Politics (continued)

• ‘Most online leftist communities are “unhinged,” and if I were to be like them, I would be twice as popular and make a lot more money.’[1.35] ‘Contradictorily, I think my channel has grown so quickly because we outnumber those “unhinged” leftists.’[1.36]
• Western chauvinism (that ignores leftists who don’t speak English, and thus aren’t watching an English YouTube video) and a self-own on why he’s palatable to liberals: “I wonder if it upsets any of the tankies online that it took me about a year to become larger than every single hard-tankie Youtuber on the platform. Because nobody likes their ideas and they are utterly irrelevant outside of people with severe emotional issues and a desire to overcompensate for a feeling of powerlessness in their lives so they project their desire for authority onto societies they like the aesthetics of.”[1.37]
• “It’s very funny how the social patterns of [tankies and Nazis] mirror one another.”[1.38]
• To theorize on a violent socialist revolution in the U.S, Vaush said that he “would need to go through it on a state-by-state, county-by-county level if I want to be truly comprehensive,”[1.39] rather than thinking through more important topics such as conflict within the bourgeoisie.
• “‘What about the Black Panther Party?’ I don’t give a fuck. Maybe I’d go back in time, I’d talk to Black Panther Party members and a lot of them are dumbfucks, but you know what? They did a lot of really cool shit. So it seems like whatever they called themselves, the ideology they hold themselves to, ended up being pretty based. [...] I’ve talked to Black Panther Party members [...] and these people are generally intelligent and reasonable. [...] Most of them, practically speaking, are either very radical end of social democrats or anarchists (at least in the ways they talk) and fairly pragmatic in the ways they want to go about it, with a heavy emphasis on communal militancy (which I’m in support of, as long as it works, which seems to be their position as well). [...] I’m so done with labels and ideology, dude. I’m so fucking done with it. All I care about now is policy and moral… descriptive and normative statements. [...] Like really, when was the last time the world was made materially better because leftists argued over with label of leftism is better? [...] Every single time, it leads to sectarian infighting, and then people like me (that is to say, people who aren’t autocrats) usually end up getting our throats slit by people like Hakim.”[1.40]
• “US geopolitical power is important to me personally, because I'm not ready to lose that to China.”[1.41]
• Downplayed antisemitism[1.42],[1.43],[1.44] to tacitly supports the anticommunist Finnish government which allied with Nazi Germany because ‘haha bouncy ball, no subtext here.’[1.45],[1.46]
• “While Jewish people in America are certainly an oppressed minority in many, many respects, there are elements of disproportionate control that they enjoy.”[1.47]
• “Remember, tankies are pro-imperialism, okay? The only real anti-imperialists are anarcho-Bidenists, okay? You have all of the anti-imperialist pragmatism of being an anarchist, and you have all the realistic understanding that Trump is not good for American foreign policy of being a Bidenist, okay? It’s the only way forward.”[1.48]
• “God, I fucking hate leftists. There is no left unity with me.”[1.49]
• The labor theory of value “is a moralistic theory, meaning it deals with value statements and not empirical reality.”[1.50]
• “You can still satirize liberals. It’s very, very possible to satirize us because we’re reasonable.”[1.51]
• Contemporary U.S. domestic politics:
  • “Donald Trump and other prominent members of his administration are announcing to us that they intend to commit a coup in the United States. This isn't a fancy, you know, a frivolous use of language - this is a capital-C coup d'etat. A traditional seizure of government power by one group against the democratic wishes of the majority. They have been broadcasting their intentions now for quite some time, and it is clear to me now that they are committed to following the plan. That is what is going to happen in five weeks. Things may actually end up being worse than I imagined this week. I am going to explain this to you. And I am going to be right. [...] We’re about to see a constitutional crisis that will make [Bush v. Gore] look like child’s play. [...] The likely outcome of this, in my opinion, is that Donald Trump is going to lose this election terribly, and then he’s going to win it.”[1.52]
  • “I would actually say Biden is further to the left of Trump than people like Virgil Texas are to the left of Biden.”[1.53]
  • “When Joe Biden wins I worry some lefties will spend more time gloating over how terrible he is rather than bullying him, which is step 2 of The Plan”[1.54]
  • “The single greatest reason I chose to stop arguing with Bernie-or-Busters on my channel - despite many still expressing interest - is because, after dozens of such arguments, I've found it is a belief they adhere to as irrationally and dogmatically as a religion. I don't care if they're grifters or just very stupid True Believers, but here's one thing they're not: brave. The support & income you can draw from boldly proclaiming “both sides are bad and I'm not voting” is absurd. It's an easy narrative. Whatever their motivations, I think these people to immeasurable harm to the online left - not because Biden needs our vote, but because they make everyone who listens to them stupider.”[1.55]
  • “If Brie ever wants to come on stream so I can explain to her how fucking moronic her empty virtue signal for a $25/hr minimum wage is, I’m down. Collapsing the economy wouldn’t be good for American workers. She won’t, of course. Gotta keep that grift going”[1.56] “Anything less than $50/hour minimum wage is neoliberal, whatever that means. I don't know how economics works but I'm sure there wouldn't be any negative consequences. I hope Democrats don't also start to push for $50/hour because if they do I'll have to push for 60”[1.57]
  • Vaush’s only political donation was to Joshua Collins.[1.58]
  • “BIDEN PLEASE STOP DISAPPOINTING US WITH YOUR MILQUETOAST REACH-ACROSS-THE-AISLE BS”[1.59]
  • “America is F*cked if Democrats Can’t Fix This”[1.60]
  • “Hillary didn't get the media to destroy [Bernie Sanders]. Please do not sink to the lowest levels of regressive conspiracism, okay? The reason why Fox News and right-wingers talked about it is they knew that Joe Biden was going to end up winning (or at least it was very lightly that he was) and they wanted to poison the well against him by getting disaffected leftists so disgusted with the Democratic Party that they didn't vote for Joe Biden. [... Trump] brought it up because he knew dumbfuck lefties would look at those tweets and think 'wow, even Fox News knows they're being shafted. I'm not going to vote for anyone then,' and then Trump wins and blah blah blah, okay? Please, this is like level one media opsec shit.”[1.61]
    • As he himself said a few minutes later, the far left does not have numbers. The obvious implication is that when the Republican Party cynically reported on the Democratic Party's mistreatment of Sanders, they were appealing to Republican voters, not the far left.
    • He confused Hillary Clinton with Joe Biden.
    • That's not what "opsec" means.