How to talk about anarchism with normies 

Recently i've been using the solarpunk movement as part of argument. When what you want is not chaos and destruction but flowers and rainbows people start turning heads

Whenever I talk to conservatives; my focus is on firearms, decentralization, and elaboration of how Representatives are not representative. Oh and then I talk shit about liberals. I pull them over with those issues and along the way work on their prejudices. Also, focus on people struggling or with complications in life, people who are to comfortable will not be very open.

what's worked for me in radicalizing friends and acquaintances is offering an anarchistic viewpoint without the conversation needing to be explicitly about politics. i def have those political talks, but in the hundreds of other conversations we have about love lives, work, family, etc., there are always power dynamics and systems to casually interrogate, language to share abt the things they're experiencing, and feelings and experiences to really hold and validate. the grand political convos land a lot better when you've laid the groundwork of having these discussions abt interpersonal politics that have already questioned some norms, looked at hierarchies, and established trust. when speaking to ppl idk, it can still be possible to find a core emotional drive that informs their viewpoint on whatever the political topic of discussion is. if i can find it, it's so useful to validate that experience and then reframe my point around it. it's a little hard to give a thorough example, but like if i'm talking to someone abt prison abolition and they're expressing fear abt experiencing violence, i might give space to the fear of experiencing violence, relate my and their own experiences of violence, and then connect the dots back to why the current system doesn't solve that and why prison abolition makes sense as a solution.

This video has been very insightful. I personally want to make a career out of teaching Anarchist history and theory to college students. Therefore it’s always good to get as much inspiration as to how to convey our ideas to people who probably haven’t even heard the term Anarchist before.

I've had lots of luck because I'm a relationship anarchist and explaining how I handle relating with my partners - talking about centering consent in all of your relationships can naturally lead people to talking about consent in other parts of the world and daaaaang does that make talking about consensus really easy.

I'm what some might consider a "baby anarchist" (I haven't been an anarchist for very long, and there's a lot of theory I haven't read - given that's due to reading disability more than anything) but I have had a chance to introduce more anarchist and anticapitalist ideas to folks. The key thing is to meet people where they're at. Most folks, even if they're on the conservative side, have genuine grievances with the system and it's important to at least try to explain why those problems exist to them before someone takes advantage of their disillusionment and lies to them instead. I have since left this job, but I was generally well-liked where I worked and a specific coworker complained to me about our hours. I tested the waters, suggested we should both get paid more and work less hours. He agreed. I said that we could most certainly work less hours, get paid more, and the company would be just fine - those CEOs didn't need all that money. I'm not certain, but I think that gave him something of an epiphany. I had introduced the idea that we did not need to work an 8 hour workday to him and that we were still entitled to a living wage. Another coworker seemed a bit... conspiratorial, let's say. He told me he believed that there are things going on in the government that we have no control over, and seemed to be leaning a bit more towards false conclusions about that. I was more direct with him, I said he was right, and introduced a few anarchist ideas to him. I asked him if he read, he said he did sometimes. I told him about the anarchist library. "Just give some stuff a read, that's all I ask". For me the key to becoming an anarchist is to come to these conclusions on your own - yes others may explain things and guide you, but there are hurtles you must jump over yourself. My goal is to set people on the right train of thought, to think about the necessity of capital and the state.

I went from no political to anarchist aged 16. 41 years later I still can’t empathise with the worldviews of liberals, state socialists or conservatives. I think this makes me terrible at bring people across from those positions to an understanding of the beauty and the sheer common sense of anarchism through conversation and debate. On the other hand, by exercising the full range of my libertarian and communal philosophy in my actions and my interpersonal interactions, I think the beauty and practicality can be well demonstrated and soften people up for an ideological shift. Of course, I mess this up very frequently because of my various character defects and shortcomings but all the same, I’ve got it right enough times to believe strongly in its efficacy.

Something else I find works pretty well is to hit people where they don't have talking points. It's why I love David Graeber's work on bullshit jobs so much. Most people have a lot of preconceived notions about why capitalism supposedly works, but few people will defend corporate power structures. Almost everybody can relate to doing meaningless work to please your shitty boss.

We need to take a few steps back here, how do I talk to people in general?

This is all good advice. I'd like to add that often I will remind myself (throughout the discussion) how other potential anarchists may read our debate, and this helps keep me from being too argumentative. It's not just about the person I'm debating. This helps keep me debating with logic, points and counterpoints and not allowing myself to gravitate towards anger, even when my opponent does. Let them look like the hothead.

Thanks for this, came at a good time for me. I'd kind of backed off talking to anyone, feeling like it's pretty well impossible to avoid debates, and it always seems to lead to a doubling down. Recently I was accused of being too well educated to have a normal conversation with by someone close to me. That was pretty demoralizing and I've been in a kind of limbo about how to express my feelings and ideas, whether it's even been worth the energy that went into my own attempts to open my mind and understand the deeper roots of the problems I see people struggling with all around me. This video helped lift my spirits and reorient my attitude.

I'm an ML communist but am interested in learning and trying to understand Anarchism. I believe we can coexist and cooperate for a better future. Thank you for the video!

Nice. I think one of the best pieces of advice here is to just be aware of the perspective of who you're talking to. If I'm talking to a lib I will often talk about the failures of the democrats. If I'm talking to a progressive I'll talk about how the system itself cant be reformed. If I'm talking to a leftist, I'll talk about how you can't achieve socialism through means of the government. And if I'm talking to another anarchist then I'm in a heated argument about whether it's ethical or not for future societies to live in a civilization.

Great video, thanks! My only complaint is that it was too short. I would love to see much more on this topic. It can be a challenge sometimes to talk with other people, and having the insight and experience of other people, is very helpful in approaching these conversations effectively.

my question is why are so many people getting swayed toward sovietism, or provisional authoritarian communism

Omg I need this video so bad 😭 I’m surrounded by normies and it sucks to get told I’m utopian/unrealistic/who cares anyways all the time

I appreciate this video very much!

People need to be re-educated in being able to think for themselves

all good advice!

This video came at the perfect time right before the holidays. Thanks!

I've heard that if you bring up some communist/socialist talking points without ever using the words "socialist" or "communist," a lot of people will agree with said talking points.

I see some criticism for the short form content here but I just want to say that I’m really enjoying the abridged series bc it’s so much easier to understand and I can learn new concepts without having to be fully invested in a 3 hour video (though those are obvi informative and entertaining too)

This was the firsy video of yours I've watched and I really, really love your calm and articulate way of getting your point across. Instantly subscribed.

By this standard, I put my latest online interaction grade at a D- (almost complete failure). I feel like you must have witnessed it and this is your response directly to me. Great stuff. Thank you.

My experience with these conversations is long, exasperating conversations with laughs coming from them. Only for them to agree with my 10 minutes later. And then we discuss a new point🙄 I think Anarchism needs new snazzy propaganda to cut through state rhetoric

_Spread the bread, comrade!_

Thanks for this excellent video. Very practical advice.

I really appreciate this video!

10:49 That's the issue with me. I've fundamentally held anarchist attitudes since my earliest childhood. That makes it more difficult to empathise with people with genuinely held liberal (let alone conservative) perspectives. It takes considerable effort to not simply view them as hopelessly deluded, which probably contributes to my general fatalism when it comes to politics. To me, things have *always* been clear. I have trouble even just conceptualising how I could possibly 'convince' anyone of anything, when to me this stuff has always been self-evident. Feels like having to explain to someone that 1+1=2 rather than 3, or that grass is green and the sky blue rather than the opposite. I barely have words to express how hopeless the endeavor feels.

What makes this truely difficult is the culture of political divisiveness we live in. People are so invested in their political identities that it's angels vs. Demons for them. The other side is so evil that any criticism of their side or the system as a whole is heresy.

Great video. Would definitely be very helpful to have more of this.

Good video and something I discuss with my comrades often as well when it comes to talking to liberal or conservative friends and family. Only criticism I'll bring, is the use of this term "normies", I have begun to find it a bit condescending towards other people - makes it sound like we are better. I may too have similar terms I use internally with my comrades, so more than pointing fingers it's like a collective call to try and filter out certain terms and thereby views of people who are unfamiliar with what we have arbitrarily become familiar by and dug into. Hope it makes sense! Other than that, thanks for the vids as always. Keep them coming! How is Part 3 of Modern Anarchism brewing? 🌱😇

Yay! New anark video!

17:38 For me, it was a combination of discovering socialist alternatives after feeling anger and complete disillusionment towards the political system. Democrats made big promises when campaigning, but always had excuses about why they couldn't get anything done for anyone other than their big donors after they won. They would rather lose than to do anything to help people. At least Republicans were more honest by not even pretending to care about my issues. I don't think I would've ever been receptive to anarchism, or even socialism in general, had I not experienced that disillusionment. I'm just another example of these systems generating their own antithesis. EDIT: I also went through the "get the money out of politics" Justice Democrat phase before realizing they were also a waste of time.

Some good advice!

this is good timing. i needed to figure out how to respond to some neighbors i was trying to befriend till they slowly revealed their conservative/bigot selves. I'm still trying to think of how to best approach the situation, but ultimately i may find there's nothing i can do and have to keep my distance.

I make them feel terrible about liking cops

I’m an undocumented childhood immigrant to the U.S., so my journey away from the State has kinda been trod for me. My trouble is getting others to put themselves in my shoes. PS: for a materialist insight into the formation of police forces in the Midwest, I would recommend Sidney Haring’s ‘Policing a Class Society’ from Haymarket.

This man was spittin! Great advice.

I've gotten people to stop voting by asking them if they've ever actually voted for who they want to be president or just who they think will win on the Democratic side. Funny how many people shield themselves from that truth.

Like the video to get more views!!

Right on, fam. Pretty much exactly how I handle it. Nailed some important parts from my experience 🏴

first of all, note the class background of your interlocutors. this crucially decides whether they CARE about anything to meaningfully discuss it

"In Fact, I believe there are literally scientific studies that..." (6:00) come on...

The way is you just do it If you want to be smooth you just feel out where the other person is and go from there Spoke to a banker recently She is super excited to talk more Unfortunately I probably won't because I just feel we're way to far apart for me to get any value from it But she is definitely a person with shitty values due to her environment, but one of those that can actually change I believe, based on the convo She's an idealist, but she does admit banks suck, which means there's a starting point to build on The reason why though is idealist af ,Which I explained in a fairly blunt but not antagonistic way Again, you asses what someone knows and believes and then you fill out the gaps needed Also spoke to another person the other day who is completely on board with everything and wants to know more This is because this person already understands the system and problems, so there's fewer gaps to fill and you can basically just go to - do you know what anarchism is, if you want to The banker though would need waaay more info before getting there You can only believe something if the underlying factors that enables that beliefs are true Like if you fundamentally don't understand systems and wrongly believe human nature is x Then you need to explain to them why these things are wrong This is not always easy and most often it takes more time the more propagandised the person is And unfortunately forcing them with logic doesn't work You still need to lay out the logic, just saying that alone won't do much

When I get home and turn on the lights: Hey... Anark here...

truth has been spoken

Subscribed

Just discovered your videos, Anark, and really crystalized the idea of me being an anarchist for about a year or so. To you and anyone else who reads this (I wish RU-vid's comments section wasn't broken af), who would you rather engage with? Assume any side is equally willing to listen and isn't mired in "I must defend my own viewpoint cause I'm already right." kinda thoughts. The average conservative, the average liberal, vs the extreme versions?

My big holdup talking to normies is that this stuff is negative- it “bums them out”. How can I string together enough positive stuff to offset the narrative that things are wrong and need to change?

Revolution is a long game

Kinda starts about here 16:52

I love you bro

Remember Anark is so ignorant he literally didn't know any monopoly caused by government except in the community States. That's how little he knows of economics.

FYI: "Normies" was first used by ..... let's say right wing freaks, i"m pretty sure...

Johnny Rotten perfectly explains how dumb anarchism is, " a mind game for the middle class".

When I talk to normies about Anarcho Communism I never tell them that everything they own will become property of the "workers". I never tell them it will be taken by violent force if necessary. I never tell them objectors will end up in work camps and reeducation facilities. I find they often get upset when I mention this.

If you're an anarchist, why would you be trying to convince people to become socialists or communists?

"An"coms are the WORST at following this advice. Whenever I just ask them honest questions, I'll get about a dozen insults, people looking up my profile trying to dox me, and then one decent guy with decent intentions will respond with a massive wall of text bringing up multiple unrelated points, and a recommendation for a series of long-winded volumes of word salad to read. Face it: if you can't explain something simply, you don't understand it well enough.

I'm not particularly a fan of Abridged. No hate, just.. not as good as the long-form analyses I've come to expect from this channel.