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?
I remember when I caught up to someone I hadn’t talked to in a long time the way I revealed my political journey was to make a point about how you can make edgy jokes without being racist, for example: Stalin did nothing wrong.
They just went stone cold silent before going “… uuhhhmm… I don’t really… do extreme left or right…” the absolute stunlock was priceless.