This or that vs. yes or no

Seth Godin writes This or that vs. yes or no.

Encouraging someone to shift slightly, to pick this instead of that, is a totally different endeavor than working to turn a no into a yes, to change an entire pattern of behavior.

When looking to grow, start with people who already believe that they have a problem you can help them solve.

Emphasis Mine

Communists need to distinguish between three (3) types of people:

1. Those who think Capitalism is mostly working well
2. Those who think Capitalism is failing badly in one or more areas:
• Policing
• Environment
• Racism
• Social Justice
• War
• …
3. Those who think Capitalism has failed completely and needs to be replaced

The first group are the enemy because they will defend Capitalism.

The second group would like to become part of the first group once their particular problem is fixed. However, recruits for the third group can only come from the second group.

It is only when members of the second group realise the reasons why their problem cannot be fixed under Capitalism, that they start to question the system. This usually occurs after all of the reformist avenues have been tried.

Unfortunately, due to the relatively small size of the third group, we cannot follow Godin's advice for growth. We have to continually involve ourselves with the second group and assist them with their objectives because they are our objectives too.