THANK YOU. I'm so glad to see more leftists calling out the toxic / masculinist underpinnings of how so much of the left talks about Revolution. this isn't just a tactical war we can win by smiting our foes. this is something we need to build in deep reciprocity with each other.
I'm like you but I gotta say... Sometimes it's hard and you run into frustrating people who make you angry, scared, weirded out, confused, disgusted, sad etc etc... Kind of makes you act like a dick in return because of the whole fight fire with fire thing. Shit can be toxic as fuck. So it's hard but yeah... We just gotta remember to keep our eye on the ball. And that ball is to chill the fuck out and be nice to each other. Gotta try at least. And I think most people do. Which is nice. If we didn't we would just kill each other. Which we kind of do too but you know what I mean. As dark as the world can be sometimes... There's still a lot of hope and good things worth living for : )
We are people that are kind and identify with some stuff considered left, but we are us. Kindness is not inherently left. To consider the left as kind or to equate kindness with left policies, methodology is a huge logical fallacy. I am kind and I am left, and I am not left because I am kind. I am not kind because I am left. Kind is relative. Humor is not lost on me, but logic is lost on many. :) Don't get me wrong, I value kindness, and socialism without kindness is not socialism we (at least I) want. If capitalism as a system were conducive to kindness, I wouldn't have such a problem with it.
@Thug Rose Fascism is a system of power that forces whole nations to allow themselves to be complicit in committing genocide or otherwise hurting a perceived minority. Bullying is a system of power that forces people through peer pressure to allow themselves to be complicit in mocking or otherwise hurting an individual based on some minority status marker. No mental gymnastics required at all. You're welcome.
Thug Rose so in your eyes it's totally ok when a victim of bullying does suicide, because it was all about free will and the victim was just not man enough or what?
@Thug Rose Did you know it's possible to disagree with a youtube comment, or even more, extremely dislike a youtube comment, and not be a reactionary jerk about it? Was the point of this video completely lost on you?
This reminds me of a quote I heard from CollegeHumor's Brennan Lee Mulligan: ""An old professor of mine had this great thing. He said, 'On the level of individuals and civilizations, personality predates ideology.' Meaning before you were a fascist, you were a bully and an asshole."
Well, the French revolution tried that (i.e. starting from year zero and creating the cult of reason). Look how compassionate and empathetic that turned out.
@@jordanwardan7588 Given that people are worried that women won't want to talk openly with doctors if you prosecute one of them for killing a baby, it's no longer possible to tell from socialist what's a joke and what's not.
"We have all been socialized to be individualistic; to not truly care about the suffering of others, because the weight of that suffering is unbearable." Damn dude. That. That right there.
A political position is a moral position. It shows what ones values and shows how you want your values enacted in the world. If our base goal and understanding isn't empathy and kindness than we divorced from our own ideals.
Yeah! “Politics” is literally just a fancy name for morals and the enactment of morals that are deemed controversial at the moment. When people say things (like the existence of trans people) “shouldn’t be political”, it literally means their moral value shouldn’t be controversial.
“To be kind to oppressors is to be fundamentally unkind to those they oppress and harm.” This is important. I sometimes wonder how the fuck people become so cruel and unkind, but in the end it isn’t important if awful people can change. You have to focus on uplifting those who have been harmed, and creating a society that values kindness above all else.
This video struck me really hard. You are usually very lighthearted with your content. You play out jokes, you speak in a playful tone, the visuals usually work. This video, though, doesn't. You sound incredibly frustrated and incredibly heavy while talking about this - and I understand why, or at least think I do - but you convey a determination and an aura of power that I hadn't ever seen from you. From a friend who you've never met who wishes for kindness, THANK YOU.
I'm so glad you're voicing this stance on kindness in the left. Let's move towards a kinder (to each other) revolution- just so we don't end up with a new group of dipshits over us in the end.
I've loved your stuff for a long time but this is hands down my favorite of all your videos. I started life in an uber-conservative family/church/culture, and every step towards the left I've taken has been because I've seen a greater degree of compassion in that direction than in what lies behind me. The problem with conservative churches actually teaching the Biblical values of compassion and love in Sunday School is that sometimes the kids actually internalize that and then get disillusioned with the political positions taken by said churches. It's so affirming for me to see a secular content creator taking a similar stance, although it's also discouraging to realize how many in the left (secular or not) don't seem to understand the centrality of compassion. Thanks for the thoughtful and passionate video.
I want to say: congrats for identifying the contradiction in organized religions actions and their stated philosophy. It takes a strong character to rise up past institutional power like this and every person raised as a religious conservative who gets out is worthy of praise and to be celebrated. Sincerely, you are doing great. - Signed, someone who grew up "in the country" and has lost friends for doing exactly this.
The problem with the compassion and love taught by most conservative churches is that it's highly conditional. It's not at all the selfless love that it claims to be. "We will love and respect you only as long as you conform to our very restrictive standards".
@@nextlevelgamer6936 It's obviously not stated like that outright but unfortunately, yeah, that's how it turns out an awful lot. The worst part is that I've seen people think that cutting off or cutting down the "sinners" in their life actually WAS showing them love, not realizing that "sinners" is never a "them," it's always an "us." I've been really fortunate to find a church that actually practices what it preaches. I'm so glad I've never lost my faith, but I'm also so glad that I've found healthier soil where it can grow.
@@nextlevelgamer6936 "conservative churches is that it's highly conditional" All compassion is conditional. Even the compassion of socialism is conditional (look at how "compassionately" those that disagree with the socialist order are treated once socialism has power). It HAS to be conditional, otherwise you end up with pathological altruism (look it up). As far as conservative churches, yes many are pathological. However, Christians tend to give more to charities than any other demographic. If you do a search on something like "the top 10 charities" (and make sure your search has NO BIAS either for or against Christian organizations) you will find at least two of them will be a Christian charity (such as "Matthew 25: ministries" "Catholic ..." "Food for the poor" "Salvation Army" ...) You certainly won't see socialist charities in the list.
@@maclark88 Yep! God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, which I should probably reread some day, since it's been a while. But that one line always stuck with me. Shit, I planned to get a tattoo of it when I was younger, but never got around to it.
Honestly I feel like some people like being leftists because they like being correct, not because they like other people. Like... you feel me? Anyways, love you Slimey. Love all of you.
@@omi691 This is facile, because it presumes human beings don't have universal interests, which they obviously do. Relativism is counter-revolutionary.
I *love* being correct and don't like a lot of other people. I still think other people should *at minimum* have their needs met - food, shelter, health care, electricity, internet and so on. It's both cheaper to a society and better for everyone. It can be both.
Just yesterday I got told by people that I was criticizing the "wrong person" who used a slur to refer to me because he was referencing said slur as something a conservative would say. I told him he shouldn't say it at all and I got all sorts of flack for it. I just can't believe how cruel people can be when being performatively woke. Shouldn't my opinion on a slur that targets me be the one that matters? Not everyone else who feels more comfortable using it?
Yes, and you should be pointing this out. The one issue about that, though, is that it plays into the right's effort to co-opt what you're saying and charge "the left" with having a _mob mentality._ We need some way to starkly distinguish your _legitimate_ complaint from rhetorically convenient garbage spewed by right partisans. Thoughts, anyone?
I'm sitting here, crying as I watch this video, because this idea is so important to me. As a queer, nonbinary, disabled person, I believe that having kindness and empathy and love at the core of the left is essential. If someone uses the r-slur, it makes me feel like they value being able to say some word over how I feel, over the struggles I've faced. I can't be around those people. I can't trust them not to turn to me when the revolution comes and say, well, you're no use to us in this, and abandon me, or worse. So thank you for helping spread this message. If even one person take the time to reconsider some of the cruelty they've been taught to hold in their hearts, it will have been worth the effort in my eyes.
"I can't trust them not to turn to me when the revolution comes and say, well, you're no use to us in this, and abandon me, or worse." That can happen in a socialist country. Let me ask you this, socialism is the idea that the means of production (which today costs A LOT of money to acquire) should be owned by the state instead of private individuals. My question is, why would the state be any better at determining what a fair use of those means of production are than private individuals? Consider for example China, which has tried these kinds of ideas and is now embracing a more capitalist based approach because of the failures of socialism/communism.
I don't have that slur generally used against me, but my partner has had it used against him all his life by teachers and classmates and family members, so he feels like he's got the right to use it whenever he wants, which makes me feel uncomforable.
@@elzoog > socialism is the idea that the means of production (which today costs A LOT of money to acquire) should be owned by the state instead of private individuals This is very incorrect. Read a book.
Something tells me the only thing you're "disabled" with is your own crippling sense of self-importance. Why should any random stranger care about your personal feelings over their own personal liberties? How much of an absolute self-centered, spoiled little JACKASS do you have to be to think your feelings are somehow more important than other people's freedoms? And you better hope your "revolution" doesn't come, because if mean words are all the more "struggle" your end of the spectrum has faced in life... you'll be mowed over in an instant. Even faster if your fellow "comrades" actually bother to stop to try and help you. Nah, your fellow "comrades" would sell you out in a heartbeat if push came to shove. The only interest the left has in minorities comes in the form of social enslavement with self-victimization to keep you complacent, compliant and controlled. I might call you the "r-slur" (whatever the fuck that is), but at least I won't use you like a resource to be conveniently exploited for the sake of personal gain. What's worse, Bitch-Made, being insulted, or being socially exploited like a political commodity for the benefit of others? What you quantify as "cruelty" I classify as psychological hardening. That's a real problem here lately with you kids... you're WEAK... not just physically, but psychologically you are the WEAKEST generation presently on the planet. You don't know how to handle adversity, you don't know how to handle hardship, hell you're so soft brained you completely lose your shit and break down like a little girl over something as innocuous and impotent as "words on a screen".
@@thischannelhasnocontent8629 - Actually that's 100% correct. How gawd damn stupid are you exactly? Read a book? Fuck all man, READ A DICTIONARY! Definition of socialism 1 : any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods 2a : a system of society or group living in which there is no private property b : a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
Hey, Thought Slime! If you are getting a huge ton of requests for eyeballs, why not just do an entire video featuring these channels that need eyeballs? Just a thought... Slime. Amazing pun, I know.
I think because most people wouldn't watch a purely recs video and even if they did, they wouldn't check most of the recced channels out because there would be overwhelmingly many. If it's only one rec in the middle of a video that people are already watching, they're more likely to see it and also more likely to feel like they have the energy and time to check out one channel right away and then another next week and so on.
@Syksy That is a very good set of reasons against the idea of a "pure link" video, Which Thought Slime has probably considered. There are a few advantages and disadvantages (Not mentioned previously ) which I would like to add. One advantage- While people only have limited time to watch videos, they will allocate their time on links that interest them. They may be more likely to find links that interest if there are many links to peruse. More importantly, it could be good for Thought Slimes well-being: Rather than stressing over a triage of sponsorship. The downsides not mentioned: Making videos take time. Making a video of a list of links would mean less videos like this. And of course; I doubt Thought Slime would sponsor any channel he did not research- And that takes time. Idk... Jus' spitballing.
From a 71 year old revolutionary marxist (Trotsky hated the term "trotskyist") and long time militant activist: you are completely right! And thank you for your recommendation of Bad Empanada! Am about to watch the "Huntress" and really appreciate your cooperation with channels like non-compete and many peters, and your mentions of the big ones. Networking, cooperation and yes, kindness are essential to our battle for a future.
It is insanely depressing (but realistically understandable) that in a video of you explaining how we should be kind, you also have to direct people to attack you instead of victims needing liver donations. Im a recent subscriber of you and Mexie and I want to take a moment to say that I am insanely grateful for the content of your discussions. I haven't seen the type of evil comments you are referencing but thats because I generally avoid reactionary anonymity as best I can on here. Thank you. Keep up the great work. Glad you made it past that stomach flu. That shit is awful
Honestly, the compassion of the left is pretty much what sold me on socialism. My chapter of the DSA are literally the most compassionate and cool people I've encountered. That genuine care is what has solidified my beliefs, and desire for revolution. In short I love this video. Great job as usual, thought slime :)
Agreed completely. I think this may be your most important video yet. In all aspects, we must practice kindness, whether it is the willingness to accept criticism and uproot negative behaviors in ourselves or in the effort to act in a _rehabilitative_ spirit when critiquing our comrades, instead of a punitive one. Our movement cannot be built on performative kneejerk outrage. It must be built on empathy.
If everyone on the left thought more like this, maybe I'd be able to believe in and tolerate really being a part of it. Thanks, Oozey Ideation! IMO, this is one of your best videos (so far) and, for someone who's made a good few of my favourite videos on LeftTube (and RUclips in general), that's saying something.
It’s so important to be compassionate, and what the people who scoff at it don’t seem to realize is it is hard work. One of my biggest struggles in the past few years has been trying to find a way forward between becoming a heartless monster to cope with the awfulness of reality, and becoming a corpse because of my inability to cope with it. Most of the time, I err on the side of just being unproductively depressed at the state of things, but I’m still trying. Take care of yourselves out there.
One of the best reasons to work collectively on the left, I think, is to have the social support, to be able to acknowledge all the shit in the world, to care about it, and still to work to eliminate it on the basis of something other than simple rage. Yes, we make a bigger difference that way, but a lot of it is just being able to cope and do the work in a healthy headspace.
Kept standing up and saying "Yes!" out loud at my screen I would give you a literal standing ovation for this one if I could We really need more messages about how important compassion is, thank you
@@sinnsage we're indoctrinated in to capitalism and walled off from socialism through propaganda. We on the left need treat capitalism like an infectious disease and we're the inoculation.
@@osonhouston That is a pretty picture, but is it apt? If the left was the inoculation one should think it would have worked by now. I don't get why people keeps harping on capitalism. It usually just results in quarrels about definitions and school yard style "my ideology is better than your ideology!" chants. Why not start addressing the basic problems instead? Like the myth about ethernal growth. It is not physically possible. Once we agree about that a lot of things would follow, like dropping inbuilt obsolescence and to stop pushing new junk on people. No need to directly attack something people feels strongly about if we can pull the rug out under the current system by looking at reality dispassionately.
@@madshorn5826 perhaps the disease evolves and so our message needs to as for attacking capitalism it is the underlying cause for so much wrong in the world. Why are they stripping the Amazon rainforest bare; profit. Why have they killed union and labor activists worldwide; profit. Why is racism justified; profit. Can we tackle each of those issues separately, yes but we need a holistic solution.
If I didn't have good people explain things to me when i made mistakes as I continued down the path to intersectionality, and a more inclusive left, I don't think I'd be here now, supporting and helping similar fresh folks so they don't make the same mistakes I did. Much as I love our goals to being inclusive and curbing our dirtbag left language, some context and patience is needed for people still learning the ropes. Try not to toss them out for honest mistakes.
Sure, but it's really the... art? skill? of recognising honest ignorance, differentiate it from stubborn willful one. We all tend to resist changing our mind... where's the line? I think the most important thing we could do, like prevention, is to teach and model insecurity. Which is tricky, because we tend to be influenced / drawn to people who are confident... Confidence while being reserved...? I think the best way is to embrace and promote scientific language. Presenting ideas with some certainty, but being explicit in openness to additional data/ideas...
Simultaneously, though, part of that is itself empathy for those who are struggling. In this case, empathy for those who are struggling to learn. Which simply reinforces how it's important for us not to be jackasses ourselves. Explanation and excoriation are two very different things. When someone messes up, we should explain why what they did was a problem without expecting them to have already been aware, but we also shouldn't let such things go unchallenged. Letting dickishness go unchallenged is what Thought Slime is arguing against here.
Man, this is fantastic. Keep shovelling that niceness-propaganda into my awaiting ears, you beautiful human you (also, thank you so much for the "it's ok to give a damn", I need that today)
As a nerd who was bullied throughout my school years I find the title very offensive. Jk. Seriously though, great video. Compassion should be the core of leftist politics. And in personal experience as a parent to a disabled child I absolutely loathe how often leftists still casually drop the r-word.
thanks for sweating through this. tired of lazy corner-cutters who see only "class struggle" and revel in cruel ableism, standard misogyny, and aversive racism to the detriment of the struggle.
Thank you, I so needed to hear that. I've been a communist all my adult life, yet last years of living in Poland made me disheartened and bitter. There are only right wing parties in Polish parliament, and people answer with hate to any attempt at progressive politics or unionizing. One easily forgets that at the end of day it's all about kindness. /edit for grammar
"Greed has poisoned men's souls - has barricaded the world with hate - has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical; our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost. The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in man - cries for universal brotherhood - for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world - millions of despairing men, women, and little children - victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me, I say: 'Do not despair.' The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed - the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish." -Charlie Chaplin, The Great Dictator
You're the loveliest slime goblin ever :D This kinda reminds me of when Angie, from AngieSpeaks, said that we shouldn't be antisocial socialists. I'll try to be less of an asshole in my day to day life.
This is why I left most social-justice circles I was part of or looking at. They based things too much on anger and not enough on giving the privileges the majority have to the minority. The whole point is to uplift everyone to the same standard of life quality, not to destroy those who have it good.
i genuinely can't imagine how your politics could be based on anything except compassion and what you think would do the most good for the most amount of people
I disagree I think utilitarianism is flawed and we can use a better ethical basis (one that doesn't sacrifice individuals) and still arrive at socialism. Something like a categorical imperative or veil of ignorance is better than utilitarianism imo since it is not the best for the most but rather the best for everyone (even if that might end up being slightly worse for the majority).
@@Disentropic1 (generally speaking a veil of ignorance ends up with a system that lines up with whatever the person doing the thought experiment want to end up with tbh) In utilitarianism you can have things like tyranny of the majority, happiness pumps, etc and in a veil of ignorance you'd try to not get those things because you might end up being the victim of those flaws. I generally prefer categorical imperative tho.
Honestly man, you inspire me. I'm sorry people are against you. You're ideology seems to be more identical to mine than in others I've seen. Btw I'm from USA but would I be able to do a liver donation too?
Speaking as an older person who was in the past involved in groups fighting capitalism, environmental destruction, peace activism etc and eventually left them all because of toxic people, the end result of not dealing with toxic people appropriately is that the group gradually disperses and no longer functions. I was pretty much always on the receiving end of bullying, and at best was treated by the people I was involved with as a charity case they were so good to allow to tag along. The people who tended to bully me the most were bullies generally. They used all the tactics now often recognised as abusive, they used emotional blackmail, got very upset and angry if their precious feelings were slighted but were allowed to trample over everyone else's lives, were horrendously rude and sarcastic and aggressive to others, and I was often told off for complaining about poor treatment, I was told regularly I should not be upset about things I was complaining about. The people who were like this were much respected and tended to be involved in organising things a lot, and my goodness they could make a fuss about how much they were organising things. But they really were not necessarily that good at it. I can remember taking over things they no longer wanted to be bothered with, (the only time I was ever allowed to do anything other than make cakes), and finding things much easier than they had made out. I came to the conclusion a while ago that people's ability to organise was inversely proportionate to the amount of time they spent talking about their ability to organise things. As I said, I was subjected to a lot of bullying for various reasons, and eventually left the group I had mostly been working with because of a massive bullying campaign that went on for years. The thing I found difficult to comprehend at the time was that they were annoyed I was not engaging with them and was withdrawing from them. They wanted me there, even though they kept saying I was a really terrible person. I realise now that this is partly because bullies like to have the people they are bullying around to bully, there is no point if they are gone. I also realise now that the people prepared to hang around with the group had gradually declined over the years, and this was almost certainly due the the very toxic atmosphere, and they were in part desperate to hang on to me because they didn't want to lose another person from their group. They knew they would not be likely to find others. I also came to the conclusion that they thought I was so incapable of finding a life away from them, so incapable of finding other friends they assumed I would take any shit they gave me; they really took me for granted. I know that the projects I was involved in with them all fell apart, and that most of them are scattered and do not have much of a group identity in the way they used to, and this is because the most toxic bullying people were allowed to keep being toxic and bullying. We were always expected to keep given them more chances, while people like me who were always marginalised by them were never given a chance. And that is the end result of allowing bullies to keep being bullies when you are trying to build a better world. It falls apart.
God thank you for making this. Last year I wrote an op-ed for my college newspaper about how my own political awareness has evolved from one of anger and rage to one of kindness and love (which still has anger!) and someone messaged me telling me that I wasn't actually a leftist because I said that love was good and we should focus on love for the oppressed. Thank you for giving validating this. Also that person was a realllly fucking toxic individual soooo.
I’m so fucking sick and tired of assholes on the left not helping people and just being bigoted fucking selfish dickheads. Kindness and sensitivity are the way to a good life. Don’t ever call yourself a leftist if you’re not accepting of everyone and their identity. Before you should go around pretending to be a funny leftist become a nice and kind person you fucking shit.
MrElionor bigots and fascists are inherently intolerant of innocent goddamn people and their identities so in order to be a good person I have to be intolerant of transphobes enbyphobes islamophobes racists and all other types of bigotry
I think it takes all types. No rich old ghoul is going to see how gosh-darn nice we're being and decide to hand over the means of production, we need people among us who are prepared to seize it forcibly, but at the same time I agree that compassion needs to be central to what we're trying to build because the alternatives don't bear thinking about.
I don't know why I'm leaving a comment on a two-year-old video, but there's a quote from Doctor Who that I love that I think fits very well here; "“Winning? Is that what you think it’s about? I’m not trying to win. I’m not doing this because I want to beat someone, or because I hate someone, or because I want to blame someone. It’s not because it’s fun. God knows it’s not because it’s easy. It’s not even because it works because it hardly ever does.. I DO WHAT I DO BECAUSE IT’S RIGHT! Because it’s decent! And above all, it’s kind! It’s just that.. Just kind. If I run away today, good people will die. If I stand and fight, some of them might live. Maybe not many, maybe not for long. Hey, you know, maybe there’s no point to any of this at all. But it’s the best I can do. So I’m going to do it. And I will stand here doing it until it kills me."
This relates to something I have been thinking on a lot lately. I have always, so far as I remember (I am thirty-five), been consumed by rage at injustice. It has been my defining characteristic and has often made me difficult to know and live with, and my adulthood has been spent learning to live with it healthfully and without doing much (unnecessary) harm to others. I saw a comic recently that said “I sat with my anger long enough until she told me her real name was grief” and it felt like a punch in the stomach. It felt like being seen through. I find that naming my rage for the grief it is makes it easier to be kind to myself and others.
Wow, this one actually made me emotional. I'm so sick of having my life being a pawn to play with, hating me just for who I am. Just. All of us, being treated with respect. Damn
Reminds me of when I was younger and was arguing with my parents. I don’t remember how we got here but I ended up yelling and scorning them for not caring about people other than themselves. I cried in the back of the car because they were so adamantly trying to get me to distance myself from other people’s suffering. “You can’t carry the weight of the world on your shoulders” they said. But truth be told, I can’t turn off the faucet now. There’s no way I could ever turn a blind eye to the world’s suffering and still be able to sleep at night. Me and my parents don’t talk much now.
This is a fantastic video, and I know a lot of leftists atm who could use a reminder on the importance of compassion in our revolution... :/ Disabled people aren't allowed to be angry or complain all the while our community is being culled with eugenicist policies, especially during the pandemic. *sigh* I've gotten kicked from leftist slack channels for getting frustrated at hearing excuse after excuse for their lack of disabled organizers and no thought given to accessibility and the widely varied issues disabled people face.
Yep, this is the whole reason I'm a leftist, because I care about people and one of my biggest pet peeves is people who don't care about other people or care about money or tradition more than other people. And also I don't quite understand why people have such a problem with using more sensitive language or referring to people by their preferred pronouns or name because to me it's about caring about other people enough to respect their feelings and not wanting to hurt other people by using insensitive language or misgendering or dead-naming people. But maybe it's because I was teased as a child so I know first hand how it can hurt to be made fun of and singled out
or maybe some people live in circumstances where no one cares about them, so they get into surviving mode and also don't care about others. i think that kinda breeds itself
I love this. Everything about it. Comrade, your kindness is not weakness. Your perceived “softness” is nothing less than our greatest strength as a movement. We need those to take up arms against the ruling class and do what needs to be done. And we need the people who keep those people human. Comrade YOU and YOU alone are among the most truly revolutionary people on the internet and the fact that you don’t have a power fantasy about executing cops doesn’t invalidate that. Love you Comrade. Drink your water, get some sun, eat at least twice today, and say some nice stuff about yourself idk. Love ya Slime!
Thank you for signal boosting the request for liver tissue. Don't let people ever shame you into not helping in whatever way you can. You're the best, Thought Slime. I love your channel and I think you're wonderful!
This is my favorite video by you so far. You're on a roll. I really really like these lately. Keep it up! Sorry for being mean to you about violent super heroes because I disagree with the foundation upon which the world the characters in those stories operate in, but hopefully you didn't read those comments. This video on being nice really spoke to me because I'm kind of one of them "Advocate Violence on Twitter" kinds of leftists an awful lot. Sure, my targets are definitely **up** and that's the direction I'm punching, but I definitely don't look around at the suffering people near me as anything more than stats with which to win arguments, and I don't think that that's enough anymore.
Thought Slime. This has been driving me mad me for several months now. There is one pixel too many in the pipe curve to the right (left?) of your head. It's making me go crazy. Also, great video.
Man, I had to get into an argument a while back with leftcoms trying to dunk on that quote from the beginning, saying that calling socialism moral is "radlib", and that it's not Marxist, because morality is a bourgeoisie notion based on bourgeoisie norms, and Marxism is based on SCIENCE and blahblahblah.
I agree with you overall that socialism needs to be based in compassion, but the people I complain about are the people who twist words just to cancel people they don't like. I'm looking directly at the people who called Contrapoints anti-Semitic becuase of her David Icke Reptialian jokes. In the very same video she attacks anti-Semitism. I don't care if assholes like Red Scare get attacked, they know what they're doing and they're marketing themselves very well (and actually the people scolding them are directly feeding into that marketing but that's another topic) These are the people who make public lefties feel like they need to pre-emptively apologize for stuff that isn't offensive or mean-spirited, or add awkward disclaimers to anything that has even a chance to be taken the wrong way. The left can be way too pious and Catholic.
I've been disagreeing with people in the comments who've made similar arguments, but this one seems better formulated and more balanced. I think you're just pointing out another important bit of dialectic truth, even as TS is talking about something quite important.
I've watched a lot of your videos and I've been very impressed with the arguments for anarchism you've put forth, but this one in particular just has so many slam dunks. Thank you for making this.
![Shenseea - Dating Szn (Options) [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/eUePmZFIXUg/mqdefault.jpg)
THANK YOU.
I'm so glad to see more leftists calling out the toxic / masculinist underpinnings of how so much of the left talks about Revolution. this isn't just a tactical war we can win by smiting our foes. this is something we need to build in deep reciprocity with each other.
From a soft-hearted, touchy-feely kumbaya cry-baby lefty who just wishes people were nice, THANK YOU.
I'm like you but I gotta say... Sometimes it's hard and you run into frustrating people who make you angry, scared, weirded out, confused, disgusted, sad etc etc... Kind of makes you act like a dick in return because of the whole fight fire with fire thing. Shit can be toxic as fuck.
So it's hard but yeah... We just gotta remember to keep our eye on the ball. And that ball is to chill the fuck out and be nice to each other. Gotta try at least. And I think most people do. Which is nice. If we didn't we would just kill each other. Which we kind of do too but you know what I mean. As dark as the world can be sometimes... There's still a lot of hope and good things worth living for : )
@@soyborne.bornmadeandundone1342 wait... are you that HR guy who doesn't like micro transactions?
@@ConstantinKlose-sj4mb That's a good question. I think they just use the same profile pic and aren't complete opposites ideology-wise.
@@ConstantinKlose-sj4mb Also, is your username "heaven dragon"? Or "heavenly dragon" or something like it?
@@camelopardalis84 yup. it is
"If the Left is not kind, then what are we even doing?"
so good
Best fucking line
nationalizing the means of production
Fighting nazis and fascists
We are people that are kind and identify with some stuff considered left, but we are us. Kindness is not inherently left. To consider the left as kind or to equate kindness with left policies, methodology is a huge logical fallacy. I am kind and I am left, and I am not left because I am kind. I am not kind because I am left. Kind is relative. Humor is not lost on me, but logic is lost on many. :)
Don't get me wrong, I value kindness, and socialism without kindness is not socialism we (at least I) want. If capitalism as a system were conducive to kindness, I wouldn't have such a problem with it.
The difference between bullying and fascism is scale. Caring and grace are political acts. Also, to state the obvious, dingdongitude is bad.
Paul Mitchum
That’s a really good point.
@Thug Rose Fascism is a system of power that forces whole nations to allow themselves to be complicit in committing genocide or otherwise hurting a perceived minority. Bullying is a system of power that forces people through peer pressure to allow themselves to be complicit in mocking or otherwise hurting an individual based on some minority status marker. No mental gymnastics required at all. You're welcome.
Thug Rose so in your eyes it's totally ok when a victim of bullying does suicide, because it was all about free will and the victim was just not man enough or what?
@Thug Rose Did you know it's possible to disagree with a youtube comment, or even more, extremely dislike a youtube comment, and not be a reactionary jerk about it? Was the point of this video completely lost on you?
This reminds me of a quote I heard from CollegeHumor's Brennan Lee Mulligan:
""An old professor of mine had this great thing. He said, 'On the level of individuals and civilizations, personality predates ideology.' Meaning before you were a fascist, you were a bully and an asshole."
Good leftist praxis is throwing out your calendar and estimating if it's summer or winter by how sweaty Thought Slime is in the weekly upload.
Well, the French revolution tried that (i.e. starting from year zero and creating the cult of reason). Look how compassionate and empathetic that turned out.
Brian Dean it’s a joke
@@elzoog how did you find a serious comment from this comment
@@jordanwardan7588 Given that people are worried that women won't want to talk openly with doctors if you prosecute one of them for killing a baby, it's no longer possible to tell from socialist what's a joke and what's not.
@@elzoog oh I get it
"We have all been socialized to be individualistic; to not truly care about the suffering of others, because the weight of that suffering is unbearable."
Damn dude. That. That right there.
A political position is a moral position. It shows what ones values and shows how you want your values enacted in the world. If our base goal and understanding isn't empathy and kindness than we divorced from our own ideals.
Yeah! “Politics” is literally just a fancy name for morals and the enactment of morals that are deemed controversial at the moment. When people say things (like the existence of trans people) “shouldn’t be political”, it literally means their moral value shouldn’t be controversial.
“To be kind to oppressors is to be fundamentally unkind to those they oppress and harm.” This is important. I sometimes wonder how the fuck people become so cruel and unkind, but in the end it isn’t important if awful people can change. You have to focus on uplifting those who have been harmed, and creating a society that values kindness above all else.
A revolution without kindness is not a revolution worth having.
This is a message I can 100% get behind!
Empathy is our weapon.
Eat the rich!
I bet the anger makes them kinda gamey though...
Gonna try and work 'dingdongitude' into my every day speach now.
I really thought it would be "dingdongery" but "dingdongitude" works.
I like to use "Wangroddery"
@@ryaneichelberger7040 "Their grand acts of dingdongery were only made possible by their strong dingdongitude"
You and me both
Someone get this guy some views!
Be kind and overthrow the current order.
Michaela Schmid Damned straight.
Kindness is revolutionary.
@@jeffengel2607 Hell yeah it is
im commenting here to find this
Agreed 100%
This video struck me really hard.
You are usually very lighthearted with your content. You play out jokes, you speak in a playful tone, the visuals usually work. This video, though, doesn't. You sound incredibly frustrated and incredibly heavy while talking about this - and I understand why, or at least think I do - but you convey a determination and an aura of power that I hadn't ever seen from you.
From a friend who you've never met who wishes for kindness, THANK YOU.
If I may suggest: a cool, damp/wet towel rather than a dry one?
Or just film this in the shower.
I agree; dry towels are very harsh on the skin
Your comment is excellent kindness praxis/dharma
@@johnaarson the shower videos are patreon only ;) ;) ;)
@@johnaarson TOO HOT FOR TV
I'm so glad you're voicing this stance on kindness in the left. Let's move towards a kinder (to each other) revolution- just so we don't end up with a new group of dipshits over us in the end.
I've loved your stuff for a long time but this is hands down my favorite of all your videos. I started life in an uber-conservative family/church/culture, and every step towards the left I've taken has been because I've seen a greater degree of compassion in that direction than in what lies behind me. The problem with conservative churches actually teaching the Biblical values of compassion and love in Sunday School is that sometimes the kids actually internalize that and then get disillusioned with the political positions taken by said churches. It's so affirming for me to see a secular content creator taking a similar stance, although it's also discouraging to realize how many in the left (secular or not) don't seem to understand the centrality of compassion. Thanks for the thoughtful and passionate video.
I want to say: congrats for identifying the contradiction in organized religions actions and their stated philosophy. It takes a strong character to rise up past institutional power like this and every person raised as a religious conservative who gets out is worthy of praise and to be celebrated. Sincerely, you are doing great.
- Signed, someone who grew up "in the country" and has lost friends for doing exactly this.
The problem with the compassion and love taught by most conservative churches is that it's highly conditional. It's not at all the selfless love that it claims to be. "We will love and respect you only as long as you conform to our very restrictive standards".
@@nextlevelgamer6936 It's obviously not stated like that outright but unfortunately, yeah, that's how it turns out an awful lot. The worst part is that I've seen people think that cutting off or cutting down the "sinners" in their life actually WAS showing them love, not realizing that "sinners" is never a "them," it's always an "us." I've been really fortunate to find a church that actually practices what it preaches. I'm so glad I've never lost my faith, but I'm also so glad that I've found healthier soil where it can grow.
@@nextlevelgamer6936 "conservative churches is that it's highly conditional" All compassion is conditional. Even the compassion of socialism is conditional (look at how "compassionately" those that disagree with the socialist order are treated once socialism has power). It HAS to be conditional, otherwise you end up with pathological altruism (look it up).
As far as conservative churches, yes many are pathological. However, Christians tend to give more to charities than any other demographic. If you do a search on something like "the top 10 charities" (and make sure your search has NO BIAS either for or against Christian organizations) you will find at least two of them will be a Christian charity (such as "Matthew 25: ministries" "Catholic ..." "Food for the poor" "Salvation Army" ...) You certainly won't see socialist charities in the list.
@@elzoog charity doesn't solve systemic problems. it's only to make the donor to feel better mostly
As a Christian anarchist, this is what I've been saying for years. Thank you.
There's only one rule that I know of: "God damn it, you've got to be kind."
I know of only one duty, and that is to love.
-- Albert Camus
@@kristofernivens6903 Goddamnit though, do fascists make it tough for us to do our job!
royaltimes : Vonnegut?
@@maclark88 Yep! God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, which I should probably reread some day, since it's been a while. But that one line always stuck with me. Shit, I planned to get a tattoo of it when I was younger, but never got around to it.
@@gorimbaud : Love Vonnegut. Cats Cradle is the one that sticks with me the most.
Honestly I feel like some people like being leftists because they like being correct, not because they like other people. Like... you feel me? Anyways, love you Slimey. Love all of you.
@@omi691 This is facile, because it presumes human beings don't have universal interests, which they obviously do. Relativism is counter-revolutionary.
I *love* being correct and don't like a lot of other people.
I still think other people should *at minimum* have their needs met - food, shelter, health care, electricity, internet and so on. It's both cheaper to a society and better for everyone. It can be both.
Okay, small fib - I do care about people. I just don't like many individuals.
I love you, like, a lot. The Softness is my ideology. I preach radical softness.
Lots of love. You are a great floof 💚
OwO
@@gic9166 UwU
Sending love dude!
radical softness!
LOL radical softness, I fucking love it. I'm stealing that, I hope you don't mind :)
RADICAL SOFTIES.... *UNITE!*
Just yesterday I got told by people that I was criticizing the "wrong person" who used a slur to refer to me because he was referencing said slur as something a conservative would say. I told him he shouldn't say it at all and I got all sorts of flack for it.
I just can't believe how cruel people can be when being performatively woke. Shouldn't my opinion on a slur that targets me be the one that matters? Not everyone else who feels more comfortable using it?
Yes, and you should be pointing this out. The one issue about that, though, is that it plays into the right's effort to co-opt what you're saying and charge "the left" with having a _mob mentality._ We need some way to starkly distinguish your _legitimate_ complaint from rhetorically convenient garbage spewed by right partisans. Thoughts, anyone?
I'm sitting here, crying as I watch this video, because this idea is so important to me. As a queer, nonbinary, disabled person, I believe that having kindness and empathy and love at the core of the left is essential. If someone uses the r-slur, it makes me feel like they value being able to say some word over how I feel, over the struggles I've faced. I can't be around those people. I can't trust them not to turn to me when the revolution comes and say, well, you're no use to us in this, and abandon me, or worse. So thank you for helping spread this message. If even one person take the time to reconsider some of the cruelty they've been taught to hold in their hearts, it will have been worth the effort in my eyes.
"I can't trust them not to turn to me when the revolution comes and say, well, you're no use to us in this, and abandon me, or worse." That can happen in a socialist country. Let me ask you this, socialism is the idea that the means of production (which today costs A LOT of money to acquire) should be owned by the state instead of private individuals. My question is, why would the state be any better at determining what a fair use of those means of production are than private individuals?
Consider for example China, which has tried these kinds of ideas and is now embracing a more capitalist based approach because of the failures of socialism/communism.
I don't have that slur generally used against me, but my partner has had it used against him all his life by teachers and classmates and family members, so he feels like he's got the right to use it whenever he wants, which makes me feel uncomforable.
@@elzoog > socialism is the idea that the means of production (which today costs A LOT of money to acquire) should be owned by the state instead of private individuals
This is very incorrect. Read a book.
Something tells me the only thing you're "disabled" with is your own crippling sense of self-importance. Why should any random stranger care about your personal feelings over their own personal liberties? How much of an absolute self-centered, spoiled little JACKASS do you have to be to think your feelings are somehow more important than other people's freedoms?
And you better hope your "revolution" doesn't come, because if mean words are all the more "struggle" your end of the spectrum has faced in life... you'll be mowed over in an instant. Even faster if your fellow "comrades" actually bother to stop to try and help you.
Nah, your fellow "comrades" would sell you out in a heartbeat if push came to shove. The only interest the left has in minorities comes in the form of social enslavement with self-victimization to keep you complacent, compliant and controlled.
I might call you the "r-slur" (whatever the fuck that is), but at least I won't use you like a resource to be conveniently exploited for the sake of personal gain.
What's worse, Bitch-Made, being insulted, or being socially exploited like a political commodity for the benefit of others? What you quantify as "cruelty" I classify as psychological hardening. That's a real problem here lately with you kids... you're WEAK... not just physically, but psychologically you are the WEAKEST generation presently on the planet. You don't know how to handle adversity, you don't know how to handle hardship, hell you're so soft brained you completely lose your shit and break down like a little girl over something as innocuous and impotent as "words on a screen".
@@thischannelhasnocontent8629 - Actually that's 100% correct. How gawd damn stupid are you exactly? Read a book? Fuck all man, READ A DICTIONARY!
Definition of socialism
1 : any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods
2a : a system of society or group living in which there is no private property
b : a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
Hey, Thought Slime! If you are getting a huge ton of requests for eyeballs, why not just do an entire video featuring these channels that need eyeballs? Just a thought... Slime. Amazing pun, I know.
I think because most people wouldn't watch a purely recs video and even if they did, they wouldn't check most of the recced channels out because there would be overwhelmingly many. If it's only one rec in the middle of a video that people are already watching, they're more likely to see it and also more likely to feel like they have the energy and time to check out one channel right away and then another next week and so on.
@Syksy That is a very good set of reasons against the idea of a "pure link" video, Which Thought Slime has probably considered.
There are a few advantages and disadvantages (Not mentioned previously ) which I would like to add.
One advantage- While people only have limited time to watch videos, they will allocate their time on links that interest them.
They may be more likely to find links that interest if there are many links to peruse.
More importantly, it could be good for Thought Slimes well-being: Rather than stressing over a triage of sponsorship.
The downsides not mentioned:
Making videos take time. Making a video of a list of links would mean less videos like this.
And of course; I doubt Thought Slime would sponsor any channel he did not research- And that takes time.
Idk... Jus' spitballing.
That’s some good cerebral liquid with a quite high viscosity right there.
that's not a pun
From a 71 year old revolutionary marxist (Trotsky hated the term "trotskyist") and long time militant activist: you are completely right! And thank you for your recommendation of Bad Empanada! Am about to watch the "Huntress" and really appreciate your cooperation with channels like non-compete and many peters, and your mentions of the big ones. Networking, cooperation and yes, kindness are essential to our battle for a future.
It is insanely depressing (but realistically understandable) that in a video of you explaining how we should be kind, you also have to direct people to attack you instead of victims needing liver donations. Im a recent subscriber of you and Mexie and I want to take a moment to say that I am insanely grateful for the content of your discussions. I haven't seen the type of evil comments you are referencing but thats because I generally avoid reactionary anonymity as best I can on here.
Thank you. Keep up the great work. Glad you made it past that stomach flu. That shit is awful
holy shit what a great vid
truly
yeah
Yours, too! I'm still mulling it over.
@@Dorian_sapiens
Agreed,
favorite after favorite, they're spoiling us!
Thank you, ThoughtSlim, I've been thinking of this point for a long time. I'm glad you made this important in this video.
Honestly, the compassion of the left is pretty much what sold me on socialism. My chapter of the DSA are literally the most compassionate and cool people I've encountered. That genuine care is what has solidified my beliefs, and desire for revolution.
In short I love this video. Great job as usual, thought slime :)
My chapter of the DSA is so compassionate that we spend half our meetings whining about other DSA members not being compassionate enough.
You’re my favorite RUclipsr mate, I hope you have a good day
Agreed completely. I think this may be your most important video yet. In all aspects, we must practice kindness, whether it is the willingness to accept criticism and uproot negative behaviors in ourselves or in the effort to act in a _rehabilitative_ spirit when critiquing our comrades, instead of a punitive one. Our movement cannot be built on performative kneejerk outrage. It must be built on empathy.
If everyone on the left thought more like this, maybe I'd be able to believe in and tolerate really being a part of it.
Thanks, Oozey Ideation! IMO, this is one of your best videos (so far) and, for someone who's made a good few of my favourite videos on LeftTube (and RUclips in general), that's saying something.
It’s so important to be compassionate, and what the people who scoff at it don’t seem to realize is it is hard work. One of my biggest struggles in the past few years has been trying to find a way forward between becoming a heartless monster to cope with the awfulness of reality, and becoming a corpse because of my inability to cope with it. Most of the time, I err on the side of just being unproductively depressed at the state of things, but I’m still trying.
Take care of yourselves out there.
One of the best reasons to work collectively on the left, I think, is to have the social support, to be able to acknowledge all the shit in the world, to care about it, and still to work to eliminate it on the basis of something other than simple rage. Yes, we make a bigger difference that way, but a lot of it is just being able to cope and do the work in a healthy headspace.
yep. and me too. and also thank you. you take care of yourself as well.
Solidarity is about kindness.
Kept standing up and saying "Yes!" out loud at my screen
I would give you a literal standing ovation for this one if I could
We really need more messages about how important compassion is, thank you
We love you Thought Slime!
Juliett A and then ppl who support capitalism so vehemently just seem so damn brainwashed and it’s so, so frustrating.
@@sinnsage we're indoctrinated in to capitalism and walled off from socialism through propaganda. We on the left need treat capitalism like an infectious disease and we're the inoculation.
@@osonhouston
That is a pretty picture, but is it apt?
If the left was the inoculation one should think it would have worked by now.
I don't get why people keeps harping on capitalism.
It usually just results in quarrels about definitions and school yard style "my ideology is better than your ideology!" chants.
Why not start addressing the basic problems instead?
Like the myth about ethernal growth.
It is not physically possible.
Once we agree about that a lot of things would follow, like dropping inbuilt obsolescence and to stop pushing new junk on people.
No need to directly attack something people feels strongly about if we can pull the rug out under the current system by looking at reality dispassionately.
@@madshorn5826 perhaps the disease evolves and so our message needs to as for attacking capitalism it is the underlying cause for so much wrong in the world. Why are they stripping the Amazon rainforest bare; profit. Why have they killed union and labor activists worldwide; profit. Why is racism justified; profit. Can we tackle each of those issues separately, yes but we need a holistic solution.
Mads Horn “That you are a slave, neo. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage, born into a prison that you cannot smell or taste or touch”
If I didn't have good people explain things to me when i made mistakes as I continued down the path to intersectionality, and a more inclusive left, I don't think I'd be here now, supporting and helping similar fresh folks so they don't make the same mistakes I did.
Much as I love our goals to being inclusive and curbing our dirtbag left language, some context and patience is needed for people still learning the ropes. Try not to toss them out for honest mistakes.
Sure, but it's really the... art? skill?
of recognising honest ignorance, differentiate it from stubborn willful one. We all tend to resist changing our mind... where's the line?
I think the most important thing we could do, like prevention, is to teach and model insecurity.
Which is tricky, because we tend to be influenced / drawn to people who are confident...
Confidence while being reserved...?
I think the best way is to embrace and promote scientific language.
Presenting ideas with some certainty, but being explicit in openness to additional data/ideas...
Simultaneously, though, part of that is itself empathy for those who are struggling. In this case, empathy for those who are struggling to learn. Which simply reinforces how it's important for us not to be jackasses ourselves. Explanation and excoriation are two very different things. When someone messes up, we should explain why what they did was a problem without expecting them to have already been aware, but we also shouldn't let such things go unchallenged. Letting dickishness go unchallenged is what Thought Slime is arguing against here.
@@jemolk8945 I think all we can really do is lead by example and hope others follow. And I think they will eventually.
Man, this is fantastic. Keep shovelling that niceness-propaganda into my awaiting ears, you beautiful human you (also, thank you so much for the "it's ok to give a damn", I need that today)
This is probably one of your most important videos to date.
This is such an interesting point! I love how this conversation is going.
Ayy there's ya boi
Thought Slime is a good nice pal.
As a nerd who was bullied throughout my school years I find the title very offensive.
Jk. Seriously though, great video. Compassion should be the core of leftist politics. And in personal experience as a parent to a disabled child I absolutely loathe how often leftists still casually drop the r-word.
Donovan omg as a woman with disabilities I hate the Rword. I am autistic with bipolar. The hatred toward Thornberg effects my identity.
Friendly slime person says "Be a friendly person."
Thank you, I don’t understand how being nice is controversial. You are awesome, and thank you for your videos.
thanks for sweating through this. tired of lazy corner-cutters who see only "class struggle" and revel in cruel ableism, standard misogyny, and aversive racism to the detriment of the struggle.
Shhh, be very quiet, I'm hunting tofu! **hugs rabbit**
Kindness and compassion.....and you still managed to be hilarious. Really sorry to hear about your stomach flu, and hope you are feeling better! ❤️
Someone really needed to say this, and I'm glad you did. Stay awesome, Thought Slime.
"What was it he said that got everyone so upset?"
"Be kind to each other."
"Oh yeah, that'll do it."
Thank you, I so needed to hear that. I've been a communist all my adult life, yet last years of living in Poland made me disheartened and bitter. There are only right wing parties in Polish parliament, and people answer with hate to any attempt at progressive politics or unionizing. One easily forgets that at the end of day it's all about kindness. /edit for grammar
Thanks for making this, friend. I've been turning over vague feelings lately that you were able to articulate.
"Greed has poisoned men's souls - has barricaded the world with hate - has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical; our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.
The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in man - cries for universal brotherhood - for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world - millions of despairing men, women, and little children - victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me, I say: 'Do not despair.' The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed - the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish."
-Charlie Chaplin, The Great Dictator
You're the loveliest slime goblin ever :D
This kinda reminds me of when Angie, from AngieSpeaks, said that we shouldn't be antisocial socialists. I'll try to be less of an asshole in my day to day life.
This is why I left most social-justice circles I was part of or looking at. They based things too much on anger and not enough on giving the privileges the majority have to the minority. The whole point is to uplift everyone to the same standard of life quality, not to destroy those who have it good.
softness is not weakness, my friend. solidarity.
i genuinely can't imagine how your politics could be based on anything except compassion and what you think would do the most good for the most amount of people
I disagree I think utilitarianism is flawed and we can use a better ethical basis (one that doesn't sacrifice individuals) and still arrive at socialism. Something like a categorical imperative or veil of ignorance is better than utilitarianism imo since it is not the best for the most but rather the best for everyone (even if that might end up being slightly worse for the majority).
@@IIxIxIv I don't see how a veil of ignorance results in something distinct from utilitarian allocation.
@@Disentropic1 (generally speaking a veil of ignorance ends up with a system that lines up with whatever the person doing the thought experiment want to end up with tbh)
In utilitarianism you can have things like tyranny of the majority, happiness pumps, etc and in a veil of ignorance you'd try to not get those things because you might end up being the victim of those flaws. I generally prefer categorical imperative tho.
Hey loves! Hope you have an amazing day! You’re so valid and you need some water don’t you? Have a great day babes 🌸😊
Genessa hey you too ❤️🌷
All love! All water! As Mr. High-Viscosity Cerebrospinal Fluid says himself in the vid, I trust you to work on being your best self today.
Thanks for the concern but I am an adult who can hydrate myself! Hope you have a series of good days as well, yourself.
Can I have iced tea instead?
QueenCloveroftheice of course
Honestly man, you inspire me. I'm sorry people are against you. You're ideology seems to be more identical to mine than in others I've seen.
Btw I'm from USA but would I be able to do a liver donation too?
I am so glad that this video exists because it sums up something I've felt and thought for ages so much better than I feel I could.
Same!
Speaking as an older person who was in the past involved in groups fighting capitalism, environmental destruction, peace activism etc and eventually left them all because of toxic people, the end result of not dealing with toxic people appropriately is that the group gradually disperses and no longer functions. I was pretty much always on the receiving end of bullying, and at best was treated by the people I was involved with as a charity case they were so good to allow to tag along. The people who tended to bully me the most were bullies generally. They used all the tactics now often recognised as abusive, they used emotional blackmail, got very upset and angry if their precious feelings were slighted but were allowed to trample over everyone else's lives, were horrendously rude and sarcastic and aggressive to others, and I was often told off for complaining about poor treatment, I was told regularly I should not be upset about things I was complaining about. The people who were like this were much respected and tended to be involved in organising things a lot, and my goodness they could make a fuss about how much they were organising things. But they really were not necessarily that good at it. I can remember taking over things they no longer wanted to be bothered with, (the only time I was ever allowed to do anything other than make cakes), and finding things much easier than they had made out. I came to the conclusion a while ago that people's ability to organise was inversely proportionate to the amount of time they spent talking about their ability to organise things.
As I said, I was subjected to a lot of bullying for various reasons, and eventually left the group I had mostly been working with because of a massive bullying campaign that went on for years. The thing I found difficult to comprehend at the time was that they were annoyed I was not engaging with them and was withdrawing from them. They wanted me there, even though they kept saying I was a really terrible person. I realise now that this is partly because bullies like to have the people they are bullying around to bully, there is no point if they are gone. I also realise now that the people prepared to hang around with the group had gradually declined over the years, and this was almost certainly due the the very toxic atmosphere, and they were in part desperate to hang on to me because they didn't want to lose another person from their group. They knew they would not be likely to find others. I also came to the conclusion that they thought I was so incapable of finding a life away from them, so incapable of finding other friends they assumed I would take any shit they gave me; they really took me for granted. I know that the projects I was involved in with them all fell apart, and that most of them are scattered and do not have much of a group identity in the way they used to, and this is because the most toxic bullying people were allowed to keep being toxic and bullying. We were always expected to keep given them more chances, while people like me who were always marginalised by them were never given a chance. And that is the end result of allowing bullies to keep being bullies when you are trying to build a better world. It falls apart.
"imagine yourself in the revolution"
Okay I'm washing dishes
"-with your cyber katana"
...ah
God thank you for making this. Last year I wrote an op-ed for my college newspaper about how my own political awareness has evolved from one of anger and rage to one of kindness and love (which still has anger!) and someone messaged me telling me that I wasn't actually a leftist because I said that love was good and we should focus on love for the oppressed.
Thank you for giving validating this. Also that person was a realllly fucking toxic individual soooo.
Its about time someone said this
I’m so fucking sick and tired of assholes on the left not helping people and just being bigoted fucking selfish dickheads. Kindness and sensitivity are the way to a good life. Don’t ever call yourself a leftist if you’re not accepting of everyone and their identity. Before you should go around pretending to be a funny leftist become a nice and kind person you fucking shit.
@@aidandangiolillo415
What if I am not accepting of fascists and their identity?
@@MrElionor well thats obvious
@@aidandangiolillo415
Is it though?
MrElionor bigots and fascists are inherently intolerant of innocent goddamn people and their identities so in order to be a good person I have to be intolerant of transphobes enbyphobes islamophobes racists and all other types of bigotry
Reminds me of that HuffPost article, "I Don’t Know How To Explain To You That You Should Care About Other People"
I think it takes all types. No rich old ghoul is going to see how gosh-darn nice we're being and decide to hand over the means of production, we need people among us who are prepared to seize it forcibly, but at the same time I agree that compassion needs to be central to what we're trying to build because the alternatives don't bear thinking about.
As great revolutionary Odo said "Means are the ends" :)
Nice.
That's from The Dispossessed, right?
@@TheAsyouwyshyes
hey future me coming back to this video for the twentieth time! feeling disillusioned and sad, i see.
keep fighting 💕
Thank you BrainGoo for describing my political ideology in 15 minutes
I don't know why I'm leaving a comment on a two-year-old video, but there's a quote from Doctor Who that I love that I think fits very well here;
"“Winning? Is that what you think it’s about? I’m not trying to win. I’m not doing this because I want to beat someone, or because I hate someone, or because I want to blame someone. It’s not because it’s fun. God knows it’s not because it’s easy. It’s not even because it works because it hardly ever does.. I DO WHAT I DO BECAUSE IT’S RIGHT! Because it’s decent! And above all, it’s kind! It’s just that.. Just kind. If I run away today, good people will die. If I stand and fight, some of them might live. Maybe not many, maybe not for long. Hey, you know, maybe there’s no point to any of this at all. But it’s the best I can do. So I’m going to do it. And I will stand here doing it until it kills me."
This relates to something I have been thinking on a lot lately. I have always, so far as I remember (I am thirty-five), been consumed by rage at injustice. It has been my defining characteristic and has often made me difficult to know and live with, and my adulthood has been spent learning to live with it healthfully and without doing much (unnecessary) harm to others.
I saw a comic recently that said “I sat with my anger long enough until she told me her real name was grief” and it felt like a punch in the stomach. It felt like being seen through.
I find that naming my rage for the grief it is makes it easier to be kind to myself and others.
Where my slime notification squad?
Oozing in slowly
Hey.
Hey, Thought Slime.
This was a really, especially good one and you should feel good about yourself.
Okay, bye.
Wow, this one actually made me emotional. I'm so sick of having my life being a pawn to play with, hating me just for who I am. Just. All of us, being treated with respect. Damn
Reminds me of when I was younger and was arguing with my parents. I don’t remember how we got here but I ended up yelling and scorning them for not caring about people other than themselves. I cried in the back of the car because they were so adamantly trying to get me to distance myself from other people’s suffering. “You can’t carry the weight of the world on your shoulders” they said. But truth be told, I can’t turn off the faucet now. There’s no way I could ever turn a blind eye to the world’s suffering and still be able to sleep at night. Me and my parents don’t talk much now.
well, you're in for a lot of sleepless nights
@@makeart-notwar-6732 lol yes? And?
@@RebeccaTheHuman sleep deprivation isn't good for you
This is a fantastic video, and I know a lot of leftists atm who could use a reminder on the importance of compassion in our revolution... :/ Disabled people aren't allowed to be angry or complain all the while our community is being culled with eugenicist policies, especially during the pandemic. *sigh* I've gotten kicked from leftist slack channels for getting frustrated at hearing excuse after excuse for their lack of disabled organizers and no thought given to accessibility and the widely varied issues disabled people face.
I feel this a lot whenever people complain about performative activism. “Why aren’t you doing more?” How do you know I’m not doing everything I can?
Who told you about the gun orgies here in the states?!?
Curious Soul those are supposed to be secret! Whoever told is losing citizenship!
Zuckerbots? Nah, mate. Zuckerborgs!
You are nice enough to go up the algorithm!
Yep, this is the whole reason I'm a leftist, because I care about people and one of my biggest pet peeves is people who don't care about other people or care about money or tradition more than other people. And also I don't quite understand why people have such a problem with using more sensitive language or referring to people by their preferred pronouns or name because to me it's about caring about other people enough to respect their feelings and not wanting to hurt other people by using insensitive language or misgendering or dead-naming people. But maybe it's because I was teased as a child so I know first hand how it can hurt to be made fun of and singled out
or maybe some people live in circumstances where no one cares about them, so they get into surviving mode and also don't care about others. i think that kinda breeds itself
@@vivvy_0 I mostly talking about my friends on Facebook who are definitely not poor
"To be united by hatred is a fragile alliance at best"
-Obsidian development studio
I love this. Everything about it. Comrade, your kindness is not weakness. Your perceived “softness” is nothing less than our greatest strength as a movement. We need those to take up arms against the ruling class and do what needs to be done. And we need the people who keep those people human. Comrade YOU and YOU alone are among the most truly revolutionary people on the internet and the fact that you don’t have a power fantasy about executing cops doesn’t invalidate that. Love you Comrade. Drink your water, get some sun, eat at least twice today, and say some nice stuff about yourself idk. Love ya Slime!
"God damn it, you've got to be kind."
I just started Pedagogy of the Oppressed and I'm glad we've got videos like this on the 'net, love this one
Thank you so much for this, what made me a lefty was seeing the cruelty of our ruling classes to the ordinary people.
Thank you for signal boosting the request for liver tissue. Don't let people ever shame you into not helping in whatever way you can. You're the best, Thought Slime. I love your channel and I think you're wonderful!
Being nice and being anti capitalist are two different things, but they are better together.
This is my favorite video by you so far. You're on a roll. I really really like these lately. Keep it up! Sorry for being mean to you about violent super heroes because I disagree with the foundation upon which the world the characters in those stories operate in, but hopefully you didn't read those comments.
This video on being nice really spoke to me because I'm kind of one of them "Advocate Violence on Twitter" kinds of leftists an awful lot. Sure, my targets are definitely **up** and that's the direction I'm punching, but I definitely don't look around at the suffering people near me as anything more than stats with which to win arguments, and I don't think that that's enough anymore.
IVE BEEN WAITING FOR A VIDEO LIKE THIS! YOU'RE THE BEST!
Ok, the line about "using your cyber katana to mow down legions of Zuckerbots" made my day.
Jesus, I'm sorry that anyone is a dink to you. As an American-living fellow born Canadian - I'm sorry. You just do good work, and I appreciate you.
This video gave my heart a stiffy. Thank you for defending kindness.
Thought Slime. This has been driving me mad me for several months now. There is one pixel too many in the pipe curve to the right (left?) of your head. It's making me go crazy. Also, great video.
I have been trying to articulate the contents of this video for months. ThoughtSlime, like always, you are everything I aspire to be.
Che Guevara said the most important quality for a revolutionary is love.
Solidarity will take us far. But solidarity includes treating each other with the respect they demand
Man, I had to get into an argument a while back with leftcoms trying to dunk on that quote from the beginning, saying that calling socialism moral is "radlib", and that it's not Marxist, because morality is a bourgeoisie notion based on bourgeoisie norms, and Marxism is based on SCIENCE and blahblahblah.
I agree with you overall that socialism needs to be based in compassion, but the people I complain about are the people who twist words just to cancel people they don't like. I'm looking directly at the people who called Contrapoints anti-Semitic becuase of her David Icke Reptialian jokes. In the very same video she attacks anti-Semitism. I don't care if assholes like Red Scare get attacked, they know what they're doing and they're marketing themselves very well (and actually the people scolding them are directly feeding into that marketing but that's another topic)
These are the people who make public lefties feel like they need to pre-emptively apologize for stuff that isn't offensive or mean-spirited, or add awkward disclaimers to anything that has even a chance to be taken the wrong way. The left can be way too pious and Catholic.
I've been disagreeing with people in the comments who've made similar arguments, but this one seems better formulated and more balanced. I think you're just pointing out another important bit of dialectic truth, even as TS is talking about something quite important.
This is what I've been thinking all week and I love you for making a video on it!
I've watched a lot of your videos and I've been very impressed with the arguments for anarchism you've put forth, but this one in particular just has so many slam dunks.
Thank you for making this.
I dunno, Thought Slime, being sweaty in your videos has kinda become a thing you do. Maybe get a glistering spray for the winter to keep it up uwu
”Our Revenge Shall be the Laughter of our Children”-Bobby Sands