Theres 100% a growing attitude among leftists that spend all their time logged on that reading theory is either not worth it or is "elitist" and its incredibly bizarre. The left is not some club you join by watching YouTube videos all day, we're a very large group of people who base our beliefs on complex, fact-based understandings of class analysis and economics, theory exists to clarify these things. Anti-intellectualism in the form of talking like theory is just two old dead white guys is both counter-productive and actively stupid
Tiktok is not theory, tumblr is not theory, Twitter threads are not theory. Get some short beginner recommendations and start reading, its easier than you think
Yo i have an incredibly valuable resource for those of us with adhd that would like to commit harder to the good fight and want some theory as guidance! It's called Audible Anarchist, and it's available on Youtube or as a podcast wherever you get podcasts. it has audiobooks of basically the biggest names in the anarchist canon. Conquest of Bread by Kropotkin? yep.
Anarchism and Other Essays? yep. Socialism from Below? yep. plus more and more every week!!
arm yourself with the knowledge to save our sorry asses folks.!!
I've gotten a couple additions like this on this post
And like. I'm also adhd, and I don't love marx, but there are other ways to get theory and read it or listen to it and using adhd as a shield to avoid learning how to read theory is not great! I gotta say! But I understand that we aren't always taught how to do that so here's some simple tips and tricks I use for reading theory painlessly
- Take notes! In the margins, in a notebook anywhere, but jot stuff down when it comes up
- Set aside time! Turn off any distractions, and set a length of time you're going to read for
- Don't push yourself too hard! You don't have to read Marx's Capital in a week, take your time with theory and split it into sections to make it easier to start and stop
- Find authors who have a writing style you grasp easier! Contrary to popular belief its fine to shop around a little and ask for suggestions from your comrades, find an author that works for you
- Read regularly! If you set time aside regularly it becomes more of a habit and gets easier
- Be patient with yourself! Its not always easy to understand dense theory, talk to other comrades about it! They can often help you understand more than an explanation video or just muscling through a text will
- Seek out physical copies! At the library and with physical copies the distraction of reading online can be drastically reduced
Adhd is a bitch but please don't let it stop you from acquiring a deeper understanding of the world we live in and the world we want to build
