What MLs say: Actually existing socialist states are revolutionary projects that deserve the chance to protect their revolutions. They aren’t perfect, but we should fix the imperialist system that holds them back before we extensively critique them.
What these people hear: when the glorious revolution happens everything will be magically fixed
Sufficient brain washing education by renowned state institutions will make you bark like a dog against strawmen and only be able to hear what conforms to those strawmen give you the information you need to discern those pesky authoritarians from spineless opportunist reformers real leftists!
And also it’s worth giving them some critique anyway both for the purpose of benefiting their resistance and also just general human benefit (e.g. homophobia bad, though it doesn’t invalidate the whole project because it is not inherent to the project)
What MLs say: Actually existing socialist states are revolutionary projects that deserve the chance to protect their revolutions. They aren’t perfect, but we should fix the imperialist system that holds them back before we extensively critique them.
What these people hear: when the glorious revolution happens everything will be magically fixed
???
Sufficient
brain washingeducation by renowned state institutions willmake you bark like a dog against strawmen and only be able to hear what conforms to those strawmengive you the information you need to discern those pesky authoritarians fromspineless opportunist reformersreal leftists!And also it’s worth giving them some critique anyway both for the purpose of benefiting their resistance and also just general human benefit (e.g. homophobia bad, though it doesn’t invalidate the whole project because it is not inherent to the project)