Claiming Jimmy Dore is right-wing is misunderstanding his message.
No matter what one thinks about Jimmy Dore this is an inaccurate critique.
Full Disclosure, I am a big fan of Jimmy Dore and have been for a long time. While I do not agree with everything he has ever said I think for the most part he is an important voice for holding politicians accountable, questioning mainstream media narratives, and supporting grassroots activism and alternatives to the two-party system. Over the last year, Dore has critiqued many elements that could be described as the “professional left” which include elected progressives and more mainstream media adjacent progressive media outlets such as The Intercept. This has caused him to be a very controversial figure within the left and has caused many to harshly criticize him. One of the main critiques of Dore is that he supposedly moved right and is “leaving the left”. This critique in my view is inaccurate and I will demonstrate that within this article.
Jimmy is not “leaving the left”
Many of Dore’s critics compare him to other political figures like Dave Rubin or Tim Pool who claim they were once part of the left but have now moved away. Those who make this critique are showing a fundamental misunderstanding of politics. Dave Rubin is someone who claims to be a liberal but uncritically platforms only conservatives and even some alt-right figures such as Stefan Molyneux. He argues he was once part of the left but is no longer as they went too extreme or as he calls it “regressive”. He is a supporter of free-market capitalism, a staunch defender of Israel, and staunchly anti-immigration. He opposes socialism and claims the left and democratic parties have gone too extreme. Tim pool offers a similar critique he is anti-socialist and claims the left has gone too extreme and too pro socialism. Dore on the other hand offers the exact opposite critique. He critiques elected progressives because they do not fight harder for left-wing policies that pool and Rubin oppose such as Medicare for All, A living wage, a Green New Deal, and ending the wars. He goes after established progressive outlets such as The Young Turks or The Intercept because said outlets oppose pressure campaigns in favor of progressive policy such as force the vote and because they often parrot the state department narratives on issues such as Julian Assange, Russiagate, and Syria. Simply put he opposes these factions of the left because they are not far left enough and attacks them from the left. Pool and Rubin attack the left from a right-wing perspective and claim they are too radical while Dore critiques because they are not radical enough. Claiming Dore’s critiques make him right-wing would be akin to calling right-wingers who say the Republicans are weak leftists.
On free speech
The other reason Dore’s critics are claiming he is moving to the right is the fact that he critiques elements of the left that are pushing for censorship. But again Jimmy is critiquing elements of the left from the left. Jimmy always makes sure to add that being pro-censorship is a neo-liberal position or as he calls it “shit-lib”. His argument against censorship is that it will end up coming back and hurting the left. He has consistently stood up for those on the left who face censorship such as Jacobin, Lee Camp, Micheal Moore, Anya Parampil, and many others. Again this is the polar opposite to right-wingers who claim censorship is only targeting conservatives and only speak out when right-wingers are censored. Jimmy Dore takes the same position as Noam Chomsky on free speech who famously said “Goebbels was in favor of free speech for views he liked. So was Stalin. If you’re really in favor of free speech, then you’re in favor of freedom of speech for precisely the views you despise. Otherwise, you’re not in favor of free speech.”
Final thoughts
There is no way anyone in good faith could claim Jimmy Dore is right-wing. He is staunchly in favor of progressive policies such as Medicare for all and critiques elected progressives for not fighting for said policies. He is staunchly anti-imperialist and opposed to the U.S. security state and goes after those that parrot their narrative. He focuses his critique on elements of the left who do this because he believes a wolf in sheep clothing is more dangerous than an open enemy. He has a principled view of free speech and defends those on the left and right who face censorship. This is the polar opposite of figures like Dave Rubin or Tim Pool who oppose progressive policies, claim the democrats are too far left, and only defend the right-wing on free speech. Those making the argument that Jimmy Dore has moved right know it is a smear and inaccurate which goes to show they do not have a rebuttal to what he is saying. They cannot refute his points so they go to smearing. This goes to show there is probably something to what he says.
Dore has moved to the right over social health measures aimed at eradicating a deadly epidemic and has openly stated he seeks an impossible left-right unity with forces bent on violent insurrection.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/01/29/dore-j29.html
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