[Unscripted, patrons only] Thoughts on Breadtube

Not sure what I'm supposed to do with this comment

Sophia is pretty sure JFK's head just kinda did that

I don’t know why I can’t watch this.

Jam Life

(before watching) I love that you made this video cause I have really not seen any good takes on Breadtube that aren't just rightwingers going: "leftism bad" I'm not saying there aren't but they are not prevalent.

Well that's why I'm doing Organising Interviews

Sophia is pretty sure JFK's head just kinda did that

Great video, was really interesting to hear your thoughts on the topic. You mentioned social democrats in pre-Nazi Germany having their own culture and community and activities that they did together. Would you have any recommendations for reading up on that, as it sounds really interesting. And how do you find groups that undertaking Praxis in particular areas? Would like to participate in some, but I don't know where to start.

This was a really nice, chill video. I really liked the vibe of no script. I'd also love to see some theory vids in this vein since I've been trying to read some myself, and it helps me to hear other people talk through it. This is probably one of the best vids on breadtube out there. Maybe the bar isn't super high, but you still cleared it!

ChoshiGaiden

It's true!

Sophia is pretty sure JFK's head just kinda did that

the most important part of the video is when she said I was one of the funniest people

Thought Slime

YES!

Sophia is pretty sure JFK's head just kinda did that

It's connected to a tangent more than the main thrust of the video, but it's completely insane how Caleb Maupin talks about Mildred's videos.

Mattilda Castillo

The fact that people who lived through Gamergate a few years prior fell into the exact same conspiricism is...really fucking disheartening.

Christopher Faherty

I think there is a really interesting discussion to be had around Georges Bataile's notion of the Outsideness and building alternative cultural spheres. The distinction of what activities are of emotional production vs expenditure also seems like an interesting line of distinction you brushed upon.

Tulip Proserpina

I just finished reading Jodi Dean's COMRADE and am thinking a lot about the politics of collectivity vs individualism/ego/identity--how can we balance "bringing people into the fold" by showing people that leftist counterculture has art and entertainment that appeals to their specific interests with creating a political movement where the collective is valued above or beyond the individual/self? I say this as someone who is absolutely not as politically dedicated, involved, or selfless as I want to be and feel I should be, so it's not at all a shaming or gotcha question, just trying to work through my thoughts out loud. Like, how do we, in practice, make a political movement appealing to people in an individualistic culture without falling back on reifying the individual as the center of political action and existence (and thus encouraging either egoism or complacency.) Idk! I definitely recommend the book if you haven't read it, though, it's a really interesting work of political philosophy 😊

blusocket

Damn it, I hit enter accidentally, but honestly I think I made my point. Anyway, again, this was really interesting, thanks for taking the time to discuss this stuff. You rule!

Seb Jones

This was a really fascinating vid, Soph, and I think you made clear a few things I've personally been muddling up in my head for a while. Chiefly, your distinction between the idea of left theory and more general leftist entertainment, and the idea that both of these ARE in fact useful and valuable to leftists in trying to build a cultural and political movement. I often feel like because I haven't studied theory at, like, a university level, that I shouldn't be writing things with an explicitly leftist angle to them because I'm not 'qualified' to do so, and also because I don't really WANT to delve deep into really intellectual theory. I occasionally read it and I think it's useful to promote that stuff and help people educate themselves, but I'm a storyteller, not a teacher. I want to make art and tell stories and make things that might critique structures of capitalism and imperialism, directly or indirectly, but I also want to entertain, and I think art's primary function IS to entertain its specific audience. I think the reason I feel so paralysed about doing that is a fear that it's not 'useful' for furthering leftist ideas. But you make such a great point that leftism isn't just theory or dunking on right-wingers or mutual aid or direct praxis stuff. Leftism can be making art that people love and want to come back to (I too have half a dozen comfort essays I've watched several times because they're such deep, rich works), and doing that helps build a culture of people who are informed and interested in alternatives to capitalism,

Seb Jones