I’ll have to think about it! I’m extremely busy lately, and have recently begun org work IRL on top of that, so my hands are pretty full at the moment, but I’ll keep it in mind!

Yea, been thinking about doing it recently.

Gotcha.

Considering it, for sure! Are there any other good servers I should know about? Doesn’t have to be commie focused.

Fantastic article! I already agree with federated, explicitly leftist spaces as our base, but one thing I see under-mentioned is the necessity of engaging with reactionary-controlled spaces to agitate and bring people over to our spaces. We need to be on Reddit to bring people to Lemmy. We need to be on Lemmy.ml to bring people from Lemmy.world and the like to places like Lemmygrad.ml and Hexbear.net. We need to be on Twitter to bring people to Mastadon.

One thing I really think is helpful is agitating not just on Reddit, for example, but on Lemmy.ml in areas where radicalized liberals can see it. It’s why I host my intro ML reading list there, and do all of my agitation there. I have recieved DMs from users thanking me for continuously pushing the ML perspective and helping change their minds, so I know it works.

At the same time, the areas we control, such as Lemmygrad.ml, need to be developed spaces that are easy to transition people to. Introductory reading guides, helpful FAQs, and more are already great exampled we do. We need to continue fostering our communities here so that we have spaces to bring people.

All in all, excellent article, well done comrade!

toots.matopacos.dog is Left-Unity, run by a Hexbear user. ML content is welcome.

I agree! Would be a fun way to try to sharpen our skills.

Great way to put it, exactly! Spend the effort where it’s most effective and you’ll win in the long run.

Thanks! And you hit the nail on the head, the controversial and harder to tackle concepts come after the basics, which are easier to grasp and more capable of being taught. We often let past generations and their nuance dominate the present, when all it really takes to get liberals to begin to see our frame of view is starting with basic principles.

No problem, comrade!

Agitprop on Lemmy.world is very difficult, it’s much easier on Lemmy.ml. My view is that you should focus on the radicalized liberals first, as they are the easiest to turn into comrades, and you should do so in spaces where you aren’t going to be dogpiled on.

If you insist on doing agitprop on Lemmy.world, try to keep it short, small, clear, and on non-controversial topics. As an example, touching Russia/Ukraine on Lemmy.world is already a lost cause, but you can demystify socialism and advocate for it there. Other users may come to more correct positions on Russia/Ukraine by getting more into socialism, and you don’t paint a massive target on your back. As a rule of thumb, you should be ratioing those who you’re talking with, or else you might end up backfiring.

I also recommend reading False Witnesses, “Brainwashing”, and Masses, Elites, and Rebels: The Theory of “Brainwashing” in order to better understand how people think. Identifying what lines you can push in what audiences is 90% of the effort, the last 10% is remaining calm and trying to use your own words rather than endless Marx quotes or whatnot.

Good luck!

Yep, absolutely! I try to atone for my sins by trying to rectify mistakes my past self made in others.

I hate that this used to be me in my old Reddit days years ago.

I think what’s ultimately going on is your feelings of alienation in the present capitalist system push you into an individualist direction. This is similar to where a lot of anarchists come from, but there are some false equivalences here, and some under-baked analysis of class, that lead to your wariness about socialism.

Capitalism and socialism aren’t systems because anyone wants them, but are economically compelled. Capitalists aren’t the masters of capitalism, but the best at gaining profits. Capitalism doesn’t care about what people want, it naturally selects for those best pursuing profits. Capital is a control system. For more on that, see Marx on Capital as a Real God.

Similarly, socialism is not when a big mean person tells everyone to produce widgets at the widget factory and the mean person eats all of the widgets. Socialism is when the working class is in control, and begins to orient production from the pursuit of profits to the satisfaction of needs. Markets and other diverse forms of property ownership can exist at less developed stages of socialism, as long as public ownership is the principle aspect, as control of the large firms and key industries means indirect control of the entire economy. Socialist leaders aren’t leaders because they want power, but are elected and chosen for.

I think you’d do well to research some of the tremendous gains of socialist states without the filter of anti-communist bias, which is omnipresent in the english-speaking world. Prolewiki has good pages on various socialist states that can serve as a good introduction, I also have an introductory ML reading list if you want to dip your toes into theory! Just the first section or even the first 2 works are enough for now.

Yep, it’s even funnier when you see the same quips, and think of them as being “common, uncommon, rare, legendary, etc.”

People collect arguments like they do Magic cards and deploy them whenever they want to pick a fight. The validity of the argument is in how it morally justifies the worldview of the debatelord, not in actual material reality.

No problem, comrade!

Haha, no worries! I also recommend checking out the rest of Prolewiki if you haven’t already.

Ah, gotcha! Prolewiki hosts a guide to organizing, including study groups. As far as social media is concerned, radicalization is increasing on both ends, but the shift towards the left is very real at an overall scale, especially among younger generations. Combining agitprop on reactionary platforms with maintaining our own spaces like Lemmygrad.ml and Hexbear.net is the best way to spread our message and solidify our base online.

As for AES, I used it to refer to “Actually Existing Socialism.”

I’ve been running the Capital reading threads over on Hexbear.net this year. In my experience, you need a good schedule, a work that is engaging and not too long, and you need to participate as well to keep the conversation going each week. Keep a list of people to notify when the new thread drops as well.

Radicalizing people is a different thing entirely. People are generally radicalized by their conditions, you don’t just push a “radicalize” button. You need to identify the radicalized people and help guide them to Marxism-Leninism, not wasting time on the fash or other reactionaries. Personally, I do my agitprop online on Lemmy.ml, which is more broadly federated. I stick to Lemmy.ml so I don’t get dogpiled on or censored, and try to use my own words as much as I can so I don’t merely quote-bomb, which seems more like evangelizing than an actual conversation. I also share my introductory Marxist-Leninist reading list if I think it will be useful.

Back to theory, I’d say focus on a subject. Philosophy, economics, imperialism, AES history, and party work are all excellent topic, as an example, as well as queer theory, etc. Start small and easy, then expand as it becomes more in-depth, if the threads die then start a new topic or try to go to a simpler piece.

Best of luck!