Barms is a construction worker apprentice and a communist. In this interview, they discuss the role of philosophy and abstract thinking for themselves and many trans people as a strategy of managing powerlessness and dysphoria. Barms discusses their political organization Red Bloom, where many members are queer and trans, and the dynamics of sexual assault and gender abuse that have torn apart other socialist groups. Barms reflect on the homophobic and transphobic psychology driving their cis-het male coworkers in construction, the factors leading many trans people towards radical politics and critical theory, and the meaning of communism.