What if I know they’re wrong about something but I’m too mentally burnt out and disabled to be articulate and knowledgeable enough to refute what they’re saying? Like they will run circles around being wrong and then pat themselves on the back and call me a dumb Russian troll or something.

The best I can think of is linking to an article or a video that refuses their bs. But that’s not an option in meat space. This is why I stay at home and never talk to strangers.

Don’t cool it unless you want to be a liberal of the 7th type.

Maybe try some of the methods other people suggest to make it seem less antagonistic but don’t let people continue to spread lies and imperialist propaganda. Make people aware that the views they are sharing support war, white supremacy, and exploitation. Make them question why they are repeating the narratives that send thousands of young men to die to make a few old white men richer.

If that makes them uncomfortable? Good. Comfort breeds complacency. Agitation is the name of the game in the imperial core. Make people see that their best interests are not the interests of the capitalists. Make people see that their comfort is a bed of corpses built by slaves.

If this makes you unpopular with some people? Good. Those people are the enemy. Even if they were your “friends” they would never help you if you were down on your luck because they believe “greed is human nature” and “capitalism is Darwinism.”

The people who don’t shy from the truth have the potential to be comrades who will will walk through fire with you. You need to find those people if you want to survive.

Don’t pretend to be a liberal. I think it is our duty to at least give push-back to these liberal statements, however that might look. This might be redirecting their anger, for example, I spoke to my mother, and she mentioned feeling frustrated at undocumented immigrants because she felt they lowered the quality of life for U.S. citizens, and I told her to turn her anger to the bourgeoisie, who actually ruin things for everyone. Just meet them where they’re at.

I don’t bother. If someones gonna dislike you then let them. Unless they have some sort of ability to harm you like if they’re your boss or anything just tell them what you think, and If they don’t like it too bad for them. In fact when you try to be subtle about it it comes off as you being unsure. Confidence is better. Just straight up tell them theyre wrong. People are more likely to question what they think when presented with someone confidently telling them they’re wrong than when someone tells them “oh well maybe if you just look at it this way…”

Just say, “That’s wrong, and you don’t know what you’re talking about.” Just be sure that you know what YOU are talking about and can explain why they’re wrong if they challenge you.

You’d be surprised how many people say stuff like that just because it’s all they’ve ever heard. They’ve never heard someone say the opposite before. Even if when you tell this they aren’t open to it that confident denial can stick with them, and make them start to question things more down the line.

That’s how propaganda works. It saturates the information people have access to, and they never hear any other perspective. Your goal should not be to act as a gentle guide into a different perspective, but to be the rock that derails the train. You can poke 1 hole in their worldview and over months, and years it will start to unravel around them. The key is that you can’t be easy to dismiss. You need to look, and act like you know more than most people. Because you do. And not be shy about it. Don’t be a dick either, but don’t be afraid to stand up for what’s true.

There will be people who hate you for being this way, but there will also be people who respect it.

Edit: I thought of a real example in my life. My mom had this thing she liked to bring up where she would be transphobic. Like a personal anecdote about a trans person she knew where they were the butt of the joke. I told her plenty of times when i heard her say it that it was transphobic, and she shouldn’t be saying shit like that. She got very defensive, and angry the first few times. Then eventually came around, and was like, “Maybe you’re right…” and seemed to reflect on it. She still says stuff she shouldn’t at times but she is getting a lot better at correcting herself on it. I’ve even had her tell me a story before about someone and stop to say “Well i guess it’s none of my business anyway.” as if she realized she shouldn’t be talking about other people. Change won’t happen in a single conversation, but you can give them the push in the right direction. It’s up to them to go with it, or push back even harder.

I try to pick my battles, though I’m not sure how helpful that is as advice because it comes down to a personal judgment call. But basically, I know I’m not going to be changing everybody in a conversation and I know that sometimes it’s more important to maintain a relationship with someone than get righteous on them. That said, there are times I’ve said something with passion just because it was hard not to. Anyone denying the genocide going on in Palestine or trying to make it both sides is one where it’s hard for me to not say anything.

I would also like to mention, you gave an example with China. If you say you’d like to visit China some day and people say something weird, turn it around on them. Like they say: “Why would you want to visit China?” You can be like: “I’m confused, do you have a problem with wanting to visit other countries?” You don’t need to get into depth on China politics for a thing like that, you can just make it about simple tourism and travel, and if they’re going to be weird about it, make them be the one to go there. Maybe they just genuinely haven’t thought about it as a travel destination or maybe they’re racist. They might end up saying something racist if prodded on it and then you can push back on the racism, which even liberals may side with you on. The goal here is not to “trick” them exactly, just to keep things in perspective because some of that stuff is downright ridiculous and you don’t even need to be a communist to see how absurd it is. A lot of liberals are people who would like to think they are decent, empathic people who care about others, so keep that in mind when considering rhetoric of things. Some of the stuff with communism and their hatred of it is basically just they believe lies they’ve been told that it’s always horribly evil in practice. You probably won’t convince them otherwise easily, but you can still work with the fact that their beliefs are coming from a place of wanting to be empathic. Compared to like, some people just have a very warped sense of right and wrong, believe in survival of the fittest type stuff, and you’re probably more so wasting energy trying to move them via conversation alone.

I feel like it all the time honestly. One thing that has helped me at least have productive conversations is to ask people “why do you feel that way about Palestinians” or “why wouldn’t you travel to China?”

Then that opens the door a little bit more. Unfortunately, people get very offended when you approach it from “you’re wrong and here’s why” instead of “why do you feel that way?”