Is the Left Fist actually expecting to achieve unionisation in pro wrestling? This is an unrealistic aim. Instead, the Left Fist is humbly intended to raise awareness about ethics in the industry, helping to provoke discussion about how it can be improved, become more inclusive, and better position marginalised groups at the forefront of positive change. It is up to the workers themselves to unionise.
Why is some Left Fist content from before the launch date of May 1st, 2022? Political pro wrestling-related content has been created for some years on other sites/blogs by Jay Baker, who began slowly developing the Left Fist idea in the year or so beforehand — hence some content being dated as before the official launch.
Is the Left Fist a commercial endeavour? Initially, the monetisation methods on articles on Medium and podcast episodes on Spreaker were to cover costs incurred but did not even begin to do so. Just as the loyal but small audience wanted more overtly political content, that demand was met; in turn, meeting demand for leftist wrestling merchandise and such has led to the creation of a shop. Jay Baker is self-employed, so any time spent on the Left Fist essentially costs. Therefore, any revenue is helpful in order to maintain quantity and quality of output.
Is the Left Fist affiliated with anyone in the pro wrestling industry? There is no official affiliation. It’s important to avoid official endorsements — though of course some pro wrestling companies will be more favoured as ethical examples than others, as you’ll have no doubt noticed already. (Suffice to say, coverage of the McMahons, in particular, is not going to be favourable, for obvious reasons.) It’s important that support go to the workers, not the bosses.
What are the long-term ambitions for the Left Fist? There are no delusions of grandeur. This is a very small initiative currently led by one person, with no ambition besides raising awareness and provoking discussion and supporting pro wrestlers and ethics in the business — hopefully having fun along the way.
What do you mean by “ethics”? Much of the Left Fist content makes it obvious, but generally speaking we’re talking about a world where women, BIPOC, LGBTQ+ communities, disabled people, sex workers, and other marginalised groups are respected and empowered. This is what we mean by “leftist” — it’s a broad term for criticising the hierarchical oppressions of a capitalist system that relies on endless growth and therefore endless extraction and exploitation, but it’s important that anti-capitalism is intersectional. We’ve seen too many “anti-capitalist” crusaders in pro wrestling turn out to be, in fact, exploiters and abusers themselves.
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