How long did it take?

[The Jay]

How long did it take you to find your tendency? It seems like there is just so much material that it would take two years to become versed enough to make an educated decision, so I was wondering if I was alone in my confusion.:cool:

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Uh,a few months of education with a lots of reading.Most people repeatedly change tendencies according to education and self-searching.It is different for everyone.

[Spets]

It took me a couple of year, at first I was into it a little bit, then kind of grew out of it I guess you could say. Now I'm waaaaaaaaaaaay into than I was before. Just keep reading and looking stuff up you don't know about and contact Leftist groups and talk to them to see if they can help you.

[citizen of industry]

How long did it take you to find your tendency? It seems like there is just so much material that it would take two years to become versed enough to make an educated decision, so I was wondering if I was alone in my confusion.:cool:

Well, in your case I would first decide if I was an anarchist or a marxist (you probably have some idea already). I would read a bit of the basics on both (ask what these are if you don't know) and talk to some people from various tendencies. I would also look into parties - find one that is in your area, active, etc. If you find a party you like explore their tendency. And as someone else said, education is an ongoing process and people change, so down the road you might change.

Also don't fall into the trap of worshipping every word a particular theorist wrote just because it was written by that person. Always relate theory to practice in the present.

[Sam Varriano]

It normally takes me about 15 minutes, idk about you :cool:

[Veovis]

Personally, I think left-wing tendencies are a lot like religion - they only serve to divide.

Can we please simply worry about overthrowing the ruling class and squabble about details later? :)

[Susurrus]

Well, in your case I would first decide if I was an anarchist or a marxist

Or both.

[A Revolutionary Tool]

Really haven't a clue yet and I'm alright with that. It leaves a lot of doors open, I don't have to say to myself "I would never join them because they're Trots, anarchists, etc." When I first got into communism I said I was an M-L just because it seemed like it was the dominant tendency in the world. Quickly stopped with that kind of foolish thinking though.

[GPDP]

I'd like to think we're always learning, and we're in a constant period of transition (which is often slow but sometimes can accelerate quite rapidly). Do not be quick to adopt a tendency, and most certainly do not think that just because you agree with something a tendency says, you have to agree with its every word. This is especially true if it has a dogma to be followed without thought or criticism.

Read as much as you can, then analyze, criticize, and if possible discuss what you read. It could take months or even years before you settle on something resembling a coherent ideology, and even then there's always a chance you'll change your mind on some issues.

To use my own experience as an example, I started off as a vague anti-capitalist roughly four years ago, then went through an anarchist phase wherein I held on to Chomsky's every word, and now I'm a Marxist socialist with no deeper tendency to speak of. I like some things Lenin said, but I'm not a Leninist. I still respect Chomsky and anarchism, but I'm not an anarchist and I disagree with many of the things Chomsky says. If I call myself a Marxist, it's because I quite fundamentally agree with the materialist worldview espoused by Marx, but I do not elevate Marx to Jesus status either.

It's taken me years to come to this point. And let it be known, I'm still remarkably ignorant on many things. I don't have all the answers, but neither does anyone on this board, nor did any of the revolutionaries of old. All we can do, I believe, is keep learning, debating, discussing, researching, and gaining real world experience, and mold our worldviews on that basis. It's the mission of a lifetime, and it does not end until the day we kick the bucket. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

[#FF0000]

I don't rep a tendency. I agree with what a lot of left-communists say and I think I'd be squarely in the left-communist camp, but I don't really worry to much about it.

[The Idler]

Took me a few years.

To read as many of the texts/publications you feel relevant should take at least a few months if you're working full-time, or a few weeks if you're a student.

Don't sweat it, if readings not your thing, talk to them and ask them about their differences. Watch some of their videos online.

[pax et aequalitas]

I just gradually developed my views. To be fully honest it started with me liking the village in the Asterix comics :blushing: I mean it was so cute and autonomous. Then I started to get interested in communism and direct democracy and in the end I became the peace-loving anarcho-communist that I am now.

[Red Rebel]

Between 2005 to 2008 was the period when I first had radical ideas to when I gravitated towards the PSL. Since then I've continued to learn and develop; however, I can't say that I've had a drastic change in tendency.

[ВАЛТЕР]

I'm not even sure anymore what my tendency is. I say "Marxist-Leninist" but that is because I believe in a form of a modern vanguard party adaptable to today's world. I can only surely say that I am a Marxist in the sense that I believe Socialism needs to come before Communism, however if it doesn't happen that way I am not going to be upset about it. My primary goal is to see capitalist society collapse on itself, and from its ashes to arrive Communism. My goal is Communism, that is about it. No state, no class, no capital.

[EvilRedGuy]

RevLeft changed me. :cool:

[ClearlyChrist]

It Has Taken A Very Long Time, For Myself. I Didn't Gratify Any Tendency Whatsoever, And Usually Withdrew Myself From Politics. I Had Always Been Inspired By The Teachings, And Workings Of Both Marx And Lenin, But I Still Remained Without A Tendency, Which Has Recently Changed, Although I Still Find Myself Having Qualms About It, Occasionally.

[eyeheartlenin]

I was so annoyed at the Bush administration's endless wars in the Middle East that I joined a small left social democratic group, thinking that it was Marxist, since we were encouraged to read Marx. After about a year, everything that particular group did was connected with publicizing Hugo Chávez, and after some weeks of that, it became clear to me that Chávez and chavismo are to revolution as Milli Vanilli were to music, i.e., 300% phony. That was six years ago.

The first thing I did after my realization about the completely bogus character of chavismo was to send e-mail to every Trotskyist group in Latin America I could contact, asking for their evaluation of the Chávez regime. (The girlfriend of one of my comrades translated my original English-language request into some very elegant Spanish, which helped a lot.) I contacted the one tendency that convincingly explained why chavismo was inadequate for the needs of workers in Venezuela and what could be done in that situation, and I have been working with that tendency ever since. It is a very good group, connected with workers' recovering factories abandoned by the bosses and with worker-managed enterprises in Latin America, two things that show a way forward for our class, I think.