I’ve become disillusioned before from how difficult it is to get major socialist figures and organizations to move away from idealizing, and incorrectly following, their interpretation of the past. The “past” infects everything and leads to friction where there should not be, and division into less effective organizing that just looks unappealing to many.
I’ve spoken against the idea of hiding or moderating ones views on here. I’ve spoken against the bad faith arguments of the “People’s Front” sectarianism meme. However, in good faith, there’s issues of blindly idealizing and following the past where conditions are now different. Forming an exclusive microsect uninterested in actual organization but holding the right ideology leads to little growth. Being larpers isn’t viable. Worse still is when the organization or individual created this authoritarian or cultish atmosphere around themselves, painting crackdowns on opposing views as enforcing party discipline.
What I mean by all this is based on real life microsects. The PSL defends their garbage organization model, decentralized to be ineffective in operating sustained campaigns yet unable to do much without the central committees approval, under historical circumstances. Firstly, they say since the Bolsheviks were tightly controlled as such that they’re only following a successful model, Nevermind the Bolsheviks becoming more open to the public coinsided with massive growth. Secondly, they say since Trotskyist party organization allowed for decentralized and “democratic” leadership in a branch, they adopt this dogma uncritically. What comes to follow is an organization based on following abusive personalities who don’t agree on much to be effective on things other then protesting and preventing reformers outside the ruling clique to have a say. They’re usage of dogma and “historical lessons” are both self-serving and ineffective to modern conditions. To something more broad, as a whole most socialists don’t know who the “working class” is and don’t do enough messaging on trying to attract pensioners and those reliant (or wanting to in old age) on them and social security. There’s more I could say but I’m going to leave it at there.
Recent musings have led me to back the frickin Green Party because they seem to be rectifying their past mistakes and are becoming more active, as much as I don’t like their line or their brand of politics. I’m backing them because they are working to function well in this environment. It’s a shame that we in the States don’t have something to the effect of the main socialist parties and general political culture—or even effective broad fronts—of Belgium, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Norway, or Nepal.
Nathan, I feel immensely for what your family has to deal with. If I can paraphrase Lenin, those who do not work (in good faith), do not
eat escape punishments or reprobation for taking from others. Even with universal public housing, s••••y tenants won’t be free to f••• things up on the establishment or to other tenants.
In the meanwhile, private landlords dealing with s•••heads just there f•••ing up the place should get booted. I’m hoping your family takes the tenant to court and evict the tenant from your lives as soon as possible.
Some people get high off their own fumes and force themselves into new activist spaces when they run out of causes to pontificate about. Its so toxic and frustrating.
Forever Peter Pan activists are the worst and I honestly regret getting involved in politics, in activism, etc...
I've seen how it has absolutely corrupted intelligent human beings. Completely blinded by their ideological dogmas. Left or right? Who cares - its present in every major and minor party.
I often look at some of the things people advocate for and I just want to ask "how does it feel getting high off your own pretentiousness?"
What you are seeing here is something intertwined with two powerful points you’ve made in the past. Firstly, that a majority of culture warriors are out of touch with reality by not exemplifying those values. Secondly, of the privileged “bored people” being so over-represented in politics. They’re divorced from the normal people they believe to be fighting for.
Seeing these blowhards on the left make a fool of themselves over and over again is so depressing. On the example in the botched unionization attempt in Bessemer, they failed because the union leadership was so out of touch with reality and had done so little work that a few threats from Amazon was all it took to scare a significant amount of people. Years of work were not done due to the “organizers” believing so highly of their extremely online campaigning, attracting attention to themselves but not to the people they seek to represent. The online dirtbag left crowd of rich students in lala land who are so up their own @$$ that they fire on each other in acts of ultra-zealous pretention. The rich kids larping as urban guerrillas, simping for a murderous regime of wreckers who found it easier to work with
elites than other leftists.
Normal people don’t have the resources, especially free time, to learn and organize for themselves compared to those from wealthier backgrounds. So you see the result, wealthy people who are self-segregated from those who have experienced reality take up most of political power and discussion.
