• UlyssesT [he/him]
    ·
    9 months ago

    I am continually baffled by those kiddie diddling cryptofascist fucks being generally accepted as "the left" for purposes of public perception. I know it's working as intended, but I'm still baffled that it works. They're the Andy Warhols of our time. fedposting

    • ProxyTheAwesome [comrade/them]
      ·
      9 months ago

      Russell Brand, Zizek, Vaush, Orwell, Nathan J Robinson, the list goes eternally of almost-left cringelord creeps

        • ProxyTheAwesome [comrade/them]
          ·
          9 months ago

          if i remember correctly he fired every that worked for him when they tried to unionize and I think had a bunch of other issues. He's also a total radlib on foreign policy

          • HumanBehaviorByBjork [any, undecided]
            ·
            edit-2
            9 months ago

            It wasn't that they tried to unionize, it was that they wanted to convert Current Affairs to a worker owned co-op. I'll still maintain that his writing was generally good, and the people he employed were excellent, but he was a rich kid who couldn't give up control of what he saw as "his" project. It's not even about money since I'm pretty sure the magazine lost money the entire time it was in print.

    • GreenTeaRedFlag [any]
      ·
      9 months ago

      I feel kinda bad for andy warhol. Like, he was trying to make art and he did, with some interesting messages. If there was just someone to reel him in he would have probably lived longer. It's not entirely his fault the CIA made his art a weapon. It does also suck how obsessed with fame he was.

      • UlyssesT [he/him]
        ·
        9 months ago

        He was one of a number of artists and writers that were selected by federal programs intended to derail socialist messaging in art and literature, usually under the banner of "postmodernism" but not exclusive to it. Basically, Soviet art and literature at the time had rather clear and direct messaging that frightened the ruling class of the western world, so the idea was to subsidize and promote and artificially boost the presence of countermessages that amounted to "interpretation is so open ended for this much cooler piece that it could mean anything. Nothing matters btw. It's very smart to stop caring about sociopolitical issues and just consume art product."

        • Frank [he/him, he/him]
          ·
          9 months ago

          For clarity - That period in American art wasn't 100% a CIA op, but the CIA did contribute to some university art (and literature) programs and some specific individuals and publications to give it more social standing and legitimacy. It's also one of those "Yeah they admit to it on their website they're really proud of it" conspiracies.

          • UlyssesT [he/him]
            ·
            edit-2
            9 months ago

            A lot of what the alphabet orgnaizations do is nudging. It isn't always high profile assassinations. It's shit like promoting certain subreddits. The head mod of /r/technology was once outed as a fucking general for example.

            Another recent example is all of the "advisory" nudging in capeshit where the US military gets to command how the capeshit plays out.