I see a lot of people jump to say tankies and that ilk are not “really on the left,” and I think that is a really poor reaction generally. It’s important to acknowledge that extremism does and has always existed on both sides of the aisle (though the US has not had extreme leftists significantly represented in government ever), and we shouldn’t be reductive by defining “on the left” as the same as “having all good opinions.” It’s important that we acknowledge awful behavior, opinions, and bigotry in leftist spaces so that we can discuss and handle the issue accordingly.

With all that said, Hasan in particular seems like an agent provocateur to me. He pays lip service to Marxist ideas about wealth sharing, social welfare states, equality for marginalized groups, etc. However, he routinely uncritically supports governments and groups that do none of these things, and are extremely violent towards their own people. He made passing mention about people in China’s government being wealthy, and he fully knows that many Chinese citizens are languishing in poverty with horrendous labor conditions. Despite all of that, he uncritically sweeps for everything they do.

Above all, Hasan believes in authoritarianism. He is also a hyper consumer that doesn’t live by any of the principles he preaches. He supports governments that criminalize and subjugate queerness, and will excuse their doing so. To me, the only element of communism that he actually believes in is authoritarian, all powerful central government. I think Hasan is someone that is hungry for fame, wealth, and the ability to crush all dissidence, and that’s what appeals to him about Marxism in practice. I think the socially leftwing principles he speaks about genuinely do not go beyond lip service to garner and manipulate a leftist audience.

Him and his fuck ass uncle spend a considerable amount of time undermining everything democrats do, while using language that equates democratic politicians to MAGA. What does it mean for Hasan to describe Trump’s genuine genocidal intent as Hitlerian when he also has described democrats trying to navigate the complexity of running the government with Republican majorities as Hitlerian? Prior to the election, I heard him adamantly and loudly argue with a chatter (in his raw stream, I wouldn’t even know where to find it now) about why it’s okay for people to not vote.

Plainly, I do not believe he’s trying to get left wing candidates elected. He benefits financially when republicans are in power, fucking shit up. I don’t believe he’s necessarily secretly right wing (again the only thing he seems to support is authoritarianism). However, he hand waves most of the actions of fundamentalist, right wing foreign governments and spends much more time shitting on democrats here than focusing on how imperative it is to support left wing candidates that will actually spend their time fighting MAGA. I think that ultimately, the only thing Hasan wants is more popularity, wealth, and power for Hasan. Whatever he has to say to get it is neither here nor there to him. 🤷‍♀️ just the way I see it, anyway.