General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSerious Question for the Group. What do you guys think about Beau of the Fifth Column??
I recently stumbled upon his videos, and to be honest I don't know what to think. I mean, a great deal of what he says makes a lot of sense to me, but upon further investigation, it appears he's an anarchist?? Do any of you follow his channel? What do you think?
Response to SKKY (Original post)
Chin music This message was self-deleted by its author.
SKKY
(11,818 posts)So, yea, no idea.
Response to SKKY (Reply #5)
Chin music This message was self-deleted by its author.
Ohio Joe
(21,761 posts)Do I agree with him 100%... No, but I do agree with a lot of what he says.
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)I'm not in total agreement with him, but he's level-headed enough that even when we don't see eye-to-eye on something, I'll think about what he's saying. That's pretty rare these days.
Ohio Joe
(21,761 posts)And he does not spoon feed you an opinion, he gives facts you probably did not know about but can look up and verify on your own.
Plus he has the coolest T-shirt collection I've ever seen
PortTack
(32,787 posts)BlueJac
(7,838 posts)YorkRd
(326 posts)Beau is really good at explaining things and deconstructing Republican talking points in a rational factual way.
LoisB
(7,222 posts)but his commentary makes sense to me. So far, I have not heard him say anything that would make me think he is an anarchist but I have been wrong before so...
DeeNice
(575 posts)That is, someone called him that just to shut down any chance of reasonable discussion. And around and around it goes...
SKKY
(11,818 posts)But let me add, I agree with him most of the time. And I say most of the time for the mere fact that I can't really think of a time that I haven't agreed with him.
Crunchy Frog
(26,613 posts)to be thoughtful and thought provoking. As far as his expressed opinions, he appears to generally fall on the same side as I do.
I have not delved deeply into his background or his particular political ideology. I do know that he has no alignment with trumpism. He has done a podcast with Trae Crowder, the Liberal Redneck, if that's any help.
You could certainly do a lot worse than watch his videos.
SKKY
(11,818 posts)....but then I found a video of him giving a talk where he's advocating for what was termed "structured anarchism". It kinda shocked me a bit because he doesn't strike me in that way.
Caliman73
(11,744 posts)The worst you can say about anarchism is that it is naïve and idealistic. Anarchism is essentially the desire not to have a "State" imposing power through violence. It is usually about mutual cooperation and non-coercion. Anarchism has been portrayed as "bomb throwing menaces who want to destroy the world and have lawlessness". It is a lot more complex.
Listening to the message is more important than what he may or may not be.
Gore1FL
(21,151 posts)In doing so, he presents the viewer with the information they need to dig deeper and raise awareness.
I wish the talking heads used a similar approach.
Grammy23
(5,810 posts)I enjoy his perspective and take on things. Hes smart and makes me think. I like that in a commentator. Plus, he lives not too far away from me and, living in NW Florida, it is a comfort to know that not all who live near me are tRumpies and Matt Gaetz fans.
FreepFryer
(7,077 posts)SKKY
(11,818 posts)gibraltar72
(7,508 posts)He supports unions. He is prolific about three videos a day. I have watched him quite a bit. Never seen anything I fundamentally disagree with.
bluedigger
(17,087 posts)Beau is an anarchist much like I and Noam Chomsky - anarcho-syndicalists who live in a two party system and deal with practical politics as they exist.
MineralMan
(146,325 posts)Where might I have seen him or heard him?
What do you think of Davie504?
How about Itchy Boots?
See, it would help if you offered a little more information. Not everyone watches what you watch.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)I'd read something elsewhere about this being the same Justin King, before he had an epiphany or something, but I never checked it out. https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/2007/December/07_crm_967.html
He has a questionable, or checkered, past under his own name in any case.
MineralMan
(146,325 posts)I'll pass.
Ohio Joe
(21,761 posts)MineralMan
(146,325 posts)Red Mountain
(1,737 posts)My main page has a column of videos on the right. That's where I first encountered him and where I see his new videos 99% of the time.
Personally, I appreciate people posting new sources of information and ideas.
I find him to be generally reasonable and think he would fit in well here.
myccrider
(484 posts)like and agree with most of his opinions expressed on his channel. Hes thoughtful, seems well-read and to have spent quality brain-time coming to his opinions.
Id read/heard about his anarchism and he also has some slightly screwball attitudes towards some conspiracy theorists (such as that believing in some conspiracy theories wrt the government is a positive because it keeps you from trusting them completely, which I disagree with and posted that disagreement on his channel. Believing in any "conspiracy theory" weakens your ability to think rationally, period, and can lead to believing in other, even less benign, CTs.)
I think anarchism suffers from the same flaws as communism (and I used to subscribe to this philosophy) suffers from
a naive disregard or lack of understanding of basic human nature. We are one of the most cooperative mammal species in existence, but there will always be a tension between what the group needs and asks for and what the individual/family needs and wants. Plus humans are very flawed thinkers and can and will do things that are not in their own or their communities best interests because of this. AND some people are just greedy and/or narcissistic mo-fos who dont think any rules apply to them. Neither communism nor anarchism can solve those issues by having the state wither away or something similar.
Unfortunately, I dont know of a system that can "magically" control those problems. Democracy seems to be the best compromise, as flawed as it is. Unbridled capitalism is a huge disadvantage to democracy, imo, and needs to be seriously reigned in along with the upswelling of authoritarianism.
Beau seems to agree with me on most other issues, though, and causes my thinker to kick in with some of his opinions. So I continue to enjoy his output.
SKKY
(11,818 posts)...in his videos. But, after watching his "Structured Anarchy" video, I was taken back a bit because I view that as almost tribalism.
myccrider
(484 posts)but Im not voting for him to enact his utopian dream. As I mentioned, I *was* a communist, so I understand that reasonable people can have divergent ideas.
While I was a commie, I agreed with most of the "liberals" of my day about most of the practical politics and all of the social issues. I just thought that in the end, wed have to overthrow the gov and end capitalism to get what people really needed. So listening to me talk issues way back then, you and I likely would have agreed about what the problems were and what practical, immediate steps we needed to take to improve the situation, even if our ultimate goals diverged. ;-9 Since the whole ending capitalism wasnt going to happen for quite a while, lets us go fight to end the war, fight racial discrimination, fight for union organizing, etc.
So, Ill continue to listen to his videos because I like what he says about current political and economic issues and I learn new things occasionally.
tblue37
(65,483 posts)Mad_Machine76
(24,430 posts)Don't always agree with him but he's never said anything really out of left field or offensive.
But that's just a thought........