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most people literally just think that things are going to go back to "normal" at some point instead of getting exponentially worse for the rest of our lives, which is crazy tbh (hexbear.net)

submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by revolut1917@hexbear.net to c/chapotraphouse@hexbear.net

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like even ignoring the worst-case scenarios we're set for crises in the immediate future that will dwarf the "cost-of-living crisis" of 2022-23 and the pandemic. but basically the vast majority of people are just hoping that it'll all be fine and we'll go back to how things were in the 90s if we have some Good Government. it's going to be interesting to see how the masses respond to this situation, which they have been repeatedly informed of for decades now, but which they still don't understand.

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[-] Damarcusart@hexbear.net 31 points 2 days ago

The hardest part for us Australians in my opinion, is getting people to stop being so fucking racist. I can get people to agree with pretty much every socialist idea, but when it comes time to any sort of practical analysis of China it's like their brains switch off and their racist programming takes over. I can literally describe everything China does in a vacuum and they will say it sounds great and we should do things like that here, but then if I mention that China does that stuff it's always just "authoritarian and bad" after that. And even if I do make headway with someone, they'll speak to one of their friends or a rello and it'll be back to thinking China is the evil empire from the Star Wars or whatever.

Do you have to deal with this stuff? I even have to deal with it with local "communist" orgs, who are MLs with CIA characteristics. I try but...it just feels like I get nowhere a lot of the time. I try to never stop explaining, but when I have to explain the same basic thing over and over and they just forget it the instant someone gives them an easier answer that means they don't have to think anymore. I just...I don't know how to convince people that thinking is a good thing and blindly hating the foreign people is a bad thing, even if they don't think of themselves as "racist" while parroting opinions about how all of China should be nuked.

Sorry for the rant.

[-] Dort_Owl@hexbear.net 20 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

You're allowed to rant lol.

Yeah I have the exact same problem, lots of racism around. It sucks. But sometimes people can be dechuddified. It probably sounds naive and a bit cope of me to say given just how shit the world is right now, but I remind myself that a lot of people here were ex-chuds. People can change.

The right wing, capitalist world view is built on shitty foundations because its built on a flawed understanding on how social animals survive and flourish. It is unstable and results in constantly fluctuating living conditions for most of the population. When the system let's people down, when the system shows its ass and people start wondering if anything makes sense, leftists should be there to offer an explanation and a solution. Our biggest barrier is we have to fight against the most sophisticated propaganda mill in history.

Isn't it telling that despite all that propaganda, leftism still exists at all? Isn't that amazing?

Sorry, now I'm ranting

[-] Damarcusart@hexbear.net 10 points 2 days ago

That's a good point, despite anticommunism being almost entirely all consuming, people still can recognise that the explanations given don't actually add up, even when they've had no formal education in critical thinking skills. I guess that's the root of my problem. I keep expecting to "fix" and "improve" my friends, I want to help them, but you don't help people by forcing them to change their views. They aren't properly changing because they need to be the ones recognising that their thought patterns and habits need to change. I wasn't "forced" into being a communist, it was a long slow path, and while people helped me, it was only because I was actively trying to understand more. I just need to be there for them and support them, rather than getting frustrated that we aren't making "progress" fast enough, because they aren't even aware that there is progress to be made.

This helps a lot actually, reframing it makes it look much better, at some point the contradictions of capital that I've been rambling about will effect them more noticeably, and they will connect the dots themselves with all the things I've tried to teach them. I shouldn't get frustrated when they don't bother to understand things properly, I should just accept that they aren't in a position to question the status quo that much yet. I should have faith in my friends and myself, that I can give them the tools needed to work this stuff out for themselves eventually, rather than getting upset that they aren't using those tools right now, when they personally don't see any use for them right now.

Though I still don't know how to reach people "further out" friends of friends and family of friends, who are just fundamentally incurious people who pressure my friends to think in a similar way, though probably not intentionally. I cannot fathom how people like that exist and I have 0 idea how to actually reach them, I don't have any friends like that for a reason, I can't stand that sort of outlook. But I guess if I can help my friends, maybe my friends can help their friends and so on, maybe this communism thing requires a group effort or something.

Thanks so much! You've really helped me organise and fix some very doomerish thoughts I've been having lately.