Someone please give me hope...

[KxWaal]

Basically, people are idiots.
No matter what links I send them, no matter how clearly I define my points - Some people just seem to refuse to believe that "Anarchism" can mean anything other than chaos - Or that "socialism" can mean anything besides the state capitalist societies they've been taught about.

You can try explaining things - Often, if you describe the concept of retaking the means of production without mentioning "socialism", "anarchism" or "communism" - People will completely agree with you - You mention "socialism", and the fucking idiots will accuse you of advocating Orwellian totalitarianism (Tell them Orwell was a socialist himself, and watch their face)

I even still encounter idiots who think "national socialism" was socialism. The bottom line is people are horribly misinformed.

Do you think McCarthyism can ever be overcome?

Do you think renaming "socialism" could make a difference? - The "zeitgeist movement" seems to have done this... (From what I can tell, they basically advocate socialism with a techno-utopian slant)

Do any of you ever become very, very discouraged when you see a people that simply don't seem to want to be saved? Obviously, education here is very important - Most of these people have been deliberately made ignorant under the capitalist machine... But how do you convince a people of anything, when they're too blind to see their own slavery?

I don't know - As the years pass, I find my beliefs getting more and more radicalized/solidified - And I also find I'm getting more and more depressed.

What gives you hope? How do you re-convince yourself of a humanity that deserves saving, despite the massive ignorance and ridicule spewed at us? Sorry for getting all emo on you, but I just really need to find something - I'm really at my wits end lately. Thanks.

First post, by the way - I've lurked for a few weeks, and rather like it here.

[Ele'ill]

What gives you hope?

Caffeine, booze, cigarettes, drums, sirens and dumpster fires.



How do you re-convince yourself of a humanity that deserves saving, despite the massive ignorance and ridicule spewed at us? Sorry for getting all emo on you, but I just really need to find something - I'm really at my wits end lately. Thanks.

Talking with people.


First post, by the way - I've lurked for a few weeks, and rather like it here.

Welcome.

[Summerspeaker]

Basically, people are idiots.

Unfortunately, this includes leftists.


What gives you hope?

Only uncertainty. As horrible as everything appears now, you never know what the future holds.


How do you re-convince yourself of a humanity that deserves saving, despite the massive ignorance and ridicule spewed at us?

:confused: I don't have sufficient power to worry about saving anybody. I'd like join comrades in relationships of mutual aid, but that never quite works out like it's supposed to.

[MaximMK]

Some people are so poisoned with negative opinion for the left and positive for the right by their parents since little that they will NEVER change trust me. The only hope is to try and prevent this. In the socialist countries there was a Marxism subject in schools but in middle schools where children already have opinion according to their parents. They are often manipulated and think the right wing is actually the one that wants freedom and equality because if they knew the truth they would never follow it. I found an example of a girl in my class which strongly supported a nazi right wing party and thought it was left winged. o.0

About hope I'm inspired by the brave souls that died for the communist ideals like lots of partisans in the WWII and in revolutions like the Cuban. That fought for freedom and even when they were massively outnumbered ( 200 revolutionaries, 10.000 army + planes +tanks ) they didn't give up and fought for justice for freedom. And won the battle in the end killing 1000 soldiers and loosing only 2-3 comrades. Numbers don't matter its ideals and the motive and being truly dedicated to the ideals for which you would die if needed that is what made those people win. The horrible situation and knowing they had to win or all people would still live in terror and injustice. We must show them our power and that we are not afraid and they will run like hell from our might.

[tbasherizer]

I sustain my hope by knowing that "left" and "right" are only part of the ideological suspension of the present time. Object laws of history will be followed, and as the Venetian merchant who yearned for more open trade into the North finally got it, so will the starving masses of the Third World and the dissatisfied ones of the First achieve their goals. The revolution will happen- Not by everyone adopting our 'general position' as a result of our active persuasion, but by our 'general position' becoming the norm via the permutation of contemporary objective material conditions.

In other words, I take a slightly religious slant on it. Instead of saying "On judgement day, you'll see that I'm right!", I say "In five hundred years, historians will look back on us and know I was right!"

[Minima]

If you don't believe in historical necessity and you are indeed at your wit's end, you could always respond to the obscenity of life and the excesses of capitalism in kind - With an irrational gesture towards a good and ideal life and fair world.

In that to do this is pointless in a world where other people will not do the same, and it there is the possibility that nothing will come of it, is insane, Do it anyway to spite the world. Your generosity, your goodwill and understanding is your insanity, and you can identify with all the beauty and tragedy in it until you find a more stable ground. but you may find, that in the insanity of goodwill and reckless determination there is much truth!

Onwards my good comrade!

[Aspiring Humanist]

America is a lost cause, the people have been wallowing in propaganda and willful ignorance since the first red scare, and by now its embedded deep within their psyche that communism = bad.
I think Steinbecks quote sums things up pretty well
"Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat, but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires."
— John Steinbeck

[Decolonize The Left]

Basically, people are idiots.
No matter what links I send them, no matter how clearly I define my points - Some people just seem to refuse to believe that "Anarchism" can mean anything other than chaos - Or that "socialism" can mean anything besides the state capitalist societies they've been taught about.

You can try explaining things - Often, if you describe the concept of retaking the means of production without mentioning "socialism", "anarchism" or "communism" - People will completely agree with you - You mention "socialism", and the fucking idiots will accuse you of advocating Orwellian totalitarianism (Tell them Orwell was a socialist himself, and watch their face)

I even still encounter idiots who think "national socialism" was socialism. The bottom line is people are horribly misinformed.

Do you think McCarthyism can ever be overcome?

Do you think renaming "socialism" could make a difference? - The "zeitgeist movement" seems to have done this... (From what I can tell, they basically advocate socialism with a techno-utopian slant)

Do any of you ever become very, very discouraged when you see a people that simply don't seem to want to be saved? Obviously, education here is very important - Most of these people have been deliberately made ignorant under the capitalist machine... But how do you convince a people of anything, when they're too blind to see their own slavery?

I don't know - As the years pass, I find my beliefs getting more and more radicalized/solidified - And I also find I'm getting more and more depressed.

What gives you hope? How do you re-convince yourself of a humanity that deserves saving, despite the massive ignorance and ridicule spewed at us? Sorry for getting all emo on you, but I just really need to find something - I'm really at my wits end lately. Thanks.

First post, by the way - I've lurked for a few weeks, and rather like it here.

Humanity doesn't "deserve saving," as if any one (or number) of us could save it anyway. Socialism doesn't need renaming or repackaging or anything to become successful or established. There is no easy answer or simple path - there is no "hope" for a utopian idea of how people will be because utopian ideas fundamentally cannot be achieved.
Better than providing "points" on what would be a better way to do things is to work on providing a critique of what is actually happening. Let people work with the critique as they will; the fact that it is made and heard is enough.
Socialism comes about when enough people understand their situation as workers and decide to change it - not when enough people tell others it's a good idea.

We will in a crooked and convoluted world whereby the capitalist system continues to wreck havoc on the working class and this havoc is repackaged and sold to us through spectacle.

There is only resistance and this resistance takes whatever form you can manage in your situation. You are not selling idiots on anarchism/communism/socialism, this will not work. People have to see things for the way they are on their own and you cannot open their eyes for them, nor is it your responsibility. Your responsibility is to do what you think is right when you can. Your responsibility is to try, that is all.

- August

[a rebel]

[QUOTE=Mari3L;2122182]Caffeine, booze, cigarettes, drums, sirens and dumpster fires.

You are truly a comrade of mine. But don't forget sex

And to answer your question, do all of the above, engage in debate with intelligent people. And i don't know why, but putting up a socialist poster, or wearing a socialist shirt always puts me in a good mood, something about just showing people who I am and watching them go "gasp he's a commie!".

[Summerspeaker]

And i don't know why, but putting up a socialist poster, or wearing a socialist shirt always puts me in a good mood, something about just showing people who I am and watching them go "gasp he's a commie!".

Indeed. Even if they're mostly useless, leftist events where we display our colors have a pleasing emotional effect. A bunch of folks wore the red and black for a May Day march here in town.

[a rebel]

your lucky, I live in central NJ. No like minded people to have a parade with. I have to go to NYC for that

[Ele'ill]

Yeah, most militant marches put me in a good mood.

[RED DAVE]

There's also a hell of a lot of good books you can read.

RED DAVE

[cop an Attitude]

Do any of you ever become very, very discouraged when you see a people that simply don't seem to want to be saved? Obviously, education here is very important - Most of these people have been deliberately made ignorant under the capitalist machine... But how do you convince a people of anything, when they're too blind to see their own slavery?

I don't know - As the years pass, I find my beliefs getting more and more radicalized/solidified - And I also find I'm getting more and more depressed.

What gives you hope? How do you re-convince yourself of a humanity that deserves saving, despite the massive ignorance and ridicule spewed at us? Sorry for getting all emo on you, but I just really need to find something - I'm really at my wits end lately. Thanks.

First post, by the way - I've lurked for a few weeks, and rather like it here.


Well welcome, I'm often caught in the same issue myself. It's the golden question, where's the hope when your facing the largest enemy ever known to humanity. It's an easy answer, open your mind further.

Go out and make a difference. If you have plans to be an accountant or whatever, drop them. It's not sustainable for a long term career in the outlook of the future. Start becoming active in protest, help the community, travel. Read and research things outside your view to expand your perspective. I would recommend the Tao Te Ching, after I read that when I was in your shoes, I felt a bit better. What if this utter ignorance is met with a global disaster, and with so many calamities pointed at us right now, it's bound to happen real soon. This total control the higher class is waging may be its undoing, when the people turn from housecats to lions. A slap in the face to how we normally live our safe lives. With every brushfire comes sprouts of green from the ashes.

It's a very sad fact but I feel that I am just preparing myself for a historic future. While my grandfather prepared to be shipped overseas to fight a Fascist invasion and how my father learned how to fix washers as modern technology made them more abundant to the times, I prepare myself on how to survive and more so thrive, in a mirky future. Watch the news and wait in vain for that big splash. Call me cynical, but I feel you need the times to be ripe. Rome will do itself in.

[tachosomoza]

Fighting police brutality and informing people of the fact that God is nothing more than a tool employed by the elites throughout history to oppress and destroy the worker generally does it for me. A good direct action event never hurts, though.

[Zav]

Welcome to RevLeft. McCarthy single-handedly destroyed Socialism in the U.S. It may take a generation or two before the Cold War Capitalist propaganda's effect wears off. What gives me hope for Communism (and Socialism in general) is that I was able to question the system and learn from what I found. I only needed to think to find myself despising Capitalism. To this day I have only met one other Far-Leftist in person (that I know of, anyway) that didn't become radical because of my re-education. The People are ignorant of the truth, but they are not guilty for it. If we want to achieve Communism, then we must at least try, else Marx's, Kropotkin's, Bakunin's and Lenin's ideas will rot on the shelf, untouched by a population blinded by the greedy.