I have been on reddit for just about 12 years now. Something I’ve noticed over time is just how hateful the place has become. A complete outrage machine. Every single sub became filled with it. I’ve filtered so many subreddits over the last few years, it’s insane. I don’t know enough about this place to be sure, but I do hope it doesn’t become the same type of echo chamber of anger.

  • Lenins2ndCat@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I think you focus too much on the messenger and not enough on the message

    Should the left say the same about Stalin?

    Serious question. I want to know if you apply this logic consistently or if you see an issue with it now.

    Have you read any works by either Zizek or Chomsky?

    Of course I have this is a strange question to be asking unless you think I’m a teenager new to the left or something, these people are very entry-level cringe-leftism 102 stuff, they were good gateways into various things for their time but nothing more radical because to be so would be to lose the platform and “prestige” they both covet provided to them by capitalists. Neither of them have made significant contributions to the left that were not made first by other people, Chomsky’s most known work Manufacturing Consent is just a rehash of Parenti’s work Inventing Reality, while Zizek on the other hand is focused on philosophy of ideology and media literacy rather than action.

    I think Chomsky has done a massive public service cataloging and broadcasting US War crimes, while Zizek is a bit more theoretical

    You have these backwards. Zizek is not theoretical, Zizek is philosophical. Theory can be applied as action, that is not what Zizek does.

    • cycle_schumacher@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      Would you mind posting some good authors or thinkers to move forward from Chomsky please? I’m only familiar with him and would like to broaden my knowledge. I see you mentioned Parenti so I’ll look them up.

    • kava@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Chomsky & Herman didn’t “rehash” Inventing Reality. Parenti didn’t provide a model by which the propaganda system operates. Concentration of media ownership, advertising revenue, and reliance on government sources are methods by which Chomsky’a model operates whereas Parenti focuses on the ideological underpinnings - essentially trying to debunk the myth of liberal bias in media.

      These are similar topics but they are not rehashes. I think Chomsky’s has more value personally and there’s a reason it has had a much broader impact on the left and society as a whole.

      I also personally prefer Chomsky’s matter of fact style.

      Having said all that, like I said - my question wasn’t an attempt at a gotcha. You just never know who you’re talking to - I don’t trust people just because they say things confidently. You do seem well read so I respect your opinion.

      As for Zizek being philosophy- that’s a given. His works are theoretical though, and I don’t really want to argue the semantics. Zizek has a lot to say and I think he’s right that we need to be reinventing leftist ideology for the 21st century.