I have a friend like this and damn is he frustrating to talk politics with. He is convinced that his politics are cutting edge and transcend left/right but he mainly gets his news from msnbc. Never read any theory and seems to have no real interest in leftism. Likes to talk about "personal liberation" in some kind of vaguely spiritual sense. Trust fund kid who's never had to worry about money. Went to a fancy arts college. Feel like there are a lot of people out there like this.
Start a reading group with him? Have him pick some radical literature he likes, read it together, discuss it, then repeat with something you pick.
If he goes for the whole thing, boom, you've put him on a leftward path. If you can only get one thing he's read out of this, you at least have some threads to tug at to highlight why his politics are bad. If he balks at reading any political literature, having a conversation about how good one's political ideas can be if they've never interacted with any other political ideas might help.
This isnt a bad idea, but I want to go against a notion that a lot of people here seem to have. “Reading theory” isn’t some magic “make person not stupid” pill. It can help but State and Revolution doesn’t magically rewire someone’s brain into being a Marxist. People can totally read the same theory as you and it won’t click with them. I know plenty of people who have read more than me but still have dumb as fuck takes.
You should still encourage people to do it but don’t overestimate it’s effectiveness.
deleted by creator
u take that back about State and Revolution
Open to any suggestions on theory that would appeal to this counterculture/radlib type of person. Maybe I'll just give him george jackson's blood in my eye
it took years of festering but Pedagogy of the Oppressed turned me from radlib to class traitor
deleted by creator