I know what you’re saying and at a certain point, a committed libertarian, fascist, liberal, etc, should be accepted as being committed to that politics.
At the same time, anti-communism is entrenched in the imperial core. This shit is hard wired. And the more education one undergoes, the more a person reads, the more this position becomes entrenched.
If a person does become interested in Marxism, anti-capitalism, or communism, they might pick up a book. But the introductory books and the ‘radical’ publishers are usually anti-communist. So the reader gets funnelled towards Habermas, Lacan, Chomsky, Zizek, or a similar figure. Even the pro-Marxist books have to be anti-USSR and anti-China to be published.
Some, like me will pick up the right texts. But the common sense view that e.g. Lenin, Stalin, Marx, Mao were terrible monsters makes it difficult to admit in public that you even dared to pick up their writing. Even stating that you have read Lenin makes you an outcast. People look at you strange, and they refuse to listen to your summary of commentary. And you very quickly get the nickname, ‘Stalinist’.
It took me years to accept that Marxists might be right and even more years to call myself a Marxist. I know that says something about me, but the capitalist propagandists are damn good at their job. (To be clear, I wouldn’t have been found at any kind of rally like the one in the OP!)
Views can be changed. Even entrenched views. But it takes time. A patient Marxist mentor helps immensely. Thankfully(?) material conditions are changing, and this may make people more susceptible to Marxism.
I know what you’re saying and at a certain point, a committed libertarian, fascist, liberal, etc, should be accepted as being committed to that politics.
At the same time, anti-communism is entrenched in the imperial core. This shit is hard wired. And the more education one undergoes, the more a person reads, the more this position becomes entrenched.
If a person does become interested in Marxism, anti-capitalism, or communism, they might pick up a book. But the introductory books and the ‘radical’ publishers are usually anti-communist. So the reader gets funnelled towards Habermas, Lacan, Chomsky, Zizek, or a similar figure. Even the pro-Marxist books have to be anti-USSR and anti-China to be published.
Some, like me will pick up the right texts. But the common sense view that e.g. Lenin, Stalin, Marx, Mao were terrible monsters makes it difficult to admit in public that you even dared to pick up their writing. Even stating that you have read Lenin makes you an outcast. People look at you strange, and they refuse to listen to your summary of commentary. And you very quickly get the nickname, ‘Stalinist’.
It took me years to accept that Marxists might be right and even more years to call myself a Marxist. I know that says something about me, but the capitalist propagandists are damn good at their job. (To be clear, I wouldn’t have been found at any kind of rally like the one in the OP!)
Views can be changed. Even entrenched views. But it takes time. A patient Marxist mentor helps immensely. Thankfully(?) material conditions are changing, and this may make people more susceptible to Marxism.