When did you realise you were a Socialist?

[TheGranma]

I have always found thhis interesting. For me I would have to say I first realised my own political beliefs reflected Socialism at around 15 years old when speaking to a teacher about Corparatism (In fact, I always believed Communism was a good idea right from when I first realised what it really was at around 12 yrs old)
Anyways, from 15 I always felt to be on the Socialist side but when I got to College this increased 10 fold!
My Media Studies teacher, Simon Scarrow (now a famous novelist) was a big time Marxist and his views couldn't help but to trickle into my brain! So now I am a fully blown Socialist!

[vox]

I should write an essay called:

BILL CLINTON MADE ME A MARXIST!

Back in '92, I was a Democrat. I firmly believed in the Democratic Party. I was more liberal (in the US sense) than the party as a whole, but Republicans gave me the dry heaves. Reagan, Gingrich, the Lott of them! I felt that they were the wrong ones to be at the Helms of our ships of foreign and domestic policy.

So in '92 I voted for Clinton. Harken, as I recall, was my early pick, but he'd dropped out by the time the primary race got to my state, so, in a show of party unity, I voted for Clinton in the primary, too.

For those unfamiliar with Cllinton's campaign in '92, he went on about the disparity between the rich and poor, the unemployed, corporations having too easy a time when importing goods factories they own in other countries produce, that kind of thing. Too right, says I.

But then, things didn't get better. NAFTA went through with no real change to the basic structure, and, just before the '96 election, welfare was destroyed. AFDC was replaced with TANF, with its block grants and Draconian policies. Clinton's Secretary of HHS had a report suppressed about it. But, Clinton said, re-elect me and I'll undo the worst things about TANF.

So I did, though with a sad heart and a skeptical eye.

Very little, of course, was ever done.

Too, I noticed, in this boom time of great economic expansion, the disparity between the rich and poor, something Clinton the Candidate in '92 raged against, became worse. This, of course, did not sit well with me, so I started doing a little research. Well, a lot of research.

I found Chomsky right off the bat, of course, as so many do. And I found Marx.

I'd read a bit of Marx before, of course, but at too tender an age to fully appreciate him. With Chomsky, Zinn, Parenti, etc., I got the facts of the day, plus a good dose of history and foreign policy. With Marx, I got the theory that helped greatly to explain all of it. The more I read, the sillier US politicains sounded. I'd find myself correcting them while watching the Sunday morning talk shows. "But that's not right," I'd say, sipping at my morning coffee, "the poor are worse off than before, here, look at these figures from the CBO, you insolent little bastard."

Of course, the mainstream media was taking on an air of unreality as I saw journalists unquestioningly accept the preposterous lies, misrepresentations and half-truths that prop up captialism. So I started reading more about the media, as well.

Somewhere along the way, I became a Marxist.

Being of the Left, I think, means constantly educating yourself. Being on the right, of course, means forgetting the truth in order to support your ideology. :)

So that's that, then.

vox

[Moskitto]

I found out about socialism when I was about 5 and thought it sounded like a good idea.

I then went for about 8 years without me or anyone else realising I supported socialism until now.

The school gardens when I was 12 I insisted ours should be planned by all of us and not divided up and having bits that were "owned" by one of us.

While everyone else was in total support of America I was opposed to it.

I nearly Always played as a communist on civilisation type games. And I always do now.

But I didn't actively become a full supporter of socialist until about 2 years ago (when I was 13.)

[Karo Chevez]

A person can attain a social conscience at a very young
age.Che realized social injustice as a small child when
he observed that the families housekeeper received a
small wage while others earned mucho pesos for work
not near as hard.I myself was born into a poor family in
a small rural community and witnessed first hand the
prejudice that exists even in small children who would
taunt and ridicule those such as myself in that we had to
wear tattered clothes and I still recall my grandmother
going to clothing drives to pick out hand-me-downs for
me to wear as a child.It is the injustices that we endure
as children that truly shapes our future outlook.I also
recall as a youth that a cousin,friend,and myself went
about in a juvenile protest breaking the windows of the
wealthy peoples homes,church windows,and shooting
out street lights,etc.It is strange how even as children
we can resort to force in an effort to make a statement
that all is not well.I am and ever shall be a socialist and
my heart is filled with unceasing revolutionary fervor.We
all need to recapture the rebellious vitality of our youth
and with unconquerable will ,once and for all change the
world for the better of all mankind.-Karo

[Freiheit]

i always thought communism is a nice idea, but it doesnt work, and i always had stalin in my head.
but with 16 a friend considered me to make a presentation about communism in school (1,5 hours). He was a communist. Then i had to read the communist manifesto and i was fascinated, i read lots of books about theory and practice and realisced that it is the only long term solution for our problems, now i am 17 and still a communist-utopist.

[Nickademus]

personally i never really thought about politics until i was 16 years old. but that hasn't changed the fact that i'm very opinionated (as many of you know). I was greatly influenced by my punk friend who kept handing me book after book from a alternative book store he worked at. It just seemed right to me.

[Son of Scargill]

When I first realised I was a socialist was,strange as it might seem,after I had been an active member of the Socialist Workers Party for some months.How I got there is along story,but I believe it started as a kid growing up as a relatively priveliged white person in Kenya.We used to have to drive through the Nyali River slums to get to the R.A.F. naafi(I think they're called PX stores inthe US)
The level of of poverty there was like nothing I'd ever experienced before,or after.Tens of thousands of people living in cardboard boxes or,if they were lucky,corrugated iron houses.The government frequently would bulldoze the entire place.
Also whilst I was there,Idi Amin was committing atrocities against the asian community in neighbouring Uganda,and the refugees were streaming into Kenya.I picked up the stories from Sikh friends of ours.Needless to say,the west ignored this,in particular,the UK.(Uganda was a Commonwealth Nation).
The govt.in Kenya was mainly Kikuyu,and oppresed smaller tribes.Death by hanging was common occurence,and worse,the prisoners were usually given 150 to 300 lashes as well as being hung.At the time Kenya was considered one of the best examples of Africa's"intergration"into the "modern world"?
I left there with a profound sense that there's something wrong with this world,and things had to change.
On arriving in England I then faced prejudice and insults because of my Irish descent,and from age 12 I started to throw myself into one campaign or another as the situations arose,until oneday I realised I had been following a socialist path for years.
And I've never regretted it once!

(Edited by Son of Scargill at 6:35 am on Nov. 22, 2001)

[Guest]

this is peterson2k4 I am on a different computer and I forgit my password

I learned about socialism through books. In eigth grade I began to read the "ism" series along with other books. After I finished my breif research I began to agree with socialism. I learned about the leaders and read book on them and their teachings.

[Terminal Frost]

When I realised that, in a capitalist society, the only thing people aspire to is to be rich. Money is the sole object of most people's lives. And most people will do anything to get it.

[Son of Scargill]

Money is NOT my God.

[celticsocialist]

I got into socialism through the unlikely route of football. I began as a Republican like most Celtic fans and it is was the natural progression to become interested in socialism.

[LeftoverAnimal]

I realized i was a socialist around 2 years ago (I was then 12) it was because I had become naturally speaking my mind against my teachers and they were telling me off for doing it. I then opposed one of my teachers when he did something stupid and was mean to me, so i then got in to deep shit for opposing my teacher and i said ' i do not know why you are having a go at me because i am saying what in my view is right!' at this time i did not know jack about politics. After the fiasco with my school my father talked to me about socialism and how him and his parents before him were active socialists. This then got me interested in everything left and helped me come out as a person and not be ruled by what other people want me to think.
Thats about it really!

[Hot Leftist Lover]

I thank NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani for inspiring my Socialist beliefs. The man has consistently put the interests of corporations like Disney, Chase Bank, and the New York Yankees above the interests of the people. He can also be linked to many incidents of police brutality and racial profiling.

After the shooting of Amadou Diallo, I started getting involved in anti-police brutality protests. Soon after, I saw the big picture: THE ENTIRE SYSTEM IS SCREWED UP.

The USA is a country that prides itself in being the land of the free, and at the same time is one of the most oppressive countries in existence. Real freedom can only exist if we make drastic changes to our foreign policy, our free trade system, and our civil rights. We must all liberate ourselves, because as long as we have capitalism in our lives, we shall all be slaves to greed, hatred, and corruption.

[RedCeltic]

Welcome to the neighborhood... lol...

My reason for moving farther left is in line with both "Hot Leftist Lover" and Vox...

I had been a Democrat..and voted for Bill C in '92... however combined with him, and Repulicans like Rudy... and my involvment in Labor unions... I moved to socialism.

Side Note: HLL... Welcome, it's nice to see another New Yorker here... Such a leftist town like New York... I suppose it's no supprise however... (i'm from Long Island)

[ProletariatRobot]

I have agreed with socialist ideas for a long time but I didn't know these ideas were called "socialism". When I started doing some research I decided I was a communist, but then as I did more I converted to more of a socialist. I think once we achieve socialism then we can move to communism. And then eventually to anarchism. I started to read someones interpretation of Marx about 8 months ago, but it was a little too complex for me. I think I'm going to give it another shot though. Any good recommendations? Right now I'm reading Chomksy and Marcos. Thanks comrades

[jimr]

As soon as I realised that the Government is not always right i began questioning most things.

When i was 14 i realised I had socialist sympathies, but simply dismissed Communism as a well intended idea but not likely to succed. After watching numerous documentaries about god knows what i heard about some Cuban terrorist called Che Guevara, (Dont know if you lot have heard of him :D)

I researched him and my best friends brother gave me one of the bios on him, John lee anderson i believe.

I was inspired at the thought that someone could leave their family and their possetions behind to die for is beliefs.

I then began to re think my attitude to life. I realised that money is an evil thing. It is something which keeps the classes divided. Keep the poor poor and keep the rest content. I also saw the way people seemed to be almost vicous in their pursuit of money. Willing to do ridiculous things for everlasting riches. I was disgusted by this idea. And i realised that if i only had one life, i would be best to spend it on the pursuit of a better life for the next generation. Utopia. Communism. Socialism.

[El Commandante]

I had ideas and strong opinions for a long time, I strongly believed in equality, an end to oppression and freedom. It just happened that socialism covered most of the views that I had so I picked it up and haven't looked back. That was about a year and a half ago now.

[MJM]

As a child I had communist beliefs, based mostly around what my mother could tell me on the subject. I couldn't understand why the world was greedy and no-one cared about the poor in the 3rd world.
However in my late teens after being told by my economics teachers communism was impossible to achieve I moved towards a capitalist view.I thought I'm gonna get rich and do no work like all the fat cats out there.
So I went into business for myself and started out to make my fortune. All didn't go to plan however. I had some guys working for me and if they didn't come to work I said nothing-who am I to force them-they'd get stoned on the job I didn't care as long as they did the job.Well things don't work as well if you if you run a business like that so I chucked the whole idea out.
I reflected on why things turned to shit and decided I'm just not greedy enough,I felt bad about making money from other peoples efforts.
Thats when I decided I'm indeed a communist and I've been reading and looking into it ever since,so you could say I'm a born again commie.
Che acted as a catalist for my return,his image kept popping up.I saw a guy in a pub with a che shirt, my boss asked me if I was trying to be Che because the hat I was wearing had a star on it, I heard the pope was going to Cuba, Elian Gonzales was on the news, some swimmer from Australia swam to Cuba from Miami, people on the radio were talking about Felix Sauvaugn the Cuban boxer, some band- I can't remember the name-was playing in Cuba all roads seemed to be leading me to Che.

[El Commandante]

MJM, I think the band you may be referring to is the Manic Street Preachers, they are a group with very strong political believes and are the one of the few groups to have performed there. It's interesting to see that people have been led here by destiny, spooky!

[Guest]

I first realised i was a socialist at 14, i didn't like ameicans and there idea of controlling the world
as thay do, that brought me to anti-imperialism and comunism and i liked the idea of socialism it benefits the people.

[MJM]

Thanks El commandante that's the guy's I meant.

[templar]

I first became a socialist when I traveled with the Canadian military in the 70s. It began with me thinking of why is it I am privelaged and why do these poor souls live the way they do. I t became apparent that if the corporations who exploit these people to make the Nike's we wear would pay them a little more for their labour their lot in life would improve greatly. Also, in later yrs I worked on a political campaign for a friend and noticed the type of people at a conservative fund raiser. Self interested wealthy types. It was after this I made a hard left turn and havn't looked back since.

[Guest]

Im still a student, but ever since I was politically informed, ive been leaning left, so to speak.

Actually, when I was a kid, I was a raving evil capitalist, but it was a phase, ya'see.

But when I became more interested in philosophy, economics, etc,
I learned about socialism and communism, and became a socialist barely before I knew what "proletariat" meant...

Then I read, (indipendantly of course, heaven forbid they teach Marx in school) The Communist Manifesto, parts of Das Kapital, and various analytical works.

I firmly support Marxism, and every day is a battle against my incompetant, jingoist, country-fried fascist peers.

[Guest]

Im still a student, but ever since I was politically informed, ive been leaning left, so to speak.

Actually, when I was a kid, I was a raving evil capitalist, but it was a phase, ya'see.

But when I became more interested in philosophy, economics, etc,
I learned about socialism and communism, and became a socialist barely before I knew what "proletariat" meant...

Then I read, (indipendantly of course, heaven forbid they teach Marx in school) The Communist Manifesto, parts of Das Kapital, and various analytical works.

I firmly support Marxism, and every day is a battle against my incompetant, jingoist, country-fried fascist peers.

[ArgueEverything]

dont double post. it makes you look desperate for attention.

[Supreme Regime]

I first learned about socialism and communism when i was about six. i only really stated considering myself a communist when i saw a huge mural of che. Once i had read several books about him i was inspired. Che helped me to see the evils of capitalism and what must be done to put an end to it.

[Kez]

I was born a commie, honestly man,
I popped out right,
I stood up and started singing the internationale.
No shit.

Then right while i was going home, i came across the police, to whom i shouted, get fucked u mother fucking oppressors.

Once i got home i started self-education, and by my 1st birthday, i had read das kapital and the communist manifesto.

comrade kamo

[Conghaileach]

Like so many others, it was Bill Clinton who initially pushed me towards socialism.

Around Christmas two years ago I believe, I read an article about an American company laying off a few hundred people in order to save profits. I didn't think it was right that they could get away with it, especially before Christmas.

Then I heard that Clinton would be coming to Belfast to turn on the Christmas tree lighst at city hall, and downtown a few days later I saw a poster on a wall about how Clinton was a murderer ("Slayer of Serbia" and "Butcher of Baghdad" I believed he was called) and a rally that was being organised in opposition to his arrival. I did a little reding into it and what I found sickened me.

When the day came that Bill arrived, the media were all full of reports on him and what he'd done for peace in their state, but there was no mention of the opposition rally or anything like it. I didn't know why news hadn't been shown on that story, but of course now I understand censorship and manipulation.

Then there's the idea of how it's no good to replace a British boss with an Irish boss who'll treat you just as badly, but that's another story for another time.

[peaccenicked]

For the first six years of my life and I can remember being four, I was surrounded by socialists,then it was scary meeting people who believed in god. And the older I get, the scarier it is getting.

[Hayduke]

THESE VOICES THESE VOICES I HEARM THEM
AND WHEN THEY TALK I FOLLOW I FOLLOW.....

No just kidding first of all became impressed by che....
later communsim followed

[Knigel Humdrum]

My Mother is a Commie and I was named from one of my mothers friends in the commie party. I spent years studying it and capitalism. I've been in and out of it but always learning. Many rallies and other things, became a card carrying member at the age of 16-17 and went to Cuba and then came back and have been doing as much work as I can with out going crazy and becomeing one of those street corner crazies frothing at the mouth.

[maria11r]

Its an odd thing that i am what i am. i live surrounded by capitalist ass kissing freaks! (ie. my family) I have always been aware that the class structure is fucked up (please excuse the wording, but there is no other way i can put this). i have met extremely rich people and extremely poor. it is amazing to see how the poor person has to struggle throughout his/her life, when the rich just use up the account that they inherited. Anyways.. i've always been a very curious little girl, and i remember my dad talking bad about this guy named "che" when i was about 7 or 8. i looked him up in the encyclopedia, and there it was, his story. i tried reading his books, but i have trouble reading, and it takes me a long time. it's worth it though; i love literature, especially something so great like leftist literature. I called myself a socialist a year ago, when i got in a discussion with one of my friends (right-winger). i still need to make some socialists aquaintances who will understand me, i know i'm close. i've got great expectations for my future... i just need to keep on studying. plus, i later found out that the people i have always admired had thought just like me..picasso, einstein, neruda (fav. poet), keller, martin luther king jr,... and obviously.. che!!

[ernestodekam]

I was just walking along...............

[The Rapparee]

The moment I found about the Russian Revolution and Che. I have always been for equality but it had no direction until I learnt about Communism. I understand the world better now that the blind that is capitlism has been lifted from my eyes by Socialism.

[Fires of History]

That's easy:

College-when I found an anthology of Che's writings and speeches.

WHEN I DISCOVERED CHE, THAT'S WHEN!

Power to the People,
Trance

[FSLNguerrillero]

Being raised with a father who is hardline socilalist and former member of the Sandinista party, it would be hard for anyone to see that I really didn't start to get into it until about two years ago. My father always told me about the injustices of the world. It wasn't until I came face to face with the forgotten of this media run world we live in that I realized. It's more than my skateboard and four closed walls, my cozy coutch, and the tube that tries to spoon feed me blind truths. In the course of a few years, my reading collection went from a few playboys to a bookshlef with Marx, Lenin, Che, Mao...histories of Nicaragua, Cuba, China, Russia. That's just the top shelf, lol. I've got The Wealth of Nations, several books on economics and American history. The key to victory is to know yourself, but to know your enemy better. Now, I am the bane of American history and economics teachers everywhere, heh. No one likes a kid who talks back and is right.

[vox]

FSLNguerrillero,

Without casting support for any foreign political party (for one can't be too careful in the USA these days) I have to say that you sound pretty damn cool in my book (again, without supporting any domestic and/or foreign political and/or terrorist and/or anti-"democratic" or any organization which supports and/or incites and/or initiates violence and/or sedition and/or conflict of any kind with "legitimate" governments anywhere in the world).

vox

[pogo]

To undertsand me being a socialist you have to realize where i came from. I was raised by a Republican family. Im talking people who would die for the republican party. They were also very racist people. Of course, Living in this family didnt expose me to any other thinkings untill I was about 12. Thats when I asked my father what the deal was with Communism after hearing some things. He gave me a long shpeal about a system of society where you have no rights and are brianwashed. Of course this was the opposite of what I heard, so I did some research. Not alot, but I did end up reading the communist manifesto. By the time I was 15 I considered myself a socialist/communist, and started participating in politics quite a bit.

[Anonymous]

my family are capitalists sort of, my old man thinks capitalism is great and the US is the country of freedom and oppertunity.
I am always argueing with him.
I discovered Che when a guy in my class brought in a pic of the che- lives main page and i started visiting the site and it went from there.

[Super Xero]

I'd always had socialist beliefs as a child, questioning why the poor were poor, why the 3rd world nations were the way they were. I first read about communism through a school book last year and was against it because it potrayed it as "evil" and "wrong", but after some research I discovered that it was the opposite and in which all could be treated as one, this has just happened recently though. I'm not a Communist but rather a Socialist. Che also inspired me because he died for his beliefs, he was trying to make a change like all of us.

(Edited by Super Xero at 12:46 pm on Feb. 25, 2002)

[Lardlad95]

When my brother first started talking to me about Che and socialism. I got really into, maybe even more so than him. He started talking to me about its principles and ideals. About different people, Che , Marx, Engels. Suddenly I actualy wanted to learn about something. I just couldn't find enough information to staisfy my self.

Ever sense then I've been questioning everything about Capitalism and those fools who think it benifiets all people when it truly doesn't.

[honest intellectual]

I think it was Che who first drew me to communism. I admired, if not his ideology, his bravery and dedication.

I had read the Manifesto before, but I didn't understand it, particularly the obsession with class struggle. It begins, as you all know; "the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles"
As a bourgeois rich kid, I have always been disgusted at any sort of snobbery and mindless hatred of the poor. I went to a posh boarding school for three years and the D4 fucks there just got me really pissed off. I was always anti-capitalist/consumerist and I was looking for an ideology to latch onto.

About the same time, I started reading all the social philosophical utopian type books I could lay my hands on: Plato's The republic, Thomas More's Utopia
Also, I've never wanted to let my life go along the route of : go to college, get a job, die (like a pig in a cage on antibiotics). I suppose I just wanted to rebel a bit.

I now want to die for the revolution.

[Anonymous]

Quote: from honest intellectual on 12:24 am on Mar. 3, 2002


I've never wanted to let my life go along the route of : go to college, get a job, die (like a pig in a cage on antibiotics). I suppose I just wanted to rebel a bit.

I now want to die for the revolution.

This is exactly how i stsrted to think about it, i seen everybody get a job, have a family and then die, i wasn't going to live like this. I am going to rebel!!

[TovarishAlexandrov]

uhm... i think it's kind of like sexual prefrence - you're born with it. you just don't know how to catagorize it until you learn the theorys. I was always a socialist at heart

[Michael De Panama]

When I was 13 I was very much interested in Native American cultures, and began reading a lot about them. I noticed a lot of the tribes had a sort of economic system where all production was divided equally among the members of the tribe, as long as those members contributed. I thought it was a great idea. I was talking to my friend, who at the time was 15 years old, and he tells me, "I think that's actually something called 'socialism'." So then I looked more into it, read a whole lot of Marx, and I've been a Marxist ever since.

But yeah, I've always been one at heart.

[Michael De Panama]

...Besides, I am originally from a third world country. So naturally I sympathized with the proletariat.

[Anonymous]

I suppose I really became a Socialist at the age of 14 or 15 after becoming interested in Sinn Fein. My Republicanism bred in me a social conscience and I became very interested in civil libertarianism. I was always I suppose anti-anti Communists but after examining it closer I saw the benefits of Communism. However I would warn against the misuse of labels. I got so paranoid with my anti racism that I once decided to rise a fellow republican Socialist that I had been chatting online to for ages, I did this by saying how Hitler wasn't bad and white Irishmen shouldn't have to breathe the same air as "nignogs" and women should be in the kitchen and making babies. Of course I didn't mean a solitary word of it but the fact I had said such a thing helped my decision to take an overdose the next day. I realise now that you don't need over simplistic Trotskyist rhetoric to be a decent human being or a Socialist for that matter. Socialism is different things to different people.

[BOZG]

I don't actually know when I became a socialist. I didn't just wake up one morning 'I'm going to be a socialist'. I just kinda became one over time.

[FtWfTn]

I started by thinking how much there is to life in the U.S. and all I got was that I was bounded to get a job with high pay so I can live in this "Free" country fairly. My life would have to revolve around being financially.
set, and then I would be treated as an equal. But I figured I don't want my life to revolve around money and the power somebody has over me. Moving towards the left just seemed like the right way for me to go. It happened to me when I was 15. (over time as well)

[Raztro]

Well I'm 13 right now (don't make fun) and I realized about two months ago my appreciation and beliefs for Communism...Help from you all would be very much appreciated...I have already learned so much from this community...

[Sasafrás]

Who is that Deleted Member??

[Angie]

Forever and a day, in one way or another.

I've long advocated the rights of Third World people and taken the flack from Cappies over my beliefs that the poor and/or destitute should be given more rights than they currently have. Also, I've wanted to work within the area of International Development for as long as I can remember.

At one stage, quite a while back, I got sick of being called a Commie (having been brought up by my society to believe that Communism was a bad thing), and started studying it to see exactly what all the fuss was about.

Through this study, I made a friend who's had a highly influential role on my "rebirth" (as I call it), and who I feel much indebted to, for teaching me the basics of what I needed to know, and pointing the path to further study which I have just gulped down endlessly.

The day I decided that I was a Socialist was one of the greatest days of my life. I remember sitting on a bus (I refuse to drive a car, as I feel that there are too many on the road as it is, not to mention the fact that the planet's much better off without them), and I was thinking about my beliefs when I just started grinning like a madwoman. Everything was like a jigsaw puzzle that had been put together and was finally complete. I'm still learning, will never give up learning, but I know my path, I'm extremely happy with it, and I see something ahead that gives me hope, vision and energy to keep going.

These days, despite the fact that I don't consider myself a Communist, I'm no longer offended by someone calling me one. In fact, I like to freak them out by accepting it as a compliment.

:biggrin:

[Sasafrás]

Well, I'm not straight 'socialist' just yet, but like Raztro, I have an appreciation for many elements of the ideology. I can, however, tell when I realized or at least how I became a 'leftist' in general..

As an African-American in the United States, I've always felt the need for equality in this country. While growing up, I had a great admiration for the individuals such as Frederick Douglass, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., who struggled in the plight of my people. I grew up with the knowledge of the fact that this nation is indeed a racist one and I gained some displeasure with the system under which I lived. I never had any hatred in my heart for people who were of different ethnic backgrounds than I, because I had always been exposed to them.

Like most American kids though, I grew up believing that communism was 'evil' and 'bad' and I frowned upon it until I learned about it. (You'll read it later ;) )

When I was about twelve, I became very interested in the Latino culture and the Spanish language and that helped me gain even more acceptance for different people than I had already had. I began to do everything I could to learn about different Latin American nations. I began to learn about people like Emiliano Zapata, Cesar Chavez, and others. Around that same age, I discovered a beautiful Latin man on a shirt. Something about his eyes and that little star on his beret just intrigued me. I wanted to know more about that man on the red shirt and on the bumper sticker.

During my first year of high school, I was a 'rebel.' I wanted to do everything I could to scare and disappoint authority. I began to listen to Rage Against the Machine and the music indeed stirred up in me a great rage against the 'machine' (but I cannot listen to them anymore because they've done what they needed to do).

Over the next couple years, I began to really learn about Guevara, that enchanting man on the shirts & bumper stickers. I came here to Che-Lives for the first time when I was in the tenth grade and I was about fifteen. By that time, I knew for a fact that I was 'different' and that my political ideas were very much un-like those of my peers; therefore, I knew that I wasn't the way I was in order to be fashionable. I really felt that way.

Last year, I began to take a marketing class in which I learned a few things about communism and socialism and also of capitalism.

So, now I'm seventeen and I am an anarcho-communistic-democratic-socialist. I sympathize with the poor, women, and all ethnic minority people in the United States and I refuse to tolerate intolerance. I hate imperialism and I have a deep frustration with the fact that my country cannot mind its own fucking business. I want to do all I can to help and to educate the people around me and I want to help people realize that the United States of America also must be improved before it destroys itself. I'm a leftist, and I know that I've found the 'right' way! :)

Sorry about how disorganized my story is, but I just typed as it all came to me and even though it may not seem to, all of what I said actually related to my becoming a leftist chick.

I'm glad I came here to Che-Lives and that I joined the community because all you guys have taught me a whole lot about everything. I really respect ya'll!

[Guest]

I simply do what I believe to be necessary and utilitarian. If this is socialism, then all people are born socialist, capitalists are the variation. As such, the only question on the capitalist's mind shall be, "Where did I go wrong?"

[Kingnothing]

I guess i became defenitely a communist at age 14 after an eye opening trip to cuba. I went to cuba but not as an average tourist, my father new havana quite well as he had worked there for some time so we moved around fairly like locals and we spoke alot to locals. We even ended up goingto a public cuban hospital becouse by brother got sick. What i saw amazed me, a country that would be as poor and violent as jamiaca was not poor or violent, one of the locals told me that it is a lie that they do not like fidel, he said if we didnt like fidel he would be history by now. They are proud of theyre revolution. Seeing all this justice really opened my eyes. But it wasnt until i was about 15 that i started really getting involved in communism. Recently i have partcipated of many prtotest here in argentina against the rightist governments that we have had.