I haven't watched this whole video but I think ContraPoints can be an entertaining youtuber. That said, I think she's a youtuber. I don't know whether I'm prematurely an old person--or maybe I'm just out of touch--but I have a hard time approaching any youtubers with enthusiasm. Often, they lack real expertise. Although I find ContraPoints entertaining, I felt overall kind of uninterested by this video. I found the video she made on gaslighting interesting, but even that I sort of skipped through.
This video has an intended audience. The audience is, I think, probably about 18 years old. As a rallying cry for the intended audience, sure this is a great video. The problem is that I'm thirty. I spend most of my time reading, and outside of sending some angry but measured letters to some local politicians, I don't think I've actually done anything all that political in a long time.
An example of what I'm saying is that I'm working on another degree right now. A politician is visiting my school, and many people don't like this politician. There was a protest to try to have the invitation revoked. I joined some of my fellow students and went to the protest, where I sat there, clapped, and otherwise did not much. I absolutely believe that the school's administrators were aware of the protest. I do not think such a divisive figure will be welcomed to campus with open arms in the near future, but that says nothing of permanent impact of the protest. The protest had a feeling that it was almost staged by the school's administration. It felt almost like the administration invited the politician for the sake of creating controversy and getting the students involved so that, in five years when a bunch of people have graduated, they can look back and say, "Oh. Hey. Yeah I attended one protest in college," even though the protest was barely a protest, and while many students were clearly unhappy, the entire thing felt almost like a put on.
When I see videos discussing things like left unity, this is what I feel. Part of me agrees with the need of making Marx more accessible. I do believe that that is in part due to the cover of the reader. I 100% feel that changing the cover of that book will make more people read it. But I do not think the cover should be changed to something like labor wave.
Marx was a legitimate academic. Kitsching Marx up or trying to sell him as a pop star does a disservice to his accomplishments, and it will probably further turn of any people who buy the book based on that appearance. The book's appearance makes it look like something old curmudgeon's read. That isn't good. Whereas, if the book had the appearance of a typical reader, something like (this) [https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Nietzsche-Library/dp/0140150625/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=QW36SE5JRRWNSY7DQB6X], more people would probably be interested in it.
Marx is an entertaining writer. He's also a crusty old white skeptic from the 19th century. Presenting him as connected to a government the formation of which happened in 1917 when he died in 1883 does a complete disservice to his accomplishment, which should be appreciated in its own right.
Beyond that, I think it's important that we take a nod from Walter Benjamin in presenting the left. In the end of his "Work of art in the age of its Technological reproducability," Benjamin writes: "Such is the aestheticizing of politics, as practiced by fascism. Communism replies by politicizing art."
Trump's whole game has been turning politics into a reality television show. No one is going to beat him on that ground. It's not possible. His been a reality television star officially for almost 20 years, and before reality television was a thing, he was leaking information to New York newspapers and hiring people to write books for him like the art of the deal. He's doing what fascists do. He's turning politics into art.
By its very nature, the left is fractured. It exists as the collective of minorities. It is united only by the experience of marginalization and those willing to forego any advantages they have for the underlying aim of equality. It is the experience of being fractured that the marginalized have, and it is this experience that unities those groups and makes them a majority.
The video is entertaining. But this is a youtuber. I don't know. It's hard for me to take youtubers seriously. You can't make an obese white guy look the same as Colin Kapernack. It's not possible. Whereas, the entire thing the right is doing is appearing in uniform. Look at all the marches. What makes them intimidating is that its about 75% 20-25 year old men all dressed exactly the same, with the exact same hair cut.
They're making politics into art. And they're better equipped for it. The leader has 20 years of experience being a reality television star, and when they protest its like watching syncronized swimming.
They attack the targets they are most afraid of. They are afraid of hollywood and television. They are completely horrified that someone would represent people equally in videogames. They attack public service because the government is the only organization in which the public has a say.
It's not an issue of optics. There is no correcting this through fashion.