Tips, tricks, and things to consider in radicalizing people to the left, a thread:

First off, attend to how you see *yourself* in the process of radicalizing others. Are you treating other people as vessels in which you can pour your “superior” knowledge into? If so, you aren’t going to be radicalizing anybody.

Liberatory education is a process of mutual growth. It’s making liberatory relationships with people. Challenging them and letting them challenge you in turn. You are not, and cannot, “give” someone liberatory education as if they are an empty vessel to pour yourself into.

Liberatory education also is not (and probably shouldn’t be in the beginning tbh) about theory. People will rightfully resist being “taught” by someone who claims to know their lives better than they do and has all the “answers” prepackaged for them.

If the people you are radicalizing aren’t also radicalizing you, then you’re very likely preaching from a place of (self-perceived) superiority, not engaging in a process of mutual liberatory education. Every person you teach is also teaching you. Take those lessons w/ gratitude.

If we’re here to be a part of the process of liberation, then we have to be here to build up comrades. Learn from comrades. Grow with comrades. Not lock people into new forms of the same old cultish thinking because we live under the illusion that we know what’s “best” for them.

You should know by now the extreme pitfalls of people learning to parrot leftist language w/o an underlying analysis. We want to help people to *think* in new ways, to build their OWN analyses, not just mimic our own. We need to help them build their own political autonomy.

Radicalizing people requires holding compassionate space for them in different parts of their process AND communicating clear expectations for growth.

If you don’t strike the right balance you’ll either completely alienate people or entirely fail in challenging them to change.

Important: Holding space space for someone in their process =\\= allowing harmful shit to slide. People don’t learn how to treat others better if they’re not modeled expectations for accountability. It is SO important to hold compassionate, but firm, boundaries in this process.

Because we’re not just out here trying to teach people economic theory. We’re out here struggling for a whole new way to relate to one another outside of domination & control. We will not make that possible if we’re not modeling and practicing those ways of being w/ one another.

The “I understand why you came to believe that but here’s the flaw in that argument/why it’s harmful” method works wonders. Most people just want to know that you understand why they are where they are and can be incredibly open to new ideas once you show them that respect.

Allow opportunities for them to save face. Most people involve their egos in their position. When you’ve communicated your message, know when to ease up and let the conversation change w/o making them admit “defeat.” It is often enough to have planted the seeds.

That doesn’t mean the conversation is over, but people *need* breaks. They need to have an opportunity to sit and chew on new ideas and concepts. And many people need a way to do this without having to submit totally to someone else’s will in the process.

Check in on those seeds later, tend to them, there will certainly be opportunities to do so. Often, people will bring it up again themselves. Sometimes, they’ll act like they never actually disagreed. Let them, if you can, and be glad you can take the conversation further now.

I say “let them” here because I think we tend to undervalue the benefits of letting people save face in this process. Sometimes it’s necessary to do otherwise, but most of the time it’s better to mark it as a personal win internally w/o lording our victory over them.

Everyone has their in. Everyone is crushed in some way by this system, you just gotta find it and leverage it to help reveal to them where their interests actually are. Get to know someone, build a relationship with them, and you will find their in.

^^ Ex: Does their boss suck? When they talk about it, commiserate & also throw light on *why* they suck. Yeah their personality is trash but it’s trash bc they get to profit off of others who do the labor for them. We could all do a better job just doing it together, couldn’t we?

PLEASE AVOID POLITICALLY CHARGED BUZZWORDS: Anarchism, communism, socialism, etc. are all important terms that we absolutely should use and demystify for people. But at the beginning of the process they will almost certainly work against you.

We just have to be attentive to the connotations these words have for many people, due to the massive propaganda machine they’ve been put through their whole lives. There’s a time and place for those words, but it’s certainly not at “hello.”

It is supremely easy to talk about the concepts and values of anarchism without ever once mentioning the word anarchism. If you have a hard time with this, take some time to read more basic introductory books on the subject, bc those will help you find simpler language to use.

More on ^^that point, please do not underestimate the value of reading/listening to a lot of theory/political books and podcasts that run through the basics. Even if you already know the basics, hearing the language used to explain them will help you do the same.

STUDY: Seriously. Nothing has been more helpful in my work of radical education than being dedicated to my OWN radicalization process. Study doesn’t mean just reading, it can be discussion, documentaries, etc.

The more you understand, the better you’ll be able to talk about it.

A difficult one: recognize the difference between someone who is open to growth and someone who utterly refuses it. For the latter, you can leave the door open for change but don’t let yourself get pulled into pointless circular debates. Protect your energy.

A key point to “holding compassionate boundaries” is recognizing that you can only do this work with people who are willing and interested in engaging with it. For folks who don’t and continue to do harm, a compassionate boundary might mean cutting them off.

Be compassionate to yourself in this process too! You’re not perfect, you’re still learning. If you get into a conversation w/ someone & you don’t know how to answer a question, that’s ok! Even if they’re a jerk about it. Take it as a lesson on what you need to learn more about.

Ultimately, there are no specific steps on exactly how to radicalize people, because everyone is different! This is why I spoke to process in this thread, rather than giving a step-by-step how-to. Liberatory education is, ultimately, relationship building.

Take your time, develop your own understanding, learn how to set & maintain compassionate boundaries & relational norms for change, & have patience. Some people are slow going, others pick it up right away, but regardless it is an amazing and fulfilling process to be a part of.

Anyway, I try to do this kind of thing on a regular basis to make information more accessible to others. I will always do it for free, but if you like it and want to show your support you can either give love to my tip jars or join my Patreon: http://patreon.com/butchanarchy