I’ve been unemployed for a while with an unstable housing situation that’s just made it all the harder to get a job. I’ve been reading a lot(it’s been a driving force behind me transitioning from demsoc, or radlib, to being an ML), but I’ve also noticed a change in my outlook. I have PTSD, and suffered a lot from depressive episodes. But the more I learn, the fewer episodes I’ve had. I no longer view the world as a hell that I had to get through just to feel the occasional spark of joy. Getting rid of a lot of the individualist thought that I had before has changed my viewpoint. I now know, that with other principled people, that the world doesn’t have to be this way, that it’s changeable, and that we’ve got much of the strategy for how to do so already laid out for us. It’s made me much more optimistic than I had been, ready to face the struggles of the world because I know that we can change it.
Sorry to hear that you’re going through a rough patch. I’m glad to hear you’re more optimistic now.
Marxist theory was bad for me at first, but it got better.
It made me a bit angry, tbh. It made everything make sense, but I could not get anyone to understand. So I fell out with or stopped talking to a lot of people. I did not ruin any relationships, I don’t think. But I slowly alienated myself from people because I lost most of that shared understanding, that common viewpoint.
(This is a good place for a warning to those who are new to Marxism: don’t let it ruin your relationships! You may feel like you can no longer connect with people because you see things so differently now, but that will pass. For me, I became too dogmatic at the start, but after more reading, the dogmatism goes away.)
I stopped being able to enjoy movies, series, novels, non-fiction, music, podcasts, all things that I previously enjoyed, because it all seemed so empty and propagandistic.
But after a while, I came to accept a more nuanced view of Marxism.
Now… like you and @Mehrtelb@lemmygrad.ml, I feel my whole outlook has changed. And I’m more optimistic than I was before. Previously, I was optimistic but idealist and I sensed that what I hoped for society would not just happen because people asked nicely.
After studying theory, though, I think more clearly and more reasonably. I don’t get into political arguments much any more. I think Marxism has made me much more compassionate. I was never mean before, but I have so much more time to listen and empathise with others’ struggles now.
Like you, I think part of this is the switch from individualist to collectivist thinking. And in understanding that so much that we blame ourselves for (such as not getting a job) is not our fault, but part of capitalism.
Thank you! I’m getting by, and I should have something figured out soon. I’m glad you’ve seen such growth! I did go through the phase of being dogmatic, but like you, more reading helped. I also got upset with people not seeing things the same way, but I’ve come to the point where I just realized that some people will never get past the capitalist propaganda, and some people will, but only in their own time. In the meantime, I’ll be there to throw in little observations on the contradictions while realizing they may be a friend, but they aren’t a comrade. It’s important to have both, some of whom are hopefully friend AND comrade.