It varies a lot depending on who you're talking to. Obviously AmeriKKKans' brains are very warped and propagandized, and most aren't going to react well to it, but that's far from universal. There was a poll a few years ago that said like 30-something percent of Millennials support communism, for example. And the most recent Pew poll of Zoomers that I read showed that a majority are both opposed to capitalism and support socialism. Now what that really constitutes is going to vary, but IME people tend to be more receptive than a lot of people here are assuming or have experienced themselves. Demographics are important; age, class, and marginalization are each factors that influence attitudes towards radical politics. I don't generally bother with white, well-off boomer petty bourg, for example, and so I get a lot more cynicism or apathy than hostility.
I try to suss out how receptive someone might be before I decide how/whether to address anything political. Although I almost always start with "socialism" and only say "communism" down the line when they're already partly on board.
It varies a lot depending on who you're talking to. Obviously AmeriKKKans' brains are very warped and propagandized, and most aren't going to react well to it, but that's far from universal. There was a poll a few years ago that said like 30-something percent of Millennials support communism, for example. And the most recent Pew poll of Zoomers that I read showed that a majority are both opposed to capitalism and support socialism. Now what that really constitutes is going to vary, but IME people tend to be more receptive than a lot of people here are assuming or have experienced themselves. Demographics are important; age, class, and marginalization are each factors that influence attitudes towards radical politics. I don't generally bother with white, well-off boomer petty bourg, for example, and so I get a lot more cynicism or apathy than hostility.
I try to suss out how receptive someone might be before I decide how/whether to address anything political. Although I almost always start with "socialism" and only say "communism" down the line when they're already partly on board.