Uncomradely Behavior

[Kibbutznik]

I don't contribute much here on RevLeft. Part of it is due to time constraints. Another is apathy; I simply don't care about the discussion points most often raised, or don't feel that I can add anything that hasn't been added. But the sinister side is that a lot of the conduct in this forum sickens me. To be quite honest, this place is probably the worst possible advertisement for people sitting on the fence or who are just trying to get into Left politics for the first time.

What it all comes down to is simple uncomradely behavior. And we do ourselves absolutely no favors by degenerating into a brutal, backbiting, slanderous mudslinging contest. How the fuck do any of you seriously believe we can make a difference at all if you spent most of your efforts forming circular firing squads? Do the witchhunts and purge attempts on the "heretics" really accomplish anything but make a sickening spectacle?

I will not be singling out any particular tendency or ideology in this. This is a problem endemic to the left, and it's laid bare for all to see here on RevLeft. Waving our "dirty laundry" to the whole god damn world.

I'm not going to name any names either, though this is particularly tempting. But I will illustrate exactly the kind of bullshit I'm talking about.

And for the record, shouldn't [redacted] be restricted? This forum does still restrict reformists, correct
This kind of behavior is bullshit, and there is no excuse for it. If someone is to be restricted, let the mods deal with it and bite your tongue. Trying to get someone kicked off the forum because you disagree with them is perhaps one of the rudest, most despicable things you can do.

I just find this astounding. Methinks you have some deep seeded fascist sympathies? It sure seems that way.
Let me be frank. Accusing someone of having sexual relations with their mother would probably be less insulting than this kind of behavior. This is not the kind of behavior that should happen between people who are supposed to be on the same god damn side of the barricade

Go ahead and pick up your liberalism membership card at the front desk.
Oh boy, blue-baiting. My favorite. Want to discredit someone? Call him a liberal, and point out his insidious liberal ways. It's cute. And unbecoming of anyone who is sincere in their political beliefs.

These are indicative of a vast genre of uncomradely behavior her on RevLeft. We spend more time refighting old battles and doctrinal struggles than we do actually anything constructive. We tear each other down in fights over petty differences through all manner of deceitful tactics. If this is indicative of the whole of the Left, then it is no wonder we're irrelevant.

[Rusty Shackleford]

the comment you made started this.

thats all im saying.

[Nolan]

I'm sure no one cares.

Nothing pisses me off more than the people who go around whining about "people" or whatever.

[Os Cangaceiros]

It's not really suprising, really.

1) The nature of the discussions contributes to a lot of it. People here are basically discussing what's the best way to defeat a macro-economic system that oppresses most of the world's population. Therefore anyone who deviates from a so-called "correct line" is not only wrong, but also is indirectly setting up the proles for failure! And is probably a reactionary to boot! :ohmy:

2) That's not all of it, though, because I've argued vehemently on the internet over really, really stupid shit. I'm sure that anyone who's ever been on any sort of interactive forum or chat with other people has gotten into at least one situation where someone else practically issues a fatwa against you because you don't like The Godfather or something. That's just the nature of internet anonymity.

[Jose Gracchus]

"You started it!"

Wow. Way to bring the sandbox home, and to totally prove Kibbutznik's point. I'm sure it would not hurt a bunch of socialists to put principles, pragmatics, and basic face-value sincerity and constructive discussion ahead of personal self-indulgent edification. Over and over, I see myself where potentially interesting claims or points of contentions are actually glossed over, in favor of "lefter-than-thou" grandstanding and personal chest-buffing, or Rep For the Sect sloganeering. Its all very transparent, and so even if it was defensible, it fails at its own goals.

[Rusty Shackleford]

i didnt make the comments. im just saying there was a cause and there was an effect.

[Kibbutznik]

the comment you made started this.

thats all im saying.
Oh I'm sorry... I didn't realize I should tiptoe quietly around people, and ignore them calling other people fascists and wanting to get them restricted.

You're making this personal. I did everything I could to not make it personal. But of course, you come rushing into to cry "SHE STARTED IT!!!!" because the person I quoted happened to belong to the same party as you.

Quite frankly, he is the one you should be talking to, not me.

[Rusty Shackleford]

making a thread about a comment you made to that person that caused an angry response is silly.

why is this in politics.

[Robocommie]

I mean... it's the internet. People are dicks to each other on the internet. It's hard to treat people like human beings without the constant reminder that they are in fact human beings. Like... a face right in front of you.

[NoOneIsIllegal]

This forum would be completely pointless if we didn't have things to bicker and argue over.

Parties and organizations are meant for theoretical and ideological unity; However, Revleft forums is meant for a shit-throwing contest against different ideologies*



* See: people who agree on 90-99% of the same stuff, just different strategies and tactics

[Kibbutznik]

making a thread about a comment you made to that person that caused an angry response is silly.

why is this in politics.
Did you not read what I wrote?

Come one, I spelled it out plain as day: behavior of this kind is inexcusable. Your comrade is far from the only one who does this crap. Which is why I posted it in Politics: it would seem that getting our own house in order should be of utmost importance before we decide to go out and think we can change the world.

[Q]

There are now new rulings in place that are supposed to cut down on the flamebaiting and assholish behaviour.

We'll see.

[scarletghoul]

Nothing pisses me off more than the people who go around whining about "people" or whatever.
:laugh:

[Rusty Shackleford]

it happens here on a regular basis.

as pretty much everyone else said, what do you expect from anonymity?

i actually act quite friendly and with good intention to other tendencies. and even if they try to recruit me or whatever, i still try to be friendly.

but, this is the internet. just because i am PSL doesnt mean that me taking a position agaisnt you (SDS) means that the PSL has declared war on the SDS.

just because the commenter in question is in the same party as me has nothing to do with this as well.


as for unity, i agree, it would be great to have unity. and i have great respect for most tendencies. (some are quite silly though).

[Robocommie]

Which is why I posted it in Politics: it would seem that getting our own house in order should be of utmost importance before we decide to go out and think we can change the world.

And do you really believe that the Maoists are going to start working with the Trotskyists while the Leninists start high-fiving the Anarchists and work together to build a revolution simply because the level of decorum improves?

A very great deal of the level of backbiting and petty bullshit in here is because this place is Leftists only. When I'm around liberals and conservatives, I don't talk shit on other socialists, because those other bastards might overhear. When I'm not around them, the gloves come off. In other words, to some perspectives, this IS getting our house in order.

[Q]

as for unity, i agree, it would be great to have unity. and i have great respect for most tendencies. (some are quite silly though).

But let us cut to the chase though...

Which tendency is the most silly?

Revleft: Cutting to the chase since 2000

[9]

Just to say off the bat, I totally and completely reject the 'left unity' stuff. That said, the atmosphere on here is definitely a problem, and people are very rude (and I'm not about to claim to be innocent in that regard).

However, I don't think the mod/admin teams getting involved will have any effect but to make things worse.

Honestly, other than people deciding on an individual basis to make a concerted effort to be less rude in the way they come across on here, I don't really think there's anything that can be done about the atmosphere. Although I also don't think it hurts to have threads like this from time to time to remind people that it is a problem, and that it wouldn't hurt if they tried a little harder to be polite.

[Kibbutznik]

And do you really believe that the Maoists are going to start working with the Trotskyists while the Leninists start high-fiving the Anarchists and work together to build a revolution simply because the level of decorum improves?

A very great deal of the level of backbiting and petty bullshit in here is because this place is Leftists only. When I'm around liberals and conservatives, I don't talk shit on other socialists, because those other bastards might overhear. When I'm not around them, the gloves come off. In other words, to some perspectives, this IS getting our house in order.
Improving the level of decorum would improve the communication. So yes, I think it would help. Civility is seldom a vice, and it far easier to come to reasonable compromises if we at least pretend to be civil to each other. I find information flows a lot better when you're not calling each other fascists or implying that they're just liberals playing at being revolutionaries.

[Jose Gracchus]

This forum would be completely pointless if we didn't have things to bicker and argue over.

Parties and organizations are meant for theoretical and ideological unity; However, Revleft forums is meant for a shit-throwing contest against different ideologies*



* See: people who agree on 90-99% of the same stuff, just different strategies and tactics

See, but I replied directly pertaining to this. I'll make it concrete. Often, I have found meaningful discussions about the form and nature of working class power (y'know, how actually existing workers you could go out and find on a random assembly line actually exercise meaningful control over society and their own fates as a class, as a workforce, as an individual worker). What will occur is the actual shady issues, which suit no sect since they present them merely with an opportunity to spout their slogan based on that question, get ignored.

Another issue is how Trotskyists plan on "working class leadership" allowing for actual peasant political freedoms and organizational freedoms in practice, how workers' councils are to work, what to do with historical shortcomings, ad nauseum.

It seems to me an endemic cultural problem for the whole millieu as a discrete politically active community: Robin Hahnel put it really well in this article I wish I could find on how the Left is isolated from mainstream society - and what's more, we prefer it that way. Well whatever rhetorical noise we say we are exerting toward working class power, toward revolution, against capitalism and imperialism of capitalist states - one may question whether in practice what we often do has more to do with keeping our discussion and book and even activist clubs free of ungoodthinking contamination, and establishing in a trite social way "lefter than thou" talking points or grandstanding.

It gets in the way of even having practical, constructive bickering.

[The Grey Blur]

users should realise that getting angry and/or swear-y doesn't help you win the argument. most of the time it comes across as macho stupidity.

i'd like to see a guideline for debating published somewhere on the site, the most important thing to highlight would be to discourage emotional and/or rhetorical language, as well as how arguments ad populum, ad hominem etc are fallacious. the level of debate at the moment is just very low.

[NoOneIsIllegal]

(some are quite silly though).
*looks at tendency*
Why I oughta...
;)

But in all seriousness,
Anarcho-trot 4 LYFE!

[NoOneIsIllegal]

Plus, you're complaining about Revleft? Well, sectarianism, shit-talking, and overall rude behavior as always existed in the Left. Look at DeLeon over 100 years ago! I admire DeLeon, but the guy would of definitely been banned on this site if he was alive now. Maybe I should even point to Marx and Bakunin, and how they were nice to each other in person the last time they met and then shit-talked each other when not face-to-face (see: the internet)

[Jose Gracchus]

Its not just emotions either, though; some debates just literally have next to no historical class meaning, like whether Trotsky lied about "Bristol" being the hotel's name or some such shit.

Its also proud posters engaging in "wall of ignorance" kind of debating tactics, depending on their partisans and sheer volume of repetition to hold the line. These kind of passive-aggressive and insincere tactics are no better than overtly loutish and insulting ones.

I do think this quote deserves to be repeated:

"To some extent the cultural divide between the left and right in America cannot be avoided because both we and they are about cultural change, not just economic and political change. And in many respects the cultural changes we stand for are incompatible. But one counterproductive characteristic of the American left at this point in history is that we have become comfortable in our cultural isolation from mainstream America. A light bulb went off for me when I realized that while everyone present would swear they wanted more than anything for new people to attend Econvergence, the truth was that most were actually relieved that “they” had not intruded on “our” space."

- Robin Hahnel

[Amphictyonis]

AMO4tuhq9eE

Sanctimonious moral indignation thread take one. Let me be the first to welcome you to earth/humanity. You'll catch onto our shifty ways soon enough. Welcome. I suggest, while you're learning mankind's customs, you take things as seriously as possible. Maybe condemn everything that isn't furry cute puppies and soft pink cotton candy.


Unrealistic expectations are fun to have- they help you go through life angry and bitter since they're never met.

[Rusty Shackleford]

But let us cut to the chase though...

Which tendency is the most silly?

Revleft: Cutting to the chase since 2000

Monarcho-Syndicalism

[Amphictyonis]

But let us cut to the chase though...

Which tendency is the most silly?

Revleft: Cutting to the chase since 2000

I'm for restrictinfg all members of the organization "Students for a Democratic Society" :)

The OP and The Inform Candidate are slinging way too much sectarian mud for my tastes. I'm actually thinking of resigning my account after reading this thread. Think of the children!

Definition of SANCTIMONIOUS

1
: hypocritically pious or devout <a sanctimonious moralist> <the king's sanctimonious rebuke — G. B. Shaw>

2
obsolete : possessing sanctity : holy (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/holy)

— sanc·ti·mo·nious·ly adverb
— sanc·ti·mo·nious·ness noun

[Chambered Word]

I tend to agree with the OP. With that said, I hope we never have to see another stupid 'left unity' thread/RevLeft group again. There's a reason we organize in different parties and have different theories.

[ZeroNowhere]

Why is this thread in Politics? It should be placed in Chit-Chat or someplace of the sort, wherever this kind of whinging goes.

[Kibbutznik]

I'm for restrictinfg all members of the organization "Students for a Democratic Society" :)

The OP and The Inform Candidate are slinging way too much sectarian mud for my tastes. I'm actually thinking of resigning my account after reading this thread. Think of the children!

Definition of SANCTIMONIOUS

1
: hypocritically pious or devout <a sanctimonious moralist> <the king's sanctimonious rebuke — G. B. Shaw>

2
obsolete : possessing sanctity : holy (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/holy)

— sanc·ti·mo·nious·ly adverb
— sanc·ti·mo·nious·ness noun
Do you know what they call it when you enter a thread flinging insults, and doing the exact thing that the OP said they had a problem with?

It's called trolling.

Now, I'm going to give you two options. We can either be civil and try to figure out why the left is literally at the worst position it's been in over a century, and how we can fix that. Or we can be happy with our irrelevance and keep tilting at the windmills and accomplish nothing.

So, which'll you have?

[Rusty Shackleford]

Krondstadt.

[Amphictyonis]

Do you know what they call it when you enter a thread flinging insults, and doing the exact thing that the OP said they had a problem with?

It's called trolling.

?

Hey multiple accounter, did you forget which account you were posting with? You are the OP. I say you get banned for having more than one accounts unless you've made a habit of speaking of yourself in the third person? :) ? This thread is torture. The internet in general isn't the place to be organizing the working class or bringing people to the left. The actual face to face human community/work place is where our serious efforts should be. There's too much anonymity online for people to be authentic 100% of the time. It's not like every thread is some flame war between tendencies. If you put 200 people in an online chat room room to talk about cake mix arguments would spring up here and there. No internet forum is exempt.

[black magick hustla]

i think the point is that we have to be polite and good with everyone i guess but idk i am not gonna call every fucker that posts here a "comrade", nor i am gonna say everyone here is in my same side or whatever. the bickering of the left is insignificant to me because the left has been dead for me for a while and i dont care about it. being polite and charitable are good things by themselves tho. but "leftist unity" is a dumb concept and it only exists within those people who think their work is important enough so that unity within it is important.

[ZeroNowhere]

Hey multiple accounter, did you forget which account you were posting with? You are the OP. I say you get banned for having more than one accounts unless you've made a habit of speaking of yourself in the third person?They were speaking about OPs in general, not themselves specifically. Stop making yourself look silly.

[Dimmu]

This is an internet forum.. What do you expect? Same goes for the right-wing forums.. Left and Right are not two happy families where people agree with each other just because they are left or right of the center.

[Black Sheep]

OP stop your whining and go to the liberals' club lounge to lay of some steam.
And don't forget your membership card.

You're right btw.

[Omsk]

If some people want to be rude and argue with a certain level of hostilnes no problem,go ahead,but leave us others out of it.And i dont understand the constant need for bashing other people for the ideologies that they follow,for instance,i opened a thread about the GDR and i generally was not starting any political discussion,it was supposed to be a 'nostalgia' thread,a information thread,but of course,the first comment was something like 'Oh look another Soviet bloc masturburation thread' and a couple more were quite unfirendly and generally unsupportive,and i dont say people have to support something just because 'wer all on the left' but,for earth's sake,if you dont like it,dont comment it,or at least post soundly argumented comments in which you criticize something.
A lot of hostillity on these boards,and a lot of fighting.As for the left-unity,no,i dont think that is a good idea,everyone should be free to speak against or disagree with an ideology if he doesent belive its the right one.But that does not justify flaming and assaulting members that do not share you own political opinion.

[Wanted Man]

What I find funny is that a lot of people are pretending that this is about "the left", and that "the left" will be in a better position if we are nicer to each other on this particular internet forum. While I've grown to like this place, it's really not that important.

Most of the petty shit on this forum is not about real political differences. It has everything to do with personalities and the fact that people really care about their standing in this "community". That's why admins tend to be the people who don't talk a lot about politics, but do have very sharp elbows.

[Dimmu]

What I find funny is that a lot of people are pretending that this is about "the left", and that "the left" will be in a better position if we are nicer to each other on this particular internet forum. While I've grown to like this place, it's really not that important.

Most of the petty shit on this forum is not about real political differences. It has everything to do with personalities and the fact that people really care about their standing in this "community". That's why admins tend to be the people who don't talk a lot about politics, but do have very sharp elbows.

Exactly.. People here agree on most important issues.. The rest are just small details..

[Robocommie]

What I find funny is that a lot of people are pretending that this is about "the left", and that "the left" will be in a better position if we are nicer to each other on this particular internet forum. While I've grown to like this place, it's really not that important.

Most of the petty shit on this forum is not about real political differences. It has everything to do with personalities and the fact that people really care about their standing in this "community". That's why admins tend to be the people who don't talk a lot about politics, but do have very sharp elbows.

Hah, the hundred years war over the warm bucket of piss which is primacy in the Revleft community continues...

[Threetune]

Even in the most united parties, tendencies and individuals have always fought, often bitterly for their positions against opponents. “Only a hopeless idiot will believe oral statements.” (bold added)
If anyone is really keen to ‘up the level of debate’ just do it, like this:
“The pre-Congress discussion is in full swing. Minor differences and disagreements have grown into big ones, which always happens when someone persists in a minor mistake and balks at its correction, or when those who are making a big mistake seize on the minor mistake of one or more persons.
That is how disagreements and splits always grow. That is how we “grew up” from minor disagreements to syndicalism, which means a complete break with communism and an inevitable split in the Party if it is not healthy and strong enough to purge itself of the malaise.
We must have the courage to face the bitter truth. The Party is sick. The Party is down with the fever. The whole point is whether the malaise has affected only the “feverish upper ranks”, and perhaps only those in Moscow, or the whole organism. And if the latter is the case, is it capable of healing itself completely within the next few weeks, before the Party Congress and at the Party Congress, making a relapse impossible, or will the malaise linger and become dangerous?
What is it that needs to be done for a rapid and certain cure? All members of the Party must make a calm and painstaking study of 1) the essence of the disagreements and 2) the development of the Party struggle. A study must be made of both, because the essence of the disagreements is revealed, clarified and specified (and very often transformed as well) in the course of the struggle, which, passing through its various stages, always shows, at every stage, a different line-up and number of combatants, different positions in the struggle, etc. A study must be made of both, and a demand made for the most exact, printed documents that can be thoroughly verified. Only a hopeless idiot will believe oral statements. If no documents are available, there must be an examination of witnesses on both or several sides and the grilling must take place in the presence of witnesses.” Lenin

"grilling" is productive and needed, whining isn't.

[Geiseric]

''leftist'' isn't a tendency. We argue how to manage the upcoming revolution, and we argue of what NOT to do based on certain past failures. Everybody has different opinions, and talking here is the best way for me to determine who's the most correct. I've gotten some help from posters on here on certain topics.

[PhoenixAsh]

this thread proves itself

[Amphictyonis]

They were speaking about OPs in general, not themselves specifically. Stop making yourself look silly.

If I want to look silly it's my business. Lets argue about it. This thread makes me want to embrace nihilism.

[Amphictyonis]

this thread proves itself

Whats the sound of one hand clapping?

[Blackscare]

Sometimes this website gets really tiring.

[Amphictyonis]

You can always put a smiley face behind an insult during a debate/argument, like this:

I want to kill you :)

It takes the edge off.

[Os Cangaceiros]

this thread makes me want to embrace nihilism.

yes

[RED DAVE]

The fundamental problem on this website is the refusal of everyone here to agree with me.

RED DAVE

[Rusty Shackleford]

The fundamental positive on this website is the refusal of everyone here to agree with me.

DED RAVE
fixed that for ya.

[Kuppo Shakur]

OP should be restricted, he's a liberal.:glare:

[Reznov]

I blame the removal of the CC and power in the hands of a few mods.

Restore the CC! Restore what our site stands for!

[Rusty Shackleford]

I blame the removal of the CC and power in the hands of a few mods.

Restore the CC! Restore what our site stands for!
http://r.phonedog.com/shared/images/2010/6/111299-running-after-the-train.jpg

[synthesis]

inb4 Chit Chat

[PhoenixAsh]

If I want to look silly it's my business. Lets argue about it. This thread makes me want to embrace nihilism.

That depends...are you claping at or above the soundbarrier?

[Kuppo Shakur]

inb4 Chit Chat
I think you mean trash can + infractions all around.

[Blackscare]

I blame the removal of the CC and power in the hands of a few mods.

Restore the CC! Restore what our site stands for!

Restore what our site stands for? You joined july 2010 and very, very likely were never in the CC, you don't know what the CC was or why it sucked.


Why are you talking about things that you don't understand? Tell me what you think the CC "stood for" and I'll tell you what the reality of the situation was. For the record, I was in the CC and asked to be taken out because it was absolutely vile.


Please, explain to me the major differences, in theory and practice, between the CC and the CU. :)

[Amphictyonis]

OP should be restricted, he's a liberal.:glare:

Thats what I'm sayin. Kill that mother fucker! :) I thought she/he was a Eurasian spy or an agent of Emmanuel Goldstein. Off to room 101 for thoughtcrime. The Op will come to love RevLeft one way or another.

[Amphictyonis]

That depends...are you claping at or above the soundbarrier?

That made me laugh. In a contest of funny you just won.

[Rusty Shackleford]

Thats what I'm sayin. Kill that mother fucker! :)
we dont kill people on revleft.

[Amphictyonis]

I'm just running with the absurdity baton. Running fast and blind. Here....I'll hand it over to another poster.....

[Rusty Shackleford]

All of you are drinking drugs under command by the FBI!

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

To be honest, I don't mind - to a certain extent - personal rudeness on here. I'm not talking about personal insults, but it is fair enough that people get het up about issues, it's a sign that people care about their particular position.

And i've modified my chance of left unity, I don't think you can expect ALL leftists to work together tactically and strategically. Having said that, we all have the same aim: to replace Capitalism.

That said, I am often wound up by ideology wars. I don't care if people don't want to work together, but it really fucking pisses me off when Ideology A says that Ideology B is fascist, or liberal, or anti-proletarian, and then uses voodoo science, or in some cases utter bullshit anti-logic, to 'prove' this point.

We should accept, tolerate and encourage different POVs from people who are for a post-Capitalist society and for the emancipation of the proletariat.

Otherwise, you will end up with the Dictatorship of the Ideology, a la the USSR, which in the end actually works against workers' interests, and thus Socialism. Multi-Socialist democracy is the way forward.

[blake 3:17]

We should accept, tolerate and encourage different POVs from people who are for a post-Capitalist society and for the emancipation of the proletariat.

Otherwise, you will end up with the Dictatorship of the Ideology, a la the USSR, which in the end actually works against workers' interests, and thus Socialism. Multi-Socialist democracy is the way forward.

Absolutely. We need to look at what unites us, what divides us, and then estimate how much that matters. And we can work in coalitions, umbrella groups, and relatively disciplined organizations and treat each other with respect. The winner takes all or competition for purity or whatever is excessively dull and pointless.

The unfortunate objective and subjective influences which have forced modern social revolutions into one party state operations shouldn't be celebrated. Good on the Sandinistas for allowing multi-party democracy.

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Even if one doesn't agree with multi-party democracy, there are alternatives.

For me, multi-Socialist party democracy and no-party democracy seem to be far better systems than a one party or Capitalist party system.

[synthesis]

Otherwise, you will end up with the Dictatorship of the Ideology, a la the USSR, which in the end actually works against workers' interests, and thus Socialism. Multi-Socialist democracy is the way forward.

I don't think you can really say that the USSR was a "dictatorship of the ideology." Their ideology continuously transformed in response to changing material conditions and, of course, the objectives of the Soviet capitalist class.

[MarxistMan]

Love your enemies and doo good to those that insult you. But you are right people here need to be more humble, tolerant and be aware that we can't force our opinions on others, but people should welcome ideas and points of view that are different from ours.

Another thing i think is that the left of USA and of many other countries should put aside their petty differences and unite into United Socialist Fronts and into large parties composed of marxists, trotskists, anarchists, maoists. etc. and different schools of leftist ideology

.



I don't contribute much here on RevLeft. Part of it is due to time constraints. Another is apathy; I simply don't care about the discussion points most often raised, or don't feel that I can add anything that hasn't been added. But the sinister side is that a lot of the conduct in this forum sickens me. To be quite honest, this place is probably the worst possible advertisement for people sitting on the fence or who are just trying to get into Left politics for the first time.

What it all comes down to is simple uncomradely behavior. And we do ourselves absolutely no favors by degenerating into a brutal, backbiting, slanderous mudslinging contest. How the fuck do any of you seriously believe we can make a difference at all if you spent most of your efforts forming circular firing squads? Do the witchhunts and purge attempts on the "heretics" really accomplish anything but make a sickening spectacle?

I will not be singling out any particular tendency or ideology in this. This is a problem endemic to the left, and it's laid bare for all to see here on RevLeft. Waving our "dirty laundry" to the whole god damn world.

I'm not going to name any names either, though this is particularly tempting. But I will illustrate exactly the kind of bullshit I'm talking about.

This kind of behavior is bullshit, and there is no excuse for it. If someone is to be restricted, let the mods deal with it and bite your tongue. Trying to get someone kicked off the forum because you disagree with them is perhaps one of the rudest, most despicable things you can do.

Let me be frank. Accusing someone of having sexual relations with their mother would probably be less insulting than this kind of behavior. This is not the kind of behavior that should happen between people who are supposed to be on the same god damn side of the barricade

Oh boy, blue-baiting. My favorite. Want to discredit someone? Call him a liberal, and point out his insidious liberal ways. It's cute. And unbecoming of anyone who is sincere in their political beliefs.

These are indicative of a vast genre of uncomradely behavior her on RevLeft. We spend more time refighting old battles and doctrinal struggles than we do actually anything constructive. We tear each other down in fights over petty differences through all manner of deceitful tactics. If this is indicative of the whole of the Left, then it is no wonder we're irrelevant.

[Rusty Shackleford]

"all left parties come together" died in the 30s and was buried with the popular front.

[ZeroNowhere]

Love your enemies and doo good to those that insult you.I don't know, struggling to undermine the interests of the bourgeoisie doesn't sound very loving. Class society has no tolerance for agapism.

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

I don't think you can really say that the USSR was a "dictatorship of the ideology." Their ideology continuously transformed in response to changing material conditions and, of course, the objectives of the Soviet capitalist class.

The ideology of the Soviet Union and the CPSU was always, and solely, Marxism-Leninism.

There is ample evidence that people who opposed Marxism-Leninism, from a revolutionary left perspective, were persecuted to some extent.

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

Granma-it evolved into the Stalinist ideology, which is far more totalitarian than mere leninism (though i dont know if it actually called itself "Stalinist" ever).

[Omsk]

Granma-it evolved into the Stalinist ideology, which is far more totalitarian than mere leninism (though i dont know if it actually called itself "Stalinist" ever).
That was in the period of 1924 to 1953. After that,the game changed,and the so called 'de-stalinization' process started.