I wonder how many of the revolutionary proletarians during the rise of communism knew their shit. Not many I guess, but they had people they followed that did, like Lenin, even if they didn't completely understand the theory or fully agreed with it.

Then again people back then didn't have a century of propaganda to deal with..

[–] GaveUp@hexbear.net 19 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

It's pretty obvious almost none of them. The Chinese civil war picked up millions of conrades along the way and there is absolutely 0 chance most, or even a significant portion of them spent weeks or months cramming a bunch of theory in their free time while working for their feudal/war lords before defecting

A lot of them just heard that the communists were promising them their own land, guaranteed nourishment for their entire family, and how much better their followers were being treated