You know, I wasn't sure where to post this -- not serious enough for communism, too serious for memes, and this became my in-between choice.
I don't want to claim this is anything but my own lessons learned as a party member for over 2 years now (possibly 3? I stopped counting). But I've seen an upsetting trend of class reductionists (even if they won't admit it) that think workers are all reactionary & cishet. That somehow the 16yo cashier with a rainbow dye is not a worker, or that the . So I figured if they can give their own "advice", then I'm allowed to as well.
1- don't assume you know more than anyone else, approach them with the POV they have something to teach you
2- join a party and contribute in any way you can. Push yourself to get out of your comfort zone. Join ML parties even if they have a line you disagree with on some things, because of the way these parties work. Join generally socialist parties only if there are no ML parties to join.
3- your communist identity is not your whole life, you're allowed to enjoy lib media and you should have hobbies and other stuff in your life. It's okay to take a step back once in a while.
4- The role of the communist party is very specific, and understanding this takes perhaps longer than understanding any other component of ML. The vanguard does not lead, it guides. Thus in your every day life you are also able to find opportunities. If workers at your place are complaining about schedules, there might be the opportunity to guide them towards real change. Discuss this with your party.
5- one small victory leads you to being more confident about future, more daring victories.
6- you're not the "communist friend" in the group. You're just the friend. You have fringe political opinions but you don't have to introduce yourself as a communist. Centrists don't introduce themselves as centrists, conservatives don't introduce themselves as conservatives. This new part of your identity shouldn't change who you are to your friends. However personally I always make sure to include some ideas when I talk to people.
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In doubt, you should ask: how does this benefit the revolution in my country? We benefit the revolution by educating the workers, making them class-conscious about their interests, and showing them that organisation does work. If you secure victories with them, no matter how small, they will start seeing that they actually have power to change things.
I'm reminded of a campaign ran in another country by their party. The city wanted to make some parking spaces paid, which would be a financial burden on the people that worked in the city. The party organised a petition signing and then called all the signatories to show up at city hall on a saturday morning when they were debating the parking spaces. There were more than 300 people standing in front of city hall demanding that they drop the issue. The party did not go along, the party did not work from the shadows. They enticed the signatories to come along to show their strength and show them victory. To this day the parking spaces remain free.
