Ep. 31: On Social Media Censorship & Left Responses to the Terror Attacks

In the latest episode of the cancel culture saga, social media companies have taken into their own hands to censor content. Trump’s tweets, Zero Book’s videos, & Brad Troemel’s memes, have all been subject to the policing eye of so-called “fact checkers.” In the first part of this episode, Laurie joins Pamela to discuss the new wave of censorship under our Silicon Valley dystopia and the realignment of liberals in the Age of Trump. In the second part of the episode, we focus on how the German-speaking Left has responded to the recent terror attacks in France and Austria. Our European Correspondent, Andreas, joins Sophia and Pamela to discuss the responses by the anti-imperialist left, featuring Der Funke, the Austrian faction of the International Marxist Tendency (IMT) and Marx 21 in Germany. Second, Andreas interviews Michael Fischer, an Austrian anti-fascist and recent contributor to the anti-German publication Bahamas. Fischer presents his critique of political islam and his thoughts on the anti-imperialist left today. Finally, Frankfurt Platypus member, Jan Schroeder joins us to reflect on the trajectory of the anti-German Left, from its origins through its opposition to the Balkan Wars and support for American intervention in the Gulf, and their present iteration as defenders of “class politics”. Links: Brad Troemel’s Biden-Clinton meme https://www.instagram.com/p/CI3pSqUBevY/ Glenn Greewald, “Instagram is Using False “Fact-Checking” to Protect Joe Biden’s Crime Record From Criticisms” (December 2020) https://greenwald.substack.com/p/instagram-is-using-false-fact-checking Pamela C. Nogales C., “The Cancel Wars: The Legacy of the Cultural Turn in the Age of Trump” (Platypus Review, November 2020) https://platypus1917.org/2020/11/01/the-cancel-wars-the-legacy-of-the-cultural-turn-in-the-age-of-trump/ Laurie Rojas, “The Culture Wars in the Age of Trump” (Platypus Review, November 2020) https://platypus1917.org/2020/11/01/the-culture-wars-in-the-age-of-trump/ Der Funke, “Wien: Gegen Terror und nationale Einheit” (November 2020) https://derfunke.at/aktuelles/oesterreich/11526-wien-gegen-terror-und-nationale-einheit Marx 21, “Frankreich: Muslime unter Generalverdacht” (November 2020) https://www.marx21.de/frankreich-muslime-unter-generalverdacht/ Efraim Carlbach, “The Unchanging Core of Marxism: Interview with Ian Birchall” (Platypus Review, December 2017 – January 2018) https://platypus1917.org/2017/12/02/unchanging-core-marxism-interview-ian-birchall/ Spartacist League, "Down with the Islamic Reaction! For Workers Revolution in Iran! A Special Issue on Iran" (Women and Revolution, Fall 1979) https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/w&r/WR_019_1979.pdf Michael Fischer, “Die neue Rassenlehre: Moderne Rassenideologie im antirassistischen Gewand” (Bahamas 85 / 2020) http://redaktion-bahamas.org/artikel/2020/85-die-neue-rassenlehre/ Jan Schroeder, “Althusser’s Marxism” (July–August 2019) https://platypus1917.org/2019/07/02/althussers-marxism/ Jan Gerber, panelist on the “Crisis Of Neoliberalism” panel at the Platypus German Conference (January 2020) (in German) https://archive.org/details/25.01crisisofneoliberalism/25.01+Crisis+of+Neoliberalism.mp3 SPS Reflections on the 2020 German Conference can be found here: https://soundcloud.com/platypus-affiliated-society/ep22 Hosted by Pamela & Sophia with European Correspondent, Andreas W. music by Tamas Vilaghy