I never get tired of 'em. I know we've discussed this before. I know the process is ongoing, not necessarily based on a single event, and depends a lot on your position in society. If discussing the radicalization of others, don't mention any methods unless people specifically told you that certain things radicalized them.

For me, I was a left-liberal for most of my life. Long story short, I ran in a state senate election trying to be as friendly to everyone as possible. The one thing I really wouldn't budge on was universal health care, since I knew from experience that it worked. I lost my election BADLY to a guy who ran on no platform at all, although he had much better name recognition. I worked so hard on that campaign and really was devastated and had to look for answers. Stupid as it sounds, at around that time I found the r/chapotraphouse subreddit and started listening to the podcast. That led to me listening to much better podcasts (like Revleft Radio), reading actual theory, and giving up on the Chapo podcast entirely once Bernie lost the last primary.

I'm always trying to radicalize others but I just usually get nowhere. George Floyd's death plus coronavirus I think resulted in a lot of people reconsidering things, but it seems like many of them have kind of swung back in the other direction now, at least as far as I can tell from watching my friends on Facebook. I've been arguing with my lib dad for months about all of this shit, with the result that he has actually gotten much better at deflecting Marxist points than the average lib lol. Sometimes I can get him to admit that everything is fucked and that Marxism is the only answer, at other times he'll say that we need to make friends with local business owners (some of the worst fucking people in the universe) and not alienate them.

Anyway, if you feel like writing your radicalization story or the radicalization stories of others, I'm happy to read.

  • Mehrunes_Laser [comrade/them, any]
    ·
    edit-2
    4 years ago

    I unionized my a fair portion of my freshman class in highschool to stand against bullying. This was all pre-cellphone, but post-911. I had gotten nearly 3/4 (it was a fairly small school) of my class to stand against bullying, and we had broken up several figths successfully. We had meetings, and wore badges that had anti-bully messages on them so we could identify each other and stand in solidarity.

    Then I was suddenly accused of being the ring leader of a dangerous gang.

    Everything I had in my locker, every scrap of paper, every assignment I turned in was suddenly used to build a case against me. Every single bully we had stopped testified against us. They had the police interrogate me. They dragged my parents in and took their testimonies. I was called a terrorist. I was called a criminal. Eventually I was suspended for the remainder of the year, and I wasn't welcome back.

    It was a traumatic experience. I had to sit in front of armed police officers as a teenager and vouch for every single scrap of paper in my locker. The fact I like chess was proof I was a mastermind and a manipulator. There were stupid homework assignments I had to do that were suddenly a secret code that I had to answer for. They searched my home. They were trying build a case against me as a terrorist on the behest of the superintendent of the school district because they thought it would make their career.

    In the end I ended up with a GED and a life long distrust of authority. I'm still unpacking the trauma of doing something arguably 100% good, and being met with such hostility. I still have issues with privacy, and I'm having anxiety that I've doxxed myself with this.

    And all of this is nothing compared to others that have responded. Either way, fuck bullies.

    • unperson [he/him]
      ·
      4 years ago

      Fuck bullies, you did nothing wrong. :red-fist:

      Something similar happened to me in university, except I was kangaroo courted as a drug trafficker. The dorms had a fairly big drug problem, but that's because of the punishing 80 hour a week curriculum, not the students' union.

      • Mehrunes_Laser [comrade/them, any]
        ·
        4 years ago

        Thanks man. It sucks how fast the status quo will snap back at any opposition. But I guess that means you're doing something right.

        • shitshow [any]
          ·
          4 years ago

          Out of curiosity, are you a PoC? I don't think the police have ever gone that far to prosecute a white teenager for anything.

          • Mehrunes_Laser [comrade/them, any]
            ·
            edit-2
            4 years ago

            Nope. Just a nerdy white kid who was tired of bullies. This was in a small town in post 911 america. The police didn't have enough to to do, so everyone was a potential terrorist.

            America was super weird. Still is.

    • duderium [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      4 years ago

      That’s fucking insane. Maybe the authorities sensed that you would figure out that THEY were the bullies sooner or later? There’s not a lot they can do if an entire student body is unionized and refuses to go to school.