College Student Explains Communism Between Sponsored Posts
Twenty-two-year-old Richard La has become TikTok’s most prominent Marxist influencer, accumulating three million followers through passionate videos about class struggle, wealth redistribution, and the evils of capitalismall filmed in his parents’ luxury apartment using a $1,200 iPhone and edited on a $3,000 MacBook Pro. The irony is apparently invisible to him but glaringly obvious to everyone else.
La’s content focuses on dismantling capitalist structures while simultaneously benefiting from every privilege capitalism provides. “The bourgeoisie must be destroyed,” he declared in yesterday’s video, filmed in his parents’ home theater room featuring $40,000 worth of equipment. “Workers deserve the means of production.” His father, a successful investment banker, reportedly finances Richard’s revolutionary activities while Richard courageously refuses traditional employment, calling it “participation in oppressive systems.”
The TikTok Marxist phenomenon represents what sociologists call “performative radicalism”espousing revolutionary politics while living comfortably under the system you claim to oppose. According to Britannica’s analysis of Marxism, the philosophy emphasizes material conditions and working-class solidarity, though Karl Marx presumably never anticipated revolutionaries whose primary labor involves talking to cameras while their parents pay rent.
La’s merch line includes t-shirts reading “Eat the Rich” for $45 each and “Workers Unite” hoodies priced at $80. “The high prices reflect quality and ethical production,” he explained without apparent irony. When critics noted that exploited workers probably can’t afford his merchandise, he responded that “revolution isn’t free” and encouraged followers to “invest in the movement,” apparently unaware that “investment” is a capitalist concept. Research from Stanford’s Center on Poverty and Inequality shows actual wealth disparities, but La’s solution involves expensive merchandise and vague calls for “systemic change” rather than specific policy proposals.
His videos criticize wealthy people for existing while he casually mentions skiing in Aspen, summering in the Hamptons, and studying abroad in Parisall funded by his parents’ capitalist success. “I acknowledge my privilege,” he stated in one video, as if acknowledgment absolves participation. “But I’m using my platform to amplify workers’ voices,” he continued, before amplifying exclusively his own voice for the next twelve minutes while workers presumably continued working without any tangible benefit from his solidarity.
Followers are divided between true believers and people watching ironically. “He really thinks he’s revolutionary while living off his dad’s investment income,” observed follower Grace Wanjiku. “I work three jobs to pay rent, and this guy’s explaining class struggle to me from his penthouse apartment. The audacity is almost impressive.” Other followers defend La, arguing his message matters more than his circumstances, which conveniently absolves them from acknowledging the contradiction.
La has monetized his anti-capitalist content through brand deals, sponsored posts, and TikTok’s creator fundall mechanisms of the capitalist system he claims to oppose. “I’m infiltrating capitalism from within,” he explained when questioned about accepting a $10,000 sponsorship from a luxury watch company. “By taking their money, I’m redistributing wealth.” When noted that he wasn’t redistributing the money but keeping it, he called the question “reductive” and changed the subject, a strategy that works surprisingly well online.
His educational background includes private schools, an elite university with $60,000 annual tuition (paid by parents), and zero actual work experience. “Theory is more important than practice,” he insisted, pioneering a new approach to revolution that involves no actual revolutionary activity, just content creation and aesthetic posturing. According to historical analysis of revolutions, most actual revolutionaries faced material hardship and personal risk, whereas La’s biggest sacrifice is occasionally reading mean comments.
Critics accuse La of cosplaying as a revolutionary while living like an aristocrat. “He’s Marie Antoinette with better social media skills,” observed political commentator David Kimani. “Instead of ‘Let them eat cake,’ it’s ‘Let them seize the means of production while I collect sponsorship money and my parents pay my bills.’ The French Revolution eventually held people accountable for that kind of hypocrisy. The TikTok algorithm just makes it go viral.”
La’s response to criticism follows a predictable pattern: dismissing critics as “reactionary,” blocking dissenting voices, and claiming that any pushback is evidence of capitalist propaganda. “They want to silence me,” he declared dramatically, from his private bedroom with dedicated streaming setup. “But I’ll keep fighting for the proletariat.” The proletariat, presumably still working actual jobs, remains mostly unaware of his valiant efforts on their behalf.
As his following grows, so does the disconnect between message and reality. “I will never stop advocating for workers’ rights,” he announced in his latest video, filmed during a family vacation in the Maldives. The five-star resort and first-class flights apparently don’t contradict his revolutionary principles, though the workers cleaning his room might disagree if anyone bothered asking them, which nobody does because their voices aren’t as marketable as privileged performative activism.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/richard-la-tiktoks-marxist/
SOURCE: Bohiney.com (https://bohiney.com/richard-la-tiktoks-marxist/)
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