How to change the mindset of the working class?

[salman1985]

I come from a country where the working class is primarily right conservative, with a strong affiliation towards religion.How does one go about changing this? i would love to see Pakistan develop into a socialist state, but as things stand currently it is nothing more than a breeding ground for religious conservatism.The only liberal tilt to it is found in the urban middle class.

How does one begin the change?


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[piet11111]

Just because people turn towards religion does not mean they are blind to their social conditions.

They are probably all too aware how they are exploited but turn towards religion as if that is the only way out of misery.

The way forward is to "patiently explain" and tell people they are not alone as capitalism tends to break down everything and turn every person into an island.

You can test this by asking the people what they would think about a party that fought for their interests.
Some will disagree and you should ask them why my bet is that they expect such a party to be the same old shit the current parties are.

[Full Metal Bolshevik]

It's freaking hard.

I think it's better to speak to people individually because they are more likely to listen than in a group of like minded people.

[ckaihatsu]

Break it down -- you can be an intermediary and bring their specific points to this thread, for the rest of us to answer for them.

[consuming negativity]

I would approach the subject from an anti-imperialist perspective. Talk about how the more left-wing countries are those who are most opposed to US meddling in their affairs (ie. Venezuela, Vietnam, etc.). Talk about how capitalism destroys real culture and replaces it with marketing, lies, and the worship of money and things. Just a few suggestions; perhaps one of them sparks an idea in your mind, maybe of something someone said once that you can latch onto to introduce socialist ideas into the conversation.

Keep us updated, as ckaihatsu said. Many minds are better than one.

[salman1985]

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

The problem i face is..

I'm not in Pakistan.

I moved to Canada sometime back.I was always interested in left wing politics,but my understanding of it gained momentum after i moved out of my home country.I'm still at a very initial stage of the learning process.

I follow the socio-political situation in the country closely,and with every passing day the pros of socialism hit me more and more.I've kinda reached a point where i want to form a political party with like minded people with,but not being in the country is obviously a major hurdle.

I write,and freelance for a Pakistani e-papers.So for me,the mode of expression is writing,even though i write in English which isn't the mother tongue back home,but i'm able to express myself much better in English than my local language at this point in time.

The anti-US sentiment is high in Pakistan,but sadly it comes from the religious conservatives more than anything else.In our last general elections (2008), the party that won was left oriented,but it did a poor job and faced a pretty heavy defeat in the general elections of 2011,to be replaced by a right oriented party.

[ckaihatsu]

In our last general elections (2008), the party that won was left oriented


Would you want to be in touch with this party?

[Zukunftsmusik]

I think the premise for this thread is incredibly wrong. "The working class" isn't something to be molded into believing this or that. You can't turn them to some belief (let alone singlehandedly), and thus there will be an insurrection (or, as you phrase it, "a socialist state" (sic!)). This shows an entirely idealist outlook. The revolution will come out of real struggles for real demands.

This should be in learning.

[brigadista]

Material conditions....

[Comrade Jacob]

Well, stopping being elitist twits would be a good start.
As shit gets worse an anti-capitalist opposition grows, that can be both leftist and fascist, it is our duty to be the ones to get our ideas out their quicker and louder than the fascists can.

[RedWaves]

I don't think it's going to happen at all.


The working class of the south that I deal with on a day to day basis enjoys being oppressed. They like being shit on by these rich corporate bosses that fuck with them. They believe the propaganda bullshit too about illegal immigrants supposedly taking all their jobs (even though it's their bosses that bring them in, talk about taking the bait hook, line, and sinker!)


They don't do nothing about it cause they like it. They like knowing some rich asshole is shitting on them, they like barely making it paycheck to paycheck so long as big rich boss man is nice to them at the job. They don't have a problem with it at all cause they've got the "pull yourself up by your own bootstraps" bullshit engraved in their brains. They worship these rich elite assholes, and always have.


I come from the south, the most conservative place in America and that's the attitude of workers I know in real life and deal with every day. The reason we have so many people going to church is because they think sky god is going to reward them after they die, and it's OK to slave away while you're still alive cause when you die, you'll have it made in fantasy land.