attention to revolution

A YouTube star who went viral as a toddler talks about the resentment she feels toward her parents, who told her she had to keep making videos so they could maintain their lifestyle. Influencer parents and the kids who had their childhood made into content.

Claire, whose name has been changed to protect her privacy, has never known a life that doesn’t include a camera being pointed in her direction. The first time she went viral, she was a toddler. When the family’s channel started to rake in the views, Claire says both her parents left their jobs because the revenue from the YouTube channel was enough to support the family and to land them a nicer house and new car. “That’s not fair that I have to support everyone,” she said. “I try not to be resentful but I kind of [am].” Once, she told her dad she didn’t want to do YouTube videos anymore and he told her they would have to move out of their house and her parents would have to go back to work, leaving no money for “nice things.”

When the family is together, the YouTube channel is what they talk about. Claire says her father has told her he may be her father, but he’s also her boss. “It’s a lot of pressure,” she said. When Claire turns 18 and can move out on her own, she’s considering going no-contact with her parents. Once she doesn’t live with them anymore, she plans to speak out publicly about being the star of a YouTube channel. She’ll even use her real name. Claire wants people to know how her childhood was overshadowed by social media stardom that she didn’t choose. And she wants her parents to know: “nothing they do now is going to take back the years of work I had to put in.”

Greta Thunberg, Global Warming, and the Legacy of Prophecy by Rabbi Jill Hammer

… the most primary function of a prophet or prophetess is to correct the moral failings of the people, and particularly of the powerful. The prophet Nathan criticizes King David for having a man killed so that David may safely marry his wife (II Samuel 12), and the prophet Elijah accuses King Ahab and Queen Jezebel of having a man named Naboth killed so that they can possess his vineyard (I Kings 21). The prophet Isaiah accuses the people of fasting and praying while oppressing their workers (Isaiah 58). The prophetess Huldah critiques the religious practices of her day and expects humility from the king who has sent men to see her (II Chronicles 34). So it is not only those who see the future who are given the title prophet, but those who truly see the present. In this sense, all workers for justice and societal change are prophets and prophetesses.

A practical guide to revolution by Andrewism (34:40): We need a social revolution to build a better future. But how is that process carried out? What tactics and strategies are needed to fundamentally transform the socioeconomic and political order? How do we combine a range of acts of confrontation, noncooperation, and prefiguration to reshape our world? Let's find out.

Introduction - 0:00 Affinity Groups - 4:22 Oppose (Confrontation) - 6:08 Oppose (Noncooperation) - 14:59 Propose (Prefiguration) - 19:45 Conclusion - 30:16 Outro - 33:54