Yeah, and I think this is why they end up sounding ultra-left when they lack political clarity.
Yes, he has openly stated that he believes the PSL is "Dengist" and tells people to avoid it for that reason. He makes a lot of wild bad-faith claims about the PSL, and he has plenty of other very problematic and/or confusing views. I appreciate his work on the audiobooks, but it's unfortunate that that gave him a platform to spread his own ideas. He should be a cautionary example of what happens when you read a lot without the kind of deep collective study and practical work that allow you to understand what you read correctly and stick to unfounded opinions rather than letting evidence change your mind.
I think this just happens when they see problems with the current system (a natural consequence of living in capitalist society) but still dogmatically support it. Anarchism and "non-communist leftism" and "progressive" liberalism are useful to the capitalist state because they allow people to question and oppose what's happening in our society but still come to the conclusion that almost nothing can be done. It's not a big leap for people to say that imperialism is bad or that people's basic needs should be met, but it takes a lot for masses of people to turn against ruling class ideology, so it's expected that these kinds of leftist/liberal identities would be common in a capitalist society.
I just googled it to see what this was about, and it looks like counter-protesters were shouting racist and homophobic slurs as well as "death to Palestine" and "we love ICE." That has to be obviously worse to almost everyone than "we support Hamas," and it looks like he hardly mentioned that at all.
I think he's so scared of appearing anti-semitic that he's letting it affect his messaging, and of course that's exactly what the Zionist bad-faith actors accusing him of anti-semitism wanted.
When I hear his name, I think about how his influence turned my friend from an actual communist into a vaguely left anarchist (an "anarcho-syndicalist" like Chomsky, which in my opinion is a functionally meaningless term in our social context) who believes state department propaganda and opposes any successful model for socialism to the point that they just support liberalism. Intellectuals like him that support the status quo (even if Chomsky might believe he doesn't) divert potentially revolutionary energy away from effective action and teach people seeking information and hope after finding class consciousness that individual action is the best they can do.
Kids are unhygienic and also are sick more often. Holidays are also stressful in addition to being during cold and flu season, so that makes your immune system weaker. It's not like you're somehow immune to adults' viruses but susceptible to kids', but lots of people do notice enough of a difference that it can seem that way.
These sound to me like people who don't apply the Marxist method to actually understand and try to change society. Their perspective gets warped the more they continue to talk this way with each other. It's sad that it happens, but I'm glad you recognized it and left (and it sounds like this org had tons more issues than even that). I think the next step is to work with the working class in real life. We all need more education all the time, but working with the people is an essential type of education that affects our ability to understand and apply what we read at home. It sounds like you've already read some good theory and probably need to start with real-life work with the people rather than another reading list. That being said, Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paolo Freire was transformative for me, and it sounds like it might be good for you right now too, and On Practice by Mao explains some of what I'm saying and is also really solid if you haven't read that yet.
If there is no Marxist organization in your area, I'd begin with whatever vaguely left or even liberal organization can at least get you organizing experience and exposure to the people. It might be frustrating, but you'll still learn. The PSL is a great Marxist organization, and you can join the PSL Action Network online from anywhere in the country and learn about what they're doing in real life and start to connect with them through that. You can do that at the same time as whatever work you're getting involved in locally, and it might help you make your local work more effective. Once you've learned through these things, maybe you'll be the one to start the local Marxist-Leninist organization or connect with the people who can start it with you. It sounds like you're thinking right and are prepared to do the work that needs to be done next!
I don't know anything about this guy, but his post reads like someone who has never gotten offline.
Yet again, the thing that the right has been fearmongering about for decades is being done by the right.
There are many. I know some of them. Zionism really isn't pro-Jewish, no matter how much they want to convince people it is because that's the last thin justification they have for what they're doing, so Jews should have even more reason than anyone else to support the resistance.
Federal Medicaid funding and ACA subsidies are at stake, and it would have long-term impacts. The healthcare cuts were already passed months ago and are about to go into effect, so many people have been waiting hoping something will change because they don't know how they'll get insurance for January. Hopefully the democrats see that this is deeply unpopular and stick with it for once to secure funding in time.
There are great news sources out there to get this information with a socialist analysis. This video starts talking about the shutdown at 1:10:00 and explains it in an accessible way. https://www.youtube.com/live/lmEO_YaPMro
I have! It's not extensive, but it's a good overview of foundational educational concepts all Marxist-Leninists should know that you can build from. It's pretty short and accessible. It definitely shouldn't be the only thing you read on the topic, but I do recommend it.
I also find it really useful for guiding me in teaching these concepts to other organizers.