this post was submitted on 21 Nov 2024
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I have watched all of my friends take major left turns in the past few years (hexbear.net)
submitted 3 weeks ago by Moss@hexbear.net to c/bloomer@hexbear.net
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My friends and I are all in our early 20s, most finishing/ out of college. A few years ago they were all liberals who either turned their nose up at the word socialism or were "apolitical".

Now, having been through a pandemic, living through a housing crisis, working in minimum wage jobs, witnessing the rise of European fascism and seeing the sheer disrespect capitalists have for us, all of them, without exception, have become or are becoming leftists. I don't even talk about politics that much with them, although they know I'm a communist. They have all voiced dissatisfaction with capitalism and named capitalism directly as the cause of their problems. Some of them openly call themselves socialist. None of them have any faith in liberals.

My main political issue now is to get them to become active in politics. I've encouraged them to join workers and tenants unions and will do that more every time I'm drunk. I try to get them to pro-Palestinian protests. I have high hopes that within a few years, I will successfully convert most of them to communism

bloomer it is never joever for the working class

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[–] Venat@hexbear.net 29 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

first-time Went through this as millenials in the early/mid/late 10s too.

The caveat here is that once you bounce back in your late 20s and early 30s, when you have financial stability and disposable income, how much the allure of liberalism will stick with you even as your mind and experience know that capitalism is inherently exploitative and destructive on an individual and planetary scale.

[–] Chapo_is_Red@hexbear.net 32 points 3 weeks ago

in your late 20s and early 30s, when you have financial stability and disposable income, how much the allure of liberalism will stick with you

I've avoided this with one simple trick: remaining poor and financially unstable

[–] 7bicycles@hexbear.net 20 points 3 weeks ago

Horrible as it be, I keep saying this; you can't trust people that would benefit from leftist policies to actually be leftists uncritically. They might just be in it from a nigh-libertarian "me me me" approach that is entirely unbroken when they gain wealth and then do other shit

Hit em with those geopolitics, folks.

[–] FunkYankkkees@hexbear.net 8 points 3 weeks ago

once you bounce back in your late 20s and early 30s

You misspelled "if"

[–] ReadFanon@hexbear.net 29 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Next step is to get a sense of where they're at with their political development and hear them out then gently challenge their ideas or follow those ideas to their logical conclusion (e.g. talking through the practicalities of reformism, exploring what happened to the New Deal, speculating on just what it would take to achieve a Berniecrat New New Deal etc.) while encouraging them to explore this stuff.

DO NOT engage your inner debatebro or your dunk mode. You want to be non-threatening so they feel comfortable to explore and to bounce ideas off of.

When you've figured out where they are at, then it's time to suggest a reading (e.g. Reform or Revolution by Rosa Luxemburg) and if you've managed to pique their interest then they'll probably read it and it will help them along on their journey to radicalisation.

Comrade cowbee has assembled a really good reading list here almost all of which have audiobooks attached that you can pick and choose from depending on your friend's particular level of ideological development and their interests.

[–] Bureaucrat@hexbear.net 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

and if you get them hooked on Rosa then you can make them cry when they learn what happened to her and then you can play them this banger

[–] HexReplyBot@hexbear.net 1 points 3 weeks ago

I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:

[–] Lemmygradwontallowme@hexbear.net 22 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

How's their viewpoint, historically on actually socialist nations?

I may also ask if they know the concept of critical support.

[–] Wakmrow@hexbear.net 17 points 3 weeks ago

Just get in a group chat with them and spam memes.

[–] StillNoLeftLeft@hexbear.net 6 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Same experience here, but am a bit older and the people around me have become very anti-capitalist. Including older previously very turboliberal ex-hippies. But most still are Nato leftists at best and discuss Ukraine or any actually important topic from the national news pov. They are still entirely sold on the myths of equality, social democracy and electrolar politics. There is a lot of petition signing, lots of bourge media consumption, lots of sending money to ngos and also a lot of brunch.

And lots and lots of voicing discontent as long as the current outrage lasts and then going back to brunch and forgetting about it.

Most have work, studies, kids, lots of dept and no time or energy to engage with any of this on a serious level.

How to get these people to really care is the big question for me too.

[–] Z_Poster365@hexbear.net 5 points 3 weeks ago

How to get these people to really care is the big question for me too.

in the words of Engels, it will take a few very bad years