Marxist? Yes. Leninist? No. In my opinion. Still an excellent educator and a good entry point to socialism.
this post was submitted on 26 May 2025
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I'm not sure if he can publicly be a leninist. Might endanger his family. I dunno.
There's other publicly ML intellectuals like Vijay, Losurdo, and Gabriel Rockhill. It's just a matter of balancing how much risk you wanna take on, it's totally acceptable to hide your power level if you don't want to get merced since it's not like revolution is just around the corner and the denouement is at hand so we need everyone on their A game.
For sure a Marxist. In the past I’ve seen him distance himself from revolutionary language, but recently he’s been speaking more openly about the need for revolution over reform like this video.
All in all he’s a good educator, I’d recommend his work to other comrades.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
I think he is very much a marxist minded economist first and that's his main interest
He's definitely a communist of some variety. He does good introductions to socialist thought, but that doesn't entail enough specificity to pinpoint his views. (Unless he has blatantly stated his views, maybe someone here knows.)
Yeah he strikes me much more as just an academic with a firm grasp of Marxism and economics, he doesn't talk much about the Leninist part of Marxist Leninism, but that's okay because that isn't really his niche, he doesn't really seem like a revolutionary but that is our job. He is certainly great for introducing libs to Marxist concepts though, especially older ones (he's a bit too dry most likely for younger crowds).
Who is better for younger crowds? Hassan?
Hassan is fine for a streamer but he doesn't get too much into the theory. I personally like Luna Oi's stuff a lot.
Seconded, Luna is fantastic.
For entertaining video essays that are informative but with a laid-back attitude:
- Hakim- https://www.youtube.com/@YaBoiHakim (more academic)
- Yugopnik- https://www.youtube.com/@YUGOPNIK (more entertainment)
For anarchist, marxist, and feminist theory I'd recommend:
- Zoe Baker: https://www.youtube.com/@anarchozoe (literal PhD in the history of anarchism)
I think it depends, but Yanis Varoufakis and Vijay Prashad resonate pretty well with me, they're good speakers who keep their points fairly concise and know how to get to the core of an issue.
I think he differs from ML's in that he believes there can be an overthrow of capitalism through worker co-ops. I believe he even talked about going back and analyzing the soviet union and "where they went wrong" as in why it eventually collapsed, and it was something to do with workers not fully controlling the means of production (i may be distorting his point, so dont quote me)
Regardless, he is a very good educator of marxism.
I've never heard him speak on the overthrow of capitalism through co-ops. He's spoken before about how co-ops are preferable and how many Americans have very favorable views about them when certain trigger words are avoided. He's definitely a supporter of co-ops over other models and advocates that they're a way of introducing more socialim-like elements into the economy and American consciousness. But that's all much more nuanced set of takes than "co-ops will overthrow capitalism".
He spoke of it in an interview, and I can't remember exactly which one atm. The blurb from his book Democracy at Work echoes this belief (the subtitle is literally "A Cure for Capitalism")
Capitalism as a system has spawned deepening economic crisis alongside its bought-and-paid-for political establishment. Neither serves the needs of our society. Whether it is secure, well-paid, and meaningful jobs or a sustainable relationship with the natural environment that we depend on, our society is not delivering the results people need and deserve.
One key cause for this intolerable state of affairs is the lack of genuine democracy in our economy as well as in our politics. The solution requires the institution of genuine economic democracy, starting with workers directing their own workplaces, as the basis for a genuine political democracy.
Where does he say capitalism will be overthrown by co-ops? I'm not seeing it.
I'll try to locate his video, but I can confirm. He didn't exactly talk about co-ops overthrowing capitalism, he talked about using co-ops to build dual power, and with dual power overthrow capitalism. So, basically, he borrowed Lenin's concept of dual power (which in Russia was comprised of the Soviets) and added worker co-ops in the middle. So what he actually said was that worker co-ops could be a building block of dual power.
Whatever he is, I'm tired of YouTubers making clickbait out of him. They're really sensationalizing the decline of the US through the thumbnails he's in. I very much welcome all the interest on the topic, but it's really reminding me of all those "China could collapse at any moment" memes and thumbnails, though I know one is far more accurate than the other. Ah, this is just a petty complaint. Y'know what? He's an ML after all if he's getting people ready for collapse and revolution.
He strikes me sorta like a marcyite trot. But that's purely my impression
Based on what?
pure vibes from watching him talk for years
So nothing at all. Thanks for the clarification.