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2y ago

JT from Second Thought + The Deprogram! Ask me anything!

EDIT: JT has now finished. Thank you all for coming. The thread will remain open for chats to finish then we'll be locking it for preservation at some point after 24 hours. Thank you JT for joining us!

JT will be answering questions below, due to a scheduled appointment that couldn't be changed he will be starting a little late, answers will begin roughly 1 hour after the post starts.

Like usual there are no strict time limits set for this so JT will come and go as and when his time allows, if he doesn't get to your questions be patient! This post will be edited here when things end.

JT's posting account for AMAs is: @Secondthought_JT .

Be sure to check out The Deprogram if you haven't already! Available wherever you listen to podcasts.

The Deprogram | Second Thought | First Thought

The Deprogram on Twitter | JT on Twitter

The Deprogram subreddit

315 comments

Okay everyone, I gotta run. Thank you all for your wonderful questions and your kind words! Lots of love, can't wait to do this again in the future 🥰

Hello JT! What is your opinion on this here rodent?
- That’s a mighty fine critter, I tell you what
- BIGGS

Thank you for all your efforts in combatting western chauvinism, its been wonderful to see your channel gain the traction it has.
I'm sure we all feel like we're fighting a losing battle against US propaganda, especially recently given the increased racism from liberals against China and Russia. Do you think there's any hope of overturning that ideological stranglehold within the imperial core, or will the engine of revolution continue to be located in the global south?
- I'm glad you like the channel! We certainly have an uphill battle to face in the imperial core. I don't think there will ever be a moment where class consciousness overtakes the deeply ingrained ideology we've been fed for the last hundred years. Our job is to do the best we can. Fight fascism when it appears, educate our friends, family, coworkers, build resilient communities, and be prepared to weather the coming storm of warmongering and reactionary hate. As the US empire wanes, it will continue to lash out ever more violently. The people with the most to lose - those on the receiving end of the violence in the global south, will be the torchbearers of revolution. All we can do is help in whatever little ways we can.
  
  As the US empire wanes, it will continue to lash out ever more violently.
  good lord I shudder to imagine what an even more violent US empire would look like
  
  Thank you! 100% agree. If we can just get the imperialists to stay in their own lane, by creating enough traction and support for an anti-war movement in the imperial core, then we can have the multi-polar world we all dream of; reduced inequality between nations, decolonization / return of native lands, and socialism allowed to grow unhindered by US fuckery.

Sorry for the slight pause in answering questions, friends. Had a minor crisis to resolve. I'm back and will tackle the rest now!

Dropping in to say that the East Palestine documentary was incredible and I hope you get to do more projects like that! edit - from Chattanooga

I don’t have a question, I just wanted to say hi
- Howdy, pardner!

Do you let Hakim and Yugopnik see the sun at all or are they fully secured in your basement at all times?
- I have a stone slab over the pit that I roll back to give them some exposure to the sun every day or two
  
  it was good enough for Jesus, however, you should probably get them some vitamin D supplements, not just the euphemistic downstairs 'Vitamin D'

Do you have any plans to do more on-site reporting like with East Palestine? And how spicy do you like your food?
- I would love to! I plan to tackle some proper feature-length documentaries in the future, possibly in collaboration with Hakim and Yugopnik. As for spicy food, I put ghost peppers in my chili, so I like it fairly spicy

Hey comrade, what do you think about shouting out ProleWiki in a video? Or I guess for a more serious question, do you feel this type of resource could help you do research for your videos?
- Had a bad experience with one of the ProleWiki people (I think it was prolewiki at least). He was in my CPUSA chapter and was one of those very sus patriotic socialists, and some screenshots of his chats came out that confirmed my suspicions
  
  I appreciate your honesty! This was a very shameful period for us, I'm not going to try and defend it. He was later banned (I think I know which screenshot you mean) when he conspired with the Infrared community* to infiltrate the wiki. Since then we've been completely free of patsocs.
- Shameless ProleWiki plug /s
  
  the beast will not feed itself

Hi JT thank you for joining us again!
In your opinion, what are the prerequisites that must be met in order to move someone from being a radlib to a full fledged socialist?
Also what's your vice?
- They have to understand class conflict. Without that analysis they will never be able to really understand global trends. My vice for many years was Dr. Pepper, but I'm about 8 months clean now!

please tell me that I'm ok
- You're more than okay, comrade ❤️

Does the Deprogram crew have a betting pool on when
will finally croak? If so has Yugopnik already lost?
- lol we do not, but you better believe we'll drop an emergency episode when he kicks the bucket
  
  Can't wait

Have you considered mentioning these Hexbear AMA's on Twitter or YouTube? Or shouting Hexbear out somewhere?
- I've been running around so much the thought never crossed my mind. I'll have to do that for the next one!

have you considered a third thought?
- I’d sooner die than have another thought

How has being a commie internet celeb affected your day to day / personal life. Have you managed to avoid harm?
- Surprisingly little. Some death threats every now and again, but always via email, never in real life. So far so good!
  
  I'm happy to hear that. I was curious bc I've bumped into internet ppl IRL, said something short and sweet like 'Hi, i like your show' and the reaction has been varied so I have imagined that other youtubers/podcasters mostly have had negative interactions. Hell, my vibe could've just been way off some of the instances I am thinking of were years ago
  
  How about positive in-person interactions? Has anyone random ever recognized you or thanked you for what you do in-person?
  
  Answer my question. I'm still waiting on my reply and she's still doing pushups. She's up to like 65,600 pushups so far.
  https://hexbear.net/comment/3991448

What do you think about Linux and the FOSS space?
- Very limited experience. I have a Steam Deck, and it's based on Linux, but that's about it
  
  JT IS (technically) AN ARCH USER LETS GOOOOO

If you, Hakim and Yugopnik were isekai'd into an RPG/D&D-style fantasy world/game, what do you think your respective classes would be?

What can be done to combat rising anti-Chinese sentiment? It seems even the previously anti war libs are foaming at the mouth for war. My girlfriend is Chinese, in China, and we’re considering rescheduling her trip out here and accelerating my trip there, because we worry that she may be targeted here. Not to mention the fear of war separating us entirely :/
- Yeah if you guys are thinking of relocating to China I'd say go for it. So many cool places. The best we can do here is look at the example of the war on terror. People who "looked liked terrorists" were the target of extreme prejudice and frequently the target of hate crimes. Ask around in lefty communities what actions were taken to educate people, or protect their targeted comrades. There's no easy answer, unfortunately. The US propaganda machine is incredibly powerful, and you'll never be able to fully defeat the manufactured hate.
  
  Thanks comrade!

Hi JT! I came up with a few slurs for white people. Which one is your favorite?
Birch Bark Babies
Pasty Waste
Vanilla Killas
Polar Pirates
Northern Overexposure
Trash Bag Hag
Cumulus Calamity
White Whiners
White Blatherskite
- mmmm none of these are quite right...we need something snappier
  
  I really can't believe you replied to the dumbest comment on this thread
  
  I was going for "comically overwrought" so I'm going to call that a success.
- Vanilla Killas lmaooo

Who's cuter, Yugopnik or Hakim?
- I've only seen their hands and their hogs
  
  Well who's got the cutest dick
  Bet it's yugopnik
- Yes
  
  No, don't give him any hints from last time. I've got him now

Hey JT, do you browse hexbear on the down-low? Do you have any hobbies? Have you started developing more esoteric hobbies because of your adoption of communist ideology? (for example, I've developed an antiquarian hobby of collecting extremely rare books on anything relating to American and Soviet communists) And final question, can you share some of your favorite music?
- I mostly stick to Twitter. It’s a hellhole but it’s my hellhole. My hobbies have stayed mostly the same - I like board games, reading, Magic the Gathering, Smash, and I’m addicted to everything camera related. Been big into film photography lately. Favorite music, probably Arctic Monkeys and Jason Isbell
  
  Do you have any good recommendations for 2 player board games?
  
  You play minecraft?
  
  Melee or ult?

Another questionless person, but just wanted to say hello JT. Appreciate the amount of thought you put into a lot of these answers
- 🥰

Damn, missed the ama because of work. Ah well, i know he likes the site and i'll just wait till next time.

Your in DFW right? When I went by that area people almost killed me?
Do you support sending bad drivers to reeducation and taking their car and turning it to trains?
- 100%. Texas drivers might be the worst in the country
  
  Real!!!
  
  Vegito agrees!!

Do you think American liberals in the next 10 years will come to an understanding that a left wing exists and it's broadly not them?
Do you think they'll continue to call us brainwashed/unrealistic or will they regard leftists as a legitimate political rival to contend with?
- To your first question, not a chance. Too far up their own ass. To your second question, they'll continue to assert they are the only rational actors, or "the adults in the room." Which is funny because they all have a child's understanding of the world

Did you remember your password from last time or did you just stay logged in?
- fingerprint baybeeee

Why is the deprogram’s reoccurring Russia “correspondent” an ultra who thinks China is imperialist and WWIII is inevitable? [I know you weren’t on the recent episode, but still.]
Note: My support for Russia is very critical. I know they are rightist capitalists, they are just playing a relatively progressive role at this moment in counterbalancing the US.
- Yeah I wish the others had pushed back on that point, I would have done it myself if I had been on that episode. Konstantin is a good guy for boots-on-the-ground reporting, as he's living through this stuff and can report first-hand. That being said, we obviously don't agree with him on everything, especially the China stuff. If you've got any recommendations for alternative guests to fill that role we'd be happy to reach out
  
  Ah. I don’t know of any other on the ground Russian journalists. Someone I could recommend is Brian Becker, from the Socialist Program. If you don’t know, Brian Becker is a big figure in PSL and certain anti-war groups. He has good and nuanced takes on the current war along with multipolarity.
  
  Konstantin has been great, please don't replace him over his China opinion
- Why is the deprogram’s reoccurring Russia “correspondent” an ultra who thinks China is imperialist
  FYI, this is the position of practically all Russian MLs nowadays outside the CPRF.
  
  KPRF is by far the largest ML party in Russia though. I'm pretty sure they even dwarf the rest parties combined

Hi @Secondthought_JT@hexbear.net .
Thanks for doing another one of these.
Also
to all the lemmygrad early birds.
- hexbears for doing your part putting this together!

Where do you think the role of American Communist truly lies? I have thought for quite some time that the global south is the future and our job is to first and foremost do everything we can to stop interference abroad.
Also, Chattanooga is dope, definitely one of the cooler places if you want to stay in the south.
- I wrote up a response to a similar question elsewhere, so I'll paraphrase here. Our job is to fight fascism at home and support fraternal organizations abroad by joining and working with our domestic communist orgs. We can't help the revolutionaries in the global south alone, but inter-organization solidarity is very useful and there are often concrete initiatives we can get involved in!

This feels like a part of federation history.
What are some other content creators or groups that you recommend or "consume" a lot of, but specifically ones that you think don't get that much attention? Like those random great YouTube channels with 500 subscribers.
- In the political sphere? Obviously gotta plug my boys Hakim and Yugopnik. Luna Oi is very good, Lady Izdihar, Marxist Paul if you’re into Maoism (not my thing but Paul is a great guy). I’ve been mentoring a guy who wants to start a religious socialist channel, so if that’s your cup of tea or have Christian family members it’s called The Holy Shift Show. I’m sure he’ll be baffled if some people subscribe, he just launched the other day and has like 2 subs
  
  I’ve been mentoring a guy who wants to start a religious socialist channel, so if that’s your cup of tea or have Christian family members it’s called The Holy Shift Show.
  That's exactly my cup of tea, thanks! Will also check out the other ones.
  
  The Holy Shift Show
  The only podcast that shows up when I search for this is hosted by a woman named Christine, is that the same one?

JT, what is your opinion on AES countries such as China, Cuba, VN, Laos, and North Korea?
- Extremely based. In all seriousness though, I'm incredibly optimistic about the surviving socialist projects. The fact that they've been able to resist subversion and develop the productive forces even with the US breathing down their neck is a miracle. I'm fully convinced that if humanity is going to survive the capitalist era, it'll be thanks to China
  
  Is there any other nations who you would critically support? Like Nicaragua, Brazil and Bolivia?

Have you ever had any other weird interactions with the feds or police ever since the DHS knocked on your door for your ClA is a terrorist organization video?
Even stuff like suspecting your phones, computers, etc. are passively listening, watching, keylogged, etc., people following you or your family
- Not to my knowledge, which means either they're doing a good job or they just don't care to keep pestering some random YouTuber

Could you cover more about former socialism in Africa, such as Ethiopia, Somalia, Angola, Mozambique, etc? Thank you for what you do
- I've been meaning to do more non-US stuff, so this is definitely on my list!

Do you think that Niger and other African countries will move closer towards to socialism since now Africa is becoming more anti-imperialist? Maybe a socialist country might come out of Africa in this century?
- I do think so, yeah. Niger giving France the boot and all the other coups, uprisings, and growing socialist sentiment in Africa is very promising.

Based on the current state of event, do you think that socialism will make a comeback soon to Latin America and Eastern Europe?
- Soon is relative, but I think within 50 years, and certainly within 100 years we’ll see a major shift away from the US model of capitalism (provided we don’t blow ourselves up first). Latin America especially is fertile ground for a rising socialist movement, as is much of Africa

I love The Deprogram podcast, have been listening since the beginning, and was a subscriber to all 3 respective youtube channels long before the podcast started. One thing that has kinda irked me to put it mildly, is that you guys sure do talk about food a lot. That in and of itself is no problem, but whenever it comes up, it's invariably talk about how great certain fast food chains are and specifically how tasty the animal meat they killed and commodified is, which to some of your vegan fans is disappointing and even legit nauseating at times. I know to most it's just humorous chitchat about something the three of you enjoy, and I get it, but I also know I'm not the only listener really put off by it.
I wouldn't presume to tell anyone what to talk about on their own podcast, but as a listener, I find myself consistently wishing you would seriously address leftist arguments for veganism and recognize the intersectional nature of socialism and non-human animal welfare. I remember Yugopnik saying some really positive things about veganism briefly in one of the livestreams (I can't find which one now) when asked about it but then shortly after, in a regular episode he's going off about how yummy veal is and even forgetting what animal it's made from.

Do you think you could ever get some vegan comrades on the show to take you to task for your unexamined carnism? lol
I want to add, more for some of the readers than for JT. Since someone always says the thought terminating cliche, I realize there is no ethical consumption under capitalism, but most leftists recognize there is a spectrum.
- Ehhh yeah, I understand what you're coming from, but as bad as it sounds it's just not as pressing an issue as the liberation of humanity. I'm sure we'll have someone on at some point, but only if we can find someone who won't make our audience feel attacked for not being able to afford plant-based alternatives. We have listeners from all over the world and from all sorts of different backgrounds, and while I think all of us can agree that animal rights are important, not everyone is able to live that lifestyle
  
  There's a huge difference between telling everyone regardless of their circumstances that they need to "live that lifestyle" and recognizing how problematic your advocacy of the opposite of "that lifestyle" is on a show where you have significant influence. The constant unironic stanning of Chic Fillet and Mcdonalds and drooling over chicken tendies, all without any examination is why I stopped my patreon support and eventually stopped listening.
  
  only if we can find someone who won't make our audience feel attacked for not being able to afford plant-based alternatives.
  Because absolutely none of your audience is vegan, huh?
  Because plant-based alternatives are universally more expensive, huh?
  Because informing people of the extreme harm that carnism causes and even how it impedes human social justice means they will feel attacked, huh?
  Because all of those socialist vegans are always keen on attacking people, it's almost impossible to find ones who go out of their way to be kind and understanding, huh?
  it's just not as pressing an issue as the liberation of humanity
  I really hate it when people are so certain of what is the most pressing issue. Like when people say a socialist revolution in the imperial core is more pressing than addressing racism there. Or those who say getting free healthcare is more pressing than stopping the exploitation of the global south. The people who say it always do so not to advocate for the thing they feel is the most pressing issue (and that's not to say it isn't a pressing issue), they say it to disparage the importance of another issue. Different issues can be addressed simultaneously, believe it or not. We don't need to bring about the liberation of the entirety of humanity before we can start working to end the suffering of other sentient life that happens on an unimaginable scale, in large part thanks to capitalism. Not only can we work towards both at the same time, both goals are better served by doing so. That's the nature of intersectionality.
  Your response is really telling, comrade.
  
  You can, so if you feel it's important then why are you eating the teddies?

Thanks for doing this JT!
What are your thoughts on "Settlers: The Mythology of the White Proletariat" by J. Sakai?
The guys at Chapo Trap House & TrueAnon disparaged it as a political dead-end recommended by the 'very crazy people' that inhabit the 'very weird' American leftism and I would love to hear your take on this contentious book.
- I’ve heard mixed things about the book. It’s on my (very long) list of books to read. Not sure when I’ll be able to get to it. I will say the US leftism is indeed very weird and often counterproductive
  
  There's an audiobook torrent of it here also for anyone interested . On youtube also. Absolutely required reading for any US leftist.
- it's actually been recommended on the deprogram discord by JT at some point, but idk if his stance has changed since than

What do you think of Chompsky?
He's like 3 people in one man: an anti-imperialist 'tankie' (See his views on the Khmer Rouge et modern-day China) , a liberal (his electoralism and anti-communism) , and an Anarchist (in philosophy)...
Btw, are mohawks cool? Cuz Dirty Owl said so...
- He's alright. He's introduced a lot of westerners to at least vaguely socialist ideas. Though I will say there's very little Chomsky has contributed that Parenti hasn't done better

Thanks for talking to us losers again lol. Greetings from South Africa.

Just wondering what your thoughts are on dependency theory and/or world systems theory, and theorists such as the late Samir Amin. Is this kind of Marxism/Neo-Marxism a valid contribution and way of explaining how the world works, or is it revisionism of some sort?
- I'd defer to Hakim on that one, he's more well read on the subject. It sounds interesting, and it's subject to a similar kind of suspicion among orthodox marxists as MMT. I have to do more research into both, but I'm all for people exploring ways to synthesize new ideas into Marxism. That's what makes it a science!

reminder that fall is persimmon season. get the persimmons before they get wiped out by fungus
- I've never actually had a persimmon. Maybe this is the year!

Hey JT. Not a question per say, but would it be possible to make sources a bit more "front and centre" in the videos? I have a tendency to link your videos to people I try to inform and the general feedback is that they "can't just outright accept it".
Obviously you link sources / further reading in the description, which is decent. But would it be possible to make it a bit more obvious in the video themselves? As for example when statements are made in the video, make them refer to sources in the description or in some other non invasive way? As I think many don't bother to directly further investigate before they dismiss statements made, which where it seems to also end.
Hopefully that made sense. Love your content!
- ehhh I understand where they're coming from, but also I have to consider the longevity of my videos. It's like adding a date stamp to pictures, once it's baked in you're stuck with it. If my videos end up getting hosted somewhere there's no description box people will be wondering why there are these mysterious numbers popping up on screen. Also it's just a lot more tedious work and I think it looks ugly. If people genuinely want to learn they can take two seconds to click the description box
  
  If you do ever want to add little citations in videos (like a little [5] in the corner for the fifth one), you could always have them be on your own website that is shown at the start of the video. This gives you complete and long-term control over that content and also means it works on sites lacking video descriptions.
  If someone decides to repost your video somewhere, it will also drive traffic to your site and therefore your other videos.
  You can also take advantage of directing people to your site by plugging whatever your current thing is. Maybe it's First Thought, maybe it's The Deprogram, maybe it's something else. When it's your own site you have control over what you're currently plugging, whereas things like YouTube videos are kind of stuck plugging whatever you were doing at the time.
  Anyways I feel like I'm starting to make a hard sell when I really just wanted to suggest a simple idea. Hope some of it is helpful!
  
  Makes sense.

What is your least favorite American city?
- I hate Dallas with all my heart
- JT before you answer this question, consider Arlington, TX, a city of nearly 400,000 with no bus service.
  
  Yeah Arlington is trash

Tell me about your Volvo project?
- Gladly! It's a 1992 Volvo 240 wagon, minty clean in its original silver. I'm swapping a 6.0 LS into it with a 6-speed manual. Performance cam, totally rebuilt engine, new exhaust, all the little electrical gremlins of age sorted out, stepping up from the stock 14s to 18 inch wheels (haven't decided which yet, but maybe TE37s). Very excited. I'll probably wrap it in a deep metallic green and redo the interior with cognac leather and a modern infotainment system and sound
  
  Sounds awesome. I'd keep it silver and go with some deep dish 16's tho, but that's just my old-ass Scandinavian genes talking I suppose, I grew up seeing hot-rodded 240's everywhere so I just love the look of smaller wheels with a little bit more rubber showing lol.
  Either way, good luck on the build, and would be awesome if you'd post it somewhere when it's done (we do have a car comm here on hexbear, just saying)
  
  Ooooh shit that sounds like a fun project! I haven't had much enthusiasm to finish my project because cars are pain. Hahaha
  Feel free to post about it. I'd love to see some updates.
  Thanks for coming in and doing this. Your channel was one of the steps on my march to the left. I'd say you hold an important mile marker on the leftist pipeline, and I thank you for your service.
  
  I would love if Alpina green was available in vinyl wrap

Please take a moment to browse our extensive emote collection, and tell us which one’s your favorite?
Or along more pressing matters, who’s your guess to win Fat Bear Week?
- I think Yearling's got the edge

Is there a first thought?
- Oops, First Thought is literally linked in the AMA post. Why doesn't First Thought get more attention?
- https://youtube.com/@firstthoughtnews?si=GltPmcbD4p2jThcV
  
  I noticed, its even linked in the text of the AMA. Just a little oopsie.

Would you play Kor, an indie game made by @Goadstool@hexbear.net?
It's a turn based combat rpg and beloved by hexbear users
- I’ll give it a look! Haven’t had time to play many games recently between the baby and all my projects

Hiii JT, how was your day
- Not too bad. Went to physical therapy for a slipped disk in my back, so that was “fun”
  
  Oh no! I hope your physical therapy went well and goes well in the future.

His Twitter feed aside, what do you think of Day's essay, Masses, Elites, and Rebels: The Theory of "Brainwashing"? It's at least in the running for being this website's favorite text that isn't by Michael Parenti, and I personally think it's probably the most insightful essay I've ever read.
- I like his work. He's a sharp guy, just unfortunately a very bitter and condescending person. That's not the kind of personality we need on the left, so I hope he gets his act together. Gotta win hearts as well as minds.
  
  It's sort of ironic given the empathy and non-condecension advocated for in the essay, but it is what it is

Hi JT. I think it's safe to say, you've had a good deal of success in reaching people online and opening them up to socialist concepts. But are there any instances in real life where you've felt you "got through" to someone in some significant way? I mean that in terms of just straight up talking to someone in person who wasn't aware of your online work and making real headway, but also if anyone you know "in real life" has told you that your online work is what helped change their perspective. In either case, did they have anything specific to say about what it was that "won them over"?
Just to add a little context, I remember you mentioning on the podcast that you and some old college buddies still on occasion get together and do powerpoint presentations for each other. First of all, my god, that's some wholesome nerdiness. If I remember right, those friends were more receptive than you had expected, and I always wondered about what they thought much later on, after you became a reasonably big online persona.
In addition to my above serious question, I wonder if you might just maybe indulge me a little further with a second one? Would you be willing to nudge Hakim & Yugopnik into doing an AMA here too? I don't know if that's socially/parasocially uncouth of me to ask, but it would be awesome if we could pick the brains of all 3 of The Deprogram boys
I have jokingly said that since Hexbear was fortunate enough to get you, we should let our comrade instance, lemmygrad.ml, have the honor of hosting Hakim's AMA. But then Hexbear and Lemmygrad need to have some sort of posting battle, and only the winner gets to host Yugopnik. Regardless of the particulars, Hakim & Yugopnik may really enjoy it as a respite from the monotony of being forever stuck in your basement, yeah?
(Apologies if any of this was asked before, I'm still working my way through the thread)
- Great question! I've spoken to a lot of people over the years, and in my experience most of them are very receptive so socialist ideals until you mention the s-word. That's to be expected, but it's always annoying to have to change gears and defuse potential objections. If you can just plant that tiny little seed of "huh, he's a good guy and he's a socialist...maybe they're not that bad," you've won a tremendous victory. As far as specifics go, I've had a couple past coworkers reach out over the last few years and say that they're now socialists because of my work, which is really cool. I think having that personal connecting when talking about socialism can really help break down those deep-seated ideological barriers. As far as I know there isn't any one thing I've said that has won someone over, it's always more of a process of learning and self-reflection.
  I'll definitely mention AMAs to the others, I'm sure they'd be happy to do one if they can find the time!
- Yugopnik posted here before (looking for Eugene V Dabs) so unless lemmygrad has a better argument, he's ours.

Hey! Huge fan. There's been a lot of talk recently with folks like Richard Wolff on coop based market socialism, and it seems to have some successful implementation in Cuba. I was wondering your thoughts. I also was wondering what you think about socialist nations having multiple explicitly socialist parties, vs one general Communist party?
- If it works it works. Socialism has been on the ropes for a long time now, so I'm in favor of whatever "revisionist" things have to be done in order to survive. China is one example. A lot of people consider Deng's reforms to be revisionist, but China is alive and thriving and on the path to socialism, while the Soviet Union, which was arguably a "purer" socialist project, is long gone. We need to get a foothold however we can, weather the storm, and implement "real" socialism when the time comes. As for your other question, I like China's approach to governance. Having a unified front is a good thing, in my opinion

JT, please try some SC style grits. You deserve better.
As for a question: do you think a lack of intervention would have resulted in a genocide within the now DPR and LPR?

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