Question: How to bring about change in an almost facist small town

[Nietzsche's Ghost]

I live in a very small town in kansas. It's conservative right wing to an almost facist point. Any tips on how to turn people to the left in this situation?

[hekmatista]

On which issues? Clearly you are not going to bring them to Marxism or anarchism (I don't know your own orientation) AS A GROUP in any immediate future. However, the Right is not a monolith. For the bourgeois who exploit labor, favoring the continuation of capitalist relations is perfectly rational; forget them and their kids. How do the wage workers in your town feel toward the rich and their kids? How do the offspring of mom&pop businesses (sometimes called the petty bourgeois) feel about their debt situation? How do the rebel kids feel about fundamentalist Christian ideology? How do the Christian kids feel about the injustices they surely see in day to day life and the conflict between their "Love thy neighbor" and the dog=eat=dog world they're growing up into? You won't find out by giving lectures on this really great ideology you've been reading up on. You'll find out by asking questions and listening for the internal contradictions within the answers you get. Note: I do not mean debating them; a more patient Socratic approach works better.

[bobroberts]

When you talk to them, don't use terminology they've been conditioned to dislike via right-wing propaganda. "Socialism" for example. It will just derail any conversation you have with them.

[Nietzsche's Ghost]

thanks

[Schrödinger's Cat]

I wouldn't necessarily call my town "almost fascist," but it certainly has a right-wing bent to it. The best option is to frame the issues they want to hear. Bring up the point that, in a fair system, the bottom 95% would be paying less in taxes - also conclude that it's always been this way. There's also the matter of talking about social vices like prostitution, gangs, theft, and greed being exaggerated by the economic conditions around us.

[chegitz guevara]

I'm going to guess that they are Christians.

Talk about Christ's Speech on the Mount, study and talk about the early Christian communists, talk about the Christian utopia movement, learn about liberation theology, get Thomas Franks' What's the Matter with Kansas.

You aren't going to win them over to Marx, but you might be able to win them over to the left.