I was at a local bookstore/clothing consignment/vinyl shop with a friend because he collects vinyl. I was looking through the books and spotted "A People's History of the United States" by Zinn and ended up picking it up for another friend. I started talking to the owner as I was ringing up about the few leftist texts that he had and how it's kind of cool to see that sort of thing in the TX panhandle since there aren't really many leftists here and he simply replied "yeah, we're out there."
I now call that place the "Commie Record Store" lol.
Last time I was there he had a 4th print edition of State and Revolution from 1935, that is now in my possession. The book is super old and the spine is brittle and I don't know what to do with it, but I feel like it's somehow special now.
He now acts as my source for physical books. I mostly read digital but I would like a small collection of "the classics" so to speak.
And similar to comrade Queerecommie, I have a hat with several buttons that anyone here would recognize but the average lib won't. I also use the big nerdy Marx words like dialectics, material conditions, praxis, bourgeois, etc.
I have a black flag, an AnCom(like my banner), and Anarcha Feminism(purple and black) one. Then I have a trans rights one, a smash the patriarchy one, and one that says All Cats Are Beautiful(ACAB). I also have Black Fist and Pride Flag/Inclusive one. I stay away from Hammer and Sickle just because it's so known. The earnings sound cute though lol. A lot of these can be marked up as like just being progressive I guess.
I want a DSA rose eventually.
Overall, it's sort of all over the place but each sort of represents the stages I have gone through along my leftist journey.
They usually say 'Would you like to join my vanguard party, Stalin's Angels?'
Seriously, though, I don't think there's a way to tell. The number of 'decolonisers' that cross picket linesā¦ or the number of 'Marxists' who turn out to be post-third gen Frankfurt Schoolā¦ disappointing.
Because I feel like heās just a Chinese nationalist. He hasnāt referenced any theory or performed any class analysis. He just recites taking points like ālandlord badā.
When they unironically say ābasedā or use āMarxistā or positively (multiple of my teachers have done this, Iām super lucky to live in a relatively non hell hole part of the US). Also when they say ācommunistā positively or talk about how they like Cuba (my peers have done these). A more subtle way is if they talk about dialectics or āpeopleās history.ā
Also, the way youād pick me out is my ātoadal commieā shirt, my ādeath to amerikkkaā shirt, my baret with a red star on it, or my Lenin pin on my backpack. Thatās by looks, assuming you havenāt heard how I always talk about communism whenever I get the chance.
Edit: almost forgot the pro-union/Sankara/antifa stickers and patches.
I would say people of all political persuasions say "based," and unfortunately neither "Marxist," "communist," nor "Cuba" seems to guarantee they aren't just a leftcom or similar adjacent variant.
If I say someone with a "death to amerikkka" shirt, I would push old grannies over to talk to them.
The one who said ābasedā also made clear his favorite streamer is Hasan. He also complimented my Mao computer background. The one who mentioned Marxism and peopleās history has a Sankara sticker among others. The one who positively mentioned communism im not 100% sure about. Last year someone complimented my baret and said they were reminded of Che (whoās great and I should learn about him if I didnāt already). We talked about music and the daily show and stuff. I wish i talked with him more before he graduated. I almost forgot, one of my teachers made an assignment specifically about Marxism and didnāt flinch when I praised Stalin.
I made the shirt this 4th of July and wore it to the independence potluck thing. No one mentioned it except my momās based friend who I talked about books with.
When you say ābaretā what kind are we talking? The military kind or pancake? Because Iāve got a bunch of pancake ones but none with stars on them.
Thereās not much a difference, I just know I donāt have a little button or whatever at the top of mine. My star is either felt which I pin or a pin of baby Lenin (you can buy it from Etsy, thank you Lady Izdihar).
My only experiences are with "leftists" who are social progressive, economically variable, geopolitically completely co-opted. Best I have gotten to date was an unlabeled leftist who said she felt NATO had it's part to play in the conflict. 99% the only people I've talked to with positive views (or willing to listen to positive views) of China, Russia, NK etc. are people in weird post-alt right/apolitical/center right spaces. If I ever met a real not-bigoted not-Andrew Tate-ified ML in real life at random and not some half-assed Maoist, Trot, leftcom, Russiaphobe etc. I would probably scream in joy. My expectations are not that high.
Communists might on first glance appear like wizards or sorcerers when they hold wands adorned with crimson cloth or when they don caps inscribed with the carmesin pentagram, and they certainly share their love of physical tomes to carry with them, however they differ from those classes in that they like to flock together, and it is not uncommon to encounter a whole party comprised entirely of communists
Unless I see a Che shirt or something I have literally no clue. There isnāt a Commie haircut or facial hair type thatās seen as communist here in the USA at least. Canāt speak for the rest of the world, or even for the rest of the US now that I think of it. When it comes to the MidWestern comrades idk tbh, I wear Commie Soccer Jerseys (mostly bc they look cool, partly bc theyāre lefty) and a Deprogram hat sometimes but I doubt that everyone knows Iām a commie when I wear a Motƶrhead cutoff or my Jordan UCLA shirt. TL;DR You have no real way of knowing if someone is a Lib or an anarchist or anything just based on how they look, especially when capitalism sorta makes some people feel uncomfortable displaying their beliefs in public. I definitely think there are a decent amount of people who are too scared of the word āCOMMUNISMā to call themselves Commies, but hold beliefs similar to us in many ways. And those people DEFINITELY arenāt dressing in commie clothes
Ohhhh, my bad I kinda skim fast, got ahead of myself. The only in-person convos with a lefty Iāve had started because we were talking about Geography. Actually caring about the struggles of the people around the world makes you more likely to learn about the rest of the world. Thereās a reason why righties all cling to stereotypes: they donāt care enough to challenge that notion in their mind.
I still remember when i went to the party house once and knocked the proper 134 times. Nobody answered so i looked at the window and here they were - 44 irons on the windowsill, sign that the place was busted.
Usually for me it's if they don't point at me and make a loud screeching sound when I mention unions are good and maybe socialist countries aren't as bad as the US media makes them out to be.
Well, yeah. I know some of that stuff indirectly. Haven't been here for long, but there's a few of the concepts that appear over and over again, and are useful in actual conversation, even if sometimes not perfectly precise.
I'll start using "the material conditions of this codebase won't allow for the unfolding of such feature". Or something.
It's really hard to dig deeper into all/most of the concepts.
I know this doesn't answer your question, but if you are looking to meet comrades, find your local communist party. If one doesn't exist, there may be a pre-branch starting, and you should get in contact with a party like PSL to find out if there is one near you or even help start one. I contacted PSL and luckily found a pre-branch near me, and now I am helping with building it to become an official branch. I have met some pretty cool people this way. We come in all shapes and colors, and we each have our own mannerisms and come from different stages in our journey towards ML.
If you are not from the US, I hope the same advice still applies.