“As revolutionaries, we don’t have the right to say we are tired of explaining. We must never stop explaining. We know that when the people understand, they cannot help but follow us.”

— Thomas Sankara

I’m not convinced that people will change their views unless their material reality is altered, at the very least- they’ll become much more receptive given the right conditions

If you’re someone who enjoys debating others, keep it up- otherwise I’d suggest avoiding what eventually just amount to political team sports and ego battles

I see arguments about communism as being very similar to combat sports, as someone with a lot of experience in both. When you first start, you’ll be zealous but inexperienced, nervous and unsure. You’ll be off-balance, likely to flinch or overcommit and unprepared for common counterattacks. As you gain experience, you’ll become steady, confident and able to predict and counter attacks with ease. You’ll start to see the probability tree of each moment in the conflict, and you’ll have an answer for every possible move. Your nerves will settle and your endurance will grow, and you’ll soon find yourself matter-of-factly dispatching myths and fallacies all damn day while expending the exact minimum required energy.

when talking politics with nonleftists avoid using jargon, dont use words like bourgeoisie or phrases like surplus value. dont say things like profit is theft. you need to meet them where they’re at. dont frame your views as marxist. espouse your opinions based on observable reality that they will agree with you on. instead of explaining LTV for example just start off with some tangentially related shit like “THATS all you make at your job? i figured it would be way more. your boss must be making a killing”. they know their boss is fucking them but they’re conditioned to repress that. if you just meet them there tho many of them will be open to conversation. and dont expect to go from “okay i got them to agree with that” immediately to “so you agree we need to put your boss in a work camp and expropriate all his property and turn it over to his workers?”

you will have conversations with these people, they will agree with you, and then the next day they’re right back where they started and they no longer agree. its like pushing a boulder up a hill sometimes with these people but dont get discouraged by that

Sadly, if you are in an environment where you are surrounded among petite bourgeoisie, labor aristocracy or their siblings, stuff like this will happen. Class and material conditions play a very important role in the defending the views that sustain our reality.

Depending on what you do, the topic and the class of the people; you can blend ML views in a very digestible manner. This is what is happening to plenty of Latam comrades(like myself) regarding US imperialism.

Perhaps I can suggest you a reading on Cadre Policy, by Chen Yun

While carrying out criticism, we should know whether those who are criticized are old or new party members and whether they are old or new cadres. We should also know whether they have been members of the CPC or the revolution for a long time. With regard to an old party member, we can criticize him without paying too much attention to manner and means. However, this is not the case with new party members. Due to the fact that they have just joined the party, their mentality is still different from that of old party members. Therefore, when criticizing them, we should adopt a gentle manner. We should try to persuade and talk them into coming around.

In a word, we should encourage people to speak up. To do so, we should avoid pinning big political labels randomly. We should not deal with every minor mistake from the higher plane of principle. We should sincerely criticize people out of good will and in a friendly way. In the meantime, we should point out the cause of the mistakes and the way to correct them.

Also here’s an inspiring story on why you shouldn’t give up on people so easily I would like to highight:

When we were working in the soviet area^[1] in Jiangxi, there Comrade Mao Zetan^[2] was working with us. He was a younger brother of Chairman Mao. He once committed a mistake; some people could not tolerate him and thought that he could not be used any longer. Later, the Red Army needed people to work because of expansion and he was sent to a certain district. He not only accomplished the tasks, but also performed his duty outstandingly and achieved great success. When he returned, many thought highly of him. He was transferred to a guerrilla area on the borders of Fujian and Jiangxi. Several months later, some people thought that he expressed remarks which seemed to be in line with right opportunism. Just at that time, a task in expanding the Red Army was assigned to him. Since he could not achieve good results, some people again thought that he could not be used. Nobody wanted such a person and he was rejected everywhere. No place wanted such a comrade and he could not even make a living. Later, when the Red Army retreated from Jiangxi, he laid down his life bravely in the battle and shed the last drop of his blood for the revolution. Therefore, when judging a person, we must not confine our judgment to a short period or a single incident in his life. If we fail to make a basic assessment of a person, we will commit very great mistakes in using people.

My own two cents: Remember that Marxism-Leninism is based on Materialism. I’m sorry to sound like a broken record, but like, when you’re pitching it to someone don’t forget to remember not just collective benefits, but how would those benefits serve the person you’re talking to, how would they make their life better.

There’s an old running joke how you can explain communism in great detail and people will think “Heck yeah, that’s pretty cool” until you mention what it is, by name, and then they will gasp so imo. you should focus on getting people on your side and then you can use the big words once you have them interested.

Lots of wonderful advice in the thread as is typical of Lemmygrad :) Let me add my 2 cents:

1. When online, post memes with anti-capitalist, anti-fascist content. But you know, memes of the fun types. Then see who get the joke and who don’t. Those who do are more or less predisposed to listen to further ML stuff. Those who immediately attack you for the memes are based fascists, they know what you’re trying to do because that’s what THEY have been doing for 10+ years. Humour is the “plausible deniability” which gives you some room to maneuver. Add wtf, it helps a lot in bringing down emotional barriers.

2. Join an org and get to know like-minded people in person. You’ll quickly forget you are the “odd one out”. Feeding the homeless, trade unions, political party… anything goes. As soon as you see you’re fighting the good fight, your confidence will multiply a thousandfold. When they mock you for feeding the hungry, the joke’s on them. You’ll remember the smile on the hungry person’s face, you will know you stand on the right side of history. And that’s just 1 example.

It is a revolutionary’s job to educate people. Good thing is that we have so much blatant, undeniable evidence in the news at this very moment:

1. How come the world’s most powerful men use Gmail to openly discuss illegal and heinous things, while talking online about these same things results in censorship?

2. Why should I care about Muslims from China and simultaneously not gaf about Muslims from Palestine?

3. Why am I, as an American, more concerned with the fate of Taiwan than the fate of Puerto Rico?

Looking at these issues through a liberal, logical lens results in glaring contradictions, but looking at them through a class lens within the context of a dictatorship of capital, it all makes sense.

1. Only things that threaten capital accumulation are wrong. The state will be activated to stop wrongdoing.

2. China does not support Western hegemony, while Israel is an important part of the Empire. Therefore, the great mass of people must be against China and in support of Israel.

3. Same as #2 with the addition that Puerto Rico acts as the Empire’s reserve army of soldiers. It used to be about sugar and slaves, but times have changed. PR does continue to be a buffer zone protecting the mainland though.

I’ve had the same experience (I think a lot of us have) but you have to remember that the USA has the best propaganda in the world, and a lot of people are totally hypnotized by it. In fact, I was too. I was a chud and a lib. Nobody’s born a good comrade, we have to read and struggle. I think you’re a good comrade. Don’t give up!

Edit: One more example- the reason we chant “Slava Ukraini!” is because the US’s share of LNG shipments to Europe rose from 5% pre-war to 27% now and still climbing. The unexamined mind will find itself with positions that support Western capital 10 out of 10 times, such as replacing Russia as Europe’s main energy dealer. The vast majority of people really dgaf about this, but we are compelled to care by the ruling class, for the ruling class.

As a practical example (which even works with MAGAs) I usually inject into a conversation something like “don’t you think people (‘a man’ if I’m dealing with chuds) have the right to the fruits of their labor, and nobody has the right to the fruits of someone else’s labor?” which is enthusiastically agreed with 100% of the time. Of course a majority of the time people are either too preoccupied with survival or somehow walk away still blaming women and minorities, but I know that’s not my fault and that I did what I could. The fault lies with the very efficient media and culture arm of the bourgeoisie.

Focus on people that are more likely to be swayed. Radicalized workers that haven’t yet engaged with theory are best. Also focus on your own education and practice, so that you can better convey your points!

absolutely normal for socialists. probably more so in the west.

just be careful with the people who get angry with you immediately, there will be plenty of those.

Truth is that some people aren’t reachable. Save your energy for organising and those who are actually reachable.

I had similar experiences at a Dutch uni. I was mocked, stalked, isolated, terrorised and bullied into a deep and depression (with attempts) by people who claim they are “being political”, and “progressive”. These people also defended HR-policies (at a conservative uni) like DEI, and sustainability, and slandering me as if I was against “diversity”, even though I am literally a daughter of an immigrant, am an immigrant myself and have always lived with other immigrants and have not attacked or mentioned diversity. These people were also affiliated with my former supervisor who targeted me, she and her husband are now found guilty of academic misconduct, harassment and abuse. Sadly this all had a severe impact on me derailing my studies and life as a whole. Dear OP, I think its best that you find a political party or group within your country/area, or a group of likeminded people in IRL. Isolation is what reactionary lunatics want, pls get organized for your own sanities and quality of lifes sake.

i would recommend reading this red sails essay if you haven’t already. but it’s likely that you need to find someone with sympatheticish leanings (radlib or otherwise) and work on them specifically and slowly over time rather than try and fight every battle

This is often an issue of how you communicate, and learning to communicate effectively with the working class is an important skill to develop (and can be difficult). Saying things that are so far ahead of where they are that they can’t understand is ineffective. Starting from points of unity and building trust are two of the most important things you can do, and persuading them to completely change their position happens over several conversations, not one. People don’t change their minds because you can prove you’re more right than they are; they change their minds because their lived experience of capitalist contradictions pushed them to look for alternative explanations, and you need to be a trusted person ready to guide them to the next step when they’re ready.

Push forward, improve your communication skills, eventually it will get through someone. Communism is rational, and each passing day it becomes clearer.