One of the most common questions we get is whether or not we should “hide our power level” when it comes to our political positions. In this video, we look at the words and practice of Karl Marx, Fred Hampton, Vladimir Lenin, Fidel Castro, and Harvey Milk to tackle the question: should we hide our true positions as we build our movement?
Two closely related points on this -
When your messaging is limited, I think there’s a lot to be said for emphasising a position over a label. “SUPPORT COMMUNISM (plus let’s make life better)” has a very different vibe to “LET’S MAKE LIFE BETTER (Communism can help)”.
Secondly, relatedly, there’s a compromise between ‘hiding it’ and ‘blaring it without context’. If you just say “I’m a communist” and then leave, people will ascribe whatever they want to you and you’ve probably done your credibility a disservice in the public’s eye. If you contextualise that with some relevant position or two, then it becomes a lot more obvious and helps normalise the term.