On May 24, 2014, at 8:56 PM, "JOANNA A." <123hop at comcast.net> wrote:
>
> It never ceases to amaze me how open a lot of people are to talking about socialism although they will never bring up the topic themselves.
Very true. The important thing is the soft sell. "Marx? Well, he's not for everybody, of course. But I admire him a lot."
Actually this is well past the soft sell and into Tom Sawyer's Fence territory, but it works remarkably well. The argumentative person, who just wants to bait you and isn't really open to persuasion in any case, is balked by your offhand manner. The people who think you might have something on the ball but who know nothing about Marx may develop some curiosity. Nobody's getting preached at or told what to think, which is very off-putting.
Michael Smith mjs at smithbowen.net
A man should take care not to be made a proverb; and, therefore, should avoid having any one topick of which people can say, "We shall hear him upon it."
--Dr J