I’ve spent years arguing with people online and really have nothing to show for it aside from my own education and amusement. I was radicalized by discovering r/chapotraphouse back in 2018 I think. Nobody argued with me there, I just lurked, loved the memes, thought it was the funniest place online, then started reading theory because so many people there talked about it. Even though liberals are obviously ignorant about communism, their ignorance is willful: they never thank us for educating them, they always get angry and double-down. (In real life, it’s much easier to embarrass them and get them to shut up.) Still, I admit that it’s possible to change someone’s mind in an online debate, I just haven’t seen it happen when it comes to communism (libs on r/changemyview can change their minds about lib shit). Have you ever seen a lib admit that they were wrong about communism?
I managed at least once. This was when I was more in the anarchist direction, though, which obviously makes it easier since anarchism has broadly more accept among western liberals than ML has anyway. I don’t know whether that guy would later on get into more theory and go in the ML direction, but in any case I was satisfied.
And naturally as for myself, arguing with others played as big a role as simple “climate” and things like my own pet interest in the USSR did, in making me who I am politically today.
More details please.