New-born leftist from Minnesota

[ShortSleevedMagician]

Hello everyone. I'm glad I found this forum full of people who are veteran leftists, because I'm a noob.

I just recently converted from a rightwing libertarian to a socialist anarchist. I have a lot of questions and I'm hoping I'll find the answers I'm looking for here. Peace.

[Commissar Rykov]

Hello everyone. I'm glad I found this forum full of people who are veteran leftists, because I'm a noob.

I just recently converted from a rightwing libertarian to a socialist anarchist. I have a lot of questions and I'm hoping I'll find the answers I'm looking for here. Peace.
That is a pretty massive leap. What spurred this?

[ShortSleevedMagician]

Well, it wasn't directly like that. I had been reading about the different types of socialism on the Internet when I came across wikipedias article on agrarian socialism, in which they mention that it emphasizes small government and was more " conservative or traditional" than other forms of socialism, and I thought "Hey,this sounds like my kind of socialism. I might look into this more." Well, when I found out that it basically just means collective farms, I wasn't satisfied with it's limitations and started looking elsewhere. From there I started looking into other types of socialism that had "conservative" words in them, like libertarian socialism and market socialism. However, after after coming across the concept of workers solidarity, I really started feeling turned off by markets, and after finding out what "libertarian" really means, I thought "Damn, I could never be that radical!" so I settled on democratic socialism. I was still under the impression that "I'm a conservative at heart", but each day, as I started to see theWorld from a different perspective, I began feeling more and more resentment towards the system. I think it was after reading about Catalonia, the Free Territory, and the Zapatistas, I really started to question the authority of the government, and finally decided that maybe total bottom up democracy really would be the best way to organize society. I read some of the Anarchist FAQ, and now I'm starting to get into Bakunin.

So,that my journey this far. As for what sparked it all... Well, like most conservatives, I had always felt a certain preconceived resentment towards the working class, perceiving them as a bunch of whiners that never feel like they're getting enough. I then had a bit of an identity crisis,and realized, "wait a second... I'm working class." and suddenly I felt like maybe I had been getting ripped off.

I'm also 16, and it seems like a lot of people begin to open their minds around this age.

[Caj]

Wow, what a coincidence! I am also a 16 year old social anarchist from Minnesota. :laugh:

Welcome to the forum!

[Révolutionnaire Acadien]

I had a similar deal, going from hardcore Republican, to Rightwing Libertarian, then finally to good ol' Anarchism. Or as I would put my view of Anarchism, Existential Anarchism. It feels strange coming out the leftist closet after years of being all rightwing and whatnot huh? But sort of relieved strangeness, like having your eyes opened all over again. The only tricky thing is that most of all my friends are right wingers, most are Libertarian, so I guess maybe I can try to help them with that final leap eh? :lol: They are still my friends, but I kind of have to watch how I word things when I try to defend revolutionary ideals. Are you experiencing similar situations?

[NoOneIsIllegal]

If you're in or around the Twin Cities area, the Twin Cities IWW is one of the largest and most active branches in the entire country/world. They get a lot of work done, and have a sizable anarchist presence in the union.

Welcome to the boards.

[ShortSleevedMagician]

I had a similar deal, going from hardcore Republican, to Rightwing Libertarian, then finally to good ol' Anarchism. Or as I would put my view of Anarchism, Existential Anarchism. It feels strange coming out the leftist closet after years of being all rightwing and whatnot huh? But sort of relieved strangeness, like having your eyes opened all over again. The only tricky thing is that most of all my friends are right wingers, most are Libertarian, so I guess maybe I can try to help them with that final leap eh? :lol: They are still my friends, but I kind of have to watch how I word things when I try to defend revolutionary ideals. Are you experiencing similar situations?

Well, most of my friends are dems, so they probably wouldn't be totally opposed to it, probably more confused/surprised considering my past. I won't see them until school starts so I can't be sure though. My one friend that I actually did try to tell just happens to be the only one I have that is super republican, and he actually got kinda mad, lol.

[Révolutionnaire Acadien]

Well, I would tell him something along the lines of "I'm an Anarchist because I think government is too overbearing on people, and people should be able to do whatever they want unless it infringes upon someone else's freedom, and should help each other out, because that way everyone wins." I don't think a Republican would have big time trouble with being cool with that, maybe a begrudging understanding at least. I'm down with socialism if the populace is cool with it. I don't think it should be forced on people by government. In my perfect world people would form communities aligning to their beliefs and do their own thing. I don't think any government truly can have "the will of the people", only the people can have the will of the people. Left to their own devices, people are going to do what they want to do, and I think that's a good thing. :D

[Die Neue Zeit]

Hello everyone. I'm glad I found this forum full of people who are veteran leftists, because I'm a noob.

I just recently converted from a rightwing libertarian to a socialist anarchist. I have a lot of questions and I'm hoping I'll find the answers I'm looking for here. Peace.

Welcome to the board, from a US state rich with labour history!