EARLY ACCESS: New "Studio" Tour and Q&A
Added 2025-09-11 22:49:37 +0000 UTCHowdy, friends! I had a blast going through your questions for this episode. I hope you enjoy this little peek behind the curtain!
Comments
Hey JT: I must admit I was not inclined to watch your peek behind the scenes segment because I much prefer your regular content. That content is always stellar and the quality of the presentation is awe inspiring. Please keep doing what you are doing! But it turns out that a peek behind the curtains was illuminating even if I could not follow any of the more technical details. The Q & A turned out to be more interesting than I would have thought. This is what I heard in a lot of the questions posed to you: how can we be more effective? Your answer, to join an organization, was perfectly adequate, even useful. I wonder if you would consider focussing, additionally, on a parallel point. From early on the success of capitalist organizing rested upon the atomization of its opponents. Divide and conquer is a real thing here. It is important to capital that the opposition are always made to feel powerless, isolated and alone, so that we may come to believe that resistance is futile. A lot of modern technology has been weaponized to help facilitate this, even as many on the left may believe that elements of the technology may be liberating. It very well can be liberating except for one catch: the use of new technology often facilitates isolation at the same time it wants us to believe it is facilitating connection Can both things be true? Of course, but consider this: you value and cherish the time you are able to spend with your family. If you had a lifestyle where face to face time was not always an option, you might naturally gravitate toward technology that could help you mimic face time. But is that the same thing? Better than nothing, sure, but does it have all the same qualities? I suspect that organizing people operates under similar principles. If we cannot gather like minded individuals together in the same room why not leverage technology? Of course we should, but let us remember at all times that it is not the same thing. I very much enjoy the access I have to socialist thought brought to me by technology, but I enjoy even more the camaraderie presented by face to face interactions. I love reading socialist literature, but I even more enjoy the book clubs where this literature can be discussed in person. In short, whatever we can do to circumvent the isolation that capitalism thrives upon is a worthy endeavor. Anything that allows us to see the potential in our collective solidarity is an effective antidote to capitalist atomization. Technology can point us in that direction, but authentic human connection will be what brings us home.
Michael B.
2025-09-13 16:22:08 +0000 UTCHey JT, it's been amazing watching your growth over the years. I know it's scary but you really have touched so many lives. If I didn't stumble upon your Cuba video back in COVID I wouldn't be the person I am today. I signed up with my local CPUSA chapter and ended up almost immediately taking over managing the local mutual aid operation along with making lifelong comrades in the process. As of now we have been able to provide over 20,000 meals on a shoestring budget in the 3 years since I took over. I've watched over the years as our community has learned who we are and will defend their "potato commies" if the police give us trouble. I know it's cheesy but thank you for all you do. Got a good laugh hearing you talk about the luddite nature of the CPUSA. Been working at the district level to make some changes to make them not afraid of technology and hopefully it will carry over to the national level if they see it work. I've only recently been able to convince them to do a better job of managing their social media accounts.
DeathSneeze
2025-09-12 22:29:28 +0000 UTC
