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TO AMERICANS CONSIDERING NON-ELECTORAL ORGANIZING:
the most succinct piece of advice i can give is to stay away from the orgs that strictly adhere to a specific ideology and require you to never say anything critical of that org in public
the most succinct piece of advice i can give is to stay away from the orgs that strictly adhere to a specific ideology and require you to never say anything critical of that org in public
i was in one of these groups (a lot of yall prob know which one) and in a non-pandemic setting you& #39;ll stay busy AF but it& #39;s all for anti-war protests that achieve no material effect but generate great photo ops for you!
once in a while you might actually do some useful local organizing, but that tends to be the exception and not the rule
IIRC there& #39;s a study suggesting the average member only lasts 6 months in this type of org (as i did) - their style enables burnout
IIRC there& #39;s a study suggesting the average member only lasts 6 months in this type of org (as i did) - their style enables burnout
if you& #39;re considering the DSA, i& #39;d suggest you already have some idea of local work you want to do (preferably in coalition w/ others already doing the work) and simply look at DSA as a vehicle to carry it out
if they try to sabotage you, fuck & #39;em
if they try to sabotage you, fuck & #39;em
i know some awesome ppl who are in DSA for exactly this reason, with e.g. tenant organizing & sex work decriminalization
that seems to be the healthiest approach to that org i& #39;ve seen so far
that seems to be the healthiest approach to that org i& #39;ve seen so far
i& #39;m currently involved in COVID-related mutual aid, and would highly recommend this as a place to start if you& #39;re new to it all! if you live in a metropolitan area you should be able to find something
but yes, mutual aid projects & the aforementioned tenant organizing would be my main recommendations for people who want to do something meaningful outside the electoral system
i recently heard the term "protest treadmill" to describe the experience with these ideological sects i mentioned in the OP, and will gladly steal it from now on
whatever you do, stay off that damn treadmill!
whatever you do, stay off that damn treadmill!
another reason i& #39;m so big on this:
my sect experience led to a sort of political identity crisis i haven& #39;t really talked about on here, and left me intensely paranoid wrt everything in organizing/social justice/etc.
it sucks and takes a long time to work through! not worth it!
my sect experience led to a sort of political identity crisis i haven& #39;t really talked about on here, and left me intensely paranoid wrt everything in organizing/social justice/etc.
it sucks and takes a long time to work through! not worth it!
the sect structure also lends itself to abuses of power on the part of those who want power the most, which is made worse by the "no public critique of the Party or its positions" rules
here& #39;s what i mean:
in theory, all full members of the sect are supposed to have equal access to relevant info. in practice, certain members will have more connections within the sect& #39;s sphere and keep info to themselves - selectively using it to gain power over other members
in theory, all full members of the sect are supposed to have equal access to relevant info. in practice, certain members will have more connections within the sect& #39;s sphere and keep info to themselves - selectively using it to gain power over other members
CW: sexual assault
this structure also makes it easier to cover up e.g. rape within the sect. Worker& #39;s World Party & International Socialist Organization both had huge blowups over this - the latter org completely disbanded once this got exposed!
this structure also makes it easier to cover up e.g. rape within the sect. Worker& #39;s World Party & International Socialist Organization both had huge blowups over this - the latter org completely disbanded once this got exposed!
this sort of thing is mainly associated with Marxist sects, but it& #39;s also possible with anarchist groups as well!
for similar reasons described above re: availability of information, those groups can end up w/ one person having all the power
for similar reasons described above re: availability of information, those groups can end up w/ one person having all the power
this situation also enables the de facto "bosses" of the org to make up reasons to kick anyone out at any time
since they hear about a lot of things that they don& #39;t tell the other members, it becomes damn near impossible to dispute their lies
since they hear about a lot of things that they don& #39;t tell the other members, it becomes damn near impossible to dispute their lies
if you& #39;re looking into a particular group or org, some of the most important things i would ask about are sharing of info among members and willingness to work in coalition w/ outside groups
another issue w/ the strict ideological sects: since their approach is ideas-first, they tend to reject working w/ others who have different takes on Stalin or Kronstadt or w/e
this is a problem bc all these groups (except the DSA i guess) are small on their own
this is a problem bc all these groups (except the DSA i guess) are small on their own
