I would really rather that these were actual examples, and not conspiracy theories. We all have our own unsubstantiated ideas about what shadowy no-gooders are doing, but I'd rather hear about things that are actually happening.
I would really rather that these were actual examples, and not conspiracy theories. We all have our own unsubstantiated ideas about what shadowy no-gooders are doing, but I'd rather hear about things that are actually happening.
"You're too much into politics"
Said by people who are unwilling to admit they're on the wrong side. Or in a more extreme setting (like say, South Africa during apartheid), they'd most likely report you to authorities or outright even kill you.
Started getting into communism recently, and my brother spies on the stuff I look for, called me a paranoid, jobless loser (he is jobless himself), and that I should kill myself for being so miserable. By the way, I am a lower-middle class family from India, a far-right shit hole, with the highest unemployment rate (40% under 25 are jobless, 10.57% is the overall unemployment rate), unskilled college graduates, atrocity towards minorities, and on the very verge of turning into a theocracy.
Welcome to the team! May I ask what radicalized you?
It is the cumulation of experiences which made my stance shift towards left-leaning politics. One such incident in my childhood stayed with me, and made me a radical anti-capitalist, but not necessarily a socialist or communist - I am not even sure what those two terms are, apart from the two-to-three line definition on Wikipedia.
My dad wanted to procure some loan for his business. Well, this loan officer came to our place. My mom was dressed in one of those Indian-style nightgowns as he came to our house without informing prior - he wanted to inspect our place to ensure that he was lending money to the "right" type of people. He started berating and shouting at my mother, calling us slurs that are usually said for people living in the slums, denied the loan, telling my dad to not waste his time. In front of a ten year old. I could never forget that incident, and it often kept playing in my head, even when I grew up.
This made me think about these scums make a fuss when a common person tries to run a business, harass us when we don't pay on time, refinance loans with shittier terms without our prior permission, but when capitalist scumbags like Vijay Mallya, Gautam Adani or Anil Ambani lose their capital, they bend their asses, willing to transfer all the loses onto the common folks. The entire system was rigged. The rich will remain rich, their children will virtue-signal us about how they work harder than us, and how they followed their "passion".
Are you reading any communist texts or joining any communist parties?
Haven't read a lot of text, but I've tried exploring around ideologies related to syndicalism. Also read some of the essays by @dessalines@lemmy.ml.
For now, I want to figure out a way to get a job in this brutal recession. I'm not thinking of joining political parties for now, because without basic necessities and needs, I'm basically handicapped. With just ₹7k in my account from my previous job, graduated-but-unemployed, and living with my parents, there's not a lot of stuff I can do.
Maybe if it's activism related to using my technical skills for union organization and labor's right awareness, then I think I could be a part of that - perhaps, I could also make a living out of that, but I'd have to figure out a way to monetize that, and also need a team of folks from law and media. After reading the blog by Paul Biggar, I'm reconsidering the above idea.
If you'd like help with anything that can be offered from an Anglophone perspective (obviously you're going to have better access than me to the robust and interesting material from Indian communists*), I or a ton of other people on my instance or lemmygrad would love to help, and we've got people from all over (I'm pretty sure including India, we just don't get many "As an Indian" posts) who can offer their perspectives too.
*This isn't just lip-service. Aside from what can be tied to movements like the Naxals or the people of Kerala, I think Utsa Patnaik has some very compelling writing.