chapotraphouse

ANARCHO-STALINIST

Unironically the hexbear party line lmao. Drizzle in some weird obscure third name for the nerds out there and you've got it.

:groundskeeper-Willie: Tankies and trots are natural enemies. Like socdems and trots. Or anarchists and trots. Or MLs and trots. Or trots and other trots.

You know what, I think you are right. I don’t know any Trots personally but there are plenty of them out there IRL that are cool and good (Michael Hudson and China Mieville come to mind). I’ve also read individual Trots as they often have good article and essays. They run the world’s best website, marxists.org; and IIRC they keep International Publishers going.

I feel similar about leftcoms (doubt we have any here, either). Dunk on some takes they might have, maybe allow for ACTUAL, thoughtful critique of positions, too. But no uncharitable generalizations.

I would love the rule to be that there’s no ripping on any genuine leftist movement in general, only ripping on specific takes by individuals.

I'd be surprised if there are any on Hexbear to offend tbh.

I'm generally okay with Trots but my god, the articles they put out can be really grating sometimes. Keep them on track and they can tell you a dozen interesting things about current-day struggles and labour movements. But let them stray a little and they'll just talk about how workers need to form their own rank-and-file movements free of collaborationist union leadership (which like, sure I guess, but union membership and vibrancy isn't exactly thriving throughout the world right now and I just don't think unions can have the same degree of power under financial capitalism that has exported industry to other countries so there's less means of production to even seize), and how Stalinists are destroying every good thing on the planet, and how China is secretly an even worse imperialist than America. I've spent nearly two years reading the stuff they put out and I feel like it would be pretty easy to set up an AI script to just write a solid third of their articles for them, so I hope they're getting in on that to save themselves some effort on the weekly China Bad article so they can focus on the better stuff that I know they can and do regularly write.

I appreciate that the online versions of most left-wing ideologies tend to spend a lot of time in the past for a variety of reasons - things seemed much more dynamic and changeable back then; the world is very difficult to understand and predict right now in anything but general trajectories; arguing online about past events is easier than going outside and actually doing stuff; most of the OG thinkers that you have to read to understand their works happened to be about a century or so ago and there's not a ton of big English-language communist works nowadays; etc - but of all the major left ideologies, Trots seem to be the ones who spend the most time in the past, and with ways of organizing and disseminating information that are built on the assumptions of a world that no longer really exists. They're kind of like the grandpas of the left. I can't really hate or even really dislike them that much, but you're not expecting a lot of energy and movement in that sphere compared to say, the still-surviving ML countries, or the vibrant and energetic anarchist sphere.

but then you'd never get to see their next idea for a username.

i'm fine with that

Gotta love their perseverance and their ability to find new names that all, somehow, have that special bmf-factor

We should make a tontine or something for the next time

Like, I kinda disagree that the only point of left unity is "if we had it, the revolution would happen". If you're setting up a kitchen for feeding homeless people on Thursday nights or something, you're not helped by burning every single bridge and are helped by having some spaces where disparate groups of 5 leftists at least talk to each other without airing their grievances about something Stalin did in 1928. This goes for setting up protests, or really any activity that involves more than 5 leftists. And within those spaces people will wander back and forth between groups on theoretical stuff and personal beefs and just time availability. Focusing on just "will this bring forth the revolution" is... idk, it probably leads to not doing very much.

(I agree with the point that left unity spaces or lack thereof is what is standing between us and "the revolution")

What is dead may never die

Pol-potist thought

@privatized_sun@hexbear.net rip in peace king