Maybe as an experiment, let's try to understand each other's positions ITT and not have the same boring old arguments (because they're boring).
Edit - nice discussion everyone, thanks <3. I'm seeing a lot of responses from ML and not many from anarchists, but maybe I'm the only anarchist on this site lol
I think that's a byproduct of many ML groups in the US unfortunately trying to operate as primarily electoral parties. My local PSL branch had some people run for city council. Might also be a byproduct of the newspaper focused school of organizing.
Also, might be a fear of getting infiltrated by feds again. PSL takes cop/fed infiltration very seriously, possibly too much. So that probably limits how much illegal stuff they wanna do.
That's a good point, I also think maybe anarchists efforts and groups tend to have a lower barrier of entry for baby leftists and newly radicalized people. Most anarchist projects I've been involved with (esp. mutual aid stuff) invite people to participate and help out regardless of their particular ideological tendency (as long as they're not fascists/chuds/assholes). That means people can jump in and start doing useful stuff without committing to a party line. This dynamic, of course, has it's own set of drawbacks, but I do think it's part of the reason why you see more anarchists out on the streets.
The infiltration angle is another good point - decentralized orgs can't be as easily shut down by co-opting/murdering/blackmailing/discrediting the leadership.
oh no, the trots are inside the party