So I know that trotskyites get a lot of heat from this community but I’ve been reading about trotsky and his opinions seem pretty good? He called himself a Bolshevik-Leninist which obviously isn’t great but the idea of international socialism seems better, IMO, that national or Stalinist type socialism. Maybe I’m misunderstanding something here though so somebody tell me why I’m wrong.

  • gammison [none/use name]
    ·
    4 years ago

    EDIT: Not to do a gratuitous idpol, but looking worldwide, “Stalinist” MLs tend to be a lot less white for historical reasons that should be obvious. Several prominent neocons started out as Trotskyists. Something, something, Western-chauvinist narratives.

    That also has to do with Trotskyists getting executed/snuffed out in order for those parties to get the USSR's support in their struggle. A few countries which never got much USSR support like Bolivia and Sri Lanka had large influential Trotskyist movements.

    Flipside, there was a large number of Trotskyists in Vietnam in the 1930s. However starting in 1945 when the war was over, they were hunted down by the French on one side, and the Viet Minh on the other.