Years back when I was in maybe eighth grade, my school did an event that was meant to make us more politically engaged by inviting some local politicians to speak to us. They got three elected politicians, from the agrarian, liberal, and social democratic parties (the three biggest parties at the time). They also invited, for some inexplicable reason, this probably sixty-year-old man from the communist party (practically no seats even at the local level).

The communist then proceeds to absolutely dominate the discussion, running circles around the rest of them. The three young politicians had no idea how to interact with children, and the commie basically clowned on all their answers to the kids' questions. I remember some of the teachers weren't too pleased.

Anyway, I hope he's still out there agitating and educating.

  • KiaKaha [he/him]
    ·
    3 years ago

    Fuck yes grandpa.

    Which country, out of interest?

  • KrasMazovThought [comrade/them]
    ·
    3 years ago

    Because of dudes like him we now have a generation of a_jug_of_marx_pissers running around espousing communism and causing shit. Dude was a tiny fringe shouting the truth when very little people would be open to it, but people are increasingly receptive to alternatives and those (often oddball) comrades were an essential link in the chain of historical materialism

    • JuneFall [none/use name]
      ·
      3 years ago

      those (often oddball) comrades were an essential link in the chain of historical materialism

      Yeah, same happened here.

    • Spinoza [any]
      ·
      3 years ago

      i popped open harvey's companion reader to capital and early on he thanks the hardline, squabbling, much-too-academic type of marxist for keeping the stuff alive during the neoliberal turn

  • CommunistDog [he/him]
    ·
    3 years ago

    There's always something that tugs on my heartstrings when I see old communists. They went through the shit and made it out to the other side alive when so many didn't. They are the smoldering embers used to start the fire in the hearts of the next generation.