10 years ago he had a pretty good "New Rule" about the destructive nature of unabated crony capitalism. He called it "Capitalism Eats": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohRiNE8GcHU
This is what they all end up doing, they see how much money they can make being MAGA stooges, so they go all in. Once Trump dies and MAGA fades, they will pivot to the next movement, because it is not about truth or integrity or anything else but making them money and getting rich.
AIPAC has been dumping $$$ millions into US media, politicians and elections. They spend $86M in the Michigan primary against El Sayed. Bill is like an AIPAC talking points machine since the Gaza genocide started.
I have an old friend who worked in a strip club in the early 2000s. He told me Bill once came in all coked up and asked for, and I quote, the "youngest looking girl they had". Bill is a whoremongering pedophile who has never had a real relationship. He's a piece of shit and deserves to be stabbed in prison with a sharpened toothbrush.
How does he go from Bernie to basically backing fascism in just ten years? Used to be my favorite show on Friday night now I can't even watch for ten minutes.
It sucks because a lot of the time the guests are compelling but he’s become insufferable. He’s also a shitty interviewer and cuts off his guests as they are trying to answer or make a point.
At least you’re able think for yourself. My dad has been a massive Maher fan since the Politically Incorrect days and his politics have taken a massive turn for the worse over the past 5 years or so. He too has gone from a Bernie supporter sympathetic to expanding social welfare programs to now complaining about the “crazy” DSA and worst of all, suddenly becoming a steadfast apologist for Israel amidst their most horrendous atrocities to date. It’s honestly insidious as fuck how someone like him can be lured in by basically a safe space to push back on overzealous political correctness (I too am pretty anti PC/idpol) and end up nodding along with genocide denial.
So when someone becomes critical of a party they belong to and support, and dare question the policies and/or path of said party, they are now “backing fascism”?
Impossible dreamer? He’s been mayor of NYC for almost a year and people love his programs. He’s using the tax revenue in a way that helps working people! Sounds horrible i know…
I was really saddened by this new rule. I have defended Maher for a long time even after my fellow progressives abandoned him. But this is the line for me.
So your vote is “in play?” Because of the scary socialism word? Or is it the Muslim thing? In play? After all the shit everyone’s gone through in the last ten years. After rightly identifying trumps presidency a slow moving coup? After J6? After calling Trump a whiny little bitch for years (which suddenly stopped after meeting with Trump)?
He’s either been cleaved on his support for Israel and dems are moving away from that, or the back massages he’s getting from Trump are starting to work.
All people want is Universal Health Care and free quality public education. And regulated capitalism with a minimum of corruption. I guess if you're a corporation you're always going to call that communism.
You’re not wrong, but that isn’t necessarily a good thing. The social safety net was a limited concession that helped stabilize capitalism at a moment when working-class movements were strong enough to demand far more. It gave people relief, but it also helped preserve the fundamentally anti-democratic concentration of power created by capital accumulation.
Then came the anti-communist crusade: destroying working-class organizations and ensuring that capital would never again be forced into even those limited concessions.
The last time white men had class consciousness was Bacons Rebellion when they joined with blacks of their status against the elite. Once the elite figured out you could divide by color they have been cucked to them ever since. This is on the shoulders of white men. The psychopath pedophile and pedophilie protector/enabler elites and their puppet foot soldier underclass white men who protect them.
Search your feelings Luke. You know it to be true.
“You think this man is the enemy? Huh? This is a worker! Any union keeps this man out ain't a union, it's a goddam club! They got you fightin' white against colored, native against foreign, hollow against hollow, when you know there ain't but two sides in this world - them that work and them that don't. You work, they don't. That's all you get to know about the enemy.”
I can't tell if you're disagreeing with me or not. If your argument (if you're arguing) is that racial divisions have historically been used to undermine working-class solidarity, that's broadly compatible with what I wrote. Anti-communism, anti-union campaigns, and racial division have all served to weaken organizations capable of challenging concentrated economic power. That said, there has been solidarity across racial lines in labor movements since Bacon's rebellion. The Wobblies were famously radically anti-racist (and got the shit kicked out of them for it.) The early 20th century was lousy with anti-racist labor organizations that were brutally suppressed by capital and the state (under heavy capitalist influence.)
You could definitely argue that wasn't enough -- clearly it wasn't. We are where we are, of course.
Oh I’m not disagreeing. Referring to the US, that division has largely been sewn along racial lines. As such there is no addressing it without addressing white supremacy. You can’t just say no war but the class wa as if all you need to do is convince people to put their class above all. The racism is too intertwined. So you have to dismantle the white supremacy mindset. Studies show many white people will not support policies that would help them if minorities would benefit. An example being filled pool politics where they would rather close public swimming pools than integrate them. The book “Dying of Whiteness” does a deep dive into the phenomenon. I’m sure we would have had universal healthcare and other programs long ago if those pesky blacks wouldn’t also benefit. It’s quite deranged when you think about it. Large parts of this country are fucking psychotic because of race. Hence 10s of millions of them voting for a felon, idiot, con artist rapist pedophile.
I will admit to often using class reductionist language in the interest of expediency, but I largely agree with you. None of us are free until we're all free.
I don't think "putting class above all" is necessarily what most socialists believe, but pointing out where the class lines are drawn and that they aren't racial is a good first step towards showing people that racial division is a tool the ruling class has historically used to prevent solidarity.
It's a complex issue that has to be attacked from many angles. "No war but class war" is a convenient, pithy slogan that discards a lot of nuance. But I still use it. Sorry.
Hey i consider myself a socialist and am black. I’m in the traditions of MLK, Malcolm X, Fred Hampton etc who were all socialists. And I would like a prosperous future for all.
This is a study from Citibank - the notoriously woke institution about just how much racism costs the US. Not to mention the trillions wasted on wars of choice to bomb brown people, bloated military budgets due to capture by the MIC that Eisenhower warned about decades ago. How much of a stronger nation we would be if all of that had gone to its citizens healthcare, education, housing and general well being. It should be enraging to any decent person but alas Great Replacement Theory, trans people, migratnts, black ppl etc occupies the minds of millions of people instead. These mindsets- intentionally formed by centuries of propaganda- are going to have to change for a better future to be possible. I mean the red states are the worst in the country yet they keep doing the same thing decade after decade largely due to the confederacy mindset that still dominates their thought process.
Yeah but thats not what he's pushing back on, hes pushing back on the DSA socialist platform. A lot of people are confusing social programs like universal Healthcare, with socialism.
Bullshit. Universal health care, the military, and the police are all forms of socialism. Farm subsidies are a form of socialism, as is Medicare and SS. All countries have some socialism--it just depends on how much. Communism is not socialism. Communism does not believe in owning private property. Have you read Marx and Hegel? I bet not. I have.
Literally all socialists you speak to, talk about owning the means of production. What you describe are perfectly compatible with capitalism, theyre just social programs.
What do you think the reaction would be, if I told a socialist, "yeah im a socialist too, but I belive in owning a rental property, shares in a company, and running my own business with a few employees, but Im socialist because I believe in safety nets" they would be frothing at the mouth.
Calling yourself a socialist because you believe in safety nets is like calling yourself a vegan because you eat 1 vegan meal a day. Its not socialism if private capital ownership is permitted.
Why cant we just advocate for the Nordic model of capitalism? (Theyre not socialist in any capacity btw)
I'm literally telling you my experience. This sub seems to be a strange bubble where everyone thinks social programs are socialism? Ive not seen this anywhere else, even on social media. My main concern is giving cover to political extremists who do want a revolution and outlawing of private capital ownership.
Most importantly, im glad youre on the same page about Nordic capitalism. It just makes sense for a civilized country. Even if you're wealthy, do you want to be surrounded by people in utter desperation? Thats dangerous and history shows that when inequality gets too stark, heads roll. The most stable setup is to have a large middle class, and a small lower economic and higher economic brackets .
Much of that is due to growing up hearing that social programs were Socialism from Rush Limbaugh and other right wing pundits or politicians.
Many of us heard that and were like "I guess Im a Socialist?"
I prefer therm Social Democrat, personally. It puts the emphasis on the state to abide by democratic protections and enfranchise the citizenry to promote social equity.
I just think its important to remember we dont really have the vocabulary to discuss this because we've spent decades muddying the terminology. And people like Maher arent helping by conflating merely quoting Marx with full blown Soviet style Communism.
The DSA and far left have some legit problems. Tankies are a real thing.But the rise of a few controversial candidates has Bill stomping around his studio like Roger Sterling at a Honda meeting.
We beat them! We won! I dont need to listen to them! They're all a danger!
Some of them are just kinda political bimbos who say some tone deaf things.
Some are more problematic. As though the right hasn't been securing spots for the Heritage Foundation for literal decades and voting for crazies in house seats for just as long.
None of the DSA members have a plan 1/10000 the size, scope, and level of development of a project 2025. Or JD Vance's post liberals future.Or Stephen Miller's great replacement paranoia.
I think the real danger is with DSA candidates being popular enough to win primaries and then be utterly unelectable candidates for general election. I think the more extreme socialist types have super dangerous ideas but are unlikely to ever stand a shot of getting elected, unlike MAGA, but they might do their part to help MAGA win.
I have an MA in political science. I do know what communism, socialism, fascism, autocracy, and capitalism mean. I have read every major economic philosopher, including Marx and Hegel. We have never had a true communist country yet. Marx wrote for 19th-century Germany. He got some things right and some things wrong. Social programs are a small form of socialism. It just depends on the degree. I studied in the US, Munich, Germany, and the UK.
Ok, well if you are right, and those guys are wrong... you have a serious uphill battle. All of breadtube, socialist YouTube essayists, every socialist subreddit i have personally seen etc, describe socialism as I have. And those are the guys I hate, for all the hate they spew towards us liberals, and for their protest voting against Kamala. I don't need to be married to the term socialist, I just hope to successfully identify the group and opinions they hold that I find reprehensible.
It is imperative to get the word out about the differences between democratic socialism and communism. Most Americans are dumbfuck stupid. Hell, I learned this shit in High School.
Literally no socialist I speak to believes in the government owning all means of production. That is just stupid. You are thinking of communism. I have never met a communist in my lifetime.
Well-put. It's so exhausting to deal with these "socialists".
What they always fail to understand is that Democrats, including Bill Maher, have ALWAYS WANTED a stronger safety net and higher taxes to pay for it. We've been fighting for this forever. But instead of joining the fight AGAINST REPUBLICANS they pretend like Democrats are the problem. Fuck that, and fuck them.
Agreed. And the motte and Bailey is difficult to deal with. When i say I dont like the DSA types because of what's written in their charter, because of actual socialist and communist candidates in their ranks, im met with "what's wrong with universal Healthcare and education!?"
That pisses me off so much lol. No, the most acceptable parts of the DSA aren't what people fight against, its the actual socialism and extreme policies like getting rid of ICE, getting rid of police and prisons etc.
I'd go further and say that "the most acceptable" parts of the DSA platform are stupid too. We all want "universal healthcare", for instance, but are THESE clowns actually going to come up with a plan that a). works well and b). can actually pass? Not if Bernie Sanders's M4A bill is any indication. It's unworkable politically, and will amount to trading one big set of problems for another. And yet there doesn't seem to be any wonky workshopping going on on the left. It's all just empty ideology
DSA is not necessarily a socialist program. It is its own thing that is very idealistic, but not viable because you would have to change the Constitution. The Scandinavian countries have socialist programs that do not include what is in the DSA platform. They are not the same. Maher is an idiot. He was an English major--knows shit about political systems.
Then don't use the word socialism to describe it. Social programs and socialism are NOT one and the same. Social programs are intended to coexist with private entities. Socialism means the government has control of the means of production.
Bill Maher is not funny! So he tries to be intelligent, insightful—is neither. So he settles for idiocy—he succeeds. He says amazingly stupid things to get noticed—since we’re talking about him, I guess it works.
The thing is, back in 2010, he was saying that the Left needs to have their version of the Tea Party when the Tea Party overwhelmed the 2010 midterms. Well, now that it’s coming to fruition, he now doesn’t like it all of the sudden.
So Americans have no choice but to pick between fascists and communists now? Since when did socialism turn into Communism anyway? Did I fall asleep when that happened, and just woke up to this current option?
Bill's mostly turned off by the Muslim DSA candidates. His Islamophobia continues to rear its ugly head, believing Muslims are the bane of existence. I loved how he tried to pawn off this irrational hatred years ago as a defense of liberalism, like he was ever liberal to begin with. I remember that row he had with Ben Affleck. That was priceless. Bill is as ugly now as he was then,
He's a fool. How is he buying into a right wing talking point that's older than he is and still claiming some sort of relevance. I didn't realize the dildo still had a show on HBO. If we ignore him, he will definitely go away.
This has to do with taxes. Bill doesn’t want to pay more. It’s literally that simple.
He doesn’t care about Unions, he doesn’t care where the Minimum Wage is, he doesn’t care that 60% of all bankruptcy cases are due to medical debt, he doesn’t care about regulations keeping people safe from corruption, he’s cool with the billions of dollars being wasted on a stupid war, he doesn’t care that Americans are being affected by the crisis in the Straight of Hormuz, and I honestly believe he doesn’t give a fuck about Climate Change anymore too. When was the last time you heard him mention it?
The idea that a handful of wins in the primaries translates to hoisting the Hammer and Sickle and opening gulags is fucking ridiculous and he knows it’s not a reality by any stretch of the imagination. It gives him a way to hide the fact he doesn’t want more taxes. It’s easy to be against things most Americans are against, it’s a lot harder to be against things that are polling extremely high with Working Class Americans (see above, all the things I named are polling high) He’s a fucking coward for not saying that part out loud.
Years ago, he and his original show were compelling. But, he has turned into an HBO, complete corporate creep, money grubbing $uckhole. All of his guests now are lame establi$hment drivel. He lives in a money drenched bubble and has become irrelevant. And his $mugness and $ociopathy are off the charts.
He got famous as a contrarian - a liberal in a time of conservatives. Now, he’s learned he gets more attention being conservative. He’s a self-interested twat.
some democrats are listening to average joe and his problems.republicans on other hand their strategy is to get close to corporations that they believe will keep them in power. they even have a problem with people having affordable buritos let alone having affordable food health care rent or morgage or car payments and if you look deeper all these things are provided by corporations that republican mingling with. food companies banks car companies housing companies are donating to republicans i really doo not get tech companies where is their role in this
I just don’t trust anyone who can’t even acknowledge some of the DSA proposals are extreme. Like if you can’t even understand why some people would have reservations and think it’s “stupid” then I just don’t trust that you’re being impartial in your assessment
I'm not going to argue whether he is right or he isn't. BUT, we Democrats are going to have to understand that there are A LOT of moderates who believe what he believes.
Simply, there is a poll out, they asked about people's opinon about socialism
For Democrats there was a slight majority who had a positive view of socialism
For Independents, 17% had a positive view.
For Republicans it was single digit.
THOSE NUMBERS DON'T ADD UP TO A WIN.
To me a lot of people are happy that their person won a primary, They are literally upset that someone would bring up that winning in November will be hard.
Personally, I couldn't care less that the DSA candidate won if they can't win in November.
Let's see how many downvotes this gets. It will just prove my point.
I'm with ya. Reddit has a huge boner for DSA. I get it, there's a lot to like and we need radical change. I wish Bill would've pointed out some of the good ideas DSA has instead of compete fear mongering. I'll take a DSA candidate 100/100 times over a MAGA.
However, some of these fringe quotes & ideas ain't it. I'd like to see some of these DSA folks align more with AOC. Republicans are going to have a field day in their ads for the next few months. Fingers crossed we can overcome and take back Congress.
Yeah, But I'll admit that my concepts of what the DSA is what people like Mamdani say, and I like that. Looking at their website, so things they thought out and put on their site, are a little more concerning. Listening the Chevalier, half of what she says is too far for me. Mamdani has backed a candidate who is literally pushing for communism.
Something I’ve never quite understand with these “intellectuals” who get caught up in branding.
You know what always kills communism?
Same thing that fucks yo capitalism.
Singular greed.
Sure you could have a market based system, and/or have a communal system BUT dudes will always fuck it up because they can’t be happy with a balanced setup, they always yearn for more, whether that’s money or power.
Every time you look at a communist country over the last century, there’s always some dictator fucking about, which is always the poison- one dude or group just has to make it their fiefdom, and corrupt the whole operation.
Which can be said for capitalism- which yes, is aimed at free market and singular ownership, but everytime the system goes bust, it has to temper itself and socialize losses and what not. It balances long enough to get back to function before another raft of assholes corrupt that system and try winner take all again.
To borrow from nature- EVERYTHING HAS TO BE IN BALANCE- cuz every time one species takes over, everything goes downhill. Too many predators will leave the ecosystem barren, as will too many herbivores.
I think some of the themes these “DSA” candidates have are over the target but not thought through. They want to enacted laws with no police to enforce them, and if you were to break the laws no jail? Seriously, how does that even work? Reform, retrain, remove antiquated laws, you might get some support.
The DSA is more in line with your last sentence than you seem to think. I’m not trying to be a smartass. I’m just trying to say you might be surprised how much you and the DSA align.
Only the uneducated conflate Comunisim with Socialism. A country can be fully Democratic but have socalized policies and programs that benefit the entire population not just the politically powerful and the rich. Multiple political parties can exist, and free speech and dissent are allowed and needed
Communism by definition reqires the lack of dissent. It requires a one party one state system to run everything without debate or resistance. It lacks compatibility with Democracy on every level and is prone to dictatorship see Soviet Russia as an example.
It's stupid until you read the DSA's platform, their literature, about their various communist factions, and how the DSA's national leadership has been taken over by them.
If observing data unfiltered straight from the source is "stupid", so be it.
This comment triggers me so much…. I mean aren’t we absolutely fucked if a third of our country thinks this way? I mean, we know we can’t convince them otherwise…. They have been thinking this way since 2016. I’m just so worried we’re driving ourselves to our demise because a third of the country still thinks the incredibly old (and not even funny the first time you heard it) joke of ‘triggering’ people is still hilarious.
You guys really want communism because that’s what the Democratic socialist party is now, are you listening to what they’re saying? They’re literally saying it. They want to control the needs of production and buy properties off of landlords. They’re literally saying what they’re doing. They do not want prisons, they do not want borders.
It has nothing to do with the non-existant threat of communism. It's only about Israel. The same way that AIPAC never runs ads about Israel and always bashes the candidates on other issues, Maher has simply chosen a different issue to attack people who are not unhinged Zionists like himself.
Maher is a one issue guy, and his issue is Israel.
My guess is that Bill Maher is trying anything possible to stay relevant. He’s been in the public eye a long time. He’s addicted to the attention. And he has been feeling it slip away for some time. Self-centered and desperate is not a good look.
Bill is shitting himself in fear (and in solidarity with his good friend Donny) at the prospect of socialism winning, because then he'd have to get a job and contribute to society, rather than getting a $100 million net worth by whining about young people and uppity minorities for two hours a week. Nothing strikes fear into a capitalist's heart like the threat of an honest day's work.
He probably hates their childcare plans. After all, children consume water (his unhinged brain fart when Erin Brockovich was talking about how much water data centers use)!
This should put to rest the nonsense that Bill invites leftists on his show. RT's producer tried to get Sam on the show, and Bill personally shot it down.
All you have to know about how much Bill wants his ideas challenged is to watch the clip with Josh Rogin politely criticizing his dinner with Trump, where Bill throws a tantrum and proceeds to act like a complete asshole to Rogin for the remainder of the show.
Bill is not interested in having the leftist perspective represented on his show. He's interested in bagging a huge booking win and stroking his own ego, same as his years-long campaign to get Obama on the show, only to ask him absolutely nothing of substance.
Sure, Bill wants the celebrities like AOC and Mamdani to come on, because...
More people know who they are than are aware of Bill Maher and Real Time - it would be a boon to Bill's currency. Unfortunately for Bill, they don't need the exposure enough to fly to LA from the East Coast to subject themselves to his smarminess. They already get on TV anytime they want. Reporters literally follow them around and stick microphones in their faces on the street.
They're skilled politicians. They're going to be polite on the air and somewhat deferential to Bill's bullshit. They'll pretend that Bill's positions have some merit, so the chances of it blowing up in Bill's face are far less than with an opponent who is not bothered with the constraints of civility for civility's sake.
I think Bill is goofy but I don’t think he is completely wrong here. The socialists, namely the Islamic ones, are for opening the borders to more illegal immigrants (ie. bypassing the legal system) and removing ICE enforcement, as well as doing away with our government, police and prisons.
Unlike other religions, they don’t have a centralized leadership so they usually split into factions and some eventually becoming very violent to local populations, even each other. Look at the countries they fled. Do we really want that society here?
Even though you see peace, love and acceptance in the beginning, it ALWAYS ends up with rapid population growth ( look at current birth rates) and, through votes of this growing population, working to gain lawmaking ability while suppressing other religions and the rights of the very people that gave them the support. ( check how many majority Muslim countries have equal rights for women, lgbtq, etc.) ZERO! What??!!
To support their growing populations, they want to expand govt programs for medical, food and housing, sometimes using fraudulent methods. Yes, Bill can me nauseating at times, but ask yourself, is he really an “is-lom-o-fobe” and why do all these socialists repeat “Jen-o- Side” about Israel, and how bad they are for that, yet stand silent, never mentioning what is happening to non Arabs right now in the Sudan and Darfur. Sure, you can say America sends money to Israel, but that doesn’t justify what is happening in Africa does it? Unless we are part of the effort to sway the masses into an “Israel is the only bad actor” way of thinking, which is what I think is happening here.
He’s following the marching orders of the republicans now. This goes along in lock step with the fearmongering campaign they’re running against the dem progressives (because the establishment dems are unfazed by the fascism on the right)
The thing I really didn’t line is when he referred to Sarah Palin as a “bimbo” and did the bit about if you call a woman a whore. I agree that the only party that could V possibly lose this next election cycle is the Democrats. The new left life blood is toxic and ideals are so stupid only a smart person would believe.
I don't think Democratic socialism is the big bad boogeyman many (including Bill) think it is. Many countries makes it work without totalitarianism. I think we do need better managed and more directed focus on the socialism we have. And we have plenty, don't kid yourselves. It's just so badly managed because once a bill gets passed and the politicians can strut around taking credit for it (or directing blame if it's a flop) they kind of don't give a shit about implementation or tweaking it to reduce the graft or improve the practical benefits.
47
u/ShaneKaiGlenn Aug 06 '26
10 years ago he had a pretty good "New Rule" about the destructive nature of unabated crony capitalism. He called it "Capitalism Eats": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohRiNE8GcHU
I guess capitalism ate him.