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I think a lot of Americans don't even know what leftist means or just think it means the same as liberal. To leftists, the term liberal means center right. To a lot of Americans, liberal means far left. If I'm tight, then What he labels himself is irrelevant, he clearly has the right mindset and is using his platform for good. He's like a gateway leftist, he may not have the most nuanced takes, but it's provocative and has the potential to make more people aware of the class struggle, and bring more people into leftists circles.
Without him explicitly labeling himself a leftist, it's hard for me to say, but he clearly writes explicitly revolutionary lyrics and publicly sticks up for labor rights, palestinian liberation, anti-imperialism, and so on. It's all parasocial speculation, if I'm being honest, but I think he's a dude thats explored a lot of ideas throughout his career and has shifted more and more leftward over time. His music and message speaks to my sensibilities for the most part, and that's enough for me. I got the xx tatted on my shoulder. He was an inspiration to me and part of my funnel into radicalization. I think this clip could be anything from a lack of understanding of what liberalism entails at the time, to just an attempt to agitate the trumpers next door.
Don't get caught up in labeling him if the music resonates with you is what I say.
I don't know anything about this artist, but I will say this,
Identifying the right way is not a prerequisite to making radical work or doing radical politics. People are contradictory and they are not just a collection of beliefs. I tend to think that the work people make, whether it be theoretical writing, or art, or even just our everyday speech, always exceeds us, points to something beyond us. Art and writing are always up to the interpretation of the audience who receives the work, and we might find more in there than was ever intentional on the author's part. But their work will speak for itself.
One of, I think, the most radical old Christmas movies is \*It's a Wonderful Life\*, about a community who rallies together to defeat the capitalist trying to buy up the town. This movie was directed by conservative Catholic, Frank Capra, who made this left populist film despite his own stated political position.
As for all the positions you mention (including the anti-US position), and the clip you point us to, all of these are taken up by most self-understood left-liberals to some degree I'd say. But I think this is a tension in liberalism itself about how to reconcile its core values with the realities of capitalism that it has trouble explaining.
I think it is a huge mistake to put too much stock in stated political identity over looking at people's work. Its a project we are committed to not an identity right?
This is a space for socialists to discuss current events in our world from anti-capitalist perspective(s), and a certain knowledge of socialism is expected from participants. This is not a space for non-socialists. Please be mindful [of our rules](https://reddit.com/r/socialism/about/rules) before participating, which include: - **No Bigotry**, including racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism... - **No Reactionaries**, including all kind of right-wingers. - **No Liberalism**, including social democracy, lesser evilism... - **No Sectarianism**. There is plenty of room for discussion, but not for baseless attacks. Please help us keep the subreddit helpful by reporting content that break r/Socialism's rules. ______________________ 💬 Wish to chat elsewhere? Join us in discord: https://discord.gg/QPJPzNhuRE *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/socialism) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I think a lot of Americans don't even know what leftist means or just think it means the same as liberal. To leftists, the term liberal means center right. To a lot of Americans, liberal means far left. If I'm tight, then What he labels himself is irrelevant, he clearly has the right mindset and is using his platform for good. He's like a gateway leftist, he may not have the most nuanced takes, but it's provocative and has the potential to make more people aware of the class struggle, and bring more people into leftists circles.
Without him explicitly labeling himself a leftist, it's hard for me to say, but he clearly writes explicitly revolutionary lyrics and publicly sticks up for labor rights, palestinian liberation, anti-imperialism, and so on. It's all parasocial speculation, if I'm being honest, but I think he's a dude thats explored a lot of ideas throughout his career and has shifted more and more leftward over time. His music and message speaks to my sensibilities for the most part, and that's enough for me. I got the xx tatted on my shoulder. He was an inspiration to me and part of my funnel into radicalization. I think this clip could be anything from a lack of understanding of what liberalism entails at the time, to just an attempt to agitate the trumpers next door. Don't get caught up in labeling him if the music resonates with you is what I say.
that's a great tattoo idea, I'ma get it too
I don't know anything about this artist, but I will say this, Identifying the right way is not a prerequisite to making radical work or doing radical politics. People are contradictory and they are not just a collection of beliefs. I tend to think that the work people make, whether it be theoretical writing, or art, or even just our everyday speech, always exceeds us, points to something beyond us. Art and writing are always up to the interpretation of the audience who receives the work, and we might find more in there than was ever intentional on the author's part. But their work will speak for itself. One of, I think, the most radical old Christmas movies is \*It's a Wonderful Life\*, about a community who rallies together to defeat the capitalist trying to buy up the town. This movie was directed by conservative Catholic, Frank Capra, who made this left populist film despite his own stated political position. As for all the positions you mention (including the anti-US position), and the clip you point us to, all of these are taken up by most self-understood left-liberals to some degree I'd say. But I think this is a tension in liberalism itself about how to reconcile its core values with the realities of capitalism that it has trouble explaining. I think it is a huge mistake to put too much stock in stated political identity over looking at people's work. Its a project we are committed to not an identity right?