This obsession with
ultra-leftist theoretical positions, as well as the incoherence brought from it in the organisational affairs, are the main reasons of trotskyite's sectarianism. Trotskyism opportunist genesis gave it a truly petty-bourgeois nature, obviously it is very popular among those of petty-bourgeois origins, students included.
If it wasn't by the secret speech in 1956 and the events of 1989 to 1991, Trotskyism would have never been able to survive it's founder's death, for example the badly organised ''Fourth International'', if we can call it that way, had it's first major split in 1953, that is a major split in already extensively weaker organisation. It is possible to say Trotskyism is today mostly an echo of its 1970's an 80's rebirth, Geary Healy, Tony Cliff, Tariq Ali and others come to mind.
I know you all probably know this, and it was all a rather confuse choise of words, but the obsession with the pursuit of the correct theoretical line is not something bad
per se. The real problem lies in two factors that must always be remembered, does the line that is pursuit by the organisation is proletarian and revolutionary in nature? And are both of this natures put to proof through revolutionary practice?
PS: More threads like these in the ml group would be awesome.