This topic comes up somewhat regularly here. If you have kids, what can you do to at least give them the best shot at understanding and embracing your communist / Marxist / dialectical materialist views? We usually come up with a couple big picture ideas, but over the last few weeks I’ve been jotting down very specific, concrete actions you can take. This list is not meant to exhaustive - I’m hoping you all have great ideas to share, too. But this is what I’ve come up with so far:
(And to clarify something, I’m 100% convinced to do need to be somewhat intentional and didactic about your values and views if you want your kids to share them. To think “I’m just going to let them find their own way, I don’t want to influence them” is 1,000% lib shit. I’m not even sure most liberals think that way.)
Be a good parent: This one seems obvious, but it’s so important it bears repeating and should be at the top of the list. You should be a good, involved parent for a number of reasons anyway. But, if you want your kids to share your views, being a good parent is the #1 way to encourage that. Or at least, being a shitty parent is a surefire way to make sure your kids rebel against everything you care about
Get organized: Get involved in an org, even if it’s something like DSA. It can be an actual org like PSL or even just helping feed homeless folks in your town. Your kids can see how you have a great grasp of reality thanks to materialism, which might make them inclined to think you know what you’re talking about. But if they know you see the problems in the world, but aren’t doing anything to change that world… I can see how some kids might see that as kinda hyprocritical.
Learn history, especially from a materialist perspective: This is easy for me because I love history, even long before I was a Marxist. But if you don’t enjoy history, I think you should at least push yourself and try to understand at least the materialist history behind what your kids will learn in school (so for American kids, making sure you understanding things like how the constitution was formed, how African-Americans have been held down throughout history, etc.). Especially if you are American, this is easy because most Americans are dumb as shit when it comes to history, and K-12 history teachers aren’t much better. If your kids see that you know what you’re talking about, they will largely trust your analysis. So when your kid hears in class that “the US fought the Korean War because the Soviets wanted to take over”, they will know to come to you and ask if that’s true - because they know you likely have a much more thorough and accurate answer.
For little kids, read history books to them: Right now my kid loves Nelson Mandela, because we have a couple books about him. I happen to believe that fostering a love of history can definitely help point kids in the right direction (even if by itself it probably won’t turn them commie). Just make sure it’s “good” history and not just that crap that glazes the founding fathers.
For older kids, engage with them on what they’re learning in school: Good idea for all subjects, but especially for the social sciences. Ask questions. Be genuinely interested. While like said above, you need to be didactic but older kids especially aren’t going to want to hear you rant about how Stalin saved the world from fascism for 15 minutes every time he comes up. Know when to just ask and listen with them.
Stay on top of current affairs: Keep up with the News Mega! All the stuff I said above about history applies to news & current events.
Play some commie podcasts when you’re in the car with them: I feel like I might get push back on this, so let me explain. When I was a kid, my parents had news radio on whenever we were in the car. And even if I didn’t understand what was always being talked about, I know for a fact I absorbed a ton of information passively that way. I believe that is a big reason I’m as interested in what’s going on in the wider world today. I know we’re generally down on leftist podcast but the reality is there’s a ton of good content out there.
Try to have answers ready for when kids ask about what you believe: I think especially for younger kids, it’s good to have simple answers ready that they can understand. And don’t worry about being precisely correct in your response. When your kid asks “are we republicans or democrats?” or “do you vote for republicans or democrats, keeping in mind they may have a hard time understanding a complicated response. Say something like “I vote for whoever helps poor people or immigrants or people who work for a living”. That’s much better than trying to explain the drawbacks of electoralism to a 7 year old. Obviously you can be more detailed and precise with older kids.
Try and have leftist adult friends who also have kids: Believe me, I get how hard this. It’s nearly impossible to find any broadly leftist parents in my area, much less those who have time for socializing. So this is more of an ideal to try and reach, not a concrete action. But I think having some friends around who share your views - and have kids who can befriend your kids - is very effective. Just hard to pull off.
Push back hard against any transphobia or homophobia: Whether you see it IRL or in media, don’t hesitate to be clear with your kids what being LGBTQ is about and that anyone who against LGBTQ rights sucks. I say this because I was raised in an environment very hostile to LGBTQ people. Just the other day, my kid wanted her two Barbie dolls to get married. For a fraction of second, there was that old voice in the back of my head saying “they’re too young to understand”. But of course they’re not, and I explained how of course two Barbies can get married. Kids DO need to understand the validity of LGBTQ identities at a very young age.
If you’re white, teaching anti-racism is important: Because if you’re white, it’s incredibly easy to fall into the trap of “well I’m not racist and no other white people I know are racist, so racism must be over”. It’s easy because white society pushes this notion so hard. You absolute have to teach kids about systematic racism and how they actually do need to stand up to racist pricks, because they will encounter them.
That’s the list I have so far, would love to hear your additions.
I’d add - be kind to others. One of the biggest things my right wing dad did to turn me in to a raging commie was being very polite and showing genuine respect to people regardless of age, race, education, income, or job. When I got old enough to start thinking about politics it got me wondering why he’d vote one way but treat people in life totally the other way, and that’s one of many threads that began to unravel my world view.
I’d say also watch cartoons with your kids, or at least try to keep up with summaries. A lot of kids cartoons have very subversive stuff in them that kids might miss, but an adult with some theory could give them context to help them understand better. There’ve been a lot of weirdly deep kids cartoons over the decades and I’m sure there’ll be more to come. Like, back in the day Scooby Doo pushed the message that ghosts and magic aren’t real, and every problem in the world is the work of an old white man trying to steal real estate. Stuff like that.
I am a big fan of PBS Kids, not exactly “subversive” but on the whole teaches kids a lot of good stuff.
Like, back in the day Scooby Doo pushed the message that ghosts and magic aren’t real, and every problem in the world is the work of an old white man trying to steal real estate.
Something was lost once the newer shows did the novelty of “what if zombies are real?” and went on from there.
Truly. The whole point of the show is that it was never ghosts!
I’d say also watch cartoons with your kids, or at least try to keep up with summaries. A lot of kids cartoons have very subversive stuff in them that kids might miss, but an adult with some theory could give them context to help them understand better. There’ve been a lot of weirdly deep kids cartoons over the decades and I’m sure there’ll be more to come. Like, back in the day Scooby Doo pushed the message that ghosts and magic aren’t real, and every problem in the world is the work of an old white man trying to steal real estate. Stuff like that.
Bluey has these moments. I know Bluey is a dead horse almost, but there is an episode called Markets that basically visually illustrates, C➡️M➡️C and M➡️C➡️M, how Money never “leaves” the market, but instead, drives the market and creates Motion! Bluey has $5 with a sticker on it, and they use that to help you follow the $5 as it passes through various venders. She has buyers remorse and asks “Can I get my money back?” and Bandit says “Aw it doesn’t work like that kid.” But the $5 ends up in her friends hands via her mom who gets it from a customer, and they give it to the street performer.
Every time I watch that episode it kind of blows my mind. One vender spends the $5 for carrots from another vender to make a carrot drink (M➡️C➡️M), then its given as change to a customer who eventually spends it again. (C➡️M➡️C)
I feel like I should watch it again lol.
Just be normal or you’ll end up with a Buttigeig.
Just be normal
Some standards of “normal” are fucked up, though.
“Normalcy” as a mandate lead to covid being allowed to spread everywhere and mutate freely, for example.Even the imperative of “just be normal” is sometimes chud/bully talk which may well have the opposite intended effect if your goal is to raise kids that care about other people and society as a whole.
That’s a fair criticism.
I suppose what I meant to say is just treat them with affection. Be there. Support them. Demonstrate empathy for humanity and the planet in your most mundane actions. I feel like once you treat it like indoctrination, things will go way off the rails. The tighter your grip, the more slips through your fingers sort of deal. In other words, don’t try too hard to raise a communist. Just be continue to be thoughtful, inquisitive, curious, mindful, observant and these characteristics will lead them down the right path.
I totally support all of that. I wonder if part of it is “keep the Alphabets away from your kid”
your comment reminded me of Marx’s motto: ‘Nihil humani a me alienum puto’ or ‘Nothing human is alien to me’, from a play called The Self-tormentor (Heauton Timoru-menos) by Terence (Publius Terentius Afer, 195/185-159 BCE), a famous Roman dramatist.
Death to “normal”
I strongly suspect that if Pete’s dad was like every other college professor I’ve known, there’s a good chance he was violating #1. Most professors I know put the job first and their families a distant second.
many such cases
Was his dad not normal?
His dad was a Marxist literary scholar and translator. He translated the Gramsci prison manuscripts into English in 1992. Not exactly a “normal” person, but I know noting about Pete’s upbringing. I’m just riffing on the idea that there are a lot of prominent US politicians today who’s parents were Marxist or Marxist-adjacent (mostly in academia, rather than struggle) and this has apparently had no bearing on the ideology of their children.
I’m a Marxist with kids who despises Pete so I’ve done what I can to learn more about his upbringing. Something interesting I found was that Pete’s dad read and enjoyed the NYT every day, which strongly suggests to me that he was a liberal, not a Marxist, perhaps one who just used his knowledge of Italian to translate (and probably defang) Gramsci and get a cushy academic position. I’ve worked as a university instructor before and it was by far the easiest job I’ve ever had.
Have a friend whos parents were part of a major communist movement in their home country and essentially just let them do their whole obama -> bernie schtick u til it was time to go to college and handed them the manifesto and went “this guy is like bernie but better”. Became an ML immediately after lmao
Push back hard against any transphobia or homophobia
Keep up with the News Mega!
Let your kids loose on the News Mega.
Sorry I have nothing to contribute, good post.
A lot of this seems like good advice but to drill down on the podcasts point, what specifically are you thinking of?
Off the top off my head, Blowback and Citations Needed are probably fine, but I’d feel like a bad father playing less “aesthetically liberal” communist podcasts in front of my kid (trillbillies, deprogram, trueanon all come to mind as good shows that are sometimes (or even regularly) way too crude for children).
I’d play TrueAnon for kids before i’d do blowback. Brace and Liz are crude, rude weirdos, but some of their shows are fairly lighthearted while blowback is frequently horrifying.
Old street fight episodes might work because it’s often weird old guys shooting the shit and being charming.
Honestly, i think it’s fine for kids to cuss and know about sex and drugs and bad music, but kids need to be at least 12 before they’ve got anything like the emotional resilience to start digging in to the holocaust and us foreign policy.
Citations needed is a good one, though. It’s all about being clever and knowing when the adults are lying and i think that would appeal to a certain kind of serious minded kid.
Maybe try not-explicitly leftist pods that analyze movies, games, and culture? If you can find a pod with okayish politics breaking down themes in the latest marvel slop or talking about the nitty gritty of something happening in Roblox the kids might relate to that.
What about pods on trains, planes, and automobiles? An interest in heavy industry is a decent oblique way to get kids interested in economics, and from there politics.
The thing about Trueanon is that I don’t need my kid doing ironic anti-Polish bigotry or whatever. I also think that Trueanon content can be pretty heavy, The Game was amazing but it’s about a widespread industrial child abuse industry that remains in operation to this day, you know? But I get how Blowback is a lot.
I honestly don’t know anything about Street Fight maybe I’ll check that one out.
Also, we’re pretty frank with our kid when he asks about body part stuff, don’t use genital euphemisms or anything (although he invented one himself “the bag” which is pretty funny), talk about cusswords as “at home only words” as long as they’re not insults or slurs, etc, but I also don’t need him getting in trouble at school for making proctology jokes at the wrong person, or thinking alcoholism is cool because of Yugopnik or whatever.
Left-ish stuff, maybe, I’d have to branch out myself first.
We need a bridge between the dirtbag left, the respectable left, and kids. Like a pod that does fart jokes and explains how homework is actively counter-productive to learning then.
I think there’s plenty of “serious” podcasts. To name a few: Already Existing Socialism, Cosmopod, The Measures Taken, Rev Left, Varn Vlog. But I do lots of others than are not explicitly commie, like Means Morning News, Electronic Intifada (my kid asks really good questions about Gaza), Red Nation, Citations Needed, Macro & Cheese, and others.
But like Frank said, I’m not too worried about the crass factor too much. I don’t listen to TrueAnon or Chapo. Deprogram I think is more or less fine. I’ve already played Trillbillies for them and my kid loves them honestly. I think my kid picks up on the fact they are friends and that they have a nice conversational style to them.
guerilla history, rev left radio, ben norton’s show, the michael hudson/radhika desai show are all good. bret sometimes goes nuclear in rev left radio but mostly the above is thoughtful and strident without being dirtbag
Travel. More specifically living in very different surroundings than they’re used to and among very different people. Interaction with other social/economic classes. Talking to and working with both very poor and very rich people in multiple cultures or countries is super educational in understanding how the system really works.
Interaction with other social/economic classes.
I like everything you said about travel but want to hone in on this one. I think it’s suuuuper important. I grew up in a middle class environment and it took a long time for me to truly “get” that there’s so many people who have less than that, just because it’s not something I grew up around (and media heavily reinforces this).
Take them to the Avante Festival in portugal and let them eat food at the international section, then let them play with other kids in the kids section
This is the communist festival right? That one is very high on my list of things to do before I die.
Yep
Your kid is gonna hate communism if you play them milennial new york based podcasts
put the damn radio on they want Drake
they want Drake
Maybe they did 4 months ago but not anymore lmao
I’m thinking more like little kids (mine are little). When their older yeah, let them listen to their music during their time and your pods on your time (or however you split up what plays when kids are older, idk)
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I needa one dance
go listen to KHive Lamar
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Embarassing typo, you accidentally wrote “they want Drake” instead of “Drake wants them”
What I think did it with my kid most of all was our material reality, being poor. And neurodiversity which I think primes people for seeing norms as sus. Also our family was never exactly “normal”. But I do know it could have gone the other way as well, down the reactionary pipeline. My kid has told me that in his early teens some of his previous friends with more probably boomery/middle classy parents went down the incel/altright pipeline. He also was close to those during his early youtube/streamer years. One big positive was him finding Hasan on Twitch and that pretty much started his path into full on commielife.
Not sure how much we really ever had a role in it. Kindness and acceptance were always our values, and intersectionality, but kids look to their peers so much that I am not sure if one can fully parent young people out those influences. I also always talked about how people behave badly due to conditions they are in. I was into movements like pride, bodypositivity, blm etc. All the radlib things basically.
So me and his dad were still very much radlibs when he grew up. It was actually him that got me to examine and get rid of my lib brain worms and red scare programming. He was the one in our family that went all the way and took us with him.
The one thing I think probably helped was that we never treated him like a child in the sense that we saw his input as valid, regardless of age. We were always political. Whenever he wanted to know more about the world or showed some very black&white thinking I would infodump all I could for him and offer alternative views, we discussed a lot and still do. His opinions were appreciated. I think this might have taught him to not accept “common truths” just as they are given, but to think about them and to try to figure out why things are the way they are. We were always also extremely justice sensitive in our family.
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I would say move to Paris and just start barricading every street you see
Put forth a constructivist philosophy at every turn, like an emphasis on discovery and seeing A as the result of its composition and placement, rather than because of its “A-ness”.
Keep an attitude on hand of “Here but by twist of fate go I”.
Frequently encourage your kids to consider what they’re saying and doing from the perspective of other people.
Eat dinner at the dinner table every night
