Fightback is more big tent though. At least in my experience with Fightback, the group has members of various branches of communism, and doesn't like... vibe check you at the door to make sure you're a Trot or whatever. That was my experience anyway.
Also they ran some dope lecture and Q&A sessions which for a babby Marxist is good. It's better to have a group - any group, really - of mostly like-minded people politically to springboard ideas off of, and to interpret theory with. Cause reading it is one thing, discussing it is another.
Now if you'll excuse me I've gotta read the rest of this struggle session, let's goooooo
I'm guessing the difference is my level of involvement. I wasn't a card-carrying member, nor was I part of the organization. I went to a number of events and reading groups, which I think is why it was more big tent there - draw in the interested first, then hit 'em with the Trotsky stuff down the line? I dunno. It's entirely possible this branch (not going to dox myself with it) was a bit different.
You are right about the theory though. A point of contact I had with the group did ask me a lot about how much theory I'd been reading, which isn't much because I was a working stiff at the time. It did kinda bug me. I'm not anti-theory by any means, but the last thing I wanna do after a shit week of work is crack open a dusty old issue of Das Kapital for the third time.
I'll fully admit to not even being close to an authority on this, or even knowing enough about the org to make a full call.
I guess. I'm still kind of a babby Marxist myself, and having somewhere that didn't just throw books at you and say "read theory nerd" but actually explained it, held reading groups, and would interpret theory into modern language and situations is great. I'm dealing with a Discord server full of people right now who are literally all theory and no real world experience, and it's incredibly frustrating.
No I completely understand that. Right now I'm lucky enough to have a radical COVID bubble and we've been meeting weekly to go through lectures, texts, etc. so I really do appreciate the value in having IRL comrades with whom you can study. In my city Fightback's presence is mainly on campus and most of us are workers and not students.
I organized with fightback for a little, the org grew until it just about needed a north side and south side kind of split (like, 40 members meeting once a week was getting to be too much).
We never ended up doing anything. We went to protests and hosted lectures for the general public, which was cool, but other than that zilch. We also had a weekly chat about theory and it seemed like most people blew it off. And they were always hitting us up for money so they could send a few people to the general meeting. Plus they insisted on selling theory and newspapers all the god danm time, lol. I heard bad things about fightback in Quebec (like, sexpest stuff) but didnt encounter anything bad in that vein at that my local fightback.
I got discouraged because while it seemed cool that we were growing, everyone was a student or a downwardly mobile student. I was the only non university educated person there and it seemed like they weren't serious about doing stuff in the community or recruiting wider than university kids.
Fightback/IMT is explicitly Trotskyist. We'll work alongside other groups and welcome anyone interested, but membership does require general political agreement and we are a MELT org
Fightback is more big tent though. At least in my experience with Fightback, the group has members of various branches of communism, and doesn't like... vibe check you at the door to make sure you're a Trot or whatever. That was my experience anyway.
Also they ran some dope lecture and Q&A sessions which for a babby Marxist is good. It's better to have a group - any group, really - of mostly like-minded people politically to springboard ideas off of, and to interpret theory with. Cause reading it is one thing, discussing it is another.
Now if you'll excuse me I've gotta read the rest of this struggle session, let's goooooo
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I'm guessing the difference is my level of involvement. I wasn't a card-carrying member, nor was I part of the organization. I went to a number of events and reading groups, which I think is why it was more big tent there - draw in the interested first, then hit 'em with the Trotsky stuff down the line? I dunno. It's entirely possible this branch (not going to dox myself with it) was a bit different.
You are right about the theory though. A point of contact I had with the group did ask me a lot about how much theory I'd been reading, which isn't much because I was a working stiff at the time. It did kinda bug me. I'm not anti-theory by any means, but the last thing I wanna do after a shit week of work is crack open a dusty old issue of Das Kapital for the third time.
I'll fully admit to not even being close to an authority on this, or even knowing enough about the org to make a full call.
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Whats the deal with the Big Bang?
I think this is it
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My experience with them has been a little more mixed and they struggle with some #metoo stuff.
I guess. I'm still kind of a babby Marxist myself, and having somewhere that didn't just throw books at you and say "read theory nerd" but actually explained it, held reading groups, and would interpret theory into modern language and situations is great. I'm dealing with a Discord server full of people right now who are literally all theory and no real world experience, and it's incredibly frustrating.
They're not a perfect group but I'll take it.
No I completely understand that. Right now I'm lucky enough to have a radical COVID bubble and we've been meeting weekly to go through lectures, texts, etc. so I really do appreciate the value in having IRL comrades with whom you can study. In my city Fightback's presence is mainly on campus and most of us are workers and not students.
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I organized with fightback for a little, the org grew until it just about needed a north side and south side kind of split (like, 40 members meeting once a week was getting to be too much).
We never ended up doing anything. We went to protests and hosted lectures for the general public, which was cool, but other than that zilch. We also had a weekly chat about theory and it seemed like most people blew it off. And they were always hitting us up for money so they could send a few people to the general meeting. Plus they insisted on selling theory and newspapers all the god danm time, lol. I heard bad things about fightback in Quebec (like, sexpest stuff) but didnt encounter anything bad in that vein at that my local fightback.
I got discouraged because while it seemed cool that we were growing, everyone was a student or a downwardly mobile student. I was the only non university educated person there and it seemed like they weren't serious about doing stuff in the community or recruiting wider than university kids.
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Fightback/IMT is explicitly Trotskyist. We'll work alongside other groups and welcome anyone interested, but membership does require general political agreement and we are a MELT org