This is the part I find hilarious. MLs think the reason people don’t like their outdated brand of communism is because they are brainwashed. The reality is that people don’t like their outdated brand of communism because tankies are insufferable, know-it-all autocrats who refuse to engage with any modern formulation of Marxist theory.
If MLs would be more academically engaged with contemporary political science, people would like their messaging much more. Of course then they’d probably realize that Lenin and Mao were just giant assholes, so I guess it’s a bit of a paradox.