The alternative is to leave people alone if they have no material interest in changing society in the way you want to see it changed. Find your allies and do politics with them. I have known several people who rent out rooms in houses they own. I don't seek out opportunities to inform them that as a class landlords oppress and immiserate renters as a class. If someone I know is a member of a reactionary labor union I don't tell them how much I prefer the politics of more left-wing unions. People generally know what side their bread is buttered on. It's just way more sensible to discuss politics with members of your own class in the context of political projects. I'm taking the time to express my conflicting interpretation of Mao here because I think our politics are more or less aligned and we both have a genuine interest in understanding the passage. In my reading Mao is advising on personal conduct within a revolutionary collective, not within the society as a whole. It's an important distinction.
The alternative is to leave people alone if they have no material interest in changing society in the way you want to see it changed. Find your allies and do politics with them. I have known several people who rent out rooms in houses they own. I don't seek out opportunities to inform them that as a class landlords oppress and immiserate renters as a class. If someone I know is a member of a reactionary labor union I don't tell them how much I prefer the politics of more left-wing unions. People generally know what side their bread is buttered on. It's just way more sensible to discuss politics with members of your own class in the context of political projects. I'm taking the time to express my conflicting interpretation of Mao here because I think our politics are more or less aligned and we both have a genuine interest in understanding the passage. In my reading Mao is advising on personal conduct within a revolutionary collective, not within the society as a whole. It's an important distinction.