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.
Im comforted by having a better understanding of the world.
But man… It seriously killed art for me. You know…
Yeah, I understand. Everything becomes an exercise in recognizing propogandistic nonsense and removing it to try to enjoy what’s left.
that’s why I keep a mental doppelganger around so I can go about living my life normally.
Learning theory changed my outlook on life a lot. It put a stop to my doomer lifestyle and gave me a light at the end of the tunnel. I got (and still get) a lot of comments from ex-coworkers who said that, in the last few months of this year when I quit my job, that I seemed happier and healthier.
I guess mostly it took away my fear of the world by giving me words and the tools to really understand the world around me.
This played a huge part. Learning to look at the world in a materialist way just made a bunch of puzzle pieces click into place, and the anxiety of constant uncertainty was largely erased. Life is still very much uncertain, but having that lens let’s you get much more accurate when looking at what may happen.
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.
It helped me understand why the world is the way it is. The people I grew up around did not care and pay attention to widespread misery and poverty but I was bothered a fair bit by it.
Just wait til you get active. It feels like in some small way you’re actually taking control of your life.
At the very least, it changed my political view point from “live and let live” apolitical to full on tankhead with proletarian revolutionary thoughts. Also, I have a better understanding of geopolitics now (thanks dialectical materialism)
Theory had a big impact on my political views. Reading Marx helped me clearly understand the nature of economic relations in society. Meanwhile, Lenin helped me understand the nature of the state and political power. Reading The State and Revolution in particular helped me understand how the state machine works, and whose interests the government represents.
I also find that having a clear understanding of how the world works, and how capitalism has been defeated previously helps build a positive outlook.
In one way, it’s made me optimistic. I know the victory of socialism is inevitable.
But in many ways, it’s made me more pessimistic in the short-term.
