Good point. Do we need to organize to build a massive party over decades with underground newspapers and walking thousands of miles? Or will things just go viral enough one day after the capitalist governments have failed hard enough? Technology levels the playing field, but of course we need to do all we can to come out on top.
Memes are stupid, but we can just as well retort that Khrushchev claimed he would have full communism in a decade while deng gave reasonable estimates for advancing to the next stage.
Hey, I’ve seen a ton of comedies that all center “middle class people [who have moderately sized businesses and never struggled a day in their lives.]” http://smbc-comics.com/comic/frigid
When has anyone focused on convincing hardcore liberals? Debate bros?
We are definitionally in an ice age. There are polar ice caps. Of course we are not far from ending that.
Most people are not even aware of their need to conform. They live under the illusion that they follow their own ideas and inclinations, that they are individualists, that they have arrived at their opinions as the result of their own thinking—and that it just happens that their ideas are the same as those of the majority
Erich Fromm
Libs literally said trump supporters and communists (and Nazis for that matter lol) are enemies of the people
lol this is exactly what the below banger is pointing out. Most people are not idiots. They definitely have false ideas, but that is because those ideas bring them some sort of security, and/or they have not had sufficient access to alternative perspectives (in the ways people actually learn). While we are no logic machines (closest to that is philosophers and the amount of times we’ve realized reason doesn’t really work), we are all just looking for the most satisfying explanation of how things work.
Definitely gotta accept most people won’t dedicate years of free time to political theory. Just gotta nudge their thinking enough so they fall for less bullshit and are more likely to unionize, organize, voot, etc closer to your vision.
Important to remember that “logic” is often a retrospective process for justifying existing emotions about things. People get the information you’re transmitting when you connect on an emotional level and make sure your logos is well tied to the sorts of pathos and ethos they are receptive to. Of course this is all grounded in individuals’ material circumstances and personal practice.
I am the nerd who talked about Marxist theory explicitly and constantly for years. It worked on a few (neurodivergent leftlib) people. If they don’t listen to that (most won’t), whenever people complain (and not much otherwise, people like it when others agree with their complaints, not “bring everyone down” or “complain about nothing”), chip in comments (in a similar tone, showing your sympathy/shared struggle) pointing out how the people causing their problems are wealthy or tied to wealth. Slip in the notion that the authorities handing down bourgeois ideology are subject to the same moral condemnation they place on other things and tied to wealth. Note contradictions in reactionary narratives (comparing headlines or just counter-examples to major ideas like the need for growth, human nature, etc) at good times. If opportune, add light explanations on your understanding of the structures lying to and hurting them, and what could be better (only a full vision of society if they are interested). If they are receptive enough you can drop socdem, investigative journalist, etc sources, just not too explicit to poison the well.
Do not be too evangelistic about it. “Preach the gospel” as in taking intellectual comfort in the “good news” you have, not giving the impression that you despise all who do not accept your worldview in its totality in a short time frame. Be open minded. Marxism is a most solid and rational worldview. Do not take others opinions as a threat to your identity. Do not be defensive. Everyone you talk to will probably have a less coherent way of seeing the world. If you hear them out non-judgmentally they will be less averse to hearing you out. Good faith reciprocates. At best you actually understood their perspective, which helps you poke holes it. At worst your own perspective evolved and you got something out of it.
If someone is too (materially) comfortable, escapist, and/or immoral (to the point of accepting the logical ends of fascism consciously), focus your energy elsewhere.
This isn’t totally easy in practice (especially autistic myself), but it’s the best advice I’ve seen.
Yes, that is a spring.
Stolen from instagram
No type of revolution? Do not underestimate the transformation of quantity into quality. Every week seems to be a decade recently. Just because some people are comfortable-ish now doesn’t mean that any one of the massive crises we are constantly on the brink of will spill over enough to cause more radical shifts.