We're agreeing on Zohran. My point is he got what, 10k people out to canvass and talk about freezing the rent while also giving a giant middle finger to the Dem establishment machine? That's actually doing something vs. The endless left pontificating over what someone said in a book that only nerds read.

[–] CyborgMarx@hexbear.net 4 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I've been cool, you're the one calling me a nerd

That's actually doing something vs. The endless left pontificating over what someone said in a book that only nerds read.

Again, Zohran is a nerd that was inspired by those books, if you're under the impression that he just manifested his political abilities out of thin air and intuition, then you're misguided

The ability to build an effective analytic framework and policy map come from those books leftists "pontificate" about, you don't get 50k people canvassing and phone banking without the knowledge to comprehend and simplify complex ideas, that takes education and THEORY

[–] MayoPete@hexbear.net 0 points 5 days ago (1 children)

OK I hear you... but also people don't have to read thousands of pages of dense theory to become left. If that us true then the left is cooked forever. That's not sustainable.

I shouldn't have to read every word of every theorist to know that bosses are screwing over workers. That's actually not a hard concept to grasp. I became a leftist because I saw all the bull that we deal with in day to day life and saw that the entire mainstream political system has no solutions to it. It was the Dems failing to do anything that really materially helped. I think you have this backwards... material conditions can push people to want to learn more and get more involved in the left. But also don't be the people that shit on anyone left of Mayor Pete and expect people to suddenly want to join your reading group!

[–] oscardejarjayes@hexbear.net 3 points 5 days ago

I imagine a majority of Hexbear has never read Kapital in full, but they're still leftists. The point isn't that every leftist should tons of theory, but if you're in a position to actually make change (like Zohran) you should have read quite a bit of theory, so you can put that theory in action, or even maybe write that theory yourself (like Stalin, Mao, Lenin, etc.).

Think about the Vangaurd/Proletariat split. Some people understanding theory is important, so that theory can be applied and applied correctly, but the vast majority only need a simpler understanding so they can spend their time at the task at hand.

You don't need theory to become a leftist, but applying theory can make you a more effective leftist, and strengthen ideological cohesion.