ContraPoints

We can't choose who we rub elbows with on our way to the top. If Contra wants to get her message out there and the only person who will give her a proverbial microphone is a shithead, what does it matter?

Mainstream attention is what we want. People need to know that Pewdie is not the only person on You Tube. Sargon is not the only person on You Tube. There is Contra, Hbomb, Lindsay, all these great, progressive voices.

Like, say hypothetically Contra got on Fox News. Would I complain? As long as she wasn't randomly changing all her politics to spew hatred, no I would not. Because Fox is a huge news agency that would bring "Contra Awareness" to a lot of people who never would have heard of her.

I'm not a sappy idealist who thinks everyone can be saved. But it's a fact that some people, even the worst of the worst, can change their minds if given the chance. I've seen it happen. Hell, Contra is living proof as are some of her fans who used to follow shitlords like Blaire White instead but came around to Contra's side after seeing her speak. But how can they ever change if they don't even see real alternatives?

edited 1st Nov '17 4:06:46 AM by Nikkolas

Hmm, I found it interesting when Contra mentioned that background music makes videos harder to edit misleadingly. I had noticed that her videos were a bit more 'showy' than others I've watched - dynamic lighting, multiple complex backgrounds and costumes, the music, etc. I hadn't realised it served a practical purpose as well as an aesthetic one. Neat.

A collab with one Dick Coughlan who is an awesome comedian from the equally awesome Great Britain. (note that we aren't called the GREAT United States. Coincidence? I think not)

They once did a hangout together but I guess it's gone because the channel it was on, Garrett's, is also gone. I hope he's okay. Sorry, sidetracked. A lot of Leftist You Tube channels have shut down since I started following "that scene."

Just found out about this Youtuber and I'm currently going through her backlog.

Absolutely loved her video on degeneracy.

Have subscribed.

https://twitter.com/ContraPoints/status/926896448301621248

Contra has apologized for how she reacted shortly after the Jesse Singal interview.

Gotta say, as far as 'inflammatory rants on social media that you later need to apologise for' go, Conrapoints still comes off as fairly level headed.

I mean... there's a definite point there that I think people who mostly discuss these things on the internet don't understand. Refusing to associate with people who hold distasteful views is nice in theory, but difficult and counterproductive in practice. Sooner or later you have to live in the world with everybody else. And the thing about being left of the centre is, most of the people you have to interact with are going to be further right than you are.

Contra was on The Michael Brooks Show

If you don't know, TMBS is a spinoff of The Majority Report with Sam Seder. Michael and Sam are pretty much the best Leftist news channels on YT. Highly recommend you check them out if you like stuff like Contra Points.

This is a topic that interests me greatly as a fan of history and social justice.

I didn't expect much from this video at first but it turned out to be very insightful and interesting and I now have a book to read and a documentary to watch. While i tended up being about whether or not political violence can be justified, I liked the earlier talk about violence in general and how we think of it.

I have seen a lot of debates on the Atomic Bombings in Japan for instance and I've seen people who insist 100% it was the right thing to do. I always maintained that, necessary or not, that didn't make them "right." Sometimes there is no right answer. Thinking that innocent people dying is right is too dangerous and that's ultimately what Contra was talking about here. Eventually violence just comes fun and your rationale slips away.

To be honest I didn't really like this one. I'd been souring a bit on Contra lately but this is the first time I'd outright say I didn't really gain much that I didn't already know from it. It's just kind of...meh, I guess?

Though I'm surprised that of all people, fucking Sargon of Akkad is in the comments trying to pick a fight. The dude is a fucking shithead.

It's a generally interesting video but it doesn't bring much new to the table regarding violence. I was expecting Contra would go on a discussion about the subtleties between the modern, "capitalistic" and industrialized conception of violence/warfare vs the old, "honorable" and ritualized conception of violence/warfare. But it's only mentioned towards the end in a off-hand manner.

Probably the most interesting point brought up here is whether systematic Inherent in the System violence upon people is better worse than the concentrated, deliberate violence of bloody revolutions.

I feel Contra curiously skipped through one of the most interesting points in the film she used as a thesis ("The Act of Killing"), that the gangsters reenactment of their crimes via filmmaking seems to have a fascinating effect of making them start to grasp the magnitude of their actions.

edited 25th Nov '17 6:02:09 AM by Gaon

I get the impression this is one of those videos that's mostly aimed at that portion of 'the internet Left' (if that makes sense as a label) which Contra things is counterproductive and harmful to the cause.

By which I mean: people who insist that if you have any reservations at all about 'punchin' nazis' then you're just as bad as a nazi yourself. People who think holding your own 'side' to higher standards of behaviour means you're 'siding with the oppressors'.

So if you're not one of those people, maybe you won't get that much out of the video, because it all just seems self evident.

Humanity in general, and the Left is no exception, has a tendency to think "Violence/harassment/whatever is only bad if it's done to GOOD people, it's fine to do it to people who deserve it" and I think there's some value in a video that addresses that. Maybe in a slightly roundabout way that doesn't come across as 'but if you hit the nazis you're just as bad as they are'.

edited 26th Nov '17 12:45:24 AM by LoniJay

You worded what's hard to word, Loni, so word! That and how Contra manages that, I don't know.

I did not think it was possible, but after seeing that comment I now hate Sargon even more.... sweet merciful Emperor the "man"(child) is scum

And to add to my increasing weariness towards Contra, there is now this: https://twitter.com/ContraPoints/status/934926818154614791

She's doing a discussion in Vancouver with Theryn Meyer and Blaire White. Meyer is apparently pretty shitty herself but White is one of the leading anti-social justice twats on the web. Just like how Milo was the token gay guy for the alt right, White is the token trans girl. She's an abhorrent human being who gladly throws fellow trans women under the bus and spouts off racist bullshit just like the rest of the alt right.

And I should add, this isn't a "debate", this is a "discussion". Contra is sitting down and chatting with these people in front of an audience, and I am so fucking mixed on this. It's already been made clear how Contra has divided people with some of her actions. The brunch controversy months back with her hanging with Armoured Skeptic and Shoe On Head, two infamous "skeptics" who are disgusting transphobic, lit this fire but now it's been increasingly burning since the Stengel interview. I'm getting tired. So, so tired. This is going to do nothing to help anyone except White and Meyer by giving their platforms legitimacy to many people.

I'll admit, I really don't get why so many people are convinced that debating rightwingers makes Contrapoints a traitor somehow.

I mean... she's arguing with them. Do we not want to convince people? If you're a leftwing media personality, are you obligated to have no interaction with the people you oppose apart from, I don't know, hissing and holding up a cruxifix to ward them off?

Like, yes, it sucks that these people have influence, but Contrapoints didn't give them that influence, and they won't stop having it because none of their opponents will 'debate' them.

It's not like she's inviting these people into safe spaces. She's going off to sit in their spaces to have this debate, isn't she?

This isn't a debate though, this is a discussion. She's not even trying to challenge them. And hell, she's debated them before and it's ended in failure. You can't debate these guys. Their arguments are so illogical that there's nothing to gain out of it. And what, do you really think she can convince Blare White to stop being an awful person? Doubtful.

As a trans person, I'm not super hype about paying money to go to events to hear people talk about how my existence is sick and wrong. I feel like a lot of other trans people, especially, on the left, feel similarly. And when you consider that a lot of times, people think "winning a debate" just means "how charismatic/loud are you" and not "are your points actually right", this doesn't seem like an event where anyone besides Blaire White and her ilk will gain anything. (Especially since the club hosting the event is notoriously transphobic and antisemitic. Yikes.)

And as somebody who is non-binary, I am also appalled by this. This is only going to help line Meyer and White's pockets and give them more "credibility". I mean, Contra even said on her Twitter that she "sucks at talking to other leftists", which is flagrant bullshit when her solution is to talk to awful right wingers. That she's now being defended by the same crowd she purports to be against, including Shoe On Head and Laci Green, kind of tells me her audience is skewing towards those right wingers she's supposedly against. The alt righters love her now and they mock all of her critics. This isn't a problem with "The Left", it's a problem with Contra. She's gladly throwing other trans people under the bus to "debate" or "discuss" with these people and doesn't care that it's hurting us.

I don't usually go on Twitter but I did look at the chain following Contra's tweet to try and learn more. One person had a screenshot a conversation from this group's Facebook. Ugh, it's really bad. I don't hate Conservatives or Right Wingers as a whole but these guys are quite a bit beyond Cenre-right. Plus I didn't know the money was going to these shitlords at all. I thought Contra was a speaker and was getting the money from those tickets.

So this is pretty bad. I wish she'd stop but I guess... I dunno.

Let's keep in mind this is just the next part of what's been a pattern for her. First was the brunch with Skeptic and Shoe, then was the Singel interview, and now it's this. The time to excuse her behavior is past. My biggest worry right now is that Contra is going to go the way of Laci Green and pander to the alt right crowd. I'm already noticing she's picking up a following from them.

I couldn't care less about her hanging out with Skeptic or sh0e. Many people who are avowed liberals, feminists and or left-leaning talk to them and they talk back. sh0e was a frequent commenter on Left videos like Milo Stewart's, a transgender kid who got all sorts of shit but sh0e treated him nicely enough in the comment section, whether it was laughing at all the people who still come just to Dislike his videos or to ask polite questions to Milo.

I don't think Contra will go Laci Green route but if she does...that sucks but so be it.

edited 28th Nov '17 9:50:59 PM by Nikkolas

And that excuses how in the past both of them have consistently made transphobic and sexist comments or are still pals with extremely sexist and transphobic people? They may not be as shit as fuckers like Sargon but they're still allied with some people from that crowd. It's just like how Thunderfoot is slightly less of a shit than Sargon, that doesn't excuse how he's still a sexist idiot. Shoe is one of the people the alt right uses to pretend they aren't awful by propping her up as the token girl antifeminist, and Skeptic is just an outright idiot. He wouldn't even watch Hbomerguy's video criticizing him because it was apparently "too long" or some stupid bullshit.

Did he honestly pull a Sargon?

Don't see how that's surprising. This is the same guy who rattled off transphobic "only two genders" bullshit in his videos without providing any sources. Dude is an idiot and so is Shoe. I don't care if they're palling around with liberals, unless they actually do change their views then it's bullshit.

They're intellectually lazy is the worst I'd say of them. That doesn't make all their stupid shit go away but I don't believe they are malicious. That matters in my moral framework.

If anybody in "that" side of You Tube could be convinced to be a good person, it's probably sh0e. That's all I'm saying. Calling her a transphobic piece of shit and telling her to fuck off to her Nazi pals won't accomplish anything.

edited 28th Nov '17 10:05:45 PM by Nikkolas