Hello, it's me again

This is another article that's been going around. I talked to some comrades up in Rhode Island and apparently the author of this kind of has some eh stuff going on and was actually kind of a jerk but still here's more kind of evidence of what's going on.

Notably one thing is that they say that the PSL Miami branch is dissolved. I don't know like anything about this.

It kind of feels like live archaeology at this point, just trying to archive and document the kind of discussions that have been going on. I honestly really have incredibly little faith in the party to continue to survive and end up being the party that we need. I think a new party is clearly going to need to form.

If you have any thoughts or additional points of information that can be used to, like, bring together the understanding of what went wrong and what's been going wrong, please put it below.

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[–] 48 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

This is all very unfortunate and deeply affecting toward all members. If you've never been through a split in a group, it is incredibly stressful and demoralizing. People who did nothing wrong are being forced to take sides. I know that there have been claims that PSL has covered up assaults and have a rigid and sectarian internal structure that is self preservationist rather than deliberative and building toward a mass character. I can't really confirm the SA allegations but I have some experience with PSL members being a little too inside baseball wrt their mass work. But I have also worked closely with PSL comrades in a wide range of struggles, I have seen the same activists consistently showing up and organizing in the streets for years in my city. Their org isn't perfect perhaps but many of the people in it are fighting like hell, and now I'm sure they are going through some shit.

PSL internals are being shared outside the internal of the org in a way I have never seen before. There are literal fascists cheering on the demise of the org. Try not to take the bait, don't drink the tea, just let this factionalism sort itself out based on the conditions set by years of organizing. Now is the time to extend a hand, invite members to things, help people create or find a new political home, whether that means transforming the org, liquidating into other groups or forming new ones. Don't stand alongside the fascists in cheering on the destruction of authentic, if imperfect, worker organization. Its time to step up as comrades, not give in to turning a legitimate internal crisis into petty drama.

I have faith that nearly all PSL comrades do not condone or tolerate SA, I do not condone or tolerate it either. But let them figure it out for themselves and don't contribute to toxicity. PSL is made up of real people, good comrades, who are going through some shit and most of them had nothing to do with this situation that a few leaders created. I've seen splits form and take shape a few different ways, and its always ugly. Try to be human and scientific about it.

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  • [–] 9 points 8 hours ago (1 child)

    This is a good take. Thank you.

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  • [–] 10 points 7 hours ago

    I've been through it, I have nothing but sympathy and respect for well meaning comrades who have had this thrust upon them. Nobody gets into this work because they want to litigate factional disputes and get to the bottom of actual abuse. Its sad and its easy to lose sight of the fact that PSL is full of people with histories, feelings, and in my experience a lot of grit. My heart goes out to anyone dealing with factional disputes. I have faith in the members to get hold of the reigns and turn it into a better org.

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