Tips to make friends without spending money are welcome. I've spent years in a city without making friends.
Luckily even though I'm a minority in America, I'm not a minority in my city. :) It's filled with people of my ethnicity. So I have more opportunities to be closer with my people, and I want do the right things to get there.
Btw they don't have to be my ethnicity. Just wanna make friends to begin with. My dream is to meet cool communists around here. It's a minority city, and I figure I can't be the only one.
I’ll second the volunteering idea. It’s easier to make friends with folks you see often, such as at work or school. That frequent contact really helps get you over the hump. Volunteer somewhere aligned with your interests, and go to every event you can.
- food not bombs
- bike coop
- museum if you dig old nerds (especially labor, industrial, and maritime museums, often full of commies)
Maritime museums have communists? I thought they'd have chuddy war veterans. I'm from America btw.
You want the merchant marine, longshore and fishing kind of maritime museum, not the cool battleship bro maritime museum. I know a few comrades at such museums in the US and Canada, and have seen old crusty guys with commie vibes at many more. There also are chuds and reactionary hippies for whom tall ships and such are just RETVRN cosplay.
The only way to really focus on communists would be by going to demonstrations, lectures, reading groups, bookstores, organizations, picket lines, arts, hangout places etc that communists would be attracted to. Highly variable still. Careful you dont get mixed up in one of the weird cults.
If you just want to make friends in general, find an activity where there is some sort of structured task which allows for socialization. Like volunteering or sports. I used to volunteer at music festivals and take a job like cleaning up the trash because it means you just wander around with another person for a couple hours picking up empty water bottles. If you dont like each other theres the music.
Also if there are any casual, low pressure dating type websites they are good for making friends. I used to be on ok cupid a lot. I dont think i ever even hooked up with anyone i met there and certainly never dated long term but i did meet lots of chill people and it expanded my social circle.
If you just want to make friends in general, find an activity where there is some sort of structured task which allows for socialization. Like volunteering or sports. I used to volunteer at music festivals and take a job like cleaning up the trash because it means you just wander around with another person for a couple hours picking up empty water bottles. If you dont like each other theres the music.
i have never had this kind of acquaintance develop into anything outside of the structured activity or group thing.
One of those cults show off a guy as of he's the new Mao, but it's a people's revolution, not one guy's revolution. I can't not be a cult. I could always post here about if I suspect there's a cult trying to seduce me into joining.
I'm one of the dumber Communists who haven't read much theory, and often avoid it because I need easy happy adventure books. I like reading though and I'll find things to occupy my time while seeking out more knowledgeable communists to talk with and have rant at me. How do I find the right libraries?
Look at what reading groups they feature, usually its posted online in a bigger city or up front at the library.
As for cults/sketch groups another warning sign is big dues up front, a dollar or two sleep on, but if they want anything more than that, proof of income etc, run. My old city was filled with weirdo cults of all sorts preying upon the isolated and weird.
Sports is another good way to meet friends, you don't actually have to be good unless you're trying for something professional.
Look for local Food Not Bombs info, if you have time to volunteer it's a great way I've found.
Maybe try board gaming (there's many good ones nowadays, my city has several public get-togethers for games, I've never bought a game myself).
In US/UK meetup dot com seems decently utilized. You can sign up a fake profile and not RSVP for events that are clearly public and just getting posted there.
What I've been doing is making it a requirement to do something social every week, and that has helped a lot. Making friends is just showing face different places with some predictability or consistency until you find someone cool. Either making plans to get coffee with a coworker or acquaintance or friend, or going on meetup.com and going to one of the events. Maybe Facebook has stuff too but I hate going on there.
Do the things you like to do, but do them socially:
Music
Sport
Reading (book club irl instead of atomised reading)
Learning
but, you know, do it without getting or spreading covid
100% agree with the recs in the thread. If you have roommates chose the one(s) you like best and ask them to come along to help. They probably will :)
Ask a more alternative coffee shop if you can host a movie night or reading group meet up there. Put up flyers for it/ advertise it on the internet. Show a radical movie and/or list a radical book as the first book being read. Put the word somewhere on the Flyer.
Amateur sports is always a fun way to make new friends. There's usually a weekly, anyone can join, soccer or ultimate game in most cities, just find yours. A lot of sports, like the aforementioned ultimate or soccer, have very little in the way of cost because you just need one object for the lot of you. At worst you'll need cleats.
For finding communists, it really depends on where you live. Find the largest communist group in your area, and get to know it. I'd also encourage you to join the IWW, lot's of branches and cool work being done. You might even be able to go to other cities, fully reimbursed (If you're a delegate to the annual conference, or for some reason need to go to HQ in Chicago)!
Also, just go places. I've met lots of communists unexpectedly. I met a punk anarchist through a friend who didn't even know my politics, a friend I've had for a while turned out to be doing indigenous rights activism, and people have put up stickers, posters, and graffiti for communist organizations just a few meters from my abode.
