this post was submitted on 28 Jan 2024
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Alternatives to "leftist" or "progressive"? (lemmygrad.ml)
submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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Any tips for identifying oneself to new folks that let you "skip intro" and get into the results-focused conversations about improving our condition?

In union work I've identified myself as a socialist for awhile, but now just say communist if I'm friendly with the party or avoid it all together. The west has so poisoned the lexicon that I feel variations of "pragmatist" are all that reliably skip the small talk and moves us straight into serious convos.

In my opinion, left/right framing is standard eurocentric good/bad BS that creates an antagonistic stage from the outset that passively endorses the current system and linear thinking. If the language itself comes out of the failed French Revolution, are there not better terms we can use to distance ourselves from the ideological lib stench surrounding Left/Progressive today and simultaneously indicate we're here to get shit done?

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 9 months ago (1 children)

“I’m a Stalinist but I’ve also been reading a lot of Mao lately and really starting to appreciate his work”

This accomplishes three things at once:

  1. The standard left/right framing is completely off the table now
  2. It demonstrates that there are different strands of communism and you know the differences
  3. The attention is now completely off of “so you’re saying you’re a commie” and instead goes to “wait what’s the difference between Stalin and Mao?”

That’s your way in. About 2/3 of the people I’ve talked to ended up being more curious about why I make it such a big deal between Stalin and Mao rather than going straight into their preprogrammed “oh you’re just a commie” schtick. You now have a small window to educate them.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

So appreciate everyone's feedback and I think this (and variations of this) is what I'll go with. Thank you!