So...yeah, apparently some dark money program to buy off "independent media" content creators came out and has been blowing up in the online left space. Vaush has provided the best coverage of this, so I'll post his stuff for a citation.
So, the summary is that the democrats are pushing this dark money project to turn "independent" left content creators into DNC shills. I dont consume content from most of these guys, but david pakman has been cited to be on the list, and I do listen to him. Brian Tyler Cohen has been the person in charge of this effort.
And...let's start with the defensive line pushed by Brian and David. Basically, they argue that we need to organize the online left the way the right has in order to push a progressive viewpoint to counter the dark money of the right going to creators like, say, Joe Rogan and Asmongold. However, let's be blunt here. What makes the independent left great...is their independence. And while they frame this idea of giving these creators $8000 a month and giving them classes on how to do social media...let's face it, this program takes away their independence. Their creative control is handed over to this group, who tells them what to say, and they end up just shilling for the DNC and establishment dem candidates.
And thats a problem. Because, as an independent content creator who DOESNT get paid for what I post on this blog, it destroys the authenticity of the online left. The importance of the online left comes from just that: their independence. It's their authenticity. It's telling it like it is, and not being managed by this hostile organization that controls what they say.
Look, the reason democrats suck in recent years is because no one likes them. No one likes their message. As the Bible would say, they're neither cold nor hot, they're as lukewarm as it gets, and people spit them out of their mouths. They push this artificial inside the beltway line where any criticism of the democratic party is verboten, and they just astroturf the internet and try to do hostile takeovers of online spaces (like reddit, a subject im quite vocal about) in order to push an echo chamber. They end up pissing off the genuine and authentic posters who actually care, and banning them from their platforms, and then they get replaced with shills and bots where no one can speak ill of "dear leader." Ive encountered this behavior before. And it sickens me. My own radicalization and opposition to the DNC is specifically BECAUSE of these efforts. Because they're pushing a brand of politics that no one actually likes and cant win elections. And we lose because these guys won't just F off and get out of the way.
If the dems just organically allowed support behind sanders to grow, we would not be in this timeline. Instead they artificially forced a consensus around clinton....and then clinton went on to lose. They did it with biden, and biden won since it was during COVID and trump was in office, but despite what should have been a landslide victory for democrat, what we got instead was a blue trickle instead of a wave. And then the dems governed in all of their milquetoast glory, public opinion sank, and hello fascism!
The democrats need to change, and that means they need to get out of their own way. Allow a next generation to take over with GENUINE voices who have GENUINE things to say. And on this topic, I'll tell you what we need. We need GENUINE independence. We need to call out money in politics and try to get money out of politics. We need independent movements closer to like, what Cenk Uygur is trying to do, although tbqh I think he's cringey at times with his genuflection to maga. But at least that dude SEEMS independent. And he is salf made and built an independent network. And I aint saying TYT network is perfect. It's not. We've seen internal divisions over things like unions, and late payments, and the trans community, and that whole bitchuation room thing (I forget her name, but that was the name of the show that got booted). TYT is actually quite controversial. But we got justice democrats out of them. Content creators like kyle kulinski. And i aint saying that they're perfect, but they're right in the sense that we need money out of politics and they've genuinely tried to do the tea party of the left thing. Theyre responsible for people like AOC rising to prominence.
And to go into my own ideological perspective, let's link this to basic income because why not. When you accept money from someone else, you end up becoming subservient to them. Content creators being financially dependent on groups like chorus, or even TYT network, is actually kind of bad. Because you end up toeing the line of whomever is paying your bills. This is why we need a universal basic income. To give people TRUE independence. Everyone gets a check, no stipulations are put in checks, and while some would argue that government money makes people dependent on the government, if the check is framed as a RIGHT and is UNCONDITIONAL, then I would argue these criticisms dont apply. We can actually instill civic virtues and independence into people by breaking the stranglehold money has on people. Because our society as it is, is what? Rich people paying the checks of poor people? Poor people being financially dependent on rich people to survive? I think employment, for all of the respect it commands in society, enslaves them to the wealthy. And this chorus program DEFINITELY enslaves people to the wealthy. The democrats do what the donor arm wants, not what the people want. The shills who take money from them do the will of whomever pays their check. And vaush pointed out in the aforementioned videos that the people who are called out and got their hands caught in the cookie jars, ya know, like David Pakman and some other lady, are all saying the same things, almost word for word, kinda like those corporate media stations owned by the same parent company do. So they're bought. Anyone on that list should be treated as bought.
Since I do listen to David Pakman sometimes, I will say this. It's been obvious he's been establishment for a while. I've had a love hate relationship with the guy's content over the years. He was pro clinton in 2016, and was as blue no matter who as it gets ever since. And yeah he's been pro biden to a sickening degree too. I know I defended Biden in 2024, but again, I was trying to prevent fascism here. That and the left wasn't really hitting the right notes either, and didnt even have a decent candidate tbqh. And let's face it, I think Jill Stein is getting paychecks from a certain hostile nationstate too and the dems are right on that one. But let's face it, I knew something was up with Pakman in a serious way when I saw him have pictures of meeting Biden a few months ago. You dont get to meet the president unless youre kissing some serious party butt and youre in the club. Ya know? Not sayng the guy doesnt make decent content sometimes, but he should probably be treated as bought.
Anyway, that's all I really have to say. Yes, the left needs something done to improve themselves. But for me the best thing that could happen is if the democrats who currently run the party, their ideology, their donors, etc., just screwed off and never returned. Get out of politics. Retire. Hand things over to a new generation. Let the party actually serve the needs of the people it serves. We dont need more corporate money and pushing artificial talking points that no one likes. What the dems have to realize is that their problem isnt primarily strategic in nature, it's ideological and moral. They stand for nothing. Their brand sucks. And the last thing we need are some paid influencers going around going "OMG DAE LOVE ELISSA SLOTKIN?" No. No real person outside of a small minority of people, actually likes Elissa Slotkin. She's a corporate democrat. She used to be a republican, and unlike me, she hasnt had an existential crisis that radically changed her entire political ideology, like I have. No one likes her. That weird conservative brand of politics I had in the late 2000s is dead. Republicans dont want it, and progressives dont either. The dems need to stop catering to those people, because that ideological position is untenable in the long term and stands for nothing. It's why the GOP abandoned it, and it's why I became left of the democrats. Because I dont just want...conservatism lite, I want an actual answer to conservatism, an actual ideology that FIGHTs the conservatives. Not compromises with them.
This Chorus program sucks, and you should never trust any content creator who took money from them. Btw, this article lists some prominent creators in this program, for your own information.
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