Help on finding a party?

[Aspiring Humanist]

In the summer of 2009 I attended a protest against the Iranian government because of how they were treating their citizens (this was back when there were major protests in Iran). While I was there I saw a man at the front of the park and he was preaching about revolution. I walked over to his table and was flipping through a pamphlet when an older man with a white beard (I assume was with the other one) told me I could take one if I liked. I was still a naive kid and believed all the anti communist propaganda, so I laughed and said no. If anyone knows the party/group that does stuff like this can you please tell me their name, I really regret not making contact with the group.
Thanks

[Kassad]

Do you remember what the name of the organization was or even part of it? Or perhaps you remember the name of their publications?

[Sickle-A]

My guess is that it was the ISO (International Socialist Organization); they're always present at similar actions. But if it's the RCP (Revolutionary Communist Party), just walk away...

[The Idler]

Where was this protest?

[RevolutionaryTerror]

Well, Aspiring Humanist, I certainly recommend the ISO as an organization, given the handle which you chose for yourself. Even if it's not entirely up your alley, you can have a fellow humanist comrade in me :)

[Q]

Well, Aspiring Humanist, I certainly recommend the ISO as an organization, given the handle which you chose for yourself. Even if it's not entirely up your alley, you can have a fellow humanist comrade in me :)

This was not what he/she asked. Please let this not become yet another grabbing-potential-recruit clusterfuck. This is not what Learning is for.

[Robespierre Richard]

Was it in DC? Did the man have facial hair that resembles Leon Trotsky's? Because in that case it's likely the International Communist League-Fourth Internationalist.

[hatzel]

Was it in DC?

True, we'd need information like this. At the moment it's 'there was some kind of protesty thing, and there were people with a table with pamphlets on. What group does this kind of stuff?' Actually, it's not even clear to me whether the OP is even looking for this group in particular, rather than just...a group that shows up at protests with pamphlets. Which is just asking for 'yet another grabbing-potential-recruit clusterfuck' :(

[chegitz guevara]

An older man with a white beard could be Trotsky. Could be Marx. Could be Ho Chi Min.

[Kassad]

An older man with a white beard could be Trotsky. Could be Marx. Could be Ho Chi Min.

No, Kiroff is right. There is a member of the Spartacist League that intentionally makes himself look like Trotsky. I found a picture of him a while ago: http://www.flickr.com/photos/theqspeaks/4453686254/

[mosfeld]

No, Kiroff is right. There is a member of the Spartacist League that intentionally makes himself look like Trotsky. I found a picture of him a while ago: http://www.flickr.com/photos/theqspeaks/4453686254/

:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

[Robespierre Richard]

No, Kiroff is right. There is a member of the Spartacist League that intentionally makes himself look like Trotsky. I found a picture of him a while ago: http://www.flickr.com/photos/theqspeaks/4453686254/

Yeah him, I even had a big Trotsky vs. Stalin argument with him the day that photo was taken.

[Kassad]

I did a double-take when I walked by him. I'm pretty sure it was the March 20th demonstration in D.C. in 2009. He tried to offer me a copy of Workers Vanguard and I couldn't respond with anything else but laughter. I almost felt kind of bad.

In truth, I'm still pondering why he was decked out in Cuba gear. For a "deformed Stalinist bureaucracy", he sure seemed to be fond of it.

Edit: I just noticed that I'm in that Flickr album. I'm not going to publicly say which picture is me, but I just thought it was kind of funny.

[Gorilla]

I did a double-take when I walked by him. I'm pretty sure it was the March 20th demonstration in D.C. in 2009. He tried to offer me a copy of Workers Vanguard and I couldn't respond with anything else but laughter. I almost felt kind of bad.

In truth, I'm still pondering why he was decked out in Cuba gear. For a "deformed Stalinist bureaucracy", he sure seemed to be fond of it.

The Sparts are very pro-deformed workers' states. A couple of them spoke at a rally sponsored by the East German gov't in '89. And there's always this famous Spart sign:

http://www.indymedia.ie/cache/imagecache/local/attachments/migration/img_up/up_3/460_0___30_0_0_0_0_0_37123_1.jpg

[graymouser]

In truth, I'm still pondering why he was decked out in Cuba gear. For a "deformed Stalinist bureaucracy", he sure seemed to be fond of it.
I've frequently debated this guy, as he often comes to Philly for Mumia demonstrations. I asked him why he was wearing it, and he said it was to point out that despite its Stalinist deformations (in his terms), Cuba still had a terrific baseball team as one of the many perks of its nationalized economy. This is a typical Spartacist thing - they do costumes like that as a sort of political theater.

[mosfeld]

Edit: I just noticed that I'm in that Flickr album. I'm not going to publicly say which picture is me, but I just thought it was kind of funny.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2757/4452905161_c00bcedc82.jpg

[Kassad]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2757/4452905161_c00bcedc82.jpg

:laugh:

[Wanted Man]

No, Kiroff is right. There is a member of the Spartacist League that intentionally makes himself look like Trotsky. I found a picture of him a while ago: http://www.flickr.com/photos/theqspeaks/4453686254/

A leading member of the IST branch here also models his hair on Trotsky, but he is a rather young guy. And another one of their members looks just like Lenin. So it's not limited to just weird Spart sects.

[Gorilla]

:laugh:

I figured you were the guy in the Star Wars helmet.

[Property Is Robbery]

Edit: I just noticed that I'm in that Flickr album. http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4025/4452904025_5a56541126.jpg

[Ms. Max]

Could have been ISO or RCP. I would recommend RCP (Revolutionary Communist Party). Check them out for your self at revcom.us, but I think they are the most straight up revolutionary Marxist Leninist party in US today. They are a vanguard party and put forward their leaders, so that makes the shop keeper kids a little nervous and gets them going on about "cults", but that's just BS. But check stuff out for yourself on the web, read the actual party manifestos you find. It's good you are looking. Good luck.

[Gorilla]

Could have been ISO or RCP. I would recommend RCP (Revolutionary Communist Party). Check them out for your self at revcom.us, but I think they are the most straight up revolutionary Marxist Leninist party in US today. They are a vanguard party and put forward their leaders, so that makes the shop keeper kids a little nervous and gets them going on about "cults", but that's just BS. But check stuff out for yourself on the web, read the actual party manifestos you find. It's good you are looking. Good luck.

Fair warning: if you join RCP they make you read stuff like this...



So here "the John Stuart Mill principle" comes in, in a certain way—within the framework of proletarian rule and not raised as some kind of absolute, outside of and above the relation of classes and the class character of the state. I don't have time to go into a whole discussion of Mill, but in the "Democracy" book (Democracy: Can't We Do Better Than That?) I made the point that in fact Mill did not insist on and apply a principle of unrestricted liberty in some universal and absolute sense—he didn't think it applied to workers on strike; he didn't think it applied to people in "backward countries" who, as he saw it, were not yet ready to govern themselves, and he implemented that by being an official in the East India Company, a major instrumentality of colonial depredation and ravaging in Asia and other places. But nonetheless, leaving those contradictions aside here, there is a point that Mill is raising, about how people should be able to hear arguments from their ardent advocates. And I think one of the ways in which this should find expression in the governing of socialist society is that—within the framework where, first of all, the state is firmly controlled by the proletariat, and second, there is consultation between the party and the masses and the implementation of forms, such as those that were developed through the Cultural Revolution in China, forms that combine basic masses with people from administrative posts or technical or educational professionals, or people in the arts who are professionals, etc., in decision-making and administrative tasks on all the different levels and in all the different spheres of society—while that should go on as a foundation, there should be a certain element of contested elections within the framework of whatever the Constitution of the socialist society is at the time. And one of the reasons why this should happen is that it will contribute to implementing what is positive about this John Stuart Mill point—that people need to hear positions not just as they are characterized by those who oppose them but as they are put forward by ardent advocates of those positions—what is positive about this in relation to our strategic objectives, of continuing the socialist revolution toward the goal of communism, the ways in which the implementation of this principle will contribute to political and overall intellectual ferment in socialist society and to the flowering of critical and creative thinking and, yes, of dissent, within socialist society—which will make that society more vibrant and will overall strengthen not only the willingness but the conscious determination of the masses of the people, including among the intellectuals, to not only preserve and defend that society but to continue revolutionizing society toward the goal of communism, together with the revolutionary struggle throughout the world.

Good luck indeed.

[Ms. Max]

Good stuff. I'm impressed you've been studying it, gorilla. However its best understood when read within the context of the book the passage appears in.

The weekly newspaper is more accessible. It's got a lot of the plain language stuff as well as some of the theoretical. Check it online at revcom.us.

[Lenina Rosenweg]

In the summer of 2009 I attended a protest against the Iranian government because of how they were treating their citizens (this was back when there were major protests in Iran). While I was there I saw a man at the front of the park and he was preaching about revolution. I walked over to his table and was flipping through a pamphlet when an older man with a white beard (I assume was with the other one) told me I could take one if I liked. I was still a naive kid and believed all the anti communist propaganda, so I laughed and said no. If anyone knows the party/group that does stuff like this can you please tell me their name, I really regret not making contact with the group.
Thanks

I've had similar feelings at times-I would encounter a book I'm intrigued with or hear snatches of a band I really liked then a few years later get irritated because I let whatever I was interested in go and I didn't even have a name to go by.

Most, maybe all socialists groups have tables and sell literature. What city was the protest in? Was it a protest in solidarity with the Iran protests? Socialist groups have taken different stands on Iran, this might help narrow things down a bit.

If the people at the table looked older and they had a huge quantity of literature there's a good chance it was the SWP. The ISO puts out a lot of literature, generally their members are younger."Preaching about revolution" in that way sort of sounds like the RCP. If you remember some titles or the general direction of their literature that might be something to go by.A lot of groups do tabling though.

[Ms. Max]

Aspiring revolutionary, Avakian is the chairman for RCP, also check out Carl Dix, Sunsara Taylor, Ray Lotta, etc., you can google them on Youtube and stuff.

[chegitz guevara]

No, Kiroff is right. There is a member of the Spartacist League that intentionally makes himself look like Trotsky. I found a picture of him a while ago: http://www.flickr.com/photos/theqspeaks/4453686254/

Oh, I thought he meant on the pamphlet. :blushing:

BTW, if y'all can figure out from that description who the OP is talking about, the American left is a lot smaller and more pathetic than I believed.

[Nanatsu Yoru]

Can't we go back to guessing who Kassad is? That would be more fun... :rolleyes:

[Kassad]

Can't we go back to guessing who Kassad is? That would be more fun... :rolleyes:

I'm surprised no one's pointed it out yet. It's actually pretty obvious.

[Q]

I'm surprised no one's pointed it out yet. It's actually pretty obvious.

Yeah, the PSL tshirt is a giveaway.

[Lucretia]

Can't we go back to guessing who Kassad is? That would be more fun... :rolleyes:

This is Kassad, right?

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4067/4452900013_8cd24ce0e1.jpg

[Black Sheep]

http://www.indymedia.ie/cache/imagecache/local/attachments/migration/img_up/up_3/460_0___30_0_0_0_0_0_37123_1.jpg

I am starting to understand revleft's "SPARTS ARE LUNATICS" claims now...
:blink::blink::blink:

[Aspiring Humanist]

Sorry I forgot to respond to this thread, the protest was in a park near the UN in New York City (protest coincided with Ahmadinejad coming to NY) Unfortunately I don't remember the name, but I know for a fact it wasn't a moderate group like the CPUSA or anything because the guy talking was talking about full blown revolution

[Rusty Shackleford]

Kassad:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/theqspeaks/4452910829/http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4009/4452910829_1a63edf9cd.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/theqspeaks/4452910829/)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/theqspeaks/4452910829/in/photostream/#/

[mosfeld]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4052/4452916257_2494fc0c2c.jpg

This is so Kassad

[bailey_187]

sounds like the RCP

[Aspiring Humanist]

Turns out it was the RCP after all.
http://revcom.us/a/178/Iran_protests-en.html
Thanks for the help.

[Kassad]

Turns out it was the RCP after all.
http://revcom.us/a/178/Iran_protests-en.html
Thanks for the help.

Glad we could be of service. :)

[chegitz guevara]

Now stay away from them. They're a cult.

[Imposter Marxist]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2758/4452940129_debcb38b3c.jpg

Found him.

[Ms. Max]

Cult schmult. Don't be such a sissy, Chegitz. I like 'em. They don't hide their leaders and are up front and clear about promoting revolution.

[Ms. Max]

Now stay away from them. They're a cult.

Cult schmult. Don't be such a sissy. I like 'em. They are not afraid to promote their leadership and say up front what their program is, building a revolution.