Can anyone give me the lowdown on these folks? I like that they’re a Marxist-Leninist org, in theory.
What’s their vibe, what’s the leadership like, local chapters etc.
So I do more work with PSL folks, but I’ve noticed FRSO filling in gaps in terms of mutual aid and the like. Largely positive experiences as someone who’s not in any actual party (dogshit schedule, ya know?).
i was a member of my local chapter for a brief period before i learned that one of the leaders was a horrible person and the rest of the leaders were covering it up for him, so i left. thats chapter specific, but just a reminder that these problems still exist in some chapters. despite it being significantly smaller than PSL, i liked the people more. it seemed like more people actually had read theory. however it was a very white, cis, and straight group from what i could tell. there were also very few women and fem-presenting folks in general, at their social events i was one of maybe three. this did lead to a kinda dude-bro-y environment that wasn’t incredibly toxic, but i just don’t enjoy that kind of atmosphere myself and if you don’t, be warned. their events are great though. sorry i can’t say more, it was a really brief stint. there just isnt a lot to say about them in general though because they’re really small. they do have some really cool members though, i met some who participated in the chicano movement of the 60s-70s.
i joined under the guise of what you talked about, the “less problematic than PSL” thing. now it seems like its much too small to have any significant drama or discourse that would produce problematic takes, and also that it seems to be less centralized in general so its very chapter-dependent for problematic-ness (?). maybe it is very centralized though and i just didn’t know it, they’ve got their cadre members that do the actual stuff and their general members that just kinda fill seats and i was only a general member despite the cadre people frequently inviting me to also become cadre but it’s a massive time commitment apparently.
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Maybe I should look into these folks some more. I know it sounds really silly but one of the things that turned me away from the PSL was that they use Google Forms to collect all their member’s information during the registration process and the fact that it seems like most people I’ve talked to about joining them have either never heard back from them or have been sent in circles.
There was an FRSO guy on the Upstream podcast recently, explaining dialectical materialism. The host also asked him about the org, so he explained a good bit there
You’re welcome, it’s the episode titled “Dialectical Materialism w/ Josh Sykes”, uploaded June 3rd
Allegedly the less problematic alternative to PSL, although I believe part of that perception is because warning uncharitable and rude take ahead)nobody knows what they actually believe they’re smaller, ofc
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
I reached out to PSL a few years ago about joining and never heard back
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.
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
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
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
