Been a part of PSL since last year. I’d highly recommend the party to any MLs living in the United States.
It’s probably the only party in the imperial core that doesn’t suffer from the same deficiencies as the majority of the Western left. Internet “Marxists” like to shut them down for bullshit reasons like not draping themselves in the communist aesthetic or supporting countries like Iran from further imperialist conquest.
First, how would you expect a potential vanguard party from being a vanguard if it’s not with the masses? Marching down the streets and waving hammer/sickle flags, while absolutely fucking cool, is not going to attract the masses in the US and could even push away people wanting to join who aren’t already 100% ML. Plenty of comrades personally sport communist aesthetic and the party is very much Leninist where it counts: theory and practice.
And second, it baffles me that communists would think it’s bad to support countries like Iran in the face of imperialism, saying we should support the Iranian people. Yes no shit Iran isn’t socialist, but calling for the overthrow of the Iranian government for the “people’s will” is an imperialist talking point. As communists living in the belly of the beast, we must critically support countries trying to escape the grasp of the empire. We’re not some Trot party who’s going to side with the US, hoping that further sanctions and acts of war will destabilize the country; that’s just the perfect avenue for color revolutions and making things worse.
So yes, join PSL if you’re a serious ML in the US. Even if there’s no branch in your city, you can contact the PSL and become an at-large member. They will help you set up and offer plenty of support and assistance as the branch gets built up.
Not taking away from anything you said, but please look at my earlier post: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/5334 Problematic leadership doesn’t necessarily mean PSL on the ground isn’t a valid and worthwhile organization, but just wondering if you were familiar with this. I am saying this as somebody who still pays DSA dues.
Literally every org has problematic leadership.
This demand for pure perfection is ridiculous amongst some comrades that are turned off organisations due to whatever problematic feature is in them.
“We are not utopians, we do not “dream” of dispensing at once with all administration, with all subordination. These anarchist dreams, based upon incomprehension of the tasks of the proletarian dictatorship, are totally alien to Marxism, and, as a matter of fact, serve only to postpone the socialist revolution until people are different. No, we want the socialist revolution with people as they are now, with people who cannot dispense with subordination, control, and “foremen and accountants”.” ― Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, The State and Revolution
These deficiencies could be corrected if enough decent comrades joined and became active.
That article is constantly reposted to try and smear PSL from an ultra-left standpoint and PSL members are constantly having shoot it down.
The view that PSL is “tainted” because someone’s day job is working on a podcast is really reaching. Loud and Clear isn’t a PSL podcast, PSL has no ties to it; it’s not a PSL-sponsored publication of any sort, it’s not even Marxist. It’s simply Comrade Becker’s job. Whenever a guest espouses reactionary views or even the main host, Becker calls them out on it. He’s simply using the platform he’s been given to hopefully give a more Marxist opinion on current-day events, push anti-imperialism, etc.
He’s been organizing for a while, there’s no doubt what his intentions and views are. Cancelling Marxists with a huge history of being dedicated communists because they work in reactionary environments is just counter-productive. It’s obviously not a 1:1 example, but working in reactionary environments is a must to continue to spread class consciousness and an ML viewpoint.
PSL has had their media arsenal grow now to include BreakThrough News alongside Liberation News, which is a direct PSL publication and supports the party’s line.
deleted by creator
I think I’ve already brought up Prysner, if not here them somewhere, so the tl;dr is that there’s a huge gulf in class makeup between military and police. The military disgustingly preys heavily on vulnerable communities, especially PoC & minorities, with promises of a place to fit in the world, money, education, etc. So they get shipped off to serve the empire with a ton coming back with mental health issues and jaded. Revolutions are successful with military defectors and parts of that arm siding with the proletariat.
Now as for the “army brat,” the kids who go to military academies, and the ones that join to be “patriotic,” those are completely different.
For the other, I haven’t heard much of Ramsey Clark. He looks like he was a more “progressive” cog in the machine for a bit, but being head of the Justice Department is very far removed from the CIA, who are known to be very secretive and don’t divulge to anyone who isn’t in with them. He’s not a party member so not much more I can say, but he could’ve been a pipline to Becker becoming more radicalized. Becker’s been communist since like the early 90s, maybe the 80s idk. There’s nothing that portrays him as anything other than a dedicated revolutionary.
Remember, the vast majority of people, even with reactionary pasts, can be turned to communism. Some are hopeless cases (looking at you, fascists) that are 100% our enemies, but most people aren’t born and grow up with spotless records. It’s not making excuses for people, just reality. Like any proper ML party, if a member isn’t trusted, they won’t be voted to positions of power unless the party’s already on the road to opportunism (i.e. Bolsheviks post-Stalin). Nothing about the PSL hints that it’s on that road, so I just want my online comrades to know what’s up.
We’re not some Trot party
Doesn’t the PSL have Trotskyist (Marcyite) origins?
Not really. Sam Marcy was a member of SWP, yes, but he fought SWP leadership over their failure to support the USSR, PRC, and DPRK.
He and others developed the concept of “global class warfare” in which the international bourgeoisie will work to stifle and snuff out any people’s movement. Knowing this, already-existing socialism must be defended by socialists across the world. Criticism may be made, but we must stand against imperialism.
PSL split from WWP and is a Marxist-Leninist party.
Criticism may be made, but we must stand against imperialism.
Even this has to be done with the utmost caution these days. The liberals, shameless as ever, delight to turn our every word into weapons for their agendas. Just earlier this week, they wielded Angela Davis’ opinion on voting for Joe Biden against us, while also conveniently ignoring her positions (things she’s known for I might add) on abolition and of course communism.
I basically hold the view that if someone wishes to criticize AES states they should do it to my face offline in a private setting or behind closed doors between comrades (also offline). Give the libs an inch and they will take a goddamn light-year. We’ve all seen what the precious nuance of the DSA types have led us to with regards to VZ and Bolivia.
PSL split from WWP and is a Marxist-Leninist party
Is it though? They make no mention of “Marxism-Leninism” in their official documents, but instead prefer the term “revolutionary socialism”. That, and they still uphold the doctrine of Sam Marcy to some extent.
As former leaders and members of Workers World Party, we defend that group’s historical tradition and mission, particularly that of its founder Sam Marcy. Although we believe that the Workers World Party leadership is no longer capable of fulfilling that mission, we still consider it to be a progressive organization with many honest activists.
https://www.liberationnews.org/04-08-01-party-socialism-liberation-html/
I don’t think they go into detail as to why they split from WWP though.
If I recall correctly, Gloria La Riva had said something along the lines of the PSL neither being “Stalinist nor Trotskyist”, and they hesitate to make mention of the more controversial socialist leaders of the past and present.
While there may be quite a few Marxist-Leninists in the party, I don’t think that’s the official line. Then again, I’ve heard from quite a few comrades that there’s a disconnect between PSL cadre and leadership.
I can’t speak to why the party leadership chooses to describe the party as “revolutionary socialist” instead of “Marxist-Leninist”, but I’d wager that it’s a conscious decision to appeal to accurately describe their position to the broadest amount of people by not using jargon.
The communist movement is the United States is experiencing a resurgence, but we’re still small. It is important to organize, get people on our side, and grow the movement. Building bridges instead of burning them is likely why the choose to not talk about Stalin nor focus on the split from WWP.
The history of Marcy (supportive of USSR, PRC, and DPRK) as well as the party’s existing position on PRC display a principled stance towards AES.
Shoot a message to PSL and ask them yourself! https://www.pslweb.org/join
can you call yourself a communist if you’re not active?
I honestly don’t think so.
Organising is hard, thankless work and if you’re not even doing the bare minimum of showing up for study sessions and doing at least some small piece of work I don’t think these lazy comrades deserve to call themselves communist.
tough but fair
I don’t actually call myself a communist, not because I despise the word and think it has too much historical baggage, but because I have a deep reverence for the label and as such do not feel I deserve it at the present moment. If someone wants to label me a communist though, I would not reject it.
Unfortunately for me, actual out and open organizing might land me in a prison cell, so I’ve been working on radicalizing people around me at the moment during this current economic downturn. Not having too much success at the moment because my immediate circle is full of labour aristocracy/petty bourgeoisie types and oh boy are they difficult to convince.
Unfortunately, no. I’ve told myself for years I’d join the PSL “as soon as I get my shit together” but sadly it seems my shit will likely remain apart until the end of time. Hopefully I’ll figure it out someday regardless.
The party will meet you where you are. Being in a party does require a certain level of commitment, but you take on as much as you’re able to.
Yeah. My ability has just been nothing. Have had to devote all my efforts to struggling through disability and mental illness. Things have only continued to get worse instead of better though so I don’t know if I’ll ever end up joining. Fingers crossed.
Sorry to hear that, comrade. I hope for the best for you
I appreciate the support. I’ll keep fighting if you will.
I’m currently in the process of joining the PSL and am really quite excited to join my first leftist organization! Unfortunately, there’s isn’t a branch in my state but I’m hoping to help it grow with the other at large comrades.
I’m planning on applying to join a party in the next few months. There are several reasons why I can’t do it right now though, which I’m working toward fixing.
Not sure what I’d do once joined though since I live in the middle of nowhere.
You don’t have to be in a large city to be useful to the party! Being in the party means you aren’t operating alone; the party will support you as you work to grow the party
How do I find a legitimate network? I am studying to get my degree. I’m trying to fight capitalism with capitalism (acquiring as much wealth as I can to fund equality and socialist candidates)
I don’t know where you live, but others here have posted the names of several organizations. Look them up, do some research, and shoot the party a message. Someone will get back to you and answer any questions you have!
Yes. I organize with PCB here in Brazil.
salve, camarada!
I’ve recently joined the party’s student/youth movement and I’m very excited to be a part of building communism. :)
Seja bem-vindo, camarada!
Remember that our communist social network also has a Matrix chat available
Communist Party of Canada is excellent, and their youth wing, the YCL, are a great org for younger and student comrades.
I’m just copying my reply from https://dev.lemmy.ml/post/37601
I’m currently in the process of joining my local communist youth. Its really cool, the people are nice and not at all like the stereotype if angry politics nerds. And compared to online leftist spaces, there isnt really any discussion on whether China or Cuba is communist or things like that. Its all about local organising, which is much more useful than arguing about countries on the other side of the world.
Even though I am completely new, they have already asked me to write a proposal about digital security, because I refuse to use things like Whatsapp, Google Hangouts or similar.
The only thing I can complain about is that all of them are quite busy, so they are quite slow at answering my questions, like how the party works or what exactly I am supposed to do during my premilitancy.
If there is a party near you, definitely contact them. If you dont get along with them, you can always decide not to join.
because I refuse to use things like Whatsapp, Google Hangouts or similar
based
Nice, hopefully you can convince them to go with matrix.
I had the same experience, in my big-tent not even explicitly communist org, no one really cared all that much about bashing AES, that’s mostly an online thing.
Now that its rebranded I might try and introduce them to it. So far they are already switching to Telegram and Jitsi (slowly).
Damn are you me? I recently did a whole presentation on digital security for some of my comrades! I try to be patient when slowly having people realize the importance of security online. I’ll just paste a toot from 2 months ago as I think I summed it up pretty well.
Getting people to take online privacy and security more seriously is an accomplishment.
Just because someone’s a communist and already distrustful of for-profit and big tech companies doesn’t mean they’ll know anything else. As much as FOSS and privacy against the bourgeois state jives with communism, the culture is permeated with an anti-user outlook and techbro-ness. It’s difficult for non-tech savvy comrades to get or understand immediately thanks to the societal push for commodified tech.
I also included an easy example of asymmetric encryption featuring some of our fav revolutionaries, because for me at least it was difficult to grasp public/private key stuff when I first learned about it. It was very well recieved!
I was going to join the PSL, but due to work I had no time for their weekly recruit zoom meetings. I did join the SRA (socialistra.org) back in April, and am working with other members locally to form a local chapter. I live in a Trumpistan enclave, so it’s hard to find like minded people nearby lol.
I’m in the process right now of joining PSL. I’m doing my write ups and haven’t met anyone yet. I look forward to doing so soon, though.
I’m a at-large chair of my local DSA chapter, so no. lol
I am a decently active member of CPUSA, the org is not perfect, but, it is better than nothing and is full of like minded comrades to commiserate with. I recommend it to anyone.
Communist Party of Canada and YCL.
Yes. I’m a member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization in a small city(less than 150,000 people).
Currently no, although I was in an armed leftist group in the US for a few years. I’m still feeling the burn-out from that and all the struggles from being in a big-tent org.
I want to join PSL (I’m in the US) badly but unfortunately they don’t have a branch in the city I moved to. There is a DSA here but I don’t have the patience for that.
I posted a response and mentioned it towards the end, but see if you can contact PSL and become an at-large member. There are plenty of comrades in the same situation as you. The party offers plenty of support and assistance in helping set-up a branch, no one’s left alone to do it by themselves. Most branches start off like that, with a focus on recruiting to build up the ranks and become an official branch.
You can try joining as an at large member, but you’ll end up waiting a long time. The closest branch to me passed my information to the at large organizer about two months ago and I still haven’t heard anything, and that was after having applied to join in 2018. I love the PSL, but they need to work on bringing people in faster.
I can’t speak for other branches, but I know there have been issues of people wanting to join, even before the pandemic and the huge surge of interest because of BLM. The thing is that branches will not always be constantly recruiting; there can be holds due to a lot more interest (like now) or simply not enough resources at a specific branch. The vetting process and membership entry will take at the very minimum about half a year and could be increased, it won’t be as easy to enter as big-tent org for obvious reasons.
As for at-large membership, I’d say just anybody vying for that and to have a branch set up should just be patient and try and maintain communication. Keep in touch with any contact at the nearest branch or national if you’ve been set up with a contact there already. If there are any events you can go to with your nearest branch, try and see if you can make it despite any time/distance constraints. Signing up is one thing, but trying to be a constant presence at events/demos/protests etc. will show you’re dedicated to a revolutionary organization.
For example, I carried on with PSL when I first joined even though I hadn’t received a response in a month; turns out my contact had typed out a message but had just forgotten to send it! Just keep trying, different branches have different resources and varying priorities. I guess just be glad the process isn’t as rigorous as the one to join the CPC lol
I joined my city’s young communist league after graduating uni and attending a bunch of protests for the first time. It’s great cause after years of isolation and lack of comrades, I now have a solid group of friends and we’re going camping soon!
