There's stuff to dunk on Trotsky about but Trotskyism has really taken on a life of its own among Western Trots. While they talk about his silly ideas a lot, the thing that's worth criticism with Western Trots is mostly social.
I don't know how to describe it other than they always seem to be trying to trick people. They will hold some kind of seemingly socialist line on some issues and then triangulate to appeal to liberals the next day and then do some ultra criticism of AES after that. The whole time you get the overt "I'm parroting a line the party taught me" vibe. It feels robotic.
Also maybe this is just me but every Trot I've met orchestrates force in numbers in advance of any action or push. This is usually a good tactic but it can also mean that they hold a rally with 6 speakers from different industries and they don't mention that they're all Trots in the same org. The audience is meant to think it's a coalition but it's just one org doing a little show.
They also have a habit of cooption. About 2 weeks late to most issues, they tail something and then try to take credit or recruit from it without even authentically supporting the cause.
And finally, something that's not just social: their messaging tends to be like if you took an ML and then asked them to ruin the messaging a little bit. Just enough to bother every other person in the room. "Palestine will be free! Resist imperialism! Both sides should stop killing civilians!"
With that said I've worked with many Trots and they can be good coalition partners. Especially if you take a 100% extractive approach towards them.
There's stuff to dunk on Trotsky about but Trotskyism has really taken on a life of its own among Western Trots. While they talk about his silly ideas a lot, the thing that's worth criticism with Western Trots is mostly social.
I don't know how to describe it other than they always seem to be trying to trick people. They will hold some kind of seemingly socialist line on some issues and then triangulate to appeal to liberals the next day and then do some ultra criticism of AES after that. The whole time you get the overt "I'm parroting a line the party taught me" vibe. It feels robotic.
Also maybe this is just me but every Trot I've met orchestrates force in numbers in advance of any action or push. This is usually a good tactic but it can also mean that they hold a rally with 6 speakers from different industries and they don't mention that they're all Trots in the same org. The audience is meant to think it's a coalition but it's just one org doing a little show.
They also have a habit of cooption. About 2 weeks late to most issues, they tail something and then try to take credit or recruit from it without even authentically supporting the cause.
And finally, something that's not just social: their messaging tends to be like if you took an ML and then asked them to ruin the messaging a little bit. Just enough to bother every other person in the room. "Palestine will be free! Resist imperialism! Both sides should stop killing civilians!"
With that said I've worked with many Trots and they can be good coalition partners. Especially if you take a 100% extractive approach towards them.