• HoChiMaxh [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    we USED to do this but it turned out not to be very effective

    When? Not in my lifetime.

      • Alaskaball [comrade/them]A
        ·
        2 years ago

        You had a lot of both of what you described, difference being the rightist "deprogrammers" turn out to be bigger grifters than the ultra-Left unironic pronouncers of 'ameri-ka-ka-ka' and in turn got ejected into space for being sus and left a void for the faux-rightists we currently see to fill.

              • Alaskaball [comrade/them]A
                ·
                edit-2
                2 years ago

                Log off and join a party you think aligns with your ideology and start building the movement.

                And if that's not in the cards go materially support a party or a movement or a strike group you like, and/or keep pushing socialist education in your public life to the degree you're comfortable with.

                The big problem with the American left right now is that it's terminally online and detached from material reality just like the hogs and the libs. Asserting a physical presence in the concrete world is a great first step in the right direction.

                Edit 2: otherwise shitposting online is also fine if life just keeps chewing you up like a piece of gum.

      • HoChiMaxh [he/him]
        ·
        2 years ago

        IDK comrade, if you think on the time frame of you being radicalized there has been a left in the US coherent enough to try any strategy sufficiently to conclude that it doesn't work, we have very different understandings of the state of the US left.

          • HoChiMaxh [he/him]
            ·
            edit-2
            2 years ago

            To be clear I'm not arguing because I think it's more effective (though I 100% do think that) but because it's correct. You're not on the left because you're clever and good, while they're dumb and bad - that just isn't true, that's a very individualistic conception of epistemology. You had the benefit of being exposed to convincing arguments, other people haven't.

            As for effectiveness, when was the last time you were open to having your mind changed someone who obviously thinks you're a dumb piece of shit? Like if you meet Matt Walsh or Charlie Kirk or Alex Jones or whoever in person do you think you're genuinely open to their ideas? Do you know any successful union organizers who recommend starting from a position of sneering arrogance rather than focusing on mutual respect and building on areas of common ground?