askchapo

I used to be like that for a while and the only thing that gave me the final push was things that debunk all the anticommunist lies/propaganda, and also debunking capitalist realism (the "human nature" thing). For me it started when I read real history instead of the shit they teach you in school. For an American radlib, "Lies My Teacher Told Me" is an excellent start. Zinn's history of the US is also extremely revealing. You have to get to the point where it's like, "Wow, everything I know about the world/history is apparently the opposite of what actually happened." That's when I got genuinely curious about reading theory, then realizing it makes soooo much more sense than the liberal capitalist realist mythology that everybody is taught and just accepts.

It's also important to note that it's hard to shove books in somebody's face and hope they read, given everybody's attention span these days. This person has to be genuinely motivated and curious to hear you out. Emotionally I was in a state of deep despair over the bleak liberal reality that I was living in. The contradictions were undeniable but I literally could not see a way out other than total oblivion for all, since that's the logical conclusion to that ideology. With my way of thinking, it was impossible to continue that way. Something had to change. Sorry to say, but that's what it took for me to finally make the leap. Now with what I know, I'm embarrassed it took me this long. So when you're trying to reach these people, make sure they're actually willing to change their mind in some way. For an American this can be emotionally difficult stuff, so if they have a big fragile ego you might not get very far.