SonofRage
17th September 2012, 23:24
Hi all,
After a general absence of a few years, I'm making a bit of a comeback on here (I just recently realized that I joined RevLeft 10 years ago when it was Che-Lives). For those of you who's time here didn't cross over with mine at all, I'll give a bit of my history.
I grew up in New York City and come from a family of unionized workers who are rank and file Democratic Party types who's conscious political activities are generally limited to voting every couple of years. When I was in high school, largely due to having suffered from asthma all my life, I became interested in Ralph Nader and the Green Party.
In the 2000 election, I supported the Green Party of the United States. Seeing the election get stolen from Al Gore was a radicalizing event for me. It made me really question the legitimacy of "the system" but I still had hope in the Green Party. I began doing research on third parties in U.S. history and read about the old Socialist Party of America and Eugene V. Debs. Further radicalized and inspired by what I read, I joined the Socialist Party USA, but was only a paper member.
In 2003, I moved to Chicago to attend graduate school and ended up being active with the International Socialist Organization (they were the only active socialist group on my campus, other than the Spartacist League...). After a semester, I moved back to NYC and remained active with the ISO until I became disillusioned with both their authoritarianism and reformism. I joined the IWW and became active with my SPUSA local, eventually becoming its chairman.
In the SPUSA, I was a leader of a grouping called the Direct Action Tendency, which some of you may have heard of. Conflicts with the national leadership of the SPUSA (DAT had started accepting people outside of the party as members) led to some of the leaders and myself choosing to resign from the party and eventually leave DAT itself.
After some time functioning only as a Wobbly, I joined an organization called Bring the Ruckus and was an active member up until taking a leave of absence shortly before the organization disbanded this past February.
I am now politically homeless, but with little time for political work now that I am a father and want to spend as much of the little free time I have with my son.
I am currently considering rejoining the SPUSA, though this would mostly be as a paper member, and hope to eventually be part of, if not start, a libertarian socialist tendency. I am generally dissatisfied with all existing groups that I know of that have politics close to mine.
My politics remain in line with those of Bring the Ruckus and accept labels such as Anarcho-Communist or Libertarian Communist. I have for a long time been a "Marxist when among Anarchists, Anarchist when among Marxists" and this has kept me out of organizations that want to fit in a little box.
I'm excited to reconnect with some folks who I was in contact with on here, so please feel free to say "hi."
-SoR
After a general absence of a few years, I'm making a bit of a comeback on here (I just recently realized that I joined RevLeft 10 years ago when it was Che-Lives). For those of you who's time here didn't cross over with mine at all, I'll give a bit of my history.
I grew up in New York City and come from a family of unionized workers who are rank and file Democratic Party types who's conscious political activities are generally limited to voting every couple of years. When I was in high school, largely due to having suffered from asthma all my life, I became interested in Ralph Nader and the Green Party.
In the 2000 election, I supported the Green Party of the United States. Seeing the election get stolen from Al Gore was a radicalizing event for me. It made me really question the legitimacy of "the system" but I still had hope in the Green Party. I began doing research on third parties in U.S. history and read about the old Socialist Party of America and Eugene V. Debs. Further radicalized and inspired by what I read, I joined the Socialist Party USA, but was only a paper member.
In 2003, I moved to Chicago to attend graduate school and ended up being active with the International Socialist Organization (they were the only active socialist group on my campus, other than the Spartacist League...). After a semester, I moved back to NYC and remained active with the ISO until I became disillusioned with both their authoritarianism and reformism. I joined the IWW and became active with my SPUSA local, eventually becoming its chairman.
In the SPUSA, I was a leader of a grouping called the Direct Action Tendency, which some of you may have heard of. Conflicts with the national leadership of the SPUSA (DAT had started accepting people outside of the party as members) led to some of the leaders and myself choosing to resign from the party and eventually leave DAT itself.
After some time functioning only as a Wobbly, I joined an organization called Bring the Ruckus and was an active member up until taking a leave of absence shortly before the organization disbanded this past February.
I am now politically homeless, but with little time for political work now that I am a father and want to spend as much of the little free time I have with my son.
I am currently considering rejoining the SPUSA, though this would mostly be as a paper member, and hope to eventually be part of, if not start, a libertarian socialist tendency. I am generally dissatisfied with all existing groups that I know of that have politics close to mine.
My politics remain in line with those of Bring the Ruckus and accept labels such as Anarcho-Communist or Libertarian Communist. I have for a long time been a "Marxist when among Anarchists, Anarchist when among Marxists" and this has kept me out of organizations that want to fit in a little box.
I'm excited to reconnect with some folks who I was in contact with on here, so please feel free to say "hi."
-SoR