I don't know which country you live in but I know podcasters and other influencers in Germany and sadly also met their kind in person and passed by a protest. It is real.

[–] ananas@sopuli.xyz 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Finland. Living next to Russian border might bring some reality checks here.

And yea, I can imagine you could dig some nutjob podcaster here too, but can't imagine finding those people walking around IRL.

But the thing I'm most against is "western left", which is the point where I call out the BS. Vice seat of our right-wing party literally went to a Putin propaganda camp in Russia in around 2015 (by his own admission, no less), yet it is somehow "western left" that gets the blame for few tankies who are nowhere to be found.

[–] lugal@sopuli.xyz 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Finland might be a different story, but in Germany the Left Party is deeply devided between Russia supporters and others. It is not all the left (which is said in the video near the end) and of cause the right is much worse but it is a group too big to ignore.

[–] ananas@sopuli.xyz 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

And if the video didn't make sweeping generalisations this would be a fine point to tackle. But it's not saying "half of the german left", it is saying "the western left".

It's not OK to leave this kind of stuff as a side note in small print, that is one of the prime tactics propaganda in general uses.

[–] lugal@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You're right. "The Left" is a vague term and doesn't apply here. I know such people and applied the video to them and as such it's well done but the title and framing during the video is misleading.

[–] ananas@sopuli.xyz 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah, if the video was less conflictory and was framed in a way that didn't scream polarisation to me, I wouldn't be as quick to dismiss it as a propaganda piece.

As a side note, I'm actually surprised that Germany has such divide within the left.

[–] lugal@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 year ago

About the side note: There are different factors at play: nostalgia about GDR, Anti-Americanism and the peace movement (not sending weapons anywhere). And I was especially talking about the party "Die Linke" (The Left). Other parties like the Social Democrates and The Green (both part of the government) disagree on that.

There are ML and tanky organistations outside of parliament. But I think the biggest organized left movement at the moment in Germany is the climate justice movement, which is very decentralized but I think most are against Russia. I might be biased though since I'm part of this movement.

[–] Jessper@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The point isn't that they exist, but that they are an extreme minority. Pretending that the left wing parties are somehow tricked because of this is propaganda.

[–] lugal@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 year ago

Well, Germany has one left wing party (most others self-identify as center) and it is not long untill it seperates into two about this and other questions. Sure, it's not "The Left" as a whole, but at the end of the video, he says that not everybody on the left supports Putin. It still is a seizable group within the (radical) left.