Carl Dix on TYT

[Counterculturalist]

Anybody else watch this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMWDHA_ffOo

I can't stand the RCP, but I've always had a soft spot for Carl Dix. He strikes me as a good guy and a fairly compelling speaker.

This interview starts out pretty well, with Carl doing a decent job of subtly connecting racism and police brutality to capitalism and class struggle. But inevitably, the Avakian hype begins.

If Dix could only have resisted the temptation to blather on about "the leadership we have in Bob Avakian" and repeat trite RCP slogans like "revolution! nothing less!" he could have maybe reached out to TYT's liberal audience and taught them something.

Instead, he just makes himself look like a weird creep.

[Ricemilk]

For the best, even if Dix staying in the margins is sad for everyone involved. Joining a cult involves volunteering for marginalization and I hope vulnerable young people hear even less from him until he frees himself of the RCP.

I think I can sympathize to a degree, though; I think I underwent a much more subtle and personal recruitment effort myself, and while I never joined, bought the paper, etc., the guy definitely was able to wear down my skepticism over time. (I have no decisive evidence that was his intention, tbef.)

Actually, there was a fierce debate in my group in college (which that guy was a founder of) as to whether to invite Dix to speak on campus. We felt confident we'd get the funds for whoever we asked, but some of the anarchists were very much against inviting RCP cadre or propagandists and disagreed with his writing on the 90s LA riots. We didn't end up inviting him. The tension with the RCP was never fully resolved before the group split up over unrelated tactical questions.

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

What do folk think about engaging with liberal media like TYT? How should it be done? Under what circumstances? Do folk have their own experiences to share?

[Lord Testicles]

Whilst I have no experience with dealing with the media, I do feel that if they offer us a platform then we should take it. Are they going to twist what you say and try to misrepresent your ideas? Probably, but I don't feel the correct response to that is to further isolate ourselves. After all when fascists are given a platform we oppose it in the strongest terms because having a platform is beneficial, so why deny ourselves?

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

Whilst I have no experience with dealing with the media, I do feel that if they offer us a platform then we should take it. Are they going to twist what you say and try to misrepresent your ideas? Probably, but I don't feel the correct response to that is to further isolate ourselves. After all when fascists are given a platform we oppose it in the strongest terms because having a platform is beneficial, so why deny ourselves?

This remains very broad though. Certainly there are different circumstances warranting different approaches? e.g. A "bread and butter" campaign to force a slumlord to deal with bedbugs vs in the aftermath of a demonstration in which militants smashed bank windows vs a reprter cold calling for a human interest story about a workers' co-op? How might these situations differ or not?

[SonofRage]

What do folk think about engaging with liberal media like TYT? How should it be done? Under what circumstances? Do folk have their own experiences to share?

I was once interviewed on NBC news on NYC (this was probably 12 years ago) and all the political content of what I said was edited out. They just left in my description of what happened when a comrade was arrested during a protest.

That's what's tough about engaging the media. They can edit it in whatever way they like.

[BIXX]

Every experience I've had with the media has been bullshit

Media is just as much the enemy as any other capitalist structure

[GiantMonkeyMan]

Local newspapers are sometimes gasping for something to write about and I've had letters printed in my local newspaper - just stuff like supporting a local strike, really - but national newspapers or radio prevent anything even on that level getting heard. I once got interviewed by BBC News for the radio but it never got aired. Never pass up the opportunity to put forward a socialist perspective, just don't expect the bourgeois political editors to let you have your full say.

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

Never pass up the opportunity to put forward a socialist perspective, just don't expect the bourgeois political editors to let you have your full say.

Any thoughts on how that perspective ought to be presented? Where it ought to come from? Is it better to speak "as an individual", with the freedom to respond directly and off the cuff, or to present a prepared "soundbite" and repeat it ad infinitum no matter what a reporter asks?

My experience is actually that the second strategy is better, but I just want to keep this discussion moving.

Should we seek out these opportunities (via press releases, etc.)?