An Ex-Communist on How to be a Good Communist

1. Refrain from being overly dogmatic!

I used to be very dogmatic. If someone's views conflicted with my "party line," I would usually instantly dismiss them even if their beliefs were perfectly logical. Being so dogmatic merely leads to hasty generalizations and even hastier decision making. At one point my dogmatism was so bad, I made a nasty journal entry on this group attacking my opponents. It was not only foolish and offensive, but it also led me to be demoted from my role as a commissar at the time. The reality is that nobody benefits from dogmatism. You may think you're upholding some sacred truth, or some complex science, but you're not. Instead, you're just alienating yourself and living as a bitter person unable to make critical judgement for themselves without relying on the holy scripture of philosophers who existed over two hundred years ago. Furthermore, no amount of "correctness" is worth inaction. If you're spending your time sitting around picking on people over the Internet, what good are you to the movement you claim to support?

2. I don't care what Marx thought, I care what you think!

Obviously we should pay attention to what brilliant minds such as Marx thought, so that statement isn't entirely true. But at what is true is that you should not just parrot information from old philosophers that you barely grasp. Bring something new to the table! Form your own opinions! If they conflict with what a previous philosopher said, good, that means you're thinking along your own terms and finding your identity. It goes without saying that you should not be dogmatic, but moreover, you should be willing to form your own opinions, asks questions, and challenge yourself to examine things in numerous ways. And I know lots of communists love to attribute ideas to certain figures ("Lenin never said that! Trotsky never thought that!") but does it really matter? History and historic figures should be looked at as a source for influence, not as the ultimate end-all-and-be-all of your ideas.

3. Not everything boils down to socialism vs capitalism, leftism vs rightism, etc.

For a philosophy that emphasizes constant change, I tend to find communists themselves to be extremely black and white. Political events to them often boil down to "this versus that," as if there couldn't possibly be another explanation. What about common sense? What about instincts? What about various other alternative ways of thinking? Furthermore, attributing your political ideology to every issue that comes up does not exactly favor well among people, and it leaves plenty of room for dogmatism to grow comfortably. Perhaps some things are merely meant to be issues of general human, emotional interest rather than cold and calculated this-versus-that politics? If you're always looking for an excuse to bring communism into things, aside from being rather arrogant, you're also basically acting like a pretentious literary critic, always looking for extended metaphors that are so beyond annoying that it's just laughable. Just because a character was wearing a red hat, that doesn't necessarily mean anything, so to speak.

4. Don't attempt to be smarter than you really are

Face it, there are tons of concepts pertaining to communism that you just have no understanding of what so ever. But you know, that is perfectly fine. Nobody expects you to memorize the contents of Das Kapital, after all. Yet I can't tell you how many times I've witnessed people constantly speaking as though they belong to some elite vanguard of communist geniuses who understand every minor and obscure detail of Marxist philosophy. Believe me, I've done it myself. The hell if I knew what I was talking about, I just wanted to sound impressive. But once again, pretending you have a clue is not the same as actually having a clue. If you're confused, don't be afraid to seek out help. Moreover, don't be afraid to admit your confusions or wrongdoings. After all, parroting information is not only a means of avoiding your own critical thinking, but it's also essentially plagiarism.

5. For the love of God, stop calling everyone "comrade"