At work, I was having some casual political small-talk with a coworker I thought was a liberal, and I threw out the “maybe we should make everyone do a year or two of customer service or retail before they officially become citizens” take.
She responded with “That’s literally Maoism.” She then explained to me that the central pole holding up the umbrella of Maoist philosophies is that the government has the responsibility to create moral citizens by requiring them to directly serve their country, such as farming or millitary service.
This feels correct, but I also feel like I am missing a lot.
I think it was an awkward phrasing of “This is why we can say all these somewhat disparate approaches are all Maoist, because they have this unifying element.” That would be false, of course, but I think that’s what is meant.