What makes a leftist turn into a complete heinous dipshit like this

  • PzkM [he/him]
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    4 years ago

    Caleb Maupin is a self-proclaimed communist and former member of the Workers World Party who believes in "Socialism with American Characteristics" - a system which in practice would resemble Britain in the 1970s. In SwAC, important parts of the economy (natural resource extraction, heavy industry) would be planned and state-controlled, large infrastructure projects would be carried out, and new welfare programs introduced. The consumer goods sector would be left to the market. Billionaires would be allowed and even encouraged.

    His other activities include founding a left-wing(?) think tank which consists of six links to videos on his channel, giving lectures on his opinions, and having lots of debates with right-wingers and left-wingers alike.

    I don't take him seriously. He doesn't seem to have a coherent understanding of socialism or Marx. He holds to the most superficial interpretation of the theory of the productive forces possible. He's tone deaf and not particularly good at messaging. All of that said, I wouldn't consider him a nazbol, but that doesn't have to be true for me to consider him a detriment to the left.

    • Enver_Hoxha [she/her]
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      4 years ago

      Dude literally thinks welfare governments are socialist. Its pretty scary because most of the psycopathic racists we have are neolibs and shit

    • gayhobbes [he/him]
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      4 years ago

      I wouldn’t consider him a nazbol

      Did you see who he's hanging out with here?

      • PzkM [he/him]
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        4 years ago

        Yes. Caleb Maupin is not a nazbol. He's the contrived, horseshoe theory, productivist, neo-Dengist equivalent of a Bhaskar Sunkara demsoc, but he's not a nazbol.

        • gayhobbes [he/him]
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          4 years ago

          What do we do with a guy who shows up to a Nazbol conference then?

            • gayhobbes [he/him]
              hexagon
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              4 years ago

              But also

              Maupin uploaded a video of himself paling around with Aleksander Dugin and other right-wing nationalists/crypto-fascists at an "anti-imperialist" (but in reality closer to "third positionism") conference. He praised Dugin, downplayed his fascism, criticized Western youth for worshipping weakness over strength (classic fascist talking point), taking classes in gender studies, and talked about "international bankers" who were "disloyal to the nation" (classic antisemitic dogwhistle).

              Maupin defended his use of "international bankers" by claiming that the IMF is an "international bank", when in reality, it's a neocolonial institution led by American capital which lends to other States internationally, which is quite different from the antisemitic trope of rootless, cosmopolitan Jews represented by amorphous "bankers".

              Maupin gets very offended when you even raise the question of his association with Dugin, whether he's a Strasserist, a Dugnist, a Nazbol, etc. so I think there's some truth to the allegations. I agree with some of his classic "tankie" positions like the need to defend and learn from actual existing socialism, but he's not the best role model for MLs.

              He also wrote a book called "Satan at the Fountainhead: The Israel Lobby and the Financial Crisis", which accused ethnically Jewish bankers of looting the US Treasury for 'Israel'. This book doesn't appear on his own website, even though it lists his other books there.

              • PzkM [he/him]
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                4 years ago

                I have no idea why Maupin thought it would be a good idea to meet with Dugin. I doubt he gets many invites to conferences. However, you simply do not get a nazbol perspective on his channel. He's anti-fascist and debates fascists regularly. He's for LGBT rights. He's against violence and nationalism. And he's against vanguardism! I'm not too keen on 'defending' Maupin, but I really don't think he's a nazbol.

                P.S. He didn't say "disloyal to the nation", he said "disloyal to the United States"

                • gayhobbes [he/him]
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                  4 years ago

                  I dunno, his latest dustup over trans rights seems just as bad. He never seems to outright say he supports trans people. He sounds like every transphobe who tries to talk about people living their lives but there's still an element of pity or condescension there.

                  • PzkM [he/him]
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                    4 years ago

                    He made it very clear that he supports trans people and that he marched for their rights in the past in his response video to Thought Slime. For all his flaws, this isn't one of them.

                    • GlacialTurtle [none/use name]
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                      4 years ago

                      He gave a platform to an "I'm against trans ideaology" CPGB idiot and did not even remotely challenge them. He carries water for transphobes.