12/18/2024
I was talking to a Party member and I said something in reference to being a Leftist and he said: We're Marxists not Leftists.
Being a "Leftist" is an ambiguous point on the Left side of the Economic and Political spectrum. From Social Democrat to Maoist.
(Also, the "Left" as a whole could hold postitions that are Anti-Marxist.)
When you observe "Leftist" thought, it's a Hodge-podge of Intersectionalism, Anarchism and Maoist 3rd Worldism. Maybe add a sprinkle of Inclusive Political Islamism, too.
I'm a Marxist-De Leonist. I have a specific set of Marxist analysis that make me a De Leonist. We have a outline of how to get to Socialism and how to create and maintain a future Socialist Industrial Commonwealth of Labor.
What do "Leftists" see the future as? Is there even a consensus to what that future looks like and how to maintain distribution of the means of subsistence after the Revolution?
It's usually dismissed with a litany of revolutionary platitudes and slogan therapy. The Intersectional Anarcho-Maoists are only interested esoteric ideals that can only be solved after Capitalism is replaced and those relations and contradictions have ceased. We have to have Socialism before Racism can truly end. We can't wait for every Angloid to pay $20,000 to Ibram X. Kendi or Robin D'Angelo to obtain their 6 month "Ally" certification. To paraphrase Adolph Reed, if anyone, including "people of color," cared about the whole IDPOL/Single issue reductionism, then our movement would filled to the brim, It obviously isn't.
And this goes into the esoteric cycle of single issue, boutique activism that promotes Socialismโข๏ธ with characteristics that appeals to 80 peopleยฎ๏ธ. Tbf, every once in a while the Left will care about something that directly affects the day-to-day lives of working people. But, Then they'll forget and move on to their next fixation. It's signals no consistency, because they inherently don't have a fixed ideology.
"Leftists" could simply choose an ideology and work. If you don't like PSL, DSA or SPUSA, then find like minded people and create a party. Or just join an existing party and make it something people WANT to join. Also, Identify a problem in your community and make an explicitly Socialist collective to help solve or alleviate that problem. I have a Marxist study group that shares De Leonist ideas to a Brazilian party. If literally everyone who called themselves a "Leftist" committed to Party Work or Revolutionary Infrastructure, the US Left has a whole, could be an actual Revolutionary mass capable of real change, a threat to the ruling class and Capitalism.