I doubt it. Bastani is catholic muppet anyway. He just had to look embarrassed. Internally he's delighted he lost the debate. Like I said, venal drug takers. the worst people. Drugs make you boring bellends.
being intimately involved with the UK left
I doubt it. Bastani is catholic muppet anyway. He just had to look embarrassed. Internally he's delighted he lost the debate. Like I said, venal drug takers. the worst people. Drugs make you boring bellends.
craner
Beast of Burden
You don't debate you annihilate
I haven't worked out how to describe it yet, maybe someone else has come up with a term for it, but it's part of a broader phenomenon that takes in the therapy language I was grimacing at shaka using on the previous page and the examples posted in the Twitter style and tone thread and 'Actioning a blue-skies approach outside the box'.
It's for another thread, really, but it's clearly something to do with our current flavour of liberalism and the way everyone's expected to be their own brand and 'optimise' themselves. The extension of a grating amalgamation of the business pitch and the therapy session into every aspect of life. Everything filtered through this horrible blend of cloying sentiment and antiseptic professionalism and focused on individual development as though you're perpetually in a boardroom discussing a piece of tech aimed at children.
You don't hear many people speak with genuine confidence either. They often have this very American way of talking that involves a lot of 'uptalk' and things being posed as questions rather than statements, or the artificial, media-trained style of speaking I mentioned above.
That's something that stands out about those Deleuze from A to Z interviews. He doesn't come off as though he cares that he's being filmed or that he'd speak particularly differently if he weren't. Maybe it's partly to do with his old age or that he seems to have been interviewed at home, but it's a noticeable difference after having seen and heard however many people interviewed across TV and podcasts. An entirely different manner.
That's something that stands out about those Deleuze from A to Z interviews. He doesn't come off as though he cares that he's being filmed or that he'd speak particularly differently if he weren't. Maybe it's partly to do with his old age or that he seems to have been interviewed at home, but it's a noticeable difference after having seen and heard however many people interviewed across TV and podcasts. An entirely different manner.
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
May you steer clear of hills to die on while living your best life, etc. etc.
This is surely the only stuff worth doing, if you're going to do something. Someone managing to unionise even one workplace strikes me as doing far more good than Aaron Bastani publishing a manifesto and interviewing his mates on a podcast.
Benny Bunter
Well-known member
I pretty much agree with you about drugs. I don't really know much about Bastani but he certainly looks sweaty and bloated in that video so you're probably right.
One of the advantages Hitchens has when he's debating these type of lefties is that he used to be heavily involved in revolutionary socialism himself when he was young. That, and the decades of experience in journalism since then, including covering the 80s industrial disputes and living in Moscow when the Soviet Union collapsed.
It's more an interview rather than a debate really, but Bastani still shows himself up. You saying he's some kind of masochist? Interesting.
Another thing with Hitchens is he's established as this token curmudgeon with no desire to 'network' or behave the way most media figures do, so they can have him on to moan about stuff in this resigned, genteel sort of way that isn't too offensive and won't devolve into a shouting match.
He's like an exasperated parent to these people.
He's like an exasperated parent to these people.
Benny Bunter
Well-known member
Yeah, but because it doesn't devolve into a shouting match it looks even worse for them in a way - he can't just be dismissed as a ranting bigoted gammon or whatever, he just sort of calmly dispenses his wisdom and takes apart all their points.
I've noticed he's got a good technique in these sorts of interviews where he pauses slightly after making a point, then, just after they start to try and rebut it, he interrupts them and comes back in again with yet another elaboration and talks over them.
Thought you'd mistyped 'Tony Bennett' for a sec and wondered what the hell you were on about.
ghost
Well-known member
To be fair, he unionized an unprofitable brewery that makes piss beer, and they're now shutting the brewery down—genuinely not because of the union, but just because they just can't sell the slop.
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
Another win for Team Socialism!
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
He wants to brutally murder all Marxists as well, though, don't forget.