I’m not sure if this question makes sense, but as someone fairly new to leftism, it seems a lot of time that far leftists and especially communists often don’t like non-leftists in any way and don’t want to interact with them, but that’s just what I’ve seen on the internet and I have no idea how it is in terms of real life friendships. I personally don’t know any other confirmed hard-line leftists in real life (I don’t know a lot of real life people at all TBH because I’m pretty introverted and suffer from social anxiety). What do you think? Do you have friends that are non-leftists and/or liberals? Should we?

  • @Nevar@lemmy.ml
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    3 years ago

    In the USA a lot of far leftists start treating their politics as part of their identity and join a subculture of far leftists. This happens alot at the universities and colleges. Then they end up becoming picky about ideology (trotsky vs tankie vs leninist, etc. Etc.). So they feel comfortable in the little box they created in their subculture and do nothing to convince non-leftists of class consciousness. If you meet a leftist that becomes pretentious when you meet them because of your lack of knowledge you know you’ve met someone that uses left wing ideology as an identity statement rather than a social cause they believe in. They kinda play into the indovidualistic culture of capitalism in that way. Most of those types I’ve met are miserable.

    • @vera
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      23 years ago

      This so much

  • Bilb!
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    3 years ago

    Yeah, I’d say that nearly all of my “IRL” friends are liberals and I don’t have kind things to say to anyone who has a problem with that.

  • @SirLotsaLocks@lemmy.ml
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    73 years ago

    I don’t know any communists (none who are out about it at least) irl and I’m pretty extroverted so yeah I guess I have a lot of liberal friends. Honestly I do what I can to push my ideas when we end up talking politics but for the most part I just kind of don’t talk about it. It’s probably not good but I’d be in ruins without people around me to talk to and hang out with.

    • @redjoker
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      33 years ago

      I’d recommend joining a national party which has a local branch

  • Free PalestineA
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    3 years ago

    I try not to be friends with people who’re too far right to have a decent conversation with. The furthest to the right I’m friends with is a couple’a social-democrats, but I’m not quiet about my politics, so I assume they’re not the shitty kind of socdem. Most of my friends are either communists or apolitical with an acceptance towards my politics, and imo if you want to make friends with communists just find the time to visit the communist organizations in your area, or join the (probably fed infested) online groups for your area. I’ve met so many wonderful humans at party meetups and online, and IMO the best part about being on the left (which I say as someone who was semi-active on the right pre-radicalizing) is most people tend to try to understand mental health and social anxiety, and will go through extra lengths to make sure comrades who prefer to not be social aren’t feeling unwelcome. As well, I’ve found that getting active in the left, over issues that matter to me, has done a lot to change how I look at social situations and “take me out of my shell” as the slightly-ableist would say.

    another note about online leftist groups, if you can find groups for your area - even if you live somewhere very rural - that’s a good first step towards forming a small leftist organization. If that’s just a book club, or a fully-fledged political organization’s up to you, but that’s just a great place to start if you don’t already have people to get things going with.

    • Muad'DibberMA
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      23 years ago

      if you want to make friends with communists just find the time to visit the communist organizations in your area, or join the (probably fed infested) online groups for your area. I’ve met so many wonderful humans at party meetups and online, and IMO the best part about being on the left (which I say as someone who was semi-active on the right pre-radicalizing) is most people tend to try to understand mental health and social anxiety, and will go through extra lengths to make sure comrades who prefer to not be social aren’t feeling unwelcome.

      This is so key, (ignoring covid), there are a lot of groups / hobbies you could get into, but none have been as supportive and gave me the feeling of community I’ve had as with leftist organizing.

  • ✨ krawieck ✨
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    3 years ago

    most of my friends are socdems since i live in europe (some claim to be apolitical but in reality are also socdems). tho some of them are pretty anti-corporate, anti-capitalist leaning which might make converting them to full on socialists easier in the future

    • Muad'DibberMA
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      33 years ago

      Same, I’m in the US, and most of my IRL friends (outside of the communist party I’m in) are socdems who love bernie. They’re not too many books or political disappointments away from making a hard left.

  • @WTOS
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    Literally everyone I know is a liberal or rightist, with the exception of one, who has been a communist since the 5th grade (how that happened, I have no clue). Don’t put up with anything for the sake of face, nor should you downplay it. Don’t go out of your way to antagonize, either. These are still your friends at the end of the day. Don’t proselytize and develop an ego. I only bring up politics when they ask me, and I don’t hold back if they’re being ignorant as shit.

  • @redjoker
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    53 years ago

    Yeah, it’s unavoidable given that it’s the dominant ideology. My lib friends are generally supportive of the ideas I espouse but still hold on to the idea that the US generally acts for the greater good. I even have a friend who’s anti-CPC (from what I can gather, her father was so emotionally scarred after the Cultural Revolution that he just beat her and her mother daily for 2 decades until he killed himself. No, they weren’t landlords or capitalists, the mother was even a Red Guard). She’s also supportive of the mutual aid work I do

  • @Amorphous
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    43 years ago

    Sure, I’ve got “apolitical” friends who tend toward the subtle racism, classism, etc inherent to liberal ideology. All you can really do is push back against it when it comes up.

    • Muad'DibberMA
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      13 years ago

      Don’t worry, covid won’t last forever crosses fingers, and we’ll all be able to get out there and do outside things again.

  • @KiwiProle
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    33 years ago

    Of course. You aren’t going to organise the working class by being a recluse, you have to meet people where they are. Plus, you know, social needs and all that jazz

  • @queer_bird
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    33 years ago

    I’m friends with the sort who think they have no ideology and if they have an ideology SocDem is about as right wing as I can tolerate. That doesn’t mean I don’t talk to right wingers, but one has to be very careful when they do that. There is a way to sell Marxism to right wingers, but it’s long and hard and the best result you usually get is them understanding that you aren’t just a communist because you haven’t heard how bad the USSR was.