A tension a lot of orgs have is encouraging lively debate with direct, concrete critiques while also making sure that the folks leveraging critiques are doing so in a comradely way. Usually things are fine but there are a few squeaky wheels that will provide critiques in a way that sure seem like they are intended to be hurtful. I'm ND and try my best to assume everything is in good faith, so when I perceive the critiques as more personal than they should be I can imagine the comrade (often NT) receiving the critique feels directly attacked.

Typically I try to step into the chat and remind folks something like "Please keep providing critique but avoid language like [specific example 1, specific example 2]. Use language that the proposal uses unless your different terminology is meaningfully distinct." to attempt to correct behavior without targeting a specific person. However, that doesn't always pass the "tone police" smell test and some folks (often Cishet white men in the org, but tbf they are in the majority) tend to push back that tone policing is squashing debate.

How do your orgs keep critiques candid, direct, and actionable without causing interpersonal conflicts? Obviously, as communists we want to avoid practicing any forms of liberalism that would have us avoiding conflicts. My goal is to encourage more debate while also encouraging new people to engage in these debates and feel like they contribute to the org without having someone jump down their throat.

What experiences do y'all have? What works well and leads to real progress and what stunts debates?

It's pretty lib in here.

Yo, questions regarding EDC. I currently own a handgun but its definitely too large to use as a CCW or EDC. What are folks thoughts and experiences with compact and micro compact pistols?

My main concern is concealment while wearing t-shirts, sweat shorts, or thinner fabrics (think 'fem' clothes on a 'male' body type). I do wear a wait purse / fanny pack when I go out and would entertain getting one for cc purposes (it better be cute though).

I'm very interested in the Canik Mete MC9 for its size, trigger, price, and because my pistol is another Canik. Ive shot the Mete Prime (couldn't rent the mc9) and liked it, but besides the grip texture I'm unsure how much of an upgrade it is over the mc9, plus besides width it is much larger.

Also tried the sig sauer p365x (hard pass, hated the trigger), PDP 9 compact (nice but def feels like it will print) recently while testing things for edc, and an RXM, and some glocks just generally while browsing a few months ago. Not married to canik but like what ive felt + the convenience of having a couple of guns that can use the same mags and ammo.

Any tips for things to look for or try? Anyone have experience with the Mete Prime and Mete MC9 that has extra insight? Any tips on things new edc folks tend to overlook?

Thanks so much in advance!

Sectarianism aside (to a degree), how are the orgs you work with engaging with neighboring leftist and progressive organizations in your area? Zooming out, how are they working with international comrades?

Obviously the "western" left has some wild issues with sectarianism, how much does that impact collaboration in your org / geographic area? I'd really love to see a more concerted effort to get organizations collaborating, even if in the short term we don't have a Comintern per se. Its kinda bizarre how little cross collaboration we see so there is so much recreating the wheel across many orgs, and it feels like such a waste of time, energy, and labor in general.

Orgs don't need to agree on tactics, but it would be nice to see some rough merging together of strategies. nothing concrete or mandated necessarily, but something where established orgs can share their experience, newly budding orgs can learn more quickly from their comrades, materials and resources can be shared to a degree, etc.

I'm looking into my first rifle and based on some discussions and reading it seems like the S&W Sport III may be a good starting point for a decent, prebuilt rifle without spending even more than I'd like.

These things are sold in various bundles and it's not always obvious to a noob when something is or isn't a good deal. For example, I've seen a bunch being sold with what are apparently "junk" optics - a Crimson Trace CTS-25 (google the battery life..). I've also spotted these bundles that seem pretty decent + there's a 10% promo code for S&W (SW10) firearms at the same store:

• Bundle 1 costs $855 in cart
• Bundle 2 cost $900 in cart

My questions are:

• are these actually decent deals, or have I just not looked long enough to know?
• for learning how to use an AR well, which sight makes more sense to a new shooter? I like the flexibility of the Sig Sauer Tango-MSR, but I'm looking for whatever will help me feel comfortable with a rifle sooner. FWIW I do plan on also getting backup flip up irons.

Any other notable things I should be looking out for? I'd plan on getting a soft bag for the range, probably some additional cleaning stuff, but tbh I'm still learning a lot in this space.

What things do you all do within your organizations or parties to maintain discipline and militancy with rank and file members?

I'm sure we've all dealt with the same problem: the group votes to do some large project or campaign, a lot of people express enthusiasm and maybe even sign up for the "fun" or flashy parts, but the majority of the work for the project/campaign (all the prep work that leads up to the main event/flashy part) gets largely ignored by Rank and File members.

Example: your org votes to put on a day class - people are excited, some volunteer to help out "day of" to be greeters, presenters, or setup and teardown, but few people volunteer to assist with event prep (finding and inviting presenters, writing & editing presentations, finding a venue, advertising the event, etc). The prep work then falls on a few comrades that don't want the event to fail, who end up picking up too many tasks to drag the event across the finish line. Despite all their efforts to involve new members or existing rank and file members, during the debrief some of the rank and file members express concern and wonder about how the event had major problems (some may not be literally major, but the comrade offering the critique doesn't have enough context to see the larger issues because they weren't around for the work, so they are bike shedding dramatically). The folks that got the work done are exhausted and then end up doing it again for the next event. Some (or all) of the comrades who showed up for the flashy parts repeat their actions and critiques.

How do you all combat these issues? The orgs I've worked with have tried various methods and none have had lasting success. I have worked with a tenant union that was OK at getting people involved, but the nature of that structure did not involve keeping those people involved long term.

Again, no fedposting. What the hell are we doing here USAmericans? are any folks getting more involved with their communities at least?

Obviously not all of us are in epicenters of obvious or extreme violence, but what are ways principled communists are stepping up?

No fedposting!

Are there any specific ICE monitoring sites that your communities have started consistently using? Asking because I starting building one (not running publicly) but would rather avoid splitting labor across many projects if I could just make use of and/or contribute to an existing site.

All sites or apps are appreciated, particularly if its seeing consistent use! I'm hoping to get some folks in my area plugged into something.

fwiw, what I was/am looking at building is a privacy focused, web-app only, 1 button "report a sighting" that could allow someone to send off a quick report OR they can follow SALUTE to do a more detailed report.

For real though I'm tired of being alienated from my labor. Does anyone here have experience working with or starting a worker coop?

Ahoy comrades! Is anyone aware of any resources for learning Spanish for folks involved in organizing? It would be especially awesome if it was in the style of Dreaming Spanish, but I'm open to any suggestions.

Without giving away personal or org information, what are you and your orgs doing with respect to NSPM-7 announced a few days ago? Any changes to what actions your orgs may consider down the road? Suggestions for tightening up opsec? Any union (labor, tenant, or otherwise) members foresee this impacting any ongoing union work?

Hey comrades, does anyone know of any decent resources on how effective vanguard parties structured themselves prior to and during revolutionary periods?

I'm open to any resources but am thinking of specifically things like committees, mass line work, and sort of day to day operations.

Before anyone says anything, obv we can't copy their tactics and strategies 1:1 but I'm not even familiar enough with their tactics and strategies to do that.

Thanks in advance!