Yeah that makes a lot of sense and I’m mainly asking this question and discussing in this comment section to try fix this exact blindspot you mention (at least somewhat) and I also get to practice my english which is a bonus.

A terrifying amount of people are just allergic to books or doing any analysis on anything deemed bad by the liberal system.

The risks you list make sense but when I say materially tied to the empire I’m talking more along the lines of the imperial core is a majority labor aristocracy who enjoy their treats which are propped up by the super exploitation of the global south. I believe the online ML term is treatlerites.

While the fact it’s systemic is in my opinion self evident, different people of different backgrounds, especially those more intimately in contact with said system I believe might have new/interesting/unique interpretations for how these superstructures interact in this particular case of the “leftist” (白左）and how exactly it feeds back into itself. As I said my exposure to liberals is basically entirely online thanks to my location so I’m not as intimately familiar with them and how exactly they interact with the empires systems as someone who grew up alongside them. On that point the second part of your comment is exactly what I mean.

That makes sense I especially like the callback to the hippie movement I feel that’s a good parallel of the modern vibes based “leftist”. However at the same time I wonder about the role of systemic forces such as the fact that liberalism is the dominant ideology in the empire which the “leftists” are materially tied to which leads them to only engaging with any politics outside of the liberal “common sense” in an aesthetic capacity as any real engagement would have real material consequences.

However unfortunate tho typical it may be that most of the rest of the internet is generally only home to different flavors of “anarchist” .

I look forward to interacting with the real deal!

Very insightful thank you.

That was a very interesting read.

The idea of positive and negative cultural hegemony is very interesting. Also the contrast between the neoliberal end of history vs the communist urge to strive for more is something anyone can see. Great recommendation thank you.

Also obligatory anarchists and books mentioned in the same sentence

Thank you for the welcome

I think your points about image and moral signaling make a lot of sense.

Do you think part of this might also be structural, not just psychological? For example, their material position in the imperial core gives them a real incentive to avoid disrupting the system that benefits them. And combined with the way liberalism is taught and normalized, it almost becomes common sense, so many of these 白左 might not even fully realize the limits of their own worldview.

Could it be that their focus on image is reinforced not just by ego-protection, but by these broader systemic pressures?

I think what you’re saying makes a lot of sense, especially regarding ignorance and self-denial.

But do you think there’s also a structural cause beyond individual misunderstanding, particularly liberal hegemony in the imperial core?

For example, I recently tried having a conversation with a Polish “anarchist” who openly exalted social democracy and the “Nordic Model”, treated Poland’s rising living standards after EU integration as caused by democracy winning over authoritarianism(?), and completely rejected the idea that social democracy and his treats were made possible only through the super-exploitation of the global south. The moment AES states or NATO were mentioned, he defaulted to the usual anti-communist, NATO-aligned talking points, very typical 白左 chauvinism, despite the anarchist label.

In cases like that, it feels less like incomplete political development and more like the material position of imperial-bloc citizens setting hard limits on how far their politics can actually go.

Do you think this tendency to “cosplay” leftist identities is partly produced by those structural incentives, not just ignorance, but the fact that liberalism functions as the ideological common sense of empire?

Sorry for the wall of text.

Most of the ruling class in Europe is so embedded in the US order that any change that occurs will never be of their accord or led by them.

Agree to disagree on chicken breast, chicken thigh is what you want for chicken anything basically imo.

Yeah as I said steak is not bad I just don’t really understand why so many people seem to idolize it in the way they do. Maybe my tastebuds are too Chinese pilled for steak.

I love beef and pork skewers but to me xinjiang lamb skewers are the king of skewers.

Yeah and that’s fine I think steak is far from the worst (chicken breast) but its just put on such a pedestal by western media and social media and I just dont get it.

Even outside the chudspace a lot of westerners at least online always seem to have steak on this pedestal as this amazing food when it’s not even the best way to prepare beef which itself isn’t even the best meat.

I have never understood the obsession with steak its so incredibly boring and mediocre even when cooked perfectly. There are so many better ways to use beef, skewers, hotpot, stir fried, braised etc. and honestly pork and lamb are just better than beef anyway.

It would be so incredible if the EU and US tore each other down through their interimperialist dick measuring. Unfortunately I just dont think Europe has the balls to fight back or stand up for itslef in any meaningful way before rolling over to tongue polish US boots again.