Can anyone give me the lowdown on these folks? I like that they're a Marxist-Leninist org, in theory.
What's their vibe, what's the leadership like, local chapters etc.
https://frso.org/
So I do more work with PSL folks, but I've noticed FRSO filling in gaps in terms of mutual aid and the like. Largely positive experiences as someone who's not in any actual party (dogshit schedule, ya know?).
i was a member of my local chapter for a brief period before i learned that one of the leaders was a horrible person and the rest of the leaders were covering it up for him, so i left. thats chapter specific, but just a reminder that these problems still exist in some chapters. despite it being significantly smaller than PSL, i liked the people more. it seemed like more people actually had read theory. however it was a very white, cis, and straight group from what i could tell. there were also very few women and fem-presenting folks in general, at their social events i was one of maybe three. this did lead to a kinda dude-bro-y environment that wasn't incredibly toxic, but i just don't enjoy that kind of atmosphere myself and if you don't, be warned. their events are great though. sorry i can't say more, it was a really brief stint. there just isnt a lot to say about them in general though because they're really small. they do have some really cool members though, i met some who participated in the chicano movement of the 60s-70s.
i joined under the guise of what you talked about, the "less problematic than PSL" thing. now it seems like its much too small to have any significant drama or discourse that would produce problematic takes, and also that it seems to be less centralized in general so its very chapter-dependent for problematic-ness (?). maybe it is very centralized though and i just didn't know it, they've got their cadre members that do the actual stuff and their general members that just kinda fill seats and i was only a general member despite the cadre people frequently inviting me to also become cadre but it's a massive time commitment apparently.
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Maybe I should look into these folks some more. I know it sounds really silly but one of the things that turned me away from the PSL was that they use Google Forms to collect all their member's information during the registration process and the fact that it seems like most people I've talked to about joining them have either never heard back from them or have been sent in circles.
There was an FRSO guy on the Upstream podcast recently, explaining dialectical materialism. The host also asked him about the org, so he explained a good bit there
You're welcome, it's the episode titled "Dialectical Materialism w/ Josh Sykes", uploaded June 3rd
Allegedly the less problematic alternative to PSL, although I believe part of that perception is because
warning uncharitable and rude take ahead)nobody knows what they actually believethey’re smaller, ofcProjecting my own ignorance, then.
I personally struggle to differentiate them from other orgs
Why less problematic than PSL? I reached out to PSL a few years ago about joining and never heard back. I've always been a bit confused about what their tendency is exactly
I reached out to PSL a few years ago about joining and never heard back
Many such cases
they dragged me in circles when i was trying to get in with them! after weeks of waiting for a response, someone says "come to our event and meet this person", the specific person isnt there but the person i asked says "come back for another and we can get you started", and hence begins the cycle of me showing up to their events but never being talked to by anybody or let in.
PSL is way bigger and thus has way more public accusations of institutional rot. I personally think they’re the best option for communists right now due to explicit positions supporting aes and also there are alleged issues
From what I've been able to tell, most if not all of their members are MLs, and it's generally considered an ML party, but they don't advertise a specific tendency. IIRC they started more or less as an ML split from a Trotskyist party. (Now I'm not sure if it was PSL or FRSO being referenced lol, but this was about PSL.)
I've also had issues trying to join. I did sort of a phone interview, and the guy wanted to meet me in person to continue the process. He suggested attending one of their protests and we'd meet up there, but they don't get announced publicly far enough in advance for me to make it. My last message about trying to arrange a meeting didn't get a reply, so who knows at this point lol
If it was around the time of the 2020 protests or after, many chapters were struggling with volume of applicants. Some opened the gates too wide and had some trouble with members acting weird about Ukraine war or China while others kept up with more rigorous interviews but let a ton of people fall through the cracks due to limited time of recruitment members
Good to know. I'm not totally against giving PSL another go, but it definitely did not make a great impression
Yea it's a bit difficult getting in. Similar experience the first time for me. I've since had to drastically scale back my time committed to the org due to life changes, but it's very rewarding. It sucks that many working people just don't have the time to be a part of an organization that is ostensibly for them. Be that members like myself trying to contribute or more tenured people on recruitment, steering, or organizing who have to practically treat it like a second job. Too bad there's no
funding more committed comrades to devote time to the cause and help more people get plugged in
I believe if you go back far enough, they're a split of a split of the SWP. They dropped the Trotskyism sometime in their evolution, early 2000s maybe? Or maybe earlier?Now I think they're ML basically.
I think someone told me that they were Marcyites specifically? Not very well versed on Trot tendencies or how true that is
By the wiki summary it’s correct, but I’d bet less than 25% of current membership knows who the hell Sam Marcy was
That sounds right. And I remember hearing some dispute around Marcy's tendancy/politics/legacy? I'm kind of halfway remembering all this second hand though. I've never lived where they're active so never dug into them too much.
Hey! If you can DM me I can try and get you connected with the PSL, another user here was the one who helped me get connected in the first place.
Thanks for the offer. I'll do that if I decide I want to give them another go
I can tell you for a fact they have no presence in Alaska.
Then again nobody does, except me, maybe some dude in CPUSA, and, I haven't heard anything out of them for a while but then again I wasn't really looking into them because they fucking suck, a few DSA nerds
They seem nice enough. They're running the Coalition to March on the DNC, in Chicago, which is meant to be a united front effort. I'm not a member and haven't interacted with them too much.
They don’t view themselves as a vanguard party, nor do they feel there is one in the USA yet. Their approach is focused on being the “headlights for the masses” by focusing on using the Mass Line within working class and national liberation movements or mass orgs, taking their needs and using Marxist-Leninism to address the immediate needs and tie it to the larger strategic goals of uniting the working class and national liberation movements towards revolution.
They focus on identifying the “advanced” within the masses who are the masses chosen leaders within unions, labor movements, and national liberation movements to help implement the above to reach the “intermediate” (vast majority of these movements) while protecting against the backwards, reactionary, or opportunists who move these movements away from liberators and revolutionary potential.
Recruit those among the advanced into Cadre and empower them with the tools of Marxism-Leninism.
Making communists.
I dig it.
