alt Hacker News> the modern equivalent of a wallet with the silk screened face of Che Guevara on it
Sure. And I'd argue someone with that wallet is more likely to be knowledgeable about various elements of American and Latin American sociopolitical history than someone who doesn't. Even if just from reactions they get to it.
> It only serves to boost a domesticated leftist rethoric
In the short run. In the long run it breeds healthy scepticism among the intelligent. (It probably also radicalises some idiots. But I don't really have a systemic solution to stupid people.)
The separation of the left into an intellectual elite and a mass following is largely part of the domestication effect I was talking about.
The mere suggestion of a caste of "the intelligent leftist" is a cultural grenade designed to separate worker unions and create intrigue. I don't buy it. I believe intelligence does not come in a caste system and anyone can achieve it. The left _as a whole_ was domesticated.
I consider myself more of an ombudsman of the left rethoric than an "intelligent". My observations are very simple and very direct. I could explain it without the wallet metaphor (dude, you totally hand-picked that! It's hilarious).