Fr I think sometimes we have a sort of problem abstracting ourselves from the radicalization processes we’ve underwent from the experiences of the rest of our generation. I’m not saying that every gen zer is gonna become a communist or anything, I just think it’s potentially useful to think of oneself as part of a larger societal phenomenon, even if it’s hard to see. Many other young’ns are experiencing and seeing the same things we are, and I think a red wave is approaching fast as more of us enter early adulthood and have a better developed ability to organize.
For instance, I had a friend circle of about 12 people in college. All of them are at the very least communist sympathetic (in no small part because of my friendship) and most of them would straight up call themselves communist. This may be an exceptional example, but those great people are gonna go on to radicalize people around them, too. The seeds are planted and the roots are already strong.
I doubt many others will come to it through going down a quora rabbit hole while researching for a WWII related project, or randomly being recommended Genzedong by Reddit, and thinking it’s a joke at first, but I think I am doing my part in trying to move people in around leftward.
I consider myself first having become a lower-case c “communist” when I was 14. It’s been a while. I was radicalized by shitty living situations first and foremost, but through hours upon hours of deep diving Wikipedia and finding sources through them like the Grayzone (that they called conspiracist) I started calling myself a communist.
In fairness, I was mostly just an edgy, angry little shit. I was a “communist” first, then an anarchist, then a Maoist, and after finally starting to read theory beyond surface level stuff I’ve found myself at Marxism-Leninism. So it’s a little different, but the internet definitely radicalized me, an isolated hick from a Midwestern town the size of some classrooms. It’s a unique and individual experience, but I’m sure it’s only one out of many, many similar experiences, and many to come.
Here I am 😎☝️☝️
Fr I think sometimes we have a sort of problem abstracting ourselves from the radicalization processes we’ve underwent from the experiences of the rest of our generation. I’m not saying that every gen zer is gonna become a communist or anything, I just think it’s potentially useful to think of oneself as part of a larger societal phenomenon, even if it’s hard to see. Many other young’ns are experiencing and seeing the same things we are, and I think a red wave is approaching fast as more of us enter early adulthood and have a better developed ability to organize.
For instance, I had a friend circle of about 12 people in college. All of them are at the very least communist sympathetic (in no small part because of my friendship) and most of them would straight up call themselves communist. This may be an exceptional example, but those great people are gonna go on to radicalize people around them, too. The seeds are planted and the roots are already strong.
I doubt many others will come to it through going down a quora rabbit hole while researching for a WWII related project, or randomly being recommended Genzedong by Reddit, and thinking it’s a joke at first, but I think I am doing my part in trying to move people in around leftward.
I consider myself first having become a lower-case c “communist” when I was 14. It’s been a while. I was radicalized by shitty living situations first and foremost, but through hours upon hours of deep diving Wikipedia and finding sources through them like the Grayzone (that they called conspiracist) I started calling myself a communist.
In fairness, I was mostly just an edgy, angry little shit. I was a “communist” first, then an anarchist, then a Maoist, and after finally starting to read theory beyond surface level stuff I’ve found myself at Marxism-Leninism. So it’s a little different, but the internet definitely radicalized me, an isolated hick from a Midwestern town the size of some classrooms. It’s a unique and individual experience, but I’m sure it’s only one out of many, many similar experiences, and many to come.