this post was submitted on 26 Jul 2024
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askchapo
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Why less problematic than PSL? I reached out to PSL a few years ago about joining and never heard back. I've always been a bit confused about what their tendency is exactly
Many such cases
they dragged me in circles when i was trying to get in with them! after weeks of waiting for a response, someone says "come to our event and meet this person", the specific person isnt there but the person i asked says "come back for another and we can get you started", and hence begins the cycle of me showing up to their events but never being talked to by anybody or let in.
Seems bad!
PSL is way bigger and thus has way more public accusations of institutional rot. I personally think they’re the best option for communists right now due to explicit positions supporting aes and also there are alleged issues
From what I've been able to tell, most if not all of their members are MLs, and it's generally considered an ML party, but they don't advertise a specific tendency. IIRC they started more or less as an ML split from a Trotskyist party. (Now I'm not sure if it was PSL or FRSO being referenced lol, but this was about PSL.)
I've also had issues trying to join. I did sort of a phone interview, and the guy wanted to meet me in person to continue the process. He suggested attending one of their protests and we'd meet up there, but they don't get announced publicly far enough in advance for me to make it. My last message about trying to arrange a meeting didn't get a reply, so who knows at this point lol
If it was around the time of the 2020 protests or after, many chapters were struggling with volume of applicants. Some opened the gates too wide and had some trouble with members acting weird about Ukraine war or China while others kept up with more rigorous interviews but let a ton of people fall through the cracks due to limited time of recruitment members
Good to know. I'm not totally against giving PSL another go, but it definitely did not make a great impression
Yea it's a bit difficult getting in. Similar experience the first time for me. I've since had to drastically scale back my time committed to the org due to life changes, but it's very rewarding. It sucks that many working people just don't have the time to be a part of an organization that is ostensibly for them. Be that members like myself trying to contribute or more tenured people on recruitment, steering, or organizing who have to practically treat it like a second job. Too bad there's no
funding more committed comrades to devote time to the cause and help more people get plugged in
I believe if you go back far enough, they're a split of a split of the SWP. They dropped the Trotskyism sometime in their evolution, early 2000s maybe? Or maybe earlier?Now I think they're ML basically.
I think someone told me that they were Marcyites specifically? Not very well versed on Trot tendencies or how true that is
By the wiki summary it’s correct, but I’d bet less than 25% of current membership knows who the hell Sam Marcy was
That sounds right. And I remember hearing some dispute around Marcy's tendancy/politics/legacy? I'm kind of halfway remembering all this second hand though. I've never lived where they're active so never dug into them too much.
Hey! If you can DM me I can try and get you connected with the PSL, another user here was the one who helped me get connected in the first place.
Thanks for the offer. I'll do that if I decide I want to give them another go