If you want to make a better world, you can be a leftist.

The HOW of making a better world will determine where you fit into the left, and only learning what it is that differentiates each section of the left will really teach you where you fit in and whether you agree more with one method over another.

Many leftists from the other segments will tell you you're not a leftist if you don't subscribe specifically to their segment. This is unavoidable. I am told I'm not a leftist every single day by people that don't subscribe to marxism-leninism.

Do not worry about it.

People can be pretty harsh. That's not my style. Questioning someone's commitment to their political beliefs doesn't achieve much besides creating enmity.

I prefer to have more open discussions and to invite people to develop from where they are currently to something more advanced by getting them to hash out the contradictions with themselves.

Some people here might come at you a bit strong but it depends on your tone. If you're telling others what to do, what not to do, or what to believe then that's going to attract strong negative reactions. If you tell people "You shouldn't praise Stalin - he was a vicious monster" you're inviting yourself to get roasted. If you approach it from a place if genuine curiosity with openness and honesty, and especially humility, you'll get a much better response e.g. "I guess I've only ever been exposed to people telling me that Stalin was a vicious monster so I'm kinda surprised to see someone say this about him. Can you tell me more about how you came to your understanding of him?"

You don't have to agree. You don't have to know. But if keep your ego in check and show a willingness to be humble and to learn then you'll be fine.

Well don't be afraid to ask questions if you got them and if anyone chooses to behave like a little shit, report them to get swatted on the nose with a newspaper roll.

It depends on how willing you are to grow as a leftist. Consider purity tests a way to sharpen not only your beliefs, but the beliefs of the person testing you.

Your 'friend' sounds like an arsehole tbh

We only bully bastards, subhuman crackers, and shitheads who side with the oppressor over the people and behave like reactionary/neoliberal scum on this website. The "standard" here is not being a bootlicker

I was questioned on whether I "actually am a leftist", by a friend.

"UR NTO A LEFTIST BCUZ I DIDNT SEE U CITE KONDRATIEV WAVES IN UR RESPONSE"

Your friend sounds like an elitist wanker who has dreams of becoming an academic.

comrade @cowbee@lemmy.ml dropped an excellent list https://lemmy.ml/post/22417306

ask any questions you have the moment you have them. and if somethings too hard or something else catches your eye that list is a good recommendation but not a prescription.

Yes you will be bullied for not meeting our standards but afterwards you will realize how rational our standards are. (Don't be a bigot and always side with the demise of the american empire you'll be ok for a while.)

You can be a leftist. You don't have to "be" better but you do need to think better than "unions are good" and "healthcare is a right." Leftism is a rejection of capitalism, and a demand for true equality and the end of private ownership of the means of production.

As far as theory goes start with the Communist Manifesto. Its a really easy read and if you agree with it you are probably a leftist. There are Anarchist manifestos that would also be considered leftism but disagree with Marx on some things but I'm not an anarchist so I can't point you in a good direction. Deeper theory will hopefully make you a better leftist but it won't change the core idea.

I don't know if this is a bit or not, but either way you're all good in my books comrade

I think it's ok to be a quiet lurker and only speak up when you feel like you have something to say or have a question. Questions are good. I'm a victim of spoon theory so I will sometimes go wall of text, but then rest of the day just do a shitposty comment session. They haven't kicked me yet.

As for whether you are a leftist, collectivism and healthcare reform is a good start. I can't answer that question without knowing more. Do you support capitalism? Do you think it can be reformed in favor of the working class? Do you think we can only get to a better place through revolution? I think that is probably the best starting point. At one point I was a reformist, now I'm not. But it was a journey. And I think that is important too. None of us woke up as revolutionaries. It took time to peel away the western propaganda that at least us burgerlanders were victims of.

So with that said, I do think theory is important, but the cool thing is that the books and essays aren't going away any time soon. You can take your time when you get to reading it. And please do. I've even reread stuff to further solidify concepts. The more you do read, the better understanding you will get. A key thing imo is understanding actual dialectics but don't worry about that for now. It's hard to read about at first but once you get it, you start looking at things a lot differently. This is one of the places I would unironically use the word "woke" as a description. Dialectics leads into a better understanding of the "whys" of working class liberation but also gender, queer, trans, black, and disabled liberation, among other concepts. It's a big pill to swallow so take your time.

With that said, regarding not ever having read theory, my cut and dry suggestion is to read Principles of Communism by Engels. It's short and extremely easy to read. If you seem to agree with everything, or at least a lot of what's in there then you are probably a leftist. If the content interests you then come back to cowbee's list and start working through that. But, to reiterate, please take your time.

I've only been wrong about one person I felt was a leftist, and that was actually super recent, but at that I wanna say, I think you are on the right path. You are here asking questions and that's a hell of a start.

Honestly I think Capital is best absorbed as an audiobook. Throw it on while you're doing something else, because it is so God damn boring until you get to the later spicy bits.