DC is a communist

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01/31/2019 10:28

Subject: Re:DC is a communist

quote

Anonymous

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here again. I was trying to keep things fairly vague since this is the internet, after all. However, I feel as though I need to be more specific. DC is in high school, and gets good grades, especially in the humanities, so I don't think they're "stupid" or lack critical thinking skills. DC has always liked Russian literature, which I think lead to some of the more left-leaning authors like Gorky or Chernevsky, which lead to reading Marx, Lenin, Trotsky, and Mandel. DC seems do have ideological reasons for being a Trotskyist over the other ideologies. What sort of "youth outreach" do the Trotskyists do? They have also read more right/centrist authors, so I don't think this is a case of believing everything they read. While I've gotten into discussions with DC about their viewpoints, I haven't outwardly "lost my lunch". I was going to this forum to see if more reaction is merited. I am a Democrat (voted for Hillary). I am confident I know the difference between someone a little further to the left and a communist. The stock market idea was just a hopefully fun and informative idea, and we would use some of her savings. I've encouraged DC to pick a stock, but they've had "moral qualms about support exploitative businesses" their words not mine. Sorry for the long post.

OP you are overreacting. DC isn't anything and the Trotskyists aren't recruiting from middle school.

Communism to kids sounds great. Everything is "fair." Power is spread equally. The little guy is important. Everyone shares. Children, who are powerless little guys obsessed with things being "fair" naturally find this appealing. And, because they are kids, getting their heads around the complexities and nuances of political and civil society takes some work. Encourage it! Encourage discussion and reading history. Encourage him discovering what happened in the USSR and other "communist" countries. Maybe have him read about kibbutzes and how those have worked out-- and not worked out.

This is just like him exploring his interest in space when he was four. Doesn't mean he's going to the moon in 10 years.

This. I would add, your kid is old enough to see the downsides of capitalism as practiced in the United States, and may have a strong moral sense that exploitation and extreme inequality are wrong. As an earlier poster noted, Marx is actually quite eloquent on the miseries suffered by the working class and the ways that power structures are maintained. And simplistic answers are attractive (on both ends of the spectrum). She's trying on ideas, and as long as she's not in a bubble and is willing to read other views, she'll be fine. She's figuring things out. I'd engage with her--ask her what's she reading. Ask her questions about it. Encourage her to read history and think about how different ideologies (communism, socialism, fascism, capitalism, feudalism) actually worked (or didn't). Compare what people wrote to what actually happened when their ideas were implemented. (I read Adam Smith. Turns out, the guy was not in favor of unregulated markets and unfettered capitalism! And Marx thought that communism should and would happen in advanced industrial societies, which Russia was not.)

And I don't know what reaction you think you could have that would be remotely constructive, other than encouraging her to keep reading and thinking critically. If you oppose it, she's likely to just dig in. Don't patronize her and treat it like a phase, but keep in mind that it may well be--as she continues to learn and mature, her views are likely to become more nuanced.