect many more videos in the future!
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Unfortunately it appears that the latest video has been copyright claimed and will need to be taken down. Despite the use of the copyrighted content being non-commercial and academic, the company who owns the films has decided that the video doesn't fall into the fair use category because of how much footage was used. There's not really a way to dispute that so to avoid a copyright strike we'll need to take the video down.
We are planning to reupload it without the footage (which is what the copyright claim is attached to) at some point this week. We may include some basic graphics just so it isn't a blank screen for 20 minutes but that depends on how much time there'll be for us to put that together.
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It probably goes without saying that the Left needs to begin to seriously consider coalition-building. We are experiencing multiple crises unfold in real time. This overdetermined moment, in which the overlap between racial and economic hierachies become abundantly clear, could prove to be a crucial and formative experience for a Left that has been factionalized for far too long. The demands of the people for a better system can only become successful once they are unified and politicized.
Let's look past our marginal differences. They serve the ruling classes more than anyone else, and in these times we should not be affording those in power any advantages over us.
(Photo from the Minneapolis protests)
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Though we should be cautious to sing unnecessary praise for any individual, no matter their contributions to society, it feels entirely appropriate to pause and consider how enormously indebted we are to Marx and the theoretical revolution he sparked. Marx is arguably, even to this day, the most influential thinker in modern history. There is virtually no way to engage critically with capitalism and indeed history in general without encountering the Marxist mode of analysis. The conceptual tools Marx left behind will undoubtedly continue to be a useful arsenal for critical thought. With all that said, happy 202nd, Karl Marx!
And, as a quick aside, the channel has officially surpassed 5000 subscribers.Thanks to all of you who have supported this project!
Also, thanks to S for making the graphic for this post!
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A bit late in the day but...
Happy International Workers' Day!
We are quickly coming upon some unprecedented opportunities for change. Remember to self-educate, organize, and engage critically in political action. The path to successful collective struggle requires unity and political literacy.
Lenin said it best: "There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen. "
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