Binh
24th June 2013, 23:12
You hate capitalism.
You understand that a system that puts profits over people by giving taxpayer bailouts to greedy, insolvent banks while refusing to help working people keep their heads above water has got to go.
You realize our standard of living is going to keep getting worse until something is done about it.
You hate racism, Israels brutal ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians, the idiocy of the Republicans and the corruption of the Democrats, the fact that LGBTQs face tremendous oppression, violence, and harassment, and youve found a group that gives you hope that if we organize and fight, things can be different. Youve found the International Socialist Organization (ISO), an unapologetically pro-Palestinian, anti-capitalist, anti-oppression group that is active, confident, and organized. You agree with most of what you read in the International Socialist Review (http://www.isreview.org) and Socialist Worker (http://www.socialistworker.org), andyou like what you hear at public meetings, conferences, and study groups.
You are thinking about joining the ISO or youre a member already.
If the above describes you, I hope you read this with a critical and open mind.
My goal in writing this is to encourage a fundamental re-thinking of Leninist party-building efforts in order to help end the unnecessary separation between the socialist movement and the working class that has blocked both movements from beginning to reverse the balance of class forces in America. I strongly believe such party-building efforts have helped perpetuate rather than undermine this crippling separation.
What follows is a critical examination of the ISOs methods, practices, and structures compared (http://planetanarchy.net/isobolsheviks.htm) to those of the Bolshevik faction (http://www.cpgb.org.uk/home/weekly-worker/912/a-faction-is-not-a-party) of the Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP) which the ISO holds up as its organizing model, as well as some suggestions for a better, more effective political practice.
The rest can be read here:
http://www.thenorthstar.info/?p=9055
You understand that a system that puts profits over people by giving taxpayer bailouts to greedy, insolvent banks while refusing to help working people keep their heads above water has got to go.
You realize our standard of living is going to keep getting worse until something is done about it.
You hate racism, Israels brutal ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians, the idiocy of the Republicans and the corruption of the Democrats, the fact that LGBTQs face tremendous oppression, violence, and harassment, and youve found a group that gives you hope that if we organize and fight, things can be different. Youve found the International Socialist Organization (ISO), an unapologetically pro-Palestinian, anti-capitalist, anti-oppression group that is active, confident, and organized. You agree with most of what you read in the International Socialist Review (http://www.isreview.org) and Socialist Worker (http://www.socialistworker.org), andyou like what you hear at public meetings, conferences, and study groups.
You are thinking about joining the ISO or youre a member already.
If the above describes you, I hope you read this with a critical and open mind.
My goal in writing this is to encourage a fundamental re-thinking of Leninist party-building efforts in order to help end the unnecessary separation between the socialist movement and the working class that has blocked both movements from beginning to reverse the balance of class forces in America. I strongly believe such party-building efforts have helped perpetuate rather than undermine this crippling separation.
What follows is a critical examination of the ISOs methods, practices, and structures compared (http://planetanarchy.net/isobolsheviks.htm) to those of the Bolshevik faction (http://www.cpgb.org.uk/home/weekly-worker/912/a-faction-is-not-a-party) of the Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP) which the ISO holds up as its organizing model, as well as some suggestions for a better, more effective political practice.
The rest can be read here:
http://www.thenorthstar.info/?p=9055