Pragmatic Leftist Theory

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The neolibs are too far right. The tankies are doing whatever that is. Where's the space for the people who want fully-automated-luxury-gay-space-communism, but realize that it's gonna take a while and there are lots of steps between now and then? Here. This is that space.

Here, people should endeavor to discuss and devise practical, actionable leftist action. Vote lesser evil while you build grassroots coalitions. Unionize your workplace. Participate in SRAs. Build cohesion your local community. Educate the proletariat.

This is a place for practical people to develop practical plans to implement stable, incremental improvement.

If you're dead-set on drumming up all 18,453 True Leftists® into spontaneous Revolution, go somewhere else. The grown ups are talking.

Rules:

-1. Don't be a dick. Racism, sexism, other assorted bigotries, you know the drill. At least try to default to mutually respectful discussion. We're all on the same side here, unless you aren't, in which case kindly leave.

-2. Don't be a tankie. Yes I'm sure you have an extensive knowledge of century-old theory. There's been a century of history since then. Things didn't shake out as expected, maybe consider the possibility that a different angle of attack might be more effective in light of new data.

-3. Be practical. No one on the left benefits from counterproductive actions. This is a space informed by, not enslaved to, ideology. Promoting actions that are fundamentally untenable in the system in question, because they fulfill a sense of ideological purity, is a bad look. Don't do that.

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agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works

Jesus was based af, actually (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 13 hours ago by agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works to c/PLT@sh.itjust.works

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First, I know what most of you are going to say. I myself was an internet atheist 20 years ago, quoting Dawkins and Sagan at magic-sky-daddy believers. But this isn't about convincing anyone to believe.

This is about pragmatics. And, pragmatically, the single biggest enemy right now is the conservative Christian right. Anything to fracture that coalition benefits the left.

Luckily, their gospels are pretty left-wing. So, I offer for your consideration, the Christian angle.

I encourage those of you who went to Sunday school to brush up on your Scripture. Matthew is a treasure trove. When you're talking to someone on the right, start hitting them with chapter and verse.

If nothing else, this is initially shocking. They're supposed to be the Christians, and you're some filthy commie reminding them that Jesus called the wealthy priests hypocrites, and told us to feed the hungry and aid the sick.

They have defense mechanisms against your crybaby commie talk. They don't have defense mechanisms against their own scripture. At worst, you shake them loose from their script and confuse them, giving you openings for gentle deprogramming.

At best, they might reflect on their leadership and how closely they follow Jesus' commands. Anyone who really believes in him and really reads the gospels is going to wind up a leftist, whether they call it that or not.

Just food for thought. Read up on what Jesus said, use that against the people who claim to follow him. You don't have to believe yourself to recognize a powerful rhetorical tool.

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[–] voracitude@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (1 children)

You're not taking about christians, though, you're talking about Christian MAGA specifically; the christians who can understand that Trump is incompatible with their faith aren't the ones following him. What I'm saying is that their belief system isn't the opening you think it is with that crowd. They're basically Christian nationalists. One of the hallmarks of MAGA is that nothing is sacred to them. They will burn anything and anyone at the gross stale-McDonalds-smelling altar of their orange idol: Their parents, spouses, children, even their Lord and Saviour Jesus and the values in his book. They actively call their scripture weakness and think it was written by "the libruls".

[–] agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 hours ago

Then call them a Jesus-hating heretic and move on. For someone like that, the best you can do is plant a seed of cognitive dissonance in their core beliefs.