• affiliate@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    14
    ·
    20 hours ago

    “What radicalized you?”

    unironically it was just having one conversation after class with one of my professors when i was a freshman in college. i don’t remember exactly what we talked about, but i vividly remember the feeling of it afterwards, and walking away much more aware of all the things i didn’t know. radicalization was a slow and steady process after that, but that conversation was definitely an inflection point

    • Milk_Sheikh@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      17 hours ago

      Similar vibe-check that metastasized over time for me. Having an outright socialist friend who could argue plainly and calmly with conviction, set that mental brushfire that others can and do think radically differently, and they have a different lived experience that defined them and their path.

      In seeking to understand a lot of theory of thought and politics, I found the political language and framework for the discontent and disillusionment I knew but couldn’t comprehend.

      It also helped that I lived in an unabashed surveillance state, that the public at large actually wanted and defended from criticism or legal change…