Should I join a leftist party/organization?
Are there any real benefits to joining a leftist party? Currently I'm not a member of any political parties, and I was thinking of joining a party that espouses socialist beliefs. From what I've seen on Revleft, a lot of people are members of the Party For Socialism & Liberation, but that doesn't have a branch in New Jersey, which is where I live. Does anyone know of any leftist parties/organizations that have branches in New Jersey?
SP-USA has a very active branch there actually.
I know that the American branch of the International Marxist Tendency, the Workers International League, has a rather active section in New Jersey. I was actually at a meeting with a few of its members just last Sunday in NYC and I imagine they would be really great comrades to work with regularly.
If you might be interested in getting involved with them, just visit any of the links below and someone from the organization will get in touch with you.
http://www.socialistappeal.org/join
http://www.marxist.com/join-us.htmI think we should clarify if they're active in south or north jersey, because there isn't shit down south. Democrats aren't even organized around where I live.
I think the most active part of the SP-USA in NJ is in Monmouth county or whatever it's called. I don't know exactly where that is in NJ though.
As far as NJ goes, the Socialist Party of New Jersey is active in the Montclair area and Monmouth County. There's also an SP organising meeting in Princeton on October 1st. I think the main group of the Workers International League (IMT) is in New Brunswick. I've met a couple of their people, but I don't know how active the group is, so I'm taking thesadmafioso's word on that.
As for other groups, the DSA has some presence in NJ; their youth group is active at William Paterson, but beyond that I don't really know their activity. The IWW also has a GMB in New Brunswick. That's the main activity I know for socialist groups in NJ.
My tip:
Join the political organization you identify most with; because of quality, not quantity.
It doesn't matter if mainstream is <X> if <X> is rotten inside. <Y> may be small and underground, but <Y> is revolutionary.