this post was submitted on 06 Aug 2024
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Yeah I tried joining up as people advised me to do and felt the last lingering gobbets of my enthusiasm for it shrivel into dust when they made it clear to me they don't do mutual aid or anything like that and it's entirely bullshit
Getting on the Presidential ballot for a corrupt system that's going to fall apart in less than a decade does not strike me as realistic or forward-thinking
PSL does mutual aid but it's not in any way a focus because, the truth is, mutual aid as practiced by the US left is just small-scare charity with a big labor input. It does not in any meaningful way build revolutionary power. When we take on mutual aid, it's usually on the level of organizational cooperation and coalition building - repairing a Black community center so they can better serve their neighborhood, and we get to utilize the space. That's actual mutual.
Saying it's entirely vote bullshit is basically straight up lying, or you must have taken "obligation to participate in campaign activity" entirely the wrong way. There's also an obligation to participate in community organizing, internal political education, external political education, labor organizing and solidarity, Palestine rallies and divestment, etc. Even in an election year I doubt more than a third of our work is election focused, and the campaign primarily amplifies our non-electoral work.
I might look into it again, they were just really stressing the Presidential stuff which I'm clearly not alone in seeing as a wasteful vanity project. They should focus on local elections and build their presence as an actual political entity first.