My only experiences are with “leftists” who are social progressive, economically variable, geopolitically completely co-opted. Best I have gotten to date was an unlabeled leftist who said she felt NATO had it’s part to play in the conflict. 99% the only people I’ve talked to with positive views (or willing to listen to positive views) of China, Russia, NK etc. are people in weird post-alt right/apolitical/center right spaces. If I ever met a real not-bigoted not-Andrew Tate-ified ML in real life at random and not some half-assed Maoist, Trot, leftcom, Russiaphobe etc. I would probably scream in joy. My expectations are not that high.

I often say at work, “I’m selling my labor for less than it is worth” and I gotta imagine anyone with a shred of leftist understanding is catching on to that

Lmao, this guy doesn’t know the codeword.

They usually say ‘Would you like to join my vanguard party, Stalin’s Angels?’

Seriously, though, I don’t think there’s a way to tell. The number of ‘decolonisers’ that cross picket lines… or the number of ‘Marxists’ who turn out to be post-third gen Frankfurt School… disappointing.

Usually for me it’s if they don’t point at me and make a loud screeching sound when I mention unions are good and maybe socialist countries aren’t as bad as the US media makes them out to be.

do tell

I was at a local bookstore/clothing consignment/vinyl shop with a friend because he collects vinyl. I was looking through the books and spotted “A People’s History of the United States” by Zinn and ended up picking it up for another friend. I started talking to the owner as I was ringing up about the few leftist texts that he had and how it’s kind of cool to see that sort of thing in the TX panhandle since there aren’t really many leftists here and he simply replied “yeah, we’re out there.”

I now call that place the “Commie Record Store” lol.

Last time I was there he had a 4th print edition of State and Revolution from 1935, that is now in my possession. The book is super old and the spine is brittle and I don’t know what to do with it, but I feel like it’s somehow special now.

He now acts as my source for physical books. I mostly read digital but I would like a small collection of “the classics” so to speak.

And similar to comrade Queerecommie, I have a hat with several buttons that anyone here would recognize but the average lib won’t. I also use the big nerdy Marx words like dialectics, material conditions, praxis, bourgeois, etc.

Usually it’s the breath. We all have the same breath because we all use the same toothbrush.

I know only one person who is conscious about politics and he is a weird libertarian.

When they unironically say “based” or use “Marxist” or positively (multiple of my teachers have done this, I’m super lucky to live in a relatively non hell hole part of the US). Also when they say “communist” positively or talk about how they like Cuba (my peers have done these). A more subtle way is if they talk about dialectics or “people’s history.”

Also, the way you’d pick me out is my “toadal commie” shirt, my “death to amerikkka” shirt, my baret with a red star on it, or my Lenin pin on my backpack. That’s by looks, assuming you haven’t heard how I always talk about communism whenever I get the chance.

Edit: almost forgot the pro-union/Sankara/antifa stickers and patches.

Special handshake and manner of ear grabbing.

Honestly it’s difficult to tell. My friend is a huge China Stan and straight up told me that he’s a communist but I’m still not 100% positive.

I quote lenin casually enough that my coworkers know me as the communist

Nice try, fed