Most working people I know don’t consider themselves communist. In fact, most probably consider themselves anyi-communist. Why do you think communism’s message doesn’t resonate with working people?

Several reasons. The US State Department has spent a century strategically dismantling attempts at building Socialism and propagandizing against it. This intentional dismantling of Socialist experiments allows the State to pretend “Socialism did that” even if these countries were bombed into oblivion, sanctioned, couped, and so forth.

Additionally, the American Proletariat is almost feudalistic. High quality of life is bought on the backs of debt slavery and super-exploitation of immigrants and the global south. There is a second, underclass of proletarians threatened with deportation that have even lower salaries. This debt entrapment combined with high cost of living and quality of life depresses revolutionary potential.

In my mind it could be a mixture of propaganda and that we don’t emphasize critical thinking in schools.

People would not be radicalized simply if they were better at critical thinking. The thoughts and ideas of society largely arise from their Material Conditions, not from education and individuals thinking about their conditions. The entirety of culture is shaped around liberalism and liberal ideas.

Imperialism is the driving contradiction of today. Finance Capital dominantes the global south and commodities are produced cheaply as compradors slice up and sell their fellow countrymen to rich Capitalists in the Global North. Fighting this will push the American Proletariat to more revolutionary potential, and allows Socialist projects to prop up without US interference.

What remains to be done for any good Communist is organizing. Building up parallel structures and a revolutionary group along democratic lines, fostering good relationships and encouraging Marxist education.

Take a note from the Black Panthers, Fred Hampton was murdered because the Black Panther Party was a threat to the State.

Part of it is propaganda. And not just western propaganda. The way Marxist Leninism aped the communist aesthetic while being specifically NOT COMMUNISM. Heavily tarnished the image of communism outright. It’s social oppression and wildly anti democratic nature is a big turn off to most people.

That gave ample ammunition to western actors. Handing them a ready made narrative to build on to smear communism. ML will shout about how the west is oppressive and often anti democratic. And they aren’t wrong. But that doesn’t excuse the actions of ML governments. And really doesn’t speak well of their own ideology. If we want to get rid of oppressive anti democratic governments. Why would we want to switch to a different oppressive anti democratic government. It doesn’t really fix the problem. It’s a lateral transition. Not a transition up.

Pragmatically I trend Dejacque Libertarian and anarco communist. To get others to understand you have to decouple parasites like ML first. And that’s only to get started. Then you have to run them through a lot of heavily simplified poly-sci. Pretty much reprogramming a number of purposeful misconceptions drilled into people. Which, if they aren’t interested in the first place. Is pointless.

Best case is to avoid using a lot of the propagandized terms. Explaining the concepts through basic concepts.