redstar2000
2nd November 2003, 23:18
I found this on another board and even though it is very informal, I thought it was devastating. --- :redstar2000:
<snip>
Prior to that, I was a
member of the Progressive Labor Party for a minute, back in
1996-1997 (I only stuck around long enough to go to one May Day
event with them..since that's all they do, and since I was tired
of that whole Jehovah's Witness evangelist style of newspaper
sales propaganda that they do, I moved on).
<snip>
I liked PLP better..they had a LOT more members of color (even
though White Jewish folks still dominated the group at the
leadership level), and they believed in abolishing the money
system and the wage system after the revolution.
But, there were problems.
PLP has some VERY backwards views on gender (according to some of
the theoretical postings on their website, they believe that after
the revolution, women will all return to the kitchen and be full
time housewives, and everybody will have to get married and have
a "traditional" nuclear family - they are also seriously
homophobic - which caused a close friend of mine to quit PL just
a few weeks after he left the CP with me).
Also, moneyless society or no, they believe that, after the
revolution, the party leaders will be allowed to have a very
privileged lifestyle as compared to the average worker.
Plus, some PLP views are just plain weird - they think that,
after the revolution, there will be no television, or internet,
or movies, or personal collections of books in workers houses,
and there will be no professional sports (no boxing, no pro
wrestling, no football, no basketball, no soccer, no baseball, no
rodeo, no figureskating, no Olympics etc).
I think that a world like that would be really really boring (no
TV? No boxing? no pro wrestling? NO WAY!!)..so I wouldn't want to
fight for that kind of world.
Plus PLP abolished internal elections in 1995. Their current
leadership is self appointing, and they fill vacancies in the
leadership without even the pretense of elections.
This led me to leave PLP...and to turn my back on "democratic
centralism", because, in practice, it leads to "bureaucratic
centralism".
------------------------------------
The RedStar2000 Papers (http://www.anarchist-action.org/marxists/redstar2000/)
A site about communist ideas
<snip>
Prior to that, I was a
member of the Progressive Labor Party for a minute, back in
1996-1997 (I only stuck around long enough to go to one May Day
event with them..since that's all they do, and since I was tired
of that whole Jehovah's Witness evangelist style of newspaper
sales propaganda that they do, I moved on).
<snip>
I liked PLP better..they had a LOT more members of color (even
though White Jewish folks still dominated the group at the
leadership level), and they believed in abolishing the money
system and the wage system after the revolution.
But, there were problems.
PLP has some VERY backwards views on gender (according to some of
the theoretical postings on their website, they believe that after
the revolution, women will all return to the kitchen and be full
time housewives, and everybody will have to get married and have
a "traditional" nuclear family - they are also seriously
homophobic - which caused a close friend of mine to quit PL just
a few weeks after he left the CP with me).
Also, moneyless society or no, they believe that, after the
revolution, the party leaders will be allowed to have a very
privileged lifestyle as compared to the average worker.
Plus, some PLP views are just plain weird - they think that,
after the revolution, there will be no television, or internet,
or movies, or personal collections of books in workers houses,
and there will be no professional sports (no boxing, no pro
wrestling, no football, no basketball, no soccer, no baseball, no
rodeo, no figureskating, no Olympics etc).
I think that a world like that would be really really boring (no
TV? No boxing? no pro wrestling? NO WAY!!)..so I wouldn't want to
fight for that kind of world.
Plus PLP abolished internal elections in 1995. Their current
leadership is self appointing, and they fill vacancies in the
leadership without even the pretense of elections.
This led me to leave PLP...and to turn my back on "democratic
centralism", because, in practice, it leads to "bureaucratic
centralism".
------------------------------------
The RedStar2000 Papers (http://www.anarchist-action.org/marxists/redstar2000/)
A site about communist ideas