This reminds me of a thought I had the other day, which went something like: some people (seems to be a US thing, can’t speak for elsewhere) are so stuck with the mindset of approaching politics as, “I am on equal footing with you in terms of knowledge and understanding” that it’s virtually impossible to get through on the information you give them alone. They have to first confront their socialized arrogance about knowledge and start to unlearn the idea that politics is some kind of easily universalized, mostly opinion-based entity.
Like if I look at my own progression of views, a significant difference in me being a “leftist” vs. being a “ML” (or thereabouts) was consciously trying to unlearn elitism and consciously trying to listen more (to marginalized people especially, but more importantly, to marginalized people who have theory/practice knowledge to impart, even if I didn’t know it in those terms right away) and talk less (resist the urge to comment “because I can” and try to be more conscious of why I’m reacting the way I am if someone’s take gets under my skin). This shift in mindset and attitude coupled with some partly guided exposure to theory was pivotal for me. I had a significant amount of “I can think smart so I can work this out just as well as you can” arrogance socializing to get through and a significant amount of viewing politics as overly simplistic in nature, and I see that same kind of attitude play out in other people, talking like their takes on politics have weight just because they are allowed to have one. When it’s like no, halt the universalizing, you need a framework to work from with a conscious motive behind it and that is found in sincerely caring about the plight of working class people, the marginalized, the colonized, and applying what liberators have observed about it who came before and who still exist now in developing socialist projects. It is humbling to get a glimpse of the depth of combined theory and practice that exists and has existed, and I would say it’s a good sign for people in the situation described if it is humbling because they are so often socialized to put their own intellect on a personal and cultural pedestal.
This is a beautifully-phrased thought and reflects my own experience. I think you described perfectly what it’s like transitioning into being an ML feels like and how it changes your interactions with the world.
This reminds me of a thought I had the other day, which went something like: some people (seems to be a US thing, can’t speak for elsewhere) are so stuck with the mindset of approaching politics as, “I am on equal footing with you in terms of knowledge and understanding” that it’s virtually impossible to get through on the information you give them alone. They have to first confront their socialized arrogance about knowledge and start to unlearn the idea that politics is some kind of easily universalized, mostly opinion-based entity.
Like if I look at my own progression of views, a significant difference in me being a “leftist” vs. being a “ML” (or thereabouts) was consciously trying to unlearn elitism and consciously trying to listen more (to marginalized people especially, but more importantly, to marginalized people who have theory/practice knowledge to impart, even if I didn’t know it in those terms right away) and talk less (resist the urge to comment “because I can” and try to be more conscious of why I’m reacting the way I am if someone’s take gets under my skin). This shift in mindset and attitude coupled with some partly guided exposure to theory was pivotal for me. I had a significant amount of “I can think smart so I can work this out just as well as you can” arrogance socializing to get through and a significant amount of viewing politics as overly simplistic in nature, and I see that same kind of attitude play out in other people, talking like their takes on politics have weight just because they are allowed to have one. When it’s like no, halt the universalizing, you need a framework to work from with a conscious motive behind it and that is found in sincerely caring about the plight of working class people, the marginalized, the colonized, and applying what liberators have observed about it who came before and who still exist now in developing socialist projects. It is humbling to get a glimpse of the depth of combined theory and practice that exists and has existed, and I would say it’s a good sign for people in the situation described if it is humbling because they are so often socialized to put their own intellect on a personal and cultural pedestal.
This is a beautifully-phrased thought and reflects my own experience. I think you described perfectly what it’s like transitioning into being an ML feels like and how it changes your interactions with the world.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on it. I’m happy to hear it resonates. :)