I thought about this yesterday when I was trying to explain the difference between socialism and communism. Even such a simple question requires so much foundational information. I couldn't just say they were different stages of society, because communism is really more a vector of transformation for societies, and to even understand how these societies transform you have to understand dialectical and historical materialism. So I'm revising my post to explain what a dialectic is and I realize I'm already in my third paragraph. Not only is no layman going to read this because its just boring philosophy mumbo jumbo, but I've wasted the last 20 minutes writing out this thing that I eventually just end up deleting anyway.

What we need is a streamlined way of propagating theory for a new online age. The Communist Manifesto was supposed to be the quick and dirty version of theory to propagate, but people don't even read 10 pages anymore. What we need are children's book versions of these ideas, summarized in an easily spreadable copypasta format. Not only do they have to be simple and succinct, but entertaining as well. Getting someone hooked has never been harder, because with so much information at our fingertips, its never been easier to ignore it.

I also think they should be modular, rather than longer masterposts. Someone who asks a simple question shouldn't have to read an entire essay, but if the question requires it we should be able to plug-and-play with additional information. This is the hard part, having separate copypastas for each topic that can work with each other while still being understandable independently. It's hard, but I think its necessary in order to bring editing down to a minimum and increase spreadability as much as possible.

Edit: oh cool I got featured lol

  • CommieHilfiger [comrade/them]
    ·
    3 years ago

    My contribution, drop this quote:

    “It is difficult for me to imagine what "personal liberty" is enjoyed by an unemployed person, who goes about hungry, and cannot find employment. Real liberty can exist only where exploitation has been abolished, where there is no oppression of some by others, where there is no unemployment and poverty, where a man is not haunted by the fear of being tomorrow deprived of work, of home and of bread. Only in such a society is real, and not paper, personal and every other liberty possible.”

    And if they agree with it, tell them Stalin said it.

    • axont [she/her, comrade/them]
      ·
      3 years ago

      I've tried this before and this doesn't hit with most people I've talked with. The base level instinct they have is to consider a hungry, unemployed person as deserving of their own poverty, not some person who is exploited and lacking liberty. They see poverty as a personal moral failure, not any consequence of outside exploitation. So the quote falls apart in the middle of the first sentence.

    • pooh [she/her]
      ·
      3 years ago

      Related, I made this meme a few weeks back as a potential prank. I don't know if it might be useful anywhere else.