[Someone] = Stereotypical leftist adjacent person who (semi)frequents the mainstream web. Curious in this whole socialism thing, has very little theoretical knowledge.
Scenario: They’ve come to you complaining about the quality of their time online worsening and how they’re looking for what they say is a “Open-Minded Community” They have already tried places like r/socialism and say: “They’re way too snobby and book heavy.”
You ask them what they think about socialism and they say: “Well I don’t really know, but Zahran seems pretty cool, maybe it’s possible to have a good version of it.” “I know the Soviet Union failed, but given how tyrannical Stalin was, maybe it’s because they had bad leaders.”
What would be your approach be?
I think the first step is to actually get them to read theory so they drop the anti intellectualism, and before that step happens I don’t really think anyone would have much patience for them here. There is no such thing as being “too book heavy” in Socialist terms.