What’s something low profile comrades say that communicate immediately that they know which side they fight for in the class struggle?
Example: if anyone in the wild speaks “material conditions”, or “bourgeois state”, out loud, I’m listening.
Usually it’s the breath. We all have the same breath because we all use the same toothbrush.
😂😂😂😂😂
Nice try, fed
Lmao, this guy doesn’t know the codeword.
I was at a local bookstore/clothing consignment/vinyl shop with a friend because he collects vinyl. I was looking through the books and spotted “A People’s History of the United States” by Zinn and ended up picking it up for another friend. I started talking to the owner as I was ringing up about the few leftist texts that he had and how it’s kind of cool to see that sort of thing in the TX panhandle since there aren’t really many leftists here and he simply replied “yeah, we’re out there.”
I now call that place the “Commie Record Store” lol.
Last time I was there he had a 4th print edition of State and Revolution from 1935, that is now in my possession. The book is super old and the spine is brittle and I don’t know what to do with it, but I feel like it’s somehow special now.
He now acts as my source for physical books. I mostly read digital but I would like a small collection of “the classics” so to speak.
And similar to comrade Queerecommie, I have a hat with several buttons that anyone here would recognize but the average lib won’t. I also use the big nerdy Marx words like dialectics, material conditions, praxis, bourgeois, etc.
What buttons do you have on your hat? I’d like to do something similar.
I wear hammer and sickle earrings pretty often, but I’ve never really had comments.
I have a black flag, an AnCom(like my banner), and Anarcha Feminism(purple and black) one. Then I have a trans rights one, a smash the patriarchy one, and one that says All Cats Are Beautiful(ACAB). I also have Black Fist and Pride Flag/Inclusive one. I stay away from Hammer and Sickle just because it’s so known. The earnings sound cute though lol. A lot of these can be marked up as like just being progressive I guess.
I want a DSA rose eventually.
Overall, it’s sort of all over the place but each sort of represents the stages I have gone through along my leftist journey.
Nice, if you want to be more explicit you could try AES flags, antifa symbol, baby Lenin, or master Soviet hemp grower. You could also get random Soviet pins.
Edit: also based band pins. I know my dad has a cool Rage Against the Machine pin.
I have a few antifa pins that didn’t make it on the hat and I think the Antifascist Action one is a bit more known so maybe too obvious? I think my friend ended up nabbing the scared cat pin one from me.
I should clarify I didn’t mean the Black Flag band logo, but just the black flag anarchist one. I do have a Misfits pin that an old friend gave me and I was gonna look to get an Anti-flag pin but the SA allegations happened so idk now lol.
Antifa is assumed to be anarchist, so people won’t assume you’re a commie. I didn’t assume you meant the band black flag. The misfits are reactionary, but their music is good, so whatever. Anti-flag is generally recognized as cringe, so probably not. We should each independently look into pins for various leftist bands from SOAD to Immortal Technique. Pins also, aren’t too hard to make.
First, it looks like I’m gonna be listening to SoaD today lol. Second, I’ve actually been wanting to get a few custom pins made and have a friend that does graphic design. I have an idea for one with like a big rainbow and clouds but the clouds are big bubbly text that says “Stay woke, comrade.” The idea is sort of a on-the-nose way of making fun of the chuds that decry “woke culture” and such.
I just happened to be listening to IEAIAIO rn, which is quite a coincidence as I’m shuffling my whole library. I thought of more ideas. You could get a Palestinian flag, a panafrican flag, or a black panthers symbol.
Those sound rad!!
Lol the only buttons I have are a Starry Plough pin and a QR code that directs to Marx’s manifesto, so literally like nobody notices them
You got a link to the QR code one? I kind of love that idea.
I can take a picture of it later when I’m off work, it’s pretty inconspicuous, but comes in handy when you’re bored and in need of reading material
https://www.redbubble.com/i/pin/communist-manifesto-qr-code-by-psychicsappho/77266524.NP9QY This is the Redbubble link, idk where I got it from tho
Sweet thanks. I might have to order this in the near future lol.
It may be possible for you to get the book rebound or at least partially restored. I know in my city there are a few artisan bookbinder shops that do this.
I need to look into it. The book might even be a reprint. It’s old and in poor condition but the last date states 1935 so I am going off of that. I can look into getting it rebound. I’m afraid to really even touch it because the spine creaks when I open it like it’s begging to fall apart.
recognized one for talking about anti colonial violence vs colonial violence
They usually say ‘Would you like to join my vanguard party, Stalin’s Angels?’
Seriously, though, I don’t think there’s a way to tell. The number of ‘decolonisers’ that cross picket lines… or the number of ‘Marxists’ who turn out to be post-third gen Frankfurt School… disappointing.
I know only one person who is conscious about politics and he is a weird libertarian.
Honestly it’s difficult to tell. My friend is a huge China Stan and straight up told me that he’s a communist but I’m still not 100% positive.
Why ?
Because I feel like he’s just a Chinese nationalist. He hasn’t referenced any theory or performed any class analysis. He just recites taking points like “landlord bad”.
I have a friend who’s kinda like that, he says he’s communist but also says that freelancers are bourgeois because “they don’t need to exploit the proletariat to be the dominant class” ¯_(ツ)_/¯
A larper’s better than an anticommunist. Just talk about and share theory and he might become a real comrade.
I agree, but the entire situation is hilarious because he thinks I’m a liberal bourge.
Why don’t you just come out and say you’re a commie?
This guy flipped PS5’s while holding a six figure salary at a trust fund, managing marketing.
Like no ethical consumerism under capitalism and all but that’s a little excessive.
Wow. Would it be feasible in the foreseeable future to get him to use some of that on helping organizations and praxis?
It’s the mouth feel
Yeah they’ve got a certain taste
The socialist fraternal kiss, it’s something we need to bring back:
We’ve got a paradox here. You kiss someone fraternally because they are socialist, but it’s also supposed to be the way you know whether someone is a socialist. I guess we could just kiss random people and if it feels right it becomes socialist and fraternal.
Kissing will save the world 😘
I’ll let you know when I meet one.
When they unironically say “based” or use “Marxist” or positively (multiple of my teachers have done this, I’m super lucky to live in a relatively non hell hole part of the US). Also when they say “communist” positively or talk about how they like Cuba (my peers have done these). A more subtle way is if they talk about dialectics or “people’s history.”
Also, the way you’d pick me out is my “toadal commie” shirt, my “death to amerikkka” shirt, my baret with a red star on it, or my Lenin pin on my backpack. That’s by looks, assuming you haven’t heard how I always talk about communism whenever I get the chance.
Edit: almost forgot the pro-union/Sankara/antifa stickers and patches.
I would say people of all political persuasions say “based,” and unfortunately neither “Marxist,” “communist,” nor “Cuba” seems to guarantee they aren’t just a leftcom or similar adjacent variant.
If I say someone with a “death to amerikkka” shirt, I would push old grannies over to talk to them.
The one who said “based” also made clear his favorite streamer is Hasan. He also complimented my Mao computer background. The one who mentioned Marxism and people’s history has a Sankara sticker among others. The one who positively mentioned communism im not 100% sure about. Last year someone complimented my baret and said they were reminded of Che (who’s great and I should learn about him if I didn’t already). We talked about music and the daily show and stuff. I wish i talked with him more before he graduated. I almost forgot, one of my teachers made an assignment specifically about Marxism and didn’t flinch when I praised Stalin.
I made the shirt this 4th of July and wore it to the independence potluck thing. No one mentioned it except my mom’s based friend who I talked about books with.I forgot to mention, I first realized he was a Hasan fan after he said “based” when he said “it’s joever” and that that’s what his favorite streamer says.
When you say “baret” what kind are we talking? The military kind or pancake? Because I’ve got a bunch of pancake ones but none with stars on them.
There’s not much a difference, I just know I don’t have a little button or whatever at the top of mine. My star is either felt which I pin or a pin of baby Lenin (you can buy it from Etsy, thank you Lady Izdihar).
My only experiences are with “leftists” who are social progressive, economically variable, geopolitically completely co-opted. Best I have gotten to date was an unlabeled leftist who said she felt NATO had it’s part to play in the conflict. 99% the only people I’ve talked to with positive views (or willing to listen to positive views) of China, Russia, NK etc. are people in weird post-alt right/apolitical/center right spaces. If I ever met a real not-bigoted not-Andrew Tate-ified ML in real life at random and not some half-assed Maoist, Trot, leftcom, Russiaphobe etc. I would probably scream in joy. My expectations are not that high.
Wait, you have positive views of North Korea?
Do you not?
When I met my former coworker for the first time, she said material conditions and that’s when I knew.
Unless I see a Che shirt or something I have literally no clue. There isn’t a Commie haircut or facial hair type that’s seen as communist here in the USA at least. Can’t speak for the rest of the world, or even for the rest of the US now that I think of it. When it comes to the MidWestern comrades idk tbh, I wear Commie Soccer Jerseys (mostly bc they look cool, partly bc they’re lefty) and a Deprogram hat sometimes but I doubt that everyone knows I’m a commie when I wear a Motörhead cutoff or my Jordan UCLA shirt. TL;DR You have no real way of knowing if someone is a Lib or an anarchist or anything just based on how they look, especially when capitalism sorta makes some people feel uncomfortable displaying their beliefs in public. I definitely think there are a decent amount of people who are too scared of the word “COMMUNISM” to call themselves Commies, but hold beliefs similar to us in many ways. And those people DEFINITELY aren’t dressing in commie clothes
Notice I didn’t specifically ask about how they look. My example was about something they/we say.
What’s something someone would do/say that would have you think “one of us”, about them?
Ohhhh, my bad I kinda skim fast, got ahead of myself. The only in-person convos with a lefty I’ve had started because we were talking about Geography. Actually caring about the struggles of the people around the world makes you more likely to learn about the rest of the world. There’s a reason why righties all cling to stereotypes: they don’t care enough to challenge that notion in their mind.
