Gary Stevenson: Why I’m taking over the Big Issue to call for a wealth tax

There is a massive power gap in politics. Especially on the left and even in the centre. The only group that has managed to occupy the political influencer space is the alt-right, or the new right, or the far right, whatever you want to call it.

About a year ago, I put out a video saying I wanted to see more influencers. Because online is where the power is now. That’s where the gap is. It has blown up for me, but we need more people making videos. A couple of channels came up – Louisa Munch and Barry’s Economics are both doing well.

I got to know more influencers, like Jimmy the Giant and Frankie McNamara. We hang out in real life, beyond YouTube. And we bounce ideas off each other.

I’ve got this theory that the optimal model for politics in the social media age is WWE wrestling. When I was a kid, there were 20 larger-than-life personalities and a supporting cast. It became a social product. Like a soap opera, basically.

The only guys who have achieved anything like this are the US alt-right. They’ve got people all over the world watching, across a wide demographic but especially young men. The UK far-right channel Trigonometry have been on Joe Rogan seven times.

It creates this sense that they all know each other, they all hang out offline and then it becomes a soap opera, which is a really compelling product in the age where young people can’t afford to go to the fucking pub and there is a crisis of loneliness for young people.

Andrew Tate tried to start a beef with me last year. He knows if I respond, it’s going to do well for both of us.

Read more:

• We must change our relationship with masculinity to stop vulnerable men turning into Andrew Tate
• Millionaires tell Rachel Reeves: Tax us more or lose to Reform in the next election
• Taxing wealth in the budget could score the chancellor a triple win

So I’ve put together this group to create a new online political left, which is more outward facing than the mainstream left media. We are going for a drink this week. It’s not a meeting, we are not going out to plot. We are just going to the pub.

You have different people from different backgrounds, from different demographics, communicating in different ways that can reach different people.

The far right have been calling us the post-woke left.

Labour has such a weak social media presence. I’ve been calling them out for ages, in a way some might say is aggressive, but I’m here to help them. Look at what the far right is doing. Look at what Zack Polanski is doing. And look at what Gary’s Economics and my mates are doing – so where are you, Labour? Where are you in the conversation? All you’re doing is sending dickheads onto Question Time.

So in this week’s Big Issue magazine, I’m talking about why I support wealth taxes. If you don’t do anything about taxation of the very rich – and we’re not talking working people like doctors, lawyers, this is about the super-rich with wealth of more than £100 million who are effectively untaxed at the minute, paying much lower rates than nurses and teachers – they’ll use it to buy more and more of the wealth of this country.

Six years ago, when I started my YouTube channel, the richest person in the world was worth $100 billion. Now we have a man worth more than a trillion dollars.

If we don’t tax wealth, these people are going to own everything. And that means you, your family, your kids, will not be able to own a house.

How to Get Filthy Rich with Gary Stevensonis available to watch on Channel 4 from 8 July

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