I’m struggling with people around me (in the US) being so politically disengaged and just apathetic towards very serious things.
I don’t want to be the stereotypical obnoxious commie who injects politics into everything, but at the same time, basically everything political and we have very different understandings of the world so its hard to just sit back and be like everyone else.
Everyone around me just doesn’t seem to care and I don’t know what to do. I’m getting involved with a party again soon once I get back on my feet but I don’t know how to approach people who are just chilling and galloping through, y’know?
Maybe this is a useless or dumb post but I’m just kind of lost
Ohhh yeah, been there, comrade. It can feel draining to see everyone ignore issues that you’re so passionate about.
I had initially typed up a hype speech for you, with some literature recommendations for radicalization, but let’s take a step back for a moment because our movement is only strong when you’re passionate and confident in your beliefs. No homework this time, I’ll try to reassure you with my own experiences radicalizing people.
I’m not a psychologist, take this with a grain of salt, but it’s my experience that someone is not open to radicalization if they’re satisfied. It usually takes some kind of event, like George Floyd’s murder, to make people militant and open to our radicalization as a solution to their frustration. It can even be on an individual level, like their landlord illegally raising their rent, or frustration with nepotism in their workplace. They will ask why, you answer with your Marxist knowledge you have acquired through literature and discussions with other communists.
Capitalism fails everyone in the proletariat, eventually it will fail your friends or family and you’ll be ready to help them understand why.
So are you saying we should wait and prepare for the right moment instead of constantly trying to create engagement?
At the individual level, as in how you interact with your friends and family, yes, absolutely wait. Something will happen to them personally where they feel betrayed by capitalism, or we could have another global capitalism failure like the handling of COVID-19.
As a collective, absolutely not, we don’t have to wait to join parties and coordinate political actions in our communities. I hope that makes sense.
Again, this is all the opinion of one comrade.