A 17-year-old kid started working with me, and he was talking politics with another co-worker. I was staying out of it, but then he asked me what I consider myself to be, politically. I hit him with, "I'm a pretty hardcore communist, actually." His jaw dropped and he laughed, and he was like, "No, really. What are you, actually?" When I told him that I was a Marxist-Leninist, he responded with, "Dude, that's terrible. Why?"
I'm normally not super open about my politics unless I gauge that someone is accepting to hear some theory, but I just wanted to fuck with this kid lol. I told him that the incentive for ever-increasing profits in the interest of a small group of elites is destroying the planet and exploiting people all around the world. He came back with, "You really need to read more. If you understood more about what you were saying, you wouldn't support such a violent ideology." I'm literally twice his age, lmao.
Then he asked me if I ever read 1984 :michael-laugh:
He asked what led to me becoming a Marxist. I told him that I used to be a libertarian like him when I was his age, but as I grew older and started learning historical materialism, my worldview changed.
We went back and forth a little over the next 20 minutes. I kept it cool and respectful because I wasn't super invested in debating him. But he was getting all flustered and started playing all the hits, like workers not being entitled to owning their work because the boss took all the risk. Humans are naturally greedy, so socialism could never work. Marxism is responsible for over 100 million deaths. I rebutted what I could when I felt like it, but I'm not a debate bro and I didn't really care what he had to say. I just thought the whole thing was funny.
My favorite part was his face when I told him that I don't support liberal democracy, and that a one party state is actually far superior. :che-smile:
I wonder how far you could take it if you acted like you had never even heard of 1984.
"Dude, have you ever heard of this play called Romeo and Juliet? It might teach you a thing or two about, like, the meaning of love."
"I don't listen to that Uzi Vert mainstream trash, I prefer way more obscure sorts of music, smarter ones with more culture. You know, like the Beatles. What am I saying? You've probably never heard of them. Did you know that society is like a yellow submarine? And just wait until you hear about my favorite singer, Mr. Pink Floyd, and his Dark Sides of the Moon."