Hit the influencers where you meet them - capitalize on left-wing activism using the example of Rezo

We are fed up with left-wing politics being increasingly sold as a lifestyle as fascists come to power.

As the clearest example of this, we take the belly-left influencer Rezo, real name Yannick Frickenschmidt from Aachen.

Rezo presents himself as a progressive, anti-fascist, environmentally conscious and socially left-wing influencer. Millions of people follow him because they believe in exactly this political self-image. At the same time, he earns millions by selling products and consumer worlds that are difficult to reconcile with a consistent left-wing criticism of capitalism and consumerism: fast fashion, costume jewelry, instant ramen and all sorts of other lifestyle products are marketed to an audience that likes to see itself as politically conscious.

The problem is not that an influencer makes money.

The problem is how the money is made. While Antifas are exposed to repression and state violence and left-wing mailorders are fighting for survival, influencers are selling their “antifascism” from their villas.

When left-wing symbolism, anti-fascism, sustainability and progressive language are used to persuade people to consume, political stance becomes a commodity. Then “left” becomes a target group and political conviction becomes a marketing strategy.

This production becomes particularly grotesque when, for example, Rezo sits in front of the pool in his villa and advertises an expensive polyester shirt with the inscription “161”. Antifascist symbolism becomes a consumable aesthetic, presented from a world that itself represents massive material prosperity.

This is not a contradiction that can be brushed aside with a casual “everyone can be rich.”

Of course a person can be rich. But who at the same time has the slogan? “Eat the Rich” used and addresses capitalism as a social problem, while he himself earns millions by marketing a left-wing and progressive image, the question must be asked as to how much of this criticism of capitalism is actually political conviction - and how much of it has simply become part of his own brand.

In a video about rapper Macklemore, Rezo used Al Jazeera as a source. Al Jazeera is a Qatari propaganda channel whose political reporting has been criticized for years for anti-Semitic, anti-queer and nationalist portrayals. Especially from a decidedly left-wing perspective, this is not just some trivial detail.

If an influencer with an audience of millions uses such a station as a source without making their political affiliation and the associated problems clear, this station gets something extremely valuable: reach. 

This is particularly contradictory for us when the same person otherwise argues with anti-fascism, human rights and social solidarity. Anti-Semitism and anti-queer sentiment do not disappear because a source occasionally confirms one's own political position. And nationalism does not become progressive by incorporating the relevant information into a left-wing narrative.

We therefore expect more from people with an audience of millions than just selecting sources that fit their own argument.

And Rezo isn't the only one:

We are also seeing a development among influencers like Shurjoka, Aljoscha and others in which political identity and consumption are increasingly merging. The individual people and their content are not identical and should not be equated across the board. But the business model behind it is part of the same development:

You wear the right symbols, buy the right products, follow the right accounts, use the right terms and therefore feel politically engaged.

That's exactly what we mean by belly left. 

A left that primarily defines itself through its consumer behavior remains on the surface. She believes that social conditions can be changed by buying the “right” toothbrush, the “right” T-shirt, the “right” jewelry or the “right” food.

But capitalism doesn't disappear because there's an anti-fascist slogan on a polyester shirt.

Exploitation does not end because a product is marketed as “conscious” or “progressive.”

Consumption is not activism!

And activism isn't about spending as much money as possible on products that make you feel like a good person.

On the contrary: the idea that social problems can be solved primarily by transferring money to the “right” companies is itself a deeply consumerist idea of ​​politics.

Politics does not mean optimizing the shopping cart.

Politics means talking about property, power, labor relations, social inequality, exploitation and social structures. It means organizing, solidarity and collective action - not just individual purchasing decisions.

That's why we're bothered by the idea that someone can simultaneously live a luxurious life, make millions on lifestyle products, and use "Eat the Rich" as part of their public brand without allowing this tension to be discussed.

We don't want a left that simply decorates capitalism with progressive aesthetics.

We don't want a left that sells solidarity as a consumer product.

And we don't want a left that derives its political credibility from having as many of the right products as possible.

Left-wing politics must not be a lifestyle label.

Because as soon as “left” primarily means buying the right products, following the right influencers and using the right political slogans, capitalism has long since won – it has turned criticism of itself into a business model.

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