I have complained about it before but I heard on of the guests from guerrilla history on the deprogram make this argument and it made me want to gouge my eyes out. This kind of trans historical argumentation is both stupid and unmarxist, just stop! Sorry I felt the need to vent.
These states were not imperialist and they weren't settler colonies. This framing doesn't make any fucking sense when transfered to a medieval context. Like the best you could say is that the Italian city states represented an early firm of merchant capital, but even then that is an incredibly complex phenomenon that has only a tenuous connection to modern capitalism. Calling these city states early capitalism is just a fancy way of saying "lol u hate capitalism yet you exchange good or service! Curious!"
Seriously just stop. I don't know why this set me off but it was like a week ago and I am still mad about it.
Konstantin Syomin? lol.
He used to be a Russian TV host based in New York, then he “found” Marxism and started what is essentially a Russian Breadtube channel with a sizable audience. (Do all Breadtubers have their start in New York or something?)
I found his channel through one of his videos making fun of HBO’s Chernobyl a few years back, but most of the content are your typical ultras/Trots stuff - “international solidarity of workers! everyone else is an imperialist!”
His position on China has gotten even worse now. Before Russia invaded Ukraine, he was still “hmmm…. China has so many billionaires and yet claiming to be socialist…. very suspicious….”, this year he went full “China is red imperialist” with his 1.5 hour-long video essay telling you why China is anti-socialist and anti-communist lol.