JQ v. CQ

I tried to read the entire article but ended skimming. I’ll read it properly after I type this. I don’t know if this is a prudent strategy, but the reason I go out my way in real-life to approach the (admittedly quite approachable) group of leftists I know in a neighbouring town – primarily through one of them – is because I recognise that, appallingly perhaps, we do have quite a lot in common. True, we do not usually think those positions-in-common for the same reasons, but that avoided, at practical level, they could be encouraged to achieve quite a lot with the fervour they already have.

Thinking of his article for an example, were the far left to somehow eventually manage to assassinate Donald Trump, would it bother me in the slightest? No. If anything it would simultaneously achieve (a little of) our own goals for us, as with their general, die-hard anti-(US)governmental mission (and I think the UK ones don’t like Starmer’s lot much either, from what I heard from this acquaintance today, who has friends in Antifa).

True, I disagree with the article also over his monocausalism, but I fundamentally think that he is not being quite radical enough in his practical theorising. I tend to engage in guarded, slightly contrived Realpolitik when I talk to these young generation, but still, I notice enough historically I can parallel, especially on the more socialist points (thinking yesterday on presenting another with the AI translated version of Hitler’s famous speech ‘Workers of the Hand and Workers of the Mind’) but on a surprising good bit more, enough to encourage them that we have some goals in common, even if I never go into too much detail on my private thoughts on the matter. They seem to be, not so much mere useful idiots, as genuinely idealistic people – if incredibly naïve and invariably still neochristian to varying degrees – so it galls me that these equally neo-normie conservatives see so much necessity in considering them enemy no. 1 (as opposed to perhaps reviewing themselves) as opposed to a useful ‘resource’ to somehow tap into. Later, they could well be converted, from my estimations, on that very idealism, not that I see too much point in debating them so much as listening to the more sensible of their own grievances and then nudging them in the direction of reality, and to whatever work, in some casual alignment.

My own initiative on this may fail, but I thought a while back that I’d give it a go for a few months, just to test. It’s much more a genuine offer of casual friendship and an all-round idealism of my own than simply cynical manipulation, going on the assumption that it is easier to sway friends than enemies.