9
Anything presenting as a Marxist party but refusing to use “communist” is a potential warning sign. Think “revolutionary socialist party”, “socialist equality party”, “socialist alternative”.
If they’re Marxists but using the term “Stalinist”, that’s 99% chance trots in my experience. It’s their pejorative term for MLs or non-revisionist communists.
They will also potentially have references to 4th international, or 7th, or 25th, whatever number those silly lot are up to now, on their website or magazine or whatever. Speaking of magazines, trots LOVE making newspapers.
In my experience trots are either:
- almost exclusively based around organising on student campuses (where I assume they do well because kids are interesting in capitalist alternatives but have been propagandised against muh scary Lenin and Stalin, Trotsky is less vilified, wonder why…). These student groups will then glom on to almost any protest movement that has left wing appeal make themselves highly visible, biggest banners, trying to get to the front, etc. The leadership will be made up of academics or professional students who have been at uni for like 10+ years (or now work there in some capacity), whilst the rank and file is made up of 18-22 year old kids who they seem to burn out and drive away from the movement completely by the time they leave university.
Or,
- basically invisible groups who will show up to pickets to awkwardly hand out printed out articles they have written about how the striking workers union is inherently flawed and going to betray them, whilst being unable to really talk to the workers or look them in the eye due to social awkwardness. (Of course a lot of unions suck but this strikes me as a bizarre thing to do during a strike lol).
In my experience trots seem to dislike working with other left groups to some degree.
Trots love front organisations. For every lefty issue they will start a front that they actually control - “unionists for Palestine”, “students for the climate”, “community against fascism”, whatever, so they can more surreptitiously insert themselves into every issue.
Obviously, if they’re hosting reading groups or seminars to talk about the revolutionary thought of Trotsky, that’s a sign lol. They will obviously also endorse Marx and Lenin, but reject Stalin. In my experience they also will just blanket reject working with ML, Maoist, groups. Not sure how they get along with anarchists but in my city the anarchists do fuck all so it’s hard to know.
“Oh I feel bad for his kids”
Bro don’t you think they might be better off growing up without a fascist propagandist as a father? Their mother might meet a really nice guy