I had this revelation while waiting for my train to work

If theres no such thing as thought crime, theres also no such thing as thought benevolence.

If you can't be persecuted for actions not taken from the privacy of your own head, you also can't be rewarded for it. What really matters is what you DO, regardless of how "good" or "bad" your thought patterns are.

You can read all the theory you want and argue on twitter all day, but if you don't actually do anything, you're not doing anything. Someone who buys a muffin at a local fundraiser bakesale does more for directly positive community action than someone who has all the "correct opinions" about political topics while refusing to even vote. An establishment democrat who kicks 20 bucks to a queer youth charity does more for positive community action than a communist who won't do anything that doesn't directly lead to some fantasy revolution

You can't replace action with thought. Yes you've read all of Marx and talk a lot, but do you actually like, DO anything?