Chapotraphouse

my sibling claims to be leftist and a marxist, but doesn't really see any issue with buying housing converting it into a rental property to be a landlord, mooches off my elderly parents despite having a greater income than any of us and no expenses, is a big conspicuous consumer (international vacations, etc), and thinks developing basic financial literacy like having a personal budget to save for things is "capitalism".

their connection to leftism is that they are mad there are people with nicer things than them who enjoy nicer treats in front of them and they claim the mantle of marxism to bully my elderly parents into using their savings to buy more treats for them to enjoy.

its extremely irritating to watch.

learning what capitalism is allows us to target our adversaries and concentrate our collective power on points of leverage. nobody is saying you need to become a scholar, but confusion among us about what capitalism is only hurts us.

prisoners, union organizers in violently hostile territory, and the beaten-down who have seen the mask of capital slip do not necessarily need to read theory to understand the edges of the gears that have been grinding them down. theory is for piercing the veil of propaganda that induces people to justify the established power structure with thought terminating cliches like "job creator" or "housing provider" or "the free market". theory is for investigating and dismantling those notions, preventing their spread among the dislocated and propagandized proletariat.

if you have ever tried to talk about collective action among the professional/managerial faction--who are more buffered from the sharpest brutality but nevertheless subjected to its pressures--a theoretical understanding is critical for lifting the fog of their individualistic, pathologizing frame.